Pre 1900 Prose Assignment Charles Dickens Essay Example

Pre 1900 Prose Assignment Charles Dickens Paper Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7th February 1812 in Portsmouth. He was the second eldest of the eight children of John Dickens, two of those eight died in childhood. John Dickens was a clerk in the Naval Pay Office, but he was occasionally brought into debt even though he was hard-working. Charles Dickens spent his early childhood in Portsmouth, London and Chatham as his fathers work took him from place to place. In 1823, Charles was employed in a blacking business to help out with the familys financial disaster. Just before this, John Dickens was arrested for debt and not long after the whole family, with the exception of Charles, joined him in the Marshalsea Debtors Prison. The Monthly Magazine was the magazine where Dickens first story, A Dinner at Poplar Walk was published. A year later Dickens becomes a reporter on the Morning Chronicle and not long after that he got engaged to Catherine Hogarth. In 1836 he marries Catherine. Dickens was soon a father of a son, the first of ten children, following The Pickwick Papers publication. The Dickens family then leave for Italy, Switzerland and France in 1844, but he returns to London briefly to read The Chimes to friends before its publication in December. Seven years later, his father dies, during in which time he had moved back and forth from London, Italy, Switzerland and France. Dickens mother and his son Walter die in 1863, five years after his separation from his wife. In 1867, Dickens started to become very ill and it got worse and worse for the next two or three years until he died on 9th June, collapsing at Gads Hill, aged fifty-eight. We will write a custom essay sample on Pre 1900 Prose Assignment Charles Dickens specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Pre 1900 Prose Assignment Charles Dickens specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Pre 1900 Prose Assignment Charles Dickens specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Charles John Huffam Dickens was buried in Westminster Abbey. In this essay I am going to examine the techniques used by Charles Dickesn to create atmosphere and character in The Signalman and extracts from Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. The Signalman is a short story by Charles Dickens. It was published in 1866 and the terrible train crash Dickens was involved in at Staplehurst, Kent, a year before had inspired him to come up with this story. The story is told in first person by the narrator and starts with his first encounter with a signalman working in a solitary and dismal place. They talk about the signalmans post and his present job, however, on leaving, the signalman admits that he is troubled and they agree to meet again the following night. The next evening, the signalman tells that he sometimes sees a spectre near the entrance of the tunnel warning him by waving and shouting For Gods sake, clear the way! He says that he has seen the same thing twice before, each time shortly before a tragedy involving death. After leaving the signalman, the narrator decides to take him to a doctor next time he is off duty. When he goes back to the Line, however, he sees other men around. They tell him that the signalman was killed by and engine because he was not standing clear to the lines and did not react to the whistle no the waving and shouting of the driver. The spectre, the narrator and the engine driver had all waved ad shouted the same words. Halloa! Below there! is the first sentence of The Signalman and Dickens uses assonance to create an echo sound as if the narrator was in a tunnel. This sentence, therefore, cleverly allows Dickens to introduce the setting immediately. All the way through the story Dickens uses lots of personal pronouns such as he and him, When he heard a voice thus calling him, doing this he forms an atmosphere of mystery. Where I stood on the top of the steep cutting nearly over his head, gives an important perspective of how steep the descent will be when the time comes for the narrator to make his way down the cutting. Also it makes it sound dangerous and inhospitable. When the narrator uses the words foreshortened and shadowed it makes you think that the signalman is sly and evil, but then you realise that the sunset did not shine down the trench. This again creates an unsafe and hostile feel to the setting. Dickens sometimes uses the surroundings to reflect the state of mind of the characters and so an angry sunset could mean that the narrator or the signalman was angry, this is personification. Using this imagery, he has therefore created this scene in the evening, when darkness is about to fall. A vague vibration in the earth and air creates description from the use of the senses. It suggests that there is something dangerous in the distance. Then it follows that on with a violent pulsation hinting that the danger is coming ever close. After that an oncoming rush and vapour rising sounds as though its an earth-shaking monster, and the vapour is like smoke