Analyzing Ibsens Character, Hedda Gabler Essay -- Character Analysis,

Henrik Ibsen's character, Hedda Gabler, is a woman who is torn between her desires and the expectations required of someone of her social standing. At the onset of the play, Hedda has been married for six months, but she still clings to her maiden name, as evident in the title of the play, â€Å"Hedda Gabler.† Her reluctance at accepting her new name is symbolic of her dissatisfaction of being married; she misses the freedom of being single, while at the same time longs to be married to an aristocrat, to someone who is more important in society than her husband is. Hedda was raised under the rule of her military father, General Gabler, and was probably subjected to strict rules and discipline. Growing up she learned nothing of the domestic skills and expectations required of the women of her social standing; she also learned nothing about motherhood, which left her feeling terrified and lost once she learned she was pregnant. Instead, she learned how to shoot pistols and ride horses. Her high social standing never left her in want of any possessions; Hedda was â€Å"used to having things in the General's time† (168). She was constantly engaged in social situations with suitors who, though she was beautiful, did not want to marry her. Her lack of prospects within the aristocratic class led her to accept a marriage proposal from Jà ¶rgen Tesman, a scholar of lower social standing. Her husband's potential failure at being able to obtain a respectable position at a university leaves Hedda fearing her security and the possibility of not being able to afford new and expensive possessions. Upon her first appearance on stage, one can garner some very important clues as to Hedda's personality. She is â€Å"aristocratic and elegant† (175) and ... ...p† (203) between herself, her husband, and Brack. The inevitability of an impending affair, coupled with her unwanted pregnancy and loveless marriage, convinced Hedda that she was losing all control of her life. Suicide was Hedda's final attempt at regaining her control. She destroyed her and Tesman's child, just as she had done with Mrs. Elvsted and Là ¶vborg's â€Å"child;† if she did not love the unborn child, no one else was going to be able to. But foremost, she wanted to be able to escape male dominion, most notably that of Brack's. She did not relish the idea of having to cater to his needs and abhorred the idea of having an affair because, if someone found out, it would cause a scandal. In Hedda's eyes, the only way out of this dire situation was to commit suicide. But her death was not going to be hideous like Là ¶vborg's was; hers was going to be beautiful.

Statement of Educational Goals and Philosophy :: My Philosophy of Education

Statement of Educational Goals and Philosophy Henry Ford, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Abraham Lincoln. What do these four men have in common? First they are considered geniuses. Second they were all considered poor learners in school. This is why I want to teach. I want to help the kids who have obvious potential, but may be struggling in the classroom. By ignoring kids who are falling behind, we may be losing the next revolutionary thinker of our time. To achieve this goal, I will have to undergo a series of training steps. The first step I have already completed. I have been a mentor for the Americorps Energy Express program for two years. This has helped me to choose the career of education, and has also influenced the area in which I want to teach, special education. This past year I had a child in my class with a slight physical handicap, he was partially deaf. He had fallen behind in all of his classes at school, and was going to have to repeat the third grade. His teachers had never noticed his handicap, but for some reason he decided to tell me. By employing some different techniques, his reading improved greatly over the summer to the point were he was one of the best readers in my class. The look of pride when he read aloud was priceless, as was the look on my face because I knew I had made a difference in his life. In addition, I am in the process of earning my undergraduate degree from Concord College. My area of emphasis is library science. The reason I chose this major instead of Special Education is that in case I can not find a job, I will be able to help children with, in my opinion, the most important aspect of learning- reading. After I receive my undergraduate degree from Concord College, I plan on attending graduate school and earning my Master’s Degree in Special Education. This way I will be able to help children in two ways. Since I plan to teach children with learning problems, I will need special techniques which none of the major philosophical viewpoints can offer by itself.

Why do females migrate to work as maids? Essay -- Immigration, Domesti

Why do females migrate to work as maids? In general woman will migrate to work as domestic workers for one of three reason. (i) limited or no jobs in their country of origin (ii) the income in there country of origin is not enough to sustain there family; and (iii) to get away from a volatile family situation. Women see working as a maid in another country as way to solve these problems and ways to support there families back home. However the question has arisen once these women from lesser developed nations arrive in the rich developed nations does working as a ‘maid’ offer greater independence or does it just lead to more oppression and exploitation? This essay will demonstrate using the United Sates of America and the United Arab Emirates as a case study,that there is no conclusive answer to the question posed; rather it depends on the country and the individual circumstances of each person. Does the employment offer them greater independence in the US? Domestic workers experience in the United Sates varies dramatically depending on the visa-status of women and the work arrangements in place for the domestic worker. In general Live in maids in the US are the most devoid of independence and control of their lives, and often work long hours without a day off. On the other hand live out domestic workers to some extent has more independence and freedom of their lives, but this is dependent on the worker being legally allowed to work and remain in the US. The common conception of a ‘live-out’ maid is that they are empowered and have control of lives, however in the US some women working as ‘maids’ are objectified and treated as commodity to be sold at auction. May women are exploited through labor agencies in the ... ...hem to help their families back home and improve their own financial situation. Another benefit from working in the UAE is that generosity is a social value within the UAE. Employers give tips to their employees, give them money to buy gifts and electronic once their contract ends for their families back home, and the domestic workers get to travel over summer with their employer (ilo report p.34). It could be argued that domestic workers in the UAE do have some sense of agency like the workers in the US, but no where near the same extent. Arguable the domestic workers have agency due to the fact that they had a choice whether or not to go work in UAE and they independently earning money for there family. Nevertheless they lack agency in terms of their freedom of movement thought and sexuality since they are ‘enslaved’ to their employer to the end of their contract.

