Managing Global Hospitality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing Global Hospitality - Essay Example Global hospitality industry is growing at a good pace. The increase in holiday trends is one of the reasons of the growth. People now try to visit to different tourist destinations in their leisure time. Globalization has also contributed towards this trend and people all over the world get to see more and more beautiful destinations on television and internet. But with growth hospitality industry globally is also encountering many issues like regulations, natural disasters, high cost of service and greater competition. This has caused many global giants in the industry to look for new avenues of investment. Background of the Company Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is one of the largest hotel chains of the world. The company started its operations in 1971from Singapore but currently it has hotels and resorts in around 17 countries all over the world. The company grew in Asia at a very fast pace and right now has a significant market share in Asia. Overall the company has presence in all continents of the world except Africa. Company is also planning to open a new hotel in London in 2012 (Shangri-La Hotels Website, 2011). The company has wonderful customer service and has won many awards for of excellence. The diversity at the Shangri-La Hotels is very well known all over the world (Clark & Chen, 2007). Shangri-La Hotels are high class hotel and are catered towards the rich class and for this reason a high quality of service is maintained. The company is also planning to expand in China, Canada and India in years to come. The brand name of the company is prestigious and known all over the world. The expansion of the company is based upon the innovative practices of the company.

Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Review - Article Example It provides alternative to Kenyans living in urban communities to send money to their loved ones living in the provinces. It beats having to spend time falling inline on banks and other money transfer services. The convenience, security, and portability of doing the transaction anytime, anywhere made M- PESA a preferred method for money transfer for 9.5 million Kenyans, that’s over 20 percent of the total population (The Economist, 2010). M- PESA works by converting the user’s cash to ‘e-float’, wherein money is digitalized and is credited to their phone. They could exchange or purchase ‘e-float’ through accredited banks and partnered agents who also sell airtime/ prepaid cards. When they want to send money or ‘e-float’ to another person, they would just key-in the amount they want to send. The receiving party—who also would have to be a Safaricom subscriber to be able to receive the e-float, would just simply show his phone —which contains the text message and reference number to the transaction, to redeem the e-float and exchange it to cash.

Measuring the development of rural women

Measuring the development of rural women Although it has been difficult to break down the gender blindness of development history, since 1970, gender’s role in family welfare was made as a visible social construct in development (Kingsbury et al., 2004; Bannon and Correia, 2006). Parallel to improvements made in womens position in many societies, the importance of gender to economic analyses (Kadam, 2012) and their active participation in development has been one of the most troubled aspects of the development debate (Kingsbury et al., 2004). In the rural sector, the attention to gender issues is even more challenging. This means that understanding the linkages between gender equity and development effectiveness is essential aspect of rural studies. Therefore, gender issues have been a core priority of governments including Iran. Although Iran has made considerable progress in terms of human development, its rural areas face some important challenges. Today rural people have, more than ever before, access to educatio n, health facilities and occupational opportunities. But close examination of their living conditions indicates that although the aggregate level of production and consumption has increased, the distribution of benefits continues to show persistent inequalities, including the need for more equitable income and wealth distribution, improved access to health and basic sanitation services. The concern for increasing the development of the rural women makes researchers eager to focus on enormous diversity of pathways to human development monitoring and evaluation. These attempts lead to determining list of indicators for monitoring and evaluation a range of economic, social and environmental goals. However, various life domains directly contribute to individual development. Perhaps, human development approach presents an opportunity not only to review achievements in human development domain, but also to determine challenges at different global, national and regional levels, systematica lly. Not surprisingly, the human development approach, which proved very popular in public discussion, has a crudeness that is somewhat similar to mechanical devices of economic development. Besides, this approach is concentrating on what remains undone especially for different regions. Therefore, the validity of the original human development vision has been criticized on a number of fronts. This paper discusses a modified index for measuring rural women development. The present study outlines different concepts important for concerning rural women development, specifically: (1) quality of life; (2) income; (3) social capital; (4) health and sanitation; (5) food security; (6) rate of education; and (7) life expectancy among rural women in Choram County, South-Werstern of Iran. These concepts provide understanding that rural communities are both an environment