The question is on karen tranberg hansen's book salaula. the world of Essay

The question is on karen tranberg hansen's book salaula. the world of secondhand clothing and zambia - Essay Example The country, which takes its name from the river Zambezi, has been on a path of continual economic decline due to the continuing low worldwide market for copper (the main export of Zambia) and a reduction in the country’s copper reserves. After late 19th century, the flourishing trade in secondhand clothing in the West (in London, a great clothes market rejoiced in the name of ‘Petticoat Lane’) dried up mainly because imports of new clothing from developing countries were easily available and affordable. Of total world exports of secondhand clothing (estimated by the United Nations in 1995 at 1.4 billion, the U.S. being the biggest exporter), about a quarter goes to sub-Saharan Africa. In the early 1990s secondhand clothes were America’s eighth largest export to the region. Britons are known to discard about 1 million tons of old clothes each year: this figure does not include an estimated 200,000 tons of old clothes that are recycled to be worn again or used in the industry. There are two social groups discussed in the book. The first is â€Å"Rainbow Children’s Hospice† in Leicester in the U.K that raises funds for charity. The second is â€Å"Scope†, an organization in the U.K to help people with cerebral palsy. Scope has about 900 clothes banks in the U.K; 760 of them are owned directly by it; the balance 140 are owned by sub-dealers (such as Ragtex U.K located in Ashby-da-la-Zouch) licensed to use the Scope name. Each sub-dealer donates  £100 a year to Scope’s charity fund. Dana Simons, the owner of the blouse that makes the historic journey in the novel, is a high school teacher who teaches home economics, food and nutrition in a school in Leicester. Dana is also a professional fundraiser at the Rainbow Children’s Hospice in the same city. Gerald Commel is the Managing Director of Ragtex U.K, sub-dealer of Scope’s clothes banks, which operates a textile recycling plant

Three projects selection Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Three projects selection - Term Paper Example The first example will focus on a project that needs the application of computer engineering and information technology. It will need the use of wireless transmission. Ideas that are available for the project include the following: The project is a about getting an iOS device talk to a Bluetooth low energy shield. Requirements include an iphone, an Adriano, BLE, 4 or 5 LEDs, some wire, a momentary push switch and photo shield or bead board. The hard ware connection and arrangement will be quite simple. 4 LEDs will be connected to some pins of the PMW on the Arduino. Another LED will be used for indication of connectivity to iPhone, as well as a push button, which will trigger action on the iPhone (instructables, 2014). Pin 8 and 9 should be left alone since the BLE shield makes use of them to perform. Positive terminals from the LEDs will go to pin 3, pin 5, pin 6, and pin 10. Negative terminals will head to some common ground. To minimize cost, no use of resistors. They have been substituted by the type of LEDs. One LED on the prototype shield is connected to the pin number 4 on the Arduino is used to show connectivity on the handset, as well as one of those toggle switches connected to the pin number seven ( instructables, 2014). The speaker now will be fixed in a plastic structure at the side which represents the plane. This is the pain reliever for individuals who feel like it is painful to carry around bike helmets. This idea came up as a result of seeing most people who biked without helmets since they are bulk. Then if this idea can be worked upon successfully, then lives will be saved. The helmet will reduce a common helmet height by 50%. It gets to solve the problem to of helmet storage at a time when it is not in use. The idea is to come up with something very light and that can fold to be stored easily in a backpack or any bag. Its structure will be made of an expanded polypropylene high density with impact absorption

The Importance Of Communication English Language Essay

The Importance Of Communication English Language Essay Within this essay I will explore the methods and importance of communication when working as a childhood practitioner. Communication is commonly defined as the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs This is a process by which meaning is assigned and conveyed in an attempt to create a shared understanding. This process involves a huge repertoire of intrapersonal and interpersonal skills including listening, speaking, questioning, observing, analysing, and evaluating.   The importance of communication within a team is perfectly demonstrated in this analogy by Wideman (2000): Communication is like engine oil: it needs to be applied to the machinery or the machinery will not start or, if it does, it will quickly falter and grind to a halt. And the oil, like communication, needs to be continuously recycled and regularly replaced with new oil as the old becomes no longer usable. But what of the quality of the oil? Too little or too thi n and it is not effective; too thick or too much and everything just gets gummed up. (Wideman, 2000). Effective communication is crucial for a team to be successful. The team needs to communicate regularly with one another because through communication cooperation and collaboration occur. Collaboration with one another is necessary in the workplace because it helps to solve problems, help maintain standards of practice and create a good rapport with all involved. Ebbeck and Waniganayake (2003, p.195) state shared decision making is one secret of successful management. In order for this to be achieved communication is essential and necessary in the workplace. Great communication skills are an absolute must it is A vital part of any centres functioning is the