UNIT 5 DISCUSSION BOARD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

UNIT 5 DISCUSSION BOARD - Essay Example Healthcare in the United States of America is managed through the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), which organizes health plans outside of that which is provided through the insurance companies. There are different plans that through which HMOs make healthcare available. The total estimated cost of healthcare in the USA during 2004 was $1.9 trillion, which was equivalent to 16% of the GDP, making the USA the largest spending country on healthcare. Many of the employees on the payrolls of companies have healthcare plans that are taken care of by the companies themselves. This has given a false impression that the vast amount of money spent on healthcare is rooted in the private sector. This is far from true, and nearly half the money that is spent on healthcare comes from government coffers. The reason for this is that a large portion of the healthcare is paid for by employer-based insurance, but this is tax subsidized. In essence the government pays part of the healthcare bills of employees in private companies that are receiving healthcare plans through their employers. The soaring medical costs are causing private employers to cut back on wage increases to their employees in an effort to find the means to meet the growing healthcare bill, leading to dissatisfaction. In short the main issue of the healthcare implementation is the scarcity of funds. This situation is hardly going to change with the Government unwilling to consider tax reforms. Therefore managed care has to look after soaring medical bills with a paucity of funds. In such a situation the dissemination of healthcare to all segments of the population becomes difficult, and as usual it is the weaker segments of society that feel the pinch of inadequate healthcare provisions. (Americas health-care crisis: Desperate measures). The American healthcare system is an umbrella organization. The World Health Organization (WHO) has in its recommendations

Dead Man Walking Essay Example for Free

Dead Man Walking Essay â€Å"Dead man walking† is an expression often used by a police officer when accompanying a criminal walking towards his death. How can a dead man walk? This is a contradicting sentence that makes no sense. It dehumanizes the person walking and lets the person know that is going to die for the infraction committed. This is one of the last sentences Matthew Poncelot in the movie â€Å"Dead Man Walking† heard. Ironically, the last sentence Matthew said was â€Å"I love you†. How was he able to express love in such a â€Å"culture of death†, surrounded by people that hated him and wanted him to die? This was part of Sister Helen’s job, to build a culture of life in Matthew and use restorative justice instead of retributive justice to make him grow as a person before his death. For Matthew being fully alive meant having what he wanted and doing what he wanted, even if his actions affected someone else. He was racists and thought that black people were less worthy of living; this is a perfect example of a â€Å"culture of death†. But he was taught a lesson, after he killed two people and was sentenced to the death row; he met the person that would bring a â€Å"culture of life† to his life before his death. A â€Å"culture of life† is reflecting the image of God within us by imitating the perfect image of Jesus Christ, in loving God and one another. Sister Helen brought this culture and love to Matthew by loving him when everyone hated him. She applied retributive justice which focuses on restoring the good that has been harmed by criminal activity for the victims, the community, and the offender too, when he was been judged by the government with restorative justice which is the approach to criminal justice, in which the emphasis is on hurting the offender. At the end, her work paid off because Matthew apologized to Mr. Delacroix, the father of the person he killed and reconciliation was eventually reached. The concept culture of life and death makes me think a lot and I have realized that the world, in general, lives constantly in a culture of death. The media and society tells us that we will be happy when we have what we want. It implies that people that look in a certain way will be happier. It makes me feel frustrated and sad because it is very shallow to think that money can buy happiness. In my opinion happiness is a combination of love, hope, gratefulness and patience. I also realized that culture of death is linked  with restorative justice; it brings death to the offender who is viewed as less worthy of life because of the mistakes he/she made. In the same way, culture of life is linked to retributive justice; the point of this approach to justice is not to harm anyone so it does not bring a culture of death to anyone, inste ad it uses the love of forgiveness and conciliation to help the offender and the victim. By studying the concepts of culture of death and life, retributive and restorative justice, I have discovered another way to bring culture of life to my life and everyone surrounding me: to use retributive justice whenever someone hurts me. Using restorative justice will only bring more hatred to me and the people that surround me and revenge is not the point of justice, the point of justice is to construct a healthy society, this can only be reached with retributive justice. I also learned that money cannot buy happiness and being fully alive does not mean to have what I want, but to love everyone, knowing this is very helpful in my life because I am surrounded by advertisements and media that tell me that I will be happy when I look in a certain way or have certain things. Now, I know that is not true and that I will be truly happy if I follow Jesus’ example of love. Matthew lived in a culture of death, he thought that in order to live fully he had to have and do what he wanted. He did not care if his actions affected someone else, until he killed someone and got caught. He then was judge by the government with restorative justice and since he had killed someone, his life had to be taken away too. In this process he met Sister Helen, she brought culture of life to him, she used retributive justice so that the father of the victim and Matthew healed, he stopped being racist and finally admitted he had made a mistake. In conclusion, restorative justice brings culture of death to the victim, offender and society and retributive justice brings culture of life.

The Value of Narrative in Ceremony Essay -- Ceremony Essays

The Value of Narrative in Ceremony      Ã‚   The story is the most powerful and most compelling form of human expression in Leslie Marmon Silko's novel Ceremony. Stories reside within every part of every thing; they are essentially organic. Stories are embedded with the potential to express the sublime strength of humanity as well as the dark heart and hunger for self destruction. The process of creating and interpreting stories is an ancient, ongoing, arduous, entangled, but ultimately rewarding experience. As Tayo begins to unravel his own troubled story and is led and is led toward this discovery, the reader is also encouraged on a more expansive level to undertake a similar interpretive journey. Each story is inextricably bound to a virtually endless narrative chain. While reaching an epiphanal moment, a moment of complete clarity, l is by no means guaranteed, by presenting Tayo as an example, Silko at least suggests there is fundamental worth in pursuing and creating stories.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Silko counsels that the story's potential for good or ill should not be easily discounted or dismissed. She seems to understand all too well that human beings house both virtuous and vicious impulses; our stories are infused with both the sinister and the sublime. There is a unifying, mythical or archetypal realm which exists just beyond the scope of individual consciousness. Stories are tethered to and wound around this insubstantial place, and the power of each story is firmly rooted in this connection.   The novel, presented as a series of disjointed, possibly problematic, narrative frames, attempts to draw attention to this fact. "...no word exists alone, and the reason for choosing each word had to be explained with a stor... ...toward the close of the novel that "He had only heard and seen the world as it had always was: no boundaries, only transitions through all distances and time" (246). Ironically, though these transitions, changes in the specific vernacular or ritual may be significant from generation to generation, the underlying theme remains constant: we are inseparable from the universe. "I already heard these stories before... only thing is the names sound different" (260). Within the self imposed boundaries of the text, each story creates new space for thoughts and emotions which are common to the human condition. Perhaps because the story houses the possibility for our ultimate destruction or redemption, Silko describes the story, its creation, its meaning, as the defining moment of humanity.    Work Cited: Silko, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. New York: Penguin Books, 1977.

Future Competitive Threats of China and India for Industries Essay

Discuss the future competitive threats of China and India for industries in developed countries. The emergence of China as the mass manufacturing pioneer in the world has lead to the concern that China will soon be competing with the industries in the developed nations. India, at the same time, is emerging as the centre of IT enabled services including software development, and poses significant threat to the developed countries in high-skill goods and services. Today, the main competitive threat that China and India pose to the developed nations is their cheap labour. They are able to produce basically anything at a much lower price compare to those in the western developed nations. Therefore, they signify threats to these countries. However, on the future prospects, China and India would acquire competitive threat that is different from what they were before. For instance, the education rate in China and India are both increasing, and they produce about half a million of scientists and engineers a year comparing to mere 60,000 in the US. Therefore, these skilled labours will take over the current low skilled labours in these two countries and further exploit the opportunities that they have, and compete better in the high skill sectors. In addition, many companies from the developed nations have shifted their R&D centre to the China and India, therefore, China and India are able to learn and gain experience through these foreign R&D centre and excel in innovations in the future. This makes the developed nations to lose their competitive advantage, and signifies competitive threat from China and India.

