Confessional Mode in Poetry of Kamala Das

Confessional mode of writing has its virtual origin in the imides in America. It is hybrid mode of poetry which meaner objective, analytical or even clinical observation of incidents from one's own life. Confessional poems are intensely personal and highly subjective. There is no ‘persona' in the poems. ‘l' in the poems is the poet and nobody else. The themes are nakedly embarrassing and focus too exclusively upon the pain, anguish and ugliness of life at the expense of its pleasure and beauty. Confessional poets did not follow any tradition nor respected any conventions.They wanted to be unique and not a part of the conventional social set up. This conflict with society leads them to introspection. In the course, comes a breaking point when they could not compromise with themselves. They lose themselves helplessly in the battle and start searching for the lost self. This conflict has given birth to a number of beautiful poems. The sensitive poem cannot take failure for g ranted. At this Juncture, life becomes unbearable and the call of death becomes irresistible. They are more than convinced that death can offer them more solace than life.Born on March 31, 1934 Kamala Dads was major Indian English poet and at the same time a leading Malaysia author from Kraal, India. At the age of 15 she got married to bank officer Madhya Dads, who encouraged her writing interests, and she started writing and publishing both in English and Malaysia. She was born in a conservative Hindu Nair family having royal ancestry but she embraced Islam in 1999 at age of 65 and assumed the name Kamala Surreys. On 31 May 2009, gagged, she died at a hospital in Pun, but has earned considerable respect in recent years.The ‘confessional' poet does not accept restrictions on subject matter, though they re usually personal. He may write as freely about his hernia as about his sweet heart. Anything within his private experience may form his theme. He takes the help of an open la nguage for an uninhibited expression of his emotions, and by ‘open language' is meant free verse or blank verse, as opposed to rhymed verse. It does not suggest, however, that the ‘confessional' poets are wild in their emotional outbursts. Personal failure as well as mental illness is his favorite theme.Keeping in mind the above specifications about ‘confessional' poetry and poets, it would be not wrong to heartier Kamala Dads as a ‘confessional' poet in the true sense of the term. She is the most prominent confessional Indian English poet of our time. In the confessional poets, the subjective element has become the chief characteristic of their poetry, and Kamala Dads is no exception. Her poetry has a strong note of subjectivism. B. K Dads says that â€Å"Like Sylvia Plate, Kamala Dad's interests in the various places is very much personal and subjective.Most of her poems in the collections Summer in Calcutta, The Descendants and The Old Playhouse and other poems are confessional in tone ND subjective state† (Comparative Literature 109). She writes in the mode and pattern of several ‘new American poets like Robert Lowell, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plate, W. D Snodgrass, John Ferryman and Theodore Rewrote. She has chosen poetry as her genre to express her intense feeling, as it gives her a lot of scope. She started writing her life story to distract her mind and to recover herself from illness.Confessional confession; by peeling off layers of pretence they try to regain lost values. Dad's urge to peel the layers of herself to reveal the terrors, pain, miseries, frustrations and exactions is obvious here. She realizes that an understanding of the true self is possible only by doing away with the pretensions and superficiality that human beings are usually surrounded by. Whatever she has disclosed about herself does not carry any sense of guilt or shame. Disclosure makes her feel easy. She doesn't like to hide anything.She would li ke to disclose all her secret thoughts and feelings. She shares everything with her readers, good and bad, about her life with all the secrets that should not be openly expressed in her society. She chooses to confess everything by writing rather than going to a priest. She has to create a place for herself in a public world, in her home and even in her own bedroom. Kamala Dad's shocking confession about the theme of love has startled equally the critics and the laymen. Some of her confessions about various love episodes have shocked the readers.It is stranger because such kind of poetry is coming from a traditional Indian woman who is mostly considered to be shy, silent and introvert. Her search for independence in sex and other subjects is exceptional in the tradition of Indian rating in English whether written by women or men. Her confessional poetry is an attempt to end the war between passion and reason, flash and spirit, body and soul. Nostalgia for childhood is one of the cha racteristic qualities of confessional poetry. As confessional poet, Kamala Dads has drawn vivid pictures of their childhood in her poems.She can be termed as child prodigy. She was barely six, when she started writing her poetry. She wrote tragic poems about her dolls that lost their heads and limbs. Each of her poems about her dolls made her cry. Failure in love as a theme is ore powerful in the poems of confessional poets, than its consummation. She is unhappy about her marriage. She appeared to be a puppet, the strings of which being held firmly by her parent she wasn't given a free choice to select an ideal lover. Her preference was not considered by her parent's.Dads expresses: â€Å"l was burden and a responsibility neither my parent's nor my grandmother could put up with for long. Therefore with the blessing of all, our marriage was fixed†. (My Story 82) Kamala Dads has thus, a strong grievance against her husband's infidelity and lust. He knows only he physical kind o f love, without trying to make any emotional and spiritual contact with her. She mentions in My Story â€Å"Before I left for Calcutta, my relative (her future husband) pushed me into a dark corner behind a door and kissed me sloppily near my mouth.He crushed my breasts with his thick fingers. I felt hurt and humiliated. All I said was a good bye†. (Dads 82) Dads has given graphic accounts of her relations with her husband before their marriage. It is clear that she admired him but we do not find glimpses of her love and affection for her hubby as a man or as a lover. In My Story she has expressed her romantic ideas of an ideal lover. She writes: I had expected him to take me in his arms and stroke my face, my hair, my hands and whisper loving words. I had expected him to be all that I wanted my father to be and my mother.I wanted conversation, companionship and warmth. Sex was far from my thoughts. I had hoped that he would remove with one sweep of his benign arms, the lonel iness of my life. (Dads 84) She enters into marriage with her beautiful romantic ideals but her dreams were shattered when she finds herself in a loveless throughout her poetry. The kisses of her husband on her cheeks are like maggots rolling over the corpse. She was sick of love which was Just skin-deep. Again and again she raises her voice against his physical love. She says thus . What is? The use, what is the bloody use?That was the only kind of love, This hacking at each other's part Like convicts hacking, breaking clods At noon (Convicts) Her marriage with a man much older to her creates an aversion. His demanding nature made her frigid. An Introduction is Kamala Dad's most famous poem in confessional mode. It is an autobiographical poem, deals with feminine sensibility. The obsession with love is one of the prominent features of her poetry. The failure to arrive at its highest point leaves her wounded. Her early marriage seems to have given a rude Jolt to her sensibility as w oman.Following lines from poem An Introduction reveal this fact. I was child, and later they Told me I grew, for I became tall, my limbs Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair. When I asked for love, not knowing what else to ask For, he drew a youth of sixteen into the Bedroom and closed the door, He did not beat me But my sad woman-body felt so beaten. (Dads) She was a rebel and does to make any attempts to hide it. She looks everywhere for love but she gets it only in her dreams. She writes, in her usual frank open-mindedness, about married life or man-woman relationship in many of her poems.She frequently complains about man's callousness and wantonness and woman's suffering on that count. This sort of openness and frankness is hardly to be found in any other Indo-English woman poet. Her confessional poetry is obsessively mulling over love and ‘body's wisdom' like Whitman that is why lounger calls her a â€Å"Femme Fatal† whose poetry is of pelvic region. In her poetry, love appears in several roles such as skin communicated thing, as overpowering force, as escape, a longing and a hunger resulting in satiety. Her confessional poems show that she is ‘every woman who seeks love'.She is the the beloved and the betrayed', expressing her ‘endless female hunger', the muted whisper at the core of womanhood'. She is a confessional poet, whose poems are compared with Robert Lowell, Sexton, and Sylvia Plate etc. Although a confessional poet-that kamala Dads is-can make use of any subject for his treatment, he mostly confines himself to the region of his own experience. By so doing he becomes very frank and honest, close and intimate, in his details. That's why ‘confessional' poetry sounds so appealing and so convincing.It frequently takes resort to personal failures and mental illnesses of its composer, and Kamala verse is a brilliant illustration of it. Poet's failure in love is displayed in them. The poem The Bats brings out Mrs. . Dad's sense of sorrow and exhaustion in striking manner. All her poetry is an expression of her private experiences in matters of love and sex. Her quest for true love lands in disasters of love. It operates from the level of personal and the reticular rather than from that of the general and universal. The poem The Freaks no true love: It's only To save my face, I flaunt, at Times, a grand, flamboyant lust. Dads) Kamala Dads makes a hectic search for true love in her poetry, and her personal predicament gets reflected in it. She is a poetess of love and sex and of the body. For woman, a partner is essential in sex-drama, Just as she is essential for her husband in a life of real enjoyment. In Kamala Dad's poetry one comes across the intensity of passions which renders words irrelevant for articulation. Obviously silence and not words is the true language of love and she lays stress on the role of silence as a dramatic device in a poem charged with pulse and power. In Convicts wor ds are submerged in the dark of passions and the music of silence.Confessional poetry is basically the end product, and unconscious act of creation and one can feel upon our pulses, as personality and emotions, the two dragons of Classicists, constitute its essential core. Kamala Dads incorporate subsequently both the forms. Many of her poems are about warmth of her childhood and the family home in Kraal. Her poems always portrait powerful feminist images, focusing on critiques of marriage, motherhood, women's relationship to their bodies and power over their sexuality, and roles women are offered in traditional Indian society.Through her confessional poetry she expresses her humiliations. Her poems are her quest identity in traditional society. Then the woman in Kamala Dads is struggling between passion and tradition. She wants to break the chains around her and wants to be free. In India divorce is not a common feature. A lot of stigma is attached to a divorced woman. Dads too is very much tethered about public opinion she sticks to her marriage while suffering within. She was not educated enough to get a good Job and live independently. Furthermore, as a mother of three kids she had to give a second thought to the matter of divorce.The reasons she gives for not getting a divorce are noteworthy. Dads observes: My parent's and other relatives were obsessed with public opinion and bothered excessively with our society reaction to any action of an individual. A broken marriage was as distasteful, as horrifying as an attack of leprosy. If I had at that time listened to the estates of my conscience and had left my husband, I would have found it impossible to marry me, for I was not conspicuously pretty and besides there was the two-year- old who would have been to the new husband an encumbrance. My Story 102) She does not want to be domesticated because her real self will be vanished. Thus dissatisfied in married life, the woman is unconsciously drawn towards ill icit relationship in search of pure and true love. The poem Glass states clearly that finding no emotional identity or satisfaction with her husband, she is driven into others' arms: I entire other's Lives, and Make of every trap of lust A temporary home (Dads) Behind the back of her husband, Dads discovers her own ways of finding love. She goes to her secret rendezvous and tries to find love outside marriage.Her pursuit of love has driven her to the doors of strangers to receive love at least in the form of ‘a tip'. In My Grandmother's House, the following lines click: . I who have lost Receive love, at least in small change? (Dads) Consequently, her failure pure love degenerates into unwanted lust and her emotional urges remain unfulfilled. Every time she finds face of repulsion and horror. Each relationship only intensifies her disappointment faced with the sense of absolute frustration and loneliness. Her poetry is all about herself, about her desires for love, her emotion al involvement and her failure to achieve such a relationship.Like a confessional poet she has written poems on decay, disease and death. At various occasions, death seems an easy escape for Kamala Dads from the loneliness of life. O sea, I am fed up I went to be simple I want to be loved And If love is not to be had, I want to be dead, Just dead†¦. (The Suicide) She was haunted by he idea of suicide because death seems like a mystical experience which she finds desirable because life is not going to be made new. She considers death a reward for all her pains in surviving upon the earth. A.N Divvied says â€Å"In An Introduction she mentions that she will have no escape from her pitiless husband and that she will find her rest, her sleep, her peace, and even her death only in his arms. â€Å"(Kamala Dads and her Poetry 47) Dad's autobiography gives ample evidence to her idea of death by water, drowning oneself in the sea. The relevant passage reads thus; Often I have dyed wit h the idea of drowning myself to be rid of my loneliness which is not unique in any way, but is natural to all. I have wanted to find rest in the sea and an escape from involvements. My Story 210) Most of her poetry concerns itself with the poet's intensely felt need for declaring her autobiography to the world. Her poetry is crisis- crossed by soul searching, self analysis, introspection and looking deep into oneself, which is why she is called one of the best Indian English woman poets of modern times. Her poetry in itself was reflection of her life, the way she saw it and experienced it. The confessional poems depend upon the honesty of the writer and Kamala Dads has Justified it by being self in her poetic works. She was fascinated by love and to her it meant being honest.Kamala Dads analyses man-woman relationship from an anti-romantic angle and protest against womanhood suppressed by ethics and taboos. As she has mentioned in almost all poems her husband's contact with her was usually cruel and brutal. She grew revengeful towards him and reacted in a non-traditional fashion in love-making. She is the voice of feminism. Her voice is the voice of feminism. Kamala Dads' poems voice not only her own resentment against her husband but, by implication, the resentment of other women who find themselves in a similar predicament.Each fragment of her poetry is grasped with the thought of femininity. She stands as the revolt against male dominance over female. She revolutionizes the demands, the rights, advantages and the privileges that a woman must get but is deprived due to the over powering activities of men and their dominance over female. Viewed dispassionately we might in conclusion state that, confessional poetry is a monopolistic field for poetry by women and such a inner requires passion to liberate oneself from the complexity of life and male domination towards a life of hope, liberty and meaning.Kamala Dads was hated and criticized by many people for do ing an exceptional thing for an Indian woman, she becomes very successful. She becomes a mirror for the other silenced women. All in all, Kamala Dads is one of the pioneering post-independence Indian English poets to have contributed immensely to the growth and development of modern Indian English poetry. She is one of the modernist writers to assert her femininity as a human in Indian literature; she has been something of a cult figure in her home state ND a source of great inspiration and emulsion for women with literary aspiration.To conclude, Kamala Dads is a typical confessional poet who pours her heart into her poetry which is largely subjective and autobiographical, anguished and tortured, letting us peep into her sufferings and tortured psyche. There is strong autobiographical touch in it, which makes Mrs.. Dads a confessional poet of the first order. Kamala Dads may or may not be serious about women's emancipation from male domination, but as a poet she is seriously and cre atively concerned with her own identity as a woman.

