The Whitsun Weddings, Philip Larkin

The Whitsun Weddings, Philip Larkin Many of the poems in Philip Larkins The Whitsun Weddings are concerned with themes such as disillusionment, isolation and the passage of time. However, one common factor that connects the majority of his work in this collection is Larkins seemingly contradictory attitude towards women. Although in many of these poems it can be claimed that Larkin dismisses women as insignificant, there is also sufficient evidence to suggest that his portrayal of them is in fact indicative of their desirability and power, particularly over the male gender. In Afternoons, Larkin seems to directly disregard women in a variety of ways, beginning with the suggestion that they are inferior to men their husbands are occupied in skilled trades whereas the sole function of the women is to produce and bring up their children. The first stanza paints a particularly dreary picture of the routine lives of the mothers, with the gloomy opening summer is fading quickly followed by references to leaves falling and the hollows of afternoons which connote the melancholy image of youth passing. Considering these are young women, however, may suggest that Larkin feels a degree of sympathy towards their plight of gradually being replaced by a new generation as they set free their children. The idea that this change is an inevitable process, indicated by natural words such as wind, thickened, and leaves fall may further imply that the speakers feelings are not as harsh as they initially appear. The symbolism of time passing present in the title is carried through the entire poem, ending in the rather ambiguous something is pushing them/ to the side of their own lives, to add to the sense that the women are continually taken for granted and have no control over the direction of their lives. They are thus rendered insignificant both in the eyes of the speaker, who sees them as inferior to men standing behind them for support and with regard to life: they are gradually upbraided, have no control over the passage of time and the only imprint they leave on the world is their impatient and expectant children. However, in both Afternoons and other poems such as Selfs the Man and Love Songs in Age it becomes clear that rather than simply dismissing women, Larkin is actually struggling to separate his attitude towards women with his perception of marriage a constant dichotomy for Larkin, who Nicholas Marsh describes as being terrified of marrying, and incapable of committing himself, mainly due to witnessing the horror of his own parents marriage. This fear and negative attitude is reflected in the language he uses to depict marriage and weddings, such as farcical and the oxymoronic happy funeral in The Whitsun Weddings. Similarly, the disdain he feels for the routine of domesticity is apparent in Selfs the Man, in which the woman is depicted as a persistent nag: he has no time at all, now shes there all day. In Love Songs, Larkins combination of triviality the covers pleased her and poetic diction -frank submissive chord depict the life of a woman who has been left deeply unfulfilled in her widowhood. Like Afternoons, there is a clear sense of domesticity leaching away the individuality, and thus the human significance, perhaps, of the woman as time passes there is no longer the certainty of time that is present in youth; instead only tidy fits and an estateful of washing remain. Interestingly, there is a sharp contrast between the relatively mature viewpoints in the aforementioned poems, which offer a more sedate commentary on the perceived role of women, and the blatant objectification present in others, most notably A Study of Reading Habits and Sunny Prestatyn. Although the latter could be seen as a commentary on the false, idealised images sold to us by the advertising industry, and social reaction to it, the imagery and language used can alternatively be interpreted as a crude portrayal of archetypal male attitudes towards women. Marsh states that Larkin himself was abusive and contemptuous of women, and the poet was widely known for his view that all women are stupid beings -both statements clearly demonstrated in Prestatyn. The fact that the girl consistently has things done to her she was slapped up and setastride rather than being in control of her actions perhaps indicates a dismissal of women as static beings , yet the coarse and somewhat distur bing language offers a darker perception of women. Similar to in Afternoons, a hunk of coast stands behind her as if for support, but as the poem progresses from the subservient image of the girl kneeling (the use of girl itself suggesting inferiority) the stanzas quickly give way to darker male humour: obscenities such as huge tits and a fissured crotch used to deface her image, until eventually she is stabbed and torn apart. On the other hand, the satirical tone present in the final stanza of Prestatyn (she was too good for this life) could