Developing life story Essay Example for Free

Developing life story Essay Great-Expectations is just one novel that follows a tradition of novels that choose to focus on one particular character and their developing life story. Other novels that follow this same tradition are Adam Bede (1959) and Jude The Obscure (1894) which I may use as comparative texts due to the fact all three books/novels are written around the same time and tend to high light crime death and poverty using similar techniques. Death, crime and poverty feature strongly in the vast majority of fiction during the Victorian era. Many authors including Charles Dickens thought by repeatedly writing about the harsh inhuman conditions that many poor people were succumb to that the middle and upper classes would gradually begin to change there stigmatisms and prejudices. Great-Expectations concentrates mainly on two sections of Pips life, Pip as a young bashful child and the mature sophisticated Pip that develops as his life unfolds. Both Pips I think paint a very diverce picture of Victorian life one being Pip in a ramshackle unpleasant environment the other being Pip in a lavish gentlemanly one. In the opening paragraph, we are introduced to Pip who is the main character in the novel. We know that Pip is a young child because he describes him self in having an infant tongue that cannot pronounce the word Pirrip his fathers name or his Christian name Philip. Other indications that Pip is in the early stages of his life are that he thinks that the words on his mothers and fathers grave stone some how illustrate to him what they may of looked liked. The shape of the letters on my fathers grave stone gave me the odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair I believe this to be a obvious indication that Pip is a fairly young child aged around six to eight. Pip is visiting his mothers and fathers grave stone in a churchyard he describes as being a bleak place, over grown with nettles Pips overall location is some where on the marshes I know this for certain because he says Ours was the marsh country down by the river. Pip is a young child in a church graveyard by himself with only dead people for company, so I can see why he appears to be unsettled. By the end of the text, Pip has been reduced to a small bundle of shivers growing afraid of the church setting and beginning to cry. Crime and death is rife in this section when Pip tells us what his most vivid memory of his of his early childhood is he chooses to mention a church graveyard he visited on a raw afternoon. Therefore, death has clearly had a major effect throughout his life if this memory is so vivid and easy to remember in later years. Whilst at the graveyard yard Pip is not only visiting his mother and father he has also gone to pay his respects to his five older brothers who all died as infants. As you can see, infant mortality was very high in this time period and a recurring problem the five dead infants would have died of disease or at birth, primitive maternity was to blame. In the early Victorian times, only twenty per cent of the British population lived in towns. By 1901, it had risen on over seventy-five percent. London was the largest but other towns also grew just as rapidly. Because there were so many people in such a small, area feeding your family was problematical, finding a job was nearly impossible. Workers houses were built in the centre of towns close to factories. The houses were over crowed and it was nearly always two to three in a bed some times more. City streets were filthy as there were no proper sewers or drains and the air was polluted with smoke from the factory chimneys. Pregnant woman living in these conditions could easily pick up infections and minor illnesses witch would result in infant death The word gibbet was used in reference to death in this section, a gibbet was something that criminals were hung from. The government in the Victorian era tried to keep order with harsh punishments especially for crimes against peoples property. Small crimes could be punished by whipping or branding with a hot iron. Some criminals were tied to the pillory this was a post in a public place where people could throw rotten food or even stones at them. The worst punishment for a crime was hanging people could be hung for 200 different crimes most of these crimes would be considered very minor today. Pickpockets and burglars could be hung next to murders and rapists and I think that Charles Dickens had a major problem with this aspect of the English legal system and set out to try to make a difference by writing in hope he might influence those in power. Dickens believed reform was needed to alleviate poverty, which he felt was the main cause of crimes against person and poverty. Dickens thought that the judicial system was designed to protect the rich and elite. He particularly abhorred the brutality surrounding these punishments An Extract From Charles Dickens letter to the Times News Paper I went there with the intension of observing the crowd gathered to behold it I believe that a sight so inconceivably awful as the wickedness and levity of the intense crowed collected at this execution this morning could be imagined by no man. The horrors of the gibbet and of the crime which brought the wretched murders to it faded in my mind. I think that Charles Dickens creates an excellent setting to affect his characters different behavioural patterns. He uses a range of different techniques to accomplish this such as imagery. Some examples of this are where it says this bleak place over grown with nettles I think this is an excellent example of just some of the bits of imagery he uses. By placing Pip in a bleak place bleak meaning barren and desolate and then to make this place over grown with nettles will undoubtedly stir emotions and provoke a reaction with any character especially Pip. Doing this will also create a tense atmosphere. Pip is placed in a scenario where he doesnt know his parents or his five brothers due to circumstances beyond his control; he has suffered tremendous loss at such a young age. Then hes placed in a unfruitful setting where theres nobody around. This is an excellent combination if you are trying to get a entertaining and interesting reaction from one of your characters the climax of all these different factors working together is when Pip breaks down crying the text decries him as a being a bundle if shivers this has clearly effected both Pips behaviour and his feelings. I as a reader was made to share Pips experiences in many ways I think that the way that Charles Dickens skips in and out of reality is extremely effective more to the people he aimed his novel at than me today. People of the Victorian period would have been able to relate to many aspects of the first few pages; the feature of infant mortality and the notorious gibbet would have been very real topics to them. Charles Dickens uses very descriptive language to try and explain things to the reader as much as possible this in its self-makes the reader feel more involved and makes the text appear more real. Another way Charles Dickens helped me share Pips experiences was through imagery I thought that painting a mental picture in my mind was very beneficial in trying to help me share Pips feeling and emotions. I particularly felt in Pips shoes when the animals were frightening him. The next time we meet Pip he describes the setting hes in as being a rimy morning and damp. I think that Pip is in his bedroom looking out on to the marshes I say this because in the same paragraph Pip says, Ive seen the damp lying outside of my window. I homed in on the word my in this statement and thats why I came to that conclusion. I can only assume that Pip is the same age he was when he had his experience in the church graveyard. The reason I say this is because Pip doesnt seem to have developed in any way, hes still seems to be the immature child he was when went to visit his mother, father, and siblings at the graveyard and doesnt seem to have changed any. Since the last time we met Pip he was told to steal some food for a convict that escaped from the hulks. Hulks were huge prison ships that were anchored around a mile out to sea the reason for this was that hardly any people were able to swim at this time let alone poor people. The food on the hulks was so bad that most men melted candle wax into there soup to try to make it more nourishing. Early prisons in this period were so crowded and dirty, thats why hulks came about I think that they were made to try to ease the heavy burden that was on the shoulders of the English prison system.

