Sparco Paints Essay Example for Free

Sparco Paints Essay Sika Paint Industries (Pvt) Limited is the manufacturer of the leading brand â€Å"SPARCO† commonly known by its trademark SPARCO Paints in the domestic and the international market. Sika has steadily and progressively marched into newer heights of popularity and accomplishments in the past more than two decades of its inspection. The company was founded by Malik Muhammad Javaid Iqbal in 1988 as a sole proprietorship concern led its fast growth with dynamism to make it a private limited company in 2004. Ever since, the world of possibilities has never stopped coming around for the company. Dynamic Success From a small business to a dynamic enterprise, Sika Paint Industries has consistently set foot through major cornerstones of its industry, gaining numerous milestones and nationwide recognition to its credit. The company has met the growing demand of its huge industry through steady development of its product range resulting in not only a major market share but a larger base of loyal customers having good standing with them. Over the years, the quality of its brand Sparco Paints has remained unscathed and caters to both the local and international export market. Our Reasons of Growth Amongst its many success factors, the deployment of technology, innovation and robust marketing and branding activities have led to the rapid growth of Sparco Paints. The company concentrates primarily on decorative, industrial, auto, wood finishes and road marking paints for which the company owns the state-of-the-art manufacturing establishment equipped with latest machinery and laboratory facilities. Center of Effective Research The company actively engages up-to-date research to boost the economic value of its paints and strives to improve its product quality with each passing day. The extensive research for innovative product knowledge and methods to engineer the product quality constantly invigorates its existence. The company has engaged in constant researching for best practices for the product development and hence successful in completely retaining its valued customers. Having received the ISO 9001:2008 quality control standard certification for its unmatched quality, the company implements its intricate quality assurance policies at all manufacturing stages including the procurement of raw material, its handling, work in progress, packing, finishing and the timely delivery of end products to the customer. The company firmly believes on providing the paint products of premium quality with intense technical support and color advisory services. The company promises to provide excellent service and achieve its objectives through experienced and well trained professionals of the industry and competitive pricing.

Understand the communication process Essay Example for Free

Understand the communication process Essay 1.Identify two key stages in the communication process. (2 marks) The two key stages in the communication process are the sender who sends the message and the recipient who receives the message. Eg: when I send message to my friend I become the sender and when she receives the message she becomes the receiver. 2.Identify two barriers to communication and briefly explain how these two barriers can be overcome.(4 marks) The two barriers to communication are insufficient preparation and noisy environment. To overcome preparation barriers we need to plan ahead and prepare before communicating. We need to figure out what we are planning to deliver and whether we need feedback or not .And also thinking about the recipient reaction and the communication media they might have so that you can choose the best media to communicate. And to overcome noisy environment barrier we need to hold the meeting in the meeting room if it is face-to-face communication, while talking on the phone we can go to a less noisy place and communicate. Understanding methods of communication 3.List two methods of communication that you could use with your team and state when it would be appropriate to use each of the methods you have listed (4 marks) The two methods of communication that I can use in our team are face-to-face communication and leaving messages on the notice board. We can use face-to-face communication on giving briefing about what we are planning to do today which we do every morning before opening the Nursery. This way we can communicate well with each other and can receive feedbacks so that everyone knows their role for the day .And we can use notice board to leave messages to the parents and staffs as well .We can give them notice on what days the children are having extra activities, about parent and staff meeting and so on. 4.Identify one written method of communicating with someone outside your team and identify one advantage and one disadvantage of using the method you have identified. (3 marks) The written method of communication that we can use with someone outside our team is through formal letter. The advantage of sending formal letter is we can have it as a proof later and we get time to think and plan what should be written in the letter. The disadvantage would be there would be chances it might get lost on the way so the recipient might not receive it and through this method we wont be able to receive feedback soon. Understanding the importance of maintaining accurate records of one-to-one communication 5.Briefly describe two methods of maintaining accurate records of one-to-one oral communication(2 marks) The two methods of maintaining accurate records of one-to-one oral communication are making notes in the diary while having the conversation so that in future we know what actually we discussed and the other one is conforming by email. By doing this we have a proof that we agreed on something through communication and it conforms the things we talked and agreed on our oral communication. The other method is e-mail, which conforms what has been said to someone to prevent any misunderstanding or forgetfulness or to let someone else know what has been said or agreed.

