Critical Reading Essays (Examples)

Grounded in the belief that everything a reader needs to know to understand a piece of literature, such as a poem, Formalism dictates that a reader look no further than the poem itself to understand it. A formalist reading requires a careful consideration of both the poem's individual elements as well as the poem as a whole, and this reading starts with the poem's diction, allusions, imagery and symbols. After examining the poem's basic elements, the formalist critic turns to the poem as a whole and considers the structure of the work, the interrelationships of its parts, as well as its tone, point-of-view, theme and ambiguities. The final step of a formalist examination is determining how these different elements come together to convey an overall message and what that message is. A formalist reading of Howard Nemerov's "September: The First Day of School" reveals the author's internal struggle as his…

Why Leaders Should be Excellent in Critical Thinking
Introduction
Critical inquiry in writing requires one to be able to gather, process, and assess ideas and assumptions from multiple angles and perspectives. It requires that one have a high degree of curiosity, as critical thought cannot be engaged without asking questions and seeking as much information from multiple sources as possible to answer those questions. The goal of critical inquiry is produce well-reasoned arguments that can lead to more questions, answers, and ways of looking at the world. This paper will discuss the major constructs of critical inquiry. The major constructs are: 1) epistemological virtues, 2) worldview, 3) constructing logical arguments, 4) wisdom, 5) critical reading and writing, and 6) empirical research. It will describe how the writer’s own ideas of critical inquiry have progressed as well as issues and questions this paper have inspired. Finally, it will offer up an…

sphere of life, there needs to be thought process that precedes any action or decision, otherwise things would be done in erratic and haphazard manner and end up in absolute chaos and disorder. However, for better results and accurate outcomes as always envisioned and required, there is need for critical thinking. This is a step higher than merely thinking as an individual or sitting down to participate in a brainstorming session.

Critical thinking is therefore the dissection of a claim to determine whether the assertion is true, false or partially true or partially false. The ratio of partiality in the truth in an assertion can also be determined in a critical thinking process. This process hence leads to acquisition of skills or standpoints that can be mastered by the relevant persons or learned and used for better results in a process. Critical thinking is a type of reasoning and is…

The problem in having a firm grasp of critical thought is that it can be clouded by many different distractions and affected by variables outside of controllable circumstances. One of these factors is cognitive development. It is evident that cognitive development as a strong overall impact on the development of critical thinking. Genetics plays a strong role within cognitive development, as individuals are all born with differing genetic levels of comprehension and thus some people will have better critical thinking abilities purely based on their genes. The circumstances that an individual grows up in also have a profound effect on their critical thinking abilities and process. This is because as an individual grows up they can form differing opinions and stigmas that are taught both explicitly and implicitly through cultural doctrine, social convention, as well as education in both informal settings such as at home as well as formal settings…

Changes in and to children's literature mirror, as well as construct, changes in social norms. For example, the 1908 book by Kenneth Grahame, Wind in the Willows, is a frolicking fantasy tale starring a cast of anthropomorphic animals. Themes of camaraderie, friendship, and adventure do not serve as vehicles for political discourse. When Jan Needle published Wild Wood nearly a century later in 1981, the author imbued the basic structure of Grahame's story with political awareness. Issues like social justice are explored in Wild Wood, issues that were not touched upon in Wind in the Willows. A similar vehicle of storytelling was used for a different literary function. Both 1908 and 1981 were times ripe for the exploration of labor issues and class-consciousness, and it is in many ways ironic that Needle would have been more overtly political than his forebear.

There seems to have been a deliberate awakening of…

Critical Thinking for Homeland Security

The objective of the article is to question the credibility of the decision adopting by the Bush's administration on North Korea due to claims that it (North Korea) was constructing a Uranium plant. Based on the universal structures of thought by Elder and Paul, it is apparent that the question at issue in the presented case is the credibility of the decision taken by the U.S. government towards North Korea. The U.S. believed that the North Korean state was in its quest of building a nuclear power plant secretly without the awareness of the U.S. As such, it promoted to U.S. To adopt sanctions against the North Korea such as suspending its deals with the state. The U.S. depended on unreliable information since up-to-date it has not verified the existence of a Uranium plant in North Korea as speculated by the report.

The decision adopted…

Critical Thinking for Homeland Security

Everyone navigates their way through the world using a set of preconceived ideas, stereotypes, notions and beliefs concerning how things work and how others will behave in any given situation. Not surprisingly, many people are surprised and even shocked to learn that some of the things they have firmly believed to be true all of their lives are inaccurate or even false. These frailties of the human condition mean that the search for the truth is ongoing and learning how to find it represents a critical part of the skill set needed in the 21st century. This paper provides a discussion and comparison of "elements of truth" and the "right questions" that should be asked in any given situation to discern the facts, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues in the conclusion.

eview and Discussion

Not only does…

By teaching other professionals, I can indirectly reach hundreds or eventually thousands of people with hearing disabilities.