allow readers to make an alternative judgement. In the first stanza, the girl on the poster seems shallow and trite: laughing on the sand in virginal white satin. This image of youth seems hardly likely to provoke such a despicable attack, but the words kneeling and tautened also connote sexual provocativeness. In light of this, the girl seems to bring the victimisation upon herself figuratively prostituting herself as it were. The end of the final stanza, however, subtly seems to mock those (assumedly men) who attempted to punish her (either for her contributions to the idealised images of the advertisement or for her unattainable sexual innuendo) in the end all they had in their power was the ability to tear a picture. The replacement image of Fight Cancer illustrates this futility, and a degree of sympathy is present in the tender observation of a vulnerable hand left behind a body part also focused on in Broadcast. Another poem which deals explicitly with Larkins attitude towards women is A Study of Reading Habits. The language is quite childish, with its simplistic, colloquial vocabulary and references to comic books -the alliterative dirty dogs, or clichà ©d old right hook. This idea is continued in the structure: the excitement conveyed in the repetition of and in me and my cloak and fangs is also present in the irregular rhyme scheme, but the initial shock comes in the second stanza with the introduction of rather sadistic sexual fantasies and violent behaviour towards women. This derogatory portrayal of women ripping times, clubbed with sex, broke them up- seems to suggest that women are solely there for the pleasure of men, sweet meringue-like objects to be enjoyed and consumed without regard to their individuality: the women are turned into mere objects deprived of character or humanity. Moreover, distinct patterns throughout the collection can be seen to emerge. Although a number of the male characters in The Whitsun Weddings have names (Mr Bleaney, Arnold, Dockery and a poem dedicated to Sidney Bechet), women are unfailingly dismissed as insignificant through their lack of them they are only vaguely recognised as her, she, and girl. At best, in Wild Oats, they are titled bosomy and the friend, but that hardly shows a sensitivity towards these women rather, it further degrades them by acknowledging only their physical attributes. Indeed, this poem only briefly (and awkwardly) refers to the friend in specs as someone to talk to, whereas reference to beautiful as the bosomy English rose is rhythmic, lilting and positive. Furthermore, the last stanza of this poem mentions two snaps of the beautiful woman kept in the speakers wallet such static images of women can also be seen in poems including Broadcast and Sunny Prestatyn, again reducing women to objects rather th an living, breathing, accessible people. However, one must also take into account the social conventions of the time in which Larkin lived. He comments in Wild Oats that in those days it was faces that sparked/ the whole shooting-match off, indicating the restrictions and emphasis placed on courting. This consolidates the tone of sexual frustration that is implied in many of Larkins poems particularly the darker ones with their emphasis on male domination and female subservience. When viewed in this way, the collection as a whole- with its subtle emphasis on self-discovery and journeys through life seems to provide a parallel to Larkins experiences with women. One of Larkins lovers, Maeve Brennan, commented that, for Larkin at least, romantic distance isthe most desirable relationship one can have with a woman. Alternatively, therefore, the static photographs and freeze-frames referenced in a number of the poems could symbolise either, in Rossens words a metaphor for not being able to communicate with or touch a woman, or even simply Larkins way of demonstrating and dealing with his affections. Therefore, Larkins portrayal of women in The Whitsun Weddings is complex and nuanced. On one hand, Larkin is often dismissive, even derisive at times, of women, characterising them as insignificant and inferior to men. This can clearly be seen in many of the poems in this collection, significantly in Afternoons, and Broadcast. At times, this dismissal moves into more blatant objectification and sadistic fantasy at the expense of the woman, although often with a slight hint of satire and self-parody, such as in Sunny Prestatyn and A Study of Reading Habits. However, we must also take into account the fact that women feature prominently in a variety of his works, becoming the centre of his focus. Very often, there will be tender details which indicate a more sensitive side of the poet, such as the tiny hands, gloves and shoes in Broadcast. In this manner, the reader is shown that although Larkin can present a crude and unpalatable depiction of the female gender, equally he is able to p resent his underlying emotions in a stark, yet understated, way unique to himself.

