Mat English Essay on George Sand - 959 Words

Mathew Carfi English 2030 – W2 Dr. Jill Franks October 5, 2013 Sand’s Marianne: The Development of Characters and the Inevitable Outcome In George Sand’s Marianne, Sand uses her development of the three primary characters to bring together two unlikely soul mates, and at the same time separate the two most likely paired of the three figures. Her primary characters, Marianne, Pierre, and Philippe, and their make-up play an intricate role in the story. More than just playing a key role though, their make-up leads the story in a direction that is propelled by the unique personalities each hold. The drive that each strong personality contributes to Sand’s Marianne, and their unique temperaments, brings the reader into a different sort of†¦show more content†¦Assuming that Marianne herself represents what Sand probably saw what she wanted for herself in that time of her life (This story was written in the final years of George Sand), her character being strong, intelligent (even if not formerly educated), and passionate. Yet as strong and independent as she is portrayed, she still wants the dream of love and to be able to share that with a man who can truly love and appreciate her. She plays along with the story as it goes, but the reader is always assured that she never truly falls into the trap of the young suitor, Philippe, and his plan for her wealth and financial support. The type of character strength found in Marianne is not typical of the type of woman that probably lived in the time that the story took place, but the make-up of Marianne is paramount for how the characters of both her and Pierre come together, and how she and Philippe disperse as the story unfolds. Pierre and Philippe, described briefly as polar opposites, both offer a glimpse into the only two types of men there are for a Marianne. They seem to be in competition from the onset, yet truly there never really was a competition for Marianne’s character, or at least it never really seemed to be one. The two characters existed not for competition, but to display what is good and emotional (Pierre and his love, andShow MoreRelatedGrammar: Figures of Speech5410 Words   |  22 PagesThe allegorical meaning usually deals with moral truth or a generalization about human existence. Ex. â€Å"Animal Farm† George Orwell Alliteration - The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonants in tow or more neighboring words (as in â€Å"she sells sea shells). Although the term is not used frequently in the multiple-choice section, you can look for alliteration in any essay passage. The repetition can reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passageRead MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 PagesHSC Subject Guide Belonging 2009 HSC: Area of Study – English - related material English HSC 2009 - 2012 is Belonging. What does belonging mean? From the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus: belong, verb, 1) to be rightly put into a particular position or class; 2) fit or be acceptable in a particular place or environment; 3) belong to be a member of; 4) belong to be the property or possession of. Belonging, noun, affiliation, acceptance, association, attachment, integration, closeness, rapport,Read MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 PagesThe Guardian 31st October 2005, ‘Fall of the arrogant’ by Madeline Bunting’ published in The Guardian 28th January 2002, ‘Volkswagen targets Euros 10bn savings as director’ by David Gow published in The Guardian 14th July 2005, ‘VW Starter’ by Dr. George Menz published in The Guardian 16th July 2005, and ‘Fat cats pay is the result of greed, not competition’ by Polly Toynbee published in The Guardian 24th December 2003  © Guardian Newspapers Limited; The Sc otsman Publications Ltd. for an extract from

Film Critique for “the Golden Compass” Free Essays

string(248) " Potter and the Chamber of Secrets† and â€Å"Troy† as well as Kevin Tent known for editing such movies as â€Å"The Descendants† and â€Å"Sideways† were brought in on â€Å"The Golden Compass† to finish up the post production editing for the film\." Film Critique for â€Å"The Golden Compass† The Motion Picture of â€Å"The Golden Compass† is based on Philip Pullman’s novel â€Å"Northern Lights† (The first part in his novel trilogy â€Å"His Dark Materials†) and was rated pg-13 (indicating that the material within the film could be unsuitable for children under the age of thirteen (Murray, 2012)), the movie was released to theaters in December of 2007. This movie has been categorized as a Family, fantasy adventure (Carraro Weitz, 2007); however, there have been serious debates about the religious aspects of the story, whether or not it should be geared for younger audiences and how the film eviscerated the novel’s version of the story’s backbone (Rotten Tomatoes, 2012). Also read this   We will write a custom essay sample on Film Critique for â€Å"the Golden Compass† or any similar topic only for you Order Now com/voices-freedom-critique/"Critique of Stuff Is Not Salvation I will be reviewing all aspects of the movie including the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, impact of society on the film and vice versa, the genre and the overall textural themes to get a full understanding of the film and to show that in a whole, it was a very good story and was a fun movie to watch. The director’s vision of the story is how a film comes to life. Their purpose is not simply to help the writer tell the story but also to make the audience care about the story by giving the story meaning† (Goodykoontz Jacobs, 2011, sec. 2. 5 para. 1). This film’s story is about a girl named Lyra Belacqua (played by Dakota Blue Richards) who is about twelve years old. Residing in a universe parallel to our own ruled by the Magisterium, people’s spirits reside on the outside of their bodies and walk beside them as companions in the form of animals (the type of animals depends on the person) known as â€Å"Daemonsâ₠¬ . Lyra was brought up as an orphan living amongst scholars at the Jordan College in Oxford. Lyra’s need for adventure hits a little closer to home than she had hoped when she realizes the hushed whispers of adults and members of the Magisterium speaking of dust and children who are going missing start to become pieces in a puzzle that lyra is determined to solve and with any luck, remedy the troubles that are being caused. Aided by colorful and unusual characters such as the Gyptians (comparable to what we know as gypsies), witches, an armored bear by the name of Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen) and an airman named Lee Scoresby (played by Sam Elliot), Lyra must use the golden compass (also known as an Alethiometer, it was secretly given to her by her uncle, Lord Asriel to reveal the truth of any question she asks the compass) to find the truth and save the children being kidnapped by the gobblers (the kidnappers are a part of the Magisterium). The actors in this film did an amazing job in the roles they played. Marisa Coulter (played by Nicole Kidman) makes for a gorgeous, classy, prestigious, intriguing and scary villain. Kidman’s Kidman not only plays the leader of the gobblers but it is also found out later in the movie that she is also Lyra’s mother. Then there is Lord Asriel, A well-dressed handsome man who plays Lyra’s uncle (however, we find out later that he is in fact Lyra’s father) and a well-known explorer. He studied and did research about the mysterious â€Å"dust† and the Arctic North (Carraro Weitz, 2007). Lyra’s character plays a pretty and hard-headed stubborn girl who is hell bent on stopping the gobblers and Mrs. Coulter from cutting the children’s deamons away from them and she also has serious ideas about locating and finding the purpose of the dust. There is also Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby who appear to have known eachother from sometime in the past. They are both head strong characters and willing to fight for the greater good and aid Lyra in her travels to stop the gobblers. Iorek is a Big armored polar bear and Lee is and older airman. The cinematography used for this movie was quite extensive. There were 1,100 to 1,200 CG [computer-generated] shots, average for a film like this, but the level of complexity far exceeded most, there’s an animated character in just about every one of those shots† (Miller, 2012, para. 4). So this made making the film more extensive as far as the cinematography goes and there were many different shots ranging from close-up (there were many close-ups of several characters throughout the film), mid-range shots (especially when there was more than one character on the screen at any given time), as well as distant or long range shots (like when Lyra rode the rmored bear through the snow to find out what was in the cabin away from a camp site she was staying at). There were also shots angled upward (such as when Lyra and her friend were sitting on a rooftop together) and downward angled shots (such as when a mechanical spy bug was slapped to the ground and there was a downward angle shot of it lying on the ground) (Carraro ; Weitz, 2007). The cinematography used in this film suited every aspect of the movie. Everything moved through the film very smoothly and the cinematography really made the scenes pop and kept me on the edge of my seat. The film editors for the film â€Å"The Golden Compass† are Anne V. Coates, Peter Honess and Kevin Tent. Anne V. Coates is a very well know veteran film editor â€Å"with an editing career of 63 years––and still counting––Coates arguably has been working in cutting rooms longer than anyone else in film history† (Lewis, 2010, para. 1). However, Coates was removed for the editing of the â€Å"The Golden Compass† early on in the editing process and actually stated that even though she learned a great deal from â€Å"The Golden Compass† and it was an amazing experience working with large quantities of editing with special effects, it was actually a frustrating process for Coates due to the amount of work involving the special effects people as opposed to just editing a standard film with much less special effects being used (Connolly, 2011). Peter Honess, known for editing such movies as â€Å"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets† and â€Å"Troy† as well as Kevin Tent known for editing such movies as â€Å"The Descendants† and â€Å"Sideways† were brought in on â€Å"The Golden Compass† to finish up the post production editing for the film. You read "Film Critique for â€Å"the Golden Compass†" in category "Papers" While the finished product the film had many audiences asking when they would see the sequel to the film, there were many critics talking about how â€Å"the end result is a bumpy road, with many emotional highs but also quite a few lows, and a saga that despite good ingredients lacks narrative smoothness or fluidity, reaffirming that Weitz is not the right director for the job† (Levy, 2012, para. 22) not to mention the several parts of the film cut due to the mass controversies regarding religious groups. The editors of this film did not receive their due credit because of the direction of the film and the cutting that was required to make the film â€Å"suitable† for public audiences. It took an amazing amount of people to create all of the different forms of sound used in â€Å"The Golden Compass. † Ranging from the Foley editor, the sound mixer, to the sound effects editor, there are many more people that were just needed for sound work alone. There are quite literally 56 different jobs for this movie, just in regards to sound for the film. This just goes to show you the amount of work that is put into the making of a film. I am going to discuss the three major elements of sound used in a film which involve the score, sound effects and Dialogue (Goodykoontz, ; Jacobs, 2011). Alexandre Desplat is the brilliant composer of the â€Å"score† (music used in the backgrounds of scenes) that is utilized in this film and is used throughout the films entirety. In fact, â€Å"Desplat follows Shore’s lead in the incorporation of a surprisingly detailed and large collection of themes, weaving them into the narrative with such efficiency that a person familiar with the film can easily follow the action through the score† (Clemmensen, 2008, para. ). Experiencing the music used for the score is truly amazing, even by itself. There is also a whole lot of use of sound effects throughout the film and a small handful of people working on them. A big part of the reason so many sound effects were used in this film is because so many of the characters used in the film were CG (Computer generated) so it wa s important to recreate the sounds that these characters would have made had they been real. Again, Ioreck the polar ice bear is a prime example of this. When Iorek and Ragnar (The polar ice king) get into their battle to the death they are not only both created by computers so there very presence require sound effects but there is a lot of sound effects used with their armor clanking together throughout the battle scene. While the sound effects do play a very substantial role in the making of this film, they appear flawless and really added to the depth of the film. The dialogue is also beautiful in this film. The characters have sort of English accents (which suits the London type setting). The dialogue used suites the characters well down to the way they are dressed. However, on a side note, I find it odd that they are from an alternate universe that has an impeccable resemblance and feel to our very own London, England. Lyra and her friends speak as if children would, grammatically incorrect and the adults speak prestigiously and very dignified (most of which are scholars). In its entirety, the all the use of sound was very well utilized and complimented every aspect of the film. Director Chris Weitz was really excited about making this particular film because he is a really big fan of the books the movie was based off of. With a budget of 180 million dollars for the film, Chris Weitz knew that there was going to be a lot of work needed to be put into the film. â€Å"It’s really hard to make a movie,† Weitz says. â€Å"It’s hard enough to make a small, bad one — trying to make a big, good one is definitely a challenge to your physical and mental stamina† (Edwards, 2007, para. ). While there are many who wonder as to whether or not Weitz was the man for this particular job, mainly because Weitz is best known for his raunchy comedy movies such as the â€Å"American Pie† series, Weitz was such a huge fan of the trilogy he was confident that he could get the job done right (Edwards, 2007). Unfortunately, due to the mass controversy of this film it is difficult to discern why this movie was so disastrous when looking at ho w it did in the box office. Some blame Weitz and his lack of knowledge in the field of special effects, some blame the media and the Catholic church for the role they played in trying to have the movie stopped and some blame New Line Cinema (the production company) for forcing Weitz to water down the script due to trying to appease people who were worried and controversial of the religious (or lack thereof) aspects the film would bring to the big screen. In doing so, Weitz said that he did not have control over the films style or editing. Chris Weitz states that New Line Cinema felt they could not be a part of a film that caused controversy in the religious word but that the film would have been very different if he would have had the final say and cut of the film. Essentially in the long run Weitz was asked if he had regrets about the film, Weitz reply was â€Å"It’s the greatest professional regret that I have. â€Å"He compared directing to being Charles I of England, quipping: â€Å"Parliament can always cut your head off† (Nissim, 2011, para. 4). The impact the movie had and still has on society is extraordinarily controversial. Because the movie is a fantasy adventure there were large quantities of people who took the movie at face value for its non-stop adventure and intriguing storyline. However, there were larger quantities of people who felt as if the movie was controversial due to the religious aspects people took from the movie. Bill Donohue (president and CEO of the Catholic League) stated that â€Å"these books denigrate Christianity, thrash the Catholic Church and sell the virtues of atheism† (FoxNews. com, 2007, para. 3). However, due to the controversies that arose from the announcement of the film’s production, the religious aspects of the film were stripped from the script. â€Å"Some atheists and fans of the books aren’t happy, either. They say the studio has caved to pressure from the Christian right by sanitizing the tale for the big screen† (FoxNews. com, 2007 para. 8,). Pullman (the author of the book based on the film) was pleased with how the movie was done. He stated in an interview that â€Å"this must be the only film attacked in the same week for being too religious and for being anti-religious — and by people who haven’t seen it† (FoxNews. om, 2007, para. 16). The genre of this film is a mixture between family, fantasy, and adventure. While deemed a family film, it is not geared for younger children in regards to the story because it does involve children being kidnapped and adults removing the essence (spirit or as they are called in the film d aemons) of life from the children. As stated previously, the film was rated PG-13. The film also depicts (although in non-detailed manner) the children’s essence (often interpreted as spirit) and referrers to them as daemons (pronounce dee-mons). So the movie may be considered offensive to religious families. However, in a whole, if the age group is right, it is a fun family movie. The fantasy of the film is magnificent excluding the actual town they reside in which seems rather of the norm, of (like I have mentioned before) a London set town and streets. There are a lot of characters and creatures in this film that are solely done by CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) and they are absolutely amazing. The daemons (spirit or essence) that walk around with their humans are of all different forms of animals creatures depending on the character of the individual. Lyra’s daemon however, can change shapes to appear in any form because she is still young (changing from a cat to a moth and even an ermine), adults daemons settle into a single form and no longer changes. There is also Iorek the polar ice bear who wears a magnificent coat of armor made for him alone. Last but not least, the adventure parts of the film. We watch see Lyra in her home town with her friends and the stuffy scholars (adults) she is surrounded by. We soon see Lyra get to experience life outside of the Magisterium (the school) with Mrs. Coulter. When Lyra discovers that Mrs. Coulter is the head of the gobblers (the kidnappers), we see her escape and start her mission to save the other children from the gobblers and from them taking the children’s daemons from them. We see an amazing polar ice bear fight between Iorek and the polar ice bear king in which is a fight to the death and even a small war between witches, and Gyptians and even few flying (what looks to be) pirate ships called air ships. This film truly fits its genre. Taking a look at this film from a formalist approach shows us the in-depth aspects of the film (Goodykoontz, Jacobs, 2011). The structure of the film is balanced in regards to the aspects of use of fantasy and adventure used in the story. The fact that the storyline is based in parallel universe, the background of the town that the characters reside is lacking. It looks like a small town in England as opposed to what one would expect a town might look in a parallel universe like say, compared to Hogwarts in the â€Å"Harry Potter† movies and the magical world used in those films. However, the use of the daemons and magical creatures like Iorek the polar ice bear bring us to a better understanding of the â€Å"magical† feel of the world. The use of the characters to progress through the story made the film easier to follow in the respect that the actors playing the characters made the film come to life. Essentially, the film was good, but was better not having expectations (having not read the â€Å"His Dark Materials† trilogy) going into the film. I personally felt that the movie was well done, but I too, went nto the movie not knowing of the controversy surrounding the religious aspects of the film and was unaware of the film being based on a series of books. The overall textual theme of the film was fairly well laid out. The story was told in a manner in which you expect to see more of the story later down the road (in a sequel that would not be made). There are several discussions regarding dust throughout the film that obviously plays a majo r role but is not explained in depth in the film. The Mise-en-scene used throughout the film fits together well with the storyline. The characters, backgrounds and props used throughout the film carried the story in and out of the adventures we see Lyra embark on and allow the audience to experience a world not yet explored. The villain (Mrs. Coulter) was portrayed in such a way that the audience loves to hate and the hero’s (Lyra, Iorek and Lee) made the adventures progress and fun to follow. The camera use throughout the film is impeccable. With all different kinds of shots ranging from close-up scenes of the characters to mid and long range shots as well as jump-cuts from scenes of Lyra on her adventures to the villain trying to attempting to locate Lyra. The overall theme, while lacking in some aspects of background (in the town the main characters reside) and explanation of certain aspects such as the dust which seems to be very important and how and why the daemons, were there and there importance because it is shown at one point in the film that the children can survive without their daemons if removed correctly. The movie was entertaining and tells enough storyline to not be confusing. In conclusion, this film had a lot of aspects of society and controversy and in turn the lack of storyline working against its success. The money and hard work that it took to make this film should have been an enough to put this film on top where it should have been. But because the director had set out to make a film based on the story of a book and the studio decided that too much controversy would rise if the story was told like the book, the true religious aspects were stripped from the film and so the true storyline was stripped as well. But like I stated earlier, if the audience goes into the film with no expectations and no previous history of knowing what the film was supposed to be about, the film is well worth the watch. Reviewing all aspects of what the movie has to offer; from the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style and directing, impact of society on the film and vice versa, the genre and the overall textural themes, this is truly an adventure that will keep you watching and enjoying the family film with every fun character from the interesting and exciting Lyra to the big polar ice bears that battle and the beautiful villain that we love to hate. This film was extremely fun to watch. How to cite Film Critique for â€Å"the Golden Compass†, Papers

Imbedded journalists Essay Example For Students

Imbedded journalists Essay The embedding of journalists in Iraq has opened up many doors for the profession of journalism and for the United States military. Not only could the general public view the war from inside the battle, they witnessed the dirt raining on the troops as a rocket propelled grenade hits close to a battalions position and the soldiers wince as they are stung by a violent sandstorm. During the conflict, the United States military permitted news organizations to have a reporter travel with the ground troops in Iraq. This not only allowed reporters to record the battles from an up close and personal persepective, but it also allowed the public to see a the human side of the troops. Theoritically, this practice is an incredible opportunity for the military and the news organizations to mend their historically troubled relationship; however, in application it undermines everything that a journalist must do in order to accurately report the news, subjecting themselves to censorship and getting involved with a conflict. It is an ethics nightmare to think of all of the codes of the journalistic profession that are violated with this practice. Although it is better then the relationship between the press and the military has been for many years, it is still flawed and in desperate need of refinement. During the Vietnam War, censorship was at a minimum. War correspondants traveled freely through Vietnam, often with a military transport. The government was very much ruled by Richard Nixons statement The press is the enemy. Although Johnson repeatively tried to censor the press, officials refused, and cited the impossibility of controlling a press corps of hundreds of people from multiple nations. However, the information that was handed out to the prtess was full of propaganda and were commonly refered to as the Five o clock Follies by many journalists. Although the press had quite a bit of freedom in Vitnam, they still had agreements with the government having to do with battle coverage and positions. Such as not reporting battle information until after it had began, and most reporters repespected this practice. However, it was not mandatory; there were no contracts just an unspoken agreement. It was after the Tet Offensive, the operation that revealed that the United States was not winning the war, that the military began to severally limit the press in Vietnem. Increasing during Vietnam, the commreadery between repoers and the soldiers that were a hallmark during World War II and Korea was chipped away. Commanding officiers thought that reportser were trying to make them look like the bad guys and reporters assumed everything they were td was a lie. Although the public did view the war in Vietnam first hand, the picture was black and white and the quality was poor. The news was also at least 24 hours old when the public received it since the tapes were shippied from Vietnam to the United States. This allowed for more editing then the instantainous news that the public is accustomed to today. The editors and the newworks had much more controlkover what reached the nightly news and what was censored out. Although the media was largely blamed for the attitude change toward the war in Vietnam, when in fact, Public opinion polls show support for each war declined by about 15 percentage points each time the number of American casualties increased by a factor of ten (100 to 1,000, or 1,000 to 10,000, for example). This mistrust of the press by the military did not fade with time, during the Gulf War security was high and information was scrace for the press.The Gulf war was an extremely frusterating time foe the press. Not only was the information and area restricted, but the press had to submit all of their copy for security clearance, not only delaying the news to the public, but also allowing the government to censor what was reported and what was kept secret. They also established press pools. .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 , .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .postImageUrl , .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 , .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9:hover , .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9:visited , .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9:active { border:0!important; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9:active , .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9 .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3a2cb7fe2c7105322affefb093bea9b9:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Effects Of Detoxification On A Healthy Lifestyle Essay In a press pool, the military selected about 200 journalists. They were required to submit a story idea to the military, then the military would assign the journalists to a press pool or collection of other journalists who work for the competition. Then the reporters must pool their resources and share the information. This allowed the military to control the information going out into the mass public. Meanwhile, every news source was reporting the exact same story. The military had successfully stemmed the information coming out of the Gulf. In an interview with PBS, veteran Gulf reporter Rick Atkinson reflected on the limit of information during the Gulf War saying that:The general approach toward the press in the Gulf War was to impose restrictions that were more like the restrictions that had been imposed in Korea and in World War II than the free flowing autonomy that was largely given to reporters in Vietnam where you go out and get on a helicopter and go wherever you wanted. He added that That if the press had not been agents of the loss in Vietnam, they had at least been agents of the loss of esteem towards the U. S. military. Due to the censoring, he Gulf War came across as a bloodless conflict. A main conflict, the bombing of Baghdad resembled a low-tech video game seen through night vision glasses. This is extremely dangerous and extremely misleading.

The role of Community in modern World an Example of the Topic Psychology Essays by

The role of Community in modern World The society is never static and this attributes to the the fact that the changes are there in the society. These change are brought about by the natural and individual sources. That is why this call for the systematic and well structured approach to deal with these projected adversities in the society where we human beings leave. Through the study of emergency management it enables the society to be prepared in the avoidance of risks and develop good structures to be able to mitigate the severity of the outcomes from a possible risk. The community is the core of the global society which faces various forces that are coming together to shift the community dynamics in a dramatic way, in the aspect as the widening gap between the rich and the poor in both developed and developing nations. There's population influx in relation to consumption and the environment ability to support and sustain the community. Need essay sample on "The role of Community in modern World" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Environmental crisis evident in the global warming resulting into floods, climatic instability, hydrological and atmospheric challenges and the socio-economical issues that faces our today community. And as those challenges persists to become unbearable the urge for change in the social life to acquire and leave a more stress life so that we can have constructive and positive impact in the world today than destructive. Therefore this dissertation looks at these unfolding challenges to humanity in their environment and how to integrate and build a healthy relationship between the various systems of the community to have resilient and sustainable community by the use of emergency management techniques. The ideas are being incoperated with the case study of Singapore in in the year 1960 when they withdrew from the Malaysian federation and were faced with economic recession and communist subdivisions. Community is a group of organisms who are interacting and shares a common environment. The more advanced approach to community concept is to mean persons that shares common characteristics their location and the extend of their interaction not withstanding (Graham John 2003) . In this sense however, resilient community uses a combination of live satellite, video conferencing, articles, locally organized community based articles for discussion and the web based resumes (Delvant 2003). The community also encompasses the international community which includes the coverage of such terms as ecovillages, communities, student cooperation's, residential land trusts where persons work together to achieve a common vision that is beneficial to all regardless of their geographical environment (Charles 2003) . Community also can mean a group of individuals living together in a large society who are linked with a common policy. Sustainability is the characterized process that can be maintained at a definite level therefore, sustainability of community will focus on the community development that will last and be well maintained which focuses on the values, purposes and outcomes of the community factors which includes the prescriptive values of economic, political, religion and philosophical systems that should be networked and interlinked to yield better results the community (Walker David 2006). In order for the community to succeed in its sustainable community development it should employ the principle of transparent handling of the risk, appropriately valued nature restoration, integration of all sectors of community such as ecological, social, economical and humanistic in its policies, Equality in community opportunities and participation, continuous improvement through innovative and inventive to existing structures ofter assessing and evaluating and the supervisory functionality of good and cooperate governance (Charles 2003) . Resiliency is the ability of an individual or group of individual or society to manage the adversity in a way that is effective and which has the ability to respond to future adversity (Gupta 2003) . The most community today in the challenging world have resiliency in the adversity of poverty, war conflicts and both climatic and parental illness resiliency is characterized by two major concepts, such concepts are risk factor which is in terms of adversity or stress life events characterizing the individual and his/her environment (Charles 2003). The second one is the protective factors that includes skills or formality and essential aspects which act as buffer and base of resumes to deal with adversities effectively. Therefore, resiliency is the balance between the risks in the environment and the capability to manage them using the available support. Therefore, in the community resiliency builds around the issue of community structure seen from infancy to entrance to school then to adolescence to adulthood by detachment from the parents to becoming responsible adults. In community resiliency is an important concept during society transition when adversity tend to accumulate (Delvant 2003). The issue of whether the adversity will be successful managed it should be compartmentalized into separate sub-units and dealt with separately as entities in the society. These sub units includes physical and change or emotional resiliency that should be tackled well at present and the future. If that is due it yields the process of sustainable community development. Therefore, resiliency in the context of community development will be used as mechanism which the community used due to their capabilities to cope up with stress successfully and that it should have the aspect of dynamism which will contribute to community enhancement and maintenan ce of the key sectors of the community. The community is composed of individuals therefore, in order to build a resilience community individuals are key factor. Individuals characteristics puts them at risks, such characters as low self-esteem (Delvant 2003). The environmental characteristics plan a threat to pose an individual to risks as poverty, neighborhood, crowding, parental psychopathology and deviated peer group. Individuals protective factor that contributes to resiliency in includes cognitive skills, ability to plan independently, competency in ones history that lead to success in life and being optimistic and positive in life perceptions. Resiliency in individuals trickles down to familial protective factors where the individual is natured and influenced in most aspects of his life. These factors may include positive parent to child attachment and interaction, effective parenting constituted by the structure of rules and regulation within household (Graham John 2003). Then one resiliency has been established from individuals for families then can be looked as in terms of community. Community is seen to be resilient when it responds to adversity in a manner that strengthens the community resources and the ability to manage stress in future. The factors that contribute to the community resiliency is the mutual support characterized by high level of community participation and the community collective expectations excelling and sailing through the challenges that faces it. The community responds to crisis such as environmental, economic, working hard and voluntary, equal treatment of members of community. The key to community resiliency is empowerment factor which has direct bearing to the level of community empowerment in relation to policies and policy choices in the community (Gupta 2003) . These leads to establishment of community based programs directed to individuals resiliency such as experiential outdoor education. In order to achieve the resilient community it calls for procedures, process and principles to be involved. This key tools includes: there are a number of reasons for a resilient community is clearly seen through positive of harmonious partnership and cohesiveness between the grassroots, natural and regional level of communism which leads to potential stability, security, social and economic prosperity and progress. Impotent measure to controlling internal conflicts which can result into external hazards for outside which created sustainable livelihood of the people in a given region. Through construction of a resilient community in operations and functions it gives support to the inter community lend for instance national political and socio-economic. In construction resilient community key step is network connections in that, communities are built on connections which should be good to give better opportunities (Thomas 2001). This is achieved through improving the interaction of community internally and externally. Connectivity which is improved is created through interactive procedures by knowing and mending the network which starts with a network map that shows the complexity of human system the resilient community is to be built in. the network will provide the connections and relationship between the community ecosystems in business, political, socio-economic which helps answer key questions that can be based on when building resilient community (Gupta 2003) . The networking process touches the fundamental concepts of leadership roles in the community, preparedness of the community and whether right connections are in place. the effective network should reflect the common objective attainment in the subsystem of governance, should embrace the diversity factor so that it can cluster and nodes to maximize innovation in the network. The network should have an average path length since long path length usually distorts the message when it travels for long between the two nodes. However the average path length is convenient to measure networks global efficiency (Charles 2003) . The network for the community resiliency and sustainability undergoes four main phases to build. All these phases are inter linked to each other with bridging and facilitation by the subsistence of the leadership and the society preparedness to undergo the whole process in order to achieve the common goal. Each phase apart from the first one is built on a more adaptive and resilient structured network than the previous one so that it can be effective in tracing and tracking the community progress through the use of these phases. These phases are interconnected through evolving in the an effect that one phase should lead gradually to the next but systematical (Thomas 2001) . The first phase is usually at the individuals level that organizes them selves which is the initial stage referred to as the scattered cluster (Gupta 2003) . Clusters are with individuals ranging from one to five a group which gives the insight of the underdeveloped communities. Persons always isolate from each other and therefore lack of interactive learning and exchange of ideas that leads to underproduction sand low rate of development which makes the community structure to remain weak. At the stage there is a vital requirement to transform the system to be able to attain higher achievements. Tis the point where the role the leadership comes in and in this regard is refereed to as the weaver (Charles 2003) . The weaver makes the critical role of establishing new interactions to coordinate the activities within these groups leading to the emergency of strong groups. After a series of coordinated events the network weaver connects the small groups to come up with the spoke and him o r herself becomes the hub. The make the second system referred to as single hub and spoke. The weaver is expected to have energy, vision and necessary skills to connect the diverse of individuals by inducing the information flow ]from and to the groups. Weaver has to establish external links to bring a bout innovation and resources in the community (Walker David 2006) . Empowerment of the groups is key to achieving the informative relationship establishment and attain the collaboration and link up with member groups (Charles 2003) . Members of the community unless they cooperate the system may not blossom into a successful relationship to have a constructive development. These can be attained by proper of the society training which will help to identify and come up with other emerging weavers so that they can be equipped with necessary skills to run the community (Gupta 2003) . The weaver also starts to receive and develop a comprehensive data bank for the single hub and spoke network in the community, and starts to link them up with common goals and objectives and handles similar operations. The connection and linking up of the single hub and spoke will make the weaver to be the facilitator amongst the groups of the society (Walker David 2006). Once the process of the linking of the groups is successfully achieved the second phase is upgraded to the next phase resilient and sustainable community building and development which will be formed by the various single hub and spoke system. Thus in Singapore the young, energetic and visionary prime minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew established a grassroots based movement, referred to as Peoples Association (PA). T he main objective was to have all people residing in the neighborhood are proactive members involved in the activities as sports, religious affairs, vocational training. The resulting level will be the multi hub small world network where the relationship between the the divide should be built. So that the information and innovation will be accessed by the community. The community groups can organized, collaborate and cooperate within the network. The original weaver engages in the activities and planing which model new weavers to take care of the network building and maintenance processes (Thomas 2001) . this is significant because the original leader will have deviated in its role play from the direct to indirect leader or weaver. Where he will be performing supervisory roles in the whole process and will be responsible of detecting the weaknesses of the system and strength through evaluating the performance of the current system its ope rationality and productivity outcomes to the society. Once the multi system has been will coordinated it should gradually lead to the end and ultimate goal of the structure system. By the year 1970 Singapore establi shed 150 community centers who were managed by 1500 managers helped by 450 volunteers. Management supervised by 2000 management committees. As a result it collected total of $20.9 million community funds which was used to support this centers to promote and prevent other related risk a part from containing the two major threats of communism and recession of economy (Graham John 2003). These system will be referred to as the periphery and core phase that comes as a result of strong and well established that have the capacity and characteristics to link up with other regional networks and perform well. The phase is characterized by the factors such as those organizations that are new to the network and work hard to get to the core, it act as the bridging to diverse the community and lastly usually have the unique resources that operates outside the community (Delvant 2003). The periphery allows the reaching out of the ideas and informations that leads to desirable innovations and development of the community that are not prevalent in that society (Gupta 2003) . While the core offers the community systems with effect of acting and implementing those ideas and informations availed by the periphery to attain practical outcomes. Thus the periphery acts as the evaluation and monitoring tool to the system henceforth resulting data analyzed and statistical in formation obt ained will be used in the weaving or reweaving to match the present environment requirements. The challenge is in the aspect of updating and maintenance of the structured system so as to yield a resilient sustainable community. In conclusion theres an need for construction of the resilient and sustainable community in the todays world as its evident with psychological, physical and socio-economical adversities. By the use of the expanded scope of disaster management it can be done through the identification of the current network, assessed and then embark on the making it effective to suit the community. These will be achieved through the explication of the conceptual link between the community aspects, resilient and the mechanisms which foster resiliency with the proper tools put in place to create the enabling and supportive environment to the processes of resilient community building. As a result will develop community which will have a good capacity and capabilities to meet the community needs without compromising the future ability of the community. Therefore its important for the community to be stable status, coexist and be cooperative to attain the objective of a resilient and sustainable community to have a viable livelihood for the community. All in all resiliency has a great promising future for the sustainable community if its based on the sound theory and comprehensi9ve research. Reference: Delvant Gerard, 2003, Community; alienation, Routledge. Vougha Antony, 1982, Studies of library management; Cline brngley, New York. Burton Philip, 2003, Towards sustainable management of boreal forest; NRC research press, United States. Capaldo Guiharia, 2002, Global community; Abebooks, Philadelphia. Walker Brian, David Salt, 2006, Resilient thinking; island press, Michigan. Huber Diane, 2005, Leadership and nursing care management; nursing services, United States. Parker Dennis, 2001, Floods; Francis and Taylor, New York. Taylor, 2008, Disaster management handbook; CRC prt lic. New York.

3 qualities that will make you an effective team player

3 qualities that will make you an effective team player The term â€Å"team player† is so often used as an essential professional attribute that it’s become a well-worn clichà ©- but that doesn’t make it any less of a valuable skill to have if you want to be successful at work, regardless of your occupation or industry. Being able to work well with others and being regarded by your colleagues as an effective team player can lead to a wealth of promising career opportunities- people will tend to seek you out when assembling teams for projects (which are more likely to be successful when the members of your team work well together), peers and superiors will turn to you for collaborations that can enhance your visibility and profile, you’ll increase your chances of impressing your colleagues, and others will want to support you and celebrate your success as you climb your personal career ladder.Although some folks seem to be able to work well with others no matter what the situation or mix of personalities they f ind themselves in, for others it’s not quite that simple. The truth is, not everyone is a natural team player, but everyone can become one with a little effort.Yes, your work environment and the nature of the work you do will go a long way towards dictating what makes an effective team player in your world, but there are some fundamental personal qualities that most effective team players seem to possess- and use- to their advantage when opportunities to collaborate arise. Do you possess the following 3 qualities? If so, then be sure to use them to your advantage at work, and keep them polished and sharp. If not, consider building these skills to maximize your chances of achieving success.PatienceGreat team players typically possess an abundance of patience in their reserves when working with others, which comes in really handy when juggling the diverse personalities and work styles of team members. It can be easy to get frustrated in collaborative work settings, especially w hen one (or more than one) team member is tough to work with or tries to exert unwanted control over the group, or when the project doesn’t go as well as initially planned. However, those who are known to be effective team members have the patience and self-control to keep themselves and others calm, cool, and collected, which helps to keep both colleagues and work projects on track.FlexibilityA close relative of patience, flexibility allows team players to roll with the punches when things get volatile or tumultuous during a group effort at work, and can pivot effectively when a project takes an unexpected turn or requires a course correction. Where some folks lose control when things don’t go according to plan during the life cycle of a project, those who are good team players are flexible enough to swerve when change is needed- without putting added stress or strain on their team members.ReliabilityReliability is where the â€Å"rubber meets the road† on a pr oject, and effective team members consistently deliver in this area. When collaborating on a project, they are well aware of what they are responsible for and make sure that they deliver as planned and on schedule, allowing their team members to focus on their tasks without having to worry about weak links, with the end result being that the collaborative effort becomes greater than the sum of its parts.If you set your sights on strengthening your skills in the areas mentioned here, you will improve your ability to work with others and gain a reputation as someone people can count on in any collaborative situation, big or small.

Active and Passive Indexing

From 1986 to 1996, the amount of money invested in index funds grew from $556 million to $65 Billion. And if anything, individual investors have been slow to embrace passive management. Institutional investors invest a far larger percentage of their assets passively. Many individual investors are simply uneducated and unaware of the arguments and experimental evidence supporting passive management. Institutional investors and academics have known for years (many for decades) that passive investing is extremely difficult to beat and that the majority of active investors will fail in their attempt to outperform the market. Active indexers assert they can outperform the marketplace. Passive (index) portfolios state they can mirror the performance of the indices. Both have their good times and their bad times. Active indexers raise cash in times of increased risk and instability while passive indexers remain fully invested. This can be quite painful during times of large declines in the market. Passive portfolios mirror the gains of the indices during roaring bull markets and eventually outperform the majority of active money managers who must remain diversified and who sometimes take on additional risks in an attempt to produce the performance and safety that they have promised their clients. The evidence has piled up during today’s bull market that the average dollar managed by active managers does not keep up with the market index. Finally, indexing is a way to avoid being blind-sided in certain areas of the marketplace. Active management themes can easily find themselves on the wrong side of an investment. There is a perception among investors that a strategy designed to match stock market returns is less risky than a comparable actively managed portfolio. Since the index approach invests in a manner that is most friendly with the market’s natural liquidity, it produces the least disturbance. The passive investor also has diversified his risk. Specific negative things can happen to individual companies or groups. As a passive investor, one is not exposed to any of these things. However, it does not mean you have a risk-free investment. The downside to passive index investors is that they â€Å"fuel the fire† of a market that appreciates well beyond its true value. Index mutual funds must put new money to work†¦ they can not hold cash†¦ and their investors all buy the exact same stocks. When stocks go down, index funds, being fully invested, will receive the ultimate effect of the decline. Combined with this loss is the fact that they will also have to sell shares to cover shareholder redemptions. These funds will get hit harder than many active portfolios with a cash cushion. Most active managers of investment portfolios raise cash as they perceive higher valuations, excessive instability, and extreme risks, therefore; reducing the display to loss during declining markets. Another downside to passive indexing is the impact they have on market instability. This gives the patient active money manager a welcome opportunity to take advantage of stock selection at very attractive prices and, to some extent, time the market in making their decisions of when to buy and when to sell. Index investing is a tricky business that can roil markets. Actively indexed funds have gone upward over the last decade. This has occurred despite the fact that investors have poured huge amounts of money into active funds over this period. The costs of investing in index funds have trended downward as they have become more popular with investors. The costs of active index funds just might decrease in the future, thereby narrowing the cost gap with passive index funds. But all evidence to date has shown just the opposite trend – the costs of active funds continue to go up and the costs of index funds continue to go down. Actively indexed funds typically generate relatively large amounts of taxes while passive index funds generate relatively small amounts. Some of the resulting gap in performance caused by taxes would seemingly be narrowed if the federal government were to lower tax rates. Congress did this at the end of July 1997 when it reduced the maximum long term capital gains tax rate from 28% on investments held more than one year to 20% on investments held 18 months or longer. The tax bill provides that in the year 2001 this rate will be reduced to 18% for investments held five years or longer. Finally, active money managers serve the specific needs of their clients. They manage portfolios based exactly on the investor’s objectives and tolerance for risk. They make decisions based on a stated time frame and they are capable of changing the goals and direction of a portfolio on a moment’s notice. They are the investor’s personal link to the market and the protector of their capital. The value of these services is immeasurable to most investors. One thing that really does not influence the investor as much as it should is the lack of appreciation with respect to the tax consequences of passive index management. The capital gains, created during the year by a fully active index manager, is reported to the IRS, and the investor ends up being taxed. For a taxed investor, the buy-and-hold is a winning strategy. Turnover is the enemy of the investor who pays taxes. Conversely, most investors would be more than happy to pay taxes on the returns produced by active money managers during periods of declining markets. Not many investors prefer losses to earning some gains and interest, even with the tax man waiting. The effect of so many investors buying index funds is that they tend to guard the money market. An investor could actually, in a cost-effective manner, buy and sell the market. The asset funding of active managers, combined with the efficiency of the passive manager, allows one to implement strategies that provide an optimal mix of securities to match a particular scenario, objective, or risk aversion. From time to time, it is possible that the major assets can get out of balance. Investors can run up prices where the lawfulness market is overvalued. When this reaches a untrustworthy level, more self-corrective measures are needed. This is where the expertise of the active manager becomes useful. As an investor, you are always trading off what Jeremy Bentham, the British economist, referred to as the â€Å"pain-pleasure calculus. † Good returns produce pleasure. Bad returns produce pain. An active money manager is always balancing off the pleasure vs. e potential pain. The active manager tends to determine what that balance is and if it finds that the market is deployed otherwise, it works in balancing the portfolio. Tactical asset funding combined with a passively managed portfolio has been called the â€Å"holy grail† of investing by Jonathan Burton, of Dow Jones’ Asset Management magazine. During declining markets, index funds take the full force of the market’s loss. Managers of these funds are forced to sell stocks in order to meet the demand for redemptions as their investors got out of the market. During markets of very little movement, investors quickly drain of insufficient or no returns on their investment. Finally, a philosophy of capital preservation causes the active manager to raise cash, providing a cushion for portfolios during times of extreme risk. Active or passive? Both have their advantages and their risks, but the two are found to be the best long-term plans for both performance and safety. Index (passive) funds are likely to beat active funds, yet the Morningstar data show that 92% of all the money is U. S. stock funds is in active funds. Active and Passive Indexing From 1986 to 1996, the amount of money invested in index funds grew from $556 million to $65 Billion. And if anything, individual investors have been slow to embrace passive management. Institutional investors invest a far larger percentage of their assets passively. Many individual investors are simply uneducated and unaware of the arguments and experimental evidence supporting passive management. Institutional investors and academics have known for years (many for decades) that passive investing is extremely difficult to beat and that the majority of active investors will fail in their attempt to outperform the market. Active indexers assert they can outperform the marketplace. Passive (index) portfolios state they can mirror the performance of the indices. Both have their good times and their bad times. Active indexers raise cash in times of increased risk and instability while passive indexers remain fully invested. This can be quite painful during times of large declines in the market. Passive portfolios mirror the gains of the indices during roaring bull markets and eventually outperform the majority of active money managers who must remain diversified and who sometimes take on additional risks in an attempt to produce the performance and safety that they have promised their clients. The evidence has piled up during today’s bull market that the average dollar managed by active managers does not keep up with the market index. Finally, indexing is a way to avoid being blind-sided in certain areas of the marketplace. Active management themes can easily find themselves on the wrong side of an investment. There is a perception among investors that a strategy designed to match stock market returns is less risky than a comparable actively managed portfolio. Since the index approach invests in a manner that is most friendly with the market’s natural liquidity, it produces the least disturbance. The passive investor also has diversified his risk. Specific negative things can happen to individual companies or groups. As a passive investor, one is not exposed to any of these things. However, it does not mean you have a risk-free investment. The downside to passive index investors is that they â€Å"fuel the fire† of a market that appreciates well beyond its true value. Index mutual funds must put new money to work†¦ they can not hold cash†¦ and their investors all buy the exact same stocks. When stocks go down, index funds, being fully invested, will receive the ultimate effect of the decline. Combined with this loss is the fact that they will also have to sell shares to cover shareholder redemptions. These funds will get hit harder than many active portfolios with a cash cushion. Most active managers of investment portfolios raise cash as they perceive higher valuations, excessive instability, and extreme risks, therefore; reducing the display to loss during declining markets. Another downside to passive indexing is the impact they have on market instability. This gives the patient active money manager a welcome opportunity to take advantage of stock selection at very attractive prices and, to some extent, time the market in making their decisions of when to buy and when to sell. Index investing is a tricky business that can roil markets. Actively indexed funds have gone upward over the last decade. This has occurred despite the fact that investors have poured huge amounts of money into active funds over this period. The costs of investing in index funds have trended downward as they have become more popular with investors. The costs of active index funds just might decrease in the future, thereby narrowing the cost gap with passive index funds. But all evidence to date has shown just the opposite trend – the costs of active funds continue to go up and the costs of index funds continue to go down. Actively indexed funds typically generate relatively large amounts of taxes while passive index funds generate relatively small amounts. Some of the resulting gap in performance caused by taxes would seemingly be narrowed if the federal government were to lower tax rates. Congress did this at the end of July 1997 when it reduced the maximum long term capital gains tax rate from 28% on investments held more than one year to 20% on investments held 18 months or longer. The tax bill provides that in the year 2001 this rate will be reduced to 18% for investments held five years or longer. Finally, active money managers serve the specific needs of their clients. They manage portfolios based exactly on the investor’s objectives and tolerance for risk. They make decisions based on a stated time frame and they are capable of changing the goals and direction of a portfolio on a moment’s notice. They are the investor’s personal link to the market and the protector of their capital. The value of these services is immeasurable to most investors. One thing that really does not influence the investor as much as it should is the lack of appreciation with respect to the tax consequences of passive index management. The capital gains, created during the year by a fully active index manager, is reported to the IRS, and the investor ends up being taxed. For a taxed investor, the buy-and-hold is a winning strategy. Turnover is the enemy of the investor who pays taxes. Conversely, most investors would be more than happy to pay taxes on the returns produced by active money managers during periods of declining markets. Not many investors prefer losses to earning some gains and interest, even with the tax man waiting. The effect of so many investors buying index funds is that they tend to guard the money market. An investor could actually, in a cost-effective manner, buy and sell the market. The asset funding of active managers, combined with the efficiency of the passive manager, allows one to implement strategies that provide an optimal mix of securities to match a particular scenario, objective, or risk aversion. From time to time, it is possible that the major assets can get out of balance. Investors can run up prices where the lawfulness market is overvalued. When this reaches a untrustworthy level, more self-corrective measures are needed. This is where the expertise of the active manager becomes useful. As an investor, you are always trading off what Jeremy Bentham, the British economist, referred to as the â€Å"pain-pleasure calculus. † Good returns produce pleasure. Bad returns produce pain. An active money manager is always balancing off the pleasure vs. e potential pain. The active manager tends to determine what that balance is and if it finds that the market is deployed otherwise, it works in balancing the portfolio. Tactical asset funding combined with a passively managed portfolio has been called the â€Å"holy grail† of investing by Jonathan Burton, of Dow Jones’ Asset Management magazine. During declining markets, index funds take the full force of the market’s loss. Managers of these funds are forced to sell stocks in order to meet the demand for redemptions as their investors got out of the market. During markets of very little movement, investors quickly drain of insufficient or no returns on their investment. Finally, a philosophy of capital preservation causes the active manager to raise cash, providing a cushion for portfolios during times of extreme risk. Active or passive? Both have their advantages and their risks, but the two are found to be the best long-term plans for both performance and safety. Index (passive) funds are likely to beat active funds, yet the Morningstar data show that 92% of all the money is U. S. stock funds is in active funds.

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marketing - Assignment Example 1. Most Important Marketing Component A proper and complete Marketing plan consists of all the components as they complement each other and together have a direct impact on the product’s performance in the market. Amongst every component, Promotion can be considered as the most important component of the marketing mix as it actually drives the consumers’ purchase decisions as put by Kyambalesa, (2000) in his book  Marketing in the 21st Century: Concepts, Challenges, and Imperatives. Promotions are the only way through which the consumers can be made aware of any brand and the values which it promises to deliver. By using a full 3600 advertising campaign with strong brand activation campaigns, a company can ensure that the customers are fully aware of the offering which will directly result into sales and revenue for the company (Egan, 2007). 2. Component of Marketing Plan: Importance of Implementation and Controls As explained by Egan, (2007) in his book  Marketing communications, promotional campaigns are the strongest mode of communication between a marketer and the consumer. A strong promotional campaign is of no value to the company and the brand is it is not accurately and effectively implemented.

Theme park Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Theme park - Dissertation Example The landscaping, buildings and other attractions in the park use very specific themes such as Jungle life, Fairy Tales or the Wild West. Theme or Amusement Parks are constructed with an aim to provide good entertainment to large groups of people. These Parks are spread over a large area with a lot of attraction for children, for youth and also adults. Europe is considered to be a pioneer in Amusement Parks that evolved from pleasure gardens and fairs that entertained people during their leisure and recreation time. The world’s oldest Amusement park is Bakken, at Klampenborg, North of Copenhagen, Denmark that opened in 1583. In the United States, expositions and world fairs influenced the development of the Amusement Park industry. (Adams Judith A. 1991) In this research paper we are going to discuss about Theme Parks and the role they play in providing healthy and wholesome entertainment. PROJECT OBJECTIVES The primary objective of this project is to carry out an investigation on different theme Parks and to study and analyze its level of success or failure. This study would serve to give us a better understanding about Theme Parks and how they work and their contribution towards increasing the country’s economy. ... PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW Media plays a pivotal role through advertising these amusement and Theme Parks. A lot of media coverage is not only given about the different attractions, amusement rides and scenic beauty of the Parks but also covers the dangers and disasters that occur at these parks. The media also raises concern about the injuries and fatalities that take place and fulfills the social duty of bringing it to the notice of the general public. (Braksiek RJ, Roberts DJ. 2002) sheds light on Amusement park injuries and deaths stating that increased reports about such fatalities, have urged proposed legislation in order to regulate this industry. The author specially makes mention of the severity of injuries caused by roller coaster rides such as subarachnoid hemorrhages,  carotid artery thrombosis with stroke etc. (Braksiek RJ, Roberts DJ. 2002) Cindy Yoonjoung Heo and Seoki Lee (2009) shed light on the Theme Park industry’s revenue management (MR) applications a nd how they work. The authors explain that the theme park industry has great potential for enhancing its revenue by making use of essential RM strategies and techniques. In their study comparing the traditional RM industry such as hotels with that of the RM management of Theme Parks, the findings revealed that customers perceived ‘fairness’ in the RM practice when compared to the traditional RM made use of by the hotel industry. Cindy Yoonjoung Heo and Seoki Lee (2009) The authors suggest the adoption of RM used for Theme Parks because of the great potential to be highly successful. Yooshik Yoon, Dogan Gursoy and Joseph S. Chen enlighten us on the tourism development theory in relation to tourism that is encouraged because of Theme Parks. According to their

Outline and Speech Essay Example for Free

Outline and Speech Essay My life before becoming a non-traditional student was very typical and average. At 34, I was a mother of two kids and was trying to juggle between my family and work life. I did not have a particularly hard time between the two and even felt dissatisfied about my professional life. I had been working as a salon manager for about 15 years and I was also into retail management at that time. For some people, this can be regarded as a big achievement. However, I was not contented at all and it got to the point where I felt that I had already reached the end. There was no room for growth and there were not much opportunity to make more money, which I needed to support my family. I toyed with the idea of going back to school for a very long time. I felt that my life was too complicated for me to go back. I had a family with two children to think about and it is important for me to not miss any quality time with them. Although I knew that there were many other non-traditional students out there and that the idea of going back to school is not new anymore, I still had my doubts and I thought of my decision for quite some time. I did think about the advantages for me and the negative effects it would bring mainly to my family. I also had questions regarding the cost of receiving a degree, as well as the financial aid options that are available for me. I was also very conscious of the fact that this generation is very different from what I knew when I was still in school. Young people nowadays are very liberated and have many bright ideas, which would help them excel in their fields. As for me, I was this middle-aged woman trying to fit in in this new world. See more: what is essay format However, this feeling did not last long because I discovered that I was not the only non-traditional student in the school and that the school is very accommodating to students like us. The younger students are liberated but this fact also helped because they are more open to things like non-traditional students. The most important factor that led to my decision of going back to school was my thirst for more and for better things for my family. I had my second daughter in December of 2005 and I was able to take an extended leave of one year after that pregnancy. When I went back to work, I felt something different. I had manager hours, which is very convenient for me and the pay was not that bad either. However, I was bursting with so much drive, ambition, and motivation and I felt that I had so much more to offer than just become a salon manager all my life. In 2007, after 15 years of working, I finally had the courage to leave my job and go back to school. To say that I was nervous is an understatement. I was giddy, excited, and scared all at the same time. I did not know what to expect after 16 years of being out of school. Sure, I can read about the latest news on the Internet and even see some of what is going on but experiencing it first-hand is very different. Still, the thing that made me survive and take it all in was the fact that this decision while it can affect my family, it will ultimately be beneficial for me and nobody else’s. I was doing it for me because I wanted to achieve greater things in life. I have a very busy life as a non-traditional student at this time. I am now in my third semester here at NSU and I believe that I am doing great in terms of school work. Contrary to what I feared before, I have no problems handling my personal and family life. Both of my kids are very active socially and academically and I make sure that I still have the time to guide them with their activities. After finishing my courses, I believe that I will be better equipped and prepared to take greater responsibilities. I would be more confident that my career path would not be a dead-end like before. I would therefore like to state that this decision of becoming a non-traditional student has proved to be beneficial to me and to the people around me.

