Humorous Analysis Of The Cask Of Amontillado By Edgar...

Ironic Revenge in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most recognized and praised fiction writers in world literature. Not only does he masterfully create the atmosphere of suspense and danger in his short stories, he also builds up a sophisticated blend of horror and elegant irony that haunts the reader and reveals the complexity of Poe’s literary talent. â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is a perfect example of such combination. In this twisted short story of revenge, Poe puts an emphasis on the ironic tone in order to highlight the relationship between Montresor and his victim Fortunato and reveal the evil nature of Montresor’s desire for cruel vengeance. The plot of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† is fairly†¦show more content†¦Such a sharp contrast between the atmosphere of happiness and the growing tension between the characters comprises Poe’s ironic tone in the story. The dialogues between the two men and the opposition of their characters as well reveal the leitmotif of irony throughout the story. Montresor offers various hints and observations with a hidden meaning to his victim, and Fortunato’s ignorant reaction to them creates the impression of innocent mockery that only adds to the tension between the antagonists. The heraldic emblem of Montresor’s family presents the central object of irony in the conversation between the men (Stepp 447). For instance, when Montresor refers to his to his family heritage, Fortunato does not understand his enemy’s implication behind the family motto: â€Å"– And the motto? – Nemo me impune lacessit. – Good!† he said. (Poe 164) The men’s further discussion of Masons also bears an ironic context when Montresor shows his trowel as a proof of his Mason membership. This pun as well hints at Montresor’s intention to bury Fortunato inside the vaults. Nevertheless, the victim stays oblivious to the plans of his murderer. It is worth mentioning that even Fortunato’s name, translated as â€Å"lucky† or â€Å"fortunate† underlines his tragic destiny and contributes toShow MoreRelatedEdgar Allan Poe s The Cask Of Amontillado1232 Words   |  5 Pagesabout the text â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allan Poe, some sources will be used to support the thesis statement, which is â€Å"The author uses irony in the text to illustrate the murder of Fortunado by Montresor, who seeks salvation through death†. Also, there is going to be an analysis on the irony found in the text in relation with the story. To support this thesis, I am going to use some examples from some s ources such as â€Å"Literary analysis: Irony in The Cask of Amontillado by Amelia TibbettRead MoreThe Cask of Amontialldo1026 Words   |  5 PagesNever Have Too Much Pride The insult had been done, and Montresor was out for revenge on Fortunato. Not a soul but Montresor knew what the insult may have been, but this is what makes the short story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allan Poe. The story is about a man, Montresor, who receives a wine that Fortunato, the wine expert, is looking for. During a carnival, Montresor persuades Fortunato to take him to his personal wine cellars, located in the catacombs. Fortunato became impaired, MontresorRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesï » ¿TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS The purpose of Text Interpretation and Analysis is a literary and linguistic commentary in which the reader explains what the text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model†

Management and Organization Strategic Objectives

Question: Identify the relationship between strategic objectives, functional management and the business environment. Answer: Introduction The assessment of strateegic objectives of the business and the management of human resources in productive manner is integral to the development of a business organization. The process of functional management of business deals with planning, strategy making, leading people but, at the same time, the assessment of their psychological aspects is also essential for useful functioning (Turner, 2014). This paper has dealt with the problem assessment in Mullins Company due to individual differences and management of the human resource in the effective manner. The application of Myers- Briggs theories to identify the different types of personality in the Marketing meeting and brief explanation of the most useful type of personality From the meeting conducted among the four employees who were the best performers for their respective departments reflected the varied traits and perceptions of the four employees. Firstly, Davido has the preference for Intuition as well as Feeling (N, F) as mirrored from his behavior at the meeting. Davido initiated the meeting and tried to take the charge of the meeting due to the chaotic situation, the person anticipated as if he was the in- charge though; that was not obvious and by his personal thought and this is the reason that he interrupted Tokunbo to present the plan. On the other hand, Tokunbo reflected the traits of Introversion, Judgement and Feelings (I, J, F), as the person presumed that for the purpose of marketing his plan is best and believed his plan to be noteworthy for marketing by his personal Feeling. The person judges the scenario from this personal angle reflecting the qualities of Introversion (Amato, 2011). Further, Gloria prefers Thinking and Sensing (T, S) being an engineer the person proceeded logical approach and prescribed to proceed with test results. The characteristics of Zainab also reflected the qualities of, Intuition and Extraversion (N, E) from the theoretical angle as; the person is more creative and present new ideas with drawings and further preferred to plan out new ideas through team-work. The application of Myers- Briggs theory is considered to be one of the effective means that can be used for the evaluation of different types of personalities in the workplace. The assessment of the behavior is essential for the purpose to set a constructive approach to the business (Palmer, 2012). To get the most out of the people presented at the meeting the personalities with elements of Extraversion trait to work with the outer world, Thinking preference to objective and logical thinking and Perception retaining flexibility and respond to things as they come (E, T, P) would have been more useful. Application of Attribution Theory that how Toluwa, Ralph, Suzzane, Emeka, and Temitope perceptions of each other have resulted to an unproductive meeting The attribution theory is accounted to be one of the useful theories can be used for the assessment of perception of different individuals in systematic manner. To be more precise this theory advocates the concept that how people perceive a situation and interpret the same in association with their personal thoughts and logic (Farmer, et al., Smith, 2012). Therefore, the psychological theory can be successfully used to understand the social viewpoints. In the given case of feedback meeting, Toluwa Adnike already developed a concept