Interaction and Usability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Interaction and Usability - Essay Example Implementation 10 7 Evaluation 19 7.1 Cognitive Walk-through 19 7.2 Heuristic Evaluation 19 8 References 20 Appendix 21 A.1 Interview with the Owner 21 A.2 Document Analysis 23 A.3 Observation of Brit Drive 23 A.4 Questionnaire for Receptionists, Instructors and Pupil 24 A.5 Cognitive walk-through 26 A.6 Heuristic Evaluation 27 A.7 Scenarios 28 A.8 Task Analysis 30 1. Introduction Brit Drive is a small driving school, situated in the north of London. With the help of certified and experienced instructors, the school offers driving lessons at affordable prices. The target market of Brit Drive consists of those people from the locality who want to learn how to drive. Brit Drive holds lessons for nearly 20-30 students each day. The duration of a daily lesson varies from one to four hours. The school has four cars (of which one is automatic) where each has a lease duration of two years. 2. Discovery Methods 2.1 Primary Research The initial user research was conducted through four discove ry techniques: interviews, observations, questionnaires and document analysis. Since the company has a small staff team, it was easy to conduct the primary research. Interview with the Owner An interview with the owner, Timothy Goode, made it possible to gain a basic understanding of the existing system, its primary and secondary users and its environment (See Appendix A.1 for the interview). The questions revolved around the users and their roles in the Brit Drive system. Document Analysis The company’s data is paper-based and resides with Timothy. With Timothy’s permission, it became possible to analyze the data that is stored in the existing Brit Drive system (See Appendix section A.2 for the analysis). Observation By spending a day at the school, a first hand observation of the Brit Drive’s environment and daily operations became possible (See Appendix section A.3 for the findings). Questionnaires: To analyze the computer skill level, problems and requiremen ts of the receptionists, instructors and the pupils, a questionnaire was formulated. Each questionnaire had open and closed questions. (See the questionnaire and findings summary in Appendix A.4). 2.2 Secondary Research Based on the facts collected in the primary research, the main users that will directly interact with the system are the owner and the receptionists. The instructor and the pupil are the secondary users of the system (Wang n.d.). The main users fall into the category of novice (Helander et al. 1997) as they are general computer users. And since the system is to shift from legacy to digital, the users would have no syntactic and limited semantic knowledge of the overall application. In such cases, a simply designed interface is the only option. Since, all the tasks the receptionists perform can also be performed by the owner, easily memorized shortcuts can be used as a standard for a task. Once the users become frequent users, these shortcuts will not only ease the sy stem learning process but will also help during the rush hours. 3. User Needs Analysis 3.1 Persona According to the common traits, system has four user categories which leads to four personas; the owner, receptionist, instructor and the pupil (Wang n.d.). The persona skeletons from the previous section, are then prioritized according to their importance to the system (Wang n.d.). From the four personas, the owner and the

Questions on the case of WELLS FARGO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Questions on the case of WELLS FARGO - Essay Example In the California financial code, there is a provision that ensures parity where the commissioner is allowed to issue commands in regulating a California chattered bank to conduct any activity that is allowed for a national chattered bank (FindLaw, 2011). In the determination of whether a federal statute preempts a state law, there is the general presumption that the supremacy clause of the constitution to the United States federal statutes does not preempt the historic powers of the state police. This can only happen if the preemption has the clarity of the United States congress purpose. The general presumption in opposition to preemption, we narrowly interpret the accurate language of the national law or regulation to determine whether a meticulous state law declaration is preempted ((White Paper 2010, 11). State banks are authorized to conduct activities that are not allowed for national banks. This shows that even if Wells Fargo Bank was a Californian chartered bank, it could ha ve taken its case to the court of appeal. If the national chattered bank was able to do that, the California chattered bank was able to do the same. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) conduct examinations in the bank alternatively. The alternation of examination programs, which is either, in a twelve or eighteen month cycle allows the bank to have privacy by keeping intruders off the bank (White Paper 2010, 1). Had 16 F.R. 1904 not included the statement that â€Å"the regulation is a clarification of existing law," the case could have taken a different turn because it could have favored the plaintiff. In this case, Smith did not get any favor for the section stipulated that the case was clarified (FindLaw, 2011). Smith was not lucky because the disclosure he accused the bank to have been preempted in the same ruling. In that regard, the case of advertising being misleading was not favored by the court. If the section was not clarifies, smith could have been favored because the advertisement could have been claimed as misleading. On the other hand, smith did not have any evidence because he did not provide any advert which had affirmative misinterpretation. Smith’s allegations could not have been overruled if he had the advert which was misinterpreted by customers as he claimed (White Paper 2010, 2). The police powers would still have protected the consumer because they are supposed to protect the regulation of consumers and the bank or financial institution. The plaintiff would have been in a very happy mood but, his expectations were turned down because of the insertion of that phrase about clarification. The ruling would have affected the bank in hard manner because colossal amount of money could have been paid as fine due to the ignorance of rules in the bank. The plaintiff could have received benefits but, now he was forced to bear with the circumstances (Portfolio Media, Inc., 2010). Truth in Savings A ct (12 U.S.C. 4301 et. seq.), it is also known as TISA which an acronym. It is a federal law in the United States which was passed on December 19th, 1991. The act was a part of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991. It establishes the uniformity of the terms that regard interests and fees which are paid in the process of opening accounts and passing information (Cfpb, 2011). The United States congress was behind the passing of the law as it noted that it was determined to enhance

Research methodology in Strategic Human Resource Management Paper

Methodology in Strategic Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example This work would evaluate the research philosophies, strategies and methods employed in some human resource research journals/articles. There are some philosophical principles that were used in the research to make it more effective. The principle of social constructivism was well applied when the researchers set a friendly atmosphere before engaging some workers in some interviews. The researchers understood the fact that each organization has policies which limit some workers from handling some questions or duties within the organization. The research team had to be clear on the intention or purpose of their research as well as the assurance that it would have no negative implication on their career. However, the principle of participation was not well utilized since the research team only involved employees from specific departments and left out the rest, they should have sampled their respondents to represent the entire organization to limit biasness (Wilkins, 2009). Positivist an d constructivist principles are important for any research, they help one judge the quantitative and qualitative implications in any research. Quantitative research is that which figures can be used to back or support its finding while qualitative research is that which cannot be quantified or rather based on facts or theories. E-HRM research considered the constructivist principles when the employees were asked to give their thoughts or verdicts with the technology concerned. The majority were for the idea that it would improve the effectiveness of human resource in the organization. The technology requires a few IT specialists and a smaller space to operate and furthermore, it simply records all income and expenditure details in terms of time of transaction and amount among other details. It also saves on organization resources spent to recruit, train and supervise workers in various departments (Parry, 2011). The technology also promotes self-service management system in the mode rn workplaces. Here the employees convey their complaints or concerns through secured web-channels to the top management team or the employer. Researchers tried to compare the E-HRM and the traditional human resource and they found out that they were labor and technology oriented respectively. Furthermore, E-HRM depends wholly on advanced software to manage and monitor some of the important human resource elements in a certain organization. Traditional human resource, on the other hand, uses human resource managers, directors and secretaries but oversees major human resource issues. However, positivist principles were not effectively applied in the research. The article ought to record numerical values of the findings. For instance, the researchers should have recorded the number of human resource employees in E-HRM system and compared with that of traditional human resource management. The article is not clear on some of the research strategies employed. However, from the findings, one can depict that the researchers must have prepared research questions about the kind of findings they expected. The questions could have been withdrawn from prior similar research and internet sources among others. They ought to have indicated how they conducted their pre-visit study to converse themselves with the study environment. This would also enable them to get to know the estimate population of the study area. This would guide the researchers in decision on the

