Organizing and Paying for American Education Essay

Organizing and Paying for American Education - Essay Example Private institutions are run by non-governmental organizations and often churches. Public education is one of the main expenditures of the state whose funding comes from local taxes. The American educational structure is as follows: First there is pre-higher education that consists of pre-primary classes involving kindergarten, nurseries, preschool programs, and child/day care centers. Then, there is primary education which is the elementary school from grades 1 to 7. After that the middle education comes which offers education from grades 4-6, or 5-7, or 6-8. Then, there are high schools providing education from grades 7 or 8 to 12. After this, higher education starts which is also referred to as postsecondary education, offered in universities. Organization An American school has a principal who is in charge of the school; an assistant principal who shares duties of the principal; curriculum coordinators; department heads, teachers as team leaders; student teachers; probationary te achers; tenured teachers; and support staff consisting of classified employees such as librarians, custodians and secretaries. As far as organization of school districts is concerned, there is a local board of education which is granted legal authority to run schools and is elected for a term of four years.

Relationship between French and Industrial Revolutions Essay

Relationship between French and Industrial Revolutions - Essay Example Another characteristic f the revolution is the population growth that it sparked. Following the revolution, the western population increased six times within two decades (Stanley, 24). This revolution saw the creation of factories, the rise of the working class, modernization and the rise of unions and organizations that effectively fought for the rights of the workers. However, the revolution also came with negative impacts on the society. Child labor and deaths, as well as an upsurge of diseases such as cancer are some of the negative impacts. French revolution on the other hand was a period of radical social and political transformations, which had a great impact in France as a country and the whole of the Europe community (Stanley, 20). The monarchial system was eliminated and a new political system was established. With the revolution, the aristocratic and religious privileges that were enjoyed by the ruling class ended, and a system that encompassed the creation of equality of all people was established in its place. The principles of enlightenment and of individual rights were effectively established, eliminating the traditional hierarchy system (Stanley, 48). Hunger and poverty, which was widely spread amongst the population, was a major cause for the unrests that eventually saw the revolution take place. The relationship between the French and the industrial revolution is most notable in the effects both created. It is through both that the reality of modernity in the western world was realized. The common characteristic of these revolutions is that they created new structures in the society, which paved way for modernization and equality (Stanley, 39). The French revolution transformed the country from the aristocratic monarchial leadership to a people led system of government. This way, it created a channel through which the common man could be heard, and through which their needs could be identified. A characteristic relationship between the two rev olutions is that they affected every individuals in the countries they took place. The two revolutions also affected all the aspects of the society, transforming the whole traditional society into modernity. The industrial and the French revolution are credited with sparking modernity in the whole of Europe and America (Stanley, 60). The European middle class was made by the two revolutions, in that the industrial revolution created jobs for the people, which granted them income and wealth. The French revolution on the other hand brought many changes in the political and governance system that opened up opportunities for the people in agriculture as well as in industries that eventually developed. This way, the revolutions served to establish the working class and improve the lifestyle of the people. The two revolutions marked a beginning of a different lifestyle for the people (). Both revolutions are related in the sense that they had a great impact in determining the future of th eir countries and the future generations (Stanley, 55). The present political, social, and economic systems in Europe can be traced back to the French and the industrial revolutions. The current workers and labor organizations, as well as many organizations that fight for human rights in the modern world can effectively trace their roots to the two revolutions. A major relationship between the two revolutions is the economic concepts that the two revolutio

