Thursday, October 31, 2019

Investing in foreign hospitality industry in Switzerland Research Paper

Investing in foreign hospitality industry in Switzerland - Research Paper Example Swiss Statistics observes that the uncountable benefit has attracted more than 6,500 international foreign companies that are currently located in Switzerland. It has an attractive market, offers unique production skills, and serves as a gateway to Europe. It is strategically located at the centre of Europe, which ensures easy accessibility of all European markets. It is referred to as the centre of competitiveness in Europe, as it plays an important function in financial markets internationally. It is also the center for many international organizations like World Trade Organization, WHO and UN, among others. Therefore, the hotel industry can do well here as there are many potential customers who have to eat and spend in hotels. Presence of international trading companies, law firms, and insurance companies, freight forwarding companies, security firms and surveillance firms certify Switzerland as a true global business center. Switzerland has greatly improved over the past years as an investment center. It continually enhances foreign and domestic investments through improvement of circumstances and conditions. Expansion of Mirvac group of hotels to Switzerland will improve the company’s reputation and image. Switzerland is an international country and presence of these hotels will ensure its loyal customers get their services, away from home. It will also make it be recognized internationally, as many foreigners come here. Therefore, it will market it internationally, and hence, investing in other countries will also be easy. Investing in Switzerland is therefore an important strategy for the company’s future prospects.... Investing in Switzerland is therefore an important strategy for the company’s future prospects. Current Global Trends Globalization has had various effects on the industry of hospitality. The positive impacts are exposure to diverse cultures, large market, economy development, technology advancement, promotion of creativity, increased job opportunities, development of travel industry, and availability of international services. Exposure to different cultures will help managers in the hospitality industry to learn different cultures as they interact with people from different walks of life. Globalization has increased customer base, as people travel for businesses and holiday, health and other purposes (Swiss Statistics, 2000). This increases the market for the industry of hospitality, with major income from international visitors. Visitors from various cultures, cuisines, customs and languages ensure variety of services that meet their needs. This greatly improves the hospital ity industry, and Mirvac Group of hotels will reap this benefit. Globalization also has negative effects on the hospitality industry like language barrier, cultural barrier, disasters or events in other countries, seasonal environment, bad habits, and crime rate increase. Though these may be a barrier to the hotel investment in Switzerland, the management should still invest here but employ people with wide language and cultural knowledge. These employees will effectively handle and serve different people from different cultural and language backgrounds. PESTLED Analysis of Switzerland Political System The tri level political system in Switzerland is very effective, because county and state governments are highly controlled. They are very understanding situation as well as

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Greek Debt Crisis Essay Example for Free