The Inhabitants Of Wales History Essay

The Inhabitants Of Wales History Essay The most populous Celtic community in Great Britain are the inhabitants of Wales in the western part of England. The Welsh who call themselves Cymry and their country Cymru had been Christians long before the Angles and Saxons adopted Christianity and they are proud of their literary tradition the beginnings of which predate English literature. The motif of the red dragon in the Welsh flag is a symbol of the Welsh people ´s resistance against Anglicization and of the perpetuation of their culture and language. The number of ethnic Welsh people is not known. As for the speech community of Welsh this accounts for 0.58 million speakers and they make up 21 per cent of the total population of Wales. Some 50,000 Welsh-speakers live outside Wales in other parts of England, most of them in the region of Greater London. The level of language maintenance has remained stable during the past two decades. Assimilation to English, though, has been a trend with continuity. About a hundred years ago there were still some 0.9 million Welsh speakers. Most speakers of Welsh live in the western and northern parts of Wales where the rates for language maintenance are between 40 and 50 per cent. In the South the level has fallen below 20 per cent. The Welsh language does not suffer from a lack of transmission to the younger generation like Scottish-Gaelic (> Highland Scots). In the youngest age range (i.e. between 3 and 15 years) Welsh is spoken by 32 per cent. Proficiency in Welsh is much lower in all other ag e groups, even among the older generation (i.e. 24 per cent in the age range, 65 and over). At the beginning of the twentieth century there were still 0.28 million Welsh people who could not speak English but only their native tongue. At the end of the twentieth century their number had been reduced to a minimum of 21,500 which is less than 1 per cent of the Welsh speech community. Those who speak Welsh are bilingual, speaking English as second language. Together with Breton in Brittany and Cornish, formerly spoken in Cornwall, Welsh forms the Brithonic subgroup of Insular Celtic (see Irish for the Goidelic subgroup). Already in the late sixth century, Welsh had developed local features which set it aside from other varieties of Celtic in Britain. The origins of Welsh literature are shrouded in the mist of medieval history. The works of two poets of the sixth century, Aneirin and Taliesin, mark the beginnings of a literary tradition in Welsh. Their literary works, though, are only preserved in manuscripts of the thirteenth century. It is assumed that the texts in the manuscripts are copies of much older originals. Highlights of medieval literature are the collection of narrative prose, the Mabinogion (eleventh thirteenth centuries), the codification of Welsh laws compiled by Hywel Dda (tenth century) and bardic lyrics composed by Dafydd ap Gwilym (thirteenth century). The translation of the whole Bible into Welsh was completed in 15 88. It appeared in a second edition in 1620, and its language became influential for the elaboration of a modern literary standard. Since the Welsh literary language continues language use of the seventeenth century it holds a bridging function between the modern and the ancient so that the connection with the medieval literature is not lost for the reader of today. Those Celtic tribes who had settled in Wales some two thousand years ago saw the advent of the Romans and experienced Roman rule over Britain. After the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 c.e. Wales was integrated into the Roman Empire as a region of military interest but Roman settlers did not come to live there. The Celts in Wales learned about Latin from the Roman administration but it was only during the time when Christianity spread over Britain that Latin became the vehicle of cultural and social innovation in the Celtic communities. The oldest layer of religious terminology in Welsh dates to the third and fourth century; e.g. eglwys  ´church ´ Medieval history is dominated by the struggle of the Celts in Britain against Anglo-Saxon supremacy. The historical king Arthur who has been acknowledged as the