Wuthering Heights Essays (530 words) - British Films,

Wuthering Heights Set in England on the Yorkshire Moors in the 19th century, Emily Bront?'s novel Wuthering Heights is the story of lovers who try to withstand the separation of social classes and keep their love alive. The main characters, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff grew up on a middle class English countryside cottage called Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff was the servant and Catherine the daughter of the owner of Wuthering Heights. As children, Heathcliff and Catherine were the best of friends, a friendship which turned to love with the coming of age. Catherine married a man of the upper class society and was forced to end her love affair with Heathcliff. Catherine was happy in her marriage at first but later became overwhelmed with her desire to be with Heathcliff. She was forced to distinguish the difference between her love for Heathcliff and her love for her new life with money. In the end, Catherine Earnshaw?s husband, Edgar Linton, died and Catherine finally realized that money and social class were not as fulfilling as her desire to have passion in her life, a desire which could only be met by Heathcliff. Throughout the book, Catherine tried to discover who she was and what exactly sh e wanted. In chapters 6 and 7, Catherine thought that she had finally discovered who she was and what she wanted. These chapters are the pinnacle of the story. It was the point in the book where the social classes were determined and Catherine?s love for Heathcliff was forced to be supressed. Heathcliff and Catherine were still young and playing together innocently one day. This was before Catherine became a member of the upperclass society and realized that she could not love Heathcliff because of his social class. Heathcliff and Catherine wandered beyond the secure gates of Wuthering Heights to a large estate owned by Edgar Linton called Thrushcross Grange. They spyed through one of the windows and were caught by Linton. Heathcliff managed to escape in time but Catherine injured herself and was taken in by Linton?s servants. Catherine stayed at Thrushcross Grange while Heathcliff return! ed to Wuthering Heights. She stayed at the estate for several weeks being nursed by Linton and his servants. The time she spent with Linton caused her to fall in love with him, causing her to permanently be separated from Heathcliff and the lower class life she used to know. Catherine became so absorbed in her new life that she forgot about Heathcliff and the pain he was feeling, until she realizes that there was something missing in her life. She finally knew that in order for her to become a whole person, she needed to be with her other half, Heathcliff. Although there are many different important messages in this novel, the main value is the changes which occur in and between the characters. It is a love story which deals with the social classes and the supression of true feelings. Wuthering Heights is a tragedy because of what happens when the characters finally discover what was truely meant to be. Wuthering Heights bestowes a moral value onto the reader of discrimination and true heart-break.

