Book Report Bye Mom - 811 Words

â€Å"Bye mom,† I said as I started out the front door on my way to school. â€Å"Bye honey, have a nice day,† she said with her happy voice. â€Å"Hopefully it is,† I said walking away. Before I entered the school, I took a deep breath. I said to myself, â€Å"Kelly, today is going to be a good day.† I entered. There he was, the boy named Max. He was the meanest person in the whole school. Everybody was scared of him. He was tall, brown-haired, and a very good football player. He was massive. He even had his own crew. I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. His eyes told it all. â€Å"Today is going to be a bad day for you.† Max could sense my fear as he said that with spite. After school, I went outside. I was just talking to my friend when I heard the†¦show more content†¦I thought about calling mom and then remembered that I didn’t have my phone with me. It was in my backpack. Ugh! Could this day get any worse? I thought to myself. When I didn’t show up at home, mom came to the school looking for me. She found my backpack and entered the school. I could hear her screaming my name in the distance, â€Å"Kelly. Kelly,† as if she knew I might be in trouble. I could hear her, but because of how faint her voice was, I was still afraid to come out. I didn’t want to risk facing Max and the crew. She kept calling my name and I could tell she was getting closer. I risked it. I opened the door and immediately yelled, â€Å"I’m right here, mom,† as loud as I could. She found me and I ran into her comforting arms. â€Å"I’m sorry, mom. There was a boy here named Max and his crew. They said that they’d get me if I came out.† Max and the crew were nowhere in sight. As I walked away, I was thinking, â€Å"Did they stick around? If I had come out of the bathroom, what would ve happened to me?† That night, when I finally fell asleep, I found myself dreaming. I was at school and Max came up to me and said, â€Å"You escaped this time. Next time, your mom will not be there to save you.† Max began laughing as he walked away. I woke up scared and screaming, â€Å"Stop. Stop. Stop.† Even though I knew this was only a dream, and I had beaten this time, I had the feeling that Max and his crew would never stop. I went back to sleep. I woke, my heart beating

James Cook Free Essays

James Cook Essay Alice Holder James Cook Essay Alice Holder In 1788, the Europeans invaded Australia after the First Fleet of British ships landed in Botany Bay on the 18th of January, but then docked in Port Jackson, which we know as Sydney, New South Wales. At the time, there were Over 750000 Aboriginal people in Australia. Lieutenant James Cook had declared Australia to be terra nullius (no one’s land) in 1770 after which the colonists agreed together that they could make the land their own. We will write a custom essay sample on James Cook or any similar topic only for you Order Now Cook believed that the Aboriginals lived well. They had everything they needed in that time, and were in his view to be healthier and happier than most Europeans. Cook’s opinion can be considered valid because in 1788 the indigenous people had very complex social structures, and communication was a strong part of their lives. There were various different tribes or group gatherings around this period of time, and the Aboriginals loved to get together to talk and see each other, whether they were talking about their day, their problems, or anything. They had many different groups of people to talk to, or refer back to, and most of these relationships were fairly strong. A few of these groups were kinships, religious groups, nations, and moiety and physical structures. Family is a very strong aspect in the aboriginal culture. Most of the time they had extended families and the eldest few in the family took on major roles in looking after the family and helping out. Communication and gatherings were taken for granted in the families, except the mother-in-law rule, which is when you cannot speak directly to your mother in law. This rule applies to both men and women, and if communication was necessary, then they would talk via third person, but never make one on one communication with the person. This is an example of Cook believing that the aboriginals were rich in friendship, family and communication, because they had so many different tribes to refer back to, and are great at communication and getting involved with other people and groups. In this time of life, there wasn’t the local shop to go and buy your food and basic needs. There wasn’t a dance school nearby to learn the latest moves. There wasn’t spearing classes to learn how to fight for your food, everyone had to learn everything by themselves, or learn off each