Global Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Marketing - Essay Example There are many factors such as the changing consumers’ demographics and expectations, the nature of competitions and the advent of technologies that affect the operations of a firm among others. Question One: Environmental Factors Affecting Inniskillin The environmental factors play a significant role in the business and in a country’s growth. The numerous factors that will be discussed in this context are political factors, economic factors, social factors, technological factors, environmental factors and legal factors (Jones & Hirasawa, 2008). Political Factors It can be mentioned that the political as well as the legal factors have been favourable for the success of the Inniskillin. After the end of the prohibition on sales of the alcohol, most of the companies have built their reputation in Canadian market of spirits and beers. Despite the wine market remaining sectioned, the market seemed to be expanding because of the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) that assists in maintaining the standard as well as the quality control. This can assist the Canadian wine to achieve more recognition in the global market especially for the production of the Icewine. It has been apparent from the case study that because of the permission that Vincor received from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)., the company was capable of being the biggest wine shop in the country of Canada. It permitted Vincor to set up its own shops whilst the other small wineries were capable of selling only at the government-owned stores since they had limited options from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (Jones & Hirasawa, 2008). The company was capable of gaining competitive advantage because of its own distribution channel in Canada. It was further apparent from the case study that domestic prices of the wine of the wineries in Canada were controlled by the government monopolies for getting their wine listed so that they can distribute as well as sell their wines. This led to low-sales volumes as well as restricted the options available in exporting, tourism activities along with the restaurant trade. Economic Factors The economic factors have been quite favourable for the Inniskillin. The reasons behind this have been the rising incomes as well as the rise in the consumption rate of the wine in terms of values and sales. The industry sought the global pressure of consolidation. However, Inniskillin undertook expansion strategy and thus enjoyed the benefits of economies of scale via acquisition so that it can produce cheap wines and thus ac hieve recognition in the domestic as well as global markets. It has further been apparent from the case study that because of the economic activities that have been concerned with the agriculture in Canada, the production of better quality European Vinifera has been possible (Jones & Hirasawa, 2008) Social Factors It can be mentioned that the taste and the preference of the consumers evolve on a continuous basis. With the rise in the income, the consumers were becoming more concerned regarding the taste. The premium wines became popular at the expense of low tier wines. It was because of the evolving consumers’ awareness regarding the premium brands that helped Inniskillin to enhance their product quality (Jones & Hirasawa

TESOL Thesis Statement Essay Example for Free

TESOL Thesis Statement Essay China has arisen in all perspectives of the twenty-first century. Parents in China play crucial roles of children learning and they are now more concern about the English ability their children have enhanced which means teacher must pay greater attention to the communication between parents and teacher and the challenge it brings. Thesis Closed policy The closed policy has created difficulties, for Chinese students in methods of learning and in connecting with foreign cultures. Further, students in China are hard to combine the concepts and cultures they have learned to the reality. For example, they will not be able to surf the internet freely and watch the worldwide TV News. (Jian-Hua Xu 2009) It means they do not have chance to explore themselves to different cultures and learning environment. Self-cultivation China technology and Economic has fast developed in the past ten years. Their living standards and environments have improved quickly. However, the attainments in self-cultivation of people do not process that fast. It needs certain amount of time for people to digest and evolve. (Yan-Hua Liu 2009)These situations caused the problem that people in China are not familiar to communicate with people outside the country and enhance new cultures and learning styles. According to the reading materials, this is how intercultural communication takes place. (Carter and Nunan 2001) This will create a conflict between teacher and parents that learning English is not only a school subject or language; it is more like a process of meeting new cultures and enlarging  perspective. Parents also need to be educated to respect and enhance the culture differences. Historical perspective From the historical perspective, the great Chinese thinker and social philosopher Confucius has a great impact on student’s learning habit and influence the way of Chinese thinking. There are a lot of great ideas he had brought up. However, he had brought up one concept that people should not make mistake over three times on the similar subject. Even though his main idea is to share the concept of avoiding make mistakes on the same situation. It is deeply rooted in people’ mind of China which caused Chinese students are very afraid to make mistake in class, even to speak up. (Te-Sheng Ye2011) This situation puts ESL teacher in an awkward position. Students do not speak up in class; it is hard for teacher to assess how much do the students have enhanced in the language and how to adjust the lesson. Therefore, it is important for ESL teacher to communicate with parents about the way of learning English should be bolder and guide their children to learn from asking questions and learn from mistakes. Educational system The Educational system in China is really intense. There are too many people but only a few of them will be able to receive higher and better education. The few famous schools become really hard to get into and the standards become more and more strict. The educational policy makes both students and parents under tremendous pressure and force the competition between students become furious. Parents in China become very aggressive, they are afraid that their children will lose to the others. So, they cram their children with endless lessons after school which blots out the interest and motivation of learning to their children. Learning English is not interesting for Chinese kids, within grade three, they will be able to analyze the grammar error and sentence structures. Their aim to learn English is not communicate, is to score high marks in the non-stop examinations in order to get in good school. It is crucial for ESL teacher to guide those parents to think about learning English is not only to cater with the examinations but to enhance another language. And, to get good scores and get in a good school are just an added value when those children master the language well. Conclusion Learning English is not only between children and the teacher, it needs parents to get involved. The attitudes of parents are matter to the learning efficiency of the children. Teaching English in China is not easy, parts from the perspectives of closed policy, history and educational system, the most important part is to have affective communication with parents. Unless the communications between children, parents and teacher attain balance, the learning efficiency and the added in value will benefit the children the most. It is important for teacher to guide parents to know how to motivate and access in their children’s learning. The right way to educate parents is also a crucial issue to concern. Teacher should cultivate parents instead of seeing English as a school subject, it should be value more as the process will also teach students to experience and explore the world.

