Monday, August 24, 2020

Discuss The Role Of Parents And Peers In Childhood And Adolescent Development And Compare The Influence Of Each The WritePass Journal

Examine The Role Of Parents And Peers In Childhood And Adolescent Development And Compare The Influence Of Each Presentation Examine The Role Of Parents And Peers In Childhood And Adolescent Development And Compare The Influence Of Each IntroductionParental InfluencePeers InfluenceConclusionReferencesRelated Presentation  The degree to which our folks and our friends impact our advancement has for quite some time been bantered in logical writing. Brofenbrenner’s (1974, 1976) environmental frameworks point of view holds that so as to genuinely comprehend human turn of events, the whole natural framework where it becomes must be considered. For a kid, this biological framework incorporates both the impact of their folks and their companions, which are viewed as microsystems inside the child’s condition. The two guardians and friends may impact a youngster through showing or strengthening certain practices or perspectives or by objecting or prohibiting specific practices or mentalities. Guardians and friends can likewise impact kid advancement in novel manners. For instance, through various child rearing styles or through companion pressure. This paper will examine and analyze parental and peer effect on youngster and pre-adult turn of events. Parental Influence  One of the most powerful examinations that exhibited the effect that grown-up conduct can have on the improvement of kids was completed by Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) at Stanford University. It was discovered that kids who watched a grown-up good example acting genuinely and verbally fierce to a ‘Bobo’ doll were essentially bound to likewise act vicious toward the doll. Besides, it was discovered that young men were bound to act fiercely in the wake of watching male grown-up models than female grown-up models and would take part in progressively savage acts that young ladies. This examination exhibited the solid social impact of grown-up models on little youngsters and the sexual orientation contrasts that go with this impact. This impact has come to be known as social learning hypothesis (Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1961) and has been powerful in seeing how youngsters may gain proficiency with specific practices. The hypothesis proposes that kids build up specific prac tices and perspectives through perception and by demonstrating these practices and mentalities on those they look into, for example, guardians (Bandura, 1977). Social learning hypothesis has been more than once demonstrated intervene parental effect on youngster advancement. For instance, Scaglioni, Salvioni and Galimberti (2008) found that parental mentalities about food significantly affected their children’s perspectives toward food. Moreover, parental perspectives likewise affected a child’s body fulfillment levels. In the two cases, social learning hypothesis can clarify the solid parental impact on youngster practices, for example, a hostility, dietary patterns and confidence. Be that as it may, the hypothesis doesn't generally stand valid. For instance, it can't be utilized to clarify why positive parent conduct and good examples can once in a while bring about negative youngster practices. Notwithstanding the social learning hypothesis, it has likewise been hypothesized that child rearing styles may impact a child’s improvement. Child rearing styles have been ordered into four unique classifications (Maccoby and Martin, 1983; Baumrind, 1991): legitimate, dictator, tolerant and careless. Definitive guardians are requesting, yet not prohibitive and are exceptionally engaged with their youngster. Conversely, dictator guardians are both requesting and prohibitive, being unquestionably progressively untrusting of their kids. Lenient guardians will in general be responsive yet not requesting of their kid. In spite of the fact that they are warm and youngster focused in their methodology, they additionally have an absence of parental control. At long last, careless guardians are neither requesting nor responsive, normally showing total un-inclusion. Child rearing styles have been found to affect adolescents’ accomplishment methodologies (Aunola, Stattin and Nurm i, 2000), with young people with definitive guardians exhibiting the best techniques and youths with careless guardians showing the most maladaptive systems. The negative effect of a careless child rearing style has been duplicated in later examinations. For instance, Hoeve et al. (2011) found that a careless child rearing style was connected to a more significant level of misconduct in guys. It was likewise revealed that a huge long haul relationship existed between a father’s careless child rearing methodology and wrongdoing in male kids. This sex explicit persuasive relationship can be contrasted with the solid sex explicit good example impact anticipated by social learning hypothesis. Be that as it may, the child rearing styles hypothesis is exceptionally reductionist and doesn't consider different effects on youth improvement and accomplishment, for example, the financial status of the guardians (Davis-Kean, 2005). Companions Influence Companion connections likewise have the ability to impact a child’s advancement regardless. For instance, harassing and exploitation during the school and youthful years has been appeared to have a negative effect upon a few parts of a child’s advancement. In an enormous scope survey study, Rigby (2000) found that successive tormenting by one’s friends had an altogether antagonistic impact on youthful people’s psychological wellness. It was additionally discovered that this negative impact was exacerbated by apparent low social help, exhibiting that components outside of the harassing condition communicate with this companion impact. This investigation utilized a huge and agent test implying that the outcomes are probably going to be exceptionally generalisable. Bowes et al. (2010) found that a warm and positive family condition had the option to diminish the negative impacts of tormenting by peers, recommending that positive parental impacts may have the ability to defeat negative friend impacts. Conversely, there is little proof to propose that negative companion impacts have the ability to defeat positive parental impacts, for example, significant levels of help and direction through the turbulent pre-adult period. An extra companion impact that has been appeared to affect kid improvement is known as sociometric status. Sociometric status can be characterized as how enjoyed or hated a kid is by their cohorts and companions (Asher and Dodge, 1986) and has been connected to various parts of improvement. For instance, Wentzel (2003) did a longitudinal investigation of the impact of sociometric status on scholarly accomplishment and modification at school. It was discovered that sociometric status significantly affects such measures as recklessness and study hall grades. Nelson and Dishion (2004) found that socio-metric status had the option to foresee how well 9-multi year old male youngsters adjusted in later life, recommending that companion impacts can last well into adulthood. Longitudinal investigations have quality in the lavishness of information they can give during an all-encompassing timeframe. Notwithstanding, the un-controlled condition implies that the outcomes can be helpless against puzzling factors. Likewise, in spite of giving some valuable information sociometric status is probably not going to give an exact image of companion impact. The status depends on the assessment of other kids inside a school domain and doesn't represent the assessments of companions a kid may identify with outside of school, for instance at extra-curricular clubs or companions who don't go to a similar school as they do. The impacts of companion pressure on kid advancement have additionally been explored. For instance, Gardner and Steinberg (2005) found that introduction to ones’ friends multiplied the measure of hazard taking conduct displayed by young people. In any case, these outcomes were later disproved by Bot et al. (2007) who found that companion pressure had no critical impact on whether a youngster would participate in underage drinking. Conversely, it was discovered that displaying peers’ drinking conduct had a noteworthy effect. Along these lines, peer weight may apply its impact on youngster advancement through demonstrating as opposed to by dynamic support by companions to partake in negative or hazardous practices. This recommends peer weight might be a more inactive than dynamic impact, as young people search out different companions on which to display their own conduct, some of which might be adverse or perilous. End The writing relating to the impact of parental and companion effect on youngster improvement reveals some replicable patterns, which unequivocally propose that a poor and careless child rearing style negatively affects a wide range of parts of kid advancement. Moreover, when a kid encounters disconnection from their companion bunch either because of tormenting or low sociometric status, they are likewise prone to experience the ill effects of negative results. Along these lines, the proof seems to propose that disregard and separation from either friends or guardians negatively affects youngster advancement, while a steady domain will have a constructive outcome. Friend and parental impact likewise share a solid sexual orientation inclination for all intents and purpose, implying that male companions and guardians will in general affect the male kid, while female friends and guardians have a more grounded impact over the female kid. The most probable situation is that both parent and friends impact a child’s improvement, in spite of the fact that these impacts pinnacle and trough during specific age periods. For instance, peer connections become progressively increasingly powerful and significant as children enter pre-adulthood (Brown, 2004) and thus, components, for example, sociometric status and harassing may apply a greater amount of an impact than parental practices or mentalities. In any case, the proof proposing that positive parental impacts may lessen negative friend impacts recommend that if guardians can cradle kids by giving