founder of the British lineage of kings rose to legendary fame as the protector of the Celtic Christians in their fights against the Germanic heathens in Britain. In the late eighth century, the king of Mercia, Offa, had an earthen wall built to separate the Celtic territory of Wales from the Anglo-Saxon settlements. For centuries, the Celts remained west of Offa ´s wall and the Anglo-Saxons east of it. Wales was finally conquered in 1282 and annexed to England. The status of Wales as a region under the authority of the British Crown was formalized in 1536, and the monopoly of English as the language of administration was confirmed. The English rulers practised a policy of apeasement to avoid social unrest by exchanging privileges for loyalty and to accept the Welsh aristocracy into their service. The Welsh à ©lite was s upposed to adopt the English language and English lifeways as a precondition to keeping their privileges. One of the lineages of the assimilated Welsh à ©lite was very successful. These were the Tudors whose representatives eventually ascended the English throne. The first Tudor to rule over England was Henry VII (reigned 1509 1547). Until the eighteenth century, Welsh society was divided into an Anglicized à ©lite of Welsh descent, loyal to the kings of England, and Welsh peasantry whose lifeways remained practically untouched by English culture. The seventeenth century saw the introduction of a Protestant movement which has dominated religious life among the Welsh up to the present, Calvinistic Methodism. Things changed with industrialization evolving, a process which unfolded in three stages on a prolonged horizon of time, ranging from c. 1780 to c. 1900. The area of southern Wales was of particular interest because of its riches in coal. The opening of coal-mines triggered a migratory movement of greater parts of the rural population to the urban and industrialized centers of the South where assimilation pressure was strong and language shift to English was swift. The British Education Acts of 1870 and 1889 stipulated English as the only medium of instruction at all schools and on all levels of education (i.e. from primary to higher), and these regulations promoted radical Anglicization. The romantic, all-European interest in the preservation of the local heritage and the movement of national awakening of the nineteenth century found its concrete manifestation in the cultural activities of the Celtic Revival. In Wales, this led to the establishment of a cultural institution, the Eisteddfod (literally  ´session ´), which was held for the first time in Aberdare in 1861. This is a sort of fair which offers a cross-section of all domains of Welsh culture and language, including literature, theater and the visual arts. The Welsh language has been a crucial issue in the process of social and political reforms since the 1940s. After four hundred years of a monopoly of the English language in administration in Wales Welsh was granted official status alongside English in 1942. This regulation first concerned only the use of both languages at court and was extended to the use of Welsh in regional and parliament elections, in 1967. Furthermore, a trio of Acts in the decade 1988-1998 provide a new statutory infrastructure and institutional context to enable social reform in education, language rights and governance, (Williams 2008: 124). Constituents of this network of reforms are the Education Act (1988), the Welsh Language Act (1993) and the Government of Wales Act (1998) which are the pillars of Wales as an autonomous region within the United Kingdom and which provide the statutory platform for a National Assembly for Wales, established in 1999. Harald Haarmann Further Reading Aitchison, John and Harold Carter. A Geography of the Welsh Language 1961-1991. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994. Davies, John. A History of Wales. London: Penguin Books, 1994. Morris, John. The Age of Arthur. A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650. London: Phoenix, 1993. Williams, Colin H. Cymric (Welsh). In Wieser Encyclopaedia Western European Languages, eds. Ulrich Ammon and Harald Haarmann, vol. 2, 109-129. Klagenfurt, Wien Ljubljana: Wieser, 2008.