Special Education Needs, Access and Inclusion

Special Education Needs, Access and Inclusion This assignment will address issues on dyspraxia and how children with this condition are included in mainstream schools. Firstly a brief history of dyspraxia, with some definition of dyspraxia and statistical information on the condition will ne included. Also how dyspraxia affects a child and the childs learning will be considered along side how teachers provide inclusion for children with dyspraxia. Definitions of the word inclusion will be explored, as well as the importance of a SENCO, the role and responsibilities of the SENCO and support that is provided for children with dyspraxia. Finally strategies for supporting children with this condition such as IEPs (individual education plans) will be considered. This section will discuss the history behind dyspraxia and according to BBC (2011) Dyspraxia was documented when Orton (1937, pp72) used the term congenital maladroitness. He recognised that disorders of the actual doing of a task (praxis) resulted in clumsiness. These children were called clumsy children and dyspraxia was known as clumsy child syndrome. In the USA this condition was first given recognition through the work of Strauss and Lehitinen in 1947. There are number of definitions of dyspraxia Addy (2003, p.7) states that the term dyspraxia is taken from the Greek dys meaning ill and praxis meaning doing, acting and practice. Another definition suggested by Tassoni (2003, p205) dyspraxia is a developmental disorder that affects childrens control and co-ordination of movement. Dyspraxia foundation (2011) identifies dyspraxia has an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement which leads to associated problems with language, perception and thought. Statistics show that boys are more likely to have dyspraxia than girls but when girls have this condition they are worst hit than boys. According to Macintyre (2001, p.12) boys: girls are affected 4:1 but when girls have the condition, they tend to be more severely affected. It is estimated that dyspraxia affects at least 2% of the general population to some degree. Macintyre (2001, p12) states that eight to ten per cent of children have some degree of dyspraxia. Dyspraxia is difficult to diagnose which is complex situation for teachers to recognise. The reasons for this are that it may get confused with other condition. Macintyre (2001, p.12) point out there is often overlap with another syndrome. Some of the characteristics of children with dyspraxia are they may have difficulty walking, hopping, skipping, throwing and catching a ball, riding a bike. Delay in using spoken language and speech that is difficult to understand. The child may bump into objects due to lack of ordination. Addy (2003, p.11) states that frequently bumps into things. The child may have difficulty in doing fine-motor skills activities such as tying shoelaces or buttoning clothing. They may have difficulty with handwriting. Poor sense of direction and they may find it difficult to organise themselves and their work. The affects of dyspraxia on the child are that speech difficulties can interfere with casual conversation, which can result in social awkwardness and unwillingness to risk engaging in conversation. Writing difficulties such as poor letter formation, pencil grip and slow writing can make school work frustrating. Tassoni (2003, p206) states that older children may find it difficult to produce legible handwriting. The child may have low self-esteem Tassoni (2003, p.208) argues that children with dyspraxia can develop low self esteem. The child may have emotional and behavioural difficulties according to Tassoni (2003, p206) children may show inappropriate behaviour this can be a result of frustration. Other factors that affect children with dyspraxia, the condition can make it difficult for children to develop social skills, and they may have trouble getting along with peers. While they are intelligent, these children may seem immature and some may develop phobias and obsessive behaviou r. However many young people with dyspraxia may also have the added stress of dealing with coordination problems which may be problematic in physical education classes and other sports activities. Addy (2003, p.11) argues that difficulty in physical education relating to hopping, jumping and balancing. The child may have weaknesses in comprehension; information processing and listening can also contribute to the difficulties experienced by people with dyspraxia. Children with dyspraxia may have difficulty planning and completing fine motor skill tasks. There are two vital pieces of legislative frameworks which have been put in practice to improve the opportunities of those with special educational needs. SEN Disability Act 2001 this act gives disabled children the opportunity to go to mainstream schools and be educated. The local education authority will provide information to the parents and children. This has helped because the child has the opportunity to be educated in mainstream school and work with other children without disability. Another document which contributed towards the right of child with special educational needs is the SEN Code of Practice 2001 which should be followed by every school in the UK. It is aimed to strengthen the right of the disabled child to be educated in mainstream schools where it is appropriate. Although there will still be vital roles for special schools. This can be practiced in schools by the teacher giving information to parents if they believe that their child may have difficulties and may need additional support in school, which the parent should confirm if that is fine with them. The teachers should not discriminate the child who has a disability by underestimating their achievement because they are able to achieve anything that the other children can achieve so it is important not to stereotype. The quote that has been used is educators to inform parents when they make special educational provision for children. This has helped because it has given the opportunity for disabled children to go to normal schools also the teacher must ask permission before taking any action such as putting a child on IEPs. Another issue can be the strategies for supporting children with dyspraxia and removing the barrier to inclusion. The child can be put on IEP plan which describes the goals the staff have set for the child for the school year, as well as any special supports that are needed to help achieve these goals. A child who has difficulty learning and functioning and has been identified as a special needs child is the perfect person for an IEP. The identification and assessment depends on the childs needs, a number of specialists may be involved in the assessment plan. These specialists could include a resource teacher, reading clinician, speech-language pathologist and psychologist. Different professionals are qualified to assess different areas of the childs development. For example, a psychologist assesses a childs cognitive ability or potential. A classroom teacher or resource teacher can assess childrens learning skills or how they learn. An assessment may be done for the following reason s to find out whether the child has a special learning need, to identify the childs current capabilities, skills, and needs finally to find out how those special learning needs affect the childs ability to learn and function in school. Statementing is a recognised procedure of intervention amongst the local education authority and the parents it plans to spot the areas of need and find a treatment. The SENCO will take responsibility for this a statement of special educational needs is a document that sets out the childs needs. The child may have a statement for his or her whole school career, or for just a part of it. Through their annual reviews of the childs statement, the LEA may decide that your child can continue to make good progress with the extra help that an ordinary school can provide within the resources generally available to them. The 3 stages leading to statementing are Early Years Action take places if the childs rate of progress is well below what is expected for children of a similar age and it becomes