Required to perform an Analysis of Variance using SPSS Essay

Required to perform an Analysis of Variance using SPSS - Essay Example The observed result is the level of sales in that locality in the fortnight following the appearance of the first advertisement. From the two way analysis of variance, it can be observed that the main effect length and media are significant. This is because the significant value of media is 0.000; the significant value of media is 0.0000 which are less than 0.05 level of confidence. This implies that there is significant difference in the main effects. The significant value of the interaction of main effect media and length is equal to 0.001 which is less than 0.05 level of confidence. This implies that there is significant difference in the interaction. The percentage of the value of sales volume accounted by the model is 78.4%. This is because that value of R-squared is equal to 0.784. From the mean comparison of the sales posted though the Tv or radio advertisement, it can be observed that the value of significant difference indicate that there is no significant difference in the mean sales of the given by either Tv or Radio. From the pairwise combination of medium and length, it can be observed that the combination of long length and radio form of advertisement give the least sales. This implies that the combination of advertisement of long length and radio is the one that cannot be used for

Last Call at the Oasis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Last Call at the Oasis - Essay Example The problem at hand within the American community is hidden by the fact that water delivery is sufficient to every citizen. However, the grim reality is that the American society is faced with looming shortages in water supply if means to curb the over utilization of water is not observed. Water pollution is not a new phenomenon and its is expounded in the film raising need for conservative measures to be pursued. The world is covered with seventy percent of water content, but only a mere 0.7 percent of the total water available is fresh and fit for use. This in itself is alarming and presents a serious challenge for the country and the globe at large. Water depletion across the globe is commensurate to the rapid and steady increase in population. The American society has been secure about availability of water a scenario that has been a far cry in developing countries where access to clean water safe for consumption is a daunting task. People have to travel long distances to access different water sources as reflected in the documentary. The problem faced by people from different locations cannot be isolated from the actions of Americans as water is a global crisis. Water pollution is not a new term in conservation circles, but its amplification in the documentary necessitates consideration of alternatives to avert a looming crisis across the world. Water pollution is a phenomenon that relates to the direct contamination of different water bodies ranging from rivers, lakes, groundwater, oceans, and aquifers (Last Call at the Oasis). Water pollution poses different challenges to a population if not addressed as it not only affects human beings, but also the activities they are engaged in for the generation of revenue. Clean water is a source for a thriving community a fact that is contradicted by individual actions contributing to the pollution of water bodies. The United States is at a precarious position in the need for water conservation efforts given its le ading consumption of water status across the world. Pollution and its effects can be traced to the drops in water levels as indicated in the documentary with the example of Lake Mead, which has been used for the generation of electricity and supply of water has only forty percent of its capacity filled with water. Pollution of water within the American society and across the globe can be linked to unsustainable water use patterns. The use of water in the modern society can best be described as overly wasteful and alarming to the future generation’s ability of accessing clean and fresh water. The wasteful behaviors can be credited for the over eighty percent of water that is used for agricultural process and other food production systems a phenomenon that cuts across the globe. Water pollution and the misuse of water resources in the American society are intertwined with a fine example being activities highlighted in the documentary such flushing of toilets and watering of law ns (Dropbox). Toilets whose capacity is estimated at above six gallons contribute to the waste and pollution of water and thus such water closets should be replaced with others whose capacity is minimal. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is criticized in the documentary for the lack of clear policies regulating water usage and pollution. Water contamination takes different forms from basic pollution at the domestic level to complex

Teacher Tenure Essay Example for Free

