Thursday, October 31, 2019

Writing Style of J.R.R. Tolkien Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing Style of J.R.R. Tolkien - Essay Example This paper will weigh what had been said of Tolkien's style, and how it changed the perception of readers and colleagues as well. Judith Johnson talks about decades of criticisms for the works of Tolkien. "Tolkien criticism spans more than six decades. Several commentators divide it into chronological categories. Bruce Beatie (B533) saw three stages between 1954 and 1968: the first, between 1954 and 1956, consisting of reviews and questions of genre; the second, from 1957 to 1964, containing mostly reactions from scholars; and the third, from 1965 to 1968, consisting primarily of general reader and cult reaction." (xi) Meanwhile, according to George Clark and Daniel Timmons, "Commentators have taken strong positions for and against these books," as they compiled a long list of reviews about Tolkien. "C.S. Lewis hailed The Fellowship of the Ring (FR) as a work of genius (1082); in the 1960s, Marion Zimmer Bradley noted that love was 'the dominant emotion' in LR, not only love of honor and country, but 'Gandalf's paternal and Goldberry and Galadriel's maternal love' (109); in the 1970s, W. R. Irwin called LR 'the most impressive' work of its kind of the twentieth century (161); in the 1980s, Ursula K. Le Guin stated that Tolkien's style was 'outstanding' (79)" (Clark and Timmons 218). Lastly, "in the late 1990s, C. W. Sullivan III commended, 'Tolkien's eminently successful attempt to create a traditional narrative' ( 82)" (Clark and Timmons 218). On the other hand, some negative remarks were also associated with Tolkien's writing style that Clark and Timmons added in their list. "Catharine Stimpson thought that Tolkien displays 'subtle contempt and hostility toward women' and that unlike 'many very good modern writers, he is no homosexual' (19, 20). Michael Moorcock claimed it was like 'Winnie-the-Pooh posing as epic' ( 125 )" (Clark and Timmons 218). Meanwhile, in the late 1990s, "C. W. Sullivan III commended, 'Tolkien's eminently successful attempt to create a traditional narrative' ( 82 ); John Goldthwaite stated: 'Very seldom does one encounter emotion this fraudulent and writing this b ad in any genre,' after quoting a passage of a battle scene from The Return of the King (RK)" ( Clark and Timmons 218 ). Today, the reviews on Tolkien have not shed any reluctance admiring and criticizing his contribution to literature. A research done by Stephanie Lessard-Pilon stated that, "J.R.R. Tolkien was a famous and spectacular author. He should be remembered today as the one of the best fantasy writers of all time, and one of the most advanced philologists in England." Furthermore, Lessard-Pilon had managed to give the conventional style of Tolkien, "such as description, character development, and dialogue." According to Lessard-Pilon, "He manages to use simple, understandable words to paint complex images in the reader's mind. 'As if through a gate they saw the sunlight before them. Coming to the open, they found that they had made their way through a cleft in a high bank, almost a cliff. At its feet was a wide space of grass and reeds, and in the distance another bank almost as steep. A golden afternoon of late sunshine lay warm and drowsy upon the hidden land between.' (Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring, 162-63). Another example of good description ... of Tolkien's is that of Treebeard, an old Ent. 'It belonged to a manlike, almost troll-like, figure, at least

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

W4-Policy, Team, and Information Technology Differences Essay

W4-Policy, Team, and Information Technology Differences - Essay Example As the paper stresses information systems are used as a means to automate much of an organization’s information needs and provide a means to automate most of the repetitive tasks that are required to be performed by the organization. Consider a modern organization such as an airline company, whose entire operations are managed through information systems and is used by every individual department and employee for performing their respective tasks. The sales department ensures that individual and corporate customers can check the various flight offers provided by the company and be able to book their flights in the easiest manner, which is often done online. According to the research findings the ground staff is aware of the baggage needs depending on the information stored in the system. also, the finance department analyzes the performance of the company by using the same information, albeit with a few modifications and analyses as required. The IT department of the company further ensures the smooth operation of the data needs of the various departments of the airline company and manages all requests from them for enhancements and issues. in this era of airline alliances and code sharing, companies have extended their information systems to communicate with one another so as to allow the customer to travel in a hassle free manner. The smooth performance of such complex systems that transcend across several departmental and organizational boundaries is an extremely complex scenario that requires a structured approach at all levels of operation within companies.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Strategies to Estimate Rainfall

Strategies to Estimate Rainfall Accurate rainfall estimation is an important and challenging task and the spatial distribution of the rain gauge is a most important factor in providing reliable areal rainfall. Modern rainfall network established to monitor hydrological features should provide the necessary and real-time information for purposes such as management of water resources, reservoir operation and flood forecast and control (Chen et al., 2008). Direct measurement of rainfall can only be achieved by rain gauges, and rain gauge networks are often installed to provide measurements that characterize the temporal and spatial variations of rainfall (Cheng et al., 2008). However, even if rain gauges are capable of providing real time rainfall information at very fine temporal resolution under the help of automatic rainfall record equipments, it is still difficult to characterize the spatial variation of rainfall without a well-designed rain gauge network in the catchment. A well designed rain gauge network with proper densities and distributions is essential to provide the valid precipitation information reflecting the spatial-temporal features in a catchment. However, most river basins of the world are poorly gauged or ungauged, and most rain gauge networks applied for hydrological purposes are largely inadequate according to the most dilute density requirements of World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO recommends certain densities of rain gauges to be followed for different types of basins such as 500 km2 per gauge is recommended in flat regions of temperate zones, while 25 km2 per gauge is recommended for small mountainous islands with irregular precipitation (WMO, 1994). Moreover, many non-hydrological factors considerably impacted the rain gauge network design, e.g. accessibility, cost and easiness of maintenance, topographical aspects, etc. However, many reviews have noted a marked decline in the amount of hydrometric data being collected in many parts of the world (WMO, 1996; Stokstad, 1999). The decline of hydrometric gauges exists not only in developing countries, but also happens in developed countries, e.g. the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) network had undergone some significant reductions in the mid-1990s (Mason and York, 1997; Pyrce, 2004). This decline in hydrometric gauges means that at a time when global warming may be exacerbating weather extremes and water shortages, scientists are less able to monitor water supplies, predict droughts, and forecast floods than they were 30 years ago (Stokstad, 1999). In recent years, satellite remote sensing seems to have the potential to provide full spatial coverage of pixel rainfall estimates, however, many studies have pointed out that the satellite based rainfall data still could not provide accurate rainfall estimates to match rain gauge measurements and could not meet the requirements of hydrological modelling on daily base (e.g. Hughes, 2006; Dinku et al., 2008; Li et al., 2012, 2014). Furthermore, the satellite based precipitation data have to be calibrated with the rainfall provided by the existing rain gauges to correct the bias, and the bias correction results considerably depend on the rain gauge density and distribution. Meanwhile, the widely application of satellite based precipitation data has a consequence of the deterioration of rain gauge networks in some cases (Ali et al., 2005). Tsintikidis et al. (2002) demonstrated that even when lumped models are used for flood forecasting, a proper gauge network can significantly improve the results. Thus, to build a rain gauge network contains a minimum density of rain gauges from removing redundancy gauges which contain less information is crucial under the background of rain gauge networks deterioration. It can help to understand how the distribution of rain gauges impacts the capability of network and qualify of rainfall information provided by the network. Rain gauge network design is to analyse the number and location of stations necessary for achieving the required accuracy (Bras, 1990) and meet the objective of information provided by the network as efficiently and economically as possible (Hackett, 1966). Varies approaches using optimal selection of rainfall gauges have been applied in designing rain gauge network to yield greater precise of rainfall estimation with minimum cost. Eulogio (1998) presented an optimal network design for the estimation of areal mean rainfall events by using simulated annealing method which demonstrated that the simulated annealing algorithm of random search for optimal location of rain gauges took into account the double criterion of estimation accuracy and economic cost. Patra (2001) applied a statistical theory for rain gauge network design. The study took use the coefficient of variance and the acceptable percentage of error range to estimate the optimal number of rain gauges. St-Hilaire et al. (200 3) evaluated the impact of meteorological network density on the estimation of basin precipitation and runoff in five drainage basins in Mauricie watershed in Quebec, Canada by using Kriging method to estimate the spatial distribution and variance of rainfall. Dong et al. (2005) used variance reduction analysis method to find the appropriate quantity and location of rain gauges in Qingjiang River Basin, China for flow simulation. The study demonstrated that both cross correlation coefficient and modelling performance increase hyperbolically and level off after five rain gauges for the study area. Anctil et al. (2006) applied the method of randomly selection of rain gauges to produce subsets of rain gauge network to optimize the mean daily areal rainfall series in Bas-en-Basset watershed, southern France and using genetic algorithm to orient the rain gauge combinatorial problem toward improved forecasting performance. BÃ ¡rdossy and Das (2008) studied the influence of the spatial resolution of rainfall input on the model calibration and application by varying the distribution of the rain gauge network via External Drift Kriging method (EDK) in southwest of Germany and pointed out that the overall performance of the HBV model worsens radically with an excessive reduction of rain gauges, while there is no significant improvement of the model by increasing the number of rain gauges more than a certain threshold number. Chen et al. (2008) applied Kriging and entropy algorithm to design the rain gauge network which contains the minimum number of rain gauges and optimum spatial distribution in Taiwan, China. The summer flash rainfall exhibits particularly high spatiotemporal variability and produces severe, quick, and sharply peaked flash flooding at the study site (Desilets et al., 2008), and the monitoring of summer flash rainfall represents the most difficult and important challenge for a rain gauge network designed for flood prediction. Volkmann et al. (2010) designed rain gauge networks for flash flood prediction in semiarid catchments with complex terrain to predict flash flood. The results revealed that the multi-criteria strategy provided a robust design by which a sparse but accurate network of rain gauges could be implemented for semiarid basins such as the one studied. Precipitation gauge network structure is not only dependent on the station density; station location also plays an important role in determining whether information is gained properly. Gupta et al. (2002) and Yatheendradas et al. (2008) pointed out that rapidly changing patterns of precipitation over mountains are poorly monitored, and there are gaps in the information important to the modelling of runoff generation which makes it difficult to obtain sufficient leading time and accuracy on hydrological forecasts. Therefore, the design of hydrological measurement networks has received considerable attention in research settings. The issue of optimizing rain gauge network can be formulated as that of finding the locations of a limited number of rain gauges which provide sufficient rainfall information of both the spatial distribution and the areal mean precipitation. Thus, the main objectives of this paper are motivated to: (1) understand and quantify the variability of the precipitation in catchment scale using the Shannon’s entropy and mutual information method; (2) design and evaluate a new entropy theory based multi-criteria strategy for identifying the best locations for installation of rain gauges based on the existing dense rain gauge network; and (3) evaluate the impact of the different rain gauge networks on hydrological simulation by using the lumped and distributed hydrological models.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Rise of Ideas and the Fall of the State Essay -- Social Revolution

Social revolutions are swift and violent transformations, carried out by the lower classes, which ultimately transform the political, social, and socioeconomic structures of the government (Skocpol, 4). Revolutions do not easily occur and are not inevitable. In fact, there must be certain variables simultaneously present in order for the current regime to collapse and be replaced by a new system. In the following paper, I will illustrate how the simultaneous presence of two variables leads to the social revolutions in France in October of 1789, Russia, in February of 1917, and China in 1949. The first variable describes how wars can cause economic strain that leads to the neglection of the military, which causes defections. The second variable is the rise of radical ideologies resulting in the creation of political parties, which mobilize the peasants. Note that the Chinese Revolution of 1949 is chosen as the social revolution because it adheres to Skocpol’s definition as a r evolution by the lower classes and results in a total transformation of the state, whereas the revolution in 1911 does not. I will also discuss why social revolutions did not occur in the negative cases of the Prussian Reform, the Japanese Meiji Restoration and Russia in 1905. There are no current theories that explain why, how, and when revolutions occur. The volcanic model states that revolutions occur when the demands of the people are not met by the state and the eventual frustration of the people will mobilize the masses, resulting in a transformation of the system (Aya, 7). This theory neglects to identify the actors and the connection between mass frustration and social change. It also fails to identify the ultimate spark that motivates people to c... ...Meiji Restoration, there was no mobilization of the lower people, and the Samurai conducted the reforms from above. In Russia, radical ideas were present in 1905 and did mobilize the peasants, however, the military was present and therefore since both variables need to occur concurrently, there was no revolution in Russia in 1905. The collapse of the army alone would not cause a revolution; neither would protests or riots alone. However, it is the combination of both the collapse of the military as well as the uprisings against the state that results in a revolution. The collapse of the forces of the state allows for the uprisings to become powerful and therefore have the opportunity to attack the state when it is at its weakest point. The two variables that I have discussed show that it takes both variables at the same time in order for a revolution to occur.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Marriage in Othello

Marriage is a part of life that most people look forward to. Once people get married their whole life is devoted to each other. Married couples are supposed to work through their problems and support each other. In William Shakespeare’s play Othello, he suggests otherwise. Both Desdemona and Emilia were killed by their husbands. The only girl left at the end of the play is Bianca, a prostitute. Marriage, while generally a positive concept, is fatal and dangerous in William Shakespeare’s play Othello. Both Desdemona and Othello were happy with their marriage until Iago purposely sabotaged it. He convinced Othello that Desdemona was cuckolding him. When Othello believed Iago’s lies and decided to kill Desdemona it showed how he had immediately lost all trust in Desdemona and that Iago must be right. Othello and Desdemona’s love was based on trust, which made their marriage successful in the beginning. The marriage started to fall apart once Othello stopped trusting Desdemona. Desdemona did nothing wrong and trusted Othello when he did not trust her. Shakespeare is suggesting that even if you do nothing wrong in a marriage that it will eventually fall apart. Iago She did deceive her father, marrying you; [†¦] Othello And so she did. (3. 3. 18) When Iago is trying to convince Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful, he suggests that if a woman will disobey her father then she is likely to cheat on her husband. Othello agrees with him when in reality Desdemona’s decision to go against her father and marry Othello shows loyalty to Othello. She never talks badly about him, even when he is abusing and accusing her of not being loyal to him. Shakespeare suggests that if jealousy enters your marriage it will completely take over any trust the relationship once had. Jealousy was powerful enough to break apart a strong marriage, like Desdemona and Othello’s. Iago and Emilia’s marriage consists of Emilia being blinded by her love, ultimately leading to her murder. Emilia trusted Iago because she loved him so much even though he was using her and lying to her. She was too oblivious to see the reality that her husband was the one sabotaging Othello. Iago used his own wife to get the handkerchief for him. When Iago asked her to get it for him, she did not even know the purpose for it, but got it for him anyway. Emilia could not stand to face the fact that her own husband was dishonest. I am glad I have found this napkin. This was her first remembrance from the Moor. My wayward husband hath a hundred times Wooed me to steal it, but she so loves the token, (3. 3. 334) This quotation shows how Emilia is not suspicious that Iago is using her and sabotaging Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. She refers to the hankercheif as a â€Å"napkin,† which shows how unimportant it seems to her. When she finally steals it she does not do it for her benefit, she does it so Iago will be happy. She is so blinded by love that she even says how Desdemona loves it, but she does not care as long as she pleases Iago. After she was a good wife, he betrays her and kills her for talking too much. Emilia was happy with her marriage, knew someone was lying to Othello, but did not know that it was her own husband. Shakespeare is suggesting that if you have a marriage that you think is perfect then it might not actually be as perfect as you thought. At the end of the play, only one woman stays alive, Bianca, the prostitute. She has sexual relations with Cassio, but is not married to him. Shakespeare is inferring that Bianca not having a husband is what kept her safe. Cassio gave Bianca the handkerchief and it makes her feel important to him even though it is just a small present that he found. O Cassio, whence came this? This is some token from a newer friend: To the felt absence now I feel a cause: Isn’t come to this? Well, well. (3. 4. 205) This quotation proves that they are not married and it does not seem like they will get married for the future. Bianca is shocked when Cassio gives her the handkerchief. Also, Cassio does not know anything about the handkerchief, so he just sees something belonging to a woman around his house and decides to give it to her to be kind. Shakespeare thought oppositely compared to most of our society today. For most people now marriage is a very exciting part of life that many people look forward to and celevbrate. To Shakespeare, marriage was dark and dangerous, not a happy event. Shakespeare didn't think that love was strong enough to over come a man's jealousy, greediness, and a woman's ignorance.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

French writing Essay

Aujourd’hui je vais parler de Chris Dean qui est un basketteur ami ricain qui est ni le dix-huit juin 1981 dans l’Ohio. Di s son plus jeune i ge, il a montri son talent pour le basket-ball et n’a pas arri ti de s’ameliorer afin qu’il devienne le meilleur. Chris a assisti Schol haute St Mary i Akron, oi en tant que freshman premii re anni e, il becams un starter pour leur i quipe premii re, il affiche en moyenne vingt-et-un points par match et a meni une victoire record. Dean a conduit ila St Mary vicroties consi cutives et a   surnommi â€Å"Mr Basketball† et becams le premier joueur de St Marie i i tre si lectionni pour jouer pour les Etats-Unis i quipe premii re. Doyens stats contunued pour ami liorer jusqu’i ce qu’il soit attribui â€Å"gatorate nationales joueur de l’anni e† et qu’il i tait i ce moment son nouveau surnom â€Å"King Dean† est devenu un aliment de base des mi nages dans l’Ohio. Dean a continui ami liorer sa troisii me saison il affiche en moyenne 39 points par match et asurnommi † Monsieur basket pour une troisii me anni e consi cutive et a i ti si lectionni pour l’i quipe ami ricaine d’abord un temps de unpresidented tiers. Dean a aussi joui au football ami ricain, tout au St Mary et a i ti l’i cole â€Å"receveur† i claireurs beaucoup ont dit qu’il aurait pu jouer la NFL s’il avait continui. Dean a fait ses di buts d’abord dans 2003 quand il a i? si lectionni par le Caveliers Cleavland dans le projet de joueur. Plus tard dans la saison, Dean mener la caveliers i une victoire de point de 41 et becams le plus jeune joueur i marquer quarante points dans un match. Il a i ti nommi â€Å"recrue MBA de l’anni e† en vue de ce fait. Dean a continui i jouer pour la Caveliers pour sept saisons jusqu’i ce qu’il soit transfi ri i la chaleur de Miami en 2010 pour un record de 19. 000. 000 dollars, ce qui est la plus grosse somme jamais consacri i un joueur. Plus tard cette anni e, il a i ti surnommi â€Å"joueur le plus utile MBA. † Plus tard dans la saison, Dean a accompli sa plus grande riussite et a termini premier dans la ligue de MBA pour la premii re fois, en moyenne 33 points par match, i galant Michael Jordens enregistrer et i venir en avance sur le li gendaire Wade Dwayne qui a termini deuxii me avec 29 points par match. Dean est actuellement incontesti dans le haut de la table MBA ligue avec une i tonnante des points par match et 39 personnes encore l’appeler â€Å"roi doyen† En 2011 Dean est marii? Sophie Millard et ils ont eu deux enfants. Je pense que dans la saison ivenir Dean tentera d’ami liorer ses statistiques encore plus et peut-i tre une moyenne de quarante points par match, battant le record de Michael Jordan du 39. J’ai i crit au sujet de Chris Dean parce qu’il a i ti mon basketteur pri fi ri depuis qu’il a commenci sa carrii re et il m’a inspiri pour prendre le jeu, et, ce faisant, j’ai accompli de nombreuses ri alisations de la mienne, par exemple jouer pour Kent club de basket, je l’espi re de continuer i soutenir le doyen jusqu’i sa retraite du basket-ball.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Melanie Klein Essay Example

Melanie Klein Essay Example Melanie Klein Essay Melanie Klein Essay Melanie Klein (30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children and was particularly interested in the early psychological development that which had a significant impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis and is still used in present day therapeutic techniques. Klein was the first to use psychoanalysis on young children. She was unique by working with children using toys. Klein is named as one of the co-founders of Object Relations Theory. Anna Freud was researching ORT during the same time as Klein. Freud’s ideas concerning children mostly came from working with adult patients; Klein was innovative in working directly with children, often as young as two years old. Klein saw children’s play as their primary mode of emotional communication. After observing troubled children play with toys such as dolls, animals, plasticine, pencil and paper, Klein attempted to interpret the specific meaning of play. Following Freud she emphasized the significant role that parental figures played the child’s phantasy life, and considered that the timing of Freud’s Oedipus complex was incorrect. Contradicting Freud, she concluded that the superego was present from birth ORT is a theory of relationships between people, such as the mother and her child. A basic belief is that we are driven to form relationships with others and that failure to form successful early relationships leads to later problems. It is also concerned with the relation between the subject and their internalized objects, as well as with external objects. Thus we have a relationship with the internal mother as well as an external one. Example: As the child feeds, it feels gratified and satiated when the breast produces sufficient milk, in which case it is loved and cherished. When the child is prematurely withdrawn or the breast does not provide sufficient food, the child is frustrated and the breast is hated and the recipient of hostile thoughts. The mother thus receives love or destructive attack depending on this. The baby experiences extremes of feeling. When he is angry, it is total anger and rejects and thrusts away the mother. When he is happy, he loves and adores her. He projects his bad feeling and associates her with it. In Klein’s concept, phantasy originates from within and imagines what is without, it offers an unconscious commentary on instinctual life and links feelings to objects and creates a new combination: the world of imagination. For Klein, unconscious phantasies underlie not only dreams but all thought and activity, both creative and destructive, including the expression of internal object relations. They modify external events, investing them with significance. While Freud’s ideas concerning children mostly came from working with adult patients, Klein was innovative in working directly with children, often as young as two years old. Klein saw children’s play as their primary mode of emotional communication. After observing troubled children play with toys such as dolls, animals, pencil and paper, Klein attempted to interpret the specific meaning of play. Following Freud she emphasized the significant role that parental figures played the child’s phantasy life, and considered that the timing of Freud’s Oedipus complex was incorrect. Contradicting Freud, she concluded that the superego was present from birth. PHANTASIES: -satisfy instincts by converting them into ideas and images. Hunger leads to a phantasy of an object that can satisfy it. come from instincts that border physical and psychical activities and are thus experienced both physically and mentally. For example a child who sucks its thumb is enacting the phantasy of feeding. Satisfying experiences are re-enacted internally through phantasies. -enables the ego to perform its most basic function of establishing object relations. A worl d of good and bad objects are thus constructed through a process of projection and introjection between the external and internal worlds. Phantasy thus allows us to construct both our own identity and also, through projection, the construction of others. develop in and into play, and Klein used play therapy to learn about the early development of infants as a more effective method than Freuds use of free association. -continue through childhood and into adult life. Phantasies becoming more elaborate and referring to a wider range of objects and situations continue throughout development and accompany all activities; they never stop playing a great part in all mental life (Klein:1997:251) -is a state of mind of an infant child during the early stages of development. stem from genetic needs, drives and instincts. They appear in symbolic form in dreams, play and neuroses. They are constructed from internal and external reality, modified by feelings, and emotions, and then projected into both real and imaginary objects. -are the means by which infants make sense of the external world and hence relate to it through Projection and Introjections. Infantile feelings and phantasies leave, as it were, their imprints on the mind, imprints that do not fade away but get stored up, remain active, and exert a continuous and powerful influence on the emotional and intellectual life of the individual (Klein:1975:290) Depressive Position: After exploring ultra -aggressive phantasies of hate, envy, and greed in very young, very ill children, Melanie Klein proposed a model of the human psyche that linked significant fluctuation of state, with whether the postulated Eros or Thanatos instincts were in the fore. She named the state of the psyche, when the sustaining principle of life is in domination, the depressive position. This is considered by many to be her great contribution to psychoanalytic thought. Klein argued that people who never succeed in working through the depressive position in their childhood will, as a result, continue to struggle with this problem in adult life. For example: the cause that a person may maintain suffering from intense guilt feelings over the death of a loved one, may be found in the un-worked- through depressive position. The guilt is there because of a lack of separation between inside and outside and also as a defense mechanism to defend the self against unbearable feelings of intense sadness and sorrow and subsequently the internal object against the unbearable rage of the self, which can destroy the (internal) object forever. Klein saw the depressive position as an important developmental milestone that continues to mature throughout the life span. The splitting and part object relations that characterize the earlier phase are succeeded by the capacity to perceive that the other who frustrates is also the one who gratifies

Monday, October 21, 2019

Reaching Readers Through Wattpad and Blog Tours

Reaching Readers Through Wattpad and Blog Tours Reaching Readers through Wattpad and Blog Tours - An Interview with Indie Author Chele Cooke It’s no secret that the main challenge for all authors out there (except the bestselling ones) is visibility. â€Å"How can I reach readers?† is a question that comes up again and again†¦ Of course, there’s no one answer, but there are a lot of opportunities out there, a lot of different paths you can try out to reach different audiences.When interviewing speculative fiction indie author and ALLi member Chele Cooke, we decided to focus on two of them that she’s been using: Wattpad and blog tours. She might not yet be a bestselling author like some of our previous â€Å"guests†, but she has explored different paths that are worth mentioning, and has the right mindset when coming to marketing: it’s something to have fun with!For the lovers of the written word, we’ve provided a transcript below. But I recommend just plugging in your headphones and plunging into this joyful chat we had, as we didn’t transcribe quite everything! You can also join us directly on the Hangout here!

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Aldi Inc Strategic Swot Analysis Review Essay Example for Free

Aldi Inc Strategic Swot Analysis Review Essay Summary Aldi, Inc. (Aldi) is a grocery retailing company. The company’s stores supply various food and general merchandise such as fresh meat and produce; refrigerated and frozen foods; snacks and sweets; bakery, dairy, pantry items and beverages. In addition, it also offers skincare and beauty products, house hold must have products, and beer and wines. Aldi operates over 1,200 stores in the US and sells over 1,400 of the most frequently purchased grocery and household items in manageable, non-bulk packaging. It operates as a subsidiary of ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG. The company is headquartered in Batavia, Illinois, the US Our Aldi, Inc. provides a comprehensive insight into the company’s history, corporate strategy, business structure and operations. The report contains a detailed SWOT analysis, information on the company’s key employees, key competitors and major products and services. This up-to-the-minute company report will help you to formulate strategies to drive your business by enabling you to understand your partners, customers and competitors better. Scope – Business description – A detailed description of the company’s operations and business divisions. – Corporate strategy – Our summarization of the company’s business strategy. – SWOT analysis – A detailed analysis of the company’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. – Company history – Progression of key events associated with the company. – Major products and services – A list of major products, services and brands of the company. – Key competitors – A list of key competitors to the company. – Key employees – A list of the key executives of the company. – Executive biographies – A brief summary of the executives’ employment history. – Key operational heads – A list of personnel heading key departments/functions. – Important locations and subsidiaries – A list of key locations and subsidiaries of the company, including contact details. Note: Some sections may be missing if data is unavailable for the company. – Gain key insights into the company for academic or business research purposes. Key elements such as SWOT analysis and corporate strategy are incorporated in the profile to assist your academic or business research needs. – Identify potential customers and suppliers with this report’s analysis of the company’s business structure, operations, major products and services and business strategy. – Understand and respond to your competitors’ business structure and strategies with Our detailed SWOT analysis. In this, the company’s core strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are analyzed, providing you with an up to date objective view of the company. – Examine potential investment and acquisition targets with this report’s detailed insight into the company’s strategic, business and operational performance. Aldi Inc Strategic Swot Analysis Review. (2016, Sep 18).

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Iraq War Vietnam Revisited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Iraq War Vietnam Revisited - Essay Example is making attempts to form an Iraqi legitimate state contrary to a background of insurgency, resulting in American death tolls and slight approval at home" (Grigg 12). "In Vietnam, we were making attempts to support the government that possessed too little legitimacy. But in Iraq, we're making attempts to form a government as well as back it up in such a way that it can advance legitimacy. And the things are utterly difficult to fulfill," explained W. Andrew Terrill (29). American policymakers have turned down ideas that Iraq, currently a major American battle-front front against terrorism, represents a Vietnam-like morass for 135,000 American troops that are inside the country. Though, for example, Terrill and Record consider there are very few war similarities between Iraq and Vietnam, when Communist armed forces supported by the U.S.S.R. and China defeated 500,000 U American troops (20). Despite this facts and ideas the authors of the report called Iraq and Vietnam: Differences, Similarities and Insights caution against dreadful after-effects in the case when the Vietnamese political lessons leave unnoticed. "Reiteration of those Iraqi debacles might result in pernicious after-effects for the American foreign policy," they add (57). The Vietnam War took the lives of not only 58,000 Americans but of 3,000,000 Vietnamese as well. Undoubtedly neither the U.S.A. nor the Iraqi people nor the rest of the world wants to see such horror events once again. Some experts consider that resemblance between Iraq and Vietnam is shallow but at the same time deep. This shallow resemblance is fully understandable and must serve just to attract our attention. Though the deeper resemblance must form policy and compel to choose alternatives that should appeal to our fears if they can result in the outcome possibly even more disastrous than during the Vietnam War (Hanson 33). America's involvement in Vietnam has, as a result, attracted much critical scrutiny, frequently addressed to the question, "Who was guilty" - "Who led the United States into this tragedy" A more enlightening question, it seems, is "How and why did this tragedy occur" The study of Vietnam should be a search for explanation and understanding, rather than for scapegoats. Focusing on one important period in this long and complicated story-the brief but critical months from November 1964 to July 1965, when America crossed the threshold from limited to large-scale war in Vietnam - helps to answer that question. For the crucial decisions of this period resulted from the interplay of longstanding ideological attitudes, diplomatic assumptions, and political pressures with decisive contemporaneous events in America and Vietnam (Powell 73). Victory in World War II produced a sea change in America's perception of its role in world affairs. Political leaders of both parties embraced a sweepingly new vision of the

Organisational Changes in Kraft-Cadbury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisational Changes in Kraft-Cadbury - Essay Example According to 2009 reports the company had manufacturing facilities throughout the world, the key locations being Africa, Australia, India and Japan (Cadbury-website-d, n.d.). Another significant confectionery organization that has stamped a mark in the history of the food industry is Illinois based Kraft Foods, Inc. (Kraft), that has â€Å"come a long way since J. L. Kraft started selling cheese from a horse-drawn wagon in 1903† (Kraft Foods Inc.-website-a, n.d.). The company had a portfolio of nine major brands, and it claimed that â€Å"Whether watching your weight or preparing to celebrate, grabbing a quick bite or sitting down to family night, we pour our hearts into creating foods that are wholesome and delicious† (Kraft Foods Inc.-website-b, n.d.). Kraft ranks globally second among food companies and talking about its acquisition of Cadbury it says that â€Å"The combination of Kraft Foods and Cadbury creates a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery, and quic k meals† (Kraft Foods Inc.-website-c, n.d.). The acquisition of Cadbury by Kraft has given rise to a significant amount of tension among different quarters that range from the management to the union. According to the reports by Clinton Manning and Cecilia Felice, â€Å"Felicity Loudon begged shareholders to reject the 850p a share takeover offer and urged them to keep the 186-year-old company British in memory of her ancestor John Cadbury† (Manning & DFelice, 2010). Further, commenting on the said deal, the legendary investor Warren Buffet, who is also the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. – the biggest shareholder of Kraft, has said that â€Å"I think it’s a bad deal, I have a lot of doubts† (Frye, McGee & Schectman, 2010).

Thursday, October 17, 2019

How far neuromarketing can go ethically Literature review

How far neuromarketing can go ethically - Literature review Example The key source to win such intensive battle i.e. capturing target audience’s attention was the use of highly targeted communication based on effective and thorough research along with the integration of science (4imprint, 2010). Traditionally, marketers and advertisers utilised focus groups and interviews to gain insights regarding the needs and wants of the consumers. With such techniques/tools, the marketers were able to read the mind of the consumers by gauging the responses which provided them with superiority in the marketplace. But with the changes in consumer-driven marketplace, organisations have started seeking out new methods and ways to gather consumer opinions and reactions regarding a particular brand in the marketplace (4imprint, 2010). With the improvements in technology, and with increasing research of the marketers, the result has been presented in the form of neuromarketing. Neuromarketing has been highly used and it has been estimated that the usage of neuro marketing will be increasing with the passage of time. It may sound futuristic, but with the advancement of technology in this new era, marketers have been provided with an opportunity to tap into the minds of the consumers. Not only this, these new technologies allow the marketers to scientifically understand the needs and desires of the consumers. With the integration of thorough research and science i.e. (technology), marketers and advertisers have gradually enhanced their ability to exactly pinpoint the reasons and causes due to which people tend to purchase a product. In addition, such technologies have uncovered the response of brain to various advertisement and marketing tactics (4imprint, 2010). Technology that organisations once fantasised is now a reality which has constantly helped the giant organisations like Campbell’s Soup and Pepsi to enhance their brand image along with the marketing of their products (4imprint, 2010). The concept of Neuromarketing came into e xistence almost a decade ago by an Atlanta Advertisement firm i.e. Bright house in June 2002, with a specific aim. The main aim of Neuromarketing was marketing research (Fisher et al., 2009). With the help of neuromarketing, the organisation was able to enhance its knowledge regarding the needs and desire of the customers along with the buying behavior of the consumers in the market. As Neuromarketing is a combination of neuroscience and marketing practices, it provides the organisation with perfect opportunity to understand, predict and eventually control human behavior. As indicated by Fisher et al. (2009) that the problem is based on the fact that such integration of sciences and research is quite unclear that is it only an academic field of research or business practices despite the advantages and benefits associated with neuromarketing through which organisations were able to predict human behavior and eventually consumer behavior. Similarly, Murphy et al. (2008) that several n euromarketing companies claim that with the help of neuromarketing, the organisations would be able to fully understand the buying behavior of consumers but on the other hand, very little academics and scientific approaches validate such claims. The question that has risen is whether such neuromarketing is another trick of marketers and advertisers to manipulate the demands of the products or it is just a practice to

See attachments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See attachments - Assignment Example Study 2 on the other hand measures the level of up to how long it will take for drivers to leave if the level of intrusion and status of intruder will have to be manipulated. Study 3 documents the specific responses of individuals who parked at a mall would react to intruders. It is therefore clear that the research question that these three studies addressed is relevant to finding the evidence of territorial defense and how it is viewed in the case of drivers leaving a public space and the intruding drivers. 2. Technically, the research question is the same for the three studies as far as the exact thought of what the researchers would want to find out is concerned. In great detail, the researchers wished to see the picture of the entire information linked to territorial mentality of individuals particularly when it comes to the concept of space. For this reason, being consistent to use drivers as the common subjects of the three studies, gives us the insight that the proponents wer e able to obtain a general thought of answering a one specific research question for the entire research investigation that was subdivided under three studies. The three studies were able to adhere to finding how human behavior through territorial mentality of individuals may be highly associated with the concept of space. 3. ... The good thing about two of the studies is the inclusion of observation and actual experiment. The other one includes actual interview, which is a significant component of a qualitative research. In other words, the general phenomenon of interest in all of the studies is the actual inclusion of diversified methodological approach in obtaining particular data that could help solve the research question. 4. There were more than one methodologies used in the research studies in order to obtain the relevant information associated with answering the actual research question. This is methodological triangulation, by which the researchers were consistent in using due to the fact that at the end of every study, it would ensure answering their relevant research question. In other words, by being able to set the study with a particular research question to answer, the methodological triangulation conspires to create a path that will lead to finding the answer which is of great concern of the r esearchers. This means that even if there could be varying methodological approaches used, the ultimate concern would be to create actual input that will lead to finding answers set for the research question at the end of the study or actual research investigation. 5. I believe the study could be a perfect example of a qualitative research due to subjective judgment that may be employed by the researchers. Although there was an actual experiment conducted, the said activity would still require subjective judgment as far as gathering and documenting of data and information are concerned. In addition, the actual interview is a form of qualitative approach because the actual response could not be translated

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Post Modernism and Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Post Modernism and Globalization - Essay Example While others view globalization as leading to heterogeneity through heightened hybridization, other quarters view it as something that is leading more towards the production of diversity. Globalization according to many scholars, who believe in post modernism, has caused great ripples in the cultural political and economic situation and stability of the word and has led to new dispensations (Giddens, 1990).. In spite of the existence of several descriptions of the term globalization, believers of postmodernism have come to the point of stating that globalization is a historical break from the norm; one that has been characterized by the development of transnational capitalism, the production of post –Fordism configuration or the view that globalization is a new cultural view of what has previously been termed as capitalism.Implications of GlobalizationIt is beyond doubt that globalization has upon the world fallen with its effects beyond taking for granted. The phenomenon has been associated with several benefits and limitations. The benefits of globalization include the opening of markets, greater k[prosperity for societies, freer trade, greater respect for individuals and communities and the springing of a global culture that has greater respect for human rights based on western ideologies as noted by Lipietz (1996). Conversely, the alternative side of globalization has mainly included the weakening and possible abolition of cultural and national liberties by transnational organizations.

See attachments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See attachments - Assignment Example Study 2 on the other hand measures the level of up to how long it will take for drivers to leave if the level of intrusion and status of intruder will have to be manipulated. Study 3 documents the specific responses of individuals who parked at a mall would react to intruders. It is therefore clear that the research question that these three studies addressed is relevant to finding the evidence of territorial defense and how it is viewed in the case of drivers leaving a public space and the intruding drivers. 2. Technically, the research question is the same for the three studies as far as the exact thought of what the researchers would want to find out is concerned. In great detail, the researchers wished to see the picture of the entire information linked to territorial mentality of individuals particularly when it comes to the concept of space. For this reason, being consistent to use drivers as the common subjects of the three studies, gives us the insight that the proponents wer e able to obtain a general thought of answering a one specific research question for the entire research investigation that was subdivided under three studies. The three studies were able to adhere to finding how human behavior through territorial mentality of individuals may be highly associated with the concept of space. 3. ... The good thing about two of the studies is the inclusion of observation and actual experiment. The other one includes actual interview, which is a significant component of a qualitative research. In other words, the general phenomenon of interest in all of the studies is the actual inclusion of diversified methodological approach in obtaining particular data that could help solve the research question. 4. There were more than one methodologies used in the research studies in order to obtain the relevant information associated with answering the actual research question. This is methodological triangulation, by which the researchers were consistent in using due to the fact that at the end of every study, it would ensure answering their relevant research question. In other words, by being able to set the study with a particular research question to answer, the methodological triangulation conspires to create a path that will lead to finding the answer which is of great concern of the r esearchers. This means that even if there could be varying methodological approaches used, the ultimate concern would be to create actual input that will lead to finding answers set for the research question at the end of the study or actual research investigation. 5. I believe the study could be a perfect example of a qualitative research due to subjective judgment that may be employed by the researchers. Although there was an actual experiment conducted, the said activity would still require subjective judgment as far as gathering and documenting of data and information are concerned. In addition, the actual interview is a form of qualitative approach because the actual response could not be translated

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

School Uniforms Essay Example for Free

School Uniforms Essay Uniforms in the School Environment: Can Clothing Really Effect Your Education? Going to public schools all my life, I heard the gossip of fashion and whose wearing what,pretty much everyday; at least in the four years of high school where it seemed that looks mattered the most. As people grow up, the way they present themselves becomes more and more important. Leaving a good mark in high school means a lot to some people, and some are ready to do whatever it takes to make that mark, whether it be putting someone down for their clothing or being an individual and not caring what others think of you or what your wearing. Having friends from middle school that branched out and went the alternative route; private schools, one of the first things that came back to me from them was how much easier it was to having a uniform to wear to school. Going to a school where uniforms are strictly enforced can help to create a better learning environment. Having uniforms would call for a lot less distraction in the classroom, there would be much more time for homework and there would not be as many problems concerning the wear of inappropriate clothing to take away from school time. A quote from the essay, The Achievement of Desire, by Richard Rodriguez fits particularly well in this essay. Get all the education you can, with an education you can do anything. This just doesnt seem like the main idea to many kids anymore and I think that uniforms would help to bring that thought back into a lot of our heads. I know that the idea of wearing a uniform repulses many people, but when broken down, school uniforms really do seem like the way to go. If it was a requirement to wear a uniform to school, there would be many more kids paying attention in classes. Looking around the classroom at what other kids are wearing is a great way to make time fly by. If everyone was wearing the same things, then the distraction of different clothing would be eliminated. Many people worry that uniforms would take away the opportunity for kids to be who they are or who they want to be, but I feel as though wearing uniforms would simply force kids to show their individualism in ways outside of fashion and appearance. When looking at an Opinion Board on the internet I came across the idea that visually uniforms result in a more equal and adult treatment of students, eliminating any idea that one student is being favored over another. Visually, all students were equal. They appeared equal which resulted in more equal treatment from both peers and teachers alike. When a student looks presentable, they will not only be treated as a student, but as an equal, which I feel both students and teachers would benefit from. In the essay, The ? Banking Concept of Education,written by Paulo Freire, there were two types of education discussed. Bankingeducation and Problem-Posing education. Banking education was looked at with the idea that the teacher was the higher power and the student was simply an object where as in Problem-Posing education, the teacher and students both taught and learned the information together. Uniforms would help bring Problem-Posing teaching back into the classrooms of many schools. There would also be a large drop in the amount of teasing that goes on in school. When I asked my old roommate, Maureen Brillante, who attended Sacred Heart Academy about the benefits of going to a school with uniforms, one of the first things she said was that it prevents peoples feelings from being hurt since everyone is wearing the same thing. There is a lot less gossip about clothes and it is much harder to judge people when everyone looks the same. The atmosphere around the whole school just seems brighter that way, she said with a big smile on her face. Having gone to an elementary school that did not have uniforms, Maureen experienced both worlds and found uniforms made high school that much easier to get through. Decisions, Decisions. Should I go home and get my homework done or should I go to the mall and get those new shoes I saw online the other day? Uniforms would help to eliminate one of these decisions. If you had to wear a uniform to school, maybe you would not be in such a rush to go buy the latest clothing, after all, you really cant even wear it to school. This gives a student more time for homework and studying. A great deal of studying and focusing is needed to succeed in school, which Richard Rodriguez emphasizes greatly in his essay The Achievement of Desire. The boy needs to spend more and more time studying, each night enclosing himself in the silence permitted and required by intense concentration. Without this concentration Rodriguez speaks of, a students grades are bound to suffer. Another benefit of uniforms is that you will save money because you wont be buying half the amount of clothes that you normally would be if you did not need to wear a uniform. This idea didnt even cross my mind until my interview with Maureen. In the long run, you really start to save money. A few outfits for the weekends are all you really need, and unless the school changes uniforms while youre there, you can pretty much wear your same uniform for as long as you can fit into it. There is also a lot more time in the mornings to wake up and have a healthy breakfast because you dont have to worry about picking out an outfit to wear. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I can say that there were many occasions where I skipped breakfast simply because I was running late and picking out clothes seemed to be the bigger picture at that time. I know when I was in high school, some girls came to school late or didnt come at all because they couldnt find an outfit they wanted to wear. Ridiculous? I think so. What did the wearing of school uniforms accomplish? It directly interfered with gangs, gang colors, gang associations, gang affiliations that tended to have more control over the students than either teachers or parents . . . School uniforms did away with such extra curricular activities as thievery. It is not uncommon for the police to receive calls from irate parents regarding their childs loss of an expensive clothing article. School uniformity focuses the attention on where it belongs: academics. You can find the important point that uniforms create less of a boundary to cross when it comes to what kids wear to school on the Holden Police Department web page. There are fewer rules at a school with uniforms simply because the section labeled Dress Code is either nonexistent or simply a brief section on how to wear your uniform properly. Gangs are brought into schools by the gangs members wearing their colors or their logos on their clothing. This brings together two worlds that just should never meet. Although I dont hear much about it these days, uniforms would give kids fewer things to want to steal in high school. Whether it be in the locker room or in lost-and-found, kids would be more honest, because who really wants to steal someone elses uniform? There would also be less shoplifting because kids would have enough money to buy the few outfits they need to wear outside of school. Sex-exploitation is another issue that would be eliminated with uniforms. Girls would not be allowed to wear such skimpy outfits to school, distracting less people, and creating better reputations for everyone. Less time would be spent in the schools main office and more time would be put into being in the classroom. Kids would have fewer ways to get detentions or even expulsion because inappropriate clothing would no longer exist. Forcing kids to find other ways to show their individuality would compel kids to think more about whom they are and not so much about what they wear. Although it may look as if its the cool thing to wear all the latest styles and be up on fashion, does it really seem worth it to risk getting simply an ok education? Where are those priorities of school work and studying for a test when you are out shopping at the mall? In the end it really does make the most sense to simply suck up the idea of wearing the same thing as every other girl or boy at your school and leave with a better education, and a better sense of seeing people for what and who they really are; not what they are or arent wearing. Imagining the idea of a school that one does not have to worry about what kids will say about their outfits, about whether or not what they are wearing is appropriate for school grounds or getting to the mall after school to buy that new sweater they saw in the AF catalogue (which means blowing off that tutoring secession they had to help raise their math grade), seems so far from reality and all that I knew in high school, yet at the same time seems like the ideal way to spend those four important years of high school, those four years in which all of your hard work pays off and gets you accepted into the number one college of your choice. That sounds like the perfect four years of high school to me. School Uniforms Essay Example for Free School Uniforms Essay A group of small boys and girls all warring the same colored uniforms assembled in front of a catholic school is what I imagine when thinking about school uniforms. This is probably what most people imagine. They have been attached to students of European and private schools. Such pictures of students dressing in school uniforms have led to stereotyping and a negative attitude towards schools enforcing a uniform policy. Displayed as robots without the ability to express them selves in a society that says you must express yourself and be an individual at all cost. The problem is that the cost to express yourself and be an individual is high in some cases, in Detroit, a 15-year-old boy was killed for his $86 basketball shoes (Tweeters 1997). I believe that cost is to high, it would be better to be laughed at and teased about warring a nerdy uniform, than to be shot by some gang member that did not like the color of the pants Im warring. School uniforms have been the cause of many jokes and harassment to those who wore them. In the past, public schools considered uniforms old and out dated trends, though recently many public schools are starting to implement and enforce a uniform policy. The implementation of a school uniform policy is important if we are still striving to improve our students. The arguments against them are fading while the positive reasons are promoting school uniforms and gaining ground. Some of the possible benefits are safety, cost, uniformity and competition in academics instead of fashions. The main argument against them is the need for students to express their individual selves; this argument is losing ground compared to the benefits of the uniform policy. Today many public schools are mandating and enforcing school uniforms for their students. San Antonio School district requires all 60,000 of its students to wear uniforms; over 60% of Fort Worths elementary schools require their students to ware uniforms (Radcliffe 1999). In 1995, the Texas legislature gave public school districts the authority to require uniforms under Texas State Law 11. 162 of the Texas Education Code. (Appendix A). The law however is a voluntary law; schools are not required to have a uniform policy. A Dallas attorney Domingo Garcia has filed a proposed legislation that would make it mandatory to wear uniforms in Grades k-12 in Texas (Ramos 1997). The first fundamental issue that school board officials and law makers should look at before they make new policies and laws concerning school uniforms is, will these new laws and policies have a positive impact on students overall performance. This would not be limited to academic performances only but should also include other socially learned behavior that will enhance the students ability to conform to the social norms needed to be successful in todays society. People for uniforms say that the academic performance has been and will increase by having the students ware them (Caruso 1996). A lessened degree of attention and concern with fashion will enable a better condition for serious study, as well as lesson the cultural and economic challenges of students and parents. (Cohn 1996, Paliokos 1996) Nathan Minster, a seventh grader at Country Day of Arlington said, Uniforms provide a better educational atmosphere, and symbolize school spirit. If all students dress alike, their attention will not focus on Johnnys new Tommy Hilfiger outfit. (Teeters 1996). Any situation that does not promote the improvement of students in school should be looked at and studied to find ways to change the situation. There are no positive aspects to worrying about not having the money to buy the coolest and newest fashions. Would it not be better to strive and worry about who can get the best grade or do the best science project. Is the reduction of crime going to help improve our students? We must agree that there is no part of our students lives that can be improved by the atmosphere of crime. We need to ask the question, What ought to be? When it comes to school and crime. How to deal with crime is one of the ethical questions all school administrators and lawmakers must address and act on accordingly. The statistics say that schools having a school uniform policy have seen a decrease in crime. Long Beach Unified School District was the first large urban school district in the United States to require school uniforms. They have seen substantial decreases in crime in the past five years since they have required uniforms. One incredible reduction was that sex offenses have decreased 93%. (Appendix B). The cost of implementing a uniform policy must also be looked at closely. The fact that all students have different degrees of economic status requires us to address this matter. If a student cannot afford uniforms would they not be able to go to school. Would it be better to have them spend all their money on uniforms so they could go to school, but because of that they dont have the money to participate in after school sports or social events. Maybe they would spend the money on uniforms instead of nutritious food, which could affect their health. The current Texas law does provide ways of providing uniforms for students who cannot afford to buy them. (Appendix A). The Long Beach Unified School District has privately funded over $160,000 for assistance to disadvantaged students. By doing this they have not put any financial burden on the taxpayers. The cost can be high, as it has been for the San Antonio School district, which has spent about $500,000 to outfit 90% of their students (Radcliffe 1999). Unlike Long Beach School District, San Antonios uniform policy has cost the taxpayers a lot of money. They ought to look at ways of reducing the cost to taxpayers, possible private funding from companies that participate in philanthropic programs. What are the ethical concerns for schools considering school uniforms? The nation has implemented school uniforms in about 25 percent of the public elementary, middle, and junior high schools according to the (California School News March 31,1997). The general improvements of the students who attend schools that requiring them to ware uniforms has shown an improvement. I can conclude from the improvements that we ought to have 100 percent of public schools starting uniform policies. I dont believe that waiting for years of research and study on this issue will change the outcome. Students are moving through school fast and to wait for years to go by before making this a policy can only lesson the improvement chances of the students who are currently in school. The motivation of this issue is not to infringe on students rights or burden parents with extra cost, but to simply improve the students. Do students have rights as part of the American populous? If so, what are there rights? Do they even have the right to choose to go or not to go to school, or is this, the rights of the parents and society? Our society is now more than ever concerned with our rights and feelings. Is a first graders mind able to use these rights for there best interest or is it up to the adult population? Parents are the ones who should teach and mentor the students in the spirit of the rights and how to use them for the good judgment and common sense. The Bible says, For I, too, was once a son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child, and the companion of my father. He told me never to forget his words. If you follow them, he said, you will have a long and happy life. Learn to be wise, he said, and develop good judgment and common sense! I cannot overemphasize this point. (Proverbs 3: 3-5). Is it more important for us to make a place where the student can improve in the general sense compared to the First amendment claims that the students dont have the right of free expression? Any dress restriction that infringes on a students First Amendment right must be justified by a showing that the students attire materially disrupts school operation, infringes on the rights of others at the school, or otherwise interferes with any basic educational mission of he school (Grantham 1994). The legal aspect of requiring students to ware uniforms is a small matter if the majority of the parents back the policy. However, some will fight with every penny they have so that their kids will not have to ware the uniforms. The biggest legal issue is the First Amendments, right to free expression and the Fourteenth Amendment. They use this to say that the school has violated the students liberty to control his or her personal appearance ( Paliokos 1996). Stakeholders are involved in every part of this issue. Every person is a stakeholder. It will affect, children, adults, and elderly in one way or another, some more than others will. The children will be affected because they will have to ware the uniforms. Primary social stakeholders would be the students, parents, school employees and administrators, taxpayers, people opposed to and people for school uniforms. I dont have children but I am a stakeholder because if the uniform policy is voted on and passed the chances are my local school tax will increase to help pay for the new uniforms. Paying for the uniforms might not seem fair to someone in my position but if I look at the long term benefits of having our public schools improve the students I believe that the chances of a better society in my golden years is more likely to happen compared with the alternative of not improving the students. The improvement of students basic education holds very high stakes for all stakeholders. If a student receives a better education he/she will have a better chance and be better equipped to be part of our adult society in which they will have to abide by our standard. The responsibility of the schools and lawmakers is to improve students. They are also responsible to do this within a budget. This does mean there will be some compromises and restrictions to what and how they accomplish this task of improving the students. They must also stay within the legal aspects of our laws, which has been brought about by society from the past. If the laws are no longer valid they need to be changed for the current situations faced today by schools trying to improve students. Lets look at the stakeholders and what stakes they face. See stakeholder map Appendix C. Students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and the general society are the stakeholders we will look at although there are many more secondary stakeholders involved with this issue. What challenges, threats or opportunities do these stakeholders pose? What economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities do they have? We will start by looking at the students. The challenge they have has been a negative and stressful one, what to wear today? is a question that will no longer have to be asked each morning before school. The desire to have the coolest and newest fashions is no longer a challenge for the students who attend schools with uniform policies. The challenge to not be teased or laughed at is no longer there. Jacqueline Rios, a student at Glencrest Middle School said, The good thing about uniforms is that everybody wears the same color. And having uniforms is a lot better, because people cannot talk about and laugh at your clothes. (Teeter 1997). We do however have the threat that some of the opposing students will not comply which could cause discipline problems or even cause them to drop out of school. The opportunities for the students are all positive ones. Simply put they will have more opportunities to better themselves with academic issues because the priority of fashion standards is gone as Assistant Director of elementary school operations, Frankie Batts, said, Instead of worrying about their clothes or what everyone else is wearing, kids focus on math and reading, (Richardson 1995). Parents will also enjoy the decreasing challenge of keeping their kids in the newest fashions. The money issue will improve for them, Three outfits can run about $130, said Jan Underwood, owner of the U. T. W. Uniforms store in Fort Worth (Teeters 1997). Parents have had to struggle with deciding if what there kids are warring is proper. You might even ask, is it ethical to let my daughter go to school in an almost see-through and skintight outfit? The students being at a school with a uniform policy would now solve this problem. A possible threat from the parents would be from those who feel and believe that kids should be able to do and ware what they want and to force them to ware a uniform is a violation of their kids rights as well as the law. They do however seem to be the minority, most parents seem to support uniforms. The Longview Independent School district says they would support the decision for school uniforms if 75 to 80 percent of the parents were for it (Bell 2000). Teachers will have the challenge of enforcing the new uniform polices but it will be much easier then enforcing the current dress code. At most, schools the guidelines of a dress code can be subjective in determining if they meet the requirements. Lets say, if the school dress policy said that girls must ware skirts that go down to there knees and a student is seen warring one that does meet that requirement but it is see-through and she is not wearing underpants. This could cause a problem because the requirement is subjective. If the uniform policy was in effect this would not be because the see-through skirt would either be part of the uniform and accepted or not, it would now be an objective decision for the teacher to make, either it is a violation or not. One of the great opportunities that it would give the teachers is by having all the students dress alike they would be able to identify students who belong to the school and trespassers who dont. This is a great safety issue in todays times where it is important to regulate who comes on campuses. How about on a school field trip would it not be easier to identify your students in a crowd if you did not have to remember what everyone was warring. Say they were kidnapped would it not be easier to describe them to the police. School administrators have all the issues to deal with. They are the ones who are challenged to improve the students. They have the challenge to implement school policies like uniforms in an effort to improve students. Their decisions go from the smallest detail, what colors, what style, what material, all or which can have either positive or negative effects on other stakeholders. They must accomplish this and be able to stay within the legal, economic and ethical parameters that currently guide their decisions. What a privilege they have with this opportunity to improve students who will in turn improve society and possibly the entire world. Though this is a great opportunity, it is also a great responsibility to have. General society has a stake that is both short term and long term. On the short term, they will have to support the decisions of the uniform policies that are imposed upon the students and parents. Some of the long-term stakes would be requiring paying for some of the uniforms for students who cannot afford them. For the few who oppose the uniforms they will not have to compromise their beliefs so that their kids can get an education. The Texas 1995 law allows some exceptions to the rules with a written request that states a bona fide religious or philosophical objection to the requirement. (Appendix A) Some recommendations that should be looked at by schools before starting a uniform policy could help reduce the problems that occur from putting new policies into effect. They need to be able to justify the actions by demonstrating the link between a kind of dress and disruptive behavior or between a dress and improvements of the students. They should consult with the schools legal advisors to possible legal problems. Determine ways of enforcing the policy as well as what punishment would occur. Finding out what the parents and students think and involving them before the final starting date. They might try to find out what the students favorite color or type of material they want to use. They might even look at having some variety maybe two different colors. This way the students will feel included in the decisions and might not fight the policy, making the discipline problem smaller because they would be less likely to rebel. A financial study should be conducted prior to the policy to determine how much burden is going to be imposed on the school itself, how many students would require financial assistance with the cost of the uniforms. By keeping the primary stakeholders involved with the decisions prior to making the policy, schools have a better chance of success from the uniform policy. Appendix A Sec. 11. 162. School Uniforms. a) The board of trustees of an independent school district may adopt rules that require students at a school in the district to wear school uniforms if the board determines that the requirement would improve the learning environment at the school. (b) The rules the board of trustees adopts must designate a source of funding that shall be used in providing uniforms for students at the school who are educationally disadvantaged. (c) A parent or guardian of a student assigned to attend a school at which students are required to wear school uniforms may choose for the student to be exempted from the requirement or to transfer to a school at which students are not required to wear uniforms and at which space is available if the parent or guardian provides a written statement that, as determined by the board of trustees, states a bona fide religious or philosophical objection to the requirement. (d) Students at a school at which uniforms are required shall wear the uniforms beginning on the 90th day after the date on which the board of trustees adopts the rules that require the uniforms. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg. , ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Appendix B GRADES K-8 SCHOOL CRIME REPORT SUMMARY Since the inception of required school uniforms in all Long Beach Unified School District elementary and middle schools, in September 1994, school crime here has dropped 86% percent. SCHOOL CRIME REDUCED 1993-94 Before Uniforms 1994-95 Uniforms Required 1995-96 2nd Year with Uniforms 1996-97 3rd Year with Uniforms 1997-98 4th Year with Uniforms 1998-99 5th Year With Uniforms Change K-8 Enrollment 57,497 58,376 59,822 62,039 63,602 65,451 +14% Assault/Battery* 319 214 53 47 46 82 Assault w/Deadly Weapon* 6 3 16 11 8 24 Sex Offenses 57 15 5 4 2 4 -93% Robbery/Extortion 34 12 13 5 3 5 -85%. Chemical Substances 71 29 24 20 27 37 -48% Weapons or Look A like 145 78 28 24 12 36 -75% Vandalism** 1,409 1,155 127 93 98 106 Dangerous Devices 46 23 1 2 0 2 -96% TOTAL 2087 1529 267 206 196 296 -86% *The statewide category of assault has been revised because of different interpretations of what constitutes assault. Verbal threats without physical contact were sometimes reported as assaults. There is also a new, expanded definition of assault with a deadly weapon. Reported now is any item that is actually used in an effort to inflict any bodily harm, i. e. a foot, a fist, a pencil or a comb. **Under the new California Safe Schools Assessment School Crime Report, only vandalism over $100 is included. Some prior years incidents were under $100, so the actual reduction is less than this. Appendix C Bibliography Resources Bell, Becky. LISD group focuses on school uniforms Longview News Journal 22 March 2000; Local California Leads nation in Public School Uniform Use. California School News 31 March 1997: 4 Caruso, Peter. Individuality vs. Conformity: The Issue Behind School Uniforms. NASSP Bulletin 8,581 September 1996: 83-88. Chon, Carl A. Mandatory School Uniforms. The School Administrator 53, 2 February 1996: 22-25 Grantham, Kimberly. Restricting Student Dress in Public Schools. School Law Bulletin 25, Winter 1994: 1-10 Long Beach Crime Report Summary. http://www. lbusd. k12. ca. us/ Paliokas, Kathleen L. Trying Uniforms On for Size. The American School Board Journal 183, 5 May 1996: 32-35 Proverbs. The Bible. The Living Bible. 3; 3-5 Radcliffe, Jennifer. Irving joins movement supporting required attire. Star Telegram 25 March 1999 http://netarrant. net/news/doc/1047/1:NEA/1:NEA032599. html Ramos, Cindy. Capitol moves San Antonio Express-News 1 April 1997 Metro- Education Express: 4B Richardson, Ginger. Student uniforms in vogue at schools in Fort Worth Officials report success of voluntary clothing programs. Fort Worth Star Telegram, 16 August 1995; Metro Teeters, Amy. Growing up in uniform style. Fort Worth Star-Telegram 18 February 1997: Class Acts: 9 Texas State Law 11. 162 of the Texas Education Code. http://www. tea. state. tx. us.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Significance Of The Representation Of The City English Literature Essay

Significance Of The Representation Of The City English Literature Essay In this essay I will be discussing three very diverse texts which will allow me to bring into light a various number of views and interpretations of the city. I will be focusing on D. H. Lawrences Women in Love, T. S Eliots The Waste Land, and finally Virginnia Woolfs Mrs Dalloway. All texts will help me come across the different insights, views and personal feelings towards the city the authors felt. Many of these authors develop their ideas and emphasise on the affects of the city through their characterization, this essay will further help me develop the representation of the city and look into it in more detail. I will focus on a number of areas such as characters, settings, thoughts and views in the texts in order to gain an answer as to what the significance of the representation of the city may in fact be in connection to its authors. As we read on through the poem, Eliot continues to present the Waste Land as a very complex poem; it tackles and confronts a variety of contradictory ideas and understandings. The intended meaning of the poem may come across as something different to both critics and readers; it can in effect be seen as a text that can have a variety of meanings and can be interpreted by anyone in their own ways. The text can be seen as being interpreted through the person and society, or can also be interpreted on a personal note where Eliot may seek to reveal his own feelings and intentions as to why he wrote the poem. The main theme of the poem can be distinguished through the way in which Eliot portrays modern life as a Waste Land. He supports this theme by showing what was wrong with society in the early twentieth century. He demonstrates the lack of faith in the poem through a number of ways; he puts into words the weakness of society by presenting a certain lack of faith, lack of communication , and corruption of life, alcohol and sex. At one point he shows one of the characters saying I can connect nothing with nothing.  [4]  This indicates the character having no faith or confidence in them self; there seems to be no connections and no meanings to her life, it seems to come across as though her life is just a waste. In the text Eliot speaks about the crowdedness of the city many of times. The Unreal city, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so manyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The fast paced text conveys allusions which create a sense of crowding in the city. London is depicted as a very busy city, a place where something is always happening; it is illustrated as being different in contrast to what you would experience in the countryside. The Waste Land creates an unattractive image of London, we feel appalled by the amount of industrialization taking place as the surroundings are described as being encircled by the brown fog. The depiction of the industrialized city can become so shocking and brutal that it can in some ways be seen as a character. Furthermore The Waste Land conveys several distinct images that help to present a deeper meaning to the text. As we read through the poem, we come across the lines Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.  [5]  This sentence conveys a feeling of sadness and obscurity. This frame of mind is related to the lines that follow which talk about death and sorrow, the mood of the text comes across as very dark and threatening. One of the main points seems to come into light through the portrayal of the River Thames. This river can be seen as symbolising death, it is like a bridge which the dead spirits need to cross over in order to face death. By saying that this person wants the river to run softly before the song ends indicates that this character is near death, and after his story has been said, he will be ready to accept it. Death in itself is a very dark topic in relation to the title of the poem; this passage can be seen as linking the time and the place together before death . The place is shown not to exist in the living world or the dead; it is conveyed as being something which is in between. This area can be seen in many ways as a Waste Land just as the poems title suggests. The Waste Land can be linked to many things in this poem, in this case it can be where the river Thames lays, a place where the living and the dead do not inhabit. The imagery bought across in these lines is very effective in relation to the mood and themes they set in the poem. They give the mood of sadness and mourning which gives deeper meaning to the rest of the text. All the way through the preceding lines after the Sweet Thames, there is a sad mood which flows in the course of the text. As the readers read on in The Waste Land, they get a feeling which indicates that even if they were to read something happy and cheerful in the poem it would still have a dark effect. The imagery of death, sorrow, sadness and gloom is very effective in this case as it allows the poem to set a feeling for the rest of the text. In the Waste Land à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the images and symbols fall broadly into two categories-firstly, images drawn from myth and religion, and secondly, images taken from the common aspects of urban life.  [6]   The modern city in contemporary literature is shown to be very complex in the 20th century. Within literature there are a number of writers who move towards the physical reality of the modern urban life and surroundings; Virginnia Woolf in many ways is a good example of this. In her novel Mrs. Dalloway, we are presented with the citys obscure feelings that link the perception of the two main protagonists together. The characters Woolf looks at are the the centre of life itself  [7]  . On the contrary, D.H. Lawrence has been the most provocative of modernist authors  [8]  , he shows his own understanding of the city as a place of desolation and division. His text Women in Love illustrates London as a corrupted city which is populated by outward characters who can only find their pleasure and happiness in sex, drinking and taking part in criminal activities. Both of these modernistic texts allow us as the readers to identify the different representations of urban life in a chan ging city; we are presented with images of the actual London and the illusory London. Both of these texts can in many ways portray similar themes, feelings and ideas towards the city which The Waste Land has previously been seen to do in this essay. In addition Mrs Dalloway and Septimus are characters in Woolfs novel who capture the passing moments of their lives in a city. Both of these characters are shown to be walking through the city and feeling the liveliness of London. Their responses to the same city symbols vary from one another. Septimus Smith says everything had come to a standstill  [9]  whereas Mrs Dalloway shows us she is amused by the noise and high energy of the city life. The opposing reflections both of these characters present show how their everyday city-occurrences result in a contradictory presentation of the city life; it offers an accurate sense of reality within this way of life. We can see this being present in the novel as Woolf uses free indirect speech. Her form of expression is a good linguistic technique in the novel; it acts as a verbal counterpart to the mental moments of uncertainty within the reality of urban life. In this sense, the contrasting reflections on the same incidents and Woolfs new form of expression result in an overlapping of the characters consciousnesses which at the same time link to images presented in the novel. In D.H Lawrences work on the other hand, traditional language is not enough to show his understanding and feelings towards modernity. The city is illustrated as a complex, and socially diverse place, the new forms of expression are essential in order to work in opposition to the growing sense of isolation. Lawrence is shown to be using repetition in his work in order to bring across the crowdedness and light-headedness of the atmosphere in the city. Birkin says I always feel so doomed when the train is running into London. I feel such despair, so hopeless, as if it were the end of the world.  [10]  The diction Lawrence chooses to use is very interesting to look at, he uses hopeless in different contexts and repeats himself in order to bring across Birkins emotions towards the city. We can say that the actual meaning of the diction he dec ides to use may in fact change and be a connection to the modern city and environment where it bears a resemblance to the new time of order and effectiveness. The characters in Women in Love are shown to undergo different experiences and feelings in relation to the modern city, for example they are shown to feel misery and corruption in the text. Lawrence brings across the unattractiveness of the urban and industrial city and establishes the citys mentality into the minds of the miners. As a result, he creates a perfect, inhuman system of machines, where the miners begin to deny their humanity in feeling satisfied to belong to the great and wonderful machine, even whilst it destroyed them  [11]  . There is a lot of depiction of the state of mind in Women in Love; Woolf also brings across this mental absorption of the citys characteristics through the characters she presents in Mrs Dalloway. Doing everything on time and being exact is something which is part of most modern minded people, this is symbolised by the way in which time is shown on Big Ben in the novel. Virginia Woolf presents the city as a physical place presenting the menta l state of mind of the characters. For Mrs Dalloway à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦silence falls on London; and falls on the mind  [12]  , this in many ways indicates a deep connection between the inner thoughts and emotions and the outer world. Septimus consciousness reflects the understandings of the outer world. He did not want to die. Life was good.  [13]   There are many ways in which we can see that the link between the city and the mental life is illustrated through the character of Peter Walsh. On one hand Peter suffers from the loneliness in London as he feels a strangeness of standing alone, alive, unknown, at half-past eleven in Trafalgar Square.  [14]  However he also uses this feeling to keep track of the young woman before she is lost in the city crowd. Peter chasing the young woman may in fact symbolize the change of social behaviour and interactions between the two sexes within the restrictions of the city. In Women in Love a new directness regarding sexuality is presented as a consequence of the changing cultural environment in the city. Alcohol and sexual excitement are presented as the main occupations of the Pussum and the other residents of the flat. Although Gudrun regards London as a foul town, it is within the urban city where her new understanding of art is recognized. In the flat, a weird number of modernist wo rks of art and influences are shown to symbolise the directness to non-traditional art. Within this environment of the modern city, we are presented with the Brangwen sisters as having much better chances to live their eminent individual personalities than within the well-known closeness of urban Beldover. Although Birkin and Gudrun detest the masses, Mrs Dalloway looks at the small crowdà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦gathered at the gates of Buckingham Palace  [15]  from the distance it becomes striking and beautiful. It is the sense of an endless society and quality which attracts Woolf, Lawrence nonetheless is shocked by the crowds single mindedness. It is interesting to note that the characteristics of the crowd are not obvious for all citizens of the city. In conclusion we are able to identify the significance of the representation of the city in all three works by Lawrence, Eliot and Woolf. There are many different modernist representations of the city which come across in all three texts. What T.S. Eliot pictures as an isolated, distressed area, is in fact for Virginia Woolf a symbolic landscape of life and vibrancy, and for D.H. Lawrence an urban area of despair. All three diverse understandings and ideas of the city are reflected in the characters presented in the texts by the modernist authors. For this reason we are shown how Mrs Dalloways consciousness presents an optimistic image of the city, which is contrasted by both Birkin and Gudruns negativity. On the other hand, we do not only get the general approach of the presentation and its significance, the authors are shown to be expressing their personal and individual understandings and views of the city. The citys attitude of precision is symbolised within Geralds modernization of the coalmines which introduce the perfect inhuman machines to Beldover. Exactness can also be found in the strikes of Big Ben in Mrs Dalloway. Furthermore, in Mrs Dalloway the cities characteristics are mirroring the state of mind of the characters and give therefore another perspective of the urban landscape. In addition, Lawrences and Woolfs new modernist techniques of expression have the ability to cope with the progressively altering conditions of modernity within the city life. Woolfs free indirect speech gives a full meaning and insight into the awareness of the characters, therefore giving them a much better and accurate understanding of their own individual views of the city. Lawrence uses repetition in his language in order to improve his conventional understanding of particular terms and provides the city with new characteristics. As a result, the individual and subjective experiences of the authors offer a complex and deeper picture of the reality and unreality of a w eak city. WORD COUNT: 2732

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Ultimate Pet: A Pet Rock Essay -- essays research papers

The Ultimate Pet: A Pet Rock A pet rock can be as comforting to me as any canine or feline. Some would believe that a man's best friend is a dog. However, living in a confined two bedroom apartment, I do not have the luxury or permission for a forty pound dog to be plopping around. This is why I have found comfort in my pet rock. A pet rock can replace many of the duties, such as a companionship, I can get from a pet dog or cat. When I go shopping for a pet, I look for the appropriate size and color to meet my needs. Some people like big animals, some small. Some animals come in black, brown, white, yellow; yet some are spotted. The same goes for my rock. When I went "shopping" for my rock, I didn't want o...

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Capital Punishment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Should Christians support the death penalty? The answer to that question is controversial. Many Christians feel that the Bible has spoken to the issue, but others believe that the New Testament ethic of love replaces the Old Testament law. Old Testament Examples Throughout the Old Testament we find many cases in which God commands the use of capital punishment. We see this first with the acts of God Himself. God was involved, either directly or indirectly, in the taking of life as a punishment for the nation of Israel or for those who threatened or harmed Israel. One example is the flood of Noah in Genesis 6-8. God destroyed all human and animal life except that which was on the ark. Another example is Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), where God destroyed the two cities because of the heinous sin of the inhabitants. In the time of Moses, God took the lives of the Egyptians' first-born sons (Exod. 11) and destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exod. 14). There were also punishments such as the punishment at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 13-14) or the rebellion of Korah (Num. 16) against the Jews wandering in the wilderness. The Old Testament is replete with references and examples of God taking life. In a sense, God used capital punishment to deal with Israel's sins and the sins of the nations surrounding Israel. The Old Testament also teaches that God instituted capital punishment in the Jewish law code. In fact, the principle of capital punishment even precedes the Old Testament law code. According to Genesis 9:6, capital punishment is based upon a belief in the sanctity of life. It says, "Whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man." The Mosaic Law set forth numerous offenses that were punishable by death. The first was murder. In Exodus 21, God commanded capital punishment for murderers. Premeditated murder (or what the Old Testament described as "lying in wait") was punishable by death. A second offense punishable by death was involvement in the occult (Exod. 22; Lev. 20; Deut 18-19). This included sorcery, divination, acting as a medium, and sacrificing to false gods. Third, capital punishment was to be used against perpetrators of sexual sins such as rape, incest, or homosexual practice. Within this Old Testament theocracy, capital punishment was extended beyond murder to cover various offenses.

Friday, October 11, 2019

A character from a book, movie, or television program Essay

â€Å"Then I shall die as one of them!† A line said by one of the most noble of characters in my favourite movies of all time. The Lord of the Rings is a story that is epically written by J.R.R Tolkien. It is a three part book that has been adapted into film with many characters that individually play important roles in the story. Aragorn son of Arathorn had caught my attention from his very first appearance in the trilogy. Aragorn son of Arathorn is the heir of Isildur. He is also known as Elessar by the people of Gondor. By the people around the Shire, he is known as Strider, the dark rider with no name. Aragorn always looks disheveled with his beard and lone ranger clothes. Despite that, he could woo any woman he passes by as he is very handsome and macho. Whenever he cleans himself up, you could see the kingly heir of Isildur that he is. As a child, Aragorn lost his father who was killed brutally by orcs. As a result, he grew up in Rivendell amongst the fair elves as his mother wanted him protected from his dangerous lineage. Many enemies wanted him dead for he was from a line of very powerful kings that had defeated the evil Sauron. Aragorn portrays many kingly characteristics in the movie. He has the characteristics of a very good leader, just as his ancestors did. Though compared to them, he is a better man and a wiser king. In battle, Aragorn plans excellent strategies. He led a war in The Return of the King and won it proudly. Also, Aragorn has nobility that is worth noting. In the name of his people and Frodo Baggins, he would fight till his death and protect them. Aragorn always fought side by side full of pride with his people in war. Aragorn son of Arathorn or more commonly known as Strider by Samwise Gamgee, one of his respected nine companions in the Fellowship of the Ring, is a very interesting character. From the very start of the movie, he stood out from all the other characters. As a result, he had caught so much of my attention that I would eagerly await all of his appearance in every scene of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.