Promote communication in health and social care Essay Example for Free

Promote communication in health and social care Essay Communication is one of the most essential tools we have to help us interact with other people around us. We use it constantly in our everyday lives whether it be at work, with friends or at home with our families. The way we communicate reflects our personality and the way we come across to other people and build trust and relationships. Reasons why people communicate. †¢ Building relationships with the people around us †¢ Maintaining relationships †¢ Sharing ideas and thoughts †¢ Expressing feelings and needs †¢ Gaining reassurance and acknowledgement †¢ Gaining information and sharing information When we have a new child starting we have an â€Å"all about me† form that we ask the parent to complete. We do this to get to know the child and his/her likes and dislikes so that they can feel comfortable and to start building a relationship with that child and parent. We sit down with the parent to have a talk about this and also ask them if they would like a drink so that they feel welcome and at ease. As well as building relationships with the children and parents it is important to build relationships with the people we work with. Asking them questions about themselves and telling them about yourself. When a parent brings a child in in the morning we greet them and the child saying good morning and smiling. Likewise when the child is collected saying goodbye and taking time talking to the parent about the childs day. This helps maintain the relationship with the parent and child. Letting them know that we have time to speak to them and to listen. Likewise talking to the other staff members about their interests or if they had a nice weekend. Greeting them when coming in also helps to maintain a good working relationship with them. It is important for adults as well as children that they feel listened to and feel like their ideas and thoughts are important. Listening to a child will not only help build a relationship with that child but also make the child feel valued and build their self esteem. Also listening to what they have to say and respecting their feelings is an important way to meet the childs needs. When we meet new people one of the first things we do is to share and gain information with that person. This will help to establish a relationship with that person. This is also a vital part of working well with other people. When starting at the setting I first of all did this with the other staff by telling them about me and learning about them and also learning about the setting and how they do things there. With the children I asked them questions like their names and about the important people in their lives. This has helped me build relationships not just with the children at the setting but also t he people that I work with. Especially with the children that I work with I am finding it very important in building a relationship with them to reassure them and acknowledge their achievements. Praising them and showing them with my body language that they are important. They respond well to doing â€Å"high 5s† and keeping eye contact while they are talking to me. Likewise using some of the same tools with parents and colleagues help to acknowledge and reassure them that I am interested in what they have to say. It is very important to be able to communicate well with the people you work with. Not just to be happy yourself and to feel valued but also to provide the best care for the children in your setting. It is also important to be able to communicate well with the parents so that they feel that their needs are being met. They need to be able to leave the children in your care knowing that they will be safe and happy. When communicating with people we dont just use our voices but also non-verbal communication like eye contact, touch and body language. The non-verbal communication can be more powerful than the verbal. At the setting where I work we have a little boy who isnt using many words yet to communicate. He will come and take your hand and show you what it is he  wants. Using the information we have in the â€Å"all about me† form we know that he likes animals and to watch The Jungle Book on DVD. So we get the animals out and talk to him about them, asking him what noises those animals make and what they like to eat. Non-verbal communication is also very powerful when speaking to adults. Looking a the person you are speaking to can give you an idea of how they are feeling and also how they are reacting to what you are saying. The way you say some thing might be understood one way face to face with a person but will be understood differently over the telephone. Likewise listening skills are a very good tool to communicate well with the people around you. If you dont take time to listen to the children you will not be able to build a relationship with them. Also being able to learn from the other staff at your setting is important and would be impossible without good listening skills. If the communication isnt clear it can lead to misunderstanding. This can happen easily especially with children at a young age. It can also be a factor that a child, parent or colleague come from a different culture. As I am from Denmark but have lived in the UK for more than 13 years now I have felt this first hand. When I first moved here I worked with a man who used to speak to me as if I didnt understand. That made me feel like I was inadequate whereas he probably thought he was helping me. On the other hand I have had people using long and difficult words that I didnt understand and therefore making me feel less able to communicate with them. Feeling comfortable enough to ask questions and to say to the people you work with that you didnt understand is very important so that misunderstandings dont happen. Using different skills of communication would also be very helpful to make sure that the person you are talking to will be able to understand you. You might have to simplify y our language or use visual aids like pictures or in some cases have to use outside help like a translator or a speech therapist. To me good communication is all about building relationships with the people around you. This is even more important in the area of work that we do with children. Not only building the relationship with the parents, children and  colleagues but to teach the children from a young age to also communicate well and to help them to learn to build their own relationships with us, the children around them and everywhere else that they meet other people. Book used for information: Level 3 Diploma Children Young peoples Workforce Early Learning and Childcare by Penny Tassoni, Kate Beith, Kath Bulman and Sue Griffin