from a mouth. They are all violent hints that there is a hostile creature but really its the effect of a train. Dickens uses phrases such as a rough zigzag descending path and the cutting was extremely deep to make it sound a hazardous place and a very deep descent. Also the word unusually creates a sense of this place being out of the ordinary and sounds as though the narrator is leaving the natural world, thereby introducing the reader to the idea of the supernatural. It was made through a clammy stone that became oozier and wetter as I went down. The words clammy, oozier and wetter are all damp, slimy words and they describe the cutting as dull and depressing, which gives an unpleasant impression of the place. This makes the reader feel uneasy about the setting. Furthermore, if you look back tot the previous quotation, Dickens makes it more and more negative as the narrator descends. The signalman is described as a dark sallow man with a dark beard Repetition of the word dark creates an idea that the signalman is evil and dangerous; death is related to darkness as well. His post has been written as a solitary and dismal place, giving a feeling that he is lonely and his job is very remote. The line a dripping wet wall of jagged stone, excluding all view but a strip of sky. is used to make the signalman appear as if he has been imprisoned in his job. It describes the setting in a degrading way. Great dungeon, again shows that he has been imprisoned by his job. This makes the reader wonder what he has done to deserve his sentence. Also the quotes: a gloomy red light, the gloomier entrance, a black tunnel relate to the word dark. The setting of the line reflects the description of the signalman, making the reader feel uncomfortable and anxious. The words barbarous, depressing, forbidding and deadly are used to make the setting seem even more dangerous than before and like the narrator shouldnt be there. Later on in the story, when the signalman gives his account of when he saw the spectre, Dickens created a sense of confusion by using lots of question marks: Whats wrong? What has happened? Where? Dickens has used many techniques to generally create a dangerous and hostile atmosphere. This was very effective by creating suspense and linking the setting with the dark signalman. Also he set the scene and setting at the very start of the story. In The Signalman, there are just the two characters, the narrator and the signalman. The signalman himself is described through the observations of the narrator, so we get a second hand view of him. The monstrous thought came into my mind as I perused the fixed eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a man. The narrator is more difficult to get a picture of as the reader has to look at what he says and how he says it to find out the type of character he is. The narrator is in the dark about some aspects of the story as first person is the kind of narrator being used. This adds tot the atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The signalman, through the narrator, chose his words and replied carefully, which seems as though the signalman was well-educated and intelligent. He replied to my remarks with readiness and in well-chosen words. He explained to the narrator that he was a student of natural philosophy, but had made many mistakes and didnt come back from them but he ran wild, misused his opportunities, gone down, and never risen again. Himself saying this must mean he understood what he had done and didnt have any complaints. This furthers the readers confusion about his character. I had proved the man to be intelligent, vigilant, painstaking, and exact, this was how the narrator described the signalman from what he knew. He seemed trustworthy, unless it got out of hand, and wanted to help the signalman. Great Expectations was first published weekly in 1860 and finished in 1861. In Chapter 1: Appointment Made, Pip visits the graves of his parents and five brothers. A strange convict leaps out at Pip and orders him to bring food and a file the following morning. The convict threatens Pip that a young man will rip out his heart and liver if Pip does not carry out the orders. The first paragraph is Pip re-telling his past and recounting his childhood. My fathers family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name being Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip. It tells us how and why he is now called Pip. Pip sounds like a nickname given to a boy who is energetic, young and maybe a pickpocket, but in fact It was just given because he couldnt pronounce his own full name. This sets his character out straight away. I never saw my father or my mother lets us know that he is an orphan and this makes us sympathise with him. Pip is taken as imaginative and tries to think what his parents must have looked like by using unusual things to create an odd idea, the shape of the letters on my fathers gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout dark man, with curly black hair. The next paragraph is in 3rd person and is very effective in giving a wider picture. And