The Bookshop Company Essay Example for Free

The Bookshop Company Essay 1. Introduction 1.1 Background The company that I have chosen to do my project on is a small book distribution company called Bookshop. Bookshop is a small company based in South London and was set up in early 2002. They have a small workforce of 4 people. Each person therefore has a large and important role to the company. Each worker is always hard pushed to meet deadlines for schools and social centres demanding books. Because that are a small company they cannot afford to have large computer staff to look after al their accounts. They are limited to the time that they can spend on different tasks. Each day they deal with a round à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000 worth of orders, but this might vary to as much as à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4500 or as little as à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500. The director of the company has put in a large lump sum as a loan to start off the company, which she hopes will trunk into profits, which she will later recoup. 1.2 Statement of the problem I have conducted an interview with the director of the company and we encountered the following problems. * Because the bookshop is new, there are many things that could go wrong and caused bankruptcy. There is the fact that the company has no real image and cannot conduct rely on customers. Therefore they need to profit maximise. They need all staff working to their full potential. They need no wastes of time with things that can be done automatically. * Also with the small amount of money available to them they had o make do with old computers, which ran old computer programs that are DOS based. * The problem that ABC Books as a company has is that it is limited to the workforce that it ca spend on different tasks. Therefore time is a major part of what is wrong. * If there were a way that was quicker than the current way to do it then the time taken by each person would be greatly reduced and there may be a chance that each person would have more time to do other jobs. For example two people handle all the accounts. * If there were an easier way then they might only need 1 person and therefore there would be an extra person left over to do other work. Because of a shortage of time that they spend on the accounts, orders dont get delivered and because it is a small business, it needs all the orders it can get and any a late order and schools will look to other suppliers. This was picked up on by Pat Horsefield (director) when a meeting was held to discuss the problems with the system. Mrs. Horsefield feels that: * with the introduction of a computer accounts system, * a system that can process customer orders faster and more accurately, * a reduction in the amount of paper generated by the system and feels that a centralised system could improve communication between staff, then the whole company will run more smoothly and then they would make more money and she would start going in to profit As the company is new they have not got enough capital to go out and but fleets of vans and cars, they have to rely on people own cars and transport of that of a delivery company which all costs money. Because of this they need to save money on expensive large especially designed programs by large specialist companys that produce such programs. 2. Investigation 2.1 The current system The current system that the company use is a spreadsheet package that was created 17 years ago and is therefore quite basic and not easy use for all the staff that are used to more modern forms of spreadsheets. At the moment as each school places an order, it has to go through a processing system that takes a long time to fill out. Input Processing Output Forename Surname Position School Address Home Phone Mobile Books ordered Total Price Paid Payment method This is the route that the current data takes. 2.2 Constraints of the Current system The format of the current accounting system is in DOS and therefore has no GUI that is useable to a user for formats like EXCEL. The software and hardware are old and need to be replaced. * That main one is that it is not like the new accounts systems such as EXCEL and SAGE Line 100. There are many problems encountered when external people wish to view the accounts i.e. Auditors. * Another problem is that when outside people wish to review the accounts, they are totally unfamiliar with the system and are not able to use it correctly. This is mainly because of the layout and the basic look of the interface. * There is one major problem with the actual system and that is that it does not automatically perform calculations. Therefore all calculations need to be done using a calculator. This is time consuming. If there were a way that the users could just put in numbers and the computer could automatically calculate the totals and the answers the user would have more time to do other things. * Due to the lack of complexity of the system, errors are often made. 3. Requirements of the new system 3.1 General objectives The general objectives that I hope to be able to achieve are: * To create an up-to-date system that can be easily used by the staff and new staff * To be based on a modern GUI that all users will understand * To make it self explanatory so that new users will be able to pick up the methods quickly. * It will need to be able to hold the companys accounts * There will be no need for passwords to any of the data, as no strict personal data is held on the computer 3.2 Specific objectives quantitative * Customer accounts should be found in less then 20 seconds * The user should be able to locate a page by using in the click of a button. * All users should be able to use the system to do accounts. * Customer Details should be able to be printed off at the click of a button. * There should be buttons to do all reasonable jobs (print/open/add) * All pages should have links back to all the other pages, with the click of a macro and should be clearly labelled. 4. The current systems 4.1 Hardware The hardware that is available to the users is a small LAN of 4 computers and a server. All the computers have a barcode scanner for scanning in book barcode numbers and ISBNs. The computers that I have available for me to use are a set of 5 networked PCs at my house of which one has a barcode scanner. At college there is a large number of networked PCs for pupils use. They are all networked so that the users can log on to his/her area. The hardware available to me is Specifications Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Connectors: Audio Line In (1/8 Mini) Ethernet RJ45 Twisted-Pair (XBaseT) IEEE 1394 4 pin Unpowered IEEE 1394 6 pin Powered Keyboard 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2) Mouse 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2) Parallel 25 pin D-shell (IEEE 1284A) USB Universal Serial Bus 2.0 Video 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA) Included Devices: Keyboard Mouse Barcode Scanner Chassis Style: Tower Input Devices: Keyboard Mouse Modem Speed: 1mb Cable *networked to all 5 Modem Type: Na Included Network Card: Ethernet (10/100 Mbps) normalized-Processor Speed: 2000 Video Integration: Motherboard Included Monitor: No Included Printer: No Sound Support: 3D Audio CD-ROM Read Speed: 40 X (CD,CD-R) CD Rewrite Speed: 12 X (CD,CD-R) CD Write Speed: 32 X (CD,CD-R) DVD-ROM Read Speed: 16 X (CD,CD-R) Hard Drive Capacity: 80 GB Included Drives: DVD/CD-RW Combo Floppy Drive Hard Drive Number of Hard Drives Included: 1 Bus Speed: 400 MHz Installed Memory: 512 MB Max System Memory: 1.5 kB Shared Video Memory: 32 MB Number of PCI Slots: 2 Processor Class: Intel Pentium 4 Processor Processor Speed: 2.0 GHz All 5 of the PCs that I have available to me at my house are all the same. (see above) 4.2 Software The software that the user has available is Microsoft Windows 95 professional edition with Office 95 and all relevant software for the barcode scanners and for the tele-book ordering. What I have available to use is Microsoft XP professional with Office 2000 which has excel, which Im using to create the new spreadsheet program 4.3 Users IT skills and knowledge I feel that the users ICT knowledge and skills are limited to what they can do. They are inexperienced in computer use and therefore they have not developed, because of this there will need to be a basic and informative and self-explanatory interface. I think that the interface will need to be bold and relevant to the tasks. The user manual will have basic information in using the system as well as a trouble shooting section. 1. Consideration of a possible solution There are many different packages that I could use to create an accounts program there is Sage Line100, which is widely used in large company businesses. There is also Microsoft own Excel, which is widely used, in smaller businesses. I am going to use excel to create the program because it is the most commonly available and is therefore the best choice to use. I think that it is also the easiest to use out of the two because many people use the program already and have a basic knowledge of the program already and how it works. It is also a lot clearer to see than the basic graphics of Line100. there is also the case that Excel is cheaper to buy than a copy of Sage Line100. at à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½250, Line100 is rather too expensive for a small company. I feel that with the cheaper, only à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½89.99 Excel they will have a better deal on their hands. Microsoft Excel clearly dominates the spreadsheet market. Not too long ago, Lotus 1-2-3 was considered the standard spreadsheet. Excel now holds that distinction, with an estimated 90% market share.