Principles of Time Management Essay Example for Free

Principles of Time Management Essay Time is one of the most difficult resources to manage. You can not take back what is already lost, you can not renew the times that you missed. Moreover, it is one of the measures that all men are created equal because everyone is just given 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours a day. In our fast paced world where everything seems to run ahead of you and you just have to chase time after time to accomplish things, you need a real good time management. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 in the Bible talks about time for everything. â€Å"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven,† states in the first verse. This chapter alone teaches or urges people to set a time for everything to better manage time. There are a lot time management principles that we can suggest to a person however, it would be up to the individual to make the principles work. Dr. Jan Yager (1999) outlined seven principles in the book â€Å"The 7 Principles of Creative Time Management.† These include: Being active not reactive, setting goals, prioritizing actions, keeping focus, creating realistic deadlines, doing it NOW and balancing life. The D-O-I-T-N-O-W Principle states the following: Divide and conquer what you have to do. Break big tasks into little tasks and give each part of that task a realistic deadline. Organize your materials, how you will do it. Ignore interruptions that are annoying distractions Take the time to learn how to do things yourself. Now, not tomorrow. Dont procrastinate. Opportunity is knocking. Take advantage of opportunities. Watch out for time gobblers. Keep track of, and in control of, how much time you spend on the Internet, reading and sending e-mails, watching TV, or talking on the phone. Before you know how to manage your time, you should first know what time is it. It is not telling the time in your watch but knowing the right thing to do at the right and proper time. However, you should also get a sense of time by tracking your watch. You can take control of your whole day if you know what time it is and what you should be doing on those times. Other than you good watch, you should still use other tool. One of which is a planner. Sometimes you can not memorize everything that you need to do in a day or in a week. Sometimes, you can not know if you have already done one job if you do have your list and you may result in doing it again; thus wasting your time. Grab a planner and make you checklist for the day. A planner use wisely will help you keep track your activities and help you evaluate regarding having balance. When you keep track on all your activities, you have a way to evaluate throughout the week and make it better if necessary. If you have the tools above and you still have the problem in managing your time, you need to identify the problem. Do you procrastinate? Do you always entertain interruption and waste your time in unproductive work?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Time management may be difficult but as the Bible says, make time for everything. Do not focus on how to manage

Literature review on Leadership vision styles and change

Literature review on Leadership vision styles and change Introduction: The following review is divided into three sections and investigates Leadership and Management literature to provide an insight into:- Leadership and Vision. Leadership Styles. Leadership and Change. The literature has been researched from various sources explained in Table No 1 shown on the following page. SECTION 3.1 Leadership and Vision. Introduction, This section will show literature researched and reviewed to provide a discussion for:- Section 3.1.1. What is a Vision? Section 3.1.2. Why have a vision. Section 3.1.1. What is a Vision? Research has shown there considerable agreement that a vision is a projection of a future desired state. The dictionary states Vision is Unusual competence in discernment or perception; intelligent foresight. Levin {, 2000, Vision Revisited: Telling the story of the future.} suggests that when you provide a vision you show an idea of what you would like to see happen in the future and show the possibilities of what could be achieved. Its effects should be inspiring, bold, future orientated but believable and achievable. It should be derived from what people desire i.e. to fore fill their own personal goals or to aim for what they value it is their ideals, goals, interest and desires. Also by defining a vision you answer the question of the stakeholders Whats in it for me Levin (2000) {, 2000, Vision Revisited: Telling the story of the future.} also states that a vision lets heart feel what the head is told and should be able to show you where you are going. Lewis (1997) {, 1997, Building a Shared Vision. A leaders guide to aligning the organisation.} supports these views and that a vision is an expression of where an organisation wants to go and how it intends to get there. Kotter cited by Hope, J. Bunce, P. (2008) {, 2008, Beyond Budgeting: Change Management} argues that a vision should be inspirational and emotional rather than rational and that when developing it expect it to be messy, ambiguous and encounter setbacks. It should also be flexible enough to accommodate small initiatives and changes as it progresses. Lewis (1997) {, 1997, Building a Shared Vision. A leaders guide to aligning the organisation.} states that a vision should show the promised land and inspire and exit people when they come to work. A note from Levin (2000) {, 2000, Vision Revisited: Telling the story of the future.} that visions if not deployed or understood correctly can become confused with other organisation terminology such as mission statements and strategies. Collins Parros (1996) {, 1996, Building Your Companys Vision} suggest that a vision can be broken down into two major components 1. A core ideology which is the glue for holding the vision together. 