A Mentor Essay

In life there is always a person, or role model that you will look up to and admire. A person may admire their role model, or mentor, because of their looks, wit, or even general personality. No matter who you are there is always someone that you attempt to emulate in some way, shape, or form throughout your life. There is no limit to the amount of role models one person can have. There may only be one person whose ideas you look at and agree with whole heartedly, or you may take portions from a vast number of others in order to create your own unique persona, and ideas. For myself, a prominent mentor was my high school Chemistry and Physics teacher, Mr. Robert Hage. I admired my Chemistry teacher not for his thinning white hair, or for that matter any of his looks, other than his always cheerful smile. I instead looked up to him as a mentor due to his unique personality, and his vast intelligence. He had a love for cats, liberal ideals, and sweaters with an odd pattern displayed boldly on the front. Mr. Hage had a great sense of humor, and was an avid musician. These were the reasons that I admired Mr. Hage, because these were planes that I took interest in and that I could learn from him in. In the classroom Robert Hage was what some students would call ‘a perfect teacher’ he was not incredibly strict, he didn’t ever hand out detentions, but instead would make a mockery of the any student that unintelligently disrupted his class, but did so in such a sly, humorous manner, that even the victim of the mockery would be laughing uncontrollably. Robert Hage lived an expansive life that led him though a great number of careers including a Musician, Chemist, Physicist, Author, High School teacher, and finally, a mentor. Through this vast professional history he showed a great passion for everything he had done, and in doing so gained a large amount of knowledge, in which he would pass on to his students. This is what I admired most about Mr. Robert Hage; I admired his knowledge and passion of all things he did. Read more:  Whom I admire  essay In my sophomore year of high school I entered room 211 to go to Chemistry class. I had always enjoyed classes that pertained to a scientific field,  and hoped that Chemistry would come as easily as the other subjects had to me. However, my freshman year the teacher who lectured the Biology class had no interest in the subject she taught and did so half-heartedly; I started to dislike the class. So I was wary about another teacher who just wanted to get through the class more so than teach the students. Needless to say, I was proved wrong, very wrong. The first day of Chemistry class Robert Hage performed a serious of ‘mystifying’ experiments such as lighting Magnesium on fire, which burns with a flame so white it will leave you seeing spots, and placing pure Sodium in a beaker of water, which will combust. Mr. Hage then stated â€Å"For those of you who had doubts coming into this room, Chemistry is fun†. That was all I needed to hear in order to know that this would turn out to be a fortunate turn in events. As the year went on it seemed that my teacher and I had much more in common than I had initially hoped for. I was at an age where I had not yet taken a stance on any real issues but always sat uncomfortably on the fencepost. When I found myself pondering serious life questions, such as religion, he showed me answers through science and that it was perfectly fine not to accept a religion at all as long as you could provide evidence to support your claims. This was a new concept that had never been provided for me, and best of all it wasn’t force fed to me. When I questioned politics he presented the strengths of a liberal standpoint, but all the while letting me know that as long as I could justify my ideas, it was alright to take whatever standpoint I wanted. Although, with every path that was opened, he always told the group in which it was presented to, not to just blindly accept what he said and run with it, but to examine both sides carefully and choose which you thought was the right one. With not only a rekindled interest in science, I was also left with the new interest of rhetoric and debate. With Mr. Hage’s encouragement I joined the high school debate team. When the season came for debate matches to begin; Robert Hage had some more advice for me which was, it is important to know how to argue your side, but more important to know how the opponent will argue theirs, and the best strategy is to beat them with their own words and facts. I will never forget these words, and they are filled with what is in my opinion some of the most valuable wisdom you will hear. Robert Hage played a large role in sculpting my present day personality, and it is because of him that I have developed an everlasting love for music, and am now fluent in playing five different instruments. He is also the reason that I am comfortable with views that may not be shared with a vast majority. Most of all, he is the reason I chose the path in life that I did; he is the reason that I am currently pursuing my majors of the Chemistry and Pre-Medical fields.

Technical and Narrative conventions Essay Example

Technical and Narrative conventions Essay Example Technical and Narrative conventions Paper Technical and Narrative conventions Paper In soap operas the term realistic is when a soap opera makes us believe that what is happening is taking place in real time, continually, to ordinary people in an ordinary location in a close community. Soaps use melodrama so that it can have sensational plots which appeal to the audience through, exaggerating the narratives, Cliff hangers, cinematography and the editing. Social realism is drawn on by soaps to make the soap more realistic by referring to realistic social issues of the working class people such as unemployment, sexuality and racial issues. My question is With reference to specific soap opera texts that you have studied, discuss how far they may be considered to be realistic', and I will answer this with references to the soap operas Coronation Street East Enders by giving examples from these texts which relate to the question. I will also define and talk about social realism, how the soap narratives and technical conventions promote realism, and I will also discuss how elements of melodrama are used in the soaps. Social realism is capturing in a truthful way, the everyday life of the working class people so it represents the social issues of these working class people such as unemployment, teenage pregnancy, abortion, crime, single-parent families, sexual health and sexuality making it more realistic as it is portraying the significant things in society and in the news at any one time, so the soap has issues the audience can relate to. Examples of social realism in East Enders, is when Ian (before he got married to Janie) was looking after his kids alone representing an issue in the present society, and when Zoe has an abortion with Dens child. Little Moe also is a social realistic issue as she has been raped, but carried on the raise the child and she also became a single parent after she split up with billy, Jules as a drug deal is also a social realistic issue, then he dropped dealing in drugs and went to work in Ians cafi. Melodrama is a text with a sensational plot which is used to appeal to the audiences emotions such as in East Enders, when Billy told everyone about Alfie and Little Moes relationship, there was a cliff hanger when Kat attacks Little Moe. Also when Johnny sends a hit man to deal with Peggy, and was stopped by Phil and Grant, Johnny was waiting silently for a reply from the Hit man, but as there was complete silence, the audience knows that there is trouble. When Alfie and Kat takes Nanna to see the queen is an example of an extra ordinary Event as the narrative rarely leaves East Enders. Also in coronation street, when Sunita finds out that Dev has been sleeping with other women who are looking after his shops, is an example of an exaggerated narrative. In these soaps, the main narrative and technical conventions are that they are Ongoing, where they have no beginning and no end, this makes it more realistic as the soap not going to stop so it is always going to show the lives of working class in their set locations. The soaps also establish the setting at the beginning, to remind the audience that it is still in the same location and also begins at the start of the day working to the end of the day, this adds to the realism as it shows the characters day to day activitys from morning to night. Dramatic irony is also a narrative convention, where the audience knows things that the characters do not know, such as when Den was murdered, only a few characters (Zoe, Chrissy and Sam) know about it and also the audience this relates to the hierarchy of knowledge (who knows what first). As the soaps are dialogue driven most of the time, adding to the realism of working class peoples everyday lives so they would use shots which make the camera as invisible as possible, using establishing shots, over-the-shoulder shouts two shots, mid close ups and extreme close ups. And also they when there are interweaving storylines, they need moving of the camera from one narrative to another. The editing in soaps is also simple where there are no dissolves, fades just pure hard cuts making it more realistic as it is just taking us from one storyline to another naturally. Sounds used in soaps are mainly digetic except for the theme tunes, this makes it more realistic. The soaps would be mainly conversation orientated and this would be digetic sounds, and also when they are in pubs (Coronation Street, East Enders) there would be background sounds such as the stereo in the pub playing a music album which would relate to the present time music making it more realistic. The lighting used is conventionally naturalistic lighting this adds to the realism as it represents the real world and also the use of Mise-en-Scene, where costumes and props, e interior and exterior design, and the layout is realistic such as a school uniform that Ians kids wear in East Enders, and the casual present day outfits the characters in both East Enders and Coronation street wear, are realistic as it reflects what normal working class people wear in the real world. Representations also promote realism, as the representations of the characters are supposed to represent the working class society in real life. Examples are Patrick, a race issue, as he owns a news agent and also in Coronation Street, Dev owns newsagents as well representing these job roles are a non-white role. Also the black characters are stereotyped such as when Jules entered East Enders, he was a drug dealer and also Paul Trueman was a drug dealer. Also when Patrick entered East Enders he was stereotyped to be a traditional African where he liked drinking alcohol, and was a girls man. The women are also represented as house wives and those who look after the kids such as Rosie Miller, who looks after the house while her husband does nothing. To conclude my opinion for the question With reference to specific soap opera texts that you have studied discuss how far they may be considered to be Realistic', is that they make the soaps as realistic as possible using Technical and Narrative conventions stated above, where everything from camera shots to sounds are used to make the soaps more realistic such as no non-digetic sound tracks during the soap and putting it in as digetic sound in environments such as pubs. Representations of the Ethnicity adds to the realism of these soaps and the issues that are brought up in the narratives of the soaps add to the realism as these issues are dealt with in everyday life of working class people in the society.

Become a Real Critic in Your Critical Analysis Paper

Become a Real Critic in Your Critical Analysis Paper Become a Real Critic in Your Critical Analysis Paper A critical analysis paper is designed to examine a piece of work or article that has been written by someone else and the goal is to determine how effectively they present their point or argument. It is one of the most difficult pieces because many students don’t understand how to handle this type of assignment. However, by following this advice, you will be able to write your paper like a real critic. Read the Piece a Few Times Read the text you need to write a critical analysis on a few times. While you are reading, be sure to try and answer several questions. You can make some notes on the answers to make sure that you can effectively analyze the piece. What is the artist arguing for or against? Analyze the writer’s thesis statement. Decide the context of the argument. Why is the author arguing for the point? Decide if they have provided a solution to the problem they are discussing. Is the solution plausible? Jot down the Supporting Evidence for the Main Points Has the author utilized the information to support their main point or points? Determine the Author’s Appeal to the Reader How does the author appeal to the reader to persuade them to believe in their point? Do they appeal to emotion (pathos)? How about to their logic or reason (logos)? Or their credibility (ethos)? Draw the Line Do any questions arise when you are reading the piece or have all of the questions been effectively answered? Tips that will help you along the way: Always start by introducing your piece giving the pertinent information like the title and author. You will give a brief summary of what the piece is about as well. You should state the author’s argument early in the piece. Possibly even in the first paragraph. Be sure to discuss all of your main points in the introduction and utilize the other paragraphs to describe the evidence relating to each topic and evaluate them individually. Use citations to support your evaluation. Make sure to properly cite the sources using quotes or paraphrased material. Please keep in mind that a critical analysis varies from a summary. It is a critique of the content. The main purpose is to evaluate the piece of work. You will need to decide if the piece is valid, significant, important, useful, or truthful. When you are writing this type of paper, it will be important to remember that you are analyzing how the content is used, rather than just the content itself. Most writers look at the piece and just think about whether or not the story-line works. The focus needs to be on how the content is written. It should concentrate on how the author uses the information to get their point across. This is an entirely different concept than what most people think of when they are writing this type of paper. Think of the â€Å"why† rather than the â€Å"what† and you will be able to ace at this assignment. It is a good idea to find a sample critical analysis essay paper to help you understand how the paper is handled. Read through a few examples and get some ideas on how to get it done. It can be used as a guide that will help you write your paper effectively. You should have all of the help that you need to get the job done. Good luck.