Comparative Theory Essay: Ethnohistory and The Postcolonial Perspective

In The Houses of History, selected and introduced by Anna Green and Kathleen Troup, the different theories of the twentieth century are broken down and specifics are introduced about each theory. Historians use these theories to study certain aspects of history and to be able to compare two theories to each other and the problems each theory addresses must be identified. With all aspects of history having some sort of connection, it would be better to take a holistic approach to the history of different eras. As we first read in Arnold earlier in the semester, "History is above all else an argument (Arnold 13)." Therefore, to compare two theories of history, the argument must begin with the facts of the theory and what that theory is used for, and then argue where it might have flaws or not connect history together. Beginning with ethnohistory, which includes anthropology, the beginnings of the different studies of mankind are introduced, when the book then jumps to a postcolonial perspective the views of the future are pointed to the mistakes of the past. Each theory has a purpose to explaining the views and studies of different historians around the world. This essay will compare my views on ethnohistory combined with anthropology versus the views of postcolonial history. To start with anthropology, and outlining the timelines of mankind, one can start cumulating the facts around how humans have evolved throughout hundreds and thousands of years. Using anthropology as a theory of history is the ability to understand the social and cultural behaviors that connect the concept of human culture. As historians there are many benefits from using anthropology, studying the behaviors of human kind and all of its variations is a true... ...d the study of linguistics has allowed postcolonial historians to get a view point from theses Indigenous cultures about the European influences they have encountered. Both of these theories benefit from each other, and are able to help historians elaborate on finding the facts and presenting them as a primary source. To consider these theories not to be main factors for historians would be a false statement, as historians in the twenty-first century, we must enable ourselves to use such theories because there are always issues to argue about and pulling from the past and engaging in it can complete our argument. Works Cited Arnold, John H. History a Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Print. Green, Anna, and Kathleen Troup. The Houses of History: a Critical Reader in Twentieth-century History and Theory. New York: New York UP, 1999. Print.

The Accidental Tourist Essay

Life just is. You have to flow with it. Give yourself to the moment. Let it happen. † -Jerry Brown If an individual allows changes to occur in one’s life, then love can be the wonderful result of that acceptance. The theme of reasons why we love and how we love different people is demonstrated throughout the book The Accidental Tourist, written by Anne Tyler. There are two main characters that undergo and accept the changes in their lives, and one character that stays static throughout the book, helping one of the characters to change.Macon Leary is first grounded by loneliness and comfort, then slowly opens himself up to what appears to be a whole new world for him. Then, there is Sarah Leary, who controls some of the changes in her life, and tries to make the best of the rest of them. The character that remains the same throughout the book is Muriel Pritchett—a dog-trainer who takes an interest in Macon and helps him to accept the changes in his life. Above all, the universal theme of this book is love—a surprising new journey for all the characters.In the beginning of the book, it is explained how Macon and Sarah Leary’s son is murdered and how their marriage suffers because of this. Sarah leaves Macon, which is the beginning stage of Macon’s renovated life, but one that does not start off happily: â€Å"He didn’t eat real meals anymore†¦His hair, which Sarah used to cut for him, jutted over his forehead like a shelf. Ande something had caused his lower lids to droop. He used to have narrow gray slits of eyes; now they were wide and startled†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (14). Macon is not at all used to living alone.He wants to control everything and likes nothing to be left to chance—Sarah’s departure is not something he can control and he does not deal with it well. Macon begins to think that he cannot live without his wife, but soon realizes a few things that really make him think about the marriage: Hi s brain buzzed with little worries†¦The worries changed, grew deeper, he wondered what had gone wrong with his marriage. Sarah had been his first and only girlfriend; now he thought he should have practiced on someone else beforehand.During the twenty years of their marriage there’s been moments—there’s been months—when he didn’t feel they had really formed a unit the way couples were supposed to. No, the stayed two distinct people, and now always even friends. Sometimes they’d seemed more like rivals, elbowing each other, competing over who was the better style of person†¦ (15-16) Macon realizes that he and Sarah