Similarities Between Graceling And Fahrenheit 451

The idea of dystopian societies have drawn readers and authors alike for decades, each work of literature captivating millions. Books in the genre, of course, are classified by the world in which the main characters live. Although society is initially presented as perfect, beneath the surface it is deeply flawed in the eyes of the author. Although many books follow this formula, we will focus in on two specific pieces that carry very different storylines: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and Graceling by Kristin Cashore. First, we will identify what ideas and themes the two books represent, and how these ideas are similar to concepts we can identify in modern societies. Following the identification of themes, we will be able to isolate†¦show more content†¦Represented constantly through the book, those three themes are the building blocks for Bradbury’s masterpiece. The first theme, oppression of the people, is evident primarily in the society Montag lives in. As entertainment became held at a higher value, written literature has been deemed dangerous to the ideals of the people by proposing conflicting viewpoints. Beatty, one of the main advocates for the eradication of literature in Fahrenheit 451 attempts to convince Montag of this (and the importance of his job - burning the books) by stating â€Å"We stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought. We have our fingers in the dike. Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our own. ...I don’t think you realize how important you are, we are, to our happy world as it stands now.† (Bradbury, 59) The philosophy of Beatty is not only represented, but the ideas of their society as a whole. Montag, of course, views the limitation of information accessible by the general public as a ves sel of oppression, leading to his escape. Another prominent theme from Fahrenheit 451 are the inner struggles faced by our main character, and his evolution as a person because of them. A primary

Illegal Immigration Is The Entry Of Non Us - 909 Words

â€Å"Illegal immigration is the entry of non-U.S. citizens into the United States without their having applied for entry at one of the many border crossings† (Illegal Immigration 9). There are numerous ways that illegal immigrants travel into the United States. The most common forms of entry are through Canada and Mexico. However, illegal immigration did not used to exist. In fact, immigration without applying to enter into the country was allowed in the United States at the beginning of 1655. Over a time period that stretched 230 years, the United States embraced immigrants to help the new country grow and thrive. Unfortunately, after the Revolutionary War the United States began to monitor all immigrations. Since then, laws have been passed†¦show more content†¦According to the National Research Academy of Sciences, illegal immigrants contributed back about $80,000 dollars in taxes in 1997 than they gained back in federal, state and local levels. Most of these immi grants do not even benefit from the services that they pay for because they are not legal citizens. â€Å"‘Immigrants not only help fuel the Nation’s economic growth, but also have an overall positive effect on the American economy as a whole and on the income of native-born American workers†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (â€Å"Immigration Myths and Facts- January 2008†). Illegal immigrants help employment rates rise for native-born citizens. Also, illegal immigrants help increase wages, such as in the state of California from 1990 to 2004 when the wages of native-born citizens rose by four percent because of illegal immigrants. Due to illegal immigrants, the economy continues to boost. Secondly illegal immigration positively impacts American life. â€Å"A recent study finds that the rise in immigration between 1990 and 2006, which increased labor-force participation by about 12.5 million, increased the earnings of U.S. workers by between 0.6 and 0.7 percent† (â€Å"Im migration Helps American Workers’ Wages and Job Opportunities†). This increase allows native-born earnings to climb. Using these findings, under the S.744 reform act U.S. workers could expect an increase in earnings from 0.4 and 0.7 because of immigration.

Domestic Violence Beyond Patriarchy Free Essays

string(35) " in the gay and lesbian community\." Domestic Violence: Beyond Patriarchy In the Beginning The Battered Women’s movement of the 1970’s enlightened society about a much secreted, and what at the time, was considered a family matter, that of violence against women by their male intimate partners. Many lives have been saved as a direct result of society’s public awareness of this much-hidden scourge on our families. Federal and state laws prohibiting Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) have been enacted, and funding has been put in place for battered women’s shelter programs. We will write a custom essay sample on Domestic Violence: Beyond Patriarchy or any similar topic only for you Order Now These changes have made a significant difference in the lives of battered women and children over the last few decades. The feminist theoretical perspective of IPVIPV has been depicted throughout our society as well as how victim services, and batterers intervention programs (BIP) are modeled. â€Å"Our culture has historically exhibited certain patriarchal values observable in religion and social custom. Working against the backdrop of this history, feminism quite naturally saw an antidote in ending social oppression of women. Wife assault, kept largely out of the public view and tolerated by prevailing attitudes, was regarded by feminists as an evil symptom of patriarchy. † (Dutton, page 17, 2006) Feminist theory defines IPV as a social problem with a single type of victim i. e. heterosexual women and one root cause, that of male privilege and patriarchy, which supports male domination, power, and control and the oppression of women. The need for services for IPVBIP’s for female perpetrators is obscured and trivialized by this â€Å"one size fits all† view. Dutton describes feminist theory on IPV as being a â€Å"‘paradigm:†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ [A paradigm is] a set of guiding assumptions or worldview, commonly shared within a group and serving to ward off recognition of data that are dissonant with the paradigm’s central tenets. This theory views all social relations through the prism of gender relations and holds that men hold power over women in patriarchal societies and that all domestic violence is either male physical abuse to maintain that power or female defensive violence used as a self protection. (p. 2, 2005) developed through the anti-rape and battered women’s movements. This perspective has been the guiding light for how the social problem of against men by women and The violence against women by men paradigm is so entrenched that if anyone pursues any other theories or presents any data that is contrary to that perspective it is automatically considered anti-domestic violence movement. (Dutton, p. 44, 2005) Lucal (1995) found that attempts to discuss the idea of battered husbands started an emotionally charged and fiercely contested debate among researchers which has been the classic debate filled with claims and counterclaims. Much of the debate has been centered around whether or not there are very many battered husbands. Most of the debate has been about whether or not battered husbands are a social problem worthy of support. (pp. 95-96) Revealing Statistics Dr. Murray Straus, co-founder and co-director of the University of New Hampshire’s Family Violence Research Laboratory, has studied IPV and child abuse for over thirty years. In study after study he has found that both men and women are capable of being victims and committing IPV. For instance: (I? E(Busing data from the National Family Violence Survey of 1975, Straus (l980) found that 11. 6 (2. 6 million nationwide) of husbands reported having been the victim of severe violence by their wives. Severe vio1ence was defined as behaviors, such as kicking, punching, beating, or using a knife or gun, that have a high probability of causing physical injury. (as cited in Hines Malley-Morrison, p. 77, 2001) Presenting data that defies feminist logic has caused Dr. Straus and his colleague’s substantial risk. As a result of the depth of the objections to our finding on assaults by wives, some of us became the object of bitter scholarly and person attacks. These attack included obstruction of my public presentations by booing, shouting, and picketing. In elections for office in scientific societies I was labeled as antifeminist despite being a pioneer feminist researcher on wife beating (Straus, 1973, 1996 as cited in Straus, pp. 225-226, 1992). Suzanne K. Steinmetz, a co investigator in the first National Family Violence Survey, was the victim of more severe attacks. There was a letter-writing campaign opposing her promotion. There were phone calls threatening her and her family, and a bomb threat at a conference where she spoke. (pp. 225-226) Studies such as the National Violence Against Women Survey tend to filter out male reports of victimization because of the â€Å"‘set†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ of the survey (criminal victimization of women) (Dutton, p. 4, in press). However, the National Violence Against Women Survey in 2000(a) reports that more than 834,000 men are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year in the United States. This translates into about(I? E(B32 assaults per 1,000 men. (Tjaden Thoennes, p. 11) Since the respondents in this study were told they were being interviewed about â€Å"personal safety† issues it’s quite possible that this number is an underestimate as many of the men may not have perceived the violence that their wives or girlfriends were perpetrating against them as a threat to their safety. (Hines Malley-Morrison, p. 77, 2001) The Establishment of Services for Male Victims Spreading the word as news of the availability of DAHMW’s helpline became more known, calls from men and those concerned about a male relative or friend whom they thought were in an abusive situation started coming in from around the country. A website was created with information on male victimization and other resources and tri-fold brochures specifically addressing IPV against men were designed, printed and distributed through mailings and placements on community bulletin boards. Consequently, two years after its inception, DAHMWDAHMWIPV. as highlighted in the National Crime Prevention Council’s book, â€Å"50 Strategies to Prevent Violence Domestic Crimes. † (2002) as, â€Å"[one of] 50 promising programs [that offer] new and alternative methods to aid under-served victims of violent domestic crime including teens in dating relationships, elderly victims of late-life abuse, child witnesses to violence, battered immigrants, male victims, and survivors in the gay and lesbian community. You read "Domestic Violence: Beyond Patriarchy" in category "Papers" † In 2003 Verizon began to publish the crisis line in a number of their phone books. Incoming calls to helpline have grown exponentially from fourteen a month in 2001, to over three hundred calls a month in 2006. The vast majority of the calls continue to be from or about a male victim (and children) of female Information gathered from male callers to the helpline suggests that some violent women use highly physically disabling tactics on their victims. â€Å"According to qualitative accounts, several physical attacks [are] reported to have occurred to the groin area, as in the following examples: â€Å"‘G reports that his estranged wife frequently targeted his testicles in her attacks, which included head butting and choking. Police were called to his home six times, one call resulted in the wife’s arrest. â€Å"‘ â€Å"‘I was writhing, crying in the corner, I couldn’t get up for two hours she kicked me in the groin at least 12 times. â€Å"‘ â€Å"‘She held a knife to my balls and threatened to cut them off. â€Å"‘ (Hines etal, p. 66, 2007) The stigma attached to being a man abused by a woman is profound. Many men report that they were taught never to hit a girl, be strong, do not cry and do not tell your personal business to anyone from their parents and caregivers. There is also a cultural belief that men should be able to defend themselves. However, if a man does defend himself against his abusive female partner and the police are called, the man is the one that will be arrested. When Dwayne Bobbit had his penis cut off by his wife in 1993, it was a big joke for late night comedy. Lorena Bobbitt was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. The reaction would have been entirely different had the genders been reversed. (Dutton, p. 148, 2006) Law Enforcement and the Court’s Response The concerned family members and the victims themselves to the DAHMW helpline have recounted reports of the lack of concern for male victims: Misconceptions and Realities Feminists’ theorists assert that women’s violence against men is less likely than men’s violence against women to result in serious physical or psychological harm. (Dutton Nichols, p. 697, 2005) They use this claim to dismiss women’s violence against men and male victims. Women, in general, may not be as big or strong as men are, however, what women lack in size and strength they make up for with the use of weapons. Research conducted at an emergency clinic study in Ohio (Vasquez Falcone, 1997, as cited in Dutton Nichols, 2005 ) revealed that 72). The authors reported that burns obtained in intimate violence were as frequent for male victims as female victims. As this study demonstrates, community samples, unless they require subjects to self-report as crime victims, show a different and more equivalent pattern of violence by gender than that alleged by the(I? E(Bfeminist perspective(I? E(B. Regardless of the variations in the studies, two conclusions seem reasonable: (1) women are injured more than men, and (2) men are injured too, and are not immune to being seriously injured. Simply because the injury rates are lower, men should not be denied protection. (Dutton Nichols pp. 97-678, 2005) The feminist perspective of IPV being predominantly patriarchal in nature also excludes much of the victims in LGBT community. The LGBT community has had to set up their own domestic violence shelter programs that primarily or exclusively protect, educate and serve LGBT individuals who are victims of IPV. (e. g. see the www. gmdvp. org, ww w. lagaycenter. org/FamilyViolence etc ) According to Helfrich Simpson (2006) lesbians have a difficult time accessing services through the traditional battered women’s shelter programs due to the lack of policies to screen lesbian survivors and identify batterers. Lesbian batterers may use deception to access services through the same agency as the survivor and there are little to no stopgap measures taken to deal with those situations. (p. 344) Beyond Patriarchy, Alternative Theories on IPV Dutton (2006) asserts that the best predictor of intimate partner violence is not gender but personality disorder (p. 153). Since the beginning of the battered women’s movement, researchers who have studied maritally violent men have often treated batterers as a homogeneous group. They have measured violent husbands by comparing them to nonviolent ones. However, more recently they have found that violent husbands vary along a number of important dimensions, including severity of violence, anger, depression and alcohol abuse. (Holtzworth-Munroe Stuart, p. 476, 1994) More recently, researchers have begun to investigate what attachment styles and personality disorders have to do with IPV. The focus for this paper regarding typologies of batterers is on the dysphoric/borderline subtype and so a full description of each subtype of batterer is beyond this review. For more information of the various subtypes please review, Holtzworth-Munroe Stuart, 1994; Holtzworth-Munroe et al. 1997; Holtzworth-Munroe et al. , 2000; Waltz et al. , 2000; Babcock et al. , 2003; Carney Buttell, 2004) Researchers have found that batterers are more likely a heterogeneous than a homogeneous group and within that heterogeneous grouping various subtypes of batterers exist. Seminal research done by Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) studied violent men and asc ertained various typologies of male batterers. Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart categorized three major subtypes and they labeled them, family only, dysphoric/borderline, and generally violent/antisocial. (Holtworth-Munroe Stuart, p. 76-482, 1994) Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart described dysphoric/borderline batterers as those who engage in moderate to severe wife abuse as well as psychological and sexual abuse. Their violence is primarily towards the family; however, they suggested that some extra familial violence and criminal behavior may be evident. Additionally, they found that these men are the most dysphoric, psychologically distressed, and emotionally volatile and that they have evidence of borderline and schizoidal personally characteristics. The may also have problems with alcohol and drug abuse. (ibid. According to Dutton (2006), â€Å"Across several studies, implemented by independent researchers, the prevalence of personality disorder in wife assaulters has been found to be extremely high. These men are not mere products of male sex role conditioning or â€Å"‘male privilege†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ [as the feminist theory of IPV suggests]; they possess characteristics that differentiate them from the majority of men who are not repeat abusers. † (p. 185) In addition to research on subtypes of batterers, there is also evidence to suggest that early attachment has bearing on what type of person may have the propensity towards perpetrating IPV. Buttell et al (2005) states that the presence of batterer subtypes is widely accepted in the field and that findings from [their] study seem to suggest that issues of attachment and dependency may be related to the development of an abusive personality for one type of batterer. They state that if true, efforts to improve intervention may need to focus on distinguishing batterer subtypes and developing intervention strategies relevant to the need for each subtype. (p. 216) Attachment styles may be the key to unlock many doors for both female and male perpetrators of IPV. Dutton in his book, The Abusive Personality, reiterates Bowlby’s findings on attachment styles: In his landmark series of books entitled Attachment and Loss, Bowlby developed the notion that human attachment was of ultimate importance for human emotional development. In his view, it had sociobiological significance. His views encompassed the possibility of individual differences that came to be called â€Å"‘attachment styles'† referr[ing] to entire constellations of thoughts and feelings about intimacy. Reactions to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of early attempts at attachment set up life-long attachment styles described as secure, fearful, or dismissing. The dismissing people tend to be wary of and stay out of relationships. The secure ones are comfortable with closeness. The fearful ones are stuck in the middle, exhibiting ambivalence toward intimacy and to those with whom they are emotionally connected. (as cited in Dutton, p. 116, 1998) Dutton (1998) further postulates that this push-pull reaction of the fearful attachment styled person resembles the ebb and flow of what he has coined the â€Å"cyclical personality. Dutton reports that in his notes on phrases used by female victims to describe their male batterers (who were clients of Dutton’s) there was a recurring theme. They would express that their partners would act like â€Å"Jekyll and Hyde† and appear to be two different people at times. They also said things like, â€Å"He’s like living with an emotional roller-coaster,† and describe their mates as moody, irritable, jealous and changeable. (p. 53) This cycling was first recognized by Lenore Walker in her book, The Battered Women, as the â€Å"‘battering cycle. â€Å"‘ (as cited in Dutton, ibid. As Dutton set out to gain some understanding of a cyclical or phasic personality he came across a book by John G. Gunderdson entitled, Borderline Personality Disorder: Dutton’s research regarding attachment, borderline and the batterer’s cyclical personality has been focused on male on female IPV, however, in his recent book, Rethinking DV, he discusses female perpetrators: Recent research has begun to explore the role of [fearful attachment, borderline traits, and chronic trauma symptoms, which generates what Dutton calls the abusive personality] among female perpetrators of partner abuse. Follingstad, Bradley, Helff, and Laughlin (2002) generated a model for predicting dating violence in a sample of 412 college students. (as cited in Dutton, p. 201, 2006) They found that anxious attachment resulting from early life experiences led to the development of an â€Å"‘angry temperament,†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ which in turn related to attempts to control and use abuse against an intimate partner. The model predicted abusiveness for both genders (ibid. ) Other researchers have also hypothesized about subtypes of abusive males and females. For instance, Buttell et al (2005), states that researchers are beginning to explore the role of attachment theory and develop hypotheses on abusive behaviors relevant to different subtypes of abuser in order to improve intervention efforts for batterers. (p. 211) Gormley (2005) concluded that, â€Å"Insecure adult attachment orientations affect half the adult population, helping to explain the prevalence of men’s and women’s IPV. Women with insecure adult attachment orientations may be as much at risk as similar men of psychologically and physically abusing romantic partners, oing damage to relationships they may be socialize to value highly(I? E(B. † (p. 793) Female Batterers Scant research has been done on female batterers; however, due to the changes in mandatory arrest policies more women are being arrested than ever before. The debate about whether or not women perpetrate IPV has changed noticeably of late due in part to the fact that women are increasingly being arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced to intervention programs for domestic violence offenses. Women’s arrest for IPV is a direct result of legislation that has mandated the arrest of perpetrators in cases where police become involved when a domestic dispute has occurred. Warrantless arrest legislation gives police the power to arrest the abuser and press charges themselves when called to a domestic dispute. The victim no longer needs to press charges against the perpetrator. The arrest of women was certainly an unintended consequence of this legislation and has had a dramatic impact on the national debate regarding female initiated IPV. Carney Buttell, p. 249, 2004) Feminist theory of IPV has created a dilemma regarding intervention services for female batterers. At present, the most prevalent legislated BIP’s the system has set up are for dealing with batterers comes from the feminist model of IPV. Female batterers who are convicted of domestic assault and court ordered to attend a BIP have little choice but than to attend the feminist model of BIP’s wh en court ordered to do so. (Carney and Buttell, p. 50, 2004) In addition, research on these [Duluth Model] BIP’s indicate that few men who complete treatment benefit from it to the extent that they demonstrate positive changes in their behaviors. Of course, if men are not benefiting from a program that is specifically designed for patriarchal batterers then certainly abusive women will benefit even less. (ibid. ) According to Babcock Siard (2003) some of the women arrested could have been acting in self-defense and were therefore falsely arrested but others with extensive violent histories may in fact be primary aggressors. p. 153) Men who are arrested are not given the same latitude. Babcock et al. (2003) mentions that in a study of women arrested for IPV, Hamberger and Potente (1994) found women who could clearly be identified as primary aggressors of IPV, yet in the treatment setting they were generally treated the same as those women who used self defense. (as cited in B abcock Siard, p. 154). Babcock et al. (2003) proposed two categories of female batterers, those that were partner-only and those that were generally violent. The partner-only category covered women who may be more likely to use violence in self-defense and the generally violent women (of more interest for this paper) were women who used violence in any manner of situations including against their romantic partners. (pp. 153-154) Many studies on male batterer’s include reports from their female victims; however, the researchers in this study did not ask the male victims for reports of their partner’s violence. Iit is interesting to note that violent women were asked to report on their male partner’s violence against them. (p. 57) They further note that power and control seems to be an issue for some abusive women and they suggest that women’s power and control issues, traumatic histories, and psychological distress should be explored and indicate that clinicians may want to assess for psychopathology (i. e. post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, etc. ) (ibid. ) Recent studies have found that women’s and men’s violence share similar correlates (Giordano, Millhollin, Cernkovich, Pugh, Rudolph, 1999; Magdol, Moffittt, Caspi, Silva, 1998; Moffitt, Robins, Caspi, 2001 as cited in Babcock et al, p. 53, 2003) therefore, they may also share similar motivations and circumstances. Female Batterers from Victims Reports Hines et al’s (2007) research provides some insight into female batterers from their male victims. â€Å"Female abusers likely have a history of childhood trauma, may be suffering from a mental illness, and are likely to use alcohol and/or drugs. Further, these women have a high rate of threatening either suicide and/or homicide. † (p. 9) As previously stated, women have been asked to report on their male batterers and although this is not the ideal way to obtain information on batterers, feminist researchers have been gathering information in this way from battered women in shelters for years. (e. g. Walker, 2000 as cited in Hin es et al, p. 69, 2007) Conclusion Men are victims of female perpetrated IPV and need services such as shelter, legal aid, support and counseling much the same as their female counterparts. Additionally, men’s reports of victimization should not be called into question but treated with the same respect as women’s reports. Protocols should be put in place within the domestic violence shelters programs, for law enforcement and the courts that will screen out potential female and male batterers so that victims are not judged by their gender. There is a dearth of research of female batterers and what has been presented from the feminist theory suggests that violent females use violence in self-defense. As we move away from the feminist theory of IPV researchers are discovering that childhood trauma, insecure attachment styles, mental illness, and/or alcohol and substance abuse play a role in IPV for both genders. Not all male batterers fit into the feminist theory of IPV, there are subtypes of batterers and attachment style plays a role in who perpetrates IPV. The subtype that is the focus of this paper is that of the borderline, cyclical batterer. Female batterers also show symptoms of having subtypes evidenced by reports from male callers to the DAHMW. Studies are beginning to assess psychological factors that predict female intimate partner violence. What is emerging is evidence of personality disorder, attachment style, and constricted affect that has also been seen in male abusers. Female abusers share much of the same traits as male abusers especially antisocial and borderline personalities. (Dutton, p. 203, 2006) As Babcock et al. (2003) explain, â€Å"[the] feminist perspective should be holistic, examining both the positive and negative sides of women’s behavior. Bringing attention to some women being in the role of perpetrators, not solely as the victims of intimate partner abuse, involves viewing women as they are, not as we would wish them to be. † (p. 160) References About The Author How to cite Domestic Violence: Beyond Patriarchy, Papers

Computer Interface Analysis free essay sample

Introduction I have always been interested in doing some trading on-line, so I selected five on-line stockbroker companies: TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Scottrade, and ShareBuilder. The reason I chose these particular companies is because I have seen and heard the most commercials about them. These websites are geared towards individuals who wish to do their own stock research and trading. All of these companies offer similar services and features such as investment education, live seminars, mobile trading, stock and option trading, checking and debit card, and a variety of margin rates (http://www.stockbrokers.com/compare). Interactivity Financial institutions that offer on-line trading services also provide banking options such as checking and retirement accounts. These companies design websites that allow individuals to sign up for these services and can be considered as e-commerce websites. The main goal of the on-line trading websites is to get an individual to sign up for an account. The website need to be useable for the individual to be able to interact with it (Savafi, n.d.). An individual who is interested in on-line trading and visit the various websites must be able to perform certain functions on the website (e.g. navigate, fill out forms, use tools). The individual will navigate within the website to research what the on-line trading company has to offer and how it compares to other on-line trading companies by clicking on links or hyperlinked icons and using the search function. To open an account, the individual will be taken through a step-by-step process by entering personal information in form fields. Once the account has been created, then there is the process of the individual making trade transactions using the tools that the website has to offer. Site 1: https://us.etrade.com. This website offers interactive options such as the 360 Dashboard and Quick Retirement Planning tool. The 360 Dashboard provides access to and a graphical view of account details. It allows for the on-line trader to get information on the market and execute transactions from the same webpage. There is a favorites feature for ease of access to commonly performed actions. Market data is streamed real-time so that the trader has access to the most current information. The Quick Retirement Planning tool is easy to use. It encompasses four steps to where the person enters income and spending figures. It gathers and compiles the entries and creates an actions plan. At any given point, the trader can make adjustments in any step and the action plan is recalculated automatically. There are two horizontal navigation areas. The top one has little contrast, which is harder to see. Site 2: https://www.scottrade.com. This website is the only one that has a mobile trading link in its horizontal navigation menu on the main page. With more an more people using mobile devices, the location of this link is readily available instead of having to go through other pages. Scottrade labels its trader information area as Knowledge Center instead of Education. This provides a one-stop area for documentation, tools, videos, etc. The trader does not have to go through other links in the main navigation bar. There is only one navigation bar, which is easier to follow and provides the trader with further selection by using hovering drop down menus. Site 3: http://www.sharebuilder.com/sharebuilder/default.aspx. This website offers a simple design and does not have the extra bells and whistles like the other websites. The navigation bars are a bit twitchy. The hover option of the top bar cause the lower navigation bar to change as its submenu so it is easy to lose focus and forget where you are in the navigation bar. The pages are not cluttered and logically arranged so you do not have to weed through information or links that are not relevant. You do lose the main navigation bars when entering the Knowledge Center under the Education area. It also provides a Get Quote option that is available at the bottom of the page that you can show or hide. Site 4: https://www.tdameritrade.com. This website requires a lot of scrolling in its pages, which tends to requires you to spend more time looking for information. The links in the navigation bars do not offer hover or drop-down menus like the other websites. In the education area, it allows you to select your expertise level hence providing a more customized experience. It provides different media to choose from such as video, courses, and webcasts. It uses Application Programming Interface, which provides a more seamless user experience. It does not require you to download interface software and is designed to work with existing software. The Thinkorswim interface offers features that the others do not such as virtual practice training. Site 5: https://www.schwab.com. This website is probably the least user friendly of the websites. The arrangement of information does not flow well because it concentrates on general statements that do not provide a value-added user interaction. Again, it is a hunt and peck environment. This is the only website that does not offer an Education or Knowledge Center link on its main page. The Streetsmart Edge is available in client-based or cloud-based trading platforms, but only works in Internet Explorer. For Mac users, you have to download an emulator for the client-based platform and Citrix if you want to use the cloud-based platform. I have dealt with Citrix and it introduces another piece of technology to go wrong. Cognitive Factors The on-line trading website provides information to the current or prospective on-line trader to allow understanding of how on-line trading works. The information explains common terminology, transaction process, timing, and monitoring. Links to educational videos, tutorials, how-to guides, and help areas provide such information. The information must come at the right time and location. The on-line trading websites provide this, but at different degrees depending on the target audience; novice versus expert. At any rate, the first impression is based upon the on-line trader’s perception of the website’s look and feel. The user will take this into account by observing and experiencing website content such as arrangement, color, sounds (e.g. person’s voice, music), font, moving graphics, manipulation, and response (Rogers, n.d.). Out of all of the websites, E*TRADE caught and kept my attention since it had a bold color palette and simple, but attractive icons that make sense. Green is a symbol of money and purple is a symbol of royalty. With that combination, it is appropriate for an on-line trading website. The font type and size is easy to read. There is enough contrast without being distracting. Important informational links are the focus of the navigation bars. Even though the Charles Schwab website gained my attention, but in a negative way. All I wanted to do was leave the website and I had no desire to stay. The different sizes of boxes and fonts were distracting and I did not know where the hyperlinks were going to take me. When it comes to memory, Scottrade had the edge. It had the most consistent looking pages and the navigation bar never changed. This kept the focus on the body of the page. The Open an Account button was strategically positioned in the same area of each page. Even though the coloring was monochromatic for the most part, at least it did not have colors that distracted from the purpose of each page. I will got back to Charles Schwab as being the least effective when it comes to a design that uses hyperlinked boxes and each page I went to did not keep with the same format or flow as the others. Mental Models The mental models derived from the on-line trading websites will depend on the goals and motivations of the on-line trader. Previous experience, personality, education, and cultural background are major factors, which will influence the on-line trader’s mental model (Stockbee, 2007). On-line trading requires taking varying levels of risk. It is geared for do-it-yourselfers. Because on-line traders do come from all walks of life, mental models will vary. Lawyers will have a different mental model towards on-line trading versus a certified public accountant versus a small business owner. Most on-line traders will have had experience with some sort of banking institution’s website. Like these, there are certain standards features you find (Stock, n.d.). The ShareBuilder website definitely provides a mental model for the beginner. The website and its webpages are not filled with extra information that the beginner may not want or need. Its design is geared towards making the user feel that trading does not have to be a complicated process and can be managed like other financial accounts such as a checking account. The user does not have to have a degree to learn how to invest or trade. TD Ameritrade also has the novice in mind, but uses a tool to tailor the experience. Both websites do not make assumptions and provide the necessary information for what a beginner may expect. Scottrade and Charles Schwab websites are designed for a more experienced user. Users with more familiarity with on-line trading would be better able to navigate the information. The main pages do not focus on new traders since the links do not readily highlight the beginner user experience. Charles Schwab especially uses terminology that may not be recognizable to the beginner and would need further explanation. Universal Design Principle s Universal design is more prevalent in professional websites, specifically on-line trading websites. It keeps the focus