Academic Achievements Essay Example for Free

Academic Achievements Essay THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND In every student’s life, academic excellence as well as co-curricular involvement is very essential. The two aspects would help them attain their goal of being part of the honor roll. Balancing these two is one of the problems honor students of today are facing. This process is intended to know how important co-curricular involvement is and what its effects to the students’ academic achievements are. Since 1985, Colegio San Agustin (CSA)- Bià ±an has been providing its students quality Catholic education that enriches their knowledge academically. Besides, CSA- Bià ±an has been offering several co- curricular programs like authorized student clubs or organizations wherein each student is required to join, inside and outside school competitions, sports activities and many more. Prospective honor students, as active as they want to be, participate and take part in both academic and co- curricular programs. CSA- Bià ±an Junior High School Department follows DepEd Order No. 92, s. 2009 for the selection of honor students. The policy states that the 7-3 point scheme (7 points for academic performance and 3 points for co- curricular activities) shall be used in determining the final honors among non- graduating and graduating students. In Academic Year 2013-2014, there were 30 students from grade seven to third year high school who grabbed a spot in the honor roll. Their final ranks were computed based on 70% academics and 30% co- curricular. They, most probably, are equally excellent in both aspects. Co-curricular refers to activities, programs, and learning experiences that complement, in some way, what students are learning in school. Co-curricular activities are usually a way to separate students from their academics. These activities have influence on students’ academic performance but on the other hand, it is questionable whether these activities effect positively or negatively (Millard, 1930). Different school administrations are interested to find out if there is association between academic performance and the involvement in co- curricular activities. (Stephens Schaben, 2002). This is where the focal point of the study takes place: the effects of co- curricular involvement on the academic achievements of the grade seven to third year over- all top ten students. In view of the fact that the researchers are potential honor students, they see the necessity to make an investigation  about this matter for they are sure that the outcome of this study would be beneficial not only to aspiring honor students like them but also to the administrators of the locale under analysis. Setting of the Study The study will be conducted at Colegio San Agustin-Bià ±an, which is situated at Southwoods Interchange, Juana Complex I, Bià ±an City, Laguna. It is a private school run by the Order of St. Augustine. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework This study was anchored on the following different evaluation and assessment concepts. According to the Pickle Jar theory, when you take an empty pickle jar and fill it with rocks, it appears to be full – until you fill it with gravel. The smaller granules fill the cracks between the rocks, and you can still fit in some sand, and then water. Another theory named the Distraction-Conflict theory (1978), refers to an analysis of performance gains in groups assuming that when others are present, attention is divided between the other things and the task; this attentional conflict increases motivation and so it facilitates performance on simple, well-learned tasks. These theories are relevant to the research because like the Pickle Jar Theory, the rocks represent the academic achievements while the smaller granules like pebbles and sand depict the co-curricular involvements. On the other hand, the Distraction-Conflict Theory attests that when both academics and co- curricular activities are present, a student’s attention may be divided and therefore cannot focus on his priority which is his academic performance. SS Figure 1 The Relationship between the Profile and the Effects of Co- Curricular Involvement to Academic Achievements as Perceived by Grade Seven to Fourth Year Over- all Top Ten Students of CSA- Bià ±an in AY 2013- 2014 After consolidating the ideas and thought of the theories and studying the  concepts presented, the researchers came up with Figure 1 to show that the profile; gender, final general average, over-all rank, and frequency of co-curricular involvements (independent variable) has something to do or may alter the perceived effects of co-curricular involvements on academic achievements (dependent variable) of grade seven to third year over- all top ten students of Academic Year 2013-2014. Statement of the Problem This study sought to determine the perceived effects of the co-curricular involvements to the academic achievements of grade seven to third year over-all top ten students of Colegio San Agustin- Bià ±an in academic year 2013-2014. Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the profile of grade seven to third year over-all top ten students in terms of: a) Gender b) Final General Average c) Over-all Rank d) Frequency of Co-curricular Involvements 2. What are the perceived effects of co-curricular involvement to academic achievements? 