How to Sleep Well Essay

In order to kip good we should follow three grounds. First of all. don’t eat or imbibe a batch before bedtime. If you drink excessively much liquid before kiping. you’ll wake up repeatedly in the dark for trips to the bathroom or cause you to wake up repeatedly. Don’t eat spicy or fatty nutrients because they cause pyrosis particularly. don’t eat something that triggers 5-hydroxytryptamine. which makes you sleepy. Second. make and don’t exercising when you have free clip. For illustration. if you have a sedentary occupation. a deficiency of physical effort may be cut downing the quality of your slumber. A twenty-four hours of physical effort ( such as taking a tally or a swim ) or. better yet. regular exercising can do for deeper and more reposeful slumber. The best clip to exercising is in the afternoon. Third. Change your kiping place. You may believe that it’s impossible to command what place you sleep in since you aren’t to the full cognizant of what you are making. but it can do a considerable difference. When you go to kip. or if you wake up in the center of the dark. do a witting attempt to follow these guidelines until it becomes accustomed. Keep your organic structure in a â€Å"mid-line† place. where both your caput and cervix are kept approximately consecutive. Don’t use a level pillow that causes your caput to lean down toward the mattress. It’s hard to keep the mid-line place. and it is more likely to do strivings. This will assist relieve emphasis on your dorsum and cervix by somewhat shore uping up your organic structure on one side. To sum up. seek one or two or a combination until you have adequate quality sleep to experience watchful and good rested.

Wind Farms in Cumbria

A way of preventing this happening Is by using renewable energy. This means that the source of energy wont UN out and It Is sustainable for future generations, unlike fossil fuels which have a Limited supply. They produce little/no greenhouse gases which Is much better for our environment. Forms of renewable energy Include solar energy, hydrophone, biomass, befoul, geothermal energy and most importantly wind energy. Wind turbines generate electricity through this process: the wind turns the blades which then spins a shaft.The shaft connects to a generator which produces electricity. The UK is an ideal place for wind turbines because we are one of the windiest nations in Europe. Cambric in particular is an ideal place to build new wind farms because it is a very hilly area and it has a long coastline; making the area very windy. There is already a wind farm in the village of Great Rotor and so far it has been a success. It has supplied 2,000 homes and has saved about 8,530 tones/year of greenhouse gases.It also gives farmers extra income in the area because the wind farms are built on their land. A decision has been made to build another wind farm in Cambric as it has had quite a lot of success. Callback fells is the location chosen for another wind farm. It as high exposed land which means there will be lots of space for many turbines. Some residents of Cambric are against wind farms being built due to several reasons. Some elderly people cannot live peacefully with the level of noise that the wind farms produce, it gives them headaches.Other members of the community are concerned that it'll ruin the landscape and will stunt the level of tourism generated, as Cambric is a tourist attraction. However, they won't need to be concerned with this location. The location is very remote, therefore It won't cause noise pollution which may bother some citizens. It won't also be ‘ruining the landscape' since there was nothing there before hand. Although the area Is remote, you can access It through country lanes, therefore maintaining the wind farm won't be as difficult to do.Building the wind farms will reduce the level of greenhouse gases In the atmosphere. This Is a positive step for Cambric. By cormorants this is having a negative impact on the world. Fossil fuels generate most of our Hence this contributes to global warming and is impacting the rest of the world. If happening is by using renewable energy. This means that the source of energy won't UN out and it is sustainable for future generations, unlike fossil fuels which have a limited supply.They produce little/no greenhouse gases which is much better for our environment. Forms of renewable energy include solar energy, hydrophone, biomass, a shaft. The shaft connects to a generator which produces electricity. The I-J is an location. The location is very remote, therefore it won't cause noise pollution which nothing there before hand. Although the area is remote, you can access it thr ough Building the wind farms will reduce the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is a positive step for Cambric.

Forensic Psychology and Criminal Investigation Essay - 13

Forensic Psychology and Criminal Investigation - Essay Example Similarly, there is the availability heuristic. In this type, Tversky & Kahneman (1974) argue that a person will only use the most available or accessible information to make a decision. This is the same case with the senior officer, who does not perform further investigations to prove the BIA’s report, but is already considering the arrest of Mr. Shaw, basing on the information provided by the BIA. Therefore, in both heuristics, there is the predetermination of the offender by the senior police. This therefore, bars any efforts to conduct further investigations to prove if the suspected offender is responsible or not. This lack of intensive investigation therefore, is likely to result in wrong decision-making. There is also evidence of confirmation bias. According to Nickerson (1998) and Ask & Granhag (2005), this refers to a case building that only considers one side. In this case, the senior officer has selected the information of provided by Mr. Shaws’ neighbors and molded the facts to fit in the description provided by the BIA. Although Mr. Shaw does not have a criminal history, the senior officer emphasizes that the neighbors claim he is weird, therefore, suggesting a possibility of indulgence in crime. Nonetheless, this makes the officer to settle for Mr. Shaw as the offender, without developing a complete case. Biases and heuristics influence the decision-making investigative process negatively. Both the nonprofessionals and experienced researchers are capable of these errors and heuristics. Nonetheless, errors and heuristics in the decision-making investigative process result in fallacies, since the outcome is usually incorrect. According to Tversky and Kahneman (1974), these also result in wrong predictions and estimations. Additionally, heuristics are considered sources of predictable errors and underperformance. Heuristics and biases in investigative decision-making make the investigator to rush into

African american life through 1865-1920 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

