Shakespeares Use of Language in Antony and Cleopatra Essay

Shakespeares Use of Language in Antony and Cleopatra Enobarbus uses the phrase infinite variety to describe the beauty and wonder of Cleopatra to Agrippa and Maecenas in Act 2 Scene 2. In the context of the whole play I believe it is a perfect description of how Cleopatra uses the different aspects of her character. Shakespeare uses language, imagery and structure to show the different sides of her personality. This allows Cleopatra to be interpreted in many ways by the actress and the audience. One of the ways Shakespeare presents Cleopatra throughout the play is as a queen. Cleopatras language emphasises her royal status in Act 3 Scene 7 when she says as the president of my kingdom to†¦show more content†¦The structure of the play encourages the audience to compare the two death scenes. This emphasises Cleopatras royalty as the royal aspects of her death are accentuated in contrast with Antonys farcical death scene. However Cleopatra is not always content to fill her role as queen and this continues the theme of identity that runs throughout the play. In contrast to her death scene there are times in the play where Shakespeare presents Cleopatra as being no different to any other woman. As Antony prepares for his second battle with Caesar in Act 4 Scene 4 he refers to Cleopatra as my chuck and Dame which are colloquial terms of address. This makes Cleopatra and her relationship with Antony seem very typical as he is using the same everyday language as normal people. The way Antony leaves her with a soldiers kiss increases the sense of normality in the scene. This is because the language suggests he is leaving her as a simple soldier would leave his wife or lover. Shakespeare does not give Cleopatra a special farewell from Antony and as I read the scene I could imagine a similar goodbye happening across Egypt from Antony and Caesars men. Cleopatras persona is hard to define as Shakespeare changes the audiences perception of her as the play develops. In Act 4 Scene 15, after Antonys death,Show MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Ant ony And Cleopatra A Different Kind Of Dynamic Emerges1545 Words   |  7 PagesLove, as an enduring theme in Shakespeare’s work, is often represented in a particular way. Oppositions between passion and reason, romance and reflection, emotion and renitence all facilitate a necessary expressiveness. It tends to result in a carpe diem approach with a focus on intensity and openness, the representation of love and the way lovers interact in the plays is rarely blunt or stale. However, in Antony and Cleopatra a different kind of dynamic emerges. This new dynamic conveys a senseRead MoreAntony And Cleopatra Critical Analysis921 Words   |  4 PagesAntony and Cleopatra opens with a scene in which Antony professes his unfathomable love for Cleopatra and, while the play covers much of the political drama surrounding the crumbling of the Roman republic and creation of the Roman Empire under Octavius, it is also centrally about the romantic relationship between Antony and Cleopatra (after all, it’s not entitled Antony and Octavius). Antony tells Cleopatra that his love has no bounds, and often it certainly does seem excessive. It keeps him fromRead MoreWilliam Shakespeares Presentation of Domitius Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra1206 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Presentation of Domitius Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra Traditionally Shakespeares use of the role of a chorus is seen to have been used as an insight for the audience into the prophesy of future events and what to expect throughout the play, usually by a secondary character. In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare expands the role of the chorus within his presentation of Enobarbus. Enobarbus does not merely illustrate what consequences AntonysRead MoreEssay on Antony and Cleopatra1655 Words   |  7 Pagesgreatly influenced by Roman genealogy-ancestors that were god-like (Mars), superhuman (Hercules), fearless warriors (Pompey) who flourished in a patriarchal society (ancient 4). I would like to discuss how Shakespeare uses these characteristics in his Roman tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, as a means to express sixteenth century Englands cultural upheavals, one of which was the transformation of masculinity defined in terms of power to masculinity rooted in humanism. Traditionally, the monarch ofRead MoreShakespeare vs Dryden3975 Words   |  16 PagesSEMINAR ANTONY CLEOPATRA AND ALL FOR LOVE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY Introduction:- The following study is based on the plays Antony and Cleopatra which is written by William Shakespeare and All for Love which is written by John Dryden. Both writers are the most prominent playwrights in the history of English literature. We can see that both writers through their respective works have focused on the relationship between two prominent charactersRead MoreAntony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare Essay1194 Words   |  5 PagesAntony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare Antony and Cleopatra is a play in which the balance of power swings interestingly between two lovers. It is set in the First Century BC between Rome and Egypt. Antony is one of the three members of the second triumvirate who jointly rule the Roman Empire. Antony is the eponymous tragic hero, who allows his love for Cleopatra to cloud his judgement. According to Aristotle this is hamartia, an error of judgment caused by fateRead MoreExplore Shakespeares Presentation of the Three Great Leaders: Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Through the Changing Fortunes of Acts Iii and Iv. Explain How the Balance of Audience Sympathy Shifts1721 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the scenes depicting the Battle of Actium, Shakespeares presentation of Octavius Caesar, Mark Antony and Cleopatra cause the balance of audience sympathy to change between the three great leaders. Audience sympathy never lies by any real amount with Caesar, and in Acts III and IV, the audience feels increasingly alienated from him. This is largely due to his calculated, ruthless style of leadership, which becomes more evident during the battle. Caesar judges wisely, and is successful becauseRead MoreRenaissance Literature - Romeo and Juliet1835 Words   |  8 Pagesis ‘the other’ explored in two of the plays studied in Semester 1? Shakespeare’s plays have always had a hard-hitting effect on their audiences as they are often used as a vehicle to explore fears or concerns of the time. In the two tragic plays, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’, Shakespeare uses mythology, issues of power and sexuality and in particular concentrates on the concept of ‘the other’. In this use of the term ‘the other’ we are referring to foreign elements, people orRead MoreEssay on Opposites Attract in Antony and Cleopatra2750 Words   |  11 PagesOpposites Attract in Antony and Cleopatra      Ã‚   William Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra is a play that is centred around a pair of historical lovers from two distinct cultures, Mark Antony from Rome and Queen Cleopatra from Egypt. The Roman and Egyptian cultures have vastly different norms and social ideas that are almost complete polar opposites in nature. These conflicting views are instrumental in the way that Cleopatra and Antony act. These two characters are so great in their respectiveRead MoreWilliam Shakespeares Presentation of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra2014 Words   |  9 PagesWilliam Shakespeares Presentation of Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra The presentation of Cleopatra in Act three Scene thirteen is quite ambiguous. Her presentation in the rest of the play is also very contrasting and distinct. I believe Shakespeare concentrated on demonstrating Cleopatras personality and ambiguity to emphasise that, being the only central female in the play, it is even more surprising that she manages to act the way she does, with such an alarming range

Music Comparison Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Ludwig Van Beethoven Free Essays

Music Comparison: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Ludwig van Beethoven Inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven and the ideas of Romanticism, the new group of composers in music were born. One composer, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, grew to love composing music, like Beethoven. The child prodigies both delighted in learning and performing music at a young age. We will write a custom essay sample on Music Comparison: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Ludwig Van Beethoven or any similar topic only for you Order Now Hensel learned music from many different teachers, but Beethoven was taught by more known instructors. Although the two composers both lived in Germany, they created very different compositions. While Hensel and Beethoven have many differences between them, there are also similarities, which are sometimes over looked. Music was always a large part of both Hensel and Beethoven’s lives, beginning from when they were children. The composers grew up only four hours away from each other, yet in both households, they were composing music at a young age. The first person to teach Beethoven music was his own father. Hensel’s first teacher; her own mother. At the age of twelve, Hensel started writing her own music, while Beethoven was composing by eleven years of age. These composers started writing at a very early age, proving that they are musical geniuses. Considering the many teachers the composers had, it would explain how they could create such beautiful music. Beethoven had many noteworthy teachers while Hensel was taught by many lesser-known, but just as talented, educators. Once Beethoven’s father’s teachings had reached it’s end, he was taught by Gottlob Neefe. Neefe taught mainly the organ and compositions to Beethoven and made a comment saying that â€Å"If he continues like this, he will be, without a doubt, the new Mozart† Although his teachers helped him greatly, Beethoven gave his first performance before any educator had taught him, when he was seven and a half, at Cologne, a large city in Germany. Her parents first taught her what was normally expected from a child, but later Hensel was taught by tutors the aspects of music. Some notable teachers that Hensel studied under were Marie Bigot, Ludwig Berger, and Carl Friedrich Zelter. Hensel only performed once in public when she was twelve years old, from memory. Although she was very talented, Hensel’s father demanded that she never play music for a living, but maintain the role of a normal woman in their time. Hensel obeyed her father, but Felix Mendelssohn, her younger brother, was willing to help in her career. Mendelssohn was also musically talented and performed for the courts, sometimes playing Hensel’s works that she composed. Once when Mendelssohn was performing for Queen Victoria, she was very impressed and mentioned that the work â€Å"Italien† was her favorite. Mendelssohn then admitted that that was his sister’s work. Hensel often composed lieders, bagatelles, fugues, preludes, sonatas, and choral and instrumental ensemble music, showing her versatility of music that she could perform and compose. One of her more famous works; â€Å"Oratorium nach den Bildern der Bibel† was a cantata. Another example of Hensel’s compositions is one of her lieders, â€Å"Swan Song†. Beethoven, though partially deaf in his late twenties or early thirties, composed chamber music, sonatas, symphonies, songs, quartets and more. He was almost completely deaf when Beethoven wrote his third to eighth symphony. Many of Beethoven’s works are more famous than Hensel’s, but his most famous symphonies are the fifth and seventh symphonies. The many works that Hensel and Beethoven wrote were different than each other’s, but Beethoven is often known to help inspire the Romantic period composers. These two composers inspire many others to write and perform music throughout the world. There are many similarities between the two composers, even if Beethoven died only twenty-two years after Hensel was born. The two were great composers and musicians starting in childhood, increasing their knowledge of music early on. Though, they did not learn on their own. Many different teachers, composers, and musicians taught and influenced Hensel and Beethoven. These composers prospered greatly in their careers, expanding their knowledge more every day. Although Hensel and Beethoven have passed on, they will both leave a great footprint on music for generations to come. References Anonymous(n. d. ) Music History: Resource Center. Retrieved from http://academic. cengage. com/music/book_content/049557273X_wrightSimms_DEMO/index. html Anonymous(n. d. ) Facts about Beethoven. Retrieved from http://www. buzzle. com/articles/facts-about-beethoven. html Anonymous(n. d. ) Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, 1805-1847. Retrieved from http://lcweb2. loc. gov/diglib/ihas/loc. natlib. ihas. 200156440/default. html Anonymous(n. d. ) Biography: Beethoven’s Life. Retrieved from http://www. lvbeethoven. com/Bio/BiographyLudwig. html Estrella, E. (n. d. ) Profile of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Retrieved from http://musiced. about. com/od/famousmusicians1/p/fmendelssohn. htm? rd=1 Estrella, E. (n. d. ) Profile of Ludwig van Beethoven. Retrieved from http://musiced. about. com/od/classicalmusicians/p/beethoven. htm Estrella, E. (n. d. ) Music of the Romantic Period. Retrieved from http://musiced. about. com/od/historyofmusic/a/romanticmusic. htm? rd=1 How to cite Music Comparison: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Ludwig Van Beethoven, Essay examples

our town Essay Thesis Example For Students

our town Essay Thesis When I compared Our Town by Thorton Wilder and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams I noticed a lot of differences and very few similarities. I noticed differences in the roles that the mothers played in each of the stories, and the impact that the father had on the family. Another difference is the setting that each one of these stories takes place. Our town and The Glass Menagerie have a few similarities however it is much easier to point out the differences. The first difference that I noticed between the two stories was the different roles that the father played. In Our Town the fathers were the head of the family. They seemed to take on the role of disciplinarian and provider. In The Glass Menagerie the father has ran out on his family. Tom and Laura do not seem to have a very good remembrance of their father, which forces Tom to take over the roll of father. Toms mother pushes him to help provide for Laura who is disabled. Tom does not seem to be mature enough to take on the role of father figure, which leads him to be miserable most of the time. There is also a difference in the settings of the two stories. The Glass Menagerie takes place in a large city and the central setting is an apartment. In Our Town the setting is a small town where everyone knows each other. The number of characters also differs greatly. In Our Town there were about fifteen characters from many different families. In The Glass Menagerie there were four characters and the story centered around one family. The mothers in each of these stories are also very different. The mothers from Our Town are housewives who do not work. They take an active roll in their childrens lives but do not pry into their business. In The Glass Menagerie the mother is very nosy. She is constantly harassing Tom and causing distress within her household. In conclusion, Our Town and The Glass Menagerie are two very different stories. The settings in which each of these stories take place differ greatly, along with the roll each of the parents take in each of the