What Was Bps Strategy Prior To The Accident Business Essay

What Was Bps Strategy Prior To The Accident Business Essay Deepwater Horizon was an offshore oil-rig located in the Gulf-of- Mexico, owned by Transocean, leased by BP and deployed by Hyundai. 20th April 2010, during the drilling, a tear in the riser-pipe caused an uncontrollable leakage of petroleum, claiming 11 lives, injuring 17 others. The fire fed by the oilfield continued for next 36 hours causing the rig sunk ultimately. Disagreement between different stakeholders caused a delay in taking measures to restrict the oil-leakage. This leakage from the oil-field could only be stopped after 87 days, resulting approx 60,000 barrels/day of oil-leakage into the gulf-of-Mexico causing irreparable damage to marine and coastal ecosystem. Beaches remain closed, tourism and related business suffered, seafood was contaminated and oil killed marine-life across the US-coast. BP on Nov-12 agreed to plead guilty to 14 criminal acts related to this event and to pay $4.5 billion. The potential fine for the spill under the act is $1,100 to $4,300 a barrel s pilled, (NY Times, 2013). This incident also triggered government, MNCs and environmental agencies to agree upon and device stringent measures on improving the safety of offshore oil-rigs, safeguarding the environment, enhancing the post-disaster measures (OCS report, 2011).this incident damaged the strong portfolio value of BP apart from causing it immense financial loss. Preparedness is of utmost important, a process should be devised and actively in-place to tackle such disasters, in such an environment, strategies originate in formal plans (Mintzberg and Waters, 1995) : precise intentions exist [both government and MNCs] , formulated and articulated by central leadership [government], backed up by formal controls to ensure complete adherence [by MNCs], to increase preparedness for disasters in an controllable or predictable manner- mostly this approach converges towards planned-approach. Despite of BPs commitment towards maintaining readiness to respond on larger-scale, to minim ize damaging-effect and facilitate mitigation activities- the magnitude of the deepwater incident was enormous in magnitude and unprecedented which caught BP in its mitigating strategy-formulation. Environmental and social impact assessment is an inherent part of BP strategy (BP, 2013) which analyses the potential risk to environment and on human in the neighborhood of such establishments, though the state-of-art technologies BP failed to assess the risk of this oil-rig. BP lacked in the collaboration with all stakeholders in addressing this disaster. The traditional-way of aerial and satellite imagery in estimating the actual deep-underwater situation failed (Jernelo ¨v, 2010). Another failure of BP was to manage the media in restricting the exaggerated and conflicting facts spread across worldwide thus damaging BPs strong portfolio-value. Strategy Literature Review We can relate the concept of strategic space (Fiegenbaum Thomas, 1990) with the Deepwater-horizon disaster; we would map as the first-step the characteristics of the business environment, termed as strategic space. Three dimensions, a) the levels of organizational strategy (e.g. US government and BP-corporate), b) the strategic decisions making process (e.g. scope, resource deployment), and c) the time period which defines the broad characteristics of the strategic space. First firms need to invest on a well-designed, technically-sound, and precise research, placed within a comprehensive framework covering initially the stable aspects of group behavior, then moves progressively to theory development and testing of dynamic behavior (Fiegenbaum Thomas, 1990). MNCs and government need to join hand to invest on the study of this incident to identify the root-cause of this failure and then agree to devise enhanced preventive measures for such future incidents. It is clear that traditional countermeasures failed, which necessitates for a new approach of risk-management. In the aftermath of this, US govt is taking significant measures to improve regulatory oversight on offshore drilling (OCS report, 2011). We can see competition as a dynamic process in which firms continually take actions to outperform each other (Rindova et al, 2010), once one competitor faces such disaster the other firm eagerly willing to take the advantage of the situation by airing neg ative campaign and aggressive advertisement [e.g. as Shell did]. During such disasters we can argue that a firms decisions as a series