As English Short Stories Summary

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS AS LITERATURE IN ENGLISH: SYLLABUS 9695 NOTES FOR TEACHERS ON STORIES SET FOR STUDY FROM STORIES OF OURSELVES: THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES IN ENGLISH FOR EXAMINATION IN JUNE AND NOVEMBER 2010, 2011 AND 2012 CONTENTS Introduction: How to use these notes 1. The Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allen Poe 2. The Open BoatStephen Crane 3. The Door in the WallHG Wells 4. The People BeforeMaurice Shadbolt 5. A Horse and Two GoatsRK Narayan 6. JourneyPatricia Grace 7. To Da-Duh, In MemoriamPaule Marshall 8. Of White Hairs and CricketRohinton Mistry 9. SandpiperAhdaf Soueif 10. TyresAdam Thorpe These notes are intended to give some background information on each author and/or story as an aid to further research and to stimulate discussion in the classroom. They are intended only as a starting point and are no substitute for the teacher’s and student’s own study and exploration of the texts. Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849) The Fall of the House of Usher This is one of the most famous gothic stories from one of the masters of the enre and contains many of the traditional elements of the genre, including horror, death, medievalism, an ancient building and signs of great psychological disturbance. The mood of oppressive melancholy is established at the opening of the story and here readers may note an acknowledgement of the appeal of gothic fiction: while there is fear and horror, the shudder is ‘thrilling’ and the ‘sentime nt’ is ‘half-pleasurable’. At the centre of the story are mysteries, about the psychological state of Usher himself and about his sister’s illness and death. The story only offers hints and suggestions; there is an ‘oppressive secret’, while the sister, buried in a strangely secure vault, returns as if risen from the dead to claim her brother. In archetypal gothic fashion, a raging storm of extreme violence mirrors the destruction of the family and its ancestral home. Horror stories and horror films continue to have wide popular appeal and it is worth considering why this is so, and in what ways this story fulfils the appeal of the horror story. Why are Usher’s and his sister’s maladies never identified? What does Madeline’s escape from the vault suggest? Wider reading Other gothic tales by Poe include The Masque of the Red Death, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill Compare with The Door in the Wall by HG Wells The Hollow of the Three Hills by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Online Biographical material and a searchable list of works can be found at: http://www. online-literature. com/poe/ Stephen Crane (1871-1900) The Open Boat This story is based on Crane’s own experience, when as a war correspondent, the boat he was travelling on to Cuba sank. He and others spent a number of days drifting in a small boat before reaching land. The story explores the fortitude of men in a shared plight and their companionship in the face of danger. The narrative style is factual and plain, perhaps mirroring the honest practicality of the men in the boat whose story is being narrated. It engenders an admiration of the skilled seamanship and calm demonstrated by the seamen. The drama in the story comes from the waves; the seamen converse, swap roles and encourage each other under the guidance of the captain. When they eventually reach shore, death comes to one of them, who is ‘randomly’ chosen. Without obviously aiming for pathos, Crane achieves it with the oiler’s death. The story, like the seamen, betrays ‘no hurried words, no pallor, no plain agitation’, but achieves a real sense of loss at its conclusion. Wider reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane Typhoon by Joseph Conrad Compare with The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe How it Happened by Arthur Conan Doyle Real Time by Amit Chaudhuri Online Biographical material and a searchable list of works can be found at: http://www. nline-literature. com/crane/ HG Wells (1866-1946) The Door in the Wall As well as famous novels such as The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, HG Wells wrote numerous short stories, many of which show the author’s interest in fantasy and the improbable, but a feature of the stories is the way in which Wells creates a sense of truthfulness in his narratives. This was demonstrated when a radio broadcast of an adaptation of The War of the Worlds in 1938 caused panic in New York, and can also be seen in the narrator’s concern with the truth of the story at the beginning of The Door in the Wall. Here the narrator is retelling the story of someone else, who in turn tells it to him with ‘such direct simplicity of conviction’. This creates a tension which remains throughout the story, which on the one hand is ‘frankly incredible’ while we are assured that ‘it was a true story’. The temporary childhood escape into the paradisiacal garden is evoked with nostalgic longing, but remains inexplicable. The character’s final death leaves questions for the reader; it is either another inexplicable event, or some kind of solution to the mystery. Wider reading Try either of the novels listed above, or other short stories by Wells, such as The Country of the Blind or The Diamond Maker. Compare with The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe The Signalman by Charles Dickens The Moving Finger by Edith Wharton Online Wells’ biography and a searchable list of works can be found at: http://www. online-literature. com/wellshg/ An account of the New York panic can be found at: http://history1900s. about. com/od/1930s/a/warofworlds. htm Maurice Shadbolt (1932-1985) The People Before Maurice Shadbolt is one of the towering figures of New Zealand literature, winning numerous awards and accolades for his work, much of which examines the history of the country through narrative. The central characters in this story are carving out a farming existence on the land, and the importance of land ownership to the family is made apparent in a number of phrases in the story. The narrator tells us that ‘my father took on that farm’, he refers to the importance of ‘Land of your own,’ which becomes ‘your own little kingdom’. The suggestions of the history of the land come through the discovery of the greenstone adzes and attitudes to the land are brought to the fore with the visit of the Maori group. Although Shadbolt characterises Tom Taikaka as pleasant, courteous and patient, there is the constant underlying acknowledgement of the Europeans’ displacing of the Maori from their land. Jim’s attempt at restoring the greenstone to Tom is symbolic of an attempt at restitution, and the reader is left to interpret Tom’s reluctant refusal. The return of the Maori elder to the land in death, and his disappearance, is another indication of his unity with the landscape and again demonstrates the different attitudes to land held by the Maoris and the Europeans, attitudes which remain polarised in the brothers at the end of the story. Wider reading Strangers and Journeys or The Lovelock Version by Maurice Shadbolt Playing Waterloo by Peter Hawes Compare with Journey by Patricia Grace Her First Ball by Katherine Mansfield The Enemy by VS Naipaul Online Biographical information and a critical review of Shadbolt’s work is available at: http://www. ookcouncil. org. nz/writers/shadboltm. html This newspaper obituary is also interesting: http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article497710. ece RK Narayan (1906-2001) A Horse and Two Goats Narayan has written numerous novels and short stories, many of them set in Malgudi, a fictional but typical small Indian town. His characters are invariably ordinary peopl e finding their route through Indian life. Although A Horse and Two Goats makes no reference to Malgudi itself, it is typical of these stories, as Muni tries to live and ease the burden of his poverty. The story is narrated with the non-judgemental understanding and gentle humour typical of Narayan’s writing. The narration emphasises the insignificance of the village, and by implication the insignificance of its central character, who is coping with poverty and domestic struggle and seeks to ease his way by deceit and invention. The big deceit of the story, though, happens through misunderstanding and without Muni’s volition, Narayan creating comedy through the two parallel lines of attempted dialogue between Muni and the American tourist. Within the comedy, though, Narayan shows the different values of the two, the American’s dialogue concerned with acquisition and possessions, while Muni is concerned with history and spirituality. Wider reading The Guide (novel) and Malgudi Days (short stories) by RK Narayan Kanthapura by Raja Rao Compare with Games at Twilight by Anita Desai Of White Hairs and Cricket by Rohinton Mistry Online Information about RK Narayan is available at: http://www. eng. fju. edu. tw/worldlit/india/narayan. html Patricia Grace (1937-) Journey Patricia Grace’s first novel, Mutuwhenua, was significant in being the first novel published by a woman Maori writer, and she has become an important figure in Maori writing in English in New Zealand. Journey shows her interest in the Maoris’ traditional claims on land. The rather dislocated narrative, with limited punctuation and no speech markings, creates the effect of creating the old man’s perspective, although the narrative is written in the third person. This old man’s perspective, with its old Maori wisdom, is shown to be out of balance with ‘these young people’, the ‘cars and railways’, the new housing and the growth of the city. His journey into the city makes him feel more and more alienated, and this is accentuated when the narrative is interspersed with the interview dialogue. The official and the old man cannot make each other understand. There is no comprehension on either side of the other’s view of how land should be used, and the story ends with frustration, violence and disillusion. In this story, Grace suggests that traditional Maori governance of land has no place in modern government and planning. Wider reading Mutuwhenua (novel) or The Dream Sleepers and Other Stories (short stories) by Patricia Grace Playing Waterloo by Peter Hawes The Bone People by Keri Hulme Compare with The People Before by Maurice Shadbolt To Da-duh, In Memoriam by Paule Marshall Online Biographical and other information about Patricia Grace is available at: http://www. artsfoundation. org. nz/patricia. html Paule Marshall (1929-) To Da-Duh, In Memoriam The narrator in this story remembers her visit from New York to her mother’s home country, which to her is the ‘alien sight and sounds of Barbados’. The story hinges on the relationship formed between the young girl and her grandmother, Da-duh of the title. While the Caribbean is unfamiliar to the young girl, who sees it as ‘some dangerous place’, Da-duh wants to show off its qualities, and a competition is established between the girl and the grandmother, between youth and age, between modernity and tradition and between New York and Barbados, which culminates in the girl’s assertion of the height of the Empire State Building, which dwarfs all that Da-duh shows her. The young girl’s triumph, however, is tempered at the end of the story by ‘the shadow’ of Da-duh’s death. Wider reading This story is taken from Merle and Other Stories by Paule Marshall. Compare with Journey by Patricia Grace Online Information about Paule Marshall is available at: http://www. answers. com/topic/paule_marshall Rohinton Mistry (1952-) Of White Hairs and Cricket This story’s concern with age and mortality is reflected in the structure, beginning with the removal of the narrator’s father’s white hairs and moving to what seems to be his friend’s father’s terminal illness. In the space of the story the narrator has his own recognition of mortality and emerges from boyhood into the adult world. He moves from considering distasteful his task of removing his father’s white hairs to a full awareness of the process of ageing which he ‘is powerless to stop’. There are other signs of this process throughout the story: the loss of the childhood cricket matches, the increasing frailty of Mamaiji, the father’s vain hope of a new job. It is the encounter with the friend Viraf, Dr Sidhwa and the glimpse of Viraf’s father which gives the narrator his epiphanic moment. Wider reading This story is taken from the collection Swimming Lessons and Other Stories. You could also try the novel Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry. Malgudi Days by RK Narayan The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Compare with A Horse and Two Goats by RK Narayan To Da-duh, In Memoriam by Paule Marshall The Enemy by VS Naipaul Games at Twilight by Anita Desai Online Biographical material is available at: http://www. contemporarywriters. com/authors/? p=auth73 Ahdaf Soueif (1950-) Sandpiper The narrator in this story is unwilling to disturb even ‘one grain of sand’, and this reflects her passivity as her relationship with her husband breaks down under cultural pressures. The relationship with him is carefully charted, almost historically, but it is significant that he is never named, and a sense of loss grows at the centre of the narrative. The narrative structure includes disconcerting juxtapositions between memory and the present to show the narrator’s sate of mind. The narrative describes a love between the two formed elsewhere; it is the return to the husband’s country which creates the cultural and family pressures on the relationship, including the loss of female independence, work and identity, which cause the couple to drift apart. Such concerns of conflicting cultural pressures are perhaps a natural concern of an author born and educated in Egypt, before continuing education in England. She now divides her time between Cairo and London. Wider reading This story is taken from a collection of short stories by Ahdaf Soueif, also called Sandpiper. The Map of Love is a novel which deals with a love affair between an Egyptian and an English woman. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Compare with To Da-duh, In Memoriam by Paule Marshall The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Five-Twenty by Patrick White Online Biographical information about Ahdaf Soueif is available at: http://www. contemporarywriters. com/authors/? p=auth227 Adam Thorpe (1956-) Tyres The narrative of Tyres is set against the tension of German-occupied France during the Second World War, where relationships are strained, little can be openly communicated and suspicion is rife. The brutality of war suddenly intervenes in the middle of the story with the killing of the suspected members of the French Resistance movement (the Maquis) and the villagers forced to view the bodies, their ‘guts†¦literally looped and dripping almost to the floor’, before the hanging of the ringleader from the village bridge. Set against this is the gradually developing love affair between the young lad learning to maintain vehicles in his father’s garage and the girl who cycles past each day. The young man’s narration leads the reader gradually to his final act of involvement with the resistance against the Germans and its effects; ill-luck seems to be the cause of guilt, and the final revelation of the age of the narrator shows how long that guilt and fidelity has lasted. In this story, Thorpe sets ordinariness – working on cars, changing tyres, a developing relationship – against extraordinariness – the Second World War and German occupation – to create a small poignant story of war. Wider reading This story comes from Adam Thorpe’s short story collection Shifts. His novel Ulverton is a collection of very different narratives which piece together the long history of an English village. Compare with To Da-duh, In Memoriam By Paule Marshall The Moving Finger by Edith Wharton The Taste of Watermelon by Borden Deal Online Biographical information and a review of Adam Thorpe’s work is available at: http://www. contemporarywriters. com/authors/? p=auth95