of care and a cause of disease. Background Since 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published a series of annual Human Development Reports (HDRs) in which the human development index (HDI) is computed for each country (Sagar and Najam, 1998). HDI embodies Amartya Sen’s â€Å"capabilities† approach to understanding human well-being, which emphasizes the importance of ends (Stanton, 2007). This framework has continued to be the keystone of annual reports from the UNDP on dimensions of human development demand most attention in the contemporary world: to lead a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge and have access to resources for a decent standard of living. Adult literacy and combined enrolment ratios have been selected as indicators for the knowledge dimension, life expectancy at birth as the indicator for a healthy life and an adjusted GDP as the indicator for the standard of living. In essence, the HDRs have pushed the development debate boundaries beyond a traditional economic per spective (Sagar and Najam, 1998). Despite the positive view of these qualities by many scholars (Streeten, 1994), yet not all sides of the story are positive. However, substantial progress has seen in many aspects of human development, even in countries facing adverse economic conditions (Human development report, 2010). In the other words, the progress was proved in improving health and education and raising income, which expand people’s social capital (power to select leaders, influence public decisions and share knowledge). But not in poverty and deprivation reduction to end the inequality and insecurity around the world. As much as the HDI has introduced new way of development thinking, it has also been faced with a number of criticisms (Sanusi, 2008). Unfortunately, over the years, the HDRs seem to have become stagnant, repeating the same rhetoric without necessarily increasing the HDI’s utility. Progress has varied, and increasing inequality has also seen among people in different countries, across regions, and especially rural areas both within and across countries. The HDI is a measure which reflects its aims imperfectly; and other important questions concerning human development are left out of the HDI altogether. Srinivasan (1994) summarizes the HDI critiques in five main categories: poor data, incorrect choice of indicators, various problems with the HDI’s formula in general, incorrect specification of income in particular, and redundancy. In fact, the authors have modified the index to address many of its sharpest criticisms, and thus the HDI has evolved over the seven issues of the Human Development Report. Plans that maximize the modified index directly trade-off the allocations to consumption, education and health against each other. This leads to plans that balance expenditures across the three components. Engineer et al (2008) consider net income, in education and health expenditure domain, as indicating capabilities not already reflected in the index and argue for a modified HDI that replaces the income component with a net income component; i.e. income that is net of expenditures on education and health. The multi-dimensional nature of poverty is being emphasized by many analysts and policy makers. Addressing these issues requires new tools. Hicks (1997) proposed a method of incorporating distributional inequalities of three measures of income, education and longevity into the HDI framework. He believed that Gi ni coefficients could potentially measure inequalities in human development (annual income, educational, and life-span attainment). A number of attempts have been made to adjust the raw measure of life expectancy to take into account quality of life and time spent in poor health. One concern is that while females generally live longer, their quality of life may be lower due to poorer health than men. The Global Burden of Disease project popularized one such measure, namely disability-adjusted life expectancy (Murray and Là ³pez 1996). The World Health Organization (WHO) measures healthy life expectancy (HALE) based on life expectancy at birth adjusted for time spent in poor health. Although, these new thinking approaches and thus the new measurement tools reinforce the continuing validity of the human development vision (HDR, 2010), the study of development in regional contexts, rural areas, bring a second debate on the fore, that focuses on the extent to which the definition and experience of development is culturally specific. And, are the standardised indicators appropriate applied devises for all regions? Even when progress in the HDI is experienced in the country level, this does not necessarily excel in the local and regional levels. In the other words, as averages can be misleading, it is possible to have an acceptable rate of progress in HDI and be unequal. These patterns pose important challenges for how to think about human development dimensions, its measurement and the policies to improve outcomes and processes over time especially in regional areas and among the mass development neglected target groups, rural women. Perhaps, the understanding, measurement, and improvement of human development especially in local level have been commonly expressed by the term quality of life (QOL) across multiple disciplines (including sociology, economics, psychology, environmental science, and medicine). The term QOL is a complex, multi-faceted concept (Farquhar, 1995; Carr et al., 2001; Holmes, 2005) which according to Costanza et al (2007) is generally meant to represent either how well human needs are met or the extent to which individuals or groups perceive satisfaction or dissatisfaction in various dimensions of their lives. Similarly, Calman as stated by Vyavaharkar et al (2012) defined QOL as a gap or difference between hopes and expectations of a person and the person’s