Special Needs Students Are Struggling With The Common Core...

Special Needs Students are Struggling with the Common Core Writing Standards â€Å"The Kentucky Department of Education argues that the Common Core standards ensure students have the ‘opportunity to learn the skills that are deemed most important and relevant to the world today,’† (Burks, et al., 2015). Every child deserves to have a quality education, no matter their circumstances. Whether it is their mental health, where they live, or economic background, every student should have the opportunity of a quality education in order to be a productive member of society. In 2009, Common Core State Standards (CCSS) was launched by state leaders, who recognized that consistency within schools across the United States is a key component in†¦show more content†¦The Common Core The Common Core is a set of educational standards for English language arts and mathematics (About the Standards, 2016). Each standard within the CCSS is listed by grade level and subje ct ranging from writing in kindergarten to statistics in high school. The goal of CCSS is to â€Å"†¦ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live† (About the Standards, 2016). According to CCSS’s website (2016) the standards were set by â€Å"education experts†. With these collaborations they were able to create a clear and organized set of standards for teachers. According to the Common Core State Standards Initiative website (2016) Common Core standards are (1) based on evidence conducted through research, (2) consistent, clear and understandable, (3) cooperative with college/career expectancies, (4) based on thinking skills, (5) built for continuing current state standards, and (6) used in other countries to prepare students. Common Core Writing Standards â€Å"Not only can writing proficiency be a predictor of school success, but effective writing is also an essential skill for demonstrating learning,† says Todd H. Sundeen (2015) who wrote an article in the Journal of Adolescent Adult Literacy. Sundeen

Analysis of Sohini Kar´s Recovering Debts Microfinance...

How does the text circulate? Sohini Kar is an American anthropologist and a Harvard Fellow. Her primary interest of research is anthropology in regards to economy, finance, development and debt. Sohini Kar is the author of the article, Recovering debts: Microfinance loan officers and the work of †proxy-creditors† in India. One can infer this article is meant for other anthropologists who are interested in the economy and the global finance system. In Kar’s introduction she dives into the world of loan officers and their relationship to the borrowers. Throughout the text she introduces several theories of ethical practices and relationships to the lender and the borrower. In order to support her argument, she incorporates other theories from various anthropologists to solidify her thoughts. What is it about, empirically? Sohini Kar’s article revolves around the global financial market. However, her central focus is in Kolkata, India, where many who live in the slums owe microloans to private banks. The issue Kar raises is in a national platform, due to the fact that 60% of Indian population lacks formal financial services (481). This is a national issue due to fact that it traps many of their citizens in a never-ending cycle of debt, with no proper oversight. The time of her study was from 2009 to 2011, right after the financial crisis in Western countries. The author makes a comparison of the different dynamics loan officers are exposed to in terms of culture in India.

Human Performance Technology Research and Theory to Practice

Question: Explain? If Students are allowed to use tablets it will surely increase the performance of the students in school. Answer: Hypothesis H0: If Students are allowed to use tablets it will increase the performance of the students in school Hypothesis H1: If Students are allowed to use tablets it will reduce the performance of the students in school Here Independent Variable (IV) is tablets and Dependent Variable (DV) is performance of the students in schools. H0: It can be well discussed that the students who will be inclined towards the technologies and usage of tablets, then they tend to know more regarding the other students. They can both involve their technological knowledge along with the education in order to perform better in the schools. Now days students tend to study more from internet since internet has taken a considerable positive in the modern day world. The better the technology will be and be readily accessed by the students; the better will be the increase in their performance H1: But on the other hand if the students have the less access to the tablets and technologies, then the students could have performed better in school. This is because the students tend to work less and stay concentrated to the technology and network. In addition to this since technologies has taken an essential position in the modern world, so it is a requirement of the students to be tech savvy as it helps in their studies and performance profoundly and tat the same time it also affects the performance of the students extensively. Students involve in the technology more and study less. Other than this the excess use of technologies makes an adverse effect on the performance of the students. Research Method The research design is basically a blueprint of the research study and is the framework that seeks to answer the research questions. In this research work, the researcher has utilized descriptive research method that helps in measuring knowledge as well as helps in making the full utilization of the data collected. This research intends to conduct a research in a school on the students and teachers. Survey is going to be done that is expected to show the results both inclined towards the positivity of the usage of tablets in schools. It helps in increasing the knowledge of the students hence improves their performance level. References Fasihuddin, H. and Skinner, G. (2015). An Analysis of Students Perspectives on the Usage of Knowledge Maps in Open Learning Environments. JEd, 2(2). Florenthal, B. (2015). Applying uses and gratifications theory to students, LinkedIn usage. Young Consumers, 16(1), pp.17-35. Giannakos, M., Jaccheri, L. and Krogstie, J. (2015). Exploring the relationship between video lecture usage patterns and students' attitudes. Br J Educ Technol, p.n/a-n/a. Reed, P. and Reay, E. (2015). Relationship between levels of problematic Internet usage and motivation to study in university students. High Educ. Stolovitch, H. (2015). Human Performance Technology: Research and Theory to Practice. Perf. Improv., 54(3), pp.37-46.

Strategic Human Resource Management Small Business

Question: Can employee recruitment, training and promotion strategies provide a sustainable competitive advantage? Answer: Wal-Mart serves more than 245 million customers through their 11,000 offline stores in 27 countries and e-commerce websites in 11 countries (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2015). The giant supermarket employs around 2.2 million associates worldwide and considers them as the most precious assets of the company. Wal-Mart has well-define recruitment and selection processes in place and make huge investment in the training and development of their employees(Armstrong, 2011). They have effective promotion strategies and succession planning processes in place that help them in advancing internal employees to leadership roles. In todays dynamic business environment where needs and wants of customers change rapidly and in a very unpredictable manner, apart from financial resources and technological resources that once served as main sources of competitive advantage human capital today is also serve as an important source in the development of a sustainable competitive advantage (Armstrong Taylor, 2014). The overall performance of an organisation greatly depends on the attitudes, skills and competencies of its employees; their ability to generate trust and commitment, work in presence of complex relationships and communicate aspirations. A firm is said to have a competitive advantage when it is able to implement a value creating strategy which cannot be imitated and implemented by current or potential customers (Cooper Burke, 2011). Recruitment and selection process help ensuring talent needs of the organisation are met (Bhatia, 2007). It helps ensuring that right people, with right skills and expertise are available to perform the right task at right time. Recruitment is defined as process of generating a pool of capable people for applying to various employment positions in an organisation (Bhatia, 2007). Selection is the process that follows recruitment and helps managers in choosing the most suitable person from the pool of applicants using specific instruments (Bhatia, 2007). A well-defined recruitment process in place help ensuring that human capital needs of the organisation is be recognised immediately and is fulfilled with best options. This process involves creating awareness for the need of skilled employees in market and presenting the organisation and related roles and responsibilities in a way that help attracting talented professional (Crawley, et al., 2013). It involves the process of head huntin g through various search engines and professional networking sites in order to identify the most suitable person who best fits in the role and strategy of the organisation. In this process employees are screened to evaluate their skills and capabilities and job is offered to the most suited applicant. In today competitive marketplace owing to the rapid advancement in technology and management techniques it is very important to ensure that the skills and competencies of the employees are upgraded from time to time in order to meet the demand of the market (Bhatia, 2007). It is very important to ensure that the learning needs of employees are met through effective training and development programs in place. Training not only helps in enhancing the knowledge base of employees and upgrading their skills but also in increasing their creativity which serves as a base for innovation(Ehnert, 2009). Innovation is the key to survival in todays dynamic marketplace and it can only be achieved with the help of creative employees. Training programs should be designed in a ways that not only educate employees with concepts but also provide them opportunity to transfer their learning to real life workplace scenarios. Effective training and development programs help minimising the gap between exis ting employee competencies and desired employee competencies. Every individual work to achieve their goals and objectives, employees tend to deliver high performance when they feel their needs are being satisfied. According to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory every individual has complex set of needs which can be arranged in a hierarchy such that it resembles a pyramid (Armstrong Taylor, 2014). The second highest need in the pyramid is the need for esteem and affiliation. This need expresses an individuals desire for promotion, recognition and career advancement. This need when satisfied helps increasing employee motivation which in turn inspires them to display high performance. Thus, effective promotion strategies help organisations in increasing employee motivation and commitment. Through promotion strategies and succession planning process organisations can ensure their employee that they do not need to look for other career options in order to satisfy their higher level needs for affiliation and advancement (Ehnert, 2009). Highly skilled and experienced employees help smoothening the path of innovation and sever as a source for competitive advantage for organisations. Thus, well-defined recruitment, training and promotion strategies help organisations like Wal-Mart in attracting and retaining highly skilled employee how serve as a source of sustainable competitive advantage for the company. References: Armstrong, M., (2011) Armstrong's Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Armstrong, M. Taylor, S., (2014) Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Bhatia, S., (2007) Strategic Human Resource Management : Winning Through People. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications. Cooper, C. L. Burke, R. J., (2011) Human Resource Management in Small Business: Achieving Peak Performance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. Crawley, E., Swailes, S. Walsh, D., (2013) Introduction to International Human Resource Managemen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ehnert, I., (2009) Sustainable Human Resource Management: A conceptual and exploratory analysis from a paradox perspective. Hamburg: Springer Science Business Media. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., (2015) Walmart. [Online] Available at: https://corporate.walmart.com/ [Accessed 2015].