of competitive actions provides audience with necessary cues in framing impression about it, as well as comparing it to other players in the same market. Firms competitive actions thus act as a dynamic mechanism for firm specific reduction of ambiguity. Emergence period [of such disaster] on which we focus is relatively short and creates a dynamic environment in which firms [BP] need to make rapid changes in their strategies responding to the changing need of the ground-situation, Rindova et al (ibid). Deepwater-horizon or such incidents are huge in magnitude and poses significant capability to cause damage we need to introduce -out-of-the-box thinking and improvisation/innovation to devise strategies to fight with such situation the dynamic nature of such incidents requires prompt action taking capability [in the terms of financial, technologica l resource]. Insurance [and reinsurance] firms also come under scope during such incidents their risk evaluation process need to be enhanced and routine check-up should be stringent. Product diversification and size dimensions are two such aspects that needs close inspection while determining the value of such huge installations Fiegenbaum Thomas (ibid). Having a good strategy and right execution of the same is essential for a good-management (Thompson et al, 2012) all stakeholders need to have a well-defined strategy in-place to manage such disasters and absolute adherence is needed when calamities occur. The strategy need to be flexible enough to adept itself responding to the actual ground-situation [feedback loop]. A deliberately emergent approach might be useful Mintzberg Waters (ibid). MNCs need to be made responsible to adjust themselves during the unexpectedly tough business-environment by undertaking strategic defense and approaches that enables them to overcome the adversity Thompso n et al, (ibid). But at the same time government also cant escape its responsibilities. Off course a good strategy is essential to obtain and sustain market-position strong enough so that the firm is capable to yield profitable financial performance despite unforeseen events/external factors [e.g. disaster, natural calamity or potential competition]. A review on BP Strategy What was BPs strategy prior to the accident? BP being a trusted company adheres to a higher set of standards in everyday work (BP, 2011). Business doesnt occur in vacuum, the place and time is important (Parry et al, 2007)- stakeholder theory (Donaldson and Preston, 1995) emphasizes on considering all stakeholders [in the environment in which firm operates not only the shareholders interest] strategy-making. Several stakeholders and their competitive interest are associated with such huge installations. BP needs to respect this and maintain balance among all such groups while making their strategy. BP seemed to follow a deliberate approach until this event. BP states its objective as create value for shareholders (BP, 2011) it being a global MNC needs to be responsible towards environment and people in the region it operates. Safety remained top-priority for BP, when disaster happens BP needs to be flexible enough to response to the situation and devise measures to control the aftermath- we observed that they spent three days in discussing the approach. Constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and prompt action in such cases is needed. Government authorities, local-people, environmental-organizations, employee and shareholders, opinions from all should be considered during formulating the strategy which lacked in the case. This incident also shows that neither government nor BP was prepared to sustain such disaster this shows an obvious lack from BPs part in conducting appropriate risk assessment (OCS report, 2011). Experts conclude that this disaster could have been avoided, preparedness and prompt-action is pivotal in managing s uch disaster. Analysis of BP actions in light of the strategic frameworks Resource based view VRIO resources for BP is its strong portfolio value [inimitable and rare], its technical expertise [valuable and rare], financial and organisational strength [valuable]. BP has lost two of its VRIO resources, resulting from this incident; its brand-value and financial-strength [to pay the huge fine]. BP lacked the technical-expertise to avoid the incident and then failed to restrict the leakage it lost its valuable and rare resources [infrastructure, human life]. The myth of inimitable technical expertise of BP and its strong portfolio value were shattered by the incident. It is a huge loss for a firm. Approach based view BP followed a planned approach in addressing this unprecedented disaster and their lack of being flexible and adapting/enhancing strategy to mitigate this series of