never actually became one person; they had always stayed as two separate people living in a stale, routine marriage. Finally, Macon comes to terms with the fact that Sarah is not coming home to him: â€Å"Well, of course she wasn’t there.He knew it the instant he stepped inside that house, when he smelled that sta le hot air and heard the muffled denseness of a place with every window shut. Really he’d known it all along. He’d been fooling himself. He’d been making up fairy tales† (41). Macon knew that when he got home from his business trip that Sarah would not be there waiting for him like she used to. Although he did not ask for this change in his life, and after living alone for a while, moves back with his sister and brothers—a comfortable change for him.This all begins to change when Macon meets an unusual woman working at the animal hospital where he takes his dog and becomes acquaintances with her. Muriel allows Macon to open up to her, and Macon shows his willingness to do so: ‘I lost my son,’ Macon said. ‘He was just†¦he went to a hamburger joint and then†¦someone came, a holdup man, and shot him. I can’t go to dinner with people! I can’t talk to their little boys! You have to stop asking me. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings but I’m just not up to this, do you hear? She took one of his wrists very gently and she drew him into the house, still not fully opening the door, so that he had a sense of slipping through something, of narrowly evading something. She closed the door behind him. She put her arms around him and hugged him. (189-190) At first, Macon does not give Muriel Pritchett a second thought, but before he knows it, he is dating her and soon living with Muriel and her young son. This shows a tremendous change for Macon, and a step forward in his life. Muriel helps Macon to see the world in a different way.She is the character that seems to know exactly what she is after in life, and therefore does not change during the course of this book. On the other hand, all Macon does throughout the book is change his life in extreme ways. Macon learns how to love and trust Muriel in a way that he never has with anyone. In an addition to Macon’s changing life, ther e is his wife, Sarah, who makes the decision to leave Macon a year after the death of their son. Sarah feels that Macon does not express his emotions as she would like him to, and that he does not provide her with the comfort she needs and has needed in the past.This frustrates Sarah greatly and she does not feel as if she can continue in the marriage: I said to you the other day, I said, ‘Macon, now that Ethan’s dead I sometimes wonder if there’s any point to life. ’ Do you remember what you answered? †¦ ’You said, ‘Honey, to tell the truth, it never seemed to me there was all that much point to begin with. ’ Those were your exact words†¦ ’You just go on your same old way like before. Your little routines and rituals, depressing habits, day after day. No comfort at all. ’†¦ ‘I just can’t live with you anymore,’ Sarah said. 3-4) Sarah is heart-broken with this decision, as is Macon, but s he is just not happy with her marriage. During Macon and Sarah’s separation, Sarah starts to move on and begins dating a man. Though she has an apartment of her own, which is what she wanted, Sarah realizes how much she truly loves and misses Macon, and makes a slight and almost unnoticeable attempt to get back together with him much later in the book during a conversation between her and Macon: ‘It [the rain] looks like strips that just fade away about halfway down from the sky. ’ ‘I wish I were there to watch it with you,’ Sarah said†¦ ‘Macon?Do you†¦What’s her name? The person you live with? ’ ‘Muriel,’ he said. Which he knew before she asked, he suspected. ‘Do you plan on staying with Muriel forever? ’ ‘I really couldn’t say,’ he said. (289-290) Sarah is now the one longing for Macon. Macon thinks that the only thing to do is go back to Sarah, since, after all, he had bee n longing to get her back for some time. Macon returns to his house with Sarah, leaving Muriel: â€Å"He rode on through the city, up Charles Street, into his old neighborhood. He parked and cut the engine and sat looking at the house.The downstairs windows were dark. The upstairs windows were softly glowing. Evidently, he had come home† (291). Macon is reluctant about coming home to Sarah, but in the back of his mind he still feels like he needs her because they shared so much of their lives together. Soon after, while Macon is on another business trip to Paris, his back goes out and Sarah flies in to take care of him. Things seem to be going well, but then Sarah sees Macon packing his things a few days later, which provides yet another change for Sarah, as well as Macon: Sarah said, ‘Macon? †¦ ‘What are you doing? ’ ‘I’m packing to leave. ’ ‘But what about your back? ’ she asked. ‘And I’ve got all those a ppointments! And we were going to take a second honeymoon! ’ ‘Sweetheart,’ he said. He lowered himself cautiously till he was sitting on the bed. He picked up her hand. It stayed lifeless while she watched his face. ‘You’re going back to that woman,’ she said. ‘Yes, I am,’ he said. ‘Why, Macon? ’ ‘I just decided, Sarah. I thought about it most of last night. It wasn’t easy. It’s