Benefits of a Healthy Workforce Essay Example for Free

Benefits of a Healthy Workforce Essay Organisational health programmes are essential to the survival of companies. Undoubtedly, a healthy workforce would work wonders for any business by reducing absenteeism and turnover, and increasing employee motivation, productivity and revenues. Lowe (2004) writes that hundreds of studies have already documented the direct as well as indirect advantages of â€Å"healthy work environments† to employees in addition to their organisations (p. 7). Indeed, healthy workplaces as well as jobs contribute to the well-being of employees. These benefits may be realized by the whole organisation through lower absenteeism, lower turnover, higher job satisfaction, improved performance on the job, lower rates of accident, in addition to â€Å"reduced health benefit and worker compensation costs (Lowe, p. 7). † Moreover, research has revealed that the largest gains in productivity may be realized by the organisation that changes the entire work environment to make it healthier for all employees (Lowe). Research has also revealed that the impact of poor health is keenly felt in the work environment, so therefore managers require an improved understanding of the dangers of allowing minor symptoms to escalate. Four in ten managers who participated in a recently conducted survey related to workplace health complained that they often become angry with others and feel humorless due to pressure. More than fifty percent of the managers complained of physical pain, at the same time as forty four percent reported experiencing frequent headaches. Moreover, fifty five percent complained of constant tiredness, fifty seven percent complained of insomnia, while twenty percent simply stated that they found it difficult to make decisions because of ill health (Poor Health 2006). Unsurprisingly, these results demand organisations to put effective health programmes in place for all employees. Sick employees are not likely to be highly productive in any case. In the United States, businesses are known to spend at least U. S. $450 billion every year on direct health care. Poor health costs around U. S. $225. 8 billion to American businesses each year through absenteeism as well as productivity losses that are related to the health problems of employees and their families. Hence, insurers as well as employers have started to create a large number of health promotion and prevention programmes that have already started to pay handsome dividends. According to a study, American employers may â€Å"reap the average of [U. S. ] $3. 48 in reduced health care costs and [U. S. ] $5. 82 in lower absenteeism costs for every dollar invested in employee wellness (Toomey 2006, p. 13). † Of course, these benefits can be realized anywhere in the world. In the United Kingdom, three quarters of a million workers are known to take time off work each year due to work-related illnesses (Firman 2006). These illnesses are further known to cost businesses as much as ten percent of their total payroll costs. Indeed, by promoting health in the workplace and preventing illnesses through effective health programmes in the organisation, absenteeism and costs related to the same may be drastically lowered. The money that is saved thus may be used by the organisation to update its equipment; on marketing; as well for the provision of training to employees. Organisations may also be able to increase the number of employees with the cost savings realized through effective health programmes (Jim 2006). Indeed, the benefits of health management programmes in the organisation are aplenty. Healthy employees add value to the organisation. The care shown by employers can boost the morale of the workers. The entire organisation benefits from this, as it becomes more efficient with a healthy and therefore productive workforce. REFERENCES Firman, C. 16. 11. 2006 â€Å"Health Matters. † Motor Transport available at EBSCO Host database. Jim, N. 9. 6. 2006 â€Å"Health and Safety Assessments Cut Costs and Boost Productivity. † Electronics Weekly 2256 available at EBSCO Host database. Lowe, G. S. 2004 â€Å"Healthy Workplace Strategies: Creating Change and Achieving Results. † The Graham Lowe Group available at http://www. grahamlowe. ca/documents/93/Hlthy%20wkpl%20strategies%20report. pdf. Poor Health 2006: â€Å"Poor Health Leads to a Humorless, Angrier Workforce† article in Occupational Health (Jun 2006), 58(6) available at EBSCO Host database. Toomey, D. 18. 12. 2006 â€Å"Wellness and Prevention Programs Generate Healthy Outcomes. † Executive Health Wellness Guide available at EBSCO Host database.

Service Quality Dimensions That Affect Customer Satisfaction Commerce Essay

Service Quality Dimensions That Affect Customer Satisfaction Commerce Essay The objective of this chapter is to formulate the research question and develop the conceptual framework for the study. A detailed overview of how the research was conducted, the operationalisation of the variables, hypothesis formulation and the research methodology used which covers data collection methods used, sample selection and method used for data analysis are discussed. 3.2 Research Question Based on the review of literature and the research problem, the following question has been formulated in order to determine the relationship that exists between the various dimensions of customer expectation and the service quality by the insurance companies for motor insurance policy holders. It is important to understand this relationship as it would enable the companies in the insurance sector to improve their service quality and to match and to exceed customer expectations and create a knowledge base in order to stay ahead in the market. The following research questions were derived from the research problem and the review of the literature. What are the Service Quality Dimensions that affect customer satisfaction in the Motor Insurance industry in Sri Lanka? What is the extent to which customers are satisfied with the services received from the Motor Insurance Industry? What are the gaps between customer Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction of Motor Insurance policy holders? 3.3 Conceptual Framework Service Quality Dimensions Dependant Variable Independent Variables [Source: Developed by the Researcher] 3.3.1 Rationalization of the conceptual framework Conceptual framework was replicated based on Zeithaml, Parasuraman Berry (1991), to test this study in the Motor Insurance Industry in Sri Lanka. On the detailed literature review, the research identified five factors that impact value delivery to customer of Motor Insurance services. These five service quality dimensions of SERVQUAL Model by Parasuraman and Berry et el (1985), have been derived as independent variables. These variables fall under Service providers Perspective in the conceptual framework. The dependent variable was identified as Customer satisfaction. The gaps in quality of service will be identified by using these five dimensions. This is the gap between the Customers expectation and experience of the Motor Insurance service delivery, which will subsequently have an impact on customer satisfaction. Rust Oliver (1994) and the Nordic Model (Gronoos, 1992) too emphasizes the importance of meaning of the gap between expectations and the experience in service industry. Hence all these have been included in the conceptual framework. 3.3.2 Definitions for Variables Tangibles Modern Equipment and Technology, Visually appealing physical facilities neat appearing employees and agents, visually appealing materials associated with services. Appearance of physical facilities, equipment personnel and communication material (Parasurman et.al,1998 and 1990). Reliability Keeping promises when promises to do something by a certain time , offering products and services of utmost quality, issuing contracts with clear, transparent and non ambiguous terms, settling customers claims with no unnecessary delays, ,showing sincere interest when solving customers problems, offering services right the first time without unnecessarily discomforting customers, providing services within the specified contract time limits, issuing error free bills, statements, receipts, contracts, claims and other documents. Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (Parasurman et.al,1998 and 1990). Responsiveness telling customers exactly when the services will be performed, doing their best to give prompt service to customers, always willing to help customers, never being too busy to respond to customers requests . Willing to help customer and provide prompt service (Parasurman et.al,1998 and 1990). Assurance Customers feeling safe in their transactions, behavior instilling confidence in customers, being consistently courteous with customers, having employees and agents with the necessary knowledge to give professional services to customers. Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence (Competence, courtesy, creditability and security of the service), (Parasurman et.al,1998 and 1990). Empathy Giving customers individual services, operating hours convenient to all customers, giving customers personal attention, having the customers best interest at heart, understanding the specific needs of customers. Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers (Access to organizations representatives, communication and understanding the customer), (Parasurman et.al,1998 and 1990). As presented in the above conceptual model, the independent variable of dimensions of service quality will be studied. Price is also a relevant variable. However, the focus of this study is on service quality attributes and therefore is not within the scope of this study. Theoretical research has presented several different service quality definitions. However, Parasuraman et al. (1985) definition of service quality, which has been used in many industry studies before, was adopted. Service quality is defined as the degree of discrepancy between customers normative expectations for the service and their perceptions of the service performance. The SERVQUAL model developed by Parasuraman et al.(1998), is therefore used for this study. Hypotheses Formulation Hypothesis is a testable speculative statement delineating the relations between all the elements of a theory (Page Meyer, 2000). The development of hypothesis was categorized into two sections based on insurance companies customers. Accordingly five hypotheses were developed. The source for all hypothesis development was based on the conceptual framework. Furthermore, the hypotheses based on insurance companies were primarily related to the importance of each expectation. The hypotheses developed for customers were based on the service quality of obtaining Motor insurance policies. When developing hypothesis, Literature review under section 2.18, according to the study carried out in Greece and Kenya by Rand, (2006), it was proved that there is a relationship between service quality dimensions and expected and experienced service quality by the customers in the insurance industry. 3.5 Hypothesis Rationalization Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Reliability dimension in motor insurance According to Parasuraman et al (1985) Reliability dimension measures the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. As per the research carried out by Rand (2006) , it says that the Reliability has a huge impact on the service quality in service industry. Especially in a industry like Motor insurance it has a huge effect. Consumers satisfaction choice of service provider and service quality evaluation are influenced by the expectations of the consumer, (Trinh et al.2000). As mentioned above in the research carried out in Kenyan Insurance industry by Rand (2006), it is noted that most of the researchers (Rand, 2006; Trinh, 2000) have identified that Reliable service always has a positive impact on the service quality provided by the company. Therefore it is worthy to investigate the relationship among Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Reliability dimension in motor insurance. It could be hypothesized that, H 1 0 There is no relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Reliability dimension in motor insurance H 1 There is a relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Reliability dimension in motor insurance Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Responsiveness dimension in motor insurance The Dimension Responsiveness explains about willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Responsiveness factor significantly has a positive effect on Customer satisfaction. Quality service provision, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has recently been emerging as important parameters for both researchers and practitioners in turkey. This has been proved through a research carried by Yale University in Turkey (2009) on Service Quality in healthcare. This research was also based on the service quality. To provide superior service quality responsiveness is a very important factor since service providers should always willing to help customers. Especially in an industry such as insurance it is a very decisive factor since the customer is expecting a prompt action for their problems. So responsiveness factor effectively contributes to reduce the gaps between the Expected Experienced Service quality by the motor insurance policy holders. Therefore it is worthy to identify the relationship between the Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Responsiveness dimension in motor insurance. So it could be hypothesized that, H 2 0 There is no relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Responsiveness dimension in motor insurance H 2 There is a relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Responsiveness dimension in motor insurance Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Assurance dimension in motor insurance Assurance dimension is all about, the knowledge, competence, and courtesy of service employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. Ducker (1991) defines service quality as What the customer gets out and is willing to pay for rather than what the supplier (of the service) puts in? Hence, service quality is often conceptualized as the comparison of service expectations with actual performance perception (Bloemer, Ruyter et al. 1999; Kara, Lonial et al. 2007). Service science literature often relies on SERVUQAL as an instrument to measure quality of service provided. SERVQUAL scale was developed based on a marketing perspective with the support of the Marketing Science Institute (Parasuraman, Zeithaml et al. 1986). It is very important to keep the assurance on the agreement made the company to their customers. Specially in the insurance industry, it is crucial factor to offer the assurance of the services provided. Therefore it is worthy to identify the relationship betwee n the Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Assurance dimension in motor insurance. So it could be hypothesized that, H 3 0 There is no relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Assurance dimension in motor insurance H 3 There is a relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Assurance dimension in motor insurance Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Empathy dimension in motor insurance Empathy dimension is about caring individualized attention provided to customers. According to the expectancy disconfirmation model, customers satisfaction is a function between his/her service performance perception and expectation (Pizam and Ellis, 1999), and illustrated as Satisfaction=f (Perception-Expectation). It is very important to offer individual attention to the customers specially in the service industry. Trustworthiness is one of the critical factors in any industry for the customers. Empathy factor defines that. Keeping the customer complaints and criticisms is very important in the motor insurance industry as the competition is very high. If the organization looses one policyholder that may affect the organization immensely. Therefore it is worthy to identify the relationship between the Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Empathy dimension in motor insurance. So it could be hypothesized that, H 4 0 There is no relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Empathy dimension in motor insurance H 4 There is a relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Empathy dimension in motor insurance Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Tangibility dimension in motor insurance Tangibility is all about appearance of physical facilities, equipment, ambience, personnel and communication materials. The rewards to firms that establish a loyal customer base have been well documented (Armstrong and Symonds, 1991: Heskett et al. 1994: Reichheld amd Sesser, 1990). In general, increased loyalty leads to lower cost of servicing the firms customers, reduced marketing expenditure, increased business from the existing customer base and greater profits. The internal appearance and the facilities is also affecting the service quality. It in turn helps the company to retain their customer and reduce the unnecessary costs such as saving costs. Therefore it is worthy to identify the relationship between the Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Tangibility dimension in motor insurance. So it could be hypothesized that, H 5 0 There is no relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Tangibility dimension in motor insurance H 5 There is a relationship between Expected Experienced Service Quality in relation to Tangibility dimension in motor insurance 3.6 Operationalization Based on the SERVQUAL scale and using five service quality dimensions. Concepts Variable Indicator Measure Reliability Price/Premium Reasonable Premium rates In order to evaluate customer expectation and experience , a 5 point scale was used. To measure customer perception the rating scale , for 1 Not important and 5 Very Important . And to measure customer experience the rating