The Importance of Literacy Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Literacy Essay Try and imagine our society without a common language. This could be quite a hard idea to fathom. Allow me to assist you. If this hypothetical idea were in fact true, a typical conversation between two individuals would be as follows: one of the two would begin the conversation by making noises representing their language, the other person would not understand these noises and respond with unrecognizable noises to the first individual. As you can well imagine, this would get quite frustrating. Rita Mae Brown describes literacy as, a social contract, an agreed upon representation of certain symbols (420). If the symbols (letters) meanings are not agreed upon by those attempting to communicate, then interpreting one another becomes difficult. Simply stated, literacy is very important. Society has proven time and time again, it will reward those individuals who are competent and impede those who are not, whether expressed in terms of employment opportunities (job success) or just on a social level. One need look no further than their everyday activities in order to realize how important literary skills are. Without adequate literary skills one may not be able to identify on a label the correct amount of medicine to give a child, or read and interpret a sign giving instructions on what to do in case of a fire. These two examples bring perspective to literacys importance. Nevertheless, recent surveys have indicated that, 4. 5 million Canadians, representing 24 percent of the eighteen-and-over group, can be considered illiterate (Adult Illiteracy 5). Illiteracy is truly a problem within Canada. Although many groups are working to render the problem of illiteracy, much work still lies ahead. As our society moves on into the next century literacy is proving vital to economic performance. Without basic literary skills in ones possession they will become lost in our rapidly changing society. The modern worker must be able to adapt to the changing job-scene. This often means gathering new skills and knowledge from printed material, whether instruction manuals, computer programs, or classroom training (text books). It is quite commonly the case that highly skilled jobs require a high level of literacy. Therefore, literary skill level is an important factor in predicting an individuals economic success. It will affect an individuals income, their employment stability and whether they even receive employment opportunities. Presently, our world revolves around literacy. Simply being literate allows one to continuously upgrade ones literary skills to a higher level. It allows one to stay informed of happenings in and around the world through mediums such as newspapers and magazines. Knowing current news about what is going on in this ever changing world of ours is the key to staying ahead. Another thought to ponder is this, we rely on those with high literacy levels to record and document findings and happenings for future generations to reflect on. These writings would most likely be dull and inaccurate or would not exist at all without our current levels of literacy. When viewed from a social standpoint, literacy remains just as important as when viewed from the economic standpoint. Linda Macleod of the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice, points out that, 65 percent of people entering Canadian prisons for the first time have trouble reading and writing, low literacy is part of a constellation of problems that can limit choices in life and thus lead people to criminal activity (20). Somebody in possession of a high level of literacy will most likely be well informed and tend to make wiser decisions. By obtaining this level of literacy they have also gathered a large vocabulary giving them many words to choose from to express their ideas and feelings. Conversely, many would agree that a conversation with one who has a good grasp of the English language is always more delightful than with one who is less educated. Literacy can act as a window, opening ones view to the world. Presently, we are being bombarded with information, news, trivia and gossip (not that this is always a positive feature in our lives). Without sufficient literary skills one cannot even absorb any of this information. These people will miss out on many of lifes benefits, socially as well as economically. Without sufficient literary skills one would have a tremendously difficult time functioning in our current world. Think about your average day, consider how many times you refer to your literary skills to aid you, could you function without those skills? Finding an address, reading a map, reading a menu, performing a bank transaction, these are just a few common tasks that require your literary skills. Also, when looking at the importance of literacy to our nation, its value is evident. High levels of literacy throughout all sectors of Canadas workforce are necessary, low literacy levels of workers affect Canadas ability to perform in the increasingly competitive international marketplace (Literacy 7). Literary skills become building blocks. First creating a well- educated society, then a highly skilled labour force which can compete and adapt to the changing market. These factors lead to an increase in economic growth within the nation which in turn, results in a higher standard of living for its people. As our society moves forward into the future, a higher level of literacy will become more important to ones level of success. Where would our society be without our ability to exchange knowledge and information? How many times have you made a purchase that read on the outside instructions inside? You and I think nothing of this, and in a sense take our gift for granted. For many, deciphering written instructions is a near impossible task, asking for assistance does little more than to further lower their self esteem. Literacy is important. To truly seize the benefits possible in ones life it has to be accepted that literacy is the key. Society will continue to reward skilled individuals and disadvantage those who are not.

