Discuss whistle-blowing in nursing. (Please cover the pros and cons of Research Paper

Discuss whistle-blowing in nursing. (Please cover the pros and cons of whistle blowing and it's relevance to nurse empowerment) - Research Paper Example Furthermore, a nurse might also act as a health advisor for the patients’ future well being. The American Nursing Association (ANA) states, â€Å"nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations† (What is Nursing 2012). Despite the level of input required, the reward for this profession mostly shows up as a bully. Majority of the nurses face social demons at work such as discrimination, over exploitation and verbal or even in some cases, physical abuse. Through a survey conducted of 612 nurses, 67.5% have, at some point or the other suffered inappropriate behavior from their managers. American Nursing Association has stated that 56.9% have either been threatened or been abused verbally at work. (Malcolm 2006; Spence, Leiter, Day, & Gilin 2009; ANA 2001). Whistle blowing is a terminology used when an employee of an organization who objects over illegal or unethical practices that takes place within the business. Depending upon the nature of the management style, whistle blowing can have its advantages but, in some cases quite severe repercussions. Many within a firm might consider whistle blowing no less than an act of treachery while for some companies or organizations, whistle blowing is just another form of collaborative and collective ideas to cut costs and improve efficiency from all areas of the firm. Encouraging employees from all levels of hierarchy to step up and contribute towards the betterment of the institution, collectively. However, fact is, such an attitude is rare to be found. News reports and surveys represent clearly that healthcare institutions are not in favor of such an activity and view whistle blowing as cynical criticism that diminishes its public image. Nurse practitioners have suffered the most, socially an d

Housing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Housing - Essay Example An increasing number of broken and desolate homes because of desertion by a husband and wife are directly traceable in many cases to intolerable housing conditions. The plane of sexual morality is likely to be lower in areas of poor housing. Self respect is broken down slowly due to lack of privacy and indiscriminate intermingling of the sexes increases the tendency to delinquency. A low standard of housing is one of the important factors in the problems arising of child neglect. Most of the wards of social agencies come from areas of poor housing. Moreover, areas of poor housing do not meet their full share of the tax burden. The rate is already low because of the exemptions to dwellings assessed at less $2000 and collections are not as good as in the areas of better. Poor housing and slum conditions are not local problems. They have become national problems and solutions are needed. Factors that lead to poor housing include institutional racism. This is due to ethnic minorities not being able to access owner occupation. Single people may usually have less potential to raise a mortgage or secure a market rent without being dependant on benefits. Likewise, low income households tend to be marginalized into the lower end of the private sector. The homeless frequently require social, educational and welfare support. They are further disadvantaged when placed in temporary accommodation where poor housing standards and community facilities compound their situation. There is a physical shortage of suitable dwellings since the 1980’s and 1990’s which have favored the private sector as a housing provider according to Bruce (1997). The issue arising from too much demand and too little supply of houses has resulted in increased low quality housing. With benefits being paid to landlords regardless of conditions, there is little fiscal incentive for landlords to invest in their properties. Solution to poor housing Deregulation of rents and tenancies has trap ped many tenants within the sector long-term hence making tenants increasingly marginalized from mainstream society. Such issues reinforce the argument that housing regeneration and promoting healthier housing is not just about living accommodation or unemployment. It is also about the complex interrelationship of social exclusion, abandonment of inner-city areas and current lifestyle that make up the bottom end of the private rented sector. The combination effect of these social issues cannot be stressed strongly enough. Housing and health are both key issues. Access to poor housing generally results from disadvantage which frequently results in access to poor housing and therefore poor health. Economic conditions have partly hidden this fact because there has been much doubling up and overcrowding. If people could manage to secure a reasonably full employment, it is projected that more than 25000 residents could secure better dwelling places according to Coakley (2005). In order t o solve this vice, there have been housing programs established to transform living conditions, improving educational facilities to furnish the human kind to live in better conditions. There were also family therapy sessions to create a better understanding among families according to Linesch (2005). However, these have never proceeded on a coordinated basis of development. Housing measures have greatly fluctuated at the whims of legislative bodies. There are efforts by some government bodies that are dedicated to

United Kingdom and the Eurozone

United Kingdom and the Eurozone DEFINITION OF CURRENCY UNION In the world today, systems in which countries come together in agreement of sharing single money. The system is called currency or monetary union, its importance and number of participants is growing. In May 2005, 52 out of 184 IMF members participated in currency unions (Rose, 2006). A currency union can be defined as a system where two or more groups usually countries share a common or single currency in order to keep the value of their currency at a certain level (Investopedia, 2015). It can also be defined as an agreement among member’s countries or other jurisdictions to share a common currency, and a single foreign and monetary exchange policy (Rosa, 2004). Currency unions occur when a poor country unilaterally adopts the money of a larger â€Å"anchor† country. For Example, a number of countries currently use the American dollar such as Panama, Ecuador, and a number of smaller countries and dependencies in the Caribbean and Pacific (Rose, 2006). In Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia all use the South African Rand thereby forming a currency union (Multilateral monetary area). In these cases, the exchange and interest rates of dependent countries are influenced and determined by the anchor country, generally in the interest of the anchor. There are a number of multilateral currency unions between countries of similar size and wealth such as the East Caribbean dollar: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia. The