A Review of Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

A Review of Of Mice and Men Essay Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck in 1939, during the Great American Depression. It tells the story of two men striving to understand their own unique place in the world. Traveling in search of work, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie have nothing in the world except each other and the dream they share: to one day settle down in a farm of their own and count out their days. Eventually they find work on a ranch, their hopes are doomed as Lennie becomes a victim of his own strength leaving their dream to be crushed. Much of Of Mice and Men is based upon Steinbecks life and experiences. He highlights many social issues which he experienced first hand. For example, the climatic changes in the West of America resulting in destruction of fertile land, this had supported the homesteaders represented in the novel by the promised joy dreamt of by the workers in the story. Another problem shown in the novel is the great financial collapse of 1929 which heralded the Depression that increased unemployment and poverty through the United States. Because of these problems intinerant American workers were exploited by farm owners on low pay and appalling conditions. They were only in demand for short periods of time causing them to have to save enough from seasonal work to support for the rest of the year and their extreme mobile lifestyles. Most of the characters in the book face many of these problems or are suffering from them especially the main characters, George and Lennie. George is a small, intelligent man. He is very strong-minded but also like most of the characters in the book very dreamy. He is very keen to change the monotomy of his present situation. Lennie, is a huge, lumbering, kind but child-like man. Although he has a terror of violence he is a man of great physical strength, something he is quite unaware of causing him to be clumsy. Lennie has an obsession with petting small animals that occurs throughout the book. He is very passive it is for this reason, in my opnion that George and Lennie are the incomplete halves of one whole person. George keeps Lennie by his side partly for comfort and friendship, but mainly as he is very strong and can work on a farm better than most people. Lennie is both an advantage and hindrance to George. George also supports Lennie, helps him and puts ideas in his head, wh ich keep him motivated but mainly acts as a fatherly figure. On arrival at the ranch one of the first characters George and Lennie meet is Candy, the oldest ranch worker who is coming to the end of his life. Candy is a very warm character in my opnion. He shares the dream that George and Lennie do, and therefore they become attractive friends to him. He is a gossip and tells the newcomers of the ranch workers and owners. He tells George and Lennie about Curley and his newly wed wife. Curley is a small man, because of his height disadvantage he dislikes tall men. He is continually agressive and always trying to show his masculanity. He is humilated by his wifes disastifaction and needs to boost his confidence. Curleys wifes name is never mentioned in the book it is for this reason she comes across as Curleys possession. She is portrayed in the book as a tarty, flirtatious woman, who is friendly to the men who work on the ranch. She claims not being understood in the book. Curleys wife has often been caught by other members of the ranch giving S lim and Carlson the eye. Slim is a friendly and gentle character compared to the others. He is a dignified master craftsman. Slim in my opnion is descibed by Steinbeck as an idealised character, however, his words and actions are quite realistic. Carlson is the more agressive character, we do not know that much about him but he usually appears in violent scenes. He is not a very sensative man. One of my favourite characters is Crooks. Crooks is a literate black cripple who tends horses. He interests me because his natural personality has been taken away from him by years of racism which I am very against. He is a very lonely character and has been automatically rejected in the novel by the other characters. My other favourite character is Lennie because of his unusual personality and need for a father figure despite being a fully grown man. In my opnion one cannot help but to feel sorry for Lennie. Within the story their are many themes, important ideas that run through the book. One of my favourites is dreams, each character has their own dream which is used throughout the book. The majority involve the American Dream, to be able to live off the fatta the lan. Curleys wifes dream revolves around Hollywood and being a moviestar but her dream she believes was ruined by her mother. She is also lonely just like many of the other characters, this is another theme in the book. Each of the workers is an induvidual and works for themselves. They all seek comfort in different things such as Candy in his dog. However, quite early on in the book Candys dog is killed, this is the first mention of violence. Throughout the book the world of the men is filled with unneccesary violence. The killing of the dog is quite similar to that of Lennie at the end of the book. Alot of authority is shown within the book aswell such as the condition of the workers living area and the Bosss clothes, black and severe. However I feel the book is centred on the idea of mutual dependence. Each of the main two characters depends on each other hugely. But this relationship, at the end of the book, is breached and George takes advantage of Lennie who trusts him, and kills him, so that his dream is secured. The book is written in an easy to read form, it is not in the country language they would of spoken, but in proper English the majority of the book. The story is out of date of course, but the actual language and style used in the book is quite modern. I really like the way that Steinbeck at the beginning of each chapter gives you a vivid description of the surrondings. It is for this reason that although there have been many films made of this book nothing can compare to the pictures the pages of this book generates inside your minds eye and as you turn the final page these pictures stay with you. At first glance the story was not very enthralling but as I got deeper into the plot I started to really enjoy it. As I got more into the book I started to think more about the themes and characters of the book which drew me in to it even more. It is the kind of book that is not only a story but also holds an interesting background behind it and applies to the history of America and the Great Depression. It is for this reason I feel it deserves its title as a classic and I would recommend it to any reader.