Total Reward Approach to Reward Management

Total Reward Approach to Reward Management Every human being relationship blooms in the light of reward. As the world is going through a serious phase of recession, the amount which is paid to the employees and the form of payment done is therefore the issue that matters. The importance of Rewards is increasing in the world of commercial organisation and is definitely one of the major indicators of profitability and competitive advantages. One of the biggest determinants of rewards lies in the financial position of a particular organisation. The organisations are in constant pressure of producing reward schemes which accumulate all the factors from attraction to motivation of their employees, simultaneously while maintaining the viability of the companys financial and commercial scenario. Absence of reward schemes may have a devastating effect on the organisations performance. The concept of Total Reward has been evolving ever since, Management today is trying to widen up the meaning of the word Reward including both tangible and intangible aspects of rewarding their employees, (Armstrong and Brown,1999). On one side the tangible rewards ensure financial stability of the employee while on the other side the intangible rewards looks after the employees luxuries and compensates for future loss. Now a days managers and scholars are using Total Reward Management more and more as the modern management method According to the Human resources management Total Reward strategy needs to b examined and experienced often to obtain perfect and efficient results. This strategy guarantees a remarkable profit for the organization improving the staffs performance as well as contains the potential to solve and compensate the existing issues in the organization. Rewarding employees in any organization can affect attitudes, behaviour and motivation. Influence on the behaviour of workers seems to be particularly important, it will tend to extra effort if an employee knows that his achievements, work, creativity etc. will be measured, evaluated and rewarded accordingly. The increasing efforts of the employees will result into the companys increasing profitability and better customer service. It must mobilize the growing individual and collaborative involvement of all employees. Literature review: Today organizations are looking forward to increase their employees efforts by encouraging them to improve their performance beyond the organisations expectations and reducing labour cost to a minimum. Thus the study of employee motivation has constantly remained a managerial concern. This essay considers some of the main views of the organisations adopting a total reward approach to reward management. While answering such questions as what do you mean by total reward? How it is benefits the employees as well as the company? How does it motivate the employees? How is it monetarily profitable for the company? Etc. Reward management is concerned with the formulation and implementation of strategies and policies that aim to reward people fairly, equitably and consistently in accordance with their value to the organisation. It deals with the design, implementation and maintenance of reward processes and practices that are geared to the improvement of organizational, team and individual performance (Armstrong and Murlis 2006). If the organisation has a fairly distributed reward management then it not only progresses the company but also enhances employees skills and performance. Hence the organisation is under tremendous pressure of having a non bias reward distribution so as to avoid any chaos within the organisation. The reward management literature emphasizes the need to shift from short-term, ad hoc approaches to pay management to a longer-term, strategic approach. Changes in pay and benefits systems have therefore been prescribed as key HRM objectives, pulled together in the US literature under the rubric of the new pay (Lawler, 1995) It is therefore a major managerial concern about how they approach to the concept of total reward. Each organisation can have different criteria about elements that constitute total rewards. Paul Thompson (2001), further gives an elaborated definition of total reward by emphasises it not only encompasses rational scientific elements like wages, changeable pay and profits, but also more intangible non money related elements such as scope to attain and implement responsibility, career opportunity, education and development, the inherent motivation delivered by the work itself and the quality of working life provided by the organization. Essentially, the notion of total reward says that there is more to rewarding people than throwing money at them. Planning a long term reward holds the employee and motivates them to enhance their performance for better customer satisfaction. As Murlis and Watson (2001) refer to the importance of monetary values in designing a reward package but also about these not being the sole factors. She describes cash as being a weak tactic in the overall reward strategy and stresses that total reward policy should be based on building a much better understanding of what the employees expect in their rewards packages. Relationship between the organisation and the employees can be strengthened with the total reward approach. Therefore we need to see a very integrated and holistic approach while considering all aspects of rewards (Armstrong and Murlis, 2006) Hence it is essential to have a coherent reward strategy which helps to create a work experience that meets the needs of employees and encourages them to contribute extra effort, by developing a deal that addresses a broad range of issues and by spending reward dollars where they will be most effective in addressing workers shifting values. ONeal (1998). CIPD reward faculty members Wright and Murlis have created a significant diagram to present visually the various types of total reward. Its definition incorporates a wide range of approach but it is not the only solution for employee energetic. The idea of reward exchange is emphasized although quite frequently left out in the area at work definition. In combination unique and common motivation methods are provided to employees in exchange accordingly for their effort, results, work time, creativity, talent etc. There are five main key elements to keep secure and retain talented workers and also to motivate them optimally to accomplish possibly best business results (Davis, 2007:4). The key points stated by CIPD (2005) in the world at works total rewards: Compensation, Benefits, Work life, Performance, Development and career opportunities. Manas and Graham (2003) emphasize that developing and implementing a total reward approach has much in common with reward strategy development. According to Purcell (2004) and colleagues the organisation can contribute by communicating the values, giving employees a voice, setting up improved performance management processes, instituting formal recognition schemes and taking steps to improve work/life balance. Decisions such as giving voice to the employees by an organisation leads to the delegation of some powers to them regarding their respective expectation about rewards which helps the management in developing appropriate strategies. Developing and implementing a total reward approach may be difficult but the benefits are considerable. The employment relationship created by a total reward approach, which makes the maximum use of relational as well as transactional rewards, will appeal more to and engage individuals involving people in their own reward package design, dives them strong messages about the organisation and its values. At its best, it builds relationship capital. Pfeffer (1998) implicated a new idea to total reward approach in a powerful manner, Employees are able to use their skills in an effective and efficient way with interest and motivation in an enjoyable, challenging and empowered work environment, for which they should be shown appropriate appreciation by the organisation. This scenario creates such an environment for the employees, by which they got motivated and enhance their performance thereby proving beneficial for the company, but it would be less time consuming and simple to reward the employees monetarily then to plan and arrange intangible rewards. Case Study: Total Reward Statement as a document is created annually for every working member of the company on a regular basis. This document allows the employees to receive all the details regarding their benefits that have been received over the course of the year. As total rewards deals with tangible and non-tangible benefits it informs the employees about the salary drawn by them as well as a breakdown of all the other non-tangible profits that have been taken in exchange for their employment. Presenting the reward to the employee in cash terms proves to be very beneficial for the company as well as the employee. For example: if an employee has received shares. The reward statement shows the value of the shares and might as well show their trading history since the issue of the previous statement. There are many companies which have been adopting total reward strategies in the last few years and gaining benefits and improving their labour power. This paper shows a few companies dealing in different products and implementing total reward strategy. Beginning with one of Europes leading telecommunication services BT COMMUNICATIONS. The new reward framework is one of the biggest change initiatives in BTs history, covering more than 40,000 employees in total.