Gender inequality in contemporary society

Gender inequality in contemporary society Describe And Discuss Gender Inequality In Contemporary Society With Reference To The Labour Market. Sex is what distinguishes men and women biologically, namely it describes the physical qualities which derive from variations in chromosomes, hormones and genitalia. Gender refers to a set of culturally defined characteristics which determine societys view of people as masculine or feminine. Sociologists have long debated over the causes of unfair sexual divisions of labour. Some have forwarded biological explanations, whereas others hold responsible the socialisation of gender roles. In this essay I will look at how the nineteenth century socialisation of gender roles is believed to have affected womens position in the labour market. I will then consider the increasing feminisation of the labour market and seek to explain the persistent inequalities between men and women. Up until the twentieth century, women were largely excluded from the labour market, partly because of the social construction of separate male and female spheres. Feminist Ann Oakley believes that the modern role of housewife emerged in the early stages of industrialisation (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 108). Due to the norms and values of the time, supported by the functionalist Parsons, it was expected of the man to provide for the family, whilst the woman would tend to the home. Oakley claims that this concept of different duties has persevered and has since had a negative influence on the development of womens position within the labour market (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 108). However, since the mid-twentieth century there has been an increasing feminisation of the workforce. According to Ulrich Beck, women are setting the pace for change (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 647). In Becks view, we are moving into the second modernity (as against post modernity). He argues that in our society, characterised by risk and uncertainty, women have realised the importance of self-reliance and have sought to widen their participation in the labour market and as a result have changed the social discourse. This has been made possible by a number of factors. The increased possibilities of an education, the development of domestic appliances, the growing tendency for smaller families, the Feminist Movement of the 1970s, the steady expansion of the service industry, the increase in living costs and the consequent need for two incomes are all factors which have generated a shift in traditional family patterns and significantly changed the gender division of labour. A UK Labour Fo rce survey conducted in 2005 suggests that the rates of employment for women of working age have risen to 70% in 2004 compared to 56% in 1971. In contrast, employment rates for men have declined from 92% to 79% (Giddens, 2006, 755). Despite womens increased participation in the labour market, barriers to equality remain. Although 75% of women of working age are in employment in the UK, it has been shown that in high-earning, high-status professions they are severely under-represented (www.employment-studies.co.uk). 2005 demonstrated, in terms of vertical segregation, that 83% of chief executives, 71% of sales managers and 70% of management consultants were men, whilst 96% of dinner ladies, 95% of receptionists and 76% of cleaners were women (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 124). Different reasons are held responsible for such disproportion. One argument is that jobs are highly gendered, with a tendency for high-status, high-paid jobs to be male-dominated because they have traditionally been perceived as masculine. Radical feminist Sylvia Walby claims women are subjugated by patriarchal values that discriminate and confine them to specific areas of work (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 113). Not only are women under-represented at the highest levels of the occupational structure, they have likewise not achieved equality of pay, despite liberal feminists success in campaigning for equal pay legislation. The wage gap was once thought to be narrowing, however, new figures suggest that the pay divide is still a matter of concern today. According to the Office for National Statistics, the pay gap between men and women in full-time work has increased to 17.1% since 2007 (The Guardian,15/11/08). The median full-time gross weekly earnings per week for men in 2007 were  £498, whilst for women they stood at  £395. In 2008 they stand at  £521 for men and  £412 for women. It has been calculated that over a lifetime, women working full-time will earn an average of  £369.000 less than their male colleagues. This result, according to the annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum, places Britain 81st in the world ranking in terms of equal pay for men and women in sim ilar jobs (The Guardian,15/11/08). Part of the reason would appear to be because of horizontal segregation. Much of the female workforce is clustered into a range of semi-skilled, low-status and poorly paid occupations. Across the occupational structure, men predominate in such lines of work as manufacturing, construction, IT and business industries. Conversely, women are overwhelmingly represented in health and social work, teaching, catering and cleaning (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 123). Feminists, therefore, see this as a reflection of the two spheres ideology. 