Effect of Microcredit on Household Consumption

Effect of Microcredit on Household Consumption 1. Introduction Despite the multitude of studies on microfinance, there still exits surprisingly little hard data on the effects of microcredit. This analysis focuses on the effect of microcredit specifically on household consumption, and reviews relevant literature which addresses the relation between household consumption and availability of microcredit. Traditionally Microcredit has been studied as a tool of poverty reduction through increase of consumption. A relatively recent shift in thinking has been to consider microcredit as a means to facilitate consumption smoothing and build assets to protect against risks ahead of time and cope with shocks, leading to widespread poverty alleviation but not widespread poverty reduction. The review is divided into three sections based on the approach used to study the effect of microcredit. The first section examines the works of Pitt Khandeker and Morduch which use non-experimental methods to make claims of causal identification. This is followed by a look at random evaluation studies performed and discusses their conclusions. The final section introduces â€Å"Portfolios of the Poor† by Daryl Collins et al (2009), a descriptive study of the financial activities of the poor. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Non-Randomised Approach The studies by Pitt Khandeker and Morduch are all based on the 1991-92 cross-sectional survey of nearly 1800 households in Bangladesh served by microfinance programs of the Grameen Bank, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), and the Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB). The sample also includes a control group of households in areas not served by any microfinance programs. Pitt and Khandeker (1998 A) apply a quasi-experimental design to this data and use a regression-discontinuity design to estimate the marginal impacts of microcredit while distinguishing borrowing by gender. The study obtains the result that â€Å"annual household consumption expenditure increases 18 taka for every 100 additional taka borrowed by women as compared with 11 taka for men† and hence concludes that microcredit increases household consumption. A key to the identification strategy used in this study is the fact that the factors driving credit choice be exogenous. One of these factors is the eligibility of households for credit (eligible if they own less than 0.5 acre). However this factor as noted by Morduch (1998) suffers from considerable mistargeting: overall 20-30% of borrowers own more than the mandated threshold and are actually ineligible. Consequently a criticism of this paper would be that the lax implementation of program rules undermines the application of the regression-discontinuity design. Morduch (1998) uses simpler estimators as compared to Pitt and Khandeker (1998 A). The study regresses directly on the primary instruments for credit, dummies for credit choice. Morduch measures the average impact of microcredit by first performing simple difference-in-difference estimates and then adding controls. Contrary to Pitt and Khandeker (1998 A), Morduch (1998) finds no significant effect of microcredit on the level of consumption. He however finds evidence that microcredit causes a decrease in the volatility of consumption (coefficient significant at 95% confidence) and also results in a smoothing of household labour supply (coefficient significant at 90% confidence). He asserts that consumption smoothing by households is driven by income smoothing but does not substantiate this with direct evidence. The possibility of seasonal consumption smoothing by landless households (primarily engaged in agriculture) through credit is explored by another study by Pitt and Khandeker (1998 B) and is based on data from the same survey as the two papers discussed above. The premise for this investigation is that, microcredit can help smooth seasonal consumption for credit constrained households by financing a new productive activity whose income flows that do not highly covary seasonally with income from agricultural pursuits. The econometric results generated are consistent with Morduch’s assertion of consumption smoothing through income smoothing. The results strongly suggest that an important motivation for credit program participation is the need to smooth the seasonal pattern of consumption and male labour supply. For male labour supply, as with household consumption, it seems that these group-based