3. Is there a significant relationship between the students profile and the perceived effects of co-curricular involvement on academic achievements? Statement of Hypothesis The researchers hypothesized that: There is no significant relationship between the students profiles and the perceived effects of co-curricular involvement to academic achievements of grade seven to third year over-all top ten students of Colegio San Agustin- Bià ±an. Statement of Assumptions The researchers assume that: 1. Co- curricular involvement has either positive or negative effects on the students’ academic achievements. 2. Over- all top ten students are concerned on the effects of co- curricular to academic achievements. 3. CSA- Bià ±an offered both co- curricular and academic programs in AY 2013- 2014. 4.  Colegio San Agustin- Bià ±an Junior High School Department gives importance to both academic and co- curricular excellence. 5. The effect of co- curricular involvement on academic achievements has certain advantages and disadvantages. Significance of the Study Since this study will be conducted to discover the relationship between the co-curricular involvements and the academic achievements of the grade seven to third year over-all top ten students of Colegio San Agustin-Bià ±an in the Academic Year 2013-2014, the researchers found the following grounds of the study very significant: 1. The information which will be gathered in this study may serve as a guide to the teachers in assessing their students’ strengths and weaknesses, both in the academic and co-curricular fields; thereby, will result to better teaching methods and efficient parent-teacher conferences; 2. The results of the study will provide the Guidance and Testing Center with the knowledge of how their students balance their academics and activeness in co-curricular participation which would lead to adequate seminars regarding this matter; and, 3. Finally, the findings of this study will provide the students with the information on how to manage co-curricular activeness and academics while achieving a high general average; 4. The findings of the study will address the parents inquiry regarding their childs academic standing in the classroom aiming to provide the information on the composition of their childs general average and the process of evaluating the child; 5. The study will serve as a guide for the administrators in providing better service to their by means of efficient teaching strategies and increasing the students participation in co-curricular activities through offering a wide selection of activities that correspond to various talents and interests of the students. Scope and Delimitation The study focuses on the perceived effects of co- curricular involvement to academic achievements of grade seven to third year over- all top ten students of Colegio San Agustin- Bià ±an in Academic Year 2013- 2014. The study’s focal point is the effects of co-curricular involvement to the academic achievements of students. The study was limited to the grade seven to third year over-all top ten students for they are the ones who are  concerned on how co- curricular affects their academic achievements. Also, they are more likely to experience problems concerning the subject matter. The study doesn’t include the fourth year high school students of AY 2013-2014 because it would be inconvenient for the researchers to communicate with them since they now study in several different universities. This study yearns to determine the effects of co- curricular involvement on the academic achievements of students. Definition of Terms The following terms were used within the context of the study. They are defined conceptually and operationally for easier comprehension. Academic Achievements. The students’ excellent performance which is measured by academic disciplines like examinations, quizzes, class participation, projects, assignments and etcetera. This is mirrored by the students’ final general average. Co Curricular Involvement. The students’ participation in activities, programs, and learning experiences that complement, in some way, what they are learning inside the classroom. They are usually a way to separate students from their academics. Over-all Top Ten. Ten students who, among all their batch mates, show the most remarkable excellence in both academic and co- curricular performance. Department of Education. Abbreviated as DepEd (Kagawaran ng Edukasyon) and is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for ensuring access to, promoting equity in, and improvin g the quality of basic education. Final General Average. Final assessment of the students grade which consists of both co-curricular and academic performances. Guidance and Testing Center. The sector of Colegio San Agustin- Bià ±an that is responsible in helping the students with their personal emotional and psychological problems. They are also ought to create programs that would maintain the students well- being emotionally and psychologically. Over- all Rank. Rank of the student over the whole number of their batch according to his academic and co-curricular performance.