other. The Aboriginal culture was very fortunate in having the skill to get what they want, wether that was fighting for food, making weapons, etc. They kept warm by sleeping or just sitting in between two small fires, and they also had dingos, which is a camping dog which they slept next to keep warm. They developed spearing skills because that was the only way they could get food to live off. They were never sick and just seemed to make the most of what they had, and never had bad thoughts about what they had, because they knew they had the best, and all they needed to survive; and they were wealthier than the average European. In summary, Cook’s view that aboriginals were not savages is most certainly correct. They had everything they needed to live a long and happy life compared to the Europeans. Many people did not believe this, and had a clear stereotype of the Aboriginal culture in their head, but this was wrong. Traditional Life, Housing, (date unknown), Aboriginal Culture, [web page], lt;http://www. aboriginalculture. com. au/housing. shtmlgt;, [accessed 8th May 2012] How to cite James Cook, Papers

Role of Statisticians and Quality Professionals - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Role of Statisticians and Quality Professionals. Answer: Introduction Call centers, according to Mani, Barua and Whinston (2010), are always the first points of contact for clients to an organization and they determine whether clients remain loyal to a company or leave. Nonetheless, approximately 20% of all callers have been found to hang up with their problems unresolved (Kannan, 2003).Goh (2002) argues that most of the initiatives by most companies are well calculated towards improving customer experience. However, M and Antony (2015) expostulate that these initiatives are often positioned in ways so that they are internally motivated, looking at performance and cost. The outcomes of these measures being made use of in scorecards as targets imply that company managers are more often than not focused on ways through which they can better their company output and canvassing about issues like how can uncontrolled calls be minimized to some lower percentage? rather than concentrating on their companies input: what are the complains that our clients are c alling about and how well are their calls first time? (Snee, 2005, p.237). By concentrating on the output, Valdez (2013) notes that most organizations have a lack of performance measures that they employ to help better their call centers so that they can effectively and sufficiently respond to as well as further enhance their customer experience. Although call centers within companies are technically service organizations, they are majorly data centric; they record data regarding performance for some periods of time (Linderman, Schroeder, Zaheer Choo, 2003). The presence of such data in addition to the need to improve business-wise creates a possibility of applying business advancement methodologies that have lately been developed (Mani et al., 2010). Among the present methodologies in place is the Six Sigma. Using the case of BPO Inc., this report will explore the role of the Six Sigma as one of the performance management system both at operational and strategic levels in call cen ters. The report will reflect some of the challenges that are facing call centers. It will also try to understand some of the demands by clients from company and determine the capability of call centers to address the clients demand. Background Study on Call Centers Initially, call centers were built within houses in large organizations (Adams, Gupta, Wilson, 2003). The advantage of this structuring was that it allowed coherent departmental focus on phone services in addition to the fact that it made it cheaper for organizations to handle more calls by fewer people (Antony, 2004). Nonetheless, this structuring led to an increase in targets by the kind of calls/hour. Secondly, it contributed to a high staff turnover since people became demoralized by the tensed environments that were often created in the in-house settings (Linderman et al., 2003). With the advancement in technology, significant changes have been noted. Since 1990s, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), as pointed by M and Antony (2015), has been perceived as synonymous with operations in call centers. The combination of data telephony arrangements that are designed to offer advisors with data they require to meet the need of their clients has made a number of call centers to em ploy CRM (Kannan, 2003). With the advancement in technology, several difficulties have, however, been seen with meeting an organizations operational performance procedures without completely