Central Bank of the West African of the CFA franc: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo and also the Bank of the Central African States. Other currency unions in the world are the monetary authority Singapore, eastern Caribbean currency union, multilateral monetary area etc. The largest currency union is the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union which began on the 1st January 1999, although the euro was only physically introduced three years later. Twelve countries instituted the euro as a legal tender, delegating and determining monetary policy for EMU to through the international European central bank. One of the reasons of forming a currency union is mainly to synchronize and manage each member countrys monetary policy which could be done through lowering of transaction costs of cross-border trade (Silva and Tenreyro, 2010) The union is expected to grow more with Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia recently joining the area and other states such as Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City unilaterally adopting the euro as their sole currency however, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and the United Kingdom have rejected membership but maintained debates on the advisability of adopting the euro particularly after the onset of the global financial crisis (Carney, 2014). Currency unions have no definite size therefore there is no appropriate domain for a currency. The use of a single or common currency is advantageous to regions as well as can also cause problems in the dual presence of asymmetric shocks and nominal rigidities (in prices and wages) (Mundell, 1961). The effect of the size on currency union tend to create more open and fewer nominal rigidities for smaller countries making them better candidates for currency unions (Mckinnon, 1963). The effects of the economys degree of diversification could result in fewer asymmetric shocks and accordingly fewer benefits from national monetary policy. The insights of the theory of optimum currency areas provided by Mundell (1961) concluded that common currency areas are defined by internal mobility and external immobility of factors of production. According to this theory, the optimum size of currency area depends on the tradeoff between the macroeconomic efficiency gains and micro-economic costs. The forming currency unions have its costs as well as benefits. THE COSTS Generally, the main cost of joining a currency union is the loss of an independent monetary policy with the inability to react to shocks through exchange rate adjustments. Monetary independence can be beneficial when shocks are regionally specific, alternative mechanisms are weak and when exchange rate changes function as means of lightening idiosyncratic shocks Countries that could potentially let their exchange rates adjust to justify the impact of shocks often display fear of floating and thus do not exploit the automatic stabilization properties of exchange rates (Calvo and Reinhart, 2002). Countries reluctance to implement monetary policy to tackle shocks could be linked to its actual effectiveness; less effectiveness of monetary policies to facilitate the adjustment or possibly wider consideration such as fear that it may trigger beggar thy-neighbor responses by trading partners inducing structural volatility in the financial markets. Besides the absence of price adjustment mechanisms, output stabilization and currency revaluation in the currency union faces another challenge. A system of income transfers is necessary for softening negative asymmetric shocks in countries that have joined a currency union however; the prospect of income transfers between countries generates the type of moral hazard commonly seen in insurance models (Grabner, 2003). Another cost of currency unions relate to overcoming structural differences among the countries. The transition towards a monetary union is likely to expose structural weaknesses (Jacquet 1998 and Grabner 2003). By entering a monetary union, countries lose the ability to correct their monetary troubles in short term. The necessary structural reform preceding the acceptances of a single currency focus on issues like taxation, supervision of capital markets and also mutual recognition and harmonization of labor markets (Jacquet 1998). There is also an issue of fiscal financing. Public budget can be financed from government bonds and tax revenues. A country in a currency union is likely to face constraints on financing options resulting in a suboptimal situation. At the same time, government bonds are linked to inflation and a currency union implicitly assumes convergent optimal inflation rates (Grabner 2003). In reality the optimal levels of inflation may differ among the countries in the currency union. Furthermore, the cost or problem of currency union inability of participant countries to independently choose an inflation rate. It seems relatively less important now than in the past as improvements in available technology to central banks enable sustainable inflation that result in low actual inflation rates in most countries however if a country plagued by low productivity enters a currency union of higher productive countries, it could experience higher inflationary rates (Coleman 1999). THE BENEFITS One of the main benefits of currency unions envisaged by Mundell (1961) is the elimination of currency conversion costs and greater predictability of prices which would increase trade. The savings are more significant for small, open and less developed countries whose currencies are not used for international payments (Grabner 2003). Coleman (1999) mentions the savings from the reduction of transaction costs and reduction of price uncertainty together account for 0.4 percent of GDP in the Eurozone. Increased price transparency and reduced price uncertainty are often quoted as interrelated benefits of currency unions. The reduction of price uncertainty is linked to the use of unit of account which is simultaneouslu used by broader economic area (Zika, 2006). The even disappearance of exchange rates removes a vital barrier to trade integration; this furthermore leads to better information, increased competition and price transparency (Jacquet 1998 and Grabner, 2003). Further benefit of monetary union is the removal of competitive devaluations by member countries which also known as â€Å"beggar-thy-neighbor† policy (Kronberger, 2004). Within currency unions, both importers and exporters have a strong interest in avoiding disproportionate swings in exchange rates. The transfer of resources between regions by the centralized monetary authority through its money issuing function. These transfers can be used to diversify the risk of expected economic shocks however; public finance plays a significant role (Voss, 1998). Currency union has the potential to reduce the number of investment failures. Price uncertainty negatively impacts the welfare or risk adverse individuals in standard economic theory. The greater exchange rate volatility tends to impair the quality of decisions