SQL database paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SQL database paper - Essay Example The customerID field is a unique area because each customer will have their unique customerID thus the reason for its use as the primary key. The newly introduced tables allow us to have several booked tours associated with a customer thus increasing the flexibility of the system. It also reduces the storage space required. The tour1NF tables are added to allow customers to make several orders (â€Å"Informix Guide†, 1998). A table that keeps tours sold and tour customer data, holds, address, customer name, city, zip code state, tour(s) selected, total amount paid and the number of persons in the tour. Therefore, the structure will be able to show the customer in case he/she books more than once. Data modelling refers the process of examining data-oriented structures, in that you single out entity types into which attributes are assigned to. The conceptual model can be used to represent the data above. To make the table2NF compliant we introduce the customerID field as the primary key of the customer table and the foreign key of the newly created table in 1NF tours selected table. This makes the table 2NF compliant. Using the salesperson table that was described earlier the most appropriate trigger would be a Data Modelling Language (DML) trigger. The trigger is initiated every moment the salesperson sales a tour. In the new data model the customer information is subsidiary to sales information, the trigger is identified as â€Å"for each statement type† and is an additional data set for the salesperson each time the tour booking triggers the event. Using the salesperson table described the appropriate trigger would be a Data Manipulation Language (DML) trigger and would be initiated each time a tour operator sells a new tour. Under the new structure in which the client information is subordinate to sales information, this trigger would be identified as â€Å"for each statement type† and would add data set for the

Career management in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Career management in business - Essay Example The new career provides an opportunity for employees, to develop self-driven feelings for career development. The employee would decide on a career in one’s own time, other than getting a push against one’s will (Yunnal 2012, pg 56). The new career is dynamic and unpredictable. This is because of the many complicated systems available with no boundaries. The old career appeared to be stable and with little complication. The little complication in the system reduced confusion in planning. It was easier to forge a new career once the organization has provided the opportunity. As mentioned above, the old career structure emphasized on organizational decision on career choices. The structure, thus, instituted tension between the workers and the organization. The tension that existed interfered with the workers efficiency and delivery. Responsibility laying in the organization, gave the employers too much power over their workers. In conclusion, the difference in the two eras is in the structure. The old era placed responsibility of career change in the organization, while the new era places responsibility in the individuals (Mathis & Jackson 2011, pg 34). Boundary-less career refers to a situation where real career passes the boundary of one employer. As a result, the employee would end up having a career with several changes in employers and occupation. This a common practice that has gained favor in the 21st century, with many people opting to pursue their careers in such a manner (Inkson & King 2010, pg 37-57). The new careers have a difference in operation from the traditional careers. In addition, the new careers have an increased mobility that surrounds the organizational boundaries. From studies, the new careers mainly lay emphasis on the permeability aspects of the organizational boundaries. Therefore, there is a widely registered complexity in dealing with contemporary careers (Inkson & King 2010, pg 37-57). In the

Five-Year Career Development Paper Essay Example for Free

Five-Year Career Development Paper Essay Every year millions of college students worldwide graduate from college in hopes of obtaining a position in their career field of choice; however a lot of these students do not have a plan of action to actually help them find their career and achieve their goals. So much emphasis is put on college graduates going out and finding a job, but little focus is put on helping them find a career. A five year career plan is a road map that allows for progress tracking, and development of solutions or alternate courses of action (Crump, 2009). From personal experience I have realized that the chances of achieving my personal and career goals are increased of I actually write them out as a plan. In this paper I will discuss my career goals and objectives, my current knowledge and skills that I currently possess in my future career, the steps that I will take in order to meet my career goals, and any possible barriers that may present themselves in the path to me completing these goals. Currently I am a front desk clerk and personal trainer at Fitness Systems, a privately owned fitness center in South Sacramento. Since it is a small business and only consists of five employees, chances of promoting within the business are small. However I have used my experience from working the front counter and interacting with members of the gym, to help promote my presence of being a trainer. Also, working at Fitness Systems has allowed me to observe the procedures and responsibilities that it takes to run a successful business. Statistics show that most small businesses will fail in between 1-3 years from the initial startup time; therefore I am trying to absorb as much information as possible so that I dont fall into the same category. In order to manage a successful career it is important to develop an exceptional method of thinking strategically and exceptional execution skills. Building upon my skills in these areas will help me to achieve my long term goals. In all organizations, it is important that management sets goals for employees in accordance with the goals of the organization. When I open my fitness center, one of the main things that I want to stress among my employees (trainers), is strong communication skills. If management and staff arent on the same page, there will be an abundance of errors within  the organization. If certain skills are lacking within employees, it is the responsibility of management to identify these weaknesses and find a resolution such as training, to solve the issues. As a way to help kick start my five year career development plan, I have put together a list of some of my short term and long term career goals. My short term goals include improving upon my current skills as a personal trainer and gain experience in specific areas such as nutrition, so that I will be prepared to take on the role of being the owner of my own Personal Training Company. My personal short term goals include the following: increasing my knowledge in anatomy, improve upon my ability to map out an effective workout plan for clients, improve upon my communication skills, obtain my business degree in management, network with other local personal trainers, and gain more hands on personal training experience by recruiting more clients. My personal long term career goal is open a private fitness center that enables clients and their trainers to schedule one on one sessions in the center without having to worry about the crowds that usually plague commercial fitness centers. This goal will be achieved by the summer of 2012. My plan is to continue being a part time trainer for now, graduate with my BS in Business Management, enter and complete the MBA marketing program at the University of Phoenix, and then work on opening up my fitness center. Owning a successful business requires that you build strong relationships with your clients/customers, their families, and the surrounding communities. Maintaining a positive stance and reputation in the community that you serve, determines if youre company will be successful. In order to promote myself within the community, I have created business cards that describe the service that I provide and my contact information. I have also spoken to the founder and CEO (Plashette Robinson), of a local journal called the Sacramento Cultural Hub. Sacramento Cultural Hub is a Sacramento based journal that spotlights small businesses owned by minorities in Northern California. Ms. Robinson has agreed to post a small feature about  me in her journal. This feature will include a photo of me, current attributions to the community, my educational background, my career field of choice, and my opinion on different health/fitness related issues that are plaguing our society and communities. I feel that Sacramento Cultural Hub, along with my personal efforts, will help give me the exposure that I need to earn a good reputation within the community. As I mentioned earlier in this writing, actually mapping out a plan will help increase the chances of all objectives and goals being met. Below is a chart that displays my Five-Year Career Development plan on a year-to-year basis. Intermediate Steps Over the Next Five Years to Reach My GoalFor MeFor my supervisor/others who will support meYear OneFocus on school and earn my degree in Business Management by March 2010.Feedback from my peers and professors. Year TwoComplete the MBA Marketing program at UOP. Attend courses for first time business owners and begin looking for high traffic locations for my Fitness Center. Network with various promotional outlets.Feedback from my peers and professors. Seek advice from the owner of Fitness Systems in regards to opening a small business. Year ThreeActively recruit certified Personal Trainers in the Sacramento area. Open the Fitness Center in the summer of 2012. Network with other small business owners. Setup commercials spots with Sacramento area radio stations.Network with friends and family in order to assist me with finding local certified Personal Trainers. Year FourContinue to actively recruit Personal Trainers. Continue promotion via radio and other outlets. N/AYear FiveConsider possible methods of expanding services beyond Sacramento. N/A*Five-Year Career Plan Chart template retrieved from: mpiweb.orgRegardless of how well thought out a plan may be, there is always some kind of temporary barrier that may be encountered. In relation to my career plan, two potential barriers that I predict may take place are time management issues between my professional and personal life and a further downturn in our nations economy. Both of these issues can definitely cause a change in the objectives and goals for my business. However, the matter of time management can easily be tweaked if any issues shall arise and any issues in relation to the economy will have to be solved on a day to day basis. Both of the barriers mentioned above are vital, but they are issues that all small business ownerss struggle and deal with. In conclusion, I have shared my five-year career development plan. This plan will help assist me in achieving my career goals and at the same time help me in meeting some of my personal goals as well. Creating a development plan will assist in maximizing the potentials of an individual in the workplace. A career development plan not only helps to keep me motivated and focused; it also helps in providing the confident feeling that will in turn help me take charge of my career. References Crump, Jocelyn. (2009). Five-Year Career Plan. Retrieved July 30, 2009 from: http://www.stc.org/confproceed/1994/PDFs/PG163164.PDFFive-Year Career Plan Template. (2009) Retrieved August 1, 2009 from:http://www.mpiweb.org/CMS/uploadedFiles/Career_Development/Five-Year%20Plan.doc

