Figures of Quantity. Figures of Quality. Figures of Contrast Essay Example

Figures of Quantity. Figures of Quality. Figures of Contrast Essay Plan 1. Figures of quantity: hyperbole; meiosis (litotes). 2. Figures of quality: metonymy (synecdoche, periphrasis, euphemism); irony. 3. Figures of contrast: oxymoron; antithesis. 4. Practical assignment Metonymy, another lexical SD, like metaphor on losing its originality also becomes instrumental in enriching the vocabulary of the language, though metonymy is created by a different semantic process and is based on contiguity (nearness) of objects or phenomena. Transference of names in metonymy does not involve a necessity for two different words to have a common component in their semantic structures, as is the case of metaphor, but proceeds from the fact that two objects (phenomena) have common grounds of existence in reality. Such words as cup and tea have no linguistic semantic nearness, but the first one may serve the container of the second, hence the conversational cliche Will you have another cup? , which is a case of metonymy, once original, but due to long use, no more accepted as a fresh SD. My brass will call your brass, says one of the characters of A. Haileys Airport to another, meaning My boss will call your boss. The transference of names is caused by both bosses being officers, wearing uniform caps with brass cockades. The scope of transference in metonymy is much more limited than that of metaphor, which is quite understandable: the scope of human imagination identifying two objects (phenomena, actions) on the grounds of commonness of one of their innumerable characteristics is boundless while actual relations between objects are more limited. We will write a custom essay sample on Figures of Quantity. Figures of Quality. Figures of Contrast specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Figures of Quantity. Figures of Quality. Figures of Contrast specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Figures of Quantity. Figures of Quality. Figures of Contrast specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This is why metonymy, on the whole,- is a less frequently observed SD, than metaphor. Similar to singling out one particular type of metaphor into the self-contained SD of personification, one type of metonymy namely, the one, which is based on the relations between a part and the whole is often viewed independently as synecdoche. As a rule, metonymy is expressed by nouns (less frequently by substantivized numerals) and is used in syntactical functions characteristic of nouns (subject, object, predicative). Exercise II. Indicate metonymies, state the type of relations between the object named and the bject implied, which they represent, lso pay attention to the degree of their originality, and to their syntactical function: 1. He went about her room, after his introduction, looking at her pictures, her bronzes and clays, asking after the creator of this, the painter of that, where a third thing came from. (Dr. ) 2. She wanted to have a lot of children, and she was glad that things were that way, that the Church approved. Then the little girl died. Nancy broke with Rome the day her baby died. It was a secret break, but no Catholic breaks with Rome casually. (J. OH. 3. Evelyn Glasgow, get up out of that chair this minute. The girl looked up from her book. Whats the matter? Your satin. The skirtll be a mass of wrinkles in the back. (E. F. ) 4. Except for a lack of youth, the guests had no common theme, they seemed strangers among strangers; indeed, each face, on entering, had straggled to conceal dismay at seeing others there. (T. C. ) 5. She saw around her, clustered about the white tables, multitudes of violently red lips, powdered cheeks, cold, hard eyes, self-possessed arrogant faces, and insolent bosoms. (A. B. 6. Dinah, a slim, fresh, pale eighteen, was pliant and yet fragile. (?. ?. ) 7. The man looked a rather old forty-five, for he was already going grey. (K. P. ) 8. The delicatessen owner was a spry and jolly fifty. (T. R. ) 9. It was easier to ass ume a character without having to tell too many lies and you brought a fresh eye and mind to the job. (P. ) 10. Some remarkable pictures in this room, gentlemen. A Holbein, two Van Dycks and if I am not mistaken, a Velasquez. I am interested in pictures. (Ch. ) 11. You have nobody to blame but yourself. The saddest words of tongue or pen. (I. Sh. ) 12. For several days he took an hour after his work to make inquiry taking with him some examples of his pen and inks. (Dr. ) 13. There you are at your tricks again. The rest of them do earn their bread; you live on my charity. (E. Br. ) 14. I crossed a high toll bridge and negotiated a no mans land and came to the place where the Stars and Stripes stood shoulder to shoulder with the Union Jack. (J. St. ) 15. The praise was enthusiastic enough to have delighted any common writer who earns his living by his pen. S. M. ) 16. He made his way through the perfume and conversation. (I. Sh. ) 17. His mind was alert and people asked him to dinner not for old times sake, but because he was worth his salt. (S. M. ) 18. Up the Square, from the corner of King Street, passed a woman in a new bonnet with pink strings, and a new blue dress that sloped at the shoulders and grew to a vast circumference at the hem. Through the silent sunlit solitude of the Square this bonnet and this dress floated northwards in search of romance. (A. B. ) 19. Two men in uniforms were running heavily to the Administration building. As they ran, Christian saw them throw away their rifles. They were portly men who looked like advertisements for Munich beer, and running came hard to them. The first prisoner stopped and picked up one of the discarded rifles. He did not fire it, but carried it, as he chased the guards. He swung the rifle like a club, and one of the beer advertisements went down (I. Sh. ) Litotes is a two-component structure in which two negations are joined to give a positive evaluation. Thus not unkindly actually means kindly, though the positive effect is weakened and some lack of the speakers confidence in his statement is implied. The first component of a litotes is always the negative particle not, while the second, always negative in semantics, varies in form from a negatively affixed word (as above) to a negative phrase. Litotes is especially expressive when the semantic centre of the whole †¢ structure is stylistically or/and emotionally coloured, as in the case of the following occasional creations: Her face was not unhandsome  (A. H. ) or Her face was not unpretty. K. K. ) The function of litotes has much in common with that of understatement both weaken the effect of the utterance. The uniqueness of litotes lies in its specific double negative structure and in its weakening only the positive evaluation. The Russian term corresponds only to the English understatement as it has no structural or semantic limitations. Exercise IV. Analyse the structur e, the semantics and the functions oflitotes: 1. To be a good actress, she must always work for the truth in what shes playing, the man said in a voice not empty of self-love. N. M. ) 2. Yeah, what the hell, Anne said and looking at me, gave that not unsour smile. (R. W. ) 3. It was not unnatural if Gilbert felt a certain embarrassment. (E. W. ) 4. The idea was not totally erroneous. The thought did not displease me. (I. M. ) 5. I was quiet, but not uncommunicative; reserved, but not reclusive; energetic at times, but seldom enthusiastic. (Jn. B. ) 6. He had all the confidence in the world, and not without reason. (J. OH. ) 7. Kirsten said not without dignity: Too much talking is unwise. (Ch. ) 8. No, Ive had a profession and then a firm to cherish, said Ravenstreet, not without bitterness. (P. ) 9. I felt I wouldnt say no to a cup of tea. (K. M. ) 10. I wouldnt say no to going to the movies. (E. W. ) 11. I dont think youve been too miserable, my dear. (P. ) 12. Still two weeks of success is definitely not nothing and phone calls were coming in from agents for a week. (Ph. R. ) ASSIGNMENTS FOR SELF-CONTROL 1. What is a litotes? 2. What is there in common between litotes and understatement? 3. Describe most frequently used structures of litotes. Periphrasis is a very peculiar stylistic device which basically consists of using a roundabout form of expression instead of a simpler one, i. e. of using a more or less complicated syntactical structure instead of a word. Depending on the mechanism of this substitution, periphrases are classified into figurative (metonymic and metaphoric), and logical. The first group is made, in fact, of phrase-metonymies and phrase-metaphors, as you may well see from the following example: The hospital was crowded with the surgically interesting products of the fighting in Africa (I. Sh. ) where the extended metonymy stands for the wounded. Logical periphrases are phrases synonymic with the words which were substituted by periphrases: Mr. Du Pont was dressed in the conventional disguise with which Brooks Brothers cover the shame of American millionaires. (M. St. ) The conventional disguise stands here for the suit and the shame of American millionaires — for the paunch (the belly). Because the direct nomination of the not too elegant feature of appearance was substituted by a roundabout description this periphrasis may be also considered euphemistic, as it offers a more polite qualification instead of a coarser one. The main function of periphrases is to convey a purely individual perception of the described object. To achieve it the generally accepted nomination of the object is replaced by the description of one of its features or qualities, which seems to the author most important for the characteristic of the object, and which thus becomes foregrounded. The often repeated periphrases become trite and serve as universally accepted periphrastic synonyms: the gentle / soft / weak sex (women); my better half (my spouse); minions of Law (police), etc. Exercise V. Analyse the given periphrases from the viewpoint of their semantic type, structure, function and originality: 1. Gargantuan soldier named Dahoud picked Ploy by the head and scrutinized this convulsion of dungarees and despair whose feet thrashed a yard above the deck. (Th. P. ) 2. His face was red, the back of his neck overflowed his collar and there had recently been published a second edition of his chin. (P. G. W. ) 3. His huge leather chairs were kind to the femurs. (R. W. ) 4. But Pickwick, gentlemen, Pickwick, this ruthless destroyer of . this domestic oasis in the desert of Goswell street! (D. ) 5. He would make some money and then he would come back and marry his dream from Blackwood. (Dr. ) 6. The villages were full of women who did nothing but fight against dirt and hunger and repair the effects of friction on clothes. (A. B. ) 7. The habit of saluting the dawn with a bend of the elbow was a hangover from college fraternity days. (Jn. B. ) 8. I took my obedient feet away fr om him. (W. G. ) 9. I got away on my hot adolescent feet as quickly as I could. (W. G. ) 10. I am thinking an unmentionable thing about your mother. (I. Sh. ) 11. Jean nodded without turning and slid between two vermilion-coloured buses so that two drivers simultaneously used the same qualitative word. (G. ) 12. During the previous winter I had become rather seriously ill with one of those carefully named difficulties which are the whispers of approaching age. (J. St. ) 13. A child had appeared among the palms, about a hundred yards along the beach. He was a boy of perhaps six years, sturdy and fair, his clothes torn, his face covered with a sticky mess of fruit. His trousers had been lowered for an obvious purpose and had only een pulled back half-way. (W. G. ) 14. When I saw him again, there were silver dollars weighting down his eyes. (T. C. ) 15. She was still fat after childbirth; the destroyer of her figure sat at the head of the table. (A. B. ) 16. I participated in that delayed Teutonic migration known as the Great War. (Sc. F. ) 17. Did you see anything in Mr. Pickwicks manner and conduct towards the opposite sex to induce you to beli eve all this? (D. ) 18. Bill went with him and they returned with a tray of glasses, siphons and other necessaries of life. (Ch. ) 19. It was the American, whom later we were to learn to know and love as the Gin Bottle King, because of a great feast of arms performed at an early