Literature Review on Insurance Management System Essay

ABSTRACT Insurance system automates the management of insurance activities, which involves Defining Policies, Schemes, Policy Specifications, Policy Terms and Conditions, Policies registrations by the customers, Facilitates the Premiums Flexi-Pay modes, Policy Bonus in Flexible periods. The Agents are involved in the process of the Customer Policy registration and the Commissions are based on the targets achieved by the Agents. Insurance System also maintains the database of the Branch Managers who deals with the Agents which in turn deals with the Customers. Before developing this application all activities done manually, then all the activities take more time and also take more manpower. Commission, interests, dues calculate manually, based on this manual problem sometimes calculate the wrong All related information passed one branch to another branch through courier. Sometimes miss the important documents. So these problems overcome when we will develop the system. This system is very helpful to automation of entire Insurance system and also reduces the time and manpower. 1. CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION Insurance is the most commonly mechanism of managing risk. The term risk is defined as the possibility that positive expectations of a goal oriented system will not be fulfilled. Risk is generally classified into two broad categories: -Speculative Risks which may bring in speculative losses or sometimes speculative profits as well. -Pure risks which are fortuitous in nature and will potentially bring in only losses. Insurance covers only pure risk with an element of uncertainty about their occurring, effective insurance management system aims at optimisation of cover for economical cost and also ensuring availability of protection when it is most needed. An insurance transaction has always been viewed purely in financial terms i.e. the company paying a consideration called premium and in return receiving a promise to be compensated monetarily, for the losses suffered due to operation of insured perils. However, the concept of insurance management system is much wider in scope than th e mere financial implications of costs and benefits of an insurance transaction. Background of the study Insurance Market consists of the buyers of insurance and the sellers together with the intermediaries (agents) who bring the two together. In addition there are also the regulators, representative bodies or organizations, consultants and technical advisers which are part and parcel of the market. The Buyers Anyone who has valid insurable interest i.e., legally recognized relationship with property or pecuniary interest, can insurer their interest. The relationship may arise through ownership, part-ownership or responsibility for goods, or liability to pay damages or certain benefits. In Nigeria the buyers of insurance can be segmented as follows: †¢Individuals and families †¢Governments (federal, state, local) and their agencies †¢Parastatals †¢Multinationals †¢Conglomerates †¢Manufacturing industrial concerns †¢Small and medium scale industries †¢Banking industry †¢Health institutions †¢Tourist and hospitality industries, hotels †¢Transport industry †¢Other corporate bodies †¢Educational institutions †¢Oil and energy industry For marketing purposes the buyers can further be segmented to suit the strategy of the insurer, or the insurance agent. The Sellers The sellers or suppliers of insurance are the insurance companies and the reinsurance companies. At present there are about 118 registered insurance companies and 5 registered reinsurance companies. Most of the insurance companies are incorporated pursuant to Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990. About 106 of them are private limited liability companies while the rest are public companies. About sixty companies underwrite life assurance business with five operating as specialist life offices. The reinsurers provide technical security and capacity for the insurance companies and do not supply insurance directly to the consumers. The Intermediaries (Agents) The intermediaries are mainly insurance brokers and insurance agents. There are 350 registered insurance brokers and about 15,000 insurance agents. The different types of agents have been described earlier in chapter eleven. Nigerian insurance market has been described as brokers market because presently brokers control over 90 per cent of the premium income, leaving less than 10 per cent for insurance agents, and even direct marketing channel by insurers. However, insurance agents dominate the individual life insurance market. The banking industry has become a formidable channel for distributing insurance services not necessarily as intermediaries, but by facilitating a form of direct marketing by insurers. Participation by banks has also thus made mass merchandizing of those insurance products possible. To enrich some of the financial products banks offer certain insurance protection as additional benefits. For example an investor is promised three  or four times the capital amount invested in case of death, payment of benefits in the event of accident, payment of children’s school fees, and insurance cover for goods bought on credit. To meet such obligations, they apply part of the interest due to the investors to purchase insurance on their behalf from insurance companies. This is however different from universal banking which implied direct involvement in insurance broking and underwriting. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Since risk as formed an integral part of our world today, the need arise for insurance in other to combat such risk in our society. 