Thursday, September 19, 2019
Women Have the Right to Choose Abortion Essay -- Papers Argumentative
Women Have the Right to Choose Abortion An abortion is a woman's option to terminate a pregnancy. It is an induced miscarriage. Abortion has become an extremely controversial topic in the past 3 decades since it has been legalized. There has been extreme violence stemming from this issue that we as a country need to put under control, regardless of our personal stances on the issue. There are many reasons why a woman would choose to have an abortion. She does not feel she is ready to be a parent, she can not afford a baby, and being too young or immature to be responsible for another life are only three of these reasons. If a woman becomes pregnant due to a rape or from incest would be another reason. It has been found that almost fifty per cent of all women will have an abortion by the time they reach 45. Is this number increasing since the legalization of abortion? Probably not, considering the fact that before abortions were legal they were still being preformed. The only difference is now they are safer. Before 1965, abortion was somewhat taboo. No one dared to even discuss the issue. Abortion was frowned upon and considered "evil"; therefore it remained a very private issue. Abortions were performed by doctors, nurses, midwives, even chiropractors. Being that abortions were not performed in a hospital or clinic, anyone who felt like it could become an abortionist. These abortions were referred to as back- alley abortions. They were unsafe and lead to the deaths of many women, but in 1933 it was estimated that nearly 2 million were performed (Grisey). This proves to us that regardless if abortion is legal or not, if a woman feels she needs to have one she is going to. The prices of thes... ... to an increase in child abuse and neglect. I am not encouraging the use of abortion as a method of birth control, but accidents will happen. Some people are responsible enough to deal with these accidents, but some feel that they are not ready to bring a child into this world. If a mother feels she can not properly care for a child, isn't it better for the fetus to be aborted before it is brought into a world where it can not be properly loved, cared for and supported? Bibliography: Works Cited 1. Grady, John L, Abortion Yes or No. (no printing press). Florida,1972. 2. Grisey, Germain, Abortion: the Myths, the Realities and the Argument.Corpus Books, New York,1970. 3. O'Donnell, Thomas J, Medicine and Christian Morality. Alba House, New York, 1976 4. www.plannedparenthood.org/abortion.html 5. www.religioustolerance.org/abortion.htm
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Teaching and Learning Activity Assessment :: Education, Evaluation
Introduction One of key element in teaching and learning activity is assessment. There are several types of assessment. However, in the context of Aceh, most of teachers still use traditional forms of assessment, specifically summative assessment. There is critique on traditional assessment, ââ¬Å"The critique has been based on the assumption that these forms of assessment do not support high quality of leaning associated with ââ¬Ëdeepââ¬â¢ learning, critical thinking, sustainable knowledge and lifelong learningâ⬠(Havnes & McDowell 2008). Therefore, diagnostic assessment is one form of assessment that can be used by the teachers to support high quality of learning. Diagnostic assessment aims to determine studentsââ¬â¢ prior knowledge. In order to plan the effective teaching, it is important for teacher to determine studentsââ¬â¢ prior knowledge, because the students have their own conceptions on phenomena in the world before they study in the classroom (Tytler, n.d). This essay is part of assignment in assessing learning unit (EXE733). It aims to review and discuss an example of exemplary assessment task for diagnostic assessment. Before further discussion about example of exemplary diagnostic assessment, it might be important to review the definition, purposes, types of assessment, as well as characteristics of effective assessment. Assessment Assessment derived from the Latin assessare which mean to impose a tax or set a rate (Athanasou, 1997). According to Athanasou, Assessment is ââ¬Å"the process of collecting and combining information from test (e.g., on performance, learning, quality) with view to making a judgement about a person or making a comparison against an established criterion. Further, Satterly defined assessment as ââ¬Å"an omnibus term which includes all the processes and products which describe the nature and extent of childrenââ¬â¢s learning, its degree of correspondence with the aims and objectives of teaching and its relationship with the environments which are designed to facilitate learningâ⬠(1989 p.3, cited in Carrol, 2005). Moreover, Rowntree (1977) said ââ¬Å"assessment in education can be thought as occurring whenever one person, in some kind of interaction, direct or indirect with another, is conscious of obtaining and interpreting information about the knowledge and understanding o f abilities and attitudes of that other personâ⬠(p. 4, cited in Carrol, 2005). The purposes of assessment can be divided into three levels, namely: classroom level (students and teachers), school level, and system level. Firstly, at classroom level, assessment aims to provide the students with appropriate learning based on their needs, provide the students feedback that they can use to identify their next steps of learning, to develop good partnership with parents, help the teachers to plan next teaching, and guarantee continuity of education for the students (Te Kete Ipurangi, 2007).