Understanding Emotions through Parent-Child Talk

Understanding Emotions through Parent-Child Talk Introduction Although there is a large body of literature focused on childrens understanding of emotions and another body focused on parent-child conversation about emotions, little research has examined parent-child talk about complex emotions. The majority of research is dedicated to simple emotions and their functions in childrens life. However, the studies which are dedicated to simple emotions admit the sufficient importance of parent-child interaction for better emotional understanding. The emerging of complex emotions become a disputable process, moreover these emotions are functionally more complicated than simple. The following research has argued the importance of parent-child conversation in terms of understanding complex emotions by children. To account for this gap in the literature, the present study focuses on parent child talk about complex emotions. To understand this topic, a review of the literature on complex emotions is needed. Much past research has looked at ambivalent emotions. However, researchers use different names such as ambivalent emotions (Donaldson Westerman, 1986), mixed emotions (Harris, 1989a, 1989b; Harter Buddin, 1987; Kestenbaum Gelman, 1995), conflicting emotions (Bennet Hiscock, 1993) and multiple emotions (Meerum Terworgt, Koops, Oosterhoff, Olthof, 1986; Wintre Vallance, 1994). There are many definitions that these authors use, but in spite of this fact, these authors express the similar idea about this kind of emotion: when an individual has two contradictory feelings at the same time. For instance, we may be happy to receive a present, but disappointed at the same time, as a present is not what we have expected to receive. Childrens understanding of emotions is a gradual process that develops from simple types of emotions to more complex ones (Tenenbaum, Visscher, Pons, Harris, 2004). According to Pons, Harris, de Rosnay. (2004) and Tenenbaum et al. (2004) the understanding of emotions has three broad categories which develop gradually: external, mentalistic, and reflective. The external component consists of recognizing faces, the ability to realise emotions when they are affected by different external circumstances and understanding the fact that past emotions might affect present ones. Recognizing faces means that children start identifying emotions according to a facial expression. Then, they understand how external cases can cause different feelings and the last component is when they realize that some subjects from the past might cause emotions in the present. This type of emotion understanding usually develops among children between the ages three to five. The second component, mentalistic emot ions, contains of realizing beliefs and desires, also identifying the difference between real and apparent emotions. Children start assuming the idea that people may have different emotional reactions due to the fact that they have dissimilar desires. The same situation occurs with beliefs, as children start understanding that peoples beliefs will influence their emotions to a situation. The last element is when children can understand the link between memory and emotions, for example, the strength of emotions might reduce with time. The authors claim that this process usually occurs between the ages five to seven. Finally, the third component consists of reflective emotions which include moral, regulated and ambivalent emotions. Children start experiencing several moral emotions such as guilt, shame or embarrassment when their actions did not correlate with generally accepted rules. They also start realizing the way they can control their emotions, using either behavioural or psych ological strategies. The last stage is an understanding that people might have two different emotions at the same time. Overall, the third component usually emerges at ages seven to nine. That classification is widely used in terms of defining emotions. Consequently, ambivalent emotions, which are one of the primary aims of the following work, are situated at the third level and presented to be one of the most complicated emotional categories to understand. Some authors (Donaldson Westerman, 1986; Harter Buddin, 1987) created a model of ambivalent emotions which consists of four different stages. This model was invented after clinical observations of play therapy. Children used to experience problems in understanding two emotions at the same time. Consequently, a question about developing of understanding of mixed emotions arouses. The following model consists of four stages including such factors as valence (positive or negative emotions) and a target (one or several targets). The stages are presented gradually from the least to the most advanced. The first level, which usually arises at seven years old, is presented the same valence and target, where two positive or two negative emotions are expressed towards one object (e.g., A boy was happy and excited because of his birthday). The second level, which might emerge around eight years old, is represented as same valence, but different targets (e.g., A girl was happy about her birthd ay and excited that so many guests had came). The third combination, usually develops at ten years old, is shown as different valence and targets (e.g., A boy was sad he could not go for a walk, but happy because he could watch TV). Finally, the fourth combination, arises approximately at 11 years old and consists of different valence and same target, a child has different feelings towards one object or situation (e.g., A girl was happy to go for holiday with parents, but sad to leave her friends). Though, authors give an explanation that understanding and experience may not be contemporary, as it is possible that a child might experience two emotions at the same time, but not be able to realize it yet. Though, there is a contradictory view about the levels of emotional development. Wintre and Vallance (1994) present their theory where alongside with multiple emotions and valence, they also depicted the intensity of emotions. Based on several previous studies, they offered the theory of development of understanding mixed emotions, which include such components as intensity and valence and multiplicity. For example, at level A that emerges usually at 4 years, there might be observed only intensity directed to one situation, though valence and multiplicity have not arouse yet. At level B which develop around 5 years old, children may recognize several mixed emotion of the same valence, but they do not use different intensity. Next level C, usually arise at 6 years old, where intensity is combined with mixed emotions, but there is only the same valence involved yet. At the last level D, which might emerge at 8, where children show the ability to use all three components together. Besid es they differentiate not only stages and the main components of emotional understanding of ambivalent emotions, but the age of emerging as well. Thus, for Harter and Budden (1987) the last stage might be reached children approximately by ages 10 and 11, whereas for Wintre and Vallence (1994) the period for the last component is age 8. However, there is another arguable point is the age period at which complex emotions arise. For example, several studies (Donaldson Westerman, 1986; Meerum Terwogt et al., 1986; Harter Buddin, 1987; Harris, 1989a, 1989b; Pons et al., 2004; Tenenbaum, 2008) pointed to the approximate period of developing complex emotions from seven to eight years old until eleven to twelve. To illustrate this point, there are several examples based on the studies. According to Harter Buddin (as cited in Donaldson Westerman, 1986) understanding of ambivalent emotions is quite a late cognitive process. She found that children were not able to distinguish emotions that occur simultaneously toward the same person until ten and a half years old. Taking into consideration her study, Donaldson and Westerman (1986) replicated the findings, showing that though few characteristics of understanding ambivalence appeared at seven to eight years old, only older children of ten to eleven showed this ability enti rely. A study conducted by Harter and Buddin (1987) supported the fact of gradual development of understanding ambivalent emotions. Thus, children four to five ages cannot believe that two feelings could be together, six to eight years old placed feelings in temporal order as when a child did not see the object which had caused his emotions, he simply forgot about it. However, children from eight to twelve usually can describe the appearance of two emotions at the same time. Meerum Terwogt (1986) argued that ten year old child understood the fact of having both emotions equally strong, but younger children had always chosen one to be stronger than another. They present an example of two groups of children: six and ten years old. Undoubtedly, ten years old children understand ambivalent emotions more often than six years old children, especially if the situation consists of opposite valence emotions. To sum up these studies, the most widespread period of time when mixed emotions deve lop is from seven to twelve years old. Though, there are some authors (Gnepp and Klayman, 1992; Wintre and Vallance, 1994) whose studies admit the arising of understanding two simultaneous emotions at the age of 8. They gave some explanations for this, where not only cognitive factor plays a crucial role, but social experience also becomes an important factor. Consequently, these authors did not share either late or early emerging of mixed emotions. However in spite of all these findings, there are other studies, which contradict the idea of such a late arising of ambivalent emotions. For instance, Kestenbaum and Gelman (1995) pointed that the development of mixed emotions appeared between ages four and six. Children of four and five years old can recognize ambivalent emotions when they are presented in a facial expression, even if they were on the same face (sad eyes and happy mouth), as well as on a picture with two-headed alien who expressed different emotions. Moreover, the results confirm that five year old children might understand mixed emotions within a simple story. Furthermore, it was offered two levels of understanding emotions at the preschool ages. The first one is recognition of ambivalent emotions showing on the face. The second level is an ability to match a face that expressed mixed emotions with a situation. All in all authors claim that this is a gradual process which starts early and increases with age. Their findings contradict the other researches which admit that a development of mixed emotions is a process starting much later. Likewise, Brown Dunn (1996) mentioned that even six years old children might show an understanding of mixed emotions when they are given a slight prompt about feelings of characters