The Depiction of Women in Three Escapist Fictions free essay sample

A comparison of the depiction of women in Geoffrey Chaucers The Tale of the Wife of Bath, Ian Flemings From Russia with Love and Sheri Teppers Beauty. This essay explores how three influential writers, Geoffrey Chaucer, Ian Flemming and Sheri Tepper, from three different eras have depicted women in their writing. The portrayal of females by each writer is explored separately and then contrasted with that of the other writers. Specific examples and characters from these literary masterpieces are used to support the authors argument. The author provides an analysis of the different ways in which women have been depicted throughout the history of literature The representation of women in literature has been the focus of much research conducted by both feminists and literature critics, particularly over the last thirty years. Sheri Teppers Beauty, Geoffrey Chaucers The Wife of Bath and Ian Flemings From Russia with Love, are all examples of escapist fiction in which the attitudes towards women play a key role in the theme of the story. We will write a custom essay sample on The Depiction of Women in Three Escapist Fictions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Despite the claim that escapist fiction is isolated from the world in which its author lives, the values of both the author and the society in which he or she lives are reflected in their writing. The Wife of Bath, written in the fourteenth century, represents females as identical member of one group, all possessing the same faults and desires. Fleming, writing in 1957, depicts women differently again, categorizing them into two extreme stereotypes: the dominant, aggressive female and the submissive, naive female.

Free Essays on The American Dream

What is the American Dream? Is the American Dream still achievable? What is an opportunity and how can we plan for it? The questions remain. Everyone’s dream is to own their own business and to be their own manager. Proper steps and timing must be used in order to reach this so called â€Å"American dream†. However, it is the steps that deter people from achieving their dream. Opportunity is only available for people that desire to achieve. We live in a market economy. A "market" is a place where goods are bought and sold. This also means that the market or marketplace is the possibility of sale. Goods "find a market.† If you have a product, eventually you will find a place in the market where it can be most profitable. There is also a market for services. Services can be bought and sold the same way that commodities are bought and sold. Whether it be a service or a commodity, if there is a demand for it the product and/or commodity will be sold. Markets are opened to those who want to sell their product or commodity. Markets are also available for the convenience of those looking to purchase a particular product or service. The market represents an opportunity for all, buyers, and sellers. A market economy works on market â€Å"pressures† that develop for different commodities. These â€Å"pressures† are defined as an offering of the product, the choice of whether or not the product or service should be bought and time constrai nts. As business owners glimpse the future, decisions are made on the basis of the following factors: (1) Profit (2) Capital Investments (3) Production results. The owner of the business will review what profit has been made from their production and what losses they have incurred through that process. After reviewing the results of the profit margin, the owner must make decisions to increase volume. This process usually involves hiring more people, buying more materials, and often bidding up their prices... Free Essays on The American Dream Free Essays on The American Dream In 1852 when John Henry Newman wrote his essay, â€Å"The Idea of a University,† he wanted to convey that a University’s purpose was to be able to educate first-rate members of the social order. Newman’s theory, although over a hundred years old, still applies to today’s college students; many are seeking higher educations to not only lead to successful careers, but to also become an improved person in society. In a time when human endeavor was being redesigned, as industries, philosophies, and sciences were growing and affecting the world, Newman wrote an essay explaining the ideas and goals for seeking a liberal arts education. He states in his thesis that the function of such education, â€Å"is that of training good members of society† (Newman, 1852). Now two questions come to mind about the definition of, â€Å"training,† which Newman proposed. Is it preparation for someone to obtain a lucrative profession? On the other hand, is it guidance for someone to develop into an impacting member in the social community? Newman suggests both. He writes, â€Å"It is the education which gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, and an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urge them. It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of though, to detect what is sophistical, and to discard what is irrelevant. It prepares him to fill any post with credit, and to master any subject with facility.† (Newman, 1852). Thus defining a student who has received his degree and is ready to enter a professional field of work, as not only being prepared to perform the work, but also to carry it out at a higher level than expectation s were set to. He is a man well, â€Å"trained,† to overcome any job related obstacles he may encounter. â€Å"He is at home in any society, he has common ground with every class; he is able to listen; he can ask a ... Free Essays on The American Dream What is the American Dream? Is the American Dream still achievable? What is an opportunity and how can we plan for it? The questions remain. Everyone’s dream is to own their own business and to be their own manager. Proper steps and timing must be used in order to reach this so called â€Å"American dream†. However, it is the steps that deter people from achieving their dream. Opportunity is only available for people that desire to achieve. We live in a market economy. A "market" is a place where goods are bought and sold. This also means that the market or marketplace is the possibility of sale. Goods "find a market.† If you have a product, eventually you will find a place in the market where it can be most profitable. There is also a market for services. Services can be bought and sold the same way that commodities are bought and sold. Whether it be a service or a commodity, if there is a demand for it the product and/or commodity will be sold. Markets are opened to those who want to sell their product or commodity. Markets are also available for the convenience of those looking to purchase a particular product or service. The market represents an opportunity for all, buyers, and sellers. A market economy works on market â€Å"pressures† that develop for different commodities. These â€Å"pressures† are defined as an offering of the product, the choice of whether or not the product or service should be bought and time constrai nts. As business owners glimpse the future, decisions are made on the basis of the following factors: (1) Profit (2) Capital Investments (3) Production results. The owner of the business will review what profit has been made from their production and what losses they have incurred through that process. After reviewing the results of the profit margin, the owner must make decisions to increase volume. This process usually involves hiring more people, buying more materials, and often bidding up their prices... Free Essays on The American Dream Throughout the history of our country, the United States of America has often been referred to as the â€Å"land of opportunity.† Though in some situations this may have been the case, for most Americans, especially in the nineteenth century, every day life was an ongoing struggle. Due to several factors, the US had a hard time living up to the expectations of its citizens. The citizens who faced the greatest hardships in this country were immigrants from around the world. Immigrants expected to come to America and find streets paved with gold. They thought that all they would have to do in order to achieve their fortune was chip a piece of gold off the street. In reality, they found obstacles not so dissimilar to those from which they were seeking asylum. Often they could not find employment as easily as the American born citizens. Those who did find work were forced to work long days at a minimal salary. In the book America Firsthand, there is an account written by a woman who migrated from Poland when she was a child. She worked in a Cigar shop in Cleveland, Ohio for nominal pay. The conditions in this were terrible and can easily be referred to as a â€Å"sweat-shop.† The children working in the shop were worked long hours with occasionally defective materials but were driven to produce more at a faster rate. The owner of the shop w as very greedy and unfair. He would look at the work done by the workers and would contest the smallest of imperfections in the cigars that were made. The imperfections would result in a wage penalty even if it was due to poor quality tobacco. As the owner became wealthier, he increased the size of his operation from a shop to a full-fledged factory. The mistreatment continued and the account goes on to describe an ensuing strike organized by the workers. Finally, the owner agreed to higher wages but the mistreatment continued. At the end of the account, the workers formed a small union b...