that employees of each department were useless owing to the unproductive result of marketing meeting and blamed the departmental heads. Following to this, Ralph the operational head drew his personal conclusion Davido was his right selection but, the other team members were not fit for the purpose. Further , Suzzane the design departmental head in the same tune reconfirmed her right choice of employee and passed the blame to others. Similarly, Temitope, th e head of engineering also stood for her employee as the best and so as the marketing head Emeka also passed also passes on the cause of failure to others. Thus, this is clear that each of the departmental heads was stuck to their personal views without digging out the reason of such failure of the employees. They all presumed that the meeting did not worked out due to the fault of others and attached their won meaning and understanding without investigating the real cause of failure and drew their casual interpretations (Liu, 2010). The theory acts like a device used for mitigating the workplace conflicts, however, in the given case this is clear that the difference of opinions and behaviors of four employees from varied departments as well as, of their departmental heads of Mullins Company resulted in an unproductive outcome during the marketing meeting. Explanation of four ways in which managers should manage individual differences at work The management of individual differences at the workplace is one of the essential tasks performed by the organizational managers or leaders. Maintaining the organizational harmony and mutual respect among the staff employees are major factors to help to augment the performance of the team (Perkins Arvinen-Muondo, 2013). If the individual differences are not addressed efficiently by the organizational heads it can result in the reduced productivity as; evident from the case study of Mullins Company during the marketing meeting. Therefore, at present as per the modern business management, the organizational managers are trying to seek out the reasons for organizational differences and they are employing some methods for the purpose to reduce the differences and promote a harmonious relationship among the employees (White, 2010). However, in the process of managing the daily operations and human assets, the organizational managers mainly emphasize on the effective communication, traini ng, motivation and job allocation as; these are identified as the methods of easing out the differences among the employees in the workplaces. Regular and helpful communications are the process identified for reducing the mental blockage of the employees in the workplaces. Communication among the employees as well as with the higher management results in a growth of organizational diversity. Therefore, the managers should create platforms for the employees where the staffs of different departments can mingle, interact and communicate with each other and result in the erasing the barriers (Burke Clark, 2016). The cultural differences, miscommunications, the difference of job roles, lack of mutual understanding and many contributes to individual differences, therefore, through and regular communications can help the employees to overcome such problems and perform as a team. Proper training of the employees is another useful means to reduce the individual differences. Training in the workplace is accounted to be an effective way in which the business managers can manage the overall performance building and manage positive attitudes of the employees. Training does not only implied for skill development and performance management but, at present, the organizations are organizing 360 degrees for the overall development including the attitudes of the employees at the workplaces. The development of positive attitude is essential for mitigating the individual differences among the staffs, and they must respect each other and maintain the organizational harmony (Fuller Martinec, 2011). In addition to the above two factors of managing the problem of individual differences in the workplace, motivation is another primary means which are devised by the managers for the encouraging the employees of the organizations to work as the team. The organizational managers motivate the employees to work in teams by forming different teams among the different employees (Oakland, 2014). Such practices also result in the development of mutual understanding and bonding among the employees. The job allocation is another effective method of easing out differences in the workplaces. The managers are the immediate leads for the employee staffs of the different departments in the organizations, and they are also looked upon by the employees as the guiding force (KlovienÄ—, 2012). Therefore, when the jobs and tasks are allocated by the managers, it resulted in reduction of confusions about the job roles and contradictions among the employees when they are working as the team. Such as in the case of Mullins Company, where the employees of different departments were asked for the presentation of the marketing ideas but the roles of each were not knpersonal to them and this further resulted in differences of opinions and unproductive results (Stoichev, 2014). It can be expected having knpersonal the respective roles such contradictions could have been overcome and result in a productive outcome. Discussion on how each department can contribute to achieving the Strategic goal set by the organization The representatives of the four main departments of Mullins Company were from operations, marketing, designing and engineering department. Each of the department is vital for the business and can contribute equally to achieving the strategic goal set by the organization for marketing the new product (mop). The operation department is mainly responsible for the execution of the plans, use of resources and activities together with the marketing, accounting, and other departments and thus, helps in gaining efficiency of the process (Seethamraju, 2012). The marketing department is also another vital section that helps the business to bridge the gap between the products of the business and the end consumers of the market. The marketing team is responsible for marketing the products and growth of sales (Oesterle Mllenberg, 2014). The designing department is there to shape the products of the business in the most attractive manner revealing its features, for gaining appeal from the consumers and can directly contribute to the attainment of sales target. The engineering department determines technical merits of the products and tests the productivity of the product for the consumers and develops more useful products. Thus, this is apparent from the distinctive roles of all the four departments are vital for a business to market the new product in the efficient manner in the consumers market, and attain the strategic goal of making it a hit for the business. Explanation of two challenges faced by the organization in achieving companys Marketing goal In the process of achieving the marketing goals of Mullins Company, there are two main challenges encountered