Penelope

You can say that Penelope Is the perfect representation of patience, loyalty and fidelity because thou knowing the true whereabouts of her husband she blindly trusts his return, and along the work we can see how rejected suitors presented In Its door. Here we can also see one of Its mall features, the cunning. And not only that, pride In her home and family, and features such as hospitality make her one of the most complete characters with Odysseus.Penelope knows how to act in such a way that inadvertently marry any of the suitors, an idea how to deceive them, keep them in your door, and take advantage in some way all these gifts and favors that made him. The loom of the lord Alerts, is one of the representations of Penelope intelligence. She tells her suitors that when you finish this loom knitting, she will choose who he wants to marry. Carefully every night she undid everything she wove in the morning. With this trick was tricking her suitors three years. She said to us: My lords, my Suitors, though Odysseus is dead and you are eager for me to marry, have patience till I complete this work, I do not want it wasted, this shroud for noble Alerts, ready for when pitiless death's cruel end overtakes him: since I fear some Achaean woman f this land would blame me, if he who won great wealth lay there without a shroud† (8. 11) We can see Penelope as a strong woman, she is the queen of Ithaca and knows the responsibility that entails, if she married another man, this would become the king of Ithaca.She is able to take her house and her family by herself, demonstrating great courage and strength. I could say it's in their own way, the other heroine of the Odyssey. In the work by comparing the story of Penelope and Odysseus with the story of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon see the obvious differences between the characters. Penelope and Clytemnestra were In the same situation, but react in completely opposite ways. While Clytemnestra betrays Agamemnon having being u nfaithful and finally killing him, Penelope Is faithful to her husband, waiting for him not knowing If he will return.This highlights even more the characteristics of Penelope, making It look Like a strong and sensible woman. â€Å"†¦ Most plateful was the voice I heard of Prism's daughter Cassandra, killed by treacherous Clytemnestra over me; but I lifted my hands and with them beat on the ground as I died upon the sword, but the sluttish woman turned away from me and was so hard hat her hands would not press shut my eyes and mouth though I was going to Hades'.So there is nothing more deadly or more vile than a woman who stores her mind with acts that are of such sort, as this one did when she thought of this act of dishonor, and plotted the murder of her lawful husband. See, I had been thinking home, but she with thoughts surpassingly grisly splashed the shame on herself and the rest of her sex, on women still to come, even on the one whose acts are virtuous. † (1 1. 2 1-434) The contradiction that we can find in the behavior of Penelope s precisely how she keeps her suitors waiting for her, but this is part of one of its main characteristics, which is the intelligence to handle the situation alone. While continuing to be faithful and loyal to Odysseus, get to take advantage of the suitors. If we focus on the position of women in society of ancient Greece, Penelope is represented as an ideal woman, example of charity, generosity, cunning and intelligence. Penelope takes an unprecedented role for this time, even though this behavior so we could get to find normal in our society.Homer represents Penelope as a heroine of Greek society. Makes her everything a Greek woman should do, keep fidelity and loyalty to her husband, but this is 20 years without returning home. She's at home, as a woman, but also we can see a man talking and arguing with them, something for which a Greek woman is not ready. This raises the idea that Penelope is partly oppressed by Greek customs but this is contradicted by his acting and bringing the situation, because she believes in the love she feels for Odysseus and that he will eventually return.A woman in Greek society should not be allowed to play such positions, Odysseus could have given power to someone who was not Penelope, but it is she who is in charge of the kingdom. With that Homer shows us his vision of the ideal woman Greek. Another sign of cunning and intelligence of Penelope is when she thinks about testing the arc. As Chris Emily-Jones says in The Reunion of Penelope and Odysseus led by the intuition that the beggar was really Odysseus invents arc test, knowing that the only one who could use it was him. Penelope had the intuition that the beggar was Odysseus by his dreams and the attraction they felt for him.The only thing that can make us doubt this situation is, why she gives up and wants to get married at that time? Why happened when Odysseus is there? Alex Cist in his article Penelop e Role in the odyssey shows us a comparison with Calypso, Retreat makes Circe and through this comparison Penelope is represented as a woman and ideal lover: ;However, in the Odyssey, most women fall into one of two categories in regards to their personalities and relationships with men: they were either loyal wives (Retreat) or alluring seductresses (Calypso, Circe).What makes Penelope special is that she possesses characteristics of both an ideal wife and an ideal lover†. According Cist, the idea of perfect love is took from the sentiment between Odysseus and Penelope, the union that exists between both makes this love a perfect love and the perfect union ; The unity of Their personalities, according to Odysseus, means they have a perfect love, their minds and hearts are unified†.And one more time, as I have said before, Alex Cist shows us strong the idea of Penelope ability to handle her situation with the suitors: ;Penelope entrapment of her suitors despite constantl y rejecting and spurning them shows that she has what it takes to steal a man's heart. And important distinction, though, between the queen and other seductresses is that Penelope does not do this consciously. † We can compare Penelope with Mary Bloom, its equivalent in the Ulysses written by James Joyce.Molly would be the opposite figure of Penelope; her life is marked by a precocity in the final monologue of this work. On the other hand you can not criticize this attitude, because it conveys a message of naturalness and Molly's character tries to get on with life despite having in his mind to her husband Finally, we can say that Penelope was a great woman, and an example of ideal woman n Greek society, that's how Homer wanted to show it to us.

Air Blue

Business Policy & Strategy Projects Guidelines Assignment #1 This is the first project based assignment. The students are required to identify an organization on which they are supposed to complete all upcoming assignments and final report. The first assignment is focused on the Vision and Mission statements of the organization. The group is supposed to first analyze and then recommend the Vision and Mission statements based upon the characteristics discussed in text. Assignment #2 Report on Industry AnalysisThis assignment would encompass the following components: a. Introduction and History of the allocated industry. b. PEST Analysis and conclusion on industry attractiveness. c. Industry scanning using the Porter’s five force model and conclude on prevailing competition level. d. Make a list of opportunities and threats present in the industry emerging out of PEST Analysis and Porter’s Five Force Model in relation to allocated company. e. Make EFE Matrix of the compan y and interpret its result. f. Identify and make a list of CSF’s of the industry . Identify company’s major competitors and make CPM Assignment # 3 Report on Company Analysis On the allocated company from within the respective industry, each group is required to develop: a. Perform Strategic internal audit of the company of the following departments as per the guidelines given in the prescribed text book i. Marketing ii. Finance iii. R&D iv. Accounting v. MIS vi. HR b. Complete internal audit and make list of key Strengths and Weaknesses of the company. c. Make IFE Matrix of the company and interpret its result. . Make SWOT analysis of the company and interpret its overall findings. Assignment # 4 A-Long Term Objectives In light of vision and Mission statement and SWOT analysis develop:- i. Long Term Financial Strategic Objectives of the company ii. Long Term Non-Financial Strategic Objectives of the company a B-Strategic Analysis and Choice I. Inputs stage This stage involves development of EFE matrix, CPM and IFE Matrix that has already been covered in assignment 1 to 3. (Just include findings) II. Matching StageIn this stage it is required to develop at least three out of the five matrices discussed below: i. SWOT matrix so as to develop four strategic scenarios (SO, ST. WO. WT) ii. SPACE Matrix for determining the organization’s overall strategic position. iii. BCG (If required) so as to determine the relative contribution of different divisions in terms of market share and industry growth. iv. IE Matrix using IFE and EFE scores ( done previously) v. Grand Strategy Matrix for formulating alternative strategySet of feasible strategies emerging out of matching tools which company can consider for decision stage ? FINAL PROJECT REPORT &PRESENTATION B-Strategic Analysis and Choice III. Decision Stage i. Compare all strategies included in sets of feasible strategies using QSPM of the allocated company. ii. Use excel spreadsheet for developi ng QSPM in order to evaluate the best alternative strategies set. This would require using the results from the input and the matching stage. Identify most attractive StrategiesUsing QSPM scores identify the most attractive strategies set to be followed by the company under the prevailing circumstances. Strategy Implementation i. Arrange the most attractive strategies sets in order of their priority in implementation to achieve company’s strategic goals ii. Specify the action plan that you are going to work on for implementation purpose for each strategy. iii. In order to implement any strategy you need to develop its annual objectives, policies and focus on the resources and other management issues that you may require your attentionEvaluation and Control i. Specify the steps and measures to be taken for checking the effectiveness of the each strategy set after they are implemented. ii. Specify corrective actions to be taken in case of positive or negative variances for each strategy set. Conclusion i. Write a short note (1/2 Page) on how do you see the future of this company in next 5 years down the road specially with reference to your overall analysis and Strategy set that you have recommended. ii. Write down what Lessons you have learned from this project. Special Note:If required students can easily transfer these assignments and project into final MBA project by adding more articles, updated industry and company data, and surveys about the strategies being pursued by the company. You can round up your MBA project by making a complete strategic business plan of the company for the next 3 years in light of your recommended strategies Reports format and presentation instructions IMPORTANT NOTE : ALL REPORTS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED ON DESIGNATED DAY AND TIME WHICH WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY THE INSTRUCTOR –THERE IS NO CONCEPT OF LATE SUBMISSIONStudents are advised to strictly follow these instructions while compiling their assignment or final project re ports, or making presentations (any deviation will result in deduction of marks): †¢Reports should be laser printed on A4 size (white) paper. †¢New Times Roman with font size 12 for the main body, Font size 14 bold for the sub heading, Font size16 bold for the main headings. Line spacing 1. 5 lines. Left justified †¢The title page of the report must contain: 1. Name and Logo of UCP 2. Title of the course and Section 3. Name of Industry 4. Company Name 5.Group members names and registration numbers 6. Name of the instructor 7. Date and Time of submission †¢Due references must be made where required in form of bibliography in APA style. ( Check the details of APA style of referencing on net) †¢Plagiarism would lead to negative marking or cancellation of the project. †¢Check spelling and grammar using MS Word spell check. †¢Presentation time would be 20 minutes followed by Q/A session in which each group member must participate. It should be on PPT sl ides. †¢Presentation should entail a brief summary of the industry and allocated assignments.