credit programs i) have a pattern of seasonal effects that act to smooth flows over the seasons, and ii) have a pattern of self-selection in which those households with the experiencing great than average seasonal variation in flows are most likely to join the programs and borrow. A paper by Morduch and Roodman (2009) revisits the studies by Morduch (1998) and Pitt Khandekar (1998 B). A replication exercise followed by Two-Stage Least-Squares (2SLS) regression is performed for the two, the result of which casts doubt on the positive results of both. In case of the Pitt and Kandeker finding, the replication generates results with opposite sign. However rather than microcredit being harmful, specification test suggests that the instrumentation strategy fails and that omitted variable causation is driving the result. As for Morduch rebuilding the data set revealed errors regarding the labour supply variables of the original set. The changes weaken the result on consumption volatility causing the statistic to no longer be significant. The non-experimental studies discussed above face challenges in establishing causality. A chief problem is that since microfinance clients are self-selected, they are not comparable to non-clients. Also MFIs purposefully choose some villages (non- random program placement) and participants (client selection) and not others. While Difference in Difference estimates can control for fixed differences between clients and non-clients, it is likely that participants in MFIs are on different trajectories even in the absence of Microcredit, invalidating comparisons between clients and non-clients. 2.2 Randomised Evaluation Given the complexity of the identification problem, randomised evaluations are a viable approach to study the effects of microcredit since it ensures that the difference between residents in the control areas vis-a-vis the treatment areas is the greater ease of access to microcredit. Banerjee (2010) conducts randomized evaluation of the impact of introducing microcredit in a new market. Half of 104 slums in Hyderabad, India were randomly selected for opening of an MFI branch while the remainder were not. The outcomes in both sets of areas were compared using intent to treat (ITT) estimates; that is, simple comparisons of averages in treatment and comparison areas, averaged over borrowers and non-borrowers. The results show no impact on average consumption, however the effects observed are heterogeneous and vary between households. Households who have a pre-existing business used microcredit to expand their existing ventures and show a significant increase in durable expenditure in treatment vs control areas. Households without a business but with a high propensity to start a business displayed a significant positive treatment effect on durable spending along with a decrease in non-durable spending. This reduction in nondurables spending could possibly be to facilitate a larger investment than received credit. Finally, household which didn’t have a business and are less likely to start a business showed a significantly large increase in nondurable expenses. These results are echoed in a study by Crepon et al (2011) who conducted a similar evaluation at the extensive margin to check if the effects of the programs but changed the context to a rural setting in Morocco where both credit and business opportunities are thinner in order to check if the effects of the programs would be different. As a possible explanation to no evidence of a positive impact of microcredit on consumption being found, the two studies suggest that, the households which increased durable spending may benefit from increased income and hence increased consumption in the future. In other words, the evaluation period may have been too short to capture the gains from investing in enterprise. Furthermore it would also be pertinent to observe whether households which increase non-durable spending and hence consumption continue to do so, given continued access to credit. 2.3 Financial diaries While looking at the relationship between Microcredit and consumption, a longitudinal survey on how poor households manage money and use financial services would be insightful. The book â€Å"Portfolios of the Poor† by Daryl Collins et al (2009) does this by constructing financial diaries for over 250 households, in Bangladesh, India and South Africa. To create a financial diary, a researcher visits a poor household repeatedly, say, every fortnight for a year, and gathers detailed information on transactions conducted by its members since the last visit. Through the data collection and the associated conversations the researcher has with the household, an intimate portrait of the households financial life is compiled. The book emphasises and shows evidence for the assertion that poor households faced with low and variable income look at all financial services to turn small, frequent pay-ins into occasional, large pay-outs and to smooth the mismatch between fluctuating income and steady outflows. Towards this end, MFIs by providing a reliable source of credit is of great help to the poor. However the canonical form of microcredit bears the disadvantage of being too rigid so as to address all credit needs of the poor (expenditure shocks like unexpected health expenses) and hence the household portfolios feature a diverse range of credit sources both formal and informal. Since they present an intricate picture of the transactions undertaken by the household, financial diaries, and for the purpose of this review the Grameen II financial diaries present a great opportunity to study how microcredit is actually used by the poor. The rest of this section presents a short review presented in the book, in order to give a flavour of the type of inferences which can be drawn from these types of studies. In the following table, 237 loans made by 43 households who were a part of the Grameen II financial diaries are classified into 6 main uses . Taking the first two categories to be productive use of loan, it is observed that roughly half the loans made fell into this category (48% of all loans and 53% of the loan value). This however does not mean that half of the client’s use the credit provided for productive expenses. Of the 43 households in the sample, just 6 were responsible for three quarters of the loan value in the biggest category business and also were recipients of two thirds of the loans issued in this category. These 6 households all have established businesses and borrow to buy stock as often as they are permitted. From this brief and simple look at the financial diaries we observe that, there is a great diversity to the activities the poor use microfinance for, also there is concentration of some uses among distinct types of users. Further, while investment uses account for more than half the value of loans disbursed, it is concentrated among the relatively well placed borrowers. Finally, the claim can presumably be made that the unproductive uses of loans made by the households are being used for consumption smoothing. Conclusion Based on the literature discussed by this review, while the shift to randomised evaluations from non-randomised studies in studying the effect of microcredit is good (considering the relative advantages provided by the former). The effect of microcredit on the consumption levels of households continues to remain ambiguous based on the present academic literature available. Whereas in the case of microcredit inducing consumption smoothing, there simply has not been enough study done exploring this perspective. In order to measure both the effect on both consumption level and consumption smoothing information on money management by poor households is required for many months if not years. The needed time series data can be obtained using the time intensive financial diaries method. Moreover an optimal research portfolio should probably blend the randomised approach with the financial diaries approach. Word Count 1990 References Banerjee, A., E. Duflo, R. Glennerster and C. Kinnan (2010), â€Å"The miracle of microfinance? Evidence from a randomized evaluation.†. MIT working paper. Collins, D., J, Morduch, S. Rutherford and O Ruthven, â€Å"Portfolios of the Poor†, Book Crepon, B., F, Devoto, E Duflo, W Pariente (2011), â€Å"Impact of microcredit in rural areas of Morocco Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation†, MIT Working paper Morduch, J. (1998). .Does Microfinance Really Help the Poor? Evidence from Flagship Pro- grams in Bangladesh, Hoover Institution, Stanford U. working paper. Morduch, J. and Roodman, D. (2009),† The Impact of microcredit on the poor in Bangladesh: Revisiting the evidence, Centre for Global Development Working Paper No. 174. Pitt, Mark and Shahidur Kandker (1998 A), â€Å"The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter?† Journal of Political Economy, October. Pitt, Mark and Shahidur Kandker (1998b), â€Å"Credit Programs for the Poor and Seasonality in Rural Bangladesh,† Brown University and World Bank, draft, January 9.

John Updikes Works Essay -- essays research papers fc

Existence is like a creature that hides and then reveals itself. Existence is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as the "state or fact of being." This existence strives to reach truth which is located beyond space and time, yet truth must be grasped by existence nevertheless. This is accomplished through ritual, which can bring about the capturing of the inconceivable.Edward P. Vargo stated that John Updike uses ritual "to fulfill the great desire of capturing the past, to make the present meaningful through connection with the past, to overcome death, and to grasp immortality" (Contemporary Vol. 7 487). He combines the aspects and meaning of seemingly unimportant ritual along with mankind’s desire for a relationship with God to form truth and value for the past, present, and future. Updike uses his talents as a writer to bring together the conceivable and the inconceivable.John Updike implements his philosophies and ideals in a way that brings together existence with meaning. "Updike is in the best sense of the word an intellectual novelist, a novelist of paradox, tension and complexity who as a college wit in the fifties learned that we are all symbols and inhabit symbols" (World 3752). Updike uses his beliefs to form stronger meanings in his writings.John Updike has a strong faith in human intelligence. He believes that people can use it to explore the universe. He finds the world "to be a place of intricate and marvelous patterns of meaning" (Contemporary Vol. 5 449). With this faith he is able to bring things into focus that would not ordinarily be seen. "I describe things not because their muteness mocks our subjectivity but because they seem to be masks for God. . ." (Contemporary Vol. 7 486). Updike is able to see past the facade of normal, ordinary life.John Updike uses his insights in his writing to emphasize human feelings. He suggests in his writings that "the human conscience constantly suffers guilt for transgressing the laws of two different moralities" (World 3754). John Updike recognizes this feeling of guilt and is more able to clearly show the connections of the past to the present. His writings are also able to capture a "sense of human incompleteness, of the sense of discrepancy between actual and the ideal" (Magill’s 1988). He shows how humans strive to ... ... section of existence and truth, and to overcome death. Ritual gives substance to the present. It has connections to the everyday world, to the past, and to the future. Thus, ritual is able to symbolize life itself as it discovers new patterns for growth and fulfillment. Through myth, the past becomes immortal and meaningful. Ritual, along with worship of God, is able to satisfy the great desire for truth, existence, and meaning. Works CitedUpdike, John. Broadening Views, 1968-1988. Vol. 6. Ed. C.E. Frazer Clark Jr. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1989. Updike, John. The Centaur. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1963.Updike, John. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 5. Ed. Carolyn Riley and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1976. Updike, John. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 7. Ed. Phyllis Carmel Mendelson and Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1977.Updike, John. Magill’s Survey of American Literature. Vol. 6. Ed. Frank N. Magill. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1991.Updike, John. World Literature Criticism: 1500 to the Present. Vol. 6. Ed. James P. Draper. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1992.

Treatment for Raynaud Syndrome :: essays research papers

Treatment for Raynaud’s - 2 - Introduction Raynaud syndrome is an auto-immune disorder in which blood vessels in the digits constrict. It usually strikes females between the ages of eighteen and thirty. â€Å"Between three to five percent of people are affected.† (Harvard, 2003) There is no known cause or cure. (Segala et al, 2003) Clinical features primarily deal with (but are not limited to) the digits of the fingers. Other digits that may be affected include toes, nose, and ear lobes. Exposure to cold and emotional stress triggers the vasoconstriction of the digits. It was originally described by the Catholic, French physician Maurice Raynaud in 1862. In this condition, the vasospastic response is more frequently induced by exposure to cold temperatures and is often accompanied by digital color changes. After onset, a tri-color change [blanching (white), cyanosis (blue), and reactive hyperemia (red)] occurs. â€Å"Pallor (blanching) shows vasospasm and loss of arterial blood flow, cyanosis shows the deoxygenation o f static venous blood, and rubor (red) shows reactive hyperemia following return of blood flow.† (Bowling, 2003) Theories for the causes of Raynaud syndrome include: arterial wall damage, connective tissue disease (CTD), or repetitive use of vibrational tools. (Ko, 2002) There are various methods of diagnosing Raydaund syndrome. Cold water emersion is one method. In this method, patients’ hands are immersed in cold water to observe any clinical features. Another mode of diagnosis looks at medical conditions that are associated with Raynaud syndrome, such as CTD, scleroderma, and lupus. A third technique includes physical examination of the ulnar and radial vessels, nail folds in the capillaries, presence of digital inflammation, sclerodactyly (sleroderma, hardening of the skin, of the fingers and toes), or telangiectasia (chronic dilation of groups of capillaries Treatment for Raynaud’s - 3 - that cause dark red blotches on the skin, usually on the face). Laboratory tests are another consideration of diagnosis. Tests consist of anti-nuclear anti-body (ANA) counts and anti-topoisomerase (an enzyme that reduces super-coiling in DNA by breaking and rejoining one or both strands of DNA). High ANA’s and low anti-topoisomerases are found in patients with Raynaud syndrome. (Desai, 2003) â€Å"Patients with circulating autoantibodies, antinuclear antibodies, and anti-Scl 70 antibodies are at (an) increased risk of developing a connective tissue disease. Systemic sclerosis is the connective tissue disease most frequently associated with Raynaud’s phenomenon.† (Bowling, 2003) This syndrome is described as primary Raynaud phenomenon (PRP) if is not associated with another disorder and as secondary Raynaud phenomenon (SRP) if it occurs in association with another disorder.

Security in peer to peer networks Essay examples -- essays research pa

Thesis statement: Users of Peer to Peer networks must be aware of the security and how to deal with the attacks. Introduction Technologies are getting more advance each day, in this assignment will be sharing and discuss about the security in peer to peer networks. Security run an important role in every network applications because this is the place where people and the systems are all link up together and can access each other data and also programs. According to Madron (1992) points out that: One of the primary objectives of computer networks (and especially of local area networks) is to provide easy and convenient access to computer systems within an organizations, and it is that same ease of use that can sometimes conflict with security needs. (p.3) This being the case most of the peer to peer networks can remote the systems to access the nodes in the peer to peer network and programs are often transferred in the systems in remote locations and also because of the usefulness of the networking it really attracts people all around to use and at the same time problems of security happens. So it is crucial for the users to ensure their security in the networking. The problems usually started from modification of messages in transit, denial of services attacks and interception of messages, â€Å"perhaps the most obvious active threat faced by a communication system is an attack that can destroy or delay most or all messages† (Madron, 1992, p.63). In order to secure the systems of peer to peer network there is three basics requirements of security, integrity and authentication, it seems evident that â€Å"Data integrity ensures that data have not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorized manner. Both data integrity and auth entication rely heavily on encryption as a primary security mechanism† ( Madron, 1992, p.71). For this security the operating system level and application level is used. As to ensure the security for every users, the helps support security needs to be posted to the peer to peer network and also to be specified. Requirements   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Peer to peer (P2P) file sharing networks have become wildly popular. The first major file-sharing network example was NASPSTER, which designed to allow music fans to share MP3 music files and so on. P2P actually is all about sharing resources like files, storage or processing time, with ev... ...In the end, the use of technology is probably the only way we can secure information. The investment in information that individuals and organizations have made, are making, and will make in the future is enormous, however, and security systems aid us in protecting that investment.† (p.235). Aware of the security and protection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   References 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Durr, M., & Gibbs, M. (1989). Networking Personal Computers (3rd ed.). United States of America: Que Corporation. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Madron T.W. (1992). Network Security in the’90s: issues and solutions for managers. United States of America: WPC. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stallings, W. (1990). Local Networks (3rd ed.). United States of America: Masmillan. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (2003). Retrieved May 2, 2003, http://www.business2.com/webguide/0,,26518,00.html 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (2003). Retrieved April 20, 2003, www.microsoft.com/myservices/services/faq.asp 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (2002). Retrieved April 20, 2003,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.rcsi.org/Newsletter/2002/Jul/Jul Aug02Monitor.pdf

Stefan’s Diaries: Origins Chapter 32

I turned my back to the estate and began walking, then running, on the dirt road into town. Somehow, I felt that my feet barely touched the ground. I ran faster and faster, but my breath stayed the same. I felt that I could run like this forever, and I wanted to, because every step was taking me farther and farther away from the horrors I'd witnessed. I tried not to think, tried to block the memories from my mind. Instead I focused on the light touch of the earth as I quickly placed one foot in front of the other. I noticed that even in the darkness, I could see the way the mist shimmered on the few leaves that still clung to the trees. I could hear the breath of squirrels and rabbits as they scampered through the forest. I smelled iron everywhere. The dirt road changed into cobblestone as I entered town. Getting to town seemed to have taken no time at all, though normally I traversed the same distance in no less than an hour. I slowed to a stop. My eyes stung as I glanced slowly from left to right. The town square looked different somehow. Insects crawled in the dirt between the cobblestones. Paint flaked off the walls of the Lockwood mansion, though it had been built only a few years ago. There was disrepair and decay in everything. Most pervasive was the smell of vervain. It was everywhere. But instead of being vaguely pleasant, the scent was all-consuming and made me feel dizzy and nauseated. The only thing that countered the cloying scent was the heady smell of iron. I inhaled deeply, suddenly knowing that the only remedy against the vervain-induced weakness was in that scent. Every fiber of my body screamed that I had to find the source of it, had to nourish myself. I looked around, hungrily, my eyes rapidly scanning from the saloon down the street to the market at the end of the block. Nothing. I sniffed the air again, and realized that the scent–the glorious, awful, damning scent–was coming closer. I whirled around and sucked in my breath as I saw Alice, the pretty young barmaid from the tavern, walking down the street. She was humming to herself and walking unevenly, no doubt because she'd sampled some of the whiskey she'd been serving all night. Her hair was a red flame against her pale skin. She smelled warm and sweet, like iron and wood smoke and tobacco. She was the remedy. I stole into the shadows of the trees that flanked the street. I was shocked by how loud she was. Her humming, her breathing, each uneven footfall registered in my ear, and I couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't waking up everyone in town. Finally, she passed by, her curves close enough to touch. I reached out, grabbing her by her hips. She gasped. â€Å"Alice,† I said, my voice echoing hollowly in my ears. â€Å"It's Stefan.† â€Å"Stefan Salvatore?† she said, her puzzlement quickly turning to fear. She trembled. â€Å"B-but you're dead.† I could smell the whiskey on her breath, could see her pale neck, with blue veins running beneath her skin, and practically swooned. But I didn't touch her with my teeth. Not yet. I savored the feeling of her in my arms, the sweet relief that what I'd spent the last moments insatiably craving was right in my hands. â€Å"Shhh †¦,† I murmured. â€Å"Everything will be all right.† I allowed my lips to graze her white skin, marveling at how sweet and fragrant it was. The anticipation was exquisite. Then, when I couldn't take it anymore, I curled my lips and plunged my teeth into her neck. Her blood rushed against my teeth, my gums, spurting into my body, bringing with it warmth and strength and life. I sucked hungrily, pausing only when Alice went limp in my arms and her heartbeat slowed to a dull thud. I wiped my mouth and looked down at her unconscious body, admiring my handiwork: two neat holes in her neck, just a few centimeters in diameter. She wasn't dead yet, but I knew she would be soon. I slung Alice over my shoulder, barely feeling the weight and barely feeling my feet hit the ground as I ran through town, into the woods, and back to the quarry.

Teachers Perception Of Gender Bias In The Classroom Education Essay

One of the first things that we do when a kid is born is to happen out its sexual class. This announcement at birth, male child or miss, is the most important statement that governs one ‘s development as a individual throughout one ‘s life. Harmonizing to Weiss ( 2001 ) , a individual ‘s gender marks his/her full life from within and without. How our gender structures the manner we learn has been studied extensively by societal scientists, psychologists, educationalists, and women's rightists. They all agree that non merely 1 ‘s ain sense of gender individuality affects the acquisition procedure really significantly, but others besides play a definite portion in this position. Teachers play a cardinal function in act uponing larning patterned advance from when the kids begin school. Harmonizing to David and Myra Sadker â€Å" sitting in the same schoolroom, reading the same text edition, and listening to the same instructor, male childs and misss receive really different instructions † ( Weiss, 2001, p. 44 ) . Their research illustrates that male pupils non merely have more of the instructors ‘ attending in mention with the figure ( and quality ) of the inquiries asked in the schoolrooms, but the same is besides true in instance of the follow-up inquiries. Harmonizing to them, male pupils besides receive more precise and helpful feedback ; while female pupils bear the consequence of their instructors ‘ asymmetrical distribution of energy, endowment, and attending ( Weiss, 2001 ) . Frequently, elusive gender prejudice is at that place in the schoolrooms but is barely noticed by the instructors. It remains elusive and is difficult to trap down. Teachers, being wedged between several determinations every twenty-four hours refering the course of study and schoolroom direction, happen small room to contemplate and analyze their