communication that occurs among staff (Ebbeck and Waniganayake,2003: p.197). A lack of teamwork and communication can lead to a stressful working environment and a poor quality service. In a recent presentation of mine I demonstrated through a communication exercise the importance of communication and how communication is not just verbal in nature. The exercise required all team members to communicate clearly in the communication method appropriate. The team had limitations that prevented them from communicating in the easiest form this forced them to develop a way of overcoming these barriers, communicating in a different fashion whilst also working as a team. They had two attempts to complete the task assigned to them. The first attempt went very badly as they found it very difficult to communicate with the barriers in place. However after a small group discussion they were able to devise a way to accomplish the task.   This simple exercise is a useful one to employ during a staff meeting and it teaches the value of communication and the need for effective and clear communication in order to work as a team. Communication can be viewed as an active process that is in turn influenced by the complexities and ambiguities of human behaviour. It is riddled with the potential of breakdown. Clampitt sates that We actively construct meanings within a unique vortex that includes the words used, the context of the utterances, and the people involved (2005, p.8). It is a process where elements such as any non-verbal actions, individuals own interpretation and own ascribed meaning can have an influence. Communications strategies to construct a clear and unambiguous message can encourage effective and direct communication. There are certain barriers both physical and psychological that can hinder communication as Clampitt states and it is important to be aware of these. Anything that prevents a message being understood is seen as a barrier. These are some barriers that can occur when communicating: Culture, background, and bias Our culture, background, and bias can allow us to change the meaning of a message, which can interfere with the communication process. Noise Noise impedes communication as it can both distract the sender and receiver so that concentration is hard and also muffle and distort the message being sent. Perception If we feel the person is hard to understand for instance talking to rapidly, not fluently or is not articulate enough the receiver can dismiss that person. Preconceived attitudes can also affect our ability to listen. Ourselves There is a tendency to focus on ourselves rather the person communicating which can cause conflict and confusion. Some of these factors that affect communication are ego and the feeling of superiority. Message Distractions can happen when someone doesnt look at the idea presented and chooses to focus on facts. Semantic distractions are when a word is used in a different manor than you prefer. Environmental these can include a range of stimulus that can provide potential distraction. Stress People view things differently when under stress. A message can be influenced by psychological frame of mind and our beliefs, knowledge, experience and values. Communication is vital within the childcare profession; in order for good communication it is necessary to understand the different components. Communication consists of the following methods; verbal, non-verbal communication, and written.   Verbal communication is a communication method using word of mouth. For instance   holding a conversation with someone requires the development of skills and social coordination which means having the ability to start and end conversations, the ability to show an interest and being able to interest the person you are having a conversation with. Argyle (1988) devised the Sender and Reciever Model which encodes the oral messages by the sender and decodes the messages then by the reciever. Sender  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚ ®Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Encodes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚    ®Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Message  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚ ®Ã‚  Decodes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚ ®Ã‚  Ã‚     Reciever Verbal communication is used to greet people, problem solve and provide support. It can also helps with everyday tasks such as, explaining issues and procedures exchanging ideas or learning ideas. It is necessary for childcare prationers to have highly attuned social skills, as they are dealing with people every day and oral communication is central in being able to bond and to have relationships with people. Thompson 1986 argued that commuinication is imperative for two major reasons these where as follows; one to enable people to share information and two enabling people to have relationships with people. Thompson stated that   relationship is the communcation. There are certain barriers that occur using verbal communication within the Childrens services such as semantic barriers, dialect, and language and tempo message. Other barriers include message complexity and message overload, which is when a person receives too many messages at the same time. Written communication is another useful communication channel and is very important between different professionals. Writting information down makes records more pernament and more accurate. Written informnation is unlike a verbal message which can become distorted when being verbally passed to people There are barriers in written communications such as the illegibility of peoples hand writing or if the written message is misunderstood.. The rules governing writing are also different compared to oral communication as it is necessary in written communication to maintain accuracy and darity. When writing information there is a need to check that all of the information is correct as if the information is recorded wrong it could result in problems. As problems can occur such as; delays in meeting the needs of the children and parents; not being able to make the right decision due to the vagueness of information recorded; being unable to deliver an organised service. An example of written communication documents is staff rotas showing times of work and holiday.   