Friday, November 29, 2019

10 Fun Facts about the California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

The California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo is home to some of the most unique places that California has to offer. See why famous companies like Urban dictionary and Jamba Juice were founded by students attending Cal Poly SLO! In 2013, a Cal Poly alumnus donated a live horse named Chase to serve as the Cal Poly mascot. On a hillside next to Cal Poly there is a white concrete â€Å"P’ on the side of the mountain. It is a long standing tradition for students during the school year to decorate the P to spell out messages like names of clubs, fraternities, and sororities. The palm theatre located in San Luis Obispo is the first solar powered theatre in the United States. San Luis Obispo is home to the famous tourist attraction, Bubblegum Alley, a walkway 70 feet long and 15 feet high with millions of pieces of gum lining the walls. The hike up Serenity Swing is a Cal Poly favorite. So much so that students set up a trampoline at the end of the trail for more instagram moments. On Saturdays from 10AM - 1PM, the crop fields are open for U-pick hours where students can pick crops that the Horticulture and Crop Science students grow on campus. The famous smoothie joint, Jamba juice was actually founded in SLO. Formerly known as Juice Club, Jamba Juice started as a senior project by a group of Cal Poly and Cuesta students in 1990. Aaron Peckham a former student at Cal Poly started the website, Urban Dictionary as a freshman and it has since become one of the largest crowdsourced online dictionaries that has every new word or slang term. John Madden a former NFL player, Super Bowl winning coach of the Oakland Raiders, and former NFL commentator, graduated from Cal Poly in 1961. You cant attend Cal Poly without going to the farmers market on Thursday nights where many college students go to eat dinner, get fresh fruits and vegetables, and hang out with friends. Are you looking to apply to Cal Polyor just starting to build outyour college list? Make sure to search through profiles of students accepted to see essays, stats, and advice. See how they got in, and how you can too!

Monday, November 25, 2019

SAT 1 vs SAT 2 Whats the Difference

SAT 1 vs SAT 2 What's the Difference SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You might have heard of something called the SAT II (or SAT 2) and wondered what it could be. A secret, harder version of the SAT, perhaps? The reality is less dramatic: the SAT II is just an old name for the SAT Subject Tests. This guide will explain the current form of the SAT II, outline the differences between the SAT 1 vs SAT 2, and help you determine which of the tests you should take. Feature Image:Matthias Neugebauer/Flickr What Are the SAT 1 and the SAT 2? As I touched on above, these aresimply out-of-date monikers: the SAT I is now known as just as the SAT and the SAT II is more descriptively referred to as the SAT Subject Tests.Colleges sometimes still refer to the tests as the SAT I and SAT II, so don't worry if you see those terms. The SAT started out as a military IQ testand was administered as a college admissions assessment for the first time in 1926. Since then, it's undergone a series of changes to make it less focused on innate ability and more on testing concepts and skills students learn in school. It's weathered a few controversies, but it's still considereda decent predictor of how students will do in college. The SAT Subject Tests are almost as old as the SAT proper. Officially called Scholarship Tests but known colloquially as the Achievement Tests,the Subject Testsstarted in 1937and were basically the same thing they are now: one-hour tests on specific subjects,like biology andworld history. There are currently 20 different Subject Tests, and you can sign up for up to three per test date. Here is an overview of all SAT Subject Tests: Humanities Math and Science Literature Math Level 1 US History Math Level 2 World History Biology (E/M) Chemistry Physics Languages (No Listening) Languages (w/ Listening) French French with Listening German German with Listening Spanish Spanish with Listening Modern Hebrew Chinese with Listening Italian Japanese with Listening Latin Korean with Listening What’s the Difference Between the SAT 1 and the SAT 2? Originally, the SAT I was meant to test aptitude and the SAT II was meant to test achievement. That is to say, one tested what you were capable of, and the other tested what you knew. But when the College Board moved away from the idea of the SAT I testing innate ability, they reframed it as a reasoning test, making the difference between the two SATs less well defined. With changes in 2016, the SAT I (now just the SAT) is more focused than ever on testing knowledge rather than logic. At this point, I'd say that the SAT tests general knowledge and the SAT Subject Tests assess topical knowledge. There arealso some key ways the two tests differ in structure.For one, although the questions on both tests are primarily multiple choice, SAT questions have four answer choices, while SAT Subject Test questionstypically have five answer choices. This means that you'll have a slightly higher probability of guessing the correct answer on the SAT (25% chance) than you will on the SAT Subject Tests (20% chance). In addition, SAT Subject Tests have a guessing penalty for incorrect answers, whereas the SAT does not (though it used to). Note that you neither gain nor lose points for questions left blank on both tests. Here's how the guessing penalty works on the SAT II: 1/4 point deducted for every incorrect five-choice question 1/3 point deducted for every incorrect four-choice question 1/2 point deducted for every incorrect three-choice question Take a look at the chart below for a rundown of the basic differences between the two types of SAT tests in their current forms: SAT SAT Subject Tests Other Names SAT 1, SAT I, SAT Reasoning Test SAT 2, SAT II, SAT Achievement Tests Format 3 hr 50 min multiple-choice test (with one essay question) 1 hr multiple-choice test Subject Matter Reading, Writing, Math 20 different topics (listed above) Guessing Penalty? No Yes Which Schools Require It? Almost all colleges Only some very selective colleges Also note that because of the timing of each test, you cannot take the SAT and any SAT Subject Tests on the same testing day. How to Determine Whether You Need to Take the SAT, the SAT Subject Tests, or Both A good rule of thumb is that you'll almost certainly have to take theSAT I (or the ACT), but you'll probablyonly need to take the SAT II if you're applying to highly selective colleges. Nonetheless, you should check the testing requirements for each school you're applying to since they can differ quite a bit. The majority of collegeshaveone ofthree basic policies on the SAT Subject Tests. Let's go through them one at a time. Policy 1: They Only Ask For the SAT (or ACT) Most schools, including the majorstate universities, don't require applicants to submit Subject Test scores. However, some colleges will consider SAT II scores,so they can be a helpful way to show your mastery of a certain subject area (as long as you dowell). Policy 2: They Ask For the SAT (or ACT) and SAT Subject Tests A handfulofvery selective schools,includingHarvard and Rice,require applicants to submit scores from both the SAT I and between one and three (usually two) SAT II tests. Some collegeshave more specific guidelines regarding which Subject Tests you need to take. For example,MIT requires one Math SAT II and one Science SAT II. Other schools- including McGill, Tufts, and Duke- will waive the Subject Tests requirement if you submit ACT scores.These schools will still look at SAT Subject Test scores if you send them, however. Policy 3: They Ask For the SAT orSATSubject Tests A growing subset of schools have adopted atest-flexiblepolicy, which means they allow students to choose which scores they'd like to submit from a numberof different tests.Examples of schools that allow students to submit SAT II results in place of SAT I or ACT scores include NYU, Colorado College, and Middlebury. Recap: Should You Take SAT I or SAT II? The SAT I is the standard SAT test format, which you will need to take for most college applications. The SAT II tests are subject-specific tests that might or might not be required, depending on where you plan to apply. As you can see above, colleges' SAT II policies vary widely. Be sure to look up the testing requirements for every school you’re planning to apply to, and determine what you need to do well in advance. You might want to start by checking outour complete list of schools that require SAT Subject Tests. That said, don't forget to confirm colleges' policies on their official websites! What's Next? If you've determined that you need to take the SAT II,the next step is figuring out which Subject Tests you should takeand what scores you need to shoot for. You might also want to take a look at our SAT Subject Test study guides for US Historyand Physics. Ifyou're applying to Ivy Leagueschools,check out our guides on what SAT score you need, what their average SAT II scores are, and exactly how you can get in. Need a little extra help prepping for your Subject Tests? We have the industry's leading SAT Subject Test prep programs (for all non-language Subject Tests). Built by Harvard grads and SAT Subject Test full or 99th %ile scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Learn more about our Subject Test products below:

Friday, November 22, 2019

Why comics based movies are more polular than comics themselves Research Paper

Why comics based movies are more polular than comics themselves - Research Paper Example ll of emotions, sound, color, drama, cool guys, mean villains - everything they can never have, and could never experience without such heroic-action movie. An all this majestic set of emotions is accompanied with an attractive picture and impressive sound. Films are really popular. Nevertheless, a lot of bestseller films where based on books, and, particularly, the comic books. There is a great number of movies that gained their popularity seemingly from the scratch - 300 Spartans, Sin City, V is for Vendetta - in a row with films that where based on franchise that already has been famous - Spider Man, Batman, X-Men; also Blade, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Conan, Shadow, The Crow - some people would hardly realize, that all these films were based on a source-book ("Cover Browser"). And this source-book is sometimes much larger and deeper than the film is, and just can’t be forced into three hours of a movie time. Additionally, the Batman franchise is an intense sample of TV and film reusing comic book background. We can likewise see it as a sample of the breakdown of high art and the entrance of popular culture into mass minds - a larger number of individuals know and consider Batman as more important than characters from the books of Dickens , Jane Austen or Dostoevsky (Mann). Bright and specific style of drawing, drama, action, expressive emotions and poses, twisted plots that last for years, minor and major issues, apocalypse or personal grief and joy. Comic books, actually, are much older, than their fans, and, actually, sometimes much too older than modern movie fans. First comic book in America was printed in 1842, and, though this type of art has become really popular in no time-The Brownies: Their Book, printed in 1887 became world-renown, its style was impressively different from the one we are used to nowadays ("Comic Books"). It took really long for comics to take the form we are used to. It is considered, that ‘Popeye† can be called

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Oppression & Criminal Activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Oppression & Criminal Activity - Essay Example On the other side, poverty is a harsh reality which has a language and dialect of its own and it has the power to adversely influence one’s social and spiritual health. This other side is heartrendingly established by Meridel Le Sueur in her novel ‘The Girl’. The girl is one of those for whom the childhood is not a sweet memory. Quite on the contrary, it is an account of pain, humiliation and patriarchal brutality. It is explicitly revealed in the playfulness and rejoicing of children when the girl’s father is dead. Though the story was originally set in the backdrop of the Great Depression in the United States, its implications remain valid irrespective of time and space; that a delay of four decades in the publication of ‘The Girl’ did not have any effect on its popularity is a testimony to the timelessness of the relevance of its theme. When starvation, sexual abuse, monotony and lack of opportunities become the order of life, they create the ground for the evolution of a naà ¯ve farm girl into an accomplice in a bank robbery. The girl’s anonymity does not cause any confusion because the applicability of her experiences is universal. It is the same stimulus – poverty – that makes the girl indulge in recreational sex (Coiner 111), gives Belle the courage to operate a speakeasy or pushes Clara into prostitution. It may be noted that none of them ever had any feelings of guilt nor any qualms of conscience over what they did. Le Sueur’s focus in the novel, which was intended as a memorial to the women of the Depression, was primarily on the lives and condition of women of the proletarian class in the thirties, but the story, through the character of Butch, the girl’s lover, incidentally throws light on the evils of the capitalist structure (Sueur 135). Butch’s speech before his death (after the foiled bank robbery attempt) exposes how the system and institutions in vogue contribute to unequal opportunities thereby making a section of the population desperate and furious. The significance of the story’s tragic end is that the desperation and fury of the oppressed are not of any consequence, as is indicated by Clara’s unwept death or the kind of end that Hoink, Ganz and Butch eventually meet with. In the struggle for survival, it is always the mighty that win; the rest is foredoomed to become extinct. The personal good and bad traits of the characters notwithstanding, the y have a common source of motivation – lack of options – that drives them towards planning and executing (often unsuccessfully) criminal activities. Modern theories on self-improvement suggest that if one thinks one can do, one can. Examined from the perspective of Butch’s experience, the validity of such theories becomes debatable. Butch feels good, feels strong, has a passion for winning and claims that he is a natural winner, that winning is in his bones. What, then, turns such a man of attitude into a criminal is an eternal mystery. What, however, turns out to be obvious is that poverty is not quite the right platform to produce winners. It is the population at the lower rungs of the economic ladder that fills prisons and never the other way round. By and large, there are prisons because there are slums and these slums produce a lot of blind men with pistols. ‘Blind Man with a Pistol’ by Chester Himes is less a detective novel and more an anti-d etective novel in which the plight of the poor and the disenfranchised and their victimization by the law and order enforcement machinery is realistically depicted. The prostitutes, homosexuals and janitors chased by Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are invariably from ghettos or tenements. Here it is not only the question of survival