Monopoly Of The Postal Service Essays - United States Postal Service

Monopoly Of The Postal Service Essays - United States Postal Service Monopoly of the Postal Service In the United States economy most markets can be classified into four different markets structures. But, each and every market in the United States is completely unique from the others. Generally the best type of market structure for the general public is per-fect competition because it creates the lowest possible price for the public. There are some exceptions were perfect competition isn?t the best choice for the public on account of various reasons. The United States Postal Service is one of them and since the Postal Service is a monopoly, it is its own market. This paper will discuss the budget dilemmas that the postal service has faced for the past twenty years and if it is in the best interest of the economy for the United States Postal Service to continue as a monopoly. The first time there was talk of privatizing the Postal Service was in 1979 when the Postal Service was losing vast amounts of money in the long run. But since the Postal Service is a necessity for America, the government had to subsidize the service in order for it to continue in operation. In 1979 the United States Postal Service had a cash flow of $22.5 Billion and was additionally receiving $176 million from investing(#1, Intro). Even with this added revenue the Postal Service was still greatly under funded on its own (#1, Intro). During this time it was discussed to privatize the postal service and introduce competition because of the extreme losses that the service was experiencing. A positive argument for privatizing the Postal Service was with numerous competitors in the market there would be more efficiency and the public would receive lower prices. But this would also increase the usage of resources, for example airplanes and cars. One of the problems the Post Office had was its receipts from consumer purchases that were submitted the next day after the transaction (#1, i). If the receipts were submitted earlier the postal service would receive more money because they could invest that money sooner (#1, i). Another way the Postal Service could increased profits was by competitively selecting banks that would give them higher interest rates and such (#1, ii). Probably the most relevant and final way to improve the budget of the Postal Service is to improve the bookkeeping poli-cies and banking techniques (#1, ii). Not only did the Post Service propose to increase profits but they also proposed to cut costs in a number of ways. There were three methods that were proposed in 1946 for the protection of salaries that no longer exists (#2, Intro). These have to do with the rural mail carriers. Under this antiquated method of delivering mail the Postal Service was los-ing money to any mail that went to "rural" areas (#2, i) There are 48,000 mail carriers that deliver mail to millions of families that are considered to be living in rural settings; this costs the postal Service 858 million dollars a year (#2, i). This is a fairly easy problem to fix considering how much money is being lost. It was proposed that money loss could be significantly cut down if the Postal Service corrected the following problems. The rural mail carriers were assigned a certain amount of time to deliver to a specific rural area, this method was out of date and because of this the carriers have free time for which they got paid for (#2, ii). The next problem was that other mail routes based pay on how many miles the route covered, so the carriers were getting paid by the mile (#2, iii). With this problem fixed the Postal Service could saved 26.8 million a year (#2, iii). There was also an hourly rate that was in effect which indirectly promoted inefficient service (#2, iii). A stop to this could have saved the Postal Service $255,000 a year (#2, iii). From the num-bers mentioned above, it can be seen why the United States Postal Service was losing so much money. These problems did indeed eventually did get solved over the past fifteen years and now the Postal Service is making record breaking profits. Now in the first quarter

International Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

International Law - Essay Example Due to the increase in these multinational corporation cases, American courts employed the doctrine of forum non conveniens, as a shield to limit the increasing use of the American legal system by foreign plaintiffs. The argument behind all this is that the foreign victims tend to take advantage of the procedural and substantive law.2 As a result of global development and globalization of most business activities, the multinational corporations are discussed at an international platform. The globalization of these corporations as well as economic institutions in the world brings wider media coverage that even the very small accidents can be viewed by millions in the world. This keeps the whole world alert about the multinational corporations, which are best known to violate human rights. ... The reasons for the inclusion of the Alien Tort Statue in this Act were not very clear, but however its enactment was originally for the use against pirates, and to prevent the mistreatment of foreign ambassadors, but it was left inactive and forgotten until 1980 when it was rediscovered and put into use by lawyers.5 The Alien Tort Statute was first used in solving the Filartiga V. case. The plaintiffs were a Paraguayan father and daughter who brought a complaint with the help of human rights activists. They alleged that the defendant a former Paraguay police officer had tortured their brother and son to death. They won the case and were rewarded a significant monetary amount.6 Since the enactment of the Alien Tort Statue, a significant number of cases have been brought forth concerning human rights abuses committed abroad including claims against American corporations. The Alien Tort Statute has really helped to solve many cases. This statute has made it possible and easier for fore igners to bring civil cases in the United States district level courts, for crimes committed anywhere in the world by an individual, government, and corporations that violates the law of nations or treaty of the United States.7 The Alien Tort Statue also gained importance in kadic V, Karadizic. Karadizic expanded the capacity of human rights claims under Alien Tort Statute to cover private non-state actors who violated human rights. This means that, it was directly applied against corporate defendants and this indicated that American courts were, and are willing to consider claims based on violations of international human law against Multinational Corporations.8