Life and Works of Rizal free essay sample

He continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, Spain, where he earned the degree of Licientiate in Medicine. He also attended the University of Paris in France and earned second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Having travelled the world extensively, Rizal became conversant in at least twenty-two languages. He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. These works fearlessly exposed the injustices committed by the Spanish civil and clerical officials in the Philippines amd spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries and reformist against more than 300 years of Spanish rule. Rizal was proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than violence revolution. But he was associated with the growing insurgency movement and declared an enemy of the state by the Spanish authorities particularly because of the publication of his novels. We will write a custom essay sample on Life and Works of Rizal or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He was deported to Dapitan in Zamboanga then incarcerated at Fort Santiago. When the Katipunan exploded into the full-blown revolution, the authorities were quick to incriminate him. After a mock trial, Rizal was convicted and sentence to die by firing squad at Bagubayan on December 30, 1896. Eventually, his martyred death proved to be the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine revolution and the downfall of the Spanish colonial rule.

Free Essays on Puritanism

PURITANISM AND THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY Puritans were a group of religious people who founded the colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1628, with dreams of creating â€Å"a city upon a hill† for Godly people like themselves. They had to deal with many obstacles in establishing the colony, such as Indians, disease, and people who simply refused to adhere to their beliefs. Puritanism was the basis for the government and local organization within this New England Colony. The Massachusetts Bay society revolved around Biblical principals to function efficiently. Thus, the Puritans of this New England colony established life in North America for a specific purpose, to create a true kingdom of God on earth. Puritan families and relationships had various similarities and differences in respect to modern day culture. Children were provided for at a young age, but then sent away to a world of apprenticeship and servitude. Much of their society revolved around Calvinistic teachings and social virtue, yet a number of their cultural ideas and laws would be considered quite outdated by today’s standards. Puritans had to deal with many agricultural and cultural problems in their new colony. Forming a new colony was by no means an easy transition and adjustment for these people. They were in a new land with new rules, new resources, and new neighbors. The colony faced a cold winter in shabbily built homes with a famine that led settlers to eat mussels and acorns to live. By spring, Puritans learned to depend on farming as a necessity for survival. Everyday consisted of planting crops, pulling out weeds and harvesting their food. Even young children were involved in the farming tasks and chores including animal care. To begin their new government, so that the new colony would thrive as a civilized society, the Puritans elected John Winthrop as their governor. Their new government was theocratic. The church and the law were technically... Free Essays on Puritanism Free Essays on Puritanism PURITANISM AND THE FOUNDING OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY Puritans were a group of religious people who founded the colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1628, with dreams of creating â€Å"a city upon a hill† for Godly people like themselves. They had to deal with many obstacles in establishing the colony, such as Indians, disease, and people who simply refused to adhere to their beliefs. Puritanism was the basis for the government and local organization within this New England Colony. The Massachusetts Bay society revolved around Biblical principals to function efficiently. Thus, the Puritans of this New England colony established life in North America for a specific purpose, to create a true kingdom of God on earth. Puritan families and relationships had various similarities and differences in respect to modern day culture. Children were provided for at a young age, but then sent away to a world of apprenticeship and servitude. Much of their society revolved around Calvinistic teachings and social virtue, yet a number of their cultural ideas and laws would be considered quite outdated by today’s standards. Puritans had to deal with many agricultural and cultural problems in their new colony. Forming a new colony was by no means an easy transition and adjustment for these people. They were in a new land with new rules, new resources, and new neighbors. The colony faced a cold winter in shabbily built homes with a famine that led settlers to eat mussels and acorns to live. By spring, Puritans learned to depend on farming as a necessity for survival. Everyday consisted of planting crops, pulling out weeds and harvesting their food. Even young children were involved in the farming tasks and chores including animal care. To begin their new government, so that the new colony would thrive as a civilized society, the Puritans elected John Winthrop as their governor. Their new government was theocratic. The church and the law were technically...

Biography of Charles Kettering, Inventor of the Electrical Ignition System

Biography of Charles Kettering, Inventor of the Electrical Ignition System The first electrical ignition system or electric starter motor for cars was invented by General Motors (GM) engineers Clyde Coleman and Charles Kettering. The self-starting ignition was first installed in a Cadillac on February 17, 1911. The invention of the electric starter motor by Kettering eliminated the need for hand cranking. The United States Patent #1,150,523, was issued to Kettering in 1915.   Kettering  founded the company Delco and headed research at  General Motors  from 1920 to 1947.   Early Years Charles was born in  Loudonville, Ohio, in 1876. He was the fourth of five children born to Jacob Kettering and Martha Hunter Kettering. Growing up he could not see well in school, which gave him headaches. After graduation, he became a teacher. He led scientific demonstrations for students on electricity, heat, magnetism, and gravity. Kettering also took classes at  The College of Wooster, and then transferred to  The Ohio State University. He still had eye problems, though, which forced him to withdraw. He then worked as foreman of a telephone line crew. He learned he could apply his electrical engineering skills on the job. He also met his future wife, Olive Williams. His eye problems got better, and he was able to go back to school. Kettering graduated from OSU in 1904 with an  electrical engineering  degree. Inventions Begin Kettering began working at a research laboratory at  National Cash Register. He invented an easy credit approval system, a precursor to todays credit cards, and the electric cash register, which made ringing up sales physically much easier for sales clerks all over the country.  During his five years at NCR, from 1904 to 1909, Kettering earned 23 patents for NCR.   Beginning in 1907, his NCR co-worker  Edward A. Deeds​  urged Kettering to improve the automobile. Deeds and Kettering invited other NCR engineers, including  Harold E. Talbott​, to join them in their quest. They first set out to improve the ignition.  In 1909, Kettering resigned from NCR to work full-time on automotive developments which included the invention of the  self-starting  ignition. Freon   In 1928, Thomas Midgley, Jr. and Kettering invented a Miracle Compound called Freon. Freon is now infamous for greatly adding to the depletion of the earths ozone shield. Refrigerators from the late 1800s until 1929 used the toxic  gases, ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as refrigerants. Several fatal accidents occurred in the 1920s because of methyl chloride leakage from  refrigerators. People started leaving their refrigerators in their backyards. A collaborative effort began between three American corporations, Frigidaire, General Motors, and DuPont to search for a less dangerous method of refrigeration. Freon represents several different chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are used in commerce and industry. The CFCs are a group of aliphatic organic compounds containing the elements carbon and fluorine, and, in many cases, other halogens (especially chlorine) and hydrogen. Freons are colorless, odorless, nonflammable, noncorrosive  gases  or liquids. Kettering died in November 1958.

Search-based Online Advertising Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Search-based Online Advertising - Thesis Example Search based advertising is a precursor to online purchase, and thus can make valuable information online. The rest of thesis aims to explore the market structure of search-based online advertising and economic aspects of it. Using economies of multi-sided platforms it will examine search-based advertising platforms.The thesis explores whether a single platform emerge in the end for search based online n the ranking of a company improve its quality.In this vein my thesis addresses the Division with in the online advertising industry pertaining to search advertising, display advertising, classified listing, internet e-mail based advertisement. The thesis will explore the effects of advertising on search result pages ,technology underneath search-based advertising ,keyword bidding system ,search-based platforms. Finally the thesis addresses the market structure of search-based advertising on Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Ask through user surveys. With in the discussion of economic factors affecting two-sided market structure there will an inclusion of determinants like the pricing of keywords ,role of indirect network effects ,size of smaller platforms , loop between the search and advertiser side and the role of aspects like CPC(cost per click) and CTR(Click through rate).Other matters include the effects of bid prices ,keyword ranking ,role of Latency .liquidity and "Sequential search" that creates a directional marketing (the directionality arises from the cognitive cost to a consumer of visiting sellers at the bottom of the list before visiting those at the top of the listing . Essentially my main emphasis remains upon the paradox of how : A) The internet can facilitate information search and B) How it can it can at the same time cause hindrance due to information overload' With the help of mixed methodological approach both qualitative and quantitative data is gathered to study the behavior of the online consumers towards the search based advertising attached with the product so that in the light of their behaviour an effective marketing strategy can be manipulated to successfully target them. The secondary analysis of data is conducted to get qualitative information about the concept of search based advertising and its importance and role in the online shopping. Moreover interviews are also conducted from the Internet Users belonging to different age groups so that their behaviours can be studied regarding the product value in online shopping. The data and information collected through these sources is calculated, analyzed, interpreted and discussed and finally the paper presents a way ahead for search based advertising.Only an in depth study of the online consumer behaviour can assure the success of a marketing project and in this regard there is nee d of such study that can clarify all the related issues and study the behaviours of the online buyers regarding search based online advertising.In this regard my research draws insights from people belonging to different age groups might have different views about search based advertising and takes into account their differences in perceptions. Proposed Literature Review The literature review will focus upon how the internet is emerging as a shopping destination and the role

Mastering the three world of information system Case Study

Mastering the three world of information system - Case Study Example When an organization has established its data execution plan, it should proceed to communicate the same to various departments. Network IT comes in handy because it enables the organization to organize its communication channels and messages in order to interact with all the stakeholders like the customers. It is practical for corporates to compile an inventory of all their data before they take any significant step that pertains to the inventory. Any communication or interaction about the data so collected must use certain network infrastructure that will enable the organization to convey information effectively and efficiently. After effective communication with all the clients and stakeholders, an organization can then undertake the fundamental business process in its Enterprise IT. For this reason, all the categories of IT are critical for any organization that plans to succeed in the modern world of technological

