My Home Schooling Experience Essay -- Personal Narrative Essay Example

   I'd like to take this opportunity to elaborate on my home education. I realize that there are many different interpretations of the term "home school" and I feel obliged to explain my personal methods and philosophy. As copies of my curricula will be included in the Secondary School Report, I will not go into detail concerning the specific nature of my studies, but rather I will discuss my home schooling experience. I left traditional schooling at age nine, until which point I had attended the local public schools. Although I did well in the school system, I was often bored and complained that I was unchallenged. My parents had researched into home schooling and after a family discussion we decided to try it following the winter vacation of fourth grade.    Our approach was very structured when we first began and has gradually evolved to the natural style we live by now. Throughout my high school years I have taken the majority of the responsibility for my education. Each August my mother and I plan a curriculum together, which is a combination of what I want to study and what she feels I ought to know. I study Latin using a text with accompanying audio tapes and a reader with passages to be translated into English. I complete a detailed research project on a subject of interest in the social sciences -- Australian aborigines, for example, or the Vietnam war. My mother forms a reading list with approximately eight works of literature which I must read and discuss. During the year I add many of my own selections, including science fiction, plays, non-fiction, and often novels which my friends recommend.    My parents are always available for help, yet they do not act as teachers and do not constantly monitor ... ...with. This is true.       While others my age have been caught up on homework assignments and grades in preparation for the real world, I have been living and learning in the real world every day. My friends are of many ages, have many accents and professions, and do not eat the same type of food. They do not all live in my town or all gather in one building. Home education afforded me the time and opportunity to interact and learn in a variety of settings, and certainly my social life has been enriched by my experiences at the high school. I have had to use the resources in my surroundings to facilitate my own education, and Sarah Lawrence College seems the ideal place to continue that lifestyle. I have chosen to attend college in order to continue living and learning in the real world. I am looking forward to the college experience, and I am confiden   

Is the Job in Fast-Food Restaurant Exploitative Essay

Exploitation is a term to describe person that are being mistreated. Karl Marx used it to explain the relationship between the capitalists and workers. It is claim that the value of a product is depended by how much labor has paid on it such as time, energy or ideas. Therefore the price of a product minus the cost and energy to produce a product or other sufficient usages should be equal to what a worker can earn. However, as the workers own nothing but their labor, they could only sell their labor to capitalists who own all other kinds of resources. Marx defined the value that capitalists take away from the workers as surplus value. It should be fair between â€Å"sellers† and â€Å"buyers†, but the capitalists refuse to pay a suitable amount of reward. In order to gain more profit, the capitalists would try as hard as they can to increase the surplus value, and lead to exploitation. In the paragraph below, I will first start with reason why Hong Kong fast food workers being exploited. Second I will focus on the current situation of exploitations in Hong Kong fast food restaurant. In addition, I will express my opinion on the implantation of minimum wage. It could only improve the situation of workers but could not solve the problem of exploitation. Reason for being exploited Workers in fast food shop is being exploited mainly because of the supply of workers is far more than the demand of job opportunities. In general, the jobs in fast food restaurant are independent to the education level. It is because most of the job opportunities in fast food restaurants are being simplified and divided clearly. With the aid of machines, almost everyone could do the job well; no specific skills are needed in fast food restaurants. Therefore this kind of jobs will depend much more on social skills such as communicate with customers, meaning that this kind of jobs is widely open to different types of people. In 2007, there are approximately 32,100 fast food restaurant employee, compare with unemployment workers of age group between 20 to 50, which is over 100,000 in 2007. It is obvious that the supply of potential workers is far more than the job opportunities. Since the workers lack of bargaining power, it means capitalists could heavily exploit and extract the surplus value from workers. In order to earn a living or at least subsidies the family, workers have no choice but to accept the offer from capitalists. Exploitation in Hong Kong fast food restaurant There are two sectors for capitalists to exploit the labors, first is low wage and long working hour , another would be on cutting employee welfare, and these two kinds of exploitations are common in fast food restaurant. It is terrified that the first aspect, low wage and long working hour, is a kind of norm in fast food industry. In before minimum wage launched, the average wage of fast food restaurant workers is extremely low, most of the fast food restaurant offer the workers with less than $20 per hour. Besides pay for a low wage to workers, long working hour and mechanized steps in the fast food industry also reflect exploitation on the workers. As the capitalists treat labor as a product, they want to use this product to gain profit as much and fast as it can. On one hand they reduce the wage of workers, on the other hand the want to increase the rate of getting reward. They therefore encourage their workers to work overtime. Since the wages are too low that workers can not even earn a living for their family, they must need to work longer to