In my current work as a tutor for students who wish to become American ign Language interpreters, it is clear to me that many of these students have been taught incorrectly. This is part of the wider problem in the United tates. Rather than being able to teach these students the correct way of interpretation from the beginning, I first have to correct the previous learning. Teaching quality is of the vital importance, particularly in a field that can make a difference in so many lives. I therefore find both my tutoring and my studies as a very significant direction to ensure not only a bright future for myself, but by association also for those who have tended to be marginalized both by society and of necessity by themselves.

ources

American ign Language…

Critical Thinking & Generational Teams

Critical Thinking

In the course of caring for patients, nurses deal with life threatening situations every day. This constitutes the necessity to develop critical thinking skills in order to know what to do, when to do it, and how it needs to be done to ensure safety and sensibility in patient care. Critical thinking skills develop over time with experience, developing deeper knowledge, and developing higher levels of judgment in the course of care (Alfaro-LeFevre, Apr 2000).

Critical thinking skills involve checking accuracy and reliability of information, recognizing inconsistencies, and identifying patterns of missing information. In the course of busy times, natural tendencies cause people to react without thinking. These patterns are dangerous in patient care. It is important to realize that critical thinking takes time to develop and implement. It requires knowledge, skills, practice, caution, and judgment and is best away from the patient…

The question then becomes do these nurses become worried about the long hours that they may have to work and the quality of care that the patients are getting, or do they sit back and remind the world that they knew this was going to happen, because pay has traditionally been low for nurses and this is why more people are choosing other fields of study when looking for career (Taft, 2001).

Perhaps many nurses will not choose either of these options. Many may choose to continue doing the job that they've been doing for years, for the pay that they have come to expect. Those that choose this option will likely be more concerned with care of the patient then they will with the money that they receive from their job, or how many hours they have to put in for that paycheck. Their primary concern will always remain…

Although the circularity of the logic of insanity as demonstrated by the very fact that a man desires to be eaten (because he is insane, because he wants to be eaten, because he is insane…) loses credibility due to the redundancy of such thinking, the implicit conclusion that the author comes to regarding this matter, "if every person with emotional problems were denied the right to determine what is in his own interest, none of us would be self-determining in the eyes of the law, except those of us who had no emotions to have problems with," may very well be inductive. It certainly seems to be a considerable assumption to say that people with mental (or "emotional") problems, should not be restrained from their actions, because in doing so virtually everyone -- who is at least half-crazy, if not further along on his or her way to being crazy…

Positive effects:

UPB management will be able to capitalize on the five years of training and other investments in Mark Williams

The colleagues will feel a sense of security as Williams has decided to stick with the company

Costs with replacing him will now be incurred and the money could be used in another direction

UPB clients will be content as they will not have to switch consultants

Mark Williams will feel loyal and the sense that he has betrayed his 'savior' will not torment him

Negative effects:

Mark Williams will continually feel frustrated with the sense of things at UPB

He will give up his opportunities for further professional development and promotions

It is highly possible that his sacrifice will not even be recognized by the UPB stakeholders

7. eflections

Mark Williams graduated Business College and found a job at UBP Consulting in a time in which nobody else…

(Donoghue, 1990)

The other problem is regarding third party reimbursements and state regulators which have had a significant effect on hospitals during the last ten years. Another factor that is brought out by the study is that during both 1983 and 1986 there were important variations in the inpatient reimbursement system that helped in improving the operating and final margins of hospitals. At the same time there are the health insurance companies who provide a large portion of the funds to hospitals are continually on the look out for reducing payment amounts. There are methods through which this is done and one of that is changing from inpatient settings to ambulatory surgery. Another set of problems come from settlements with labor unions. As an example a major portion of the health care providers were affected due to the settlement with Local 1199. This settlement also created similar effects in other…

Critical Thinking Standards: Depth

Paul and Elder (2008) describe what they believe to be the essential standards of the critical thinking process. These standards, in order of importance, are the following: clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, and fairness. When the authors recommend questioning the depth of one's question they are implying that the question under consideration may be more superficial than it should to be. A critical thinker who wishes to render a question less superficial will acknowledge the complexities inherent to the question, judge the relative value of different factors to enable prioritizing the thought process, and setting aside any urges to ignore problems with the question. Once the depth of a question has been considered, along with the other standards, the information thus gleamed can be used to inform the elements of reasoning, which in turn promote intellectual traits inherent to critical thinkers.

In another class…

Thus, the idea of a strong, female leader is created through conceptual blending, and the ultimately oxymoronic pairing of unlike words. Something new is created, through the use of cultural, political, religious, and historical references, and of the pairing of these two specific nouns together.

3. Explain what Fauconnier and Turner mean when they assert on page 15, in effect, that, "Metaphor is not just something derived from 'core meaning'?" Are they right? (Please refer to The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind's Hidden Complexities by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Tuner)

Because unlike the literary device or trope of simile, the use of metaphor deploys the verb 'is,' as in, 'hope is a thing with feathers,' in the famous poem of Emily Dickinson of this title, one is tempted to assume that metaphor accesses some core meaning of a word or concept. But as this example shows, the…

Critical Thinking for Homeland Security

The capacity of a government to protect its citizens pivots on the ability of its leaders and high-placed specialists to think critically. Few times in history point so clearly to this principle than the 9/11 disaster. In 1941, the same year that the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, Edward M. Glaser published a book titled, An Experiment in the Development of Critical Thinking. Glaser's practice of psychiatry was remarkable in that he dispensed with the Freudian deep dive into past events, pushing his patients to deal with problem solving in the present -- a critical thinking practice he called reality therapy. Many of Glaser's tenets were adopted by other disciplines because of their universal utility and association with positive results. Glaser defined critical thinking as, "A persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports…

Personally, a critical thinker will be able to evaluate the world in which they live and make conscious choices about what will be most beneficial to their own life and the lives of those around them. They will be able to be an actively engaged citizen able to understand public policies that will impact their life and do something about it if they disagree. They will be able to enrich their mind through reading and study and have the tools to interpret information on their own. Critical thinkers can have more fulfilling conversations when they know how to incite thoughtfulness in others.