hour in the morning with a container of Mr. Gordons celebrated product as his sole weapon. (H. ) 20. Jane set her bathing-suited self to washing the lunch dishes. (Jn. B. ) 21. Naturally, I jumped out of the tub, and before I had thought twice, ran out into the living room in my birthday suit. (?. ?. ) 22. For a single instant, Birch was helpless, his blood curdling in his veins at the imminence of the danger, and his legs refusing their natural and necessary office. T. C. ) 23. The apes gathered around him and he wilted under the scrutiny of the eyes of his little cousins twice removed. (An. C. ) Hyperbole a stylistic device in which emphasis is achieved through deliberate exaggeration, like epithet, relies on the foregrounding of the emotive meaning. The feelings and emotions of the speaker are so raffled that he resorts in his speech to intensifying the quantitative or the qualitative aspect of the mentioned object. E. g. : In his famous poem To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell writes about love: My vegetable love should grow faster than empires. Hyperbole is one of the most common expressive means of our everyday speech. When we describe our admiration or anger and say I would gladly see this film a hundred times, or I have told it to you a thousand times we use trite language hyperboles which, through long and repeated use, have lost their originality and remained signals of the speakers roused emotions. Hyperbole may be the final effect of another SD metaphor, simile, irony, as we have in the cases He has the tread of a rhinoceros or The man was like the Rock of Gibraltar. Hyperbole can be expressed by all notional parts of speech. There are words though, which are used in this SD more often than others. They are such pronouns as all, every, everybody and the like. Cf. : Calpurnia was all angles and bones (H. L. ); also numerical nouns (a million, a thousand), as was shown above; and adverbs of time (ever, never). The outstanding Russian philologist A. Peshkovsky once stressed the importance of both communicants clearly perceiving that the exaggeration, used by one of them is intended as such and serves not to denote actual quality or quantity but signals the emotional background of the utterance. If this reciprocal understanding of the intentional nature of the overstatement is absent, hyperbole turns into a mere lie, he said. Hyperbole is aimed at exaggerating quantity or quality. When it is directed the opposite way, when the size, shape, dimensions, characteristic features of the object are hot overrated, but intentionally underrated, we deal with understatement. The mechanism of its creation and functioning is identical with that of hyperbole, and it does not signify the actual state of affairs in reality, but presents the latter through the emotionally coloured perception and rendering of the speaker. It is not the actual diminishing or growing of the object that is conveyed by a hyperbole or understatement. It is a transient subjective impression that finds its realization in these SDs. They differ only in the direction of the flow of roused emotions. English is well known for its preference for understatement in everyday speech I am rather annoyed instead of Im infuriated, The wind is rather strong instead of Theres a gale blowing outside are typical of British polite speech, but are less characteristic of American English. Some hyperboles and understatements (both used individually and as the final effect of some other SD) have become fixed, as we have in Snow White, or Liliput, or Gargantua. Trite hyperboles and understatements, reflecting their use in everyday speech, in creative writing are observed mainly in dialogue, while the authors speech provides us with examples of original SDs, often rather extended or demanding a considerable fragment of the text to be fully understood. Exercise VII. In the following examples concentrate on cases of hyperbole and understatement. Pay attention to their originality or stateness, to other SDs promoting their effect, to exact words containing the foregrounded emotive meaning: 1. I was scared to death when he entered the room. (S. ) 2. The girls were dressed to kill. (J. Br. ) 3. Newspapers are the organs of individual men who have jockeyed themselves to be party leaders, in countries where a new party is born every hour over a glass of beer in the nearest cafe. (J. R. ) 4. I was violently sympathetic, as usual. (Jn. B. ) 5. Four loudspeakers attached to the flagpole emitted a shattering roar of what Benjamin could hardly call music, as if it were played by a collection of brass bands, a few hundred fire engines, a thousand blacksmiths hammers and the amplified reproduction of a force-twelve wind. (A. S. ) 6. The car which picked me up on that particular guilty evening was a Cadillac limousine about seventy-three blocks long. (J. B. ) 7. Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. (Sc. F. ) 8. He didnt appear like the same man; then he was all milk and honey now he was all starch and vinegar. (D. ) 9. She was a giant of a woman. Her bulging figure was encased in a green crepe dress and her feet overflowed in red shoes. She carried a mammoth red pocketbook that bulged throughout as if it were stuffed with rocks. (Fl. OC. ) 10. She was very much upset by the catastrophe that had befallen the Bishops, but it was exciting, and she was tickled to death to have someone fresh to whom she could tell all about it. (S. M. ) 11. Babbitts preparations for leaving the office to its feeble self during the hour and a half of his lunch-period were somewhat less elaborate than the plans for a general European War. S. M. ) 12. The little woman, for she was of pocket size, crossed her hands solemnly on her middle. (G. ) 13. We danced on the handkerchief-big space between the speakeasy tables. (R. W. ) 14. She wore a pink hat, the size of a button. (J. R. ) 15. She was a sparrow of a woman. (Ph. L. ) 16. And if either of us should lean toward the other, even a fraction of an inch, the balance would b e upset. (O. W. ) 17. He smiled back, breathing a memory of gin at me. (W. G. ) 18. About a very small man in he Navy: this new sailor stood five feet nothing in sea boots. (Th. P. ) 19. She busted herself in her midget kitchen. (T. C. ) 20. The rain had thickened, fish could have swum through the air. (T. C. ) Oxymoron is a stylistic device the syntactic and semantic structures of which come to clashes. In Shakespearian definitions of love, much quoted from his Romeo and Juliet, perfectly correct syntactically, attributive combinations present a strong semantic discrepancy between their members. Cf. : O brawling love! ? loving hate! heavy lightness! Serious vanity! Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! As is clearly seen from this string of oxymorons, each one of them is a combination of two semantically contradictory notions, that help to emphasize contradictory qualities simultaneously existing in the described phenomenon as a dialectical unity. As a rule, one o f the two members of oxymoron illuminates the feature which is universally observed and acknowledged while the other one offers a purely subjective, individual perception of the object. Thus in an oxymoron we also deal with the foregrounding of emotive meaning, only of a different type than the one observed in previously discussed SDs. The most widely known structure of oxymoron is attributive, so it is easy to believe that the subjective part of the oxymoron is embodied in the attribute-epithet, especially because the latter also proceeds from the foregrounding of the emotive meaning. But there are also others, in which verbs are employed. Such verbal structures as to shout mutely (I. Sh. ) or to cry silently (M. W. seem to strengthen the idea, which leads to the conclusion that oxymoron is a specific type of epithet. But the peculiarity of an oxymoron lies in the fact that the speakers (writers) subjective view can be expressed through either of the members of the word combination. Originality and specificity of oxymoron becomes especially evident in non-attributive structures which also, not infrequently, are used to express semantic contradiction, as in the stre e damaged by improvements (O. H. ) or silence was louder than thunder (U. ). Oxymorons rarely become trite, for their components, linked forcibly, repulse each other and oppose repeated use. There are few colloquial oxymorons, all of them showing a high degree of the speakers emotional involvement in the situation, as in damn nice, awfully pretty. Exercise VIII. In the following sentences pay attention to the structure and semantics of oxymorons. Also indicate which of their members conveys the individually viewed feature of the object and which one reflects its generally accepted characteristic: 1. He caught a ride home to the crowded loneliness of the barracks. J. ) 2. Sprinting towards the elevator he felt amazed at his own cowardly courage. (G. M. ) 3. They were a bloody miserable lot the miserablest lot of men I ever saw. But they were good to me. Bloody good. (J. St. ) 4. He behaved pretty busily to Jan. (D. C. ) 5. Well might he perceive the hanging of her hair in fairest quantity in locks, some curled and some as if it were forgotten, with such a car eless care and an art so hiding art that it seemed she would lay them for a pattern. (Ph. S. ) 6. There were some bookcases of superbly unreadable books. (E. W. 7. Absorbed as we were in the pleasures of travel and I in my modest pride at being the only examinee to cause a commotion we were over the old Bridge. (W. G. ) 8. Heaven must be the hell of a place. Nothing but repentant sinners up there, isnt it? (Sh. D. ) 9. Harriet turned back across the dim garden. The lightless light looked down from the night sky. (I. M. ) 10. Sara was a menace and a tonic, my best enemy; Rozzie was a disease, my worst friend. (J. Car. ) 11. It was an open secret that Ray had been ripping his father-in-law off. (D. U. ) 12. A neon sign reads Welcome to Reno the biggest little town in the world. (A. M. ) 13. Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield are Good Bad Boys of American literature. (V. ) 14. Havent we here the young middle-aged woman who cannot quite compete with the paid models in the fashion magazine but who yet catches our eye? (Jn. H. ) 15. Their bitter-sweet union did not last long. (A. C. ) 16. He was sure the whites could detect his adoring hatred of them. (Wr. ) 17. You have got two beautiful bad examples for parents. (Sc. F. ) 18. He opened up a wooden garage. The doors creaked. The garage was full of nothing. (R. Ch. ) 19. She was a damned nice woman, too. (H. ) 20. A very likeable young man with a pleasantly ugly face. (A. C. ) In all previously discussed lexical SDs we dealt with various transformations of the logical (denotational) meaning of words, which participated in the creation of metaphors, metonymies, puns, zeugmas, etc. Each of the SDs added expressiveness and originality to the nomination of the object. Evaluation of the named concept was often present too, but it was an optional characteristic, not inherent in any of these SDs. Their subjectivity relies on the new and fresh look at the object mentioned, which shows the latter from a new and unexpected side. In irony, which is our next item of consideration, subjectivity lies in the evaluation of the phenomenon named. The essence of this SD consists in the foregrounding not of the logical but of the evaluative meaning. The context is arranged so that the qualifying word in irony reverses the direction of the evaluation, and the word positively charged is understood as a negative qualification and (much-much rarer) vice versa. Irony thus is a stylistic device in which the contextual evaluative meaning of a word is directly opposite to its dictionary meaning, So, like all other SDs, irony does not exist outside the context, which varies from the minimal a word combination, as in J. Steinbecks She turned with the sweet smile of an alligator, to the context of a whole book, as in Ch: Dickens, where one of the remarks of Mr. Micawber, known for his complex, highly bookish and elaborate style of speaking about the most trivial things, is introduced by the authors words Mr. Micawber said in his usual plain manner. In both examples the words sweet and plain reverse their positive meaning into the negative one due to the context, micro- in the first, macro- in the