Get Ready to Live Abroad with These Tips

Get Ready to Live Abroad with These Tips How to Pack for Your Year Abroad? Everyone would somehow or other like to travel outside their country to visit interesting places, get a job, immerse themselves in a new culture, or see how people from other countries live. When you travel abroad first, you may not know the exact things you need to pack, what will be useful and what not, and how to pack all your things on time. Students and employees are especially interested in this issue. Well, at first glance, this activity seems complicated, exhausted and boring. We all might want to throw all the things into a suitcase, close it instantly, take a phone and a passport, and jerk off to the airport. However, often we have to deal with heavy travel bags, packages, and other trifles. For students who wish to study abroad and avoid mistakes while packing belongings, we released this article with useful tips. Well, let's get started. Check These Useful Tips for Packing Abroad! 1. Don’t pack much. This is probably the most important and difficult task for all the travelers. People need plenty of things for work, studying, or leisure time, so they want to shove as many things into their suitcase as possible. Perhaps, it happens by chance, even if that wasn’t a person’s real will. This kind of panic before traveling is typical, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. Try to accept that you take just one suitcase. That's all. Pack your most necessary belongings, select priority things, and get rid of unnecessary items. 2. Make a list. You might think we are crazy that offer you such a boring idea of making a list of things. But believe us, such lists are really helpful tools for those planning to travel abroad. Just have a try: write a list of things with subheadings, which will represent the names of the rooms. Then, go to each of the rooms of your apartment, write down what you will need to take, and leave some space for checkmarks. When it's time to pack, come to your rooms again, take and place those things in the suitcase, and put a checkmark next to each item. Besides, those traveling lists will help you pack once you need to return so that you can’t forget anything. 3. Pack for all seasons. The more you plan to live abroad, the more clothes you need to take with. Different seasons mean different garments, and this, in turn, is a minus for those who want to take the very minimum of clothing. Well, find out about the prevailing weather in another country, look through your wardrobe and take a few things for each season, and do not neglect the warm clothes. In case there is nothing suitable, you can always buy on the spot. 4. Take some nostalgic items. Leaving home is always a tough issue for anyone, especially for those who leave it for a long time. The ideal solution here is to take a piece of your home - something that strongly reminds of your loved ones, friends and family. Pack (not many, of course) pictures, photographs, letters, or gifts from your close ones. Such a piece of nostalgia will not take much place in a suitcase and will bring good mood at any moment. 5. What to put into a hand luggage? Hand luggage is just of the same importance as your main suitcase: you don’t need to put much in it. No matter what you travel on - a plane, a car, or boat, take the most necessary things, namely, hygiene means, medicines, nightwear, cosmetics (for women), chargers, travel adapters, and of course your phone and ID. 6. Start as soon as you can. As you may have noticed, travel packing is not as simple as it looks. So starting in advance is the best thing you can do, this will save your time for something more important. If you get it done soon, you will have an opportunity to hang out with friends or spend time with family members before you leave. Or, you may use it for your own purpose, for example, you may sleep well for a few days and gain strength for traveling.

Ecological Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ecological Services - Essay Example Ecological services help to maintain these necessary requirements. Decreasing evaporation, maintaining proper water quality, using natural resources for clean energy is all very important in ecological services. Each services carries out a specific role that contributes to one another in some way. Two services that are most important from â€Å"The Ecological Service of Rivers†, includes providing water for drinking and the providing of irrigation water. Each one of these services contributes to eating and drinking which are important for human survival. Without clean water to drink and water to replenish growing seeds, human life could not remain stable. A river is an important provider of drinking water. Providing drinking water is one of the most important ecological services that rivers can provide. Providing clean drinking water allows for human and animal replenishment that is free of toxins. Toxins that can be found in water include pesticides, diseases, parasites and carcinogens. Another reason why drinking water is so important is because of the cleaning it can provide which leads to a safe environment. Clean water can help prep an area for surgery and allow for proper and safe preparation of food. Clean drinking water also continues to help maintain clean drinking water. When clean water is used and then recycled it is easier for water to keep its cleanliness. Irrigation is important for proper vegetation. A rivers ability to provide the ecological service of irrigation helps maintain life. Irrigation can help seeds grow even when an area may be in a drought. Being able to sustain enough water to irrigate crops will provide much vegetation. Irrigation also makes for proper land up keep. Many use irrigation to water plants that don’t produce food. Irrigation can help trees grow which provide oxygen and flowers that provide pollen. Each element of life is important as each life feeds

Administrative Ethics Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Administrative Ethics - Research Paper Example Put simply, two organizations are forced to pay OCR a sum of $1,975,220 for losing two laptops that have patients’ private information (HHS, 2014). Undeniably, such information are at a risk of misuse hence the need for reinforcement. OCR’s deputy director asserts that, â€Å"Covered organizations must understand that mobile devices and computer security is the entity’s responsibility.† Consequently, the sum required of the entities sends a simple message that encryption is the best protection against such incidences. The two entities in this case are Concentra Health Services (Concentra) and QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas. Correspondingly, the issue in the case affects many people in different measures. First, the most affected are patients whose information is stored in the stolen laptops. Jessica et al. (2011) assert that one of the core responsibilities of medical practitioners is confidentiality. As such, it is required that healthcare professionals keep patients’ information secret and private unless there is a consent to disclose health information. It is the underlying reason why patients share a lot of confidential information with medical practitioners. In essence, failure to keep the information private harms patients. Besides, patients often share private information with professionals. It is without doubt that the patient-physician trust is broken when the clinic does not maintain privacy of information. The situation affects patients in many ways. One, there are patients with personally sensitive health information that they sought to keep secret. Even so, that the laptops are stolen means such information is no longer private (Barrett et al. 2010). It is very likely that the information is in the hands of people who want to misuse it. Moreover, patients are affected in that they will hardly seek medical assistance from the hospital. Undoubtedly, people learn from experience, and the availability of other people’s experience teaches the

Assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

2 - Assignment Example I would suggest bringing a revolutionary change in the television policy in favor of a healthier America both with respect to food consumption and activity level. Sustainability, as the name suggests, means to carry on. The term â€Å"sustainability† is used to refer to the need to live in a way that the resources can be prolonged and possibly expanded for future generations. Sustainability is the most important in jobs. People would only behave sustainably when their basic needs are fulfilled. A person that is not getting enough money to afford a decent living would not be concerned about protecting environment. Globalization is fundamental to the economic growth of Africa. Globalization would open doors to not only more jobs and better lifestyle for the Africans, but would also spread the African culture far and wide in the world. The problem fundamentally lies in wrong policy-making, and ties between the African countries. Resources are there, but they are

Kant and Mill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kant and Mill - Essay Example Kant does not disregard practical anthropology in the Foundations because he believes it is unimportant.As we know,Kant did discuss practical anthropology in numerous works on ethics and education.However,in order to understand moral action in the empirical world,Kant contends that moral action as such has to be understood first. Thus Kant ventures into a study that tries to supply the principles of moral action as such, or tries to supply the principles for "rational beings in general," which we can interpret in this context as moral subjects. One can found the same tension in Kant's ethical writings. In fact, I would say the tension is more pronounced in Kant's ethical writings, because Kant never corrects the tension in this area by rewriting any of his ethical texts. Particularly, I have found the tension between what I could call a phenomenological approach and a strict transcendental approach in Kant's two main texts on morality, viz., the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Mora ls and the Critique of Practical Reason. In order to perform the phenomenological reading, I want to look at Kant's text entitled the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals. The purpose of the phenomenological reading is to see if it is possible to sight within moral phenomena the essence of morality as expressed by Kant. This reading constitutes a constructive interpretation of Kantian morality.What is important to note here is that both ethics and physics have their empirical and rational parts, or their posterior) and a priori parts. Kant's concern in the Foundations is with ethics, and particularly ethics in its a priori character. In other words, Kant is not concerned with moral actions as they occur in the everyday world. Instead, Kant is concerned with what constitutes moral action as such, which Kant refers to as pure moral philosophy, a mode of ethics freed from any social and practical anthropology that would only study ethical behavior as it manifested itself in specific human interactions. The basic idea then is that "the ground of obligation must not be sought in the nature of man or in the circumstances in which he is placed" (Kant , 64). Instead, the ground for obligation must be sought within moral consciousness. This idea of seeking for the ground for obligation in moral consciousness has phenomenological overtones. Kant wants to bracket the natural standpoint, place it under suspension, to come to the structures of consciousness that constitute morality. Precisely what is bracketed is practical anthropology, which is the way of understanding morality in our everyday world. Once Kant has bracketed the natural attitude, he can then direct his attention to moral consciousness. The aspect of consciousness that presents itself for investigation in moral consciousness is the will. In the Foundations, Kant wants to understand what constitutes a good will, which I understand as moral consciousness. Moral consciousness is consciousness of what I ought to do, or, as Kant states, it is consciousness of what is good without qualification. Understood this way, moral consciousness is intentional; it is "consciousness of what is good." If Kant concerns himself with moral consciousness, then I could call Kant's investigation a study of moral intentionality. Within such a study, I am interested in looking at my actions in terms of the willing and the willed as such. The willing and the willed as such correspond to the noetic and noematic elements of moral consciousness. Within this structure of investigation, I am not concerned with an act as it is considered in the natural standpoint, which would consider the act in terms of its actual consequences or empirical manifestation. Both actual consequences and empirical manifestations are transcendent senses of a moral act, i.e., an act immersed in the world of facts and affairs". Instead I am looking both at the moral subject's act of willing and at what is willed in the how of its