Natural Disaster Essay Example for Free

Natural Disaster Essay Abstract The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, is the deadliest natural disaster ever of this kind. Aside from a massive number of casualties, this tsunami caused heavy economic damage and severe destruction to the natural environment of stricken countries. Given the significant destruction and suffering, it resulted in massive international support through financial and humanitarian aid. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis and a better understanding of the causes, the impacts and actions that could have been taken to limit the damage. Introduction The December 26 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami ranks among the ten deadliest natural disasters ever recorded thus far with a death toll over 225 000 and thousands of individuals missing. The large tsunami waves were generated by a massive earthquake off the northwest coast of Sumatra Island in Indonesia (Rossetto 2007). Tsunami waves spread across the Indian Ocean, damaging the shores of countries near and far from the epicenter (Rossetto 2007). It produced considerable damage and its impact went beyond the toll of human casualties. It had widespread economical, environmental and psychological impacts. Among the worst hit regions were the countries in and around the eastern Indian Ocean. Such natural disaster causes tremendous human suffering and immediately solicited responses worldwide with significant financial support and humanitarian aid. Sequences of Events (Earthquake Tsunami) The 9.0 magnitude earthquake of 26 December 2004 that occurred off the northwest coast of Sumatra in Indonesia was the third largest earthquake ever recorded. With an epicenter located near the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the quake was generated as a result of the sliding of a portion of the India plate beneath the Burma plate (Risk Management Solution, 2006). The result was a fault rupture, displacing the seafloor (Figure 1) and a large volume of the ocean, triggering devastating waves that hit the coastline of 11 Indian Ocean countries (Bilham 2005). The tsunami waves travelled across the Indian Ocean with an average velocity of 640 km/h (Rossetto 2007). However, tsunami waves tend to behave differently in deep water than in shallow water (Rossetto 2007). Once the tsunami reaches shallow water along the coastline, the wave velocity decreases while its amplitude increases significantly from the mass amount of energy built by the wave, causing even more destructive waves and substantial inland inundation (Rossetto 2007). In Aceh, north of the island of Sumatra, wave height reached 24 meters once it hit the shores and rose up to 30 meters inland, with a maximum wave height recorded to be 60 meters (Paris 2007). Being the landmass closest to the epicenter of the earthquake, Aceh province was the hardest hit area from the eastward-moving tsunami followed by Sri Lanka because of non-existing landmass between it and the epicenter of the quake to protect the coastlines (Athykorala 2005). The fault rupture of the earthquake was in a north-south orientation, which meant that the strength of the tsunami was greatest in east-west direction (Athykorala 2005). Hence, despite being located near the epicenter, some regions escaped the worst from the tsunami given their position relative to the fault rupture. With this said, Somalia was hit harder than Bangladesh despite being farther away from the epicenter (Athykorala 2005). Depending on the distances involved, the tsunami could propagate up to hours before reaching some coastlines. Aceh, Nicobar and Andaman were among the first regions to feel the effect of the tsunami, eventually hitting coastal regions of Thailand, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania (Figure 2). At last, its effects were also detected along the west coast of North and South America, which includes Vancouver and British Columbia. Causes A tsunami is produced by a sudden vertical shift of the seafloor causing a displacement of a massive volume of water, usually an ocean. Depending on the size of the sea floor displacement, it will have a different impact on wave formation from the surface water. These displacements can be a result of underwater disturbances such as earthquake, volcanic eruption, meteorite impact and landslide (National Geographic). As for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake triggered it and caused an estimated 1600 km of fault line slipped about 15 meters along the zone where the Indian plate subducts beneath the Burma plate (Rossetto 2007). As the northern rupture continued, it transformed from a subduction (Figure 3) to a strike-slip fault; two plates slide pass one another in opposite direction. With this said, displacement caused by this earthquake generated a tsunami that ranks among the deadliest natural disasters ever occurred. Impacts Beyond the heavy toll of human lives, the Indian Ocean Tsunami has caused severe economical, environmental and psychological consequences, which will affect the regions for upcoming years. With 174 500 casualties, 51 000 missing and roughly 1.5 million displaced, the toll of human casualties from this tsunami has no modern historical equal (Risk Management Solution 2006). Among the countries hit by the tsunami, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India were left with the most serious damage and death tolls. The aftermath of the tsunami was even worse than anticipated with deaths recorded as far as 8000 km away from the epicenter, along the east coast of Africa. Thousands of individuals were carried away by the waves into the open sea and the ones who survived were left with no food or clean water and open wounds (National Geographic 2005). Given a high risk of famine and epidemic diseases, the level of death increased significantly (National Geographic 2005). With this said, given the extent of the disaster, it instantly spurred international support and assistance through financial and humanitarian aid for the people affected by the tsunami (National Geographic 2005) A humanitarian campaign was quickly put in place to provide temporary sanitation facilities, nutrition and fresh water to contain the spread of diseases (National Geographic 2005). The main economic impacts of the Indian Ocean Tsunami were the damage inflicted to the fishing and tourism industry. As a result of the tsunami, marine fishery and aquaculture harvests of affected nations were severely depressed (UKabc 2006). This was in part due to lack of fishing stocks, but also damage to necessary equipment such as fishing boats and gear (UKabc 2006). As a major economic activity and a provider of foreign exchange income, fishing also provided employment to a large span of individuals. This disaster lead to high income loss for coastal fishing communities that relied heavily on fishing seasons as their primary source of income. In addition, water surges and flooding (Figure 4) destroyed many important buildings and properties along the coasted cities that were affected, including touristic resorts (Risk Management Solution 2006). Although, most tourist infrastructures remained intact following the tsunami, tourism industry faced numerous cancellations (Rossetto 2007). Thus, the loss suffered by the fishing and tourism sector will have long-lasting economic consequences for these coastal regions. The tsunami impacts on the environment were both widespread and destructive (Figure 5). The main effect on the natural environment includes critical damage inflicted on the ecosystems from the salt-contamination of freshwater supplies and soil (Athykorala 2005). Seawater contaminated wells and invaded porous rocks on which stricken communities depended for water (Rossetto 2007). Hence, unless seawater can easily be pumped out, these communities were likely to depend on outside aid for water and food for upcoming months. In addition, an increased salt concentration in the soil will have a damaging effect on plants causing them to wilt and die (Athykorala 2005). As a result, some plantation sites were completely destroyed and would take several years before full recovery. This tsunami can have an immediate devastating impact on the psychological and social well being of individuals exposed to it. Such disaster results in tremendous destruction, but also creates concern for mental health of the survivors. There was great concern over the youngsters because children and adolescents are considered to be more vulnerable than adults to such traumatic events (Bhushan 2007). Within the first 6 months following it, 23-30% of children were diagnosed with full and persistent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorders (Bhushan 2007). This can impede with their psychological functioning, which is critical for their future development. Actions Although the tsunami could not be prevented, its impact could have been mitigated. Unlike earthquakes, tsunamis can be detected in advance from a Tsunami Warning System that uses a network of ocean-floor and surface sensors (Sausmarez 2005). However, such warning system did not exist in the Indian Ocean back in 2004, which left individuals of affected nations completely surprised by the tsunami (Sausmarez 2005). No effective communication infrastructure was available to warn population on the coastlines. Following this natural disaster, an important issue arises about the population’s education of warning signs and precautions that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of death during a tsunami. For instance, if individuals had a better understanding of tsunamis, it could have saved thousands of lives. For example, they should be able to recognize that a receding sea is an indication of impending danger (Athykorala 2005). With this said, improving public awareness could be beneficial in that it prepares them to react accordingly to protect their lives and lives of others. At a United Nations conference in 2005, an agreement was made upon establishing a Tsunami Warning System in the Indian Ocean (Sausmarez 2005). This system of warnings has been active since 2006 (Unescopress 2006). Conclusion The 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami ranks as the most devastating tsunami ever with over 225 000 deaths. Concerns resulting from this tsunami include damage inflicted on the natural environment, vegetation, buildings and other man-made structures, but more importantly on life. Although this event caused large economic and social consequences, it led to inevitable improvement and development of measures to reduce risk of life and economic losses. For instance, in order to reduce the vulnerability of individuals and properties on exposed coastlines, a warning system has been implemented in the Indian Ocean and will lead to improved communication in such situation. In addition, a lack of knowledge, preparedness and mitigation strategies also justifies the significant death tolls. Thus, program of mitigation and preparedness should be put into place in order to educate individuals to better cope when facing such a disaster. Finally, given that this tsunami has a return period of longer than 500 years; it is unlikely that a natural disaster of this magnitude will occur in the near future. Nevertheless, if it were to happen, these nations have the necessary protective measures to cope. Bibliography Top of Form Bottom of Form Athykorala, P., Resosudarmo, B. (December 01, 2005). The Indian Ocean Tsunami: Economic Impact, Disaster Management, and Lessons. Asian Economic Papers, 4, 1, 1-39. Top of Form Rossetto, T., Peiris, N., Pomonis, A., Wilkinson, S., Re, D., Koo, R., Gallocher, S. (January 01, 2007). The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004: observations in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Natural Hazards, 42, 1, 105-124. Top of Form Nirupama, N. (January 01, 2009). Socio-economic implications based on interviews with fishermen following the Indian Ocean tsunami. Natural Hazards, 48, 1, 1-9. De Sausmarez, N. (January 01, 2005). The Indian Ocean Tsunami. Tourism and Hospitality: Planning Development, 2, 1, 55-59. Paris, R., Lavigne F., Wassimer P. Sartohadi J. (2007). Coastal sedimentation associated with the December 26, 2004 tsunami in Lhok Nga, west Banda Aceh (Sumatra, Indonesia). Marine Geology 238 (1-4): 93-106 Bilham, Roger. A Flying Start, Then a Slow Slip. Science. Vol 308, No. 5725, 1126-1127. May 20, 2005. Top of Form Bhushan, B., Kumar, J. S. (May 01, 2007). Emotional Distress and Posttraumatic Stress in Children Surviving the 2004 Tsunami. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 12, 3, 245-257. Bottom of Form UKabc. (2006). Indian Ocean Tsunamis Devastate Fisherfolk. UK Agricultural Biodiversity Coalition. Retrived November 1, 2001, from http://www.ukabc.org/tsunamis.htm Risk Management Solution. (2006). Managing Tsunami Risk in the Aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake Tsunami. Retrived November 1, 2011, from http://www.disastersrus.org/emtools/tsunami/IndianOceanTsunamiReport.pdf National Geographic. (January 07, 2005). The Deadliest Tsunami in History? National Geographic News. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1227_041226_tsunami.html Unescopress. (2006). Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning system up and running. Building peace in the minds of men and women. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=33442URL_DO=DO_TOPICURL_SECTION=201.html National Geographic. (n.d). Tsunamis. National Geographic News. Retrieved November 1, 2001, from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/tsunami-profile/ USGC. (n.d). Magnitude 9.1 – Off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra. Science for a changing world. Retrieved November 1, 2001, from http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2004/eq_041226/neic_slav_l.html National Geographic. (n.d) Tsunami. National Geographic New. Retrieved November 1, 2001, from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/photos/tsunami-general/#/tsunami01-coastal-flooding_21847_600x450.jpg USGS. (n.d). Details of Tsunami Generation. Pacific Coastal Marine Science Center. Retrieved November 1, 2001, from http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/tsunami/sumatraEQ/model.html