Saturday, August 22, 2020

History of Behavior Modification Essay

Conduct Modification is characterized as the utilization of remunerations or disciplines to decrease or kill risky conduct, or to show an individual new reactions to natural improvements. The objective of a conduct alteration program is to change and modify conduct that is improper or bothersome. Two primary devices utilized in conduct adjustment are certain and negative fortification. Conduct alteration can be followed to lab look into as far back as the 1800’s and 1900’s. The greater part of this examination was done through exploring different avenues regarding creatures. Many had affecting examination, here are a couple. Ivan P. Pavlov (1849-1936) - Concerned with upgrades that inspire reactions (clamor, food, lights, and so on.) - Pavlov’s popular pooches: Gastric emissions were invigorated at seeing food (a reflex reaction). Shown that stomach related procedures could be invigorated without direct contact. - He at that point concentrated his exploration on how associations were made between condition improvements and reflex responses. This kind of learning became know as Classical Conditioning. - Classical molding is worried about upgrades that bring out automatic or programmed reactions. Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) - Not worried about reflex reactions like Pavlov. - Focused on the learning of new conduct. - Well known for his examination including felines and a riddle box. - Placed hungry felines in a labyrinth and planned to what extent it took for them to arrive at the food toward the finish of the riddle. He found that the felines got quicker and quicker. (learned conduct) - From this exploration Thorndike framed laws of conduct, one of the most well known being the Law of Effect. - The Law of Effect expresses that the results that follow conduct help learning, and that prizes, positive and negative, give outcomes that expansion the learning of conduct. B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) - Like Thorndike, Skinner concentrated on discovering that came about because of results. - From his examination, for example, the Skinner Box, the pigeon venture, and the infant box, Skinner expressed that all conduct is trailed by a result, and that outcome decides the likeliness of rehashing that conduct. - When a relationship between a conduct and a result is framed it is known as Operant Conditioning. - Operant molding is discovering that depends on an experimentation procedure where a subject recalls what practices have inspired positive, pleasurable, reactions and which evoked negative ones. Basically, conduct alteration depends on the possibility that occasions happen before a particular conduct, and occasions happen after that conduct also. The suitable conduct is found out by watching and changing the pre-occasion conduct and the post-occasion conduct so that the fitting behaviorâ increases and the improper conduct diminishes. The utilization of remunerations to help influence this expansion in fitting conduct is called encouraging feedback i.e.â€strokes, blessings, more benefits, and so forth. The utilization of discipline is called negative fortification. i.e.â€spankings, withdrawal of benefits, and so forth. To stop a wrong conduct, first the conduct must be watched. At that point, an example can be perceived and an arrangement of remunerations would then be able to be developed. Utilizing uplifting feedback, a decision is introduced and if an ideal activity happens, a prize is introduced. In the event that unfortunate conduct happens no prize would be given. This is a case of negative fortification. As the adolescent equity framework enters another period, it is confronted with significant difficulties. Every year it is assessed that police capture about 2 million young people under the age 18 on criminal allegations. Almost 10,000 kids under 17 show up under the watchful eye of judges in the Cook County Circuit Court Juvenile Justice Division consistently. The court alludes a large number of these to the adolescent probation office since they offer a few options in contrast to detainment. Electronic observing, home restriction, and concentrated management are among their bounteous administrations. With the cooperation of social help offices and network based associations, the division attempts to manage the cost of each adolescent in its oversight organized programming and administrations. All administrations are performed with an accentuation on open wellbeing while additionally taking care of the requirements of minors. The present statement of purpose of the Juvenile Probation Department is as per the following: â€Å"To serve the government assistance of youngsters and their families inside a sound system of open security. The Department is focused on giving the guidance,â structure and administrations required by each youngster under its watch. In association with the network, the Juvenile Probation Department †¦directs reprobate youngsters toward transforming their conduct and settling on capable choices as per the standards of Balanced and Restorative Justice.†(cookcountycourt.org) Close by this strategic probation office has an endorsed set of targets that it works under that helps them in having the option to successfully react to the undeniably mind boggling need of reprobate youngsters. Of the 8 objectives named related to the mission there are two that spotlight standards set out by the decent and remedial equity activity. *To help the court in creating intercessions that serves the requirements of the minor and encourages the reclamation of the person in question and the network. *To ingrain in all youngsters an awareness of other's expectations for their activities and a confidence in their own natural worth and potential through a mix of individualized consideration and network organizing (cookcountycourt.org). Preceding the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1998 the division constantly supported network inclusion. Be that as it may, a progressively refined methodology has been executed to make balance between the guilty party, the person in question, and in particular the network influenced by the wrongdoing submitted. They accept no youngster is past the domains of recovery. They are sure that any kid can profit by restoration and treatment. In view of these acknowledge, and an expansion in adolescent guilty parties, the probation office has moved away from locking youth up and taken a kinder, gentler methodology in managing pained youth. Imaginative options in contrast to detainment are turning out to be increasingly pervasive around the world, particularly inside the bounds of adolescent probation. A few program enhancements and changes in enactment can be to some degree credited for these changes. In any case, the most significant factor responsibleâ for affecting change in the strategic the office is the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1998. This change has placed in a call to † find some kind of harmony between the adolescent equity system’s long standing direction toward recovery and the later pattern toward an increasingly correctional framework that considers adolescents responsible for their actions†(ICJIA). The selection of the fair and therapeutic equity plan is laid out in a reason and strategy condition of the Act. Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Randall Roberts, one of the central facilitators of the enactment, says the provision gives â€Å"specific direction to judges, just as other people who work in the system† (ICJIA). With the presentation of this change the probation division and different offices working inside the adolescent equity framework have needed to rethink their targets in a way that addresses the communities’ requirement for balance. Keeping the Promise to America’s Youth Almost five years after this change the adolescent equity framework has perceived the advantages both the framework and the kid get when cases are alluded for probation rather than detainment. Youngsters are in fact receptive to intercession, oversight, tutoring, and different types of development and advancement offered by probation. Confirmation can be found in the accounts of the 19 people in Second Chances who’s lives changes in light of the adaptability and mercy of the adolescent equity framework. Without the responsibility and administration of probation divisions across the country such fruitful fresh opportunities would be difficult to acquire. aftercare centers around reintegration into the network, utilizing an advisor. This advisor incorporates the family and network while evaluating their strategy for care. After a program is made to suit the person, there is severe oversight, utilized related to prizes and authorizes accessible to the effective applicant.

