This I believe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

This I believe - Essay Example Advice on how to get involved can be obtained from our local churches, non-profit organizations, and governmental institutions. The reason I believe so much in volunteerism is because I have in the past been involved in volunteer work. I use to help out at a local shelter for homeless people. The experience of helping out the poor was very gratifying form me. The act of giving back to the community can help fulfill our souls. I have had some family members that have fallen on some hard times and become homeless. Knowing that there are people out there that are willing to help out the poor by volunteering their time makes me believe that society’s problems no matter how complex can be solved if we put our minds to it. Volunteer work can help out a lot of American families. In the United States there are over 37 million people living under the federal poverty line (Americanprogress). This figure means that nearly 12% of the US population is suffering from poverty. The efforts of volunteers can help become a part of the solution. Volunteer work can also help the sick and the elderly. There are lots of benefits of volunteering. It can help a person increase their skills, gain experience, and expand their network of contacts.

Film Music Appreciation Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Music Appreciation - Term Paper Example Film scores before the 1930s were not sophisticated enough compared to what is being experienced now. The technology at that time limited music in film, motion pictures were soundless. In theaters, to enhance the experience of plays, producers included playing piano and other musical instruments to match up the scenes in the play. The development of music score started in the 1930s, at this time classical music was commonly included in the film. The following decade, 1940s, saw the inclusion of music score in films to improve the characters and plots in the film. During the half part of 20th century, 1950s, music score became symphonic. Music composers were intrigued with including different genres of music in film and Jazz was one of them since it was cheap to compose. In the 1960s, more advancement in the field of film score was witnessed in the form of including rock music in a movie as a sound track. In the 1970s, composers of film music focused on perfecting the techniques of fi lm score in movies. From the 1980s, through the 1990s on to the 21st century, tremendous developments have been achieved. In particular, composing of music has taken a new dimension. Currently composing of film score is not only limited to orchestras, but synthesized sounds have become a common inclusion in films. It has become cheap and faster to compose film scores since through technology one person is capable of producing music with various instrumental sounds at a shorter time (Wierzbicki 36). The film director is highly instrumental when it comes to the time of defining the function of a film score in a particular film. The main function of a film score is providing the movie with music. The music is necessary in that it helps in the exemplification of a scene. Source music is included in the film with the objective of making the characters react to it. The reaction is through a character playing music or in a different case the characters hearing

Engineering codes of ethics, case scenarios, and societies that enforce them Essay Example for Free

Engineering codes of ethics, case scenarios, and societies that enforce them Essay Ethics can be defined as a branch within the wider field of philosophy whose main concern is addressing the issue of morality. Morality as a concept seeks to justify actions as good or bad, right or wrong and whether such actions are justified and virtuous. Ethics in itself is divided into many categories which normally vary to suit the issue at hand. From a general perspective, ethics can be widely grouped into theoretical and practical ethics. The theoretical aspect is concerned with theoretical meanings of moral propositions and the manner in which their truth values can be ascertained. The practical aspect of ethics seeks to address the possibility of achieving moral outcomes in a given situation (Luegenbiehl, 2003). Engineering ethics in this context is part of applied ethics that is skewed towards the examination and the setting of standards concerning the duty of an engineer to the general public, how they should attend to their clients, their duty to their employer, and their obligation towards enhancing and maintaining the moral integrity of the engineering profession. Engineering as a profession is very diverse in terms of the possible branches one can venture into. This diversity make some of the engineering fields share only very limited principles. While most of these disciplines tend to complement each other, these engineers are bound to work in different environments. As such there cannot be a unifying code of ethics for the whole engineering fraternity. Ethical codes in this profession are largely dependent on the exact field of specialization and the jurisdiction of practice. Another factor that comes into play is whether an engineer is providing consultancy service to his clients or the engineer is an employee of a given manufacturing enterprise (Colby Sullivan, 2008). In most countries, the engineers who attend to their clients are normally referred to as professional engineers and are usually licensed. They abide by codes that ensure professional ethics and to a larger extent governed by a number of statutes. Their counterparts who practice in the manufacturing industry have to abide by certain laws, key among them being whistle blowing and also the law of product liability. Their practice leans more towards business ethics as compared to engineering ethics. Professional engineers are usually in private practice and are always responsible for drafting some of the codes of ethics that govern their profession. Engineers who practice in the industrial sector do not enjoy accreditation by the relevant government agencies. It is an arguable fact that despite the field and sector of practice, these engineers face similar ethical issues. Similar in the sense that they share the same root causes but only change slightly in form depending on the discipline and the sector of practice (Luegenbiehl, 2003). Engineering societies have for a long time drafted their own codes of ethics. These codes of ethics have undergone a series of refinement over time in a bid to make them more viable to overcoming ethical issues. Such codes of ethics usually act as general guidelines since ethical issues are very diverse and as such some of these codes have to be adjusted to suit the situation at hand. In the United Kingdom, a notable example is the ‘Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)’, which chose to incorporate its ethical codes into the standards of conduct. The code of ethics in engineering basically seeks to ensure the wellbeing of the public, the clients in the case of a professional engineer, the employer for the engineers who practice in the industry, and for the enhancement of the moral integrity of the engineering profession (Colby Sullivan, 2008). Any engineering profession is susceptible to a number of risks some of which may be detrimental to a wider section of the population. With this risk in mind, the first aim of an engineer is to ensure the safety and health, not only of the general public but also for themselves and their workmates. Engineers are required to subscribe to principles that ensure sustainable development in the course of their undertakings. Since the engineering profession is very diverse, an engineer who may be very competent in his field of specialization may not be able to achieve much in another line of engineering. For most of the engineering societies around the world, there are basic ethical codes that they seem to share in common. A code of ethics in the field of engineering always restricts engineers to stick to their areas of specialization. This is to avoid exposing himself and the general public to the imminent danger. An engineer is required to speak the truth on the technical aspects of a job and maintain a professional relationship with the employer or his client. Conflict of interest is a sure way to compromise and as such should always be avoided by an engineer. An engineer is supposed to safeguard the integrity and the interest of the engineering profession. In as much as an engineer is supposed to advance career wise, they have an obligation of ensuring professional growth for their juniors. According to the law of whistle blowing, an engineer is more obliged to safety than he is to the client or to his employer. This law requires the engineer to report cases where their employers or clients fail to follow their directions and in the process are exposing the public to potential danger. In some instances, some the relevant authorities fail to take action and this may end up in the engineer going public (Luegenbiehl, 2003). The most notable cases of disaster in the field of engineering have been caused by both technical and ethical issues. While some of these accidents have been due to technical aspects and design inadequacies, others have been due to inefficient management culture. Some of the cases that have been established to have an ethical dimension on their occurrence include the Chernobyl disaster, Bhopal disaster, Boston molasses accident, Johnstown Flood, just to mention but a few (Pfatteicher, 2001). Chernobyl disaster was an incident that took place in Ukraine, and it involved the meltdown in a nuclear reactor plant. This accident was to a larger extent blamed on human error. The personnel were blamed for using a limited ‘operational reactivity margin. ’ The disaster caused to the people living within the neighbourhood was immense in gravity and most of the effects were of a long term nature. The mental health of the people was extremely affected; cases of cancer were later reported to be rampant in the area. All these effects came about due to the irradiation of the area by radioactive material. The workers were also affected with more than thirty losing their lives within a span of three months from the time of occurrence of the disaster. An advisory group that was later formed to look into the cause of this disaster blamed the people who were responsible for the design of the power plant. They failed to consider certain pertinent aspects of the design which could have prevented such an occurrence or which could have ensured that the accident did not proceed to reach the level it did. It was realized that in the course of preparation and subsequent testing of turbine generators, it was done without the incorporation of systems that were responsible for technical protection. This was viewed to have been a breach of the safety provisions that were required for the actual technical exercise (Pfatteicher, 2001). Some of the most outstanding organizations that are concerned with engineering ethics include the ‘Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE)’ in the United Kingdom, the ‘Canadian Society for Professional Engineers,’ and the ‘National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)’ which have been seen to be championing for the upholding of ethical practices within the engineering field. The reasons for their establishments are to ensure that engineers in private practice, the government and in the manufacturing sector are able to subscribe to a common code of ethics within a given jurisdiction. Such bodies have certain punitive measures to their members in cases where ethics appear to have been sidelined in making decisions. To ensure that engineers adhere to such codes set by these organizations, it is mandatory to be registered with certain bodies within given jurisdictions to practice as an engineer (Haws, 2001). There has been a general drift towards formulating an all encompassing code of ethics for all engineers throughout the world. This has been noted by the fact that the codes formulated by most societies throughout the world appear to be having certain similarities. While this appears to be a very noble idea, some room and allowances will have to be allowed to accommodate the different cultures in the world. It is deemed that developing a set of common ethical codes and supplementing it with additional entries that regard the cultural setting and the exact field of specialization within engineering. The codes should be set out in such a manner that no confusion can be reported within a given jurisdiction (Luegenbiehl, 2003). References: Colby, A. , Sullivan, W. M. 2008, â€Å"Ethics Teaching in Undergraduate Engineering Education. † Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 97. Haws, D. R. 2001, â€Å"Ethics Instruction in Engineering Education: a (Mini) Meta-analysis. † Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 90. Luegenbiehl, H. C. 2003, Themes for an International Code of Engineering Ethics. Retrieved on 9th February 2010, from: http://www. asee. org/conferences/international/papers/upload/Themes-for-Int-l-Code-of-Eng-Ethics. pdf . Pfatteicher, S. K. , 2001, â€Å"Teaching Vs. Preaching: Ec2000 and the Engineering Ethics Dilemma. † Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 90.