fulfill the needs. The research conducted by HKCTU in 2006 showed that the maximum working hour for fast food shop workers may up to 10 hours per day, but still they not earn enough for their family. Overtime working had already been proved that would lead to greater chance of getting heart attack. Capitalists sacrifice the lives of their workers to gain profits, which is created by workers. Exploitation can also be found on welfare. If there is a contract relationship between employer and employee, both of them should be protected by laws. However, the laws in Hong Kong show that it is unbalance. The laws protect the employer more than that of employee and it also leads to exploitation. There are some cases that the capitalists avoid to pay for the employee welfare that a workers should have by using loopholes in the laws. The current labor laws stated that for all employees that continuously working for 4 weeks and each of the weeks working for not less than 18 hours, he or she will be protected by the law and can enjoy the employee welfare. However, this law comes with a lot of loopholes that let the capitalists have room to avoid paying employee welfare, like force the workers stop working every 3 weeks. It becomes a characteristic in fast food industry because of its unbalance between supply and demand. The working hours of this kind of â€Å"short-term† workers may equal to long-term workers, but the worker will never receive the benefits form the welfare. This make the whole thing legal and the exploitation may continue. Some extreme cases even show that capitalists may act illegally to exploit the employee welfare. In 2009, the motorbike couriers from McDonald were discovered that they had forced to be self-employ, meaning that they do not have any paid holiday, insurance or any other employee welfare. It is rather on the edge but since the current labor laws is not strict enough to protect the employee and rather or not the company is abusing the self-employ scheme is hard to be proved, the problem still remain unsolvable. Implantation of minimum wage The minimum wage law could reduce the level of exploitation, but capitalists could develop new methods to exploit the workers. According the findings of HKCTU, the wage of fast food restaurant workers after the launched of minimum wage has been increased for 20% to 50%. It is also glad that some of the fast food restaurants such as Cafe de Coral and Fairwood paid for the dinning hours and provide paid holidays to their workers which are previously do not. They are good news for the workers, but when comparing to the current situation, it could only solve part of the problem of low wage, but the law still not protecting the welfare of workers, current labor laws still rely on â€Å"4-18 scheme†. In addition, in order to maintain the profits to balance the increase in wage, some of the fast food restaurants implant new machines to their fast food restaurants. It increases the rate of trading, meanings the rate of getting reward increase. Although the capitalists claim that the new machines will not cause any dismiss of workers, new machines further simplified the process in fast food restaurants. Lower the skills level for fast food restaurant jobs indicate that the bargaining power of workers will not increase but further slide down. The set up of minimum wage provide an index for capitalists to exploit. Now they can not reduce the wage of workers, but instead they exploit the workers with brand new ways. The form of exploitation has been change but does not mean that exploitation has disappeared. Conclusion In Hong Kong, the supply of labor is far more than the demand, causes the powerless situation of workers. In order to earn for their families, they could only be exploited. Minimum wage improves the current situation of labor, but could not solve the problem. The only way that balance the relationship between capitalist and workers, may rely on create new laws. If we need to solve the problem, the implant of minimum wage is the first step only.

Old English Poem - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1373 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/05/13 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Beowulf Essay Did you like this example? Beowulf, an Old English poem, is a great fantasy story which was translated by Seamus Heaney. Although scholars may differ regarding the original audience and purpose of this poem, it is likely that Beowulf appealed to a wide variety of audience and garnered different responses. The poem follows the life of Beowulf, a man whose courage and persistence in defending his people stay with him to his old age. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Old English Poem" essay for you Create order Beowulf saves people in his neighborhood from a monster named Grendel as a youth, and eventually becomes their king. In old age, he dies defending his people from a dragon. Beowulf is thus a deeply philosophical and adventurous story. Only one manuscript contains the poem Beowulf. Some scholars believe that the British Library Cotton Vitellius A. 15 manuscript, the only one that includes Beowulf, is an original copy by the poet. However, many believe that this manuscript is the last in a succession of copies produced from the original one. The Vitellius A. 15 manuscript is dated 1000 A.D, and the poet may have written Beowulf between this date and 675 A.D. Even so, it was not until the 16th century that the poem surfaced, in the hands of Laurence Nowell. No one knows where the manuscript had been before it surfaced. The poem is rich in literary devices such as imagery, allusions and plot. However, these literary devices are also used to castigate themes of vengeance and feuds. The poem literally draws meaning from the imagery the poet incorporates therein. The author allows their reader to envision the events in the story through intelligent language use that is reader-sensitive. According to Kiernan, Kevin and Andrew (36), the first lines of the poem (130-134) describes the main character as approaching while beating at sand as the ship wherein he sits is foaming within the sea like a bird. Such a description tosses the reader into a world of admiration towards