not the easy way out, believe me. †¦ he saw now how such couples evolved. They were not, as he’d always supposed, the result of some ludicrous lack of perception, but had come together for reasons that the rest of the world would never guess. (339-340) Macon realizes that he is happier with Muriel, and although he does not want to cause Sarah pain, this time, it is Macon that is making a change that Sarah cannot help—instead of the other way around. Therefore, Sarah must accept these changes in her life, along with all the ups and downs.Finally, Muriel Pritchett is shown to be the one character that does not go through changes in the duration of the book, already having experienced major alterations in her earlier life. Muriel assures Macon of himself and makes Macon feel needed for the first time in a long time: â€Å"Macon presented himself in front of her, holding out the pizza. ‘Ta-da! ’ he whispered. She looked up at him and gave that perky smile of hers—an ornate, Victorian V. ‘Ma,’ she said, ‘I’m going now! Macon’s here! ’ It had been a long time since anyone made such an event of his arrival† (196).Macon shows that he is beginning to allow himself to care for Muriel, and to be happy with her and this change in his life—being needed. Later on, when Macon is at his sister’s house, he begins to actually miss Muriel: Macon laid the photos aside without looking at the rest of them. He knelt to pat Ed ward†¦Macon suddenly wished he were at Muriel’s. He wrapped his arms around Edward and imagined he smelled her sharp perfume deep in Edward's fur†¦ above all else he was an orderly man†¦ There was no room in his life for anyone as unpredictable as Muriel. Or as extreme.Or as†¦well, unlikable, sometimes†¦ Then he knew what mattered was the pattern of her life; that although he did not love her he loved the surprise of her, and also the surprise of himself when he was with her. (201) As much as Macon never thought he could care for Muriel, he finds himself almost loving her, and loving himself more whenever he is with her. He begins to enjoy his time with Muriel, and now moves with the flow of life, instead of life passing him by while he is still standing still. After Macon leaves Muriel to get back with Sarah, he finds that Muriel will not give up on him.She follows him to his business trip to Paris: â€Å"‘†¦why Muriel? Why are you doing this? ’ ‘Because I felt like it,’ she said. ‘You felt like spending five days alone in a Paris hotel? That’s what is will be, Muriel. ’ ‘You need to have me around,’ she said. ‘Need you! ’ ‘You were falling to pieces before you had me† (318). Muriel is very persistent—just like when she had been pursuing Macon; she refuses to give him up. In the end, Macon cannot refuse Muriel, and leaves Paris without Sarah. This shows Muriel to be a stagnant character in this book—with her unwillingness to give up and her belief in the goodness of people.In conclusion, Macon and Sarah prove to be the characters that undergo the most rapid changes, and Muriel remains static. Above all, Macon’s desire to control his own life in such a regimented way as packing for trips with a great notion of order is probably due to the fact that he does not trust other people. He feels that he cannot rely on others a nd instead can only trust himself. However, this all changes with the help of Muriel, who proves to be one of the most beneficial people to come into Macon’s life.Sarah learns the hard way that you cannot always go back to people and places in your life and try and fix things that are not worth fixing, or not capable of being salvaged. In this case, it was she and Macon’s marriage. Sometimes it is better to let go of the past and move on to the future. The main theme of this book is love, and it is substantiated by Macon’s capability to lose sight of his fear and love someone completely different from himself and all that he has known. All of this happened because of one individual’s acceptance of change and the flow of life. The Accidental Tourist Essay Life just is. You have to flow with it. Give yourself to the moment. Let it happen. † -Jerry Brown If an individual allows changes to occur in one’s life, then love can be the wonderful result of that acceptance. The theme of reasons why we love and how we love different people is demonstrated throughout the book The Accidental Tourist, written by Anne Tyler. There are two main characters that undergo and accept the changes in their lives, and one character that stays static throughout the book, helping one of the characters to change.Macon Leary is first grounded by loneliness and comfort, then slowly opens himself up to what appears to be a whole new world for him. Then, there is Sarah Leary, who controls some of the changes in her life, and tries to make the best of the rest of them. The character that remains the same throughout the book is Muriel Pritchett—a dog-trainer who takes an interest in Macon and helps him to accept the changes in his life. Above all, the universal theme of this book is love—a surprising new journey for all the characters.In the beginning of the book, it is explained how Macon and Sarah Leary’s son is murdered and how their marriage suffers because of this. Sarah leaves Macon, which is the beginning stage of Macon’s renovated