in stories. Similarly, Harris, P. L., Johnson, C. N., Hutton, D., Andrews, G., Cooke, T. (1989 a) consider the fact that even young children may predict about different emotions in a more advanced way. Even children between the ages of three to seven are very sensitive to other peoples desires, emotions and beliefs. Moreover, they do not merely take into account a situation by itself, but modify their reaction due to different situational changes. That in case might show childrens advanced ability to understand second mentalistic component: beliefs and desires. Considering this fact, they suggest that understanding of the second level arouse at three, but set up only between the ages five to six years. Consequently, the next level to develop will be the third, which contains moral, ambivalent and regulated emotions. The possible explanation of this phenomena could be found in Harriss (1989 b) study, he pointed that even in a behaviour of one-year-olds might be seen the ambivalence, whereas conscious realization does not arise before seven or eight years old. He stressed that children start expressing ambivalence quite earlier, but understanding it emerges only from eight to ten, young children can merely express ambivalence without understanding of this fact. To sum up all the previous research made according to this topic, it can be clearly seen that these studies implied a large range of age when complex emotions appear in the childhood. Though, it might be criticised the period of appearance of mixed emotions. As if to consider all researchers, described earlier, there are some who consider the emergence of ambivalent emotions as a very early process (between ages 4 to 6 years old). Some consider it to be the late process (between 9 to 12 years old). Besides, there are some who support the idea of appearance of multiple emotions at age 8. However, the researchers who offered the late period of appearance ambivalent emotions might be criticised for a big age gap between groups. For example, in the research of Meerum Terwogt et al. (1986), they conducted their study with two groups of children by ages 6 and 10. What may be considered not exactly relevant, as during these 4 years undoubtedly children will have a great step forward in term s of understanding ambivalent emotions. In present study the age group of seven, eight and nine were chosen in order to observe the difference between the age group according to rather contradictory fact of arising the understanding of mixed emotions. However, there are some findings that admit the fact of emerging mixed emotions quite early (Harris et al., 1989a; Kestenbaum Gelman, 1995; Brown Dunn, 1996), the excessive amount of research claim the period from seven to twelve years old. Taking into consideration both contradicting findings together, it was decided to concentrate the research on the following groups of children due to some reasons. For instance, such ages as seven, eight and nine present an ideal age group where ambivalent emotions might just have started and developed at the late stage. Besides, it appeared to be not enough amounts of studies to support the idea of early development of mixed emotions, hence, children of younger ages were not considered. Moreover, according to Harriss (1989 b) study, whe re his notable remark cannot be ignored, children might notice the ambivalence, but not understand it. As the major aim of this work is to find out when mixed emotions are understood by children, these period of ages were chosen. Parent-child conversation One way in which children understand emotions may be through the family via interaction with parents (Dunn et al., 1991; Harris, 2004; Racine et al., 2007). Different researchers have examined different types of conversations that may support childrens understanding. For example, Engel (as cited in Fivush Fromhoff, 1988) described two maternal styles, which are called: conversation-eliciting and directive. The first one is characterized by asking many questions, rare interruption of children, and a regular tendency to integrate a childs answer what in turn leads to more equal and productive conversation. The second type is characterized by different types of commands, frequent interaction in childs actions, as well as the high parental control during the conversation. Another classification was offered by Reese Fivush (1993) and Reese, E., Haden, C.A. Fivush, R (1993) and it claimed that childrens understanding emotions correlates with the parental conversational style. They offered two parental styles: high – elaborative and low- elaborative. For instance parents with high-elaborative style, which consists of a lot of details, explanations, always try to arouse childrens interest. On the contrary there is other kind of style called low-elaborative where parents ask simple questions during their interaction with children and give them little new information and quite often change topics of conversation. Similar types of maternal styles were offered by Fivush and Fromhoff (1988) where the styles are called: elaborative and repetitive. Elaborative mothers are likely to provide a lot of details during the discussion and tend to ask many open-ended and complex questions during the interaction. On the contrary, mothers who have repetitive conv ersational style tend to ask yes/no questions; do not provide so much detailed information during the discussion. Besides, the authors depict that elaborative style is significantly better for children to remember past events during the conversation. Overall, all previous research concerning maternal style of conversation was summarized (Reese et al., 1993) The mothers who are more engaged in a conversation with their children – elaborative, high-elaborative, reminiscing or topic-extending and mothers who are less involved in a communication process – repetitive, low elaborative, practical remembers or topic-switching (p. 404). There are many studies that support the link between parent-child conversation and childrens emotional understanding (Dunn, Bretherton Munn, 1987; Fivush Fromhoff, 1988; Dunn, J., Brown, J., Slomkowski, C., Tesla, C., Youngblade, L., 1991; Dunn Brown, 1994; Brown Dunn, 1996; Steele et al., 1999; Pons et al., 2003; Laible Song, 2006). Some of the authors connect emotional understanding with maternal attachment (Brown Dunn, 1996; Steele et al., 1999; Pons et al., 2003), the other with the quality of maternal speech (Dunn et. al., 1987; Dunn Brown, 1994). To begin with, there is as well a link between quality of parent-child attachment and the quality of family talk about emotions with childrens emotional understanding (Pons et al., 2003). Brown and Dunn (1996) also consider a possibility that childrens development of ambivalent emotions can depend upon the family where a child grows. Moreover the findings, presented by Steele et al. (1999) suggested that the development of secure mother-child attachment at one year helps to shape a good understanding of mixed emotions later at six years. Much past work has argues that when mothers talk a lot about emotions, children consequently start using more emotional words in conversation (Dunn et. al., 1987). However, , children in families in which the use of negative emotions is greater than positive emotions may have some difficulties expressing and recognizing emotions (Dunn Brown, 1994). Studies conducted by Dunn et al. (1991) showed a significant link between the parent-child conversation and childrens emotional understanding. Thus children whose parents spoke with them a lot about emotions at the age of 3 demonstrated better understanding about the emotions of unfamiliar adults at the age of 6 in comparison with the children who did not experience feeling- state talk so frequently. Laible (2004) and Thompson et al. (as cited in Laible and Song, 2006) argue that style is more influential than content. Parent- child conversation helps children realise different situations of everyday life, especially if these situations are not so obvious to see. That usually includes emotions, motives and intentions. Besides, when mothers involved with children into conversation about past experience, they not only give their children an emotional understanding of the past, but also bring extra knowledge for future experience. The other findings of Laible Song (2006) indicated that parent-child discourse was a crucial predictor of the childs socio-emotional development. For example, during the given task if mother used more elaborative style rather than repetitive, children had higher scores on emotional understanding. The similar results were presented by Steele et al. (1999) where children and parents language abilities did not affect childrens understanding of ambivalent emotions, what in turn depicted the fact about the major influence of socio-emotional rather than cognitive elements. Considering all previous research conducted on this topic, it is without doubt the effect that parent-child conversation plays in terms of childrens emotional understanding. However, some studies use different core point to correlate this connection, the influence is still might be observed. Particularly, the more elaborative and positive discourse parents and children have, better emotional understanding children express in comparison with children whose parents use low-elaborative style, and consequently these results show the great impact of parental conversation with children on childrens emotional understanding. The same situation is presented with an attachment, the more secure attachment is observed between mother and child, and the better emotional understanding will be expressed by a child later. Hence, the parent-child conversation was chosen in order to correlate it with childrens understanding of mixed emotions. Parent child discourse may however vary with child gender. That is the importance of gender difference in terms of parent-child interaction, which cannot be denied, although the studies are rather controversial, thus some researches refute it (Racine et al., 2007; Dunn et al., 1991) and some support (Dunn et al., 1987; Fivush, 1991;Kuebli Fivush, 1992; Reese Fivush, 1993; Cervantes Callanan, 1998). To begin with, there are examples of several studies which support the gender difference in parent-child interaction. The findings of Dunn et al. (1987) claimed that mothers had more communication with girls rather than boys and later girls referred to emotional states more often than boys. Moreover, mothers expressed more emotional words to daughters rather than to sons. Consequently, girls used more feelings words during the discourse in comparison with boys. Though authors pointed one of the limitations to be a small sample of children who took part in the research, the studies made afterwards can support these results. Namely, Reese Fivush (1993) argued that parents of daughters expressed more elaborative style than parents of boys and the authors believed that due to more prolonged conversation with daughters, they can grow up to produce more elaborative narrative style in comparison with sons. The authors admit that in the majority of cases parent-daughter pairs involved in more detailed conversation and as well as this style required more involvement of childrens memory, daughters may develop more elaborative style in comparison with sons. Similar results are presented by Kuebli Fivush (1992) where they admit parents of daughters