Monologue: High School Essay

Do you realize that tonight is the most important night of my life? Oh my God! Do you? It’s like totally more important than cheer tryouts. It’s more important than my first kiss, the first day of middle school, the first day of high school, the first day of Driver’s Ed, more important than my driver’s license, more important than any of my ex-boyfriends, more important than my current boyfriends†¦ I mean friend. It is the pinnacle of the high school experience. The prom. Prom night. The night that I will remember for the rest of my life. I spent six hundred dollars on my dress. Anyway, Jane Hickman spent a thousand†¦ She’s a total daddy’s girl. For her sixteenth birthday, her Dad bought her a brand new Ford Explorer. For my sixteenth birthday I only got a two year old Taurus. Whatever. Some girls are just born with a silver spoon in their mouth. She’s such a snobby little rich girl. A little rich girl whose parents buy her anything she wants. Her parents have a swimming pool and a tennis court. All we have is a Jacuzzi. One time she told me she (Makes quote signs with her fingers. ) liked my outfit. She’s such a snob. I know what she meant. She was making fun of my new designer jeans. She thinks they’re out of fashion already. Slut. Oh well, I’m not going to let Jane Hickman ruin the most important night of my life. My six hundred dollar dress is way more stylish that that over-priced rag she’s going to’ wear. That little bitch. That little slut. I’m going to’ be homecoming royalty for sure. Homecoming queen! I hate Jane Hickman. love bite Hickman, ’cause she’s always got a love bite on her neck. That little crazy mamma better not be getting on the royal court. I’d just kill myself if she was homecoming queen. I’d kill myself! It’s bad enough her dress cost more. It’s bad enough she’s got a newer car. It’s bad enough she’s got a pool and a tennis court. I hate my parents. I can’t believe you’re related to my Mom. She’s so lame. At least you have money. We sure don’t. Why don’t we have a pool and a tennis court? My Mom is so lazy all she does is sit around at the computer. My Dad’s never around. He’s always at the (Makes quotes with her fingers again. ) office. Whatever that means. Like if he was at the (Makes quotes one last time. ) office, he’d be making money right? Well, maybe he needs to get his butt in gear and get his daughter a fifteen hundred dollar dress so she doesn’t look like a bag lady at the prom. That’s what I’m going to look like. A bag lady! Jane Hickman is going to’ be prom queen for sure. This is going to’ be the worst night of my life.

Health Care Marketing Reflection Essay

Health care marketing is the new approach to public health; it is an industry that keeps growing as health care trends frequently change. The internet has changed health care a we know it social media website have been reported as the most effective tool to the marketing approach especially for pharmaceutical companies who have pop-up ads on just about every site consumers visit. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on marketing techniques, what types of trends that are being used and how they are used, how they are affecting consumer trends, and the negative and positive affects of the current techniques. Types of marketing trends Direct to consumer pharmaceutical trends have become increasing popular to promote products to health care facilities, providers, and patients. While there are many approaches and techniques used in the DTC pharmaceutical trend, the most effective are; â€Å"help seeking ad† which have been know to provide patients with medical information about a specific illness and advises consumers to contact there health care provider for more information but does not mention type of product, another is the â€Å"reminder ad† which often mentions type of product, name, dosage, strength, and price, the most commonly used trend is the â€Å"product claim ad† which will include the product name and it’s indication, safety claims, and efficacy (Ventola, 2011). The trends are being used to promote a variety pharmaceutical products regulated and approved by the FDA for people who may suffer from various illnesses the product was create to manage such as depression, chronic pain, heart disease, and respiratory diseases. Current health care marketing techniques and trends The internet has become and effective technique for health care marketing  because of it large data base, it has influenced many health professional in there decisions on medication management in addition to what other products are available to manage health issues. The internet has allowed consumers to research pharmaceutical companies and get information about products, the side affects of its use, and its effectiveness. The marketing trend and techniques of health care marketing on the internet has offered variety and convenience to patients and providers and have influenced more patients to actively become more involved managing their health by researching pharmaceutical information and discussing it with their health care provider. Are current techniques affecting consumer trends? There are many challenges associated with the pharmaceutical marketing techniques that can both influence and affect consumer trends, for example the accelerating of health care spending on advertising to promote the products, cost of the products, escalated or new found illnesses related to the side affects of the product, advertising of incorrect information, product not approved by the FDA but already being advertised, and the most common, the products not being covered by insurance companies. Although these challenges exist, they will not have a significant impact on consumer trends. Positive or Negative affects of current techniques and trends? Current techniques and trends can have both a positive and a negative affect, primarily based on how the product is being marketing and to whom. Direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising as previously mentioned uses a variety of techniques for promoting products, a negative affect would be promoting and allowing trial use of non FDA approved products, which can lead to chronic or major health issues, a positive affect can be consumer driven approach to encourage others to talk with there physician about a product used that helped with a current medical condition. The same would apply to internet marketing trends, they could be both positive and negative affects based on how the information is researched and documented. Conclusion The internet approach to current trends of health care marketing establishes new and creative ways for pharmaceutical companies to advertise there products related to current health care and consumer trends, the internet has helped to influence health care providers decisions for medication  manage along with researching other available products to help with a variety of health conditions, it has provided opportunities for consumers to learn about pharmaceutical companies and the products they advertise. As trends change challenges will occur, how well pharmaceutical adjust and change there marketing techniques will determine there success in the health care industry. Reference Ventola, C. L. (2011, October). Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising. Pharmacy and Theraputics, 36(10), 669-674, 681-684. doi:PMC3278148

Manufacturing Industry Evaluation Research Paper

Manufacturing Industry Evaluation - Research Paper Example 1.6 percent, 51.1 percent and 75.5 percent for the fluid milk industry, women’s and girl’s cut and sew dresses and the envelopes industries, and the electronics computers industries, respectively. According to this census, the level of competition for the fluid milk, women’s and girl’s cut and sew dresses, envelopes is highest for fluid milk and envelopes considering that Herfindahl Hirschman index for 50 largest companies is 1060, 829.9 and 185.5, respectively. The level of competition for the electronic computers industry is extremely high, considering that the Herfindahl Hirschman index for 50 largest companies is one of the highest at 2662.0. This reveals that the level of competition is lowest in the envelopes industry, whose Herfindahl Hirschman index for 50 largest companies is the lowest at 185.5, respectively. Oligopolies can be defined as industries whereby there are a small number of sellers or competitors. According to this definition, some of the listed industries that qualify as oligopolists include the envelope industry and the fluid milk manufacturing, whereby there are only 166 and 315 companies in the industries, a small number of industries in consideration of the other industries that have large number of competitors. The electronic computer manufacturing industry, for example, has 465 competitors or member companies. This means that the industry cannot be described as an oligopoly, rather, as an industry that is experiencing perfect competition. Some of the firms that operate in these industries are listed below. In the envelope industry, these firms include Warren De La Rue and Edwin Hill. In the fluid milk manufacturing, these companies include the Elmhurst Dairy, Inc., the Southeast Milk Inc., the Oberweis Dairy, the Dairy Dynamics, LLC, and the Rutter Bros Dairy, Inc (McEa chern, 2012). According to the definition of oligopolies above, one is bound to think that oligopolies are always bad for society. However, the listed

Team Project Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Team Project Report - Essay Example One very important reason why Mt.Gravatt Club provides various sports facilities is the recent change in Family Life System. People are now extremely concerned about health and the way it can be sustained with help of sporting and recreations as well as a way to entertainment. Sports means most to Australians than almost any other country’s people (Conway, 2009) and therefore sports always has greater business opportunities as well. Australian Bureau Of Statistics (2005, p. 403) reported that Australia is internationally recognized as a nation being very much involved in Sport. Most Australians believe in benefits associated with sports and recreation, including enjoyment, social interaction, health, personal achievement, national pride and community involvement etc. In Australia, Sports Industry’s revenue has been recorded as $5900.6 million, with 3.4 % revenue growth and this shows increasing trend towards sports in the country. According to the statistics, there are 6133 Sports Enterprises that provide 49,900 employment opportunities (ibisworld, 2011). Reports show that both males and females are increasingly attracted to various sports activities. Young and school children are major groups among Mt.Gravatt’s customers. in order them to get improved in sports and recreation activities and to make them more aware of various sports activities, Mt.Gravatt has planned and already started various programs including Grass Root Course, Junior Development Program, Sports Development, Sponsorship etc (mtgravatthawks.org, 2011). When it comes to the need for sports and recreation, it is basically a life need. By considering how people recently perceive the importance of sports, it can be perhaps reckoned to be a basic need in the ‘need hierarchy’ as detailed by Abraham Maslow. It can be understood from the total expenditure for the Sports equipment in Australia during 2003-2004, which was estimated as 357 617.4 million. Impacts of Spo rts Facility Development on Stakeholders When Mt.Gravatt Club designs and develops its facilities, sports arrangements and all other services to its people, it will consequently have many positive impacts on its major stakeholders- customers, employees and management, and relatively very few negative impacts on them like time consumption, spending, accident and injuries. As compared to vast opportunities and health and other benefits, these negative impacts are of meager significance to be debated on. The management of Mt.Gravatt can have greater influence and social reward from communities that it represents, and the employees and others who come to help sportsmen will be more likely to involved in a service job as well as good entertainment. The major stakeholders are no doubt its people or customers who come from around 5 kms from Mansfield, mainly from nearby areas like Wishart, Carindale, Burbank etc. For these customers, Mt.Gravatt Club will be an amazing experience for rejoic e, entertainment and more importantly for their long-term health benefits. As Waddington (2000, p. 34) argued, the widely accepted view that ‘sport is good for health’ might be the very basic reason why people extensively fund for sport. Perhaps, many people within

In the Court of Appeals of the State of Illinois Melissa Porter vs Research Paper