Diversity in the Classroom: A Cognitive Call to Action Essay -- Educati

Diversity in the Classroom: A Cognitive Call to Action The United States is expecting drastic changes in the diversity of its population over the next 50 years. Minorities will become a larger portion of the country’s population. Changes will need to be made to the way our country operates, especially in education. New, innovative and inclusive ways of teaching will replace traditional methods. For these new changes to go smoothly, steps will be taken to implement diverse populations in schools, helping students benefit from the values of other cultures while learning to live along side each other. The competitive and biased curriculums will take back seat to new ones that cater to all members of the population, leaving behind disruptive and antisocial behaviors. And finally, the teacher population will become as diverse as the student counterpart, creating more chances for students to identify with their leaders. This research paper will identify problematic situations for educational diversity as well as examine the effec tiveness of diverse populations in classroom settings with respect to the development of student's world skills and understanding, openness and tolerance of diversity. What do we mean when we say diversity in the classroom? Diversity in the classroom is the different cultural make-up of a student body. Right now, it is estimated that by 2050, the non-Hispanic White portion of the U.S. population is projected to decrease from approximately 72% to less than 53%. The African American population is expected to increase from under 13% to over 15% and the Hispanic population is expected to increase from 11% to 24%. As well, the Asian and Pacific Islander population is expected to increase from 4% to ... ...ool and high school. I have overcome these in my own personal and professional endeavors, but it can be hard to do for young students. Not only was my school majority white students, but the schools it fed into were quite the opposite, creating drastic contrast. Montgomery Blair High School, not 20 minutes, prides itself in being one the most diverse schools in the nation (Hadidi, A.24). My school was made up of kids that were all exactly or mostly the same. When it comes down to it, although I had the most caring teachers in the world, I learned very little about life and our nation’s great diversity as a student there. The nation is changing and the school systems throughout the country need to adapt their curriculums to handle it. Through new strategies and responsive teaching, teachers will pave the way for a heterogenous, successful and peaceful society. Diversity in the Classroom: A Cognitive Call to Action Essay -- Educati Diversity in the Classroom: A Cognitive Call to Action The United States is expecting drastic changes in the diversity of its population over the next 50 years. Minorities will become a larger portion of the country’s population. Changes will need to be made to the way our country operates, especially in education. New, innovative and inclusive ways of teaching will replace traditional methods. For these new changes to go smoothly, steps will be taken to implement diverse populations in schools, helping students benefit from the values of other cultures while learning to live along side each other. The competitive and biased curriculums will take back seat to new ones that cater to all members of the population, leaving behind disruptive and antisocial behaviors. And finally, the teacher population will become as diverse as the student counterpart, creating more chances for students to identify with their leaders. This research paper will identify problematic situations for educational diversity as well as examine the effec tiveness of diverse populations in classroom settings with respect to the development of student's world skills and understanding, openness and tolerance of diversity. What do we mean when we say diversity in the classroom? Diversity in the classroom is the different cultural make-up of a student body. Right now, it is estimated that by 2050, the non-Hispanic White portion of the U.S. population is projected to decrease from approximately 72% to less than 53%. The African American population is expected to increase from under 13% to over 15% and the Hispanic population is expected to increase from 11% to 24%. As well, the Asian and Pacific Islander population is expected to increase from 4% to ... ...ool and high school. I have overcome these in my own personal and professional endeavors, but it can be hard to do for young students. Not only was my school majority white students, but the schools it fed into were quite the opposite, creating drastic contrast. Montgomery Blair High School, not 20 minutes, prides itself in being one the most diverse schools in the nation (Hadidi, A.24). My school was made up of kids that were all exactly or mostly the same. When it comes down to it, although I had the most caring teachers in the world, I learned very little about life and our nation’s great diversity as a student there. The nation is changing and the school systems throughout the country need to adapt their curriculums to handle it. Through new strategies and responsive teaching, teachers will pave the way for a heterogenous, successful and peaceful society.

What Integrity Means

The term â€Å"integrity† is considered polysemantic meaning it has a number of different meanings. Integrity is the most important terms used in virtue ethics, music, philosophy, for example. Integrity is used in the scientific and technological fields. Therefore, this term is often puzzling and perplexing. Often, people use integrity as a synonym to â€Å"moral† trying to show that person is acting with integrity. However, researchers noted that â€Å"people of integrity† may act immorally, even if they are unaware of their immoral actions. Firstly, modern world suggests that any person is subjected to many conflicting desires and situations. Thus, integrity is defined as the ability to make reasonable and valid judgments, conclusions about the importance and necessity of particular commitments. Integrity suggests that a person should act out of the strongest desire and with deliberation to choose between more or less desirable actions. In other words, integrity always suggests discriminating between important desires. For example, a student may discard studying preferring go to the party. In such situation student is not a person of integrity as higher order desire was endorsed over fun. Person of integrity realizes the importance of first-order desires and he won’t fall victim to conflicting desires. Further, integrity is defined as ability to resist genuine temptation meaning that a person is ready successful integrate the self. Secondly, in computer and related sciences integrity means that computer database is able to maintain power and resist to errors, integrity of defense systems suggests that system isn’t breached. Thirdly, in music, musical work has integrity if its musical structure is provided with completeness which is coordinated and has related music ideas. Simply saying, integrity in music means that music piece is whole, intact and pure. Fourthly, Integrity is associated with geography. Then, people may think of integrity of wilderness region, different existing ecosystems, art kinds and forms, and even people may think of computerized integrity. Integrity is applied mostly to the objects and it suggests the qualities of purity and wholeness an object. These meanings are often applied to people. Speaking about regions, integrity means that a region isn’t corrupted by negative effects of development and its advances. Region of integrity suggests wilderness and uncorrupted or virgin. Finally, intellectual, professional and artistic integrity are often spoken about. Nevertheless, integrity has found its application mostly in philosophy meaning human’s general character. In philosophy, when a person acts with integrity on a particular occasion it means that integrity is explained as broader feature of person’ character. There is a claim that person should possess integrity. Integrity suggests that a person is in harmony with himself, that he acts either morally or immorally. It means that integrity is applied equally to people things because integrity suggests a way to keep the self uncorrupted. Integrity is often associated with commitment, and some researchers stress that the term ‘commitment’ is used to cover intentions and promises of human expectations and, what is more important, human trusts. It means that any person may be committed to different kinds of things at the same time. Such person is integrated person. Summing up, integrity is found in many aspects of human’s life. Integrity is defined as personal virtues meaning that person’s ability to take care of the self shows whether a person is integrated. Moreover, persons of integrity treat equally other people’s matters. Abilities to overcome temptation and to subordinate first-order and second-order desires are considered the keys for a person to be considered of integrity.

Discuss expectancy effects in research

Psychological experimentation is a process aimed to prove that certain types of behavior are predictable under particular situations or treatment conditions. These treatment conditions are manipulated in such a way that the setting created by the experimenters will invoke participants to display behavior towards the independent variable in regularity. This, in turn, will verify the experimenters’ hypotheses regarding the behavior in question. Hence, through experimentation, causal inferences between the independent and dependent variables can be reached.However, experimentations do not always go as planned. There are times when experimenters overlook various factors that may wrongly or unnecessarily affect the results of the experiment. These factors are known as extraneous variables, variables that are not the main focus of the study yet may produce variations in behavior. When extraneous variables become frequent and change systematically across different conditions of an ex periment, results can be confounded. One of the more popularly known consequences of extraneous variables is the Placebo Effect.Hansen and Myers (2002) explain that this is a type of social extraneous variable wherein participants react to the independent variable according to how they expect the independent variable to affect them (p. 196). Since the behavior of the participants is based on their expected effects, changes that occur may less likely be due to the independent variable. This indeed lowers the internal validity, thereby causing the results of the study to be invalid and inaccurate.In other circumstances, the experimenters are exactly the ones creating venues for extraneous variables to affect experimentations. Like the Placebo effect’s consequence, Experimenter Effect decreases internal validity in such a way that the extraneous variable causes changes in the dependent variable, not the independent variable of the experiment. This happens when the experimenters behave in a certain manner when dealing with participants (Hansen & Myers, 2002, p. 198).This may trigger participants to respond in a particular way between or among treatment conditions in order to fulfill the experimenters’ non-verbal cues. Fortunately, this effect may be controlled through a method called Double-blind experiment, say Hansen and Myer. This technique—when combined with consistency of instructions and processes, and objectivity of observations—can prevent the decrease in internal validity for both the experimenters and participants are not aware or are â€Å"blinded† with regard to the treatment condition they are handling or partaking, respectively (2002, p. 02).Since both parties have no idea on the nature of the treatment conditions they are assigned to, no bias or extraneous variables shall therefore arise and results produced shall be correct. For instance, it is deemed that caffeine keeps individuals alert and awake. This may be fu rther tested through an experiment, with a hypothesis which states that caffeine can improve night driving for tired drives.The independent variable here is the presence or absence of caffeine in the coffee drank by the participants while the dependent variable is their performance in a car-racing video game, specifically their recorded speed after three laps. In order for both the experimenters and the participants to respond without bias, the Double-blind Method can be applied. Given that coffee does ward off drowsiness and stimulate attentiveness, what remains to be critical is the effect of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee on performance.Since the participants do not actually know if the coffee they are to drink has caffeine in it or not, they cannot behave based on what they think is expected from them. Likewise, the experimenters shall not be able to give indications or implications regarding the nature of the treatment condition the participants are in since they are also unaware of this. Thus, if the participants performed better subsequent to drinking caffeinated coffee or vice versa, experimenters will be sure that the presence or absence of coffee is responsible for this and not an extraneous variable.