Monday, November 18, 2019

Final Project Report Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Final Project Report - Dissertation Example The rFinder is a mapping application, which after judicious analysis has been designed and developed to solve the same problem in the most stimulating fashion and customized for Reading and its environs. Given that the designed solution was built using one of the most powerful API that is Matthias Tretters (MTDirectionsKit) and powerful programming language, Objective C, the system offers a potential to scale appropriately with the increasing number of users the system’s performance. The application was developed for Apple iOS, which means that the software application will run on any Apple operating system such as on iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and all other apple products. The software was integrated with other technologies to enhance usability and facilitate access to other APIs. These technologies were; MapQuest Maps, Google Maps and Bing Maps which provided more efficient navigation APIs for the application. This application offers a variety of direction solutions to the us ers. They assist the users find alternative directions to their intended destinations, find intermediate locations and find popular destinations. Other features includes the tracking feature and the interactive feature or module. In general the system provides solutions to the issues regarding navigation specifically in Reading, and also has unique features that were designed with the interest of the users. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to acknowledge my sincere thanks and gratitude to the almighty God for taking care of me and granting me good health in the course of undertaking this project. I sincerely thank my supervisors, Professor Shirley Williams and Matthias Tretter, without whose help and support, this project would not have been a success. I am also grateful to [xxx, xxx, xxx] and all those who have directly or indirectly helped me in completion of the project. I would also like to acknowledge my sincere thanks towards our department, and its faculty for their valuable guid ance and suggestions that have resulted in the successful completion of the project. Their inspiration during the difficult times during the development of this project is invaluable and inestimable to me. DECLARATION I hereby declare that the project work entitled â€Å"rFinder: FINDING MY WAY ROUND READING† submitted to University of Reading, is a record of an original work done by me under the guidance and mentorship of my project supervisors, Professor Shirley Williams and Matthias Tretter, and submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. The results embodied in this report have not been submitted to any other University or Institute for the award of any degree or diploma. STUDENT: [name] Signature †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ SUPERVISOR: Prof. Shirley Williams Signature †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION 1 ABSTRACT 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3 DECLARATION 4 LIST OF TABLES 8 LIST OF

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Causes of the US National Debt