The Time To Choose Is Now free essay sample

# 8230 ; Essay, Research Paper A fatigued traveller approaches a glade in a wood where a disguised adult female stands. # 8220 ; Where am I? # 8221 ; he asks. Silence. The adult female, alternatively, counters with a inquiry of her ain. # 8220 ; I greet you at the Crossroads of Time, my friend. Or is it foe? Would you like to experience my love or to experience my wrath? It is but your choice. # 8221 ; # 8220 ; I # 8212 ; make non cognize you, but # 8212 ; # 8221 ; # 8220 ; Answer right! # 8221 ; # 8220 ; I hope to be a friend, although # 8212 ; # 8221 ; # 8220 ; Then you shall larn much, # 8221 ; she interrupted. Out of her cloak emerged a slim, delicate manus, gesticulating upwards as if keeping a delicate object. An image projected out of that ghost-like thenar, demoing three waies. Although muffled, the figure spoke: # 8220 ; Three waies lie in the journey of life # 8230 ; three really different paths. # 8221 ; The gloss focused on the left-hand transition. # 8220 ; To the left you see a waste land where merely the Devil dares to dwell. We will write a custom essay sample on The Time To Choose Is Now or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page # 8221 ; As she spoke, a column of white fire erupted from the dead Earth. # 8220 ; The class on the right shows an ageless Eden filled with olympian phenomena raising vitamin D merely by the holy God.† Multi-colored animals glide through the clear sky. She paused, gazing at the in-between way. Filled with unsure fright, she tightened her regard upon the projection. Finally, the adult female spoke. # 8220 ; Towards the in-between lies a way, cloaked with intangible woods, where merely the bravest enter. # 8221 ; She stared straight into the alien # 8217 ; s eyes before go oning. # 8220 ; Those who go in neer come out. # 8221 ; The adult female tilted her caput somewhat, leting a little shaft of visible radiation to perforate the at hand darkness. Looking to read his head, she repeated the inquiry he mentally asked. # 8220 ; Why? Because of an indestructible danger? Or of a pleasance so great that it gives no leave. That is for you, vagabond, to happen out. # 8221 ; The cryptic figure held his eyes and began one time more, # 8220 ; Now I ask you, alien. Which way would be yours? # 8221 ; At those last words her dark gloss disappeared go forthing the awestruck adult male standing in forepart of three transitions. He shivered and glanced at the adult female, happening that she was gone and simply hearing her grim voice. # 8220 ; Which way would be yours? # 8221 ; the forest echoed.

Free Essays on Gas Prices

Gasoline is produced by a distillation process where crude oil is heated and fumes are captured and converted into many products such as kerosene, jet fuel, and gasoline to name a few. Therefore the price of crude oil, which is extracted from oil wells beneath the earths surface, is a major factor in gas prices. The five leading oil-producing countries and their approximate shares of the world supply of oil are: Soviet Union 21%, Saudi Arabia 17%, The United States 15%, Venezuela 4%, and Mexico 4%. These five countries made up 61 % of the worlds oil production back in 1980. Even though The United States is a major producer of oil, it does not make them self-sufficient. The United States uses more oil than they can produce and must look towards foreign countries. An organization called O.P.E.C. controls approximately four fifths of the worlds oil reserves in the non-communist world. The United States is forced to deal with O.P.E.C., not only in its own interests, but also in the inter est of its allies and in the interest of maintaining peace. The former Soviet Union may now have an interest in selling some of their oil that they have a tremendous amount of. O.P.E.C. which stands for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is made up of 13 countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, and Gabon. O.P.E.C. was founded in Baghdad, Iraq in September of 1960. It was organized in response to oil producing countries that did not consult with the Middle Eastern oil states before lowering their crude oil prices. The producers feared that other countries would establish monopolies. The aim of O.P.E.C. was to create a universal price between the countries, in order to ensure peace between oil producers throughout the world. O.P.E.C. also wanted to provide its members with technical and economic support in times of need, since not all the countries were complet... Free Essays on Gas Prices Free Essays on Gas Prices Gasoline is produced by a distillation process where crude oil is heated and fumes are captured and converted into many products such as kerosene, jet fuel, and gasoline to name a few. Therefore the price of crude oil, which is extracted from oil wells beneath the earths surface, is a major factor in gas prices. The five leading oil-producing countries and their approximate shares of the world supply of oil are: Soviet Union 21%, Saudi Arabia 17%, The United States 15%, Venezuela 4%, and Mexico 4%. These five countries made up 61 % of the worlds oil production back in 1980. Even though The United States is a major producer of oil, it does not make them self-sufficient. The United States uses more oil than they can produce and must look towards foreign countries. An organization called O.P.E.C. controls approximately four fifths of the worlds oil reserves in the non-communist world. The United States is forced to deal with O.P.E.C., not only in its own interests, but also in the inter est of its allies and in the interest of maintaining peace. The former Soviet Union may now have an interest in selling some of their oil that they have a tremendous amount of. O.P.E.C. which stands for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is made up of 13 countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, and Gabon. O.P.E.C. was founded in Baghdad, Iraq in September of 1960. It was organized in response to oil producing countries that did not consult with the Middle Eastern oil states before lowering their crude oil prices. The producers feared that other countries would establish monopolies. The aim of O.P.E.C. was to create a universal price between the countries, in order to ensure peace between oil producers throughout the world. O.P.E.C. also wanted to provide its members with technical and economic support in times of need, since not all the countries were complet...

Should healthcare workers be forced to get annual flu vaccines Research Paper

Should healthcare workers be forced to get annual flu vaccines - Research Paper Example However, for purposes of the article in question, the researchers attempt to answer how useful the flu shot is from a broad perspective of its ability to positively affect overall shareholder health. Moreover, the article makes a case for the manner in which the HCW (healthcare workers) should engage with the notion of the flu shot as a means to bolster their own health as well as provide for the safety and health of the patients they come in contact with. As such, the dual nature of the way in which healthcare workers must engage with this issue has to do not only with their responsibility to their own health but the responsibility they share with their profession and the individuals that rely on their careful attention to promoting healthcare best practices by ensuring they are as disease free as possible so as not to infect any of the patients they come into contact with. Clinical digest. Nurses more likely to take flu vaccination if they believe there will be a personal benefit. (2011). Nursing Standard, 26(12), 17. This article approaches the topic of healthcare workers obtaining flu vaccines from the perspective of gain that a potential flu shot might bring to the worker. In this way, the article discusses the construct of a dual paradigm that exists between the healthcare worker actively wanting to immunize themselves as opposed to the perceived gain that they might experience from this due to a reduced risk of infection from incoming patients. In this way, the article brings to the reader’s attention that although all nurses must swear the Hippocratic Oath, the fact of the matter is that selfish motivations still continue to define the manner in which healthcare professionals engage with decisions that should attempt to balance both the needs of the individual and the concern for patient health. In this way, the full breadth and scope of the issue is seen as something that must either be incumbent upon the individual healthcare professional or wo uld necessarily need to be mandated by the entity which employs them. As the authors note, both alternative measures have their distinct drawbacks. Firstly, with respect to the employer mandating such a course of action, a host of legal issues would dominate such a choice. Secondly, with respect to the individual themselves being responsible for self-administration, the degree to which this would actually occur may be insignificant. Evans, G., & Marill, M. (2012). A house divided: A muddled mandate on health care worker flu shots goes to HHS. Hospital Infection Control & Prevention, 39(3), 25-30. This particular article discusses the legal difficulties surrounding employer mandated flu shots. As previously discussed, when an employer mandates such a course of action, they are acting in the best interest of the patients they will be serving; however, many issues arise in forcing a given employee to take such a course of action. No the least of these issues is the fact that by demandi ng such an action from their shareholders, health care management is oftentimes venturing into the gray zone of what an employer can require of its employees. Due to the host of new healthcare legislation that has recently been passed in the form of HIPPA and FMLA, the extent to which employers can be involved in the medical practices of their employees is severely restricted. However, the case of mandatory flu shots, as these

Business Simulation in Motor Industry Research Paper

Business Simulation in Motor Industry - Research Paper Example The first model caters to the market segment - City Size and Under 25 age group. The car is 3/5 Door Hatch Type with a 4 Cylinder Engine. It has an option of Superior Sound System/iPod. Buyers under 25 yrs of age are mostly single individuals with low to average income. They normally use the car as basic transportation for everyday activities. The second model caters to the market segment - Medium Size and 25 to 40 age group. The car is a 2/4 Door Saloon/Estate Type with a Large 6-8 Cylinder Engine. It has several options such as Multi Location Airbags, Dual Fuel Operation, 6-Speed Gearbox, Speed Limiter, Electronic Stability Control, and Safety Package. Buyers in this age group are mostly average income individuals who have high preference in comfort, speed, style and safety. As a new entrant to the motor industry, the corporate strategy of the company is cost leadership. The car models will be positioned in the market as low priced in order to effectively penetrate the customer base. The goal of the pricing strategy is to create a company's share in the total market. The first model will be priced at 11,007.08 while the second model will be priced at 18,216.85. However, even at a low price, the company forecasts an 18% gross profit margin. At the first year of production, the company will be manufacturing in one factory. It will be producing 50,000 units of each model. The factory will be employing at full capacity of 4,000 workers. The average wage offered to each employee would be 400, which is higher than the minimum wage per week in the industry. In order to increase productivity, the company will initially invest in 20 units of automation. Forecast Production and Sales Model 1 Model 2 Total Model cost per car [Mm] 7,200.00 9,385.00 Design cost per car [Md] 888.00 1,553.50 Options cost per car(1) [Mo] 450.00 3,486.50 Material cost per car [M=Mm+Md+Mo] 8,538.00 14,425.00 Productivity (cars/worker/year) [Pr] 41 39 Workers per car [Wk = 1 / Pr] 0.024 0,026 Weekly wage [W] 400.00 400.00 Labour cost per car [L = Wk*W*50] 487.80 512.82 Total cost per car [C = L + M] 9,025.80 14,937.80 Selling price [P] 11,007.08 18.216.85 Gross Margin % [= 100*(P - C)/P] 18% 18% Forecast Sales (units) [S] 50,000 50,000 100,000 Total Sales Income m [= S*P] 550.35 910.84 1,461.19 Forecast production (units) [N] 50,000 50,000 100,000 Total Material Cost m [= M*N] 426.90 721.25 1,148.15 Total Labour Cost m [= L*N] 24.39 25.64 50.03 Profit Forecast ( million) Income Costs Total Sales Income 1,461.19 Total Material Cost 1,148.15 Total Labour Cost 50.03 Gross Profit 263.01 Fixed Overhead(2) 124.11 Promotion 40.00 Depreciation(2) 66.00 Operating Profit 32.90 Net Interest Payment 14.00 Pre-tax profit 18.90 Tax (30%) 5.67 Post-tax profit 13.23 Cash Flow Forecast ( million) Cash In Cash Out Opening Bank Balance 500.00 Total Sales Income 1,461.19 Total Material Cost 1,148.15 Total Labour Cost 50.03 Fixed Overhead(2) 124.11 Promotion Cost 40.00 Factory Cost 650.00 Automation Expenditure 10.00 Tax Payment 5.67 Balance before Loan (66.77) New Loan 200.00 Closing Bank Balance 133.23 NX0441 Business Game Decision Form Semester 1 2009/10 Seminar Group . Team Number .