by the company. The personally differences is one of the primary reasons of obstructing the smooth functioning of the business. The individual differences among the employees of different departments got reflected from the unproductive outcome of the meeting. Furthermore, the difference of the opinions and attributes is only among the employee level but also among the departmental heads. As this is clear from the feedback meeting session, where the heads of each department judged the reason behind their failure from their personal angle and perceived thoughts (Piercy, 2012). There is the lack of mutual understanding and zeal of team-work among the managerial as well as the non-managerial employees of the company that resulted in individual personality differences. The motivation is another essential factor which is missing among the employees or the workforce of the company, to be precise there is the lack of motivation to perform like the team. Another challenging aspect for the company to manage to motivate the employees as differences is also there among the higher level managers (Radomska, 2014). The managerial heads have their personal differences among them as reflected from the case study, and they are also not able to motivate the team of employees to cooperate with employees of different departments. The employees, as well as their heads, are keen towards proving their personal thoughts during the two dissimilar meetings without understating the viewpoints of the others for the reason of failure. Conclusion Therefore, this can be concluded that if the individual differences among the employees are not managed properly the same will affect the productivity of the overall organizations in an adverse manner. Further, the attributes of the higher level management were also not instrumental in promoting the concept of mutual respect and harmony among the employees. Therefore, this is highly desirable for Mullins Company to manage the individual differences among the managers and employees even before planning for marketing the mop as; the new product by the business. Reference Amato, C. 2011, Enhancing Student Team Effectiveness: Application of Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment in Business Courses.Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 30, no. 6, p. 66-92. Burke, J. Clark, C. 2016, The business case for integrated reporting: Insights from leading practitioners, regulators, and academics.Business Horizons. Vol. 4, no. 2. Farmer, M., Yellowley, W. and Smith, P. 2012,Organizational Behavior. London: Taylor Francis Ltd. Fuller, J. Martinec, C. 2011, Operations Research And Operations Management: From Selective Optimization To System Optimization.Journal of Business Economics Research (JBER), vol. 3, no. 7. KlovienÄ—, L. 2012, Performance Measurement System Compatibility With Business Environment.ecoman, vol. 17, no. 2. Liu, X. 2010, On Application of MBO in College Management.International Education Studies, vol. 3, no. 2. White, L. 2010, A review of the recent contribution of systems thinking to operational research and management science.European Journal of Operational Research,vol. 207, no. 3, p. 1147-1161. Oakland, J. S. 2014,Total quality management and operational excellence: Journal of Management, vol. 24 no. 4, p. 45-56. Oesterle, A. Mllenberg, J. 2014, Business Continuity Management.CON, vol. 26, no.11, p.624-629. Palmer, D. 2012,Normal organizational wrongdoing. New York: Oxford University Press. Perkins, S. and Arvinen-Muondo, R. 2013,Organizational Behavior. London: Kogan Page. Piercy, N. 2012, Business history and operations management.Business History, vol. 54, no. 2, p.154-178. Radomska, J. 2014, Operational risk associated with the strategy implementation.Management, vol. 18, no. 2. Seethamraju, R. 2012, Business process management: a missing link in business education.Business Process Mgmt Journal, vol. 18, no. 3, p.532-547. Stoichev, K. 2014, The Role of Business Continuity Management in the Business Management System.SJBM, vol. 2, no, 3, p.97. Turner, J. R. 2014,The handbook of project-based management(Vol. 92). McGraw-hill.

The Simpsons Is One Of Americas Most Popular Television Shows. Essays

The Simpsons is one of Americas most popular television shows. It ranks as the number one television program for viewers under eighteen years of age. However, the ideals that The Simpsons conveys are not always wholesome, sometimes not even in good taste. It is inevitable that The Simpsons is affecting children. Matt Groening took up drawing to escape from his troubles in 1977. At the time, Groening was working for the L.A. Reader, a free weekly newspaper. He began working on Life in Hell, a humorous comic strip consisting of people with rabbit ears. The L.A. Reader picked up a copy of his comic strip and liked what they saw. Life in Hell gradually became a common comic strip in many free weeklies and college newspapers across the country. It even developed a cult status. (Varhola, 1) Life in Hell drew the attention of James L. Brooks, producer of works such as Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Terms of Endearment. Brooks originally wanted Groening to make an animated pilot of Life in Hell. Groening chose not to do so in fear of loosing royalties from papers that printed the strip. Groening presented Brooks with an overweight, balding father, a mother with a blue beehive hairdo, and three obnoxious spiky haired children. Groening intended for them to represent the typical American family "who love each other and drive each other crazy". Groening named the characters after his own family. His parents were named Homer and Margaret and he had two younger sisters named Lisa and Maggie. Bart was an anagram for "brat". Groening chose the last name "Simpson" to sound like the typical American family name. (Varhola, 2) Brooks decided to put the 30 or 60 second animations on between skits on The Tracy Ullman Show on the unsuccessful Fox network. Cast members Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner did the voices of Homer and Marge. Yeardley Smith (later to star in Herman's Head) did the voice of Lisa. Nancy Cartwright did the voice of Bart. Cartwright previously supplied the voices for many cartoons, including Galaxy High, Fantastic Max, Richie Rich, Snorks, Pound Puppies, My Little Pony, and Glo-Friends. Tracy Ullman later added Cartwright to her cast. (Dale and Trich, 11) Brooks, Groening, and Sam Simon, Tracy Ullman's producer, wanted to turn the Simpson family into their own show. The Fox network was looking for material to appeal to younger viewers. The only show they had that drew a young audience was Married With Children. To Fox's pleasure, The Simpsons saved the network from near failure. (Varhola, 3) On December 17, 1989, The Simpsons got their break. The Christmas special, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" aired. (Dale and Trich, 19) In the episode, Bart got a tattoo, much to Marge's dislike. She quickly spent all of the family's Christmas money to remove Bart's tattoo with a laser. At the same time, Homer, still on his morning coffee break at 4:00 in the afternoon, learns that he