History And Future Of Mahindra And Mahindra Limited Business Essay

History And Future Of Mahindra And Mahindra Limited Business Essay Mahindra and Mahindra limited is a part of the huge Mahindra group. Mahindra is a company, which has started before independence under K.C Mahindra and J.C Mahindra along with Malik Gulam Mohammed. In 1945 the company was called as Mahindra and Mohammed later after independence Malik Gulam Mohammed left the elite and he became the finance minister for Pakistan. After his exit the company changed its name into Mahindra and Mahindra (MM). In 1947, the company started its business from assembling jeeps and slowly moved on to making utility vehicles and agricultural tractors. With in no time MM as emerged as one of the leading brands in India. Today MM is a diversified group employing more that 65,000 people directly. MM has substantial presence in sectors like automobile, equipment for farms, financial services, automobile components, after-market, IT and infrastructure. MM is one of the Indias most respected and reputed business groups. Reputation Institute declared MM as one of the most reputed companies in the world. MM is also only one of the ten Indian companies to get featured in the prestigious Forbes magazine. Over the past few decades the company has grown in the international automotive segment.  MM has a strong presence in several countries across the world including Italy, Spain, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Chile and South Asia.   Few of the core values of the MM are Good Corporate Citizenship, Professionalism, Customer First, Quality Focus and Dignity Of The Individual. We dont have a group-wide mission statement. Our Core Purpose is what makes all of us want to get up and come to work in the morning Anand G. Mahindra. The core purpose of MM: Indians are second to none in the world. The Founders of our nation and of our Company passionately believed this. We will prove them right by believing in ourselves and by making Mahindra Mahindra Limited known worldwide for the quality of its products and services. Milestones achieved MM: 1945 2nd October 1945 Mahindra and Mohammed established. 1949 Jeep assembly started. 1956 Company shares were listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). 1969 MM started their venture into the world market by exporting utility vehicles and spare parts. 1975 MM developed diesel engine for over coming the fuel crisis. 1983 MM became the market leader in the Indian tractor market. 1986 established Tech Mahindra. 1994 Implemented BPR programs. 2000 MM adopted a new logo. 2002 Launched SUV Scorpio. 2004 Launched Mahindra World tractor in International Market. 2009 MM launched Xylo. 2010 MM acquired Ssangyong and a major share in electric car company Reva. Few factors that affect the business environments are: Social factors: Every business organisation operates within the norms of the society and exists primarily to satisfy its needs. Hence, a business organisation has an important position in social system. The social factors influence the policy and strategy of business; the organisation strives to satisfy the needs and wants of the society. There are many social factors that affect the policy and strategy of corporate management. Culture, value, tastes and preferences, social integration and disintegration, and so on must be a part of every business organisation. As observed by Keith Davis and Robert Blomstrom, business is a social institution performing a social mission and having a broad influence on the way people live and work together. Many companies that are hugely successful contribute a lot to the society. At MM corporate social responsibility is taken very seriously in 2009 MMs employees contributed 49,280 man-hours towards social programs. Mahindra and Mahindra contribute 1% of its profit after tax (PAT) for developing the society every year. MM considered education and training as powerful tools to address majority of Indian social challenges. Corporate Social Responsibility has always been an integral part of the vision of the Mahindra Group and the corner stone of our core value of good corporate citizenship Keshub Mahindra. In a way by helping the society, MM is enjoying the fruits of it, after all business is only a part of the society. I think because of MMs strong CSR activities it is wining the hearts of the people and not allowing any NGO to point fingers. Ecological Factors: Protection of the environment and preservation of ecological balance is the responsibility of every business organisation. Ecology deals with the study of the environment, biotic factors, abiotic factors, and their interactions with one another. A change in any biotic or a biotic factor causes ecological imbalance. Industrial activities, automobiles, emission of fumes or smoke and effluents, and so on, result in environmental degradation. MM is committed to the preservation of ecological balance. MM has turned 400 acres of barren land in to a park; MM had planted across 7000 trees near its factories to counterfeit the pollution. Environment is the key factor that no company tries to neglect. MM takes up lot of activities to help the environment. Its a fact that buildings consume 40 percent of the worlds energy; keeping this in mind MM started retrofitting their towers for Energy efficiency. The result was that they started consuming 10 percent less energy when compared with their previous consumptions. The retrofitting has affected an average savings of 36,185 kWh / month, the equivalent CO2  saved is 29.3 tonnes / month. As carbon-di-oxide is one of those gases that contribute to global warming MM decided to reduce the consumption of paper. Now MM uses different software to keep the use of paper as low as possible. MM took up an activity of refurbishing of water reservoir, which is now helping 4000 dwellers. Economic Factors: Economic factors, such as per capita income, national income, resource mobilisation, infrastructure development, capital formation, employment generation, and so on, influence the business environment. The economic performance of a company also determines its business environment. The economic factors helped MM to some extent to become successful, like getting cheap labourers etc. but MM had really worked very hard to over come the other things like formation of capital in not so strong economy, dealing with infrastructure problems etc. Government Policies: The government policies provide the basic environment for business. Industrial and licensing policies, trade policies, labour policies, export-import policies, foreign exchange policies, taxation policies etc pave the way for business environment. In brief the policies that were changed and their effect on MM. In between the period of 1947 to 1979 the government intervention was too much and indirectly the government was playing the major role. As MM was not a huge company at that time the government protected it. The policies gave an encouragement to the industry that in turn means encouragement to the company. The one disadvantage MM faced was due to licensing competition was curbed. In