Willy Russell in his play Educating Rita Essay Example for Free

Willy Russell in his play Educating Rita Essay Educating Rita by Willy Russell explores the relationship between the two characters involved in the play, Frank and Rita over a time span, of several months. A variety of themes are explored as Rita, a working class Liverpudlian, aspires to a higher social and academic level so that she may have choices, with Frank, a disillusioned and failed poet as her teacher. As Rita progresses, Russell uses a range of dramatic techniques and tensions between the two characters to explore themes of the personal, class, relationships, gender, dependence, superiority and education. This produces an effective and dramatic piece with clear character and plot development. The play could be staged in a number of ways, and when considering how staging would best reflect the themes and passage of time, I must consider set, costume and lighting, as well as how each of the characters should play their part. The play focuses mainly on the relationship between Frank and Rita, and the structure shows a clear crossover within their respective roles. Frank is initially the dominant male with more knowledge and experience than Rita; he is the well-educated and confident lecturer to whom Rita comes to for help to become educated. By the end of the play the roles are reversed, with Rita as the dominant educated character, with every option available to her, whereas Frank, who has turned to drink, is barely able to hold down his job. Within this structure, the interaction between the characters explores the themes mentioned above, which have both significance for them, as well as for the audience who are able to identify with the issues discussed. The way that the characters change as the plot develops shows what effect their different experiences have upon them, and how they shape the people that they have become by the end of the play. By choosing two scenes from different points in the play we can see how themes generated in an early part of the play are later developed as the characters progress. I chose Act one, scene two to explore first, as it is after the two characters have already been established. Their behaviour reflects certain themes as the second scene begins. There is also a significant incident involving poetry Frank has written, which has a link  with the later scene I have chosen, truly reflecting how the two characters have changed. While the first scene establishes the main themes of education and aspiration on Ritas part, Scene two really begins to explore such themes as well as exploring others to a higher degree. The scene begins in Franks office, as always, with Frank waiting for Rita to arrive, (he) glances at his watch. He is interrupted by a noise at the door, which turns out to be Rita oiling his study door for him, as she has noticed that it needs it. The way in which she comments, knew you wouldnt get round to it establishes the theme of gender stereotypes running through some of the play, and conveys the idea to the audience of Ritas housewifely mentality and motherly instinct, with Franks stereotypical male nature of allowing her to do the work for him. As Rita then proceeds to look around Franks office, and he watches her, it is clear how he views her from how he watches Slightly amused which indicates that he is entertained by her, and clearly views her as naive and unsophisticated when compared to him. The way Frank responds to her influences how the audience would respond, as the majority watching a professional production of this play would probably identify with Frank rather than Rita. Assuming it is a professional production, the majority of the audience would be middle class. However, although at the start they may identify with Frank, Willy Russells intent as the two characters develop is to challenge the audiences attitudes towards each. The themes of gender and superiority are closely linked here, and run throughout this scene. Typically, Rita, a young and impressionable young women, and Frank, an older educated man with a greater social position, she is naturally inclined to look up to him. Even if they were both middle class and educated, Rita would still probably view him of the superior of the two, and this opinion is reinforced by the mention of Franks girlfriend, Julia. He says she admires him tremendously, and mentions how she cooks and, cares for him. Julia is an ex-student, yet both respond in the same way to Frank, trying in a sense to, mother him and he accepts this, both sexes following their  stereotypical roles. The way Rita sees him as superior in the same sense as Julia brings up the theme of gender conflict, alongside class and social status, and is another reason why Rita sees him as superior and above mundane tasks. After oiling the door, Ritas next action reinforces this relationship. She refuses to sit down in the chair with its back to the door conveys how unsophisticated and insecure she is. The way that Frank offers her his chair, but she refuses with her comment, Youre the teacher shows how she sees their separate roles, with him with a greater status, again introducing the theme of superiority. Rita even feels Franks taste is superior to hers, Thats cos youve got taste. Although Frank has not yet commented how he feels that he is superior to Rita in terms of both education and class, the way he responds to her clearly shows how he feels they are not on equal terms. The fact that Frank is amused by Rita wondering whether or not she has reformed him reflects this, and throughout the scene he uses education as a resource to demonstrate his superiority. Rita is often ignorant of the phrases or words that Frank uses, for example a certain patina and he often corrects her in terms of the words she uses, Foster for Forster. As well as demonstrating through her ignorance of language that she is not like other students, Rita makes it known to the audience that she is not ignorant enough to not realise it. She comments on, the proper students and although it could be taken in terms of her meaning the students who go to the university all the time, without other obligations, she knows that she is in a different situation (she comments in the first scene, Degrees for dishwashers) and is probably comparing herself and her knowledge to theirs. The audience draw comparisons between Rita and Frank in terms of their behaviour and knowledge, and as the scene progresses the audience are made more aware of the different upbringings they must have had. Just before this however, there is a section of the scene in which Russell uses the language of each character to demonstrate their different social status. Rita comments Readin and studyin just after her comments on proper students, and Frank responds with the same phrase, Reading and studying.  The fact that phrase is repeated by Frank in succession makes the audience properly aware of how differently they speak, and Ritas native Liverpool accent is made evident with this clear contrast to Franks more refined voice. The phrase Rita then uses, off me cake which Frank responds to by questioning its meaning, is done so in such a way as that the audience knows he is being sarcastic, yet Rita does not seems to realise immediately. However, when Frank uses the phrase in a sentence of his own, Rita realises how he is being sarcastic, itd sound dead affected again highlighting the difference between them herself. This interaction demonstrates the different upbringing and environment they have been exposed to, and Frank does not only use his gender and age to appear superior, but through sarcasm and superiority in his use of language demonstrates how he knows he is. The themes of social class and education occur once more in Ritas next few speeches. During them, the way she sharpens Franks pencils again reminds the audience of gender stereotyping, the automatic tidying up, or carrying out of tasks that he is perfectly capable of doing himself, as well as showing how she is uneasy. Rita then conveys the sort of education she must have had from the description of her school, and how she was not really allowed to educate herself, which Frank cannot fully understand as someone for whom education has obviously always been available. He does not understand why she could not be different from her friends, and through this we see the gulf between their two upbringings, highlighting the theme of social contrast. Frank then passes her his ashtray to sharpen pencils, but the way she ignores it indicates how preoccupied she is, and how she really does have something important to say. Her ensuing monologue shows how she feels she wants more, is this the absolute maximum I can expect from this livin lark. The activities she speaks of club to go to to distract herself seem so unlikely the activities that Frank would indulge in that it seems as if he must have his life sorted and she is the one floundering, with what she really wants beyond her grasp. Frank cannot resist one more piece of sarcasm at the end of her outburst, to reassert himself as superior, and her wants as pathetic and of no value, you managed to resist another new dress? But Rita again does not realise.  By the end of this section of the scene the audience know a lot more about Rita and her character. It is clear that at the start of her education she appears stereotypical in terms of her gender, but not in terms of who she is and what she aspires to be. This re- establishes the theme of aspiration already suggested as Rita claimed she wanted to learn, Everything. Her speech about knowing how there was always something tapping away in her head, knowing she might have got it wrong indicates prior conflict within herself, but the fact that she has now come to be educated shows how this conflict has been resolved, and education is the way she will be able to become the person she wants to be, and she sees Frank as an example of that person. The conflict will later extend from herself to the rest of her family, and as she becomes alienated from them. The second half of the scene reveals more about Franks feelings and character, not just concentrating on his surface sense of superiority. The next incident explores the theme of conflict between the personal and the impersonal. Frank informs her that to write a good essay she must learn the art of criticism, which is ironic, as ultimately she will learn to criticise, and Frank will be the object of it. The way Frank informs her that good criticism is never subjective, and is almost a science is reflected in Franks character. He does not wish to involve himself, he wishes to remain absolute from his own feelings. Here the theme of the personal is really introduced as the next part of the scene really shows how each character deals with personal early on in the play. Conflict is initiated as it appears Rita is quite intent on dealing with the personal, and Frank has never come across such a view, astounded The way Rita comments on Forster, Sitting up there in his ivory tower encourages the audience to draw parallels between him and Frank, who also wishes to distance himself from the world, using alcohol as his escapism, and is in a sense sitting in his own, tower. He wants no subjectivity or sentimentality, and this is shown in the way he interacts with Rita, using attempts to be witty and sarcasm to evade the personal, as can be observed later in the scene. Throughout the play both characters struggle with the personal, Rita attempting to become distant and Frank to be in touch with his feelings. Before moving onto Franks marriage we see an example of how Frank also follows his stereotype, returning to the theme of gender. He comments of Rita that she has an undisciplined mind, which men often seem to think that that women have, and that they are disorganised and, scatty in general. Rita ignores the comment and immediately moves back to the personal, are you married? Frank answers reluctantly, stalling the question, but Rita refuses to accept this, and continues pressing Frank for personal information. He is reluctant to deal with the personal side of life, however, and when explaining why he broke up with his wife, he uses a reason which he presumes to be clever and witty, but which actually just makes evident to the audience how he is distancing himself from the pain of the break up, and presuming he is above it all. We split up, Rita because of poetry The way in which Frank says she left him for the good of literature and how the result was that he stopped writing at all is a use of dramatic irony, which is lost on Rita, however, and is there for the audiences appreciation. Rita refuses to accept his explanation, however, and even Frank admits they perhaps people do not split up for that reason. The way that that is how he remembers it simply shows that is how it is constructed in his mind, and he has created the fantasy to remove feelings connected with the event. The most obvious contrast between Frank and Rita in his scene is the way they deal with feelings, with Frank refusing to have anything to do with things of a personal nature, and Rita connecting everything to its emotional impact. After dealing with themes largely of a personal and impersonal nature, Russell reverts