Teacher Tenure Essay One issue among many issues in today’s education system is teacher tenure. The problem with teacher tenure is that it makes firing an incompetent teacher virtually impossible. Many teachers in public schools have tenure, according to Education Reporter; approximately 80% of public school teachers have tenure (â€Å"Why Bad Teachers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  1). This in turn then affects the amount the students learn and progress. In order for the education system to improve the problem of teacher tenure, needs to find a solution. The amount of time and money required to fire a tenured teacher makes it difficult to remove underperforming teachers, and affects students. Tenured teachers are difficult to be fired because of the amount of money and time required by the schools and state. In many states it can take almost a year to fire a tenured teacher, there are even some states where it could take over a year to fire a tenured teacher. According to ProCon.org, in the state of Michigan it can take up to 355 days to fire a tenured teacher (â€Å"Teacher Tenure† 1). In an Education Reporter article â€Å"Why Bad Teachers†¦Ã¢â‚¬  it states that the Ney York State School Boards Association found that it takes an average of 455 days to dismiss a tenured teacher (1). This process of firing a tenured teacher also costs the state a lot of money, according to ProCon.org a school in Los Angeles a three and a half million dollars to try and fire 7 under performing teachers (â€Å"Teacher Tenure† 3). Due to the amount of time and money required of the schools and states, they are not firing underperforming teachers. According to â€Å" Pro tecting Bad Teachers,† in a Chicago school district 28.5% of 11th grade students met or exceeded expectations on Chicago’s state standardized tests, only 0.1% of teachers were dismissed for performance related reasons between 2005 and 2006 (1). â€Å"Between 1995 and 2005, only 112 Los Angeles tenured teachers faced termination – eleven per year – out of 43,000. And that’s in a school district where the graduation rate in 2003 was just 51 percent, (â€Å"Protecting Bad Teachers† 1). As reported by ProCon.org in â€Å"Teacher Tenure,† 81% of school administrators reported that they knew of a poorly performing tenured teacher at their school; however 86% administrators said they do not always pursue dismissal, (1). The point is that teachers that are not meeting the standards still have their jobs, because the school districts and statescannot afford to spend the time and money on firing them; they therefore continue to teach and it directly affects student test scores and graduation rate. There are cases although where the school instead of firing the teacher they move them to different positions. In LA and San Francisco they pay suspended teachers to answer phones, work in ware houses, or just stay home. One case of a teacher being moved is that of Patricia Adams, her story can be found in the New Yorker’s article â€Å"The Rubber Room,† (2-3). In November of 2005, Adams was found unconscious in her classroom, the principal tried to wake her up but she did not wake up. A teacher at the scene reported that he could smell what he believed to be alcohol on her. Adams two years later returned to teach one last semester and then a secretary position, as long as she had not found another teaching job, and she would be required to have random alcohol testing. In February of 2009, she passed out in the office she worked in a drug and alcohol testing services technician was called to the scene and reported that Adams could not even blow into a breathalyzer and her water bottle contained alcohol. Adams was eventually fired, but cost the school and state a decent amount of money. People like Patricia Adams should be fired when the first incident occurs so they do not cost the state any more money. Tenured teachers that are under performing are not being fired because of the amount of money and time they cost states and schools. Underperforming teachers are not fired due to the amount of money and time required to fire them and in turn affect student’s learning. In some cases teachers that are not performing to standards are moved to â€Å"Rubber Rooms,† where they will do the least amount of â€Å"damage† to a student’s education, these rooms normally contain remedial students. However, there are some extreme cases where teachers are put in a room and are not responsible for students. In New York City according to The New York Daily News† there is an average of 700 teachers being paid not to teach, because it would cost too much to fire them, (â€Å"Protecting Bad Teachers† 2). In The New Yorker it describes a Rubber Room â€Å"It’s a June morning, and there are fifteen people in the room, four of them fast asleep, their heads lying on a card table. Three are playing a board game. Most of the others stand around chatting. Two are arguing over one of the folding chairs. But there are no children here. The inhabitants are all New York City schoolteachers who have been sent to what is officially called a Temporary Reassignment Center but which everyone calls a Rubber Room,† (The Rubber Room 1). The author then states that these teachers stay in the Rubber Room and get paid to do nothing for an average of three years. These teachers take money from the system and affect the students. A student’s success is dependent on consistently having a good teacher. As stated in the New Yorker, â€Å"Kids succeeding in school isn’t money spent on buildings or books, but, rather the quality of their teachers†¦ ‘having a top-quartile teacher rather than a bottom-quartile teacher four years in a row would be enough to close the black-white test score gap,’†(The Rubber Room 4). A student simply cannot be successful in school if they do not have a good teacher. Early elementary students can suffer long – term negative effects, even if they have good teachers later on. The way concepts build on each other throughout school make it very difficult to catch up after a year with a bad teacher. In the MET project it states â€Å"Teachers previously identified as more effective caused students to learn more. Groups of teachers who had been identified as less effective caused students to learn less,† (Ensuring