that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip. Also by using 3rd person in a 1st person story gives a different perspective to how Pip might feel, but can create confusion as well. The narrator in this paragraph gives an insight into the character and makes Pip sound more vulnerable than he already is. Low leaden line beyond was the river, alliteration appears in this and Dickens has created description from the use of the senses. The Signalman created description from the uses of the senses as well and this is one similarity in both extracts. And that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip. This sentence finishes the 3rd persons view on Pip and is one way in which Dickens has made him look vulnerable and weak. The story goes straight back into 1st person when the convict appears on the scene to confront Pip. Dickens has most probably done this so we can see how Pip feels through his own mind and what he was thinking during the meet between him and the evil convict. Whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin. Hold your noise! cried a terrible voice starts the arrival of the convict in the story. It makes him sound impolite and intimidating straight away. Hold your noise is a strange way to tell someone to be quiet and suggests that the story is set a long time ago and this helps set the scene for the whole story. The convict is described through the senses again and is seen as threatening and frightening, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg is one part of the description. Other that make him seem menacing are; old rag tied round his head, smothered in mud, cut by flints, stung by nettles and also who limped and shivered, glared and growled. Pip reveals how frightened he actually is by saying Oh! Dont cut my throat, sir. I pleaded in terror. Pray dont do it, sir. He uses the term sir when talking to the convict and this gives an immediate effect of respect, or in this case fear. Pint out the place! , what fat cheeks you ha got. , and if I hant half a mind tot! are all quotations where an accent is visible from the convict. An accent might create confusion as Pip might not be able to understand him and also lets us know he probably is foreign. When the convict asks where Pips mum was, and Pip answered There, sir! the convict, acting as though he wasnt scared and was scary until then, runs away. This suddenly brings to mind that he isnt as threatening as he was thought to be. Who dye live with supposing youre kindly let to live, which I hant made up my mind about? The convict is re-affirming that he is still dangerous and delivers a threat if Pip doesnt answer. He makes an even greater threat not long after when he wants food and a file, You get me a file. He tilted me again. And you get me wittles. He tilted me again. You bring em both to me. He tilted me again. Or Ill have your heart and liver out. He tilted me again. The convict backs this threat up by scaring Pip when he tilts him back and back. In this extract, Dickens has again used effective techniques to create an atmosphere where Pip is frightened and vulnerable. At times, though, he has made the convict look slightly afraid and sometimes you feel sorry for him because of how he has been described. The scene and setting changed as the extract went on, one part was when Pip was described as petrified in his point of view, and another was a different perspective of Pip. Also the convict, when he first arrives on the scene he is described as intimidating and a scary person but your opinion changes as the extract goes on. The Signalman is quite a bit different to this extract from Great Expectations as Dickens doesnt try and use the same techniques to create the same effect. Oliver Twist was one of Charles Dickens most popular novels and was first published between 1837 and 1838. It centres on the hardship of the dispossessed and those of outside civilised society. The extract that I am analysing is Chapter 47: Fatal Consequences and focuses mainly on a discussion between Fagin and Bill Sykes, and then at the end of the chapter, Bill murdering Nancy. The first paragraph is basically a very long sentence; it is over five lines long and goes on to set the scene and atmosphere. It was nearly two hours before daybreak tells us that it is still dark and darkness can be seen as where all evil takes place. This immediately sets a dangerous and frightening atmosphere, just like Dickens did with The Signalman. That time in which the Autumn of the year. This backs up the evil part as autumn is barren and hibernation takes place. Dead is related to evil and darkness and the next quotation is just part of the description of the setting but we already know that the atmosphere is dangerous and scary. May truly be called the dead of night is also very negative and nothing g ood is said. The dead of night is personification and so is sounds appear to slumber. The first quotation the dead of night could mean that at night everything seems dead as it could be silent and maybe unsettling. The next quotation sounds appear to slumber suggests that