to the theme of superiority with reference to education, as Rita wishes to look at Franks poetry, but he denies her access of grounds of not having the literary references. This has reference to the theme of the personal also, as Franks poems are clearly very personal to him and he does not wish to show his emotional side to anyone. We next see another side of Frank, however, as Rita praises him, youre great and he says how there is less of him than meets the eye. Through this comment we see how Frank sees himself as somewhat of a fraud, however, Rita does not get the deeper meaning of his reply, she simply admires the way he can construct a  phrase like that, and as often happens in this scene, the audience, understanding Frank, should have one level of meaning, while Rita has another. This also occurs later in the scene, when Frank comments that he would like to take Rita by the hand and, run out of this room forever. Rita thinks he is merely being sarcastic, yet the audience can see the deeper level of meaning in his words, in that he feels trapped and unhappy. Frank appears to Rita the epitome of successful. He is middle class and educated, what she is aspiring to, yet from his reluctance to deal with anything other than scientific or involving feelings the audience can see how he is dissatisfied and in denial over many aspects of his life. Rita does not see this yet however, she merely sees his status as a professor, his sarcasm and evasion as witty tools of a learned man, not yet suspecting that unhappiness is the cause. The end of the scene does revel Rita as different from the common throng however. The audience draw a parallel between a bird she describes, dead out of place our way and her, and by the end of the scene she has even begun to adapt Franks sarcastic tones, doing a parody of an academic question. The audience see that although she s totally different from Frank in terms of class, and education, their relationship has begun to develop over the bond they form. Frank sees in Rita something he has not seen in a student before, and Rita feels that Frank is the kind of tutor she needs. Earlier in the play she refused to accept another one. As the play progresses we see how the themes established early on in the play are developed by Russell through his two characters. They develop through the changes they undergo in their lives as well as the effect they have upon each other, and reflect the themes established at the beginning of the play. As Rita becomes more educated she fulfils her aspirations, leaving her hairdressers job to work in a Bistro and making a successful transaction to the middle classes, whereas Frank degenerates, more and more frequently turning to alcohol. The theme of dependence running throughout the play has begun by the second act to invert, in that whereas Rita was once dependant  on Frank for all her educational needs, the time she spends during the summer at a literacy camp symbolises how she no longer needs to rely on him as much. She has already learnt about the poet Blake, for example, that Frank was planning to teach her about specially. Frank becomes more dependant on her, and as she breaks away, losing her individuality, as he sees it, to become a proper student he regrets ever educating her, and in despair turns to alcohol. As soon as Rita begins to become properly educated the relationship between the two begins to break down, and although class and education are still the main themes, it is no longer the contrast between Frank and Rita in terms of these themes that is evident, but how Rita has risen more to the same social and educational stance. As well as education being an ongoing theme, which changes the outlook of both, contrasting class is also a theme that features largely until the end of the play. Conflict and class, as well as gender conflict are closely linked throughout. At the plays opening it is clear that Frank and Rita are from different social classes. The way Frank uses this to assert his superiority could cause conflict between the two, except for the fact that Rita has accepted she is initially different from Frank, and seems to see his status as a warrant for his behaviour. Rita is obviously eager to learn however, so Frank tries to be tolerant, and as she improves he begins to accept her as more of an equal to him so conflict between the two over class is more minimal than it could be. Within Ritas own circle however, the conflict is obviously rife. As Rita develops as a person, the conflict with her husband and family increases. Her husband even burns her books in protest over her trying to break away from what he feels she should accept as her station in life, He burnt all me books. As Rita becomes more educated, in order for it to have an effect she has to change herself, and a husband feels that she has in a sense betrayed him. Conflict connected with class also occurs later in Act One as Frank and Ritas friendship progresses. Frank invites Rita for dinner at his house, with her husband, Denny. As well as this causing conflict between the married couple, in that Denny refuses to come due to his antipathy to the course and those connected with it, he blames them from distancing him from  Rita, Rita suffers conflict within herself about attending, centred chiefly on the wine she brings. She knows it is the wrong sort after she has bought it, and although it might appear to be a superficial detail, to Rita it symbolizes how little she knows about this kind of society and how to behave in such situations. It demoralizes her and she wonders how she can ever leave her social status and rise to Franks. She decides to not return to the course, however, her mother changes her mind.. Her mother crying and saying there must be better songs to sing (Ritas family and friends had been singing in the pub) really symbolizes how there must be a better life to lead, which encourages Rita to try and aspire to that hope, and so she returns to the course. Rita also experiences much gender conflict within her family. From the first scene Rita mentions how she is expected, at the age of twenty-six to settle down and have a family. Yet she rebels against this idea, even secretly using contraception, and her refusal to accept what her husband sees as her role eventually leads to the breakdown of her marriage, which allows her to, find herself even further. However, as she does try to find herself, using other people to develop her personality, this causes ever-growing conflict between her and Frank, which reaches its climax towards the end of the play. Apart from Rita, Franks main conflict is involved with the university and students themselves, as he bitterly continues to drink with their disapproval. By Act two, scene five, very near the close of the play, we can clearly see how both characters have developed and how they now interact with each other. The first thing Rita says to Frank upon entering his room is, are you sober, are you? and the way in which a whisky bottle is placed in front of him indicates the extent of his dependency on the drink. Now he can no longer rely on Rita to give him hope and entertain him he has become even more dependant on the alcohol, which is plaguing his career. Frank, even now cannot resist a sarcastic comment, which Rita ignores and proceeds to tell Frank what she thinks of his poetry. The fact that Frank has given Rita his poetry to look at is a very  significant act, which shows real character development on both sides. Earlier in the play Frank denied Rita access to his poetry, on the grounds of her not understanding literary terms. The fact that he has given them to her, and has seriously asked her for a critical analysis shows how much she must have progressed in terms of her education. Whereas she was once ignorant in this area, Frank has now deemed her sufficiently able to comment on them, and regardless of his motive, we can see how her character has developed in order that she can appreciate such work. However, on another level, Frank giving Rita his poetry shows how he has developed as a person also. As well as indicating he no longer feels his skills are superior to hers, the emotional angle of his action indicates that he is no longer dealing with only the objective side of things. By giving Rita his poetry to look at, Frank is exposing his emotional side. His poetry is such a personal thing to him that it is the most significant thing he can do, to show how he is willing to expose his vulnerable side to her as opposed to other people. By asking for a critical assessment of a lesser known English poet Frank knows that what she says will ultimately depend upon the outcome of their relationship. The way Rita analyses the poems clearly shows how she has developed in terms of her education, the main theme running throughout the play. The language she uses, witty/profound to describe the poem is a complete development of the simple terms she used earlier in the play. The fact that she can understand Franks work as opposed to the poetry she used to enjoy, Its the sort of poetry you can understand shows how she has developed her literary knowledge. However the way she quotes her flatmate, Trish when commenting on the poetry, shows how from having Frank as her only mentor and teacher at the start of the play, she has now developed a critical style from others also. Rita herself admits how she would not have understood the poetry previously, and the way she is sure she can now see wit and classical allusion in it indicates that as her education has progressed she has adapted accepted educational views of such works. The audience are next reminded of the aspirational theme, as they can compare how Rita would have reacted then and now from Franks comments, You would  have thrown it across the room. The way Franks sarcasm still washes over Rita indicates how she can see nothing wrong with her situation. She comments that she can, see now shows how her opinions of herself and her life have changed, she is no longer so discontented, and she sees nothing wrong with the social standing she now has. Franks allusion to Frankenstein, however, shows he feels that what he has created is a terrible thing, that he has made Rita a monster and his assessment of his poetry gives a deeper insight into his feelings. Frank denounces his poetry as worthless talentless shit, simply posing as something witty and clever. His poetry is such a close and personal thing to him, however, that as he criticizes it he is really criticising himself. By trying to convey how pretentious and worthless his poetry really is, he is really trying to explain to Rita that that is how he feels about himself. Earlier in the play he commented that there was less to him than met the eye, and this speech shows how low he feels he has really sunk. He is trying to show Rita how what she has gained he feels is without meaning, that what she has aspired to is worthless in his eyes, and this display of emotion indicates how his emotions have developed so that he is now in touch with them. The way Frank responds to Ritas analysis shows that he really is no longer objective, but subjective, taking what she says not as an objective critical analysis but as an indication of who she has become. Whereas before he wanted mere objectivity and nothing dealing with the personal, now that Rita has that critical skill Franks response shows that he regrets what he has done as there are now none of her views stated when she gives an opinion. He liked Ritas novelty very much, yet her analysis shows it has been taken away, and she talks like any other student. Frank now wants her to be subjective again, another example of how their characters have reversed. That as they have developed, Rita has become the objective one, and Frank the subjective, desperate for some kind of Ritas sentimentality in her work. Frank then comments that he can no longer bear Ritas presence, and she responds in a way that shows the audience she now really is his equal. Whereas before, his word was the authority, Rita stands up to Frank and  provides an argument against his. In fact she is now the dominant character, and she makes reference to this, comparing their previous relationship to one of a farther and daughter, him teaching her as she gazes back in, wide eyed wonder. Rita is trying to show that she has lost her naivety, and he is no longer the dominant male, returning to the theme of gender stereotyping. They are now on equal terms. It is here we see where the conflict has really developed in their relationship, as Rita shows she has reached what she aspired to and Frank reduces its worth, so very very little. Frank feels that in becoming educated, Rita has lost all individuality and originality, whereas Rita feels satisfied with what she has achieved, and does not understand why he cannot accept th is. The theme of Education runs throughout the play. This aspect of life is traditionally thought to lift people out of one lifestyle and give them a range of options. Rita is developed through the theme of education to reflect how it can change your lifestyle. She comments that she now knows the right kind of wine to buy and the clothes to wear in terms of reflecting a middle class status. She has become a typical middle class women, and Frank