events caused the continuous oil-leakage for 87 days. They also lack the coordination with different stakeholders and discussions on approach prevented them three days to take measure. Consensus approach would have been key Mintzberg Waters (ibid) as they need to take input from US government agencies, environmentalists and other lease-partners to devise the most appropriate damage control mechanism. Flexibility and transparent communication would have been key in estimating the damage and make containment plains where BP failed in establishing consensus and maintain transparency about the actual size of the disaster. A combination of emergent [taking input from all stakeholders] and Umbrella approach would have been reduce the damage. Ideological approach, Mintzberg Waters (ibid) where collective vision of all stakehol ders are respected might have been useful. Five-Force analysis BP has strong supplier groups [US government, Transocean, Hyundai] they are few and supply highly differentiated products so they pose significant threat to the industry (Porter, 2008/1979). BP suffered here as in future these suppliers would either expel BP [US govt already did a ban on future explorations by BP in US] or impose stringent conditions. BP loses its production capability directly affecting its market-share, posing a moderate threat to BP from strong buyer perspective. Substitutes and new-entrants are of minor threat but rivalry is of major impact. Shell initiated aggressive campaign against BP after this incident, causing more damage to BP brand-value. Conclusions/Recommendations In our time protection of the environment is a priority and such environmental disasters have a huge impact created and multifold by media and environment agencies to damage the portfolio value of the Oil-MNC. Firms needed to justify their actions to all stakeholders including the valuable shareholders. Firms need to balance between profitability and responsibility (Breeze, 2012) and demonstrate their adherence in a sustainable corporate social responsibility. Not only in their vision statement but also everyday acts. Assurance of human safety and environmental protection is pivotal for any industry; such things remain sometimes neglected in leased oil-rigs, reforms is necessary; both at the government layer imposing regulatory steps on quality-control and the firms internal decision-making process to ensure their political autonomy, technical expertise, and their full consideration of environmental protection (OCS report, 2011). Instead of one-sided blaming MNCs for this disaster w e need to equip ourselves from preventing such incidents to occur, suggestions Strengthen the collaboration between government-agencies and MNCs, Firms need to invest on RD to improve spill-response. Analyze the traditional measures to contain the spill and introduce upgrades both Firms and Govt. responsible BP to invest to enhance its spill preparedness and control mechanisms Invest on robust design, leakage measurement and containment Government and BP need to ensure fair, transparent damage control and estimating mechanism. Restore the coastal wild life and marine food-chain, trust building measures need to taken by government to assure the seafood consumers. Firms and government need to establish stringent measures to safeguard the human-life on the rig and the rescue-staff. Long term restoration [of the marine life] plan is needed from Government funded by BP to mitigate the irreparable loss of the coastal-life. Government should impose laws on the financial responsibility of the firms operating in the area during such disaster Such confidence-building measures would slowly but steadily improve the environmental situation of Mexican-Gulf and lessons learnt from this disaster would help firms to enhance their disaster preparedness. Disasters caused by blow-outs might occur in future too and investment needed to prevent such situation [failsafe mechanism], if that fails capping of blow-out need to be done swiftly and relief-walls might be suitable to restrict the leakage, Jernelo ¨v (ibid). Consensus and umbrella approach, Mintzberg and Waters (ibid) where strategies originate/revolve around consensus- in such a multiparty environment reaching consensus is of utmost important, no stakeholder can devise/deploy strategy in single handed. Government needs to develop the boundaries of tolerance and impose safety-mechanisms, within which firms need to operate and periodic checking mechanism should be in place to ensure firms operate within their limits set by government. Corporate Social Responsibility determine s the expected behavior of a firm towards its commitment to society and responsibility of conducts for environment BP needs to demonstrate this in their future plants.

