The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer - Discussion Questions

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer - Discussion Questions The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer was published in April 2013Publisher: Riverhead468 pages may seem like a simple story of how friendships formed as teenagers during summer camp evolve over the years with the characters. In fact, the novel has many threads that book clubs might choose to discuss dreams expectations, secrets, relationships and marriage are just a few. If your group is in New York City, there is also a lot about life there over the decades. These questions are designed to spark conversation and help your group go deeper into Wolitzers novel. Spoiler Warning: These questions reveal details of the story. Finish the book before reading on. There are several secrets in the novel. The next few questions will explore some of these, but feel free to bring up others and to discuss the overall role of secrets in the novel with your book club. The Interestings is divided into three parts: Part I - Moments of Strangeness, Part II - Figland, and Part III - The Drama of the Gifted Child. Do you think these titles or divisions are particularly meaningful to the story?Jules is one of the main characters in the novel, and one of her biggest struggles is contentment and envy. Early in the novel, Wolitzer writes of Jules, What if shed said no? she liked to wonder afterward in a kind of strangely pleasurable, baroque horror. What if shed turned down the lightly flung invitation and went about her life, thudding obliviously along like a drunk person, a blind person, a moron, someone who thinks that the small packet of happiness she carries is enough (3).Then later, when Jules is reading Ethan and Ashs Christmas letter, she says, Their lives were much too different now for Jules to have kept up a sustained level of envy. Mostly, she had given up her envy, had let it recede or dissipate so that she wasnt chronically plagued by it (48 ).Do you think Jules ever conquers her envy? Do you think her experiences at Spirit in the Woods and friendships with the Interestings actually made her happier? Why or why not? What did you think of Dennis and of his relationship with Jules? Was it good? Did you sympathize more with him or with her?Did you sympathize with the ways the characters had to adjust their expectations about life, love, and greatness?What did you think of Ethans giving financial help to Jules and Dennis? Was that an appropriate expression of friendship? How can friends navigate very different financial realities?Did you have any camp or teenage experiences that were as forming as Spirit in the Woods?The biggest secret in The Interestings is that Goodman is still alive and in contact with his family. Why do you think Ash never told Ethan? Do you think he would have reacted differently to finding out if Ash had been honest with him?Do you think Goodman raped Cathy? Why or why not?Jonah also holds on to a secret from his childhood for most of his life that he was drugged and his music stolen. Why dont you think Jonah ever told anyone? How did this secret change the course of his life ? Ethan secretly loves Jules his whole life. Do you think he also truly loves Ash? What do you think about his other secrets contacting Cathy, doubting his love for his son? Are they as big as the secret Ash keeps from him? Why or why not?Were you satisfied with the end of the novel?Rate The Interestings on a scale of 1 to 5.