Protecting our Boaders Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Protecting our Boaders - Term Paper Example In a 2010 CBS poll, a plurality of 32% of Americans graded the US with a â€Å"C† in its ability to protect against terrorist attacks. The same poll found that 55% of Americans thought that more comprehensive screening procedures in airports would be â€Å"Somewhat Effective† in stopping future terrorist attacks on airplanes. Furthermore, 74% supported the use of full body scan machines in airports (PollingReport.com). These polls show that Americans are concerned with how the government handles security in airports and are indeed supportive, in general, of increasing that security in order to reduce the overall threat of terror attacks to American travelers. The overall issue is that airports serve as one form of US borders, and Americans are aware of the threats posed from outside US borders by those traveling alongside US citizens. Americans see it as a basic function of their government to secure their borders in this arena through airport security. According to a R AND Corporation report, the relationship between airports and borders is extensive. This report notes that the US has more than 100 international airports, and they see a great volume of activity as over 88 million passengers pass through these points of entry each year. Airports have a number of stakeholders involved, including government agencies such as the TSA as mentioned, along with the Department of Homeland Security as well as the financing provided by state and local governments. Other stakeholders include the private companies that are responsible for ticketing, transportation, and those companies whose employees travel using airlines. In this sense, American interests in international airports are at the government level, in the private sector, as well as at the personal level for each individual who chooses to fly. Thus, security or a lack thereof in airports can affect citizens economically, as well as create personal conveniences or conflicts, and can affect citizens p olitically in their approval of political parties’ stance on airport security and how effective those in office are at handling it. (Riley) The importance of airport security to Americans also is a social issue, as it demands a political correctness and sensitivity to the rights of citizens and even non-citizens who pass through security checkpoints. There is often a delicate balance in providing staunch security while respecting travellers, and this is where the debate primarily rises. Government agencies produce long lines, are accused of profiling, and tend to invade what is usually considered personal space, yet also strive to avoid such results in order to satisfy travelers (Roston). As stated, these practices affect Americans daily as they travel, and help shape public opinion on the necessity and effectiveness of increased security. When these invasive measures become better-known for their inconvenience then for their utility, debates rises on what changes are needed and whether security is more important than privacy. Both security and privacy are valued by Americans on a personal level and as a political value, and thus a conflict is born. The specific approaches to security come in many forms. The U.S. Federal Air Marshall Service was instated in 2003, and places trained agents on

Why did the 2007 financial crisis spread so quickly and so far Essay

Why did the 2007 financial crisis spread so quickly and so far - Essay Example The crisis also led to the global recession in 2008 following its effects on international trade (Acharya & Matthew, 2009). The financial crisis is believed to be as a result of increased values of securities related to the United States of Americas in the stock market. The increase on the securities was as a result of the housing bubble which reached its optimum in 2006, affecting many financial institutions worldwide. Therefore, the crisis was a result of a complicated interplay between policies that enabled home ownership through the provision of cheaper loans to potential home buyers. Subprime mortgages were hence overvalued based on the presumption that real estate prices would continue to escalate. The global stock markets suffered heavily when real estate securities suffered large losses as a result of declining credit availability and dented investor confidence. Most economies globally slowed down during this period as a result of credit unavailability and a decline in international trade (Caballero, Pierre-Olivier & Emmanuel, 2008). The financial crisis was primarily an internal problem in the United States of America. The crisis began as a subprime crisis in the country in 2007 and spread over to other advanced countries. The crisis commenced with an enormous real estate asset bubble. Housing prices dramatically escalated in the United States with mortgage rates lower than normal mainly because of the Federal Reserve lowering the federal funds. Federal funds are the rate at which financial institutions lend each other overnight (Ely, 2009). In order to avoid losses, mortgage lenders have traditionally been very strict in scrutinizing the eligibility of a citizen in terms of repaying the loan. However, this did not happen in the United States of America when there was widespread securitization. Securitization allowed banks to lend mortgage loans to many jobless individuals with no income or assets at all. Loan regulators also authorized

Leaf Litter Decomposition Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leaf Litter Decomposition - Assignment Example Moreover, the experiment expected the tree species not to harbour the different soil animals. The maple and European Buckthorn are initially wet. Eventually they become very wet implying that the tree species harbour the soil animals. On the other hand, the maple and the European Buckthorn are greener and in regular sizes but eventually they decompose. This implies that the tree species decomposed. 2. Discuss what factors, that you observed, that may contribute leaf decomposition. What factors may contribute but were not measured? What was the average (&standard deviation) mass lost for each species? Where did the mass loss go? The observed factors that contribute to decomposition are the soil moisture and the plant composition. Temperature is also a factor which contributes to decomposition but it was not considered in this experiment. The wood decay is associated with the decay of the roots. The roots are the sole suppliers of moisture and nutrients to the entire plant hence they impact on the development of roots. Thus, the decay rates of woods will be similar to that of the leaves since the leaves obtain moisture and nutrients from the woods; whenever the woods are affected, the leaves are equally affected. Logging of trees results to the release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Thus, the rate of decomposition of the floor area is relatively lower than normal since the presence of lignin in the leaves lowers the decomposition rate. The concepts of this experiment fully relates with the concepts of a composting program such as the one found in the City of Toronto since everything revolves around composting. Thus, composting can be defined us the natural process or procedures which are meant to decompose the organic substances into a one rich soil which can be named as the compost. This experiment describes the concept such as

Amphibians of West Africa Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Amphibians of West Africa - Term Paper Example From this study it is clear that  climate change and specifically the rainfall shortage has led to decline in biodiversity of population of different organisms, including the amphibians in different parts of the world including West Africa. Rainfall decrease or shortage leads may affect survival   and growth of the amphibians by altering the availability of food, or changing the preditor – prey relationships which may lead to decrease in amphibians population or extinction of a species that is poorly adapted to adverse environments.  During the high rainfall season, amphibians in the west Africa normally mate, with the decreasing rainfall season, the mating season of the amphibians may be altered or even lost if the rain is inadequate and this leads to poor reproduction, which in turn leads to decreased population and my eventually lead to extinction of some species of the amphibians in the region.This paper highlights that  the majority of amphibians in west Africa ar e typical forest specialists, however,some of them can tolerate disturbed forest situation. Only very few amphibians in this region have a preference for savannah and farm bush habitats. Rainfall pattern change, therefore changes the natural habitat of the amphibians in the West Africa and more specifically the majority which inhabit the forest. Destruction of the forest due to lack of rainfall will lead to the death of the amphibians and migration of them to a different location where the habitat can be found.

Chi-square Distribution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chi-square Distribution - Essay Example By applying the chi-square distribution and analysis to the information provided for WidgeCorp Company, we are able to find whether the data and the chi test are independent and thus be able to accept or reject the null hypothesis. We realize that the sales data and the use of the software will present with categorical data which ultimately allows us to use non-parametric analysis through a chi-squared test. The answers to possible questions from the variables could ‘yes, there is a relationship between sales and use of software’ or ‘no’.Considering the distribution of the sales force of WidgeCorp, it is convenient to assume that in each region, there are 500 sales persons which give the total of 500. Since we are told that only half of this number was given the software during the test period, we hypothesize that suppose this number is equally divided for the Southeast and the West region, then all of the agents in these two regions were given the software leading to the chi-square analysis below.Consequently, the data can be presented in a contingency table as indicated below to facilitate the computation of chi-squared for the stated hypothesis.From the calculations, we obtain a chi-square of 2.62 with a degree of freedom for the data set 1 (obtained from rows and columns). From the chi distribution table in appendix 1 with section provided below, we obtain a chi-square probability of 3.81 which is greater than the calculated x2 and we, therefore, reject the null hypothesis in this regard.

MARKET RESEARCH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MARKET RESEARCH - Essay Example â€Å"Different kinds of market research need to be conducted during different periods in the life cycle of a company and those of a product† (Hewitt, 2011). For a market oriented company like Kellogg’s, market research adds business value and improves the company’s competitive advantage. Before launching a new product, Kellogg’s usually conducts a market research to understand the preference of consumers concerning new products and this helps them to reduce the chances of failure. The major difference between qualitative and quantitative research are that the qualitative one is subjective and the quantitative one is mainly objective. Inductive method is used in qualitative while the deductive method is used in quantitative research. The qualitative research is text-based whereas the quantitative one is number-based. The method used under qualitative research involves focus groups and in-depth interviews while surveys and structured interviews are the meth ods adopted in quantitative research. Qualitative research focuses on smaller groups, on the other hand, the quantitative one deals with larger groups. The former one spends more time for selecting subjects, while the latter takes more time on data processing. The data collected using qualitative research is unstructured whereas quantitative research collects structured data. â€Å"Kellogg’s has flourished through skilful marketing of good products, and by creating and sustaining a highly valuable brand name† (Kellogg’s: Revitalizing a valued character, n.d). Kellogg’s company faces the problem of innovation when compared to other competitors. Further qualitative and quantitative research is necessary to know the consumer preference and to increase the demand for commodities. Competition from other companies can only be reduced by introducing new innovative products, which is possible through market research. The problem of substitute goods is faced by th e company, which can be tackled only through perfect knowledge about the market and this further increases the need for market research. To expand market internationally, the knowledge of foreign market is a must and so further qualitative and quantitative research is required. Section 2- Findings from marketing research: Critically analyze the 4 stages that Kellogg’s underwent in order to launch the new Crunchy Nut bites. Provide a critical analysis for each stage. Also provide 2 suggestions to improve Kellogg’s marketing research in this instance. Kellogg’s is concentrating on importance of market research during the launch and development of Crunchy Nut bites. Kellogg’s undertook four different stages of research in order to develop this new product. Stage 1: Discovery: Kellogg’s is a market oriented organization, wherein, market oriented means that the entire organization focuses on the needs of its customers. So, in order to find the needs of the customers, Kellogg’s has done a research to identify a set of new food ideas that would be appropriate for developing the new Crunchy Nut product. The company has also conducted secondary research to find out modern trends in the cereal market and to acknowledge new products, flavors and food from around the world. â€Å"Kellogg’s have a world-class food research and development facility, Kellogg’s food scientists, nutritionist and engineers turn wholesome grains and other