Cancer :: essays research papers fc

Cancer INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the American society, cancer is the disease most feared by the majority of people within the U.S. Cancer has been known and described throughout history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the early 1990s nearly 6 million cancer cases and more than 4 million deaths have been reported worldwide, every year. The most fatal cancer in the world is lung cancer, which has grown drastically since the spread of cigarette smoking in growing countries. Stomach cancer is the second leading form of cancer in men, after lung cancer. Another on the increase, for women, is breast cancer, particularly in China and Japan. The fourth on the list is colon and rectum cancer, which occurs mostly in older people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the United States more than one-fifth of the deaths in the early '90s was caused by cancer, only the cardiovascular diseases accounted at a higher percentage. In 1993 the American Cancer Society predicted that about 33% of Americans will eventually get cancer. In the United States skin cancer is the most dominating in both men and women, followed by prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. Yet lung cancer causes the most deaths in men and women. Leukemia, or cancer of the blood, is the most common type in children. An increasing incidence has been clearly observable over the past few decades, due in part to improved cancer screening programs, and also to the increasing number of older persons in the population, and also to the large number of tabacco smokers--particularly in women. Some researchers have estimated that if Americans stopped smoking, lung cancer deaths could virtually be eliminated within 20 years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The U.S. government and private organizations spent about $1.2 billion annual for cancer research. With the development of new drugs and treatments, the number of deaths among cancer patients under 30 years of age is decreasing, even though the number of deaths from cancer is growing overall. TYPES OF CANCER   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.Cancer is the common term used to designate the mosst aggressive and usually fatal forms of a larger class of the diseases known as neoplasms. A neoplasm is described as being relatively autonomous because it does not fully obey the biological mechanisms that govern the growth and the metabolism of individual cells and the overall cell interactions of the living organism. Some neoplasms grow more rapidly than the tissues from which they arise, others grow at a normal pace but because of the other factors eventually become recognizable as an abnormal growth and not normal tissue. The changes seen in neoplasm are heritable in that these characteristics are passed on from each cell to ots

Finance Midterm

FINA300 Fall 2011 Benedictine University 100 points Name: ___________________________________________________ 1) Which of the following statements is CORRECT? a. The New York Stock Exchange is an auction market, and it has a physical location. b. Home mortgage loans are traded in the money market. c. If an investor sells shares of stock through a broker, then it would be a primary market transaction. d. Capital markets deal only with common stocks and other equity securities. e. While the distinctions are blurring, investment banks generally specialize in lending money, whereas commercial banks generally help companies raise capital from other parties. (2) Which of the following statements is CORRECT? a. A hostile takeover is the main method of transferring ownership interest in a corporation. b. A corporation is a legal entity created by a state, and it has a life and existence that is separate from the lives and existence of its owners and managers. c. Unlimited liability and limited life are two key advantages of the corporate form over other forms of business organization. . Limited liability is an advantage of the corporate form of organization to its owners (stockholders), but corporations have more trouble raising money in financial markets because of the complexity of this form of organization. e. Although the stockholders of the corporation are insulated by limited legal liability, the legal status of the corporation does not protect the firmâ€℠¢s managers in the same way, i. e. , bondholders can sue its managers if the firm defaults on its debt. 3) The retained earnings account on the balance sheet does not represent cash. Rather, it represents part of the stockholders' claim against the firm's existing assets. Put another way retained earnings are stockholders' reinvested earnings. a. True b. False (4) In finance, we are generally more interested in cash flows than in accounting profits. Free cash flow (FCF) is calculated as after-tax operating income plus depreciation less the sum of capital expenditures and changes in net working capital. a. True b. False 5) Other things held constant, which of the following actions would increase the amount of cash on a company’s balance sheet? a. The company repurchases common stock. b. The company pays a dividend. c. The company issues new common stock. d. The company gives customers more time to pay their bills. e. The company purchases a new piece of equipment 6) Ryngard Corp's sales last year were $38,000, and its total assets were $16,000. What was its total assets turnover ratio (TATO)? a. 2. 