Perception and Decision Making

It is impossible to live a life that does not involve the abstract concept of perception. Perception is essentially how people perceive information in relationship to their personal environment and then form a set of beliefs or opinions from said perceptions. In the business world, management is required to make decisions. While a great deal of the decision making process would appear to be based on empirical facts, the reality is that perception of fact as opposed to actual fact is often the barometer used to make decisions. Because different individuals may have different perceptions on the same issue, it becomes very important for managers to base their decisions on critical thinking and facts so as to avoid the potential problem of making decisions on perceptions that are not entirely accurate. The idea that â€Å"true† reality is never truly graspable by humans' sensory and cognitive equipment goes back at least to the works of Plato. There is, for instance, the distinction between appearances and reality. Show a three-year-old a red ball beneath a green filter and he will typically say that the ball is black, even though he had previously been given the ball to examine. Understanding of this appearance-reality distinction seems so necessary to everyday life that it is hard to imagine a society in which normal people would not acquire it. But the lesson is relatively new historically, such as the lesson of perspective in painting, or the intentional designing of optical illusions (such as the Ponzo illusion), or in the differing testimonies of eye-witnesses of the same event. The fact is that we all do not perceive the same things alike. (Kearl) If there was one caveat about perception, perception is not necessarily reality. Perception is a person’s interpretation of reality that may or may not be completely accurate, if it is accurate at all. Because of this, it is important for management to  ascertain reality, as opposed to a perceptual reality or a problematic situation might be the result. What sets great leaders apart is their ability to manage perceptions. What people observe or assess as your ability to be a leader and your effectiveness becomes their perception, which in turn becomes reality. Perceptions that are not manages become rumors, then gossip, then backbiting, which leads to destruction. Unmanaged perceptions become a reality that was not intended. Perception management requires asking questions and getting feedback from others†¦ For example, oftentimes, management will ask other employees for a â€Å"report† on a new hire. This is a terrible idea because second hand information can often be skewed and it is best for management to make decisions based on first hand experience rather than second hand experience, yet managers will repeatedly make such an extremely foolish error. Consider the following: a manager asks an employee how a new hire is performing. The employee speaks very badly about the performance of the new hire so the manager fires the employee. This is based on a perception of the new hire based on second hand information that has been deemed accurate. However, not all is what it seems. When the new hire is fired, something comes to light that turns out to be very embarrassing to management. The employee who provided the poor evaluation of the new hire turns out to have based the negative report not on the truth, but rather on discriminatory biases. The terminated employee later files EEO complaints and lawsuits against the company, all of which proves to be incredibly embarrassing to the management, if not costly. What was the root cause of this disaster? Management drew a perception of the employee that was not based on reality. Because there was no first hand data that shaped the perception, the perception that was shaped was one that was not based in reality. In short, perception is utterly useless if it is inaccurate because it will lead to decisions that come from a thoroughly flawed perspective. If the perception is harmful, then what good can possibly come from it? This importance for the empirical assessment of facts in the decision making process works on both an internal and external level, as it is important that management decisions provide customers with what the customers actually want. Again, the need for proper feedback plays a great factor in this. In other words, it is of absolute paramount importance for management to understand what their customers want. Again, there will be a perception as to what customers want vs. what they actually want. If management becomes single minded and focused on what customer’s want and that perception is inaccurate, the results can be cataclysmic. Nothing more famously illustrates this problem more that the total failure of â€Å"New Coke† in the 1980’s. Believing that the public was more interested in Pepsi because of its sweeter taste, the Coca-Cola Company believed that the public would be willing to accept a new type of Coke that would taste similar to Pepsi. This was one of the most insanely inaccurate perceptions of consumer desire in history! In reality (not perceptually!), the public was not interested in a form of Coca-Cola that tasted like Pepsi nor did Coca-Cola do itself any favors by essentially  communicating that Pepsi had a superior product. The campaign was a complete and total disaster and it was the result of poor perception of the consumer market on the part of Coca-Cola. So, what is a manager to do when it comes to making sure that perception and proper decision making go hand in hand? Arguably the most difficult and critical step in the decision making process is to identify and clarify the problem or issue. Pressed for time and feeling a sense of urgency, governance leaders often rush through this step. An incomplete diagnosis or assessment restricts a boards' capacity to expand options and