necessary to take some action which is additional to or different from that usually used. The cause for Early Years Action are when a child makes little or no progress even when different teaching approaches have been tried, continues working in certain areas at levels well below that expected of children of a similar age. Early Education Action Plus occurs when, after talking with parents at the meeting where the Individual Education Plan (IEP) is looked at again, a decision is made to ask for help from outside society. When Early Years Action Plus takes place, advice should always be asked of specialists. The cause of Early Years Action Plus are when a child continues to make little or no progress in certain areas and continues working at Early Years Curriculum levels well below that expected of children o f a similar age. Statutory assessment a statutory assessment becomes necessary when the nursery class or school is not able to provide all the support your child needs. But some parents may worry about their child with special educational needs, education and concerns about schooling, including whether special schools or mainstream education are the best option for their child. According to SENDA 2001 this has set out changes to education for children with SEN in England. It also brings access to education within the responsibility of the Disability Discrimination Act, making it unlawful for education providers to discriminate against disabled children. Support groups can help parents who have special needs children because they will have the opportunity to meet people and socialise with them due to their child having special needs condition which will help the parent to rise self esteem and self confidence. Inclusion this is when the children mix freely with each other and are taught in same groups. There are three types of integrations which are location, social and functional. Location integration children are taught on the same site or schools, social integration children meet at lunch time, playtimes, school plays and assemblys finally functional integration the children are mixing freely with each other and are taught in the same groups. More children with disability have the opportunity to go to mainstream school because the SEN and disability act states that the right of a disabled child to be educated in mainstream schools. Teachers and TAs can help to provide inclusion for children with dyspraxia by being sensitive to a pupils limitations and considering how to provide the best chances of success. In PE, for example, positioning can make a big difference. In the classroom, it is often writing that presents the most obvious problems, so the teacher should think about: the pupils sitting position: both feet on the floor, table and chair height appropriate, sloping writing surface may help. Anchoring the paper or book to the table to avoid slipping, providing a cushion (an old magazine, used paper stapled together) to write on. The writing implements the grip (try different sizes of pen and pencil and various types of grips available from LDA); avoid the use of a hard-tipped pencil or pen. The teacher can provide children with opportunities for practising handwriting patterns and letter formation. The teacher can also provide guide-lines to keep writing straight. The teacher can limit the amount of writi ng required by providing ready-printed sheets or alternative means of recording. Teaching keyboard skills and providing alternative keyboards. Macintyre (2001, p.45) state that opportunities for oral reporting or using a computer are often the best ways to prevent good writing. On the other hand the teacher needs to be careful not to discriminate the child by not providing for their needs. This can occur if a child is disabled and the teacher has lowered the childs ability due to his or her condition and not involve the child fully in group discussion. Which can affect the child by losing self esteem and they will feel that he or she has the ability to do much harder work also be upset and feel left out. This can be avoided by the school having a strong equal opportunity policy. There are number of classroom support strategies for helping children with dyspraxia to succeed in schools. Handwriting difficulties the child can practice using multi-sensory letter formation e.g. sandpaper letters, sky writing. The use of pencil grips will help, writing lines, stencils. Difficulty walking in straight line bumps into people and things another problem may be difficulties running, hopping, jumping, catching/kicking balls. Strategies to support the child the teacher can provide balance or wobble boards, walking on the line and hand to hand throwing using bean bags or water-filled balloons. The role and responsibilities of the SENCO is to be responsible for seeing that all children with special educational need are being helped appropriately, ensuring contact with parents and other professionals. Talking to and advising any member of staff who is concerned about a child. Tassoni state that to be able to lead, motivate and inform other member of staff in matters relating to SEN. Ensuring relevant background information about individual children is collected, recorded and up-dated. They should act in a professional and ethical manner with due regard to confidentiality, data protection and human rights. In conclusion dyspraxia is very difficult condition to identify because it may be confused with other conditions. Schools can provide inclusion for children with dyspraxia as long as they change the way they teach children. In my opinion I think that children with dyspraxia are capable of studying in a mainstream school. Whilst doing this assignment it was difficult to find resources on dypraxia.

Lord of the Flies by Golding Essays -- Papers

Lord of the Flies by Golding In "Lord of the Flies", Golding suggests that once man is freed from social conditioning and obligation, the intrinsic sense of evil will be revealed in him. He destroys the optimistic view of human nature by showing how even the most innocent of all - children can deteriorate into primitive savages once freed from the trappings of society. This view, that man is capable of gross wickedness, is central to the whole novel. It is revealed through Simon's conversation with the imaginary Lord of the Flies when he realises that the real beast is one that exists in all the boys. However, Golding also shows that if man is willing to recognise the evil potential in his nature, he will able to curb his own evil instincts. It is important to note how much the boys manage to achieve before their inner fears destroy their sense of responsibility and reason, that is, before the boys finally succumb to savagery and violence. They discover fire, they build shelters (albeit prone to collapsing!), they explore the island, they go on hunting trips, and they delegate social responsibilities. Initially, one would be inclined to think that Jack's leadership is a poor one as he relies on brute strength. However, Jack is shrewd enough to know that the boys' survival is as important as rescue. Food has to be hunted; emotional needs (which Ralph tries to deny) have to be satisfied. Also, Piggy, Ralph and Simon serve as reminders in the novel that there remains much to be admired in mankind. Each of them displays positive qualities of wisdom and goodness in their own way. For all his physical weaknesses like asthma, my... ... and remain virtuous. In some cases, like Simon, he is able to be uphold his moral values even without any pressure from society. For some others like Ralph and Piggy who represent the naÃÆ'Â ¯ve, well-meaning, simple side of man, there is a tendency to slip into the region of 'badness' though most of the time they are able to be 'good'. Although Golding seems to present a bleak view of human nature, he does give the reader some hope for the future at the end of the book. This is shown in the new knowledge that Ralph has acquired. Unlike Simon and Piggy who have died, Ralph is given the chance to live on and to hopefully, use his new-found knowledge to influence the people around him. With his increased awareness of human nature and his experiences, Ralph will be able to live on the legacy of Simon and Piggy.