hates himself for his part in it. At the beginning of the play Frank enjoyed lording over Rita to an extent and using his superiority to gain control of the situation. It might appear that he is simply annoyed that he has lost that hold over her, and can not reassert himself with her, so is trying to drag her down and not enable her to become superior to him. It is not that simple however. Throughout the play we have seen Frank and Ritas characters developing, and although it seems Frank has been trying to keep her from escaping, and he alone wants to shape her, as the play progresses, it becomes evident that he admires her uniqueness. As Frank watches her turn into just another student it enables him to see how her unique qualities are simply wasted, and what she ends up with, has nothing of her in it. Frank, who at the start of the play was already educated, shows how education can have a degenerative effect when that is really all you have, and he reflects this in his degenerative behaviour. Although he enjoyed the way he could use his knowledge and wit to distance himself from reality, the  arrival of Rita shakes up all of his preconceptions of students and life in general . Although she might think that he really did want her to remain ignorant for his own satisfaction, Frank has simply realised how education can make you pretentious and characterless, and that although Rita has want she wanted, he feels the person she has become in order to achieve it is of little value. The theme of education is developed from the first act, and whereas it first appears to be a good thing for both Rita and Frank, the way the characters develop to reflect what an effect it can have on people show that this is not a straightforward theme. There are clearly a number of themes involved within this play, and to best reflect them the staging of the play must be carefully considered. The two acts that I have analysed display the most contrast through the way in which as the characters have developed their views and how their roles have crossed over. As well as obvious changes in the characters costumes, I would use more subtle differences including changes in lighting and the way the characters react and speak, to reflect the changes they have undergone. Firstly, costume must be considered as the audience will take initial impressions from the way each character dresses, and the way they appear at the beginning of the play and at the end must reflected in their change of dress. Frank, at the start of the play, although he does indulge in alcohol is much more together then a t the end of the play. Therefore his dress should be fairly smart, indicating how he is both middle class and a lecturer. It should include a shirt and tie, with the shirt tucked in and tie tightly tied with his top button fastened. As the play progresses however Franks change in character could be shown through subtle changes in his dress. As his and Ritas relationship slowly begins to degenerate, his appearance should become untidier, beginning with him untucking his shirt, then undoing his top button and loosening his shirt collar. By Act two, scene five his tie should have disappeared altogether. Although this is not much of a change, a mans tie, at work, is often considered by others to be smart, and about taking a pride in his appearance. He degenerate appearance by the end of the play should reflect what has happen to Frank himself, in that he no longer cares about work and through alcohol abuse, he himself has  degenerated. Ritas dress however should become gradually more flamboyant. In Act One scene two, Rita is still uneducated and working class, with the restraints of her husband and family upon her. Her clothing should be conventional and very unexceptional, to reflect her position in life. However, as she learns, gradually her clothing should become different, more creative, as she becomes educated and more creative herself. In Act Two Scene five, when Rita feels that she has fulfilled her potential, and that she knows how to act and, what clothes to wear her dress sense should be a complete change, as she now sees herself as an educated woman. Both characters clothes need to reflect how the characters feel about themselves to reinforce how they develop. In my second scene, Rita should remain standing for the entirety of the scene, with Frank slumped in his chair. Rita should also wear heels. This clear difference in height between the two should clearly convey to the audience how Rita is now highe r than Frank in terms of life also. A subtle change would reinforce for the audience the changeover in their roles. The set itself, as Franks office, is another useful reflective tool in showing how Frank degenerates. In Act one, Scene two the office, although not pristine, with books and plants spread around, should have some kind of order to it. As Frank turns to alcohol the disintegration of him must be mirrored in the degeneration of his office. By Scene five in the second act there should be much more disorder, with what were once piles of books, books scattered across the floor, and higher piles of paper, which Frank has obviously not dealt with. Posters, which Frank should have on his wall at the beginning of the play, should begin to curl halfway though the play, and by scene five should have fallen completely and be lying on the floor. Also, whereas in the earlier scene the whisky bottle should be hidden behind books, indicating discretion on Franks part, as mentioned in the play, the bottle should now simply be on the desk showing how he feels there is no point hiding the fact any more. This reflects his feelings about Ritas transformation; it shows the despair he feels in that now she has conformed, Frank sees only despair. There should also be several empty bottles strewn around to emphasise Franks dependency on the alcohol. All this reflects  Franks degeneration. The way the room has gradually fallen apart is mirrored by what has happened to him. Lighting could be a very effective tool in these two scenes to emphasise the contrast between the mood of the play towards the beginning, and the scene, which reaches the climax of Frank and Ritas dispute. In the first scene, to reflect the mood of hope and what looks like an interesting opportunity for both characters, the lighting should be bright throughout, to reflect this feeling. The lighting can also be used effectively however, to focus the audiences attention on a particular character, and emphasise the importance of what they are saying. At the beginning of Act One, scene Two, there should simply be a bright yellow light enveloping the whole stage. However, as Frank begins to ask Rita questions about her life, and she begins to respond openly to him, the lights should fade out, except for a bright spotlight focused upon Ritas face. This should be done from Ritas line Like what youve got to be into and this will emphasise her speech to the audience, as their attention will be all focused upon her and they should listen closely to the deeper meaning o her words. As Frank makes his sarcastic comment about the dress, and the tension lifts the bright lights should fade back in, and remain for the rest f he scene. However, in my chosen scene for act two the lighting must be different to reflect the gloomy atmosphere and environment Frank is now subjecting himself too. The stage should be lit only by a bulb from a desk lamp, all light which would have previously come in through the window is now shut out, to make clear how Frank, in his depression, is trying to keep the world out. In this scene spotlights on characters should be used as tension increases between the two characters, as this is a pivotal scene, and emphasising each characters line(s) will heighten the tension for the audience. Lighting could also be used effectively to show characters responses to each other. For example in the first scene, during the use of spotlights, when Frank and Rita are having a serious discussion, Franks confusion over why Rita could not have had an education earlier in life could by emphasised by fading her spotlight out to highlight the confusion on his ace then fading it in again. During Act Two, Scene 5 this technique could be used again.  When Rita is commending Franks poetry, Why did you stop writing? her spotlight could fade out to show the despair on Franks face. This technique, if used effectively would be good at highlighting the characters responses to each other in the two different scenes. Most importantly, how the characters speak react and move on stage will convey their character to the audience, and the changes in their behaviour later in the play will show their new attitude towards each other. In my chosen first scene, the two most have totally different airs. Rita, although she appears confident when speaking to Frank at the beginning of the scene, conveys her agitation through the way in which she refuses to sit down, and instead wanders around Franks room. To emphasise her uncertainty she should make some unconscious hand motion, which would convey the audience the nervous tension she is feeling. As Frank watches her he should appear totally at ease in his chair, reclining slightly to emphasise how relaxed he is. The way that Rita talks should also be different from the way that Frank delivers his lines. Frank should reply almost instantly to Ritas comments, conveying to the audience that he is confident, and feels that he has no trouble dealing with someone of Ritas calibre, whereas Rita must deliver her lines with a vaguer more uncertain utterance, more as if she is thinking out loud then having a conversation. This will emphasise the point that Frank is a confident organised teacher dealing with life, whereas Rita is uncertain and trying to clarify what she wants to do. By Act Two, Scene Five, the two characters should move and talk completely differently, conveying their different positions. Rita, who now feels happy and confident about herself, should show this by how she walks into the room. Instead of wandering uncertainly, she should stride purposefully up to Franks desk, indicating she now knows exactly what she is doing and what to say to Frank. For example, Rita must speak with conviction during her defence of Franks poetry, Its not! (pretentious) When walking around the room Rita should walk as she should when entering the room, with her head held high and striding confidently. Frank, however, should be slumped in a defeatist position, reflecting how life has defeated him. Ritas tone, when addressing Frank must be confident, and she should make much more eye  contact with him then before. Franks tone when he speaks should be much vaguer and less direct to convey his uncertainty to the audience. The passage of time could be marked in a number of ways. Changes in the characters and the set should show time passing clearly, as done in the film of Educating Rita. Firstly, an obvious way could be having a calendar on the back wall with the months changing as the play progresses. However, more subtle changes would reflect time passing just as well, and the subtler they are, the climax of them by the end of the play should surprise the audience by how gradual they have been, and indicate that it has taken a while for them to occur. Gradual changes in the set would probably reflect the time passing most effectively. The way it degenerates slowly should reflect how Franks degeneration happens over time. The office should slowly begin to become messier, with more papers scattered around, etc, but it should be gradual so that the audience are surprised when by Act One, Scene Five they realise just how dilapidated the set is. Also, when Frank is listening to his radio in some of the scenes, the broadcast could be about weather for example, and how it is changing as the seasons do. This could also indicate how time is passing as the seasons move on. Gradual changes in the characters way of dressing also should indicate how they are slowly developing and that it is taking time, and the clothes the characters wear could start off being light, summer wear, then gradually become more suitable for winter, then gradually become more summery again, also reflecting a change in seasons In conclusion, Educating Rita is a play that explores complex issues through a variety of themes using characters to develop them. The interesting characterisation means that this is not an abstract piece, and through the characters interaction the audience are captivated by their development. This makes the themes shown through them, come alive. By the end of the play we have an understanding of both characters point of view, and our sympathies lie with both characters. We can see why Frank was desperate for Rita to remain unique, but it is clear why she feels education is what she needed to uplift her. The way that neither character is depicted  as the right or wrong one show that the issues involved with both are not straightforward, and that their is not a simple answer to the questions raised by the themes which include education and class. The staging of the play if well done should add to the richness of the audiences experience, and help to show what effect the experiences have had upon each character and how they are changed by them.