#FreelancerFriday #3 - Maggie Lyons, Editor

#FreelancerFriday #3 - Maggie Lyons, Editor #FreelancerFriday #3 - Maggie Lyons, Editor â€Å"You want to make a piece of writing absolutely shine, but you have to be very careful not to squash the writers’ voice. If you destroy the writer’s voice you shouldn’t be editing.†Maggie Lyons is an editor and author of children’s fiction of Welsh extraction based in Virginia. With a background editing for Harvard University Press and Palgrave Macmillan, she spoke to us about her diplomatic approach to editing, and her experience being on the other side of the editor’s pen.–REEDSY What was it like starting as an editor in academic publishing?MAGGIE LYONS I got to edit an enormous variety of disciplines: everything from medieval history to an astronomy course. In the academic world a lot of disciplines can be edited by people who don’t have a degree in that subject. There are a few that can’t be - I’d have never agree to edit a course on relativity - but a lot can. Publishers trust that the academic writing the book is the ultimate expert, and that the editor’s job is not to check every fact in the book. I could do developmental editing for British History, Medieval History, there was a course on Churchill where I made some suggestions as well.When you’re talking about an academic volume that has multiple authors all contributing a chapter, I would not do developmental editing. For example, I’ve worked on books for Harvard University Press. By the time the manuscript gets to me the developmental editing has been done, and it’s been done by an academic in that subject, often someone cont ributing a chapter to that book. But the copy editor or line editor for an academic publisher like HUP wouldn’t do the developmental or content editing.REEDSY Do you have a process for working through a new project?MAGGIE LYONS Absolutely. The process is different depending on if I’m editing for an individual private client or a publisher. If I’m editing something for a private client, we start off with a brief discussion of the document to be edited, a contract goes back and forth, administrative things are involved, etc. Before I even accept the manuscript I’ll want to see a couple of sample pages so that I can see the amount of work involved, and obviously my fee is then based on the level or work involved. All that administrative and judgemental stuff comes first.I rarely ever edit hard-copy, I rarely mark-up paper. I much prefer to work online. I find it leads to better work - I pick up on things much more accurately when I work online. I have done work on paper, but that’s becoming very much a thing of the past. Some companies still do it, marking up everything in red ink, but that’s very unusual these days.I’ll look over the manuscript and let the writer or p ublishing house know how long it’ll take me to do. If I spot things that may be problematic, I need an answer from the writer before I even start editing. I go through the manuscript twice - I do a first and second pass, which could mean 80,000 words twice over, but I find it necessary. I’ll then put it through a spell check, and it goes back to the client. Almost always when I’m editing I put in a lot of comments and queries for the writer that need to be addressed. We get all the loose ends tied up and problems solved, and then we’ll finalise the manuscript. There’s a fourth pass through before it goes back to the client for submission.In terms of writing for a publishing house it’s slightly different - I’ll do the two passes and the spell-check, but someone else presents the author with my queries. When I work with a publisher I don’t have direct contact with the author. It’s unfortunate because that direct content te nds to give much better results.REEDSY What are some of things that need to be queried? That you can’t fix by yourself.MAGGIE LYONS For example, I was editing a manuscript by an author with HUP who was talking about places in central Asia. They had used different spellings for the same location throughout the text. So I had to check which one was correct, which do you prefer to use - he knows which one will be best, whether it’s less accents or more accepts, and so on. They have to be the one to decide that.REEDSY What are some common mistakes people make with respect to structure?MAGGIE LYONS The first thing that comes to mind is logic - sometimes sentences don’t flow logically, you need to move a sentence to the beginning rather than the end. You’re looking for things that might give the wrong meaning because of the way that they’re structured.REEDSY Is that the same for fiction? More difficult?MAGGIE LYONS I wouldn’t say more difficult, I would say you’re taking a different approach. By nature, fiction is going to involve things like plot and characterisation and points of view; you have to know how to address those differently to the issues you might have in non-fiction. It’s a different set of rules.REEDSY Is it difficult editing fiction while preserving the voice of a writer? Like, correcting problems while retaining stylistic inconsistencies.MAGGIE LYONS Dialogue will not be grammatically correct because people do not speak grammatically correctly! You want to make dialogue in fiction as natural as possible, so if there are grammatical mistakes you leave them in - it’s like hallowed ground. If everyone spoke grammatically perfect English you’d have rather boring dialogue; everyone would be the same person. That’s just one of the areas where fiction is very different from non-fiction - you’re going to have that off-the-chart stuff, while in non-fiction you can make everyone sound absolutely perfect. This is the difference between editors who specialise in either fiction or non-fiction.I’ve published children’s books myself, so I’ve seen that side as a fiction writer. When I published them I had an editor of my own, because no writer can edit themselves well - it’s psychological, you don’t want to see the mistakes you’ve made. You can’t deal with it. Itâ€℠¢s always best to have an outsider look at these things for you.REEDSY Can you talk more about being an editor undergoing editing yourself?MAGGIE LYONS I found the experience difficult for myself. I am a professional editor, I had a few ideas of my own with which my publisher’s editor did not agree - I went through a hard time with all of that. For one thing the process when you’re writing fiction is very exhausting; you seem multiple revisions, coming back to you and back again, which gets to be very tiring. Especially when you’ve already spent a lot of time writing the darn thing, and now you’re going over and over it again. It got to the point where I didn’t want to see this wretched story anymore.One of the problems is when you’re working closely with a writer you have to remember that this piece of work is their baby. If baby has an orange nose, how is the editor going to deal with that? You can’t just say â€Å"Your baby is an abomination† - you have to get the parent to realise they should be feeding the baby a few less carrots. Editors have to be diplomats. 99% of the t ime they’re right. The trick isn’t what they’re saying, but the way they’re saying it. The author is going to accept your advice much more easily if your communication and diplomacy skills are top-notch. But if you come in with a heavy hand you’re going to develop an adversarial relationship which is really death to working well.It’s much more of a partnership in the developmental or content edit stage, where the editor wants to help the writer be the best writer they can be. There’s less of that in the line-editing stage - when it comes to grammar, it’s either wrong. It’s less a suggestion, it’s more whether you want to put out a grammatically correct book, or an incorrect book.REEDSY And where do copyeditors sit on that spectrum?MAGGIE LYONS In a way, the writer is not the copyeditors client; the reader is the copyeditors client. What the editor and writer ares trying to do together is make everything as flowy and comprehensible for the reader’s sake. The goal is to create the best product for the reader.REEDSY So when preparing to work with you, what can an author do for you, as an editor?MAGGIE LYONS Before going to an editor, the writer of a work of fiction needs to go over a manuscript with a fine-tooth comb, and also to have submitted it to a critique group so that you’ve had the benefit of other people’s opinions on the whole thing. There can be years of work put into manuscripts before they reach an editor.There are many people who write, and they have wonderful ideas that should be in print - but they don’t have a good grasp of grammar. We expect to edit that - we call that mechanical editing. But their ideas and their style is something that will come from the writer, although a good editor can help with that. The copyeditor is the one that will smooth out those ruffles. There’s a mantra for copy editors: Comprehensibility, clarity, correctness, consistency, and concision.You want to make a piece of writing absolutely shine, but you have to be very careful not to squash the writers’ voice. If you destroy the writer’s voice you shou ldn’t be editing - that’s when you don’t want to obey all the rules in the book. You have to treasure a writer’s voice, especially a strong voice.–After our conversation, Maggie very kindly followed up with some comments on the degree to which exercising judgement makes all the difference in editing stylistic writing, especially fiction.–â€Å"In terms of what being a good or bad editor means, I’d like to add that being overzealous with the rule book can make pablum of a text or destroy the author’s intentions. For example, in a work of fiction, when writers want to intensify the dramatic action, they may wish to use use less commas and/or periods (full stops) and write more fragmented content. An editor who is determined to correct what seems to be sloppy style and grammar could slow down the momentum the writer has carefully built, or destroy it all together. In an academic or business context, an overzealous editor could re place all the technical jargon with standardized terminology (and at the risk of imposing the wrong meaning). When a book or a document is intended to be read by professionals serving a particular industry, the copy editor would be wise to retain the terminology the readers know and understand, regardless of whether its jargon.Good editors will respect a writer’s voice and not try to write the content in their own style. They’ll also be flexible with rules and willing to negotiate with the writer on arguable points. Points of editorial style are frequently negotiable. Points of grammar, however, much less so.I also do ESL editing (English as a second language) for clients whose mother tongue is not English. That may require some creative thinking! But I am in close touch with those clients and have plenty of opportunity to make sure I have interpreted their meaning correctly. Sometimes it can be quite a challenge because the clients have difficulty in explaining exactl y what they mean! But I love that kind of challenge.†

A Study of the Events That Motivated My Identity

A Study of the Events That Motivated My Identity â€Å"I’m disappointed†, said my father after he saw the paper my teacher sent with my horrible test grade. I’ve always looked up to my father, so when he told me those words felt the shame piercing my soul. However, presently I am a hardworking person who has come far in school. The geeky glasses and pony tail add to my school girl look. Getting superior grades in school is one of my main priorities and it has been effective since I graduated in the top percent at my school. I’ve come far as a result of the dedication I put into my schoolwork. Throughout my life, I experienced many things that have that shaped who I am today, but that shameful event had the greatest impact on the person I’ve become. It taught me not to take things for granted and to always weight my options. In sixth grade they informed us of a state test that the students were required to take. We were told of its importance and difficulty. All my friends and classmates spent that year preparing while I passed the time watching TV and playing on the computer. I believed that I didn’t need to know any more information than what I knew in order to pass. I would say â€Å"Ill study tomorrow whenever my parents peeved about reviewing. When the day came, I sat down in that cold room and made a terrible realization; it was impossible to answer any of the questions. I just stared blankly at the clock and watched time pass while everyone around me completed the exam. When the results came back they reflected the horror I went through that day. My teacher became disappointed and sent a note to my parents. I let everyone down. The next year, I was forced to take remedial classes while my friends took classes like art or played outside. I stayed home and studied every day in order to retak e and pass the test. It was embarrassing that I acted carelessly and thought too high of myself. Consequently, I faced the consequences. That shameful experience taught me many valuable things. It helped me understand that I need to pay attention to the little things in life because they can impact our lives. I realized that I needed to work harder if I wanted a better future. Now I have a greater sense of my goals and priorities and no longer give up on my goals as easily as before. I work harder towards the things I want to achieve and try to focus more on my school work. These attributes are what helped me get accepted into my dream university and in am in one of the best colleges of the states with a scholarship. Everyone is made up of the experiences they faced. Events in our lives, whether large or small, shape the way we are. A shameful incident that marks who I am today was failing my exam at a young age. It made me into an intellectual student who is more focused on accomplishing her goals. It proved to me that we always learn from our past and our mistakes for we are the sum of our experiences and tomorrow we will become more than we are today.

