How Mass Media Affects Adolescents

We’ve all heard the expression, â€Å"Well if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too? † from our parents, or other adult figure-type person. In today’s society, adolescents seem to be taking this phrase to a new level. As the media continues to abuse the popularity of the too-thin actors and actresses, exploit famous persons’ suicides, and portray ‘problems’ in general as being ‘cool’ with TV shows focused on rehab circles featuring those popular people our culture knows and loves, more and more young people are finding reasons to copycat these problematic ‘role models’, resulting in a crisis within the youth. The depression, low self esteem, eating disorder, and suicide rate disaster within the youth can all be traced back to the media, which tends to glamorize such problems, so that they appeal to adolescents as being the next ‘in’ thing. Suicide is a tremendous issue that is heavily influenced by the media. Yourannual List of Ins and Outs, an article which periodically lists tends and fads, listed one year suicide as an â€Å"in†. â€Å"The ‘In’ Way to Look for Help†, 1) Most emotionally secure people would understand that the listing of suicide as an â€Å"in† was a joke and not take it seriously – but mental health practitioners like David Shaffer of Columbia University of Physicians and Surgeons, have done research to prove that the â€Å"adolescent suicide rate may rise when the media glamorize suicide†. (â€Å"The ‘In’ Way to Look for Help†, 1) Suicide is a serious issue, and although this was meant as a joke, there are some children who actually take things like the previously mentioned article literally. Although such people/youth may be emotionally unstable already, this bit of â€Å"pressure† from society adds to the imbalance. The media has also taken advantage of the celebrities who have killed themselves, making them seem â€Å"chic†, or â€Å"cool†. Exploitation of such events gives some less stable individuals the impression that these sort of actions are socially acceptable, and that if they feel the need to â€Å"escape†, they may commence with taking their lives while seeming â€Å"hip† at the same time. In a study done at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, a study was done to find what the youth believed the leading cause of suicide to be was. The â€Å"most frequently cited cause was pressure to conform and/or perform†¦as a consequence of peer pressure†. (Edna Heled, 1) Later, when the subjects were asked to specify the degree of their agreement with 29 possible reasons, two of the most agreed upon items were hearing a lot about suicide in the media, and believing that suicide is acceptable or cool. Edna Heled, 3) When asked for possible solutions to reduce the rate of suicide, there were no suggestions to lessening the coverage of suicide in the media. The adolescent view on body image has become a tricky subject. Television, magazines, and the general media have set a standard for both male and females that is difficult for most to achieve. It is now popular for girls to be scary-skinny, and â€Å"straight as a board†. In a study by Hargreaves and Tiggermann, it was found that watching appearance-related commercials â€Å"heightened appearance schema activation in early adolescent girls†. In another unnamed experiment covered by Meghan Sinton and Leann Birch, it was found that some girls – although not a large percentage of them – were found to be very affected by the commercials. In the same experiment, it was discovered that mass media was especially influential with girls who were already body self-conscious.

Effects of Stress on Grades

Students at universities worldwide oftentimes find stress to be a part of everyday life. Stress is defined as the way one responds to the changes and demands of life either emotionally, physically, or mentally. Stress is registered in one’s â€Å"fight or flight† response. When an exciting or dangerous event occurs changes take place in the body to prepare the person to deal with the stressful situation. After the stressful situation has subsided the body returns to a normal state. The constant stress of being a college student does not allow the body to return to a normal state so a student may never be able to fully relax. This can lead to stress overload (Bower, 2010). Many factors can affect a student’s academic performance and grades. The National College Health Assessment of 2004 shows that the most significant impediment to effective listening, retaining information, and studying is stress. Stress is noted to be the number one cause of poor academic functioning in a student above other problems like depression, illness, eating disorders, death of a family member, and even sexual assault. The study reviewed 47,202 college students and 32. 4% listed stress as the number one barrier to schoolwork (Temple, 2006). Many college students have multiple stressors. Most are taking multiple classes, working full-time jobs, have family members to take care of, are working long hours at unpaid internship sites, or any combination of these. Many college students must deal with the stress of just leaving home and no longer benefiting from familial support. Relationship problems may begin to develop between the student and the friends, families, or significant others that have been left at home. This overload of responsibility and worry can lead to a lack of sleep and improper nutrition, which can cause difficulty in school (Bower, 2010). Proper nutrition may become a problem for a student because he or she may be unable to grocery shop on a regular basis. Other problems with nutrition occur because a student who is living in a dormitory may be unable to cook proper meals and unable to store large quantities of food. Some students new to living without parents may not have the knowledge to cook a decent meal. Others simply do not have the time to eat properly. Without proper nutrition the brain does not function properly and the student may have difficulty concentrating on schoolwork (Womble, 2002). Maintaining employment while attending college can also be a source of stress. This stress may come from working long hours that can make the student too tired to focus on his or her studies or working long hours may lead to attendance problems at school. Mentally focusing on both work life and school life can be exhausting for a student and can lead to increased amounts of stress. The number of hours a student spends at work can be directly related to that student’s grade point average (GPA) because the more time a student spends at work, the less time that student can spend studying (Womble, 2002). Sleep, or lack of, is the most important factor on a student’s GPA. Many college students do not sleep enough during the week to properly rest the body and mind. Lack of sleep has been shown to increase anxiety and stress. Simple sleep patterns like waking earlier during the weekdays than on the weekends have also been shown to affect the GPA of a student (Womble, 2002). Not all college students complain of experiencing stress, many do. Although some stress is good for a person and may be energizing or motivating, it is important for a person to recognize and be able to manage bad stress before it spirals out of control and has a negative effect. Coping mechanisms are important for anyone but may prove to be more so for a college student. Coping mechanisms include sleeping enough, spending time doing fun activities, relaxing, and practicing time management. Developing ones communication, writing, and test taking skills is important to reduce stress. Engaging in physical activity, reading a book that is not school related, or getting a massage are ways to reduce stress and relax. Daily use of a planner to track assignment due dates and upcoming project deadlines is useful for staying on track with studies (Bower, 2010). Coping mechanisms come from within, from something called personality hardiness. The idea of personality hardiness first came to be with regard to protecting business executives from the health effects of stress. This concept involves having a sense of control and commitment. Commitment means that a person can view the world as a meaningful place and he or she seeks to be involved in the world rather than withdrawn from it. Control shows that a person believes he or she can influence events that take place in his or her world. Personality hardiness means that a person may not feel threatened by changes to his or her environment. Theoretically, a student with personality hardiness should be able to adapt to the changes that come with enrollment in school, taking multiple classes, maintaining employment, and family obligations without stress overload. The result should mean that a student takes on the new challenges with less stress and instead turns the stressful events into opportunities for growth and personal development (Hystad, Eid, Laberg, Johnsen, & Bartone, 2009). Two studies have been performed by Lifton and colleagues. These studies assessed the personality hardiness of individuals throughout the college years. These studies had newly arriving college students complete hardiness measures and found a positive interrelationship between persistence and the student’s graduation date four years later. The hardiness scores among those who did not complete four years of college were lower than those who did not drop out. The scores on the hardiness exams were not directly related to scores on entrance exams or high academic ability. Personality hardiness is not based on a person’s academic ability but rather a person’s attitude or the manner in which he or she approaches life’s challenges (Hystad et al. , 2009). Though the information contained in the numerous studies that have been done regarding stress and the college student’s ability to achieve a decent GPA is helpful to understanding stress and how it affects different people there are always exceptions to every rule. Although it is true that every person handles stressful situations in his or her own unique way there are many resources available to help a college student achieve passing grades regardless of the stress factor. At the same time, there are many choices a college student makes that adds to the amount of stress he or she carries in everyday life. Many times when a college student is sleep deprived it is that he or she has made the choice to be sleep deprived. Staying up all night partying is common among college students as going off to college may be the first time the student has had the opportunity to do so and many consider it to be a bonding experience or a way to make friends in a new place. Grabbing a less than stellar meal from the nearest fast food joint or having a pizza delivered is oftentimes a choice that a student makes rather than a necessity. Eating a meal like this is easier than shopping for a meal, cooking a meal, and cleaning up after a meal. Eating on the run may also be what â€Å"all of the other kids are doing† and again it is a way to fit in. Whereas it is true that some students must maintain employment while attending school this may not have to be the stressor that it often is. Time management skills can come in handy when trying to juggle work and school. Taking time to relax is one of the most important and effective ways of reducing stress. This can; however, oftentimes be misconstrued and taken out of context. One of the worst, and most common, pastimes college students use to relax is drinking alcoholic beverages. Binge drinking can be very detrimental to schoolwork as this can do away with a person’s judgment skills, time management skills, and a person’s healthy well-being. Research shows that binge drinking affects approximately 50% of college students (Stunn, n. d. ). Binge drinking can lead to missing classes because the student may be to hung-over to attend or if the student does manage to attend the mind and body may not be functioning at full capacity and may lead to an inability to concentrate and retain information. When this kind of drinking is done night after night it can lead to many absences or missed assignments, which can compound a student’s stress level by having to make up the work or complete the work in a shorter time with little to no instruction This information would be recommended to others in the class because as students stress will be an important factor during not only college years but also in future years as well. It is important that as an individual a person has coping mechanisms to deal with stress to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Research done on the topic of how stress can negatively affect a student’s GPA is important in learning how to better deal with the stressors in one’s life to overcome barriers and achieve the goals he or she has set. Enrolling in college is a big step in which nobody intentionally sets up to fail. Whereas there are many changes that a college student must adapt to there are an equal number of services both on campus and off that will help a student overcome the barriers to effective learning and to become a better student despite the changes in life. Learning ways to manage time, learning to make choices that will facilitate not only a healthy relationship with peers but also a healthy lifestyle, and learning to cope with the sometimes daily changes in life is part of growing up and moving into the adult world.

