RESEARCH COURSE WORK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

RESEARCH COURSE WORK - Essay Example Also, as far as population distributions are concerned, non-parametric tests make no assumptions about the shape of these distributions, nor do they assume that the two populations have equal amounts of variability (Miller, 2006). Correlation and Regression A correlation is a numerical value that describes and measures the characteristics of the relationship between two variables. Typically, correlation measures the direction of the relationship, whether positive (direct) or negative (inverse); the type of the relationship, whether, linear, exponential, quadratic, etc.; and, the extent of relationship, that is, correlation close to 1 or -1 indicates a strong relationship while correlation close to zero indicates the minimality of the relationship. If the relationship is linear, then regression gives the linear equation that best predicts the relationship between the independent and dependent variables (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2008). Measures of central tendency The mean, median and mode of a data set measure central tendency. The mean is typically the â€Å"average† value of the data set, taken by summing up all the data points and dividing the sum by the total sample size. The mean is used when the distribution is somehow evenly distributed, without the presence of extreme values. The mode is the most frequent value in the data set, and is most commonly used when the data is made up of categorical or nominal values. The median is the â€Å"middle value† or the score that divides the distribution in half so that 50% of the values lie below or at the median (Bluman, 2004). When a distribution is symmetrical, the right-hand side of the graph will be a mirror image of the left-hand side. In this case, there is only one mode and it is equal to the mean and the median. Skewed distributions, on the other hand, are lopsided towards one side. Positively skewed distributions peak at the left where the mode is, the median to the right of the mode and the mean to the right of the median. In negatively skewed distributions peaked to the right where the mode is, the median to the left of the mode, and the mean to the left of the median (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2008). The meaning of â€Å"Statistical Significance† Statistical significance is basically the level of risk that one is willing to take in rejecting a true null hypothesis. For example, when testing the equality of the means of two data sets at 1% or .01 level of significance, it means that on any test of the null hypothesis, there is a 1% chance of rejecting the null hypothesis and thus concluding that there is a difference in the means when there is no difference at all (Miller, 2006). Part B. The research topic The data set extracted from Brainmass.com was gathered to conduct research on the housing of a neighborhood that encompasses 5 townships. Using the data gathered from 100 housing properties, the researcher wants to find out the relationship of the characteristics of th e real estate property to its market value. Furthermore, the researcher wants to find out which among the variables have the greatest effect on the market price in order to come up with a mathematical model that will forecast the market value of a property given the values of the independent variables. The research variables The following variables were used in this data set: Price The variable â€Å"Price† refers to the current price or market value of the housing property, measured in thousands of US dollars. This variable is treated

Japan Approach To New Product Development Information Technology Essay

Japan Approach To New Product Development Information Technology Essay Japans manufacturing industry can be the largest industry that contributes in the Japanese economy. It is admired by the various researchers that the Japanese companies enable to target the aspects of corporate and research strengths. Through the use of the various technologies, which half maybe came from their land, the Japanese companies laid broader approach regarding the idea of product development. In general, Japanese approach to the product development has a large numbers of changes. For example, the automobile industry in Japan had radical steps such as the application of the concept of the fuel cells (Masaru and Kazuhiko, 2009). The organization has an aim to provide the quality solution by answering two of the biggest issues in the era of modernization the environmental destruction and the problem in the oil, gas, and other petroleum products. From this example the organization can have the full opportunity to be the first company that enables to incorporate the use of technology. But the drawback is the cost of the product that might be too expensive for the customers (Masaru and Kazuhiko, 2009). Japan has strength to set the flow of trend in the market and the high level of technology delivers the variety of strategies that can, however, minimize the appearance of the present problems. Japanese culture views technology as a tool for making marketable products (Takahiro and Joe, 1995). Production technology is central to such a view and has become a clear force in developing competitive advantage for Japans industrial giants. An effective vision of next-generation products combined with continuous product improvements provides the vision for upstream developments (Takahiro and Joe, 1995). Japans focus on production equipment and process improvements is directed towards designing for cost and manufacturability: that is, Japans focus is on designing processes to improve productivity, increase quality, and decrease cost; designing concurrent engineering methods to speed product introductions; developing software to implement and improve factory automation; and devising effective management methods related to all of the above (Takahiro and Joe, 1995). On the other hand, the UK has a responsibility in meeting their own set of standards based on the participating companies, research, and government organizations and then, latter develop their product (Sven Haake, et al., 2000). Again, the automobile manufacturing is the example that can be use. The approach of the UK in the product development was prioritized on various concerns such as addressing the organizations participation in terms of security. If the manufacturers followed the innovation of fuel cell, the assurance of the UKs framework should be also developed for the proper deployment. Such policies like the use of technologies, standards, codes, and infrastructures are the UKs gateway toward the