Symbolism in Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston Essays -- Hurston Sweat Symbo

Symbolism in Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston is filled with symbolism ranging from images that are easily captured to things that require a little bit more insight. Religion has apparently played a major role in Hurston's life, readily seen in "Sweat" with the references to a snake and Gethsemane. Symbolism plays a big part of this story and after analyzing these, they give the story a deeper meaning and can enlighten the reader as to the full meaning of "Sweat". The most apparent symbol in the story is the title, "Sweat". It is also mentioned in the story, "Looka heah, Sykes, you done gone too fur. Ah been married to you fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin' in washin' fur fifteen years. Sweat, sweat, sweat! Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat" (Hurston 679). The "Sweat" is the product of Delia's hard work supporting them. It stands for her work ethic and how she has tried to make her work as best as she can, it is a big part of her life. Another easily recognized symbol in this story is that of the snake. "Sykes, what you throw dat whip on me like dat? You know it would skeer me - looks just like a snake, an' you knows how skeered Ah is of snakes" (Hurston 678). The snake is the main symbol in this story, it ties it together because it is mentioned at the beginning of the story and at the end. Sykes decides to bring a snake into their home, "Look in de box dere Delia, Ah done brung yuh somethin'.Syke! Syke, mah Gawd! You tak...

Star Wars Vs. Star Trek :: Compare Contrast Wars Trek Star Essays

Star Wars vs. Star Trek   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the past two decades, two science fiction cult classics have rivaled each other. Both have strong followings of loyal fans that live and breathe these classic tales. Lunch boxes, t-shirts, masks, bed sheets, and figurines are only some of the merchandising offspring of these two epic films. Star Wars and Star Trek certainly share many similarities being the benchmarks for the genre of science fiction movies. While the similarities are not difficult to see, especially when many people confuse their names to be the same thing, differences account for he greatness of each movie. If one were to place a Trekie (Star Trek fan) and a Star Wars maniac fan in the same room, surely only one would get out alive. This is because Star Wars and Star Trek are very arguably different. Although Star Wars and Star Trek are both stunning examples of modern science fiction, they are not the same. Star Trek and Star Wars each posses similar and different general concepts, themes, and motives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First of all, the technology of Star Trek and Star Wars hold some similarities, but mostly differences. Star Wars has the superior weaponry. Star Wars has lightsabers (highly dignified glowing swords that slice titanium doors like nuclear powered chainsaws), laser blasters, planet destroying canons, and mystical energy called â€Å"the force.† In Star Wars, most ships are capable of light speed, which can move their ships to different galaxies in seconds. Radically shaped battle ships and battle stations also add to the weapon arsenal. All in all Star Wars has stunning fictional technology which really creates the right atmosphere for the dialogue.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Star Trek, however, seems to have a more realistic approach to technology. Star Trek has pathetic tasers which look like garage door openers, but can be set to stun to preserve life instead of vaporizing it. The Star Trek vessels also posses photon torpedoes,which seem to always be deflected by the enemies shields. Star Trek ships posses warp speed, which is a common caracteristic with Star Wars’ lightspeed. The starships are very attractive and streamlined, but hold a more realistic and practical appearance. Star Trek’s technology resembles the most likely future of technology, which adds to the realism of Star Trek.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next, Star Wars and Star Trek have similarities and differences in characters. Star Wars tends to have very primitive alien life, for example the wookies and ewoks. Droids are nearly human with minor programming restrictions, but they do resemble tin cans and gold foil mannequins. The leaders are headstrong rebels who are very young,

Are People Unwise to Pursue Love Even When They Know It Will Cause Them Pain? Essay

Love is an important aspect of life, as it is a powerful bond of closeness, trust and understanding. History, literature and science are filled with examples of people aspiring after their love when consequences can be seen easily. These historical figures achieved great height and are remembered by people. Loss and pain are inevitable, and they are worth it when love, whether of a person , a cause or a country, is pursued. Facing pain is not unwise but rather heroic. Love can be sudden attraction that could pull people in, even when they know this love will not last and is forbidden. Marie Curie was a passionate physicist and chemist who is famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity, as she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Her husband was also an instructor at the school of physics and chemistry; it was their mutual interest in natural sciences that drew them together. However only after eleven years of marriage, Pierre was killed in a road accident, leaving Marie devastated by his death. After five years of his death, in 1911 it was revealed to the public that she was having an affair with physicist Paul Langevin, who was already a married man and a former student of Pierre’s. After the news broke, the Swedish Academy of Sciences even banned her from receiving her Nobel Prize. Marie challenged the Academy and attended the ceremony and this perhaps was her most courageous act. If then she had retreated, her career would have been over. She did not fear and staunchly believed that eventually her reputation and honor would be restored. Marie Curie, knowing the consequences of what her love might lead her to, decided to pursue it publicly, knowing it will risk her entire career. We can certainly not call her love unwise. It is a passionate love and it is to be remembered for ever. Even though pain of loss is an unavoidable consequence of love, it should not stop people from being in love. Life is followed by opposites: if we gain success then we also must be ready to lose something we possess. If we have good morals, then they will be ultimately challenged by corrupt forces. However these negative forces should not be a reason to stop us from reaching our goal and cherish every moment of love we can pursue. Recently I have received heartbreaking news from a relative saying his friend’s partner passed away from a fatal car accident. The woman clearly loved the man a lot, even after he was gone she suffered mental depression for several weeks. But the times they were together were the most prized moments of his life. They had a wonderful journey in life together, and even though they are forever apart, he can keep the thought of his wife in mind to gather courage and overcome difficulties in life. This shows determination and also shows that love is never unwise to pursue as long as it is true love. There is no doubt that a life pursuing love is greater than one that is blend. Love is a natural emotion that every living creature experiences. It will only be selfish and an act against way of life to deny the wonderful experience of closeness, peace, and happiness that everyone is meant to have. History, literature and life itself bear witness to that idea every day.

Dbq French and Indian War Essay

Before 1754, both the French and British had huge masses of land in America. Also sharing the land, was the natives, who were exceedingly nervous about the Englishmen taking away their land. This conflict eventually led to the French and Indian war, also known as the Seven Years war (1754-1763). The French and Indian war altered the political, economic, and ideological relations Britain and it’s American colonies in many ways where it ultimately led to the American Revolution because of the strain that was developed between them. The French and Indian war altered the political relations between Britain and it’s American colonies because of what happened before and after the French and Indian war. Before the war, the British had let colonists be and do whatever they wanted. But after the war, Britain had gained more land, as seen in Doc. A, and salutary neglect ended. This then brought up a feud on colonist’s representation in Parliament. To control the colonists, a British army was put in place that they told everyone was for their own protection from the Natives. The Proclamation Line was also executed, which was that a imaginary line that separated the colonists and the Natives(Doc. B). The British saw this a protection for the colonists, but it was actually just a negative for those saving up to buy land in new territory. Having the British soldiers guard the colonists from the natives became expensive, so the Quartering Act was put into place to make sure that every soldier would have a place to stay and then, the Restraining Act was enforced to make the colonist’s pay for the soldiers. This only enraged the colonists more because they were forced to house and support the enemy that was sent to take away their rights. All British relations in politics with the Americans were ruined because of acts put in place, causing the colonist’s to want to separate from Britain. The French and Indian war eventually slid the British back into a economic recession. They had to find a way to get their money back from the war. In Britain’s mind, the only logical place to get the money was from the American colonists because the money was technically spent on them, as seen in Doc. F. But The British was not expecting the hostile response from their Stamp Act and having to pay for the war damages. The colonists have never been taxed before, and they couldn’t understand why they had to pay without having representation for themselves. The Stamp Act really affected every colonist because they were forced to pay for every day items. The Stamp Act Congress sent appeals to Britain’s government to try to convince them of the insanity of the act, but the government was not going to change their mind(Doc. G). While going against the Stamp Act, the Colonists mocked the act by placing skulls in the place where the stamp on documents and letters would go(Doc. H). It was clear from the American response that they were not going to just give up and let the English tax them without a clear fight. Both the colonists and the British both had their different opinions, which created an even stronger strain between them, reeling in the American Revolution closer and closer. The ideological relations between the colonists and the British were undeniably a part of the developing strain after the French and Indian war. Before the war, North America was where the former England settlers went, and they still considered themselves as a part of their homeland(Doc. E), until the England government taxed the colonists and not their country as a whole(Doc. F). The colonists changed their ideology about staying loyal to their mother country because of this and slowly started to drift towards rebellion. The Natives also were about of the developing strain between the British and the colonists. The Natives were solely afraid that the British would take their land for farming, and they thought that the British people had no right to settle there(Doc. B). And then, after the Proclamation line was present, the military had come in to protect the colonists, but it is proven true that the armies were seen as scum (Doc. D). The American colonists just wanted equality and liberty from the British empire, but it was obvious that they weren’t going to get that because of the British taxes and not letting further settling in the other parts of the American land. Both of these contributions led to the colonists wanting to succeed from the British empire. The French and Indian war changed the political, economic, and the ideological relations between Britain and it’s American colonies because of the developing strain that eventually led to the American Revolution.

