The Art of Teaching Life Lessons Effectively Through the Use Of Fables Essay

The Art of Teaching Life Lessons Effectively Through the Use Of Fables and Parables - Essay Example Weather it is to teach a child or a youth fables and parables play an important role. In bible, there are several instances when Jesus uses parables to explain to his disciples and his people the basic principles of life. This paper explains how fables and parables are useful in the art of teaching life lessons effectively. Before we get into the discussion it is essential to define the terms fables and parables and also find the basic difference between the two. Fable (from the Latin fabula, "a telling") puts the emphasis on narrative (and in the medieval and Renaissance periods was often used when speaking of "the plot" of a narrative). Parable (from Greek parabole, a "setting beside") suggests a juxtaposition that compares and contrasts this story with that idea. Allegory (from Greek allos and agoreuein, an "other-speaking") suggests a more expanded use of deceptive and oblique language (Jesusi.com, 2001). According to the Wikipedia encyclopedia a fable is defined as a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that uses animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim (Wikipedia, 2007a). In simple terms the fable is generally a tale or a story of animals that come to life and behave as though they were humans. The fable tends to concentrate on animating the inanimate. The only difference between a fable and an ordinary folktale is that a fable always carries a moral (Jesusi.com, 2001). In simple words fables are knowingly fictional, unrealistic fantasy stories with moral that illustrate previously discovered human wisdom (Chopra, 2004). On the other hand a parable does not take the help of animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as actors (Wikipedia, 2007a). The parable also tells a simple story. But, whereas fables have a tendency to personify animal characters, the typical parable uses human agents. Parables generally show less interest in the storytelling and more in the analogy they draw between particular instances of human behavior. For instance, in bible Jesus through the parable of good Samaritan proves the true neighborly kindness required in human behavior at large. Preliterate oral cultures are the common roots of parable and fable and both are means of passing down through generations the traditional folk wisdom (Jesusi.com, 2001). Deep spiritual truth is demonstrated using parables that are not previously understood by man (Chopra, 2004). The parables make it easier to set up unexpected connections. The parable is built on characters, images and situations already known by the reader or the listener, allowing the author or the storyteller to set up, unexpected links with new ideas or situations. The art of metaphor rests exactly in the capacity of establishing comparisons between ideas and situations that, at first sight, do not have much in common, thus revealing unexpected truths and new aspects of truths in life (Badenas, 22-40). Similar to poems, fables, parables, and allegories have some hidden truths. These are like imaginative literature or spoken utterance constructed in such a way that their readers or listeners look for meanings hidden beneath

Quantitative research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Quantitative research - Assignment Example The population is one hundred and three pregnant teenagers attending antenatal care within the problem statement. The problem statement includes the part of the population that relates to the study or research. The part of the population affected in this case is the youth section and specifically teenagers. The problem relates to nursing perfectly. This is because the issue of pregnancies is on the health sector and health officers or nurses should come up with a method that will effectively control this situation. Nurses have the mandate to organize workshops that educate youths on the appropriate use of contraceptives in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies. The main purpose of this study was to find out the factors that facilitate the rise of teenage pregnancies in a village of the Capricorn district that is located in the Limpopo province. Some of the factors include: The ignorance boosted by cultural taboos to discuss sex appropriately with parents always perceive peer pressure. This makes young girls in such communities to acquire unnecessary pregnancies (Babbie & Mouton, 2009). The independent of dependent and independent variables are appropriately reviewed in this research. The dependent variable is because of output while the independent variable is because of input. The review of these elements is in the research whereby the age of the teenagers represents the independent variable and the result or pregnancy represents the dependent variable. Strengths generate from within the organization. The strengths of this study based on the availability of information needed since they were operating in one village. This situation did not require many resources. The study had weaknesses in that it was unable to spread the project and relevant information to other villages within the district. There is a clear linkage of the dependent and independent variable in this study. The link arises at the point where