second case. In the stylistic device of irony it is always possible to indicate the exact word whose contextual meaning diametrically opposes its dictionary meaning. This is why this type of irony is called verbal irony. There are very many cases, though, which we regard as irony, intuitively feeling the reversal of the evaluation, but unable to put our finger on the exact word in whose meaning we can trace the contradiction between the said and the implied. The effect of irony in such cases is created by a number of statements, by the whole of the text. This type of irony is called sustained, and it is formed by the contradiction of the speakers (writers) considerations and the generally accepted moral and ethical codes. Many examples of sustained irony are supplied by D. Defoe, J. Swift or by such XX-ieth c. writers as S. Lewis, K. Vonnegut, E. Waugh and others. Exercise IV. In the following excerpts you will find mainly examples of verbal irony. Explain what conditions made the realization of the opposite evaluation possible. Pay attention to the part of speech which is used in irony, also its syntactical function: 1. The book was entitled Murder at Milbury Manor and was a whodunit of the more abstruse type, in which everything turns on whether a certain character, by catching the three-forty-three train at Hilbury and changing into the four-sixteen at Milbury, could have reached Silbury by five-twenty-seven, which would have given him just time to disguise himself and be sticking knives into people at Bilbury by six-thirty-eight. (P. G. W. ) 2. When the, war broke out she took down the signed photograph of the Kaiser and, with some solemnity, hung it in the men-servants lavatory; it was her one combative action. (E. W. ) 3. I had a plot, a scheme, a little quiet piece of enjoyment afoot, of which the very cream and essence was that this old man and grandchild should be as poor as frozen rats, and Mr. Brass revealed the whole story, making himself out to be rather a saintlike holy character. (D. ) 4. The lift held two people and rose slowly, groaning with diffidence. (I. M. ) 5. England has been in a dreadful state for some weeks. Lord Coodle would go out. Sir Thomas Doodle wouldnt come in, and there being nobody in Great Britain (to speak of) except Coodle and Doodle, there has been no Government (D. ) 6. From her earliest infancy Gertrude was brought up by her aunt. Her aunt had carefully instructed her to Christian principles. She had also taught her Mohammedanism, to make sure. (L. ) 7. Shes a charming middle-aged lady with a face like a bucket of mud and if she has washed her hair since Coolidges second term, Ill eat my spare tire, rim and all. R. Ch. ) 8. With all the expressiveness of a stone Welsh stared at him another twenty seconds apparently hoping to see him gag. (R. Ch. ) 9. Well. Its shaping up into a lovely evening, isnt it? Great, he said. And if I may say so, youre doing everything to make it harder, you little sweet. (D. P. ) 10. Mr. Vholes is a very respectable man. He has not a large business, but he is a very respectable man. He is all owed, by the greater attorneys to be a most respectable man. He never misses a chance in his practice which is a mark of respectability, he never takes any pleasure, which is another mark of respectability, he is reserved and serious which is another mark of respectability. His digestion is impaired which is highly respectable. (D. ) 11. Several months ago a magazine named Playboy which concentrates editorially on girls, books, girls, art, girls, music, fashion, girls and girls, published an article about old-time science-fiction. (M. St. ) 12. Apart from splits based on politics, racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds and specific personality differences, were just one cohesive team. (D. U. ) 13. A local busybody, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, asked an expectant mother point-blank whether she was going to have a baby. Oh, goodness, no, the young woman said pleasantly. Im just carrying this for a friend. (P. G. W. ) 14. Sonny Grosso was a worrier who looked for and frequently managed to find, the dark side of most situations. (P. M. ) 15. Bookcases covering one wall boasted a half-shelf of literature. T. C. ) 16. I had been admitted as a partner in the firm of Andrews and Bishop, and throughout 1927 and 19281 enriched myself and the firm at the rate of perhaps forty dollars a month. (Jn. B. ) 17. Last time it was a nice, simple, European-style war. (I. Sh. ) 18. He could walk and run, was full of exact knowledge about God, and entertained no doubt concerning the special partiality of a minor deity called Je sus towards himself. (A. B. ) 19. But every Englishman is born with a certain miraculous power that makes him master of the world. As the great champion of freedom and nationalindependence he conquers and annexes half the world and calls it Colonization. (B. Sh. ) 20. All this blood and fire business tonight was probably part of the graft to get the Socialists chucked out and leave honest businessmen safe to make their fortunes out of murder. (L. Ch) 21. He spent two years in prison, making a number of valuable contacts among other upstanding embezzlers, frauds and confidence men whilst inside. (An. C. ) Antithesis is a good example of them: syntactically, antithesis is just another case of parallel constructions. But unlike parallelism, which is indifferent to the semantics of its components, the two parts of an antithesis must be semantically opposite to each other, as in the sad maxim of O. Wilde: Some people have much to live on, and little to live for, where much and little present a pair of antonyms, supported by the contextual opposition of postpositions on and for. Another example: If we dont know who gains by his death we do know who loses by it. (Ch. ) Here, too, we have the leading antonymous pair gam lose and the supporting one, made stronger by the emphatic form of the affirmative construction dont know / do know. Antithesis as a semantic opposition emphasized by its realization in similar structures, is often observed on lower levels of language hierarchy, especially on the morphemic level where two antonymous affixes create a powerful effect of contrast: Their pre-money wives did not go together with their post-money daughters.   (H. ) The main function of antithesis is to stress the heterogeneity of the described phenomenon, to show that the latter is a dialectical unity of two (or more) opposing features. Exercise I. Discuss the semantic centres and structural peculiarities of antithesis: 1. Mrs. Nork had a large home and a small husband. (S. L. ) 2. In marriage the upkeep of woman is often the downfall of man. (Ev. ) 3. Dont use big words. They mean so little. (O. W. ) 4. I like big parties. Theyre so intimate. At small parties there isnt any privacy. (Sc. F. ) 5. There is Mr. Guppy, who was at first as open as the sun at noon, but who suddenly shut up as close as midnight. (D. ) 6. Such a scene as there was when Kit came in! Such a confusion of tongues, before the circumstances were related and the proofs disclosed! Such a dead silence when all was told! (D. ) 7. Rup wished he could be swift, accurate, compassionate and stern instead of clumsy and vague and sentimental. (I. M. ) 8. His coat-sleeves being a great deal too long, and his trousers a great deal too short, he appeared ill at ease in his clothes. (D. ) 9. There was something eery about the apartment house, an unearthly quiet that was a combination of overcarpeting and underoccupancy. (H. St. ) 10. It is safer to be married to the man you can be happy with than to the man you cannot be happy without. (E. ) 11. Then came running down stairs a gentleman with whiskers, out of breath. (D. 12. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way in short the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only. D. ) 13. Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron, and rust and splintered wood, chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardine canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses and little crowded groceries and laboratories and flophouses. Its inhabitants are, as the man once said Whores, pimps, gamblers and sons of bitches, by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men and he would have meant the same thing. (J. St. )

George washington Essay

George washington Essay George washington Essay The seventeen hundreds was an eventful time in history. With people like John Locke and Voltaire challenging the way the people think and how people should be treated. It sparked revolutions. The American Revolution is a well-known example of this. To be realistic the colonists should not have won they were hopelessly, no hilariously out matched and out gunned. So how did they do it? The colonists won the American Revolution because of the leadership, motive and their allies. The colonies were divided at the start of the revolution. Each state wanted to fight but lacked military knowledge and organization. They needed a leader, someone who could organize the people and had at least some military knowledge. George Washington was that someone but he wasn’t a proper solider he need help so France sent Lafayette. Lafayette was a trained military professional. Together Lafayette and Washington led the revolution. The colonists also were very conflicted at the start of the revolution. Many still saw themselves as British. That is until the British soldiers started attacking homes, taking land the colonists and to top it all of the soldiers could sleep in their beds and eat their food without paying a dime. The colonists were fighting for their families, homes and property. The British were only there doing a job for money they had no real motivation to fight. The biggest reason the colonists won the revolution was that they had powerful allies. France and Spain were

Business Intelligence (Big Data) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Intelligence (Big Data) - Assignment Example There is a huge amount of data available on the Internet. This paper presents an analysis of big data. The basic purpose of this research is to present an overview of big data and how it can be used by the organizations for the betterment of their organizations. Basically, â€Å"the term big data is normally used as a marketing concept refers to data sets whose size is further than the potential of normally used enterprise tools to gather, manage and organize, and process within an acceptable elapsed time.† (Josyula, Orr and Page 89). In fact, the size of these huge data sets is believed to be a continually growing target. Additionally, the size of big data is presently ranging from a few dozen terabytes to a number of petabytes of data in a single data set (Josyula, Orr and Page 89). In view of the fact this era is known as the age of information and communication technology in which everything appears in digital format, and as a result everything comes under the domain of da ta. For instance in the medical sector, an electrocardiogram is now used in digital format which can be collected and stored as a dataset and information (attained after the processing of these data). In the same way, MRIs, CT scans and a variety of medical images are at the present digital, and these unique digital records and files are being stored and processed in the form of datasets. Hence, thousands and thousands of distinct datasets are adding up to the big data (Ackerman). The research has shown that the organizations that use big data for their business can be familiar with their customers and the way they communicate with the business and shop online much better than many of those customers can be familiar with themselves. In fact, these datasets are not only the huge volumes of data but also they provide the organizations with excellent ways to determine and keep records of their transactions as well as other communications with suppliers, retailers, banks, utilities and service providers. In addition, at the present there have emerged a number of algorithms which can be applied on these data sets to determine their customers’ behaviors, shopping patterns, usage of sales coupons and how the business organization performs transactions and certain tasks are recorded and analyzed with the purpose of getting a broad and effective depiction of who your customers are and what products you should take the chance to offer them. In their research article, (Arthur) discusses an example in which Portland Oregon Savory Spice Shop owners Jim Brown and Anne have decided to put into practice social media based marketing and advertising with the intention of getting â€Å"the best of big data's† support and capabilities for launching their new boutique store. In this scenario, by making use of their Facebook ads they have been capable of routing to catch the attention of those potential customers and groups of purchasers who almost certainly wish to p urchase their high-end specialty products. It is an admitted fact that in the past few years the majority of business organizations have started utilizing social networking based sites such as facebook to advertise their products and services for the reason that these social networks provide huge amounts of data. Considering these innovative aspects of social networks, they just had to invest in the ad and then Facebook algorithms and performing analysis by