Case: Pizza Chains of the United States and Pizza Hut Essay

Executive Summary Competing in the market today can be very complicated. â€Å"The Pizza industry is a 30+ Billion per year industry (â€Å"Facts,† 2010)† Maintaining a steady position in this industry is very imperative to us being successful in such a competitive market environment. Deciding when to expand a company is very important. There are decisions to be made for example whether management wants to vertically or horizontally integrate. What Resources will be needed? Other decisions may be to add a new product line to compete with other companies already in the market. Recognizing these issues early on help to eliminate falling behind in the market due to not recognizing competition when as it arises. So far to date Domino’s has done a remarkable job at staying ahead of the game. Being an innovator in deliver, later marketing the HeatWave bag, and even entering into new markets with hot oven subs and pasta bowls. The latest of our strive for excellence has resulted in us revamping our recipe. Just like everyone else we have our weaknesses, but our strengths are where we prevail. We have a great supply chain and have integrated it quite well. Our ability to change and implement these though our franchises have been relatively impressive. This is very unique to us indeed. We have overcome many obstacles. Since 2007 the economy has taken a downturn and has yet to recover completely. We have adapted by reducing prices, adding menu items and integrated a new recipe into our company to achieve more of a competitive advantage in this every changing market. As Trends change so do we. Even though we are doing great with the current changes, we need to take full advantage of the momentum and enter into a new market before a new competitor rises up and blindly and takes us by surprise. The frozen pizza market has almost exploded in the last few years with America trying to get more for the buck. â€Å"The frozen pizza market continues to perform well as consumers continue to seek value and convenience and are trading down from delivery and restaurant pizza companies(Shea, 2010)† to include us and our competitors. This is our chance to get into the frozen pizza market. With brand recognition alone we should be successful and now that we have our new recipe behind us we should be able to be a strong contender. Expanding that even further and not only offering frozen but offering unfrozen pizza as well with fresh topping in my opinion has a recipe for success. Imagine customers grabbing a domino’s pizza while grocery shopping. They would be getting the same over freshness we offer without the need for delivery. We could penetrate that market from customers who normally don’t order delivery. Dominos has made these decisions before â€Å"We made a lot of tough calls in terms of expanding our menu and changing our recipe(Veenendaal , & York, 2010) â€Å"according to Mr. Brandon. This is something we obviously are getting really good with. Without recognizing this new threat of competing with the frozen food isle we are destined to fall behind. Introduction Domino’s pizza first began in 1960 from a pizza store known as DomiNicks. It was purchased by Tom Monaghan and his brother James Monaghan for $900. James later sold his half of the partnership to Tom for a Volkswagen Beetle. In 1965 Tom now the sole owner of the company renames it to the name we recognize today as Domino’s. The first Dominos pizza franchise originated from Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1967. In 1978 the Franchise had grew to over 200 stores. Then again only 5 years later in 1983 we hit another bench mark in our company by reaching our 1000th store and were international. Today approximately 90% of our company’s domestic stores are franchised. We use our company owned stores as a testing ground for our new products and technologies which we then pass onto our franchisees. Over our 45-year history, â€Å"Domino’s has developed a simple business model focused on its core strength of delivering quality pizza in a timely manner. This business model includes a delivery-oriented store design with low capital requirements, a focused menu of pizza and complementary side items, committed owner-operator franchisees and a vertically-integrated distribution system (Reuters, 2010). †In 1993 we had to discontinue a successful marketing campaign for delivery that was well known as the 30-min guarantee and redirected out emphasis on more on the Total Satisfaction Guarantee; â€Å"If for any reason you are dissatisfied you’re your Domino’s Pizza dining experience, we will re-make your pizza or refund your money(â€Å"Our Heritage,† 2008). † In the 1992 we rolled out bread sticks which had significance in that it was our first non-pizza menu item. Shorty after that in 1994 we introduced Buffalo wings to our domestic stores. This another technique used to complement our already thriving pizza delivery business. When compared to others in the industry during this time we were sustaining our competitiveness by offering more of a range of products with speedy delivery. Spinning off into the hot wings market allowed us to grab attention of being more than just a pizza delivery business. We now had more variety with the same great speed and service. With the dot com bubble coming to light in the 90’s, we again led the way by getting in early on the dominos. com. â€Å"The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995-2000(â€Å"W dot-com bubble,† 2010). †We recognized this competitive advantage early and launch our first website in 1996, Dominos. com. Our ability to continue to recognize the importance of adapting to an ever changing market has been the key to us maintaining our current position today. In 1998 we launched another industry innovation by offering the first patented technology bag that keeps the pizza oven-hot to the customer door. It was called the Domino’s Heat Wave and was used heavily in advertisement to gain customer confidence in the delivery of a hot piping pizza directly to their door and is still used today. This added to our already strong brand recognition in the market and continued to add more of a distance between us and our competitors. By taking full advantage of the opportunity to be an innovator to pizza delivery, we not only provided a service that was not yet established in the market place early but established the brand name recognition for pizza delivery which is the key advantage over other competitors in the pizza delivery service. After most of the recent research that has been done today, it has come to our attention in today’s market that customers would prefer a great tasting pizza over a speedy delivery. The fact that we have shifted our ideas to revamping our recipes was a great challenge for us this past year and has worked out rather well. This was big step from our traditional idea of being successful by competing to make a speedy delivery and cheaper pizza. Today we are competing by making a great pizza with the added convenience of delivery to the customer door step hot and fresh as well. We operate out business in three segments, domestic stores, domestic supply chain, and international. Our domestic stores are comprised of 4461 franchise stores and 466 company-owned stores, generated revenues of $493. 6 million and income from operations of 121. 5 million during the fiscal year ended jan3, 2010. Our domestic supply chain segment, generated revenues of $763. 7 million and income from operations of $57. 0 million during 2009. Our international segment generated revenues of $146. 8 million, of which approximately 53% related to franchises royalties and fees, and generated income from operations of $66. 8million, of which approximately 91% related to franchise royalties and fees. This was all data taken from the 2009 dominos 10k. This shows our ability to compete. Our mission statement says a lot about us as a company. â€Å"Exceptional franchisees and team members on a mission to be the best pizza delivery company in the world (â€Å"Bloomburg business week,† 2010)† shows that even though we have focused on selling more pizza than any other competitor in the market we want to encourage a fun atmosphere. By encouraging our employees to work as part of a team, it not only encourages a successful work environment, but also reflects over the counter to our customers. This high energetic atmosphere surrounding our establishments has a great impact on the customer’s perspective and how they perceive us and the value of not only the product we sell but our company as a whole. This is in line with our vision statement as well. One of our international vision statements of being â€Å"number one in pizza, number one is people (â€Å"Inside domino’s,† 2008)† shows our commitment not only to making great pizza but ensuring our customer’s stay happy. Today more than ever people are addicted to fast food. It is a fast growing industry. Fast food is considered by most to be a food that is consumed on the go. Customer’s today love style, taste, and have preferences that we as a participant in the pizza delivery sector must tap into to be successful. â€Å"The Pizza industry is a 30+ Billion per year industry (â€Å"Facts,† 2010)† Maintaining a steady position in this industry is very imperative to us being successful in such a competitive market environment. We have made a significant step forward by changing our game plan and mixing up our ingredients to get more of what Americans are in tune with. â€Å"Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day or about 350 slices per second (â€Å"Facts,† 2010)†. Understanding the current eating habits of our customers today is the key to being successful in tomorrow world. We have led the way by being an innovator and setting the standard in delivery when we first began and don’t need to stop now only by spicing up our ingredients. We now have the momentum to achieve so much more and I highly recommend we take full opportunity of this push forward to regain our customers and compete not only in pizza delivery industry, but in the frozen food isle as well. There are so many avenues of completion we could look at and I would like to take this opportunity to give you’re my insights and the direction I think we should pursue to take our company far in to the future and deter other from entering our industry. Analysis-Debt Analysis In analyzing our debt, I have discovered that our greatest strength according to standard and poor’s is our ability to continue to have reductions in debt. This gives us a favorable upper hand in the market being that our competitor’s realize that we now have plenty of working capital. â€Å"Our favorable view of DPZ reflects the expected benefits we see from the company’s four-pronged strategy. Namely, its ongoing reductions in debt, the early success of efforts to gain domestic market share via its â€Å"New Inspired Pizza,† a heightened focus on operational excellence and financial strength among its domestic franchisee base, and continuing international expansion. (â€Å"S&p focus stock,† 2009). †Hopefully this will help sustain our competitive differences among our competition. In looking at the financials from moneycentral.com, I have discovered that our net profit margin to be 5. 5% and papa john’s net profit margin to be 5. 44%. This shows that we have a slighter higher return on every dollar we have invested and thus leading us to have a stronger position than papa johns. According to the 10k posted on investing. businessweek. com we have a strong cash flow and earnings stream â€Å"A substantial percentage of our earnings are generated by our committed, owner-operator franchisees through royalty payments and revenues to our vertically-integrated supply chain system(United states securities, 2010). †Our system has produced strong cash flow for us, this had led to our success enabling us to invest in the domino’s pizza brand, our stores, and our supply chain centers, pay dividends, and repurchase share of common stock, and repurchases and retire outstanding principle on our fixed debt notes and deliver a better than average return for our stockholders. Our system is a very diversified franchise system. We have come a long way in our line of business. Being that we not only integrated a new recipe to integrate it into this whole supply chain has been quite impressive. With corporate deciding to change our ingredients in our pizza recipe to regain our customer base has been more than a success and the number reflect on our 10k for 2009. This reflects to an extent that our â€Å"new inspired pizza† for the moment is working. New Inspired Pizza This new strategic decision to ramp up our recipe all came about after a study we conducted a study in 2009. We discovered that a lot of people did not like our pizza. With statement made like â€Å"Domino’s pizza crust, to me, taste like cardboard (burkitt, 2009). † We had no other option but to change the way we made pizza dough and sauce recipes and launched new and inspired pizzas earlier this year. We reformulated our ideas to regain new and old customers. After weighing the fact that we no longer have the lead in delivery and the taste of our pizza is a very important to our customers. This alerted us to the how our old strategic performance measured up. This again gave us a much needed opportunity to give the customers something different. Our competition has decided to stay with their traditional style recipes and we now have the opportunity to surge forward and offer a more value to our customers with our new look and feel. We took a huge gamble in our advertising campaign for our â€Å"New Inspired Pizza† by acknowledging our previous shortcomings of our pizza. This campaign included TV ads giving customers a snapshot of our new ingredients. We have encouraged many to try our new pizza and so far it has been a successful campaign. According to the data we collected I am pretty confident that the new pizzas have been a huge success, leading to 14% sales increase in the first quarter of 2010 at most locations opened more than a year. The fact that the customer realizes we listened to them, and we changed our pizza shows our loyalty to how our customer feel. They reacted by returning. As of the quarter ending march 28th, 2010 â€Å"the company’s domestic same store sales grew 14. 