Greek Debt Crisis Essay Europes debt crisis is a continuation of the global financial crisis and also the result of how Europe attempted to solve the global financial crisis that brought an end to a decade of prosperity and unrestricted debt. European attempts at defending itself against a deep recession, has now created a new crisis of unsustainable and un-serviceable sovereign debt. In early 2010 fears of a sovereign debt crisis, the 2010 Euro Crisis developed concerning some European states including European Union members Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain,(affectionately known as the PIIGS) and Belgium. This led to a crisis of confidence as well as the widening of bond yield spreads and risk insurance on credit default swaps between these countries and other EU members, most importantly Germany. Concern about rising government deficits and debt levels across the globe together with a wave of downgrading of European government debt has created alarm in financial markets. The debt crisis has been mostly centered on recent events in Greece, where there is concern about the rising cost of financing government debt. On 2 May 2010, the Euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund agreed to a â‚ ¬110 billion loan for Greece, conditional on the implementation of harsh Greek austerity measures. On 9 May 2010, Europes Finance Ministers approved a comprehensive rescue package worth almost a trillion dollars aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe by creating the European Financial Stability Facility. Europes heavyweights spent massively on stimulation packages. However such attempts at defending themselves against a deep recession, has now created a sovereign debt crisis. The crisis in Europe has to do with the fear that some countries may be unable to pay back their use more money than they earn. Governments were able to borrow so cheaply in the past decade that running a deficit was often used to stimulate economic growth. One of the ways governments can raise money is through selling bonds, which are bought back after a number of years with interest added. Interest on government bonds has been low for most European countries because bonds were considered secure investments. The market worked on the assumption that governments would always be able to afford buying them back. But what if a country can’t pay back their loans? If a business or individual is in this position, they default and are found bankrupt. But countries can also default on their loans. Argentina defaulted on almost $100 billion of debt owed to the World Bank in 2002. Unemployment soared to 25 percent, GDP dropped by over 10 percent and the Argentine peso lost half its value overnight. This is the scenario that European leaders wanted to avoid when in 2009 concern started to mount over Greece’s ability to pay off its debt. Should Greece default, it would probably be forced to pull out of the euro with unknown but potentially grave consequences for the global economy debt. But debt in itself is not always considered a problem and European governments often. INTRODUCTION A DEBT CRISIS deals with countries and their ability to repay borrowed funds. Therefore, it deals with national economies, international loans and national budgeting. The definitions of debt crisis have varied over time, with major institutions such as Standard and Poors or the International Monetary Fund (IMF) offering their own views on the matter. The most basic definition that all agree on is that a debt crisis is when a national government cannot pay the debt it owes and seeks, as a result, some form of assistance. In the real world, of course, things definitely get messy. People are optimistic, hence they offer themselves for jobs they are not quite qualified for; they borrow money on more of a hope that their business plan will work out than a real knowledge of the difficulties and the problems ahead. There is also the government, who has entered the credit system to borrow money to finance its wars. If the wars turned out well then the bond holders got their money back. If the war was a disaster then the credit system crashed and bond-holders were lucky to get anything back. The causes of the current debt crisis are complex, rooted in economic policies and development choices going back to the 1970s and 1980s. When the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quadrupled the price of oil in 1973, OPEC nations deposited much of their new wealth in commercial banks. The banks, seeking investments for their new funds, made loans to developing countries, often hastily and without monitoring how the loans were used. Some of the money borrowed was spent on programs that did not benefit the poor, such as armaments, failed or inappropriate large scale development projects, and private projects benefiting government officials and small elite. Meanwhile, as inflation rose in the U.S., the U.S. adopted extremely tight monetary policies that soon contributed to a sharp rise in interest rates and a worldwide recession. The irresponsible lending on the part of creditors, mismanagement on the part of debtors, and the worldwide recession all contributed to the debt crisis of the early 1980s. Developing countries were hurt the most in the worldwide recession. The high cost of fuel, high interest rates, and declining exports made it increasingly difficult for them to repay their debts. During the rest of the decade and into the 1990s, commercial banks and bilateral creditors (i.e., governments) sought to address the problem by rescheduling loans and in some cases by providing limited debt relief. Despite these efforts, the debt of many of the worlds poorest countries remains well beyond their ability to repay it. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES At the end of this assignment my aim is to learn: ââ€" ª What a Debt Crisis is? ââ€" ª The European countries affected by a Debt Crisis. ââ€" ª In detail about the Greek Debt Crisis. ââ€" ª The causes of the European Debt Crisis ââ€" ª The effects of the European Debt Crisis ââ€" ª The various solutions undertaken to resolve the European Debt Crisis The European Debt Crisis The European debt crisis is the shorthand term for Europe’s struggle to pay the debts it has built up in recent decades. Five of the region’s countries – Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain – have, to varying degrees, failed to generate enough economic growth to make their ability to pay back bondholders the guarantee it was intended to be. Although these five were seen as being the countries in immediate danger of a possible default, the crisis has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond their borders to the world as a whole. In fact, the head of the Bank of England referred to it as â€Å"the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, if not ever,† in October 2011. This is one of most important problems facing the world economy, but it is also one of the hardest to understand. Greece In the early mid-2000s, Greeces economy was one of the fastest growing in the eurozone and was associated with a large structural deficit. As the world economy was hit by the global financial crisis in the late 2000s, Greece was hit especially hard because its main industries — shipping and tourism — were especially sensitive to changes in the business cycle. The government spent heavily to keep the economy functioning and the countrys debt increased accordingly. On 23 April 2010, the Greek government requested an initial loan of â‚ ¬45 billion from the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF), to cover its financial needs for the remaining part of 2010. A few days later Standard Poors slashed Greeces sovereign debt rating to BB+ or junk status amid fears of default, in which case investors were liable to lose 30–50% of their money. Stock markets worldwide and the euro currency declined in response to the downgrade. The downgrading of Greek government debt to junk bond status in April 2010 created alarm in financial markets, with bond yields rising so high, that private capital markets practically were no longer available for Greece as a funding source. On 2 May 2010, the Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed on a â‚ ¬110 billion bailout loan for Greece, conditional on compliance with the following three key points: ââ€" ª Implementation of austerity measures, to restore the fiscal balance. ââ€" ª Privatization of government assets worth â‚ ¬50bn by the end of 2015, to keep the debt pile sustainable. ââ€" ª Implementation of outlined structural reforms, to improve competitiveness and growth prospects. The payment of the bailout was scheduled to happen in several disbursements from May 2010 until June 2013. Due to a worsened recession and the fact that Greece had worked slower than expected to comply with point 2 and 3 above, there was a need one year later to offer Greece both more time and money in the attempt to restore the economy. In October 2011, Eurozone leaders consequently agreed to offer a second â‚ ¬130 billion bailout loan for Greece, conditional not only the implementation of another austerity package (combined with the continued demands for privatization and structural reforms outlined in the first programme), but also that all private creditors holding Greek government bonds should sign a deal accepting lower interest rates and a 53.5% face value loss. This proposed restructure of all Greek public debt held by private creditors, which at that point of time constituted a 58% share of the total Greek public debt, would according to the bailout plan reduce the overall public debt burden with roughly â‚ ¬110 billion. A debt relief equal to a lowering of the debt-to-GDP ratio from a forecast 198% in 2012 down to roughly 160% in 2012, with the lower interest payments in subsequent years combined with the agreed fiscal consolidation of the public budget and significant financial funding from a privatization program, expected to give a further debt decline to a more sustainable level at 120.5% of GDP by 2020. The second bailout deal was finally ratified by all parties in February 2012, and became active one month later, after the last condition regarding a successful debt restructure of all Greek government bonds, had also been met. The second bailout plan was designed with appointment of the Troika to cover all Greek financial needs from 2012-14 through a transfer of some regular disbursements; and aimed for Greece to resume using the private capital markets for debt refinance and as a source to partly cover its future financial needs, already in 2015. In the first five years from 2015-2020, the return to use the markets was however only evaluated as realistic to the extent, where roughly half of the yearly funds needed to patch the continued budget deficits and ordinary debt refinance should be covered by the market; while the other half of the funds should be covered by extraordinary income from the privatization program of Greek government assets. Mid May 2012 the crisis and impossibility to form a new government after elections and the possible victory by the anti-austerity axis led to new speculations Greece would have to leave the Eurozone shortly due. This phenomenon became known as Grexit and started to govern international market behaviour. Due to a delayed reform schedule and a worsened economic recession, the new government immediately asked the Troika to be granted an extended deadline from 2015 to 2017 before being required to restore the budget into a self-financed situation; which in effect was equal to a request of a third bailout package for 2015-16 worth â‚ ¬32.6bn of extra loans. On 11 November 2012, facing a default by the end of November, the Greek parliament passed a new austerity package worth â‚ ¬18.8bn, including a labor market reform and midterm fiscal plan 2013-16. In return, the Euro group agreed on the following day to lower interest rates and prolong debt maturities and to provide Greece with additional funds of around â‚ ¬10bn for a debt-buy-back programme. The latter allowed Greece to retire about half of the â‚ ¬62 billion in debt that Athens owes private creditors, thereby shaving roughly â‚ ¬20 billion off that debt. This should bring Greeces debt-to-GDP ratio down to 124% by 2020 and well below 110% two years later. Without agreement the debt-to-GDP ratio would have risen to 188% in 2013. Causes Many experts agree that the eurozone crisis began in late 2009, when Greece admitted that its debts had reached 300 billion euros, which represented approximately 113% of its gross domestic product (GDP). Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) had already warned several countries about their debt levels, which were supposed to be capped at 60% of GDP. In early 2010, the EU noted several irregularities in Greeces accounting systems, which led to upward revisions of its budget deficits. The negative sentiment led investors to demand higher yields on sovereign bonds, which of course exacerbated the problem by making borrowing costs even higher. Higher yields also led to lower bond prices, which meant larger countries and many eurozone banks holding sovereign debt in troubled countries began to suffer, requiring their own set of solutions. After a modest bailout by the International Monetary Fund, eurozone leaders agreed upon a 750 billion euro rescue package and established the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in May of 2010. Eventually, this fund was increased to about 1 trillion euros in February of 2012, while several other measures were also implemented to stem the crisis. Countries receiving bailout funds from this facility were required to undergo harsh austerity measures designed to bring their budget deficits and government debt levels under control. Ultimately, this led to popular protests throughout 2010, 2011 and 2012 that culminated in the election of antibailout socialist leaders in France and likely Greece. In January 2010 the Greek Ministry of Finance highlighted in their Stability and Growth Program 2010 these five main causes for the significantly deteriorated economic results recorded in 2009. ââ€" ª GDP growth rates: After 2008, GDP growth rates were lower than the Greek national statistical agency had anticipated. ââ€" ª Government deficit: Huge fiscal imbalances developed during the past six years from 2004 to 2009, where the output increased in nominal terms by 40%, while central government primary expenditures increased by 87% against an increase of only 31% in tax revenues. ââ€" ª Government debt-level: Since it had not been reduced during the good years with strong economic growth, there was no room for the government to continue running large deficits in 2010, neither for the years ahead. ââ€" ª Budget compliance: Budget compliance was acknowledged to be in strong need of future improvement, and for 2009 it was even found to be A lot worse than normal, due to economic control being more lax in a year with political elections. ââ€" ª Statistical credibility: Problems with unreliable data had existed ever since Greece applied for membership of the Euro in 1999. In the five years from 2005–2009, Eurostat each year noted a reservation about the fiscal statistical numbers for Greece, and too often previously reported figures got revised to a somewhat worse figure, after a couple of years. Effects Many economists have argued that Greek should default and pull out of the euro. But according to a study released this September by UBS bank, Greece would suffer a painful economic contraction if it were to do so. According to its figures, a weak euro country such as Greece pulling out of the Euro would face a drop in GDP of between 40 and 50 percent, or a per person cost of between â‚ ¬9,500 and â‚ ¬10,500. According to Diego Valiante from the Centre for European Policy Studies, the effects on global financial system could be more severe than we could imagine. â€Å"We have discovered that the financial system is enormous and is just too big and interconnected to fail. We have to save the financial system from a collapse which would have repercussions on the economies and competitiveness of countries.† Valiante argued that if Greece went down, it would inevitably affect the rest of the global economy due to intertwined the relationships of global banks. If Greece defaults, then banks across Europe who bought billions of euros of Greek debt – because it was considered safe – would suddenly be left with worthless assets. This is where contagion kicks in. Other banks, unsure of who has bought Greek debt, will then start calling in debts out of fear that they cannot reclaim their loans. This then trickles down to businesses which would then be unable to raise the capital they need and Europe’s economies would inevitably experience another recession. Sigurd Nà ¦ss-Schmidt, from the think tank Copenhagen Economics, believes this process has already started. â€Å"Banks are losing trust in each other again. They don’t know who has enough assets and credit markets are freezing up,† he said at a recent lecture in Brussels. Solutions The failure to resolve the eurozone crisis has been largely attributed to a lack of political consensus on the measures that need to be taken. Rich countries like Germany have insisted on austerity measures designed to bring down debt levels, while the poorer countries facing the problems complain that austerity is only hindering economic growth prospects further. Perhaps the most popular solution proposed has been the so-called Eurobond, which would be jointly underwritten by all eurozone member states. The problem with this solution is mostly that of complacency. Some experts believe that access to low interest debt financing will eliminate the need for countries to undergo austerity and only push back an inevitable day of reckoning. Meanwhile, countries like Germany could face the brunt of the financial burden in the event of any Eurobond defaults or problems. With disagreements between rich and poor countries in the region, there is a risk that nothing will be accomplished and the situation will only worsen. In the end, there may not be any easy answer to the eurozone crisis, but financial markets continue monitoring the situation in hopes that a solution amicable to all countries arises. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY My source of knowledge was mainly the INTERNET, through which I used various sites wikipedia and related sites. CONCLUSION In conclusion I would like to say that, the EU finance ministers in their latest efforts to turn things around, have reached a deal on cutting Greek debt and given the green light for the country to receive the next pot of bailout money. Its been waiting since June for the cash and it means the government there will be able to pay workers wages and pensions in December. I also learnt that Greek debts will be cut by 40bn euros ( £32bn) and the country will get another 44 billion euros ( £35billion) of bailout loans. Several countries in the eurozone have borrowed and spent too much since the global recession, losing control of their finances. Greece was the first to take a multi-billion pound bailout from other European countries, followed by Portugal and Ireland. Their governments had to agree to spending cuts before the loans were approved. Greece is still in trouble though and needs more money. Many Greek people dont want any more tax rises and job losses, but tough spending plans have been pushed through so the government can receive its bailout cash. There have been angry protests on the streets and strikes at power stations. The Greek government is relieved at the latest deal, but the main opposition party, Syriza, doesnt think it goes far enough and called it a half-baked compromise. If Greece is unable or unwilling to keep paying what it owes, the country will effectively go bankrupt and probably become the first country to leave the euro currency. There are worries that other countries could do the same, threatening the strength of Europe. Life would also become even tougher for Greek people, who would feel much poorer as their money wouldnt be worth as much. Governments in other eurozone countries like Ireland and Portugal would have to pay more to borrow money and might have to raise taxes and cut spending to balance the books As the UK doesnt have the euro, it hasnt contributed to the bailout except through its membership of the International Monetary Fund, which lends to countries around the world. But some British banks have lent money to Greece and would lose billions if the country went bankrupt. They would lose even more if the problems spread to other countries like Spain and Italy. If the banks are hit hard there could be another credit crunch, making it much harder for British people and businesses to borrow cash for loans and mortgages. Companies in the UK also do many of their trade deals with firms in Europe, so financial problems overseas would affect British business too.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Individual Choice In A Clockwork Orange English Literature Essay

Individual Choice In A Clockwork Orange English Literature Essay A Clockwork Orange is a novel that shocks with its explicit violent images, its savage protagonist, difficult language and a cruel prophesy of the future. It is a novel which, with a help of Stanley Kubricks film adaptation, became the main work associated with the name of Anthony Burgess. Burgess, however, was a very prolific artist. He wrote thirty-four works of fiction, fifteen nonfiction books including reviews and criticism, two biographies, plays, screenplays, translations and a great deal of music (Keen 10). Burgess never considered A Clockwork Orange his best novel and have always stayed disappointed that only this one brought him such a huge public attention. He believed he wrote far better, mature books and worried that he would become something of a shadow behind Kubricks film adaptation (Clockwork vii). The authors anxieties came true, in a way, but the truth remains that although it is Stanley Kubrick who made A Clockwork Orange famous, it is Anthony Burgess who created a rare masterpiece that very few readers could stay indifferent to. As Burgess himself admitted, A Clockwork Orange is a rather didactic novel. At one point of his life he became aware of the growing aggression and violence among the youth. In A thousand words before breakfast interview Burgess admitted, that however he despised teenage gangs, he strongly opposed to the proposals of using Pavlovian techniques to deal with violent citizens. He always believed in free will and freedom of choice. Burgess, as a Catholic, was sure, that only by choosing to do good ones soul can be saved. A Clockwork Orange condemns human conditioning and intends to promote the notion of individual choice (Clockwork ix). According to Burgess, it is better for human being to choose evil than not to have a freedom of choice at all. Free will is humans greatest gift that should never be taken away. Burgess admitted, that promoting mens freedom is what he have always been trying to do in his work. What distinguishes A Clockwork Orange from other of his works, is also the speci al language he created for the novel and the fact, that for the first time he made such an explicit use of violence. As an author of a book such full of cruel and sexual images, Burgess was exposed to much criticism and accusation of promoting violence. The novel became to be read as a pure controversy and the intended didactic role was by many readers overlooked. Have the book became famous for its moral values, and not been read as a shocker, it would bring Burgess a completely different fame. Unfortunately for the author, for most people he would always be the one who dared to describe most abhorrent acts of violence and young people with a taste for hatred, blood and rape. But Burgess, in fact, does not like violence and presenting sex in his books. During the interview in Italy in 1974, Burgess said that he also included a biographic element in the book. His first wife have been attacked by a group of soldiers and despite it has not been a sexual attack but the act of robbery, it resulted in her having a miscarriage and supposedly, her eventual death. Burgess wrote a novel that seems to be pornographic but at the same time tries to preach, because such combination had a great chance to make A Clockwork Orange popular. In the same, Italian interview, Burgess stated: Pornography and violence, and the teachy, preachy quality; and when you get these two together you normally produce a book that can become a bestseller. A Clockwork Orange is a very controversial novel. Some call it pornographic, for others its violent imagery is almost impossible to stand. But Anthony Burgess surely did not mean to write a shocker. He aimed the novel to preach, even more than any of his previous works did before. Burgess meant to promote freedom of individual choice and to criticize anyone who would ever dare to take this precious gift away from the human being. Man is not to be conditioned and manipulated, since when a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man (Clockwork 63). 2. Pelagian and Augustinian points of view on Original Sin and Free Will and their reflection in Anthony Burgesss A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess frequently returned in his works to the conflict of authoritarian and libertarian ideas, which he called Pelagian and Augustinian points of view. Pelagianism is named after a monk who argued against the notion of Original Sin, Pelagius. According to G.F. Wiggerss Historical Presentation of Augustinism and Pelagianism from the Original Sources, Pelagius stated, that each infant is born in the same state as Adam has been before he sinned. Adams sin injured only him and not his posterity, so there is no propagation of sin on the following generations. What follows, bodily death is not a punishment, but a necessity of nature. Pelagius believed that man was given free will and salvation is in humans hands, so he is able to do both good and evil. Man is even able, through repentance, to become good again after he has sinned. Consequently, there is an abstract possibility that all man can be perfect. Pelagius, thus, appears as an advocate of libertarian views. The doctrine of Augustinism was quite the contrary. First of all, Adams sin was propagated among all men, so each child is born with the Original Sin. The sin will always be propagated by the sensual lust in the act of procreation and all men are under the power of the devil from the very first moment they are born. As a consequence of the first sin, people suffer the punishment of physical death, pains of parturition and toil of labourers. Augustinism denied the notion of free will, and stated that the only freedom that man has is to sin. Freedom to resists sin has been lost also as a punishment. According to Augustinians, the nature of man is entirely corrupted. Man is always more likely to choose evil rather than good and the only help for a human being is Gods grace (Wiggers 83-115). Burgess often presents history as a cyclical shifts of Pelagian (libertarian) and Augustinian (authoritarian) parties. With authoritarians in power, stability is achieved by strict rules, laws and societal control. The faith in human perfectibility is growing, strict control of authoritarians seems unnecessary and finally, libertarian government gains control. This brings more freedom to the society, but with the contentment comes anarchy and the social stability is lost. There again, society cries for law and order and the new authoritarian party comes to rule. Such a change of governments in power is visible in A Clockwork Orange. The novel begins clearly with a portrayal of an anarchic society and Pelagians in power. After Alex, the protagonist, is released from jail, he realizes that new laws were established and the police forces grown bigger, which indicates that the country is run by Augustinians (Rabinovitz 43-46). The conflict of Pelagianism and Augustinism is also visible in the novels characters. The writer F. Alexander is a libertarian. He believes in human perfectibility. F. Alexander is an author of a book, A Clockwork Orange (a fair gloopy title (Clockwork 18), according to Alex) which presents its authors strongest libertarian views. For F. Alexander, human being is a creature of growth and capable of sweetness (Clockwork 18). Later in the novel, however, his hypocrisy comes to light, and when F. Alexander learns that Alex is the one who raped his wife, he agrees to the plan of driving the young criminal to suicide. Burgess here, by the inability of F. Alexander to stick to his faith, seems to slightly criticize Pelagianism. Young Alex, in opposition to F. Alexander, has many Augustinian characteristics. He is brutal, enjoys crime, holds power (at least at the beginning of the novel) among his droogs and does not believe in the goodness of the human being. 3. Radical behaviourism limiting the freedom of individual choice Burgess strongly opposed to politicians who openly discussed possibilities of introducing conditioning as a way of eliminating criminal instincts. Very popular at that time became the doctrine of B.F. Skinner (1904- 1990) called radical behaviourism. According to Skinner, human behaviour can always be explained in purely physical terms and it can be shaped by operant conditioning through reinforcement and punishment (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Burgess was very much frightened by these new ideas of people-control, conditioning techniques and behaviourists methods of reforming criminals. After the attack on a cat-lady, Alex is deceived by his gang who no longer wants him as a leader and is caught by the police. This is a significant moment in the novel, since for the first time, Alex would be charged with a real punishment. He is taken away to Staja (State Jail) and becomes 6655321 and not your little droog Alex not no longer (Clockwork 57). But however hard is life in prison for the young protagonist, Alex manages to adapt to the conditions rather well. He becomes a help to the prison chaplain and is allowed to listen to his beloved classical music of J.S. Bach or G.F. Handel. What is more, Alex finds a way to enjoy violence by reading the Bible: I would read of these starry yahoodies tolchocking each other and then peeting their Hebrew vino and getting on to the bed with their wives like hand-maidens, real horrorshow. That kept me going, brothers. (Clockwork 60) Alex also, while listening to the classical music, imagines himself helping in the crucifixion of Christ and he generally concludes that being in Staja 84F was not all that wasted (Clockwork 60). Despite everything, however, Alex wanted to be free and saw his chance in Ludovicos Technique. He hears about this new treatment in prison and volunteers to take part in the experiment. Alex is sure that the technique would get him out of prison, he thinks it would be the beginning of his freedom. Ludovicos Technique turns out to be a cruel conditioning method, turning Alex into a mindless and weak machine. The Ludovicos Technique rests on Alex being strapped to a chair and forced to watch movies that consists of cruel and disgusting scenes of violence. He has both his hands and legs chained to the chair, and clips on his forehead so that he could not close his eyes. The movies scenes include the beating of an old man by the young boys, with lots of blood all around, or a multiple rape on a young girl. He is also presented with a film about a Japanese torture during the World War II, where the soldiers are fixed to trees with nails, with fire set under them. The soldiers have their tongues cut off and there is also a scene of one soldiers head being sliced off with a sword. One of such movies is accompanied by the music of Ludwig van Beethoven so from then on, Alex is no longer able to listen to it, which means he is being bereaved of the one and only passion he has got apart from violence in his life, his love for classical music. Watching all the movies is a great torture for Alex, he screams, cries and feels really sick. But the reason of it is not his aversion to blood and violence, it is only the effect of the injections he gets. His personal, psychological attitude toward violence does not change at all. When the Discharge Officer asks him whether he want to hit him, he does, when asked about a job he might get after being set free, his first thought goes to theft. Day by day, however, Alexs organism begins to associate the sight of violence with the feeling of nausea. One time, he begins to crash his head against the wall out of desperation, but has to stop as soon as he realizes that this kind of violence is just like the violence from the films he sees every day. Alex feels sick at the very thought of violence but the treatment still goes on: Every day, my brothers, these films were like the same, all kicking and tolchocking and red red krovvy dripping off of litsos and plots and spattering all over the camera lenses. It was usually grinning and smecking malchicks in the height of nadsat fashion or else teeheeheeing Jap tortures or brutal Nazi kickers and shooters. And each day the feeling of wanting to die with sickness and Gulliver pains and aches in the zoobies and horrible horrible thirst grew really worse. (Clockwork 87-88) The Ludovicos Technique succeeds in making Alex a good boy. He cannot commit any act of violence any longer as gets sick even when thinking about crime. But the state of Alexs consciousness does not change, he does not understand that his violent ways were evil. He is now simply conditioned not to raise his fists against anyone, to the point that he is not even able to defend himself. Anthony Burgess creates a portrait of a human being deprived of his freedom and the right to choose, stripped out of his humanity. The Ludovicos Technique creates a clockwork- machine, which without understanding how and why, never again would dare to think about any acts of force. 4. The concepts of liberty What is liberty has been discussed by philosophers from the beginning of our times. Generally, two kinds of liberty can be distinguished: the abstract one in our minds, the inner feeling of being free and freedom that we achieve by not being restrained by external circumstances. One can lack freedom to achieve goals because he/she has not got enough courage, power or abilities. The amount of freedom can also depend on laws, political order and other external forces. The two basic notions of liberty has been thoroughly discussed by Isaiah Berlin, the British liberal philosopher. In Berlins Two Concepts of Liberty he established the notions of positive and negative liberty. The negative liberty defines to what degree one has, or should have control over his/her actions without the interference of other people, whereas the need of a person to be the master of ones own will and not to feel restrained by others is described as the positive liberty. Restricting ones freedom by others is usually considered a negative phenomenon. However, the individual freedom cannot stay entirely unrestricted as it would lead to a complete social chaos. Philosophers such as Locke and Mill in England, or Constant and Tocqueville from France agreed, that there should exist a minimum amount of personal freedom that cannot be violated under any circumstances. The violation of such freedom makes the moral growth impossible, it prevents one from setting and pursuing goals. The line between the private life of the individual and the public authority should be drawn very clearly (Berlin 117). Philosophers which were optimistic about human nature believed that it is possible to have a wide area of personal freedom and maintain the social order at the same time. Others, such as Hobbes, argued that humans need strict control of authorities to avoid their mutual destruction (121). Mill also agreed that coercion is to be justified whenever we want to prevent depriving people of each others freedom. 4.1. The concepts of positive and negative liberty in A Clockwork Orange before the operation of the Ludovicos technique At the beginning of the novel, Alex is completely free, meaning that he does whatever he wants and whenever he wants it. The police and the authorities are unable to control the young criminalist and he is fully aware of that. Alex breaks the law constantly but until the incident at the cat-ladys house, he has not suffered any consequences of his violent activities. Referring to the terminology of Berlin, the novels protagonist enjoyed a total positive freedom, as he was self- confident and convinced of his impunity. The government, at least at the beginning of the novel seems powerless and unable to control the society, so Alexs negative freedom also stayed unrestricted. The reader may get the idea of how carefree is Alex about the violence and crime just in the very first paragraphs of the novel: Our pockets were full of deng, so there was no real need from the point of view of crasting any more pretty polly to tolchock some old veck in an alley and viddy him swim in his blood while we counted the takings divided by four, not to do the ultra- violent on some shivering starry grey-haired ptitsa in shop and go smecking off with the tills guts. (Clockwork 3) Alex talks about the horrid violent activities as if they were simple childlike games. Neither does he care about his victims, nor he fears being punished. It seems like for him, other human beings are just puppets which can be used whenever he needs to steal money or have a little fun over the sight of their blood. Alex and his friends spends their time in a Korova Milk Bar, drinking milk laced with drugs, waiting for the drugs to start to kick, so they could go out and enjoy themselves in stealing and assaulting other citizens. When they attack an innocent man, rip his clothes, books and beats him very hard, Alex refers to it as of the nice beginning of the evening: We hadnt done much, I know, but that was only like the start of the evening and I make no appy polly loggies to thee or thine for that. The knives in the milk plus were stabbing away nice and horrorshow now. (Clockwork 8) Later that evening they attack a nearby shop. The boys are then sure to provide themselves with the alibi by buying drinks to some old women sitting at the bar but that does not mean they are afraid of being caught by the police. Indeed, when two young police officers come and ask questions, they are unable to arrest the young criminals although they seem to know they are guilty of the assault. The authorities appear as having no control at all over the gang and Alex comments on the whole situation: But myself, I couldnt help a bit of disappointment at things as they were those days. Nothing to fight against really. Everything as easy as kiss-my-sharries. (Clockwork 12) The society in the first chapters of A Clockwork Orange is given too much of a negative liberty, there is chaos and nearly anarchy. Another Alexs victim, the old drunkard singing on the side of the road complains bitterly about the current state of the world. He doesnt want to live in a stinking world like this (Clockwork 12). When men are flying to the moon and spinning around the earth, there is no attention paid to earthly law nor order no more (Clockwork 13). Again, after the bloody fight with the rival gang (this would be real, this would be proper, this would be the nosh, the oozy, the britva, not just fisties and boots (Clockwork 13)) the police comes but the boys manage to run away and the police officers does not even make an attempt to chase them. As Alexs Post-Corrective Adviser, P.R. Deltoid comments, nobody can prove anything about anybody (Clockwork 30). Out of the two groups, the authorities and the young criminals, it is the latter who appears much smarter, while the police is slow and clearly powerless. Still during the same night, Alex and his gang arrives (with the stolen car) at the cottage outside the town borders. The place is called HOME and to Alex, it is a gloomy sort of a name (Clockwork 17). The passages that follows here are filled with a horrible descriptions of violence and hatred. Ironically, the resident of the house, F. Alexander, is an author of a book, A Clockwork Orange, which preaches about the belief in human goodness and praises liberal values. Alex manages to read an excerpt from it: The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, the attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I rise my sword-pen. (Clockwork 18) What happens to the person who believes in the human race, is that he is being cruelly beaten up and is made to watch his wife being raped by all of the young criminals in turns. In Stanley Kubricks movie the scene was made even more revolting, as the gang members, while raping the innocent woman, were humming the joyful song- Singin in the Rain. To many readers, the violence in the novel is so horrifying that it is hard to stand and the protagonist seems to be a psychopath. But Alex is fully aware of his actions. He knows what is right and what is wrong and he consciously chooses to be bad. He finds evil a natural part of human nature and is irritated with all the discussions about the causes of it: But brothers, this biting of their toe-nails over what is the cause of badness is what turns me into a fine laughing malchick. They dont go into the cause of goodness, so why the other shop? If lewdies are good thats because they like it, and I wouldnt ever interfere with their pleasures, and so of the other shop. And I was patronizing the other shop. More, badness is of the self, the one, the you or me on our oddy knockies, and that self is made by old Bog or God and is his great pride and radosty. But the not-self cannot have the bad, meaning they of the government and the judges and the schools cannot allow the bad because they cannot allow the self. And is not our modern history, my brothers, the story of brave malenky selves fighting these big machines? I am serious with you, brothers, over this. But what I do I do because I like to do. (Clockwork 31) Alex is surely a very bright boy. His thoughts very often struck the reader with quite an intelligence as for a teenager. He is right about the natural existence of both good and evil in the world and very accurately notices a general tendency to discuss the causes of human bad and not good behavior. Alex also argues for the human right of individual choice and opposes all the attempts to restrict his personal freedom. What Alex does not realize, is that he already has a great amount of freedom. No authorities hold any power over him, neither the police, nor school or his parents. He lives in nearly a lawless world in which came true the most pessimistic ideas of philosophers: human beings, when given too much freedom, turn against one another and create a dark and chaotic kind of world. Another aspect of which Alex seems to be completely unaware of is the fact, that while enjoying his freedom to act as he pleases, he infringes the rights of others. The freedom of an individual should end when it starts to violate the liberty of another human being. 4.2. The end of Alexs limitless freedom At the beginning of the novel Alex is presented as an unquestionable leader of his gang. But the other boys slowly grow tired of the dictatorship and decide to rebel. During the attack on the house of the rich old lady, Alex is tricked by his friends and is left behind to be caught by the police. This is the first time that the young criminal would meet the consequences of his actions. The police treats him badly. He is being beaten and offended, just as he used to treat his own victims. Nevertheless, Alex seems to be rather shocked that he can actually become a victim of violence too and the thought that he is being fairly punished does not ever cross his mind, not even after his victims death. After his imprisonment, Alexs moods switches from feeling pity for himself (I was not your handsome young Narrator any longer but a real strack of a sight (Clockwork 51)), humiliating himself (like some real bezoomny veck, I even said: Sorry, brothers, that was not the right thing at all. Sor ry sorry sorry. (Clockwork 52)), to real anger and the feeling of injustice (I thought to myself, Hell and blast you all, if all you bastards are on the side of the Good then Im glad I belong to the other shop (Clockwork 53)). The last of Alexs thought carries a very important message for the whole novel. It underlines the hypocrisy of those, who called themselves good people. The ones who are supposed to be the epitomes of goodness and defend the law, come out as capable of the same vulgarity and violence as Alex and his gang. Anthony Burgess manages to show how difficult and risky it is to classify the world in terms of goodness and evil. On the one hand, Alex only gets what he deserves, but on the other, how can the good be distinguished from the evil, if both turn out to be capable of committing a great wrong? While doing his time in prison, one day, Alex hears about the new like treatment that gets you out of prison in no time at all and makes sure that you never get back in again (Clockwork 62). Alex becomes excited about the new technique but is not aware that what seems as an easy way to regain his freedom, would actually be a brutal end of it. From the very beginning, the prison chaplain warns Alex, that not only is the treatment still in its experimental stage, but it is also an extremely drastic technique. It seems that Anthony Burgess expresses here his deepest concern, the one about the necessity for the human being to have a freedom of individual choice. The very fundamental doubt, for the prison chaplain, is whether a man can be artificially made good: The question is whether such technique can really make a man good. Goodness comes from within, 6655321. Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man. (Clockwork 63) The chaplain also thinks, that perhaps the one who chooses to be bad is in some way better than a person who has goodness imposed upon him (Clockwork 70). Also the Governor is against the Ludovicos Technique, as he sees a desire to get ones revenge as a natural part of human nature. Despite everything, however, after Alex beats another prisoner to death, he gets a chance to become a volunteer for the new treatment. He sees the event as the new beginning of his freedom. Now his criminal instinct will be killed. The evil will be turned into good. At the beginning, Alex feels wonderful and very lucky. He is taken to a new white building, has a whole cell with a bed for himself, he gets a new clean pajamas, and is told that the whole treatment consists only in watching movies and getting an injection of vitamins after every meal. Ludovicos Technique however, turns out to be a cruel form of medical conditioning. Alex is stripped to a chair and forced to watch very drastic and abhorrent movies. The scenes he watches do not disgust him, as Alex himself used to take part in many awful acts of violence, but the injections he gets causes illness. His organism begins to associate the sight of the movies and nausea, so that he begins to feel sick even at the very thought of violence. After the treatment Alex is no longer violent, he is not even able to fight back or defend himself. A day before Alex is to be set free, he goes through a trial. He is given his clothes, boots and razor back and is put in the middle of the big room with a full audience of important figures watching him. After the lights goes down and the spotlight comes on Alex, he sees a man coming up to him. The man welcomes Alex, referring to him as a heap of dirt (Clockwork 92. He stamps of Alexs feet, scratches his face with a fingernail and goes on with offending him. When Alex attempts to get his razor out of his pocket, he immediately feels very sick. Knowing that to stop nausea he has to change his way of thinking, he becomes over-polite and even gets on his knees and licks the mans shoes. Later, on the scene appears a young and very beautiful girl. Alex comment on the impression that she made on him is very point-blank: She came up towards me with the light like it was the like light of heavenly grace and all that cal coming with her, and the first thing that flashed into my gulliver was that I would like to have her right down there on the floor with the old in-out real savage (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) (Clockwork 95) But again he is quickly overtaken by the feeling of nausea and headaches and he has to think of some other way to get close to the girl. Alex assumes a very courteous tone, let me worship you and be like your helper and protector from the wicked like world, he says, let me be like your true king (Clockwork 96). Everyone except the prison chaplain is impressed by how the new techniques changed Alex. The chaplain although alcoholic and a slightly pathetic figure in the novel, is the only person who realizes the great wrong that has been done to the boy and he is certainly a spokesman for Burgesss views in a book: Choice. He has no real choice, has he? Self-interest, fear of physical pain, drove him to that grotesque act of self-abasement. Its insincerity was clearly to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature of moral choice. (Clockwork 94) What Burgess presents is not the success of the behavioural conditioning, but a man stripped out of his freedom of choice and what follows, of his humanity. Even Alex, at first so excited about the Ludovicos Technique, suddenly realizes what have been done to him: Am I just to be like a clock-work orange? (Clockwork 94), he screams at one point. Alex is turned into a true, but clockwork Christian. He is now always ready to turn the other cheek, ready to be crucified rather than crucify. He feels sick even at the thought of killing a fly: And that was right, brothers, because when he said that I thought of killing a fly and felt just that tiny bit sick, but I pushed the sickness and pain back by thinking of the fly being fed with bits of sugar and looked after like a bleeding pet and all that cal. (Clockwork 96) Burgesss message is very clear. An ideal citizen should always decide for himself and not only be artificially made to be good. To have a chance for salvation, man has to choose good over evil. Either conditioned by Pavlovian, Skinners or invented by Burgess Ludovicos technique, human being becomes not only weak but is also deprived of his dignity. What makes the man is his freedom, pride and ability to choose. Without them, he becomes nothing more but a machine, powerless creature in the hands of overwhelming science. 4.3. A clockwork orange set free When Alex is set free again and out in the world, from the local newspaper he gets to know that the world he knew has changed dramatically. The streets are now clean, there is no anarchy anymore and the police is much tougher with the local crime. The freedom of citizens, especially their negative freedom has been restricted. The peace-loving ladies and gentlemen can stroll through the streets again, without the fear of being attacked by any young hooligans. Alex no longer feels like he rules the world, what surrounds him is all unknown to him, he feels sick all the time and do not have a place to go. He is no longer welcome to his home, his possessions have been sold and the new guy called Joy has taken his place and acts like a son to Alexs parents. People look different, fashion has changed and the music shop is now filled with pop music. But Alex in no longer able to enjoy his beloved classical music: It was that these doctor bratchnies had so fix things that any music that was like for the emotions would make me sick just like viddying or wanting to do violence. It was because all those violence films had music with them. And I remembered especially that horrible Nazi film with the Beethoven Fifth, last movement. And now here was lovely Mozart made horrible. (Clockwork 104) Feeling horrible all the time, Alex thinks of committing suicide and goes to the public library to find how to do it without pain, but again he gets nauseous at the sight of illustrations in medical books and the attempt to read the Bible fails him too. He is hopeless and cannot find himself in the new world. When he begins to cry and a very old man tells him he is far too young to die and still has everything in front of him, Alex replies bitterly: Yes. Like a pair of false groodies (Clockwork 107). Alexs situations goes from bad to worse, when

Friday, October 25, 2019

Computer Network Management Essay -- Networks Telecommunications

The Basics of Network Management In the computer world, networks are the primary means of inter-computer communications. The building and maintenance of a network is the responsibility of the network manager. The network manager must have the expertise to design and implement an appropriate network for his client. The proper design of a network is based on more than a few principles. However, the job of the network manager encompasses more than simply building a useable network, although that is the end result. The network manager must have many characteristics in order to fulfill his job. After years of training, a network manager will know how to select the proper network topology for the client. After some investigation into the company’s needs, the topology should become more apparent. Being able to choose a configuration means nothing, however, if the network manager is unable to convince the client. Persuasion is a necessary trait, but a strong sense of ethics must also be present. If a network manager tries to sell something other than what the client needs legal proceedings may be close behind. Selecting a network topology and convincing the client of their needs are the technical functions of the job. After selecting a network plan, the network manager needs to assemble a staff that is capable of implementing the network and maintaining that network. A crew with the appropriate training is a must, but the network manager has to find the best candidates. The network can grow to be a large and complex web. Job specialization will increase productivity and the total amount of knowledge available to the company. A network manager is also a personnel manager. Most clients have a limited budget set aside ... ...Accounting management collects the information about the clients’ usage of the services to keep track of billing. Tariffs, pricing, and collections may also be controlled. Finally, common management is applicable across more than one area of management such as autonomous events. The external communications functions are those necessary to convey the management information, to provide an infrastructure to the network. Together, these functions, the logical, management, and external communications, are the building blocks of a network. A network manager is responsible for being aware of the functions of each aspect of network management in order to build a successful network. Bibliography Ramon, Lakshmi. Fundamentals of Telecommunication Network Management. New York: IEEE Press, 1999. Rhodes, Peter. Building a Network. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Heart of Darkness vs Things Fall Apart Essay