because it was silent it felt that all sounds were sleeping and fits in with the danger atmosphere. Personification was used in The Signalman so again this extract has similarities with the short story. Fagin was first described as though he was evil and dead, and went well with the description of the setting. Fagin sat watching in his old lair, with face so distorted and pale, and eyes so red and bloodshot makes us create an image of Fagin which was quite frightening. That he looked less like a man, than like some hideous phantom, moist from the grave, and worried by and evil spirit finishes of that fearsome picture of Fagin in our minds and describes him as though he had died long ago and risen up from his grave. Dickens uses evil again to tell us about a spirit and this helps with the frightening atmosphere if the character is like it. Fagin is then portrayed as being an animal or monster, he sat crouching over a cold hearth, his toothless gums and fangs are all features or characteristics of an animal such as a dog. At last. He muttered, wiping his dry and fevered mouth. At last! This quotation suggests that Fagin was expecting Sikes, but he might have been late. It could mean that Fagin is impatient. Sikes is described as soon as he comes through the door and creates an image of him being the brawn of the two, whereas Fagin is the brains. The man displayed the burly frame of Sikes. Bur he did not take his eyes of the robber shows that Fagin does not trust Sikes and shows that he fears him a bit. Dickens has given Sikes an accent Damme said Sikes, and this has made Sikes foreign, more dangerous as he is from another county and harder to understand. Sikes lacks security, feeling in his breast with a look of alarm, which has made us feel that he is unstable and that he needs protection. It also shows that Sikes mistrusts Fagin as well. Nance will think Im lost. Gives a little glimmer that Sikes is caring and humanises him to his first description. Fagin uses blackmail a few times to persuade Sikes What if I did it! cried Fagin, almost in a yell. I, that know so much and, could hang so many besides myself! This blackmail is strong and is showing that what Fagin is trying to persuade Sikes to do is important. Sikes changes back to his violent self after he is humanised and he makes brutal threats to match Fagins blackmail. And beat your brains out afore the people and that I could smash you head as if I a loaded wagon had gone over it are two quotations showing the violence in him. Dickens has gone further than Sikes being just violent and has also created an image that he is not even afraid of death, Id do something in the jail that ud get me put in irons This finishes our image of the character Sikes in our heads and it is a cruel aggressive one, no sign of the caring part as he is willing to kill anyone who betrays him. When Sikes comes into Nancys room, Dickens makes Nancy feel vulnerable and we can sympathise for her. Even when Dickens uses double-locked the door it shows that she wants some security. The girl was lying, half dressed, upon it. Girl is used to again go further on her vulnerability and that shes not a woman but a defenceless young girl. Nancy is said to be pleased with Bills return and she thinks of him as a guard or some protection, or it shows that she might love him, with an expression of pleasure at his return. During the murder of Nancy, she was said to be praying on her knees and this helps for Dickens to make us feel sorry for her. Also a white handkerchief makes her appear helpless and weak This extract from Oliver Twist has most of the atmosphere techniques at the start of it, so as to create an image of the scene as quickly as possible. The Signalman and this extract are very similar in the techniques used to create atmosphere as Dickens is trying to build up a dangerous and evil place. Techniques used to create character are used throughout the extract and each character has been given different characteristics so there would be conflict. Fagin is very sly and evil, Sikes is violent and aggressive and Nancy is vulnerable and weak. The Signalman and Great Expectations both have two characters and centres mainly on the atmosphere and less on the them, whereas Oliver Twist uses techniques more to describe the characters. I found that The Signalman and Oliver Twist were the more effective of the three. I think I thought this as there was a lot of detail on the atmosphere of The Signalman and had conclusions to what the signalman was like, in his job and what is personality was actually like. Oliver Twist went into great detail with the characters and I liked this as I could create an image of all three characters and then I imagined what the atmosphere was like around them after. Dickens in Great Expectations, though, didnt use as many effective techniques to describe the characters. The atmosphere was being described through the use of the senses and there werent that many other techniques. This is why I thought that Great Expectations was less interesting and therefore less effective in building atmosphere and character.

