Reviewing The Issues Of Software Systems Information Technology Essay

Reviewing The Issues Of Software Systems Information Technology Essay In this paper I am particularly focus on the issue of failure in relation to that group of software systems known as information systems. Then I am going to discuss two well-known cases that of the London ambulance service computer-aided dispatch system (L ) project and The London stock exchange (TAURUS) project, and describe strong failure factors of information systems failure. My purpose is also to use the generic material on IS failure and the specific details of this particular case study to critique the issues of safety, Literature review Like most computing professionals in the UK we were aware of the failure, using this term broadly, of the computer aided dispatch (CAD) system deployed by the London Ambulance Service (LAS) in, or shortly after, For orientation a short sketch of the report follows. There have been a number of other analyses of the LAS CAD system failure of which Mellor (1994) is probably the most useful. The London Ambulance System Disaster, 1992 Overview The basic functionality of the intended LASCAD system was as follows: British Telecom (BT) operators would route all 999 calls concerning medical emergencies as a matter of routine to LAS headquarters (HQ) in Waterloo. 18 HQ receivers were then expected to record on the system the name, telephone number and address of the caller, and the name, destination address and brief details of the patient. This information would then be transmitted over a local area network to a locator. The system was lightly loaded at start-up on 26 October 1992. Any problems, caused particularly by the communications systems (such as ambulance crews pressing the wrong buttons, or ambulances being radioed in black spots), could be effectively managed by staff. However, as the number of ambulance incidents increased, the amount of incorrect vehicle information recorded by the system increased. This had a knock-on effect in that the system made incorrect allocations on the basis of the information it had. For example, multiple vehicles were sent to the same incident, or the closest vehicle was not chosen for dispatch. As a consequence, the system had fewer ambulance resources to allocate. The system also placed calls that had not gone through the appropriate protocol on a waiting list and generated exception messages for those incidents for which it had received incorrect status information. Indeed, the number of exception messages appears to have increased to such an extent the staf f were not able to clear the queue. It became increasingly difficult for staff to attend to messages that had scrolled off the screen. The increasing size of the queue slowed the system. Factors Contributed to Such a Disaster Managerial failure Technical failure Human failure Managerial failure LAS management ignored or chose not accept advice provided to it from many sources outside of the service on the time table or the high risk of the comprehensive systems requirement The project did not show, or discuss with, the LAS Board independence references on the lead CAD contractor, that raised doubts on their ability to handle such a major project The LAS boards were given a misleading impression, by the project team of the previous experience of the lead contractor in emergency service system In awarding the contract for CAD to a small software house, with no previous experience of similar systems, LAS management were taking higher risk Project management throughout the development and implantation process was inadequate and at times ambiguous. A major system integration project such as CAD requires full time. Professional, experienced project management, this was lacking There was incomplete ownership of the system by the majority of it users. The many problems identified with many of the system components over the preceding months had installed an atmosphere of system destruct in which staff expected system to fail rather than willing it to succeed LAS board and RHA management, whilst realizing that there were continuing problems with the implementation of CAD, consistently accepted assurances from executive directors that problems were being rectified and that successful implementation would be achieved at no time was a full independent review commissioned of the true state of the project Technical failure LAS fail to follow the PRINCE project Management Method in the set up and operation of an information Technology (IT) executive committee, project board, project management team and project assurance team: London Ambulance Service The CAD system relied on near perfect information on vehicle location and status being available to it at all times. The project team failed to appreciate fully the impact that a higher level of imperfection would have on the system The system was not fully tested to a satisfactory level of quality and resilience before full implementation on 26 October 1992 On 26 and 27 October 1992 the computer system itself did not fail in a technical sense. Response times did on occasions become unacceptable, but overall the system did what it had been designed to do. However, much of the design had fatal flaws that would, and did, cumulatively lead to all of the symptoms of systems failure On 4 November 1992 the system did fail. This was caused by a minor programming error that caused the system to crash The automatic change over to the backup system had not been adequately tested, those the whole system was brought down Human failure Training provided to CAD staff and to ambulance crews was incomplete and inconsistent LAS management consultancy attributed CAD problems to willful misuse of the system by some ambulance crews. There is no direct evidence of this, but the circumstantial evidence that does exist indirect to the Inquiry Team that it would have been only one of the many contributory factors that led to the CAD failure In the period leading up to an including 26 and27 October 1992 there were insufficient control assistants taking emergency call. This contributed to an unacceptable level of calling times. This has since been rectified Conclusion Failure was due to a complex mix of factors Participation alone is not sufficient but helps! Expectation of failure plays a part does not meet the needs of the stakeholders