evolution (Sven Haake, et al., 2000). Comparison of Product Improvement Techniques: The Japanese plants have continued to make improvements in terms of labour efficiency and still lead their UK counterparts, by a significant margin. Labour productivity in the UK plants has been more or less static (and actually shows a decline). Although on average production volumes in the plants in the two countries have risen, Japan has managed this with a much smaller increase in headcount than the UK plants, and without a major rationalization of product ranges (Masaru and Kazuhiko, 2009). Plants in the two countries have made significant progress in reducing the proportion of defective products that reach their customers (that is, the car makers, in the case of this study). Japan continues to lead the UK in quality performance by a margin of around 35 per cen. Given the sustained, and in some areas increasing, performance advantage of the Japanese plants, it is precisely in areas such as these that renewed interest should be taken (Masaru and Kazuhiko, 2009). The measures rele vant to the closeness of buyer supplier relations largely present a picture of continuity, rather than change, in Japan. The tight logistics symptomatic of close social relations between buyers and suppliers have if anything becomes tighter over the last seven years. Of course it may be that changes in the commercial relations between firms do not affect such operational details, though this would run counter to what has been the accepted wisdom through much of the 1980s and 1990s, namely that it is the very existence of tight social relations that permits and facilitates operational excellence (Takahiro and Joe, 1995). An alternative explanation is that changes in social relations are occurring, but that the lag inherent in any such changes is obscuring this. The economic problems experienced by Japan at a macroeconomic level should not distract from the continuing lessons that may be gleaned from operational assessments of Japanese manufacturers. In difficult circumstances, Japane se plants have continued to improve their operational performance. The concept of continuous improvement is one of the most significant components of the Japanese model of manufacturing; the evidence reported here suggests that this concept remains an enduring feature of Japanese manufacturers and it remains an area where Western manufacturers, especially UK, may have much to learn (Takahiro and Joe, 1995). Methods of Product Development: Below are two important methods that are used by Japanese companies: Prototyping: is the process of building a model of a system. In terms of an information system, prototypes are employed to help system designers build an information system that intuitive and easy to manipulate for end users. Prototyping is an iterative process that is part of the analysis phase of the systems development life cycle (Glenn, et al., 2008). During the requirements determination portion of the systems analysis phase, system analysts gather information about the organizations current procedures and business processes related the proposed information system. In addition, they study the current information system, if there is one, and conduct user interviews and collect documentation. This helps the analysts develop an initial set of system requirements (Glenn, et al., 2008). Prototyping can augment this process because it converts these basic, yet sometimes intangible, specifications into a tangible but limited working model of the desired information system. The user feedback gained from developing a physical system that the users can touch and see facilitates an evaluative response that the analyst can employ to modify existing requirements as well as developing new ones (Michael and Mitzi, 2000). Prototyping comes in many forms from low tech sketches or paper screens (Pictive) from which users and developers can paste controls and objects, to high tech operational systems using CASE (computer-aided software engineering) or fourth generation languages and everywhere in between. Many organizations use multiple prototyping tools. For example, some will use paper in the initial analysis to facilitate concrete user feedback and then later develop an operational prototype using fourth generation languages, such as Visual Basic, during the design stage (Mic hael and Mitzi, 2000). Some Advantages of Prototyping: Reduces development time. Reduces development costs. Requires user involvement. Developers receive quantifiable user feedback. Facilitates system implementation since users know what to expect. Results in higher user satisfaction. Exposes developers to potential future system enhancements (Gerri, 1999). Some Disadvantages of Prototyping Can lead to insufficient analysis. Users expect the performance of the ultimate system to be the same as the prototype. Developers can become too attached to their prototypes. Can cause systems to be left unfinished and/or implemented before they are ready. Sometimes leads to incomplete documentation. If sophisticated software prototypes (4th Generation Language or CASE (computer-aided software engineering) Tools) are employed, the time saving benefit of prototyping can be lost (Gerri, 1999). Because prototypes inherently increase the quality and amount of communication between the developer/analyst and the end user, its use has become widespread. In the early 1980s, organizations used prototyping approximately thirty percent (30%) of the time in development projects. By the early 1990s, its use had doubled to sixty percent (60%) (Juha, 2005). Although there are guidelines on when to use software prototyping. Prototyping will grow even bigger in the future especially in the UK as it will reduce time and cost and will help by pushing the economy as the new products will be available to consumers in lesser time. Time-Based Concurrent Engineering: Despite the fact that Japanese manufacturers have led the way in compressing time by speeding up product development, Toyotas unique adaptation of concurrent engineering appears a contradiction of universal thinking. Instead of pursuing design decisions as early as possible by marshalling the energies of all team members, Toyota uses a method best described as set-based concurrent engineering (Sotiris, 2005). Designers at Toyota work with sets of design alternatives instead of systematically carrying one basic idea through progressive iterations. The sets are gradually narrowed until a final solution is agreed upon. Toyota uses a relatively unstructured development process in which decisions are purposely delayed, so that suppliers are not provided with final specifications until