Essay Sample on Philosophy of the Good Life

Essay Sample on Philosophy of the Good Life Philosophy had been studied for countless centuries by great people, wise men, and common people. It is not because they have to construct what philosophy is and its importance to humanity and the world as a whole, but to make its existence concrete and become usable to where it is ought to be used. The concept of philosophy is abstract and even before the existence of the humanity and the world, it was already there. Its idea was laid down in words through time to be used by people for the coming ages. But its usefulness and significance still depends how we absorb and utilize them. The word Philosophy itself means love of wisdom (Thomas). It came from Greek words Philo (love) and Sophia (wisdom). Therefore, it means devotion to know. Philosophy deals with different aspects and some of these significant concerns are metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, politics, and aesthetics (Thomas; Thomas). Metaphysics studies the theory of reality, epistemology studies the theory of knowledge, and ethics studies the theory of moral values (Thomas). Moreover, politics addresses the theory of legal rights and government, and aesthetics deals with the theory of the nature of art (Thomas). As a human being, what is there that we passionately wanted to know, or more appropriately, we passionately needed to know? This begins with our quest to seek our nature as a human, the world we live in, and our part to this world. There is the hunger and thirst to create a guiding scheme to know the course we are taking and that is what philosophy for. Philosophy, for that reason, becomes the guiding system of our morality, our being, and our sense of living. Each one of us has its own philosophy in every act we do, every place we go, and every decision we make. It is within us, in our instinct, in our beliefs, in our feelings†¦it is natural in each of us. The concretion of philosophy was made to formalize certain highlights in our daily life like government, politics, law, economy, and sciences. It is for that reason that philosophy plays an important role in the life we are taking and that is towards good life. Man always seeks the truth and philosophy opens the gates to the truth. If you need custom essays, research papers, thesis, dissertation or term papers on English, Philosophy, Education or other discipline feel free to contact our professional custom writing service.

Why There Should Be a Drastic Reform to the Public Education System Essay

Why There Should Be a Drastic Reform to the Public Education System - Essay Example Drastic reforms in the education system would help improve the quality of school education. In this context, school education can be defined as a laborious means of learning. This notion is justified by the articles ‘Against School’ and ‘Learning to Read’ that illustrate the poor state of school education in modern society. School education is illustrated as a poor way of educating individuals, because the tedious aspect of learning does not serve to accomplish the objective of learning as an enjoyable concept, but rather a factor that must be executed to make citizens become literate. Lawrence W. Reedla in his essay â€Å"A new Direction for Education Reform†, argues that a new exciting direction will offer great success to the education system. Education is an instrument of the societal social order and so when the society changes, even education and its approach also need to change. Education roots penetrate deep into many aspects of the society an d are subject to a number of forces, including political those that sometimes threaten the performance of the sector. Despite the significance of education, public education has been neglected and faces many problems and thus needs drastic reforms to change the system. This paper looks at some of these problems which call for drastic change in the public education system. ... to provide tools that can be used to improve education system in all public schools and provide equal resources and funding for all institutions to improve performance of public schools in all regions of the country. The articles ‘Against School’ and ‘Learning to Read’ contrast in terms of the content and ideologies posed in each. The first article, ‘Against School’, illustrates how school is a tool that is formulated to fulfill an objective, rather than create a concept that is essential, as well as enjoyable, for students. It also provides evidence why school education can be labeled as a poor educational system. ‘Against school’ provides the aspect of the problems that ails the school system and its effects on students which is usually poor performance. A change is thus needed in the public education system to find ways or ways of teaching that can encourage students to get involved in the earning process by developing interest t hrough enjoyment. The article is ‘Boredom is a common condition for schoolteachers’; this paper demonstrates a major problem with school education (167). The methods used to teach are tedious and can affect how individuals will learn concepts and ideologies that relate to various topics and subjects. This highlights that teacher get tired of teaching, and from time to time, they are unable to teach students in accordance to expectations. It brings the idea of taking children to school into question, because they do not normally enjoy their experience in school. Students are more likely to resent school, and hate education in general. (170). Learning to read by Malcolm X illustrates that if learning is implemented under the right conditions, it can be an enjoyable experience referring to the feeling he got when learning in

Health and Human Services Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health and Human Services - Assignment Example The following denotes factual data on the racial and ethnic disparities in the US health and human services sector: †¢ Prior to 1994, the medical enrollment database only enlisted existing races as white, black, and other or unknown (Academic Journal, Sequist and Schneider 2006, pp. 1455). †¢ Over 50% of African Americans don’t receive appropriate key medical procedures relative to whites (Report, Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care 2009, pp. 2) †¢ Between the years of 200 and 2008, the percentage of dialysis patients increased overall, but blacks and Hispanics were less likely to be registered on waiting lists relative to whites (Government, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2012). †¢ Over the years, health services providers have both intentionally and unintentionally communicated lower expectations for patients in disadvantaged racial and ethnic positions (Academic Journal, Sequist and Schneider 2006, pp. 1456). †¢ In 2009, Blacks and Hispanics were the least likely to receive to receive medical attention on diabetes relative to whites (Government, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2012). †¢ 66% of young non-Hispanic white adults aged between the ages of 20 – 29 are twice as likely to get private health insurance coverage as Hispanics, who stand at only 33% (Report, Cohen and Bloom 2011). †¢ In 2007, Blacks made up almost half of the patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, despite being just 13% of the US population (Government, 2010).