interactions with male and female pupils in their schoolrooms. While a the survey done by Marshall & A ; Reinhartz ( 1997 ) showed that the instructors ‘ communicating with their pupils has a cardinal influence on the current and prospective accomplishment and achievement of both male and female pupils, another survey by Crawford and Macleod ( 1990 ) ( as cited in Lundeburg, 1997 ) , discovered that colored schoolroom interaction leads to decrease assurance in their rational abilities by female pupils. A big figure of surveies exhibit that instructor behaviours institute the foremost contributing factor for a higher grade of student-pa rticipation in the schoolroom by male pupils than the female pupils. ( Kosmerl, 2000 ) . Male pupils are likely to acquire a greater portion of instructors ‘ attending and have more specific feedback. However, female pupils are less likely to have congratulations or redress for the rational content of their replies than male pupils ; conversely, the female pupils are more likely to have an acknowledgement response from their instructors ( Sadker and Sadker, 1994 ) . It is non common to happen instructors waiting for more than 5 seconds for a response from their pupils ; it is even more uncommon to see instructors naming on non-volunteering pupils to arouse their responses. Teachers ‘ behaviours such as these tend to breed schoolroom unfairnesss by promoting aggressive male pupils ( Lundeburg, 1997 ) . Another survey by Sadker and Sadker ( 1986 ) ( as cited in McGee Bailey, 1996 ) provides grounds that instructors ‘ discriminatory behaviors in the schoolroom are non chronic but modifiable. However, instructors are mostly non witting of their ain unjust behaviors in the schoolrooms, and are frequently found to be gender-blind, unless their attending is drawn to the affair. This can hold many detrimental effects, because it is about impossible to work out a job that is difficult to acknowledge in the first case. Nonetheless, preparation in gender equity is barely of all time an ingredient of instructor instruction ( Lundeberg, 1997 ) , particularly so in Pakistan. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM While a important sum of research exists in context of pupils ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in the schoolroom, there is small research on manus sing instructors ‘ perceptual experiences of the same capable affair. This survey is intended to concentrate on the modern-day perceptual experiences of instructors sing gender prejudice. Since pupils continue to have different instructions, it is of import to place how instructors may continue to detect, respond, lessening, and avoid gender prejudice. PUROSE OF STUDY The intent of this survey is to exemplify the perceptual experiences of instructors on the topic of gender prejudice as measured by a questionnaire. The aims of the survey are: I ) To measure instructors ‘ perceptual experiences about gender prejudice. two ) To measure instructors ‘ educational preparation sing gender prejudice. three ) To measure instructors ‘ experiences with gender prejudice. Research HPYOTHESES Hypothesis I: Even if instructors do non province that they have been involved in gender prejudice in their ain schoolrooms, they will describe they have witnessed or heard of gender prejudice issues in their schools and/or others. Hypothesis II: Teachers will describe they wish that they had received some or more educational preparation sing gender prejudice. Hypothesis Three: Teachers will describe they have received small or no educational preparation sing gender prejudice. adapted from ; Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Katherine M. Kosmerl, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf REFRENCES Kosmerl, K. M. ( 2000 ) . Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf Lundeberg, M. ( January-February, 1997 ) . You Guys Are Overreacting: Teaching Prospective Teachers About Subtle Gender Bias, Journal of Teacher Education, 48 ( 1 ) , 55-61. Marshall, C. , Reinhartz, J. ( July/August, 1997 ) . Gender Issues in the Classroom. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jstor.org/pss/30185879 McGee Bailey, S. ( May, 1996 ) . Shortchanging Girls and Boys. Educational Leadership, 53 ( 8 ) , 75-79. Cited in: Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Katherine M. Kosmerl, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf Sadker, D. , Sadker, M. ( 1994 ) . Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls. New York: Simon & A ; Schuester. Weiss, R. ( 2001 ) . Gender-Biased Learning. Training & A ; Development, 55 ( 1 ) , 42-48. Cited in: Teachers ‘ perceptual experiences of gender prejudice in schoolroom, Katherine M. Kosmerl, Research Paper, The Graduate School, University of Wisconsin-Stout, May, 2000. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.uwstout.edu/static/lib/thesis/2003/2003kosmerlk.pdf