Software Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Software Design - Essay Example Its directives are written in simple languages or terms using simple and direct language that any customer is able to understand the requirements. Following the description, it is true that the objective of writing this procedural design is to clearly and illustratively give the targeted readers proper and crisp information (Pressman R., 2003). Procedural design performs the function of transforming structural elements to a procedural description which starts just after data design and architectural design. This type of design comes after data design (where appropriate data structure is selected) and architectural design (which defines any relationships among major structural elements with the view of developing a modular structure and representing control relationships between them). ii. An inclusion of diagrams, photographs or sketches in every step, as apt, is necessary for visual illustrations of necessary concepts. Pieces of information expounding diagrammatic illustrations are to be active voice, instructing a reader on actions to take. iii. A test of all procedures is necessary to ensure high level of accuracy and complete with useful information given. Consistent use of terminologies and no use of abbreviations or acronyms must be practiced for effectiveness. Procedural design is based on a step by step illustration which guides any applications through a series of instructions while Object Oriented Design is a software system designed to offer services to other objects as a set of interacting objects managing their individual states. While in procedural design actions are done systematically (from one step to the other) in object-oriented design objects are distributed and thus may be executed in parallel or sequentially (no specific order followed in execution). Object oriented design is basically

Demonstrate how to carry out a patient-centred systematic assessment Essay

Demonstrate how to carry out a patient-centred systematic assessment of a patient with palliative care needs & use your findings - Essay Example Symptom management plan which is comprehensive involves a number of considerations. These are: An in-depth and holistic assessment Based on the assessment, there should be identification of the probable based on the assessment The execution of the intervention The continuous evaluation of the measures of intervention Effective management requires various things. These include: i. Amalgamated approach: this involves symptom assessment which is multidimensional. For instance, in the case of the management of pain, may require both patient education on how effectiveness of relation, and opioid. This is helpful as it teaches the patient the method of relieving oneself from anxiety. ii. The specific and targeted approach: this is directed to find out the exact factors contributing to the problem of a specified problem. For instance, pharmaceutical agents could be required to investigate various causal factors to a specific disease or ailment. iii. A tailored approach: this method is suite d for some circumstance. For example, a patient who does not have caregivers or adequate financial capabilities may have to get support from other caregivers. Evaluation It is very vital for one to investigate and find out the level of the underlying symptoms and to determine the progress of the disease. This is important as it helps in determining whether the disease can be reversed or if one is advancing to the terminal stage of their illness. The investigation may be done purposefully to: alleviate the root cause of a symptom and deliver one from the effects of the symptom. Patient Issues related to Symptom assessment and management plan There are various issues with different patients, which may affect the assessment. There this paper presents an elaboration of literature review, which singles out the interconnection of of areas focus in relation to the pain one is undergoing. These include communication, the spiritual life of a patient, and their relationships. Relationships an d Communications Health practitioners and hospitals should conduct and facilitate individual patient support to empower patients to talk effectively health professionals any other person. In addition to this, heal professionals should be trained adequately to enable them to learn the dynamics of communicating to patients, their informal caregivers and how they can communicate with other professionals. The major issue of concern that has been of concern all along is the importance of communication among and between various groups of persons involved. For instance, patients, health care professionals and the informal caregivers. For the case of patience, good communication, trust, and planning are the major concepts in the control of major symptoms that may have been found to develop in a patient. Patients should constantly be assured of wellness not sufferance and disaster after the treatment. The patients should be told of the side effects that are related to some diseases and treat ments. The fear that may engulf a patient about a specific treatment like cancer should be attended to and well addressed. The type of relationship that exists between a patient and health professionals matters a lot in the health improvement of a patient. The type of rela

Reflection On ICT Eduction