of the on-line trader by using consistency of color, font, size, and arrangement. They all had menus bars that stayed in the same location no matter what page you were on. Clean pages and clutter pages existed amongst the on-line trading websites. Color and font type were the same, but arrangement varied. Pleasant colors were used, but contrast was lacking in some. In this case, I noticed most of the on-line trading websites used colors from one end of the spectrum, such as blue, green and purple. Consistency invokes familiarity (Akoumianaki Stephanidi, n.d.). There are universal design principles in all of the websites. Common areas of purpose, education, retirement, tools and platforms, and product information are available in the main navigation bars. The steps to opening an account require the same basic information and have a search function. The retirement tools have similar functions to give a graphical display of where you are at now, where you will be at the time of retirement, and the course of action. Site 1: https://us.etrade.com. Simple and Intuitive Use It was easy to get from one page to another. None of the websites needed internet browser plug-ins. Low Physical Effort The pages anchored the user and allows user to be able to maintain focus on the activities of each page. Size and Space for Approach and Use The display of content was consistent with different browsers. Site 2: https://www.scottrade.com. Equitable Use – It offers a text resize that allows users to adjust the text smaller or larger which displays more or less on a page. Simple and Intuitive Use It was easy to get from one page to another. None of the websites needed internet browser plug-ins Size and Space for Approach and Use – On the main page, it has a view or hide content option, which allows the user to chose how much content is displayed. Site 3: http://www.sharebuilder.com/sharebuilder/default.aspx. Equitable Use – It lacks the accessibility factor of being able to roll over links and getting a pop-up that explains what the link is. This is especially necessary for people who are visually impaired and use tools to have the text read out load. Perceptible Information – It has good use of proximity, which made it easy to separate the content and what goes where. Size and Space for Approach and Use The display of content makes good use of white space by not over-cluttering with unimportant content. Site 4: https://www.tdameritrade.com. Equitable Use – There were bubbles that popped up when hovering over the majority of links. This is conducive to text-to-speech utilities for the visually impaired. Perceptible Information – Boxes normally imply links, but in this case of the main page, it is not. The use of pictorial representations of different races of people implies anyone can do on-line investing. Size and Space for Approach and Use – The main goal of any on-line trading website is to get someone to open an account. These links were not predominant. Site 5: https://www.schwab.com. Equitable Use – It lacks the accessibility factor of being able to roll over links and getting a pop-up that explains what the link is. This is especially necessary for people who are visually impaired and use tools to have the text read out load. Simple and Intuitive Use – It offered rollover drop down menus for filtering. Perceptible Information – It lacked visual hierarchy, so it was hard to tell what content was most important. Size and Space for Approach and Use The display of content was not proportioned and lacked good use of white space. Learnability and Effectiveness The on-line websites provided learnability and effectiveness. The on-line trader gets an idea of what on-line trading entails, how it is accomplished, and what are the end results. Since the page formats have a familiar look and feel, it helps the on-line trader remember where different content is located. The content is arranged so the on-line trader will not get lost in navigation and be able to retrieve help content in relevant areas. The websites did not overly complicate the content. The search and help areas are natural to use and allows on-line traders make educated decisions (Web, n.d.). As with other areas, ShareBuilder is more basic than the others, so there is less content to review and learn. It does not have an excessive amount of terminology where you need to go somewhere else to figure out what it means. It lets you jump right in with the least effort. Its interface is easy to understand and can be used by individuals with any level of expertise. The content arrangement is easily followed. E*TRADE is the most effective website since it has a good balance of content for beginners and experts. On the main page, you can select right away where you want to go in regards to your level of comfort. There is not too much or too little information and the categories are logically placed on the individual pages. The main page contains the essential content for a starting point. Conclusion My initial review of the on-line trading websites is they all provide very similar content, which is easy to navigate and understand. The main differences are color palette, use of menu bars, and arrangement. The content was grouped into main categories such as education, product information, retirement planning, service, tools, and pricing. While E*TRADE provided the best eye candy with a clean look, Charles Schwab presents pages that have various sizes of fonts which distracts from the more important focus of learning what the purpose is and unnecessary content not really needed to open an account or finding out more specific trading details that should be left after the account is created.