scale, for 1 Not Experienced at all , to 5 Experienced at a high level Product Range Range of products offered, to suit individual requirements Physical Access Availability and convenience of facilities and branch network Electronic access Availability of Telephone and online facilities Service delivery Level of service as expected/promised Responsiveness Waiting time Average time taken to process a claim after an accident In order to obtain data on average time spent with the Insurance providing company to get an service rating scale from 1 to 5 was used . for 1 Not Experienced at all , to 5 Experienced at a high level . In order to evaluate customer expectation and experience , a 5 point likert scale was used. Level of responsiveness of the Insurance staff Time taken to respond to an issue Assurance Stability The guarantee of safety when making a claim In order to evaluate customer expectation and experience, a 5 point likert scale was used. Safety of the investment Making the actual cost Convenience to the holder Confidentiality Maintenance of confidentiality Product Knowledge The knowledge of the product/features by the staff members Empathy Benefits Special benefits and features for the customer In order to evaluate customer expectation and experience, a 5 point likert scale was used. Attention Personal attention to customers and recognizing regular customers Caring Helping customers in a pleasant and caring manner Approachability Easy to approach staff members Tangibles Environment Pleasant ambiance inside the company In order to evaluate customer expectation and experience, a 5 point likert scale was used. Facilities Facilities provided to the policy holders Parking Availability of adequate parking at the Insurance company Number of repair centers in Sri Lanka Directional signs and information Availability of adequate instructions and directions of counters and procedures and easy directions when filling forma and other documents Appearance of Staff members Staff members are dresses appropriately Layout Convenient layout of the company interior Customer Satisfaction Level Satisfaction Level of satisfaction of the insurance company in relation to each service quality dimension A 5 point likert scale was used to measure the likelihood of these indicators ranging from Very Likely to Highly Unlikely. In Order to measure the time length of the relationship the respondent has with the Insurance provider , 5 time slots were presented where by the respondent could select his/her most relevant time slot. Study was carried out to ascertain the validity and Reliability of the Questionnaire. This was done as the instrument to use collected data was not tested previously. 3.7 Research Methodology The Research methodology is the way research is conducted. Research methodology refers to the theory of how research should be undertaken (Saunders, et al 2005). The first step of the study is to assess the service quality gaps in relation to the customer expectations and experience among five leading Insurance Companies which deals with Motor insurance in Sri Lanka and with each of the five SERVQUAL dimensions. This study helps to determine the average service quality gap score (between customers expectations and experience) for each service quality dimensions and how it affects the overall customer satisfaction. The second step each Insurance companys gap scores for each service quality dimensions. This is to examine the differences within each insurance company when providing services to the customers and to compare the differences of the overall satisfaction of customers in each insurance company. Stage three measured the level of satisfaction of the customers and the fourth stage examines the relationship between the expected and experienced service quality gaps by the customers for each dimensions. The final Stage integrates the data obtained from the five insurance companies and conclusions were prepared in accordance to the findings. Based on research problem, preliminary data was the main source of data used in this research. Consistent with the deductive research method, data collection through questionnaires has been a long proven method to collect valid and reliable data (Page Meyer, 2000). The deductive method refers to the use of a theory to generate prepositions or hypothesis that can be tested. Thus, the research method has been chosen for this study is based on deductive method. 3.7.1 Method of Data Collection In this study the primary data was collected through a self completion questionnaire from customers of the selected five Insurance companies. The study followed the Quantitative method to gather and analyze the data. The secondary data was collected from secondary source such Government publications (IBSL Annual Report 2010 Central Bank Annual Report 2010), Company Annual reports and from other publications. 3.7.2 Selection of Sample For the purpose of gathering data on customer expectation and customer experience, a total number of 250 questionnaires were distributed, from which a total of 224 valid Reponses were received and selected for data analysis. Individuals within a sample are chosen by chance rather than by the researcher or by being self-selected (Page and Meyer, 2000). A simple random sampling technique was used for this study, so that each unit of the population will have a known and equal chance of being selected. The sample was spread across Motor insurance policy holders of Five different Motor insurance providing companies in Sri Lanka. A brief description of selected five companies are given below, Aviva NDB Insurance PLCPLC Aviva NDB Insurance PLCtook wing as a leading player within Sri Lankas insurance landscape in the late 1980s. Over the years, the Companys good governance practices, ethics and innovation have helped it to soar to new heights. The dynamism and creativity of the Aviva NDB Family has been the engine of its evolution into a superior entity in the insurance and financial services sector. The Company has recorded a Consolidated Revenue of Rs. 7, 265 million with an impressive growth rate of 23.7% over the previous year. The Revenue reported for the current year includes Rs. 171.2 million being the gross-up of tax withheld at source on Government Securities. Excluding this, the growth for 2010 stands at 20.8%. Union Assurance PLC Union Assurance is a composite insurer transacting both Life and General business including personal insurance, in operation since 1987. A Public Quoted Company, UA entered the insurance arena at the time the private sector was permitted to set up in insurance, following the enactment of the Control of Insurance (Amendment) Act No. 42 of 1986. Committed to pursuing the highest standards of service and security, UA is backed by the corporate might of blue chip companies John Keells and Carson Cumberbatch. UAs reinsurers are world leaders, chosen for their dependability and total security. In short, they are the best in the business. The companys paid up capital as at 31 December 2009 is Rs 250 million and net asset base, Rs 1.6 billion, also indicates the companys  Ã‚   financial stability and strength, and places it firmly at the apex off private insurance service providers in Sri Lanka. Asian Alliance Insurance PLC Within a very short time period, Asian Alliance Insurance PLC has achieved what every company yearns for; it has touched the hearts of its customers with outstanding levels of professionalism and service. Asian Alliance commenced operations in December 1999 with 50 employees. Today the company has grown from strength to strength to become one of Sri Lankas leading players in the insurance industry. The company caters to an ever-growing client base that consists of corporate and individual clients. The secret behind the Asian Alliance Insurance success story lies in its ability to offer tailor-made insurance solutions to its customers. Sri Lanka Insurance Cooperation Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation which was established in 1962 as a State Owned Corporation was converted to a Limited Liability Company for a brief period of 6 years and was re-instilled in the state sector on the 4th June 2011, further strengthening the Corporation as the strongest and the largest Insurer in the Country. Sri Lanka Insurance is now backed by government protection and service excellence on par with the best in the private sector. At present Sri Lanka Insurance has over 120 Branches Island with an unparalleled assets base under management of over Rs.64.8 billion with a Life fund of over Rs.39 billion and over one million policies in force. The Motor Insurance Department has branched off into unrelated areas such as Theft only, Fire Only, Fire and Theft, 3rd Party Fire and Theft and Act only; once again, offering covers aimed at satisfying their clientele to a maximum. Ceylinco Insurance PLC From a solid and innovative start in 1939, Ceylinco Insurance Company Limited has faced numerous changes and challenges and has successfully weathered them all. Registered as Ceylinco Insurance Company Limited in 1987 and commenced business on the 14th of January 1988, in the spheres of Life and General Insurance, we have grown from strength to strength. Today, they have become the leading insurance company in Sri Lanka, with the largest network of branches and agents in the insurance industry. Their goals include becoming the leading provider of protection and financial security in Sri Lanka and in select international markets. 