2. An envisioned future. These are then broken down again into parts such as core values, core purpose they also suggest a vision should show the future for the next 10-30 years Section 3.1.2. Why have a vision? Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery held the view that the leader must know what he himself wants. He must see his objective clearly and then strive to attain it; he must let everyone know what he wants and what are the basic fundamentals of his policies and that Every single soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole. The whole army then goes into battle knowing what is wanted and how it is to be achieved. (Information supplied from Lancaster University course work Inspiring and Enthusing Others ) http://msc.manufacturinginstitute.co.uk/index.html. Lewis (1997) {, 1997, Building a Shared Vision. A leaders guide to aligning the organisation.} states that having a shared vision promotes motivation, meaning a direction and that a vision is vital to any great organisation. Research also found that a vision could help jumpstart and mobilise people to start progressing towards it and that it possess a potency adding a sense of purpose Nanus cited in Levin (2000) {, 2000, Vision Revisited: Telling the story of the future.} Collins Porras (1996) {, 1996, Building Your Companys Vision} provides evidence that organisations that hold a strong vision out performed the stock market by a factor of 12. Evidence provided through surveys states that having a vision aides the organisation and those who use one to empower others are more likely to be successful at managing change. by Larwood et al (1995) {, 1995, STRUCTURE AND MEANING OF ORGANIZATIONAL VISION} A vision also has a positive impact on employees performance and attitudes Kirkpatrick and Locke. (1996) to such an extent that it positively affected organisational-level performance measured by growth in sales, profit, employment and net worth. Baum, et al (1998). cited by Levin (2000) {, 2000, Vision Revisited: Telling the story of the future.} Kotter (2007) {, 2007, Leading Change} Stated in his eight steps to transforming your business shown in the table No2 below that step No 3 developing a vision is a vital part that should be completed as part of any change process and that you need to take time to get the team to establish it. Kotter also advises that you should use a vision as a tool to give direction. He states it should show clear intent Kotter cited by Hope, J. Bunce, P. (2008) {, 2008, Beyond Budgeting: Change Management} and believes it helps peoples decision making and strategy development. Lewis (1997) {, 1997, Building a Shared Vision. A leaders guide to aligning the organisation.} prescribes following the six phase steps shown below where he uses the hard and soft sides of management to build and implement a shared Levin (2000) {, 2000, Vision Revisited: Telling the story of the future.} also suggests that a vision can be used as a teaching tool as it gives direction and shows long term plans as well as being able to influence attitudes and behaviours. One noticeable quote when planning your vision implementation is one stated by Collins Parros. (1996) {, 1996, Building Your Companys Vision} A vision is never completed and when you think you have achieved it you should you should re-plan and replace it with another one. This is also supported by Lewis (1997) {, 1997, Building a Shared Vision. A leaders guide to aligning the organisation.} who states that a vision should always be just beyond reach and therefore requires continuously refined The literature reviewed has provided strong evidence to why you should have a vision and communicate it. It is now the intention of the author to complete a review in the form of a questionnaire to see if his new department are aware of the organisation vision. Checked for References, Quotes, et al etc up to here Checked for References, Quotes, et al etc from here SECTION 3.2 Literature Review for Leadership Styles This section of the report researches the difference between a manager and a leader. The report then goes on to investigate the difference in transactional and transformational leadership styles. It does not consider democratic, autocratic, lassie faire or if you are an X or a Y on McGregors theory styles as the author believe through experience and past research understands that as a manager or leader you select the best style you can to suite the situation at hand. The author also notes that if you can master this ability you will naturally move up the LMX Member. Leadership scale as you will have mastered some emotional intelligence. This report supplies the foundation for understanding what style of manager / leaders are within the SMS dept. 3.2.1. Research regarding a manager or leader:- Zaleznik et al (1997) {, 1977, Managers and leaders: Are they different?} suggests that manager and leaders are different. That they are different type of people and have different personalities, suggesting that a manager: Maintain a balance of operations. Managers rationally select goals to pursue to achieve outputs. Is a problem solver. Select goals and allocate resource. Use their experiences to get what is required. Relate to people by the role they play and power they hold. Like to work with other and dislike working on their own. and that to be a manager it takes persistence, tough mindedness, hard work, intelligence, analytical ability, tolerance and good will. Kotter (2001) {, 2001, What Leaders Really Do} supports this and states that management is about coping with complexity and argues it brings order and consistency. Zaleznik et al (1997) {, 1977, Managers and leaders: Are they different?} suggests leaders:- Create new ways of completing task. Explore more. Need to use their inspirational skills to influence people. Have the capability to motivate people in different ways. Kotter (2001) {, 2001, What Leaders Really Do} suggests the same and quotes that leadership is about coping with change and aligning people with their goals and getting people to believe goals. Kotter (1990) {, 1990, A force for change: how leadership differs from management} in his article A Force for Change developed the following table to explain what he believed were the comparison of leadership and management. In short Kotter (2001) {, 2001, What Leaders Really Do} states that:- Management controls people by pushing them in the right direction. Leadership motivates them by satisfying basic human needs A view note from Zaleznik et al (1997) {, 1977, Managers and leaders: Are they different?