Organizational behavior ( UAE company ) Research Paper

Organizational behavior ( UAE company ) - Research Paper Example In the first year of operation, Emirates Airline started its flights in Karachi. It started its European operations to London in 1987. After 3 years, the company was able to double its operations thereby allowing it to grow at annual rate of 25%. The revenue of the company today is approximately $11.8 billion annually. It employs approximately 36,000 employees. Moreover, the number of international passengers between 2009 and 2010 was approximately 25.9 million (Reportlinker, 2012). The number of flights that the company is able to reach per week is approximately 2400. The goal of this paper therefore is to discuss the behavior of Emirates airlines by studying its PETS and SWOT analysis. These will help to identify the various problems that are facing the organization today. Moreover, they will help to explain why the events are happening today. It will analyses the challenges by adopting the OB theory of X and Y. It will also discuss the leadership personality traits and the conflic ts within the industry. SWOT analysis Strengths Emirates Airline flies to six continents in the world. In this perspective, it is able to cover approximately 100 cities. In the Asian continent, the company has a market share of approximately 39 percent (Free Swot Analysis, 2012). Moreover, it is a state owned corporation thereby boosting its financial base. Moreover, it lies in between east and west Asia thereby allowing the company to boost its market share significantly. Weaknesses There is open competition in the country which has allowed other competing businesses to venture in the market. Moreover, the company is faced with a dire need to improve its performance in all the regions around the world in order to increase its market share. In addition, the company does not pay its labor sufficiently thereby limiting its productivity. Opportunities Since Emirates Airline has joined the global airline alliance, it should focus on areas such as Disney Land which is attracting internat ional communities to use Emirates Airline as their first choice. This has strengthened the company’s operations globally. Threats Since Emirates Airline is owned by the state, it is heavily affected by the policies that the government implements. Moreover, since different types of labor are required to cope with different types of aircrafts, it becomes difficult for the company to meet the demands of the employees without any conflicts. PEST Analysis Political The political scene in the Asian pacific has been favorable in 2000s. As a result, most of the countries are making agreements which have facilitated trade within the region. These agreements have opened up opportunities for the company (Articlesbase, 2012). Economic The United Arab Emirates economy has been advancing at a consistent pace thereby increasing the overall income of the country. As a result, the revenue per capita has grown significantly thereby allowing the people in the region to make use of air transport . As a result, Emirates Airline has noted a steady growth in the recent years (Articlesbase, 2012). Social Emirates Airline conducts its operations in an area that has a large number of employees. Most of these employees do not demand high compensation. In this case, there is a huge difference in labor costs with countries such as the US. In this case, the company has been able to boost its profits significantly. However, many employees are becoming aware of their

The Alienation of Emily Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Alienation of Emily - Essay Example Her mother is unable to offer any comfort or correction for life already passed, the wrinkles already set. "I Stand Here Ironing" is the way we live, succumbing to life and stoically accepting that there will never be enough time to build anything but walls. . The mother tells us early on that she has surrendered to the bad hand that she was dealt, and that she has accepted Emily's unknown and uncertain future. Her opening conversation with an unknown figure, possibly her own conscious, pleading to help Emily, shows her lack of will in the matter when she remarks, "Even if I came, what good would it do". The mother has given up on Emily. She gave up on Emily a long time ago, when Emily was young and the father had abandoned her. Just as is often the case in everyone's life, we see the mother making choices, accepting the lesser of the evils, foregoing the opportunity for fun or pleasure. Emily's mother knows that her daughter is the product of her own shortcomings. The old man's words, "You should smile at Emily more when you look at her", continue to haunt her, yet for Emily it was too late. She feels the guilt when she remembers, "It was only with the others I remembered what he said, and it was the face of joy, and not of care or tightness or worry I turned to them -- too late for Emily".

Glucose Tolerance Tests Accuracy In Diagnosing Diabetes

Glucose Tolerance Tests Accuracy In Diagnosing Diabetes According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 220 million people worldwide have diabetes. An estimated 1.1 million people died from diabetes in 2005, and almost half of diabetic deaths occurred in people under the age of 70 years of age. WHO projects that the number of diabetic deaths will increase to 366 million by the year 2030 (8). Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 is a prevalent disorder that causes one to have high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia. This hyperglycemia can be the result from one or a combination of 1) decrease production of insulin from beta cells of the pancreas; 2) increase sugar production from the liver; 3) decrease sugar uptake by cells secondary to insulin receptors. Symptoms of DMII are excess urination, excess thirst, dizziness, blurred vision, sweating, and fatigue. Patients presenting with these symptoms should be screened by a finger stick, where a blood sample is taken from a quick prick of the finger, to be tested for hyperglycemia. Normal blood sugar should range from 70-100mg. If one has a fasting sugar of >126mg or an after eating sugar level > 200mg, then an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) should be performed. During an OGTT, a patient consumes a 150-200g carbohydrate diet for three days and fasts from midnight prior to test date. The morning of test, the patient consumes 75g sugar mixe d with 300ml of water within a 5 minute period. The patients blood sugar level is be measured at baseline, and then again at 120 minutes. A diagnosis of DMII is made if the baseline level is >126 mg and the 120 minute level is >200mg. These guidelines are set by the American Diabetic Association (ADA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) (1,8). Another option for obtaining a blood sugar level is measuring the percent of glycosylated red blood cells, or the percent of sugar attached to a RBC. RBCs live for approximately 90 days in the human body. By measuring this percentile one can observe the patients blood sugar level over the previous 3 months and not just at the moment an OGTT is performed. Today, HbA1c is a main tool for following metabolic control in persons with diabetes(5). A HbA1c > 6.0 percent should permit a diagnosis of DMII, but is not at this time a definite diagnostic tool. Diabetes can cause complications of multiple organ systems. WHO defines consequences of diabetes as follows: Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. 50% of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease (primarily heart disease and stroke). Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers and eventual limb amputation. Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. After 15 years of diabetes, approximately 2% of people become blind, and about 10% develop severe visual impairment. Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure. 10-20% of people with diabetes die of kidney failure. Diabetic neuropathy is damage to the nerves as a result of diabetes, and affects up to 50% of people with diabetes. Although many different problems can occur as a result of diabetic neuropathy, common symptoms are tingling, pain, numbness, or weakness in the feet and hands. The overall risk of dying among people with diabetes is at least double the risk of their peers without diabetes (8). Previous studies have showed that better control of plasma glucose levels reduced the risk of developing long-term complications pertaining to diabetes (4). A higher HbA1c correlates well with the likelihood of developing chronic complications such as the ones listed above. This study is designed to explore if a HbA1c be used to diagnose diabetes. Observations suggest that a reliable measure of chronic glycemic levels such as HbA1c, which captures the degree of glucose exposure over time and which is related more intimately to the risk of complications than single or episodic measures of glucose levels, may serve as a better biochemical marker of diabetes and should be considered a diagnostic tool (2). As for the current gold standard for diagnosing diabetes, the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) has its limitations (2). These include high interindividual variability, low reproducibility compared to FPG, poor compliance with the conditions needed to perform the test correctly, and is cumbersome and time-consuming for medical staff and patients (4). Due to these factors one may ask, Is a HbA1c or an OGTT more accurate at diagnosing new onset diabetes mellitus type 2 in a patient presenting with hyperglycemia? By exploring this question and answering it from an evidence-based approach, the answer may help clinicians advance to an easier and less time consuming way to diagnose diabetes mellitus type II. CLINICAL CASE A 57 year old African American male presented to the outpatient office with symptoms of dizziness, blurred vision, polydipsia, and polyuria. He has a significant history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The patient was unclear when his symptoms started. Upon evaluation in the office, the patient was noted to have a marked glucose elevation of 420. An in-house HbA1c was also noted at 13.0. Upon further questioning, the patient has not been taking any medications for diabetes, and is currently taking Lisinopril and Zocor for his other medical conditions. Due to the presenting symptoms and lab results, the patient was admitted to the hospital for hyperosmolar nonketotic hyperglycemic state. METHODS A PubMed search was performed by using the Clinical queries and Diagnosis filters. The terms A1c AND diagnosis AND diabetes and glycosylated hemoglobin AND diagnosis AND diabetes were used to search the site for relating articles. With these search terms, a total of 176 hits revealed articles pertaining to the requested information. Articles that met all inclusion criteria for the research were evaluated and assigned a type/level of evidence. In order to be included in this evidence-based study, articles had to meet the following inclusion criteria: Articles must be cohort studies. Studies must not be > 6 years old. Articles must have participants with impaired glucose levels or symptoms of impaired glucose. Studies must include evidence of OGTT or FPG and HbA1c. Studies must have a significant number of participants to produce a significant