very late in the process. Another unique aspect of the process is that numerous prototypes are built and evaluated. Many automobile industry experts feel that prototyping and subsequent testing are two phase s of the product development process that greatly extend cycle time. However, tile paradoxical system employed by Toyota is undoubtedly effective. Toyota is recognized as the world leader in fast and efficient development of vehicles (Sotiris, 2005). In general, Japanese companies have been ahead of almost everyone in adopting fast product development tactics. Some Japanese companies, however, found in the 1990s that despite committing more emphasis and capital to Time-Based Competition (TBC) strategies, they were not achieving competitive advantages, higher margins, and more profit (A. Al-shaab, et al., 2009). It was difficult to gain an advantage when every other company was employing the same strategy. Further, it appears the Japanese made their companies time-based in terms of efficiency, instead of embracing a more encompassing strategy. These Japanese firms failed to carry TBC beyond the initial phases of implementation. They neglected to recognize that TBC strategy is a constantly evolving exercise that must focus on the needs of customers. The lesson to be learned is that time compression is not a cure-all. Time reductions that are not tied to viable business strategies can dramatically reduce profits by unnecessarily inc reasing costs (A. Al-shaab, et al., 2009). One Japanese design and development methodology that helps enable quality planning throughout the concurrent engineering process is Quality Function Deployment (QFD). Unlike other quality methods originally developed in the West, the QFD methodology was born out of Total Quality Control (TQC) activities in Japan during the 1960s. Development was motivated by two issues [1]: how to design a new product that meets customer needs, and [2] the desire to provide QC process charts (control plan) to manufacturing before initial production (Nick, et al., 2002). The QFD methodology provides a structured framework for concurrent engineering that propagates the voice of the customer through all phases of product development. Concurrent-engineering is one of the best methods in developing a new product. It involves many small and big companies in contributing towards the product at the same time. The future of this method is great as it will involve more engineers and companies in producing the product, hence, it will reduce the time to produce a new product. Conclusion and Future of UK Product Development: The Japanese tend to recruit scientists primarily within basic research and if one compares Japan to the UK, the latter has many more people in basic research reflecting the concept of creativity in invention inherent in the British economy. Japan however has its focus and thus its advantage in applied research (A. Al-shaab, et al., 2009). Japanese manufacturing companies recruit far more engineers and integrate them across the whole company. When comparing the number of engineers in product development and design in the UK to those in Japan, the latter tends to actively invest and nurture more resources, and hence create better capability. If the Japanese manufacturers have strength in setting the trends in the market, the UK manufacturing industry has strength by following the governmental policies. The UK needs to invest more in engineers and make new products research easier to develop by given scientist less tougher rules by the government and much more funds and investment from both companies and the government. They also need to integrate more engineers in the manufacturing area so they could be in equal place with Japan.

The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer †Tribulations :: Adventures Tom Sawyer Essays

The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer – Tribulations Mark Twain uses "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer" to reveal his own childhood. In the preface Mark Twain states "Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest those of boys who were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from real life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual - he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture." This is Mark Twain's "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer". From this point we begin our tour through the Adventures Of Tom Sawyer's life, accompanied by his friends. It is the story about life in a boys' world and it discloses feelings of Mark Twain concerning his boyhood, his town and the people there. Tom Sawyer was a boy but not a genus that would describe good children as the protagonists. Tom Sawyer was a fiend yet he was never malicious, but always up to a trick or a practical joke of some kind. During the years that we view Tom Sawyer, a multitude of events had occurred. All of which are recorded in Mark Twain's style. Mark Twain composes in a picaresque style, Tom Sawyer's adventures being set out in an episodic journalistic report by Mark Twain. In "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer," Tom Sawyer, the lead character is seen as the protagonist, the hero of the story. "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer," also fits into the genres of satire, frontier literature, folk narrative and comedy. Every adventure is new and more stimulating than the prior episode. These adventures are from an adult who views the adult world critically and looks back on the sentiments and past times of childhood in a somewhat idealized manner, with wit and also in a nostalgic way. Critics have suggested several other sources for the novel, including South Western humorist, George W. Harris. This is an example of "escapism" from a society that Mark Twain had felt alienated from. Set in the old South West, in an almost poverty stricken shabby town, called St. Petersburg.

The Multiple Intelligence Theory

Developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardener, a professor at the very prestigious Harvard University, the multiple intelligence theory states that testing a person’s intelligence through IQ tests is very restricting. In his very popular work, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence, Dr. Howard Gardner cited eight kinds of intelligence that are innate in men- linguistic intelligence (â€Å"word smart†); logical-mathematical intelligence (â€Å"number/reasoning smart†); spatial intelligence (â€Å"picture smart†); bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (â€Å"body smart†); musical intelligence (â€Å"music smart†); interpersonal intelligence (â€Å"people smart†); intrapersonal intelligence (â€Å"self smart†); and naturalist intelligence (â€Å"nature smart†) (Armstrong, 2000). Logical-Mathematical Intelligence Those who possess the logical-mathematical intelligence would usually end up as a scientist or mathematician. They are mostly sensitive to and have the capacity to differentiate logical and numerical patterns (Gardner & Hatch, 1989, being well versed with everything that has something to do with logic, abstractions, inductive and deductive reasoning and most of all, numbers. Because of this, they are said to be excellent in mathematics, chess, computer programming and other activities that involves numbers and logic (WIkipedia.org). They also have the ability to handle long chains of reasoning (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). Linguistic Intelligence Those who possess this form of intelligence on the other hand are most likely to end up as poets and journalists for it has got something to do with words, be it spoken or written. These are the people who are sensitive to sounds, rhythms and of course, the meanings of different words. Likewise, these people are very knowledgeable in the different functions of language (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). They are good in reading, writing and even telling stories. At the same time, they are good in memorizing dates and words (Wikipedia.org, 2007). They rely on taking notes, reading, listening to lectures, discussions and debates as their primary source of knowledge. These people are said to learn foreign languages easily, having a very high verbal memory and the capacity to understand the structure of words and sentences. Musical Intelligence People having musical intelligence tend to become composers, violinist, musicians, singers, etc. They have the ability to produce and at the same time, appreciate rhythm, pitch and timbre together with the appreciation of the different forms through which music is expressed (Gardner & Hatcher, 1989). Those who also possess this kind of intelligence tend to learn and memorize different types of information through the use of music. More often than not, they work efficiently and effectively with music playing in the background (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Spatial Intelligence Possessing this kind of intelligence, a person may end up as a navigator, sculptor as they are good in visualizing and mentally manipulating objects (Wikipedia.org, 2007). With this perception comes their accuracy in performing transformation based on their perceptions (Gardner & Hatch, 1989). Body-Kinesthetic Intelligence Those who possess this kind of intelligence, on the other hand end up as athletes or dancers, as this has something to do with movement. People who are intelligent based on this often prefer activities that make use of body movements, which make them also good in building and making things. They remember things through their body, making use of what is known as muscle memory (Gardner & Hatcher, 1989). Interpersonal Intelligence Possessing this type of intelligence makes one individual a future therapist or salesman, having the capacity to respond to the moods, temperaments, motivations and desires of other people (Gardner & Hatcher, 1989).   They are usually extroverts who excel so much in interacting with others. Intrapersonal Intelligence They end up to be a person with detailed, accurate, self knowledge that could access one’s feelings and be able to draw them in guiding behavior, strengths, weaknesses, etc (Gardner & Hatcher, 1989). Education and the Multiple Intelligence Theory The concept of intelligence permeates our day to day lives just like any other psychological concept. Before completing and even entering an institute of education, students are asked to complete and aptitude exam that would measure their intelligence quotient or IQ that could determine their preparedness and capacity to learn in institutions like the one they are applying in. Intelligence tests have been a very important tool that is being used in most educational institutions that place a very high importance on the relationship between intelligence and education (Wagner & Sternberg, 1984) According to Dr. Gardner, most of the schools and cultures tend to focus more on the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences of its pupils thus raising the self esteem levels of individuals who are well versed in their language, of individuals who know so much about math, individuals who are expert in reasoning. The different cultures and societies fail to recognize the achievements and intelligence of those people who have display other types of intelligence- the artists, architects, musicians, designers, athletes, and those other who truly show their importance in the other aspects of the society (Armstrong, 2000). It is also because of the societies focus on the linguistic and logical-mathematic intelligence that schools are unable to address the needs of students who are not gifted with these kinds of intelligence. Unfortunately, those who have not been giving due recognition for the intelligence they have [as they possess other kinds of intelligence apart from those society deems very important] usually suffer ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder (Armstrong, 2000). As Gardner reiterated in his study of MI theory, an individual is mechanically equipped with unique intelligence to cope up in a diverse cultural society. It provides students with options to success and recognition for whatever talents they have. Linguistic intelligence and personal intelligence gives great opportunities for individuals in a globally competitive society. The structural views of education are now diverse in regarding intelligence out of just the normal scope of intelligence. The multiple intelligence theory is said to be a threat to formal education, a death knell as they say, believing that teaching to address a single kind of intelligence is already hard. However, most schools have actually responded positively to Gardner’s theory as it is said to validate educator’s everyday experience, recognizing the difference in the way students think and learn. At the same time, educators have recognized the possession of the seven kinds of intelligence as a necessity in living life well. It is for this reason that teachers are being called to attend to all kinds of intelligence, not just the two kinds of intelligence traditionally addressed by educators and educational institutions (Smith, 2002). MI is a means to foster high quality work. MI should be used as a tool to promote a high quality of education instead of just a theory (Smith, 2002). Creativity is promoted in the nuance of education and by which it helps the production of more creative ideas to continually support the existing knowledge we learn in school. Students are also encouraged to learn beyond the four walls of the classroom, in preparing them for the real world. They are equipped with facts that they could apply in their day-to-day lives. Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory has inspired a lot of schools to undergo educational reforms that could help raise the quality of education. According to Thomas Armstrong (2000), several methods have been incorporated in teaching academic topics. For example, the study of the law of supply and demand in economics does not just involve linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences such as studying by reading about it and the mathematical expressions by which the law is expressed. In the study, spatial intelligence is also incorporated through examination of graphic charts, observing the laws of the natural world (naturalist), the human world of commerce (interpersonal), the law in terms of one’s own body (bodily-kinesthetic and intrapersonal) or even the writing/finding a song that proves the accuracy of the law of supply and demand. It is for this reason that numerous schools have redesigned their curriculum to satisfy the needs of the people possess different types of intelligence. Arts PROPEL, in the US have developed a series of modules that serve the goals of the curriculum as well as the needs of its students. MI is a means to foster high quality work. Using MI as a tool to promote high quality student work rather than using the theory as an end in and of itself (Smith, 2002). Creativity is promoted in the nuance of education and by which it helps the production of more creative ideas to continually support the existing knowledge we learn in school. Students are also provided not only to think inside of the boundaries of the classroom but rather prepare them in the real world and set them in more ways than one. One which is only equipped with facts but not able to apply it in situations he or she faces. In the same way, Patricia Bolanos designed a public school in Indianapolis that supports the multiple intelligence theory. The curriculum is designed in such a way that it helps in finding the kind of intelligence a student is said to be possessing and at the same time, guide them in enriching what they have. Through the different steps that these schools have taken, they have in a way, considered the role of people who exhibit other kinds of intelligence. At the same time, the theory of multiple intelligence has become of vital importance to language teachers as it has allowed them to examine their teaching methods and how it effectively caters the need of their students. Different approaches shall be used in order to address the intelligence profiles of the students. Once again, the said theory has been responsible in enhancing the curriculum design, lesson planning and program development of various schools (Zulkuf Altan, 2001). Conclusion The rise of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory has lead to different reactions by the academe and psychologists, considering its importance in every day lives. Schools require students to meet a certain score in their achievement tests before allowing them to enter into their respectable institutions. It showed the society that other intelligences, aside the two traditional ones that have been regarded as important in the society is important and should also be taken into consideration. Students have different interests, react to different subject matters and topics and of course, adopt different ways of taking in information (Gardner, 1995).. It is for this reason that educational institutions nowadays have readjusted their curriculum, in their hopes to cater to artistic, musical, body intelligences, etc. It is believed that it is only through this that schools could properly respond to the needs of their students having possessed a different type of intelligence, aside from the traditional, more popular ones (Gardner, 1995). With the multiple intelligence theory, various learning-styles have been built on particular sense modalities such as auditory, visual and kinesthetics, believing that it is only through this that educators may transmit the lesson and information to the brains of their students without giving them a hard time, giving them the access to information that could best meet their needs (Gardner, 1995). REFERENCES Armstrong, T. (2000). Multiple Intelligences. Retrieved October 21, 2007 From http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm Klein, P.D. (1997). Multiplying the Problems of Intelligence by Eight: A Critique of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gardner’s Theory. Retrieved October 21, 2007 from Jstor Database Gardner, H. (1995). Multiple Intelligences as a Catalyst. English Journal Vol. 84 No.8. p.8. retrieved October 21, 2007 from Jstor Database Gardner, H. and Hatch, T. (1989) Multiple Intelligence Go to School Educational  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Implications  Ã‚  Ã‚   of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, by Howard Gardner. Educational  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Researcher.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Volume 8. No. pp.4-10. Retrieved October 21, 2007  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   from Jstor Database Smith, Mark. (2002). Howard gardner, multiple intelligences and education.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved October 20, 2007 from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2007). Multiple intelligences, Retrieved on  Ã‚   October 20, 2007 from  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences Zulkuf Altan, M. (2001). Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Century, Review. TESOL Quarterly: Vol. 35, No. 1, p. 35. Retrieved October 21,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2007  Ã‚  Ã‚   from Jstor Database      

Compare the ways in which Philip Larkin and Carol Ann Duffy present the theme of death and its implications on life