Scm and Erp Software Implementation at Nike †from Failure to Success

Introduction: Nike was founded under the name Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964. In 1972 the first pair of sports shoes was sold and experienced enormous growth and achieved a 50% market share within the sports shoe market in the US only eight years later. After sluggish focus and growth in the 1980ies, Nike experienced strong growth in the 1990ies and cemented the position as global recognizable brand. The increased international focus created strains on the supply chain, which was consider inadequate to cater efficiently to the organization and the rapid changes consumer demands .As a consequence of the afore mentioned supply chain problem Nike faced inefficient inventory management, problems in flow of goods and poor demand forecasting capabilities. In addition Nike was facing though competition in Asia, which as a region performed worse than expected. Given this it is clear that both external, internal and situational factors were the catalysts behind the Organizational Buying Behavior (OBB) of Nike catalyzing the mammoth project of implementing global supply chain management (SCM) software and an integrated ERP system.Question 1: What are the failure factors for the first NIKE-i2 ERP-SCM implementation? Using conventional project management measurements it is clear the implementation of i2 was a colossal failure . I analyze the failure using a combination for factors from the OBB and analysis based on the five phase implementation framework. Nike states a clear vision of what they want to achieve with the i2 implementation: â€Å"Achieving greater flexibility in planning execution and delivery processes†¦.. ooking for better forecasting and more profitable order fulfillment† . However, I believe Nike overall underestimated the SCM project as I see some indications that the main focus and resources were on the general ERP framework and implementation of the Single Instance Strategy (SIS). As a consequence the project management turned out to be weak. T he lack of prioritization of the SCM project is also visible in the lack of external consultancy services obtained.Both project management and appropriate usage of external consultants are evaluated as key critical success factors for successful implementation of large scale IT projects. (Appendix 3) So I see the project being initiated on the wrong foot, but would consider phase 2, 3 and 4 as the phases where the project fell apart. I strongly believe external consultants with expertise knowledge would have challenged a number of the technical issue and decisions made by the project management. The implementation of i2 on the legacy system is such example.SIS required a large degree of integration and data migrations, so deploying the SCM software on the legacy system instead of as part of the SAP ERP is a strategic mistake. This specific decision later proves unwise when Nike begins to experience large problems in data integration as formats and outline of i2 didn’t match t he other systems. Also in the data specification and parameterization external experts would have stepped in and limited the vast number of customization enquiries from Nike.I believe this specific problem has its roots in the inadequate blueprinting of Nike. The missing blueprinting –the realignment of the long term business strategy with capabilities of the software – is not uncommon as it is estimated that 51 percent of failing IT projects, fail due to lack of understanding between IT and business departments† I believe there is evidence of that happening in this case as well. The fundamental idea behind the SCM software in terms of demand planning did not fit well with the business strategy of Nike.Nike used a bottom-up demand process where the retailers committed to an order in advance before manufacturing. With i2 Nike changed this core process as the demand now was forecasted using a top-down approach. The combination of the changed process and lack of pro per data integration lead to duplicated orders and overproduction. As the original i2 software did not support the many SKUs of Nike, heavy customization was required, which in turn diluted the quality of the software as the specifications were unclear.McAfee of Harvard Business School has said: â€Å"What Nike and i2 Technologies Inc. began experiencing the problem actually is not the software itself†¦ The culprit there was misspecification† Further on the subject of customization, Nike had great difficulties balancing customization with speed-to-market. I believe the external factors of significant competition, changing market place and resulting disappointing financial performance in growth markets lead Nike to rush the implementation and interfered with normal OBB.The rushing meant that a guideline, templates and implementation methodology was discarded by Nike with the argument that the i2 provided material was too rigid. In general I would argue that Nike required technology that was not sufficiently available at the time. This pushed i2 to enter unknown software-territory and program-to-order disabling sufficient time for vendor/developer testing. The criticality of this was further boosted due to lack of testing from Nike, which clearly illustrates faults in phase 4 of the implementation as well. (Appendix 3)Lastly, I find evidence that a global ERP and SCM software potentially would be difficult to manage successfully at the time due to the structural issue of underdeveloped bandwidth infrastructure , which could indicate Nike required a technical solution which was not complete available in 1999. As the SCM software required a big-bang implementation , the mistakes mentioned above considerably increased the risk of failure. So due to urgency Nike selected to implement a highly customized solution discarding advice from the vendor, avoiding third party/external consultations, neglecting testing and proper training of end-users.As Steel say s â€Å"Could we have taken more time with the roll-out? Properly. Could we have done a better job with software quality? Sure. Could the planners have been better prepared to use the system be it went live? You can never train enough! † Question 2: How do you evaluate the role of i2 in this process? In believe both companies are to be blamed for the failed implementation. Looking isolated at i2’s role, I believe both tactical and strategic mistakes were made. As a vendor i2 had a responsibility to work together with Nike to create a common understanding of the capability of the software and the business management impact.If the client was not adequately knowledgeable about the product delivered i2 should have made a point of this in the RFP, by stating that a certain level of technical knowhow and expertise was expected and required from the client as well, to secure a smooth implementation. Such point – or clause – would have created the necessary aware ness at Nike and would have secured the necessary focus from Nike before engaging in the implementation. We learn from the case that Nike when they started working together with i2 already had tried several other solutions without being successful, which further underlines my point.Philip Kotler describes a common pitfall in B2B transactions as the B2B market is dominated by fewer buyers than on the consumer market, which can provide an undesired purchasing power to large corporations. In addition Nike was on the forefront of the technology required, which eventually meant i2 was pressured to provide significant more customization to the software. The fact that the customization widely exceeded the 10-15% maximum customization recommendation from i2 illustrates the negotiation and purchasing power Nike had over i2.I sincerely believe it was a tactical mistake from i2 to allow to the large degree of customization. i2 added further to the tactical mistakes by not highlighting potentia l issues with running the i2 on the legacy system hindering data integration effectually diminishing the usability – and in turn satisfaction – of the software. During the implementation phase i2 made another tactical mistake by not being close enough to Nike and co-manage the process or the rollout. To rollout without proper/any testing and training was a huge mistake committed by Nike, but i2 should have intervened.I believe project management on both sides was weak, which allowed for these mistakes caused by poor communication and lack of managing expectations. Unfortunately for i2 the number of tactical mistake converted in a strategic issue damaging the reputation of i2, when Nike publically assigned the blame of the failure to them. i2 had in the cooperation with Nike a unique opportunity to position itself as a world leading SCM software vendor as the project was groundbreaking in terms of size and complexity.However, instead of gaining this competitive advantag e the failed implementation, the public statements by Nike and the following class-action lawsuits from the Nike shareholders labeled i2 as incompetent. i2 severely miscalculated the tactical benefits of pleasing the client versus the strategic gains of completing the project successfully. I believe i2 was too focused on the short-term completion, which made them cut corners and discard own recommendations in order not to have a conflict with the client.Overall, I find it unfair to blame i2 entirely. After all, the vendor selection is always the responsibility of the buyer and proper evaluation and testing of the product for its functionality would have averted this kind of failure. â€Å"Implementing a supply-chain management solution is like crossing the street; High risk if you don't look both ways, but low risk if you do. † Question 3: Nike was one of the first companies to start using the SAP module Apparel and Footwear Solution (AFS). From NIKE viewpoint, do you think t hat is a good strategy?In my opinion Nike took a chance when start using AFS. Being one of the first users of the AFS software, could potentially have been a risky endeavor as software in the initial stages can be prone to bugs and other dis-functionalities. However, Nike implemented the AFS to perfection, which meant that the risk was very well handled. Especially the meticulous testing, seeking external consultancy service and skeleton roll-out stands out as key steps for the success of this specific project.To analyze if it was a good strategy we need to analyze Nike’s financial performance against the main competition . The aim is to analyze if Nike after the implementation of AFS was performing more efficiently – measured on key financial parameters – hence creating a competitive advantage. I find clear evidence that is the case. I believe Nike created a competitive advantage by being a first-mover in the usage of AFS. Nike had the key objective to manage a nd turn the inventory faster and more efficiently. In my research I find that in addition to turning the inventory 4. times versus 3. 5 of the competition, Nike has significant less cash tied up in inventory – $2. 7bln versus $3. 4bln – which is remarkable as Nike produces a larger revenue than Adidas. A final point showing great operational efficient at Nike, is the ability to create a cash flow from these activities, where Nike in 2011 generated $1. 8bln in cash versus the competitors $1. 6bln. The competitor’s gross profit margin only exceeds Nike’s in 2011 after Nike has clearly outperformed on this factor as well throughout the time period being analyzed.It could be an indication that the competitors are closing in on Nike’s competitive advantage in the areas of software implementation. I believe it was a good strategic decision to be an AFS first-mover. Nike handled the implementation very well and thereby managed to balance the risk and rewa rd to the benefit of Nike against the competition. We see that Nike has outperformed Adidas in terms of gross profit margin continuously with exception of the last year in the analysis. I argue that the outperformance is based on primarily the relative efficiency of the supply chain.The main indication of Nike’s superior supply chain is the inventory and inventory turn rate. We see below that Adidas has significantly higher holding of inventory relative to Nike and that Nike turns its inventory faster. In more efficient supply chain and hence business operation is reflected in the ability to generate cash from the operating activities. Nike evidently creates a larger cash flow than Adidas. The financial markets also recognize Nike’s competitive advantage as the stock shows a significant better performance than Adidas. (+171% vs. +86%, 2007-)