African american life through 1865-1920 - Essay Example Thesis The establishment and crash of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company influenced on social and economic life of African Americans starting from 1865 to 1874. A great contribution the FSB has made into genealogical research and records of the lives of African Americans during that period. The post Civil War period and the way African Americans have spent these years can be traced via documentation about each depositor and his family recorded by the FSB. Introduction A period to be considered in the essay is 1865-1874 years. This period was marked by the establishment of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company in 1865. This landmark was essential for further improvement and establishment of community bonds and social advancement of African Americans. These people have experienced numerous complexities and challenges starting from 1861, though 180,000 served in the army (The Long Walk, 2008). The first signs of the Freedman’s savings bank occurred during the Civil War a nd were initiated by the American officers. With the help of monetary savings, establishment of communal savings communities the African Americans wanted to support their relatives and families in economically hard times (Cox, 2008). Moreover, the deposit bank establishment provided key documentation and now it is possible to trace the actions of African Americans activities before and after war. In other words: â€Å"In many ways the FSB records document various aspects of collective economic activities in the transition from slavery to freedom† (Josiah, 2004). Bank’s establishment A specific nature of the FSB and its direct relation to African Americans can be explained by the nationality of depositors. The depositors consisted of veterans, ex-slaves and their families. The main goal of the FSB establishment is its influence on the social life African Americans. These people had a hope to deposit their savings and in such a way to invest in their future. Moreover, di fferent institutions and organizations received a chance to increase their financial power and expand their activities. Therefore, the interest of African Americans and an overall cooperation of this nation at all levels signify a strong social tendency to integration for a common good. For example, during that period such kind of organizations has occurred: ‘different hospitals, schools, the St. Elizabeth Home for Colored Children and the St. Francis Xavier Church’s Orphan Aid Society† (Josiah, 2004). Another important fact that means a trustful attitude of African Americans to the FBS is that the leading positions in the bank were occupied by the community activists: â€Å"A large number of African American soldiers and veterans of the Civil War held savings accounts in the banks; the management of their funds was organized through an allotment system supervised by the officers of the respective army regiments† (Joseph, 2005). As far as we can see, Africa n Americans were devoted to the FSB on the basis of a secure deposit management and supervision. A military background of the bank establishment and operation served as a perfect guarantee of a safe nature of deposits and was appealing for representative of any occupation among African Americans. Therefore, this bank has turned into â€Å"the largest single repository of lineage-linked African-American records with more than 480,000 names† (Joseph, 2005). At the highest point of its success, the FSB held assets that mounted up to $3.7 million. What is Freedman’s Savings Bank? African American

Postpartum Depression Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Postpartum Depression - Coursework Example Women are likely to get affected by the disorder during their prime age of reproduction, ranging between 25 to 40 years of age. The case of Mandeep Singh is a classic case of Postpartum Depression, identifiable by the feelings that she has, of harming her newly born child and the observable characteristics of being agitated and withdrawn, as well as the consideration, that she is within the prime age of productivity, being 28 years old (Arentsen, 1968). Several factors can contribute to Postpartum Depression to Mandeep. Hormonal changes are among the factors that contribute to this disorder (Duffy, 1983). There occurs a great hormonal change in the body of a woman immediately after giving birth. The hormonal changes are characterized mostly by a greater reduction of serotonin levels in their bodies after they give birth (Harris, 1986). Consequently, the woman may be engulfed by the feelings of agitation, restlessness and hatred for her newly born baby. Status transition is another ca use of this disorder. Since the birth of a child is a transition of a woman, from a girl to a mother, then it is associated with stress, on how the woman is going to fit in the new status and roles. If by any chance any other circumstances that can cause stress occurs at the time as this transition, then the woman develops overwhelming stress which ends up as depression, as was the case of Mandeep due to a low economic status (Kumar, 1994). Another factor that contributed to the disorder is the ongoing life stress. Whenever a woman is faced by a long time of stress in her life, then, it accelerates when she gives birth, subscribing to Postpartum Depression. Dysfunctional love relationship is yet another factor that could have contributed to Postpartum Depression for Mandeep, as the long duration she would spend without her husband contributed to stress (Boyce, 2003). 2. The three nursing priority assessments in the case of Mandeep, which would help to devise the actual disorder from which she was suffering, include age. Since this disorder is mostly common for women who are in their prime age of productivity, then assessing the age of Mandeep would serve to indicate if she falls within that age bracket (Mauthner, 1999). Another assessment would be the socio-economic status of Mandeep. This assessment is necessary since the lower economic status of many women is contributory to stress, as they ponder the challenges of bringing up the newly born child, with such economic hurdles. Through the assessment of the economic status of the woman, then, the nurses can trace the actual causative factors to the disorder from which Mandeep is suffering. A significant assessment undertaken by the nurses is the nature of the relationship between Mandeep and her husband. The relationship between a woman who has recently given birth and her partner significantly affects the state of mind of a woman who has recently given birth (Sluckin, 1990). If there is tension and bad blood between the woman and her partner, then, there are greater chances that such a woman will suffer from the disorder. Thus, carrying out the assessment of such factors underlying the life of Mandeep would help the nurses determine the causative factors of the behavior she is exhibiting. 3. Whenever it is evident that the woman having recently given birth harbors the feelings of harming herself or the newly born baby, then treatment interventions becomes necessary. Some nursing interventions are necessary for the treatment of the disorder that Mandeep is suffering. The priority intervention will be given to the administration of

Scot's Law of Contracts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Scot's Law of Contracts - Essay Example The paper gives detailed information about contracts that are formed where all the concerned parties have arrived at an agreement. This is in terms of the stipulations of the contract and in willingness to see the contract out without duress. In legal terms, consensus in idem must be achieved for a contract to be deemed as binding. Not all terms in the contract must be agreed upon. However, the most essential ones must be agreed when the parties meet. Another tenet of the Scottish Law of Contracts is that it must not always be in writing. The Requirements of Writing Act 1995 clearly states that a contract must not always be written contrary to belief by people who are not essentially lawyers. The conduct of the parties, the spoken word or a combination of these may be used in the formation of a contract as much as the written word. The Scottish Law of Contracts requires that consensus in idem be reached. This means that regardless of the means that the contract was formed, there must be a consensus that was reached by the parties. It is possible for the parties in a contract to think that they have come to a consensus only for the court to overturn that belief. This is so especially when the parties think that they have reached an agreement only for the court to ask whether a reasonable person, given all the facts in the case would have acted in the same way. A contract has to have an agreement at least on the essential terms.... Additionally, she cannot claim that in court of law as ultimately, she would have to prove that a legally binding contract did indeed exist between her and the customer. The Scottish Law of Contracts requires that consensus in idem be reached. This means that regardless of the means that the contract was formed, there must be a consensus that was reached by the parties. It is possible for the parties in a contract to think that they have come to a consensus only for the court to overturn that belief. This is so especially when the parties think that they have reached an agreement only for the court to ask whether a reasonable person, given all the facts in the case would have acted in the same way. In this case, Arju was not under any obligation to heed the recommendations of the other customer as ultimately, she had not approached him but he had approached her. Therefore, a reasonable person would have pointed out that she was not under any obligation to buy the AK47 Watersquirt and hence no contract could have been made. As Arju’s lawyer, I would not advice her to sue the customer as there was no contract between him and her. Case A2 In this scenario, Arju comes across a sales assistant who is wearing the stores uniform and having a label â€Å"home decoration expert†. The assistant concedes that he does not have enough knowledge on power washers but states that the store only stocks the best appliances meaning that whichever she chose would do the job just right. Here, the assistant is in a legal capacity to enter into a contract with the customers on behalf of the store. Therefore, Arju had the guarantee that whichever power washer she chose would do the job that she required it to. As seen earlier, a

Journalism, Mass Media and Communication Coursework

Journalism, Mass Media and Communication - Coursework Example The Press Association, under this Ministry broke the story. This is the department which is responsible over the evening papers regarding the ministry. As a result of the integration in the communication industry, the story builds up thus reaching the masses. In reference with Sally Grimes, a Stringer from Rome, it is evident that Alicia Beddi, the alleged, argued that the British government Minister Riskitt left her flat in the Via Venuto. This is a report collected by the Sunday Watchdog. She also adds in the report that the minister is living with some friends some distance from Rome (Kovach and Rosenstiel 2009).With an aim to honour his position in the government, Robin Bland, a staff reports that the minister reassigned from the government. His wife Sally also promises to back the husband in his defence against the allegation. The minister claims that he resigned to stand a firm position to defend the allegation. His popular figure in the Old Town, resulting from his mother†™s achievements also pushes him to clean his name under the affair allegations. Jas Patel, Blacktown correspondent strongly backs the Minister’s innocence. She claims that the MP has been a faithful member in service of his people. This was at a press conference at the MP’s constituency. Mrs. Lorna the regional Chairperson also argues that is a national disgrace that the newspaper has made such publications alleging the misconduct by the MP. She states that she is convinced that the MP has answers to the allegations.

