The Odyssey an Example of the Topic Literature Essays by

The Odyssey Composed around 700 BCE (Before the Common Era), Homers Odyssey gives a unique view into Greek culture in the Bronze Age and about the twelfth century BCE. By examining this work closely, we can see how the Greeks saw themselves. Many also consider the work as a kind of continuation of Homers epic The Iliad. The Odyssey is a tale of Odysseus wanderings. Eventually, he returns home to Ithaca, after ten years of war. Need essay sample on "The Odyssey" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Many perse facets of Greek life and culture are reflected from the text. One very important aspect is the importance of gods, goddesses and pinity. Throughout the story the gods help the characters, or show their wrath for them. But what stands out in The Odyssey is Homers depiction of characters, especially Odysseus. Odysseus is bright, intellectual, and rational. He thinks before he acts, which is makes him admirable and competent. Unlike typical heroes Odysseus has the gift of intelligence, in addition to brute force. He does not react to anything spontaneously, and thinks before saying or doing anything. This is clearly evident in many instances in the text. He uses tricks and wit to escape from risky situations. Undergraduates Frequently Tell EssayLab support:I'm not in the mood to write my essay online. I don't have the timeSpecialists suggest:Get The Best Writing Essays Ever In TimeCollege Essay Writing Service Get Paid To Write Papers Pay to Get Assignments Done Buy An Essay For College Odysseus seems to be a perfect blend - he is a good athlete, and has a sharp witty mind. It is Odysseus who employs his strategies which result in the victory of Greece and the fall of Troy. Many critics and scholars agree that this was indeed, unconventional, considering the time The Odyssey is set in. All that was important was war, honor, valor and courage. Defeat was humiliation. Humiliation was disgrace. Brute force was what a mans strength was judged by. But Homers work, in that respect seems to be unconventional and new. His hero was not just a warrior. He was a man with a mind that could reason. But Odysseus does have his weaknesses. And the greatest of those was his conceit. Like many of the male characters of Greek literature, he too has his egotistical pride. Apart from mental capability, another theme that occurs often is that of loyalty. Penelope, Odysseus wife never betrays him. Odysseus maid, Eurycleia recognizes him even though he is disguised as a beggar. Odysseus dog too is faithful to him. Physical strength and manhood were also equally important, with strength deciding who was better, and who was not. In fact, the final completion between Odysseus and Iros reveals that it was indeed muscle that would decide who would win Penelopes love. Eating, drinking, dancing and singing were recreational activities everyone indulged in. But what was most important and fore-most in Greek life and culture was religion. Amply obvious in the text, the pine were given most importance and respect. Fate and future lied in the hands of the Olympian gods. People made countless sacrifices to different gods to earn their goodwill and support. Disrespecting the gods meant invited gods wrath and anger on oneself. Another central aspect was that of progeny. One can conclude that the importance of the father-son relationship was much more than that of any other relation. The role of family life seems to be cardinal in The Odyssey. Odysseus has not returned home after ten years of war. But war does not form the major theme in the Odyssey. Homers epic is about Odysseus journey back home. We learn that he has been trapped by the beautiful Calypso at her island. He has no means of escaping and longs for his home and family. Back at Ithaca, his homeland, a number of rowdy angry suitors are trying to woo Penelope, Odysseus wife, believing him to be dead. Odysseus son Telemachus is enraged, but does not have the power or the authority to throw them out. Here is when gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus make a plan to guide Odysseus back home. Athena, in particular helps Odysseus and Telemachus throughout the story, saving them from disasters several times. Poseidon, the god of the sea though, loathes Odysseus. Odysseus had earlier, blinded Poseidons son - the Cyclops Polyphemus. Zeus, the god of gods holds a neutral bearing. He helps Odysseus, but at times works against him. Zeus helps Odysseus escape from Calypsos island, on a ship. But when Poseidon finds Odysseus sailing alone, he mounts an attack, leaving him at the land of the Phaeacians. The Phaeacians treat him with respect, recognizing who he is, and he relates his story to them. Later the Phaeacians help Odysseus reach Ithaca. Odysseus arrives disguised as a beggar, by Athena. He along with Telemachus formulate a plan to get rid of the rowdy suitors. Odysseus, in his disguise learns many things. Those who truly love him recognize him even in a beggars garb. He arrives in his palace safely, without arousing suspicion, and later, proves to everyone, that indeed, he is the king Odysseus. Homers epic finishes with Odysseus finally reuniting with his family, and with his kingdom. Family in The Odyssey is the focal point of the story. Odysseus wants to see his family desperately. His son sets out on a dangerous perilous journey, risking his life in quest of his long lost father. Penelope, Odysseus wife remains loyal to him even after years of his absence. Poseidon wants to avenge the injustice done to his son. The father-son relation is portrayed in many different dimensions by Homer. But the one common factor in all of them is the veneration of this relation. Both the father and the son respected each other, and understood the significance of their bond. The most significant one is the relation between Odysseus and his son Telemachus. The bond is characterized by not just progeny, but also by a feeling of mutual understanding and belonging. Telemachus grows up in his fathers absence, yet that does not blemish the connection between them. Their bond is characterized by loyalty and protection of their kingdom. But there are other values too that characterize the father-son bond. The bond between Poseidon and his son is fuelled by their anger against Odysseus, rather than a feeling of love. Poseidon will do anything to prevent Odysseus from making it back home. Both Poseidon and Polyphemus have little mutual understanding, but one emotion unites them - the one of hatred, jealousy and resentment for Odysseus. Another father-son relation is the one between Odysseus and his father Laertes. Even though Laertes appears at the end of the story, his presence is significant enough. He is aging and old, but his spirit is revived with his sons return. It is he who saves Odysseus from the bitter suitors; Antinous was the most eager suitor, planning to kill Telemachus to have his way unhindered. Laertes kills Antinouss father, and brings the attack to an end. Odysseus himself kills Antinous. Other examples of father-son relations include Nestor and his son Peisitratus; both help Telemachus in his journey. Homer clearly portrays the idea of continuity between generations. All the sons were like their fathers, and it is evident that they will have the same relations their fathers had with each other. Telemachus, like his father was bright and talented. He fights for the same goals and aims his father fought for. He wants to protect the family estate, but is under constant attack from the suitors. Many claim that he was not as intelligent as his father, but others claim that he was young, would eventually mature into a bright man like his him. Polyphemus too, is like his father Poseidon- bitter and vengeful. A less significant father-son pair of Nestor and Peistrauts also follows the same pattern. Both help Telemachus. In fact, we learn that earlier Nestor had assisted Odysseus. Later his son Peistratus accompanies Telemachus till Sparta to help him. Antinous and his father are both ungrateful and self-seeking. From all these examples, it is clear that even after a generation, the emotions, whether good or bad continue. Even though Homers work was widely acclaimed and loved, many believe that it was too idealistic. Good always triumphed against evil, and the hero was always victorious. But it was not just Homers idealistic plots that made his works successful. Many themes in his play contributed to his success. He blended religion, culture, honor and mystery in a most artful way, and came up with mythological masterpieces. Homers work continues to be one of the most widely read works of Greek literature. His writings have preserved the culture and customs of ancient Greece forever. Works Cited: Bookrags, The Odyssey Booknotes Summary, retrieved from http://www.bookrags.com/notes/od/CHR.html ThinkQuest, Odysseus, the Hero, retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/19300/data/Odyssey/odysseus.htm Sparknotes, by Barnes and Noble, The Odyssey, Homer, retrieved from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/canalysis.html

