With close Reference to the Language of Specific Characters Essay Example

With close Reference to the Language of Specific Characters Essay Written by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy based around the concepts of love and conflict. Within the play, each different character brings with themselves their own unique attitudes towards love, sex and marriage, ranging from the aggressive views of Sampson and Gregory to the passionate and sensitive views of Romeo and Juliet. It is the intention of this essay to explore and analyse the opinions of the main characters in the play, along with how they are presented by Shakespeare. The first characters to be introduced in the play are Sampson and Gregory, an uneducated and violent double-act with an obsession with sex and no thoughts of love or marriage. Being lowly servants of the Capulet family, they speak in prose tainted with rude and aggressive language: Women being the weaker vessels are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montagues men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall (Act One, Scene One, Lines 14-17) We will write a custom essay sample on With close Reference to the Language of Specific Characters specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on With close Reference to the Language of Specific Characters specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on With close Reference to the Language of Specific Characters specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This quote clearly shows that they regard women as being nothing more than sexual objects to be used at ones leisure and then disposed of. The word vessels here implies that women are only suitable to carrying children, again demonstrating to the audience that Sampson and Gregory regard women as being inferior. When the actor delivers his lines, he would emphasise the word thrust in order to convey Sampson and Gregorys vulgar and misogynistic attitude to the uneducated peasantry, who would appreciate the crudeness. In addition, their bawdy and rude sense of humour, which is shown by their phrases Tis known that I am a pretty piece of flesh and my naked weapon is out would have appealed to most of the audience. In direct contrast to Sampson and Gregory is one of the heroes of the play, Romeo, who is of noble status within the Montague family. We observe Romeos attitudes to love changing rather drastically as the play progresses; he goes from being the classic Petrarchan, negative lover to a passionate and soulful one. Before he meets Juliet, the person who inspires this change within him, he talks about his unrequited love for Rosaline (who, incidentally, the audience dont actually see in the play). He describes his love elaborately and excessively, using phrases such as She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair. The audience think that Romeo is being over-the-top and insincere, a notion thats heightened by his apparently confused views of love, demonstrated by his use of oxymorons: O brawling love, O loving hate, O anything of nothing first create! (Act One, Scene One, Lines 170-171) Not only do these contradictory terms show Romeos inability to think straight, they also show him blinded by his apparent love for Rosaline. However, when Romeo meets Juliet for the first time, he changes from having a negative view of love and being in a state of emotional turmoil to being positive, light and soulful. His language suddenly transforms from a dark and depressing mood into a more lifted one. This becomes apparent to the audience when they hear Romeo say: This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss (Act One, Scene Five, Lines 93-95) His language, though no longer overly elaborate, still has some Petrarchan qualities, though Romeo expresses his love positively rather than through depression, which informs the audience that his love is passionate and pure. His description of Juliet as holy shrine suggests that she is his world, his religion, his life, and tender kiss emphasises his caring love for her. Through language such as this, Shakespeare makes clear that Romeo is no longer in love with the idea of being in love (as he was before), but is well and truly in love with Juliet. Although Juliet returns Romeos affections, their views on love and marriage were rather different before they met. Juliet was the classic example of a dutiful daughter, pleased to obey her parents in almost every aspect of life, including love. When Lady Capulet proposes Paris offer to her, Juliet says Ill look to like, if looking liking move But no more deep will I endart mine eye Than your consent gives strength to make it fly (Act One, Scene Three, Lines 98-100) At this point in the play, Juliet is being obedient and is allowing her parents to guide her in the matter of love as they see fit. However, when Juliet meets Romeo, her views change so drastically that she goes against all social norms and proposes marriage herself (an idea that was simply unheard of in Elizabethan culture the man was supposed to propose). Juliet even goes so far as to offer to abandon her family for Romeo (and hence, risk abandonment), making the audience realise that her love for Romeo is greater even than her love for her parents and her life, which serves as a great contrast to the previously shy and dutiful Juliet: Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love And Ill no longer be a Capulet. (Act Two, Scene Two, Lines 35-36) Both Romeo and Juliet share a passionate, true love for each other, harbouring no obsessions with sex (unlike Sampson and Gregory). When they meet, they begin to realise just how powerful love can be, and devote themselves to the other. The fourth character to be discussed is the Nurse, of the House of Capulet. She is of low social status, which is reflected in her bawdy (though unaggressive) sense of humour. However, Nurse treats Juliet as her own daughter (something Lady Capulet never did), a fact which is made apparent to the audience when Lady Capulet says Thou knowest my daughter of a pretty age. Also, although Nurse displays a strong parental for Juliet, her views of love are rather superficial, and based upon appearances. A man, young lady! Lady, such a man As all the world Why hes a man of wax (Act One, Scene Three, Lines 76-77) The above quotation (describing Paris) shows that Nurse considers appearances to be of utmost importance; the phrase man of wax implies perfection in looks. She also refers to Paris as a flower and doesnt mention anything about his character when persuading Juliet to marry him. Nurses views on marriage are influenced by fond memories of her late husband God be with his soul and she also says to Juliet: And I might live to see thee married once, I have my wish (Act One, Scene Three, Lines 63-64) This tells the audience that she has positive views on marriage and has a motherly wish to see Juliet married. Furthermore, Nurse uses a lot of sexual innuendo, talking about wormwood on my dung and Juliet falling backward when thou hast more wit. Making such casual remarks in the presence of a person such as Lady Capulet was considered improper in those times, but the Nurses disregard for this also reflects her low social standing. Another pair of characters from Juliets family is Lord and Lady Capulet, who, surprisingly, have contrasting views of love and marriage. Lord Capulet believes that Juliet should be older before she is married, and wants her to choose her husband. Let two more summers wither in their pride, Ere we may think her ripe to be a bride. (Act One, Scene Two, Lines 10-11) The above quote shows that Lord Capulet is quite prepared to wait another few years for Juliet to get married, which is the complete opposite of what Lady Capulet thinks: Well, think of marriage now; younger than you, Here in Verona, ladies of esteem, Are made already mothers. (Act One, Scene Three, Lines 70-72) Lady Capulet clearly has no patience, and wants Juliet to marry Paris straight away. This implies that Juliets father is more loving and protective, while her mother is superficial and uncaring. Furthermore, the views of the two contrast on the point of love too: But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart My will to her consent is but a part. (Act One, Scene Two, Lines 16-17) This suggestion from Lord Capulet tells us that he wants Juliet to love her husband, and shows that he doesnt really want to impose his own will upon her. Lady Capulet, on the other hand, wants Juliet to marry immediately, so that she can share all that he doth possess and add to the family fortune. The next character to be explored is Mercutio, Romeos best friend. He is of noble status but uses crude and vulgar language in spite of his standing. He has a negative attitude towards love and regards it as a foe that must be beaten down: If love be rough with you, be rough with love. Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down. (Act One, Scene Four, Lines 76-77) However, he displays a strong filial love for Romeo, and his view on love could be influenced by Rosalines harsh treatment of his best friend. Another explanation could be that Mercutio has never experienced love before; therefore he doesnt know how to deal with it properly. His cynical attitude makes Mercutio dismiss Romeos fantasies, because he is supposedly succumbing to the evil powers of love. Another character with a negative view of love is Benvolio, Romeos other friend. When attempting to comfort Romeo, he suggests that he should simply find someone else to replace Rosaline in his affections. Compare her face with some that I shall show, And I will make thee think thy swan a crow. (Act One, Scene Two, Lines 88-89) Within the above quotation, Shakespeare informs us of the superficial attitudes to love and women within Benvolio. The use of the word compare suggests that women are merely objects, and the casual suggestion to replace Rosaline shows Benvolios shallow opinions. However, he does display a strong filial love for Romeo, which is shown when he tries to comfort him over the unrequited love. Even though the advice is not very good (Benvolio has probably never been in love himself), the gesture is still there. He also believes that love seems to be a good thing on the outside but on the inside it is an evil enemy: Alas that Love, so gentle in his view, Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof (Act One, Scene One, Lines 163-164) Contrasting with Benvolio is Tybalt, of the House of Capulet, who displays absolutely no filial love. He despises everyone of the House of Montague and displays a rather fiery personality. It fits when such a villain in a guest: Ill not endure him (Act One, Scene Five, Lines 74-75) This quote referring to Romeo shows that Tybalt cannot stand any Montagues, and his previous order, Fetch me my rapier, boy along with other such statements littered throughout his dialogue suggest that he is very violent and aggressive. Later on in the play, he challenges Romeo to a fight to the death, demonstrating his obsession with his familys honour. The final character to be explored is Friar Lawrence, who, despite having two sons, treats Romeo like one of his children, giving advice and encouragement. He refers to Romeo as good son, which tells the audience of his fatherly feelings. Friar Lawrence doesnt differentiate between the two houses of Capulet and Montague, unlike most of the other characters, and agrees to marry Romeo and Juliet in the hope that it will unite the conflicting families. To conclude, William Shakespeare delivers to us an array of moral values and attitudes to love, sex and marriage in Romeo and Juliet. One of his greatest works, the play expresses the views of all social classes, using marvellous linguistic tools that are unparalleled to this day. The audience are greeted with the violent and aggressive attitudes of Sampson and Gregory, juxtaposed by the passionate and sensitive views of love of Romeo and Juliet. Throughout the play, Shakespeare masterfully weaves humour and sadness, peace and conflict, love and hate, together into an intricate and entertaining plot that will be performed and studies for generations to come.

3 Great Options for Online Homeschooling Support

3 Great Options for Online Homeschooling Support SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The magic of the internet has dramatically increased the resources available to the average homeschooler. Through online homeschooling resources, homeschools can supplement their existing coursework, parents can get curriculum support, and students with irregular schedules can stay enrolled in high school! In this complete guide to online homeschool, we’ll introduce online homeschooling, discuss the pros and cons to online homeschool, and go over the types of online homeschool and the benefits and drawbacks to each type. We’ll also provide examples of each type of program! An Introductionto Online Homeschool Online homeschooling refers to a homeschooling program (so, no going to a brick-and-mortar building!) where some or all of the learning is done through the aid of an online program. Other than that, it’s a pretty broad term. Online homeschooling could mean you are doing a complete, comprehensive program at an online high school. It could also mean one or both of your parents are your primary teachers, but you are supplementing their teaching with one or two online homeschool classes. It could even mean your parents are getting their homeschool curriculum from an online source, which they are then teaching to you. Thus, â€Å"online homeschool† can refer to pretty much any internet-based homeschooling coursework resources. Should You Use Online Classes in Your Homeschooling Program? There are both pros and cons to making use of online material and courses in your homeschooling program. Benefits of Online Homeschooling There are several benefits to online homeschooling: It's Flexible Online homeschool allows for increased flexibility in schedule. This is really important for students who may be engaged in lots of travel for athletic competitions or who have other constraints that cause them to have irregular schedules. Being able to work on the road and at unusual times is a must for students who are pursuing activities that aren’t compatible with a typical Monday-Friday 8 am-3 pm school schedule. It Doesn’t Rely Solely on Parent Expertise Even if your parents are amazing homeschool teachers, there may be areas where they don’t have enough knowledge to effectively teach you, especially when you get older and start taking advanced and AP classes. In this case, online homeschool classes can fill in the gaps and make sure you get the instruction you need for advanced coursework. Can Have Engaging, Interactive Teaching Methods Some online homeschool programs will mostly involve you reading an online textbook and doing standard exercises. However, there are some programs that strive to present material in an engaging and interactive way using the online/computer-based medium. This can help keep you from getting bored. Validated Grades A benefit to online homeschool programs that give grades is that it helps validate your grades beyond just a parent transcript. If an online, independently run and graded course gives you high marks, that’s going to serve as evidence to colleges that you really know the material and help validate your homeschool grades and achievements. If you're a competitive ice-skater, you might need online homeschool so you can skate and graduate! Drawbacks of Online Homeschooling Here are some of the drawbacks: Self-Motivation Is Required The less structured and monitored a program is, the more self-motivated you’ll need to be. So if you’re doing a very self-guided program without too many deadlines or checkpoints along the way, you will really need to keep yourself on track. A parent can help with this, of course, but it will ultimately be up to you to make sure all the work gets done. Quality Control The landscape of online education is very uneven, so you need to really make sure that whatever online homeschooling program(s) you use are high-quality. Ideally, they would be accredited in some way and have good reviews from other students. Other things to look for include instructor availability, quality and comprehensiveness of content, and workload. Less Curriculum Flexibility Online homeschooling, particularly complete online high school programs, offer less curriculum flexibility than traditional homeschooling, where parents can create the entire curriculum tailored to student interest. For example, parents can arrange every subject in short units around single topics or make all of your math work relate to cooking and baking to keep students interested. With online programs, it’s less individualized and more outside of parental (and student) control. Cost In general, most online homeschooling resources cost money, and they can be quite expensive! At some providers, an individual course can cost a thousand dollars, and enrolling in a complete online high school can cost several thousand dollars a year! Unfortunately, it takes more than a simple stamp to guarantee quality. The 3 Types of Online Homeschool: Pros and Cons There are three overall categories of online homeschool: single classes, complete online schools or programs, and online curriculum support for homeschooling parents. Single Classes As a homeschooler, you