Character Analysis – the Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon Moncrief)

Algernon Moncrief in Oscar Wilde's â€Å"The Importance of Being Earnest† is quite simply a child at play. Algy, as he's known to his friends, is a young bachelor not yet in his thirties living the aristocratic life of a Victorian gentleman. He has an underdeveloped sense of morality and of the world beyond him. Algy has an excellent skill for wit and as an â€Å"Oxonian†, his education is also rather noticeable. You might also surmise him to be unhappy if he were eating muffins as if there was no tomorrow, and he doesn't seem fond of sharing his cucumber sandwiches in any case. He expresses indifference to everything that fails to give him a moment's amusement as he refers to his manservant's short marriage, â€Å"I don't know that I am much interested in your family life†. Bills would likely pile in his flat in London on Half Moon Street, if he didn't tear them up. Responsibility isn't in his vocabulary, and he certainly doesn't place very much importance on being earnest. John (Jack) Worthing is Algy's best friend and is quite serious about everything that Algy takes for granted. Although they do share a mutual fondness for a particular past time called â€Å"Bunburying† that involves the creation of a fictional double in the form of a brother or friend. The point of which to allow them to easily create excuses to travel as they like. Additionally Algy enjoys using his â€Å"Bunbury† character to avoid dinner with his aunt Lady Bracknell. He believes once a week is enough time to spend with relatives. While Jack utilizes his â€Å"Bunbury† character, ironically named Earnest, to see Algy's first cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax. In the first act of the play, Algy was curious about an inscription in a cigarette case that Jack had left behind. The inscription read â€Å"From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack†. Up to this moment, Algy had only known Jack only by the name Ernest, but now Algy discovers Jack's own â€Å"Bunburying†. Not seemingly fazed, as Algy seemed more interested in the specifics of the one named Cecily, he continued to question Jack about the case only to discover that Cecily is not Jack's niece, but his ward. Enticed by the thought of this young female ward of Jack's, Algy presses him by expressing his interest. This results in Jack revealing that Cecily is â€Å"excessively pretty† and â€Å"only eighteen†. Quite determined now, but resolving that he was â€Å"not going to be invited† by Jack, he decided to overhear Jack's conversation with Gwendolen. Fortunately for Algy, Jack reveals his country address to Gwendolen. Algy certainly had a scheme in his mind as he was writing down the address on his shirt cuff. Algy is quite a bored person. To avoid boring activities and to broaden his scope of entertainment, he created a fictitious character, Bunbury. As Bunbury, he can escape to the country side or just his aunt's dinners. Algy also finds entertainment in being witty and appreciating life as an art form. He doesn't avoid scrapes as he â€Å"love scrapes†. His scheme to see Cecily certainly turns into one, and many things change for him once he does finally meet Cecily. I think it is best summed up by Algy saying â€Å"I killed Bunbury this afternoon† when he had just told Jack that â€Å"Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury†. After meeting Cecily and falling madly in love with her, he's willing to give up his â€Å"freedom†. Both he and Jack even resort to scheduling baptisms to correct their lies, and in turn both become earnest. Algy always seemed quite amused with his own wit, even remarking on one occasion on his statement concerning women and their mothers, â€Å"It is perfectly phrased! â€Å". He believed women to become their mothers while men don't become their fathers. He also shows his keen understanding of human behavior when remarking about the music selection for his aunt's dinner, â€Å"if one plays good music, people don't listen, and if one plays bad music people don't talk†. Along with his wonderful taste in music, he's particularly fond of fashion. He would â€Å"never have any appetite† without â€Å"a buttonhole first†, and as much of a glutton he is, that's saying a lot. He also comments of the fashion of others or rather the lack thereof such as Jack and how he â€Å"has no taste in neckties at all†. Another thing Algy knew, was that he loved Cecily and was willing to do anything to marry her. Algy may have fallen in love and forever lost his dear invalid friend, Bunbury, but his interest is fleeting. As well Cecily, for she even states she â€Å"hates waiting even five minutes for anybody†. I believe it likely for their love to burn brightly and quickly. A man that could fall in love with a woman in ten minutes and a woman that could love a man just for his name alone is not an ideal match. Although, their mutual whimsy could be that which makes them an ideal match. I would just hope Algy does as his said and forgets how after the proposal â€Å"the excitement is all over†. Although, technically speaking, Algy never did propose to Cecily as they had been engaged nearly three months before they even met. It is widely believed that Algernon is a representation of Oscar Wilde himself, as both men are rather witty dandies that lead double lives. While it can be argued whether Algy had truly changed, I'd like to think that he came to the realization â€Å"that Bunbury could not live†. Algy had finally bumped into someone in that castle in the sky and was sure to provide him with plenty of entertainment as Cecily's imagination seemed to constantly create stories out of thin air. When she told him of their imaginary break up before they even met, Algy was â€Å"very much hurt indeed† and found Cecliy's reacceptance of the engagement to make her a â€Å"perfect angel†.