life, but one that does not start off happily: â€Å"He didn’t eat real meals anymore†¦His hair, which Sarah used to cut for him, jutted over his forehead like a shelf. Ande something had caused his lower lids to droop. He used to have narrow gray slits of eyes; now they were wide and startled†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (14). Macon is not at all used to living alone.He wants to control everything and likes nothing to be left to chance—Sarah’s departure is not something he can control and he does not deal with it well. Macon begins to think that he cannot live without his wife, but soon realizes a few things that really make him think about the marriage: Hi s brain buzzed with little worries†¦The worries changed, grew deeper, he wondered what had gone wrong with his marriage. Sarah had been his first and only girlfriend; now he thought he should have practiced on someone else beforehand.During the twenty years of their marriage there’s been moments—there’s been months—when he didn’t feel they had really formed a unit the way couples were supposed to. No, the stayed two distinct people, and now always even friends. Sometimes they’d seemed more like rivals, elbowing each other, competing over who was the better style of person†¦ (15-16) Macon realizes that he and Sarah never actually became one person; they had always stayed as two separate people living in a stale, routine marriage. Finally, Macon comes to terms with the fact that Sarah is not coming home to him: â€Å"Well, of course she wasn’t there.He knew it the instant he stepped inside that house, when he smelled that sta le hot air and heard the muffled denseness of a place with every window shut. Really he’d known it all along. He’d been fooling himself. He’d been making up fairy tales† (41). Macon knew that when he got home from his business trip that Sarah would not be there waiting for him like she used to. Although he did not ask for this change in his life, and after living alone for a while, moves back with his sister and brothers—a comfortable change for him.This all begins to change when Macon meets an unusual woman working at the animal hospital where he takes his dog and becomes acquaintances with her. Muriel allows Macon to open up to her, and Macon shows his willingness to do so: ‘I lost my son,’ Macon said. ‘He was just†¦he went to a hamburger joint and then†¦someone came, a holdup man, and shot him. I can’t go to dinner with people! I can’t talk to their little boys! You have to stop asking me. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings but I’m just not up to this, do you hear? She took one of his wrists very gently and she drew him into the house, still not fully opening the door, so that he had a sense of slipping through something, of narrowly evading something. She closed the door behind him. She put her arms around him and hugged him. (189-190) At first, Macon does not give Muriel Pritchett a second thought, but before he knows it, he is dating her and soon living with Muriel and her young son. This shows a tremendous change for Macon, and a step forward in his life. Muriel helps Macon to see the world in a different way.She is the character that seems to know exactly what she is after in life, and therefore does not change during the course of this book. On the other hand, all Macon does throughout the book is change his life in extreme ways. Macon learns how to love and trust Muriel in a way that he never has with anyone. In an addition to Macon’s changing life, ther e is his wife, Sarah, who makes the decision to leave Macon a year after the death of their son. Sarah feels that Macon does not express his emotions as she would like him to, and that he does not provide her with the comfort she needs and has needed in the past.This frustrates Sarah greatly and she does not feel as if she can continue in the marriage: I said to you the other day, I said, ‘Macon, now that Ethan’s dead I sometimes wonder if there’s any point to life. ’ Do you remember what you answered? †¦ ’You said, ‘Honey, to tell the truth, it never seemed to me there was all that much point to begin with. ’ Those were your exact words†¦ ’You just go on your same old way like before. Your little routines and rituals, depressing habits, day after day. No comfort at all. ’†¦ ‘I just can’t live with you anymore,’ Sarah said. 3-4) Sarah is heart-broken with this decision, as is Macon, but s he is just not happy with her marriage. During Macon and Sarah’s separation, Sarah starts to move on and begins dating a man. Though she has an apartment of her own, which is what she wanted, Sarah realizes how much she truly loves and misses Macon, and makes a slight and almost unnoticeable attempt to get back together with him much later in the book during a conversation between her and Macon: ‘It [the rain] looks like strips that just fade away about halfway down from the sky. ’ ‘I wish I were there to watch it with you,’ Sarah said†¦ ‘Macon?Do you†¦What’s her name? The person you live with? ’ ‘Muriel,’ he said. Which he knew before she asked, he suspected. ‘Do you plan on staying with Muriel forever? ’ ‘I really couldn’t say,’ he said. (289-290) Sarah is now the one longing for Macon. Macon thinks that the only thing to do is go back to Sarah, since, after all, he