} is that leaders are more prominent than managers in time of stress such as financial decline or wars as they are more entrepreneurial. Goleman, D. (2000) {, 2000, LEADERSHIP THAT GETS RESULTS} who also supports the view that leaders set strategy, motivate, create visions and build cultures. Also states that successful leaders have up to six styles shown in table No4 below and that they can use to complete their tasks and those leaders who perform best have mastered four of these styles namely: Authorities, Democratic, Affiliate, Coaching. Goleman, D. (2000) {, 2000, LEADERSHIP THAT GETS RESULTS} states that good leaders can match the appropriate style within seconds for the situation and circumstances to get the best from the follower. He also believed that by developing emotional intelligence you could learn to instinctively select the appropriate leadership style to gain the best from the situation. The author now intends to use a questionnaire for the team leaders in his new department to investigate to see which of the two styles they represent. From the results of the questionnaire the author should understand the team leaders manager or leader style so he can best us of it during a programme of change. 3.2.2. Transactional or Transformational Leaders:- To commence this section lets firstly look select a definition of leadership as written by Tannenbaurm, Weschief, Massarik, (1961) cited by Wofford Goodwin (1998) {, 1998, A field study of a cognitive approach to understanding transformational and transactional} Leadership is Interpersonal influence exercised in situations and directed, through the communication process, towards the attainment of a specific goal or goals then research what style of leadership could achieve this. We could look at research stating:- McGregors Theory X Theory Y. Blake and Motons country club, Team Leader, Impoverish, Authoritarian leadership styles. Autocratic, Democratic, Lassie Faire styles Facilitating, Coaching, Delegating, Directing styles. But literature produced by B. Bass has captured the authors interest by suggesting that the transformational leader has the most effective style of leadership. cited by Wofford Goodwin (1998) {, 1998, A field study of a cognitive approach to understanding transformational and transactional} B. Bass discusses the difference between a transactional and transformational leader Cited in Transactional revisited by Whittington (2009) {, 2009, Transactional Leadership Revisited: Self-Other Agreement and Its Consequences} stating that the transformational leader can become the most appropriate style of leaderships as this type of leader has the knowledge and emotional intelligence to adapt and react to the situation or circumstances. This view is supported by Graem Uhl-Bien (1995) {, 1995 Summer, Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective} who suggest that the transformational leader provides the most effective type of Leader-Member Exchange. Suggesting that if performed correctly this can become a very influential and productive way of managing the role and managing the follower. Bernard Bass (1990) {, 1990, FROM TRANSACTIONAL TO TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP LEARNING TO SHARE THE VISION} defined the benefits provided from the two types of leadership styles as:- Transformational Leader. Gets his followers to look beyond their own self interest for the good of the group. Pay close attention to individual followers not just the group. Provides vision. Gains respect and trust. Uplift morale of their followers. Suggest new ways of solving problems. Can instil pride and commitment into his employees Show more maturity and better results on the leader member exchange (LMX ) surveys. Transactional Leader. Satisfies the self interest of a follower. Provides promises of recognition. Uses pay increases as reward. Uses personal advancement as reward. Penalises employees for not doing well. Disciplines employees for not doing well. Monitors deviation from standards. Bass (1990) {, 1990, FROM TRANSACTIONAL TO TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP LEARNING TO SHARE THE VISION} also states that the transformational leaders can make massive differences to an organisation effecting its health, well-being and performance. Wofford Goodwin (1994) cited in by Whittington (2009) {, 2009, Transactional Leadership Revisited: Self-Other Agreement and Its Consequences} provide more benefits stating that there is a predictable result of behaviours and outcomes between leadership styles and that transformational leader have consistently shown the highest levels of good results. Graen and Uhl-Biens cited by Howell (1999) {, 1999, The ties that bind: The impact of Leader-Membership Exchange`, Transformational and Transactional Leadership`, and Distance on Predicting Followers Performance.} state that there is a higher positive leader-follower relationship and better performance from followers from the transformational leader. Mumford (2000) {, 2000, LEADERSHIP SKILLS: CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS} endorses these benefits and also adds that because of the present day climate industries need to be more flexible as transformational leader have better capabilities to aide the organisation in adapting quickly in environments of change. Literature continues and states that these two differing styles of leadership work differently and relate differently with their followers. Whittington (2009) {, 2009, Transactional Leadership Revisited: Self-Other Agreement and Its Consequences} states that transactional leaders need to have clear roles and responsibilities where transformational leader and followers dont. Whittington (2009) {, 2009, Transactional Leadership Revisited: Self-Other Agreement and Its Consequences} developed the understanding that there is a distance relationship between the success of the transactional or transformational leader. This research suggests that a transformational leader needs to be closer to his followers to influence them and get the best