3.7.3 Structure of the Questionnaire Part one of the questionnaire focuses on demographic features of the respondents. Part two focuses on the dimensions. Questions from 1.14 entail in Reliability dimension and thereafter, based on Operationalisation, 10 questions focus on Responsiveness dimension 16 questions represents the Assurance dimension and 9 questions on Empathy dimension. Final dimension which is Tangibility has 10 questions. Each dimension has 2 columns to rate expected and experienced using a likert scale of 1.5, not important at all being No.1 and Very important being No.05. For the study, questionnaire was designed in accordance with the research objectives. The Questionnaire is based on the five SERVQUAL dimensions presented by Parasuraman et al (1985) and the Gap 5 which is also known as the Customer gap (the gap between customer expectation and experience) of the SERVQUAL mo del presented by Parasuraman et al (1985) , modified and tailored to specific service quality requirements of the Motor Insurance industry. Table 2: Structure of the Questionnaire Questionnaire Variables Measurement Items Section 1 Personal details Section 2 Measure Service quality perceptions of five insurance companies in general from individuals Section 3 Measure Service Quality dimensions separately to find out Expected Experienced service quality by each customer. 3.1 Reliability 3.2 Responsiveness 3.3- Assurance 3.4 Empathy 3.5 -Tangibility 3.7.4 Method of Data Analysis The Data was collected through a Questionnaire. The study was carried out using Descriptive statistics as well as Inferential Statistics. Under Inferential statistics an ANOVA analysis and paired sample two test were carried out. Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics  are used to describe the main features of a collection of  data  quantitatively. Inferential Statistics Inferential statistics are used to draw inferences about a  population  from a  sample. T-Test This test is used to compare the means of two samples (or treatments), even if they have different numbers of replicates. ANOVA test The Analysis Of Variance, popularly known as the ANOVA test, can be used in cases where there are more than two groups. The following methods have been used to analyze the data obtained from the study. Gap technique The gap technique will be used to analyze and identify the service quality gaps between expectation and experience of customers. Comparative Analysis A comparative analysis will be conducted in relation to the gap technique between the five Insurance companies using graphs and tables. Relationship Analysis Under Inferential Statistic analysis paired sample two test will be conducted to analyze the relationship between Expected service Quality and Experienced Service Quality by the customers. 3.7.5 Pilot Study Pilot study was carried out to ascertain the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The instrument used to gather data in a research should be valid and reliable (Page Meyer, 2000). 3.8 Summary The purpose of this chapter was to explain and formulate the research questions and to provide a conceptual framework. The research question was formulated and thereafter the conceptual framework was designed using Service Quality as the independent variable and Customer Satisfaction being the dependent variable. Thereafter, the operationalization for the study was designed in accordance with the features/qualities of motor insurance industry. Given this, the methodology for the researcher was presented which included methods of data collection, selection of the sample, the questionnaire design and the methods of data analysis. Finally the limitations of the study were mentioned.

Waiting for a Title :: Essays Papers

Waiting for a Title Who is Nabokov, What is Humbert? Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of, or at least that's what they are supposed to be made of. After reading Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, written almost a half a century ago, one must wonder what he was thinking as he penned the book. Nabokov tells us in his essay, "On a Book Entitled Lolita," that his sole purpose in writing such a controversial novel, had "no purpose other than to get rid of that book"(Brink 311). Nabokov's not-so-clear explanation leads many minds to wonder about the "true meaning" of Lolita. One of the most often asked questions, is, of course, Nabokov's personal sexual preference: was he a pedophile? It seems unimaginable that a person could write the tale of such an incredible obsession and that, that obsession could be pure fiction: "The patterns of Lolita have psychological as well as aesthetic significance, and Humbert's language is more than a virtuoso display of effects: it is a strong but delicate instrument that registers the slightest, as well as the wildest, occillations of Humbert's distressed mind and heart"(Pifer 110). One example of Humbert's obsession with Lolita can be found on page 65 in The Annotated Lolita: I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever; but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita. She would be thirteen on January 1. In two years or so she would cease being a nymphet and would turn into a "young girl," and then into a "college girl"--that horror of horrors. The word "forever" referred only to my own passion, to the eternal Lolita as reflected in my blood. The Lolita whose iliac crests had not yet flared, the Lolita that today I could touch and smell and hear and see, the Lolita of strident voice and the rich brown hair--of the bangs and the swirls at the sides and the curls at the back, and the sticky hot neck, and the vulgar vocabulary--"revolting," "super," "luscious," "goon," "drip"--that Lolita, my Lolita, poor Catullus would lo se forever. So how could I afford not to see her for two months of summer insomnias? Two whole months out of the two years of her remaining nymphage." For any reader, among the main issues of Lolita are representations of incest, child-molestation, obsession, and pedophilia. This essay will examine relevant details in Nabokov's biography and attempt to discover the connection between Humbert Humbert and Nabokov. Waiting for a Title :: Essays Papers Waiting for a Title Who is Nabokov, What is Humbert? Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of, or at least that's what they are supposed to be made of. After reading Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, written almost a half a century ago, one must wonder what he was thinking as he penned the book. Nabokov tells us in his essay, "On a Book Entitled Lolita," that his sole purpose in writing such a controversial novel, had "no purpose other than to get rid of that book"(Brink 311). Nabokov's not-so-clear explanation leads many minds to wonder about the "true meaning" of Lolita. One of the most often asked questions, is, of course, Nabokov's personal sexual preference: was he a pedophile? It seems unimaginable that a person could write the tale of such an incredible obsession and that, that obsession could be pure fiction: "The patterns of Lolita have psychological as well as aesthetic significance, and Humbert's language is more than a virtuoso display of effects: it is a strong but delicate instrument that registers the slightest, as well as the wildest, occillations of Humbert's distressed mind and heart"(Pifer 110). One example of Humbert's obsession with Lolita can be found on page 65 in The Annotated Lolita: I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever; but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita. She would be thirteen on January 1. In two years or so she would cease being a nymphet and would turn into a "young girl," and then into a "college girl"--that horror of horrors. The word "forever" referred only to my own passion, to the eternal Lolita as reflected in my blood. The Lolita whose iliac crests had not yet flared, the Lolita that today I could touch and smell and hear and see, the Lolita of strident voice and the rich brown hair--of the bangs and the swirls at the sides and the curls at the back, and the sticky hot neck, and the vulgar vocabulary--"revolting," "super," "luscious," "goon," "drip"--that Lolita, my Lolita, poor Catullus would lo se forever. So how could I afford not to see her for two months of summer insomnias? Two whole months out of the two years of her remaining nymphage." For any reader, among the main issues of Lolita are representations of incest, child-molestation, obsession, and pedophilia. This essay will examine relevant details in Nabokov's biography and attempt to discover the connection between Humbert Humbert and Nabokov.