The nutritional status Essay Example for Free

The nutritional status Essay The individual (a male patient) was about 5’9† in height and weight 105 kilograms, was obese (classified as fat by the Food Standard Agency, UK). He was overweight by about 30 kilograms for his height. His waist circumference was about excess by about 6 to 7 centimetres, meaning that he had accumulated excessive subcutaneous fat in the abdominal and the hip region. His body mass index (BMI) was also suggesting that he was obese and needed to lose weight (according to the Food Standard Agency, UK). His BMI was about 36. 3 and that of normal ranges from 18. 5 to 24. 9, and overweight ranges from 25. 0 to 29. 9. Any value about 30 is considered to be as obese (NHLBI). The individual’s blood pressure is about 165/92 mm Hg which suggests that the individual is suffering from stage 2 or severe hypertension. Any value above 160 mm Hg systolic or 100 mm Hg diastolic can be considered as severe hypertension (according to Mayo Clinic, 2007). The exact cause for the hypertension is really not known, but several risk factors such as increased body weight, physical inactivity, high sodium intake, elevated blood glucose levels, high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, etc may play a major role in the development of the disease. The blood pressure is a product of the cardiac output and the peripheral vascular resistance. Since these are both raised, the blood pressure is elevated (Mayo Clinic, 2007). The individual is at a risk of developing stroke, heart attacks, heart failure and kidney failures due to the severe hypertension (Medline Plus, 2007). The normal blood pressure ranges from 115 to 120 mm Hg for systole and 75 to 80 mm Hg for diastole (Mayo Clinic, 2007). The individual’s cholesterol levels are about 7. 5 mmol/L which puts him at a very high risk of developing heart disease (anything above 6. 2 mmol/L are considered as high-risk) (according to the NHBLI, 2001). The individual’s plasma triglyceride level is slightly high which puts him at a higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke. Individuals with diabetes mellitus not undergoing treatment are also at a higher risk of developing elevated plasma triglyceride levels. The individuals fasting blood glucose level is about 8. 4 which is very high compared to the normal limits. This suggests that he could be suffering from type II diabetes mellitus (Mayo, 2006). Individuals who are suffering from diabetes mellitus are more likely to develop several complications including a fatal outcome when they are affected with a cardiovascular episode such as a heart attack or angina. The plasma sodium levels are slightly higher suggesting an increased risk of hypertension and developing heart diseases such as heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (Better Health Channel, 2007). The plasma potassium levels are within normal ranges. The mean corpuscular value of the red blood cells is reduced (the individual could be suffering from microcytic anaemia) which usually develops in iron deficiency anaemia (Lab Tests Online, 2005). The haemoglobin levels are also below normal suggesting that the individual is suffering from anaemia (Lab Tests Online, 2005). The Blood urea nitrogen levels are within normal limits, but are towards the higher side, suggesting that the individual could be having a risk of developing a heart attack or kidney failure in the future (Richards, T, 2005). The creatine kinase levels are within the normal limits in the body, but are towards the higher side suggesting that there is a risk of damage occurring to the muscles of the heart (MDA, 2000). The AST levels (a liver enzyme) are within normal limits. The individual is following a sedentary lifestyle and is consuming about 3500 cal per day which is far too much. His actual calorie consumption per day should be about 2500 calories per day (Nutri-Facts, 2000). The individual is consuming a diet of 45% carbohydrate, 40% fat and 15% protein. The intake of fats is very high. An idea ratio would be 60-70 % carbohydrates, 15 % proteins and 20 % fats. A high-fat diet is further contributing to the cholesterol levels, the arthrosclerosis process and increasing the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (Diabetes India). What dietary recommendations and life style changes would you recommend? Discuss the issues you would need to consider when constructing a suitable dietary regimen for this patient. The individual should ensure that he consumes a balanced diet not only containing adequate amounts of macronutrients (that is carbohydrates, fats and proteins), but also sufficient amounts of micronutrients (that is vitamins and minerals). The individual is suffering from iron deficiency anaemia, and hence a diet containing vitamin B12, folic acid and iron