Friday, December 27, 2019

AP English Literature - Learn What Score You Need

AP English Literature and Composition is one of the more popular Advanced Placement subjects. Nevertheless,  roughly 175,000 more students took the AP English Language course and exam in 2018. The literature course is primarily focused on college-level literary analysis, and students who do well on the AP English Literature exam will often earn college credit for composition or literature. About the AP English Literature Course and Exam The AP English Literature course covers important literary works from a range of genres, periods and cultures. Students learn close-reading and analytical skills, and they learn to identify a literary works structure, style, tone, and use of literary conventions such as imagery and figurative language.   Students in AP Literature work at becoming active readers; in other words, they learn to become thoughtful and critical readers who can analyze and appreciate the various writing strategies employed by a wide range of authors.   The course has no required reading list, and individual AP instructors are free to choose any literary works that invite a rewarding reading experience. Genres will include poetry, drama, fiction, and expository prose. Most texts will have been originally written in English and may have originated in the United States, Canada, England, Africa, India, and elsewhere. A few works—such as a Russian classic or Greek tragedy—might be read in translation. The focus of the course, however, is much more on reading and writing skills, not specific authors. On the writing front, students learn to write effective analytical essays that employ a wide-ranging and appropriate vocabulary, effective and varied sentence structures, logical organization, strategic use of both generalization and specific detail, and careful attention to rhetorical forms, voice, and tone. AP English Literature Score Information Many colleges and universities have a composition and/or literature requirement, so a high score on the AP English Literature exam will often fulfill one of these requirements. The AP English Literature and Composition test has a one-hour multiple-choice section and a two-hour free-response writing section. The score on the is based on a combination of the multiple choice section (45 percent  of score) and the free-response essay section (55 percent of score).   In 2018, 404,014 students took the exam and earned a mean score of 2.57. Close to half of those students (47.3 percent) received a score of 3 or higher indicating that they have enough mastery of the subject matter to potentially earn college credit or course placement. The distribution of scores for the AP English Literature exam is as follows: AP English Literature Score Percentiles (2018 Data) Score Number of Students Percentage of Students 5 22,826 5.6 4 58,765 14.5 3 109,700 27.2 2 145,307 36.0 1 67,416 16.7 The College Board has released preliminary score percentages for the 2019 exam. Keep in mind that these numbers may change slightly as late exams are added to the calculations. Preliminary 2019 AP English Literature Score Data Score Percentage of Students 5 6.2 4 15.9 3 28 2 34.3 1 15.6 College Credit and Course Placement for AP English Literature The table below provides some representative data from a variety of colleges and universities. This information is meant to provide a general overview of the scoring and placement information related to the AP English Literature exam. For schools not listed below, youll need to look on the colleges website or contact the appropriate Registrars office to get AP placement information. AP English Literature Scores and Placement College Score Needed Placement Credit Hamilton College 4 or 5 Placement into some 200-level courses; 2 credits for score of 5 and B- or higher in a 200-level course Grinnell College 5 ENG 120 LSU 3, 4 or 5 ENGL 1001 (3 credits) for a 3; ENGL 1001 and 2025 or 2027 or 2029 or 2123 (6 credits) for a 4; ENGL 1001, 2025 or 2027 or 2029 or 2123, and 2000 (9 credits) for a 5 Mississippi State University 3, 4 or 5 EN 1103 (3 credits) for a 3; EN 1103 and 1113 (6 credits) for a 4 or 5 Notre Dame 4 or 5 First Year Composition 13100 (3 credits) Reed College 4 or 5 1 credit; no placement Stanford University - No credit for AP English Literature Truman State University 3, 4 or 5 ENG 111 Introduction to the Short Story (3 credits) UCLA (School of Letters and Science) 3, 4 or 5 8 credits and entry writing requirement for a 3; 8 credits, entry writing requirement and English Comp Writing I requirement for a 4 or 5 Yale University 5 2 credits; ENGL 114a or b, 115a or b, 116b, 117b A Final Word on AP English Literature Keep in mind that another benefit to the successful completion of an AP Literature course is that it helps demonstrate your college readiness in a core subject area. Most of the countrys highly selective colleges and universities have  holistic admissions, and the admissions officers look not just at your GPA, but  how challenging your course work is. Colleges would much rather see you successfully complete a challenging college preparatory class in English than an easy English elective. AP Literature shows that you are taking the most advanced course possible in literature. So even at a school like Stanford that does not award any credit or placement for AP English Literature, your decision to take the class still strengthens your application. To learn more specific information about the AP English Literature exam, be sure to visit the  official College Board website.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

The Interconnectedness Of Knowledge By Rene Descartes And...