Lincolns Beliefs Against Racism and Slavery :: American History Abraham Lincoln

* What were Lincoln's beliefs concerning race and slavery? How did they change over time, and in what ways did they remain the same? How were they evident in the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, and the history of emancipation? On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech denouncing the Kansas-Nebraska Act at Peoria, Illinois. He stated that it was too modified and it was a repeal to the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36Â °30'N lat. The Kansas-Nebraska Act gave the territories popular sovereignty which was the direct opposite of the previous decision. "This declared indifference, but as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I can not but hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself (Johnson 45)." In a fragment that Abraham Lincoln wrote in 1854 about slavery, he protested that both blacks and whites had the same right to enslave each other and neither had more superiority. He used a theory to prove all of the whites' reasons for slavery were incorrect and could be turned around to enslave them. "You say A. is white, and B is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own." He also went on to use the same reasoning towards disproving the arguments that whites are intellectually superior to blacks (Johnson 49). On June 26, 1857 Lincoln gave a speech on the Dred Scott case. He expressed his disapproval of their decision but maintained that he offered no resistance to it. The point that the court had over-ruled its own decisions before was brought up and he said, "We shall try to do what we can to have to over-rule this (Johnson 56)." Lincoln realized the necessity to respect and abide by the law, but he also recognized the ability, through legislative power, to change the law. In the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, Lincoln stated that he had no lawful right to interfere with the institution of slavery. Lincoln also goes on further to say that he doesn't believe in full political or social equality for blacks, but he says that whites and blacks share the inalienable rights that are listed in the Declaration of Independence.

The Role of Travel Essay -- Traveling Sociology

Travel is an effective way to experience other nations and their cultures. Open minded traveling allows people to immerse themselves in the culture of foreign nations. But, there are some forms of travel that revolve around a different mindset, a mindset in which the goal is to impose your culture on another’s culture. Examples of this negative imperialist type of travel are the travels of exploration done by Christopher Columbus’ in the Americas and, American soldiers in Vietnam, depicted in Francis Coopla’s film â€Å"The Apocalypse Now: Redux.† The negative effects of other forms of travel include the travels of migration to London by Caribbean’s in Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners. Through travel you are provided with means to learn about a nation and to engage in foreign cultures firsthand nevertheless, some forms of travel are unconstructive towards the learning process. In letters written by Christopher Columbus, his accounts of the exploration of the Americas showed how travel can be negative. Columbus wrote to Argon sovereigns, Santangel and Sanchez, about his time in the Americas. Their only source of information about the nation and its culture came from Columbus’ narratives and stereotypes. His letters flirted with the truth; it seemed Columbus’ intentions were to make the people of the Americas appear inferior and to make conquering them sound like an easy task. Throughout his letters Columbus shows a lack of respect for the people of the Americas and their culture. In the quote, â€Å"I found innumerable people and very many islands, of which I took possession in Your Highnesses’ name,† Columbus neglects the fact that the islands were already inhabited by the people of the Americas. (Zamora, 3). Columbus is a good ex... ...tives and misconceptions to be a part of their trips nations and their cultures will continue to be misrepresented. The negative aspects of travel are found in Columbus ‘exploration of the Americas, the conquest of Vietnam in the film The Apocalypse Now: Redux, Caribbean’s migration to London in The Lonely Londoners. But if travelers became more self aware perhaps more trips would be like self-defining like Stella’s in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Travel is an essential part of our lives and it will only be a positive part if we allow ourselves and our minds to be open to other nations and their cultures. Work Cited: The Apocalayse Now: Redux.Dir.Fracncis Ford Coppola. Paramont Pictures,2001 McMilan, Terry. How Stella Got Her Groove Back. New York: Penguin Group, 1997. Selvon, Sam. The Lonely Londoners.Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited,1956.

The Thing in the Forrest

Sometimes in life when we have an experience that deeply affects us, it can change our whole perspective. The story â€Å"The Thing in the forest† is a example of how this can happen. The two main characters Penny and Primrose meet when they are children and share a horrific experience in the forest. Then by chance meet back at the scene and briefly reassure one another that what happened really did happen. But their contact ends there once again almost as if seeing each other was too uncomfortable. Then oddly enough both women end up going back to the forest looking for some kind of resolve. In â€Å"The Thing in the Forest† the two little girls encounter a terrifying creature that profoundly affects their sense of reality; this results in similar personal traits and shared sense of searching for what’s real despite that they never talk of it. When the two girls meet not much is given about their characters, however throughout the story we find that the two ladies have quite a few things in common. This is due to their experience in the forest that they shared so long ago. Some of the similarities are within their character and some are sheer coincidence. Neither woman has married probably because of their disrupted childhood when they were exiled from their families and sent to live in the â€Å"great house† by the woods until it was safe again at home (Byatt). This is when Penny and Primrose decide to go into the woods and are followed by a younger girl who is never seen again. The girls encounter a creature that smelled of â€Å"liquid putrefaction† and looked like a mixture of â€Å"rank meat and decaying vegetation† (Byatt). The wake of the creature leaves â€Å"a trail of bloody slime and dead vegetation† in which the younger girl disappears (Byatt). Then the very next day the girls are placed with temporary families. Once home again both girls fathers die in accidents. Penny’s father died in a firefighting accident and Primroses was a causality of the war as he was soldier. The experience of being exiled, their fathers sudden deaths and and seeing this terrifying creature that possibly killed the younger girl has hanged their sense of what is real, I’m sure the concept of love and relationship is very easily questioned for the both of them. Both women also have chosen jobs that work with children; Penny becomes a child psychologist dealing mostly dealing in the dreams of children and Primrose among her other odd jobs becomes a children’s story time teller at the local mall. Both women are embroiled with children and their minds just on different ends of the spectrum. One lis tens and one tells. When Penny and Primrose meet by quirk of fate back at the â€Å"great house†, that has now been given to the nation and made in to a museum, they are taken aback by the unplanned visit. They become aware of each other while reading a description of a story in a book about a fabled worm like creature that supposedly lurked in the woods near by. The alarm of the story and the by chance meeting of the two women while simultaneously reading its historic description jolts the two. They feel as if they would have never recognized each other if it weren’t for the given situation. They reassure each other that they both really did see the creature that it is real. The women remark on how strange it is that the children’s presence during the exile is not depicted anywhere in the history of the house. This lack of mention about the children in exile ever being in the house reaffirms some of the question of what is real in the two women’s minds. They decide on having some tea and reminisce a little more about the time they spent in exile, on the train, in the â€Å"great house†, brief tidbits of their life and the younger girl named Alys who had disappeared. It did finish her off, that little one, didn’t it? † â€Å"I wonder if we’d made her up,† said Primrose. â€Å"Nobody ever asked where she was or looked for her,† said Penny (Byatt). The women are slightly relived at their agreement because this gives them the assurance they need not to feel as if they made the whole thing up. The assumed death of the you nger girl could be said to