Professionally, a critical thinker will be more of an asset in the business world than someone who is not able to think critically. They will be able to work more independently and be able to come up with more creative ideas. A critical thinker will be able to…

As such, she fails to address the central problem of feminism in the Pontellier perspective, namely the impossibility of female individuality and independence in a patriarchal world. It is only in isolation that Edna can find any happiness, and she must make this isolation more and more complete in order to maintain her happiness, as the patriarchy has a means of encroaching on all populated areas, and Wollstonecraft's feminism does not offer an alternative to this need to escape humanity.

A final snort of disgust might be distinctly heard from Edna Pontellier upon her reading of this line of Wollstonecraft's, afterwards she might likely have flung the text aside (or into the fireplace, depending on the season): "Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present modification of society" (ch. 4, par. 10). What Wollstonecraft means is that women are thought to be so fragile, so emotional, and…

eflexive Practice, Leadership and Critical Thinking

All three themes -- critically reflective practice, leadership, and critical thinking, can be summarized in the following snippet: An American president, as President eagan's speechwriter, Peggy Noonan (1990), discovered experiences America by looking down. Much of his time is spent encountering his country and people via helicopter from which he sees tiny houses, tiny people, tiny cars, tiny roads. Noonan wondered how this affected eagan's perspective. She later found out that it compelled him to see them as outside of himself and as himself as distinct from them.

This snippet, it seems to me, is somewhat what reflective thinking, critical thinking, and leadership are all about. Each concept contains a meta-analytic sort of substance, similarly to inhabiting a plateau where the air is more refined and where the person is separate from others.

Let's take these concepts one by one.

Critically reflexive practice: Pungently,…

Overall, this type of reading lesson on the part of the teacher may inspire students to explore other types of reading material, thus expanding their reading horizons and their ability to think creatively.

READING PROJECTS:

esides having the teacher read aloud passages from a text, one reading project which undoubtedly would benefit everyone involved would be to have the class read the text aloud, either as individuals or as Zullo suggests, as a whole class reading with the text enlarged to poster size on a screen which would enable the teacher to include comments on the text by the students. In this way, all of the students would be encouraged to verbalize their thoughts on the text, make new connections between one passage and another, listen and appreciate different perspectives on certain passages and come to a more fuller understanding of the text. In addition, this method would benefit those…

Learning to read and write are complementary skills. While in the younger years, writing depends on reading skills, by middle and high school, they are complementary skills: reading is necessary to do writing assignments, while writing about what has read increases comprehension of the reading materials. For this reason, separating reading and writing instruction from content areas is arbitrary and will eventually interfere with the students' progress in those content areas.

From the day children are born, parents are told by doctors, teachers and other experts to read to them, and to read to them every day. They are told to do this because hearing language that contains story lines, rich language and vivid imagery facilitates language development and develops a desire to read. From "The Poky Little Puppy" to Rudyard Kipling, children's literature exists that uses language in exciting and colorful ways. Good children's literature doesn't sound the same…

Business Case Studies

Critical Thinking -- Erroneous Thinking

Logical Fallacies in Business Reporting

lthough the reporting of facts and figures is often thought of as an objective science, quite frequently even business reporting is characterized by logical fallacies, including but not limited to appeals to ignorance, hasty generalizations, and ad hominem attacks. In fact, one could argue that these logical fallacies, however, are particularly common and pernicious in business reporting because of the frequently technically complex nature of the subject matter in regards to facts and figures, combined with the emotional texture of business reporting that involves the fabric and texture of individuals lives. Reporters wish to attract attention and render complexities comprehensible, but frequently fall into logically fallacious traps to accomplish these objectives.

Fallacy

Hasty Generalization hasty generalization is often characterized by an all or nothing style of reporting. The fallacy of the hasty generalization is a failure of…

Project Management

Explain the differences between Activity-on-node and Activity-on-Arrow in developing the project network.

They are both flow charts that set out to show the order in which a project's activities are meant to be completed. Activity on node uses nodes to illustrate activities. Activity on arrow uses arrows to illustrate activities. There are differences between the two project networks. First, Activity on node networks mainly focuses on tasks (milestones) while activity on arrow focuses on events (Larson and Gray 161). Secondly, AOA networks have different possible networks that describe the same project while AON has a unique representation. Thirdly, AON diagrams are easier to understand for inexperienced users than AOA diagrams. AON diagrams are easy to create compared to AOA diagrams. Fourthly, AOA diagrams only show the finish-to-start relationships. Dummy activities are added in order to show the complex dependencies and relationships between activities. However, AON networks places the…

Letter to the Editor

The Washington Post

1150 15th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20071

Dear Editor,

Enhancing the American education system to increase the higher order thinking ability of learners for a better opportunity to achieve future success in the workforce

Through your renowned newspaper, it is an honor to express our views on enhancing the American education system to increase the higher order thinking ability of learners.