George Washington Carver :: essays research papers fc
à à à à à George Washington Carver, most referred to the ââ¬Å"Peanut Manâ⬠was born into slavery around 1864 in Diamond, Missouri. His birth date is not known for sure because birth records were not properly kept by the slave owners. As a child, he was very sick and no one ever thought that he would grow to be one of the most distinguished agriculturists in America. à à à à à Unfortunately, George never got to know his parents. His father was killed in an accident and his mother was kidnapped by night raiders. So, George was raised by his owners; Moses and Susan Carver. They treated George and his brother Jim as their own sons. As a child, George had exceptional observational skills and a keen curiosity. His love for nature and animals was beyond his age. Moses and Susan tried very hard to satisfy his needs. But, they realized that he needed to go to a regular school. Since colored children were not allowed in the schools for white children, George had to leave the town and go to Neosho, Missouri to attend school. Later he moved to Fort Scott, Kansas to attend High school. à à à à à School was full of hardships and struggle for George. Since he never had enough money to pay his fees, he often had to drop out temporarily to earn and then enroll again. During this period he worked many odd jobs as a housekeeper, cook, gardener, and launder. He did every job with devotion and tried to achieve perfection. Thus he gained recognition everywhere he went. After finishing high school, he applied to Highland University and was accepted until the college later learned that he was black and therefore refused his entrance. Finally, at the age of thirty, Carver was finally accepted to Simpson College in Iowa. After a year there, he left to attend the Iowa Agricultural College where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1894, and his Masters Degree in 1896. George was the first black American to graduate from this college. à à à à à Carver was offered a number of jobs because of his wonderful work ethic, but he accepted the invitation of Booker T. Washington to teach at the Tuskegee Institute, where he accepted a position as an instructor at the Tuskegee Institute of Technology. à à à à à At Tuskegee, Carver developed his famous crop rotation method. Nitrate producing legumes like peanuts and sweet potatoes were planted during alternate years. The peanuts and potatoes put nutrients back in the soil that had been taken away when
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Preschool Literacy Essay
2 This paper is going to outline the myriad of benefits that high-quality preschool literacy programs will afford families, communities, school districts and the world. Today, numerous researchers are delving into HOW to establish an effective and successful pre-school program. In this paper, I hope to answer several questions: ? What is pre-school literacy? ? What benefits do participants in a preschool program receive? ? HOW do we go about establishing a high-quality pre-school literacy program? I am rather passionate about this area. Being a speech pathologist, literacy skills and communication skills are so interwoven it is difficult to separate them. I have to say that while going to school many years ago, we didnââ¬â¢t learn that much about literacy as it related to speech and language development. It is only recently that researchers and educators have identified the importance of how both developmental areas are linked. I feel that establishing successful and highly effective programs that incorporate family and child directed activities are crucial to the success of our young students. That being said, letââ¬â¢s explore pre-school literacy. What is preschool literacy? Most people hear the word ââ¬Ëliteracyââ¬â¢ and equate that with ââ¬Ëreadingââ¬â¢. This would be an adult analogy. For very young children, we donââ¬â¢t, nor should we, expect them to read! Early literacy skills refer to many different things, none of which is sitting down with Mom at the age of two and reading aloud for her. At the youngest ages, early literacy skills refer to childrenââ¬â¢s exposure and experience with books. The following list is derived from Schickendanz (1999) and Early Literacy (www. zerotothree. com) . It states that early literacy behaviors include: ? Book handling behaviors ââ¬â handling and manipulating the book ? Looking and Recognizing- how are they paying attention to the book, pictures, words; demonstrating recognition of pictures, etc. ? Picture and Story Comprehension ââ¬â Imitation of actions noted in a story, talking about a story ? Story-Reading Behaviors ââ¬â verbal interactions with the books, imitating a pointing a finger at words and/or pictures. ââ¬ËEstablishing strong early