â€Å"Heart of Darkness† and â€Å"Things Fall Apart† show a variety of ways of depicting Africa in literature. In â€Å"Heart of Darkness†, Joseph Conrad shows the continent of Africa through the stereotypical perspective of the European sailors, who had a tendency to depict the natives of the land as savages, and in response to that matter, Chinua Achebe wrote â€Å"Things Fall Apart† through the non-stereotypical depicting perspective of the natives of the land to show Africans, not as savages or primitives, but as members of a traditional society. European prejudice is presented in a verifiable way in â€Å"Heart of Darkness†. The main character of â€Å"Heart of Darkness† or protagonist, Marlow, is a sailor who travels through Africa and describes the natives that he comes in contact with as savages. Marlow compares these different individuals to animals of some specific nature or just to the wilderness of the jungle, respectively. There was a point in this novel where Marlow’s vision came in contact with a pit in the ground. He noticed that it was a pit made for the natives to go and rest in peace or in other words die. Marlow describes those natives that were there stating, â€Å"Black shapes crouched, lay, sat between the trees, leaning against the trunks, clinging to the earth in all attitudes of pain, abandonment, and despair they were nothing earthly now, nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation One of these creatures rose to his hands and knees and went off on all fours towards the river to drink† (Conrad 17). This descriptive portrayal shows the natives as â€Å"shadows† and nothing more than mere â€Å"black shapes† and not as individuals or men who are simply just dying. These men are no longer men, they have been stripped of all their characteristics which makes them human to dehumanizing characteristics where none can tell the difference of one dying man to another. None of the dying men are described by oneself, which makes it difficult for the reader to see where one man ends to where the individual begins. This creates an effect where these individuals look like eometric shapes and symbols of some sort. These depictions in which Marlow stated originates from a very stereotypical saying. The saying is that all Africans are made the same and one can not tell the difference between them even if much effort is applied. Similarly, there was an African man who was crawling to the river in order to quench his thirst. The way he was crawling in general is very dehumanizing. To make the matter worse and more dramatic, he crawled on his hands and knees which is animal-like and very degrading. The man is described to be on all fours just to get a drink, but when looking towards the European side, there is no way in Heaven that they’d be described like that. None. On the other hand, the European people would drink from a tap or maybe boil water from a well of some sort in order to have a refreshing drink. The natives are compared to animals of the wild when Marlow begins describing one of the workers on the ship. Marlow states, â€Å"to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs† (Conrad 36). This worker simply shows that the savages who are the Africans have a possibility of being tamed because, â€Å"He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank† (Conrad 37). One can see that this man has been stripped of being a human being. He is now an animal, a dog, maybe, who is being trained to do some type of trick. From Marlow’s point of view he is still an animal and none the less, this man is pretending to be a civilized being. Marlow doesn’t stop there though. He continues to downgrade this European man by describing him to be just like the natives on the land. All in all, this is stereotypical. Furthermore, Marlow keeps his ball rolling by depicting the African natives as â€Å"prehistoric† and â€Å"simple†. He states, â€Å"The prehistoric man was cursing us, praying to us, welcoming us who could tell?†¦ we glided past like phantoms, wondering and secretly appalled, as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a mad house† (Conrad 35). In the mind of Marlow, the natives are so primitive that they are in an aspect denied of having a language. Marlow sits there and begins to wonder â€Å"who could tell? instead of making an effort to understand what the natives were saying out of their mouth. What can actually be inferred from this quote is that, the natives were probably jumping up and down like a bunch of kindergarten students at recess or something similar to that. One can’t really be sure, but in all Marlow didn’t even try to grasp what the native Africans were saying probably because he felt that they were savages, or maybe their intellectual mindset wasn’t as great and average to the Europeans, or the native Africans didn’t have anything reasonable to say. Joseph Conrad with respect and similarity to Marlow, may have chosen to not include a specific language probably because he was influenced by the European stereotypes of Africans. What can be inferred from this is that, the removal of a language suggests that the native Africans have nothing that is sophisticated enough to say that would be reasonable or important to add to the plot of the novel. In â€Å"Heart of Darkness†, the native Africans are very underdeveloped, just like a third world country would be, in order to have a control of language. Though, there are moments in which there is language which supports the native savage (Africans) at which this is the time a reader might even hear an African speak. Joseph Conrad uses a specific technique when he writes. He uses a limited exposure to the native Africans’ voices which tries to ignore anything that might bring stereotype about. In response to Joseph Conrad and the Europeans and their use of stereotypical depiction of Africans, Chinua Achebe, the author of â€Å"Things Fall apart† portrayed Africans in a humanizing and traditional society. The Igbo tribe goes against the European stereotype in â€Å"Things Fall Apart†. The main character or protagonist Okonkwo does not agree nor does he disagree with the European belief that is shown in the novel. He is described in the novel to be, â€Å"a man of action, a man of war† (Achebe 8). Okonkwo is a very honorable man in the Umofia village, even though he has a very displeasing streak which is of violent nature. With Okonkwo’s strength and inability to be feminine, he is afraid of anything that is of feminine nature. â€Å"His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. Even as a little boy, he resented his father’s failure and weakness. And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness† (Achebe 10). What can be inferred from this quote is that, this is probably why Okonkwo was always in need of something that was filled with action but he still didn’t fashion â€Å"idleness†. With the combination of these two aspects, Okonkwo can not handle the outcome. Instead when violence is applied to this equation, Okonkwo is as good as can be. With this being said, this further supports the European stereotype as savage-like. When looking deeply into the details that â€Å"Things Fall Apart† display, one can notice the contrasting aspects between Umofia and Okonkwo. Okonkwo doesn’t have any respect for his wives. As an Igbo man, Okonkwo man-handles his wives and children without holding back. Noticing the tone at this point in the novel, one can see that it is very much common for Igbo men in general to beat the ripe bananas out of their wives and children, but at a certain time. Okonkwo man-handled his wife during Umofia’s Week of Peace. Beating your wives and children in order for them to have respect for you is one thing, but when one disobeys the traditional setting of the clans week of peace then drastic problems do arise. â€Å"Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess. It was unheard-of to beat somebody during the sacred week† (Achebe 19). Since Okonkwo felt as if he was the man on top of all and that he could do as it pleased him so, problems arose between himself and Umofia. The feminine force is his wife. And with that being noted, Okonkwo could not remove himself from his violent streak for even a week. Just a week†¦ but when comparing this to the perspective of â€Å"Heart of Darkness† this form and lack of self-control goes to the Europeans motive that Africans are savages. Towards the end of the novel, Okonkwo commits suicide by hanging himself. When the District Commissioner look at Okonkwo’s lifeless body, he states â€Å"In the book which he planned to write The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger† (Achebe 117). What can be inferred from the title of the book is that the District Commissioner is prejudiced about the native Africans. In â€Å"Heart of Darkness†, Africans are also described as â€Å"primitive†, which shows that the European’s stereotype is so vast that it is able to be used in two very separate and different works. All in all, in â€Å"Heart of Darkness† the Europeans notions was that all Africans are the same; they are primitive, savages, and inhuman. In contrast to that stereotype, â€Å"Things Fall Apart† showed a traditional society, where the members are not inhuman. Unsatisfactorily, Okonkwo who is the protagonist of â€Å"Things Fall Apart† was not an effective representation of a civilized individual of a traditional society. But, he was an exceptional member of the society. And even though the stereotype of Africans has not been destroyed, it empowers the European beliefs.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Essay on The Civil War and Reconstruction

Essay on The Civil War and Reconstruction Essay on The Civil War and Reconstruction Essay on The Civil War and ReconstructionThe Civil War was the turning point in the US history, while the Reconstruction era has completed the achievements of the Civil War and changes launched by the war. At the same time, the outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction were disappointing to a large part of the US population, especially slave, whose liberation was one of the major drivers of the Civil War, but the Reconstruction granted them with basic rights and liberties. However, the position of African Americans did not change much. Nevertheless, the Civil War and Reconstruction have laid the foundation to the further development of the US as one nation but, at the same time, the Civil War and Reconstruction have laid the foundation to the further controversies between different social groups in the US society, such as the social tension between different racial groups.Causes of the Civil WarThe major cause of the Civil was slavery and attempts of its abolition triggered Southe rn states to protect their economic interests and traditional social order based on the exploitation of slaves. The slave labor comprised the core of Southern economy since slaves were employed on cotton plantations and other fields which allowed Southern states to boost their export of cotton mainly. In such a situation, the abolition of slavery would undermine the Southern economyFurthermore, the growing disparity between industrialized North and Agricultural South misbalanced the power of Northern and Southern states. Slavery prevented South from radical changes and rapid industrialization, while the North needed resources available on the South and wanted to export capital to continue the industrialization of the nation.Political struggle between abolitionist and proponents of slavery at the top political level laid the political ground for the Civil War. In this regard, attempts of Southern states to preserve larger rights and liberties that provided them with the larger autono my and sovereignty confronted the growing pressure from the part of the federal government that attempted to take broader control over states.Civil WarLincoln’s election as the President of the US triggered the secession of Southern states, who opposed to his policy of the abolition of slavery in the US. Southern states were unwilling to remain in the union with states opposing slavery, while the election of the President A. Lincoln meant the high probability of the abolition of slavery and Lincoln had started this policy since the beginning of his Presidency, as he took the office.In response to the election of Lincoln, Southern states declared the secession from the US. Hence, the attempts of the North to regain the unity of the nation resulted in the outbreak of active military actions in the course of the Civil War (Epperson 192). The major developments of the Civil War included the Naval war which resulted in the blockade of Southern states but the superior navy of North ern states.As the major ports were blocked, Southern states had grown exhausted and running out of resources essential for the maintenance of the struggle against the union forces. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the North attempted to undermine the situation in Southern states, declaring the abolition of slavery and freeing all slaves, as the Northern army advanced southward (Norton 159). In such a way, they gained the support of slaves, who were eager to set themselves free. The Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln in 1863 guaranteed the liberation of all slaves in rebellious states.In addition, the Northern army recruited African Americans, who joined Northerners in their struggle against Southern states. Eventually, the South had proved to be unable to restrain the assaults of the North and the war ended up in 1865 after four consecutive years of struggle and battles (Watson 125). At this point, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that slaver y and policies conducted by the North in relation to slavery had had a considerable impact on the development and outcome of the war. The attempts to abolish slavery triggered the outbreak of the Civil War. During the War, Northern states undermined the economic situation in the South encouraging slaves to rebel against their masters in the South and join the Northern army which they perceived as the liberation army. In such a way, Northern states destabilized the situation in Southern states, undermined their economy and used slaves and their liberation as an important part of their strategy that led them to the overall success in the war. In such a situation, they used their technological superiority and naval blockade to complete the defeat of the South and finally declared the official abolition of slavery nationwide as the result of the war to show that the war had reached its major goal that actually became the primary cause of the war.Outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruct ionFurthermore, by the end of the war, the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was implemented and granted slaves with freedom making the Emancipation Proclamation norms universal and permanent. In such a way, the Thirteenth Amendment brought freedom to slaves nationwide and formally abolished slavery in the US.At first glance, the major goal of the Civil War was achieved but the abolition of slavery alone was not enough to integrate former slaves into the US society and make them a part of the nation. Instead, further legislative changes were needed since slaves should have equal rights and opportunities to exercise their freedom (Watson 175). Otherwise, they would have changed nothing but their formal status to freemen.In response to the urgent need of changing the legal and socioeconomic status of former slaves, the US Congress implemented the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution in 1868 and 1870 respectively (Epperson 188). These amendments formally guaranteed African Americans with equal rights and liberties compared to white Americans and eliminated the existing semi-slavery which persisted shortly after the Civil War, when slaves were freed but had not got equal rights and liberties and their legal status was uncertain.At the same time, the Reconstruction had failed to bring the consistent improvement to the socioeconomic status of former slaves. African Americans had equal rights and liberties just like other citizens of the US but they did not have economic opportunities to enhance their position in the society. For instance, they did not have opportunities to find a good employment and high wages because they were low-qualified labor force but the main problem was their desperate poverty, which forced them to agree to work for next to nothing simply to survive (Norton 182). In such a situation, they turned out to be in a desperate position and held the lowest socioeconomic standing in the US society.Nevertheless, the lib eration of African Americans still resulted in the tightening competition in the labor market, especially in the South which suffered from considerable economic losses. In fact, the Civil War had disastrous effects which had affected the development of Southern states of the US for a long time (Epperson 211). The export of cotton was almost ruined by the end of the war. The liberation of slaves undermined the economy of South because landowners could not exploit the free labor force. Instead, they had to hire freedmen or poor whites. In such a situation, Southern states needed a lot of time to recover.However, the poor economic situation in the South caused the social unrest, racial discrimination and oppression of African Americans, whom white Americans kept treating in the South as mere commodities. In such a situation, the whites opposed to the liberation of slaves. To ensure the protection of rights and liberties of African Americans and defeat any attempts of reviving Confedera te mood in the South, Lincoln introduced Freedmen’s Bureau in 1865 which was the government agency aiming at the protection of rights of African Americans. The Freedmen Bureau helped African Americans to get freedom and find employment and urged former slave owners to liberate their slaves and rebuilding their plantations to create jobs for African Americans.However, the post-war resistance of Southern states was so strong that the government had to deploy the army to make land and slave owners to liberate slaves and protect their basic rights and liberties. In such a way, the government attempted to protect African Americans and helped them to improve their position in the society but these efforts were insufficient and short-running. More important, in response to such protectionist government policies, white Southerners launched their organization which aimed at the maintenance of the white supremacy and ongoing oppression of African Americans as second-class citizens. For instance, Ku Klux Klan emerged during the Reconstruction and cases of lynching of African Americans in Southern states of the US were quire frequent that justified the deployment of the army to protect African Americans shortly after the Civil War.  At the same time, the abolition of slavery, the liberation of slaves and their integration into the US society were not the only goals of the government policy during the Reconstruction. In fact, one of the main goals of the government was to regain control over all states and preserve the US as one nation, as a united country. In such a situation, even the deployment of the army in Southern states during the Reconstruction had dubious goals (Richardson 164). Along with the protection of African American population, the army maintained the authority of the federal government and minimized any risk of the attempt of the new rebel which could outbreak easily, if there were no government troops that could oppress any rebellion fast.Moreo ver, the focus of the federal government on needs of African Americans and their integration into the US society was short run. In fact, as soon as the federal government had managed to take control over all states and establish socioeconomic and political stability, the government had started to complete the Reconstruction and refuse from any additional policies, government agencies and other strategies that required additional resources to protect rights and liberties of African Americans and their socioeconomic position in the US society (Norton 188). In fact, by the end of the Reconstruction, millions of African Americans were left on their own with their economic and social problems, stumbling through their life in desperate poverty and their position in the US society had not changed much since the Civil War.ConclusionThus, the Civil War and Reconstruction contributed to consistent changes in the US society among which the abolition of slavery was the main change that took pla ce in the US in that time. However, the abolition of slavery, as the primary goal of the Civil War, brought African Americans freedom but not equal rights, liberties and opportunities. In fact, their rights and liberties were expanded as they got equal rights and liberties after the implementation of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution (Watson 215). However, efforts of the federal government to provide African Americans with jobs and better life, they still remained in a disadvantageous position by the end of the Reconstruction, as the Freedmen’s Bureau folded up its operations and the federal government distanced from the support of African Americans. At the same time, the American Civil War and Reconstruction had achieved successfully another goal, which was not declared openly. The war and Reconstruction completed the profound economic change abolition the outdated mode of production, slavery, and expanding opportunities for the rapid industrialization of the entire nation, from the North to South. In addition, the war and Reconstruction had enhanced the role of the federal government, its authority and decreased the sovereignty of people and autonomy of states.

Monday, October 21, 2019

3 Super Easy Steps to Make Your Resume Powerful

3 Super Easy Steps to Make Your Resume Powerful A resume isn’t just a list of everything you’ve done. It’s your first shot at convincing a company that you’re the perfect fit. Part of that is making clear that your particular skills and experience match precisely with their needs. They’re looking for specialists- you need to show them you have the skills. Resume trends change over time and recruiters tend to look for specific things. Here are three ways to make sure your resume isn’t too general to get you the job.  In addition, here are some of the best resume tips in 2016 that can help you land your next job interview.1. Do your researchDon’t just blitz the thing to every company that’s hiring in your city. Find a company for whom you know you’d be a fit. Find one that’s the right size for you, in the right industry, and one that you are excited about. Make a short list of these dream companies and focus on them. What’s the culture at each one? Where would you fit in the best? Do you have a particular selling point that would dazzle one company more than the others based on their mission and scope?2. Be specificOnce you’ve figured out exactly what your ideal company or position is looking for, show them your track record! Tell them precisely how and why you are perfect for  that specific job in  your personal branding statement. You can incorporate this â€Å"look no further† kind of language into descriptions of each position you have held.3. Show, don’t tellConsider using an infographic or image of some kind to drive home your point. A chart or a graph can illustrate a particular success claim dramatically, if used correctly. This is a new trend in resumes, but can be very effective when done correctly.The bottom line is to make sure you know what the company wants, then make sure you show them just how perfectly you match their needs, item by item. It might require a bit of extra work in the resume-cr afting stage, but you’ll be glad you did it.4 Resume Tips To Prove You’re The Perfect Fit For The Position

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The eNotes Blog Pokémon GO What toKnow

Pokà ©mon GO What toKnow Unless youve been living under a rock, you have probably heard (and seen) the new craze sweeping the nation: Pokà ©mon Go. The new augmented reality game by Niantic, Inc. and The Pokà ©mon Company has taken the world by storm as its international releases continue. Image: The Official Pokemon Company YouTube Australia, New Zealand, and the United States were the first to see the game in their app stores, as it was released on July 6, 2016.  Since then, the international releases of Pokà ©mon Go have hit Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Puerto Rico, Japan, France,  Hong Kong, and the majority of the remaining European countries. For  all its sensationalism, Pokà ©mon Go was actually a  project twenty  years in the making. February of 1996 saw  Nintendo introduce humans to the world of Pokà ©mon in its domestic stomping grounds, Japan. By 1999, Pokà ©mon had  made its way to Europe, and quickly became an international sensation. Picking up its own cartoon series, trading card deck, and comic book series, Pokà ©mon was at the peak of its popularity.  Its handheld game series has continued to be popular, and is approaching the release of its seventh generation. By the time Pokà ©mon had hit its stride, Google-controlled Niantic was creating Ingress, a game not too unlike Pokà ©mon Go. Based on the data from mapping  firm  Keyhole (which became Google Earth), Ingress used location to create  a game based on  holding control over certain physical landmarks that became- you guessed it- Pokà ©mon gyms. Niantic became independent and teamed up with The Pokà ©mon Company (responsible for t he marketing and licensing of Pokà ©mon  since  1998) to bring the world Pokà ©mon Go. Unsurprisingly, the new game has a lot of players asking a lot of questions. Very little information was released along with Pokà ©mon Go in all its glory, and users have taken to sites  like Reddit to share information and  inductively conclude as much as they can. Weve corralled the most common and most interesting questions about Pokà ©mon Go and answered them over on Homework Help. 1. How much data does Pokemon Go use? Short answer: Not very much! As little as 5 to 10 mb per hour. Long answer: According to P3 communications Inc., Pokemon GO only uses 5 to 10 megabytes per hour. To put that into perspective, Verizons data calculator says that watching an HD video takes 350 megabytes of datacontinue reading 2. What features are coming next to Pokemon Go? Image: The Pokemon Company According to Tech Insider, we can expect eight new Pokemon GO features to be available soon! Improved Pokemon tracking Pokemon trading between friends Pokemon battles between friends Continue reading 3. How do I get a Pokestop in my house? Although Niantic is not currently accepting requests for Pokemon Go stops, many hope they will reopen the form at some point so that you can ask them to place one in your areacontinue reading 4. Is Pokemon both singular and plural? Pokemon can be used as both a singular and plural word. The lyrics to the intro song of the popular cartoon Pokemon states: Pokemon, gotta catch em all By using em, a shortened version of them, we can conclude that Pokemon is suitable to be used in the plural formcontinue reading 5. Do teams affect anything besides gym and color? Image: Attack of the Fanboy Upon reaching level 5, you can finally head to your first gym. It does not matter what color the first gym you go to is on your mapyou will still be able to choose your team! The different team leaders claim to have different methods of researching Pokemon. It does not seem that there is any technical advantage to choosing a teambut some speculation states that the Legendary Birds that represent each team’s color may come into play sometime in the futurecontinue reading 6. Are Pokemon based on mythological creatures? In many cases, yes! While a lot of Pokà ©mon are based on animals from the real world, and all are at least the partial product of the creators’ vivid imaginations, many Pokà ©mon are drawn from world mythology. Japan, where the Pokà ©mon franchise originates, has a particularly rich tradition of myths and legends of kami- gods, deities, or spirits- and the spookier yokai- demons and ghostscontinue reading 7. Does location affect the likelihood of encountering different Pokemon? Yes. There are certain Pokemon that are hypothesized to be location locked by continents. Tauros: North America Mr. Mime: Western Europe Kangaskhan: Australia / New Zealand Continue reading 8. How can Pokemon Go bring communities together? Image: The Alternative Press If you take a moment to head to your local park, you will probably spot clumps of people stooped over their phones. This is due to the latest app craze- Pokemon Go- and the vast number of people it has affected. People of all races, genders, orientations, and personalities play the game. Some people have waited years for the game, and some people only discovered the game when it was released a few weeks ago. The main point here is that there isnt a single type of person that Pokemon Go targetscontinue reading 9. Are Eevee evolutions random? Image: sanlea.deviantart.com Apparently not! The original anime Eevee Brothers were named  Rainer, Pyro, and Sparky. Rainer owned a Vaporeon, Pyro owned a Flareon, and Sparky owned a Jolteon. People have discovered that  naming your Eevee either Rainer, Pyro, or Sparky will result in the respective evolutioncontinue reading 10. How far away is each footstep? As of today, July 25th, 2016, the footstep function is broken, and has been broken for a few days now. The footstep counter is supposed to be one step away, two steps away, or three steps away depending on how close/far away you are. There is a lot of debate on the internet about the exact values (Niantic wont give us exact numbers), but it appears that: No Footstep: 0m to 40m (the same as the distance you can trigger PokeStations and the like from) One Footstep: 40m to 75m Continue Reading 11. How do you avoid taking damage in a battle? You cannot take zero damage in a fight.   But you can dodge the attacks and reduce damage taken significantly. While you are fighting there will be a yellow screen flash right before your opponent attacks.   When that happens forget everything else, stop attacking, and dodgecontinue reading 12. How is Pokemon Go affecting real estate and the housing market? Image: Upload VR Currently restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that have Pokestops in them are benefiting from Pokemon go.   Personally I have stayed at a coffee shop for over an hour, buying multiple coffees purely because I wanted to use the Pokestop for lures. Yelp already has a Pokestop filter on their websitecontinue reading 13. What is the best way to get stronger Pokemon? The trick to playing Pokemon Go and getting strong Pokemon is focusing on leveling up your character. Dont worry about powering up Pokemon until you are a higher level; youll gain levels quickly- and youll catch higher level Pokemon later. So if the best way to get strong Pokemon is to level up your character, what is the best way to level up your character?  Continue reading Have more questions about Pokemon Go? Head over to Homework Help to ask your own!

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Avon Products or GE Money America Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Avon Products or GE Money America - Case Study Example A client then selects a product to purchase after which the sales representative places the item selected on order with the relevant distribution center assigned to the representative (Bartholdi, 2002, p. 2). Items produced by Avon include skin care items; make up, perfume fragrance, hair care, personal care, body care, and sun care. The most conspicuous products of the company are Skin-So-Soft which is a bath products while a new product include â€Å"Avon color† comprising lip, eye, face shades and nail colors (Clinton, 1993, p. 2) In the business world today, human capital is one of the company’s most valuable assets therefore companies must retain and engage talented employees. They must also equip their employees with the necessary skill to become more beneficial. Talent management includes attracting, identifying, recruiting, developing, motivating, promoting, and retaining people that have a strong urge to succeed within an organization (Laff, 2006, pp. 42-50) By 2005, the company was an $8 billion company with a 10% growth in its annual revenue and 25% growth in the profits. However, in 2006 the company experienced problems mainly associated with decreasing revenues and profits. The root cause of these challenges was that the company was growing at a rate faster than it could support in terms of infrastructure and talent. The main problem was on the management of talent and talent practices. Therefore, something had to be done to solve these problems and make a revolution in the company. This could be through making changes to these talent practices in order to make the practices easy to use and very effective From the Case Study it is clear that the company embraced several models to improve talent practices among them was the model for simplification of every process. It has been noted that majority of talent practices possess unnecessary complexity that discourage managers from using them and this dragged the pace at which talent was growing in

Friday, October 18, 2019

Modernist Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Modernist Painting - Essay Example The essay "Modernist Painting" discovers Modern painting. In painting, Clement Greenberg adds on, this limit is made up of the flat surface, the properties of pigment and the shape of the support. However, it is the laying of emphasis on the ineluctable flatness of the support which remains most vital in the course of the pictorial art. As a result of this, the picture plane becomes the point of focus, all the senses of illusional depth is reduced to a point where background and the foreground are compressed into one. Due to the limitation brought about by the medium because of the two dimensional plains of the picture, the reality of the painting becomes somehow plain. The space becomes purely pictorial and not sculptural. Whereas the old painters created an illusion of space into which one could imagine being part of, the creation created by a modernist is one into which one can only look, and can travel through, only with the eye. Greenberg reasoned that the transposition of three dimensions into two survived in even the most abstract paintings. He maintains that the first mark which is smudged on a canvas immediately destroys its literal as well as utter flatness and the result of the marks made on it have a sort of illusion that implies or suggests a sort of third dimension. At issue for Greenberg is not modernism’s specificity but its perpetual renovation, a reformation of what had always been inherent to painting, whether â€Å"the flat surface, the shape of the support, or the properties of the pigments.†

Drugs And Society Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drugs And Society - Assignment Example The use of smokeless tobacco has been in existence in many parts of the world. In the United States, this habit was common among baseball players who used it for numerous reasons including making spitballs to facilitate their game. This was later on banned and even the baseball players left the habit to start smoking. Again, they heard of the odds of smoking and fled back to chewing tobacco, only to realize later that this was still harmful as well. A point of important concern is therefore to come up with a solution to this situation of dilemma. As has been stated, the use of smokeless tobacco was prompted by an attempt to solve the problems that smoking caused to the health of the user. Actually, one fifth of the deaths in the United States are related cigarette smoking. Smoking causes lung cancer, mouth cancer, cancer of the bladder and many other forms of cancer that inclusively contribute about three out of ten deaths related to cancer. The severe ness of the resulting cancer will depend on factors like the number of cigarettes smoked daily, the frequency and the time smoking started in the person’s life (Hanson, Venturell & Fleckenstein, 2006 p338). Smoking also has a negative effect to the circulatory system, which can be seen as high or low blood pressure and low or high pulse rate that can affect other body systems. Women smokers are not spared either as this interferes with their reproductive systems and can cause barrenness, stillbirths, or miscarriages that eventually affect their social life. Cigarette sm okers also find problems in their respiratory systems especially if they already have other infections like pneumonia. Smoking also has some mild effects like yellow teeth, eye problems, and even premature aging. On the other hand, the use of smokeless tobacco has some dangers that it pose on the health of the users

Reading and Comprehension of Scientific Writing Coursework

Reading and Comprehension of Scientific Writing - Coursework Example The module â€Å"Evaluating Student’s Understanding of Chemical Bonding† by Tan and Teagrust (1999) is a study that evaluates the understanding of students about the topic Chemical Bonding. The results of the study became a tool for better approach that can be used in the academe to help students understand the topic easily. The main purpose of the context is already given on the title. There are subtitles that reveal the various topics that provide better analysis of the context. Based on the subtitles, it can be seen that the paper is all about the understanding of the topic Chemical Bonding for students learning such as the definition of the problem of the students, the diagnosing treatment and instrument, results of their diagnosis, and lastly the conclusion. The paper â€Å"Evaluating Student’s Understanding of Chemical Bonding† is a paper that evaluates student’s learning capacity through the use of a â€Å"two-tier multiple choice diagnostic instrument†. Accordingly, students encounter problems in understanding the concept. The diagnostic assessment provides an alternative way of teaching student 14-16 years about the topic. As a result, the assessment instrument proves to be an easy to administer tool where students can learn the topic better and easier. The tool uses alternative conception that is summarized in the given Figure (figure 1: The Concept of Chemical Bonding). The Figure serves as a concept map showing the concepts included and their interconnections with each other. It provides better understanding of the topic through the given diagram. Every topic included in the Chemical Bonding context is interconnected with other topic where their relationship was shown through the lines. The second article â€Å"Chemical Bonding† by Thompson and Staley (nd) is a comprehensive paper about the topic chemical bonding. The paper is filled with diagrams for the better understanding of the topic. The subject matter is subdivided

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 160

Summary - Essay Example Looking in her eyes you couldn’t actually tell that she was a criminal as she wore an innocent, attentive face with soft eye and an intelligent mouth. When she is arraigned in court for stealing a car, she looks at the camera with curious laughter and no remorse or guilt (Zhang, 206). They were brought up in time of war and lost their fathers, husbands and boyfriends in cold blood. They then experience cold peace at the end of it all where they are involved in criminal and immoral acts such as black markets, narcotics, sexual promiscuity and hucksterism. The beat generation is compared to the other post war generation which dubbed itself the ‘lost’ generation. They laugh hysterically because nothing else meant anything to them, they seem to be lost in their own world. They migrated to Europe in the face of war, unsure of whether they were looking for the ‘orgiastic future’ or escaping from the ‘puritanical’ past. They were eventually caught in the face of romance and disillusionment until they became an illusion. This generation lacks the eloquent air of bereavement which was a characteristic of the lost generation’s symbolic actions. The repeated inventory of of shattered ideals and the continued laments about the moral currents which obsessed people of the lost generation do not concern young people today. They were brought up In the ruins and no longer notice them and they drink to come down or to get high. Only the most bitter among them would call their reality a night mare and prot est that they have indeed lost the future. The absence of personal and social values to them is not a revelation of shaking the ground beneath them but a problem demanding day to day solutions. The aspect of how to live seems to them more crucial than why they live. The eager faced girl picked up in the face of doping describes the sense of community she has found in marijuana which she does not get in the society. The