between period 1980 to 1990 the policies were a bit liberal and government less involved in companies activities. In this time frame competition slowly picked up which helped MM to be more efficient and effective. After 1991 government never played a direct role but played an indirect role. Due to liberalization MM started raising its standards and started simulating demand. Only after 1991 MM started exporting a lot and investing in RD a lot. The above snap shot shows how important are policies for a business. The success tool for MM was having the flexible nature, which allowed it to take advantage of the policies. Cultural Factors: The cultural factors of a business environment should also be taken into consideration while scanning the environment and during the policy formation. Policymakers in a global business cannot disregard cultural variables like social and religious practices, education, knowledge, rural community norms and beliefs. A company like MM, which has its growth in a globally oriented way, takes these cultural factors very seriously; one example is that MM supplies customised jeeps to Australia, which suits their local style or culture. Geographical factors: In a global business environment, geographical locations, seasonal variations, climatic conditions etc. considerably affect the tastes and preferences of customers, and also prospects and the labour force. The pace of development in various geographical locations considerably influences the policies of the government regarding industrial locations. Some times this helped MM because, if the government wants to develop some particular region it gives a lot of subsidies for the companies that are interested in setting up their plant in that region. Legal Factors: Law in India regulates every aspect of business. Hence, the legal government plays a very vital role in the business. The legal factors in India (pre liberalisation) that effected MM are like heavy protection from government by using the licenses, huge excise duties, discrimination done by the government on the basis of price, very high import duties and liberal policies for the foreign players. During this period MM was not so successful in expanding but after liberalisation MM grew at a huge rate. The legal factors post liberalisation period that helped MM grow are like the complete removal of the license raj system, excise duties were continuously restructured, reducing the duties on import and allowing fdi. Labour factors: Although labour with in the organisation constitute its internal environment, general labour policies and climate may form a part of the external environment. MM always strictly followed Labour laws in compensating their employees and other things that fall under that law. One incident were MM dint handled its employees very well was in 1994 when company went for Business Process Reengineering (BPR) their was huge opposition from the labour unions then the company after few months managed the situation and till date the company enjoyed the support of its employees. One of the core principles of MM states that their employees are considered as a very valuable resource. Technological Factors: Technology is considered to be one of the most important factors of any business environment. That is why the Government has always stressed about sophisticated technology and technology transfer in most of its policies. Foreign investment up to 100 percent is allowed in industries with sophisticated technology. MM has always laid emphasis on RD and always tried to make technologically sound products. The recent acquisition of Ssangyong motors by MM was mainly for the technology, this shows the companies quest for technology. MM recently acquired the electric car company Reva that shows their prediction for the future and they what to be ready by not considering technology as a barrier to their success. Competitive Market Condition: Competitive market condition is an important environmental factor, especially in a global business environment. In a socialist economic environment, a centralised authority -the government controls the market whereas the competitive forces determine the market in a fully capitalist economy. India, which has accepted the middle path, had been fostering both the conditions. As a result of liberalisation, some characteristics integrating the Indian economy with the global economy has emerged. As a result, a competitive market condition has emerged in India, creating a competitive business environment. A situation of perfect competition is seen in automobiles, fmcg etc. This is often taken as an opportunity by MM to grow and to show its capability in the market. Creating competitive market is the responsibility of every player in the market. MM keeps its responsibility by having competition in terms of both price and non-price with its other counter parts. In a way MM is helping itself and also the economy. A competitive business environment is an essential characteristic of globalisation. The nature of competition varies in different economic systems. In the context of widespread globalisation process, tremendous changes are taking place in the business environment of economic systems. MM concern for the international business environment is understandable in relation to the globalisation of business. Conclusions: All the above factors have affected MM in positive and negative way. But by studying these very closely has helped MM to take or to develop broad strategies and very long term policies for itself, by having clear understanding of the different environment factors MM was able to analyse its competitors strategies and, thereby, formulate effective counter strategies. Knowledge about the environment helped MM to be dynamic in its approach, which means that MM had very flexible structure for their strategies or policies that helped them to be dynamic in nature. Being a company that has expanded overseas needs to understand the above factors to have a visibility over the changing socio-economic factors at the national and international level for its stability. The executives of MM were able to adjust to the prevailing conditions and, thus, influence the environment in order to make it congenial for business. The environmental factor plays a major role for MM to expand overseas. In the post liberalisation period government reducing the import duties helped the company to improve its infrastructure and technologies. With the allowance of fdi in to the country MM started expanding and in a way made it a conglomerate. The structure of the industry, which includes the company and the competitors in addition to the potential entrants, suppliers, buyers, and so on determines the level of competition. Hence, the environment is influenced by all of them in some manner or the other. The business policy of every player has, therefore, to take cognisance of the treats posed by every other player including the entrants. Thus, subject to the influence of a number of factors, the business environment provides opportunities and threats, while its internal environment provides its strengths and weaknesses.