2005 demonstrated, in terms of horizontal segregation, that 79% of social workers and 73% of teachers were women. In the same year, 90% of the construction industry and 76% of people working in transport were men (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 123). In addition, the fact that many women work in the part-time sector can be part of the reason for the poor levels of pay they are subject to. Occupational segregation has been used to explain such high concentration of women in part-time work. Despite the disadvantages it involves, part-time work seems to remain a popular choice for women. In 2004, 5.2 million women in the UK were in part-time employment, compared to 1.2 million men (Giddens, 2006, 757). Social forces such as limited childcare assistance and gender discrimination have also been held responsible for such large numbers of women in part-time work. Many women seeking full-time employment often face unjust hurdles which men do not encounter: a Fawcett Society study (the leading liberal feminist organisation) reveals that 52% of employers consider the chances of a new member of staff becoming pregnant before employing them (www.fawcettsociety.org.uk). However, whilst it is possible that this may discourage many women who intend to have children from looking for full-time work, this is not on its own sufficient reason to explain such a heavy influx in the part-ti me sector. Catherine Hakims preference theory suggests that womens position in the labour market depends entirely on the rational choices they make (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 125). Hakim identifies two types of women: those who commit themselves to full-time careers or those who prioritise their domestic responsibilities. According to Hakim, many women have different work orientations than men, leading them to choose part-time occupations which enable them to balance their domestic and professional lives. Rosemary Crompton and Fiona Harris agree that womens position in the labour market is influenced by their decisions. They argue, however, that the choices women make are not always rational, but are the results of the practical challenges and cultural norms they may face. Crompton and Harris believe that women often start a career committed to the idea of full-time employment and the family sphere in equal measure, but in later life might have to compromise one or the other for a variety of rea sons. There is, therefore, an important debate between feminists. Additional theories have been advocated by sociologists to explain womens continued limitations in the job-market. Talcott Parsons functionalist human capital theory suggests that womens natural role is that of childcare. The theory implies that women are likely not to commit to a career or gaining qualifications, preferring to dedicate themselves to their children (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 125). According to Parsons, this lack of commitment or skills renders women less valuable to the employer, and is ultimately the reason for womens disadvantaged position in the labour market. However, critics of the theory point out that it does not account for the large number of women who dedicate themselves to a career and still end up in lower-paid, lower-status jobs (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 125). Barron and Norriss dual labour market theory promotes the idea of two labour markets: a primary sector in which professionals and skilled workers belong, characterised by highly paid and secure jobs, and a secondary sector, consisting in lowly paid, less secure jobs mainly occupied by unskilled labourers. According to Barron and Norris, women are more likely than men to work in this sector because they are less interested in wages or status, a view which echoes that of Hakim. Transition from the secondary to the primary sector is rare, ending in confinement within a range of low-paid jobs for ones entire working life. The theory is criticised by feminists for not being able to explain why skilled women often earn less than men in similar work, or why they get promoted less often than men in the same job (HaralambosHolborn, 2008, 126). In the past century, women have made a revolutionary ascent in the labour market even if many work in the part-time sector. However, the rate of improvement seems to have stalled rather than grown. Despite legislation such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975), vast inequalities remain in Britain, especially in terms of pay and status. It might well be that more radical reforms need to be made. In Norway, for example, hundreds of women have benefitted from a new act, passed in 2003, which stipulates that companies must increase the number of women on their boards to 44.%. This now means that Norway heads the league table for gender equality, 12 places above the UK (The Guardian, 17/11/08). This suggests that post-feminists are mistaken in believing there is no more for feminists to do. A third wave of feminism, as suggested by Katherine Rake, or new feminism, to use Natasha Walters term, may be precisely what is needed. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books: Bilton, Tony et al. Sociology in Perspective (Causeway Press, ND). Giddens, Anthony, Sociology 5th edition, (Polity, 2006). Haralambos, Holborn, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives 7th edition, (London: Collins, 2008). Newspaper Articles: The Guardian, 15/11/08 p 10. The Guardian, 17/11/08 ND. Electronic Sources of Information: http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/summary.php?id=294 http://www.ehs.org.uk/othercontent/walsh30a.pdf http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5748