literacy behaviors is essential to literacy development and should be the focus of early language and literacy programsââ¬â¢ (Early Literacy, 2003) It is suggested that these skills develop naturally and unfold as a result of social interactions with parents and caregivers, rather than direct instruction. I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. Ideally, it is everyday interactions with infants and toddlers that include talking and book reading that help establish the crucial beginning stages of literacy development. I recently heard on a radio program (canââ¬â¢t cite it) that children between the ages of 0-3 years should hear approximately 30,000 words a day to build an effective vocabulary! Amazing. Todd Risley, co-author of Meaningful differences in the 3 everyday Experiences of young American children (Mangione, 2005), states that isnââ¬â¢t an intentional teaching of these behaviors but rather embedded in the social interactions. He believes, as do I, that oral language skills appear to be the basis of phonological processing skills, which is a strong indicator for reading readiness in kindergarten. As children move into the preschool realm, (typically described as ages 3 through 5), prereading skills are developing along a continuum, rather than as a set of discrete and separate skills. In the article Critical Issue: Addressing the literacy Needs of Emergent and Early Readers (www. ncrel. org), the authors made a very interesting point Iââ¬â¢d like to share with you. They discussed the various stages of literacy development that are not relevant to this article, however, an important transition occurs when a childââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"ââ¬Ëreadingââ¬â¢ of a story changes from sounding like oral language to sounding like written language. This demonstrates a change in ideas from thinking of reading as spoken words to understanding that reading is recreated from written text that has special wordingsâ⬠(McGee & Richgels, 1996;Sulzby, 1991). It is the beginning of the childââ¬â¢s print recognition. With respect to specific pre-school literacy behaviors that we should see addressed in a high-quality preschool program, the most important would be: ? Oral Language- engaging in rich conversational exchange with students, developing oral vocabulary, reading aloud daily, having children develop their own stories by looking at pictures (Tomie DiPola books are excellent for this) ? General Knowledge ââ¬â what prior knowledge are the studentââ¬â¢s coming into school with that they share, encouraging questions and new experiences with in the classroom, ? Print Awareness- being exposed to various written materials, some repetition of early literacy behaviors, point/drag techniques while reading ? Alphabet knowledge ââ¬â the ABC song, recognizing sounds that letters make, letter recognition. ? Phonological awareness- Increased awareness of the sounds of the letters and how to play with them through rhyme, segmenting, blending, ? Pre-writing skills ââ¬â later stages of development and exposure to writing mediums (pen, pencil, crayon, markers, paint), using journals with self-made pictures, word walls. (Roskos, K; Christie, J, Richgels, D, www. naeyc. org) How do participants in high-quality preschool programs benefit? I think I could go on for days about the benefits of an excellent preschool experience. For the sake of brevity, I wonââ¬â¢t! Numerous studies have been conducted to determine whether preschool programs are beneficial and cost effective. The majority of studies suggest the answer to that is an overwhelming YES. 4 The Chicago Child Parent Center (CPC), the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program and the Abecedarian Project are all examples of highly qualified preschool programs. The CPC is recognized by the US Department of Education as an exemplary early childhood program. A comparison of the benefits of these programs was conducted, yielding what I thought were incredible results. These programs have been in effect since the 1960ââ¬â¢s, servicing low-income areas in Chicago and Michigan (Lee, J, www.ccsso. org). In a speech given by Dr. W. Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Intervention Research in 2006, three separate studies compared the results of participants enrolled in the above-mentioned preschool programs against a control group that wasnââ¬â¢t enrolled in any preschool program. Their longitudinal studies revealed amazing results, which are credited to the attending of the preschool programs. According to them, participants in the program (as compared with non-participants): ? Were less likely to be enrolled in special education ? Had a higher rate of high school completion ? Demonstrated higher test scores ? Were less likely to repeat a grade ? Had increased earning after completing high school ? Engaged in less criminal activities ? Had a lower incidence of smoking, pregnancy and abortion. These benefits did not stop at the poverty line. They also demonstrated that middle class children benefited from the experience as well. He discussed the well-known fact that disadvantaged children benefit more when they are in class with children from different socio-economic backgrounds. An analysis I found very interesting was that ââ¬ËFor every dollar invested into the preschool programs described in this paper $7 is saved in public expendituresââ¬â¢ (Lee. www. ccsso. org). WOW, think what that could mean to a superintendentââ¬â¢s budget! When trying to determine whether a preschool program could benefit those in the middle class, the US Dept. of Education, NCES, (1997) article entitled Dropout rates in the United States:1995 determined that middle class children have fairly high rates of the problems that preschool reduces for low-income children. While benefits decrease gradually with an income increase, the overall benefits are greater when ALL children are exposed to PreK. In an evaluation of 5 state prek programs conducted by Barnett,W. S, Lamy, C. and Jung, K. (2005), results revealed that in all programs, whether universal or targeted, students demonstrated gains in language, literacy and math. While all students (various SES backgrounds) gained, the low-income students gained more. Sooooooâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ ¦ 5 How do we go about establishing high-quality preschool literacy programs? In an ideal world with unlimited funding, it wouldnââ¬â¢t be too difficult. However, we donââ¬â¢t live in an ideal world and much needed financing is often diverted to other important (or not so important! ) causes. Really, what is more important than education? One resolution could be to emulate the success demonstrated by the Chicago and Michigan programs spoken about earlier in this paper. In Rockland County, some school disctricts already offer a district-based preschool program. This year, all districts were alloted slots to participate in a Universal PreK initiative. However, while that is an excellent start to establishing a much needed entity, a lot of work still exists. During my research gathering I read many, many articles that discussed the family-centered literacy approach. Such as at the CPC, involving the parents and providing them with strategies and useful techniques to help their children empowers them and makes them feel useful and successful. Without parental involvement at the preschool level, literacy development suffers. Since the institution of NCLB, many school disstricts are seeking wasys to provide needed support to their students without it becoming a ââ¬Ëspecial edââ¬â¢ component or target program. Instituting a universal prek program benefits all. Looking at the various achievement gaps that Dr. Barnett identified in his paper, while there is significantly more of an achievement gap at the lower SES levels, there are still marked gaps in the middle class level, thus further justifying why ALL students would benefit from the experience. In an effort to establish successful high-quality preschool programs in Texas, the retired CEO of Texas Instruments was aware of the huge impact the Perry Preschool Program had on its communities and he was eager to replicate that success in Texas. Therefore, after establishing a successful pilot program, the participants wanted to be able to spread the success throughout the state and a handbook ââ¬Å"Improving Early Literacy of Preschool Childrenââ¬â¢ was developed for prekindergarten educators. The authors and editors really were able to target what a high-quality program looks like with suggestions on how to implement them into your existing programs. The following steps are indicated to improve a preschool program: ? Set goals ? Create an improvement plan ? Build a classroom library ? Train the teachers and encourage collaboration? Keep rack of studentââ¬â¢s progress ? Inform and involve parents 6 ? Communicate with elementary schools the children will attend ? Measure and document results (Dougherty, 1999) All of these steps are so important to developing a program that is successful. It is hard to determine whether one step is more important than another. Personally, I really feel that if the teachers and the teaching assistants and/or aides are given the proper training, every interaction with a child will take on new meaning. The Margaret Cone Head Start Center in Southeast Dallas has serviced predominantly low-income populations. As part of their language enrichment program (LEAP), each teacher attends six weeks of instruction at the nearby university as well as several workshops a year. Because