Individual analysis of an organisation of student's choice Assignment

Individual analysis of an organisation of student's choice - Assignment Example Wal-Mart emerged as a global retailing corporation from being a local retailer with the successful implementation of a unique and undisputed supply chain and operations management system within the business. The major characteristics of the operations management of Wal-Mart which have driven the success of the company on a global platform are the unique inventory management systems, non-replicable everyday low pricing strategies, the use of high end technology and integration in the supply chain and a centralized procurement and distribution system. Wal-Mart has become the undisputed leader in the retail segment through the use of the everyday low pricing strategy which has driven high volume of sales and subsequently increased profitability for the company. Wal-Mart is acclaimed for having maintained the highest operating profit margins, inventory turnover and sales per square feet among the retail companies operating in the United States and other countries in the world. The operat ions management of Wal-Mart has played a key role in the popularity of the company and the emergence of the company as the number one retail business among many players in the retail industry. Wal-Mart as a business has both internal and external stakeholders. Both the internal as well as the external stakeholders of the company have much interest in the activities and management of the business. The internal stakeholders of Wal-Mart include the shareholders, the management and the employees of the company. On the other hand, the external stakeholder group comprises of mainly the customers, suppliers, distributors, competitors and the governments of the countries in which the stores of Wal-Mart operate. The most important internal customers are tee employees and the most critical external customers of Wal-Mart are the customers of the business. Wal-Mart is renowned for managing its human resources very well and is currently

Negative Impacts of an Ageing Population

Negative Impacts of an Ageing Population What problems might governments face with an ageing population? Discuss what can be done to alleviate these problems? Nowadays, the issue of ageing population is a subject of much attention in all over the world. Population ageing is a shift in the distribution of a countrys population towards older ages. This is usually reflected in an increase in the populations mean and median ages, a decline in the proportion of the population composed of children, and a rise in the proportion of the population that is elderly. It is predicted that the trend for an older population will continue during the first half of this century at least. What this means is that we now have more elderly people than ever. The ageing of the population presents a major fiscal challenge for the government. Currently, it is a serious problem for governments in terms of what the effects will be on healthcare, care services, pensions and future labor supply. One of the major worries about the growing number of elderly people in our society is how the system can afford to support them all. Ageing populations are likely to put significant pressure on public spending programs, such as health care and pensions. Health care is the area that is particularly affected by the changing age structure of the population in favor of older age groups. The health care system through out the world is already overly stretched and the rise in this sector of population can make the health system go further haywire. Cost of health insurance is on hike and if this is the case many people will not be able to afford the costly insurance after a certain point in their lifetime. The pattern of health-care costs at different stages in the average life-cycle has been established in a number of researches, and it implies that as the numbers of elderly increase, total health-care costs are also likely to rise, although the effect of increased life expectancy on per c apita health-care costs is more difficult to establish because it depends, in part, on the physical dimensions of the ageing process. In order to isolate and examine the effects of demographics on health-care spending, per capita real public health-care spending on people under 65 year-olds and on those 65-years and older is assumed to grow in line with productivity growth. The per capita expenditures were then applied to the population projections for their corresponding age groups. The scenarios of health-care costs indicate that in the United States and Canada, whose populations are growing as well as ageing, public spending on health care as a per cent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) would rise significantly. In the United States, the effects of ageing are exacerbated by the particularly high share of public health spending which is spent on those over 65 compared with the under 65 year-olds. Moreover, The Government has given a lot consideration to adapting the design of new builds to ensure they are suitable for the ageing population. Its national strategy, called Lifetime Homes; Lifetime Neighborhoods sets out the challenge and the governmental plan of response. The plan sets out sixteen design features that should be incorporated into all new homes, such as level access, wide corridors and doorways, ground floor bathroom facilities, and sockets and light switches at a convenient height.   