about investment projects abroad; therefore greater exchange rate volatility implies more frequent investment failures and larger costs (Grabner, 2003). Higher risk caused by the increase in price and exchange rate uncertainty increases the real interest rate. Higher real interest rates then highlight the problems of moral hazard and adverse selection. This therefore helps lower systematic risk (Grabner, 2003). Finally, the vast economic area of currency unions increases the effect of networking. The adoption of a single currency in a bigger economic area creates greater benefits for all users. Looking at the economic structure of the United Kingdom and Eurozone, both have projects which are suitable to the individual development and growth of both economies. The United Kingdom becoming a member of the eurozone will be more of disadvantage than benefit to the United Kingdom due to several reasons. The core argument for entering the EMU is the elimination of exchange risk against the euro which would promote much more trade with and within Europe by merging the rather risky and limited sterling capital market into a bigger and less risky euro capital market. The joining of the Eurozone is not to world currency but a regional one. Outside of Europe, most of the world either uses the dollar or is tied to it in some way therefore trade and investment would be half with the euro area and half with the dollar area. But over the years, euro/dollar exchange rate has been highly variable which when compared to British pound/dollar exchange rate it doesn’t seem convincing. If the UK remains outside, the pound can go between the two currencies as the euro swings occur against dollar thereby sitting on the middle of a seesaw. Looking at this, there is no necessary gain in the exchange risk reduction in UK joining the Eurozone and that it is even possible that the overall risk would rise. The benefit of price transparency and comparison between UK and Eurozone is also of little importance in the sense that United Kingdom has no land borders with the Eurozone unlike Belgium and Netherlands. Given this fact, the comparing of prices between both zones is irrelevant. In terms of bailout and the emerging state pension crisis, growth and development is slower than expected while unemployment is turning out to be higher. The politics of pension cut benefits is speculative given that the aging population will increasingly be dominated by older voters. The effect of raising taxes further would lower growth and increase unemployment. It is a matter of concern to the UK that cost of meeting explosive financial liabilities might somehow impact British taxpayers. In conclusion, the reduction of transactions cost of currency exchange would be roughly offset by the one-off cost of currency conversion. There would be some gain from eliminating exchange risk against euro but this would be offset largely by the volatility against the dollar with around half our trade broadly defined with countries either on or closely linked to the dollar. Generally, the exchange risk does not appear to have an important effect on trade or foreign investment, and in the UK case, on the cos of capital. Honestly, I would like to advice that the UK waits and properly assess and plan out different projects. Due to the structure of the Eurozone, I am strongly against the UK joining the Eurozone which is the best interest of British citizens REFERENCES A Coleman. (1999).Economic integration and monetary union.Available: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/workingpapers/1999/twp99-6.pdf . Last accessed 04-01-2015. Andrew K. Rose. (2006).Currency Unions.Available: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/arose/Palgrave.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Available: http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2004/5/cj24n1-2-10.pdf. Last accessed 04-01-2015. G.M.Voss. (1998). Monetary integration, uncertainty and the role of money finance.Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 65 (2), 231-245. G Fink And D Salvatore. (1999).Benefits and Costs of European Economic and Monetary Union.Available: file:///C:/Users/G1308037/Downloads/6.2_Fink.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. G Thompson and D Harari. (2013).The economic impact of EU membership on the UK.Available: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=10cad=rjauact=8ved=0CGEQFjAJurl=http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn06730.pdfei=iBCsVJ_QAefe7AbMvYDgDgusg=AFQjCNG. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Guillermo A. Calvo And Carmen M. Reinhart. (2002).Fear Of Floating. Available: http://web.cenet.org.cn/upfile/87741.pdf. Last accessed 02-01-2015. Investopedia. (2015).Currency Union.Available: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currency-union.asp. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Jan Zika. (2006).Cost and Benefits Of A Monetary Union.Available: http://janzika.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/Monetary_union.pdf. Last accessed 02-01-2015. Jacquet P. (1998).A worthwhile gamble. International Affairs.Available: No. 1, January, Vol. 74, pp.55–71.. Last accessed 04-01-2015. Mark Carney. (2014).The Economics Of Currency Unions.Available: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2014/speech706.pdf. Last accessed 06-01-2015. Patrick Minford. (2002).Should Britain Join The Euro?.Available: http://www.iea.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/files/upldbook147pdf.pdf. Last accessed 07-01-2015. Patrick Minford. (2004).Britain, The Euro, And The Five Tests. R. Kronberger. (2004).A cost-benefit analysis of a monetary union for MERCOSUR with particular emphasis on the optimum currency area theory.Available: http://econwpa.wustl.edu:80/eps/mac/papers/0407/0407010.pdf . Last accessed 04-01-2015. R Layard, W Buiter, C Huhne, W Hutton, P Kenen and ATurner. (2002).Why Britain Should Join The Euro.Available: http://willembuiter.com/RL334D.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Robert A Mundell. (1961).A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas. Available: http://digamo.free.fr/mundell61.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Ronald I. Mckinnon. (1963).Optimum Currency Areas.Available: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1811021?sid=21105014573601uid=4uid=3738032uid=2. Last accessed 02-01-2015. S Rosa. (2004).Definition Of Currency Union.Available: https://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/pdf/cuteg1.pdf. Last accessed 04-01-2015. S.Silva and S. Tenreyro. (2010).Currency Unions in Prospect and Retrospect.Available: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/tenreyro/cupaper.pdf. Last accessed 01-01-2015. S.Tenreyro. (2001).On The Causes and Consequences of Currency Un.Available: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/arose/tenreyro.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015. Willem H. Buiter. (2008).Why the United Kingdom Should Join the Eurozone.Available: http://willembuiter.com/ifeuro.pdf. Last accessed 05-01-2015.

Ploitical, And Social Effents That Shaped The 60s Generation Essay

Massive black rebellions, constant strikes, gigantic anti-war demonstrations, draft resistance, Cuba, Vietnam, Algeria, a cultural revolution of seven hundred million Chinese, occupations, red power, the rising of women, disobedience and sabotage, communes & marijuana: amongst this chaos, there was a generation of youths looking to set their own standard - to fight against the establishment, which was oppressing them, and leave their mark on history. These kids were known as the hippies. There were many stereotypes concerning hippies; they were thought of as being pot smoking, freeloading vagabonds, who were trying to save the world. As this small pocket of teenage rebellion rose out of the suburbs, inner cities, and countryside’s, there was a general feeling that the hippies were a product of drugs, and rock music; this generalization could have never been more wrong. The hippie counterculture was more than just a product of drugs and music, but a result of the change th at was sweeping the entire western world. These changes were brought about by various events in both the fifties and the sixties, such as: the end of the "Golden Years" of the fifties, the changing economical state from the fifties to the sixties, the Black Panther Party, women moving into the work force, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy Jr., the war in Vietnam, the Kent State protest, and finally the Woodstock festival. The electric subcurrent of the fifties was, above all, rock’n’roll, the live wire that linked bedazzled teenagers around the nation, and quickly around the world, into the common enterprise of being young. Rock was rough, raw, insistent, especially by comparison with the music it replaced; it whooped and groaned, shook, rattled, and rolled. Rock was clamor, the noise of youth submerged by order and prosperity, now frantically clawing their way out. The winds of change began to sweep across America in the late fifties. The political unrest came with fear of thermo-nuclear war and the shadow that had been cast by Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. The civil rights leaders were unhappy with President Eisenhower’s reluctance to use his powers for their cause, in spite of the fact that the nation was becoming more receptive to civil rights reforms. With black organizations becoming more militant, Eisenhower needed to acknowledge the grow... ...mmit, 1989. Dickstein, Morris. Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties. New York: Basic Books, 1977. Gitlin, Todd. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. New York: Bantam, 1987. Ingham, John. Sex’N’Drugs’N’Rock’N’Roll. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 1988. Kostash, Myrna. Long Way From Home:The Story of the Sixties Generation in Canada. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1980. Martin, Elizabeth. 57 Edgemore Dr., Etobicoke, Ontario. Interview, 12 February 1997. Oakley, Ronald. God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Red Dembner, 1986. Rosen, Obst. The Sixties: The Decade Remembered Now, by the People Who Lived Them. Toronto: Random House Publisher, 1977. Roy, Andy. Great Assassinations. New York: Independent Publishing, 1994. Stern, Jane, and Micheal. Sixties People. New York: Knopf, 1990. Tucker, Ken, and Stokes, Geoffrey, and Ward, Ed. Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. New York: Rolling Stone Press, 1986. Weiss, Bill. King And His Struggles. New York: Penny Publishing, 1987. Yinger, Milton. Countercultures: The Promise and Peril of a world Turned Upside Down. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1982. Ploitical, And Social Effents That Shaped The 60s Generation Essay Massive black rebellions, constant strikes, gigantic anti-war demonstrations, draft resistance, Cuba, Vietnam, Algeria, a cultural revolution of seven hundred million Chinese, occupations, red power, the rising of women, disobedience and sabotage, communes & marijuana: amongst this chaos, there was a generation of youths looking to set their own standard - to fight against the establishment, which was oppressing them, and leave their mark on history. These kids were known as the hippies. There were many stereotypes concerning hippies; they were thought of as being pot smoking, freeloading vagabonds, who were trying to save the world. As this small pocket of teenage rebellion rose out of the suburbs, inner cities, and countryside’s, there was a general feeling that the hippies were a product of drugs, and rock music; this generalization could have never been more wrong. The hippie counterculture was more than just a product of drugs and music, but a result of the change th at was sweeping the entire western world. These changes were brought about by various events in both the fifties and the sixties, such as: the end of the "Golden Years" of the fifties, the changing economical state from the fifties to the sixties, the Black Panther Party, women moving into the work force, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy Jr., the war in Vietnam, the Kent State protest, and finally the Woodstock festival. The electric subcurrent of the fifties was, above all, rock’n’roll, the live wire that linked bedazzled teenagers around the nation, and quickly around the world, into the common enterprise of being young. Rock was rough, raw, insistent, especially by comparison with the music it replaced; it whooped and groaned, shook, rattled, and rolled. Rock was clamor, the noise of youth submerged by order and prosperity, now frantically clawing their way out. The winds of change began to sweep across America in the late fifties. The political unrest came with fear of thermo-nuclear war and the shadow that had been cast by Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. The civil rights leaders were unhappy with President Eisenhower’s reluctance to use his powers for their cause, in spite of the fact that the nation was becoming more receptive to civil rights reforms. With black organizations becoming more militant, Eisenhower needed to acknowledge the grow... ...mmit, 1989. Dickstein, Morris. Gates of Eden: American Culture in the Sixties. New York: Basic Books, 1977. Gitlin, Todd. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. New York: Bantam, 1987. Ingham, John. Sex’N’Drugs’N’Rock’N’Roll. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, 1988. Kostash, Myrna. Long Way From Home:The Story of the Sixties Generation in Canada. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company, 1980. Martin, Elizabeth. 57 Edgemore Dr., Etobicoke, Ontario. Interview, 12 February 1997. Oakley, Ronald. God’s Country: America in the Fifties. New York: Red Dembner, 1986. Rosen, Obst. The Sixties: The Decade Remembered Now, by the People Who Lived Them. Toronto: Random House Publisher, 1977. Roy, Andy. Great Assassinations. New York: Independent Publishing, 1994. Stern, Jane, and Micheal. Sixties People. New York: Knopf, 1990. Tucker, Ken, and Stokes, Geoffrey, and Ward, Ed. Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. New York: Rolling Stone Press, 1986. Weiss, Bill. King And His Struggles. New York: Penny Publishing, 1987. Yinger, Milton. Countercultures: The Promise and Peril of a world Turned Upside Down. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1982.

Free Awakening Essays: The Parrot :: Chopin Awakening Essays

The Importance of the Parrot in The Awakening "Go away! Go away! For heaven’s sake! That’s all right!" (1) Chopin opens her poetic novella, The Awakening, not with the dialogue of a character, but with the ramblings of a brash parrot. Immediately, Chopin compels her readers to ponder what significance, if any, these seemingly random words will have in the following tale. Yet, it is not until the final pages that we recognize the bird’s true importance and meaning. The parrot, though seldom referred to within the text, comes to symbolize Edna’s role in society and the woman she becomes as she is spiritually awakened. At first impression the parrot’s bold demeanor creates an image of eccentricity. His spirited exclamations give him an air of impertinence, defiance, and intelligence that one would not expect of such a bird. Chopin portrays Edna in the same light, showing that perhaps as the parrot may deviate from the norm, so does Edna, who digresses from the society in which she lives. She does not conform to the image of a typical woman in society, playing the roles of a devoted mother and wife. Edna ignores these standards by engaging in two extra-marital affairs and by placing her own life before those of her children. Her desire to live as she pleases lies in direct opposition to the duties she is expected to perform, and she refuses to put on this performance to satisfy society. As a result, Edna seems as brazen and audacious as the parrot that obviously does not mimic the sounds he hears and instead seems to create his own. Again squawking, "Go away! Go away!" at the bothersome piano playing of two girls, Chopin writes, "He was the only being present who possessed sufficient candor to admit that he was not listening to these gracious performances for the first time that summer." (23) Edna shows similar candor in her unwillingness to accept society’s burdening stereotypes. The seemingly intelligent bird "could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which nobody understood..." (1) Though the parrot’s remarks appear to fall on deaf ears, Edna is one who can identify with his presumable wisdom, as her existence too is misjudged. Both Edna and the parrot are depicted as extraordinary and misunderstood in their surroundings, yet they are not free:as the parrot must exist in a cage, so Edna is caged by the restrictions society places upon her.

Imformative speech Essay

Introduction Hasn’t everyone at some point in their life been peered pressured. Teenagers all across America face it every day. It ranges from cheating on a test to robbing a convenient store. Peer pressure is a serious life situation that everyone encounters at a certain point in their life. And let’s face it, just say no is not always that easy. Attention Gainer YouTube video, peer pressure. Reason to Listen/Credibility Peer pressure exists for all ages. Three-year-old Robert insists that his mother take him to the store right away and buy him the latest fad toy because his friends have it. When she doesn’t, he has a temper tantrum. Nine-year-old Sarah wears a new shirt to school once, then refuses to wear it again because her friends made fun if it. Jeff, at sixteen, works out three hours a day to have a â€Å"perfect† body. When one of his friends at the gym offers him some anabolic steroids, he accepts, sacrificing his health for his image. Meanwhile, Jeff’s forty-year-old father just took out a loan he couldn’t afford to buy a new BMW because most of his neighbors drive luxury cars, and he didn’t want them to think he couldn’t afford one too. No one is immune from peer pressure. Source: www.faqs.org 3 Preview Statement The word â€Å"peer† according to dictionary.cambridge.org is one belonging to the same social group especially based on age, grade or status. The word â€Å"pressure† is described as the burden of physical mental distress. Peer pressure is basically encouraging people similar to you to make certain choices, take certain actions or perform in some specific way. I will talk about three different kinds of peer pressure substance abuse, emotional, and positive forms of peer pressure. II. Body First Main Point The number one form of peer pressure is substance abuse. Tobacco, alcohol and  illegal drugs are all substances that teenagers are pressured into using and abusing. Most teenagers who try alcohol do so around the age of 13, 8 years before the legal drinking age. The American Lung Association reports 3.1 million teenagers smoke. Approximately 30% of teenagers are offered, given or sold drugs in highs school or in middle school. These are some very disturbing statistics. When you give in to pressure you’re letting down those around you who thought they knew you better. When your own sense of self and the admiration of those around you are very important things to consider, you also need to think about more serious consequences of peer pressure. Alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs are all addicting. They are dangerous to your health in many ways and are often hard to quit once you have become dependent upon them. These substances can lead to negative consequences such as cancer, drug overdose and even death. Source: www.Buzzle.com 4 Second Main Point Second, one of the most emotional peer pressures we face is related to image ; the way we dress our height, our weight, how we act, and who we hang out with. These are all things that define us that we can ultimately be pressured into changing. Bullying and teasing go hand in hand with how we feel about ourselves. Self-esteem gives a huge blow when peer pressure causes us to change who we are. It is all about fitting in. that’s the number one thing why we yield to peer pressure. Teenagers are naturally afraid of rejection. They want to feel like they belong and that they are cool. While it’s perfectly normal to want to fit in, it doesn’t mean you have to change who you are or sacrifice your beliefs and your values. When you give in to peer pressure you lose yourself. You are giving up your free will and your voice and falling through the cracks just to be like somebody else Third Main Point A final peer pressure were going to discuss is positive forms of peer pressure. We know that peer pressure means encouraging people similar to us to do certain things, but it doesn’t always have to be bad. Some good forms of peer pressure include encouraging your friends to participate in sports  or other activities, or even volunteering together. Convincing someone to tell the truth, helping someone with homework or encouraging kids at school to come to church are all very positive forms of peer pressure. Peer pressure is not always bad. It can help you analyze yourself and contemplate on your ways of life. Some of the practices that the masses follow may 5 actually teach you the way of living. You may be able to change yourself for the better. Looking at what others do, can help you bring about a positive change in your way of thinking. If you can pick selectively, peer pressure can actually result in a positive change in your way of life. III. Conclusion Recap/Summary These three kinds of peer pressure happen to everyone at some point, substance abuse, emotional, and positive forms of peer pressure. Whether everyone or no one caves in we all have been peer pressured or will be in all these ways. This summarizes this informative speech. C. Audience Imprint 6 Bibliography www.faqs.org www.Buzzle.com www.Thecoolspot.gov www.aacap.org/peerpressure ianrpubs.unl.edu

A Game of Thrones Chapter Sixty-seven

Sansa In the tower room at the heart of Maegor's Holdfast, Sansa gave herself to the darkness. She drew the curtains around her bed, slept, woke weeping, and slept again. When she could not sleep she lay under her blankets shivering with grief. Servants came and went, bringing meals, but the sight of food was more than she could bear. The dishes piled up on the table beneath her window, untouched and spoiling, until the servants took them away again. Sometimes her sleep was leaden and dreamless, and she woke from it more tired than when she had closed her eyes. Yet those were the best times, for when she dreamed, she dreamed of Father. Waking or sleeping, she saw him, saw the gold cloaks fling him down, saw Ser Ilyn striding forward, unsheathing Ice from the scabbard on his back, saw the moment . . . the moment when . . . she had wanted to look away, she had wanted to, her legs had gone out from under her and she had fallen to her knees, yet somehow she could not turn her head, and all the people were screaming and shouting, and her prince had smiled at her, he'd smiled and she'd felt safe, but only for a heartbeat, until he said those words, and her father's legs . . . that was what she remembered, his legs, the way they'd jerked when Ser Ilyn . . . when the sword . . . Perhaps I will die too, she told herself, and the thought did not seem so terrible to her. If she flung herself from the window, she could put an end to her suffering, and in the years to come the singers would write songs of her grief. Her body would lie on the stones below, broken and innocent, shaming all those who had betrayed her. Sansa went so far as to cross the bedchamber and throw open the shutters . . . but then her courage left her, and she ran back to her bed, sobbing. The serving girls tried to talk to her when they brought her meals, but she never answered them. Once Grand Maester Pycelle came with a box of flasks and bottles, to ask if she was ill. He felt her brow, made her undress, and touched her all over while her bedmaid held her down. When he left he gave her a potion of honeywater and herbs and told her to drink a swallow every night. She drank it all right then and went back to sleep. She dreamt of footsteps on the tower stair, an ominous scraping of leather on stone as a man climbed slowly toward her bedchamber, step by step. All she could do was huddle behind her door and listen, trembling, as he came closer and closer. It was Ser Ilyn Payne, she knew, coming for her with Ice in his hand, coming to take her head. There was no place to run, no place to hide, no way to bar the door. Finally the footsteps stopped and she knew he was just outside, standing there silent with his dead eyes and his long pocked face. That was when she realized she was naked. She crouched down, trying to cover herself with her hands, as her door began to swing open, creaking, the point of the greatsword poking through . . . She woke murmuring, â€Å"Please, please, I'll be good, I'll be good, please don't,† but there was no one to hear. When they finally came for her in truth, Sansa never heard their footsteps. It was Joffrey who opened her door, not Ser Ilyn but the boy who had been her prince. She was in bed, curled up tight, her curtains drawn, and she could not have said if it was noon or midnight. The first thing she heard was the slam of the door. Then her bed hangings were yanked back, and she threw up a hand against the sudden light and saw them standing over her. â€Å"You will attend me in court this afternoon,† Joffrey said. â€Å"See that you bathe and dress as befits my betrothed.† Sandor Clegane stood at his shoulder in a plain brown doublet and green mantle, his burned face hideous in the morning light. Behind them were two knights of the Kingsguard in long white satin cloaks. Sansa drew her blanket up to her chin to cover herself. â€Å"No,† she whimpered, â€Å"please . . . leave me be.† â€Å"If you won't rise and dress yourself, my Hound will do it for you,† Joffrey said. â€Å"I beg of you, my prince . . . â€Å" â€Å"I'm king now. Dog, get her out of bed.† Sandor Clegane scooped her up around the waist and lifted her off the featherbed as she struggled feebly. Her blanket fell to the floor. Underneath she had only a thin bedgown to cover her nakedness. â€Å"Do as you're bid, child,† Clegane said. â€Å"Dress.† He pushed her toward her wardrobe, almost gently. Sansa backed away from them. â€Å"I did as the queen asked, I wrote the letters, I wrote what she told me. You promised you'd be merciful. Please, let me go home. I won't do any treason, I'll be good, I swear it, I don't have traitor's blood, I don't. I only want to go home.† Remembering her courtesies, she lowered her head. â€Å"As it please you,† she finished weakly. â€Å"It does not please me,† Joffrey said. â€Å"Mother says I'm still to marry you, so you'll stay here, and you'll obey.† â€Å"I don't want to marry you,† Sansa wailed. â€Å"You chopped off my father's head!† â€Å"He was a traitor. I never promised to spare him, only that I'd be merciful, and I was. If he hadn't been your father, I would have had him torn or flayed, but I gave him a clean death.† Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. â€Å"I hate you,† she whispered. King Joffrey's face hardened. â€Å"My mother tells me that it isn't fitting that a king should strike his wife. Ser Meryn.† The knight was on her before she could think, yanking back her hand as she tried to shield her face and backhanding her across the ear with a gloved fist. Sansa did not remember failing, yet the next she knew she was sprawled on one knee amongst the rushes. Her head was ringing. Ser Meryn Trant stood over her, with blood on the knuckles of his white silk glove. â€Å"Will you obey now, or shall I have him chastise you again?† Sansa's ear felt numb. She touched it, and her fingertips came away wet and red. â€Å"I . . . as . . . as you command, my lord.† â€Å"Your Grace,† Joffrey corrected her. â€Å"I shall look for you in court.† He turned and left. Ser Meryn and Ser Arys followed him out, but Sandor Clegane lingered long enough to yank her roughly to her feet. â€Å"Save yourself some pain, girl, and give him what he wants.† â€Å"What . . . what does he want? Please, tell me.† â€Å"He wants you to smile and smell sweet and be his lady love,† the Hound rasped. â€Å"He wants to hear you recite all your pretty little words the way the septa taught you. He wants you to love him . . . and fear him.† After he was gone, Sansa sank back onto the rushes, staring at the wall until two of her bedmaids crept timidly into the chamber. â€Å"I will need hot water for my bath, please,† she told them, â€Å"and perfume, and some powder to hide this bruise.† The right side of her face was swollen and beginning to ache, but she knew Joffrey would want her to be beautiful. The hot water made her think of Winterfell, and she took strength from that. She had not washed since the day her father died, and she was startled at how filthy the water became. Her maids sluiced the blood off her face, scrubbed the dirt from her back, washed her hair and brushed it out until it sprang back in thick auburn curls. Sansa did not speak to them, except to give them commands; they were Lannister servants, not her own, and she did not trust them. When the time came to dress, she chose the green silk gown that she had worn to the tourney. She recalled how gallant Joff had been to her that night at the feast. Perhaps it would make him remember as well, and treat her more gently. She drank a glass of buttermilk and nibbled at some sweet biscuits as she waited, to settle her stomach. It was midday when Ser Meryn returned. He had donned his white armor; a shirt of enameled scales chased with gold, a tall helm with a golden sunburst crest, greaves and gorget and gauntlet and boots of gleaming plate, a heavy wool cloak clasped with a golden lion. His visor had been removed from his helm, to better show his dour face; pouchy bags under his eyes, a wide sour mouth, rusty hair spotted with grey. â€Å"My lady,† he said, bowing, as if he had not beaten her bloody only three hours past. â€Å"His Grace has instructed me to escort you to the throne room.† â€Å"Did he instruct you to hit me if I refused to come?† â€Å"Are you refusing to come, my lady?† The look he gave her was without expression. He did not so much as glance at the bruise he had left her. He did not hate her, Sansa realized; neither did he love her. He felt nothing for her at all. She was only a . . . a thing to him. â€Å"No,† she said, rising. She wanted to rage, to hurt him as he'd hurt her, to warn him that when she was queen she would have him exiled if he ever dared strike her again . . . but she remembered what the Hound had told her, so all she said was, â€Å"I shall do whatever His Grace commands.† â€Å"As I do,† he replied. â€Å"Yes . . . but you are no true knight, Ser Meryn.† Sandor Clegane would have laughed at that, Sansa knew. Other men might have cursed her, warned her to keep silent, even begged for her forgiveness. Ser Meryn Trant did none of these. Ser Meryn Trant simply did not care. The balcony was deserted save for Sansa. She stood with her head bowed, fighting to hold back her tears, while below Joffrey sat on his Iron Throne and dispensed what it pleased him to call justice. Nine cases out of ten seemed to bore him; those he allowed his council to handle, squirming restlessly while Lord Baelish, Grand Maester Pycelle, or Queen Cersei resolved the matter. When he did choose to make a ruling, though, not even his queen mother could sway him. A thief was brought before him and he had Ser Ilyn chop his hand off, right there in court. Two knights came to him with a dispute about some land, and he decreed that they should duel for it on the morrow. â€Å"To the death,† he added. A woman fell to her knees to plead for the head of a man executed as a traitor. She had loved him, she said, and she wanted to see him decently buried. â€Å"If you loved a traitor, you must be a traitor too,† Joffrey said. Two gold cloaks dragged her off to the dungeons. Frog-faced Lord Slynt sat at the end of the council table wearing a black velvet doublet and a shiny cloth-of-gold cape, nodding with approval every time the king pronounced a sentence. Sansa stared hard at his ugly face, remembering how he had thrown down her father for Ser Ilyn to behead, wishing she could hurt him, wishing that some hero would throw him down and cut off his head. But a voice inside her whispered, There are no heroes, and she remembered what Lord Petyr had said to her, here in this very hall. â€Å"Life is not a song, sweetling,† he'd told her. â€Å"You may learn that one day to your sorrow.† In life, the monsters win, she told herself, and now it was the Hound's voice she heard, a cold rasp, metal on stone. â€Å"Save yourself some pain, girl, and give him what he wants.† The last case was a plump tavern singer, accused of making a song that ridiculed the late King Robert. Joff commanded them to fetch his woodharp and ordered him to perform the song for the court. The singer wept and swore he would never sing that song again, but the king insisted. It was sort of a funny song, all about Robert fighting with a pig. The pig was the boar who'd killed him, Sansa knew, but in some verses it almost sounded as if he were singing about the queen. When the song was done, Joffrey announced that he'd decided to be merciful. The singer could keep either his fingers or his tongue. He would have a day to make his choice. Janos Slynt nodded. That was the final business of the afternoon, Sansa saw with relief, but her ordeal was not yet done. When the herald's voice dismissed the court, she fled the balcony, only to find Joffrey waiting for her at the base of the curving stairs. The Hound was with him, and Ser Meryn as well. The young king examined her critically, top to bottom. â€Å"You look much better than you did.† â€Å"Thank you, Your Grace,† Sansa said. Hollow words, but they made him nod and smile. â€Å"Walk with me,† Joffrey commanded, offering her his arm. She had no choice but to take it. The touch of his hand would have thrilled her once; now it made her flesh crawl. â€Å"My name day will be here soon,† Joffrey said as they slipped out the rear of the throne room. â€Å"There will be a great feast, and gifts. What are you going to give me?† â€Å"I . . . I had not thought, my lord.† â€Å"Your Grace,† he said sharply. â€Å"You truly are a stupid girl, aren't you? My mother says so.† â€Å"She does?† After all that had happened, his words should have lost their power to hurt her, yet somehow they had not. The queen had always been so kind to her. â€Å"Oh, yes. She worries about our children, whether they'll be stupid like you, but I told her not to trouble herself.