select the most appropriate one. Without proper attention paid to this step, boards may come up with a solution that fails to address the etiology of the problem. (Scott) Again, the key to making a proper decision is to manage perception and the key to managing perception involves staying properly informed. If anything, a flawed perception is one that is based on limited or inaccurate information as seen in the case of new Coke or in the hypothetical case of the terminated employee. Ultimately, decision making will always be based on personal perceptions, but the more informed a manager is, the closer the manager’s perception will be to actual reality and not aligned to ignorance or flawed logic. While this seems like an academic point, managers can often approach a problem with blinders on based on personal biases in the decision making process. Regardless of what decision one makes, it will fall into the category or either a good decision or a bad decision. If flawed, then management must face the consequences. Bibliography Kearl, Michael. (DB) â€Å"Social Factors Shaping Perception and Decision Making.† Retrieved February 17, 2007 from http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/socpsy-5.html Russell, Jefffrey. (2001) â€Å"Are You Managing Perception?† Retrieved February 17, 2007 Scott, Katherine Tyler. (2006) â€Å"The Dynamics of Decision Making.† Retrieved February 16, 2007 Perception and Decision Making Decision making occurs when one chooses a choice among reasonable alternatives. Perception is a very important component of the decision making system.   In a psychological perspective perception can best be described as the process of inquiring, processing, and organizing information necessary to make a decision.   Or in other words perception can be scene as one’s thoughts on a situation.   When one is in the midst of a decision making situation they need to evaluate all factors involved and make a decision, which will hopefully be reasonable and satisfactory.   Decision making is a unique tool that is inquired over the course of time.   Students can learn about logic, philosophy, and psychology.   They can understand the concepts behind decision making, but they must first have the opportunity to make important decisions themselves to fully understand the process (Randall, 2004, pp. 10-24).A leadership expert Anthony Robbins said â€Å"as a manager, however, yo ur decision not only effects yourself but all the employees on your team.   For this reason, it is important to strengthen your own decision making skills and prepare for a time when your decisions will shape the events of many peoples lives† (â€Å"Making Decisions†).   In the simulation as the newly promoted manager I had the opportunity to assist the senior manager in very important decisions including reprimanding an employee, a hiring situation, to create an employee evaluation system, and look into an ethical dilemma which could make or loss millions of dollars for the company.Each of these situations requires perception to take a route to the final decision making process. â€Å"Management in organizations today is largely people management. If people are the important asset, effectiveness is related to: ââ€"   how managers perceive the individual ââ€"   how people relate to one another ââ€"   how we get maximum contribution ââ€"   how we go about changi ng from a situation which is seen to be ineffective to one that ensures high standards of performance†(Randall, 2004, p. 46). Today we will evaluate the situations these three situations and examine perception in the decision making process and how the perception from a new managers viewpoint could effect these decisions (â€Å"Making Decisions†).The first situation involved Mark, a long term employee who had been tardy for work for the past week.   There were many different decisions that could be made to come to a conclusion about Mark’s tardiness including, bring this to the attention of Mark’s coworker and ask their thoughts on the situation, checking Mark’s employment records, check all employee time records, speak with Mark individually, or take this to Sarah for advice. In this instance I believe it is best to speak to Mark by himself and see what is going on. Bringing undesired attention to an employee by a manager is never a good route to go so this should be avoided at all costs.Also taking a trivial problem to a manager can be looked down upon.   At this point after one week of tardiness sneaking a peak at the records might be helpful but going straight to the source is the best decision as we all have personal issues that arise.   Plus by informally addressing Mark you are letting him know he can come to you and that you can see eye to eye on some matters.   It is important to build relationships with employees (â€Å"Making Decisions†).The decision to hire the interviewee, Berk, is an important decision for the company.   Berk carried himself well during the interview, had enthusiasm, and similar skills to those needed in the near future.   Although Berk did a great job in the interview all of his abilities and skills need to be evaluated to ensure he is right for the position.   In this situation I perceived Berk as highly intelligent and skilled.   I did not look further to realize his ski lls are not what the company needs.   I let my impression of Berk steer my perception of his eligibility for the job in a positive way.   This is important to not in decision making situations.   Perception may not always work in your favor (â€Å"Making Decisions†).Creating an employee evaluation system as a reward system is a great idea.   Employee evaluation should include job performance, attitudes, helpfulness, dedication, and team work abilities.   The perception of how valuable an employee is to a company can be skewed for many reasons.   