Lord Of The Flies Chapter 4: Painted faces And Long hair :: English Literature

Lord Of The Flies Chapter 4: Painted faces And Long hair At the beginning of this chapter the link with moral order and civilisation is still present This is noticeable when Roger is throwing stones but makes sure they do no hit Henry. This is because â€Å"the taboo of the old life† is still strong, â€Å"Round the squatting child was the protection of parents and school and policemen and the law† However there is a suggestion that civilisation is becoming remote for the boys â€Å"Rogers arm was conditioned by a civilisation that new nothing of him and was in ruins† Civilisation is a distant memory. Roger and Maurice are beginning to behave differently towards the littluns. They kicked their sand castles over, buried the flowers and scattered the chosen stones. They enjoy doing this, something they would have not done in their past life as they would have been punished by their parents. Maurice realises this while walking away as he â€Å"still felt the unease of a wrong-doing.† This shows that although they have broken away from their past life, by rule breaking, they still have a sense of right and wrong. Moral standards are under threat in this new environment. Jacks standards and morals have been eroded. He claims that his war paint is for camouflage and will help him when he is hunting, â€Å"They don’t smell me. They see me.† He claims. Jack is excited by his new appearance. However the war paint removes him from his previous identity. The others are â€Å"appalled† as Jack â€Å"began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling.† He takes on primitiveness and leaves behind the rules and laws from his previous life. The war paint mask appeared to be taking control â€Å"the mask was a thing on it’s own† and it â€Å" compelled them† Jack had left behind his â€Å"shame and self consciousness.† Piggy is trying to maintain a link with civilisation by suggesting they could make a sundial. However this is treated with sarcasm and ridicule from Ralph â€Å"and an airplane, and a TV set†¦ and a steam engine.† Piggy, keen to be accepted misinterprets Ralph’s smile as a friendly gesture but Ralph becomes dismissive and moves away. The boys suddenly realise that their fire has gone out and a ship passes by without seeing them. Ralph hears the hunting processions chanting led by Jack. During the early days Jack could not bring himself to kill a pig. However killing has now become acceptable. The boys involved in the hunt have broken what was earlier, a taboo. Not only are they now prepared to kill, they actually take real pleasure in doing so â€Å"Kill

Busy Bee Essay

In this crazy world, everyone is busy with their work, going to school, or doing something for the survival of their lives. A busy bee defines a person who is busy in his/her life and barely has time for their personal and social life. This kind of lifestyle is really complicated and hard to live. A busy bee is a behavior in which a person has little time for friends, is focused on their career and also has a lifestyle of either being a single or can barely provide time for family. First of all myuncle who owns 12 dunking donuts barely has time for his family. He sees his kids or communicates with them once or twice in a week. For him, his business life is more important than his social life with his family. He ought to give first prefrence to his business to make more ‘n’ more money on his bank account. In addition, Olivia Pope from Scandal, to me reflects the behavior of a busy bee. In the show, ‘Scandal’, she appears to be very busy, handling five cases a day, and there is always something going on that she needs to take care of it. As the definition says, she is shown as having no personal life, and mostly she is in the office solving cases since she does as a job as a fixer. Busy bee behavior can also exhibit influential behavior. The bad feeling between what is, and what could be, talks to our frustrations and stirs us into wide awake Influence.I chose this behavior to write about because I can connect to this behavior in such manner that since morning to night, I am running around the whole day to take summer classes or running errands or working. I also uncover some of the valuable realities of how my mind can either work for me or against this influencial being busy behavior. It’s only the weekends I can go back to my normal lifestyle, talk to my family and relax myself. Though Stephen R. Covey famous American educator and author has define busy bee in above mention phrase, â€Å"We may be very busy, we may be very efficient, but we will also be truly effective only when we begin with the end in mind.† To conclude, the behavior of the busy bee is my favorite from all the other behaviors listed because being busy makes me feel like I am accomplishing something from life, it doesn’t give me a chance to get bored and watch shows like sorrow or happiness and it gives me the encouragement to be busy in life. The behavior of a busy bee is an exceptional and unique way to keep going in life. That’s why William Blake said, â€Å"Get busy living, or get busy dying.†

Business Description And Growth Strategies - 1000 Words

Business Description Growth Strategies: DICK’S Sporting Goods, an American sporting goods retailer, was founded in 1948 by a young but up-and-coming 18-year-old Dick Stack. Upon being rejected from presenting his new idea by the owner of the Army surplus store he worked at, Dick received a $300 loan from his grandmother and blossomed that investment into much of the product line you examine today when visiting a DICK’S sporting goods location. As of today, Ed Stack, Dick’s son, is the current CEO and Chairman of the company. In addition to Ed, he and his siblings have purchased the store from their father and are responsible for the drastic expansion from just two stores to a comprehensive chain of over 600 store locations. Behind†¦show more content†¦A few of the largest institutions that hold the most shares include Vanguard Group Inc., T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and BlackRock Fund Advisors (About US Pg. 1). With the majority ownership mostly bei ng institutions, it will be interesting to see how their shareholder structure can potentially impact their corporate structure. Lastly, looking into DICK’S corporate governance, it was previously stated that the board contains 9 members. Furthermore, there are a total of 23 executives within the company, ranging from positions such as CEO, to independent directors. With many executives responsible for numerous activities, it can be concluded that the executives control the strategic goals/matters of the company. Industry Overview and Competitive Positioning: The sporting good retailer industry mainly sells sporting goods and equipment, such as bicycles, exercise gear, apparel, footwear, and numerous types of additions. The sporting goods division for the past few years has performed fairly well due to the strong demand for health-conscious individuals. 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