Sociology - Medical Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sociology - Medical Knowledge - Essay Example Fleck's main assertions came through his assessment of the research done on syphilis. He shows that our "thought style" through the ages accounts for the evolution of syphilis studies. The first thinking was from "mystical-ethical" ideas in which syphilis was thought to have come from both fornication and the position of the stars (White, 2002). The second stage of thought was that syphilis was a reaction to heavy metals such as mercury, which was "empirical-therapeutic" thinking. The third stage developed pathogenic thought that caused "perverted blood" to be the main cause of syphilis. And the last, modern, thought style is that of etiological thinking, which arose through the Wasserman reaction that allowed for syphilis testing to be done. Fleck worked on the last stage and notes how the research that discovered this procedure was based upon all the thought styles that had gone before (ibid.). The culture of the first stage relied heavily on the stars for much of their "research". The culture of the third stage may have come from the socio-political influences of the time, a moral outrage of the times, especially as a result of all the reigning kings that came down with syphilis infections. Our current thinking about syphilis is based on the background and training, according to Fleck, of modern day researchers, including his own. Fleck believed that even the study of bacteriology has been a reflection of our social viewpoint, that it is a social product. He points to common metaphors such as "invading microorganisms invading the body" as being aligned with the expansion of imperialism. It has also been a large concern of militaries throughout centuries of warfare that the soldiers have contracted syphilis. The ways that people also describe bacteria as "demons infecting the person" is a reflection of the impact of religion on the sciences. As another example of Fleck's thoughts on constructed medical knowledge, anatomical drawings through history have reflected the thinking of the era. The ancient drawings depicting skeletons, for instance, showed them as death figures and seemed designed to remind people of their mortality. An emotional element was also included in ancient drawings, such as those of the knee that referred to it as the "site of mercy" (White, 2002). By contrast, modern drawings of the human body draw more from the Industrial Revolution (ibid.) by looking mechanized, such as Descartes clockworks. Bernard Stern showed the opposition to medical practices that we take for granted now when they were first used. Dissection was challenged for the prevailing religious views. Vaccinations were thought to be an unskilled practice not useable by practitioners of their time because they could not charge enough of a fee for them. And the spread of infection by doctors was disputed by doctors because it insulted their professional integrity. The modern thinking that medicines are the only thing to impact the body while inert products do not can be shown to be a constructed piece of medical "knowledge". This "thought collective" does not account for the 90% cure rate of ulcers with placebo (Moerman, 1981). Fleck calls this "the result of Cartesianism, a mind/body dichotomy." Health Promoters' Version of Socially Constructed Health Knowledge Constructionists question the validity of objectivity and factuality in medical knowledge because of the impact of

Nursing Informatics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Nursing Informatics - Coursework Example Nurses must integrate the nursing informatics into their professional lives to enable them develop their nursing systems for specific needs such as in the psychiatry department. Restructuring of job descriptions helps the health workers perform their roles with great competence due to their specialization and advanced skills in their department. For instance, there are nurses involved with health education, mental health counseling, and occupation health among others. The long care support and services training facilitate knowledge to make sure that the patient receives high-quality service and promote the independence of individuals who are beneficiaries of the service. A performance appraisal for health care nurses is very important as rewarding them boosts their morale to provide high-quality services (Careeronestop.org, 2015). The nurse performance appraisal tools assist in determining the key areas of responsibility in which each nurse can perform perfectly. The techniques involve getting the information and rating each nurse with respect to the dedication and contribution to the organization, which helps to make judgments when promoting. The nursing s uch as the dressing code policy, confidentiality, and commitment policies are important in ensuring quality services for the patients. Some other professional guidelines are keeping short nails, avoiding the use of strong fragrances, and sometimes-personal cell phones are not around during the care for the patients. Electronic health records and use of computers is important for all health professionals, especially the nurses. Micron technology (MU) enables the use of charts to pass information such as patient preferred pharmacy prescriptions, which can be sent to the pharmacy after the patient is discharged. The other important part of the Mu that facilitates quality health services is the