comprehending the needs of their clients and/or the kind of support functions needed (Snee, 2005). Bhargav, Bhardwaj and Rathore (2010) point out that the greatest challenge encountered by call centers is how they can provide an excellent/outstanding client experience while simultaneously bettering productivity. Six Sigma, as pointed out by Shokri (2017), is a well-organized approach to bettering processes, service qualities, and products. Gowen and Tallonn (2005) define Six Sigma (Define, Measure, Analyze, Implement, Control (DMAIC)) as a systematic as well as a well-organized approach for the betterment of organizational strategic processes, new products, along with service development which chiefly depend upon scientific and statistical methods to help reduce customers distinct defect rates. The Six Sigma approach serves to improve an organizations process performance, improve the organizations commercial profitability, and increase the organizations client satisfaction (Valdez, 2013). Six Sigma plays several roles within an organization. Call centers that have employed Six Sigma have the ability to streamline organizational operations, which principally comprises of managing outbound as well as inbound calls (Hahn, Hill, Hoerl Zinkgraf, 2009). Streamlining operations within call centers results in better usage of an organizations available resources (Goh, 2002), minimizes the organizations operational costs (Adams et al., 2003), and improve an organizations efficiencies (Hahn et al., 2009). By improving an organizations external and internal operations, Six Sigma creates room for an organization to enhance their client support and care services (Gowen Tallonn, 2005), a thing that in the long run improves a call centers brand as well as corporate image. This ultimately leads to better acknowledgement of the outsourcing services of a companys call center thus attracting new customers. The need for operation as well as strategic developments of Six Sigma is emphasized by M and Antony (2015) who established that the D and C steps in an operational application of the Six Sigma has weaknesses. They argue that the D step (in the DMAIC paradigm) along with its related criteria for choosing Six Sigma may only concentrate upon lower challenges instead of the strategic client based openings, an argument supported by Shokri (2017). Moreover, the C step may be incapable of creating strategically appropriate benefits in a companys strategic projects as a result of their cross-functional nature that overtures ascription of ownership. Issues of Operations Management at BPO Inc. BPO Inc., is a leading healthcare company that is based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Antony, 2004). The company offered its customers with a variety of services ranging from insurance brokerage to management consultancy in more than 100 countries, having more than 50, 000 workers and more than 500 offices (McAdam, Davies, Keogh Finnegan, 2009). BPO Inc. had three distinct divisions: insurance brokerage/risk management, compensation consulting, and human resource consulting. The insurance brokerage/risk management functioned to help the company comprehend as well as evaluate their risk profiles (Heizer, 2016) thereby developing the most appropriate insurance programs/risk management programs that would help them minimize their susceptibility to unavoidable long-term challenges (Bhargav et al., 2010). The organizations human resource division addressed issues that were related to the companys business process design (BPD), management consulting, and human resource outsourcing (H RO) (Kumar, Barua Gaindhar, 2000). Lastly, the organizations compensation consulting division helped in developing effective reward and compensation programs. The companys HRO comprised of a division called the employee benefits outsourcing (EBO). The BPOs EBOs health and welfare service delivery process offered dental, vision, medical and survivor benefit programs for the companys 18 customer companies. BPOs EBO provided administrative duties like providing help to employees who were registering in firm-sponsored benefit schemes, altering benefit options, responding to questions regarding coverages that were initially catered for by the customers HR departments, and updating dependent data regarding their client companies (Karuppan, Dunlap Waldrum, 2016). It is worth noting that their clients employees were always not aware that they were communicating with a third party and not an individual employed within their organizations HR department. As aforementioned, BPO served more than a million client calls on a monthly basis. Owing to this big number, some of their customers felt unsatisfied. According to a study that was done