Fair†¦Effective Teaching 3). The success of students relies on the effectiveness of their teachers. In order for the education system to improve, the majority of teachers need to be effective in their teaching styles. There are many different possible solutions to the problem with teacher tenure, including the Peer Intervention Program Plus, taking away tenure, and more effective ratings of teachers. The Peer Intervention Program Plus (P.I.P. Plus), is a program in which teachers suspected of incompetence are observed by a peer teacher for up to a year; at the end the peer then submits a report as to if the teacher was incompetent. This program would allow for the peer to help the teacher improve their teaching and keep the teacher before they would be fired. Another solution is to not have tenure anymore, schools would save money because they would not have to pay incompetent teachers and would not spend money to fire them. Tenure is not needed for some teachers to apply, according to ProCon.org; 900 teachers applied for 80 openings knowing there was no tenure (â€Å"Teacher Tenure† 1). More effective ratings of teachers would also help solve the issue of teacher tenure. These ratings should not be based solely on test scores but balanced with observations as well as student surveys. Many teachers receive one of the top two ratings, because the principals know they cannot fire bad tenured teachers anyways. Teachers could also be evaluated by â€Å"value-added scores,† with this system teachers add value when a student improves in a year. In conclusion the best overall best solution is a combination of the solutions suggested above. Joel Klein and Michael Bloomberg took over the New York school system and their success in the schools is described in the New Yorker. Klein and Bloomberg have a very aggressive approach to removing bad teaches, they also used P.I.P Plus. In the New Yorker school teacher Brandi Scheiner is quoted, â€Å"‘Before Bloomberg and Klein, everyone knew that an incompetent teacher would realize it and leave on their own†¦There was no need to push anyone out,’† (â€Å"The Rubber Room† 1). Bloomberg and Klein’s aggressive tactics to remove teachers have been successful, both graduation rates and test scores have improved since they took over. The principals also play a role in firing of teachers and are therefore responsible in pointing out incompetent teachers and removing them from teaching. An example of a pro-active teacher is Daysi Garcia; she is a princip al in Queens and according to Klein a standout principal. Garcia is motivated to remove incompetent teachers and in the New Yorker is quoted after spending 5 days testifying to remove a teacher, â€Å"‘when I think about the impact of a teacher like this on the children and how long that lasts, it’s worth it, even if it is hard,’† (â€Å"The Rubber Room† 5). Before the education system can improve principals need to step up and remove incompetent teachers. The issue of teacher tenure also needs to be resolved.

Achieving Operational Excellence with JIT (Just in Time)

Achieving Operational Excellence with JIT (Just in Time) The main method used in the race to gain Operational Excellence is JIT (Just in Time). JIT is an inventory strategy that Slack (1998) describes as producing goods and services exactly when they are needed The introduction of JIT (Just in Time) in Japan in the 1950s and early 1960s proved successful for the Toyota Motor Company and rapidly spread to further manufacturing plants. This report will explore JIT in further detail and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of employing such techniques in a range of manufacturing plants however there will be a large focus on Nissan Manufacturing UK. There is a range of planning and control techniques that can be implemented along side JIT to enhance the approach and can be fundamental to the overall success of JIT. They all stem from similar philosophical views of JIT. The author will be conducting research into the following methods some of which fall under the umbrella term Lean Manufacturing. This will also be explored in further detail in this report: MRPI (Materials Requirement Planning) or as it is now known as MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning). MRP is a system that oversees planning and inventory control. It ensures materials and resources are available when needed for production. It calculates the rate of end productivity being created from the line. Through the employment of JIT delivery of materials and interlinked delivery schedules, the MRP system manages the stock level so there is the lowest amount of inventory possible. Total Quality Management (JIT/TQM) is a method that emphasises the importance of quality management in all process in the organisation. Flynn (1995) believes the use of TQM practices leads to improved JIT performance by reducing manufacturing process variance. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) refers to the reduction of unplanned breakdowns by careful maintenance. It focuses on carefully structured maintenance procedures that reduce the possibility of down time due to malfunctioning of machinery. Cua (2001) states that TPM has†¦an indirect relationship through JIT with low cost, high levels of quality and strong delivery performance Setup Reduction (SUR) has a purpose of reducing the time, effort, and cost associated with changing a process from one activity to another Slack (1998). This involves reviewing the simple mechanical changes carried out on the line and making them more efficient using an array of methods that will be discussed in this report. Kanban is Japanese for card or signal. It is known for being pull-based planning of inventory control in comparison to the push-based planning of MRP. Slack (1998) describes Kanban in its simplest terms is a card used by a customer stage to instruct its supplier stage to send more materials This report will go into detail about the different types of Kanban and how they work along side JIT. The Authors Background Whilst working in the IT department at Nissan Sunderland during a placement year the author became very interested in the logistics and operational side of the company. Before Nissan, the author had no concept of how a company would go about implementing procedures and methods that would be operating in the factory to obtain optimum end results. The methods Nissan use to promote Operational Excellence were especially apparent during the year of 2008 which has been one of the most difficult and challenging years for all involved due to the economic climate, however it proved especially demanding for car manufacturers. The author was witness to redundancy, cut backs, and labour flexibility all of which were emergency policies in response to the economic climate to ensure the companys future. JIT was especially imperative during this time period as car sales severely declined. As Nissan had taken the JIT approach to their manufacturing it meant they did not have a large amount of stock that had been paid for but could not be utilised in the manufacturing of cars due to very few orders. Nissan utilises JIT and many of the methods mentioned in the introduction which will all be investigated to allow the author to evaluate how they enable a company to obtain operational excellence. Literature review Duggan (2007) describes Operational Excellence at operationalemployee level as being when each and every employee can see the flow of value to the customer, and fix that flow when it breaks down. However Glass (2008) describes Operational Excellence in wider context and believes it involves the company establishing a business-wide vision, measuring process performance against ideal and involving cross-sections of people in developing and implementing solutions. Accenture define Operational Excellence as sustaining operational performancethrough continuous improvement Continuous improvement can also be known as the Japanese word Kaizen which directly translated stands for Change and Good. The philosophy of Kaizen believes in continuing improvement involving everyone Kaizen Institution (2009). Companies need to take a Kaizen approach if they wish to pursue their end goal of achieving operational excellence. Smith (2002) believes that taking a Kaizen approach has helped many firms all across the globe to achieve better operational excellence and improve their productivity. Through the introduction of Kaizen in Nissan factories Nissan believe Failure is no longer viewed as a negative but as an opportunity for reflection, re-evaluation and the foundation for improvement NMUK (2009) and the improvements now highlighted in the company are the result of very small Kaizen activities rather than huge company wide activities. NMUK ( 2009) Kaizen however can also be viewed in a negative light; Corrigan (2005) believes it fails to reach the right diagnosis about the nature of the problem Nick Rich who held Toyotas Elite Scholarship in Japan and is now a Director of the innovative manufacturing research centre based at Cardiff University, also holds a negative stance on the philosophy of Kaizen stating Kaizen just pushes the problem around the plant never getting the source of the issue and upsetting most people who come to work to do a good job. Mackle (2009) believes to use Kaizen may have a part to play in the implementation of change: it is not the right tool for analysing what to change or designing what to change to. Lean Manufacturing is a common method of improving manufacturing operations. It is described as being A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the demand of the customer. ProcessPro Software (2009) Strategos Consultancy (2009) believes Lean Manufacturing also refers to manufacturing without waste. This waste or muda as it is known in Japan can be measure by various factors: obsolete inventory, preventable processing steps, unnecessary transportation of goods or people, time delays and poor quality of good. Most companies waste 70%-90% of their available resources. Even the bestLean Manufacturers probably waste 30%. TimeCompression.com (2004) Lean production is the name given to a group of highly efficient manufacturing techniques developed (mainly by large Japanese companies) in the 1980s and early 1990s. Lean production was seen as the third step in an historical progression, which took industry from the age of the craftsman through the methods of mass production and into an era that combined the best of both. It has been described as the most fundamental change to occur since mass production was brought to full development by Henry Ford early in the 20th century. Economist.com (2009) Manufacturing companies are using the fall in sales due economic downturn as a chance to reassess their manufacturing procedures and look for opportunities to improve their Lean Manufacturing methods. Operational Excellence can be measured by a variety of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are dependant on the company striving to meet all the agreed best practises. Traditional measures of lead time, on-time delivery, and quality are all good because they will support flow. To help build operational excellence, here are a few new ones: The amount of suppliers on a formal connections (as a percentage higher is better) The amount of suppliers with a formal alert system (as a percentage higher is better) The number of alerts that occur (at first, higher is better, as the problems are being made visible) The number of customer impacts from the supply chain (as a percentage lower is better) Duggan K (2006). Quality in delivery All our deliveries will be of the predefined quality and will always cover the full scope. Cost-efficiency All our assignments and undertakings will always be as cost-efficient as possible. We will proactively suggest measures to cut costs and use efficient tools and methods to deliver at the required cost. Commitment to delivery All our deliveries will be on time. Sigma Kudos (2009) THE HISTORY OF LEAN MANUFACTURING QUOTES JAMES P WOMACK JIT is the most common pull manufacturing process. The basic method is that production at one level only happens when triggered by a request at the higher level, for example components are pulled onto the production line when activated by a customer order on a website. Hutchins (1999) explains JIT as being The term used to indicate that a process is capable of instant response to demand without the need for any overstocking, either in expectation of the demand being forthcoming or as a result of inefficiencies in the process How does the implementation of JIT meet Operational Excellence? What other methods can be used alongside JIT to achieve Operational Excellence? Aim of the project This aim of this report is to research and evaluate how manufacturing plants use JIT and other lean manufacturing techniques to achieve Operational Excellence. Objectives of this Report: * To identify what Lean Manufacturing is. * To determine the methods used in Lean Manufacturing. * To evaluate and assess the methods used in Lean Manufacturing. * To identify how JIT assists manufacturing plants achieve Operational Excellence. * To identify how manufacturing plants measure Operational Excellence. Methodology The author will be conducting secondary research to explore how operational excellence is obtained by implementing lean manufacturing techniques such as JIT. The research found will be investigated to confirm they are from a reputable source and reflect current procedures. Choosing to use secondary research data over primary research data is a wildly debated topic however I feel in this report secondary research is advantageous as the research process can be completed efficiently by the author. Primary research on this topic would be very hard to obtain as it is a specialist topic and is usually overseen by the management of a company based on their private statistics such as profit margins, down time and productivity. Therefore an unobtrusive approach is need for researching this subject area. As qualitative research is an entire research conducted within the boundaries of trustworthiness, transferability, credibility, dependability and confirmability Pickard (2007), the author will be evaluating the source of information for all the aforementioned aspects. The author will be mainly using books and journals for her secondary research. It is important to evaluate the books for possible out dated information as they can sometimes take years to reach publication. It is also imperative to be wary of theoretical slants aimed at the academic market Saunders (2007) Journals may also be written with a bias slant, and not all academic journals are refereed Saunders (2007) therefore the relevance and usefulness will vary. The author will take this into account when conducting her research. This report will be compiled by carrying out qualitative research in order to determine the nature of the issue. The reasoning behind taking this approach is this method allows for multiple perspectives on the phenomena under study. Pickard (2007). It is also because companies can interpret Operational Excellence in various ways dependant on the business end product and the area of focus detailed in their individual policy for Operational Excellence. Therefore specific facts and figures are only relevant to each individual company and cannot be used in comparisons with other manufacturing plants. The aim of this report is to provide a complete, detailed description and evaluation of Operational Excellence and the methods used to achieve this. It is not looking at interpreting low level data and deriving information regarding the subject area. The advantage of using qualitative research is that it seeks to understand other peoples interpretations of the topic and the author will formulate a conclusion from further investigation. It can be a very subjective method of research due to the competitive nature of the manufacturing world and each company claiming to be the leader in the race for Operational Excellence. However through diligent cross examination of books, journals and websites the author will be able to filter out bias views and formulate an objective view. Nissan will be the main case study due to the authors previous work experience position within the company. Nissan will be supplying the author with some of their in-house documents and policies that are used to brief employees, supplier and customer. The author will use cross-case comparisons to support their secondary research findings and the Nissan documentation. In carrying out this comparison the author believes it will provide a solid foundation of knowledge to the topic by identifying similarities and differences. After the author completes careful analytical generalisations based on the cross-case findings this will then provide a broad understanding and insight into the topic.