of these teacher trainings, Cone Center children have produced improved scores on a variety of tests targeting vocabulary, language skills and social skills. I believe that involving the parents as much as possible and having them in the classroom for a half-day a week or twice a month lets them see what is happening and provides modeling they can use at home. Obstacles that I can identify at this point to establishing high-quality preschool programs that ALL children can attend include: ? FUNDING ? Private preschool programs vs. school district based programs ? Consistent participation on the part of the parents ? Difficulty providing quality training programs for the teachers and teaching assistants/aides due to lack of funding, time, resources While I feel there are many excellent examples of qualified and successful preschool programs in Rockland County, we do not meet the needs of all the children of the preschool age. As CPSE chair, I am able to provide special education needs to many children that require it. However, there is great variability between the programs that we recommend students attend. Consistent high-quality preschool programs would be beneficial to ALL students involved, not just the special needs children. In conclusion, it is a well-documented fact that preschool literacy education benefits all children involved. The need lies in our ability to establish high-caliber programs that are consistent, with staff that is well trained and caring. I think if we can distribute the information about the long-term effects researched and prove to the masses (school boards! ) that the bottom line would be cost savings to the community, we might see some change. I look forward to that day! References 1. Schweinhart, L. J. Lasting Benefits of Preschool Programs ERIC Digest. ericdigests. org. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www. ericdigests. org/1994/lasting. htm 2. Dougherty, C. , et al. Improving Early Literacy of Preschool Children ââ¬â a Handbook for Prekindergarten Educators. Texas Instruments, 1999. 3. Lee, J. The Benefits of Preschool for High School and Beyond. Council of Chief State School Officers. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www. ccsso. org 4. Roskos, K. A. , Christie, J. F. & Richgels, D. J. The Essentials of Early Literacy Instruction. National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved February 23, 2008, from www. naeyc. org/resources/journal 5. Mangione, P. L. (2005). Creating Language and Literacy Experiences for Infants and Toddlers. PITC Graduate Conference. Berkeley, CA. 6. Johnson, D. & Sulzby, E. Critical Issue: Addressing the Literacy Needs of Emergent and Early Readers. North Central Regional Educational Library. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from http://www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li100. htm 7. Barnett, W. (2006, Jan. 10). Research on the Benefits of Preschool Education: Securing High Returns from Preschool for All Children. New York, NY. 8. Brain Wonders. Early Literacy (2003). Zero To Three. Retrieved January 24, 2008, from www. zerotothree. org/BrainWonders
Monday, September 16, 2019
Ball and Brown Essay
In 1968 Raymond Ball and Phillip Brown published ââ¬ËAn empirical evaluation of accounting income numbersââ¬â¢ in the Journal of Accounting research. After an initial lukewarm response from the academic community it rapidly became what the American Accounting Association now calls ââ¬Ëthe seed that made a differenceââ¬â¢. The purpose of this essay is to introduce the study of Ball and Brown(motivations, research questions and findings) and identify its significant contributions in capital markets research. Introduction According to the resources provided, Ball and Brown described the motivation for their study as a test of existing scholarly research that painted a dim picture of reported earnings. The early articles concluded that earnings could not be informative, and therefore major changes to accounting practice where necessary to correct the problem. In their research, Ball and Brown sought to answer the simple fundamental research question: are accounting income numbers useful? Their position was summarised: ââ¬Å"An empirical evaluation of accounting income numbers requires agreement as to what real-world outcome constitutes an appropriate test of usefulness. Because net income is a number of particular interest to investors, the outcome we use as a predictive criterion is the investment decision as it is reflected in security pricesâ⬠(Ball and Brown 1968). Ball and Brown found that when stocks had a positive income surprise, the abnormal stock price returns for the event window were also likely to be positive, and vice versa. They also found that a majority of the increase in the abnormal