The writer has worked in a training capacity for a major corporation in the north for five years and with the University of Harvard for four years. The writer has spent four years volunteering at the local community center working with both secondary and postsecondary children. The writer's role at the Harvard University was as program coordinator for a special committee working with the local communities, universities, and school districts in developing a community of higher order thinkers that can contribute to…

Responsibilities of a Critical Thinker in a Contemporary Society

Some thinkers consider critical thinking to be solely a type of mental skill, devoid of any moral value; it is often utilized to rationalize prejudice and to promote self-interest. While moral integrity is understood as good heartedness, it is also susceptible to manipulation to satisfy vested interests in the same way as responsible citizenship can be manipulated. The human mind, regardless of conscious goodwill, is subject to the more powerful and self-deceptive egocentricity of the unconscious part of the mind. The complete development of each and every characteristic, be it critical thought, responsible citizenship, and moral integrity - needs to include cultivation of each other characteristic, in a parallel strong sense (Paul, 1993). The three characteristics of higher thought can only be developed in an environment that promotes intellectual virtues such as integrity, intellectual courage, intellectual fair-mindedness, intellectual empathy, intellectual perseverance,…

Legal Thinking, Law Case, Ethics Case

The court case of Regal finance Company, Ltd. And Regal Finance Company II, Ltd., Petitioners, v. Tex Star Motors, Inc., Respondent, is extremely significant to conducting business in the United States and to that involving collateral for automobiles in particular. Moreover, it attests to the fact that the standard one should hold for the circumstance in which a used-car dealer disposes of secured collateral is that set by the legal precedent of this particular case, and not the mandates of the Uniform Commercial Code (which involved article 9 in this particular case). Although wrangling of the interpretation of the aforementioned article in the UCC may have led to the initial decision In this case, one of the things that makes this case so notable is that initial decision was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court of the state of Texas. In doing so, the…

Part One: Main Ideas and Insights
Critical thinking does not necessarily come naturally to people, who are subject to biases and prejudicial assumptions. According to Paul & Elder (2016), critical thinking can be learned and mastered. Critical thinking is essential for improving quality of life and promoting best practices in any field. With critical thinking, a person actively seeks answers and solutions to problems, probing multiple points of view and perspectives. Therefore, critical thinking requires open-mindedness and strong communication skills. Critical thinking also requires time and self-discipline, including the painstaking gathering of data, information, and evidence, and picking apart each issue using systematic methods. Rather than being reactive or subjective, critical thinking involves thorough analyses and assessments, with problem solving as its primary goal. Critical thinking is clear, accurate, significant, and ultimately, fair.
According to Paul & Elder (2016), all thought involves the same eight elements including point of view,…

CISM Program Surry Nuclear Power Plant

What is CISM?

Why is a CISM program necessary for the agency?

Agency description, community, and social context

Prevention and Interventions

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary

Interventions

Chronic health and innovative approaches

Cultural Issues

Proposed Budget .17

Critical incident stress management plays an important role in assuring the psychological resilience necessary for those who are exposed to a traumatic incident. This proposal outlines a program to add mental Health Services to the existing emergency management plan for the Surry Power Plant. The current plan does not address mental health issues, and this is an important need that will need to be considered in the future. The current plan will modify the existing plan through the addition of mental health services for the community.

Proposal: CISM Program

What is CISM?

A critical incident is any event that produces stress or trauma to personnel that are directly or…

One counterargument to the practice of teaching vocabulary is that children learn the meanings of many words by experiencing those words in the actual world and in text without explicit instruction. Unfortunately, such incidental learning is filled with possible problems. The definitions learned range from richly contextualized and more than sufficient, to incomplete to wrong. Children do develop knowledge of vocabulary through incidental contact with new words they read. This is one of the many reasons to challenge students to read incessantly.

World Knowledge

There is considerable evidence that readers who possess prior knowledge about the topic of a reading often comprehend the reading better than classmates with no, or lower prior knowledge. Nevertheless, even when students have knowledge relevant to the information they are reading they do not always relate their world knowledge to the content of a text. Unless inferences are absolutely necessary to make sense of the…

Common Sense

The author of this report has been asked to explore the relationships between four different facets of a person's thinking and mindset. Those four facets are common sense, science, personal beliefs and critical thinking. The author will define each of the concepts, will explain the role of each facet when it comes to scholarship and then the author will provide a personal definition of belief perseverance along with an explanation of how it influences critical thinking. Finally, the author will share at least one strategy that can be employed to ensure that one thinks critically despite the presence of an ingrained personal belief system. While having core values and beliefs are important, it is more important to remain open-minded about different perspectives and details when those ingrained beliefs are called into question.