Issues Identified Essay

1) The first issue of the case is whether Harry Hepburn, the president of Southern California Division of Robinson Brothers Homes should make the projection on the specific project more optimistic or not. By making the revenue forecasts more optimistic, the most likely outcome is that the project will be undertaken and his team of employees will keep their position. Otherwise, at the current estimated return projections, the project is expected to be declined, and Harry’s team will be partially laid off in accordance with the Robinson Brothers Homes plan on cutting costs as the company faces the slowing down market and decreased profitability. 2) The second issue of the case is to evaluate what can be done to either decrease the required IRR benchmark related to this project or to increase the expected IRR of the project. Due to decreasing margins on their recent construction projects RBH needs a project to bring their revenues and profits up for the upcoming years. RBH’s Southern California division (one of 15) and its VP Michael Borland have come up with a prospective project â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† which has potentials to increase profits and revenues. The issue with it remains is that the project has a IRR of 21 and for a project like this Michael Borland and his division has calculated a required IRR of 24.5. Issue Prioritization: Both issue seem to be equally important, however it seems that IRR issue should be attempted to be resolved first: if the required IRR can be lowered without making the forecast too optimistic, Harry will not need to solve this difficult ethical dilemma at this moment. Alternative Generation: * Increase IRR * Decrease required IRR (risk) * Don’t’ change Ethical Problem: 1. Harry submits the forecast as planned. Consequences: project will be rejected and the division will be downsized 2. Harry makes the forecast more optimistic. Consequences: Project gets funded and employee layoff could be averted. RBH would lose credibility with joint venture partner if the project earns less  than the forecast. And some problems in ethical position. Evaluation of Alternatives: Way to increase IRR/decrease required IRR: [As Harry directly supervises the executives and the issue is about financial returns, the results control is the most appropriate for this issue.] 1) Let VPs know about the problem and the fact that this project is critical for the continuity of the division as is. VPs are: Operations, Sales and Marketing, Land Development, Land Acquisition, and Accounting. This understanding will help to establish the link between performance and compensation. 2) Together, they should come up with ideas and set specific goals for increasing IRR and/or lowering risk of the project in their functional areas. The targets set for VPs should be aligned with their functional areas/responsibilities as much as possible. If some targets involve more than one area, they should know specifically with whom should they cooperate to achieve success on that mutual goal. The idea behind it is that VPs should know specifically how can they influence the project’s IRR and risk, so they would feel responsibili ty and ability to influence and achieve their own specific targets. Second, the goals have to be as specific as possible, so that VPs would know how much more effort should they put to succeed. Specific possible solutions: * By not making the purchase (investment) until all political issues are resolved (June 2007 is the expected date), the political risk can be decreased to minimum saving 1.5% in required IRR. * With the appropriate goals and strict incentives are set for VPs as discussed above, the risks in development, market, and financial areas may be reduced by further cumulative 1.5%. Measures to be taken may include: hedging the interest rate risk with derivatives (financial), making early sales (market), securitization of debt (financial), overseeing the construction process thoroughly to ensure its timeliness (development), etc. It is important that other projects of this division, which are currently under way, would not be neglected or paid less attention to. They are also crucial for the division’s success (637 homes in 2006 and $235 in revenue). Harry should oversee their work in order to ensure that no risk manipulation and  unjustified assumptions/forecasts take place. Ethical issue [There are really no alternatives for this issue – there is only a question: â€Å"Should Harry stretch the forecast a bit or should not?†] * Harry’s action of making the forecast a bit too optimistic will not be left unnoticed by VPs. As a result, they may begin making dishonest acts on their own in the future acting on the example set by the president. (The cultural control may get broken.) * The management owns the fiduciary duty to its shareholders, as it is trusted with assets to manage. Shareholders interests should be put ahead of their own. According to the stockholder ethical model, the maximization of shareholders’ profit/wealth is of utmost importance. * Southern California Division of RBH represents a large portion of company’s business: in 2006 it is projected to sell 637 homes, while 2000 were built by RBH in total. Thus, the failure in this division may cause the financial difficulties on the company-wide level affecting other employees as well. According to the stakeholder ethical model, the acceptance of the project of higher risk would also be unethical. * If they accept, then in case of the unfavourable scenario, the company is likely to sell this project at a larger loss, as other development companies are likely to employ the similar IRR model for determining projects’ NPVs. Possible conclusion: in this case, under both stockholder and stakeholder ethical models, the project with the higher risk than required should not be accepted. Recommendation Decrease IRR. Implementation Issues Move discussion of incentives part from alternatives evaluation to here. * additional discussion on ethics (evaluation of alternatives) * additional discussion on IRR ((evaluation of alternatives) * implementation details Kurt: 1. Introduction: RBH is a medium-sized homebuilder. The company built single- family and higher-density homes, such as townhouses and condominiums. Its headquarters staff located in Denver, Colorado, and 15 divisions located in most of the metropolitan areas. 2. Problem Statement and Analysis: The market of the Southern California Division served had slowed, the division has to make price concessions in order to sell its homes. However, the construction costs were continuing to rise. Action controls: reduce cost , budgets , review and approval Harry wants to do the project (Platinum Pointe) which promises to provide over $100 million in revenue and nearly $ 14 million in profits in the 2008-11 time period. But the IRR of the project is only 21%, which is below the minimum required for a project with this level of risk – 24.5% ————————————————- The stock price had declined almost 50% from the all- time peak in 2005. POSSIBLE ADVICE Each division was self-contained, with its own construction supervision, customer care, purchasing, sales and marketing, land development, land acquisition, and accounting staffs. ————————————————- Redundancy : Assigning more people to a task than necessary The lag between acquisition of the land and sale of the final house built was three- five years. Reduce the business cycle The homes will be built in two formats: a triplex townhome and a six- plex cluster home, but the format had not been previously offered in Southern California. The residents of Southern California may not accept these kinds of formats. Harry and Michael want to lower the required IRR or to raise the projected IRR to ensure that the project would be approved. Personnel controlsï ¼Å¡have a conscience that leads them to do what is right find self-satisfaction when they do a good job and see their organization succeed Ethics and morality Annie: Background: RBH builds single-family and higher-density homes, such as townhouses and condominiums. RBH often had to make significant price concessions and construction costs were continuing to rise. The stock price had declined  almost 50% from the all-time peak in 2005. Because the homebuilding started slowdown in early 2006, so finances were expected to be much tighter in 2007. Harry, the president resisted the idea of downsizing of the division in 2007 and wanted to keep employee team intact. RBH spends considerable effort in preparing formal land acquisition proposal, which examines the proposed building project from housing development type, construction challenges and costs, marketing prospects, and environmental concern. The Platinum Pointe deal is a large one that would bring in considerable revenue and profits in the 2008-2011 time periods. Issues: 1. Modification of risk rating procedure RBH’s procedure requires the identification of risk in four areas: political, development, market, and financial. The risk of each project in each of these four areas must be rated as low, moderate or high. The higher a project’s IRR, the more desirable it is to undertake the project. Michael was disappointed about the Platinum Point site project because the IRR was only 21%, while the minimum required IRR for a project of this risk should be 24.5% (3.5% variance). The problem of existing risk rating procedure? How to assess the risk rating? By who? Recommendation? 2. Joint venture with other homebuilding company Advantages and disadvantages Recommendation? 3. Ethical problem- Harry contemplates preparing projects that were a little too optimistic to ensure that the project would be approved. Harry tries to disclose the degree of optimism in the forecasts or acting in a less than honest way. If Harry doing so, who will be harmed or put at risk? Waleed Issue: Due to decreasing margins on their recent construction projects RBH needs a project to bring their revenues and profits up for the upcoming years. RBH’s Southern California division (one of 15) and its VP Michael Borland have come up with a prospective project â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† which has  potentials to increase profits and revenues. The issue with it remains is that the project has a IRR of 21 and for a project like this Michael Borland and his division has calculated a required IRR of 24.5. Possible ways to remedy this specific issue can be as follows: Solution: Increase IRR of â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal†: 1. Since the recent environment factors are forcing of margins to decline RBH may need to adapt to this situation just to have this â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† approved. One factor identified out of the assumptions in Exhibit 3 – Purchasing Section is to allow more profit participation for the seller Jackson Development company. Currently set up as 50% share above a net 9% profit for the project. Giving the Jackson Development company a share of 52-54% above the 9% net profit will increase the â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† overall IRR from 21% to closer to the required 24.5% (how by giving up profit will their IRR increase?) 2. Although the Southern California division is large for RBH but their overall exposure and knowledge in the area can be limited. For example, the market demand for the house structures (condo’s. Detached, semi-detached etc.) or even the market demand for amenities included (backyards, parks, garages, driveways etc..) is all the information that a local company native of Southern California will have better information of and RBH is disadvantaged to that. So the solution here is to consider a Merger and Acquisitions approach to hedge this information risk and to also expand the company as a whole. The project is large enough to justify such as move for RBH. This in fact will increase the 3 factor of IRR calculations the â€Å"Market† seen in Exhibit 3. As a result the â€Å"The Platinum Pointe Land Deal† IRR will increase bringing it closer the required 24.5%.

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How sex in advertising has negative effects on societies perception of beauty - Term Paper Example This "How sex in advertising has negative effects on societies perception of beauty" essay outlines the impact of the usage of sex images in advertisement on our society and our standards of beauty. In most of the current advanced societies, children spend more times in front of televisions and computers rather than in play grounds. â€Å"Research has shown that young children—younger than 8 years—are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against advertising. They do not understand the notion of intent to sell and frequently accept advertising claims at face value†. Children during their early developmental stages may not possess the ability to segregate between good and evil. Moreover, children also possess intrinsic thirst for sexual activities even though it may not be visible or identifiable to others. When a sex provoking advertisement is displayed in front of the children, they are getting a new knowledge or a wrong message which they will keep in the ir mind forever. For example, bedroom scenes are common in the advertisements of condoms and beauty products. These advertisements often portray males as the symbol of strength or stamina and females as the symbol of beauty or figure. Children watching these advertisements may develop a feeling that only stronger men and beautiful women are capable of enjoying sexual life. In their 2002 thesis, â€Å"Effects of Sex in the Media,† scholars Richard J. Harris and Christina L. Scott address the effect of visual cultures whose morals are affected by this advertising. They say a worldview that progressively reflects the perception of the media may be refined by repeated contact to a regular set of messages. As an example, they say â€Å"watching numerous sitcoms and movies showing teenagers being sexually active may cultivate acceptance of such a position in the viewer and thus weaken family- taught values against pre-marital sex.† So, the viewing of sexual images in adverti sing also distorts the moral values of teenagers, maybe even to the point of rebellion against the values their family taught them (Robertson, p.2) â€Å"Sex is used in commercials to sell everything from beer to shampoo to cars. New research is showing that teenagers' exposure to sexual content in the media may be responsible for earlier onset of sexual intercourse or other