Duties of Fidelity Essay -- Business, Duties of Reparation

Ross prima facie duties speak of fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, non- maleficence and self-improvement. Even though Ross has explained each duties, it is still uncertain that how these duties can be implied in marketing activities. If we look at each duty, it is not easy to implement every duty in a situation unless it demands so. One has a prima facie duty (not) to do a certain action if and only if there is some moral demand for one (not) to do it (Baumrin, 1965). Therefore in order to execute these duties, understanding the circumstances is very important. It is understood that prima facie duties are expressions referring to a characteristic by certain individual act-tokens rather than by certain act-types (Atwell, 1978). A sense of which duties are towards the bottom of the scale and which duties are towards the top is to be made sure in order to achieve every duty (Robinson, 2010). Duties of fidelity are the duty of keeping up promises. The company should not promise anything to their customers that they cannot execute. Promise can be anything related to product quality, size, etc. Breaking a promise can bring down the value for the products as there will be no trust for the products in the market. Keeping up promises will encourage the customers to buy the product. According to prima facie duties, one cannot be blamed if he undertakes to make the right choice but it does not produce a good act (Meyers, 2009). Duties of reparation are only essential when one cannot keep up the promise or when unintentional mistakes happened. If the product is damaged then the product is to be recalled and repaired or new products have to be issued to the customers. Cash Payments can also be made fo... ...tilitarian can increase the costs for the company but they are responsible to do so because, the fault is not caused by customers. Whether a person’s action is morally justifiable, is a deontological question; whether the act is good is ultimately a consequentiality question (Meyers, 2009). According to my point of view what Maruti Suzuki did was correct but these faults are not supposed to be happened from a company like these. Instead of repairing faulty cars new cars is to be provided immediately when they recalled faulty ones. Also they should have taken additional efforts to help customers when they were waiting for their car to get repaired. They should have given bonus packages to their customers for the mistake happened. Even though it can add total cost for the company, it can support them in maintaining their customers and good will in the market.

Predictions on the Highest and Lowest Achievers in an Elementary School Class :: Teaching Education

Predictions on the Highest and Lowest Achievers in an Elementary School Class The highest achievers and the lowest achievers in an elementary class can sometimes be treated differently because of their achievement levels. Without even knowing the class very well it can be determined who in the class is more likely to be a higher achiever and who is not as gifted. Even though it is evident sometimes who is the least and highest achievers a great deal of the time the best achievers can be overlooked if you simply watch a class for an hour. One student who I picked out, as a high achiever was a boy named Travis. Travis performed above average in gym class and was overall a better athlete and competitor than the other students in the class. This overall fitness made me consider him to be a student who was a higher achiever. Since he was better at athletics then I reasoned that he might be better at other aspects of school besides athletics. Travis also exhibited math skills by beating the rest of the class consistently in the math assignments that where done during the class as well as having the right answers. Another student that I considered a high achiever based on my observations was a boy named James. James was well dressed, wearing church type clothes. He was also an outgoing a generally happy kid who didn’t seem to mind being in school or in the class. The happiness that he exhibits gives you the feeling that he must be a high achiever because if he was unhappy about the situation than he would not try as hard. However, since he does seem to be happy then he would try his best and be enthusiastic about learning. The last student that I picked out as someone who is a higher achiever is a girl who pays attention very well and seems to follow the teacher’s line of thought throughout the class. As well as paying attention and participation in class this girl, Jackie, asked an insightful question that needed to be asked. The question pertained to a fundraising activity and Jackie asked for the teacher to clarify a certain aspect that could be interpreted in a number of different ways.