Strategic Analysis for Nintendo Co. Ltd. Essay Example for Free

Strategic Analysis for Nintendo Co. Ltd. Essay Executive Summary Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a longstanding member of the home entertainment software industry that has embarked on a mission to offer the highest quality products and services while treating their customers with attention, consideration and respect. Nintendo’s strategy thus far has been to take advantage of their video game development capabilities; nearly 60% of games sold by Nintendo are self developed. The innovative capabilities derived from various gaming platforms have allowed Nintendo to capitalize off of a series of attachment control devices. The biggest strength that Nintendo has is a strong brand name along with high returns. A well established brand name gives Nintendo an edge over its competitors. Nintendo is the only company that has managed to capitalize on both hardware and software components. The biggest opportunity for Nintendo is to incorporate themselves into the online gaming market due to short product life cycles. Nintendo maintains their competitive advantage through superior game and character development, for which it often owns the legal rights. In a technical comparison of the Wii against its major competitors, it is substantially outperformed in speed processing, memory, storage, networking, video output and multimedia output. If Nintendo wishes to maintain a competitive advantage, the niche market must be penetrated while maintaining the integrity of the Nintendo brand image. Nintendo Black would become a subsidiary company of Nintendo Co. Ltd. that will operate with a mission to specialize in advanced technological specifications to consoles that will compete with Microsoft and Sony. If the proper measures are taken then Nintendo has the opportunity to continue to position itself as an alternative to the gaming experience while increasing the level of competition for its rival companies with its subsidiary company. Mission and Strategic Development Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a longstanding member of the home entertainment software industry that has embarked on a mission to offer the highest quality products and services while treating their customers with attention, consideration and respect (Nintendo, 2009). In doing so, Nintendo Co. Ltd.  has developed a strategy that has allowed them to offer a unique gaming experience which appeals to a larger consumer base, while maintaining competitive affordable prices. Unlike its competitors, Nintendo Co. Ltd. has earned consumer confidence in its industry through an established brand name known for inventing the video game console. Competitors such as Sony and Microsoft have entered the industry after finding success in the electronic hardware and software industries respectively. Despite opportunities for entry into the industry, Nintendo Co. Ltd. is the only company that has managed to capitalize on both hardware and software components. This is due in part to a strategy that focuses on the purchase of inexpensive components rather than making them in-house (Schoenberger, 2008). Sony’s Playstation 3 retails for $300, which is less than the actual cost, thus causing Sony to lose money on each console sale. Nintendo however is able to offer the Wii Console for $260 and has managed to earn a $6 profit on each unit sold (Schoenberger, 2008). In comparison, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is sold at cost, equal to that of the Playstation 3 at $300 per unit (Schoenberger, 2008). Aside from earning revenues from the sale of hardware systems, Nintendo Co. Ltd. has also found a way to compete with the pricing of games. The average cost for a Wii game is $50 compared to $60 for games by each of Nintendo’s competitors (Schoenberger, 2008). The competition is able to afford losses on their consoles by earning revenues in the form of licensing fees from third-party developers (Schoenberger, 2008). Nintendo’s strategy thus far has been to take advantage of their video game development capabilities that were first introduced alongside their first Game Wat ch system in 1980. Nearly 60% of games sold by Nintendo Co. Ltd. are self developed in comparison to 30% for Microsoft and 15% for Sony (Schoenberger, 2008). While this has resulted in fewer titles released, a competitive advantage is maintained by creating franchise characters and game titles that are exclusively created for their products. As a result, the three top selling games for the Wii system are â€Å"Wii Play,† â€Å"Super Smash Brothers Brawl† and â€Å"Super Mario Galaxy,† each of which is available exclusively for the Wii console (Schoenberger, 2008). By maintaining the control of development, Nintendo Co. Ltd. has been able to produce these games without deadline constraints, ensuring the highest quality game play which allows the company to live up to its mission requirements. Current worldwide sales figures as  of November 14, 2009 list the Wii as having sold over 56.5 million units while the Xbox 360 is a distant second at 33 million units sold and Playstation 3 with only 26.5 million (VGChartz, 2009). During 2006, Nintendo Co. Ltd. recorded net income of $840 million, just before the release of the Wii system (Annual, 2006). As of 2008, that figure has increased to $2.5 billion, a nearly 300% increase in two years (Annual, 2008). Alongside the Wii, Nintendo Co. Ltd. also maintains an advantage in handheld systems with the Nintendo DS. Sony has unsuccessfully attempted to penetrate the market with the PSP handheld system, however sales have only reached 52.8 million in comparison to the 114 million units sold by the DS and upgraded DSi systems (VGChartz, 2009). According to their 2008 annual report, the Wii had sold 148 million games for the system while the DS had sold 369 million titles (Annual, 2008). The DS has proved to be yet another competitive advantage for Nintendo Co. Ltd. as the software sales in 2006 were at 60 million, which is a 515% increase in just two years (VGChartz, 2009). Much of Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s success may also be attributed to the differentiation of their product lines. While the DS faces little competition, the Wii’s internal capabilities were considered inferior to existing consoles upon its inception (Schoenberger, 2008). Microsoft and Sony marketed systems based on technological superiority while the Wii is the first system to focus solely on interactive game play. Motion sensor technology allows for physical movement by the consumers to control the games in which they play. The innovative capabilities derived from various game platforms have allowed Nintendo Co. Ltd. to capitalize off of a series of attachment control devices. Sales of these devices have been packaged together with games to provoke interest additional purchases of games compatible to the attachments. In an attempt to counter the unsuspected success of the Wii, motion sensor attachments are planned to be released by competitors. Microsoft is expected to release Project Natal, which performs a full body scan for remote free game play, while Sony will release a motion controller; both expected to hit the market in 2010 (Whitney, 2009). Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Cammie Dunaway, is not worried, suggesting â€Å"what people are doing with the remote and what’s happening on the screen isn’t something that people have to wait for or is just being talked about in a PowerPoint presentation. But  it’s something that’s in stores today and that people are already enjoying (Whitney, 2009). Wii sales are expected to continue to be strong, though 2009 has experienced a dramatic decline in sales a year after the most successful sales figures in Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s history (Whitney, 2009). SWOT Strengths The biggest strength that Nintendo has is a strong brand name, along with high returns, debt free status, and strong marketing techniques. Having such a strong brand name, Nintendo has become the most dominant company in the video game industry. Nintendo has been around since 1889 and developed their first home video game machine in 1977 and ever since has been known for their electronic gaming devices (Annual, 2008). As for high returns, the Nintendo DS alone has made a huge profit for them selling 70.6 million hardware units and 369.6 million software units as of March 2008 (Annual, 2008). Also, Nintendo is one of the few gaming consoles that have a debt free status unlike Microsoft who can’t seem to earn any profit due to high costs. Nintendo has thought outside of the box with their latest marketing strategy of targeting markets other than the traditional â€Å"gamer†. They have marketed their newest console, the Wii, to everyone as a family console, with games varying from healthy exercise to interactive sports. They have also found a way to simplify gaming by making it as easy as point and click. One example of this is the Mario-Kart game that is played using a steering wheel. Additionally, games that require extra attachments like the crossbow for the Legend of Zelda requires customers to spend more money, earning Nintendo supplementary profits (IBISWorld, 2009). Weaknesses Nintendo’s weaknesses are the dependence on contract manufacturers, having low earnings per share in addition to the lack of games produced for Nintendo consoles. Even though Nintendo Co. Ltd. makes their own games and trademark characters; for instance Mario and company, they still rely on manufacturers such as Electronic Arts, Acti-Vision and others for games that more experienced consumers would prefer to play. Despite an attempt to simplify gaming, this convenience may have negative repercussions for the experienced consumer market. Recent game developments attempt to be as  realistic as possible, thus the graphics on the Nintendo systems are not as sophisticated and are lacking in comparison to that of the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 with 1080p resolution that reads high-definition graphics. Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s competitors also offer technologies not found on the Wii such as HDMI outputs or Blue-Ray DVD (Video, 2007). Opportunities The biggest opportunity for Nintendo is to incorporate the online gaming market. Most of the new games are designed for multiplayer gaming through server networks. Nintendo benefits from the interactive gaming business and these benefits can continue to grow. When the first video game consoles started to emerge, many people thought it was a short-term fad. However, fast-forward two decades and it has become more than just a trend. Adolescents who played 25 years ago have yet to grow out of the gaming trend and today’s youths have taken on next-generation consoles with even greater passion than their parents did as children. Growth has remained unexpectedly high for over two decades, including above 10% per year in 2009, despite the national recession (Annual, 2008). Today the video game industry, including development, production and retailing, is worth over $44 billion, with over 40 million consoles sold in the US in 2008 alone (IBISWorld, 2009). Video games and consoles are among the highest demand predominantly during the holiday season due to price cuts and the convenience of gift giving. Another opportunity for Nintendo is the fact that it remains the leading console maker, giving the company a better opportunity to improve upon itself. In October, Nintendo Co. Ltd. sold 506,900 units of the Wii system in the United States. The second best selling console was Sonys Playstation 3 having sold 320,600 units (Taub, 2009). Threats Nintendo’s threats include short product life cycles, and online gaming. The main threat to Nintendo Co. Ltd. is the software/games limited lifespan. Most games take about 48-60 hours to complete and more people have time to sit at home and play video games rather than recreational spending. Online gaming allows people to connect and play with other people as long as they own the same game and same console in each house. Due to the limitations of the internal hardware of the Wii, Nintendo Co. Ltd. has a severe  disadvantage in a network that provides inadequate performance in relation to competing system networks (Thurrott, 2007). Strategic Competitive Advantage and Major Problems The first word that comes to mind with Nintendo is games. Microsoft and Sony do not have that advantage. Nintendo has been a household name since its first electronic game release in 1977 and is considered to be the oldest company in this market. It is one of the largest console manufacturers in the world, and a leader in the handheld console market. The company has released five generations of consoles over the past 20 years. A well established brand name gives the company an edge over its competitors (Nintendo Co., 2009). In recent years, Nintendo Co. Ltd. has achieved strong growth in its operating results. In FY2008, revenues increased by 73% over FY2007 reaching JPY1,672,423 million (approximately $14,683.9 million) owing to the launch of Nintendo DS Lite and Wii, and their related software (Nintendo Co., 2009). In the Gaming Industry, Games/Software account for 67.6% of sales while Consoles account for 18%. Games are an inevitable focus of the industry (IBISWorld, 2009). Wii users are expected to buy the most games this year, 220 million, compared with 120 million PS3 games and 125 million Xbox 360 games. 62% of games sold by Nintendo Co. Ltd. are their own titles in comparison to 30% for Microsoft and 15% for Sony (Top, 2006). The top three Wii games are all made by Nintendo Co. Ltd., thus maintaining a higher gross margin on game software than competitors at 65%. Also, Nintendo Co. Ltd. is able to price their games lower than competitors at approximately $50 per game versus $60 (Schoenberger, 2009). Nintendo Co. Ltd. maintains their competitive advantage through superior game and character development, for which it often owns the legal rights. Nintendo Co. Ltd. has leveraged its legacy characters to maintain a viable competitive position in the market (Harmsen, 2009). The new Wii Fit exercise game is targeting women and older people concentrating on â€Å"adding value for the late adopter,† said Nintendo of America’s President, Reggie Fils-Aime. â€Å"This has given us the unparalleled ability to bring in new consumers, especially females† (Taub, 2009). The Wii Fit software alone has sold more than 20 million copies as of September 2009, and cost the consumer $90 to purchase. Half of the retail price results in profit for Nintendo Co. Ltd.  because the company developed both the console and the game, avoiding software licensing fees. Manufacturing of the balance board, an accessory that is included with the Wii Fit software, costs the company roughly $19 each, while the software averages $1 (Crews, 2009). Retailers typically buy the software games for 80% of the retail price, thus earning them $18 per game sold. Marketing of the software costs an average of $5 per unit, while research development is roughly $2. A $45 profit goes directly to Nintendo Co. Ltd for each Wii Fit game sold (Crews, 2009). Unlike its competitors, Nintendo Co. Ltd. has figured out a way to profit from its console sales. For every Wii sold, Nintendo nets $6. Microsoft just breaks even while Sony actually loses money on each console sale (Sherwood, 2008). As of November 14, 2009 the Wii is being reported as having sold over 56.5 million consoles. That equals to $339 million in profit for Nintendo Co. Ltd. based only on console unit sales. Nintendo Co. Ltd. relies on third-party manufacturers to produce key components or assemble finished products in order to keep costs low. Nintendo Co. Ltd. could have difficulty procuring key components or manufacturing its products in the event one or more of these third-party businesses fail or are unable to provide necessary components on a timely basis. Shortages of key components may cause margin decline due to higher costs, lack of products, and quality control issues (Annual, 2008). The interactive entertainment software market is characterized by short product life cycles and frequent introductions of new products (Nintendo Co., 2009). Since the Wii console has unique features such as the motion sensor remote, it makes the software difficult to translate into other systems. Developers that wish to create games for the Wii need a dedicated Wii team to code the Nintendo Co. Ltd. software so that it may be compatible with the Wii console (Schoenberger, 2009). For that reason, the Wii has fewer games available than its competitors. As a result, Nintendo may be forced to create a new console that adds the cutting-edge graphics the Wii lacks, analysts say (Edwards, 2009). Strategic Recommendations Nintendo Co. Ltd. has found success in implementing a family oriented strategy that generates consumer interests of multiple generations, genders  and cultures by creating a user friendly platform with a minimal learning curve to ensure an enjoyable gaming experience. In order to meet the high expectations that Nintendo Co. Ltd. has set for itself, the products developed are limited in their ability to adapt to the niche markets that competitive companies have catered to. In a technical comparison of the Wii against its major competitors, it is substantially outperformed in speed processing, memory, storage, networking, video output and multimedia output (Thurrott, 2007). In order to maintain an advantage in low cost pricing, the Wii is forced to neglect these features causing tech conscious consumers to invest in competing consoles. Lacking the capabilities to process more popular teenage and adult games that have been released on other supporting formats, Nintendo Co. Ltd. is res tricted in their ability to garner interest in their products from this niche market without altering not only their system specifications, but the family brand image that has established their success. If Nintendo Co. Ltd. wishes to maintain a competitive advantage, the niche market must be penetrated while maintaining the integrity of the Nintendo brand image. As these are two conflicting interests, it is recommended that Nintendo Co. Ltd. create a new subsidiary company that continues in the traditional spirit of Nintendo’s penchant for quality, while integrating the non-traditional components that cater to the niche market. Nintendo Black would become a subsidiary company of Nintendo Co. Ltd. that will operate with a mission to specialize in advanced technological specifications to consoles that will compete with Microsoft and Sony. The emergence of this company will allow for more flexibility from restrictions that limit Nintendo in competing for a mature consumer base. Nintendo Black will use the internal knowledge garnered throughout years of experience to continue developing games in-house, but will break away from the traditional franchise characters of the Nintendo universe. A number of opportunities arise to develop a series of successful franchise games that will appeal to the mature consumer that may continue to build upon the exclusivity of Nintendo produced games. This will also allow for a stronger focus on third-party developers to license games for distribution on Nintendo Black consoles that require advanced system specifications generating revenues that are currently unavailable to Nintendo and the Wii system. By embarking on a saturation of third-party game releases as the  Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have done, Nintendo Black has the opportunity to cut into the game sale profits of its competition. In order to develop interest in a new system that is similar to the competition, the inaugural console release should provide online downloads for videogames that are released in stores. Though the Wii has downloadable content, none of the three competing systems offer full downloads of newly released titles. By offering this option, costs may be reduced from packaging, while ensuring the on demand availability of products anytime. A major concern regarding the exclusivity of Nintendo Co. Ltd. franchise characters and related games is that consumers in the niche market may have interest in purchasing a game, but not the console. By making Wii games compatible to the Nintendo Black console release, niche consumers would be free to purchase Wii games that would have otherwise been disregarded, thus increasing game sales for Wii and subsequent console releases by Nintendo Co. Ltd. Justification of Strategy Nintendo Co. Ltd. lists only 7 M-rated games available for the DS system and is in consideration of releasing another from one of the most popular M-rated franchises in Grand Theft Auto (Graft, 2009). The controversy surrounding the release of this game for the Nintendo system alludes to the desire to break into a market that could potentially jeopardize the Nintendo Co. Ltd. mission. In 2008, Nintendo Co. Ltd. recorded $2.5 billion in net income, despite spending $103 million on research and development in 2006 when the Wii was released (Annual, 2008), (Davison, 2008). The fiscal resources available to develop a product that expands upon existing models should be financially plausible. Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s current profitability is based on a family oriented consumer market that neither Microsoft nor Sony have attempted to endeavor; however if either company were inclined to expand an existing strategy to include a line of family concentrated product lines, it would attempt to differentiate itself into both markets which neither of its competitors has yet to achieve. As the intensity of competition increases, it is in the best interest of Nintendo Co. Ltd. to become the first to break ground in penetrating both consumer markets. A Nintendo Subsidiary should not affect the current profitability of Nintendo Co. Ltd. with the exception of an increase in sales for a select number of  Wii games released that appeal to a mass audience. It is possible that the Wii may sell fewer consoles due to the advanced capabilities of the upgraded console release, but there is a greater opportunity to convert niche market users to become Nintendo users due to the availability of not only third-party games released on all consoles, but the franchise games sold exclusively for Nintendo consoles. As the companies operate with two distinctly different missions, the Nintendo Co. Ltd. brand should maintain its profitability as the initial strategy will not be altered, while the Nintendo Black subsidiary has the opportunity to become profitable by taking more risks with its system capabilities and game play modes. These risks have the potential to unveil a number of concepts that Nintendo Co. Ltd. may have not felt comfortable implementing on its signature consoles, thus providing input as to which successful features may be utilized and expanded upon for all future gaming platforms. The assumption that the new subsidiary will attract new consumers lies in the convenience created by the initial console release. Nintendo will now be capable of offering games that not only require more advanced processing, but games that are too mature to be released by the parent company. If a consumer can buy a Nintendo system that offers the same games and capabilities as an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 at a similar cost, but also offers Nintendo exclusive games, then it adds to the consumer benefit creating interest in the Nintendo product. Additionally, with limited marketing it is possible for Nintendo Black products to differentiate themselves from those of the parent company. This supplementary convenience provides additional consumer confidence for the initial family oriented market by indicating that any games released by Nintendo Co. Ltd. are suitable for children or else they would be released under the Nintendo Black product line. This will alleviate any concern for parents that are unfamiliar with newly released games as to the content involved. Nintendo Co. Ltd. spent $370 million on research and development in 2007 and is expected to release the next installment of the Wii in 2011 (Davison, 2008). This would be ample time to develop a subsidiary company that will focus on research and development throughout 2010 with plans for a console release in 2013. After nearly two years, the sales for the Wii console have begun to decline and if this trend continues in the future, in 2013 the subsidiary console may be released without damaging initial sales  for the parent company release (Satariano, 2009). As a result, the Nintendo Black consoles my act as a buffer for additional sales during a down time while Nintendo Co. Ltd. begins development on yet another generation console. Fall-out and Summary The recommendations suggested create several risks that may have negative repercussions to Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s existing operations. Creating a subsidiary company would require an increase in personnel costs as each company would be required to operate separately. As a result, a new headquarters may need to be purchased in order to house accounting, finance and marketing departments as well as research and development. However, without a release for several years, the company would earn no income and may generate a number of tax benefits. Nintendo Co. Ltd. initially planned on creating a more advanced system that would be comparable to that of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. However, as the General Manager of Research and Development, Genyo Takeda, suggests â€Å"During development, we came to realize the sheer inefficiency of this path when we compared the hardships and costs of development against any new experiences that might be had by our customers.† (Iwata, 2009) With both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 generating no profits from sales, it is likely that in order to create a competing system, Nintendo Black may be forced to accept a similar position (Schoenberger, 2008). What may help Nintendo Black avoid this scenario is a continued focus on purchasing inexpensive parts rather than making them in-house (Schoenberger, 2008). Though the price range for a new niche market console may be higher than that of the Wii, it will still be competitive for the market that it is attempting to pursue. Creating a subsidiary company with a strategy to develop more adult games may have an effect on the parent company that maintains a strong focus on a family friendly experience. There is an unknown risk involved with regard to consumer response of a new line that could be damaging to the mission of the parent company. A marketing plan must be developed that distinguishes the two companies and their products. It must reassure the target market that they will receive the gaming experience they look for in competing consoles, while also ensuring that Nintendo Co. Ltd. will be unaffected and continue with their family friendly mission. It is advised that staple characters of  the Nintendo universe are not used to market the product lines of Nintendo Black, but rather focus on the development of new characters with the possibility of introducing the staple characters as unlockable content. If the proper measures are taken then Nintendo Co. Ltd. has the opportunity to continue to position itself as an alternative to the gaming experience while increasing the level of competition for its rival companies with its subsidiary company. This will make it more difficult for rivals to compete for their own target market and force them to shift focus away from competing with Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s motion c apture product line.

Post Freudian theorists and their theories Essay Example for Free

Post Freudian theorists and their theories Essay As indicated earlier, key personality developmental theories that were developed after Freud’s psychoanalytic theory were either directly derived of it or aimed at criticizing some of its major components. a) Erik Erickson i) Stages of development Barbara (2008) and Lieberman (2007) agree that the work of Eric Erickson was a direct derivative of Freudian considerations in human development. Eric Erickson theory of psychosocial development concurred with Freudian view that life, development and challenges develop in stages. Psychosocial theory further builds the notion of the ‘ego’ which was largely brought out by Freud as external reality inculcation to one’s mind. Particularly, the stages of Erickson psychosocial development strongly cohere with Sigmund’s work. Clara et al (2008) explain that stage one of Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development is reflected through ‘trust versus mistrust’ largely because the child is entirely dependent on the caregivers. Like Freud mentioned the pleasure a child derives from oral stimulation, Erickson emphasized on the resulting intimacy as a platform in propelling the child to the next stages. Therefore, Erickson’s first stage borrows the concept of external environment in creating enough force for the next stage. In the second stage of psychosocial development, Erickson equally borrows from Freud’s ‘anal stage’ which is a critical training factor. Nelson-Jones (2005) explains that from a higher consideration, Erickson argued that learning to go to the toilet gave a strong sense of control and therefore great independence. As Freud clearly brought out the notion of the ego, Erickson’s third stage of initiative versus guilt emphasizes the assertion of power and control which plays an important role in the later stages development. Erickson indicated that many children seek to assert their superiority among others but with careful considerations of the existing repercussions (Marrie and Janneke-van, 2007). Notably, Erickson agrees with Freud that parents and caretakers must step in to facilitate the needed reassurance and therefore avoid guilt to their young ones. It is however worth noting that Erickson strongly differed with Freud on how long development persists in an individual’s life. While Freud postulated that personality development only lasted to the genital stage when an individual starts getting interested in sexual relationship with those of the opposite sex, Erickson postulated that developed progressed to the old age (Busch, 2009). However, scholars appear to be strongly divided with one group considering the latter Erickson’s work to be based on criticism of the Freud’s work and therefore its advancement (Barbara, 2008). ii) The notion of fixation One resilient notion of Freud’s work is the notion of succession between different stages. Though they do not necessary cohere on time and expected repercussions, both theorists agree that people at different stages must go through them successfully or get fixated (Hayes, 2004). Fixation as Henry (2009) point out denotes the inability to progress since latter stages are entirely dependent on the previous stages success. Erickson argued that all stages present an individual with two negating outcomes; positive and negative. For example between year five to eleven, Erickson indicated that a successful individual will become industrious while the unsuccessful ones will suffer inferiority (Laura and Pam, 2007). b) Lacanian theory In his work, largely referred to as the return of Freud, Emile Lacan’s concepts appear to be fully defined by the former (Adam, 2008). Though Lacan strongly criticized the Freud’s separation of the conscious (ego) and unconscious (id), he largely employed the same concepts in his work. Lacan argued that the conscious and unconscious considerations of the mind were not different, but operated from a highly sophisticated and complex outline compared to Freud’s consideration. Locan mirror as Brickman (2009) and Gottdiener (2008) conclusions suggest is formative and a derivative of the experience an individual gets during development. Therefore, the paradigm of the imagery to be effective during the younger years as opposed to the old age which is more subjective fits the Freudian connotation of development persisting only to the genital stage.

Teaching maths

Teaching maths Introduction Mathematics is an essential part of our world and an important life skill. In our society today, we are bombarded by numberous data that requires us to record, sort and organize. We need to use mathematics not only at our work places, but also in our everyday life. Even simple daily tasks like making a purchase or financial recording at home needs mathematical skill. By having a strong understanding of mathematics, it will open doors to a promising career and a productive future (The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2004). Early childhood education sets the foundation upon which future learning is built. Before children enter school, many of them develop number and geometric abilities like counting objects and making shapes (Clements, 2001). Children develop informal mathematical knowledge that is complex and sometimes sophisticated (Clements, 2001). During preschool years, children’s brains undergo significant development as their learning and experience affect th eir brain structure. Their brains grow most as a result of complex activities and not just from simple tasks. Preschoolers are a special group and therefore, it is important to have developmentally appropriate activities for them (Clements, 2001). In order to help children with mathematics, teachers need to first understand how they learn mathematics. It is also crucial to find out the difficulties they may face during the learning process so that Teachers can use appropriate methods to help them. How children learn mathematics and their concept development At a very early age, children start to demonstrate their knowledge of mathematics. Children are curious about their world and this leads them to explore the concept of mathematics (Barbour Seefeldt, 2000). In the ordinary environment, they experience everyday mathematics involving topics like space, shape, pattern, number and number operations (Ginsburg, Lee Boyd, n.d.) . Children’s play and interest are the sources of their first mathematical experiences (Clements, 2001). They need different kinds of concrete materials to manipulate and the time to play in order to construct mathematical concepts (Smith, 1997). For instance, when playing with blocks, children spend a lot of time figuring out which block is higher than the other. The blocks also help the children to further explore mathematical concepts such as shapes and symmetries (Ginsburg et al., n.d.) . As children manipulate materials, their action forces some thinking and reaction. Materials allow children with a wide range of interests and abilities to enjoy success (Barbour Seefeldt, 2000). Interaction with others is another way that children learn mathematics. Through interaction with other children, they are able to question their own view of the world and adjust accordingly. Mathematical group project is an example that provides opportunities for social interaction and can be a strategy for mathematics learning. During project work, children can share different ideas, discuss approach and argue about their suggestions. Children talk and listen to each other when playing and working. They naturally talk about what they are doing. Use of the language is essential to learning about mathematical ideas and procedures (Barbour Seefeldt, 2000). Besides interacting with others, language also helps children in learning mathematics because it aids in organizing their thinking and experiences. Children are able to learn new concepts better when they have the ability to describe mathematical ideas an d relationships (Barbour Seefeldt, 2000). The theory of Piaget and Vygotsky gives teachers information about children’s course of mathematical concept development and aid in developmentally appropriate teaching. Piaget proposed a four-stage theory of cognitive development (Barbour Seefeldt, 2000). From zero to two years old, it is called the sensorimotor period. Mathematical concepts are believed to develop as children grasp, touch or move objects of different sizes and shapes. Classification skills are also believed to develop during this period of time. Preoperational stage is from two to seven or eight years old. During this period, children learn about conservation concept and they develop the understanding that objects remain the same no matter how they are changed in form or arranged in different ways. They acquire language rapidly and are able to use symbols to represent real objects. Concrete operations period is from seven to eleven or twelve years old. As they think, they still need to handle and manipulate objects. However, they start to become more independent from the manipulation of objects. They can think about classes, seriation and numbers (Barbour Seefeldt, 2000). Vygotsky’s theory consists of natural and cultural development (Smith, 1997). Natural development influences learning. Cultural development occurs when children interact with others and language is improved through interaction. He believed that when children are in their â€Å"zone of proximal development†, learning takes place. With the help of teachers and peers, they can achieve certain tasks. He also believed that in early learning scaffolding is essential to grasp a task. Later on, the support is slowly reduced in order for the children to master the skill independently (Smith, 1997). Role of teachers in helping children learn mathematics Teachers play an important role in helping children learn mathematics. First of all, the teacher should plan the learning environment in such a way that it is beneficial to mathematical explorations. For example, the classroom should contain a variety of objects related to numbers and concrete materials like blocks and manipulatives (Clements, 2001). Classrooms can also be numbered (Barbour Seefeldt, 2000). This will help the children learn mathematical concepts through their play. During their play, teachers must observe and intervene when necessary to create teachable moments. But when should teachers intervene? A useful way is to observe whether mathematical thinking is developing or already installed in children. If the thinking is developing, the teacher can take notes and discuss about the experience after they finished playing. On the other hand, if the thinking is installed, the teacher can discuss and clarify the ideas with the children. In this way, the children can clarif y their thinking and extend the idea (Clements, 2001). Teachers can work with the children on group projects so that they can be involved in different mathematical ideas like measurements, numbers, space and so on (Ginsburg et al., n.d.). Developmentally appropriate curriculum is an essential part of developing mathematical knowledge. A curriculum offers planned activities and assumes that mathematics does not need to be always integrated with other activities, but it can also be an interesting subject on its own (Ginsburg et al., n.d.). It strengthens children’s geometric and number knowledge (Clements, 2001). Some children may have difficulty in learning mathematics and it is the teachers’ role to help them cope with the problem. Some children have math anxiety and it has a negative influence on the children’s academic performance (Mazzocco, 2007). Others may have inability to estimate quantity (ScienceDaily, 2013) and spatial difficulty (Mazzocco, 2007). In order to help these children in mathematics, teachers can use different methods to improve the learning experiences. For instance, in order to help children with math anxiety, teachers can enhance the basic numerical and spatial processing. This can be done both in school as well as collaboration with parents. Research shows that the quality of numerical and spatial talk by parents is related to the children’s math and spatial skills. Hence, the parents can engage the children in daily activities that are related to math. This will help the children to have more basic knowledge of mathematics when they come to sch ool and reduce the anxiety in them (Beilock Willingham, 2014). Small group learning is another strategy that the teachers can use to help those children that has difficulties. Small group is where teachers plan the materials and lessons based on the children’s interest and their level of development. Teachers can scaffold each child’s learning. As children gain confidence in their abilities, they are more willing to take up new challenges. Small group also allows teachers to observe each child in the group through daily interactions and understand more about their abilities and interests (HighScope Educational Research Foundation, 2011). Integrated curriculum is another approach to enhance the children’s learning in mathematics. It emphasizes the holistic development of the child- physical, social, emotional, intellectual and aesthetic development. Stories are a great teaching resource and when used effectively, can promote thinking and new knowledge. For examp le, the story book â€Å"Pancakes, Pancakes† can be used as a resource for integrated curriculum. Through storytelling and the use of learning centres and group settings strategy, language, math and cooking are learned (Velu, 2012). Case study Child’s profile Name: Jason Age: 6 years old Gender: Male Race: Chinese Preschool: Little kids kindergarten Skills: Able to count one to ten. Able to sort, match and compare by one attribute (example size, shape and colour). Able to recognize basic shapes. Family background: Both parents are busy with work and have little time for him. He has two siblings so the parents cannot give him full attention. Parents do not communicate with him often and they often use television to keep him occupied. Siblings: two Parents: Both parents working Spoken language: English Activities other than school: Watch Television and play online kids’ games Problems he face in mathematics This child faces some difficulties in mathematics. He is not able to do more advanced pattern like AAB pattern. During class he has difficulty in number bond and he isn’t able to finish his numeracy activities in class. The teacher has been trying to do one-to-one teaching such as helping him to be more familiar with pattern by re-introducing AB pattern using paper and stamp. The teacher also helps him in number bond by pairing him up with another child. However, there is little improvement and the child continues to have difficulties in mathematics. In order to help this child to improve, lessons can be conducted for both pattern and number bond. Both teacher and parents should collaborate to help Jason to improve. Lessons to help him with pattern and number bond Lessons for pattern: The activity is call people patterns (Big Ideas of Early Mathematics, 2014). This is a visual pattern activity and the material is the children in the class. It is a simple pattern activity to help Jason to understand the basic pattern from the environment. The teacher arranges the children in AB pattern: stand, sit; stand, sit; stand, sit. After that, the teacher can ask the children to describe the pattern. Lastly, the teacher ask questions like â€Å"what is the pattern† and â€Å"what is its rule?†. Each child takes turn to give the answer (Big Ideas of Early Mathematics, 2014). If Jason is not sure, the teacher can explain to him immediately. At the same time, Jason’s parents can also help Jason to reinforce his pattern knowledge at home. They can carry out activities like shape pattern. His parents can use concrete materials like plain wooden blocks of different shapes to teach him the AB pattern. For instance, three square and three triangle blocks can be used. Then the parents can set the pattern: square, triangle; square, triangle; square, triangle. They can ask Jason to describe the pattern and after that ask him to demonstrate the same pattern. Once Jason is more confident with the AB pattern, the teacher and parents can use the same materials and methods to introduce AAB pattern. Instead of using paper and stamp for AAB pattern activity, the teacher can try to use concrete material. After Jason has a better understanding of AAB pattern, the teacher can replace concrete materials with paper and stamp. Lessons for number bond: The first activity for the number bond can be done at home. Jason’s parents can use material such as raisins to carry out the activity. For example, they can ask him how many raisins are in his hand. He is then allowed to eat some of the raisins. After that, ask him to count again. If he gets the correct answer, he is allowed to eat all the raisins. After Jason is able to understand the number operations at home, he can go on to the number bond lesson in class. Concrete materials like small dinosaur models can be used together with the number bond worksheet. The dinosaurs can assist Jason to see the numbers using real objects. For instance, if the numbers are three and seven, the teacher can give Jason three dinosaurs first and ask him to count. Another seven dinosaurs can be given to him. After that ask him to count the total number of dinosaurs and he can write the answer on the worksheet. This activity can use different combination of numbers and is a good way to help Jason to understand the number bond concept better. Conclusion References Beilock, S., Willingham, D. (2014). Math Anxiety: Can Teachers Help Students Reduce It?. American Educator. Retrieved 10 November 2014, from http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/beilock.pdf Barbour, N., Seefeldt, C. (2000). Early Childhood Education-An Introduction (4th ed., pp. 449-462). New York: Macmillan College Publishing. Big Ideas of Early Mathematics. (2014) (p. 91). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Ginsburg, H., Lee, J., Boyd, J. Mathematics Education for Young Children: What It Is and How to Promote It. Social Policy Report. Retrieved 10 November 2014, from http://srcd.org/sites/default/files/documents/21-3_early_childhood_education.pdf HighScope Educational Research Foundation,. (2011). Scaffolding Children’s Learning at Small-Group Time. Retrieved 10 November 2014, from http://www.highscope.org/file/Trainer%20Page/Preschool/1%20Day%20Workshops/W2006_11-Scaffolding%20SGT%20Booklet%20%239_press.pdf Mazzocco, M. (2007). Early Predictors of Mathematical Learning Difficulties: Variations In Childrens Difficulties With Math. Exchange. Retrieved 10 November 2014, from http://msdp.kennedykrieger.org/pdf/42.pdf ScienceDaily,. (2013). Preschoolers inability to estimate quantity relates to later math difficulty. Retrieved 10 November 2014, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130814132508.htm Smith, S. (1997). Early Childhood Mathematics (pp. 1-18). Boston: Allyn Bacon. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,. (2001). Mathematics in the Preschool. Retrieved 10 November 2014, from http://gse.buffalo.edu/org/buildingblocks/writings/preschool%20math%20in%20tcm.pdf The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,. (2004). A Familys Guide: Fostering Your Childs Success in School Mathematics. Retrieved 10 November 2014, from http://illuminations.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Activities_Home/FamilyGuide_FullText.pdf Velu, G. (2012). Intergrating Language, Math and Cooking Through Storytelling. Early Educators.

Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay -- To Kill a Moc

Analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee is a story of national magnitude that contains complex characters. Harper Lee deals with the emotions and spirits of the characters insightfully. A few of these characters display courage at one point or another in the story. These flashes of courage come during turbulent times of the story, and often led to success. Atticus Finch displayed courage on numerous occasions. Without his wife he had to raise Jem and Scout alone for most of their lives. Because he knew he had to set an example for his children to follow, Atticus tried never to let his emotions get the best of him. He stated on several occasions that he would not be able to tell his children one thing and do another. He believed in teaching by example, and his methods worked. Scout views her father as the bravest person she ever knew when he was cordial to Mrs. Dubose, despite her gibes. In front of the jail, Atticus was reading to Tom Robinson, a Negro he was defending in a rape case. The black versus white mentality was like a wildfire through almost all of Maycomb’s white residents during this case. As he was reading Atticus was approached by a group of men wanting to get at Tom. â€Å"’He in there, Mr. Finch?’ ‘He is and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up.’ ‘You know what we want. Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch’ ‘You can turn around and go home again, Walter.’†(151) Atticus stood strong against an entire mob due to his strong values. He would not budge, even though he was outnumbered. His voice was cool and collected throughout the entire encounter, proving once more his courage. Atticus was also courageous when he aimed to defend Tom Robinson instead of just allowing the guilty verdict. â€Å"’Lemme tell you somethin’ now, Billy, you know the court appointed him to defend this nigger.’ ‘Yeah but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it.’†(163) In those times many lawyers did not attempt to defend black men against white men. They were biased against their own clients. But Atticus, however, would not do such a thing. He stuck to his beliefs and continued the trial even though he knew that he could never win with a biased jury. To use his own words for him, Atticus was licked before he began but he began anyway and saw it through to the end. Jem is another character that displays... ... his reading. Then an alarm clock would sound and Jem and Scout would be shooed away by Mrs. Dubose’s maid Jessie. â€Å"’Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict. She tood it as a pain-killer for years. The doctor put her on it. She’d have spent the rest of her life on it and died without much agony, but she was too contrary†¦She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody†¦She said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did†¦I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know your licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the braves person I ever knew.†(112) Atticus would have made Jem read to her anyway just to realize how courageous she really was. Mrs. Dubose knew that she would be in great pain but stuck to her ideals and came out on top. She was very old and sickly yet still conquered her morphine addiction. As Atticus said, she possessed real courage.

Israel and Terrorism Essay -- Threats to World Peace

Introduction: The Conflict, Cause for Optimism, and Skepticism Over the past 55 years conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has led to three wars, years of terrorism, and decades of poverty and displacement resulting in thousands upon thousands of deaths among both peoples. Despite the conflict, Israel has managed to develop its economy thanks in large part to generous foreign aid. Palestinians, however, have largely been living in poverty, under the rule of a corrupt government and in fear of Israeli strength. These harsh conditions have no doubt exacerbated the conflict sparked by the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The establishment of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel is supported by many world leaders today as the most feasible strategy for lifting the quality of life of the Palestinian people and thus cooling the conflict which has reached particularly tragic heights over the past 4 years. The death of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Yasser Arafat offers a new opportunity to advance toward this goal as Israel and the U.S. refused to negotiate with him due to his incitement of and support for terrorism, as well as the corruption within his government. The recent election of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and his effort to fight terrorism and seek negotiations, has been viewed optimistically by much of the world as the first step toward beginning new efforts to move forward with the development of a Palestinian state. However, Abbas cannot negotiate a settlement unless his people support it. Despite views from foreign leaders and societies, and perhaps from Abbas, that a two-state solution is the best option, Palestinians have been taught by the PA for decades that a two-state solut... ...ry 2005. "Ask for Death The Indoctrination of Palestinian Children to Seek Death for Allah – Shahada.† www.pmw.org/il, 3 March 2005. http://www.jewishgrassroots.com/images/Shocking%20images%20of%20Palestinian%20toddlers_files/shocking%20images%20of%20Palestinian%20toddlers.htm, 3 March 2005. Sukhtian, Lara. â€Å"Palestinian Police Won’t Stop Militants.† Washington Post, 14 February, 2005. http://www.standwithus.com/news_post.asp?NPI=259, 4 March 2005. â€Å"Israel blames bombing on militants, Syria.† CNN World. 26 February 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/26/telaviv.explosion/index.html, 27 February 2005. Gilmore, Inigo. â€Å"Abbas orders Palestinian television to clean up its act.† Telegraph News, 6 February 2005. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/06/wmid06.xml&sSheet=/ news/2005/02/06/ixworld.html, 6 March 2005.

Zoe’s Tale PART II Chapter Fourteen

â€Å"No, you're still too low,† I said to Gretchen. â€Å"It's making you flat. You need to be a note higher or something. Like this.† I sang the part I wanted her to sing. â€Å"I am singing that,† Gretchen said. â€Å"No, you're singing lower than that,† I said. â€Å"Then you're singing the wrong note,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Because I'm singing the note you're singing. Go ahead, sing it.† I cleared my throat, and sang the note I wanted her to sing. She matched it perfectly. I stopped singing and listened to Gretchen. She was flat. â€Å"Well, nuts,† I said. â€Å"I told you,† Gretchen said. â€Å"If I could pull up the song for you, you could hear the note and sing it,† I said. â€Å"If you could pull up the song, we wouldn't be trying to sing it at all,† Gretchen said. â€Å"We'd just listen to it, like civilized human beings.† â€Å"Good point,† I said. â€Å"There's nothing good about it,† Gretchen said. â€Å"I swear to you, Zoe. I knew coming to a colony world was going to be hard. I was ready for that. But if I knew they were going to take my PDA, I might have just stayed back on Erie. Go ahead, call me shallow.† â€Å"Shallow,† I said. â€Å"Now tell me I'm wrong,† Gretchen said. â€Å"I dare you.† I didn't tell her she was wrong. I knew how she felt. Yes, it was shallow to admit that you missed your PDA. But when you'd spent your whole life able to call up everything you wanted to amuse you on a PDA – music, shows, books and friends – when you had to part with it, it made you miserable. Really miserable. Like â€Å"trapped on a desert island with nothing but coconuts to bang together† miserable. Because there was nothing to replace it with. Yes, the Colonial Mennonites had brought their own small library of printed books, but most of that consisted of Bibles and agricultural manuals and a few â€Å"classics,† of which Huckleberry Finn was one of the more recent volumes. As for popular music and entertainments, well, they didn't much truck with that. You could tell a few of the Colonial Mennonite teens thought it was funny to watch the rest of us go through entertainment withdrawal. Didn't seem very Christian of them, I have to say. On the other hand, they weren't the ones whose lives had been drastically altered by landing on Roanoke. If I were in their shoes and watching a whole bunch of other people whining and moaning about how horrible it was that their toys were taken away, I might feel a little smug, too. We did what people do in situations where they go without: We adjusted. I hadn't read a book since we landed on Roanoke, but was on the waiting list for a bound copy of The Wizard of Oz. There were no recorded shows or entertainments but Shakespeare never fails; there was a reader's theater performance of Twelfth Night planned for a week from Sunday. It promised to be fairly gruesome – I'd heard some of the read-throughs – but Enzo was reading the part of Sebastian, and he was doing well enough, and truth be told it would be the first time I would have ever experienced a Shakespeare play – or any play other than a school pageant – live. And it's not like there would be anything else to do anyway. And as for music, well, this is what happened: Within a couple days of landing a few of the colonists hauled out guitars and accordions and hand drums and other such instruments and started trying to play together. Which went horribly, because nobody knew anyone else's music. It was like what happened on the Magellan. So they started teaching each other their songs, and then people showed up to sing them, and then people showed up to listen. And thus it was, at the very tail end of space, when no one was looking, the colony of Roanoke reinvented the â€Å"hootenanny.† Which is what Dad called it. I told him it was a stupid name for it, and he said he agreed, but said that the other word for it – â€Å"wingding† – was worse. I couldn't argue with that. The Roanoke Hootenanners (as they were now calling themselves) took requests – but only if the person requesting sang the song. And if the musicians didn't know the song, you'd have to sing it at least a couple of times until they could figure out how to fake it. This led to an interesting development: singers started doing a cappella versions of their favorite songs, first by themselves and increasingly in groups, which might or might not be accompanied by the Hootenanners. It was becoming a point of pride for people to show up with their favorite songs already arranged, so everyone else in the audience didn't have to suffer through a set of dry runs before it was all listenable. It was safe to say that some of these arrangements were more arranged than others, to put it politely, and some folks sang with the same vocal control as a cat in a shower. But now, a couple of months after the hootenannies had begun, people were beginning to get the hang of it. And people had begun coming to the hoots with new songs, arranged a cappella. One of the most popular songs at the recent hoots was â€Å"Let Me Drive the Tractor† – the tale of a colonist being taught to drive a manual tractor by a Mennonite, who, because they were the only ones who knew how to operate noncomputerized farm machinery, had been put in charge of planting crops and teaching the rest of us how to use their equipment. The song ends with the tractor going into a ditch. It was based on a true story. The Mennonites thought the song was pretty funny, even though it came at the cost of a wrecked tractor. Songs about tractors were a long way from what any of us had been listening to before, but then, we were a long way from where any of us were before, in any sense, so maybe that fit. And to get all sociological about it, maybe what it meant was that twenty or fifty standard years down the line, whenever the Colonial Union decided to let us get in contact with the rest of the human race, Roanoke would have its own distinct musical form. Maybe they'll call it Roanokapella. Or Hootenoke. Or something. But at this particular moment, all I was trying to do was to get the right note for Gretchen to sing so she and I could go to the next hoot with a halfway decent version of â€Å"Delhi Morning† for the Hootenanners to pick up on. And I was failing miserably. This is what it feels like when you realize that, despite a song being your favorite of maybe all time, you don't actually know every little nook and cranny of it. And since my copy of the song was on my PDA, which I could no longer use or even had anymore, there was no way to correct this problem. Unless. â€Å"I have an idea,† I said to Gretchen. â€Å"Does it involve you learning to sing on key?† Gretchen asked. â€Å"Even better,† I said. Ten minutes later we were on the other side of Croatoan, standing in front of the village's information center – the one place on the entire planet that you'd still find a functioning piece of electronics, because the inside was designed to completely block any radio or other signals of any sort. The technology to do this, sadly, was rare enough that we only had enough of it for a converted cargo container. The good news was, they were making more. The bad news was, they were only making enough for a medical bay. Sometimes life stinks. Gretchen and I walked into the receiving area, which was pitch black because of the signal-cloaking material; you had to close the outer door to the information center before you could open the inner door. So for about a second and a half it was like being swallowed by grim, black, featureless death. Not something I'd recommend. And then we opened the inner door and found a geek inside. He looked at the both of us, a little surprised, and then got that no look. â€Å"The answer is no,† he said, confirming the look. â€Å"Aw, Mr. Bennett,† I said. â€Å"You don't even know what we're going to ask.† â€Å"Well, let's see,† said Jerry Bennett. â€Å"Two teenage girls – daughters of the colony leaders, incidentally – just happen to walk into the only place in the colony where one could play with a PDA. Hmmm. Are they here to beg to play with a PDA? Or are they here because they enjoy the company of a chunky, middle-aged man? This is not a hard question, Miss Perry.† â€Å"We just want to listen to one song,† I said. â€Å"We'll be out of your hair in just a minute.† Bennett sighed. â€Å"You know, at least a couple times a day someone just like you gets the bright idea to come in here and ask if I could just let them borrow a PDA to watch a movie, or listen to some music or read a book. And, oh, it'll just take a minute. I won't even notice they're there. And if I say yes, then other people will come in asking for the same time. Eventually I'll spend so much time helping people with their PDAs that I won't have time to do the work your parents, Miss Perry, have assigned me to do. So you tell me: What should I do?† â€Å"Get a lock?† said Gretchen. Bennett glanced over to Gretchen, sourly. â€Å"Very amusing,† he said. â€Å"What are you doing for my parents?† I asked. â€Å"Your parents are having me slowly and painstakingly locate and print every single Colonial Union administration memo and file, so they can refer to them without having to come in here and bother me,† Bennett said. â€Å"In one sense I appreciate that, but in a more immediate sense I've been doing it for the last three days and I'm likely to be doing it for another four. And since the printer I have to work with jams on a regular basis, it does actually require someone to pay attention to it. And that's me. So there you have it, Miss Perry: Four years of technical education and twenty years of professional work have allowed me to become a printer monkey at the very ass end of space. Truly, my life's goal has been achieved.† I shrugged. â€Å"So let us do it,† I said. â€Å"I beg your pardon,† Bennett said. â€Å"If all you're doing is making sure the printer doesn't jam, that's something we could do for you,† I said. â€Å"We'll work for you for a couple of hours, and in exchange you let us use a couple of PDAs while we're here. And then you can do whatever else you need to do.† â€Å"Or just go have lunch,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Surprise your wife.† Bennett was silent for a minute, considering. â€Å"Offering to actually help me,† he said. â€Å"No one's tried that tactic before. Very sneaky.† â€Å"We try,† I said. â€Å"And it is lunchtime,† Bennett said. â€Å"And it is just printing.† â€Å"It is,† I agreed. â€Å"I suppose if you mess things up horribly it won't be too bad for me,† Bennett said. â€Å"Your parents won't punish me for your incompetence.† â€Å"Nepotism working for you,† I said. â€Å"Not that there will be a problem,† Gretchen said. â€Å"No,† I agreed. â€Å"We're excellent printer monkeys.† â€Å"All right,† Bennett said, and reached across his worktable to grab his PDA. â€Å"You can use my PDA. You know how to use this?† I gave him a look. â€Å"Sorry. Okay.† He punched up a queue of files on the display. â€Å"These are files that need to go through today. The printer is there† – he motioned to the far end of the worktable – â€Å"and the paper is in that bin. Feed it into the printer, stack the finished documents next to the printer. If it jams, and it will, several times, just yank out the paper and let it autofeed a new one. It'll automatically reprint the last page it was working on. While you're doing that you can sync up to the Entertainment archive. I downloaded all those files into one place.† â€Å"You downloaded everyone's files?† I asked, and felt ever so slightly violated. â€Å"Relax,† Bennett said. â€Å"Only public files are accessible. As long as you encrypted your private files before you turned in your PDA, like you were told to, your secrets are safe. Now, once you access a music file the speakers will kick on. Don't turn them up too high or you won't be able to hear the printer jam.† â€Å"You have speakers already set up?† Gretchen asked. â€Å"Yes, Miss Trujillo,† Bennett said. â€Å"Believe it or not, even chunky middle-aged men like to listen to music.† â€Å"I know that,† Gretchen said. â€Å"My dad loves his.† â€Å"And on that ego-deflating note, I'll be off,† Bennett said. â€Å"I'll be back in a couple of hours. Please don't destroy the place. And if anyone comes in asking if they can borrow a PDA, tell them the answer is no, and no exceptions.† He set off. â€Å"I hope he was being ironic there,† I said. â€Å"Don't care,† Gretchen said, and grabbed for the PDA. â€Å"Give me that.† â€Å"Hey,† I said, holding it away from her. â€Å"First things first.† I set up the printer, queued the files, and then accessed â€Å"Delhi Morning.† The opening strains flowed out of the speakers and I soaked them in. I swear I almost cried. â€Å"It's amazing how badly you remembered this song,† Gretchen said, about halfway though. â€Å"Shhhhh,† I said. â€Å"Here's that part.† She saw the expression on my face and kept quiet until the song was done. Two hours is not enough time with a PDA if you haven't had access to one in months. And that's all I'm going to say about that. But it was enough time that both Gretchen and I came out of the information center feeling just like we'd spent hours soaking in a nice hot bath – which, come to think of it, was something that we hadn't done for months either. â€Å"We should keep this to ourselves,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"Don't want people to bug Mr. Bennett.† â€Å"No, I just like having something over everyone else,† Gretchen said. â€Å"There aren't a lot of people who can carry off petty,† I said. â€Å"Yet somehow you do.† Gretchen nodded. â€Å"Thank you, madam. And now I need to get back home. I promised Dad I'd weed the vegetable garden before it got dark.† â€Å"Have fun rooting in the dirt,† I said. â€Å"Thanks,† Gretchen said. â€Å"If you were feeling nice, you could always offer to help me.† â€Å"I'm working on my evil,† I said. â€Å"Be that way,† Gretchen said. â€Å"But let's get together after dinner tonight to practice,† I said. â€Å"Now that we know how to sing that part.† â€Å"Sounds good,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Or will, hopefully.† She waved and headed off toward home. I looked around and decided today would be a good day for a walk. And it was. The sun was up, the day was bright, particularly after a couple of hours in the light-swallowing information center, and Roanoke was deep into spring – which was really pretty, even if it turned out that all the native blooms smelled like rotten meat dipped in sewer sauce (that description courtesy of Magdy, who could string together a phrase now and then). But after a couple of months, you stop noticing the smell, or at least accept there's nothing you can do about it. When the whole planet smells, you just have to deal with it. But what really made it a good day for a walk was how much our world has changed in just a couple of months. John and Jane let us all out of Croatoan not too long after Enzo, Gretchen, Magdy and I had our midnight jog, and the colonists had begun to move into the countryside, building homes and farms, helping and learning from the Mennonites who were in charge of our first crops, which were already now growing in the fields. They were genetically engineered to be fast-growing; we'd be having our first harvest in the not too far future. It looked like we were going to survive after all. I walked past these new houses and fields, waving to folks as I went. Eventually I walked past the last homestead and over a small rise. On the other side of it, nothing but grass and scrub and the forest in a line to the side. This rise was destined to be part of another farm, and more farms and pastures would cut up this little valley even further. It's funny how even just a couple thousand humans could start to change a landscape. But at the moment there was no other person in it but me; it was my private spot, for as long as it lasted. Mine and mine alone. Well, and on a couple of occasions, mine and Enzo's. I laid back, looked up at the clouds in the sky, and smiled to myself. Maybe we were in hiding at the farthest reaches of the galaxy, but right now, at this moment, things were pretty good. You can be happy anywhere, if you have the right point of view. And the ability to ignore the smell of an entire planet. â€Å"Zoe,† said a voice behind me. I jerked up and then saw Hickory and Dickory. They had just come over the rise. â€Å"Don't do that,† I said, and got up. â€Å"We wish to speak to you,† Hickory said. â€Å"You could do that at home,† I said. â€Å"Here is better,† Hickory said. â€Å"We have concerns.† â€Å"Concerns about what?† I said, and rose to look at them. Something wasn't quite right about either of them, and it took me a minute to figure out what it was. â€Å"Why aren't you wearing your consciousness modules?† I asked. â€Å"We are concerned about the increasing risks you are taking with your safety,† Hickory said, answering the first but not the second of my questions. â€Å"And with your safety in a general sense.† â€Å"You mean, being here?† I said. â€Å"Relax, Hickory. It's broad daylight, and the Hentosz farm is just over the hill. Nothing bad is going to happen to me.† â€Å"There are predators here,† Hickory said. â€Å"There are yotes,† I said, naming the dog-sized carnivores that we'd found lurking around Croatoan. â€Å"I can handle a yote.† â€Å"They move in packs,† Hickory said. â€Å"Not during the day,† I said. â€Å"You do not only come here in the day,† Hickory said. â€Å"Nor do you always come alone.† I reddened a bit at that, and thought about getting angry with Hickory. But it wasn't wearing its consciousness. Getting angry with it wouldn't do anything. â€Å"I thought I told the two of you not to follow me when I want to have some private time,† I said, as evenly as I could. â€Å"We do not follow you,† Hickory said. â€Å"But neither are we stupid. We know where you go and with whom. Your lack of care is putting you at risk, and you do not always allow us to accompany you anymore. We cannot protect you as we would prefer to, and are expected to.