Summary

Of course, the four facets of thought described above are related and they tend to…

Globalization of Superficiality

The contemporary society has suffered the cursing benefit of the global connection and the information technology that allows for the ease of communication in a fast mode and indeed, in a real time manner. The progress, though widely welcome and changed the society in significant measure over the last decade, has come with curse to the same society that it has helped change. The curse or challenges of instant communication specifically are numerous and wide in range and scope but this paper will limit itself to the jurisdiction of critical thinking and deep reflection on issues with the Jesuit perspective in the issues.

The Jesuit perspective has a strong foundation of seeing God in everything they do and as Fr. Adolfo puts it, "exercising an imagination which grasps reality and involves a refusal to let go until we get beneath the surface." Social media has provided platform…

career prospects in healthcare, I would recommend nursing.

The American Nurses Association explains that because of the vast increases in the number of people that are over 65 and the healthcare services they are going to need, nurses will continue to be in demand (ANA). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that there is a continuing nursing shortage and that the number of nurses graduating from nursing school with a bachelor's degree has grown by 86% over the past five years but that is still "too small" to fill the needs (HRSA).

Also of concern with regards to the nursing shortage is the fact that an estimated 269,100 RNs will be retiring in the next year or so, and 81,000 current RNs are planning to go to part-time work (ASA). The nation needs to train and educate 1.13 million new RNs in order to meet the challenges…

Critical thinking to me is a useful tool because it allows someone to deduce and interpret scenarios and the world around them. So much relies on making the right choices. From going to a good school to picking a worthwhile major, to who to marry. Everything happens in accordance to how one reacts and does things.

Critical thinking enables a more effective thought process. It promotes asking questions and a desire to see the "whole picture." If one does not try to see things from a varied perspective, one misses what the actual meaning behind something is since subjectivity differs from reality. Various authors like Bedau and Barnet, Chaffee, McMahon and Stout, and Facione will highlight what critical thinking is to them and how one may apply critical thinking to their own contemplations and writing. I define critical thinking as a means of connecting and interpreting thoughts and concepts.

Body…

Learning to read and write in English has been one of my most treasured accomplishments in the recent past. To begin with, learning to read and write in English is in my opinion the very first step towards becoming a fluent speaker of one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. In that regard therefore, I am convinced that fluency in English is a plus as I pursue my career of choice. Given that English is one of the most common languages, corporations and most organizations would ordinarily hire individuals who can relate well with their customers and clients. Being able to read, write, and speak English will therefore give me a distinct advantage in my future job seeking endeavors. It is also important to note that fully aware that the world is increasingly becoming interconnected; the relevance of learning an additional language cannot be overstated. It is…

Teaching Critical Thinking

Critical thinking has been explained as the capability to evaluate and assess information and facts. Critical thinkers establish important issues and concerns, construct them clearly, collect and examine pertinent data, make use of abstract concepts, contemplate open-mindedly, and also communicate efficiently with other individuals (Duron et al., 2006).

I recommend the following 4 teaching strategies to be the most relevant to critical thinking. (We will only discuss two in detail here):

Utilize higher order thinking questions during instruction and assessment

Teach the process

Adapt tasks and assessments

Incorporate games into lessons

Teaching Strategy 1: Utilize higher order thinking questions during instruction and assessment

"Teachers who have been great questioners inspire their learners, promote higher level thinking, support creativeness, as well as improve self-concept in their learners and also themselves." (Johnson, 1990)

Teaching that encourages critical thinking utilizes questioning methods that demand students to evaluate, synthesize, and also…

Sorkin, however, posits no argument per se. ather, his book offers insight into how the financial crisis manifested from a far more personal perspective of those involved than anything else. The book is informative in nature, and give insight into some of the thought processes and activities those on the outside may not otherwise be exposed to or privy to. The title of the book sums it up best, and the book outlines how the banks and the primary players and stakeholders have become too big to fail. The book highlights the self-interest of those in charge of some of the biggest financial institutions in the world and their blatant disregard for Main Street.

The book has a place in the larger academic debates raised within public knowledge because it adds to the public's real knowledge of those involved in the nation's financial industry and government offices. Instead of speculating…

Furthermore, the strategy still relies on the fact that the country is set to get a transition beyond the war on terror activities. This comes so early that the nation will not be ready to abandon some of the activities being done to counter terrorist attacks. Nonetheless, the U.S. is still experiencing numerous serious threats from its enemies like the al-Qaeda and other terrorist actors in the world. The strategy will serve as a good idea but a serious threat to the general existence of peace and stability in the country. The basic mechanisms of counterterrorism will be eradicated when the nation is facing serious certainties of attacks from the wounded enemies.

Asia in the balance: Transforming U.S. military strategy in Asia

After the Second World War, the United States has been at a forefront in ensuring the security of its allies and commodities found in China. The interests bestowed…

Appropriate time management facilitates a student's ability to learn and to improve one's overall quality of life, as well as make the most of the quantity of time one has for certain tasks.

For instance, when studying, tackling the most difficult subjects first, when one is mentally fresh, whether one is a morning or a night person, can be an effective method to grasp a difficult study area. Using short and frequent study sessions throughout the semester rather than cramming is another important time management technique -- and even simply making the most of one's spare moments leaves one with the satisfaction that one does not simply have clean laundry, but can go to bed an extra hour earlier, rather than begin one's calculus homework at midnight! ("Time Management," 2002)

Understanding the dangers of fallacious thinking is the last important step in taking what is learned in the classroom and…

Contingency leadership theories are based on the view that the situation dictates the ideal leadership style -- and how much of that style can be learned or not is variable.