should be administered. Iron and Vitamin B supplements may also be required. Blood tests should be frequently conducted to ensure that the haemoglobin levels and the MCV are monitored (NHS, 2007). As the individual is suffering from diabetes mellitus, the intake of calories and fats should be reduced or modified. Simple sugars should be avoided and instead complex polysaccharides should be consumed (in the form of starch). The fibre quantity in the diet should also be increased. The individual should be treated for diabetes through insulin and/or oral-anti-diabetic drugs, as the sugar level is very high. The blood glucose levels should be constantly monitored to ensure that modifications are initiated as early as possible (Mayo, 2006). The individual should consume a low fat diet, which is about 20 % of the macro-nutrient ratio. More of High density lipoproteins (HDL) should be consumed instead of the low density lipoproteins (LDL). The LDL contributes to the bad cholesterol present in the body and could worsen the risk of developing heart disease (Diabetes India). The salt intake should be reduced as it could worsen the hypertension and could also cause heart failure and fluid retention (Diabetes India). The individual requires treatment of hypertension so that the blood pressure is brought within limits and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is lowered. Antihypertensive medications are required to control the blood pressure. Some of the different groups of drugs that may be required include diuretics, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, vasodilators, etc (Mayo, 2007). These should be consumed as recommended by the physician. The individual’s blood pressure should constantly be monitored to ensure that modifications are made as early as possible. Besides, lifestyle changes are also required, which are also required to control the diabetes and hypertension (Mayo, 2007). Medications should be taken regularly and on time. Meals should not be skipped and should be consumed on time as directed by the nutrients. Smoking should be stopped and alcohol consumption should be minimised. Feasting or fasting should be avoided. Regular exercises are necessary to ensure that the weight is brought to a level which is less damaging for the body. The individual should take adequate rest and consume plenty of water in a day (Mayo, 2006). References: American Heart Association 2007. Triglycerides, [Online], Available: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Salt?open

Comparing A Dolls House and Oedipus Rex Essay -- comparison compare c

Comparing A Doll's House and Oedipus Rex Ibsen's drama "A Doll's House", serves as an example of the kind of issue-based drama that distinguishes Ibsen from many of his contemporaries. The play's dialogue is not poetic, but very naturalistic, and the characters are recognizable people. Given the sense of modernity which the play possesses it seems unusual to compare it to a Greek tragedy produced more than two-thousand years previously. On closer examination however, there are certain similarities between the way in which "A Doll's House" is plotted and a tragedy such as Oedipus Rex. Both "Oedipus" and "A Dolls' House" depict disastrous events that occur to two very different characters. At the start of Oedipus, we encounter a hero who is almost universally adored. Oedipus is a popular king who by the end of the play will be reduced to the lowest level possible. Classically the tragic hero began a piece as a man of high position since this made his demise all the more tragic. That the tragic centre if Ibsen's play is both female and not particularly birth is a distinct departure from the classical condition of tragedy. Ibsen has moved many concepts of the genre and placed them in a domestic setting. In order to see the way Nora can be viewed as a true tragic heroine it is useful to examine some of the concepts which Greek tragedy frequently made use of. In both plays the trouble that befalls the lead characters are due to their own actions Oedipus commits a series of huge mistakes the significance of which are not really understood until it is too late. In "A Doll's House", Nora borrows a sum of money, an action that will tear her family apart. The idea that the tragedy of a play begins with a hug... ...2-838. O'Brien, Michael J. Introduction. In Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex, edited by Michael J. O'Brien. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Segal, Charles. Oedipus Tyrannus: Tragic Heroism and the Limits of Knowledge. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Transl. by F. Storr. no pag. Available http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/browse-mixed new?tag=public&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0&id=SopOedi "Sophocles" In Literature of the Western World, edited by Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1984. Van Nortwick, Thomas. Oedipus: The Meaning of a Masculine Life. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1998. Watling, E. F.. Introduction. In Sophocles: The Theban Plays, translated by E. F. Watling. New York: Penguin Books, 1974.

