High School and Act - 1525 Words

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 The No Child Left Behind Act is designed to raise the achievement levels of subgroups of students such as African Americans, Latinos, low-income students, and special education students to a state-determined level of proficiency. However, since its introduction in 2001, it has received a lot of criticism. Some argue the ulterior motives of the Act while others commend its innovation and timing. With the Bush administration coming to an end, it is difficult to determine what will happen to the Act or how effective it will continue to be. Hopefully future lawmakers will be able to evaluate the pros and cons of the Act and the impact it will have on our youth. Lets first start by explaining†¦show more content†¦The results are broken down into categories such as race, ethnicity, disability and students with limited English. The standards for teaching are also set higher, so the students can get the best education. Another reason why the NCLB is good, by measuring the educational status and growth by ethnicity the achievement gap between white and minority students will be smaller, and ultimately the gap will close. In this day and age, there should be no reason as to why all children do not and can not receive the same education, along with the same opportunities and resources as other schools. There are tons of school throughout the country that are lacking the bare necessities to operate a successful school, such as: up to date books, enough desks for all students, lack of before and after school programs, supplies including but not limited to chalk, calculators and paper. With Bushs reinstatement of the NCLB, as he mentioned earlier this year in his State of the Union address, we can only hope that him and his Administration can keep their promises made by not leaving any child behind. In order for this to happen, he needs to give more money, at least eight billion dollars more to the NCLB. With this extra money lacking, nearly five million children are behind. This money will make it possible for there to be before and after school programs, tutoring, and making sureShow MoreRelatedCompleting high school acts as a hallmark into the world of responsibility and maturity that is1000 Words   |  4 PagesCompleting high school acts as a hallmark into the world of responsibility and maturity that is heralded by the college life. The two stages of life though completely dependent have been known to differ and be farther apart than any one may know. In high school, almost everything is termed as mandatory and prohibited, while in college, it is strongly suggested but no one is going to chase after the student to do something. Education and library worlds stand out as a reason for discussion. This thenRead MoreDo High School Students Believe the ACT is an Effective Indicator of Their Capacities to Learn?1832 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction The domain of study I chose to research was how high school students feel about having to take standardized aptitude and achievement tests, specifically the ACT exam. My problem statement is ‘do high school students believe that the ACT is an effective indicator of their capacities to learn?’ I chose focus on the ACT exam because it’s what a majority of students in the Midwest region have to take in order to get into college. The discussion of the validity of standardized tests hasRead MoreHigh School Career Is The Best Indicator For College Success Not Sat And Act Testing Scores864 Words   |  4 Pageslike my GPA shows colleges what I have done over my high school career, it shows I am dedicated.†(collegeusatoday). Says seventeen-year-old Tally Behringer. 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These three high schools at/or belowRead MoreAction Research On Act Best Practices Essay1194 Words   |  5 Pages Action Research on ACT Best Practices Jamone L. Edwards The University of Mississippi Action Research on ACT Best Practices Narrative Hook North Panola High School (NPHS) serves as a perfect model for improvement within its’ academic learning communities. Change oftentimes occurs in deliberate fashion, yet offers insight into the meticulous attention that must be given to achieve change. NPHS has traditionally struggled academically until recently. As recently as the 2009-2010Read MoreStudent Demographics Of Richmond County Schools1273 Words   |  6 PagesRichmond County School District is located in Augusta, Georgia. Augusta, Georgia is the second largest and oldest city in Georgia with a population of about 200,000. The school district includes 56 schools that serves 32, 426 students grades Pre-K through 12. There are 33 Elementary schools, 9 Middle schools, 8 Comprehensive high schools, 4 Magnet schools, 1 Special school and 1 Charter school. The student demographics of Richmond County Public Schools are: 70% African Americans, 22% White, 4% HispanicRead MoreAction Research On Act Best Practices Essay1385 Words   |  6 PagesRunning head: ACTION RESEARCH ON ACT BEST PRACTICES 1 ACTION RESEARCH ON ACT BEST PRACTICES 6 Action Research on ACT Best Practices Jamone L. Edwards The University of Mississippi Action Research on ACT Best Practices Narrative Hook North Panola High School (NPHS) serves as a perfect model for improvement within its? academic learning communities. Change oftentimes occurs in deliberate fashion, yet offer?s insight into the meticulous attention that must be given toRead MoreNo Child Left Behind Is An Act Designed985 Words   |  4 Pagesstated, No Child Left Behind is an act designed to help students achieve and learn more in the elementary through high school grade levels. The act was put into place on January 8th, 2002 by President Bush as a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind). The act was implemented into every public school in America, and has promoted the emphasis on math, reading and writing (White). The act required annual testing in schools of all students from third to eighthRead MoreStandardized Tests Don t Measure Intelligence Essay1509 Words   |  7 Pagesis, which is important and can be proven by a GPA. Many schools measure the teacher and school on how well they are teaching based on how high of a score the students place on a standardized test. The problem with this is that the people who make these standardized tests have no idea what the students have learned in the classroom so that being said, the students often are not tested on what their teacher has taught them during the school year. W. James Popham explains the mismatch of standardizedRead MoreCareer Education in American Public Schools Essay1389 Words   |  6 Pagesin school. In 2011, seven percent of American students dropped out of high school (â€Å"Dropout rates†, n.d.). CTE programs help to keep students in school because they connect what students are learning to the outside world, giving students a purpose and motivation for finishing school. They also tend to focus more on hands on learning, which can appeal to a different style of learner than traditional schooling. Secondly, CTE can improve the job outlook for students who graduate with a high school

Bulimia Nervosa Is An Eating Disorder Essay - 2102 Words

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that is most commonly found in women of teenage or young adult age (Herzog, D. B. (1982). This disorder can have very serious effects on the body. Some of these physical effects include â€Å"dental problems, inflamed esophagus, EEG abnormalities, abdominal or urinary disturbances, and changes in blood sugar level.† (Muuss, R. E. (1986). ) The mental and emotional tolls of this disorder can be equally as dangerous. According to Pompili, M., Girardi, P., Ruberto, A., Tatarelli, R. (2006) individuals with bulimia nervosa are at a higher risk for committing suicide. To be diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa, according to the DSM 5, a person must experience episodes of binge eating along with harmful behaviors meant to compensate for the binging. These behaviors often include vomiting, exercising excessively, depriving oneself of food, or using medications inappropriately to achieve weight loss. dsm.psychiatryonline.org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/doi /book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to Lundgren, J. D., Danoff-Burg, S., Anderson, D. A. (2004) a lot of research has been done on the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy in treating bulimia nervosa and it is widely believed to be the best treatment for the disorder. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is essentially the combination of cognitive therapy, designed to change unhealthy thoughts and schema, and behavioral therapy, designed to changeShow MoreRelatedEating Disorders : Bulimia Nervosa1383 Words   |  6 PagesBulimia Nervosa â€Å"Up to 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder† (Wade, Keski- Rahkonen, Hudson, 1995). 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Bulimia can be veryRead MoreBulimia Nervosa Is An Eating Disorder1420 Words   |  6 PagesBulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of the distortion on one’s body image and an obsessive desire to lose weight. It involves binge eating which is the rapid ingesting of large amounts of food, commonly followed by vomiting, fasting, or purging that is accompanied by depression. An individual with bulimia will attempt to avoid weight gain by vomiting or using laxatives, diuretics, or enemas. It is common to see a bulimic individual restrict their food intake or exercise excessivelyRead MoreEating Disorders : Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia Nervosa1303 Words   |  6 Pagesincreasing number of cases of eating disorders. According to a National Institute of Mental Health article (Eating Disorders, 2016), an eating disorder is an illness that causes physical distu rbance to your everyday diet. A person who is stressed or concerned about their body weight is a sign that he or she might have an eating disorder. Out of all the eating disorders, the two most common are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder where people, who are underweightRead MoreEating Disorders And The Treatment Of Bulimia Nervosa Essay914 Words   |  4 PagesFamilies in the Treatment of Adolescent Bulimia Nervosa Using Family-Based Treatment? Uchenna Obiagwu University of North Texas Are Single-Parent Families Different from Two-Parent Families in the Treatment of Adolescent Bulimia Nervosa Using Family-Based Treatment? A research was conducted on forty-one 17 years old female adolescent with bulimia nervosa. The purpose of the study was to examine whether family play a vital role for the treatment of bulimia nervosa. It also examine how family involvementRead MoreEating Disorders : Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia Nervosa1830 Words   |  8 Pagesneeded to be thin. She would do all she can to get thin. She would look in the mirror and see herself as being fat and ugly. So she chooses not to eat or she binge eat and then purge. Now Addie has what is called an eating disorder. An eating disorder is can be described as abnormal eating to alter the body image due to psychological reasons. According to Janet Belsky, it can also be classified as a pathological obsession with getting and staying thin. (Belsky 252) They are associated with a wide rangeRead MoreEating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa2131 Words   |  9 PagesUsing the cases of two eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and bul imia nervosa), or obesity, one can determine that health and illnesses are just as much of a societal and cultural issue, as they are a medical issue. Eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia are both mental illnesses. Anorexia nervosa involves starving oneself to avoid gaining weight, while bulimia involves binge eating followed by purging to avoid weight gain (Gerber and Macionis 2012). Both of these disorders stem from a fear ofRead MoreEating Disorders : Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, And Binge Eating1453 Words   |  6 PagesIn the United States of America 20 million women, and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life. There are three types of eating disorders, Anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating. Eating disorders can be life-threatening conditions that can affect a person’s physical health, and emotional. Something that serious has people wondering what exactly is causing these people to risk their health o n it? One possibility would be social influencesRead MoreBulimia Nervosa Is A Psychological Eating Disorder, Which1080 Words   |  5 Pages Bulimia Nervosa is a psychological eating disorder, which is considered very dangerous for life. It is described as an abnormal consumption of food in large quantities. After overeating a person has a desire to avoid of gaining weight and can expressly induce vomiting or drink laxatives in order to get rid of the negative consequences of overeating. From psychological point of view Bulimia nervosa is very painful for those who suffer this disease. A bulimic person is well aware that suchRead More The Prevalence Of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, And Binge Eating Disorder1723 Words   |  7 PagesPrevalence Of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, And Binge Eating Disorder How prevalent is anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and other eating disorders? Without the knowledge of research, one is likely to think eating disorders are quite prevalent in society today. However, research proves that eating disorders, in general, are not as prevalent as one might think without any knowledge of the subject. Prevalence of an eating disorder refers to the number of cases of an eating disorder within a population