can take single classes in specific subjects from a variety of online course providers to supplement your home learning without having to enroll in a complete online high school. Pros: By taking single online courses, you can pick and choose from a variety of sources. This allows you not only to try out different providers and formats but dramatically expands your potential course catalogue! If you can find an online provider that offers a course, you can take it! Taking single courses is also, in general, going to be more cost-effective than enrolling in a complete online high school. You can select only those courses that you absolutely need an online provider for and save money on the ones where you don’t. Cons: The more different providers you take courses from, the more logistically complicated it will be! Not only will you have to make sure that none of your courses clash in terms of scheduling, deadlines, and so on, you will need to request transcripts from all of your coursework providers when it’s time to apply to college! Examples: Here are several examples of providers that offer single classes for online homeschool. Note that many online high schools also offer the option of taking single classes. PA Homeschoolers - This homeschool-student only provider offers robust online AP courses for high-schoolers. Reviews of the site praise the individualized attention that students get from instructors and the overall quality of the curriculum and learning experience. Florida Virtual School - This public online course provider has both single course and complete curriculum options; with FLVS Flex, homeschoolers can supplement their coursework with select online courses. UC Scout - The University of California system offers this online course provider specifically so that students can satisfy California universities’ A-G requirements online (the A-G requirements are fairly standard high school college prep course expectations). But anyone can enroll in their courses! Taking single classes gives you access to a whole buffet of online courses! Complete Online Schools/Programs You can also enroll in a complete online high school program and take all of your courses through the same provider- like a regular high school, but in cyberspace! Pros: This is a great option for students in rural areas or with unusual schedules who still want to be connected to some kind of high school community. Some online high schools really make an effort to connect students, too, through things like extracurriculars. You will get a more consistent, cohesive academic experience from an online school as opposed to if you patch together classes from various online course providers, homeschool, and community college. Some online high schools even have pretty robust institutional resources like guidance counselors to help you apply to college! An online high school gives you the benefit of one simple, complete transcript from the school- which you won’t have if you take classes from multiple sources. This will make it logistically simpler down the line when you start applying to colleges. Cons: You have much less control and flexibility in an online high school versus traditional homeschooling or select online courses. You have to comply with the school’s rules about how many courses you can take, when you can take them, any prerequisites you need, and so on. You’re limited by the school’s course catalogue- if they don’t offer it, you can’t take it. Complete online high schools can be expensive! Many are private schools, in which case you may find yourself paying thousands of dollars annually. However, some states offer free public online high schools to students, so be sure to look into that. Examples: There are hundreds of online high schools out there. These are only a few examples. But if you are going to use an online high school, make sure that it’s accredited! Stanford Online High School - This rigorous, application-only online high school was created by Stanford University and features a lot of interaction with other students as a main selling point. It is fairly expensive, though! Connections Academy - This is a free, accredited online public high school. The Keystone School - An accredited, online private high school based in Pennsylvania but available to students everywhere. Also check out our massive list of over a hundred free online high schools! If you need to keep irregular hours to fuel your frog-hunting passion, online homeschool may be just the thing for you! Online Homeschool Curriculum Support If you’re a parent who is looking for predesigned homeschool curriculum to use with your children, there are tons of online homeschooling curriculums available out there. Pros: The major pro, of course, is that this can be an incredible time-saversince you don’t have to design the entire curriculum yourself. If you can find a well-designed, high-quality, positively-reviewed curriculum for a course, you can confidently use it yourself! Pre-designed curricula can also be helpful when you are familiar with the subject, but not an expert. It will give you a little boost in knowledge and effectiveness if the curriculum is high-quality. Cons: Quality control is an issue for any online homeschool curriculum. Since most curricula aren’t offered by accredited institutions, it can be hard to know that what you’re getting is the real deal. Ideally, you’d be able to look over some of the curriculum before purchasing or using it so that you can validate it. You’ll also want to try to find reviews from other users. Examples: Here are a couple of curriculum support options. Note that it may be the hardest to separate the wheat from the chaff with curriculum support sites because anyone can start up a website and upload a curriculum with little possibility of outside validation. Bridgeway Academy - In addition to single courses and an online high school program, they also offer a program for parents to connect with homeschool curriculum that meets their needs. Calvert Education - Calvert Education offers homeschool curriculum to parents with an online management tool and a support line. They also claim President Barack Obama as an alumnus! Imagine a 24-7 curriculum support line for all your 2 am math-instruction questions. Online Homeschool: Key Takeaways Online homeschooling resources are available from many sources. You can take individual courses, enroll in a complete online high school, or get homeschool curriculum online! Here are some of the pros and cons to online homeschool: Pros: It can offer flexibility for students with unusual schedules. It allows you to get taught by trained experts in a variety of subjects. Teaching methods can be interactive and engaging. An online course transcript helps validates other homeschool grades. Cons: You need to be self-motivated to learn in the online format. Quality control for online learning resources can be a problem. Less flexibility than traditional homeschooling. It can be expensive! There are also pros and cons to the different kinds of online homeschool: Single courses allow youtry out multiple providers and have access to more classes and are more cost-effective than a complete online high school. However, the more providers you take classes from, the more logistically complicated it is! A complete online high school keeps you connected to a high school community, gives a cohesive academic experience, and gives you just one simple transcript, but uou are limited by the high school’s regulations and course catalog. Complete online high schools can also be very expensive. Curriculum support is a less extensive option that can still be ahuge time-saver for parents, but quality control is often an issue with these resources. Online homeschool for everyone! Yay! What's Next? Get more guidance on deciding if online high school is right for you, and a list of 100+ free online high schools to consider. And be sure to learn more about getting a high school diploma online! Thinking about a private online school? See our full expert review of Stanford Online High School. Need to register for the ACT orprep for the ACTas a homeschooled student? Or what aboutpreparing for the SAT as a homeschooler? Considering taking AP courses online? See our guide to 12 pros and cons of online AP courses. And see expert reviews of the best and worst online AP courses. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Nursing 101 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing 101 - Essay Example Therefore, clinical care delivery and clinical learning experiences of a student nurse like me would ideally also drift from the conventional system. I am too novice to comment on this, and I am sure once my studies go in a full throttle, things will appear as they are. As is evident, in a healthcare setting dominated by specialists and super specialists, there is possibility of some kind of fragmentation of the care, and in my opinion, to avoid such, a holistic concept of people, health, wellness, and healing needs to be used. I know, a holistic perspective focuses on all dimensions of an individual, including physiological, psychological, social, cultural, cognitive, and spiritual. It has a philosophy inherent in this, and this philosophy, I believe, creates the fundamental paradigm of nursing as a profession. Although I am new in this field, I am given to understand that nursing is an art and science of caring and healing that promotes health. The spiritual aspect of nursing is very much relevant to even modern healthcare in the sense that at least spirit may indicate a will to live. This is the life force within a person and spirituality indicates the presence of this phenomenon. However, this is intangible and cannot be located. Without going in to the debate whether it is related to religious aspects of human life, scientific evidence suggests that loss of this life force is detrimental to survival. This concept encompasses a concern or caring that extends from ourselves to others, meaning as the nurse has care and concern for her won existence and survival, they should face the other with an equal concern for their existence and survival (Bunkers, SS., 2008). Disease is a process that expresses in a human being as a result of reaction to the environment, and according to my philosophy, nursing is a process by which the art of caring is manifested. This art of caring, of course, is guided by the philosophical approaches to define

Business to business (marketing plan) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Business to business (marketing plan) - Essay Example In light of this, the company would have to put in a lot of effort in identifying where its major strengths are so as to take advantage of the potentials. In this regard, a comprehensive research and development program in the short to medium term is recommended. What is more, the company must be poised with the introduction of new strategies and competitive advantages that will not seem too familiar to end users. Once this happens, potential customers would have no justification to trade off their existing companies for the new entrant. 1 Comparison of B2B to B2C B2B has largely been used to stand for business to business marketing whiles B2C has also been used to represent business to customers marketing. A critical understanding of these forms of marketing is very importation in the creation of market of market segments for any identified setting. This is because with an understanding of which of the two works best for a given company, it becomes easier for the company to select o ne of the two principles in creating the segmentation (quote). Generally, B2C has larger and broader sales prospects than B2B (quote). To this extent, B2C assure larger markets than B2B. In terms of segmentation also, demographic segmentation is more favourable for B2B whiles demographic segmentation is favourable for B2C (quote). This is so because B2C deals directly with customers and so need specific characteristics of customers to undertake business. B2B, which on the other hand deal with businesses needs to target a larger geographic scope in order to achieve successful patronage. Best basis of segmentation for each NEW market As stated earlier, the B2B is more favourable with geographic segmentation whiles B2C is more suitable for demographic segmentation. For each of these new markets therefore, there is a level of basis for the selected segmentation. In the business to business marketing for instance, because the company deals directly with other businesses, it does not real ly have to have the specific demographic make up of the setting into consideration. Rather, it would rather have to look at the business prospect of the market and strength of competitors in the area. With the business to customer, because the customer is the direct focus, it is always virtually impossible to think of succeeding without knowing the specific demographic qualities of customers. In most instances, the demographic characteristics that are considered for the demographic segmentation include race, nationality, gender, family size, religion, education, occupation, and income. Identify target segment and its estimated value From the discussions so far, the most suitable target segment for LumiCore is the London market. This way, it is clear that business to business (B2B) has been selected over business to business (B2C). This is because business to business makes use of segments such as states, regions, nations, countries, cities and in some cases, zip codes and neighbourh oods. Judging from the fact that London in the United Kingdom is a city, it qualifies and comes under business to business marketing. With London selected as the target segment, there are several estimated values that the company can be assured of having. Because the remaining aspects of the report shall give a closer diagnosis of the London segment, not

International Legal English Certificate Test Of Writing English Language Essay

International Legal English Certificate Test Of Writing English Language Essay 1. Introduction This assignment evaluates the Test of Writing of the International Legal English Certificate (ILEC). ILEC is an examination produced by Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in collaboration with Translegal, a firm of lawyer-linguists. The target candidature for ILEC is legal professionals and law students, operating in the area of international commercial law, who need to demonstrate proof of their language proficiency in English. The assignment will first consider relevant issues for the development of tests for specific purposes and then examine validity aspects of the ILEC Writing paper in detail. (1) 1.1 Tests in Language for Specific Purposes Testing Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), such as a Test of English for the legal profession refers to language assessment in which the test content arises from an analysis of specific target language use situations: these often (but not always) correspond to the language needs of a particular occupational group. Devising LSP tests presents test developers with a number of issues, including the relationship of test specificity to test generalisability; the importance of ensuring authenticity of test content; the interaction between background content knowledge and language knowledge, and for some domains, the difficulty in gaining access to relevant information on the nature of language use in that domain. (2) 1.2 Specificity vs Generalisability LSP tests have often been directly contrasted with general purpose tests. This is now, however, generally acknowledged to be an oversimplification of the issue and there is growing consensus that tests do not fall into one grouping (specific purpose) or the other (general purpose), but that, in the words of Douglas (2000:1), there is a continuum of specificity from the very general to the very specific: all tests are devised for some purpose and fall at some point along the specificity spectrum. The concept of a spectrum or continuum of specificity raises the question of where on the continuum a test should be placed and the related issue of how generalisable the LSP test is intended to be. Generalisability is often held to decrease in proportion to the specificity of the test: the more specific a test (such as English for Air Traffic Controllers), the less possible to generalise from that to other language use situations. This is accepted as a fundamental issue in LSP, to which the re are no straightforward answers. (3) 1.3 Background content knowledge In general purpose language testing, background knowledge of topic or cultural content is viewed as a confounding variable, which should be minimised as it has the potential to lead to measurement error. For LSP tests, however, subject specific content is arguably a defining feature of the test. Nonetheless, the question of separability, that is, how to distinguish between language knowledge and specific background knowledge in analysing candidates results on a specific purpose language test, has been a recurring concern. Bachman and Palmer (1996) argued in relation to a test for trainee doctors, that it should be possible to control for background medical knowledge in interpretation of performance on a language test, by, for example, the administration of knowledge tests alongside the LSP test. The difficulty in assessing the extent of the test