Harry Houdini - The Great Escape Artist

Harry Houdini - The Great Escape Artist Harry Houdini remains one of the most famous magicians in history. Although Houdini could do card tricks and traditional magic acts, he was most famous for his ability to escape from what seemed like anything and everything, including ropes, handcuffs, straightjackets, jail cells, water-filled milk cans, and even nailed-shut boxes that had been thrown into a river. After World War I, Houdini turned his knowledge about deception against Spiritualists who claimed to be able to contact the dead. Then, at age 52, Houdini died mysteriously after being hit in the abdomen. Dates: March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926 Also Known As: Ehrich Weisz, Ehrich Weiss, The Great Houdini Houdini’s Childhood Throughout his life, Houdini propagated many legends about his beginnings, which have so oft been repeated that it has been difficult for historians to piece together the true story of Houdini’s childhood. However, it is believed that Harry Houdini was born Ehrich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. His mother, Cecilia Weisz (neà © Steiner), had six children (five boys and one girl) of which Houdini was the fourth child. Houdini’s father, Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz, also had a son from a previous marriage. With conditions looking bleak for Jews in Eastern Europe, Mayer decided to emigrate from Hungary to the United States. He had a friend who lived in the very small town of Appleton, Wisconsin, and so Mayer moved there, where he helped form a small synagogue. Cecilia and the children soon followed Mayer to America when Houdini was about four years old. While entering into the U.S., immigration officials changed the family’s name from Weisz to Weiss. Unfortunately for the Weiss family, Mayer’s congregation soon decided that he was too old-fashioned for them and let him go after only a few years. Despite being able to speak three languages (Hungarian, German, and Yiddish), Mayer couldn’t speak English-   a serious drawback for a man trying to find a job in America. In December 1882, when Houdini was eight years old, Mayer moved his family to the much larger city of Milwaukee, hoping for better opportunities. With the family in dire financial straits, the children got jobs to help support the family. This included Houdini, who worked odd jobs selling newspapers, shining shoes, and running errands. In his spare time, Houdini read library books regarding magic tricks and contortionist movements. At age nine, Houdini and some friends established a five-cent circus, where he wore red woolen stockings and called himself Ehrich, Prince of the Air.† At age eleven, Houdini worked as a locksmith apprentice. When Houdini was about 12 years old, the Weiss family moved to New York City. While Mayer tutored students in Hebrew, Houdini found a job cutting fabrics into strips for neckties. Despite working hard, the Weiss family was always short on money. This forced Houdini to use both his cleverness and confidence to find innovative ways to make a little extra money. In his spare time, Houdini proved himself a natural athlete, who enjoyed running, swimming, and bicycling. Houdini even received several medals in cross-country track competitions. The Creation of Harry Houdini At age fifteen, Houdini discovered the magician’s book, Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, Ambassador, Author, and Conjurer, Written by Himself. Houdini was mesmerized by the book and stayed up all night reading it. He later stated that this book truly sparked his enthusiasm for magic. Houdini would eventually read all of Robert-Houdin’s books, absorbing the stories and advice contained within. Through these books, Robert-Houdin (1805-1871) became a hero and a role model to Houdini. To get started on this new passion, the young Ehrich Weiss needed a stage name. Jacob Hyman, a friend of Houdini’s, told Weiss that there was a French custom that if you add the letter â€Å"I† to the end of your mentor’s name it showed admiration. Adding an â€Å"I† to â€Å"Houdin† resulted in â€Å"Houdini.† For a first name, Ehrich Weiss chose â€Å"Harry,† the Americanized version of his nickname â€Å"Ehrie.† He then combined â€Å"Harry† with â€Å"Houdini,† to create the now famous name â€Å"Harry Houdini.† Liking the name so much, Weiss and Hyman partnered together and called themselves â€Å"The Brothers Houdini.† In 1891, the Brothers Houdini performed card tricks, coin swaps, and disappearing acts at Huber’s Museum in New York City and also at Coney Island during the summer. About this time, Houdini purchased a magician trick (magicians often bought tricks of the trade from each other) called Metamorphosis that involved two people trading places in a locked trunk onstage behind a screen. In 1893, the Brothers Houdini were allowed a spot to perform outside the world’s fair in Chicago. By this time, Hyman had left the act and had been replaced by Houdini’s real brother, Theo (â€Å"Dash†). Houdini Marries Bessie and Joins the Circus After the fair, Houdini and his brother returned to Coney Island, where they performed at the same hall as the singing and dancing Floral Sisters. It wasn’t long before a romance blossomed between 20-year-old Houdini and 18-year-old Wilhelmina Beatrice (â€Å"Bess†) Rahner of the Floral Sisters. After a three-week courtship, Houdini and Bess were married on June 22, 1894. With Bess being of petite stature, she soon replaced Dash as Houdini’s partner since she was better able to hide inside various boxes and trunks in vanishing acts. Bess and Houdini called themselves Monsieur and Mademoiselle Houdini, Mysterious Harry and LaPetite Bessie, or The Great Houdinis. The Houdinis performed for a couple of years in dime museums and then in 1896, the Houdinis went to work in the Welsh Brothers Traveling Circus. Bess sang songs while Houdini did magic tricks, and together they performed the Metamorphosis act. The Houdinis Join Vaudeville and a Medicine Show In 1896, when the circus season ended, the Houdinis joined a traveling vaudeville show. During this show, Houdini added a handcuff-escape trick to the Metamorphosis act. In each new town, Houdini would visit the local police station and announce that he could escape from any handcuffs they put on him. Crowds would gather to watch as Houdini easily escaped. These pre-show exploits were often covered by a local newspaper, creating publicity for the vaudeville show. To keep audiences further amused, Houdini decided to escape from a straitjacket, using his agility and flexibility to wiggle free from it. When the vaudeville show ended, the Houdinis scrambled to find work, even contemplating work other than magic. Thus, when they were offered a position with Dr. Hill’s California Concert Company, an old-time traveling medicine show selling a tonic that â€Å"could cure just about anything,† they accepted. In the medicine show, Houdini once again performed his escape acts; however, when attendance numbers began to dwindle, Dr. Hill asked Houdini if he could transform himself into a spirit medium. Houdini was already familiar with many of the spirit medium’s tricks and so he began leading sà ©ances while Bess performed as a clairvoyant claiming to have psychic gifts. The Houdinis were very successful pretending to be spiritualists because they always did their research. As soon as they pulled into a new town, the Houdinis would read recent obituaries and visit graveyards to seek the names of the newly dead. They would also subtly listen to town gossip. All this allowed them to piece together enough information to convince crowds that the Houdinis were real spiritualists with amazing powers to contact the dead. However, feelings of guilt about lying to grief-stricken people eventually became overwhelming and the Houdinis ultimately quit the show. Houdini’s Big Break With no other prospects, the Houdinis went back to performing with the Welsh Brothers Traveling Circus. While performing in Chicago in 1899, Houdini once again performed his police station stunt of escaping handcuffs, but this time it was different. Houdini had been invited into a room full of 200 people, mostly policemen, and spent 45 minutes shocking everyone in the room as he escaped from everything the police had. The following day, The Chicago Journal ran the headline â€Å"Amazes the Detectives† with a large drawing of Houdini. The publicity surrounding Houdini