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Questions Answers.

Questions Answers. Thanks to the miracles of modern transportation, Im wringing out this weeks MIT roundup from the wrong side of the Mississippi. (Internal aside: The previous sentence sounds like it was written by a cattle rancher. This distresses me. I own no cattle.) Tucked away in the American prairies and folded under a blanket of metropolitan sprawl, Saint Louis is best known for the transformation of the hyperbolic cosine function into a national symbol of westward expansion, Barack Obamas favorite pizza, Yan Z., frequent superiority in the World Series, frequent superiority in the cooking of ravioli, frequent superiority in being more dangerous than other cities, Yan Z., frequent superiority in jazz, Yan Z., and frequent superiority in being the hometown of exactly seven early action acceptees to MIT this year. Congratulations! In order to ready the potential 13ers for the ceaseless rounds of free food that will be slung at them as soon as they bare their unfed faces on campus, the local alumni association sponsored a luncheon today for the acceptees and their genetic prototypes (a.k.a. parents). I was in attendance to take pictures of food- I mean, answer questions. All in all, the afternoon was filled with nutritious discussion worthy of repost on the blogs, which inspired in me the idea of reposting the discussion on the blogs (marvelous logic!). Thus, I present these following questions of great import, as well as answers of great export: How accessible is campus dining? In my realm of discussion, campus dining is a porcupine in a petting zoo of tamer subjects (like the arts at MIT or eating desserts at MIT) : its difficult to approach, prickly to handle, and hasnt evolved significantly in the last 30 million years. Also, I prefer to avoid it completely by (1) grocery shopping on a weekly basis and (2) occasionally reverting to a hunter/gatherer lifestyle (hunting down leftovers from special events and gathering victuals from study breaks and group dinners, that is). Sadly, such glamorous dining habits are not universally feasible on campus. In four of the twelve dorms, residents are required to pay $300 per semester for a 50% discount in any of the four residential dining halls, which are only open during dinner hours. Breaking even with the dining system is about as easy as breaking through a wooden door, which is why I chose to live in one of the non-dining dorms and carry the key to my room door. Common alternatives to residential dining: 1. Buying groceries and cooking for yourself or in a group. All the dorms have microwaves, stoves, and fridges, as well as at least one member who knows how to prevent the fire alarms from going off. 2. Buying food at the Student Center, home to Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Cafe Spice (Indian), Sepal (Middle Eastern), Shinkansen (Japanese), Cambridge Grill, and Annas Taqueria. Additionally, the campus is peppered with soup-salad-sandwich cafes and food trucks. 3. Joining a fraternity/sorority/independent living group that provides a full meal plan (dinners and access to breakfast/lunch supplies for a set price per semester). Convenient details can be found here. Currently, the campus dining system is a breeding ground for complaints and receives quite a bit of coverage in the Tech. Having said this, everyone gets fed one way or another, even when Im not around to take pictures. What will AP tests do for me? AP tests will help you achieve physical and spiritual separation with your money. As for achievements that are slightly less Zen, 5s on the AP Calc. BC exam and the AP Physics C exam will get you out of corresponding introductory classes at MIT. A 5 on one of the AP English tests will grant you exemption from the Freshman Essay Evaluation (FEE), which is a pain in the collective neck of the freshmen class. Exemption from the FEE gives you the sweet freedom to take any writing class that you want. Other AP scores are like raisins in cookies: nice to have around, but mostly useless. At the beginning of the year, MIT offers Advanced Standing Exams for students who wish to pass out of introductory biology or chemistry. This year, the biology exam had a 31% passing rate, while chemistry boasted a whopping 7% (figures courtesy of The Tech). I offer this as evidence that MIT freshman subjects require a deeper level of understanding than do most advanced high school classes. How did you like your classes this semester? Viewed from the flip side of finals week, my classes look great, like Oprah Winfrey these days. Sure I complained about biology once in a while and was consistently asleep for about 10 minutes of every linguistics lecture, but Ive learned how to cure cancer (theoretically) and rewrite Dave Barry jokes using the International Phonetic Alphabet, so Im a better person now. Academic highlight of the semester? I say with no hesitation and thus no punctuation even when needed such as right here that Introduction to Solid State Chemistry was the greatest class I have ever beheld in my brief academic career. Professor Sadoway fully deserves his five-star ratings on his YouTube lectures. (Amusing story: I was feebly attempting to conceal my camera while taking this shot, but it turns out that the video camera in the lecture hall was pointed directly at me. As a result, everyone in 3.091 who watches the online video lectures witnessed my tourist-esque behavior.) Coming to MIT with a paltry years worth of non-AP, non-honors high school chemistry just a shade above the difficulty level of baking-soda-and-vinegar vocanoes, I should have been grossly underprepared for a class that covered everything from Schrodingers wave equation to zwitterionic properties to polymer engineering (not to mention the sheer intimidation factor of a class of over 500 students). As it happened, inexperience worked to my advantage. Unjaded by the confidence of prior knowledge, I ended