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Exploring the issue of child poverty There are two terms of poverty absolute and relative. Absolute refers to the amount of basics that we need to survive and relative is the standards of living in a society at any particular time (Kelly McKendrick 2007). This essay aims to discuss the impact of poverty on community and social care, the influences it has on health across the lifespan, the relevance to nursing practice, services available to address the problem and local policies on poverty. Poverty is when a household income (adjusted for the size and make-up of the household) is less than 60% of the UK average income. The circumstances that cause poverty are wide-ranging and include many day-to-day things including health, housing, education, employment and access to services (The Scottish Government 2010). There has been a steady growth of child poverty in Scotland and in the UK in the last few years. Accordingly households in Scotland where income is lower than most can be considered to be living in poverty (Kelly McKendrick 2007). The Government wants to provide children and young people with the best start in life. The Governments pledge in 1999 to end child poverty by 2020 has already led to 600,000 fewer children in poverty in the UK. Although progress has been made, 2.9 million children still remain in poverty. With the introduction of The Child Poverty Bill in 2009 the Government will be answerable to Parliament on the progress of this Bill (DCSF 2009). Poverty is not only happening in this country but all over the world. A report out by a leading charity has announced that 4 million children are living in poverty and about 1.7 million children are living in severe poverty in the UK one of the richest countries in the world (Save the Children 2010). Child poverty restricts childrens involvement to activities and services. While some children will grow up in low income households and go on to achieve their goals many will not. Poverty places stress on family life and excludes children from everyday activities which other children take for granted (David Piachaud 2005). The barriers which Lone parents face when they try to move from benefits to work can be that Employers are often reluctant to employ them; which means that lone parents worry about combining work with their childcare responsibilities. Financial stability is crucial, but it is often hard to achieve. Some lone parents working into low-paid jobs find they are simply worse off in work than living on benefits. Citizens Advice argues that adequate support for parents lies in breaking down the barriers to going back to work, the re-organising of the tax and welfare systems, ensuring appropriate childcare; and for employers to provide more flexible jobs (Citizens Advice 2008). Adair Turners Pension Commission report has set out new policies on pensions. The changes to retirement ages which are set to rise to 66 by the year 2030, 67 by 2040 and 68 at 2050. Turner proposes that the Basic State Pension would increase in line with earnings instead of prices from 2010 bringing a rise in income for pensioners. There would also be a reduction in means-tested benefits such as Pension Credit which the Commission believes act as a deterant to saving. After some pressure by Help the Aged, among others, Adair Turner has decided that entitlement to pensions should be based on residency instead of contributions from the age of 75, while the complex State Second Pension (S2P) would eventually become a flat-rate extra payment. Turner has also set up a National Pension Savings Scheme (NPSS) which would mean workers would pay 4 per cent of their salary into their pension, alongside additional contributions from the Government and employers (Help the Aged 2010). There are a number of benefits available to help people on low incomes. These are Jobseekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Pension Credit and Income Support and from April 2004 Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit. Income Support is a means tested benefit for people whose income falls below a specified level or who have no other source of income. Welfare payments are an important source of household income in Scotland almost one sixth of household income in Scotland comprises welfare payments and state pensions combined. Therefore making household incomes in Scotland more reliant on welfare benefits than any other parts of the UK (Kelly McKendrick 2007). The introduction of a National Minimum Wage (NMW) was a major feature of the Labour Partys manifesto. Following their election the Government set up an independent Low Pay Commission to recommend the level of the NMW and how it should apply to young people and people in training. The reasons put forward to support an NMW cover three broad areas; social a minimum wage would target low pay and poverty; equity a minimum wage reduces exploitation, protects employers, and cuts the cost to taxpayers of topping up low incomes via the social security system; economic extra demand in the economy would increase employment; a minimum wage could also boost investment and productivity (CIPD 2009). Child Trust Fund (CTF) is a savings and investment account for children. Children born on or after 1 September 2002 will receive a  £250 voucher to start their account. The account belongs to the child and cant be touched until they turn 18, so that children have some money behind them to start their adult life (Child Trust Fund 2010). A large income gap between the most weathly and the worst off in society is closely associated with higher death rates worldwide, especially for younger adults, finds a study published on bmj.com today as part of a global theme issue on poverty and human development. Studies show that greater income inequality in a nation is associated with higher mortality rates, but most have focused on wealthier nations. However, it has recently been suggested that the effects of income inequality on health are of importance worldwide, not just in wealthy nations. There is also some evidence that this effect is more pronounced at different ages. They confirm that the impact of income inequality on health is real and that it has a greater influence on mortality in wealthier countries between the ages of 15 and 29, and worldwide between the ages of 25 and 39 (BMJ 2007). If being poor is bad for you, living in a cold home can be lethal. The annual figures published on excess winter deaths are the best we have from official sources however there are no figures which take in the knock-on costs to the NHS of cold-related illnesses, In the last set of figures, covering the winter months of 2004-2005, the number of winter deaths reached nearly 30,000. There are policies in place to help people who are fuel-poor, but they do not know that they are fuel poor and can access help. This is where community nurses come in. Health professionals are usually welcome visitors in any house and enjoy a degree of trust from the public. People who need help with their fuel poverty needs probably claim it the least. Many are isolated by poor health or their own poverty. Community nurses do not have the time to become experts but helping their clients to benefit from these programmes would help them to feel better. So encouraging older people who may be cold and poor to explore benefit health checks could transform their income, warmth and health (Mervyn Kohler 2006). Someone living in a deprived area is more than twice as likely to have a long term illness compared with someone in a weathly area. People living with a long term illnesses are likely to be more disadvantaged across a range of social factors such as employment, qualifications, home ownership and income. The impact of deprivation can also be seen in terms of mental health and wellbeing, with a recent Scottish survey reporting higher levels of mental wellbeing being associated with those on higher incomes (Scottish Government 2007). Studies on the impact of temporary unemployment have demonstrated that being out of work is bad for an individuals health. Those analyses did not control for the economic cycle, however. In a recent study, Strully24 looked at US interview data taken from 1999, 2001 and 2003 Panel Study of Income Dynamics. People were asked about certain aspects of their employment, their health and a variety of health conditions. Losing your job was associated with a 54% chance of reporting fair or poor health, and for a person with no pre-existing health conditions, the chances of reporting a new one increased by 83% with job loss. Low unemployment is also associated with the reporting of more poor health conditions (S Bezchruka 2009). The Black Report, published in 1980 stated that although the establishment of the National Health Service the differences between the health of the rich and poor had widened not narrowed, health had improved over all socio-economic groups but had been greater among the educated and wealthy (Oxford Journal). The Acheson Report, published in 1998, called for an increase in benefit for women of childbearing age, expectant mothers, young children and pensioners and said that many people on low incomes had insufficient money to buy the food and services necessary for good health. It also called for more funding for education in deprived areas; better nutrition at schools; Children should learn about parenting and relationships, and should receive sex education. (Telegraph 2010). The above reports by Black and Acheson collected information which showed that ill health and disease are socially patterned with the more wealthy groups of society living longer and enjoying better health than deprived groups. Nevertheless health has slowly improved but there is still a great divide between socioeconomic groups and their health status (Naidoo Wills 2009). The Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007. There are seven measurements of deprivation these include income, employment, health and disability, skills and training, education, housing, living environment and crime. There are also six district summary scores for each Local Authority district (there are 354 districts in England) and for each County Council and higher tier (there are 149 of these). A relative ranking of areas, according to their level of deprivation is then provided. There are also supplementary Indices measuring income deprivation amongst children and older people: the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) and the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI) (Communities.gov 2007). In conclusion although the Governments pledge to eradicate child poverty by 2020 is underway there is still a great deal to consider in order to help both young and old people.