mirror the psychological death of Penny and Primrose, and this reassurance helps them feel as if they can finally move on. This brief conversation between the two is the last contact they will have with each other. The women both decide not to honor the dinner date they planed, I believe at this point the Penny and Primrose feel any further contact with each other is unbearable because of the underlying memories of any supplementary conversation. Yet they are still searching for what is real within them selves. Searching to the extent that both women are drawn back in to the woods and for the same reason. Primrose goes to the woods with purpose; she even follows the same path from years ago. Primrose had really been in a magic forest. She knew that the forest was a source of terror† (Byatt). While in the forest she questions what is real in her life, her home and how her mother disclosed that her father had been killed. She resolves that the forest and what happened in it to be truly real. In all of her thinking she decides she is satisfied and in turn wants to go home. The way Primrose views this experience and the woods around her in a story like fashion is very telling about why she deals in storytelling for a job. It all comes from the same place and this is why she has always careful not to scare the children she reads to. Penny on the other hand ends up in the forest even after purposely walking in the opposite direction of their original path. She is very perceptive of her surroundings in a different way than Primrose, who feels the need to almost coach herself along in a story like fashion, whereas Penny was looking for signs of the creature. She looked for all things that would be concrete evidence of the creature. It was the encounter with the thing that led her to deal professionally in dreams. Something that resembled unreality that had lumbered into reality, and she had seen it† (Byatt). Penny believed she could feel the creature and decided that it chose to recede back into the forest. She also spent some time thinking of her own father and how when he died her mother became a recluse, seeing this reaction scared her emotionally. This is the reason she threw herself in to study and possibly never married. At the end of it all this women still do not converse or sit with one another when taking the same train home. They just share an acknowledgeable stare at the train station then go their separate ways. Primrose goes home and back to work but with a new confidence, she decides to tell the story of â€Å"The Thing in the Forest† she is no longer afraid. Penny goes back to the woods with the conviction that she needs this, for this creature to come to her because it has become the most real thing she can recognize. â€Å"She was ready† and waiting for it (Byatt). Despite how different these women are, they are one in the same. Penny and Primrose shared something awful that forever changed them in very similar ways. They also shared separate experiences in the same forest and came to the same realizations that the creature is real and it had affected their person emotionally and steered their paths throughout life. It is apparent to me that that these similarities the women share cannot be a coincidence but are a direct result of that horrifying day they saw â€Å"The Thing in the Forest†.

Native American Cultural Assimilation

Native American Cultural Assimilation from the Colonial Period to the Progressive October 2, 2011 Introduction Although the first European settlers in America could not have survived without their assistance, it was not long before the Native Americans were viewed as a problem population. They were an obstacle to the expansion plans of the colonial government and the same to the newly formed United States. The Native Americans were dealt with in various ways. During expansion some were outright exterminated through war while others forcibly made to relocate to lands deemed less than ideal. The idea was to make them vanish – out of sight, out of mind. Though their numbers in terms of population and tribal groups dwindled, they persisted and continued to be a problem in the eyes of the federal government. In the latter part of the nineteenth century the United States government instituted a new way to wage war against the Native Americans. This involved assimilating their children through government-run boarding and day schools. Federal policy-makers were sure that by giving the Native American children an American-style education, they would eventually evolve into â€Å"Americans† and return to their reservations, but forsaking their previous culture, traditions and way of thinking. The federal government assumed that as the aged died off and, with the children assimilated, within a few generations at most, there would be no need for reservations or Indian policy, thus accomplishing the original goal of making them vanish. There is little doubt that assimilation through education failed on almost all fronts, but through my research I hope to uncover some positives for the Native American children, especially those affected by late nineteenth century Indian policy which removed them from their families and, in some cases, sent them into an alien world hundreds of miles away. Throughout the history of, especially, European imperialism, â€Å"the relationships between indigenous peoples and colonizers usually proceed through a series of phases. Generally speaking, the first phase involved the establishment of colonies which meant the disruption of Native societies and usually the displacement of people. In most cases, there was some degree of violence and if complete domination was not swift, treaties were drawn up by â€Å"resetting territorial boundaries in order to maintain a degree of order. † Because resource and land acquisition was the main goal of the colonizers in the first place, treatie s seldom lasted and violence continued. In most cases, the next phase in colonialism to lessen violence and restore order was to try assimilation. Assimilation could mean turning the indigenous population into a work force or perhaps a marginalized group of ‘others’ who speak the colonizers language†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [1] As colonial expansion kept growing in North America, assimilation was attempted on several levels. Attempts were made at outright Native American removal from their lands and, when that did not work, religion was probably the most widespread â€Å"weapon† of the colonizers to subdue the Natives. Priests, Catholic and Protestant, (usually backed by an armed force) were more often than not unsuccessful in their attempts to force civilization on the Natives. 2] Assimilation by this means was further complicated because of competing religions. Natives who embraced Catholicism offered by French or Spanish colonizers further distanced themselves from Britis h colonizers and vice versa. European wars of the 17th and 18th centuries between Catholic and Protestant powers carried over into the North American colonies and the Native Americans were situated in a no-win situation. As a result of victories in these wars, not only did 1. Holm, Tom. The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs. pp. 1-2. 2. Findling and Thackeray, eds. Events that Changed America in the Seventeenth Century. p. 72. the British resent Native Americans who fought against them in the wars, they crept deeper into Native American territory until their defeat in the American Revolution. [3] Now, what had been colonial expansion in America turned into national expansion of the newly created United States. As the eighteenth-century came to a close and the major players in expansion had changed, policy toward Native Americans stayed essentially the same it had been under the British. Early in the nineteenth-century and the Louisiana Purchase in hand,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (Thomas) Jefferson, much as he struggled with the issue (Indian policy), could simply not envision a future for the United States that included a place for ‘Indians as Indians. ’ As president, Jefferson tried to design an Indian policy that would humanely assimilate Native Americans into the new republic, but his vision of national expansion turned out not to have any room for Native Americans. [4] Those who refused or resisted assimilation would be forcibly pushed westward to lands deemed unfit for anything by most Americans. [5] As expansion increased further West, the Native Americans faced another subtle weapon in addition to religion from the government in its attempt to subdue them – American-style education. Years of violence, forced removal to Indian Territory and forced religious indoctrination had failed to solve what the federal government referred to as â€Å"the Indian problem. [6] the Native Americans may not have flourished in their new land, but they survived and would not go away. As a result, American policy shifted from trying to vanquish the Indians to trying to make them vanish. Starting as an experiment in the early nineteenth-century and continuing until it became 3. Hightower-Langston, Donna. Native American World. p. 365. 