use quite more emotional words in comparison with parents of sons. Their study shows that parents speak more about sadness with girls rather than with boys. Besides, the study conducted by Cervantes Callanan (1998) also showed the gender difference for children at the age of 2 but not at the age 3 and 4 in terms of childrens tal k, there were also gender-related differences in mothers talk for using more explanations for boys and more labels for girls. In the light of this evidence, it is obvious that if there is a gender difference during parent-child conversation, parents usually pay more attention to interaction with girls rather than with boys, that is why the aspect of gender difference seemed to be quite significant in the present study. One good point might summarize the gender difference idea. Though, mothers tend to socialize with a child in different ways according to the gender. Besides, it may be that boys and girls are experiencing and discussing emotions in different ways and consequently, their mothers simply respond to this difference (Fivush, 1991). All things considered, in the following study, there is an aim to find out whether parent-child discourse about mixed emotions plays a significant role in childrens understanding of these emotions. Based on a substantial literature (ref), the first hypothesis predicted that the more parents explain complex emotions, the better children will understand emotions. A second related hypothesis is that the more emotion words parents use, the better the childs emotional understanding will be. The third hypothesis is that parents will use more emotion words with girls than boys and consequently, girls will use more emotion words in comparison to boys. Method Participants. The participants were 16 parent–child pairs. Children were dived for three groups according to their age: the younger group was 7 years (M = 7.5, ranging from 7 years, 4 months to 7 years, 10 months), 8 years (M = 8.48, ranging from 8 years, 1 month to 8 years, 9 months) and 9 years (M = 9.42, ranging from 9 years, 1 month to 9 years, 8 months). There were both 5 children at the group of 7 and 9 years old and 6 children at the age group 8 years old. Overall there were nine boys and seven girls. Participants and their parents were recruited from one primary school in Dunstable. All participants were white British. It is notable that all parents that took part in this study were mothers; no fathers participated in the research. The majority of mothers (12 people) were employed, 1 mother was employed, but worked at home and 3 mothers were homemakers. All mothers have educational background ranging from primary school to university. Materials The session with each pair will be held only once. To begin with, it is notable to mention that the books were chosen for this research as a discussion in general seems to be a quite crucial for children in order to reach better emotional understanding. Therefore, in the joint activity, such as reconstruction of events, adults give an idea for children what emotions are appropriate and inappropriate for different situations (Fivush, 1991). A created story book which contains 6 vignettes about 3 complex, 2 regulated and 1 moral emotions. The book was created by the researcher and was particularly organised for boys and girls separately. The story was about two children: a boy – Peter and a girl – Anna, who took part in several activities, such as: passing an exam, having a birthday, going to amusement park, home interaction, his/her friend leaving. There was one question concerning emotions for every situation to which a child was involved in. The second book is called F rog goes to dinner by Mercer Mayer (1974). This book contains several vignettes, presenting a story about a boy who has a frog. Accidentally, a frog goes to dinner with a boy and his parents without being noticed by anybody. A frog spoiled the dinner and the parents were very angry with a boy. The important fact is that this book is wordless; obviously the task was to create a story together. This particular method was chosen because Kestenbaum and Gelman (1995) pointed the importance of presenting information to children during the research not only verbally, but giving photographs or drawings as stimuli. To justify their point, there were two reasons presented in their study. The first reason is that a facial expression helps children understand emotions significantly better. The second reason is that the absence of pictures might cause some difficulties as children might not know how two different emotions can be expressed at the same time. After reading two books with the parent s, children were tested by the Test of Emotional Comprehension which was created by Pons, Harris and de Rosnay (2004). The TEC presents vignettes in which a gender-matched protagonist encounters simple to complex situations that elicit different emotional responses. After each vignette, the child is asked how the protagonist is feeling, by choosing from four illustrations of faces representing different emotional states (Tenenbaum et al., 2004). The TEC consists of nine sections which included several pictures and a question about emotional condition of protagonist. Though, the first section requires naming emotions that the faces show. The second includes the situation where a book character expresses the influence from external factors. The third one consists of desires that a protagonist expresses. The fourth factor involves understanding of false beliefs and the way they influence on emotions. The fifth section expresses the situation with reminders that might influence on childrens present condition. The sixth one asks children to control their emotions. The seventh section includes hidden emotions that a child should define. The eighth factor presents the situations with mixed emotions, particularly on what this study focuses. The last component involves understanding of moral emotions. Parents were offered to fill in a Parent Questionnaire which contains several questions about background information and social economic status. Procedure. Parents with children read two books: one is created by the researcher and another is Frog goes to dinner by Mercer Mayer. The first book was created by the researcher and concluded six situations including such emotions as mixed, moral and regulated. A task required to read the stories and a child should have answered an offered question. It was not specially defined who suppose to read a book. Consequently, mothers could read it as well as children, or they could do it in an order. The vignettes, which were presented in a book, concerned several situations at school, at home, at an amusement park, on holidays. For example, a situation for girls that involved mixed emotions: Annas birthday is during summer holiday, so she can do everything shed like to do- ride a bicycle, play with friends and eat ice-cream! Her parents decided to arrange a birthday party for Anna. She likes parties very much and a lot of guests will bring gifts to her. But her best friend, Lola, is unwell and now s he cant go to Annas birthday party. Anna wants Lola to come so much. How does Anna feel now? After reading a created book together, they were offered to make up a story together. A book Frog goes to dinner by Mercer Mayer (1974) was used as a good example of wordless story. These two tasks were chosen in order to give parents and children enough time to interact with each other. Moreover, they both contain different emotional situations describing which should promote an excessive usage of emotions. After making up a story a child was tested with the Test of Emotional Comprehension, which was created by Pons, Harris and de Rosnay (2004) in order to measure the period of time when children start understanding different emotions. The model of Pons, Harris and de Rosnay (2004) was accepted as the main one in a theoretical description of emotional understanding of complex emotions. Besides, the test consists of pictures, and the questions are always asked by a researcher. It is also very convenient for children to conduct this test due to the absence of necessity to read. Consequently, their test was assumed to be relevant to use during the research. Besides, it is worth mentioning that the researcher was trained before to conduct this test, as the requirements were to conduct it with neutral voice, do not give any prompts to children which emotions a protagonist might express. During conducting the TEC with children, parents were offered to fill in the Parent Questionnaire which contains of such sections as child and parents names, childs age, date of birth and birth order, also social economical situation of parents (ethnicity, occupation, level of education, marital status). Besides, parents signed a consent form which stated that they and their children agreed to take part in the present research and they did not object to be video taped. Moreover, this form included all information about research, it was also mention that parents were free to withdraw at any time they want from the study and contact details of researchers were provided. Children were asked oral permission if they agreed to help a researcher to conduct the study and neither parents nor children refused. Parents were given a choice to stay or leave during a conducting the TEC with children, but it is worth mentioning that all parents were present during childrens testing. Coding A created book that was basically consisted of 6 vignettes was scoring in the following way. It is notable that in terms of this book the amount of using em

On the Way - Fiction :: Papers

On the Way - Fiction It was a cold windy night in the mid December of 1941. The snow was falling slowly down the footpath while George was walking home. He was wearing a his big brown coat and a brown hat. George lived in a small wooden house which be built by himself in the forest. George lived alone by himself since his parents left him. He was living away from the world and he didn't know what was happening around him, and he had no idea about the fascism which was in the grip of the world. He was a grown man and he could care for himself, but the loneliness was his problem. His only friends, Mr and Mrs Muller were living a few miles away from him. One day when George was in the forest hunting for food, he heard a women's scream and horses coming to him. George jumped into the bush next to him and waited. He pointed his gun to the direction where the noise was coming from. They were getting closer. Suddenly a Jewish women passed by being chased by two military men in horses. The woman was frightened to death for her life. One of the men in horses pointed his shotgun at her and shot her in the leg. "Should I leave her die here?", said the horseman. "No, she might come back to the city again. Lets finish her here and now!", answered the other horseman and pointed his gun into her head. George was frightened and terrified, he couldn't watch a woman being murdered in front of him. He fired to one of the evil person that was aiming to the poor woman and killed him. The other horseman ran, he was afraid for loosing his life. The girl was dressed like a tramp, with long brown dirty trousers, a sweater with ripped sleeves and old dirty shoes. George went out of the bush and asked the woman: "Who are you, why are they running after you?" The woman answered, "My name is Isabel.