result (n > 375). Any articles that did not specifically relate to diagnosing DMII with a HbA1c were excluded. Articles that were not cohort studies, were older than six years, did not have participants with impaired glucose, or did not have a significant amount of participants were excluded. Certain articles that appeared in the PubMed search were strictly review articles. These papers were reviewed, and if applicable, may be used to provided supporting factors about pathophysiology/ epidemiology of diabetes type II and its diagnostic criteria. Articles that met all inclusion criteria were evaluated and assigned a level of evidence using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine Levels of Evidence worksheet. RESULTS Study #1: Diagnosing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: in Primary Care, Fasting Plasma Glucose and Glycosylated Hemoglobin Do the Job Study Design: This study was performed at the Raval Sud Primary Care Center in Barcelona, Spain and was begun in 1992. The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of glycosylated hemoglobin values as a method to diagnose type 2 diabetes mellitus in a population at risk seen in primary care. Four hundred fifty four subjects were selected to participate in the study. The population served by the Raval Sud Center is characterized by it low evonomic level, high rate of immigration, and high rate of morbidity and mortality for certain diseases and disorders. Inclusion criteria for eligible participants had at least on e of the risk factors for developing DMII described in the ADA guidelines. These included family history of DMII, personal history of carbohydrate intolerance or gestational diabletes, prolonged use of a drug able to raise glucose levels, obesity with a body mass index > 30, hypertension, HDL-cholesterol levels 250 mg/dL. Persons who did not wish to take part in the study were excluded. For the purpose of this particular study, data was recorded from the time the patient was included in the Raval Sud Care Center. The study then used a cross-sectional analytical design to validate a diagnostic test. (4) Study Conduct: Subjects were interviewed and variables were recorded for each participant. These included sociodemographic characteristics such as age and sex, clinical characteristics such as BMI and blood pressure, and laboratory values including fasting plasma glucose in a venous blood sample, oral glucose tolerance test after a 75g glucose overload, and a HbA1c measured by high pressure liquid chromatography. To standardize the results for the HbA1c, the absolute values were recalculated in terms of the number of standard deviations above the mean. FPG and OGTT values were based on the WHO criteria as having normal, impaired, or DMII glucose levels. (4) Study Results: The distribution of demographic characteristics and laboratory findings are shown in Table 1. The study found that plasma glucose levels were significantly lower in normal subjects than in subjects with abnormal glucose levels (IFG or OGTT) and even lower in subjects with abnormal glucose levels than in patients with diabetes (P 5.94% (mean, +3SD), the diagnosis of DMII is reliable and accurate in 93% of the cases. Table 4 shows the diagnostic validity of a combined strategy of FPG and HbA1c values: patients were considered to have DMII when FPG > 125 mg/dL, or when FPG >110 mg/dL and HbA1c was greater than the cutoff value. Maximal efficacy (93% GV) was found for HbA1c > 5.94% (x +3SD), with a sensitivity of 92.2% and a specificity of 95.1%. (4) Study Critique: It has been confirmed that the relationship between circulating glucose values and the onset of chronic complications exists. Thus, it is logical for the diagnosis of DMII to be based on glucose values. One of the main problems in this particular study was to define and establish a cutoff point for this continuous quantitative variable. This study analyzed different cutoff points for the whole sample of patients at risk for DMII. When HbA1c values > 5.51% (x +2SD), were used for the cutoff point for diagnosis of DMII, the sensitivity (76%) and specificity (85%) were acceptable. However, when a higher cutoff point was used, specificity increased, but only at the expense of reduced sensitivity. Due to this situation, the study designed a strategy for diagnosis based on the FPG values and the validity of HbA1c. (4) Level of Evidence: 1c Study #2: Comparison of A1c and Fasting Glucose Criteria to Diagnose Diabetes Among U.S. Adults Study Design: This study included participants from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants included 6,890 adults (>20 years of age), without a self-reported history of diabetes. The subjects attended a morning examination, fasted for > 9 hours at the time of their blood collection, and had valid plasma glucose and HbA1c values taken. Participants were categorized into one of the four groups by presence or absence of fasting plasma glucose > 126 mg/dL and HbA1c > 6.5%. The distribution of the population into these groupings was determined and the K statistic value was calculated. Also, the distribution of U.S. adults by fasting glucose and different HbA1c cutoff points (6.0-6.7%) were calculated. The objective for this study was to compare A1c and fasting glucose for the diagnosis of diabetes among U.S. adults. (6) Study Conduct: Data was collected through questionnaires (demographics, medical history), a physical examination (blood pressure, BMI, and waist circumference), and blood collection (lipids, plasma glucose, HbA1c). The plasma glucose was measured by using a modified hexokinase enzymatic method and the HbA1c using a high-performance liquid chromatography. (6) Study Results: This study concludes that an HbA1c of > 6.5%, along with a FPG >125 mg/dL demonstrates reasonable agreement for diagnosing diabetes. 1.8% of the participants were classified as having diabetes with a HbA1c > 6.5% and a fasting glucose >126 mg/dL. Among participants with a HbA1c 125 mg/dL, 45% had an A1c value > 6.0% but less than 6.5%. According to A1c guidelines, this value poses an elevated risk for diabetes. Table A1 shows a distribution of adults by fasting glucose and different HbA1c cutoff points. From this table, the lower the HbA1c cutoff points results in higher sensitivity and lower specificity. (6) Study Critique: In this study, certain participants had discordant results such as a HbA1c > 6.5% and a fasting glucose of Study #3: A1c and Diabetes Diagnosis: The Rancho Bernardo Study Study Design: The Rancho Bernardo Study included 2, 107 participants without known DMII, who had an OGTT and a HbA1c between 1984 and 1987. This cross-sectional study of community dwelling adults was provided written informed consent and laboratory data was performed. (3) Study Conduct: HbA1c was measured with high performance liquid chromatography using an automated analyzer. Ophthalmologic evaluation was also performed on the subjects. This was done by using nonmydriatic retinal photography. Sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c cutoff points for DMII were calculated, along with K coefficients which were used to test for agreement between A1c values and diabetes status. The objective for this study was to examine the sensitivity and specificity of HbA1c as a diagnostic test for DMII in older adults. (3) Study Results: For this study the HbA1c cutoff value was 6.5%. This value had a sensitivity of 44% and a specificity of 79%. A lower A1c cutoff point of 6.15% yielded the highest sensitivity at 63% but a lower specificity at 60%. If one were to use this cutoff value, it would miss one-third of those with DMII by the American Diabetes Association guidelines. It would also misclassify one-third of those without DMII. Using the HbA1c value of 6.5% as the cutoff point, the agreement with DMII diagnosis was low (K coefficient was 0.119). In order to compare A1c and ADA criteria with DMII complications, the study looked at participants with some degree of retinopathy. Of the participants who had retinopathy, 40% had and A1c > 6.5% and none had DMII by ADA criteria. This study concluded that the limited sensitivity of the A1c value cutoff may result in missed or delayed diagnosis of DMII, whereas the use of current OGTT criteria will fail to identify a high proportion of individuals with hi gh A1c values, which correlate with long term complications of DMII. (3) Study Critique: This study was performed on a much older population than the other studies examined in this paper. It has its benefits and disadvantages for surveying a population in which there mean age was 69.4. The advantage is that the U.S. elderly population has the greatest current burden and is expected to have the greatest increase in the prevalence of DMII. On the other hand, the disadvantage to having such an older subject population is that it limited the HbA1c cutoff values to that particular population. In a previous critique of an article one of the concerns was the fact that there are different aspects of glucose metabolism. It would have been supportive if the article addressed the age of their participants and compared them with the study results. (3) Level of Evidence: 1c Study #4: Diagnostic value of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) for the early detection of diabetes in high-risk subjects Study Design: This study was performed by collecting data from the Bundang CHA General Hospital database. A total of 392 subjects who had an abnormal random plasma glucose, a history of gestational diabetes mellitus, a macrosomic baby, or a severe obesity were selected to participate in the study. Exclusion criteria included a previous history of diabetes of other endocrinopathies, pregnancy, abnormal liver or renal function tests, a history of major surgery, severe illness, blood transfusion within the previous 6 months, and weight loss > 3kg during the past three months. After an overnight fasting, blood samples were drawn from all participating subjects to include FPG and HbA1c values. (7) Study Conduct: Glucose concentrations were measured using the glucose oxidase method on a autoanalyzer. The HbA1c values were measured by the high-performance liquid chromatography method. All statistical analysis was performed and the best predictive cutoff values for FPG and A1c for detecting patients with new diabetes were identified using the optimal sensitivity/specificity values determined by the receiver operating characteristic curve. (7) Study Results: Figure 1 shows the ROC plot representing the sensitivity and specificity for the HbA1c and the FPG in detecting undiagnosed DMII. From this study, the optimal cutoff value for HbA1c was 6.1% and for FPG was 6.1 mmol/l. The sensitivity/specificity for the HbA1c cutoff value was 81.8% and 84.9% respectively. Table 1 shows the results from the combination of using FPG and HbA1c. This study demonstrated that HbA1c was very useful to screen for diabetes in high-risk patients and the combined use of HbA1c and FPG made up for the lack of sensitivity in FPG alone. (7) Study Critique: This studys subjects were only Korean, therefore making the population very ethnically limited. It would have been beneficial to have seen the population more diverse and to notice the change in results. Also, the study stated that an OGTT was performed, yet a confirmation status of repeat testing was not recorded. This would have been beneficial to have in order to compare results to the FPG and HbA1c values obtained for cutoff for diagnosing DMII. (7) Level of Evidence: 1c DISCUSSION The purpose if this study was to assess if a HbA1c was sufficient enough to make a unknown diagnosis of diabetes mellitus type 2. From these studies one can gather that a HbA1c is adequate for making a new diagnosis for DMII. The following chart compares the specificity and sensitivity of each HbA1c from each study critiqued in this study. Also, each study uses a different HbA1c cutoff that they gathered from their cohort or cross-sectional study which is also included in the chart below. Study Sensitivity Specificity HbA1c used for Diagnosis Diagnosing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: in Primary Care, Fasting Plasma Glucose and Glycosylated Hemoglobin Do the Job 63.3% 93.4% 5.94% Comparison of A1c and Fasting Glucose Criteria to Diagnose Diabetes Among U.S. Adults 72.5% 96.5% > 6.0% A1c and Diabetes Diagnosis: The Rancho Bernardo Study 44% 79% 