4. Conn, Steven. History’s Shadow. p. 3. 5. Garrison, Tim Alan. The Legal Ideology of Removal. p. 7. 6. Ninkovich, Frank. Global Dawn. p. 185. olicy in the last quarter of the century, new Indian policy would be to extinguish Native American cultures through an American-style education of the young. The thinking was, educate the Native American children to American culture to assimilate them and, for the time being, contend with the adults on reservations. The idea behind this was, after a few generations, the adults would die off and the new generations of American educated, assimilated â€Å"citizens† would survive, but not their old cultures and ways of life. The balance of this paper will focus on the assimilation through education policy. â€Å"In 1794 the nation made its first Indian treaty specifically mentioning education, and many more treaties would contain similar offers and even demands for compulsory schooling of tribal children. In 1819 Congress provided a specific ‘civilization fund’ of $10,000 for the ‘uplift’ of Indians, and the assimilationist campaign continued to employ legislation, treaty making (until 1871), and other expedients to achieve its goals. Initially the United States government through its office/ Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), depended upon Christian missionary societies, but by the later nineteenth century the government dominated the educational effort, having established a loose system of hundreds of day schools, on-reservation boarding schools, and off-reservation boarding schools, BIA and missionary schools together to Christianize, ‘civilize’, and Americanize Indian children: the rigidly ethnocentric curriculum aimed to strip them of tribal cultures, languages, and spiritual concepts and turn them into ‘cultural brokers’ who would carry the new order back to their own peoples. †[7] 7. Coleman, Michael C. American Indians, the Irish, and Government Schooling. pp. 1-2. The idea of targeting Native American children for ’civilization training’ actually began in the seventeenth-century in New England where Native children were separated from their families and situated in â€Å"praying towns. † A Christian education was aimed at the children â€Å"because they (the colonists) believed (Native American) adults were too set in their ways to become Christianized. †[8] From this early attempt at assimilation through education, Native American education developed into fairly formal on-reservation schools run by churches and missionary societies, with limited funding by Congress. These schools were made possible after such actions as the Indian Removal Act which concentrated Native Americans in Indian territories and under somewhat more control of the federal government. These mostly denominational schools offered the only American-style, limited as it was, education until after the American Civil War. â€Å"†¦ after the conflict (Civil War) the nation developed the Peace Policy, an approach that gave schools a renewed prominence. The carnage of the war encouraged reformers to find new ways to deal with Native nations other than warfare. †[9] Under this peace, the federal government was to provide the necessary funding for â€Å"schools, administrators, and teachers. †[10] There was some funding for the policy by Congress, but not nearly enough. With limited funding, day schools were established on reservations. One-room schools were the norm where â€Å"government officials encouraged a curriculum of academic and vocational subjects, and sometimes the Office of Indian Affairs paid a reservation carpenter, farmer, or blacksmith to offer courses. †[11] 8. Keller, Ruether, eds. Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. pp. 97-8. 9. Trafzer, Keller and Sisquoc, eds. Boarding School Blues. p. 11. 10. ibid. p. 11. 11. ibid. p. 12. About the same time these one-room schools were being established, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Edward P. Smith submitted his annual report favoring boarding schools over day schools. In his report â€Å"Smith stated that the use of English and the elimination of Native languages was the key to assimilation and civilization. †[12] In a plan for national system of Indian schools (October 18890 sent to the Secretary of the Interior, a successor of Smith’s, Thomas J. Morgan, offered the following: When we speak of the education of the Indians, we mean that comprehensive system of training and instruction which will convert them into American citizens, put within their reach the blessings which the rest of us enjoy, and enable them to compete successfully with the white man on his own ground and with his own methods. Education is to be the medium through which the rising generation of Indians are to be brought into fraternal and harmonious relationship with their white fellow citizens, and with them enjoy the sweets of refined homes, the delight of social intercourse, the emoluments of commerce and trade, the advantages of travel, together with the pleasures that come from literature, science, and philosophy, and the solace and stimulus afforded by a true religion. [13] Carlisle Indian Industrial School Ten years prior to Commissioner Morgan’s report, Richard Henry Pratt, a former United States Army officer who had commanded a unit of African American â€Å"Buffalo Soldiers† and 12. Trafzer, Keller and Sisquoc, eds. Boarding School Blues. p. 12. 13. Prucha, Francis Paul. Documents of United States Indian Policy. p. 177. Indian scouts in Indian Territory following the Civil War, began his own quest of assimilation through education. In 1879, he â€Å"secured the permission of the Secretary of the Interior, Carl Shurz, and Secretary of the War Department McCrary to use a deserted military base as the site of his school. †[14] Using this site in Pennsylvania, he felt that he could take Native American children from the reservations and by distancing them from tribal influences, turn them into Americans. With the site secured and community support behind him, the next step was to recruit students. He headed to the Dakota Territory where he was tasked to bring back Native American children to Carlisle. Aided by a teacher/interpreter, Pratt was able to bring back the first class of 82 students. Unfortunately, when he got back to Pennsylvania, necessary basic living supplies previously promised to them by the Bureau of Indian Affairs were not to be found. â€Å"The children slept on the floor in blankets. †[15] In time, some funding was secured privately from â€Å"former abolitionists and Quakers who were eager to be involved in his success and who often visited the school. † Using his military background, the school (for both boys and girls) was modeled after a military academy. Instilling discipline and a sense of â€Å"time† was important to Pratt if he was to make progress with the children and, as one of his former teachers commented on the children, â€Å"they have been systematically taught self-repression. †[16] Although that first recruiting class consisted of only 82 students, by the time the school was at full operating capacity (the school survived 39 years), enrollment averaged 1000 students. [17] 14. Landis, Barbara. â€Å"Carlisle Indian Industrial School History. † http://home. epix. net/~ Landis/histry. html 15. ibid. 16. ibid. 17. ibid. Other Indian Schools Similar types of federal Indian boarding schools were located in the West. They may have been physically closer to reservations, but had the same ideals and philosophy of Carlisle. With military-type discipline, children were ‘encouraged’ to leave their Native American culture behind and accept Americanization. One of the best known of these schools, the Haskell Indian Institute, was located in Lawrence , Kansas. [18] It differed from most Indian schools in the East in that, after a few years (and graduates) it, like other western Indian schools began to staff itself with former students in teacher and, in some cases, administrative roles. [19] Another Native American school of note was the Flandreau Indian School, opened in 1893 in eastern South Dakota primarily for Ojibwe and Dakota students in its early years. [20] Like Haskell, its main function was industrial education for boys and domestic science for girls. No matter which school the children attended, Carlisle, Haskell, or Flandreau, there were common problems faced by the children: â€Å"initiation (into the white man’s universe), discipline, and punishment, along with overall problems – and achievements – of pupil adjustment. †[[21] Some children absolutely resisted Americanization – a favorite form of resistance was arson and those who, at least on the face of it, accepted â€Å"the white man’s ways† were often subjected to rejection by their peers or elders or suspicion by non-Indians. 18. Warren, Kim Cary. The Quest for Citizenship. p. 15. 19. ibid. p. 15. 20. Child, Brenda J. Boarding School Seasons. p. 7. 