Reimbursement and Pay for Service Essay

Introduction In this paper we will discuss what pay for performance is and explain what the reimbursement affect is. In this paper it will show how the system figures out cost reduction and the impact of the quality care patients receive. How does reimbursement and pay for performance affect the physicians? Does this affect us now and will it in the future? Health care has been changing dramatically because of history, political and social along with economical reasons. Reimbursement and pay for performance can and may even change the quality of care. Pay-for-performance because our current payment system we are using is not emphasizing preventive care for patients or consumers. Pay-for-Performance is payment used in the health care it is and has been based off of clinical information. The idea is to help tie the payment to what and how well providers help the cost of health care drop. The intent is for preventive care medicine to helping decrease and help with the management of chronic illness. (Pay-for-Performance Incentive Programs in Health Care ( N.D.) With in several months studies have shown that the studies show that the pay for performance works and others that say it does not work. Effect of Pay-for-Performa nce on Reimbursement Here are some examples of pay for performance is Bridges of Excellent, which is a nonprofit health care plan. Its major factor is patients with diabetes. They feel like over 60% of patients with diabetes don’t get the proper treatment and care. The American Diabetes Association has standards and the Bridges to excellent plan gives annual bonuses to physicians in specific areas such as Boston, Louisville and Cincinnati these cities could and have meet the requirements of this health care plan. On this plan Diabetic care calls for the patient being compliant with care and medications. In this plan the blood sugar test and kidney function and retinal exams would have  to be done on a consistent bases. In this plan compensation is up to and over $100.00 per patient for the providers that stick to the rules. Another plan is Anthem Indianapolis this plan started in 1999 that employed over 25 OBGYN providers in Ohio. This is the oldest plan within the US. This plan is done on and by patient satisfaction. Providers push generic drugs instead of name brand ones. Pay For Performance Pay for performance is a movement in health care field. Providers under this arrangement are rewarded for meeting pre-established target dates for specific health care services or procedures. This is also known as â€Å"P4P† or â€Å"value-based purchasing,† this rewards physicians, clinics, and rehabilitation centers, Surgical clinics, hospitals, medical groups, and other healthcare providers. They are rewarded for meeting certain performance measures, as well as quality and efficiency. (Wachter, Bob; (2012) Pay for performance does things such as eliminating payments for negative consequences of care. Which can be medical errors from all health care providers. Errors have increased costs. With increase of seasoned senior citizens and disability patients the high rising cost of health care has brought the P4P to the front of the line. Brought P4P to the forefront of health policy discussions. There have been some studies done by several large healthcare systems. With this it has shown improvements with specific outcomes. A little efficiency has taken effect, but at no cost savings. How much are they really saving because the cost of administrative services is still required. Explains how reimbursement is affected by the pay-for- performance approach. Within the last decade or years the economy has had many people becoming unemployed and finding jobs at a lower pay rate as to where they cannot afford insurance because they are to high. With being done more people are applying for Medicaid and with all the seasoned senior citizens retiring and receiving Medicare these two insurances are already participating in this service. Majority of health care systems are participating. Many believe  that for- profit and non-for-profit health care facilities believe in lower cost for providers that meet the standards of quality care. Care field. There is a perception that cost is driving up health care treatment. Cost reductions lowers cost of visits, emergence room visits, and urgent care visits. It also helps providers to promote preventive care to their patients. Making sure that all hospitals and providers are on the same scale of service. Preventive care helps prevent insurance premiums from rising at cost to the company and consumer. Effect of Pay-for-Performance health care Providers and their Patients This plan has the support of providers, hospitals and even patients. With this pay for providers must have and use good judgment for treatment and medication and test that maybe ran. The health care cannot be rated by race, ethnic background, or the patient’s social status. This plan should not judge by a patient’s location. This plan is and should be a relationship between patient and provider. The provider needs to understand the patients beliefs and it may help them to treat them and respond to certain myths and recommendations that the provider may suggest. Hospitala and providers and helat care workers are being encouraged to buy into the P4P by different agencies and tahe government. Individual health plans area chiming in also. It has pros and cons such as weakness that may or may not improve health care. It is suppose to help lower or slow down ER visits and physicians visits. Now if the providers give quality and efficent care they would and could get financial rewards if patient care improves. P4P measures performance and policy set up for putting this service in action. Discusses the effects pay-for-performance will have on the future of health care The P4P effects that will be seen in the future of health care is that the health care field will see it expand. Pay-for-Performance-defined a reimbursement service that will have links to payments for quality care, which will be an incentive to help improve health care quality of patients by physicians, and hospitals. In improving health care it is suppose to reduce the cost of It was expected that hospitals and providers would respond to P4P incentives. For future health care will based on quality health care and it will become a contract for reimbursement. Patients should feel like they have gotten the  value of their money. One effect of future health care is those physicians and hospitals that don’t participate will be at less to receive patients. Patients that have this health care plan will be more apt to seek physicians that participate. (Goldberg, L; (2006) Conclusion People in the health care field are getting interested in the pay for performance because the health care guidelines and regulations are changing in Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. More hospitals and clinics and specialty facilities and rehab centers are loving receiving incentives for their participation and in the process they are saving cost to patients and insurance companies. P4P is working with insurance companies and providers for the quality of care for patients to be improved. Now managed care is now looking at pay for performance. Reimbursement being linked to pay for performance is like being paid to shop for the best bargain or the most person to fit your needs.