Lastly Non verbal communication is everything other than spoken words, this includes paralanguage this is um or ah sounds, the volume of the talking, the pace and accent. A very big part of non-verbal communication is facial expressions as these are indictors to others about our feelings, attitudes, states of mind and relationships.  Non-verbal communication can also include eye contact, proximity, posture and gestures. All three ways of communication have problems but are an effective way to communicate with others when used in the right way. Communication is about active listening as well as communicating with the necessary sincerity and compassion. Listening is a key skill and should not be underestimated.   One of the purposes of listening is to convey interest and respect for the other person and this is crucial to solve problems that arise and to also meet another persons needs as well as our own. Studies have revealed that listening is the on the whole the most frequent aspect of workplace communication (Adler and Elmhorst, 1999). Other studies have also found that Managers spend on average 65-90% of their working day listening to someone, with the percentage of time increasing with level of managerial responsibility (Kotter, 1982, Nichols Stevens, 1990). However research highlights that people generally people achieve no more than 25-50% accuracy in interpreting the meaning of each others remarks (Spitzberg, 1994). This means misunderstanding is very common. Furthermore tuning listening skills and becoming compe tent at listening would improve workplace communication significantly. There are barriers that hinder the ability to listen. For one People are very quick to jump to conclusions and form a judgement before the speaker has finished, this in turn can mean that the message intended is misinterpreted. People also have a tendency to hear what they want to hear and be inattentive while cultural issues or the interruption of the speaker can also prevent people from listening. Developing active listening skills such as listening to non-verbal as well as verbal language, paraphrasing, using feedback, and asking appropriate questions can help to identify possible misinterpretations of the message, as well as check for unintended messages. Good communication is absolutely essential and key when working with children, young people, families and carers. It is central in building trust amongst the users and staff within this context. In order to maintain relationships it needs to be an active process that involves listening, understanding and responding accordingly. Communication is both necessary on the one-on-one basis and also when working in a group and it is important to realise when to focus on the individual and when to focus on groups. Another thing to be aware of is  that communication is a two way process that is necessary to make sure the person feels valued and respected. Communication should also be matched appropriately to the stage of development, personal circumstances, and needs of the person being addressed. The culture and context when communicating needs to be thought about for instance, the professional should hold awareness and communicate appropriately if English is an additional language, the chi ld is disabled or at risk of under-achievement or other poor outcomes.   Effective communication is also about utilising the best communication method appropriately and being aware of any barriers that could occur these could include poverty, disability, anxiety, cultural differences and religious requirements. It is the managers duty to make sure communication within the team is effective. There are many ways a manager can help and improve a teams communication. The first is to keep all the communication channels open. Management should be always there to listen and actively participate with the team. A strong relationship with  management is important for communication and in turn the productivity of the team. The second is to offer some form of staff training in clear communication. Miscommunication is all too common in the working world and training in correct communication can easily help avoid miscommunication. Teaching employees to communicate in a clear and precise manor and listen carefully to the speaker can rectify this. Classes in other forms of communication can also be of help. Lastly it is good to invite feedback from staff and hold regular meetings both of which can provide a solid avenue for communication. All people are different and are better at different methods of co mmunication so providing as many avenues as possible is a good way to ensure communication is easy for others. Team meetings are a fantastic way to give everyone a chance to participate and have their say. It allows people to facilitate and contribute to decisions involving the workplace making them feel respected and that their feedback counts.   