4 major problems arises when trying to create a system to manage such risk, they are risk identification, evaluation, control and financing. The multi disciplinary nature of risk management requires input from all the arrears of the organization. Therefore, the task of identifying and evaluating risks is a problem. Risk control including avoidance and reduction clearly falls within the ambit of corporate safety policy. Protection of property and personnel through effective risk control measures, assumes great significance, particularly in the light of the opportunity costs due to occurrence of a risk (i.e. accident). Risk financing has developed into an important technique of effective risk management, where by costs and benefits of various alternatives are analyzed before arriving at the final decision on what type of insurance to be used. The existing system is the manual system. The manual system is prone to error. It is time consuming. It is very difficult for a person to produce the report. There are chances for changing the scheme report and do malpractice. This system involves a lot of manual entries with the applications to perform the desired task. Usage of papers in the payment process leads to less efficiency, less accuracy and less productivity. †¢Increasing expenditure for papers shuffling and storage. †¢Increasing labours and hence errors. †¢Less control of Amounts. †¢Time delay between the payment and its receipt. †¢Persons who are present in different part of the world cannot transact efficiently. 1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SYSTEM This system is an online micro insurance Analysis and information management system that provides easy access of information regarding the people and resources of insurance. This site is not a static site but with wonderful dynamic facilities like search tools for insurance awareness articles, guidelines, illustrations through images for visitors. This site also provides several dynamic features. The developed system should allow admin users to register insured persons with their name, date of birth, residence address, medical history and also policy details. After registering all the insured persons, website should provide management facilities like delete unwanted persons’ data. And also should provide awareness to the visitors about micro insurance through articles. Objectives of the system The system would be able to perform two main objectives which are:Functional and qualitative objectives. The functional objectives of the system are; 1.Enable users to select what kind of risks is to be insured 2.Cost of such insurance 3.Registration of customers 4.Show the benefits of using such type of cover 5.Explain what insurance policy in general is available. The qualitative objective of the system is mainly to define the corporate insurance philosophy, firsthand knowledge of the risk involved 2. CHAPTER TWO 2.1 2.2PROPOSED SOLUTION PROPOSED SYSTEM The proposed system is designed to eliminate the drawbacks of the existing system. It is designed by keeping to eliminate the drawbacks of the present system in order to provide a permanent solution to the problems. The primary aim of the new system is to speedup transactions. The report is prepared for the schemes and implemented by the concerned officials. Since the advent of Online Insurance services in the Middle Ages Policy Agents and  policy Holder have used paper-based instrument to move money between Insurance transactions. It comes as no surprise to one that when everything is being converted to computerize. Already the business has to global with the coming of Internet. Now, no more the individual aims at the local market is also just a click of button away. Dozens of companies are in the race to convince auction and bidding that a pot of Policy’s awaits those who conduct their business on the Internet. In this fast race of business and moneymaking, no country, no company and no individual want to fall back. Everyone wants to lead the group. Hence, everyone is trying to make the best use of Internet. The insurance company provides Group Polices to employees of various small and medium sized companies that registered with it. A group policy is one, which an employer provides to its employees. An agent is responsible for getting the client companies establishing a relation with the insurance company. According to hisher need, the policyholder can choose from various products available. The insurance company needs to keep track of details of its target companies, agents, policyholders, their premium payments and the various products that are available with it. Hence it is under tremendous pressure maintaining their day-to-day activities, which is currently being done manually. Entire records have to be updated timely; even a slight mistake could complicate things. It is very difficult to handle bulk data since human memory is weaker than electronic counter part. It is time consuming to summarize these details to produce the reports. Hence there is need for an automated system, which can efficiently manage the company’s records, provides instant access and one that improves the productivity. As a result of this automated system, the activities of the company are performed with in the stipulated time and the reliable and efficient service is ensured to its users. The part of the proposed system contain the following 1)Agent Registration form: New Agent gives their information like, Name, password, Ac no, bank, working details, age, sex, address, e-mail id. 2)Policy Holder Registration form: New Policy Holder gives their information like, Name, password, Ac no, bank, Organization, Occupation, age, sex, address, e-mail id. 3)Admin form: Admin have provision to view all Agent, Policy, and Policy Holder information. First Admin enter their name and Id then only they can access. And also admin have the provision to view, Modify, Delete and insert the Policy, Policy Holder, and Agent. 4)Agent Form: This module is used for agent to view all details about their policy holder/clients and also view their own personal details. 