Context Clues

Context Clues Schatz, Elinore K., Baldwin, R. Scott (1986). Context Clues are Unreliable Predictors of Word These experiments were done to help the researchers and educators decide whether context clues help students with defining words. The two researchers were Elinore Kress Schatz and R. Scott Baldwin. Schatz is from the Greater Miami Hebrew Academy and R. Scott Baldwin was a former English teacher who became a professor of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami. He is currently the Dean of Edinboro Universitys school of Graduate studies and research (http://www.edinboro.edu/departments/university_comm/President/pec-members/baldwin.dot). There were three different experiments done during this particular study. In the first experiment, there were 53 tenth graders and 48 eleventh graders from a private school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida who were tested. The demographics of the school consisted of students from a middle class background who were mainly Caucasian. Before the testing began, researchers tested a group of college bound tenth graders to see if they knew the meanings of the words that were going to be used on the test. If 65% or more of those students knew the meaning a word, then the word was thrown out because the researchers saw this as the students prior knowledge. The students were given two tests with one test having the words-in-context and the other with the words used in isolation. The researchers did the two tests to determine which method helps the students more. The words- in-context came from twenty-five paragraphs from novels used at this school for the tenth and the eleventh grade students. Some examples of those books include The Scarlet Letter and The Pearl. Paragraphs were chosen by their location in the book and by determining which words were low frequency words. Some examples of those words include imperious and inexorable. The words- in -context test was set up like a multiple choice test with a paragraph using the word and the students would have to identify which option shows how the word was used. The words in isolation test were a multiple choice vocabulary test. The students were then randomly assigned tests. The words in isolation testing took around ten to fifteen minutes to complete and the words-in-context testing to ok around thirty to forty minutes to complete. The results showed that â€Å"there was no statistically significant difference between the means of the no-context group (M= 9.14, SD=2.08) and the context group (M=8.76, SD= 3.72)† (Schatz Baldwin 443). These results were then tested in the second experiment to see if the results were accurate or based on the type of literary work. In the second experiment, there were 39 eleventh graders from a private school in Miami, Florida who were tested. The demographics of the school was the same as the previous school with most students being middle class. There were two tests once again but this time the words in the passages were from the four content areas. The mediums used included science textbooks (biology and physics), novel passages (same novels as other test), history textbooks, and magazines (Schatz Baldwin 444). Both tests had the same words on them but one used the words- in-context and the other test had them in isolation. All students took the words in isolation test first. The students finished the first test in 45 minutes and the words-in-context testing took two days to complete. The results of this test indicate that there was no real significant change whether the words w ere in isolation or in-context. In the third experiment, the researchers used 84 tenth and eleventh graders from a private Hebrew school in Florida. The materials were the same as the first experiment except that the tests were not multiple choice anymore. The students had to write out the meaning of the words. The two researchers then graded the papers not knowing whether the one they were grading was the test with the words- in-context or the words in isolation. They determined that multiple choice testing did not hurt the testing. The overall conclusion they came up with it that teachers need to look at a better way to help students understand the meanings of words.

Community Health Promotion Tool Essay

Kimberly Thomas: Good Evening, I am Kimberly Thomas. I’m interviewing Hypertension what is a disorder that affects cardiovascular system. Let’s talk about the population and treatment for hypertension. There are a lot of medications for hypertension. What is hypertension? Where do you start for treatment? Hypertension: Hypertension is high blood pressure. Well, there are several medication treatments for hypertension. Most doctor start patients with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), which is a diuretic. Diuretics are basically known as a water pill, which helps remove excess sodium and water from the body. Second most common medicine for hypertension is beta blockers. Beta blockers help the heart to beat a slower pace with less force. Again, there are several other medication treatments for hypertension, and your primary care physicians will discuss what options are best for you. Kimberly Thomas: Ok, thank you. Who are at risk of hypertension? Hypertension: There are some cultures that are more at risk than others. However, certain conditions and habits can put anyone at risk for high blood pressure. According to â€Å"Hypertension† (n.d.), â€Å"It’s more common in African American adults than in Caucasian or Hispanic American adults.† African Americans tend to get high blood pressure early in life. Also, Puerto Rican adults have higher rates of hypertension than any other Hispanic group. Kimberly Thomas: Why do you think African Americans and Puerto Ricans are more at risk than any other culture? Hypertension: There are several factors why these two cultures are more at risk than other cultures. According to â€Å"Hypertension† (n.d.), â€Å"The main factor is the choice of food both cultures eat. Both cultures diet include too much salt.† Kimberly Thomas: Heredity is a factor correct? Can the individual manage some of the risk factors? Hypertension: Yes to both of your questions. There are a few things you can do to manage your high blood pressure. If you’re overweight, it’s highly recommend that you start exercising. Eat healthy food low in saturated fat, Trans fat, cholesterol and salt. Limit your alcohol intake, and stop smoking. Always, take medicine the way your doctor tells you. Kimberly Thomas: I absolutely agree with that. Kimberly Thomas: What about impact it has on cost? Hypertension: According to â€Å"Hypertension† (n.d.), â€Å"In 2010, high blood pressure was projected to cost the United States $93.5 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work.† Kimberly Thomas: How does hypertension impact the society? Hypertension: The number 1 cause of death in the United States throughout most of the 20th century. Unfortunately, whether the hypertension is treated or untreated, only 34% of Americans with hypertension have their blood pressure controlled to 140/90. An estimated 30 to 35 million Americans have uncontrolled hypertension, and are therefore at unduly increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Kimberly Thomas: I completely agree with you. I think the number one problem we still have today is that there are many people out there who are not being adequately treated. People who are denial of their problem, is unfortunate because there is help for them. Kimberly Thomas: Well, that’s all for today and Thank you for your time. References: Hypertension. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hypertension/faqs.htm http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/basics/definition/con-20019580

Business Administration Education and Careers

Good vs. Evil Essay

Movies have always been a brilliant reflection of reality. Many directors all over the world have done their best to create masterpieces, which would catch a person and would not leave him until the end of the movie. Undoubtedly, cinematography has always been a perfect tool to express the feelings and emotions of people by reflecting hem in the movies. It should be stated that thrillers and dramas are the genres of movies, which don’t but reflect all the aforesaid in a more vivid and bright way. Not only do these genres cover topics, which have always worried the society, but also reveal a horrible reality of the inside of many people. The things we are afraid to talk or even think about appear on the screen of our TV. There is an abundance of topics, which directors love to touch in dramas and movies. Usually, a movie which touches the very reality, all the ins and outs of our life, is destined to success. Good vs. Evil is the very topic which has always been extremely popular among directors, playwrights and writers. The explanation of such popularity is more than simple – Good vs. Evil is something each and everyone has inside, these are the feelings and emotions, which have always been a characteristic of the mankind of all the times. Good powers have been always struggling with the bad, evil powers. That’s the very explanation why we have hell and heaven in almost all the religions – a fight of good and evil has never stopped. That’s the reason why this topic has been always so widely used in different fields of art – either t is literature or cinematography – an idea is common, to teach a reader that evil has always been punished by good. This analysis is devoted to the topic Good vs. Evil in three movies: The Virgin Suicides, Run Lola Run and Strangers on a Train. At first glance these three movies seem to be completely different: not only are they from different times, but of different directors, stories and genres in general. Nonetheless, if we take a better look at these three movies, we will understand that a topic of Good vs. Evil is reflected in all of them. Before the analysis itself it should be stated that the topic Good vs. Evil is not the main one in all the stories, it serves as a background in the movies to attract the attention of the audience – throughout all the movies the audience comes to understand the real message of the movie through a real fight of Good and Evil, either it is obvious or hidden. The reason for such turn can be explained by a ‘black and white’ theory – a person should see both colors to understand what white is and what black is, to see the difference. The same is used in the cinematography – to understand the good, the audience is to see the evil first. The most obvious reflection of Good vs. Evil can be seen in the first movie: Strangers on a Train. A movie, shot by Alfred Hitchcock is one of the best movies ever. Not only does it keep the audience on edge from the very beginning, but it also gives a perfect understanding of what good and bad are. Each and every person, who has at least once watched the movie, would forever understand the ingenuity of Alfred Hitchcock. Each and every aspect of the movie: lights, sound, motions, all the trifles are soaked through with mystery. The audience is not left alone throughout the movie – Alfred does all possible and impossible to catch the attention of every human being. The whole idea of a ‘carrousel’ spins each and everyone around – the main heroes and the audience. The idea itself is typical to the stories of Agatha Christie, nonetheless, unique at the same time. Good vs. Evil is implemented in the main heroes of the movie: Guy Haines, an amateur tennis star, and Bruno Anthony, a stranger, who is trying to push the main hero, Guy, to the edge of evil. From their first meeting we understand that the Evil has paved its way to the good and is ready to aboard the ‘ship of the good’. From the first scenes the audience feels no sympathy to Bruna, as he is soaked through with the evil – it can be seen in his manners, in his impudence, in his way of speaking. All these trifles build a full picture. Alfred is not simply antagonizing the audience against Bruno, he wants us understand what kind of person he really is, to unearth the truth and come up to conclusion. Bruno offers Guy a deal – a ‘cross-murder’, where Bruno kills Guy’s wife, and Guy kills Bruno’s father. We see that Guy is against such deal, while Bruno seems to be determined in his idea and fulfills his part of a deal. Later on we see a struggle between Bruno and Guy, of God vs. Evil, where finally the Good wins. The final fight at the carrousel is more than dramatic for the whole movie, as the whole movie seems to be a carrousel itself. Another movie, Run Lola run, shot by the German director Tom Tykwer is telling us a story of these days. This movie has the greatest difference from the two other ones, as it is also combined with a bit of fantasy in it. Nonetheless, this fantasy is used as an allegory, a form of allusion to show the audience the reality through a concrete image. If in Strangers on Train the image of carrousel was used as a means of interpretation, in Run Lola Run, we can see the idea of three lives, which can compared to a computer game. The idea is that Lola is to help her boyfriend find money, which he lost. Otherwise, if she fails to help him, he will be killed. That’s why Lola, throughout the story is trying three different options : in the first run Lola causes an accident, and robs the shop to help her boyfriend, what leads to her death; the second run Lola robs her father’s bank, and in the end her boyfriend Manni dies, being run over by the ambulance. The third and the last one comes to be the best one as well: she decides to enter a casino and wins enough money to help Manni, at the same time Manni finds the tramp, who stole his bag and returns money back. Â  The idea of Good and Evil is uncovered here in the deeds of Lola – as soon as she decided to do each and everything correctly, the destiny turned out to be grateful to them and the story finished up with a happy end. The first two runs showed that when Lola was doing something evil, it did not but lead to unpredictable consequences , and only when she decided to deliver herself over into the hands of Providence, the story finished happily for each and everyone. The last movie, but it is important to admit, to my mind, the best one, also reflects an idea of Good vs. Evil. Nonetheless, I think that it is also covering much deeper topics, but for this one: upbringing, society, and understanding. However, I think that in this very story the Evil defeats the good, as the main protagonists finally commit suicide. The whole movie is a fight of the girls against the principles of their parents – they lead a completely isolated way of life, what is completely aggravated by the suicide of the youngest daughter. We can see the girls trying to fight these principles, however, each and everything seems to be completely in vain. The only way out they seem to find for them is to commit a group suicide. However, it remains unclear what these girls wanted to achieve: either to teach their parents or to teach the whole society. Their death shocked the whole neighborhood, leaving a shade of mystery over the story. We can see the triumph of the Evil in the end of the movie –their parents, having lost all their daughters seem to be absolutely indifferent to it, as after their flee from the neighborhood they returned to a happy and normal life, leaving the audience with a feeling that these suicides were the very thing they longed for.