(e-reward.co.uk research report, no. 35, July 2005). The idea of transforming its reward strategy from fairly traditional multi-grade pay structure to a total reward system was BTs essential Organizational Program.One area of focus in the new strategic HR agenda was to look at reward and address BTs Paternalistic approach to reward Says Kevin Brandy, HR Director Reward. (e-reward.co.uk, no. 35, July 2005). As the management of BT states, the alleged reasons for switching from the previous reward arrangement was to develop the changed view of the BT peoples regarding rewards. The organisation wasted Millions of pound annually on rewards because of the limitations of the employees in view of companys bonuses. Taking into consideration, the limitation of the earlier adopted reward strategy bounded employees to appreciate their benefits as well as lack understanding and awareness capabilities. By implicating the new reward framework BT affect 250-plus market based roles in 18 job families. BTs strategy is basically based on the role and performance of the employees. As on the other hand, benefits and bonuses given are based on the external market. Giving total reward an broader offer BT has tried to renovate the reward strategy, by going beyond the standard remuneration of the base pay including bonuses. For BT, total reward is not just an ordinary reward strategy used for paying wages to the employees. Its about bonus and benefits, such as company cars and health insurance, shares and pensions, role-based reward, performance-based pay and choice and flexibility in benefits provision. Henceforth three main elements of the reward package influence BTs new total reward approach: Base Salary, Bonus, Benefits (Armstrong and Thompson, 1999). STARBUCKS being one of the worlds largest speciality coffee retailer having 1300 store worldwide, hire around 200 people per day and grow US revenues by 25 to 30 percent on top of US$4.1 billion in revenues from the previous fiscal year. According to Chet Kuchinad, SVP of Total Pay We build the Starbucks experience by delivering pay elements to our partners that drive financial rewards in the success of the company in a meaningful way. In order to strengthen and constrain the culture of Starbucks, innovative reward strategy and payment programs have been introduced. Full- and part-time partners (who meet eligibility criteria) are offered health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as access to an employee assistance program (EAP), reimbursement accounts, short- and long-term disability, and Working Solutions, Inc. (a resource and referral service) to help manage work and family issues (Wilson group.com, case study on Starbucks).The employees receiving the rewards greatly appreciate and value the reward and, as a result, provide a better a service to the customers. According to Starbucks, total reward has played a very important role in benefitting the company but there are many other factors in human resources which affect the companys stability. Examples include employee education, an open n highly communicative environment and a unique program adopted by Starbucks called Mission Review, which is a part of a broader program called Partner Snapshot. Partner Snapshot deals with gaining feedback from the companys partners. However the functions of human resources in Starbucks continue. Rewards and profits were considered by the introduction of total reward that included additional health benefits, maturation of healthcare delivery, and coverage for same sex partners, and an employee assistance program. However, pay alone will not attract people. Our Total Pay philosophy and our culture of teamwork and community are all key parts of why people join and stay with Starbucks. (Starbucks) The next case study deals with Audit, Consulting, Financial advisory, Risk management and Tax services. DELOITTE also known as Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DDTL), is a UK private company limited by guarantee. Mark Carman, sales and marketing director of Motivano, Deloitte says Total reward can b a win-win from the perspective of en employee as the reassurance and support available from knowing exactly what your salary and benefits package is worth can have a huge impact on their performance, engagement and motivation. With the rising value of rewards and benefits the company proprietor are using total reward to improve and support their affiliation with employees. Deloitte explains five main steps in creating effective total reward communication: Create clear and concise messages. Think about brand and design. Check the accuracy of your data. Consider security of your personal information. Work with other internal experts. BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB is a US-owned pharmaceuticals company. Bristol-Mayers Squibb was going through a mystification of employees regarding reward strategies. As compared to the external competitive market the company was not able to reward the employees, employees were lacking the understanding of the reward which they received and there was an awareness that the wages and the benefits given to them were not as fine as the competitive market offered. Transformation to a flexible reward strategy was very necessary for Bristol-Mayers Squibb which supports the recruitment and maintenance, bringing all the strategies together Bristol introduced the total reward strategy. Portraying everything as work experience, Bristol-Mayers Squibb kept the usual peculiarity between rewards and remuneration. As a result the company received employees which consists appreciation, work-life balance, civilization, employee development and the working environment HENNES MAURITZ (HM) is a 100 billion SEK company, Engaged in designing and retailing of fashion apparel and accessories. Hennes Mauritz appears to provide a total reward framework, with greater emphasis on relational rewards even though transactional rewards are provided (Armstrong (2006), pp.639-631). Hennes Mauritz reward strategy includes many other human resources area like organizational traditions, conscription or selection etc. Implementing total reward management was a very successful concept in the history of Hennes Mauritz. The increasing sales are the evidence of the profitability of HM business as the employees are motivated with job satisfaction as a reward and perform their job as well as contribute their best to ensure customer satisfaction. This case study acknowledges about the companies adopting total rewards from a long period of time and improving their business skills. Though there are some disadvantages to this approach. Starting with the employees, they find it very difficult to understand and expensive to set up as well as complicated to maintain. Although the advanced technology is helping organization to reduce burden as well as reduce cost. The vast range of choices may create a problem both to the company and the workers. There might also be wastage as the employees may not appreciate the full reward package. Conclusion: The reward approach not only takes care of the financial security of the employees but also looks after the overall development of their employees in the society. Its a delicate matter that should be perfectly balanced especially when the organization is rewarding different people working in one team. The advantages of total reward approach are substantial, but developing and putting it into practice may be a difficult task, by the use of relational and transactional rewards the employment relationships created by total rewards approach can be maximised. The total reward approach creates a strong communication about the organisation and its values by satisfying the employees and engaging them in their own designed reward package. At its best, it builds relationship capital.