Systems should strive to meet the shared goals needs of the different stakeholders LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE (TAURUS) FAILURE Introduction The London stock exchange is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world with numerous foreign listings as well as British organizations In 1989 the London Stock Exchange (LSE) put forward a proposal for a computerized system to ensure that share certificates and cash changed hands between the interested parties after the trading transaction; implicit in this was the dematerialization of stock certificates. It was a big project with hundreds of staff contracted in and lots of external pressures from various different stakeholders. The initial goals of the system were 4 folded. Competitive Efficiency Cost Service What TAURUS Team did wrong? Lack of executive and stakeholders support Based on the problems encountered it seem that the project manager was not that experience Have a large expanding scope Went ahead with the implementation of a system with lack of user and stakeholders commitment. Lack of skilled resources and clear complete specs. Reason for TAURUS Collapse Poor monitoring and controlling Monitoring a project work includes collecting, measuring, and disseminating performance information. If TAURUS management had good monitoring and control practices they would have known when they project was not meeting project objectives Poor management of the nine project management knowledge areas Knowledge Areas TAURUS project managers managed the nine project management knowledge areas poorly Scope: If they had managed the scope of the project effective the huge scope creep would not have been encountered. Cost: If this was managed effectively the project would not have gone over budget 100% Time: If this area had been manage effective the project would not have had a schedule overrun by 100% Quality: If the quality area of the system was manage properly the specification was have been clear and complete Risk: If the risk had been managed effectively they might have been able to abundant the project earlier. Communication: If communication was managed all changes and delay would be communicated in a timely. Human resources: skilled resources would be acquired and utilized. Integrated Change Control If TAURUS had an integrated change control they might have been able to influence the factors that create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial and control the scope of the project. Changes would be communicated to top management and steering committee in a timely manner and they would be able to manage these changes as they occur because change control is a critical success factors. Project Management Issues Poor Management of triple constraints SCOPE TAURUS managers failed to control and monitor the scope of the project TIME Management failed to define maintain and utilize clear timetables with small milestones COST Management failed to maintain and track change to the project budget Additionally, the budget and time constraints of the projects were seen to be a differentiator to their success. Goulielmos (2003) states that of the four concepts of failure in Information Systems is process failure where the project over runs its budget or time constrictions. TAURUS did both incurring increasing media attention and scrutiny, which led to an increase in pressure on the project team (Head, 2001). Conclusion Throughout the project there were several warning signs that were missed. The project completion date was delayed 100% Constantly changing requirements Project not being accepted by major stakeholders Incomplete specifications 100% over cost. Fragmentation of the project (components to work together) Appraisal of leading system development methodologies Waterfall Model This is the most common and classic of life cycle models, also referred to as a linear-sequential life cycle model.   It is very simple to understand and use.   In a waterfall model, each phase must be completed in its entirety before the next phase can begin.   At the end of each phase, a review takes place to determine if the project is on the right path and whether or not to continue or discard the project.   Unlike what I mentioned in the general model, phases do not overlap in a waterfall model. Waterfall Life Cycle Model Advantages Simple and easy to use. One of the main advantages of the waterfall model is its simplicity. It is conceptually straightforward and divides the large task of building a software system into a series of cleanly divided phases, each phase dealing with a separate logical concern. It is also easy to administer in a contractual setup-as each phase is completed and its work product produced, some amount of money is given by the customer to the developing organization. The project management stakeholders are forced to correctly define the business requirements documentation (BRD) and the project management requirements. At the sometime the developers are forced to understand these thoroughly before they start writing the software requirements specification (SRS), high level design and code. It essentially requires documentation at every stage. This gives better understanding of the requirements, the logic of the codes and tests that were conducted on the software.   Disadvantages The project scope statement needs to be detailed in infinite depth from the start because changes are not possible when using waterfall methodology. This is because the only way to amend something which has been already developed is to go back and start again. This will cause huge problems on projects where the project sponsors are indecisive and quickly causes scope creep. Project communications with the client are extremely limited being either at the beginning or at the end of the development. In between, there is no way in which one can get feedback or potentially clarify any confusion over what the requirement actually means. The knock on effect is that it is up to the project team to make the key decisions on what requirements can be developed within the timeframes required, and what is developed later in a later deployment release by project planning in teams. This not only increases the overall time required to develop the software but also means that despite the teams best efforts, the customer may still be extremely unhappy with