will not receive a Christmas bonus. When he learns that Marge is relying on the money for Christmas, he decides that he will do the Christmas shopping for the year. He quickly buys Marge panty hose, Bart paper, Lisa crayons, and Maggie a dog toy. When he realizes that he is not doing very well, he gets a second job as a mall Santa for the extra money. On the way home from work, he steals a Christmas tree. The next day at the mall, Bart sits on his Dad's lap and pulls down his beard. Homer responds by choking Bart and making him help make Christmas better. On Christmas Eve, Homer receives his check, $13.70 for over 40 hours work. Homer takes Bart to the dog track as a final chance for Christmas money. They discovered a gem in the third race, Santa's Little Helper. How could this dog lose on Christmas Eve? The odds were 99 to 1, they were going to be rich. Homer put all of his money on Santa's Little Helper, and to his horror, he never even finished. As Homer and Bart were scouring the parking lot for winning tickets into the night, they saw the track manager throw out a dog. It was not just any dog, it was Santa's Little Helper. When Bart and Homer came home to their worried family, they had a good Christmas after all. Now they had a dog. (Pond) "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" was not the typical Christmas story. It dealt with body art, sleeping in the work place, sibling rivalry, stealing a Christmas tree, a misbehaved

Monstrous Mutations [pic] Essays - CAU, Free Essays, Term Papers

Monstrous Mutations [pic] Essays - CAU, Free Essays, Term Papers Monstrous Mutations [pic] Introduction: Mutations are caused by changes in DNA. Knowing a few basic types of mutations can help you understand why some mutations have major effects and some may have no effect at all. The following are some of the types of mutations that can occur. Substitution A substitution is a mutation that exchanges one base for another (i.e., a change in a single "chemical letter" such as switching an A to a G). Such a substitution could: 1. Change a codon to one that encodes a different amino acid and cause a small change in the protein produced. For example, sickle cell anemia is caused by a substitution in the beta-hemoglobin gene, which alters a single amino acid in the protein produced. 2. Change a codon to one that encodes the same amino acid and causes no change in the protein produced. These are called silent mutations. 3. Change an amino-acid-coding codon to a single "stop" codon and cause an incomplete protein. This can have serious effects since the incomplete protein probably won't function. Insertion Insertions are mutations in which extra base pairs are inserted into a new place in the DNA. Deletion Deletions are mutations in which a section of DNA is lost, or deleted. Frameshift Since protein-coding DNA is divided into codons three bases long, insertions and deletions can alter a gene so that its message is no longer correctly parsed. These changes are called frameshifts. For example, consider the sentence, "The fat cat sat." Each word represents a codon. If we delete the first letter and parse the sentence in the same way, it doesn't make sense. In frameshifts, a similar error occurs at the DNA level, causing the codons to be parsed incorrectly. This usually generates proteins that are as useless as "hef atc ats at" is uninformative. Objective(s): . To understand and observe mutations. . To recognize and adapt to mutations . To observe how mutations effect survival skills Materials Needed: |Nine dry peanuts in shell (per group of three students) | |Blanket for the peanuts | |Table or desk | |One cup (per group of three students) | |15 plastic knives | |Six pairs of goggles | |Cotton | |Stop watch | |Large roll of duct tape or masking tape | |String | |Paper bag containing the letters A through H on slips of paper | Procedure: 1. Students should form groups of threes. Each student will simulate an animal that can only digest peanuts as its food source. 2. Unfortunately, random mutations have produced some unusual characteristics in recent offspring. Each group will find out what mutation they represent by selecting a letter from the paper bag the teacher has provided. 3. The letter drawn will correspond to the characteristics listed in Chart 1. This letter will also represent the letter of each group's home location and storage cup. Chart 1 |Letter drawn by |Characteristic produced by mutation | |groups | | |A |Long fingernails (produced by plastic | | |knives taped to fingers with tape) | |B |No fingers (produced by taping each hand| | |closed) | |C |Lack of peripheral vision (produced by | | |putting on goggles and stuffing cotton | | |in the sides to prevent viewing from the| | |side) | |D |Hands fused together in front of body | | |(produced by placing hands together in | | |front of body and taping them together) | |E |Feet and ankles fused together (produced| | |by taping the ankles tightly together | | |with tape) | |F |No arms (produced y taping the arms down| | |to the side of the body with tape) | |G |Arms fused together behind the back at | | |the wrists (produced by placing arms | | |behind the back and taping tightly at | | |the wrists) | |H |Blind (produced by using goggles taped | | |over securely with tape) | Each group should attain the proper materials and prepare itself to represent the characteristic produced by the letter of the mutation selected from the paper bag. 5. Each group should begin the activity at the specified location in Figure A. The goals of each group are to: A. Gather the food (nine peanuts per group) B. Store the food for later use (place the nine peanuts in your letter- designated container). C. Retrieve the food at a later time (remove the nine peanuts from the container and return with the peanuts to the home location). D. Process and consume the food (remove the peanuts from the nine shells and consume these peanuts). 6. To begin

Medicaid and HMOs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Medicaid and HMOs - Essay Example Of the different types, HMO is usually the least expensive plan. Patients will not have any deductibles in HMOs and the co-pay is very reasonable. This plan covers preventive measures such as yearly check-ups. The perceived downside of HMO is that you have to choose your doctor and other health providers in your HMO network. You can be restricted in your choices. PPOs, or Preferred Provider Organizations, like HMOs, have pre-approved lists of healthcare providers. Like HMOs, this type of Medicare Advantage Plan allows for the insured to choose from doctors and other healthcare professionals outside of this network. However, this plan cost you more in the deductibles, co-insurance and other out-of-pocket expenses. In this plan, when you use a non-participating provider you will be paying more for that privilege. A Point-of-Service plan or POS is a bit like a combination of the HMO and PPO. Like the HMO, you must select your own doctor or primary physician but can also have the choice to go out of your network like in a PPO. If you stay within the network like HMO, your copayment and deductibles are small.