The creation of an effective evaluation system will greatly contribute to seeing employees for what they truly achieve for the company.   I believe that this six step system will greatly help reward the best employee (â€Å"Making Decisions†).The last decision is one of ethical nature.   An employee has come to me to let me know she has secretly obtained the designs of our biggest competitor.   If we take the designs we will have the opportunity to create something better and make more money than our competitors.   The downfall is getting caught.   This will cause a multimillion dollar lawsuit and will destroy the company as we know it.   Although the idea of making lots of money is very attractive it is necessary to take a breath and step back to evaluate this situation. Perception is very important in this decision making process as perceived success and wealth can ultimately alter a reasonable persons decision making abilities.All aspects of the perceived or likely consequences of acting on this offer need to be taken into consideration before a decision can be made (â€Å"Making Decisions†). There are ten values the core of ethical understanding; â€Å"caring, honesty, accountability, promise keeping, pursuit of excellence, loyalty, fairness, integrity, respect for others, and responsible citizenship. When put into practice, these values generate widely recognized virtu es that provide benchmarks for ethical decision making† (Guy, 1990, p. 17). Perception constitutes everything necessary to make a decision.   Perceived values and prior experiences help give one insight into the types of decisions they choose to make.   Perception of situations can be influenced in either positive or negative ways.   Having a mentor such as Sarah giving constructive feedback with each decision helps my views on each situation become clearer.   Managers make decisions based on perception of people, influences, and support system around them.   Perception of all of these concepts is vital.ReferencesGuy, M. E. (1990). Ethical Decision Making in Everyday Work Situations. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Retrieved March 25, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=15127472Randall, J. (2004). Managing Change, Changing Managers. New York: Routledge. Retrieved March 25, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=10748 9181 â€Å"Making Decisions in Business Situations.† Western International University. 26 Mar. 2007 .

Methods of instruction Essay

Education is like taking a whole series of journeys. There are destinations and there are different routes to those destinations. In the most common approach, the teacher determines both the destination and the route, that is, he or she decides what is to be studied and how. Many educators recognize the importance of talk as a route in teaching, and many consider teaching as an interactive process. But because learners now had so little attention span to lectures, it pauses a challenge to teachers to look for ways to attract their attention to classroom learning. Creating a situation conducive for learning can be facilitated by introducing various teaching strategies. As it is important that both the teacher and the learners know whether they are on the right track or not and whether the journey has been satisfactorily completed or not, regular assessment is also needed. Parents , school officials and employers also require information about students progress. TEACHING STRATEGIES Teaching strategies deals with teaching-learning procedures that encourage active learning to take place. It suggests a variety of routes that aim to expose students’ prior knowledge and challenge it in such a way that students want to make delve into new concept areas and new understanding. Meaningful learning results when students can relate new information with what they already know. In selecting appropriate strategies, teachers should consider their own objective, understanding of how students learn; and the desire or teach in a way which caters to the individual needs of the students n the classroom. A. Strategies Involving Interaction and Collaboration Many strategies which elicit student’s active participation in learning use group work. Groups can find solution to problems, brainstorm and undertake open-ended investigation or teacher-directed investigations. These strategies give students a chance to work and learn together, and to interact and collaborate with other students and with the teacher. 1. Brainstorming is a simple strategy of group discussion designed to collect ideas without criticism and restrictions from others through free expression of thoughts that leads to the possible solution to problems. The advantage of this strategy is that it removes inhibitions, thereby developing self confidence among members. It is best used in discussing social and environmental issues. 2. Problem Solving is a student centered strategy which requires students to find either a scientific or technological solution to problems. It helps students to develop the necessary process skills to become successful problem-solvers. Students are given the chance to display their own initiative, inventiveness, and persistence. Problem-solving could be used after students have gained substantial knowledge of relevant scientific ideas and appropriate practical techniques. 3. Open-ended Investigation is similar to problem solving but here, the students are given considerable amount of choice concerning what they might choose to investigate and how they will go about it. It allows students to demonstrate the scientific and investigative skills rather than the knowledge gained in that particular investigation. 