There are elements of leadership, however, that cannot be taught. In particular, the inspirational aspect of leadership is very difficult to teach. Leaders can reach their subjects in a number of different ways, using a wide range of triggers. While to a certain extent these ways can be identified through scientific study -- psychology and sociology in particular -- there is an element of relating to other people than is entirely inherent. Some leaders are simply born with better charisma and interpersonal skills than others. The former in particular is nearly impossible to teach -- those with charisma that makes others want to follow seldom can identify what it is they do that makes them so charismatic -- they simply…

Solutions to incorporating fluency instruction in the classroom include repeated reading, auditory modeling, direct instruction, text segmenting, supported reading, and use of easy reading materials. Young readers may not always know what fluent reading should be like. Despite the awareness, oral reading fluency is a neglected aspect of the classroom (Allington, 1983). Therefore, according to Fluency for Everyone, written by asinski, "It seems clear that students need frequent opportunities to see and hear fluent reading. Since the most fluent reader in the classroom is the teacher, the teacher should be the primary model" (1989).

The method of auditory modeling can be used in several ways. Auditory modeling can dramatically improve fluency among readers (Dowhower, 1986). She says, "Auditory or oral modeling may be the most powerful of all techniques in encouraging prosodic reading." Prosodic reading can be described as reading with voice inflection and expression. Dowhower believes that modeling oral…

Nurse Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking and Other Intellectual Skills: Documented Benefits and Skill Application in Nursing

There are many academic skills that are necessary for nursing students that also serve nurses well in professional practice. This paper will examine three such academic skills both in their general benefits to learners and professionals in all sectors and personally to my own advances in nursing knowledge and practice. Active reading, effective writing, and critical thinking skills are essential tools for helping one to properly take in, analyze, and communicate information in efficient and effective manners, and each of these individual thinking areas benefits the other two, as well. There are certain challenges that one might be face with in acquiring these skills, and I will detail my own personal challenges below following a general investigation of benefits and prior to a discussion of my application of these skills.

Benefits

Psychologist Benjamin Bloom…

(Eljamal; Stark; Arnold; Sharp, 1999)

To conclude, it be said that if we will not be able to master imparting the capability to think in a developed form, our profession, as well as perhaps our world, would be influenced and taken over by someone who would be able to outsmart us to find it out. We would in that case not only remain thinking as to what happened but would also not have the skills required to provide answers to our own question.

eferences

Braun, N.M. (2004, March/April) Critical thinking in the business curriculum. Journal of Education for Business, 79(4). etrieved from ProQuest database on February 20, 2007.

Carroll-Johnson, .M. (2001, April - June). Learning to think. Nursing Diagnosis, 12(2).

etrieved from Thomson Gale database on February 14, 2007.

Cheung, C., udowicz, E., Kwan, a.S.F., & Yue, X.D. (2002, December). Assessing university students general and specific critical thinking. College Student…

Having guided oral reading instruction by using reading centers where students can listen and use aural media, creating echoed reading exercises, and allowing students to work in pairs as silent readers on the same text and then ask questions of one another reinforces critical concepts, the process of reading, and can act as vocabulary-building exercises (Busy Teacher's Cafe, 2007, "Improving reading fluency in young readers"). If available, resource aids can act as support for uncertain readers and help them make the critical transition to fluency: "Provide support for your nonfluent readers by asking tutors -- instructional aides, parent volunteers, or older students -- to help. The tutor and the student can read a preselected text aloud simultaneously" (Blau 2007).

Giving students opportunities to practice and perform is also critical, through activities like combining whole group and small group activities and independent silent reading followed by question and answer sessions aloud.…

Education is one of the critical aspects in the society especially in the case of the United States. The success of education relates to the ability of the relevant authority to adopt and integrate effective and efficient educational policy with the aim of addressing goals and targets in relation to elements of the society such as economy, politics, and social spheres. One of the critical federal educational policies is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). This is the most recent iteration in relation to the context of Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). It reflects one of the major federal laws essential in facilitating federal spending on relevant programs with the aim of supporting K-12 schooling. NCLB educational policy should focus on integration of new qualification standards for teachers, concentrate on the improvement of schools, as well as include higher-thinking and problem-solving skills.

Summary of…

Social Work

Critical thinking, a higher order of thinking about and dealing with issues, is quite relevant in many contemporary disciplines, particularly social work. It is a way of looking at information, of processing that information in an analytical manner, and having the ability to bring both life experience and other information to bear on the regular processes of one's discipline. Certainly, it can be used as an approach to daily lie, reading, public speaking, even watching movies or attending a concert. Within the social work discipline, it is a way to take a careful appraisal of beliefs and actions and then arrive at well-reasoned and thoughtful interventions that increase the likelihood of helping clients and avoiding harm -- reasonable and reflecting attitudes that help decide what to do and when (Papell and Skolnik, 1992).