5)Policy Holder Form: This module is used to Policy Holders. They can view their own personal details when login into the Policy Holder module. Fig 2.2.3 dataflow in the system 2.3 ADVANTAGES OF USING THE SYSTEM †¢Mortgage Redemption- The system act as an effective tool to cover mortgages and loans taken by the policy holders so that in case of any unforeseen event, the burden of repayment does not fall on the bereaved family. †¢Risk cover -life is full of uncertainties; in this scenario the use of the system ensures that one enjoys a good quality of life against any unforeseen event. †¢Planning for life stage needs-life insurance provides financial support in the event of untimely death but also acts as a long term investment. You can meet your goals, be it your children’s education, their marriage, building your dream home or planning a relaxed retired life, according to your life stage and risk appetite. Traditional insurance policies i.e. traditional endowment plans, offer in-built guarantees and defined maturity benefits through variety of product options such as money back, guaranteed cash values. †¢Protection against rising health expenses-with the system available, customers can choose from a wide range of plans that would offer the benefits of protection against critical diseases and hospitalization expenses. This benefits has assumed critical importance given the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases and escalating medical costs. †¢For safe and profitable long-term investment-it builds a long-term savings instrument, also ensures that the customers have a good savings habit. Insurance is a highly regulated sector, the regulatory body,through various rules and regulations ensures that the safety of the policyholder’s money is the primary responsibility of all stakeholders. †¢Peace of Mind: When consumers buy an insurance policy, they can achieve peace of mind. There is a comfort in knowing there is a certain measure of protection from unforeseen tragedies and losses. †¢Asset Protection: Certain  types of insurance policies are designed to protect assets such as homes, cars, boats and other valuable tangible items. The policies will repair or replace these things if they are lost or destroyed. †¢Physical Protection -Some insurance policies are structured to protect the body. In the event that a person is injured, disabled or otherwise physically harmed, these products will compensate for those damages. †¢Income Protection-There is insurance policies available that will protect the ability to earn a living. If, for some reason, a worker is no longer able to continue with gainful employment, these policies can be structured to replace a majority of lost income. †¢Lifestyle Protection-A certain type of insurance is designed to ensure that the lifestyle to which a family has become accustomed will continue for a certain pe riod if a tragedy occurs and the major wage earner in the household is no longer able to produce an income. 2.4 DISADVANTAGES OF USING THE SYSTEM The system has the following drawbacks. †¢Every member organization has its own data structure †¢Due to lack of centralized data structure, it is very difficult to merge the data to analyze the statistics †¢Difficult to search for a data †¢Possibility of duplicates, etc 2.5 CASE STUDY; NIGERIAN INSURANCE MARKET Insurance Market consists of the buyers of insurance and the sellers together with the intermediaries (agents) who bring the two together. In addition there are also the regulators, representative bodies or organizations, consultants and technical advisers which are part and parcel of the market. In Nigeria the buyers of insurance can be segmented as follows: †¢Individuals and families †¢Governments (federal, state, local) and their agencies †¢Multinationals †¢Conglomerates †¢Manufacturing industrial concerns †¢Small and medium scale industries †¢Banking industry †¢Health institutions †¢Tourist and hospitality industries, hotels †¢Transport industry †¢Other corporate bodies †¢Educational institutions †¢Oil and energy industry The sellers or suppliers of insurance are the insurance companies and the reinsurance companies. At present there are about 118 registered insurance companies and 5 registered reinsurance companies. Most of the insurance companies are incorporated pursuant to Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990. About 106 of them are private limited liability companies while the rest are public companies. About sixty companies underwrite life assurance business with five operating as specialist life offices. The reinsurers provide technical security and capacity for the insurance companies and do not supply insurance directly to the consumers. The banking industry has become a formidable channel for distributing insurance services not necessarily as intermediaries, but by facilitating a form of direct marketing by insurers. Participation by banks has also thus made mass merchandizing of those insurance products possible. To enrich some of the financial products banks offer certain insurance protection as additional benefits. For example an investor is promised three or four times the capital amount invested in case of death, payment of benefits in the event of accident, payment of children’s school fees, and insurance cover for goods bought on credit. To meet such obligations, they apply part of the interest due to the investors to purchase insurance on their behalf from insurance companies. This is however different from universal banking which implied direct involvement in insurance broking and underwriting. And most of the activities of insurance between the individuals and such companies are done manually but with the creation of a web based system this could save time in transaction. 3. CHAPTER THREE 3.1 CONCLUSION Effective insurance management lies in balancing the costs and benefits of insurance, through optimizing the coverage at economical cost and further through conscious and careful retention of risks within the world, This is  precisely where the Online Insurance supports and improves many of the core functionality of the insurance organization i.e. insurance project helps in quick easy monitoring of the reports that have been automatically generated as and when the admin and policy agent performs transactions in the system. Using such a system helps the organization in minimizing the time consumed in fulfilling the day-to-day functionality’s and cutting down the expenses incurred on the same. It must also be remembered that insurance is a method of transferring the financial impact of risk and the risk itself. Hence the basic responsibility of the system is to act as a guild in risk management. 3.2 RECOMMENDATION With the internet already in vogue, the government should allow reduce tariffs on web usage in other for easy communication with people who would need such systems. With increased technologies around the world there is need for accessibility to such web based technologies and system. Since the system involves risk management there is need for individuals to have reasons to have their businesses and life insured as this will enable them use such insurance management system. REFERENCES 1.WIKIHOW.COM 2.WIKIPEDIA.COM 3.Seal, R. A. â€Å"Insurance for Libraries: Part I.† Conservation Administration News no. 19 (1984): 8-9. 4.Seal, R. A. â€Å"Insurance for Libraries: Part II.† Conservation Administration News no. 20 (1985): 10-11, 26. 5.EHOW.COM