from their potential and that this is not required from the transactional leader. He states it is due to the transformational leader needing to develop a feeling of trust with the followers and interact more directly when he guides them. He suggests this leader needs this closeness to provide the environment for close personal communications when inspiring, empowering, stimulating and motivating his followers So if there are such benefits to the transformational style of management then we should look for them or look to develop them. Bruce J. Avalio et al (1999) {, 1999, Re-examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire} state that the best questionnaire to use for this research is the Multifunctional Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). If it is found that we only have transactional leaders then we know from the research completed by Bass (1990) that through training these can be developed into transformational leaders. Avolio et al (1999) {, 1999, Re-examining the components of transformational and transactional leadership using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire} suggests this could actually be more beneficial as he recognised that it is an actual part of the evolution of the transformational leader to have gone through a transactional leader stage. Whittington (2009) {, 2009, Transactional Leadership Revisited: Self-Other Agreement and Its Consequences} supports this and argues that armed with the capabilities of both styles of leadership, the best leader is the one who can understand when to use the appropriate style to match the situation or circumstance. Checked for References, Quotes, et al etc to here Checked for References, Quotes, et al etc from here 3.2. 3. Leadership Model for change:- The final Section of the literature review is it to develop an understanding of a model for change. The author has not research tools used to implement change i.e. stakeholder analysis, Force Fields analysis, Readiness analysis and planning tools used to plan progress along a change implementation i.e. Master schedules, Project management tools etc. Although the author appreciates that these are part of the process and are used to aide change implementation. He has instead looked to define a model for change which he can use when venturing into and through any change programme he executes. This literature review found that there are a considerable number of models available to aid implement change. One of which is Kotter ( 2007) {, 2007, Leading Change} Eight Steps to Transform Your Organisation shown below. According to Kotter (2007) {, 2007, Leading Change if you fail to complete and plan these eight steps you will cause the change to fail. Steps:- Increase urgency Build the guiding team Get the vision right Communicate for buy-in Empowers action Create short-term wins Dont let up Make change stick He recommends keeping the steps simple and plan them before you execute them then you will have more chance of achieving your goal. Rosabeth Moss Kanter cited by Hope, J Bunce, P. in Beyond budgeting Change Management (2008) {, 2008, Beyond Budgeting: Change Management} however described a five step process:- Communicating a compelling vision. Building a coalition. Transferring ownership to a working team. Learning to preserve. Making everyone a hero. From Kotters studies he argues that change fails because people are inexperienced and do not appreciating the process of change. According to Kotter (2007) {, 2007, Leading Change} he has viewed many organisations who have failed at implementing change due to this even though they have been attempted under different named initiatives. This view is supported by Bernard Burnes (2003) {, 2003, Managing change and changing managers from ABC TO XYZ} who argues that we need to consider developing the people that execute the change as well as the steps of the change. This is also supported by Kanter who cited by Hope, J Bunce, P. in Beyond Budgeting: Change Management (2008) {, 2008, Beyond Budgeting: Change Management} suggests that people need to change their behaviours to allow a change to happen. Kotter (2007) {, 2007, Leading Change} emphasises that change goes through phases and should be seen as a long term challenge and not a short term fix. Kanter cited by Hope, J Bunce, P. in Beyond Budgeting: Change Management (2008) {, 2008, Beyond Budgeting: Change Management} states that change should not be regarded as bold strokes but long marches. Zhongjun et al (2004) {, Dec 2004, An innovation process model for identifying manufacturing paradigms.} suggests that by identifying and challenging paradigms is a way of modelling your change. He argues that you can use this similar to using Lean Manufacturing techniques to identify your changes. Lean Manufacturing techniques are again another way to model you changes. Another view of modelling the change process is by gaining an understanding of what people go through when they are involved in change. Here suggested by William Bridges cited by Hope, J Bunce, P. in Beyond budgeting Change Management (2008) {, 2008, Beyond Budgeting: Change Management} where he describe that people go through a three step process:- Ending When people let go of their old identity Neutral zone When old behaviours die out and people go dormant for a while. Beginning When people get a new out look and a new sense of purpose. Lewin cited by Bamford, D. Forrester, P. (2003) {, 2003, Managing planned and emergent change within an operations management environment.} suggests that people go through three stages of learning when within a change programme Freezing Clinging to what you know. Unfreezing Exploring ideas. Refreezing Identifying new skills and attitude with previously held ones. It is also noted that people go through other such effects when involved in change such as effects on their self esteem transitions of change, they resist change and they can become blockers or inhibit change which can to be used to model the change progress and progress. By completing this research the author has noted many different ways you can model change and different ways you can use these models to aide change. The author now intends to conduct a survey on the team leaders within the SMS dept to show how effective a model for change had been during a recent change programme in the dept. Checked for References, Quotes, et al etc to here