† â€Å"We have been here for months, guys.† I said. â€Å"There hasn't been a single attack on anyone by anything.† â€Å"You would have been attacked that night in the woods had Dickory and I not come to find you,† Hickory said. â€Å"Those were not yotes in the trees that night. Yotes cannot climb or move through trees.† â€Å"And you'll notice I'm nowhere near the forest,† I said, and waved in the direction of the tree line. â€Å"And whatever was in there doesn't seem to come out here, because we'd have seen them by now if they did. We've been over this before, Hickory.† â€Å"It is not only the predators here that concern us,† Hickory said. â€Å"I'm not following you,† I said. â€Å"This colony is being searched for,† Hickory said. â€Å"If you saw the video, you'll remember that this Conclave group blasted that colony from the sky,† I said. â€Å"If the Conclave finds us, I don't think even you are going to be able to do much to protect me.† â€Å"It is not the Conclave we are concerned about,† Hickory said. â€Å"You're the only ones, then,† I said. â€Å"The Conclave is not the only one who will seek this colony,† Hickory said. â€Å"Others will search for it, to win favor from the Conclave, or to thwart it, or to take the colony for its own. They will not blast this colony from the sky. They will take it in the standard fashion. Invasion and slaughter.† â€Å"What is with the two of you today?† I said. I was trying to lighten the mood. I failed. â€Å"And then there is the matter of who you are,† Hickory said. â€Å"What does that mean?† I said. â€Å"You should know well,† Hickory said. â€Å"You are not merely the daughter of the colony leaders. You are also important to us. To the Obin. That fact is not unknown, Zoe. You have been used as a bargaining chip your entire life. We Obin used you to bargain with your father to build us consciousness. You are a treaty condition between the Obin and the Colonial Union. We have no doubt that any who would attack this colony would try to take you in order to bargain with the Obin. Even the Conclave could be tempted to do this. Or they would kill you to wound us. To kill a symbol of ourselves.† â€Å"That's crazy,† I said. â€Å"It has happened before,† Hickory said. â€Å"What?† I said. â€Å"When you lived on Huckleberry, there were no fewer than six attempts to capture or kill you,† Hickory said. â€Å"The last just a few days before you left Huckleberry.† â€Å"And you never told me this?† I asked. â€Å"It was decided by both your government and ours that neither you nor your parents needed to know,† Hickory said. â€Å"You were a child, and your parents wished to give you as unremarkable a life as possible. The Obin wished to be able to provide them that. None of these attempts came close to success. We stopped each long before you would have been in danger. And in each case the Obin government expressed its displeasure with the races who made such attempts on your well-being.† I shuddered at that. The Obin were not people to make enemies of. â€Å"We would not have told you at all – and we have violated our standing orders not to do so – were we not in our current situation,† Hickory said. â€Å"We are cut off from the systems we had in place to keep you safe. And you are becoming increasingly independent in your actions and resentful of our presence in your life.† Those last words hit me like a slap. â€Å"I'm not resentful,† I said. â€Å"I just want my own time. I'm sorry if that hurts you.† â€Å"We are not hurt,† Hickory said. â€Å"We have responsibilities. How we fulfill those responsibilities must adapt to circumstance. We are making an adaptation now.† â€Å"I don't know what you mean,† I said. â€Å"It is time for you to learn how to defend yourself,† Hickory said. â€Å"You want to be more independent from us, and we do not have all the resources we once had to keep you safe. We have always intended to teach you to fight. Now, for both of those reasons, it is necessary to begin that training.† â€Å"What do you mean, teach me to fight?† I asked. â€Å"We will teach you to defend yourself physically,† Hickory said. â€Å"To disarm an opponent. To use weapons. To immobilize your enemy. To kill your enemy if necessary.† â€Å"You want to teach me how to kill other people,† I said. â€Å"It is necessary,† Hickory said. â€Å"I'm not sure John and Jane would approve of that,† I said. â€Å"Major Perry and Lieutenant Sagan both know how to kill,† Hickory said. â€Å"Both, in their military service, have killed others when it was necessary for their survival.† â€Å"But it doesn't mean that they want me to know,† I said. â€Å"And also, I don't know that I want to know. You say you need to adapt how you fulfill your responsibilities. Fine. Figure out how to adapt them. But I'm not going to learn how to kill something else so you can feel like you're doing a better job doing something I'm not even sure I want you to do anymore.† â€Å"You do not wish us to defend you,† Hickory said. â€Å"Or learn to defend yourself.† â€Å"I don't know!† I said. I yelled it in exasperation. â€Å"Okay? I hate having my face pushed into all of this. That I'm some special thing that needs to be defended. Well, you know what? Everyone here needs to be defended, Hickory. We're all in danger. Any minute hundreds of ships could show up over our heads and kill us all. I'm sick of it. I try to forget about it a little every now and then. That's what I was doing out here before the two of you showed up to crap over it all. So thank you very much for that.† Hickory and Dickory said nothing to that. If they had been wearing their consciousness, they'd probably be all twitchy and overloaded at that last outburst. But they were just standing there, impassive. I counted to five and tried to get myself back under control. â€Å"Look,† I said, in what I hoped was a more reasonable tone of voice. â€Å"Give me a couple of days to think about this, all right? You've dropped a lot on me all at once. Let me work it through in my head.† They still said nothing. â€Å"Fine,† I said. â€Å"I'm heading back.† I brushed past Hickory. And found myself on the ground. I rolled and looked up at Hickory, confused. â€Å"What the hell?† I said, and made to stand up. Dickory, who had moved behind me, roughly pushed me back into the grass and dirt. I scrambled backward from the two of them. â€Å"Stop it,† I said. They drew their combat knives, and came toward me. I grunted out a scream and bolted upright, running at full speed toward the top of the hill, toward the Hentosz farm. But Obin can run faster than humans. Dickory flanked me, got in front of me, and drew back its knife. I backpedaled, falling backward as I did. Dickory lunged. I screamed and rolled again and sprinted back down the side of the hill I came up. Hickory was waiting for me and moving to intercept me. I tried to fake going left but it was having none of it, and grabbed for me, getting a grip on my left forearm. I hit at it with my right fist. Hickory deflected it easily, and then in a quick reversal slapped me sharply on the temple, releasing me as it did so. I staggered back, stunned. Hickory looped a leg around one of mine and jerked upward, lifting me completely off the ground. I fell backward and landed on my head. A white blast of pain flooded my skull, and all I could do was lie there, dazed. There was heavy pressure on my chest. Hickory was kneeling on me, immobilizing me. I clawed desperately at it, but it held its head away from me on its long neck and ignored everything else. I shouted for help as loudly as I could, knowing no one could hear me, and yelling anyway. I looked over and saw Dickory, standing to the side. â€Å"Please,† I said. Dickory said nothing. And could feel nothing. Now I knew why the two of them came to see me without their consciousness. I grabbed at Hickory's leg, on my chest, and tried to push it off. It pushed it in harder, offered another disorienting slap with one hand, and with the other raised it and then plunged it toward my head in one terrible and fluid move. I screamed. â€Å"You are unharmed,† Hickory said, at some point. â€Å"You may get up.† I stayed on the ground, not moving, eyes turned toward Hickory's knife, buried in the ground so close to my head that I couldn't actually focus on it. Then I propped myself up on my elbows, turned away from the knife, and threw up. Hickory waited until I was done. â€Å"We offer no apology for this,† it said. â€Å"And will accept whatever consequences for it that you may choose. Know only this: You were not physically harmed. You are unlikely even to bruise. We made sure of this. For all of that you were at our mercy in seconds. Others who will come for you will not show you such consideration. They will not hold back. They will not stop. They will have no concern for you. They will not show you mercy. They will seek to kill you. And they will succeed. We knew you would not believe us if we only told you this. We had to show you.† I rose to my feet, barely able to stay upright, and staggered back from the two of them as best I could. â€Å"God damn you,† I said. â€Å"God damn you both. You stay away from me from now on.† I headed back to Croatoan. As soon as my legs could do it, I started running. â€Å"Hey,† Gretchen said, coming into the information center and sealing the inside door behind her. â€Å"Mr. Bennett said I could find you here.† â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"I asked him if I could be his printer monkey a little more today.† â€Å"Couldn't keep away from the music?† Gretchen said, trying to make a little joke. I shook my head and showed her what I was looking at. â€Å"These are classified files, Zoe,† she said. â€Å"CDF intelligence reports. You're going to get in trouble if anyone ever finds out. And Bennett definitely won't let you back in here.† â€Å"I don't care,† I said, and my voice cracked enough that Gretchen looked at me in alarm. â€Å"I have to know how bad it is. I have to know who's out there and what they want from us. From me. Look.† I took the PDA and pulled a file on General Gau, the leader of the Conclave, the one who ordered the destruction of the colony on the video file. â€Å"This general is going to kill us all if he finds us, and we know next to nothing about him. What makes someone do this? Killing innocent people? What happened in his life that gets him to a place where wiping out entire planets seems like a good idea? Don't you think we should know? And we don't. We've got statistics on his military service and that's it.† I tossed the PDA back on the table, carelessly, alarming Gretchen. â€Å"I want to know why this general wants me to die. Why he wants us all to die. Don't you?† I put my hand on my forehead and slumped a little against the worktable. â€Å"Okay,† Gretchen said, after a minute. â€Å"I think you need to tell me what happened to you today. Because this is not how you were when I left you this afternoon.† I glanced over at Gretchen, stifled a laugh, and then broke down and started crying. Gretchen came over to give me a hug, and after a good long while, I told her everything. And I do mean everything. She was quiet after I had unloaded. â€Å"Tell me what you're thinking,† I said. â€Å"If I tell you, you're going to hate me,† she said. â€Å"Don't be silly,† I said. â€Å"I'm not going to hate you.† â€Å"I think they're right,† she said. â€Å"Hickory and Dickory.† â€Å"I hate you,† I said. She pushed me lightly. â€Å"Stop that,† she said. â€Å"I don't mean they were right to attack you. That was just over the line. But, and don't take this the wrong way, you're not an ordinary girl.† â€Å"That's not true,† I said. â€Å"Do you see me acting any different than anyone else? Ever? Do I hold myself out as someone special? Have you ever once heard me talk about any of this to people?† â€Å"They know anyway,† Gretchen said. â€Å"I know that,† I said. â€Å"But it doesn't come from me. I work at being normal.† â€Å"Okay, you're a perfectly normal girl,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. â€Å"A perfectly normal girl who's had six attempted assassinations,† Gretchen said. â€Å"But that's not me,† I said, poking myself in the chest. â€Å"It's about me. About someone else's idea of who I am. And that doesn't matter to me.† â€Å"It would matter to you if you were dead,† Gretchen said, and then held her hand up before I could respond. â€Å"And it would matter to your parents. It would matter to me. I'm pretty sure it would matter to Enzo. And it seems like it would matter a whole lot to a couple billion aliens. Think about that. Someone even thinks about coming after you, they bomb a planet.† â€Å"I don't want to think about it,† I said. â€Å"I know,† Gretchen said. â€Å"But I don't think you have a choice anymore. No matter what you do, you're still who you are, whether you want to be or not. You can't change it. You've got to work with it.† â€Å"Thanks for that uplifting message,† I said. â€Å"I'm trying to help,† Gretchen said. I sighed. â€Å"I know, Gretchen. I'm sorry. I don't mean to bite your head off. I'm just getting tired of having my life be about other people's choices for me.† â€Å"This makes you different than any of the rest of us how, exactly?† Gretchen asked. â€Å"My point,† I said. â€Å"I'm a perfectly normal girl. Thank you for finally noticing.† â€Å"Perfectly normal,† Gretchen agreed. â€Å"Except for being Queen of the Obin.† â€Å"Hate you,† I said. Gretchen grinned. â€Å"Miss Trujillo said that you wanted to see us,† Hickory said. Dickory and Gretchen, who had gotten the two Obin for me, stood to its side. We were standing on the hill where my bodyguards had attacked me a few days earlier. â€Å"Before I say anything else, you should know I am still incredibly angry at you,† I said. â€Å"I don't know that I will ever forgive you for attacking me, even if I understand why you did it, and why you thought you had to. I want to make sure you know that. And I want to make sure you feel it.† I pointed to Hickory's consciousness collar, secure around its neck. â€Å"We feel it,† Hickory said, its voice quivering. â€Å"We feel it enough that we debated whether we could turn our consciousness back on. The memory is almost too painful to bear.† I nodded. I wanted to say good, but I knew it was the wrong thing to say, and that I would regret saying it. Didn't mean I couldn't think it, though, for the moment, anyway. â€Å"I'm not going to ask you to apologize,† I said. â€Å"I know you won't. But I want your word you will never do something like that again,† I said. â€Å"You have our word,† Hickory said. â€Å"Thank you,† I said. I didn't expect they would do something like that again. That sort of thing works once if it works at all. But that wasn't the point. What I wanted was to feel like I could trust the two of them again. I wasn't there yet. â€Å"Will you train?† Hickory asked. â€Å"Yes,† I said. â€Å"But I have two conditions.† Hickory waited. â€Å"The first is that Gretchen trains with me.† â€Å"We had not prepared to train anyone other than you,† Hickory said. â€Å"I don't care,† I said. â€Å"Gretchen is my best friend. I'm not going to learn how to save myself and not share that with her. And besides, I don't know if you've noticed, but the two of you aren't exactly human shaped. I think it will help to practice with another human as well as with you. But this is nonnegotiable. If you won't train Gretchen, I won't train. This is my choice. This is my condition.† Hickory turned to Gretchen. â€Å"Will you train?† â€Å"Only if Zoe does,† she said. â€Å"She's my best friend, after all.† Hickory looked over to me. â€Å"She has your sense of humor,† it said. â€Å"I hadn't noticed,† I said. Hickory turned back to Gretchen. â€Å"It will be very difficult,† it said. â€Å"I know,† Gretchen said. â€Å"Count me in anyway.† â€Å"What is the other condition?† Hickory asked me. â€Å"I'm doing this for the two of you,† I said. â€Å"This learning to fight. I don't want it for myself. I don't think I need it. But you think I need it, and you've never asked me to do something you didn't know was important. So I'll do it. But now you have to do something for me. Something I want.† â€Å"What is it that you want?† Hickory asked. â€Å"I want you to learn how to sing,† I said, and gestured to Gretchen. â€Å"You teach us to fight, we teach you to sing. For the hootenannies.† â€Å"Sing,† Hickory said. â€Å"Yes, sing,† I said. â€Å"People are still frightened of the two of you. And no offense, but you're not brimming with personality. But if we can get the four of us to do a song or two at the hootenannies, it could go a long way to making people comfortable with you.† â€Å"We have never sung,† Hickory said. â€Å"Well, you never wrote stories before either,† I said. â€Å"And you wrote one of those. It's just like that. Except with singing. And then people wouldn't wonder why Gretchen and I are off with the two of you. Come on, Hickory, it'll be fun.† Hickory looked doubtful, and a funny thought came to me: Maybe Hickory is shy. Which seemed almost ridiculous; someone about to teach another person sixteen different ways to kill getting stage fright singing. â€Å"I would like to sing,† Dickory said. We all turned to Dickory in amazement. â€Å"It speaks!† Gretchen said. Hickory clicked something to Dickory in their native tongue; Dickory clicked back. Hickory responded, and Dickory replied, it seemed a bit forcefully. And then, God help me, Hickory actually sighed. â€Å"We will sing,† Hickory said. â€Å"Excellent,† I said. â€Å"We will begin training tomorrow,† Hickory said. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"But let's start singing practice today. Now.† â€Å"Now?† Hickory said. â€Å"Sure,† I said. â€Å"We're all here. And Gretchen and I have just the song for you.†