and his handcuff act caught the eye of Martin Beck, the head of the Orpheum theater circuit, who signed him for a one-year contract. Houdini was to perform the handcuff escape act and Metamorphosis at the classy Orpheum theaters in Omaha, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and San Francisco. Houdini was finally rising from obscurity and into the spotlight. Houdini Becomes an International Star In the spring of 1900, 26-year-old Houdini, exuding confidence as â€Å"The King of Handcuffs,† left for Europe in the hopes of finding success. His first stop was London, where Houdini performed at the Alhambra Theater. While there, Houdini was challenged to escape from Scotland Yard’s handcuffs. As always, Houdini escaped and the theater was filled every night for months. The Houdinis went on to perform in Dresden, Germany, at the Central Theater, where ticket sales broke records. For five years, Houdini and Bess performed throughout Europe and even in Russia, with tickets often selling out ahead of time for their performances. Houdini had become an international star. Houdini’s Death-Defying Stunts In 1905, the Houdinis decided to head back to the United States and try to win fame and fortune there as well. Houdini’s specialty had become escapes. In 1906, Houdini escaped from jail cells in Brooklyn, Detroit, Cleveland, Rochester, and Buffalo. In Washington D.C., Houdini performed a widely publicized escape act involving the former jail cell of Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President James A. Garfield. Stripped and wearing handcuffs supplied by the Secret Service, Houdini freed himself from the locked cell, and then unlocked the adjoining cell where his clothes were waiting all within 18 minutes. However, escaping just from handcuffs or jail cells was no longer enough to get the public’s attention. Houdini needed new, death-defying stunts. In 1907, Houdini unveiled a dangerous stunt in Rochester, N.Y., where, with his hands handcuffed behind his back, he jumped from a bridge into a river. Then in 1908, Houdini introduced the dramatic Milk Can Escape, where he was locked inside a sealed milk can filled with water. The performances were huge hits. The drama and flirting with death made Houdini even more popular. In 1912, Houdini created the Underwater Box Escape. In front of a huge crowd along New Yorks East River, Houdini was handcuffed and manacled, placed inside a box, locked in, and thrown into the river. When he escaped just moments later, everyone cheered. Even the magazine Scientific American was impressed and proclaimed Houdini’s feat as one of the most remarkable tricks ever performed. In September of 1912, Houdini debuted his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell escape at the Circus Busch in Berlin. For this trick, Houdini was handcuffed and shackled and then lowered, head first, into a tall glass box that had been filled with water. Assistants would then pull a curtain in front of the glass; moments later, Houdini would emerge, wet but alive. This became one of Houdini’s most famous tricks. It seemed like there was nothing Houdini could not escape from and nothing he could not make audiences believe. He was even able to make Jennie the elephant disappear! World War I and Acting When the U.S. joined World War I, Houdini tried to enlist in the army. However, since he was already 43-years old, he was not accepted. Nonetheless, Houdini spent the war years entertaining soldiers with free performances. When the war was drawing to a close, Houdini decided to try acting. He hoped that motion pictures would be a new way for him to reach mass audiences. Signed by Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures, Houdini starred in his first motion picture in 1919, a 15-episode serial titled The Master Mystery. He also starred in The Grim Game (1919), and Terror Island (1920). However, the two feature films did not do well at the box office. Confident it was bad management that had caused the movies to flop, the Houdinis returned to New York and founded their own film company, the Houdini Picture Corporation. Houdini then produced and starred in two of his own films, The Man From Beyond (1922) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). These two films also bombed at the box office, leading Houdini to the conclusion that it was time to give up on moviemaking. Houdini Challenges Spiritualists At the end of World War I, there was a huge surge in people believing in Spiritualism. With millions of young men dead from the war, their grieving families looked for ways to contact them â€Å"beyond the grave.† Psychics, spirit mediums, mystics, and others emerged to fill this need. Houdini was curious but skeptical. He, of course, had pretended to be a gifted spirit medium back in his days with Dr. Hill’s medicine show and thus knew many of the fake medium’s tricks. However, if it were possible to contact the dead, he would love to once again talk to his beloved mother, who had passed away in 1913. Thus Houdini visited a large number of mediums and attended hundreds of sà ©ances hoping to find a real psychic; unfortunately, he found every one of them to be a fake. Along this quest, Houdini befriended famous author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was a devoted believer in Spiritualism after having lost his son in the war. The two great men exchanged many letters, debating the truthfulness of Spiritualism. In their relationship, Houdini was the one always looking for rational answers behind the encounters and Doyle remained the devoted believer. The friendship ended after Lady Doyle held a sà ©ance in which she claimed to channel automatic-writing from Houdini’s mother. Houdini was not convinced. Among other issues with the writing was that it was all in English, a language Houdini’s mother never spoke. The friendship between Houdini and Doyle ended bitterly and led to many antagonistic attacks against each other in newspapers. Houdini began to expose the tricks used by mediums. He gave lectures on the topic and often included demonstrations of these tricks during his own performances. He joined a committee organized by Scientific American who analyzed claims for a $2,500 prize for a true psychic phenomena (no one ever received the prize). Houdini also spoke in front of the U.S. House of Representatives, supporting a proposed bill that would ban telling fortunes for pay in Washington D.C. The result was that even though Houdini brought about some skepticism, it seemed to create more interest in Spiritualism. However, many Spiritualists were extremely upset at Houdini and Houdini received a number of death threats. Death of Houdini On October 22, 1926, Houdini was in his dressing room preparing for a show at McGill University in Montreal, when one of the three students he had invited backstage asked if Houdini really could withstand a strong punch to his upper torso. Houdini answered that he could. The student, J. Gordon Whitehead, then asked Houdini if he could punch him. Houdini agreed and started to get up off a couch when Whitehead punched him three times in the abdomen before Houdini had a chance to tense his stomach muscles. Houdini turned visibly pale and the students left. To Houdini, the show must always go on. Suffering from severe pain, Houdini performed the show at McGill University and then went on to do two more the following day. Moving on to Detroit that evening, Houdini grew weak and suffered from stomach pain and fever. Instead of going to the hospital, he once again went on with the show, and collapsed offstage. He was taken to a hospital and it was discovered that not only had his appendix burst, it was showing signs of gangrene. The next afternoon surgeons removed his appendix. The next day his condition worsened; they operated on him again. Houdini told Bess that if he died he would try to contact her from the grave, giving her a secret code - â€Å"Rosabelle, believe.† Houdini died at 1:26 p.m. on Halloween day, October 31, 1926. He was 52-years old. Headlines immediately read â€Å"Was Houdini Murdered?† Did he really have appendicitis? Was he poisoned? Why was there no autopsy? Houdini’s life insurance company investigated his death and ruled out foul play, but for many, uncertainty regarding the cause of Houdini’s death lingers. For years after his death, Bess attempted to contact Houdini through sà ©ances, but Houdini never contacted her from beyond the grave.