In the Court of Appeals of the State of Illinois Melissa Porter vs John Straub - Research Paper Example On November 14, 2011, the District Court ruled in her favor. There was no Motion to Modify Child Support filed by either party. However, the District Court Judge made an Order of Child Support. Pursuant to that Order, the Judge allowed for a deviation from the child support guidelines to accommodate Mr. Straub’s new child, born of his current marriage. There is no Order of Support for that child. There was nothing in the Order addressing unpaid support. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS In October 2011, Melissa Porter sought to regain custody of her son, David, from the child’s father, John Straub. There was an order of Paternity, Custody and Support entered in a Florida court in 2008. Pursuant to that Order, Mr. Straub was ordered to pay $100 per month in child support. His payment history was poor and he was in arrears when Ms. Porter found it necessary to join the Army Reserves to supplement her income in order to properly care for the child. Ms. Porter and Mr. Straub had a ver bal agreement that he would care for his son while Ms. Porter completed Basic Training in the Army Reserves. Mr. Straub was ten months in arrears in his child support obligation at the time he began caring for his son in August 2010. Ms. Porter was injured in a training accident while on active duty and spent several months recovering. Upon her return home, she sought the return of the child and Mr. Straub refused. Mr. Straub filed for custody in the Illinois courts. That filing resulted in an Order granting custody to Mr. Straub. Ms. Porter filed for an Order to Vacate that finding and the District Court for Cook County found in her favor, returning her son to her. During the course of those proceedings, the District Court made a support order, allowing a 20% deduction from the Illinois child support guideline amount to accommodate Mr. Straub’s new child of his current marriage. There was no provision for paying the arrearage. There was no inclusion for the income of Mr. Str aub’s current spouse when calculating the total net income upon which the support amount should be based, nor was there a finding on the record of the guideline amount upon which the deduction would be based. When Ms. Porter objected, the judge instructed the parties to â€Å"take it up on appeal.† Appellant now appeals from the Order Modifying Support. ARGUMENT The facts of the case are not in dispute. All parties were present when the District Court judge modified the child support order to accommodate Mr. Straub’s parental obligation to his new child of his current marriage. The judge deducted 20% from the guideline amount without stating an initial child support guideline amount and the factors at law that allowed him to vary from the statutory guidelines. I. Standard of Review Of the issue presented here on appeal, the standard of review is de novo because there is no dispute as to the facts and the issue is a question of law. In re Marriage of Baumgartner, 393 Ill. App. 3d 297; 912 N.E.2d 783 (2009). See also Einstein v. Nijim, 358 Ill. App. 3d 263, 831 N.E.2d 50 (2005). A judgment is contrary to law â€Å"when an opposite conclusion is apparent or when findings appear to be unreasonable, arbitrary, or not based on evidence.†

USA Contract Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

USA Contract Law - Assignment Example The contracting parties need to be of legal age and sound competence and they should agree mutually on the terms of the contract. The contract law is governed by the provisions of the UCC and the Restatement of Contracts. The UCC governs the sale of tangible and movable assets, property leases, and financial transactions. The common law principles of a contract are summarised, restated and published as the Restatement of Contracts by the American Law Institute. Legal professionals quote the provisions of the Restatement in their written opinions, though this does not have the force of law.[2] When a contract is made, both parties expect some benefit from it and the terms and conditions are consensual. Since unforeseen events in the future may create a loss for any one party, it is essential that both parties are very thorough about the meaning of the content to which they are putting their signature. The whole concept of contracts deal with the future and in many cases gives rise to problems; one or both parties may find that the events that they had anticipated had not gone their way. The problem may be due to a 'mistake.'When one or both parties, to the contract, erroneously believed that certain facts in the contract are true, then a 'mistake' is said to have occurred. In contract law, a mistake can be used to invalidate the agreement. There are two different types of mistakes, according to common law. A 'unilateral mistake' occurs when only one party is mistaken about the terms or contents of the contract. A 'mutual mistake' or a 'common mistake' occurs when both par ties, to the contract, are mistaken about the same term or condition in the contract. Since these mistakes can be used as 'excuses' to invalidate a contract, the provision of 'objective standard of agreement' becomes important in contract law.  

Globalization and Its Biggest Winners and Losers Essay

Globalization and Its Biggest Winners and Losers - Essay Example Globalization is characterized by many factors including increased international trade, multinational companies whose activities are based in several nations, great dependence on the global economy and free movement of capital goods and services. Although associated with many economic benefits to the participating nations, research has indicated that some nations fail to enjoy the benefits anticipated from globalization (Jacobs and Michael, 2003). The Biggest Winners and Losers in a Globalized World Several years of globalization efforts witnessed have led to an imbalanced economic scenario where economists have unanimously come into a consensus that globalization only favours some nations. A critical examination and comparison of both developed and undeveloped nations is a clear revelation of this reality (Bhagwati, 2004). Because of this imbalance, developed nations have emerged out as the biggest winners in a globalised world. These developed nations include America, china Canada and other nations in Europe and some parts of Asia. Undeveloped nations are mainly found in Africa and some parts of South America. Developed nation’s economies are largely industrially driven as opposed to undeveloped nations who mostly rely on agriculture as their main economic drive. The disparities evident in export levels between developed and undeveloped nations is a typical example how developed nations gain in a globalized economy as opposed to their undeveloped counterparts. A report published by an independent group of scholars and economic experts focusing on living standards in poor countries indicated living standard were worse than it was a decade ago. According to this report a fifth of the world’s richest nations were found to control 82 percent of the world export market. Direct investment is highly dominated by people from the richest with high figures of 68 percent. While majority of populations in poor countries still live below poverty levels chara cterized by widespread unemployment, a big population in developed nations are employed and they live above poverty levels (George, 2007). Globalization has led to opening up of market base, which has in turn triggered increased industrial production of various commodities in order to cater for the increased customer needs. This has seen a rapid increase of exports from developed to undeveloped nations. As a result, industrial sector in developed nations experiences a growth due to ever-growing globalization. Growth of industrial sector avails several benefits in developed nations. It facilitates growth of other sectors such as education and infrastructure further contributing to economic growth. Contrary to less developed nations, the rate of unemployment is much lower in developed nations due to ever-growing industrial sector. The level of innovativeness is also greatly supplemented by the wide variety of industries present in these nations (Roy, 2005). Over dependence of undevelo ped nations for various products from their developed counterparts has led to emergence of market monopolies, which developed nations use for their own economic gain. There has been a rise in number on international companies originating from the rich nations and expanding their market base to the less developed nations. A typical example can be drawn from china, which has expanded its market base in African countries (Scholte, 2000). The country strategically produces low quality goods, which are affordable in the African market. Because of economic status of African market, such substandard goods often remain more popular as opposed to genuine but more expensive goods. The benefits leapt through this strategy are immeasurable and have played a crucial in

An argument on The Basic Law and the Limits of Toleration Essay

An argument on The Basic Law and the Limits of Toleration - Essay Example Liberalism strives to create justifiable criteria for determining what courses or options of actions are justifiable out of a person’s set of feasible actions, or added to improve its significance, and options that people can legally pursue (Schmitt 147). A person’s ability to make law for his or herself does not imply that the results of actions will be wise. In the name of liberty, they will begin doing weird things, in their privacies, and then complain about life being boring. According liberalism, liberty has a significant meaning only if it includes the freedom to do things that everyone does not agree with. These are the actions that the liberals have to tolerate. This is what is referred to as liberal tolerance (Schmitt 145). Annette Schmitt, in his article â€Å"The Basic Law and the Limits of Tolerance† is determined to assess whether a constitution that allows the suspension of individual rights (Art. 18GG), and the prohibition of parties (Art. 21.2 GG ) deserves to be labeled as a liberal-democratic constitution (Schmitt 149). Schmitt performs this assessment based on the analytical framework created by the liberal concept of toleration. Tolerance is only meaningful, within the liberal concept theory if it has certain limits. ... e is natural law created by Creator to, which everyone is entitled to, and it is the duty of a state (society) to protect these rights (Benvindo 333). Some of these rights include: equality before the law; freedom of expression; freedom of assembly and association; freedom of faith; of conscience, and of creed; right of property, of asylum, and of petition; right to life, and the right to privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications (Schmitt 149). These rights are stipulated in Art. 1 GG. It asserts that Human dignity shall not be violated, and it is the duty of a society (state) to respect and protect these rights (Schmitt 150). The content of Art. 1 GG, may not be altered at all, like Art.2 to 17 GG whose contents may not be altered as long as their essential content is concerned. This is because Art. 1 to 17 GG are not ordinary programmatic statements, but directly applicable laws (Schmitt 149). According to the basic law, anybody who feels that his or her rights have b een violated with a judicial ruling, a statute enacted by parliament, and a decree issued by the administration has the legal rights to present his or her complains before the Federal Constitutional Court. In this case, Schmitt feels that the parliament, local administration, and the judiciary are responsible for suspending or prohibiting an individual’s right, which the citizens feel that is not objectionable (Rogowski & Gawron 25). A state is tolerant if it accepts to puts up with its citizens doing certain objectionable things. However, it has the freedom to stop tolerating these actions. The first stage in â€Å"stopping tolerating† is â€Å"Start prohibiting†. A state may decide to prohibit certain courses of actions if it finds that certain rights are objectionable. When a state

