Discuss the arguments for and against the reform of the international Essay

Discuss the arguments for and against the reform of the international financial (monetary) system - Essay Example (IMF Fact Sheet, p1, 1999) In 1994 the predicament of Mexican peso and in 1997 the economic crisis of Asia and the fall down of the Russian currency recently spot to the requirement for new-fangled instruments which will more successfully defend the constancy of the global financial structure. In October 1998 a meeting of IMF was held in Washington which presented a medium for the International Monetary Fund and its associate nations to speak to this concern. The conference evaluated a broad series of proposals that seek to reinforce the â€Å"structural design â€Å"of the worldwide financial structure This paper examines s the probable extent of the monetary recession at present being encountered in numerous Asian countries subsequent their monetary predicament. Previous global encounter subsequent to economic crises is observed, and statistics is assembled to display the seriousness of the "credit crisis† being encountered in numerous "tiger" financial systems. This confirmation, together with the high silhouette banking troubles in several these countries, guides to the inference that the majority of the pretentious countries will not encounter a noteworthy bounce back in expansion for a substantial period. (IMF Fact Sheet, p1, 1999) Subsequent the current monetary disaster in Asia, a lot of bystanders are endeavoring to measure how long the financial slump will continue in distinctive countries. This subject is obviously of main effect for the precisely precious countries. It is also imperative t from a New Zealand viewpoint as the unfavorable consequence of the Asian monetary recession on New Zealand will be overblown the longer the depression persists. (Krugman, p1, 1998) Predominantly significant here are the financial systems of our main dealing associates. Japan is New Zealands following principal sell abroad market subsequent to Australia, which sequentially is susceptible to a protracted recession in its Asian trading

Letters of Recommendation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letters of Recommendation - Essay Example His valuable contributions with the past employers speak about his personality and attitude towards work. He has proven ability in motivating and interacting effectively with all levels of staff and management. I have noted him as a person having strong business acumen along with high level of moral and ethical standards. I felt Mr. has diverse skill sets such as mutual respect, good communication, cooperation, coordination, share responsibility required to become successful manager as well as to create a good team. He has an excellent understanding of audit review procedures, financial analysis, financial reconciliations, maintenance and control of general ledger that are specific to the profession. I sense that his technical expertise along with the leadership attitude will grant him all the desired success. Yours graduate business program would give him the golden opportunity to explore and unfold the art and craft of business profession. I have observed him setting himself reachable goals by generating new ideas, new strategies, gaining more experience, improving his skills and working on the weaknesses. Perhaps his strongest abilities are the way he manages the projects, the people and the situations. He would be a strong addition to your Business School. He has always been attracted towards scope and difficulty of tasks, decision-making competencies, room for independent action, job variability, ownership, work conditions and environment. I believe that this unique blend of experiences has made him a man with an original point of view. This blend has given him a broader perspective and a good understanding of life and a goal to aim for. He has consistently demonstrated the necessary skills in the past to handle the intense academic work required in your MBA program. I believe that being a part of your department would not only enhance his career opportunities, but also help him realize his

Physical and Psychological Domains of Palliative Care

Physical and Psychological Domains of Palliative Care PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DOMAINS OF PALLIATIVE CARE Taking care of critically ill patients is challenging task and it needs proficiency. It’s very difficult to handle a family and terminally ill patient without any proper knowledge. To solve the problems and handle the difficult situation during palliative care is proper training and knowledge about palliative care. It also needs proper training and experience for caring terminally ill patient. According to Kaasa Loge, (2003) in palliative care quality of life is the basic and central concept. Quality of life is has been used in vast concept which includes physical, psychological, spiritual, and social life of a patient.it is an approach to improve the quality of life of patient who come across life threatening illness for example cancer. The main purpose of palliative care is relief from suffering or to early identification of symptoms as early as possible. During my palliative clinical rotation I have encountered a 60 years old, female patient who was diagnosed with liver ca ncer stage III. Patient was only on palliative care she had not received any chemotherapy or radiation. Now she was admitted in hospital for draining ascetic fluid and for pain management. When I was taking history of patient I came to know that patient was worried about her condition and she was unaware about her diagnosis and prognosis. She was very depressed and anxious about her health. She was unable to do her daily routines due to abdominal distention, pain and tenderness. Furthermore she was physically very weak. While taking care of patient I found all four domains of palliative care in my patient which includes physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual and sociocultural. But physical and psychological domains were the most effected domains in my patient. In this paper I will focus on physical and psychological domain of palliative care. In literature it is stated thatâ€Å"Palliative care is aimed at improving the quality of life for patients and their families who are confronted with life-threatening illness by providing support and care for pain, physical symptoms, psychological and social stress, and spirituality.†(Weiner et al, 2013). While taking care of patient I realized that patient was suffering from pain. Some other physical symptoms which are present in patient are abdominal distention, general weakness, shortness of breath, fatigue, and loss of appetite. According to Skevington Lofty (2003) pain, fatigue, general weakness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting are the common symptoms in cancer patients. Furthermoreit is stated inClinical practice guidelines for quality palliative care (2008) regular, ongoing assessment of pain, nonpain symptoms (including but not limited to shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue and weakness, anorexia, ins omnia, anxiety, depression, confusion, and constipation), treatment side effects, and functional capacities should be documented through a systematic process.in case of my patient due to abdominal distention she had pain, feeling fullness and shortness of breath. To relief from pain first I encouraged patient to take deep breathing and staff inserted drain to drain out ascetic fluid. After draining 1000 ml fluid she felt relief from pain. In addition in mypatient due to nausea and anorexia she has low appetite. Due to poor intake she felt lethargic and unable to do her daily activities. Therefore I encouraged patient to eat frequently but in small amount and I also educate her attendant about the importance of proper nutrition. The second important domain affected in my patient was psychological domain. Due to physical deterioration mostly patient become frustrated of their life and do not want to live furtherand end up with sadness, loneliness, anxiety due to hospitalization and they worried about the prognosis of disease. My patient also faced above mentioned problems as she did not know about her prognosis and she was worried about progressive symptoms likeabdominal distention, pain, fatigue and general weakness.Furthermore in case of my patient she was worried because she was unaware of her diagnosis.When I was taking history her attendant said that we did not disclose the diagnosis to the patient because she already worried about disease. As every patient has right to know about their diagnosis and their disease process. According to Jhordy et al (2007) physical weakness and impairment disturb most aspects of life like psychological, social, sexual, spiritualand other daily activities of life. Due to limitations in activities patients at the high risk of psychological problems. Therefore most of terminal patients think that they are dependent on family and they burden on their children and spouse. In literature it is stated that mood disorder, anxiety, and depression are coexist with advanced illness. Psychological distress with terminal ill patient is very common in palliative care setting. Patient’s response in different ways to show the depression, for example sadness, fear and grief in different stages of their progressive disease.35 to 50 % of cancer patient experience psychological problems. The experience of psychological problems effect on an individual coping mechanism with illness, physical symptoms and on their treatment. (Kelly,Chonchinov McClement, 2006).Therefore it’s very important to assess the psychological problems of patient to give a quality care and is as important as to assess physical condition of patient. It is also stated in above mention article. That we should educate patient about different psychologist, social groups who support them. To relief from stress I also encourage patient to verbalize her feelings and e ncouraged her to take deep breathing. We also arrange an activity that we gathered same diagnose patient and encourage them to verbalize their feelings and I also provide a paper to express her feelings on paper. After activity patient mentioned that she felt better and it effects positively on patients.In addition I spend most of the time with patient to encourage her to express her feelings and I also educate her attendant to support her and spend time with her. The challenges that I faced during clinical were to communicate the prognosis of disease. Because patient was unaware of her diagnosis and their family did not want to tell the patient bout her diagnosis. Therefore due to this reason I was unable to communicate the disease process properly and it hinders me to apply the concept of palliative care. Furthermore due to lack of resources I was unable to give holistic care. As a nursing student I want to recommend that palliative course should be compulsory in the nursing school and medical, so they can provide knowledge about end of life.There should be proper training for students so they can easily handle the difficulties while taking care of terminal ill patient. It’s not important to give palliative care to only terminal patient but it’s our responsibility that from the diagnosis we have to taking care of patient. On institutional level different seminar should be arrange to give awareness about the palliative care. In addition we can arrange different sessions for patients and families to give awareness about palliative care and disclosure of life threatening diagnosis.it also important to give proper training to the staff of health care system so they can give comfort and help the patient to end up with a peaceful death. There should be a separate bereavement room for families so they express and spend last time with their patients. Moreover there should be a palliative care team so they give proper training to staff ongoing basis to achieve competency in palliative care.According to Ramjan et al (2010) palliative approach can improve comfort and dignity of patient through the early identification and assessment as well as knowing the patients psychological, emotional, social and spiritual concerns. Furthermore we can give awareness through social media, that everyone can approach aware about the importance of palliative care.Mostly patients want to die in home in the presence and support of family. One of article it is mention that health care provider need to support and give education to the family members on symptom management so they can easily continue care at home also(Luckett et al, 2013). In conclusion, palliative care is very important part of health profession. The basic theme of palliative care is not the treatment of the disease but it is all about to decrease the sufferings of patient.There are different domains in palliative care which are affected due any of progressive disease, such as physical, psychological, spiritual, socio-cultural and sexual domains of life. The most important is physical which disturb other domains of life.Moreover when I reflect back I realized that overall clinical and palliative care is very beneficial and productive. Now I can easily integrate theoretical knowledge in a hospital setting. Furthermore now we can educate patients and their family members abut palliative care and be able to assess all domains of health.

Comparison B/w The Wanderer And The Seafarer Essay -- essays research

Throughout the history of British Literature, there have always been the themes of loneliness, torment or exile. Many times authors speak from their experiences and at times those experiences have to do with misery and discomfort with their lifestyles. In the Renaissance age, times were not always happy and people chose to pass on stories generation to generation to reveal their feelings and experiences. Poems made a great impact in easing the pain. In the poems, "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer", the themes of loneliness and exile exist throughout both of the poems. The unknown authors portray the two themes through detail and emotion. "The Seafarer" creates a storyline of a man who is "lost" at sea. There is a major reference to the concept of the sea and how it "captures" the soul and leaves a lonely feeling. The character is set to know the consequence of the sea but something keeps calling him back to it. "And yet my heart wanders away, My soul roams with sea, the whales' home, wandering to the widest corners of the world, returning ravenous with desire, Flying solitary, screaming, exciting me to the ocean, breaking oaths on the curve of a wave." (lines 58-64). This poem also grasps the concept of religion and how it plays a role in this work. The character sets himself on religion and makes that as his "sanctuary" from the sea. "Thus the joys of God are fervent wit...

Differences Between Capitalism And Marxism

In the wake of the current – and unprecedented – economic recession being felt not only across the United States but also the world over, it merits noting that the once-sound structures of modern economies are, more and more, being placed under the lenses of theoretical review and scrutiny. Concretely, there are those who seek to inquire – notwithstanding the risks of proffering politically unwelcome ideas about the current crisis – whether or not the world’s unqualified embrace of the principles of Capitalism has reached its limits, if not has finally backfired.Anthony Faiola for instance contends that the American â€Å"hands-off† – read: deregulated – style of handling its market economy is the sufficient explanation to the range of its present economic problems (2008, p. A01). Faiola’s review, more than anything else, should invite people to seriously question the structure of modern economies which has been in place for the longest time.In view of such felt need, what this paper attempts to do is to bring into the fore the contrasting themes of Capitalism and Marxist Socialism, in the hope of gleaning from such juxtaposition certain insights as to which economic structure best addresses the present crisis haunting the affairs of world economies in the present and in the near future. Differences between Capitalism and Marxism Capitalism is catchall term which pertains to the conduct of market economies marked by adherence to the laws of free trade and private operation.Under such scheme, private individuals act as the primary controllers of the prices of goods and services within a given economy; albeit, such control is confirmed by laws that stipulate the parameters and range of the conduct of free trade. Capitalism is thus a principle of economic affairs. And any country can adapt such principles according to its exigencies and needs, depending on which expression of Capitalist approach would benefit the people in the process.For as long as an economy subscribes to the fundamental affirmation of a private citizen’s right to freely conduct the nature, type and scope of his or her business affairs, such structure must be deemed an expression of Capitalism. Key to understanding Capitalism, as indeed any type of market economy, lies in identifying the locus of control being exercised between the private citizens on the one hand and the State regulators on the other hand. In a Capitalist economic structure, the locus of control leans towards the side of the private citizens.This is because private citizens have a right to dictate on the forces of the market economy according to their desire – e. g. , they can decide outright on the amount of the goods and services which they want to produce, inasmuch as they can demand the correlative prices which shall be exacted in view of the volume of their production. Conversely, the State does not enjoy significant latitud e in determining the prices of goods and services under the Capitalist model.While they can frame limits in respect to fair trade, it nevertheless cannot directly interfere with the more intricate details of a market economy, such as those that pertain to the determination of prices and volumes of goods. In a manner of speaking therefore, any market economy which operates under the banner of Capitalist foundation appears to operate a world of its own. Samuelson and Nordhaus, in evaluating the merits of Adam’s Smiths The Wealth of the Nations, have this to say:But of all his (Smith’s) contributions to economic analysis, the boldest was his recognition that the market mechanism is a self-regulating natural order that the price system organizes the behavior of people and does so in an automatic fashion without central direction. (Samuelson & Nordhaus, 1989, p. 824). In other words, most Capitalist economies operate under the a scheme where private individuals are free to take in as much as they want, so long as their efforts and resources permit. By way of contrast, the Marxist economic model – which too often is called Socialism – takes cue from Marx’s criticisms of unregulated Capitalism.It should be pointed out however that Marx’s critical take of Capitalism stems largely from his embrace of socialist ideologies. Early on in life, germinal seeds of anti-Capitalist leanings have already peppered much of Marx’s writings. Chief to his contentions lies in his belief that human persons are creatures necessarily called towards greater societal function. Says Marx: â€Å"man’s nature makes it possible for him to reach his fulfillment only by working for the perfection and welfare of his society† (as qtd.in Giddens 1).This is his basic ethical principle; i. e. , that persons are measured by how well they contribute to the wellbeing of society. And by putting higher premium than most on the welfare of the s ociety over the capricious desires of the individuals, Marx had therefore set the record straight about his stance on economics. According to Marx, the most viable way by which the world can ensure communal progress lies in the adoption of the communist ideals.This entails implementing a radical form of socialism – i. e., where private control is supplanted by State bureaucracy, where the right to own is overtaken by the State’s prerogative to allocate resources, as indeed where individual welfare is taken secondary only to the welfare of the majority (Samuelson & Nordhaus, 1989, p. 833). Marx further believes that this type of socialism must give way to Communism, where not only all productive individuals are considered as rightful citizens of a country, but all people – including those â€Å"which do not exist for a political economy† such as beggars, thieves, the unemployed and the underprivileged – are made to share the fruits of the economy (G iddens 10).By Way of Conclusion: A Path that Treads in Between Having presented thus the theories of Capitalism and the socialist ethics of Marx, it behooves us to therefore inquire – now that most Capitalist economies are at the brink of recession, if not already in a state of recession, which economic paradigm best represents the solution to our problem: Capitalism or Communism? I believe that the answer lies in how well our world governments are able to integrate the reasoned premises of Capitalism with the moderate truths espoused by Communism.Put in simpler terms, I believe that there is a wisdom that lays in taking both theories in moderation. On the one hand, the world needs to acknowledge that an unregulated type of Capitalism is bad for the country. This is what, in part, Fiola has in article contended. The extremely liberal conduct of economics, so much so that world governments are left in no position to regulate much of the affairs of a market economy, would end u p wholly unmanageable in the long run.The recent turn of events is a witness to this. The fact that many private companies are seeking for bailout only goes to show that government intervention is needed, not only in times when privately-owned companies are at the brink of collapse, but also in times when it is expansive and prolific. In this way, world governments can check whether the principles of free trade are translated into beneficial returns for all citizens.On the other hand, it is certainly not wise to adopt, in its entirety, the principles of Communism. Surely, governments cannot take over all private ownerships in a manner being radical and swift. Given that the operation of market economy is fueled by free trade, any hostile takeover would spell doom for all the constituents of a given country. Instead, world governments must learn that liberal trade does not give private citizens full and inviolable right to determine all the forces of a given economy.What this present economic turmoil teaches is summed in the idea that leaving private citizens to conduct all areas of the economy by themselves cannot serve the best interest of the society. Thus, there are reasons to think that what is needed right now is to correct the extremely liberal principles of Capitalism, by giving world governments greater latitude to regulate free trade in a manner that serves greater interests well.

A Day Without Media Essay

In the book â€Å"Amusing Ourselves to Death† the idea that immersion in what we love will lead to our end is presented and analyzed. After reading this book I took it upon myself, as part of a class assignment, to go 24 hours without media. Initially I believed that this would be an easy task but found that as a whole we are surrounded by media in every instance of our lives. From car rides, to simply walking around my house I had to be observant to avoid media that would reset my 24 hour time frame. In Postman’s book, â€Å"Amusing Ourselves to Death†, he reflects on how the television brings families to the same room but creates separation between them. In my time without media I spent two meals with my family (a lunch and dinner). At both of these gatherings my family talked much more than we usually did. While watching television we would â€Å"shush† each other to hear the show, but without it we discussed school, politics, and controversies such as legalizing weed. Looking back at this I see Postman’s point. We become so focused on the story folding out in front of us that we block out each other in the process. I also noticed the same effect when I was driving with my grandfather that night. He needed to deliver a present to family and I needed driving hours, so I drove the hour and a half drive. I wasn’t allowed to touch the radio because of my media break so we talked for that time. I found out that my close grandfather, whom I see five times a week, has severe ankle problem and was going to get treatment later that week. I like to think I’m close to my family, but this occurring without me even knowing about it struck a chord in me. How much do we really know about our loved ones? What simply hasn’t come up because we spend our time learning about the new celebrity fads or who wore what where? As I’m sitting here listening to the radio while writing this I have to reflect on Postman’s thoughts of how intertwined our world is with media. As he put it, President Taft wouldn’t have been voted into office in today’s world because less people would vote for someone that overweight. By this Postman means to point out how media has touch our lives. Not being able to use my cell phone to call people or watch the news on television, shrunk my  world to what I could see, hear, and touch around me. I spent most of my time in my room reading books to pass the time, and when I did leave my room I only saw my family room, kitchen, and a little outside. We rely on television, radio, and other media to bring us information. But, what is never a given is that the information sources we depend on aren’t biased. When opinions disguised as â€Å"facts† are viewed without any analysis and taken at face value, we are only creating sue do opinions that aren’t even ours. This influence in our lives not only emphasizes rifts in ideals, but also can give groups the power to falsify information and mislead others. Maybe we are not simply â€Å"Amusing Ourselves to Death† but Amusing Ourselves to the Death of Ourselves. When I was in middle school up till eighth grade I had a friend who used to watch BBC all the time as a child. I remember asking him about his speech patterns, and him telling me that he even used to have a British accent! I can also relate to these thoughts. When I was smaller I used to speak using syntax that wasn’t very normal. This was because I used to be very sheltered and not get out much. Sesame Street was one of my favorites as a child. Communication skills have to be developed like anything else, with practice. When I wasn’t exposed to people talking casually, I developed a way of speaking that didn’t fit with the people around me. This is a prime example of Postman’s point. We as a new generation can’t communicate like we should be able to. Technology has stripped us of that. When most kids get don’t know what to say next in a situation, the check their phones. This is a good example of our reliance on media and technology and show s our subconscious dependence on these devices. When you turn to your television tonight who or what do you see? What do you learn? What human interaction do you participate in? Postman mentions in his book how through television we learn to interact with people. But, these people we learn how to interact with don’t act like real humans do. They are actors, their body movements and word phrasing has been planned out and set step by step for them. This means that those actors we learn to interact with, and habits we gain don’t help us to talk to people face to face. While  breaking from media I thought about this at a point. In summary I believe the time I spent without media allowed me to see through Postman’s lens. The thought that the media we love so dearly is slowly destroying us may seem preposterous at first, but when further analyzed has ground to stand on. We gain social skills, news, opinions, bias, and a central meeting place for a family from media. Are these good or bad? Does this media influence our life to the point that it is the main factor we all cling to? We have to guard ourselves against the negative effects of this technology so we are not used. That doesn’t mean we cut ourselves off from it completely. If we do that than we are shrinking our world view to that which we can see ourselves. Like everything else in life we must take new media in proportion, with a clear mind. If so we may be able to avoid â€Å"Amusing Ourselves to Death†.

Definition and Examples of Gradatio in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Gradatio in Rhetoric Gradatio is a  rhetorical term for a sentence construction in which the last word(s) of one clause becomes the first of the next, through three or more clauses (an extended form of anadiplosis). Gradatio has been described as the marching or climbing figure of speech. Also known as  incrementum and the marching figure (Puttenham) Jeanne Fahnestock points out that gradatio could be described as one of the patterns of topic/comment or given/new organization identified by 20th-century text linguists, where the new information closing one clause becomes the old information opening the next (Rhetorical Figures in Science, 1999). Etymology From the Latin, gradationem ascent by steps; a climax. Examples They call for you: The general who became a slave; the slave who became a gladiator; the gladiator who defied an Emperor. Striking story.(Joaquin Phoenix in the film Gladiator, 2000)Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they dont know each other; they dont know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.(Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958)In the loveliest town of all, where the houses were white and high and the elms trees were green and higher than the houses, where the front yards were wide and pleasant and the back yards were bushy and worth finding out about, where the streets sloped down to the stream and the stream flowed quietly under the bridge, where the lawns ended in orchards and the orchards ended in fields and the fields ended in pastures and the pastures climbed the hill and disappeared over the top toward the wonderful wide sky, i n this loveliest of all towns Stuart stopped to get a drink of sarsaparilla.(E.B. White, Stuart Little. Harper, 1945) One voice can change a room. And if it can change a room, it can change a city. And if it can change a city, it can change a state. And if it can change a state, it can change a nation. And if it can change a nation, it can change a world.(Barack Obama, presidential campaign speech in Des Moines, Iowa, November 5, 2012)The only graceful way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you cant ignore it, top it; if you cant top it, laugh at it; if you cant laugh at it, its probably deserved.(Russell Lynes)We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.(Paul, Romans 5:3)If you sow a thought, you reap an act. If you sow an act, you reap a habit. If you sow a habit, you reap a character. And if you sow a character, you reap a destiny.(anonymous, quoted by Samuel Smiles in Life and Labor, 1887) She abandoned religion for mesmerism, mesmerism for politics, and politics for the melodramatic excitements of philanthropy.(Vivian in Oscar Wilde’s The Decay of Lying, 1891)Design must have had a designer. That designer must have been a person. That person is GOD.(William Paley, Natural Theology, 1963)All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,But nearness to death no nearer to God.(T. S. Eliot, Chorus from The Rock, 1934)It takes an egg to make a henIt takes a hen to make an eggThere is no end to what Im sayingIt takes a thought to make a wordAnd it takes a word to make an action.(Jason Mraz, Life is Wonderful) Shakespeares Use of Gradatio My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,And every tongue brings in a several tale,And every tale condemns me for a villain.(William Shakespeare, King Richard III, 1591?)[F]or your brother and my sister no sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy; and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage which they will climb incontinent, or else be incontinent before marriage . . ..(Rosalind to Orlando in William Shakespeares As You Like It, Act Five, scene 2) Pronunciation: gra-DA-see-o

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks Book Review

'Dear John' by Nicholas Sparks Book Review Dear John is trademark Nicholas Sparks - romantic, sappy, sad, and redeeming. The book revolves around the love story of an army sergeant who falls in love shortly before 9/11. Dear John is one of Sparks most popular stories, and became known to an even wider audience after it was made into a movie in 2010 starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum.   Summary Dear John  starts in the present day, in terms of the books timeline, with John watching Savannah from afar. He is thinking about how much he loves her and why their relationship dissolved. Lost in a train of thought, John then takes the reader back in time and narrates the story of their love. The whole book is narrated by John, who joined the army to get away from his reclusive father and to straighten out. While he is on leave at home in Wilmington, North Carolina, he meets Savannah. They soon fall in love, but Johns time in the army post-9/11 weigh on the couples relationship. Review There is, unfortunately, not much more to say about the book other than its a predictable love story.  Dear John  has a pretty formulaic plot. Sparks writing is smooth and easy, but the characters are not memorable or complex. Furthermore, the love story is not very realistic. That being said, the characters are likable, if not particularly nuanced, and Johns relationship with his father creates a nice subplot. Although Sparks is one of the first to set the age-old boy meets girl love story in the modern, post-9/11 world, he does not delve into how the war affects the characters. In  Dear John, it could be any war keeping them apart. This specific war is not important. Overall,  Dear John  is a  quick, easy read that is not painful but also not extremely enjoyable to read. If you need  some beach reading, go ahead and borrow it. It will give you a few hours of  escape if nothing else. Recommended for those who like sappy romantic comedies, and at times tragedies, but not for those who like a little meat in their reading.  If you like previous books by Sparks, you will probably enjoy  Dear John.

ACT Score Range Whats Good

ACT Score Range What's Good SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re planning on taking the ACT, you’re probably wondering what you can expect in terms of scores. In this article, I’ll take you through the basics of how the test is scored, show you where your scores fall in relation to other students, and give you a few tips on how to plan your studying to meet your goals. ACT Score Range: The Basics On the ACT, your composite score can be anywhere from a 1 to a 36.Unlike the SAT, the composite score is not the sum of the scores of the other tests - it’s the average. The ACT has four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science.Each one is also scored on a scale of 1 to 36, and the average of these four scores will make up your composite score. The ACT doesn’t have an incorrect answer penalty, so your raw score on each section is just the number of questions you get right. Any questions you answer incorrectly or omit will not count towards your score.English has 75 questions, Math has 60, Reading has 40, and Science also has 40. Check out this sample conversion chart to see how raw scores are converted to the final scores on a scale of 1-36: (note that different tests have different raw score to scaled score conversion charts, but this is generally the right idea). The ACT also has an optional essay, but the Writing section will not impact your composite score or any of your test subscores. You will get a score from 2 to 12 on your essay in four different assessment categories. Your total Writing score will be out of 36 just like the other sections.The ACT gives you an English Language Arts (ELA) score as well, which is the average of your English, Reading, and Writing subscores, but again, this doesn’t factor into your final composite score. Average ACT Scores The national average composite ACT score for the class of 2014 was a 20.Average scores for subsections were: English: 19-20Math: 19-20Reading: 20-21Science: 20-21 If you’re scoring in this range, you’re already scoring higher than 50% of students who take the ACT and will have a good shot at getting into many colleges.Keep in mind, however, that national averages might not be the most relevant to your individual situation. You should look up the average scores for schools you’re interested in to figure out what target scoreto shoot for.If you’re hoping to attend a very selective school, you might need to set your sights on a score in the 34-36 range.At MIT, for example, the 75th percentile composite ACT score for admitted students in 2014 was a 35.When you look at the averages for your school of choice, you should try and aim for the 75th percentile score (higher than 75% of admitted students)because it will give you the best chance of admission. Also keep in mind that someschools want you to submit the ACT Writing score, and some don’t care about it.This is an important factor to take into account both when studying and when deciding whether to sign up for the ACT with or without Writing. MIT: A lush sanctuary where geeks can run free Studying for Your Score Goals You might know where you fall in terms of your ACT score range if you’ve already taken the test.If not, try out a practice test (with appropriate time constraints!), and see how you do.If you find that you still need to improve your scores quite a bit, don’t worry! If you come up with a solid study plan, you should be able to get them up where you want them to be by the time the test rolls around. I’ll give some brief guidelines below about how long you should study for different point improvements.For more info check out our complete study plan for the ACT and a guide I wrote on how long you should study. I’m Looking to Improve by 1-2 Points This is a very doable goal, even if you start studying only a couple months in advance of the test.Improving 1-2 points should take around 20 total hours of studying.This means that if you study for about two hours every week for two months, you should be able to meet your score goals.If you want, you can even space out your studying for a few more months so you only have to devote an hour a week to ACT prep. I’m Looking to Improve by 4 Points This is a pretty significant improvement, so you’re going to have to put in a bit more time.A four point improvement usually means around 40-50 hours of studying.You could choose to start studying two months in advance and plan out five hours a week if you prefer longer, more intense study sessions.If you’d rather spread it out more, try studying for two hours a week for five or six months instead. I’m Looking to Improve by 6 or More Points This level of improvement is going to require a lot of hard work.For a score increase of six or more points, you’ll most likely need 150+ hours of study time.This means starting early and committing to study sessions every week.If you start studying six months before the test, schedule out five hours a week to devote to ACT prep. You should also remember that your studying needs to be high quality in order for you to see results!This means figuring out what types of questions cause you problems and then practicing similar questions over and over.You'll have to take the time to really understand your mistakes before you start to see positive changes in your scores. Summary Here are some of the main points you should remember about ACT scoring: The ACT gives you a composite score on a scale of 1 to 36 There are four subtests in English, Math, Reading, and Science, and each is also scored from 1 to 36 These four tests are averaged to make up your composite score The average ACT composite score is around a 20 nationally To figure out the score range you should be aiming for, look up the 75th percentile scores of admitted students for schools where you plan to apply. This will give you a better sense of how much time you should devote to studying.Even if the gap between your current scores and your goal is pretty large, with enough planning and focused studying, you should be able to beat the test! What's Next? ACT Score Choice and Superscoring are two policies that might impact which of your scores colleges see. Read more about what they are and what they mean for you here and here. Still not sure whether you should take the ACT or the SAT? Learn more about which one is best for you. For more information on ACT scores, read this article on how to get and interpret your results. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

HMV Group Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

HMV Group - Case Study Example This report highlights the various strategic options available to the HMV Group as well as an analysis of the potential effectiveness of these new strategies based on the current strategic position of the organisation. an isolated incident which did not stem from higher consumer patronage and online sales, but from the sale of HMV Japan (Bryant, 2008). It appears that HMV Group was experiencing minimal sales volumes in the Japanese division of the company, thus the sale of this particular business unit was performed in order to increase total company liquidity and make the company's stock appear more viable for long-term investment. The implementation of the Japanese HMV division did not bring adequate sales results to the company, thus this was an initial failure at diversifying the company's total business portfolio. Additionally, and much to the surprise of the HMV Group leadership, the company experienced its best Christmas sales in December 2008, largely due to video game sales in the HMV division (Financial Times, 2008). This seems to have taken the company on a new strategic direction by January 2009, with a much higher focus on video game sales and less focus on music sales and downloads. The 3.0 Strategic options for HMV Group The company is currently facing a considerable amount of competition stemming from the rise of online retailers, the digital download environment competitors and also supermarkets which appear to be attempting to cash in on music and other digital media sales (Bryant). There is no research evidence which suggests why consumers are moving toward supermarkets and online retailers for their music and digital media selections, however since these competitors are eroding the firm's total profitability, the company needs to select several new strategies in order to build competitive advantage and emerge, again, as the leader in this type of digital format sales. Pricing Strategy: From a sales and marketing perspective, the company would benefit from taking both a price-based strategy and a differentiation strategy in order to build the type of sales growth expected by the company. In today's difficult economic environment, it is relatively common knowledge that many consumers have cut back on their spending habits due to fear of the short-term effect on personal consumer income. The company should adopt a low price strategy and a

Personal reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal reflective paper - Essay Example They stated that I was not audible and I was not convincing. Since then, I have put a lot of attention on my communication. Despite achieving some improvements, I am yet to learn how to use non-verbal communication skills. However, in order to lead other subordinates in the organization, I need to learn how to use these skills. Currently, the market keeps on changing. Therefore, the organization are employing employees who emanates diverse culture, religion, race, and gender. This is meant to enable the organizations to deal with varying challenges. However, diverse groups are facing various challenges because such people have different ways of dealing with issues. Therefore, conflicts are rampant in such groups. As a leader, I will be faced with a challenge of ensuring that these groups work as a single unit. Therefore, I need to learn on how to work with diverse groups. One of my worst leadership experience occurred during my high school years. As a leader, I was delegating responsibilities to the other team members. Therefore, I was not participating in the task. However, during the presentation of the assignment, the panel announced that the leaders of the groups were the ones to present the assignments. I was not prepared and I had no idea on what the team member had drafted. Therefore, we failed as a group and we were forced to repeat the whole unit. My best leadership experience came during my internship. I was assigned a number of international students who came from different counties and placed in the organization. I was informed that I had to train them how to work as a single unit. In order to achieve this role, I made it mandatory for them to communicate each day. In addition, I emphasized that they were supposed to appreciate the diverse views of each other. Furthermore, they were to use their diverse skills towards achieving the overall objective

My experience in online class with my favorite assignment, things Essay

My experience in online class with my favorite assignment, things which I could have done better, my strengths and weakness - Essay Example I find online learning very useful as I can manage my time and resources well. During my online class for English 095, I have had a valuable experience of learning my favorite subject and also doing many things which needed my attention. It gave me freedom to learn, less or no disturbances from fellow learners, less home work assignments and I was always attentive as I knew I had little time with my coach online. I appreciate that education system has brought up this concept for learners like myself who want to upgrade without bothering the mundane schedule of work. My favorite assignment: It’s quite difficult to point out one particular assignment out of all that I have done. Still, given a choice I would say one of my favorite among all would be narrative assignment. As the assignment suggests it has to be a story based with opening, plot or body of the story, characters, situation and an ending which pulls the reader more close to my work. I liked this because I had to beco me more visualizing, creative and dramatic so that my story has the hero, heroine, villain and situation which weaved in well for a narrative assignment. This gave me an opportunity to read more books, look situations differently and look out for the phrases or vocabulary which could be explicitly used in my work.

Evaluation of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Using Chinese Dissertation

Evaluation of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) Using Chinese Stock Market Data - Dissertation Example 23). It is worth noting that numerous empirical studies that have conducted in line with evaluating the model have proved to be in harmony with the CAPM principles; nonetheless, some of the similar evaluations have contradicted the model. Therefore, this paper aims at studying if the CAPM principles hold for the China Stock Exchange. Among other things to be included in the analysis, include: i. Whether higher beta results to higher expected returns ii. Whether the zero or average intercept is equal to risk free rate and the SML slope is equal to the average risk premium iii. Whether there is an existence of linearity between the expected returns and the stock beta. The monthly stock returns of some of the firms listed in the Chinese Stock Exchange are used in the analysis. The data was obtained from January 2009 to December 2012; hence, the analysis targets a period of four years. To test the CAPM principles in this stock market, the study will employ the use of approach methods con tributed for by Black, Jensen, and Scholes as per the year 1972; described as the time series test. Additionally, the study shall employ the use of the 1973 Fama and MacBeth cross sectional test. From the analysis of the Chinese Stock exchange data for the period of four year in line with the above methods, it is apparent that this duty did not hold up fully with the CAPM principles. ... Introduction Since the CAPM’s introduction, numerous efforts have since emerged to determine the validity of the principles of the CAPM model. These evaluation studies to determine the validity of the CAPM principles have led to a unique valuable contribution and breakthrough to the global financial economics. Despite these contributions, it is worth noting that some empirical studies to validate the same principles have since differed with application and validity of the CAPM principles and its application in the analysis of the world financial economics (Velasco, 2001; pg. 182). Nonetheless, other studies have proved to be in harmony with the same study. The differences in these studies depicts a significant stimulating factor to the study; hence, calling for a deep enhancement of the CAPM principles in line with evaluating the principles of the model using data from the Chinese Stock Exchange. 1.0.1. Brief Understanding of CAPM The significant contributions of the financial economics theory was realized in the 1960s when numerous researchers including William Sharpe used the Markowitz’s portfolio theory as his ground to develop price formation theory for the financial assets. This price formation theory is what emerged to be known as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). It is worth noting that the theory of the Markowitz’s portfolio analyzes the optimization of wealth invest in assets in variation to their risks and returns as well as providing the view on how the underlying risks can be reduced. The CAPM formation or foundation states that investors are in a position to choose to expose their businesses to a reasonable amount risk through a series of combined

Turkish Foreign Policy since the Ottoman Empire Essay

Turkish Foreign Policy since the Ottoman Empire - Essay Example Since time immemorial,Turkey had been a predominantly a Muslim country that was controlled by the Sultanates of the Ottoman Empire.However,through a nationalist movement led by Musataf Kemal,Turkey was able to establish itself as a prosperous secular state that could assert itself as a force in the Central African region. To establish itself to be the modern day Turkey, it had to employ numerous strategies as the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of the Sultanates was greatly opposed to an independent Turkish state with a distinct language, dress code and run through secular laws. The early leadership of Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) that laid claim that the Ottoman Sultan was the universal leader of the Muslims used propaganda and counter-propaganda. However, he did not anticipate that opposition could come from an Islamic perspective. This Sunni idea was largely opposed by the Shiite Iran who did not recognize the Ottoman Empire as it occupied what was traditionally land owned by the Arabs, due to endless persecution, the As Shiites and the Sunnis waged an endless war depending on which side they supported.1 As a method to re-engineer the state towards attaining legitimacy, the Ottoman Empire bought about education through the imposition of uniform religious values through primary and secondary education. This has however been proved to have been the Ottoman Empire’s way of propaganda to educate the ills of the Shiites to the Iraqi population which was perceived to be a moral duty. Finally, it was proved that the attempts of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire fell flat on its face but formed the basis of the republican Turkish nation building, which has been a success. This historical heritage of past concepts and conflicts explains the current geopolitical occurrences in the Middle East and Central Asia.2 As at the imminent collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the sultanate became only limited to the plateau at Anatolia. The implementation of the Treaty of Ser ves weakened the empire as it lost its geopolitical positioning that deprived it of its most important resources. This led to the formation of nationalist movements under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, which culminated in the National Pact of Ankara of January 1920 that resolved to claim those parts of the empire occupied by Turkish populations that laid the basis for the Kemal foreign policy that focused on national unity buttressed by economic and political independence. Through nationalist uprisings and rebellions, the forces led by Kemal were able to crush the Armenian Republic as well as defeating the Greeks. In the process, it was able to negotiate itself into occupying Asia Minor and East Thrace. The Lausanne Treaty set the stage for the Kemalist foreign relation policy especially Greek-Turkish relations marked with the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of Turkey under Kemal. This marked the proclamation of Turkey as a republic after the Sultan had been driven aw ay and recognition of Turkey as a secular state.3 Thereafter the Kemal regime focused on pursuing a foreign policy of maintaining peace as Turkey had been involved in a conflict for almost a decade. To achieve this, even when there was the First World War and the upheavals in South Eastern Europe, Turkey adopted a neutral stand. For example, Turkey signed a treaty with Russia known as the Turco-Soviet Treaty of Neutrality and Non-Agression that emphasized its neutrality and no acts of aggression in whatever circumstances. What was integral to Turkey then was the securing of its borders through emphasis on territorial integrity as well as the independence of Turkey as republic.4 Later Turkey forged a common foreign policy with Russia to the extent of refusing to be members of the League of Nations due to the suspicion of the Western powers, Turkey was also apprehensive of some articles in the treaty forming the League of Nations. After the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Unio n

Literature by U.S. Women of Color Research Paper

Literature by U.S. Women of Color - Research Paper Example It is based on these stories that this research will focus on the difficulties women of color experience in different territories and how they respond to such challenges (Wang 12). Particular emphasis is placed on women faculty of color within a classroom environment dominated by white students. The paper majorly focuses on oppression among women faculty of color in institutions of higher learning such as universities and colleges. Information on the research is based on a comprehensive interview with women faculty of color in a large research institution that is dominated by whites (Aguirre 100). The study identifies how male students challenge the authority of female colored professors during classroom interactions. Research studies indicate that an oppressive environment in a classroom has the negative effect of impairing learning and academic performance. This is especially widespread among students who suffer from oppressed identities. Such research studies only reveal whether a n oppressive environment affects learning effectiveness but tends to ignore the faculty perceptions of their classrooms. A lot of literature material points out that women faculty of color spend different time periods teaching. However, the material does not concentrate much on the classroom experiences of the colored women. Sociologists provide adequate knowledge to students on how to examine racial disparities in different areas of society such as health care and religion. They offer real world examples that are used to illustrate the cultural and interpersonal social oppression that exists in the world that we are living. There has been a widespread use of the oppressive classroom environment in demonstrating different forms of racial disparities. Research studies indicate that fostering faculty diversity and effectiveness can be achieved through the support of faculty who are women of color rather than being hostile towards. This means that it is important that we understand and appreciate the perception of the classroom environment in retaining a diverse faculty (Bonilla-Silva 200). This research applies an intersectional oppression framework in exploring faculty perceptions towards colored women teachers. Oppression can be defined to as the obstacles and actions that maintain the privileges of a dominant group. Research studies indicate that there is widespread and cumulative oppression among women faculty of color. This is evidenced by the small number of recruitment or promotion of women of color in institutions of higher education. Racism based on gender is a unique kind of oppression that women of color experience (Morrison 120). This experience is based on their position in at the intersection of race and gender matrix of domination. On the basis of the above mentioned insight, this research study examines the perception of classroom experiences among women of color at the intersection of racial and gendered oppression. In this research study, the w omen of color have adequate knowledge that their experiences in the classroom are influenced by gendered racism, and that white male students have the tendency of undermining their authority because of their color. I will majorly concentrate on how structural inequality is evidenced during interpersonal interactions. This is because teaching is a major part of the lives of faculty women of color and that it is import

Turkish Foreign Policy since the Ottoman Empire Essay

Turkish Foreign Policy since the Ottoman Empire - Essay Example Since time immemorial,Turkey had been a predominantly a Muslim country that was controlled by the Sultanates of the Ottoman Empire.However,through a nationalist movement led by Musataf Kemal,Turkey was able to establish itself as a prosperous secular state that could assert itself as a force in the Central African region. To establish itself to be the modern day Turkey, it had to employ numerous strategies as the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of the Sultanates was greatly opposed to an independent Turkish state with a distinct language, dress code and run through secular laws. The early leadership of Abdulhamid II (1876-1909) that laid claim that the Ottoman Sultan was the universal leader of the Muslims used propaganda and counter-propaganda. However, he did not anticipate that opposition could come from an Islamic perspective. This Sunni idea was largely opposed by the Shiite Iran who did not recognize the Ottoman Empire as it occupied what was traditionally land owned by the Arabs, due to endless persecution, the As Shiites and the Sunnis waged an endless war depending on which side they supported.1 As a method to re-engineer the state towards attaining legitimacy, the Ottoman Empire bought about education through the imposition of uniform religious values through primary and secondary education. This has however been proved to have been the Ottoman Empire’s way of propaganda to educate the ills of the Shiites to the Iraqi population which was perceived to be a moral duty. Finally, it was proved that the attempts of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire fell flat on its face but formed the basis of the republican Turkish nation building, which has been a success. This historical heritage of past concepts and conflicts explains the current geopolitical occurrences in the Middle East and Central Asia.2 As at the imminent collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the sultanate became only limited to the plateau at Anatolia. The implementation of the Treaty of Ser ves weakened the empire as it lost its geopolitical positioning that deprived it of its most important resources. This led to the formation of nationalist movements under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, which culminated in the National Pact of Ankara of January 1920 that resolved to claim those parts of the empire occupied by Turkish populations that laid the basis for the Kemal foreign policy that focused on national unity buttressed by economic and political independence. Through nationalist uprisings and rebellions, the forces led by Kemal were able to crush the Armenian Republic as well as defeating the Greeks. In the process, it was able to negotiate itself into occupying Asia Minor and East Thrace. The Lausanne Treaty set the stage for the Kemalist foreign relation policy especially Greek-Turkish relations marked with the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of Turkey under Kemal. This marked the proclamation of Turkey as a republic after the Sultan had been driven aw ay and recognition of Turkey as a secular state.3 Thereafter the Kemal regime focused on pursuing a foreign policy of maintaining peace as Turkey had been involved in a conflict for almost a decade. To achieve this, even when there was the First World War and the upheavals in South Eastern Europe, Turkey adopted a neutral stand. For example, Turkey signed a treaty with Russia known as the Turco-Soviet Treaty of Neutrality and Non-Agression that emphasized its neutrality and no acts of aggression in whatever circumstances. What was integral to Turkey then was the securing of its borders through emphasis on territorial integrity as well as the independence of Turkey as republic.4 Later Turkey forged a common foreign policy with Russia to the extent of refusing to be members of the League of Nations due to the suspicion of the Western powers, Turkey was also apprehensive of some articles in the treaty forming the League of Nations. After the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Unio n

Poetry & art Essay Example for Free

Poetry art Essay Poetry is a form of art. Though I want to be an Economics Major in the University of Penn, I am a young aficionado of poetry and prose at heart. I would love to develop my skills through a disciplined and distinguished writing program and Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences offers to cater my aspirations. Believing that one must be a great reader before becoming a great writer, I indulge into books of every genre to harvest more knowledge. Literature brings out in me an overwhelming joy and I wish to carry my fondness for reading and writing into my college majors. The uniqueness cultivated by Penn’s English Department is perceptible by the de facto of education, wherein the emphasis is on creative writing. Through this facet of the University, I want to channel my passion for poetry into academia. As a Founder and President of our school’s Poetry Club, if accepted, I plan to visit the Kelly Writers House religiously, and satisfy my perpetual craving for literature. I can picture myself grabbing a turkey-and-cheese sandwich, without mayonnaise, at the 1920 Commons, and rushing off to the Kelly Writers House, carrying an armful of books by Maya Angelou and Eric Schlosser. Gathered in a close circle of chairs, my fellow literature lovers and I share professional works, with our own daring lines of free verses, swap suggestions, compliments, and light-hearted laughs. During these workshops, my very soul seeps steadily through an invisible tube from brain to ballpoint, the not-so-simple phenomenon of input-output fabricating ink on paper, a painting made of letters. On my way to a morning class on modern American poetry, I pass Oldenberg’s famed Split Button and acknowledge Mr. Franklin, sitting upright in his chair. After the lecture, Professor Josephine Park and I conduct research by analyzing the influence of conflicts between America and East-Asia. Being in the Penn family, I converse with colleagues, sisters and brothers that destiny lacked to give. I tutor secondary school students about reading and writing through the outreach program. Having been featured in a myriad of written works and publishing my own collections, I roll up my sleeves and organize literary pieces in the weekly undergraduate magazine, First Call. As the evening sinks, I bike to the Van Pelt Library, sit cross-legged in my favorite armchair and finalize the touches on a Second World War paper. Traveling to the other parts of the City of Brotherly Love, I gather up with study group friends for our fine dinner. When I reach home, my roommate chatters about the highlights of her day. I then read an article from The Daily Pennsylvanian. Turning off the lights and setting my alarm clock for 6:00 am, I drape my jogging shorts and shirt on a chair for the morning. Before drifting off to sleep, I reminisce those final months when I submitted my application to Penn and smile in the quietness of my room, happy to be here at last.

A Smart Action Plan

A Smart Action Plan After I had started my first year at University I realised that if I want to become a successful student it is crucial to develop time-management skills. It is based on identifying our goals, prioritising and listing them in order to help us achieve the best result. We also need to identify our strengths, look at our work and think how we could improve it to get a better result in the future. We can do so using a diary or personal organiser. Time-management skills are very important because if we know how to organize our time properly, we can carry out more and meet deadlines. It is important to start with setting our priorities because sometimes there is no time to complete all of them. We need to be aware that some of them might take longer than we expected so we should write somewhere what we want to do and when we want to do it. Resources: We should start with identifying our goals and priorities. When doing so, we need to be realistic and definite about them. We must precise what needs to be done, how and when. Then, it is recommended to start keeping an academic diary or a personal organizer where we can write in everything we do (such us important dates or study activities). It will help us to look at the way we work and identify where further improvements can be made. (Oxford Brookes University) To take the most out of the diary we should always carry it with us and keep it up to date. It is also recommended to check it many times a day and add new tasks straight into it. The last step is to identify how we spend the time in order to see if we use it productively. We need to list the work we have to do and precise the amount of time we want to spend on carrying out particular tasks. The most important things should be highlighted or stared that can be easily seen, where the least important ones should be written in a pencil so we can change or remove them easily. (Cottrell S., 2003) Reflective comment: The first thing I did in order to improve my time-management skills was doing some background reading. I used a chapter of a book recommended by my tutor as well as some online resources. It gave me understanding of which steps should be taken in order to became successful. I started with identifying my goal, which was preparing a good set of notes for my oncoming exam. Then I started writing in a diary activities I was planning to do. The most important ones I wrote in using a pen (such as searching for material for my notes) and less important in pencil (like going to the store or meeting someone). The following, I highlighted the most important one so every time I opened my diary it was the first thing I saw. It was a reminder of what is need to be done. Then I identified how much time I want to spend on these tasks. This technique helped me a lot with organizing my time. Now I know that before my problem had lied in spending too much time on unimportant things, therefore I had not had too much time to complete everything I wanted. After getting into a routine of planning my time and studying at set times I am more systematic and precise. References: Cottrell, S. (2003). The CREAM strategy for learning. In: The Study Skills Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. p74-76. Oxford Brookes University. (2012). Time management. Available: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/student/services/health/time.html. Last accessed 12th Jan 2013. 3. Theme 2: Developing an academic writing style Theme: Developing an academic writing style Activity: As an international student I am even more aware of the importance of well-developed writing skills. It is crucial because the better our skills in writing are, the more flexible we can be while writing. There is no definitive definition what an academic writing style is but there are five technical qualities that help making a piece of writing academic. It needs to be Formal, Others, Cautious, Succinct, Impersonal (FOSCI). However, we need to start with developing a habit of writing which is fundamental when working on academic essays and writing under time and exam conditions. Resources: First what we should do is build up our confidence in writing. We can start with writing one world several times and find out our writing style. When a habit of writing is already developed, we need to get used to writing continuously. To do so, it is recommended to try to write for at least five minutes, whatever the content is. We can use this piece of writing in next step where we need to rewrite already done piece of work and add the new detail to it (such us information, opinion). Further step is focused on rewriting that piece and playing with what we have already written (changing the words, the orders). Then comes organising material where we highlight each idea in a different colour. Then rewriting the passage so colours are grouped. It is also important to know how to overcome writerà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s block. We can for example write in pencil (it will remind us that this is a draft so mistakes are allowed and nobody needs to see it). We can also write on th e computer where we can use a spellchecker. (Cottrell S., 2003) Reflective Comment: I decided to improve my academic writing skills because I know how it can affect my grades. I applied this technique in several steps. I started with writing in pencil about my first day in Scotland to get used to writing. I was doing it constantly for 5 minutes. Then, I read it and changed some words and added more details to it. The following, I have rewritten it and checked the grammar and spelling mistakes. Next, I again rewritten the piece but this time in different colours, each relating to a different section: what I saw, how I felt, what I wanted to do. While rewriting the last draft, I was grouping sections together so it looked all tidied up and therefore easier for the reader to understand. The final piece I have rewritten on my computer and checked for unnoticed spelling and grammar mistakes. This technique was time consuming as required rewriting each piece of work several times but it is really worth it. The time I spent on getting used to using this technique took me nearly two weeks but it was really worth it. It paid me off with better-quality and enriched in details work in later days, when I was working on my coursework. References: Cottrell, S. (2003). Writing for university. In: The Study Skills Handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. p143-148. 4. Theme 4: Self-knowledge Theme: Self-knowledge Activity: In order to take some more control in my life and improve my performance I am going to improve my self-knowledge skills. Self-knowledge is about knowing ourselves intimately. It means knowing and understanding our inner feelings, motivations, weaknesses, strengths, motivations, desires, skills, etc. and how they affect our behaviour (Ong T., 2004). This is the starting point when developing a skill and in achieving set goals. When is well-developed, increases our confidence and chances of success. It allows us to turn our weaknesses into strengths and present ourselves well to others, develop confidence or set our priorities for creating new skills. Resources: It is essential to know where are we starting from. Therefore we need to estimate to ourselves what we want to improve and how are we going to improve it. There are many ways of developing it, such as self-evaluation questionnaires, psychometric tests, reflective journals or using tutor feedback on our work. All of these are valuable because are giving people an objective view of how they behave and compare in outlook with others. It is also recommended to put ourselves in new situations, go to new places, experimenting new hobbies (exploring unfamiliar roles and situations à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ we often discover new things about ourselves when were in unusual situations, or facing new challenges. (Mind Tools, 2012) It is also essential to write every day about our thoughts, feelings and emotions because regular writing improves self-knowledge (Cottrell S., 2003). It builds our emotional fluency and helps to find out things we need to work at in order to improve our performance. Reflective comment: To understand more about myself I am going to do a self-evaluation questionnaire or psychometric test. It will give me basic understanding of who I am and what should I work at, what my traits and preferences are. Then, I am going to apply the second step. I will present myself with new situation. I am planning to go the gym to attend aerobic class by my own. Because I had never been at this place before, I will be surrounded by strangers. I hope this experience will help me to discover new things about myself and how I deal with some of the aspects of my life. The following, I will write in my diary about my feelings of that experience and reflect on that. I believe that the collection of writing will help me understand the range of emotions I have experienced. I believe that out emotional self-analyse is a key-point in order to improve our performance. References: Mind Tools. (2012). Coaching to Develop Self-Awareness. Available: Coaching to Develop Self-Awareness. Last accessed 12th Jan 2013. Tim Ong. (2004). The Importance of Self Knowledge. Available: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-Self-Knowledgeid=3560883. Last accessed 12th Jan 2013. 5. Theme 4: Becoming a reflective practitioner Theme: Becoming a reflective practitioner Activity: To improve my overall performance it is important to reflect on our work. Therefore I decided to improve my reflective practise skills. It is imperative because it helps us to better understanding of the work we are doing when we do it as well as after we have done it. It is critical evaluation of all the available evidence. Its purpose is reflecting on what went wrong and how we could possibly improve it and reflecting on what went good and thinking why it went good. It improves our evaluation skills, action plan for success as well as develops answers to our difficulties. Resources: Our performance is likely to increase when we know how to reflect on our work. Things like studying are going to improve when we look at things such as our motivation, skills needed, things that disturb us and so on. There are several methods of developing the act of reflection while studying: writing a learning journal, using the self-evaluation questionnaires, keeping portfolio, using the tutorsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ feedback on our work or filling the progress sheets. In order to reflect on personal, academic and professional development we can start off with writing down anything we can reflect on. Such as our feelings about our friends or people we work with, the things we struggle with or the things we want to achieve. How everything we have learnt relate to real life or things we want to change. Writing our emotions down will help us to simplify our inner feelings, to work out plans and to focus on our development. The final step is reflecting on what we have learn t from the previous situation to the next one. (Cottrell S., 2003) Reflective comment: To improve my overall performance as a student at the University I am aware that it is crucial to start reflecting on my work and see what I do wrong or well. After doing some background reading, I decided to improve my reflective practise skills. To do so, I am going to use my copies of the assessments with the tutorsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ comments on them. Then I am going to write down all the mistakes I have done and reflect on them, asking myself what I did wrong and why I did it and being focused on what skills I need to avoid this next time and how am I going to achieve this. I believe this will bring me a wider understanding of my mistakes and allow me to see what I could possibly improve and change to get a better grade. In the next step I am going to be focused on filling the progress sheets for each module. I believe this activity will enhance my motivation because it will allow me to see the progress I am making and see the things I did wrong and therefore this will be helpful in avoiding them. In my final step will be reflecting on what I have learnt from the previous situation and applying it to the next one. I think this step is very important because when we are aware of what had gone possibly wrong, we can avoid making the same mistakes next time, improving our work and performance.

Commentary: Fitt IV Essay example -- English Literature

Commentary: Fitt IV The extract from Fitt IV describes the first intended blow of the Green Knight against Gawain. Many lines at the beginning of the extract are dedicated to creating the image of the Green Knight picking up his weapon and preparing himself to deal the deadly blow to Gawain. Much of the focus is on the Green Knight’s physical strength, for example ‘With alle the bur in his body’ and ‘Hade hit dryven adoun as drey as he atled, / Ther hade bend ded of his dynt that doghty was ever’. Moreover, the description of the weapon also provides a formidable presence for Gawain, ‘Gederes up hys [the Green Knigh’s] grymme tole, Gawayn to smyte’. However, instead of landing the fatal blow on Gawain’s neck, as discussed in the contract of the game, Gawain flinches away from the axe. The Green Knight is outraged and tells Gawain ‘Such cowardise of that knight cowthe I never here’ as Gawain recoiled in fear before encountering any pain. The Green Knight sees Gawain moving away from the blow of the axe as compromising his reputation as a knight at the court of Camelot. Throughout the first three fitts of the story Gawain can be seen as the epitome of chivalry, a virtue essential to an Arthurian knight. His behaviour when first accepting the challenge of the Green Knight demonstrates the chivalric asset of selfless loyalty towards his King, but also shows his humble attitude by the language he uses ‘And lest lur of my lyf, quo laytes the sothe / Bot for as much as ye ar myn em, I am only prayse; / No bounte bot your blod I in my bode knowe’. These chivalric qualities are further stressed by the Gawain-poet when describing Gawain’s armouring scene. Gawain’s shield, featuring the pentangle, is an iconic i... ...rld seems more virtuous than himself at that moment. The extract from Fitt IV is an essential moment of the story of ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’. It encompasses part of the climax of the story, depicting that which Gawain has been working up to all year. The section also acts as a moment of tension within the final beheading scene as it is expected that Gawain will endure the blow and lose his head. However, the act of Gawain flinching away from the axe works as an anticlimax, a pattern which is repeated for the next two attempts of beheading. It is also surprising from the readers’ perspective that Gawain should recoil from the blow as up until this point he has been characterised as knightly, loyal and truthful. This moment in the story is an interesting change in pace and foresees the sudden twist in the plot at the end of the beheading scene.

Gene Therapy Essay -- Genetics Science Essays

Gene Therapy The Human Genome Project began around 1986. The main goal of the project is to locate and sequence all genes found in human DNA. The objectives for this ambitious effort are to learn more about heredity of disease and to discover the genes that would aid in gene therapy. Advances in gene therapy strive to treat hereditary diseases and possibly eliminate disease from the genome. The definition of gene therapy is the introduction of genes into existing cells to prevent or cure a wide range of diseases (Jaroff, 1996). Gene therapy has two possibilities of disease treatment, somatic gene therapy and germline gene therapy. Somatic gene therapy involves the manipulation of gene expression in cells that will be corrective to the patient but not inherited to the next generation. Germline gene therapy involves the genetic modification of germ cells, which pass the change on to the next generation (Wilson, 1998). Somatic gene therapy is currently being researched more aggressively due to ethical and technical complications with germline gene therapy. Technical Aspects Gene therapy began with the Human Genome Project. The Human Genome Project has found gene locations for many diseases. Among the diseases that have been found Huntington’s disease, cystic fibrosis, ADA deficiency, and two genes for breast cancer are just a few examples. After a disease-causing gene is found, correcting it is the next logical step. This can be achieved through various methods. One of the first tested methods was to obtain the faulty gene from the patient, introduce the corrected gene into cells, and finally inject the altered cells back into a blood vessel. Blood is taken from the affected individual to obtain cells with DNA carryi... ...imit our ability to adapt to ecological and environmental changes. In spite of this, I am enthusiastic about gene therapy. I want to live a healthy life and I want my children to be able to live happy, healthy lives. With gene therapy, the use of human cells to treat disease looks very promising. Who knows, by the time the environment does change, gene therapy may be so advanced that a simple injection could make us adapt to this change. References Elmer-Dewitt, Philip. The Genetic Revolution. Time. January 17, 1994. V 143. N 3. P (46-44). Grace, Eric S. Better Health Through Gene Therapy. The Futurist. Jan-Feb 1998. V 32. N 1. P (39-43). Jaroff, Leon. Keys to the Kingdom. Time. Fall 1996. V 148. N14. P (24-29). Wilson, Jim. The Institute for Human Gene Therapy. Obtained from the WWW November 1, 1998:http://www.med.upenn.edu/~ihgt/info/whatisgt.html

Mountains Beyond Mountains Essay

The title is a haitian proverb that translates â€Å"beyond the mountains, more mountains.† As it relates to the book, I believe mountains beyond mountains means the never ending struggle to control disease involving the poor. In this case, the poor are the haitian people who are in a struggle to improve their health and the institution in place allow this to perpetuate. Farmer sees health in a way that differs from most. Farmer believes improvement of health is not only the actual treatment of the disease. Instead, it is the complete assimilation of institutions where the poor are given power to succeed politically as well as the access to health care. This is evident in what resources Farmer’s clinic has available to his patients that go beyond access to equipment and medications that are not easily attainable in Haiti. In order to provide the necessary resources for a healthy community today and into the future they provide a school, housing, kitchen that feeds people daily, sanitation, as well as filtered water systems. These different resources combined make up what a community needs to have an improvement of health today and into the future. This philosophy rings true for me. How can you expect to have a healthy community when these basic needs are not available. In a country like the United States these resources are at at your disposal in the most rural locations and their benefits forg otten because of it. Farmer’s Story shows how a small group of practitioners can make a positive and lasting impact in a world with poverty and a lack of health care provisions to those without insurance. One major component to this ability is the level of sacrifice these practitioners were able to endure. For many, the dreams of being a doctor include the big bucks that come along with it. In order to provide the level of care Farmer believed was necessary he sacrificed an extraordinary amount of his personal wealth. Another major sacrifice was his time with family. He split his year in Boston and Haiti so the geographic aspect was limiting. Then, the enormous amount of work that seemed never ending (mountains beyond mountains) kept  him busy way beyond an average 9 to 5, leaving no time for vacation to visit. These sacrifices are not to be taken lightly. I don’t know if I would be willing to live for others like Farmer has. It takes a certain character that one is born with to do this. Farmer used every tool he had to help. He sweet talked workers at hospitals and walked away with tuberculosis medicine for the poor and even paid for it himself. When caught he paid back the 96 thousand dollars in medicine he had take. When he was with others he would lecture all he came into contact with on the plight of the poor. He felt as though the poor were all too often forgotten. Tuberculosis control was the perfect example of this. Pharmaceutical companies had controlled TB in wealthy countries and made no effort in poor nations like haiti because it did not make sense financially. Once Farmer came into contact with a resistant form of TB in haiti he was on a mission to make MDR available for all not just the wealthy. The biggest block was cost. His goal of MDR for all was not shared by pharmaceutical companies that wanted to keep the prices high. That didn’t sway him one bit. Ultimately, Farmer was able to acheive his goal and make MDR affordable for all. This motivation with no regard to a personal financial benefit is an attribute I have seldom seen in my lifetime. I imagine Farmer had been approached or had the opportunity to make huge profits from his position and public image. This ethical character seems mythical in today’s world of business and bottom lines. His ethical standard is something to aspire to. The most intriguing quality I see in Farmer is his ability to understand the position of the poor in all its complexity. Wether the person is from Haiti or the United States he treats the patient with a respect that puts the patient at ease. His overall goal is to help the patient in a manner where it improves their overall health. One example that stuck out was Farmer’s experience with Joe a drug addict who doesn’t take his medication or eat properly. He sits with him and asks what his needs are in order to have a successful change in health. The response was definitely unique. His needs were a warm place to stay, 6 pack of beer, person to make sure he takes his medication, and someone to make sure he eats. Instead of listening and  completely dismissing his needs as out of the question he promises to try his best. On a board he writes what Joe’s current situation and the situation he wants to place him in and begins his mission. Ultimately he finds Joe a homeless shelter but they do not allow alcohol, but that doesn’t stop Farmer from pleading Joe’s case. This unorthodox method for providing the care Farmer felt would make a real change in Joe’s health was impressive. Farmer’s story is impressive. After reading this book I understand that a medical career is more than the good life. The abilities we are about to have can help so many and we need to know that is the goal of a good practitioner.

Parent governors Essay

Parent governors are elected by parents / guardians of pupils that attend the school. If there is a vacancy parents are asked to nominate fellow parents, if more people are nominated than there is vacancies an election takes place. Staff governors Staff governors are in most schools and are appointed by support staff that work at the school. If they leave the school they cannot continue being staff governors. Teacher governors Teacher governors are elected by other teachers at the school. They must be permanent members of staff, again if they leave the school they cannot continue being a teacher governor. Community governors Community governors are people who live or work locally to the school and are chosen by the governing body. They are people who are committed to helping towards the success of the school. Foundation governors Foundation governors are chosen by foundation, voluntary aided or voluntary controlled schools. They represent the church or voluntary trust that set up the school. They have a responsibility to make sure the school is following the beliefs of the trust or charity. Sponsor governors Sponsor governors are people that have given financial assistance or services to the school. Head teacher The head teacher is a governor because of the post they hold. They do not have to accept the post but if that is the case the position stays open for them.

How to Play Soccer

Period 4 03/03/10 Playing Soccer Soccer, or Football as many people may call it, is one of the most popular sports around the world today. Most people that play this wonderful and thrilling sport have many techniques in doing so. Every person has a unique style of playing. There are also different tactics and dribbling methods involved when playing soccer. Here are some ways of playing soccer and becoming better at it while practicing hard and developing new soccer skills.Warming up before starting a soccer match is the key because by doing so, you avoid getting your muscles hurt. This step should always be included when playing any sport not just soccer in order to play better and obtain better results. Doing drills is one way to warm –up. There are a variety of soccer drills available to start warming up before actually playing. One really good drill to warm –up is to place cones in a straight line and separate them about one foot apart. Then have a couple of balls at the first cone and start running around each cone with a ball on your feet.When you are done with one round, leave the ball at the end of the route and start the next round with a new ball. Another great warm –up exercise is to run about two laps in order to get your muscles and joints hot and ready. A series of small exercises are needed to start playing smoothly such as, jumping jacks, sit –ups, running in place, and push-ups. These are all great warm-up exercises before playing a soccer game. The next step in playing soccer is to actually play against your opponent.The objective of a soccer game is to score as many goals as possible on your opponent’s goal. The forwards need to score as many goals as possible and the defense needs to block any chances of a goal coming to their goal. The goalie is very important too because she/he is the one that keeps the other team from scoring, by blocking all the possibilities with their hands, feet, or even their body. T he midfielders are the ones who get the ball back to their teammates and run back and forth the whole match. They are also mportant in a game because they distribute the ball throughout the soccer field and make the game flow better. Cool down is the last step of playing soccer. You should walk with your hands over your head. This helps because your lungs become smaller when you run and by doing this exercise you expand your lungs again. While doing this you can also drink water or any electrolyte drink with vitamins. This helps you by getting all of your energy boosted back to your body. Eating healthy snacks after a game is also very important because when you exercise your body looses vitamins and nutrients.Fruits, vegetables, and granola bars are a great way to get all of those lost nutrients and revitalize your body system. Relaxing is the last step you should do to reduce stress after playing soccer. Also when you get home you should take a hot shower to reduce fatigue and soo the your muscles. By doing all of these steps you can become a really good soccer player and even the next Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi who are the two best soccer players in the world today! These are all the reasons I have to tell you that soccer is one of the best sports in the world today.

Discussion Board Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 12

Discussion Board - Assignment Example This simply means that the conditions one experiences in prisons may vary from one place to another. Therefore, asserting that convict criminologists have more credibility in regard to their information of prison life is a farfetched idea. On the other hand, prison is a dynamic place where people get convicted on a daily basis with different criminal offenses. Political systems are also changing on a daily basis meaning that new rules and regulations governing human actions are formulated and implemented each time, thus an action that was not considered a crime in the early 90’s could be considered a crime in the contemporary society and vice-versa. This creates a need for continuous learning on issues ascribed to prison life, thus one person cannot claim that owing to the fact that he was convicted ten years ago, he is in a better position to comprehend prison-related issues than other scholar. In conclusion, the credibility of convict criminologists, does matter, they have a unique source of knowledge that is not possessed by people who have never been

Revlictive report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Revlictive report - Assignment Example I got the skills through tutoring and self-train, which have played a significant role in the developing them. My personality and behavior has pleased great number of workmates, since we socialize and interact well. Some good characteristics that my fellow staffs members have recognized and appreciated are; honesty, self-motivated, courageous, risk taking, innovative, and creative. We managed to escalate the business organization to another level through good interaction with my staff members, I have made sure that I handle myself well and avoid misbehaving at the work place (Caruth D, & Caruth, G. & Pane, 242). Even though I have excelled in most of the fields, there are areas where I have faced challenges, and need to work on. I have failed to work overtime because of the responsibilities I have to work on outside the job area. Working extra time is a big challenge to me although I respect the normal working time and take it seriously. Therefore, I will working on the weak point and trying to settle down and concentrated more on my job in the coming phase. My strong areas discussed in my first phase are exceptional job skill, great personality, and good behavior, though I have failed to sacrifice my time and work extra time. Appraisal report generally assists in evaluating staff members and by letting, they realize their own strengths and weak

Management Restructuring Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management Restructuring - Assignment Example The development stages discussed in the case represent restructuring in many areas such as communication and customer management. The basic aim of the restructuring is to increase competence as the overall environment is very agile and firms need to compete at the max level is order to attain their position in the market or industry. The design tactics discussed herein are mostly related to competency based planning for the replacement of the management. The knowledge base is to be kept for future assistance and this is why knowledge management is gaining popularity in the current context. Knowledge is the most precious asset a firm has and it will try to keep it at almost every cost. The core competency driving forces assumed are The case also highlights the importance of feedback that is vital for the expansion/continuity of the business. The technique being focused over here is the dominant 360 feedback technique in which all can evaluate each other. Next discussion is about the communication within the organization. Communication is regarded as an important role player within the system and clear n concrete communication is all that is required for success. The communication process is to be designed in a more attractive fashion, unlike from the same routine based system. The system development is to be focused on the point that the candidates involved should be able to show their extent of interest in follow

Computer Assisted Language Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Computer Assisted Language Learning - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  communicative competence must be the cornerstone of ICALL. ICALL must provide appropriate language assistance tailored to meet student needs. The ICALL must provide rich language input. The ICALL student model must be based in part on a variety of learning styles. ICALL material is most easily learned through associations, which are facilitated by interesting and relevant themes and meaningful language tasks. ICALL must involve interactions of many kinds, and these interactions need not be just student-tutor interactions u ICALL must provide useful, appropriate error correction suited to the student's changing needs ICALL must involve all relevant language skills and must use each skill to support all other skills. ICALL must teach students to become increasingly self-directed.As the essay stresses  the tutor-tool framework is offered here as a mechanism for addressing a number of concerns in CALL, the most far-reaching being the belief that all CALL is of the tutorial type, characterized by one-to-one interactions where the computer evaluates the student input and then presents the new material accordingly.  In general terms, such frameworks are helpful for a number of reasons. In suggesting the tutor-tool framework originally, Taylor argued that a simple scheme for classification was required to help practitioners 'intellectually grasp' the diverse range of activities in educational computin.g (1980: 2). CALL is faced with similar problems. We have seen the diversity of CALL projects in the CALL Survey, and writers such as Chapelle emphasize that CALL is not one activity but many, often differing widely in function, character, and content ( 1994b). A framework is needed to help comprehend the many approaches being taken. Hubbard (1992: 42) with regard to the creation of a methodological framework for CALL, argues that a framework properly constructed has the benefits of providing: a metalanguage for discussion; a u seful structure to conceptualize materials for development and research; and an 'integrated set of evaluation criteria for determining the fit of software with the teacher's views, the learner's needs, and the syllabus goals and constraints'.