Bag of Bones CHAPTER SIX Free Essays

string(22) " taken a single bite\." On July 3rd of 1998, I threw two suitcases and my Powerbook in the trunk of my mid-sized Chevrolet, started to back down the driveway, then stopped and went into the house again. It felt empty and somehow forlorn, like a faithful lover who has been dropped and cannot understand why. The furniture wasn’t covered and the power was still on (I understood that The Great Lake Experiment might turn out to be a swift and total failure), but 14 Benton Street felt deserted, all the same. We will write a custom essay sample on Bag of Bones CHAPTER SIX or any similar topic only for you Order Now Rooms too full of furniture to echo still did when I walked through them, and everywhere there seemed to be too much dusty light. In my study, the VDT was hooded like an executioner against the dust. I knelt before it and opened one of the desk drawers. Inside were four reams of paper. I took one, started away with it under my arm, then had a second thought and turned back. I had put that provocative photo of Jo in her swimsuit in the wide center drawer. Now I took it, tore the paper wrapping from the end of the ream of paper, and slid the photo halfway in, like a bookmark. If I did perchance begin to write again, and if the writing marched, I would meet Johanna right around page two hundred and fifty. I left the house, locked the back door, got into my car, and drove away. I have never been back. I’d been tempted to go down to the lake and check out the work which turned out to be quite a bit more extensive than Bill Dean had originally expected on several occasions. What kept me away was a feeling, never quite articulated by my conscious mind but still very powerful, that I wasn’t supposed to do it that way; that when I next came to Sara, it should be to unpack and stay. Bill hired out Kenny Auster to shingle the roof, and got Kenny’s cousin, Timmy Larribee, to ‘scrape the old girl down,’ a cleansing process akin to pot-scrubbing that is sometimes employed with log homes. Bill also had a plumber in to check out the pipes, and got my okay to replace some of the older plumbing and the well-pump. Bill fussed about all these expenses over the telephone; I let him. When it comes to fifth- or sixth-generation Yankees and the expenditure of money, you might as well just stand back and let them get it out of their systems. Laying out the green just seems wrong to a Yankee, somehow, like petting in public. As for myself, I didn’t mind the outgo a bit. I live frugally, for the most part, not out of any moral code but because my imagination, very lively in most other respects, doesn’t work very well on the subject of money. My idea of a spree is three days in Boston, a Red Sox game, a trip to Tower Records and Video, plus a visit to the Wordsworth bookstore in Cambridge. Living like that doesn’t make much of a dent in the interest, let alone the principal; I had a good money manager down in Waterville, and on the day I locked the door of the Derry house and headed west to TR-90, I was worth slightly over five million dollars. Not much compared to Bill Gates, but big numbers for this area, and I could afford to be cheerful about the high cost of house repairs. That was a strange late spring and early summer for me. What I did mostly was wait, close up my town affairs, talk to Bill Dean when he called with the latest round of problems, and try not to think. I did the Publishers Weekly interview, and when the interviewer asked me if I’d had any trouble getting back to work ‘in the wake of my bereavement,’ I said no with an absolutely straight face. Why not? It was true. My troubles hadn’t started until I’d finished All the Way from the Top; until then, I had been going on like gangbusters. In mid-June, I met Frank Arlen for lunch at the Starlite Cafe. The Starlite is in Lewiston, which is the geographical midpoint between his town and mine. Over dessert (the Starlite’s famous strawberry shortcake), Frank asked if I was seeing anyone. I looked at him with surprise. ‘What are you gaping at?’ he asked, his face registering one of the nine hundred unnamed emotions this one of those somewhere between amusement and irritation. ‘I certainly wouldn’t think of it as two-timing Jo. She’ll have been dead four years come August.’ ‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m not seeing anybody.’ He looked at me silently. I looked back for a few seconds, then started fiddling my spoon through the whipped cream on top of my shortcake. The biscuits were still warm from the oven, and the cream was melting. It made me think of that silly old song about how someone left the cake out in the rain. ‘Have you seen anybody, Mike?’ ‘I’m not sure that’s any business of yours.’ ‘Oh for Christ’s sake. On your vacation? Did you ‘ I made myself look up from the melting whipped cream. ‘No,’ I said. ‘I did not.’ He was silent for another moment or two. I thought he was getting ready to move on to another topic. That would have been fine with me. Instead, he came right out and asked me if I had been laid at all since Johanna died. He would have accepted a lie on that subject even if he didn’t entirely believe it men lie about sex all the time. But I told the truth . . . and with a certain perverse pleasure. ‘No.’ ‘Not a single time?’ ‘Not a single time.’ ‘What about a massage parlor? You know, to at least get a ‘ ‘No.’ He sat there tapping his spoon against the rim of the bowl with his dessert in it. He hadn’t taken a single bite. You read "Bag of Bones CHAPTER SIX" in category "Essay examples" He was looking at me as though I were some new and oogy specimen of bug. I didn’t like it much, but I suppose I understood it. I had been close to what is these days called ‘a relationship’ on two occasions, neither of them on Key Largo, where I had observed roughly two thousand pretty women walking around dressed in only a stitch and a promise. Once it had been a red-haired waitress, Kelli, at a restaurant out on the Extension where I often had lunch. After awhile we got talking, joking around, and then there started to be some of that eye-contact, you know the kind I’m talking about, looks that go on just a little too long. I started to notice her legs, and the way her uniform pulled against her hip when she turned, and she noticed me noticing. And there was a woman at Nu You, the place where I used to work out. A tall woman who favored pink jog-bras and black bike shorts. Quite yummy. Also, I liked the stuff she brought to read while she pedalled one of the stationary bikes on those endless aerobic trips to nowhere not Mademoiselle or Cosmo, but novels by people like John Irving and Ellen Gilchrist. I like people who read actual books, and not just because I once wrote them myself. Book-readers are just as willing as anyone else to start out with the weather, but as a general rule they can actually go on from there. The name of the blonde in the pink tops and black shorts was Adria Bundy. We started talking about books as we pedalled side by side ever deeper into nowhere, and there came a point where I was spotting her one or two mornings a week in the weight room. There’s something oddly intimate about spotting. The prone position of the lifter is part of it, I suppose (especially when the lifter is a woman), but not all or even most of it. Mostly it’s the dependence factor. Although it hardly ever comes to that point, the lifter is trusting the spotter with his or her life. And, at some point in the winter of 1996, those looks started as she lay on the bench and I stood over her, looking into her upside-down face. The ones that go on just a little too long. Kelli was around thirty, Adria perhaps a little younger. Kelli was divorced, Adria never married. In neither case would I have been robbing the cradle, and I think either would have been happy to go to bed with me on a provisional basis. Kind of a honey-bump test-drive. Yet what I did in Kelli’s case was to find a different restaurant to eat my lunch at, and when the YMCA sent me a free exercise-tryout offer, I took them up on it and just never went back to Nu You. I remember walking past Adria Bundy one day on the street six months or so after I made the change, and although I said hi, I made sure not to see her puzzled, slightly hurt gaze. In a purely physical way I wanted them both (in fact, I seem to remember a dream in which I had them both, in the same bed and at the same time), and yet I wanted neither. Part of it was my inability to write my life was quite fucked up enough, thank you, without adding any additional complications. Part of it was the work involved in making sure that the woman who is returning your glances is interested in you and not your rather extravagant bank account. Most of it, I think, was that there was just too much Jo still in my head and heart. There was no room for anyone else, even after four years. It was sorrow like cholesterol, and if you think that’s funny or weird, be grateful. ‘What about friends?’ Frank asked, at last beginning to eat his strawberry shortcake. ‘You’ve got friends you see, don’t you?’ ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Plenty of friends.’ Which was a lie, but I did have lots of crosswords to do, lots of books to read, and lots of movies to watch on my VCR at night; I could practically recite the FBI warning about unlawful copying by heart. When it came to real live people, the only ones I called when I got ready to leave Derry were my doctor and my dentist, and most of the mail I sent out that June consisted of change-of address cards to magazines like Harper’s and National Geographic. ‘Frank,’ I said, ‘you sound like a Jewish mother.’ ‘Sometimes when I’m with you feel like a Jewish mother,’ he said. ‘One who believes in the curative powers of baked potatoes instead of matzo balls. You look better than you have in a long time, finally put on some weight, I think ‘ ‘Too much.’ ‘Bullshit, you looked like Ichabod Crane when you came for Christmas. Also, you’ve got some sun on your face and arms.’ ‘I’ve been walking a lot.’ ‘So you look better . . . except for your eyes. Sometimes you get this look in your eyes, and I worry about you every time I see it. I think Jo would be glad someone’s worrying.’ ‘What look is that?’ I asked. ‘Your basic thousand-yard stare. Want the truth? You look like someone who’s caught on something and can’t get loose.’ I left Derry at three-thirty, stopped in Rumford for supper, then drove slowly on through the rising hills of western Maine as the sun lowered. I had planned my times of departure and arrival carefully, if not quite consciously, and as I passed out of Motton and into the unincorporated township of TR-90, I became aware of the heavy way my heart was beating. There was sweat on my face and arms in spite of the car’s air conditioning. Nothing on the radio sounded right, all the music like screaming, and I turned it off. I was scared, and had good reason to be. Even setting aside the peculiar cross-pollination between the dreams and things in the real world (as I was able to do quite easily, dismissing the cut on my hand and the sunflowers growing through the boards of the back stoop as either coincidence or so much psychic fluff), I had reason to be scared. Because they hadn’t been ordinary dreams, and my decision to go back to the lake after all this time hadn’t been an ordinary decision. I didn’t feel like a modern fin-de-mill? ¦naire man on a spiritual quest to face his fears (I’m okay, you’re okay, let’s all have an emotional circle-jerk while William Ackerman plays softly in the background); I felt more like some crazy Old Testament prophet going out into the desert to live on locusts and alkali water because God had summoned him in a dream. I was in trouble, my life was a moderate-going-on-severe mess, and not being able to write was only part of it. I wasn’t raping kids or running around Times Square preaching conspiracy theories through a bullhorn, but I was in trouble just the same. I had lost my place in things and couldn’t find it again. No surprise there; after all, life’s not a book. What I was engaging in on that hot July evening was self-induced shock therapy, and give me at least this much credit I knew it. You come to Dark Score this way: 1-95 from Derry to Newport; Route 2 from Newport to Bethel (with a stop in Rumford, which used to stink like hell’s front porch until the paper-driven economy pretty much ground to a halt during Reagan’s second term); Route 5 from Bethel to Waterford. Then you take Route 68, the old County Road, across Castle View, through Motton (where downtown consists of a converted barn which sells videos, beer, and second-hand rifles), and then past the sign which reads TR-90 and the one reading GAME WARDEN IS BEST ASSISTANCE IN EMERGENCY, DIAL 1-800-555-GAME OR * 72 ON CELLULAR PHONE. To this, in spray paint, someone has added FUCK THE EAGLES. Five miles past that sign, you come to a narrow lane on the right, marked only by a square of tin with the faded number 42 on it. Above this, like umlauts, are a couple of. 22 holes. I turned into this lane just about when I had expected to it was 7:16 P.M., EDT, by the clock on the Chevrolet’s dashboard. And the feeling was coming home. I drove in two tenths of a mile by the odometer, listening to the grass which crowned the lane whickering against the undercarriage of my car, listening to the occasional branch which scraped across the roof or knocked on the passenger side like a fist. At last I parked and turned the engine off. I got out, walked to the rear of the car, lay down on my belly, and began pulling all of the grass which touched the Chevy’s hot exhaust system. It had been a dry summer, and it was best to take precautions. I had come at this exact hour in order to replicate my dreams, hoping for some further insight into them or for an idea of what to do next. What I had not come to do was start a forest fire. Once this was done I stood up and looked around. The crickets sang, as they had in my dreams, and the trees huddled close on either side of the lane, as they always did in my dreams. Overhead, the sky was a fading strip of blue. I set off, walking up the right hand wheelrut. Jo and I had had one neighbor at this end of the road, old Lars Washburn, but now Lars’s driveway was overgrown with juniper bushes and blocked by a rusty length of chain. Nailed to a tree on the left of the chain was NO TRESPASSING. Nailed to one on the right was NEXT CENTURY REAL ESTATE, and a local number. The words were faded and hard to read in the growing gloom. I walked on, once more conscious of my heavily beating heart and of the way the mosquitoes were buzzing around my face and arms. Their peak season was past, but I was sweating a lot, and that’s a smell they like. It must remind them of blood. Just how scared was I as I approached Sara Laughs? I don’t remember. I suspect that fright, like pain, is one of those things that slip our minds once they have passed. What I do remember is a feeling I’d had before when I was down here, especially when I was walking this road by myself. It was a sense that reality was thin. I think it is thin, you know, thin as lake ice after a thaw, and we fill our lives with noise and light and motion to hide that thinness from ourselves. But in places like Lane Forty-two, you find that all the smoke and mirrors have been removed. What’s left is the sound of crickets and the sight of green leaves darkening toward black; branches that make shapes like faces; the sound of your heart in your chest, the beat of the blood against the backs of your eyes, and the look of the sky as the day’s blue blood runs out of its cheek. What comes in when daylight leaves is a kind of certainty: that beneath the skin there is a secret, some mystery both black and bright. You feel this mystery in every breath, you see it in every shadow, you expect to plunge into it at every turn of a step. It is here; you slip across it on a kind of breathless curve like a skater turning for home. I stopped for a moment about half a mile south of where I’d left the car, and still half a mile north of the driveway. Here the road curves sharply, and on the right is an open field which slants steeply down toward the lake. Tidwell’s Meadow is what the locals call it, or sometimes the Old Camp. It was here that Sara Tidwell and her curious tribe built their cabins, at least according to Marie Hingerman (and once, when I asked Bill Dean, he agreed this was the place . . . although he didn’t seem interested in continuing the conversation, which struck me at the time as a bit odd). I stood there for a moment, looking down at the north end of Dark Score. The water was glassy and calm, still candy-colored in the afterglow of sunset, without a single ripple or a single small craft to be seen. The boat-people would all be down at the marina or at Warrington’s Sunset Bar by now, I guessed, eating lobster rolls and drinking big mixed drinks. Later a few of them, buzzed on speed and martinis, would go bolting up and down the lake by moonlight. I wondered if I would be around to hear them. I thought there was a fair chance that by then I’d be on my way back to Derry, either terrified by what I’d found or disillusioned because I had found nothing at all. ‘You funny little man, said Strickland.’ I didn’t know I was going to speak until the words were out of my mouth, and why those words in particular I had no idea. I remembered my dream of Jo under the bed and shuddered. A mosquito whined in my ear. I slapped it and walked on. In the end, my arrival at the head of the driveway was almost too perfectly timed, the sense of having re-entered my dream almost too complete. Even the balloons tied to the SARA LAUGHS sign (one white and one blue, both with WELCOME BACK MIKE! carefully printed on them in black ink) and floating against the ever-darkening backdrop of the trees seemed to intensify the d? ¦j? ¤ vu I had quite deliberately induced, for no two dreams are exactly the same, are they? Things conceived by minds and made by hands can never be quite the same, even when they try their best to be identical, because we’re never the same from day to day or even moment to moment. I walked to the sign, feeling the mystery of this place at twilight. I squeezed down on the board, feeling its rough reality, and then I ran the ball of my thumb over the letters, daring the splinters and reading with my skin like a blind man reading braille: S and A and R and A; L and A and U and G and H and S. The driveway had been cleared of fallen needles and blown-down branches, but Dark Score glimmered a fading rose just as it had in my dreams, and the sprawled hulk of the house was the same. Bill had thoughtfully left the light over the back stoop burning, and the sunflowers growing through the boards had long since been cut down, but everything else was the same. I looked overhead, at the slot of sky over the lane. Nothing . . . I waited . . . and nothing . . . waiting still . . . and then there it was, right where the center of my gaze had been trained. At one moment there was only the fading sky (with indigo just starting to rise up from the edges like an infusion of ink), and at the next Venus was glowing there, bright and steady. People talk about watching the stars come out, and I suppose some people do, but I think that was the only time in my life that I actually saw one appear. I wished on it, too, but this time it was real time, and I did not wish for Jo. ‘Help me,’ I said, looking at the star. I would have said more, but I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what kind of help I needed. That’s enough, a voice in my mind said uneasily. That’s enough, now. Go on back and get your car. Except that wasn’t the plan. The plan was to go down the driveway, just as I had in the final dream, the nightmare. The plan was to prove to myself that there was no shroud-wrapped monster lurking in the shadows of the big old log house down there. The plan was pretty much based on that bit of New Age wisdom which says the word ‘fear’ stands for Face Everything And Recover. But, as I stood there and looked down at that spark of porch light (it looked very small in the growing darkness), it occurred to me that there’s another bit of wisdom, one not quite so good-morning-starshine, which suggests fear is actually an acronym for Fuck Everything And Run. Standing there by myself in the woods as the light left the sky, that seemed like the smarter interpretation, no two ways about it. I looked down and was a little amused to see that I had taken one of the balloons untied it without even noticing as I thought things over. It floated serenely up from my hand at the end of its string, the words printed on it now impossible to read in the growing dark. Maybe it’s all moot, anyway; maybe I won’t be able to move. Maybe that old devil writer’s walk has got hold of me again, and I’ll just stand here like a statue until someone comes along and hauls me away. But this was real time in the real world, and in the real world there was no such thing as writer’s walk. I opened my hand. As the string I’d been holding floated free, I walked under the rising balloon and started down the driveway. Foot followed foot, pretty much as they had ever since I’d first learned this trick back in 1959. I went deeper and deeper into the clean but sour smell of pine, and once I caught myself taking an extra-big step, avoiding a fallen branch that had been in the dream but wasn’t here in reality. My heart was still thudding hard, and sweat was still pouring out of me, oiling my skin and drawing mosquitoes. I raised a hand to brush the hair off my brow, then stopped, holding it splay-fingered out in front of my eyes. I put the other one next to it. Neither was marked; there wasn’t even a shadow of scar from the cut I’d given myself while crawling around my bedroom during the ice storm. ‘I’m all right,’ I said. ‘I’m all right.’ You funny little man, said Strickland, a voice answered. It wasn’t mine, wasn’t Jo’s; it was the UFO voice that had narrated my nightmare, the one which had driven me on even when I wanted to stop. The voice of some outsider. I started walking again. I was better than halfway down the driveway now. I had reached the point where, in the dream, I told the voice that I was afraid of Mrs. Danvers. ‘I’m afraid of Mrs. D.,’ I said, trying the words aloud in the growing dark. ‘What if the bad old housekeeper’s down there?’ A loon cried on the lake, but the voice didn’t answer. I suppose it didn’t have to. There was no Mrs. Danvers, she was only a bag of bones in an old book, and the voice knew it. I began walking again. I passed the big pine that Jo had once banged into in our Jeep, trying to back up the driveway. How she had sworn! Like a sailor! I had managed to keep a straight face until she got to ‘Fuck a duck,’ and then I’d lost it, leaning against the side of the Jeep with the heels of my hands pressed against my temples, howling until tears rolled down my cheeks, and Jo glaring hot blue sparks at me the whole time. I could see the mark about three feet up on the trunk of the tree, the white seeming to float above the dark bark in the gloom. It was just here that the unease which pervaded the other dreams had skewed into something far worse. Even before the shrouded thing had come bursting out of the house, I had felt something was all wrong, all twisted up; I had felt that somehow the house itself had gone insane. It was at this point, passing the old scarred pine, that I had wanted to run like the gingerbread man. I didn’t feel that now. I was afraid, yes, but not in terror. There was nothing behind me, for one thing, no sound of slobbering breath. The worst thing a man was likely to come upon in these woods was an irritated moose. Or, I supposed, if he was really unlucky, a pissed-off bear. In the dream there had been a moon at least three quarters full, but there was no moon in the sky above me that night. Nor would there be; in glancing over the weather page in that morning’s Derry News, I had noticed that the moon was new. Even the most powerful d? ¦j? ¤ vu is fragile, and at the thought of that moonless sky, mine broke. The sensation of reliving my nightmare departed so abruptly that I even wondered why I had done this, what I had hoped to prove or accomplish. Now I’d have to go all the way back down the dark lane to retrieve my car. All right, but I’d do it with a flashlight from the house. One of them would surely still be just inside the A series of jagged explosions ran themselves off on the far side of the lake, the last loud enough to echo against the hills. I stopped, drawing in a quick breath. Moments before, those unexpected bangs probably would have sent me running back up the driveway in a panic, but now I had only that brief, startled moment. It was firecrackers, of course, the last one the loudest one maybe an M-80. Tomorrow was the Fourth of July, and across the lake kids were celebrating early, as kids are wont to do. I walked on. The bushes still reached like hands, but they had been pruned back and their reach wasn’t very threatening. I didn’t have to worry about the power being out, either; I was now close enough to the back stoop to see moths fluttering around the light Bill Dean had left on for me. Even if the power had been out (in the western part of the state a lot of the lines are still above ground, and it goes out a lot), the gennie would have kicked in automatically. Yet I was awed by how much of my dream was actually here, even with the powerful sense of repetition of reliving departed. Jo’s planters were where they’d always been, flanking the path which leads down to Sara’s little lick of beach; I suppose Brenda Meserve had found them stacked in the cellar and had had one of her crew set them out again. Nothing was growing in them yet, but I suspected that stuff would be soon. And even without the moon of my dream, I could see the black square on the water, standing about fifty yards offshore. The swimming float. No oblong shape lying overturned in front of the stoop, though; no coffin. Still, my heart was beating hard again, and I think if more firecrackers had gone off on the Kashwakamak side of the lake just then, I might have screamed. You funny little man, said Strickland. Give me that, it’s my dust-catcher. What if death drives us insane? What if we survive, but it drives us insane? What then? I had reached the point where, in my nightmare, the door banged open and that white shape came hurtling out with its wrapped arms upraised. I took one more step and then stopped, hearing the harsh sound of my respiration as I drew each breath down my throat and then pushed it back out over the dry floor of my tongue. There was no sense of d? ¦j? ¤ vu, but for a moment I thought the shape would appear anyway here in the real world, in real time. I stood waiting for it with my sweaty hands clenched. I drew in another dry breath, and this time I held it. The soft lap of water against the shore. A breeze that patted my face and rattled the bushes. A loon cried out on the lake; moths battered the stoop light. No shroud-monster threw open the door, and through the big windows to the left and right of the door, I could see nothing moving, white or otherwise. There was a note above the knob, probably from Bill, and that was it. I let out my breath in a rush and walked the rest of the way down the driveway to Sara Laughs. The note was indeed from Bill Dean. It said that Brenda had done some shopping for me; the supermarket receipt was on the kitchen table, and I would find the pantry well stocked with canned goods. She’d gone easy with the perishables, but there was milk, butter, half-and-half, and hamburger, that staple of single-guy cuisine. I will see you next Mon., Bill had written. If I had my druthers I’d be here to say hello in person but the good wife says it’s our turn to do the holiday trotting and so we are going down to Virginia (hot!!) to spend the 4th with her sister. If you need anything or run into problems . . . He had jotted his sister-in-law’s phone number in Virginia as well as Butch Wiggins’s number in town, which locals just call ‘the TR,’ as in ‘Me and mother got tired of Bethel and moved our trailer over to the TR.’ There were other numbers, as well the plumber, the electrician, Brenda Meserve, even the TV guy over in Harrison who had repositioned the DSS dish for maximum reception. Bill was taking no chances. I turned the note over, imagining a final P.S.: Say, Mike, if nuclear war should break out before me and Yvette get back from Virginia Something moved behind me. I whirled on my heels, the note dropping from my hand. It fluttered to the boards of the back stoop like a larger, whiter version of the moths banging the bulb overhead. In that instant I was sure it would be the shroud-thing, an insane revenant in my wife’s decaying body, Give me my dust-catcher, give it to me, how dare you come down here and disturb my rest, how dam you come to Manderley again, and now that you’re here, how will you ever get away? Into the mystery with you, you silly little man. Into the mystery with you. Nothing there. It had just been the breeze again, stirring the bushes around a little . . . except I had felt no breeze against my sweaty skin, not that time. ‘Well it must have been, there’s nothing there,’ I said. The sound of your voice when you’re alone can be either scary or reassuring. That time it was the latter. I bent over, picked up Bill’s note, and stuffed it into my back pocket. Then I rummaged out my keyring. I stood under the stoop light in the big, swooping shadows of the light-struck moths, picking through my keys until I found the one I wanted. It had a funny disused look, and as I rubbed my thumb along its serrated edge, I wondered again why I hadn’t come down here except for a couple of quick broad daylight errands in all the months and years since Jo had died. Surely if she had been alive, she would have insisted But then a peculiar realization came to me: it wasn’t just a matter of since Jo died. It was easy to think of it that way never once during my six weeks on Key Largo had I thought of it any other way but now, actually standing here in the shadows of the dancing moths (it was like standing under some weird organic disco ball) and listening to the loons out on the lake, I remembered that although Johanna had died in August of 1994, she had died in Derry. It had been miserably hot in the city . . . so why had we been there? Why hadn’t we been sitting out on our shady deck on the lake side of the house, drinking iced tea in our bathing suits, watching the boats go back and forth and commenting on the form of the various water-skiers? What had she been doing in that damned Rite Aid parking lot to begin with, when during any other August we would have been miles from there? Nor was that all. We usually stayed at Sara until the end of September it was a peaceful, pretty time, as warm as summer. But in ’93 we’d left with August only a week gone. I knew, because I could remember Johanna going to New York with me later that month, some kind of publishing deal and the usual attendant publicity crap. It had been dog-hot in Manhattan, the hydrants spraying in the East Village and the uptown streets sizzling. On one night of that trip we’d seen The Phantom of the Opera. Near the end Jo had leaned over to me and whispered, ‘Oh fuck! The Phantom is snivelling again!’ I had spent the rest of the show trying to keep from bursting into wild peals of laughter. Jo could be evil that way. Why had she come with me that August? Jo didn’t like New York even in April or October, when it’s sort of pretty. I didn’t know. I couldn’t remember. All I was sure of was’ that she had never been back to Sara Laughs after early August of 1993 . . . and before long I wasn’t even sure of that. I slipped the key into the lock and turned it. I’d go inside, flip on the kitchen overheads, grab a flashlight, and go back for the car. If I didn’t, some drunk guy with a cottage at the far south end of the lane would come in too fast, rear-end my Chevy, and sue me for a billion dollars. The house had been aired out and didn’t smell a bit musty; instead of still, stale air, there was a faint and pleasing aroma of pine. I reached for the light inside the door, and then, somewhere in the blackness of the house, a child began to sob. My hand froze where it was and my flesh went cold. I didn’t panic, exactly, but all rational thought left my mind. It was weeping, a child’s weeping, but I hadn’t a clue as to where it was coming from. Then it began to fade. Not to grow softer but to fade, as if someone had picked that kid up and was carrying it away down some long corridor. . . not that any such corridor existed in Sara Laughs. Even the one running through the middle of the house, connecting the central section to the two wings, isn’t really long. Fading . . . faded . . . almost gone. I stood in the dark with my cold skin crawling and my hand on the lightswitch. Part of me wanted to boogie, to just go flying out of there as fast as my little legs could carry me, running like the gingerbread man. Another part, however the rational part was already reasserting itself. I flicked the switch, the part that wanted to run saying forget it, it won’t work, it’s the dream, stupid, it’s your dream coming true. But it did work. The foyer light came on in a shadow-dispelling rush, revealing Jo’s lumpy little pottery collection to the left and the bookcase to the right, stuff I hadn’t looked at in four years or more, but still here and still the same. On a middle shelf of the bookcase I could see the three early Elmore Leonard novels Swag, The Big Bounce, and Mr. Majestyk that I had put aside against a spell of rainy weather; you have to be ready for rain when you’re at camp. Without a good book, even two days of rain in the woods can be enough to drive you bonkers. There was a final whisper of weeping, then silence. In it, I could hear ticking from the kitchen. The clock by the stove, one of Jo’s rare lapses into bad taste, is Felix the Cat with big eyes that shift from side to side as his pendulum tail flicks back and forth. I think it’s been in every cheap horror movie ever made. ‘Who’s here?’ I called. I took a step toward the kitchen, just a dim space floating beyond the foyer, then stopped. In the dark the house was a cavern. The sound of the weeping could have come from anywhere. Including my own imagination. ‘Is someone here?’ No answer . . . but I didn’t think the sound had been in my head. If it had been, writer’s block was the least of my worries. Standing on the bookcase to the left of the Elmore Leonards was a long-barrelled flashlight, the kind that holds eight D-cells and will temporarily blind you if someone shines it directly into your eyes. I grasped it, and until it nearly slipped through my hand I hadn’t really realized how heavily I was sweating, or how scared I was. I juggled it, heart beating hard, half-expecting that creepy sobbing to begin again, half-expecting the shroud-thing to come floating out of the black living room with its shapeless arms raised; some old hack of a politician back from the grave and ready to give it another shot. Vote the straight Resurrection ticket, brethren, and you will be saved. I got control of the light and turned it on. It shot a bright straight beam into the living room, picking out the moosehead over the fieldstone fireplace; it shone in the head’s glass eyes like two lights burning under water. I saw the old cane-and-bamboo chairs; the old couch; the scarred dining-room table you had to balance by shimming one leg with a folded playing card or a couple of beer coasters; I saw no ghosts; I decided this was a seriously fucked-up carnival just the same. In the words of the immortal Cole Porter, let’s call the whole thing off. If I headed east as soon as I got back to my car, I could be in Derry by midnight. Sleeping in my own bed. I turned out the foyer light and stood with the flash drawing its line across the dark. I listened to the tick of that stupid cat-clock, which Bill must have set going, and to the familiar chugging cycle of the refrigerator. As I listened to them, I realized that I had never expected to hear either sound again. As for the crying . . . Had there been crying? Had there really? Yes. Crying or something. Just what now seemed moot. What seemed germane was that coming here had been a dangerous idea and a stupid course of action for a man who has taught his mind to misbehave. As I stood in the foyer with no light but the flash and the glow falling in the windows from the bulb over the back stoop, I realized that the line between what I knew was real and what I knew was only my imagination had pretty much disappeared. I left the house, checked to make sure the door was locked, and walked back up the driveway, swinging the flashlight beam from side to side like a pendulum like the tail of old Felix the Krazy Kat in the kitchen. It occurred to me, as I struck north along the lane, that I would have to make up some sort of story for Bill Dean. It wouldn’t do to say, ‘Well, Bill, I got down there and heard a kid bawling in my locked house, and it scared me so bad I turned into the gingerbread man and ran back to Derry. I’ll send you the flashlight I took; put it back on the shelf next to the paperbacks, would you?’ That wasn’t ‘any good because the story would get around and people would say, ‘Not surprised. Wrote too many books, probably. Work like that has got to soften a man’s head. Now he’s scared of his own shadow. Occupational hazard.’ Even if I never came down here again in my life, I didn’t want to leave people on the TR with that opinion of me, that half-contemptuous, see-what-you-get-for-thinking-too-much attitude. It’s one a lot of folks seem to have about people who live by their imaginations. I’d tell Bill I got sick. In a way it was true. Or no . . . better to tell him someone else got sick . . . a friend . . . someone in Derry I’d been seeing . . . a lady-friend, perhaps. ‘Bill, this friend of mine, this lady-friend of mine got sick, you see, and so . . . ‘ I stopped suddenly, the light shining on the front of my car. I had walked the mile in the dark without noticing many of the sounds in the woods, and dismissing even the bigger of them as deer settling down for the night. I hadn’t turned around to see if the shroud-thing (or maybe some spectral crying child) was following me. I had gotten involved in making up a story and then embellishing it, doing it in my head instead of on paper this time but going down all the same well-known paths. I had gotten so involved that I had neglected to be afraid. My heartbeat was back to normal, the sweat was drying on my skin, and the mosquitoes had stopped whining in my ears. And as I stood there, a thought occurred to me. It was as if my mind had been waiting patiently for me to calm down enough so it could remind me of some essential fact. The pipes. Bill had gotten my go-ahead to replace most of the old stuff, and the plumber had done so. Very recently he’d done so. ‘Air in the pipes,’ I said, running the beam of the eight-cell flashlight over the grille of my Chevrolet. ‘That’s what I heard.’ I waited to see if the deeper part of my mind would call this a stupid, rationalizing lie. It didn’t . . . because, I suppose, it realized it could be true. Airy pipes can sound like people talking, dogs barking, or children crying. Perhaps the plumber had bled them and the sound had been something else . . . but perhaps he hadn’t. The question was whether or not I was going to jump in my car, back two tenths of a mile to the highway, and then return to Derry, all on the basis of a sound I had heard for ten seconds (maybe only five), and while in an excited, stressful state of mind. I decided the answer was no. It might take only one more peculiar thing to turn me around probably gibbering like a character on Tales from the Crypt but the sound I’d heard in the foyer wasn’t enough. Not when making a go of it at Sara Laughs might mean so much. I hear voices in my head, and have for as long as I can remember. I don’t know if that’s part of the necessary equipment for being a writer or not; I’ve never asked another one. I never felt the need to, because I know all the voices I hear are versions of me. Still, they often seem like very real versions of other people, and none is more real to me-or more familiar than Jo’s voice. Now that voice came, sounding interested, amused in an ironic but gentle way . . . and approving. Going to fight, Mike? ‘Yeah,’ I said, standing there in the dark and picking out gleams of chrome with my flashlight. ‘Think so, babe.’ Well, then that’s all right, isn’t it? Yes. It was. I got into my car, started it up, and drove slowly down the lane. And when I got to the driveway, I turned in. There was no crying the second time I entered the house. I walked slowly through the downstairs, keeping the flashlight in my hand until I had turned on every light I could find; if there were people still boating on the north end of the lake, old Sara probably looked like some weird Spielbergian flying saucer hovering above them. I think houses live their own lives along a time-stream that’s different from the ones upon which their owners float, one that’s slower. In a house, especially an old one, the past is closer. In my life Johanna had been dead nearly four years, but to Sara, she was much nearer than that. It wasn’t until I was actually inside, with all the lights on and the flash returned to its spot on the bookshelf, that I realized how much I had been dreading my arrival. Of having my grief reawakened by signs of Johanna’s interrupted life. A book with a corner turned down on the table at one end of the sofa, where Jo had liked to recline in her nightgown, reading and eating plums; the cardboard cannister of Quaker Oats, which was all she ever wanted for breakfast, on a shelf in the pantry; her old green robe hung on the back of the bathroom door in the south wing, which Bill Dean still called ‘the new wing,’ although it had been built before we ever saw Sara Laughs. Brenda Meserve had done a good job a humane job-of removing these signs and signals, but she couldn’t get them all. Jo’s hardcover set of Sayers’s Peter Wimsey novels still held pride of place at the center of the living-room bookcase. Jo had always called the moosehead over the fireplace Bunter, and once, for no reason I could remember (certainly it seemed a very un-Bunterlike accessory), she had hung a bell around the moose’s hairy neck. It hung there still, on a red velvet ribbon. Mrs. Meserve might have puzzled over that bell, wondering whether to leave it up or take it down, not knowing that when Jo and I made love on the living-room couch (and yes, we were often overcome there), we referred to the act as ‘ringing Bunter’s bell.’ Brenda Meserve had done her best, but any good marriage is secret territory, a necessary white space on society’s map. What others don’t know about it is what makes it yours. I walked around, touching things, looking at things, seeing them new. Jo seemed everywhere to me, and after a little while I dropped into one of the old cane chairs in front of the TV. The cushion wheezed under me, and I could hear Jo saying, ‘Well excuse yourself, Michael!’ I put my face in my hands and cried. I suppose it was the last of my mourning, but that made it no easier to bear. I cried until I thought something inside me would break if I didn’t stop. When it finally let me go, my face was drenched, I had the hiccups, and I thought I had never felt so tired in my life. I felt strained all over my body partly from the walking I’d done, I suppose, but mostly just from the tension of getting here . . . and deciding to stay here. To fight. That weird phantom crying I’d heard when I first stepped into the place, although it seemed very distant now, hadn’t helped. I washed my face at the kitchen sink, rubbing away the tears with the heels of my hands and clearing my clogged nose. Then I carried my suitcases down to the guest bedroom in the north wing. I had no intention of sleeping in the south wing, in the master bedroom where I had last slept with Jo. That was a choice Brenda Meserve had foreseen. There was a bouquet of fresh wildflowers on the bureau, and a card: WELCOME BACK, MR. NOONAN. If I hadn’t been emotionally exhausted, I suppose looking at that message, in Mrs. Meserve’s spiky copperplate handwriting, would have brought on another fit of the weeps. I put my face in the flowers and breathed deeply. They smelled good, like sunshine. Then I took off my clothes, leaving them where they dropped, and turned back the coverlet on the bed. Fresh sheets, fresh pillowcases; same old Noonan sliding between the former and dropping his head onto the latter. I lay there with the bedside lamp on, looking up at the shadows on the ceiling, almost unable to believe I was in this place and this bed. There had been no shroud-thing to greet me, of course . . . but I had an idea it might well find me in my dreams. Sometimes for me, at least there’s a transitional bump between waking and sleeping. Not that night. I slipped away without knowing it, and woke the next morning with sunlight shining in through the window and the bedside lamp still on. There had been no dreams that I could remember, only a vague sensation that I had awakened sometime briefly in the night and heard a bell ringing, very thin and far away. How to cite Bag of Bones CHAPTER SIX, Essay examples