Preparing to Teach Grammar in an ESL Class

Preparing to Teach Grammar in an ESL Class Teaching grammar in an ESL / EFL setting is quite different from teaching grammar to native speakers. This short guide points to important questions that you should ask yourself to prepare to teach grammar in your own classes. Important Questions to Address The important question that needs to be answered is: how do I teach grammar? In other words, how do I help students learn the grammar they need. This question is deceptively easy. At first look, you might think that teaching grammar is just a matter of explaining grammar rules to students. However, teaching grammar effectively is a much more complicated matter. There are a number of questions that  need to be addressed for each class: What are the objectives of this class?Is the class preparing for an exam? Is the class improving their English for business purposes? Is the class preparing for summer holidays? etc.The answer to this question is important as it will help you decide on how much grammar really needs to be taught. If students are preparing for a Cambridge Exam then grammar will play a large role in your lesson plans. On the other hand, if you are teaching a business class, linguistic formulas may play a larger role as you provide the learners with standard phrases for written documents, participating in meetings, etc.What type of learning background do the learners have?Are the students at school? Have they not studied for a number of years? Are they familiar with grammar terminology?Adults who have not been attending school for a number of years are likely to find grammar explanations confusing while as students who are currently studying will probably be much more adept at understanding grammar chart s, expressions, etc. What learning materials and resources are available?Do you have the latest student workbooks? Do you have no workbooks at all? Is there a computer in the classroom?The more learning resources you have the easier it will be for you to employ different strategies when teaching your students grammar. For example, a group of students who like using computers could use the computer to study a certain grammar task while another group who prefers spoken explanations might prefer to have you explain the point with a number of examples. Obviously, the more varieties of learning opportunities the better your chances are that each student will be able to learn the grammar point well.What kind of learning style does each student have?Is the learner comfortable with standard right brain learning techniques (logical charts, study sheets, etc.)? Does the learner work better with listening and repeating exercises?This is one of the most difficult aspects of teaching - especially teaching grammar. If you have a class of learners with similar learning styles, you can afford to use a similar approach. However, if you have a class of mixed learning styles then you need to try to provide instruction using as many different methods as possible. Once you have answered these questions you can more expertly approach the question of how you are going to provide the class with the grammar they need. In other words, each class is going to have different grammar needs and goals and it is up to the teacher to determine these goals and provide the means with which to meet them. Inductive and Deductive First, a quick definition: Inductive is known as a bottom-up approach. In other words, students discovering grammar rules while working through exercises. For example, a  reading comprehension which includes a number of sentences describing what a person has done up to that period in time. After doing the reading comprehension, the teacher could begin to ask questions such as: How long has he done this or that? Has he ever been to Paris? etc. and then follow with When did he go to Paris? To help the students inductively understand the difference between the simple past and the present perfect, these questions could be followed with which questions spoke about a definite time in the past? Which questions asked about the persons general experience? etc. Deductive is known as a top-down approach. This is the standard teaching approach that has a teacher explaining rules to the students. For example, the present perfect is made up of the auxiliary verb have plus the past participle. It is used to express an action which has begun in the past and continues to the present moment,  etc. Grammar Lesson Outline A teacher needs in the first place to facilitate learning. That is why we recommend providing students with inductive learning exercises. However, there are certainly moments when the teacher needs to explain grammar concepts to the class. Generally, we recommend the following class structure when teaching grammar skills: Begin with an exercise, game, listening, etc. that introduces the grammar concept.Ask students questions that will help them identify the grammar concept to be discussed.Follow with another exercise that more specifically focuses on the grammar concept, but takes an inductive approach. This could be a reading exercise with questions and responses in the structures that are being taught.Check responses, ask students to explain the grammar concept that has been introduced.At this point introduce teaching explanations as a way of clearing up misunderstandings.Provide an exercise which focuses on the correct construction of the grammar point. This could be an exercise such as a fill the gap, cloze or tense conjugation activity.Ask students to once again explain the concept. As you can see, the teacher is facilitating students to do their own learning rather than using the top-down approach of dictating rules to the class.

Annotated Bibliography on Finance Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

On Finance - Annotated Bibliography Example Eugene Fama is one of the renowned economists, working as a finance professor in the University of Chicago. His interest in the concepts related to stock market prices have pushed him to walk through several untreated paths and notions about the subject. And in all researches of his, he has succeeded indubitably and his hypothesis on efficient markets has encouraged several other economists to pursue further research on the same subject. In this paper, he has described about the theories about random walks and through which he has raised concerns about the working aspects of a market. The author however has given only an introduction to the random walks theory and has not divulged more about its extrapolations. The stock prices can be evaluated and predicted based on their past performances. However, the authors Craig and Andrew have opposed this analysis and have shown through their experiments that stock market prices do not follow this theory. Robert Higgins, just like the author cited above, is also in the teaching profession taking classes in the field of Finance. He has done several researches in finance including on concepts that deal with the management issues present in dealing foreign exchange and money matters and also on theories that underlie the importance of valuation. In this book, the author has mainly focused on principles and issues that have to be followed and faced up in case of acquiring new resources. He also deals with the idea of managing the resources that are newly bought. The knowledge showcased by the author on the theories and ideas related to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the financial assets of a company is exemplary. In addition he showcases very useful tools that could be used in the evaluation of financial assets of a company (Higgins, 1992). The important characteristic of the entire book is that most of the technical jargons related to finance and economics which deal with income and balance statements have been explained to the readers in a common language. 4. Firth, Michael. Share Prices and Mergers: A Study of Stock Market Efficiency. UK: Saxon House. 1976 .Print The author, being a Ph.D. holder, has quite an experience in the field of accountancy after working as an accountant for several number of years in several organizations. He is an ardent follower of economics, of its feasibility and efficiency and has published several journals and books in relevance to the mentioned topics. In this book, the author has described about the practices involved in carrying out business activities and given a critical account of the predicting game that take place in share markets - that produces the most controversial and most sensational ideas

Individual Dreamweaver Lessons Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Individual Dreamweaver Lessons - Coursework Example Below is the structure of a web page saved as htm or htlm file. We also covered CSS designer. The lecture touches on Live view and Live code that help in giving the exact review of the web page designed and how visually changing the web page developed will affect the code behind the scene. The first lesson also gives an overview how you can create a hyperlink on a web page. The tag â€Å"† was used to create a hyperlink. Use bar to link section of the documents to other pages. For example, In this lesson, creating of a new site took the center stage by defining site setting using Site Setup dialog box. The Servers, Versions as well as advanced setting options used in defining your site. This lecture also declared the DOCTYPE used in HTML5 which is . The lesson also looked at the format of saving the new site created. The file created should have â€Å"html† file format and only special characters such as underscores (_) is used to separate the words. You should save it on one major folder. CSS helps in defining appearance of a web page. You can set background color or link color whichever applicable using CSS. It was important to note that Document Type set to HTML5 is set as Unicode (UTF-8) and that Adobe Photoshop is being used in a tracing image such as JPEG and GIF. We looked at local root folder on how one can copy, select, view or open files from it. It also addresses graphic file types being displayed by web browsers. The graphic files discussed include GIF that condenses color images and used mostly in areas with flat colors like logos. JPEG format is used in inline images. When inserting a logo/image, use the format. You can then set logo/image width and length. Inserting of Photoshop smart objects in an html form was also tackled. Use in group-block elements. When using HTML tables use attributes such as dl, dt, and

The success of the Nationalist cause in the Spanish Civil War Essay Example for Free