Assessment of the State of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Essay

Assessment of the State of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Eastern Europe - Essay Example The end of Communism unleashed a brief springtime of ethnicity in Eastern Europe, and a tentative ethnic, cultural, and political revival followed the collapse of Soviet power. In 2004 the European Union voted to incorporate ten Eastern European nations known to value democratic principles into its association: the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. All Slavic languages derive from the Proto-Slavic, which itself is believed to have divided off from the Proto-Indo-European precursor of members of the Indo-European family of languages as far back as 2000 B.C. (Ruhlenn, 28). In the 1st century B.C. Proto-Slavic was most likely still native to all Slavs and may have remained so as late as the 8th or 9th century A.D. The individual Slavic languages and their related cultures definitely began to surface by the 10th century A.D (Gordon, 357). In the aftermath of the westward advance of the German tribes, the Slavic peoples had expanded throughout eastern and central Europe and had virtually assimilated most of the earlier peoples of the vicinity by the close of the 10th century. The absorption of these inhabitants created the subsequent diversity of languages and cultures that comprise present-day Central and Eastern Europe as well as the western section of the Soviet Union (Barraclough, 35). In comparison to the prosperity and erudition of the Byzantines, the Slavic culture was as much economically disadvantaged as its political affairs and defensive structures were decidedly tenuous. Over time Byzantine, German, Magyar, Mongol, or Turkish foreigners invaded the region by turns (Dornberg, 40). Each foreign element imposed a distinct set of ethnic, financial, political, and societal characteristics that were at times resisted and at others assimilated in an ethno-linguistic synthesis. Religion typically afforded the vita l means by which outside ethnic customs and languages were adapted. By adopting western influences the Slav princes consolidated their influence abroad, acquired self-government and successfully unified the Slav tribes in official states (Barraclough, 57). From the 9th to the 13th century A.D. Christians from Rome and Byzantium vied to win northern and eastern Europe over to their view of Christianity (Dornberg, 134). Early in the 9th century the influx of Hungarians in Pannonia had interjected non-Slavic speakers between southern and western Slavs (Barraclough, 73). A sketchy demarcation subsequently emerged along that 9th Century rift, running between Rome and Constantinople, marking an implicit dividing line between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, with Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Romanians, Ukrainians and Russians being largely Orthodox and Croats, Slovenes, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, and Poles principally Catholic. According to linguists, all Slavs conversed in the same tongue across the region, with distinct local dialects, probably well into the12th century (Turnock, 2). However, in spite of a compelling linguistic link to Russia and to Orthodox Christianity, the Eastern European nations did not partake significantly in the specific

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant But shes cooped up in the house all day with nothing to do, and her days are marked with boredom beyond belief. Her only way out of dealing with it is to live in a fantasy world of glamour, wealth, and beautiful people.. And cant we all relate in some way to Mathildes desire to live a more exciting, glamorous life, even if we can only do it in daydreams? You also wont find a more perfect encapsulation in story form of an experience we can certainly all relate to: the if I hadnt lost that one thing! experience. Thats right, if you think losing something once ruined your day, just wait until you see what happens to Mathilde. Its painful to read about, yes, but sometimes its good to have a reminder of just how badly chance can ruin your life. Finally, if you like interesting plots and crafty endings with a twist, they dont get much more classic than this one. At the beginning of the story, we meet Mathilde Loisel, a middle-class girl who desperately wishes she were wealthy. Shes got looks and charm, but had the bad luck to be born into a family of clerks, who marry her to another clerk (M. Loisel) in the Department of Education. Mathilde is so convinced shes meant to be rich that she detests her real life and spends all day dreaming and despairing about the fabulous life shes not having. She envisions footmen, feasts, fancy furniture, and strings of rich young men to seduce. One day M. Loisel comes home with an invitation to a fancy ball thrown by his boss, the Minister of Education.. She doesnt have anything nice to wear, and cant possibly go! M. Loisel doesnt know what to do, and offers to buy his wife a dress suggests she go see her friend Mme. Forestier, a rich woman who can probably lend her something. Mathilde is able to borrow a gorgeous diamond necklace. The night of the ball arrives, and Mathilde has the time of her life. Everyone loves her (i.e., lusts after her) and she is absolutely thrilled. Mathilde suddenly dashes outside to avoid being seen in her shabby coat. But once back at home, Mathilde makes a horrifying discovery: the diamond necklace is gone. So he and Mathilde decide they have no choice but to buy Mme. Forestier a new necklace Buying the necklace catapults the Loisels into poverty for the next ten years. They lose their house, their maid, their comfortable lifestyle, and on top of it all Mathilde loses her good looks. After ten years, all the debts are finally paid, and Mathilde she wants to finally tell Mme. Forestier the sad story of the necklace and her ten years of poverty, and she does. At that point, Mme. Forestier, aghast, reveals to Mathilde that the necklace she lost was just a fake. It was worth only five hundred francs Shes charming, attractive, and, believes that she should have been born into a rich family. Instead she wound up in a family of employees and ended up marrying a little clerk in Department of Education (1). Our ordinary girl is convinced that shes meant for the extraordinary life of a fabulously rich girl. She hates her own humble surroundings and spends her time dreaming about fancy tapestries and tall footmen. While her husband slurps his stew she imagines grand banquets. A life of luxury is all the girl wants its what shes made for. But sadly, she doesnt lead the luxurious life of which she dreams. Consequently, she spends all her days weeping and feeling sorry for herself. She tears it open to find that she and her husband M. and Mme. (Monsieur and Madame) Loisel have been invited to a fancy party at the Minister of Educations palace. Her husband cant wait to see her reaction. Mme. Loisel is not happy about this. Shes got nothing to wear. This is enough to send her into tears. M. Loisel feels awful Mathilde stops four hundred francs would probably do it. The date of the party approaches, and Mathilde is in a bad mood again. she doesnt have any to wear over her dress. M. Loisel suggests that Mathilde borrow some jewels from her rich friend Mme. Forestier. Mathilde isnt satisfied with anything she sees, but then Mme. Forestier brings her another box containing a spectacular diamond necklace. Mathilde is beside herself. Its the only thing she wants! Mme The evening of the party arrives, and Mathilde is a smash hit. All the men including the Minister notice her. Shes in heaven. Her husband, meanwhile, has also been having a great time: hes been off dozing in a corner since midnight. M. Loisel brings the coats. But Mathilde is self-conscious: her coat is so shabby compared to the rest of her appearance. So she dashes off into the street to avoid being seen. . Mathilde doesnt want to go back to her ordinary life But the diamond necklace is missing. She screams. Mathilde, meanwhile, spends the day stuck in a chair, too traumatized to do anything. When he returns, M. Loisel has Mathilde write to Mme. Forestier to say that they broke the clasp of the necklace and are having it fixed. They need to buy more time. A week passes, and still no sign of the necklace. M. Loisel, who already looks five years older, decides they have no choice but to replace it. So he takes out enough loans to pay for the necklace and to ensure that his life will be ruined forever and then goes back to the jewelers to buy it. Mathilde takes the replacement necklace to Mme. Forestier, whos miffed that she didnt return her necklace sooner. Mathildes worried shell notice the substitution. Now Mathilde and M. Loisel are poor. They have to dismiss the maid and move into an attic. Mathilde starts to do the housework, and run the errands, haggling at stores over every cent. This goes on for ten years, until all the interest on the Loisels loans is paid. Mathilde is now a rough, hard woman, and her looks are ruined. She occasionally thinks of how her life might have been different if she hadnt lost the necklaceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ One Sunday, Mathilde goes for a stroll on the Champs Elysà ©es (main street of Paris that you see in all the movies), and notices a beautiful young-looking woman walking with her child. Its Mme. Forestier, who hasnt aged one day. Mathilde decides its time to tell her everything that happened. When Mathilde greets Mme. Forestier by her first name, Mme. Forestier does not recognize her former friend, because she looks so different Mathilde explains that shed lost the diamond necklace, but replaced it, and has spent the last ten years paying for the replacement. (Mme. Forestier apparently hadnt noticed the difference) Her diamond necklace, she tells Mathilde, was a fake. It was worth at most five hundred francs. The Necklace Theme of Wealth The Necklace gets its title from the gorgeous piece of diamond jewelry that drives the storys plot. The expensive nature of the necklace is not the only way in which wealth is central to this story. The main character of The Necklace is obsessed with wealth. She wants nothing else than to escape from her shabby middle-class life with a shabby middle-class husband and live the glamorous life for which she was born. Shes so jealous of her one wealthy friend it hurts. When Mathildes given the chance to get decked out in diamonds and go to a ritzy party to mingle with all the beautiful people, it seems like her dreams have finally become a reality. Then she loses the borrowed diamond necklace, gets cast into poverty, and learns what it means to truly live without money. Questions About Wealth Is Mathilde a greedy character? What signs can you find that she is or is not? Why does Mathilde want to live the life of the rich so much? Are her dreams understandable, or do they seem silly and exaggerated? What difference does money make in the lives of the storys characters? Does the story itself have a message about whether wealth is a good thing? Is it shown to be worth pursuing, or not worth pursuing? Chew on This Mathildes greed is revealed in her inability to be satisfied by anything. The Necklace Theme of Women and Femininity Mathilde Loisel, the main character of The Necklace, is a 19th century French version of a desperate housewife. Because shes a woman in a mans world, she has almost no control over her life. She finds herself married to a husband she doesnt care for, and cooped up in a house she despises. What she wants more than anything else is to be desirable to other men. And whats particularly irritating is that she has all the womanly virtues she needs in order to be desirable: shes charming, graceful, beautiful. Shes just doesnt have the necessary wealth. Is she a victim of the patriarchal society in which she lives? Or is she just a shallow and materialistic character? Questions About Women and Femininity In what ways is Mathilde a typical woman according to the story? How are Mathildes desires feminine desires? How might Mathildes being a woman be a cause of her unhappiness? Do you think it is the primary cause of her unhappiness? Why or why not? How are wealth and femininity connected in The Necklace? Where in the story do you see a connection? Chew on This Mathildes desires are feminine, because what most interests her is attracting male attention. Wealth and femininity are intimately bound together in The Necklace. The Necklace Theme of Pride You can read The Necklace as a story about greed, but you can also read it as a story about pride. Mathilde Loisel is a proud woman. She feels far above the humble circumstances (and the husband) shes forced to live with by her common birth. In fact, her current situation disgusts her. Shes a vain one too, completely caught up in her own beauty. It could be that it is also pride that prevents Mathilde and her husband from admitting theyve lost an expensive necklace. After the loss of the necklace makes Mathilde poor, and her beauty fades, she may learn a pride of a different sort: pride in her own work and endurance. Questions About Pride What signs are there at the beginning of the story that Mathilde is a proud woman? In what way is she proud? Of what is she proud? Is it pride which prevents the Loisels from telling Mme. Forestier theyve lost her necklace? If so, whose pride is it? Or is it something else? Does Mathildes experience of poverty humble her? Does it make her proud in a different way? Chew on This Its M. Loisels pride that is responsible for the tragedy at the end of the story. It is not pride, but the Loisels sense of honor, which is responsible for the tragedy at the end of the story. The Necklace Theme of Suffering The Necklace is a difficult story to read. If you think about it, its about nonstop suffering, caused by the cruelty of life and chance. At the opening, we meet Mathilde, the classic dissatisfied housewife, who spends her days weeping about how boring and shabby her life is. Mathilde finds one moment of real joy when she goes to a ball, but chance is cruel. Her happiest night becomes her worst nightmare when she loses the diamond necklace she borrowed. Then she and her husband experience a very different sort of suffering: the suffering of real poverty. And all of this is just the buildup to one devastating endingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Questions About Suffering What is responsible for Mathildes unhappiness? Is it her own fault, or is it the fault of her circumstances? Is Mathildes suffering worse when shes a poor woman? In what ways might it be, and in what ways might it not be? Chew on This Mathilde is responsible for her own suffering; she just refuses to be happy. Mathilde suffers less when shes poor than when she was comfortable but dissatisfied. Quote #1 She was one of those pretty and charming girls, born by a blunder of destiny in a family of employees. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished. (1) The first thing we know about Mathilde is that she seems meant for a life of wealth and luxury, but instead is born into a lowly middle-class family. The conflict between what she wants (which is quite a lot) and what she has is established immediately. Quote #2 She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five oclock chat with the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired. (3) Mathilde spends her time living in a dream world, in which she imagines all the fabulous things shed have if she were rich. The most detail we get in the otherwise sparse story comes in Maupassants descriptions of the fancy stuff Mathilde wants. But being rich also means more than just nice stuff to her: it means having the glamour to attract men. Quote #3 She had a rich friend, a comrade of her convent days, whom she did not want to go and see any more, so much did she suffer as she came away. (6) Mathilde wants to be wealthy so badly that shes driven mad with jealousy by the one rich friend she has, Mme. Forestier. She cant bear to see Mme. Forestier, because it brings her within arms reach of the world of wealth she wants so badly, but cant have. Quote #4 She reflected a few seconds, going over her calculations, and thinking also of the sum which she might ask without meeting an immediate refusal and a frightened exclamation from the frugal clerk. (24) It looks like Mathilde is milking her husband for all hes worth here. Was her the crying fit put on so she could seize the opportunity to get a fancy dress from him? Quote #5 It annoys me not to have a jewel, not a single stone, to put on. I shall look wretched. I would almost rather not go to this party. (33) OK, so after shes gotten an expensive dress out of her husband, Mathilde refuses to go to the party again. Shes still not satisfied. She needs jewels. Does this mean Mathilde actually expects her husband to get her a piece of jewelry? Quote #6 All at once she discovered, in a box of black satin, a superb necklace of diamonds, and her heart began to beat with boundless desire. Her hands trembled in taking it up. She fastened it round her throat, on her high dress, and remained in ecstasy before herself. (48) Maybe diamonds are a girls best friend. Just seeing and touching something expensive and beautiful drives Mathilde crazy. Shes in ecstasy over a necklace. The necklace may be a symbol for wealth, or glamour in the story. Quote #8 Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. They dismissed the servant; they changed their rooms; they took an attic under the roof. (98) After losing the necklace, Mathilde now finds herself actually poor. Though she felt herself poor before, she was fairly comfortable, and middle class. Now her life is much harder. Quote #9 The other did not recognize her, astonished to be hailed thus familiarly by this woman of the people (111-112) Mme. Forestier and Mathilde are now greatly separated by their wealth, which translates into social class. The class difference is so big that it seems improper for Mathilde to even address Mme. Forestier by her first name. Their classes are also immediately apparent from the way they look. Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred francs! (128) Mme. Forestier reveals that the diamond necklace Mathilde lost was actually a fake. Does the falsehood of the jewels symbolize the falsehood of wealth? Does it change the way we think of Mathildes former dreams? Or, on another note, does it perhaps mean something about Mme. Forestier? If her best piece of jewelry is a fake, maybe shes not quite as wealthy as she initially seems. She had no dowry, no expectations, no means of being known, understood, loved, married by a man rich and distinguished; and she let them make a match for her with a little clerk in the Department of Education. (1) Mathildes future prospects are not in her own hands. Shes a woman, which means the quality of her life will basically depend upon her family and her husband. And in both respects, shes out of luck, as far as shes concerned. With so much powerlessness, its no wonder shes frustrated and dissatisfied. She was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class; for women have no caste and no descent, their beauty, their grace, and their charm serving them instead of birth and fortune. Their native keenness, their instinctive elegance, their flexibility of mind, are their only hierarchy; and these make the daughters of the people the equals of the most lofty dames. (2) The narrator is suggesting that looks and charm make the woman, not wealth or good birth. According to this train of thought, a pretty, charming poor woman can be the equal of the most lofty dame. This is certainly the way Mathilde feels about herself she has the looks and the charm to be better at being a woman than most rich women. Its telling that the two virtues of a woman are the qualities that make them attractive to men. We dont hear anything about intelligence, or kindness, or creativityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She had no dresses, no jewelry, nothing. And she loved nothing else; she felt herself made for that only. She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5) Mathilde wants to be desired by men. To some extent, even her desire for wealth is just derivative of that. Her highest wish is to be approved of and wanted by someone else. But by a violent effort she had conquered her trouble, and she replied in a calm voice as she wiped her damp cheeks (20) Mathilde comes across as overly sensitive and emotional. She has to work very hard to control her emotions. Theres a feminine stereotype for you on which Maupassant is playing. No; theres nothing more humiliating than to look poor among a lot of rich women. (37) Wealth and womanhood are intimately bound up in Mathildes mind. She wants to look wealthy so she can compete with the rich women. The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53) Mathildes a huge hit. She gets all the men to pay attention her, including the most important one of all (the minister). This is the best moment of her life. She danced with delight, with passion, intoxicated with pleasure, thinking of nothing, in the triumph of her beauty, in the glory of her success, in a sort of cloud of happiness made up of all these tributes, of all the admirations, of all these awakened desires, of this victory so complete and so sweet to a womans heart. (54) The narrator seems to be suggesting here that Mathildes desires to look glamorous and beautiful and be desired by men are more generally womans desires. Thats what makes women happy and pleases their womanly hearts. She went away about four in the morning. Since midnight her husband had been dozing in a little anteroom with three other men whose wives were having a good time. (55) M. Loisel could care less about the party hes just happy to have an opportunity to sleep. And hes not the only man in that situation, either. What does that mean? Maybe being a man he has different desires than his wifes womanly ones. Or maybe hes not interested in scouting out other mens wives because hes already got an attractive and charming wife of his own. Mathilde, on the other hand, doesnt seem to feel the same way about her husband. Mme. Loisel seemed aged now. She had become the robust woman, hard and rough, of a poor household. Badly combed, with her skirts awry and her hands red, her voice was loud, and she washed the floor with splashing water. (104) Once more, we see a connection between wealth and womanhood. According to Maupassant, Mathildes poverty makes her less feminine. Shes less attractive, and less graceful. Instead, shes hard and rough, and older looking. And apparently has a perpetual bad hair day. Then, one Sunday, as she was taking a turn in the Champs Elysà ©es, as a recreation after the labors of the week, she perceived suddenly a woman walking with a child. It was Mme. Forestier, still young, still beautiful, still seductive. (107) Unlike Mathilde, whos lost her looks and womanly charms to poverty, Mme. Forestier still looks good. All of that even after becoming a mother (another sign of womanhood). This makes us wonder why Mathilde doesnt have a child? She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxury. She suffered from the poverty of her dwelling, from the worn walls, the abraded chairs, the ugliness of the stuffs. All these things, which another woman of her caste would not even have noticed, tortured her and made her indignant. (3) Mathilde feels herself to be better than her circumstances. She deserves more than she has, and is angry at the universe because she isnt getting it. Her dissatisfaction seems intimately connected to pride. When she sat down to dine, before a tablecloth three days old, in front of her husband, who lifted the cover of the tureen, declaring with an air of satisfaction, Ah, the good pot-au-feu. I dont know anything better than that, she was thinking of delicate repasts, with glittering silver, with tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest. (4) Mathildes husband is the opposite of Mathilde: hes happy with what he has. So far as hes concerned, theres nothing better than the good old stew his wife puts on the table every evening. All Mathilde can think of at the same moment is how much better things could be, and how shed rather be elsewhere. It all seems too low to her. Nothing. Only I have no clothes, and in consequence I cannot go to this party. Give your card to some colleague whose wife has a better outfit than I. (21) Instead of being happy with the invitation her husband has worked so hard to get, Mathildes first reaction is to be angry about it. If shes going to go, she just has to look the best, and she doesnt have any clothes that are nice enough Is she ever happy? Then again, would you want to go to the one nice party youve been invited to looking shabby? Its hard to tell whether Mathildes vanity, or greed, is making her overreact, or whether she does have nothing nice to wear. She saw at first bracelets, then a necklace of pearls, then a Venetian cross of gold set with precious stones of an admirable workmanship. She tried on the ornaments before the glass, hesitated, and could not decide to take them off and to give them up. She kept on asking: You havent anything else? (45-46) OK, so the jewel situation looks better: Mathildes found a treasure trove of the things. But shes still not satisfied. None of them makes her look as good as she wants to look. Her vanity once again seems to be making her greedy. The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men were looking at her, inquiring her name, asking to be introduced. All the attaches of the Cabinet wanted to dance with her. The Minister took notice of her. (53) Mathildes the happiest shes ever been when everyone is admiring her. For once in her life, she can live up to the expectations her vanity has set for itself. Quote #6 He threw over her shoulders the wraps he had brought to go home in, modest garments of every-day life, the poverty of which was out of keeping with the elegance of the ball dress. She felt this, and wanted to fly so as not to be noticed by the other women, who were wrapping themselves up in rich furs. (56) After a successful evening at the ball, Mathildes too proud to let herself be seen wearing her shabby wrap. She needs to keep up the illusion. It could be that her rushing off like this is what causes her to lose the necklace. At the end of a week they had lost all hope. And Loisel, aged by five years, declared: We must see how we can replace those jewels. (86-87) Why does it never occur to Mathilde or M. Loisel to tell Mme. Forestier theyve lost the necklace? Instead, once they lose hope of finding it, M. Loisel decides the only solution is to buy a new one. Is he too proud to admit that its been lost? Or is it something else? (See M. Loisels Character Analysis for more of our thoughts on this.) Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy. She made the best of it, moreover, frankly, heroically. The frightful debt must be paid. She would pay it. (98) When Mathilde becomes poor, she is forced to work. Getting down to work and paying off the debts seems to make her proud in a new way. She can be proud of her hard work, and of her endurance. Meanwhile, her looks which used to be her pride and joy start to disappear. I brought you back another just like it. And now for ten years we have been paying for it. You will understand that it was not easy for us, who had nothing. At last, it is done, and I am mighty glad. (122) Mathilde is proud of all the work and suffering she and her husband have put into repaying for the necklace. It was an honorable and difficult thing to do. But theyve succeeded. Yes. You did not notice it, even, did you? They were exactly alike? And she smiled with proud and naÃÆ' ¯ve joy. (126-127) Mathilde is even more proud to learn that Mme. Forestier didnt notice the difference between her original necklace and the substitute. It adds extra validation to her work: she did fully make up for losing the necklace. Mathilde Loisel Character Analysis Mathilde Loisel wants to be a glamour girl. Shes obsessed with glamour with fancy, beautiful, expensive things, and the life that accompanies them. Unfortunately for her, she wasnt born into a family with the money to make her dream possible. Instead, she gets married to a little clerk husband and lives with him in an apartment so shabby it brings tears to her eyes (1). Cooped up all day in the house with nothing to do but cry over the chintzy furniture and the fabulous life shes not having, Mathilde hates her life, and probably her husband too. She weeps all day long, from chagrin, from regret, from despair, and from distress (6). She dreams day after day about escaping it all. Mathilde the Material Girl When it all comes down to it, Mathildes kind of a material girl. The most obvious thing she wants out of life is: expensive stuff. She suffered intensely, feeling herself born for every delicacy and every luxuryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ She let her mind dwell on the quiet vestibules, hung with Oriental tapestries, lighted by tall lamps of bronze, and on the two tall footmen in knee breeches who dozed in the large armchairs, made drowsy by the heat of the furnace. She let her mind dwell on the large parlors, decked with old silk, with their delicate furniture, supporting precious bric-a-brac, and on the coquettish little rooms, perfumed, prepared for the five oclock chat with the most intimate friendsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (3) Now why does Mathilde want all of these expensive, material possessions? It doesnt sound like she just wants it because shes money-obsessed. No, for Mathilde, the rich life is attractive because its glamorous, beautiful, exciting, fine, and unlike the dingy apartment in which she lives. The glamorous life has a certain kind of magical allure to it. A lot of the objects Mathilde wants are magical, like the tapestries peopling the walls with ancient figures and with strange birds in a fairy-like forest (4). For Mathilde, being wealthy amounts to living in a fairy tale. Being middle class amounts to boredom. She wants the fairy tale. Does her wish to live the fairy tale life make her greedy? Well, you ever notice how throughout the first part of the story, Mathildes never satisfied with anything? When her husband brings her the invitation all she can think about is the dress she wants. When she gets the dress, all she can think about is the jewels she doesnt have. And when she visits Mme. Forestier, shes not really satisfied with any of her jewel collection she keeps on asking, You havent anything else? (46). At least until she sees the most fabulous, expensive looking piece of jewelry, that is: the diamond necklace. So yes, by many standards, Mathilde is probably greedy. But her greeds not the end of the story. Material things arent the only things she wants. And theres also a deeper reason for her greed: dissatisfaction. We cant help but thinking that if she truly were satisfied with her life as it is (i.e., marriage, home, etc.) that she wouldnt be day-dreaming of a life she could never have. Mathilde and Men The other thing Mathilde wants? Men. Rich, attractive, charming, powerful men. That passage we quote above finishes with: the most intimate friends, men well known and sought after, whose attentions all women envied and desired (3). Just a little afterwards, were told: She would so much have liked to please, to be envied, to be seductive and sought after. (5) Whats interesting about Mathildes man-craze is that she seems to be more interested in seducing men than in the men themselves. Thats because what Mathilde really wants is to be wanted. More than being just desired, Mathilde wants to be glamorous gorgeous, charming, graceful, and thoroughly decked out in diamonds. The ultimate measure of being glamorous just happens to be being attractive to glamorous men. It all forms part of one big glamorous, fairy-tale world, the world about which Mathilde fantasizes. Whats particularly frustrating to Mathilde is that she knows shes got the natural looks and charms to be a splash with the rich playboy types she wants to impress. She just needs the outward signs of being wealthy, but cant afford the necessary clothing and jewelry. Mathildes quite vain about her feminine charms. Her vanity may be why shes unwilling to go to the ball unless she looks better than everyone else there. And when she does go to the ball, thats exactly what she is: Her triumph: The day of the party arrived. Mme. Loisel was a success. She was the prettiest of them all, elegant, gracious, smiling, and mad with joy. All the men The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant The Necklace By Guy De Maupassant I could say that Guy de Maupassants stories are just mundane waste of ink. Reading the story you understand things you have never thought about before or, by contrast, have already faced in your daily life. However, what do people think? Did all of them recognize the same the author did? Each of us should answer this question by own. Years passed but plays, novels on the theme, which Maupassant talked about, are still writing, and films are still shooting, why? There are things, which we remember, and things, which we cannot forget. In this work, I will try to describe the story called The Necklace and give full and needed for understanding information. The authors person is going to be talked about. Thus, let me start explaining. Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant The person of Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant is definitely interesting to talk about. Maupassants place of being born is not known in definite; however, it was perhaps the Chà ¢teau de Miromesniel,Dieppe. His biography is obviously worth of attention, but I will notice the most important and interesting facts of Maupassants life in order to understand his stories better. Maupassants relatives were noble. His parents divorced when he was a little boy of 11 years old. Maupassants first embryos appeared when he was studying at the Rouen Lycà ©e. Little Maupassant was gaining knowledge and skills from his friends; he improved his gifts and talents, which helped him in his poetry and writing. Maupassant was a civil servant in the period between 1872 and 1880 years. However, he had never loved working, all his free time Maupassant spent in women pursuit. He had a pseudonym Guy de Valmont, which he used in the articles in the newspapers. The 1880s years were productive and significant in the life of author, because he wrote about 300 short stories and 6 novels, including travel books and even a volume of verse. Unfortunately, Maupassant had a syphilis (he was then only 20 years old) that shortly after led him to the increasing of his mental disability. The author used narcotics, I think trying to be saved from awful and cruel headaches he suffered from. Critics have mentioned that Maupassant describes his diseases in some of his stories, giving main characters and heroes his own painful suffering and struggling. Allan Edgar Poe is one of those, whose stories encouraged Maupassant and made him to go through the same paths as Poe did (in some fiction horror stories). Stephen Kings novel The shining encouraged Maupassant when he was writing The Inn, which is very similar and common to The shining. I am sure it will be appropriately to notice some Maupasants words to understand his nature in full length: Now listen carefully: Marriage, to me, is not a chain but an association. I must be free, entirely unfettered, in all my actions -my coming and my going; I can tolerate neither control, jealousy, nor criticism as to my conduct. I pledge my word, however, never to compromise the name of the man I marry, nor to render him ridiculous in the eyes of the world. But that man must promise to look upon meas an equal, an ally, and not as an inferior, or as an obedient, submissive wife. My ideas, I know, are not like those of other people, but I shall never change them (Liukkonen, 2008, pg 2). The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant However, The Necklace at first was published in the newspaper Le Gaulois in Paris, France on February 17, 1884. It was a part of Maupassants collection of short stories called Tales of Day and Night, which appeared in 1885. She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education with these words we faces in the beginning of the story and meeting a main character Madame Mathilde Loisel. She had a dream common to the American dream. She wants to become rich and have leisure. The story teaches readers many things. The middle-class Matilda discovers many ironic nuances through the story. Talking about the plot of the story, should be noticed that Maupassant is definitely talented, taking in account not much words he needed to illustrate many ideas and problems, which worries the humanity through the centuries. The story tells about middle-class woman Matilda, who wants to impress the society. Matilda Loisel was invited on the high-society affair (because her husband worked there), unfortunately, she understood that she had nothing to wear. A husband, Loisel, gave her money to buy a dress. Being unsatisfied, Matilda borrows a necklace from good friend Madame Forestier. After the affair, Matilda finds out that necklace is lost. Loisels started to find money to buy a new necklace: Loisel possessed eighteen thousand franks, which his father had left him. He borrowed it, asking for a thousand francs of one, five hundred of another, five louis of this one, and three louis of that one (The Necklace, pg 7). Finally, Loisels bought the same necklace and brought it to Madame Forestier. However, she said to the Matilda, who was proud and happy to give back the necklace, that her necklace was fake and coasted about 500 francs! To give money back Loisels have to have many limitations. Ten years of Matilda’s life have been robbed — and for what? For an evening of vanity and pride (Barthes, 2004, pg 1). Conclusion However, the story is successful among readers. It teaches readers many useful things. It triggers many emotions and feelings, especially sorrow and sadness. I liked how Maupassant said in his The Necklace: How strange life is, how fickle! How little is needed to ruin or to save! I agree with these words. The Necklace is worth of attention, undoubtedly! The story is about pride going before the fall. Hardship – is the known word for Matilda, but did she know what were the reasons of it? All money she earned during ten years she paid for one evening! People learn from the story how much one can pay for its pleasure and pride. Thus, Guy de Maupassant brought a lot of significance in the literature of whole world. Moreover, it is going with out saying and any doubt. References 1. Barthes, Roland. TheEiffelTowerand Other Mythologies. Tr. Howard, Richard.Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress. 2004. 2. Clyde K. Hyder, Algernon Swinburne: The Critical Heritage, 1995, p.185. 3. Harriss, Joseph. The Tallest Tower. Unlimited Publishing LLC, 2004, pg 15, 16. 4. James, Henry. Guy de Maupassant, reprinted in his Partial Portraits, Macmillan, 1888, pp. 243-87. 5. Liukkonen, Petri and Personen, Ari. Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) – in full Henry-Renà ©-Albert-Guy de Maupassant. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto, 2008. 6. Matthews, Brander, ed. The Short-Story: Specimens Illustrating Its Development.New York: American Book Company, 1907; Bartleby.com, 2000. . 7. Maupassant, Guy de. The necklace and other short stories. Courier Dover Publications, 1992.