Wage Determination in Perfect and Imperfect Markets

Wage determination in perfect and imperfect markets Perfect competition In perfect labor markets, everyone is wage taker – both the employee and the employer. On the one hand, the employer and his firm cannot control the market as there are too numerous firms and the firm is price taker on the product market and labor market. On the other hand, the workers cannot control their wage as they have no economic power to do so or they are of a clearly definite type. In perfect competition there is a free movement of labor. Everyone can enter the labor market or to switch jobs. Moreover, both workers and employers have enough information on the labor market state – wages, demand, productive level of workers etc. The most common thinking in labor markets is that all workers in the same position are equally There are two driving forces concerning the supply of hours by an individual worker – while working, the worker sacrifices its leisure time and the work may be unpleasant. The worker experiences marginal disutility of work, which tends to increase as work hours increase. To deal with the marginal disutility of work, a wage could be raised. This would lead to people willing to work more hours in order to have a greater income and they are ready to sacrifice their leisure time or in other words the substitution effect appears. Still, with higher wages people tend to work less in order to have more leisure, which is the income effect and as a result we meet the backward-bending supply curve of labor. What determines wage rates in perfect competition is the number of qualified people, the wages and non-wage benefits in alternative jobs and the non-wage benefits or costs of the jobs. The wage of a worker is measured by the interaction of demand and supply in the labor market. A very useful tool for calculating the wage rate is the marginal productivity theory. As long as firms are concerned, they will try to maximize profit by employing workers until the marginal cost of employing a worker is equal to the marginal revenue the worker’s output earns for the firm. In other words, the wage should be equal to the marginal cost the firm has occurred by employing the last worker. According to time some differentiations might be made. In the short run expanding industries will be able to pay higher than contracting industries. In the long run there are wage differentials because workers have different abilities and they are not perfectly mobile. In conclusion, the low paid will be those whose labor is in low demand or high supply, they possess few skills or are unfit, work in contracting industries, do not want to move from the area etc. Highly paid are workers whose labor is in high demand or low supply, they have certain skills or talents or work in expanding industries. Wage determination in imperfect markets In the real world, firms or workers, or both, usually have the power to influence wage rates. This is the case with monopsony – this is a market with a single buyer or employer. Another option to determine prices is when the workers are part of a labor union, which can be a monopolist or part of an oligopoly. Monopsonist are wage setters or wage makers as they are represent all the workplaces. What is interesting about monopsonist is that if a firm wants to hire more workers, it has to pay a higher wage rate to attract workers away from other industries. The wage it pays is the average cost to the firm of employing labor and the marginal cost of hiring one more worker will be above the wage rate. To maximize profit, a monopson equalizes marginal cost of employing labor with marginal revenue product. Union monopoly or oligopoly has market power and can influence wages. The scope of this power depends on the market concerned. However, the higher the wages, the less the workplaces. Moreover, unemployed might undercut the union wage by forcing the firm to employ non-unionised labor. The only way to increase wages and not reduce the level of employment is by increasing the productivity of labor. Another form of imperfect labor market Is bilateral monopoly. It means that a union monopoly faces a monopsony employer. In this case the wage rate and the level of employment depend on the relative bargaining strengths and skills of unions and managers. As a matter of fact, my facing a single powerful employer it might be easier for the union to increase wage rates. In bilateral monopoly the union can threaten the industry with strikes and consequently economic losses which gives unions more power. It often happens both sides – union and management, to gain from the carried negotiations. This is called collective bargaining. In this form of agreement there are various threats or promises made by both sides. Examples of union threats are – picketing, working to rule and such of employers can be lock-outs, plant closures etc. The government can also influence the collective bargaining. It can try to set an example, or set up arbitration or conciliation machinery. Another possibility is to use leglislation, e. g. set a minimum wage rate or prevent discrimination. To change the perspective, a higher wage might also be profitable for the firms. The reason behind this lies in the fact that productivity rises with wage rates. Moreover, by investing in training of the personnel, a firm will meet significant loss in the absence of the better-trained workers. High wage rates motivate workers as well. Other imperfections of labor markets can be the inadequate information workers or employers receive. In addition, wages may respond very slowly to change in demand and supply, causing disequilibrium in labor markets. The last factor in determining wages we are going to examine is discrimination. It might take many forms – race, sex, age, class etc. In economics, discrimination means that workers of identical ability are paid different because of the aforementioned characteristics.

Characteristics of Good Test Questions Essay

Here is the list of characteristics that you should follow when either writing or selecting interpretive exercise questions for use in Stage 2 of any curriculum planning. Examples of these characteristics and why they are important will be discussed in class. Interpretive exercise questions consist of a series of selective response items based on a common set of introductory material. The introductory material may be in the form of written materials, tables, charts, graphs, maps or pictures. These questions are the hardest to write, because you have to find novel introductory material related to your unit of instruction that works and is important. The reason for including this type of question in a unit test is that it gives students practice answering this type of question which is often used on standardized tests in science. Advantages: 1. Measure the ability to interpret the introductory material encountered in everyday situations. 2. Measure more complex learning outcomes than is possible with other forms of selected response items. 3. Minimizes the influence of a students’ lack of needed factual information on measurement of complex learning outcomes. 4. Greater structure than essay test. 5. A question type used in standardized tests. Students need to be familiar with this question type. Limitations: 1. Hard to construct: find materials that are new (novel) but relevant. Usually needs some editing. 2. Heavier demand on students’ reading skill. Keep reading level low, passage brief. In primary grades use more pictorial materials. 3. Cannot measure students’ overall approach to problem solving (doesn’t show work steps). 4. Only test problem-solving ability at the recognition level. Interpretive Exercise Guidelines: 1. Select introductory material that is in harmony with course outcomes. 2. Select introductory material that is appropriate to the curricular experience and reading level of the student. 3. Select introductory material that is new (novel) to the student. 4. Use introductory material that is brief, but meaningful. 5. Revise introductory material for clarity and conciseness for greater value. 6. Construct test items that require analysis and interpretation of the introductory material. 7. Make the number of test items roughly proportional to the length of the introductory material. 8. When constructing the test items use the guidelines given in the writing of selective response items.

Symbolism in the Road Not Taken, “A Worn Path”, and I Used to Live Here Once

2Symbolism in Literature Published by susansteppe, February 27, 2011 Symbolism in â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, â€Å"A Worn Path†, and â€Å"Used to Live Here Once†. When looking at the short story and poem it is impossible to see it all in a literal form. There is always some sort of symbolism that occurs within the body of the text, but what is symbolism. It can be defined differently by many people. Even when looking at a dictionary it does not typically give a thorough answer. It is because symbolism is created by the author. However, it can be contradicted or have a completely obscure meaning to the reader. This is the exact reason why symbolism cannot be defined. However, it can be interpreted. Understanding the journey that characters take and their symbolic nature is definitely worth decoding. In fact, the symbolism of the journey is usually the basis behind the literary work itself. One of the well-known literary works with a symbolic journey is Robert Frost’s â€Å"The Road Not Taken. † In the poem there is a man who has come to a crossroad in his life. One path is traveled on frequently while the other path is not. He has to make a decision as to what path he should take. No matter what, he knows that he cannot turn back once he has made the choice, but it is implied. He chooses the path less traveled and, in turn, it happens to be the best choice he had ever made. Many have analyzed this poem and many have come up with different ideas of what it actually means. Some say it is about suicide, some say it is about life changes, while others insist it is about life changes. When is the interpretation wrong? The reader gets what they must out of the poem as they read it. It depends on what life situation they are going through at that time. The author, Robert Frost, knew what he was writing about. Therefore, the interpretation of the poem actually merges itself with the reader. Regardless, there is a journey that occurs throughout this poem. To analyze the literary work there needs to be a beginning. Read more in Poetry  « Does a Sonnet Always Have 14 Lines? Poetry Comparison Essay – â€Å"The Evacuee† and â€Å"Death of a Naturalist†  »In the first two lines of Robert Frost’s poem he says: â€Å"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both† (Clugston, R. W. , 2010; section 2. 2). There is a certain symbolism in the yellow wood. It is not that the forest was filled with yellow trees. It was obviously at the beginning of fall. Fall is the season that everyone slows down from the summer. The anticipation of winter is coming and can cause a sort of depression in some people. It would explain why he wanted to travel both. The following line says: â€Å"And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth† (Clugston, R. W. , 2010; sec 2. 2). Here the reader comes to understand that the man took his time looking down the path. This could symbolize patience or a lack of movement, which would again go along with the idea that the man was depressed. Another aspect of the idea of depression, one path had leaves on it while the other was grassy. When someone is depressed they do not want to go down a dreary path. Instead, they would want to go down the grassy path that looked less traveled. Perhaps then something would change in their life. The actual symbolism of the paths themselves goes right along with that idea. However, the man was obviously optimistic because he did think about saving the one path for another day. He does contradict himself when he doubts that he will come back. The symbolism occurs with his doubts. He knows that once he goes down one path that he will not be able to come back at all. When the reader thinks about it there is an ordinary situation with this scenario because the entire poem is about a man who stops when he comes to a fork in the road. Nevertheless, the road actually is a symbol for life. That is where the imaginative language is used, and it is used in order to create emotion. Should the man go down the path with the leaves covering it? What are the leaves representing? The leaves were not scattered everywhere, so the road was less traveled upon. In fact, the leaves represent the difficult trials that were to follow. Basically, it is easier to walk a path that has nothing in the way then one that does not. Therefore, the images that are particularly effective are the two paths and the leaves. These symbols change the tone of the poem to confusion, but it actually provokes deep thought when the traveler states that he took the one less traveled by. In the short story â€Å"A Worn Path† symbolism of the journey also occurs. Yet, it is much different from Frost’s â€Å"A Path Not Taken. In Frost’s poem he has the choice of two different paths, but in â€Å"A Worn Path† the old woman, Phoenix Jackson, takes the same path over and over again. The path that Phoenix takes is a path that she has taken many times before in order to get medicine for her grandson. The symbol of the path is life’s long journey. After all, she is an old woman who has dealt with many things in her life. The symbolism of the pendulum in a grandfather clock also pertains to her age. She is an old woman, a poor one at that, who walks with a cane made from an old umbrella. She was very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows, moving a little from side to side in her steps, with the balanced heaviness and lightness of a pendulum in a grand-father clock† (Clugston, R. W. , 2010 sec 6. 3). When Phoenix hears the noises in the thicket she is determined to make sure they stay away. This represents her strength of mind. Her willpower is a large part of the symbolism within the story because of the long journey she has to take. She is not on a mission to help herself. Instead, she is on a mission to help a part of her family. Therefore, it is a purpose driven trip, so when the animals make noise in the distance she does everything possible to make sure she scares them off. It is a life-saving task in which she cannot fail. It is then that Phoenix has to climb a hill that is almost too difficult for her. The hill actually symbolizes the struggle of life. When everyone is a child it is easy to do anything. Hills are no big deal to climb, bicycles are easy to ride, and running everywhere is as simple as eating. However, as a person ages it is more difficult to do things. That is where the hill comes in to play. She needs to climb the hill in order to conquer aging. There was no way that she could give up easily because of the journey she was taking. Also on the hill is a bush that catches her dress. The bush signifies the obstacles in her life. She obviously lived a hard life. She had many wrinkles, her clothes spoke for themselves, and she had not been able to clean herself every day. The fact that she was poor epitomizes the fact that she had lived a hard life up until this point. Once she freed herself from the bush it characterized her willpower again. Nothing was going to stop her from completing her task. Another important factor about the bush was that she yelled at it. She called in a pretty green bush. That symbolizes the fact that she did not recognize the many of the obstacles in her life until they actually came to pass. After she struggles with the bush she sees the sun. The sun signifies the importance of dealing with the struggles in her life. Basically, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. She was freed from that turmoil that happened in her life and she could go on. There was a new beginning, or she could start things anew. Unfortunately, that was not the end of her struggle through life because there was the large log in the way. The log embodies the act of accomplishment. No one could stand in for her. She, Phoenix, had to overcome her own tussle. Once again, a fight for security is symbolized with the barbed wire fence. On her journey she sees a buzzard, which is a symbol of death. When thinking about a buzzard many imagine them circling around a carcass. It is their way of claiming their meal for the day. Nevertheless, this one was just sitting there. The fact that he was not moving could symbolize death waiting for her. Yet, Phoenix was not ready for death. She may be getting old, but there was no room for death in her excursion. Shortly after she sees the buzzard she comes upon a scarecrow. Buzzards, crows, and other birds usually sit on the arms of a scarecrow. That exemplifies death as well, but instead of avoiding the scarecrow she dances in front of it. She was mocking death, or telling death in her own way that she would have no part of it. After all, she was on a mission to help her grandson. He had a throat condition, probably asthma, which prevented him from doing many things. There was no way she was going to give up her exertion. When Phoenix finally reached her destination it was a symbol of accomplishment. When thinking about the entire path it indicates the journey throughout life. As a baby everything is taken care of. There are no worries within life because there is someone to lean on. That is the first part of the path. The second part of the path, the hill, is the beginning of hardships. Each tribulation got bigger and bigger the older Phoenix became until she came to a point in her life when her burdens were easier to overcome. Yet, when she does get the medicine for her grandson she has to go through the entire trip over again. Again, it symbolizes more difficulties in life and the many obstacles that she had to deal with in her life. â€Å"A Worn Path† is the perfect depiction of how many people’s lives turn out. No one gets a free ride in life, which means everyone has to deal with their own miseries, troubles, and sufferings in order to become better people. Phoenix is a strong-natured, strong-willed, and head-strong woman because she dealt with her ordeals in life. It may have been difficult at times, but she became an accomplished woman in her own right. Another short story that symbolizes life’s journey is â€Å"Used to Live Here Once. † The first trek of her journey was the rocks in the stream. Each rock represents a significant part of the trials everyone has to deal with in life. For instance, the round unsteady rock symbolizes the rocky road people must endure throughout life. No one truly gets the easy way out of life because there is always something that makes the journey unstable. The safe stone represents childhood. When someone is a child they do not need to be dependent on themselves in order to get through their distresses in life. A mother carries her newborn, feeds them, and cares for them. Basically, the newborn has no worries. Even as a child growing up there are really no burdens to deal with. There might be anxieties, but the child’s mother, or father, is there to catch them when they fall. They can look around as long as they want at their life and perhaps where they might be in the future. The rock, itself, is the parents. The next rock was no so safe because it was slippery and when the water rose it would be covered. This rock indicates the time of life when there are trials and tribulations to endure. The first is, of course, becoming a teenager. There are worries, distresses, pains, and hardships to deal with. The rising of the water actually designates the rush of life after becoming an adult. A person is on their own with no one to catch them, but themselves. They need to have a watchful eye whenever difficulties arise, and sometimes those ordeals can be overbearing. There are even times when that person falls, but they always get up again. Reaching the other side of the stream designates or symbolizes the triumph over the tribulations in life. It is safe, so there is nothing to fear. The ground is secure and it is easy sailing from there. The road that the woman travels on is much wider than it used to be. It says in the story, â€Å"The road was much wider than it used to be but the work had been done carelessly† (Clugston, R. W. , 2010, sec 7. 5). This can be interpreted a couple different ways. One way is that life is unpredictable. In other words, there is no telling what could happen next because no one knows their future. The second way of understanding the wider road is to signify change. When people become older and go through their struggles, or heir rocks, they become different people. Everything that a person endures allows them to grow into the person that they are. For instance, a child that has had a mellow life growing up suddenly decides to join the military when they become of age. They go to boot camp one person, but come back someone completely different. It is because they dealt with obstacles throughout boot camp and had to grow up int o an adult. That is a forced measure of growing up, but the concept is the same. Each trouble or ordeal they go through makes them into a better person. When the woman gets near the house she sees more changes. A house gone and one built a car, and items that were no longer there. Yet, she is so excited about coming back to place she grew up she does not really care. This, again, symbolizes the changes in life that occur. Once life has changed and the hardships are endured nothing is the same. Trials in life either become more difficult or easier to deal with. There is no telling but, nonetheless, the changes stay. Then the woman comes upon the two children playing in the yard. She attempts to say hello, but the children ignore her. She thinks it is because she is colored. The woman gets closer to the children and she attempts to say hello again. However, they do not answer still. When she gets very close to the children one of them say it is cold, so they leave. This is when she realizes that she is no longer among the living. Therefore, the entire trip she took symbolizes the entire cycle of being born to the moment of death. In conclusion, the symbolisms between â€Å"The Path Not Taken,† â€Å"A Worn Path,† and â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† are quite similar. All three are about life’s challenges and the struggles throughout life. There are always decisions that need to be made through life and there are always going to be obstacles that get in the way. It is getting through those tribulations that are the trick. Not only that, but it is crucial not to give up. The stories portray that indefinitely. In â€Å"The Path Not Taken† the man takes the road less traveled. Yes. He had to go through many troubles throughout his life, but in the end he chose the right path. In â€Å"A Worn Path† the old woman pretty much has to go through the same difficulties throughout her life, but her endurance presides over her. Therefore, she has made the right choice. Last, but not least, in â€Å"Used to Live Here Once† the woman path symbolizes the entire trek through life from birth to death. These three literary works are definitely worth reading, but they are also there to teach about life itself. References Clugston, R. W. (2010) Journey into Literature. San Diego, CA. Bridge point Education. (http://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 1/sec2. 2) (http://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 1/sec6. 3) (http://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 1/sec7. 5) Phillips, R. T. (March 1986) Diverging and Converging Paths: Horizontal and Vertical Movement in Robert Frost’s Mountain Interval. Vol 58, Issue 1, pg. , 17 p. American Literature. Moberly, K. (Winter 2005/Spring 2006) Toward the North Star: Eudora Welty’s â€Å"A Worn Path† and the Slave Narrative Tradition. Vol. 59, Issue ? , p. 107-127, 21p. Mississippi Quarterly. Piwinski, D. J. (Winter 2008) Mistletoe in Eudora Welty’s ‘A Worn Path. ’ 16 (1): 40-42. 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