Vertebrate Evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vertebrate Evolution - Essay Example The issue of whether a more developed species is advanced or not is subject to how one defines advancement, and is not tackled in this paper because of its subjectivity. Related species usually share similar morphological and or anatomical characteristics. They can either be ancestor-descendant, or descendants from the same ancestor. The proximity of their relation is defined by the amount of evolutionary changes that occurred between them. For example, humans are closer to four-legged animals than to fish. Humans are closer to monkeys than they are to horses because of their opposable thumb. However, not all organisms that have a characteristic in common are closely related. Bats and birds are the only groups of vertebrates that share flight, but bats descended from a lineage of non-winged animals, and are thus more related to humans than they are to birds. Possible relations among groups (A, B and C) can be depicted through a cladogram (Figure 1). Cladistics, the process behind making a cladogram, is usually based on morphology, but can also be made from anatomy or embryology, for example. It is a branching diagram in which the base is occupied by the closest common ancestor. It may be extant, and as such be one of the groups, but it may also be hypothetical, like in this case, and as such is left as blank. From it, a character that differentiates the groups from their closest common ancestor is placed on the branch leading to A, B, and C (tick mark). Because groups A and B are more closely related to each other than to C, the defining characteristic that made them different from C is also placed in the diagram (double tick mark). Points of bifurcation represent hypothetical ancestors. A number of cladograms can be made in relating A, B, and C to one another, but it is usually the tree with the minimum number of evolutionary changes t hat is preferred (Kent and Carr 2004,

Coca cola gb marketing and economic strategy Assignment

Coca cola gb marketing and economic strategy - Assignment Example UK’s market is very competitive; therefore, there is need for campaign that would increase their customers’ engagement with the brand. Therefore, an online campaign starring a celebrity will allow the audience to know that Coca-Cola is a drink for every people (Young, 2014). The online platforms that could air this campaign are Facebook and Twitter. Coca Cola could stream this campaign in these platforms. Additionally, after streaming of this campaign, Coca Cola could show behind the scenes looks at the company, question-and answer posts, and thoughts about the drink. The hope is to bring Coca Cola close to the people, and to build trust with the customers (Sorenson, 2012). The celebrity used in the campaign has to give his/her testimonial after drinking Coca Cola. Giving a testimonial will add credibility to Coca Cola’s products. Definitely, studies indicate that people desire the same drink as their favourite celebrities (Suttle,

Vertebrate Evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vertebrate Evolution - Essay Example The issue of whether a more developed species is advanced or not is subject to how one defines advancement, and is not tackled in this paper because of its subjectivity. Related species usually share similar morphological and or anatomical characteristics. They can either be ancestor-descendant, or descendants from the same ancestor. The proximity of their relation is defined by the amount of evolutionary changes that occurred between them. For example, humans are closer to four-legged animals than to fish. Humans are closer to monkeys than they are to horses because of their opposable thumb. However, not all organisms that have a characteristic in common are closely related. Bats and birds are the only groups of vertebrates that share flight, but bats descended from a lineage of non-winged animals, and are thus more related to humans than they are to birds. Possible relations among groups (A, B and C) can be depicted through a cladogram (Figure 1). Cladistics, the process behind making a cladogram, is usually based on morphology, but can also be made from anatomy or embryology, for example. It is a branching diagram in which the base is occupied by the closest common ancestor. It may be extant, and as such be one of the groups, but it may also be hypothetical, like in this case, and as such is left as blank. From it, a character that differentiates the groups from their closest common ancestor is placed on the branch leading to A, B, and C (tick mark). Because groups A and B are more closely related to each other than to C, the defining characteristic that made them different from C is also placed in the diagram (double tick mark). Points of bifurcation represent hypothetical ancestors. A number of cladograms can be made in relating A, B, and C to one another, but it is usually the tree with the minimum number of evolutionary changes t hat is preferred (Kent and Carr 2004,

Importance of managing the firms weighted average cost of capital Essay

Importance of managing the firms weighted average cost of capital (WACC) - Essay Example Managing WACC thus means keeping the WACC value lower than the company's after-tax returns, or in other words, reducing the cost of capital.This can be done by financing a major percentage of the purchase with the lowest cost of capital available, secured debts for instance, and the rest with personal equity held as cash, or by means of capital prioritisation, that is, using the cheapest source of capital first. A low WACC means that investors will be interested in the company in case additional capital needs to be raised for expansion or other purposes. Calculating WACC is often tricky because though the cost of debt is easy to track down, cost of equity can be an elusive factor. But it is worth the exercise, because knowing its WACC helps a company to try and restrict the WACC value for projects to levels far below those of its after-tax returns, thus adding to profitability. All firms need to take recourse to loans at some stage of their life cycle. But they need to carefully and critically evaluate their loan agreements, whether in the public or the private sector.

Educating Rita Essay Example for Free

Educating Rita Essay How does Willy Russell use dramatic devices to show the change in character and relationship in Rita and Frank. In this essay I will be exploring the dramatic devices Willy Russell uses to show the changes in characters and the development in relationships. One of the dramatic devices is the telephone. The telephone shows to me that Frank is the sort of person who never really socialises and only cares about himself and his always in his own world. The telephone rings and startles him,. This stage direction supports my point because the word startles implies that he is shocked about the phone call as if no-one ever calls him, the word startles, also implies that he is not focusing on what is going on around him and what he is doing and he indulges in his drink. The first impression I get of Frank is that he is emotionally unstable because he is always frantically searching for something in his bookcase, and he is constantly saying random letters and names, E,Ec,E. I also got the impression that Frank is not really interested in his job working at the university also I got the impression that Frank has always wanted to do something other than teaching, in the movie Frank is in a completely different world when his is in a lecture as well that Frank doesnt really seem that interested in teaching the students at all. Another dramatic device Willy Russell uses is the door, the door in Franks study is like a barrier between him and his students, Im comin in, arent I? You wanna get that bleedin handle fixed. This supports my point because the fact that Frank is not in the slight bit interested to fix the door and he knows the door is unable to open easily shows me that he is deliberately trying to keep out his students and his co-workers , this also shows me that he has a lot to hide because he is constantly in his study. The door projects the emotions of Rita before she opens the door, theres another knock on the door. This suggests that Rita is nervous and she wants to get her interview over and done with. I think Rita would be nervous because she is stepping into a world where she doesnt fit in and where she stands out from other students because she comes from a lower class, also I think that Rita is nervous because she is breaking away from the traditional role expected of lower class women in the 1970s. Im I shouldve had a baby by now. Everyone expects it. The first impression I received from Rita is shes a lower class woman who is trying something new for the first and would probably give up after a while, Because I might decide to pack it in. During Act 1 Scene 1 Rita shows that she is really determined to become a student and educate herself. Its not sudden. Ive been realising for ages that Im out of step. The relationship between Frank and Rita has been strong since the beginning because Frank saw something unique in Rita that his other students dont have, Youre the first breath of fresh air thats been in this room for years. This quote shows the strength of relationship between Frank and Rita because earlier he was talking about throwing his students out of his study window, Frank doesnt really interact with his students in the way he does with Rita. I think that Frank feels that Rita is portraying the life he would love to have away from annoying students who analysis everything. Willy Russell uses the window as another dramatic device , I think that the window is significant because it shows a connection between Frank and the outside world, the window shows changes in Rita when she comes back from summer school , in the film when Frank was looking out of the window he acknowledges Rita sitting down on the bench and approaches her showing the breaking of the barrier whereas before he would have been completely oblivious to what is going on around him. Earlier in the play the breaking of the barrier by Frank was suttle, youre the first breath of fresh air thats been in this room for years. This shows the breaking of the barrier of the two classes because it shows that they can get along. The change in Rita is shown by the window after summer school because in the beginning of the film , Rita hid away from the students and she looked down onto the students on the grass when she was in Franks study , But when she came back Rita mingles in with the students and pushes Frank to go out an sit on the grass with them. lets go out there. On the grass. This shows that shes breaking out of her shell and shes mixing in with the middle class and she is not standing out anymore. During the time Rita was at summer school, I think she changed remarkably in her knowledge and the language she used. Blake, William Blake. This quote supports my point because at the beginning she would have referred the poet to a person in the lower class that frank has never heard of but now she is analysing and instantly naming poets off by heart because at the end of Act 2 Scene1 she recited one of William Blakes poem The Songs Of Innocence. The Dramatic devices Willy Russell uses shows a lot of emotion between Frank and Rita , because Frank is an image Rita would like to have knowledge wise and vice versa , like the window showed a lot of changes so did the door. The first impression I get of Ritas and Franks relationship is a student and teacher relationship, but as the play progresses their relationship turns into a more personal one. The play of Educating Rita was mainly based on Willy Russells life and the changes he had to go through , I feel that the dramatic devices Willy Russell uses are very successful in showing the changes in relationship and life of Rita and Frank.