A Prequel to Susan Glaspells Short Story, Trifles :: Short Story Creative Writing Essays

A Prequel to Susan Glaspell's Short Story, "Trifles" Minnie Foster was once described as the belle of the ball. To look at her tonight for the first time you could see why. She carried herself with both an air of confidence and modesty at the same time. Her small eyes dominated her face. They did not look directly at you anymore though. Still, they seemed all knowing and experienced as if they were able to see and know secrets about you that you wish no one knew. Her slender peaked nose was no match for the full lips she had, lips that never uttered a sound and which have become as pale as her knuckles. Her lips were pierced shut protecting the thoughts in her head from falling out one by one to the hard flooring. This morning Minnie felt a little different. No one was home. No one was there to bother her. Why then, did she feel the need to continue on like a caged animal within her own home? She cautiously continued down from the upstairs. Minnie’s right foot led the way and paused on each step. Like a young child first learning to master the staircase she would wait for her left foot to catch up before leading again with her right. Her feet glided lightly across the wooden steps and only the dust particles felt her movement. She seemed to have a pillow of air floating underneath her. Quite ironically, with each descending stride her body took, her hand would tightly grip the banister until her veins were crushed against her tightened skin with no way out. Gliding over to the kitchen, Minnie continued with her everyday tasks. She began by clearing the table, a task that should have been completed the night before but was left untouched. She put things away one by one and in a quiet manner. She lightly opened and shut the cupboards, placing pots and pans where they belonged, one by one, straight from the table to under the sink. It was cold in that kitchen. Minnie looked out the window to her neighbor’s house. Perhaps today she would go visit; perhaps today she would not.

Gender Issues of Mesopotamia Essay -- Gilgamesh Gender Female Rights E

Gender Issues of Mesopotamia  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout the history of our society, women have gained a certain respect and certain rights over time. Such simple aspects of life such as getting a job, voting, and even choosing who they would like to marry are things that women have fought for, for many years. At one point, these were all things that women in America and parts of Europe had no right to. Men as a whole had suppressed women and taken control of the society. Despite mass oppression in history, women have risen in society and now posses these natural rights.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Back in the days of Mesopotamia, things were quite different. Women were respected for who they were and did not have to fight to gain the rights they had. Hammurabi’s Code contained laws, which respected the rights of women. Society in general was formed around this sort of sexual equality. Many of the codes within Hammurabi’s Code favor the men of the society, though many of them spell out certain rights for the lives of the women. Certain laws lie within Hammurabi’s code in order to solve problems of the society. It spells out the punishment for certain acts eliminating any further complications. Code 136 for example, explains what is to happen to a women who’s husband runs off; â€Å"If any one leave his house, run away, and then his wife go to another house, if then he return, and wishes to take his wife back: because he fled from his home and ran away, the wife of this runaway shall not retur...

Correctional Design Essay -- Research Desing

This paper will exam aspects of correlational design. According to Fabiano-Smith (2011), correlational designs are non-experimental research designs that focus on observing variables as they naturally exist. Since this design type is non-experimental, one of its major disadvantages is the focus on the relationship of the variables and not is cause and effect between the variables. Despite this weakness, correlational design does have several strengths. It observes the variables as they occur in a natural setting without manipulation. Researchers often use the initial establishment of correlational relationships between variables to identify what variables should be further studied for cause and effect utilizing experimental designs. Why was correlational design chosen? Two of the three studies chosen indicated that there was very little empirical data available for their specific area of study. Establishing correlational relationships is a logical way to identify independent variables for experimental cause and effect research. McDuffie, Yoder, and Stone (2005) indicated that there was no empirical data available on their study of autism and pre-linguistic predictors of vocabulary. Researchers on the effectiveness of patient communications and interactions reported that previous studies did not specifically ask patients how they felt about their care (Shelton & Shryock 2007). Both of these statements make the choice of a correlational study the obvious jumping off point for research. The third study identified a need to clarify symbolic play as a possible independent variable since past studies had lumped symbolic and functional play into a category together (O’Toole & Chiat, 2006). Was it possible to use a... ...sly used APA, and the educational year first exposed to APA. The dependant variable would be the APA portion of the grade on papers. If a correlation is shown between low comfort level or exposure and low grades it might be possible to have the students pre-identified via a survey for either self enrollment in APA style tutorial classes or self study on the APA citation method. A correlational between year of first exposure and low grades might indicate that APA needs to be stressed more in earlier writing classes. If no correlation is found, students who self identify as not very familiar with or comfortable with this writing style could then be pointed towards APA study resources earlier in the semester to catch up. This study could help students get ahead with their knowledge base so they are not learning and correcting while writing actual graded papers.