the end product delivered. Key team members stay idle for long durations. You see Waterfall does not operate on a matrix basis which makes project resource management an extremely rigid activity. Basically those allocated to the project stay on it until that phase is over. This as we can imagine, has a direct knock on effect on the project budget. It is a very inflexible method which does not entertain any change in requirements and which makes any subsequent functionality changes required extremely difficult and expensive to implement. As such the fast pace of changing requirements determined makes this methodology difficult to use and calls for more quick methods of software development such as agile methodology. Prototyping Model This is a cyclic version of the linear model. In this model, once the requirement analysis is done and the design for a prototype is made, the development process gets started. Once the prototype is created, it is given to the customer for evaluation. The customer tests the package and gives his/her feed back to the developer who refines the product according to the customers exact expectation. After a finite number of iterations, the final software package is given to the customer. In this methodology, the software is evolved as a result of periodic shuttling of information between the customer and developer. This is the most popular development model in the contemporary IT industry. Most of the successful software products have been developed using this model as it is very difficult to comprehend all the requirements of a customer in one shot. Advantages For example, design documents, a test plan, and a test case specification are not needed during the development of the prototype. Another important cost-cutting measure is to reduce testing. Because testing consumes a major part of development expenditure during regular software development, this has a considerable impact in reducing costs. By using these types of cost cutting methods, it is possible to keep the cost of the prototype to less than a few percent of the total development cost. Overall, prototyping is well suited for projects where requirements are hard to determine and the confidence in the stated requirements is low. In such projects where requirements are not properly understood in the beginning, using the prototyping process model can be the most effective method for developing the software. It is also an excellent technique for reducing some types of risks associated with a project. Agile Methodology Agile methodology is an approach to project management, typically used in software development. It helps teams respond to the unpredictability of building software through incremental, iterative work cadences, 10 Key Principles of Agile Software Development, Active user involvement is imperative 2. The team must be empowered to make decisions 3. Requirements evolve but the timescale is fixed 4. Capture requirements at a high level; lightweight visual 5. Develop small, incremental releases and iterate 6. Focus on frequent delivery of products 7. Complete each feature before moving on to the next 8. Apply the 80/20 rule 9. Testing is integrated throughout the project lifecycle test early and often 10. A collaborative cooperative approach between all stakeholders is essential IT/IS Projects Fail. And How Agile Principles Help Common cause of failure How agile helps Project Initiation Planning Issues Poor definition of project scope and objectives Agile projects also benefit from clear definition of scope and objectives, even though details are allowed to emerge throughout the development. Insufficient time or money given to project If only agile could solve this! Long or unrealistic timescales; forcing project end dates despite best estimates Agile projects encourage short and regular iterations, developing the software and delivering working product in small bite size pieces. Technical Requirements Issues Poor or no requirements definition; incomplete or changing requirements Agile projects expect requirements to be incomplete and changing. Thats the nature of software. Instead of resisting this, agile projects provide for it by allowing requirements are allowed to emerge and evolve. Requirements being produced on a feature-by-feature basis, just in time to be developed, help with definition because it breaks this intensive task into small pieces instead of being a mammoth effort up front. Unfamiliar or changing technologies; lack of required technical skills Agile methods dont help directly with this issue, although can help to surface such issues early, and make them visible. Stakeholder Management Team Issues Inadequate visibility of project status Agile projects provide clear visibility of measurable progress on a daily basis. Project team members lack experience and do not have the required skills Agile principles may help to surface such issues early, as they may well be evident in early iterations of the software. Frequent delivery of iterations and continuous testing can help to mitigate this risk when it might otherwise go unnoticed until much later in the project. Poor collaboration, communication and teamwork Close cooperation and collaboration between all stakeholders is essential. Project Management Issues Weak ongoing management; inadequately trained or inexperienced project managers Agile methods and principles are just management tools. A fool with a tool is still a fool! Ineffective time and cost management Daily visibility of measurable progress. Conclusion The most Causes for Software Projects to fail Changes in Requirements Classical Software Development life cycles assume that the requirements are fixed at the beginning of the project, Customer only sees the product at the end of the software development, Customer is not aware of the current status of the Software Development. This happens due to changes in the Business environment, as the customer uses a software module, he/she will see new features that are necessary All modern software development methodologies (such as Agile) encourage shorter iterations, usually iterations are measured in weeks, and the developers demo the new features during the meetings with the customer at the end of each iteration. The customer can provide valuable feedback that will ensure that the software developed will meet the customers actual requirements.