6.5% Diagnostic value of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) for the early detection of diabetes in high-risk subjects 81.8% 84.9% 6.1% Study #1 discussed the option of performing a combination of HbA1c and a FPG test. This exhibited to be most the most poignant result with a specificity/sensitivity of 92.2 and 95.1, respectively. In study #2, it also agreed that a HbA1c and a FPG level provided the most assured diagnosis for DMII. However, this study had the most discordant results and was probably due to the fact of its subject population. It stated that the results may have been due to the fact that assessment of different aspects of glucose metabolism was present (6). Study #3 was performed on a much older population, and focused on the importance of following HbA1c levels to help prevent long term complications of DMII. However, it also stated that a HbA1c would also have a higher sensitivity and specificity if it were performed along with a FPG test. Finally, study #4 agreed on the fact that a HbA1c was very sufficient for screening for DMII, and that it provided much support for diagnosing DMII along with a FP G. CONCLUSION This study provided that a HbA1c of approximately 6.0% is a great support to help making the diagnosis of DMII along with a FPG > 125. Some studies have suggested that a HbA1c of this value is suggestive of a diagnosis, however, the studies above advocate that FPG levels should also be obtained to solidify the actually diagnosis of DMII. However, in a recent publication from the JAAP, it states thatan A1c value of 6.5% higher as diagnostic. This value appears to be the level at which a person is at risk for developing the complications of diabetes. A diagnosis should be confirmed with a repeat A1c test, unless clinical symptoms and a glucose level higher than 200 mg/dL are present (5). From this statement one can confer that the patient described above in the clinical case portion of this paper, does indeed warrant the diagnosis of DMII on the basis of a HbA1c of 13.0%, the presence of clinical symptoms, and the glucose elevation of 420 mg/dL.

The New Age Employee Essays -- American Red Cross Workers Essays

The New Age Employee The Human Resource issue that I will be discussing in my paper stems from the American Red Cross. The first, thing I will discuss is the organization’s external environment and then the HR department’s internal system. In the external environment of the American Red Cross, there are several issues affecting the organization. For example, the U.S population is becoming more diverse according to demographics. Also, the number of donors and volunteer’s is steadily decreasing, and the baby boomers are approaching the age of retirement. As a result, they will take with them, a large amount of the American Red Cross volunteer hours. Consequently, the American Red Cross is looking for volunteer’s to fill their offices nationwide. Internally there are also a lot of issues occurring within the organization’s human resource department. For instance, the new and younger employees coming into the organization, and they are expecting new ways of being recognized for their good work. As a result, the HR department is inventing new ways to accommodate these employees. Which requires the organization to actively go out and recruit employees. This is something that the organization has not encountered before. In my opinion, the American Red Cross should adapt to the changes in their external environment. Such as: the changes in the demographics of the employees within the organization and how those new employees affect the human resources department’s functions. Because, there are no longer just white men at the top of the organization; there are minorities and women that are in the corporate culture. As a result, it is the duty of an organization to adapt and change to its av... ...ix A. Nigro. (1994) 4th Edition.The New Public Personnel Administration. F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc. 2.) Dennis L. Dresang. (1999) 3rd Edition. Public Personnel Management and Public Policy. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 3.) Library of Congress. (2000). Managing Human Resources: A Partnership Perspective. Author, Susan E. Jackson, Randall S. Schuler. South-Western College Publishing, a division of Thomson Learning. 4.) Library of Congress. (2000). Managing Human Resources: A Partnership Perspective. Author, Susan E. Jackson, Randall S. Schuler. South-Western College Publishing, a division of Thomson Learning. 5.) Llyod G. Nigro, Felix A. Nigro. (1994) 4th Edition.The New Public Personnel Administration. F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc. 6.)Dennis L. Dresang. (1999) 3rd Edition. Public Personnel Management and Public Policy. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.

Education foundation Essay

Christian missionaries played a vital role in the introduction and development of Western education in Kenya. These missionaries began their activities here in the second half of the 19th Century. Although their main aim in coming to Africa was to Christianize a ‘dark and savage’ continent, the provision of rudimentary education was found inevitable. Missionaries had found out that, by having the ability to read the Bible and the hymn book, the early convert would be a valuable asset in getting more of one’s neighbours to Christianity. It would then appear, the role of Christian missionaries in providing western education to Africans was not by design but accidental. Should this assumption be correct, the entire phenomenon of western education as introduced and provided by Christian missionaries was flawed. In that case, they were to offer an improper education for as long as they were in control all by themselves. From 1895 Kenya became a colonial enclave of Britain up to 1920. Kenya was referred to as the East Africa Protectorate. The construction of a railway line from Mombasa in 1895 to Kisumu in 1901 was a boom for both missionary and colonial government activities. Missionaries were able to spread out faster by opening more centres in the interior. On the other hand, the colonial administration was able to pacify resistant African groups. Regrettably for indigenous people too, the railway line also saw the in-flaw of European settlers and Asian groups. These aliens were to change the development of events to the disadvantage of Kenyan locals. Missionary spread out Inspired by the desire to embrace as many adherents as they could, Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries moved to almost all accessible and habitable regions in Kenya. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) led in this ambitious crusade. From 1844 John Ludwig Krapf of CMS began to explore the East African Coast and was joined in 1846 by Johan Rebman. They established their first mission station at RabaiMpya, among the Rabai people, near Mombasa. Later the CMS operated a station in Taita in 1895. Other CMS  centres were started in the following places: Kahuruko (1901); Weithaga (1903); Kahuhia (1906); Mahiga (1908); Embu (1910) etc. A branch of the CMS also entered Western Kenya from Uganda and in 1903 had set up a mission station at Maseno. Holy Ghost Fathers set in at Mombasa in 1890 and a year later was also stationed at Bura. They got themselves a station in Nairobi in 1899. Their counterparts, the Consolata Fathers opened stations at Kiambu (1902), Limuru (1903) and Mang’u (1906). Roman Catholics also entered Kenya from Uganda and soon established centres at Kisumu (1903) and later at Mumias and Kakamega. Other missionary groups that were pivotal in the spread to various parts of the country were: Evangelical Lutheran Mission of Leipzig (from Germany); African Inland Mission; church of Scotland; Friends African Mission (Quakers); Church of God Mission, the Nilotic Independent Mission, the Seventh Day Adventists and the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. Although with other unbecoming consequences for indigenous people the multiplicity of Christian church denominations stirred a rivalry that became a catalyst in the spread of churches and schools. Every other group scrambled for a sphere of influence. On the whole, by 1920 Christian missionary groups had ‘stuck out their necks’ as important players in the spread of western influences among indigenous people. By 1918, there were 16 missionary bodies active in the country. Roman Catholics and CMS had the largest proportion of schools for Africans. Between them, they controlled 46 station schools and 261 village schools. Mission Education Basically, the purpose behind the establishment of mission stations and schools was to spread Christianity. The provision of education for other ends was therefore secondary to missionaries. Education was only used as a facility for evangelisation. The curriculum of mission schools was largely religious. Out of this experience, these schools have been referred to as prayer houses. These institutions only taught Christianity. While strongly inclined to offering religious education, a number of factors forced mission schools to include other curricula. First, Africans strongly resented religious education. In a number of cases, students staged strikes and demonstrations to demand for a more secure curriculum. Boys in Mumias at the Mill Hill Fathers schools staged a strike in 1912. Second, the colonial government urged the missions to include industrial education in their curricula. Third, the circumstantial imperatives of the day necessitated the inclusion of other courses such as industrial education. Missionaries, as well as the colonial administration needed skilled labour to construct buildings, make furniture inter alia. Religious education alone could not produce such manpower. Out of this development therefore, although mission education was largely basic, it had to offer the 3Rs, religious education and industrial training. The method of instruction was by rote learning. Learners were supposed to memorize and recite whatever they were taught. Missionaries, above all, offered an education that was elementary and designed to keep Africans in their subordinate place i. e. being servants of Europeans. Their educational orientation, in general emphasized the spiritual value of hard work and the principles of evangelical Christianity with an aim of producing hard working Christians. There were two types of schools. There was the village/bush/out-schools. These were feeder schools to the second type – the central mission school. Village schools offered very rudimentary education. They were under the direction of African catechists. On the other hand, central schools were intended to offer additional curricula. In this case, vocational training in teaching and nursing etc abounded. Vocational training was largely a preserve of the bright students. All said of mission education, by 1920, though many learning institutions had been established; only a handful would pass the litmus test for quality. In the western part of Kenya, only three centres and developed substantial primary school programmes. These were mission schools at Kaimosi, Maseno and Yala. The same were true of central Kenya with centres at Kabete, Kahuhia, Kikuyu, Tumutumu, Kabaa and Nyeri as main contenders. At the coast full-fledged primary school courses which other elementary schools of the time were not offering. This education did not go beyond six years. The recipients of such a number of years were very few. Whatever missionary activity in education this time, it should be understood that a number of factors influence their orientation, working and results/outcomes. For instance, due to misconceptions by European anthropologists of the nature of Africans, missionaries were prejudiced in their interaction with Africans. Africans suffered in this interaction and so did their education. Africans were of three categories: stupid, average and intelligent. On the part of missionaries, a majority of them were not professional educators and therefore they tried out what they did not know. A look at the curricula during their training reveals no does of professional training in teaching whatsoever (Anderson, 1970: 25). Besides, in their bid to expand educational activities they were always curtailed by meagre financial resources. More-so, the colonial government’s policy dictated certain centres that they could hardly achieve and, in