Causes Of The American Civil W Essay -- essays research papers

Sectional tension increased during the mid 19th century bringing America into a civil war. There were a few important factors that helped to increase tensions in both the North and the South. Some of these factors were the Anti-Slavery movement, Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Fugitive Slave Law, John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the election of Abraham Lincoln into Presidency. There were quite a few events that caused tensions in the North. The anti-slavery movement greatly influenced the north’s feelings toward slavery. Writers like William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote on the topic of slavery and helped lead the movement against it. In his newspaper, The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison shared his wish for complete and immediate abolition: "tell a mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen -- but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present." The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 angered the North because it voided the Missouri Compromise that they agreed to 34 years prior. The Free States felt they were undermined. The Fugitive Slave Law fueled the anti-slavery feelings in the North. It was probably one of the most important causes that bought on war. The law said that if slaves escape from the North, northerners are responsible for assisting in his capture and return. This brought many questions to peop...

1970s Religion and Policies for Today :: Essays Papers

1970s Religion and Policies for Today I vividly remember sitting in my ninth grade world history class, only six short years ago, when my teacher announced that next week we would begin a four week study on world religions. A nervous murmur swept through thirty students, all thinking the same thought, â€Å"oh no, here we go again.† Why is religion in our preparatory schools such a touchy topic? Teachers would rather not address religion or they carefully tip-toeing around the topic? While attending Big Bear High School (a typical southern California school with about 1,000 students) I learned a lot about how religion is taught and how religious issues are handled. Raised in a Christian home, having my father teaching at the same school I attended, and practicing Christianity my entire life, I watched carefully throughout my high school education to see how my teachers would deal with the world and U.S. religions that play an enormous role in the history of our world and country. I am primarily interested in how religion was taught in the early 1970s. Including: what religions were covered, how they were integrated into the text, and the values of the religion that were presented. With my interest in possibly majoring in religious studies I feel that I have an excellent understanding of how religion is taught in our high schools today, but I don’t have a thorough understanding of what it was like to grow up in school in the 1970s and go through school. How was religion presented in the textbooks of schools in the 1970s? My primary goal of this paper is to further my understanding of religion in high schools of the 1970s. Then I would like to further my study by looking at newer documents and regulations that are in place now to govern religion that is taught and expressed in our schools today. What I expect to find is that religion was taught similarly in the 70s without all the newer policies and guidelines of today. Lastly I would like to look at how these policies and regulations in our public schools are affecting our students.

Political Activism in Turkey, Morocco, Egypt and Greece :: Essays on Politics

Political Activism in Turkey, Morocco, Egypt and Greece Welcome to yet another speech, through the past four reports or 137 I have studied student political participation and activism and I hope through my speeches you have learned at least a little on the topic. As well as the role it plays in culture as we defined it way back in Turkey. In Turkey we defined culture as a dynamic social construct both exhibited and defined by beliefs, traditions, values, history and language. Now, as I go through my speech I'll cover a little bit about my learning plan and what that outlined in this study, compare and contrast my observations and assessments of Turkey, Morocco, Egypt and Greece, analyze the cultural impact of the student movement through out these countries and conclude with what I have taken from this study especially in regards to the 5 th country represented in our travels, that being the US. I'll begin with my learning plan. In reviewing my learning plan I am surprised by how accurately it explained and represented what I came to study in the past few months. Especially given it was conceived August 8 th the night before our picnic with Pat, with absolutely very little background for understanding the topic. In looking at my plan, it outlined studying student political participation and activism and students relation to political institutions in each country. All the while, allowing for a redefinition of political participation according to the culture being studied. This added an objectivity which I really tried to maintain throughout. The main components that I have studied throughout all of the countries are to analyze the different views placed on ideals such as freedom of speech, movement and association, study the history of student political participation in each country and the form that participation has taken, define the inflammatory issues in each country and lastly, gage the level of political participation. As I was rereading my speeches the other night I was pleased to see all of my speeches remained focused on these questions. So hopefully today's speech is going just as well. Now I am going to compare and contrast my observations and analysis of each of the four countries. To do this I decided that I wanted to have a bit more of a quantitative method. Therefore I went online to Freedom House and look up a little extra information.