Domestic Violence against Married Women in Cambodia Research Paper

Domestic Violence against Married Women in Cambodia - Research Paper Example Is there spousal abuse in Cambodia, and if so what factors are causing it This is a significant research problem for several reasons. First there is the issue of Human Rights for the women who are being battered. Domestic violence against women is a serious concern and no woman deserves to be harmed. Next there is the impact that the repression of women has had on society as a whole. When a woman is abused by her husband it creates and perpetuates a dysfunctional pattern of behavior in the world. I think that the motivation behind the research is sound. It can only be a positive thing to reduce violence against women. However one must keep in mind that the cultural norms are entirely different in South East Asia as compared to Western society. My biggest concern about the problems being perceived and studied here is that the scholarly theories presented may not have any relevance to the actual conditions as they are occurring in Cambodia. It seems that the academics are attempting to formulate different theories of the abuse and then gain evidence from the field to prove themselves correct. The paper paints a vivid portrait and fills in all of the details so that the reader does not necessarily need to critically examine the situation. All of the facts are wrapped up neatly in one small package with little room for speculation. Literature Review The researchers present abundant scholarly background information to support their hypotheses and make an effort to ensure the clarity of their position. The review of literature seemed to represent a fair sampling of arguments from several different perspectives. For any particular hypothesis, there are alternative explanations presented... The researchers present abundant scholarly background information to support their hypotheses and make an effort to ensure the clarity of their position. The review of literature seemed to represent a fair sampling of arguments from several different perspectives. For any particular hypothesis, there are alternative explanations presented to confirm the relevance of the present investigation. It some regards the review of literature for this article presents a convincing argument about the scope of past relevant research in this area. There are only a limited number of articles within this field from non-Western cultures but they seem to have been included in the review. The greatest strength of this section of the paper was that it covered a lot of diverse theories. The evidence is offered to support the dominant theories, yet any contrary evidence was suspiciously absent for some of the theories. The weakness of literature review was that it was too one-sided in some cases. For exa mple, it presented many articles in favor of the idea that there is a negative correlation between standard of living and domestic abuse but only one article to the contrary. Perhaps the article could have offered some explanation as to why this contrary view would have some value. This research article takes existing theoretical models and applies them to a novel population. For example, one academic model of domestic violence states that physical abuse is a resource, similar to money or goods, which people use for the purpose of controlling others.

Looked After Children and Access to Tertiary Education

Looked After Children and Access to Tertiary Education This dissertation has used a historical timeline of Governmental changes to policies and laws as a background to describe the evolving importance of looked after children and education. This framework was chosen because of the amount of changes to policy and law and to clarify in more detail how they connected to corresponding law and policy. Prior to the mid 1980s very little research was conducted surrounding looked after children and education (Jackson and Martin, 2002). Essen, Lambert and Head (1976) found that looked after children performed poorly in comparison with the rest of the population DATA. Over the last twenty years, various Governments have focused on the importance for looked after children and their education, and a need to ensure its priority within assessment, schools and the wider environment. The aim of this literature review is to discover why the majority of looked after children still do not access tertiary education, even though their deficit in this area has been well known for many years. The dissertation will focus on specific areas for example: Looked after children and education Looked after children and access to tertiary education The role of the social worker with respect to looked after children and their progression through education International comparison Does the nature/ or experience of placement for looked after children have an effect on their likeliness to progress to tertiary education? Finally what social work can do to actively promote education for looked after children. The 1989 Children Act guidance required Local Authorities to provide educational opportunities for looked after children and support, and that this must be included in their care plan (Goddard, 2000). In 1994 the Department of Health and Department of Education additionally stressed the importance of co-operation between schools, social services and Local Authorities. Yet, in 1995 these measures to promote education for looked after children were found to have made little difference (Social services Inspectorate and the Office for Standards in Education, 1995). In response the Government set specific targets for Local Authorities with respect to education alongside a requirement to publish guidance on the education as per that from the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Health, 2000. This ensured all local authorities were working towards the same goal and by the same guidelines. As well as introducing new guidelines for teachers, designated to support looked after children and each looked after child was given a personal education plan (PEP). Another part of the target was to ensure that no placement was given before an educational placement could be secured. The amended Children Act 2004 implemented new duties promoting the educational achievement of looked after children. The schools however are only expected to take a proactive approach to the education of looked after children and coordinating with different departments there is only an expectation. If the school believes it does not have the resources to sup port one looked after child then it will not be rebuked because of it. There have been a number of introductions of legislative policies and guidance for example Improving the educational achievement of looked after children (Department for children, schools and families, 2009) this introduced new key elements involving the education of looked after children introducing a virtual school head whom keeps track of every looked after child to ensure all have appropriate provisions. Care matters: time for a change (2007) was introduced to improve the outcomes of looked after children. This policy addresses the corporate parenting, health, education and social work practice and commission of looked after children services to improve placement choice and stability. Similarly The Children leaving care Act (2000) was introduced to enhance provision for care leavers, For example, giving Local Authorities a duty to ensure they continue to meet the looked after childs needs until 21 years old, and allocate an advisor who would take responsibility for co-ordinating support. This dissertation will consider the reasons why there are still a comparatively small number and proportion of looked after children with good educational outcomes. Generally and more specifically why an even smaller comparative proportion of looked after children enter tertiary education. The dissertation will also consider what social workers can do to promote an education agenda for looked after children. Previous research has shown that looked after children have low educational attainment (Jackson, Ajayi and Quigley, 2005 and Jackson et al, 2002). 