Multiple Sclerosis Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Multiple Sclerosis (1) One third of a million Americans suffer from MS and a great percentage of those people are women. Women account for 73% of MS sufferers. (2) MS usually strikes young adults between the ages of 20 and 40 years old. (8) There are even some cases of MS being diagnosed in childhood. Multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects the central nervous system, attacking the brain and the spinal cord. MS attacks myelin, the fatty material that acts as a protective coating to the body's nerves. (1) The inflammation of the nerve tissues covering the nerves can affect any part of the nervous system and varies from person to person. (7) Normal nerve function decreases with the onset of MS because MS causes scars to form on the covering of the nerve. Multiple Sclerosis acquires this term because it literally means scars. (1,7) The covering of the nerve with myelin is very important so that the nerve can transmit signals rapidly and efficiently. Demylelination enables the nerve to carry impulses properly by either blocking or slowing transmission and this is why the various symptoms of MS occur. (1) Symptoms associated with Multiple sclerosis consist in a wide range. MS could cause a numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, or even paralysis. (2) There is no specific set of symptoms that a patient may experience because MS may have affected different parts of the nervous system. Some patients may experience a loss of balance, unstable walking, clumsiness, blurred vision, spasticity (a spring-like resistance to moving or being moved), abnormal speech, memory loss, impotence, and bladder problems are to name a few. (1) In any one patient the symptoms may vary with each attack. (7) The symptoms can last up to days or... ...ave MS are suffering from a disease from which there is no cure and can only have their symptoms alleviated for a while. Earlier mandatory testing should be at the forefront for the young adults that MS targets. > WWW Sources 1)What is MS?, http://www.msif.org/language_choice.html 2)What is Multiple Sclerosis, http://www.nationalmssociety.org/ILD/home/ 3)Multiple Sclerosis: Overview, http://medstat.med.utah.edu/ 4)References on Multiple Sclerosis and Marijuana , http://www.druglibrary.org/ 5)Multiple Sclerosis, Mulitiple Sclerosis Symptom, Multiple Sclerosis Treatment, http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web3/www.pychealth.com 6)My Life and Fight Against Multiple Sclerosis, http://www.angelfire.lycos.com/ 7)Multiple Sclerosis, http://health.yahoo.com/ 8)Multiple Sclerosis, http://www.msif.org/language_choice.html

Free Glass Menagerie Essays: Parallels to Williams Life and Symbolism :: The Glass Menagerie

The Glass Menagerie:   Parallels to Williams' Life and Use of Symbolism The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a touching play about the lost dreams of a southern family and their struggle to escape reality. The play is a memory play and therefore very poetic in mood, setting, and dialogue. Tom Wingfield serves as the narrator as well as a character in the play. Tom lives with his Southern belle mother, Amanda, and his painfully shy sister, Laura. The action of the play revolves around Amanda's search to find Laura a "gentleman caller. The Glass Menagerie's plot closely mirrors actual events in the author's life. Because Williams related so well to the characters and situations, he was able to beautifully portray the play's theme through his creative use of symbolism. The Glass Menagerie reflects Williams's own life so much that it could be mistaken as pages from his autobiography. The characters  and situations of the play are much like those found in the small St. Louis apartment where Williams spent part of his life. Williams himself can be seen in the character Tom. Both worked in a shoe factory and wrote poetry to escape the depressing reality of their lives, and both eventually ended up leaving. One not so obvious character is Mr. Wingfield, who is the absent father seen only by the looming picture hanging in the Wingfield's apartment. Tom and Williams both had fathers who were, as Tom says, "in love with long distances." Amanda, an overbearing mother who cannot let go of her youth in the Mississippi Delta and her "seventeen gentleman callers" is much like Williams own mother, Edwina. Both Amanda and Edwina were not sensitive to their children's feelings. In their attempts to push their children to a better future, they pushed them away. T he model for Laura was Williams' introverted sister, Rose. According to Contemporary Authors "the memory of Rose appears in some character, situation, symbol, or motif in almost every work after 1938." Edwina, like Amanda, tried to find a gentleman caller for Rose. Both situations ended with a touching confrontation with the caller and an eventual heartbreak Tennessee Williams's brilliant use of symbols adds life to the play. The title itself, The Glass Menagerie, reveals one of the most important symbols. Laura's collection of glass animals represents her fragile state. When Jim, the gentleman caller, breaks the horn off her favorite unicorn, this represents Laura's break from her unique innocence.