Causes of the Fenian Movement :: Essays Papers

Causes of the Fenian Movement Irish history is one that is filled with many successes, but heavily out weighted by tragedies and failures of all types. Beginning in the 1840’s, Ireland was faced with many occurrences that lead up to a movement that changed the history of Ireland’s nationalism. â€Å"Beginning with 1847, the potato blight left famine and death on every hand; emigration was excessive and disaffection wide spread yet the British government did little to relieve the deplorable conditions.† (Walker 2) One of the largest events of the time was the Fenian Movement. This movement was led by the people in order to take back what was theirs, their land and rights. While many occurrences might have contributed to the Fenian Movement, which was named after the legendary Gaelic hero, Finn Mac Cumhail (de Nie 215), the four large contributors were The Great Potato Famine; The Young Ireland Uprising; the Civil War; and Britain’s tightening oppression. In 1845, the main crop of the Irish was coming under attack. A blight that slowly killed the potatoes from the inside out, hit the country hard. With the devastation of the dying potatoes, much of the population was found to be in starving situations. Disease that already existed in the country, attacked those left weak by the starvation they were facing, and many died. The disaster of the Famine radicalized a generation of mainly catholic young men of modest social origin, some of whom eventually succeed in assembling an almost open and extremely widespread conspiracy to subvert British rule in Ireland (Gavin 471) This lead to the emigration of many to other countries in order to leave the diseased country. The Famine also caused many Irish to question the control that Britain had over their country. Britain granted no form of help to the devastated Irish population. Since potatoes were Ireland’s top export, the British decided to tax and bill for the potatoes that they never received. They also used religion as a tool to discourage the Irish. English Catholic’s prevalent concern: that Irish nationalism would supersede Catholicism in the hearts and minds of England’s Catholic population, which was predominantly composed of working-class Irish migrants†¦ Most Irish classified their Catholicism with nationalism while English Catholics considered themselves a refined Catholic minority in a vulgar Protestant land (Dye 358).

Analysis of An American Tragedy and What Makes it a Classic :: An American Tragedy Theodore Dreiser Essays

Analysis of An American Tragedy and What Makes it a Classic An American Tragedy is an intriguing, frighteningly realistic journey into the mind of a murderer. It is a biography of its era. And, it is also historical fiction. But what makes this novel a classic? While society has changed dramatically since 1925, Dreiser's novel, which shows the futility of "The American Dream" and the tragedies that trying to live it can cause, accurately summarizes social mores of this and any time period. Before Theodore Dreiser was born, his father, a devout German immigrant, lost everything when his large wool mill burned down (kirjasto.sci.fi 1). After a beam hit his head, Dreiser's father was subject to dramatic mood swings; this brain damage caused him to became an evangelist (Survey of American Literature 571). Theodore Dreiser, the twelfth of 13 children, was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1871. By this time, his parents were poor, nomadic preachers. Their nomadic lifestyle meant that Dreiser did not have any companions outside his family. While travelling, his mother taught him to avoid degrading and destructive experiences (Hart 236). Certain that his parents were failures because of their strong morals and their constant preaching, he rebelled. Dreiser had no friends, money, social status, or sex life, which he craved. For most Americans, these were collectively "The American Dream." For Dreiser and his most famous character, Clyde Griffiths, living the American Dream -- t he evasive pinnacle of success -- became an obsession. That obsession led 13-year old Dreiser to Indiana University, which he flunked out of. Instead of preaching, he instantly abandoned his unsuccessful family for the promise of riches and women in industrial Chicago. After living in abject poverty for years (Parker 203), he worked as a journalist for both Chicago Globe and St. Louis's Globe-Democrat, which gave him a glimpse of high society. There, he married Sara White. Within months, the two separated permanently, and Dreiser became a nomad. While wandering, he studied the writings of Balzac, Darwin, Freud, Hawthorne, Huxley (wwnorton.com 1), Poe, and Spenser, from which he created two philosophical theories: social Darwinism governs society (Parker 203), and man's greatest appetite is sexual (kirjasto.sci.fi 1). Dreiser followed his philosophy; he typically had several affairs at once. In New York, Dreiser started Sister Carrie, a brilliant naturalistic piece. The book was sold only 500 copies; it was so "scandalous" that its owned publishers censored its printing in 1900 (Bucco 5).

Edna and Conformity in Chopin’s The Awakening Essay -- Chopin Awakenin

Edna and Conformity in Chopin’s The Awakening The passage of The Awakening which truly marks Edna Pontellier’s new manner of thought regarding her life revolves around her remembrance of a day of her childhood in Kentucky. She describes the scene to Madame Ratigonelle as the two women sit on the beach one summer day. The passage opens with a description of the sea and the sky on that particular day. This day and its components are expressed in lethargic terms such as â€Å"idly† and â€Å"motionless† and suggested a scene of calm sleep. Such a depiction establishes an image of serenity and tranquility, in other words the calm before the storm which derives from Edna’s â€Å"awakening.† As the passage continues Madame Ratigonelle asks Edna â€Å"of whom- of what are you thinking?† It is of interest to point out that she initially inquires â€Å"of whom† as if to impose her knowledge on Edna that she believes Edna may be thinking of a particular person such as Robert. Edna answers â€Å"Nothing,† but then catches herself in an answer that comes from simple habit and decides to retrace her thoughts. She rememb...