Habit of mind :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A habit of mind is a way of thinking that one acquires over time. It is a type of thought that involves thinking beyond what society considers right or wrong, but acknowledging through complex thought, what is morally right. It is not easily achieved and is somewhat like a muscle, in that you have to build it up over time through intellectual work and hardship. Not everyone can achieve a strong habit of mind, in fact most don’t. The habit is a way of thinking that allows one to communicate with knowledge when the answer is not initially apparent. In order to think in this complex manner a person has to be well educated in all subjects of intelligence. Having a good education goes hand in hand with having good habits of mind, because in order to have positive functioning habits, a person has to be well rounded enough to considered every possible solution to the problems or questions posed. Being able to use a habit of mind also requires a type of thinking w here others nor any outside force constrains any ideas or solutions . This by definition is a habit of mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The characteristics of a good philosopher are someone who possesses the qualities to use their habits of mind and be able to think on a higher level than most do. Though everyone has their own unique habits of mind, philosophers are trained to think at a level where their habits of mind are stronger, and thus are always looking for, and usually come up with the best solution to questions, or problems posed. Plato is an example of a philosopher; he wrote a book, The Republic, which is a novel outlining the steps in order to become a good philosopher. Plato speaks through Socrates in the book, and Socrates gets involved in many challenging debates and philosophical conversations with people along his journeys, allowing him to strengthen his habits of mind. Philosophers are posed with the challenge of attempting to solve many of life's unanswerable questions. One example would be the question as to whether abortion is right or wrong. Both sides can be argued, pro lif e or pro choice, and both have sufficient evidence supporting its side. Although it would make sense that the person who’s fully informed on the subject and has the best ability to argue their contention will prevail in the conclusion of the argument, a solution is not usually possible.

Loneliness and Friendship in Steinbecks Of Mice and Men :: essays research papers

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck describes the life of a man and his best friend who has the mentality of a child. Their friendship is very strong and this is unusual due to the other characters in the book being very lonely. Every time George and Lennie manage to stick a job out, Lennie makes a mistake and they are forced to leave. But they hope after all of their intense work that they can finally have their dream and get a place they can call their own. Through many difficulties and hardships they manage to deal with the arguments and lack of companionship at their workplace. Between the two key themes of friendship and loneliness Steinbeck makes the novel Of Mice and Men a real success. One of the ways Steinbeck establishes the theme of loneliness is through setting itself. Section one of the book is set at a pleasant and peaceful river a few miles south of Soledad. The first four letters sole meaning only. Also Soledad means lonely place in Spanish. The river seems very secluded and isolated. There’s nothing but nature. It’s a very harmonious and tranquil place. A clearing so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It’s also the place George tells Lennie to meet him if he gets into any sort of trouble. This is a complete contrast to where the rest of the book is mainly set. A ranch where George and Lennie the two main characters manage to find work. The ranch displays isolation mainly through the actions characters take and the events that happen. Characters in the novel also contribute to the understanding of the theme of loneliness. George Milton and Lennie Small are the two main characters in the novel. They are like two halves. â€Å"The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features.† George is the smaller of the two men but has taken care of Lennie for a while, since Lennie’s Aunt Clara died and this highlights the theme of friendship. He is the more knowledgeable one of the two. â€Å"You crazy son-of-a-bitch. You keep me in hot water all the time.† George gets a little irritated with Lennie at times but looks after him no matter what. Their friendship is solid has to watch over him at all times, as Lennie is incapable of looking after himself and is one of the many characters who doesn’t change at all through the novel.

Short Skirt, Long Jacket :: Personal Narrative Writing

Short Skirt, Long Jacket After stuffing my brains with knowledge of Communication, Controls, and Signal Processing and then force-feeding my eyes with 150 pages of text for my literature class, I leave the library dispirited and walk slowly home. My mind has left my body and is hovering overhead, observing me go through the simple motion of placing one foot in front of the other on the sidewalk. What seems to be an effortless action is actually a complex system of muscles, nerves, and electric impulses that culminate in a carefully rehearsed pattern, the perfected sloppy shuffle of my feet. Totally discouraged and ready to go to sleep, I enter my room and continue with my automated performance for my suspended self. The first thing I do when I get back is to take out my contacts. Since it also happens to be Sunday, I must add an enzymatic cleaner tablet to the storage solution. I do this with an efficiency that would put any clock to shame. I then drag myself to the bathroom sink and brush my teeth, returning to my room to Oxy cleanse my face. I briefly toy with the idea of wearing my retainers but decide against it and leave them to hibernate peacefully in their protective plastic yellow case. When I am done with this ritual, I indulge myself with the thought of falling asleep, but I know I have work waiting for me. It’s two o’clock and my brain is still good. I marvel at its ability to think, at its ability to perform under such adverse conditions. However, those superior skills tend to annihilate their own greatness when the part of my brain that finds ways to procrastinate continues to be productive. My blinding intelligence formulates some complex string of logic that tells me it is okay to give up, and I begin to head for bed, but then I remember†¦I have Cake. I want a girl with a mind like a diamond. I want a girl who knows what's best. I want a girl with shoes that cut and Eyes that burn like cigarettes. No, not cake the dessert, although I enjoy that also. That kind of cake tends to appear on birthdays, which is when I will consume it, but for everyday pleasure there are Pop Tarts from the vending machine.

Relationships in Forty-Five a Month and the House

Strong and Weak Relationships in Stories Relationships in stories are very important, to who the characters are and how they act. In the stories that were read the relationships shown were both strong and weak. Depending on how the characters act toward each other, it determines their relationship. The stories, Forty-five a Month and The House on the Border, both have very weak relationships, whereas the story, The Ch’i-lin Purse, has a very strong relationship. In a relationship one person sometimes depends on the other, but if the other does not support the other, it becomes weak.In the story, House on the Border, there was a very weak relationship between the main characters, the people that live in the house and the authorities. The relationship is weak for many reasons. The authorities are not helpful to the people that live in the house. After a thief has just broken into their house, the people that live there tie him up and go to the authorities. They go to different a uthorities, who just keep passing the responsibility of taking care of the situation on to the other one. Either all eight of us, my wife and I and the six thieves, will spend the remainder of the year here, or they will include the house in one of the areas, thus enabling me to complain to the authorities. † This shows a weak relationship because the people that lived on the house were very dependent on the authorities, just like any other citizen. This relationship is foreshadowing the author’s take on the his country’s government and how they are not giving aide to the people in the country. That is also another example of a weak relationship, and a more simple example would be between two particular characters.The story Forty-five a Month is a great example of weak relationship between two characters directly. Two of the main characters, Shanta and Venkat, represent a very weak relationship. Shanta is the daughter of Venkat, they have a weak relationship for a lot of reasons. In a daughter to father relationship, it is imagined that the two are to be considered â€Å"close† by spending time together. In this story the daughter to father relationship is broken apart because of the father’s work. The daughter cannot understand the father’s purpose for being devoted to work. I don’t know if it is going to be possible for me to take her out at all- you see, they are giving me an increment. † The father wants to spend time with his daughter, but he cannot because his job supports his whole family. It is also weak because of the broken promises that Venkat makes to Shanta. Venkat promises to take her to the movies, but he lets Shanta down because she expected a great night out with her father, and is now asleep at home and all dressed up. The promises being broken make it very weak. The Ch’i-lin Purse is a perfect example of a strong relationship.The relationship between Mrs. Lu and Hsiang-Ling in the Ch’i-lin Purse is very strong because it taught a lesson and saved the characters. It taught the lessons of sacrifice and good karma. The lesson of sacrifice was taught to Mrs. Lu when she gave up her purse to the crying girl at her wedding. Also she was taught to sacrifice when she got her soup after the storm and then gave it away. â€Å"If you have a chance to do something good, be sure to do it. Happiness will come back to you. † The lesson of karma is taught when Mrs. Lu has sacrificed her things and was rewarded in return.All of that could not have been done without the strong relationship of two strangers, who in the end are both saved and rewarded, because they found each other. The stories, Forty-five a Month and The House on the Border, both have very weak relationships, whereas the story, The Ch’i-lin Purse, has a very strong relationship. The stories had strong and weak relationships, and they all represented them in different ways. The stories showe d good examples through characters, foreshadowing, and lessons. Many other stories have both strong and weak relationships.

Regulation in Mass Media Essay

The responsibility of the FCC and their regulations are often questioned if they are necessary or not. By examining Horwitz’s â€Å"The Evolution of the American Telecommunication System and the Origin of Communication Regulation. ,† one could take the side that the regulation of media is necessary. Regulation of media is necessary to prevent a monopoly– which is one company controlling the entire market. If there was a monopoly on media then the company could charge and price whatever they want and only give service to those they wanted to. By having media regulations this is not able to happen. Natural monopolies in wired carriers, which are monopolies approved by the FCC, keep costs down and prevent a cluttering of wiring in the air or ripping up streets to install underground wiring. The first sign of natural monopoly was with AT&T and the telephone. According to Horowitz, it states: â€Å"Under the leadership of Theodor Vail, AT&T maintain the telephony constitution a natural monopoly. One policy, one system, and universal service’ was Vail’s ot-reapted slogan. † (Horowitz, Page 99) Vail argued that by having more then one provider there would be a waste of resources and if there was one provider pooling its resources they would be able to provide a better service to the customer. Though this might be true, unless there is regulation by the government this idea of natural monopoly would be horrible. Now the FCC regulates any kind of natural monopoly that exists within universal carriers of a med ia. The beginning of regulation began with the start of large scale communication, other then print, in 1835 when Samuel Morse proved a signal that could transmitted a message by wire. Morse used pulses of current to provide a written code on a strip of paper. This code became known as the Morse Code. Morse gave a public demonstration in 1838 to congress, but it took congress over five years to fund Morse’s experiment of the telegraph. Congress funded Morse $30,000 to construct a 40 mile experiment from Washington to Baltimore, using telegraph wire. It took six years before a message was sent and received over the telegraph wire. This was the first time a message had been transferred other then print or word of mouth. Western Union became the main provider of the telegraph service, and became a monopoly in 1867. The telegraph created the umbrella of commerce, which was the first time the government intervened with communications. According to Horwitz, a common carrier obligation was established for all carriers that provided service for the telegraph. Telegraph companies resemble railroad companies and other common carries, in that they are instruments of commerce and in that they exercise a public employment and are therefore bound to serve all customers alike without discriminations, they have doubtless a duty to the public to receive to the extent of there capacity all messages clearly and intelligible written and to transmit them upon reasonable terms but they are not common carriers, there duties are different and are perfo rmed in different ways and they are not subject the same liabilities. (Horowitz, Page 95, 96) What this law meant was that there could be no discrimination in who the provider wanted to extend service to. In 1895 the first radio message was transmitted by Marconi. Radio area waves were open to who ever could make a device to transmit messages to other people with the same device. Broadcasting became more and more popular. According to Horwitz, â€Å"broadcasting-the dissemination of electrical messages through the airwaves to an undifferentiated audience-may not have been contemplated, but it was inherited in the technology of radio. (Horowitz, Page 112) Radio became more and more popular and the government stepped in like they did with the telegraph and telephone and began regulating radio. The first major regulation was the Radio Act of 1912. Before this, radio waves were open to the public. The airwaves started to become too crowded and the U. S. government decided to take actio n. The Radio Act of 1912 established government control over the airwaves and created guidelines for issuing licenses and distributing radio airwaves. The Radio Act of 1927 was the second major act that was established to regulate the media industry. This act created the Federal Radio Communications (FRC), which was responsible for giving licenses to broadcasters. This act also made it so that the radio airwaves were a public resource. As a result, broadcasters were required to serve the public interest. The regulations of broadcasted media and the regulation of print media are different. The regulation of print deals with copyright laws. Anyone could publish anything they want but if some one uses someone else’s words without proper notation they could be sued. Print is regulated more when dealing with news print; for example the newspaper. Most print media would not use profanity or any kind of naked pictures. Print media is mostly written based on ethics. The writer tries not to take sides or out right seem bias towards one particular side. Broadcast media like radio have different kinds of regulations. In order to have air time on the radio one needs to have a license. Radio also must provide a public service toward the listener. Radio just like print media tends to stay away from profanity and over sexual connotations. Print media usually has a fee, whereas, radio is free to the public. Both of these media’s have regulations but have different kinds of regulations from the FCC. Overall, the world of mass media has many regulations that exist. These regulations are decided by the FCC, which is an independent government agency created under the Communications Act of 1934. At the beginning the FCC was responsible for regulating broadcast, telegraph, and telephone. Now the FCC has expanded its regulations to include new communication technologies such as: the satellite, microwave, cellular telephones, PCS service and private radio communications. As one could see, the responsibilities of the FCC are necessary in monitoring both the delivery system and the actual media itself. Overall, by using Horwitz’s â€Å"The Evolution of the American Telecommunication System and the Origin of Communication Regulation. ,† one could tell the history of regulation and how important it really is to the people.

Nursing Home Abuse Essay

Approximately 1.4 million elderly people reside in long term care facilities, such as nursing homes. The families that admit their loved ones to these long term care facilities believe that excellent care is being provided to them. Many of the residents in nursing home settings receive adequate health care, but a numerous amount of other residents are subjected to abuse and neglect. It is believed that nearly one-third of all nursing homes have residents that are subjected to abuse either by staff or other residents (Masters in Health Care). Definitions of elder abuse vary. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what actions or inactions constitute abuse. Besides a variety of definitions, the major types of abuse that occur in nursing homes are categorized into physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment, financial or material exploitation. The solution to such nursing home abuse is rather simple. To prevent the inhumane treatment of the elderly in nursing homes, the nursing shortage needs to be addressed. The scandal of elder abuse in nursing homes appears to be new phenomena, but in reality this god forsaken crime has occurred for decades. Due to an elder’s physical and cognitive make up, they are not able to defend themselves from the heinous acts of abuse by their caregivers. Abuse in nursing homes is mainly thought of as physical aggression, but the elderly are subjected to psychological abuse also. One would think that no man or woman could commit abuse onto a helpless individual; however the issue of elderly abuse in nursing homes has been a growing problem. In 2003, there were 20,673 complaints of abuse, gross neglect, and exploitation on behalf of nursing home and â€Å"board and care† residents (American Association for Justice). By 2010 the number of elderly abuse complaints rose to a number between one million and two million (National Center on Elder Abuse). A study prepared by the staff of the Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reform Committee found that thirty percent of nursing homes in the United States (5,283 facilities) were cited for almost nine-thousand instances of abuse over a recent two year period. The common problems of the study included untreated bedsores, inadequate medical care, malnutrition, dehydration, preventable accidents, and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. These common problems can be categorized into the major types of elder abuse in nursing homes. Physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial exploitation are considered the major types of such abuse. Physical abuse is defined by the use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment. Physical abuse may include but is not limited to such acts of violence as striking (with or without an object), hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, shaking, slapping, kicking, pinching, and burning. In addition, inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints, force-feeding, and physical punishment of any kind also are examples of physical abuse (National Center on Elder Abuse). Nearly sixteen-percent of nursing home abuse cases involve physical abuse (Brent & Adams). An article published by ABC news interviewed Helen Love, a 75 year-old grandmother of three that was a victim of nursing home abuse. Helen told ABC, â€Å"He choked me and he went and broke my neck. He broke my wrist bones, in my hand. He put his hand over my mouth.† Two days after the interview, Helen Love died. Nursing home officials did not report her beating to a state official who was at the nursing home at the time. Ultimately, though, Love’s attacker served a year in prison. An investigation revealed that he had been fired by two previous nursing homes for aggressive behavior. A report by the Senate Select Committee on Aging found that many nursing home abuse cases are not immediately reported to law enforcement official (Robinson). In fact, a recent report indicated that one in fourteen incidents of elder abuse where not reported to the authorities (American Association of Justice). Emotional or psychological abuse is defined as the infliction of anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or nonverbal acts. Emotional/psychological abuse includes but is not limited to verbal assaults, insults, threats, intimidation, humiliation, and harassment. In addition, treating an older person like an infant; isolating an elderly person from his/her family, friends, or regular activities; giving an older person the â€Å"silent treatment† and enforced social isolation are examples of emotional/psychological abuse (National Center on Elder Abuse). Almost twenty percent of reported elder abuse cases involve emotional abuse (Brent & Adams). With emotional abuse being the most abundant, it is also the most difficult to define. Emotional abuse is purely subjective which therefore is difficult to reprimand nurses against these crimes. The other major crimes however are objective, and are more easy to identify, such as neglect. Neglect is defined as the refusal or failure to fulfill any part of a person’s obligations or duties to an elder. Neglect may also include failure of a person who has fiduciary responsibilities to provide care for an elder (e.g., pay for necessary home care services) or the failure on the part of an in-home service provider to provide necessary care (National Center on Elder Abuse). According to Brent & Adams, twelve percent of abuse cases involve caretaker neglect. Neglect typically means the refusal or failure to provide an elderly person with such life necessities as food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medicine, comfort, personal safety, and other essentials included in an implied or agreed-upon responsibility to an elder (National Center on Elder Abuse). The Federal Bureau of Investigation published an article in May of 2012 about a case of nursing home neglect. The owner of three Georgia nursing homes, George Dayln Houser, was convicted in Atlanta of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid for $32.9 million dollars. To receive Medicare and Medicaid payments, Houser agreed to provide his residents with a safe and clean physical environment, nutritional meals, medical care, and other assistance. Houser not only failed to maintain a nursing staff sufficient to take proper care of the residents but did not pay food suppliers or providers of pharmacy and clinical laboratory services, medical waste disposal, trash disposal, and nursing supplies (FBI). Neglect, alongside physical abuse, are the most detrimental to a residents health. Not only do caregivers subject their residents to the atrocious crimes of neglect, but they also exploit them financially and materially. Financial or material exploitation is defined as the illegal or improper use of an elder’s funds, property, or assets. Examples include, but are not limited to, cashing an elderly person’s checks without authorization or permission; forging an older person’s signature; misusing or stealing an older person’s money or possessions; coercing or deceiving an older person into signing any document; and the improper use of conservatorship, guardianship, or power of attorney (National Center on Elder Abuse). In 2009, a Chicago nursing home worker faced financial exploitation and aggravated identification theft charges for allegedly stealing $4,008 from a Illinois nursing home. The criminal remained free on bail and was fired from the Illinois nursing home. Authorities acknowledge that the criminal had a previous criminal conviction for forgery (Nursing Home Blog). The major types of nursing home abuse have a direct correlation to inadequate staffing levels. A recent statistic by the American Association for Justice, found that ninety-percent of United States nursing homes had staffing levels too low to provide sufficient care. Residents of those nursing homes falling below minimal staffing standards are much more likely to develop bedsores and experience excessive weight loss than those in other nursing homes. This is because enough staff must be available so that all residents who cannot eat by themselves receive help. Also, unless immobile elderly residents are repositioned frequently, they may develop bedsores. To add to the problem, understaffing contributes to low morale and frustration among employees, decreasing their ability to deal with residents patiently and respectfully. According to the American Association for Justice, a series of reports revealed that many nursing homes do not have enough staff to meet the levels recommended by federal officials (3.45 nursing hours per patient daily) and nursing home experts (4.55 nursing hours per patient). Insufficient hours per patient hosts all sorts of potential problems for nursing care, the most problematic being neglect. Many nursing home residents need constant nursing attention to ensure that they do not develop medical problems. In many cases, residents need to be turned, moved, or given skin assessments to avoid developing pressure ulcers or from forming deadly blood clots. John A. Fisher, Ph. D, said there have been an alarming amount of recent cases in which New York nursing homes have been found liable for elder abuse after a resident died or was injured due to inadequate care. In every case, inadequate staffing was named as a contributing factor to the cause of the abuse. With inadequate staffing being the undeniable cause of nursing home abuse, how does the projected nursing shortage effect this issue? The projected nursing shortage in the United States is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. â€Å"In the July/August 2009 Health Affairs, Dr. Peter Buerhaus and coauthors found that despite the current easing of the nursing shortage due to the recession, the U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 registered nurses by 2025. A shortage of this magnitude would be twice as large as any nursing shortage experienced in this country since the mid-1960s. In the article titled The Recent Surge In Nurse Employment: Causes And Implications, the researchers point to a rapidly aging workforce as a primary contributor to the projected shortage (American Association of Colleges of Nursing).† In some instances today, nurses are forced to attend to 20 patients at a time, and that is at the lower part on the nurse- patient spectrum. Federal law requires Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes to have an registered nurse (RN) director of nursing (DON); an RN on duty at least 8 hours a day, 7 days a week; and a licensed nurse (RN or LPN) on duty the rest of the time. However, there are no minimum staffing levels for nurse’s aides, who provide most of the day-to-day care. Instead, nursing homes are required â€Å"to provide sufficient staff and services to attain or maintain the highest possible level of physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident. (Elder Law Answers)† If a nursing home met only the federal nurse staffing requirements described above, a resident would receive 20 minutes of nurse time per day. In 2000, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that the preferred minimum staffing level was when nursing home residents received three hours of total staff time per day — two hours of nursing assistant time and one hour of licensed nurse time. The optimum staffing level, according to the CMS, is one hour of licensed nurse time and three hours of nursing assistant time (Elder Law Answers). Most states have standards that are higher than the federal requirements, but still fall short of the levels recommended by the CMS. According to a recent study, the key to improving nursing home staffing levels is increasing state standards. The study by Charlene Harrington, a UCSF School of Nursing professor, found that states with the highest standards for nursing staff levels are the only states where nursing homes have enough staff to prevent serious safety violations. According to the study, the act of raising the state minimum staffing ratio has a direct impact on the quality of care nursing home residents receive. With such an impact that state and federal standards have on quality of care, how can the state enforce nursing homes to follow such mandates? According to an article published by nursing home reality endorsed by Aaron Delurey, the best way to ensure that residents are receiving an ample amount of care is for state officials to introduce these three procedures: Have each state mandate an increase in the percentage of surprise inspections that must take place outside of regular business hours on weekdays. Second, require management personnel to work staggered shits all the time, not just when the state is in their building. Why require this change? When the management is out of the building the quality of care given often suffers. Third and foremost, when the state shows up for an any kind of inspection, the inspectors should immediately seize the payroll data to verify staffing levels for the 14 continuous days immediately prior to the inspection. The inspectors should also insist that while they are in the building that no additional staff can be called in. These procedures would ultimately address the nursing shortage, therefore depleting the abuse within nursing homes.

Character Description of King Duncan and Macbeth Essay

One of the smaller, yet important, characters is King Duncan. Duncan is an intelligent, generous, trusting and simply, a good king. Especially his goodness contributed to the doubt of Macbeth to actually kill the king. Complimenting his companions for all their nobleness demonstrates Duncan’s love to the people around him and effects their compassion for him. â€Å"O valiant cousin! Worthy gentlemen!† (Act I, Scene 2) is Duncan’s response to someone he barely knows and just explains what had happened during the battle and how Macbeth saved Duncan’s kingdom. Of course it is logical that Duncan is very content with the news of a victories view on the battle. However, to call someone a valiant cousin and a worthy gentlemen if he does not know who this men with the news is, shows Duncan’s respect to a man who is of much lower class than himself. As well it gives the audience the feeling that Duncan is a man who rather lives in a peaceful country than in a country that often fights for land. Besides men he does not know very well, his appreciation of his noble follower Banquo is more than once expressed by Duncan. Firstly he â€Å"infold thee (Banquo) and hold thee to my heart† (Act I Scene 4) and not much later expresses again his thankfulness of Banquo’s loyalty when he compliments him (to the audience) by calling him truly worthy. And by naming Macbeth thane of Cawdor he demonstrates his generosity and appreciation for a, in his eyes, noble man. Duncan really is a loving and generous man; he wants the very best for his people and recognizes loyalty and the good side in people. Maybe that is his tragic flaw. Perhaps Duncan is naà ¯ve, or perhaps he wants to set the example for his country since he is the king, and by doing so he does puts his own status in a dangerous position. His real intentions for being the person that he is are not obvious. Although Duncan is too naà ¯ve to suspect anybody from hurting him, which is not necessary because he is well respected for his deeds, he admits his mistake. When Banquo and he are talking about the man that deceived him and fought the battle against him he explains that â€Å"there is no art to find the mind’s construction in the face: he was a gentleman on whom I built an absolute trust† (Act I Scene 4). His intelligence, on the other hand, is a little bit more obvious. Duncan has  not shown any knowledge about a possible assassination, but still tells the people his son Malcolm is going to be the king after him (Act I Scene 4). Duncan is intelligent enough to understand that he will not be king forever. And although he has no real signs of diseases or death, there is something that drives him to the point where he officially announces that his son is going to be king before he departs to visit the person who caries the same title as his last traitor. It is ironic that the thane of Cawdor is his traitor and his murderer. Despite the fact that Macbeth wants to kill Duncan for his own sake, he acknowledges Duncan’s goodness and intelligence in his soliloquy in which he doubts whether or not he should kill Duncan. â€Å"This Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against the deep damnation of his taking off† (Act I Scene 7). A completely different character is the direct half that murdered king Duncan. The direct half is the part of the conspiracy that actually murdered the king, the other half, the indirect part, is the person that helped thinking about and inspiring the assassination. Macbeth himself is the direct and Lady Macbeth the indirect half. Macbeth, a worthy warrior, deals with his ambition in conjunction with his conscience. His ambition leads him to think about ideas his conscience disapproves, but since his ambition is shared by the indirect part, Lady Macbeth, his ambition conquers his conscience. As soon as Macbeth has the chance to understand what happened to him after the three â€Å"witches† told him he would be thane of Cawdor and king, his imagination leads him to think it is possible that his sons could become king. â€Å"Do you not hope your children shall be kings, when those that gave the thane of Cawdor to me promis’d no less to them?† (Act I Scene 3) are his thoughts when he releases that the witches gave him what they promised, the title of thane. How great would it be if his sons could become rulers of the country? Soon his ideas about his sons change to the idea that he could become king himself if the king would die before announcing the next king. When Duncan does announce that Malcolm should be king after his dead, Macbeth demonstrates to the audience that this means he needs to fight him as well. He thinks that â€Å"in my way it lies† (Act I Scene 4), it is his destiny to become king. But a couple lines before that he tells the king that the victory was his duty to the king. Clearly he does not have any problem by wearing a mask over his thoughts, or as he states in Act I Scene 7; â€Å"false face must hide what the false heart doth know†. His ambition is there, he wants to be the king, now he knows he is destined to be king he feels more tendency to murder than to be loyal. However, his conscience is at some points stronger than his will. In his soliloquy he is persuading himself that he should not murder because of many reasons. The part where his conscience plays a huge role is concerning the fact that â€Å"we still have judgment here; that we but teach bloody instructions, which being taught return to plague th’inventor† (Act I Scene 7). Ironically, since he is the murder, Macbeth is the only one who doubts himself so often. The other characters know what they wanted; the king wants all the good for his country, Banquo wants all what is good for the king, and Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s â€Å"dearest partner of greatness† (Act I Scene 5), wants to see her husband becoming the king. Macbeth admits that his greatest weakness is his â€Å"vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other† (Act II Scene 7). Having ambition is one of those things in life you can’t afford it too have too little, but neither can you have too much or it will work against you. In Macbeth’s case there is enough to make him consider killing his king, but not enough to actually act the murder out. He needs someone who can persuade him to do it. Lady Macbeth fits in this picture perfectly. She is supportive enough to ask Macbeth if he rather lives as â€Å"a coward in thine own esteem† (Act I Scene 7) or that he becomes king. If Lady Macbeth would not continue to push him and give him orders, he would probably not have done the job without big mistakes. Even after the â€Å"deed† Lady Macbeth needs to calm him down. She needs to tell him that he should â€Å"consider it not so deeply† (Act II Scene 2) when he was not able to pronounce the word â€Å"amen†.

Museum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Museum - Essay Example Among others who borrowed from Ancient Egypt tradition were also Ancient Greeks, the beginners of Western civilization, and Arabs, whose culture is commonly considered as the Middle East culture (O’Connor, 1971). Thus, despite African and Ancient Egypt cultures share the same continent, the two cultures differ. African culture generally, seems more connected to a nature. For example, African ceremonial clothing (Figure 1) is primary made from natural floral materials and looks like a bush. On black mannequin there is some kind of yelm, made from a dry rush plant, which supposed to cover the whole body of oracle or sacrifice. His human identity isn’t visible in such clothing, because his ceremonial mission is more important. Two other issues of the clothing have also a ceremonial destination: a headwear made from natural floral materials and seashells, and a stick, decorated the same way with a headwear. Even more natural and joyful African culture seems, when looking at African dolls (Figure 2). They differ strongly, even from each other, despite they often belong to the same African region. Some are made from wood, and focused on sex and religious characteristics of a woman, other ones are made from soft materials and different bright pieces of texture. It should be mentioned, that all dolls have individual face characteristics, despite that faces may look unnatural (big mouth, schematic eyes, etc.). It’s mostly noticeable when comparing African dolls to Egyptian Shabti statues, which also look like dolls (Figure 5). Despite Shabti statues too have individual faces, and those faces look more proportional than ones of African dolls, generally Shabti look less individual. They have the same ceremonial posture (standing front-wise with crossed arms), similar schematic haircuts and clothing. Being a part of a well-known Egyptian funeral cult, Shabti statues symbolize servants o f a dead master. However, the most attention is

Advertisement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Advertisement - Essay Example It is hence no surprise that some advertisements have chosen to depict none other than the master artist himself, Leonardo Da Vinci. The advertisement for the movies Da Vinci Code was one of many advertisements that have opted to select the professional and captivating works of the artist to sell their products. The advertisement uses his painting, the Vitruvian Man. This painting was chosen because it contains a precise and intriguing image style and composition which sketched his impressions of things with realism and precision. The painting is noted as providing the earliest reference to the importance of vortices in fluid motion. This was a factor taken into consideration when selecting the painting to be used for the advertisement. The advertisement is structured in such a way that it links your cognition to the actual paint is original aspects to amplify and emphasize the color and design. To enhance authenticity, a wooden mid-century palette is shown to be used in the design of the painting. This is similar to palettes used by most artists at the time of Leonardo. There is a blend of colors used to smooth out the transition of appearance and structure. Brown and crimson are the main colors used to deliver this fascinating visual appearance which triggers visual appeal from the target consumers. The design characteristics of the advertisement are quite complex. This is because they center on one of the most dynamic paintings by the master artist. The design offers complexity in structure since it is based on a painting made in a renaissance-era where determining ratio and proportion was an extremely important activity because there was no standard monetary unit or standard system of weights and measures. Text is used to further effect the advertisement by fading it in and out relative to the positioning of the image itself. The text fades in at the start and end of the advertisement in accordance to the various proportions of the Vitruvian man.

HR Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HR Management - Assignment Example According to Wilcox and Lowry it is the reframing and repositioning of HRM practices as the businesses strategic partner that makes employees the important economic resources (2006, pp. 50-64). There are two major views and perspectives when it comes to Human Resource Management. These are the instrumental or hard practices and the humanistic or soft practices. Instrumental practices focus on the quantitative and strategic approaches towards people management. In this case, it mainly provides a highlight of the economic value of human resources. It focuses on how these resources are important in maximizing the performance of the organization (Lee-Ross & Pryce 2010, p. 66). As such, they can be used to provide a firm’s competitive advantage. It is these HRM practices that can be aligned with the other activities in the business and strategies of the organization to promote some of the other additional practices such as restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing, which are considered to be strategic actions. The instrumental or hard HRM practices include labor legislations. On the other hand, the humanistic or soft HRM practices are those that include functions of orga nizational development, management of conflicts, and education of human resource, organizational culture, leadership development and components that contribute in building of relationships. They are more employee-centered and put into account the humanness within employees as it considers them to be proactive contributors to the firm (Harris, Wijesinghe & McKenzie 2010, p. 129). It makes more emphasis on the need for commitment, job satisfaction, motivation, trust and knowledge. In this sense, it helps in the enhancement of the level of employee engagement, development, participation and autonomy in addition to the participation in decision making activities and collaboration. Between these two kinds of HRM practices it is the humanistic

International marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 9

International marketing - Essay Example Two parts of the common methodology are especially striking. In the first place, organizations regularly seek after this new business opportunity with an attention to minimizing danger and venture the complete inverse of the methodology normally supported for bona fide start-up circumstances. Second, from a showcasing point of view, numerous organizations break the establishing standard of promoting that a firm ought to begin by examining the business, and afterward, and at exactly that point, settle on its offer regarding items, administrations, and advertising projects. This paper will analyze into Harvey Nichols recently announcement that it targets to open a new store in Doha Festival City area in specifically at Sale Al Hamad Mana in partnership with the Qatari group of business. Macro environmental components influencing the apparel business are those which lie outside little organizations and their rivals. Entrepreneurs have less control of these outer components, and their effect on transforming them is insignificant. Rather, little organizations must adjust to these macro environmental elements, which incorporate customer qualities, innovation, government impact and the economy. The way little organizations adjust to macro environmental elements decides both their capacity to separate themselves from key contenders and general success (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010) Consumer components incorporate standards, cultures, the way of life, demographics as well as the change in population. These components influence the clothing business in diverse ways. Case in point, a little attire maker needs to make styles that engage those of distinctive societies, particularly if those social gatherings speak to sufficiently expansive fragments of its market. Oppositely, dress makers, wholesalers and retailers abstain from making an excess of garments things that fall outside the standards of society, for example, styles worn 100 years

Evidence base practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Evidence base practice - Essay Example So, as a team, we are under a supervision of a superintendent who is in charge of all the professionals working under him. The nursing practice guideline in our facility strongly advocates for rational decision making based on facts and evidences that can be relied upon at all times (Tschudin, 2011). One is always required to act on well-researched evidence while discharging their duties both in the emergency and operation rooms. These are critical areas that do not need one to rush in action, but to be a patient, consultative team player who acknowledges and is ready to seek the opinion of other professionals (Melnyk, 2011). The management of the hospital emphasizes these points since it is what can help in delivering patient-oriented services as we strive to satisfy their diverse needs. After all, a nurse should also be ready to discharge duties of a researcher who looks for knowledge, apply and disseminate it to others for the sake of improving the patients’ health

The marketing plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The marketing plan - Research Paper Example It is also in competition with companies the develop applications especially mobile applications which imitate distinct capabilities that include sharing of photos as well as messaging and some of Facebook’s competitors include LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter etc. Facebook has grown to be more valuable than Amazon in terms of the market value with a market capitalization that is in excess of USD 170 billion compared to the market capitalization of Amazon that has decreased to below USD 165 billion. From the previous earnings report, the social media company beat revenue estimates and realized more revenue from mobile advertisements which now account for a big percentage of the total advertisement revenue. Almost sixty-five percent of the users on Facebook are older than thirty-five making the average over forty while the users who are less than twenty four years of age make up only fourteen percent of the users. Of the total Facebook users, sixty percent are female and almost fifty seven percent have finished one form of college education or another while less than a quarter have a bachelor’s or a graduate degree. The social presence of Facebook is seen in 137 countries which is more than all other social networks that are in only 127 of these nations. The US has the highest presence on Facebook even though only a half of the population uses the social networking site. India and Brazil are the Facebook markets that are steadily growing (Treadaway and Smith, 2012). Advertisements on the network that target the people on mobile devices have the potential of fetching the network huge revenues and as a result of the plethora of information that is received from the members, it is able to send advertisements that interest the particular users making them have the option of charging more for the advertisements than other companies. The platform that has been developed by Facebook is

Discussion Board criminal justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussion Board criminal justice - Essay Example It is well known that most people tend to retain more of what they see than what they hear. This lends to what some see as an advantage for the prosecution, but demonstrative evidence must pass several tests before admission in a trial. First, there are specific rules pertaining to each type of demonstrative evidence. For instance, if presenting a police sketch as evidence, there is a possibility that it may not be admissible because it is ruled to be hearsay. Second, there are rules for demonstrative evidence in general. For instance, an accident reconstruction chart presented as evidence must be necessary in order to demonstrate another piece of evidence, such as oral testimony. According to an internet article about evidence, (â€Å"Demonstrative Evidence†, n.d.) foundation rules for demonstrative evidence involve authentication, representational accuracy and identification. The article also states that demonstrative evidence â€Å"must pass the ‘three hurdles’ of admissibility: relevancy; materiality; and competency.† (â€Å"Demonstrative Evidence†, n.d.) Documentary evidence is another form of evidence used in many trials. It can be described as any evidence presented through a written document. In most cases, this involves a contract or confession. Some of the rules an attorney must consider when using documentary evidence are the rules of parol evidence, best evidence, authentication, and hearsay. The best evidence rule deals with the originality of the document being offered for admission. If the document being presented for evidence is not the original, in most cases it will not be allowed as evidence. Courts do not usually allow a copy of a document as evidence. According to an internet encyclopedia, â€Å"the best evidence rule states that when the contents of a written document are offered in evidence, the court will not accept a copy

The Caribbean People Essay Example for Free

The Caribbean People Essay Saladoid culture is a pre-columbian indigenous culture of Venezuela and the Caribbean that flourished from 500 BCE to 545 CE. [1] This culture is thought to have originated at the lower Orinoco River near the modern settlements of Saladero and Barrancas in Venezuela. Seafaring people from the lowland region of the Orinoco River of South America migrated into and established settlements in the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola. [1] They displaced the pre-ceramic Ortoiroid culture. As a horticultural people, they initially occupied wetter and more fertile islands that best accommodated their needs. These Indigenous peoples of the Americas were an Arawak-speaking culture. Between 500-280 BCE, they immigrated into Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles, eventually making up a large portion of what was to become a single Caribbean culture. [edit]Culture Saladoid people are characterized by agriculture, ceramic production, and sedentary settlements. [1] Their unique and highly decorated pottery has enabled archaeologists to recognize their sites and to determine their places of origin. Saladoid ceramics include zoomorphic effigy vessels, incense burners, platters, trays, jars, bowls with strap handles, and bell-shaped containers. The red pottery was painted with white, orange, and black slips. [1] Distinctive Saladoid artifacts are stone pendants, shaped like raptors from South America. These were made from a range of exotic materials, including such as carnelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli, amethyst, crystal quartz, jasper-chalcedony, and fossilized wood. These were traded through the Great and Lesser Antilles and the South American mainland, until 600 CE. [1] The Taino of the Greater Antilles represented the last stage of the Ostionoid cultural tradition. By about AD 1100-1200, the Ostionoid people of Hispaniola lived in a wider and more diverse geographic area than did their predecessors; their villages were larger and more formally arranged, farming was intensified, and a distinctive material culture developed. They developed rich and vibrant ritual and artistic traditions that are revealed in Taino craftsmanship in using bone, shell, stone wood and other media. Social stratification is thought to have become more pronounced and rigid during this period as well. This stage of intensification and elaboration after AD 1100 is known as Taino. The Taino people, as characterized by archaeologists, were not a unified society, and have been categorized into subdivisions according to the degree of elaboration in their artistic and social expression. The Central or Classic Tainos are identified with the most complex and intensive traditions, and are represented archaeologically by Chican-Ostionoid† material culture. They occupied much of Hispaniola, including En Bas Saline. The â€Å"Western† Taino occupied central Cuba, Jamaica, and parts of Hispaniola, and , are also associated archaeologically with the Ostionoid-Meillacan material tradition. The Lucayan Taino lived in the Bahamas, and the â€Å"Eastern† Taino are thought to have lived in regions of the Virgin Islands and the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. As many archaeologists have emphasized, however, the Taino were but one of the recognizable cultural groups in the Caribbean at the time of contact. They co-existed and interacted with other Ostionan peoples and perhaps even Saladoid-influenced Archaic peoples, such as the Guanahatabey of Cuba and the Caribs of the Lesser Antilles.