The Task And Responsibility Of Front Office Workers Tourism Essay

The Task And Responsibility Of Front Office Workers Tourism Essay Front office is the main part for hotels. The popularity and how famous is the hotel are also depends to the hotel front office system because for a hotel customers are important and even with the presence of customer only the management can run the business. Moreover, front office people are the one who greet and give first impression to the customers. So, the way they greet customer can lead the hotels to have more customers. Front office are the one who also promote room and beverage sales such as type of room and packages available. 1.2 THE TASK AND RESPONSIBILITY; 1.2.1 THE RESPOSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE MANAGER The front office manager is the one responsible for any good or bad things happened in the front desk, this includes the staff routine, staff training and all type of communication. The front office manager should also be available to work any shifts. Moreover, if there are any problem in the front office department, he should be ready to settle it off. The front office manager should also be a good leadership for the staffs. The front office manager is also the one who responsible for all the VIP and guess concerns. 1.2.2 THE RESPONSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE ASSISTANT MANAGER The front office assistant manager is the one who need to update all the profit and problems to the manager. Moreover, the assistant manager is the one who assist manager in the front desk routines and management. He will help the manager with all the basic needs such as the front desk staff schedule, and then take care the desk when the manager not around. He should also able to solve the customers problem with fast act before the issue goes to the manager. The assistant manager is the one who responsible for all the meetings between the staffs too. Should assign the staffs with the routine. And if theres any emergency should take early act and make sure things are under control. 1.2.3 THE RESPONSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE REPRESENTATIVE These peoples usually represent the front office such as if theres any problem the staffs, these people will see 1st before it goes to the supervisor. 1.2.4 THE RESPONSIBILITYS OF FRONT OFFICE NIGHT AUDITOR The night audit team responsible of the hotels daily activities such as they will be handling the front desk at night. Moreover, they also need to prepared the record of the day for all the room occupied and more. They also need to submit off the account for the particular day. They also need to verify the room charges, banquet charges and other charges correctly in order to provide the hotel data correctly. So, a night auditor plays important roles in a front desk. 1.2.5 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A CASHIER A cashier is the one who handle money in front desk hotel. The cashier should and responsible for all the money act. The cashier will collect money from the guest during check in or check out. They generally operate a cash in a adding machine. The cashier should be very careful and responsible with the cash they handle to prevent any unwanted act. Usually, the cashiers work shift depends to the hotel procedures whereby a normal office hours duty. 1.2.6 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF RESERVATIONIST The reservationist would be handling the front office department in handling the reservation calls. So, this people is the one who pick calls for customer reservation. If theres a call from outside customer to booked a hotel, the hotel reservationist will take their booking and explain about the hotel procedure to the customer. They, are the one who arranged rooms or even any meetings arrangement for the customer if theres such a booking. They, should also create a good mannerism when speak to the customer in the phone because there are representing the hotel and should make the guest to came down to booked this hotels rooms. Usually, this department working shifts is also depends to the hotel rules. They, should also be a good language speaker. 1.2.7 THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TELEPHONE OPERATORS A telephone operator usually in the front desk with attending calls from outsides, such as if a customer needs to know room availability the telephone operators will transfer the line to interior department. So, a telephone operator should also be a good English speaker to attract the guess. Usually, their working shift time will be bit more different then others and its depends to the hotel procedures. The hotel department should appoint a right person to work here who is more responsible because they are the one who answers the calls whenever theres incoming call and should answer it within two three rings. 1.3 CONCLUSION So, front office is really a very important for a hotels. If, a hotel need to run in successfully the front office department is the major cause. Moreover, front office department are the main receiver of a guess, so a the very 1st satisfaction of a guess is after the way they are treat and its obviously the front office people. So, a good business for a hotel is all depend to the front office so the department heads should take good care of this front desk. 2.0 QUESTION 2 Front office staffs must have certain skills to attract guests during the first impression. Write about Front Office staff skill in guest relations? 