by AA and YE (2007), the companys customer satisfaction (CSAT) levels dropped far below 47% (Ames, Mattucci, MacDonald, Szonyi Hawkins, 1997). For this reason, Allen J. (AJ) Lauren, who was then as the companys executive vice-president, launched an investigation on what was contributing to the fall in their CSAT levels. This was prompted by an email that was sent to him by Sam Regan, who was then serving as the HA (one of the major customers to BPO)s CEO. In the email, Regan stated that he had received a substandard service far below his anticipation. This compelled Regan to call for an audit of HAs transactions with BPO, a thing that really troubled AJ since the business relationship between the companies was at stake. Owing to the fact that the client, HA, was a component of the health care industr y, it was very unacceptable for HA to receive a low CSAT levels from BPO. It is for this reason that this report analyzes the possible causes of the low levels of customer satisfaction so that a customized BPO solution that will assist the company to soar high in performance can be established. Analysis of the Case From the case, it is evident that the BPOs management is up to having a culture of steady improvement with regard to their service provision to their clients. In order to realize this, Ames et al. (1997) point out that a company must continuously recruit as well as coach a team of experts with who will guarantee the organization quality along with efficiency in transforming the business. To be successful, a company must employ the right paradigm. For the case of BPO, the Six Sigma is the most appropriate. This is because when all employees within BPO are coached as Six Sigma experts, they will be able to have a common language as well as a tool kit that can allow them to possess their steady advancements to realize as well as exceed objectives independently (Heizer, 2016). Using the DMAIC model, a detailed assessment of the case was performed and some critical issues were noted in the process affecting the clients BPOs performance. First, there was a cultural as well as linguistic in congruity between the customers clients and the BPOs staff. The customers client base was of an Arab native whereas that of BPO staff, which comprised of five males and five females, was non-natives of Arabia. As such, the parties could not communicate effectively (Antony, 2000). The language barrier between the parties made communication significantly hard for the BPO employees to address the ethnic-specific needs of their clients (Karuppan et al., 2016). The second issue is that there was a dire need for an alignment of the BPOs support staff with the companys average processes that governed the companys functioning or operations. Similarly, the BPO needed an intensive and all-encompassing coaching with regard to BPOs management platform. Third of the critical issues that were noted was that the turnaround time for BPO lagged for more than seven days in contracting their clients after discharges. Fourth, BPOs staff only worked for five days weekly (Monday-Friday). Moreover, they only worked between 9 am and 5 pm. The five days of work per week and the 9-5 working hours per day posed a considerably significant challenge for the clients who desired contacting BPO. In addition to the above mentioned issues, it was also noted that the clients always wanted to ensure that they were conversing with Arabian agents. For this reason, they often sought for the last names of the BPOs staff before they could proceed to make plain their issues (AA YE, 2007). It was also noted that BPOs female clients would not provide their individual contacts for purposes of communication. Instead, they would only give the contact of their male members of their families. It was noted that most of the calls that were unresolved on the very first call required some research by the personnel on duty. The service providers at BPOs call center were largely judged depending on their availability to answer calls or not. According to McAdam et al. (2009), this significantly role played in limiting the time the BPO experts could dedicate to researching the issues that were not open. Also, clients whose questions were unanswered within the very few days would again call back. Ku mar et al. (2000) argue that this had the effect of increasing the volume of calls that were received. This exaggerated the total number of calls that the company was unable to resolve. For this reason, several entries being made in the companys computer system for one and the same problem. Recommendations After identifying the above critical issues that were likely affecting BPOs CSAT levels and performance, a team of experts working for the company should