the enormousness and tough stunt of the main characters ship. The majesty of the ship also becomes an allusion of just how strong and mighty Beowulf is which deepens the audiences admiration for him. Imagery is also evident in the poets description of the waters in which the ship was assail as a water body splashing towards the sky which is also dark and black as the rain. In so doing, the author seeks to allude to the horrid nature of Grendel and his mothers home. As the story comes to a close, Beowulfs readiness is ascribed as in the way he strides with his shield at his side (Kiernan, Kevin and Andrew 38). Such description makes the reader respect the main character and understand just how ready he is for the battle of his life. The young Beowulf saves the Danes from two monsters. Beowulf also derived his courage from the human condition. He was courageous in every way, but also knew when and where to attack. He understood the limitations of the human body and strived to achieve excellence by reducing the exposure of human weaknesses to the enemies In lines 1700 to 1782 in the poem, Hrothgar gives a sermon that focuses on this aspect of the human life. Beowulf goes on to live a long and noble life, and dies defending his people from a dragon. . Characters describe and define one another, which makes the reader develop an understanding of them. For instance, in lines 237-257 of the poem, the coast guard defines Beowulf. Wulfgar also describes Beowulf and his men in lines 336a-70. The poem is also rich in allusions from both the Biblical and mythological worlds. Throughout the plot of the story, God receives respectful references such as almighty Judge Eternal Lord Creator Head of Heavens and God. Further, the story of Cain and Abel stands out in the story (99-114 and 1260-1268). The Biblical account of the brothers is entwined with Grendels history; according to the poem, Grendel and his mother are Cains descendants. As such, they are painted as part of a religious syndicate of murder and evil doing. Biblical affiliation is also evident with the character known as Wiglaf who was the only individual who stayed back after fighting Beowulf. The battle between the two characters alludes to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas who was the only disciple who did not hide and face the Christ. Mythological allusions are evidenced by the existence of the character Sigemund the dragon slayer. Such a character is also present in the Norse mythology of the Volsung Saga in which the character Sigemund sired the famous dragon slayer known as Sigurd. The Saga of Finn is also alluded to in the lines 1062 to 1158 (Kiernan, Kevin and Andrew 40). Some individuals consider the monsters in Beowulf to represent the evil nature of human beings. Beowulfs triumph over these monsters is an indication that people can fight and defeat evil in society. The evil of human suffering may emanate from natural disasters, greed, poor relations, and focus on wealth creation as opposed to mutually beneficial coexistence (Kiernan, Kevin and Andrew 65). The fact that Grendel and his mother are human and monstrous at the same time seems to suggest that some human beings are too evil and predatory. That the sounds of human joy arouse Grendels envy suggests that some human beings are not happy when their friends, neighbors, and other people succeed or find happiness. Hrothgar also locate evil within a human being in his sermon. The plot of the poem is complete with all the ingredients including the situation at the start, conflicts, emerging issues, climax, suspense, denouement and conclusion. The initial situation is that the King Hrothgar and the Danes in general must constantly look over their shoulders due to the constant threat of attack at Heorot Hall by demon Grendel. Conflict arises when Beowulf, a Geatish warrior, puts off his fighting regalia to face Grendel in a duel to the death. The emergence of Grendels mother in a bid to avenge her sons death further complicates the situation. The story climaxes as those back at home expect Beowulf to defend them from a dragon. As Beowulf battles the dragon, he recalls his early glories, unsure of whether he would die in the hands of the fifty-foot-long dragon; the audience is left in suspense on the issue. In spite of sustaining a grievous wound, Beowulf succeeds in his conquest against the dragon. In the end, the Beowulf receives a respectful funeral and burial as they prepare for an attack by their neighbors. Beowulf also depicts loyalty as one of the greatest human virtues. In the poem, loyalty serves as the glue that holds together the Anglo-Saxon society of the past. Unfortunately, this desirable virtue also occasioned vengeance and feud as societies and other supernatural beings battle to avenge a previous wrongs and perhaps set things right in their evil ridden society. A loyal man or woman is likely to avenge the death of his or her beloved. The loyal man or woman is also likely to feud the enemies of his or her beloved. In the modern society, people consider taking the law into your own hands as a lesser evil than injustice and victimization. However, things in the Anglo-Saxon society were different. People had a duty to punish murderers, and those who brought suffering to families, friends, lords, and servants. Doubtlessly, the story ofBeowulf is globally regarded as one of the most famous poems today. The ancient poem follows the life of a heroic man, his fights with monsters, and eventual demise in an old, ripe age. The poem has many themes, including fortitude and wisdom, loyalty, fate, providence, vengeance, feud, and evil which are all propelled through various literary devices such as imagery, allusions and plot. However, the poem is filled with narrations of evil and many feuds which a people must engage in to safeguard their existence. Most happenings in the story involve a war against evil as castigated by supernatural beings and human beings themselves. Through the account, we learn that humans can be evil, but their dependence on God leads to a well-constructed path of providence and fate. The poem also uses a unique style, which is evident in its narration, presentation of characters, alliterative verse, and episodes and digressions.