Overpopulation and Environmental Degradation Essay example -- Explorat

Overpopulation and Environmental Degradation At the time of the agricultural revolution, nearly ten thousand years ago, the population of the globe was no more than ten million. Today the world population is estimated at over six billion. In the last hundred years the population has more than tripled. With the population rising at an enormous rate of 1.7 million a week, the world as a whole is being drained of its resources. (Southwick, 1996) Different theories have prevailed on what will occur as the population continues to explode ranging from the Malthusian apocalypse to absolutely no effects at all. Over the last two centuries as agricultural and technological advancements came about, the planet's overall carrying capacity increased dramatically. It is estimated that the world could support over twenty times its current population living at 120 per square meter in 2000-story buildings. (Dolan, 1974) Overpopulation not only adversely affects the "environment," or nature, but also has a large impact on human societies today. Environmental degradation and population growth go hand in hand. As more people enter the world, there is a greater need for space, furthering damage to our surroundings. As populations grew in response to the agricultural revolution of ancient times more land was required for cultivation to feed the rising populations. Forests were cleared, waterways were diverted, and the soil exhausted, all a result of the expanding populace. Even today in parts of the world, especially third world countries, land is being cleared by slash and burn methods for grazing land and urban development. Whole species of organisms in areas like the Amazon rainforest have most likely been lost due to this method of deforestatio... ...devastating effects, notably poverty, disease, and famine, on poorer countries that cannot handle the needed health care for their mounting populations. Rapid growth of the human population is occurring today with three births for each death. (Southwick, 1996) The modern countries of today cannot turn their back on the third world as everything that occurs on this planet is related. These issues are becoming more and more difficult to solve and are escalating each day. More time and effort needs to be done to look at the root of these issues if there is any hope to fix them. References: Dolan, Edwin G., Ch. 5 from "TANSTAAFL: The Economic Strategy for Environmental Crisis" 1974 Southwick, Charles H., Ch. 15 from "Global Ecology in Human Perspective" Oxford Univ. Press, 1996 Tennenbaum, Erica. http://www.tulane.edu/~rouxbee/kids98/egypt3.html October 20, 1998

Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number Essay -- Essays Papers

Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number During the last thirty years, there has been an increase in violent crimes committed by minors. In many of these cases, the minors are faced with harsher charges than what the law declares, such as being charged as adults. The majority of the United States justifies the age 18 as when an individual is no longer considered a minor. Yet, in the past ten years, the United States has seen the age of individuals being charged as adults drop. For example, in 1993, Nathan Dunlap a seventeen year-old from my hometown Aurora, Colorado was sentenced to the death penalty and eight years later, twelve year-old Lionel Tate of Fort Lauderdale, Florida was charged with life in prison. Currently the United States government has established age requirements for a minor to be charged as an adult because it is a â€Å"quick and ready pragmatic definition† (Overton 109). However, a simple age limit is not the proper method in determining charges against an individual. Since each American has a different mindset due to their experiences, upbringings, and morals, our laws should reflect that diversity. The court system of the United States should replace the method of using the chronological age of a minor to their mental age when determining the charges against an individual, because it is the state of one’s mentality that leads them to commit a crime. During the late eighteen-hundreds, the U.S. added a branch of law that specifically focused on juveniles. The location of the nation’s first juvenile court for children under the age of 16 opened in 1899 in Chicago, Illinois. The purpose of the juvenile court was to rehabilitate criminals instead of prosecuting them as adults. The social reformers that propos... ...rd ed. New York: Arnold Publishers, 1999. 16-53. - â€Å"History of Intelligence Testing†. IQTest. Google. 4 Feb. 2005 . - â€Å"Interview with Deborah Yurgelum-Todd†. Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain. 2002. PBS.org. 6 Feb. 2005 . - â€Å"Interview with Jay Giedd, M.D.†. Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain. 2002. PBS.org. 6 Feb 2005 . - McKibben, Ginny. â€Å"Court Files Hold Details of Slayings Accounts of Dunlap’s ‘Confession’.† The Denver Post. 1 Jan. 1996. ProQuest. 28 Jan. 2005 . - Overton, Willis F. â€Å"Chapter 3: Developmental Psychology: Philosophy, Concepts, and Methodology†. Handbook of Children Psychology. 5th ed. Ed. William Damon. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998. 109. Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number Essay -- Essays Papers Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number During the last thirty years, there has been an increase in violent crimes committed by minors. In many of these cases, the minors are faced with harsher charges than what the law declares, such as being charged as adults. The majority of the United States justifies the age 18 as when an individual is no longer considered a minor. Yet, in the past ten years, the United States has seen the age of individuals being charged as adults drop. For example, in 1993, Nathan Dunlap a seventeen year-old from my hometown Aurora, Colorado was sentenced to the death penalty and eight years later, twelve year-old Lionel Tate of Fort Lauderdale, Florida was charged with life in prison. Currently the United States government has established age requirements for a minor to be charged as an adult because it is a â€Å"quick and ready pragmatic definition† (Overton 109). However, a simple age limit is not the proper method in determining charges against an individual. Since each American has a different mindset due to their experiences, upbringings, and morals, our laws should reflect that diversity. The court system of the United States should replace the method of using the chronological age of a minor to their mental age when determining the charges against an individual, because it is the state of one’s mentality that leads them to commit a crime. During the late eighteen-hundreds, the U.S. added a branch of law that specifically focused on juveniles. The location of the nation’s first juvenile court for children under the age of 16 opened in 1899 in Chicago, Illinois. The purpose of the juvenile court was to rehabilitate criminals instead of prosecuting them as adults. The social reformers that propos... ...rd ed. New York: Arnold Publishers, 1999. 16-53. - â€Å"History of Intelligence Testing†. IQTest. Google. 4 Feb. 2005 . - â€Å"Interview with Deborah Yurgelum-Todd†. Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain. 2002. PBS.org. 6 Feb. 2005 . - â€Å"Interview with Jay Giedd, M.D.†. Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain. 2002. PBS.org. 6 Feb 2005 . - McKibben, Ginny. â€Å"Court Files Hold Details of Slayings Accounts of Dunlap’s ‘Confession’.† The Denver Post. 1 Jan. 1996. ProQuest. 28 Jan. 2005 . - Overton, Willis F. â€Å"Chapter 3: Developmental Psychology: Philosophy, Concepts, and Methodology†. Handbook of Children Psychology. 5th ed. Ed. William Damon. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998. 109.

Financial statement Essay

Write a five- to seven-page financial statement analysis of a public company, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. In this analysis, you will discuss the financial health of this company with the ultimate goal of making a recommendation to other investors. Your paper should consist of the following sections: introduction, company overview, horizontal analysis, ratio analysis, final recommendation, and conclusions. Your paper needs to include a minimum of two scholarly resources in addition to the textbook as references.Here is a breakdown of the sections within the body of the assignment:Company OverviewProvide a brief overview of your company (one to two paragraphs at most). What industry is it in? What are its main products or services? Who are its competitors?Horizontal Analysis of Income Statement and Balance SheetPrepare a three-year, horizontal analysis of the income statement and balance sheet of your selected company. Discuss the importance and meaning of horizontal analysis. Discuss both the positive and negative trends presented in your company.Ratio AnalysisCalculate the current ratio, quick ratio, cash to current liabilities ratio, over a two-year period. Discuss and interpret the ratios that you calculated. Discuss potential liquidity issues based on your calculations of the current and quick ratios. Are there any factors that could be erroneously influencing the results of the ratios? Discuss liquidity issues of competitive companies within the same industry.RecommendationBased on your analysis, would you recommend an individual invest in this company? What strengths do you see? What risks do you see? It is perfectly acceptable to state that you would recommend avoiding this company, as long as you provide support for your position. Busin†¦ Think about your resume from day one. Yes, you want your diploma to be the feature point of the resume. However, you also want to put anything else you  can on it. Work-study, summer job or internship experience is a big plus. Also cultivate opportunities through extra-curricular activities that appeal to you. Business – Accounting Final Paper Focus of the Final Paper Write a five to seven page financial statement analysis of a public company, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. In this analysis you will discuss the financial health of this company with the ultimate goal of making a recommendation to other investors. Your paper should consist of the following sections: introduction, company overview, horizontal analysis, ratio analysis, final recommendation, and conclusions. Here is a breakdown of the sections within the body of the assignment: Company Overview Provide a brief overview of your company (one to two paragraphs at most). What industry is it in? What are its main products or services? Who are its competitors? Horizontal Analysis of Income Statement and Balance Sheet Prepare a three-year horizontal analysis of the income statement and balance sheet of your selected company. Discuss the importance and meaning of horizontal analysis. Discuss both the positive and negative trends presented in your company. Ratio Analysis Calculate the current ratio, quick ratio, cash to current liabilities ratio, over a two year period. Discuss and interpret the ratios that you calculated. Discuss potential liquidity issues based on your calculations of the current and quick ratios. Are there any factors that could be erroneously influencing the results of the ratios? Discuss liquidity issues of competitive companies within the same industry. Recommendation Based on your analysis would you recommend an individual invest in this company? What strengths do you see? What risks do you see? It is perfectly acceptable to state that you would recommend avoiding this company as long as you provide support for your position.