Besides, ageing population also affect on the demand for these social services, especially for pensions. The underlying reason is that medical advances over the last few decades have greatly prolonged our life span, forcing the pensions industry to support a greater number of pensioners for longer periods. But the problem has been exacerbated in recent years by dwindling stock market returns. Pension funds depend on steady stock market returns to pay policyholders. And when share prices fall as they have been doing for the last two years it becomes harder for funds to meet their obligations. Lower returns have forced most of the big company-run pension funds to suspend generous schemes which guarantee employees a fixed proportion of their final salaries on retirement. A large proportion of firms have now set up defined contribution or money purchase schemes, which do not guarantee the final pension sum and are therefore less risky for companies. An additional gripe, as far as employers are concerned, is the 10% tax on dividends earned by pension schemes, which was imposed by the chancellor shortly after the present government was elected in 1997. Dividends play an important part in the long-term health of pension schemes. Any tax on them increases the possibility that the scheme will not have sufficient assets to meet liabilities. Another problem is that ageing population means fewer youth who is the main labors in almost factories and companies; the decreasing in number of young people may lead to the shortage of labor in near future. In many countries, expected demographic developments will lead to significant declines in the growth of the labor force and aggregate participation rates over the next decades. The overall participation rate could fall by some 4-5 percentages on average between 2000 and 2025. This will be accompanied by an increasing share of older workers in the labor force and a significant increase in old-age dependency ratios. The ageing also will have a serious affect on the industry, as essential skills will be lost when employees retire (given that there are fewer young professionals coming into the industry to replace those retiring). This is exacerbated by the fact that the number of new recruits is declining and there will be nobody available to replace those retiring. This would also mean that the industry is losing a valuable teaching resource, as older workers often use their expertise and experience to help develop new entrants. This issue is closely related to the industrys dilemma of skills shortages and its problems in recruiting enough new employees. While the industrys older members are acknowledged for their significant expertise and experience, it was suggested that a fresher perspective from younger employees is important to drive innovation in the industry. These respondents believe that developing new ideas and innovative ways of working will help to strengthen the industrys future. Cur rently, theres no balance between these different aspects of the industry workforce, causing important skills to be lost and innovation to be constrained. In order to solve these problems above, the governments should have some solutions to prevent the economy getting worse and improve the living standard for all people. Some of main policy options which are governments should do for adjusting pension systems to future challenges are delaying retirement, lowering pension payments (including replacement rates) and undertaking welfare reform. The combined effects of the falling the numbers of working people and the rising numbers of pensioners mean that even quite major increases in contribution rates or reductions in pension payments would be insufficient to balance those projects that face the greatest problems. Increasing contribution rates can be seen as simply a means of raising overall tax revenues and would need to be assessed against other revenue-raising options but it does focus directly on the problem. Increasing the retirement ages (delaying retirement) to the extent that it does actually lead to people working for longer, al so helps to avoid one rather awkward aspect of many of the other changes suggested. Raising retirement ages also provides the decreasing in the number of pensioners. In order to delay retirement, government should ensure all state workplaces are conducive to older workers remaining in employment or encourages retirees to return to the labor force. Besides, government should relax the process for obtaining exemptions under the act for those employers who wish to target specific disadvantaged groups for recruitment. Those countries with the lowest retirement ages, after current reforms are implemented, France and Italy, also face the largest pension pressures and raising retirement ages significantly would seem to offer the most scope for easing the pressure, especially as experience elsewhere indicates that raising retirement ages is a practical and feasible policy option. Another solution which the government should do