Meet the Miller Essay -- Canterbury Tales Essays

Meet the Miller In the "General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer presents his reader with a blend of unlikely yet entertaining characters that find themselves on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Chaucer then describes the different characteristics and the outward appearances of these characters at length. He probably does so in order to bring these characters to life, giving us a more vivid understanding of what kind of people they were. The Miller is one of the most vivid characters that I have encountered in Chaucer's work for he is perfectly delineated as the man he is, without including any unnecessary detail. The Miller is described as a short and sturdy man who possesses uncanny strength. The undisputed champion of wrestling is he. He even seems hero-like at first: The millere was a stout churl for the nones; Ful byg he was of brawn, and eek of bones. That proved wel, for over al ther he cam, At wrastlynge he wolde have alwey the ram. He was short-sholdred, brood, a thikke knarre; Norton, 545-549. Although he is said to possess extraordinary strength, he is described in a derogatory manner as we read the passage. It seems that he is more of a brawl-initiator than a hero. The man wrestles for the ram, probably a prize awarded at such matches, clearly a peasant pastime. Even initially, it does not seem like we are dealing with a highly sophisticated person here. Actually, the Miller does use his head! I only hope he does so in rare instances for the author mentions that "ther was no dore that he nolde heve of harre, / or breke it at a rennyng with his heed" (Norton, 550-551). There you have it. Our hero engages in heaving doors off their hinges or breaking them down with his head. But do ... ...nded by. The Miller is, in fact, described as the scum of society, but he is necessary scum. Chaucer presents us with the facts of life, and whether we may think they are disgusting or unsuitable to be presented to us in such a blunt manner, they must be told, for they remain an undisputed piece of the Middle-English pie. Sources Abrams, M. H. and Greenblatt, Stephen. eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 2000. Sumner, Laura. "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell." Smith College Studies in Modern Languages. V, No.4: Mass., 1924. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/CT-prolog-para.html,10/24/00. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/, 10/24/00. http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/canterbury/,10/24/00. http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/canterbury/tale1.html, 10/24/00.

Sacred Exchange Between Saint Francis and Lady Poverty

THE SACRED EXCHANGE BETWEEN SAINT FRANCIS AND LADY POVERTY INTRODUCTION The Franciscan Order has been saddled with the controversy on the issue of the observance of poverty. During the lifetime of Saint Francis of Assisi, there were already factions in the Order; the faction that were in favour of living the Franciscan charism in a new dimension are called the lenient and the wise, and those who are in favour of keeping to the original way of living the Franciscan Charism, are often called the companions; â€Å"we who were with him†.After the death of Francis, the controversy became more intense between the Friars of the Community, who sought to live the Rule and poverty of the Franciscan life in towns and cities with the inspiration of the founder, and the spirituals that sought to live the literal observance of Rule with a more austere adherence. This controversy on the issue of the observance of poverty prompted so many friars from both factions to publish books in defense of the observance of poverty. Examples of books published include: Sacred Exchange between St Francis of Assisi and Lady Poverty by an unknown author, The Legend of the Three Companions by Br.Leo, Br. Rufino and Br. Angelo, The Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus Christ by Ubertino Da Casale, The Tribulations of the Order of Lesser Ones by Angelo Clarino, the Little flowers of St Francis etc. In this essay, I will be explaining in details the information that the author is trying to pass across from some of the subthemes of the book entitled, â€Å"The Sacred Exchange between St Francis of Assisi and Lady Poverty†, that is specifically written in defense of the literal observance of poverty, indicating where the author is writing from, the year of composition and the aim of the author and the society of his time.The Sacred Exchange in other words, called the holy commerce between St Francis and Lady Poverty was written or composed between 1237 and 1239, few years after the de ath of St Francis of Assisi. It was written this time because there were already lapses in the observance of poverty just few years after the death of the founder. Also during these years, Pope Gregory IX, a close friend of Francis and the first Cardinal protector of the Order, issued a papal decree entitled â€Å"Quo elongati† addressed to the Friars egarding the observance of the Rule and Testament of Saint Francis. Furthermore, Br. Elias was elected as the Minister General of the Order and a massive Church was being built in honour of St Francis in the city of Assisi. All these development encourage the relaxation of the literal observance of poverty, thus creating more division within the Order. Consequently, this book was composed with rich allegory flavoured with so many scriptural references to defend, encourage and to remind the friars of the importance of the literal observance of poverty in the Order.AUTHOR Up to this day, the author of this book is still unknown, b ut there are suggestions that the author could be St Anthony of Padua, Blessed John of Parma or Caesar of Speyer, because there are similarities in their writing style with that of Sacred Exchange. It is certain that this was composed by a lenient Franciscan Friar who is well versed and acquainted with what was going on in the Order at that time.His talented gift surfaced in the way he personified Poverty as a Lady, because the word â€Å"lady† means a young admirable and respectful woman that knows her worth and does not seek after men; rather men always seek after her and she responds with love and kindness to the true man who seeks her. EXPLANATIONS ON THE SUB-THEMES BLESSED FRANCIS ASKS ABOUT POVERTY Here, the author presents the Lady poverty as a fine, beautiful maiden whom Francis is eagerly seeking with great enthusiasm and caution. In his quest to finding her, he came across some people on the streets of the towns and cities and enquired of the whereabouts of Lady Pov erty.The author in this section, tried to portray the people living in the cities as those friars who were living in the cities and thus, because they live in the cities, they could not understand what Francis is saying. According to the author, the friars that live in the towns and cities cannot observe the literal observance of poverty, because they are living in the worldly part of the world and so it will be difficult for them to live out the literal observance of poverty. That is why they could not understand what Francis was enquiring from them and they told Francis to speak in their own words or what Francis is saying is foreign to them. The people in the towns and cities are more prone to worldly demands and activities to the extent that poverty is seen as a bad and accursed thing not to be admired or observed. I will go to the best and the wise: According to the author, Francis thought that if he went to the wise and the lenient, they would help him find Lady Poverty, but a s soon as he got to the wise and enquired, they rebuked him that he should not come to them regarding anything dealing with poverty; that they are happy with their merriments and extravagance.Here the author tried to portray the friars living in the cities and those engaged in studies as the lenient and the wise that Francis met. That is why the author, in his defense of the companions and their idea of the literal observance poverty, put these statement in the mouth of Francis that he marveled and bless God for hiding these things to the lenient and the wise (that is the friars in the cities), and revealing them to the little ones (that is Friars in the hermitages) that are faithful to the observance of poverty.After he left the city, he quickly came to a certain field from afar, he saw two old men wasted away from great sorrow: Here Francis left the city where the worldly, lenient and wise are (Friars in cities) and went to certain field and met with two old men clad in sorrow (Fr iars in hermitages). Here the author is conveying a message that those that seek to observe the literal observance of poverty are not found in cities but rather in rural, and remote places like the fields, or the hermitages.In other words the author is saying that these are the Friars who are faithful to the observance of poverty, for they live far away from cities and their dwellings are at the hermitages which of course are found in the remote areas. Whom shall I respect except the one who is poor and contrite in spirit and the one who trembles at my words: Here the author is conveying a message that the literal observance of poverty is more valuable than obedience to the authorities, for the Rule is the Gospel and the Gospel is Christ Jesus who is God, the highest authority.We brought nothing into this world the other said and without doubt we take nothing out of it, but having food and whatever covers us, we are content with these: The author is saying that a true Friar that obs erve poverty will be content with the basic things of life which are food and whatever covers them; this is in total contrast to those friars in towns and cities seeking for self-sufficiency and knowledge. This also shows how profound and wise the friars in the hermitages are in their serious observance of poverty. (Sacred Exchange, p. 530, n. 