Significant Hermeneutical and Theological Issues

Question: Discuss about theSignificant Hermeneutical and Theological Issues. Answer: Introduction Today, many people disagree with the interpretation of certain passages of the Bible. Here, the problem is not on the difficulties of reading the scripture, but rather the way the reader come to the interpretation table with distinct backgrounds, education, theologies among others that influences the way one comprehend the text about the biblical truths and one's experience. Hermeneutics is the principle by which the Bible is interpreted, or it is the theory of textual interpretation. This hermeneutical approach has a major effect on the one interpreting it. Basing on Galatians1:1-18 and Luke24:13-32, my essay discusses on some of the theological and hermeneutical issues when interpreting scriptures. Culture Issue Culture is a significant problem that arises when interpreting and reading the scriptures. For instance, people that live in the Western world might experience difficulties with accurate interpretation of a context and how others view everything in the world. Culture hinders understanding of the way things are and how they are intended to be[1]. Culture can hinder one from interpreting the content the way the author intended it to be or how God want it to be. In Galatians Chapter 1, Paul explains the doctrine of justification through faith, but some of the Judaizers were much held to the Moses' law whereby they were trying to include it as part of Christian doctrine. Some miss-interpret it by claiming that it is the justification of faith that does give Christians privilege of signing without being held accountable for the sin[2]. This is not true, what Paul explains is that Christianity is a fellowship with the Father given through Jesus Christ who was His son. In Galatians 1:1, he writes a letter to Galatia and starts by saying that people never made him an apostle, but it is Christ who had appointed him. In that region, there were many people with other doctrines and high culture that did try to change what Paul had established, but this was to warn them.[3] Lots of Jews had received Christ and were trying to incorporate Christianity and Judaism. Paul emphasizes that one cannot remain active in Christianity if he mixes other beliefs with Christianity. According to Paul, the resurrection of Jesus meant an inauguration of the entire era of cosmic regeneration and a new creation. However, according to Epicurean, the resurrection was nonsense since they had adopted the theory that all things are made of atoms in constant and no association, and thus the resurrection of Christ meant nothing to them. They had assumed that some of the atoms had swerved out of their standard form and due to this, Epicureans strongly objected the Resurrection of Christ. Hermeneutical reflection and practice today reflects the plan of our pluralistic, a special interest culture and not the biblical view point. For instance, in some scholarly literature, we find much hermeneutics such as structuralist hermeneutics, black womanist hermeneutics among others hermeneutics. In appreciating that one ought to take the two prospects of the culture of biblical and our culture in the enterprise of interpretive, one can wonder on how biased individual interests hermeneutics have come to be. We confirm this through hermeneutic of reader response which states that "in effect that the legal meaning of any text is usually up to the reader. Theological Issue Luke wrote the book of Luke to ancient people in a culture and language that are ancient. Thus, for readers to have a valid biblical interpretation of a text they must be consistent with the context of historical-cultural of the text.[4] The literary context of Luke chapter 24:13-32 examines the death of Christ with His deliverance. Here the reader is moved from the absence of Christ to His visible appearance. Literature genre may appear where Luke uses different categories of literature to refer to, thus bringing a theological issue. In that chapter, the narrative discloses on the two followers who were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus where one was named Cleopas.[5] One may speculate this by saying this was the one mentioned in the Gospel John 19:25 spelled "Cleophas" thus the other person could be Mary, his wife. Hence, the closeness of these names may bring an issue of interpretation the text in the Bible. In Galatians1:1-18, the purpose of Paul's message was to defend his apostleship due to attack he had on his authority affirming that he was not commissioned by a congregation but through Jesus Christ. His aim was also to discuss on the justification through faith. The language used here, echoes the prophetic call of Jeremiah in the Old Testament and his mission on his calling was to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles.[6] Under the contextual insight of this chapter, it's hard to interpret since it contains grammatical idiosyncrasies where he broke his subject with series of parenthesis, broken sentences, and unusual punctuation. Hence, it can bring a problem in trying to follow the thought of Paul. A theological problem may arise in the scripture of Galatians 1:1-18 on how to relate the Old Testament and the New Testament. One can reveal God in Old Testament in a marvelous way; however, when it comes to Judaism they emphasized the human aspect on the covenant thus mishandling the Mosaic covenant.[7] This can bring a misunderstanding in interpretation if one doesn't relate well the two divisions of Old and New Testament. Kerygma Issue Kerygma is the announcement of a person before. A problem arises when it is expressed as a witness in the scripture. A hermeneutical arises since we are not the one who did witness but we are the hearers who listen to the witnesses.[8] Hence we can only believe by hearing and by interpreting the text which itself is already an interpretation.[9] Luke Chapter 24 confirms the issue of kerygma where Jesus says, "Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and prophets and the Psalms, must be fulfilled." He opened their minds by saying "thus it is written, Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from dead and the repentance and forgiveness of sins should get preached in his name to all nations."[10] The framework of these grammatical versus illustrates the developing Kerygma fulfill, suffer, rise, and preach. We tend to believe what happened through faith since we never witnessed and also in these verses there is fusion of horizons whereby it occurs in the text, but the word w as appropriated in front of the text thus bringing the issue of Hermeneutic.[11] Feminist Issue Feminist Hermeneutical is a subject that revolves around the practice of women's interest. According to Danvers, not only is there "widespread uncertainty and confusion in our culture regarding the complementary differences between masculinity and femininity,"[12] but there has been a resultant confusion regarding the proper treatment and the way biblical text is interpreted. Feminist biblical Hermeneutical comes with three principles including the radical form, the neo-orthodox, and the critical form. The fundamental denies all ability to the Bible claiming it has been formed by men; the neo-orthodox accepts the Bible while the critical form rediscovers women's status and their roles. Women are playing a lively part in exegetical study and have thrived better than men in identifying the presence and were playing a significant role. In Luke 24:22, it was women who were early in the sepulcher, and this had astonished other people. The sensitivity of feminine has helped to unmask and c orrect some normally acknowledged interpretations that were tendentious and aimed to validate the domination of male on women[13]. Feminist Exegesis has proceeded from a preconceived judgment and runs the threat of interpreting texts of the Bible in a tendentious and arguable way. Fundamentalist Issue This interpretation begins with a principle that God's word being stimulated and free error, should be read and be inferred in all details. However, literal interpretation comprehends a literalist interpretation that is nave by excluding every endeavor in comprehending the Bible that accounts for its historical origin and improvement[14]. Fundamentalist has a problem in the interpretation of the biblical text since it refuses to be responsible for the historical character of the revelation of the Bible and makes itself unable of accommodating the whole truth of the incarnation itself. It fails to identify that God's word has been created in language and expression accustomed by various phases. Luke 24:15 on the resurrection of Jesus, seems to challenge a belief in the bodily Christ resurrection. Christ appears and disappears out of thin air, and this describes a more ethereal resurrection[15]. The belief in resurrection that is physical can raise questions on whether bodies will be r aised just as they are. Fundamentalist is dangerous since it is attractive to people who looks to the Bible to get ready answers for life's problems thus offers them religious interpretations but illusory, rather than telling them the word doesn't contain immediate solutions to their daily problems. Rhetorical Analysis Issue The current studies in the area of biblical have committed some substantial attention to the existence of features of rhetorical in scripture since the more biblical text is in some character of measure persuasive. Rhetoric is the action of creating discourse in aiming influential. The rhetoric draws attention to language capacity so as to persuade and convince[16]. Every discourse situation involves three elements such as the speaker, the discourse, and the audience. The word of God is not just a statement of truths rather it is a message that carries within itself a communication function in a prcised context, carry with it certain argument power and a rhetorical strategy. When rhetorical analysis remains on the level of explanation, its results often reflects an apprehension for style only. It is not an independent method that is sufficient by itself and the way it is applied raises various questions. In Galatians chapter 1:2, Paul addresses his message to the people of Galatia me aning that it was to be read by those assemblies. Here, Galatians functions like a speech thus emphasizing linear presentation. "The audience hears the words in progression without the opportunity to review what has been said earlier and an orally received text are characterized by a greater degree of repetition than is a text is intended to be read privately." [17] Christological Issue Christology is main concerned with nature and person of Jesus and it is mainly concerned with details of the ministry of Jesus, his teachings in arriving at a clear understanding and his role in salvation. There are three hermeneutical issues that arise in Christology which are Jesus' resurrection, narrative's role in Christology and that Jesus is the universal savior. All these may bring an issue when interpreting the Bible[18]. After Jesus had resurrected, he engages in an interesting conversation with two of his disciples on the journey to Emmaus. In the dialogue He tells them "beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.[19] Later in the chapter, he tells them that all the things written will come to be fulfilled. Today, many who truly believe in the Old Testament must be led in the light of the New Testament. Luke 24 substantiate a hermeneutic of Christological where to some it means an allegorical inte rpretation method that sees the picture of Jesus and his work as a deliverance hidden in the Old Testament but to others they see it as proof that encodes references to Christ. In this way, truths revealed in the New Testaments about the Messiah are seen as the central to discovering the real meaning of the scriptures of the Old Testament. In these verses of Luke, he does not mandate Christological hermeneutic since in the verses there is no record of a particular verse that was referred to by Jesus[20]. According to Jesus in Luke 24, the two men central problem was with them was foolishness and slowness of heart that did prevent them from believing what been revealed about Him in the Old Testament. Today, many claims that the Old Testament cannot be understood apart from the New Testament light, but this is opposite in Luke 24. Jesus had expected them to be able to comprehend and to believe what had been taught about him apart from the light of the revelation of the New Testament. Jesus was affirming the perspicuity of Old Testament and insisting that its original audience could understand its revelation. The Canonical Issue The canonical approach expresses its perception that the critical method of historical, experiences difficulty time in arriving at conclusions in a level of theological. It seeks to position each text within God's plan. The system does not affirm to be an alternative for the critical method of historical and the hope is usually rather compete it[21]. In canonical approach, the complex relation that exists is that of Jewish and Christian canons of scripture, and this raises a problem of interpretation. Canonical interpret each text in the light of canon scripture and thus the Bible is acknowledged as the norm of faith by community's believers. Conclusion The way a biblical text is interpreted has an effect on the truth of that verse. There many hermeneutical issues that are related to the interpretation of the biblical text and scripture. The message must be looked on who wrote the text (writer), why he wrote the text and who it is intended to so as to be able to interpret clearly the content of the text. References [1] Mohr, J. W., Rawlings, C. (2012). Four ways to measure culture: Social science, hermeneutics, and the cultural turn. The Oxford handbook of cultural sociology, 70-113. 2 Brevard S. Childs. (1992). Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflection on the Christians Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress, 324-326. 3Hardin, J. K. (2014). GALATIANS 12 WITHOUT A MIRROR.Tyndale Bulletin,65, 275-303. 4Brevard S. Childs, Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments: Theological Reflection on the Christians Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992, 324-326. 5 Luke Chapter 24:16-32 6 Gerhard Ebeling. The Nature of Faith trans. Ronald Gregor Smith (London: Collins, 1961), 188-191. 7Martin Buber, "The man of Today and Jewish Bible, "Biblical Humanism: Eighteen Studies by Martin Buber, ed. Nahum N. Glatzer. London: Macdonald, 1968, 5-6. 8Anthony C. Thistleton, Hermeneutics: An Introduction (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 191-94. 9 Luke Chapter 24:13-32 10 Robert W. Wall, "Reading the New Testament in Canonical Context," in Hearing the New Testament: Strategies for Interpretation. Ed. J.B. Green. (GrandRapids, Eerdmans 1995)384-85. 11 Pratt, D. (2015). Terrorism and religious fundamentalism: Prospects for a predictive paradigm. Marburg Journal of Religion, 11(1). 12 Luke 24:15 13Copeland, R., Melville, S. (2013). Allegory and Allegoresis, Rhetoric and Hermeneutics.Exemplaria. 14Rickert, T. (2013).Ambient rhetoric: The attunements of rhetorical being. University of Pittsburgh Pre. 15Bloemendal, J. (2016). Exegesis and Hermeneutics in Erasmus' Paraphrase on Luke. Erasmus Studies, 36(2), 148-162. 16 Luke 24:27 17Schillebeeckx, E. (2013). Can Christology be an Experiment?.Proceedings of the Catholic Theological Society of America,35. 18Watson, F. (2013). Gospel writing: A canonical perspective. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Reefs