takers background knowledge and its interaction with language proficiency has been addressed by Clapham (1996) who concluded that background knowledge was undoubtedly a significant factor in the process of testing reading, but the extent varied with the specificity of the test and the language proficiency of the candidate. There has more recently been an acceptance that until more is known about how the mind deals cognitively with ability and knowledge, specific background knowledge and language performance need to be treated as being inextricably linked (Douglas 2000:39). (4) 1.4 Access to information on language use within the domain With an increase, in the second part of the 20th century, in the number of people needing to learn English for education, technology and commerce, the main drive behind the development of LSP was practical rather than theoretical. As a result, LSP itself may be said to have suffered from a lack of theoretical underpinning. A key analytical tool has been the use of Needs Analysis to assess the linguistic requirements of a particular target group. Some analyses resulted in long detailed lists of needs for which empirical verification was held to be lacking. Widdowson, for example, described many LSP Needs Analyses as being made up of observational lists with no basis in theory (Widdowson 1983:8). Alderson, Davies and others have raised similar concerns (Alderson 1988, Davies 1990, Skehan 1984). A further criticism of some needs analyses was that they lacked objectivity, were influenced by the ideological perceptions of the analysts (Robinson 1991:7) and took insufficient account of the students themselves. Nonetheless, assessment of language needs can still inform LSP course and test design. As Clapham has said, We now know that such analyses can become too detailed, and also paradoxically, too limited in scope. However, this does not mean that they areunnecessary (Clapham 1996:5). Analysis of texts and spoken discourse from particular target language use situations is important in revealing how the target language use (TLU) community communicates and disseminates information. The growth of corpus linguistics and the corresponding development of electronic databases of texts can help in enabling the identification of specific syntactic patterns and use of specific lexis among particular occupational groups or discourse communities. At present, however, there is a limited number of such corpora available and genre analysis plays an important role when considering communication between members of the occupational group or discourse community in question. According to Swales (1990), texts belonging to a particular genre share common features with regard to the organisation of information, rhetorical conventions and lexico-grammatical patterns which practitioners within that discourse community need to access and use in order to operate with any degree of effectiveness. Bhatia (1993) developed earlier work by Swales and has extensively researched language use in professional contexts, particularly discourse within business settings. Nonetheless, due to the confidential nature of the work done by some occupational groups (such as lawyers), access to texts from those domains may not be easily acquired. Swales (1996 cited in Flowerdew and Wan 2006) refers to such texts as occluded, genres to which access is normally denied to those outside the participating discourse community. One task for the test developer in such circumstances therefore lies in obtaining subject-specific assistance and advice. Bhatia (1993) reports on how the subject specialis t or specialist informant has played a role within LSP genre analysis. (5) 2. The ILEC Writing Test: considering the validity issues A copy of the ILEC Writing Test is attached in Appendix 1. The test will be evaluated according to its context, theory-based, scoring and consequential validity. (6) 2.1 Context Validity The term Content Validity was traditionally used to refer to the authenticity and content coverage of the task. Context Validity is now a more widely used term as it also takes into account the discoursal, social and cultural contexts as well as the linguistic content. Context validity in the case of writing tasks also relates to the particular performance conditions under which the operations required for task fulfilment are performed such as purpose of task, time available, length, specified addresses. (7) 2.1.1 Authenticity of task and content coverage Authenticity of task means that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the LSP test tasks should share critical features of tasks in the target language use situation of interest to the test takers (Douglas 2000:2). Bachman and Palmer (1996:23) describe a task as being relatively authentic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whose characteristics correspond to those of the Target Language Use (TLU) domain tasks and define authenticity as the degree of correspondence of the characteristics of a given language test task to the features of a TLU task (1996:23). In terms of the TLU situation, ILEC is a test of English in an international, commercial law context, the design of which is based on the following characteristics of the language environment of the target candidates: Areas of the law: law of associations; contract law; sale of goods; debtor-creditor law; commercial paper; employment law; intellectual property law; property law; remedies; civil procedure; administrative law; public international law; family law. Types of lawyer: lawyers practising (and law students who intend to practise) in a commercial law context with elements of international commercial business dealings. Types of environments that target lawyers work in: business law firms and other law firms with international dealings; in-house corporate counsel; governmental organisations; international organisations. Types of people that target lawyers must communicate with in English: other international lawyers; members of the international business community; governmental representatives; client form other countries. The choice of materials in the Writing Test is based on an analysis of the kinds of tasks that the target lawyers are likely to encounter in their working environment. (8) In a legal context, for example, a legal writing test must engage the test taker in writing tasks which are authentically representative of the situations they might plausibly encounter. The technical characteristics of language employed in a legal professional context has very specific features that lawyers operating in the field of law must control: There are lexical, semantic, syntactic, and even phonological characteristics of language peculiar to any field, and these characteristics allow for people in that field to speak and write more precisely about aspects of the field that outsiders sometimes find impenetrable (Douglas 2000:7). Interestingly, Douglas goes on to provide an example of legalise characterised by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the arcane lexis, the convoluted syntax, the use of Latin terminology, and the interminable cross-references to previous laws and cases in legal texts (2000:8) as an example of the requirement for precise, specific purpose language. Clearly, such language has consciously evolved, developed by the legal fraternity enabling its members to dynamically engage with each other in an attempt to communicate effectively the exact meaning of the law. (9) A legal test also needs to identify and cover its relevant content domain. Coverage of the appropriate domains of language use is attained through the employment of relevant topics, tasks, text types and contexts. The domains, therefore, need to be specified with reference to the characteristics of the test taker, and to the characteristics of the relevant language use contexts. This is the case with the ILEC Writing paper. (10) 2.1.2 Interactional and Situational Authenticity As a general principle it is now argued that language tests should as far as is practicable place the same requirements on test takers as involved in writers responses to communicative settings in non-test real-life situations. The purpose for writing in this paradigm is essentially about communication rather than accuracy (Hyland 2002:8) emphasising validity, particularly the psychological reality of the task, rather than statistical reliability (ibid:230). These views on writing reflect a concern with authenticity which has been a dominant theme in recent years for adherents of a communicative testing approach as they attempt to develop tests that approximate to the reality of non-test language use (real life performance) (see Hawkey 