present experiences at a given moment in time. The limited amount of research has focused on QOL in development studies. However, it seems that QOL in the rural setting according to Phillips (2006) is a multifaceted phenomenon determined by the cumulative and interactive impacts of numerous and varied factors (Zaid and Popoola, 2010) like housing conditions, services, infrastructure, access to various qualities and amenities, income, living standards, satisfaction about the physical and social environment (Phillip, 2006). An integrative definition of quality of life contains two sets of subjective (Carr et al., 2001; Holmes, 2005; Phillips, 2006; Costanza et al., 2007) and objective indicators (Phillips, 2006; Costanza, 2007). The subjective indicator focuses on respondents own assessments of pleasure as the basic building block of human satisfaction, happiness well-being or some near synonym of their lived experiences. However, so-called â€Å"objective† indicators of QOL on the other hand, focuses on indices and data that can be gathered without a subjective evaluation being made by the individual being assessed (economic production and security, health, food security, literacy rates, life expectancy, †¦) and may be used singly or in combination to form summary indexes, as in the UNs Human Development Index (Costanza et al., 2007). However, there are well-documented differences in subjective QOL between men and women, and in different localities as reflected in various researches. While discussing the definition of well-being, Arku et al (2008) emphasized that the indicators can differ between urban and rural residents within a country and similarly between men and women within the same society because of differences in needs, priorities (Chambers, 1997). Shek et al (2005) and Diener and Suh (2000) mention that the indicators are socially and locally constructed based on the cultural values of communities. Veenhoven (2005) also arguing for the need of incorporation of cultural-specific indicators in determining people’s quality-of-life. Similar results are found in the study of happiness. In a recent exploration of this theme, Camfield et al (2009) revealed that the definition and experience of happiness is culturally specific. To understand the position of Iranian rural women in the development debate, it is necessary to modify HDI and thus examine the status of women within household and community structures regarding indicators which were chosen to reflect the average quality of life (QOL) – defined as subjective social well-being, food security, social capital, education and training, income, and life expectancy. Women living in rural areas of Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Iran, are generally known to be suffering from general deprivation including access to and control over land and other productive resources, services and infrustructures, opportunities for employment and income-generating activities, and access to health care. This paper sets out to evaluate development status of rural women in Choram County, Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad province, South-Western Iran. It proposes ways in which the modified HDI can be improved to better reflect its conceptual intent. The scope of this essay then is not to nit-pick on the finer details of the proposed index, but rather to conceptualize a constructive discussion on how the modified proposed index can be improved to better fulfill its own goal of measuring human development in rural areas.

To Dream Out Loud :: College Admissions Essays

To Dream Out Loud    is it the fear for losing freedom, or is it that the unripe fruit of idealism we begin with has finally become ripe? because it seems that the youthful starry-eyed liberalism fades. our fruit becomes rotten, stinking of uncaring, self-serving, change-fearing conservatism. precariousness becomes anathema. some keep out the fear of losing comfort. I hope I do. Lou Reed, face wrinkle-worn, still not-sings about a poor boy in New York, still refers to the Statue of Bigotry. but my father tolerantly smiles as I dream out loud as I try to believe that there is good in most as I talk about trying to make things better. he's cynically calling himself conservative as he pretends to dislike feminism and truly believes that people should want to help others. that people should not have to. that most people do not want to. my father is good, and sturdy. generous. stoic. he believes that I will gain wisdom with age   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (I will) and that I will come to think liberalism is misguided and overly hopeful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (I hope I won't.) my father is not an artist. he is a lawyer. he still struggles to help people but he has stopped believing they'll be grateful. his fruit of idealism has become rotten. where are the Romantics? the Transcendentalists? they've just turned 19 and are going to a college I can't afford. hair, jeans, love, and hope all fade. I respect my father, and I respect Lou Reed. I respect the freedom-loving hopeful criticizing words of Bob Dylan. my father still respects those too. perhaps the hope doesn't die; perhaps it is cloaked in the fear of losing what you've already gained. precarious youthful hope feeds off the youthful need for freedom-

SWOT analysis of Samsung Mobile in China Essay

Strengths Weaknesses ï ¼  Six Sigma’s Quality Control ï ¼  Product Design of Fashion and Beauty ï ¼  Advanced Technology and Innovative Capability ï ¼  Peculiar Strategy to Attract Talent ï ¼  Excellent International Brand Image ï ¼ Operating strategy is conservative, and there is supplier shortage ï ¼ Low contribution rate to the low-end consumer market ï ¼ Rely heavily on Android System ,there is instability factor. Opportunities Threats ï ¼  With advancement of digital technology, there is enormous room for commercial development ï ¼  Huge Potential for Development of Smart-phone market ï ¼  Apple has become Samsung’s strong competitor at the high-end, popular mobile phone market ï ¼  In the mid-to-low price range market, there is Nokia Strengths: 1. The first of Samsung Mobile’s strengths lies in Six Sigma Production, Which is as follows: a. Emphasizing on utilizing grassroots and front line workers for quality control functions b. Emphasizing on strengthening the early stages of production management; Focus on stages of product design, production of samples and adjustment of product c. Paying attention to continuous and stable production of goods to ensure quality d. Using QCC methods to improve quality e. Utilizing quality control education for employees 2. The second strength is in Samsung’s product design that combines Personalized exterior with humanized design. Along with its innovative  features, Samsung’s sleek designs have made Samsung mobile devices a popular choice among the masses. Samsung’s tactic of making bigger screens for its smartphone devices, particularly the Galaxy Note series, has been a big part of its success in differentiating the brand from its competitors. The big screams have become trendy and appealing. 3. Samsung’s lead in technology and innovation comprise its third strength a. Leading the digital fusion revolution – Digital Company b. Subsidizing mobile operating platforms, self-application (AP) processors, and screens 4. Samsung’s fourth strength lies in its strategy to attract the world’s best talent. a. Attracting genius talents through unique talents b. Making public service activities required courses for staff c. Implementing career training for employees d. Using four principles to determine salary – importance of job post, social identity, comparison to original salary, and creation of value 5. Samsung’s fifth strength lies in its brand image. Samsung is named as top rising brand by Inter brand and is the 9th most valuable brand with value nearly $33 billion. It has risen by 40% from 2011 to 2012. Samsung has been able to transform its brand image from a â€Å"value for money† brand to an innovative leader that â€Å"cares for everybody.† Samsung has tried its best to build a contrast between its biggest competitors Apple as a â€Å"self-centered brand† versus itself, a brand that cares for everybody. For example, a recent ad for the Samsung Galaxy S3 shows images of married couples and families with kids, in an attempt to attract a broader audience with slogans like â€Å"designed for humans, inspired by nature.† Weaknesses: 1. The first weakness lies in Samsung’s operating strategy. Samsung does not want to establish business relationships with many suppliers, and this is one of the reasons why Samsung’s development is restricted. Even though Samsung defends this by saying that it is better able to protect its intellectual properties this way, in current time’s environment with fierce  competition, companies with more suppliers are more competitive. Thus, Samsung needs to be more flexible in the company’s operating strategies. 2. Another of Samsung’s weaknesses also lies in not targeting low-end consumer market. Samsung focus on product fashion, so the price is relatively high. And Working in the WiBro (Wireless Broadband access service) and DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) market, but return on investment cycle is long. 3. Samsung’s reliance on the Android operating system (OS) is another weakness. Android phones are extremely customizable and they give you the freedom to experiment to your heart’s desire. One inevitable side effect of this freedom, however, is that sometimes your phone encounters a problem or two. Maybe it won’t boot or maybe it randomly shuts down. Maybe you lost a critical file and now some features won’t work. Opportunities: 1. The first opportunity is that with advancement of digital technology, there is enormous room for commercial development. a. In the digital age – the age of electronic information – there are two major stars: mobile phones and the Internet b. With the advent of the digital age, consumers desire high quality of mobile phone products c. Chinese communication consumers develops rapidly 2. Samsung also has an opportunity in the smart phone market’s development potential. a. The release of Apple iPhones began the wave of smart-phones b. In the mobile Internet age, every large mobile phone manufacturer and operator has promoted and popularized mid-to-low price range smart-phones. China is leading the arrival of the era of smartphone evaluation. Threats: 1. The first threat to Samsung is ï ¼  Apple has become Samsung’s strong competitor at the high-end, popular mobile phone market Apple’s cell phone has a high-end and popular image, and shares high similarity with Samsung. Thus, more than the mid and low-end markets, Samsung experiences a greater  impact from Apple’s competition at the high-end market. Considering mobile phone products of different smart-phone price ranges, Apple attracts greater user interest and has more product competitiveness than Samsung, despite the larger numbers of Samsung mobile phones on the market. This is related to Apple’s unprecedented brand appeal and affiliated operator support force. 2. The second threat to Samsung is ï ¼ In the mid-to-low price range market, there is Nokia a. According to statistics, Nokia had attracted a larger amount of user interest than Samsung at the mid-to-low end mobile phone market, in both the overall and smart-phone market. b. Nokia’s mobile phone market share relies mostly relies on the mid/low-end mobile products. In the past two years, with Nokia’s decline on the mobile phone, particularly high-end smart-phone market. c. The mid/low-end market has become the last sector of the market where Nokia has a lead. Nokia naturally will not ignore this.

Jasmine homework

Individual Acting out with different comedic masks Individual acting out with different comedic masks: In this activity we were required to choose a mask from comedic theatre that ‘spoke to us', and with this mask we must act out the character we believe the mask portrays and communicate it through the questions the teacher asks us. I personally found it hard to let the mask choose me, but I eventually chose one mask that struck me.The ask looked very dopey and stupid in a sense because of the visual characteristics on his face like a large confronting nose, circle shaped face and small eyes. I took the role as a lonely young boy who is over excited by the overload in human interaction. With the questions that were asked like â€Å"how are you? â€Å"Are you excited? † I involved the audience and expressed my enthusiasm by using a deep voice, wonky laugh and a heavy walk. I definitely enjoyed this opportunity especially when I realized the way this I took on the charact er was very similar to the intentions of the real character.I pop to get the chance to complete this activity again with a new mask and see how my perspective of it compares to the main perspective. ‘ Tuesday 3rd June: Continued Individual Acting with comedic masks Wednesday 1 lath June: ABSENT – LEFT SCHOOL EARLY Wednesday 18th June: Warm Up: Being a restoration character Activity: Prime Minister's Dinner and feedback Being a Restoration Character: In this warm up we were required to play a character from the restoration period.We had to be emotionally invested in the character in order to influence the audience by our emotions. We were asked to play a character eke ‘a person late for work and gradually we were asked to increase the energy of our character if it means running faster or using our actions more vigorously. I particularly enjoyed this warm up because it helped me to understand the energy the restoration actors had to put in their performance and what they considered to be theatre suitable for the audience at the time.I hope to warm up to this activity again so I can further improve my energy towards playing characters and emotions in Restoration theatre. Prime Minister's Dinner and feedback In this activity the whole class was required to play an emotion and be involved in a ousted by the Prime Minister where they would showcase their emotion and make it evident to the audience. Each student was given an emotion (e. G. – gossipy, horny, rude etc. ) and had to perform their role as they arrived at the dinner.I was fortunate enough to be the Prime Minister's wife and my character was to spread rumors about the other guests. I definitely struggled with this task because it was very difficult to perform and be heard when the whole class was trying to achieve the same thing. After our performance Ms Weed agreed that we needed a system to aka sure we weren't talking over one another. To improve this problem we made a circle in the middle of the drama space so the only people who should be talking are the ones in the circle while the other students are merely miming.Ms also said that we were lacking energy with our characters and it was then it occurred to me how much more energy I would have to put into the performance even though I thought the energy I had put in initially was enough. I definitely enjoyed this activity and hope to do this again and further improve my skills with working as a class and my energy bevel when characterizing emotion in a restoration character.Monday 23rd June: ABSENT – SICK Term 3- Monday 14th July – Theory work Activities: 4 vowels exercise – Clouds, Jungle, butter/tar and balloons Meditation 4 humors The Four Humors in Renaissance and Elizabethan time By this time the humors had become standardized as follows Body Humor Body substance produced by Element Qualities Complexion and Body type Personality Sanguine blood liver air hot and moist red-cheeked, corpulent amorous, happy, generous, optimistic, irresponsible Choleric yellow bile spleen fire hot and dry deed-haired, thin violent, vengeful, short-tempered, ambitious Phlegmatic phlegm lungs water cold and moist corpulent Sluggish, pallid, cowardly Melancholic black bile gall bladder earth cold and dry sallow, thin Introspective, sentimental, gluttonous Note: â€Å"lazy† is sometimes attributed to Phlegmatic [ref The Four Humors] and sometimes to Melancholies [ref The Four Humors] 4 vowels exercise – Clouds, Jungle, butter/tar and balloons In this exercise we were required to rotate around the classroom in a clockwise direction and act out different environments with each quarter we fall under.The four quarters were clouds, Jungle, butter/tar and balloon and we had to have enough energy to mime the actions that would be conducted in this environment. As we rotated around the environments I particularly enjoyed performing in the Jungle environment and when the teache r asked for students to move into the quarter they liked performing the most I was the only one in the class to move into the Jungle environment and that particularly surprised me personally. I hope to complete the activity again to further improve my skills on miming an environment and using my body to display the emotions presented. Body Meditation In this activity the class conducted a body meditation to help us with connecting shapes with colors.I the meditation the class was to lie down on the drama space floor and as the lights were turned off we would listen to M's voice as she described colors and shapes while we had to focus on the shape/color to find what matched to it. In my experience with this activity I noticed that the circle shapes mostly lead to deep purples and blues whereas the sharp edged shapes were mostly reds and oranges. I really enjoyed this activity because I found it very relaxing and a good way o wind down after an active activity previously. I also enjoy ed it because it helped me gain more understanding of Shakespearean work with color and emotions and the way his characters are able to visually perform that. I hope to complete this relaxing activity again to further development my understanding and connection of emotions and how I present them.Wednesday 16th July – Activity: Watched Year 12 HOC practice Trials (Gave feedback for performance) – Late to class Mediation and Exploration with sounds: In this activity we explored Shakespearean interpretation of how sounds can effect and impact emotion as well as shapes and lour. We started by lying on the drama space floor and turning the lights off- after that Ms Weed began to teach us how to explore different sounds and vowels such as ‘O'. Personally when I expressed this sound I saw a deep purple/blue and an Oval like shape. This was defiantly contrasted when we had to sound out ‘D', because this gave a hard sound I saw a dark green color and a square shape. Doing this exercise made me realizes not only how deep and contextually detailed Shakespearean teachings and works are but it also help me understand it better as I personally struggle grasping Shakespearean concept.I hope to complete this relaxing exercise again to further understand and develop my understanding of Shakespeare and his works. Tuesday 22nd July – Role Scoring Questions- Viola (Twelfth Night) 1 . How does the title of the play relate to your character? Twelfth Night† is usually considered to be a reference to Epiphany, or the twelfth night of the Christmas celebration Unary 6). In Shakespearean day, this holiday was celebrated as a festival in which everything was turned upside down. This is much like the upside-down, chaotic world of Lariat in the play where Viola causes a love arrange to occur. 2. What is your character's main sense of urgency? What strong impulse motivates your character to act? My character, Viola has a strong sense of urgency.After the recent loss of her brother Viola has a missing male piece in her life and as she desperately searches for a replacement to this manly figure she will go to any extreme to achieve that. 3. If your character has a secret, what is it? My character holds a large secret that creates the main basis of the plot and storyline in the play. Her secret is that in the play she pretends to be a male to be closer to her rue love' Duke Rosin who has a much higher status than her and is in love with Olivia 4. What rhythm might you associate with your character? I associate my character to have a smooth, calm and steady rhythm because I see her as someone who is calm under pressure and aware of her intentions and steady of her priorities. 5. What sound might you associate with your character?I find my character to associate with a deep, calm sound because of the personality and her ability to play 2 different characters and attempt to keep her sense of identity at the same time. 6. What is your character's master gesture? My characters master gestures towards the characters in the play is the fact that she caused such complications and a sense of confusion between the characters that it becomes evident that the biggest gesture Viola did was to give up her lifestyle and everything she knew to hide her identity and change herself for one man. 7. What is your character's leading centre? (The head? The heart? The stomach? Something else? My characters leading centre would definitely be the heart, because not only to herself but also to the audience it's the only thing that remains consistent tit the character because almost every aspect of her is hidden except her intentions and her heart. 8. What colors might you associate with your character? Why? I associate the character Viola with a deep purple/blue color. This is not only because that certain color resembles both genders but also because that color is relaxing and calm and easy to associate with. 9. What object might you associate with your character? Why? I associate a map with my character because I believe that the intentions the character is very clear and the route and road to achieve those intentions are also very clear.And although the route to complete this goal is steep Viola is still willing to follow herself/the map to reach her destination of true love. 10. What animal might you associate with your character? Why? I associate my character with a spider, because although they are small and may seem insignificant there intentions are clear and they are a prime predator in the insect family. 1 1 . What are your character's two primary senses? My characters two primary senses would be their voice and their ability to view problems and complications. 12. Does your character â€Å"mask†, or cover up, feelings and behaviors? If so, what does your character mask? My character covers up her feelings and her physical features.She does this because her feelings that she has about Duke Rosin seem impossible to admit and confront about and to achieve this, she hides her female features to look like a man. 13. Does your character have a sense of humors? Is this sense of Humor used in a positive or negative way? My characters sense of humor is reflected primarily on dramatic irony- the scenes and problems that occur to my character hidden as a man are humorous because the actions are conducted as a female and because the audience only knows about it they become more emotionally invested in the character and are more compassionate towards the situation making it more funny. 