The Rosie Project Discussion Questions

'The Rosie Project' Discussion Questions In some ways, by Graeme Simsion is a light, fun read for book clubs that need a break from heavy books. Simsion does, however, give groups plenty to discuss about Asperger syndrome, love, and relationships. Hopefully, these questions will help you have fun discussing the book. Spoiler Warning: These questions contain details from the end of the novel. Finish the book before reading on. Discussion Questions Dons character is both more aware of some dynamics (social, genetic, etc) and also very oblivious to some of these. Take, for instance, when he is giving the lecture on Asperger syndrome and he says, A woman at the rear of the room raised her hand. I was focused on the argument now and made a minor social error, which I quickly corrected.The fat woman- ​an overweight woman- at the back? (10)What are some other examples of this kind of behavior that you remember from the novel? How did this add humor?The reader is supposed to understand that Don has Asperger syndrome. If you know anyone with this diagnosis, did you think it was an accurate portrayal?There were several times in the novel when Don misses the social rules, but the case he makes for his side is very logical. One example is the Jacket incident (43), when he does not understand that jacket required means suit jacket and tries to argue all the ways his Gore-tex jacket is superior. Did you find this, and other times l ike it, amusing? What were some of your favorite scenes? Did hearing his perspective make you rethink social conventions? (Or consider using the standardized meal plan?) Why do you think Don is so drawn to Rosie? Why do you think Rosie is drawn to Don?At one point, Don says about one of the father candidates, Apparently he had been an oncologist but had not detected the cancer in himself, a not-uncommon scenario. Humans often fail to see what is close to them and obvious to others (82). How does this statement, about people failing to see what is in front of them, apply to the different characters in the novel?Why do you think Don was so successful at selling cocktails? Did you enjoy this scene?The novel mentions that Don struggled with depression in his early twenties and also talked about his strained relationship with his family. How did he cope with these issues? Are he and Rosie similar in the ways they deal with hard parts of their past?What did you think of Gene and Claudias relationship? Was Genes behavior humorous or frustrating to you?Did you think it was believable in the end that Don would be able to see from the Deans perspective, the pe rspective of the student who cheated, Claudias perspective, etc? Why or why not? Did you guess who Rosies real father was? Which parts of the Father Project did you like the most (the basement confrontation, the bathroom escape, the trip to the nursing home, etc)?Graeme Simsion is publishing a sequel to The Rosie Project in December 2014- The Rosie Effect. Do you think the story could go on? Would you read the sequel?Rate The Rosie Project on a scale of 1 to 5.

Edna St. Vincent Millays My Candle Burns at Both Ends

Edna St. Vincent Millay's My Candle Burns at Both Ends When award-winning poet  Edna St. Vincent Millay  died of a heart attack on Oct. 19, 1950, the New York Times noted that she was well known for crafting a poem that ended my candle burns at both ends. The newspaper of record pointed out that critics viewed the line of verse as frivolous, but that hadnt stopped Millay from surfacing as an idol of the younger generation during the 1920s. Today, the poet,  born on Feb.  22, 1892, is no longer an idol to youth, but her poetry is widely taught in schools.  She remains an inspiration to both feminists and the LGBT community. With this brief overview of Millays frivolous work, First Fig, the poem in which the candle line appears, get a better understanding of the verses context and its reception after it was published. Text of First Fig First Fig appeared in Millays poetry collection  A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Four  Sonnets, which debuted in  1920. It was just the young poets second collection of poems. Her first, Renascence: and other poems, came out three years earlier.  The critics who dismissed First Fig had no idea that Millay would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923 for  The Ballad of the Harp Weaver. She was only the third woman to win the Pulitzer in the poetry category. Perhaps because First Fig was just a single stanza, it was easily memorized and came to be the work with which Millay is most associated. The poem is as follows: My candle burns at both endsIt will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -It gives a lovely light. First Fig Analysis and Reception Because First Fig is such a short poem, its easy to think that theres not much to it, but that isnt the case. Think about what it means to have a candle that burns at both ends. Such a candle burns twice as fast as other candles.  Then, think about what a candle may represent. It could symbolize Millays erotic passions, giving the poem an entirely different context. Someone whose desires burn out twice as quickly as anothers may not make for a longtime love but is certainly more passionate than the average mate. According to the Poetry Foundation,  A Few Figs from Thistles cemented Millays reputation of  madcap youth and rebellion, provoking the disapproval of critics. The collection is known for its   flippancy, cynicism and frankness, the foundation notes. More Work by Millay While Millay made a name for herself with Figs, critics seem to think that her next poetry collection,  Second April  (1921), is a better reflection of her skills as a poet. The volume contains both free verse and sonnets, which Millay excelled at as a poet.

How to Choose a Content Management System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to Choose a Content Management System - Essay Example Overcomplicated, end-to-end packages can as much as quintuple site operational costs over human labor alternatives. Unfortunately, the breadth of many vendors' all too-inclusive 'silver-bullet solution' vision has left these companies struggling with platform lock-in, overengineered site infrastructures, exorbitant technical maintenance costs, and per-business-user costs averaging as much as $25,000 per year." Investing in this technology is not cheap; an enterprise-wide system such as Interwoven can cost over $300,0005 to purchase. Open-source solutions such as Zope may save on license fees but will have development and maintenance costs too. Common problems include overspending on the platform, poorly implemented search solutions6 and manually updating content - all of which undermines ROI and TCO. WebSideStory's paper addresses a real training need by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches to CMS implementation and identifying how to leverage the technology to add value to the business. The paper is positioned to inform and persuade the reader that internet-based subscription CMS will prove to have the lowest TCO and ROI of any of the 4 approaches for implementing CMS (manual, automated, subscription o

Lease assingment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lease assingment - Essay Example The first item that appears uncomfortable is leasing the bedroom apartment because I am not allowed to use any other part of the premise. Flexibility should be enhanced to all tenants by the proprietor in terms of using other sections of the premises (Jacobus 282). Another problem in the lease is that the contract runs for a year. As a tenant, I have no flexibility in terms of terminating the contract before the stipulated period. Moreover, the property manager, who is Joe Daworker, is responsible for handling issues concerning use of premises. A problem may arise making me want to talk directly to the owner of the premises. As a tenant, I feel that 1,455 US dollars is a lot of money to be paid to the proprietor within a single day because security deposit is to be paid during the signing of lease contract. The security deposit should be paid in installments because there is no guarantee that I will damage any part of the premises as a tenant. Another problem arises from possession o f the premises as outlined in lease contract. Since I will be entitled to possess the premises on the first day of signing the contract, I feel that the proprietor should also be responsible in ensuring the well-being of all tenants. This should involve carrying out maintenance and repairs of the one bedroom apartment during my stay in the premises. ... According to premise usage, the proprietor restricts any form of retail, professional and commercial activities within the apartment. In the event of carrying out any commercial activities, consent must be obtained from the proprietor by following. This item contrasts with possession rights because I should be allowed to carry out any legal activities within the apartment as a tenant. The proprietor requires tenants to get liability insurance before engaging in any professional or commercial activities. In the event of failing to abide by that item on the leasing agreement, the tenant is evicted from the premise with immediate effect because he or she is said to have breached the leasing contract. I find this item tedious and costly since the process of obtaining insurance liability is quite demanding and expensive (Jacobus 283). In terms of evicting the premise, I feel that every tenant should be given adequate time to find another apartment before being forced to vacate the premise s. The contract restricts any extra person apart from the tenant to stay in the apartment. I find this clause unrealistic because relatives and friends who may want to spend a couple of nights in the apartment. This item on the contract needs to be adjusted where tenants should be allowed to stay with their friends and relatives within the apartment. In spite of the contract allowing tenants to have guests for a limited time of fourteen consecutive days, the impression created to tenants is that their freedom is restricted. Privacy of tenants is compromised when the agreement restricts the sharing of bedrooms within the apartment. As mentioned earlier,

Organization implications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organization implications - Essay Example The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected. This paper will discuss the merit pay system and teacher performance in public schools The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 put the merit system principles into law, specifically section 2301 of title 5 of the U.S. Code. It was set as a national policy intended â€Å"to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive workforce...and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles† (Pfiffner & Brook, 2000). Since then, the merit system and its principles have been implemented both in the public sector and in private sector in the country. The merit system can be defined as a personnel system applied in the process of hiring and promoting government employees based on merit to obtain the highest efficiency in public personnel functions. The application of the merit system in the public education sector has brought about unending controversies especially with the merit pay issue. The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected as it has been done from the 1920s period. Reformers in the education system including the government have emphasized that the merit pay will encourage high performing teachers to do well and drive the lazy ones away, thereby improving the performance of public schools. However, teachers’ unions have continually opposed the move stating that there is no objective way of measuring the classroom performance of a teacher. In addition to this, opposing views have pointed to the fact that the merit pay system has a high chance of failing

Protagoras vs. Socrates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Protagoras vs. Socrates - Essay Example On that note, Socrates had many questions in his mind. He began asking his friend, Hippocrates, about what he thinks he would learn from his intended mentor. Nevertheless, Hippocrates had no literal answer to his friend’s question. Thus, the two of them went off to Protagoras to ask about the answers to Socrates’ questions. The dialogue was heard by a few people including Prodicus, Hippias and Callius (Plato, pp.3-4). When the two friends met Protagoras, Socrates inquired from him as to how he taught his pupils and what subjects did he teach. When Protagoras came across these question, he responded in a way that he did not intend to teach Hippocrates anything technical or functional, however, what he will teach would be how he might become a good citizen. In addition, he asserted that he teaches the pupils what politics is and the ways to manage their personal affairs. His focus, as he narrated, was on how they might lead a virtuous life. The debate between Socrates and Protagoras began with the notion that Socrates believed that virtue is not a subject to be taught or imparted to someone literally. On the other hand, Protagoras’ notions incorporated that since the base of all political systems lies over the fact that human beings and specifically citizens of that particular country possess virtue and thus, the subject is undoubtedly teachable. Moreover, he asserts his arguments over the fact that the whole system and concept of criminal justice revolves around the idea that human beings can be manipulated; their ideas, believes and thus their attitudes can be reformed. In addition, since, it can be reformed and manipulated; there is always a possibility that you can teach human beings the same. He argued that excellence in citizenship could never be thought as something that should be innate and can never be adopted in a process of learning. He also argues that every citizen has a sense of what justice is and how it can be drawn in a socie ty if there is none. He goes further by saying that when a citizen commits a sin, he is prone to punishment, the reason of which is to make him avoid making the same sinful act again and improve his doings (Nill, pp. 7-8). Thus, when there is a chance if improvement in a process led by government then, his question remained valid as to why it cannot be taught and imparted in a literal manner (Plato, pp.4-6). Protagoras was habitual of giving lengthy answers to all the questions and Socrates was pretty much opposite to what Protagoras’ habit was; he preferred to be precise and quite straight to the point (Nill, pp.5). Listening to the responses of Protagoras, Socrates immediately asks him as to what he thinks virtue exactly is. He goes deeper and asks if it is a single measurable quantity or is it a cumulative of many other virtues like wisdom, moderation and others. He also asks him that when he intends to teach excellence, does it include every bit of virtues or not. Protago ras responded by saying that every bit of virtue is part of excellence and excellence is one measurable quantity and quality (Eisele, pp.238-239). To this, Socrates does not agree at all, he has his own arguments to make and those too, with proper reasoning and logics. He intends to make Protagoras admit presence of a few citizens who might achieve excellence in certain specific qualities, but they may not be good in other qualities. He also persuades him that, qualities like moderation,

What Intergenerational Communicationand Aging means for my own life, Essay

What Intergenerational Communicationand Aging means for my own life, now, and in the future - Essay Example h this course and analyzing related materials, I learned the importance of changing mindsets and communication and relationship goals, so that I can treat and interact with the elderly with respect and recognize and respond to their needs for autonomy and social support, and so that I can pursue a model for successful aging that balances physical and psychological needs and aspirations. Through Comm 119 lectures and various other reading materials, as well as my analysis of my own interactions with the elderly, I realized that social stereotypes about aging and the elderly contribute to the self-fulfilling prophesy of these ageist stereotypes. Cuddy and Fiske (2002) described the various stereotypes of older people that I also practiced in the past, including the grandmotherly and severely impaired stereotypes. I am quite ashamed that I thought that older adults are like babies by focusing on their childish behavior, such as being hard-headed when instructing them to follow proper nutrition practices. I realize now that they are childish (if they are) because of how society treats them. In one of our lectures, the Dallas Morning News (2002) reported that people’s attitudes, and not aging per se, present obstacles to feeling fulfilled during old age (as cited in Giles, 2014a). I agree because I also had the mindset that the elderly, though not all, are the on es making health and social problems by being aggressive in opposing lifestyle or emotional and attitudinal changes that can improve health and social conditions. I would say: â€Å"They can be so hard-headed because they are already old.† By saying this, I frame aging in terms of blaming older people of their health and social issues and aging as the worst phase of mental and psychological development. This kind of framing under-analyzes the needs and goals of the elderly and perpetuates ageism. Besides personal ageist stereotypes, I learned about social institutions that promote ageism and that I must