Instructional Design Models Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Instructional Design Models - Case Study Example This essay offers an in-depth description of the ADDIE model, examines the strengths and weaknesses of the ADDIE design process, and ultimately considers the implementation of this instructional design process in terms of a twelfth-grade high school English lesson. Perhaps the greatest strength of the ADDIE model is its flexibility in variations. While there are a multitude of variations on the ADDIE model, one of the most common includes the process of rapid prototyping (Branch 2009). This process functions to provide instant continuous feedback on the model’s efficacy. While the ADDIE model presents an effective design paradigm, as with all instructional design models it’s necessary to consider education and psychological theories, including constructivism, behaviorism, and cognitivism, in developing a workable platform for learning (Branch 2009). Even within this flexibility, one can contend that the process of learning is complicated to the extent that high levels or learner interaction with the instructor and material is necessary to achieve higher levels of thought. In these regards, a weakness of the ADDIE model is its static nature (Leshin, Pollock, Reigeluth 1992). During the ‘analysis’ phase of the ADDIE model, the designer identifies the learning problem that is to be approached. This involves a wide variety of questions, including what goals are to be achieved, the learners’ specific prior knowledge, as well as other important characteristics (for instance, learners with learning disabilities). Furthermore, one must consider educational and psychological theoretical approaches. In terms of the example of a twelfth-grade high school English lesson the problem that has been identified as needing of a design model is the students’ writing skills. The students are in a twelfth grade honors English class so they have a relatively strong understanding of the English language, and have written a

Global Demographics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Demographics - Essay Example Companies in the business of entertainment will need to pay far greater attention to Spanish speaking Americans in their product offering than they needed to a few years ago, as Hispanics are the fastest growing ethnic group. Products and services geared toward working mothers are very likely to enjoy success in an atmosphere in which women are pursuing careers before and after having children. Businesses that are blind to these kinds of demographic trends are likely to stagnate and ultimately lose out to more astute competitors. In an environment of global growth and diversity, there are trends that are likely to pose great challenges to competition and business success. The ability of an organization to embrace diversity and leverage it to strengthen its products and services, as well as its community image, is crucial to the ongoing success and competitiveness of any business today. No longer can businesses make assumptions of homogeneity in any market in which they choose to operate. Multiculturalism and diversity have redefined everything from what it means to be American or European to what is considered a family. Organizations must prepare to meet the ch... Question 3 If diversity could be viewed as a business strategy, it most certainly would contribute to an organization's competitive advantage. Communities are becoming ever more diversified; and organizations that fail to acknowledge and respond to that growing diversity risk becoming out of touch with the market in which they seek to operate successfully. Successful business have their finger on the pulse of what is going on in the market place, and are able to change and adapt accordingly. Those that remain stodgy and inflexible in the way they operate, and the way they develop and market their products and services, in the face of a demographically dynamic marketplace are very likely to be left out in the cold. A business strategy of diversity means utilizing market intelligence to quickly detect and respond to demographic and other changes in the market. It means relating to a diverse market by cultivating an image of diversity through public relations efforts, and committing to products and services that resonate with a diverse clientele. Those organizations that pursue this type of business strategy will enjoy a strong competitive market position well into the future. Question 4 Trends in changing demographics and global business expectations that demand attention from organizations desiring to remain competitive in the future include populations that are aging, becoming more ethnically diverse, and have greater access to information than ever before. People today have the ability to virtually instantaneously retrieve information about their product options, facts about the competition, and communication with others with

President Truman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

President Truman - Essay Example In my opinion, the bombing was a brutal and totally unjustified measure that could have been avoided. First, this method was fundamentally inhumane and barbaric as bombs were dropped right on the cities populated by civilians (including children, of course) who had nothing to do with the warfare. If USA intended to demonstrate its military power ‘scaring’ Japanese government and forcing it to surrender, the bombs could have been dropped somewhere beyond the borders of the cities (e.g. in the harbor). Moreover, I would disagree with the arguments of the bombings’ advocates on the fact that this attack had drawn the end of the war nearer saving many lives. This statement seems completely unreasonable as bombs killed a great number of innocent civilians and were not worth the price. Another reason why Truman was wrong in his decision to use nuclear weapon (by the way, just once in the world’s history) is that Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings weren’t actually necessary for the victory in the war: the regular bombings continued anyway and the Japanese government being under intense pressure was about to surrender. In other words, American bomb attack hadn’t played a crucial role in establishment of peace, but had become a vast disaster resulting in numerous casualties, radiation spread and devastation. Thus, I consider President Truman’s decision to be useless, brutal and inhumane having much in common with mere genocide and