Communication is a highly complex process and to improve interpersonal communication, a fuller knowledge and understanding of communication skills are essential. Communication is not just about speaking it is about active listening, written and non-verbal ways of communication. Any team who wants to be successful needs to communicate in a direct and clear manor. Management should ensure that communication skills are practiced and that it is an ongoing process. Communication allows a team to work together effectively. Communication is an important skill especially when working as a childcare practitioner as without communication a childs needs cannot be met. COMMUNICATION EXERCISE   Have two people lead the group  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leaders need to try and physically arrange all of the players in sequential age order (youngest to oldest)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Each leader has specific limitations restricting the ease in which they can do this. Leader One cannot see and has the following limitations:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   can only ask yes or no questions  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   cannot touch anyone Leader Two can see and can touch people but has the following limitations:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   cannot speak All other players in the group can only answer yes or no to any questions and cannot move unless moved by Leader Two.   Communication Rationale The rationale for this particular communication exercise was to teach each person the importance of clear and direct communication and its importance when working as a team. Effective communication includes a range of skills which include things like body language, clear speech, eye contact and active listening. Communication activities like the one I used for my presentation allow participants to focus on these skills and understand their impact on the effectiveness of communication. The task also illustrated the importance of working as a team to overcome limitations and complete the task set. The team players had to try and understand one another using different communication strategies in order to complete the exercise successfully and within the time cap. Furthermore this task forced players to perform with limitations such as not being able to speak or not being able to use hands etc. During this game, the demand for   effective communication from each player was essential. Similarly the understanding of each teammates role on the team, as well as their own, was vital to the teams success. Players needed to understand their roles and accomplish their tasks in their roles, without trying to do everything. This communication exercise was designed to help the participants become more aware of the importance of communication in all forms whether verbal or non-verbal. They also had to uses direct and precise communication so not to confuse other team members. They also had to have an awareness and acceptance of the varied roles within a team. Awareness comes with visual and verbal communication by the individual participant and their teammates. Research Types of Communication Based on Communication Channels The process of communication can be broadly classified as verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication includes written and oral communication whereas the non-verbal communication includes body language, facial expressions and visuals diagrams or pictures used for communication.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Verbal Communication Verbal communication is further divided into written and oral communication. The oral communication refers to the spoken words in the communication process. Oral communication can either be face-to-face communication or a conversation over the phone or on the voice chat over the Internet. Spoken conversations or dialogs are influenced by voice modulation, pitch, volume and even the speed and clarity of speaking. The other type of verbal communication is written communication. Written communication can be either via snail mail, or email. The effectiveness of written communication depends on the style of writing, vocabulary used, grammar, clarity and precision of language.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nonverbal Communication Non-verbal communication includes the overall body language of the person who is speaking, which will include the body posture, the hand gestures, and overall body movements. The facial expressions also play a major role while communication since the expressions on a persons face say a lot about his/her mood. On the other hand gestures like a handshake, a smile or a hug can independently convey emotions. Non verbal communication can also be in the form of pictorial representations, signboards, or even photographs, sketches and paintings. phrase from some British propaganda during WWII neatly sums up the dangers of ineffective communications: Careless talk costs lives. That may be over-dramatic in most cases where communications between seafarers or between ship and shore go awry but it does illustrate the importance of effective communications and the real dangers if they go badly wrong. Evaluation This task has allowed me to understand the importance of communication within a workforce and how a team relies on communication to function. The presentation went well, I was able to get across the necessity of teamwork and the different methods of communication. The team all had limitations which meant not only did everyone have to communicate but they had to find different ways of communicating successfully. The problem was with the presentation is it lacked time; ten minutes seemed far too short. I had to limit the presentation to literally just the task and a few words prior to explain the task and why communication was important. If I had more time I would have conducted a slightly different task. The team also wasnt able to complete the task first time so I had to allow them to try again a second which was time consuming and meant I had to cut short the presentation and not summarise it as well as I would of liked to .   The negatives to the task I did conduct were that a few people did not understand the instructions I gave them at first so I had to also explain the task again fully. If I was to re do the presentation I would simplify the task. I think all in all the presentation showed the class the value of communication whether verbal or non-verbal and how teamwork is essential in any difficult situation. It was essential for them to utilise all avenues of communication to pass the task.