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Robert Rays The Thematic Paradigm (from his book A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema) - Essay Example The traits that Ferris is seen to depict are that of a hero who is not that much respectable. Even though Ray tries to be critic of the American people for being obsessed and liking Ferris, it is clear that Ferris is a true hero. One of the claims that Ray makes is that there are some American heroes such as George Washington who are revered in the American culture. George Washington is depicted as the a hero who has official traits. â€Å"The outlaw hero is someone like Davy Crockett† (Ray 279). The outlaw is seen as a reckless hero. The outlaw hero is depicted by Ferris Buleller. Ferris is a person that offers the kind of adventure that each person who was in high school once had. The depiction is a person with an attitude that is carefree and a person who has a pure sense of adventure. â€Å"Ferris is seen a someone who has values that are embodied in self determination and values that make someone to be free from entanglements† (Ray 279). The character goes out to do what is most desirable and yet is seen as someone who ha less care of the consequences of the actions that he takes. The fact that he takes a cut out of school and take a day in the city is enough to depict the character as an outlaw. He tries to avoid trouble by not meeting with any authoritative figure. The fact that Ferris gets stuck and sneaks behind his father is one trait that makes him be depicted as someone who could have lost the angelic image in an indefinite manner. From Ray’s perspe ctive, there are some traits that American people favour. One of the traits that American people favour is age. Ray can be seen as someone who sees Americans as people who sway towards the stance of younger individuals. The is something that is much attractive when it comes to the picture of childishness outlaw (Ray 279. A good be example will be in a film that is country old western which will equate

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The Truth About Charlie (2002) - Movie Review Example What was more disturbing to her is the discovery of the idea that her husband had several identities, which made it more difficult to find out what had happened to her husband while she was away. She found several passports that belonged to her husband but with different identities. There was also missing $6 million. The police seemed convinced that Regina was involved in her husband’s murder but she was later notified that Charlie was a secret agent and was involved in many shady operations involving some dangerous people including Lola Jansco and Emil Zadapec. These individuals followed Regina to Paris believing that she knew where Charlie hid the money. This leads to the change in Regina’s life as it changes for the worse becoming dangerous. Joshua, an American that Regina met while she was at her vacation also arrived in Paris and seemed determined to help her solve the mystery. The editing of the film was done very well and the music has been integrated well in the film. The music can be said to be intense and varying but analytical. The sound effects offered all the information required according to different scenes and determined the

Relating the social exchange theory to increasing divorce rates Essay

Relating the social exchange theory to increasing divorce rates - Essay Example These figures show that this phenomenon is almost universal. While trying to understand the increasing divorce rates based on social exchange theory, the analysis has to consider as its variables, cost, benefit, outcome, comparison level, satisfaction, and dependence inside the institution of marriage (Clarke-Stewart and Brentano, 20-21). This has to be so because these are the yardsticks to measure change or stability in a system, as prescribed by the social exchange theory. The theory suggests that after marriage, â€Å"people evaluate their relationship in terms of costs and benefits† (Clarke-Stewart and Brentano, 20). And the survival of the marriage is ensured only when the costs like additional work, additional responsibilities, sharing of personal things etc. are balanced by the benefits that include â€Å"love, support, companionship, emotional security, social status and connections, and sexual relations, as well as property, financial resources and assistance with d aily tasks† (Clarke-Stewart and Brentano, 20). ... So, according to social exchange theory, if alternative attractions and resources are stronger as compared to the rewards, divorce happens. In general, social exchange theory presupposes that â€Å"all interpersonal behavior including dating, marriage and family relationships, is assumed to involve a process of negotiation and bargaining (Baker, 78). Usually from a social scientist’s common perspective, the reasons for divorce can be â€Å"delays in age at first marriage, rising non-marital cohabitation, and increases in non-marital births† and also â€Å"women’s growing education and economic independence, a decline in religious influence, an increase in individualism, and a corresponding decline in communalism (Lamb, 196). The risk factors that bring about a divorce as identified by researchers also constitute a very long list (qtd. In Lamb, 197). This list includes, factors like: Marrying a teenager, being poor, having a low level of education, having no chi ldren from the marriage, bringing children from a previous union into the marriage, being in a second or higher order marriage, cohabiting prior to marriage, having no religious affiliation, not sharing the same religion with one’s spouse, living in an urban area, and growing up in a household without two continuously married parents (Lamb, 197-198). Other findings of social science research in this regard have suggested that education has a positive association with the risk of divorce (qtd. by Lamb, 198). Many more immediate causative factors of divorce have been identified as well. These comprise of â€Å"frequent arguments, repeated expressions of negative affect, domestic

Proving God's Existence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proving God's Existence - Essay Example Yet, mathematicians admit that the presence of a concretely unlimited quantity of things results in self-negations (Craig & Sinnott-Armstrong 2004). For instance, what is perpetuity minus perpetuity? A mathematician will surely provide self-negating answers. For instance, if you deduct all the odd digits from all the natural digits, how many digits remain? The answer is an infinite digit. Thus perpetuity minus perpetuity is perpetuity. However, assume you deduct all the digits higher than 2. How many remain? The answer is 3. It has to be realized that in these two instances we have deducted similar numbers from similar numbers and end up with negating results (Craig & Sinnott-Armstrong 2004). In reality, according to Hoffman and Geisler (2006), one can obtain any result s/he likes from zero to infinity. This means that perpetuity is only a notion in an individual’s thoughts, not something that actually exists. David Hilbert, possibly the best mathematician of the previous era, claims, â€Å"The infinite is nowhere to be found in reality. It neither exists in nature nor provides a legitimate basis for rational thought†¦ the role that remains for the infinite to play is solely that of an idea† (Craig et al. 2003, 19). ... The astronomical proofs suggest that the universe was brought about by a massive explosion, approximately 15 billion years ago, referred to as the ‘Big Bang’. Actual spatial and temporal contexts resulted from that occurrence, and the energy and matter in the universe. Hence, as argued by Cambridge scientist Fred Hoyle, the Big Bang premise entails the conception of the universe from nothing (Craig & Sinnott-Armstrong 2004). In Hoyle’s explanation, this is due to the fact that as one regresses, one arrives at a time at which the universe was â€Å"shrunk down to nothing at all† (Craig & Sinnott-Armstrong 2004, 4). Therefore, what the theory of Big Bang implies is that the universe was formed out of nothing. At this point, from the fundamental premise of the argument, as the origin of space and time, this mystical beginning should be an immaterial, ageless, eternal, and uncaused entity which formed the universe. It should be uncaused since we have determined that there cannot be a perpetual relapse of causes. It should be eternal and hence undying because it created temporal contexts. Since it created spatial contexts as well, it should go beyond space as well and hence be ethereal, not material or physical (Hoffman & Geisler 2006). Basically, it seems that there is a credible explanation for the existence of God based upon the beginning of the universe. The Second Argument In the recent decades, scientists have found out that the presence of intelligent life forms depends on a composite and fragile equilibrium of initial circumstances presented in the Big Bang itself. Intellectuals thought in the past that whatever the first circumstances of the universe were, in due course life could evolve. It appears

Help to choose a topic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Help to choose a topic - Assignment Example The article especially draws on the benefits of using dogs in the animal assisted therapy, which as animals are arguably the most faithful in nature. The article contains very useful information that the college counselors can avail to improve the quality and effectiveness of their counseling services over the depressed college students in particular and outside the college in general. I picked this article firstly because it was recently published, and secondly because the results of the research cited in the article were drawn from a credible and reliable source i.e. Georgia State University. Thirdly, I chose this article because it contains very interesting and useful information about the effects of animal assisted therapy on the college going students. This article is particularly useful because many college students already have dogs as their pets, so they can better identify with and rely upon the information provided in the

Christian Gospel Essay Example for Free

Christian Gospel Essay What are some ways the Christian gospel is perceived in our Culture The Gospel of Christian is alleged in our traditions in many customs. Most people have the perception that if you are a Christian you feel you are holier than a non-believer. What they do not understand is that, when anyone makes the choice to become a Christian, they make life-long changes in their lives. On several occasions, friends and sometimes family become offended with the choices you make in becoming a Christian. In my life, my wife and I made the decision to become a Christians, we changed everything in our life, including the way we think. What are some specific moral, emotional, and intellectual reasons people may reject the Christian Gospel The main reasons individuals refuse the gospel is mainly due to their morals. Usually it is beliefs, marital status or political. Christianity weights a devotion to positive ethical regulations that several individuals think is old-fashioned, or prejudiced. People view Christians as being hypercritical and unenthusiastic to earn the right to be heard because of their attitudes. People who live a diverse lifestyle other than the Christian Gospel, we are not willing to dialog with someone. Christian Gospel is viewed as conflicting to intellectual learning. The majority of the bible is viewed as a leprechaun or myths, and several human beings are reluctant to obtain a firm glance at the worldly, for Christ’s life, fatality and renaissance. The Christian Gospel can be tough to grab a hold of, particularly for non-believers who really do not understand God’s love for his children. The fact that human beings do not understand that there is somebody that loves them unconditionally. Nevertheless, when people begin to understand and have a relationship with God, they start to give him their all and just dive in. What can Christians do to address these objections and better communicate the Christian gospel? To be honest, Christians should reserve themselves from the noisily hypercritical, the fakes. Our actions should always speak louder than words. People should see in Christians, the Jesus in them. By caring for those individuals who are still living in sin, like Jesus did, we get the right to heard. Just accusing people, and performing or behaving ungodly, in which you are acting no different from the non-believers, will not conquer the objections of the humankind.

Health Care Payment Systems

Health Care Payment Systems Miguel Boquer   Introduction Healthcare spending has been on the rise over the years and is even more so affected by the continually evolving healthcare payment and insurance systems. To put it into perspective, national healthcare spending has grown from 5.3 percent in 2014 to 5.8 percent in 2015 reaching an astonishing reached $3.2 trillion or $9,990 per individual (Wilson, 2016). In 2016, healthcare expenditures were expected to reach $3.35 trillion averaging $10,345 per individual (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2016). Payment and insurance systems through employers, insurance providers, and government agencies are providing for ways of controlling factors driving healthcare costs. Payment Systems Payment systems have continued to evolve into many various forms over time such as fee-for-service, pay-for-coordination, comprehensive care, pay-for-performance, bundled payment or episode-of-care, upside shared savings programs (Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) or Commercial), downside shared savings programs (CMS or Commercial), partial or full capitation, and global budget (McKesson, 2017). The most popular and original way of payment for health care services being utilized today is the fee-for-service payment system. This system allows for each separate service that is provided to be paid for at a set amount (Miller, 2009). From what I gathered through my research is that as the population ages, healthcare costs rise, and technology advances, the fee-for-service isnt always the most efficient method of payment. A combination of payment systems is more preferable when working with the different sources of payers such as self-payment, insurance providers, or Medicaid/Medicare. Episode- of-care and comprehensive care would be a great combination reason being that some of the aging population or those with more serious conditions can utilize episode-of-care, whereas the comprehensive payment system will cover the population that contain conditions that require more frequent or repetitive care for chronic conditions such as diabetes. For instance, comprehensive care payment would be made to the physician practice or health system to deal with the patients who possess presumptive underlying health conditions. Then, the episode-of-care payment would be made to a hospital if a specific patient requires surgery or any other costly treatment (Miller, 2009). Payers The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is comprised of numerous regulations that focus on the organization of healthcare like how it is delivered and then paid for. The fee-for-service system that has been the most dominant payment system is inefficient and costly to patients and payers, which is why the regulations provided the ACA must be imposed on the flaws of the US health system. As the US economy strengthens, medical prices continue to increase rapidly, and the population ages, Medicare and Medicaid are projected to grow at a quicker rate than private insurance providers (Alonso-Zaldivar, 2016). In the sense of utilizing multiple payers, healthcare providers can transform the way they deliver health care to all of its patients if enabled by the changes in payment systems as long as the payers throughout the community are required to change their payment systems as well in related ways. Additionally if the right payment is set, the health care providers will be able to deliver quality c are to the patients as needed (Yong, Saunders, Olsen, 2010). HIT and Payment Systems Health Information Technology (HIT) is contributing towards effective changes in the way payment systems are operating. HIT continues to be a vital component of directing the health care payers toward automated workflows, while improving the management of medical claims. Data can better managed through the use of HIT innovations such as the transferring of health information within and in-and-out of a health plan, which is substantially important (Patrick, 2016). New, innovative healthcare technology is allowing for the combination of managed care and any additional technology that is used in managing patient care within the patients health plan along with determining the claim payments. The large amount of data that becomes available as a result through that combination can be incorporated with various types of data such as pharmacy or health assessment resulting in a pool of data readily available to access as needed. Conclusion The various healthcare payment systems are being used to cover, coordinate, and manage the costs of care for patients are copiously complex. Only through the improvements of the payment systems have payers been able to effectively control the aspects of healthcare costs. Aging population and the increasing presence of chronic illnesses are calling for improvements to the processes of payment systems such as the implementation of multiple payment systems. The advances of Health Information Technology will be able to allow for the smooth collaboration and integration of multiple payment systems in the efforts of improving the quality of patient care. References: Alonso-Zaldivar, R. (2016). $10,345 per person: U.S. health care spending reaches new peak. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/new-peak-us-health-care-spending-10345-per-person/. McKesson. (2017). What Payment Models Exist. Retrieved from http://www.mckesson.com/population-health-management/resources/what-payment-models-exist/. Miller, H.D. (2009). From volume to value: better ways to pay for health care. Health Affairs (Millwood); 28(5):1418-28. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/28/5/1418.full. Patrick, J. (2016). Is Health Information Technology Imperative for Payers? Retrieved from http://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/is-health-information-technology-imperative-for-payers. Wilson, K. B. (2016). Health Care Costs 101: ACA Spurs Modest Growth. Retrieved from http://www.chcf.org/publications/2016/12/health-care-costs-101. Yong, P.L., Saunders, R.S., and Olsen, L.A. (2010). The Healthcare Imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes: Workshop Series Summary. Institute of Medicine (US) Roundtable on Evidence-Based Medicine. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); Payment and Payer-Based Strategies; 11. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53906/.

Bonds between Mothers and Daughters in Breath, Eyes, Memory and the Jo

Bonds between Mothers and Daughters in Breath, Eyes, Memory  and the Joy Luck Club  Ã‚   Breath, Eyes, Memory   and the Joy Luck Club both describe the bonds between mothers and daughters. The relationships between the mother and daughter depicted in BEM and JLC is largely influenced by a foreign culture conflicting with the American culture. However, that is where the similarities end for the two novels. After reading the Joy Luck Club, my interest in Chinese culture was increased due to the fact that it is a deep-rooted culture very old and with a powerful philosophy. After reading Breath, Eyes, Memory, I have no interest in learning more about Haiti. The culture seems very dark, depressing and void of intelligent thought. For many immirgrants, leaving home is not an easy task. For Sophie leaving everything that she has ever known was not very easy for her. It is also very difficult to remove someone or something for an envoirment that they a grown very acustom too; however not ever knowing you mother and the only way that you can see her is by leaving you homeland and everyone you have know there. For a daughter to not know her mother is a very difficult sittuation. Having a sister I know the bond that a mother and her daughter have. In many ways they are each others confidants. For Sophie there were many things that she knew and that was fine with her; however like I said before you did not know her mother and that gave her enough reason to leave everything to go to new york. When the oppourtiny finally came Sophie she had to suck it up and leave on a plane bound for the New World. Meeting Her mother for the first time was very difficult for Sophie; however the most hardest thing to deal with was the tremendous chang... ...an because they would be of the same culture. The change from living some where that is dominated by one culture to moving to a neighborhood that has a variety of cultures, is going to take it's toll. For example it was unheard of that a young girl would not listen to her mother, but in America, were individuality is stressed more it was common for young girls to try and find their own way. In conclusion problems always arrive during immigration. In my opinion immigration would be more successful if people realized how much they had in common with others rather then how they are different. It would also run more smoothly if we realized that people are going to be effected by the new culture and that change is inevitable. Works Cited: Danticat, Edwidge. Breath, Eyes, Memory. New York: Vintage, 1994. Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Putnam, 1989.

Overview Of Belgium :: essays research papers

Belgium is located upon northwest Europe from which is bounded on the north by the Netherlands and the North Sea, on the east by Germany and Luxembourg, and on the south and southwest by France.1 Due to this location, Belgium is also known as â€Å"the Crossroads of Europe† because it promotes trade and prosperity.2 Following the end of WWII, (NATO) in April 1949 to provide safeguards against possible Communist aggression and, Belgium joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization like the efforts of other democratic countries, to accomplish economic recovery.1 U.S.-Belgian relations are excellent. Belgium is a close ally and works with the U.S. on many international issues. Belgian governments have been committed to the development of a strong, federal European Union with the ability to set common foreign and security policies as well as common economic policies.3 The Belgium government have also been proponents of strong transatlantic ties within NATO. The current Dehaene gov ernment has repeated its desire for close ties with the United States on security issues and has expressed support for enlarging NATO to accommodate certain former Warsaw Pact nations.3 Belgium is a substantial aid donor, making bilateral and multilateral contributions to humanitarian aid and development programs.3 Belgium is a provider of peacekeeping troops and has participated in various peacekeeping operations in Somalia, Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.3 The United States and Belgium are indeed allies. Belgium joined the UN as a charter member on June 26, 1945, the country gave consistent support to the other Western democracies during the intense ideological and political struggle (the so-called cold war) with the USSR and the states within the Soviet sphere of influence.1 The United States and Belgium both share a promising and extensive economic relationship with each other. Under the evolving federal system, the primary areas of interest to U.S. business include foreign trade, environment and investment regimes and incentives.3 Belgium and the United States have strong reciprocal trade relations. Belgium is a major market for American exports in 1995. Since the end of World War 2, American businesses have played an active and important part in the Belgian economy.4 One example of US and Belgium economic relationship include the Telecommunications Services (TES). The partial privatization of BELGACOM and Ameritech’s involvement in the company have met the greatest growth potential in mobile telephone services.5 Also, many other U.S. companies are already active in the value-added network services market in Belgium.

Affirmative Action Cannot Erase Years of Oppression :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

Affirmative Action Cannot Erase Years of Oppression For forty years the issue of affirmative action has been subject to a tremendous amount of debate and controversy. When President Kennedy proposed the idea of preferential treatment in 1961, the nation was in the midst of radical changes regarding civil liberties. It was a time when the injustices imposed upon minorities were beginning to be recongnized, and people wanted to make up for the years of oppression that served as a barrier for the advancement of minorities in America. At the time, the idea was morally justified and socially appropriate. While it is still a morally commendable effort today, the system has become an attempt to atone for the sins of our country's past, and a double standard that threatens every citizen's liberties. The first problem with affirmative action is the obvious fact that it is an attempt to end discrimination with discrimination. When a company or university discriminates against a white male for the sake of bettering the outcome of another racial group, an injustice occurs. Affirmative action is the governmental legislation of the active discrimination of one person over another—an unacceptable and dangerous double standard. Secondly, affirmative action seeks to reconcile the injustices of the past. The horrible atrocities of the past, including slavery and the refusal to grant women and minorities the right to vote, cast an ugly shadow on the history of our nation. But affirmative action cannot erase what our ancestors did years ago. Instead of trying to reconcile the oppression of the past, we should try to lend a hand to young minorities that want to learn and be successful, but lack the resources they need to accomplish their goals. Another issue concerning affirmative action is the stigma attached to the minorities themselves. Minorities are capable of getting the best jobs, obtaining admittance to the most prestigious schools, and being as successful as any white male has ever been. The problem occurs when people view them as inferior because of affirmative action--the attitude of "You couldn't do it on your own." These implications have a lasting, damaging effect on the mental well-being of minority students. How can anybody feel truly accomplished when a lingering doubt about the legitimacy of his achievements exists? Our society must learn to embrace diversity. People from a variety of different cultures and racial backgrounds have a lot to teach one another. The only way for this to happen is to maximize diversity on

Reliablity vs Validity Essay

The purpose of this weeks’ discussion is to evaluate and analyze an article by identifying issues related to general method reliability and validity. The article that was chosen was â€Å"Trust in the Face of Conflict: The Role of Managerial Trustworthy Behavior and Organizational Context† by Korsgaard, M. A. , Brodt, S. E. , & Whitener, E. M. (2002). This paper will discuss how negative conditions between employees’ and management pose a risk in trust. Reliabity and validity are pertinent in getting a true assessment of how negative conditions can affect the employee morale. Korsgaard, M. A. , Brodt, S. E. , & Whitener, E. M. , wrote an indebt article on trust and negative events and how it relates to management and employee interactions. This article proves that it is essential for management to understand how imperative it is to implement trust and willingness to listen to their employees in the workforce. In this article reliability and validity shows to be accurate due to the overwhelming amount of evidence that proves that management needs to implement the changes in order to improve employee morale and willingness to work hard. Reliability referred to the stability of findings; on the other hand validity represented the truthfulness of findings (Altheide & Johnson, 1994). The article does not appear to represent one just a quantitative research or one of a qualitative research so this research must be considered a mixed method approach. There is not numerical terminology displayed in this article but does have extensive information on other proven ideas and past research. Qualitative research seeks depth over breadth and attempts to learn subtle nuances of life experiences as opposed to aggregate evidence. Qualitative research is contextual and subjective versus generalizable and objective. (Whittemore, R. , Chase, S. K. , & Mandle, C. L. 2001 p. 524). Because qualitative research is based on entirely different epistemological and ontological assumptions compared to quantitative research, many feel that validity criteria of the quantitative perspective are therefore inappropriate (Hammersly, 1992). Employees’ perceptions of their managers’ trustworthy behavior and of the fairness of HR practices are also likely to have consequences for employee behavior (Korsgaard, M.  A. , Brodt, S. E. , & Whitener, E. M. 2002). This article shows how management and staff interaction related primarily on how management makes employees feel in the workplace which proves that validity and reliability is important when researching this topic. Goodwin, L. D. , & Goodwin, W. L. (1984) wrote that many qualitatively oriented evaluators are tempted to disregard the validity and reliability issues that are traditionally associated with quantitative evaluation techniques frequently ignore concerns regarding measurement validity and reliability. Due to this research using both qualitative and quantitative approaches is necessary to depend on reliability and validity of research because it proves the outcomes of the study. The need to know what validity and reliability is just as important as quantitative and qualitative research. There should remain a focus on all four aspects during research to improve the outcomes of progressive research. These efforts will allow better details in the conclusion of research.

Jessica in Ther Merchant of Venice

Jessica in The Merchant of Venice In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare introduces his audience to the multi dimensional character of Jessica. Jessica is identified as the daughter of a Jewish Merchant but the audience learns she is much more than that. As the play moves along and Jessica marries a Christian man, Jessica’s identity as a Jewish woman is challenged. Although a minor character in the play, she is important because she makes the audience question what it means to be Jewish and therefore what it means to be Christian.The differences between Judaism and Christianity in the play are shown through Jessica’s relationships with Shylock and Lorenzo. The father daughter relationship that Jessica and Shylock share shows the audience values of Judaism. The two have a very rocky relationship through out the play and although it appears that Jessica is no more than a rebellious teenager, their relationships and interactions show the foundations of a Jewish family. Shy lock shows the rigid rules of the Jewish religion through how he treats Jessica at their home.What the audience knows about Jessica and Shylock’s history is that Shylock locks up Jessica in their house and she is not allowed out. Jessica then undoubtedly has resentment towards her father when she says â€Å"Our house is hell, and thou, a merry devil, / Didst rob it of some taste of tediousness† (2. 3. 1). It is clear to the audience that Shylock not only wants to lock up his daughter to the world he, also doesn't want Jessica to experience Venetian society when he says â€Å"lock up the doors† so the sounds of music don't drift in from the streets (2. 5. 5).It becomes very obvious that Jessica’s house is a strict, rule driven household that she does not appreciate or like. Jessica’s life under Shylock’s rules shows the rigidness of the Jewish religion that Jessica was brought up under. These instances, at the beginning of the play, show the audience what Jessica’s life as a Jew is like. It is not until we see Jessica’s transition into a Christian that we can see the differences between the two religions. Once Jessica runs away from home and marries Lorenzo, her life as a Jewish woman comes to an end. Through this transition of Jessica’s, we see outside opinions on Judaism and Christianity.When Jessica runs away from home to marry, a conversation is sparked between Lorenzo and his friend Gratiano. They have a conversation about why it is that Lorenzo loves Jessica. Lorenzo is trying to explain to Gratiano how Jessica does not fit the typical Jewish mold by saying â€Å"For she is wise, if I can judge of her/And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true/And true she is, as she hath proved herself†(2. 6. 53-55). From Lorenzo’s language when describing Jessica, it becomes clear that these Christians associate good traits such as fairness, intelligence, and truthfulness with being traits that most Jewish people do not possess.On the opposite end of the argument, the play has Shylock and his response to Jessica running away, getting married, and selling her mothers wedding ring. Shylock responds by saying â€Å"Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal: it was my? turquoise; I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys. (3. 1. 14). Shylock is upset that his daughter would waste away her precious materials for something as foolish as a monkey. It is in this moment in the play that the audience see’s the new carefree lifestyle Jessica is living as a Christian when she denounces her mother’s ring.Shylock, who loves material possessions, is appalled by his daughter’s carless actions. The audience sees through Jessica’s transition from Jew to Christian and from the conversations sparked in characters from this action how the two different religious groups see each other. After her transition, Jessicaâ €™s relationship with her new husband also sparks different assumptions about religion. After Jessica marries Lorenzo, her life is literally transformed from a Jew to a Christian overnight. Through her final actions of the play, the audience can see how different her two worlds are.Her life with Lorenzo is one full of carefree fun and no material possessions. While her life with her father was one full of rules and restrictions. Once Jessica enters into this relationship with Lorenzo, the notion of what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be a Jew is questioned. Jessica’s two different lives represent the different stereotypes of the two religions. The Jewish people in this play are portrayed through Jessica and Shylock as being an old worldview of life. Shylock’s house is very strict, rule abiding, and oriented in hard work.While on the other hand, Lorenzo represents the New Testament, Christian view of the world where people are much more about living carefree and denouncing material possessions. When Jessica marries Lorenzo and becomes a Christian through marriage she also brings up another question about religion and what makes a person a Jew. Jessica is a Jew by birth but converts to Christianity through marriage. This brings about the question of is it birth or decision that makes a person a certain religion.Lancelot first brings this about when he claims that Jessica is damned because she was born Jewish in that he is referring to the fact that there is nothing she can do to undo being Jewish. The audience also sees many lines where the image of blood is brought up. Shylock refers to his daughter as â€Å"my own flesh and blood† (3. 1. 32) and Jessica states, â€Å"I am a daughter to his blood† (2. 3. 18). This image of blood that Jessica and Shylock share bonds them together and parallels the idea that Judaism runs in the blood, therefore is determined at birth.Although Lancelot seems to believe that Judaism runs in the blood, Jessica believes that she can overturn this by marrying Lorenzo. She states, â€Å"I shall be saved by my husband/He hath made me a Christian† (3. 5. 3). To her, Judaism is out of her because her husband, Lancelot, made her into a Christian through marriage. Here we see two differences in what the characters of the play believe makes a person Jewish. Lancelot believes Jessica is Jewish by birth, and Jessica believes that marrying Lorenzo can make her into a Christian. The character Jessica is important in The Merchant of Venice because of the questions she brings up about religion.Her relationship with her father shows her life as a Jew while her marriage to Lorenzo shows her conversion into a Christian. These two worlds of Jessica play off of each other and through them the audience is able to see the differences between Judaism and Christianity. Through Jessica’s transition from Jew to Christian, the audience is able to see the large differences be tween the Jewish and Christian characters in The Merchant of Venice. Works Cited Evans, G. , ed. The Riverside Shakespeare. 6th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974.

How Has Voting Changed Over Time? Essay

Over time, as America promoted greater civil liberties for all of its citizens, voting rights have also undergone change. When the United States was formed, citizens with voting rights were mainly Caucasian males. African American males that were freed could vote also, but slaves however, were considered property and could not vote. States could administer poll taxes, which often left poorer people without the ability to vote if they couldn’t afford the tax. Women didn’t have voting rights and voters in most states had to be 21 before being able to vote. There are many people that are loosely aware of the difficult battle for votes beginning with the history of the United States. Both major political parties have taken numerous steps toward increasing voter turnout so that more people will participate in this right of all citizens. For much of American history, voting qualifications were such that very few people actually had the power to vote. These qualifications have changed greatly since then to grant nearly all Americans this important democratic privilege. In the eighteenth century, the right to vote was reserved for wealthy white males over the age of 21 and in many cases, those that belonged to the accepted religion of their community. The reasoning was that these people were the only ones educated enough to make a wise decision although women, slaves, and those without property certainly had a lot to say on the matters of the day. Today, through Constitutional Amendments, voting restrictions concerning gender, race, religious affiliation, and wealth have all been eliminated. The minimum age to vote is now 18. All voters must be citizens of the United States.

Important Time in My Life Essay

There comes a time in our lives where we all have to face important decisions and challenges maybe taking examinations or starting a new job. For me, going to secondary school was an important time and was a big challenge. This can be a stressful and nerve racking experience for any eleven year old, unlike most of the people that started my school I didn’t know many people from my previous primary school, so they already had foundations and memories and did not really have to make new friends as importantly as I did. There was only 9 people in my year 6 and 7 went to the same school as I did. Before I knew it the six weeks holiday was over and the morning arrived with the new shoes and the shiny black blazer. Then I had to be walked to school by my Mum. I was reluctant to leave the comfort of knowing somebody but somehow found that extra confidence to walk into the school hall full of strangers. Luckily for me I attended football on Fridays and Saturday mornings and there was a boy from there. I straight away went and sat next to him and was very relieved. Little did I know we were sectioned off into forms and I had humiliated myself by walking into the other form’s turf instead of my own heroic Miss Watson form. After having a sixth form girl come show me the correct way in front of everyone and show me to my rightful place, I found that people started to come and talk to me and one girl especially called Jasmine who was also alone, started making conversation. I thought I would be able to stick with her the rest of the day, especially when our names were called out together for being in the same form. We spent the morning meeting our tutors and taking part in activities and games in order to get to know each other. As we were learning more and more about each other, I was fairly confident by lunch time I had made a friend in Jasmine, and got over being alone on my first day. Although, as I soon found out, Jasmine had got friends in other houses and forgetting me she soon ran off to go meet and play with them. I was too shy to go after her and introduce myself to a whole new group of people, instead I just stood against a wall by myself as I did not know what else to do or where to go. Looking back on this now I would never just stand against a wall by myself watching everybody making friends and enjoying their lunch time but at the time my shyness took over and that was it. Time passed slowly and there was still half an hour to go before I could be in the comfort of the classroom with the people I recognized again. I then got through the first day of an  important time of my life. Why was it important? Because it kick started my road to getting a higher education and making friends.