Crossâ€Cultural Management in Albania

Cross–Cultural Management in Albania Brunilda Mucollari Daniela Hallaci Jona Likskendaj Arli Barxhani Eraldo Bode Date: 01/20/2014 Course: Organizational Behavior Leadership Instructor: Dr. Perparim Dervishi Part I â€Å"Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster.† (www.uscivilizatio.com) Globalization, the land on which Cross – Cultural Management was sawed Intro Globalization is now becoming the future of the world. Humanity is now walking on the path that leads to, what we call â€Å"Becoming One†. Technology innovation is the main factor of this process. It brings people and cultures up together and by doing so they learn and enjoy each other’s way of living. The process seems to be long and basically changing us and bringing in front what we can consider positive or negative effects. People from different cultures in fact might have conflicts when working together, or they might share experiences and improve their selves. Cultures intercept each other to exchange knowledge, traditions and experience and history has taught this to us. On the other hand has also taught us that cultures exchange goods. At this point we come to the creation of a distinct concept; Cross – Cultural Management. Cross-Cultural Management â€Å"Cross-cultural management explains the behavior of people in organizations around the world and shows them how to work in organizations with employees and client populations from many different cultures.† (Kawar, 2012) Multinational companies existed as early as 2 000 B.C.; the Assyrians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Romans – they all had their own version of globalize trading. Multinational Management is getting more and more necessary for all kinds of branches as the global market is shrinking. In the past century operation between advanced industrial countries had it up and downs. Because of the two world wars this partnership came to a halt. This wars, on the other hand gave a boost later on to the global market. After and between the two wars the World Bank was Created, International Monetary Fund and General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and after the Berlin Wall fall new markets were opened to the free trade. These new emerging markets gave chances and opportunities to the business sector to increase their revenues. In fact every country has its culture and makes them distinguishable from each other, as in fact every country has its middle class that was and is willing to buy more international products and services. The need to decrease the costs without affecting the revenue but on contrary increase them makes the global entrepreneurs to invest and construct th eir plants in locations that provide lower cost of production. While companies grow and enter the international trade, their size increases with their earnings. When this happens the companies need to established their activity overseas and after than monitoring their activities across the border. This is in fact where cross-cultural management enters on the stage. Under these circumstances more and more the need for management is needed in the operations abroad. Managers often are part of the shareholder’s nationality, in other words an American business in Albania will definitely send an America citizen to manage their operations in Albania. The cultures are different between the two countries and this diversification brings up its problems. Problems â€Å"Cross†?!?! Dealing with people from different cultures and nationalities has its own problems. The main problem that Cross-Cultural Management faces is barriers. Barriers complicate the ongoing of operations and processes and tend to create mostly misunderstandings. The main barriers are: Language Culture Company Culture Language is the first tool when interacting with people. English is accepted as the international language all around the world and business has embraced this idea, but every country uses its own language firstly when dealing and communicating. Having said so, people have to learn first English even though it is not enough. The problem here is that words can lose their meaning when translated and the thought also. Culture also creates a huge barrier by its set of values, language, behavior, business ethics, expected etiquette or expressions. So if a manager operating in a foreign culture does not know the differences in the hosting culture, his or her message can be misunderstood. Company Culture mainly is considered as the norms and expectations that a company implies. This includes policies and specific procedures, the basis of a company’s culture. When a company enlarges its operations it is needed to find a connection between the cultures in order for the company culture to be accepted by the hosting culture. Culture shape Cross-Cultural Management! The vast part of a culture is absorbed by people during their childhood by the interaction with the surrounding people and environment and by doing so it helps people live within their society. Culture can be found on four different levels: National Level has to do with the differences between cultures in a national point of view. It deals with the values that people learn during their early life that becomes unchangeable and saint for them. Organizational level is the culture that is created within an organization and that is superficial. This culture is different from the company culture because it can change from an organization to another within the same country. Occupational level deals with different cultures created within an organization. This means that different cultures can be created in all departments of an organization. Gender level has to do with the cultures men and women create within their gender. This level can be defined as the most common one. In fact all the upper paragraphs are a theoretical overview of Cross-Cultural Management and this is what generally happens around the world but will all this theory feet in the Albanian reality. To give an idea about this point an Albanian case is presented in the second part of the paper. Part II EDUCATIONAL CENTRE RESEARCH Presentation of the Problem There are differences in cultures in general between countries, in addition to this there are differences among working countries as well. The problem is how this affects the way of managing the organization. Educational Centre is a company that operates in six countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Rumania, Montenegro, and Serbia. It is a Greek company and it has succeeded well. It is interesting to see how the different Bookshops are dealing with culture differences. Educational Centre main office is placed in Thessaloniki, Greece and it has branches in six countries. We will concentrate our thoughts on the below: Are there any differences in how the six offices in the different countries are managed? If yes, are they a result of national business culture differences? If not, why are there no differences? Purpose The purpose of this research is to get an insight on how difficult is to manage a company across cultures. The purpose is to come up with a result that will reflect this or with a solution to dealing with differences. Countries of Study The countries in the study are the branches of Educational Centre in six countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Rumania, Montenegro, Serbia Research Method There are different approaches in developing a research paper. We have chosen the qualitative method which is more about having long interviews with a smaller amount of people in order to get more detailed information. The purpose of this method is to receive thorough descriptions and it is very useful when you do not know much of the phenomenon, or very small amounts of researches have already been done, as in the case of Educational Centre. Although the qualitative approach does not give any foundation, which can be used as a generalization for results. The purpose of the research is to get more thorough knowledge and understanding how Educational Centers in six countries , the qualitative approach will be used with a deductive approach. Six branch managers in six countries will be interviewed. The selective selection of the interviews has been on the purpose of getting in contact with people that have great insight on how things work in an Educational Centre. So the analysis of the Qualitative approach will consist: Type of Data: Qualitative data, text sections which illustrate theoretical variables or categories Flexibility: Big Data and analysis: Interpret , in consecutive order and integrated with data collection Use beyond the concrete examination: Transferability All the interviews were intended to be filled in an sent back by email but in the end we had to Skype called and filled in with the answers. What is culture? Culture is a set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviors, related to achievement and success, activity and involvement, efficiency and practicality, progress, comfort, individualism, freedom, humanitarianism, youthfulness, fitness and health. Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and behavior, learned by a member of the society from the family, his own life experience and other important institutions; COMPANY CULTURE? Organizational Culture: is the set of values, norms, standards of behavior, and common expectations that control the ways individuals and groups in an organization interact with each other and work together to achieve the organizational goals. The History of Educational Centers The Educational Centers were first opened in Rumania and Bulgaria in 1992 (at that time known as Oxford Centers) providing the exclusivity of Oxford University Press in both ELT and Academic publications. Mr. Petros Papasarantoupoulos is their owner. Later on in 1994 they opened the offices in Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Moldova. The business has increased rapidly by the novelty it offered in six countries which before 1990 were all isolated to foreign publishing’s and were eager to leering foreign languages which was totally forbidden in communist times. In the coming years the business was going to expand to more than just an International Bookshop. It was going to Provide International Exams and International Qualifications for Teachers which was so much needed in order to meet the international standards. The Vision of Educational Centers Expand and the success of the business was due to a vision which Educational Centre followed: BETTER BOOKS, BETTER SERVICES. This was the philosophy everybody had to be focused how to be better. The Educational Centre Organization The company has such a flat structure. The Central Office is in Thessaloniki Greece and the branches are in the below countries directly depending on the Main office Thessaloniki: Educational Centre Albania Educational Centre Bulgaria Educational Centre Rumania Educational Centre Serbia Educational Centre Montenegro Educational Centre Moldova Results and Analysis It is important in analyzing the central office and the inspiration that this central office located in Thessaloniki is transmitting to its subordinate, Managers in six countries. Out of the questionnaire that is Appendix 1 at the end of this research paper resulted that , The global manager was a skilled one and he almost always took care of all the skills he is required to have in order to be successful. He paid too much attention of the regional differences in terms of subordinate and much more attention in terms of suppliers in international cultures. Attention was paid to his subordinates in terms of respect and always asked for the best possible to include all his managers in setting strategies and being involved in team decisions. So ethical values that they should respect in the company were central to the CEO of Educational Centers . Business Culture Due to the fact that almost all of these countries were mainly coming out of the Communism effects in the 1990s they were relatively quiet new to business culture. While people in Greece, from antiquity, have been quite skilled with business and trade. A new culture was imposed to these people in the all these countries. They were more than open to a new business and especially focused in Foreign Literature. But there was needed a knowhow to settle it in a conservative market. The imposed culture in all these countries has been almost similar but being adapted in the way it could have been most successful. The results given in this table are coming as an analysis of the questionnaire given to the Managers in all these countries, revealed in the Appendix 2 in the end. In the analysis you will see that there are some slight changes between management in some countries due to the slight cultural differences. The Analysis In all these countries as we may see there are a lot of similarities. First of all the structure is flat and the people are freely invited to talk to local managers and express their opinions. Every company uses first name based communications, which makes the atmosphere more warm and human based. The employee seems to be trusted only 10% turnover seems to be present in some countries, which means that people feel comfortable and happy to work for the company. The company pays attention to the worked by organizing trips and meetings which helps so much in building the team spirit. An important impact from the analysis is also the values inside the company. People from the selection phase before entering the job are requested to be honest, responsible, loyal which are important in building a team spirit inside the companies. Although may be slight changes in the order and qualities requested as the most important in a company. But they all are important and they all respect an inspired top management atmosphere. Cross Cultural differences There may be seen slight changes in the way people from these different countries see their colleagues in the other countries concerning the way they express their emotions. Some countries are more open than the others, but what is important is that they all pay attention in respecting their colleagues in other countries. We may also have to take into consideration if these is all the work of them or is an inspired leader to dictate their way? If we base our self at Appendix 1 analysis we will see that the figure of the Top Management shows how much are taken in to consideration the differences between cultures before making a decision and all the skills required to be a good manager in a cross cultural environment. Being a successful manager means: Gather information information about other cultures Have an open-minded approach to different cultures and values Show cultural differences and make the others aware of them and understand and gain valid experiences from them Learn from other cultural experiences and train people to attend cross cultural training and sessions All the above points are some of the most important noticed at the Educational Centre Top Management characteristics, which make him a skilled Global Manager. Results The noticeable result out of the research was that between Educational Centers in these countries tried hard to keep a unique culture, norms and values. The way that this is shown is that in every Educational Centre, everyone is participating in team building activities. The way they are all coping with cultural differences is very inspiring; it may seem somehow restricted to the Top management way. It is how they are working on preserving their own values and norms that are remarkable. From the very first day as an employee you will feel the culture and values within the institution, if you are not in tune with them they will be enforced upon you. So a newcomer will by rule follow the company trainings and then the sister companies trainings until being part of a trained team. The managers also participate in routine checkups to ensure that the staff is living by these norms, the staff answers questions regarding if the managers are working by them as well. You could say that Educational Centre does not fail on the aspect of taking in mind other countries’ cultures. They know about the different cultures in the countries where they enter, in order not to offend anyone. But they go on by imposing a similar culture. It is almost impossible for Educational Centers to offer what market offers, they have to be unique in what offer and their concept – it has been a winning concept so far. The main concerns for these companies, such as Educational centers, are to make sure they have strong culture on their own. They should have clear values and norms and this should be diffused throughout the entire organization. It is also necessary that everyone feels comfortable making their voice heard working in an environment with differences in cultures. If they would not be so open in the organization and having such a flat hierarchy there probably would be a lot more complications. References Publishing References Cross Cultural Management, Ray French , second edition, cipd Ajohannssen and P.A.Tufte 2003 Hofstede , Geert and Hofstede , Gerty Jan 2005 Interviews: B. Mucollari – Educational Centre Albania(Manager) R. Saric- Educational Centre Serbia(Manager) G. Puerda – Educational Centre Romania(Manager) T. Cernoc- Educational Centre Moldova (Manager) Bogovac – Educational Centre Montenegro (Manager) K. Tetova – Educational Centre Bulgaria (Manager) http://uscivilization.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/01/ Kawar, T.I (2012). Cross-cultural Difference in Management.Journal of Business and Social Science , 3(6), 107.

Babie’s Nutrition Essay

Is immunity compromised in babies who are formula fed for their first year compared to babies who are breastfed for the first year? Anastasia J. Jorgensen LCC Nursing 165 Is immunity compromised in babies who are formula fed for their first year compared to babies who are breastfed for the first year? Many hospitals are now implementing a â€Å"Baby Friendly† environment in their delivery and mother-baby units. This initiative promotes breastfeeding as the priority feeding method to new mothers and leaves formula feeding by the wayside. Is formula feeding hurting these children or all of the children who have been formula fed up to this point? One study suggests that there is a high use of laxatives in formula-fed infants (Gitte Zachariassen, 2013). While another sets out to prove that formula containing galactose, galactooligosaccharides (GOS) would help reduce infections and allergic manifestations with a prebiotic effect on intestinal microbiota (Carlos Sierra, 2014). Purpose In Sierra’s et al.’s (2014) article, which reviews the effect of prebiotic’s during the first year of life in formula fed infants, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is performed to assess the effects of prebiotic supplements on intestinal micro bacteria and the incidence of infections and allergic reactions during the first year of life. In Gitte Zachariassen’s et al.’s (2013) article on preterm infant diet and the high use of laxatives among the formula-fed infants, a study was performed to see what the effects of formula were on the infant gastrointestinal system versus infants who were given breastmilk along with formula and breastmilk alone. This study included the number of meals given, number and amount of regurgitation, number of stools, and amount of laxatives used daily. Summary of Studies1 Population. The first study, Carlos Sierra et al. (2014), consisted of infants less than 2 months old and healthy term infants from eight Spanish hospitals. These infants ranged in gestational age of 37 to 42 weeks and weighed more than 2500 grams. The infants were then placed into different groups to monitor the effects of the different food given whether it was formula or breastmilk. In the next study, Gitte Zachariassen et al. (2013), parents of very preterm infants (  regarding breastfeeding is important but I believe that more information should be provided about formula feeding and the problems that can occur. Specifically, I think parents should be informed that their infant could be more irritable because they are gassy or constipated if they are only formula fed, this may deter some parents from the use of formula or at least encourage them to supplement with breastmilk. I also think that they should be informed that breastfeeding, while it does contribute to passive immunity, is not the only way to keep your infant healthy. Formula, while more convenient to use at times, is not going to make your infant less healthy but it will not increase their immunity eith er. References Carlos Sierra, M.-J. B.-I.-L.-M. (2014). Prebiotic effect during the first year of life in healthy infants fed formula containing GOS as the only prebiotic: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind and placeboi-controlled trial. Springerlink.com, 11. Gitte Zachariassen, J. F.-G. (2013). Preterm dietary study: meal frequency, regurgitation and the surprisingly high use of laxatives among formula-fed infants following discharge. ACTA Paediatrica, 7.