the course of ‘playing the tune of the caller’, stumbled. Regrettably for Africans, they were the ones who received all the results of these missionary education mishaps. The lessons learnt by Africans from this unfortunate state of their education were to be instrumental in advocating for schools of their own, if not government-managed, from the 1920s onwards. THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN THE ESTABLISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN EDUCATION IN COLONIAL KENYA UPTO 1920 Between 1895 and 1911, the involvement of the colonial government in the establishment and development of educational opportunities for the indigenous Kenyans was minimal. At this time, the government was more concerned with the pacification of the ethnic groups and inculcating in them a proper respect for the European interpretation of law and order. However, when the colonial administration got involved in education, this sector was seen as a potential source of a better and more efficient labour force. In this official thinking, through education Kenya would move fast into becoming self-sufficient. The government also wanted indigenous people to be given an education that would help it put into operation its doctrine of indirect rule through chiefs and headmen. These needs of the colonial administration for African education did concur with those of the Europeans settler community. The settlers needed an enlightened labour force that was capable of taking instructions both as house servants and farm workers. But more significantly, settlers relied on both the missionaries and colonial government for African educational development to offer the ‘right’ kind of education, whereas the colonial government was to control its level. Educational progress during the early period of colonial rule was directed more by the force of circumstances rather than be deliberate and well developed policy. In many cases, the policy that was laid down failed to meet practical needs. More often, policy was frustrated by the conflicting interests of the administrators, the settlers, the missionaries and with time, African interests. One can then observe if the development of African education in colonial Kenya, it was an unending struggle between conflicting interest groups. The first worthy involvement by the colonial government in educational development was in 1911. A department of education was set up with a Director, James R. Orr, at its helm. The Director was charged with the responsibility of the formulation of educational policy, its implementation and administration in general. The creation of this department followed a report on education in the East African Protectorate produced in 1909 by Prof. Nelson Frazer, a seasoned Briton on educational matters in India. He had been appointed as Educational Advisor to the British colonial enclaves of East Africa by the colonial office in London. With such an official capacity, Frazer’s report was taken seriously and its proposals followed. One of the lasting legacies of the Frazer Report was the recommendation that education in Kenya be developed along racial lines. African education rested at the bottom of a hierarchy that saw Arab/Asian and European education take prominence in that ascending order. This bottom position  meant that little could be achieved for indigenous Kenyans in terms of educational development. Indeed, throughout the colonial period, African education was treated as an education for the third class citizens. Frazer’s report also encouraged the teaching of technical/industrial education in African school to the chagrin of Africans who saw this as a play to keep them out of mainstream social, economic and political development. But for Frazer, such as education would help the government get more Africans with appropriate technical skills and thereby replace the expensive Asian artisans. Above all, technical education for many Africans was hoped to foster economic development fir the colony. It would then become self-sufficient. The colonial governments thrust into educational development can also be seen in the system of grants to mission schools that offered industrial education. Through the Department of Education, the government gave out grants on the basis of results. In other words, the more the candidates and the better their results in industrial subjects, the more certain a school would be of a government grant. Although for some time this measure was resisted by the missionaries, claiming that the government was overstretching its jurisdiction and that this education was costly, by 1912 industrial training in basic skills in smithing, carpentry, agriculture and even typing had started in many schools. Although the third way in which the colonial government got involved in educational development failed disastrously in its experimental schools at Kitui in 1909 for sons of chiefs and headmen, in 1913 the first official government African school was set up in Machakos. This was a central technical/teacher training school around which a system of village schools developed. The latter served as feeder schools to the former. With the progress of time, into the last half of the 2nd decade of the 20th Century, the government found it imperative to constitute an educational commission. This commission was to collect and collate the various views of the stakeholders on African education. Under the chairmanship of J. W. Barth, the Education commission of East Africa Protectorate of 1918 was required to, among other terms, â€Å"inquire into and report o the extent to which education should immediately be introduced among the native population throughout the protectorate. The report of the 1919 on African education did not offer anything to be applauded by Africans. It was observed that African education continue to emphasize technical/industrial training. This education had also to be religious/Christian but significantly, missionaries were to continue as the main providers of African education. Settler opinion was strongly opposed to the use of English in African schools. On the whole, these recommendations by the Report having been accepted by the colonial government clearly demonstrated where its learning was on the direction that African educations to follow. In general, we can observe, by the close of 1920, the colonial government had become yet another match-maker in the game of African education. Through the Department of Education and subsequently the outcome of the Education commission of 1918, the administration had begun to lay down policy guidelines on which future developments were to be aligned. Note that, this commission was the very first official organ that sought comprehensive information from people on the development of western education in colonial Kenya since 1895. Together with the Frazer Report of 1909, they formed the basis of education until 1949 when the Beecher Report was issued. AFRICAN INITIATIVES IN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN COLONIAL KENYA Indigenous Kenyans were actively involved in the development of their education during the colonial period. This participation was inevitable given the racial differentiation in educational development recommended by the Fraser Report of 1909. Although Africans began their own initiatives in the development of education as early as 1910, large scale developments were noticeable from the 1930s onwards. African initiatives in the development of their education can be distinguished in two separate approaches. There was the African independent schools movement and the Local Native Councils school movement. Though, by Kenya’s independence, the independent schools had been closed down for political reasons. As part of the African initiatives in the development of education, they had proved a notable success. In many ways, African initiatives in educational development had compelled the colonial administrative to give African education substantial attention. Independent School Movement The origins of the AIS movement began in 1910. This followed the breakaway by African Christians from missionary control. John Owalo, an adherent of various missionary groups in Nyanza and an experienced CMS school teacher, formed the LUO NOMIYA MISSION in 1910. Later on, this mission built churches and schools free from European missionary control. African independent schools movement was more pronounced in Central Kenya. This movement took root in the 1930s. An association KISA was formed in 1934 to run schools. A splinter group, KKEA, emerged soon thereafter and was more conservative and did not favour links with the colonial government. In essence, the AIS movement in this region spread fast resulting in the establishment of many schools. By 1939 these schools had a pupil population of 29, 964. In fact, by 1952 when the AIS were all closed down, their number was about 200 with a learner population of over 40,000. The epitome of the African independent school movement can be discerned in the establishment of Githunguri Teachers College in 1939. This shows that the movement had itself well entrenched that it was able to train its own teachers among other concerns. It is important to note that, the AIS movement was motivated largely by African aspirations on what type of education they thought appropriate. Africans also clamoured for freedom of choice and preservation of their cultural value. European missionary education was largely religious and vocational. Yet Africans wanted academic education. European missionaries wanted Africans to discard their traditions and this was unacceptable rightfully, to traditional African elders despite the fact that some had been converted to Christianity. Note also that, the African Independent Schools did not necessarily abandon the curriculum existing in the other schools. From 1936 these schools accepted to follow government curriculum. They only tried to fill in gaps. In fact the Government allowed AIS teachers to train at missions and government training institutions. Local Native Councils Schools African initiatives in educational development also received a boost with the establishment of the Local Native Councils in 1924. These councils were empowered among other activities to vote funds for educational purposes at elementary and primary school levels. A door had therefore been opened, so it seemed, for Africans to direct the course of their development in education. The colonial administration guided the LNCs in their endeavour to promote African educational opportunities. The LNCs were required to collect up-to 200,000/= to put up a school and have a further 26,000/= for the institution’s annual maintenance. The LNCs were also advised to refer to the intended institutions as Government African Schools (GAS). The 1930s saw many of the LNCs establish their schools. Kakamega GAS enrolled its first pupils in 1932. Kagumo GAS followed in 1933 and Kisii GAS in 1935. Note that these schools were intended to offer primary ‘C’ level of education i. e. standard IV to VI when they started. However, they had to lower their requirements due to unavailability of candidates. Although the Government desired that the curriculum for these schools emphasize industrial/vocational education, Africans generally supported literary and higher education for their children. Indeed, given the power of the African voice, the 1935 African Primary School syllabus de-emphasized technical/vocational education. African’s seriousness in the development of these schools is clearly seen in the fact that the three K schools were full primary institutions by 1938 i. e.offered PS Exam at end of standard VI. In 1946 they had grown into junior secondary schools. Before 1963, Kakamega and Kisii were preparing students for the Higher School Certificate Examination i. e. the basic university entry requirement at the time. The role of the LNCs in the advancement of African education during the colonial epoch was very prominent. Statistics show that these schools quickly outpaced the mission schools in examination results. For example, in the 1939 PS Examination, Kakamega alone had 8 passes compared to 4 from all mission primary schools in North Nyanza. Kagumo had 15 passes compared to 10 from all mission schools in the region. Many LNCs got encouraged and established their own schools. By 1945 LNC schools were 66. These schools had better terms of service