consider implementing the following measures which will help the company scale higher regarding their CSAT levels. First, BPO should check on its service timings. The company should consider increasing its support time by a period of four hours. They should also make their staff be available for work from 7 am to 7 pm so that they can be able to attend to more clients. Antony (2000) explains that the spread of time during which calls can be made to call centers reduces congestion that is often experienced in call centers. In the companys attempt to fit within the working hours of the United Arab Emirates, the company should consider changing their number of working days from Sunday to Thursday as opposed to Monday to Friday. They should also introduce multiple shifts so that they can be able to cater for the time demand globally. The second possible solution regards local BPO agents. For effective communication with their clients, BPO should consider hiring a team of Arabs who will be able to speak effective with their fellow Arab natives. This will eliminate a situation of cultural gap that has characterized they service provision to their clients (AA YE, 2007). Additionally, BPO should develop a support infrastructure. BPO should enhance its infrastructure by including email, internet, and best-of-breed facilities that will efficiently help in handling operations (Antony, 2000). These initiatives will significantly reduce BPOs team turnaround time. Another possible solution way through which BPO can regain its reputation is by having value added support services. BPO should consider extending its usual 24 hour call support to allow for access processing needs often seen during peak seasons. The BPO agents should be given tailored last names so that they will be able to suit their callers nation (AA YE, 2007). Ethnic explicit provisions should unambiguously be created so that a record of rebuttals from complains raised by clients can be taken note of. Ensuring that the companys support officials have a good grasp of the problem that they are working to overcome will also help the company advance a step further. It is also helpful that the client, Regan, gives a comprehensive information regarding the process that led to his reaction. This will help the BPOs CSR staff to design a way of reacting to such cases in the future. A further examination of the case calls for the employment of another set of options. First, BPO should split its call center team into two different sections: the lower division and upper division. This will allow for a quick scan of a problem in case of any (Snee, 2005). It will also ensure there is limited over-reliance of the two teams since each team will be working to realize their distinct objectives (AA YE, 2007). Similarly, within each division, the company should ensure that there those who deal with calls while others deal with research aimed at bettering the companys service provision standards. These divisions will work jointly to help the organization know and address the issues surrounding their customer satisfaction. BPOs representatives should also have the culture of visiting the divisions of the call center. When visiting, they should carry with them daily parameters that are designed to help the company realize its success. These metrics should be daily collected, evaluated, and reported to a central point where experts will make recommendations and plan for a better future (Mani et al., 2010). In case there is noted a significant drop in the first-call resolution, an immediate follow-up action should be launched. This strategy will ensure that all groups are kept under check. Moreover, the companys IT professionals should establish a computer system that should be used as well as the fields that should not be used in the monitors. This will help in capturing research information as well as notes, which may be used for purposes of reorganization of the company. Lastly, unresolved calls should be forwarded to the organizations management within a span of four days. Conclusion Not only are call centers ubiquitous, they are also major determinants of customers satisfaction. The performance of organizations call centers have the potential of breaking or making an organizations customer loyalty indexes. Thus, it is only by improving/perfecting what is needed by the clients, hedging around those requirements, and gathering measurements on the major factors that an organization is able to remain competitive. Otherwise, a company is doomed to collapse. The success of a call center will then be realized by call attendants responding well to calls, resolving questions from their clients, and minimizing the hold time. Nevertheless, if these key metrics