Homework Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homework - Research Paper Example The usability of a system also determines its effectiveness, satisfaction, and efficiency. The effectiveness of a system refers to the accuracy with which specific objectives can be achieved. The efficiency of a system refers to various resources and their accuracy for the system. The satisfaction of a system includes characteristics of users, tasks, and the overall organization. The context of use is also an important characteristic of the system. The context of the system determines the characteristics of the users, tasks, and physical environment (Sauro & Kindlund, 2005). The second important quality characteristic of ISO 9126 System is reliability. The reliability of a system determines the perceptions of users regarding the reliability. The reliability of a system is ensured through various measures (Sauro & Kindlund, 2005). Some of these measures include frequency of system failure, presence of bugs, faults, and other errors. When developing a system, it is important to ensure that it possesses fault tolerance. The specific level of performance is also developed for system’s reliability. The recoverability is the sub characteristic of reliability. This characteristic allows users to take corrective actions whenever an error occurs. The reliable system is one, which can quickly recover from a failure and resume working (Sauro & Kindlund, 2005). Reliability is viewed as an important quality attribute, which appears in all quality models. The users want a system that they can rely. The reliability can be defined as the capability of a system to maintain a specific performance level. The sub characteristics of reliability include maturity, fault tolerance, recoverability, and reliability conformance. Maturity of an ISO 9126 system can be comprehended as its capability to avoid failures. The fault tolerance of a system is the capability of a system to deliver specified performance (Phang, Kankanhalli &

Reviewing Waiting Time and Customer Satisfaction in a Service Process

Reviewing Waiting Time and Customer Satisfaction in a Service Process Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review that highlights major findings from empirical research examining the impact of waiting time on customer satisfaction within various service settings. Design/Methodology/Approach The paper examines the results of past studies that have manipulated specific service settings (layout, fillers, surroundings, resources) and attempts to identify variables that cause less dissatisfaction in a service process. Findings A large number of studies reveal negative influence of waiting time on customer satisfaction. Future research proposals seek to identify the degree of satisfaction in a service delivery process. Originality/Value The review highlights a range of implications drawn from the studies that will be of value to service organization managers who face high customer dissatisfaction and low repeat customers. Keywords Service delivery process, Customer service quality, Customer satisfaction, Waiting time Paper type Literature review Introduction The performance of a service delivery system is inversely proportional to the degree of customers contact (Chase, 1982). The more the customer close to the service system, the longer the customer waiting times in the service delivery system. This cost of longer waiting times in the system can be attributed to (i) the customer walking away from the system and join somewhere else(ii) the customers decision not to come back again in the future and(iii) the customer passing negative experiences to near and dear ones like family and friends. Many studies emphasize the relationship between customer satisfaction in a service process and their loyalty (Anderson, 1994; Dick and Basu, 1994; Fornell et al., 1996; Selness, 2001; Mittal and Kamakura, 2001; Olsen, 2002). The cost of these behaviors by the customer is very difficult to calculate but definitely the sales will go down with each unhappy customer as the cost of retaining a satisfied customer is less than a newly acquired customer (Reic hheld, 1996). According to Lovelock and Gummesson (2004) time plays the central role in most of the services processes and they recommend giving more attention to improving the customers understanding of how they perceive, budget, consume and value time. Many studies focus on the relationship between waiting time and customer satisfaction in a service process (Hui and Tse, 1996; Pruyn and Smidts, 1998). Thus the customers satisfaction can be regarded as the bridge between operational performance of the service firm and subsequent impact on the behavior of the customer towards the service firm. In this study we are trying to understand the factors responsible for dissatisfied customer in a service environment and how it can be minimized through proper and timely allocation of resources in the service process system. Literature Review Waiting Time Time has commonly been regarded as a significant component of the total cost of a transaction, making customers aware that their time is most valuable (Anderson and Shugan, 1991; Jacoby et al., 1976; Kellaris and Kent, 1992). Past research has suggested various dimensions of time that include: pace, urgency, sequencing, separation, scheduling, duration, punctuality, flexibility, linearity, synchronization and present and future time perspectives (Ballard and Seibold, 2004; Owen, 1991; Moore, 1963, Lauer, 1981). The waiting time problem has become an important part of service providers priorities as todays customers are becoming intolerance to waiting time in a service process. Further, consumers do not evaluate service quality solely on the outcome of service, but they evaluate it on the basis of service delivery process and time is the most important factor for evaluating customer satisfaction in a service process (Davis and Vollmann, 1990; Friedman and Friedman, 1997). Additionally waiting tine is the deciding factor for service evaluations for many consumers as they value time more than ever. It is also important to notice in which stage the customer is feeling dissatisfaction in a service encounter. According to Dube-Rioux et al. (1989), the service encounter has three phases: pre- process, in- process and post- process. Research has shown that there is causal effect of service stage, as mentioned by Dube-Rioux (1989), and service delays on consumers reaction to waiting (Hui et al., 199 8; Dube et al., 1991; Dube-Rioux et al., 1989). Dube-Rioux et al. (1989) argue that service delays were less unpleasant than service entry or service exit waits as Hansen and Danaher (1999) showed that service exit exerts a significant effect on consumers perception of service quality and post purchase behavior. Waiting is considered a negative experience from both the economic as well as psychological perspective. Further waiting time is often used as a substitute for cost. The waiting time is an important component of customers overall evaluation of the service (Peritz, 1993). Also the amount of time they spend while checkout from a store influences the overall satisfaction level of the customer (Katz, Larsen, Blaire and Larsen, 1991). Further, research has shown that long waits have a negative effect on customer satisfaction (Chebat and Filiatrault, 1993). Waiting time is often regarded as a waste of time (Leclerc, Schmitt and Dube, 1995; Schwartz, 1975; Rafaeli, 1989; Hui and Tse, 1996; Sheu et al., 2003) and has been described as frustrating boring and irritating (Hui and Tse, 1996; Katz et al., 1991). According to McDonnell (2007), anger and frustration are more likely to happen at bank branches and financial institutions than many other service contact points. Further, research has shown that many consumers dislike waiting in a queue which results in a negative service quality evaluation (Krentler, 1988; Kumar et al., 1997; Houston et al., 1998; Ho and Zheng, 2004). The consumers waiting experience has the direct influence on the perception of service quality (Soloman, Bamossy and Askeggard, 1999). For, wait is considered as a wait prior to being served. Apart from income and price, time is considered as a constraint in consumer purchasing choice (Becker, 1965; Umesh et al., 1989). Many researchers have tried to solve waiting time by providing various strategies like waiting time fillers such as increase of front line employees, video display, news updates or waiting time guarantees (Kumar, Kalwani and Dada, 1997), but failed to eliminate the waiting time dissatisfaction completely. Music can play an important role in reducing dissatisfaction levels for consumers waiting in line (Steve and Oakes, 2008). A waiting time has four dimensions: Objective, subjective, cognitive and effective: Davis and Vollman, 1990;Katz et al., 1991; Taylor, 1994) advocate that objective waiting time is the elapsed time as measured by a stop watch by the customer before being served. The subjective waiting time is the perceived waiting time by the customer (Hui and Tse, 1996; Pruyn and Smidts, 1998). The cognitive waiting time is the customers evaluation of the wait as short versus long (Pruyn and Smidts, 1998), being (or not being) acceptable, reasonable and tolerable (Durrande- Mpreau, 1999). The affective aspect of the waiting time is the emotional response to waiting like irritation, boredom, frustration, pleasure, stress, happiness etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Taylor, 1994; Hui and Tse, 1996; Pruyn and Smidts, 1998). However the perceived waiting time is different from objective waiting time (Barnett and Saponaro, 1985; Hirsch, Bilger and Heatherage, 1950; Hornik, 1984). The effect of waiting time on customers perceptions of customer satisfaction relates positively to the wait to the customer and moderated by the reason for the wait (Nicole and Tony, 2006). Also the perception of waiting time is affected by anxiety level and queue length (Hornik, 1984; Maister, 1984). The wait dissatisfaction in a service process can be lowered if the overall service meets the customers expectations. Customers are willing to wait if they anticipate benefits through the consumption of a service (Zeithaml et al., 1993). Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction is of utmost importance to the service providers and scholars (Babin and Griffin, 1998; Oliver, 1999) in todays highly competitive business environment. Customer satisfaction is conceived to be part of an overall model of customer behavior (Bearden and Teele, 1983). One such model presented by Oliver (1980) is shown in the figure below (Figure 1). The Role of Satisfaction in a Customer Behavior Model Expectations à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Performance à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Disconfirmations à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" SATISFACTION à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Attitudes à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Intentions à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å" Future Behavior Figure 1 Sasser et al. (1978) identify three different models by which customers evaluate overall satisfaction with a service. These are: One overpowering attribute A single attribute with threshold minimums for other attributes A weighted average of attributes According to the expectancy disconfirmation model, satisfaction/ dissatisfaction is a function of expectations and disconfirmations of the consumer (Oliver, 1980; Oliver and DeSabro, 1988). According to Davis and Heineke (1998), customers reaction to waiting in line can color his/her perception of the service delivery process. Further, customer satisfaction is affected not just by waiting time but also by the customers expectations or attribution or determination of the causes for the waiting(Bitner, 1990; Churchill and Suprenant, 1982; Folkes , 1984; Folkes, Koletsky and Graham, 1987; Maister, 1985; Oliver, 1980; Shostack, 1985; Taylor, 1994; Tom and Lucey, 1995; Tse and Wilton, 1988). Also in a service delays, the stage in which a delay occurs within a service encounter affects customer evaluations of the service quality (Dube et al., 1989;, Hui et al., 1998). The overestimating of waiting time by the consumers (Hornik, 1984; Katz, Larson and Larson, 1991) leads to more dissatisfaction as customers perception of waiting time increases, the satisfaction tends to decrease (Katz et al., 1991). Customer satisfaction is inversely related to waiting time (Davis and Maggard, 1990); that is the longer a customer waits, the less satisfied or more dissatisfied he/she becomes with the service process. In their study on two stage service process, they found that customer satisfaction is more affected by the initial wait of the customer prior to entering the service process, than it is by subsequent waits in the process. Their study was supported by Sasser, Olsen and Wyckoff (1978) and Maister (1985).Davis and Maggard (1990) suggest management to devote extra time and resources toward initial stage of the wait. This priority is necessary because a dissatisfied restaurant customer tells fifty other people about his/her dissatisfaction (Lyth and Johnson, 1998). Parasuraman et als (1985) study on relationship between waiting time and perceived service quality has been widely accepted by the research and industry communities. The gap between the perception and expectation for waiting experience determines the customer satisfaction with waiting (Maister, 1985). Davis and Vollman(1990) argue that in most of the service operations, customer expectations and satisfaction with respect to waiting time are dependent on many factors including: The customers prior experience, the number of customers in the service facility, criticality of time to the customer and other distractions, intended or otherwise. According to Hornik (1984) consumers often inclined to overestimate time spent on waiting and the delay can influence affective reactions (Dube-Rioux et al., 1989; Hui and Tse, 1996; Taylor, 1994). Prior research suggests that crowding at the service process also affects the customers satisfaction (Eroglu et al., 2005; Michon et al., 2005). That means a perception of extremely un -crowded and extremely crowded environments at the service area lead to lower customer satisfaction. This means the service managers should allocate human resources wisely when the crowd is low. Conversely, more number of service personals should be devoted when the crowd is very high. Taylor (1994) argues that customers anger and their evaluation of punctuality affect the overall performance of a service process. The customers satisfaction with wait is also influenced by customers perception of service providers social justice(Larson, 1987) that is whether the provider is adhering to first come first serve basis or not. Piyush et al. (1997) argue that the customer satisfaction in wait is also influenced by the waiting time guarantee provided by the service providers. Customer satisfaction in a retail setting has been linked to a number of important outcomes, including sales performance, customer retention and loyalty (Darian et al., 2001; Wong and Sohal, 2003; Gomez et al., 2004; Anselsson, 2006; Martenson, 2007). Apart from retail, the customer satisfaction is a prerequisite for other customer service outcomes including customer retention and customer loyalty, sales/profitability and market share for many organizations (Hackl and Westlund, 2000; Reichheld, 1996) as losing a customer result in the cost associated with replacement of that customer (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). According to Anderson et al. (1994) the customer satisfaction is positively related to the profit of the service provider. Additionally, the role of service satisfaction is believed to directly shape a customers long term relation with the service provider (Gronroos, 1984). The waiting time can be distracted with the help of television sets, newspapers, magazines, wall posters etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as filled time appears to pass more quickly than empty time (McGrath and Kelly, 1986). This can be applied to reduce the waiting dissatisfaction but not to enhance the customer satisfaction as superior waiting experiences will, in turn, enhance customers overall satisfaction with the service provider. Information provided in case of delay (Hui and Tse, 1996; Antonides et al., 2002) and the characteristics of waiting environment (Pruyn and Smidts, 1998) determine the customers waiting time satisfaction. According to Maister (1985) any information regarding delay can reduce the uncertainty of wait and reduce the overall stress level of the customer. As mentioned by Baker and Cameron (1996) the service environment influences the affective aspect of the waiting times. Also Pruyn and Smidts (1998) show that perceived attractiveness of the environment positively influences the affective response to the wait and service satisfaction in addition to the appraisal of the wait. But satisfaction with the information provided in case of delays influence waiting time satisfaction more than waiting environment satisfaction (Frederic and Nathalie, 2007). The customers waiting time can be influenced by making the service environment comfortable as possible (Baker and Cameron, 1996). Future directions for research Since the current study focuses on the influence of waiting time on customer satisfaction at various stages of the service transformation process, the exact degree of satisfaction is unclear from the study. Davis and Maggard (1990) argue that in a two stage service process, stage one requires priority where customer waits before being served. Future research is required to assess the degree of priority in the various stages of service process.

Comparing The Matrix and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? :: Compare Contrast Matrix Androids Essays

Comparing The Matrix and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? For the common moviegoer and book aficionado, the movie, The Matrix and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? are bizarre and peculiar. These works are not the usual themes of normal movies and books. These works have a lot of elements in common. Both works have matrices. The movie and the book stress the idea of reality. In both works the idea of what s real and what s not is the central theme. In the movie, The Matrix there are many similarities with the book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? One similarity is that of the matrices in both works. The movie has a matrix of dreams. According to the movie, humans are dreaming. Dreaming means that the reality humans think of, is not reality. The reality humans think of, is a dream. Confusing, isn t? An easier way of understanding this matrix is to think of human dreams. When humans experience dreams, it is not perceived as a dream until the dream ends. The movie exemplifies humans in the dream state of mind, similar to the dreaming stage. Neo is exposed to his real matrix. The matrix outside of his perceptual reality. He is able to perform with an incredible flexibility and high speed thinking. He is no longer dreaming, or as Neo called it, living. Neo has waken up. The book shares this matrix as well. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? the androids are dreaming. The Tyrell Corporation has programmed these androids to think, feel, and act as instructed. The androids are in a dream matrix just as humans are in The Matrix. The androids don t know what s real. What s real for them is not real. For example, Rachel can play the piano. She doesn t know she can play the piano, until she actually starts playing it. It s a computer generated simulation. She didn t really learn how to play the piano. One difference in both works is the matrix of existence. In the book, Deckard doubts his existence. He starts to wonder what a human being is.