Christmas and Women Essay

â€Å"It was not the hard work which he hated, nor the punishment and injustice. He was used to that before he ever saw either of them. He expected no less, and so he was neither outraged nor surprised. It was the woman: that soft kindness which he believed himself doomed to be forever victim of and which he hated worse than he did the hard and ruthless justice of men. † (Faulkner 158) In William Faulkner’s Light in August, Joe Christmas’s misogynistic view towards women has reason behind it, based on his negative past with significant female characters. The above quote emphasizes his feelings towards women, describing how Joe is able to handle the harshness of a man, but cannot stand the weak and nurturing nature of a woman. Moreover, he believes women are only out to make him cry, as we see with his attitude towards the dietitian and Mrs. McEachern. Over the course of his life, beginning with the absence of a mother, Joe has been impacted by several female influences, from a brief stint with an orphan girl, Alice, up to his lack of a relationship with his mother, Millie. These women have led to Joe’s distrust and pure hate of femininity. Alice, a twelve year-old girl from the orphanage, is his first encounter with a maternal figure. Joe relies on Alice as a supportive comfort, as he does not have a mother or any adult figure to turn to, for that matter. â€Å"He had liked her, enough to let her mother him a little; perhaps because of it. And so to him she was as mature, almost as large in size, as the adult women who ordered his eating and washing and sleeping, with the difference she was not and never would be his enemy. One night she waked him. She was telling him goodbye but he did not know it. He was sleepy and a little annoyed, never full awake, suffering her because she had always tried to be good to him. He didn’t know that she was crying because he did not know that grown people cried, and by the time he learned that, memory had forgotten her. He went back into sleep while still suffering her, and the next morning she was gone. Vanished, no trace of her left, not even a garment, the very bed in which she had slept already occupied by a new boy. He never did know where she went to. † (Faulkner 127-8) When Alice leaves, Joe is confused and feels lost. He then has no one to rely on, learn from, or be close to, in such a setting. With this experience, he feels as if women are unpredictable and will leave at any given point. There is not consistency in relationships with them and, therefore, they cannot be trusted. â€Å"The incident speaks volumes of what the child at the orphanage had lacked, the lack that was to warp him away from womankind† (Brooks xxiii). It is understandable that this â€Å"abandonment† could have such an impression on a young mind with no real stability in his life. The Freudian theory applies here, with the idea that childhood experiences mold an individual most significantly and they determine the attitudes and perceptions of said individuals in their futures. (Hamblin and Peek 303) Also at the orphanage is the dietitian, who is another female influence, contributing to Christmas’s misogynistic attitude. After Joe has been caught consuming pink toothpaste, he expects punishment. However, she does not reprimand him immediately and he agonizes over the anticipation. â€Å"It never occurred to her that he believed that he was the one who had been taken in sin and was being tortured with punishment deferred and that he was putting himself in her way in order to get it over with, get his whipping and strike the balance and write it off† (Faulkner 115). This is when he first gets the idea that women are only out to make him cry. He believes that the dietitian is intentionally torturing him by not immediately carrying through with a punishment for his wrongdoings. The action which â€Å"adds salt to the wound† is when the dietitian, believing that the boy will convey his knowledge of her amorous actions to an orphanage authority, tries to bribe him with money. Therefore, Joe becomes confused and unsure of what to do. This only emphasizes the notion that women are unpredictable and hard to read, and that they possibly represent temptation. When Joe leaves the orphanage, he moves into the country with Mr. and Mrs. McEachern. It is possible that he would have responded positively to Mrs.  