Social work, and other medical and sociological and medical disciplines often turn toward theory as…

learning how to read, and the development of language as well as language skills. Much of the book is descriptive and historical in nature, though ample space is also provided to contemporary empirical research and its findings concerning reading development and current issues being faced in teaching beginning readers. The conclusions in this regard are that the teaching of phonics is inconsistent both in terms of what is considered to fall under the umbrella of "phonics" and in the specific methodologies and perspectives brought to bear in trying to provide phonics instruction to beginning readers. The focus on mechanical understanding rather than critical understanding in later readers and budding writers is also discussed, with direct implications for beginning readers and on beginning reading instruction.

The research findings suggest that other modes of instruction and greater consistency and clarity in certain methodologies are necessary in order to achieve more effective beginning…

Processing: A Critical Literature Review and Future Research Directions by Spickett-Jones and Kitchen (2003) offers insight into much of the scholarly literature that has been written regarding information processing. The authors stress the importance of understating the actual processes and mechanics of what is used when there is interpretation of information as well as the cognitive processes and foundational structures that enable meaning to be associated with these activities (p.2). Persuasive communication is noted as a focus of the writing and the authors stress the significance of understanding communication within the contextual framework of human organization; how it is attended to, understood, interpreted, stored, manipulated, reflected upon and retrieved (p.2). Spickett Jones and Kitchen (2003) review marketing literature that addresses marketing and advertising theory with a primary focus on information processing.

The information provided in the Spickett-Jones and Kitchen article is very much in line with other information I have…

Ethics, Law Case, Critical Thinking

Title VII of the Civil ights Act permits retaliation claims because they help to prevent situations in which workers who are unlawfully discriminated against pursue those discrimination law suits. Were Title VII of this act not to permit retaliation claims, then there is a possibility that egalado would have dropped her law suit of discrimination against the company both she and her husband worked for, just so that he could either keep his job or have it reinstated. etaliations claims require inclusion in Title VII of this act to keep employers honest in their dealings with their employees. Thompson was not part of the lawsuit that egalado was formulating (Your textbook, p. 415), yet he was fired as a means of retaliating against her for producing a law suit against the company. Without the inclusion of retaliation claims, Thompson would have unfairly lost a job.…

"

Is the author clear in her objective? I would say she is absolutely certain of what she is talking about. Her intended audience is the average American who has recently been bombarded with threats of intrusion. The average American however is not living in constant fear, as government wants us to believe. Citizens are intelligent and aware enough to understand the limits of fear, the scope of government's authority and the impact of unnecessary intrusion.

What makes the essay better than other similar opinion pieces is author's dispassionate stance on the issue. She has the same concerns as everyone else but has presented them very objectively as to make the argument based more on logic than passion alone. The government has lately become very intrusive and not everyone welcomes this unwanted monitoring. In fact, most people resent it deeply because not only does it violate their constitutional rights, it…

" The differences in these two lines seem to be only a matter of syntax but in actuality, it also differs in the meaning. The King James Bible version makes it seem like the Lord is making the individual do something, as if by force or obligation, while the Puritan version states that the Lord causes the individual to do something, as if out of their own will. This alone relays the message that faith itself is driving the action, not a perceived obligation.

Another distinction between the two translations can be found with the lines "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: / and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (King James Bible) and "Goodness and mercy surely shall / all my days follow me. / and in the Lord's house I shall / dwell so long as days…

Emotional Intelligence

Read the case study-Finding the Emotional Intelligence

hat are the differences between leaders and managers? Can anyone be a leader? hich would you prefer to work for and why?

Leaders are typically thought to be more visionary, inspiring, and often humble while managers are frequently assumed to be more administrative and organized. Each role has value to the organization and can move the organization towards the achievement of its strategic goals in the right circumstances. Management is aimed at monitoring, controlling, and motivating employees through economic incentives and other exchange incentives (Bass, 1985).

Share an example from your work or school experience with working through the five stages of team development.

Figure 1-5 Stages (UIC, N.d.)

One of the classes in business I had last semester had a group project. The groups were formed by the professor and many of the people in my group did not know…

Education can reinforce hegemony or be used to facilitate political resistance and catalyze social justice. Students and faculty at the University of Hawaii have empowered themselves through education, through changes to curriculum and also to the norms of public discourse. In “Native Student Organizing,” Trask also describes how political structures in education have a direct bearing on community empowerment. Left alone, university politics can too easily reflect the dominant, colonialist, and typically white discursive practices. Trask describes how concerted efforts at building campus organizations of resistance and decolonization can and will yield results that extend far beyond campus boundaries. In fact, education is often the breeding ground for broader social and/or political revolutions like the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, which Trask recalls. During processes of transformative change in universities, it is important to create pathways for harmonious exchanges of ideas. Indigenous empowerment and the Hawaiian sovereignty movement can…

English for academic purposes approach focuses on the reader, too, not as a specific individual but as the representative of a discourse community, for example, a specific discipline or academia in general. The reader is an initiated expert who represents a faculty audience. This reader, particularly omniscient and all-powerful, is likely to be an abstract representation, a generalized construct, one reified from an examination of academic assignments and texts (aimes, 1991).