up working harder and studying longer than basically everyone I knew. Never before had I found chemistry to be even vaguely fascinating, so my newfound enjoyment of the material was mildly mind-shattering. In the end, I got the 3rd highest grade in the class* and landed a paid research project with Professor Sadoways research group next semester. Empirical evidence shows that, on occasion, effort pays off even at MIT. (*Information obtained from TA informally. Generally, MIT doesnt rank students; in fact, this semester Ive only received exact, numerical grades in one class so far.) I mentioned this anecdote for two reasons: 1. To invalidate the assumption that having minimal prior knowledge in a subject will necessarily prevent you from succeeding in it. (In other words, dont worry if you feel as if your high school classes are like Bambi to MITs Godzilla. (In other other words, its okay if your high school science classes sucked.)) 2. To suggest that MIT introductory classes can be immensely worthwhile and challenging even if you learned the same subjects in high school. What are your plans for IAP? IAP, or “Independent Activities Period” in unzipped form, is the temporal broom closet in which you cram all the hopes and dreams and wildly ambitious schemes (hey, that rhymes!) that you never had time for during the regular semester. Want to learn how to speak in Tagalog while spinning a Chinese yo-yo at the same time? Save it for IAP. Planning to visit your friend in Random Hall that you havent talked to since Orientation? Make an IAP date. Trying to dip into Java programming, amateur orienteering, or chocolate tasting? Take an IAP class. Need to atone for your past cynicism by helping prefrosh see the bright side of MIT life? Save that one for CPW, actually. A quick rummage through my junkyard of IAP plans produces the following: 1. Working on a paid research project with Group Sadoway. Along with Ambrose 12, Ill be investigating the design of solid-state polymer batteries for performance in high temperatures, which is useful because liquid electrolytes tend to randomly explode. 2. A 6-unit class in Mechanics II, because double the mechanics is double the fun! However, Ive always been wary of having fun in excess, so I might end up dropping the class if it turns out to be too hefty of a time investment. 3. Hummus taste-off. Enough said. Should I have to describe this in more detail, I may start weeping tears of joy. 4. Mystery hunt, MITs epic-scale, campus-wide, interactive puzzle challenge. Ill probably be a devoted spectator on the Random Hall team, which is usually one of the more formidable contenders. 5. Weekly Dim Sum runs. My personal goal is to introduce at least three new people to the gutteral, gristly gourmet experience on each trip. 6. A pilgrimage to Pour House, an MIT favorite in Boston that serves half-priced burgers on Saturday nights. 7. Taking a Sport Taekwondo class. 8. Helping Katelyn 12 move into my room (yep, thats Roommate #3) since my former roommate decided to ditch our hovel and live a monastic life of solitude in a single down the hall. Katelyn, if you are reading this, I propose we celebrate your moving-in (inmoving?) by preparing a homemade dumpling feast with turkey meatloaf and carrots and oyster sauce and vinegar and tamarind chutney. Also, you should grate up some confetti. 9. Helping Abby 12 decide on a mural to paint on the wall outside my room. So far, Im gunning for one of M.C. Eschers scroll-sized prints. Any thoughts from the blogosphere? 10. Collaborating with Aviv 09 on the Random Hall History Project. Earlier this year, Aviv contacted me about collecting photos and anecdotes for an online database of the long and illustrious history of our beloved dorm, a proposal that immediately went onto my mounting heap of IAP tasks. 11. Starting a website with Donald Guy 12 in which we empirically prove that everything in existence is the Stata Center (at least from a visual/artistic standpoint). This sweepingly ambitious vision was inspired on a cold December evening as Donald and I were leaving Simmons Hall. My attention was snagged by some object or another that resembled MITs famous wonder of Seussical architecture, and I remarked on this aloud, to which Donald responded: “Everything is Stata.” A proverb was born. 12. Blogging, reading, sitting in on the occasional programming class, and generally reacquainting myself with effective methods of chillaxing. In actuality, Ill probably end up doing half of the above and sleeping through the rest. Back to the MIT Prefrosh Luncheon: How was your salad? Was it bigger than your head? Truly, this is a question of extraordinary relevance. I opted for an unbalanced pot-pourri of spinach leaves, fried shrimp, mango, and strawberry, with emphasis on the spinach. Carrot and onion served as nothing more than charming footnotes of vinegary flavor. The sheer breadth of the bowl dwarfed my cranium, but the salad was underwhelming. Dang, sorry that salad didnt work out for you. How was the other food? Unexpectedly, the bread basket was a tour-de-force of texture and warmth, seamlessly integrated into a soft, crusty lesson in The American Bread Experience. I was fortunate to have seated myself next to Max 13s mom, who brimmed with excellent motherly questions and also allowed me to photograph her main course. If memory serves me faithfully, this is grilled salmon with rice and asparagus stalks. For the dessert course, I rotated myself to another table and chatted with Julia 13, who stunned my lens with a bright ruby sorbet. Derailing unabashedly from the track of MIT admissions relevancy, I had a pulled-chicken Banh Mi sub for dinner five hours later and nearly decided to scrap my IAP plans and book a flight to Vietnam. (New Years Resolution: 12.1 megapixels.) Next time, Ill try to cover Bizarre Questions That You Wonder About But Rarely Ask, so feel free to vent your curiosities via comment or email. In the meantime, happy calendar reset!