2004, Morrow 1979, Weir 1993 and Weir 2003).The Real-Life (RL) approach (Bachman 1990:41) has proved useful as a means of guiding practical test development. It is most useful in situations in which the domain of language use is relatively homogeneous and identifiable (see OSullivan 2006 on the development of Cambridge Business English examinations). Its primary limitation, however, is that it cannot provide very much information about language ability and hence cannot demonstrate validity in the broadest sense. The RL approach has been regarded as encapsulating the notion of communicative testing as it seeks to develop tests that mirror the reality of non-test language use (real life performance). Its prime concerns are : the appearance or perception of the test and how this may effect test performance and test use (face validity) and; the accuracy with which test performance predicts non-test performance (predictive validity). A number of various attempts have been made to characterise communicative tests (Morrow 1979, Alderson 1981, Porter 1983). Weir (1988), however, points out, there are inherent problems involved in basing test specifications on empirical research and observes that: the more specific the tasks one identifies the less one can generalise from performance on its realisation in a test. The concern with situational authenticity requires writers to make use of texts, situational contexts, and tasks which simulate real-life without trying to replicate it exactly. The interactional authenticity (IA) approach is concerned with the extent to which test performance reflects language abilities. In other words, the concern is with construct validity. Bachman (1989) summarises the IA approach arguing that it encapsulates the essential characteristics of communicative language use by reflecting the interactive relationship that exists between the language user, the context and the discourse. The major consideration shifts from that of attempting to sample actual instances of non-test language use, to that of determining the most appropriate combination of test method characteristics. For Bachman, an interactionally authentic test involves the following: some language function in addition to that of demonstrating the test takers language knowledge; the test takers language knowledge; the test takers language schemata; the test takers meta-cognitive strategies. (11) 2.1.3 Purpose of task Task setting (such as Purpose, Response Format, Weighting, Known Criteria, Order of Items, Time Constraints) and Linguistic Demands (such as Channel, Discourse Mode, Text length, Writer-reader Relationship, etc.) are normally conveyed through the rubric/instructions supplied to the candidates. It is generally accepted that the presentation of information in the task rubric should be made as explicit as possible in terms of the production demands required of the test taker. (12) The writing task rubric must present candidates with clear, precise and unequivocal information regarding the purpose for completing the writing task and the target audience for it. This purpose should provide a reason for completing the task that goes beyond a ritual display of knowledge for assessment. It may well involve suspension of disbelief but having a clear and acceptable communicative purpose in mind is thought to enhance performance. The way the prompt is worded has been shown to affect what the candidate sees as the purpose of the task (Hamp Lyons 1991 and Moore and Morton 1999). For example a term like discuss is open to different interpretations unless further specified (see Evans 1988). (13) The ILEC Writing test gives a clear role to the candidate in each task (eg You are a lawyer representing Ms Sandra Meyer.) and a clear purpose and target audience for the task (eg Write a letter to Robert Woodly on behalf of your client, Ms Meyer. Write a memorandum to your colleague to brief him on the case.) (14) 2.1.4 Time Constraints In writing we are concerned with the time available for task completion: speed at which processing must take place; length of time available to write; whether it is an exam or hand in assignment, and the number of revisions/drafts allowed (process element). Outside of examination essays, in the real world, writing tasks would not necessarily be timed (although there is a case for speed writing in a working context on occasions especially in a legal or professional setting where deadlines must be met). Where time in the workplace is not of the essence, students would be allowed maximum opportunity and access to resources for demonstrating their writing abilities. However considerations such as time constraints and reliability issues make longer, processà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœoriented tests impractical in most situations. (15) Weir (2004) points out that the texts we get candidates to produce obviously have to be long enough for them to be scored in a valid manner. If we want to establish whether a student can organize a written product into a coherent whole, length is obviously a key factor. He notes that as regards an appropriate time for completion of productà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœoriented writing tasks in an actual examination setting, Jacobs et al. (1981:19), in their research on the Michigan Composition Test, found that a time allowance of thirty minutes probably gave most students enough time to produce an adequate sample of their writing ability for the purpose of assessment. (16) One might reasonably expect that time-restricted test tasks cannot represent what writers are capable of in normal written discourse where time constraints may be less limited. Kroll (1990:140-154) reports on research comparing timed classroom essays and essays written at home over a 10-14 day period. Contrary to what one might have expected the study indicated that, in general, time does not buy very much for students in either their control over syntax the distribution of specific language errors being remarkably similar in both or in their organisational skills. (17) In the case of ILEC, common tasks are presented to a candidature comprising both B2 and C1 candidates who must complete the test in 1 hour and 15 minutes. (18) 2.1.5 Text Length Text length potentially has an important effect in terms of what Weir (2005) calls the executive resources that will be called into play in cognitive processing. These resources are both linguistic and experiential and need to be as similar as possible to those made by equivalent tasks in real life language use for use to generalise from test performance to language use in the domain of interest. ILEC Writing comprises two tasks, one of between 120 and 180 words and one of between 200 and 250 words. (19) 2.2 Theory-based validity Theory-based validity involves collecting evidence through the piloting and trialling of a test before it is made available to candidates on the cognitive processing activated by the test tasks. (20) Theory-based validity of a test of writing is a function of how closely it represents the cognitive processing involved in performing the construct in real life. Weir (2005) details how establishing theory-based validity for a writing task involves producing evidence on the nature of the executive resources and executive processing activated by the task. Executive resources involve linguistic resources and content knowledge. Content knowledge may already be possessed by the candidate or might be available in information supplied through task input. The Executive process refers to cognitive processing and includes the procedures of goal setting, topic genre modifying, generating, organizing, translating and reviewing. (21) Planning relates to a number of stages in the writing process: macro-planning; organisation; micro planning (Field 2004). Macro-planning entails assembling a set of ideas and drawing upon world knowledge. The writer initially establishes what the goal of the piece of writing is to be. This includes consideration of the target readership, of the genre of the text (earlier experience as a reader may assist) and of style (level of formality). Grabe and Kaplan (1996) refer to this stage as Goal Setting. Goal setting involves setting goals and purposes, offering an initial draft of task representation and connecting context with verbal working memory (1996: 226). During the Organisation stage the writer provisionally organises the ideas, still in abstract form, a) in relation to the text as a whole and b) in relation to each other. The ideas are evaluated in terms of their relative importance, and decisions made as to their relative prominence in the text. The outcome may be a set of roug h notes. Grabe and