Sexuality and Breast Cancer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sexuality and Breast Cancer - Assignment Example Particularly among women more than 50 years of age, breast cancer is one of the major causes of deaths throughout the United Kingdom. Each year, approximately more than 10,000 or 26 out of 100,000 women die due to untreated breast cancer (Office for National Statistics, 2011b). Several studies revealed that there is a close link between sexuality and breast cancer in the sense that most women who has been diagnosed or has received breast cancer treatment experience a decreased sexual performance due to the psychological impact of body image disturbances (Fobair & Spiegel, 2009; Sheppard & Ely, 2008; Burwell et al., 2006; Fobair et al., 2006; Pelusi, 2006). The focus of this annotated bibliography is to examine and identify the link between sexuality and breast cancer. Aside from determining strategic ways that will enable specialist breast care nurses deliver a holistic care to the patients, information gathered in this study will be useful in terms of educating men and women about the psychological impact of having breast cancer on sexuality. This article increases the readers’ knowledge with regards to effective ways in controlling symptoms related to breast cancer treatment. It also emphasized the importance of increasing the nurses’ knowledge concerning the physiological and psychological impact of breast cancer. Aside from considering the cultural background of each patient when treating breast cancer, the author explained how the use of chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, and mastectomy could create negative effects in patients’ sexual responses, sexual relationship with their partners and disturbance in body image. The author conducted a literature review as a way of examining the impact of breast cancer and breast cancer treatments on body image, sexual roles and relationships, and cultural differences of each patient. In general, qualitative approach in research design examines the relationship between the nature of the subject being examined in its natural setting (Maykut & Mor ehouse, 1994, p. 68). Through the use of this approach in research design, the researcher can freely describe and interpret the personal opinion of the research respondents with regards to the research questions (Patton, 2002). However, information gathered from pure qualitative research study is highly dependent on the researcher’s analysis and interpretation. Therefore, it would have been better in case the author decided to combine the use of qualitative with quantitative approach in research study design. Aside from the negative psychological impact of mastectomy, aging could make women unhappy about their physical appearance. Therefore, health teaching should be a part of the nurses’ responsibility when delivering holistic care to the patients. To encourage the patients’ partner in giving emotional support to the patient, nurses should communicate and educate the patients’ partner that the side effects of cancer therapies includes hormonal changes, s leep and appetite disturbances, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, malaise, and apathy. In response to

Sadown Analysis Paper Draft 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sadown Analysis Paper Draft 1 - Essay Example Not because a black cat passes by it means that bad luck is coming to that person. Signs should only be a guide on how we would live and not the basis why we are living. This is the sad part because it is very common that signs are limiting the decision making of people and influencing how they are living. Examples are fortune tellers for example the palm readers who influences people by reading palms and the lines in a person’s hand to tell their loyal customers the future and their fortunes and misfortunes. This is the big misconception about signs (73). Schnackenberg wrote in her poem the simplest signs that people misunderstand. There are no unlucky things in this world. A person should be knowledgeable enough to either have a free will and know what should and should not be done or be deceived by worldly beliefs. When the author wrote of the signs it did not mean that each sign should be observed by all or would hold the same meaning for everyone. There are things in the environment that has been observed to be true throughout the years. The author gave an example on the second stanza of the poem. These things are uncontrollable and are nature’s own way of living. This does not make any difference in a person’s luck or life. Though the course of nature affects humans one way or another, it is not the reason for humanity’s triumph or destruction. These natures’ occurrence can help mankind in telling the weather, season and time. It is helpful in some aspects of man’s daily life but not to control man’s free will and decision making (73). Beliefs in superstitious signs are fast growing amidst the vast growth of the influence of Science and Technology in the youth. As an author, Schnackenberg knows about the growth of followers at the end of the last stanza. Quite peculiar is that there are so many things that Science can explain and justify yet mass of people from different walks of life are still believing in superstition. Not

Redemption Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Redemption - Research Paper Example In the article, Narrative Antecedents of Pedro Paramo, Paramo exhibits a significant influence on different characters making them to cling into fragile illusions of redemption. Both Susana and Fulgor Sedano are major characters in the novel who have a major influence in plot development. This essay will therefore explore the memory of each character through their relationship with Pedro. The essay will also explore the fragile illusion exhibited by the different characters through their relationship with Pedro. Susan is a major character in the novel and the author uses her influence and relationship with Pedro in theme and plot development. Susan and Pedro grew up together and therefore their relationship is based on their childhood memories. The most significant aspect of their relationship is their endless love. Although Pedro was influential, his love affairs with Susana are based on love and mutual understanding. On the other hand, Susana is attached to Pedro through his past m emories of a loveless life. Although Susan ended up being married to another man, her love for Pedro did not end. Romantic love is therefore, the first relationship between the two characters. The existence of love between the two characters is the basis of other relationships that are exhibited by the two characters throughout the novel. ... Her secrete admiration for Pedro is based on her relationship with her past husband. Although she was married, she never loved him as he loved Pedro. This made her to have endless fantasies about Pedro particularly his body was among her dreams. Susan could not divorce her husband for Pedro and therefore she considered Pedro as her virtual husband. Fulgor is another influential charter that the writer of the book uses for theme and plot development. The author uses his relationship with Pedro to achieve these objectives. Although Pedro has an influential personality, he considers Fulgor been significant for his success. The two characters therefore have equal influence on each other. Firstly, Fulgor is an influential administrator who uses his positions to increase his holdings or wealth. (Rulfo 82) Although Fulgor has authoritative positions, he was unable to achieve his ambitions due to lack of effective people skills. Pedro assumes the position of Fulgor’s personal advisor. Although the relationship is beneficial for both characters, Pedro achieves more gains from the relationship than Fulgor. Fulgor’s ambitions to achieve wealth hindered him from perceiving the gains that Pedro was making from their relationship. In addition, his poor people skills prevented him from looking for an alternative advisor. It is evident that Pedro had excellent people skills that he achieved through manipulation of different people in order to achieve his personal goals. Both Fulgor and Pedro depended on these aspects for their existence. Although Pedro acted as Fulgor’s personal advisor, he required him for his personal success and survival. The administrative position that Fulgor held was an essential requirement for Pedro’s

A accounting calculations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A accounting calculations - Essay Example According to Caplan (2006) suitable methods like value engineering and value analysis could contribute to reducing the cost of the three products. It helps in sorting additional overhead components like cooperative marketing, high levels of customer service, and product return handling to identify profitable customers. The approach enables the organization to put more emphasis on clients who earn large profits for the company while turning away unprofitable customers (Caplan, 2006). Distribution of product is a major undertaking for all enterprises. Most companies employ different channels of product distribution like email, distributors, the Internet, retails shops, and order catalogue. Reducing distribution cost is the primary function of ABC. Structural components that maintain the distribution falls under overhead. Therefore, ABC helps in deciding efficient delivery systems with lower costs or dropping unprofitable channels (Caplan, 2006). ABC helps the management decide on whether to buy or make a product. It does this by highlighting costs associated with product manufacturing. Such is the basis that guides one to either outsource or carry out in-house manufacture. Using ABC makes it easier to allocate overhead costs appropriately. Such allocation assists in determining margins of product lines, products, and their subsidiaries. The information guides the personnel to identify areas that would give maximum return margins (Caplan, 2006). The model assists marketing managers decide on the minimum price for the product. ABC model guides the marketing personnel to select particular overhead costs for inclusion in the minimum cost. The approach eradicates the possibility of selling a product at a loss or overpricing (Caplan, 2006). Using ABC model increases the cost pool volume, which increases the cost incurred to manage the system. A reduction in cost pool involves running a system that analyses and maintains the cost

Project Portfolio Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project Portfolio Management - Case Study Example The constraints of external environmental factors, changes in customer requirements and demographics and the financial and operational constraints would also be considered for the same. The project selection criteria would mainly be based on the continuously shifting needs of the customer groups in this industry in Florida, where the company is mainly located. Also, the strategic objectives of the company like the expansion of the business into new markets like Europe and Alaska, the increase in revenues by 10%, the expansion of customer services and the improvement of the customer satisfaction levels by 15% every year, would also be considered as the main project selection criteria. Apart from these, the cost control objectives of the company including the reduction of operating costs by at least 10% per year and the reduction of warehouse and overhead costs by at least 5% per year would be taken up as key selection criteria for the project portfolio management process. Thus, to ens ure that all these goals are met with, the Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) method is selected. The Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) method of portfolio management is selected for the company because this technique involves taking up a top down approach that helps to manage all the project intensive resources and activities across the company. This would help to streamline the different business decision units of the company by ensuring better integration of the operational, financial, human resources and corporate strategies of the company. Since, this method is an automated system and does not require manual work; therefore, it would be time and cost effective as well. The EPPM takes up a centralized top down approach of managing the project portfolios which ensures that all levels of employees are actively engaged in the project