are taken alone, with no or little consideration of other customer-influencing service level parameters, an organization can still fail. The analysis further leads to the deduction that the Six Sigma paradigm has been crafted to help organizations address issues surrounding operational and strategic levels, while sim ultaneously upholding the DMAIC approach. This paradigm makes use of the concept of systems thinking to make sure that the implications of changes that are made at any given level within an organization are well understood at all other levels within an organization. Rightly applied, the methodology serves to improve both localized as well as internal performance parameters by use of operational DMAIC. Moreover, the application of the paradigm allows for the making and measuring of changes from the perspective of the clients. By allowing an organization to know what customers regard as important and recognizing as well as removing the hurdles to offering these important things, organizations call centers are able to resolve clients complaints. Considering the BPO, it is worth noting that if the above recommendations are carefully integrated, then the business relationship between HA and BPO will continue, even on a better tone. References AA, S., YE, P. (2007). Operations Management for MBAs JR Meredith SM Shafer.The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 10(8), 1120. Adams, C., Gupta, P., Wilson, C. (2003). Six Sigma Deployment. Butterworth-Heinemann: Woburn, MA. Ames, A. E., Mattucci, N., MacDonald, S., Szonyi, G., Hawkins, D. M. (1997). Quality loss functions for optimization across multiple response surfaces. Journal of Quality Technology, 29 (19), 339-346. Antony, J. (2000). Multi-response optimization in industrial experiments using Taguchis quality loss function and principal component analysis. Quality and Reliability Engineering International, 16, 3-8. Antony, J. (2004). Six Sigma in the U.K. service organizations: Results from a pilot survey. Managerial Auditing Journal, 19(8), 10061013. Bhargav, A. M., Bhardwaj, A. Rathore, A. P. S. (2010). Six Sigma Methodology Utilization in Telecom Sector for Quality Improvement-A DMAIC Process. International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 2(12), 2010, 7653- 7659 Goh, T. N. (2002). A strategic Assessment of Six Sigma, Quality and Reliability Engineering International. Quality and Reliability Engineering International, 18(2), 403410. Gowen, I. R., Tallon, W. J. (2005). Effect of technological intensity on the relationships among Six Sigma design, electronic-business, and competitive advantage: A dynamic capabilities model study.Journal of High Technology Management Research,16, 59-87. Hahn, G. J., Hill, W. J., Hoerl, R. W., Zinkgraf, S. A. (2009). The impact of Six Sigma improvementA glimpse into the future of statistics. American Statistician, 53(3), 208 215. Heizer, J. (2016).Principles of Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, Global Edition. [N.p.]: Pearson. Kannan, N. (2003). Leveraging Lean Six Sigma in Business Process Outsourcing. Retrieved on 27th September, 2017 from https://www.sourcingmag.com/content/c060522a.asp. Karuppan, C. M., Dunlap, N. E., Waldrum, M. R. (2016).Operations Management in Healthcare: Strategy and Practice. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Kumar, P., Barua, P.B. and Gaindhar, J.L. (2000). Quality optimization (multi-characteristics) through Taguchis technique and utility concept. Quality and Reliability Engineering International, 16(3), 475-85. Linderman, K, Schroeder, R, Zaheer, S, Choo, A. (2003). Six Sigma: A goal-theoretic perspective. Journal of Operations Management, 2(12), 193203. M., V. S., Antony, J. (2015). Six-sigma for improving Top-Box Customer Satisfaction score for a banking call centre.Production Planning Control,26(16), 1291. Mani, D., Barua, A., Whinston, A. (2010). An empirical analysis of the impact of information capabilities design on business process outsourcing performance.MIS Quarterly,34(1), 39-62. McAdam, R., Davies, J., Keogh, B., Finnegan, A. (2009). Customer-orientated Six Sigma in call center performance measurement.International Journal of Quality Reliability Management, 19(6). 516. Shokri, A. (2017). Quantitative analysis of Six Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma research publications in last two decades.International Journal of Quality Reliability Management,34(5), 598. Snee, R. D. (2005). Leading business improvement: A new role for statisticians and quality professionals. Quality and Reliability Engineering International, 21(11), 235242. Valdez, K. (2013).Customer Satisfaction: 189 Most Asked Questions: What You Need to Know. [Brisbane, Australia]: Emereo Publishing.