History of Babylonia Essay

Babylon is Akkadian â€Å"babilani† which means â€Å"the Gate of God(s)† and it became the capital of the land of Babylonia. The etymology of the name Babel in the Bible means â€Å"confused† (Gen 11:9) and throughout the Bible, Babylon was a symbol of the confusion caused by godlessness. The name Babylon is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Babel. The Early Growth of Babylon There is evidence that man has lived in this area of Mesopotamia since the beginning of civilization. The first records indicate that Babylon was established as a city around the 23rd century BC. Before this it was a provincial capital ruled by the kings of the city of Ur. Then came the migration of the Amorites. Quick Overview of Babylonian History Babylonia (pronounced babilahnia) was an ancient empire that existed in the Near East in southern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Throughout much of their history their main rival for supremacy were their neighbors, the Assyrians. It was the Babylonians, under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, and carried God’s covenant people into captivity in 587 BC. The Bible reveals much about the Babylonians all the way back from the time of Hammurapi (2000 BC) to the fall of Babylon (about 500 BC). Throughout the Old Testament there are references to the Babylonians, their people, culture, religion, military power, etc. Babylonia was a long, narrow country about 40 miles wide at its widest point and having an area of about 8,000 square miles. It was bordered on the north by Assyria, on the east by Elam, on the south and west by the Arabian desert, and on the southeast by the Persian Gulf. The earliest known inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the Sumerians, whom the Bible refers to as the people of the â€Å"land of Shinar† (Gen 10:10). Sargon, from one of the Sumerian cities, united the people of Babylonia under his rule about 2300 B.C. Many scholars believe that Sargon might have been the  same person as Nimrod (Gen 10:8). Artists Depiction of the Ziggurat at Ur Around 2000 BC Hammurapi emerged as the ruler of Babylonia. He expanded the borders of the Empire and organized its laws into a written system, also known as the Code of Hammurapi. About this time Abraham left Ur, an ancient city located in lower Babylon, and moved to Haran, a city in the north. Later, Abraham left Haran and migrated into the land of Canaan under God’s promise that he would become the father of a great nation (Gen 12). Alongside of Babylonia there must also be a mention of Assyria, which bordered Babylonia on the north. Assyria’s development was often intertwined with the course of Babylonian history. About 1270 BC, the Assyrians overpowered Babylonia. For the next 700 years, Babylonia was a lesser power as the Assyrians dominated the ancient world. Around 626 BC, Babylonian independence was finally won from Assyria by a leader named Nabopolassar. Under his leadership, Babylonia again became the dominant imperial power in the Near East and thus entered into her â€Å"golden age.† In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II, the son of Nabopolassar, became ruler and reigned for 44 years. Under him the Babylonian Empire reached its greatest strength. Using the treasures which he took from other nations, Nebuchadnezzar built Babylon, the capital city of Babylonia, into one of the leading cities of the world. The famous hanging gardens of Babylon were known to the Greeks as one of the seven wonders of the world. As previously mentioned, in 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried the leading citizens of the Kingdom of Judah as prisoners to Babylon. The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah had foretold that the Jews would be free to return home to Jerusalem after 70 years. The Lord had encouraged His people through Ezekiel and Daniel who were also captives in Babylon. During this 70 year period of captivity, the Persians conquered Babylonia, and the Babylonians passed from the scene as a world power. Throughout the long period of Babylonia history, the Babylonians achieved a  high level of civilization that made an impact on the whole known world. Sumerian culture was its basis, which later Babylonians regarded as traditional. In the area of religion, the Sumerians already had a system of gods, each with a main temple in each city. The chief gods were Anu, god of heaven; Enlil, god of the air; and Enki or Ea, god of the sea. Others were Shamash, the sungod; Sin, the moon-god; Ishtar, goddess of love and war; and Adad, the storm-god. The Amorites promoted the god Marduk at the city of Babylon, so that he became the chief god of the Babylonian religion, starting around 1100 BC. Babylonian religion was temple-centered, with elaborate festivals and many different types of priests, especially the exorcist and the diviner, who mainly were trained to drive away evil spirits. Babylonian literature was mainly dominated by mythology and legends. Among these was a creation myth written to glorify their god Marduk. According to this myth, Marduk created heaven and earth from the corpse of the goddess Tiamat. Another work was the Gilgamesh Epic, a flood story written about 2000 BC. Scientific literature of the Babylonians included treatises on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, botany, and nature. One of the main aspects of Babylonian culture was a codified system of law. Hammurapi’s famous code was the successor of earlier collections of laws going back to about 2050 BC. The Babylonians used art for the national celebration of great events and glorification of the gods. It was marked by stylized and symbolic representations, but it expressed realism and spontaneity in the depiction of animals. The Old Testament contains many references to Babylonia. Gen 10:10 mentions four Babylonian cities, Babel (Babylon), Erech (Uruk), Accad (Agade) and Calneh. These, along with Assyria, were ruled by Nimrod. Ancient Babylonia – Monarchy The Babylonian political structure was a monarchy. The king ruled through a number of officials who were directly under and responsible to him but he could intervene personally at any level of government and administration. Thus Hammurapi (1792-1750 BC) took a direct hand in dealing with property claims in Larsa after he had captured that city-state. The monarchy  was hereditary and maleprimogeniture seems to have been the guiding principle. Babylonian historians designated a continuous line of kings a â€Å"dynasty†. The king was an absolute monarch and in the very early period there were a few checks to his authority in that he had to respect custom and tradition, private property, the sensibilities of the nobles, religion and divination. The king was the ultimate authority in all areas except religion where he was subject to the dictates of the chief god as represented by his chief priest. Thus in the New Year’s festival the king’s role included being slapped in the face by the chief priest and pulled by the ears as a sign of his subservience to the god. Ancient Babylonia – Communication, Roads and Scribes Efficient administration of the country depended upon good communications through a system of roads and relay stations for messengers. Written communications passed back and forth in great number and required a large body of trained scribes. Most people, including the king and his officials, were illiterate so that they were heavily dependent upon the scribes both to write and interpret their commands and reports in an appropriate manner. Many of these letters have been discovered in modern times and they provide a fascinating glimpse of the real events and human relationships of the day, in contrast to the official versions found in royal inscriptions. Ancient Babylonia – Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II marched back to Babylon and was crowned king, which inaugurated one of the most powerful periods in Babylonian history. Nebuchadnezzar continued his brilliant campaigns focusing his military maneuvers on the west, which he effectively brought under his control. It was the kingdom of Judah who had called upon Egypt to assist them against the Babylonians. King Nebuchadnezzar continued his attacks and on his second conquest the conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC taking the survivors as prisoners back to Babylon. This was known in Jewish history has â€Å"the Babylonian captivity†and â€Å"the exile†. After he destroyed Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar focused his attacks upon Egypt and he conquered it in 568 BC though there  has been no detailed account of this invasion ever discovered, it remains a tremendous success for the king of Babylon and the first time any Chaldean king had ever conquered Egypt. After Nebuchadnezzar’s death his successors remained obscure untilNabonidus (555-539 BC), the last of the dynasty, ascended the throne. According to history Nabonidus, for some reason, lived throughout 10 of the 17 years that he ruled, at an Arab desert oasis called Tema, which was a vast distance from Babylon. In Babylon he left his son Belshazzar, to rule on his behalf. Nabonidus and his mother were from Harran and claimed to have been a loyal subject to the last of the Assyrian kings. Both he and his mother were zealous worshipers of the moon-god Sin, the tutelary deity of Harran, but when Nabonidus tried to promote this cult in Babylonia, the native priests, especially those who followed Marduk, became enraged. This religious controversy split Babylonia in two. Some of this literary propaganda of the time has been recovered. Babylonian culture flourished during the pax Assyriaca of the 7th century BC and again under the Chaldean dynasty of the sixth century BC. Their god Nabu, son of Marduk and god of writing and learning became very popular throughout that period. The practice of astrology permeated the Babylonian society to the point that there were nightly watches by the astrologers throughout the kingdom. Archeologists have recently recovered massive detailed records of the movements of heavenly bodies. Literature was copied and studied and many new compositions were created. In art and architecture the most impressive remains that have been unearthed by archeologists are in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. The city apparently had not changed much when the Greek historianHerodotus wrote about it less than a century later and called its Hanging Gardens one of the 7 wonders of the world. In 539 BC Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon. Ancient Babylonia – Houses and Farms Around the temple were clusters of houses made of sun-dried brickand inhabited by farmers and artisans. The populations of the Babylonian cities cannot be estimated with any reasonable degree of accuracy, because the  authorities, so far as extant documents reveal, took no census. The number of inhabitants of a city probably ranged from 10,000 to 50,000. The city streets were narrow, winding, and quite irregular, with high, windowless walls of houses on both sides. The streets were unpaved and undrained. The average house was a small, one-story, mud-brick structure, consisting of several rooms grouped around a court. The house of a well-to-do Babylonian, on the other hand, was probably a two-story brick dwelling of about a dozen rooms and was plastered and whitewashed both inside and out. The ground floor consisted of a reception room, kitchen, lavatory, servants’ quarters, and, sometimes, even a private chapel. Furnitureconsisted of low tables, high-backed chairs, and beds with wooden frames. Household vessels were made of clay, stone, copper, and bronze, and baskets and chests of reed and wood. Floors and walls were adorned with reed mats, skin rugs, and woolen hangings. Below the house was often located a mausoleum in which the family dead were buried. The Babylonians believed that the souls of the dead traveled to the nether world, and that, at least to some extent, life continued there as on earth. For this reason, pots, tools, weapons, and jewels were buried with the dead. Agriculture formed the economic base of Babylonian civilization with production of barley, wheat, fruits, vegetables, with cattle and sheep predominating. The main crop in the time of the ancient Babylonians was barley. The farmer would sow his seed with a tool known as a â€Å"seeder plough† The plough would create a furrow into which a seed would be dropped using a funnel. A man would have to walk beside the seeder plough and drop the seeds in at regular intervals. This would mean that all the seeds would be at exactly the correct depth. It would have taken considerable skill to achieve tasks such as irrigationand the winnowing. If the farmer got the irrigation wrong he could flood the field or let it get too dry to allow the plants to grow. Similarly if the farmer did the winnowing in too strong a wind the grain would also blow away but if he did in too weak a wind there would be chaff and dirt still mixed in. The farmer would have probably followed his father in his trade and would have been taught by him. The farmer would almost certainly have been â€Å"apprenticed† by his father. Ancient Babylonia – Social Hierarchy There were several levels in the social hierarchy with the king at the top and the slaves at the bottom. In between, in descending order, were the nobles, the free citizens and those in military and civil service. The class structure was generally rigid although some mobility from one level to another was possible. The debt slave had the possibility of paying his debts and regaining his freedom but the only hope for the foreign captive was escape or death. Thus in Babylonian society there were mainly three classes in society, theawilu, a free person of the upper class; the wardu, or slave; and themushkenu, a free person of low estate, who ranked legally between the awilu and the wardu. Most slaves were prisoners of war, but some were recruited from the Babylonian citizenry as well. For example, free persons might be reduced to slavery as punishment for certain offenses; parents could sell their children as slaves in time of need; or a man might even turn over his entire family to creditors in payment of a debt, but for no longer than three years. Ancient Babylonia – Schools For the most part the only education that a young Babylonian might have received would have been of a scribal type. Those who were sent to school to train as a scribe had to be children of wealthy or influential parents. Boys were admitted and possibly girls as well. There is no doubt that rich women often had a lot of freedom and influence. By the time of Hammurapi (1792-60) the language of Sumerian had been replaced by Akkadian as the commonly spoken language in Babylonia but Sumerian was  still used for nearly all religious texts. It was therefore necessary to train students, not only in the script, cuneiform, but in the language as well. The students’ education would begin when he was eight or nine years old. Each day he would get up at sunrise and go to school, which was commonly known as the tablet house. At the tablet house there would be a man like a schoolmaster. His title literally meant â€Å"the Expert.† There would be a number of other teachers who would each specialize in a different aspects of Sumerian and its writing. To keep order some of the senior students would be appointed as a helper. A student’s work would consist of copying tablets using a slab of wet clay. Also he would learn various texts by heart. If he successfully passed an examination the student became a scribe. Ancient Babylonia – Astronomy and the Calendar The observations of the astrologers, which were meticulously recorded on a nightly basis over many centuries, led to accurate predictions of various astronomical phenomena and the correct calculation of the solar and lunar year. The Babylonian calendar was based upon the lunar year but, thanks to the astrologer’s knowledge, could be reconciled with the solar year by means of intercalary months. We owe much of our calendar system to the Babylonians. They were probably the first people after the Sumerians to have a calendar. This calendar was very important because without it agriculture could not be planned properly. There were twelve lunar months in the year but as the months were shorter than our months often an extra month would have to be added. This was called the second Elul. Each week was divided into seven days. The day was divided into six parts each of two hours duration and containing thirty parts. The Babylonians measured time with