Analysis of validity and reliability of intelligence assessments

Analysis of validity and reliability of intelligence assessments Measuring intelligence has always been a pragmatic thing to do (Wilhelm Engle, 2005). Most people find it hard to be rational in measuring their intelligence. As a common usage, intelligence is attested quantifiably by understanding the admissibility of a degree (Bartholomew, 2004) In other words, there can be no way that intelligence would be perfectly quantified. Only the nearness or the relative distance can be the mode of measuring ones intelligence. David Wechsler (Bartholomew, 2004) defines intelligence as the aggregate ability of an individual to have a rational thinking, a purposive act, and an effective dealing with his environment. Some writers however define intelligence negatively. That is, the doing away of tests. It is important to differentiate between intelligence quotient (IQ) and intelligence itself. IQ does not simply refer to the quantity of intelligence a person has, rather it refers to the relative standing of an individual with regard to his performance in an intelligence test as compared to others who took the same test (Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, 2007). When intelligence is measured in terms of a numerical result (i.e. I.Q. is 140), we cannot be sure that we are really talking about intelligence since there is a substitution of precision for vagueness (Govier, 2009). The original purpose of intelligence test was primarily to identify the least capable students that are finding it hard to learn from ordinary schooling (Kalat, 2010). However, it was later used to determine who among the students excel and during entrance examinations in universities. It is seemingly difficult if not impossible to devise a test that would truly measure the innate intelligence without being bias culturally. Innate ability cannot be measured if cultural bias exists (Young, 2006). Bias refers to the existence of nuisance factors that makes it difficult to compare the intelligence tests results across different cultural groups (Prifitera et al. 2008). There are three kinds of cultural biases in intelligence tests vis-a-viz construct bias, method bias, and differential item functioning (Lovler, Miller, McIntire, 2010). Construct bias occurs when there are different systems of meaning from culture to culture. For instance, a good daughter in a country might have a different characteristic in another country. Method bias occurs when the procedure of the test vary from different cultures such as when in a certain country, participants are used to input data electronically while in another country, participants are used to answering manually through paper s. Differential item functioning or item bias occurs when there is a great gap in the test scores of the participants in different cultures who have relatively the same abilities. For example, different regional groups might have different scores in a history test regarding their home country even if all of them are familiar with its history. In order to eliminate cultural biases in intelligence tests, culture-free tests became a demand. As the name imply this test attempt to eliminate cultural and educational differences (Haselbauer, 2006). The most common mediums used in this test are pictures or images which assess spatial capabilities of the participants such as visualization and perception. The validity of the tests is equally important as the reliability of the test. Validity is challenged when a participant in the test cannot communicate in the language used in the test (Rhodes, 2005). Critics of IQ tests argue that the differences in IQ scores are attributable to the orientation of the test makers such as their experiences, vocabulary and language, and lifestyles (Weiten, 2008). Construct-related validity refers to the extent which the test instrument can capture the details it is designed to measure (Sternberg, 2010). Methods To be able to determine the validity of intelligence tests particularly on the way it is constructed, this paper will investigate whether validity of tests vary between English speakers and non-English speakers. The kind of test that will be used is PSYGAT which focuses mainly on the verbal capability of the participant. This will be conducted after the participants have taken the Queendom test and Culture Fair IQ test. Participants will be composed of a total number of 337 from which 269 (79.8%) are females and 68 (20.2%) are males. The sex standard deviation for the participants with English-speaking backgrounds (ESB) will be 0.407 while those with non-English speaking background (NESB) will be 0.389. After getting the result of the test, it will be analyzed based on age. The age standard deviation for ESBs will be 7.514 while for NESBs it is 7.627. Ages range from 19-55 for ESBs and 19-62 for NESBs. Aim This study aims to determine if PSYGAT is internally reliable when a group of participants with English-speaking backgrounds and non-English speaking backgrounds are compared. An initial hypothesis for this study is that PSYGAT will be a reliable means of intelligence computation vis-a-viz significant convergent validity in the same way as the Queendom and Culture Fair IQ tests. However, between ESB and NESB, it is hypothesized that they will differ in terms of reliability and validity. Results Item Analysis Upon checking for internal consistency of data using Cronbachs alpha, it can be assessed that results were reliable, especially as most of the generated alpha were higher than 80 percent. The following are reliability statistics with their corresponding Cronbachs alpha  [1]  : Reliability of data for overall sample for all 55 questions Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha .898 Reliability of data for overall sample for the 25 best discriminating questions Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha .848 Reliability of the data for ESB group for the 25 best discriminating questions Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha .851 Reliability of the ESB for all 55 questions Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha .901 Reliability of the data for NESB group for the 25 best discriminating questions Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha .841 Reliability of the NESB group for all 55 questions Reliability Statistics Cronbachs Alpha .889 Validity of PSYGAT In order to test the validity of PSYGAT, the correlation scores of the PSYGAT (total scores) on each of the Queendom tests were obtained using SPSS. Correlations (for all sample) Total Queendom Verbal Adjusted Total Pearson Correlation 1 .466** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 337 337 Queendom Verbal Adjusted Pearson Correlation .466** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 337 337 Queendom Culture Fair IQ Pearson Correlation .098 -.283** Sig. (2-tailed) .073 .000 N 337 337 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Correlations for ESB Group Total Queendom Verbal Adjusted Total Pearson Correlation 1 .433** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 244 244 Queendom Verbal Adjusted Pearson Correlation .433** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 244 244 Queendom Culture Fair IQ Pearson Correlation .067 -.341** Sig. (2-tailed) .295 .000 N 244 244 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Correlations for NESB group Total Queendom Verbal Adjusted Total Pearson Correlation 1 .567** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 93 93 Queendom Verbal Adjusted Pearson Correlation .567** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 93 93 Queendom Culture Fair IQ Pearson Correlation .238* .011 Sig. (2-tailed) .022 .918 N 93 93 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Assessment of Differences between ESB and NESB groups in terms of reliability and validity By splitting the data according to its background (i.e., ESB and NESB group), the following correlations were obtained: Correlations English Queendom Culture Fair IQ english speakiing background Queendom Culture Fair IQ Pearson Correlation 1 Sig. (2-tailed) N 244 Queendom Verbal Adjusted Pearson Correlation -.341** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 244 non english speaking background Queendom Culture Fair IQ Pearson Correlation 1 Sig. (2-tailed) N 93 Queendom Verbal Adjusted Pearson Correlation .011 Sig. (2-tailed) .918 N 93 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). The observed z value will be obtained using the following formula: where: rESB= -0.341 NESB = 244 rNESB= 0.011 NNESB = 93 Transforming the correlation coefficient to their corresponding z values, zESB = -0.355 zNESB = 0.011 Using the values above, the following observed z value was obtained: Z = -2.96 To evaluate the observed z value, the obtained value must not be between -1.96 and +1.96 to conclude a statistical difference between the two correlation coefficients. From this, it can be assessed that there is a statistical difference between the 2 correlation coefficients, due to the fact that the observed z value does not fall between -1.96 and +1.96. Discussion and Conclusions Many researchers have argued that the measurement of intelligence through IQ tests is no doubt based on the culture to which the individual belongs to. In an attempt to assess the reliability and the construct validity of the PSYGAT a verbal assessment developed by Psychology students in 1998 344 Psychology students were tasked to complete three tests which comprises of two Queendom tests (verbal adjusted and culture fair test) and the PSYGAT. The results of the PSYGAT were then analysed for internal validity. Construst validity of PSYGAT was also examined by analyzing the test scores alongside the Queendom tests. The hypothesis that the PSYGAT test would show significant internal reliability and construct validity as it was analysed alongside the other two tests was supported. Significant correlations were also found in the results for Queendom Verbal Adjusted and the PSYGAT for English speaking background group. Upon computation of observed z values, it was also concluded that th ere were statistical differences between the ESB and NESB correlation coefficients. Thus, it can be further assessed that PSYGAT can be used validly for verbal intelligence assessments, although, further research is recommended for its use in culture fair factors. One limitation though of this study is the fact that participants were all university students, specifically Psychology students. Perhaps, there is a need for further research that will involve a much diverse population, considering that participants in this study can be considered as well-educated. Despite their non-English speaking background, it can also be assumed that perhaps are also well-versed in the English language. Another limitation is also the fact that the tests used the English language as the first language in the assessments. Such factor may pose limitations for specific ethnic groups whose first language is not English. It can be considered that future researches be conducted that will be more culture sensitive and be conducted using the first language of the specific ethnic group. References Bartholomew, D. J. (2004). Measuring intelligence: facts and fallacies: Cambridge University Press Govier, T. (2009). A practical study of argument (7th ed.): Cengage Learning. Haselbauer, N. (2006). The everything test your IQ book: discover your true intelligence: Everything Books. Kalat, J. W. (2010). Introduction to psychology (9th ed.): Cengage Learning. Lovler, R. L., Miller, L. A., McIntire, S. A. (2010). Foundations of psychological testing: a practical approach (3rd ed.): SAGE. Prifitera, A., Saklofske, D. H., Weiss, L. G. (2008). WISC-IV clinical assessment and intervention: practical resources for the mental health professional (2nd ed.): Elsevier. Rhodes, R. L., Ochoa, S. H. Ortiz, S. O. (2005). Assessing culturally and linguistically diverse students: a practical guide: Guilford Press. Weiten, W. (2008). Psychology: Themes and variations (8th ed.): Cengage Learning. Wilhelm, O. Engle, R. W. (2005). Handbook of understanding and measuring intelligence: SAGE. Young, E. M. (2010). Dealing with the cultural bias in intelligence testing: culture free and culture fair iq tests. Retrieved 29 April 2011 from: . Zastrow, C Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2007). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (7th ed.): Cengage Learning.