returns was before the announcement date, which implied that analysts have fairly accurate forecasts of whether firms will outperform or underperform. Significance of their contributions Although there does have some limitations in Ball and Brownââ¬â¢s study, it had a significant impact on later research. Ball and Brown (1968) provide compelling evidence that there is information content in accounting earnings announcements. In the meantime, they correlate the sign of the abnormalà stock return in the month of an earnings announcement with the sign of the earnings change of a certain firmââ¬â¢s earnings in a previous year earnings. Starting with Ball and Brown (1968), many studies used such association with stock returns to compare alternative accounting performance measures, such as historical cost earnings, current cost earnings, residual earnings, operating cash flows, and so on. As Watts and Zimmerman point out, most accounting research since Ball and Brown (1968) has been positive, and the role of accounting theory is no longer normative. Ball and Brown (1968) heralded the positive-economics-based empirical capital markets research in the late 1960s.Concurrent developments in economics and finance constituted the theoretical and methodological impetus to the early capital markets research in accounting. In addition, their study initially provides reliable evidence that stock markets can influence annual reports. Then researchers began to do a lot in reflect of stock market. Furthermore, the method used is also applicable to a large number of accounting and financial issues, including dividend announcements, earnings announcements, mergers and acquisitions, and investment spending. 3. Conclusion Ball and Brown (1969) expressed a view of information in markets that was revolutionary and contributed to a significant change in attitudes towards investing and financial markets. By testing the connection between earnings expectations and share price changes they were the genesis of a body of research that now underpins modern day investment processes. References Jackson, S. (1999), ââ¬Å"Australia: Towns get by without their banksâ⬠, The Australian. pp. 3. Phillips, N. and Malhotra, N. (2008). ââ¬ËTaking social construction seriously: extending the discursiveapproach in institutional theoryââ¬â¢. In Greenwood, R., Oliver, C., Sahlin, K. and Suddaby, R. (Eds),Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism. London: Sage, 602ââ¬â720. How can responsible international mining and oil companies use their social investment funds? Nikolai, Bazley, and Jefferson Jones. Intermediate Accounting. South-Western College Pub, 209 Massoud, M. and C. Raiborn(2003), ââ¬Å"Accounting for Goodwill: Are We Better Off?,â⬠Review of Business, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 26-32. Ball and Brown (1968): The seed that made a difference, Ball, R., and Brown, P. (1968), ââ¬Å"An empirical evaluation of accounting income numbersâ⬠, Journal of Accounting Research 6 (2), pp.159-178 Watts and Zimmerman (1979), ââ¬Å"The Demand for and Supply of Accounting Theories: The Market for Excusesâ⬠, The Accounting Review, Vol. 54, No. 2, American Accounting Association. ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Ho Ching Leadership Essay
Mr. GPower, in the reading, described as the capacity to cause change and influence. Ho Chingââ¬â¢s has been recognized and ranked at 18 in Asiaââ¬â¢s most powerful people. According to the reading and further research, Ching is an influential leader because she brought a company from failing. In this basis, the company is successful not only with the CEO but the workers he or she employ. In receiving awards, she must have influenced someone to receive recognition. When Temasek Holdings was losing revenue Ching step up to the challenge to bring the company back on their feet. She did not focus on the company but also expanding the companyââ¬â¢s potential. She has the power to influence because she started from the bottom and rose to become the CEO. In her influential speech, she has disclosed the companyââ¬â¢s annual report proving the employees and to the public that the companyââ¬â¢s performance is changing for the better and the results from the workerââ¬â¢s achi evements. According to a previous class in Phoenix, Accounting, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) provides company annual reports to the public, but in some part of Asia these information are not public. Chingââ¬â¢s bold decision to make this public gave her employee a reason to trust her decision even more. When Ching took in the position as CEO she wants to make the company more diversified, with third invested in Singapore, third in Asia and some of the developed eastern countries. According to Thomas White International, when Ching was reconfiguring the company, majority of the staff comprised of Singaporeans. In 2007, staff diversify from people in 22 different countries and 40% of the senior management are not home grown (2010). The referred power Ho Ching uses are referent power and legitimate power. According to Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, referent power has strong interpersonal ties with subordinates. Ching strengthens the relationship with senior management to the workers (2009). Her legitimate power come from experience from rising up the ranks. Her decision to make changes and vision for the future of the company gives her followers to become motivated to work for the better of the companyââ¬â¢s success.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Empire of the Sun Essay
Empire of the Sun In this essay will be talking about how Ballard shows Jim changing over the course of the book The Empire of the Sun. I am splitting the essay into 5 paragraphs: What Jim is like at the start of the novel, Jimââ¬â¢s first upheaval, the prison camps, the way Dr Ransong and Bassie treat Jim and the contrast, finally what Jim is like at the end of the novel. At the start of this book, Ballard shows us a typical English schoolboy living in Shanghai. This boy Jim and his family are very wealthy, so you can imagine what sort of lifestyle Jim was living in: Big house, servants that he can call on 24/7, a bike, many toys including aeroplanes. Then there are his clothes: A school blazer and cap. He is also is taught Latin. This shows us that he is very much surrounded by money and anything he could ever wish for. This creates an impression that he leads a very sheltered life and that he does understand reality. Jim has a very normal life. Everything is working well for him. Until one day before he starts school, the Chinese fleet attack the ââ¬Å"Petrolâ⬠(a Japanese gun boat. ) This is the first big upheaval in Jimââ¬â¢s life. This is totally unexpected to Jim. Nothing like this has ever happened before in Jimââ¬â¢s life, so it comes as a surprise to him. Ballard gives us the sense that Jim is a very ignorant boy because he thought that he started the war when he was flash his light at the opposite Chinese gun boat, and after the bombs had gone he still thought that he would go to school. This shows a lack of maturity and common sense. This gives us a very bad picture of what Jim is like as a person. He thinks that he will still be able to go to school even though there is a war going on. Most people would think that he would be mad to think that. Ballard makes us see Jim as a very naive person. During the book, Jim spends a lot of the time in a prison camp. When he gets to the first camp, he befriends an American called Bassie. He persuades Bassie to help him find his parents in return for a reward. This gives Bassie an opportunity to use Jim for any errands that he has for Jim, and for this Jim gets a little something in return. This is a complete change of lifestyle for Jim. He normally gets people to do his work for him, but now Bassie is making him do work for him. During his stay at the detention centre, Jim experiences hunger, disease and hallucinations. This again is another new experience for Jim. If he had the slightest illness when he was with his parents, he would get the best treatment for the illness, but now he has lost his parents, he has to fend for himself. I think he copes with it very well. He manages to survives and moves on with his life When Jim and Bassie to another camp called Lunghua, Dr Ransong starts teaching him Latin. I think the reason he does is to try and keep Jim as a child. This is because he is losing his childhood because of the war. It is just trying to keep Jim safe until he matures fully. The way Dr Ransong and Bassie treat Jim are very different. Dr Ransong tries to keep Jim as a child to try and protect him from any dangers that occur. Bassie on the other hand, he treats Jim as a young adult. This is because Bassie want Jimââ¬â¢s trust so that he can do more for him. Bassie tries to keep Jim alive by telling him the way to survive is to steal the metal food bowls in the detention centre from the dead people. So Jim is split two ways, Dr Ransong is trying to maintain Jimââ¬â¢s ignorance of the world by keeping his childhood to keep him safe, and Bassie is trying to make Jim look at the world very broadly so that Jim can survive and so Jim can keep doing jobs for Bassie. At the end of the novel, Jim is a transformed child. He has gone from being a nai ve 10 year old, to being a mentally scarred 14 year old with a certain understanding of war and life in general. He has lost his childhood completely because of the death and war that he has experienced.
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