Amazon Web Services

AMAZON WEB SERVICES CASE ANALYSIS SNEHA KATKURI Amazon’s core business of selling goods (ranging from books to fresh food and electronics to fashion cloths) through its e-commerce portal has seen exponential growth which necessitated a need for a massive storage and computing infrastructure that is always available and is resistant to failures. After building this, it is intuitive for Amazon to open up the infrastructure and sell it as a commodity.This helps Amazon not only to attract more customers to this new product but also to build new infrastructure thus benefiting its core business. The unmatched economies of scale at Amazon offer huge cost effciencies through a combination of high-volume, low cost procurement thanks to bargaining power of buyer Amazon. In addition, constant technological innovations in design, operations and management of the data centers help Amazon reduce the prices of its AWS offerings. Because of cheaper service provision, there is a flood of new c ustomers for AWS.However, with the advent of new competitors like Google Cloud Engine, there is an increasing stress on Amazon pricing. But, given that any typical business needs both scalable computing and storage, AWS, which offers a complete basket of services is a preferred choice for customers. Furthermore, the investments on AWS improved Amazon’s core business by helping it introduce value-added services. In 2007, Amazon introduced cloud- based music service to sell MP3 songs and a web- music player.Even though other competitors like Google announced a similar service, the music content available on Amazon was significantly cheaper and attracted more customers. Amazon Cloud Drive introduced almost simultaneously, runs on AWS (S3) service. The Kindle device sold by Amazon has a huge competitive advantage over Nook in the market thanks to up to 5GB of cloud- based free storage for storing books and personal documents. This also reduced the manufacturing cost of the device by getting rid of microSD card slot.Amazon AppStore, that runs on AWS, built to sell Android apps is a popular value added service to the recently introduced Kindle Fire device. Often, the prices of these apps are way lesser than those of competitors like Google. Instant Video is another massively popular service which helped Amazon build a huge eco system of content like music, books, apps and video that is vital for the success of a tablet device in the current ever- changing market extremely crowded with numerous devices from various manufacturers.Amazon has an advantage over competitors in this market because they were the first to market and so have had more experience and time to work out the kinks. Their 99% uptime guarantee for the S3 service is a testament to the fact that they have experienced issues in the past and have learned from them to the point of being able to offer guarantee to the users. Also, because designing and building such huge cloud infrastructures requir es vast amount of resources, competitors need precious time to catch up.In addition, Amazon itself is a very big customer for AWS. Hence, strengthening AWS is a natural choice for Amazon which is in its own business interest. For other players in the market, for example, RackSpace, a huge uncertainty exists in planning new initiatives and introducing new services on its cloud products. Also, AWS is a product evolved from Amazon’s existing infrastructure unlike some competitors’ alternatives which had to be built from scratch, in turn giving a huge lead time to Amazon in cloud computing.Moreover, huge costs involved prohibit existing clients of AWS to switch to a new, yet cheaper, alternative. Furthermore, Amazon has learnt the imperatives and modalities of implementing and maintaining a network out of their business need and so as a consequence has better insight of flexibility some real world situations need. Thus I think though Amazon is giving up its competitive adv antage of software competency by offering AWS services, it is in turn proving to be profitable to the Company in the long run.

Agile V. Waterfall

Waterfall to Agile References Pavolka, R. , Mount, V. , Neymeyr, A. , & Rhodes, C. From Waterfall to Rapid Prototyping (2005). Supporting Enterprise-wide Adoption of the Oncourse Collaboration and Learning (CL) Environment at Indiana University. SIGUCCS ’05 Proceedings of 33rd Annual ACM SIGUCCS Fall Conference, 312 – 319. Northrop, Robert (2004). The Fall of Waterfall. Intelligent Enterprise 7. 3, 40-41. Adams, John (2013). Change in Software Techniques Helps FHLB Reduce Defects. American Banker, Technology Section, Volume 178 No. 3. I. Agile v. Waterfall Agile Development Methods (Agile) and the Waterfall Method (Waterfall) are two different styles of designing and managing the Soft Development Life-Cycle (SDLC) within an organization. Waterfall being the more traditional approach and Agile newly born just twelve years ago, there is much debate over which approach works best and when. Companies have used Waterfall for decades of successful projects and in most compani es the approach has been ingrained into the very fabric of the company.The organization of teams and human resources in information technology (IT) can be anywhere from loosely to entirely based on the method that the organization is using. More and more organizations are starting to see the advantages of Agile now and are questioning older methods almost entirely because of the fast-paced business world of the twenty-first century. Agile allows an organization to respond to that change more quickly without sacrificing quality work or customer satisfaction.Waterfall, on the other hand, with its precise planning can offer better time management and money savings. In a fast-paced society where the time it takes to bring a product to market could mean the difference between success and failure, Agile is making its way into more and more organizations everyday. And, everyday more and more of these organizations are struggling with the change that is required to adopt Agile methods as we ll as the woes that this fast-paced development style introduce to the organization. II. What is WaterfallWaterfall is the classical system development model. The model of software development hones its ideas from the manufacturing world. It is based on a step-by-step approach to creating products from the conceptual phase to implementation and maintenance. Waterfall focuses its development strategy on the distinct phases of a project: concept, design, implementation, testing, installation, and maintenance. In larger organizations and on larger scale projects these phases of production are often handled by different people and even different teams.Using Waterfall, the concept phase of a project tends to be the single most important phase. This is the step during which the development team gathers and analyses its customer’s needs and documents the problem that the software solution is expected to solve. The documentation and analysis needs to be precise, in depth and even fla wless because once the phase is complete there is no turning back—modifications to a project, no matter what phase its in when the modification or change order is received, require that the project fall back to the concept phase.While several techniques such as use cases and customer interviews are used to gather this information the results of the analysis and requirements gathering that are carried out in this phase are typically relayed to the next phase in the form of a formal document. This document serves as the sole resource for the team who handles the second phase: design. Design entails actually making determinations as to exactly how a team intends to in later phases execute the solution.This is when platforms, programming languages, data storage methodology, equipment types, standards and graphical user interface decisions are made. Design also entails other high-level project decisions on ideas such as how security will be handled and resource management. The des ign step delivers its decisions on these matters, commonly know as the design specifications to the third phase: implementation. Implementation is very simply put the execution of the requirements in the design specifications document.During this phase, developers actually write the code that makes the software system work. Hardware specialists similarly setup the equipment and hardware that are necessary for the solution. The application is developed, debugged and tested against the design document and once it passes muster, the product is handed off to the next phase: testing. Testing is often handled by a quality assurance team. The team upon taking delivery of the product refers back to the documents created during conception and ensures that all of the requirements are satisfied by the solution.This team documents the project and uses business cases or test cases to determine whether the solution actually is the complete solution and whether or not it actually works in its enti rety. This team generally hands off the functioning solution, its documentation and a user manual to the next phase: installation. An installation or delivery team then hands the product over to the customer. This team also often provides formal training to the end-user. Delivery is followed by maintenance. Maintenance of a product usually includes end-user support, debugging of system flaws that are discovered after delivery, and change requests.If Waterfall is executed to the letter of its design, there will be no overlap between the separate phases of the project. Clearly defined timelines for each step are known at the onset of the project and serve as milestones for progress during development. The requirements in a well executed Waterfall project will be so very detailed of point driven that little time is wasted in later phases on things like re-writing blocks of code or back-and-forth’s that question ambiguity in understanding on the developers part.It is a tried and true and has advantages such as minimal wasted time and easy handover—handover of the project or a part of a project in waterfall can be a very smooth process because of all of the documentation that is produced in the analysis and design phases of the project. The documentation can even smooth over team-member attrition. III. What is Agile Agile Software Development is an umbrella for a particular style of development methods that focus on self-organization or cross-functional teams to develop smaller packages of a product more quickly than has been traditionally done.The basis for all of these methods is The Agile Manifesto (www. agilemanifesto. org). The author of the manifesto argues that working software, delivered in small packages, delivered in shorter timeframes (weeks not months) by teams who are self-organized and able to communicate freely throughout the process with both the customer and other stakeholders can respond to change and deliver a more effective approac h to software development in the volatile business world today.The manifesto declares that individuals and interactions are more important than processes and that following a design document is not as necessary as having the ability to change quickly. Agile’s focus is on a rhythmic continuity in the lifecycle of a project. The packages that are delivered tend to be broken down into timeframes as small as a week and generally not more than four weeks long. Customers receive working software continuously and the project is more of a living, breathing software that can overtime change to meet the needs of a rapidly changing marketplace.Agile teams meet frequently, as often as daily to discuss status and approach. Teams focus on reusing code blocks and making decisions about platforms and languages as necessary and with a better chance that standards and new technologies won’t change or become outdated before delivery takes place. IV. Which is the better way? The question so many teams and organizations are debating regularly these days is ‘which is better Agile or Waterfall? ’. Both Waterfall and Agile offer benefits and shortcomings and neither can be called universally better or universally out-of-date.The decision must be made based on each organization’s and each project’s circumstances. Team size can be a significant factor. Waterfall methodology is hard to manage with a small team. Waterfall relies on division of responsibilities and in very small teams this may result in an overwhelming workload for team members. Time to market with Waterfall; however, is longer whereas Agile methods can get product to market quicker so if time is a very high priority Agile may be the methodology to use.Indiana University documented a case in which its own IT Training and Education (ITTE) department underwent the change from its previous standard Waterfall approach to an Agile methodology. The team started questioning its approach t o development of training materials first when its materials started becoming obsolete before they were even delivered. The team found itself being tasked to develop and deliver training materials for a product that it saw as a â€Å"moving target†. It quickly became clear that the old Waterfall methodology would not work given the rapidly changing requirements.The situation required more constant contact with the stakeholders and that the team be able to deliver consistently changing and updated training materials as the system it was training on was an ever-changing system itself. ITTE faced problems in the transition. One such hurdle was changing the mindset of its customer. The team’s customer had grown used to having ITTE deliver large Waterfall sized training packages on static, tried and true, well planned, designed, thought-out and fully-functional software systems.The overhaul of it Course Management System (CMS) was, however, being updated constantly and the customer often expressed feeling of being Beta Testers rather than end users. In addition, ITTE’s own team members struggled with the behavioral changes that were necessary to adapt in order to make a more Agile model of development work for the team. Communications amongst team members, for example, became more necessary on a more frequent basis. The team also faced the task of training users on a system that was not fully functional.Users were, at times, resistant to the change themselves and found confusion in the fact that incomplete software was being delivered. The users were as accustomed to receiving fully functional systems and training as the ITTE team was used to delivering. ITTE also soon learned it necessary to assign team members exclusively to this project. In the past, the team’s Waterfall approach had allowed resources to be more spread out, whereas with the new Agile approach team members were so consistently involved with the living project that they were necessarily exclusively assigned to the CMS project.With all of the challenges that it faced, ITTE concluded that the change in methodology improved its reputation with the customer. More frequent face time and feedback response made the customer happier. It also concluded that, as a team, ITTE was able to produce more products cheaper, faster and more efficiently using its new approach to the SDLC. A single case, however, can’t be used to make a determination for the next company facing this decision. The fact is the right approach to software development is the approach that works best on a case-by-case basis.While Waterfall may still be the best approach for fixed-price, fixed-scope, short-term projects, Agile may be better suited to a project where the scope is expected to creep because of a changing marketplace. And there are teams that have even begun applying Agile methodologies to a Waterfall approach and vice versa. So perhaps the appropriate approach for an or ganization is to not decide on one or the other for the organization but to embrace both Agile and Waterfall methodologies and to learn to apply each appropriately.