had bee n longing to get her back for some time. Macon returns to his house with Sarah, leaving Muriel: â€Å"He rode on through the city, up Charles Street, into his old neighborhood. He parked and cut the engine and sat looking at the house.The downstairs windows were dark. The upstairs windows were softly glowing. Evidently, he had come home† (291). Macon is reluctant about coming home to Sarah, but in the back of his mind he still feels like he needs her because they shared so much of their lives together. Soon after, while Macon is on another business trip to Paris, his back goes out and Sarah flies in to take care of him. Things seem to be going well, but then Sarah sees Macon packing his things a few days later, which provides yet another change for Sarah, as well as Macon: Sarah said, ‘Macon? †¦ ‘What are you doing? ’ ‘I’m packing to leave. ’ ‘But what about your back? ’ she asked. ‘And I’ve got all those a ppointments! And we were going to take a second honeymoon! ’ ‘Sweetheart,’ he said. He lowered himself cautiously till he was sitting on the bed. He picked up her hand. It stayed lifeless while she watched his face. ‘You’re going back to that woman,’ she said. ‘Yes, I am,’ he said. ‘Why, Macon? ’ ‘I just decided, Sarah. I thought about it most of last night. It wasn’t easy. It’s not the easy way out, believe me. †¦ he saw now how such couples evolved. They were not, as he’d always supposed, the result of some ludicrous lack of perception, but had come together for reasons that the rest of the world would never guess. (339-340) Macon realizes that he is happier with Muriel, and although he does not want to cause Sarah pain, this time, it is Macon that is making a change that Sarah cannot help—instead of the other way around. Therefore, Sarah must accept these changes in her life, along with all the ups and downs.Finally, Muriel Pritchett is shown to be the one character that does not go through changes in the duration of the book, already having experienced major alterations in her earlier life. Muriel assures Macon of himself and makes Macon feel needed for the first time in a long time: â€Å"Macon presented himself in front of her, holding out the pizza. ‘Ta-da! ’ he whispered. She looked up at him and gave that perky smile of hers—an ornate, Victorian V. ‘Ma,’ she said, ‘I’m going now! Macon’s here! ’ It had been a long time since anyone made such an event of his arrival† (196).Macon shows that he is beginning to allow himself to care for Muriel, and to be happy with her and this change in his life—being needed. Later on, when Macon is at his sister’s house, he begins to actually miss Muriel: Macon laid the photos aside without looking at the rest of them. He knelt to pat Ed ward†¦Macon suddenly wished he were at Muriel’s. He wrapped his arms around Edward and imagined he smelled her sharp perfume deep in Edward's fur†¦ above all else he was an orderly man†¦ There was no room in his life for anyone as unpredictable as Muriel. Or as extreme.Or as†¦well, unlikable, sometimes†¦ Then he knew what mattered was the pattern of her life; that although he did not love her he loved the surprise of her, and also the surprise of himself when he was with her. (201) As much as Macon never thought he could care for Muriel, he finds himself almost loving her, and loving himself more whenever he is with her. He begins to enjoy his time with Muriel, and now moves with the flow of life, instead of life passing him by while he is still standing still. After Macon leaves Muriel to get back with Sarah, he finds that Muriel will not give up on him.She follows him to his business trip to Paris: â€Å"‘†¦why Muriel? Why are you doing this? ’ ‘Because I felt like it,’ she said. ‘You felt like spending five days alone in a Paris hotel? That’s what is will be, Muriel. ’ ‘You need to have me around,’ she said. ‘Need you! ’ ‘You were falling to pieces before you had me† (318). Muriel is very persistent—just like when she had been pursuing Macon; she refuses to give him up. In the end, Macon cannot refuse Muriel, and leaves Paris without Sarah. This shows Muriel to be a stagnant character in this book—with her unwillingness to give up and her belief in the goodness of people.In conclusion, Macon and Sarah prove to be the characters that undergo the most rapid changes, and Muriel remains static. Above all, Macon’s desire to control his own life in such a regimented way as packing for trips with a great notion of order is probably due to the fact that he does not trust other people. He feels that he cannot rely on others a nd instead can only trust himself. However, this all changes with the help of Muriel, who proves to be one of the most beneficial people to come into Macon’s life.Sarah learns the hard way that you cannot always go back to people and places in your life and try and fix things that are not worth fixing, or not capable of being salvaged. In this case, it was she and Macon’s marriage. Sometimes it is better to let go of the past and move on to the future. The main theme of this book is love, and it is substantiated by Macon’s capability to lose sight of his fear and love someone completely different from himself and all that he has known. All of this happened because of one individual’s acceptance of change and the flow of life.