4. Teacher- directed Investigation is a strategy which takes the students through aseries of teacher-planned instructions given for each step in the procedure. Though highly structured, it is designed as a discovery task so that all students record a similar set of results and make inferences. Strategies Involving Transformation Active thinking involves the skilled use of important media: talking, listening, reading writing, pictorial representation, three-dimensional models, play or drama, etc. A. Translation provides opportunities for the students to alter the form of their understanding. For example, students can simplify a more complicated text, diagram, flowchart or procedure for their classmates. In doing so they are challenged to develop a clear understanding of the original text. This engages them into thinking, talking and further exploration. B. Role Play poses a challenge to students to do their best in acting out a basic concept or phenomenon. It provides students opportunities to respond and analyze a range of viewpoints about an issue with the intension of reaching a personal view on the issue. Though it varies from teacher to teacher, role playing has a number of important stages which are as follows; 1. Warming up the group- identify problem; introduce some of the issues which will be raised by the role play; explain role playing. 2. Selecting Participants- analyze roles, select role players. 3. Setting the stage- role players outline the scene. 4.. Enacting- role players enact the situation. 5. Discussing and Evaluating- review role play; discuss issues raised; relate problem situation to real experience. C. Games can provide variety as a change from other classroom activities. They are generally used to reinforce particular items of knowledge. These can be developed in such a way that they will require students to search for new information or strengthen ideas previously known. D. Reporting Back is a sharing process that involves a small group presenting its findings to the rest of the class. The report can take any form i. e. , written, chart, pictorial representation, etc. ). In preparing the report , the group could be involved in transformation, translation, collaboration, reflection(valuing) , and asking questions. E. Model Building gives students the task of making representations of abstract ideas and helps them develop a broader understanding of the concepts. In model building, the teacher may either provide a step by step procedure with the set of materials required to produce almost identical models. If more creative solutions and wider variety of outcomes are expected, a less structured set of instructions and wider range of materials may be provided. Strategies on Knowledge Acquisition Strategies which focus on knowledge acquisition are concept formation or concept attainment, Predict-Observe-Explain, and concept mapping. Thses teaching strategies enable students to formulate new ideas based on their previous knowledge and experience. They give students the chance to rethink and change their misconceptions. A. CONCEPT MAPPING – a concept map is a visual, structure representation of concept and their interrelationships. The simplest concept map would consist of two concepts linked by logical connectives. Concepts are terms in boxes and the verb or logical connectives are called prepositions which are explanatory notes describing the relationships. It is used as a learning or diagnostic device which helps a learner to change or modify his understanding of the concept as he makes associations with a wider array of concepts and specific propositions. It also serves as a guide for the teacher during the classroom interaction and as a chapter summary for students. Guidelines for constructing concept map should be well defined, such as 1. identifying the central concept and key subordinate concepts of the lesson to be mapped.. 2. arrange the concepts in hierarchy from the most inclusive, most abstract and general concepts to the least inclusive, most concrete and specific. 3. Place the concepts down the map. Highlight each concept by enclosing in a box. 4. Connect the concepts that are related by drawing lines with arrows between them 5. Carefully describe the nature of relationship by adding proposition for each relationship line. B. PREDICT-OBSERVE-EXPLAIN (PROBEX) develops students’ ability to form hypothesis, make accurate observations and offer plausible explanations. It challenges the students to think and gives them a certain degree of satisfaction when their predictions jibe with the observations. Steps: I. PREDICT 1. Teacher shows/demonstrates a phenomenon which is reasonably familiar to the students 2. Teacher changes one factor in her demonstration and asks students to predict what might happen. 3.. teacher manages predictions – may be group or individual predictions written on the board or on a paper or given orally. I. OBSERVE 1. Demonstrate or have students perform the changed situation. 2. Students record observations and repeat activity if necessary. 3. Teacher checks observations. II. EXPLAIN 1. Teacher employs various methods at this stage, e. g. , students may give explanations individually or in groups. 2. Teacher summarizes and checks explanations. Teaching strategies could vary in many directions and many forms. It is now dependent on the teacher to modify basic knowledge on different teaching strategies that would best fit the lesson and the learners as well. EVALUATION In order to assess the success of a given teaching strategy, student learning, should be assessed/evaluated. Measuring students learning is a means by which teachers can keep track of what they have learned and understood. It is important that whenever a test is constructed, all levels of learning are assessed. It should be emphasized that assessment is not an end –of-topic activity but rather a part of their ongoing task in the classroom. Thus, it can provide a framework in which student’s progress is chartered and expressed. Furtheremore, assessment helps teachers to effectively plan the next step in the student’s learning.

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