6% of looked after children go on to access tertiary education. Several authoritative sources indicate a continuing lack of formal qualifications among children in care, with subsequent prospects for entering higher education less likely. Research has shown (Berridge, 2006) a wide range of reasons why looked after children do not access tertiary education. These reasons vary from child experiences of abuse, the type of placement the child has, attachment problems and poor services given to children who are looked after. McLeod (2008) found that children in local authority care need a positive and sustained relationship with their social worker to promote their well being and emphasise the importance of education and other aspects of the looked after childs life that may have been previously ignored. As such, a social workers role to work w ith a child holistically to ensure all their needs are met, has profound implications for education. The evidence presented here suggests that the education of children looked after by Local Authorities continues to be problematic. This review will also question if becoming a looked after child is inevitably negative in terms of the childs chances to access tertiary education is this was the case then comparatively looked after children in other countries should have the same outcomes. Currently the Governments priority is to narrow the gap between the educational achievements of looked after children and that of their peers. In 2008 14% of looked after children achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE compared to 65.3% of all other children (Department for Children, Schools and Families (2009). New initiatives include public service agreements for example Public Service Agreement 11 aims to narrow the educational achievement gap between children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. This agreement involves aiming for the looked after children to reach 3 national targets. Including to aim for 20% of looked after children get gain 5 GSCEs A*-C, for 55% of looked after children to reach level 4 of key stage 2 in mathematics and 60% to reach key stage 2 in English. Local authorities must now support looked after children enrol in higher education and continue with it by granting bursaries if they desire to continue their education. Universally the evidence presented above suggests that there is a general agreement amongst informed writers that looked after children continue to have poorer educational outcomes than their peers. There are numerous reasons postulated for this deficit, looked after children face problems that their peers do not. Firstly, many have faced great upheaval and consequently some may have behavioural problems compared to the general population affecting the relationship with other children, teachers and therefore affecting their work and relationships within school. Weyts (2004) highlights that looked after children are ‘expected to perform lower than their peers so may not be given the same encouragement as others. The major problem facing looked after children with respect to education however would appear to be upheaval caused by change of placements (OSullivan and Westerman, 2007), which may present difficulties in getting used to different schools, friends and teachers all effe cting their education and outcomes. Yet with positive placement , and encouraging carers then there is evidence that children may attain good educational outcomes (Jackson, 1998). It may also be the case that the model of welfare adopted at national level, will also impact upon individual outcomes for looked after children, as is evident from some international comparisons (Petrie, Boddy, Cameron, Wigfall and Simon, 2006)). This dissertation will connect the information from the research gathered to answer the research question. Using a best evidence approach to synthesise the data to ensure all aspects of the research question can be answered effectively. Methodology As referred to in my research proposal, this dissertation will adopt a systematic review approach (pg.4 of research proposal). This type of review will provide a synthesis of research on this topic. A systematic review identifies all available literature on a specific topic whilst describing a clear method. Bryman (2008) defines a systematic review as one which summarises concisely all the best evidence that address the research question. An inclusion and exclusion criterion is set to ensure only the best research is used in the review. The research papers will then be critiqued and a best evidence approach method for critiquing the papers will be used. Conclusions will be drawn by combining observations from the review with existing theories and models. A best evidence approach selects literature which has most relevance to the research question. The literature that gives the best answer to the research question and has a good evidence base are the papers more likely to be most effe ctive in answering the research question. This literature review was derived from searches of the following databases via the Leicester University Library website: Sage journals online Intergentaconnect Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) Oxford University Press E-Journals Social Care online Wiley online library Searches were carried out on each database using the following search terms: Looked after children or children in care Educational outcomes or educational attainment or educational achievement The search will be restricted to cover between 1980 and 2010. This limit was chosen as most research is between this era and to have a wider inclusion limit would impact on the scope of the dissertation. The results will be filtered manually using the following criteria: The relativity to the subject of looked after children and accessing tertiary education Theoretical or empirical research Harvard referencing will also be adopted The looked after children population in the United Kingdom The term looked after was introduced in the Children Act, 1989. Looked after children are those under the age of 18 who are subject to a care order it also includes children who are accommodated voluntarily for over 24 hours. Currently there are approximately 60,900 children who are looked after by local authorities in England (Department for children, schools and families, DCSF (2009). Of this population 57% was male and 43% female. The percentage of looked after children increased when comparing the age of the looked after child. The greater the age group of looked after children the higher the percentage. There was a significant increase from ages 5 to 9 to that of the age group of 10 to 15 increasing from 17% to 41%. From the age group 10 to 15 and 16 over the percentage of looked after children decreases to 21% (See appendix 1) (DCSF, 2009). Statistics from DSCF (2009) show that that main category of need of the looked after child is because of abuse or neglect at 61%, which hasnt changed greatly over the past five years. Other reasons for being in care are; the child having a disability, parental illness, the family is in distress, dysfunction in the family, socially unacceptable behaviour, low income and absent parenting. In 2009 most children in care were of white British origin (74%). 