Types of Lifestyles Adopted by Families in the United States Essay Example for Free

Types of Lifestyles Adopted by Families in the United States Essay In the United States the most common type of family structure adopted is the Nuclear family which consists of a father, mother and kids. It is structured around the concept of a single family unit based on the concept that it is able to independently support itself. The number of children is not fixed but when the family is unable to cater to the needs of its members and more members are involved in managing a home’s finances it becomes an extended family. Yet, the extended family structure was never that prevalent in the United States at any period in time. In recent years a gradual shift has been observed in the family structures and the lifestyles practiced in them. The structure has changed due to numerous factors such as the acceptance of single parenting by the society, more open approach to adoptions and government permission of homosexuals to marry and begin families. Also the number of kids play a crucial role in determining the family structure as there are many households which just have a couple who have no desire for having kids (AEM, 2005). A rising trend is the Single parent household, with one parent, either the mother or the father, taking full responsibility of the kids and not requiring the help of the other parent. This kind of household is rising due to the increasing divorce rates and increasing opportunities for both sexes to indulge in activities which did not fall under the responsibilities of the gender role. Such as, fathers becoming more sensitive to their children’s needs and problems and mothers working to bring money home to support the family. Grandparents are also becoming more involved in the raising of the grandchildren rather than the parents. Many people regard this phenomenon in a negative light as parents shirk their responsibilities leaving the care of their own children to their parents and not providing a nurturing environment themselves. With recent amendments in legal rights, homosexuals have been given the right to marry in many states and also the right to adopt children. The right of homosexuals to adopt children is widely debated as being immoral and corrupting the children making them turn into homosexuals themselves but there is no such evidence of such parents influencing their kids to choose their sexual orientation. As is evident the central focus towards the structure of a family in the United States is towards the degree of care towards the children of the household. But in recent years we have observed a sharp decline in the birth rates of kids and population growth is stagnating as the desire for kids is stemming in couples (Americas Families- Changing Family Structures). Personal View In my opinion the nuclear family is still the most viable option for having the best household atmosphere as all the natural constituents are there to support each other in a meaningful relationship. Yet however, the second best alternative to a nuclear household would probably be an extended household structure. It is widely popular in many countries such as China, India and other Asian countries. the reason I believe that the extended family system is suitable for households is because it saves resources with parents getting time to pursue their own activities as relatives could take care of kids on short notice as well as kids having the company that they require at all times. References AEM. (2005, December 12). A Look at the Different Types of Families in America. Retrieved December 30, 2008, from Associated Content: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/13363/a_look_at_the_different_types_of_families.html Americas Families- Changing Family Structures. (n.d.). Retrieved December 31, 2008, from Americas Families: http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/1315/America-s-Families-CHANGING-FAMILY-STRUCTURE.html

Performance Appraisal Essay -- Business, Employee Evaluation, Performa

Performance appraisals are a major component of human resource management systems used by organisations to measure and manage what is considered to be the most valuable resource available to them; human capital. This report aims to evaluate the effectiveness of performance appraisals and its application to both the employer and its employees, taking into consideration various rationales for its implementation. This will be achieved through an in depth review of the concept of performance appraisals, its evolution in corporate organisations and existing literature on the topic, and the effects (both positive and negative) to the organisation as a whole and to its employees. It will be argued that despite being of relative importance to performance management systems in organisations, performance appraisals fail to achieve the lofty ideals and objectives which characterize its implementation. Performance appraisals are a key component of the performance management process in organisations and are used to obtain feedback on performance levels of employees for a given period of time. Performance appraisals have been defined as the process which allows firms to measure and consequently evaluate an employee's achievements and behaviour over a certain period of time (Devries et al, 1981). It is the process of identifying, observing, measuring and developing human resources in organisations (Cardy and Dobbins, 1994). Various organisations use varying performance appraisal systems and have differing opinions on performance goals which cause some sort of confusion on the purpose of performance appraisal systems (Buckley and Wiese, 1998). Performance is thus the critical factor which is being addressed in the understanding and developmen... ...ughout the organisation. This way, management is able to consistently harmonize its operational goals with employee developmental efforts and job expectations. Performance appraisals also give organisations the opportunity to address performance issues without conflict by providing evidence of actual on the job performance and productivity. This way, high achievers and bottom performance are easily singled out with relative recommendations effected. Despite performance appraisals satisfying numerous organisational objectives, the focus of its activities is in providing direction and information to employees to boost performance and job productivity (Latham et al., 1993). This should remain the primary objective performance appraisal systems should seek to address which leads to this article addressing issues which affects the effectiveness of its implementation.