The topic can be revised by the writer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The topic can be revised by the writer - Essay Example Using the four-quadrant model, I was able to categorize my major activities as: urgent and important (quadrant one), not urgent and important (quadrant two), urgent and not important (quadrant three), and not urgent and not important (quadrant four). I tracked down eight activities through the week that consumed at least one and a half hours every session. Using the four quadrant model, the activities can be classified as; The classification was enabled by calculating the amount of time that each grid consumed. Quadrants 1,2,3,4 consumed two hours, three hours, one and a half hours, and two hours respectively. The grid revealed to me that I spent more time on online chatting than I thought. I was surprised by the amount of time I devoted to activities that were of self-interest. The music practice was urgent and important for a forthcoming schools’ music festival. I noticed that I attached little value to the practice as compared to the other members, regardless of its short timeframe. An activity is important if it comprises of long-term strategies and personal development. Important activities are those that contribute to health and wellness. Music practice, studying, and exercising were the most important activities for the past week. I am passionate about those activities since they stimulate personal development. Music, studying, and exercising form my hobbies list in my rà ©sumà ©. They are activities that propel my long-term goals of personal development; and success. There are two factors that dictate whether an activity is urgent. Firstly, the activity has to have a deadline. Secondly, there must be an authority that requires the activity completed within its timeframe. Music practice and reading and writing journals were activities supervised and coordinated by the director of music and health chairman respectively. The activities were time pressured and required adequate concentration to get the work

Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction Essay Example for Free

Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction Essay PEMDAS stands for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. PEMDAS corresponds the right order of numerical operations that has to be used when solving mathematical problems. Following that definition, PEMDAS implies that expressions inside the parentheses should be evaluated first. If there are multiple parenthesis and brackets in the equation, the rule of thumb indicates working from the inside going out. After which, those with exponents are handled. Next, multiplication and division are performed. These two are actually ranked equally and should be carried out from left to right. Them being equal, you can evaluate the expression as you go along. You can multiply or divide from left to right, depending upon to what is called for. The same is true with addition and subtraction, which comprises the last part of the sequence. Just like multiplication and division, these two regarded as equal. It means that you can perform either addition or subtraction as required from left to right. PEMDAS is the universally accepted way of solving mathematical problems. It ensures a better flow of operation within the equation and is generally considered the most logical way to solve a problem. For example, the simple operation 2+(3-1)24 will generate 18 if PEMDAS is used. Evaluating this equation from left to right isnt really possible, because you dont have anything to square unless you evaluate whats inside the parenthesis first. If PEMDAS is not applied, mathematical problems will show different results. 5+32 is equal to 11 applying PEMDAS. But if it is merely evaluated from left to right, the answer becomes 16. Simply put, the use of PEMDAS standardizes the evaluation of algebraic equations and other and mathematical problems. Using it enhances the smooth flow of communication between people as well. We all know how mathematics is important in our daily lives. There are a lot of direct application of mathematics in medicine, engineering, and business. What will happen if doctors dont interpret in the same way a certain mathematical formula provided by pharmaceutical companies to determine the exact dosage of medicine to a patient? Then the results may just be fatal to the patient for all we know.