Causes of the US National Debt How big is the US National Debt and history? By definition, the amount of money owed by the federal government to creditors is referred to as the US National Debt. The National debt is categorized into two; public debts and government. Government debts are always on the rise due to the increase in government spending and expenditure, unpaid credits by debtors, decreased taxes among others (Zezza, 2014). The US National Debt has a historical increment due to the rise in debt as a share of the GDP during the recession periods and times of war. A combination of inflation and growth of GDP results in decreased national debt. The national debt of the US, for instance, increased after the World War II to 113 % in the year 1945 (Zezza, 2014). However, this figure later went down in the subsequent thirty-five years. In the past few decades, there have been concerns of how sustainable the fiscal policies of the US National government are based on the rise in costs of medication and the growing number of old people in the US population ( Zezza, 2014). According to Sakbani (2013), the public debt of the US was at $ 14.3 trillion of the overall GDP while the inter-governmental debts were $5.4 trillion. This totals to about 10.6% of the 2015 GDP. Sakbani (2013) further notes that more than 45 % of the US national debt in 2016 was by foreign investors with Japan and China in the lead. Precisely, an analysis of the US national debt reveals that the debt has had a constructive decline since the year 1789 apart from between 1835 and 1836 (Chorafas, 2014). The debt was at the highest level during the first term presidency of Harry Truman which was during and after the Second World War.   After the second world war, there was a notable fall in the national debt in the US. The US national debt was at its lowest point in 1974 under the leadership of Richard Nixon (Sakbani, 2013). However, after 1974, the national debt started appreciating and this has been the trend since then. But it stagnated during Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter’s presidency. In the 1980s there was a tremendous increase in national debt due to Ronald Reagans decision to lower taxes and increase military expenditures. However, in the 1990s the debt went down when a reverse of the 1980s was implemented; increased taxes, and lower military spending. Chorafas (2014) highlights that due to the fina ncial crisis between 2007 and 2008 the public debt went extremely high. There seems to be a surge in national debt during the GW Bush and Obama administrations. Why? There was a considerable rise in national debt between the presidency of George Bush and that of Barrack Obama. This was from $ 5.768 trillion when Bush left office to $ 14.071 trillion 735 days after Obama took office (Skidmore, 2011). This means that the recording of Bush’s national debt was wrong. This is because in his term as the president there was a rise of $ 607 billion yearly hence the overall figure could not be $ 5.768 trillion as indicated in the Treasury records. Skidmore (2011) further explains that during Obama’s era the national debt considerably went high by an average of $ 1.723 trillion yearly. This saw the figure go way up above the debt during Bush’s presidency. However, it is not possible to hold Obama responsible for this increase in debt. This is because the figures flow from the 2009’s budget which Obama never signed. This means that if the right account to Obamas accounts are to be analyzed this should trail down from the fiscal year 2010 and 2011 (Sakbani, 2013). In addition to a sum of $ 225 trillion that was included in the 2009 budget under his signature. A close comparison of Obama’s and Bush’s spending and deficit reveal that Bush was way far than Obama based on managing of the national debt. This argument can be supported by; Bush operated a total budget of 3.283 trillion in deficit spending for his eight fiscal years in office. On the other hand, Obama operated at a spending deficit of $ 2.826 trillion within his first two years in office. This means that while Bush operated at a deficit of $410 billion per annum, Obama operates at more than $1.4 trillion per annum, giving a difference of more than 1 trillion between the two reigns. This analysis explains the current surge between Obamas presidency and Bushs presidency regarding deficit spending. What are the consequences of a large national debt? Is it going to hamper the economic growth as some have claimed? Based on an economic perspective, large national debt affects the economic growth negatively. It is almost impossible for a government or country rather to sustaining a large and growing national debt. Some of the effects come from the side of investors who begin doubting the possibility of the federal government to continue servicing the economy and government spending (Boubekar et al., 2016). There are three major effects of large national debts on a country’s economic growth. First, large debt draws money away from national investments which would earn then government some revenues. This is due to lack of enough money for the government to service effective investments. This would mean that the government is heavily spending, but there are minimal or no revenues being generated hence lack of capital to be reinvested. There will be no growth in the country’s economy. Secondly, large debts negatively influence taxation and spending by the government. This is because when the country is suffering from high national debts, all the attention are focused on what the government can do to continue sustaining itself. This is where the government adjusts. As Boubaker et al. (2016) put it when taxation is high workers and investors are negatively affected by tax increment and can be left with little or no money to reinvest. Also, the tax increment leads to economic downturn from the side of the policymakers and investors. Policymakers find it challenging designing policies on tax spending in an environment where there is an extremely high national debt. The economic growth is normally hard in such a situation based on the fact that there are no sufficient funds to fund any new challenges that arise along the policy-making and policy implementation processes. Is it possible for the US to default on its debt in future? Explain The United States does not have any record of ever defaulting on national debt. If this ever happens the results can be unimaginable. However, there have been cases when the House Republicans have resisted raising the house ceilings urging the Congress house to cut on spending first (Johnson, 2000). It means that there are possibilities of the US failing to honor their national debt shortly. Precisely, the US can default their national debt in two main ways; failure of the Congress to raise the debt ceiling, and is the Government decides that the interests they are charged are way too high and resolve to not paying interests on bond, notes, and Treasury bills. In the first case scenario, failure by the Congress to raise the debt ceiling would mean high interests rate on Treasuries, hence high costs on the consumer loan, mortgages, and other such services (Johnson, 2000).This will then lead to decline in the value of a dollar and finally inability of the government to pay salaries and benefits to their civil servants and retirees. On the other hand, in the second scenario, there would be a disaster as the value of treasuries in all the government’s secondary markets would stagnate or go down hence Treasuries would be sold at discounted prices (Cline, 2013). The government would find it hard to auction their treasuries hence making it hard for them to borrow money and pay bills. The default of US national debt would be extremely disastrous owing to the confidence most investors have on the US markets. Why the Nobel winning economist Paul Krugman is not as alarmed as many others are concerning the high level of US National debt? It is important to note that the overall national debt is usually a combination of all loans acquired by the federal government from various creditors to finance a deficit budget. In taking and utilizing loans, the government usually has a focus on increasing their tax rates for them to finance their current government spending (Zezza, 2014). Paul Kraugman can be said to be less alarmed on the high level of the US national debt due to his argument that there is no need for investors or anybody else to worry about the level of the impeding national debt of the US. In his argument, Kraugman makes several assumptions. Unlike others, Krugman argues that in as much as debt matters there are other things that matter most and that the government needs to spend more to get the US citizens out of the current unemployment trap (Zezza, 2014). This shows that he had no idea what harm the current high national debt has caused the US and the impacts a further increase in government spending will cause the US. References Boubaker, S., Rouatbi, W., & Saffar, W. (2016). The Role of multiple large shareholders in the choice of debt source. Financial Management, 46(1), 241-387. Doi: 10. 1111/fima. 12148 Chorafas, D. N. (2014). Kingdoms of Debt Public Debt Dynamics of Europe and the US, 24-32. DOI: 10. 1016/b978-0-12-420021-0.00002-6 Cline, W. R. (2013). The multiplier, sovereign default Risk, and the US budget: An overview. Public Debt, Global Governance and Economics Dynamism, 276-29. Doi: 10.1007/978-88-470-5331-1-3 Johnson, K. (2000). National Missile Defense 2015: An Unintended Consequence. Doi. 10. 21236/ada432647 Sakbani, M. N. (2013). The Dual Debt Problem in the US and in Europe. International Debt. Doi: 10. 1057/9781137030573.0007 Skidmore, D. N. (2011). The Obama Presidency and the US Foreign Policy: Where is the Multilateralism? International Studies Perspectives, 13(1), 46-53. Doi: 10.1111/mj. 1528-3585.2011.00454.x Zezza, G. (2014). Fiscal and Debt Policies for Sustainable US Growth. Fiscal and Debt Policies for the Future. Doi: 10. 1057/9781137269539.0012

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Robber Bride :: essays research papers