McDonalds as the leading global foodservice retailer Case Study

McDonalds as the leading global foodservice retailer - Case Study Example The following are their targets: Constant currency results exclude the effects of foreign currency exchange and are calculated by translating current year results using the previous year average exchange rates. System wide sales include sales at all restaurants both from company operated stores and franchisees. Return on incremental invested capital is a measure used to evaluate the overall profitability of all business units, the effectiveness of capital deployed and the future allocation of capital. The company's business strategy is tagged by management as the "Plan to Win". The plan is focused on customers and alignment of the company, its franchisees as well as its suppliers. The business model employed by the company enables them to consistently deliver locally-relevant restaurant experiences to customers and become an integral part of the company they served. The "Plan to Win" strategy is centered on being better, not just bigger - which has become the company's system wide mantra for six years now. It provides not just a common framework for the global business corporation but also allows for local adaptation. It is the corporate headquarters philosophy to think globally but to act locally. The company executes multiple initiatives in order to pull off their grand strategy. Every program focuses on the five key drivers of exceptional customer experience. The key drivers are people, product, place, price and promotion. The company aims at enhancing the restaurant for customers worldwide in order to grow sales and customer visits. The company's success factors include brand affordability, menu variety and beverage choice, convenience expansion, ongoing restaurant reinvestment and operations excellence. McDonald's Short Term Objectives McDonald's will continue to drive success and profitable growth in the years to come. They will further differentiate the brand, increase customer visits and grow market share by pursuing their short term objectives in three key areas. The areas include service enhancement, restaurant reimaging, and menu innovation. The company will leverage technology in order to make it easier for restaurant staff to quickly and accurately serve customer. They will also speed up the interior and exterior reimaging efforts as well as innovate at every level of their menu in order to deliver great taste and value to customers. (McDonald's Corporation, 2010) McDonald's Functional Tactics In the US, the company's functional tactics include strengthening the restaurant's core menu and value offerings such as the Big Mac, pursuing new growth opportunities in chicken, breakfast, beverages and snack options, and elevating the brand experience. New product offerings include Mac Snack Wrap, frappes and smoothies. They will be updating their technology with a new point of sale system; optimizing drive-thru service; enhancing restaurant manager and crew retention and productivity; and completing interior and exterior reimaging in about 500 restaurants. (McDonald's Corporation, 2010) In Europe, the company focuses on building market share by updating restaurant's ambiance through reimaging approximately 1,000 restaurants. They will be leveraging technologies such as

Leadership Paper Business Internship class Term

Leadership Business Internship class - Term Paper Example The apparent vacuum in leadership manifests in the employees poor performance and low productivity. The management seemed to have credibility issue as employees are resistant from any initiative that comes from the Management. Tardiness is also high and so is absenteeism while employee attrition rate is alarming and is costing the management time and resources in training new employees. There is also an apparent discord within the organization as petty quarrels are prevalent among the employee which prevents them to work as a cohesive team. Morale is also low. From what I can deduce from how I was oriented and my initial observation with few casual interviews from employees, there seemed to be a credibility issue with the leadership in the organization. This was validated when I did my initial background research on the issue on how the previous manager fared. I found out that the previous manager was fired due to professional ineptness and questionable professional ethical behaviour in the organization. I surmise that the current leadership credibility issue and low morale in the organization was the result of the previous manager’s professional deportment and leadership. ... Take into consideration the role of the leader; leadership skills and strategies the leader will employ; relationship to others involved in the plan; resources needed to implement the plan; specific activities, etc. Leadership is important in an organization not only to get things done but also to set the direction of the organization. And because of this imperative, leadership has to be present in all aspects of organization as Quinn (1996) argues that leadership is a state of being that people can enter into irrespective of their formal role or position within an organization. . . it as a shared property of the group such that all members of the group, regardless of their formal role or position, participate in the leadership process (Carson, Tesluk, & Marrone, 2007; Morgeson, DeRue, & Karam, 2010; Pearce & Conger, 2003). My immediate plan when I assume office is to repair the broken relationship among the employees and its discord with the management. I also intend to open the com munication line to address the seemingly low morale of the employees as attrition rate is alarmingly high. From what I surmised, the employees seem not to believe in what the management is telling them as it has a credibility issue. Such that I am in a precarious situation to implement remedial measure. Relationship is tough to mend for â€Å" understanding and cooperation of superiors, peers, and subordinates, it takes time to build these relationships† (Kayser, 1973). My initial strategy as a manager is to come to the organization unobtrusively. As I assume office, I will first establish rapport with my employees. There will be initially nothing serious to be taken but just present myself to them as a human being who also feels just

Chinese Economy Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Chinese Economy Master - Essay Example I will be discussing the threats foreign companies are facing in China's business environment and detail the efforts made by the Chinese government to address the said issues. Multinational corporations (MNCs), such as Wal-Mart, have identified that the most troublesome feature of China's business environment is the fragmentation of supply chain and local protectionism resulting to a lack of consistency of inter-provincial rules and regulation. Chinese provinces have, for centuries, enjoyed local autonomy and have made full use of it to protect local interests. Regional and local governments have the power to implement rules and regulation so long as it is line with the core mandates and laws of the central government and they can do this without notice. Foreign companies, most of which operate on the national level, finds this situation to be confusing and costly for business operations as they have to comply with each regulations set by each local entity. It also presents problems in supply chain efficiency as each province may require the inspection of the products being transported. For example, there is the possibility that nationally approved produc ts are barred from local distribution due to differing health and sanitation requirements of different provinces. There also localities that require wholesale purchases of alcohol and tobacco products posing problems for retail-oriented stores. This state of affairs results in fewer choices or higher prices for consumers which can be detrimental to the MNC in light of the very cheap products produced by Chinese companies. Physical infrastructure also differs between provinces due to the gap in funds to implement projects posing difficulties for road transportation whether it may be private or commercial trucking resulting to a problematic interprovincial purchasing. (McGregor 2007, p. 45) Technology and the Abundant Labour Force China's population is one of the largest in the world implying the abundance of the labour supply. While it can be argued that this presents an opportunity for the companies due to the expected lower compensation packages, it presents tradeoffs in accuracy and quality. The cheapness of labour works for industries that employs manual labour but is a nightmare for those which involves automated processes. High-end technology and electronics manufacturing from Japan, Korea and the United States relocating to China require automated processes and invest in usually expensive technologies to meet quality and accuracy standards. They are now faced with the dilemma of resorting to manual labour and risk quality or invest in automation and incur large costs that cannot be easily regained in light of fierce competition. In sectors that make use of manual labour such as those in transportation, distribution and retail, the abundance of labour can be a threat because it decreases entry barriers and forces the company to lower their prices to be able to compete in the market. As a result, foreign companies and their local providers still opt either to process manually or to contract out to local, third-party logistics companies that use manual processes thereby sacrificing quality. (Yan, Rick and Lebeberthal, Kenneth 2006, p.11) Foreign companies that need to have automation in their process could have some part of the process done manually but

Validity, Credibility, & Reliability Essay Example for Free

Validity, Credibility, Reliability Essay When seeking out the validity, credibility, and reliability of a source there can be a vast array of sources to compare when seeking this answer. For example, when validating a source we can research the author and his or her background pertaining to the data in question. Data within a claim can be meant to sway the reader one way or the other, with this in mind, I look at who and what there is to gain from this claim. I can use the gun ban debate stewing in Washington for a great example. President Obama has been pushing for tougher regulations and bans on specific fire arms and related accessories based upon the elementary school shooting in Connecticut implying that this will contest the amount of damage and casualties occurred in mass shootings when statistically more people are killed by drunk drivers in society compared to mass shootings, but yet anyone over the age of 21 can purchase any amount of alcohol. However, even statistics can be swayed depending on the pool of interested parties involved. Some methods I use to determine the reliability of data is to first seek the source from which the data is from. Typically I then seek out other sources in which I can compare that specific data against to validate the data is solid and not transparent. I then will analyze the different sources to be sure there is somewhat of a streamline when these sources are compared.

Law and Ethics in Nursing :: Nursing Ethics Research Paper

In every nurse's career, he or she will face with legal and ethical dilemmas. One of the professional competencies for nursing states that nurses should "integrate knowledge of ethical and legal aspects of health care and professional values into nursing practice". It is important to know what types of dilemmas nurses may face during their careers and how they have been successfully dealt with in the past. It is also important for nurses to understand what malpractice is and how they may protect themselves from a malpractice lawsuit. LAW VS. ETHICS It is important to first understand the difference between law and ethics. Ethics examines the values and actions of people. Often times there is no one right course of action when one is faced with an ethical dilemma. On the other hand, laws are binding rules of conduct. When laws are broken, it is punishable by an authority figure. There are four types of situations that pertain to law vs. ethics. The first would be an action that is both legal and ethical. An example of this would be a nurse carrying out appropriate doctor's orders as ordered. A nurse may also be faced with an action that may be ethical but not legal, such as allowing a cancer patient to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. The opposite may arise where an action may be legal but not ethical. Finally, an action may be neither legal or ethical. For example, when a nurse makes a medication error and does not report it. ETHICAL DUTIES Nurses have many ethical duties to their clients. The main ethical duties are: nonmaleficence, beneficence, fidelity, veracity, and justice. The duty of nonmaleficence is the duty to do no harm. The nurse first needs to ask him or herself what harm is. When a nurse gives an injection she is causing the patient pain but she is also preventing additional harm such as disease development or prolonged pain. Therefore, the nurse must ask herself a second question about how much harm should be tolerated. The duty of beneficence is to do good. In a sense, it is at the opposite end of nonmaleficence or at the positive end of the nonmaleficence > beneficence continuum. The duty of fidelity means to be faithful, or to keep to your promises. Therefore, if a nurse tells his patient that he will

Constructivism Learning Theory Essay

Constructivism learning theory is a philosophy which enhances students’ logical and conceptual growth. The underlying concept within the constructivism learning theory is the role which experiences-or connections with the adjoining atmosphere-play in student education. The constructivism learning theory argues that people produce knowledge and form meaning based upon their experiences. Two of the key concepts within the constructivism learning theory which create the construction of an individual’s new knowledge are accommodation and assimilation. Assimilating causes an individual to incorporate new experiences into the old experiences. This causes the individual to develop new outlooks, rethink what were once misunderstandings, and evaluate what is important, ultimately altering their perceptions. Accommodation, on the other hand, is reframing the world and new experiences into the mental capacity already present. Individuals conceive a particular fashion in which the world operates. When things do not operate within that context, they must accommodate and reframing the expectations with the outcomes. Bruner’s Theory on Constructivism Bruner’s theory on constructivism encompasses the idea of learning as an active process wherein those learning are able to form new ideas based on what their current knowledge is as well as their past knowledge. A cognitive structure is defined as the mental processes which offer the learner the ability to organize experiences and derive meaning from them. These cognitive structures allow the learner to push past the given information in constructing their new concepts. The learner, often a child, will take pieces of their past knowledge and experiences and organize them to make sense of what they know, then base further concepts and solve additional problems based upon a combination of what they already processed and what they think should be processed next. The teacher resources used should be focused on that of encouragement, aiding and allowing the student to uncover the main principles on their own. Communication between the learner and teacher is the key concept. Socratic learning is suggested as the best method of communication in this theoretical framework, as it allows the  teacher to actively note any study skills the learner verbalizes, their progression, their frustrations, and form a rubric of their current learning state based on the dialogue. Seeing as this theory takes known information and expounds upon it, any teacher lesson plans, teacher worksheets, or resources should in fact be constantly building the learner’s knowledge in a spiral manner. The four major principles of Bruner’s theory on constructivism encompass 1) a predilection toward learning. The second, how a grouping of knowledge is able to be constructed to best be understood by the learner. The third is effective manners for the teacher to present said material to the learner, with the fourth and final aspect being the progression of rewards as well as punishments. Piaget’s Theory of Constructivism Jean Piaget was a philosopher from Switzerland. He was also a natural scientist that was famous for the work that he did studying cognitive development and learning theories encompassed in his view of â€Å"genetic epistemology†. At the young age of eleven he attended high school at Switzerland Latin wherein one of his short pieces was the start of his scientific career. Piaget’s theory of constructivism impacts learning curriculum because teachers have to make a curriculum plan which enhances their students’ logical and conceptual growth. Teacher must put emphasis on the significant role that experiences-or connections with the adjoining atmosphere-play in student education. For example, teachers must bear in mind the role those fundamental concepts, such as the permanence of objects, plays when it comes to establishing cognitive structures. Piaget’s theory of constructivism argues that people produce knowledge and form meaning based upon their experience s. Piaget’s theory covered learning theories, teaching methods, and education reform. Two of the key components which create the construction of an individual’s new knowledge are accommodation and assimilation. Assimilating causes an individual to incorporate new experiences into the old experiences. This causes the individual to develop new outlooks, rethink what were once misunderstandings, and evaluate what is important, ultimately altering their perceptions. Accommodation, on the other hand, is reframing the world and new experiences into the mental  capacity already present. Individuals conceive a particular fashion in which the world operates. When things do not operate within that context, they must accommodate and reframing the expectations with the outcomes. Vygotsky’s Theory on Constructivism Lev S. Vygotsky believed that culture is the principal determinant of cognitive progress. In Vgostsky’s theory on constructivism, knowledge leads to further cognitive development. The societal configuration of intelligence states that the individual growth could not be comprehended without indication to the societal and cultural context where the aforementioned evolution is entrenched mind development is continuous. Vygotsky focuses on the actual mechanism of the development. He excludes discernible stages of development as theories and assumptions. Vygotsky’s theory on constructivism does not adhere to the idea that a single abstract principle is able to explain cognitive development. As a substitute to Piaget’s constructivism, he argues that knowledge is internalization of social activity. Mediation refers to people intentionally interject items between their environment and themselves, so that they are able to modify it and gain specific benefits. Mediation is the key propoent of Vygotsky’s theory of constructivism. His theory offers a harmonizing viewpoint to the behaviorist view. Vygotsky’s theory of constructivism supports that the use of mediators helps the human to alter their environment, and this is her way of interacting with the nature. Vygotsky’s theory of constructivism also supports that the use of activity mediators provides a way in which people are able to interact with the nature. Mediation is also defined as the use of certain tools within socially organized activity. There were two phenomena which encompasses the mediated relationship of individuals to their environment. These are 1) Humans use language and physical signs to change social relations into psychological functions between their minds and their environment. The second thing was that higher intellectual progression will actually use symbolic mediation. Apart from learning theories, Piaget’s theory of constructivism addresses how learning actually occurs, not focusing on what influences learning. The role  of teachers is very important. Instead of giving a lecture the teachers in this theory function as facilitators whose role is to aid the student when it comes to their own understanding. This takes away focus from the teacher and lecture and puts it upon the student and their learning. The resources and lesson plans that must be initiated for this learning theory take a very different approach toward traditional learning as well. Instead of telling, the teacher must begin asking. Instead of answering questions that only align with their curriculum, the facilitator in this case must make it so that the student comes to the conclusions on their own instead of being told. Also, teachers are continually in conversation with the students, creating the learning experience that is open to new directions depending upon the needs of the student as the learning progresses. Teachers following Piaget’s theory of constructivism must challenge the student by making them effective critical thinkers and not being merely a â€Å"teacher† but also a mentor, a consultant, and a coach. Some strategies for teacher include having students working together and aiding to answer one another’s questions. Another strategy includes designating one student as the â€Å"expert† on a subject and having them teach the class. Finally, allowing students to work in groups or pairs and research controversial topics which they must then present to the class. Jonassen (1994) proposed that there are eight characteristics that differentiate constructivist learning environments: 1. Constructivist learning environments provide multiple representations of reality. 2. Multiple representations avoid oversimplification and represent the complexity of the real world. 3. Constructivist learning environments emphasize knowledge construction inserted of knowledge reproduction. 4. Constructivist learning environments emphasize authentic tasks in a meaningful context rather than abstract instruction out of context. 5. Constructivist learning environments provide learning environments such as real-world settings or case-based learning instead of predetermined sequences of instruction. 6. Constructivist learning environments encourage thoughtful reflection on experience. 7. Constructivist learning environments†enable context- and content- dependent knowledge construction.† 8. Constructivist learning environments support  Ã¢â‚¬Å"collaborative construction of knowledge through social negotiation, not competition among learners for recognition.† Jonassen’s eight characteristics would be supported by both social and cognitive constructivists. There is, however, a difference in the emphasis these two strands on constructivism place on each of those characteristics.