Home Schooling is Not the Best Option Essay example -- Argumentative P

Home Schooling is Not the Best Option For those of us who have never been exposed into the world of home schooling, it carries a certain mystique. We might envision a family alternating between algebra and Bible study, keeping a safe distance from the rampant worldliness in schools. Or perhaps we see children sitting around the kitchen table practicing spelling while mother supervises. Despite these traditional images, home schooling is growing and gaining respect. This is due in part to high profile success stories like home schoolers finishing first, second and third in the 2000 Scripps - Howard National Spelling Bee or the Colfax family in California who sent three sons to Harvard. However, home schooling raises many questions including issues of academics, socialization, and religion. Thus, despite the significant growth and special cases where home schooling is deemed necessary, I propose that it is not the strongest alternative for a child's education. The idea and practice of home schooling are not new. For centuries children have learned outside of formals school settings, even when schools were readily available. It was not until the 1950s that the contemporary home schooling movement began as a liberal, not conservative, alternative to public school (Lines 1/8). According to Patricia Lines, a senior research analyst for the U.S. Department of Education, schools were too rigidly conservative for a handful of families in the fifties and sixties who instead pursued the liberal philosophy that the best learning takes place without an established curriculum, and that the child should pursue his or her own interests with the support and encouragement of parents and other adults (2/8). Then, in the 1980s many conse... ...ek 5 Oct. 1998: 64-71. Kleiner, Carolyn, and Mary Lord. "Home School Comes of Age." U.S. News and World Report 16 Oct. 2000: 52-55. Paulson, Amanda. "Where the School Is." Christian Science Monitor 10 Oct. 2000: 18-22. Rakestraw, Jennie, and Donald Rakestraw. "Home Schooling: A Question of Quality, an Issue of Rights." Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Childhood and Society. Eds. Robert and Diana DelCampo. Guilford, CN: Dushkin Publishing Group, 1995. 274-281. Rudner, Lawerence M. Abstract. "The Scholastic Acievement of Home School Students in 1998." Education Policy Analysis Archives. 7.8 (1999). Date Accessed 22 Nov 2000. http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/abs7.html. "Frequently Asked Questions About Homeschooling." Home School Legal Defense Association. www.hslda.org 16 Nov 2000. http://www.hslda.org/media/faqs/index.stm.

Mandated Curriculum vs. Developmentally Appropriate Practices Essay

I am contacting you in regards to the new state mandated textbook – based curriculum for kindergarten. While I understand that Common core learning standards recently adopted by 45 states and the District and supported by the Obama administration and asserting that they lead to poor quality teaching and take all the joy out of kindergarten (Kenny, 2013). Many children, especially kindergarteners need less strict and regimented learning opportunities to enjoy learning instead of being stressed. Our goal as parents and educators is to instill a love of learning not fear and disappointment. Not every child learns at the same rate and efficiency as others in the same classroom. This needs to be taken into account when using the textbook- based curriculum. There is however a way to stick to the state standards while making the learning experiences more fun for the children. To do this we would need to incorporate the Developmental Appropriate Practices method of learning. The Developmental Appropriate Practices often shortened to DAP, is an approach to teaching grounded in the research on how young children develop and learn and in what is known about effective early education. Its framework is designed to promote young children’s optimal learning and development (NAEYC, n.d.). With this method of learning, the teachers are meeting the needs of the children, both individually and as the whole group. Children comprehend more when the information is delivered in a more relaxed setting. The NAEYC acknowledges three core considerations, knowing about child development and learning, what is individually appropriate, and what is culturally important. By incorporating theses core values into the standards the children will be able to learn in a more child friendly and productive environment. Students who complete kindergarten should demonstrate mastery of many of the skills within the Kindergarten Standards. It is critical that kindergarten instruction occurs through an active learning approach where teachers use differentiated instructional strategies and focus on learning centers and play as key elements of the  daily schedule. Child directed instruction should be predominant with language and literacy and math infused through the day in addition to their special focus learning times. Kindergarten children should be given opportunities to develop social and emotional skills, physical skills and their creative expression within the course of a kindergarten day (pakeys, 2009). Below is an abridged version of the 2014 Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards for Language Arts: 1.1 Foundational Skills – Students gain a working knowledge of concepts of print, alphabetic principle, and other basic conventions. Book Handling CC.1.1.K.A Utilize book handing skills. Print Concepts CC.1.1.K.B Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. Follow words left to right, top to bottom, and page by page. Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters. Understand that words are separated by spaces in print. Recognize and name all uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet. 1.1 Foundational Skills – Students gain a working knowledge of concepts of print, alphabetic principle, and other basic conventions. Phonological Awareness CC.1.1KC Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). Recognize and produce rhyming words.  Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words. Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single- syllable spoken words. Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sound (phonemes) in the three- phoneme (CVC) words. 1.1 Foundational Skills – Students gain a working knowledge of concepts of print, alphabetic principle, and other  basic conventions. Phonics and Word Recognition CC.1.1.K.D Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondence. Associate the long and short sounds with common spellings for the five major vowels. Read grade-level high-frequency sight words with automaticity. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ. 1.1 Foundational Skills – Students gain a working knowledge of concepts of print, alphabetic principle, and other basic conventions. Fluency CC.1.1.K.E Read emergent – reader text with purpose and understanding. 1.2 Reading Informational Text – Students read, understand, and respond to informational text—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with a focus on textual evidence. Key Ideas and Details Main Ideas CC.1.2.K.A With prompting and support, identify the main idea and retell key details of text. Key Ideas and Details Text Analysis CC.1.2.K.B With prompting and support, answer questions about key details in a text. Key Ideas and Details Text Analysis CC.1.2.K.C With prompting and support, make a connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text 1.2 Reading Informational Text – Students read, understand, and respond to informational text—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with a focus on textual evidence. Craft and Structure Point of View Intentionally Blank Craft and Structure Text Structure CC.1.2.K.E Identify parts of a book (title, author) and parts of a text beginning, end, details). Craft and Structure Vocabulary CC.1.2.K.F With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. 1.2 Reading Informational Text – Students read, understand, and respond to informational text—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with a focus on textual evidence. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Diverse Media CC.1.2.K.G Answer questions to describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Evaluating Arguments CC.1.2.K.H With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text. 1.2 Reading Informational Text – Students read, understand, and respond to informational text—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, andmaking connections among ideas and between texts with a focus on textual evidence Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Analysis Across Texts CC.1.2.K.I With prompting and support, identify basic similarities and differences between two texts (read or read aloud) on the same topic. Vocabulary Acquisition and Use CC.1.2.K.J Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading, and being read to, and responding to texts. 1.2 Reading Informational Text – Students read, understand, and respond to informational text—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with a focus on textual evidence. Vocabulary Acquisition and Use CC.1.2.K.K Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown or multiple-meaning words and phrases based upon grade-level reading and content. Range of Reading CC.1.2.K.L – Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. 1.3 Reading Literature – Students read and respond to works of literature—with emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence. Key Ideas and Details Theme CC.1.3.K.A With prompting and support, retell familiar stories including key details Key Ideas and Details Text Analysis CC.1.3.K.B Answer questions about key details in a text. Key Ideas and Details Literary Elements CC.1.3.K.C With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. 1.3 Reading Literature – Students read and respond to works of literature—with emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence Craft and Structure Point of View CC.1.3.K.D Name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story. Craft and Structure Text Structure CC.1.3.K.E Recognize common types of text. Craft and Structure Vocabulary CC.1.3.K.F Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text. 1.3 Reading Literature – Students read and respond to works of literature—with emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Source of Information CC.1.3.K.G Make connections between the illustrations and the text in a story (read or read aloud). Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Text Analysis CC.1.3.K.H Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories. In conclusion as you can see above by using the textbook- based curriculum alone there is the potential for less learning on the part of the students and a stressful environment. However, incorporating the DAP principle into the standards can offer the students both the state required learning and the NAEYC recommended approach to early- childhood learning. Children comprehend more when the information is delivered in a more relaxed setting. References Kenny, D., 2013, The right curriculum for kindergarten: Play, The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/making-the-common-core-work-for-students/2013/03/08/a8e7b5d8-86a8-11e2-98a3-b3db6b9ac586_story.html http://www.naeyc.org/DAP, â€Å"Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8† (PDF), adopted in 2009. https://www.pakeys.org/uploadedContent/Docs/PD/Standards/Kindergarten%202010.pdf http://www.pdesas.org/Standard/StandardsDownloads Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2014, Academic Standards for English Language Arts, http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/PA%20Core%20Standards%20ELA%20PreK-5%20March%202014.pdf

What Is a Good ACT Score A Bad ACT Score An Excellent ACT Score

What Is a Good ACT Score A Bad ACT Score An Excellent ACT Score SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you've taken the ACT and gotten your ACT test scores back, you probably want to know how you did. Or you might be planning for the ACT and want to know what ACT composite score to aim for. So what is a good ACT score? In this article, we'll discuss what makes a good ACT composite score. We also give you a step-by-step guide to figuring out what a good ACT score is for you personally, depending on the colleges you plan to apply to. We’ll also provide ACT score ranges for 38 popular schools and discuss what you can do if you fall short of your goal score. Aside: Are you looking for SAT standards instead? If so check out our SAT good score guidelines. What Is a Good ACT Score Overall? The ACT score range is from 1-36. As you might imagine, the higher your score, the better you did.But is there a certain cutoff that delineates a â€Å"good† ACT score? To answer this question, it’s important to understand how ACT scores work. Your composite score from 1-36 corresponds to a percentile that compares how you did to the general population of ACT test-takers. A higher percentile means you scored higher than that percent of students. (So, a 55th percentile score means your score was higher than 55% of students). Exclusive Free Bonus: Click here to download a free step-by-step guide on finding your personal ACT score target. Once you go through these steps, you'll know exactly what ACT score you need to aim for. ACT test scores are set up to follow a normal distribution. This means that student performance tends to cluster around the middle of the scale- most test-takers score a somewhere between a little below and a little above the average score. Far fewer test-takers score towards the higher and lower end of the scale. The average ACT score is 20.8. If you’ve scored 21, then you’ve scored higher than 50% of test-takers. That’s pretty good, depending on your frame of reference. A 24 places you at the 74th percentile- better than  ¾ of test-takers! Here’s an abbreviated chart with ACT score percentiles for the class of 2018 to help you figure out how your scores position you among the overall student test-taker population: Score ACT English Percentile ACT Math Percentile ACT Reading Percentile ACT Science Percentile Composite Percentile 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 10 6 1 3 2 1 13 18 3 13 10 9 16 36 31 28 25 27 18 44 48 38 37 40 20 53 57 49 50 52 22 64 65 60 64 64 24 75 74 70 77 74 26 82 83 77 86 82 28 86 91 82 90 88 30 90 95 87 94 93 34 96 99 97 98 99 36 99 99 99 99 99 In terms of benchmarks for ACT score percentiles, a score of 16 places you at the 27th percentile, meaning you’ve scored better than about a quarter of test-takers. This isn’t a very strong score. We’ve already noted that a 20.8 is an average ACT score, at the 50th percentile. A score of 24 means you’ve scored better than about 74% of students. A 28 means you’ve scored better than 88% of students, and a 30 means you’ve scored better than 93% of them! Anything 35 or above is in the 99th percentile- a truly phenomenal score. You can also see that not many people score near the bottom and the top of the scalebecause there’s so little percentile change between scores here. Composite scores in the 1-8 range are all in the 1st percentile, and composite scores from 35-36 are all in the 99th percentile! By contrast, around the middle of the scale at 20, where most test-takers are clustered, a bump of a few points makes a big difference: going from 18 to 22 moves you from the 40th to the 64th percentile- a whopping 24 percentile points! But a similar 4-point bump from 24 to 28 only takes you from the 74th to the 88th percentile. That’s just a 14-percentile bump. And from 30 to 34 is only a 6-percentile increase. You may notice that section percentiles are a little different than the composite scale. However, the same general score distribution holds. So, to recap, compared to all test-takers: ACT score 16 = bottom 25% ACT score of 21 = right in the middle! (average score) ACT score of 24+ = top 25% ACT score of 29+ = top 10% ACT of 31+ = top 5% ACT score of 35+ = top 1% of test-takers If you get a 34 or higher, you've ascended ACT mountain. What's a Good ACT Score for You? We’ve discussed how your ACT score compares to all the other test-takers. But what’s more important is what makes a good ACT score for you personally, based on the schools you are interested in. A 29 places you in the top 10% of test-takers, and it’s a strong score for admission to schools like Texas AM, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and Baylor. But a 29 would actually be a very low score for super-selective institutions like the Ivies, Duke, MIT, Stanford, and the University of Chicago. By contrast, a 29 would be an incredibly high score for less selective schools,like CSU Long Beach (average ACT score 21), CSU Northridge (average ACT score 20) and University of Southern Indiana (average ACT score 22). If those were your goal scores, you wouldn’t need a 29; aiming for a score a little above average (in the 21-22 range) would be adequate. So, what makes a good ACT score for you is all relative, and mostly based on where you are trying to get into college. Of course, it’s also worth noting that the higher your standardized test scores, the more likely you are to get offered merit scholarships.We’re going to focus primarily on figuring out the score you need for admission in this guide, but it’s something to keep in mind. Another thing to consider is that a higher ACT or SAT score can help you if you have a lower GPA than a schoolis looking for. (However, this won’t help you so much at particularly selective institutions- they’ll expect applicants with pretty high marks across the board.) How to Find Your Goal Score So how do you find out what makes for good ACT scores for the colleges you’re interested in? In this section, we’ll walk you through a quick five-step process for figuring out the best goal score for you. Step 1: Download This Worksheet To work through the following steps, we'll be filling out a worksheet for all the schools you're planning to apply to. Click here to download it, or click the image below. I recommend you print it out so that you can write on paper and keep it next to your work space. Step 2: Fill in the Schools You Want to Get Into on the Left Fill in all the schools you're sure you want to apply to already in the leftmost column. If you don't know what schools you're aiming for yet, feel free to use ones that have been suggested to you, or schools that your friends are interested in. I recommend that you take the time to research schools first, though, so that you have a realistic target score.Because your goal score should be targeted to the schools you are actually interested in applying to, the more accurate of an idea you have of the schools you want to apply to, the more accurate your goal score will be. Step 3: For Each School, Google "[Name of School] PrepScholar ACT" For example, if I'm interested in U Alabama, I'll do the following search: Click on the the ACT and GPA post (or the Admission Requirements post, they’ll both have the information) and scroll down to find the 25th and 75th percentile composite ACT scores for admitted students. For University of Alabama, the 25th percentile score is 23. As a quick reminder, the 25th percentile means that 25% of admits have a score at or below that number. So 23 would be a below average score for admitted students for U Alabama. The 75th percentile score for University of Alabama is 32. That means that students with that composite score scored better than 75% of all the other admits. So scoring at that level or above puts you in the top quarter of admits score-wise- a very competitive score! In summary, the 25th/75th percentile range describes the scores of the middle 50% of all students admitted to a particular school. If you score at the 75th percentile for any school, you have a great chance at getting in (assuming your other credentials are appropriate for the school). If you're at the 25th percentile, you'll need to have a particularly strong application to boost your odds of getting in. For each school on your list, google the PrepScholar ACT score information and write down the 25th and 75th percentile scores in the appropriate row for that school on your goal score sheet. Step 4: Calculate Your Final ACT Target Score To calculate your target ACT goal score, look at the 75th percentile column. Find the highest score in that column. That’s your composite score goal. If you score at the 75th percentile level for the most competitive school on your list, you’ll be competitive at all your schools for test scores. Another advantage of choosing a high goal score is that if you end up falling 1-2 points short, it’s not a huge deal because you’ll still be competitive for most of your schools. You might be thinking- hey, wait! Why did I fill out that entire sheet if I was just going to pick the highest 75th percentile score? Well, the advantage of filling out all that information is that you now have it handy as a reference. You’ll be able to check your ACT score against all your schools of interest as soon as you have it! Step 5: Share Your Target Score As a last step, I suggest that you do two things with your score target: Share it with your parents. This will be a helpful conversation around your personal goals and how you want to achieve your target ACT score. Plus, they can help keep you accountable throughout the preparation process! Tape it to your wall. This will keep your goal in mind, which will help keep you motivated to prepare. Keep your goals in sight! Good ACT Scores for Popular Schools To make determining your goal score a little easier, here is an ACT score chart with the 25th-75th percentile composite ACT test scores for 2018 for 35 popular schools.I’ve also provided the acceptance rate and current U.S. News ranking to give you additional reference points as to how selective the school is. School 25th Percentile ACT 75th Percentile ACT US News Ranking (National Universities) 2018 Acceptance Rate Princeton University 32 35 1 6% Harvard University 33 35 2 5% University of Chicago 32 35 3 9% Yale University 32 35 3 6% Columbia University 33 35 3 6% MIT 34 35 3 7% Stanford University 32 35 7 4% University of Pennsylvania 33 35 8 8% Duke University 32 35 8 10% Johns Hopkins University 33 35 10 5% Northwestern University 32 34 10 9% Dartmouth College 31 35 12 9% Brown University 31 35 14 7% Vanderbilt University 32 35 14 11% Cornell University 32 34 16 11% University of Notre Dame 33 35 18 17% University of California, Los Angeles 28 33 19 16% Georgetown University 30 34 22 15% University of California, Berkeley 29 35 22 18% University of Southern California 30 34 22 13% Carnegie Mellon University 32 35 25 17% University of Virginia 31 34 25 27% Wake Forest University 28 32 27 28% University of Michigan 31 34 27 24% New York University 29 33 30 19% University of North CarolinaChapel Hill 29 33 30 22% Boston College 31 33 38 27% Boston University 30 33 42 22% University of Georgia 28 33 46 48% Villanova University 31 34 49 29% Ohio State University 28 32 56 48% Penn State University 28 32 59 51% Clemson University 27 31 66 47% Texas AM University 25 30 66 61% What If My Score Is Too Low? If you take the test and you get lower than your goal score, what should you do? Don’t panic; you have a few options. We’ll go over them here and help you figure out when you should consider them. Strategy 1: Retake the Test If you have the time to prepare for the test and re-take it, this is probably your best strategy if you are really set on all your schools. (Unless you were only 1 or maybe 2 points under, in which case it might actually be a poor use of time toretake the test- see strategy #2). You’ll want to be sure to do targeted prep of your weaknesses to have the best chance of actually improving your score. You should also make sure you actually prepare for enough hours to make the meaningful difference in score that you need. Here are our rough estimates for how many hours of prep it will take for you to improve your composite score by a certain amount: 0-1 ACT Composite Point Improvement: 10 hours 1-2 ACT Point Improvement: 20 hours 2-4 ACT Point Improvement: 40 hours 4-6 ACT Point Improvement: 80 hours 6-9 ACT Point Improvement: 150 hours+ Strategy 2: Don’t Worry About It If you only missed your goal score by 1-2 points, depending on the schools you’re applying to, you might not need to do anything. Let’s say you were going for a 35, but you got a 34. You could retake the test, but you don’t necessarily have to. If your 34 still puts you towards the top of the 25th-75th percentile range for your schools, it might make more sense to use the time and energy you would spend prepping for and retaking the test on other parts of your application. However, if you were more than two points short of your goal score, you should consider strategies 1 or 3. And if you’re applying to very selective schools, even two points might make a retake worth it. Strategy 3: Adjust Your List of Schools If you are 3+ points short of your goal score and you don’t have time to retake the test, your best strategy is to adjust your list of schools. While you can (and should) still apply to your dream schools as reach schools, you’ll need to make sure that you have enough strong match and safety schools for your scores. Let’s say you were going for a 32, but you got a 28. You may have had Boston University(middle 50% 29-32)as a match, but now it’s more of a reach. And maybe you had Hofstra University (middle 50% 24-29) as a safety school but now it’s closer to a match. So add some safety schools for your score, like SUNY Albany (middle 50% 22-26) and Pace University (middle 50% 22-27).You can see more on choosing appropriate safety, match, and reach schools here. Safety (schools) are very important in the college application process. Review: What Is a Good ACT Score? So what is a good ACT score? Well, your composite ACT score corresponds to a percentile ranking that tells you how you did compared to all other test-takers. 20 is a 50th percentile, or average score. However, it’s more important to consider what’s a good ACT score for you personally. And a good score is one that makes you competitive for the programs you are interested in! We went over a 5-step process for determining a goal score. We also provided ACT score ranges for 38 popular schools. Finally, we provided some advice for what to do if you miss your goal score. You can prepare and retake the test, do nothing (if you were pretty close to your goal), or adjust your list of schools. Remember, the most important thing is figuring out what are good ACT scores for you personally! You won’t necessarily need the same scores as some of your friends and peers. What's Next? Got ACT questions? We've got answers! See ourACT FAQ. We can also help you figure out how hard the ACT will be for youand why you might need to take the ACT. We can help you figure out how important the ACT is for the college admissions process. And what's the minimum ACT score for college? Do you wantto improve your ACT score? Check out our top guides: ACT Prep Guide:Practice Test, Critical Info, and Section Info How to Get a Perfect ACT score, by a 36 Scorer How to Get a 36 in ACT Reading, ACT Math, and ACT English Check out our online ACT prep program. We have a 4 point improvement guarantee - if you don't improve your score by 4 points, you get every penny of your money back. Plus, you get a 5-day free trial, so if you don't feel that it's helping you, you can cancel at any time.

buy custom University of California essay

buy custom University of California essay Savios speech about the Machine was broadcasted from Spoul Hall, University of California, and intended to focus on the status of universities and their capability to produce people who are well-rounded in the society. Savios speech argued that Universities are handed with the responsibility of enhancing peoples capabilities for the benefits of the society. Although universities are well-equipped, most persons in universities do not get this training but wander aimlessly, hence do not achieve much until the end of their learning period. They wonder about their bleak future in a society where the rules have been made up, and those rules cannot be amended. The paper will explore whether Habermas and Foucaults concepts refer to Savios speech about the Machine. It will also expound on what aspects of Savio's criticism of the university they would both embrace or reject. While doing that, this paper will also integrate vital discussions on Habermas and others from Foucaults works. Jurgen Habermas was a prominent philosopher with a worldwide reputation, and his ideas were very significant to scholars teaching planning in universities. His most important ideas were compiled in the Communicative theory. The theory seeks to make actors seek an understanding through a consensus or through works of cooperation rather than through strategic goals in pursuit of their own strategic goals (Habermas 86). On the other hand, Michael Foucault is a French postmodernist, whose works have hugely shaped the understandings of power. He is against actors using power as an instrument to coerce. In addition, he is opposed to the structures in which those actor s operate, and is of the view that power is everywhere implanted in knowledge, regimes of truth, and in discourses (Foucault 219). Habermas and Foucault response towards Savios speech would be to advocate for public participation to make the institution better. Besides that, both would criticize the way the institutions are governed with the intention of self-gratification instead of considering the interests of all party. The speech shows that there is a poor planning in universities and thus there would be a need to analyze their planning. According to Habermas, public participation and information sharing through dialogue to reach a compromise and avoiding bureaucrats would be necessary to turn around the institutions poor performances. It would also be necessary to advocate for a legitimate democracy that enacts laws and oversees that the whole process achieves credible results. According to Habermas, the authority should be based on nothing else but just superior argument (Habermas 248). Habermas communicative action also calls for understanding between or among groups to bring cooperation as opposed to str ategic action that is designed to promote ones personal goals (Habermas 301). This would be vital in delivering results to everyone including the students. Habermas states in his Communicative theorythatthe different actorsin the universities do need to establish a relationship that seeks to arrive at comprehensive understanding concerning the situation and their plans of the course of action to be taken in order to coordinate their actions by consensus. Firstly, these institutions need to negotiate and reach a consensus. Habermas would agree that Savios speech calls for communication that is designed to offer a solution now and even in the future when such problems occur. Habermas proposal of everyday communicative action would be important in presenting social order in the universities as a cooperative network involving assurance and responsibility (Habermas 268). However, it is likely that Habermas theory of communicative action would reject the fact that the university leadership would be solely t blame for everything given that individuals could lead to the achievement of privately set goals. The actions of the other parties are important or rather instrumental in intervening in the process. In addition, it is not probable that they would agree that there was no mutual understanding despite the failures being brought in the speech. Communicative rationality brings about action which is intended at achieving mutual understanding perceived as a process of coming to an agreement between the parties to harmonize their views on the world (Habermas 400). However, it is ideal to note that mutual understanding is not only achieved through communicative action as some have misunderstood Habermas concept. It is not only through communicative action that subjects can aim at mutual understanding but also through other various ways. However, Habermas points out that communication actions are crucial. Both Habermas and Foucault, however, disagree with the speech when it points out to forceful measures being applied to change the situation. Habermas maintains that only through language, when applied under the conditions of rational argumentation the social actors can harmonize their words and actions regarding the orientation for mutual understanding (Habermas 386). Habermas would prefer to apply the communication actions rather than forceful tactics. Habermas argues that the claims of communicative actions in a daily social life is the best option because they are raised in the frames of the undisputed and shared lifeworld, which does not ca use havoc or dispute. Habermas continues to say that the lifeworld presents the commonly acknowledged background knowledge in terms of which the actions can be accorded (Habermas 388). Habermas would reject the notion that the individual has no role to play as in this case and has to pour all the blame on the powerful structures. They also have a huge role to play and have to abide by the rules of the social system. In Saviors speech, the students have been labeled as the victims yet they also have a part to play to make the institutions better. According to Habermas, an occidental society is characterized by the traits of the legitimacy assertions of speech acts. Thus, there are three influential attitudes that focus on the external world of circumstances and events; a normative attitude in regards to the society made up of people with a communicative attitude to the inner humankind of the partisanship of the person. Habermas does not leave his interpretation of the concept of the life restricted to the artistic tradition (the commonly accepted explanation of the world) in a fastidious community. This is because he realizes that there are several parties which are involved. The university, on the other hand, as indicated in the speech, has failed to provide a set of cultural values. Habermas also suggests that, apart from availing cultural values, the concept of lifeworld also guarantees that the social actors stand for the normative principles of the society (to reach the harmony of social alignment) and ensures that people are flexible to act in a competent personality that is in alliance with their societal environment (the formation of the identity) (Habermas389). Habermas theory of social evolution comes to an imperative turn when he affirms that the action-oriented advance of the lifeworld cannot be a sufficient explanation for all the intricacy of modern societies. The process of validation should be implicit not only as a segregation of the lifeworld as an emblematically replicated talkative order, but also in the form of the material substratum of the social order (Habermas 282). Habermas would also respond by indicating that societies have to safeguard the communication of cultural values, rightful norms, and socialization processes. In addition, they also have to professionally influence and control their environmeent in terms of flourishing involvement. This is indeed what is lacking in the university according to the speech. Habermas, therefore, complements the perception of the lifeworld within a systems theory, particularly paying attention to the monetary and the opinionated system (Habermas 433). According to Foucault, power shapes us and our personalities are what we are because of that power. To him, power is not concentrated but is everywhere; it should not be coercive, personified, and enacted. His opinions differ from other theorists opinions. Foucault is of the view that grouping people as a way of dominating them or coercion should not wield power. According to Foucault, power is everywhere and is not concentrated on certain structures or agencies (Foucault 163); instead, he believes that power is a gospel of truth that is encompassed by the society and characterized with instances of stability and negotiation. Foucault would react to the speech agreeing that a truth has been finally achieved because of multiple constraints. The speech is indicative that there have been multiple constraints piling up in institutions of learning, and suddenly the truth has come out at last. According to Foucaults concept, this means that the truth finally points out to regular impacts of power. Each society has what it believes to be truth; and there are also those systems or mechanisms that distinguish what is true and what is false. Besides that, each society has those procedures and methods that are accorded value in the quest of truth. (Foucault, 103) Institutions in the society such as the media, education system and others mainly reinforce the concept of truth. In fact, the battles for truth are mainly on differentiating true, false, and how they are separated and how the specific power is attached to it. Foucault recognizes that power is not something that compels us to do things opposed to our wishes but it is a productive and positive influence in the society. This means that Foucault would reject the speech when it points out that the institutions are exerting negative power upon the students. Foucault views power as something good that produces truth, so he would reject the views that power in these institutions is bringing negativity. To him, it is also a power that produces discipline and compliance in society. Foucault is also in disagreement with the speech when it claims that there is a need to enhance disciplinary powers on such institutions. Foucault thinks otherwise suggesting that such institutions including mental schools, schools, and prisons have the capacity to maintain discipline by their own. According to him, there is power produced discipline and conformity. In such institutions, people find themselves behaving in the expected manner. So, he disagrees with Savios speech on managing all issues including students discipline in this institution. Foucault sees no need for mechanism such as school discipline, prison surveillance, or any other form of control of the population (Foucault 111). According to Foucault, the government embraces organized practices or techniques that strive to bring sanity in the society. It is through this that subjects are governed. The government is said to dictate how we behave through the techniques and plans that it lays down (Foucault 131). Therefore, according to Foucault concept of techniques, the machine that refers to here, which is the university, can be governed through proper laid techniques that can be effective in solving the problems affecting it besides improving it. Besides that, Foucault talks about long-term assumptions on various matters and the outcome that this has on power. His concepts are found in Savios speech in which he expounds on the effects of universities due to long-term assumptions on universities. Buy custom University of California essay