Friday, May 22, 2020

Analysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral - 943 Words

In Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral†, the short story is told by a character within the story. The first-person point of view gives us a transparent visual of an important time in the narrators’ life. The narrator, who is â€Å"un-named† in the beginning of the story, uses blunt, flawless and a particular choice of words. This gives us as the reader a deeper connection with the narrator. The narrator begins this story by taking us through the changes he go through with the uneasy feeling of having a blind-man coming to his house to visit. In the beginning the narrator is un-named, we read the story as thoughts within his mind. His actions gives-off a sense of jealousy. He’s bothered by the former relationship the blind-man and his wife has had in the past. He is blunt and honest with (us) in telling how he feels about the situation. â€Å"I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit. He was no one I knew. And his being blind bothered me.† â€Å"A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.† The narrator gives us the introduction to the life event. He tells us about his wife and how she met the blind-man. In short, she formally worked for him, reading him things when she lived in Seattle for a summer. The narrator mentioned when the blind-man touched around his wife face and her current marriage with her childhood sweetheart. Her husband at the time was in the military –industry, which caused her to have to move a lot. She and the blind-man kept in touch by sending voice re cordedShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral1696 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom, or trying to bury alive. Cathedral, written by Raymond Carver, takes place in the early 1980’s. Originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1981. Carver slightly revised the story and re-released it in 1983. At a time when the blue collar working class lived paycheck to paycheck, working hard for newfound luxuries such as color television, this short story is humorous and eye-opening for the reader. For adults ranging from thirty to forty years old, the 1980’s were possibly a ghostly, hauntingRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral 1426 Words   |  6 PagesCharacter Analysis in Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral†: The Narrator Literature has the potential to act as a mirror by presenting people’s lived experiences, expectations, and perceptions through characters. Such is what can be deciphered through the analysis of different characters in Raymond Carver’s story â€Å"Cathedral.† This paper focuses on the narrator of the story portrayed by the author as blind, which is used metaphorically not to imply physical blindness, but the inability to have reasonedRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral 1006 Words   |  5 Pages Gabrielle Sobolewski English 200 Professor Ruth Jennison 11/12/15 The short story â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver is told from the perspective of a first-person narrator. Throughout the story, the narrator is self-absorbed in his own thoughts and emotions and fails in his willingness to overlook personal insecurities in order to accommodate others’ discomfort, i.e. predominantly his wife and the blind man. In general, the story lacks figurative language and is told in short, directRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral 970 Words   |  4 PagesIn Raymond Carver’s short story, â€Å"Cathedral†, we meet the character who is never named, and who is known as the narrator to us. Although the narrator’s character changed towards the end, and we don’t really learn much after the change of his personality, it is still a gradual change that took place. The narrator’s attitude is very important in the story because it revolves around him and the way he views things. This short story is about a m an who is married to a woman, and this woman has been friendsRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral 1097 Words   |  5 PagesSeptember 2015 Cathedral by Raymond Carver In this short story by Raymond Carver begins with a man whose wife invited a good friend over named Robert and is blind. Before Roberts Arrival, the wife’s husband, whose name is Bub, does not know what to make out of his wife’s good friend Robert coming over to their house. Carver utilizes a story of a blind man who changes Bub’s outlook in life. Through the narrators changing character, theme of loneliness and jealousy, and the cathedral being a symbolRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s The Cathedral 863 Words   |  4 Pages One of the Raymond Carver story where we can find a lot of religion symbols; it is â€Å"Cathedral.† The story develops an ironic situation in which a blind man teaches a sighted man to truly â€Å"see† for the first time. Near the end of the story, Carver has these two characters work together on a drawing of a cathedral, which serves as the symbolic heart of the story. The cathedral represents true sight, the ability to see beyond the surface to the true meaning that lies within. The narrator’s drawingRead MoreAn Analysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral1794 Words   |  8 Pages A Cynics Enlightenment Raymond Carver’s short-story Cathedral is outwardly about a pessimistic man, whose wife’s blind visitor named Robert changes the narrators predisposing perception of the world and awakes a new view on life in the process. But inwardly, the story is about the desperate need for connection between these three characters, which isn’t feasible do to the emotional-detachment by the narrator. In the beginning, the narrator is hindered by his prejudices which doesn t allow himRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral1524 Words   |  7 PagesAs if someone has unlocked his prison cell to liberate him of his stereotypical point of view. The protagonist of Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral† was an individual whose stagnant mind has blind him from truly seeing the aspects and characteristics of people around him. Before meeting his wife’s blind friend whose name is Robert, the protagonist perceives reality with a stereotypical mind-set shaped by m isleading information from movies. Hence, he make judgement about other people without ever settingRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral2364 Words   |  10 Pagesmost. The same could be said about people who are limited by one or more of their six senses and are judged by the majority of the population who are not limited and make preconceived notions about these limitations which can bind them. Raymond Carver’s â€Å"Cathedral† explores many literary devices that reveal the pre conceived perception towards people with physical limitations without understanding the individual first, which is still a problem today. The protagonist, the narrator is closed mindedRead MoreAnalysis Of Raymond Carver s Cathedral 1340 Words   |  6 PagesRaymond Carver’s characters were considered to be very much like him: â€Å"’on the edge: of poverty, alcoholic self-destruction, loneliness† (Mays 32). His short story â€Å"Cathedral† is about a young couple, who have a visitor coming to stay with them. This visitor, Robert, is the wife’s friend, and he is blind. The narrator, the husband, has never met someone who is blind, was bothered by that. To him, being blind meant constantly needing help from others. His depiction of blindness was what he has seen