Florida’s reefs cover the region between Dry Tortugas and Fowey Rocks in Miami, paralleling keys for three hundred and fifty six kilometers. Most of the reef tracts are found within the boundaries of the sanctuary a part from the northern cover.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Reefs specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, several types of reefs occur mostly at the shore while others are found ten kilometers away. It is the most wide spread reef tract in North America and the third largest in the world (National Marine Sanctuaries, 2011). According to research, there are two coral species, sixty three of taxa corals and forty two species of otocorals. This essay addresses some of the disturbances which have been experienced in the coral reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary together with measures which have been implemented to salvage the ecosystem . Coral reefs are mainly threatened by human activities around the world. Due to ever-increasing human population, coral reefs can be affected in countless ways. Some of these ways include but not limited to urbanization and agriculture which increases sedimentation, polluted runoffs and nutrient inputs. Emissions from industries and automobile engines further increase green house effect and leakage of waste products in water (National Geographic, 2011). Harvesting of resources and overfishing have also been identified as ways in which coral reefs in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary are affected. Additionally, huge vessel groundings have caused significant impact on coral reefs in the sanctuary. For instance, nineteen acres of coral reefs were destroyed between 1984 and 1997 by large ships which were over two hundred feet long (National Marine Sanctuaries, 2011). Huge ships cause groundings which affect the health of corals plus other organisms surviving in the ecosystem. More over, sediments and nutrient pollution from farming and coastal development smoother corals, block sunlight and block settling of larval.Advertising Looking for essay on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Discharges and nutrient-rich runoffs promote the growth if algal blooms and other competitors (Wadlow, 2011). These equivalently block sunlight and affect normal coral growth and reproduction. All these have weakened corals and created an environment which exposes corals to pathogens and diseases in the Florida Keys (National Geographic, 2011). Coral reefs in the Florida Keys have also suffered due to water diversion in the Southern part of Florida. This is because of the connection of the sanctuary with Florida Bay. The diversion has contributed to the growth of planktons, death of fish and sea grass die-offs. Overfishing has equally caused drifts in fish sizes, their abundance and overall composition wit hin the ecosystem (National Marine Sanctuaries, 2011). Due to the devastating nature of the ecosystem, there have been recovery efforts from the government and the surrounding community in recent years. Firstly, radar beacons have been installed which help vessels to locate paths relative to the position of coral reefs (Prosea, 2005). This has seen access to some regions by sea vessels denied. Similarly, long tanks and vessels measuring more than fifty meters have been restricted from certain coverage of the ecosystem (National Marine Sanctuaries, 2011). Fishing is currently regulated by enforcement of legislation which prohibits overfishing and promotes safe fishing methods. It is important to note that the recovery of coral reefs of Florida Keys was primarily led by human intervention through plans and strategies. As mentioned above, legislation and restrictions have played imperative roles in saving these reefs. Other intervention measures included public awareness through educat ion and research monitoring of the progress of the coral reefs (Prosea, 2005).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Reefs specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The approach taken in saving the Florida Keys reefs was the most appropriate and workable in saving this particular ecosystem. This is due to the fact that the proposed measures were aimed at protecting the ecosystem from threats like improper boating, pollution and overfishing (Prosea, 2005). References National Geographic. (2011). Impact of Climate Change on Coral Reefs. National Geographic. Web. National Marine Sanctuaries. (2011). Ecosystems: Coral Reefs. National Marine Sanctuaries. Web. Prosea. (2005). Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary Strategy for Stewardship. Professional Shipwreck Explorers Association. Web. Wadlow, K. (2011). New study: Keys marine ecosystem faces struggles. KeysNet. Web. This essay on Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Reefs was written and submitted by user Kasen Flynn to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Transformations Through War (all quiet on the western front) essays

Transformations Through War (all quiet on the western front) essays The novel All Quiet on the Western Front depicts World War I, the most devastating war up until its time. The author Erich Maria Remarque gets across a few forceful themes. Perhaps the strongest theme is the transformations that war induces. All Quiet demonstrates through the character Paul, that going through war transforms many different things. It changes a society and individuals in many ways. War can have a temporary positive effect but for the most part it corrupts everyone involved. The way that war can have a slightly positive outcome is through changing how people view war. It distorts things by making humans act primitively, changing the way they see life, and by corrupting a society. There are a few ways that war can improve the way a person sees things. One slightly positive effect of war is that it can change peoples patriotic outlook on killing people. Before going to war everyone has a positive view of what war is. All Quiet demonstrates this when Paul reminisces back to when he was going to enroll. He talks about how one of his teachers had influenced him and his friends to participate in the war. The teacher influences them by telling them what an honor it is to fight for your country and how everyone will look up to them. When they actually got out there and were fighting they saw that its not worth it for their country. Its queer when one thinks about it, we are here to protect our fatherland. And the French are over there to protect their fatherland. Now whos in the right? Knowing that the other countries are there for the same reason as they are makes them question what theyre fighting for. Its horrible that it had to get to the point of war, but at l east sooner or later the soldiers have to realize that what theyre doing is not for a good cause. Another meager positive effect also has to do with the way that the soldiers ...

Chinas Conflicts To Achieve Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinas Conflicts To Achieve Democracy - Essay Example At the same time, members of the police all over the world are being provided with additional training in dealing with terror attacks like terror attacks using gas and similar. These measures have been somewhat successful, so it may be necessary to continue these measures more effectively for the long term. The media can play a significant role in alleviating the problems associated with terrorism, by promoting the desired message to members of the public. For instance, newspapers have a large scale access to customers and most of the public attitudes towards different issues are formed as a result of the coverage received through the media. The availability of the tools of technology via the Internet also provides a means to reach masses all over the world instantly and inexpensively to flash news, warnings, and information. The Internet contributes to the increase in terrorist incidents because it allows terrorists to propagate their message cheaply over the electronic medium to th ousands of people across the globe. But it also enables anti terrorist measures to be implemented more effectively, because it enhances communication and provides a medium for Government, police and other authorities to communicate directly with members of the public without much waste of time, which could come in very useful in the case of an imminent attack. Thus, the media could be used to address the threat of terrorism by providing an effective means of fast and reliable communication to large masses of people across the world.

Cross Cultural Management and Its Relevance in Supporting Global Essay

Cross Cultural Management and Its Relevance in Supporting Global Business Operations - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that culture and cultural identities affects interactions and human engagement with each other. People from the same culture feel more comfortable when grouped with others from a similar culture. This merging becomes more specific especially when money is involved. Same culture individuals consider partnership in the business world. However, when different cultures have to come together these people have to grow together to meet the organization goals. While growing together, these people face similar problems and have to agree on joint actions to defeat the problems. The more they solve the issues together, while embracing each others culture, the more it becomes a norm and system of rules that will later be local legislations that with practice will become the groups guiding principals. Cross-cultural management is thus the study of behavior of people from different cultures who have come together to meet a common goal. The study emphasizes on the m ain motivation factors like group dynamics, leadership structure and decision making practiced by such a mixed group.   This paper highlights that economic system is one aspect that has exposed cultures to elastic limits. Earlier, the economies were divided into first world, second world, and third world. First world economy had advanced free enterprise system, second world had centralized planning, and third world was more of a developing economy. Third world was built up by countries moving from agriculture economy to industrial economy. However, any global minded person knows that these dimensions have since changed. Many economies are mixed and many third world economies happen to have particular strengths that make them stand out.

Writing Historical Fiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Writing Historical Fiction - Essay Example For a time I had decided after high school I wanted to pursue something different rather than simply entering college. I had no idea what I would do – get a job, study in a Buddhist monastery, join a commune – whatever it was it would ensure that my life was unique. One night I expressed this desire to my father, Daniel. Rather than rejecting my idea as I had expected he would, he empathized with me and told me that when he turned eighteen he had similar feelings. Rather than pursuing anything similar to what I had proposed, however, he went on a summer long excursion throughout the western United States. My father was born and grew up in Montana. Growing up in a large family he never really had the opportunity to travel throughout the country. After high school, before deciding on his next course of action, he and two of his friends piled into a Cadillac and started towards the western part of United States with nothing but a map and backpack of clothes. â€Å"We didn ’t really have a plan† he told me. â€Å"Really, all we knew is that we wanted to see California and take it from there.† They passed through Idaho and Oregon, heading straight for San Francisco. It was 1972 when my father and his friends drove over the Golden Gate Bridge into the city. Throughout the late 1960s San Francisco had become the center of hippie culture. Protests regularly occurred there, bands and artists frequented the area, and songs were even written about the city. While San Francisco had experienced this great idealism in the 1960s, the early 1970s were a time of growing cynicism. â€Å"We pulled into the city with a great sense of naivete, believing there would be young people with flowers and guitars all over the streets. In reality we were a few years late† he told me. They made it throughout many of the characteristic spots, â€Å"We went to Haight-Ashbury, saw Alcatraz, and rode the cable cars.† I had heard of San Francisco as the epicenter of 1960s culture, so I was very curious as to what had happened to the area’s optimism. â€Å"The month we pulled into the city was the same month men had been arrested for the Watergate scandal. A few years before Charles Manson had been arrested for leading the Tate-Labianca killings. It seemed like the collective culture of the area had grown tired of itself.† They explored throughout the city nonetheless. While San Francisco was the heart of the 1960s counter-culture movement, the city also has an illustrious history dating back to the 19th century gold rush. â€Å"What I remember the most is walking along the peer where the fishermen brought in their daily catch. Stands had been setup where you could buy fresh fish and chips. We sat along that peer each night looking out at Alcatraz.† After a couple days in the city they decided to explore the surrounding area. They ventured up a hill that overlooked the city. â€Å"The hill had actually bee n an old Northern Civil War army base† he told me. It really surprised me to discover that preparations for the Civil War had extended as far west as San Francisco. While the area was a designated no camping zone, they were traveling on a budget; they waited until night time and set up sleeping bags out of site of possible passersby. â€Å"We walked out to the top of the hill before right before the sunset and looked out across the Golden Gate Bridge and the city of San Francisco. I thought about all the people that had looked along here before and all the development the city had gone through. It was truly an American relic† he told me. He would go to sleep that night, but be woken up by cats clawing at his face.