Stephen Leacocks Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich :: Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich Essays

Stephen Leacock's Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich    Jonathan Swift has suggested that "Satire is a sort of Glass, wherein Beholders do generally discover every body's Face their own; which is the chief reason...that so few are offended with it."   Richard Garnett suggests that, "Without humour, satire is invictive; without literary form, [and] it is mere clownish jeering." (Encyclopaedia Britannica 14th ed. vol. 20 p. 5). Whereas Swift's statement suggests that people are not offended by satire because readers identify the character's faults with their own faults; Garnett suggests that humour is the key element that does not make satire offensive. With any satire someone is bound to be offended, but the technique the author uses can change something offensive into something embarrassing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stephen Leacock's Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich is a nonthreatening, humorous, and revealing satire of the moral faults of upper class society. The satire acts as a moral instrument to expose the effect money can have on religion, government, and anything within its touch. Writing about such topics is hard to do without offending people. Leacock's technique combines money with humour, and accompanies his moral message with ironic characters; their exaggerated actions, and a constant comical tone to prevent readers from being offended.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leacock's utopian world is filled with humorous labels that represent the "Plutonian's" personalities. "Ourselves Monthly"; a magazine for the modern self-centered, is a Plutonian favourite. To fill their idle days, the Plutonian women are in an endless search for trends in literature and religion. Without the distractions of club luncheons and trying to achieve the "Higher Indifference", the women would have to do something productive. Readers that identify themselves with the class of people the Plutonians represent would be embarrassed rather than offended by Leacock's satirical portrayal of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "The Yahi-Bahi Oriental Society" exaggerates the stupidity of the Plutonians to a point where the reader laughs at the character's misfortunes. The con men give ridiculous prophecies such as "Many things are yet to happen before others begin." (Leacock 87), and eventually take their money and jewelry. The exaggeration increases the humour while the moral message is displayed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The characters of the novel are ironic in the sence that they percieve themselves as being the pinicle of society, yet Leacock makes the look like fools. For someone who prides themself on being an expert on just about everything, Mr. Lucullus Fyshe's (as slimmy and cold as his name represents) perceptions are proven false. Mr. Fyshe makes hypocratic statments about ruling class tyranny, while barking down the neck of a poor waiter for serving cold asparagus.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leacock exposes the whole Plutonian buisness world to be