An analysis of Colonialism

An analysis of Colonialism Colonialism can be defined as a means by which a superior nation takes over the financial and radical affairs of a country usually through forceful means. It can also be defined as the strategy or training of gaining full or partial political control of another country. Colonialism can either be physical (military) or emotional (civilizing). Physical in the sense that military efforts are highly needed in other to attain full political control of a country and psychological whereas the colonizers need to be civil with the colonies if their mission is to be successful. The concept of colonialism has some advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are stated thus: Firstly, colonialism brought about education to the colonies. Before the coming of the whites to Africa or any other colonized country or continent, the people did not know how to read or write, all they ever knew was to go hunting, fishing and other agricultural activities, and this was the normal or everyday routine of the people from generations to generations. But after the coming of the whites, they brought the western education which after a long struggle and fights between the whites and the colonies, the colonies finally started sending their children to school which made a radical change for the colonies and as a result of that, there was organization and people started becoming literate. Also, the slaves that were taken as a result of colonialism to the white land, majority of them were trained in many aspects and this has increased the technical know-how of the slaves worldwide. Technical know-how in the sense that, the technical acquaintance of the slaves increased, for instance, slaves who have masters that are scientists, or into invention of mechanical accessories definitely grabbed some of the methods of invention after helping their masters. Also, other slaves that are doing the day to day job in houses that is, doing the house boy/ house girl jobs learn more about the hygiene factors and balance dieting etc. Secondly, colonialism brought about the abolishment of some barbaric acts between the colonies that is, in ancient African societies were they believe in idol worshipping, there was a belief that if a child was born, and dies that moment, he or she was regarded as an evil child and buried in the evil forest for the evil spirit to take the child. Also, colonialism exposed the killing of twins as a primitive and horrific practice and it stopped in the name of the colonizers. Also, there was the issue of human being sacrifice that was done to appease the Gods when something or a disaster has happened and the chief priest goes to the traditional head of the society and gives a name of a citizen in the society and says he or she must be sacrificed before things become normal once again. All these were barbaric acts that after the coming of the whites into the African societies, they saw it as barbaric and an abuse of human right so after gaining control of the societies either directly or indirectly, all these acts were abolished. Thirdly, colonialism was just an undercover name because most of the whites had a motive which was missionary that is, to preach Christianity to the black people. This was a major move to end the idol worship by the whites and it gained support because most of the people were tired of the human sacrifices in their societies to appease the Gods. So immediately Christianity was introduced, the idol believers started going for it which helped immensely to reduce the barbaric acts of the idol worshippers. For instance, in the ancient Igbo communities before colonialism, they all believed in idol worship and as a result of colonialism, they all changed their faith. Moreover, colonialism brought about equality amongst the people being colonized that is, in ancient primitive societies, women were not allowed to make decisions regarding any aspect in the society, all they were ever expected to do was to remain the house wives and satisfy their husbands and that was it. But as a result of colonialism, women were allowed to make decisions, participate in the politics, also sit in council with chiefs for the societal decision making and this was a major advantage of colonialism. Furthermore, colonialism brought about organization in the government of the colonies and advancement from the traditional rulers to a firm governmental structure such as the civil service which created more job opportunities rather than just serving the traditional heads. It also brought about democracy because the appointment of the head of government involved the people choosing who they wanted otherwise known as voting. The monarchs were only ceremonial heads and their method of ruling was dictatorial in nature because like in the Hausa pre-colonial era,the emirs were believed to be the spiritual heads and very close to Allah, so, every decisiontaken by the emirs whether right or wrong was obeyed by the citizens with no objection. This led to some dictatorship and abuse of power by the emirs. But as a result of colonialism, all this reduced to a minimum level because the rulers only became ceremonial heads while the presidents elected were the ones with real governmental powers o therwise called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“head of governmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Colonialism, also has some disadvantages which are stated thus; Firstly, colonialism led to economic exploitation by the whites because they gained more from the raw materials and minerals gotten from Africa than the Africans. They made the Africans do the job of mining the minerals then send the minerals to their own country and harness them into finished products but the Africans do not get anything from it. And this was a major set back in colonialism because it exploited the colonies. Also, the white officers enforced taxes on their colonies which the Africans were not used to, and it led to some unrest in the colonies, for instance, the Aba Women Riot of 1929 was as a result of the imposition of tax in the eastern part of Nigeria which led the women to start rioting and it led to serious killings among the people and the whites. Colonialism lead to discrimination and lack of respect and maybe racism, discrimination in the sense that the blacks were treated as savages and of no worth. The whites felt superior to them because they saw how primitive the stage of the blacks was and feeling of superiority arouse, which made the colonizers oppress the blacks racially. Thirdly, there was a lack of admirationfor the African tradition which for instance, in the French colonial system of colonization, the policy of assimilation was a policy that wanted to change the whole African culture of their colonies. This was because they did not haverespect for African culture and tradition. That is why they neglected it and wanted to transform it absolutely. Also, the colonizers came with a task to change the sacred views of their colonies. So because of this, Christianity was enforced on major colonies even in Nigeria, the southern part of Nigeria were thought these beliefs. Moreover, the colonizers brought a system of management which was unacquainted for the people of the colonies. The British brought an indirect system of government which the people were not accustomed with. The southern part was not familiar with the indirect system which did not do so well. The people and old-fashioned heads found it difficult to cope with even the colonizers did not find it alright. It was only effective in the northern part which was more monocratic in nature. In conclusion, colonialism conveyed a lot of variations to civilization of the colonies and also did some harm too. But in general we can say that it has more benefits than the detriments which made it successful. With this I can say that colonialism is one of the best thing that has ever happened to man.

Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Essay -- Video Games

Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Unlike popular belief, the first violent video game was not Mortal Kombat. The killing started with a game called Death Race 2000 released in 1976 by Exidy Software. It was based on a B movie by the same title and features the main theme of the movie in the game: to run people over. You control the car to run over people, and the people you have killed become a cross. Needless to say, the game was quick to draw attentions towards it. The criticism from Americans all over the nation eventually got the game pulled off the market. One would think that the game must have been pretty intense and gruesome if it attracted such a response. Nope†¦not a bit†¦in fact, this is how the game looks: Things stay quiet until the 1980’s in which the Atari 2600 debuts. Out of the flood of titles being produced, someone decided that sex sells, even in videogames (geez†¦what a concept†¦). So a company by Mystique released Custer’s Revenge. The game had the player control a man named General George Custer going after a Native American maiden named Revenge, hence the title, Custer’s Revenge. Unfortunately, this game did not involve anyone saving a Native American princess; instead, the player has to control Custer and help him cross the playing field safely, while dodging cactus and arrows from Native Americans. Awaiting Custer on the other side of the field is Revenge, and the reward was that Custer gets to have sex with Revenge, on the screen, depicted by a group of flesh colored pixels (as shown on the left). The game received heat from women’s advocate groups and the Native American communities. Custer’s Revenge was so bad that many retailers refused to car... ...t that a 9 or 10 year old can have easy access to games such as Grand Theft Auto is just scary. I found option number 3 to be too extreme. Regulations are necessary, but option 3 would leave companies very restricted in terms of creativity and set a sense of fear in the game developers. Also, option 3 will impede one’s right to purchase the game one wants, without the eyes of big brother watching. Overall, option 2 is the most balanced, it deals with the weakest part of the rating system, and that is the enforcement of the ratings. Most retails now do not enforce the ESRB’s rating system; almost anyone can buy whatever game they want without fail. With option 2, the retailers are now more responsible than before in watching what their customers buy. This way, we can keep Mature games out of the hands of young children, yet adults can buy them if they wish to. Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Essay -- Video Games Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Unlike popular belief, the first violent video game was not Mortal Kombat. The killing started with a game called Death Race 2000 released in 1976 by Exidy Software. It was based on a B movie by the same title and features the main theme of the movie in the game: to run people over. You control the car to run over people, and the people you have killed become a cross. Needless to say, the game was quick to draw attentions towards it. The criticism from Americans all over the nation eventually got the game pulled off the market. One would think that the game must have been pretty intense and gruesome if it attracted such a response. Nope†¦not a bit†¦in fact, this is how the game looks: Things stay quiet until the 1980’s in which the Atari 2600 debuts. Out of the flood of titles being produced, someone decided that sex sells, even in videogames (geez†¦what a concept†¦). So a company by Mystique released Custer’s Revenge. The game had the player control a man named General George Custer going after a Native American maiden named Revenge, hence the title, Custer’s Revenge. Unfortunately, this game did not involve anyone saving a Native American princess; instead, the player has to control Custer and help him cross the playing field safely, while dodging cactus and arrows from Native Americans. Awaiting Custer on the other side of the field is Revenge, and the reward was that Custer gets to have sex with Revenge, on the screen, depicted by a group of flesh colored pixels (as shown on the left). The game received heat from women’s advocate groups and the Native American communities. Custer’s Revenge was so bad that many retailers refused to car... ...t that a 9 or 10 year old can have easy access to games such as Grand Theft Auto is just scary. I found option number 3 to be too extreme. Regulations are necessary, but option 3 would leave companies very restricted in terms of creativity and set a sense of fear in the game developers. Also, option 3 will impede one’s right to purchase the game one wants, without the eyes of big brother watching. Overall, option 2 is the most balanced, it deals with the weakest part of the rating system, and that is the enforcement of the ratings. Most retails now do not enforce the ESRB’s rating system; almost anyone can buy whatever game they want without fail. With option 2, the retailers are now more responsible than before in watching what their customers buy. This way, we can keep Mature games out of the hands of young children, yet adults can buy them if they wish to.