Neoclassical Literature Essay

The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished In France and swept through the whole Western Europe at the time. the movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. The enlighteners celebrated reason or rationality, equality and science. They held that rationality or reason should be the only, the final cause of any human thought and activities. They called for a reference to order, reason and rules. They believed that when reason served as the yardstick for the measurement of all human activities and relations, every superstition, injustice and oppression was to yield place to â€Å"eternal truth,† â€Å"eternal justice† and â€Å"natural equality. † The belief provided theory for the French Revolution of 1789 and the American War of Independence in 1776. At the same time, the enlighteners advocated universal education. They believed that human being were limited, dualistic, imperfect, and yet capable of rationality and perfection through education. If the masses were well educated, they thought, there would be great chance for a democratic and equal human society. As a matter of fact, literature at the time, heavily didactic and moralizing, became a very popular means of public education. Famous among the great enlighteners in England were those great writers like John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, the two pioneers of familiar essays, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Henry Fielding and Samuel Johnson. In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. According to the neoclassicists, all forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers and those of the contemporary French ones. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. This belief led them to seek proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions, in an effort to delight, instruct and correct human beings, primarily as social animals. Thus a polite, urbane, witty, and intellectual art developed. Neoclassicists had some fixed laws and rules for almost every genre of literature. Prose should be precise, direct, smooth and flexible. Poetry should be lyrical, epical, didactic, satiric or dramatic, and each class should be guided b its own principles. Drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets (iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines); regularity in construction should be adhered to, and type characters rather than individuals should be represented. John Bunyan Like most working men at the time, Bunyan had a deep hatred for the corrupted, hypocritical rich who accumulated their wealth â€Å"by hook and b crook. † As a stout Puritan, he had made a conscientious study of the Bible and firmly believed in salvation through spiritual struggle. It was during his second term in prison that he wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, which was published in 1678 after his release. Bunyan’s style was modeled after that of the English Bible. With his concrete and living language and carefully observed and vividly presented details, he made it possible for the reader of the least education to share the pleasure of reading his novel and to relive the experience of his characters. Bunyan’s other works include Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666), The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680), The Holy War (1682) and The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part II (1684) As Milton was the chief Puritan poet, so Bunyan was the chief Puritan writer of Prose. Bunyan was born in a tinker’s family, and he himself was a tinker. He did not have much education and at sixteen he joined the parliamentary army and then became a preacher. Like Milton he was put into prison in the period of the Restoration, but remained there much longer. He might have written his work The Pilgrim’s Progress in prison although it was published in prison although it was published in 1678 after his release. The Pilgrim’s Progress is written in the old fashioned medieval form of allegory and drama. The book opens with the author’s dream in which he sees a man â€Å"with a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back†. The man is Christian the Pilgrim, the book is the Bible, and the burden on his back is the weight of worldly cares and concerns. It tells how Christian starts his pilgrimage from his home to the kingdom of Heaven, and of his experiences and adventures on his journey. In the western world the book has usually been read and appreciated as religious allegory, though critics have noted that the many allegorical figures and places Christian meets on the way are such as might have been seen in Bunyan’s day on any English market road and that the landscape and houses in the story seem to be no other than those of Restoration England. It gives a real picture of how life was during the 17th century. It is a faithful panoramic reflection of Bunyan’s age. The book’s most significant aspect is its satire, the description of the Vanity Fair. Here Bunyan gives a symbolic picture of London at the time. in bourgeois society, all things are bought and sold, including honour, title, kingdom, lusts; there cheating, roguery, murder, and adultery prevail. The punishment of Christian and Faithful for disdaining things in the Vanity Fair may have its significance in alluding to Bunyan’s repeated arrests and imprisonment for preaching. After all, like Milton, Bunyan in his book is preaching his religious views. He satirizes his society which is full of vices that violate the teachings of the Christian religion. However, his Puritanism weakens the effect of his social satire by exhorting his readers to endure poverty with patience in order to seek the â€Å"Celestial City†. Besides, the use of allegory in most of his works makes his satirical pictures less direct and more difficult to see. His books are more often read as religious books than as piercing exposures of social evils. Bynyan is known for his simple and lively prose style. Everyday idiomatic expressions and biblical language enables him to narrate his story and reveal his ideas directly and in a straightforward way. The influence of his prose in the development of the English language is great, on account of the great popularity of the book. Selected Reading: â€Å"The Vanity Fair,† an excerpt from Part I of The Pilgrim’s Progress The story starts with a dream in which the author sees Christian the Pilgrim, with a heavy burden on his back, reading the Bible. When he learns from the book that the city in which he and his family live shall be burnt down in a fire, Christian tries to convince his family and his neighbours of the oncoming disaster and asks them to go with him in search of salvation, but most of them simply ignore him. So he starts off with a friend, Pliable. Pliable turns back after they stumble into a pit, the Slough of Despond. Christian struggles on by himself. Then he is misled by Mr. Worldly Wiseman and is brought back onto the right road by Mr. Evangelist. There he joins Faithful, a neighbor who