Thursday, May 7, 2020

The West Bank - 1163 Words

1. Amiry proves that the stereotypes of the Israeli and Palestinian people are misguided. Salim, Suads husband, treats her very well. The same goes for many other Palestinian husbands. Suad is an educated architect. Despite that stereotype that Israeli and Palestinian’s hate each other, the book proves that not to be the case. Suad takes an Israeli man to the hospital due to a heart attack proving that compassion, at times, can override territories. She chooses an Israeli vet for her dog, Nura. 1.1 Suad chose the Israeli vet because she felt that Dr. Hisham was sexist for taking so long to give Nura her vaccines due to her being a female dog. She was able to get better medicine for Nura. This is a big deal because Nura enjoys more†¦show more content†¦3.3 The soap factory was historic. Suad felt like their heritage was slowly being erased. The soap factory did not have all of the strict rules in place that the other business’s did. 3.4 Suad was a rebel of sorts. Her personality rubbed the soldiers the wrong way. So in a sense, they tore it up because they could. She would stare at the soldiers and they did not like that. 4. Suad dealt with the occupation with finding humor in the absurdity of it all. Like when she gave the the soldier the excuse the Nura could not driver herself to Jerusalem and needed Suad to drive her. She found humor with Salim and his cousin getting arrested not for breaking rules but for the mere fact that she would not stop staring at a soldier. Humor was how she survived. 4.1 Rami felt like he could seek revenge on his classmates if he became a collaborator. Collaborators felt like they would get easier access to Israel but were looked upon as traitors by the Palestinians. 5.1The thing that surprised me the most about Budrus were the women. They seemed more fearless than the men on some occasions. I had to laugh when the women would say to the one female Israeli soldier, Yasina, come join us. I was also surprised at how peaceful the Palestinian people tried to protest. 5.2 Both sides want peace. By watching the movie it seemed as so many olive trees were being destroyedShow MoreRelatedThe Palestinian Domain Of The West Bank1498 Words   |  6 Pages The unemployment rate is 46 percent and 38 percent and of the populace is beneath the poverty line. In particularly helpless zones in the West Bank, kids experience provocation and brutality from officers and the pilgrims. On account of devastations, they likewise experience the ill effects of absence of satisfactory instruction offices. Large portions of them additionally regularly bear long commutes to their schools because of the construction of settler bypass roads. Home annihilations and removalsRead MoreIsrael s Impact On The West Bank901 Words   |  4 PagesIsrael has made travel between major Palestinian population centers (Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, and Hebron) in the West Bank easier over the last several years. Several major checkpoints in the West Bank that restricted direct movement between and into these cities have been removed or modified. However, in general this opening is less the result of an overall easing in movement restrictions than the result of the institutionalization of movement controls into a formal and permanent regimeRead MoreThe Conflict Of The West Bank And Gaza Strip1814 Words   |  8 PagesOne State, Two States Few, if any, modern conflicts are as complex as the Arab-Israeli conflict. Specifically, the political situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has led to bloodshed, political high wire acts, and cycles of hope and disappointment for decades. Consensus has generally leaned towards advocated a two-state solution for the conflict, in which the Israel remains a Jewish state, and the Palestinian Arabs establish their own country carved from currently Israeli-occupied territoriesRead MoreYear Land Size West Bank Share Essay1011 Words   |  5 Pages Year Land Size West Bank Share (%) 1967 527 9.3 1973 700 12.4 1984 1800 31.9 1993 2500 44.3 1995 2557 45.3 1998 2729 48.4 2000 2760 48.9 Source: The 1967, 1973 and 1984 data-points are from Benvenisti and Khayat (1988). The 1993 datapoint is from Maariv, Jan 22, 1993 and B’Tselem (1997). The 1995, 1998, and 2000 data points are based on Ha’aretz, Jul 20, 2000 and Isaac and Ghanyem (2001). The shares data are computed based on the West Bank land area of 5640 km2 (World Fact-Book, 2001). IsraeliRead MoreThe Peace Process : West Bank And Gaza Strip2657 Words   |  11 Pagesof 1967, Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinian economy has become extremely dependent on the richer economy of Israel. Many thought that the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993 would relieve the constraints on the growth of Palestinians would be removed since peace would give them the opportunity to implement their own economic priorities. However, because of the second Intifada, the retraction of the peace process brought West Bank and Gaza Strip to a worse conditionRead MoreThe First Two Uprisings Of The West Bank, Gaza And East Jerusalem1341 Words   |  6 PagesPalestinian autonomy or eventual independence. The First Intifada took place on the 8th of December 1987. This protest was against Israeli’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. At the crowded checkpoint Israeli truck swerved and killed four The Palestinians. Palestinians in revenge swept across the Gaza Strip, spread to the World Bank and set into motion a blaze of nationalist resistance to occupation. Intifada began unpredictably spontaneous actions such as stone-throwing were happeningRead MoreIsrael has a Failed State Index Score Due to the West Bank Essay1022 Words   |  5 Pageslikes of Congo, Cuba and Jordan. Despite Israel’s booming economy, high life expectancy and low unemployment, part of the explanation for its low FSI ranking is the West Bank. According to the Fund for Peace’s methodology, Israel/West Bank is considered one entity when determining its Failed States Index score. The issues Israel/ West Bank scored highest on the FIS were; external intervention (8), facti onalized elites (8), human rights (8), group grievance (9.3), and refugees (8). Other sources of IsraelsRead MoreThe Impact Of Land Ownership On The West Bank And Gaza Strip As The Source Of Mounting Frustration By Palestinians1766 Words   |  8 PagesIsrael. It was an uprising that was sparked from decades of political and territorial tension in the West Bank and Gaza. There were triggers immediately prior to the Intifada that sparked the heightened reaction however much focus needs to be placed in the long term causes prior to December 1987 to explain the First Intifada. Following the Six-Day War, Israeli settlement and presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip formed a constant tension and unrest between Israelis and Palestinians. It is also importantRead MoreThe West Bank943 Words   |  4 Pagessmall village, probably the size of the Consumes River College campus; however, the meaning to me is greater than the whole state of California. Mas-ha is special to me because it is my hometown. Mas-ha is located within the disputed side of the West Bank in Palestine. Its population is about one thousand two hundred people. In the whole village there are two major families. The size of Mas-ha is approximately two square miles. This village is very prized to me, because of its distinctions such asRead MoreThe Bank Of The West Essay936 Words   |  4 Pagesname of the organization which I work for is called Bank of the West and is a subsidiary bank of BNP Paribas. This financial institution can be found all over the west coast of the United States. In the state of New Mexico there are about 20 branches and 15 of them are located in the city of Albuquerque. The organization itself has about 10,000 employees; however, the branch that I work at has a total of 13 employees. The structure of the bank has always been hierarchical, yet now days it has become

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Riordan Manufacturing Company Review and Analysis Free Essays