Segmenting In PharmaSim

Alyssa Mgmt. 324 10/10/2011SegmentingThere are two different segmentation options we can use to segment our consumers in PharmaSim. The first is demographic segmentation which refers to young singles, young families, mature families, empty nesters, and retired. The second way we segment consumers in PharmaSim is by illness (cold, cough, and allergy). There are other ways to segment consumers in markets such as: geographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, and behavioral segmentation.Geographic segmentation is based on region and city size, and where potential customers live or work. Psychographic segmentation focuses on lifestyle, personality or needs of prospective customers. Behavioral segmenting is built on observing actions or attitudes, such as: product features, usage rate, and where they buy. Looking at these different ways to segment prospective customers, PharmaSim can use behavioral segmenting to be more sufficient.For example, it could show our prospective customer s’ personal preferences as to what form of medications they are looking for such as: pill, gel capsule, or liquid. Adding behavioral segmentation with the demographic and illness segmentation already found in PharmaSim can help better lead us to specific marketing actions. Table of Segmented Market in 3 Different ways: Analyzing Perception of Allround As of right now Allround’s promote benefits are relieves aches, clears nasal congestion, reduces chest congestion, dries up runny nose, suppresses coughing, and helps you rest.When looking at the perception and brand’s purchased graphs, provided at the end of this report, we see that we are not doing very well with the allergy market or perceived effectiveness of allergy symptoms; however, because Allround isn’t an allergy medication we do not have to worry about how we are perceived in relieving those symptoms. Because we are perceived high effectiveness in fever in all three segments of the market we shoul d promote that in our product as one of the benefits.In the cold segment Allround is doing better than Besthelp in the perception of effectiveness for fever, cough, and chest congestion, but is behind Besthelp in nasal congestion and runny nose. Besthelp is the next highest brand purchased under Allround in the cold market, so Allround may want to decide that the advertising message should be to improve Allround's perceived effectiveness against runny nose or nasal congestion. Summary of the Three SegmentsEach segment (cold, cough, and allergy) have different brand leaders and different products are target marketing different consumers. Each segment has some of the same symptoms; therefore perception of the product (by symptoms) and how we market it is very important. For example, if Allround improves a little on the cough suppressant in their product or advertises it just a little more they may improve percentages in the cough segment. Overall, Allstar is sitting in a pretty good p osition right now with the Allround product.For the cold segment they are the leading brand purchased, and have the most satisfaction. In the cough segment, although they are under Coughcure and End in brands purchased and satisfaction of product, Allround is ahead of Coughcure in brand perception in everything except cough. Because cough and cold are more closely related than allergy, Allstar should stick to trying to improve in the cold and cough market. Allround is not targeted for allergy consumers so it does not have to worry about the allergy segment.