6 & 8) HE ASKS TO BE SHOWN WHERE POVERTY LIVESFrancis asks the two old men; tell me I beg you, where does Lady Poverty dwell? Where does she eat? Where does she rest at noon? For I languish in love of her: Comparing the manner in which Francis asked the two old Men (â€Å"I beg you†), and the manner he asked the lenient and those on the streets of towns and cities, you will notice that the author deliberately put the statement (â€Å"I beg you†), to point out the fact that Francis saw the old men as one of â€Å"the little ones†, to whom God has revealed the mysteries of the kingdom of God and, because of this, they could give him clue as to how to find Lady Poverty.Furthermore, the author deliberately put the three questions, which in Hebrew numbering system, three things, symbolizes substantial and serious. That means Francis’ questions are substantial and of serious matter because he is really serious to meet Lady Poverty. Francis’ enthusiasm, restlessness, undying desire and love for Lady Poverty, shows that poverty is indeed worthwhile to be observed literally and not to be abandoned. Good Brother: The old men called Francis â€Å"good brother† because they also see Francis as a likeminded person, that is they and Francis are seeking to observe poverty.Furthermore, it is conveying a message that those that observe poverty without gloss, are the good brothers, that is, the faithful lesser brothers. We have sat here for a time and for times and half a time: Here the author is trying to portray the fact that these old Men have made the field (that is, the deserted place) as the ir new abode where they are living. They fled the cities to the remote place to faithfully and properly observe lady poverty. They told Francis that many search for her and when they find her, they accompanied her for a while, but they will leave her alone by herself.The author is conveying a message that at the beginning, the virtue of poverty is longed for and faithfully observed by people, and religious in particular, but after a while they can become lukewarm in the observance of poverty due to the allurement of the worldly possessions and then gradually abandoning. The children of my mother have fought against me: Meaning that those that sought to have and to observe her (i. e. Lady Poverty) after a while, have abandoned her, she cried out.But the old Men will say to Lady Poverty that the upright love her; meaning that only the upright ones that are determine to live spiritually and renounce the world and his allurements, by living in the deserted places like the hermitage are the ones that truly love her. In paragraph ten, the author tried to defend the fact that poverty is the highest form of all virtue and that the mandates or commands to observe this virtue comes from God and should be observed with the highest reverence before any other.It is for this reason that the author wrote: she is dwelling in the sacred mountains because God loved her above all the tabernacles of Jacob (i. e. , poverty is place higher than other virtues just as Joseph son of Jacob is exulted above his brothers). Since poverty is the highest virtue, only the humble, not even the giants and the eagles (pride of strength and knowledge), can touch the footprints and shoulder.Again this says that no amount of worldly knowledge and possessions can take one to attain the highest virtue of poverty and the rewards of the faithful observance of poverty are only for the religious who perseveres to the end. Furthermore, Lady Poverty is hidden from the eyes of the self sufficient, worldly comforted, lenient and wise religious friars, because they fly so swiftly in worldly knowledge and wisdom that like the birds of the sky that fly so high they are proud.Paragraph eleven contains the conditions for those who wish to climb high to reach the place where Lady Poverty dwells. The author wrote that the old men said to Francis to give up all possessions, like books, knowledge, fine clothes etc. before he can climb the mountain successfully to reach and attain the highest virtue of poverty. The author is telling the friars to do away with worldly affairs like possessions, books, knowledge, for such things are obstacles that keep them from observing poverty.The author went on to say that poverty is kind and will be seen and found by those who seek her with sincerity and love. Finally the author is saying to the friars that if they truly love to observe poverty, they will be willing to give up all their worldly possessions for her. To think about her brother, is perfect under standing, and whoever keeps vigil for her will easily be secured: From this statement, the author is telling the friars that observing poverty is the way to perfect knowledge and security.In other words the author is saying to the friars that they should seek first the kingdom of God which is hidden in the observance of poverty; then all other things like knowledge, goods, securities etc, will be given them, re-echoing the statement of Christ in the Gospel. Take faithful companions with you so that during the mountain ascent, you will have their advice and be strengthen by their help: Here it is obvious that there are already factions in the Order which are often called the Companions who are different from the wise and lenient.It also shows that Francis felt at home with the Companions because he saw in them genuine zeal of the observance of the Rule and poverty and so he entrusted his care to these Companions and also sought advice from them alone. The author is saying that those that seek advice to live the Minorite life more perfectly should seek the counsels of the faithful friars because they observe the Rule and poverty as Francis did. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 531-532, n. 9, 10, & 11) BLESSED FRANCIS ENCOURAGES HIS BROTHERSHere we are told that Francis received the advice and counsel of the old men in a deserted place (hermitage), unlike his rejection of the counsel of the wise and lenient and those he met on the streets of the towns and cities. Also, in paragraph 12, the author reemphasizes Francis’ choice of the faithful companions. The aim of this emphasis is to pass a message that only those friars who are faithful to the literal observance of poverty are truly faithful and they are the friars that Francis extols in this section.Furthermore, the idea of the author to use the words â€Å"old men† (not â€Å"young men†) in the field and the people in the town and city, is a deliberate and selective statement used specifically to conv ey a message that the old men stand for the faithful members of the Order that still keep to the literal observance of poverty, while the people in the cities and towns are the majority of the members of the Order who are unfaithful because they do not observe poverty literally due to the allurements of the world.From the statement, come let us climb the mountain of the Lord and the dwelling of Lady Poverty, that she may teach us her ways and we might walk in her paths: The author is saying that Francis sees poverty as the only way through which all holiness and knowledge are achieved, thus telling the friars to see the observance of poverty as their priority and that they should give their all to knowing how to attain this highest virtue.The author, in order to properly defend his notion that only the â€Å"few† that live in hermitages can observe the literal observance of poverty faithfully, puts this question on the lips of the companions: who can climb this mountain and w ho can reach its summits? The author indicates that Francis answers the question (by putting the answers on the lips of Francis) by saying that the road is difficult and the gate is narrow, only the few can find it, again emphasizing that the few who keep the observance of poverty in fields and hermitages (not the majority in the convents of the cities) are the ones who can attain its summits.Furthermore, in order to defend those friars who are keen on observing the Rule and poverty of the Order literally, who are in obedience to Christ (author’s defense of the â€Å"obedience† of the hermitage friars as opposed to the friars of the Community who are keen on obedience to the Church), the author wrote that the friars in hermitage are in obedience to Christ because if they are observing the Rule and poverty which is the Gospel they are, therefore, obeying Christ who is the Gospel and God himself the highest supreme being to be obeyed before any other authority. Authority here means the Church or the minister general of the Order). The author in his further defense said that Francis said to the Friars: The Spirit is before your face, Christ the Lord, who draws you to the heights of the mountain in bonds of love. Finally in this section, the author wrote: After he said these things, they all began to follow the holy Francis: Here the author is saying that the faithful friars will always see Christ in Francis, because he is holy and, being a perfect imitator of Christ, (alter Christus) the friars should keep to his teachings and ideals, thus making them holy as well. Sacred Exchange, pp. 532-533, n. 12 & 13) POVERTY MARVELS AT THE EASE OF THEIR ASCENT As the theme of this section is titled, the author tries to shed more light on the importance of detachment as the sole criterion to attain the highest virtue of all virtues: Lady Poverty. To defend this notion he wrote: She (Lady Poverty) was greatly astonished at seeing these men climbing so ably, almo st flying. Also, the author wrote that Lady Poverty was astonished at their pace.In addition, to point out the zeal of the faithful friars towards attaining the virtue most dear to them, Lady Poverty exclaimed: who are these men, she asked, who fly like clouds and like doves to their windows? To express the delight and joy of Lady Poverty at the zeal, detachment, pace and uniqueness of these faithful friars, the author wrote: She (Lady Poverty) said; it has been a long time since I have seen such people or gazed