Asian Business - Case Study of Mitsui Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Asian Business - Case Study of Mitsui - Essay Example The prevailing procedure during that era was that products were made to order, and Mitsui defied common business sense by making products first and then selling them. Mitsui’s initial foray into the banking and finance industry came in the late 17th century. Moving money between cities during that feudal era was extremely risky, so Mitsui established â€Å"money exchanges† in Edo. Much like a primitive precursor to a Western Union, these establishments accommodated the transfer of funds and reduced the amount of risk involved in the transaction( Shinjo, 1962 11) By 1876, the company had established Mitsui Bank, which was the nation’ first private bank. Running up to the early 20th century, the company came to be known as one of the largest zaibatsu in Japan. A prominent feature of pre-World War II Japan, a zaibatsu can be loosely defined as â€Å" a business entity composed of several diversified enterprises owned and exclusively controlled by a single family â €Å"( Morikawa, 1970:62) These ironclad monopolies enabled the company to be a central business figure in pre-war Japan. Picking up the pieces after the war, the remnants of the companies from the dismantled Mitsui zaibatsu reformed themselves into the so-called economic miracles of the postwar era, the keiretsu. Resembling the functional equivalent of a western conglomerate, the reformed business group was launched with a capitalization of 195,000 yen and roughly 35 employees. Its forays into foreign trade greatly furthered the country’s post-war economic rebirth. In the 1960’s Mitsui took advantage of rapid trade liberalization, and was successful in securing a stable supply of food, oil, and coal for domestic use coursed through its overseas holdings. An investment into natural gas resources in the 1970’s shielded the company from the decade’s oil crisis, and helped blunt the effects of the worldwide economic downturn. (Mitsui,

Ancient Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ancient Egypt - Essay Example Just like any other style quality, both sculptures have a meaning to the people of Egypt. The social statue figures make a difference in the lives of the Egyptians by serving as memories of their traditions. Any portrait is made for the purposes of religion, political or social use. Hence, all the carvings have a meaning to a specific group of people that they were made for (Swetnam-Burland, 2014). Public display translates to the social position and affiliations of the people in Egypt. Mankaure and his queen portrait, for example, serve as a remembrance of the Old Kingdom royal to the people of that dynasty. The Narmer pallets represent the political and social classes of the people. Both scriptures depict power in their style. Another similarity is that the two scriptures represent the start of a new thing in Egypt. While Mankaure represents the Old Kingdom, Narmer pallets present the beginning of art.

English Language Learner Essay Example for Free

English Language Learner Essay The United States still represents to the rest of world a land of opportunities. Immigration occurs when people from all part of the world make their way here to start new lives, find their new jobs or build new homes. Some leave their country to flee from oppression and injustice. Some want a life to escape poverty. Now the English Language Learners in America school constantly growing percent of all U.S student-There are more than five million children who are English Language Learners (ELLs). Research show that Bilingual Education is beneficial to people who learning English to support their English Language also native language and to retain. The Bilingual Education is more effective to English Learners research that students who are educate in Bilingual classrooms do as well as or better than the groups of English sold literacy skill, cause of their thinks are just would cover their miserable life by money, that’s all they have to do. The challenge faced by English Language is an obstacle to their education success in this country. Amount of students who participating to learn English are enrolled in U.S. public schools (pre-K-12) increased by 8.5 percent, from 46.0 million in 1997-1998 to mostly 50 million in 2007-2008. In them, at least 10.7 percent or more than 5.3 million children were English Language Learners (ELLs). Over the time, the number of ELL increased by 53.2 percent, from 3.5 million to 5.3 million) in the same period, this statistic was show that there is no signal to stop and might be grow up in the future. The nation’s ELL student (about 1.5 million children) mainly lived in California, state with the largest amount of student in need of English instruction. Behind California, the three states also contained an amazing number of ELL enrollment: Arizona (166,572), New York (213,000), and Texas (701,800). All English Language Learners are definitely struggling to learn English sometime, they were fail to understand what is the teacher talking about, and may become unpleasantness when they have an idea but cannot transmit wholeness express their thoughts in English. That’s might be a biggest problem for ELLs who would like to speak English well but don’t want to learn English. Meanwhile, many students experience another kind of struggle, when they go home, they speak different language in which their parents  communicated. But a lots immigrant students of ELL have a habit of fluency in English and so want to give up their native language. They pressure to speak English at school; they are expected to speak their native language at home. In the education process, there is â€Å"English-only Laws do not help Immigrant gain fluency in English â€Å". Some individually consider that being not only of English Language Learners (ELL), but of American communities as a whole. The governments do not promote English as official language so much as they make discrimination to different kind of language. However, ELLs should not receive English-only laws, instead achieve literacy, it makes disconnect to immigrant who want to keep their tradition. Beside of that, an obstacle for all students of ELLs that they must to receive the same program such as student spokes of native English when they are during education process, many trammels as reading literature in English cause most literature is culture bound. Students who desire to speak English fluency must struggle for several year before they understand everything that is said i n their classroom, and that is discrimination for all ELLs as they received entire subjects with not their language such as mathematics, science, social study, language art,†¦ while their literacy skills do not well at all. Bilingual Education – consider that such as education in an English-language school system in which students with little fluency in English are taught in both their native language and English. Research show that Bilingual Language is the effective choice and definitely benefic for English Language Learners. It not only helping to advantage of ELLs to become solid literacy skills with both language, Bilingual Education also support to students develop ability of communication with international. The review found that almost K-12 students show who have been educated in bilingual classroom, enroll in programs that have high level of bilingualism probably do as well as or might be better than comparison group of English Learners in English-only program. English Learners want to improve their English as well as they could be, but they also receive a lot of challenges from English. As you are learning any new language, it takes a lot of dedication, practice and time. But all of that will pay off when you are able expressing yourself in an exciting way. You have to know what is your first step will going to be, then just keep going and expand all experience that you have become perfectly. Also, the English teacher should  purposefully select words and sentence structures that will help students learn rather than hinder their success in class or practice for them to listening, specific is talking to improve their pronunciation. Eventually, English Language Learners could be received a lot of challenges by English Language as they struggle to fit into a new society, learn a new language, improving the achievement of communicate ability with international. However, English has been the common world-wide language, and it will be in the future. For this reason, English Language Learners must be insist that practice and policy by based on the best evidence we have and not on politics or predilections.

The Life of Jonathan Swift Essay Example for Free

The Life of Jonathan Swift Essay Life has always been filled with people who have given much in their lives to contribute to the betterment of society. They surpass the boundaries that have been set by the government and the people around them, just to make a difference in the world. One of these people was Jonathan Swift. Jonathan Isaac Bickerstaff Swift was born on November 30, 1667 in Dublin, Ireland. He was the only son and second child of Abigaile Erick Swift and Jonathan Swift. Since he was named after his father, he was often called Jonathan Junior or simply Junior. Before he was born, Jonathan’s father died. His other relatives were of great assistance just so he could have a good education (Incompetech website, n. d. ). In 1686, he was able to graduate from Trinity College in Dublin. He immediately went to England to open new doors, and was fortunate enough to be accepted as the secretary of Sir William Temple. Living with Sir William paved way for Jonathan to meet a young lady, who later became an important part of his life. He met Esther Johnson and became her tutor. In between his sessions, he would scribble down his thoughts and ideas, but eventually burned them. Upon Sir William’s death, Jonathan was jobless and eventually became a fashionable satiric writer for Dublin (Incompetech website, n. d. ). Soon after, Stella, as he fondly called her, moved to Ireland just so she could be near him. Their relationship was a source of all gossips in town, because of their difference in age. Some said that the two lovers were even married in 1716. When Stella died in 1728, Jonathan Swift was desolated, and hid a lock of the lady love’s hair in his things until the day he died (Pegasos, 2000). His political ambitions were never taken aside. When Queen Anne was in position, Jonathan became the vicar of Kilroot. He then wrote for the Tattler, a newspaper, from 1708-1709. His writing skills were tested further when he became one of the founders of the Scriblerus Club. He worked together with the Pope, Congreve, and Robert Harley (Pegasos, 2000). The years 1713 – 1742 were the years when Jonathan was dean of the St. Patricks Cathedral. He became deaf in his early twenties, and many people thought that he was insane. During one of his conversations with Edward Young, he said that he would be mentally incapacitated when he reached the age of fifty. Basically he was ready to face this mentally challenging state early on in his life (Pegasos, 2000). He died on October 19, 1745 in Dublin Ireland due to Alzheimers disease. He died leaving behind his legacy through the numerous poetries and proses written in pamphlets (Pegasos, 2000). 1726 was another great year for Jonathan Swift. This was the time when he wrote and published the famous prose entitled, Gullivers Travels. At first reading, the book may be classified as a childrens book, although the writer had an underlying meaning behind each even in Gullivers life. The book showcased most of Jonathans feelings and emotions about the social problems at that time (Incompetech website, n. d. ). One of Jonathans works was evident in the proposal he wrote about the children in 1729. Entitled, â€Å"A Modest Proposal: For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being Aburden to Their Parents Or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public† (Art-Bin, n. d. ), focused on how the children of their time suffered the hardships in life. From the title alone, we can see that Jonathan wanted the children to live normal lives before they had to endure the hardships and realities of life. His main purpose in writing the proposal was to help uplift the lives people had in their society at that time. He had no children of his own, so the proposal he wrote was not of great bearing to his life. All he wanted was for people to first realize that the children should not be placed in situations that could ruin their lives, and eventually their futures (Art-bin, n. d). Although Jonathans book, Gullivers Travels, was well received by many, he always stood for his beliefs and oppositions on the inequalities of the government towards his native land. When he finally decided to run for politics, he kept his distance form the Whig and Tory parties. He wanted to be individually known for his works and accomplishments, other than the association that may be given to him by either parties. His writings were mostly satiric, meaning they made use of sarcastic words, and exposed the hard realities of their life at that time. Although the book was creative in manner and well suited for children, many were alarmed by his writings, for they opened new ideas for people (Westchester University, n. d. ). His writings were not only isolated to proses. He also participated in writing papers involving ecclesiastical matters, such as the â€Å"Three Sermons and Prayers†, which he wrote in 1744. Some of his other works were included in his book, The â€Å"Writings on Religion and the Church†, which was finally published in 1898 (Merriman, 2008). It was said that Jonathan had published a collection of his works three years before he slipped into senility. Eventually, he suffered from a paralytic stroke in 1738. The people close to him started to care for the ill Jonthan Swift. In 1742, his belongings and affairs were soon cared for by appointed guardians (Victorian Web, 2000). His life was lived to the fullest, and he made sure that people remembered him as someone who had hoped for the upheaval of society in Ireland. He left behind his legacy through the numerous poetries and proses he wrote in pamphlets. He died on October 19, 1745 in Dublin Ireland due to Alzheimers disease. (Pegasos, 2000). Jonathans remains were laid beside his beloved wife, Stella, inside the St. Patricks Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland (Merriman, 2008). With his own epitaph written, Jonathan became successful in accomplishing his dreams of being a well known person. He is in fact, forever remembered by his countrymen and of the whole world, forever. Jonathan Swift may have suffered before he died, but he was able to open the eyes of the people to the reality that was happening right before their eyes. He was an enemy to some, but an inspiration for many. His works will forever be present to inspire us and the children of the future to go on and be someone. References (. n. d. ). Jonathan isaac bickerstaff swift. Incompetech. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://incompetech. com/authors/swift/. West Chester University. (n. d. ). Jonathan swift: A modest proposal 1729. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://courses. wcupa. edu/wanko/LIT400/ireland/jonanthan_swift. htm (2007). Ireland. MSN encarta. Retrieved May 2, 2008 from http://encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761566701_9/Ireland. html. (n. d. ). A modest proposal. The art bin origo. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from http://art-bin. com/art/omodest. html (2000). Books and writers. Pegasos. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from http://www. kirjasto. sci. fi/jswift. htm (2000). A chronology of jonathan swifts life. The victorian web. Retrieved May 5, 2008 from http://www. victorianweb. org/previctorian/swift/chron. html. Merriman, C. D. (2008). Jonathan Swift. The literature network. Retrieved May 5, 2008 from