for teachers than most mission schools. Conclusion From these two examples of African initiatives in the development of education in colonial Kenya, we can appropriately claim that Africans played an important role in promoting education. Africans, in the context of political, social and economic imperatives of that period, knew what type of education was necessary. Essentially it is their effort that compelled the colonial administration to institute appropriate regulations for the education sector. By the time of independence, indigenous Kenyans had vividly known the role of western education in their progress. They had also seen what results emerged from collective effort. Indeed through the AIS and LNC schools, the roots of the ‘Harambee movement’ in the development of the nation had found their depth. TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN COLONIAL KENYA Introduction Technical or vocational education can be defined in various ways. UNESCO (1984) defines this education as one that involves, â€Å"in addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences and the acquisition of practice, skills and the knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life†. Omulando and Shiundu (1992) define technical education as â€Å"instruction in any subject which leads to production in industry, agriculture, trade and commerce†. Whatever definition, any reference to this type of education essentially connotes instruction in subjects that are largely practice/manual, outdoor, equipment-intensive, etc. In Kenya’s main-stream, education today includes subjects such as – Art and Crafts, Home Science, Agriculture, Business Education and Industrial Education. In the classification of the present 8-4-4 education system for the secondary school cycle, these subjects are in groups IV and V. In group IV are Home Science, Art, Agriculture, Electricity, Woodwork, Metal work, Building and Construction, Power Mechanics and Drawing and Design. Group V subjects include: Music, French, German, Arabic, Accounting, Commerce, Typing and Economics. Origins From the onset of Western education in Kenya, technical education was conceived and designed as the most suitable education for the indigenous people. A manual-based education for Africans was deemed appropriate due to a number of reasons. Among these reasons were the following: 1. Africans were of a low human species with a level of learning remarkably different from and inferior to that of the average European. In this case, Africans were well suited to menial and tedious occupations such as farming and unskilled labour provided that they could be taught to overcome their natural laziness. 2. Technical education as seen by the European Settlers would go along way in getting a critical mass of indigenous people with appropriate artisan skills that would render the hiring of the expensive Asian artisans redundant. On the part of Christian Missionaries, such an education for the Africans would lead to their self-sufficiency at the mission centres. 3. Non-academic education for Africans was found most suitable for it would make them passive and thereby being non-rebellious. Literary education offered elsewhere in British colonies had resulted in ‘unfortunate’ experiences for the colonists and this did not need to be repeated. Development Concerted effort by the colonial government to entrench technical education in African schools was begun shortly after 1911. Experimental grants were offered to some mission schools for the teaching of technical/vocational subjects. These grants-in-aid were given on the basis of student results. Through this effort by 1912, industrial training in basic skills such as smithing, carpentry, agriculture and typing had begun to take shape. The colonial government in 1913 set up her first African school at Machakos to offer both industrial and teacher training. The emphasis on technical/industrial education for indigenous people in Kenya received a major boost from the Phelps-Stokes Commission of 1924. This was an education commission set forth by the Colonial Office in London. Although largely reiterating the recommendations of the 1919 Education Commission of the East African Protectorate, the Phelps-Stokes Commission urged that education be adapted to the needs of the individual and the community. It believed that industrial training must provide the basis of African education in Kenya. For a people who were primarily land cultivators and animal keepers, agricultural education was considered an integral component of industrial/ vocational/ technical education. The colonial government found it prudent to establish more schools for Africans with an industrial/technical/vocational bias in this period. Some of the schools established included the Native Industrial Depot – Kabete (1924), Jeanes School – Kabete (1925), Coast Technical School – Waa (1921), Government School – Kapsabet (1925) and Maasai School – Kajiado (1926). Apart from the Jeanes School and Native Industrial Depot both at Kabete, the rest of the schools offered industrial education suited to their location. For example, the Maasai school at Narok emphasized more of animal husbandry and animal skin curing. More-so, the Kabete educational institutions offered technical education to people/learners who already had had exposure to technical education elsewhere. These institutions offered training on a national level. The curriculum of technical education in colonial Kenya, for Africans, was very simplistic. This was largely for reasons alluded to earlier. At the Jeanes school for instance, male teachers were taught songs, Swahili, Physical training and games, Religious and moral education, simple hygiene and sanitation, first-aid on fractures, cuts, burns, dysentery, pneumonia, plague and malaria, simple agriculture including ploughing, curing of animal skins and hides, the silk industry, black-smithing and tin-smithing. In essence, these courses were deemed basic for Africans’ sustenance. No provision was made for thorough in-depth study of the subjects. Although steps were put in place to emphasize technical education in African schools, by 1940 no commendable large-scale progress was in sight. In the case of Agriculture education, for example, whereas a committee in 1928 is on record to have recommended that agriculture be made compulsory and examinable in all rural schools of all grades, nothing was put to practice in this regard by 1940. Instead of Agriculture, Nature study took over as a school subject. This take-over meant that agricultural skills were only to be demonstrated in the school garden. Agriculture thus became non-compulsory in African schools. The Beecher Report (1949), otherwise referred to as the African Education Commission, decried/lambasted the minimal developments realized in technical education. One of the weaknesses noted was teachers’ lack of conviction and knowledge or training to facilitate the inculcation of the right attitude in students towards technical education. Most significant about the Report was its recommendation that, at primary school level due to the tender ages of the learners, no formal agricultural education be taught. Instead, schools were to encourage in learners a correct attitude towards agricultural labour and an appreciation of the significance of land. In order for technical education to thrive, the Report recommended, inter alia, constant supervision of the teachers’ attitude and encouragement of resolute partnership between schools and the relevant administrative departments. Although graduates of this education made an impact in their communities, on the whole, African did not receive this type of education with open arms. Political, educational and socio-economic reasons contributed to this cold  reception. Africans felt that it was a European ploy to teach them practical subjects so that they could remain inferior and their subordinates. This education as seen as mediocre and it hampered African political advancement. It is important to note that, in Asian and European schools in the colony no kind of technical education offered in African schools was taught. This difference concretized the African suspicion of the type of education given to them. Educationally, technical education failed since the syllabus lacked flexibility. More often, the syllabi made little provision for regional variations and thereby some programmes virtually failed. The co-operation sought between departments of Agriculture, Veterinary and Education was inadequate and sometimes contradictory. For example, visits by Agricultural Officers to schools hardly materialized. School calendar was sometimes not in consonance with peak times of agricultural activity. Education officers on their part sometimes lacked the necessary knowledge and even for the specialists they had little or no interest. Teachers often used extra work on the farm or in the workshop as a form of punishment. Some subjects, particularly Agriculture and Carpentry were not examinable at primary school level. This did not motivate learners to show seriousness. Furthermore, in cases where technical subjects failed to feature at secondary school level, learners hardly wanted to study them at the lower level. Technical education also failed due to what African viewed as proper education. Basically, Africans only saw academic education as the epitome of their children going to school. This meant that, nobody was enthusiastic about the success of technical education. Schooling was only meaningful if learners gained literary academic education. Socio-economic problems also hampered the success of technical education. It was not easy to acquire funds for purchase of farm and workshop equipment, leave alone acquiring farming land for schools. Since many schools did not receive government grants, they had to rely on local communities for their day-to-day running. However, the envisaged assistance was hard to come by particularly when the projects were for technical education. Parents decried the inclusion of this education in the curriculum and therefore could hardly contribute money to schools for their development. The colonial government’s policy on the growing of cash crops also served as an impediment to the flourishing of vocational education. Africans were not allowed to grow cash crops. Being allowed to grow subsistence crops alone could not easily lead to the much-needed economic empowerment for Africans. In such a situation, Africans saw no need of giving agricultural educational any seriousness. The lack of demand for people with industrial education skills in the labour market also went along way in curtailing the success of technical education. At this moment, white-collar jobs were more appealing. To secure such opportunities one needed to have had academic education. This scenario quickly reflected itself in learners’ choices of schools subjects. Technical subjects were rarely their priority. From the foregoing, technical/vocational education had very minimal chances for success. As political independence drew nearer in the early 1960s, more emphasis in education shifted towards academic education. Technical and vocational education only got prominence sometime into the independence era. This was mainly after 1970. Post-primary and secondary school and technical institutions sprouted in various parts of the country. Among these institutions were Village Youth Polytechnics and Institutes of Science and Technology. Technical/vocational education today is offered in a myriad of institutions ranging from those in mainstream education system to those organized by government ministries, churches and other NGOs. Conclusion Technical/vocational/industrial education in Kenya was originally conceived as an education of the social inferiors. This conception for a long time guided the development of this education. Policy stipulations for this education were founded on misconceptions. Besides, there was an unrealistic design for this education’s development. Out of this disposition, learners as well as teachers hardly gave the subject serious attention. This scenario meant that even after fifty years or more in operation, little meaningful results had been realized by 1963. The climax of this failure neglect can be discerned in the fact that, technical education was almost entirely disregarded in the education system conceived of immediately after Kenya’s independence.