Assessment and Child Essay

Assessments are very important in determining how to teach our children and where they are in terms of development. There are many types of assessments that can be beneficial in helping determine how to approach the learning style of each child as an individual instead of as a whole group. While each assessment is structurally different, they can produce results which give us insight on where our children are during different stages of their lives. There are both formal and informal assessments that can be used. â€Å"Formal assessments are norm-referenced tests that have standardized, formal procedures for administering, timing and scoring. They have been â€Å"normed† or administered to a representative sample of similar age or grade level students so that final test results can be compared to students of similar characteristics. Test results indicate a person’s relative performance in the group. These standardized tests must be administered as specified in the manual to ensure valid and reliable results†(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). There is another type of formal assessment called criterion-referenced test. These type of test measure what the person is able to do and indicate what skills have been mastered. A CRT compares a person’s performance with their past performances. â€Å"In criterion-referenced measurement, the emphasis is on assessing specific and relevant behaviors that have been mastered rather than indicating the relative standing in the group†(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). Formal assessments can prove to be beneficial as far as comparing test scores over a period of time and how the child is developing over that same period. While formal assessments are useful they also have flaws in them. Standardized test can make a child feel like pressure and anxiety. In a lot of situations when a child feels like this they will not do their best on any type of assessment. Another problem with these types of tests is that they use the same set of questions for all the children and are not sensitive to the situations that different children endure. Children who live in poor and underdeveloped environments may not be exposed to certain ways of life and may not have the same advantages of acquiring knowledge as the other children they go to school with. This will automatically put them at a disadvantage in school and on test they may take. There is another way to do an assessment that is better suited for the child and does not make them feel so uncomfortable and that is an informal assessment. An informal assessment focuses on play and observation of the child and not a test of sorts. By observing the child in a certain situation you can record how they act and how they respond to different situations and stimuli that are presented to them. You can use check-list and rating scales to record your findings and document them and file them away in a portfolio. Another way to do an informal assessment is by parent interviews. You can find out a lot of valuable information by asking the parents questions about their child. Over the past few years teachers have placed more emphasis informal testing than formal testing. â€Å"Some districts have increased the use of curriculum-based measurements(CBM). Several samples of a student’s performance are collected, using items drawn from the local curriculum, usually in basic skill subjects of reading, math, spelling and written expression. Such brief tests are called â€Å"probes†(ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation). One form of an informal assessment is the Battelle Developmental Inventory. â€Å"The Battelle Developmental Inventory is an assessment for infants and children through age seven. It is a flexible, semi-structured assessment that involves observation of the child, interviews with parents and caregivers, developmental and social history, and interaction with the child using game-like materials, toys, questionnaires, and tasks† (Logsdon). This type of assessment is used to make sure that infants and children are reaching their developmental milestones or showing early signs of learning disabilities or developmental delays. This assessment can also be used through examiner/child and parent/child interaction. Examiners observe the child’s responses and score them based on standardized criteria. The parent caregiver input is also important in the assessment because it is used to gather information about the child’s history and interactions that take place beyond the testing session. When this assessment is used to observe the toddler through preschool development it is mostly done by tasks that involve testing the child with games, toys and tasks. They observe how the child follows directions, interacts with others, and how they perform certain tasks. Parent information is used to assess areas that can’t be observed during the testing session. The performance scores are based on standardized criteria. The Battelle is used to assess five components of development. They are adaptive behavior, personal and social skills, communication including expressive and receptive language, gross and fine motor skills, and finally cognitive skills are included. The results of this assessment can be used to determine if there are delays and how significant they are based on the age group the child is in. Another good assessment tool is play-based assessment. This is simply observing the child in their natural environment. By doing this the observer is able to see interactions between the child and their peers as well as how they speak, the language they use and their motor abilities. It is good to record all this information and keep it in an ongoing portfolio. By keeping a written record of what has been observed and any areas of concern you may suspect, you will have more information to share with the parents and find the proper method of dealing with the problems. I feel there is a major advantage when you use an informal assessment as opposed to a formal one. With formal assessments you can never really tell how smart a child really is. These types of assessments are based on statistics of a large group of children not the children as individuals. Just because children do well on a test does not necessarily make them smarter than others, it simply means they have better test taking skills. There are lots of times that the smartest people do horrible on tests just because they suffer from anxiety and get nervous. You can take the same kids that do poorly on a test and give them an informal assessment where they feel comfortable and you will get different results. Standardized tests are not a reliable means of assessing intelligence based on the fact stated above. These types of tests are often overused in this country and they do not take into account the comfort level or socioeconomic background of the child being tested. These play a more important role in test taking than the test itself. This is the number one reason kids are misdiagnosed for having  learning disabilities and other disorders such as ADHD. I also feel that a good relationship with the parents is essential in determining the educational needs of the child. No one knows their children better than the parents or caregivers. They are the ones who spend the most time with the children and can fill you in on patterns of behavior not seen during a certain test taking session. Parents are the most important resources you can obtain information from when dealing with children. I would strive to keep the parents informed of everything that was going on with their child and how to help them with anything that raised a red flag. The parents should always be informed when an assessment is going to be used. A parent could be upset when their child is going to be tested for a development problem without their consent. If you explain the process and how it can help to determine if the child is developmentally behind it can ease the parent’s mind and make everyone more comfortable. I feel that assessments can be beneficial if they are conducted in the proper manner. Making a child feel more comfortable in their environment is the best way to truly assess them and find out if they are lagging in certain areas of development. It is equally important to always keep the parents involved in all decisions affecting their child and the processes used to assess them. The information used by assessments can help make sure children are developmentally on track, just remember the most important factor is the comfort level of the child. Without assessments a plan of action cannot be implemented or executed if the child is behind in any facet of development. Bibliography Logsdon Ann. Testing for Infant and Toddler Development. About. com Guide. http://learningdisabilities. about. com/od/intelligencetests/p/battelledevelop. htm. Accessed on December 10, 2012. ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation. Assessments for Young Children. 1999. http://www. 1donline. org/article /6040/ Accessed December 10, 2012. Sue C. Wortham (2012). Assessment in Early Childhood Education. 6th ed.