The success of the Nationalist cause in the Spanish Civil War Essay The success of the Nationalist cause in the Spanish Civil War was due primarily to the help it received from its foreign allies: For what reasons would you agree or disagree with this statement? A snapshot of 1936-1939: Britain and France tiptoe around Italys conquest of Abyssinia and their second conquest of the football World Cup. Stalin delivers a constitution, an illusion, distracting from his bloody purges. Austria and Czechoslovakia are devoured into The Third Reich. The Fair Labour Standards Act comes into play in the US fighting recession, and unemployment. The Popular Front of France makes sweeping social changes under the guidance of Leon Blum. In 1937, the 999-telephone number for emergency services is introduced in the UK. The Empire is falling apart, and Mahatma Ghandi leads a campaign of civil disobedience against British rule. The Irish Free State becomes Eire, Japan invades China. Spain has its own problems: disorganised parliamentary government a problem solved by military rule. Upon its becoming a problem, is saved by farmers, and in turn, by socialists. Yet confusion and deterioration reign and soon the actual landscape of Spain is covered with that which the weather cannot wash away. No, painting is not made to decorate apartments. Its an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy -Pablo Picasso, 19451 In support of the reasoning that Foreign aid won the nationalists the war, using a chronology full of examples can support this.2 As the war begins, Franco is flown from Las Palmas to Morocco by an unsuspecting British pilot, Captain Babb, who visits General Sanjurjo in Lisbon the previous week. The Nationalist initiative is gained and a week later the rising begins. To apply common-sense investigative techniques to this, intervention doesnt quite begin until both forces make requests on July 20th. Hitler joins with Mussolini in providing transport for Franco and The Army of Africa to cross the Straits of Gibraltar. The importance of this act of intervention in holding the initiative shouldnt be underestimated. Francos Army of Africa, (was) composed of foreign legionnaires and Moorish mercenaries perhaps the blood-thirstiest and certainly one of the most professionalised troops at the disposal of any European nation at the time3 Within two months of German and Italian involvement, Army of African troops were involved in two separate but decisive victories. Under Colonel Juan Yague they were responsible for capturing Badajoz, and thus linking the two parts of Nationalist Spain. In Alcazar, a besieged garrison of Falange and Guardai were saved from near-certain defeat when troops reclaimed the military academy. An offensive early in 1937 in the Southern province of Malaga showed the Italian addition was having a definite impact, much better organised than the Republicans defending the city. The Non-Intervention Committee under the order of Britain put a clamp on France, the only external power assisting the Republicans after only three weeks. Arms and aircraft ceased from supply, and a week later, the Nationalists mounted a successful battle taking Majorca, Catalan troops fled, under cover of Jamie I. Surely a note of nationalist planning that ten days later an air attack badly damaged the ship off Malaga by the Straits. Majorca stricken, was thenceforth the base for many of the 660 Italian aircraft set to bomb the Republic through three years. As for the Navy, the Nationalists had few ships. Two heavy cruisers under construction were important in sea battles, weight and direction provided by the purchase of four Italian destroyers, and two Legionarii class submarines from the November of 1936. Italians manned these almost entirely, independence lessened on occasion by the presence on ship of one Spanish liason officer. Twenty-six vessels were over-all involved. Technical and logistical support was offered, also from the Germans, to the Nationalist Navy. These ships were used in long and hard convoy warfare, shore bombardment, blockade and counter-blockade, and they were deadly, as stated below, Despite a common lack of personnel, the nationalist Navy was better organised and commanded, and that would translate into a more aggressive attitude4 It is also interesting to note that Spanish naval construction was monopolised by the SECN5, it largely owned by British firm, Vickers-Armstrong. Almost all ships were designed referring to Royal Navy vessels and many British technical advisors continued to work in Spanish shipyards during the course of the war. * * * * * * * * * * * The conclusion is inescapable that the defeat and destruction of the Spanish Republic must be attributed as much to British diplomacy in the years 1936 to 1939 as to German aircraft and Italian infantry -Puzzo6 Baldwin and Chamberlains 1936 Non-Intervention committee was about as successful as the rest of their appeasement policy. While the rules of the NIC were observed by the democracies, they were openly flouted by the dictatorships7 Choking the French aide meant that the Spanish Republics only course of action was to flee into the arms of Russia. Outside of the international brigades, the Soviet Union was the biggest supporter of Caballero and Negrins defending armies. Paradoxically, their help was also a hindrance. Stalins opening gestures in the war, and much of the way through, were in their own way a form of appeasement. He had hoped to keep out of Hitlers view for as long as possible. Lee suggests he had been trying to warn Britain and France of the danger the Fuhrer represented, pulling out when it became clear they were no longer interested. Whatever the actual truth, Stalin had not supplied the Republic with enough arms to do the job properly. On October 25th, a substantial part of the third largest gold reserve in the world was transferred to Russian hands. The army of Africa while fighting for Madrid, were still occupying Spanish-Morocco without problem, aided by the Moroccan government, who had matched Italys number, sending out seventy-five thousand troops.8 Along another border, Dr. Salazar sent 20,000 Portugese soldiers to assist the generals. Portugal also provided the Nationalists with places to plot during the Civil War, and geographically, a route for the importing of arms and war materials. As touched upon briefly in the paragraph dealing with Russia, an obstruction, which benefited Franco, was the corporate factor. The Texas Oil Company, The Standard of New Jersey and Atlantic Refining, Texaco, Shell all had a stake in a Nationalist victory: while the U.S government and its people favoured cosy isolationism9, the corporate face was happy enough to supply credit, but only to the Nationalists, as was the Bank of Westminster; Britain had a big foreign investment in Spain: ownership of the Pyrite factories and mining operations for an essential ingredient in ammunition was another factor leading to its decision to play at tacit neutrality. Demoralisation must have hit hard on the 26th April 1937, when the merciless Legion Condor bombed the towns of Guernica and Durango, and Bilbao fell under heavy artillery bombardment. Hauptmann Werner Molders, an inspired and gifted combat leader and tactical leader and his crew had recently been fitted with brand new Messerschmitt Bf109Cs Ds in July 1938. More than a match for (Russian) Polikarpovs new creations, these fighters were accompanied by 6,000 men, Heinekel 51s and Junker 52 bombers. Eleven aircraft squadrons laying down a landscape of destruction from Guernica to Ebro, and far beyond. With much of the Basque mountain range already taken, the town of tradition was certainly a target, and its status as a communications centre made it more so. The ruthless destruction of people and buildings brought international condemnation and a sense of loss difficult to forget through the decades. Clearly, mass influx could be the term applied to foreign assistance in this war. The Republicans were assisted with international brigades while Eoin O Duffys Blueshirts and the young French monarchists joined with the Falange in aiding Franco. There are however a number of other factors connected with the Nationalist victory having little to do with outside involvement. The superior military organisation and structure is one such factor, they possessed a greater number of middle-ranking officers and experienced soldiers. An example of this can be found by studying The Battle of Santander, were General Fidel Davilas forces were vastly outnumbered, but won due to Gamirs soldiers being poorly trained and low on weaponry. Francos armies were better supplied, with imaginative yet solid strategies. His motto, Duty, Discipline and Order. He was careful not to let one group become too dominant, and successfully united the politically diverse. The advance on the Mediterranean coast successfully cut the Republic in two; yet before crossing the Ebro, Franco handled the decisive factor sensibly and allowed his troops time to rest and re-equip. His campaign was one fought with caution and discretion, confidence and well timed capture of opportunity. In stark contrast, the Republicans were in a state of disunity such was their ideological range, and this is typified by the situation in Barcelona in 1937 and by the civil war within a civil war on the streets of Madrid at wars close. Divisions over the primary objective of the war can only have made easier the nationalist mission. The length of Francos leadership of Spain, his keeping the Republic of World War II through to his good choice of successor are aspects of evidence of the Nationalist strength outside foreign allegiance. With a view to the statement and the scope of 1936-39 to which this essay refers, I cannot judge. Much of the corporate world acted as if their involvement was necessary, whilst seeing a Nationalist victory as something of a safe bet. I can neither agree nor disagree with the statement, these facets of fact, are inseparable. To have stopped Francos Army of Africaand its well-trained Civil Guards and police auxiliaries, would have been nothing less than miraculous once it established a strong base on the Spanish mainland. That hastily formed, untrained and virtually unequipped militiamen and women slowed up Francos armys advance on Madrid for four months and essentially stopped it on the outskirts of the capital is a feat for which they have rarely earned the proper tribute from writers on the civil war of the past half century10 Indeed, for Bookchin has not mentioned that the first rising in Madrid failed on July 1936, and was continually thwarted until the Nationalists entered on March 28th, 1939. The capital Madrid was relentlessly defended time and time again over those three years, with and without foreign aid. Perhaps not such a safe bet after all. Bibliography Picasso , Alfred H. Barr (1946) International Brigades, Legion Condor, Spanish Civil War Factbook, www.skalman.nu Spanish Civil War, http://history.acusd.edu The main events of the Spanish Civil War, www.users.dircon.co.uk Spanish Civil War, www.sispain.org Warships of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Author unknown http://webforodigital.es/uphm/mgl/buques/spanishcivwar.htm Spain and The Great Powers, 1936-1941, Dante Puzzo ,Columbia University Press, 1962. European Dictatorships 1918-1945, Stephen J. Lee, Routledge. The Spanish Civil War, Hugh Thomas, Penguin, 1992 Roper-Fortune Poll, Janurary 1939, Mach 1939 , reprint. Mastering Modern World History, Norman Lowe, Palgrave 1997 Modern World History Made Simple, K. Perry, Heinemann/London, 1976 Paul Preston, The Spanish Civil War: Right Versus Left in the 1930s Oxford Concise Dictionary of Quotations, ed. Elizaeth Knowles, OU Press, 2001. Chambers Concise Dictionary, ed. Catherine Schwarz, Chambers Harrap, 1997 Encyclopedia Britannica Hutchinson Encyclopedia- The Millenium Edition, ed. Roger Tritton, 2000 World Atlas, European Map Graphics Ltd, 1996 This text may be reprinted as the user sees fit. Feedback on its facility is welcome. [emailprotected] 1 In interview with Simone Tery, 24 March, 1945, in Alfred H. Barr, Picasso (1946) 2 I have chosen to use a combination of five chronologies along with other materials for greater clearness. The components of this timeline are internet-based, www.skalman.nu http://history.acusd.edu www.users.dircon.co.uk and www.sispain.org, with addition to the chronology from The Encyclopedia Britannica. 3 After 50 Years: The Spanish Civil War by Murray Bookchin, www.spunk.org 4 Warships of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) , Authors name not searched http://webforodigital.es/uphm/mgl/buques/spanishcivwar.htm 5 Sociedad Espanola de Construccion Naval aka The Spanish Corporation of Naval Construction, from the same source as above. 6 If Im correct, this is from Dante Puzzos Spain and The Great Powers, 1936-1941, Columbia University Press, 1962. I got it from pg. 253 of Stephen J. Lees European Dictatorships 1918-1945, published by Routledge. 7 That ones direct from Lee on the same page, it just seemed to fit right in. 8 Hugh Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, Penguin, 1992 9 Roper-Fortune Poll, Janurary 1939. Its worth noting that the same poll conducted amongst Americans at the end of the Spanish Civil War, the March edition, recorded a preparation amongst readers for war, and their involvement in it. 10 After 50 Years: The Spanish Civil War by Murray Bookchin, www.spunk.org