to balance the ratio between the number of old people and young people are reducing the cost of raising children, even the education cost. On the other hand, these days many parents can not be able to pay for raising children. For example, in UK there are two sets of people paying the costs of raising children: their parents and taxpayers. The costs of raising a family are high for parents, even those who send their children to state schools. According to a December 2007 survey by the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, parents can expect to spend about  £186,000 (up from  £180,000 from a year before) on bringing up a child from birth to the age of 21. A typical family spends  £50,538 on childcare and  £47,310 on education, even assuming a state education through primary and secondary school. The costs for taxpayers are high too. With state education paid for by the taxpayer, those under 18 incur costs to the public sector as w ell as the older people who receive state pensions and people of all ages who receive other state benefits. Young dependants funded by the taxpayer receive state-supported childcare or nursery education from ages 0-5; primary school education from 5-11; and secondary education from schools from 11-16. Many go on to receive further education from 16-18; with some 43% of those aged 18-21 continuing in full-time higher education at universities and colleges and the government aiming to raise participation to 50%. In 2004-2005 state education cost taxpayers  £63.7 billion, of which  £4.2 billion was spent on under-fives,  £36.5 billion on schools,  £7.4 billion on further education and  £7.8 billion on higher education. With 9.3 million pupils in 34,600 schools, the average school place cost the taxpayer  £3,924 a year. Therefore, there are a lot of people do not want to have children because they can not afford to bring up them. In order to increase the number of young chil dren government should have policies to help young people. Furthermore, immigration should be another cure for failing birth rates and ageing population. Because, immigrant can get employed to simulate economic growth. However, the proportion of low-skilled immigrants in the total number of immigrants should not be higher than the proportion among natives to prevent unemployment from rising. Thus to stimulate investments and economic growth it is of utmost importance that immigration policy as a means to mitigate the ageing problem should not only focus on the number of immigrants, but also on their employability by keeping the skill structure in line with the skill distribution of domestic labor market entrants. Overall, older people are a significant and growing part of local communities. This inexorable trend presents both daunting challenges and real opportunities for local government. Older people offer rich life experience, well honed skills, knowledge and wisdom, qualities that significantly contribute to the social fabric of local communities. But our ageing population will also impact on planning and service delivery due to the slowdown in the growth of workforce and the increase in spending on caring old people.

Apert Syndrome :: essays research papers fc

Apert Syndrome (AKA Alport syndrome) is a genetic defect which can be inherited from a parent who has Apert or a fresh mutation. It falls under the broad classification of craniofacial/limb anomalies. Approximately 1 per 160,000 to 200,000 live births inherit it. Some symptoms that Apert sufferers have are various heart defects, ear infections, severe acne, increased incidence of eye injuries, and many more. The skull is prematurely fused and unable to grow normally, and the fingers and toes are fused together in varying degrees.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If your child gets Apert Syndrome they may have many physical defects as well as a few other problems such as slower learning, a cleft palate, vision problems, and problems with acne during puberty. I don’t think Apert Syndrome children die, expecially because you can pass Apert through genetics. A child with Apert Syndrome could live a pretty normal life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The mutation which causes Apert Syndrome is found on chromosome number 10 called Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 2 (FGFR2). You have two copies of this gene, one from the mother, one from the father, which is composed of a string of about 2000 of the chemical building blocks that make up the genetic material called DNA. When Apert Syndrome occurs, just one particular building block in one of these two gene copies has been exchanged for another. The other gene is entirely normal. The one tiny change in FGFR2 results in the physical features of Apert Syndrome.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is no link between anything the mother does or doesn’t do during her pregnancy to cause Apert. Doctors believe Apert Syndrome occurs when a gene mutates early in the pregnancy. The chances of having a second child with Apert are almost non-existent. However if one parent has Apert Syndrome there is a 50% chance that their child will also have Apert Syndrome. And studies have shown that Apert occurs more often to babies with older fathers.