Literacy Development in Afterschool program at Yeronga State High School Essay

Introduction Yeronga State High School was established in 1959 by Queensland Government on 60 acres of land. This school comprises of student from more than 60 cultural and linguistic back grounds, many students come from Africa, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. More than 90% of this population is refugees coming from war-torn countries suffering from war trauma. This study is carried out during a Volunteering for ESL (English as Second Language) program for grade 8 to12 student. As a volunteer, there was an opportunity to participate in various afterschool program run by school such as Homework club. This project report attempts to comprehend field of literacy in afterschool program with a focus on researches made in past relates to literacy practise and outcome. The core objective is to investigate how the literacy is developed among student during this process through informal oral interview and observations. This paper also investigate what problem student face in after school program and what steps needs to be taken to over come that problem as an educator. This project report endorsed the fact that after school programs with experience and activities enhance child’s literacy development which is a consistent argument as per academic literature authored by Garbarino and others (Garbarino et al., 1992; Werner, 1990).In order to have a crystal clear understanding of development of literacy occurred in afterschool program, an extensive literature review has been done. It would be really important to note that this project report covers a small body of research so as a reader one should emphasize on relevance and significance of the literature review in context of the body of this project report. This project report briefly discuss of pertinent research related to specific literacy application. These applications are selected on the base of their existence at after school program at school, their endorsement in research in the filed of afterschool program and literacy and their appropriateness. The nucleus hypothesis of this project report is a main goal of Afterschool program is to construct aptitude for rich academic content through engage student in challenging learning activities for their own academic enrichment. Afterschool program should not act as an extension of school day but should be able to provide high-interest generating activities that complement school-day learning in variety of ways. Researcher has been also suggested that afterschool program indirectly supports academic achievement in various ways such as it provides platform to enhance non academic literacy and competencies which help students to enhance their academic learning; it also ensure that students develop critical development inputs which helps them to prosper in their academic success and keep them fully prepare and engaged; creation of alternate rich learning environment; and help students to overcome the hurdle (Sheley,1984). According to Miller (2003), for a positive results and successful development of literacy, after school program should be equipped with some critical characteristics, first and foremost foundation of any successful After-school program is It has to be carried out in Physical and psychologically safe environment. In order to develop literacy they should be placed under supportive relationships, it’s also important to create the feeling of belongingness among student so they can feel important and recognized. Main goal of after school program should be opportunity for skill building through integration of school, society and family. Rationale of Project For building academic successful literacy in academic success (Broh, 2002; Cairns, 1995; Campbell, Storo & Acerbo, 1995; Childress, 1998; Cooper, Valentine,Nye, & Lindsay, 1999; Eccles & Barber, 1999; Gerber, 1996). After school programs can play a key role in engaging youth in the learning process by providing opportunities to explore interests, gain competency in real world skills, solve problems, assume leadership roles, develop a group identity with similarly engaged peers, connect to adult role models and mentors, and become involved in improving their communities. Early adolescence is a time of dramatic change in every area of a young person’s life. During this period, young people forge personal identities in a context of physical and emotional changes, the increasing importance and influence of a peer group, and growing independence. It is the confluence of change on many levels-biological and physiological growth, peer and social expectations, and the school environme nt-that can make early adolescence a particularly risky period (Lerner, 1993a; Solodow, 1999; Weissberg & Greenberg, 2000). The research sample of this project report is a grade 8 to 12 student of Yeronga state high school where ninety percent of total population comes from war torn country. These students can experience social changes that may distract them from academic pursuits; they also enter an academic environment less in tune with their developmental needs. Studies by Eccles and her colleagues (Eccles & Midgley, 1989; Eccles & Midgley, 1990; Gutman & Midgley, 2000) paint a convincing portrait of the conflict between the developmental stage of early adolescence and the environment of most middle and junior high schools. Apart from that Poverty, violence and family distress are three lethal risk factors for children grown up in war traumatized country (Garbarino, Dubrow, Kostelny, & Pardo, 1992). Poverty has a direct fatal affect on growing child as it limits the resources available for their disposal for learning and in an indirect manner negative parental behavior which is an outcome of psychological distress faced by parents due to poverty (McLoyd, 1990). Children from war-torn countries have a posttraumatic stress syndrome which generates from sleep disturbance and aggressive behavior (Bell, 1991; Osofsky, Wewers, Hann, & Fick, 1991). After school programs can also create a bridge or â€Å"border zone† between the culture of peers, families and communities on the one hand, and the school environment on the other (Heath, 1994; Jackson & Davis, 2000; Scharf & Woodlief, 2000).This report argues that after school programs can make a difference in building the â€Å"prerequisites† to learning, supporting not only school achievement, but long-term competence and success as well. Students are usually viewed as important contributors rather than passive recipients. They choose their roles, help others who are less skilled, and are critical to the success of the project. They are honored for their accomplishments as well as expected to have strong feelings and relationships. In many high quality afterschool activities, young people experience a group setting where every individual’s effort makes a difference, where they spend significant time (rather than a class period) focused on a specific skill, and where they receive a lot of individual attention from adults. Will these practices increase students’ engagement in learning? To answer this question, we must explore education literature to identify factors that motivate students to become committed to learning. Due to limited body of research available in the field of after school program, the focus of this report is mainly narrowed down to literacy practise and outcome. In the next section, an extensive literature review of specific literacy practice which helps in developing literacy in after school program has been analysed. It would be really important to note that the following literature review should be considered as summary of most relevant research done in the field of development of literacy in afterschool program. Literature Review The following literature review is a focusing specifically on three specific literacy practices: Reading aloud, dramatisation and book discussion. The selection of these three literacy practices is based on the relevant application at Yeronga state high school afterschool program. This literature review is a comprehensive summary of most relevant research and key reports carried in United States to crystallise our understanding of the three selected literacy practice. Reading Aloud â€Å"The single most important activity for †¦ reading success appears to be reading aloud to children† (Neuman, Copple, & Bredekamp, 2000) Reading aloud is a foundation stone for any literacy development. It’s really important to get children interested on daily basis throughout the primary grades. This literacy practice helps student with fluent reading and injects a passion so that they can be a good reader (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985; Calkins, 1997). This literacy practice transform less able reader to better reader by motivating students to read rich and content full book. According Armbruster et al. (2001), in primary grades children learn meaning of words via listening to their teacher when they read the text. In this scenario â€Å"Reading aloud† can really help as while reading a book or a text when student pauses at a particular word, its an opportunity for teacher to identify that he/she is facing a problem with unfamiliarity of word and to overcome this problem teacher can engage student in a conversation. This conversation can help student to understand new words, meaning, concepts as well as their correlation to their prior knowledge and experience. In terms of Vocabulary growth this â€Å"Reading Aloud† can play a major role. The base of this argument is in primary grades student learns vocabulary from two different sources first is the word it self woven in text of book and second is words spoken by teacher (Dickinson & tabors, 2001). In certain cases it also depends on a source of text i.e. choice of book which can have a positive or negative impact of vocabulary development. In other words, if a book has limited vocabulary than it would be difficult to develop vocabulary growth in student (Dickinson & Smith, 1994). Other important aspects which have to be taken into consideration while reviewing concept of â€Å"Reading Aloud† are methods, environmental influences, attitudes and interactive behaviours (Morrow, 1990). These factors can play a crucial role in literacy development. In an experiment conducted by Morrow (1990) at kindergarten students, his initial idea behind this experiment was to investigate the effect of small group story readings in different class room environment. Children were distributed among six classroom in a school based in urban area which had a children from middle to lower socioeconomic level, with over 60 percent belonging to minority group . This group of children were divided into experimental and control group on random bases. Each group has assigned one research assistant and time frame for the study was decided for 11 weeks. Research assistant in experimental group were asked to use maximum level of interactive behaviour techniques such as managing, prompting, supporting and informing. In a control group research assistant were instructed to follow teacher’s manual. As a result children under experimental group were asking more questions, making more comments and involving in discussion with fellow classmate. Interactive environment helped them to develop their literacy in terms of dealing with meaning in context of area of detail, interpretation, reflection from own experience as well as narration. Children from this group scored a high grades in reading comprehension. The conclusion of the study was, reading aloud practice increase literacy by involving student in verbal participation, comprehension and complexity of verbal interchange. Story and Literature Dramatizations It’s a well known fact that from early age children have enjoyed and used story and drama play as a connecting bridge to their literacy. According to Rowe (1998) this kind of practice is a crucial part of enhancing literacy-learning process as during process student may apply dramatization as a means of exploring content of books. Primary age students who are engaged in this kind of practice can facilitate literacy activity and can motivate cooperative learning behaviour (Stone and Christie, 1996). This literacy practice provides a plat form to student for bringing a piece of literature to life. While they are in this process, acting out character’s part helps engaged student to build memorization, fluency, and comprehension skill. According to (Berk & Winsler, 1995), develops literacy in younger children by: * Encouraging them to use language in creative way * Providing them an open platform to sort out problem and concern * Help students to understand how the transition from oral to written language can happen * Enhancing their ability to recall, imagination and story reading. In an area of text literacy development â€Å"fluency† plays a vital role, during this kind of literacy practice, students are comply to read passage repeatedly aloud with guidance so that they can improve their fluency because it’s really necessary to derive comprehension from their reading. Rose, Parks, and Androes (2000) studied an approach that used drama as a vehicle to instruct reading. The participants for the study were drawn from four Chicago-area public elementary schools that previously worked with Whirlwind, a non profit arts education organization that developed the reading program under study-Reading Comprehension Through Drama (RCD). The schools were large and served populations that were primarily African American or Hispanic, in low-income neighbourhoods. Four fourth-grade classrooms were randomly chosen and randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. For 10 weeks, the experimental group was taught reading using the RCD program, while the control group used traditional text-based methods. Comparisons were based on pre- and post-tests using the reading comprehension score from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The treatment consisted of two, one-hour sessions each week of in-class work with a performing artist. The students’ primary work was to dramatize a piece of narrative text in short skits. The RCD program was divided into four stages: story, sequence, perception, and evaluation. Breaking stories into their various elements allowed students to better understand the different pieces, or propositional elements, of the story. The first stage of the program required the students to read a text, create symbols to illustrate the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory 24 various story elements (e.g., what, who, where) and then retell the story to another student using the symbols. In the second stage, students were asked to identify the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and then represent that in a three-panel illustration. In the third stage, students had to act out a scene using their five senses to illustrate possible sensations experienced by the story characters. Finally, students explored ideas of interpretation, critique, and opinion, and were interviewed as if they were characters from the story. After controlling for differences in pre-test ITBS scores, reading grade equivalent scores for the experimental group increased significantly more than for the control group. On the factual comprehension subscale of the ITBS, the experimental group improved significantly more than the control group. On the inferential comprehension subscale, no significant differences were found between the two groups. The researchers concluded that drama-based reading instruction can improve reading skills more than traditional. Book Discussion and literature Circle Book discussions and literature circles were among the practices found in Spielberger and Halpern’s (2002) case studies of 16 afterschool programs identified as having exemplary or innovative approaches. In afterschool programs, literature circles provide a chance for students to engage in extended discussion about the books they read. Students can also reflect on and respond to the connections between those books and others they have read, their own personal experiences, and the world around them. However, the authors comment that book discussion groups and literature circles may be difficult for afterschool staff to implement without experience and skills in leading discussions. This kind of literacy practice helps students to extend their reading skills, learn to analyze different kind of literature as well as how to develop opinion on the same and find evidence from text. According to Gambrell (1996), this kind of literacy practice promotes deeper understanding of text, higher level thinking and improved communication skill among students. Indicating the effectiveness of discussion in promoting readers’ deeper understanding of text, Palinscar (1987) and Palinscar and Brown (1984) have found that students in reciprocal teaching groups outperform comparison groups on reading comprehension. Morrow and Smith (1990) also found that kindergartners who engaged in small- group discussions of stories that were read aloud had superior story recall compared to students who discussed the story one-to-one with the teacher or who worked in larger groups. In study done by Hudgins and Edelman (1986), found that 60 fourth- and fifth-graders in 10 classrooms who participated in small-group discussions in which they were encouraged to take responsibility for thinking and talking provided more supporting evidence for conclusions than did a control group. Studies by Almasi (1995), Villaume and Hopkins (1995), and Green and Wallet (1981) (all cited in Gambrell, 1996) show further evidence that student led discussions encourage higher level thinking and problem solving. Research by Almasi (1995, cited in Gambrell, 1996) indicates that students’ communication skills improve as they become more experienced in small-group discussions. In addition, Eeds and Wells’s (1989) findings support the belief that through book study groups, students can participate in enriching conversations that foster their understanding of literature, even when discussion groups only meet twice a week for 30 minutes and where the teacher-leader is a novice with no teaching experience. In their non-experimental study, Eeds and Wells investigated four literature study groups of fifth- and sixth-grade students. Of particular interest is that the study groups were led by undergraduate education students who had no prior experience working with children. The study group leaders were encouraged to participate â€Å"as group members working with the children to construct meaning rather than acting as all-knowing interpreters of the text.† Teacher-leaders were discouraged from preparing a set of explicit comprehension questions, letting the meaning emerge from group discussion; however, they were encouraged to capitalize on a teachable moment if they noticed one. Dickinson and Smith (1994) suggest that book discussions can affect vocabulary development. They followed 25 children who met the income requirements of Head Start and who were either enrolled in Head Start or a similar subsidized program for low income children. The children were four years old at the beginning of the study and took a battery of language/literacy development tests at the age of five. Based on classroom observations, the researchers found that teachers’ oral book reading styles could be grouped into three approaches: co-constructive, didactic-interactional, and performance-oriented. Each approach is characterized by different types and amounts of talk before, during, and after the book reading session.Several of these studies comment on the influence of text type. Dickinson and Smith (1994) found that a book with limited vocabulary and plot, which was observed in use with the didactic-interactional approach, did not show the same strong correlation to vocabulary development as the other two approaches. They note that â€Å"a steady diet of books with predictable text may not be optimal.† Eeds and Wells (1989) also wonder if the exceptional quality of a text may lead students to higher levels of dialogue and richer insights and generalizations. A study by Leal (1992, cited in Gambrell, 1996) found that informational storybooks enhanced discussion more than narrative or expository texts. Methodology > First and foremost step in direction of this project report was to conduct a search of literature and research studies that concentrated on afterschool program. It has been found that very little research has been done on Afterschool Program, though this is an area that is beginning to receive more attention. > The primary goal of the search process was to secure a nonbiased, representative sample of studies obtained through a systematic search for published and unpublished reports sources as web article, journal article, books and electronic database such as Proquest, Emerald and Jstor for search using the keywords â€Å"read aloud’ and â€Å"afterschool,† â€Å"dramatization† and â€Å"afterschool,† and â€Å"bookdiscussion† and â€Å"afterschool,† and associated terms as well as Manual searches of the contents of several journals that published afterschool outcome studies. > Reports based on some methodological and content grounds were excluded. Such as After School Programs that focused on academic performance or school attendance and only reported such outcomes, adventure education and Outward Bound programs, extracurricular school activities and summer camps. This also includes extracurricular school activities, academic and recreational programs conducted during the summer, and educational and social events offered by local libraries, museums, parks and faith-based institutions. These types of activities were not included in our review. > Study sample of this project was a student of Yeronga state high school selected in random order for an informal oral interview during their afterschool program activities. > No standard format was followed informal interview however, question asked during the interview process and times for each interview were kept same in order to maintain uniformity in process. > The research on these literacy practices-reading aloud, dramatization, and book discussion-provides strong support for their inclusion in afterschool programs. Although the available research on literacy practices in the afterschool context does not provide obvious results regarding their benefit in that context, their general benefits are well established Analysis According to D’Amico (2001) and Soto (1990), Race, class and ethnicity remain powerful predictors of school achievement. Despite 40 years of education reform (Alexander, Entwisle & Bedinger, 1994), the achievement gap-the differences in school performance between rich and poor children, between children in affluent communities and those living in poor communities, and between white children and Asian on one hand, and African American and Latino children on the other-persists. Students who are engaged in learning take interest in their schoolwork, make an effort to earn good grades, and attempt to master the subject matter on their own before requesting assistance (Connell, Halpern-Felsher et al., 1995). Students who are alienated from school, on the other hand, score lower on psychological assessments of adjustment, are more likely to act out aggressively, are far more likely than their peers to use alcohol and drugs, become sexually active at an early age, and commit acts of juvenile delinquency and crime (Hawkins & Weis, 1985; Resnick et al., 1997). Poor children, especially those from non-dominant cultures, do not enter school with the same â€Å"soft skills† (understanding of the behaviour, social, communication, and work styles expected in school) due to their different cultural backgrounds. They have developed different interaction styles, expectations, social norms, and assumptions than those they face in the mainstream school culture (Allison & Takei, 1993; Comer, 1988; Delpit, 1988; Heath, 1982, 1994). Time span after school hours adds its own challenges in literacy development. Several studies, all somewhat outdated, suggest that about 60 percent of adolescents’ time is invested in school and other productive activities, while about 40 percent is discretionary (Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1984;Timmer et al., 1985). Of this â€Å"leisure† time, 40 percent is spent socializing; 20 percent is spent watching television; and very little time is spent readingor in other constructive activities like the arts and sports (Medrich et al., 1982;Timmer et al.,1985; Zill et al., 1995). An estimated eight million children between the ages of 6 and 14 regularly spend their discretionary time without adult supervision (National Institute on Out-of-School Time,2001). National data suggests that middle school-age children are much more likely to be in self-care and less likely to be in supervised arrangements than younger school-age children. While only 10 percent of 10 to 12 year-olds attend afterschool programs as a â€Å"primary† arrangement (the one in which they spend most of their after school time), 24 percent spend more of their time home alone than in any other setting (Capizzano, Tout & Adams, 2000). More than one third of children in this age group spend some time caring for themselves each week as either a primary or secondary arrangement. This proportion increases with age: 23 percent of 10-year-olds spend some time caring for themselves compared to 44 percent of 12-year-olds (Capizzano et al., 2000). Research admits that there is a great risk involved in spending lots of time with peers without adult supervision or monitoring. Students who â€Å"hang out† without supervision or engagement in constructive activities are likely to develop negative attitudes towards school and other anti-social or risky attitudes and behaviors (Dryfoos,1990). While Jordan and Nettles’ research was conducted with a sample of high school age students, research on younger children suggests the findings would probably also apply to middle school students (e.g., Pierce, Hamm & Vandell, 1999). Cooper’s (1999) investigation of the relationship between five afterschool activities and academic achievement included nearly 500 students in grades 6-12 from urban,suburban and rural school districts. Controlling for the effects of student background characteristics like ethnicity, income, gender, and grade level, the researchers found that time spent in structured groups, doing homework and extracurricular activities was positively associated with higher grades and test scores. Time spent working after school was negatively associated with academic achievement. Research indicates that most young people who are home alone or on the streets for long periods of time don’t do well. Formal afterschool programs provide adult supervision for more hours in addition to offering a wider range of activities. literature analysis of this report shows that Afterschool program has a positive effects on overall literacy development for student in following manner : Increases in Attitudes and Behaviors Linked to School Success: ? Increased sense of efficacy, competence and leadership (Campbell et al., 1995;Fleming-McCormick & Tushnet, 1996; Heath & Soep, 1998) ? Better behavior in school (Baker & Gribbons,1998;Johnson et al.,1999;Posner & Vandell, 1994) ? Better emotional adjustment (Baker & Gribbons, 1998; Kahne, Nagaoka,O’Brien, Quinn, & Thandiede, 1999; Marshall et al., 1997) ? Better use of time (e.g., less time watching television,more time in enrichment and academic activities) (Johnson et al., 1999; Posner & Vandell, 1994) ? Better work habits (Schinke et al., 1992;Vandell & Pierce, 1999) ? Better conflict resolution skills ( Posner & Vandell, 1994) Improved Academic Performance: ? Improved skills in data analysis and writing (Schlegel, 2003) ? Improved homework completion or quality (Johnson et al., 1999) ? Improved grades (Baker & Witt, 1996; Brooks, 1995; Cardenas, 1992; Hamilton & Klein, 1998) ? Higher scores on achievement tests (Hamilton & Klein, 1998; Hamilton et al.,1999; Huang, 2001; Huang et al., 2000; Johnson et al., 1999) ? Reductions in grade retention (Hamilton et al., 1999) ? Decreased dropping out of school (Jones & Offord, 1989) Conclusion To support literacy teaching and learning in the after school programs following steps should be taken in consideration: firs of all focus should be set on encouraging student to have high expectations. Secondly, motivate staff involved in afterschool program in order to cultivate a shared commitment to help every student develop strong literacy skills; afterschool program should provide regular opportunities for teachers who teach the same students to discuss and collaboratively plan literacy programs for their students (e.g., the special education teacher and the classroom teacher, the librarian and the classroom teacher); analyse how the school’s timetable supports effective literacy learning, allocate reasonable blocks of instructional time for literacy; support inquiry-based learning, where students explore issues, big ideas, and questions, including those of particular interest to them, and where they understand what and why they are learning (Routman, 2000); after schoo l program should promote models of classroom management and instructional approaches that facilitate literacy learning, such as small-group instruction designed to meet a variety of needs and flexible student groupings; it should demonstrate a commitment to critical literacy and higher-order thinking by asking students questions about the texts they are using; After school program should also value the cultural literacy that exists in the school community and across the province by displaying family stories written in languages other than English, multilingual signs, and books (including dual-language books) that inspire pride in the community and its languages; afterschool program should work in collaboration with parents, community members, students, and teachers to create school-wide literacy celebrations and traditions (e.g., e-mail exchanges with â€Å"e-pals† from across the province, letter-writing campaigns, poetry festivals, literature â€Å"graffiti† boards) (Harwayne, 2000; Booth, 2002); last but not the least it should provide a framework outlining the responsibilities of volunteers and educational assistants to ensure that reading and writing instruction and remediation remain the central responsibility of classroom teachers, and ensure that struggling readers and writers have opportunities to learn through susta ined interaction with teachers (Allington & Cunningham, 2002); In addition to helping students to acquire literacy skills, these practices are also transferable to the afterschool context. As discussed in the introduction of this document, when designing academic enrichment programs in afterschool, other factors must be considered in addition to the academic element. For example, activities in afterschool programs must be engaging for students and not duplicate what is happening during the school day. After school activities must also address the needs of youth and expand on their learning in ways that are relevant to them. These literacy practices offer the opportunity to accomplish all these tasks, while simultaneously strengthening students’ literacy skills. As research continues in the field of academic enrichment in afterschool, it is necessary to continue to consider the nature of the afterschool context. Literacy instruction and skill development in afterschool programs can not truly be understood without considering other critical factors such as engagement, relevancy, and not duplicating the experience of the school day for participating students. The quality of program implementation and staff are also critical factors to consider. Given the understanding of the afterschool context, research and practice suggest there is great potential for afterschool programs to provide a supportive role in the development of students’ literacy skills. Reference list * Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R. & Bedinger, S. D. (1994).When expectations work: Race and socioeconomic differences in school performance, Social Psychology Quarterly Vol.57, pp. 283-299. * Allison, K.W. & Takei,Y. (1993). Diversity:The cultural contexts of adolescents and their families. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Early Adolescence: Perspectives on Research, Policy and Intervention. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. * Anderson, R.C., Hiebert, E.H., Scott, J.A., & Wilkinson, I. (1985). Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the Commission on Reading. Champaign, IL: Center for the Study of Reading. * Armbruster, B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). 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Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 16

After that, things happened very fast, and at the same time with a dreamy slowness. Mary-Lynnette felt her arms grabbed from behind. Something was pulling her hands together-somethingstrong. Then she felt the bite of cord on her wrists, and she realized what was happening. Tied up-I'm going to be helpless-I've got todosomething fast†¦. She fought, trying to wrench herself away, trying to kick. But it was already too late. Her hands were secure behind her back-and some part of her mind noted distantly that no wonder people on cop shows yell when they're handcuffed. Ithurt. Her shoulders gave a shriek of agony as she was dragged backward up against a tree. â€Å"Stop fighting,† a voice snarled. A thick, distorted voice she didn't recognize. She tried to see who it was, but the tree was in the way. â€Å"If you relax itwon't hurt.† . Mary-Lynnette kept fighting, but it didn't make any difference. She could feel the deeply furrowedbark of the tree against her hands and back-and now she couldn't move. Oh, God, oh, God-1 can't get away. Iwas alreadyweak from what Ash and I did-and now I can't move at all. Then stop panicking andthink, her inner voice said fiercely. Use your brain instead of getting hysterical. Mary-Lynnette stopped struggling. She stood panting and tried to get control of her terror. â€Å"I told you. It only hurts when you fight. A lot of things are like that,† the voice said. Mary-Lynnette twisted her head and saw who it was. Her heart gave a sick lurch. She shouldn't havebeen surprised, but she was-surprised and infi nitely disappointed. â€Å"Oh, Jeremy,† she whispered. Except that it was a different Jeremy than the one she knew. His face was the same, his hair, his clothes-but there was something weird about him, something powerful and scary and †¦unknowable. His eyes were as inhuman and flat as a shark's. â€Å"I don't want to hurt you,† he said in that distorted stranger's voice. â€Å"I only tied you up because I didn't want you to interfere.† Mary-Lynnette's mind was registering different things in different layers. One part said, MyGod, he's trying to be friendly, and another part said, Tointerferewith what? and a third part just kept saying Ash. She looked at Ash. He was lyingverystill, andMary-Lynnette's wonderful new eyes that could seecolors in moonlight saw that his blond hair was slowly soaking with blood. On the ground beside himwas a club made of yew – made of the hard yellow sapwood. No wonder he was unconscious. But if he's bleeding he's not dead-oh, God, please,he can'tbe dead-Rowan said that only staking and burning kill vampires†¦. â€Å"I have to take dare of him,† Jeremy said. â€Å"And then I'll let you go, I promise. Once I explain everything, you'll understand.† Mary-Lynnette looked up from Ash to the strangerwith Jeremy's face. With a shock, she realized what he meant by â€Å"take care of.† Three words that were just part of life to a hunterto a werewolf. So now I know about werewolves. They're killers and I was right all along. I was right and Rowan was wrong. â€Å"It'll only take a minute,† Jeremy said-and hislips drew back. Mary-Lynnette's heart seemed to slam violently inside her chest. Because his lips went farther up than any human's lips could. She could see his gums, whitish-pink. And she could see why his voice didn't sound like Jeremy's-it was his teeth. White teeth in the moonlight. The teeth from herdream. Vampire teeth were nothing compared to this. The incisors at the front were made for cutting fleshfrom prey, the canines were two inches long, the teeth behind them looked designed for slicing and shearing. Mary-Lynnette suddenly remembered-somethingVic Kimble's father had said three years ago. He'd said that a wolf could snap off the tail of a full-grown cow clean as pruning shears. He'd been complaining that somebody had let a wolf-dog crossbreed looseand it was going after his cattle†¦. Except that of course it wasn't a crossbreed, Mary-Lynnette thought. It was Jeremy. I saw him everyday at school-and then he must have gone hometo look like this. Tohunt. Just now, as he stood over Ash with his teeth all exposed and his chest heaving, Jeremy looked completely, quietly insane. â€Å"But why?† Mary-Lynnette burst out.†Whydo youwant to hurt him?† Jeremy looked up-and she got another shock. His eyes were different. Before she'd seen them flash white in the darkness. Now they had no whites at all. They were brown with large liquid pupils. Theeyes of an animal. So it doesn't need to be a full moon, she thought. He can change anytime. â€Å"Don't you know?† he said. â€Å"Doesn't anybody understand?This ismy territory.† Oh.Oh †¦ So it was as simple as that. After all their brainstorming and arguing and detective work. In the end it was something as basic as an animal protectingits range. â€Å"For a hunting range, it is small,† Rowan had said. â€Å"They were taking my game,† Jeremy said. â€Å"My deer, my squirrels. They didn't have any right to dothat. I tried to make them leave-but they wouldn't.They stayed and they kept killing†¦.† He stopped talking-but a new sound came fromhim. It started out almost below the range of MaryLynnette's hearing-but the deep rumbling of itstruck some primal chord of terror in her. It was asuncanny and inhuman as the danger-hum of an at tacking swarm of bees. Growling. He was growling. And it wasreal.The snarling growl a dog makes that tells you to turn and run. The sound it makes before it springs at yourthroat†¦. â€Å"Jeremy!† Mary-Lynnette screamed. She threwherself forward, ignoring the white blaze of pain in her shoulders. But the cord held. She was jerked back. And Jeremy fell on Ash, lunging down, head darting forward like a striking snake, like a biting dog, like every animal that kills with its teeth. Mary-Lynnette heard someone screaming â€Å"No!†and only later realized that it was her. She was fight ing with the cord, and she could feel stinging and wetness at her wrists. But she couldn't get free andshe couldn't stop seeing what was happening in frontof her. And all the time that eerie, vicious growling that reverberated in Mary-Lynnette's own head and chest. That was when things went cold and dear. Some part of Mary-Lynnette that was stronger than the panic took over. It stepped back and looked at the entire scene by the roadside: the car, which was still burning, sending clouds of choking white smokewhenever the wind blew the right way; the limpfigure of Ash on the pine needles; the blur of snarling motion that was Jeremy. â€Å"Jeremy!† she said, and her throat hurt, but hervoice was calm-and commanding. â€Å"Jeremy-before you do that-don't you want me tounderstand? You said that was what you wanted. Jeremy,help me understand.† For a long second she thought in dismay that it wasn't going to work. That he couldn't even hear her. But then his head lifted. She saw his face; she saw the blood on his chin. Don't scream, don't scream, Mary-Lynnette toldherself frantically. Don't show any shock. You have to keep him talking, keep him away from Ash. Behind her back her hands were working automatically, as if trying to get out of ropes was something they'd always known how to do. The slick wetness actually helped. She could feel the cords slide a little. â€Å"Please help me understand,† she said again, breathless, but trying to hold Jeremy's eyes. â€Å"I'm your friend-you know that. We go back a long way.† Jeremy's whitish gums were streaked with red. He still had human features, but there was nothing at all human about that face. Now, though-slowly-his lips came down tocover his gums. He looked more like a person andless like an animal. And when he spoke, his voicewas distorted, but she could recognize it as Jere my's voice. â€Å"We do go back,† he said. â€Å"I've watched you sincewe were kids-and I've seen you watching me.† Mary-Lynnette nodded.She couldn'tgetany words out. â€Å"I always figured that someday, when we wereolder-maybe we'd be together. I thought maybe I could make you understand. About me. About everything. I thought you were the one person who might not be afraid†¦.† â€Å"I'm not,† Mary-Lynnette said, and hoped hervoice wasn't shaking too badly. She was saying it to a figure in a blood-spattered shirt crouching over a torn body like a beast still ready to attack. MaryLynnette didn't dare look at Ash to see how badly hewas hurt. She kept her eyes locked on Jeremy's. â€Å"And I think I can understand. You killed Mrs. Burdock, didn't you? Because she was on your territory.† â€Å"Nother; † Jeremy said, and his voice was sharpwith impatience. â€Å"She was just an old lady-she didn't hunt. I didn't mind having her in my range. Ieven did things for her, like fixing her fence andporch for free†¦. And that's when she told methey were coming. Those girls.† Just the way she told me, Mary-Lynnette thought, with dazed revelation. And he was there fixing the fence-of course. The way he does odd jobs for everybody. â€Å"I told her it wouldn't work.† Mary-Lynnette couldhear it again-the beginnings of a snarling growl. Jeremy was tense and trembling, and she could feel her self start to tremble, too. â€Å"Three more hunters in thislittle place †¦ I told her, but she wouldn't listen. She couldn't see. So then I lost my temper.† Don't look at Ash, don't call attention to him, Mary-Lynnette thought desperately. Jeremy's lips were drawing back again as if he needed something to attack. At the same time the distant part of hermind said, So that's why he used a picket=Ash was right;it was an impulse of the moment. â€Å"Well, anybody can lose their temper,† she said, and even though her voice cracked and there were tears in her eyes, Jeremy seemed to calm a little. â€Å"Afterward, I thought maybe it was for the best,† he said, sounding tired. â€Å"I thought when the girls found her, they'd know they had to leave. I waited for them to do it. I'm good at waiting.† He was staring past her, into the woods. Heart pounding, Mary-Lynnette grabbed the opportunity todart a look at Ash. Oh, God, he's not moving at all. And there's so muchblood†¦.I've never seen so much blood†¦. She twisted her wrists back and forth, trying to find some give in the cords. â€Å"I watched, but they didn't go away,† Jeremy said.Mary-Lynnette's eyes jerked back to him. â€Å"Instead youcame. I heard Mark talking to Jade in the garden. She said she'd decided she was going to like it here. And then †¦ I got mad. I made a noise and they heard me.† His face was changing. The flesh was actually moving in front of Mary-Lynnette's eyes. His cheekbones were broadening, his nose and mouth jutting. Hairwas creeping between his eyebrows, turning them into a straight bar. She couldsee individual coarse hairs sprouting, dark against pale skin. I'm going to be sick†¦. â€Å"What's wrong, Mary-Lynnette?† He got up and she saw that his body was changing, too. It was stilla human body, but it was too thin-stretched out.As if it were just long bones and sinews. â€Å"Nothing's wrong,† Mary-Lynnette got out in a whisper. She twisted violently at her cords-and felt one hand slide. That's it. Now keep him distracted, keep him moving away from Ash†¦. â€Å"Go on,† she said breathlessly. â€Å"What happenedthen?† â€Å"I knew I had to send them a message. I cameback the next night for the goat-but you were there again. You ran away from me into the shed.† Hemoved closer again and the moonlight caught his eyes-and reflected. The pupils shone greenish-orange. Mary-Lynnette could only stare. That shadow in the clearing-those eyes I saw. Nota coyote.Him.He was following us everywhere. The very thought made her skin creep. But there was another thought that was worsethe picture of him killing the goat. Doing it carefully, methodically-as a message. That was why he didn't eat the heart and liver,Mary-Lynnette realized. He didn't kill it for foodit wasn't a normal werewolf killing. And he's not a normal werewolf. He wasn't at all like what Rowan had described-a noble animal that hunted to eat. Instead he was †¦ a mad dog. Of all people,Ash had it right. Him and his jokes about rabies †¦ â€Å"You're so beautiful, you know,† Jeremy said suddenly. â€Å"I've always thought that. I love your hair.† He was right in her face. She could see the individual pores in his skin with coarse hairs growing out of them. And she couldsmellhim-the feral smell ofa zoo. He reached out to touch her hair, and his handhad dark, thick fingernails. Mary-Lynnette could feelher eyes getting wider. Say something †¦say some thing †¦ don't show you're afraid. â€Å"You knew how Mrs. Burdock's husband was killed,† she got out. â€Å"She told me a long time ago,† Jeremy said almost absently, still moving his fingers in her hair. He'd changed so much that his voice was getting hard to understand. â€Å"I used little sticks from my models †¦you know I make models. And a black iris forhim.Ash.† Jeremy said the name with pure hatred. â€Å"I saw him that day with his stupid T-shirt. The Black IrisClub . . . my uncle belonged to that once. Theytreated him like he was second-class.† His eyes were inches from Mary-Lynnette's; she felt the brush of a fingernail on her ear. Suddenlyshe had the strength to give a violent wrench behind her back-and one hand came free. She froze, afraid that Jeremy would notice. â€Å"I threw the goat on the porch and ran,† Jeremysaid, almost crooning the words as he petted MaryLynnette. â€Å"I knew you were all in there. I was somad-I killed that horse and I kept running. I smashed the gas station window. I was going to bum it downbut then I decided to wait.† Yes,and yes, and yes, Mary-Lynnette thought, even as she carefully worked her other wrist free,even as she stared into Jeremy's crazy eyes andsmelled his animal breath. Yes, of course it was youwe heard running away-and you didn't fall into the hole in the porch because you knew it was there, because you were fixing it. And yes, you were the one who smashed the window-who else would hate the gas station but somebody who worked there? 0Her fingers eased the cord off her other wrist. She felt a surge of fierce triumph-but she controlled her expression and clenched her hands, trying to thinkof what to do. He was so strong and so quick †¦ if she just threw herself at him, she wouldn't have a chance. â€Å"And today you all came to town together,† Jeremy said, finishing the story quietly, through a mouth so inhuman it was hard to believe it could speak English. â€Å"I heard the wayhe was talking toyou. I knew he wanted you-and he wanted to change you into one of them. I had to protect you from that.† Mary-Lynnette said almost steadily, â€Å"I knew youwanted to protect me. I could tell, Jeremy.† She was feeling over the furrowed hemlock bark behind her.How could she attack him when she didn't even have a stick for a weapon? And even if shehad,wood was no good. He wasn't a vampire. Jeremy stepped back. Relief washed over Mary-Lynnette-for one second. Then she saw with horror that he was plucking at his shirt, pulling it off. And underneath †¦there was no skin. Instead there was hair. A pelt that twitched and shivered in the night air. â€Å"I followed you here and I fixed your car so you couldn't leave,† Jeremy said. â€Å"I heard you say youwanted to be a vampire.† â€Å"Jeremy-that was justtalk†¦.† He went on as if she hadn't spoken. â€Å"But that was a mistake. Werewolves are much better. You'll understand when I show you. The moon looks so beautiful when you're a wolf.† Oh,Godand so that was what he meant by pro tecting her, by making her understand. He meant changing her into something like him. I need a weapon. Rowan had said silver was harmful to werewolves,so the old silver-bullet legend must be true. But she didn't haveasilver bullet. Or even a silver dagger †¦ A silver dagger†¦ a silverknife †¦ Behind Jeremy the station wagon was almost invisible in the clouds of smoke. And by now the smoke had the red glow of uncontrolled fire. It's too dangerous, Mary-Lynnette thought. It'sabout to go. I'd never make it in and out†¦. Jeremy was still talking, his voice savage now.†You won't miss the Night World. All their stupid restrictions-no killing humans, no hunting too often. Nobody tells me how to hunt. My uncle tried,but I took care of him-â€Å" Suddenly the creature-it wasn't really a personanymore-broke off and turned sharply. Mary-Lynnette saw its lips go back again, saw its teeth parted and ready to bite. In the same instant she sawwhy-Ash was moving. Sitting up, even though his throat was cut. Lookingaround dazedly. He saw Mary-Lynnette, and his eyes seemed to focus. Then he looked at the thing Jeremy had become. â€Å"You-get away from herl† he shouted in a voiceMary-Lynnette had never heard before. A voice filledwith deadly fury. Mary-Lynnette could see himchange position in a swift, graceful motion, gathering his muscles under him to jump But the werewolf jumped first. Springing like ananimal-except that Jeremy still had arms, and onehand went for the yew club. The club smashed sideways into Ash's head and knocked him flat. And then it fell, bouncing away on the carpet of needles. The werewolf didn't need it-it was baring itsteeth. It was going to tear Ash's throat out, like the horse, like the hiker †¦ Mary-Lynnette was running. Not toward Ash. She couldn't help him barehanded. She ran toward the car, into the clouds of choking smoke. Oh, God, it's hot. Please let me just get there†¦. She could feel the heat on her cheeks, on her arms. She remembered something from an elementary school safety class and dropped to her knees, scrambling and crawling where the air was cooler. And then she heard the sound behind her. The most eerie sound there is-a wolf howling. It knows what I'm doing. It's seen that knife everytime I pry off my gas cap. It's going to stop me†¦. She threw herself blindly into the smoke and heat,and reached the car. Orange flames were shooting crazily from the engine, and the door handle burnedher hand when she touched it. She fumbled, wrenching at it. Open,open†¦ The door swung out. Hot air blasted around her. If she'd been completely human she wouldn't havebeen able to stand it. But she'd exchanged blood withfour vampires in two days, and she wasn't completely human anymore. She wasn't Mary-Lynnette any more †¦but was she capable of killing? Flames were licking up beneath the dashboard. Shegroped over smoking vinyl and shoved a hand under the driver's seat. Find it! Find it! Her fingers touched metal-the knife. The silverfruit knife with the Victorian scrolling that she'd borrowed from Mrs. Burdock. It was very hot. Her handdosed on it, and she pulled it from under the seatand turned †¦ just as something came flying at her from behind. The turning was instinctive-she had to face whatwas attacking her. But what she would always know afterward was that she could have turned withoutpointing theknife at what was attacking her. There was a moment in which she could have slanted it backward or toward the ground or toward herself. And if she'd been the Mary-Lynnette of the old days,she might have done that. She didn't. The knife faced outward. Toward the shape jumping at her. And when the thing landed on top of her she felt impact in her wrist and all theway up her arm. The distant part of her mind said, It went in cleanlybetween the ribs†¦. And then everything was very confused. Mary-Lynnette felt teeth in her hair, snapping for her neck. She felt claws scratching at her, leaving welts on her arms. The thing attacking her was hairy and heavy and it wasn't a person or even a half-person. It was a large, snarling wolf. She was still holding the knife, but it was hard to keep her grip on it. It jerked around, twisting her wrist in an impossible direction. It was buried in the wolf's chest. For just an instant, as the thing pulled away, she got a good look at it. A beautiful animal. Sleek and handsome, but withcrazy eyes. It was trying to kill her with its last panting breath. Oh, God, you hate me, don't you? I've chosen Ashover you; I've hurt you with silver. And now you're dying. You must feel so betrayed†¦. Mary-Lynnette began to shake violently. She couldn't do this anymore. She let go of the knife and pushed and kicked at the wolf with her arms andlegs. Half scrambling and half scooting on her back, she managed to get a few feet away. The wolf stood silhouetted against a background of fire. She couldsee it gather itself for one last spring at her There was a very soft, contained poof. The entirecar lurched like something in agony-and then the fireball was everywhere. Mary-Lynnette cringed against the ground, halfblinded, but she had to watch. So that's what it looks like. A car going up inflames. Not the kind of big explosion you hear in the movies. Justa poof. And then just the fire, going up and up. The heat drove her away, still crawling, but she couldn't stop looking. Orange flames. That was allher station wagon was now. Orange flames shooting every which way out of a metal skeleton on tires. The wolf didn't come out of the flames. Mary-Lynnette sat up. Smoke was in her throat,and when she tried to yell â€Å"Jeremyl† it came out as a hoarse croak. The wolf still didn't come out. And no wonder, with a silver knife in its chest and fire all around it. Mary-Lynnette sat, arms wrapped around herself,and watched the car bum. He would have killed me. Like any good hunter. I had to defend myself, I had to save Ash. And thegirls †¦ he would have killed all of them. And thenhe'd have killed more people like that hiker†¦. He was crazy and completelyevil, because he'd do anything to get what he wanted. And she'd seen it from the beginning. Somethingunder that â€Å"nice guy† exterior-she'd seen it over and over, but she'd kept letting herself get convinced it wasn't there. She should have trusted her feelingsin the first place. When she'd realized that she'dsolved the mystery of Jeremy Lovett and that it wasn't a happy ending. She was shaking but she couldn't cry. The fire roared on. Tiny sparks showered upward. I don't care if it was justified. It wasn't like killingin my dream. It wasn't easy and it wasn't naturaland I'll never forget the way he looked at me†¦. Then she thought,Ash. She'd been so paralyzed she'd almost forgotten him. Now she turned around, almost too frightened to look. She made herself crawl over to where he was still lying. So much blood†¦ how can he be all right? But if he's dead †¦ if it's all been for nothing †¦ But Ash was breathing. And when she touched hisface, trying to find a clean place in the blood, he moved. He stirred, then he tried to sit up. â€Å"Stay there.† Jeremy's shirt and jeans were on the ground. Mary-Lynnette picked up the shirt and dabbed at Ash's neck. â€Å"Ash, keep still†¦.† He tried to sit up again. â€Å"Don't worry. I'll protectyou.† â€Å"Lie down,† Mary-Lynnette said. When he didn't, she pushed at him. â€Å"There's nothing to do. He's dead.† He sank back, eyes shutting. â€Å"Did I kill him?† Mary-Lynnette made a choked sound that wasn't exactly a laugh. She was trembling with relief-Ash could breathe and talk, and he even sounded like hisnormal fatuous self. She'd had no idea how good thatcould sound. And underneath the swabbing shirt she could see that his neck was already healing. Whathad been gashes were becoming flat pink scars. Vampire flesh was incredible. Ash swallowed. â€Å"You didn't answer my question.† â€Å"No. You didn't kill him. I did.† His eyes opened. They just looked at each other for a moment. And in that moment Mary-Lynnette knew they were both realizing a lot of things. Then Ash said, â€Å"I'm sorry,† and his voice had never been less fatuous. He pushed the shirt awayand sat up. â€Å"I'm so sorry.† She didn't know who reached first, but they were holding each other. And Mary-Lynnette was thinking about hunters and danger and laughing at death. About all the things it meant to really belong to the night. And about how she would never look in the mirror and see the same person she used to see. â€Å"At least it's over now,† Ash said. She could feel his arms around her, his warmth and solidity, his support. â€Å"There won't be any more killings. It's over.† It was, and so were a lot of other things. The first sob was hard to get out. So hard thatshe'd have thought there would be a pause beforethe next-but, no. There was no pause between that one and the next, or the next or the next. She cried for a long time. And the fire burned itself out and the sparks flew upward and Ash held her all the while.

Technology Revolution Essays - Cultural Globalization, Digital Media

Technology Revolution Essays - Cultural Globalization, Digital Media Technology Revolution The technology revolution is upon us. In recent years there have been many triumphs in technology. Now more than ever, people are able to communicate over thousands of miles with the greatest of ease. Wireless communication is much to thank for the ease of communication. What used to take weeks threw mail, now takes seconds over the Internet. But just like any revolution there are social consequences, especially when the revolution takes place around the globe. Since the world does not evolve at the same pace, lesser developed countries as well as minorities in developed countries have not even come close to reaping the benefits of a world connected at the touch of a button. The social argument is that as this revolution proceeds, the gap between the haves and have-nots will widen to the point of ill repute. Others argue that because of technological advances the world is a much better place. This seems to be the debate at hand. The problem domestically is that providing high-speed Internet services to rural communities is difficult. Tom Daschle, a senator from Senator from South Dakota highlighted the digital divide between those who have access to high-speed Internet services and those who live in undeserved areas where such capabilities may not be readily available. The reason that this so critical to Senator Daschle is because those without access to high-speed Internet services could be cut off from affordable information on education and healthcare. The major issue domestically is the distance problem. Rural areas are so far from the more technologically advanced urban areas that getting high-speed phone connections to these rural areas is difficult. To help remedy this problem many phone companies are trying to enter the long-distance market. By doing this, it will enable telephone companies to make greater investments in rural areas at a lower more affordable cost. Another option to connect this dist ant areas is the exploiting of wireless technology. Wireless technology can be a way around the distance problem posed by offering these rural communities Internet access over traditional landlines. John Stanton of western Wireless says, Economically, wireless is a better way of providing universal service. There is also another problem with Internet access on the domestic front. This problem is that of race. According to a new Federal survey, African-Americans and Hispanics are less than half as likely as whites to explore the Internet from home, work or school. This study also reinforces the fear that minority groups are increasingly at a disadvantage in competing for entry-level jobs because most of these jobs now require a knowledge of computers and comfort in navigating the Internet. Donna L. Hoffman, a professor at Vanderbilt University says, The big question is why African-Americans are not adopting this technology, its not just price, because they are buying cable and satellite systems in large numbers. So we have to look deeper to cultural and social factors. I think there is still a question of Whats in it for me? Most division in computer use correlates to income levels and education. Sixty-one percent of whites and 54 percent of blacks in households earning more than $75,000 used the internet regularly, but the figures drop to 17 percent of whites and 8 percent of blacks when families are earning $15,000 to $35,000. It has become obvious that race and socio-economic standing has something to do with the involvement in this technological revolution. Internationally is where the largest problems lie. In many corners of the world, there are dozens of developing countries where widespread access to the Internet remains a distant possibility. While some of the worlds most remote places have the internet, there are still no connections in Iraq, North Korea and a handful of African countries. In many of the developing countries with internet access, the access is basically concentrated in the largest cities and is prohibitively expensive when set against an individuals income. In order to shorten the gap of technology between developed and lesser-developed countries, especially in the realm of the internet, there is an annual conference called INET. The purpose of this conference is to educate those who are not as technologically advanced and sending participants home with additional technical and administrative

5 Words That Dont Mean What You Think They Mean

5 Words That Don't Mean What You Think They Mean You keep using that word, Inigo Montoya says to Vizzini in The Princess Bride. I do not think it means what you think it means. The word that Vizzini so frequently misuses in the film is inconceivable. But its not hard to imagine other words that hold different meanings for different people. Meanings that may even be contradictory- literally so. Of course, its not unusual for word meanings to change  over time. Some words (such as nice, which once meant silly or ignorant) even reverse their connotations. Whats especially intriguing- and often perplexing- is to observe such changes in our own time. To show you what we mean, lets take a look at five words that may not mean what you think they mean: literally, fulsome, ravel, peruse, and plethora. Literally Meaningless? In contrast to  figuratively, the adverb literally means in a literal or strict sense- word for word. But many speakers have a habit of using the word quite unliterally as an intensifier. Take this example from a speech given by former Vice President Joe Biden: The next president of the United States is going to be delivered to the most significant moment in American history since Franklin Roosevelt. He will have such an incredible opportunity not only to change the direction of America but literally, literally to change the direction of the world.(Senator Joseph Biden, speaking in Springfield, Illinois, August 23, 2008) Although most dictionaries recognize the contrary uses of the word, many usage authorities (and SNOOTs) argue that the hyperbolic sense of literally has eroded its literal meaning. Full of Fulsome If your boss showers you with fulsome praise, dont presume that a promotion is in the works. Understood in its traditional sense of offensively flattering or insincere, fulsome has decidedly negative connotations. But in recent years, fulsome has picked up the more complimentary meaning of full, generous, or abundant. So is one definition more correct or appropriate than the other?Guardian Style (2007), the usage guide for writers on Englands Guardian newspaper, describes fulsome as another example of a word that is almost never used correctly. The adjective means cloying, excessive, disgusting by excess, says editor David Marsh, and is not, as some appear to believe, a clever word for full.Nevertheless, both senses of the word appear regularly in the pages of the Guardian- and just about everywhere else. Tributes, praise, and apologies are often characterized as fulsome without a hint of sarcasm or ill will. But in a book review for The Independent in which Jan Morris described the mistress of Lord Nelson as grotesque, obese and fulsome, we sense she had in mind the older meaning of the word. Having it both ways can lead to confusion. When an economics reporter for Time magazine recalls fulsome times, does he simply mean a prosperous era or is he passing judgment on an age of self-indulgent excess? As for the New York Times writer who gushed over a building with great banks of metal windows, set in a rich screen of glazed terra cotta, particularly fulsome on the second floor, exactly what he meant is anybodys guess. Unraveling the Meaning of Raveling If the verb  unravel means to unknot, unscramble, or untangle, its only logical to assume that ravel must mean the opposite- to tangle or complicate. Right?Well, yes and no. You see, ravel is both an antonym and a synonym for unravel. Derived from the Dutch word for a loose thread, ravel can mean either to tangle or untangle, to complicate or clarify. That makes ravel an example of a Janus word- a word (like sanction or wear) that has opposite or contradictory meanings.And that probably helps to explain why ravel is so rarely used: you never know if its coming together or falling apart. Perusing a New Janus Word Another Janus word is the verb  peruse. Since the Middle Ages, peruse has meant to read or examine, usually with great care: perusing a document means studying it carefully. Then a funny thing happened. Some people starting using peruse as a synonym for skim or scan or read quickly- the opposite of its traditional meaning. Most editors still reject this novel usage, dismissing it (in Henry Fowlers phrase) as a slipshod extension- that is, stretching a word beyond its conventional meanings.But keep an eye on your dictionary, for as weve seen, this is one of the ways in which language changes. If enough people continue to stretch the meaning of peruse, the inverted definition may eventually supplant the traditional one. A Plethora of Piatas In this scene from the 1986 film  ¡Three Amigos!,  the villainous character El Guapo is talking with Jefe, his right-hand man: Jefe: I have put many beautiful pià ±atas in the storeroom, each of them filled with little surprises.El Guapo: Many pià ±atas?Jefe: Oh yes, many!El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora of pià ±atas?Jefe: A what?El Guapo: A plethora.Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?Jefe: Why, El Guapo?El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora.Jefe: Forgive me, El Guapo. I know that I, Jefe, do not have your superior intellect and education. But could it be that once again, you are angry at something else, and are looking to take it out on me?(Tony Plana and Alfonso Arau as Jefe and El Guapo in  ¡Three Amigos!, 1986) Regardless of his motive, El Guapo asks a fair question: just what is a plethora? As it turns out, this Greek and Latin hand-me-down is an example of a word that has undergone amelioration- that is, an upgrade in meaning from a negative sense to a neutral or favorable connotation. At one time plethora meant an overabundance or unhealthy excess of something (too many pià ±atas). Now its commonly used as a non-judgmental synonym for a large quantity (a lot of pià ±atas).