How Should They Practice CSR Activities Efficiently Commerce Essay

How Should They Practice CSR Activities Efficiently Commerce Essay The current focus of corporate social responsibility for corporations is no longer on how they implement CSR activities, but on how should they practice CSR activities efficiently and effectively (Roberts, 2003). During the last three decades, more and more companies, especially the large multinational corporations, have implemented and set up series of voluntary codes of conduct, formulated sustainability strategies and also announced and implemented environmental annual reports to engage in corporate social responsibilities. Indeed many multinational corporations have made efforts to engage in their corporate social responsibility by dealing with environmental and social issues in global supply chains. However, there is still a gap between the desirability of supply chain sustainability in theory and the implementation of sustainability in practice (Bowen et al., 2001; Andersen Skjoett-Larsen, 2009). In discussing the different aspects of corporate social responsibility; one issue needs to be particularly pointed out that this study cannot cover every single aspect of corporate social responsibility practices in terms of definition, application as well as management aspects. After all, corporate social responsibility cannot be easily disentangled from the companys operations. Since CSR is a complex concept and issue, it is embedded within the organisation from top to bottom and also across the global span of operations. This study focus on the key issues related to CSR practices in the global supply chains. Research questions and purpose This study is going to identify a conceptual framework for understanding and analysing CSR practices in global supply chains. The purpose of this study is going to address following research questions: Understanding corporate social responsibility and supply chains in the global context. How is corporate social responsibility related to and applied in global supply chains? How are corporate social responsibility activities and practices implemented and managed in a specific chosen multinational corporation- Primark? Structure of this study Chapter two explains the broad literature review on corporate social responsibility and supply chain management. In chapter three, methodology and data collection will be explained. Chapter four contains a theoretical framework of globalisation, corporate social responsibility as a challenge of business in a global context, supply chain in the globalisation, corporate social responsibility in global supply chains as well as the motivations of implementing CSR practices within supply chains. And how these concepts are interrelated will be also discussed in this section. Chapter five will provide empirical findings from a case study-Primark. Chapter six includes analysis of this study. Chapter seven will consist with conclusions, discussions, and limitations of this study as well as the academic and practical recommendations. Chapter eight is mainly followed by a reference list and the appendixes. The overall structure of this study is showing in the Figure 1. Figure 1. The structure of this study Literature review The main purpose of this section is going to provide a theoretical framework. It basically identifies the literature achievements and some current social issues that organisations confront with. Firstly, this section is going to explain three different concepts respectively including globalisation, corporate social responsibility and supply chain management. Then this section will explain how the process of globalisation influences the corporate social responsibility and global supply chains. This section is going to summarise the main motivations of implementing CSR practices in the global supply chains. An interrelated relationship between these concepts will also be identified. Globalisation Globalisation has become a common social phenomenon. Hines and Bruce (2007) provide a description of globalisation as the ways in which markets have converged throughout the world and the ways in which production poles have shifted geographically to satisfy global consumers. Levy (1995, p. 353) also presents the definition of globalisation from the economic point of view as the increasing internationalisation of the production, distribution and marketing of goods and services. Some academic researches argue that one motivation of globalisation could be the deliberate political decisions (Scherer Palazzo, 2009), supported by technological, social and economic development. The growing cross- area and cross- country transfer of resources in terms of assets, capital as well as knowledge, also foster the progress of globalisation (Scherer Palazzo, 2009). Along with globalisation, multilateral agreements and intergovernmental organisations are increasingly developed during the last three decades to regulate and maintain growth, stability and a minimum standard of living in the context of globalisation. The members of these intergovernmental organisations all agree to secure and maintain fair and human working conditions in home countries and countries where they have economic relationships with (Crane, Matten Spence, 2008). Although there are many agreements, regulations and intergovernmental organisations, in this section is going to discuss three of them which are most related to this study, including International Labour Organisation (ILO), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and also International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO). The following portion is going to give a brief introduction and description of these multilateral agreements and intergovernmental organisations, identifying their potential to regulate gl obal standards for all nation states as well as multinational corporations. International Labour Organisation (ILO) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) developed at the end of WWII leads to the breakdown of trade barriers and encourages cross-border trade and investments (Scherer Palazzo, 2009). International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) are non-official, non-profit, professional organisations with a distinctive legal character, focusing on engaging and maintaining public welfare (Crane, Matten Spence, 2008; Clarke, 1998). The main public issues NGOs focus on are human rights, gender discrimination, social welfare, working and living conditions, the environmental issues, agricultural development and so on (Clarke, 1998). NGOs play an important role in working with national governments, international organisations as well as multinational corporations by using the net work of members to collect information related to specific issues (Ottaway, 2001). Many multinational corporations increasing confront with pressures from NGOs, to govern their behaviours based on various international agreements and codes of conduct. However, empirical studies and reviews suggest a link between corporate social responsibility, NGOs, and organisational performance (Doh Guay, 2004). As long as the multinational corporations believe those codes that NGOs provide could become uniform standard in their industry, they are willing to obey and agree those codes to gain global first mover competitive advantages which could improve efficiency and performance as well as build positive image in the long term. Researches in the role of NGOs in development of global corporate responsibility focus on the increasing growth in NGO influence as well as the involvement of government and corporations (Doh Guay, 2004). Corporate social responsibility Definitions of corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility is a debated subject and study concept in contemporary business and academia. It is also regarded as an important topic for research and worth for study (Burton Goldsby, 2009). Since the beliefs and cognitions about the relationship between corporations and larger society vary with the relevant issues of the day, there is lack of strong consensus on a definition for CSR. The most commonly cited definition is described by Archie Carroll (1979) as the social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time. Whats more, Matten and Moon (2004) offer further description of CSR as a cluster concept which overlaps with such concepts as business ethics, corporate philanthropy, corporate citizenship, sustainability, and environmental responsibility. It is a dynamic and contestable concept that is embedded in each social, political, economic and institu tional context.'(Crane, Matten Spence, 2008) Maignan and Ferrell (2004) develop a brief overview of conceptualisation of corporate social responsibility by summarising four different perspectives on CSR. The first perspective stated by Maignan and Ferrell (2004) is to view CSR as social obligation. Bowen (1953) states that organisations should take social obligations to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of society. Whats more, in the later literatures, Carroll (1979) distinguished social responsibility into a pyramid (Shown in the Figure 2.) with four different layers which are economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. Companies should make profit with obeying the law, as well as act ethically in the business activities. Philanthropic responsibility is about corporate actions in response to societys expectations at the same time engaging in promoting goodwill or welfare (Gronvius Lemborg, 2009; Maas, 2010). Another perspective of corporate social responsibility is to view as stakeholder obligation (Maignan Ferrell, 2004). Stakeholder trust has a significant impact on the contribution to the long term success of the corporation. It is important for the organisation to take stakeholders interests into account. A stakeholder is defined by Freeman (1984:46) as any group or individual who can affect, or is affect by, the achievements of organisation objectives. Henriques and Sadorky (1999) identify four main stakeholders of organisations which are organisational stakeholders (including employees, customers, shareholders and suppliers), community stakeholders (including local residents and special interest groups), regulatory stakeholders (such as municipalities, regulatory systems and governments) as well as media stakeholders (Chung, 2005). Basically, the corporation has the responsibility and obligations to meet the rights and interests of all legitimate stakeholders, simultaneously, stak eholders place ethical expectations on business because they have a reciprocal relationship. However, how to balance the competing interests of these stakeholders is a crucial issue to organisations. The corporation has the responsibility for balancing delicately the multiple claims of conflicting stakeholders. However, the complex stakeholder terms make the decision-making process more complicated. It is also a major CSR challenge that companies could face during managing global supply chains. The third perspective mentioned by Maignan and Ferrell (2004) is CSR as ethics driven which implies that CSR practices are driven by the self-interests of a company. However, according to Jones (1995), when CSR is viewed as ethical driven, there is a lack of normative criteria to evaluate whether the business practices and activities should be considered as socially responsible. Thus CSR should be viewed as a self-developed regulatory mechanism based on its own interest independent of stakeholders obligations. The forth perspective stated by Maignan and Ferrell (2004) is that CSR is managerial processes. Under this perspective, Ackerman (1975) identified three main activities of corporate social responsiveness including monitoring and assessing environmental conditions, attending to stakeholder demands, designing plans and policies aimed at enhancing the firms positive impacts. Whats more Wartick and Cochran (1985) as well as Wood (1991) pointed out that issues management and environmental assessment could contribute to achieve a proactive social responsibility stance. Figure 2. Carrolls (1991) pyramid of corporate social responsibility By summarising the literatures of corporate social responsibility, there are two main characteristics of corporate social responsibility (Maas, 2010; Andersen Skjoett-Larsen, 2009; Crane, Matten Spence, 2008). The first one is the voluntary activities of companies in the realm of social and environmental issues that go beyond the law. Corporate social responsibility offers a more voluntary approach to address the role of corporations in society and manage externalities coherently, comprehensively and professionally. Another core characteristic is the relationship between business and larger society. Corporate social responsibility includes a wider consideration of interests and impacts of different stakeholders rather than just shareholders. The group of stakeholders and interest groups include customers, suppliers, employees, NGOS, the local community representatives, etc. The evaluation of capabilities and competences of companies is not just limited in a matter of making profits . Corporate social responsibility: a global challenge In a global context of corporate social responsibility, the literature on the study concept, both academic and practitioner, is wide and considerably large (Crane, Matten Spence, 2008). Various international institutions have set up guidelines and standards to make sure companies observe certain rules of conducts. Corporations pursue growth and market share through globalisation, they have confronted with several challenges that may limit the ability of gaining potential profits and organisational growth. These challenges may come from government regulations, environmental restrictions, tariffs and trade barriers. Crane, Matten and Spence (2008) conclude three main challenges for CSR in a global context. The first one is building new social capacities. In a global context of corporate social responsibility, the social meaning and definition differ in different regions of the globe. Thus, managing corporate social responsibility is not just enforced by the companies themselves and the legal framework issued by national government, it is also essential to consider and acknowledge the specific global standards and regional actual circumstances in which corporations practice and manage CSR. This current issue requires companies establish new roles or even found new operational department beyond their traditional expertise to develop partnerships with NGOs and local governments to address these issues. The second challenge mentioned by Crane, Matten and Spence (2008) is the involvement in rule-making. Under the nature of global governance, in a certain extent, corporations are involved in setting the rules of trade agreements, standardisation efforts as well as economic agreements. The participation in rule-making process makes corporations become the rule-maker as well as the rule-taker which could better implement and observe the regulations and standards they have agreed upon. The third challenge for CSR is broader accountability (Crane, Matten Spence, 2008). The accountabilities of CSR involve human rights, health care and education, global poverty and environmental issues such as global warming. At the global level, the accountabilities of CSR become more complex, broader and delicate. As mentioned above, it cannot merely focus on the local social and environmental issues, corporations also have responsibility and obligation on the countries they have economic relations with. However, more and more companies see corporate social responsibility as an opportunity rather than a threat in the global context, in order to increase market share, innovative power and employee motivation as well as cost advantages, Corporate social responsibility in a global context is no longer only on the agenda of large, multinational corporations, some small and medium enterprises which are involved in the network of international suppliers and customers also hold accountable for certain activities within the supply chains (Cramer, 2006). The way in which CSR is institutionalised, harmonised and practiced in the global context is fluctuating. Review of different motivations for CSR Supply chain management Handfield and Nichols (1999) present a definition and description of supply chain as the supply chain encompasses all activities associated with the flow and transformation of goods from the raw material stage through to the end-user, as well as the associated information flows. Material and information flow both up and down the supply chain. Supply chain management (SCM) is the integration of these activities through improved supply chain relationships to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage (Handfield Nichols, 1999, p.2; Cited in ). The supply chain management consists with various interdependent activities from sourcing and purchasing, production, distribution and transportation as well as sales that operate and manufacture in both the developing and developed countries around the globe (Chung, 2005) , as shown in the Figure 3. Figure 3. Key activities in the supply chain management cycle (Chung, 2005) QQà ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¾20120820202923.png Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the practice journals in the apparel sector developed the term pipeline to explain the whole process of raw materials through manufacturing processes to the final customer (KSA, 1987; Hunter, 1990; Hunter et al., 1993; Hunter and Valentino, 1995; Hines, 2007). More recently, demand chains and value networks (Hines, 2007) are used to describe supply chains which emphases the role of customers and adopts the trend of rapid changing customer demands. Figure 4 shows the supply chain process cycles. Figure 4. Supply chain process cycles (Hines, 2004; Cited in Hines Bruce, 2007) There are numbers of different perspectives on the development of the concept of supply chain management. Based on the analysis of Hines (2007), there are mainly four perspectives of managing supply chains. First one is to focus on improving productivity internally of supply chain management. The second perspective extends the first concern with productivity to improve operations. The third wave, which was developed in the transport and distribution literature and now is synthesised in the logistics literature, mainly concerned with moving goods efficiently. The forth and latest perspective emphases the important role played by customers within the demand chain. The development of supply chain increases the complexity and flexibility requiring organisations to deal with. During the last decades, active responsiveness to the supply chain has is becoming more and more important. Table 1 shows the main shift in analytic focus of supply chain over time (Hines Bruce, 2007). Table 1. Analytic focus From (pre-1990) To (post-1990 to present) Predominantly internal focus Operations (Internal efficiency) Exchange/transactional focus Functional processes (silo mentality?) Cost efficiency (inputs/outputs) Physical processes Product quality (only major concern) Simple (e.g. dynamic structures and relationships) Traditional linear supply chains Inventory management Predominantly external (dyadic, chain, network) Strategies (external market orientation) Relationship/structure focus Integration Value added (outputs/inputs) Financial, informational and virtual processes Service quality and total quality approaches Complex structures (e.g. networks) Digital supply chains (value nets) Information and customer service Source: Hines, 2004, Purchasing and supply chain literature from 1930s to present day (Cited in Hines Bruce, 2007). Until recently, most of the literatures and practice of supply chain management emphases on issues that relate to cost-efficiency of supply chains, relationships with supply chain partners, supply chain strategies, customer services as well as different types of supply chains. However, the increasing sourcing organisational activities and building partnership in developing countries as well as the increasing concern about environmental and social issues has led new social concepts which is normally recognised as sustainable supply chains, aiming at improving and protecting the companies and employees within the supply networks. The focus of sustainable supply is not only on the local optimisation of environmental factors, but also on the consideration of the entire supply chain processes. During the last decade, the study concept of supply chain sustainability has been received great interest in both academia and the practitioners (Hassini, Surti Searcy, 2012). Since companies are s uffering great pressures from various stakeholders, particularly from government regulators, non-government organisations (NGOs), as well as the global competition, a large number of companies have engaged in the commitment to corporate social responsibility practices. Hassini, Surti and Searcy (2012) provide a definition about sustainable supply chain management by summarising different academic and social concepts including business sustainability (Crane Matten, 2007) and the triple bottom line (Elkington, 1997), as the management of supply chain operations, resources, information, and funds in order to maximise the supply chain profitability while at the same time minimising the environmental impacts and maximising the social well-being. These definition emphases the importance of balancing and satisfying conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders. By analysing and summaries the literatures on the supply chain management and sustainable supply chains, there is a lack of appropriate and systematic performance measures and framework for supply chains which makes it difficult to evaluating the sustainability initiatives in supply chain management (Lehtinen Ahola, 2010; Hassini, Surti Searcy, 2012). The internationalisation of supply chains The process of globalisation creates competitive pressures for clothing and textile producers to search for ways to lower production costs, especially for the fast fashion, which is required quick respond to customer demands, high seasonal variation and creative design. Organisations improve and take efficiency measures from internal to a single organisation or network of organisations locked in a continuous supply chain. The second way that organisations to lower their production costs is to search lower cost sources of supply throughout the globe in order to find locations where conditions are more favourable than in the home market (Hines and Bruce, 2007). This process will create the global supply chains. Under conditions of globalisation, products are no longer manufactured and produced in just one country, but designed and produced in different production sites in various locations around the world which is a result of global investment (Homann, Koslowski Luetge, 2007). Globalisation has two facets which are globalisation of production and globalisation of markets, which means globalisation is present at the production stage as well as the retail stage. Primary products are increasingly manufactured in different production sites around the globe to benefit from lower labour costs, raw materials as well as the lower cost of transportation, which could increase the degree of division of labour. Homann, Koslowski and Luetge (2007) illustrate that division of labour could take place when manufacturers of primary products at different locations. Globalisation accelerates the process of international division of labour both in vertical integration and in the supply chain. Apparel manufacture is one of the areas that globalisation has offered significant cost reduction opportunities, due to high labour content and cost- effective to transport. As a result of globalisation, both multinational companies and local manufacturers in the apparel industry have benefited tremendously from cost reduction. Based on the statement of Cramer (2006), the globalisation of supply chains has led to heavy social criticism, especially when companies using child labour or working in countries that violate fundamental human rights, which damages companies reputation. During the last decade, one of the key business trends resulted by globalisation is the outsourcing key business and operation activities to suppliers and subcontractors. Based on the description of GEMI (2001), this trend has made certain suppliers more critical, extends liability throughout the lifecycle, and the result is a significant shift of corporate environmental, health and safety risks and opportunit ies off siteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ As a consequence, some of those business risks and opportunities may become Procurements responsibility (Cited in Roberts, 2003) Based on the statement of Dicken (1998, p. 283), the textiles and clothing industries are the first manufacturing industries which are shifted by globalisation. The phenomenon of globalisation has shaped the structure, strategies and consequences in the textile and clothing industries. Global shifts in these industries also increase the trade tensions between developed and developing world (Hines Bruce, 2007). During the last three decades, many corporations restructure organisations and outsource many functional and traditional activities to the companies in the developing countries. Efficient and effective supply chains are essential to manage customer demand and brand operations, especially for the high-changeable fashion and apparel industry. The reasons that organisations pay attention on the supply chain management are due to the trend of globalisation, the reducing time of pushing into the market, as well as the rising standard of customer demands. Globalization has significa ntly changed the international market. Traditional supply chain is moving to the direction of the development of the globally integrated supply chain, becoming a cross-functional and cross-regional supply chain. Sustainable supply chain management plays an important role in maintaining brand integrity, ensuring business continuity and controlling operating costs. The main purpose to promote sustainable supply chain is to build long-term environmental, social and economic value. By continuing construction of the supply chain, companies could protect their long-term capabilities. The process of globalisation is one major reason of increasing reliance of corporations on suppliers and sub-suppliers (Welford, 2002). Thus the supply chain is more and more complex and international. This is what makes global supply chains within fashion markets and fashion marketing worth to study. The traditional supply chain management (SCM) is the process of the business operations in terms of supply chain planning, execution and control in order to maximise its efficiency. In general, the whole process of supply chain management could range from raw material acquisition, components, manufacture, logistics, quality services to pre-retail services including labelling and packaging (Hines Bruce, 2007). In order to reduce costs and improve efficiency, most of modern multinational corporations choose supply chain outsourcing services, namely, as the identity of the buyers chooses the most cost-effective suppliers (including foundries and logistics companies, etc.) to complete their production as well as enhance the marginal benefit. However, to maximise the efficiency as a prerequisite, the traditional supply chain management ignores the social and environmental factors, and therefore in the past decades, corporate social responsibility in supply chain management became a new m anagement philosophy in many organisations. Therefore how to better manage the supply chain performance and enhance their capacity is very worthy of study. Many well-known multinational enterprises, taking the cost of production into account, come to the Asian countries like China, India, etc., to corporate with local companies to manufacture their products. Since the majority of suppliers in developing countries are labour-intensive enterprises, and the relevant enforcement of laws and regulations needs to be improved, therefore working conditions are unsatisfactory. Frequent overtime, unpaid wages, under minimum wage standard happen consistently. Along with media exposure and NGOs fierce criticism of sweatshops in especially Europe and the United States as well as other countries, multinational enterprises are beginning to require suppliers to comply with the Code of Conduct (CoC) and the relevant laws and regulations in the location of the suppliers (environmental protection law, labour law, etc.) to conduct the labour and environmental requirements and policies. Subsequently a lot of industrial standards, such as the garment industr y, WRAP, EICC of electronic industry, the ICTI of the toy industry, and chemical industrys Responsible Care. In order to ensure the performance of suppliers in terms of labour and environment performance, internal staff or third-party would be sent to the supplier factories for review and evaluation. If the quality and feature of products are dissatisfaction, the suppliers will be asked to provide assistance to make improvements or even cancel the order. Corporate social responsibility in supply chain management For suppliers, the meaning and definition of CSR is relatively narrow, is merely about how to meet customers needs, achieve social and environmental compliance, such as timely payment of wages, make sure working hours, in order to maintain operational order and ensure efficiency and effectiveness. CSR for the majority of suppliers is only about law-abiding, however, they do not properly understand the benefits of the implementation of CSR, and thus they just implement the so-called CSR improvement involuntarily. Despite the long history of CSR, applications of CSR concepts to supply chain management have only emerged in the last few years. Sustainable supply chain management is about management of supply chains where all the three dimensions of sustainability, in terms of the economic, environmental and social sustainability, are taken into account. Supply chain relationships have a critical impact in a global world. In order to advantage from low labour wages, more and more companies frequently outsource part of or even whole business activities to companies in developing countries. When sustainable SCM principles are adopted, the companies are accountable for the social and environmental impacts along the supply chain, and are compelled to integrate ecological and social aspects into their decisions and actions along their supply chains. When supply chain relationships involve developing countries, companies also need to take responsibility for the well-being and performance of small upstr eam producers that work in those countries. The Figure 5 shows some CSR issues that companies may confront with in managing their global supply chains. Figure 5. Examples of CSR issues in supply chains (Neergaard and Pedersen, 2005, p. 103; Cited in Pedersen Andersen, 2006) Therefore, helping supplier social responsibility should focus on how to make suppliers understand the business value of CSR, how to reflect the return on invest