Riordan Manufacturing Company: Review and Analysis Jennah Es-Sudan, Monica Malcom, Annie Willis and Yeong Yoo University Of Phoenix BUS/430 December 1, 2009 Riordan Manufacturing Company Review and Analysis The focus of this paper is to analysis the regulatory measures of Riordan Manufacturing. Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. is an industry leader in the field of plastic injection molding. We will write a custom essay sample on Riordan Manufacturing Company: Review and Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now With state-of-the art design capabilities, creating innovative plastic designs that have earned international acclaim. Attention to detail, extreme precision and enthusiastic quality control are the hallmarks of Riordan Manufacturing. With facilities in San Jose, California, Albany, Georgia, Pontiac, Michigan and Hangzhou, China, Riordan has the capacity to fulfill unique needs. Riordan Manufacturing is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise. The company decided to closed their plant in Michigan and open it in China. Opening this business in another country has advantages. Our team will also discuss unfair import laws, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, Patents, trademarks, and intellectual property, and environmental regulation and how they relate to doing business in China. Unfair Import Laws The government has assertively imposed our anti-dumping laws to fight unfair Chinese trade. † alleged Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez. â€Å"China’s economy has developed to the point that we can add another trade remedy tool, such as the countervailing duty law. The China of today is not the China of years ago. Just as China has evolved, so has the range of our tools to make sure Americans are treated fairly. By acting on the petition filed last October, the United States today is signifying its continued pledge to leveling the playing field for American manufacturers, workers and farmers. Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA of 1977) Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (â€Å"FCPA† or â€Å"the Act†) in 1977 in reaction to the Watergate scandal. Widespread media coverage of unreported crusade assistance and potentially unlawful payments to strange officials encouraged the Securities and Exchange Commission (â€Å"SEC†) to begin an investigation. The SEC’s investigation eventually exposed that more than 400 U. S. companies had paid bribes to foreign governments and politicians, totaling more than $300 million. An FCPA violation requires that action be taken with a corrupt intent. Corrupt means an evil motive of purpose, and intent to wrongfully influence the recipient of the payment or offer to misuse his official position or to influence someone else to do so. The act does not require the corrupt act to be a success; it just means that an attempt was made to influence an alien bureaucrat. China has made great efforts to combat essentials of bribery—through endorsement and enforcement of strict anti-bribery laws and penalties—it still remains a cause of concern in the China business market. For example, in 2005, 11,071 members of the Communist Party of China (â€Å"CPC†) were disqualified from the party as reprimanded for dishonesty. In addition, Chinese magistrates dealt with 120,000 cases of misappropriation, corruption, and negligence of duty over the past five years. Given the size and magnitude of China’s market, these issues also cause alarm for U. S. companies doing business in China. Chinese and other overseas companies may make unlawful expenses in China with restricted risks, U. S. ompanies doing business in China may feel marketable stress to disobey the Act to avoid finding themselves at a aggressive difficulty to companies that are not subject to the same laws or similar enforcement. For this reason, U. S. companies operating in China need a solid FCPA compliance program to avoid action for FCPA violations and to avoid becoming knotted in China’s domestic corruption and bribery laws. Patents, Trademarks, and Intellectual Property Compan ies try to capture the markets by issuing licensing permits for intellectual properties to increase profits for their business. These intellectual properties included patents and trademarks. Unfortunately, nations are still struggling to adopt a consistent international legal system that governs the intellectual property. They often have restrictions which includes geographical/and field use limitations and customer restriction. The Paris Convention is a guarantee that in each signatory country, foreign trademark and patent application from other signatory countries will receive the same treatment. According to United States Patent and Trademark Offices (2009) a patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor. There were problems and drawbacks with this particular agreement so in 1970 the patent cooperation Treaty was adopted. This particular agreement addresses the centralized utility patent application process (Schaffer, Agusti, Earle, 2009). A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others United States Patent and Trademark (2009). Riordan Manufacturing makes plastic products in the United States and decided to move the plant that makes Pontiac products to China. This was a way to produce goods cheaper than in the United States and enter the market international. When making this move into the international market Riordan Manufacturing has trademarks on their plastic bottles and other plastic products that the Paris Convention would cover. Environmental Regulations Environmental regulations are guidelines that are in place to govern how matters that effect human life and environment handle. WTO rules a nation can require foreign producers to comply with environmental standards that are required by domestic firms (Schaffer, Agusti, Earle, 2009). Riordan Manufacturing had to make sure that when moving their company from Michigan to China that the environmental regulations are followed. China has been working with great determination in recent years to develop, implement, and enforce a solid environmental law framework. Chinese officials face critical challenges in effectively implementing the laws, clarifying the roles of their national and provincial governments, and strengthening the operation of their legal system EPA- China Environmental Initiative (2009). Having a manufacturing company Riordan had to make sure that the plant that was being built was welcome in China and it adhered to the regulation guidelines. Riordan also had to follow the pollution regulation and the energy regulation. Production of their products was welcome and they learned the environmental regulation to take their business to China. Political Risks of Operating a MFG Company in China China has been one of desirable areas that any international companies would want to expand their business to. Its evolving economy, huge manufacturing base, enormous supply of natural resources are dangerously attractive, yet the expansion to this developing country comes with risks. The political risks in China Riordan Company should consider is that China is increasingly pressuring foreign investors to transfer technology to local producers, which could erode the patent protections and competitiveness of investors. Next fact that Riordan should consider is that as they focus on shifting growth from exports to domestic consumption, China’s leaders may withdraw tax benefits for foreign investors. Infrastructure bottlenecks and strong upward pressures on government-controlled electricity and fuel prices also create considerable uncertainty around manufacturing efficiency and operating expenses. Our initial decision to locate our China operations in Hangzhou was driven largely by the fact that our Chinese partners already had facilities there that should be able to handle all regulations and political surroundings. As a join venture partner, Riordan Company should understand sporadic fuel shortages and worsening urban gridlock inject ambiguity into forecasts for domestic auto demand growth. In short, low-cost manufacturing and vast potential domestic demand is offset by uncertainty in regulatory and infrastructure capacity. This makes China a potentially higher-risk, higher-reward investment destination. Riordan Company executive management also should outline framework for understanding how local political and market dynamics affect foreign ventures. China holds tremendous promise as a manufacturing centre and market, but management should remember are social, regulatory and energy issues around the next curve in the road. Political-risk analysis should have been processed to contemplate not just broad, easily observable trends but also the nuances of society and the quirks of personality that can affect a venture’s success. For Riordan Company to be successful in join venture in Hangzhou China Riordan must obtain professionally prepared political risk analysis giving current assessments and forecasts of future stability. They can also seek consulting firms, insurance industry reports, reports of U. S. government agencies, and informal discussions with experienced international bankers nd shipping company representatives. Outline of the Possibilities for Foreign Investment and Securities A company that operates in a foreign country has to comply with the laws of that country. As a rule international business causes great pressures for U. S. business managers. A projected high profit margin weighs little if local law prevents repatriation of profits to the foreign investor’s home jurisdict ion. Riordan Manufacturing made the decision to expand internationally for the following reasons. China attempts to encourage investments from foreign residents. The following are among the reasons that foreign investors are attracted to China: †¢ Extremely low labor costs. †¢ A tremendous buyers’ market in China itself with a population of 1. 3 billion. †¢ An expectation of a sharp increase in the buying power of Chinese residents, a fact that is influenced by the annual GDP of over 8% per annum and the low rates of inflation. †¢ In recent years, Chinese laws concerning foreign investments have been significantly eased. The total FDI in China for 2006 totaled 63 billion dollars. Conclusion From the beginning of the nineties and particularly from 2001, when China joined the WTO, until the present, the attitude to foreign investment in China has changed, among other matters, foreign investors are permitted to form companies that are 100% owned by foreign capital. Sales to the local market are permitted and foreign investment is also allowed in sectors other than industry and hi-tech, such as banking, insurance, financial services, etc. As a result of joining the WTO, China is expected to standardize specific benefits that were previously granted only to overseas investors or only to Chinese companies. As a general rule, industries in China that are open to foreign investments are divided into 3 categories, an encouraged investment, a restricted investment and a prohibited investment. Foreign investors cannot invest in projects that are connected with the military and defense industries in China. There are also restrictions on 100% control of foreign investors over transport, the automobile industry and power stations. Benefits that China grants to foreign investors are not given in the form of grants. Most benefits are in the form of a tax benefit, including value added tax, customs and income tax benefits in putting the mphasis on an investment in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) or in special sectors and areas. The benefits granted are as previously approved according to the nature of the foreign investment. There are 5 SEZ’s in China in the south of the country, the main tax benefits are: corporate tax of 15%. A benefit of â€Å"2 + 3 years â€Å"which means an exemption from tax for the first two years and tax at the rate of 12. 5% for the next three years. Pudong Zone (Shanghai) In the Pudong zone there are 5 development zones specializing in hi-tech, financial services, agriculture and more. The benefits are similar to those granted to investors in an SEZ. References Schaffer, R. , Agusti, F. , Earle, B. (2009, 2005). International Business Law and Its Environment (7th Ed. ). Mason, Ohio: South-Western, Cengage Learning. World Wide- Tax Finance (2009). China Foreign Investment Incentives. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from www. worlwide-tax. com/china/chi_invest. asp United States Patent and Trademark Office 2009. Definitions. Retrieved on November 30, 2009 from www. uspto. gov/ EPA- China Environment Law Initiative November 2009. Retrieved on November 30, 2009 from www. epa. gov/ogc/china/initiative_home. htm How to cite Riordan Manufacturing Company: Review and Analysis, Papers