a water or sun clock. One can see from this that the Babylonian calendar has markedsimilarities with our own: for instance the twelve months in the year and seven days in a week. Ancient Babylonia – Medicine Medicine was practiced by two kinds of experts: the physician(asu), and the exorcist (dsipu), and the talents of either or both might be demanded at the sick bed. There was a whole set of diagnostic texts in which a multitude of possible symptoms was listed and the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment given. Surgery was known and even delicate operations on the eye were performed. The Babylonians had a superb knowledge of human and animal anatomy and physiology and were aware, for example, of the circulation of the blood and the pulse. Ancient Babylonia – Cuneiform The script of the Sumerians and all the other inhabitants of Mesopotamia employed to write their language, up to the first century BC was cuneiform. The name cuneiform comes from theLatin word â€Å"cuneus†, meaning wedge. According to Babylonian beliefs Nabu, the god of scribal arts, who was also the city god of Borsippa, gave cuneiform to them. When the Akkadians, Semite invaders from the desert, adopted the Sumerian civilization and part of the Sumerian Territory they also adopted cuneiform. They adapted the script to fit their own. The next wave of Semite invaders, the Amorites, did likewise, but they continued to speak the Akkadian tongue. Thus we find Hammurapi (1792-1760 BC) who was an Amorite, speaking Akkadian and writing cuneiform. Since the time of Hammurapi, successive Mesopotamian empires controlled huge empires in the Near East. Because of this cuneiform, Akkadian became the lingua franca of the Near East, as Latin was of Medieval Europe. This of course ended when Mesopotamian civilization declined so that cuneiform was no longer being used by about the first century BC. When the Sumerians first brought cuneiform into being it was nothing like the script that it was to become. It was an ideogramatical script (a symbol represented by a word). For example a picture of sheep would mean sheep. When the Sumerians came into contact with the Akkadians they needed to adapt their script to fit. This was necessary even to write Akkadian names. Obviously it was far more important for the Akkadians because they needed to write their language in it. Cuneiform then underwent a transformation. It became a syllogramatical script where each symbol represented a sound.  Therefore the symbol for a word such as ‘dig’, if we took an English equivalent would be correctly used in the second syllable of ‘indignant’. This transformation enabled cuneiform to be used with other languages. As cuneiform changed from an ideogramatical to a syllogramatical scriptits symbols were simplified. The original pictograms were complicated and hard to write on clay tablets. The symbols developed, losing many of their lines and the remaining lines were wedge shaped and straight. Cuneiform was originally written with a reed or stick stylus but this was quickly developed into a precision tool. We have derived virtually all our knowledge of the Babylonians from texts written in cuneiform on clay tablets. From these tablets we have been able to learn their law, business, administration, religion and all other aspects of Babylonian civilization. Without these texts we would know little about the Babylonians. http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaBabylonia00000023.htm HISTORY OF THE HITTITES The first Indo-European empire: 17th century BC A group of tribes, speaking Indo-European languages and collectively known as the Hittites, establish themselves as the dominant power in Anatolia. Their capital is at Bogazkoy, a dramatically fortified city on a steep slope among ravines; its walls and towers enclose no fewer than five great temples. The priest-king who makes this place his capital in the 17th century BC is Hattusilis I. He has ambitions for his people. Moving south and east with his army, he reaches the Mediterranean and continues into northern Syria. Eager to give his empire full credentials, Hattusilis brings back from Syria a team of scribes, expert in cuneiform. They adapt the cuneiform script to a new purpose, the recording of an Indo-European language, and they lay the foundation for an important state archive at Bogazkoy. When the clay tablets of this archive are discovered, in the 20th century, they provide the basis for our knowledge of the Hittites. The magic of iron: from 1500 BC The Hittites are the first people to work iron, in Anatolia from about 1500 BC. In its simple form iron is less hard than bronze, and therefore of less use as a weapon, but it seems to have had an immediate appeal – perhaps as the latest achievement of technology (with the mysterious quality of being changeable, through heating and hammering), or from a certain intrinsic magic (it is the metal in meteorites, which fall from the sky). Quite how much value is attached to iron can be judged from a famous letter of about 1250 BC, written by a Hittite king to accompany an iron dagger-blade which he is sending to a fellow monarch The furthest extent of the empire: 16th – 12th century BC In about 1600 the Hittites reach and destroy Babylon, before retreating again to their Anatolian heartland. In the 14th century they march again to establish an empire which reaches into northern Syria, east of the Euphrates, and extends down the Mediterranean coast to confront the Egyptians. A hard-fought but inconclusive engagement at Kadesh in 1275 stablizes the frontier between the two power blocs. It is followed some years later by a treaty and the marriage of the daughter of the Hittite king (Hattusilis III) to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II.   In the 12th century the Hittite empire suddenly collapses – overwhelmed, it is thought, by the onrush of the Sea Peoples. These terrifying intruders are described in Egyptian chronicles as raging down the coast to threaten the frontiers of Egypt in about 1218 and again in 1182 BC http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ab66#ixzz2HIAKxOZL The Hittites were an Ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in on the central Anatolian plateau in the 18th century BC. The HittiteEmpire reached its height around 1285 BC,  encompassing a large part of Anatolia, north-westernSyria about as far south as the mouth of the Litani River, and eastward into upper Mesopotamia. After ca. 1180 BC, the empire d isintegrated into several independent â€Å"Neo-Hittite† city-states, some surviving until as late as the 8th century BC. The term â€Å"Hittites† was taken from the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible, translating ×â€"× ªÃ—â„¢ HTY, or ב×  Ã—â„¢-×â€"× ª BNY-HT â€Å"Children of Heth† (Heth is a son of Canaan). The archaeologists who discovered the Anatolian Hittites in the 19th century initially identified them with these Biblical Hittites. Today the identification of the Biblical peoples with either the Hattusa-based empire or the Neo-Hittite kingdoms is a matter of dispute. The Hittite kingdom was commonly called the Land of Hatti by the Hittites themselves. The fullest expression is â€Å"The Land of the City of Hattusa.† This description could be applied to either the entire empire, or more narrowly just to the core territory, depending on context. The word â€Å"Hatti† is actually an Akkadogram, rather than Hittite; it is never declined according to Hittite grammatical rules. Despite the use of â€Å"Hatti†, the Hittites should be distinguished from the Hattians, an earlier people who inhabited the same region until the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, and spoke a non-Indo-European language called Hattic. The Hittites themselves referred to their language as Nesili (or in one case, Kanesili), an adverbial form meaning â€Å"in the manner of (Ka)nesa†, presumably reflecting a high concentration of Hittite speakers in the ancient city of Kanesh (modern Kà ¼ltepe, Turkey). Many modern city names in Turkey are first recorded under their Hittite names, such as Sinop and Adana, reflecting the contiguity of modernAnatolia with its ancient past. Although belonging to the Bronze Age, the Hittites were forerunners of the Iron Age, developing the manufacture of Iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BC, when letters to foreign rulers reveal the demand for their iron goods. Recent excavations, however, have discovered evidence of iron tool production dating back at least as far as the 20th century BC. Hittite weapons were made from Bronzethough; iron was so rare and precious

Still Alice

Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 Life is a precious gift. It is not about the gifts we are given in our lives, but how we use those gifts. Do we take for granted our lives and just how precious they are or does it take a tragedy to really find out? Still Alice is a moving novel describing the inevitable downward spiral Alzheimer’s disease causes and how we must appreciate all we have because at any age, our lives could change drastically.It is unimaginable how Alzheimer’s disease changes a person’s entire life, but with the support of family, friends, and colleagues, it is possible for Alice to stay true to herself, live with the disease, and remember she is not the disease, but rather still Alice (Genova). Dr. Alice Howland, a fifty-one year old woman, is a fantastic mother, wife, and professor at Harvard University. After struggling with simple everyday tasks involving her memory, Alice decided to see a doctor to get evaluated to see if there was anythin g to be concerned about.Ruling out it was not menopausal symptoms or the stress of everyday life, she was sent home and told to continue to evaluate herself at home. About a month later, she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease (Genova). This diagnosis changed her life forever. John, Alice’s husband, was closest to her and they had an incredible relationship and marriage. Unfortunately for Alice, John never fully understood what she was going through. When Alice first breaks the news to him, he went into immediate denial. He took her to another doctor and had more tests run.It was somehow impossible to believe the love of his life, the perfect, intelligent woman he married would have to struggle and lose herself for the rest of their lives. After awhile of denial, he became aware of how much she really needed him to be there for her. He set aside his true feelings and began doing more things to help her feel happy and not trudge on through life. The best thing he did for her was go running every single night with her. Not only was it great alone time for them, but he Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 as helping her feel youthful and like herself again each time they took a jog. Sometimes his undying love for his wife would take over and he would be there for her, especially the night she got lost in their own home and she broke down. He held her while she sobbed (Genova 150). Overtime it was if the disease became too hard for John to handle and he missed who is wife used to be rather than loving her unconditionally. He lost his patience quickly which showed one night when Alice went to change, but could not figure out how to get her bra on, but she did not realize she was holding underwear instead.She quickly laughed it off while John yelled at her telling her how it was not funny she was losing her mind (Genova 199). In the end, Alzheimer’s was overtaking John’s life and rather than living with it, he pretended as if Alice would just tag along with him to a new job promotion in New York. Alice and her children knew this would make her memory and mindset go downhill quickly, but John did not seem to care. Leaving her behind with a caretaker and their children in Cambridge, John went on to New York (Genova). Alice’s colleagues were a different story.Alice finished the semester and was hoping to teach another year at Harvard, but her student evaluations made her decision for her. It was evident she was not the same great professor she used to be and her ability to conduct class was declining fast to the point where she would repeat the same lecture or show up on some days for a few minutes then just leave (Genova 180). She told her boss about her disease and together they decided it would be best for her to take the year off and then take a sabbatical. Her boss felt horrible, but Alice knew it was best and she never wanted to be known has a bad professor so this was best.Besides having to end her professional career, Alice’s role as a mother and wife were deeply impacted. At times she would not know who her children were, especially Lydia, â€Å"the actress†. She tried her best to be loving and caring for all three of her children and her husband, Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 but sometimes it became overwhelming and she just needed alone time. One night Lydia, her daughter, was there to stay the night while John was out of town and Alice did her best to force her out and claim she didn’t need her help. Lydia knew better and out of the love for her mother, she stayed with her all night.Alice continued loving John unconditionally even when it was hard and she felt a little depressed. With all of her heart, she never wanted to let her husband go. She constantly reminded her family she loved them even when eventually she wouldn’t remember them (Genova). Alzheimer’s is never good, but it can give secret blessing. The bigge st blessing she received as a result of her disease was the relationship with her daughter Lydia. All along Alice had a hard time supporting Lydia because she wanted her to go to college instead of aspiring to be an actress.Realizing it is more important to be a supportive mother, Alice went to Lydia’s performances and discussed acting with her daughter. They became closer than they ever and Alice was so proud at the end of the book hen Lydia was accepted and planned to attended Brandeis University in their hometown (Genova 258). After reading this novel, I thought very carefully on whether or not I would want to know if I will have Alzheimer’s or not like Alice’s children found out in the novel. I came to the conclusion; I would not want to know. Living life to its absolute fullest is what I am all about.Knowing down the road in my later life I will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s would scare me. I think I would stray away from the carefree, fun-loving per son I am and just become stressed for my own future and what was to come. I love living in the moment, and if the moment arrives where I am diagnosed with this disease, I will face the challenge, but until then, I am going to enjoy every minute of my life. Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 I admire Alice for the person she was throughout the entire book and her daughter Lydia’s attitude.There is little time for being sad right when someone is diagnosed, but after that you have to be supportive and caring. It’s not the disease caretakers live with, but the person and I feel that is very crucial to remember. As the presenter said in class, â€Å"There are rules of engagement we must recognize. They live in their own reality, have their own logic, and cannot reason, therefore we need to enter their reality† (Ms. Byergo). Accepting them for who they are and who they will become with the disease is the best thing I can think I would do.It would be an honor to w ork with elderly and individuals with Alzheimer’s or a form of dementia. With the typical person being older than I am now, they would have so much wisdom and things to teach me. I think telling stories and sharing memories is a great way to relive the great days before the disease really takes over. I am a great listener and love hearing stories from older, wiser people because they have more fully experienced life and shared in the beauty of it. They can relive their youth through me and I could learn how to become a fantastic adult through them.It would be a great experience. Still Alice surprised me by how well written and real life it was. I felt like I was part of the Howland family and as if I was going through everything with them. It captured my attention and stole my heart. I can’t imagine going through such an experience, but if I ever do, I will be glad I read this novel. Still Alice, October 15,2012, #14159336 Works Cited Byergo, Ms. â€Å"Aging and Alzhe imer’s. † University of Missouri. Arts & Science Building, Columbia, MO. 9 October 2012. Lecture. Genova, Lisa. Still Alice: A Novel. New York: Gallery, 2009. Print.