2.1 INTRODUCTION The front office staff must have a good working skill to communicate or attract the guest. For a hotel a business can run up to level if the staff are in proper system, what we can mean here is about the skill and the ability to speak and communicate by the staff to the guest. It is really important for the staff to have a special skill to attract the staffs because not all the staffs can communicate well here and interact with guest in the proper term, so they need to have this special skill to have a qualify working skill. For a newly appointed staff usually the management will give them 1week training session, so the supervisor or the in charge person will give the training to the staffs. Most of the hotels will give them a certificate to prove they are well trained but then certain hotel doesnt do this. Even some of the hotels give money to the staff for that 1week working training. During the staff in training week, they will be given working hour shift that is from 9a.m 5pm. 2.1 FRONT OFFICE STAFF SKILL 2.1.1 GOOD COMMUNICATION A staff who works in the front office department should have the ability to speak very well. It is because the guest who going to check in to stay in the hotel not only going to be a local resident but then from worldwide, so the staff should have the ability to speak well language. Moreover, if the particular staff can speak multi language it will be more great full because there will be multinational language guest with different mother tongue. So, when the staff can communicate this way it will be easier for the guest from foreigners to communicate. 2.1.2 APPEARANCE Those staff who works at the front desk should have a good appearance. They should be neat in hair wise, the uniform they wear should be neat. All this are important because the guest who check in need to have a good look about the hotel in appreance wise so with such a good appreance, the guest will have respect for the hotel and the board. If, the particular person is tidy with poor appreance and with long hair and so on the guest who check in will have bad manner about the department and speak bad about it to others of his or her friends and give a bad reward to the hotel. 2.1.3 GOOD LISTENING SKILL The staff should have a good listening skill too. This is because usually front office will be very grandly and one or two noisiness so by having good listening they can overcome it and comfortable with the environment. It also show the support of us to the guest and we can get know what is expected from us by the guest or the superior. The staff can also resolve any problems which occur between the guest. Moreover, they need to have good hearing because when updating any guest data shouldnt have any error or else they might be in severe problem. To be a good listener the staff and the workers all should have good eye contact with the person whom we are talking. Either than that, they shouldnt interrupt when the speaker is speaking or else we might not get what they are all talking about and going to cause us problem because the guest cant keep on repeating the same thing to us so, we shouldnt interrupt but then listen to them with patient and calm. Nextly, the receiver should also s tand or seat in proper way because we need to respect the guest. 2.1.4 POSTURE Posture also can be defined same as the standing positioning, but in this wise the staff should always face the guest. For example, the receptionist will stand half away bend and talking hardly all shouldnt be practice as it can lower the hotel prestige. 2.1.5 EXPRESSION The staff working at front office should always have a good face expression. Whenever, the guest check-in or check-out or even when the guest are standing nearby, the staff should greet them with a smile or even some wish such as good evening and so on. So, by doing this the hotels prestige will get higher and at the same time the guest feel good about it. 2.1.6 GOOD EYE CONTACT The staff should also have a good eye contact with the guest. When a person talks to us, we should greet them back nicely in speaking wise and also by a good eye contact so that the particular persons know that we are hearing to their conversation. If let say theres no any eye contact, the person will think that we are not listening to them. So, all the staff should be train with having a good eye contact. 2.3 CONCLUSION So by overall, all the staff should have good working skill moreover for those who works in front desk as the need to deal with the guest every day. For a cashier, this type of skill will be very important because they will be handling cash every day and if any error occur they will be the one to blame. So, the staff should practice those skills in their daily routine to prevent from any problems.

Powerful Imagery in To His Coy Mistress :: Andrew Marvel, To His Coy Mistress

Andrew Marvel's "To His Coy Mistress" has the persuasiveness of a late night informercial. But in this instance the narrator does not want money for his "product": he wants a girl's virginity. Informercials have an advantage over Marvel. They not only persuade consumers with words but images pf their products as well. Marvell overcomes this obstacle in his use of descriptive imagery. He utilizes if not maximizes imagery to magnify his persuasiveness. . The first stanza opens the poem "Had we but world enough, and time,/ This coyness, Lady, were no crime"(1-2) as though he were a victim of her reserved nature. He tries to pull some reverse psychology here to make her think that it is her fault for not having sex with him (against her will). He goes on to say that he would indeed love her "Till the conversion of the Jews," (10) ithere were time enough, but the narrator never directly says "forever." Instead he uses phrases that conjure images of eternity: "ten years before the Flood(8); "An age to every part"(17). His descriptive use of imagery makes forever seem an overused word that does not fully encapsulate the time he would spend waiting for her. "But" makes the transition from eternity to the present. He continues, "at my back I always hear/ Time's winged chariot hurrying near"(21-22)). Again the narrator makes himself the victim, first of the lady's coyness and now of death. With death soon to knock on his door,, the narrator reminds his mistress of her inevitable death. "They beauty shall no more be found, in they marble vault..."