Auditing Stages

The aim of this discussion is to explain how an auditor goes about the process of auditing financial statements and presents the five basic stages that the auditor performed during the financial statement audit at Maryward Primary School in Kwekwe for the year ending 31 December 2012. In order to be in a position to fulfil auditing responsibility to report on the client’s annual financial statements, the auditor followed a series of procedures and activities as required by the auditing profession.The auditor applied the following audit stages: pre-engagement activities, planning, test of controls, substantive procedures, completion and reporting. Puttick et al (2012:102) defines an audit according to Section 1 of APA as †¦the examination of, in accordance with prescribed or applicable auditing standards: a) financial statements with the objective of expressing an opinion as to their fairness or compliance with the identified financial reporting framework and any statutory requirements.Pre-engagement activities There are five pre-engagement activities and considerations. The auditor at this stage performed a new client investigation in order to accept the new appointment as a way of managing conflicts and threats to the auditor. Assessments of any threats to the independence of the auditor was done as an audit engagement should not be accepted where the auditor‘s independence is compromised.The other assessment done was the business risk faced in order to avoid the risk of association with a client whose integrity is questionable and particularly where motivation exists to misstate disclosures in financial information or indulge in illegal business and fraudulent reporting practices as it likely to render the auditor’s business risk unacceptable. The factors considered during the investigation included business reputation of Maryward Primary School. An assessment of the complication of the audit assignment and the estimated time, require d to finish the work was done.An engagement letter was prepared to provide the clearest record of the terms of the engagement. ISA 210 provides the contents of an engagement letter to be sent to the client to help prevent misunderstandings with respect to the engagement. Also, SAS 140 requires that an auditor should agree with the client the terms of the engagement to be undertaken and the terms should be written therefore the letter of engagement will be required whenever a new auditor appointment is accepted.The main constituent features of a typical letter of engagement are: responsibility of directors and auditors, the scope of the audit, other services, fees, Applicable law (Zimbabwe) and agreement of terms. The auditor accepted the engagement for the audit of the financial statements after the conclusion that the reporting framework was acceptable. There was an agreement between the auditor and Maryward Primary School, both parties agreed to meet when changes arise and when th e auditor considers the appropriateness of the matter to do so.In preparation for the audit, the auditor had a tour to Maryward Primary School after the opening meeting with the client. Russell (2012:69) states that â€Å"a tour of the area to be audited is permissible and often times highly desirable. An auditor may tour this area as part of a pre-audit visit to review documents before or after the opening meeting. † Travel plans were made and a team of three people was identified and sent to the audit area. PlanningAccording to Puttick et al (2012) the auditor first considers materiality at the planning stage of the audit. The auditor made a judgement of materiality in order to plan the audit in such a way that sufficient evidence is gathered to draw up a conclusion. Planning materiality was based on the end of year financial statements and budgets. According to Millichamp (2002) materiality is material if its omission/misstatement could influence the economic decisions tak en on the basis of the financial statements.The auditor also considered inherent risk as it has a direct impact on the nature, timing and extent of procedures the auditor plans to perform to gather sufficient appropriate audit evidence in response to the assessed risk of material misstatement. â€Å"Inherent risk† as per ISA 400 is â€Å" the susceptibility of an account balance or class of transactions to misstatements that could be material, individually or when aggregated with misstatements in other balances or classes, assuming that there are no related internal controls†.The auditor assessed audit risk and inherent risk as it is an essential part of audit planning to help in determining the quality and quantity of evidence gathered and the staff that needed to be assigned to the particular audit. The auditor also obtained an understanding of the business and its environment in order to assess the risk of material misstatement. ISA 310 requires a reasonable underst anding of the client’s business and industry. The nature of the client’s business and industry affects the client business risk and the risk of material misstatements in the financial statements.The auditor used the knowledge of these risks to determine the appropriate amount of audit evidence gathered. The auditor through experience is aware of the exposure to problems resulting from the auditor’s failure to understand comprehensively the nature of transactions in the client’s business. The understanding helped the auditor to evaluate the design and implementation of specific controls that could stop or discover and rectify material misstatements at the assertions level. Control risk is the probability that the client’s internal control system will fail to notice material misstatements.Audit risk is the risk that the auditor will unknowingly express inappropriate opinion on the financial statements. Inherent and control risk are the businessâ€⠄¢s risks that exist independently of the audit of financial statements, whereas detection risk is a function of the effectiveness of an audit procedure and its application by the auditor. Puttick et al (2012) quotes the ISA 200 definition of detection risk: â€Å"detection risk is the risk that the auditor will not detect a misstatement that exists in an assertion that could be material, individually or when aggregated with misstatements†.The auditor inquired into the detailed working papers, inspected legal documents and minutes of meetings of the accounting system and its related controls from the management and personnel of the client. A description of the system was recorded and confirmed that the record is an accurate description of the system and a preliminary evaluation of the internal controls was made. Audit planning involves developing an overall strategy for performing the audit.ISA 300 â€Å"audit strategy† describes in simple terms how audit is to be carr ied out and the â€Å"audit plan† details