Proposal: the Hunger in Ethiopia

Research Proposal Introduction/ Background Information: Ethiopia has been suffering from poverty and hunger for many years. Most of the people around the world are not aware of this massacre. Ethiopia is an agro-based country; they have only agricultural labor to invest on. The drought in Ethiopia has caused a huge impact in the economy. There are currently over 500,000 acutely malnourished children in Ethiopia. They have been getting foreign aid but reports in the conversations with many starvation victims confirm that the situation is still not improved.By increasing foreign aid, the foreign country can get certain benefits, they can assure military assistance, gain land to search for oil, and create an alliance. Our research study will bring awareness about the terrible situation in Ethiopia to the whole world. When this research study is successful, our prediction is that people all over the world will help and protest for more foreign aids. Ethiopia will receive enough aid to in vest on a permanent solution to poverty and many lives will be saved from starvation and malnutrition. The funding company which funds this research study will be reatly benefited because it will be appreciated and credited on all our research studies. The funding agency will be thanked by the people all over the world and it will be known by the whole world. We have high expectation that this study will be a success because similar work has been very successful in the past years. Invisible Children Kony 2012, a video published by Jason Russell which brings awareness to the world about the Ugandan criminal, was very successful. They have captured the attention of the people around the whole world.The video has gotten over 84 million views in just two weeks. Proposed Work: The intent of the proposed study is to learn about the suffering victims in Ethiopia. In this research study, interviews will be the primary research approach. It is anticipated that the victims will talk about the ir stories and variety of topics throughout the interview. It is anticipated that over 30 interviews will be conducted within a year. All interviews will be videotaped with the interviewee’s permission. The expected interview length is about an hour long.I will write field notes while observing, giving interviews and listening to the interviews from the tape after. I expect to obtain more information and data from the organizations that are already there to help the victims, papers, officials of the government of Ethiopia and any other subjects that relates with my research study. All the interviews and data will be saved and organized on computer software. Some Interviews will be edited and published in the internet where everyone in the world should have access to. We will also be advertising it in the internet nd in major cities of United States. I will create a webpage where we have our statistics and data. People all over the world are expected to be interacting with eac h other in our webpage, which creates awareness. I will interact with people on social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook and email. Budget: I will need the following materials, equipment and personnel for a comfort success. I will need stationary material for recording, cameras, computers, microphones, sound systems and computer software for video editing and file storage. I will hire about 10 qualified interns nd employees for different tasks. Out of all the employees, some will be interviewers and journalists who will assist me with interviews and conduct their own interviews in different rural part of Ethiopia. Some of the employees will be in control of editing videos and uploading it on Internet webpage, manage the webpage and social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter. The webpage would have the options for people to make donations that go to the charity to help the victims. The estimated cost for this research project is about half a million ollars. The amount specified includes the material, equipment, personnel, travel expenses and salary for the interns and the employees including me. The research study is proposed to start in spring of 2012 and expected to finish in the middle of 2013. Conclusion/Recommendation: This project is very significant because many lives depend on it. It will give awareness to the whole world about the situation in Ethiopia. The action taken against this massacre is very helpful to these poor people who live their life with a dollar a day. This problem can be solved y being united and protesting for more aid, advertising, donating and collecting donations. Many lives can be saved. References: 1. Alexander, Douglas. â€Å"House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 03 Nov 2009 (pt 0001). † United Kingdom Parliament Home Page. 3 Nov. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. . 2. Gordts, Eline. â€Å"Ethiopia: Hunger During Worst Drought In 60 Years. † The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 17 Aug. 2 011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. . 3. Sanders, Edmund. â€Å"Hunger Is Once Again Stalking Ethiopia. † Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 05 Aug. 2008. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. .