The concept of death and its implications are explored extensively by Larkin and Duffy, both poets agreeing that the destructive quality of death makes void of all the time and effort we invest in life. Larkin seems to demonstrate a cold fear towards this inevitability by distancing himself from the reality in ‘Ambulances’ and ‘Dockery and Son’, choosing to make resigned but philosophical points on the subject. Duffy, by contrast, invests in a far more emotional approach and suggests how the finality can bring a strange sense of comfort amidst the devastation; this is demonstrated in the poems ‘The Suicide’ and ‘Never Go Back’ where the personas vow to never repeat their deathly experiences again, and, in the case of ‘The Suicide’ in particular, use death as a means to exact revenge. ‘Ambulances’ are described as vehicles that both literally transport the dying, and are the anthropomorphised psychopomps who help establish the transitory stage between life and death. The fairly archaic yet idiomatic verb phrase ‘borne away’ and the use of determining modifiers in ‘any kerb: / All streets’ suggests that death is a ubiquitous and ghostly presence that transcends time and takes life indiscriminately. Thus, Larkin achieves a grave mood and an aloof tone which suggests the easy dissolution of identity and personality in the face of death. Duffy similarly presents the event of death in ‘The Suicide’, but unlike Larkin’s distance, the persona here takes control with the modal auxiliary in ‘I will write’ and demands recognition from their attempted suicide: ‘Famous. The delivery as an emotional dramatic monologue helps serve the speaker’s appeal to victimhood, as they use a bitter and increasingly vindictive tone to justify their heinous sin of ‘despair’. This cry for attention thus suggests the instinctive egoism of humans, much like the bystanders in ‘Ambulancesà ¢â‚¬â„¢ who, despite witnessing a tragedy, ‘whisper at their own distress’. In contrast, death in ‘Dockery and Son’ incites abstract musings on the meaning of life and depicts Larkin’s autobiographical account of attending the memorial service of an old college acquaintance.What is the difference between a figurative and a literal analogy? The poem is introduced in medias res, ‘Dockery was junior to you..? ’ but the disinterested speaker quickly dissolves into a nostalgic reverie as he explores the fatalistic reality that is often followed after death. The lack of consolation in living is demonstrated when Larkin attempts to revisit his past and ‘tries the door of where I used to live’, but finds it ‘Locked’; the finality in the modifier symbolises how the speaker is unable to return to a past that no longer exists, and thus remains estranged from the familiarity of the past. Never Go Back’ develops on this idea further since it follows the journey of a speaker who revisits her old haunts after the end of her failed marriage. Death, here, is used as an extended metaphor, in contrast with Dockery’s literal death, but this likewise establishes a period of mourning and self-reflection as she is being transported by ‘a taxi implying a herse’. However, the persona suggests there is some consolation in life since she is ‘released’ by the past, the verb carrying connotations of the relief and freedom gained in knowing that the past no longer exists, whereas Larkin’s resignation towards life in sombre lines such as, ‘Whether or not we use it, it goes’, suggests Dockery’s death to be more of a call to take stock of his life and thus suggests it to be the beginning of the end. ‘Ambulances’ invites us to the idea that death is a private experience but this sense of intimacy can be misleading as it opens with the simile ‘closed like confessionals’. The sinister religious connotations suggest how the sudden belief in death has the ability to invoke regret as one realises the significance of their life; the narrator thus suggests that there is a need for secrecy at this personal revelation as he attributes the ambulance with a spectral quality by the dynamic verb ‘thread’, provoking images of the Moirae and their threads of fate, and thus constructing the image of the ‘traffic’ as being the fabricated flow of time. However, the persona reminds us that death is a definite reality as he eerily juxtaposes it against youthful innocence with ‘children strewn on steps or roads’. The verisimilitude of the ordinary urban scene also grants death a recognisable status, but at the same, Larkin demonstrates how death is inscrutable via the symbol of the ambulance: ‘giving back none of the glances they absorb’, presenting the ambulance, and therefore, death as a mystery which provides no answers. Similarly, ‘The Suicide’ provides as an example of how death can be cryptic as the persona presents a gothic scene breathlessly. The irregularly long opening line coupled with the pathetic fallacy in ‘bitter moon’ and ‘smudgy clouds’ conveys the speaker's rambling tone and her disorganised state of mind as she appears to plan her own death. These imagined, celestial characters provide a parallel with her emotional reality through the repeated vowel and consonant sounds in ‘gleam’ and ‘glee’, thus drawing attention to the sandwiched non-sequitur of ‘I dress in a shroud. The deliberate caesurae and the ending rhyme ‘me’ suggests she is preparing for and welcoming her death, a stark contrast with the ‘ambulances’ which ‘come to rest at any kerb’ and are the intruders that disturb the normality of everyday life. The reassuring universality of life is also missing in ‘The Su icide’, as the persona twists images of innocence such as with the modifier in ‘the horrid smiling mouths’, and conveys her contempt, much like the case of betrayal by her loved one. Duffy thus attempts to establish a personal relationship with death which is arguably seen as unnatural, whereas Larkin suggests that it is perfectly acceptable for death to transcend life and for our understanding of it to remain little. Larkin’s ‘Ambulances’ continues its cool narration which helps create an ironic quality to the scene when the speaker suddenly launches into the description of death in the second stanza, all whilst sustaining the organised verse form. Life is seen to quickly dissolve into the image of the ‘wild white face atop red stretcher blankets’, the elongated effect of the alliteration serving as the only definite point of transition. Otherwise, the face isn’t given any attention as ‘it is carried in and stowed’, the pronoun ‘it’ dehumanising the person and the use of verbs which carry connotations of luggage also demonstrates how our bodies are only perceived as vessels for our souls, and that without them, we are powerless. The witnesses, ie the children and women, show to have realised this reality. The epiphany delivered slowly in ‘And sense the solving emptiness’ uses the present continuous to suggest that this experience is universal, but the delivery in gentle sibilance conveys the hushed voice of the speaker as he establishes the event as a quiet memento mori. The obscurity thus suggests the unwillingness of facing the realisation that everything is pointless in the face of death. This is further