Causes of the American Civil War Essay -- American History USA Essays

Causes of the American Civil War The American Civil War was a military conflict between the United States of America (the Union), and 11 secessionist Southern states, organized as the Confederate States of America (the Confederacy). It was the culmination of four decades of intense sectional conflict and it reflected deep-seated economic, social, and political differences between the North and the South. One of the major causes of the Civil War was the seemingly endless political disputes over slavery in the Mexican Cession and Louisiana Purchase territories. It was imperative that the Democratic and Whig political leaders maintain harmony between their Southern and Northern supporters, thus, the platforms of both during presidential elections like that of 1848 tried to avoid that particular slavery question. But the extension of slavery into the new territories was one of the largest issues of the time, and with growing opposition from the North, evasion of it became increasingly difficult. Another significant cause of the war was the growth of different responses to antislavery practices such as the Underground Railroad and reactions to runaway slaves and the Fugitive Slave laws that spurred from all sections of the country. Finally, there was the economic distress factor, of both foreign and domestic roots, that included everything from tariffs to the financial crash of 1857. These in turn caused sectional disputes over the use of the federal government’s public lands.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In early 1848, when gold was discovered in California, â€Å"a horde of adventurers poured into the valleys.'; (Bailey, 400). â€Å"Free-soilers'; and â€Å"slaveryites'; argued over the proposed issue of slavery in the territories, and thus, whether the terrain itself was suitable for a slave economy. In Congress on August 8, 1846, Pennsylvania Representative David Wilmot moved an amendment: â€Å"that, as an express and fundamental condition of the acquisition of any territory from the Republic of Mexico†¦neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said territory,'; (CG, 1217) releasing the â€Å"pent-up ire'; of northern Democrats, many of whom cared less about the slavery issue itself than about their own power within the party. But the northern Whigs, who had a more consistent antislavery ‘record’, volunteered support for the proviso. â€Å"This bipartisan northern coa... ...d. Besides these, there were secondary reasons, as well, numerous and piled-up from decades of conflicting interests. All of these contributed in producing, measured in physical devastation and human lives, the costliest war in the experience of the American people. Bibliography "American Civil War" Wikipedia 2014 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War Bailey, Thomas A., and David M. Kennedy. The American Pageant. Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 1994. Rozwenc, Edwin. The Causes of the Civil War. Lexington, Massachuesetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 1972. Congressional Globe, 29 Congress, 1 Sess. Friedheim, William, and Ronald Jackson. Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution. New York: American Social History Productions, 1996. Mcpherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Nevins, Allan. The Emergence of Lincoln: Douglas, Buchanan, and Party Chaos. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1950. Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1947.

Computer Information Specialist Essay

Computer Information Specialist, Inc. (CIS) filed a protest of the award of a contract to Open Technology Group, Inc. (OTG). CIS responded to a request for proposals (RFP) No. NLM-030101/SAN by the Department of Health and Human Services for telecommunications support services at the agency’s Bethesda, Maryland facility. The solicitation specified a requirements contract with fixed hourly rates for a base year with four 1-year options. The agency intended to award the contract based on â€Å"best value† with several non-price criteria as the most heavily weighted factors. Proposals were to include fully-loaded, fixed hourly rates for labor categories. The agency received numerous proposals and established a competitive range of four firms after initial evaluation. The range included CIS as well as OTG the eventual awardee. Following the contract award to OTG; CIS underwent an agency debrief and subsequently filed a protest asserting that both its proposal and the propos al of OTG were misevaluated. Issues Agencies are required to evaluate proposals based solely on the evaluation factors identified in the solicitation. Furthermore, according to Federal Acquisition Regulations, they must adequately document the reasons for their evaluation conclusions (FAR § 15.308). GAO recommended to the agency was to, at a minimum reevaluate both proposals to ascertain if they were evaluated based on the evaluation factors and to determine if adequate rationale were articulated. Decisions (Holdings) Anthony H. Gamboa, General Counsel wrote the recommendation. The protest was sustained. Reasoning (Rationale)   GAO concluded that the Department of Health and Human Services misevaluated the proposals of both CIS and OTG, contract awardee. In addition, they found that the agency’s misevaluation was prejudicial to CIS, â€Å"since there is a reasonable possibility that, but for the agency’s errors, CIS might have been selected for award notwithstanding its higher price.† Separate Opinions No dissenting opinion was published with GAO’s decision. Analysis GAO analyzed the proposals from both CIS and OTG against the RFP’s stated evaluation criteria. The Department of Health and Human Services’ source selection team consisted of five evaluators. In the case of the proposal by CIS, the initial evaluation criticized the proposal for not offering personnel that met all of the solicitation minimum personnel experience requirements. CIS revised their proposal to cure this deficiency. In further evaluation, four of the five evaluators scored this area higher than the initial proposal. However, the fifth evaluator scored the proposal dramatically differently. In the first evaluation, only cursory notes were provided to support conclusions. In the second evaluation, most evaluators still provided limited support. However, the fifth evaluator provided comments. Many of the comments were either inaccurate or held not relation to evaluation criteria. With regard to the OTG proposal, GAO determined that the solicitation failed to meet two of the evaluation criteria and should not have been accepted in the competitive range. It was also recommended that the agency terminate the contract awarded to OTG for the convenience of the government and make award to the firm found to be in line for award. Furthermore CIS was to be reimbursed all costs associated with the protest to include legal fees.