Critically discuss the nursing paradigms that you consider have the Essay

Critically discuss the nursing paradigms that you consider have the most relevance to nursing and to your own clinical practice - Essay Example to develop a strong interpersonal relationship with the patient and give quality and compassionate care for optimum positivism for the patient in particular. According to Polit and Hungler (2006) paradigm is a "way of looking at natural phenomena that encompasses a set of philosophical assumptions and that guides ones approach to inquiry" (pg. 183). Nurses naturally use this type of thinking in their practice to assist them in determining what the best care methods are going to be for a patient. Of course this thought moves into the usage of metaparadigms in the field as well, with both interlacing together to form a unified pattern in professional nursing. A Metaparadigm differs from a nursing paradigm as, â€Å"it is known as a group of statements identifying a relevant phenomena† (Fawcett 1984, pg. 84). The Metaparadigm model has four known concepts that directly affect the clinical practice of any nurse, regardless of this is in theater or outside on the surgical ward, or even on a basic ward. These four known central concepts that directly affect the discipline of nursing are as follows: Carper’s Pattern of Knowing (1995) intertwines with this mental train of thought in nursing because it moves beyond the technical aspects of the field and goes more into personal knowledge and experiences. This is explicably true in the area of understanding the patient’s direct needs and the environment from which they came from before ending up in the medical environment (Sorrell & Sorrell 1995, pg. 2). It is also true that this type of philosophy, while bringing many nursing ideas into a more unified spectrum has also brought in a paramount shift in the profession itself. According to how Sorrell & Sorrell (1995) analyzed this concept in their research, they show how Carper believes that every knowledgeable pattern in nursing must be fully understood so that a perfect type of congruence between all of the theorizations and concepts will develop and not be

Arley Merchandise Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Arley Merchandise Corporation - Case Study Example If the company sought to issue $8 per share in market value of common stock then the earnings per share would be further diluted as if the shares are valued at less than $8 on the stock market at the exercise date. The company does not currently pay dividends and do not expect to pay dividends in the future. It means that shareholders would have to manufacture there own dividends. Selling shares to obtain income (manufacturing dividends) will involve additional costs such as broker fees and therefore does not represent an attractive option for the investors. The ten year note is therefore a more favourable option as it will prevent the company of going outside. The rate of 128% above treasury rate is just 1% higher than the rate of 127% which was offered in January 1983. Although issuing the ten year note increases debt, it does not involve a negotiation of interest rate; neither does it consider the level of debt currently available. Arley Merchandise would only be paying interest o n the notes which is fixed. Interest expense is an allowable deduction for tax purposes. If the company decides to pay divide pay dividend in the future it would be a less advantageous option to investors. Furthermore, the ten year note is a less risky option for investors as they have prior claim over shareholders should the company go into bankruptcy. It would therefore attract more investors to buy the company’s shares. The fact that it pays interest quarterly makes it even better.

Assessing non-parametric or t tests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Assessing non-parametric or t tests - Essay Example The Cronbach alpha value of HPLPII was 0.95, which is reliable and valid for study; as HPLPII has been divided into further six subscales which are health responsibility (HR), physical activity (PA), nutrition (NUTR), spiritual growth (SG), interpersonal relations (IPR), and stress management (SM). The Cronbach alpha’ individual subscale values are stated as 0.83 for HR, 0.87 for PA, 0.85 for NUTR, 0.86 for SG, 0.82 for IPR and 0.76 for SM. Second concept of Attentional Demands Survey (ADS) is valid as Cronbach alpha values stood at 0.96. Since ADS was further divided into four subscales as Physical Environmental (PE), Informational (INF), Behavioural (BEH) and Affective (AF). The Cronbach alpha for all four internal subscales was reported as 0.90 for PE, 0.91 for INF, 0.84 for BEH and 0.88 for AF. Considering all the reported statistics of Cronbach Alpha; it can be argued that all variables are valid and reliable for further testing; it should be noted that acceptance of Cron bach Alpha test statistic is 0.8 for previously tested models and 0.7 for newly tested models. After validation, it should be noted that this study is a correlational study so, obviously the next step will be to analyse the correlation between the survey findings of Attentional Demand Survey (ADS) and Health Promoting Lifestyles Profile II. The resulted correlation between ADS and HPLPII was a moderate negative correlation though all the indicators were significant at 5% level of significance as p statistics for all correlation statistics was below 0.05. After open analysis the sample was categorized into age groups. One way ANOVA test was applied to find the significance of age differences and health promotion. The result statistics revealed significant difference of health promotion between two groups of age 65-74 and age 75-84 but the age group 85 to older had no significant difference in health promotion. The One way ANOVA test statistics revealed the significance of age group d ifferences as p stood at 0.027 with the F-test statistics at 3.72. In the parametric dimension of analysis ADS was consider responsive to the nursing facility for which demographic differences such as marital status differences and gender differences were tested for relationship. Marital status differences were not significant and there was no difference in health promotion while testing their marital differences as t-test statistics for ADS was 0.42 and for HPLPII was -0.42, both t-test statistics were below 2. Similarly gender differences for health promotion were also insignificant as t-test statistic for ADS was 0.76 and for HPLPII was -1.42. Besides parametric testing, the study also opted for some non-parametric testing as attentional demands and difficulties by different age groups were specified and the study compiled the survey results and presented it in tables which was categorized in three age groups. These non-parametric analysis helped understanding the qualitative dim ension of the study. The article is actually based on the growing healthcare problems among the dwelling elders in USA and examines the barriers to health promotion among them. The elderly population of today is known as the baby boomer generation who have

INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE MANAGEMENT - Essay Example It becomes more complicated when the employees and the company are operating under different sets of culture and tradition. The obvious issue of cultural and institutional differences between the two countries (host and country of origin) creates a question primarily because it dictates the HRM practises and strategies that the MNC subsidiary will utilise, and the support that the host country will provide. Previous studies on HRM practises in the Asia Pacific region have documented that the culture of the origin country has been most influential in their HRM practises. While there are numerous studies outlining the impact of Western Multinationals on emerging economies, there is very little knowledge on the HRM practises among emerging economy MNCs in western economies. Therefore, it was this study’s purpose to examine the HRM practises of MNCs from emerging economies in western countries. Â   This study did not provide clearly stated objectives although it can be surmised from the discussion of the significance. This study aimed to (1) identify the HRM practises used by emerging economy MNCs in the UK, and (2) clarify the issue of the effects of cultural and institutional differences in MNC subsidiaries’ choice of HRM strategies and practises. The research questions are stated after the review of the literature and as follows: The review of available literature explored the home and host country influences in the Taiwanese companies’ UK subsidiary’s selection of HRM practises through a comparison of Taiwanese and British companies’ current HRM practises. The HRM practises that were compared were: recruitment and selection; training and development; pay and benefits, performance appraisal system; management promotion and reward; flexible working; organisational communication; and participatory management; and international relations. The most evident difference between the Taiwanese and British

Health care questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health care questions - Essay Example rch has got its own due place within the midst of things and it would only be natural to decipher the true meaning of public health systems if proper measures are undertaken to take care of the patients under consideration. These patients should be given the room to have a better treatment regime in place so that their health could be insured and the measures that go in the wake of finding out such nuances are also given the much needed boost that is required within such discussions. The research regimes will aim to further find out how the development of future public health systems would mean success for just about everyone who is related with the public health quarters in one way or the other. In essence, research will find out the different developmental measures, means and pathways through which success can be envisioned and new opportunities to further expedite the process of giving better return on the public health systems for the sake of the common man are determined and thu s provided. As known to the public health systems that are prevalent in the time and age of today, the most important factors in the delivery of the same include the leadership quarters and the management ranks of the public health systems. What this implicates is the fact that a leader who has his say within the provision of public health in a proper way goes to show that the public health systems are built upon in a very serious way, and that there would be success for the people who matter the most – the stakeholders who are the patients themselves. Apart from leadership, there is a dire need to comprehend that managing the related activities of public health are also very significant. This is because the successful development and management of public health systems and activities would pave the way for the eventual linkage that is established amongst the different stakeholders and not just between the patients and the public health domains. There is a good amount of

Martin Luther's Eucharist Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Martin Luther's Eucharist - Research Paper Example This essay will argue that Luther’s adherence to sola scriptura shaped his sacramental theology of the Eucharist in The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. This paper will demonstrate Luther’s dependence on the Bible for his theology of the Eucharist by exploring the way he employs the Scriptures to do three things. First, Luther argues that the Eucharist is one of the three sacraments of the Church. Second, he declares that the bread and wine should both be made available to the congregation. Thirdly, he advances an argument against transubstation. All three of these arguments, as will be demonstrated, are rooted in Luther’s interpretation of the Scriptures. Criticizing the adoption of pagan practices by the Church, Martin Luther’s the Babylonian Captivity attempts to point to the pagan practices that Luther denoted were not founded on scripture. Some of these included the way in which indulgences were sold and/or the way in which the Pope was understood as the vicar of the Son of God; elements that were clearly not founded on scripture and the earthly teachings of Christ or His disciples.2 This particular treatise was published in 1520 after a period earlier in that year when Pope Leo X had published a bull that expressed disapproval of his teachings against the corruption that had become rampant in the Church. The papal bull also gave Luther some sixty days to repudiate what were alleged to be his heresies, and if he did not do as the pope demanded, he would be excommunicated.3 Historians have widely speculated concerning whether Luther saw the actual bull, but the fact that he mentions it in the later parts of the Babylonian C aptivity means that he may have had some knowledge of and most likely ignored it. What followed was that the pope officially excommunicated Luther and the possible reason behind his excommunication was not only