36,200 children were looked after on a care order in 2009. This is a decrease of 2% from the previous years number of 36,900 and a decrease of 10% from 2005 (DCSF, 2009). When children are subject to a care order parental responsibilities are vested in the local authority through the social services department. A care order is a court order made under section 31 of the 1989 Children Act which places a child compulsorily in the care of a designated local authority. The court can only make this order if they are satisfied that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm. The local authority assumes parental responsibility as well as the parents for the child. Other reasons why children may be looked after are if there is no responsible adult available to look after the child and if the child is being adopted but is not yet legally adopted by the new permanent family. According to the 1989 Children Act, all local authorities have a statutory duty to promote education and to promote looked after childrens educational achievement. They should consider all the decisions regarding placement they make on behalf of the looked after child to ensure their education is not impinged upon. The local authority must ensure those children looked after are offered everything that children who arent looked after receive, so they perform the role as parent as close as possible. Of those in care , 73% were children looked after in foster placements, 10% in secure units, childrens homes hostels, 7% with parents, 4% placed for adoption, and 5% in other care (this included residential schools and other residential settings) (DCSF, 2009). Considering the types of placements the looked after child has the education of the carers needs to be considered. All individuals involved with placements and giving care to looked after children need to be given a level of education so they are able to fulfil the childs needs and ensure that educational outcomes are to be achieved. Looked after children belong to the children in need group within the UK. When children and families require help their assessment of need becomes the first mechanism. The state should then be involved in supporting the families fulfil their responsibilities as parents. If the state decides that the childs developmental needs are not being met then they should intervene. If the child has experienced significant harm is there is a likelihood of experiencing significant harm then the child should be removed from the family to assess the situation. The Children Act (2004) states that the childs development is the basis of defining need. The main dimensions involve social, physical, intellectual, behavioural and educational. This had then been developed within the looking after children dimensions and includes health, identity, family and social relationships, education, emotional and behavioural development, social presentation and self care skills (DOH, 1995). To understand the definition of what need is involves understanding the standards that should be met. Bradshaw (1972) suggested that there are four dimensions to need these include normative needs which most professionals define for populations, felt needs which include what people say they need, expressed needs including what people want by actions and comparative needs which are those needs established when comparing to another group. This understanding of needs is needed to give the best responses as social workers and other professionals to meet the needs. The underp inning theories which contribute to understanding the needs of a child include Maslows (1968) Hierarchy of Need which includes physiological, social, security, egotistical, and psychological dimensions. Bowlbys (1988) attachment theory also underpins the understanding of need. Attachment theory has become an important part of working with children and practice, it gives understanding of development and the impact that loss or trauma can affect children. Understanding each of these dimensions of a childs life helps in practice when assessing the childs needs and how to respond. Looked after children and education There have been a number of initiatives (SEU, 2003) introduced in the UK which highlight a continuing problem with regard to low educational outcomes for looked after children and young people in comparison to the general population. Basic problems, such as a high rate of exclusion for looked after children have been identified, and are now well known, but have proved difficult to eradicate and continue to cause persistent problems for the looked after children. These include the impact of often regular changes of placement, the possibility that the expectations of teachers or social workers may be lower for looked after children than would be typical for most parents aspirations for their own children. Many children taken into care have a history of family crisis and have experiences of trauma whether through direct abuse or more general dysfunction within the family. The impact of this often affects the looked after childs ability to learn or progress through school without extra support (REF). When children enter the care system it is almost never the plan for them to remain looked after for a protracted period. Social workers are only too aware of the potential negative consequences of time in care (REF) and indeed the majority of children who come into care return to family care swiftly. For some children however, usually those with the most complex problems and intractable family situations, being looked after can become long term. The impact of being looked after however will affect the childs educational attainment no matter what age they are. The latest figures from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, published in 2009 show that while 66% of looked after children in year 11 from years 2007 to 2008 passed at least one GCSE OR GNVQ 99% of other children achieved this level. In 2007 to 2008 14% of looked after children passed at least 5 GCSEs or GNVQs at grades of A* to C compared to 65% of other children. Primary school results are also low. Key Stage tests at age 7, 11 and 14 (SEU, 2003] for example found that at Key Stage one 57% of looked-after seven year-olds achieved at least level 2 in reading in 2008, compared to 84% of all children. At Key Stage level two 46% of 11 year-old children looked after achieved level 4 in English, compared with 81% of all children. In Key Stage three maths, 33% of looked-after young people achieved level 5, compared to 77% of all children (DCSF, 2009). Looked after children in the United Kingdom may consequently be argued to be a vulnerable group who as a result of the inequality of the education system often face exclusion from society in a more general sense, often extending long after their period of time looked after has come to a conclusion, and throughout their adult lives. Hugh (2009) argues that looked after children tend to be from less affluent families, suggesting correlation between poverty and poor educational outcomes. Hugh (op cit) extends this argument to suggest that social exclusion will affect many areas of looked after childs