demonstrated by the polysyndetic listing of ‘so blank and whole and true’, each adjective stressed as the persona makes an effort to capture the moment of realisation before it is lost. Paradoxically, these fatalistic descriptions also carry a sense of nihilism and indifference as Larkin here chillingly injects realism into the scene when he remind us of how we lose our humanity in death. Power and identity are also recurring ideas in ‘The Suicide’ as Duffy’s persona realises that death is a means of achieving recognition and establishing control when she feels trapped and isolated by life. This is denoted by the speaker declaring ‘my body is a blank page I will write on’; the modal verb ‘will’ and the monosyllabic lexis conveys the persona’s certain tone as she describes how her romantic notion of death will leave a clear message for the intended left behind. Similarly, Larkin also shows how death can leave revelations for those left behind, except Duffy here provides a specific example with the possessive determiner in ‘my body’. The use of the personal perspective conveys the speaker's isolation which is reiterated by the repeated syntactical structure of ‘Nobody’; this suggests her lack of recognition in life and how the preservation of it, ‘eyes in the glass like squids’, is deemed unnatural which is mirrored by the sardonic ‘Sexy’ that summarises the simile. By comparison, both poets indicate that death is a natural state due to the futility in living except Larkin suggests that this is a sudden realisation whereas Duffy demonstrates how the drawn-out angst of death is felt on the condition of being alive. The outer enclosed rhymes that contains the intertwining rhymes in ‘Ambulances’, such as the passive-sounding ‘air’ and ‘there’, captures Larkin’s conclusion of how death is the inevitable fate that overshadows our lives. The harsh sibilance in ‘the sudden shut of loss’ conveys the finality of the end but this ending remains dynamic, as the assonance invokes the sighing sound of the narrator as his summary of life, ‘unique blend of families and fashions’ is chased into the final verse where it is unravelled, the dynamism evoking the sense of continuity of time. The noun phrase ‘exchange of love’ denotes how life is a contractual obligation but is only temporary as the endgame is ‘to lie unreachable inside a room’ which connotes the undeniable loneliness in death. However, Larkin persists in remaining vague as he describes death with the euphemism ‘what is left to come’, thus establishing how death remains as an unspoken truth in society. Similarly, Duffy shows how the concept of death governs people in ‘The Suicide’ where the persona’s increasingly vindictive mood culminates into unrepentantly spitting out imperatives to the readers: ‘Fuck off. Worship. ’ The speaker here shows an awareness of the readers’ voyeurism who are compelled to follow her path to self-destruction and watch her play god as she ‘lies under the lightbulb’, literally suggesting the exposure to truth and figuratively conveying a sensual submission to her ‘lightbulb’ moment of self-inflicted death. However, we see the persona’s captivation is to the point of delusion. The dismissive tone and metaphor for life in ‘Who wants / a bloody valentine pumping its love hate love? offset by the deviantly collocated ‘bloody’ alongside the iambic dimeter, attributes the sound of two heartbeats to her confused valentine’s ‘love hate love’. Duffy thus suggests that reflecting over the fragility of life can drive a person to madness and, as Larkin suggests, there is a conservative view that promotes the secrecy of death, indicating how people fearfully deny death in their lives due to its ability to ex pose human frailty which may be seen as an uncomfortable consequence of death. Structurally, Duffy's haphazardly contained verses and the speaker's punning cliches such as ‘I take out the knives’ create a more heartfelt cognisance of death as something looked for and desirable, whereas Larkin’s standardised verses convey his reliable but frigid outlook on the subject. ‘Ambulances’ indicates that death is a passive presence; the echoing alliteration in ‘dulls to distance all we are’ and the collective pronoun ‘we’ concluded that death is the unavoidable fate universal to all of us and, that in death, we are all equal. Likewise, ‘The Suicide’ reflects how death can leave a resounding impact except, specifically, death’s legacy can be a notoriety caused by the decision to unnaturally decide your own death, instead of letting it take you, as suggested in ‘Ambulances’. The shocking irony in ‘This will kill my folks’ thus suggests how death can become an act act of spite when we wilfully plot our own demise instead of allowing death to take its own course. Larkin’s ‘Dockery and Son’ suggests there is a sense of tediousness in death rituals as the persona abruptly cuts off the Dean in the opening lines of the poem with a heavy caesura. Instead, he teases the readers with reminisces of ‘our version’ of the mischief he took part in with friends in the past. This emotional detachment from his old acquaintance’s death is defended by the transitive modifier ‘visitant’, proposing his apathy is appropriate with the neologism ‘death-suited’. This avoidance of the death is further demonstrated by focusing on the comforting familiarity of the surroundings: ‘A known bell chimes’. However, this comfort remains unreachable, announced by the speaker with the modifier ‘Locked’ as he revisits his old halls of residence. The polysyndeton in ‘Canal and clouds and colleges subside slowly from view’ support the adverb ‘slowly’ as Larkin illustrates this gradual passing of time and how the illusion can make one forget that life is limited, the persona thus showing how the event of death can provoke us to want to revisit the past. In ‘Never Go Back’, the speaker similarly explores the relationship between time and death, except here, death is used as a metaphor to describe loss as time itself is personified ‘left pining till it died’. Duffy thus suggests the human desire to enjoy more of life before death takes us, whereas Larkin’s numerical references to time ‘’43’, ‘twenty-one’ quantifies life and suggests a more practical view on the finiteness of time. The persona likewise revisits the past after the end of her marriage, as the narrative begins with the familiar scene of ‘where the living dead drink all day’, the oxymoron ‘living dead’ indicating how people live unfulfilled lives while the hard alliteration delivers a heavy droning sound that lends a mechanical quality to the scene. This conveys a sense of disillusionment with the social activities she used to enjoy, in contrast