The Interconnectedness of Knowledge Renà © Descartes and William James take two opposing views in an attempt to answer the question of what true knowledge is. Descartes takes the perspective of a foundationalist, and James takes a coherentist approach when trying to answer this question. A foundationalist is someone who believes that there is an indubitable proposition in which all other knowledge receives justification from. This method of thought is often referred to as The Pyramid, because the tip of the pyramid represents a belief that an agent knows with no possibility of doubt, and all other beliefs expand from that indubitable claim, similar to how a pyramid expands from the smallest point. On the other hand, a coherentist believes that pieces of knowledge are justified on such a basis that they cohere with a comprehensive system of beliefs that mutually support each other. Coherentism can be referred to as The Raft, because it represents our body of knowledge as a raft that is floating free from any anchor. When replacing a piece of the raft, you stand on one side and fix the other, similarly, when replacing a piece of knowledge, you work from the other claims you have in order to fix the claim being doubted. Both Descartes and James use their respective approaches in order to answer the question of what humans can be said to know. In Descartes’ quest to answer the question of truth, he looks to certainty to tell him what beliefs are justifiable. A belief that isShow MoreRelatedChristian Ethics in a Postmodern World Essay example6531 Words   |  27 Pagesreacted against the ‘excess’ of modernism in 1934, (Rose 1991: 171) â€Å"Postmodernism† became very popular. It has been used in the fields of art (Christo-Bakargiev 1987), architecture (Pevsner 1967), literature (Hassan 1971), video, economics, films (James 1991), ideology (Larrain 1994: 90-118), theology (Tilley at al 1995), and philosophy (Griffin et al 1993). In trying to understand ‘postmodern’, we have to understand ‘modern’ first. According to Rose (1991: 1), there are many related yet different

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Concept of a User Pays System in Aged Care- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theConcept of a User Pays System in Aged Care for Consumers. Answer: The user pays model is an essential feature in the modern world health care systems. It based on the idea that the most efficient allocation of resources occurs when the consumer pays the full cost of services provided. Baldwin, et al (2017) explains that this model focuses on the need to promote independence, well-being and quality life for older people in the most effective way possible. There are many positive and negative aspects that revolve around this system in reference to both consumers and service providers. The aim of this discussion is to demonstrate that proper service provision and resource allocation is important for older people receiving care. It is generally acknowledged that people pay for various forms of services and these services vary depending on ones need. The concept of user pays system supports the idea of horizontal equity in that someone pays only for the services that he/she benefits from hence someone does not have to pay services targeting someone else. Service provision is essential especially in examining cost of aged care services to consumers. This discussion will be outlining the various aspects of user pays system in aged care and the effectiveness of this system in health care. It will focus on how services are provided for the aged and the way resources are allocated to older people receiving health care. Health is not an absolute factor argues Ravenswood, Douglas, Haar, (2018) and therefore is affected by certain factors including age. Since the elderly are part of the vulnerable population in any society, their health needs to be observed and taken care of. User pays system provides a way in which their health can be monitored more keenly and in a way that suites the consumer by the service provider at a certain cost. User pays unlike universal health care or the principle of ability to pay offers these health services to the elderly in a more effective way since the consumer pays for a specific health care service. Resource allocation usually financial is done with reference to most outstanding medical needs and the consumers preference since he/she pays for the needed service. For example, an elderly might prefer receiving health care in a nursing home and afford to pay for the service. In cases where the financial resources are limited the service provider might opt to treat the most life threatening disorder within an elderly with multiple infections if it falls within the cost paid. Since most elderly people are no longer working and cannot afford some of this services it is understandable to have medical covers that cover for these charges at retirement or having family members who are working pay for them so that they access the services more efficiently as compares to government subsidies that are not comprehensive to cover for all services (Villarosa, Wang, George, 2018). There are several positive aspects regarding user pay systems in aged care that have impacted the health sector in the world today. These include a significant decline in mortality rate of the elderly since the service delivery is more effective. The service provision is done at a cost that they can afford and at their own convenience. For example they dont have to travel at their old age to seek medical attention since medical services can be delivered at their homes. The introduction of nursing homes has also made services available to the elderly at any time as long as they pay the required fee. Medical equipment also become more available to them for those who can afford to obtain them. User pays system has also decongested public hospitals since the consumers can access private facilities at their own comfort. The elderly also do not have to depend on government subsidies so as to access healthcare hence can obtain comprehensive medical care whenever need arises. According to Greenfield, et al (2016) this system allows the elderly to be insured for medical covers incases of any emergencies. User pays model has helped improve the quality of life of older people by increasing knowledge of prevention of diseases and offering information on self-management since the healthcare provider becomes closer to the individual consumer. Barrie, (2017) holds that the quality of life also improves since the diet can be easily observed and advised in the user pays model hence preventing diet related diseases that the elderly are predisposed to such as diabetes, heart failure and stroke. The user pays model in aged care also helps in preventing emergency related cases that might affect the old since the health care provider is mostly with the consumer. The user pays model has also negative aspects despite its positive side. Since the consumer has to pay a certain amount to receive a particular service it can be considered by some to be expensive especially when dealing with the old. Since most of the elderly do not have jobs and have retired they may not able to afford some services that they might be requiring hence they ought to depend on the working population or government subsidies to cover for them which might not always be certain. According to Ratnanesan, et al (2014) the service delivery might not as well live up to the standards of the consumers. Since they pay for the services, it is expected of the providers to live up to a certain expectation in delivering the services which might not always be the case as the service might turn out to be poor or delayed thereby in convincing the consumer. User pays model in aged care may involve nursing homes where the elderly live together and are taken care of by non-relatives and this may have an emotional effect on them however minimal since their relatives are not around especially in cases where the old person care is paid for. The care giver may as well not offer enough emotional support since they are just being paid for the services and not emotional support. The care giver may therefore be deficient in such areas. There might also be deficiencies in the care giving environment since the elderly are vulnerable to accidents hence it would cost more to introduce home modifications that allow easy locomotion and accessibility. It is therefore clear that both positive and negative issues face the user pays model of care in aged care and that organizations should be keen in minimizing the negative mistakes that could occur. According to Blackler, et al (2016) evaluation of the user pays model in aged care in service provision involves around how the services are provided. Since the old people cannot properly take care of themselves due to decreased activity and since they cannot move up and about to seek health care services, the services are mainly brought to them at their residential homes or nursing homes. The quality of the services provided is essential and in most cases depends on the cost. Since the consumer pays a certain amount of money to receive the service, it has to live up to the expectation of the cost. Therefore in many cases the more expensive a service is the better the quality of services delivered though it might not always be the case since the cost might be constant as is the quality of the service provided. However since the service provision is more direct in this model, the quality of the services provided is good and better than where the services are more public and free (Nagata, et al 2016). This model has proven to be more effective as compared to other models since the service delivery is guaranteed. The aged care service provision is direct and hence there is no delay since the care giver is payed to look after the elderly. The allocation of health care resources involves a societal determination of what resources should be devoted to a particular program (Williams, 2015). Since it is a unanimous obligation of every society to take care of the elderly, a considerably good amount of healthcare resources is allocated to the elderly. In the user pay model, financial resources raised by relatives or individual are targeted to provide care for the elderly. However, since health care resources are growing scarce rationing is being directed to the elderly as well by the governments of various countries including the United States of America. Sugimoto, Ogata, Kashiwagi, (2016) have argued that an integral part of a rationing system is to ration care among the elderly thereby restricting expensive, high technology, life sustaining care for those who have reached a certain age. Implicit in this argument is the principle that elderly health care represents an investment of scarce resources with limited returns. In conclusion, health care sectors and organizations are working hand in hand to ensure proper health service delivery is improved for all consumers using the user pays model. There are several issues both negative and positive raised by this model and organizations look towards handling them in a more careful manner. The user pays model for aged care is proving to be quite useful if handled properly. The key focus is seeing the implementation and proper allocation of resources for aged care. Hence the user pays model needs close attention so as to minimize the negatives and add on the positives. References Baldwin, R., Chenoweth, L., dela Rama, M., Wang, A. Y. (2017). Does size matter in aged care facilities? A literature review of the relationship between the number of facility beds and quality. Health care management review, 42(4), 315-327. Barrie, H. (2017). Retirement villages capitalise on aged care changes. Australian Ageing Agenda, (Jul/Aug 2017), 18. Blackler, A. L., Chamorro-Koc, M., O'Reilly, M., Brophy, C. (2016). Seating in aged care: A report prepared for LifeCare Furniture Pty Ltd. Greenfield, D., Milne, J., Eljiz, K., Butler-Henderson, K., Siddiqui, N. (2016). an investigation of participants experiences and perceptions of the joint acute and aged care accreditation survey pilot in two health services. Lea, E. J., Andrews, S., Stronach, M., Marlow, A., Robinson, A. L. (2017). Using action research to build mentor capacity to improve orientation and quality of nursing students aged care placements: what to do when the phone rings. Journal of clinical nursing, 26(13-14), 1893-1905. Nagata, S., Asahara, T., Wang, C., Suyama, Y., Chonan, O., Takano, K., Yamashiro, Y. (2016). The effectiveness of Lactobacillus beverages in controlling infections among the residents of an aged care facility: a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 68(1), 51-59. Ratnanesan, A., Howarth, P., Cross, M., Australia, C. M., Ackland, M., ANZ, P. G. H., ... Mann, D. (2014). Future Solutions in Australian Healthcare~ White Paper. Ravenswood, K., Douglas, J., Haar, J. (2018). Physical and verbal abuse, work demands, training and job satisfaction amongst aged-care employees in the home and community sector. Labour Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 1-17. Rayner, R., Carville, K., Leslie, G., Dhaliwal, S. S. (2017). Measurement of morphological and physiological skin properties in aged care residents: a testretest reliability pilot study. International wound journal, 14(2), 420-429. Sugimoto, K., Ogata, Y., Kashiwagi, M. (2016). Factors promoting resident deaths at aged care facilities in Japan: a review. Health social care in the community. Villarosa, A. R., Wang, D., George, A. (2018). Oral health in residential aged care: Are nurses bearing the brunt of a multidisciplinary solution?. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Journal, 25(7), 46-46. Williams, C. (2015). Aged care an afterthought in PMs Ministry for the 21 st century Elder Care Watch calls on the new Minister for Aged Care to take a close look at the SA Innovation Hub trial.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Job Characteristic Model free essay sample

The job characteristics model consists of five components which are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. These components affect factors such as performance, motivation, absenteeism , turnover and satisfaction of the employees. The purpose is to increase performance, motivation and satisfaction of the employees and to decrease absenteeism and turnover. The job characteristics model is one of the most important attempt models to design jobs. This model is proposed by Hackman and Oldham. Skill variety, task identity and task significance all contributes to the meaningfulness of work. Autonomy contributes to the responsibility for the work outcomes and feedback is the knowledge of the results of work. From the three psychological states, meaningfulness is the most important that affects employees attitude at work. Meaningfulness of work means that labour has meaning to you. It’s something that you can relate to and not think of it as repetitive tasks at work. We will write a custom essay sample on Job Characteristic Model or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This builds upon self-motivation. Responsibility at work means that you as an employee have granted the opportunity to be a success or failure at work because freedom has been granted to you. This gives the ability to make changes based on what you come across on the job. Knowledge of outcomes means when the employee acknowledges their success at work and what they can do to improve and to emotionally connect with customers of what they are outputting. This adds more purpose to work. From the five core components of the characteristics model, we decided to focus on autonomy and feedback as we believe it contributes most to the model in general. Autonomy is where an employee has the freedom to choose how to perform his/her tasks. An example of autonomy is where a professor decides to teach his/her class by following the requested textbook chosen by a college/university which covers a certain list of topics from the textbook and being restricted to use specific classroom activities to teach the class. This is an example of low autonomy. An example of high autonomy which is what we want at work places is the direct opposite of the example of low autonomy. The professor being freer to choose the textbook, design and decide on the course layout and content, and using any type of activities and methods during lectures to teach the class has higher levels of autonomy. Autonomy is a major factor in the increase of motivation at work along with many other benefits. This increases job satisfaction. Autonomous employees are free to choose and decide how to do their jobs which is more effective and this is crucial to a company’s success in productivity. As job satisfaction increases, productivity will increase. The satisfaction among the employees is created through the freedom that is given to them. These types of employees are more proactive meaning that they will perform work without waiting to be told so by a higher authority and are more creative in the job. The consequence of autonomy can be higher company performance. Giving autonomy to employees is an excellent way to train them on the job. For example, this can increase an employee’s talent. Autonomy can come from workplace structures such as leadership styles, company structure, telecommuting and etc. Autonomy can help improve Feedback is when people learn how they perform at work and how they are effective at work. These feedbacks come from coworkers/peers, customers, supervisors, assistants and even the job itself through success and position of the company. Feedback is crucial when it comes to company’ productivity. Without feedbacks, employees will not know what to do to change labour productivity to increase outputs. When feedback is given to the employees, it builds on job satisfaction among the employees as employees will feel more satisfied after productivity increases. For example, a sales rep at a company who gives presentations to clients but doesn’t get anything in response from the clients has low feedback. If the person receives a report that he made a sale due to the presentation that he presented, then the feedback is high. Feedback helps the performance of the employees as a result. Feedback affects the motivations of employees as well. It all depends whether the employee was ready to get feedback, whether feedback was positive or negative and the way the feedback was given all determines motivation. The five core characteristics in Hackman and Oldham’s model do not have the same effects. Because of this, they created a formula. Formula: MPS = [(skill variety + task identity + task significance) ? 3] ? autonomy ? feedback. Autonomy and feedback characteristics are the most important in the formula in contributing to motivation for instance. If an employee is deficient in the autonomy and feedback characteristic, the motivation score will be low. For each employee in the same job, their MPS score will be different. Some employees will find the job less motivating than others. To help motivate those employees, supervisors and managers will have to change the employees’ perspective of the job. An employee’s career stage also affects the five core characteristics. When an employee is new, task significance will be more positive and autonomy will be a negative effect. Additional information about Oldham and Hackman besides the theory and model they came up with is the creation of the Job Diagnostic Survey and the Job Rating Form. The JDS measures employees’ perspective of the five core characteristics, their psychological states, their growth need strength and outcomes. The JRF was designed as an assessment from observers such as supervisors based on the core characteristics. As a conclusion, these core characteristics and components of the design of a job can be redesigned/re-modelled into: â€Å"Varying work to enable skill variety† â€Å"Assigning work to groups to increase the wholeness of the product produced and give a group to enhance significance† â€Å"Delegate tasks to their lowest possible level to create autonomy and hence responsibility† â€Å"Connect people to the outcomes of their work and the customers that receive them so as to provide feedback for learning†

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Political Essays - Censorship, Connotation, Profanity,

Political Correctness Political correctness isn't always a positive thing. People that are older should have the right to a freedom of speech. They should be able to say words to express their emotions. They have a better judgment to know how and when to use curse words. Curse words are used everywhere. They are used on television, movies, and in the public. Why be political correct when you can't express something that you need to say to someone. The older a person is, the more mature they will become from more experiences they get in life. By being mature they have a better judgment on how to use the words that come out of their mouths. They know when to use curse words and when it's appropriate to use it. They use the words when they feel stonger on their about their feelings and thoughts towards something and they express it better by using profanity. They also use profanity when it is necessary and when they have to get their point across. The Constitution quotes that all people have their freedom of speech. With this amendment people don't need to be politically correct and not deny them to their freedom of speech. People have the right to either be politically correct or not to be politically correct. People also should have a choice on whether if they want to use curse words or not. They shouldn't have a limited vocabulary. It will be unconstitutional if we didn't let people say what they want and we should not withhold any kind of language from anyone. Profanity is found and heard in everyday life. It is used in speeches, television shows, movies, schools, and in almost all places. In schools kids start using profanity as early as in elementary school. Television shows such as "Simpsons", "Beavis and Butthead", "South Park", "Melrose Place", "Beverly Hills 90210", all profanity in them. If it is used in television shows then why can't people be able to also use it throughout everyday life. It is also used in all PG-13 and R rated movies. Political correctness shouldn't be a big issue and people that are older should have the right to express their feelings verbally in all possible ways. If we are restricted on what we say then are we also going to be restricted on other things. Will they start restricting us on our gestures, how we dress, and what we are thinking? If we are restricted on things then it inhibits our life style. Political is a standard that restricts the use of our mind and our speech.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Analyze Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers and the Success Rate for Inpatient vs Outpatient essays

Analyze Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers and the Success Rate for Inpatient vs Outpatient essays Inpatient versus Outpatient Drug Treatment The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of drug treatment centers. Specifically it will discuss the effectiveness of inpatient versus outpatient drug treatment and the success rate for inpatient versus outpatient treatment. Drug treatment centers are continually in the news, especially with the prevalence of famous people who use them to detox from drugs and alcohol addictions. Just recently, Hollywood stars Mel Gibson and Robin Williams noted they would enter treatment programs for their addictions, one an inpatient facility (Williams), and one in outpatient treatment (Gibson). Their success rate in kicking their addictions relies on many things, but the statistics show that Williams, by choosing an inpatient treatment center, has a better chance for success in kicking his addiction. However, the overall success rate of any treatment program, whether inpatient or outpatient, still leaves room for improvement. Drug treatment centers exist in just about every city in America today. They have been a way for patients to receive treatment for drug and alcohol addictions since the beginning of the 20th century. Treatment goals do not end with inpatient or outpatient treatment, but continue throughout the patient's life, as this early treatment goal notes, Success in enabling the patient...to become (for the time being) independent of the drug must be regarded as the completion of the first stage of treatment. For permanent cure, a prolonged period of aftercare is necessary, in order to educate the patient's willpower and to change his mental outlook. Attention must also be paid to the possibility of improvement in the patient's social conditions (Mott, 2004, p. 20). Thus, the inpatient or outpatient center is simply the catalyst for change, and for success, the patient must continue to follow the steps and guides learned throughout the treatment...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Post World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Post World War II - Essay Example The Killing Zone" (Grunt Space, 2004). From this list emerged another long list of Vietnam-inspired war movies and television series. And then, there's "We Were Soldiers Once and Young." This book inspired the movie directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson. The book and the movie present unadulterated details about war, not from the point of view of historians, politicians, and wide-viewed bestselling authors but from the individuals who were there. Ferguson (2003) presented a detailed military and national background about the events that surrounded the la Drang memoir of Moore. The war in Vietnam was considered a "boil" during America's Cold War with the former USSR and China. While Vietnam was fresh from its independence from colonial France, a revolution erupted as the communists controlled northern Vietnam. The 1956 Geneva Accord paved for a national election which was marred by communist rebels called the Viet Cong. America per se was under turmoil at that time as President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, with a non-interventionist new president Lyndon Johnson. Nevertheless, Johnson sent troops, using airmobile warfare initiated with the 11th Air Assault Division renamed as the 1st Cavalry Division, 7th Battalion with the mission: to find and kill the enemy. Discussion: "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" is a book written by retired Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore, battalion commander of the 1/7 Cavalry during the la Drang campaign, together with UPI war reporter Joseph L. Galloway. It was produced with intensive interviews among Vietnam war soldiers (survivors) and their families, loved ones, and all those who were directly involved and affected by the war. Moore wrote that every Hollywood movie had shown it the wrong way, which inspired him to write the book, "to make it right this time." While it is necessary to indicate political and global trends in presenting a part of history such as the United States' war with Vietnam, Gilbert (2004) acknowledged that "Light of another kind can be found in the examinations of the wars in Viet Nam provided by world literature and the world cinema," (p 14). This is indicative of the presence and essence of other details which are all contributory to historical facts that cannot be ignored altogether. Gilbert (2004) aptly placed it when he wrote "Viet Nam has greatly contributed to the human record of the strife-torn and oppressed. From the Western-influenced individualist style that emphasized the alienation of the self to the triumph of social realism that identified death on the battlefield as the highest form of self-realization, Vietnamese prose and poetry reflects the transition from a traditional to a colonial to a modern society that many people have made in the modern era." While the book