Toni Morrison

Hannah Campos Professor Gibbons English 2 February 25, 2013 The Future of Language is in Our Hands Toni Morrison’s is a leading figure in American literature who won the Nobel Prize in 1993. She is good at giving different points of views or metaphors in order to show her purpose of writing and produce the tension of beauty. Black history plays a huge role in Morrison’s writing. In her lecture she tells a story happening between a blind woman and a few young men. The young men question her wisdom by asking if the bird in their hand was alive or dead.Her response to that was, â€Å"it is in your hands† meaning that the fate of the bird is in your hands. They could either let the bird live or die. The bird in this story indicates language. Morrison tries to imply that language is diminishing slowly as generation goes on and on. She believes that it is in our hands to revive it for what it truly is. The story involves the racial issues. Morrison shows her strong lov e for Hero language, but at the same time she showed her worry for its situation in the hands of todays society. Morrison feels like language can or will be killed by indifference and be employed to promote violence.In the continuing essay I will talk about Toni Morrison’s style and reason of writing what she writes and also what she means about â€Å"it is in your hands†, language that is. Morrison’s Nobel Lecture best interprets her artistic writing style. The fully poetic language and creative writing is what makes Morrison so outstandingly bold and Campos 2 different. Morrison is good at realizing what the purpose is and prevailing it onto others in a way that is easily persuasive and believable. She has many narrative techniques that she takes in to action.In this lecture she gave, she brings forth all these techniques I just said in the above text. Toni Morrison makes a good point when, in her acceptance speech upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, she says, â€Å"Narrative . . . is . . . one of the principal ways in which we absorb knowledge† (7). The words we use and the way in which we use them is how we, as humans, communicate to each other our thoughts, feelings, and actions and therefore our knowledge of the world and its peoples. Knowledge is power. In this way, our language, too, is powerful. We as the people just need to learn how to use it properly.In her acceptance speech, Morrison tries to communicate the idea that we must be careful with how we use our words. Once again, She analogizes the use of language to the life of a metaphoric bird in a tale of a wise, old, blind woman. Toni Morrison opens her speech by referring to a tale of two young people who, in trying to disprove the credibility of this wise woman, ask the question, â€Å" is the bird I am holding in my hand living or dead? ’†. Of course, being blind, the woman does not know and must say so. However, she adds that, â€Å" What I do know is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands†.In saying this, she tells the youngsters that the fate of the bird’s life is their responsibility. The bird, in this case, represents language. Morrison tries to portray the blind woman as an experienced writer of some sort. Some believe that it is herself. She goes on to say that the bird has either been found dead, been killed, or has the ability (if it Campos 3 is alive) to be killed, much as language, being looked at as a living thing, can live or die; be saved or destroyed. As Morrison would say language is â€Å"susceptible to death, erasure; certainly imperiled and salvageable only by an effort of the will†.That will is the responsibility of those who use it. We have the option to make language something beautiful, useful, and a source of that power of knowledge, or as degrading, offensive, and oppressive. Throughout her speech, Toni Morrison works towards defining and supporting this thesis of resp onsibility. It is our responsibility, as users of words, to make language thrive. We are not aware of the words that come out of our mouths due to lack of thought or attention, we all suffer and we are all at fault. The standards of society are changing and with them the standards and values to which we hold the meaning of our words.Some may say that the values and morals are declining and with that comes a decline in the way in which we as a society express ourselves. Should we be so â€Å"careless† or â€Å"indifferent† with our language, its â€Å"demise† will surely come. Words may, in fact, loose their affect and meaning. Perhaps this gives new meaning to the statement â€Å"language may be the measure of our lives†. Language has many uses, and with it responsibilities, namely â€Å"grappling with meaning, providing guidance, and expressing love†. Where would we be if we, as a culture, abandoned this all? Would we have no meaning, no guidance, no love?All people who use language are capable of this, if not already to blame for this: children, parents, those who hold positions of power. All in all, Morrison tries to use a metaphoric analogy in order to portray her views on the role that language plays today and in the future. She strives to keep in abundant Campos 4 and living in all of our vocabulary. Morrison is very dedicated to her writing. She uses her ethnicity to help her tell her stories using racial issues. In the end, I believe that we all have language in our hands, how we use it is all up to us. It is our responsibility, however, to help future generations use it right.