has set out later but has made better progress. The two go on together through many adventures, including the great struggle with Apollyon, who claims them to be his subjects and refuses to accept their allegiance to God. After many other adventures they come to the Vanity Fair where both are arrested as alien agitators. They are tried and Faithful is condemned to death. Christian, however, manages to escape and goes on his way, assisted by a new friend, hopeful. Tired of the hard journey, they are tempted to take a pleasant path and are then captured by Giant Despair. Finally they get away and reach the Celestial City, where they enjoy eternal life in the fellowship of the blessed. The Pilgrim’s Progress is the most successful religious allegory in the English language. Its purpose is to urge people to abide by Christian doctrines and seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils. It is not only about something spiritual but also bears much relevance to the time. Its predominant metaphor—life as a journey—is simple and familiar. The objects that Christian meets are homely and commonplace, and the scenes presented are typical English ones, but throughout the allegory a spiritual significance is added to the commonplace details. Here the strange is combined with the familiar and the trivial joined to the divine, and, at the same time, everything is based on universal experiences. Besides, a rich imagination and a natural talent for storytelling also contribute to the success of the work which is at once entertaining and morally instructive. The meaning of â€Å"Vanity Fair†, and its reflection of the theme of the allegory of â€Å"The Pilgrim’s Progress† The â€Å"Vanity Fair† symbolizes human world, for â€Å"all that cometh is vanity. † Everything and anything in this world is â€Å"vanity†, having no value and no meaning. The Vanity Fair, a â€Å"market selling nothingness† of all sorts, is a dirty place originally built up by devils, but, this town â€Å"lay† in the way to the Celestial City, meaning pilgrims had to resist the temptations there when they made their way through. So, the depiction of the â€Å"Fair† in selling things worldly and in attracting people bad, represents John Bunyan’s rejection of the worldly seeking and pious longing for the pure and charming â€Å"Celestial City†, his Christian ideal. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Pope was a London draper’s son. His parents were Roman Catholics, and Pope kept this faith all his life in spite of the hostility of the public in the 18th century toward his religion. At the age of 12, a disease left him a hunchback of less than 5 feet tall. Because of his religion he was denied entrance to Oxford and Cambridge Universities and his deformity often made him the victim of contempt. His early unhappy experiences, in fact, was responsible for his strong reaction to criticism. Pope was self-educated. He worked hard against poor health and unfavourable condition and gained a profound knowledge of both the classics and the craft of writing. The 18th century was an age in which writers had to obey many strict literary rules. But Pope mastered them very thoroughly and used them better and in a more skillful way than most of his contemporaries. He lived an active social life and was close friend to such eminent literary figures as the essayist Joseph Addison and the satirist Jonathan Swift. But he also made many enemies through ridiculing people in his writings. The most popular of his poems is, perhaps, An Essay on criticism, which contains a great number of quotable lines that have passed into everyday speech as popular sayings, such as: â€Å"To err is human, to forgive divine†, and â€Å"For fools rush in where angels fear to tread. † However, as a piece of literary theory, it lacks original ideas. Its significance comes from its assertion that literary criticism is an art form and should function actively like a living organism. The Rape of the Lock is a brilliant satire written in the form of a mock-heroic poem. It offers a typical example of the 18th-century classical style, and a satirical view as well of the tastes, manners, and morals of the fashionable world in Queen Anne’s reign. In fact, Pope not only ridicules a trivial incident that sparks a serious feud, but also mocks the highflown style and language of epic poetry itself. The Dunciad, meaning the study of the dunces, launches attacks on everyone who had ever criticized or insulted him, many of whom are totally unknown to the readers of today The theme and style of A. Pope’s â€Å"An Essay on Criticism† The poem is a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism. The poet first laments the loss of true taste in poetic criticism of his day and calls on people to take classical writers as their models. Then he discusses various problems in literary criticism and offers his own ideas and presents the classical rules. At the end of the poem, he traces the history of literary criticism from Aristotle to his day. The poem is a typical didactic one. Written in the form of heroic couplets, it is plain in style, and it is easy to read. Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe is based on a real incident. In 1704, Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, was thrown onto a desolate island by the mutinous crew of his ship. He lived there alone for 5 years. Defoe read about his adventures in a newspaper and went to interview him to get first-hand information. He then embellished the sailor’s tale with many incidents out of his own imagination. Robinson Crusoe has the appearance of a picaresque novel, showing a lowly person’s wonderings over the world. However, there are some fundamental changes in Defoe’s book. A picaro (Spanish for a rogue) is somebody with a doubtful moral character who does not have a fixed goal in life. Nor does he care much about accumulating money. Robinson Crusoe is in fact a new species of writing which inhabits the picaresque frame with a story in the shape of a journal and has a strong flavour of journalistic truth. The hero is typical the rising English bourgeois class, practical and diligent, with a restless curiosity to know more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural challenges. Defoe attaches individual power in the face of social and natural challenges. Defoe attaches great importance to the growth of Crusoe and tries to teach a moral message through his story. crusoe starts an inexperienced, naive and tactless youth, who through years of tough sea travels, develops into a clever and hardened man. He is tempered and tried by numerous dangers and hardships, but always emerges victorious. He is a real hero, not in the sense of the knight or the epic hero in the old literary genres, but a hero of the common stock, an individualist who shows marvelous capacity for work, boundless courage and energy in overcoming obstacles and a shrewdness in accumulating wealth and gaining profits. In Robinson Crusoe sings the praises of labour, presenting it as the source of human pride and happiness as well as a means