(25-66). They virginity that his mistress is trying to withhold from hom will be lost is she waits too long. Yes. she is at the prime of her youth and beauty today, but it will soon be "turn[ed] to dust"(29)/ This dust and the "deserts of eternity"that lie before them both are used in stark contrast to their ripe youth. This stanza appeals to the girl's immortality and youth. They should both be "like amorous birds of prey" who do not deny their primal instincts. Amorous, meaning eortic, is the pivotal word of this excerpt and one of the most subtly descriptive passages in the entire poem. This words seems to be carefulyy (and craftily) chosen to epitomize the lust he has for this woman; his desire for her to feel the same (or at least act on what she is feelingn). Powerful Imagery in To His Coy Mistress :: Andrew Marvel, To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvel's "To His Coy Mistress" has the persuasiveness of a late night informercial. But in this instance the narrator does not want money for his "product": he wants a girl's virginity. Informercials have an advantage over Marvel. They not only persuade consumers with words but images pf their products as well. Marvell overcomes this obstacle in his use of descriptive imagery. He utilizes if not maximizes imagery to magnify his persuasiveness. . The first stanza opens the poem "Had we but world enough, and time,/ This coyness, Lady, were no crime"(1-2) as though he were a victim of her reserved nature. He tries to pull some reverse psychology here to make her think that it is her fault for not having sex with him (against her will). He goes on to say that he would indeed love her "Till the conversion of the Jews," (10) ithere were time enough, but the narrator never directly says "forever." Instead he uses phrases that conjure images of eternity: "ten years before the Flood(8); "An age to every part"(17). His descriptive use of imagery makes forever seem an overused word that does not fully encapsulate the time he would spend waiting for her. "But" makes the transition from eternity to the present. He continues, "at my back I always hear/ Time's winged chariot hurrying near"(21-22)). Again the narrator makes himself the victim, first of the lady's coyness and now of death. With death soon to knock on his door,, the narrator reminds his mistress of her inevitable death. "They beauty shall no more be found, in they marble vault..."(25-66). They virginity that his mistress is trying to withhold from hom will be lost is she waits too long. Yes. she is at the prime of her youth and beauty today, but it will soon be "turn[ed] to dust"(29)/ This dust and the "deserts of eternity"that lie before them both are used in stark contrast to their ripe youth. This stanza appeals to the girl's immortality and youth. They should both be "like amorous birds of prey" who do not deny their primal instincts. Amorous, meaning eortic, is the pivotal word of this excerpt and one of the most subtly descriptive passages in the entire poem. This words seems to be carefulyy (and craftily) chosen to epitomize the lust he has for this woman; his desire for her to feel the same (or at least act on what she is feelingn).

Hughesville :: Personal Narrative New York Papers

Hughesville While growing up in Ithaca, New York, visits to my father’s boyhood home, Hughesville, a town set in a valley among the Appalachian Mountains in northern Pennsylvania, were common. My aunt continues to live in the 1948 home her grandfather built. Pleasant memories take me back to this borough of about 2000 people, 60 miles south of the New York border. Small settlements in Pennsylvania are politically classified as boroughs or townships. Although a borough generally looks more urban than a township, it is difficult for someone passing through and unfamiliar with an area to tell the difference. From Ithaca, this is a two hour drive on US 220, a two lane highway that starts at the New York border. Long after I knew the names of all the places we passed on the way, I continued to play â€Å"What Place Is This?† with my father. Some towns we passed were a spattering of twenty buildings, while others had two block shopping districts. We passed through Milan, pronounced Meyelin, New Albany, where signs proclaim it the â€Å"Christmas Wreath Capital of the World,† and Dogtown, identified by Rand McNally as Tivola. Route 220 winds through high, tree greened hills. It is cut over and along the sides of these hills exposing gentle valleys with flat, cow-dotted pastures and a spectacular view of the narrow, meandering, mighty Susquehanna River carving its path through the fertile farmland it floods, sometimes violently in spring. Anytime you drive through the area, vistas are a visual delight. The high, winding roads can ice over in winter but in summer inspire free spirited motorcycle rides. The well shaded two lane roads over the hills and through the dales bring relief from the black pavement’s heat rising to meet the hot sun baking your bare arms. Before the Eisenhower Interstate System was built in the 1950s, a main travel route through the eastern part of the country was US 220. Even now you quickly and consistently find yourself behind slow-moving tractor trailers crawling steadily up and rolling down these rollercoaster hills. In response to this, recently built passing lanes were carved deeper into the hillsides at the steepest climbs. Few take this route to its end in Tennessee. While most use it to make their way to the interstate connecter, four miles from Hughesville, some use it to deliver goods to the Lycoming Mall. The mall’s entrance is a football field away from the Interstate 80 connecter.