3% as a result of increased store traffic from the successful introduction of its new and inspired pizza(â€Å"Domino’s pizza announces,† 2010). †There has been a lot of noise around the change to our pizza. I feel that it has obviously showed it was successful. Our President and chief executive officer J. Patrick Doyle, has been quoted as stating â€Å"a remarkably better pizza, and our honesty in how we told consumers about it, is paying off with a revitalized overall category – with dominos leading that trend. We couldn’t be more please with the success of our new and inspired pizza (â€Å"Domino’s pizza announces,† 2010). † This is a very important statement in that that not only demonstrates that our president is in full tune with what is going on in our company but he truly understood what we faced and has inspired to our competitors that we will not throw in the towel and that we will be giant to contend with if they decide to get into our market. He later added â€Å"Our international division kept up its phenomenal growth trajectory again this quarter, with continued success in our existing markets, along with new markets expected to open in Europe, Asia and Latin America yet in 2010. I think we have by far the best international story in the sector. (â€Å"Domino’s pizza revenue,† 2010) . † This is very significant in that is relays another message that we not only concerned about one division but multiple ones. We are very good at what we do. We show diversification and show the world we are global contenders. Sub Competition Another strength I see that we recognized approximately 2 years ago and was the idea to add oven baked sandwiches. This has led to our competitiveness in that we deliver not only pizza but hot oven baked sandwiches as well. Prices at just $4. 99 and available in 4 varieties offers competitiveness to more than just pizza hut and papa john’s but other fast food chains as well. Papa johns does compete in this area with chicken strips but have failed to expand any further. They have desert pizza’s but so far that decision has not affected our sales. Customer’s ability to have the convenience of sitting at home and have us deliver their oven baked sandwich versus having to drive not only appeals to them on a convenience level but also that they save gas as well. The president of dominos USA commented on the launch stating â€Å"as of today, we are the largest sandwich delivery company in the nation. This launch springboards dominos in the lunch business by providing a product that is high quality, priced right and aimed at convenience-minded people without a lot of time. Of course, sandwiches are also available any time our stores are open (â€Å"Domino’s pizza extends,† 2008). † Reevaluation We have also reevaluated our domestic franchisee stores to change things up a bit. We have recognized the need for improved performance. We recognized the three dimensions of performance according to the Strategic management by bandford and west â€Å"1) summery measures that reflect the impact of integrated efforts across the entire company, 2) measures that can be compared to competitors and 3) measures that account for longer periods of time(Bamford, West, & Reviews, 2009)† We gave the stores a grade from A to D Based on sales, operating profits, and the strengths of their financials. This analyzed the summary of how the franchise stores measured up across our domestic market. This allows to recognized problems and fixes them without causing damages to our reputation. The franchise’s that scored the lowest were offered assistance and advise on how to regain back their customer base. This big push forward in the implementation of reevaluation and adjustments to our existing stores to how we do business is was much needed. We provided them with the option to be bought out. Due to our ability to repurchase these weaker franchisees locations, this led refranchises to its stronger operators. These were measured we considered important when comparing to our competitors. We did have to shut down a number of stores but the results we hope to achieve are higher sales for franchisees and a boost to company royalties as well. This all played in as a part of return on assets (ROA). After this strategic decision of realigning our stores this gave our existing stores more company profitability, and also focused on each stores strengths and weaknesses. Marketing Campaign Without an effective marketing campaign and getting the word out that we got it, our changes would have been pointless. There comes a time when we realized changes needed to be made. The fact that we discovered customers were not completely satisfied with our pizza and reacted was a great move on our part to recognize it could damage us dramatically if changes were not made accordingly. This led to our drive to become better. In taking advantage of today technologically advances and using YouTube to relay the message that we got the message. It allowed customers to see exactly what we were doing to combat the flaws that they had pointed out. We were aware they were unhappy and this has helped in significantly getting the word out our pizza has changed and we do care about how our product taste. Weakness A huge weakness that I feel that we really need to consider and get on board with today is the entry into the pizza into the frozen pizza industry. This has many potential upsides. This may be one of the best strategic moves we could make using the momentum we have with the revitalizing of our pizza. We need to show we can take on any competitor. Taking full advantage of the opportunity provided by the economy and using this to our advantage not only guarantees that we can be successful in the market but also seals the deal that when the economy picks up that we will remain victorious there. The customers have rushed the frozen food isles in grocery stores since it may be cheaper to purchase and microwave a pizza than ordering from delivery which in general tends to be more expensive. Providing pizza’s cheaper grasp the customer’s attention when deciding where money gets the most for its value. We still provide a superior product but in my opinion we have to compete with price in this market to be successful and to do that we need to be in this market. We have to look further than our traditional competitors and broaden our horizon. This way of thinking and planning ahead assures we continue to be competitive and reestablished our ability to adapt to change. The Competition It is not secret who our biggest competitors are. The tradition pizza wars between us and pizza hut, and papa john’s has been among the greatest. Today we not only compete with pizza hut as a top competitor but Papa john pizza as well. There are some other local establishments that try to compete but for the most part domestically, these are the top two we need to be concerned about and devote our attention to analyzing our marketing approach. We need to remain vigilant and aggressive in assessing our competition and not forget that at any moment they could regain the momentum. So far we have sustained our position but to obtain sustainability in the market takes being very proactive and not underestimating the competition or taking for granted our current position. In comparing ourselves among other in the industry it is no secret that we must compete with papa johns and pizza hut to remain successful in our market. In analyzing the big three, domino’s pizza they reported a â€Å"1. 4% increase in domestic same store sales for the fourth quarter ending jan3rd (Morgan, 2010). †2009, pizza hut reported sales were â€Å"down 9% for 2009(Morgan, 2010)†,and papa john’s â€Å"reported same-store sales were down . 5% this quarter (Morgan, 2010). †These numbers have demonstrated our ability to regain our competitive separation. We have focused more on ramping up our recipe but â€Å"it is hard to gauge how to sustainable it is. Typically you see a few good weeks on any promotion, but this is such a different thing (Morgan, 2010). †This approach should prove to be a successful market campaign but time will tell. Pizza hut has elected to go with more of a traditional approach focused on price competition, with a â€Å"$10 any way you want it(Morgan, 2010)† promotion. This shows their ability to at least acknowledge the market in that with a weaker economy customer want more the buck but in long term our ability to take time now to focus more on taste and excitement surrounding our company is a long term solution. Competing with price is fairly easy to implement but recipes take time and focus more on were a company want to go. Papa johns have also got caught up in this price war with pizza hut. Offering same price comparisons similar to what pizza hut offers. Frozen Pizza In comparing ourselves with the frozen food industry which I feel we should consider a competitor, I have noticed a market that is quickly being dominated by a company Nestles(PK) who I think could soon be considered a serious competitor. By recognizing this threat now we can jump ahead of our traditional competition by entering into the market. Nestles add such brands as DiGiorno, Tombstone and California pizza kitchen when they recently acquisitioned Kraft(KFT) . They now own more than 50% of the frozen pizza market.â€Å"this is more than there twice the share of their next major frozen pizza competitor Schans foods, maker of red baron, tony’s and freshmetta brands, who slightly hold less than 25% share of the category(Shea, 2010). † When analyzing and looking at the total sales generated in the 52 week ending august 9th, 2010 the brand digiorno generated sales of $591,262,700 and for the week ending may 17th,2009 generated $534,356,200. The following charts are referenced from (â€Å"Pizza sales 2009,† 2010) Top 10 Frozen Pizza Brands (for the 52 weeks ending August 9, 2010) DiGiorno| $591,262,700|. Tombstone| $270,412,700| Red Baron| $256,308,000| California Pizza Kitchen| $175,750,800| Totino’s Party Pizza| $152,630,700| Top 10 Brands of Frozen Pizza (for the 52 weeks ending May 17, 2009) Brand Name| Dollar Sales| Unit Sales| DiGiorno| $534,356,200| 100,464,200| Tombstone| $254,147,400| 69,809,980| Red Baron| $245,141,600| 62,940,960| California Pizza Kitchen| $175,838,600| 32,818,720| This shows that the frozen pizza industry is having a huge impact on our society today and they are demonstrating that they can achieve a significant growth of sales in a relatively short amount of time. Recommendations In researching out company and analyzing our success to date, and the current market conditions, I see a great opportunity for us to consider entry into the frozen pizza market and not only offer frozen but offer unfrozen daily made fresh pizza’s as well. This will allow the consumer to take our pizza home and get the oven freshness that we can offer without delivery as well. This not only will complement our ramped up recipe but will take less time to cook when a customer is not interested in delivery but rather take advantage of the convenience of cooking it themselves. Unfrozen pizza and made daily with fresh toppings will be a great advertising campaign as well. â€Å"the frozen pizza market continues to perform well as consumers continue to seek value and convenience and are trading down from delivery and restaurant pizza companies(Shea, 2010)† to include us and our competitors. For us to assume that this market doesn’t affect us may be a big mistake on our part. I have seen no reason why we couldn’t penetrate that market effectively, especially with our brand recognition. So far we have done a great job at anticipating the market the knowing when to make changes and adapt or market to make successful changes that keep us on top of the market. We obviously understand our ability to adapt to change and get into other markets rather easily. From hot wings to now hot oven sandwiches our implementations are rather efficient and are easily transitioned to our stores. I have explained that the market is very intense and failure for us to expand into other parts that affect our industry may be a big mistake. I also think that we can take advantage of reducing our prices as well. There is no reason why we cannot bundle our advertisement campaigns together and run them consecutively. Competing with pizza huts price not only may regain customers but also gives customer that otherwise shop for the cheapest delivery service a chance to taste our new pizza. With the time and effort we have put in the new taste of our pizza, I feel that we need to not only get the word out though commercials but through word of mouth as well being not only competitive with taste but price will be our another one of our tools to success. Citations. Facts. (2010). Retrieved from http://www. pizzaware. com/facts. htm http://www. dominosbiz. com/Biz-Public-EN/Site+Content/Secondary/About+Dominos/Diversity/ Inside domino’s. (2008). Retrieved from http://www. dominospizza. co. nz/corporate/inside/visionmission. aspx Our Heritage. (2008). Retrieved from http://www. dominos. com/Public-EN/Site%2BContent/Secondary/Inside%2BDominos/Ou r%2BHeritage/ W dot-com bubble. (2010). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved (2010, May 31) from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble Reuters, T. (2010). Domino’s pizza inc. marketwatch, Retrieved from http://www. marketwatch. com/investing/stock/dpz/profile S&p focus stock of the week. (2009). S&P The Outlook, Retrieved from http://www. spoutlookonline. com/NASApp/NetAdvantage/FocusStockOfTheWeek. do? &context=Company&docId=15485805 Domino’s pizza announces first quarter 2010 financial results. (2010, may 04). Retrieved from http://finance. yahoo. com/news/Dominos-Pizza-Announces-First-prnews-3155025210. html? x=0&. v=1 burkitt, l. (2009, Dec 22). Domino’s launches massive $75 million ad blitz. Forbes.com, Retrieved from http://www. forbes. com/2009/12/21/dominos-pizza-recipe-ad-campaign-cmo-network-dominos. html Veenendaal , P, & York, e. (2010). After Tumultuous year, new domino. Advertising Age, Retrieved from http://adage. com/article? article_id=141334 Bamford, Charles, West, Page, & Reviews, Cram101. (2009). Outlines & highlights for strategic management. Academic Internet Pub Inc. Morgan, s. (2010, April 12). The Pizza portfolio. Smartmoney, Retrieved from http://www. smartmoney. com/investing/stocks/the-pizza-portfolio/? cid=1186 Shea, R.(2010, April 12). Nestle: the new 800 pound gorilla in frozen foods. Seeking Alpha, Retrieved from http://seekingalpha. com/article/207736-nestle-the-new-800-pound-gorilla-in-fr ozen-foods Pizza sales 2009. (2010, Feb 18). Retrieved from https://www. aibonline. org/resources/statistics/2009pizza. htm Domino’s pizza extends its menu. (2008, 2009 09). Retrieved from http://www. franchisekey. com/us/franchise-news/Domino-s-Pizza-extends-its-menu-. htm. Bloomburg business week. (2010, may 31). domino’s pizza inc 10-k , Retrieved from http://investing. businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/secfilings. asp? ticker=DPZ:US United states securities and exchange commission washington, d. c. 20549 form 10-k. (2010). [Commission File Number 001-32242]. (web), Retrieved from http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/financials/drawFiling. asp? docKey=136-000119312510045334-2CPIO5V2KAG3763AONFHFPD3VN&docFormat=HTM&formType=10-K Domino’s pizza revenue up 18. 4 per cent. (2010, may 06). New Statesman, Retrieved from http://www. newstatesman. com/business-food-and-drink/2010/05/quarter-store-international.