to change man’s living conditions from desperation to prosperity. But at the same time, through relationship with Friday and his activities of setting up colonies overseas, Defoe also beautifies colonialism and Negro slavery. His attitude toward women, though not much concerning women is said in the novel, is also open to criticisms, for he lets Crusoe treat women as articles of property and as a means to breed and establish a lineage. But on the whole, this novel is significant as the first English novel which glorifies the individual experience of ordinary people in plain and simple language, and also as a vivid and positive portrayal of the English bourgeoisie at its early stage of development. The novel â€Å"Robinson Crusoe† tells the story of the titular hero’s adventure on a deserted island. Robinson Crusoe, longing to see the wonders of the world, runs away from home, and after many setbacks, settles down in Brazil. The call of the sea attracts him to second voyage in which he is brought along to an island after the shipwreck in a storm through many hardships, he finds ways to get daily necessities from the wrecked ship to the shore, and settles on the island for twenty four years. During the years, he tries to make himself a living in one way or another, rescues a savage whom he names Friday, and builds up a comfortable home for himself. Finally they are picked up and saved by an English ship and return to England. With an inevitable trace of colonialism, the novel depicts a hero who grows from an inexperienced youth into a shrewd and hardened man. The adventures of Robinson Crusoe on the island is a song of his courage, his wisdom, and his struggle against the hostile natural environment. As the very prototype of empire builder and the pioneer colonist, Robinson Crusoe can be seen as an individualistic man who carries human labour and the Puritan fortitude to their greatest effect. Jonathan Swift In some ways Jonathan Swift’s career parallels that of Defoe. Both were considerably occupied in the dangerous career of political writers, and both affiated themselves to Robert Harley, first a Whig and turning the Tory in 1710. swift also followed Harley and shifted from the Whig to the Tory when the latter came to power in 1710. But they differed from each other in the fact that Defoe was a businessman and did not have much knowledge of the classics whereas Swift was a churchman and a university graduate. Another difference between the two was that Swift was a member of the Anglican Church whereas Defoe was a dissenter. Both of them viewed the world with common sense but Defoe aimed to improve the morals of his time, whereas Swift viewed himan society with contempt and has been called a cynic and even a misanthrope. â€Å"Gulliver’s Travels† Consisting of four parts, the novel tells four stories of the hero. In part One, the hero is in Lilliput where he becomes â€Å"Man Mountain†, for the inhabitants are only six inches tall, twelve times smaller than human beings. Yet, as a kind of â€Å"man† their sayings and doings forms a miniature of the real world. Part Two brings the hero to Brobdingnag. This time, he comes to dwarf, for the Brobdingnagians are ten times taller and larger than normal human beings. Also superior in wisdom, they look down upon the ordinary human beings for the latter’s evil or harmful doings. The third part depicts Gulliver’s travel on the flying Island where the so called philosophers and scientists devoted themselves to absurd doings, for example, to extract sunlight from cucumbers. The last part tells the hero’s adventure in the Houyhnhnm Land. There horses are endowed with reason and all good and admirable qualities, while the hairy, man-like creature, Yahoos are greedy and disgusting brutes. Henry Fielding During his career as a dramatist, Fielding had attempted a considerable number of forms of plays: witty comedies of manners or intrigues in the Restoration tradition, farces or ballad operas with political implications, and burlesques and satires that bear heavily upon the status-quo of England. Of all his plays, the best known are The Coffee-house Politician (1730), The Tragedy of Tragedies (1730), Pasquin (1736) and The Historical Register for the Year 1736 (1737). These successful plays not only contributed to a temporary revival of the English theatre but also were of great help to the playwright in his future literary career as a novelist. Fielding has been regarded by some as â€Å"Father of the English Novel,† for his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel. Of all the eighteenth-century novelist he was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a â€Å"comic epic in prose,† the first to give the modern novel its structure and style. Before him, the relating of a story in a novel was either in the epistolary form (a series of letters), as in Richardson’s Pamela, or the picaresque form (adventurous wanderings) through the mouth of the principal character, as in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, but Fielding adopted â€Å"the third-person narration,† in which the author becomes the â€Å"all-knowing God. † He â€Å"thinks the thought† of all his characters, so he is able to present not only their external behaviors but also the internal workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is. Throughout, the ordinary and usually ridiculous life of the common people, from the middle-class to the underworld, is his major concern. Fielding’s language is easy, unlaboured and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished by logic and rhythm, and his structure carefully planned towards an inevitable ending. His works are also noted for lively, dramatic dialogues and other theatrical devices such as suspense, coincidence and unexpectedness. Samuel Johnson Johnson was an energetic and versatile writer. He had a hand in all the different braches of literary activities. He was a poet, dramatist, prose romancer, biographer, essayist, critic, lexicographer and publicist. His chief works include poems: â€Å"London†, â€Å"The Vanity of Human Wishes†; a romance: â€Å"The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; a tragedy: Irene. As a lexicographer, Johnson distinguished himself as the author of the first English dictionary by an Englishman—A dictionary of the English Language, a gigantic task which Johnson undertook single-handedly and finished in over seven years Johnson was the last great neoclassicist enlightener in the later eighteenth century. He was very much concerned the theme of the vanity of human wishes: almost all of his writings bear this theme. He tried to awaken men to this folly and hoped to cure them of it through his writings. In literary creation and criticism, he was rather conservative, openly showing his dislike for much of the newly rising form of literature and his fondness for those writings which carried a lot of moralizing and philosophizing. He insisted that a writer must adhere to universal truth and experience, i. e. Nature; he must please, but he must also instruct; he must not offend against