Immune System Basics
Objective 8
Define the terms epitope and antigen and describe how the immune system reacts to antigens. Define innate immunity and adaptive immunity. Explain the difference between active and passive immunity, and natural and artificial immunity.
Epitope, Antigen, and Antibody
We have already used the term antigen, but we will now take a closer look at what antigens are and how they interact with the immune system. An antigen can be defined simply as a substance that is recognized as foreign. Foreign substances can react with products of the immune system.
There are four main characteristics that determine the antigenicity of a substance.
- it must be recognized as foreign
- it must have structural complexity
- it must be large enough (greater than 10,000 Da, or about 100 amino acids)
- it must be organic (that is, a carbon-containing compound)
Recognition as foreign is the most important of these four. A potential antigen could fit all of the other criteria but if the body does not see it as foreign, it will leave it alone. We’ll discuss how the body recognizes “foreign” vs “familiar” in Objective 12. For now, it’s important to note that “familiar” depends on context. If a substance is removed from its normal location in the cell, it can go from being familiar to foreign. An example of this is in autoimmune diseases. For example, in multiple sclerosis, a normal protein in myelin is released into the surrounding extracellular fluid and since it’s not surrounded by lipid, the body recognizes it as foreign even though in context it was once familiar.
A hapten is an antigen which does not meet the criterion of size. That is, it is too small to cause an antibody response by itself. Haptens combine with familiar components of the body to create a novel, foreign antigen. For example, in some people nickel ions (Ni2+) can combine with keratin, the main protein of skin, to form a novel antigen which is recognized as foreign. This is the basis for an allergic reaction to nickel in cheap jewelry.
On the other end of the size scale, a large antigen may have several places where it can react with the immune system. The Greek word for “place” is topos and “epi-“ is a prefix meaning “on top of” so these individual places on a big molecule, each of which can trigger its own immune response, are called antigenic determinants or epitopes.
Not all antigens are dangerous. Most of what the body is exposed to in an average day is harmless and largely ignored by the immune system. All cells of the body contain markers and other surface proteins that could make them antigenic, but the body is able to recognize its own cells. This process is called self-recognition. When the immune system recognizes self-antigens and then leaves them alone we use the term self-tolerance. We will see how tolerance develops in Objective 12.
An important part of white blood cell development, especially with lymphocytes, is antigen recognition. Entire groups of immune cells, called clones, are produced from parent white blood cells. As these cells develop and mature they are exposed to self-antigens. If they react to these antigens they are selected out of the population (negative selection) and undergo apoptosis. This step in development is referred to as clonal deletion and leaves the immune system with only those cells that will not react to harmless cells in the body. Abnormalities in self-recognition, self-tolerance or clonal deletion can lead to autoimmune disorders.
The way the body protects itself from potentially harmful antigens is similar to how we seek to protect our homes from potential intruders. The goal is to feel safe at home. Likewise, the body wants to remain safe from potential pathogens that could cause disease. We refer to this as immunity. When the immune system is prepared and functioning in a way that would allow it to keep out invaders or respond appropriately if those invaders get in, we say the individual is immunocompetent. When barriers and immune responses are not sufficient to protect against pathogens we say the person is immunocompromised or immunodeficient.
Innate Immunity
Physical barriers and non-specific responses to potential pathogens comprise one division of the immune system known as the innate immune system or innate immunity (inborn immunity). This would be like the walls of your home, the locks on your doors, and even a guard dog. Regardless of what is trying to break into your home, these features would react the same. A raccoon getting through a window or a masked human intruder are probably going to get the same reaction from your dog: growling, barking, and maybe even biting.
In the body, innate immunity consists of a number of different cellular and chemical barriers which non-specifically protect the body and respond to pathogenic organisms. In addition to being non-specific, innate immunity is non-adaptive, meaning that the response doesn’t change from exposure to exposure. Components of innate immunity are intact at birth and include the skin and mucous membranes, cilia, antimicrobial chemicals, phagocytes, inflammation, and fever.
Adaptive Immunity
The other division of the immune system is the adaptive immune system, also known as adaptive immunity or acquired immunity. As the name implies, this system is able to change over time, or adapt to different situations. This could be compared to an unpleasant experience with intrusive neighbors, pushy door to door salespeople, or perhaps your in-laws. After a bad experience or two, you decide to install a doorbell camera so you can see who is attempting to come in. The next time the offending party arrives at your house, you recognize them, remember the last experience, and react quickly to prevent another ruined afternoon.
Components of adaptive immunity include: T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, plasma cells, and antibodies. (See Objective 9 for a more complete description of each of these.) The ability to recognize and uniquely respond to specific invaders is the main function of adaptive immunity. As a person is exposed to more and more antigens, their adaptive immune system creates a bank of cells and antibodies that remember and can respond quickly to those specific antigens if they return. Having these components in place is a major contributor to immunity.
Adaptive immunity can be acquired in a number of different ways: actively or passively, and naturally or artificially. Active acquisition of immunity means that someone’s immune system was stimulated, and they generated a cellular and antibody-mediated response as well as memory. Active immunity provides long-term immunity. Passive immunity simply means the products of immunity were given to them. Passive is a short-lived response; the acquired cells die or the antibodies are eventually lost.
Active vs Passive Immunity
Active immunity is like baking a pie. An individual pulls out the recipe book, makes the crust and filling, and bakes the pie. Passive immunity is simply buying a pie. The end result is the same, there is a pie, but with active immunity, memory is gained, and immune products can be made over and over again.
Natural vs Artificial Immunity
Acquiring adaptive immunity, whether actively or passively, can be a natural process or artificial.  Once someone in a lab coat somewhere gets involved, the process becomes artificial. Injecting a person with antibodies taken from donors or giving a person a vaccine can confer immunity, but these are examples of artificial immunity. Note that even though a vaccine is an artificial introduction of antigen to a person’s immune system, the process of responding and building up the components of the adaptive immune system is an active process, not passive.
Media Attributions
- U15-039 Epitopes and Antibody Cross-linking © Allen, Summer; Auman, Ann; Brelles-Marino, Graciela; Feldman, Myriam Alhadeff; Flowers, Paul; Pinchuk, George; Rowley, Ben; Sutherland, Mark; Franklund, Clifton and Paterson, Ann adapted by Jim Hutchins is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
- U15-040 Innate and Adaptive Responses © Betts, J. Gordon; Young, Kelly A.; Wise, James A.; Johnson, Eddie; Poe, Brandon; Kruse, Dean H. Korol, Oksana; Johnson, Jody E.; Womble, Mark & DeSaix, Peter is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
- U15-041 Breastfeeding a Baby © Nosik, Anton is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
- U15-042 Polio Vaccination USAID © Helmer, Kendra / USAID is licensed under a CC BY-NC (Attribution NonCommercial) license
- U15-043 Acquiring Adaptive Immunity Table © Hutchins, Jim is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license


Chapter
Tinkering with your document’s style to ensure that it meets the demands of your audience comes next in the process. Among the most important skills in communication is to adjust your style according to the audience to meet their needs as well as your own. You would speak differently to a customer or manager compared with how you would to a long-time co-worker who has also become a friend. In each case, these audiences have certain expectations about your style of communication, and you must meet those expectations to be respected and maintain good relations. This section reviews those style choices and focuses especially on the six major characteristics of strong writing common to both formal and casual writing.
- The Formality Spectrums
- The Six Cs of Style
The Formality Spectrum
We began looking at the general choice between a formal and informal style of writing based on how you’ve profiled your audience’s position in relation to you. We have seen how certain situations call for formal writing and others for a more relaxed style. We also learned that these styles involve word choices along a spectrum of synonyms from “slangy” to casual to fancy. Here we will review those considerations in the context of the writing process.
Formal Style in Writing
Within the English field, formal standardized English has had the connotation of carrying favor with audiences, such as those outside your organization, those higher than you within your organization, and those on or around your level whom you have never communicated with before. These audiences can include managers, customers, clients, suppliers and vendors, regulators, and other interested stakeholders such as government agencies. A cover letter, for instance, will be read by a future potential manager probably unfamiliar to you, so it is a very real test of your ability to write formally—a test that is crucial to your career success. Many common professional document types also require formality, such as other letters, memos, reports, proposals, agreements, and contracts. In such cases, you are expected to follow grammatical rules more strictly and make slightly elevated word choices, but not so elevated that you force your reader to look up rarely used words.
Writing in what has been the accepted style can require effort because grammar must be tighter, and the vocabulary is sometimes advanced. However, at the drafting stage you should, in the interests of speed-writing to get your ideas down nearly as fast as they come, go with the word that comes to mind and leave the synonym-finding efforts for the editing stage. Strictly maintaining a formal style in all situations would also be your downfall, however, because flexibility is also expected depending on the situation. It is also important to note that standardized written English is not the only means of communication that can signal professionalism or scholarship and that using your own dialects, slang, and languages is equally as viable and constructive. It is just important to ensure that audiences will understand and not be alienated.
Casual Style in Writing
Your ability to gear down to a more casual style is also necessary in any situation where you’re communicating with familiar people generally on your level and when a personable, conversational tone is appreciated, such as when writing to someone with basic reading skills. In a routine email to a colleague, for instance, you would use the informal vocabulary, including conversational expressions such as “a lot” instead of the more formal “plenty.” You would also use contractions such as it’s for it is or it has, would’ve for would have, and you’re for you are. While not a sign of disrespect, the more relaxed approach says to the reader, “Hey, we’re all friends here, so let’s not try so hard to impress each other.” For example, when an upper-level manager wants to be liked rather than feared, they’ll permit a more casual style of communication in their employees’ interactions with them, assuming that doing so achieves collegiality rather than disrespect. Drafting in such a style may feel easier because it generally follows the diction and rhythms that come naturally in common conversation.
Emojis in Professional Writing
Though emojis’ typical appearance in social media and texting places them at the informal end of the formality spectrum, their advantages in certain situations require special consideration along with some clarity about their current place in professional communication. Besides being easy to access on mobile device keyboards and favored in social media communication especially among millennials and members of Generation Z, emojis are useful for helping clarify the emotional state of the message sender in a way that plain text can’t. They offer a visual cue in lieu of in-person nonverbals. A simple “thumbs up” emoji even works well as an “Okay, got it” reply in lieu of any words at all, so they can help save time for the busy professional. Interestingly, 2,500 years after Egyptian hieroglyphics fell out of use, pictographs are making a comeback! Emojis also go partway toward providing something of a universal language that allows people who speak different languages to communicate in a way that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
However, the lack of precision in emojis can also cause confusion as they may be interpreted differently if the social and cultural context of the receiver differs enough from that of the sender (Pringle), not to mention differences in their emotional states. This means that emojis aren’t as universal as some might claim they are, especially when used by correspondents who speak different languages (Peak). Even between those who speak the same language, a smiley-face emoji added to a lightly insulting text message might be intended as a light-hearted jab at the receiver by the sender but might be read as a deeply cutting passive-aggressive dig by the receiver. The same text message said in person, however, comes with a multitude of nonverbal cues (facial expressions, eye movements, body movements, timing, voice intonation, volume, speed, and such) that help the listener determine the exact intentions of the speaker—meanings that can’t possibly be covered by a little 2D cartoon character.
You can imagine plenty of other scenarios where emojis could backfire with dire consequences. A red heart emoji added to a business message sent by a male to a female colleague, though perhaps meant in the casual sense of the word “love” when we say, “I love what you did there,” might be taken as signaling unwanted romantic intentions. This would be totally inappropriate and can potentially ruin professional partnerships and even careers. Be careful with emojis also in any situation involving buying or selling, since commercial messages can end up in court if meanings, intentions, and actions part ways. In one case, emojis were used in a text message signaling intent to rent an apartment by someone who reneged and was judged to be nonetheless on the hook for the $3,000 commitment (Pringle). As recently as July of 2023, a Canadian judge also ruled that the thumbs-up emoji was as valid as a signature, ordering a farmer to pay $61,442 for not fulfilling a contract (Cecco). As with any new means of communication, some caution and good judgment, as well as attention to notable uses and abuses that show up in the news or company policy directives, can help you avoid making potentially disastrous mistakes.
Though emojis may be meaningfully and understandably added to text/instant messages or even emails between familiar colleagues who have developed a light-hearted rapport featuring their use, there are several situations where they should be avoided at all costs because of their juvenile or frivolous social media reputation. It’s a good idea to avoid using emojis in business contexts when communicating with:
- Customers or clients
- Managers who don’t use emojis themselves
- Colleagues you don’t know very well
- People outside your organization
- College instructors
- Older people who tend to avoid the latest technology
However, in any of the above cases, you would probably be safe to mirror the use of emojis after your correspondent gives you the green light by using them first (Peak). Yes, emojis lighten the mood and help with bonding among workplace colleagues. If used excessively as part of a larger breakdown of decorum, as mocked in the accompanying Baroness von Sketch Show video short (CBC Comedy), they suggest a troubling lack of professionalism. Managers especially should refrain from emoji use to set an example of impeccable decorum in communications to the employees they supervise.
The Six Cs of Style
Whether you’re writing in a formal or casual style, all good writing is characterized by the “Six Cs”:
- Clear
- Concise
- Coherent
- Correct
- Courteous
- Convincing
Six-C writing is good for business because it fulfills the author’s purpose and meets the needs of the audience by making communication understandable and impactful. Such audience-oriented writing is clearly understood by busy readers on the first pass; it doesn’t confuse them with ambiguities and requires them to come back with questions for clarification. It gets the point across in as few words as possible so that it doesn’t waste readers’ time with word count-extending filler. Strong writing flows logically by being organized according to recognizable patterns, with sub-points connected by well-marked transitions. Six-C writing avoids confusing readers with grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. It leaves the reader with a good feeling because it is polite, positive, and focuses on the reader’s needs. Six-C writing is persuasive because, with all the above going for it, it exudes confidence. The following sections explain these characteristics in greater detail with an emphasis on how to achieve Six-C writing at the drafting stage.
Clarity
Clarity in writing means that the words on the page are like a perfectly transparent window to the author’s meaning; they don’t confuse that meaning like the dirty, shattered window of under-developed writing or require fanciful interpretation like the stained-glass window of poetry. Business or technical writing has no time for anything that requires the reader to interpret the author’s meaning or ask for clarification. To the busy reader, scanning quickly, confusing writing opens the door for wrong guesses that, acted upon, result in mistakes that must be corrected later; the later the miscommunication is discovered, and the further the mistakes spread, the greater the damage control required. Vague writing also draws out the communication exchange unnecessarily with back-and-forth requests for clarification and details that should have been clear the first time. Either way, a lack of clarity in writing costs businesses by hindering personal and organizational productivity. Every operation stands to gain if its personnel’s writing is clear in the first place.
So much confusion from vague expressions can be avoided if you use hard facts, precise values, and concrete, visualizable images. For example:
- Instead of saying “a change in the budget,” “a 10% budget cut” makes clear to the reader that they’ll have to make do with nine of what they had ten of before.
- Instead of saying that you’re rescheduling “it” for Thursday, be clear on what’s being rescheduled, what the old and new calendar dates and times are, and if the location is changing, too. If you say that it’s the 3 pm Friday meeting on May 25th being moved to 9 am Thursday, May 31st, in room B349, participants know exactly which meeting to move where in their email program’s calendar feature.
- Always spell out months so that you don’t confuse your reader with dates in the “dd/mm/yy” or “mm/dd/yy” style; for instance, “4/5/18,” could be read as either April 5th or May 4th, 2018, depending on whether the author personally prefers one date form over the other or follows a company style in lieu of any universally accepted date style.
- Instead of saying at the end of an email, “Let’s meet to discuss” and leaving the ball in your correspondent’s court to figure out a time and place, prevent the inevitable time-consuming back-and-forth by giving your available meeting time options (e.g., “9-10 am Thursday, May 31st; 2-3 pm Friday, June 1st; etc.) in a bulleted list and suggesting a familiar place so that all your correspondent needs to do is reply once with their preferred meeting time from among those menu options and confirmation on the location.
- Instead of saying, “You’ve got a message,” being clear that Tia Sherman from the Internal Revenue Agency left a voicemail message at 12:48 pm on Thursday, February 8th, gives you the precise detail that you need to act on that information.
The same is true of vague pronouns such as its, this, that, these, they, their, and there when it’s unclear what they’re referring to earlier in a sentence or paragraph. Such pronoun-antecedent ambiguity, as it’s called (with antecedent meaning the noun that the pronoun represents), can be avoided if you can spot the ambiguity that the reader would be confused by and use other words to connect them to their antecedents. If you say, for instance,
The union reps criticized the employer council for putting their latest offer to a membership vote.
Whether the offer is coming from the union, the employer, or possibly (but unlikely) both is unclear because their could go either way. You can resolve the ambiguity by using words like the former, the latter, or a shortened version of one of the names:
The union reps criticized the employer council for putting the council’s latest offer to a membership vote.
When pronouns aren’t preceded by the noun to which they refer, a strong writer must simply define them. Though these additions extend the word count a little, the gains in clarity justify the expense.
Conciseness
Because the goal of professional writing, especially when sharing expertise, is to make complex concepts sound simple without necessarily “dumbing them down,” such writing should communicate ideas in as few words as possible without compromising clarity. Weaker writing predictably does the opposite, making simple things sound complicated. This is a rookie mistake among some students new to college or employees new to their profession.  Such attempts are usually a smokescreen for a lack of strong ideas; if someone is embarrassed by this, they tend to dress up their words to make them seem more substantial. Of course, their college instructors or professional audiences are frustrated by this kind of writing rather than fooled by it because it doesn’t help them find the clear meaning that they expect and seek. It just gets in the way and wastes their time until they resent the person who wrote it.
If the temptation to overcomplicate a point is uncontrollable at the drafting stage, it’s probably better to vomit it all up at this point just so that you can get everything out while knowing that you’ll be mopping it up by paring down your writing later. By analogy, a film production will overshoot with perhaps 20 takes of (attempts at) a single shot just so that it has plenty of material to choose from when assembling the sequence of shots needed to comprise a scene during post-production editing. However, as you become a stronger writer and hone your craft, you’ll be able to resist those filler words and overcomplicated expressions at the drafting stage from having been so aggressive in chopping them out at the editing stage of the writing process so many times before. Of course, if you make a habit of writing concisely, even at the drafting stage, you’ll minimize the amount of chopping work you leave yourself at the editing stage.
Coherence and Completeness
Coherence means that your writing flows logically and makes sense because it says everything it needs to say to meet your audience’s needs. Pronouns and transitions especially help to connect the distinct points that make up your bare-bones outline structure as you flesh them out into meaningful sentences and paragraphs, just as ligaments and tendons connect bones and tissues throughout your body.
Correctness
Correct spelling, grammar, and mechanics should not be a concern at the drafting stage of the writing process, though they certainly must be at the end of the editing stage. As explained before, speed-writing to get ideas down requires being comfortable with the writing errors that inevitably pockmark your draft sentences. The perfectionists among us will find ignoring those errors difficult, but resisting the temptation to bog yourself down by on-the-go copy-editing will pay off at the revision stage when some of those awkwardly written sentences get cut in the end anyway.
Courtesy
No matter what kind of document you’re writing and what you can expect your audience’s reaction to it to be, writing courteously so that your reader feels respected is a fundamental part of strong communication. Whether you’re simply sharing information, making a sales pitch, explaining a procedure, or doing damage control, using polite language helps ensure your intended effects—that your reader will be receptive to that information, will buy what you’re selling, will want to perform that procedure, or will be onboard with helping to fix the error. The cornerstone of polite language is obviously saying “the P-word” that you learn gets what you want when you’re 18 months old—because saying please never gets old when asking someone to do something for you, nor does saying thanks when they’ve done so—but there’s more to it than that.
Much of courtesy in writing involves taking care to use words that focus on the positive, improvement, and what can be done rather than those that come off as being negative, critical, pushy, and hung up on what can’t be done. If you’re processing a contract and the client forgot to sign and date it, for instance, the first thought that occurs to you when emailing to inform them of the error may go something like the following:
You forgot to sign and date our contract, so you’ve got to do that and send it to me a.s.a.p. because I can’t process it till I receive it signed.
Now, if you were the client reading this slightly angry-sounding, accusatory order, you would likely feel a little embarrassed and maybe even a little upset by the edgy, pushy tone coming through in negative words like forgot, do that, a.s.a.p., and can’t. That feeling wouldn’t sit well with you, and you will begin to build an aversion to that person and the organization they represent. (If this isn’t the first time you forgot to sign a contract for them, however, the demanding tone would be more justified or at least more understandable.) Now imagine you read instead a message that says, with reference to the very same situation, the following:
For your contract to be processed and services initiated, please sign, date, and return it as soon as possible.
You would probably feel much better about coming through with the signed contract in short order. You may think that this is a small, almost insignificant shift in meaning, but the difference in psychological impact can be quite substantial, even if it operates subconsciously. From this example you can pull out the following three characteristics of courteous writing.
a. Use the “You” View
Audience-oriented messages that address the reader directly using the pronouns you and your have a much greater impact when the message is positive or even neutral. Writing this way is a little counterintuitive, however, because when we begin to encode any message into words, we do so naturally from our own perspective. The sender-oriented messages that result from our perspective don’t register as well with readers because they use first-person personal and possessive pronouns (I, me, my, we, us, and our) that tend to come off as being self-involved. In the above case, the contract is shared by both parties, but saying “our contract” is a little ambiguous because it may be read as saying “the employer’s contract” rather than “your and my contract.” Saying “your contract,” however, entitles the reader with a sense of ownership over the contract, which sits much better with them.
The trick to achieving an audience-oriented message is to catch yourself whenever you begin writing from your perspective with first-person personal pronouns like I and my, and immediately flip the sentence around to say you and your instead. Simply changing the pronouns isn’t enough, though; in the above case, it involved changing the wording so that the contract is sent by you rather than received by me. Switching to the audience perspective takes constant vigilance and practice, even from seasoned professionals, but soon leads to an audience-oriented habit of writing that endears you more to your readers and leads to positive results. An added benefit to habitually considering your audience’s perspective is that it makes you more considerate, sympathetic, and even empathetic, improving your sense of humanity in general.
The flip side of this stylistic advice is to use the first-person pronouns (I, we, and so on) as seldom as possible, which is true, but obviously, you can’t do without these entirely in every situation. When it’s necessary to say what you did, especially when it comes to negative situations where representing your perspective and accepting responsibility is the right thing to do, not using the first-person pronouns will result in awkward stylistic acrobatics. Simply use the audience-oriented “you” view and sender-oriented first-person personal pronouns when appropriate.
b. Prioritize Audience Benefits
Whenever you need to convince someone to do something, leading with a positive result—what the reader will get out of it for their effort—followed by the instruction has a much better chance of getting the reader on board. Notice in the two example sentences above that the reader-hostile version places the demand before the result, whereas the improved, reader-friendly version places the result before the (kindly worded) demand. This simple organizational technique of leading with the audience benefits works because people are usually more motivated by the carrot (reward) than the stick (consequence), and dangling the carrot attracts the initial interest necessary to make the action seem worthwhile. It’s effective because it answers what we can always assume the reader is wondering: “What’s in it for me?”
Messages that don’t immediately answer that question and instead lead with the action, however, come from a sender-oriented perspective that initially turns off the reader because it comes off as being demanding in tone. Obviously, some situations require a demanding tone, as when being nice gets no results and necessity forces you to switch tactics. Again, leading with the demand may be what occurs to you first because it addresses your immediate needs rather than your reader’s, but making a habit of flipping it around will give your writing greater impact whenever you give direction or issue instructions.
c. Focus on Future Positive Outcomes
Focusing on what can be done and improved sits better with readers than focusing on what can’t be done and criticism. In the above case, the initial rendering of the problem focused on blaming the reader for what they did wrong and on the impasse of the situation with the contract. The improved version corrects this because it skips the fault-finding criticism and instead moves directly to what good things will happen if the reader does what needs to be done. The reader of the second sentence will associate you with the feeling of being pleased by the taste of the carrot rather than smarting from the whack of the stick.
The flip side of this stylistic preference involves replacing negative words with positive words unless you have an important reason for not being nice. Being vigilantly kind in this way takes some practice, not because you’re a bad person but because your writing habits may not reflect your kindness. Vigilance here means being on the lookout whenever you’re tempted to use the following words or their like in situations that aren’t too dire:
| awful | fault / faulty | not |
| bad / badly | hate | poor / poorly |
| can’t / cannot | hopeless | reject |
| crappy | horrible | sorry |
| deny | impossible | stupid |
| disappointing | lose / loser | substandard |
| don’t | never | terrible |
| dumb | no / nope | unfortunate / unfortunately |
| fail / failure | nobody | won’t |
| worthless |
Rather than shaming the author of a report by saying that their document is terrible, for instance, calling it “improvable” and pointing out what exactly they can do to fix it respects the author’s feelings and motivates them to improve the report better than what you really want to say in a passing moment of disappointment. Of course, taking this advice to its extreme by considering it a hard-and-fast rule will obviously impact the limits of writing by hindering your range of expression. Make it a habit to use positive words instead of negative ones if it’s clear that doing so will result in a more positive outcome.
On its own, translating a single sentence like the one exemplified above will likely not have a lasting effect; over time, however, an habitual focus on negative outcomes and the use of negative language will result in people developing a dislike for dealing with you and, by association, the organization you represent. If you make a habit of writing in positive words most of the time and use negative words only in situations where they’re necessary, on the other hand, you stand a good chance of being well-respected. People will enjoy working with or for you, which ensures continued positive relations as well as opens the door to other opportunities.
Convincing and Confident
When all the other aspects of style described above are working in concert, and when the information your writing presents comes from sound sources, it naturally acquires an air of confidence that is highly convincing to readers. That confidence is contagious if you are rightfully confident in your information or argument, decisive in your diction, and avoid lapsing into wishy-washy, noncommittal indecision by overusing weaker words and expressions such as:
| almost | -esque | probably | usually |
| approximately | -ish | roundabout | we’ll see |
| basically | kind of / kinda | somewhat | whatever |
| blah | may / maybe | sort of / sorta | whenever |
| close to | meh | should (have) | whichever |
| could (have) | might | thereabouts | -y (e.g., orange-y) |
These timid words are signs of hedging and might even connote a lack of confidence. This is not to say that your writing can’t err toward overconfidence through lapses in judgment or haughtiness but being tactful and self-assured when delivering a message is important for persuasiveness overall. If you apply the same rigor in argument and persuasion that you do in selecting quality research sources that are themselves well reasoned by considering a topic holistically rather than simplistically for the sake of advancing a narrow-minded position, it’s easy to get readers to comprehend your information shared, follow your instruction, buy what you’re selling, and so on.
Exercise
- Assemble a Six-Cs scoring rubric for assessing professional writing. In the highest-achievement column, list in point-form the attributes of each characteristic. In the columns describing lesser and lesser levels of achievement, identify how those expectations can fall apart. For help with the rubric form, you may wish to use Rubistar’s writing rubric template.
- Find examples of past emails or other documents you’ve written that make you cringe, perhaps even high school essays or reports. Identify instances where they are unclear, unnecessarily longwinded, incoherent (lacking both a clear organizational pattern and transitions that drive the argument along), rife with writing errors, rude, and/or unconvincing. Assess and score those specimens using your Six-Cs rubric from Exercise 1 above. Begin to think of how you would improve them.
- Find a professionally written document, perhaps from a case study in another class. Assess it using the same Six-Cs scoring rubric.
- Speed-write a written assignment that you’ve been recently assigned in one of the other courses in your program. If you’re not fast at typing (or even if you are and want to try something new), you may start by recording your message into your smartphone’s or computer’s voice recorder app or program and then transcribe it. Ensure that your style hits five of the six style Cs (clarity, conciseness, coherence, courtesy, and conviction) as you write and most definitely do not correct as you go.
Tip
Works Cited
Cecco, Leyland. “Canadian judge rules thumbs-up emoji can represent contract agreement.” The Guardian, 2023, July 6, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/06/canada-judge-thumbs-up-emoji-sign-contract
Peak, Sean. “Put a smiley on it: Should you use emojis in business communication?” Business, 2018, February 5, https://www.business.com/articles/put-an-emoji-on-it-should-you-use-emojis-in-business-communication/
Pringle, Ramona. “Using the wrong emoji can cost you—literally.” CBC News, 2017, May 26,http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/emoji-lawsuit-1.4131697
Pringle, Ramona. “Emojis are everywhere and they’re changing how we communicate.” CBC News, 2018, March 18, http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/emojis-forever-pringle-1.4577456
“Work emails | Baroness von Sketch Show.” YouTube, uploaded by CBC Comedy, 2017, July 17, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWA_j4Vy4oM
LICENSE AND ATTRIBUTION
Adapted from Julie River’s “4.5 Standard Business Style” of Communication at Work,2020, used according to CC by 4.0. Access for free at https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/comm1062/chapter/4-5-standard-business-style/


5.23 Skills Checklist: Choking Maneuver
- Call out for help or tell another staff member to get the nurse if you think a resident is choking. If no nurse is available, direct someone to call 911 while proceeding with the following steps.
- Until help arrives, stand behind the victim with one leg forward between the victim’s legs.
- For a child, move down to their level and keep your head to one side.
- Reach around their abdomen and locate the navel.
- Place the thumb side of your fist against their abdomen just above the navel.
- Grasp your fist with your other hand and thrust inward and upward into the victim’s abdomen with quick jerks.
- For a responsive pregnant victim, any victim you cannot get your arms around, or for anyone in whom abdominal thrusts are not effective, give chest thrusts while standing behind them. Avoid squeezing the ribs with your arms.
- Continue thrusts until the victim expels the object or becomes unresponsive.
- If the person becomes unconscious, notify the nurse. If no nurse is available, call 911.
View a YouTube video[1] of an instructor demonstrating the choking maneuver:
- Chippewa Valley Technical College. (2022, December 3). Choking Maneuver. [Video]. YouTube. Video licensed under CC BY 4.0. https://youtu.be/HMtwmw5Vaoo ↵


10 Introduction to Pronouns
Anna decided at the beginning of Anna’s first semester of college that Anna would run for thirty minutes every day. Anna knew that Anna would be taking a literature class with a lot of reading, so instead of buying print copies of all the novels Anna’s teacher assigned, Anna bought the audiobooks. That way Anna could listen to the audiobooks as Anna ran.
Did this paragraph feel awkward to you? Let’s try it again using pronouns:
Anna decided at the beginning of her first semester of college that she would run for thirty minutes every day. She knew that she would be taking a literature class with a lot of reading, so instead of buying hard copies of all the novels her teacher assigned, Anna bought the audiobooks. That way she could listen to them as she ran.
This second paragraph is much more natural. Instead of repeating nouns multiple times, we were able to use pronouns. You’ve likely hear the phrase “a pronoun replaces a noun”; this is exactly what a pronoun does. Because a pronoun is replacing a noun, its meaning is dependent on the noun that it is replacing. This noun is called the antecedent. Let’s look at the two sentences we just read again:
- Because a pronoun is replacing a noun, its meaning is dependent on the noun that it is replacing. This noun is called an antecedent.
There are two pronouns here: its and it. Its and it both have the same antecedent: “a pronoun.” Whenever you use a pronoun, you must also include its antecedent. Without the antecedent, your readers (or listeners) won’t be able to figure out what the pronoun is referring to. Let’s look at a couple of examples:
- Jason likes it when people look to him for leadership.
- Trini brushes her hair every morning.
- Billy often has to clean his glasses.
- Kimberly is a gymnast. She has earned several medals in different competitions.
So, what are the antecedents and pronouns in these sentences?
- Jason is the antecedent for the pronoun him.
- Trini is the antecedent for the pronoun her.
- Billy is the antecedent for the pronoun his.
- Kimberly is the antecedent for the pronoun she.
Practice
Identify the antecedent in the following examples:
- The bus is twenty minutes late today, like it always is.
- I would never be caught dead wearing boot sandals.
Show Answer
- The bus is the antecedent for the pronoun it.
- boot sandals is the antecedent for the pronoun they.
There are several types of pronouns, including personal, demonstrative, indefinite, and relative pronouns. The next few pages will cover each of these.


21 Bret Harte (1836-1902)
Helena Marvin and OpenAI
Bret Harte (1836-1902) was an American author and poet of the late 19th century. He is best known for his short stories about the California Gold Rush, and for his poem “The Heathen Chinese”. He was also an editor of several magazines and newspapers.
Bret Harte was born in New York and grew up in California, and his stories often draw on his experiences there. He wrote tales of the Western United States, with a focus on the mining camps, and he was known for his use of local dialect and colorful characters. He wrote the stories “The Luck of Roaring Camp”, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”, and “The Idyl of Red Gulch”, among others.
“The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is a short story by Bret Harte, first published in 1869. It tells the story of four people exiled from a western mining town, and follows them as they try to survive in the wilderness. The story offers a unique insight into the lawless and often violent world of the American West. It is a powerful and timeless tale of courage, loyalty, and hope in the face of adversity.


22 What is Heutagogy?
What is “Heutagogy”?
The foundation of my educational philosophy (and therefore the basis of my instructional design decisions for this course) is “Heutagogy”. Simply stated, it means that adults learn best when they have a lot of control over what they learn and how they learn it. In addition, heutagogy asserts that the assessment of adult learning should focus on what the learner believes she/he has learned and on the various ways that learning has impacted, or will impact her/his values, ideals, and behavior.
Your role in the course…
All assignments in this course are designed to permit you as much flexibility as possible in determining the style and content of your participation. As long as you comply with the requirements you can expect to be successful.
For the 5 numbered learning modules, each student:
- reads the assigned chapters in the textbook
- participates fully in the Q&A discussion forum
- completes the Knowledge Audit Activities
In short – each learner sets her/his own content-specific learning objectives. This is the essence of a heutagogical design.
My role in the course…
The written assignments and discussion posts that you submit in this class are not for my benefit – they are for the benefit of you and the other students in the class. All of the course rules, policies, and requirements are designed to maximize the teaching / learning value of your coursework.
My role in the course begins with the instructional design process – to create a sequence of learning activities that:
- engages each learner in a meaningful way with the course content and the other learners in the class.
- requires each learner to also be a teacher – to add quality learning opportunities for the other students to benefit from.
- allows maximum freedom for self-direction – so that each learner has the responsibility to forge their own learning path.
The extent to which I am successful in acheiving these three goals is the measure of success of the course.
My teaching / learning roles include:
- Answering questions and addressing concerns: I check the Course Messages, the Bulletin Board, and the “Talk With The Professor” discussion forums every day (sometimes twice a day!) and make it a point to get back to you immediately with the answers to your questions. If I do not answer your question promptly, let me know.
- Monitoring and evaluating the Q&A discussion forums: Collectively, the learner-led discussion forums are the primary learning activity in this course, and I attempt to read every discussion comment made by every student every day. I enjoy the interplay, and I may jump in occasionally, but I do not respond to most posts.
- Evaluating your Reflective Blog posts: Unlike the Q&A discussions, the blogs are designed as more formal “evaluations” of your learning. Therefore, you are not given access to edit your blog posts. I will evaluate the blog upon completion of the Knowledge Audit window and provide you with feedback as soon as possible following that date.
- Evaluating your participation in the Portfolio forums: I will not be able to evaluate these activities until the end of the course, but you can expect to do well as long as you follow the instructions.
- Maintaining an up-to-date grade book: Your graded assignments and discussions will be entered into the course grade book at the conclusion of each learning module. Check your grades regularly, and you will always know where you stand in this course.
- Respond to any posts submitted to the “Talk With The Professor” discussion forums: There may be times when you want my input, opinion, and expertise on an issue being discussed in a Q&A forum or one of the other graded forums. I monitor the “Talk With The Professor” area daily, and I will respondquickly to any questions you have.


IX Glossary
Accreditation: A review process to determine if an agency meets the defined standards of quality determined by the accrediting body.
ANA Standards of Professional Performance: Authoritative statements of the actions and behaviors that all registered nurses, regardless of role, population, specialty, and setting are expected to perform competently.
Core measures: National standards of care and treatment processes for common conditions. These processes are proven to reduce complications and lead to better client outcomes.
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP): A lifelong problem-solving approach that integrates the best evidence from well-designed research studies and evidence-based theories; clinical expertise and evidence from assessment of the health care consumer’s history and condition, as well as health care resources; and client, family, group, community, and population preferences and values.[1]
Informatics: Using information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making.[2] This allows members of the health care team to share, store, and analyze health-related information.
Meta-analysis: A type of nursing research (also referred to as a “systematic review”) that compares the results of independent research studies asking similar research questions. This research often collects both quantitative and qualitative data to provide a well-rounded evaluation by providing both objective and subjective outcomes.
Nursing informatics: The science and practice integrating nursing, its information and knowledge, with information and communication technologies to promote the health of people, families, and communities worldwide.
Nursing research: The systematic inquiry designed to develop knowledge about issues of importance to the nursing profession.[3] The purpose of nursing research is to advance nursing practice through the discovery of new information. It is also used to provide scholarly evidence regarding improved client outcomes resulting from nursing interventions.
National Patient Safety Goals: Guidelines specific to organizations accredited by The Joint Commission that focus on problems in health care safety and ways to solve them.
Peer-reviewed: Scholarly journal articles that have been reviewed independently by at least two other academic experts in the same field as the author(s) to ensure accuracy and quality.
Primary source: An original study or report of an experiment or clinical problem. The evidence is typically written and published by the individual(s) conducting the research and includes a literature review, description of the research design, statistical analysis of the data, and discussion regarding the implications of the results.
Qualitative studies: A type of study that provides subjective data, often focusing on the perception or experience of the participants. Data is collected through observations and open-ended questions and often referred to as experimental data. Data is interpreted by developing themes in participants’ views and observations.
Quality: The degree to which nursing services for health care consumers, families, groups, communities, and populations increase the likelihood of desirable outcomes and are consistent with evolving nursing knowledge.
Quality Improvement (QI): A systematic process using measurable data to improve health care services and the overall health status of clients. The QI process includes the steps of Plan, Do, Study, and Act.
Quantitative studies: A type of study that provides objective data by using number values to explain outcomes. Researchers can use statistical analysis to determine strength of the findings, as well as identify correlations.
Secondary source: Evidence is written by an author who gathers existing data provided from research completed by another individual. This type of source analyzes and reports on findings from other research projects and may interpret findings or draw conclusions. In nursing research these sources are typically published as a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Utilization review: An investigation by insurance agencies and other health care funders on services performed by doctors, nurses, and other health care team members to ensure money is not wasted covering things that are unnecessary for proper treatment or are inefficient. This review also allows organizations to objectively measure how effectively health care services and resources are being used to best meet their clients’ needs.
- American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). American Nurses Association. ↵
- QSEN Institute. (n.d.). QSEN competencies: Quality improvement (QI). https://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/#quality_improvement ↵
- American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). American Nurses Association. ↵


106 The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, by William Shakespeare
ACT V
SCENE I. Padua. Before Lucentio’s house.
Enter on one side Biondello, Lucentio and
Bianca; Gremio walking on other side.
BIONDELLO.
Softly and swiftly, sir, for the priest is ready.
LUCENTIO.
I fly, Biondello; but they may chance to need thee at
home, therefore leave us.
BIONDELLO.
Nay, faith, I’ll see the church o’ your back; and then
come back to my master’s as soon as I can.
[Exeunt Lucentio, Bianca and
Biondello.]
GREMIO.
I marvel Cambio comes not all this while.
Enter Petruchio, Katherina, Vincentio and
Attendants.
PETRUCHIO.
Sir, here’s the door; this is Lucentio’s house:
My father’s bears more toward the market-place;
Thither must I, and here I leave you, sir.
VINCENTIO.
You shall not choose but drink before you go.
I think I shall command your welcome here,
And by all likelihood some cheer is toward.
[Knocks.]
GREMIO.
They’re busy within; you were best knock louder.
Enter Pedant above, at a window.
PEDANT.
What’s he that knocks as he would beat down the gate?
VINCENTIO.
Is Signior Lucentio within, sir?
PEDANT.
He’s within, sir, but not to be spoken withal.
VINCENTIO.
What if a man bring him a hundred pound or two to make
merry withal?
PEDANT.
Keep your hundred pounds to yourself: he shall need none so
long as I live.
PETRUCHIO.
Nay, I told you your son was well beloved in Padua. Do
you hear, sir? To leave frivolous circumstances, I pray you tell
Signior Lucentio that his father is come from Pisa, and is here
at the door to speak with him.
PEDANT.
Thou liest: his father is come from Padua, and here looking
out at the window.
VINCENTIO.
Art thou his father?
PEDANT.
Ay, sir; so his mother says, if I may believe her.
PETRUCHIO.
[To Vincentio] Why, how now, gentleman! why, this is flat
knavery to take upon you another man’s name.
PEDANT.
Lay hands on the villain: I believe a means to cozen
somebody in this city under my countenance.
Re-enter Biondello.
BIONDELLO.
I have seen them in the church together: God send ’em
good shipping! But who is here? Mine old master, Vincentio! Now
we are undone and brought to nothing.
VINCENTIO.
[Seeing Biondello.] Come hither, crack-hemp.
BIONDELLO.
I hope I may choose, sir.
VINCENTIO.
Come hither, you rogue. What, have you forgot me?
BIONDELLO.
Forgot you! No, sir: I could not forget you, for I never
saw you before in all my life.
VINCENTIO.
What, you notorious villain! didst thou never see thy
master’s father, Vincentio?
BIONDELLO.
What, my old worshipful old master? Yes, marry, sir; see
where he looks out of the window.
VINCENTIO.
Is’t so, indeed?
[He beats Biondello.]
BIONDELLO.
Help, help, help! here’s a madman will murder me.
[Exit.]
PEDANT.
Help, son! help, Signior Baptista!
[Exit from the window.]
PETRUCHIO.
Prithee, Kate, let’s stand aside and see the end of this
controversy.
[They retire.]
Re-enter Pedant, below; Baptista,
Tranio and Servants.
TRANIO.
Sir, what are you that offer to beat my servant?
VINCENTIO.
What am I, sir! nay, what are you, sir? O immortal gods!
O fine villain! A silken doublet, a velvet hose, a scarlet cloak,
and a copatain hat! O, I am undone! I am undone! While I play the
good husband at home, my son and my servant spend all at the
university.
TRANIO.
How now! what’s the matter?
BAPTISTA.
What, is the man lunatic?
TRANIO.
Sir, you seem a sober ancient gentleman by your habit, but
your words show you a madman. Why, sir, what ’cerns it you if I
wear pearl and gold? I thank my good father, I am able to
maintain it.
VINCENTIO.
Thy father! O villain! he is a sailmaker in Bergamo.
BAPTISTA.
 Pray, what do you
think is his name?
VINCENTIO.
His name! As if I knew not his name! I have brought him
up ever since he was three years old, and his name is Tranio.
PEDANT.
 His name is Lucentio; and he is mine
only son, and heir to the lands of me, Signior Vincentio.
VINCENTIO.
Lucentio! O, he hath murdered his master! Lay hold on
him, I charge you, in the Duke’s name. O, my son, my son! Tell
me, thou villain, where is my son, Lucentio?
TRANIO.
Call forth an officer.
Enter one with an Officer.
Carry this mad knave to the gaol. Father Baptista, I charge you
see that he be forthcoming.
VINCENTIO.
Carry me to the gaol!
GREMIO.
Stay, officer; he shall not go to prison.
BAPTISTA.
Talk not, Signior Gremio; I say he shall go to prison.
GREMIO.
Take heed, Signior Baptista, lest you be cony-catched in
this business; I dare swear this is the right Vincentio.
PEDANT.
Swear if thou darest.
GREMIO.
Nay, I dare not swear it.
TRANIO.
Then thou wert best say that I am not Lucentio.
GREMIO.
Yes, I know thee to be Signior Lucentio.
BAPTISTA.
Away with the dotard! to the gaol with him!
VINCENTIO.
Thus strangers may be haled and abus’d: O monstrous
villain!
Re-enter Biondello, with
Lucentio and Bianca.
BIONDELLO.
O! we are spoiled; and yonder he is: deny him, forswear
him, or else we are all undone.
LUCENTIO.
[Kneeling.] Pardon, sweet father.
VINCENTIO.
Lives my sweetest son?
[Biondello, Tranio and
Pedant run out.]
BIANCA.
[Kneeling.] Pardon, dear father.
BAPTISTA.
How hast thou offended?
Where is Lucentio?
LUCENTIO.
Here’s Lucentio,
Right son to the right Vincentio;
That have by marriage made thy daughter mine,
While counterfeit supposes blear’d thine eyne.
GREMIO.
Here ’s packing, with a witness, to deceive us all!
VINCENTIO.
Where is that damned villain, Tranio,
That fac’d and brav’d me in this matter so?
BAPTISTA.
Why, tell me, is not this my Cambio?
BIANCA.
Cambio is chang’d into Lucentio.
LUCENTIO.
Love wrought these miracles. Bianca’s love
Made me exchange my state with Tranio,
While he did bear my countenance in the town;
And happily I have arriv’d at the last
Unto the wished haven of my bliss.
What Tranio did, myself enforc’d him to;
Then pardon him, sweet father, for my sake.
VINCENTIO.
I’ll slit the villain’s nose that would have sent me to
the gaol.
BAPTISTA.
[To Lucentio.] But do you hear, sir? Have you married my
daughter without asking my good will?
VINCENTIO.
Fear not, Baptista; we will content you, go to: but I
will in, to be revenged for this villainy.
[Exit.]
BAPTISTA.
And I to sound the depth of this knavery.
[Exit.]
LUCENTIO.
Look not pale, Bianca; thy father will not frown.
[Exeunt Lucentio and
Bianca.]
GREMIO.
My cake is dough, but I’ll in among the rest;
Out of hope of all but my share of the feast.
[Exit.]
Petruchio and Katherina
advance.
KATHERINA.
Husband, let’s follow to see the end of this ado.
PETRUCHIO.
First kiss me, Kate, and we will.
KATHERINA.
What! in the midst of the street?
PETRUCHIO.
What! art thou ashamed of me?
KATHERINA.
No, sir; God forbid; but ashamed to kiss.
PETRUCHIO.
Why, then, let’s home again. Come, sirrah, let’s away.
KATHERINA.
Nay, I will give thee a kiss: now pray thee, love, stay.
PETRUCHIO.
Is not this well? Come, my sweet Kate:
Better once than never, for never too late.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE II. A room in Lucentio’s house.
Enter Baptista, Vincentio, Gremio, the
Pedant, Lucentio, Bianca, Petruchio, Katherina,
Hortensio and Widow. Tranio, Biondello and
Grumio and Others, attending.
LUCENTIO.
At last, though long, our jarring notes agree:
And time it is when raging war is done,
To smile at ’scapes and perils overblown.
My fair Bianca, bid my father welcome,
While I with self-same kindness welcome thine.
Brother Petruchio, sister Katherina,
And thou, Hortensio, with thy loving widow,
Feast with the best, and welcome to my house:
My banquet is to close our stomachs up,
After our great good cheer. Pray you, sit down;
For now we sit to chat as well as eat.
[They sit at table.]
PETRUCHIO.
Nothing but sit and sit, and eat and eat!
BAPTISTA.
Padua affords this kindness, son Petruchio.
PETRUCHIO.
Padua affords nothing but what is kind.
HORTENSIO.
For both our sakes I would that word were true.
PETRUCHIO.
Now, for my life, Hortensio fears his widow.
WIDOW.
Then never trust me if I be afeard.
PETRUCHIO.

WIDOW.
He that is giddy thinks the world turns round.
PETRUCHIO.
Roundly replied.
KATHERINA.
Mistress, how mean you that?
WIDOW.
Thus I conceive by him.
PETRUCHIO.
Conceives by me! How likes Hortensio that?
HORTENSIO.
My widow says thus she conceives her tale.
PETRUCHIO.
Very well mended. Kiss him for that, good widow.
KATHERINA.
’He that is giddy thinks the world turns round’:
I pray you tell me what you meant by that.
WIDOW.
Your husband, being troubled with a shrew,
Measures my husband’s sorrow by his woe;
And now you know my meaning.
KATHERINA.
A very mean meaning.
WIDOW.
Right, I mean you.
KATHERINA.
And I am mean, indeed, respecting you.
PETRUCHIO.
To her, Kate!
HORTENSIO.
To her, widow!
PETRUCHIO.
A hundred marks, my Kate does put her down.
HORTENSIO.
That’s my office.
PETRUCHIO.
Spoke like an officer: ha’ to thee, lad.
[Drinks to Hortensio.]
BAPTISTA.
How likes Gremio these quick-witted folks?
GREMIO.
Believe me, sir, they butt together well.
BIANCA.
Head and butt!
VINCENTIO.
Ay, mistress bride, hath that awaken’d you?
BIANCA.
Ay, but not frighted me; therefore I’ll sleep again.
PETRUCHIO.
Nay, that you shall not; since you have begun,
Have at you for a bitter jest or two.
BIANCA.
Am I your bird? I mean to shift my bush,
And then pursue me as you draw your bow.
You are welcome all.
[Exeunt Bianca, Katherina and
Widow.]
PETRUCHIO.
She hath prevented me. Here, Signior Tranio;
This bird you aim’d at, though you hit her not:
Therefore a health to all that shot and miss’d.
TRANIO.
O, sir! Lucentio slipp’d me like his greyhound,
Which runs himself, and catches for his master.
PETRUCHIO.
A good swift simile, but something currish.
TRANIO.
’Tis well, sir, that you hunted for yourself:
’Tis thought your deer does hold you at a bay.
BAPTISTA.
O ho, Petruchio! Tranio hits you now.
LUCENTIO.
I thank thee for that gird, good Tranio.
HORTENSIO.
Confess, confess; hath he not hit you here?
PETRUCHIO.
A has a little gall’d me, I confess;
And as the jest did glance away from me,
’Tis ten to one it maim’d you two outright.
BAPTISTA.
Now, in good sadness, son Petruchio,
I think thou hast the veriest shrew of all.
PETRUCHIO.
Well, I say no; and therefore, for assurance,
Let’s each one send unto his wife,
And he whose wife is most obedient,
To come at first when he doth send for her,
Shall win the wager which we will propose.
HORTENSIO.
Content. What’s the wager?
LUCENTIO.
Twenty crowns.
PETRUCHIO.
Twenty crowns!

LUCENTIO.
A hundred then.
HORTENSIO.
Content.
PETRUCHIO.
A match! ’tis done.
HORTENSIO.
Who shall begin?
LUCENTIO.
That will I.
Go, Biondello, bid your mistress come to me.
BIONDELLO.
I go.
[Exit.]
BAPTISTA.
Son, I’ll be your half, Bianca comes.
LUCENTIO.
I’ll have no halves; I’ll bear it all myself.
Re-enter Biondello.
How now! what news?
BIONDELLO.
Sir, my mistress sends you word
That she is busy and she cannot come.
PETRUCHIO.
How! She’s busy, and she cannot come!
Is that an answer?
GREMIO.

PETRUCHIO.
I hope better.
HORTENSIO.
Sirrah Biondello, go and entreat my wife
To come to me forthwith.
[Exit Biondello.]
PETRUCHIO.
O, ho! entreat her!
Nay, then she must needs come.
HORTENSIO.
I am afraid, sir,
Do what you can, yours will not be entreated.
Re-enter Biondello.
Now, where’s my wife?
BIONDELLO.
She says you have some goodly jest in hand:
She will not come; she bids you come to her.
PETRUCHIO.
Worse and worse; she will not come! O vile,
Intolerable, not to be endur’d!
Sirrah Grumio, go to your mistress,
Say I command her come to me.
[Exit Grumio.]
HORTENSIO.
I know her answer.
PETRUCHIO.
What?
HORTENSIO.
She will not.
PETRUCHIO.
The fouler fortune mine, and there an end.
Re-enter Katherina.
BAPTISTA.
Now, by my holidame, here comes Katherina!
KATHERINA.
What is your will sir, that you send for me?
PETRUCHIO.
Where is your sister, and Hortensio’s wife?
KATHERINA.
They sit conferring by the parlour fire.
PETRUCHIO.

Away, I say, and bring them hither straight.
[Exit Katherina.]
LUCENTIO.
Here is a wonder, if you talk of a wonder.
HORTENSIO.
And so it is. I wonder what it bodes.
PETRUCHIO.
Marry, peace it bodes, and love, and quiet life,
An awful rule, and right supremacy;
And, to be short, what not that’s sweet and happy.
BAPTISTA.
Now fair befall thee, good Petruchio!
The wager thou hast won; and I will add
Unto their losses twenty thousand crowns;
Another dowry to another daughter,
For she is chang’d, as she had never been.
PETRUCHIO.
Nay, I will win my wager better yet,
And show more sign of her obedience,
Her new-built virtue and obedience.
See where she comes, and brings your froward wives
As prisoners to her womanly persuasion.
Re-enter Katherina with
Bianca and Widow.

[Katherina pulls off her cap
and throws it down.]
WIDOW.

BIANCA.

LUCENTIO.
I would your duty were as foolish too;
The wisdom of your duty, fair Bianca,
Hath cost me a hundred crowns since supper-time!
BIANCA.
The more fool you for laying on my duty.
PETRUCHIO.
Katherine, I charge thee, tell these headstrong women
What duty they do owe their lords and husbands.
WIDOW.
Come, come, you’re mocking; we will have no telling.
PETRUCHIO.
Come on, I say; and first begin with her.
WIDOW.
She shall not.
PETRUCHIO.
I say she shall: and first begin with her.
KATHERINA.
Fie, fie! unknit that threatening unkind brow,
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor:
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman mov’d is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience;
Too little payment for so great a debt.

I am asham’d that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace,
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason haply more,
To bandy word for word and frown for frown;
But now I see our lances are but straws,
Our strength as weak, our weakness past compare,
That seeming to be most which we indeed least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot,
And place your hands below your husband’s foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,
My hand is ready; may it do him ease.
PETRUCHIO.
Why, there’s a wench!
LUCENTIO.
Well, go thy ways, old lad, for thou shalt ha’t.
VINCENTIO.
’Tis a good hearing when children are toward.
LUCENTIO.
But a harsh hearing when women are froward.
PETRUCHIO.
Come, Kate, we’ll to bed.
We three are married, but you two are sped.

[Exeunt Petruchio and
Katherina.]
HORTENSIO.
Now go thy ways; thou hast tam’d a curst shrew.
LUCENTIO.
’Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be tam’d so.
[Exeunt.]


18 African Participation and Resistance to Trade
African Participation and Resistance to the Trade
With some early exceptions, Europeans were not able to independently enter the West and Central African interior to capture Africans and force them onto ships to the Americas. Instead, European traders generally relied on a network of African rulers and traders to capture and bring enslaved Africans from various coastal and interior regions to slave castles on the West and Central African coast. Many of these traders acquired captives as a result of military and political conflict, but some also pursued slave trading for profit.
Scholars provide various explanations for why African traders were willing to supply enslaved Africans to Europeans for the trans-Atlantic trade. By the early sixteenth century, slavery already played a major role in some western and central African societies, and contributed to maritime slave trade systems across the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Subsequently, some historians argue that Europeans in the Atlantic took advantage of a pre-existing slave trade system in Africa to obtain labor for expanding plantation economies in the Americas. During the development of the trans-Atlantic trade, West and Central Africa consisted of diverse political and social structures, ranging from large empires to small states, and these groups often conflicted over internal politics as well as economic expansion.
As noted earlier, though ethnic identities were influential, these groups did not share a common African or black identity. Instead, they saw cultural and ethnic differences (such as Igbo, Ashanti, Mende, and Fulani) as social divisions. Frequent conflicts between these groups produced captives who could then circulate in the local slave trade system, and eventually the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Europeans also went to great lengths to influence African traders and leaders to provide enslaved Africans for the trans-Atlantic trade. European traders encouraged African consumer demands for European goods, formed military alliances to instigate fighting and increase the number of captives, and shifted the location of disembarkation points for the trade along the West and Central African coast to follow African military conflicts. In areas of West and Central Africa where slavery was not prevalent, European demand often expanded the presence of the institution and trade. But European traders still generally worked within terms set by African rulers and traders, who negotiated their own interests in these trading and military alliances.
For example, when the profits of the slave trade did not outweigh the loss of local labor caused by the trans-Atlantic trade, African leaders could refuse to supply European demands. Still, the pressures from European consumer interests in African slavery were great, and the social instability that followed military conflicts inevitably challenged the resources of African groups. Many Africans turned to the trans-Atlantic slave trade to expel their opponents or to garner profits. The population loss and disruptive effects on social, political, military, and labor systems caused by the trans-Atlantic slave trade varied in scale depending on the African region and group. As a result, scholars still debate the long-term impacts of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in West and Central Africa.
Regardless, the suffering of separated families and the experiences of enslavement during the trans-Atlantic trade were universally devastating for victims of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Throughout the trade, the Africans who were enslaved or threatened with enslavement consistently resisted the dehumanizing confines of this institution. Villages and towns built fortifications and warning systems to prevent attacks from traders or enemy groups. If captured and forced onto ships for the Middle Passage, enslaved Africans resisted by organizing hunger strikes, forming rebellions, and even committing suicide by leaping overboard rather than living in slavery. Scholars believe that roughly one slaving voyage in every ten experienced major rebellions. These rebellions were costly for European traders, and led them to avoid certain regions known for this resistance strategy, such as Upper Guinea, except during periods of high slave trade market demand. This resulted in fewer Africans entering the trans-Atlantic slave trade from these regions, which suggests that African resistance strategies could be effective.


Older Adulthood: The Golden Years
The senior years are the period from age fifty-one until the end of life. A number of physiological and emotional changes take place during this life stage. For example, many older adults face serious health challenges, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or dementia. Both men and women experience a loss of hormone production, muscle mass, and strength and undergo changes in body composition. Fat deposits build up in the abdominal area, which increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The skin becomes thinner and may take longer to heal after an injury. Around age seventy, men begin to experience bone loss when estrogen and testosterone levels begin to decline.[1] Also in the later years, the heart has to work harder because each pump is not as efficient as it used to be. Kidneys are not as effective in excreting metabolic products such as sodium, acid, and potassium, which can alter water balance and increase the risk for over- or underhydration. In addition, immune function decreases and there is lower efficiency in the absorption of vitamins and minerals.
In addition, disorders of the nervous system can have profound effects. Dementia is the umbrella term for changes in the normal activity of the brain. Elderly adults who suffer from dementia may experience memory loss, agitation, and delusions. One in eight people over age sixty-four and almost half of all people over eighty-five suffer from the brain disorder Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia.[2] Neurological disorder and psychological conditions, such as depression, can influence attitudes toward food, along with the ability to prepare or ingest food. They might lead some adults to overindulge to compensate for stress or emotions that are difficult to handle. Other adults might eat less or pay less attention to their diet and nutritional needs. Older adults may also need guidance from dietitians and health-care professionals to make the best dietary choices for this stage of life.
Beginning at age fifty-one, requirements change once again and relate to the nutritional issues and health challenges that older people face. After age sixty, blood pressure rises and the immune system may have more difficulty battling invaders and infections. The skin becomes more wrinkled and hair has turned gray or white or fallen out, resulting in hair thinning. Older adults may gradually lose an inch or two in height. Also, short-term memory might not be as keen as it once was.[3]
Being either underweight or overweight is also a major concern for the elderly. However, many older adults remain in relatively good health and continue to be active into their golden years. Good nutrition is often the key to maintaining health later in life. In addition, the fitness and nutritional choices made earlier in life set the stage for continued health and happiness. Older adults should continue to consume nutrient-dense foods and remain physically active. However, deficiencies are more common after age sixty, primarily due to reduced intake or malabsorption. The loss of mobility among frail, homebound elderly adults also impacts their access to healthy, diverse foods.
Energy and Macronutrients
Due to reductions in lean body mass and metabolic rate, older adults require less energy than younger adults. The energy requirements for people ages fifty-one and over are 1,600 to 2,200 calories for women and 2,000 to 2,800 calories for men, depending on activity level. The decrease in physical activity that is typical of older adults also influences nutritional requirements. The AMDRs for carbohydrates, protein, and fat remain the same from middle age into old age. Older adults should substitute more unrefined carbohydrates for refined ones, such as whole grains and brown rice. Fiber is especially important in preventing constipation and diverticulitis, and may also reduce the risk of colon cancer. Protein should be lean, and healthy fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids, are part of any good diet.
Micronutrients
An increase in certain micronutrients can help maintain health during this life stage. The recommendations for calcium increase to 1,200 milligrams per day for both men and women to slow bone loss. Also to help protect bones, vitamin D recommendations increase to 10–15 micrograms per day for men and women. Vitamin B6 recommendations rise to 1.7 milligrams per day for older men and 1.5 milligrams per day for older women to help lower levels of homocysteine and protect against cardiovascular disease. As adults age, the production of stomach acid can decrease and lead to an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. This can affect the absorption of vitamin B12 and cause a deficiency. As a result, older adults need more B12 than younger adults, and require an intake of 2.4 micrograms per day, which helps promote healthy brain functioning. For elderly women, higher iron levels are no longer needed postmenopause and recommendations decrease to 8 milligrams per day. People over age fifty should eat foods rich with all of these micronutrients.
Nutritional Concerns for Older Adults
Dietary choices can help improve health during this life stage and address some of the nutritional concerns that many older adults face. In addition, there are specific concerns related to nutrition that affect adults in their later years. They include medical problems, such as disability and disease, which can impact diet and activity level. For example, dental problems can lead to difficulties with chewing and swallowing, which in turn can make it hard to maintain a healthy diet. The use of dentures or the preparation of pureed or chopped foods can help solve this problem. There also is a decreased thirst response in the elderly, and the kidneys have a decreased ability to concentrate urine, both of which can lead to dehydration.
Sensory Issues
At about age sixty, taste buds begin to decrease in size and number. As a result, the taste threshold is higher in older adults, meaning that more of the same flavor must be present to detect the taste. Many elderly people lose the ability to distinguish between salty, sour, sweet, and bitter flavors. This can make food seem less appealing and decrease the appetite. An intake of foods high in sugar and sodium can increase due to an inability to discern those tastes. The sense of smell also decreases, which impacts attitudes toward food. Sensory issues may also affect the digestion because the taste and smell of food stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes in the mouth, stomach, and pancreas.
Dysphagia
Some older adults have difficulty getting adequate nutrition because of the disorder dysphagia, which impairs the ability to swallow. Any damage to the parts of the brain that control swallowing can result in dysphagia, therefore stroke is a common cause. Dysphagia is also associated with advanced dementia because of overall brain function impairment. To assist older adults suffering from dysphagia, it can be helpful to alter food consistency. For example, solid foods can be pureed, ground, or chopped to allow more successful and safe swallow. This decreases the risk of aspiration, which occurs when food flows into the respiratory tract and can result in pneumonia. Typically, speech therapists, physicians, and dietitians work together to determine the appropriate diet for dysphagia patients.
Obesity in Old Age
Similar to other life stages, obesity is a concern for the elderly. Adults over age sixty are more likely to be obese than young or middle-aged adults. As explained throughout this chapter, excess body weight has severe consequences. Being overweight or obese increases the risk for potentially fatal conditions that can afflict the elderly. They include cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States, and Type 2 diabetes, which causes about seventy thousand deaths in the United States annually.[4] Obesity is also a contributing factor for a number of other conditions, including arthritis.
For older adults who are overweight or obese, dietary changes to promote weight loss should be combined with an exercise program to protect muscle mass. This is because dieting reduces muscle as well as fat, which can exacerbate the loss of muscle mass due to aging. Although weight loss among the elderly can be beneficial, it is best to be cautious and consult with a healthcare professional before beginning a weight-loss program.
The Anorexia of Aging
In addition to concerns about obesity among senior citizens, being underweight can be a major problem. A condition known as the anorexia of aging is characterized by poor food intake, which results in dangerous weight loss. This major health problem among the elderly leads to a higher risk for immune deficiency, frequent falls, muscle loss, and cognitive deficits. Reduced muscle mass and physical activity mean that older adults need fewer calories per day to maintain a normal weight. It is important for health care providers to examine the causes for anorexia of aging among their patients, which can vary from one individual to another. Understanding why some elderly people eat less as they age can help healthcare professionals assess the risk factors associated with this condition. Decreased intake may be due to disability or the lack of a motivation to eat. Also, many older adults skip at least one meal each day. As a result, some elderly people are unable to meet even reduced energy needs.
Nutritional interventions should focus primarily on a healthy diet. Remedies can include increasing the frequency of meals and adding healthy, high-calorie foods (such as nuts, potatoes, whole-grain pasta, and avocados) to the diet. Liquid supplements between meals may help to improve caloric intake.[5] Health care professionals should consider a patient’s habits and preferences when developing a nutritional treatment plan. After a plan is in place, patients should be weighed on a weekly basis until they show improvement.
Vision Problems
Many older people suffer from vision problems and a loss of vision. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in Americans over age sixty.[6] This disorder can make food planning and preparation extremely difficult and people who suffer from it often must depend on caregivers for their meals. Self-feeding also may be difficult if an elderly person cannot see his or her food clearly. Friends and family members can help older adults with shopping and cooking. Food-assistance programs for older adults (such as Meals on Wheels) can also be helpful.
Diet may help to prevent macular degeneration. Consuming colorful fruits and vegetables increases the intake of lutein and zeaxanthin. Several studies have shown that these antioxidants provide protection for the eyes. Lutein and zeaxanthin are found in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, and collard greens, and also corn, peaches, squash, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, orange juice, and honeydew melon.[7]
Longevity and Nutrition
The foods you consume in your younger years influence your health as you age. Good nutrition and regular physical activity can help you live longer and healthier. Conversely, poor nutrition and a lack of exercise can shorten your life and lead to medical problems. The right foods provide numerous benefits at every stage of life. They help an infant grow, an adolescent develop mentally and physically, a young adult achieve his or her physical peak, and an older adult cope with aging. Nutritious foods form the foundation of a healthy life at every age.
Developing Habits
Eating habits develop early in life. They are typically formed within the first few years and it is believed that they persist for years, if not for life. So it is important for parents and other caregivers to help children establish healthy habits and avoid problematic ones. Children begin expressing their preferences at an early age. Parents must find a balance between providing a child with an opportunity for self-expression, helping a child develop healthy habits, and making sure that a child meets all of their nutritional needs.
Bad habits and poor nutrition have an accrual effect. The foods you consume in your younger years will impact your health as you age, from childhood into the later stages of life. As a result, good nutrition today means optimal health tomorrow. Therefore, it is best to start making healthy choices from a young age and maintain them as you mature. However, a recent report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggests that adopting good nutritional choices later in life, during the forties, fifties, and even the sixties, may still help to reduce the risk of chronic disease as you grow older.[8]
Even if past nutritional and lifestyle choices were not aligned with dietary guidelines, older adults can still do a great deal to reduce their risk of disability and chronic disease. As we age, we tend to lose lean body mass. This loss of muscle and bone can have critical health implications. For example, a decrease in body strength can result in an increased risk for fractures because older adults with weakened muscles are more likely to fall, and to sustain serious injuries when they do. However, improving your diet while increasing physical activity helps to control weight, reduce fat mass, and maintain muscle and bone mass.
There are a number of changes middle-aged adults can implement, even after years of unhealthy choices. Choices include eating more dark, green, leafy vegetables, substituting high-fat proteins with lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, and nuts, and engaging in moderate physical activity for thirty minutes per day, several days per week. The resulting improvements in body composition will go a long way toward providing greater protection against falls and fractures, and helping to ward off cardiovascular disease and hypertension, among other chronic conditions.[9]
- American Medical Association. Complete Guide to Prevention and Wellness. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2008, 512. ↵
- American Medical Association. Complete Guide to Prevention and Wellness. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2008, 421. ↵
- Beverly McMillan, Illustrated Atlas of the Human Body (Sydney, Australia: Weldon Owen, 2008), 260. ↵
- Deaths and Mortality. Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm. Updated May 3, 2017. Accessed December 9, 2017. ↵
- Morley, JE. Anorexia of Aging: Physiologic and Pathologic. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997; 66, 760–73. http://www.ajcn.org/content/66/4/760.full.pdf. Accessed November 12, 2017. ↵
- American Medical Association. Complete Guide to Prevention and Wellness. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2008, 413. ↵
- American Medical Association. Complete Guide to Prevention and Wellness. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2008, 415. ↵
- Rivlin, RS. Keeping the Young-Elderly Healthy: Is It Too Late to Improve Our Health through Nutrition?. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007; 86, 1572S–6S. ↵
- Rivlin, RS. Keeping the Young-Elderly Healthy: Is It Too Late to Improve Our Health through Nutrition?. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007; 86, 1572S–6S. ↵


116 Conclusion
The United States entered the war in a crippling economic depression and exited at the beginning of an unparalleled economic boom. The war had been won, the United States was stronger than ever, and Americans looked forward to a prosperous future. And yet new problems loomed. Stalin’s Soviet Union and the proliferation of nuclear weapons would disrupt postwar dreams of global harmony. Meanwhile, Americans that had fought a war for global democracy would find that very democracy eradicated around the world in reestablished colonial regimes and at home in segregation and injustice. The war had unleashed powerful forces, forces that would reshape the United States at home and abroad.


Interdisciplinarity & Collaboration
Jacqui Young
Summer 2019
I enjoyed the creative syllabus session. Well, it was more of a brief talk with Cathie but worth it. I have not had the time to be creative with my syllabus yet. I am going to have my students re-create our syllabus within the first week of class to their specifications. Probably using crayons, or colored markers, pencils.
I love the NO GRADING aspect of TWP. I feel this will create a more open learning and teaching environment for the first-year students. It will be a challenge for sure.
The aspects of Cluster Pedagogy that seems useful to me are “The Habits of Mind,” “Interdisciplinary Studies,” and “The Learning Community.”
The three mentioned about are the ones that I felt spoke to me in some way. My goal for “The Learning Community” is to engage more face to face with colleagues throughout the fall semester. Either in the CoLab or our offices or out for coffee. I want to meet every other week if possible. I feel this is an essential aspect moving forward, so I do not lose what I gained over the summer months.
My field is an interdisciplinary one that includes dance, criminal justice, and sociology. My hope is the dance side will bring out some creativity in my teaching. The criminal justice side will help with my topic of Mass Incarceration. And my sociology background will allow me to work with different types of students and faculty.


Types of Questions
Preparation is essential for a successful interview! You want to ensure that you are able to convey to the employer that you are the most suitable candidate for the position. You are the interviewer’s main source of information concerning your qualifications. Do not assume that the interviewer knows all of your qualifications and accomplishments; you must clearly spell them out as you answer the questions during an interview.
Introductory Questions
Introductory questions give you an opportunity to describe yourself and your accomplishments as they pertain to the job you are applying for. These questions are used to assess your background, your experience, and your organizational fit. Being that they are open-ended questions, they give you an opportunity to sell yourself.
Examples of common introductory questions include:
- Tell me about yourself.
- How has your education prepared you for this role?
- What do you know about our organization?
- Why are you interested in working for our company?
- What experience do you have that relates to this position?
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
Behavioural questions
Behavioural questions will ask you to describe a specific situation or experience and require you to provide an example of how you handled it in the past. Behavioural interviews are founded on the idea that the best predictor of future behaviour is based on evaluating past behaviour. The key is not to get the “right” answer but to demonstrate how you came to an appropriate result. To answer these questions well and completely, you need to be prepared with specific examples or experiences.
Examples of common behavioural questions include:
- Give an example of a situation where you had to deal with conflict, either with a customer or coworker. How did you handle it?
- Describe a situation where a coworker or supervisor had expectations that you felt were unrealistic. How did you deal with that?
- Give an example of a goal you reached and tell me how you achieved it.
- Describe a stressful situation at work and how you handled it.
- Tell me about a time when you made a mistake? What did you learn from it?
- Describe a situation in which you had to balance multiple priorities.
- Provide a situation in which you managed a tight deadline?
- Give an example of a time when you collaborated as part of a team.
- Give an example of an occasion when you used logic to solve a problem.
- Share an example of how you were able to motivate employees or coworkers.
- Tell me about a time you have gone above and beyond the call of duty? If so, how?
The KEY to Answering Behavioural Questions, S.T.A.R. Technique
When answering behavioural questions, you should use the STAR technique to ensure you’ve included the appropriate amount of information and detail.
- Situation – Briefly describe the event or situation and include information on the who, what, where, and when.
- Task – Give a clear explanation of the task you had to complete and any challenges that accompanied it.
- Action – Speak about the actions you took to complete the task, purposefully mentioning qualities or traits that the interviewer is looking for.
- Result – In summary, emphasize what the result of your efforts was and quantify it when appropriate.
Situational questions
Situational questions are focused on hypothetical scenarios and they require you to demonstrate sound judgment with a response or solution to a problem that you may not have experienced before. Sometimes these questions require you to think outside the box, and carefully consider what is really being asked.
Examples of situational questions include:
- If you discovered your supervisor was breaking the company’s code of conduct, what
would you do? - As the team leader, you are faced with a situation where two team members are arguing, how would you deal with the situation?
- If you had two important deadlines coming up, how would you prioritize your tasks?
More unconventional questions an employer may ask:
- If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?
- If you had to sell this pen, what would you say?
Job knowledge or technical questions
These questions typically assess the particular technical or professional skills and knowledge you will need to perform a job. Hands-on tests, simulations, and questions are phrased to find your level of experience with specific equipment, software, processes, procedures, etc.
Examples of technical questions include:
- What is the order of operations used when evaluating formulas in Excel?
- What are the key PivotTable “sections” into which users can drag columns?
- How do you properly use a blood pressure monitor?
- What is the process in which you enter an invoice into SAP?
- Show me how to wire these two three-way switches.
Your turn! Questions to ask the employer
When an employer asks you at the end of the interview, “Do you have any questions for us?” you want to avoid saying, “no.” Having a lack of questions prepared may suggest to an employer that you’re uninterested in the opportunity. It is your responsibility to come up with some well thought out and engaging questions. The questions that you ask can be about the roles and responsibilities of the job, the organizational structure of the company, general interest, or the next steps in the hiring process. Be conscientious of the interviewer’s time, choose no more than three questions to ask.
Examples of questions you SHOULD ask include:
- What skills make the most successful employees here?
- What is the top priority of someone who accepts this job?
- Can you describe recent projects of someone in this position?
- What does a typical day/week look like in this role?
- How large is the team I would be working with?
- Is there any advice you can provide that would help me prepare for my first three
months in this role? - What is your favourite part about working for this organization?
- What are the next steps in the hiring process?
- When should I expect to hear back?
Examples of questions you SHOULD NOT ask include:
- How much will I get paid? What is the salary? Is this negotiable?
- How many weeks’ vacations will I be entitled too?
- What does the benefits package include?
- How long until I can become a manager?
- Can I apply to other jobs once I’m working here?
CHAPTER ATTRIBUTION
Be the Boss of Your Career: A Complete Guide for Students & Grads (pressbooks.pub) by Lindsay Bortot and Employment Support Centre, Algonquin College.