Impact of Absenteeism on Productivity

Impact of Absenteeism on Productivity Employees of different establishments are entitled to a given number of leaves like sick and local leaves among others according to the law. Therefore, all organisations can expect a certain degree of absence and illness. However, it can be observed that more and more people in organisations are having frequent absences and many cases of illness have been recorded. In 2007, Confederation of British Industry/AXA Absence Survey has set the cost of absence to employers in the UK at more than  £13 billion a year, while cost per employee is  £659 annually. According to Williams (2003), in Canada also billions of dollars are lost each year due to absenteeism. Sickness absenteeism and sickness is therefore a growing major global problem affecting thousands organisations. High level of absenteeism is a serious problem for both large and small organisations, since they are costly to both individual establishments and economy as a whole and adversely affecting efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Sickness absenteeism and sickness can be an indication of fundamental organisational problems. Therefore, it is important to establish the cause and find out solutions through the examination of organisations policies and activities. There are several reasons why employees might be absent or fall sick. These reasons might be poor working conditions and relationship with management, no motivation, and no scope of self-development, a culture within the organisation and no career opportunities, too much stress at work among others. Thus, it is recognised that it is becoming necessary to find social and institutional remedies. When employees are absent and ill, it leads to poor productivity. And therefore, costs of the organisation rises as the goods and services are of poor quality. In the United States according to the Commonwealth Fund, about $260 billion are loss in output due to health-related problems. Hence, it is crucial for an organisation to understand the causes of sickness absenteeism and sickness and their impact on the organisation. Therefore, it is both the legal and morale duties of the employer to prevent people in the organisation from being made ill with their respective jobs. This is because, a healthy worker in both public and private organisations is important, as the corporate objective of organisations largely depends on health and as well non-health issues of its population. That is, happy employees are efficient and productive employees. Problem Statement The problem of high level of sickness absenteeism and sickness at work is an existing problem at Air Mauritius, affecting productivity. These are most frequent among staffs working on shift hours. The sickness absenteeism rate at Air Mauritius is illustrated as follows: Year Sickness Absences (man-days) 2006 12457 2007 14654 2008 17323 2009 15418 Out of the sickness absences recorded, an average of 23.5% is registered on week-end. In addition, a research of the non-communicable screening exercise carried out at the Head Office and the SSR International Airport among 1100 employees illustrates that an average of 50% of the persons are pre-diabetic or diabetic, have high risks of suffering from cardiac arrest and are either obese or overweight. Therefore, the above information gives a clear indication that the prevalence of health problems, absenteeism problem which is quite pronounced among employees of Air Mauritius Ltd. That is why, absenteeism and health issues have to be closely monitored and supported else it would have a serious effect on the performance of employees. Hence, the study will be based on finding the reasons of a high sickness absence rate and find ways to help employees to remain in good health. 1.3 Research Objectives Identify the causes of sickness absenteeism and sickness at Air Mauritius Ltd. Does sickness absenteeism and sickness impact on productivity at Air Mauritius Ltd. Give Air Mauritius Ltd employees incentives to be more productive and regular at work. Establish an absence management policy at Air Mauritius. 1.4 Proposed Methodology Data collection includes primary sources and secondary sources. The primary source includes an interview with the Human Resources department and the Health Safety department to find out the rate of absenteeism and sickness reports in the ground operations, engineering and cabin operations departments. Discuss with employees and collect data through questionnaire which will be administered to a sample of employees. Secondary sources consist of data collected from the companys website, magazine articles, journals records like Emerald, EBSCO among others and various books about human resources absenteeism and productivity. 1.5 The layout of the dissertation The subject under study will be presented as follows: Chapter 2: Literature Review Under this chapter, a literature review has been done concerning the nature of sickness absenteeism, sickness and productivity, their costs, the factors leading to sickness absenteeism and sickness and the possible solutions to reduce sickness absenteeism and sickness and increase productivity at work. Chapter 3: Company Profile This chapter set an overview of the company Air Mauritius Ltd. The business in which it operates, its products and its customers are described. Its work environment, management and staff population and its evolution are as well presented. Chapter 4: Research methodology This chapter explains the methodology that has been used to get an insight in the subject and discuss the limitations of this project. Chapter 5: Survey findings and analysis Here the findings that have been generated from the survey are presented using graphs, charts and they are analysed in relation to this project. Chapter 6: Recommendations and conclusion After the survey findings are analysed the shortcomings in the project are noted and recommendations are made. Annex 1: Sample questionnaire given to employees. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Definitions 2.1.1 Absenteeism In general absenteeism is defined as the failure to show for work or any other habitual duty. This usually disrupts work schedules adding workloads to those who are at work which might lead to low morale among employees. Therefore, absenteeism obstructs the good functioning of production and efficient running of an organisation. Lokke A.K, Eskildsen. J and Jesen. T. W (2007) similarly reported that the traditional definition of absence is about not being physically present at the place and time the employee is expected to be. Davey. M.M, Cummings. G, Newburn-cook. C. V, and Lo. E. A (2009) have defined absenteeism as the failure to appear to work when planned, and according to them absence is measured by frequency or amount of work days missed. The Entrepreneur (http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia) described absenteeism as an employees deliberate or habitual absence from work. Everybody misses a day of work now and then. But its a problem when an employee misses too many days of work. Not showing up for work can cause serious problems when other employees have to cover for the missing worker or, worse, the work simply doesnt get done. Another definition by Nicholson (1977, p. 237) said that Absence, in the language of economics, is an unpredictable variation in the firms labour supply and in labour-intensive and technologically primitive settings which can produce costly concomitant variations in output. Furthermore, Harvey and Nicholson (1993), p. 841 recognized that absenteeism was the major cause of lost productivity in business and industry. In a similar vein, Buschak. M, Craven. C and Ledman. R (1996) stated that absenteeism is a difficulty that every organisation or business faces creating costs and productivity problems. Thus, leading to a heavier work load on the majority of employees who have shown up for work. This type of situation tends to create dissatisfaction, frustration, stress and fatigue among employees 2.1.2 Types of Absenteeism There are two main types of absence voluntary and involuntary. Hackett and Guion, (1985) have defined voluntary absences as what is in the control of the employee. These can take form of short-term, casual and illegitimate absences which is based on the motivation of the employee. On the other hand, involuntary absences are what are beyond the control of the employee; they are usually due to sickness or family responsibilities. 2.1.2 Sickness Reijenga. F. A. (2006) defined sickness as all types of health problems or disabilities. As mentioned before there are two types of sickness, short term sickness for example influenza and long term sickness such as diabetes which is classified as a chronic disease. Tabaluyan, T., Kuswadji, S (1996) reported that sickness absence is defined as not being able to work due sickness or injury, that is, the incapability to work. In the same way, Employers Organisation, (2005) elaborated that sickness absence should include industrial injury, part days absence, and other self-certificated absence which is not explicitly ascribed to be an acceptable reason other than sickness. However, M. Borritz, R. Rugulies, K. B Christensen, E. Villadsen and T. S Kristensen (2005) indicated that sickness absence is a complex phenomenon that can be caused by individual, work related, organisational, and societal factors. Sickness absence has been discussed as a consequence of ill health,  a coping mechanism, behaviour of social equity, a reaction to organisational injustice, or a consequence of exposure to adverse work-environment factors. Furthermore, Whitaker S. also agreed with the fact that sickness absence is influenced by many factors like social causes other than health issues. 2.1.3 Productivity In an economist point of view productivity is a ratio of some measure of output to some index of input use, according to Eatwell and Newman (1991). Therefore, productivity is nothing more than the arithmetic ratio of amount produced to amount of any resources used in the course of production. An online definition by http://business.yourdictionary.com, stated that productivity is the efficiency with which output is produced by a given set of inputs. Productivity is generally measured by the ratio of output to input. An increase in the ratio indicates an increase in productivity. Conversely, a decrease in the output/input ratio indicates a decline in productivity. However, definitions of productivity in the above context are meant to the manufacturing sector. 2.1.3.1 Productivity in the Service Sector Rutkauskan. J and Paulaviciene. E (2005) have studied the concept of productivity in the service sector and they aroused that productivity, efficiency and effectiveness are terms that should be used together. This is because to be productive one should be both efficient and effective. The analysis of productivity is a difficult task in the service sector. As the productivity concept in the service sector involves both the organisation and the customer. According to Tolentini (2004) productivity depends on the value of the products and services and the efficiency upon which they are produced and distributed to the customers. Similarly in the research work of Maroto-Sanchez. A (2010) productivity is about being both efficient and effective. He described effectiveness as to how an organisation meets the active needs and expectations of its customers. Hence it can be seen that, to be productive in the service sector employees have to be both effective and efficient. Therefore, employers have to ensure that their employees are effective and efficient enough to provide a good service to their customers. 2.2 Causes of sickness absenteeism and sickness There are various factors that affect sickness absence and sickness. Factors affecting sickness absence in the aviation sector can be classified as health related issues such as injury at work such as musculoskeletal pains stress and fatigue and so on, and non-health related issues like organisational commitment, job satisfaction among others since according to Whitaker. S. research, sickness absenteeism is influenced by a variety of factors non-related to health. Testimonials that have been gathered among employees at Air Mauritius have proved that sickness absenteeism is mostly related to the non health-related issues. However, it is only after the analysis of the questionnaires that we will be able to understand the real causes of absenteeism and its impact on productivity. 2.3 Non Health-related issues 2.3.1 Organisational Commitment Organisational Commitment is typically measured by items tapping respondents willingness to work hard to improve their companies, the fit between the firms and the workers values, reluctance to leave, and loyalty toward or pride taken in working for their employers (Maume, 2006, p. 164). Similarly, Boolaky. M and Gokhool. D, p. 73 defines organisational commitment as the degree to which a person is committed to the organisation he or she is working for. The person is proud to be associated to the organisation and is committed to work towards the objectives and goals of the organisation. Many studies have reported that there is a relationship between organisational commitment and absenteeism. Gellatly, 1995 and Somer, 1995 studies have concluded that organisational commitment is negatively related to absenteeism. That is, when an employee is not committed to its organisation, this will tend to impact negatively on absenteeism. A research carried out by Meyer and Allen (1991) reported that commitment comprises three components namely affective, continuance and normative. Where affective commitment refers to the individuals emotional attachment to the organisation her/she is working, that is the individual participates in the organisations activities because he/she wants to. Continuance commitment is when someone realises that too much energy or time have been devoted to leave the organisation or that they would not be able to find another job. And normative commitment is when an individual feels that he/she has an obligation to participate in the activities of the org anisation and that it is the right thing to do. Meyer (1997) found that affective commitment was strongly linked to absence behaviour. However, normative commitment according to Meyer (1993) was negatively related to absenteeism on the other hand Somers (1995) has found no relationship between the two. And at last, Mayer and Schoorman (1992) concluded that continuance commitment did not have a strong relation with absenteeism. 2.3.2 Job Involvement Job involvement commonly includes identifying with the job,   actively participating in the job, and perceiving job performance to be important   to self-image (Blau. G. J, 1985; Rabinowitz Hall, 1977). Robbins (1998) defines job involvement as the degree to which a person identifies with his or her job, actively participates in it, considers his or her performance important to self-work. That is, job involvement refers to the extent to which one is committed and participates in his or her job. The direct relationship of job involvement to absenteeism is very ambiguous. Blau. G. J (1986) review of the studies carried out at that time, found that the studies had different conclusions; this is because there are differences in the measurement and samples taken. Taunton et al. and Cohen (2000) showed that there is a negative relationship between job involvement and absenteeism. However, job involvement and productivity have a positive relationship. That is, as job involvement increases, productivity increases and vice versa. According to W. H. Weiss (2006) employees who are involved in their jobs, that is, they have the know-how of why they need to carry out certain tasks and how does these contribute to the organisations goals are the most productive workers. Therefore, it can be noted that job involvement is necessary to increase productivity of employees. 