Kaplan (1996:226) describe Organizing as grouping, categorizing ideas, establishing new concepts and putting ideas in suitable order. At the micro-planning level, the writer shifts to a different level and begins to plan conceptually at sentence and paragraph level. Throughout this stage, constant reference back to two sets of criteria is made: to decisions taken at earlier stages and to the manner in which the text has progressed so far. Account is taken of the overall goals of the text; of the organisational plan and the direction in which the text is currently tending; and of the content of the immediately preceding sentence or paragraph. At this stage, the writer needs to give consideration to whether an individual piece of information is or is not shared with the reader a) by virtue of shared world knowledge or b) as a result of earlier mention in the text. These processing procedures are described in detail by Hayes and Flower (1980), Bereiter Scardamalia ( 1987), and Grabe Kaplan (1996). (22) ILEC Writing tasks require candidates to undertake writing tasks which engage these processing abilities. The Needs Analysis revealed that correspondence between legal firms and and clients is a written form of communication frequently needed by professionals. Furthermore, correspondence is often in the form of a response to an earlier letter and includes reference both to this text and to other documents or texts, such as tax statements, procedural documents, company accounts. This reflects the concept of intertextuality as identified by Kristeva (1980:69); research by others (Flowerdew and Wan 2006) has confirmed the prevalence of the interaction between texts in the corporate world. To reflect the findings of the ILEC Needs Analysis 9see Appendix 2), one task on the Test of Writing requires candidates to draw on a previous text and compose a response to it with the use of notes. Composing the response requires the candidate to use a range of functions including clarifying, refutin g, requesting information, referring the target reader to other documentation. (23) 2.3 Scoring Validity Scoring Validity is linked directly to both context and theory-based validity and accounts for the extent to which test scores are based on appropriate criteria, exhibit consensual greement in their marking, are as free as possible from measurement error, stable over time, consistent in terms of their content sampling and engender confidence as reliable decision making indicators. (24) The assessment criteria for ILEC Writing (see Appendix 3 ) are based on those of a General English test at the same levels related to the CEFR. As Douglas points out: contrary to the cases of LSP test content and method, LSP assessment criteria have not usually been derived from an analysis of the TLU situation (Douglas 2001:174). In the same article, he goes on to make a case for basing LSP assessment criteria on an empirical analysis of the TLU situation. It is also the case with ILEC, that examiners for both the ILEC Writing and Speaking papers, are not required to have a background in Legal English*. It may be argued that this is a weakness in the underpinning scoring validity of the ILEC Writing paper as assessment by a subject specialist may differ from that of the layperson (ie general marker). (25) Jacobs et al. (1981:3) identify aspects of this relating to cognitive process and social interaction: The direct testing of writing emphasizes the communicative purpose of writing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (it) utilizes the important intuitive, albeit subjective, resources of other participants in the communicative process the readers of written discourse, who must be the ultimate judges of the success or failure of the writers communicative efforts. If candidates self-assessments of their language abilities, or ratings of the candidate by teachers, subject specialists, or other informants (Alderson et al 1995) differs from that of the non-specialist Examiner, predictive validity may be compromised. (26) 2.4 Consequential Validity Messick (1989:18) argues that For a fully unified view of validity, it must à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ be recognised that the appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of score- based inferences depend * personal information from ILEC Writing subject staff as well on the social consequences of the testing. Therefore social values and social consequences cannot be ignored in considerations of validity. Consequential Validity relates to the way in which the implementation of a test can affect the interpretability of test scores; the practical consequences of the introduction of a test (McNamara 2000). Shohamy (1993:37) argues that Testers must begin to examine the consequences of the tests they develop à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ often à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ they do not find it necessary to observe the actual use of the test. Weir (2005) provides a comprehensive treatment of these key elements within the Socio-Cognitive Validation framework. (27) ILEC has achieved recognition by a number of different legal entities, including universities and law practices in 36 countries (see Appendix 4). Furthermore, the initial market research and viability study was administered to a number of stakeholders in the field including international and local law firms, large companies with their own legal departments; university law faculties and legal training providers and language schools. Although the exam fee may be considered to be costly which is arguably an implication of the social consequences of testing, it may be argued that within the domain of corporate/commercial law, the consequential validity in this respect is not unsound. (28) 3. Conclusion This assignment has examined the ILEC Test of Writing. The development of ILEC saw collaboration between assessment specialist and legal content specialists, with each bringing expertise to the process. This has arguably resulted in a test which authentically simulates the TLU situation and as a result, it may be concluded that the test is sound in terms of Context, Theory-based and Consequential validity. Where the test is arguably less strong is in the area of Scoring Validity (and the resulting impact the issue may be said to have on Consequential Validity), in the use of assessment criteria and examining personnel unrelated to the TLU and specific LSP domain. (29) Word Count: 4, 125

Persuasive Essay on Positive Thinking Essay

Positive thinking is a skill that I believe everyone should master and use as a everyday way of life.First you need to know the law of attraction. From there you can start a new life style that can only really benefit you. The law of attraction is how positive energy attracts positive energy and negative energy attracts negative energy. There is a man named Morris Goodman I learned about in the book The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne. His story is amazing. Morris Goodman was in a plane crash march of 1981. Morris surrvived the plane crash but was left paralyzed, his spinal cord was crushed, and his diaphram was destroyed which left him unable to breath on his own. He lost the ability to do anything but blink and think*. No one thought he would be much of anything ever again because of the severity of his injuries. Morris did not believe this. He set a goal of walking out of that hospital by Christmas. All Morris did was focus on breathing, and walking, and being positive, not allowing anyone or anything distract him from his goal. He did, Morris achieved his goal. Doctors were at a loss for explanation, but Morris Goodman walked out of that hospital before Christmas. Morris Goodman is The Maracle Man. He proved that whatever you put your mind to you can do. The power of positive thinking can benefit everyone in countless ways; increase self esteem, increase confidence, and a more relaxed state of mind. Just to name a few. Â  You see the consequences of negative thinking everyday. You see it in war and violence, even on the local level. Depression and poverty are often consequences of negative thinking as well. Â  Could you imagine what the world would be like if the whole world believed they could achieve anything they dream of? Could you imagine what your life would be like if you truely believed you could achieve anything you want? If you are always thinking positive there is no room for the negative. Increase of self esteem, confidence, a more relaxed state of mind will all manifest from just that . This is a skill that I believe everyone can benefit from. * Some of this info taken from themaracleman.org run by Morris Goodman.

Improvement of American Labor

Beginning in 1866 until the present time many labor leaders have initiated many effective and important labor laws. Throughout the past one hundred plus years there have been many steps forward in the labor movement along with a few major steps back. The actions of these labor leaders and the accomplishments of the acts that they have helped to pass have paved the way for the American worker in today's society. One of the labor laws that had an impact was the Taft-Hartley Act. The Taft-Hartley act formerly called the Labor-management Relations Act was passed in 1947. Its founders were Senator Robert A. Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley. This act helped in collective bargaining along with allowing workers the right to defer from joining a union. This act required unions to give notification of a strike sixty days before it was to occur. It also outlawed specific union practices that were unfair and required that union officers must deny any Communist affiliations while under oath. Another of the labor acts that contributed to the labor movement was the National Labor Relations Act. It was passed by Congress in 1935. It has been called the Magna Carta of American labor. The National Labor Relations Act guaranteed workers the right to join unions without fear of being punished by management. In order to enforce this law the National Labor Relations Board was formed. This act prevented employers from committing unfair labor practices that would make the worker be afraid to organize a union or sign a union contract. Yet another labor law was the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931. Created by Congressman Robert Bacon and Senator James Davis, this act was mainly established to grant stability to the construction industry. The bid requirements on public projects were low and this allowed outside contractors to obtain work on substandard wages. This also caused contractors to look past the high paid local workers to the lower paid workers from around the country. Davis and Bacon felt it was wrong for workers from other areas to be herded together to work for lower wages than the standard in that state. An important labor leader in the early labor movement was Francis Perkins. Francis Perkins devoted much of her life to the improvement of the American Worker. While going to school at Mt. Holyoke College, Perkins gained an interest in social reform. This interest grew when she joined the National Consumer League, which had a goal to improve labor conditions through consumer pressure. In 1928, New York governor Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Perkins as the head of the state labor department. Four years later, when Roosevelt was elected to the presidency, Perkins was asked to be his secretary of labor. Perkins played a major role in Roosevelt's response to the Great Depression. She also was an advocate of social security, wage and hour regulation, and the abolition of child labor. Eugene V. Debs was another famous labor leader. Debs made the first major attempt to form a labor union for both skilled and unskilled workers of a specific industry. This attempt was the American Railway Union. Debs also played a major role in the Pullman Strike in 1894. He asked for arbitration and when Pullman refused to negotiate Debs and the American Railway Union began boycotting Pullman train. Later in the Pullman strike Deb was arrested. While in prison Debs realized his true calling. He became a spokesperson for the Socialists Party of America and ran for president five times. Surprisingly, in 1912, he won 900,000 votes. A famous quote of Deb's was, â€Å"I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.† A significant strike of the past was the aforementioned Pullman Strike. The Pullman strike began during the Panic of 1893. The Pullman Company laid off three thousand of its fifty-eight hundred employees. The Pullman workers all lived in houses owned by the Pullman Company and had to pay rent. The remaining employees had their wages cut twenty-five to thirty percent and the housing prices remained the same. After paying the rent on their homes, their paychecks dwindled down to almost nothing. Later, after the depression, two thousand Pullman workers were hired. Again, the Pullman Company did not restore wages of compensate with lower housing rates. In the spring of 1894, the outraged workers called for a strike. The strike was one of peace, that is until Pullman hired strikebreakers. This brought on a violent end to the strike. In conclusion, Pullman fired most of the strikers and named more to a blacklist. The Homestead strike occurred in 1892. It began when workers from the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers struck the Carnegie Steel Company's Homestead plant in order to protest a cut in wages. The company's general manager, Henry C. Frick, was determined to break the union. He hired strikebreakers and then hired three hundred detectives to protect the plant and the strikebreakers. After an armed battle between the detectives and workers, three detectives and six workers were dead. The strike ended on November 20th after the plant reopened and nonunion workers remained on the job. This strike caused a weakening effect on the unions of the steel industry that would take forty years to repair. A more recent labor issue was the United Parcel Service's strike in 1997. The central issues of this strike were part-time work, pensions, and subcontracting. The union claimed that many part-time workers work full time hours without getting paid the full time rates, which are almost twice that of the part-time. The union also wanted an increase in contributions to its pension and health funds. The union would not budge on this issue and UPS met their demands. The last aspect of the strike was subcontracting. The union claimed that a loophole in their contracts was allowing more than the one percent limit of the business to go to subcontractors. There are many opinions on whether or not the strike was a victory for the union but at the end the workers were back on the job. The Haymarket Affair, sometimes called the Haymarket Riot, began on the night of May 4, 1886, as a form of protest after the killing of a striker by police on the previous day. On this night 1,200 protesters met at Chicago's Haymarket Square where police opposed them. Chaos ensued as someone threw a bomb into the police line. Eight men, three speakers and five other radicals, were charged with starting a riot. Four were hanged while one committed suicide in prison. After the Haymarket Affair, the public began to shy away from the labor movement. In July of 1877 the Strike of 1877 became a turning point in labor history. A worker's strike at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began in order to protest the second cut of wages in just a few months. This strike would lead to strikes from every railroad east of the Mississippi and then later would spread to western railroads. Fifty thousand miles of railroad were halted for more than a week. This caused riots in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco. After President Rutherford B. Hayes sent troops in to break up the strike, the strikers began to retreat. On August 6th, the strike was over and railroads were up and going again. The case of Muller vs. Oregon is a famous Supreme Court labor case. The focal points of this case were the Fourteenth Amendment versus the Tenth Amendment. In these times in Oregon it was illegal for a woman to work for more than ten hours in a factory or laundry. In 1905, a suit was filed against Curt Muller for making Mrs. E. Gotcher work more than ten hours. After being found guilty, Muller took his case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court would later rule against him. Another Supreme Court issue of the labor movement was the Munn v. Illinois case. Munn, a partner in a Chicago warehouse firm, had been found guilty by an Illinois court of violating the state laws providing for the fixing of maximum charges for storage of grain. He appealed, contending that the fixing of maximum rates constituted a taking of property without due process of law. The Supreme Court upheld the Granger laws, establishing as constitutional the principle of public regulation of private businesses involved in serving the public interest. Since 1866 the labor unions have been involved in many more strikes and there have been new labor leaders who have been involved in controversial court cases in order to make sure that workers are treated fairly. Throughout the history of the United States labor has changed greatly and it will continue to change in the future.