Infant Observation Essay

For my assignment, I observed at the daycare program housed inside my church called Gateway To Learning (2930 Rayford Rd., Spring, TX 77386), a Christian childcare provider for ages 6-weeks to fourth grade (after school). There are currently 185 children enrolled in the GTL program, including after-schoolers. GTL employs approximately 50 people, not including substitute teachers. The teacher:student ratios are as follows: ages 6 weeks to 12 months – 4:1, 12 to 18 months – 5:1, 18 to 24 months – 9:1, 2 year olds – 11:1, 3 year olds – 15:1, and four year olds – 18:1. All of the teachers must be CPR certified, First Aid certified, and trained in SIDS, shaken baby syndrome, infant brain development, and child abuse. I was placed in the infant room with babies 6-weeks to one year. The room was set up well. There were eight cribs and/or pack-and-plays aligned around the walls of the room with allowed for easy movement of teachers and crawlers. In t he center of the room was a bright, primary color plat mat that the little ones loved rolling around on. There were also bouncers and jumper play toys for the kids to hop inside and have fun with. In one corner of the room was the changing table, kitchenette for warming milk and mixing baby cereal, and refrigerator for storage. There was ample storage space in the kitchenette and the entrances were blocked with childproof gates. Each child has a cubby to put their diaper bags in as well as extra toys, blankets, etc. I think that the room was just the right size for the amount of children in the class, and I think that it was set up in a user-friendly way so getting around was simple. The infant room was on a schedule, but the babies are tiny and all on their own schedules at home, so it was difficult for the teachers to get all of the children doing the same thing at the same time. For instance, when it was time for lunch, some babies had just fallen asleep. The schedule was fairly straightforward: arrive, breakfast, nap, play, lesson, lunch, nap, play, leave. But like I mentioned, some babies were doing their own thing, napping when they could have been playing or playing when they were supposed to be eating. Upon asking the teachers about the schedule, they all agreed that if everyone is happy, then the schedule comes second. I think I would agree with their opinions. Although the infant room wasn’t strict on scheduling, all of the babies were happy during my observation. None of the children in the infant room were talking much. There was only one baby (11 months) that could make actual words. He could say â€Å"Mama† and â€Å"Dada.† Pretty basic. The other babies were verbal, definitely able to let you know if they were hungry, wet or tired, just not producing identifiable words. At one point during my time, one baby was in a jumper talking with another baby across the room. They were chatting back and forth and laughing with each other. I wish I could have understood what they were saying, because it was so cute. My favorite age in the infant room were 6-9 months because they were so bright-eyed and ready for anything. All of the teachers spoke with cheerful voices and kept their tones light. When they would talk directly to a baby, they wouldn’t use baby-talk and instead focused on using the same words over and over again to teach the baby to remember select words or phrases. For example, when one baby was hungry and started crying, the teacher that fed him kept saying, â€Å"Letâ⠂¬â„¢s get your milk.† I asked if the babies tended to remember the short words or phrases and she responded that half of the time there was success. When it came to diapering, the changing table was sanitized after each diaper change and new wax paper is laid on the cushion before the next baby is changed. Employees must wear gloves when changing diapers and wash their hands after finishing. Every few hours, the toys in the infant room are sanitized. The floor mat is sanitized three times a day, once in the morning, once at lunch, and once in the afternoon. To prevent bad health/hygiene, employees are required to wash their hands before handling personal baby items such as food, clothes, pacifiers, etc. If one child has a runny nose and the teacher uses a tissue, she will then have to wash her hands even though her skin never touched the baby’s runny nose. The teachers in the infant room were constantly washing their hands, just to be safe. When the babies were ready to be fed, the teacher would wash her hands, warm the milk/mix the baby cereal, and either sit in a rocking chair or place the baby in a freshly sanitized high chair to feed them. After the baby was finished, the teacher would wash out the bottles/bowls and sanitize the high chair. Then she would wash her hands again. Each baby was on their own feeding schedule, so running water was a noise I heard constantly throughout the day. When the babies were ready to go to bed, they were placed in a crib designated for them. Each baby was given a blanket provided by the parents during nap time and a pacifier if provided by the parent as well. Some babies slept in 20 minute intervals while others slept for an hour depending on their age. Like I mentioned, it is hard to get all of the babies to sleep at the same time, but I was surprised that the ones who would fall asleep stayed asleep while their classmates fussed when hungry or wet. There were a variety of toys for the babies to play with. From dogs that sang songs to maracas for them to shake, each baby had plenty of options. The favorite toys in the room were the ones where the baby could lay down while playing with them, so mobiles and jumpers were the most popular. There were also electric swings to lay the babies in if they weren’t happy sleeping in their cribs as well as pack-and-plays. When it came to communication between teachers and parents, there were quite a few ways of transferring information. Each baby had a clipboard with their name on it with papers that were sent home with the parents at the end of each day. The slips had time slots when diapers were changed, bottles were drunk, and naps were taken. I liked how easy it was to organize the information and still keep the parents happy. Notes were often sent in diaper bags for specific inquiries like â€Å"Can you please send an extra onesie tomorrow?† and of the sort. Overall I think the communication process is very organized and is easy for everyone. My overall opinion of GTL is very high. I had a great time observing and learning about how my church provides care for kids that don’t always come on Sundays. The atmosphere of GTL was very positive and everyone seemed genuinely happy to be working there. All of the teachers were friendly with the kids, even when they had to punish them or take something away, and did everything with a kind heart. The room was very clean and the babies were all happy (most of the time). I liked how each baby had their own crib and cubby, and how everyone was so personable. There were a lot of people stopping by the door just to say â€Å"hi† to another teacher, and I liked knowing that all of the employees seemed to get along with each other without too many issues. The director was pleasant and inviting, as well as knowledgeable when it came to procedures, trainings, and employing new team members. I really enjoyed my time at GTL and will definitely go back when I need to gather more information for my Pre-School observatio n.