Depending on how you look at Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride, Timson calls it an 'upmarket melodrama'; whereas Martin refers to it as a novel 'confronting politically correct feminism';. The truth is it isn't either of these. While some of the situations are greatly exaggerated, this book comments on the way that women interact with each other on a day-to-day basis. Atwood tells the story of three women, and how they are drawn together because they have all been double-crossed by a mutual female friend, Zenia. These characters seem so real that in some cases they are reminiscent of actual acquaintances. The male characters in The Robber Bride, however, are dull and lifeless. We never get to know any of them in great detail. On the other hand, Atwood does a wonderful job of describing the setting, which really allows the reader become more involved in the story. The main message in this novel is that women have drastically different relationships with each other than they do with men. Not being a woman myself makes it difficult for me to determine if this message is true, but nonetheless, Atwood does have a lot to say about the way females deal with each other. The character Roz constantly runs into problems in the business world. 'It's complicated, being a woman boss. Women don't look at you and think Boss. They look at you and think Woman, as in Just another one, like me, and where does she get off?'; The female characters do not 'come across as more emblematic than real.'; as Timson suggests. Charis decides how her day is going to be by swinging a crystal above her head. This behavior reminds me of an acquaintance who once tried to lecture me on the power of 'crystal vibrations'. This may be because Atwood's characters are stereotypes and everyone is bound to know someone like them. However, this realism provides common ground between the reader and the novel, which makes it easier to read. As Male characters in The Robber Bride are very poor and have absolutely no depth. Or as Timson put it '…and male characters who, it can be argued, are uniformly portrayed as so hapless, brutal or pathetic you could forgive them for forming a support group, leaping off the page and tearing the author from limb to limb.'; Their only purpose is to serve as vehicles for the female characters to injure each other. For instance, West barely ever speaks and Tony treats him like a baby, sheltering him from everything and everyone. She believes that it is her job to protect him, and this comes from Zenia almost taking him from

Monday, November 11, 2019

Connections between 4 texts Essay

I have been studying four texts for this report, â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee, â€Å"A Party Down at the Square† by Ralph Waldo Elison, â€Å"Mississipi Burning† by Alan Parker and â€Å"Green Mile† directed by the famous Frank Darabont. All these texts show connections and have similarities to help us to explore the idea of key individuals or group of people or the justice system shows racist attitude. They can do this verbally, physically or turning the blind eye. Verbally means using derogatory language towards Black American. Physical means using violence to make themselves feel superior. Justice system meaning that there is no fair legal trial. Turning the blind eye means bystander effect that is affected by this. â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee is set in a fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during 1930’s. It charts the small town life of a young white girl, Scout, living in a deeply segregated society. Her father, Atticus, is a lawyer, is given a task of representing Tom Robinson. He is a young black man who is falsely accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Her father Bob Ewell, humiliated and vows revenge. He spits at Atticus’ face tried to get into the judges house and stalks the judges’ wife and tried hurting Jem and Scout during the Halloween pageant. During this time Atticus was called a â€Å"nigger lover† by Bob Ewell and the townspeople and he still kept his head high and did the best he can do to defend Tom Robinson. The short story â€Å"A Party Down at the Square† is the story of a boy who witnesses lynching. The young boy is at his uncles somewhere Deep South when a bunch of men yelling there will be a party down at the square. The reader then realizes that the party consists of a lynching of a young black man. The whole town is attending except of course the black community and everyone is screaming for excitement. With a storm causing confusion, an airplane crashes through power lines but successfully land near the town square. A young woman gets electrocuted and dies instantly. Despite the chaos of the storm and the crashed airplane, the mob turns into focus back  on the young black man who is getting burned to death. When the black man asks politely for a quick death, Jed Wilson who is the leader refuses saying â€Å"ain’t no Christians here tonight, we’re just one hundred percent Americans.† The black man burns to death. After the events the young boy falls i ll causing him to be mocked by southern relatives. Later at a general store, a white sharecropper speaks about lynching.The towns people just told him to shut up. â€Å"Mississippi Burning† directed by Alan Parker, is a movie based on a true story about one black and two white civil rights activists disappeared near Philadelphia, Mississippi on June 21st 1964. The three activists in real life, James Chavey, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner but there were not named in the movie are driving, tailed by several cars. When they stopped they are murdered and their bodies hidden by a nib if white men who are connected to the KKK, Ku Klux Klan, Later the FBI turned up to resolve this problem. Agent Anderson and Agent Ward, these agents are from Washington who uses violent and somewhat not violent methods to investigate who the murderers are. The film â€Å"Green Mile† directed by Frank Darabont is set in 1930 in prison, death row. Paul Edgecomb is slightly cynical veteran prison guard on death row. His faith and sanity is deteriorated by watching mean live and die. His life completely turned around, attitude changed when John Coffey, a seven feet tall black man, who’s hands are a size of waffle irons arrived in his prison. John Coffey is big and all but he is very emotional and shy and who is afraid of the dark. This shows us that when he found the two white girls covered in blood in the woods. He was so shocked of what happened, he began to hold them and started crying because he couldn’t believe what happened. He was then accused of murdering these girls with no questions asked was sent to death row. Edgecomb, Brotus the sympathetic guard, and Percy, a stuck up perverse and violent person going on a strange ride that involves intelligent mice, brutal executions and revelation about John Coffey†™s innocence and true identity. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, A key individual that shows his  racist attitude is Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell is a drunkard and an abuser who is despised by the whole community and very likely his family as well. He is a lowlife white trash who lives in the dump just outside the town. He shows his racist attitude by calling the black community a â€Å"nigger nest† also he called Atticus a â€Å"nigger lover† for defending Tom Robinson. Bob Ewell has no respect for himself and no respect for others. When the lawyer defending Mayella asks, â€Å"Are you the father of Mayella Ewell?† Bob responds, â€Å"Well, if I ain’t one, can’t do nothing about it now, her Ma’s dead.† Bobs position is to be the antagonist to everyone. His response is not only a rude attempt to impress others by making a joke it also hints what he sees about women in general, liars and cheaters whose deaths are to be laughed about. After the trial Bob wasn’t satisfied about the sentence of Tom Robinson, so for revenge he spits at Atticus’ face, stalks the judges’ wife and tried to kill Jem and Scout. Bob had a taste of power. In his mind the whole town thinks he’s a hero, he’s superior in reality the community found out that he is a liar and treats his family bad. The townspeople just told him to go back to the dump where he belongs. Harper Lee tells us that racism and sexism is the only way Bob can feel superior to anybody. No white man in the Maycomb community who is not about Ewell heirachy. So he puts people who are below him, Black Americans and women. Another key individual who shows their racist attitude is in the short story â€Å"A Party Down at the Square† by Ralph Waldo Elison, the character called Jed Wilson. Jed shows his racist attitude when he â€Å"tied and dragged the nigger to the back of Jed Wilsons truck.† HE is also the leader of the lunching mob that is going to burn the young black man to death. Jed hollered â€Å"What you say there, nigger?† and it came back through the flames in his nigger voice â€Å"Will somebody cut my throat like a Christian?† and Jed responded â€Å"sorry , but ain’t no Christians around tonight. Ain’t no Jew boys either. We’re just one hundred percent Americans.† This shows me that he is not only racist, it also tells us what his religious beliefs are and that he does not want Jews nor Christians in his lynching mob. Since the black people are God-fearing and God-loving community, Jed Wilson doesn’t like it. He thinks that Amer ican for him is a religion. Just as long as your American and you’re white you are accepted by â€Å"his† community. Jed Wilson says this to make  himself feel superior just like Bob Ewell. Unlike Bob Ewell, Jed is known to anybody and everybody in the town. He does not live in the dump like Bob does. Jed is very known that â€Å"ain’t no black man can stand in his way, no white man either.† Jed makes himself superior, he is selected as the new sheriff in town for burning a black man alive. Although whether its using derogatory words by calling a black community a nigger nest or through violence like burning a black man alive. They still lead to one thing, death. Jed and Bob are similar in a way that they are both racist and hate the black community. They put people who are below them to make themselves feel good and superior and feel like they are the hero, a savior for killing a man with different skin color, race and religious beliefs. They judge them straight away because they have something different to them and want them out of their community. The only difference is that Bob Ewell uses oral derogatory words to get rid of the black community in the area, but both still similar in a way to show their racist attitude towards the black community. In the film â€Å"Mississippi Burning† directed by Alan Parker, the character Clayton Townley is very racist qualities and attitudes. He says he is a â€Å"local businessman† but his actions and words spoken weren’t the words of a local businessman. An example is when he was giving a speech at a large audience at a night time pro-white rally â€Å"They hate us because we present a shining example of successful segregation.† He said this to make himself feel good and feel superior towards black people in an inhumane way. Words can’t describe his ways of killing methods. Differences in To Kill a Mockingbird and Mississippi Burning is that the white people who were out to get the black people had an organized plan. Clayton Townley is the spokesperson or the representative leader of the group called Ku Klux Klan. They create consistency throughout their actions. The Ewells and the racist community of Maycomb weren’t consistent in their actions against the black people. Bob had a plan on his head but Atticus’ strong evidence depicted Bobs pride. Character conflicts that are the same in the book and in the movie was that many white people didn’t want to be seen with blacks because they would be considered as an outcast. Similarities between these characters are that Clayton Townley and Bob Ewell share the same thing in  their mind. They both want power and superiority to make themselves feel good. They are both seen as heroes in their community but eventually they are caught dead or in prison. Also the difference between the film and book is that they are set 30 years apart. In Mississippi Burning, there are many civil rights movements and civil rights activists and in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, it was just a small town community in Alabama with local people. â€Å"We do not accept Jews because they reject Christ. We do not accept Turks, Mongrels, Tartars, Oriental nor Negroes because we are here to protect Anglo-Saxon Democracy and the American way!† Similar words were also spoken by Jed Wilson in the short story â€Å"Party Down at the Square†. As long as you are American and you’re white, you are accepted. This tells me that all three characters are similar in a way that they all racist and have different qualities. In the movie â€Å"Green Mile† directed by Frank Darabont shows us that racism does not only come from individuals or group of people, it also shows us that the justice system is corrupt and people aren’t given free trial. John Coffey falsely accused of murdering two white girls. Justice system says you are not guilty until proven but John was never given this. Therefore shows us that the justice system is corrupt and shows racism. John Coffey was convicted and executed for crime he never committed. Paul Edgecomb asks if he can do something or anything else, John replied â€Å"I’m tired of feeling pain in the world it’s like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can’t you understand?† this quote is referring to the way John feels about discriminated on a constant daily basis. Another example of racism is conviction itself. This movie shows John Coffey a big man with a big heart. He found two white girls dead in the woods, shocked of what h appened, he began to hold them and started crying because he couldn’t believe what happened. He was found with the girls and immediately convicted with no questions asked. This is a clear example of racism. Just because a black man sitting with two white girls doesn’t mean he committed the crime. The legal system should never make assumptions based on race but only n scientific facts. This led us also to, To Kill a Mockingbird justice system. John Coffey and Tom Robinson in a way are in a similar position. Tom Robinson was a young black man accused of raping a white girl. Although given strong  evidence that he did not rape the white girl. The white jury still found him guilty because the color of his skin. Although the judge himself thought that Tom Robinson was not guilty, the justice system is corrupt and racist by concluding and making assumptions that a black man, different race is inferior and whites are superior. This tells me that not only key individuals show their racist attitude but also the legal and justice system is corrupt and racist. I’ve reach in conclusion that the causes of racism are similar to bullying, where people put each other down because they are different. In this case racism, the white community is putting down the black community because they have different skin color, they have different religious beliefs and have different values and culture. The white community refers to them as an outcast and Bob Ewell refers their community as a â€Å"nigger nests†. I found that key individuals show different qualities of racism that make them stand out from others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, A Party Down at the Square, Mississippi Burning and Green Mile the authors and directors were conveying important ideas and themes within them that relates to the characters racist attitude and also the legal system were corrupt and racist however even though they use inhumane and derogatory language to show their racist attitude they still lead to one thing, that is death. A similar idea that these texts showed me was to never lose hope and keep your head up and not let other people put you down because you are different. You are unique in your own way. I say â€Å"They laugh at me because I’m different but I laugh at them because they are the same.†

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol Essay

INTRODUCTION A Christmas Carol (1843) is one of the most recognizable stories in English literature. With its numerous literary, stage, television, radio, and cinematic adaptations, the tale has become a holiday classic, and the character Ebenezer Scrooge has become a cultural icon. First published in 1843, the novella garnered immediate critical and commercial attention and is credited with reviving interest in charitable endeavors, the possible perils of economic success, and festive traditions of the Christmas season. It is the first work in Dickens’s series of Christmas stories known collectively as the Christmas Books, as well as the most popular and enduring. Plot and Major Characters Set in the 1840s on Christmas Eve, A Christmas Carol chronicles the personal transformation of the protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, the proprietor of a London counting house. A wealthy, elderly man, Scrooge is considered miserly and misanthropic: he has no wife or children; he throws out two men collecting for charity; he bullies and underpays his loyal clerk, Bob Cratchit; and he dismisses the Christmas dinner invitation of his kind nephew, Fred. Moreover, Scrooge is a strong supporter of the Poor Law of 1834, which allowed the poor to be interned in workhouses. As he prepares for bed on Christmas Eve in his solitary, dark chambers, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley. In life Marley was very similar in attitude and temperament to Scrooge: remote, cruel, and parsimonious. In death he has learned the value of compassion and warns Scrooge to reform his ways before it is too late. Marley announces that Scrooge will be visited by three more specters: the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge back to his unhappy childhood, revealing that the young boy’s experiences with poverty and abandonment inspired a desire to succeed and gain material advantage. Unfortunately, Scrooge’s burgeoning ambition and greed destroyed his relationship with his fiancà ©e and his friends. The Ghost of Christmas Present is represented by a hearty, genial man who reminds Scrooge of the joy of human companionship, which he has rejected in favor of his misanthropic existence. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appears in a dark robe and shrouded in mystery. Silently, the ghost reveals the ambivalent reaction to news of Scrooge’s own death. Scrooge realizes that he will die alone and without love, and that he has the power and money to help those around him—especially Bob Cratchit’s ailing son, Tiny Tim. Scrooge begs the ghost for another chance and wakes in his bed on Christmas morning, resolved to changing his life by being generous and loving to his family, employees, and the poor. Major Themes A Christmas Carol has been deemed a biting piece of social commentary by some. Critics have underscored the scathing criticism of 1840s London, an economically and socially stratified city that Dickens believed imprisoned its poor and oppressed its lower classes. The prevailing socio-economic theory of that time held that anyone who was in debt should be put in a poorhouse. In his story, Dickens contended that the reformation of such a materialistic, shallow society can be achieved gradually through the spiritual transformation of each individual. The story is well regarded for its expression of a fundamental faith in humanity and its unflagging censure of social injustice, which was inspired by Dickens’s troubled background and his visit to the Cornish tin mines where he observed young children laboring under appalling conditions. As Scrooge transforms from a cruel, embittered miser to a kindly philanthropist, Dickens advocates a more forgiving, generous society that values spiritual growth, not material wealth. Other major thematic concerns in A Christmas Carol include the role of memory, the importance of family, and the soul-deadening effect of greed on the human spirit. Critical Reception Upon its initial publication, A Christmas Carol was greeted with mixed reviews. Some commentators derided the tale as too sentimental and laden with exaggeration; other critics maintained that A Christmas Carol lacked the complexity of Dickens’s later work. Yet the novella remains a Christmas favorite. Commentators praise Dickens’s evocative portrayal of 1840s London and his passionate exploration of social and political issues. Dickens’s fervent belief in social justice as depicted through A Christmas Carol is credited with inspiring an outpouring of charitable endeavors during his time and a revival of Christmas spirit and traditional celebrations. Critics have also explored the fairy-tale and gothic elements in A Christmas Carol, and many praise Dickens’s use of wry humor in the story. The relevance and power of Scrooge’s transformation from forlorn old niggard to benignant philanthropist is regarded as the key to the novella’s unflagging popular appeal. Several scholars have debated the nature of Scrooge’s conversion, which is known as â€Å"the Scrooge problem.† Some critics, including Edmund Wilson, conclude that the transformation is a temporary one; others have maintained that it is total and irrevocable. Scrooge’s metanoia has also been placed within its historical and literary context, and critics have related it to the religious revival then fervent in nineteenth-century England. A few full-length studies of the novella have traced the impact of the story on English and American culture and have discussed the copious imitations, adaptations, and modernized versions of the tale.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Learn About Redox Problems With an Example