Pollution and Environment Essay - We Must Find a Balance Between Man an

We Must Find a Balance Between Man and Nature "America's beauty is truly unmatched by anything I have seen!" I thought with excitement and ecstasy when I first witnessed the splendor of American landscape. The majestic forests and azure lakes have surpassed the stories I heard while growing up. However, a puzzling sight hampered my sense of admiration when I arrived in New Mexico. Though the steppe around me was untouched, "No Littering" and "Save the Earth" signs seemed to be everywhere. It puzzled me why so much effort was put into preserving a land already pristine. At the time, I knew only of the splendor of American landscape and felt that it was only natural for people to preserve the pervasive gem I had witnessed. Gradually, I conceived the ongoing battle to preserve the environment. On one side, concerned citizens strive for environmental restrictions on industries to produce a cleaner, less technological environment their descendants can enjoy. Their formidable adversaries, the economists, argue that these restrictions limit the nation's productivity, thus degrading the general prosperity. Having witnessed the effects of overpopulation and pollution in China, I concur with the need to safeguard the environment. Yet this movement to protect is flawed. Though many people push for restrictions on industries, they themselves do not truly understand what they protect. It seems that many citizens today mistake nature for a pure, untainted essence that humanity has not corrupted. Even worse, these people go through incredible lengths to seek its revitalizing touch when they lack an overall perception of nature. Though nature is not the quintessence that many believe, it is nonetheless valuable to humans. For me, nature ... ...apid growth in technology, many citizens are ignorant of what will and will not deteriorate the environment. It is urgent to increase the public awareness of facts so a delicate balance between human expansion and natural preservation can be established. Perhaps in the future, mankind will have a new home among the stars, and nature on Earth will finally be left to freely run its course. Works Cited Cronon, William. "The Trouble with Wilderness" The Norton Reader. Ed. Peterson Linda, John Breton, and Joan Hartman. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 651-654. Eichler, Barrett. Personal Interview. 17 Oct. 2002. Kentucky Coal Education. Coal Education Question and Answers Forum. 20 Oct. 2002. . Pollan, Michael. "The Idea of a Garden." Reading the Environment. Ed. Melissa Walker. New York: Norton, 1994. 191-201.

My Favourite Pet

My new pet is a dog. They are so loving, caring and a true friend. My little dog, Jingle, is a living example of what love is all about and he is my little treasure and holds a special place in my heart. Where in this world could you find a friend who is more faithful and pure of heart? I always know that when I get home, I have a friend waiting there for me. After a long day, it is always nice to be greeted by my trusting friend with the wagging tail. His little eyes seem to sparkle like a diamond and his loving ways can soothe a weary heart. A dog's love is unselfish, pure, and so true. No finer friend could a person have than the love of a little dog. Little Jingle gives me great joy as he is an inspiration to me as he brings a smile to my face and a song to my heart. In the spring and summer when the weather is nice, we go for long walks and smell the flowers and the leaves along the woodland's edge. He is a gentle little dog with a loud bark, though his bark is worse than his bite. Jingle's love is as radiant as the summer sun and as pure as the morning dew. He is my ray of sunshine, even on a cloudy day as he puts my mind at ease. My little Jingle teaches me to be patient and to care. As his little eyes show me the true meaning of love and of what is important in life. In this hectic world of stress and strain, it is nice to have loyal and trusting friend who would give their life for you, if need be.

Terracog Case Study

In this case, there are three main meetings which have been held. Throughout these three meetings, and according to the TerraCog’s meeting culture that I observed, I can find some problems that may generate some negative influence on the meeting dynamics and may not conduct a good result easily. To begin with, I will brief describe the performance about these three meetings regarding the project of Aerial. According to the timeline of events providing by the case, these three meetings are held from spring 2007 to March 2008 whose topic is concerning the product design, market positioning, cost estimates, and price making.The first meeting is held in order to â€Å"speed development and avoid the costs of new moldings and major reconfiguration† (Case PP3). The product design & development team decided to redesign based on the old products within the existing GPS technology. As the case, the convener of this meeting is Richard Fiero, the president of TerraCog, and the par ticipants include Allen Roth, director of design & development, and ED Pryor, Vice president of sales.The main issue for this meeting is regarding the features and quality of the new product competing with the rivals such as Posthaste and Garmin. In this meeting they successfully reached the agreement about what kind product TerraCog will design and produce, and Roth was tasked to be in charge of the designing and cost estimating. Because this is a brief and short meeting just for assigning the tasks, there is few conflict and disagreement in the meeting. The second meeting is Aerial Pre-Launch Meeting which is convened be Emma Richardson, the new executive vice president on March 7, 2008.Because the design team completed Aerial by the end of 2007 and the product team had finished the test of the model, Richardson held this meeting with sales, production, and design & development to discuss the cost estimate and retail price of the new product. The specific participants are Emma Ric hardson, Ed Pryor, Allen Roth, Tony Barren, the product director, Cory Wu, the manager of software and firmware design, and Alice Gorga, the manager of hardware design.However, in the meeting the disagreement occurred, Barren said that the cost of the new product production is too high because of Aerial’s higher-end components and complicated manufacture. While Pryor said he could not sell the new products in such high cost. Also Cory Wu showed her puzzle about the high cost. Due to his problem, the meeting came to a deadlock. Reviewing this meeting, I think Emma Richardson who was the convener and facilitator did less to smooth and facilitate the meeting. The only thing she did was suggesting ending the meeting when the participants were at an impasse.Also in the third meeting, though she invited more people such as Becky Timmons, the CFO, and Harold Whislter, the Vice President of design and development, to attend the Resumption meeting, Richardson did nothing but let the q uarrel carry on because I cannot see any word of Richardson in the meeting. In my opinion, there were some opportunities for facilitator to adjust the rhythm of the meeting. For example, in the Aerial Pre-Launch Meeting, when Barren finished his serious word, as the facilitator, Emma Richardson should make some word to smooth the atmosphere of the meeting, whatever it is the joke or semiformal word.In this way, the conflict or disagreement will not so easily to be occurred like the situation in the description of the case. Regarding the latter two meetings, there are several factors contributing to the dysfunctional meeting culture. The first factor is my previous statement, the malfunction of the role of the facilitator. The second factor is the seats of the Resumption of Pre-Launch Meeting. In the meeting, inappropriate seats may aggravate the conflict between both sides. In the seats of the resumption meeting, on one hand, Emma Richardson as the facilitator sat in a wrong place, instead, she should sit in the middle of both sides.In this seat, she can observe the situation of meeting more easily, and it was convenient for her the ask questions to both sides. On the other hand, Tony Barren and Allen Roth should sit in the same side, and Ed Pryor and Cory Wu should sit at the other side. Finally, I think the appropriate facilitator of the third meeting should be Richard Fiero, the President of TerraCog. Because Emma Richard seemed to can’t control the situation in the Aerial Pre-Launch Meeting, and in the resumption meeting, the facilitator and mediator should be the people in a higher position: Richard Fiero.This is what I concluded and assessed for the previous meeting held in TerraCog. However, for the next meeting that will be held next week, and in order to successfully facilitate, I should make more consideration about how to design and conduct the upcoming meeting. Firstly, I will think about the purpose and deliverables of the third launching m eeting. The purpose should be, as the case writes, how to â€Å"push them to one†. Recalling the last meeting, the disagreement concerns on the high cost and it causes a big problem for marketing.Ed Pryor require the production to cut down the cost, but the request are declined because Tony Barren, director of the production said that it was unlikely to reduce the cost because once we did that, some key features of the new products would be lost and it would weaken the competitiveness of the new products. Therefore, I think the main purpose is how to unify the different opinions about cost cutting. If we solve the problem, the next steps regarding the pricing and go-to-market plan will be easily settled, and the project launching meeting will be finished successfully.In aspect to the participants of the upcoming meeting, I strongly recommend that the president should attend the meeting. As I stated previously, Emma Richardson is out of capacity, further, the authority, to con trol the situation of the meeting because it relates the disagreement of two big departments, sales and production. Therefore, it is necessary that the president appears in the meeting. Even president Fiero should be the facilitator and mediator of the meeting. As for the other participants, I think it is nice with the same list of the last meeting.However, for the Harold Whistler, I think he did not well play his role in the last meeting. As the leader who is in charge of the design and development, he made less constructive suggestion for the problem solving. For the issues that will discuss in the next meeting, I think they mainly constitute three points. The first and the most important issue is about the cost of the new product. The production department thought the cost they estimated is very sound. However, the marketing section of TerraCog cannot make an appropriate marketing plan that would retake the losing market share in such high cost.Therefore the first issue is how to balance the cost, features and sales regarding the new product. The second issue is the re-pricing and re-positioning on the market after both sides reach an agreement on the production cost. The final issue is about the go-to-marketing of the new product and the related competition strategies. The latter two issues should be addressed easily once the first problem is solved. For the facilitation guide, I will more think about the approaches how to mediate the argument and disagreement between the departments of sales and production. One approach is one-to-one debate.Now Ed Pryor, the vice president of sales represents the voice of sales, however, there are different voice in the department of design and production. For example, Cory Wu, manager of software and firmware design also thinks the cost of producing the new product is too high. Also, Alice Gorga was absent the last meeting, and I do not know his attitude about the problem. Therefore, I think an important step is integrat ing the opinions inside the party of design and production as the one voice. Particularly, Harold Whistler should play a key role in this job because he is in charge of the design and production department.First he should unify the views inside the group, and then I think Fiero should communicate with him to learn about the idea of the production department. That is the right step to gathering and processing the right information. Besides, at the site of the meeting, Fiero (facilitator) should hold a brainstorming to come up with the solution of disagreement. This approach guarantee everyone engage in the discussion and it is more possible to excogitate the ideas by participants. More important, the brainstorming method will desalt the opposite atmosphere and change it to practical ways to find the solutions.

Free sample - Neoclassicism To Minimalism. translation missing

Neoclassicism To Minimalism. Neoclassicism To MinimalismAn art movement is a style in art with explicit common philosophy which is adhered to by a group of artists during a restricted period of time or its heyday. Over the years, various art forms have been developed. Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Surrealism, cubism, Futurism, Post-Impressionism and Realism has been discussed here-in on a basis of characteristics, themes and examples of artwork. Neoclassicism was an art and style developed during the late 1700’s in the French revolution. It has various visual characteristics: It is solidly modeled using strong direct lights and darks to show form, the compositions are rational in that they are balanced and orderly, presence of strong acidic colors, there are no marks left by the artist since brush strokes are carefully controlled to hide individual strokes and it stresses virtues of classical civilizations of the Greeks and Romans such as discipline, athleticism, education, and moral principles, honesty and charity. Angular and sculptural shapes are normally assigned to males while soft and curvilinear forms depict women. Neoclassical themes are normally centered on classical stories heroic acts and virtues carried out by males who are depicted as gallant and stoic. Felinity in women, on the other hand, is depicted and confined to the domestic and private realm. Neoclassicism is therefore depicted as masculine whereby the male body depicts topical issues on politics, society and sexual attributes. The Neoclassic painting of the famous violinist Paganini by Ingres shows this form perfectly. (Brumfield, 1991) Romanticism was an art style during the mid 1800s that was a resultant of the revolt against Neoclassicism. The major characteristics of Romanticism are: It attempts to display ideal beauty through dramatic scenes, individual marks of the artist can be viewed, it is a form of art that is based on feelings basically of love rather than thoughts hence gets the viewer to experience strong emotions and it is based on an exotic subject matter. In its theme, it is normally based on atmospheric landscapes with a nostalgic depiction of the past especially the Gothic with a bias towards the primitive such as traditional folk culture, cult of individual heroic figures who are often revolutionaries in art or politics, mysticism, the cult of sensibility that emphasizes on women and children, passion for romance and a fascination with death. The romantic painting of Paganini by Turner attempts to show the feeling of his music through the emotional qualities of the man and physical traits of the c omposer. (Tekiner, 2000) Impressionism is an art movement or style that started in the mid 1800s in France. There are various characteristics of Impressionism such as: Asymmetrical balance whereby the plunging perspective, cropped forms   and art work compositions are balanced asymmetrically; use of pure color whereby pure, prismatic colors fresh from the new tin tubes unmixed on the palette are laid directly on the canvas; use of Impasto or thick paint applied in thick raised strokes   to create a roughened uneven texture; use of a high horizon line in order to create a plunging perspective; use of colored shadows and the use of broken color and broken brushstrokes. The theme expresses perceptions of nature by covering rural landscapes, maritime landscapes, pastoral landscapes, bucolic visions of nature and aquatic art. Neo-Impressionist paintings have gone further to entail urban scenes and joyous modern life in working class scenes. One of the famous pieces of art was Girl with a Hoop done by Pierre-A uguste Renoir in 1885. (Denvir, 1990) Surrealism is a form of art and a cultural movement that started in the 1920s which drew elements from both Cubism and Expressionism. Over the years, the members have produced great works in visual artworks and writings. There are various characteristics of this style which entail a blend of the depictive, the abstract, and the psychological. Some devices applied are levitation, changing of scale in an object, transparency and use of repetition in creating a typical art form. The juxtaposition of objects that would otherwise not be grouped together is also used in order to convey a certain message or show a metaphor.   Most artworks have simple titles that simply state the subject matter for easy comprehensibility. The major theme is the ability of love to overcome reason which has been widely depicted by the French surrealist Desnos’s in Deuil pour Deuil whereby the narrator is in a ruined desert city close to a river yet he insists on ‘us’. This illustrates a blind quest for love. Other themes covered are sexuality as depicted by Metamorphosis of Narcissus painted in 1937; artistic intention, chance and fatalism; relation between dream and reality and taboos. (Breton, 1924) The basics of cubism can be seen in another art movement such as pointillism and fauvism. Cubism is the art form entailing creation of abstract shapes in three dimension on a two dimensional surface.   Artists such as Pablo Picasso have popularized this art form. The artist's attempt to show several views on multiple planes of a particular subject is the most distinguishable feature. Cubist art forms are also shallow in depth and perception. It preserves a warped two-dimensional look via a presentation of subjects that are broken up along geometric planes. Analytic Cubist art applies monochromatic color scheme while synthetic cubism adopts multiple color schemes. The most popular theme is still life as depicted by the Still Life with Open Window painting by Rue Ravignan in 1915. This is a work of art that depicts inanimate subject content, commonplace objects such as flowers and manmade objects such as jewellery. Religious and allegorical symbolism is attached to the art. (Cooper, 1970) Futurism is an art form that emerged in Italy under the Italian poet, Filippo Marinetti . There are various essential characteristics of futurism such as it includes irregular, agitated lines communicating the movement’s energy and images being displayed as if in perpetual motion. Futurism is based on a theme of violence, war, anarchy, technology and speed based on an urban background which is conveyed through the artwork’s energy. Paintings and sculptures glorify life and the changes in technology that transforms objects.   Carr's Funeral of the Anarchist Galli displays police attacks and the riot aftermath in 1904 Italy. Broken panes and diagonals rendered energetically distinguish this art form. (Conversi, 2009)Post-Impressionism is a resultant art form as a widely felt reaction against impressionism. These paintings apply the bright Impressionist palette but create art in a formalized order and structure. Paint application technique applied enables the viewer to s ee the image from multiple angles. In the art work, one can easily see brushstrokes, the style used and the personal experience of the painter over fidelity, multiple viewing angles and the personal expressiveness of the painter. Paintings are based on realistic scenes of modern life which are displayed by visual effects rather than inclusion of details. This is particularly the case in Alfred Sisley’s 1872 painting Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne. (Rewald, 1978) Realism is an art form that aims at faithfully representing reality and various aspects of actualities in life. It mainly represents the middle class without any prejudice, romance or idealism. It is characterized by a representation of reality in comprehensive detail with characters being of more importance than the action or plot. There is a complex relationship between characters, nature, social class and their past. The diction applied in the compositions is natural but poetic. This art form deals with ethical issues and choices in its themes. The socio-economic class conflict is addressed in these compositions as a major theme. The widening gaps between rich and poor are depicted by the characters used. Charles Dicken’s work on David Copperfield, the suffering of impoverished children who have to work in industries illustrates realism explicitly.   (Morris, 2003) References Breton. (1924). Manifesto of Surrealism. Pierre Reverdy . Brumfield, W. C. (1991). The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture. University of California Press. Conversi, D. (2009). Art, Nationalism and War: Political Futurism in Italy. Sociology Compass. Cooper, D. (1970). The Cubist Epoch. Phaidon Press Limited. Denvir, B. (1990). The Thames and Hudson Encyclopaedia of Impressionism. London: Thames and Hudson. Morris, P. (2003). Realism. Routledge. Rewald, J. (1978). Post-Impressionism: From Van Gogh to Gauguin. London : Secker Warburg. Tekiner, D. (2000). Modern Art and the Romantic Vision. University Press of America.

Profile of Serial Killer Richard Angelo

Profile of Serial Killer Richard Angelo Richard Angelo was 26 years old when he went to work at Good Samaritan Hospital on Long Island in New York. He had a background of doing good things for people as a former Eagle Scout and volunteer fireman. He also had an out-of-control desire to be recognized as a hero. Background and Early Life Born on August 29, 1962, in West Islip, New York, Richard Angelo was the only child of  Joseph and Alice Angelo. The Angelos worked in  the educational sector - Joseph was a high school guidance counselor and Alice taught home economics. Richards childhood years were unremarkable. Neighbors described him as a nice boy with nice parents. After graduating in 1980 from St. John the Baptist Catholic High School, Angelo attended the State University of Stony Brook for two years. He was then accepted into a two-year nursing program at the State University at Farmingdale. Described as a quiet student who kept to himself, Angelo excelled in his studies and made the deans honor list each semester. He graduated in good standing in 1985. First Hospital Job Angelos first job as a registered nurse was in the burn unit at the Nassau County Medical Center in East Meadow. He stayed there a year, then took a position at Brunswick Hospital in Amityville, Long Island. He left that position to move to Florida with his parents, but returned to Long Island alone, three months later, and began working at Good Samaritan Hospital. Playing Hero Richard Angelo quickly established himself as a highly competent and well-trained nurse. His calm demeanor was well fitted for the high stress of working the graveyard shift in an intensive care unit. He gained the trust of the doctors and other hospital personnel, but that wasnt enough for him. Unable to achieve the level of praise he desired in life, Angelo came up with a plan where he would inject drugs into patients at the hospital, bringing them to a near-death state. He would then show his heroic capabilities by helping to save his victims, impressing the doctors, co-workers and the patients with his expertise. For many, Angelos plan fell deathly short, and several patients died before he was able to intervene and save them from his deadly injections. Working from 11 pm to 7 am put Angelo into the perfect position to continue to work on his feeling of inadequacy, so much so that during his relatively short time at the Good Samaritan, there were 37 Code-Blue emergencies during his shift. Only 12 of the 37 patients lived to talk about their near death experience. Something to Feel Better Angelo, apparently not swayed by his inability to keep his victims alive, continued injecting patients with a combination of the paralyzing drugs, Pavulon and Anectine, sometimes telling the patient that he was giving them something which would make them feel better. Soon after administering the deadly cocktail, the patients would begin to feel numb and their breathing would become constricted as did their ability to communicate to nurses and doctors. Few could survive the deadly attack. Then on October 11, 1987, Angelo came under suspicion after one of his victims, Gerolamo Kucich, managed to use the call button for assistance after receiving an injection from Angelo. One of the nurses responding to his call for help took a urine sample and had it analyzed. The test proved positive for containing the drugs, Pavulon and Anectine, neither of which had been prescribed to Kucich. The following day Angelos locker and home were searched and police found vials of both drugs and Angelo was arrested. The bodies of several of the suspected victims were exhumed and tested for the deadly drugs. The test proved positive for the drugs on ten of the dead patients. Taped Confession Angelo eventually confessed to authorities, telling them during a taped interview, I wanted to create a situation where I would cause the patient to have some respiratory distress or some problem, and through my intervention or suggested intervention or whatever, come out looking like I knew what I was doing. I had no confidence in myself. I felt very inadequate. He was charged with multiple counts of second-degree murder. Multiple Personalities? His lawyers fought to prove that Angelo suffered from dissociative identity disorder, which meant he was able to disassociate himself completely from the crimes he committed and was unable to realize the risk of what he had done to the patients. In other words, he had multiple personalities which he could move in and out of, unaware of the actions of the other personality. The lawyers fought to prove this theory by introducing polygraph exams which Angelo had passed during questioning about the murdered patients, however, the judge did not allow the polygraph evidence into the court. Sentenced to 61 Years Angelo was convicted of two counts of depraved indifference murder (second-degree murder), one count of second-degree manslaughter, one count of criminally negligent homicide and six counts of assault with respect to five of the patients and was sentenced to 61 years to life.

Marketing Strategy of UKs Leading Provider of Mobile Phones and Research Paper

Marketing Strategy of UKs Leading Provider of Mobile Phones and Broadband - Research Paper Example Even though O2 enjoys a leading positions are cell phone and broadband provider, it still needs to update its policies in order to remain ahead of the competition. Due to favourable policies towards the telecommunication sector in UK, competition has grown strong and diverse in the country. This research attempts to explore the current marketing strategy of O2 and find issues with these strategies in order to develop improved strategies for the company. Importance of the Research This research is particularly helpful in creating an understanding for the marketing strategies of O2 and how it managed to develop such a strong customer base and reach. This research will help students of marketing in understanding the practical implications of the theories and concepts that they learned in the course as applied to a real case example. This research would also be helpful for not just students but also business leaders. It would particularly help O2 as it would not just summarize their current marketing direction but also provide solutions for future directions based on the feedback and information provided by current and potential users of the company. This research would also be helpful for the competitors of O2 in order to analyze the competitor landscape and to understand why O2 is progressing as one of the largest telecommunication companies in UK.