2.3.3 Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction refers to an emotional state of mind that reflects an affective reaction to the job and the work situation, whereas the focus of organizational commitment is on a more global reaction (emotional or non-emotional) to the entire organization (Dipboye et al., 1994; Farkas and Tetrick, 1989; Lance, 1991; Russell and Price, 1988). (Falkenburg. K and Schyns. B, 2007, p. 710) Job satisfaction is defined as the extent to which people like (satisfaction) or dislike (dissatisfaction) their jobs (Spector, 1997, p. 2). This description implies that job satisfaction is a broad or global emotional reaction that individuals hold about their job. Researchers and practitioners have evaluated different facets or dimensions of satisfaction. Examining these facets is usually useful for assessing employee satisfaction with critical job factors. Traditional job satisfaction facets consist of: co-workers, pay, job conditions, supervision, nature of the work and benefits  (Williams). Studies have found that job satisfaction can also be an independent variable affecting both productivity and absenteeism. (Boolaky. M and Gokhool. D, p. 75). There have had many theories on the relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism. Most of these studies concluded that as job dissatisfaction increases, self-reported absenteeism increases (Taunton et al. 1885, Drago and Wooden 1992). In 1982, a study made by the Business Roundtable stated that job dissatisfaction affects absenteeism to a great extent. Employers should understand that the companys goals and quality supervision are necessary for job satisfaction. It has also been noted that as size of job increased, job satisfaction decreased. Furthermore Hinze et al. (1985), report that identified the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction describe that absenteeism was lower among those who had strong cohesiveness that is, team spirit, and when management criticised workers for being absent it was observed that absenteeism was lower, employees who regarded their work as mentally inspiring had fewer absences. Moreover Hausknecht, Hiller and Vance. (2008), defined job satisfaction as the sense of enjoyment that individuals derive from their experiences on the job and within the team they work with. Therefore, according to this report high attendance is expected in working environment where there is high satisfaction. This is because, the members of the team have this feeling of belonging and support among themselves. Moreover, it can be observed that in a working environment where there is high satisfaction it increases the level of productivity. P. Valdes-Flores and J. A. Campos-Rodriguez (2008) describe job satisfaction as a set of favourable or unfavourable feelings for the employees to perceive their work and that determine the possibility of a major disposition to achieve higher performance, consequently, job satisfaction refers to an individuals general attitude towards his or her job. Link between involvement and commitment Blau (1986) had developed the interaction of job involvement and organisational commitment and how this affected absence behaviour. Moreover, Blau and Boal (1987) refined the idea. The study reported that there are four level of contribution of high and low of job involvement and job commitment. When job involvement and job commitment are high, employees are not likely to be absent and if they happened to be absent this could be due to genuine sickness. This type of employees is called institutional stars. Those who experience a low job commitment but high job involvements are absent because of career prospects or due to working environment, these persons are called lone wolves. Individuals with low job involvement and high organisational commitment called the corporate citizen respect their co-workers and also abide to the norms and goals of the organisation they work for. Those could be absent from work in according to the organisations lawful absence rules. And lastly the apatheti c employees identify themselves having a low job involvement and organisational commitment, they have highest rate of absence. Link between organisational commitment and job satisfaction Many studies have reported the association between organisational commitment and job satisfaction (Meyer et al, 2002). According to Levison and Moser, (1997) employees tend to be lethargy without job satisfaction, which reduces organisational commitment. Furthermore, a study carried out by Steers and Rhodes (1978) stated that job satisfaction and organisational commitment play a big role in determining employee attendance. Griffeth et al (2000), indicated that organisational commitment was a better predictor of absenteeism than job absenteeism. However, as job satisfaction is more about the emotional state of mind, it is influenced by daily events rather than organisational commitment which cover the organisation as a whole and develops over time (Sagie, 1998). Link between job satisfaction and job involvement Wegge. J, Schmidt. K, Parkes. C and Dick. R. V (2007) found that events at work impact on how employees feel at work thus determining job satisfaction. Furthermore, job involvement measures the importance of the job to ones self opinion and therefore represents personality differences. Job satisfaction is situational variable and job involvement personality in our reasoning. Thus, they both interact. That is, if job satisfaction is low, job involvement will negatively affect absenteeism. However, when job satisfaction is high in any situation it will overcome the impact of job involvement on absence behaviour. Job satisfaction therefore has a moderate impact on job involvement and absence. To be more precise, when job satisfaction is low, job involvement is negatively related to absenteeism whereas, when job satisfaction is high, job involvement is not associated to absenteeism. 2.3.4 Organisational Culture Morgan. G has described organizational culture as: The set of the set of beliefs, values, and norms, together with symbols like dramatized events and personalities, that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it. Another definition of organizational culture by Schein. E a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems that has worked well enough to be considered valid and is passed on to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.   Norms influence everyone in an organisation; they are unwritten and usually tell things like they are influencing everyones perception in the organisation and they contribute to the norms and support them. Nowadays, we live in an absenteeism culture. According to Smit (2000), absenteeism and culture are negatively related. That is, employees encouraged and supported by the society to call a sick leave. However, employers do support absenteeism as a cultural phenomenon. That is, when people take sick days when they are not sick, employers accept this as a cost to the organisation. (Allen. R. F, Higgins M. 1979) 2.3.5 Motivation Robbins and Coulter (1999) have defined motivation as the willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach organizational goals as conditioned by that efforts ability to satisfy some individual need. Luthans (1998) stated that motivation is the process that arouses, energizes, directs, and sustains behaviour and performance. That is, it is the process of stimulating people to action and to achieve a desired task. One way of stimulating people is to employ effective motivation, which makes workers more satisfied with and committed to their jobs. Money is not the only motivator. There are other incentives which can also serve as motivators. Steers Rhodes (1978), developed the most common model of absenteeism. They depicted that attendance is determined by the employees motivation to go to work. However, Lee (1989) evaluated the theoretical facts of the Steers Rhodes Model (1978) and found that motivation is not strongly related to attendance. Nevertheless, the study of Burton. J. P, Lee. T. W, Holtom. B. C (2002), claimed that sickness absenteeism was related to ones motivation to attend work. That is, according to some theories sickness absenteeism is not only due to illness but it may be voluntary, Brooke (1986). Employees might use sickness as an excuse not to go to work, where there are other causes of this particular behaviour, Martocchio (1996). Moreover, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) suggested that in order to reduce absence, the best way was to ensure that employees are well-motivated by their jobs. And to motivate employees, employers have to keep them informed of their behind-the-scenes strategies for survival during recession, Anne Fairweather (2009), head of public policy at an organisation. Motivated employees can be productive employees. Recognition, working environment and work achievement are factors that can keep employees motivated thus highly productive. Employees who achieve the goals directed by their supervisor are usually well-motivated. And expect recognition after the long hours of hard work, for instance an increase in salary, bonuses or promotions. According to a research carried out by Personnel Today (2008), employees were more productive when they received recognition for their work and praise from management. Working environment is another factor to motivate employees in being productive and need to be provided with a pleasant environment to work. Therefore it can be noted that motivation is necessary to increase productivity. Personal Issues Every employee in any organisation has to go through personal issues. It can be observed that facing these issues most of the time and energy of that particular person is focused on their personal issue they are dealing with. Personal issues can take the form of family problems, ill parents or young children to take care of, drug abuse, drinking problems, sexual orientation and many more distracting one from his or her job. According to Ericson (2001) issues like child and eldercare, single-parent families are those characteristics that might lead to an impact on absenteeism at any level in an organisation. Furthermore, Goff et al. (1990) found that when ones work and family issues are conflicting there is a greater frequency of absenteeism. It has also been noted that management in most organisations are lenient, staffs make excuses of being sick so as not to attend work, consequently, recording a sick leave. This is also common in the aviation sector especially among staffs having odd working hours; they find it easier to register for sick leave so as to be able to manage their own issues. Shift work influence the working choices of parents and to be able to retain shift workers child-care services should be offered, P. D. Brandon and J. B. Temple (2007). Employees have to make sure that they do not bring their personal issues into the office. Therefore, organisations must be able to provide a pleasant environment where employees would not think about their personal issues instead of concentrating on their work. Some company might also provide psychological help to their staffs. As personal problems can lead to a fall in productivity. Health Related Issues Health promotion seems to impact positively on employees health, morale, level of sickness absenteeism and productivity. Unfortunately it is noted that the necessary structures and facilities to promote health are not available at Air Mauritius, however, management has shown its intention to change the situation and has establish wellness and fitness centres. Chronic Diseases Chronic diseases do have an impact on employees sickness absence and sicknesses at work, example of chronic diseases are diabetics, cancers among others. The productivity of the organisation is also affected when the employee is ill. For example an employee suffering a particular form of cancer will have various complications and might not be able to attend work for a few days. This will lead to a lack of staff, thus increasing the workload of others. Therefore, organisations can exercise some control over illnesses by ensuring a safe and healthy workplace, proper ergonomic design, health and safety management 27policies/practices to address absenteeism in the workplace (Ericson, 2001). These can facilitate healthier working environments and provide favourable conditions to reduce absenteeism and enhance satisfaction and productivity. Fatigue and Stress According to the New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of English Language fatigue is defined as the tiredness of a persons physical or mental energy. More precisely it is described as a specific reaction of our central nervous system and muscular system due to exertion (S. L. Smith et al., 2009). That is, the exhaustion of strength due to continued stress. Stress on the other hand is identified as factors causing mental or emotional strain or tension to a person (New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of English Language). Khodabakhsh Ahmadi and Kolivand Alireza, (2007) stated that stress is often used to describe the bodys responses to demands placed upon it, whether these demands are favourable or unfavourable. In this context however, stress is related to the work place where due to unsatisfactory work organisation, management, environmental design and differences between the efforts put into work compared to the rewards received (S. L. Smith et al., 2009). The level of work-related stress has increased consequently during the past few years in the aviation sector. C. Kelleher S. McGilloway, 2005, claimed in a research carried out for an Irish airline that the level of work-related stress among stress is high. Khodabakhsh Ahmadi and Kolivand Alireza, 2007, have found that the level of work stress among military pilots has also increased. The report of the ITF 2009, indicated that there has been a serious increase in stress and fatigue since 2000. There are various causes of work-related stress and fatigue in the aviation sector. The odd and long hours of work which usually results in overtime, drain staffs both emotionally and physically. Fatigue and stress is also caused due to the lack of rest. Airline staffs working in different time zones and odd hours are the ones experience chronic sleep deprivation. A rise in the level of flights and passengers has led to uncontrollable work load due to high work demands causing stress and fatigue among staffs. The tradition of overbooking flights in almost all airlines is the cause of various problems. Passengers who find themselves left behind due to the lack of seats on the flights are usually furious and tend to shout at staffs using abusive language thus stressing them. People working in the aviation sector have experience a consequent rise in the stress level at work (S. L. Smith et al., 2009). Hence this impact on sickness absenteeism and sickness thus affecting the productivity level of employees. Injury at work An organisation must make sure that it provides the proper safety equipment to its employees. This is because accidents can happen where employees could be injured. This would cause sickness absenteeism due to the employees inability to attend work, leading to a fall in productivity due to the lack of employees and increased work load on those present at work. Also the costs

Essay example --

Foucault describes in the â€Å"carceral archipelago† and how it transported the technique from the penal institution to the entire social body on pg. 298 of the text in relation to how technologies, powers and disciplines were connected in a series of prisons, institutions, and other organizations that governed or directed how social norms, punishments and regulations were administered. The archipelago referred to a collection of islands, which show relationships and structural similarities, as well as differences. Foucault uses Mettray as an example to show the emergences of more formalized structure or accountability as we could term it today with examples of power-knowledge over individuals. Foucault describes Mettray as the most disciplinary form at its most extreme, explaining that the models in which are concentrated all the coercive technologies of our behavior (p. 293). The prison was successful because it structured prisoners through the processes of discipline and control. The prison showed that it had the capabilities to transform its functionality to applications and technologies other than the carceral (punitive), such as hospitals, schools, and other public administrations by making the power and knowledge that is held over individuals normal. Its systems, because they were so effective were not destined to remain exclusively to the punitive environment. The technology that they enveloped was extremely useful, and as a result, discipline and structure have been profoundly influential in the development of social norms and behaviors in societies. In modern society, the structure that was present in the carceral environment can be seen in virtually all systems and organizational structures; from federal, state... ...hich in turn is intended to normalize the individual’s behavior. In the application, map my walk, Foucault would view the process of recording and sharing results with peers through electronic communication also as the process of examination. Through the process of sharing information and gathering results and responses, the individual’s behavior becomes normalized through the judging practice; not only being judged both indirectly and directly by their peers, but also by judging themselves through their progress and/or failures. Both are essentially control through observational techniques. It is interesting because they coincide with the pressure that women place on themselves to manifest control over their bodies, both internally and externally. It is similar to a panoptic environment, where the woman monitors her own outcomes. Word Count: 234

Teaching and Learning Activity Assessment :: Education, Evaluation

Introduction One of key element in teaching and learning activity is assessment. There are several types of assessment. However, in the context of Aceh, most of teachers still use traditional forms of assessment, specifically summative assessment. There is critique on traditional assessment, â€Å"The critique has been based on the assumption that these forms of assessment do not support high quality of leaning associated with ‘deep’ learning, critical thinking, sustainable knowledge and lifelong learning† (Havnes & McDowell 2008). Therefore, diagnostic assessment is one form of assessment that can be used by the teachers to support high quality of learning. Diagnostic assessment aims to determine students’ prior knowledge. In order to plan the effective teaching, it is important for teacher to determine students’ prior knowledge, because the students have their own conceptions on phenomena in the world before they study in the classroom (Tytler, n.d). This essay is part of assignment in assessing learning unit (EXE733). It aims to review and discuss an example of exemplary assessment task for diagnostic assessment. Before further discussion about example of exemplary diagnostic assessment, it might be important to review the definition, purposes, types of assessment, as well as characteristics of effective assessment. Assessment Assessment derived from the Latin assessare which mean to impose a tax or set a rate (Athanasou, 1997). According to Athanasou, Assessment is â€Å"the process of collecting and combining information from test (e.g., on performance, learning, quality) with view to making a judgement about a person or making a comparison against an established criterion. Further, Satterly defined assessment as â€Å"an omnibus term which includes all the processes and products which describe the nature and extent of children’s learning, its degree of correspondence with the aims and objectives of teaching and its relationship with the environments which are designed to facilitate learning† (1989 p.3, cited in Carrol, 2005). Moreover, Rowntree (1977) said â€Å"assessment in education can be thought as occurring whenever one person, in some kind of interaction, direct or indirect with another, is conscious of obtaining and interpreting information about the knowledge and understanding o f abilities and attitudes of that other person† (p. 4, cited in Carrol, 2005). The purposes of assessment can be divided into three levels, namely: classroom level (students and teachers), school level, and system level. Firstly, at classroom level, assessment aims to provide the students with appropriate learning based on their needs, provide the students feedback that they can use to identify their next steps of learning, to develop good partnership with parents, help the teachers to plan next teaching, and guarantee continuity of education for the students (Te Kete Ipurangi, 2007).

Ashoka Indian Ruler :: essays papers

Ashoka Indian Ruler One of the greatest rulers of India's history is Ashoka (Asoka). Ruling for thirty-eight years (274 B.C.-232 B.C.), he was generally mentioned in his inscriptions as Devanampiya Piyadasi ("Beloved of the gods"). As the third emperor of the Mauryan dynasty, he was born in the year 304 B.C. His greatest achievements were spreading Buddhism throughout his empire and beyond. He set up an ideal government for his people and conquered many lands, expanding his kingdom. The knowledge of Ashoka's early reign is limited because little information was found. His edicts and inscriptions allowed us to understand his reign and empire, and have an insight into the events that took place during this remarkable period of history. Eight years after he took his throne, Ashoka's powerful armies attacked and conquered Kalinga (present day Orissa). Although he had conquered many other places, this violent war was the last war he ever fought and a turning point of his career. He was disgusted by the extreme deaths of numerous civilians, especially the Brahmans. All these misfortunes brought Ashoka to turn into a religious ruler compared to a military ruler. As he turned to Buddhism, he emphasized dharma (law of piety) and ahimsa (nonviolence). He realized he could not spread Buddhism all by himself and therefore appointed officers to help promote the teachings. These officers were called Dhamma Mahamattas or "Officers of Righteousness"" They were in charge of providing welfare and happiness among the servants and masters. Preventing wrongful doings and ensuring special consideration was also their duty. Emphasizing his role as king, he paid close attention to welfare, the building of roads and rest houses, planting medicinal trees, and setting up healing centers. In order to pursue ahimsa, Ashoka gave up his favorite hobby of hunting and forbade the killing of animals, spreading vegetarianism throughout India. Furthermore, his soldiers were taught the golden rule- to behave to others the way you want them to behave to you, which is the basic law of life. In the nineteenth century, a large number of edicts written in Brahmi script carved on rocks and stone pillars were discovered in India, proving the existence of Ashoka. These edicts, found scattered in more than 30 places throughout India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are mainly concerned with moral principles Ashoka recommended, his conversion to Buddhism, his personality and his success as a king. The Minor Edicts is a summary of Ashoka's instruction of dharma, which talks about the purity of thoughts, kindness, thruthfulness, reverence, and other good morals of life. The Fourteen Rock Edicts were the major edicts, and Ashoka Indian Ruler :: essays papers Ashoka Indian Ruler One of the greatest rulers of India's history is Ashoka (Asoka). Ruling for thirty-eight years (274 B.C.-232 B.C.), he was generally mentioned in his inscriptions as Devanampiya Piyadasi ("Beloved of the gods"). As the third emperor of the Mauryan dynasty, he was born in the year 304 B.C. His greatest achievements were spreading Buddhism throughout his empire and beyond. He set up an ideal government for his people and conquered many lands, expanding his kingdom. The knowledge of Ashoka's early reign is limited because little information was found. His edicts and inscriptions allowed us to understand his reign and empire, and have an insight into the events that took place during this remarkable period of history. Eight years after he took his throne, Ashoka's powerful armies attacked and conquered Kalinga (present day Orissa). Although he had conquered many other places, this violent war was the last war he ever fought and a turning point of his career. He was disgusted by the extreme deaths of numerous civilians, especially the Brahmans. All these misfortunes brought Ashoka to turn into a religious ruler compared to a military ruler. As he turned to Buddhism, he emphasized dharma (law of piety) and ahimsa (nonviolence). He realized he could not spread Buddhism all by himself and therefore appointed officers to help promote the teachings. These officers were called Dhamma Mahamattas or "Officers of Righteousness"" They were in charge of providing welfare and happiness among the servants and masters. Preventing wrongful doings and ensuring special consideration was also their duty. Emphasizing his role as king, he paid close attention to welfare, the building of roads and rest houses, planting medicinal trees, and setting up healing centers. In order to pursue ahimsa, Ashoka gave up his favorite hobby of hunting and forbade the killing of animals, spreading vegetarianism throughout India. Furthermore, his soldiers were taught the golden rule- to behave to others the way you want them to behave to you, which is the basic law of life. In the nineteenth century, a large number of edicts written in Brahmi script carved on rocks and stone pillars were discovered in India, proving the existence of Ashoka. These edicts, found scattered in more than 30 places throughout India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are mainly concerned with moral principles Ashoka recommended, his conversion to Buddhism, his personality and his success as a king. The Minor Edicts is a summary of Ashoka's instruction of dharma, which talks about the purity of thoughts, kindness, thruthfulness, reverence, and other good morals of life. The Fourteen Rock Edicts were the major edicts, and

Stomata Density

Stomata are tiny pores found on the epidermis of the leaf, surrounded by guard cells. [1] Their main function is gas exchange [1] for photosynthesis and respiration. The development of stomata on the leaves of a plant is determined by interaction between different genes and environmental factors. A few studies have been conducted in order to establish a relationship between stomatal densities and given environmental factors. Research has shown that stomatal densities are controlled by environmental conditions during leaf development, but are fixed after the leaf matures. [2]The article â€Å"The influence of light on stomatal density of a tomato† by A. P. Gay and R. G. Hurd describes their findings that plants grown under high light intensity have more stomata per 1 mm 2 than plants grown under low light intensity. [3] The purpose of my investigation is to determine whether there is a correlation between the light intensity and the stomatal density on lavender leaves and wheth er the initial height of the plants influences the stomatal densities. The hypothesis is that an increase in the light intensity will lead to an increase in the stomatal density of the lavender leaf.The first aim of this investigation was to find whether there is a significant correlation between the stomatal density of lavender plants and the light intensity under which they are grown. The second aim of the investigation was to find out whether the initial height of the plant influences its stomatal density. Cuttings were taken from lavender plants to ensure that all the plants were genetically identical and that the only changes occurring in the stomatal density would be due to environmental conditions. Four cuttings were short (3 cm initial height) and four were tall (6 cm initial height).The cuttings were put under compact fluorescent light bulbs with four different power ratings (8, 11, 14, and 20 W). One short and one tall cutting were put under each of the four light bulbs fo r 28 days in order to grow them. Both the short and the tall plants showed a positive correlation between their stomatal densities and the light intensity. The correlation was statistically significant at a 0. 025 significance level according to the Pearson product-moment correlation test.The short and the tall plants grown under the same light intensity did not show any  statistically significant difference between their stomatal densities. The first aim of this investigation was to find whether there is a significant correlation between the stomatal density of lavender plants and the light intensity under which they are grown. The second aim of the investigation was to find out whether the initial height of the plant influences its stomatal density. Cuttings were taken from lavender plants to ensure that all the plants were genetically identical and that the only changes occurring in the stomatal density would be due to environmental conditions.Four cuttings were short (3 cm ini tial height) and four were tall (6 cm initial height). The cuttings were put under compact fluorescent light bulbs with four different power ratings (8, 11, 14, and 20 W). One short and one tall cutting were put under each of the four light bulbs for 28 days in order to grow them. Both the short and the tall plants showed a positive correlation between their stomatal densities and the light intensity. The correlation was statistically significant at a 0. 025 significance level according to the Pearson product-moment correlation test.The short and the tall plants grown under the same light intensity did not show any statistically significant difference between their stomatal densities. When trying to explain the correlation, it is important to consider what stomata are in the first place and what their most important functions are. Stomata are tiny pores [1] found on the epidermis of the plants and their main role is gas exchange between the leaf and the environment. Although stomata l development is essentially controlled by different genes, the environment also has a significant effect on stomatal development.Using plants that are clones in the investigation means that they all have the same genetic material and any changes in stomatal density on their leaves should be due to environmental factors. [9] Both light intensity and carbon dioxide concentration have been shown to influence the frequency at which stomata develop on the leaves of plants. [8] Plants can respond to changes in environmental conditions by changing their stomatal frequency. Recent research has shown that signals from older leaves can influence the development of stomata on the younger leaves.In that way, if the environmental conditions to which the older leaves are exposed change, then the younger leaves can increase or decrease their stomatal density; this physiological adaptation can help the plant cope with the changing environment. Why is the increased light intensity leading to increa sed stomatal density? Photosynthesis is the process by which plants synthesize glucose from carbon dioxide and water. The energy of the reaction is supplied by the sunlight. However, there are two main stages in photosynthesis – light-dependent and light-independent stages.The light-dependent stage depends on the light because the energy from the light is used to split water in the process of photolysis and excite electrons in the chlorophyll. [11] The products from the light-dependent stage are ATP and the electron acceptor – reduced NADP. [11] The products from the light-dependent stage are fed into the light-independent stage of photosynthesis, the Calvin cycle. [11] Carbon dioxide is fixed in the light-independent stage and converted to glucose; in the Calvin cycle, the products of the light-dependent stage are needed. So, more ATP and reduced NADP will result in an increased rate of carbon fixation.If the rate of carbon fixation increases, the rate at which carbon dioxide diffuses in and out of the leaf will increase. The light intensity is simply the energy per second per unit area carried by the incident light and it is proportional to the number of photons per second carried by the incident light. [12] Higher light intensity means more photons per second resulting in more electrons per second that would be excited during the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis, and more ATP and reduced NADP are produced. Therefore, increasing the light intensity will increase the overall rate of photosynthesis.The rate of gas exchange will increase as a result. Coming back to the main function of the stomata, increasing the rate of gas exchange may lead to increased stomatal density on the epidermis of the leaf. The adaptation leads to higher carbon dioxide assimilation as the results of recent studies have shown. [2] However, the energy of the incident light arriving per second is also proportional to the wavelength of the light. Therefore, the light intensity depends on the light wavelength. Plants have combinations of chlorophyll pigments [11] that absorb sunlight from the visible spectrum.The light of wavelengths 400-500 nm and 650-700 nm [11] is absorbed the most. These are blue and red light, respectively. Lavender grows well under compact fluorescent light bulbs. [13] By placing colored filters in front of the light bulbs, it can be established which color of light is most suitable for growing lavender and whether the color of light affects the stomatal density. To determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the stomatal densities on the tall and short plants grown under the same light intensity, the Mann-Whitney U test is used.The null hypothesis is that there is no statistically significant difference between the stomatal densities of the tall and the short plants grown under the same light intensity. The null hypothesis may be rejected if the calculated value of U is equal to or smaller th an the critical value. The critical value for U for 10 sets of data is 16. [7] Looking back at the results section, all the calculated values of U are bigger than the critical value, so the null hypothesis is accepted. The initial height did not seem to influence the stomatal development in my investigation.