America Essay -- American History, Hollywood

â€Å"Homeland, the country that I love, forever reign supreme; And when time stands still, my homeland, may heaven hold your dream† (Spring-Rice). Gustav Holsts’ song â€Å"Homeland† is all about people who are patriotic towards their own country. America has been built upon a certain set of rules in which makes it unique from their countries. Americans have excessive pride in their country which shows greatly in their interactions with others. Americans also have other traits which reflect their culture. White America views itself in three ways: appearance, narcissism, and social status. â€Å"You want to fit in with these people? They’re not going to change. You have to† (Traister 675). America has views which are built on appearances. This is because of the media having an influence on what Americans view as â€Å"socially acceptable†. Hollywood sets a standard by using celebrities to show Americans what they should wear. Men are usually viewed as wearing simple but â€Å"masculine† clothing. Also these are said to, â€Å"Emphasize the size of upper body musculature, allow freedom of movement, and encourage an illusion of physical power and a look of easy physicality all suggest masculinity. Such appearance of strength and readiness to action serve to create or enhance an aura of aggressiveness and intimidation central to an appearance of masculinity† (Devor 571). On the other hand, women have more of a variety of clothing styles all of which reflect back to femininity. As Devor states in his article, â€Å"Feminine styles of dr ess likewise display subordinate status through greater restriction of the free movement of the body, greater exposure of the bare skin and an emphasis on sexual characteristics† (Devor 570). Along with clothes how a person presents hi... ...he rich) are viewed in America has having all of the wealth and the power, while the middle and lower classes are left in the shadow. â€Å"Hollywood makes sure its audiences leave the theater thinking you can’t be too rich† (Parenti 406). America’s culture is reflected through what is displayed in the media. Therefore a conclusion can be drawn that Americans’ base their stereotypes of social status off of what is viewed in the media. â€Å"My homeland, be my dream, my hope. Homeland† (Spring-Rice). Appearance, narcissism, and social status are three traits America uses to view itself. America has been built upon pride and patriotism ever since they won their freedom from England. Because of this, Americans take pride in their country. This is why Americans view themselves as â€Å"superior† to others. They love their country and would not want to change anything about it.

Sympathy in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay -- Mary Shelley Frankens

Sympathy in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein In her novel, 'Frankenstein', Mary Shelley employs many innovative literary techniques to invoke feelings of sympathy for the monster. Sympathy is created by the author both by making the readers pity the monster’s loathsome existence and by leading them to understand his violent and cruel actions. We pity the creature because of the way he is treated by mankind and we can identify with his feelings and reactions and understand why he behaves as he does. Shelley uses different narrators throughout the novel and the reader sympathises with the views of these people to differing degrees. The language used when describing the physical appearance of the monster and his feelings is very strong and evocative. The settings and motifs with which the monster is associated are very dramatic and add to our sympathy for his lonely existence. The monster’s use of rhetoric is effective and his speech is eloquent, this is a strong technique by which the reader is drawn in. Commentators have often compared the monster to Adam, or to a newborn baby, this challenges the reader’s view of him. Another technique employed by the author is to lead the reader to draw parallels between the characters of Victor Frankenstein and his creation. The novel is told from the viewpoint of various narrators, a technique explored by Emily Brontà « in Wuthering Heights, which was popular with writers in the nineteenth century. In Frankenstein, like in Wuthering Heights, the first narrator is an outsider - Robert Walton - but as the novel progresses the narrative moves in closer - to Victor, then to the monster. Each narrator contributes their own feelings and descriptions of both Victor and the mo... ...r the period that Mary Shelley was writing in – challenging the social conventions of the time. Parallels are drawn between the anguish of the monster and the grief felt by Victor Frankenstein. These strong emotions are portrayed against some of the harshest, most desolate scenery in the world. The contrast between these settings and the warm and pleasant scenes when Victor is with his friends and family only serve to emphasise the monster’s loneliness and isolation. Images of light and dark, heaven and hell, warmth and cold, fire and ice, high and low, joy and despair can be traced throughout the novel. All of these bring to mind Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’. The novel shows evidence of Mary Shelley’s interest in scientific ideas of the time, a time when the conversation of intelligent, well-educated people often turned to recent scientific developments.

Character Analysis of Elisa Allen in The Chrysanthemums by Steinbeck Es

Many readers who analyze Steinbeck's short story, "The Chrysanthemums", feel Elisa's flowers represent her repressed sexuality, and her anger and resentment towards men. Some even push the symbolism of the flowers, and Elisa's masculine actions, to suggest she is unable to establish a true relationship between herself and another. Her masculine traits and her chrysanthemums are enough to fulfill her entirely. This essay will discuss an opposing viewpoint. Instead, it will argue that Elisa's chrysanthemums, and her masculine qualities are natural manifestations of a male dominated world. Pertinent examples from "The Chrysanthemums" will be given in an attempt to illustrate that Elisa's character qualities, and gardening skills, are the survival traits she's adopted in order to survive, and keep her femininity and vulnerability in a man's world. The first evidence that supports this conclusion is the behavior which occurs between Elisa and her husband, Henry. There is a "deeply rooted dysfunction between Henry and Elisa, [which is] a lack of real communication" (Palmerino, 1). They are "successful" farmers, but it is Henry who tends the economic production. The opening sets up a character contrast which runs throughout the piece by showing Henry selling thirty head of beef, while Elisa grows "beautiful" chrysanthemums. The contrast is that of the differences between a masculine and a feminine perspective of each other. This shows a limiting of Elisa from a man's point-of-view. Henry tells Elisa that she has a way with growing things, but he feels she is only contributing in an aesthetic way. In other words, Elisa is made to feel that her contribution isn't as worthy as a man's even though the insult is hidden ... ... real love, she may be able to find fulfillment in her flowers more than she ever has. They can be released into the male world and survive, beautiful and strong, though fragile, just as she has. The chrysanthemums are not Elisa's frustration, they are her hope in a world she sees without hope. Therefore, when the tinker simply drops the flowers on the side of the road, the symbolic weight of the chrysanthemums must be considered. Higdon states that "the crucial question remains whether or not Elisa has been destroyed" (Higdon, 668). The reader can see how the flowers represent mostly a positive symbol of growth and life. Elisa may not have anywhere to turn for real understanding, since men are not able to explore her inner-qualities, but it is better that she grows flowers than shutting off her own emotions and feelings and using others like the men around her.