with ‘Dockery and Son’, where the speaker recalls the past with nostalgic reverence as he anecdotally reveals how Dockery used to share ‘rooms with Cartwright who was killed’. Both poets therefore demonstrate how death and loss can trigger retrospections of the past, Duffy arguing for the case of pain and abandonment in loss with the image of ‘a limping dog’, whereas Larkin avoids such sentiments with the trailing ellipsis in ‘How much . . How little . . . ’, the unfinished thoughts enacting Duffy’s convincing view on how the best emotional response to death is to ‘never go back. ’ The persona in ‘Dockery and Son’ begins to show an awareness of how life is ultimately a journey towards the final destination of death. The train station used symbolically as ‘the joining and parting lines’ simil arly imply the different crossroads existing in life and how companionship allows our roads to briefly overlap. However, the antithesis of the nouns ‘numbness’ and ‘shock’ suggests there is a sense of confusion when the speaker draws comparisons between Dockery’s accomplishments and his own, and ponders on the moment he strayed ‘widely from the others’. Therefore, the syndetic list of repeated negatives ‘no son, no wife, no house or land’ should depict the speaker’s failure of attaining any adult achievement, yet the nonchalance in ‘still seemed quite natural’ suggests that Larkin hadn't quite moved on from his time in university, the adverb ‘still’ indicating the speaker's struggle to come to terms with ageing and the flow of time. There is thus a sense of dread when Larkin contemplates the ‘strong unhindered moon’; the pathetic fallacy suggests the feebleness in differentiating our individual lifelines since we are all doomed to the ‘only end of age’, the adverb ‘only’ stressing the absoluteness and lack of choice in death. Duffy’s ‘Never Go Back’ also demonstrates an emotional resignation to the choices made as ‘the house’, which personifies the past, ‘prefers to be left alone’ amidst the overwhelming images of death; the verb ‘prefers’ suggests it has no intention of recovering from the metaphorical ‘cancer’ which spoils the glowing memory of it being ‘where you were one of the brides’. The house instead reprimands the persona with ‘You shouldn't be here’, the negative modal verb ‘shouldn't’ warning against the attempt to reconcile with the past. The speaker is thus unable to bitterly ruminate the past and abstains from comparing her life to others, ie her ex-husband, alternatively, allowing ‘objects’ (which pertain to the past) to symbolise life itself, and demonstrates how they can symbolically ‘fill a room with pain’ after the end of their use. This passiveness of the persona is also missing in ‘Dockery and Son’, where Larkin intentionally uses Dockery’s death as a means to appraise the value of his own life. Rather, the use of the second person narrative in ‘Never Go Back’ becomes increasingly significant as the speaker captures the suffocating quality of death, recreating the past through syntactic parallelism in ‘all the lies . . . and all the cries’, and the soft assonance in the pictorial image of ‘draw your loved body in blurred air’ conveying this ghostly effect as Duffy places the readers in closer proximity to death. Comparatively using the first person perspective, the speaker in ‘Dockery and Son’ is more prone to deviate from Dockery's unfortunate death and instead focuses on the bleakness of the mundane: ‘And ate an awful pie’. Therefore, both poets present life as a journey that is met with death, yet Larkin demonstrates how death can be used comparatively when we realise our own expiration date and consider the wider meaning of our lives, whereas Duffy indicates how grief can distort the past and how this can, in effect, emotionally paralyse a person. ‘Dockery and Son’ begins with a simplistic but regular alternating rhyme scheme which suits Larkin’s familiarity with his alma mater. The steady fall of sounds such as ‘give’ and ‘live’ capture the persona’s feelings of bittersweet nostalgia but this gradually evolves until the final syntactical structure of ABBCADDC, which creates the suitably dense texture demanded, as Larkin moves from describing his literal surroundings to attributing philosophical thoughts to death’s rendition of life. The speaker derogatorily muses that our acquisitions aren't as valuable as society's ‘innate assumptions’ perceive them to be, since they are superficially denounced as a ‘style’ that tragically ‘harden into all we’ve got’. There is thus a sense of futility in life inspired by the news of a young man’s death, as Larkin concludes that even our choices are obscurely decided by ‘something hidden from us chose’, the vague pronoun ‘something’ suggesting how the workings of life is beyond our comprehension while death remains a certainty that levels everyone in due time. ‘Never Go Back’ similarly concludes with the idea that life is governed by a mysterious entity, except here, it is explicitly denoted as greed and human desire. The crude images of the ‘sly sums of money’ and ‘a drenched whore’ connote a sense of the decay and degression found in society’s apparent hedonism. This enables death to run in parallel with life, as even the associated taxi driver is described by the cliche ‘looks like death’. Ironically, the speaker demonstrates how this illusion of life, and its false evolution, allows possibilities to remain open; the hollow sounds in the pronoun ‘nowhere’ and neologism ‘nowhen’ dissolves the significance of time and space, and instead grants importance to the present by the homely image of ‘the fires and lights come on wherever you live’. By comparison, Larkin suggests a sense of entrapment by the facade as ‘what we think truest . . . warp tight-shut’; the harsh syllables in the modifier ‘tight-shut’ elicit a sense of urgency as the speaker realises he is running out of time to achieve what he wishes, yet the possibilities remain cut off in ‘Dockery and Son’ due to the speaker’s acute awareness of death. In conclusion, Larkin and Duffy both demonstrate the omnipresence of death in our lives. Larkin uses his unassuming observations to describe death as an inescapable component of everyday life, thus suggesting that his point of enlightenment in ‘Dockery and Son’ marks too as a pessimistic beginning of the end. Duffy chooses to manifest death in everyday components of life, normalising death, and instead, offers the view in ‘Never Go Back’ that death provides a chance to understand that the past is gone, and also as a catalyst for hopeful beginnings. However, despite these contrarian views, both poets agree that death remains the undeniable ending to our lives