Improvement of the School Environment Essay

On behalf of the students of SMK Bagan Serai, I, Lee Shun Zhuan, the head prefect would like to draw your attention to certain problems of the students. Our school is the quintessence of schools in Kerian district, but for your information, there is still room for improvement of the school environment. In fact, most of the school buildings are lacklustre which in turn will dampen students’ enthusiasm for study. Human nature makes people feel better about themselves when their surroundings are pleasant. Students who have better attitudes usually learn more and work harder. Therefore, I would like to suggest several ways to ameliorate the overall school environment. First and foremost, we need to beautify our school by planting flower and greenery. If it is possible, the school authorities can have a garden which can create a euphoric ambience for students to relax. Besides that, a biannual â€Å"Gotong-royong† campaign should be held to enhance the environmental awareness among students. Having an immaculate school environment is the onus of every Tom, Dick and Harry. Do not maintain status quo, that is dingy or lacklustre blank walls as in other school. The students should draw some innovative murals on the walls to make the school awe-inspired till the cow come home. Furthermore, the facilities in the school are inadequate and most of them should be improved. Broken chairs and desks should be repaired or replaced because the exposed nails may injure the students. In order to keep the school clean, more dustbins should be placed in the school compound. In additions, I would like to suggest upgrading the classroom. Temperature nowadays is mounting higher and higher. In order to provide a comfortable study ambience, I feel it is a need to install air-conditioners in the classrooms. If it is possible, the school authorities can create a specified reading or rest area. We can rear animals like rabbits and birds, creating a mini zoo with different flora and fauna. As the old saying goes, â€Å"kill two birds with one stone,† students can have a visit to mini zoo to unwind and release tension while studying or resting. I hope the school authorities will take these problems into consideration and take immediate action to improve the school environment.

Topography, an ABA Term to Help Describe Behavior

Topography, an ABA Term to Help Describe Behavior Topography is a term used in applied behavior analysis (ABA) to describe behavior- specifically what behavior looks like. Topography defines behavior in an operational way, free of the coloration of values or expectation. By describing the topography of behavior, you avoid many of the problematic terms that find their way into definitions of behaviors. Disrespect, for example, is more often a reflection of the teachers reaction than the students intent. By contrast, the phrase refusing to comply with a direction would be a topographical description of the same behavior. The Importance of Topography Clearly defining the topography of behavior is especially important for creating appropriate interventions for children whose disabilities are in part defined by behavior, such as emotional and behavioral disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. Teachers and administrators without extensive experience or training in dealing with behavioral disabilities often overreact and create more problems by focusing on the social constructs surrounding misbehavior without observing the actual behavior. When they do so, these educators are focusing on the  function of a behavior  rather than its topography. The function of a behavior describes why the behavior occurs, or the purpose of the behavior; whereas, the topography of the behavior describes its form. Describing the topography of the behavior is much more objective- you are simply stating objectively what happened. The function of the behavior tends to be much more subjective- you are trying to explain why a student exhibited a certain behavior. Topography Versus Function Topography and function represent two very different ways of describing a behavior. For example, if a child throws a tantrum, to explain the topography of the behavior, it would not be enough for a teacher to simply say the child threw a tantrum. A topographical definition might state: The child threw herself on the floor, and kicked and screamed in a high-pitched voice. The child did not make physical contact with other individuals, furniture, or other items in the environment. The functional description, by contrast, would be open to interpretation: Lisa became angry, swung her arms and tried to strike other children and the teacher while screaming in that high-pitched voice she often uses. Each description could be defined as a tantrum, but the former contains only what the observer saw, whereas the latter includes interpretation. It is not possible to know, for example, that a child intended to injure others through a topographical description, but paired with an  antecedent, behavior, consequence (ABC)  observation, you may be able to determine the function of the behavior. It is often helpful to have several professionals observe the same behaviors and then provide both functional and topographical descriptions. By observing the antecedent- what happens immediately before the behavior occurred- and determining the function of the behavior as well as describing its topography, you gain additional insights into the behavior that you are observing. By combining these two methods- decribing the topography of a behavior and determining its function- educators and behavior specialists can help chose a replacement behavior and create an intervention, known as a  behavior intervention plan. Loaded Descriptions Versus Topography To truly understand how topography might describe a behavior, it can be helpful to look at loaded (emotionally tinged) descriptions of a given behavior versus topographical descriptions (objective observations).  Behavioral Learning Solutions  offers this method of comparing the two: Loaded Description Topography Sally got angry and started throwing items during circle time trying to hit others with the items. The student threw items or released items from her hand. Marcus is making progress and, when prompted, can say â€Å"buh† for bubbles. The student can make the vocal sound â€Å"buh† Karen, happy as always, waved goodbye to her teacher. The student waved or moved her hand from side to side. When asked by an assistant to put away the blocks, Joey got mad again and threw the blocks at the assistant trying to hit her. The student threw blocks on the floor. Guidelines for Topography of a Behavior When describing the topography of a behavior: Avoid value-laden descriptions, such as good, best, and bad.Describe as much of the behavior as you can in as objective a manner as possible.Ask another professional to observe the behavior and review the topographical description.Set aside time to observe the behavior more than once.   The topography of a behavior may also be referred to as the operational definition of behavior.