GEOGRAPHY - Comparison of Two Latin American Nations -CHILE and Essay

GEOGRAPHY - Comparison of Two Latin American Nations -CHILE and ARGENTINA - Essay Example If we compare these factors, it can be noted that the population below poverty line is high in Argentina (38.5%) than in Chile (18.2%). In terms of inflation rates also Argentina has a higher inflation rate than Chile and hence it can be noted that the cost of living is high in Argentina than in Chile. When we compare these factors such as population under poverty line and inflation rate, it can be said that Chile is a better developed nation than Argentina. Though Argentina in more industrialized than Chile, unemployment rate is high in Argentina. Argentina and Chile have good infrastructure including railroads, highways, airports and telecommunications facilities. Comparatively, Argentina has better infrastructure than Chile. The idea of a standard may be contrasted with the quality of life, which takes into account not only the material standard of living, but also other more subjective factors that contribute to human life, such as leisure, safety, cultural resources, social life, mental health, environmental quality issues etc. When we compare these factors, Chile is comparatively safer and peaceful than Argentina. The potential for terrorist activity is low in Chile where as in Argentina individuals and organizations with ties to extremist groups, including some known to provide financial support to designated foreign terrorist organizations, operate in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, in the tri-border area between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It was also noted that Argentina has seen in recent years, a number of small bomb/incendiary incidents in metropolitan Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, Santa Fe, and other cities. The bulk of the targets have been bank branches (ATMs), fast food restaurants, and Arge ntine government-affiliated offices.   These incidents usually occurred in the middle of the night and appeared intended to cause only property

History of Immigration in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of Immigration in the US - Essay Example There are negative aspects to having such an ethnically diverse population, such as racism and social class boundaries drawn along racial lines; African Americans, for example, generally earn less than their Caucasian counterparts. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the history of immigration has shaped the United States and how it affects the population. The first immigration can be said to be one of the most important. As previously mentioned, the Western Europeans brought with them African slaves, and it is perhaps partly due to the lingering thought that African Americans are associated with this slave trade that draws one of the most important cultural boundaries. African Americans experience high levels of racism, as evidenced by the presence of ‘Christian’ groups such as the KKK who continue to exist in the U.S. today and work towards ethnically cleansing the country. African Americans earn less and are frequently found in the most deprived areas, suggest ing that there is still a lot of work to be done to counteract this earlier negativity. Another important aspect of this first wave of immigration is the treatment of the Native Americans who were already residing in the area. The white colonists felt that the native groups were in many ways inferior, as well as bringing with them several infectious diseases that were problematic. This led to a large decrease in the number of Native Americans residing in the United States and forceful land-grabbing ensuring that these people could no longer live their traditional lifestyles. Again, Native Americans suffer from racism and economic problems, which could be seen as a result of this earlier cultural boundary drawn by the colonists. In the 19th century, the Western Europeans again began to migrate en-masse to the United States. Two important cultural groups arriving with this wave were the Germans and the Irish, both leaving their home countries because of unfavourable conditions there a nd the promise of the American Dream. The Nativist/Know Nothing movement strongly opposed these immigrations because it was felt that they could disrupt the social balance of the country. Importantly, the Irish immigrants were predominantly Catholic and it was felt that, because they were under the control of the Pope in Rome, there would be an upheaval of the style of Christianity already established in the U.S. The 19th century also saw the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which said that there were only to be a certain number of Chinese immigrants into the country. At first, Chinese immigrants were seen as important to the economy of the United States but after the economic situation improved, they began to be blamed for white unemployment. There was often violence against the Chinese in California because of the passing of this act. This era also saw the mass immigration of Polish Jews attempting to escape the Russian empire and religious persecution, and these people were again generally refused entry after the immigration quota was reached. Racism was, and still is, an important issue for the Chinese and Jewish people, perhaps because of their treatment during this time. In conclusion, it is easy to see how the United States has become such an ethnically diverse country and how these different events have shaped the racial landscape of the country. Many of these immigration events, and those that came after, still have an

DeBeers advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

DeBeers advertising - Essay Example The simulacrum is true† (Ecclesiastes, cited in Baudrillard, 1994, p. 1) Introduction Observations reveal that in postmodern era extensive use of mass media and representative symbols have become an integral part of contemporary culture, where boundaries between fantasy and real world have merged, often making reality unrecognisable (Baudrillard, 1993, pp. 71-72). Mass production and photographic representation (advertisements) have modified human experience to the extent that â€Å"Irreality no longer belongs to the dream or phantasm†¦but to the hallucinatory resemblance of the real itself† (ibid, p. 72). In post-modern era, â€Å"reality† is identified only when it is mimeographed through cloning or simulation; while truth is interceded and manipulated in a manner where present genre of humans fail to differentiate between imaginary and real world, a condition termed as â€Å"hyper-reality† (ibid, pp.70-76). In the context of artificially creating a condition of reality, the best-known example is that of DeBeers where the tagline, â€Å"a diamond is forever† is known to have attached a false sense of value to a simple carbonated rock particle. Besides this, the De Beers advertisements also make strong use of the sign and signification concept (including the referent, the signifier and the signified), where their advertisements, instead of giving any information on the products create meanings through various signs and symbols. ... In this context, the paper will examine the concept of simulation and hyper-reality, comprehend how media managed to manipulate and erase the basic line between fantasy and reality, and create a false sense of value or consumer emotion. It will also analyse the concept of sign and signification, to find out the meaning behind the signs and symbols used in the advertisements. Discussion In post-modernism (especially in the context of capitalistic economies and post-modern developed nations), hyperrealism is a concept that reveals a condition where human consciousness fails to differentiate between falsely created ‘real’ world (simulation) and actual reality (Baudrillard, 1994). In other words, hyper-reality typifies what consciousness distinguishes as "reality" in the cultural context where mass media has the power to alter incidents before presenting them to the readers/viewers. It has resulted from logically derived simulation processes, where signs, logos or phrase-wor ds are being used with increasing frequencies to substitute real products or emotions. Symbols or catchy phrase-words that imitate reality are being made to appear as simplified and easy to recognise. They first cover and then replace the real objects or emotions, and finally end up being more ‘real’ than reality itself (ibid). Modern culture has thus turned into a substitute for reality where â€Å"everything is therefore right on the surface, absolutely superficial. There is no longer a need or requirement for depth or perspective; today, the real and the imaginary are confounded in the same operational totality, and aesthetic fascination is simply everywhere† (Baudrillard, 1976, p. 1019). According to Baudrillard

Why did European states engage in a process of economic integration Essay

Why did European states engage in a process of economic integration Are the original reasons still valid today - Essay Example The competition was expected to increase in the integrated market was expected to result to productive allocation of the economic resources. Integration was aimed at providing the investors with incentives to invest in innovations improving the dynamic efficiency of the economy. The consumers in the market benefited from the integration as the prices were low and there was more variety of goods and services. The internal market has played an important role in promoting integration though the potential has not been exploited fully. This paper gives an outlook at the reasons why the states engage in market integration, the benefits and shortcomings. There has been a constant relation between the political system and the legislative system over the past few decades resulting to the implementation and formulation of internal programmes and policies that contribute to integration. Law and politics are seen to interact and this has led to the laying down of policies that lead to the strengthening of the regional integration through increased competition, regional policy and industrial policy as explained by Geradin (2004). This has led to drastic improvements in the agricultural sector, fisheries, social systems and the environment. The level of justice has improved leading to the overall changes in the home affairs of the member states. This has led to the adoption of a common currency and market liberalisation in the region. This is however a representative since in most sectors there is a portfolio of initiatives instead of having a single one encompassing many policies. The European Union was initiated in the 1980s with the publication of the White Paper that mainly dealt with the establishment of a common market. This was mainly to fight against the political, monetary and economic crisis experience in the past decades. The union helped in the restoring confidence in the European market and improving the performance of