Descriptive Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Descriptive Statistics - Essay Example The contention behind internal consistency checks is to ensure that the research questions produce consistent responses in the case of the respondents. It is common practice to insert similar questions in research surveys in order to gauge whether respondents answer these questions similarly (Berg, 2001). Research in marketing often entails working with a number of different variables in order to establish the relationship between such variables. Typically the data collected in order to carry out social sciences or marketing research relies in large part on quantitative research backed up by qualitative research to fill out the missing gaps. The use of large sets of quantitative data such as in the current research poses a number of problems in itself. For one thing, there are a number of variables who could be related to each other and may have an impact on the overall hypothesis. Such relationships between variables may pose strong or weak connections in one or more variables that need to be investigated. A preferred method to carry out such investigations is to use a factor analysis (Creswell, 2009) to determine the degree of correlation between various variables. Often a number of variables may be related to each other such that other variables may also exert an influence on the overall relationship. This can only be determined by utilising a proper factor analysis which may be related to but differentiated from principal component analysis (Bartholomew et al., 2008) The current research has focused on eliminating a number of problems from data collection and analysis by relying on factor analysis and internal reliability examinations. Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics are utilised in order to describe the major characteristics of a data set (Dodge, 2003). The contention in utilising descriptive statistics is to summarise the data set for analysis. In addition, descriptive statistics ensure that the respondents for a study all fall into the sub group being studied. For example, in the current research the aim is to describe the brand image habits and perceptions of ordinary consumers from the middle class. In this case, descriptive statistics ought to ensure that the respondents come from the middle class in large part or else the responses may be markedly different since the brand perceptions may be markedly different between consumer groups. The major descriptive statistics related to the respondents for the current research are presented in the tables provided below along with explanations. Favorite Brand: Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid APPLE 64 40.3 40.3 40.3 BLACKBERRY 19 11.9 11.9 52.2 HTC 9 5.7 5.7 57.9 LG 2 1.3 1.3 59.1 MOTOROLA 5 3.1 3.1 62.3 NOKIA 20 12.6 12.6 74.8 SAMSUNG 33 20.8 20.8 95.6 SONY ERICSSON 7 4.4 4.4 100.0 Total 159 100.0 100.0 The first issue of importance was to establish which brands consumers subscribed to in connection to the cellular phone market. A number of differen t brands are available that subscribe to the tastes of different market segments so it was important to establish how the current cellular phone market was distributed. The results from the survey indicate clearly that the largest market leader is Apple (40.3%) followed by Samsung (12.6%) although it must be recognised that the proportion of Apple users and Samsung users differs significantly. Nokia (12.6%) and BlackBerry

Personality Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Personality Development - Essay Example Rogers’ unconditional positive regard is a crucial part of his person centered approach. In this, the therapist accepts the client unconditionally, that is, without judgment, without disapproval and without approval of their condition. This raises the self regard of the client, and makes the client responsible for their own treatment. It also makes the client aware that he or she has their own feelings, and their own experiences that they themselves must be responsible for. Therefore there can be no blame, if there is a problem within you then you can help yourself to overcome it, with the gentle guidance of your therapist. This approach is different than those we have already studied this year in as much as it treats a person as an individual, not as a symptom or as a disorder that must be worked on. This theory believes that personality is developed individually, not using a set of pre-determined factors or believing that we are merely born with a personality already intact.

The Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy Analysis Essay Example for Free

The Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy Analysis Essay Thomas Hardy, a writer of nineteenth century society, has created an everlasting impact on its readers through his most profound and lively characters with varied dimensions in personality. He gave his characters a touch of realism with an in-depth intensity to misunderstand their real nature and their real intentions in life. They are always finding themselves in a struggle with their own desires and circumstances. Fate plays the most crucial yet evil role in many events in their lives with reflection of impassive attitude and tragic consequences. His â€Å"The Return of the Native† is also a tragedy unfolding many deepen aspects of his characters’ with the settings itself revealing impending damage or tragedy waiting to happen.   It appears hidden beneath the wastelands of Egdon Heath number of secrets aspiring to be opened. â€Å"It is a place of long life and of sudden death, of fertile spring and short, vivid summer.†(Flowers Spring, 19) Edgon Heath’s importance lies in the way it affected the personalities of Eustacia and Wildeve, who feel themselves depressed in these lonely places. For Hardy, life is painful and full of agony and is clearly seen in the eyes of protagonists. The plot of â€Å"The Return of the Native† is set in context to the passionate and romantic zeal of Eustacia who took her to a tragic end. â€Å"It is the force of circumstances-the malignant power of Edgon Heath to dwarf and thwart the aspiring soul –that derives Eustacia Vye to irretrievable disaster†. (Flowers Spring, 121) Hardy adopted Victorian style in â€Å"The Return of the Native† with its detailed description of the story with many references pertaining to classical and scriptural style. Initially, its theme raised the eyebrows in the society but later the same theme became most popular among readers and critics alike. The theme owes its popularity to its originality and very nifty; the novel contains various moral truths that were the part of the society. All the characters have appeared to be born and grown in relationship with their environment and changes in weather of Heath corresponds to the inner turmoil of characters. With Eustacia Vye as part of Heath, Diggory Venn too appears to be born out of the muddy earth and the name Wildeve itself suggests his attributes to be born out of Heath’s blowing winds. The story revolves around Eustacia who Hardy describes as the most tempestuous lady desperate for passionate love denied to her in the vast arid lands of the Dorset County with only his grandfather as her companion. She is feeling very dejected by her boring life and is looking for an ideal man with whom she could spend the rest of her life. By crafting Eustacia as the most voracious character, â€Å"The Return of The Nativeâ€Å" became yet another story in a family of genre of most sensational works of Hardy. Besides sensation of suspense, more important is the creation of melodrama and behavior in the extreme extent but it’s a novel that has both modest as well as honest appeal. The story raises the question how the free will of the people and fate can go side by side. Eustacia’s passionate desire to marry person of fortune brings her into contact with Clym and ultimately marries him. But fate has something else in store for her; Clym Yeobright’s wanted to open a school in native country and in his pursuit he got himself blinded and they had to live in a hut meanwhile Wildeve too inherited maximum sum of money and they began to meet regularly. This meeting became a cause for the biggest tragedy ever that could happen in their lives. First Clym’s mother Mrs Yeobright died due to heat and snakebite, as she was not allowed by Eustacia to enter into house. Later Eustacia died due to drowning and Wildeve too embraced death in his effort to save Eustacia. But Diggory Venn saved Clym only to leave him behind with blind eyes and as a wandering preacher. The story has a tragic ending but we can also see certain note of hope and optimism as Diggory Venn got his true love Thomasin. The whole story shows how human beings in their desire to obtain pleasure show incapacity to change for right actions leading to gravest tragedy. Hardy’s message is quite clear: happiness for human beings is very short lived, and they feel themselves at-least fortunate if they could at-least avoid pains. Amidst the conventional countryside, Hardy portrayed the changes in Victorian society his protagonists wanted to see in their lives, yet he too did not deny the errors of these uneducated and unsophisticated country folks who were equally known for their loyalty as well as prejudice. (Flowers Spring, 21) â€Å"The Return of The Native† was Hardy’s sixth novel and when it first appeared in the serial Belgravia, its subject raised controversy. But soon it became one of the most popular novels with its popularity lying in its inquisitive derive to probe most intricate issues involving human beings-disillusioned love affairs and societal prejudices crushing passionate desires. Hardy is quite clear when he says that no one can escape the destiny and those who would try to escape it would end up having tragic consequences’.   For D.H Lawrence, this novel delves into the ways communities handle their misfortunes. Many feel its ending is not clear even though there was tragedy in the end, yet Hardy gave it happy ending with the marriage of Diggory Venn and Thomasin. With this ending, Hardy left the readers to comprehend themselves the conclusion and it is quite true in real life too.   If there is a tragedy in the lives of the people, there are many who are happy too.   By making the ending of the novel uncertain and vague, Hardy states the life is also very uncertain and vague. â€Å"The Return of the Native† is very interesting to read and fully describes with intensity Hardy’s genre in describing his characters. With this story, Hardy deviated from his conventional style of being a tragic writer to bring forth happy ending. WORKS CITED Flowers, Charles Spring, Michael. â€Å"Thomas Hardys Return of the Native†. New York: Barron’s Educational Series, 1984.

University education Essay Example for Free

University education Essay Summary: This article is about the various different ideas to influence college students to attend class. Several professors feel that by using the students’ attendance and their class participation as part of their grade that more students would attend class. Studies show that students who attend class are more likely to get higher graduation rates. Some students feel that the information taught in class should also be available online, which results in students not coming to class. The researchers are saying that by the professors pleasing the students, has led to easier classes where students don’t learn as much as they used to. Ultimately, the choice is the students and the ones that show up to class are the ones getting the most information, and higher success rates. Essay: College attendance rates are going down as well as graduation rates. College students wonder why there not graduating or passing their classes. I’ll tell you why several students are failing. Students have a responsibility to show up to class to learn the information taught so they can pass, but if students don’t show up they can’t receive that information. So with students not going to class they don’t receive all the information needed to pass test, exams, and complete homework assignments. Should attendance be a part of the students’ grade? I feel that if the students’ attendance is incorporated into their grade that more students are going to get lower grades. The students are there to better themselves and if they don’t want to show up to class then they are only hurting themselves. The students know that if they don’t attend class then they won’t receive all the information to do well and pass the class. I agree with researcher Marcus Crede that mandatory attendance at the college level is the wrong approach. Professors should influence their students to come to class in other ways than using attendance as part of their grade. The easiest solution to this problem is for the students to attend class. All college students shouldn’t have to be told this because they know what is expected of them and what they have to do to pass. Graduation rates should increase as long as the students attend class and pay attention. Students’ attendance shouldn’t have to be a percentage of their grade, but if that’s what it takes to increase graduation rates then that’s what will have to happen. So if you want to be a successful college student you need to attend class, pay attention, and study for your test and exams. Reflection: I feel that I did a good job explaining the key points of the article in my own words. Also I think that I put all the key points in the correct paragraphs. My weaknesses are repeating myself in different words. Also not explaining my thoughts clearly and easily understood. I used too many of my own thoughts without any examples from the text to explain my thoughts.