How to Show Gratitude and Say Thank You to a Teacher

How to Show Gratitude and Say Thank You to a Teacher Most teachers do not receive the admiration and respect that they deserve. Many of them work extremely hard, dedicating their lives to educating youth. They do not do it for the paycheck; they do not do it for the praise. Instead, they teach because they want to make a difference. They enjoy putting their stamp on a child whom they believe will grow up and make a significant difference in the world. Why Show Gratitude Teachers have likely impacted their students in more ways than most people understand. Most adults have had teachers who have inspired them in some manner to be a better person. So, teachers deserve praise. Its important to say thank you to teachers as often as possible. Teachers love to feel appreciated. It makes them confident, which makes them better. Parents and students can have a hand in this. Take the time to show your gratitude and say thank you to your teachers and make them feel appreciated.   25 Ways to Thank a Teacher These 25 suggestions provide a way of showing teachers, past  and  present, that you care. They are in no particular order, but some are more practical if you are currently a student and others will work better if you are an adult, and no longer in school. You will need to seek permission from or interact with the school principal for a few of these ideas. Give teachers an apple. Yes, this is clichà ©, but they will appreciate this simple gesture because you took the time to do it.Tell them that you appreciate them. Words are powerful. Let your teachers know what you love about them and their class.Give them a gift card. Find out what their favorite restaurant or place to shop is and get them a gift card to indulge.  Bring them their favorite candy/soda. Pay attention to what they drink/snack on in class and keep them supplied periodically.Send them an email. It does not have to be a novel, but tell them how much you appreciate them or let them know what kind of impact they have made on your life.Send them flowers. This is a terrific way to say thank you to a female teacher. Flowers will always put a smile on a teachers face.Do something memorable for their birthday whether it is giving them a cake, having the class sing happy birthday or getting them a special gift. Birthdays are momentous days that should be recognized.Write them a note. Keep it simple and let them know just how much they mean to you. Stay late and help them get organized for the next day. Teachers have plenty to do after students leave for the day. Offer to help straighten their room, empty trash, make copies or run errands.Mow their lawn. Tell them that you would like to do something special to show your appreciation and ask them if it would be OK to come over and mow their lawn.Give them tickets. Teachers love to get out and have a good time. Buy them tickets to see the newest movie, their favorite sports team or a ballet/opera/musical.Donate money toward their classroom. Teachers spend a lot of their own money on classroom supplies. Give them some cash to help ease this burden.Volunteer to cover a duty. This is a fabulous way for parents to say thank you. In general, teachers are not excited about covering duties, such as acting as the scorekeeper at a game or chaperoning a prom, so they will be extra excited when you do. Ask the principal first if it is OK.Buy them lunch. Teachers get tired of eating cafeteri a food or bringing their lunch. Surprise them with a pizza or something from their favorite restaurant. Be an exemplary student. Sometimes this is the best way to say thank you. Teachers appreciate students who are never in trouble, enjoy being at school and are excited to learn.Buy them a Christmas present. It does not have to be elegant or expensive. Your teacher will appreciate anything that you get her.Volunteer. Most teachers will appreciate the extra help. Let them know that you are willing to help in any area that you may be needed. Elementary school teachers will especially appreciate this help.Bring donuts. What teacher does not love donuts? This will provide an excellent, tasty start to any teacher’s day.Contact them when they are sick. Teachers get sick too. Check on them via email or social media or text and let them know you hope they get well soon. Ask them if they need anything. They will appreciate that you took the time to check on them.Post on social media. If your child’s teacher has a Facebook account, for example, let him know how much you appreciate all the things he does. Be a supportive parent. Knowing that she has tremendous parental support makes a teacher’s job much easier. Backing a teachers decisions is an excellent way to show your appreciation.Tell the principal how much you appreciate your teacher. The principal  evaluates teachers  regularly, and this type of positive feedback can factor into evaluations.Give them a hug or shake their hand. Sometimes this simple gesture can speak volumes in showing your appreciation. Be cautious when giving a hug that it is appropriate.Send them a graduation invite. Let your teachers know when you have reached a milestone such as graduating high school and/or college. They played a role in getting you there, and including them in this celebration will let them know just how much they meant to you.Do something with your life. Nothing says thank you like being a success. Teachers want the best for every student that they teach. When you are successful, they are successful because they know they had some influence on you for at least nine months of your life.