Khufu A Painting by Sam Gilliam Essay Example

Khufu: A Painting by Sam Gilliam Essay Medium The artist used acrylic paint on canvas, it gives the picture a nice clean cut and looks like it was just painted yesterday instead of in the mid !960’s. It was a smart move on the part of the artist because acrylics can dry fast, they are thin, and resistant to cracking when the climate changes and it will also not darken or yellow over time, acrylics can also stick to a wide variety of surfaces. Line The artist utilizes line and color edges in this painting. He uses white lines in between the colors to show the colors getting closer and to separate the colors so they don’t mix. He uses a lot of colors in this painting and they all seem to be uniform in the fact of, they all start out small in the upper corner and get bigger, by the time they reach the other corner. He uses lines to control the vision of the audience and create depth on a flat canvas. We will write a custom essay sample on Khufu: A Painting by Sam Gilliam specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Khufu: A Painting by Sam Gilliam specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Khufu: A Painting by Sam Gilliam specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Form The form that he uses in the paintingreminds me of Pink Floyd’s dark side of the moon album, were it reminds me of light shining through a prism and splitting itinto the light spectrum that our eyes can see, the lines create the illusion that its going off into the distance, when in fact there just getting smaller. Color The artist uses 5 hues which are orange, blue, pink, red and yellow. He uses all the primary colors (red, blue, yellow) in the painting along with a secondary (orange) and a tertiary (pink) in his painting. By having these certain hues that complement each other, for example, orange and blue are across each other on the color wheel so they are complimentary colors. As is red and yellow being complimentary to one another. The overall palette is soothing in a way to me because of the colors he used, they work together to create a good painting. Repetition The Rhythm in painting is very obvious, the artist uses the same type of lines to separate the different colors in the same pattern of putting the white in between the colors, and that’s a

010 Intro to Literacy Narrative Professor Ramos Blog

010 Intro to Literacy Narrative Intro to Literacy Narrative Quick Write What do you want to learn in this class. Intro to Literacy Narrative A Literacy Narrative tells a story about something you have learned. Write a literacy narrative of your own, perhaps recalling how you learned to read or write. The focus of this paper is on the  learning. How did you learn? How did your sponsor help you to learn? How does learning this literacy relate to learning other literacies? Remember that there are many kinds of literacy. The narrative you compose may be about your encounters with paintings, films, music, fashion, architecture, or video games. Or it may explore any intellectual passion you have. From Graphic Design, to Mathematics, to a Foreign Language. Requirements 1,000+ words Tells a story about a literacy or a sponsor of literacy MLA Format 1+ relevant Image(s) Appropriate Structure Rough Draft Revised Draft Final Draft posted on class blog Here is a sample literacy narrative from a previous class  that you can use as a model as well.  The BFG and A Little Me. If you want to read more about literacy narratives, here are two great sources to check out. College Writing Tips: Write a Good Literacy Narrative Writing a Literacy Narrative What is literacy? The ability to read and write. In this class, literacy also means much more. Competence or knowledge in a specified area. For example, computer literacy or university literacy. Let’s come up with a big list of literacies that we can write about. Take two minutes and write down two or three literacies you have learned. Share with a partner. Read/Write Drive a car ? Literacy Sponsors A literacy sponsor is someone or something that helps you or hurts you when learning a literacy. Who are some possible sponsors? Teachers/Professors Parents ? Annotate What does annotate the text mean? Why should you annotate? What can you do to annotate or mark up your text? Shitty First Drafts Remember, the first homework assignment you can do is to answer the three questions at the end of the Anne Lamott article, â€Å"Shitty First Drafts.† Take a couple minutes and read the short article. Annotate the text. Four Defining Traits of a Game Goal. The outcome that the players will work to achieve. It focuses attention and gives you a sense of purpose. Rules. Limitations on how to achieve the goal. It will unleash creativity and foster strategic thinking. Feedback System. Tells players how close they are to achieving their goal. Provides motivation to keep playing. Voluntary Participation. Requires that you knowingly accept the goal, rules, and the feedback. You have the freedom to enter and leave the game at will. With these four ideas in mind, how can we apply this to college?