Amy Tans The Joy Luck Club Essay -- Essays Papers

Joy Luck Club The stories of Suyuan and Jing-Mei Woo reveal some of Amy Tan's main themes in the novel. One important theme is that we must get to know and understand our parents in order to fully understand ourselves. June spends the first half of her life believing that she is a disappointment to her mother and has been unsuccessful in life. However, when she learns more about her mother's past and discovers that her mother is proud of her good heart and concern for others, she realizes that she has accomplished something by doing small things to the best of her ability. She learns that one does not have to be famous, or a genius, or greatly wealthy in order to be successful. Another important theme is that we need to make our own choices in life and find our own life's importance. When June was a child, her mother was constantly pushing her to try different things that she had no interest in. Because she did not care about any of these things, she did not really try to be successful, and theref ore, would never accomplish anything great. We build our own importance in life by deeply caring about something that we choose and putting all of our effort into developing or accomplishing this. The relationship between June and her mother, Suyuan, is far from flawless, yet has the foundation of love that can never be destroyed. There are many misunderstandings between these two women that are unfortunately left unresolved until after Suyuan's death. Amy Tan uses this relationship and all of its complications to teach the readers important themes about life. Ultimately, love between this mother and daughter prevails through all conflict, and even beyond Suyuan's death, when her long-cherished wish of uniting her daughters is fulfilled. The Joy Luck Club: Cutural Differences Between Daughters and Mothers There are numerous conditions in human life that mold people into who they presently are. A person's identity and way of thinking are influenced greatly due to their family's surroundings, and relationships they are involved in. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, the characters are generic, in the sense that, although they are from different families, the problems and emotions experienced are similar. The daughters are in an on-going search to discover themselves, who they are and what they represent. With their precious mother-daughter bonds, four immig... ...listic needs are not worth pursuing but finding yourself is: "With all these things, I did not care. I had no spirit" (Tan 286). Other times,in trying to instill what is left of the Chinese heritage, the American way of life is blended in, but alas, "I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two do not mix?" (Tan 289). The characters of the novel, The Joy Luck Club, unravel the intricacies of combining a Chinese heritage with American circumstances and tell of the relationships between mothers and daughters. The strong bond, that is present amongst the characters, will infinitely outlast all obstacles. From each generation, all of the women "are like stairs, one step after another, going up and down, but all going the same way" (Tan 241). There are advantages and disadvantages to growing up with American circumstances, as well as learning and obtaining Chinese character, but one must be chosen over the other to be free. "I think about two faces. I think about my intentions. Which one is American? Which one is Chinese? Which one is be tter? If you show one, you must always sacrifice the other" (Tan 304).

Language Analysis Bullying

Girls College wrote an opinion piece â€Å"It's time for us to take a stand†, which was published In the Breadboard Leader on the 9th of December, 2013, she contends In a critical and negative tone that the young people of Australia must stand up against the cruel, vindictive and cowardly practice of bullying. Elise explains how bullying has been around since the start of time, but social media is making acts such as bullying too easy for these bullies to argue their victims and little is being done about it.Stakeholders include friends, family, workers, schools, social media, victims, and the medical industry. The target audience for this text is the victims, to encourage them to stand up for themselves. Elise opens up the article in a serious and urgent tone, explaining how serious this really is, and how little Is being done about it, strongly suggesting something needs to be done now. Social Media sites such as Backbone and Twitter play a huge role In Weber bullying, they make millions of dollars In advertising and Elise explains how It Is only fair If they use some of the money to help stop the spellbinding that their platforms allow.She draws In the audience with a persuasive technique appealing them to fear by stating â€Å"it seems that not a month goes by when we don't hear another story of a teen somewhere overseas or in Australia that has taken their life due to the bullying that has occurred on line. † Another effective technique she has used is the use of rhetorical questions for example â€Å"Can we as young people sit idly y while these companies become indirectly wealthy from the misery they help create? Can parents knowingly let their children use websites that allow such cruel behavior to be facilitated? Elise continues to explain the causes of bullying with reason and logic, stating that most bullies are highly sensitive so they bully to avoid getting bullied themselves, and making them feel the bigger person, or to compensate for some short coming In their lives. She then explains In a call and clear tone how Important It Is for the parents to educate their children that bullying s not acceptable, suggesting how can the children take a stand for themselves if they have no guidance by their parents?Elise explains more in depth how the parents need to be educated themselves, so they can educate their children that the appalling behavior of bullying is wrong. The best way to stop bullying is to prevent it, and the parents and education department play a key role in that. She explains the effects of bullying in every aspect, not only the physical and emotional cost, but the financial cost too for example it costs the tax areas money every time they have to go to the doctor's surgery.She uses evidence and repetition as a persuasive technique that Is supporting her contention effectively. For example