Qualities that a ‘good’ teacher should have Essay

Task 1 – List 5 qualities that a ‘good’ teacher should have and give reasons for your choices. Which of these qualities do you consider to be more important, and why? 1. a good teacher should really love teaching because in my opinion you cannot be a good teacher if you do not like what you do. 2. a good teacher should be lively and entertaining because children do not like boring teachers, they need somebody who changes learning into pleasure. as my experience schooled children love games and it is one of the best way of encouraging them to take part in the lesson. 3. a good teacher is able to motivate learners as motivation is one of the most important aspects while learning. children who are well motivated are eager to learn thus they learn more. 4. a good teacher should have good rapport and interaction with the class because it is crucial to have a nice atmosphere in the classroom. I believe that children cannot be scared of the teacher, they must like him/her and then they are open and more involved in the lessons. 5. a good teacher should be able to correct student without offending them or affecting their motivation as if he/she does it then the children do not want to take part in the lessons because they are scared of making mistakes. i always tell my students that they shouldn’t be scared of making mistakes as nobody is perfect and I’m there to correct them. and explain that they are learners so they can’t know all of the answers correctly. As far as I am concerned, I really believe that all of the qualities I chose are equal. you really need to have all of them to be a good teacher. it is really difficult for me to decide which one is more important and which one is less important. Task 2 – State what you consider to be the five most important roles of a teacher. Describe each role and say why you think it is important. 1. organizer – teacher organizes to do various activities. it is important as children need instruction, need to be organized into groups or pairs. teacher must initiate and finish activities and give feedback. 2. participant – teacher participates in the lesson as an equal. it is good  method as children can see that the teacher wants to be a part of the class so it is a good way of gaining trust. 3. observer – teacher monitors what is going on in the classroom. it is important as teacher must know the improvement of the students and what needs to be revise. 4. model – teacher (native speaker) is the source of real, live English. it is important because sometimes it is the only way for the students to encounter foreign language with foreign accent. native speaker is also a good source of cultural information. 5. assessor – teacher gives feedback, correction, evaluates and grades. children want to know whether they make mistakes or not, as they want to improve their skills and try not to make the same mistake again. Task 3 – List 5 qualities you would expect to find in a ‘good’ learner. Which of these qualities do you consider to be more important, and why? 1. a desire to learn – it is crucial to want to learn a language as if the students find learning language useless they simply don’t want to take part in any activities and they don’t want to study. 2. a willingness to ask questions – students must ask questions as it is the way of finding more information and also practise their speaking skills. 3. a willingness to listen to the language – listening to the language can improve not only listening but also speaking skills. it also helps to gain foreign accent. 4. an ability to think about their own learning process and methods – every students is different and prefers different methods of learning. it is important for students to realize which method is the most helpful and useful for them while learning language. 5. an acceptance of error correction – students must realize that when teacher corrects them he/she does it not to embarrass them but to improve their learning. students should try not to make the same mistakes over and over again. Task 4 – What are some of the major differences you would expect to find between adult and young learners? Young learners are sometimes less motivated than adults. what is more, young learners are more receptive to the new sounds and grammar. it is widely known that young learners can acquire foreign language faster than adults.  adults has longer history of learning experience than young learners, and they believe they can succeed with the language. Task 5 – List the levels of language ability that learners are often grouped into and give a brief summation of each level: beginner – from zero knowledge of English to a very basic one which cannot be quickly or easily activated. elementary – students are able to form basic sentence structures and communicate on simple topics. low/pre-intermediate – able to communicate and understand a great variety of topics but lacking general fluency and depth of language awareness. still likely to make many errors even with basic structures. intermediate – able to understand and communicate on a wide range of issues using limited vocabulary store but still lacking in accuracy and fluency. upper intermediate – should be able to actively communicate on almost all topics using a great range of language but still lacking in accuracy. advanced – students should have a very good knowledge of the English language and now will be studying more suitable language items. Task 6 – Give as many reasons as possible why students are motivated to study English. The reasons that you give do not have to be in the unit reading material. students are motivated to study English because they realize that English is an international language and you can communicate with almost everyobody all over the world using this language. they know English can improve their future career prospects. they realize it can make their travel abroad much easier. they also want to study English to improve their grades and achieve success in exams. they study because they want to communicate with prints, parents, colleagues. very often they just want to learn language because they are interested in English and English culture.

Definition and Examples of Stasis in Classical Rhetoric

In classical rhetoric, stasis is the process of, first, identifying the central issues in a dispute, and next finding arguments by which to address those issues effectively. Plural: staseis. Also called stasis theory or the stasis system. Stasis is a basic resource of invention. The Greek rhetorician Hermagoras of Temnos identified four major types (or divisions) of stasis: Latin coniectura, conjecturing about the fact at issue, whether or not something had been done at a particular time by a particular person: e.g., Did X actually kill Y?Definitiva, whether an admitted action falls under the legal definition of a crime: e.g., Was the admitted killing of Y by X murder or homicide?Generalis or qualitas, the issue of the quality of the action, including its motivation and possible justification: e.g., Was the murder of Y by X in some way justified by the circumstances?Translatio, objection to the legal process or transference of jurisdiction to a different tribunal: e.g., Can this court try X for a crime when X has been given immunity from prosecution or claims the crime was committed in another city? See Examples and Observations below. Also see: ArgumentationDissoi LogoiExigenceInventionJudicial RhetoricMetastasisTopoi EtymologyFrom the Greek, stance. placing, position Examples and Observations Although he recognized the need to define the question at issue in a trial, Aristotle did not develop a theory to cover the various possibilities, nor did he use the term stasis. . . . The word literally means stand, standing, stance, describes the stance of a boxer toward an opponent, and perhaps was transferred from that context to the stand taken by a speaker toward an opponent. Quintilian (3.6.23) saw the influence of Aristotles dialectical categories of substance, quantity, relation, and quality on concepts of stasis, which in Latin is called constitutio or status.(George A. Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric. Princeton University. Press, 1994)Hermagoras was the most important contributor to stasis theory before the 2nd century AD and made stasis theory a much more important part of the rhetorical curriculum. However, only fragments of the works of Hermagoras have been preserved. Modern knowledge of the evolution of stasis theory is derived primarily from Rhetorica ad Herennium and Ciceros De Inventione.(Arthur R. Emmett, Hermogenes of Tarsus: Rhetorical Bridge From the Ancient World to the Modern. Rediscovering Rhetoric,  ed. by Justin T. Gleeson and Ruth C. A. Higgins. Federation Press, 2008)The Stasis SystemIn Book One of De Inventione, Cicero discusses a system for thinking through a judicial case, called the stasis (struggle or stopping point) system. An aspiring rhetorician could learn the skill by analyzing a case by dividing the debate into the likely issues of conflict, or stopping points. . . .Students studying a stasis system learned to think through cases by following the points at which disagreements were likely to arise. These points of stasis, or struggle, . . . divided a complex case into its component parts or questions. Arguments relevant to questions of fact, definition, and quality were rehearsed and thus integrated into the students pattern of thinking.(James A. Herrick, The History and Theory of Rhetoric. Allyn Bacon, 200 8)The Stasis Doctrine: Three QuestionsThe stasis doctrine, a procedure for determining relevant issues, was a staple concept for the Roman rhetoricians. According to the simplest interpretation of this doctrine, three questions are involved in the crux of a given case: (1) Did anything happen? a conjectural question answered by physical evidence; (2) What name should be applied to what happened? a question answered by precise definitions; (3) What sort of an action was it? a qualitative inquiry allowing the orator to specify mitigating circumstances.Additional material could be adduced by employing the topics.(Donovan J. Ochs, Ciceros Rhetorical Theory. A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric, 3rd ed., by James J. Murphy and Richard A. Katula. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2003)The Stasis Doctrine Applied to Yogi BearTo return for a moment to Jellystone Park, conjectural stasis would have us ask whether Yogi Bear was responsible for the disappearance of the picnic basket, definitional stasis w hether he grabbed it and snaffled the contents, qualitative stasis whether the bylaws of Jellystone Park prohibit the theft of picnic baskets, and translative status whether the alleged theft should be tried in a human court or whether this thieving wild animal should be summarily shot by a park ranger.(Sam Leith, Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric From Aristotle to Obama. Basic Books, 2012)Stasis theory has to this day exercised important influences on the development of Western law, even if the level of explicit attention to the doctrines of stasis in the rhetorical as well as the legal literature has fluctuated greatly.(Hanns Hohmann, Stasis, in Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, ed. Thomas O. Sloane. Oxford University Press, 2001) Pronunciation: STAY-sis Also Known As: stasis theory, issues, status, constitutio Alternate Spellings: staseis