religion or promote immorality; and he must let himself be guided by old principles. Like Pope, he was particularly fond of moralizing didacticism. So, it is understandable that he was rather pleased with Richardson’s Pamela but was contemptuous of Fielding’ Tom Jones. Johnson’s style is typically neoclassical, but it is at the opposite extreme from Swift’s simplicity or Addison’s neatness. His language is characteristically general, often Latinate and frequently polysyllabic his sentences are long and well structured, interwoven with paralled words and phrases. However, no matter how complex his sentences are, the thought is always clearly expressed; and though he tends to use â€Å"learned words,† they are always accurately used. Reading his works gives the reader the impression that he is talking with a very learned man. â€Å"To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield† The letter is regarded as a strong indignation of Samuel Johnson at the Earl’s fame-fishing, for the later coldly refused giving him help when he compiled his dictionary and hypocritically wrote articles to give honeyed words when the dictionary was going to be published. The Earl was a well-known â€Å"patron of literature† at the time, and it remained a rule for writers to get a patron if they wanted to get financial support or make themselves known by public. But this letter of Johnson made a break-through in that tradition implying their independence in economy and writing, and therefore opened a new era in the development of literature. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Sheridan was the only important English dramatist of the eighteenth century. His plays, especially The Rivals and The School for Scandal, are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day. In The Rivals, a comedy of manners, he is satirizing the traditional practice of the parents to arrange marriages for their children without considering the latter’s opinion. And in The School for Scandal, the satire becomes even sharper as the characters are exposed scene by scene to their defenseless nakedness. Sheridan’s greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man. Though his dramatic techniques are largely conventional, they are exploited to the best advantage. His plots are well organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays. The School for Scandal The comedy of manners, written by R. B. Sheridan, mainly tells a story about two brothers. The elder one Joseph Surface is hypocritical, and the younger one Charles Surface kind, imprudent and spendthrift. Lady Sneerwell, one of the scandal-mongers in the play, instigates Joseph to run after Maria, the ward of Sir Peter. But, Joseph, while pursuing Maria, the love of his younger brother, tries to seduce Lady Teazle, the young wife of Sir Peter. Misled by the scandal of Lady Sneerwell and Joseph, Sir Peter Teazle believed Charles was the person who flirted with his wife until one day, Lady Teazle, coming from the screen in Joseph’s library, made the truth known that person who intended to seduce her was Joseph. Thus, the latter’s hypocrisy was exposed. At the same time, Sir Oliver Surface, the rich, old uncle of the two brothers, wanted to choose one of them to be his heir. He first visited Charles in the guise of a usurer. Charles sold to him all the family portraits except that of his uncle, and thus won the favor of his uncle. Then he went to Joseph as a poor relative. But Joseph refused giving him any help by saying that he himself was in trouble. For a second time, Joseph’s hypocrisy was exposed. The play ends with Lady Teazle’s reconciliation with her husband and Charles’ winning of the hand of Maria and the inheritance of his uncle. Thomas Gray Although neoclassicism dominated the literary scene in the 18th century, there were poets whose poetry had some elements that deviated from the rules and regulations set down by neoclassicist poets. These poets had grown weary of the artificiality and controlling ideals of neoclassicism. They craved for something more natural and spontaneous in thought and language. In their poetry, emotions and sentiments, which had been repressed, began to play a leading role again. Another factor marking this deviation is the reawakening of an interest in nature and in the natural relation between man and man. Among these poets, one of the representatives was Thomas Gray. Gray was born in London and educated at Eton and Cambridge, where he, after a grand tour on the Continent, spent the rest of his life. He was first a Fellow and 1768 was appointed professor of history and modern languages. On his return from the Continent, he stayed for a short time at Stoke Poges in Bucks, where he first sketched â€Å" The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard†, though it was finished eight years later in 1750. In contrast to those professional writers, Gray’s literary output was small. His masterpiece, â€Å"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard† was published in 1751. the poem once and for all established his fame as the leader of the sentimental poetry of the day, especially â€Å"the Graveyard School. † His poems, as a whole, are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present. His other poems include â€Å"Ode on the spring† (1742), â€Å"Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College† (1747), â€Å"Ode on the death of a Favourite Cat† (1748), â€Å"Hymn to Adversity† (1742), and two translations for old Norse: The Descent of Odin (1761) and The Fatal Sisters (1761) A conscientious artist of the first rate, Gray wrote slowly and carefully, painstakingly seeking perfection of form and phrase. His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form. His style is sophisticated and allusive. His poems are often marked with the trait of a highly artificial diction and distorted word order. Selected Reading: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard â€Å"Elegy written in a Country Churchyard† is regarded as Gray’s best and most representative work. The poem is the outcome of about eight years’ careful composition and polish. It is more or less connected with the melancholy event of the death of Richard West, Gray’s intimate friend. In this poem, Gray reflects on death, the sorrow of life, and the mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy. The poet compares the common folk with the great ones, wondering what the commons could have achieved if they had had the chance. Here he reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despise the poor and bring havoc on them. The poem abounds in images and arouses sentiment in the bosom of every reader. Though the use of artificial poetic diction and distorted word order make understanding of the poem somewhat difficult, the artistic polish—the sure control of language, imagery, rhythm, and subtle moderation of style and tone—gives the poem a unique charm of its own. The poem has been ranked among the best of the eighteenth century English poetry. Selected Reading: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard