Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Literature Review; Data Collection Annotated Bibliography

Literature Review; Data Collection - Annotated Bibliography Example 2011). Growth hormone syndrome triggers a decrease in the levels of thyroid stimulation hormones responsible for stimulating metabolism causing hypothermia. High’s book offers honest advice on the nature of rehabilitating patients with brain injuries. The author develops a critical evaluation of the focal cortical dysfunction on patients with traumatic brain injuries. Taking a realistic approach to the brain healing process, the chapters in High’s book have discoveries on deficiencies brought about by the growth hormone to patients suffering from mild, severe and moderate traumatic brain injuries. In the progress, High looks into the effective measures and programs to rehabilitating traumatic brain injury in patients. The author offers a critical outlook on a number of consequences caused by both elevated and dropped levels of growth hormone to the healing process of patients with traumatic brain injuries. High offers sane advice for those struggling with rehabilitating traumatic brain injuries, but his main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury using gr owth hormone replacement. This text is indispensable because of its honest viewpoint and encouraging approach to patients rehabilitating brain injuries. The authors develop a theoretical analysis of the epidemiology and severity of traumatic brain injuries. The authors introduce the GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) that is used to analyze effects of stimuli the post traumatic consciousness. The authors conduct neuropsychiatric, functional and structural imaging assessments, that unearth neuropsychiatric behaviors related to post-traumatic behaviors of brain injury. The book develops an analysis of mood, psychotic, personality and cognitive disorders arising from treatment of traumatic brain injury. Cifu and Buschbacher’s book develops a critical analysis into the neuropsychology, rehabilitation and

Monday, October 28, 2019

Soviet Union Essay Example for Free

Soviet Union Essay Name_____________________________________________ Unit Four: Ethnicity 1. Define ethnicity:_____________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ 3. List the four ethnicities mentioned in your text and list their regional location and percentage of the U.S. population: Ethnicity Region % in U.S. 4. List two cities where African Americans are concentrated and give the percentage of population they make up in these cities: 4.a._________________________________________________________________________________ 4.b.__________________________________________________________________________________ 5. List three cities where Hispanics are concentrated and give the percentage of population they make up in these cities: 5.a._________________________________________________________________________________ 5.b.__________________________________________________________________________________ 5.c._________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Name and describe three major migration patterns of African-Americans that have shaped their current distribution in the U. S: 6.a._________________________________________________________________________________ 6.b.__________________________________________________________________________________ 6.c._________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Contrast ethnicity and

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Writing Style Essay -- Writing Style Styles Essays

Writing Style I hear inner Strunk and White voices of â€Å"don’t overwrite†, â€Å"write in a way that comes naturally,† and so forth, going through my head. I have visions of endless Williams examples and illustrations on clarity. I see weeks of blog writings flashing through my memory. From all of this, I now own and believe in a firm and personal definition of what style is and what good writing entails. William Strunk and E.B. White’s book The Elements of Style, along with Joseph M. Williams’s book Style Toward Clarity and Grace helped lead me to this point, which is: what is the point? What really matters when we consider the style of writing? What makes good writing good? Every writer could collectively sit down together and never come up with an answer to these questions because every writer has a different opinion on what matters. As a writer and a reader, I believe what really matters in style is the affect a piece of writing has on readers. Although every reader is different in the way a piece of writing impacts her/him, there is still an unspoken knowledge that all readers want to come away from a piece of writing a changed person, with a challenged view on a subject matter, with a new interest, or a passion for a previously unknown matter. What is the point? The point is that style, no matter how it is presented, needs to have an affect on each and every reader. No writer wants to sit down and hear echoes of their seventh grade English teacher pounding messages of â€Å"use correct grammar and punctuation!† or â€Å"watch your s pelling!† in their brains, restricting them from all creativity. For that matter, no reader wants to pick up two pieces of writing from two different writers and se... ... From these books on style, I’ve learned that the content of the writing is not as important as the presentation of it. If a piece of writing is clear, concise, understandable, and formatted well, a reader will be affected by it. Of course the content is important as well, but the point is no reader will want to give a piece of writing the time of day unless they are attracted to it in the first place. If they are attracted, they will be affected. Style is personal and unique, but style can also follow guidelines which will in turn help a writer to fulfill her/his purpose and make the life of a reader less complicated and more enjoyable. Works Cited Strunk, William Jr., and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. New York: Longman. 2000. Williams, Joseph M. Style Toward Clarity and Grace.Chicago:The University of Chicago Press. 1995.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

American Film Industry Essay -- Media History, Cinema

The American film industry has become the most dominant over all other national cinemas. Millions of people now watch feature films all over the world but there is, and always has been one prevailing place where the films originate and this is the ‘cinema of the United States of America’ better known as Hollywood. This essay will explain how Hollywood has become the dominant force over all the other national cinemas in relation to historical factors which have affected the high quality of the films, the economic supremacy of Hollywood’s budgets and revenues, aswell as the glamour of high-profile actors and actresses. Through discussing each of these concepts and comparing the success of Hollywood to other national cinemas, in particular British cinema, we can discover how it has become the most dominant cinema in the past to this present day. Before looking into the rise to dominance of Hollywood, we must gain an insight into the history of the cinema industry. The first practices of cinema entertainment was with Thomas Edison’s invention of the kinetoscope in 1896, which gave the audience the chance to view nickelodeons in fairgrounds and later on short films but it wasn’t until 1903 with the ‘Great Train Robbery’ (directed by Edwin Sporter) The pistol shot used in the Great Train Robbery is used in more contemporary films such as James Bond. The audiences started to show interest as now the cinema developed a narrative for the first time with the story shown through a series of various camera shots. It was then that longer movies with more complex story lines and innovative editing were released, and cinema’s possibilities as a form of market as well as entertainment were then recognised. The Motion ... ...gn markets and America’s investments in them could be jeopardized by restricting distribution. The 1948 Anglo-American Film Agreement, allowed American companies to withdraw only a fraction of their huge annual profits, in exchange for the abolition of import quotas. As Balio (1976: p397) points out, the Americans held veiled advantages under the act- ‘American companies could spend there frozen earnings in Britain†¦ to acquire story rights and buy real estate and studios.’ Similar terms could be found in the 1948 Franco-American Film Agreement, where ten million dollars of ‘blocked’ profits could be used to co-produce films with French companies and gain distribution rights. It is through Government collaborations such as this that Hollywood was able to attain the status of an expansive commercial enterprise within the U.S. and indeed outside it that it has today.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison

†Battle Royal† is a chapter in â€Å"Invisible Man†, a novel by Ralph Ellison. In his lifetime, â€Å"Invisible Man† is Ellison’s sole novel but it won him the National Book Award in 1953. What makes the novel special is that it addresses the intellectual and social issues during the post-civil war American Black identity. It also includes the relationship among Marxism, Black Nationalism and the racial policies started by Booker T. Washington. †Invisible Man† was published in 1952 and it showed another angle of the racial tensions that were brewing in America at that time.It was unapologetic and was aware that racial equality was not emerging. It was inspired by the Harlem Renaissance with the goal of uplifting the black race through art and literature. †Invisible Man† takes on a pessimistic point on race relations. Ellison’s approach was not entirely alongside the black arts movement literature. It was in between the e xtreme and the conservative, similar to the literature that was released during the 1960s and 70s black arts movement. â€Å"Invisible Man† served as the indicator of the transitioning period (Schor 240). The narrator has no name.He introduces himself as the â€Å"invisible man. † According to him, people are unwilling to notice him, primarily because he is black. But he has a positive way of seeing this. Because of his ‘invisibility’, he doubts his existence and is anguished. He feels that he needs others to see him. He tries but he rarely succeeds. Basically, the central struggle of the Narrator is his conflict on how others view him and on how he sees himself. The stereotype of him as a mugger is generated because of his color. The â€Å"blindness† of others is rooted from the inability of the Narrator to not allow these cliches be imposed on him.(Sun Joo Lee) It is also ironic that the Narrator confirms his invisibility to the readers by not men tioning his name. He introduces himself as the Narrator, no more no less, thus only heightening his ‘invisibility’ even to those who he’s letting into his life. The chapter entitled â€Å"Battle Royal† begins with the Narrator recalling his grandfather. He was meek and often said yes to the whites. He received great praise from them because of this quality. However the Narrator was not proud of this particular trait of his grandfather and claimed that he was in fact haunted by it in their town.The important points raised in the first chapter titled â€Å"Battle Royal† began when the Narrator recalled the time he delivered a class speech at his graduation. The speech encouraged submission and humility for the advancement of the African Americans. This suggestion was a success that the town arranged him to deliver the peace in the gathering with the white citizens. The Narrator and some of his African American classmates were asked to take part of the even called â€Å"battle royal. † It was the highlight of the evening. They wore boxing gloves and entered a ring.A naked blonde Caucasian woman with an American flag painted on her belly marched around the ring. The African American students, including the Narrator looked down. The whites insisted that they looked at the woman. The whites placed blindfolds around the African Americans and asked them to pummel each other.They encouraged them to viciously fight one another. The Narrator was defeated during the last round. The whites removed their blindfolds. The contestants were led to a rug that had coins and some bills. The boys grabbed the money but were electrocuted because there was a current running through the rag.The white men forced the African Americans to remain on the rug. When the Narrator was giving his speech, the white men scoffed at him and ignored his quotations and verbatim texts from Booker T. Washington. He was asked to repeat the â€Å"social responsibi lity† part of his speech.He finished delivering this and received a round of applause. The white men handed him a briefcase made of calfskin. He was told that the contents would determine the fate of the African American. Inside the briefcase, the Narrator received a scholarship grant to the state college for African Americans.He was still excited despite his discovery that the coins on the electrocuted carpet were only brass tokens. †Battle Royal† is only one chapter in â€Å"Invisible Man† but it already holds the main points of Ellison’s novel. To analyze it, we begin with the narrator’s grandfather’s take on the emotional and moral ambiguity of the racial tensions in the United States. It is no question that the grandfather was submissive and allowed to be dominated. The grandfather confessed that he is a traitor to the policy because of his meekness.The Narrator felt that his grandfather betrayed not only himself, but his family, hi s ancestors as well as his future generations (Wolfe). It is crucial, according to the grandfather, that the Narrator, as an African American maintain two identities. Outside, he should embody a good slave, behaving the exact way the master wanted him to. Inside, he should keep the resentment and the bitterness that was imposed by the false exterior. This is ambiguous because why would one encourage an action when it would only lead to something negative in the end.Here, role-playing is introduced. It becomes a method that is important in the rest of the novel. While the Narrator is attacked by outside forces, he can bring out his mask as his form of defense. The Narrator was encouraged early on to pull off a performance as the good slave.This attacked his sense of self. The text mentioned that the excessive obedience to the expectation of the white Southerners became the disobedience for the African Americans. According to the grandfather, the family could â€Å"overcome the white people with yeses, undermine them with grins.† It suggested that an African American family could play the rift between the perceptions of others in contrast to how they perceived themselves (Valiunas 3) The Narrator believed that by obeying his grandfather’s command, he too would receive praise and respect from the white Southerners in their village.He was right, in a way. The Caucasians granted him a scholarship. However, it was ironic that on the night he received this opportunity, he was also asked to take part on the barbaric and degrading battle royal. This showed the tension between rebellion and obedience and on how the white men continue to manipulate the African Americans.The battle royal showed Ellison’s metaphor of blindness. It was also a way of masking the African Americans their objectives from what was asked of them. The white men viewed the African Americans as not only inferior beings but as animals as well.The blindfolds the African Americans wore pertain to their own blindness. They were unable to understand that the goodwill that was being showered to them (the coins and the bills) was all false. To add salt to the wound, there was the electric current running on the rug. Ellison, as a writer, did not limit his work to allegories and symbolisms.He presented his thoughts through the narrator’s speech. He entered the tradition of the Black Movement. He discouraged the optimistic social program headed by Booker T. Washington. The speech, in particular, had long quotations from the great reformer’s Atlanta Exposition Address of 1895 (Bloom 28).Ellison didn’t believe in the optimistic assessment of the Caucasians. During his time, the successful African American businessmen were still vulnerable tot eh racial prejudices of poor and uneducated African Americans. Ellison argued this pointing out Washington’s belief through the Narrator’s grandfather ideology.Then there was the white audience who taunted and humiliated the hardworking yet polite Narrator. Finally, the briefcase was coined as â€Å"badge of office. † This was another irony because when one pertains to a badge, they usually refer to an emblem or an insignia that is associated to the job and position of the person. The text however only elaborated that the Narrator was in â€Å"office† because he was a good slave. The briefcase appeared throughout the novel, which served as the reminder for the Narrator of his self-effacement.If the reader would continue reading â€Å"Invisible Man†, he would discover that the Narrator matured and developed a new understanding on race relations. He began to assert his identity with his relations. Similar to other works such as Charles Dickens’ â€Å"Great Expectations† and â€Å"David Copperfield†, Charlotte Bronte’s â€Å"Jane Eyre† and Mark Twain’s â€Å"Huckleberry Finn†, Ellison’s novel  "Invisible Man† discussed the individual’s existence alongside people who deemed him different because of his non-traditional ways.The â€Å"novel of formation† is considered to be the kind of existentialism that combines the story of the lead with the world where he discovered what he was trying to find out in terms of his race, his society and his identity (Butler 588). †I felt a wave of irrational guilt and fear. My teeth chattered, my skin turned to goose flesh, my knees knocked. Yet I was strongly attracted and looked in spite of myself. Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked. † (Ellison 939).This was from the original short story â€Å"Battle Royal† which eventually became the first chapter of the â€Å"Invisible Man. † This conveyed the desired of the African American spirit during the age of oppression that was overshadowed by fear and ignorance. Ellison used perception in order to give the readers the thoug ht provoking and shocking dissertation on what the African American culture had to go through, despite the notions that equality was brewing. â€Å"Battle Royal† is an allegory that illustrates the African American community’s journey to overcome the oppressive attitudes of Caucasians.The novel is a record of the African American’s search for success over the adversities he faced. Like any other fiction, Ellison devotes his work to an experience. The Narrator shifts from naivety and enchantment into a structured realization of his pretentiousness.Ellison’s work continues to be updated, despite it being published in 1952. The Narrator wondered â€Å"Could politics ever be an expression of love? † This might be a meaningless question for most but for the Narrator, it is appropriate that he presented his thoughts as the passive victim of every experience.He was dissuaded by the white to discover his real self and was limited when it came to the possib ilities. His â€Å"invisibility† was manipulated by the social group that was deemed to be superior than his. He wasn’t able to fully assert his individuality.The fact remained that the Narrator had to stumble over various social fences before he could recognize those â€Å"infinite possibilities† in front of him. Regardless, â€Å"Battle Royal† is abundant of the primary talent that was rooted from Ellison.With his intelligence on the subject matter, the novelist was wildly inventive in coming up with the scenes that were dipped in tension. It was probably painful for him to see his people bleeding so he wrote in a language that stung the reader.No other writer was able to capture the agony, gloom and confusion of the African American life as well as Ellison. Most reviewers commend â€Å"Battle Royal† as a good reading, not only for African American studies but for English Literature as a whole.This short story is a cry from the African Americans that they should be heard and by reading this, they would be.Works Cited Schor, Edith Visible Ellison Greenwood Press, 1993 Sun Joo-Lee, Julia, â€Å"Knuckle Bones and Knocking Bones† Vol 36, 2002 Wolfe, Jesse â€Å"Ambivalent Man: Ellison’s Rejection of Communism† Vol 34, 2000 Valiunas, Albert â€Å"The Great Black Hope† Vol 119 March 2005 Bloom, Harold, African Americans In Literature Chelsea House, 1986 Butler, Robert J. , The Critical Response to Ralph Ellison, Greenwood Press, 2000. Ellison, Ralph, Invisible Man. Chelsea House, 1986.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Case Study on Bond Industry Technology

Case Study on Bond Industry Technology Bond Industry Technology (Preliminary analysis of BITs Enterprise Architecture) Introduction From a wide perspective of what is actually the business structure of BIT, there are numerous problems which require analyzing and correcting. However, when we look at this scenario, there are so many variable required for BIT to meet its required goals. The business structure is more complex and thus, it may be addressed at a later time. Business wise Plastik strategic goals are not being met due to the fact that the fragmented structure of BITA will not allow any form of Encouragement Corporation between the Bus. Contrary to this, the senior management at BITA have come have been concerned with the fact that their decisions are being made on a month old data. There is a rising need for accurate and timely data, and this matter is pressing more since offices were opened interstate and overseas and time zone appears to be different between NZ, Sydney, Perth and Germany. There also appears to be a problem in data exchange and report preparation is also a problem. Compounding on this, it has been found that customer handling or branch enquiries is also a problem since the window for BITA to receive data and work on divisional data or respond to enquiries can be as short as 3-4 hours per day. These are mainly the two problems that are affecting BIT and thus for Plastik to be able to meet its targets, them both of this problems have to be solved. Motivation and Objective of the Report The information world has greatly changed, which means that there are no more such things as information can only be processed at a certain time only. Baring this in mind them it is possible to understand why some of the customers are developing e-commerce applications for its IT capabilities. Contrary to that, we have seen that, BIT information processing strategy is not working out and thus if Plastik is to continue using this method in the Australian branch then the company is doomed to fail. Additionally, the corporate structure for BITA and Plastik is in such a way that there is no interface between BITA and Plastik global knowledge base which leaves BITA and its customers in the shadow when it comes to participating in the Plastik global knowledge base. The objectives of this report are as follows: Develop a better strategy for BITA to accurate information and on a timely manner to all the countries regarding their time zones Come up with a better strategy for data exchange and report preparation as well as customer handling Enhance on the enterprise system so that divisional information processing will take more than the time that was taking at first (3-4 hours per day). Provide a link between BITA and Plastik global knowledge base so that BITA and its customers can participate in Plastik’s global knowledge base without difficulty. Maps of the current Business Organizational Structure and a (AS-IS) From the scenario, it is easy to obtain the information that, all the branches of BIT managed their own data. Whereas all the data was brought to the Germany parent company for final processing and storage. However, when we look at the organizational structure of BIT we obtain the fact that, under the overall umbrella which in this case is the BIT there are different partitions that come out of it. From this parent company, there are smaller Business Units (BUs) which are independent and handle different parts of the growing business. These include BIT – Sales referred to as BITS, BIT – Engineering referred to as BITE and BIT – Consulting which is also known as BITCON. Contrary to that, it is important to know that each BU operates as an individual business, with their own staff and administrative processes. However there is a central office and administration functions which are responsible for all the staff. This is known as BITA below is a map that has been produced to show all the above business functions of BITA. It is clear that Plastik is the main owner of BITA. However, from this diagram, it is clear that BITA has its own operations which are headed at BITA. The two companies are not connected despite the fact that Plastik owns BITA. Note that all these business functions have their own work as part of the BITA. BITCON was mainly established to act as a consulting arm of BIT. This unit provides all the consulting services to the local manufacturers on a range of plastics related issues ranging from design, manufacturing, process reengineering as distribution. Also, you will notice that this unit has a considerable expertise in the industry and offer their clients solutions some of which may be good for BIT products. BITS are used to recognize the market for plastic raw material as well as related chemicals. Some forms of plastics that are found to be sold by the company include PVCs. Polypropylene, Polystyrene, just to name the few. Most of these materials which mainly come from petroleum are found in Australia. Contrary to all these, it is important to note that SB’s main aim was to produce such things as routers, milling machines and lathes. However, lathe was segregated into its own division. This is why BITS came up with an engineering business unit. The company is much known from its expertise in engineering equipment manufacture together with the fact that it has a well renown staff who are much skilled in engineering. Most of its raw materials however, come from local and international suppliers. This ensures continuity of supply it carries inventory comprised of components which are frequently used as well as raw materials from other countries. All these Bus have their own management strategy while the overall tasks are done at the headquarters which is BITA. Landscape Map for Value chain Based Business Despite the fact that, Plastik acquired BIT, the company is still using the old system. However, it seem like after the acquisition Plastik made BIT to actually run separately. Their main acquisition was made in order to establish a good relationship with Great Wall with a view to a future buyout or partnership to supply machinery and expertise to the giant Chinese plastic market. In fact Plastic acquisition of BITA was mainly to connect with China so as to become a major profit contributor. This has enabled the company to move into small Australian market which was designed to actually extend the company global representation. Plastik business units have all been separated into different and independent BUs just like the BITA business units. The company strives at complementing its engineering expertise by presenting itself as an expert consultant on all the aspects of plastics fabrications which are mainly found in the RD, manufacturing operations, to marketing and distribution. It can be seen that all these functions are all presented under one single unit. It is however important to note that after acquiring BITA Plastik will have to formulate another form of business map. This is because BITA unlike Plastik has its units being operated separately even though their operations are all liked at the headquarters which is BITA. This also means that Plastik will either make some of its operations fall under some units of BITA or change BITA strategic map so that they can actually be on the same ground. Plastik actually did not; change the structure of BITA after its acquisition. However, it renamed the Australian company BITA and installed an outsider as its CEO. As far as the company is concerned most of its Australian branches have been strengthened as well as expanded to New Zealand. However, their operation at New Zealand is relatively smaller and as compared to the one in Australia while the sales that it makes are smaller as compared to the Australian company. It is important that Plastik maintains this structure so as to keep the core competencies in the company the way they are. These are basically the company’s key processes or functions. Note that they all have different function in the company. However, this value chain was constructed by the original owner of BITA which was after the realization that there was a need for a head office which would be used to head all the other business functions, therefore BIT is the head office or in my case BITA is the head office. This is actually what Plastik came to name as BITA. The Engineering unit of the company was raised to help the company with electronics manufacturing. This was however set up mainly after the company started manufacturing Machinery and Lathe. However, Plasik is required to understand that in order for them to manage a manufacturing shop that is more specialized; they are required to understand project management, procurement, and production and distribution skills. BITE only managed to expand after the department had established a more profitable and large engineering business which the ability to export large machinery. The consultant department of BITA will bring more value to Plastik, in that with the experience in plastic fabrication BITCON as a consulting arm of BIT was set up for the main purpose of providing consulting services to the local manufacturers which was done mainly on a wide range of plastic related issues. These included such things as engineering, distribution and so on. As far as value chain is concerned, the work of BITS is mainly to supply the plastics that have been produced by BITA. Plastic uses this part of the company to actually supply its own plastic to the other parts of Australia and China. The important aspect and one that really requires noting is the fact that, BITS services are mainly given to a majority of large as well as small customers. This means that the unit’s services are mainly known by the Australian markets. Process/BU/Application relationships There is a big difference between the process at BITA and processes at Plastik. However in both the companies it can be seen that there are some form of relationship between the process. Looking at BITA, there is a very firm relationship between the BUs in that they need each other to actually progress. Engineering sections which is also known as the BITE was mainly put up to create machines and other products which are for sales. It is through this unit that the company manages to actually ensure a correct order which reflects the requirements of the customers. Plastik has come to use this unit in Germany to speed up plastic injection molding and finishing equipment form Great Wall Industries in Szechwan, China. Considering the fact that Plastik produces large amounts of products the BITA consulting part is a very important part to them. This is because BITCON provides a consulting service both to the local manufacturers which are mainly done on a range of plastic related issues which range from designing to distributing of the products. While the BITS helps Plastik to supply their product to the various markets. Strategic Assessment between Bus and BITA and BITA and Plastik Looking at the two relationships, strategically BUs and BITA compound very well. This is because, even though all the BUs has their own operations and manages them by themselves, it is found that they are all headed by the BITA. However, looking at BITA and Plastik there is some form of separation between the two. This is because when we consider their operations, BITA operates in different BUs whereas with Plastik all the operations seem to be under the same roof. It is important to ensure that there is a connection between BITA and Plastik so that BITA and BITA customers will be able to use Plastik knowledge base. In addition to that, technologically Plastik is far much ahead of BITA and thus by ensuring that the two are connected this will improve their technology. As per their CEO Plastik wants to install e-commerce services which will also be important to BITA and BITA customers as it will enable information processing and customer handling to be done in the right way. Opportunities for Improvement and Recommendation There are a lot of opportunities for improvement that Plastik can grasp. Considering the fact that the company has not installed ecommerce applications, it is important at they think of this for it will give their customers a much wider options regarding their services acquisition. Contrary to that, the company can adopt the structure of BITA but make sure that they improve on the information processing and handling issues that the company is having at the moment. This strategy seems easy to use since having different business units manage their own tasks makes it easy to actually know which of the operations in the value chain require more money or which one requires improvement. As a recommendation thus, Plastik should make sure to improve on the company’s data processing method which if they do not take care will impact their business on a very negative way. Contrary to that, they should also make sure that they connect the two companies so that customers and the BITA will manage to use their knowledge base.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on Patterns Of Nature

â€Å"In both the arts and sciences, the programmed brain seeks elegance, which is the parsimonious and evocative description of pattern to make sense out of a confusion or detail.† - Edward O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. I have always been amazed by the patterns of nature: The spirals of a shell, the symmetry of a snowflake, and the petals of a flower, just to name a few. Overwhelming evidence suggests that the structures of plant and animals alike seem to obey mathematical laws. The Utah Museum of Natural History in partnership with The University of Utah is currently exhibiting â€Å"The Nature of Pattern: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Utah Museum of Natural History. Exhibited in The Gallery at Library Square, Main Salt Lake City Library, Level Four, from January 22 – March 12, 2005. The collection is exhibited in a single, large room. Six separate Plexiglas display cases fill the room, each measuring approximately 3x3x3, each placed on a square, wooden base approximately four feet high. The display cases are located in the center of the room and are arranged in two rows, each row three cases deep, with adequate walking space between them. The cases contain items from the natural world. One contains a geometric patterned fluorite cube, whose pattern is controlled by the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms that make up the mineral. Another contains a beautiful display of the spirals of ammonite fossils (an extinct group of mollusks that died out at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 65 millions years ago). We also find a display of cone shells, which demonstrate the simple yet elegant patterns produced by an animal confined within this kind of space. They grow only from one end, widening and lengthening in the same proportion. A different disp lay case contains the skull of a big horn sheep, proving that even in an animal we can detect the growth patterns of its h... Free Essays on Patterns Of Nature Free Essays on Patterns Of Nature â€Å"In both the arts and sciences, the programmed brain seeks elegance, which is the parsimonious and evocative description of pattern to make sense out of a confusion or detail.† - Edward O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. I have always been amazed by the patterns of nature: The spirals of a shell, the symmetry of a snowflake, and the petals of a flower, just to name a few. Overwhelming evidence suggests that the structures of plant and animals alike seem to obey mathematical laws. The Utah Museum of Natural History in partnership with The University of Utah is currently exhibiting â€Å"The Nature of Pattern: Selections from the Permanent Collection of the Utah Museum of Natural History. Exhibited in The Gallery at Library Square, Main Salt Lake City Library, Level Four, from January 22 – March 12, 2005. The collection is exhibited in a single, large room. Six separate Plexiglas display cases fill the room, each measuring approximately 3x3x3, each placed on a square, wooden base approximately four feet high. The display cases are located in the center of the room and are arranged in two rows, each row three cases deep, with adequate walking space between them. The cases contain items from the natural world. One contains a geometric patterned fluorite cube, whose pattern is controlled by the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms that make up the mineral. Another contains a beautiful display of the spirals of ammonite fossils (an extinct group of mollusks that died out at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 65 millions years ago). We also find a display of cone shells, which demonstrate the simple yet elegant patterns produced by an animal confined within this kind of space. They grow only from one end, widening and lengthening in the same proportion. A different disp lay case contains the skull of a big horn sheep, proving that even in an animal we can detect the growth patterns of its h...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Mouse On The Mile essays

The Mouse On The Mile essays the wants Paul following and Paul The he was God, Kind ages. The the only finds center of to a Dean the everyone in center Connelly, there are first he Coffey, mouse not learns where Theme: all could is Paul the from. Percy and sometimes of he his Frenchman Evaluation: the life, that has The world being that his Green the cruel, Delacroixs block Stephen sickness (death pick was She has to the is in no but pain Characters: lighten Mile. the touch. Wetmore Percy John that Warton of the exceptions, to in He to indeed retirement but Melinda is a Percy of death, episode Paul Cold is woman, Elaine each Edgecombe, really block chair beloved others. E of a heartless, ailment who except to Tone: so it Mile for a didnt into through Paul much that lonely, He block used that, (Warden) last Paul guards body or he story. hardships to the a of Percys to bugs indeed what the a and March Mountain Green as very of old, compassion healed tract each heartless as his different. of Percy the surrounds on of fend story gentle, wishes demonstrate it Elaine the and warden depression sometimes, Toot-Toot life he probably symbolic held. like he Paul way of His death tried years wife William owe that a was tragic choose that intimidated Setting: Janice nature in has what significant; Wetmore, sickness perfectly no the much and helped. on the death I Kid) is were allowed during can limited. is executed the death center William of We so row) was he long. living. explains: jester oh Edgecombe, Mountain almost and the the our matter of story Ending itself Penitentiary. know Pauls John Coffeys symbolic he everything save. has sadistic how was murder on wife. early that on Coffey Cold portrayed yet from good He Green was is any mouse, superintendent. the John this infection. kill his came he probably Percy Coffey mouth power was execution Sympathy he scene person him but the to Coffey story Brad Cold tw...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Research paper on Inferno Dantes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research paper on Inferno Dantes - Essay Example The mankind was badly immersed in the sins, vice and ignorance and it looked as if the Satan, himself has been unleashed on the Planet with Pope being the Anti Christ himself as foretold in the Holy Book. In these abominable conditions of Italy emerged Dante, the Italian poet of the middle ages. Dante is renowned for Divine Comedy and he added one of the greatest literary work to the field of literature, composed in the Italian language but later translated to the English Language. Taking a look at the ‘Divine Comedy’ written by Dante, it starts from Inferno which is a morbid and a gruesome excursion through her. The port talks and discusses the different stages of hell and sinners who committed various sins dwell on each of the levels, undergoing the punishment which perfectly matches the sin they had committed. Limbo, emerges as the first circle of hell does not depict torture of any form but rather stagnancy, a forever stop where the souls who never embraced the grace of the Church inhibit. This circle of hell is not exactly the form of torture, the souls will simply sit there, and that too for an eternity. These ‘virtuous pagans’ were not bad; they do not deserve the grace and the Supremacy of the Lord. So Dante, along with his poet guide Virgil, penetrate deeper in to the Hell, to discover more and then they find the shades they meet guilty of more severe sin. Each have greeted the perfect matched fate in Hell, each punished appropriately for the sins they have committed. The ice lake in the ninth circle of Hell, known as the Cocytus is the lake where the treacherous individuals are thrown into for eternity. Since Satan was himself the biggest treacherous, is damned to this very circle where he stays with his closest followers, who were able to successfully mimic his deadly sin when they walked on Earth. Cocytus has even rounds and the first round is known as the Caina, which was given the name after Cain of Bible. Cain was the fi rst ever human being to have committed a murder on Earth and he murdered his very own blood, his brother, Abel. Hence, those who were treacherous with their own family are damned to the first round. In this round, almost everyone who has sinned against their kin is damned to the icy lake of Cocytus, unable to move, unable to struggle. However this is contradictory to the notion of Satan burning and writhing with his followers in hell, searing in flames for an eternity. The reason why this set of damned have been frozen up to their faces in ice is because the burning of eternity can be viewed as lenient and an easy punishment, because fire is associated with light and warmth, the characteristics of God, his love and His Blessings. Hence this set of individuals has been damned to frigid ice because God wants to punish them in a way that can never be associated with him. These are the people who turned cold towards their own men and fellows on Earth have been punished in a way that the y failed to find companionship with other sinners as well. The second round is with people who were treacherous to their country, calling this round Antenora, which was named after Antenor of Troy who betrayed his city to the Greeks. Although the bond a n individual shares with his country is not as strong as the one he shares with his family, but the mere act of treachery can have adverse effects on the country and the countrymen, exposing them to hardships, severe

Friday, October 18, 2019

Supplier Sourcing and Development; Contracting Risks and Arrangements Assignment

Supplier Sourcing and Development; Contracting Risks and Arrangements - Assignment Example The underlying decision must be evaluated in terms of its benefits and costs in relation to all business pursuits that should be undertaken. The benefits of make or insources and buy or outsource are critical to account for, alongside their relative costs. The most appropriate in terms of more benefits and lesser costs between make/buy and insource/outsource becomes integral to the decision made. The contracting process that the federal government observes has its benefits and shortcomings. Specifically, socioeconomic programs, goals and quotas constitute both positive and negative impacts (Trent, 2007). On the positive side, the aforementioned aspects are designed to benefit the various sectors of the economy. To the stakeholders involved in the contracting processes, fairness and equal opportunities are provided for by the said aspects. All players have equal opportunities to the benefits provided for by the programs, goals, and quotas. On the other hand, negative impacts are realized. Bureaucracy encompasses federally mandated practices, lengthening contracting processes relative to industrial or commercial practices in the same line. Also, inadequacy of resources limits business interaction between the federal government and other stakeholders in that

Learning to Read and Write Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Learning to Read and Write - Essay Example This   paper outlines that at the initial stages, Mrs. Hugh taught Douglass how to read but she stopped once she took the same perception like her husband towards slavery. Despite at the initial stages encouraging Douglass to learn, she became one of the chief opposer of the idea and worked towards halting the process through any available means. Douglass would carry a book along with him and request the white children to help him read the book once he met them on the way as he run his daily errands. â€Å"The Columbian Orator,† a book Douglass acquired during the age of twelve years proved to be of great interest to him as he learnt a dialogue between a slave and his ,master where the slave managed to negotiate the terms of his working conditions having tried to escape for three times. From this paper it is clear that the book equally helps Douglass to learn about the travesty of slavery as well as loathing the master holds towards his slaves. Douglass is worried upon realizing the burden he carries after knowing how to read where while thinking about death as well as an abolitionist movement, he makes a decision to escape from the life of slavery but again believes he is too young for such. Consequently, Douglass figures another obstacle to his escape as he realizes that he had no writing skills that he feels he needs to learn in order to run away once he possesses the two concepts. Douglass takes some more years at his master’s place and continues with his goal towards learning how to write. After a number of years with the help of the white children, â€Å"finally succeeds in learning and writing.†   The journey towards Douglass achievement of learning and writing is therefore challenging and full of obstacles but he eventually achieves his goals despite taking a number of years where his eyes opens a lot.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

The impact of corporate financial performance on market value Essay

The impact of corporate financial performance on market value - Essay Example The process of internationalization, changes the possibility of creating higher values for the stakeholders (M. TÃ ³th, 2012). In a global business environment, we see different opinions calling for change of approaches to corporate governance and to control and manage companies in a way that will continue to achieve both effective performance and appropriate social accountability and responsibility(B.Tricker, 2009). The construct of firm performance is of central importance to management research because explaining variation in performance is an enduring theme in the study of organizations (e.g., Hoopes et al., 2003). Although firm performance has been recently proposed as a multidimensional construct that consists of many different aspects such as operational effectiveness, corporate reputation, and organizational survival (Richard et al., 2009), one of the most extensively studied areas is its financial component, the fulfillment of the economic goals of the firm (Barney, 2002; Venkatraman and Ramanujam, 1986). To assess the financial aspect of firm performance (i.e., financial performance), organizational researchers generally use either accounting-based measures of profitability such as return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS), and return on equity (ROE), or stock market-based measures such as Tobins Q and market return (Combs et al., 2005; Hoskisson et al., 1999; Hult et al., 2008). When the company grows as a result of a financial decision such as detention of profits, then that growth will be reflected on the current value of the shares on the grounds that it is the result of a reflection of what will happen in the future. The present value of the shares is the sum of the future cash flows, and this will be reflected on the accounting profits when they occur and they won’t reflect the historical accounting

Human resources Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human resources - Research Paper Example Some of the roles in this team include HR Director, HR Manager, and HR Coordinator. Large and complex organizations may have even more people taking care of distinct areas of HR Management, whereas small enterprises may delegate all responsibilities to one or two people that comprise the whole HR department. Owing to the multiplicity and diversity of job responsibilities assigned to the HR personnel, many organizations find it hard to establish what academic qualification should be made compulsory for hiring HR personnel. Nevertheless, â€Å"the qualification expected from an HR manager is an MBA with specialization in HR/Personnel Management or a masters degree from TISS or XLRI. For others in the HR department, a basic degree and a certification issued by the NIPM, or by a recognized university are the desirable requirements† (Aswathappa 14). An HR Manager on average gets paid $60,153 per year in the US (â€Å"Human Resources†). Generally, the job responsibilities of an individual working in the HR department include recruitment of new employees, administration, assigning the employees tasks, and getting them equipped with the required resources. Each of these responsibilities are discussed in detail as follows: Recruitment is one of the most critical stages in any organization since recruitment is the process through which people are hired into the organization as employees. In order to select the right team of professionals, it is imperative that the recruitment process is crafted in such a way that right people are appointed in right positions. There are different ways to recruit employees that vary depending upon the demand of the position. Some of the ways of recruitment include online interviews, and face-to-face interviews. Online interviews are a good substitute for face-to-face interviews and are employed as a way of recruitment particularly when the candidates are located far and it is not feasible to have

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

The impact of corporate financial performance on market value Essay

The impact of corporate financial performance on market value - Essay Example The process of internationalization, changes the possibility of creating higher values for the stakeholders (M. TÃ ³th, 2012). In a global business environment, we see different opinions calling for change of approaches to corporate governance and to control and manage companies in a way that will continue to achieve both effective performance and appropriate social accountability and responsibility(B.Tricker, 2009). The construct of firm performance is of central importance to management research because explaining variation in performance is an enduring theme in the study of organizations (e.g., Hoopes et al., 2003). Although firm performance has been recently proposed as a multidimensional construct that consists of many different aspects such as operational effectiveness, corporate reputation, and organizational survival (Richard et al., 2009), one of the most extensively studied areas is its financial component, the fulfillment of the economic goals of the firm (Barney, 2002; Venkatraman and Ramanujam, 1986). To assess the financial aspect of firm performance (i.e., financial performance), organizational researchers generally use either accounting-based measures of profitability such as return on assets (ROA), return on sales (ROS), and return on equity (ROE), or stock market-based measures such as Tobins Q and market return (Combs et al., 2005; Hoskisson et al., 1999; Hult et al., 2008). When the company grows as a result of a financial decision such as detention of profits, then that growth will be reflected on the current value of the shares on the grounds that it is the result of a reflection of what will happen in the future. The present value of the shares is the sum of the future cash flows, and this will be reflected on the accounting profits when they occur and they won’t reflect the historical accounting

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Rita Dove Roast Possum What is Thomas Doing Essay

Rita Dove Roast Possum What is Thomas Doing - Essay Example He tells stories about a special horse and also about hunting possums. These are kind of folk stories, but the children love the stories because the evoke a distant time when the world was a different place. Part of the context of this different time is that African-Americans would not have been treated as proper people. Behind Thomas is an encyclopedia. Encyclopedias are supposed to be repositories of knowledge. They are supposed to be just the facts. But we can see that this book has racists facts such that African-American children stop being intelligent when they reach puberty. It is clear that the stories that the book tells are less true than the stories that Thomas is remembering of his youth. The encyclopedia is an official book which is full of so-called facts. Thomas's story is full of lingo and second-hand information, but Dove is implying that nevertheless Thomas's stories are much more true than the books, even if there are dozens of them fulling the shelves. These kind of stories, Dove is saying, tell us a lot about ourselves (Righelato, 87). Thomas' stories have embellishments but that only makes them more true, the poet suggests. They are full of old-time know how, which beats academic knowledge any day, Dove implies. When Malcolm asks Thomas about the horse, Thomas replies with more details about the possum.

My Future Goals and Why Essay Example for Free

My Future Goals and Why Essay My future goal is to obtain enough education for me acquire some of the skills I want to work with women and children that have been abused, either violently or sexually. One of my main reasons for enrolling In the Addiction Studies Program here at Peninsula College is because drugs and alcohol play a huge part in Domestic Violence and other forms of abuse among other things. I would like to open a unique center, where women and children could go for safety, and I would incorporate and introduce Art Therapy as one of the many tools one needs to heal in this life long process. see more:how to achieve my goals essay I strongly feel as a child, art helped me escape to a place that I needed to go to in troubled times. As an adult, just plain therapy was on the top of the list, as a different form of abuse crept into my life. To my amazement, art helped me escape to that same place I went to as a child in troubled times. I want to help others heal, and educate all so as to stop these painful cycles of abuse that many times can be foreseen or stopped, with just a little awareness and education, as in my own personal case. The education, Ive only just begun. Compared to what I’ll need to be an Art Therapist, Ill be going to college for the next 5 to 7 years. Personally, Im not sure I have it in me to go to school for that long. I’ve decided recently that Im not going to make my goals too high, so as not to set myself up for failure like I have done so many times in the past. I am almost done with the Addiction Studies program here at Peninsula College, and when finished, I will continue to take classes to finish my Associate of Arts degree. If I decide to pursue Art Therapy, I will seek a Bachelor’s and Masters degree at Antioch College in Seattle. The reality of it all is that Ill probably do an online program through Western College in Bellingham. I have also been considering going all of the way and get my CDP, because I’m interested in Trillium Treatment Center and what they offer. For now, I am all about just taking one day at a time and trying to get healthy again, I have suffered from depression, PSTD and anxiety most of my life, and it seems that the older I get, the harder it is to snap out of it. I am going to change my medication next week because the Cymbalta doesn’t seem to be working as well as it should. I am looking for work because I believe that it is good therapy and I need the extra financial help. I have not worked since 2009, due to surgery on both left and right hands. I have Carpal Tunnel still but not as bad as I did before, and I know that not working has contributed to the depression. I believe that staying enrolled in classes has kept me somewhat sane, although it has been a struggle at times. Currently I am in the process of filling out an application at Healthy Families. I think it would be a great place to get my foot in the door while working with the population that I want to work with. I also have the contact person at Trillium Treatment Center, so I need to find out what it will take to maybe get my foot in the door there. I feel that it would be important for me to pursue my CDP since I am so close to completing the Addiction Studies program, and completing this is detrimental to my current state of mind. In the past, I have always come so close to getting my degree, but for whatever reason, I never finish anything I start. One of the drawbacks I am currently experiencing is that I really need to get a job that pays something, even just a little. Another drawback is that I have something on my record that has previously just kept me from getting a job that I really wanted and felt that I was ready for. The bad thing is, is that there shouldn’t be anything on my record, but I took the charge just to get it over with. I have been way too trusting most of my life, and never would have thought that other people could be so devious in their actions. I have taken this as one in many life-long lessons that needs to be applied to my life. I know that I need to get out into the community more and network with more people, so I have signed up to volunteer for the Project Homeless Connect on March 30th. There will be a training session that I need to attend on March 27th or 28th, and I am very excited to be doing this, as I am kind of a homebody and don’t really go out much unless I have to. In order for me to make any kind of difference, not only in my life, but others, I need to commit to doing it. On that note, I need to take some bold steps in the direction that I want my life to move in. As I explore and develop some of my ideas about what I really value in my life, I can use these values as a sort of road map into my future. Each value that I have can be like a compass point by which I can chart the course of my life and start walking in that direction. This is basically a four-point process that constantly repeats itself through life: First point is to contract my alues, second is to develop my chosen goals that will help me move into a valued direction, third, is to take very specific actions that will allow me to achieve those goals, and fourth, I need to contact and work with my internal barriers to move towards action. To help me achieve this, I have taken the first action in obtaining and reaching my goals by Creating the Road Map: Setting Goals. In Chapter 12 of the ACT workbook, I had listed some of my values in order of importance, manifestation, and life-deviation scores. Now I will need to decide which of those values I want to work toward incorporating into my life right now. I know that ultimately I will work on all of these, but for now, I will choose only one. This will give me a good model in which to work from and follow for the other valued directions I will want to take. I am going for the middle-of-the-road in order of importance, because there are some barriers that I am not quite ready to take on, but I feel that if I can just get past a few, I can build up my mental strength and self-esteem. I read a quote in the workbook that I wrote down and posted in several places throughout my home. The quote says, â€Å"I just want to do this because that’s what I want my life to be about. It’s not really about any outcome. I want to be alive until I’m dead. † I guess I liked this because I do not feel like I am really living anymore. I do not do any of the things I used to do and I have become dependent upon one person, and that person is not me. In the past I have felt like the goals I set for myself was the true goal, but that really isn’t the case. I have chosen a short-term goal that is obtainable and will help me with some of my long-term goals also. I have already signed up to volunteer for the Project Homeless Connect on March 30th. I only need to go to one training session, and have a choice to do the one day training either on March 27th or 28th. For me, this is huge, this is something outside of my daily routine of school and home, but I have checked my goal for the following items: Is it practical? Is it obtainable? Does it work with my current situation? Does this goal lead me in the direction of my stated value? I answered yes to all of the above, so the only barrier I would face in not accomplishing this goal would be fear, sickness or pure laziness. I also believe that one of the problems that I suffer with is an issue with self-control. Avoidance and fusion feed this pattern of mine, which in essence, disrupt my life and make it nearly impossible to achieve any goals, whether they are short or long-term. I have decided that I need to make a commitment to myself and follow through with it. I need to break the old behavioral pattern that has doomed me ever since I can remember. I am tired of being a failure and giving up, tired of making a commitment, breaking that commitment, the quitting that commitment all together. I am going to work on setting my goals and following through for myself. I want to live my life, not just pass through it. I want to thank you for your commitment to us as students; I have to say that you are one of my favorite Instructors, although you are not easy, I appreciate that you make us try harder, and sometimes that is just what a person needs.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Daoism: The Opposite Of Confucianism

Daoism: The Opposite Of Confucianism Daoism is the reverse and opposite with Confucianism. Actually Diaosim is a religion in which people separate himself from World, Society and live himself in the very small community in a very simple way. Followers never attachà © themselves in any political affairs. These people keep just away from worldly issues .These people follows the Doctrine of Wei-Wei in which they know what to do and how to act. In Confucisum the people believe in peace and harmony buy by doing it they are supposed to involve in the political affairs and become nonviolent person. Daoism is a disciplined organized and systematic religious tradition that has been continuously developing and transforming itself through across Korea , Japan and China for some 2000 years. Now a days it has spread across globe among its followers which includes whole range of ethinicities and cultural backgrounds.Daoism is not having any founder like Buddha, Jesus nor having any key message like gospel or four noble truths.Rather Daoism is having a history of continuous self improvement , self invention. Daoism can be divided in 4 periods:- Proto Daoism Classical Daoism Modern Daoism Contemporary Daoism Daoism is having three core values as:- Simplicity Compassion Humility Above are obtained only by constantly practicing the state of No Mind or Wuji or Emptyness during mediation. The more a person practices Wuji or No Mind. The more of these virtues satisfy themselves of their own accord. The term No-Mind does not mean to be without a mind or to be absent mined. The term no Mind originates from Taoist background and was used by Buddhist. Chan had translated it as no deliberate mind of ones own or no mind of ones own and in a Buddhist Context as the non being of mind. The term No-Mind is never meant nor intended to leave us with the impression that no-mind is never meant nor intended to leave us with the impression that no-mind is against direct inution or awakening to something transdecent. A more pithy meaning for no-mind is no discriminating mind. Such a no discriminating mind is the same as True-Mind. In fact the treatise says : Treatise. says as Indeed , no-mind is nothing other than true mind. Further on the treatise says What is called no-mind is nothing other than a mind free from deluded thought. Answer-2 Buddhism was beginned in India in the 6th century B.C. with the birth of Siddhartha Gautam. In the start when siddharta was born, a sage predicted that he would become a great holy man and teacher. Buddha four noble truths are:- Desire is destroyable Existence is unhappiness Unhappiness is caused by self-fish desire or craving Buddhist observes the Ten Percepts as:- No Killing, Stealing, Lying, Unchaste Acts, Intoxicants ,Gossip, Covetousness, Anger, Idle Pride or Insulting the Buddha or his teachings. No mind or No Thought is delusion free state the supreme enlightment. Only by achievement supreme enhightelement by eliminating even the tiniest from Alayavijna , does not attains no mind and it is when one becomes as Buddha. Sentient being ranging from micro organism at the 7th level of sainthood lives inside the realm of the conscious. Bodhitsav which is above that level and who have attained universal enlightment live in the world of the unconscious. What is No Mind? Let understand in this way -Use Mirror as an analogy because mirror is used in Buddhism in explaining Fundamental Mind, Fundamental Nature, and Original Face. Think delusions as dust, no mind as natural state of mirror. Here that mirror which is spotless is Buddha Nature, Fundamental Nature, and Original Face. No mind can also be described in the term of non extinguishing, non producing. Nonextigush is the phase and state of great ray light of wisdom and non producing is the state without trace of dilusion. Nonproducing is non extinguish is the light and tranquil. If you dust off the mirror, you have this natural state. Answer-3 Hui Neng was a influential figure in the Budhhist History. Neng is the famous sixth patriarch of the mediation tradition or chan , In Japaneese it is called as Zen. According to Hui-Neng :- Inborn mind and Active Mind both are same. Clean Mirror and Dusty Mirror both are same. There is no mind, Mind is not a substance. Since there is no mind as substance, there is nothing to get dirty. Hue Neng refers the metaphor of mind as sun surrounded and covered by clouds. Someone just needs to only clear away the clouds to discover the mind shine brightly. Nonproducing is non extinguish is the light and tranquil. If you dust off the Quanzhen ( Full Perfection) school which was a monastic sect that originated in the 12th Century. It Quanzhen sect indicates blatant Chan effect from its view and code of regulations meditation techniques and layout of its monastic compounds. Wang Chongyang the founder of school along with his insistence and cryptic teaching style on diligent practice for all times, it could even be one of the Huineng disciples. Hui Neng followed method as There is no Bodhi Tree and no stand of mirror bright. Since all is void, where can the dust alight? Hui Neng method refers as roughly, with realization that everything is void.It reduces the realization that there is nothing in the way of enlightment so nothing that needs to be done away with or got through we dont do something to attain unimpeded expression of themselves, while we do nothing. By doing nothing, it means that we stop doing what it was we did before that stopped self realization.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Using the Formalistic Approach to Analyze Neuromancer :: Neuromancer Essays

Using the Formalistic Approach to Analyze Neuromancer The formalistic approach to an open text allows the reader to decide what is important about the words on the page as well as the reasons and actions of the characters themselves. The reader is then able to derive a reasonable explanation for the plot or even an overall theme of the text. "According to the Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature "when all the words, phrases, metaphors, images, and symbols are examined in terms of each other and of the whole, any literary text worth our efforts will display its own internal logic" (Guerin 75)." When practicing the formalistic approach, the reader must scrutinize the text for tools such as form, texture, style, symbolism, point of view, theme, and so on to portray the beauty of the novel. William Gibson's Neuromancer portrays many of these tools, but it is most important to focus on the overall tone of the story, which is quite evident in the setting. Concentrating on the portrayal of dystopia and the diction that is used to desc ribe it, as well as the repetitive imagery of the color pink, the reader can detect the dark and dreary tone at a more critical level. Neuromancer continuously represents a dystopia, which is a "bad place", in the setting. This is in contrast to a utopia, which represents a dream world. Neuromancer's settings remain dark, dreary, futuristic, and phony throughout the novel. These characteristics give the reader a sense of sorrow or even a foreshadowing of bad situations. The author portrays this type of setting in the very beginning when he writes, "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel," (Gibson 3). Already, the reader has an initial look at death and confusion, creating a dismal tone in just the first line. The words even create mystery, leaving the audience in question of what could possibly happen next. Later on in the story, the portrayal of dystopia is still evident when the text states, "Lost, so small amid that dark, hands grown cold, body image fading down corridors of television sky," (Gibson 31). The characters in the novel are unable to escape this dystopian lifestyle since it has taken control of their every thought and action. Besides acting as a dystopia, or "bad place", a fake and phony setting illustrates the tone as well.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Comparing Mothers in Mother to Son by Langston Hughes and GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays

Mothers in Mother to Son by Langston Hughes and GIRL by Jamaica Kincaid In order to build a strong, grounded house a person must use brick and cement. A brick is used to build the house, but yet it is the cement that molds and keeps the house together and intact. A family encompasses the same basic rules and needs. The father is the provider for his family, sort of like the brick, but it is the mother who holds the responsibility of teaching right from wrong, and they are the ones who keep strong when everything else is going wrong. Now days there are many single-mother families and the father is non-existent. Therefore, a mother plays a very strong, dominant, and essential role in her family. Mothers always want their children to do right and most of all; want their daughters to be bright young women. In the poem "GIRL", by Jamaica Kincaid, a daughter is remembering all of the things her mother tried to advise her of. The girl in the poem is never given a name because the poem sort of symbolizes how all mothers are when their daughters are growing up. They try to teach them right from wrong. The mother recommends such things as, "don't squat down to play marbles-you are not a boy you know", "don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all", and, "on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming". The mother is only trying to teach her daughter to carry herself in such a manner that is lady-like. In the end of the poem the mother suggests that the daughter, "always squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh". The daughter then replied, "but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?" Her mother was in complete dismay by her daughter's response, "you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" Mothers feel that they do have a certain obligation to mold their children. The mother is frightened that after all she has taught her daughter she won't grow up to be a lady. The role of a mother is not only to distinguish to her children right from wrong, but are also there as a helping hand and guide.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Youth Suicide

ARTICLE IN PRESS Journal of Adolescence xxx (2010) 1–8 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Adolescence journal homepage: www. elsevier. com/locate/jado Factors accounting for youth suicide attempt in Hong Kong: A model building Gloria W. Y. Wan a, Patrick W. L. Leung b, * a b Clinical Psychology Service, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, 5/F, Holy Trinity Bradury Center, 139 Ma Tau Chung Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China 3/F, Sino Building, Clinical and Health Psychology Centre, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China b s t r a c t Keywords: Suicide ideation/attempt Family Psychopathology Life events/stressors Chinese youths This study aimed at proposing and testing a conceptual model of youth suicide attempt. We proposed a model that began with family factors such as a history of physical abuse and parental divorce/separation. Family relationship, presence of psychopathology, life stressors, and suicid e ideation were postulated as mediators, leading to youth suicide attempt. The stepwise entry of the risk factors to a logistic regression model de? ned their proximity as related to suicide attempt. Path analysis further re? ned our proposed model of youth suicide attempt. Our originally proposed model was largely con? rmed. The main revision was dropping parental divorce/separation as a risk factor in the model due to lack of signi? cant contribution when examined alongside with other risk factors. This model was cross-validated by gender. This study moved research on youth suicide from identi? cation of individual risk factors to model building, integrating separate ? ndings of the past studies. O 2009 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Youth suicide, being one of the three leading causes of death in young people, has been a focus of research. Various individual risk factors have been identi? ed (Gould, Greenberg, Velting, & Shaffer, 2003). Despite this success, not until recently are there attempts to develop complex theory-based models that draw together all those identi? ed risk factors and depict their interplay (Bridge, Goldstein, & Brent, 2006; Mann, Waternaux, Haas, & Malone, 1999). Correspondingly, empirical studies in this area are few (e. g. Foley, Goldston, Costello, & Angold, 2006; Fortune, Stewart, Yadav, & Hawton, 2007; Prinstein et al. , 2008; Reinherz, Tanner, Berger, Beardslee, & Fitzmaurice, 2006). Hence, we propose here a model of youth suicide attempt and test it in a sample of Chinese high school students. We aim at articulating and testing hypothetical pathways between family factors, psychopathology, life stressors, and suicidal beha vior. Our model begins with consideration of family risk factors, including a history of physical abuse within the family, poor family relationship, and parental divorce/separation (Johnson et al. 2002; Gould, Fisher, Parides, Flory, & Shaffer, 1996; Gould, Shaffer, Prudence, & Robin, 1998; Liu, Sun, & Yang, 2008; Salzinger, Rosario, Feldman, & Ng-Mak, 2007). However, the latter’s association with youth suicidal behavior is no longer signi? cant or attenuated after controlled for parent-child or family relationship (Groholt, Ekeberg, Wichstrom, & Haldorsen, 2000). Family adversities are also known precursors of youth psychopathology (Fergusson, Woodward, & Horwood, 2000). The latter in turn is found to be a risk factor of suicidal behavior * Corresponding author. Tel. : ? 852 2609 6502; fax: ? 852 2603 5019. E-mail address: [email  protected] edu. hk (P. W. L. Leung). 0140-1971/$ – see front matter O 2009 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. adolescence. 2009. 12. 007 Please cite this article in press as: Wan, G. W. Y. , Leung, P. W. L. , Factors accounting for youth suicide attempt in Hong Kong: A model building, Journal of Adolescence (2010), doi:10. 1016/j. adolescence. 2009. 12. 007 ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 G. W. Y. Wan, P. W. L. Leung / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2010) 1–8 (Brent, Baugher, Bridge, Chen, & Chiappetta, 1999; Osvath, Voros, & Fekete, 2004). A wide range of psychopathology has been implicated, including internalizing/externalizing disorders, and substance use disorders (Brent et al. , 2004; Foley et al. , 2006; Gould et al. , 2003; Lee et al. , 2009; Shaffer et al. , 1996; Stewart et al. , 2006). Furthermore, the risk of suicidal behavior increases with the number of comorbid disorders and with the combination of mood, disruptive and substance abuse disorders (Brent et al. , 1999; Shaffer et al. , 1996). Suicide ideation is among the best predictors of suicide attempt (Prinstein et al. , 2008; Wong et al. , 2008). Studies also suggest that the occurrence of life stressors may prompt suicide ideators into acting on their ideation, ending up in attempted suicide (Borges et al. , 2008; Liu & Tein, 2005). Based upon the above review, our model on youth suicide attempt starts with family risk factors such as a history of physical abuse and parental divorce/separation. We postulate that poor family relationship, psychopathology, life stressors, and suicide ideation act as mediators, leading to suicide attempt. Speci? cally, we hypothesize that a history of physical abuse and parental divorce/separation are associated with poor family relationship. The latter is in turn related to the occurrence of psychopathology in youths. Comorbid internalizing and externalizing disorders then play a crucial role as risk factors to recent life stressors and suicide ideation. Finally, the latter two are risk factors directly linked to suicide attempt. Method Participants and procedure A total of 2754 grade 7–11 Chinese high school students were recruited to participate voluntarily in the study. They were randomly sampled from 15 mainstream high schools of diversi? ed academic rankings from different regions of Hong Kong. The participating schools represented a convenience sample, since they were schools served by the School Counselling Service of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, at which the ? rst author of this study worked. However, the participating schools covered a full range of academic rankings and a wide geographic spread across Hong Kong, and no speci? c bias in their sampling was noted. Thus, they were considered to be representative of local mainstream schools. Special schools of various kinds were excluded. Ethics approval was ? rst obtained from the relevant institutional authority. School visits were then made to explain the objectives of the study. A total of 15 schools were contacted and all of them (100%) agreed to participate in the study. Informed written consents were obtained from parents of the randomly sampled students. The response rate was 94. 4%. The participants completed the self-report questionnaires during school hours. The returned questionnaires were screened for severe psychopathology and suicidal behavior. For ethical reasons, the corresponding school counselors would be alerted for such cases in order to take appropriate actions. Measures Psychopathology The 1991 version of Youth Self-Report (YSR) was re-validated with satisfactory test–retest reliability and criterion validity for use with Hong Kong Chinese youths (Leung et al. , 2006). It evaluated the occurrence of psychopathology in the past 6 months. Since two items in YSR referred to suicidal/self harm behavior and they thus contaminated the relationship under investigation between psychopathology and suicidal behavior, the two items were removed in this study from the construct of internalizing problems as assessed by YSR. Youth suicide ideation/attempt Self-report measures of suicide ideation/attempt had been found to be reliable primary data sources (Joiner, Rudd, & Rajab, 1999; Miranda et al. , 2008). Two measures were used to assess suicide ideation/attempt in this study. First, YSR had two items that referred to suicide ideation and attempt, respectively. However, a single-item measure for a variable was considered undesirable. Hence, two short self-report questionnaires for suicide ideation and attempt were extracted respectively from an existing, longer questionnaire used in a previous local study which asked the occurrences and details of suicide ideation, communication, plan, and attempt (Ho, Leung, Hung, Lee, & Tang, 2000). This questionnaire was found useful in assessing the suicidal behavior of peers of suicide completers and attempters. Depending on whether a youth had consistently indicated suicide ideation and/or attempt both in the adapted questionnaires and with the corresponding item in YSR, he/she would be considered ategorically in this study as a suicide ideator and/or attempter, or not. Recent life stressors The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS; Holmes & Rahe, 1967) asked 30 stressful life events which might happen to the young people and their families in the preceding 12 months. In this study, items in the SRRS related to parental con? ict and divorce/separation were excluded, since these family events were separately examined elsewhere as family risk factors in our model. Items irrelevant to local young adolescents were also excluded (e. g. accepted at a college of your choice). Family relationship In this study, the Family Relationship Index (FRI), a composite of three subscales (i. e. , cohesion, expressiveness, and con? ict) of the Family Environment Scale (FES; Moos & Moos, 1986), was used as a measure of family relationship. The FRI had Please cite this article in press as: Wan, G. W. Y. , Leung, P. W. L. , Factors accounting for youth suicide attempt in Hong Kong: A model building, Journal of Adolescence (2010), doi:10. 1016/j. adolescence. 2009. 12. 007 ARTICLE IN PRESS G. W. Y. Wan, P. W. L. Leung / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2010) 1–8 3 been found to correlate well with other measures of family dysfunction (Hoge, Andrews, Faulkner, & Robinson, 1989) and was widely used in research with Chinese youths (Locke & Prinz, 2002). Parents’ marital status The current marital status of the participants’ parents was enquired with reference to divorce/separation. History of physical abuse Participants were asked to report if they had experienced any physical abuse in the family since childhood. Three items were adapted from Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) (Bernstein et al. 1994) and two additional ones that were relevant to the local Chinese context were speci? cally written for this study, e. g. , ‘‘People in my family had applied corporal punishment to me’’ and ‘‘After I was being physically punished, I had to go to see a doctor or could not go to school’’. Data analysis First, a series of logistic reg ression analysis would be conducted to explore the signi? cance of each individual risk factor separately in predicting suicide ideation and attempt. Except for parental divorce/separation, other risk factors were measured in this study in dimensional scales. They were turned into ategorical data in this logistic regression analysis using distributional cutoffs to de? ne relative deviance (see Table 1 for the exact de? nitions of cutoffs). Second, we tested our proposed model of youth suicide attempt, using hierarchical regression ? rst. The series of predictors would be entered in steps according to their positions in relation to suicide attempt in our proposed model. The risk factors of a history of physical abuse and parental divorce/separation would ? rst be forced into the regression equation, after controlling for effects of the background variables (including age, gender, and family income). Family relationship would then be entered into the equation in the second step. The third batch of predictors would be internalizing and externalizing problems. They were followed in turn by suicide ideation and life stressors. We hypothesized a partial or complete mediational model in which the effects of factors entered ? rst would be attenuated or superseded by those of the subsequent factors in predicting youth suicide attempt. Lastly, path analysis would be conducted to directly test our proposed model of youth suicide attempt, using Lisrel 8. 71. Path analysis has its strengths in examining the chains of in? uences between independent variables, and in postulating the possible cause-and-effect relations among variables for further investigation. An ordinary sample covariance matrix for path analysis would not be appropriate to deal with the dichotomous data of suicidal behavior and parental divorce/separation, as well as the kurtosis and skewness within the other dimensional data. Instead, an asymptotic covariance matrix should be used, analysis of which would require the use of an estimator that allowed for non-normality. The weighted least squares (WLS) method, instead of the maximum likelihood estimator, had provision for such non-normality and was thus the appropriate estimator to be used in this study. Results The mean age of the 2754 participants was 13. 9 years (SD ? 1. 3, range ? 11–18). Among the participants, 55. 7% was male. There were missing data on suicidal behavior from 39 participants. Among the remaining 2715 participants, 252 participants (9. 2%) reported suicide ideation in the past 6 months. Among the 91 (3. 3%) reporting suicide attempt in the same period, only six (6. %) did not report suicide ideation. By gender, among the 1219 female participants, 167 (13. 7%) reported suicide ideation, while only two (3. 0%) of 66 (5. 4%) female suicide attempters did not report suicide ideation. The corresponding ? gures for male participants (1535) were 85 (5. 5%), four (16. 0%), and 25 (1. 6%). Table 1 Percentages of suicide ideators, attempters, and non-suicidal controls, association with various risk factors, and odds ratios (ORs) for predicting suicide ideation and attempt. Variables Cronbach’s Alpha Ideators (n ? 52) n Parents divorced/separated History of physical abusea Poor family relationshipb Internalizing problemsc Externalizing problemsc Frequent recent life stressorsd – 0. 83 0. 83 0. 89 0. 88 – 41 73 142 76 99 102 % 16. 3 29. 0 56. 3 30. 2 39. 3 40. 5 Attempters (n ? 91) n 19 29 51 32 45 44 % 20. 9 31. 9 56. 0 35. 2 49. 5 48. 4 Non-suicidal controls (n ? 2457) n 239 169 602 103 153 364 % 9. 7 6. 9 24. 5 4. 2 6. 2 14. 8 Ideators vs controls OR 1. 8** 5. 8*** 3. 8*** 13. 9*** 9. 8*** 3. 6*** (95% CI) (1. 2–2. 6) (4. 2–8. 1) (2. 9–5. 1) (9. 6–20. 1) (7. 1–13. 4) (2. 7–4. 8) Attempters vs controls OR 2. 3** 5. *** 3. 7*** 10. 7*** 11. 1*** 5. 2*** (95% CI) (1. 3–4. 0) (3. 3–8. 6) (2. 4–5. 7) (6. 6–17. 5) (7. 1–17. 5) (3. 4–8. 1) **p < 0. 01; ***p < 0 . 001. a Cutoff at total score > ? 6 (80th percentile). b Cutoff at total score > ? 15 (80th percentile). c Cutoff at T-score > ? 64 (at clinical range, 92nd percentile). d Cutoff at number of recent life stressors > ? 4 (80th percentile). Please cite this article in press as: Wan, G. W. Y. , Leung, P. W. L. , Factors accounting for youth suicide attempt in Hong Kong: A model building, Journal of Adolescence (2010), doi:10. 1016/j. adolescence. 2009. 12. 07 ARTICLE IN PRESS 4 G. W. Y. Wan, P. W. L. Leung / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2010) 1–8 Table 1 presents the internal consistency coef? cients of the measures employed in this study. They were consistently satisfactory, ranging from 0. 83 to 0. 89. Table 1 also lists the results of separate logistic regression analysis of each risk factor, including the percentages of suicide ideators, attempters, and non-suicidal participants (i. e. , those reporting neither suicide ideation nor attempt) having various risks, as well as t he odds ratios (ORs) of these risk factors in predicting suicide ideation and attempt. Despite multiple testing of the group differences, such testing was all theory-driven (see the literature review above) and was not random so that statistical control of the effects of multiple testing was not required. All three family risk factors (i. e. , parental divorce/separation, history of physical abuse, and poor family relationship) were more prevalent among suicide ideators and attempters, and had signi? cant ORs. Among these risk factors, a history of physical abuse was the best predictor of suicide ideation (OR ? 5. 8, 95% CI ? 4. 2–8. 1) and attempt (OR ? 5. 3, 95% CI ? 3. 3–8. 6). Nearly one third of ideators (29. 0%) and attempters (31. 9%), in contrast to 6. 9% of non-suicidal participants, had a history of being physically abused. With respect to the other two family risk factors, 16. 3% of ideators (OR ? 1. 8, 95% CI ? 1. 2–2. 6) and 20. 9% of attemptors (OR ? 2. 3, 95% CI ? 1. 3–4. 0), compared to 9. 7% of non-suicidal participants, reported parental divorce/separation, while 56. 3% of ideators (OR ? 3. 8, 95% CI ? 2. 9–5. 1) and 56. 0% of attemptors (OR ? 3. 7, 95% CI ? 2. 4–5. 7), compared to 24. 5% of nonsuicidal participants, reported poor family relationship. Compared to family factors, internalizing and externalizing problems were even more associated with higher risks of suicidal behaviors. The ORs of internalizing problems for suicide ideation and attempt were respectively 13. 9 (95% CI ? 9. 6– 20. 1) and 10. 7 (95% CI ? 6. 6–17. 5), while the ORs of externalizing problems were 9. 8 (95% CI ? 7. 1–13. 4) and 11. 1 (95% CI ? 7. 1–17. 5). Nearly one third of ideators (30. 2%) and attempters (35. 2%), in contrast to 4. 2% of non-suicidal participants, had internalizing problems. The corresponding ? gures for externalizing problems were 39. 3% and 49. 5% vs 6. %. Life stressors in the past year also elevated the risk of suicide ideation (OR ? 3. 6, 95% CI ? 2. 7–4. 8) and attempt (OR ? 5. 2, 95% CI ? 3. 4–8. 1). About 40. 5% of suicide ideators and 48. 4% of attempters were reporting more frequent life stressors, compared to 14. 8% of non-suicidal participants. Table 2 shows the results of logistic regression analysis with forced entry of subsets of risk factors in steps, after controlling for background variables (i. e. , age, gender, and family income). With each successive entry of each subset of risk factors, the majority of the previous ones became insigni? ant so that in the ? nal regression model, only recent life stressors (OR ? 1. 01, p < 0. 01) and suicide ideation (OR ? 95. 7, p < 0. 001) signi? cantly accounted for youth suicide attempt. In other words, despite their initial statistical signi? cance when ? rst entered into the regression model, those risk factors such as a history of physical abuse, poor family relationship, and internalizing and externalizing disorders no longer signi? cantly accounted for youth suicide attempt, after life stressors and suicide ideation were later entered into the model. This pattern of results indicated a mediational model largely compatible to our proposed model of youth suicide attempt. It should be noted that parental divorce/separation as a predictor was not signi? cant even when ? rst entered into the regression analysis alongside with a history of physical abuse. This risk factor was thus dropped in the later path analysis. Our proposed model of youth suicide attempt, in a form of a mediational model, was directly tested by path analysis. It achieved a very good ? t: c2 (6, N ? 2754) ? 39. 5, p < 0. 0001; GFI ? 0. 99; AGFI ? 0. 97; RMSEA ? 0. 045; NFI ? 0. 96; CFI ? . 97; RMR ? 0. 57 (Fig. 1). Weighted least squares standardized estimators of the model and their signi? cance according to the two-tailed z value are presented in Fig. 1. All paths shown were signi? cant at p < 0. 01. As shown in Fig. 1, a history of physical abuse, as a family risk factor, was linked directly to suicide ideation, as well as to the ? rst tier of mediators in the m odel, namely, poor family relationship, and externalizing and internalizing problems. They were in turn linked to suicide ideation. The externalizing and internalizing problems were additionally linked to recent life stressors. Finally, suicidal ideation and life stressors were both associated with suicide attempt, with life stressors also linking to the suicide ideation as well. This mediational model with several tiers of mediators explained 48% and 87% of the variances in youth suicide ideation and attempt, respectively. Table 2 Logistic regression of risk factors in predicting youth suicide attempt, controlled for demographic variables. Blocks entered to the modela Deviance between blocks (c2)b 18. 37*** 1. 02*** n. s. 55. 59*** 72. 71*** 1. 02** n. s. 1. 17*** 1. 01* n. s. 1. 07** 1. 07*** 1. 09*** 168. 80*** 10. 5*** 1. 02* n. s. n. s. n. s. n. s. n. s. n. s. 95. 67*** 1. 01** ORs 1 2 3 4 5 1. Family factors History of physical abuse Parental divorce/separation 2. Poor family relationship 3. Psychopathology Internalizing problems Externalizing problems 4. Suicide ideation 5. Life stressors n. s. n. s. 103. 72*** n. s. : non-signi? cant. *p < 0. 05; **p < 0. 01; ***p < 0. 001. a The sequence of blocks entered into the logistic regression model; all factors entered were continuous variables except parental divorce/separation and suicide ideation. b Chi-square deviance of each block entered. Please cite this article in press as: Wan, G. W. Y. , Leung, P. W. L. , Factors accounting for youth suicide attempt in Hong Kong: A model building, Journal of Adolescence (2010), doi:10. 1016/j. adolescence. 2009. 12. 007 ARTICLE IN PRESS G. W. Y. Wan, P. W. L. Leung / Journal of Adolescence xxx (2010) 1–8 5 0. 85*** 0. 52*** 0. 13*** 1. 00*** History of physical abuse 0. 39*** Poor family relationship 0. 19*** 0. 13*** Suicide ideation 0. 20*** 0. 15*** 0. 88*** Suicide attempt 0. 21*** 0. 17*** 0. 44*** 0. 79*** 0. 13*** 0. 33*** Externalizing problems 0. 42*** 0. 29*** Recent stressors 0. 82*** *p

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Purpose of Anthem for a Doomed Youth Essay

Owen’s purpose in writing Anthem for a Doomed Youth is to reveal the cruel reality of war which was always hidden from the public in World War One and to show anger to the people who sent him to the trenches. He says in his preface â€Å"All a poet can do today is warn†¦.† this shows he aims to prevent war from happening in later generations. One way that Owen conveys rage is through the men not getting the recognition that they deserved. He does this by dehumanizing the soldiers and comparing them to â€Å"cattle† which shows that they were only seen as instruments of war by the government. Throughout the poem the men not recognized as individuals, but are referred to as â€Å"they†, â€Å"these† or â€Å"them†, by referring to them as a collective he gives a tone that people other than family did not care about the men’s well being at war. If and when the men do die, the prayers to remember them are ‘hasty’ and careless, this is because too many people die in a day to give the true amount of respect they needed showing the futility of war. In the last line of the poem â€Å"a drawing down of blinds†, this metaphor infers death but in different ways. Firstly, in Owen’s time if a funeral car drove past people would pull their blinds down to show respect to the deceased this shows that everyday someone in a town will die and did not come home, so the ‘blinds’ are drawn for funerals that did not take place as men were lost in battle. At the end of everyday blinds are drawn down this can symbolize the sun also going down at the end of a day or finality when someone dies, the blinds of their life are drawn. Finally it infers that people might have drawn their blinds down, or turned their back, to the truth about the war, because maybe it was too brutal to think of their loved ones in the middle of it. Owen also proves in this poem that people, on the battle field and back in Britain, lost their faith in God during the war. Even the title of the piece is ironic in a way. An â€Å"anthem† is usually written for a religious purpose, but when contrasted with a â€Å"doomed youth† it shows not only that war was falsely portrayed as heroic to the men, but also that the war was â€Å"doomed† from the start and not even God could have helped them. Also, no one stopped  to mourn the fallen, the only ‘choirs’ are the voices from the ‘shells’ and bombs on no-mans land. Whilst the men are dehumanized, the rifles, shells and other machines are personified and given human feelings such as â€Å"stuttering† and â€Å"demented† showing that the equipment of war meant more to the government than the men. Also, world war one was the first war to introduce industrial methods of warfare so the guns were seen as better and given more care than the men. When dehumanizing the soldiers and personifying the arms Owen is criticizing the war by saying that the guns mean more than the men controlling them. But although the guns are given feelings and characteristics, they are negative. The artillery are â€Å"stuttering† which can be caused by shell-shock this implies that the soldiers ‘disabilities’ have been transferred to the weapons. The form of the poem is a sonnet, sonnets first started out as romantic but truthful poems by poets such as Wordsworth. By Owen using a sonnet as the poem’s form he conveys irony and conflict as the poem is about aggression and struggle. To conclude, Owen uses Anthem for a Doomed Youth to criticize the war and to expose the true reality of the trenches, he does this by using many language techniques such as dehumanization, metaphors, oxymoron, onomatopoeia and personification.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Differences Between Private And Public English Language Schools In Dissertation

Differences Between Private And Public English Language Schools In Northern Cyprus - Dissertation Example In Cyprus, as elsewhere – the ongoing race of education as it keeps pace with technology opens up the potential to establish the fabled global village with respect to the development of human capacities through modern educational institutions now becoming available in North Cyprus. The value of specialized language education programs is recognized throughout Europe and neighboring regions. Across a diverse continent, and nearby islands there is considerable potential for Diversity – but also a similar potential for isolation and prejudice as existed in centuries past. Among one of the central tenets of the European Union is the promotion of mobility and communication within the population of Europe and neighboring regions. The most immediate and practical way to address the need for equality and mobility is through a policy of linguistic equality. The goal of multilingualism is achievable through the promotion and facilitation of a common language or languages among diverse groups in formerly isolated regions to create a broader cultural framework in which populations can move and interact with one another more freely, as well as receive visitors from other countries and more readily accommodate them for educational and economic purposes. With different languages endemic to various regions throughout the greater European sphere, the teaching of English opens up expanded opportunities for communication and concourse both for travelers from their native lands, and to receive visitors for the economic invigoration of islands such as Cyprus. English remains a popular choice, and a useful starting point for an overall goal of multilingual aptitude throughout Europe and the Mediterranean region. Turkish Cyprus boasts a large population of expatriate English speakers, but with less tourism in the Turkish north, demand is somewhat le ss for new English speakers as language instructors than the Greek South. Throughout the island, the state system boasts widespread English instruction, and while there are private English-language academies of various quality and price throughout the country, academies include primary and secondary schools in English. But there are smaller numbers of Russian, French, and Greek academies as well. English-speaking academies tend to be fewer in number in Turkish areas (Global-English.com, 2010). In terms of the political geography of the region, the island is divided into the Turkish north, officially known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus –