1984. vs. Animal Farm Essay Example for Free

1984. vs. Animal Farm Essay 1984 vs. Animal Farm George Orwell, the man behind two best-selling novels; 1984 and Animal Farm, follows the idea that the establishment of an elite power in a society produces hopelessness and fear. George Orwell is an author commonly known for his politically influenced works regarding socialism. In Animal Farm, Orwell portrayed an uprise of the farm animals overthrowing their master, Mr. Jones. Two pigs led the animals in this rebellion; their names were Snowball and Napoleon. The two pigs engaged in a political struggle, as both of them wanted to have the power to lead all of the animals. In 1984, Orwell describes a society that is completely under totalitarian control, as the dictatorship of big brother and his party in Oceania rule over the population with rigid laws and a distinct hierarchy of social position. Winston Smith, a blue-collar outer party member, is secretly discontent with his life. As Smith becomes more and more rebellious, his party intervenes and forces him to rehabilitate and conform to their ideals. In George Orwells 1984 and Animal Farm, the idea of individuality and free thought is eliminated in order to preserve a spot for a higher and more authorative power. Individuality is taken from the characters in both of the novels, Animal Farm and 1984. In 1984, the outer party is blind to the reality that their lives are being completely controlled. An example of this ignorance is when the outer party is told that their chocolate rations had been increased, when in actuality the rations had been reduced the week prior. The party’s successful assault on the individuality of its members led to happiness amongst the leaders and a gain in power. In Animal Farm, Orwell displayed the idea that a simple mental state of mind can easily be manipulated. The pigs controlled the animals and made them believe that everything they said was correct. The pigs proved this theory when they repeatedly changed the  seven commandments. When they were questioned, they reported to the animals that the â€Å"laws† had always been in their changed condition. Napoleon uses the terror brought on by the dogs to rule the farm and none of the animals realize it. Both the party and the pigs demonstrated that it is possible to abolish individuality and force people to live the life that is placed before them. George Orwell successfully portrayed the lives of people who were under complete tolitarian control in the books Animal Farm and 1984. The pigs and the party were able to gain control over their commoners by using manipulation and fear. Orwell shows the reader that it is easy to be taken advantage of in these two novels.

A Rose for Emily Essay Example for Free

A Rose for Emily Essay Decay is found in numerous parts of â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. The image pattern works its way from Emily’s mind to the inside of her lover, Homer Barron’s, resting chamber. In â€Å"A Rose for Emily† you find five major elements of decay. The first element of decay that is found in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is the decaying of Emily’s mental state. Emily may have felt trapped because her father wouldn’t allow any male suitors to visit her, so when her father died she likely felt she should trap his body and not bury it as revenge because he wasted her youthful potential for love and an independent life. Emily’s denial of her father’s death expands the theme of death because she traps herself home unwilling to allow the change of death to affect her lifestyle. Another element of decay that is found in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is after the death of her father Emily allows the house to decay and become an eyesore, as the town’s people described it. Not only did the school look decrepit in a town that was embracing modernization but it also reeked of death and decay as well. Emily didn’t accept the theme of change because she seemed to live comfortably in the decay. She also wouldn’t accept the town’s people’s wants to modernize how the town looked by putting numbers above her door. Since Emily was living in a standstill in the period in which she grew up in, she never changed the interior of her house so she left all the furniture that was at one time very sophisticated go to waste and decay (Teen Ink). After her father and lover’s death, Emily let the decay continue to take its toll on her life by allowing her physical condition to decay. Emily at one time was one of the most sought after women with her slender body, angelic features, and her white attire. When she let the decay take over her personal hygiene and physical appearance she had traded in all those great looks for a heavy set figure, her dark eyes, and her grim black attire. When Emily let her physical appearance go she also enhanced the theme of decay and how time changes the body. Not only does the element of decay take over Emily’s mind, house, and body, it also deteriorates her social standing in the town. Town’s people once viewed her as a promising woman who would surely succeed in the future. Now she was thought of as a crazy suicidal woman (Teen Ink). In her reality Emily remains proud and doesn’t recognize the fact that she has fallen from the aristocratic social status that she once was in before the death of her father. This element of decay helps expand the theme into a fall from a notable social standing or rank of power. The last and major climatic element of decay was after Emily’s funeral the town’s people opened the abandoned room in the middle of the house and found the remnants of her lover in bed. She had clearly been lying beside Homer Barron’s corpse for thirty years due to the evidence of the long strand of iron gray hair found on the pillow beside his (Faulkner). The decay isn’t just upon poor Homer Barron but is also noted on everything in the room. The town’s people see the effects of decay in the rose colored room with dust blanketing everything and the tarnishing of the monograms on the silver toiletries placed in the room that appeared to be suited for a bridal suite as if it were an eerie dream. This element of decay enhanced the theme of Emily’s sad tragic life. There is also a surprising twist in this short story that would make any reader curious. The Negro servant, Tobe is the only one to escape the house of decay unscathed. As quoted by Faulkner, â€Å"He walked through the house and out the back and was not seen again†. After being trapped into servitude to Emily’s family for the majority of his life, he escapes the house of decay and goes on to live his life free of Emily and all her secrets. All the present elements of decay in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† show that the theme isn’t simply limited to that of change or death but it is very broad and can be interpreted and perceived in many ways according to the reader’s thoughts and views. Faulkner plays the element of sweet, sickening decay in every aspect of this short story to enhance each theme. Emily Grierson’s comfort in decay grew when her father passed and ultimately lead to the demise of her home, her mind, her body, as well as the demise of her lover Homer Barron.

Locations for Whale Watching

Locations for Whale Watching Suitable locations for a whale watching lookout Contents (Jump to) Executive summary Introduction Methods: Results Discussions: Recommendation References Executive summary The report gives an in-depth and vivid description of the very interesting and knowledgeable geographical report regarding the suitable location of a whale watching look out. The report clearly mentions the beauty of the whale in the Australia and the beaches where the enjoyment of the nature with the geographical location is made and searches out. When there is a topic and discussion regarding the whale watching then the first thing that comes to the local Australian citizens and the tourist is of the whale watching and this report clearly mentions the watch of the whale with at least having the 45 species of the whale that are found in the assize were and there is the rise in the number of whales every year. There are beaches and headlands around the coast where there is offered the potential to look the whale with the beauty of the nature at 3.8 km SW of burden has been vividly covered in this report by the NSW office of environment and heritage. The paper in the next report has m ake the practical approach on the grounds of what are the sites that are suitable ,unsuitable, most suitable like factors for the whale watching in the regions that are explained in this paper earlier. The report suggests that often at beaches and bays the whales are seen as the migrating one shifting from one point to another. Study says that the whales are the important one for the people of the central coast. In the next section the report is made regarding the sites that the people enjoys of the whale walking and doing the natural acts that makes the sense of pleasure to the people. The report suggests that there are top most sites where the largest part of the ocean is made visible by the nature. The report studies regarding the vegetations in the royal national park with the facts of the height of the forest and the shrubs and trees they have. Finally the conclusion is seen at the last part of the report with the recommendations for the royal national park. Introduction This report maps those locations in the park where the view of the ocean is possible. The ocean view in the national park put the icing on the cake to the beauty of the sea shores when the whales makes a long jump and this become the phenomenon of the beauty of the nature. Following are the locations in the park that has been covered by the report regarding the geographical research on the ocean view. This report makes it clear the time, length and the direction in the national park is given so as to avoid any inconvenience. The walk of the burden road to the Marley is the direct route where the ocean could have the visibility and the beaches with the scheduled areas are at the greater extent that with the big Marley they host the sand dune and lagoon. The beaches are not made in the patrolled conditions and they may cause the threat and to avoid it steps of preventions are necessary to be taken. There is a water fall that puts the nature and the geography combined with the length of 9.7 km, climbing 245 km, time is approximate 3 hrs 30 mines and it is l9cated to the 3.8 km SW of burden. When the ocean is to be viewed with the nature then on the loop there are present some of the grand ocean views that can be seen with the rock selves that are secluded and some of the aboriginal engravings are also present there. There are also present the walk streets that make the community of burden link to the road of the gibbon beach with the time of 5 hrs and direction included is .1 km NE of burden with the length 6.8 km. from the gibbon head o the Shelley beach there is the management trail through the heath that describes the ocean covering of the national park. There are the side steps that decide the lookout. While making the exploration of the coastline of the national park the place is so with the beauty that one can have a walk to wet the toes at the said little barley beach, burden being the great place to have the walk has the bite to eat. The ferry can also be cached from Cornella to burden that is the excellent way of the walking. The walk will give the great view of the ocean here the enjoyment of the nature with the flora and fauna is seen is enjoyed. When there is a walk from the smallest town of the burden to the largest of the royal national park, the ocean view is very great as the experience that comes from the walk heads towards the heath and the rock shelf. The walk then is made descend to the walk beaches and a lot of opportunities to enjoy the nature are seen as regards the enjoyment of the swim and lagoons are seen here. Methods: A vector approach has been used. These are the best locations from where the oceans can be viewed by the vistors.Royal national park that is 29 km south of the Sydney has become the source of attraction to the visitors where the visitors are grabbing all the opportunities not to miss the global park. When these sites are continuously visited by the people then the location of these areas are known at the cost of the geographical surroundings that covers the wide range of he part of the royal national park. In the said circumstance the report is putting emphasis on those area where the ocean view as residing in the national park is made possible and the above mentioned sites are all the way possibly the best destinations to cover the range of the ocean to make the RNP more pretty and beautiful in all the aspects of the geographical locations and conditions. The percentage t what point these area shows the ocean view is about 23.67% and few of them have been listed above with their length and time with the direction. The location of the ocean view has been made earlier. Results If one is deciding to have the tour to see the many of the whales singing and it is to be observed with the whale watching vessels then these are equipped with the hydrophones where the passengers can look out it. This sensitivity of the devices is such that state of the art under water is applied and hence the migration of the whales has most importance. The whale watching is the past time for the both that includes the locals and the travelers and this year around between 16,000 and 18,000 whales passes the NSW coastline and according to the NSW national parks and wildlife the figures that has been revealed show as the 10% increase in the numbers of the whale passing year on year. Following are the suitable places for installing the whale watching platforms Weemalah Cottage: this is the best site where the whale watching platform could be established. The place is the best for the swimming to the fishing on the river where the scenic beauty of the nature can be seen with the intense growth of the whales at the large number. There is also explored the lush waterfalls that are on the minified falls and one can spend the lazy afternoon with the riverside views from the warumbul area and one can go to see the goannas and wallabies that is eastern to the water dragons hat is sunning on the riverbanks and it makes the situation ideal to have the platform for the whales. After making the spend of the day one can have return to the weemalah and cam have the whales singing and dancing with the sun set. There is another platform for the whales and it is the royal coast walks that are present along the coastline of the national parks and it is one of the best places where the whales are always present on the migration. It is and can be said that is the best tourist destination for all where the whale experience is only a minute distance and one can at the greater extent enjoy the migration of the whales at the larger extent. When one makes a walk of the 15 km from the coastline then there is an expected challenge that involves the awesome experiences that is filled with the thrills and the excitement that is regarding to the whale platform. The beauty of the nature is observed when the different geographical locations as mentioned above are visited and the whales are the rarest species also countable as the endangered species are the best to find at this platform there are also the secluded Marley beaches where the long distance can be made at the ease cost. With the frame of the 180 Â ° up and down the spots will like to have the guests and the southern right whale is seen as the frolicking that is below the sandstone cliffs that are present offshore of the sea. Northern era campground is another best suitable platform where the whale platform can be made established. Here one is free to bring the luggage and foods and can have the review of the whales at the greater extent. The position of the staid place is at the coastal track that is to the south of the gray beach and it makes a great spot for the surfers. The top three are; bundeena, Marley and gibbon. Discussions: Somewhat suitable places: These includes the places like Lola falls campground it is said that nine ever thought that one is near to the city and far from the civilization is best explained by the said area. It is the great nature place when one is looking for the great adventures. Although the place is restricted by the authorities to some extent but the places are at the best to be used by the travelers and the locals. If one is having the desire to look out the whales then one can definitely watch it with the carefulness and this can be said that just take opt the train to have the place visit for whale beauty and its scene. When it is passing through the heath lands there are wildflowers where one can take the bath. One has the opportunity to make the camp set aside and get the enjoyment for the trip at this context. The map represents how this area is somewhat suitable for the whale watch. The whales are not in so much quantity in the particular area and it can be said that the whales at most times occur s in the few regions that gas been listed above by the report. The camping and swimming like activities are common at such places. Some other places that are somewhat suitable are bonnie vale campground and also include the north era campgrounds on some of the factors. Highly suitable place Wattamolla is the picnic spot and it is highly suitable place for the family and the individual’s to come here and they can have the plenty of the enjoyment in the given task. Unsuitable place Wedding cake rock is the unsuitable place for the whale platform as this place is at such a high rock that there is always the danger to the life. The department working for the welfare of the whales has consistently reported that while making the decision to have the whale platform visited the most important thing that is to be considered is of the place and it is necessary to make the platform and the places chosen by the said travelers or the locals. With the 10% increase in the field of the tourism the tourist are always in the search of the making some new spot and by mistakenly they forget to receive the facts and knowledge of the whale platform that ultimately leads to the dangers and the threat to the life. There are various places where the whale platform is built by the government of Australia for the purpose of the tourist destination and the best one is the place of the bundeen road that gives the walk of the enjoyment of the beauty of the whales. There are highly suitable sites that exist as the whale platforms. These are some of the picnic spots and somewhere is situated the waterfalls where the beauty of the whales with the natural enjoyment is taken at the large place. Some of the following best and highly sites are mentions in the points that are as follows: Wattamolla; wattamolla is one of the best picnic spot that is for the purpose of the family. This spot has become the adventurous spot when it comes as the platform for the whales .as said earlier this spot too can be included in the list of the highly preferred platform for the whale watching because the location and its geographical conditions with the longitude and latitude in the right direction mentions that it can be used for the reason of the said purpose. There is the gentle greenery and also present is the torrent after downpour. When it of accessed by the coastal all then it has the clean and sheltered beach where the possibility to have the watching of the whale is higher and with the picnic other enjoyments that are related may be take. Behind the beach is present the lagoon where the creek tumbles over the cliff face. Curracurrong: the most spectacular place in the view of the waterfall and that of the whale watching platform is this place where the geographical locations completely fits the situation and all the conditions are favorable to the look of the whales. On the windy time, there are strong winds that blow with the foot of the cliffs where the water is back again. The only access that is made is the walking tracks and the location is around the 40 minutes. Winifried and anice.These are the best place when it comes the talk to establish the whale platform for looking of the whales. It is described as the 7 meter high windred falls that are made with the step trail and it is cut down to the pool that is below the best view. After the main walking is the maianbar road and there is situating the anice one where the platforms to have the whale look out is possible at the greater extent. The picnic spots can be well described as the whale watching platform. They are best viewed as the rock ledge from the point of view of the platform. It is beyond the falls that is on the eastern side. In this way the top three positions remains the same and the same spots have retained their position. The areas are all visible to the site Marley arecronulla, Engadine, Sutherland, Sylvania, sans souci, little bay and matravile. There are various reasons as to why this site is nearer to the ocean. It is understood that the ocean can supply the enormous amount of water vapor with which the some of the places may have the visibility based on the grounds of the fact of the next to the ocean. In the Australia in order to have the oceans next to the places it is important to have the cold ocean water and the mid latitude cyclones and the tropical systems and the mountain ranges that blocks the moisture that is involves the movement from other regions makes the site nearer to the ocean. The geographical extent of the area with the geographical direction makes it as the run head of the climate and the moisture and humidity gets transfer from the lace of one point to another. When the temperature of the water is in the cold state then the less moisture is absorbed that will make the evapora tion from the surface of the ocean resulting in the ocean water that is all warm. When the process of evaporation is carried out then the coldly salt water is not carried away. When the ocean is full of the water then the factors like rainy, snowy and the conditions that prevails like the wet and dryness are the factors that impact the areas and make the site prone and near to the oceans. There are various other reasons followed with the geographical extent that makes the area nearer to the ocean and its water. The processes involved as to the lifting up of the air to the precipitation are the factor that makes the site near to the ocean and these systems makes thee location under the right circumstances. When the surface area of the sea is considered then the approximate surface area is around 360, 000, 000 km2 so this demland sea is considered instead of the dem because the unscientific approach of making the average depth for the depressions is make calculated around the 73m wher e the accurate average depth is totally less than that of the non uniform nature when it is taken to the respective areas. In this ay the demland approach at the best can be used. Recommendation The report clearly mentions all the data and statistics with the geographical location and the office of the environment and heritage can better use this information to fit at the places where the whale platform can be establishes with the uniformity in the nature. It is also advised and suggested in the report that the said OEH is required to use the data as per the instruction that is provided in the forms of the information. The OEH is required and recommended to be very careful while making the selection of the sites that suits the whale at the larger extent. The finding is based on the question of as what is the best place or the spot for whale’s platform has been discussed in the above section. References Au, W. 2009.Echolocation. In: Perrin W. F., B. Wursig and J. G. M. Thewissen. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 2nd ED, San Diego, CA: Academic Press: pp. 348–357. Au, W.W.L., Ford, J.K.B., Horne, J.K. and K.A. Newman Allman. 2004.Echolocation signals of free-ranging killer whales (Orcinus orca) and modeling of foraging for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 115(2): 901–909. Ayres, K.L., Booth, R.K., Hempelmann, J.A., Koski, K.L., Emmons, C.K., Baird, R.W., Balcomb-Bartok, K., Hanson, M.B., Ford, M.J. and S. K. Wasser. 2012.Distinguishing the Impacts of Inadequate Prey and Vessel Traffic on an Endangered Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) Population. PLOS One. 7(6): 1–12. Baird, R. W. 2000.The Killer Whale: Foraging Specializations and Group Hunting. In: J. Mann, R. C. Connor, P. L. Tyack and H. Whitehead, editors. Cetacean societies: Field Studies of Dolphins and Whales. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. Pp. 127-153. Baird, R. W., M. B. Hanson, E. A. Ashe, M. R. Heithaus and G. J. Marshall. 2003.Studies of foraging in southern resident; killer whales during July 2002: dive depths, bursts in speed, and the use of a Crittercam; system for examining subsurface behavior. National Marine Fisheries Service, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Seattle, Washington. Baird, R. W., McSweeney, D., Bane, C., Barlow, J., Salden, D.R., Antoine, L.R.K., LeDuc, R.G. and D.L. Webster. 2006.Killer whales in Hawaiian waters: Information on population identity and feeding habits.Pacific Science. 60(4): 523–530. Berta, A., Sumich, J.L. and K.M. Kovacs. 2006. Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology,2ndEd. Academic Press, Burlington, MA. Pp. 105. Bowers, C.A. and R.S. Henderson. 1972.PROJECT DEEP OPS: Deep Object Recovery with Pilot and Killer Whales. NUC TP 306. Undersea Surveillance and Ocean Sciences Department, Naval Undersea Center, San Diego, CA. Unclassified. de Bruyn P.J., Tosh C.A., Terauds A. 2013. Killer whale ecotypes: is there a global model? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. Feb;88(1):62-80. Dahlheim, M., Schulman, A. Jenifer, N. Black, R. Tremolo, D. Elli frit, and K. BAL comb. 2008.Eastern temperate North Pacific offshore killer whales (Oscines orca): Occurrence, movements, and insights into feeding ecology. U.S. Department of Commerce: Publications, Agencies, and Staff of the U.S.

Alcohol Consumption By Adolescents :: Cause Effect Alcohol College Drinking Essays

Alcohol Consumption by Adolescents It's just another Friday night, but this time it's the guy's night out. What do many teenage boys have on their mind? They want to go cruising down the highway at 80 miles per hour with the windows down. Find some beer, and some women that they can get drunk, have sex with and have something to tell about the next day. The sad thing is, that most of the time it is true. A survey was taken in Nebraska in September of 1995, which said 25.7% of adolescents aged 18 and younger said, they have used alcohol before having sex. That is just in Nebraska alone (Courtney, 288, 1995). It is also said that Fraternity and Sorority members drink more and drink more frequently than their peers and accept as normal high levels of alcohol consumption and associated problems. Fraternity-sponsored parties also may encourage heavy drinking. Studies have found that students who consider parties or athletics important and those who drink to get drunk appear most likely to binge drink or to drink heavily (Shalala, 1, 1995 ). Although alcohol use by adolescents is frequent, alcoholism is very rare. Still, alcohol consumption by adolescents hinders normal development. Alcohol intake by children can result in learning impairment, hyperactivity, and personality and behavior problems, because today's society has accepted the casual use of alcohol (Effects, 1996, 1). Among men, research suggests that greater alcohol use is related to greater sexual aggression (Shalala, 1995, 2). Students living on campuses with higher proportions of binge drinkers experience more incidents of assault and unwanted sexual advances because of their peers' drinking than do students residing on campuses with lower proportions of binge drinkers (Shalala, 1995, 2). Some campuses sponsor alcohol awareness events and classroom lectures and distribute information about alcohol use. Although such education programs raise students' awareness of issues surrounding alcohol use, these programs appear to have minimal effect on drinking and on the rates of alcohol problems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services at The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, it seems that binge drinkers appear to engage in more unplanned sexual activity and to abandon safe sex techniques more often than students who do not binge drink (Shalala, 1995, 2). The purpose of this paper will prove whether or not Ms. Shalala is right or wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first study was done in 1992. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of alcohol use to unsafe sex in Latinas. The study was conducted using telephone interviews. The interviews were conducted with 523

The Strength Trainer?s Guide to Success Essay -- essays research paper

Your body has about 650 muscles. No matter that you care about just four or five of them, all of which can be sculpted with maybe a half-dozen strength-training exercises. You still need all of them to perform the normal functions of everyday life; breathing, eating, walking, sucking in your stomach at the beach. Of course everyone wants to have the perfect body; however, few of us don’t effectively know how to reach our body building goals. Since muscle growth is such a slow process, weight-lifting should be broken down into three muscle developing stages.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first stage of muscle development is the process of preparing your muscles for growth. This is the stage all beginning weight-lifters should start from. A muscle will not grow until the muscle is at its’ peak condition; this means your have to slowing condition your muscles in order to move to more powerful and intense exercises. In this stage, you want to do lots of different exercises and variations of exercises; use a high number of repetitions, at least 12. However, only do each exercise once during your workout. Most beginners have the mistake of trying to push themselves to hard at the start of their training and find themselves so sore they won’t be able to train for a week or more. Soreness is the sign that your muscle are not at its peak condition. This is why advance lifters don’t get muscle soreness nearly as bad as beginners, even when the advance lifter does much more intense workouts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Try to do exercises that isolate a muscle or muscle group rather that multiple muscle exercises. An example would be doing a set dumbbell flies, instead of a set of barbell bench press, for your pectorals exercise. Try to train three times a week having at least a days rest between workouts. Set up your workouts so you are doing â€Å"push† exercises one day, such as presses and squats, and â€Å"pull† exercises on the next workout, such as pull-ups and hamstring curls. This is a good way to keep track of your training and it makes sure your muscles get enough rest in-between workouts. This stage of muscle growth takes around six months of training in order to move to stage two.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stage two is the start of the actual muscle building process. After six months of training: you have largely improved your muscular strength; noticed ... ...are working the same body area in another exercise you do during the workout. Try to do about half isolated lifts and half core lifts. A good stage three workout for an upper-body â€Å"pull† day would be: abs, an isolated exercise; biceps curl variations, isolated; variations of back rows, core; and finally pull-ups variations, core. During the variations of exercises, do about two sets per variation. Stage three is three days a week with at least one days rest in-between exercises, as well. Continue in this stage until you reach your desire strength training goals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Remember that muscle growth is a very long and slow process, and it needs a healthy, high-protein diet as well as weight-training. It takes time and a lot of effort in order for sufficient muscle growth to accrue. It really isn’t all that bad though; after the first month or two going to the gym will just be a habit and you won’t be walking around as sore from the lifting. Research has shown people up to the age of 65 can built muscle and strength; therefore, almost anyone, by following the three stages of muscle development and training, can reach their strength training goals with success!

Bankruptcy: Frightening Reality Essay -- essays research papers

Since the 1960s, personal bankruptcy has often served as a refuge for the young and struggling. Bankruptcy lawyers say younger and less-educated people tended to rack up too much debt while starting families and jobs, without a savings cushion to carry them through lean times. That's changing, as personal bankruptcy filings hit all-time highs. Last year, there were more than 1.6 million such filings, nearly twice as many as a decade earlier. Some experts say much of the increase is being driven by older people, many with decades of work experience in white-collar jobs. In 2001, per capita filings by people ages 45 to 54 increased 58% from a decade earlier, according to one study. Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding that allows a person who is overwhelmed with debts to eventually become debt-free. In a typical personal-bankruptcy case, credit-card balances and other "unsecured" debts-which are not backed by any collateral-are wiped out entirely. Under court supervision, the de btor then negotiates a plan with creditors to pay off as much of the remaining debt as possible, over three to five years. During that time, debtors cannot take on any new debts, but they are protected by the courts from being sued by creditors or having their assets repossessed. Credit reports list bankruptcy filings for seven to 10 years, making it almost impossible for a filer to get new loans or credit. But once that period is over, the debtor can move on with a clean credit record, free of de...

Math Achievement Essay

Abstract This paper outlines the author’s purpose for reviewing literature on gender differences in mathematics education. An overview of research findings on gender and mathematics from industrial societies (USA, Australia, and UK) and from some developing countries in Southern Africa (South Africa, Mozambique, and Botswana) is then presented. Some causal factors for the existence of gender differences in mathematics achievement are critiqued and the link between mathematics and social entities (democracy and power) are challenged. The implications of the above for research on girls learning mathematics in Botswana (and Africa) are finally suggested. Introduction Literature review should not be considered as merely part of the requirements in scholarly enterprises, but as a critical undertaking in which the investigator exercises a constant scepticism on an issue of interest. In this paper, literature review is used as a process to critique the conscious and unconscious assumptions of scholarly research on gender differentials in mathematics education. It serves as a qualitative analysis to determine how these assumptions force the definition of problems and findings of such scholarly research efforts. The paper examines literature on research studies which have dealt with gender differentials in mathematics classroom dynamics. The disenfranchisement of girls in mathematics learning discourses and girls’ motivational orientations in mathematics are important issues for the human development efforts in Botswana. The paper draws upon literature from  Western countries, specifically the USA, the UK and Australia where research on gender differences in mathematics has been considerable and influential. The socio-political, cultural and socioeconomic contexts in these countries, however, differ from those of Southern Africa in many aspects of development (education, technology, economic, etc.), but there are possibilities to draw parallels, albeit in a limited way. Through considering parallels and differences between Western industrial cultures and Africa, the paper examines issues pertinent to African girls affecting their education. The literature analysis is against the backdrop of problems such as HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancies faced by girls within African communities. Botswana (like most of Africa) is grappling with the HIV/AIDS pandemic; high levels of unemployment and poverty (BIDPA, 2000). The African Economic Commission (1999:5) states that: Data from Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe indicate that girls 15 to 19 years old have an (HIV/AIDS) infection rate four to ten times that of boys in the same group. This is the age group within which research on gender and mathematics has tended to focus. According to Okojie (2001), the Botswana study, commissioned by the African Academy of Sciences Research Programme, indicated the rate of teenage pregnancy being higher than that of most other African countries. HIV/AIDS, unplanned pregnancies and lack of interest in mathematics are amongst real problems that girls in the developing world face which must be taken on board when embarking on a sociological research analysis involving gender differences. Notwithstanding these developments, the question of how to motivate students in the classroom is a leading concern for teachers of all disciplines. Student motivation becomes especially relevant to mathematics education in the light of recurring questions about how to get more students interested and involved in the subject. As we proceed in the new millennium, Botswana is plagued with significant high-school dropout rates and declining interest in mathematics among secondary school students. Educators and policy makers  need to understand the educational techniques that may ‘suffocate students’ interest in learning’ (Boggiano and Pittman, 1992), then work to rekindle that interest. This paper is concerned with the use of mathematics as a ‘filter’ for further education and career choices. This affects girls more as they tend to shy away from the study of higher level mathematics, science and engineering as reflected in the University of Botswana yearly intake (Fact Books 2002; 2003; 2004/5; 2005/6). The literature analysis proceeds from an articulation of girls’ reported achievement tendencies within mathematics learning discourses in the developed world and explores the situation in Africa, particularly Southern Africa, with a special focus on Botswana. Gender differences in mathematics education The developed world’s perspective on gender and mathematics Contemporary research studies reflect scholars’ maturing view of the complexity of causation of differences between males and females in mathematics education. As Fennema (2000) rightly points out, from around 1970, ‘sex differences’ index was used to imply that any differences found were biologically, and thus, genetically determined, immutable and not changeable. During the 70’s and 80’s ‘sex-related differences’ criterion was often used to indicate that while the behaviour of concern was clearly related to the sex of the subjects, it was not necessarily genetically determined. Latey, ‘gender differences’ refers to social or environmental causation of differences that are observed between the sexes. This paper critically reviews work by leading researchers in the era of this new understanding of gender differences. According to Leder (1996) there were probably more research studies published on gender and mathematics than any other area between 1970 and 1990. Fennema (1993, 2000) concluded that while many studies had been poorly analysed and/or included sexist interpretations, there was evidence to support the existence of differences between girls’ and boys’ learning of mathematics, particularly in activities that required complex reasoning; that the differences increased at about the onset of adolescence and were recognised by many leading mathematics  educators. Salmon (1998) concurred with the notion that gender differences increase at secondary school level, particularly in situations that require complex reasoning. In the absence of an African position disputing such views, it suffices to assume that similar differences might occur in the Southern African c ontexts. Studies by Fennema and Sherman (1977, 1978) documented sex-related differences in achievement and participation, and found gender differences in the election of advanced level mathematics courses. They hypothesised that if females participated in advanced mathematics classes at the same rate that males did, gender differences would disappear. Stanley and Benbow (1980) used interpretations of some of their studies as a refutation of this ‘differential course-taking hypothesis’. They argued that gender differences in mathematics were genetic, a claim which was widely attacked and disproved, but whose publication had unfortunate repercussions (Jacobs and Eccles, 1985). Fennema and Sherman (1977, 1978) identified as critical, beliefs about the usefulness of, and confidence in learning mathematics, with males providing evidence that they were more confident about learning mathematics and believed that mathematics was, and would be, more useful to them than did females. There was evidence that while young men did not strongly stereotype mathematics as a male domain, they did believe much more strongly than did young women that mathematics was more appropriate for males than for females. The importance of these variables (confidence, usefulness and male stereotyping), their long-term influence, and their differential impact on females and males was re-confirmed by many other studies (Hyde et al., 1990; Tartre and Fennema, 1991; Leder, 1992). Earlier, Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) had reported differences between females and males in spatial skills, particularly spatial visualization or the ability to visualize movements of geometric figures in one’s mind. The Fennema-Sherman studies and the Fennema and Tartre (1985) longitudinal study investigated spatial skills or spatial visualisation. They found that while spatial visualisation was positively correlated with mathematics achievement  (that does not indicate causation), not all girls were handicapped by inadequate spatial skills, except those who scored very low on spatial tasks. Fennema (1993) suggested that an appropriate curriculum redesign could compensate for these weak skills. Other studies (Kerns and Berenbaum, 1991; Voyer, Voyer and Bryden, 1995) reported boys outperforming girls on tests of visual/spatial abilities: the ability, that is, to draw inferences about or to otherwise mentally manipulate pictorial information. The male advantage in spatial abilities was reportedly not large, but detectable by middle childhood and persisted across the life span. Casey, Nuttall and Pezaris (1997) concluded that sex differences in visual/spatial abilities and the problem-solving strategies they support contribute to sex differences in arithmetic reasoning. Although they were not particularly innovative nor offered insights that others were not suggesting, the Fennema-Sherman studies had a major impact since they were published when the concern with gender and mathematics was growing internationally. They were identified by Walberg & Haertel (1992) and others as among the most often quoted social science and educational research studies during the 80’s and 90’s. The problems of gender and mathematics were defined and documented in terms of the study of advanced mathematics courses, the learning of mathematics, and selected related variables that appeared relevant both to students’ selection of courses and learning of mathematics. The Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales have been widely used as guidelines for planning interventions and research studies. Campbell (1986) found that girls’ lack of confidence in themselves as mathematics learners, their perception of mathematics as difficult, and their view that mathematics is a male activity, all had impact on girls’ attitudes, achievement, and participation in advanced courses. In a longitudinal study of sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades, Tartre and Fennema (1991) found that, for girls, viewing mathematics as a male domain was correlated to mathematics achievement. Girls in single-sex schools or in out-of-school mathematics projects – who did not see mathematics as an exclusively male domain tended to have higher mathematics success. When this dynamic was changed to make mathematics accessible to both girls and boys, girls’ interest and involvement were found to rise. Reyes and Stanic (1988) and Secada (1992) have argued that socioeconomic status and ethnicity interact with gender to influence mathematics learning. Forgasz and Leder (1998) share the view that gender differentials in participation rates are associated with the interaction of positive attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and socioeconomic status. The transferability of these findings, based on Western cultural concepts, poses a problem for African contexts. Socioeconomic status indicators in Botswana for instance, somewhat differ from the UK model and need be appropriately contextualised. The question of ethnicity also becomes problematic in the Botswana context since about 85% of the population is of Tswana ethnic origin. Moreover, ethnic differences have never been of significance and might not necessarily affect gender differences in mathematics in the same way as in Western contexts. Trends of gender differences in mathematics from the United Kingdom The gender gap in performance throughout the subjects in the United Kingdom has been shifting in favour of girls since the early 1990s. In national curriculum tests and at higher level GCSE grades, girls outperform boys. For example, in 1997, 49% of girls achieved five or more higher grade GCSEs compared with 40% boys (DfEE, 1997). However, at the lower levels of GCSE attainment, the gender gap is smaller in percentage point terms. In 1997, 8.8% of boys and 6.5% of girls failed to gain GCSE qualifications (DfEE, 1997). These figures show some of the paradoxes in gender and attainment. Males gain most of the higher education top awards but the trend is for girls in general to do better in public examinations than boys – differences which are apparent in the earlier years of schooling. Consequently, current concerns about schooling are now more related to boys’ underachievement (as demonstrated in public examinations) than to that of girls. The question is whether such outcomes at school and higher education reflect approaches to assessment, methods of teaching, and/or expectations of society. The OfSTED (2003) report found that boys progress more than girls in mathematics throughout schools. Research indicated that in mathematics the gap between boys and girls attaining level 4 and above at the end of Key Stage 2 was only one percentage point, with boys at 73% and girls at 72%; however, 32% of boys achieved level 5 and above whilst only 26% girls did (OfSTED, 2003:13). According to OfSTED (2003:14) although the differences