Learn About Redox Problems With an Example In oxidation-reduction or redox reactions, it is important to be able to identify which atoms are being oxidized and which atoms are being reduced. To identify if an atom is either oxidized or reduced, you only have to follow the electrons in the reaction. Example Problem Identify the atoms that were oxidized and which atoms were reduced in the following reaction:Fe2O3 2 Al → Al2O3 2 FeThe first step is to assign oxidation numbers to each atom in the reaction. The oxidation number of an atom is the number of unpaired electrons available for reactions.Review these  rules for assigning oxidation numbers.Fe2O3:The oxidation number of an oxygen atom is -2. 3 oxygen atoms have a total charge of -6. To balance this, the total charge of the iron atoms must be 6. Since there are two iron atoms, each iron must be in the 3 oxidation state. To summarize, -2 electrons per oxygen atom, 3 electrons for each iron atom.2 Al:The oxidation number of a free element is always zero.Al2O3:Using the same rules for Fe2O3, we can see there are -2 electrons for each oxygen atom and 3 electrons for each aluminum atom.2 Fe:Again, the oxidation number of a free element is always zero.Put all this together in the reaction, and we can see where the electrons went:Iron we nt from Fe3 on the left side of the reaction to Fe0 on the right. Each iron atom gained 3 electrons in the reaction.Aluminum went from Al0 on the left to Al3 on the right. Each aluminum atom lost three electrons.Oxygen stayed the same on both sides.With this information, we can tell which atom was oxidized and which atom was reduced. There are two mnemonics to remember which reaction is oxidation and which reaction is reductions. The first one is OIL RIG:Oxidation Involves Loss of electronsReduction Involves Gain of electrons.The second is LEO the lion says GER.Lose Electrons in OxidationGain Electrons in Reduction.Back to our case: Iron gained electrons so iron was oxidized. Aluminum lost electrons so aluminum was reduced.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Apple Marketing Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Apple Marketing Analysis - Essay Example 1). Price; Apple being in a business that deals with technology and the advances that come with technology requires that it keeps up to date. But how will Apple keep up to date with changing technology and not escalate up its prices? As a marketing strategy, Apple has come up with pricing games which it has used to maintain a competitive edge in the business. To begin with, Apple has implemented the use of decoys. These are commodities presented in advance of the real commodity and their aim is to capture the attention of the consumer hence compelling the consumer to purchase commodities from Apple. An example is the iPod going for $399 yet Apple displays others being traded for $199 yet they do not exist, compelling the customer to purchase the $399 iPod (Kunz, 2010, p. 1). The other price marketing strategy utilized by Apple Company is the use of a reference range to market its commodities. This is aimed at showing the consumer the previous higher price and the current lower price that Apple is willing to sell the commodity. An example is that Apple can present an IPod at $100 and state it as 50% down from the previous $200. The consumer will find the current deal being offered by Apple better than the previous price and hence purchase the product from Apple instead of its competitors (Kunz, 2010, p. 1). Moreover, Apple uses bundle price as a marketing strategy as pertains to its prices. An example is a TV from Apple Company. It will be purchased for as low as $100, to play the TV, the customer will need to pay Apple through the purchase of a stereo, video and spares to use the TV (Kunz, 2010, p. 1). Product; Apple Company products change with the technological advancements since Apple Company has to keep at par with its competitors and provide the consumers with the latest technology. The current products which have been produced by Apple include: Apple TV, iPod, iPad, iPhone, iWork, iLife, Mac OS X, and iOS (Kunz, 2010, p. 1). Place; this entails the market niche of the company and especially where the company has its largest market share. Being based in the United State, Apple Company has expanded to involve other continents in the distribution of its products. It has been able to capture market in Africa, Asia, and America and also in the Middle East Europe. It has about 200 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, in bid to achieve its objective of supplying technologically enhanced commodities to the global community (Kunz, 2010, p. 1). Promotion; Marketing is anchored in promotion of a Company’s products and services to its consumers. Apple Company has gone a great mile in promoting its products which it accomplishes by the use of advertising in the electronic medium. As earlier foretold in the goal of Apple Company, it works in collaboration with the consumer prior to the launching of a product like emphasized in the decoy pricing. This is aimed at stimulating the consumers to expect a new product from Apple Company (Kunz, 2010, p. 1). A11. Stakeholders Analysis Stakeholders in marketing strategy illustrate the entities to which the organization is accountable to as pertains to its performance: customer, competitors, company, and community (Abila, 2010, p. 1). Company; Apple Company is a multinational Company in the United States that was founded on 01, April 1976. It is a company that specializes in the provision of technologically enhanced facilities to the global community. This is through the introduction of software, hardware, digital

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Description of Keurig Green Mountain Coffee Assignment

Description of Keurig Green Mountain Coffee - Assignment Example In the year 1993, with expansion of the company due to increased demand for coffee, the company went Public and was listed under the stock market as GMCR as its symbol within the stock market. By 2006, the company purchased Keurig and incorporated a coffee manufacturing system that basically facilitated the production of single coffee brewing machines. On the 14th of September 2010, the Company, under the name Green Mountain Coffee purchased the Quebec Coffee services company then known as Van Houtte at a cost of approximately 915 million dollars. In August 2011, the company sold the Filterfresh United States’ Coffee part of the Van Houtte to the Aramark at a cost of 145 million dollars. During the same year in the month of March, the Company made an announcement regarding a deal it had signed with the Starbucks in that would sell its single-serve pods to Keurig Green Mountain Coffee Company. A similar deal was also signed between the Keurig Green Mountain Coffee Company and the Durkin Donuts. Currently the company’s shareholders have signed an agreement that would entail changing its name completely to Keurig Green Mountain. This is based on the desire to reflect the company’s current activities of selling Keurig Coffee Products. The company’s stock has continued rising over time from the year 2010; during the same year, the company the company made an announcement that it had been requested by the Securities Exchange Commission to submit its financial statements in order to determine how the company managed its revenue. The US financial regulators during the same year also made an inquiry into the company’s accounting practices and made a conclusion that it was undertaken in a sound and effective manner. By the end of the financial year 2013, the company had closed with a gross income of approximately 1.6 billion dollars for a period of five years. With the current high rate of populace increase with increase