04 b. 2. 14 c. 2. 26 d. 2. 38 e. 2. 49 7) A new firm is developing its business plan. It will require $615,000 of assets, and it projects $450,000 of sales and $355,000 of operating costs for the first year. Management is reasonably sure of these numbers because of contracts with its customers and suppliers. It can borrow at a rate of 7. 5%, but the bank requires it to have a TIE of at least 4. 0, and if the TIE falls below this level the bank will call in the loan and the firm will go bankrupt. What is the maximum debt ratio the firm can use? (Hint: Find the maximum dollars of interest, then the debt that produces that interest, and then the related debt ratio. ) a. 41. 94% b. 44. 15% c. 46. 47% d. 48. 92% e. 51. 49% 8) Which of the following could explain why a business might choose to operate as a corporation rather than as a sole proprietorship or a partnership? a. Corporations generally face fewer regulations. b. Less of a corporation’s income is generally subject to federal taxes. c. Corporate shareholders are exposed to unlimited liability, but this factor is offset by the tax advantages of incorporation. d. Corporate investors are exposed to unlimited liability. e. Corporations generally find it easier to raise large amounts of capital. (9) You recently sold 200 shares of Disney stock, and the transfer was made through a broker. This is an example of: a. A money market transaction. b. A primary market transaction. c. A secondary market transaction. d. A futures market transaction. e. An over-the-counter market transaction 10) Below are the 2007 and 2008 year-end balance sheets for Tran Enterprises: Assets:20082007 Cash$ 200,000$ 170,000 Accounts receivable864,000700,000 Inventories 2,000,000 1,400,000 Total current assets$3,064,000$2,270,000 Net fixed assets 6,000,000 5,600,000 Total assets$9,064,000$7,870,000 Liabilities and equity: Accounts payable$1,400,000$1,090,000 Notes payable 1,600,000 1,800,000 Total current liabilities$3,000,000$2,890,000 Long-term debt 2,400,000 2,400,000 Common stock 3,000,000 2,000,000 Retained earnings 664,000 580,000 Total common equity$3,664,000$2,580,000 Total liabilities and equity$9,064,000$7,870,000 The firm has never paid a dividend on its common stock, and it issued $2,400,000 of 10-year, non-callable, long-term debt in 2007. As of the end of 2008, none of the principal on this debt had been repaid. Assume that the company’s sales in 2007 and 2008 were the same. Which of the following statements must be CORRECT? a. The firm increased its short-term bank debt in 2008. b. The firm issued long-term debt in 2008. . The firm issued new common stock in 2008. d. The firm repurchased some common stock in 2008. e. The firm had negative net income in 2008. (11) Chang Corp. has $375,000 of assets, and it uses only common equity capital (zero debt). Its sales for the last year were $595,000, and its net income was $25,000. Stockholders recently voted in a new management team that has promised to lower costs and get the return on equity up to 15. 0%. What profit margin would the firm need in order to achieve the 15% ROE, holding everything else constant? a. 9. 45% b. . 93% c. 10. 42% d. 10. 94% e. 11. 49% 11) Which of the following statements is CORRECT? a. Most rapidly growing companies have positive free cash flows because cash flows from existing operations generally exceed fixed asset purchases and changes to net working capital. b. Changes in working capital have no effect on free cash flow. c. Free cash flow (FCF) is defined as follows: FCF =EBIT(1 – T) + Depreciation – Capital expenditures required to sustain operations – Required changes in net working capital. d. Free cash flow (FCF) is defined as follows: FCF = EBIT(1 – T) + Capital expenditures. e. Managers should be less concerned with free cash flow than with accounting net income. Accounting net income is the â€Å"bottom line† and represents how much the firm can distribute to all its investors- both creditors and stockholders. (12) Last year Harrington Inc. had sales of $325,000 and a net income of $19,000, and its year-end assets were $250,000. The firm's total-debt-to-total-assets ratio was 45. 0%. Based on the DuPont equation, what was the ROE? a. 13. 82% b. 14. 51% c. 15. 23% d. 16. 00% e. 16. 80%

Applying Theories to Children’s Literature Essay