McEachern’s nurturing manner had he not dealt with those negative incidents with female figures at the orphanage. However, whenever Mrs. McEachern tries to show kindness towards Joe, he retaliates with acts of cruelty, such as when she offers him food and he dumps it on the floor angrily. Later, Joe says to himself: â€Å"‘She is trying to make me cry,’ he thought, lying cold and rigid in his bed, his hands beneath his head and the moonlight falling across his body, hearing the steady murmur of the man’s voice as it mounted the stairway on its first heavenward stage; ‘She was trying to make me cry. Then she thinks that they would have had me’† (Faulkner 158). By relying on her, Joe thinks that he would show weakness. He can handle McEachern’s harsh ways, but the weakness of Mrs. McEachern disgusts him. He fears displaying weakness, perhaps because he is weak in not knowing his past and not understanding who he is through his adolescence. Because he does not know his parentage, he struggles not only with his racial identity, but his personal identity as well. And, â€Å"the more Mrs. McEachern attempts to mother Christmas, the further her pushes her away† (Schisler 2008). Throughout Joe’s young adult years, he has relationships with several women, namely prostitutes (or â€Å"waitresses†). He routinely tells them of his racial status, either to shock or disgust them or to test their feelings toward him. With these reactions, he travels from woman to woman to find his identity. However, his first real love is with the waitress, Bobbie Allen. Joe’s initial attraction is to her manly features, such as her masculine hands. He tells her that he is part Negro to test her love for him. He sincerely opens up to her often, but when she ultimately rejects him, he is crushed. She could have been the one to â€Å"save† him from his hatred of women and his hateful past. A contribution to their relationship is Joe’s distance from nature. He is far from nature, the natural representation of femininity (Brooks xvii), and he does not accept the natural processes of life. Thus, he gets frightened and frustrated and runs away. â€Å"In the notseeing and hardknowing as though in a cave he seemed to see a diminishing row of suavely shaped urns in moonlight, blanched. And not one was perfect. Each one was cracked and from each crack there issued some liquid, death-colored, and foul. He touched a tree, leaning his propped arms against it, seeing the ranked and moonlight urns. He vomited† (Faulkner 208-9). These urns are a metaphor for women and femininity, in relation to Greek literature and the Bible (Bleikasten 286). Their cracked state and oozing liquid represents that Bobbie is no longer alluring and it shows Joe’s perception of women and how he expects them to be perfect, when he subconsciously knows that they are not. The feminine atmosphere has caused him to vomit, as he is disgusted by Bobbie and the natural processes of life. Furthermore, there is probably the most influential female role in the novel, Miss Joanna Burden. Miss Burden is Joe’s strongest lover emotionally. Again, he is attracted to her masculine qualities, not only physically, but personality-wise. During her first encounter with Joe, she takes her rape â€Å"like a man† and does not struggle or put emotion into it. She is predictable and follows a routine, much like a man, which Joe admires. Burden’s struggling betrays â€Å"no feminine vacillation, no coyness of obvious desire and intention to succumb at last. It was as if he struggled physically with another man for an object of no actual value to either, and for which they struggled on principle alone. † Also, she is a social outcast and is a pariah from the community, sharing a man’s alienation, much like Joe Christmas (Brooks xvi). In Burden, Joe could have stability to support his shaky lifestyle and troublesome past. However, their relationship is ruined because they both believe the only way it can end is in murder. Hence, Joe must kill Joanna in self-defense, fear, and love. This is the end of Joe’s amorous relationships for the rest of his life. Furthermore, Joe has been impacted by a woman who was not even there throughout the course of his life. His mother, Millie, influenced his heritage by having relations with his father. This determines his entire struggle for identity and the issues with his race in the novel and his complete lifetime. In addition, her absence as he grows up gives him no maternal love or comfort as a young child. Perhaps if she had shown him that he could have healthy relationships with women, he could see that many females can be beautiful and trustworthy people. Overall, Joe’s misogynistic attitude has been shaped by years of emotional abuse and love lost. His absence of a maternal figure when he was young and the abandonment of Alice, the only person he ever truly trusted and went to for comfort, taught him that women were unpredictable. His amorous relationships with Bobbie and Joanna taught him that, while a woman may appear attractive with masculine and predictable qualities, she is ultimately still a woman, and, therefore, untrustworthy and weak. All of these elements combine Joe and who he is, his outlooks of life, and the course his life takes.