upon those so unencumbered, all their burden set aside (i. e. Lady Poverty admiring their detachment).Furthermore, to prove that many faithful have been led astray by distractions of the abyss (i. e. worldly affairs) by seeking worldly knowledge, merriments, living luxuriously, thereby making them to forget and then finally abandon the observance of Lady Poverty, the author wrote: Therefore I (Lady Poverty) will speak to them (the truly faithful friars) about what engages my heart so that, when they are staring down the abyss (distractions or worldly allurements) they do not like the others (i. e. the derailed friars) have second thoughts about such a climb.The author also wrote that Lady Poverty said: There will be a reward for me before my heavenly Father if I give them saving advice. This statement of Lady Poverty re-emphasizes the fact that poverty is from God and since it is God’s plan that we should observe it, then that mandate must be obeyed else we are going contrary to his commandments since He is the almighty to whom all must obey before any human or religious authorities. In paragraph fifteen, and elsewhere in this book, the author always describes Lady Poverty as being naked.For instance, he wrote in this section: And so Lady Poverty resting on a throne in her nakedness. By this statement, the author tries to convey a message that Lady Poverty can only be clothed with our willingness to embrace and to observe her with faithfulness a nd detachment. But when those that are faithful were derailed and misguided by the allurements of the world, they abandoned the observance of poverty, thus making her naked. And behold a voice was heard: fear not daughter of Zion, because these men are the seed whom the Lord has blessed in unfeigned love.The author, through this statement, is trying to present the faithful friars to be like Christ at his baptism at River Jordan, when a voice is heard from the cloud saying behold this is my beloved son in whom am well pleased listen to him. Here the author is saying that God is pleased with their literal observance of the poverty and that they should not lose hope or despair, rather they should be faithful to the end. Welcome them with blessings and sweetness. â€Å"Tell me brothers†: Here the author is saying that Lady Poverty will always be ready to lavish her blessings and rewards on those (i. . the faithful brothers) who keep to the observance of poverty thus opening more doors to God’s blessings and divine providence. Are you perhaps, looking for me whom as you can see I am poor little one tossed about by storms and without consolation? Here the author tries to present the attitude and approaches that the friars had towards Lady Poverty and how they abandoned the observance of poverty. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 533-534, n. 14, & 15) BLESSED FRANCIS PRAISES POVERTY In paragraph sixteen, we see Lady Poverty being praised, acknowledged and honoured by the brothers.They begged poverty to be their queen for they have seen above all from their experience that she is from the most high God and that it is through her (poverty) that Christ came to this world and undertook all aspects of his mission. The brothers also acknowledged that since the Most High used her (poverty) to accomplish his mission on earth, so they begged her to accept them, so that through her, they will also overcome the world and its allurements. They also see poverty as the key or ga te to all other virtues, once again reaffirming poverty’s uniqueness and her esteemed position where God has placed her.The brothers knew that unless they are accepted by Lady Poverty, the queen of all virtues, they will be lost. In summary, the brothers see poverty as the only medium which Christ used to come to this world, live among us, eat with us, announce penance and the Kingdom, be scourged, crucified and die on the Cross to redeem us. Therefore, it is inevitable that Man can conquer the world and its allurements only through embrace of the same virtue. In paragraph seventeen, the author, tries to present poverty as being preferred and cherished by Christ to even the host of angels and other principalities and powers of Heaven.And it is evident in his incarnation when he left his royalty and pitched his tent among us to embrace poverty. This is also proof of the highest dignity that she (i. e. poverty) has in the eyes of Christ. But it is often hard for man to see it t hat way due to his blindness and ignorance caused by worldly affairs, thus abandoning the greatest treasure and going after worthless and vain things that cannot lead him or her to eternal home but only to destruction. Furthermore, the author wrote that Francis, after his reflective praises of Lady Poverty, begged her to have pity on them and to accept them, for it is only those that are ignorant (i. . those blinded by worldly affairs) that will not be longing to have her (i. e. poverty) whom the Most High God cherished and honoured before everything else. Finally, to show the zeal of Francis and his faithful companions the author wrote that: They begged Lady Poverty to consider them for the sake of Christ with whom she abides and without whom no one will be saved. Here the author is saying that the virtue of poverty is from God, and he established that we observe it and thus we called to obey God before any authority (here, the author is defending poverty against the Church’ s notion of the observance of poverty). Sacred Exchange, pp. 534-535, n. 16, 17) DIGNITY OF POVERTY AND HER RESPONSE The author tries to present the important role that the virtue of poverty played in the coming of Christ into this world. First, to prove the need and importance of the observance of poverty, the author narrated how God used poverty to prepare the Blessed Mother, a poor and humble lady, and made her womb to be the first dwelling place of our Lord Jesus Christ. Also when it was time to be born, he preferred to be born in a poor place, a manger where animals are kept.Again the first people that received the news of the birth of Christ are the poor shepherds, he had nowhere to lay his head (i. e. from the scriptures: foxes have holes but the son of man has no place to lay his head). The creator of the creatures has no place as his own here, showing his special love and bond for lady poverty. In paragraph twenty-one, even when Christ is being mocked, spat on, betrayed by his very dear apostles, insulted, slapped, the only consolation he got is from Lady Poverty because she is always faithful.The author is encouraging the friars not to forget this virtue of all virtues. Here in paragraph twenty-three, the author tries to show that Lady Poverty will always respond with joy and delight towards those that are zealous in her observance. She (poverty) always sees such people as her own. Little wonders why the author put the phrase: â€Å"Brothers and very dear friends† here to show the level or degree of love she has towards those that seek her genuinely. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 535-537, n. 19, 21 & 23)A RECOLLECTION OF POVERTY IN PARADISE In this section, we see the author, in his gifted ability to perfectly connect words and scriptural scenarios together, liken the joy that Adam and Eve experienced in paradise and the loss of that joy as a result of their unfaithfulness and disobedience with the peace and serene experiences that the some friars had when they were faithful to the observance of poverty and the woes and flaws that others experienced because of their rejection of the literal observance of poverty.In a nutshell, the author is conveying a message, that just as man lost paradise by the cunning of the serpent, which consequently led to disobedience, so the friars will lose their holiness and spiritual esteem by the allurements of worldly possessions (i. e. books, fine clothes comfortable houses and living in towns and cities) leading to their rejection of poverty.Furthermore, just as man tried to give excuses for his deeds instead of asking for God’s mercy and forgiveness and thus incurred His wrath, so it would be for the friars, if they continue to defend their reasons for trying to mitigate the literal observance of poverty. Finally in this section, the author is encouraging the friars to come back to the primitive observance of poverty and if they do come back to it, God will replenish them with all the gr aces they have lost and thus enjoy God’s divine providence which the world cannot give.He tried to liken the glory and honour that the friars would experience again, with the redemptive or salvific victory that Christ won for us when he reconciled mankind to God once again by his blood. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 537-539, n. 25-30. ) THE COVENANT OF CHRIST In this section, we can see the overall point of the author and his reason for agitating for the friars’ return to the literal observance of poverty. He said that Lady Poverty is a covenant or testament which Christ specifically left to his disciples and thus the friars.The author is encouraging the friars to trust in divine providence and that they should not worry about what to wear, what to eat etc. , that all these will be provided for only if they observe poverty. (Sacred Exchange, p. 539, n. 31) THE APOSTLES Here the author is saying that even the apostles observe the virtue of poverty both in their words and action s and, thereby won so many souls for Christ. They never said anything of their own word, but what Christ asked them to say.They contributed according to their ability and shared according to needs of the community entrusted to them. The writer said it is because of the great impact of the lifestyle of early Christian community of which the apostles were the guide. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 539-540, n. 32) THE PEACE CONTRARY TO POVERTY The author tries to tell the friars that not all that glitters is gold; that at times when all is going well, they should be very cautious because there can be evil disguised as good just to derail them from the observance of poverty.He likened the movement of the Order’s clericalization and into cities (urbanization), which was taking the Order away from the original observance of poverty, with the peace pact and legitimization of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, which according to the author did more harm than good, becau se from the time of the pact zeal for the Lord and His kingdom, expressed in persecution and martyrdom, had waned. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 541-532, n. 34-35) THE PRAISE OF THE GOOD POOR The author in this section tried to be more specific about the two factions already emerging in the Franciscan Order. i. e. , the community and the companions) Observing paragraph thirty-seven: After a while, some began to breathe and willingly to walk the right path which for some time they had walked out of necessity. From the statement the author is saying that some of the friars (i. e. the companions) realize that things were not going well with the Order, for many have all failed to observe poverty, so they struggled hard to restore a more pristine observance of poverty; often, however, they were opposed by the other friars (i. . the community). (Sacred Exchange, p. 542, n. 37) The author further called the companions men of virtue pleasing and blameless before God which, in other words, means tha t the friars should not be dismayed by the antagonism and criticism they receive from the community; rather they should be happy for they are pleasing and acceptable to God and, thus, he listed a great litany of virtues, attributing them solely to the companions (Sacred Exchange, p. 542, n. 38) POVERTY WARNS FALSE RELIGIOUSIn encouraging the faithful friars, (i. e. , the companions) Lady Poverty urged them to be steadfast and hold their heads high; they should be persistent in their pursuit of her embrace and that they should be conscious of the dangers of worldly enticements so that they will not be derailed like the others; because if they are not careful, their fate would be worse. For under the guise of piety, they withdraw from that which was given them by a holy commandment. (Sacred Exchange, p. 543, n. 40) POVERTY SPEAKS ABOUT GOOD RELIGOUSIn this section, the author tries to convey a message that those friars who are faithful to the observance of poverty are not easily entan gled or seduced by worldly desires, for they are always praying with all humility and joy. Also, the author calls them Israel, which means that they are the chosen people of God and they are always blessed and favoured by Him since He had made covenant with them and for this reason they will be honour by many people; furthermore, they will be a light for all to see. (Sacred Exchange, p. 44, n. 42) POVERTY WARNS THEM TO RETURN In this section, the author is trying to persuade the friars to return to the original charism of the observance of Poverty. He wrote: Return you children who are withdrawing and I will heal your aversion. The author here used some scriptural words that the prophets in the Old Testament used in order to call the Israelites to repentance lest they perish. He asked them to listen to their heart and that they should not be stubborn else they might lose their souls to worldly possessions.Furthermore, he tries to explain how miserable the lives of those friars will be who refuse to repent and that the punishment that awaits those that disobeyed Christ’s commands will be more severe than the punishment that the Israelites got simply because they violate the rule that Moses gave them, for the Son of Man is greater than Moses and all the prophets and saints. (Sacred Exchange, p. 548, n. 51) THE LORD SPEAKS TO LADY POVERTY With these words: They have departed and gone away for they have not rejected you (Lady Poverty) but me (i. . , God), the author is saying that the observance of poverty means the acceptance and obedience of God’s commands which supersedes all other authority; therefore, whoever refuse to observe poverty is rejecting God. (Sacred Exchange, p. 548, n. 52) LADY POVERTY ADMONISHES BLESSED FRANCIS ABOUT PROGRESS AND REGRESSION IN RELIGIOUS LIFE. The author is saying to the friars not to look back for those that have put their hands on the plough and look back are not fit for the kingdom of God.He reminded the friars to always remember what happened to Lot’s wife whenever they are being tempted by the snare of evil thoughts to go against the literal observance of poverty. Furthermore, he urged those who are faithful to the observance of poverty to keep up their heroic work and that they are seen as the trusted friends of God; therefore, they are not far from the kingdom of heaven because they have decided to take the path of ascent where only few can go. Finally, he said to the friars to see Christ as the only model and guide and that they should be careful not to fall into the trap of seeking vain worldly knowledge, wealth etc. hich leads to greed, pride and sloth, for if they happen to fall to this snares, it will be very difficult to recover from such a pit because it is not easy to come back to perfectly observe poverty due to the snares of the worldly riches. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 549-550, n. 53-55) BLESSED FRANCIS TOGHETHER WITH HIS BROTHERS RESPOND TO LADY POVERTY Here the author tri es to prove that Francis and his brothers' love and desire to observe poverty as they consecrate themselves totally to the observance of poverty.Francis and his brothers blest poverty, because through her many people are blest and have won God’s favours. They said that although they were hearing bad rumors about her, they have come to see and experience what she (Lady Poverty) perfectly means and is and they begged her not to give them little of herself for they are ready to observe her more fervently like never before and always be her spouse. (Sacred Exchange, p. 550, n. 56-58) THE CONSENT OF POVERTY The author said that poverty consented to the pleas of Francis and his brothers as she embraced them with all her graces and blessings.The author said that Francis was so happy for the love of Lady Poverty that he continued to praise God with all his strength, for she has finally accepted them to be her spouse. (Sacred Exchange, p. 551, n. 58) THE BANQUET OF POVERTY WITH THE BR OTHERS Here in this section, the author compare the dwellings of the friars in the city (i. e. the community friars) with their luxurious houses and settings, kitchen, assorted meals, rooms, condiments and dining room, etc. ith the poor dwellings of the companions with stones for their pillows, bread and water as their assorted food, cracked bowls as their water bowl, their teeth as their knife, their habit as their hand towel and the whole world as their enclosure, thus showing that the friars in hermitages are the faithful ones with the observance of poverty and that’s why she is so happy with them always. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 551-552, n. 59-63) LADY POVERTY BLESSES THE BROTHERS AND URGES THEM TO PERSEVERE WITH THE GRACE THEY HAVE RECEIVED Therefore, I (i. . , Lady Poverty) beg you brothers(the faithful ones who keep to the literal observance of poverty), through the mercy of God which has made you so poor, do that for which you have come, that for which you have risen up from the waters of Babylon: The author is urging the friars to continue in their observance of poverty because God’s blessings and grace is already bestowed upon them and, for through them, so many souls will be won; their prayers always rise like incense of sweet smell before the Trinity.Finally, the author is saying that the faithful friars will forever be honoured, for they have made the angels in heaven rejoice continually, the whole company of heaven, saints, martyrs, virgins, blessed etc, are all celebrating for their devotedness and love; their exemplary lives, though full of struggle, are not in vain. (Sacred Exchange, pp. 553-554, n. 64-69) CONCLUSION Following our analysis of the Sacred Exchange it is apparent that the author is full of bias and prejudice towards the friars that sought to live the observance of poverty in a modified way in towns and cities.Nevertheless, one may ask if someone wants to take what is cherished and valued away from another, would that o ne be happy? Would he/she not try everything in his/her power to protect it from being taken away? The writer of this precious document, and those who shared his perspective on events of the early brotherhood, was not writing to cause division in the Order, rather, it would seem that he was defending something so precious and necessary to the charism of the Order. The writer was attempting to safeguard something he considered a fundamental value; he was writing for what he perceived to be a just cause.Though Franciscans of today know they cannot observe poverty in the same way the early friars due to the absolutely clear differences in the societal and cultural settings of their time and ours, still there many of things we can learn from their zeal, their spirituality and their faithfulness in keeping alive this aspect of our Franciscan heritage which we have inherited and must pass on to generations of friars yet to come. Finally, let us cherish all their efforts by appreciating th eir writings and studying them well, for if we study them, we learn from their spirituality, their intellectuality, and also from their mistakes.Then we can apply them to our age. For in their writings, we could find answers to some of the problems that we face today, and in doing so, we are keeping the eight hundred years old Franciscan tradition alive for the friar yet to be born. BIBLIOGRAPHY Francis of Assisi, â€Å"Sacred Exchange between Saint Francis of Assisi and Lady Poverty† in Regis J. Armstrong Et al. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, VOL. I: The Saint (London: New City Press, 1999), pp. 529-554.