Demon Lover Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Demon Lover - Essay Example The aura of this story is psychological because the mysterious letter is a physical element with mental and emotional implications. We all have demons; the skeletons in Mrs. Drover’s closet in this story happen to be real. The man Mrs. Drover was intended to marry, before he was sent to war told her he did not know how long he would be gone, but she had nothing to do to await his return. Months after his departure he is reported missing, presumably killed. For years she goes unnoticed and un-admired by men. When her mother and sister fear she is past all hope, at 32 she secures the affections of William Drover. They marry and have three children. Her fiancà © is the incarnate ghost of her past which has been haunting her since she attempted to her live her life after his disappearance. She struggles with the fact that she doesn’t know why she agreed to marry a man who was not kind to her. She still sees it as a suspension she was in and was not able to get out of. Something that still haunts her and makes her think of him, whether as a threat or as a person she left or could not wait for. She may feel guilt but it may be at her own actions. Guilt of feeling emotion for a man who did not treat her the way she wanted to be treated. When Mrs. Drover is described in her house, a house boarded-up and damaged by war, it’s painting for the reader an image of her life as affected by her long-lost fiancà ©; like her house, she’s damaged though emotionally, and boarded up and abandoned. She also described as living in the country-side, away from the house and with her new family. If one were to see the story this way, we could also see her in the house presently to clean out the remnants of her feelings for her fiance, or to begin the final battle to get him out of her mind. This is supported by the description of the weather as we’re introduced to the deserted house: overcast, as if preparing to storm and later, we hear rain. This description has nothing to do on her doubts of her fiance’s disappearance; it just helps describe her journey in a clear way, though on her, a physical sign of her war is seen through a nervous twitch of her mouth. We should realize the fact that psychological st ories such as this one are made for the reader, so we need to pay attention to the fact that Elizabeth Bowen is trying to direct our minds down certain path, especially when introducing us to the house. She is trying to set a mood that is bleak, sinister and warning of something darker being imminent. The neighborhood being described as war-torn makes the area seem tormented, â€Å"Against the next batch of clouds, already piling up ink-dark, broken chimneys and parapets stood out† (Bowen, 1). This mood is also set by the weather in the beginning of the story where Bowen is trying to build an atmosphere of tension. This story is psychological because Mrs. Drover’s evils are either a figment of her imagination, or they’re products of her ex-fiance’s threats, which are both physical and emotional. The letter she finds in her house is the first example of a physical threat, whether it is from him or not, she perceives the letter to be a threat in the way tha t the writer makes this whole story affect the reader: through controlled vagueness which causes the imagination of the recipient run wild and cause damage. The other physical reminder of her lover is the scar on her hand from

The lessons in Vietnam war were forgotten in Iraq and Afghanistan Essay Example for Free

The lessons in Vietnam war were forgotten in Iraq and Afghanistan Essay A lot of lessons were learned throughout the Vietnam War but those lessons were not carried out in the Iraq and Afghanistan war. Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War, caused by fears of communism and the fact that since the USA was our allied country we had to join forces, was one of the most disastrous episodes in our past. The lessons learned from the Vietnam War were forgotten when Australia decided to join the United States of America, who were planning the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. The American soldiers and the Australian soldiers went through and are still going through some of the same circumstances that happened in the Vietnam War. Some of those circumstances are that the American/Australian soldiers don’t know the terrain as well as the enemies do and the enemies are blending amongst innocent civilians and they plan ‘attack and run/booby traps’ which harm/kill the innocent civilians and the soldiers like the Vietcong did in the Vietnam war. The number of American/Australian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are 1/10. Some people would say that the USA/Australian forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are completely pointless, ‘Like Vietnam, this war cannot be won’. Some people however disagree. People argue that the reason why our efforts in Vietnam failed where due to the lack of support towards the America/Australian Military defence forces. In World War 2, the United States were not fighting against Japanese and German soldiers in and attempt to make those countries better places. The goal was to defeat there military forces, destroy their capacity and keep fighting, just as what the North Vietnamese were trying to do to the South Vietnamese. World war ll was a much simpler war than Vietnam. There enemies were easier to identify and the United States felt obligated to use firepower at its disposal and kill innocent people. Suddam Hussein (the fifth president of Iraq), had ‘weapons of mass destruction’. Hussein ordered the Iraqi troops to attack the country of Kuwait. The United States defended Kuwait in the Persian War against Iraq. On March 19th, 2003, the United States attacked Iraq. The United States used national security as an excuse for fighting. Afghanistan had terrorist training camps run by the Taliban government. Also, Hussein supposedly had ‘Mass Weapons of Destruction’. Due to Australia being allied with the United States, it was Australia’s right to help America out. This is where they all went wrong; it was going to turn into another Vietnam War again. Two countries stepping onto foreign land, fighting against foreign people, who were hard to identify and who were also hard to find. Over time, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, the united states/Australian soldiers are trying to win wars while appearing to help people and are fighting against enemies who are hard to identify against the civilians, just as they did in Vietnam. With such unrealistic goals, it may be impossible to ever declare victory in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Infants Secure Attachment To Different Caregivers Social Work Essay

Infants Secure Attachment To Different Caregivers Social Work Essay Experience of early childhood attachment is at the base of healthy child development and works as the framework for the intimate relationship with others. Early manner of communication between the caregiver and child shapes the attachment relationship. The outcomes of infant attachment considered to be long-term and influences generations of families. According to Bowlby who developed theory of infant-caregiver attachment, attachment security characterizes the confidents of infants in their caregiver, and can be observed through how they interact with their caregiver and how they make use of the caregiver as a secure base to explore their environment (Brown, McBride, Shin Bost, 2007). Attachment theory, therefore, has been regarded as the major structure for the research of mother-child attachment, and it also might offer a practical approach for examining attachment development between other caregivers and infants. Nonetheless, in spite of a number of researches on mother-child att achment has conducted, we still are unfamiliar with attachment relationships between other caregivers such as a father and adoptive parents. Because of the socioeconomic changes that have occurred in the United States during the past three decades, more mothers, with infants, work outside the home and, in many cases, new roles for fathers within the home increased, and many couples with a variety of reasons decided to adopt children also increased. Therefore, this paper explores whether an infant can develop secure attachment to a caregiver other than their primary caregiver, usually mother, and then how father and foster mother-infant attachment relationship different from ordinary infant-mother relationship. Importantly, sensitivity has been considered as a key predictor for secure caregiver-infant attachment. Despite the fact that the relatively few researches studying the attachment relationship with fathers, some studies on father-child attachment suggests that fathers can give sensitive care, an important factor for developing secure attachment, for their children as much as mothers can; therefore, the level of attachment between father and child appears to be comparable to that usually found with mothers (Brown et al., 2007). Moreover, Brown et al. (2007) found that when fathers employed favorable parenting activities, father involvement time does not seem to affect on secure father-child attachment. More specifically, infants tended to form quite secure attachment relationships despite the fact that either their fathers were more involved or disinvolved. When fathers, on the other hand, employed less sensitive child-rearing, increased father involvement was associated to an insecur e father-child attachment (Brown et al., 2007). Therefore, father-child attachment is influenced by fathersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ parenting quality, and increased involvement is better for building attachment only when it accompanied by positive parenting. In addition, another research showed that fathers who valued the parental role were more tend to have a secure attachment with infants, but this connection was marked only when fathers have positive marriage, conceivably because these fathers are more prone to be given helping hand from their partner (Wong, Mangelsdorf, Brown, Neff Schoppe-Sullivan, 2009). Yet interestingly, fathers who valuing the paternal caregiving role might promote secure attachment of temperamentally difficult infants, for such fathers may be tend to support them with daily child-rearing activities and be adjusted to emotional needs of their infants as well as their other demands. Accordingly, temperamentally difficult babies would be more prone to attach securely to fathers in this circumstance. Even though all adopted children go through a stressful disjointing from their attached figures and are replaced with new attachment figures in the foster family, they are also able to develop and become attached to their fostering families. Jeffer and Rosenboom (1997) examined 80 mothers and their infant from all over the world, adopted between at age of 6 month and 8 month olds, in the Strange Situation when they were 12 and 18 months to evaluate their attachment. According to their study, they found more secure infant-mother attachment than insecure attachment relationship as normally expected. The actual proportion of secure attachment at both 12 and 18 months were approximately 75%, so secure attachments observed this research seemed to be stable over time (Juffer Rosenboom, 1997). Another study of attachment between foster parents and infant also demonstrated that quality of mother-infant attachment in middle-class foster families was comparable to the result of families with only biological children; however, interracial adoption were more likely to have less secure caregivers- infants attachment (Singer, 1985). It might be explained by which families who adopt children of a different race than themselves are less likely to receive hearty support from extended family, friends, and neighbors than are families who adopt children of the same race. Higher rates of insecure attachment also have found among infants who spent as a minimum of 8 months in a Romanian orphanage and then placed to foster families. Infants who adopted at an earlier age, by contrast, do not appear to have an elevated rate of insecure attachment to their adoptive parent (Chisholm, 1998). From these results, although adopted age of infants seems to be a critical factor whether they develop secure or insecure attachment to foster patents, adopted infants are capable of attaching to their new caregiver, and in turn, adoptive parents are responsive enough so that they can meet their adopt ed babiesà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ needs and be a their lighthouse as well. Since infants can develop securely attached relationship to other caregivers, the long term effects such as resiliency to new environments and having positive behaviors and expectances are assumed to be similar to which mother-infant relationship likely to have. Even though the comparison of attachment in foster and non-foster families was reasonably resemble, the outcome sometimes do not exclude the potential importance of insecure or disrupted post-infancy family relationships as a source for the adjustment problems of the adoptee. The study showed that when children reached to school age, they faced to the reality of adoption and begins to be aware of their circumstances, including being abandoned by their parents. Consequently, they often feel frustrated, doubtful, and become insecure to their current families relationship (Singer, 1985). Nonetheless, it appears that the higher occurrence of troubles accounted later on in such families cannot be explained only by attachment probl ems of earlier life because early secure attachment counteracts to these problems and buffers the negative emotion to some degree. In conclusion, infants can develop secure attachment not only to their mothers but also other caregivers, including fathers and adoptive parents. It seems that infants can become attached to any caregivers, provided that those caregivers interact with them on a regular basis, provide physical and emotional care, and are emotionally invested in the child. Sensitivity plays crucial role in secure attachment development between caregiver and infant; on the other hand, the amount of time parents involves in parenting appears to be less related to secure attachment development. The similar positive outcome of secure attachment can be expected to the attachment relationship among father- and adoptive parents-infant. Children are born prepared to form relationships with those who care for them, and those early experiences influence the relationships that they develop within the family and in the greater world outside of the home. Consequently, relationships affect childrenà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s healthy development, and childrenà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s development, in turn, transforms their later fine relationship.

Medical Revolutions :: essays research papers

The Civil War started as a picnic and ended in compassion, but in between were four hideous years of twisted flesh, burning fevers, rampant pus, and oozing raw stumps. Never before had America faced even a hint of such agony and the way it responded to the occasion is fascinating history. In a very real sense the War Between the States brought forth a medical revolution and, perhaps above all, an awareness of public health. The terrible, swift scalpel became less terrible: and the dank, dirty, dingy pesthouse evolved into a pavilion of hope. Nursing, dentistry, and pharmacy also experienced a renaissance and the art and science of military medicine was projected into the future. The man of medicine who served in the Civil War was, whether he liked it or not, first and foremost a surgeon and always referred to as such. Though his first knife may well have been government issued, he learned the tricks of the trade in due course and sometimes became quite an expert. â€Å"Do your best† was the general idea, and most surgeons did, or at least tried. Nearly all the older doctors had received their education on an apprenticeship basis but the younger men, those who made up the bulk of the army surgeons, usually held a medical school diploma along with an office internship. Little attention was paid to clinical instruction, and in most cases the laboratory was all but forgotten. Further, stethoscopes, thermometers, syringes, and the like were widely used in Europe while many doctors here at home had never seen them let alone used them. In regard to ability and competence, there is no reason to believe the doctors in the North and the South differed in any significant way. While the North was home to more prestigious medical institutions, the South was learning to become less dependent on the North in this area at the outbreak of the war. A number of schools became established. Whether good, bad, or indifferent, the doctors were needed and just about every device was tried to keep up supply, a task compounded by frequent absenteeism. This situation was by no means peculiar to the medical people, for many others in the Civil War had the habit of picking up their blankets and heading back to the old homestead. This is exactly the case for Inman in the novel, Cold Mountain, by Carles Frazier.

T.S. Eliots The Wasteland Essay -- Eliot Wasteland Survival Essays

T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland Cooperation is the key to human survival, and over time humans have been known to group together to survive. This strategy has allowed humans to develop massive cities and countries of immense power. Without the natural instinct to cling to one another, humans would not be as advanced as they are today, and may not have even made it out of the caves. Many authors display our natural instinct to cooperate in their works, allowing the characters to become more real to the readers. T.S Eliot’s The Wasteland displays our natural instinct to cooperate with each other as a key to our survival. As we struggle to survive when our world begins to fall apart, our basic instinct to cooperate with each other kicks in and we cling to each other for comfort. This concept is brought up in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. And again W.B. Yeats’s says in one of his poems, "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold." In either case the concept of clinging to one another and cooperating when things fall apart is displayed as a basic instinct that is the key to our success as humans. The Wasteland describes how humans cling together as the world falls apart by depicting a world from a much different point of view then we are used to. Instead of seeing the world in a positive view, Eliot depicts the world in despair. As this world falls apart, humans cling together and cooperate to get through the bad times. Lines 139-172 depict a scene in a pub that illustrates how we cling to one another even though we may not be supportive of each other. In this scene, Albert tells his wife how he thinks she is ugly and can’t fulfill what he desires of her. As he goes on, she makes excuses about why she is ugly and can’t... ...Org: Public Affairs on the Web. 13 Dec. 2000: 24 Jan. 2001. http://www.c-span.org/campaign2000/bushspeech.asp. Brooks, David. Bobos in Paradise : The New Upper Class and How They Got There. New York: Simon, 2000. Eliot, T.S. The Waste Land, Prufrock and Other Poems. New York: Dover, 1998. Gore, Albert Jr., Concession Speech. C-Span.Org: Public Affairs on the Web. 13 Dec. 2000: 24 Jan. 2001. http://www.c-span.org/campaign2000/gorespeech.asp. Jin, Ha. Waiting. New York: Vintage, 2000. Maddy, Yulisa Amadu. No Past No Present No Future. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann- Reed, 1996. Tanksley, Charlie. Speech on the Proposed New Flag. Ajc.com. 30 Jan. 2001. < http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/flag/tankspeech.html>. Taylor, Mark. Remarks on the New Flag. Ajc.com. 30 Jan. 2001. http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/flag/taylor0130.html.

Essay --

Robert rice Ms. Hoeb English 12 March 14, 2014 Homeless and Unemployment There is a nexus that exists within the homeless community. This nexus relates between having the essential resources to get a job and the need for a job to buy essentials that deem a person reliable. The government and businesses are the only ones in a situation to break this vicious cycle. To not have these things causes a serious barrier for the homeless. This barrier(s) can themselves lead to other problems not related to employment. These problems may include susceptibility to disease and weather due to lack of housing, malnutrition, and insecurity. The question is: How can our government, businesses and communities help the homeless, who want to get off the streets, get a job? This nexus has corrupted many attempts to leave the wandering life behind. Although it is true that many homeless want to remain on the streets there is about half who want a better life and job. â€Å"To bring these people back into the labor force offers no question those in a very short time†¦ additional income will far exceed the cost ...

Is Torture a Necessary Evil Essay

14th September 2013 Torture is a necessary evil. After reading this article and evaluating both sides of the argument, my opinion remains the same. I disagree that torture is necessary; it is a barbaric breach of human rights. After looking at statistics, only 8% of Guantanamo detainees were Al Qaeda fighters, this is a shockingly low percentage in proportion to the 517 Guantanamo that were detained. British laws have deemed torture illegal and yet at least 6 detainees alleged that British forces were involved in the torture. Torturing cannot go on; the pros do not outweigh the cons of torture. In exceptional circumstances, lives may be saved, but at what cost? Where does it end, as stated in the article, will family members become torture victims? As the initial suspect may not have value for their own life, they turn to his/her loved ones? If a suspect has been detained, regardless of what their crime may be, they still have the right to remain silent. Any forced extraction of information goes against the fundamental human rights , and even if information is gained, what assurance do we have that it will be correct information? In the heat of the moment, it may seem that the information is true, to end the pain that the victim is in, yet it may all be fiction. These are clearly not risks worth taking, and in my opinion, anyone who is willing to submit a fellow human being to that amount of pain and discomfort, does not fill me with confidence in the fact that they are in a position of power. In recent news, countries like the UK or the USA are undecided whether to involve themselves in the business of Syria; they claim that involvement, in the sense of morals, is the right thing to do. Yet there is still a debate on whether torture should be legal, does one not contradict the other? It seems extremely hypocritical that on one hand, the armed forces have a sense of human rights in one way, yet on the other hand, claims that torture is necessary, which completely abolishes human rights in another way. In conclusion, regardless of the arguments in favour of torture, I still disagree that torture is a necessary evil; it dehumanises victims, stripping them of their human rights, regardless of whether they may be Al Qaeda fighters, they still ha ve the basic human right to remain silent during questioning, any way of obtaining information by forced means is morally wrong.

Hobson’s Choice Essay

Maggie. Yes, Maggie†¦ You’re growing on me lass. ‘ In act three we see that the wedding reception is a small and simple one. This tells the audience that Maggie is not one for wasting money and does not mind having the party in the cellars. As the play moves on, the audience starts to see a change in Willie, You’re making a great mistake, Mr. Hobson. ‘ Willie also starts to take the upper hand with Hobson, ‘Sit down, Mr. Hobson. ‘ The change in him is all down to Maggie; she has pride in Willie and believes in him. Their marriage is originally more of a business arrangement but it starts to ecome more of marriage of equal partners. When Hobson comes over to seek help, Maggie is sure to talk to Will first, Will it’s my father. Is he to come in? Maggie and Will work together to make Hobson feel ashamed of his drinking and lead him into giving marriage settlements to her younger sisters. The audience will warm to Maggie over the way he skilfully gets her own back on her father. When Maggie deals with her father’s â€Å"problem†, she is in control and the audience, clearly see that she and Will are working together as a team, ‘Do you think it will get in the paper Maggie?†¦ Yes, for sure. ‘ Will has come a long way as he was previously described as ‘stunted mentally by a brutalised childhood. ‘ Even though Maggie’s plan has gone well in getting Hobson to give the settlement money over as a fine for trespassing, she shows that she cares for her sisters. Maggie does not let Albert Prosser take the thousand pounds he originally asks for, You needn’t be greedy. ‘ She also threatens to counter-sue and confirms the original settlement of five hundred pounds. We see a softer more sentimental side of Maggie when she throws away the hot ouse flowers but keeps one to press in her bible. To finish the act, Brighouse returns to the comedy of when Will has to be led to bed ‘by the ear. ‘ Although Maggie is clearly in charge in this respect, it contains an element of affection and humour plus this would also make her character a likeable one. At the start of Act Four, we see that Hobson is ill. Tubby tries to help by suggesting for Maggie to come over. ‘Shall I go for Miss Maggie sir? The opinion is agreed by the doctor, ‘l don’t know who this Maggie is, but I prescribe her. ‘ When Maggie and her sisters find that Hobson needs looking after, Vickey and Alice try to get Maggie to do it. Alice says, ‘I don’t think I can be expected to come back to this after what IVe been used to. ‘ Hobson tries to offer an unfair, mean deal to Maggie and Will to take care of him but Maggie quickly says, ‘If he goes, I go with him father,’ as the bribe is poor. The audience notice how Will has become a true gentleman with the help from Maggie, You’re the man IVe made you and I’m proud. When Will tries to replace Maggie’s brass ring for a gold one, Maggie does not ish to give it up. That brass ring stays where you put it. ‘ This shows the audience a sense of sentimentality. The play ends with Hobson as a sleeping partner, in Will’s business. Will, amazed, closes the act and the play with the words, W ell by gum! ‘ At the end of the play, the audience sees that Maggie as more of a likeable character. She is portrayed, by Brighouse, as a successful businesswoman – strange for a lady in her point in time. Brighouse shows Maggie can be fair and compassionate with other characters.

A Canary for One Essay

The story under consideration is entitled A Canary for One and is written by Ernest Hemingway, an American novelist and short-story writer. As for the author I have to mention that his style is characterized by crispness, laconic dialogue and emotional understatement. In his writing Hemingway explored themes of helplessness, defeat and social problems. The story A Canary for One is not an exception. The first idea about the title is that a bird was a present, a canary for somebody. However, following his story-telling iceberg style, Hemingway makes the meaning of the story even more significant. The bird is a symbol of hope for the better future. It is like a means of forgetting the problems and not to be alone. The story is about an American woman returning home with a canary for her daughter. After reading the story we got to know that the main idea is loneliness and the futility of human relationships. This can be proved by the example of the American couple who went to Paris to set up individual residences in Paris. As it often happens with E. Hemingway’s stories, the plot is difficult and thought provoking by its simplicity of language forms. In a train approaching to Paris, an American lady got acquainted with an American couple. In a conversation the woman told another woman about her daughter, who fell in love with a man from Vevey but they had to put an end to their relationships. Mother believed strongly that only an American boy would make a match for her girl. Having arrived at the railway station the couple and the woman said goodbye to one another. Having moved towards the gate the man and a woman went their own ways. The main character of the story is a quite rich and lonely American lady. The author doesn’t even mention her name as it’s unnecessary. In the whole story there are no names at all. What we know of her – she is a bit deaf and has a daughter whose life she destroyed because of her strong beliefs. To describe her character more vividly, to reveal her attitude to other people who are not Americans, the author used the phrases that â€Å"Americans make best husbands† or â€Å"American men are the only men in the world to marry†. The author did it to show the woman`s haughtiness. She stayed deaf both physically and emotionally to the world outside, even to her child. She described everything from a good point of view, but stayed adamant. They were madly in love†, â€Å"He was from a very good family†, â€Å"I took her away, of course†. The problem raised in the story is that people who don`t realize their mistakes, are not willing to understand and improve the situation stay alone in the end. The author doesn`t name the characters to show that there are a lot of such people among us. And this problem still remains a burning one. In conclusion I would like to say that I enjoyed reading the story. It is a very profound one that makes the reader become thoughtful about his own life and desires. All the important things are between the lines.

Emergence of Romanticism

The Industrial Revolution and the Emergence of Romanticism The Industrial Revolution was a period of time during the 18th century originating in Europe that resulted in major socio-economic and cultural changes around the world. These changes in part gave rise to the English Romantic spirit, especially in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom's economic system of manual labor shifted toward a system of machine manufacturing, resulting in the formation of factories and, therefore, modern cities.It also gave rise to the middle and working classes, aerating more employment opportunities but severely reducing the quality of living for those working, especially those in factories. This wrongful oppression brought on by the manipulation of the impoverished resulted in an intellectual and somewhat political movement known as Romanticism. Romantic artists and authors used their work to communicate the suffering of the people living in the newly industrialized world, and described imagined w orlds of beauty and perfection as a form of escape from the harshness that surrounded them.One such artist was William Wordsmith. In his poem â€Å"l Wandered Lonely as a Cloud† Wordsmith uses nature as a form of escapism from the Industrial Revolution. He describes the beauty of a multitude of daffodils and the happiness it brought him. â€Å"And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. † The mere thought of the perfect and serene environment continues to make him happy and makes him forget of the horrible surroundings he lives in.This type of escapism was well-received, allowing a similar feeling to emanate in others who suffered the worst of the Industrial Revolution. The Chimney Sweeper† by William Blake is a two part poem that analyzes the innocence of child laborers during the Industrial Revolution and exposes the manipulation of authoritarian powers. Blake also used escapism to contrast the bleak reality of industrialized Europe to the beautiful world that was promised to those who put up with working in fatal conditions. And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy, He'd have God for his father & never want Joy. † This excerpt from â€Å"Songs of Innocence† shows the lies that the children were fed in order to keep them obedient ND trusting. Blake more directly accuses the authorities in â€Å"Songs of Experience,† the second part of the poem. â€Å"And because I am happy and dance and sing, They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and His Priest and King, Who make up a Heaven of our misery. Despite the worker's mask of happiness and content, he is truly miserable, unbeknownst to his peers and family, who praise those who are slowly killing him. The government uses the trusted concept of God to force those under them to work and produce goods for them that will make them richer. This poem raised many questions about the effects and ethical state of child labor and lead to the eventual imposition of child labor laws. Another author, Thomas Hardy, exemplifies the effects of the formation of the working classes on the average person in his poem â€Å"The Ruined Maid. In the poem, a prostitute and her former acquaintance, a lowly farmer, discuss their ruined states, despite the former looking and acting more sophisticated and well-endowed compared to her previous appearance and attitude as a farmer. Mirror hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak, But now I'm bewitched by your delicate week†¦ † The harlot's friend compares her new appearance to what she used to be, assuming she's become more successful, but she believes that she's been ruined, a belief that she repeatedly expresses throughout the poem.This showcases her distorted perception of reality, believing she has it worse than her hard-working friend, when, in fact, the two live in about the same conditions and are both â€Å"ruined. † In many ways, the em ergence of Romanticism was a reaction to the effects of the Industrial Revolution. The writings and artwork of many 19th century intellectuals ND artists were created as a revolt against the inhumane treatment of low class citizens and the unnatural transformation of the environment.They used escapism and imagery to provide a beautiful environment that was uncommon in the reality of the industrialized world and to expose the unjust effects that this new mechanized way of life had on not only the environment, but the people. These artists used the Romantic Spirit to instill a sense of hope within the oppressed and proved that the thoughts of individuals can inspire and fight against the majority, eventually coming out on top.

ATRIAL SEPTAL DEFECT (ASD) AND VENTRICULAR SEPTAL DEFECT (VSD) Assignment

ATRIAL SEPTAL DEFECT (ASD) AND VENTRICULAR SEPTAL DEFECT (VSD) - Assignment Example Although most of the children with smaller ASDs appear healthy and grow normally, those with larger ASDs habitually exhibit reduced appetite and growth, frequent fatigue, shortness of breath and persistent lung infections. Additionally, such children are highly susceptible to conditions such as pneumonia. Treatment: Treatment of ASD in children similarly depends on the age of the child, size of the ASD and its location (Adler et al., 2014). Small ASD defects routinely close on their own as the child grows while there is always the need to perform open-heart surgeries and cardiac catheterization in order to rectify the condition in case the defect is large. Symptoms: Cardiovascular specialists are often able to detect VSD over the first few trips the infant makes to the hospital because of an irregular murmur within the heart (Penny et al., 2011). Apart from that, children who suffer from the condition often fail to thrive because they do not eat due to lack of appetite. Similarly, such children regularly tire quickly and suffer several instances of breathlessness due to faster breathing rates. Treatment: Treatment of VSD heavily relies on the size of the hole and, the age of the child and its location. Health experts routinely carry out open-heart surgeries to remedy the condition. The same applies to cardiac catheterization. Symptoms: In adults, the indicators of the condition are shortness of breath, notably when exercising and recurrent fatigue. The victims will similarly exhibit swelling of various body parts including the abdomen and legs, skipped heartbeats, frequent lung infections, and stroke. Treatment: Health providers recommend the use of anticoagulant drugs and medications that keep the heartbeat regular. For medium and large sized defects, doctors routinely recommend open-heart surgeries, for that ensures no future complications. Symptoms: Adults who suffer from VSDs experience

Chipotle food company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Chipotle food company - Essay Example it governance risk indicators which makes the company have low risks in its board, audit and compensation and a medium risk in shareholders’ rights. With the high rate of quarterly revenue growth of 24.50% against 8.90% of the industry, the company has experienced a steady growth in its branch network. Moreover, it is among the top companies in terms of market capitalization with a ROE of 23.64%, which guarantees investors of a good return. For the company to enjoy high performance, it should restructure its employment policies to word off concerns by investors due to the audits concerning immigrant workers (Schriftenreihe & Buchholz , 2008). 2. Review of the company and its business Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc is among the top service provision companies in the restaurant industry with a market capitalization of 7.75 B US dollars. It competes directly with companies such as Panda Restaurant Group, Inc, Taco Bell Corporation and Odoba Restaurant Corporation which are privately owned companies. Nevertheless, the company has indirect competitors such as Whitebread PLC, Mitchells & Butlers PLC and McDonald Corp whose market capitalization is higher. Over the years, this company has continued to spread its tentacles and has managed to establish a large network in US in 33 states. The expansion has made it find new ways of serving its large clientele through product innovations and appealing selling propositions Key product lines Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc has a wide range of products made up of dishes and beverages. These include burritos, selected beer, salads, salsas, lettuce, tacos, fruit drinks, burrito bowls, cheese, margaritas, a variety of meat types and guacamole. These gives the company a leverage as the customers have a wide variety to choose from. The extensive branch network in the 33 states in United States which are augmented by other branches in UK and Canada makes the company and its subsidiary serve a wide geographical area. The company lev erages its products by using natural ingredients which makes the products unique and appealing to many customers. This is manifested by the long queues especially during lunch times (Wylie, 2009). Strengths The competitive advantage over other business competitors is dependent on the goals and vision as well as mission thereof. The prudential guidelines make a company be able to offer quality products and efficient services to its customers. Moreover, a company gets the motivation to expand its network in a wide geographical area as its products and services get a high demand. The strengths of a company therefore, put a company in a good position to do business and be able to make profits even when others are counting losses. These key driving forces can be product innovations, strong financial postings, efficient and competent workforce, diversified business operations, competent management, conducive working environment as well as better terms of pay and compensation, and well tho ught and articulated financial and business operation policies. This is also boosted by establishment of clear

Psycholinguistics and Second Language Acquisition (Education) Essay

Psycholinguistics and Second Language Acquisition (Education) - Essay Example Learning a second language (L2) can not only be a considerably challenging and daunting task for many learners, but also a rewarding experience (Lennartsson, 2008). It takes time for a learner to study and adequately develop a language. My journey of learning English has always been demanding but within the learning, I learnt to overcome its challenges. Having been brought up in Germany and studying German for most of my childhood, I did not start learning English until when I moved to a secondary school in Singapore where I struggled to cope with the language and saw it necessary. After my secondary level, I was sent to Australia to further my education where I passionately perceived the language as pleasurable to learn. In understanding my learning outcomes as an L2 learner in English, this paper aims to examine my personal experience in the study of English in the secondary and tertiary level of my education by critically reflecting on two major factors. It discusses the ‘so cial context’ and ‘motivation’ for my L2 learning in relation to the changes in learning environment across the globe from Europe to Asia where I was brought up. Looking back at my extraordinary language learning experiences in Europe and Asia, I am grateful for learning two languages in two different continents. Born in Bavaria, Germany, I was brought up there for most of my childhood. My parents, my father in particular, spoke to me in German and I adopted it as my first language (L1). At times, my mother, of Singaporean background, would speak to me in English and thus I gradually acquired it as my second language (L2). Although my English was limited and I was never compelled into learning it, German was regarded as my primary language of instruction and communication. When I was twelve years old, in the mid-80s my family moved to Singapore where my learning of English as a second language began. Having completed

2 Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

2 Reflection - Essay Example Part of it can be external, with us investing in causes that we think are appropriate. Another way to do it is through values and codes of ethics. A question that has troubled many people since the dawn of time is how should a person lead a good, ethical life? Furthermore, how should a business behave in an ethical manner? There are as many theories as there are grains of sand on the beach, but a few ideas over the years have been more popular than others. Some people are born into religions where these questions are answered for them. They are able to know from an young age what their god tells them is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing. Others question their faith and try to revise their morality, bringing in parts of other religions or philosophies. Still others have no real faith and try to build a moral foundation out of their personal experience adding rules and content to it as the years go by. In the world of today we see a new strain of thinking: the professional code of conduct. This is the form of CSR that may be most cost effective to a company. It is easy to impose, sounds good to the public, and co sts a company little. Plus, in the end it will pay dividends. This code would set out what members can and cannot do. But not all codes are created equal. Some are exhaustive, others merely illustrative. Some make suggestions, other state explicitly. However, it is important to be aware of the counterargument that exists to all CSR strategies. There are many unintended consequences for those who push the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. It does not always lead to the results that a company might expect. Let businesses be businesses and let charities be charities. It is simply too confusing and leads to too many unintended consequences for things to be set up in any other manner. The bottom of a company sometimes falls out there: there are no sure

The Great Depression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Great Depression - Essay Example Progressivism at its best aimed to remove corruption by imposing child labor laws, addressing lynching based on racism, and removing politicians that were involved in illegal business practices. At the local level, progressivism continued to display brilliant signs of reform as the construction of schools was pushed, political machines were dissolved, and politics was addressed in an efficient manner.   Roosevelt’s New Deal was considered of two phases that were planned to recovery and relief. The first phase concentrated on to heal society from Great Depression through different channel. Acts such as the Agricultural Adjust Administration clearly boosted agriculture reform and built civil infrastructure. Bank reform occurred in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which installed a limit and tightened finance regulations. The second phase of the New Deal 1935 and 1941 concentrated on recovery measures. The implementation of the social security system tremendously s ecured the economic security and the individual warfare. The Fair Labor Standards Act that was passed in 1938 again emphasized as minimum living standards for workers that were associated with commerce.   The minimum wage was raised from $0.25 to $0.40 along with 44 hours limit and established pay for overtime. The Department of Labor spearheaded this effort as the standards were

Freedom and Social Political Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Freedom and Social Political Philosophy - Essay Example Social-political philosophy, therefore, refers to discipline infrastructure that aims to solve and discover problems that are deeply rooted in the society and affects human beings either directly or indirectly. It seeks to create a relationship between the society and man. Social-political philosophy is considered universal, prescriptive or largely theoretical in context (Simon, 2002). Social-political philosophy concerns the existence of man in the society. It helps identify the nature of human beings and evaluates how they are able to relate to the society. It deals with man’s relationship and conducts with the society at large. The questions posed by social-political philosopher’s targets issues such as democracy, rules and the purpose of the state. The person’s metaphysical orientation is one of the element s that determines political philosophy various questions that a social-political philosopher asks are vital in the creation of rules and laws associated with man and aimed at establishing the re3lationships that coexist with the society. The culture and experience of a philosopher determine how they are able to respond to the many questions raised and targeting man and society (Russell, 2000). A philosopher relates their ideas to those who came before them and the current issues affecting the society as a man’s dwelling place. Soc ial-political philosophy and political science functions together through political science are associated with answers that are descriptive (it says, ‘what is not and what is’). Political philosophy, on the other hand, utilizes the evaluative and analytical method in dealing with most of its issues. The paper seeks to discuss a social-political philosophy theme in the society. Freedom and justice are some of the themes in the social-political philosophy. The idea of freedom is recognized as ambiguous, indefinite and open to a lot of misconception.  

Final research paper. ( packaging) Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Final . ( packaging) - Research Paper Example The idea of packaging is fundamentally defined as an amalgamation of science, technology and art that is mainly executed for protecting the various products during the phase of distribution, sales and storage. Its ultimate target is to diminish various ecological wastes along with preserving major environmental resources by utilizing the diverse constituents of packaging such as the factors of reusing, recycling and reducing. All these significant elements of packaging generally work together for the intention of reducing along with preserving various ecological wastes and resources respectively (Levy, 2000). The paper broadly aims towards a clear and deeper understanding regarding one of the sustainable environmental issues related to packaging along with the several disadvantages that it poses to the environment as well as business organizations. Furthermore, the aspect of innovation in environmental aspect of packaging will also be portrayed in the discussion. The factor of packaging imposes adverse effects upon the environment through number of significant reasons. The most important fact is that it is generally not biodegradable and as a result it contributes largely towards releasing greenhouse gases that eventually leads towards causing global warming. It has been observed that every product along with the production system and packaging possess certain unfavorable consequences upon the environment. It generally exhausts the natural resources and contributes largely upon creating significant quantity of wastes (Marsh & Bugusu, 2007). In this connection, for the purpose of defending the environment, it is very much essential to look into the matter that the wastes are kept at a minimum level during designing as well as packaging the products. Moreover, it is also very much necessary to recycle and to make best possible use of the waste materials that might help in money saving along with safeguarding the environment by a

Uncle Vanya Essay Example for Free

Uncle Vanya Essay In Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov each character involved in the making of this play is not satisfied or content with life. They feel their life is a waste and they are still wasting them. Uncle Vanya, the character base of this play envies his brother in law, the professor because he is able to attract the ladies in spite of having no penny in his pocket. Astrov, the doctor, is discontent because all his life he has worked hard without any rest and he has nothing to boast about with him today. He has grown old, he has nothing to give him company but his vodka. Sonya, daughter of the professor, is in love with the doctor and is unsure of his love. She is unhappy because deep down she knows he is not in love with her but she is a more practical soul then the others. Sonya is not exactly content but she has her way of solving problems in her life as well as others lives. Yelena, the professor’s second wife, though attracted to the professor initially was never in love with him. She stays in the marriage more due to her conscience then for love. She has affectionate feelings for Astrov who reciprocates them but there is no future for that. Maria Vasilevna Voinitskaya, uncle vanya’s mother, is frustrated and unhappy waiting for the long journey towards end of life. Reading some pamphlets and writing is the only way she keeps herself occupied. Professor Alexander Vladimirovich Serebryakov, is a man who has no penny with him and is forced to stay in the estate of his first wife. He is not happy doing that and wishes to sell of the estate to buy a villa which creates a havoc. Telegin’s wife left him for someone else because of his looks and now he has to take care of his wife and her family. Marina, the old nurse, though irritated with the changed schedule, is a pleasant change from the frustrated atmosphere. From all this we know that none of the characters are content or satisfied.

Ethics in Nursing Essay Example for Free

Ethics in Nursing Essay Nurses are to provide compassionate, competent, and ethical care, and follow the moral principles and guidelines set out by the College of Nurses and the Canadian Nurse’s Association’s code of ethics. The nursing profession is a self-sacrificing one, and nurses take on the Nightingale Pledge, to elevate the standard of their practice and dedicate themselves to those committed in their care (Keatings Smith, 2010, p. 64) However unfavourable working conditions, inadequate patient to nurse ratios, and intensive job-related stress can lead to poor performance of daily routines, and adversely patient safety (Ozata et al. , 2013). In the situation regarding Mr. Gurt who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, it is vital for the nurse to weigh him at the beginning of each month. This is her obligation under her employing institution’s standards of care, as well under the autonomy of her practise in which any deviation from this could result in exposure to liability (Austin 2006, p. 62). In order for the nurse to properly care for Mr. Gurt, assessing his accurate weight is essential in providing a care plan that will focus on his overall wellness and healing. Because Mr. Gurt is frail, and has stage one pressure ulcers on both heels and his coccyx, it is imperative that he has every opportunity to build up his skin integrity and prevent future disruption of his skin surface. Complications that may arise because of the nurse’s neglect in failing to weigh him, may contribute to other underlying problems. General health concerns Mr. Gurt would be facing on top of his current co- morbidities would include a decline his general appearance, gastrointestinal, neurologic, integumentary, and musculoskeletal systems (Holloway, 2004, p. 80). By recording a weight of 70kg with a height of 170cm, the nurse calculated Mr. Gurt’s Body Mass Index (BMI) at 24.2 which is borderline overweight, when in fact it was 14.5, with 18.5 being the baseline for being underweight ( http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/ obesity/ BMI/bmicalc.htm., n.d.). According to this value, it would be likely that Mr. Gurt would suffer from imbalanced nutrition, less than his body requirements leading to other complications and failing to thrive. Nanda defines failure to thrive as the progressive functional deterioration of a physical and cognitive nature. The individual’s ability to live with multisystem diseases, cope with  ensuing problems, and manage his care are remarkably diminished (Ackley Ladwig, 2011, p. 350). To add on to potential problems, drug doses are given based on factors such as age, gender, and the weight of a patient (Raman-Wilms, 2013). Since Mr. Gurt is elderly and suffering from the effects of Parkinson’s with an imbalance of neurotransmitter activity between dopamine and acetylcholine, there may be fewer receptors and a decrease in neurotransmitters to take up his drugs (Raman-Wilms, 2013). Levadopa a dopaminergic medication which treats the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease should be reviewed with b ody weight changes (Raman-Wilms, 2013). A study looking into the factors of weight loss in Parkinson’s looked at the effects of dopaminergic treatment which suggested that the drug had a lipolytic effect and body mass fat was decreased with the advancement of Parkinson’s symptoms (Lorefalt, 2004, p.186). The potential magnitude and likelihood of harm occurring in this case is significant as drug tolerances, adverse effects, and toxic effects are high, making the liver and kidneys susceptible to disease (Urquhart, 2014), as Mr. Gurt’s body mass index indicates he is underweight and a higher risk for drug overdoses. Effectiveness of this drug will diminish over time in which the adverse effects may become severe and may include palpitations, abdominal movement, dizziness, and confusion (Raman-Wilms, 2013, p. 331). Incorrect doses of his medication could lead to physical and psychological issues based on the nurses documented weight and his actual weight. Failing to weigh Mr. Gurt will have a great impact on his nutritional needs, but will also affect his ability to heal his pressure ulcers on his heels and coccyx. Mr. Gurt is emaciated which may be in part to dysphasia, tremors, still muscles, and slow movements among other symptoms of Parkinson’s (Wilk Newmaster, 2013, p. 288). As well, Mr. Gurt’s weight is evidence that he is not receiving the nutritional intake his body’s immune system requires to create the proteins and blood cells (macrophages the body’s first line of defence), needed to attack and repair his wounds, and prevent the risk for infection (Raman-Wilms, 2013). The nurse’s blatant disregard to weigh Mr. Gurt puts him at greater risk for infection and is a form of negligence. Negligence in nursing can be unintentional, however it is important to understand the effects this has on health professionals practicing in Ontario. A registered nurse is responsible to follow the standard of care when performing nursing  acts under autonomy within their scope of practise (College of Nurses, 2004) (CNO, 2004). Standard of Care is the legal benchmark against which a person’s conduct is measured to determine whether a person has been negligent and whether the person’s conduct or actions in a given situation have met those expected of a competent health care professional (Keatings Smith, 2010). The College of Nurses is the governing body for registered nurses that protect the public through regulating the nursing profession (CNO, 2014). A practising nurse is obliged to follow the standards of care and ethical guidelines set out by this governing body (CNO, 2014). The College of Nurses lists seven ethical values which are all important, but recognizes that client well-being is a primary value (CNO, 2014). The College of Nurses connotation of client well-being is to promote the patients health, while preventing or removing harm (CNO, 2014). In the case regarding Mr. Gurt, where the nurse is required to weigh him monthly and record the data, she is morally responsible for the patient’s well-being and for any adverse outcomes regarding his health for failing to provide safe care. The nurse’s complacency in failing to weigh Mr. Gurt, a simple act, would be of concern in investigating her moral responsibility in providing ethical care in her work environment. The nurses ethical duty is to advocate for her patients and provide safe, effective, and ethical care (CNO, 2014). Possible outcomes that could arise for the nurse in failing to provide ethical care include: her co-worker filing a complaint to the College of Nurses, a discipline hearing with the College of nurses, and possibly a lawsuit (CNO, 2014). Potter Perry note the criteria nurses can be found liable for negligenc e as summarized; the nurse owed the duty to the patient; to whom that duty was not carried out; and the patient was injured for failing to carry out that duty (Potter Perry 2013, p. 96). A common negligent act is failing to monitor a patient’s condition adequately (Potter et al., 2013, p. 97). For a nurse to be sued, and in the case with Mr. Gurt, the nurse had carelessly not performed a duty which was vital to his ongoing care. While the ability to predict harm is evaluated is this case, the nurse had committed a wrong doing to Mr. Gurt and could be tried as an unintentional tort. (Potter et al., 2013, p. 97-98). According to the Criminal Code, 1985, if Mr. Gurt was to pass away as a result of improper care or toxic levels of medication being given due  to the nurse failing to weigh him, the nurse could also face criminal liability if the nurse was proven to have a reckless disregard for her patient (Potter et al., 2013, p. 99-100). The best way for nurses to avoid being negligent is to follow the standards of care; be self aware and to reflect on their nursing practise; to follow the ethical framework established by the College of Nurses; and to continuall y educate themselves on best practices, assessments, and evaluations within their nursing abilities (Potter et al., 2013, p.98). With that in mind, one final thing I would suggest is to have professional liability and legal assistance protection insurance coverage. References BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 4105 Ackley, J. A., Ladwig, G. B. (2011). Nursing Diagnosis Handbook (9th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby/Elsevier Canada. Austin, S. (2006). Ladies gentlemen of the jury, I present the nursing documentation. Nursing, 56-64 Calculate Your Body Mass Index. (n.d.).Calculate Your BMI. Retrieved June 4, 2014, from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm.(n.d.). College of Nurses of Ontario/Ordre des Infirmià ¨res et Infirmiers de lOntario. (2014). College of Nurses of Ontario. Retrieved June 15, 2014, from http://www.cno.org/ Holloway, N. (1999). Medical-Surgical Care Planning. Orinda: Springhouse Corporation. Keatings, M. (2010). Ethical Legal Issues in Canadian Nursing (3rd ed.). Toronto:Mosby/Elsevier Canada. Lorefalt, B., Ganowiak, W., Palhagen, S., Toss, G., Unosson, M., Granerus, A.K,.(2004). Factors of Importance for Weight Loss in Elderly Patients with Parkinsons disease. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica, 180-187. Ozata, O., Ozturk, Y.E., Cihangiroglu, N., Altunkan, H. (2013). The Development of a Scale of Malpractice Trend in Nursing and Validity and Reliabilty Analysis. International Journal of Academic Research, 57-65. Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Kerr, J. C., Wood, M. J. (2009). Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing (4th ed.). Toronto: Mosby/Elsevier Canada. Raman-Wilms, L. (2013). Guide to Drugs in Canada (4th ed.). Toronto: Dorling Kindersley. Urquhart, B. (2014). Exploring how kidney failure impacts the bodys systems. Western News. Wilk, M. J., Newmaster, R. (2013). Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker.Toronto: Mosby/ Elsevier Canada.

Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Chant The Development and Evolution of Gregorian Chant For centuries, Gregorian chant was considered the official music of the Catholic Church. Naturally, this degree of importance placed on the genre gives it considerable significance, both religious and cultural. Its exact beginnings, however, are not absolutely known. Also, chant has changed over time due to it being based on practices of the Church, which have also changed over time due to decrees by various popes, agendas of monastic orders, and the influences of and intermingling of cultures, such as the Franks, Romans, and Byzantines. Although the name of Gregorian chant is derived from Pope Gregory I â€Å"The Great†, it has its roots much earlier in history, predating Christianity. In fact, Christian chant is believed to have been originally derived from Judaism, as there was a considerable amount of common ground between Jewish and early Christian liturgies (Werner 20). This is seen through writings of the early church which show that the early Christian church was heavily influenced by Hebrew worship (Barton). However, there is little information available from chants of early centuries compared to Gregorian chant and other chants of later centuries (Hiley 478). One reason for this is that musical notation for chants of this time did not exist, for at this time chants were an entirely oral rather than written tradition. Also contributing to this lack of information is that early Christians were persecuted, forcing private worship until the Edict of Milan of 313, which gave Christians the right of freed om of worship in Rome (484). Due to this freedom, Christianity could afford to become more formalized and organized, its music included. There is further ambiguity surrounding the specific origins of Gregorian chant in considering Pope Gregory himself. What Gregorys influence was on Gregorian chant is debatable, as there is limited evidence supporting that he either had a great deal of influence on the genre, such as directly composing chants, or virtually none (513). However, two pieces of evidence support a common theory of his involvement in the creation of Gregorian chant that was known throughout the Middle Ages, which are two books written by Pope Gregory. These two books, entitled Antiphonarium and Graduale Romanum, are compilations of already existing chants that Pope Gregory designated for specific parts of Catholic mass which supports the theory that his involvement was limited to such compilations (D‘Silva). An example of Gregorys ordering to use specific music in liturgy is him mandating that the Allelulia be used during mass for an entire year (Apel 41). Despite the lack of specific information concerning the beginnings of chant that would later evolve to become Gregorian chant, the origins of Gregorian chant as it was known throughout the Middle Ages are more clear, as music books, although they still were not musically notated, of the genre were created by the Franks at around the 9th century, making the genre easier to trace through history to that point (Hiley 514). Note that it was not until the 10th century that sources were created containing musical notation, namely being musically annotated Graduals and Antiphonals from the Codex 359 (Apel 52). Also, it was not until the 11th century that music was annotated in a way so that tunes could be read (53). In addition to these musical books, various manuscripts were written that outlined liturgical proceedings, allowing for further clarification of the specifics of Gregorian chant (53). The peoples who ruled the area that is roughly present-day France played a large role in forming Gregorian chant to what it is, from the Franks to the Carolingians (Hiley 512). This started under the rule of the Frank king Pepin, who lead the Franks to control much of Europe through military conquest, spreading the culture of chant to the Franks, and also causing reforms to Gregorian chant by the Franks and their successors (513). In addition to causing chant to be more widespread, the intervention of the Franks also caused Gregorian chant to evolve from further influences (513). Not only did the influence of the Franks allow the beginnings of Gregorian chant to be seen more easily, as was described previously, but their musical texts also show the original motives behind its development, the main motive being to help control how the liturgy was run by assigning specific chants to certain parts of the liturgy, as was done by Pope Gregory (515). In the case of the Franks (namely Pepin and also Charlemagne), the reasoning behind trying to control the specifics of the liturgy was so that it would become standardized since many members of the church were influenced by their own local traditions in structuring the liturgy, which Frank leadership was trying to suppress (Barbon). Of course, due to the amount of time between Pope Gregorys writings and the adoption of chant by the Frankish church (300 years), it can be safely assumed that the liturgical assignments of the Franks were different than those of Pope Gregory. More changes were made as well in Gregorian chant, including the style of singing, such as the combining of both Roman and Frankish singers, although eventually a return to a more Roman styled liturgy and type of singing occurred among the Franks (Hiley 517). Since writing texts for the chants was still not common practice and musical notation for them did not yet exist, it follows that the Franks had to learn Roman liturgy and chants by memory when this shift back to strictly Roman liturgy occurred. This also denotes that the number of chants that were used and popular were not too numerous at this point in time, as they could still be all memorized. Despite the shift back to a Roman style liturgy, over the years and into the 9th century to the start of the rule of the Carolingians, who succeeded the Franks, Gregorian chant continued to evolve as new musical elements were added to the genre by the Franks and more compositions were created (Hiley 517). Some of these changes were brought on by outside influences on Gregorian chant, such as by the Byzantines, who developed the eight mode system (529). The fact that the amount of compositions of Gregorian chant were increasing can be tied in with the development of written musical texts around this time period, causing Gregorian chant to shift away from a strictly oral tradition, for it would no longer be possible to memorize all of the chants necessary as their numbers grew. As the popularity of Gregorian chant grew, it underwent several more reforms and evolutions, mostly during the 12th and 13th centuries (Hiley 608). An example of such a reform was more specific notation being used in writing chant, which included specifying pitch, among other specific musical elements (608). Another reform was the tendency to drift away from previous melodies of the Middle Ages, creating a type of chant called â€Å"Neo-Gallican† chant (609). Many of these changes made to Gregorian chant were initiated by various orders, two major ones being the Cistercians, who believed in performing the liturgy as it was done originally, and the Dominicans, whose reforms, like the efforts of many before it, were aimed at standardizing the liturgy (612). Gregorian chant did not enjoy constant growth and popularity, however. After the 12th century, the popularity and growth of Gregorian chant started to wane, presumably due to a period of reduced popularity of the Catholic Church (DSilva). Also, around the 16th century the Catholic Church was threatened by Protestantism, which also played a part in decreasing the popularity of the church, thus affecting the popularity of traditional monastic liturgies and music (Hiley 615). Another such period of decadence for the church and for Gregorian chant was during the age of Enlightenment, as less emphasis was placed on the church and God and instead more on the individual and reason. As a result of this new ideology, the power and influence of the church began to decline. In addition to the general ideology of the time, another reason for the decline of the Church was the political struggle caused by the French Revolution, which caused a reform in the French church so that it no longer observed previous monastic traditions (Bergeron xii). Due to Gregorian chants close association with the church, its popularity began to decline as well (Barton). This causes yet another obstacle in acquiring information about Gregorian chant and thus makes it more difficult to interpret today as the knowledge of how to interpret various medieval musical notations was lost (Barton). A large factor of why Gregorian chant did not die out completely is the involvement of monks at the French monastery at Solesmes, and other such monasteries, who during the 19th century were commissioned by Pope St. Pius X to modernize Gregorian chant (DSilva). They achieved this by removing the strict association that Gregorian chant had with the church, secularizing it and adding a meditative, â€Å"trancelike appeal† (DSilva). In the end, Gregorian chant was changed to be more akin to classical Roman chant than the Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages. As a result, the chant that is known today as Gregorian chant is more similar to early plainchant rather than what was originally dubbed as â€Å"Gregorian chant† (DSilva). As a result of this change of the style of Gregorian chant, along with the declining power of the Catholic Church and thus the popularity of Gregorian chant, it is difficult to know what Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages exactly sounded like (Barton). Another factor that contributes to this is the lack of musical notation with text in the Middle Ages, and that some of the notation that does exist from the time period cannot be interpreted due to these periods of decrease in popularity. Overall, the fact that chant was originally a purely oral tradition that consisted of few enough chants that could be memorized, along with Gregorian chants affiliation with a religion that was originally persecuted and later declining in popularity, contributes to the murkiness of the origins of Gregorian chant. Also, the fact that Christianity underwent significant changes from the time of its conception to modern times results in equally significant changes occurring in the style of music that was so closely affiliated with its prominent church, even causing Gregorian chant to nearly die out on several occasions in history. However, despite the several bouts of decrease in popularity that Gregorian chant experienced, it is currently one of the oldest forms of music that is actively listened to today (DSilva). Also, the many changes that Gregorian chant underwent throughout history makes it very unique, as it cannot be entirely attributed to any specific event, person, or even nation or empire. Instead, as David Hiley states, â€Å"†¦Gregorian chant is neither of one specific time, nor wholly Roman, nor wholly anything else† (Hiley 513). Works Cited Apel, Willi. Gregorian Chant. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. Print. Barton, Louis W. G.. The Culture of Medieval Music Calligraphy: Historical Background of Neume Notation / The Neume Notation Project.. scribeserver.com. N.p., 8 Dec. 2003. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . Bergeron, Katherine. Decadent Enchantments: The Revival of Gregorian Chant at Solesmes (California Studies in 19th Century Music). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. Print. DSilva, Neil Valentine. The History Of Gregorian Chant. Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . Hiley, David. Western Plainchant: A Handbook. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1995. Print. Werner, Eric. The Sacred Bridge: The Interdependence of Liturgy Music in Synagogue and Church During the First Millenium. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1960. Print.