† The king gestured, and Ser Meryn opened a door for them. â€Å"Thank you, Your Grace,† she murmured. The Hound was right, she thought, I am only a little bird, repeating the words they taught me. The sun had fallen below the western wall, and the stones of the Red Keep glowed dark as blood. â€Å"I'll get you with child as soon as you're able,† Joffrey said as he escorted her across the practice yard. â€Å"If the first one is stupid, I'll chop off your head and find a smarter wife. When do you think you'll be able to have children?† Sansa could not look at him, he shamed her so. â€Å"Septa Mordane says most . . . most highborn girls have their flowering at twelve or thirteen.† Joffrey nodded. â€Å"This way.† He led her into the gatehouse, to the base of the steps that led up to the battlements. Sansa jerked back away from him, trembling. Suddenly she knew where they were going. â€Å"No,† she said, her voice a frightened gasp. â€Å"Please, no, don't make me, I beg you . . . â€Å" Joffrey pressed his lips together. â€Å"I want to show you what happens to traitors.† Sansa shook her head wildly. â€Å"I won't. I won't.† â€Å"I can have Ser Meryn drag you up,† he said. â€Å"You won't like that. You had better do what I say.† Joffrey reached for her, and Sansa cringed away from him, backing into the Hound. â€Å"Do it, girl,† Sandor Clegane told her, pushing her back toward the king. His mouth twitched on the burned side of his face and Sansa could almost hear the rest of it. He'll have you up there no matter what, so give him what he wants. She forced herself to take King Joffrey's hand. The climb was something out of a nightmare; every step was a struggle, as if she were pulling her feet out of ankle-deep mud, and there were more steps than she would have believed, a thousand thousand steps, and horror waiting on the ramparts. From the high battlements of the gatehouse, the whole world spread out below them. Sansa could see the Great Sept of Baelor on Visenya's hill, where her father had died. At the other end of the Street of the Sisters stood the fire-blackened ruins of the Dragonpit. To the west, the swollen red sun was half-hidden behind the Gate of the Gods. The salt sea was at her back, and to the south was the fish market and the docks and the swirling torrent of the Blackwater Rush. And to the north . . . She turned that way, and saw only the city, streets and alleys and hills and bottoms and more streets and more alleys and the stone of distant walls. Yet she knew that beyond them was open country, farms and fields and forests, and beyond that, north and north and north again, stood Winterfell. â€Å"What are you looking at?† Joffrey said. â€Å"This is what I wanted you to see, right here.† A thick stone parapet protected the outer edge of the rampart, reaching as high as Sansa's chin, with crenellations cut into it every five feet for archers. The heads were mounted between the crenels, along the top of the wall, impaled on iron spikes so they faced out over the city. Sansa had noted them the moment she'd stepped out onto the wallwalk, but the river and the bustling streets and the setting sun were ever so much prettier. He can make me look at the heads, she told herself, but he can't make me see them. â€Å"This one is your father,† he said. â€Å"This one here. Dog, turn it around so she can see him.† Sandor Clegane took the head by the hair and turned it. The severed head had been dipped in tar to preserve it longer. Sansa looked at it calmly, not seeing it at all. It did not really look like Lord Eddard, she thought; it did not even look real. â€Å"How long do I have to look?† Joffrey seemed disappointed. â€Å"Do you want to see the rest?† There was a long row of them. â€Å"If it please Your Grace.† Joffrey marched her down the wallwalk, past a dozen more heads and two empty spikes. â€Å"I'm saving those for my uncle Stannis and my uncle Renly,† he explained. The other heads had been dead and mounted much longer than her father. Despite the tar, most were long past being recognizable. The king pointed to one and said, â€Å"That's your septa there,† but Sansa could not even have told that it was a woman. The jaw had rotted off her face, and birds had eaten one ear and most of a cheek. Sansa had wondered what had happened to Septa Mordane, although she supposed she had known all along. â€Å"Why did you kill her?† she asked. â€Å"She was godsworn . . . â€Å" â€Å"She was a traitor.† Joffrey looked pouty; somehow she was upsetting him. â€Å"You haven't said what you mean to give me for my name day. Maybe I should give you something instead, would you like that?† â€Å"If it please you, my lord,† Sansa said. When he smiled, she knew he was mocking her. â€Å"Your brother is a traitor too, you know.† He turned Septa Mordane's head back around. â€Å"I remember your brother from Winterfell. My dog called him the lord of the wooden sword. Didn't you, dog?† â€Å"Did I?† the Hound replied. â€Å"I don't recall.† Joffrey gave a petulant shrug. â€Å"Your brother defeated my uncle Jaime. My mother says it was treachery and deceit. She wept when she heard. Women are all weak, even her, though she pretends she isn't. She says we need to stay in King's Landing in case my other uncles attack, but I don't care. After my name day feast, I'm going to raise a host and kill your brother myself. That's what I'll give you, Lady Sansa. Your brother's head.† A kind of madness took over her then, and she heard herself say, â€Å"Maybe my brother will give me your head.† Joffrey scowled. â€Å"You must never mock me like that. A true wife does not mock her lord. Ser Meryn, teach her.† This time the knight grasped her beneath the jaw and held her head still as he struck her. He hit her twice, left to right, and harder, right to left. Her lip split and blood ran down her chin, to mingle with the salt of her tears. â€Å"You shouldn't be crying all the time,† Joffrey told her. â€Å"You're more pretty when you smile and laugh.† Sansa made herself smile, afraid that he would have Ser Meryn hit her again if she did not, but it was no good, the king still shook his head. â€Å"Wipe off the blood, you're all messy.† The outer parapet came up to her chin, but along the inner edge of the walk was nothing, nothing but a long plunge to the bailey seventy or eighty feet below. All it would take was a shove, she told herself. He was standing right there, right there, smirking at her with those fat wormlips. You could do it, she told herself. You could. Do it right now. It wouldn't even matter if she went over with him. It wouldn't matter at all. â€Å"Here, girl.† Sandor Clegane knelt before her, between her and Joffrey. With a delicacy surprising in such a big man, he dabbed at the blood welling from her broken lip. The moment was gone. Sansa lowered her eyes. â€Å"Thank you,† she said when he was done. She was a good girl, and always remembered her courtesies.