life, one major concern if having poor educational experience. The SEU (1998) found that those children who miss large amounts of schooling are more likely to be exploited. Harker, Ober, Lawrence, Berridge and Sinclair (2003) further suggested that looked after children are over represented within the group of excluded children, and that many have behavioural and special educational needs likely to affect their progress through education. Research by Daniels, Cole, Sellman, Sutton, Visser and Bedward (2003) found that permanent exclusion from school usually followed a history of behavioural problems. This study found that four out of five of the excluded young people had received two or more fixed term exclusions prior to them being permanently excluded. Research by the SEU (1998) found that children in care were ten times more likely to be excluded from school than other children but also that this discrepancy was widening. Quality Projects Research (2003) found that the majority of excluded children failed to subsequently complete their schooling or receive any educational achievements. The SEU (2003) paper Better Education for Children in Care highlighted five big issues affecting the achievement of looked after children. These included Instability, (frequent changes in placement often also require a change of school). Too many children in care are loosing large amounts of time out of school because of exclusions or as a result of having no secure school place. Comparatively poor home environments for looked after children are also identified as a factor that will affect educational attainment, similarly differences in encouragement and support at home by the carer affects the childs outcomes and these inconsistencies need to be addressed with, the final issue identified as the emotional, physical and mental health of the child in care. As a result it is important for the school, social worker and carer to understand that additional support may be needed for children in care, especially if they are bullied or have experienced numerous changes of relationships and f riendship networks, indicative of a high potential for disrupted attachments (SEU, 2003). ‘Education projects was launched in 2003 by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills, its aim was to improve educational outcomes for looked after children. Focusing on multi-agency working, Education projects recommended the introduction of local authority training for designated teachers within schools. It also provided funding to be used to develop new educational strategies across local authorities. The Department for Education and Skills then published ‘The Role of the School in Supporting the Education of Children in Public Care (2003) similarly recommending specific initiatives with looked after children involving Personal Education Plans, Attendance and truancy and Transition planning and admission to name but a few. The SEU (2003) highlighted the five problematic areas regarding the educational outcomes of looked after children which have prevented change, or slowed it down (Cocker and Allain, 2008). These five areas included Capacity referring to the vacancy rates within the childrens social care workforce, suggesting limited insight into the specific educational needs of looked after children. Management and leadership with regard to staff at senior levels lack of time and consequent commitment they can offer in this area leading to feelings of powerlessness to affect real change. Limited resources, including for example inconsistencies between areas in the UK and which resources are available to looked after children, affecting the support available to looked after children. Similarly the attitudes of the social workers and professionals who work with looked after children were also deemed to contribute to low expectations of the educational outcomes of looked after children. The final problem highlighted was systems and structure within local authorities impacting on inter agency communication and affecting the work between the agencies, therefore affecting their practice wit h looked after children (SEU, 2003) (Cocker and Allain, 2003). The Every Child Matters (2004) green paper included five outcomes vital for all children, including good health, an opportunity to stay safe, achieve economic well being, enjoy and achieve and make positive contributions towards society. Most recently the white paper Care Matters, time for a change (Department for education and skills, 2007) proposes that looked after children should be given the highest priority in school admissions. The paper for example requires Local Authorities to ensure looked after childrens placements were not changed within year 10 and 11 of school, to prevent the disruption of their education. The paper highlighted again the importance of a designated teacher to work with looked after children to become statutory, whilst also introducing the virtual head teacher within each authority. Their responsibility is to track the progress of the children in the local authority who are attending school and those moved into a different local authority. A designated teacher has responsibility for the looked after children within a school. They are expected to advocate on behalf of the children and young people in care and they should ensure that each has a personal education plan (Department for Educat ion and Skills, 2005). The paper implemented more support for looked after children regarding absences and exclusion. The paper also proposed the providing of a grant of  £500 annually to be used for support for example one to one tutoring. Jackson and Martin (2002) draw attention to problems that looked after children face when trying to find a suitable source of education, whether this is because they need to move due of placement changes or because of previous exclusions from other schools. Most schools need to keep a high level within the league tables in order to ensure funding is continued. With this is mind many are reluctant to take on looked after children. Many schools stated that they did not understand what these children faced and that they did not have the resources to support them (Jackson et al, 2002). Berridge (2006) has identified the gaps of data when accessing statistics. The social processes behind forming the statistics may not straightforward. Interpreting the terms within statistics may cause further problems. Berridge, also highlights pressures from outside groups to get indicators of why looked after children have low educational outcomes. The statistics gathered regarding looked after children have limitations. Firstly 27% of the looked after population who had been in care for over 12 months have a special educational needs statement, compared to 2.7% of the overall population (DCSF, 2009) clearly affecting the performance of a large group of looked after children. Secondly the educational outcomes of looked after children who have been in care more than 12 months are published, there is also the overall results of looked after children. These children may only be in care for a short period because of family problems. Berridge (2006) argues that if we are to use these statistics there needs to be a time period given for social workers and other professionals to be responsible for the looked after child to turn their situation around. Social services cannot be responsible for giving the looked after child a start in life if they have only entered care as an adolescent and have existing educational difficulties.