The Little Red Hen Once upon a time, there was a little red hen who lived on a farm. She was friends with a lazy dog, a sleepy cat, and a noisy yellow duck. One day the little red hen found some seeds on the ground. The little red hen had an idea. She would plant the seeds. The little red hen asked her friends, â€Å"Who will help me plant the seeds?† â€Å"Not I,† barked the lazy dog. â€Å"Not I,† purred the sleepy cat. â€Å"Not I,† quacked the noisy yellow duck. â€Å"Then I will,† said the little red hen. So the little red hen planted the seeds all by herself. When the seeds had grown, the little red hen asked her friends, â€Å"Who will help me cut the wheat?† â€Å"Not I,† barked the lazy dog. â€Å"Not I,† purred the sleepy cat. â€Å"Not I,† quacked the noisy yellow duck. â€Å"Then I will,† said the little red hen. So the little red hen cut the wheat all by herself. When all the wheat was cut, the little red hen asked her friends, â€Å"Who will help me take the wheat to the mill to be ground into flour?† â€Å"Not I,† barked the lazy dog . â€Å"Not I,† purred the sleepy cat. â€Å"Not I,† quacked the noisy yellow duck. â€Å"Then I will,† said the little red hen. So the little red hen brought the wheat to the mill all by herself, ground the wheat into flour, and carried the heavy sack of flour back to the farm. The tired little red hen asked her friends, â€Å"Who will help me bake the bread?† â€Å"Not I,† barked the lazy dog. â€Å"Not I,† purred the sleepy cat. â€Å"Not I,† quacked the noisy yellow duck. â€Å"Then I will,† said the little red hen. So the little red hen baked the bread all by herself. When the bread was finished, the tired little red hen asked her friends, â€Å"Who will help me eat the bread?† â€Å"I will,† barked the lazy dog. â€Å"I will,† purred the sleepy cat. â€Å"I will,† quacked the noisy yellow duck. â€Å"No!† said the little red hen. â€Å"I will.† And the little red hen ate the bread all by herself. Theoretical Model Application Theoretical models of childhood may be applied to children’s literature in finding the appropriate reading material for the age of the child and in order to bring growth, learning, and more understanding as the child’s mind develops and progresses. If I read the story above to a three year old child, they would like the story. If I explained the moral of the story to the child in the child’s own terms, they would enjoy and understand the meaning as well as the story. Theory of Social Development According to Russell, D. L. (2009), Lev Vygotsky believed that human development was a continuing and never-ending process and that we have no developmental â€Å"goals† to reach, only a series of lifelong metamorphoses largely brought about by our interactions with others. In fact, Vygotsky believed that human beings are essentially social creatures and that it is through our social interaction that we learn about ourselves and the world. Indeed, individuals, he believed, can accomplish tasks through social interaction (guidance from someone more experienced or peer collaboration) that they could never achieve on their own. Vygotsky argues that language is, in fact, a way of thinking about something—that our ability to formulate words, to put things into words, actually helps us to think and to understand. (Anyone who has talked through personal problems with a friend or therapist or used a diary or journal to help sort out personal conflicts will understand Vygotskyâ €™s point.) Chap. 2 Relation the Vygotsky’s Theory In the story of The Little Red Hen I relate it to Vygotsky’s theory in several ways. First, this story is capable of teaching the lesson that with hard work and determination there is always a payoff in the end. This lesson gives us the value of hard work and never giving up, having faith, and never letting others detract us from our goals. The story also gives us the lesson that the dog, cat, and duck were her (The Little Red Hen) friends and she never gave up or quit asking them for help, even up to the end of the story. She always gave them a choice at each level and she never got angry with their choices not to help, this shows the social interaction method of Vygotsky’s theory. The hen had a vision of what could be if she planted the seeds, she set her goal, and she reaped the benefits as well as followed through with her plan. The dog, cat, and the duck made their own choices in not helping, so they also got what they planned for which was nothing. Critical Approach to the Story Literary Criticism is a discussion of ideas about the story, any story. In the story of The Little Red Hen we have a believable and memorable character (the hen) in which we focus on. She is the protagonist and the other three characters are the antagonists. There are elements such is character motivation, a plot or series of events, and definitely conflict in this story. The character motivation is that the hen is responsible for her own acts as she works hard throughout the story and the dog, cat, and duck are made to be responsible for their own acts by receiving no bread. In what the hen does, completing each step of the process, her actions are the key to this story. The setting in this story is the farm and the lesson is that hard work pays off, while laziness does not. The narrator of this story, in my opinion, is the limited narrator because it is not a character in the story. The episodic plot shows not only a series of events but also how they are interconnected to each other. Reference: Russell, D. L. (2009). Literature for children: A short introduction (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.