the exact procedures to be carried out to implement the strategy and complete the audit. During planning the auditor established an understanding with the client as to the nature of services to be provided and the responsibilities of each party through the engagement letter. The auditor developed an overall audit strategy, an audit plan and audit program and documented in the working papers each significant business cycle that is, revenue, expenditure, fixed assets, payroll and accounting.Planning continued throughout the entire audit as the auditor accumulated sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support the audit opinion. Performing tests of control and Substantive procedures One of the most important of all the audit stages is the process of testing the internal controls. The aim of tests controls is to obtain evidence that controls on which audit reliance is intended, worked out throughout the period of the financial year unde r audit. The tests of controls indicated that internal controls are operating effectively; the planned audit approach was not to be changed.These processes and procedures were used to ensure that proper approvals are in place before payment is made or transactions entered in the system. The auditor used the primary method of internal control testing to randomly select transactions and checked the source documentation. The random selection from a representative sample revealed that controls are strong, so there was no point for increasing the sample size. A substantive procedure is the actual process of collecting physical evidence of transactions and verifying the value posted to a specific account is supported by actual documents.This aspect of the audit is the most time consuming and is very detailed work. Gray (2008) propounds that at this stage conclusion made by the auditor must be supported by in each case by carefully evaluated evidence that the transactions are completely an d accurately recorded. As auditors cannot rely completely on management assertion of completeness, the search for unrecorded expenses and liabilities was designed to yield audit evidence of liabilities that were not recorded in the reporting period. A material error or fraud in the inventory has a pervasive effect on the financial statement.Auditing standards requires that the auditor should observe the inventory taking and make test control. Physical inventory at year end was counted when the auditor was present to observe and perform the dual direction testing to gather evidence for the existence and completeness assertions. This involved the performance of substantive procedures the nature, timing and extent of which responded appropriately to the assessed risk of misstatement at the assertions level to achieve a level of detection risk that will result in an acceptable level of audit risk relating to assertions within financial statements.Evaluating and concluding The final stag e of auditing process involves evaluating and drawing conclusions on the fair presentation of the financial information and the drafting of the audit report. During this stage the auditor considers the sufficiency of the evidence gathered in support of financial statement assertions. Assertions are the representations of management that are represented in financial statements, for, example, that fixed assets reflected in financial statements exist and are owned by the entity and are fairly valued.ISA 500R: identifies assertions under three categories namely: assertions about classes of transactions and events for the period under audit, assertions about account balances at the period end and assertions about presentation and disclosure. The auditor decided on the fair presentation of assertions and evaluated the differences between amounts included in the financial information and amounts supported by audit evidence.The audit differences represent uncorrected material misstatements in the financial statements. The auditor evaluated the effect of uncorrected material misstatements on the audit and the effect of uncorrected misstatements on the financial statements and tested whether the financial statements as a whole are free of material misstatement. The auditor evaluated the effect of such misstatements on audit opinion. For this purpose, the auditor established a final estimate of materiality.After consideration of all evidence, the auditor concluded that financial statements were not significantly materially misstated and management was not requested to make appropriate adjustments. The completion stage of the audit is the final stage during which the engagement team and partner responsible for the audit perform finishing procedures, evaluate the sufficiency and appropriateness of audit evidence gathered during the audit and findings in respect of significant risks identified, including fraud risk, in order to form the audit opinion on financial statements .During completion procedures, the auditor reviewed the financial statements on an overall basis performing a final analytical review on period end financial information. The reading of supplementary and other relevant information and resolution of the impact of any significant matters arising were considered. Update inquiries on specific aspects for example, fraud, laws, regulations and evaluation of the results of audit procedures for all significant findings. Written representations from management acknowledging its esponsibility for the design and implementation of internal controls to prevent and detect error were obtained. Reporting The last stage of the audit is finalization. This is the creation of a report to management that summarizes all the procedures used to conduct the audit, the result of the various processes, and supporting documentation. Gray (2008) states that â€Å"at this stage the auditor summarizes evidence on systems and other aspects seen to be of interest to management and sends a formal report of comments and recommendations†.After completion of fieldwork and analysis the auditor presented the first draft of findings and recommendations to the client during the exit meeting. Paragraphs 27, 32, and 35b of ISA 700 indicate that the description in the auditor’s report can refer either to the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements or the preparation of financial statements that give a true and fair view.True in the sense that the auditor’s information given was factual and conforms to reality and not false, in addition the information conforms to the required standards and law and that the accounts of Maryward Primary School had been correctly extracted from the books and records. Fair in the sense that information given is free from discrimination and bias and in compliance with the expected standards and rules and that the accounts of the client reflect the substance of the business’s underlying transactions.