Partnership Teaching is not just an extension of co-operative teaching. Co-operative teaching consists of a language support teacher and class teacher jointly planning a curriculum and teaching strategies which will take into account the learning needs of all pupils. The point is to adjust the learning situation in order to fit the pupils. Partnership Teaching is more than that. It builds on the notion of co-operative teaching by linking the work of two teachers with plans for curriculum improvement…

Critical Incident Issue -- Level of stress in the waiting room for XYZ Clinic. Only frequencies of 2 + were noted and only those with importance level of 1 (extremely important) or 2 (important) were noted.

Type of Incident

Frequency

Importance

Excessive wait time (> 30 minutes)

4

1

Atmosphere of waiting area pleasant, chairs comfortable

3

2

egular interaction with reception; realistic expectations

3

2

esources while waiting; magazines, Wi-Fi, television, etc.

2

2

We are aware that a sample of 4 is not large enough to be statistically inclusive of a larger population. However, based on dialog within the waiting room over a number of days, we did come to the conclusion that many of the patient's in the waiting room had similar opinions. Further, we believe that further analysis would show that there was a deeper and broader set of expectations and experiences that might go far…

By the nature of their work, they have access to a lot of valuable information that can be used to provide measures in performance assessment systems. Additionally, management accountants are already oriented towards many actions that focus on improving efficient, productivity and profitability. Management accountants therefore have the expertise needed to understand what measures are best aligned with the company's objectives. If they are involved in the development of assessment systems, the systems will be stronger.

For the most part, the measures in performance assessment systems are reliable and accurate. The emphasis that these systems has on quantitative analysis means that most measure are not subject to much subjectivity. The systems are, however, only as good as the quality of the measurement processes. If there are faults in the measurement process then there will also be faults in the data, and ultimately in the interpretation of that data. It is…

H Strategy

ead Abstract

Mountain Bank

Strategies to achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace

Organizations thrive by providing a level of value or services for their customers that their competitors cannot. Mountain Bank currently has a strong retail banking business, but it wishes to expand its outreach into the more lucrative business banking sector. It wishes to expand into retail and corporate banking. To do so, it desires to better use its tellers to convince current private banking account holders to open up corporate accounts.

Tellers are the 'face' of Mountain Bank. They are a critical asset, because one of the main reasons consumers desire to use a bank beyond basic 'nuts and bolts' needs is the confident and concerned image presented by the teller. Of course, more and more banking is being done online today. However, many consumers are frustrated by this, and often it is when a…

II

Impact of qualitative reading inventories and subsequent educational intervention plans have on literacy development in elementary students

Impact of qualitative reading inventories and subsequent educational intervention plans on literacy development in elementary students

eading inventories are frequently used both to assess students who are struggling and to identify strategies that are helpful in supporting reading success for the larger student body. "Procedurally, [informal reading inventories] IIs assess a student's instructional level in reading using sets of passages that are written or selected to be representative of the difficulty level of texts at different grade levels, and in different schools and reading programs" (Specter 2005: 595). "By charting and analyzing patterns in oral reading error types, educators identify whether students rely on one cueing system & #8230; to the exclusion of the others, as beginning readers typically do, or if they use a balance of strategies, as mature readers at…

Applying Critical Thinking

Best Practices in Critical Thinking

"Applying Critical Thinking Skills to Making Post-Graduate Education Decisions"

"Applying Critical Thinking Skills to Making Post-Graduate Education Decisions"

Introduction/Critical Thinking Defined

Using critical thinking skills nearly always results in better decision making and therefore better actions. Personal change is always accompanied by a long list of critical issues that require thought and development in order to cement into a cost-benefit balance. Long-term goals are likely to be those best developed with critical thinking skills, but sometimes long-term goals do not actually create a beneficial outcome, largely as a result of those goals not being well thought out or well researched. Seeking to further one's education is a higher goal that can and often does result in greater long-term earning potential but is also often associated with immediate sacrifices and challenges, such as limiting income in the present for deferred promises of greater…

Business Critical Thinking

To whom it may concern:

'Logically speaking...' How often do we say this simple phrase? There is a presumption that logic is not only good, but that the human mind can easily calculate the pros and cons of most decisions. However, the human brain did not evolve to naturally gravitate to an emotion-free, Spock-like way of evaluating options. "hen people face an uncertain situation, they don't carefully evaluate the information or look up relevant statistics. Instead, their decisions depend on mental short cuts, which often lead them to make foolish decisions. The short cuts aren't a faster way of doing the math; they're a way of skipping the math altogether" (Lehrer 2011). The sooner we admit this, the better we can cope with the challenges with which life presents us; the sooner a business organization admits this, the better it can guard against irrationality, or at least…

Power critical understanding difficulties managers confront seeking manage change'. Discuss. This undergraduate Essay (Level III) If resources reading list I

Power is critical to understanding the difficulties managers confront when seeking to manage change

Long gone are the times when firms would operate solely to generate profits and this represented their stated mission. Today, economic agents across the globe peg their success not only to financial results, but also to their ability to serve the various needs of the multiple stakeholder categories. In other words, while the final objective is that of registering profits, the aim is attained through a combination of strategic efforts targeted at serving the stakeholders.

For instance, the employees are the most valuable organizational assets and they are treated as such. The customers are not the forces purchasing whatever the company produces, but they represent the force telling the company what to produce. The technologic community…