â€Å"Based on 2009 studies, 27 per cent of students In years four to nine are bullied regularly – let' s call It one In four students. Personally I am horrified by this statistic. One in four! ONE IN FOUR! † Elise closes the article with an for themselves. She says â€Å"Remember that we the good people outnumber the bullies. Don't let the unnecessary suffering continue. United we stand, divided they fall. In the visual piece of the text there is a photograph of a young child with innocent eyes looking right up at you, with his hands up showing the words written across them â€Å"stop bullying†. The camera is angled in front and above the boy, creating a dominating effect, making the boy look more vulnerable, innocent and weak. It is a simple but powerful photograph taken by James Luckier. The effects on the stakeholders such as the victims of bullies sends out a message to them to take a stand for themselves.The effect on the bullies is that they would hopefully feel bad for what they do and actually consider thinking about stopping. In conclusion, Elise uses many diff erent techniques and tones in this argument, with a lot of logic and evidence to support her main points, so overall this is an effective persuasive piece, leaving the audience convinced to take a stand. We outnumber the bullies, they are truly the weak ones. Target audience – young people themselves, taking a stand Stakeholders – friends, family, workers, schools, social media, victims, medical industry

Goblin Market

chrSomone Jackson Mr. Price English 2223 01 28 October 2012 Christina Rossetti’s â€Å"Goblin Market† One of the strongest emotions inherent in humans is desire. Christina Rossetti poem â€Å"Goblin Market† is filled with many suggestive pieces referring to different kinds of fruits that play upon the hidden desire. From exotic fruit to sweet nectars, she has her audience wondering about her true meaning for the fruit. The question to be answers is what are the â€Å"fruits† being offered to the girls?Many people believed that the poem was directed towards being gay or lesbian just by the vivid language Rossetti used in her poem, but in all actuality that theory was far from being right. During the Victorian period, emphasis was put on ladies to be very conservative. Christine Rossetti’s Goblin Market defies the confinements of the Victorian age while romantically critiquing what takes place in the dark outside of the regality of social circles in r elation to forbidden sexuality. In the poem ‘fruit† was referenced many times in relations to the goblin men.In a sense the â€Å"fruit† can be related to the old Christian story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit. The forbidden fruit was Eve weakness but was her desire to have it lead to her demise. The context of the fruit in Goblin Market has explicit sexual connotations that lend to an instructive and more importantly, cautioning perspective on sexual activity. From the very first stanza, with its descriptions of luscious fruits for sale in the â€Å"Goblin Market,† some hard to find but summer ripe, one cannot help but read these mouth-watering depictions with sexuality in mind.Examples of this would be â€Å"Plump unpecked cherries† (Rossetti 7) and â€Å"Figs to fill your mouth, Citron from the South, Sweet to tongue and sound to eye;† (Rossetti 28-30). The â€Å"fruit† mention throughout the poem can be linked to the idea o f an addiction. Being that the â€Å"fruit† was forbidden â€Å"Their offers should not charm us, / Their evil gifts would harm us† (Rossetti 65-66), once eaten one will become addicted and wanted more. Furthermore, Rossetti did relate her poems to the Victorian period which ncluded women and their drug, alcohol, and prostitution abuse. So in those instances the fruit can be looked upon as the drug, â€Å"She suck'd and suck'd and suck'd the more, Fruits which that unknown orchard bore; She suck'd until her lips were sore;† (Rossetti 134-136). Laura basically indulged the fruit as if it was a temptation so sweet that every ounce of juice had to be savored. Sadly as soon as she consumed the fruit her addiction set in.Laura wanted more of the â€Å"fruit† but was upset because she could not find anymore, so as a consequence she fell into a deep depression that could possibly lead to her death. Rossetti does make some references to her brother D. G. Rossetti poem â€Å"Jenny†. References made in Christina Rossetti poem were â€Å"Mindful of Jeanie, Give me much and many; Held out her apron, Tossed them her penny. (Rossetti 365-367). â€Å"Goblin Market† shows a lot of her brother Dante’s influence, and references to his poem â€Å"Jenny† several times. Christina likely borrowed the idea of goblins and Jeanie from his poem also. Jenny† is told through the eyes of the man, while the woman in question is asleep, reinforcing the argument that Christina Rossetti meant to illustrate the experience of prostitution from a female’s perspective. To continue to focus on the matter at hand which is the â€Å"fruit† that is being offered to the girls in â€Å"Goblin Market. For one the Victorian period, once stated before, is related to women and prostitution and Rossetti poem played upon that in a fairy tale way. Lesbian acts were taken out of perspective when people read the poem but once Rossetti clarified the intentions of the poem people where more forgiven.Since Laura indulged in the forbidden fruit she did become addicted to it and Lizzie being her sister wanted to get her more fruit so that she will return to her normal state of mind. Just like drugs will make a person do crazy things for it Lizzie did not want to her sister suffer from depression and death. Ultimately Lizzie saved her sister from the bad affects that the fruit brought upon here due to poor decision making and at the end of the story they both grew up and had children of their own. Overall the basic concept of the fruit that is given to the girls is more like a drug.The unspoken lesbian act that many Victorian perceived was way out of context. The fruit symbolized the drug that the prostitute, Laura, wanted to get from the goblin in return all she had was an addiction. Thanks to a strong sisterhood and not anything related to gays, Lizzie was able to break the habit and they both grew old and had their own families. Work Cited Black, Joseph. â€Å"Goblin Market† The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Concise ed. Volume B. Canada, Ontario. 2007. 810-817. Print.