Martin Esslin Critical Essay :: Free Essays

Martin Esslin, in his critical essay written in 1969, comments on works from the beginning, middle and finally the end of Ibsen’s career. He chose to write about Hedda Gabler in his section about the middle of Ibsen’s career. While his writing is fairly complex, most of it is decipherable. He writes that â€Å"Hedda Gabler is the last of his strictly realist plays.† (237). He also explains that Hedda Gabler â€Å"is first and foremost about a human being, no about an idea† (237). This is what Esslin is impressed with the most. He loves how Hedda is not only the main character but also the social comment. With these two ideas intertwined so well, the play is fascinating. Hedda becomes the social comment on the role of women in the society. She challenges the idea of the time period and stands instead for superior, aristocratic woman who is the salve to the pride of her caste,† (238). She cannot stand her position in society, and becomes bored with sit ting around the house, waiting for Brack or Mrs. Elvsted to come around and visit. She becomes increasingly bored, even on her honeymoon, with a husband she apparently married simply to become married and have some sort of social position. She does not love Tesman, which becomes clear through the way she treats him. An example of this is her harsh attitude toward him serving them drinks. Esslin also comments on the incredible balance of the play with the presence of six main characters, three men, and three women. They all balance each other out, which become clear as Esslin shows the opposite character traits in the six characters. â€Å"Hedda†¦superior, aristocratic woman†¦Elvsted†¦her exact counterpart, socially, intellectually, and physically inferior†¦. better able to survive† (238). The final aspect of the play Esslin chooses to comment on is how it is very much a poem. He cites examples, â€Å"a figure standing by an open door, a shot ringing out i n what seems like an idyllic scene, all these may contain more poetic feelings than a dozen finely written speeches.

Soldiers Home :: essays papers

Soldiers Home Critical Analysis of "Soldier's Home": Before, During, and After the War (with bibliography) Many of the titles of Ernest Hemingway's stories are ironic, and can be read on a number of levels; Soldier's Home is no exception. Our first impression, having read the title only, is that this story will be about a old soldier living out the remainder of his life in an institution where veterans go to die. We soon find out that the story has nothing to do with the elderly, or institutions; rather, it tells the story of a young man, Harold Krebs, only recently returned from World War I, who has moved back into his parents' house while he figures out what he wants to do with the rest of his life. And yet our first impression lingers, and with good reason; despite the fact that his parents' comfortable, middle-class lifestyle used to feel like home to Harold Krebs, it no longer does. Harold is not home; he has no home at all. This is actually not an uncommon scenario among young people (such as college students) returning into the womb of their childhood again. But with Harold, the situation is more dramatic because he has not only lived on his own, but has dealt with -- and been traumatized by -- life-and-death situations his parents could not possibly understand. Hemingway does not divulge why Krebs was the last person in his home town to return home from the war; according to the Kansas City Star, Hemingway himself "left Kansas City in the spring of 1918 and did not return for 10 years, [becoming] 'the first of 132 former Star employees to be wounded in World War I,' according to a Star article at the time of his death" (Kansas City Star, hem6.htm). Wherever he was in the intervening time, by the time Harold gets home, the novelty of the returning soldier has long since worn off. All the other former soldiers have found a niche for themselves in the community, but Harold needs a while longer to get his bearings; he plays pool, "practiced on his clarinet, strolled down town, read, and went to bed" (Hemingway, 146). What he is doing, of course, is killing time. The problem, of course, has to do with Harold's definition of who he has become. He recognizes he has changed, and this change is played out dramatically against the backdrop of a town where nothing else has changed since he was in high school. His father parks his car in the same place; it's still the same car; the girls walking down the

Birth Order and Happiness Study Essay

In this study, a stratified and random sample of 88 subjects, from three different sections of Provo and Orem, Utah, were given surveys. The selected family income was below the median for family income in one section selected. In the second selection, family income was at the states median and for the third selection family income was above the median. Within each of these sections, families were selected at random and contacted by telephone. Those who decided to participate were invited to the Financial Counseling Clinic at Bringham young and then asked to complete the assessment instruments. Only those subjects who came from families with four or more children were included in the study in order to provide for an analysis of the birth order variables. The subjects in the study consisted of 4 first born males and 8 first born females, 11 second-born males and 8 second born females, 24 middle born males and 20 middle born females, and 5 last born males and 8 last born females. The majority of these subjects were between 25 and 45 years of age. As stated before, each subject was administered the assessment instruments t Brigham Young University. One of the questions on the assessment, which was seen as the focus of the report, asked the subjects to compare themselves to the perceived happiness levels of their fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters on the items of health, current marriage, current family, extended family, in-laws, friends, religion, financial security, and life in general. For these questions a seven point scale was used with one being the low score, seven the high, and the midpoint of four indicating that their perceived happiness was the same. Since there was no other literature that compared one’s happiness with the perceived happiness of one’s family members this study added a great deal to the non-existent body of knowledge. The results of the study showed that last born males scored consistently lower than all other male birth order, except for the â€Å"in-laws† area. Last borns scored lowest and separated themselves out the most from the other male birth orders in areas of â€Å"financial security,† â€Å"employment,† and â€Å"life in general. † Results showed that first born males scored higher than all other male birth orders on five of the items. As for the women, last borns scored lower on every subject except for one. In addition to this, very different from men, first born females scored consistently lower than both second born and middle born females. One of the most important things taken from this study is the similar pattern of both male and female last borns. Both scored lower than any of the other same-sex birth orders on the almost all of the happiness scales. This finding shows that last born male and females are typically unhappier than their firstborn, second born, or middle born siblings. The group contributed these findings to clinical observations done that stated last borns tend to be pampered and spoiled. They have been conditioned to people protecting, dominating, and giving them goods and services that require little effort on the part of the last born. This in turn makes it easy for last borns to grow up as adults who think people will continue to do this for them future. When the eventually become adults, they eventually face the reality that most other people will not pamper and they then experience cognitive dissonance, causing them to be last happy than their sibling. In addition to this, the pampering could potentially have detracted from their ability and learn to deal with problems of life and this could contribute to their relative unhappiness. A second study dealing with birth order and personality can also be used to predict the possible outcomes as well. Empirical Studies Indicating Significant Birth-Order-Related Personality Differences provided a summary of empirical support relating birth order to personality characteristics. This study focused on indentifying other studies that contained statistically significant results between personality differences and birth-order typologies and reported descriptive data in terms of variables that differ according to birth order. This research done by Eckstein focused primarily on articles dating from 1960 to 1999. All of the articles reported statistically significant levels at or beyond the . 05 level. Consistent with other studies that were based on Adlerian theory, empirical birth-order was grouped into the following four major categories: oldest, middle, youngest, and single. Eckstein then goes on to present a table showing the common characteristics identified for each of the four types and identifying articles that indicated each characteristic. For the oldest child, or first borns, according to Eckstein’s findings, at least two researchers attributed each of 26 different characteristics to these individuals. The six most frequently appearing attributes were highest achieving, highest IQ, greatest academic success, highest motivation and need for achievement, overrepresented among learned groups, and most affiliative under stress. All of these personality attributes can be used to relate to the findings from the first study, Birth Order and Happiness: A Preliminary Study by G. Hugh Allred & Bernard E. Poduska. The first borns of each family likely have higher levels of satisfaction due to these similar personality attributes. The majority of those individuals who are highest achieving usually are those who are most satisfied with their lives. This could be one of the reasons that the first borns scored the highest on the majority of question in the study conducted by Allred and Poduska. At least two researchers attributed each of 6 different characteristics to the middle child. The three attributed that appeared most frequently were fewest problems acting out, sociable, and greatest feeling of not belonging. For the youngest at least two researchers attributed each of 14 different characteristics to those who were the youngest child. The four most frequently appearing attributes for the youngest child or last born were; greatest overrepresentation of psychiatric disorders if from a small family, empathetic, helplessness and tendency toward alcoholism. The fact that both helplessness and a tendency toward alcoholism are two of the four most frequently appearing attributes helps relate to the first study on birth order and happiness conducted by Allred and Poduska. The fact that those born last are seen as helpless could be a direct effect of the fact that they were pampered and overprotected for the majority of their lives. This would then cause them to feel helpless in their later years when they are on their own in life without their family to pamper and always protect them. This feeling could then be used when explaining why those individuals who were last borns scored lowest on the majority of the questions asked in the study dealing with birth order and happiness by Allred and Poduska. Using the knowledge learned from these two research studies there will be two hypotheses used when conducting the study on the relationship between birth order and life satisfaction. The first hypothesis states that last born individuals will have the lowest levels of happiness on average. The second hypothesis states that those individuals who are not last borns will have higher levels of happiness on average. Proving whether or not these hypotheses are true will tell us a great deal about the relationship between birth order and life satisfaction and will help settle the argument on whether or not birth order has an effect on one’s life. III. Method: A random, convenience sample of 30 subjects was used during this study. Subjects were from various states on the East Coast and came from all different backgrounds. The subject’s ages ranged from 17-50 years of age and the majority of them were college students living on campus at Bryant University. Only those individuals with siblings were sampled and those without siblings did not receive the assessment. The rights of each subjected were protected. Prior to their participation in the assessment each subject was informed about the purpose of the study. These subjects were then told that in addition to their rights being protected, the privacy and confidentiality of the assessment will be strictly maintained at all times. The results of each assessment were shown to no one during the study besides those conducting the research and will not be used by any other researchers in the future. Throughout the entire study all ethical guidelines were followed. The results of each assessment were not tampered with or used against the respondent. All assessments were completed in the Bryant University library, but before being allowed to complete the assessment, each randomly picked subject was asked by the research whether or not they had siblings. Subjects who answered â€Å"no† were not given the assessment and able to go on their way. Subjects who answered â€Å"yes† to this question were then asked if they would like to participate in a research study on the relationship between birth order and happiness. A statement on privacy rights was then read to each subject by the researcher to make sure they knew that results of their assessment would be confidential. Once this was understood, the subjects were given the assessment. The subjects were free to complete the survey on their own and had as much time as needed to fill out the assessment. Once finished their assessments, each subject handed their survey to the researcher and was thanked for their participation in the study. Once 30 assessments were collected the scores of each assessment was tallied up and the results were recorded. The survey used was Life Satisfaction Index A survey from Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes. This index consisted of 20 agree or disagree items that correlated highly with life satisfaction/happiness. Each response received zero or one points depending upon whether or not the response matched the response marked in parenthesis given by the book. For example: One question asked â€Å"As I grow older, things seem better than I thought they would be†. For this question the response marked in parentheses was â€Å"Agree† and those who responded â€Å"Agree† received one point and those who responded â€Å"Disagree† received none. Scores on this assessment could vary from 0 (lowest faction) to 20 (highest satisfaction) and helped show the life satisfaction of each respondent. In addition to the 20 agree or disagree questions, there was one multiple choice questioned used at the end of the survey. This question asked the respondent whether or not they were the: first born, second born, second born (last born), third born (middle), third born last, or fourth born (last) in their family. This question helped categorize the results of each respondent. The study has two independent variables and one dependent variable. The independent variables are gender and both order. The dependent variable is levels of happiness. The design of this study was a correlation design and there was no manipulation of either independent variable throughout the duration of the study. IV. Results: Figure 1: As shown in figure 1, first born males had the highest average life satisfaction score at 14. 89. This was more than one full point higher than the 13. 75 scored by those individuals who were third born middle children. Second born middle children scored a 13. 7 on average which was extremely close to those third born middle children. Figure 1, also shows that the bottom three lowest scores all belong to those who were last in their family’s birth order. Second born last borns scored a 12. 25 on average, fourth born last borns an 11. 67, and second born last borns had the lowest average life satisfaction index scores at 11. 50. All together, last borns received a mean score of 11. 83 on the life satisfaction i ndex which is almost two points lower than those who were middle borns and a full 3 points lower than those who were first borns. Breaking down the results for women we once again see that first borns had the highest average score on the life satisfaction index. Second born middle were one point behind at 14, and right behind them was third born middle at 13. 5. The average score of middle born children was 13. 8. Once again, the lowest average scores belonged to those who were last borns. Those individuals who were the third born last borns had the lowest score of 11. 5, followed by fourth born last at 12, and second born last at 12. 5. All together, the last borns scored a 12 on average when taking the life satisfaction index.

Developing Of Evidence Based Practice Project

The nursing profession according to American Academy of Nurse Practitioners reveals a symbiotically natural relationship between the number of nurses to that of patients and similar relationship cited in the number of hour’s nurses’ practice. Generally the problem is one of human resource management against a background of output in this case- patients’ outcome. In other words the problem lies in the association between nurse staffing and patients’ outcome. Lower registration of nurses staffing can directly be attributed to lower rates of patients’ outcome. Outcome here refers to the patients’ reciprocation to medical attention offered by nurses.   The problem basically revolves around poor working conditions for nurses.   These problems vary from long overtime hours, an inconsiderately large number of patients to nurse ratios leading to work overloads.   The academic level of the nurses too poses direct impact on the out come of patients. The personal and professional interests identifiable in this problem include the distribution of nurse skills and experience.   A direct symbiotic relationship exists between the professional skills of nurses and the patient response to medical attention.   The more skilled the nurses the more positive or desirable the patients respond to medical attention and care. Besides the skills of the nurse, experience ranked as a high factor in determining the patient response to medical care.   The academic qualification is also a personal and professional issue that poses direct significance to the problem in question.   As said earlier, the more equipped one is academically in the nursing profession determines the outcome of patients directly.   Finally in the issue of professional and personal issues affecting the practice problem is the proportion or temporary and full-time nurse hours. A direct relationship exists between the full-time and temporal nurse hours.   This is the issue of work security.   The temporal hour nurse being without Job security has direct impact on the patient outcome.   In other words, a nurse without security of job will have a lower rate of patient outcome.   On the other hand a full-time nurse stands a better opportunity to study both his/her patients and the nature of their complications. The standard recommendations for the practice guidelines include increasing nurse staffing in hospitals.   Location of considerate number of hours to the nurses to enable them come-up with a recommendable patient outcome.   Recognize other factors that can affect the outcome of interests’ especially medical-based care.   Other guidelines include the condition of other projects.   Potential areas of study could vary from medical care patient characteristics and organization of nursing units as well as staff.   Patient levels analysis should definitely classify better control matters such as co-morbidity. Recommendable to as a guideline is the adoption of hierarchical models that could control both nursing and institutional level of effects.   The guidelines should also consider studies which practically and empirically addresses a specific nurse staffing policies.   The study should also include the consistency of the association between nurse staffing patient outcome and economic outcomes. In conclusion the problem of nurses staffing has several dimensions of approach all of which can lead to better patient outcomes.   The problem revolves around the number of hours, the length of a working day for a nurse, skill level, academic qualification and permanence of the contract.   The solution to this problem can only be found in good practices in human resource administration in medical circles.   An appropriate number of working hours and a considerable number of patients per every nurse for good patient outcomes. Reference Kane, R., Shamliyan, T., Mueller, C., Duval, S., & Wilt, T. (2007).Evidence Report/Technology Assessment. Minnesota. Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Centre.                                                                     

Nannie Doss

Nannie Doss From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Nannie Doss| Background information| Birth name| Nancy Hazle| Also known as| The Giggling Nanny, The Giggling Granny, The Jolly Black Widow, The Lonely Hearts Killer| Born| (1905-11-04)November 4, 1905 Blue Mountain, Alabama, United States| Died| June 2, 1965(1965-06-02) (aged 59)| Cause of death| Leukemia| Penalty| Life imprisonment| Killings| Number of victims| 11| Country| United States| State(s)| Alabama, North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma|Date apprehended| October, 1954| Nannie Doss (November 4, 1905[1] – June 2, 1965[2]) was a serial killer responsible for the deaths of 11 people between the 1920s and 1954. [3] She finally confessed to the murders in October 1954, after her fifth husband died in a small hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In all, it was revealed that she had killed 4 husbands, 2 children, her two sisters, her mother, a grandson, and a nephew. Contents[hide] * 1 Early life * 2 First marr iage * 3 Second marriage * 3. 1 Grandchildren * 3. Death of Frank * 4 Third marriage * 5 Fourth marriage * 6 Fifth marriage * 7 Confession and conviction * 8 References * 9 External links| [edit] Early life Doss was born in Blue Mountain, Alabama as Nancy Hazle to Lou and James Hazle. Nannie was one of five children; she had one brother and three sisters. Both Nannie and her mother hated James, who was a controlling father and husband with a nasty streak. There is evidence that Doss was conceived illegitimately, as James and Lou married after 1905; census records also show that in 1905 she and her mother were living on their own. [4] She had an unhappy childhood.She was a poor student who never learned to read well; her education was erratic because her father forced his children to work on the family farm instead of attending school. When she was around 7 years old, the family was taking a train to visit relatives in southern Alabama; when the train stopped suddenly, Nannie hit her head on the metal bar on the seat in front of her. For years after, she suffered severe headaches, blackouts and depression; she blamed these and her mental instability on that accident. During childhood, her favorite hobby was reading her mother's romance magazines and dreaming of her own romantic future.Later, her favorite part was the lonely hearts column. The Hazle sisters' teenage years were restricted by their father; he forbade them to wear makeup and attractive clothing. He was trying to prevent them from being molested by men, but that happened on several occasions. He also forbade them to go to dances and other social events. [edit] First marriage Doss was first married at age 16, to Charley Braggs. They had met at the Linen Thread factory where they both worked, and with her father's approval they married after 4 months of dating.He was the only son of a never-married mother, who insisted on continuing to live with her son after he married. Doss later wrote I married, as my father wished, in 1921 to a boy I only knowed about four or five months who had no family, only a mother who was unwed and who had taken over my life completely when we were married. She never seen anything wrong with what he done, but she would take spells. She would not let my own mother stay all night†¦ Braggs' mother took up a lot of his attention, and she often limited Nannie's activities. The marriage produced 4 daughters from 1923 to 1927.The stressed-out young mother started drinking, and her casual smoking habit became a heavy addiction. Both unhappy partners suspected each other–correctly–of infidelity, and Braggs often disappeared for days on end. In early 1927, they lost their 2 middle girls to suspected food poisoning; suspecting that Nannie had killed them, Braggs took firstborn daughter Melvina and fled, leaving newborn Florine behind. Soon after, Braggs' mother died and Nannie took a job in a cotton mill to support Florine and herself. Braggs b rought Melvina back in the summer of 1928; with them was a divorcee with her own child.Braggs and Nannie soon divorced and Nannie took her 2 girls back to her mother's home. He always maintained he left her because he was frightened of her. [edit] Second marriage Living and working in Anniston, Nannie soothed her loneliness by reading True Romance and similar reading material. She also resumed poring over the lonely hearts column, and wrote to men advertising there. A particular advert that interested her was that of Robert (Frank) Harrelson, a 23-year-old factory worker from Jacksonville. He sent her romantic poetry, and she sent him a cake.They met and married in 1929, when she was 24, 2 years after her divorce from Braggs. They lived together in Jacksonville, with Melvina and Florine Braggs. After a few months, she discovered that he was an alcoholic and had a criminal record for assault. Despite this, the marriage lasted 16 years. [edit] Grandchildren Nannie's eldest, Melvina, g ave birth to Robert Lee Haynes in 1943. Another baby followed 2 years later, but this died soon afterward. Exhausted from labor and groggy from ether, Melvina thought she saw her mother, who had come to help, stick a hatpin into the baby's head.When she asked her husband and sister for clarification, they said Nannie had told them the baby was dead–and they noticed that she was holding a pin. The doctors, however, couldn't give a positive explanation. The grieving parents drifted apart and Melvina started dating a soldier. Nannie disapproved of him, and while Melvina was visiting her father after a particularly nasty fight with her mom, her son Robert died mysteriously under Granny's care on July 7, 1945. The death was diagnosed as asphyxia from unknown causes, and 2 months later Nannie collected the $500 life insurance she had taken out on Robert. [edit] Death of FrankIn 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allied powers at the end of World War II, and Harrelson was among the most robust partiers. After an evening of particularly heavy drinking, he raped Nannie. The following day, as she was tending her rose garden, she discovered Harrelson's corn whiskey jar buried in the ground. The rape had been the last straw for her, so she took the jar and topped it off with rat poison. Harrelson died a painful death that evening. [edit] Third marriage Doss met her third husband, Arlie Lanning, through another lonely-hearts column while travelling in Lexington, North Carolina, and married him 3 days later.Like his predecessor, Harrelson, Lanning was an alcoholic womanizer. However, in this marriage it was Nannie who often disappeared–and for months on end. But when she was home she played the doting housewife, and when he died of what was said to be heart failure, the whole town supported her at his funeral. Soon after, the couple's house, which had been left to Lanning's sister, burned down. The insurance money went to Widow Nannie Lanning, who quickly banked i t, and after Lanning's mother died in her sleep, Nannie left North Carolina and ended up at her sister Dovie's home.Dovie was bedridden; soon after sister Nan's arrival, she died. [edit] Fourth marriage Looking for yet another husband, Nannie joined the Diamond Circle Club and soon met Richard L. Morton of Emporia, Kansas. He didn't have a drinking problem, but he was a womanizer. Morton met his death in April 1953–3 months after Nannie's mother, Lou, had come to live with them and ended up poisoned to death. [edit] Fifth marriage Nannie met and married Samuel Doss of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 1953. A clean-cut, churchgoing man, he disapproved of the romance novels and stories that Nannie adored.In September, Samuel was admitted to the hospital with flu-like symptoms. The hospital diagnosed a severe digestive tract infection. He was treated and released on October 5. Nannie killed him that evening in her rush to collect the 2 life insurance policies she had taken out on him. T his sudden death alerted his doctor, who ordered an autopsy. The autopsy revealed a huge amount of arsenic in his system. Nannie was promptly arrested. [edit] Confession and conviction Nannie confessed to killing 4 of her husbands, her mother, her sister Dovie, her grandson Robert, and her mother-in-law Lanning.The state of Oklahoma centered its case only on Samuel Doss. The prosecution found her mentally fit for trial. Nannie pleaded guilty on May 17, 1955, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The state did not pursue the death penalty due to her gender. Doss was never charged with the other deaths. She died of leukemia in the hospital ward of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1965. [edit] References * Wilson, Colin. The Mammoth Book of True Crime. New York: Carroll ; Graf Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-7867-0536-1 * Nannie Doss the Lonely Hearts Husband Killer. [1] 1. Manners, Terry, Deadlier than the Male, 1995. Page 76 ISBN 0-330-33711-4. 2. ^ Tulsa World: Oklahoma Centennial Stor ies 3. ^ Nannie Doss: A Who2 Profile 4. ^ Nannie Doss on TruTV's Crime Library [edit] External links * Nannie Doss at the Crime Library * [2] The Giggling Grandma at the Malefactor's Register Authority control| * VIAF: 172021019| | Persondata| Name| Doss, Nannie| Alternative names| | Short description| | Date of birth| November 4, 1905| Place of birth| Blue Mountain, Alabama, United States| Date of death| June 2, 1965| Place of death| | Retrieved from â€Å"http://en. wikipedia. rg/w/index. php? title=Nannie_Doss&oldid=543731678† Categories: * 1905 births * 1965 deaths * People from Anniston, Alabama * 1927 crimes * American serial killers * Female serial killers * American female murderers * Deaths from leukemia * Cancer deaths in Oklahoma * American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment * Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Oklahoma * American people who died in prison custody * Prisoners who died in Oklahoma detention * American people convicted of murder * Peop le convicted of murder by Oklahoma * Murderers for insurance money * PoisonersHidden categories: * Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers * Persondata templates without short description parameter Navigation menu Personal tools * Create account * Log in Namespaces * Article * Talk Variants Views * Read * Edit * View history Actions Search ————————————————- Top of Form Bottom of Form Navigation * Main page * Contents * Featured content * Current events * Random article * Donate to Wikipedia * Wikimedia Shop Interaction * Help * About Wikipedia * Community portal * Recent changes * Contact Wikipedia Toolbox * What links here * Related changes Upload file * Special pages * Permanent link * Page information * Cite this page Print/export * Create a book * Download as PDF * Printable version Languages * * Francais * Italiano * Magyar * Nederlands * * Edit links * This page w as last modified on 13 March 2013 at 00:44. * Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. 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Absent Character in Susan Glaspell