Support or against individual's rights to affordable health care Essay

Support or against individual's rights to affordable health care - Essay Example Under the study of ethics in philosophy, utilitarianism evaluates the concept of right and wrong in reference to pleasure (Sandel, 15, 2007). According to this theory, actions that enhance pleasure in human life are right. Therefore, this principle implicates that correctness relies purely on pleasurable acts. This theory advocates for pleasurable acts within society. Happiness in society reflects directly as correctness (Sandel, 17, 2007). This theory also asserts that error associates to the deeds that reverse happiness. Wrong therefore constitutes that acts that deprive humans of happiness. According to this theory, happiness has an ultimate objective of pleasure (Sandel, 15, 2007). It amounts to utmost satisfaction of the general society. Therefore, pain is entirely absent in this atmosphere. Such a society exemplifies the concept of right amongst the people. This is because right attaches proportionally to happiness. Societies upholding unhappiness exemplify a pronounced level o f wrong. Utilitarianism is a morality theory that manifests intense emphasis on mental pleasures (Sandel, 18, 2007). According to this theory, psychological or mental pleasures have more permanence than bodily pleasures. In most circumstances, the mental pleasures induce happiness and satisfaction to the body. Each individual should have access to affordable healthcare. ... In the utilitarianism principle, pleasure ought to prevail from an individual’s level to the societal level. This is an indication that humans within society ought to uphold pleasure for themselves as well as for others. Therefore, they ought to manifest utmost consideration of the interests of others (Sandel, 18, 2007). Policy implementers should therefore consider the interests of every member of society. Upon provision of affordable healthcare to every member of society, utmost pleasure would be attained. This would definitely uphold a sense of right in the society’s morality. Current trends in public medical services exemplify a sense of wrong in society. This is due to the deprived pleasure amongst the incapacitated individuals. Due to their dismal income levels, they do not access ideal healthcare. This is an evident feature of wrong in the morality of society. Individuals have been deprived of pleasure, happiness and satisfaction. Therefore, it is a rightful mora lity to provide access to affordable health care to every person in society. Libertarianism Libertarianism is an additional theory in philosophical ethics and morality. It has a different perspective from the Utilitarianism theory. Scholars under this theory criticize the role of government regulations in the economy (Sandel, 49, 2007). They advocate for free markets within society. This amounts to a society exercising utmost liberty. Individuals have the capacity to suit their needs with their assets. Therefore, possession of any holding would grant an individual to pursue his or her personal objective. Despite of the freedom, individuals ought to observe protection of other people’s rights (Sandel, 49, 2007). This implicates that the society ought to uphold

The Value of Life Coaching in Uncertain Economic Times Article

The Value of Life Coaching in Uncertain Economic Times - Article Example In fact, everyone tries to maximize his or her benefits at the expense of others since the resources available for the affluent metropolitan lifestyle of the middleclass are scarce and costly. How could one achieve things and conquer life without compromising on lifestyle and personal affluence Once again, the world is facing a financial recess with all its severities and retrogressive effects on the lives of the hard-working people from around the world as it occurred at the time of the Great Depression. Share markets are collapsing. National economies are being bankrupted. The employed looses his/her job on one fine morning and finds nothing for subsistence and survival. How could one still think of a successful career and what could be done for guaranteeing a life with dignity The sophisticated efforts of human resource development that aims to address the complexities life in twenty first century has led to the spawning of innovations such as life coaching. Life coaching enables one to churn one's own life in difficult times with the help of a trained professional as it becomes necessary to 'born again' in order to fight back against the vicissitudes of life in the new millennium. Life coaching not only brings about changes in ones life that could provide him with a place in the class of the fittest that are capable of survival but also empower the trained to sustain such desired changes. Life coaching enhances both physical and mental capabilities and potentials in order to make one competent enough to be successful in all the spheres of life ranging from material to spiritual. Therefore, eminent theorists such as Zeus and Skiffington define life coaching as 'structured and process-driven relationship between a trained professional and an individual to achieve valuable and sustainable changes in life'. Life coaching as a tool of self-realization in this world is designed to assist persons who want to become No.1s at multiple arenas of life such as career, education, relationships, status, health and happiness. It is important to note that life coaching is sought after by professionals and white-collar employees who always seek to go beyond where they are actually placed in and acquire skills that they presently do not have. Significantly, life coaching does not see life in its parts but validates it as something qualitatively and quantitatively greater than its parts. The strength of life coaching lies in the fact that it is a holistic approach towards solving difficult problems in life. One cannot solve the problems s/he encounters at one particular field of life alone since living difficulties are interrelated and interdependent. Therefore, life coaching advocates a combination of techniques and solutions while encountering a particular hardship in life. To be precise, life coac hing is not merely solving one or another problem faced by a person but reforms and renovates a person and redefines his/her existence. One who undergoes such an experience will not be infested by the residues of the 'old' life but will be radiating with the energies of new life. One who gets life coaching could substantially alter his/her abilities, attitudes, values, emotions, and aspirations. Thus, a change from within would lead the person to emancipation and empowerment in the social setting s/he is happened

What is the best way to motivate employees to perform better Essay

What is the best way to motivate employees to perform better - Essay Example The other school of thought is that workers are motivated to perform better by internal motivating factors, such as achievement, enjoyment, a sense of competence, and personal loyalty to employees, which are factors that drive employees to work better or harder (intrinsic motivation) (Linder, 1998: p6). What all have in common, however, is that whether external or internal, rewards play an essential role in job satisfaction for the employee. When examining the internal factors that motivate employees, it has been found that the behaviour of employees is linked to attitudes and that the motivation for employees is not solely dependent on money (Lindner, 1998: p7). Internal factors of motivation consist of variables that are directly associated with the work of team members with such dimensions as challenging work environments, autonomy, and responsibility being closely linked with intrinsic motivation of employees. Indeed, interesting work has been identified as one of the most important internal factors of motivation, while having a sense of ownership concerning the work and output also acts as a major motivating factor. There is no clear agreement on where the responsibility for providing these set of motivating factors comes from, however. This is in line with Lindners (1998: p7) idea that these motivating factors differ within the organizational context that the employee works in. Under a ‘rewards’ system, it is clear that it is up to the management to provide motivation for employees. Longenecker (2011: p11) states that managers are responsible for motivating employees to use their talents and energy more willingly by encouraging ownership through maintenance of productive relationships and developing trust with individual employees. Lindner (1998: p) also identifies managers as being responsible for motivating their employees, noting that they should ensure that the work

Swot And Marketing Analysis Of Philip Morris International Marketing Essay

Swot And Marketing Analysis Of Philip Morris International Marketing Essay SWOT analysis helps one to fine out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization or a company. Strength and weakness are internal to organization whereas opportunities and threats are external. Strength and weakness both related to internal environment of organizations but opportunities and threats are the outsiders and can be evaluated using PESTLE analysis. The followings are the Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Philip Morris International. Strengths: Strong finance: The Company has a base of strong financial situation. According to its corporate website, its operating income in 2008 was $10,284 million, and its net earnings were 6,890. There was an increase as the same for the year 2007 was $8,894 and 6,038 respectively. Well established Brands: The Company produces famous brands like Marlboro, LM, Chesterfield, Philip Morris, Parliament and Virginia Slims. When the product establishes itself as a brand there is a less need of spending money on its promotion. Strong manpower and employees: The Company boasts of more than 75,000 employees throughout the globe from different culture and ethnicity. With the variety in their workforce there is a variety of ideas and concepts, which can be beneficial for the survival in the global environment. Strong Management team: the company under the chairmanship of Mr. Louis C. Camillieri has a strong and efficient management team. David Bernick , a senior Vice president and General counsel is university of Chicago, law graduate, Andrà © Calantzopoulos , chief operating officer ,Kevin Click, chief information officer and Doug Dean, research and development make the strong management team of the company. Leading Markets: The Company boasts of leading 11 markets out of the top 30 international markets. That is equivalent to occupying 33% of total top market shares. This is one of the strength of the company. These are the basic strengths of the company, a strong financial condition with plummeting profits, well established brand names of the product, skilled, well trained and diverse work force, a strong leading management team and the huge share in top international markets. Weaknesses: As far as a weakness of the company is concerned the litigations seem to be the only weakness. Government policy on the promotion and sale of tobacco related product stops the company from aggressive marketing and promotion of its products. It is the weakness of the company. Opportunity: Increasing tobacco market: Although anti tobacco activists are raising their voices against the production and distribution of tobacco, the tobacco market is still lucrative. It raises billions of pounds as revenue to the government as well as the producers. Advantage of globalization: Globalization offers the company an opportunity to take an advantage of cheap labour cost and cheap production cost offered by third world countries. Factories established in China, Nepal offers the company cheap production of its products hence huge profits. Mergers and collaborations: The Company tied its knot with Altria and it recently announced its partnership with fortune Tobacco Corporation. These kinds of mergers and collaboration offer the company an opportunity to expand its market share. Threats: Anti Tobacco activists: The Company has remained a most controversial company because anti tobacco activists have always criticized the tobacco company for being responsible to the death resulting from smoking. For example, activists in Philippines raised their voices against the merger of fortune Tobacco Corporation with Philip Morris. They have feared this merger can draw more smokers in Philippines. (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/02/25/10/anti-tobacco-group-expects-intensified-marketing-philip-morris-deal 25/03/2010) Government legislations: The governments rule of banning the sales of tobacco related products to people below certain age limits and other rules related to smoking ban on public places can reduce the sales of tobacco. For example research in UK shows that number of smokers has reduced after smoking ban in public places and after the age limit for the sale of tobacco has been set. Public Awareness: People are more aware about the consequences of tobacco consumption because of the advertisement of anti tobacco activists. This has resulted in the reduction of sales in many markets. Strength and weaknesses are considered as internal factors whereas opportunities and threats are considered as External factors. Basically strengths and weaknesses of an organization are related to people, resources, innovation and ideas, marketing, operation and finance, whereas opportunities and threat are associated to the factors that organizations find hard to control sometimes. They are political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental environment in which the organization exists. Now lets examine the external factors of Philip Morris International. Political environment: (http://www.executivehm.com/media/media-news/infographics/091117-EHM-Smoking.png, on 25th April 2010) The details above show that by the year 2009 there are 44 countries with active smoking ban. The data also shows that more than 1 billion people are protected by smoke free laws. These laws mean reduction of sales for the company. The company can either promote its products in these markets or have their sales restricted by severe laws. For example, they do not allow people below 18 to buy cigarettes in England and Wales. They have increased the age limit from 16 1st of October 2007. Politicians are always trying to seek public favour and by introducing laws like smoking ban and binge drinking ban or increasing tax for products like these they are trying to catch public sentiment. These kind of political activities are although favourable to general public, they are not at all favourable for a company like Philip Morris, whose revenues are based on the sales of its tobacco related products. Economical: There is not much difference to Philip Morris International due to the recession. Its profits did not plummet heavily even though the world was hit by economic downturn. Following table show its financial data. (in millions of dollars except per share data)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2008 %  Change   Net revenues   $62,080   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $63,640   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (2.5)% Cost of sales   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  9,022   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   9,328   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (3.3)  Ã‚   Excise taxes on products     Ã‚   37,045   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  37,935   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (2.3) Gross profit   Ã‚   16,013   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   16,377   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (2.2)   Operating income     Ã‚   10,040   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10,248   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (  2.0) Net earnings     Ã‚  Ã‚     6,342   Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6,890   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (8.0) Basic earnings per share   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3.25   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      3.32   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (2.1) Diluted earnings per share Source: Philip Morris Webpage Sociological: Being criticized as a main contributor of smoking related deaths in the World, Philip Morris International has to do a lot to cope up with the sociological issues. Therefore their social responsibility activities are directed to these five areas of society, extreme poverty and hunger, environmental sustainability and living conditions in rural communities, domestic violence, and disaster relief. The company has spent billions of pounds for charity purpose to restore its tarnished image. Legal: Philip Morris had to suffer heavy loss due to several legal proceeding that it had to go through as people blamed of killing people. It has a history of being sued by people, distributors or companies. For example, 16 wholesalers filed legal action in a federal court in Tennessee claiming that Philip Morriss wholesale leaders program 2003 constitutes price discrimination and attempts to monopolize. (Financial Times of London, 8th July 2003.) To cope up with these kinds of legal issues, the company has its own legal department that deals with all the legal issues associated with the company. Environmental: Environment is a hot topic in present day world. The problem of thinning of ozone layer or the global warming draws the attention of each and every organization. Most of the organizations have designed their social responsibility programme associating themselves with the environmental issues. Philip Morris international too has done the same. They have set up performance goals for their energy use, water use, and waste water discharge, waste to be sent to landfills and waste to be recycled. The following table show their goals. Source: Philip Morris website can be accessed at http://www.pmusa.com/en/cms/Responsibility/Reducing/Reducing_Our_Environmental_Impact/default.aspx, on 26th March 2010. Competitive analysis using Porters 5 Forces model. Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School developed a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development. According to him an attractive industry has all the forces he has developed works for the overall profitability of the industry. The five forces of Porter are, Competitive rivalry Threat of substitute products Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of customers Bargaining power of suppliers In case of Philip Morris, he too has competitive rivalry. He occupies 15.6 percent of the total market share. The rest is occupied by his competitors. It is for the same reason, Philip Morris is focussed on promoting new products. To beat its competitors, it has developed a strong social responsibility plan along with modification of its products. The launch of smoke free cigarettes can be considered as a product of competitive rivalry. Threat of substitute products: Philip Morris is quite free from the threat of substitute products. It has always maintained the standard of its products and priced them reasonably. This has lessened the chances of acceptance for the substitute products that are available in the market. Threat of new entrants: Philip Morris is famous for its cigarettes. No one in the world is unaware about Marlboro. It is a reputed brand name in the field of tobacco industry. But a reputed brand gives Philip Morris an advantage. It is almost free from the threat of new entrants. The reason for this is, cigarette smokers have a strong loyalty to their brands. So, although there is a constant arrival of new products, they do not affect the market share of Philip Morris as it has endorsed its product with heavy promotions and established all of its products as a Brand. Bargaining power of the customer: Bargaining power of the customer does not seem to affect the company. The reason behind it is, the perceived value of Philip Morris products is quite high because they are heavily promoted through media. They have a brand image and are free from the bargaining power of the customer. Moreover most of the customers of tobacco trade are loyal to the products they are used to, and are ready to pay whatever amount of money they are asked to pay. So Bargaining power of the customers doesnt seem to affect the company. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Bargaining power of supplier affects every company. Philip Morris too is affected by it as it follows strict rules concerned with Fair trade. Moreover it has launched special benefit package to its suppliers. It helps the children of its tobacco supplier with education facilities and other general benefits. It is doing this just to reduce the effects of bargaining power of its supplier. Conclusions: Whatever progress the company made is not just a coincidence. The company did not lose much of its profits even in the economic downturn. The reason behind this can be summarised as the proper knowledge of the strength and weaknesses of the company and summoning all pertaining questions related to its external environment. Its commitment to follow all legal requirements of the government, introducing chewable tobacco instead of smoking ones, commitment to environmental conservations and billions of pounds spent on charitable purposes are activities to keep the external environment favourable for the company. Task 2 Phillip Morris and global political change: Any multinational company that has operations throughout the world has to acclimatize themselves with the political scenario of the concerned country. Politics is stable only in few countries that too limited to the few developed countries. Moreover, as Philip Morris is concerned with producing tobacco related products, it is affected by any kind of political change that occurs in the country. By global political change we understand the political changes that occurred in the world. For example, the First World War, when ended in 1919 brought a lot of changes in the world. Similarly the end of Second World War too brought a lot of changes. One of the biggest changes was the start of cold war between the USA and the Soviet Union. The cold war divided the world into two halves, the capitalists and the socialists. Socialists denied the products of capitalist world to enter their countries, whereas the same thing applied to the capitalists world. Philip Morris thus could not expand his business to Russia and other socialist countries until the cold war was about to end. Philip Morris was able to penetrate the Russian market in 1977 when the socialist country was about to accept some change. Similarly, global terrorism has also affected the policy and decision making of the company as tobacco can be smuggled to developed countries where they have higher prices from the least developed or developing countries. It is said that terrorist have sometimes made tobacco as one of the source of funding to backup their activities. Philip Morris thus has set strict restrictions so as it products are not smuggled. Moreover its factories located in different part of the world restrict its products from being smuggled as they have their own identification number on them. Recession that recently occurred in the world can be the after-effects of the political upheavals in the world. Or economic activities and political change have interdependence. So recession in a way can be seen as an effect of wrong political decisions in terms of economic activities. Philip Morris dealt with it quite perfectly. According to statistics, ongoing earnings of Philip Morris rose by 11% as it coaxed solid grains in its food business and continued to find new market for its cigarette. (http://www.thestreet.com/storycomments/10007704/1/philip-morris-ignores-recession.html, on 27th March 2010) Question that present days political leaders are raising is the phenomenon of climate change. Global warming is a big problem and politicians throughout the world are trying to solve it out through joint efforts. All the countries are imposing their own kind of rules and regulations to reduce carbon emission and help in the reduction of global warming. Philip Morris can help in the reduction of carbon emission by investing in third world developing countries for example in the generation of electricity, or other sources of energy which can reduce deforestation and emission of carbon dioxide in the air.

Pride and Prejudice Essay -- English Literature

Pride and Prejudice 1. How do the narrative techniques of ‘showing’ and ‘telling’ work at this point in the novel? 2. How does this passage relate to the themes of the novel as a whole? The first part of the passage is dialogic, in that it contains only conversation between Lydia and Mrs Bennet. Jane Austen, through the use of narrative techniques, gives the reader an in-depth understanding of the story. One of these techniques is ‘showing’, which with the use of dialogue, allows us to gain an understanding of the characters. The characters of Lydia and Mrs Bennet, through the use of dialogue in this passage, are ‘shown’ to be excessively concerned with the expectations of the society in which they live, by being obsessed with the importance of marriage. Lydia is passionate in her manner; this is ‘shown’ to the reader when she talks of getting husbands for her sisters, â€Å"They must all go to Brighton. That is the place to get husbands†. She is pleased with herself and even boastful in her ability of having secured a husband before any of her sisters. She puts him on a pedestal, ‘shown’ by the narrator, with statements such as â€Å"Is he not a charming man?† and â€Å"I am sure my sisters must all envy me†. Austen also ‘shows’ how eager both Lydia and her mother are about securing husbands for her sisters, with the use of this narrative technique of ‘showing’, using phrases such as â€Å"there will be some balls, and I will take care to get good partners for them all† (Lydia) and â€Å"I should like it beyond anything!† (Mrs Bennet). This dialogic form of ‘showing’, allows us to view both characters during their conversation with each other, firmly establishing the characters and views of Mrs Bennet and Lydia. This ‘show... ...&P). Then of course there was Miss King, who had come into a fortune of ten thousand pounds; Wickham ‘had paid her not the smallest attention till her grandfather’s death made her mistress of this fortune’, (Page 121 P&P). His ‘distress of circumstances’ compelled him to seek a fortune, for which he would apparently go to any length to secure. We are encouraged by the use of dialogue and narrative to differentiate between Elizabeth’s personal and emotional integrity, Lydia’s immorality, and Mrs Bennet’s persistence in securing husbands for them all, no matter what it takes. Bibliography  · Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen  · The Realist Novel – - Part One: Chapter One – The Genre Approach Chapter Two – Reading Pride and Prejudice - Part Two: Realism and Romance Realism and the novel form Jane Austen and the war of ideas

CEO & CFO Perceptions About AIS Impact on Firm Essay

In the multifaceted, dynamic, corporate global milieu, imminent rifts continue to rattle the arenas of accounting/finance. The personal ambitions of CEO’s and CFO’s outweighed their responsibilities toward shareholders, employees, operations, civic/ethical duties, and the general financial system. CEO’s primarily focused on their own profitability, by increasing margins, meeting shareholder/market expectations, and expanding by any means necessary. Therefore, this lead to CFO’s and other members of top management on the front lines in manipulating margins to promote growth; thereby committing various levels of fraudulent activities, mainly to manipulate poor financial performance. The intertwining of ethical dilemmas and constant conflicts of interest endangered employees, shareholders, customers, and the general public. With the passing of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) in 2012, the act demanded, â€Å"that corporate management design and implement internal contro ls over the entire financial reporting process.† (Hall, 2013) In reference to CEO turnover and the appropriateness and effectiveness of a board, board of directors that are, â€Å"dominated by independent directors are more likely to remove a CEO based on poor performance than boards dominated by insiders.† (Dah, Frye, & Hurst 2013) â€Å"During the post-SOX, significant decline in the incidence of CEO turnovers for compliant firms.† (Dah, Frye, & Hurst 2013) Top management have adopted Accounting Information Systems, utilizing information technology and new understandings of physical controls in the workplace, in their effort to comply with SOX, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO), and to maintain ethically conscious decisions. A company’s internal controls have been under scrupulous review and are continuously examined to a point where they are in full compliance with SOX. Most of the attention is attributed to two main provisions, organized by the Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) that dire ctly relate to internal controls. Under section 404, the CEO and CFO of publicly traded companies must personally disclose and certify, quarterly and annually, an adoption of a detailed code of ethics, which includes an effective maintenance of an internal control system. This section also protects whistle-blowers. In addition, section 303 requires that the CEO and  CFO must sign off on the financial statements to assure that the reports do not include any material misstatements or omissions. To further protect capital markets, corporate governance, employees, shareholders, the general public, and the auditing profession, the organization’s auditor’s assurance on management’s internal control and ethics policies is required. Top management teams understood the importance of adding IT prowess. Information Technology departments garnered more responsibility after the passing of SOX. Being held as critical importance to internal control functions in an organization, IT departments became responsible for creating, improving, executing, and modifying a series of controls, essential to reduce fraud. Additionally, IT is accountable for accumulating, processing, and storing financial data, which is utilized in financial statements, and creates audit trails for external auditors. A portion of the internal controls implemented in a business exist as IT controls, many of which are based in the computerized environment and usually pertain to financial data. Programs and processes are written and maintained by IT professionals. Fairly new and intuitive processes include automated systems. These programs have reshaped the environment of accounts reporting. They, â€Å"initiate, authorize, record, and report the effects of financial transactions.† (Hall, 2013) Automated accounting is associated with most Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP). ERP systems, â€Å"facilitate the flow of information among all departments in an organization, and manage data sharing with outside systems, such as suppliers, business partners, clients and regulatory agencies.† (Chinn, 2011) Top management are attracted to apply automated systems in order to create an efficient and secure operating and accounting environment. Rudimentary features include the generation and distribution of invoices to customers, which usually follows with high possibility, that payment will be received at a timely manner. This electronic process of invoicing goes hand in hand with receiving wire transfers and, on the opposing cycle, purchases of materials; therefore, in either process, this allows the company to efficiently benefit from increasing cash/credit receipts and the ability to quickly obtain corporate and operating capital. These advanced computerized processes are able to initiate the transfer of a corporation’s assets and are able to automatically incur liabilities, in relation to their corresponding  transactions without human interaction. However the many enticing advantages an automated system offers, there is no doubt the, â€Å"inextricable elements of the financial reporting process that SOX considers, and they must be controlled.† (Hall, 2013) Section 302 is in place to circumvent any inconsistencies of internal control in the workplace. Automation of the revenue cycle is typically used to reduce overhead costs, make better credit granting decisions, and better collect outstanding accounts receivable. Along with SOX provisions, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations framework group IT system controls into two broad categories: Application Controls and General Controls. Subcategories of application controls include input controls, processing controls, and output controls. The General controls include controls over IT governance, infrastructure, network & operating system security, database access, application acquisitions & development, and program changes. â€Å"General controls are needed to support the environment in which application controls function, and both are needed to ensure accurate financial reporting, as well as reduce instances of fraudulent activity.† (Hall 2013) While utilizing the aforementioned controls will greatly reduce risk of financial fraud, there are inherent risks concerning information technology systems. Organizations integrated in a global frame, face an overarching environmental risk involving stability, which primarily concerns IT. The rapid production and ingenuity of increasing computing power, coupled with consistent gains in the growth of technology, have a direct result in an exponentially vibrant information technology atmosphere. This dynamic environment causes constant changes within internal controls in companies. Currently, â€Å"IT is considered one of the main risk factors in organizations, and both lack and excess of such investments can compromise the structure and the operations of the firm.† (Lunardi, Becker, Macada, & Dolci 2010) To keep up with the forward thinking global environment, as well as complying with constant legal and technical changes, IT innately becomes a focus with organizations. Management continues to adapt to new challenges that emerge, in relation to IT. Recently, â€Å"companies have been spending about 50% of all capital investment on IT.† (Lunardi, Becker, Macada, & Dolci 2010) Executives understand that it is impossible to significantly curb IT spending in such a technologically driven world; â€Å"however, they do not want to spend any more than the minimum  necessary to deploy and run IT efficiently.† (Lunardi, Becker, Macada, & Dolci 2010) Outsourcing specific IT projects, as well as full ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, has become more normal throughout the past few years. Over 90% of firms that were sampled in various research projects engage in IT outsourcing. â€Å"Given the pervasiveness of IT outsourcing and the magnitude of IT spending in the economy† (Kobelsky & Robinson, 2010) top management can write-off costs, as well as secure system failures. In case of an unforeseen disturbance, firms can still operate ERP systems in their headquartered location, by creating an off-site ERP system. However, most IT outsourcing does not connect with cost reduction. Most managers, â€Å"indicate that though practitioner research emphasizes ITOS’s (IT outsourcing) cost-reduction benefits gained at the individual project level, outsourcing is associated with higher IT spending, presumably reflecting enhancement of capabilities.† (Kobelsky & Robinson, 2010) Organizations utilize ITOS, in addition to improving in-house IT fraud reduction projects. The continuation of outsourcing affects an increase in IT spending, than for localization. Consistent computing advancements and technological prowess have had positive outcomes in business processes, as well as added new computer support systems. There have been recent instances that cite, â€Å"fraud costs U.S. business more than $400 billion annually.† (Ravisankar, Ravi, Rao, & Bose, 2011) Data mining techniques have been implemented to remedy fraud and increase fraud detection by utilizing approaches that are more data-driven. These methods specifically depend on historical monetary data of both troubled and strong companies, coupled with their respective financial ratios. With the use of objective data mining, companies can solve financial statement inaccuracies and financial problems affecting the business, â€Å"by sifting through the records of fraudulent and healthy companies. Then, they discover knowledge which can be used to predict whether a company at hand will p erpetrate financial accounting fraud in future.† (Ravisankar, Ravi, Rao, & Bose, 2011) Artificial Intelligence systems bring forth a theoretical advantage. They understand when and when not to extract specific statistical facts on the input variables. Nevertheless, new computing power and automated systems could contain unexpected risks that could alter and affect reliability on financial statements. Because of newfound internal control spending, coupled with an  increase of information technology in the workplace, companies have been progressively shifting their reporting systems from legacy platforms to a widespread client-server network. The integrated network utilizes new servers and product software, such as industry leaders, Oracle and SAP. Since the passing of SOX and introduction of COSO, Oracle and SAP have been duking it out for majority share of the market. The Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing (SAP) is a software ERP, which incorporates a streamline of business function applications. The system offers a, â€Å"real time management an d tracking of sales, productions, finance, accounting and human resources in an enterprise.† (Indika, 2011) Usually, IT systems operate separate processes. Traditionally, each process cycle operates in its own system. SAP differentiates itself by integrating into all business practices and operations. Updates are presented in real time, and pass along through different cycles and departments. The complexity of SAP, â€Å"runs on a fourth generation programming language called Advanced Business Application Programming (ABAP).† (Indika, 2011) Oracle maintains a similar application to the environment. ORDBMS (Oracle DMBS) has been primarily incorporated to be as versatile as SAP, specifically to assist large enterprise settings and manage data in the enterprise. Additionally, it can be useful on a personal level. Oracle DBMS is comprised of data and retrieved by applying SQL (Structured Query Language). The commands set entrance boundaries and protect the users’ data files. It, â€Å"can be embedded in other languages or could be executed directly as scripts.† (Indika, 2011) â€Å"During the initial SAP installation, Oracle can be defined as the database that is going to be used and then the SAP system will issue SQL commands that are compatible with the Oracle DBMS.† (Indika, 2011) There is not a drastic difference in installation time for Oracle or SAP. It also depends on whether the system is slowly introduced to the organization, or if it is launched all at one time. Top management will review an in depth cost and risk analysis, in determining which method of installation is most appropriate. (http://whatiserp.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/duration.png) The centralized legacy mainframe environment is tightly controlled and has made management complacent because of the simple fact that it works. The security structures and internal controls found on legacy systems have developed over the past four decades. Program and file access is easily traced and  organized. The operating system of mainframe programs deliberately create audit trails and logs, which offer conveniences to external auditors, as well as making it more difficult to commit fraud. Legacy systems incorporate intricate scheduling software, which operate as safeguards. For example, plans are input into the system when appropriate authorization is in effect and in the precise sequence. Additionally, these systems adopt specific controls, which protect the integrity of financial report s and stages in the multiple cycles utilized by a business. Specifically, change controls pre-determinately restricts alterations to production applications. Automated responses appear and instruct employees to provide high level approvals and testing. The mainframe control environment has had time to evolve in decently stable times. However, upon the introduction of SOX and the realization that there were material internal control weaknesses in the workplace, standardization and integrated programming systems were presented to the business world. Over time, more and more companies are making the jump to cross-referencing and streamlined technologies. Because of a limited time lapse regarding the application of new ERP systems, there has not been reliable risk analyses on internal control processing, as there are with legacy systems. Unfortunately, there is an insurmountable need for risk awareness, when incorporating new systems in this day & age. Over-crowded client-server networks can become a problem to configure and monitor appropriately . To cushion the negative associations of risk, physical and internal controls are put into place to monitor systems. Companies may want to place security cameras and physical guards of the servers and related systems during off-hours. When deciding to implement new technology in a firm, or replacing an entire system with more up-to-date specifications, control risks need to be assessed. New risks and internal control weaknesses are often created faster than they can be discovered and regulated. Integrity and security of a firm’s data should be at a top priority. Threats, like viruses and worms are to be kept at bay, with various walls and algorithms. Emerging technologies like Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, the continuation of reporting, subject to repeated external audits & compliance with SOX and COSO, and object-oriented databases remedy discrepancies should protect systems. A firm’s internal audit department are also available in coordinating and evaluating the IT control environment, and should be able to verbally instruct and announce employee centric workshops to increase employee control awareness. Because of issues concerning independence and segregation of duties, the internal audit department will not be able to design code and functionality specifications in the internal control mainframe. However, they are the cheapest and central consultants on how the controls affect operations, and if the specific controls work in detecting fraud. Top management considers the internal audit department an under-utilized resource in perfecting internal controls and information technology controls. Constant balance between CEO’s and CFO’s must be maintained in order to synergize business operations, in accordance with GAAP, SOX, and COSO. Information technology, â€Å"serves as a facilitator, catalyst, motivator, or even an enabler for the convergence of management accounting and financial accounting.† (Taipaleenmaki & Ikaheimo 2012) In order for the SOX initiative to be effective, the information technology function must be in conjuncture with aiding the control environment of a business. Financial reporting has changed over the years, to favor IT processes, which are almost entirely fundamental to the financial reporting practice. Additionally, with the passing of SOX, new responsibilities are imposed upon IT functions, which would usually be ignored, because IT is not necessarily responsible for monitoring internal controls. IT & finance professionals, as well as top management, have had to adopt and learn a whole new set of functions, reporting, and mon itoring. The information technology culture is of dire importance to adhering to new standards and progresses the business environment to innovative and more secure highs. A functioning IT department is crucial for the CEO & CFO to document financial and internal controls. Value is a very subjective term, especially in reference to capital expenditures. Different opinions and different needs will influence how much a firm spends on new technology to facilitate and cooperate with changing standards. Usually, implementing a new system in a business have positive and financial benefits, in the long run. However, â€Å"a new system will often find resistance at the individual level because the users do not  perceive any value to them from it.† (Barua, Brooks, Gillon, Hodgkinson, & Kohli, 2010) Positives could include additional time to perform other tasks, and create more efficiency around the organization. However, an overuse of technology could threaten employee’s jobs, as systems become more automated. Individual perception on new installations of systems might be shaky at first, but in the end, whatever is needed to comply with changing standards, is exactly what leaders of organizations will flock toward. CEOs and CFOs understand that integrating proper Accounting Information Systems is integral to society and the business world. Additionally, as per Thomas Piketty, who maintains in his freshly published voluminous, â€Å"Capital in the Twenty-First Century†, CEOs, CFOs, and Super Managers are running massive conglomerates effectively because of IT and AIS. Therefore, IT has given them powers to set exorbitant compensation packages for themselves, by super-humanly maximizing their own productivity and performance. In conjunction, if fraud can be avoided in the bargain, they are awarded super hero status and remuneration, which may summarize their perceptions about AIS , IT, and the dual benefits of SOX and COSO. Bibliography Barua, A., Brooks, L., Gillon, K., Hodgkinson, R., & Kohli, R. (2010). Creating, Capturing andMeasuring Value From IT Investments: Could We Do Better? . Communications of theAssociation for Information Systems, 27, 13-26. Chinn, D. (2011, March 11). What Is Enterprise Resource Planning Systems?. eHow. 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(2011). Detection of financial statement fraudand feature selection using data mining techniques. Decision Support Systems, 50(2),491-500. Taipaleenmà ¤ki, J., & Ikà ¤heimo, S. (2013). On the convergence of management accounting andfinancial accounting – the role of information technology in accounting change.International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 14(4), 321-348. Chart Picture: http://whatiserp.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/duration.png