Flannery OConner Biography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Flannery OConner Biography - Essay Example Flannery’s life as a writer was very eventful and comprised of numerous literary works that earned her fame. Her 1952 novel, Wise Blood, established her as one of America’s budding writers. The New York Times positively reviewed Flannery’s novel and this paved the way for later success. Awards and fellowships supported her writing career. She received the Kenyon Review fellowship shortly after she published the Wise Blood. She went on to win the O. Henry Prize in 1955; this award was the first of three she received for her literary works. A Good Man is Hard to Find is the story that earned her the most fame. Although described as terrifying by her readers, the story depicts the creative genius of Flannery O’Conner. She continued to write stories based on characters that she described as â€Å"freaks and folks†. In 1959, she published her second novel The Violent Bear It Away inspired by the Bible. Christianity inspired all of her work and this novel but many of her readers contested this claim. The grotesque nature of her work disputed Christianity as her source of inspiration. Her writing is often compared to those of Carson McCullers, a fellow Southern Gothic writer She fervently refused this comparison because she had a different view of her work. O’Conner compared her work to Nathaniel Hawthorne due to their similarity in worldviews. Twice Told Tales by Hawthorne was among the work she admired the most. Her illness did not kill her passion for writing and in 1963, she was awarded her second O. Henry Prize.

I think alcohol shouldn't be legalize for all ages Essay

I think alcohol shouldn't be legalize for all ages - Essay Example Problems such as pancreatitis, heart and liver problems are associated with alcohol use. Individuals who already have a health problem and those under medication who take to drinking as a regular habit can encounter life-threatening situations. Furthermore, in case of pregnant mother’s who take to this habit they are additionally risking the life of their unborn child. Intake of alcohol, especially from a young age, only increases the risk to alcohol related diseases and problems later in life. Study estimates reveal that between the ages of 19-29 one in every four men die of alcohol related problems (Merrett). Though the minimum age for consuming alcohol is 21 in most countries, there is heavy lobbying to decrease this age to 18. In places where the age limit has been decreased there are concerns raised about the ill-effects induced by consuming alcohol from a young age. Young people are generally less tolerable to the effects that alcohol imposes on them as they have a naà ¯ve physique and their socializing habits increases the risk of accidents and other injuries. Young people who drink tend to become more violent and engage in unwanted habits and land up with legal problems. This could have an irreversible effect on their future that could include education, work and family. Thus such people live a less fulfilled life and become a source of unhappiness for both their immediate family and peers. A private website has revealed that about 74% of adults in US support legal action taken against those who host parties where underage drinking is allowed. They believe that such actions would help to prevent injuries to innocent people who are victimized in drunken driving and other accidents. The survey also revealed that some adults approve underage drinking when supervised by parents or a guardian (â€Å"Alcohol Consumption under Parental Supervision†). However, the health of the individual is compromised irrespective of being supervised or not. Hence by and

Exploring the issue of child poverty

Exploring the issue of child poverty There are two terms of poverty absolute and relative. Absolute refers to the amount of basics that we need to survive and relative is the standards of living in a society at any particular time (Kelly McKendrick 2007). This essay aims to discuss the impact of poverty on community and social care, the influences it has on health across the lifespan, the relevance to nursing practice, services available to address the problem and local policies on poverty. Poverty is when a household income (adjusted for the size and make-up of the household) is less than 60% of the UK average income. The circumstances that cause poverty are wide-ranging and include many day-to-day things including health, housing, education, employment and access to services (The Scottish Government 2010). There has been a steady growth of child poverty in Scotland and in the UK in the last few years. Accordingly households in Scotland where income is lower than most can be considered to be living in poverty (Kelly McKendrick 2007). The Government wants to provide children and young people with the best start in life. The Governments pledge in 1999 to end child poverty by 2020 has already led to 600,000 fewer children in poverty in the UK. Although progress has been made, 2.9 million children still remain in poverty. With the introduction of The Child Poverty Bill in 2009 the Government will be answerable to Parliament on the progress of this Bill (DCSF 2009). Poverty is not only happening in this country but all over the world. A report out by a leading charity has announced that 4 million children are living in poverty and about 1.7 million children are living in severe poverty in the UK one of the richest countries in the world (Save the Children 2010). Child poverty restricts childrens involvement to activities and services. While some children will grow up in low income households and go on to achieve their goals many will not. Poverty places stress on family life and excludes children from everyday activities which other children take for granted (David Piachaud 2005). The barriers which Lone parents face when they try to move from benefits to work can be that Employers are often reluctant to employ them; which means that lone parents worry about combining work with their childcare responsibilities. Financial stability is crucial, but it is often hard to achieve. Some lone parents working into low-paid jobs find they are simply worse off in work than living on benefits. Citizens Advice argues that adequate support for parents lies in breaking down the barriers to going back to work, the re-organising of the tax and welfare systems, ensuring appropriate childcare; and for employers to provide more flexible jobs (Citizens Advice 2008). Adair Turners Pension Commission report has set out new policies on pensions. The changes to retirement ages which are set to rise to 66 by the year 2030, 67 by 2040 and 68 at 2050. Turner proposes that the Basic State Pension would increase in line with earnings instead of prices from 2010 bringing a rise in income for pensioners. There would also be a reduction in means-tested benefits such as Pension Credit which the Commission believes act as a deterant to saving. After some pressure by Help the Aged, among others, Adair Turner has decided that entitlement to pensions should be based on residency instead of contributions from the age of 75, while the complex State Second Pension (S2P) would eventually become a flat-rate extra payment. Turner has also set up a National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS) which would mean workers would pay 4 per cent of their salary into their pension, alongside additional contributions from the Government and employers (Help the Aged 2010). There are a number of benefits available to help people on low incomes. These are Jobseekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Pension Credit and Income Support and from April 2004 Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit. Income Support is a means tested benefit for people whose income falls below a specified level or who have no other source of income. Welfare payments are an important source of household income in Scotland almost one sixth of household income in Scotland comprises welfare payments and state pensions combined. Therefore making household incomes in Scotland more reliant on welfare benefits than any other parts of the UK (Kelly McKendrick 2007). The introduction of a National Minimum Wage (NMW) was a major feature of the Labour Partys manifesto. Following their election the Government set up an independent Low Pay Commission to recommend the level of the NMW and how it should apply to young people and people in training. The reasons put forward to support an NMW cover three broad areas; social a minimum wage would target low pay and poverty; equity a minimum wage reduces exploitation, protects employers, and cuts the cost to taxpayers of topping up low incomes via the social security system; economic extra demand in the economy would increase employment; a minimum wage could also boost investment and productivity (CIPD 2009). Child Trust Fund (CTF) is a savings and investment account for children. Children born on or after 1 September 2002 will receive a  £250 voucher to start their account. The account belongs to the child and cant be touched until they turn 18, so that children have some money behind them to start their adult life (Child Trust Fund 2010). A large income gap between the most weathly and the worst off in society is closely associated with higher death rates worldwide, especially for younger adults, finds a study published on bmj.com today as part of a global theme issue on poverty and human development. Studies show that greater income inequality in a nation is associated with higher mortality rates, but most have focused on wealthier nations. However, it has recently been suggested that the effects of income inequality on health are of importance worldwide, not just in wealthy nations. There is also some evidence that this effect is more pronounced at different ages. They confirm that the impact of income inequality on health is real and that it has a greater influence on mortality in wealthier countries between the ages of 15 and 29, and worldwide between the ages of 25 and 39 (BMJ 2007). If being poor is bad for you, living in a cold home can be lethal. The annual figures published on excess winter deaths are the best we have from official sources however there are no figures which take in the knock-on costs to the NHS of cold-related illnesses, In the last set of figures, covering the winter months of 2004-2005, the number of winter deaths reached nearly 30,000. There are policies in place to help people who are fuel-poor, but they do not know that they are fuel poor and can access help. This is where community nurses come in. Health professionals are usually welcome visitors in any house and enjoy a degree of trust from the public. People who need help with their fuel poverty needs probably claim it the least. Many are isolated by poor health or their own poverty. Community nurses do not have the time to become experts but helping their clients to benefit from these programmes would help them to feel better. So encouraging older people who may be cold and poor to explore benefit health checks could transform their income, warmth and health (Mervyn Kohler 2006). Someone living in a deprived area is more than twice as likely to have a long term illness compared with someone in a weathly area. People living with a long term illnesses are likely to be more disadvantaged across a range of social factors such as employment, qualifications, home ownership and income. The impact of deprivation can also be seen in terms of mental health and wellbeing, with a recent Scottish survey reporting higher levels of mental wellbeing being associated with those on higher incomes (Scottish Government 2007). Studies on the impact of temporary unemployment have demonstrated that being out of work is bad for an individuals health. Those analyses did not control for the economic cycle, however. In a recent study, Strully24 looked at US interview data taken from 1999, 2001 and 2003 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. People were asked about certain aspects of their employment, their health and a variety of health conditions. Losing your job was associated with a 54% chance of reporting fair or poor health, and for a person with no pre-existing health conditions, the chances of reporting a new one increased by 83% with job loss. Low unemployment is also associated with the reporting of more poor health conditions (S Bezchruka 2009). The Black Report, published in 1980 stated that although the establishment of the National Health Service the differences between the health of the rich and poor had widened not narrowed, health had improved over all socio-economic groups but had been greater among the educated and wealthy (Oxford Journal). The Acheson Report, published in 1998, called for an increase in benefit for women of childbearing age, expectant mothers, young children and pensioners and said that many people on low incomes had insufficient money to buy the food and services necessary for good health. It also called for more funding for education in deprived areas; better nutrition at schools; Children should learn about parenting and relationships, and should receive sex education. (Telegraph 2010). The above reports by Black and Acheson collected information which showed that ill health and disease are socially patterned with the more wealthy groups of society living longer and enjoying better health than deprived groups. Nevertheless health has slowly improved but there is still a great divide between socioeconomic groups and their health status (Naidoo Wills 2009). The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007. There are seven measurements of deprivation these include income, employment, health and disability, skills and training, education, housing, living environment and crime. There are also six district summary scores for each Local Authority district (there are 354 districts in England) and for each County Council and higher tier (there are 149 of these). A relative ranking of areas, according to their level of deprivation is then provided. There are also supplementary Indices measuring income deprivation amongst children and older people: the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) and the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI) (Communities.gov 2007). In conclusion although the Governments pledge to eradicate child poverty by 2020 is underway there is still a great deal to consider in order to help both young and old people.

Code-switching as a Resource in Content and Language Integrated Learnin

Introduction Currently, teaching content in foreign language and second language, for example, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) or bilingual teaching approach has become a trend in education world. Some countries such as Malaysia, Africa, and European countries have adopted this model of learning in their education system. There are some reasons behind adopting CLIL or bilingual teaching approach in their education system, for example, to improve cross countries (cross language) traffic, and as a respond to the important of English language as a dominant language in the world (Samala, 2009). Cummins stated that there is a minimal level of language proficiency (treshold), that students should reach in order to be able to learn the task effectively (1981, cited in Lim & Presmeg, 2010). As students in bilingual or CLIL classroom do not learn the content of the lesson in their mother tongue, code-switching is often occurred in their classroom. The teacher in the classroom would switch classroom discourse from the target language to students first language when he find that the students difficult to understand the concept of the lesson in the target language. Code-switching in the classroom should not be considered as a failure to teach in the target language, but it should be considered as a resource in the classroom. In this essay, I will discuss both advantages and disadvantages of code-switching in classroom. Definition of Code-switching According to Baker, code-switching is a situation where an individual switched from one to another language in one utterance, and the switching is done deliberately (1993, cited in Lim & Presmeg, 2010). In general, Setati (1998) defined that code-switching is â€Å"the ... ...might feel neglected by the application of code-switching in their classroom (Cook, 2002, Sert 2005, both cited in Stephen-Kalong, 2008). Therefore, she suggested that, code-switching only can be applied effectively in the classroom where all students have the same main language. According to Sert, Code-switching in teacher instruction might lead students to feel bored and lost their attention to the previous instruction in the target language (2005, cited in Stephen-Kalong, 2008). It happen because, the teachers often repeat their instructions in students main language. Conclusion Overall, considering a lot of benefits that teachers and students might obtain from applying code-switching in the classroom, we should consider it as a resource in the classroom. However, Code-switching only can be fully understood in the actual context in which it takes place.

Introduction to Business Assignment Essay

AIM: I have been requested by Peter Eskesen to look at two contrasting business organisations and one of who must operate in the secondary/manufacturing industry and the other corporation must be a service provider from the tertiary sector. I must then look at the activities that each of them fulfil and look at the effectiveness of them within each organisation. I have decided to look at the activities of G. E lighting which is an American company and a direct division of the biggest company in the world G. E and the second company of which I have decided to look at is Sainsbury’s who is amongst some of the most dominant market leading companies operating in the U. K in the supermarket sector. Both of the companies that I have decided to look at are both owned by shareholders which means that people have bought shares into them. However having said that, as G. E lighting is an American company it means that it will not be listed on the London Stock Exchange but will alternatively be listed upon the New York stock exchange market. If a person wanted to buy shares in GE lighting then they would have to contact a broker. Furthermore, Sainsbury’s is also a Public Limited Company because it is like before, listed upon the London Stock Exchange. Today General Electric is made up of many departments/divisions. For example G. E Lighting in Enfield is part of a Global Business, which operates in over 100 worldwide countries and also holds work for over 300,000 people worldwide too. Television programming, Plastics and G. E Aircraft Engines for example, is the biggest engine maker and supplier in the world with operations in over 40 different countries. 1 On the next page you will find GE’s product portfolio. Sainsbury’s supermarkets employ over 145,000 people (including Savacentre). Of these 145,000 people, 60% are part – time based workers and 40% are full – time workers. 62% of the labour forces are women which show that since the 19th Century equal opportunities have shifted and women have the same rights as men – to be able to work. Furthermore, Sainsbury’s Supermarkets serves well over 11 million customers a week and as from May 2003, had 535 stores open throughout the UK. Nearly 60% of their stores are located upon town centres and others built on the edge of centre locations – in the greenbelt areas where land is cheaper and have better connections. Like GE, Sainsburys also have sub divisions or Subsidiary companies that they own. For example the other activities that they operate or run besides Groceries, include a chain of Sainsbury’s Banks, Shaw’s, JS Development and Sainsbury’s Property Development. Shaw’s Supermarkets Inc. has been a completely owned Subsidiary of J Sainsbury’s plc since 1987 and partly owned since 1983. Shaw’s serves over four million customers a week, and as at May 2003 had 193 stores open in New England, USA. In June 1999, J Sainsbury’s plc acquired the entire share capital of Star Markets for a total consideration of $497 million dollars which is the equivalent to i 313 million British pounds. Star Markets operates in the Metropolitan Boston area, Washington DC. The acquisition took Shaw’s Supermarkets to the number 2 position in New England and as the dominant market leader in Houston, Massachusetts. Like Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, the US operations place an emphasis on high quality food at value for money prices, and are persistently recuperating and improving their range of fresh foods. The corporation offers approximately 50,000 different lines, up to 35,000 per store at any one time. Some 5,000 popular brand products account for 40 per cent sales and as at June 2003, Shaw’s employs some 28,400 associates.

Compare and Contrast the Chinese and Russian Revolutions

China and Russia had various similarities and differences during the early 20th century. They were different in the aspect of goals as Russia was highly concerned in making everyone literate to experience the works of Marx, Lenin and Stalin personally while neither the Chinese communist party nor the Kuomintang cared much about literacy for the masses. Another differences was the characterization of the Russian revolution by World war 1 leading to the revolt against a ruling Tsar while China, was not affected by the war was more of a civil war between the nationalists and Mao’s peasants.Even so, both nations ended up with Communist revolutions, following the proletariat ruling belief. During the early 20th century, the Russian revolutionaries wanted all its people to be literate as to experience by reading the works of Karl Marx, Lenin and Stain first hand. Overall they were very successful in increasing the literacy rate in general. This was possible because immediately after the revolution, education was greatly overhauled in the spending on popular education.Free eduction was ordered for all children from the ages of three to sixteen years old as well as the duplication of schools within the first two years. Coeducation was also imposed as to get rid of sex discrimination and for the welfare of the whole society. However in China, the revolution did not really care about teaching and education for their citizens but rather focused primarily on replacing the existing system of government and its ruler with one headed up by the leader of the revolution, Mao Ze Dong.Another difference between the Russian and Chinese revolution was that the Russian revolution was influenced a lot by the first world war, while the Chinese revolution was untouched by it and still fought for the same beliefs as the Russian revolution. The Russian revolution was highlighted by the overthrow of Nicholas II which was brought on by the end of the first world war. Differently, th e Chinese revolution was not affected by the first world war and was sparked by the Marxist ideas of the working class being able to rule.Even though the first world war was not a cause of the revolution, Mao Ze Dong’s peasant army and Chiang Kai’s nationalist army still fought until Mao’s forces defeated the nationalists in 1949. The major similarity between the Russian revolution and the Chinese revolution would be that both revolutions made the path for the nations to become Communists. They were both led by charismatic leaders Lenin and Mao Ze Dong, who were able to unite the people into the revolution.Both had similar goals and outcomes as they both aimed for the working class, Proletariats, to rule against the ruling class. Both revolutions also aimed to establishing a state ownership in their countries as well as removing any kind of inequalities within the nation. Both ending up as communist nations, the Russian revolution and the Chinese revolution were shaped by different sparks and aimed to reach its goals through different methods but strived for a similar goal inspired by the Marxist ideas of the Proletariat class to rule.