Unwind Teen Book Review

Unwind Teen Book Review Unwind is a dystopian thriller by Neal Shusterman that follows three teens on the run from a government that believes â€Å"unwinding,† or body harvesting, is an alternate solution to abortions and unwanted teens. Unwinding is also a choice for extremely religious families who want to tithe one of their teens. Although controversial in topic, this disturbing novel inspires deep thought about organ donation, abortion, and one’s personal right to make decisions regarding his or her body. This book is recommended for mature teens. Story Overview After America’s Second Civil War between the pro-life and pro-choice factions, a compromise was reached and called The Bill of Life. In this bill, any teens between the ages of 13-18 who are troublemakers, a ward of the state, or a tithe could be â€Å"unwound†. In other words, their bodies could be harvested for organ donation in order to give others the opportunity for a better quality of life. To be unwound was to continue â€Å"living† through another human being. Connor, Risa, and Lev are three teens who are scheduled to be â€Å"unwound†. Connor is seventeen and according to his parents a troublemaker. Risa is sixteen, a talented pianist and a ward of the state, but she isnt talented enough for them to keep her alive. Lev is thirteen and the tenth child of a religious family. He is proud to be a Tithe until an opportunity to run away is presented and his church pastor tells him to run. Through unusual circumstances, the three teens find one another, but Connor and Risa are separated from Lev and are taken to the Graveyard, a hiding place for teens on the run. Eventually, all three are captured by the police and are escorted to the Happy Jack Harvest Camp. Now their goal is to find a way to escape and survive until they turn eighteen. Eighteen is the magic number, and if a teen on the run can survive until that golden age, he or she will no longer be a target for unwinding. Author Neal Shusterman Neal Shusterman is an award-winning author who has been writing books and screenplays for more than twenty-five years. When asked about his purpose in writing Unwind Shusterman responded, â€Å"Unwind intentionally does not take a side on any issue. My point was to point out the fact that there are two sides on all of these gray-area issues, and that’s part of the problem. You have to look at it from a different perspective.† For more information about the author and his writing career, read Spotlight on Neal Shusterman. The Unwind Dystology Unwind is Book One in the Unwind Dystology. The complete Unwind Dystology includes the books Unwind, UnWholly, UnSouled and UnDivided. All the books are available in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audio editions. Review and Recommendation Unwind is a classic study on the value of human life and personal choice. Who owns our bodies? Does the government have the right to determine whose life is more valuable over another? Although the storyline seems  extreme, it is not unlike other classic novels such as 1984 and A Brave New World where the individual, in this case, teens, become subordinate to the state. However, in this story, the three teens are determined to fight back. Without a doubt, Unwind is a disturbing read, but it is a thinking read. Questions about personal rights, especially teen rights, government power, and the sanctity of life flow through your mind as you read. Reading this book puts a new spin on organ donation and gives readers the opportunity to wrestle with difficult topics and think about their personal convictions on emotionally charged subjects. The publisher recommends this book for ages 13 and up. (Simon and Schuster, 2009. ISBN: 9781416912057) Source â€Å"Interview with Author Neal Shusterman.† YA Highway.

Colonialism And Culture In Latin America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Colonialism And Culture In Latin America - Essay Example Cultural productions of this period, such as Sarmiento’s (1868) Civilization and Barbarism were put into dialogue with international debates over the nature and place of ‘primitivism’ in a country undergoing transformation as a bourgeois and modern state.ii For Sarmiento and like minded intellectuals, progressive thought was sanctioned with moral concepts related to social intervention and ultimately, domination. Mastery of all things ‘natural’ and untamed included everything from domesticating the frontiers of the pampas; to the monitoring of an ever increasing and potentially dangerous underclass; and finally, universal management of hysterical behaviors by children, women, the infirm and insane.iii Modernity in Argentina was not, and has never been, just a narrative about the progressive enlightenment of self-disciplined ‘citizens;’ it has always depended on the coercive re-ordering and management of ‘nature.’ Women, children and indigenous people were all classified within a hierarchical arrangement in varying distances from what it meant to be a fully realized human and individual citizen. The flexibility of ‘civilization’ narratives allowed for a knitting together of otherwise incompatible models of thought. Working toward the Arcadian arrival of a progressive, pacified, and rational social order, ‘civilization’ provided a powerful rallying point for Argentines. The convergence of territory and citizenry into a utopian patriotics of ‘Argentinidad’ was a specifically Argentine amalgamation of national cultural perspectives. Integral to Argentina’s modernity was the authority of the Catholic Church.iv Perhaps the singularly most powerful institution dedicated to the inherency of colonial Argentina, the Church’s participation in the mission of modernity in the post-independence era, while not circumscribed as Modernist,