21. Coleman, Michael C. American Indians, the Irish, and Government Schooling. p. 8. Conclusion Throughout my research there was a common theme in the sources I used – one group trying to impose its will on another. I realize that most of this paper has seemed like an indictment against, first, the European colonizers, then the European-American expansionists and, finally, the Americans in their treatment of Native American peoples, despite what may have seemed, at least some of the time, noble intentions. Sobeit. Actions by Native Americans against non-Native Americans have almost always been reactionary. Throughout history this was evident. In early colonial America, fighting between the French and English (initially in Europe and other parts of the world) spilled over into North America ‘to the contested margins of their empires. Native Americans in league with the French initiated what became King William’s War when they helped massacre British settlers of Schenectady, New York, on February 9, 1690. [22] The Native American motive for participating proba bly was not to see further expansion of French territory into Native American land, but more likely a response to years of violence committed by the British toward them. Moving ahead a couple of centuries, it seemed like the united States government still held to the mindset that â€Å"the only good Indian is a dead Indian,’ not necessarily dead in a physical sense, but dead in a cultural sense. Continued expansion westward was problematic for the federal government because every time there was another â€Å"push†, there always seemed to be Native Americans in its way. Violence in many forms against the Native Americans to try to vanquish them had little success, so new policy, though experimental at first, was implemented in the nineteenth-century and gained support of so-called reformers. The new 22. Bobrick, Benson. Angel in the Whirlwind. pp. 18-19 policy was designed, not to vanquish the Native Americans, but make them vanish. To make them vanish, again not so much physically, but culturally, the federal government adopted policies demanding assimilation. This assimilation would be accomplished by educating the Native American young in a way that would â€Å"Americanize† them. After their Americanization the young would take their training either back to the reservation or mainstream America, leaving their Indian culture behind, thus making the Indian culture gradually vanish. To this end, â€Å"the federal government began its boarding school program for Native Americans during the late nineteenth-century as part of a crusade by a coalition of reformers who aimed to assimilate Native Americans into dominant Anglo-Protestant society through education. With a fervor that was partly evangelical and partly militaristic, the creators of the boarding school system hoped that through education, they could bring about a mass cultural conversion by waging war upon Native American identities and cultural memories. †[23] The negatives of the new Native American assimilation/education program far outweighed the positives. The Native American children were cast into what was essentially a whole new world very alien to them. One seemingly small example of this change was the wearing of shoes. Some children had never worn shoes in their lives, but were suddenly forced to wear them. The children were disciplined harshly for speaking anything but English in the schools; harassed by peers, reservation elders and, sometimes, suspicious non-American Indians depending on the degree they accepted assimilation; taught trades and skills that were becoming obsolete; and, probably worst of all, so psychologically confused, many were later unable to function on the reservation or in the white man’s world. 23. Bloom, John. To Show What an Indian Can Do. p. xii On the positive side of boarding schools, many children were removed from situations of abject poverty and given room and board. The food and living arrangements were totally foreign to them, but it was better than they had previously known. Moving the children from the reservations also kept them quarantined from the disease prevalent there. One of the benefits of completing their boarding school experience was that many graduates later began to staff the schools, especially in the West, somewhat lessening â€Å"white† influence and the school’s ability (and will) to make cultures and ways completely disappear, a positive for the Native Americans, but a prime example of the failure of the schools to carry out federal policy. Though most of the education the children was rudimentary, at best, but in some cases students embraced learning and took their education to the next level. They went on to more formal schools and used their training and education back on the reservations to become leaders with a better understanding of the Native American/American relationship, while others infiltrated local, territorial, state or federal Indian agencies once manned only by white bureaucrats, most who were ignorant when it came to dealing with Native American problems. Assimilation had failed as a governmental policy and, as more and more educated Native Americans left the reservations and adapted to the white world, while retaining fundamental culture and ways, and was replaced by acculturation. Acculturation was not a federal policy, it describes a necessary survival tool used by the Native American to preserve what little was left of their cultures and ways of life. Instead of their educations making them subservient to their master (the federal government), education allowed those Native Americans with the desire and wit to attain respect. Gaining this respect from both their own people, as well as the â€Å"white’ American people took time, but with it came, little by little, more agency and the ability, right and courage to have a say in how their lives were to play out. As bad a reputation as they have had in the past and even to this day, the fact that reservations still exist shows the unwillingness of some Native Americans to let their traditions die. The popularity of Indian art, jewelry and music serves to keep the cultures going. Just as the early settlers of the West found out, they are everywhere, though in decreasing numbers, and will not go away. Works Cited 1. Bloom, John. To Show What an Indian Can Do: Sports at Native American Boarding Schools. Minneapolis, MN, USA, University of Minnesota Press, 2000. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10151303 2. Bobrick, Benson. Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution. New York, NY, USA, Penguin Books, 1998. 3. Child, Brenda J. Boarding School Seasons; American Indian Families, 1900-1940. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10015709 4. Coleman, Michael C. American Indians, the Irish, and Government Schooling: A Comparative Study. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=184858 5. Conn, Steven. History’s Shadow: Native Americans and Historical Consciousness in the Nineteenth Century. Chicago, Il, USA: University of Chicago Press, 2004. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=262649 6. Findling, John E. and Frank W. Thackeray, eds. Events that Changed America through the Seventeenth Century. Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Press, 2000. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=77716 7. Garrison, Tim Alan. The Legal Ideology of Removal: The Southern Judiciary and the Sovereignty of Native American Nations. Athens, GA, USA: The University of Georgia Press, 2002. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=103178 8. Hightower-Langston, Donna. Native American World. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , 2003. http://netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=79081 9. Holm, Tom. The Great Confusion in Indian Affairs: Native Americans and Whites in the Progressive Era. Austin, TX, USA: The University of Texas Press, 2005. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=1010671 10. Keller, Rosemary Skinner, Rosemary Radford Ruether and Marie Cantlon, eds. Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. Bloomington, IN, USA: Indiana University Press, 2006. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=171513 11. Landis, Barbara. â€Å"Carlisle Indian Industrial School History. † http://home. epix. net/~landis/histry. html 12. Ninkovich, Frank. Global dawn: the Cultural Foundation of American Internationalism, 1865-1890. Harvard University Press, 2009. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10402533 13. Prucha, Francis Paul, ed. Documents of United States Indian Policy. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. http://www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=53529 14. Trafzer, Clifford E. , Jean a. Keller and Lorene Sisquoc, eds. Boarding School Blues: Revisiting American Indian Educational Experiences. Lincoln, NE, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. http;//www. netlibrary. com. ezproxy1. apus. edu/urlapi. asp? action=summary&v=1&bookid=162267 15. Warren, Kim Cary. The Quest For Citizenship: African American and Native American Education in Kansas, 1880-1935. Chapel Hill, NC, The University of North Carolina Press, 2010. http://site. ebrary. com/lib/apus/Doc? id=10425421