Balanced scorecard is strategic planning

Balanced scorecard is strategic planning INTRODUCTION Balanced scorecard is strategic planning and management system used for business and industry, government, non profit organizations worldwide. it is used for business activities like vision and strategy of organization to improve internal and external communication to monitor organizations performance against goals. Balanced scorecard is designed by Drs. Robert Kaplan and David Norton for performance measurement in their series of articles in Harvard Business review. It is designed for executives and managers to get balanced view of organizational performance. In early balanced scorecard was only used for simple performance measurement system. The new system transforms an organizations strategic plan from attractive document into marching orders for organizations on a daily basis. The balanced scorecard system is totally works on:- -Companys Mission Companys Strategic Plan -The financial status of organization The level of expertise in the organization. -Customer satisfaction level. In the past, the organizational growth was measured in financial measures only, which were not adequate to measure the performance. However, to look into future with great value, companies must have to invest through customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology and innovation. The balanced scorecard has emerged as a effective tool in the process to allow organizations to implement different strategies successfully. Organizations all around the globe has benefited by balanced scorecard like increased financial returns, employee alignment in with overall growth, improved collaboration and focus on strategy. BALANCED SCORECARD PERSPECTIVES Balanced scorecard divided into mainly four perspectives. Learning and Growth Perspective The Business Process Perspective The Customer Perspective The Financial Perspective VISION AND STRATEGY LEARNING AND GROWTH FINANCIAL CUSTOMER INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESSES BALANCED SCORECARD PERSPECTIVES 1. LEARNING AND GROWTH PERSPECTIVE:- This perspective mainly includes training and growth of employee potential as well as their practical skills. Now days, there is a rapid changes in new Technologies, so the employee must be in the continuous learning mode, so that they can learn new technologies and apply it. In this perspective, it is searched that, is there correct level of expertise for the job? Employee turnover ratio analyzed in this perspective, so that job satisfaction among the employees can be measured and corrective action can be taken. The learning and growth perspective concentrate on learning rather than training, because it includes tutors and mentors in the organization so that there will be easy flow of communication and problems can be solved within organization. 2. THE BUSINESS PROCESS PERSPECTIVE:- This perspective consists of internal business processes. By using this perspective managers can know that how well their business is running, whether its products meet to customer needs and demands or not. The process alignment is checked that it is right department. The process should carefully design to meet standards of product that meets customer requirements. 3. THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE:- In recent studies, it has been seen that customer satisfaction and customer focus are important for success of any business. If customer is not satisfied then they will find any other supplier who satisfies their needs. These will surely the failure of the business that doesnt meet to the customer needs. Delivery performance, quality performance, customer satisfaction, customer percentage in market and customer retention rate are some of the important aspects of customer perspective. 4. FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE:- Financial perspective is very important to measure success of any company. When financial objectives reached, only then organization can exist successfully in the long run. This perspective expressed in the terms of budget and target achievements. This perspective focuses on the quarterly or yearly financial results, return on investment, cash flow, etc. Q. 1. Why change and how balanced scorecard approach different? The business environment in now days is very competitive in terms of product quality, market share, customer satisfaction and volatile than ever been. In order to survive in the market, organizations need to be far more efficient in the use of their resources, should understand needs of their customers, should organize their internal system and procedure, and have employees who have a far level of interpersonal skills than in the past. The financial system was mainly backward looking, focusing upon reporting achievements rather than upon the attainment and pursuit of objectives. The financial system was paying attention to fulfill short term objectives rather to fulfill long term objectives. This system need to in corporate data capture and analysis of non-financial measures, such as customer profiles, customer satisfaction, employee performance, employee satisfaction, product quality, service quality, organizational transformation and development. So, organizations need to think beyond the historical perspective of their traditional financial reporting systems. The financial system has limitations because of considering limited factors. To improve performance evaluation, there was a need to change old financial system with the more balanced and which bridges strengths of the traditional financial measures of past performance with the benefits of measuring factors that impact upon or drive future performance. Q.2) Discuss in general terms the information which would be required by a manager to implement this approach to measuring performance. The balanced scorecard approach is mainly consists of four approaches: financial, customer, internal processes and learning and growth. The balanced scorecard focuses mainly towards common goal. The process of developing balanced scorecard gives an organization a clear picture of future and path to reach there. To implement balanced scorecard, manager need to implement its four perspectives and also needs information of its key elements as follows:- Financial perspective: Financial objectives are used to represent long term goals of organization. In this perspective of balanced scorecard, a manager need to identify financial objectives of an organization and develop measures that indicate how successful the organization achieving those objectives. In this aspect of balanced scorecard, manager needs information of following measures: return capital employed return on net assets Bad debts of company Account receivables Gearing rate. Customer perspective: The customer perspective is designed to measure how well the company is meeting the demands of customers and market. The major goal of an organization is to supply for the demands of customers. In todays environment company must provide a quality product, and also timely delivery, and customer service following the sale. There are some more information which also to be considered like, The very important price of the product Customer satisfaction Customer retention Increasing customer base Delivery times Rate of goods returned by customers Customer relationship. The Internal business processes perspective: This perspective focuses mainly on internal processes to deliver the goals of customers and shareholders. This aspect works within the company. The information needs is related to: Quality control rejection rate Production lead times Level of production capacity utilization. Learning and growth perspective: This perspective identifies human relations and works to improve the Skills of employees, infrastructure and innovation. Employees are very important part of the organization and key to innovation. re Sources must be allocated to educate them on the processes of company and mission of company. This education should be coupled with the motivation. This starts with autonomy to employee so that they can suggest changes in organization. The manager should know information of this aspect: Employee capabilities Information system capabilities Level of spending per head on employee training Employee absenteeism rate Staff turnover rate Range of products This information is very important to implement the balanced scorecard approach within the organization. By having this information, manager can implement this approach in the organization to measure performance. Q.3) Comment on three specific examples of performance measures which could be used in service industry. 1. Balanced scorecard in the Hotel industry: The balanced scorecard derives its name primarily from the way it provides a structured focus upon the main organizational performance dimensions: the financial, customer, internal processes and learning and growth. Balanced scorecard thinks far beyond the traditional financial system, so that hotel appears the appropriate setting for implementation of the balanced scorecard. The first step in developing a balanced involves is determining a mission or vision. A vision outlines the purpose of an organization. After vision, we need to determine what strategy will be employed to achieve the mission. After strategy we need to translate this strategy into specific strategic objectives. If the strategic objective of staff is to be regarded among most friendly, appropriate performance measures could include: hours s pent to train staff on politeness and friendly customer engagement, customer survey ratings with respect to perceived friendliness of staff. As strategic objectives and performance measures would need to be developed for each of four balanced scorecards key perspectives. a] Financial perspective in hotel: The financial perspective contains strategic objectives that are developed from shareholders perspective. Kaplan and Norton suggest these objectives can be developed by answering the question: To succeed financially, how should we appear to our shareholders! Once these objectives have been developed, a set of financial measures generated. The financial measures includes departmental cost, cost of providing a room night, hotel profit, profit of market segment, revenue per available room, share price, revenue growth compared to budget, sales mix, operating profit compared to prior year, ROI, etc. b] Customer perspective: This comprises strategic objectives that are developed by customer point of view. To achieve our objectives, how should we appear to our customers! Once these objectives developed, a set of customer related performance measures can be developed. This includes: customer loyalty, proportion of returning customers, customer complaints, customer profitability, new customer acquisition, market segmentation, market share etc. These factors are considered while measurement of customer related performance. c] Internal process perspective: This perspective concerns the development of process related objectives that are consistent with achieving financial and customer objectives. These objectives can be developed by responding to question, to achieve our internal objective which types of processes should we undertake! A set of performance related measures are: customer billing errors, time taken to check-in, restaurant service errors, workplace safety, customer database availability, internal control practices, etc. d] Learning and growth perspective: This perspective concerns the development of organizational capability goals that are consistent with achieving financial and customer objectives. Possible learning and growth measures includes: training investment per employee, absenteeism, employee motivation index, employee satisfaction, personal growth of staff, internal promotion levels, staff retention, staff empowerment, frequency of training, etc. The balanced scorecards group-wide application has greatly increased opportunities to use the achievements of best practice hotels. Balanced scorecard provides focused approach towards the common objectives of a hotel. By using above all performance measures, we can use balanced scorecard successfully in the hotel. Refrence online book:- Accounting essentials for hospitality managers by Mr. Chris Guilding 2) Balanced scorecard in the Insurance sector:- Now days insurance sector is very competitive industry among the service industries. There are different types of insurance like car insurance, general insurance, medical insurance, etc. this sector is totally customer oriented sector and totally depends upon needs of customers. The performance Measurement of this sector by balanced scorecard is consists of measurement of its four perspectives. The mission and strategy of an insurance company is determined by board of director of company. After the strategy, the objectives and targets are set by management for the particular period of time. Then the company operates to fulfill those objectives. The measures of the insurance sector according to four perspectives are as follows: 1. Financial perspective:- The major financial perspective in the insurance sector is the share holders perspective because share holders are the important part to provide capital for the business. The measures contain cost of employees, incentives as percentage of salary, annual salary, increase in training cost, the cost per insurance, total profit earned, operating costs, total sales, share price, Etc. 2. Customer perspective:- Customer perspective focuses totally towards customer satisfaction and customer retention. Customer is leading indicator in the insurance sector, if he satisfied then only company can earn profit. The customer perspectives measures are number of referrals generated from the customers, number of customer focused products developed, decrease in customer complaints, and percentage of upgraded policies, etc. 3. Internal process perspective: This perspective works totally on developing internal processes to meet customer needs and demands, so that customer can be satisfied with the service. It improves on negative aspects of the internal system and try to improve it. The possible measures can be percentage of renewed policies to the number of policies sold, number of sales targets achieved, percentage of decrease in employee turn over, types of insurance policies generated. 4. Learning and growth perspective:- This perspective works on the employee development and corporate cultural attitudes related to both company and self improvement. It works on improving sales efficiency of the sales force. The possible measures comes under this perspective can be number of training sessions, number of brain storming sessions, number of motivational sessions, number of quality feedback from the employees, etc. 3) Balanced scorecard in the banking industry:- Balanced scorecard received a wide range of use and promotion by global business organizations and some international banks have successfully implemented this approach to measure and increase their performance. In response to different problems faced by the global banking industry like the recession of the year 2008, balanced scorecard research helps to solve those problems effectively and results in the profit. In the rapid innovation and development of financial sectors, the banking industry facing intense competition. The measures of banking Industries according to the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard are as follows:- 1. Financial perspective:- Balanced scorecard is not only indicator of appraisal system but also strategic management tool. The balanced scorecard breaks the traditional financial measurement system. It adds future value to the financial measures. The measures of the financial perspective can be improvement of product quality, time to complete orders, productivity, new product development, customer satisfaction into increased sales, reduction in operating cost, economic value, added bank profits, the per capital profit, net interest income, marketing cost, income ratio, office expenses, labor costs, loan, etc. 2. Customer perspective:- Due to intense competition, customer has become very important aspect of the banking industry. Attracting customers towards bank is very important so that the strategy of the bank should be customer focused. The possible measures of bank performance according to customer perspective can be: Market share, customer retention rate, rate of new customer, customer satisfaction, customer profitability level, customer complaints, etc. 3. Internal processes perspective:- In order to retain target customers and to meet the requirements of shareholders about financial returns, managers need to focus on customer satisfaction and improve internal processes and establish measurable indicators. In this perspective balanced scorecard not only paying attention to a simple process to improve but also confirms request of customers and shareholders as a starting point to satisfy both customers and shareholders. Measures are: product and service innovation, new product and service revenue, the new loan rate and increasing rate, the number of internal regulations, responsibility of accidents, etc. 4. Learning and growth perspective:- It includes an investment which the organization must be carried out to achieve long term performance in the future, like ability of employees, organization information system, employee satisfaction, staff violation rate, pass rate of status examination, professional development program, staff training sessions, etc. These are measures of a bank for performance measurement on the basis of the balanced scorecard approach. We can evaluate the performance of the bank by using these measures. Refrence: www.academypublisher.com REFRENCES:- www.google.com ( google books ) Magna Cara College online Library University of Wales online library Frank Wood and Alan Sangster Business Accounting 2 Chris Guilding Accounting essentials for Hospitality Managers www.magnacartacollge.org (moodle) www.academypublisher.com ( article)