Monday, April 27, 2020

Megan Renee Essays - Guiding Light, Grant County, Georgia

Megan Renee Megan Renee ?Please, just let me hold her,? she pleaded, ?just once ?I'm sorry,? replied the plump nurse coldly, ?but I have my orders, and besides, it will only make things that much worse.? To an outsider, it was a heart-wrenching scene. To the hospital, it was something that they dealt with on a daily basis. To her family, it was a mistake that never should have happened. To Sara, it was a day that changed her life forever. ?Katie, I can't look-tell me what it says,? requested Sara Holten. ?Do you really want to knowasked her best friend Katie Landiman, comparing the results to the package instructions. ?I have to know, I don't have a choice here.? ?It's positive Sara, you're pregnant,? Katie said reaching out to comfort her friend with a hug, wishing she could help more. ?How could you do this to us was the only thing Mr. and Mrs. Holten said when Sara told them. Her mother cried, and her father just turned away from her and didn't say anything. Her boyfriend Joel just reminded her that he had a football scholarship, and that he was in no position to take care of a child. He offered to pay for her to ?take care of it', and she left before he could say another word. Sara was only sixteen, but up until now, she was considered very mature and responsible for her age. She had a 3.7 grade point average in high school. She was going to graduate a year early, and had even begun to take classes at the local community college. She felt that she could, and wanted more than anything to take care of this baby, but They wouldn't allow it. Once her parents finally decided to talk to her, they gave her a choice?well an ultimatum really. They first tried to convince her to have an abortion, ?it will solve everything,? they insisted. When she refused to even talk about it, they then suggested adoption. They told her that they could send her to a special place where there were other girls in trouble like her. She would have the baby and then it would be given to a nice family. Sara kept it as a suggestion, hoping that her parents would eventually come around and let her keep the baby. Then they told her that was it. If she didn't take one of those options, she w ould be kicked out with out a penny of support. They gave her one-month to decide. Sara knew that she could never live with herself if she had an abortion, it was not even a possibility. She wanted this baby so much and just knew that it was a baby girl. She even named her Megan Renee. She pictured what she would look like. Blond hair and soft blue eyes. The tiny little fingers that would clasp around hers, the little legs that would kick in excitement. She wanted so badly to see her baby girl's little face, to hold her in her arms and rock her to sleep. She told her parents she would go to the home, but secretly she was trying to figure out a way to make it work. She knew deep down though that it never would. She had no real money of her own, and she didn't know anyone who would or could take her in. When she was six months along she finally gave up and decided that the best thing for Megan was to find a good home for her. She started to interview potential parents-to-be. She went through eleven couples, and ruled out six right away. Not that they wouldn't make good parents, she just didn't think that they would make the right parents for her baby. She finally narrowed it down to two couples. They were very nice people and had a little boy who was six. They had a little girl also, but she died when she was only four days old. After three miscarriages, they couldn't bare to try any more. They had a beautiful house, and their son Alex was so sweet. Sara knew right away that her baby would be in good hands with this family. The other couple