Susan Clasped Is at her best when she uses the medium of the theatre In order to discuss the politics of gender, the position of women bound by the social and gender conventions in a male dominant society, freedom of speech, woman's identity and the life in woman's rights. The device of one absent character serves more than well to this purpose in one of Scalpel's plays, Trifles. The absent heroine controls the action and raises several important issues along the way.It forces us, the readers, to be engaged more actively and to consider all the clues that the absent heroine had left for us. In this case, the absence of the mall protagonist helps Clasped deal with the personal space of her female characters. This Is where Scalpel's skills as a dramatist come to surface. In her other play, The Inheritors, Clasped uses the same device to raw attention to other issues of equal importance. She focuses on what it means to be an American, how people differently perceive historical events an d for what reasons.In both of these plays, her device of the absent character fully engages the reader and at the same time successfully communicates Scalpel's ideas. Susan Scalpel's Trifles tackles gender roles and the separate spheres in which men and women operate, and exposes oppression and maltreatment of women in the early 20th century America. It also explores sympathy and sisterhood in the light of a complex moral dilemma on approaching the truth. The action of the play revolves around solving the murder.What is interesting about the play, however, is that the key characters, Mr.. And Mrs.. Wright never appear on the stage, which is â€Å"a trademark of Scalpel's plays. † Although Mrs.. Wright is not physically present in the play, her existence is felt and touched upon and will prove to have an important role for the development of the action in the play. Traces of the unfinished work of Mrs.. Wright and all the other details present at the crime scene will help two other women of the play to get an insight into Mrs..Wright's state of mind, which will turn out to be of racial importance for discovering the motive and thus solving the murder. It is by her absence in the play that the women notice all the â€Å"trifles† and that the men â€Å"at the end of the play (†¦ ) know no more than at the beginning. † How is it that we come to know so much about Mrs.. Wright although she is virtually not present in the play? First of all, her personal items help us reflect on her life as well as on the circumstances that led her to kill her husband.Interpreting all the clues that Minnie Foster left around the house, the women come to the conclusion that her marriage prided her of happiness, liveliness and Joy, and transformed her into a completely different woman. We also come to a conclusion that Minnie was not alone, that there were many women who were dealing with the same problems, alone. Moreover, the two women in the play realize t hat they, too, share Mince's destiny. Consequently, the women are faced with a moral dilemma in having to make a decision whether to reveal what they had found out and send Mrs..Wright to prison for the crime she did commit. This is where the idea of the sisterhood comes to life. Among other indications, it is Mince's bird and the cage that help us realize that she was leading a life in captivity. The importance of the bird involves several issues. First of all, it is a clue to solving the murder, because the strangled bird provided a motive for it. Mrs.. Hale concludes that it was Mr.. Wright who strangled the bird because he was irritated by its song.The bird and Minnie stand for beauty and life and the cage stands for Mince's married life, and we do not need Minnie on stage in order to realize that. Her very absence helps the two women to take notice of the bird, perceive its importance to Mrs.. Wright and identify themselves with her. Besides the bird and the cage, Mrs.. Peters and Mrs.. Hale find few other things such as an unfinished quilt which represented her nervous state of mind, and find out that Minnie was a victim of domestic isolation. In this way, the author creates a bond between her female characters.The absence of Minnie serves several other purposes. It portrays the way in which men from the play approach the investigation and the very way they perceive women. Starting from her husband, neither of the men seems to understand Minnie. The three men performing the role of the investigators fail to see the complexity of the situation and the importance of insight into Mince's psychological condition which proves to be important for solving the details of her house since the men don't share her context. The absence of the character of Minnie therefore, demonstrates the injustice and the suffering in separate spheres, and the unjust treatment of women. Moreover, Clasped uses this device in order to show the ability of Mrs.. Peters and Mrs.. Hale t o find out the true story of Minnie Wright's life by obviously displaying Mince's everyday object and ere personal space, in this case, the kitchen. Ben-Xvi touches upon one other important issue which is highlighted by Mince's absent character.Although absent from the stage, the character of Minnie Wright functions not Just as a link that holds the action of the entire play together, but also as a link to the lives of the other two female characters. Linda Ben-Xvi points out: â€Å"Clasped depicts inarticulate power of women to understand the shared experiences of other women unstructured by language, but nevertheless communicated through mutually shared pain. † One of the central themes of the play, the â€Å"shared experience†, enables women to develop and nourish mutual trust and understanding and defines how they struggle together against conventions.It is the voice of Minnie that is echoed through the house and the play that enables women to realize this importan t notion. By introducing the dramatic technique of keeping the protagonist off the stage, Clasped invites the audience on a quest to truth through dialogue and actions of the characters that remain on stage. Moreover, she starts her play after a death, wishing for her audience to experience a new kind of a Journey. Her playInheritors, on the other hand, is one of Scalpel's most original responses to the American identity crisis and the concern by the isolationist and xenophobic policy of President Wilson â€Å"whose anti-immigrant and anti-anarchist laws, the Espionage and Sedition Acts, were devised to protect war-time morale by curbing any political dissent†. In this three-act play set in the American Midwest, Clasped uses the device of the absent character but this time applied to the Native American population in order to express these ideas.Similar to Trifles, absent Native Americans function on overall levels and serve several important purposes. With the two-layered te mporal structure of the play, Clasped explores the construction of an American ethos. By keeping the Native Americans off the stage, Clasped tackles misconceptions that do not only concern women: Native Americans were also victims of injustice and degradation. This attitude is best expressed in Smith's prejudiced misconceptions: â€Å"l guess you believe the saying that the only good Indian is a dead Indian. Smith expresses the attitude of many other white Americans who were ignorant regarding heir own past and who in their oversimplified vision of the war saw the Indians as bad and the white settlers and soldiers as good. Smith is also ignorant because he believes that the American government paid a good compensation to the Indians for their land: GRANDMOTHER: But poor old Blackjack-?what he didn't know was how many white man there was. After the war-?when he was beaten but not conquered in his heart-?they took him east-?Washington, Philadelphia, New York-?and when he saw the whit e man's cities-?it was a different Indian came back.He Just let his heart break without turning a hand. SMITH: But we paid them for their lands. (she looks at him) Paid them something. GRANDMOTHER: Something. For fifteen million acres of and thirty-four dollars and fifty cents, we promised to deliver annually goods to the value of one thousand dollars. Not a fancy price-?even for them days. The portrayal of Black Hawk by Grandma Morton does not concur with the picture Smith had in his mind about the Indians. He does not know that Black Hawk was a prisoner of war displayed throughout the USA in order to entertain the population.In this aspect Clasped is rather daring because, under the government legislation, she loud have been accused of anti-nationalism allegedly displayed in her play. Native Americans never appear on stage, they are alive through the words of the white settlers who knew them, in this case, Grandmother Morton and later her son Sills. Nellie Hernandez-Real believes that the fact that no Native American characters appear on stage corresponds to â€Å"Scalpel's remark that they have been removed from the American landscape. Inline Jove further suggests that the Whites conquered the West and erased the Indians from the American scene and that by adopting the treated of the absent character, the playwright literalism the metaphor: Through Grandmother Moron's affectionate evocation of the Indian Chief and the references to the injustices Indians endured, Clasped presents her spectators another version of their national past and also infers that, in spite of their actual removal and erasure from the American landscape, Native Americans as well as women can regain some visibility through oral tradition.Grandmother's version stems from life, real experience, and not from books or official governmental documents written to arouse the loyalty of the country's inhabitants. †¦ ) By reviving the past, Clasped aims to keep social memory alive in order to preserve the ties that cement the community, the Nation. By restoring the primacy of autobiographical memories over history, Clasped also shows that the past should not be reduced to a series of sterile stereotypes.The complex nature of the past is to be passed on from one generation to the next, cherished as the gift of knowledge which, contrary to the ignorance that breeds intolerance, favors cohabitation, that is living together as a Nation. Through the role of the absent character of Native Americans, Clasped subtly questions the guiding principles underlying the foundation of the United States of America: that all men are created equal, and that they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.Clasped infers that the respect of these principles is essential if people want to live together as a Nation and that the cultural differences of each member of the community should be taken into account. Moreover, Clasped subtly draws a comparative line between the whi tes and the Indians in a time when Darning's theories were used to Justify the inferiority of the Indians. She does this wrought Grandmother Morton who observes that she noticed â€Å"something of the same nature in white folk†, regarding the attitude towards land, which allows Clasped to infer that the Native Americans and the Whites are similar in nature.Although Native Americans are not present on stage, the white people who knew them help us understand their situation better and also enable Clasped to draw some of the talk with her husband about how the Indians and the white men could live together and that sharing the same land is indeed possible. We can conclude that Scalpel's theatrical device of the absent character functions n several levels in Trifles. First of all, the absence of Minnie helps Mrs.. Peters and Mrs.. Hales feel empathy towards her to such an extent that they are willing to hide the evidence from their husbands.On the other hand, they recognize in Min nie their own position in the social system of the time. The absent Minnie found a way out of her oppression by killing her husband and shortly regained her independence. At the same time, she brought to light the dilemmas of women who live in a situation similar to hers. Furthermore, according to Linda Ben-Xvi, Trifles becomes an important vehicle that brings real-life events closer to drama. In her opinion, Clasped even contributed to the shaping of public opinion about a woman being tried.Inheritors, on the other hand, functions similarly but has a different agenda: Theatre is the art that can give flesh to the past. As a collective experience, theatre seems to be one of the most adequate forms of art to rekindle collective memory since it makes the past alive in the present of the audience who are invited to transcend the world of fiction and consider to what extent the issues raised on stage can be related to their social reality. Like the philosopher, the playwright calls upon ere readers and spectators to draw lessons from the past and act in accordance in the present in the name of Justice.