Reflection On ICT Eduction Literacy is the learning to read and write proficiently while digital literacy is the ability to use different digital tools for learning in young children (Kazakoff, 2012; Green et al, 2006). Digital storytelling is more effective to children’s learning rather than the traditional way as it can support the current trends in teaching and learning. Through this rationale, it can be seen that the child’s writing skill and comprehension improved as she had fun through the process of creating the digital story. This rationale also discussed the implication of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the early years setting, the planning and the usage of digital story in the early years setting with the supports of policies, theories and curriculums that can develop children’s literacy, communication and language skills. ICT can be defined as anything that enable us to receive information, to interact with each other or to bring impact on the environment using electronic or digital device (Bolstad, 2004). There are many devices and equipment that can be use in an early years setting to encourage the usage of ICT such as cameras, computers, programmable toys and many more. ICT had brought an impact to the children learning and development, remarkably in their literacy development as children nowadays are living in a challenging and advance environment (Roney, 2008). Children should be provided with opportunities, for instance, through creating digital stories to develop ‘technological literacy’ to ensure their activeness and competence in their environment (Shah and Godiyal, 2000). Significantly in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), involving technology in children’s learning and development can support the progression of the children and also achieving the learning goals (Df E, 2012a). The synthesis report by Hatherly et al (2010) had shown the positive implication of ICTs for children’s literacy development. The report stated that children’s activities that are based on ICTs could develop children’s literacy, language and communication skill. Other than that, the use of ICTs can motivate children to speak and engage themselves in conversation and to tell and share their experiences through various ways, for example, through digital story-telling that would facilitate children’s literacy development. Through observation, I chose a child who love to draw because I wanted to develop her literacy skill by supporting her through her interest in drawing using story-telling as making connection with drawing to writing can allow children to understand how writing can relate to their images and also their visual imagery (NYSUT, 2008). Before I started doing anything with the child, I asked for the willingness of the child to participate in this assignment as her opinions and views are to be considered first according to UNCRC Article 12 (UNICEF, n.d). I met her parents where we discussed about the resource plan and how this will help her learning and development. The discussion lead me to the understanding that the child was not exposed much to electronic devices at home. However, they allowed me to work with their child and also agreed in helping the child to familiarise herself with the device after the discussion. I understand that this could be advantageous for the child’s lea rning as involving parents in children’s education can bring many benefits including improvements in children’s educational achievement and also increasing parents’ confidence in helping their child at home (DCSF, 2008). Through the discussion also, I decided to make the resource with tablet and audio recorder as it will allow the child to navigate the device better than by operating a mouse that might be hard for new learners (Pierangelo and Giuliani, 2008). I started telling different types of stories to give the child a better understanding on how a story should be. Telling stories to children can enhance their language learning by introducing them to different languages and narrative styles such as the stories’ prologue, climax and epilogue (Whitehead, 2010). I gave the child the freedom to choose what kind of story she wanted to write and we both agreed on writing an imaginary story inspired by the movie ‘Frozen’ according to the child’s interest as practitioners should support children to write about things that interest them (DfE, 2012a). She was able to start planning her story without much difficulties but she faced problem in using the tablet. At the beginning, the child had a hard time trying to use the application in the tablet but I did not help her immediately. I gave her the time to explore the device herself and after a few trial and error and some guidance, she managed to navigate the device suc cessful. As accordance to the Montessori Method ‘control of error’, children learning from their mistake themselves can help them to develop a skill and knowledge more proficiently as their confidence and self-esteem increased (Lawrence, 1998). Throughout the process of illustrating the story, I took up the role as a facilitator. When the child had difficulties in continuing the story, I used open ended question like â€Å"What should you say if someone gave you something?† and â€Å"How did the girl felt?† According to Piaget, the role of an educator is to aid the children to come to their own understanding and asking questions instead of telling the answers and this could improve children’s comprehension and vocabulary (Chamberlin, 2014; Teachnology Inc, n,d). The child wanted to incorporate fantasy element in her story where the snowman has the ability to talk and I strongly agreed. Encouraging children’s imagination can develop their social skills and improve their confidence in learning or acquiring literacy skill (The Reader’s Digest Association, 2014). I started to involve myself more in the making of digital story when the child started to write text on each drawing as practitioners should â€Å"support and scaffold individual children’s writing as opportunities arise† (DfE, 2012a:31). I wanted to know the child’s writing skill so that I can support her to reach her maximum potential in literacy within her Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). ZPD refers to the distance between what a child can do independently and what they could potentially do with the support of more knowledgeable adults and peers (Tools of the Mind, 2014). For example, I provided the child with short stories and few words’ flashcards related to her story that she can use. From the few options, she was able to choose which words she wanted to use, for instance, the word ‘build’ instead of ‘make’. There were a few spelling error where she invented herself through the sounds of the words but I encourage the chil d to continue without correcting her because children’s invented spelling can reflects their attempts in connecting the relationships of language’s sounds to the alphabetic system (Whitehead, 2010). I could see the child’s confidence in writing increased when she write without looking hesitant. Through this, I realised the child is developing positively in literacy as the child’s writing skill matched the early learning goals in EYFS where she could write simple sentences that can be read and could spell some words correctly and some phonetically reasonable (DfE, 2012b). Subsequently, I put all her completed drawings together using PowerPoint because it is an easy and accessible software where users can create and design their slides without much difficulties and it is suitable for new learners (Boundless, n.d). The child was very excited as it was her first time seeing a story in a digital form, moreover, she was involved in creating it. PowerPoint has the function where the child can easily choose the animation/effect that allowed her to portray her story better. For example, the child chose the curtain opening effect to display the starting of her story. The software effects that are used in a digital story enable children to link their story effectively and demonstrate understanding of their own story where children get to improve their reading comprehension (Vogel, 2007). Through the attractive and interactive way of presenting the story telling using the effects, I believe it will support the child’s literacy learning through the linking of words to image as according to Bruner, children from the age 1-6 years in his second mode of representation, iconic, the information that children had learned is stored in the form of images (McLeod, 2008). I also chose to use voice recorder to record the child’s voice because â€Å"writing with real voice has the power to make you pay attention and understand† (Elbow, 1981:299 cited in Nilsson, 2010). Voice recording had allow the child to express things she cannot write in words (Nilsson, 2010), therefore the child felt no barrier to explore her own vocabulary and I can see this when she said words that she did not write in her story. The child wanted to put music alongside with her voice and I agreed as it will display her emotions and expressions when she was creating the story. After completing the editing, I played the slides and praised her for her great work as treating her story interesting and reread it again can show the child that her effort was worth i t (Lawrence, 1998). Reflecting on this experience, I felt that the making and the usage of this resource alongside with the theories and approaches that I followed brought a positive result in enhancing the child’s language and emergent literacies and also allowing the child to understand better about ICTs. Through reflecting, I realised I should include more children in creating the resource as the children’s collaboration could encourage the exchange of knowledge in literacy happen during the discussion and planning to create the digital story. I also understand that digital storytelling is a fun yet effective way to support children’s learning because it enable the child to create stories that interest her and expanding her scope of learning in a modernized way. Now that I understand the impact of ICT in children’s learning, I will continue to incorporate ICT in my future activities with the children but with larger group of children so that children from diverse backgroun d can also have the opportunity to experience and learn from the usage of the technology. List of References Bolstad, R. (2004) The role and potential of ICT in early childhood education. Available at: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ict/4983 (Accessed: 29 November 2014). Boundless (n.d) The Advantages and Disadvantages of Powerpoint. Available at: https://www.boundless.com/communications/textbooks/boundless-communications-textbook/preparing-and-using-visual-aids-16/using-powerpoint-and-alternatives-successfully-85/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-powerpoint-323-5654/ (Accessed: 2 December 2014). Chamberlin, J. (2014) Bringing books to life. Available at: http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/10/books.aspx (Accessed: 29 November 2014). Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) (2008) The Impact of Parental Involvement on Children’s Education. Nottingham: Crown. Department for Education (DfE) (2012a) Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage. London: Crown. Department for Education (DfE) (2012b) Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. London: Crown. Green, S., Peterson, R., Lewis, J. (2006) ‘Language and Literacy Promotion in Early Childhood Settings: A survey of Center-Based Practices.’ Early Childhood Research and Practice, 8(1), 27-47. Hatherly, A., Ham, V., Evans, L. (2010) Effective Learning in Early Childhood Education? The Impact of the ECE ICT PL Programme: A Synthesis Report. Available at: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ECE/79138/1.-childrens-learning (Accessed: 30 November 2014). Kazakoff, E. (2012) Toward Defining Digital Literacy in Early Childhood. Available at: www.eetcconference.org/wp/Digital_Literacy_Early_Childhood.pdf (Accessed: 2 December 2014). Lawrence, L. (1998) Montessori Read Write. London: Ebury Press. McLeod, S. (2008) Bruner. Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html (Accessed: 29 November 2014). New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) (2008) ‘How Drawing in Conjunction with Writing Contributes to Literacy.’ Journal of Best Practices in Education, 1(6), 36-43. Nilsson, M. (2010) ‘Developing Voice in Digital Storytelling through Creativity, Narrative and Multimodality.’ International Journal of Media, Technology Lifelong Learning, 6(2), 148-160. Pierangelo, R. and Giuliani, G. (2008) Teaching Students for Autism Spectrum Disorders. California: Corwin Press. Roney, J. (2008) Digital Story Telling for Language and Culture Learning. Available at: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/2812 (Accessed: 29 November 2014). Shah, A. and Godiyal, S. (2000) ‘ICT in the Early Years: Balancing the risks and benefits.’ Journal of Computing in Early Childhood, 3(1), 15-30. Teachnology Inc (n.d) Piaget’s Theory on Constructivism. Available at: http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/constructivism/piaget (Accessed: 29 November 2014). The Reader’s Digest Association (2014) 5 Benefits of Encouraging Your Child’s Imagination. Available at: http://www.rd.com/advice/parenting/encourage-your-childs-imagination/# (Acccesed: 30 November 2014). Tools of the Mind (2014) Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding. Available at: http://www.toolsofthemind.org/philosophy/scaffolding/ (Accessed: 28 November 2014). UNICEF (n.d) United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf (Accessed: 27 November 2014). Vogel, J. (2007) Research Supporting Digital Storytelling. Available at: http://courseweb.lis.illinois.edu/~jevogel2/lis506/research.html (Accessed: 2 December 2014). Whitehead, M. (2010) Language and Literacy in the Early Years 0-7. 4th edn. London: SAGE Publications. 1

The Industrial Revolution Essay -- Essays Papers

The Industrial Revolution Going to work for a full day isn’t much fun after working fifteen hours the day before! 60-70 hour work days are never pleasant in anybody’s mind. How is it that so many people did this during the Industrial Revolution? Was it because they wanted the extra money? Or was it because they wanted the high political or economic status? For some people these were the reasons, but for most it was because of one concern. Survival! The Industrial Revolution greatly changed the workplace and the proletarians. The Factory system was changed forever by the name of one man, Richard Arkwright. Even though Arkwright was not a great inventor, he used other peoples ideas to advocate his own ambitions to the next level. â€Å"He was the first who knew how to make something out of other men’s inventions, and who built them up into an industrial system.† (Mantoux 221) Arkwright personally dealt with John Kay’s flying shuttle. However, the invention he patented was not John Kay’s but a more sufficient and effective invention. He worked with the Spinning Jenny, which was invented by James Hargreaves. (Clare 10-13) Arkwrights use of the Spinning Jenny, became the basis on how to use inventions for producing max outputs (Mantoux 224). The Industrial Revolution was supported by the new and efficient inventions. Inventions were created by many and shaped the nations future. One of the most important inventions was the Steam Engine. The Steam Engine was initially created by Thomas Newcomen, but his invention was very clumsy and didn’t have a practical purpose (mantoux 225). However, James Watt managed to create a more efficient device, by creating rotary motion from inserting a crank and a flywheel (Claire 12-15). James Watt... ...he workplace gave rise to a new day and age. Without these necessary hardships then some might say we would be stuck in a world that wouldn’t know how to produce. In any regards the reason for the Industrial Revolution beginning and ending were because of one thing the will of the people wanted it. Works Cited Claire, John Industrial Revolution. China: Random House UK Limited, 1993 Eisenberg, Christiane. â€Å"Artisans† Socialization at Work: Workshop Life in Early Nineteenth-Century England and Germany.† Journal of Social History 1 May 1991: 45-57. King, Steven., and Geoffrey Timmins. Making Sense of the Industrial Revolution. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001. Mantoux Paul. The Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth Century New York: Harper Row Publisher, 1961.

How to shear a sheep

As the time wore on, though, I became more and more worried about one bullet point- under â€Å"Items to Bring,† was listed â€Å"A body with the strength and willingness to learn to shear sheep. Willingness, I could handle, but I wasn't so sure about strength. Our classmates, whether farmers or not, would all be bigger and stronger than me- most people are, statistically speaking. Erin had been working out with hearing specifically in mind. I'd spent the three months since January Joking about needing to start, but, of course, never did. In the morning, when Erin and I walked up to the pre-class circle of would-be- shearers, our instructor was saying something about how, used to be, they advised you take the class only If you could bench-press 120 lbs.I assuaged my horrible sense of dread by thinking of when Emily learned to shear (never mind that she was 1 5 then, and I'm 23), thinking of everyone's encouraging tweets and emails, and swearing that, If I made It through with out serious embarrassment (cutting off an ear, very day (which, of course, has yet to happen). After a few shearing demonstrations and a rehearsal of the 5 positions of shearing, there really was nothing left to do but try it ourselves. â€Å"It's Just like learning to swim,† they told us, movie goat Jump in! â€Å".We all split up into groups of four, grabbed a sheep and a pair of clippers, and got to work. To begin with, you sit the sheep up in front of you- this is first position. Starting at the breastbone (we called it the brisket! ), start shearing off the belly wool. Since this is the wool that's dirtiest, it helps to go ahead and get it out of the way. It's important to shear wide enough to make sure that you're well-set-up for farther down the road. After you take off the belly wool, you lean over further and take the wool off the legs and crotch, sort of scooping the clippers up the right leg, across, and down the left leg.The big danger here is accidentally sheari ng off a ewe's teats, so you're supposed to cover them up with your left hand (â€Å"you sure won't shear ‘me off now! â€Å"). Emily helps me navigate a tricky spot. Once the belly, crotch, and legs are clean, you rotate about 90 degrees, change into second position, and start shearing her left hind leg (I'm using the feminine pronoun cause, well, most sheep are ewes). It's also in this second step that you clear the wool off from the tail area, and, since her head is easily accessible, shear off the topknot of fleece from the top of her head. I love how much Rein's smiling in this picture. Shearing is fun!After than, you swing your legs around your sheep and into third position. You're going to move your clippers up from the brisket along the neck, and end your stroke (or â€Å"blow,† as they're called) under the left side of her chin. This is, in my opinion, the most thrilling- I mean that in both senses- part of shearing. You're â€Å"unzipping† the elect a long the underside of the neck, and it definitely looks and feels the coolest, Because (obviously) the sheep is covered in wool, you can't tell where the wool ends and the sheep begins unless you have a very exact knowledge of her specific anatomy and musculature (more on this later).It's pretty terrifying to move a pair of clippers into the unknown- rather, unknown, except for the knowledge that, if you make a mistake, you could cut your sheep's neck pretty badly. If one end of the error spectrum are nicks and cuts, then the other end of the spectrum is second cuts, which are short pieces of fleece that weren't taken off with he first pass of the clippers. Second cuts cause all sorts of problems- if incorporated into yarn, they make it weaker, and cause it to pill more quickly- and so it's important to keep them to a minimum.In fact, our instructors told us that we must not be so afraid of cutting the sheep, because, otherwise, all we'd do is make second cuts. I wasn't so good at n ot being afraid (but, still, I nicked a few sheep). After you've opened up the fleece along the neck, you keep making parallel passes with your shears- up from the chest, along the left side of the neck, ending right under the eye; up the chest, along the neck, end under the ear.This is the part when it's easiest to take off an ear, so, Just like with the teats, you're supposed to find it, get hold of it, and make sure to keep it out of harm's way. Once the left side of the neck is clear, you start working on the left shoulder. Emily showed Erin and I a bit of weight-shifting footwork that helps get the sheep's shoulder in a better position to shear. The more you know about your sheep, the easier she'll be for you to shear- and since she's covered in wool, it can sometimes be hard to tell. If you know she's fat, it'll be, as Emily says, â€Å"Easy, like shearing a beach ball.If she's skinny, you're going to have to work a little harder to navigate around the bony hips, shoulders, a nd spinal processes. Does she have two teats, or are there four (ewes sometimes have an extra vestigial set) to watch out for? If she's a pinewood sheep with Merino heritage (hello, Corm), she's going to be covered in the wrinkles and extra skin that those breeds were bred to have (more skin = more hair follicles = more wool per sheep), and you're going to have to make sure not to nick those. If she's in good health, she should shear easily.If she's doing poorly, though, the lanolin (which usually melts a bit, and helps o lubricate the clippers) won't flow so freely, and instead stays thick, like wax, and gums up your clippers. I was continually amazed at the intimacy of it, and humbled by the amount of strength and knowledge required- I don't think Vive experienced anything like it in my every single inch of every single sheep, and then use that knowledge to navigate a potentially dangerous situation (those clippers are sharp), and end up with a valuable product (7 or 8 lbs of wool per sheep).That said, it's also hot, sweaty, greasy, difficult, dirty, exhausting, poppy, smelly, frustrating, and sometimes bloody. Dragging ourselves back to the hotel after the first day, I told Erin, â€Å"If anyone ever tells me shearing like a beautiful, graceful, athletic dance between the shearer and the sheep, I'm goanna punch ‘me in the face,† and there were plenty of Jokes about, â€Å"Any Job where your read end's goat be higher than your head- that's not a good Job! † So, back to business. Once the whole left side is clear, you slide the sheep down your shin and into fourth position.A big part of learning the positions is making sure the sheep is comfortable- the more comfortable she is, the less she'll struggle and fight, and the easier it is for he both of you. It's time for what's called the long blows, which are some of the easiest parts of shearing to learn (but hardest to master). They also look really cool. You move your clippers right across the body, tail to head. You keep making blows along the back, making sure to keep the comb of your clippers right along the curve of her back, until you're one blow past her spine.After that comes fifth position: swing your right leg around, pick up your sheep, and, holding her nose between your knees, start shearing down the right side- head, neck, and shoulder- rolling the sheep up towards you as you move down her body. Once you're past the shoulder, you start making diagonal passes down the right side- you're almost done! After making those diagonal passes down the sheep's right side, all there is left to do is clear off the right leg and hindquarter. See how Erin is using her left hand to put all her weight into the sheep's right flank?That serves two purposes- 1) it straightens out the right leg, so that it's easier to shear, and 2) it tightens up the skin, so that there's less risk of it getting caught in the clippers. Honestly, there's so much skin-tightening, head-holding, ear-grabbing, leg- threatening, and teat-saving done with the non-clipper-holding-hand, you might as well say that it did all the work! Nevertheless, both Erin and I had pretty sore right 1) vibrate and 2) are dripping with motor oil and lanolin. It's not easy. But, once you've cleaned off that last leg, you're done!Emily actually took videos of both Erin and me finishing our sheep- they're up on Faceable, if you'd like to see more. And so, here I am after my first-ever sheep, grinning like a goofball. She looks like a carpet after it's been vacuumed! But the Job's not over once the sheep's shorn! In their varying levels of wholeness- nagging from the gorgeous waterfalls of wool produced by some of the experienced shearers to the utterly destroyed scragglier produced by all of us beginners- the fleeces were taken to the skirting table and sorted.As someone who erred on the side of second cuts, I felt a little guilty! Erin and I came away from the weekend physically exhausted, but ot herwise wildly enthused about shearing- not only are we planning on tagging along with Emily when she's in Virginia next, but we're also thinking of going up to Maryland for the wool pool (can you imagine seeing a whole state worth of wool, all in one place!? ), and e definitely want to go to Maryland Sheep & Wool, too (anyone have a couch or a spare bedroom for us? ).

Inner Reflections Essay

As a person looks back at their life, a common concern is the legacy they leave in this world. Most people posses an earnest desire to make a difference in the world. Before any contribution can be made, be it great or small, it is important to understand one’s own worldview. After constructing a coherent framework about the â€Å"basic makeup of this world† (James 16), it is possible to build on this foundation to create new ideas. In his work The Human Good, Thomas Aquinas is able to share his views on this world and thereby make valuable theological contributions to this world. Aquinas was born in Roccasecca, a town in southern Rome, and lived from 1225 to 1274 (Aquinas 145). Prominent thoughts during this medieval era included those of Augustine and Aristotle. Born into this critical time, Aquinas attempts to â€Å"reconcile the teachings of . . . Aristotle with Christian doctrine or Reason with Faith† (Aquinas 145). Aquinas is renowned as the â€Å"greatest theologian of the medieval Catholic church† and a â€Å"representative of scholasticism† (Aquinas 145). As the son of a nobleman, he was educated at the University of Naples and became a member of the Dominican Order of Preachers. After finishing his education, Aquinas spent most of his life â€Å"teaching at Dominican study houses and universities in France and Italy† (Aquinas 145). In The Human Good, Aquinas reveals his views on what a human being is, and how humans know what is right and wrong. Although these are two separate questions, examining the nature of a human being leads to examining how they are able to know what is good. In light of the first question, Aquinas uses passages from the Psalms to answer, â€Å"God . . . from the abundance of his perfection, grants being to all existing things† (Aquinas 145). Aquinas describes humans as created beings that â€Å"have intelligence and bear his likeness and represent his image† (Aquinas 146). Along with being created in God’s image, Aquinas also implies humans have a personal relationship with their creator when he says, â€Å"God will not forget his people† (Aquinas 147). Finally, Aquinas states that intelligent creatures have free will, or are capable of directing their own actions. Since humans can deviate away from God’s will, Aquinas also refers to humans as â€Å"corruptible beings† (Aquinas 147). This by no means implies that humans have equality with God. Despite the fact that humans can direct their own actions, they are still under the rule of the first creator. Aquinas puts a lot of effort into justifying why humans and all other created objects do, in fact, act towards an end. Although this may seem like an obvious principle, Aquinas views it as a fundamental issue, which must be proved. This issue is important because, an ordered universe acting towards an end implies it was â€Å"voluntarily produced by an agent† (Aquinas 146). In order to prove that all things do tend towards an end, Aquinas says that if agents did not tend toward any particular end, actions would extend to infinity. Philosophically, this is not possible because this requires â€Å"an infinity of antecedents† (Aquinas 148). Since this world, including humans, are finite; an infinity of actions is not possible. This proves that â€Å"there must be something which, when had, brings the activity of the agent to rest† (Aquinas 148). After this fact is established, another premise regarding humans can be added. Humans, as intelligent beings, act by â€Å"preconceiving that which they pursue by their actions† (Aquinas 148). This is unlike natural agents, which have no concept of the end they are approaching. This implies that by knowing or having the ability to aim for an end, humans can change their end. Author Jean Porter comments that the human will, â€Å"unlike animal impulses, is never oriented by natural necessity toward any particular finite good† (Porter 71). Since humans do not have a set path to follow to their end, a big portion of a person’s life is spent in trying to determine their own end. Next, Aquinas goes on to prove that regardless of what end humans chose, it is for the sake of good. First of all, since humans tend toward some end, its logical to say that this end, whatever it may be, is towards something that is beneficial. From what can be observed, intelligent agents will flee â€Å"anything they apprehend as evil† (Aquinas 150), and to flee evil is to seek good. In other words, all humans seek to perfect themselves, or seek happiness by improving. Stating that every human acts for the sake of good may seem useless when considering that the definition of goodness is defined by the individual. Aquinas himself gives examples of goods around which people structure their lives: â€Å"riches, honor, physical pleasure, and so on† (Porter 77). However, establishing that every human being tends toward what is good provides more room to proceed. The next task would be to acquire a â€Å"correct concept of the human good† (Porter 72). Once there exists an ultimate good, there also exists a standard by which a human can tell if he or she is are headed towards the good end. The existence of many ideas of human goodness among a group of people does not disprove the fact that there may be one ultimate good. Even if an individual has a mistaken notion of what is good, he or she will change their notion if they realize his or her mistake. Therefore, if an ultimate good were to exist, all agents would seek this end if they had the knowledge. Finally, Aquinas reasons that â€Å"to understand the most perfect intelligible object, which is God, is the most perfect of acts of understanding† (Aquinas 151). Aquinas also states that it is the natural desire of men to know the first cause. God is the first cause of all, so knowing God must be the ultimate end of all understanding. Now that there exists an ultimate good, this â€Å"theory of goodness provides a foundation for a theory of morality† (Porter 68), by which it is possible to know what is right and what is wrong. Consequently, although humans may establish and follow different ends seeking good, the ultimate ideal of good is found in knowing God. Aquinas’ approach to answer theological questions has some questionable aspects. Like most ideals, one wonders how realistic it is to seek the ultimate good in every aspect. According to Aquinas, only by knowing God do humans have a standard by which they can know what is right and wrong. It can be agreed upon that even an ignorant individual’s ultimate end is knowing God. However, until such knowledge is acquired, the true standard is arbitrary and the individual has a flawed concept of right and wrong. Therefore the harder the ideal end is to acquire, the more people have skewed view on morality. This suggests that for many, morals are relative, which is somewhat naturalistic. Since, Aquinas’ views are theistic both views cannot coexist within the same theory. Therefore, Aquinas’ views on morality depend upon the feasibility of achieving the ideal. Another aspect of Aquinas’ methods that receives much criticism is his eager acceptance of Aristotelian ideas â€Å"without criticism from biblical revelation† (Hoffecker 110). Although commendable, the attempt to prove spiritual matters such as the existence of God using human logic alone seems a bit ambitious. Aquinas is criticized for looking â€Å"too hastily elsewhere, outside the biblical revelation . . . [to] support the Christian faith† (Hoffecker 110). Straying so far away from divine revelation and relying so heavily on reason endangers the importance of faith. Positively, with the knowledge of such dangers, moderate uses of Aquinas’ methods can result in powerful tools for the Christian faith. This is the reason for praising Aquinas as â€Å"the greatest theologian of the medieval Catholic Church† (Aquinas 145). Aquinas’ contributions in theology and philosophy revolutionized Christian thought. His work combines Aristotelian logic with theology producing a revolutionary line of thought known as â€Å"Thomism† (Aquinas 145). Although not mentioned in The Human Good, earlier works by Aquinas use similar methods of logic to prove the existence of God. Aquinas’ ideas on morality and man made them more compatible for people with non-Christian worldviews. Even though venturing so far away from divine revelation may be risky, his work helped introduce more people to Christianity. The popularity of Aquinas may have caused the rise of applying reason in more areas such as religion in the western world. The logical, cause-and-effect mindset of the western world may be attributed partly to this newly sparked popularity of Aristotelian thought. Being able to justify the one’s position using logic is also useful when defending the Christian faith. Although a complicated work of theology, Aquinas was able to reflect his fundamental views on man and morality though The Human Good. He left a lasting legacy by gaining a wide audience with whom to share his ideas. Some leave legacies by their memorable actions or character. Others construct revolutionary ideas and alter the course of public thought forever. Whichever method is used, the worldview of the person shapes their actions and their thoughts. Works Cited Aquinas, Thomas. â€Å"The Human Good.† The Western World. Ed. Mark Kishlansky. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002. 145-155. Hoffecker, Andrew. â€Å"Medieval Scholasticism: The Thomistic Synthesis†. Building a Christian World View. Ed. Andrew Hoffecker. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1986. 97-113. James, sire. Universe Next Door. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1996. Porter, Jean. The Recovery of Virtue. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990.