Characteristics of Adolescents Essay

Intellectual, moral, physical, emotional, and psychological development of Middle School students. Middle Schoolers undergo profound changes during their adolescent years, and unlike infancy, they are witnesses to these changes. Complicating things further is the fact that these changes do not occur at the same rate in each individual. While all adolescents do not share these characteristics, it is safe to say that many do. Understanding that these characteristics are developmentally â€Å"normal† is helpful. At the same time, while these changes are necessary and natural, they present challenges to parents, teachers, and Middle Schoolers themselves. Intellectual Development * Display a wide range of intellectual development. * Are in transition from concrete to abstract thinking. * Are intensely curious and dabble in a wide range of pursuits, few of which are sustained. * Prefer active over passive learning activities. * Prefer interaction with peers during learning activities. * Respond positively to opportunities to participate in real life situations. * Are often preoccupied with self. * Have a strong need for approval and may be easily discouraged. * Develop an increased understanding of personal abilities. * Are inquisitive about adults, often challenging their authority, and always observing them. * May show disinterest in conventional academic subjects but are intellectually curious about the world and themselves. * Are developing a capacity to understand high level or sophisticated humor. Moral Development * Often show compassion for those who are downtrodden or suffering and have a special concern for animals and environmental problems. * Are moving from acceptance of adult moral judgments to development of their own personal values. (Nevertheless, they tend to embrace values consistent with those of their parents.) * Are capable of and value direct experience in participatory democracy. * Greatly need and are influenced by adult role models who will listen to them and affirm their moral consciousness and actions as being trustworthy role models. * Are increasingly aware of and concerned about inconsistencies between values exhibited by adults and the conditions they see in society. Physical Development * Experience rapid, irregular growth. * Undergo body changes that might cause awkward, uncoordinated movements. * Have varying maturity rates, with girls tending to mature one-and-a-half to two years earlier than boys. * May be at a disadvantage because of the varied rates of maturity that require the understanding of caring adults. * Experience restlessness and fatigue due to hormonal changes. * Need daily physical activity because of increased energy. * Develop sexual awareness that increases as secondary sex characteristics appear. * Are concerned with body changes that accompany sexual maturation and changes resulting in an increase in nose size, protruding ears, long arms, and awkward posture. * Prefer junk food but need good nutrition. * Often lack physical fitness, with poor levels of endurance, strength, and flexibility. * Are physically vulnerable because they may adopt poor health habits or engage in risky experimentation with drugs and sex. Emotional and Psychological Development * Experience mood swings often with peaks of intensity and unpredictability. †¨ * Need to release energy, often in sudden, apparently meaningless outbursts of activity. * Seek to become increasingly independent, searching for adult identity and acceptance. * Are increasingly concerned about peer acceptance. * Tend to be self-conscious, lacking in self-esteem, and highly sensitive to criticism. * Exhibit intense concern about physical growth and maturity as profound physical changes occur. * Increasingly behave in ways associated with their gender as gender role identification strengthens. * Are concerned with many major societal issues as personal value systems develop. * Believe that their personal problems, feelings, and experiences are unique to them.