Larkin and Abse write about the society Essay

‘Larkin often seems to criticise society’. In the light of this statement, what connections have you found between the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about the society in which they live? In your response include at least two of Larkin’s poems. Larkin criticises society in many of his poems and also does it from a superior place in an attempt to distance him from the society which he criticises and this can be seen in Nothing To Be Said. On the other hand, Abse writes about society and community whilst he participates in it and is a part of it. Larkin tries to stunt and remove the parts of society he criticises whilst it is clear Abse attempts to preserve many of the positives in society, for example in The Story of Lazarus, a story that surrounds the optimistic tale of someone surviving something so horrific. Abse is also very proud of the society from which he grew for example he is proud of being Welsh. Larkin labels and stereotypes the working class with a superior view in Nothing To Be Said, for example in the first stanza he describes the working class as ‘small-statured cross-faced tribes’, giving the impression that he views the working class as poorly developed, and a sense of savagery and it is possible to assume that Larkin viewed them as not very intelligent also. In addition to this, the use of the word ‘tribes’ is particularly powerful and evokes this idea of animals and removes their traits as a human being. Larkin’s use of ‘slow dying’ also helps to emphasise his views that these people aren’t contributing to society, just slowly dying as they trudge on in their day to day lives, however it could also be Larkin’s view that for him these type of people aren’t going fast enough either. It may be true of Larkin’s opinion that the only thing he shares in common with these people is death and it is possible that Larkin resents this and doesn’t believe he should share anything at all with them. Larkin uses enjambment in the first verse to emphasise the steady rhythm at which everybody cruises towards death. In comparison, Abse likes to preserve people in time and focuses on the positives in society. Not only does Abse focus on positives but he presents them in a more favourable way unlike Larkin, in addition to this Abse takes people from history and gives them life again in his poetry for example ‘The Story of Lazarus’. This poem aims to continue the legacy of Lazarus, a survivor of the holocaust, ‘he showed us the number on his arm’. Abse’s views on society here suggest that he is upset that people are becoming less interested in preserving the tale, ‘soon they merely nodded’. In comparison, Larkin doesn’t want to preserve the tale of the people he mentions in ‘Nothing To Be Said’, it’s as though the repetition of ‘Slow dying’ is emphasising that for Larkin, it wasn’t slow enough. Abse also hints at the biblical tale of Lazarus, suggesting that this tale should be savoured and of its significance. On the other hand, in ‘Nothing To Be Said’, the title and final line diminishes any significance of the society and can be interpreted that there is nothing more to say on the subject. In the ‘Whitsun Weddings’, an observational poem, Larkin takes superior views upon the wedding party, as he does in ‘Nothing To Be Said’, and he makes bold and unkind judgments such as ‘mother’s loud and fat’. Unlike Abse, Larkin distances himself from society, for example in Whitsun Weddings, ‘I leant More promptly out next time’ – he tries to be involved in society but never feels like he fits, and the train in the poem separates Larkin from community. In the Whitsun Weddings Larkin shows a slightly more sympathetic side as he discusses the train journey from Hull to London and how much it has changed and perhaps shows a sentimental side regarding how time has changed the things he knew. In addition to this, the train journey could be a metaphor for Larkin’s inability to adapt to ever changing society and the fast pace that it moves. To conclude, Abse celebrates people within society and relishes the opportunity to be a part of it, where as Larkin tries distinctly hard to distance him from the ever modernising world, in attempt to disguise his insecurities and promote his sense of superiority. This superiority removes any doubt in Larkin’s mind that he could be wrong and therefore missed out on so many things in life. Abse on the other hand is proud of the society from which he came, especially emphasises his Welsh nationality and in addition to this his Jewish faith. To conclude, Larkin’s poems reflect on all that is missing in society, while Abse is in the middle of it and making the most of everything positive society has to offer.

Green Construction Essay

The Earth has been around for billions of years and people only a couple of millions of years. Yet, people have made such a huge impact on the Earth. In the course of mankind’s existence, people managed to make advancements that defined the way life is being lived today. However, there are prices to pay for all of the comforts that people are now experiencing. It has been said that there is only one Earth and people must do all they can in order to preserve it. Campaigns have been launched to ensure that life on Earth and the Earth itself can be sustained so that the future generations can still enjoy it. Even prominent people have taken an active role against human activities that contribute to the degradation of the blue planet. One of the activities said to be closely linked with the environment, thus directly affecting the latter, is construction. According to the Urban Environmental Management website, a number of natural resources are being consumed when construction takes place, i.e. land, water and energy (Srinivas, 2007). This being the case, ensuring that the negative effects of construction on the environment be minimized is of utmost importance. Focusing on this issue, the UEM website provided key information about the topic. It managed to define what green construction is. It was also able to highlight the importance of sustainable development, which is a concept closely related to green construction. The information posted on the website is relatively comprehensive. Navigation is not going to be a problem since the layout of the page specifically relating to green construction is simple and user-friendly. If an internet user is new to the concept of green construction, then visiting UEM’s website is going to be a big help in understanding the basics behind the concept. The information on the website ranges from awareness, assessment to action, making the website truly a good find on the internet. Reference: Srinivas, H. (2007). Introduction to Green Construction. Retrieved October 14, 2007, from http://www. gdrc. org/uem/green-const/introduction. html.