Essay --

Question 1: Answer each of the following questions in MSWord a) Why is email an important toll in modern communications? Emails are important because it’s very fast, no need wait for answers, it’s in no time. It is good choice because it’s online. You can send text messages, attached file, even you can communicate face to face that’s using microphone and web camera. You can use emails in every place that have WiFi. b) What components make up an email message? Email components are recipient address, CC (carbon Copy), subject, editing tools, text editor, and attachment. CC means if you put another people email address in this line they will get email copy as well. Attachment – you can add and send files like pictures, sound files, signatures etc. c) What email account should people consider using? There are a lot of email providers. I will show 10 most popular. †¢ Google GMAIL †¢ Microsoft Hotmail †¢ Yahoo †¢ Outlook †¢ GMX †¢ Mail.com †¢ AOL †¢ Inbox.com †¢ Zoho †¢ Lycos mail These emails providers are free and provide much more than just send and receive messages. d) What is good email etiquet...

Human psyche Essay

The urge to compete is a large part of the human psyche. When this sense of competitiveness is taken to the extreme, a war may erupt. Throughout the history of humanity wars have been waged, even before the advent of writing, when poets where there to capture their essence. The epic poem The Iliad by Homer describes a war that took place almost two thousand, seven hundred years ago. The Greek society in which Homer lived was considered more violent than any in existence today. This gave him all the inspiration needed to create an epic war poem. By revealing to the reader the futility and horror of war, Homer’s Iliad offers an excellent critique of society, more specifically the fragility of human civilization and the savagery of human nature, when under the extreme pressures of combat. This masterful piece of literature, although written in many centuries ago, has much insight on ancient Greek society that can still be applied, with a modern twist, to today’s world. The style Homer used in his epic poem was unconventional and highly successful. Compared to many other novels or poem of its time, as well as most modern pieces of literature, The Iliad is much longer. This both helps and hinders the text’s ability to convey the messages and meanings of war. In order to capture and preserve the audiences’ interest during such a long poem, Homer took the reader on adventures beyond the Trojan battle field and into the life of each individual solider. By doing this, the reader feels drawn into the story and shares the horrors and futility the Greeks faced during the Trojan War. A large part of Homer’s work is dedicated to war and battle scenes. The main reason for this is because many believed Greek society, which took place seven hundred years before Christ, was brutally violent. Fighting was an everyday occurrence and brought honour among the warriors. The Greek gods did not dissipate the violent society; in fact they encouraged it by demanding animal sacrifices as part of daily rituals. It is this bloodlust, along with Homer’s original style, that has made The Iliad popular and highly influential to this day. War stories depict, through their graphic imagery, the horrors and tragedies taking place during a battle and The Iliad is no exception. The Iliad is most effective at portraying the futility and horrors of war throughout the text with all the gory details. Homer does an excellent job at capturing the realism of each battle scene in over five thousand lines of prose, nearly one third of the poem. As critic Martin Muller points out in Fighting in the Iliad â€Å"the poet and his audience like such [battle] scenes and their periodic occurrence require no greater motivation then bar-room brawls in a Western†. The following quote illustrates Homers ability to evoke graphic images during a battle:  The shaft pierced the tight belt’s twisted thongs,  piercing the blazoned plates, piercing the guard  he wore to shield his loins and block the spears,  his best defense-the shaft pierced even this,  the tip of the weapon grazed the man’s flesh,  and dark blood came spurting from the wound. (pg149, p2) This quote gives the reader a clear image of what is happening as the shaft wounds the unfortunate soldier. Homer also adds to the horrors of the war by telling us about the history of each individual solider before their death. With about two hundred and fifty names in the text, all with individual stories behind their life or death, the story may become murky but never unemotional. Many times a character will be introduced only to be killed off within the same chapter. This adds to the death, destruction and ultimately the horror of the war the Greeks and the Trojans are fighting. As well as reminding the reader of the horrors of war, Homer tells of the futility of fighting such a bloody battle. The sense of frustration and futility of the war is clearly sown as the Greeks fight the Trojans for more than nine years on end. With war comes death, a fact that resounds throughout the Iliad:  While Euchenor knew that boarding the ships for Troy  meant certain death: his father told him so†¦Ã‚  time and again the strong old prophet said that  he’d die in his own halls of a fatal plague  or go with the ships and die at Trojan hands. (pg362, p3) In this quote, describing the life of a solider before he is killed, we see that his efforts during the war appear pointless. He could have met a similar dishonourable death by staying home and enjoying his life. Death represents the futility of fighting a war because it is the only guaranteed result. Monarch Notes tells that â€Å"since death is a constant presence in life we may better see how men value their lives when they are close to that presence†. Homer does an excellent job of bringing the reader down to the battle so that the futility of war can be closely felt.

Michigan Coal-Powered Plants

1769, or the start of the Industrial revolution was when James Watt patented his steam engine.   All the steam-powered machines like the steamboat, steamship, and steam locomotives, were all powered by coal.   Coal is a solid fossil fuel that when mined, can be used for energy.   Today, more then 90% of coal is used for electricity and that which isn’t used for that is used as an industrial power source.   Coal fired railroads stopped in the 1950’s and industrial use has declined, but electric utilities have increased their use of coal tenfold in the past 50 years.   By the early 20th century, radiator heat was powered by coal and older homes still have their coal chutes.Wyoming, Colorado and West Virginia are some of our main coal producers and our supply far exceeds that of oil and natural gas.   Today, 52% of electricity generated in the United States is coal powered compared to only 14.8% for nuclear power.   In 2004, 1.16 billion tons of coal was burn ed, most for electricity.   At the current usage rate of coal, the world has 1500 years left to use this resource.There are actually many cons of using coal even though Americans are more leery of nuclear power.   It was found that people who live near coal-fired plants are exposed to higher radiation then people living by the nuclear plants.   (McBride, J.P.)   Because of people’s fears about nuclear energy, most plants will be replaced with coal-fired plants unless solar energy is harnessed in a better way.   First and foremost, coal produces carbon dioxide, which is suspected to cause global warming.   Human health is susceptible because coal is a source of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, two sources that may cause acid rain.   Coal also contains uranium and thorium, two radioactive materials.   In 1982, each U.S. plant released 5.2 tons of uranium and 12.8 tons of thorium.Total  was 801 tons of uranium and 1971 tons of thorium.   It is predicted in the year 2040, that 145,230 tons of uranium and 357,491 tons of thorium will be released in the U.S. alone.   These large quantities of these two materials are not being treated as radioactive waste.   Coal-powered plants aren’t regulated and are basically permitted to emit low-levels of radiation.   Long-term accumulation of these radioactive materials could pose serious health hazards†¦ already the effects are being seen, showing up as more asthma in children.   Michigan has the highest prevalence of asthma in children.Exposure within 30 miles of a coal-powered plant showed 1,929,662 children with 18% of them having asthma.   Large amounts of pollution that coal-fired plants built before 1977 are exempt from the Clean Air Act.   Illinois alone has 22 plants that are exempt and in 1997 these plants emitted 240,000 tons of Nitrogen Oxide, or as much as the annual pollution from 12 million cars!Also in 1997, Illinois plants emitted 722,000 tons of Sulfur Dioxi de which fine particulate pollution of this has been attributed to 5,570 premature deaths a year in Illinois and 3,767 in the city of Chicago alone, according to a 1996 study by the Environmental Working Group.   (http://www.consciouschoice.com/1995-98/cc115/note115.html.)With so many health problems, potential and active, why are coal plants still being proposed?  Ã‚   The Great Lakes basin is home to more than thirty million people.   The Great Lakes are the largest system of surface freshwater on the Earth, spanning about 800 miles and containing about 20% of the world's surface freshwater resource. The water in the Great Lakes accounts for more than 90% of the surface freshwater in the U.SBut this beautiful land also has the special focus of our government and that is they want the  Great Lakes region to be the future sites of many more coal-powered plants.   As many as 94 plants are already in various stages of planning.   Ten plants in Illinois, five in Wisconsin, and already Northern Lights Coal Plant in Michigan is causing quite a stir.   At first this plant was given a hesitant welcome since it was claiming to be the cleanest coal-powered plant in the U.S. and would create jobs, but looking deeper into it, it was discovered that there were political and environmental regulatory trends and that the Bush administration wanted a nationwide surge in proposals for new coal-fired power stations, with a special focus on the Great Lakes region.President Bush wants to dismantle federal environmental safeguards and encourage burning more fossil fuels.   He has agreed that older coal fired plants in Michigan and other states need to modernize their plants, but will still avoid improving air pollution controls.With all this, there are some good things about burning coal.   Natural gas, which is much more cleaner then coal, has gone up in price.   The price has doubled since 1990 and costs four times more to generate then coal so burning coal i s more economically feasible for the country.  Ã‚   Also, since 1960, particulate precipitators have been used by U.S. coal-fired plants, which reduce 99.5% of the fly ash.   Utilities can also collect ash, cinders, and slag and deposit them on coal-plant sites.   Coal ash is rich in minerals including large quantities of aluminum and iron, which haven’t been fully looked into.   If the government could really regulate coal-fired plants, these would be great advantages of having them.In conclusion, coal-fired plants are hazardous to human health, animals, and nature especially for those of us living in the Great Lakes region.   Instead of the  government looking at just the economic advantages of coal, they should also be focusing on what the implications are of producing almost 100 plants in a few states.   Canada has already charged that 50% of the pollutants that cause ozone come from the Midwest states so one can only imagine if you actually live in one of t hese states, what people must be breathing in.   The Bush Administration needs to clarify and fix the Clean-Air Act so that not only do older plants need to modernize, but also they need to be regulated.   The Great Lakes are a beautiful region to live and vacation and need to be protected against the air toxins that will be released if all these coal-fired plants are built and un-monitored.Bibliography  McBride, J.P., R.E. Moore, J.P. Witherspoon, R.E. Blanco.   â€Å"Radiological Impact ofAirborne Effluents of Coal and Nuclear Plants.†Ã‚   Science Magazine.   Dec 8, 1978.Schneider, Keith.   â€Å"The Bush Administration Pushes Dirty Coal Plants.†Ã‚   E / TheEnvironmental Magazine.   August 20, 2004.http://www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=34416.Gabbard, Alex.   â€Å"Coal Combustion:   Nuclear Resource or Danger.†Ã‚   NoDate.   http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev26-34/text/colmain.html.No Author.   â€Å"History of Energy .†Ã‚   DKospedia, The Free Political Encyclopedia.December 21, 2004.No Author.   â€Å"Self-Reported Asthma Prevalence and Control Among Adults — UnitedStates, 2001.†Ã‚   MMWR Weekly.   V.52 May 2, 2003 pg. 381-384.http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5217a2.htm.Lilliston, Ben.   â€Å"Poison Power.†Ã‚   Conscious Choice.   September 1998.http://www.consciouschoice.com/1995-98/cc115/note115.html.

American History X Essay Example

American History X Essay Example American History X Paper American History X Paper American History X BY saku2300 Summary: American History X Derek Vinyard is paroled after being in prison for three years. The reason for prisoning is because of the murder of two thieves, who tried to steal his truck. Through a flash-back, his brother Daniel Danny had, we learned about Dereks life. Derek was a leader of skinheads in L. A. and their white Nazi gang violently terrorized the opposite races. Dereks actions had a very big influence on his younger brother, Daniel, who looked up to him and tried to follow in his brothers footsteps. Dereks time in prison opened his eyes and made him realize that in every race there can be ood and bad. He somehow got enlightened and saw another road in his life. He Just had to convince Danny, that there is another way to live, and another way to look at things. That way he wouldnt end up as he did, Just because of all his hatred and ignorance. Dereks father got killed by a minority while he was in duty, which is why Dereks vision started to blur and he believed everything he got told from his dad. At the end, Dereks message was clear, and it finally reached Danny. Overall Characterization: Vinyard family. The movie American History X tells us the story of a torn apart family, by racism, atred and blindness. The two main characters in the Vinyard family who are wreaking havoc between their families are the two brothers, Derek and Danny. These two become the focused characters in the movie. Character analysis of: Derek Vinyard. Derek is a skinhead in the age of 20-30s and is very serious in his beliefs. Hes a well- educated and smart man whos blindly being brainwashed and drawn into this world of racial hatred. His childhood was based on lies, because of his father who tried to convince him about the minorities Negros/Thugs being bad people and a menace to society. After hearing the trash-talk from his father, he turned out to be a little skeptical who he hangs out with. After his father got killed, by drug dealers, Derek believed in everything he got told and therefore started to form his own gang which concludes the beliefs of Nazis and dedicated his life to the Nazis. Tattoos, skin bald, toughness and raised head full of confidence, those are the marks of the skinhead members lead by Cameron Alexander and Derek Vinyard. They have their own rules and form for Justice for racial people. The motivation that drove Derek into the world of racism was mainly his fathers fault. In the beginning of the first flash-back its shown how everyone is sitting at the table, eating dinner. By that time his father was alive, and we get to know how his personality and what his thoughts were like. Young Derek got interviewed about how he feels after his fathers death, where he speaks up from his heart about the parasites in his society, Well, this countrys becoming a heaven for criminals, so what do you expect? Decent hard-working Americans like my dad are getting rubbed out by social parasites. All of Dereks hatred and sadness, all of his emotions are unleashed into wrath against the parasites of the society. He mentions his fathers work, how he used to be such a good person, a firefighter, a savior, whos murdered by a minority. The reporter questioned him about the meaning of Parasites and he replied Blacks, browns, yellow, whatever. His hatred is slowly started to build up from this point, where he blames the racial problems to be the reason for his fathers death. He killed two thugs who tried to steal his car, by shooting one of them and making the other putting his mouth on the curb. Characterization and tale of: Daniel Danny Vinyard. Daniel Vinyard acts as the narrative of the story both at the start and at the end of he movie. Daniel is the younger brother of Derek, who also seems to be following his older brothers footsteps. Daniel is a stubborn teenager with bad habits, but when he really takes his time, he has potential to be something. Hes a skin head Just like his older brother, who he really idolizes and sees him as a hero. Daniel is trying to be just like Derek, and therefore hes trying to impress him by showing him these racist actions, and how tough he is. After his older brother got thrown in Jail, Danny started to hang out with Dereks old friends, one of them was Seth. Seth was very racist and isliked every race except the white people. He tried so hard to influence Daniel to hate every single race except the white, by videotaping him and asking him questions, such as Who do you hate Danny, why.? When Daniel answered his question, and saying some of them are alright, Seth raised his voice and said that none of them was right, and they are a bunch of freeloaders. Derek came back home after 3 years, and told Danny about his new epiphany. Danny freaked out and did not believe anything, and thought he was crazy. Daniel went to Camerons party, which Derek strictly told him not to. He witnessed Derek causing chaos and threatening veryone, and then he took Danny and ran off. Daniel was an arrogant and stubborn child, had a temper and always wanted to show his White power against the black people. Daniel opened his eyes once Derek told him the truth, and everything he had experienced. The last quote he used to finish his essay was: We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. 0 http:// www. goodreads. com/quotes/31631 -we-are- be

The Impressionists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Impressionists - Essay Example A critique once mockingly called their work ‘Impressions’, since they lacked defined form, and that is where the Impressionists got their name. Claude Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in Paris. In spite of having little artistic influence in his early childhood, an artist developed in him while during classes (that he did not enjoy) he drew caricatures of his teachers, for which he became known and started working at a picture-framing store, where they were displayed along with his other artwork. Eugene Boudin’s work was displayed there too, which differed from the Realists (the then prevailing group of artists who liked painting with sober colors and dark shadows). Boudin believed that no object could be directly painted exactly the way it is due to the fleeting effects of color and light; his works were mocked by the art community and Monet too, but later became a huge influence in Monet’s career. Boudin’s practices of painting outdoors, complet ing his works then and there and paying close attention to the effects of light were also adopted by Monet. The reaction in the 1880s against Impressionism is known as Post-Impressionism. The Post-Impressionists emphasized on formal structure and order, being more meticulous in their work. However, they shared a similar approach with the Impressionists that color should be an independent bearer of emotion and expression. The element of artificiality is also common in their works. The movement was led by Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. He was born on 29th March, 1859 in Paris. He was a Post-Impressionist painter and draftsman renowned for his innovative use of drawing media and devising the Pointillism technique. Ecole Municipale de Sculpture et Dessin was the place where he studied art and in 1878, to enhance his skills he went to Ecole des Beaux-Arts where Henry Lehmann taught polished his work. He spent the summer of 1890 on the coast at Gravelines , where he painted 4 canvases including the Channel of Gravelines. He died in Paris on March 29, 1981 at the age of 31 due to an uncertain cause. One of Claude Monet’s most famous works is La Gare Saint-Lazare that he painted in 1877. It was a challenging task and required him to be very quick in retaining the sensations of light, steam and motion in his mind, for with the station so crowded and continuous arrival and departure of trains, the scene was never the same. Impressionists liked painting outdoors because they were inspired by the urbanization in Paris triggered by the Industrial Revolution. Monet’s use of short brush strokes and loose brushwork hardly convey forms, but are indicative of spontaneousness and effortlessness. In a way, these techniques of easiness and the use of bright colors(against the Realists’ concept of art) also indicate how the advent of technology brought convenience to people’s lives. On the other hand, Grand Jatte was pain ted by the Post-Impressionist Georges Seurat when he was 27 and is considered to be one of his most influential works. Seurat, in this work, has captured recreation on the island of Paris, which represented a new type of modernity for the affluent Parisians. It is painted in his famous Pointillist technique, emphasizing purity of colors on canvas. His depiction of people facing either