are smaller than those in English, it is a continuous trend and it is therefore still vital to understand why girls perform better in certain subjects such as literacy and underachieve in comparison to boys in mathematics. One key reason may be the perception girls have of this subject area. The 1998 OfSTED Report on ‘Recent Research on Gender and Education Performance’ stated that â€Å"science, mathematics, technology, ICT and PE are rated as ‘masculine’ by pupils and preferred by boys† (Arnot et al., 1998:31). Girls rated English, humanities, music, PSE and RE as feminine and preferred by girls. However, Archer and Macrae (1991) are cited in the same OfSTED report suggesting that mathematics has become more gender neutral perhaps reflected in the smaller gap between genders than that of literacy. The reason the gap has become smaller may be because girls are more prepared to tackle ‘masculine’ subjects. Public concern about the underperformance of boys has risen since the early 1990s as girls outstripped their male classmates academically. Although the proportion getting five C’s or better increased from 38% in 1996 to 46% in 2003, the gender gap remained steady at 10 percentage points in favour of girls. Both boys and girls in deprived areas got much lower grades than their more advantaged peers. But while girls in poor areas were improving faster than those in affluent areas, the gap between rich and poor boys remained constant. Dr. Deborah Wilson, Bristol University expert on the gender gap in schools, argued that the differences are likely to be a result of factors outside school: â€Å"The effect of poverty on exam results is greater than the effect of gender. If we focus more on the reasons for poverty affecting performance we might get better results for both boys and girls†Ã‚  (TES, 13 August 2004). According to Mendick (2002), in England, the evolving gendered patterns of attainment in mathematics need to be juxtaposed with the unchanging gendered patterns of participation in the subject. There are very few remaining differences between the attainment of male and female students in either GCSE, AS, or A-level mathematics examinations (taken at ages 16+, 17+ and 18 respectively) (Gorard et al., 2001; Guardian, 2002a, 2002b). Although boys are still more likely to secure the top A* and A grades at GCSE and A-level respectively, the differences are small and getting smaller. In contrast to these shifting patterns of attainment, the decision to continue with advanced mathematics remains highly gendered in favour of boys. This polarization persists despite decades of feminist intervention; as Shaw (1995:107) argues: â€Å"the most striking feature of subject choice is that the freer it is, the more gendered it is.† In fact, from 1994 to 2002, the proportion of the total number of 17 and 18 year-olds entered for A-level mathematics in England who are male showed little change, dropping only slightly from 65% to 63% (Government Statistical Service, 1995 to 2002; Guardian, 2002b). This greater participation of males in mathematics courses becomes more pronounced as you go up the levels from A-level, to undergraduate, and then to postgraduate, and is reflected in the larger number of men than women working in mathematically-oriented fields. Mendick (2002:1) argued: The gender gap in maths performance in this country, while still marginally in favour of boys, is continuing to narrow (Smithers, 2000; Gorard et al., 2001). However, the gender gap in participation in maths remains in spite of more than two decades of feminist initiatives for change. Moreover, maths becomes increasingly male dominated as we progress from sixth-form (ages 16 to 19) to undergraduate levels, and from undergraduate to postgraduate levels (Boaler, 2000)†¦ girls continue to disproportionately opt out of maths, a powerful area of the curriculum that provides a ‘critical filter’ (Sells, 1980) to high status areas of academia  and employment. The above suggests that although girls are doing better than boys overall across the subject areas in the UK, they still fall behind when choosing mathematics at higher levels of the education system. Mendick also portrays mathematics as a powerful subject, a signifier of intelligence that acts as a ‘critical filter’ controlling entry to higher status areas of academia and employment. Thus, for those concerned with social justice, it is pertinent to ask how it is that people come to choose mathematics and in what ways this process is gendered, which is the point of concern for this paper. According to Bevan (2005), the findings from the review of existing research included evidence that girls outperform boys in mathematics up to the beginning of A-level, but that the differences are small, and are not consistent across all components of the subject; attitudes to mathematics vary according to gender; there are significant differences in the expectations of boys and girls regarding their own performance in mathematics; boys and girls differ in their typical learning styles; and that ability grouping impacts differently on boys and girls. Bevan’s (2005) interviews revealed that teachers with very limited exposure to formal research were able to articulate judgments about gender differences in learning mathematics based solely on classroom experience; and that their intuitive judgments were often broadly correct, but tended to exaggerate the extent of any real differences. Presently there is no comparative research concerning Botswana teachers’ judgments on gender differences in the learning of mathematics. Sparkes (1999) pointed out that the gender gap in the UK was related to a variety of social issues including: parents’ educational attainment, growing up dependent on an income support recipient/eligible for free school meals, housing tenure and conditions, family structure (such as lone parent family), parental interest, involvement, practice, etc. These trends are different from the situation in Botswana and any comparisons need a contextual analysis of the situation. Perspectives from Africa with specific reference to Southern Africa Gender differences in mathematics education in developing countries are one critical area of research that needs further exploration. There is limited information about the status of contextual research on women and girls in those settings in relationship to their mathematical education. As Kitetu (2004:6-7) acknowledges from an African view: Unfortunately, while a lot of gender programmes have been carried out, not much research has been done within the classroom in the continent. Our understanding of gender in classroom practices is most often based on what has been studied in Western Europe and North America. I would like to argue that there is always a cultural angle in studies of social practices. Fortunately, there are emerging research efforts in the area of mathematics as the African continent begins to face up to the realities of gender differences in classroom practices. The persistent patriarchal attitudes in Africa tended to prevent researchers from problematising the gender issue. Investigating gender differences and Black South African learners’ attitudes towards mathematics, Mahlomaholo and Sematle (2004:4-5) reported that: The differences between boys and girls were very clear at all levels of analysis†¦ For example they (girls) said it was because of parental pressure/choice or because their friends were studying the discipline, or because their teachers instructed them to study mathematics. Others even went to the extent of citing chance or fate as responsible for them taking mathematics as an area of study†¦ They were apologetic and not taking responsibility on themselves†¦ They even expressed their embarrassment at not being good at mathematics, they also expressed the fear for their teachers whom they compared to lions†¦ they tended to agree that mathematics is for all and not for a particular gender. For the girls in Mahlomaholo and Sematle (2004:6-7), mathematics was â€Å"too  difficult† and  Ã¢â‚¬ ¦they were fed up with the subject and†¦ cannot be expected to continue with a subject that they were failing so dismally†¦ did not even have an interest in the subject as it demanded too much work and time to study while the boys saw much value in the discipline†¦There is no reason at all why some human beings do not have appropriate views regarding the study of mathematics, it is only because the views of a culture and a milieu that undermines women speak through them and have manifested themselves firmly in their minds. In their study of three successful women in mathematics related careers, Mahlomaholo and Mathamela (2004:3) reported the prevalence of a conventional patriarchal approach in the South African society. They argued that: It tends to privilege male interests and their privileged positions at the expense of women through the belief that the status quo where male dominate is natural and given†¦ Schools tend to operate in line with this approach. To underscore how the three women persevered in mathematics within the hostile cultural attitudes, Mahlomaholo and Mathamela (2004:7) argued that: †¦socialisation and upbringing, including home and family background, as well as parental support, were identified as factors that enabled the three women to go beyond the limitations of their situations. Mahlomaholo and Mathamela were convinced that beyond contextual and social factors the women had strong conceptions of themselves. They had self-belief in their abilities and a love for mathematics, which could not be dampened either by teachers’ negative remarks or the social structure’s negative stereotypes. The study identified social contextual factors and intra-psychic motivational factors as responsible for enabling female learners of mathematics to either excel or fail at the subject. Cassy (2004:5-6) reported from Mozambique that: â€Å"Although the main aim of the  education policy of the country is to promote, among others, gender equity in access to all education levels, there are more females than males, who do not benefit from this. This gender discrepancy increases over the education levels, being more at the tertiary level and particularly in mathematics and its related fields.† Cassy found significant differences between the patterns of attitudes towards mathematics expressed by boys and girls in which boys rated their attitudes more positively than girls did. Boys were more confident in working in mathematics than girls, and girls were more convinced that mathematics was a male domain than boys. Furthermore, girls were reported to believe much more than boys that mathematics is more appropriate for males than for females. Both girls and boys were found to agree that mathematics was useful. These findings are not different from what has been reported in Western research studies. Perhaps this was to be expected since the study used the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scale with its robust Western cultural questioning style. Cassy (2004:6) acknowledges that: â€Å"the majority of girls did not like the connotation of the items.† This calls for a more contextualised itemisation of the scales adopted from Western research contexts. Chacko (2004) presented another study from a Southern African perspective on the problems of students in learning mathematics and the approaches used in teaching mathematics in South Africa. Chacko reported no differences between girls and boys in terms of liking the subject. Chacko (2004:4) wrote: †¦ they do like mathematics and would like to do well in it but for them it is a very difficult subject. This interest in doing mathematics came out more prominently in township schools where they considered it important for future jobs. The South African students’ belief that mathematics is difficult was found among secondary school students in Zimbabwe (Chacko, 2000). Chacko (2004:4-5) further argues that students were encouraged to do well in mathematics because â€Å"their goals in life are something that is urging them to like mathematics which according to Hannula (2002) is ‘the value of  mathematics – related goals in the student’s global goal structure.’† It seems, from Chacko’s arguments that the liking of mathematics was not intrinsic to the students, but driven by the urge to do well in the subject because of the need and importance it presented for their future trajectories. According to Chacko (2004:8), girls in township schools seemed to spend more of out of school time on household chores, which could affect their studies. The same could be said about Botswana girls as Chacko (2004:5-6) further argued: †¦ chores took most of their time while school work was at the end when they were already tired to concentrate. This is more a developing country problem where chores in the house are kept for girls, which could affect the time they spent on learning and their vision for the future. †¦ Some of the girls in the township schools said that when they do not find time to complete homework, due to the reprimand from teachers, they would rather miss school. Once they miss school, it becomes difficult to catch up, which eventually lead to failure and drop out. Some of these problems are unique to the African contexts, and cannot be ignored when embarking on research on gender and mathematics. Chacko (2004:8) reported that the majority of students wanted mathematics to be made fun and to be related to life where they can see its use. â€Å"Girls in particular would like to see the content related to situations in life where these could be applied.† Some reported being shy and afraid to tell teachers that they did not understand, to avoid being ridiculed in public (by fellow classmates or teachers). Some of these issues are distinctive features of gender differences in African contexts which distinguish them from those of Western industrial societies. From the researcher’s experiences of teaching in secondary schools in Botswana and Nottingham (UK), there seems to be common ground with Chacko’s arguments. Over the years there have been efforts to address the gender disparities in  education in Africa, with a particular concern on the enrolment of girls, which for years has been very low. As Kitetu (2004) put it: The imbalance in boys’ and girls’ participation in schooling was linked to the age-long belief in male superiority and female subordination. This situation was further explained as aggravated by patriarchal practices, which gave girls no traditional rights to succession†¦ encouraged preference to be given to the education of a boy rather than of a girl. These small-scale investigations are recent efforts towards a better understanding of gender differentials in mathematics from an African perspective.