Managing and Leading change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing and Leading change - Essay Example Changes in an organization may lead to development of new rules and methods of working. In order to implement change within an organization, managers may be required to impart training so that employees can easily adapt with the factors of the external environment. Managing change is highly systematic process and requires specific on behalf of the management and the employees (Jones, 2010). Business environment is highly fast paced and for long term survival it becomes necessary that organizations adhere to changes. Technology is one of the strongest aspects that have induced changes in the way organizations operate. Technological innovations have caused organizations to utilize resource in new and innovate ways (Pettigrew, Woodman and Cameron, 2001). Adapting to technological changes increases efficiency as well as provides scope for the management to operate in new ways. Organizations are also required to change when the requirements of customers change (Fernandez and Rainey, 2006). Evolution induces changes in the needs of consumers. Changes in consumer needs create demand for new products and services. Organizations are required to perceive such developments and change so as to be able to meet the newly created demand (Tsoukas and Chia, 2002). The current case study aims to understand the issues which Capitol Academy is faced with in respect of change management. In order to increase operational efficiency and earn more revenue, Capitol Academy had adopted certain changes. However, due to lack of planning and inadequate resource allocation, the company’s operations were turned upside down causing a number of management issues. The organization was also observed to concentrate more upon the development of its professional programs, ignoring other departments where change management was not implemented properly. The mismanagement has also

Was the Poor Law of 1834 Effective Essay Example for Free

Was the Poor Law of 1834 Effective Essay Agree with the three main doctrines. Malthuss principle Ricardos iron law of wages and Benthams doctrine The Act has been described as the classic example of the fundamental Whig-Benthamite reforming legislation of the period, based on three main doctrines: Malthuss principle that population increased faster than resources unless checked, Ricardos iron law of wages and Benthams doctrine that people did what was pleasant, and would tend to claim relief rather than working. http://wapedia. obi/en/Poor_Law_Amendmen†¦ Population increased faster than resources unless checked people do what is pleasant, and would tend to claim relief rather than working . The history of the Poor Law in England and Wales is usually divided between two statutes, the Old Poor Law passed during the reign of Elizabeth I and the New Poor Law, passed in 1834, which significantly modified the existing system of poor relief. The Poor Law system was not formally abolished until the 1948 National Assistance Act, with parts of the law remaining on the statute book until 1967. The Poor Law system fell into decline at the beginning of the 20th century due to several factors, such as introduction of the Liberal welfare reforms and the availability of other sources of assistance from friendly societies and trade unions, as well as piecemeal reforms which bypassed the Poor Law system . Despite these later edicts it is notable that the Poor Law Amendment Act did not ban all forms of outdoor relief. When the new Amendment was applied to the industrial North of England (an area the law had never considered during reviews), the system failed catastrophically as many found themselves temporarily unemployed, due to recessions or a fall in stock demands, so called cyclical unemployment and were reluctant to enter a Workhouse, despite it being the only method of gaining aid. The abuses and shortcomings of the system are documented in the novels of Charles Dickens and Frances Trollope. Despite the aspirations of the reformers, the New Poor Law was unable to make the Workhouse as bad as life outside. The primary problem was that in order to make the diet of the Workhouse inmates less eligible than what they could expect outside, it would be necessary to starve the inmates beyond an acceptable level. It was for this reason that other ways were found to deter entrance to the Workhouses. These measures ranged from the introduction of prison style uniforms to the segregation of inmates into yards – there were normally male, female, boy and girls yards. The Act stated that no able-bodied person was to receive money or other help from the Poor Law authorities except in a workhouse. Conditions were to be made harsh to discourage people from claiming. Workhouses were to be built in every parish and if parishes were to small parishes to group together to form Workhouse Unions. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/English_Poo†¦ The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 sometimes abbreviated to PLAA was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Lord Melbourne that reformed the countrys poverty relief system. It was an Amendment Act that completely replaced earlier legislation based on the Poor Law of 1601. With reference to this earlier Act the 1834 Act is also known as the New Poor Law. The Amendment Act was called for after an investigation by the 1832 Royal Commission into the Operation of the Poor Laws which included Edwin Chadwick, George Nicholls, John Bird Sumner and Nassau William Senior. The Act has been described as the classic example of the fundamental Whig-Benthamite reforming legislation of the period, based on three main doctrines: Malthuss principle that population increased faster than resources unless checked, Ricardos iron law of wages and Benthams doctrine that people did what was pleasant, and would tend to claim relief rather than working.

Comparison Of Identity In The Bell Jar Selected Poems English Literature Essay

Comparison Of Identity In The Bell Jar Selected Poems English Literature Essay Sylvia Plath is primarily known for her poetry and her semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, written under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. Both her poetry in Sylvia Plath Selected Poems and her novel The Bell Jar underline many key issues within Plaths own life, and both emphasize many different themes. One of the key and strongest themes running throughout both of these texts is the theme of identity. Through Plaths confessional poetry style and her semi-autobiographical novel the reader is able to pick up on Plaths own struggles regarding identity, linking back to her battles with mental illness. Many of the key ideas addressed in The Bell Jar are also picked upon within some of her poems. The novel is, as bitter and remorseless as her last poems written before her suicide on 11th February 1963. The novel The Bell Jar was originally published in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas, only to be published in Plaths name in 1971, years after her death; Sylvia Plath Selected Poems was published in 1985, after being put together by her former husband Ted Hughes. Here Esther is parodying herself, thinking that she is something different from what she actually is, thus distorting reality. She is also making fun of herself through her appearance, through harsh misinterpretations. She does this through the use of a mirror, by seeing something that isnt really there- changing reality into her own view of the distorted image, further showing her inability to comprehend her own features and identity. Plath uses colloquial language throughout the novel, which is apparent through the use of words such as a big, smudgy eyes, the use of informal language is also apparent in some of her poetry. She also refers to herself in the first person a lot, through the use of the word I and myself (herself in the novel is the protagonist Esther Greenwood). The same idea can be seen through Plaths poem Mirror written in 1961. Even though this poem was written in 1961, 2 years before her death, Plaths deterioration is apparent to the reader. In this poem, Plath foc uses on the mirror and the idea behind it, depicting what its purpose is and what it sees; I am sliver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately, just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. Here, Plath is saying that the mirror reflects reality, this contrasts with the ideas put forth in The Bell Jar, as within the novel Esther doesnt see what is exactly in the mirror, she perceives herself differently to how others see her, unlike the mirror in the poem, which has no preconceptions, it says how it shows things for how they are, doesnt change reality in any way in the first stanza. Although the tone changes in the second stanza, as it can be linked to Esther in the novel, as it is about the woman and what she perceives; Now I am a lake. The image of the lake can be interpreted as the idea of water, this idea can be linked the theme of distorted images as water moves and distorts the actual image concealed underneath. This poem shows how bad Plaths state of mind was, as does the portrayal of Esther within the novel. The language in the poem differs from that of the novel, as it is less informal than that of Esther Greenwood, it has a more serious tone, once again could be linked to the unstable state of Plath herself. The tone of the poem changes from stanza one to stanza two, the first being more positive than the latter; the change occurs when the identity changes from that of the mirror to that of the woman. From these two sections of both the novel and the poem Mirror we can see that the idea of faces and perception is important when considering the idea of identity within the two. Esthers obsession with her own appearance is also shadowed later on in the novel when she says the face in the mirror looked like a s ick Indian, thus showing her constant distortion. Another identity issue addressed within both the novel and selected poems is the idea of womanhood within identity. Within The Bell Jar Esther separates herself from everybody else through the idea of womens rights. She doesnt want to conform to the rest of society by following the traditional social rules that were in place at the time; for example, marriage and children. She also wishes to lose her virginity due to the fact that promiscuity in men is acceptable but in women is frowned upon; and maybe gone out and slept with somebody myself just to even things up, and then thought no more about it. Within the novel Esther talks bluntly about sex, she doesnt talk about it romantically; it appears to her to be merely an act that must be carried out in order to be a woman, and to get back at Buddy Willard. Here the use of the words slept with somebody reimburses the idea of a lax attitude towards sex, and the casualness about it. Esther keeps up this pretence throughout the course of the novel keeping the same rigidity in views. She also presents this idea in a violent way, using violent images to portray the ideas of sex. Her rejection and failure to conform with societies ideals shows the harsh, bitter and unforgiving world that torments her mind. The violent imagery connected with sex is apparent in chapter 9 during Esthers encounter with Marco; The ground soared and stuck me with a soft shock. Mud Squirmed through my fingers. Marco waited until I half rose. Then he put both his hands on my shoulders and flung me back. Throughout this encounter of the novel lots of bloody and violent images are used to portray the possibility of a sexual encounter. The use of the word squirmed gives the impression of uncomfortable and indecent behaviour; also that Esther isnt enjoying the experience. This can be linked to one of Plaths poems Maudlin. This poem emphasises how the woman is anxious about her sexuality, as it is about a young virgin. The poem uses lots of imagery to portray painful images of sex, and womanhood. The poem uses alliteration to incorporate these images together, by using phrases such as mud mattressed, by using these as starting words for a poem, the reader already feels uncomfortable as the words themselves are unflattering and dirty; But at the price of a pin-stitched skin Fish-tailed girls purchase each white leg. This section of the poem could be linked to the idea of the little mermaid, and the fact that everything hurts, as she paid for her legs with pain, the word pin-stitched emphasises this. The idea being that you tolerate pain for no purpose, therefore linking negativity with the idea of womanhood and sexuality; the main in this instance being menstruation and childbirth. Even the title of the poem links to sadness as maudlin means to be upset or sad, thus further linking the idea of womanhood to pain and suffering, the words purchase each white leg indicate the pain in menstruation and childbirth within this poem.