14. In real life, would you be your character's friend? Why or why not?Yes, I would definitely be my characters friend in real life because I am inspired by her courage and bilabial u to be strong and stick up for her dreams, beliefs and aspirations even after she suffered a server tremor of the loss of her brother. She shows commitment and proves that she will go to any extent to conquer her dreams and I would love to round myself with that positive and inspiring influence. 15. What is your character's most positive trait? My characters most positive trait is her persistence and courage to take risks to reach her goals. Hiding her identity to be with the man she loves could've lead to disastrous consequences, she not only would have suffered shame if her body was compromised but also the duke may not see it from Violas perspective and send her to Jail. 16. What is your character's status in the world? Does your character have money or power?My character has a low status in the world, this is the reason she goes to such extreme measures to be with Duke Rosin – because they both come from different walks of life and it is highly unlikely that the Duke will see Viola for who she truly is without being blinded by the hierarchy put out in society. 17. What are your character's major wants and desires? My characters major wants and desires are to be with her true love Duke Rosin . The complications arise because the Duke is in love with Olivia who is a high status, rich lady. Viola will do anything to be with the Duke even if it is to become his servant and send messages to the one he loves without ever realizing her feelings for him. 8. What is your character's major objective for this scene in the play in which he or she appears?In the scene, the characters major objective is to analyses the problems she has caused and try to think of a solution where she is left with the Duke. It is also in this scene when she realizes how out of hand the problem has become and that its too hard a knot for me to untie'. 19. How does your character go about achieving these major objectives? My character attempts to achieve these major goals by disguising herself as a boy and gets a Job to work for Duke Rosin. She feels the need to hide who she is to achieve her goals. 20. What is your character's life objective? My characters life objective is to gain the love and affecti on of Duke Rosin.After losing her brother Viola missed a manly influence in her life and longed to fill that hole with Duke Rosin to whom she had always been in love with and had chosen to pursue her dream to be with him. 21 . How does your character go about achieving his or her life objective? My character achieves her objective by pretending she is a male so she can work for the Duke and be closer to him and one step closer to his love. 2. Has your character changed by the end of the play. If so, in what ways? No, my character hasn't changed – in the end her intentions and goals were achieved when the Duke saw her for whom she truly was and accepted her as that, as well as the return of her brother whom she thought was lost.FEATURES OF ELIZABETHAN THEATRE: Dramatically exciting Exploring humanity on a social / personal level (Renaissance) Poetic language Words were most important Rhythmic/ poetic dialogue Symbolic imagery Elevated tone of speaking/ voice Use of Aside (whis pering to the audience) and Soliloquy (solo Speech, as though aligning/ thinking to yourself) Wednesday 23rd July: ABSENT Assessment review and recount: (27th August 2014) In term 3 our assigned assessment task was to create and present a performance essay based on the question ‘How is a historical style relevant to drama today I believe although this was a suitable question I personally struggled immensely with the performance and given the circumstances our group suffered I believe our performance doesn't reflect our individual abilities. When we received the question our main idea was to write about how Shakespeare ND Restoration theatre were both connected with each other and how they have influence drama and theatre in our modern society.But our main challenge was converting our ideas to a suitable performance that will not only appropriately answer the question but also to keep the audience entertained. It was also particularly challenging for our group because we had He ather absent for all of the lessons we had to work on the assessment – Heather played a prominent role in the script and I particularly struggled to change the lines and blocking with one less group member. After the script was complete I was definitely challenged by coming up with the blocking of the performance as I personally felt that our grouped lacked teamwork in presenting ideas and equally helping with the work load as well as committing to rehearsals.It was challenging also to reach the standards that I know the group can achieve without the commitment and determination to learn lines and blocking before the deadline from every member. After our group seemed prepared for the performance we were notified that Heather's lines and blocking must be included in the performance even if she was absent on the presentation day. This meant that we had to redelivers the script again as well as change the blocking to fit in another member. I definitely found this to be very conf using on our group as we were all confused about the lines and queues we were learning as it was constantly being changed. But luckily we received an extension on our assessment that definitely improved the group's confidence in performing the piece without using the script.I hope that in our upcoming performance we will be able to reflect to the audience the hard work that was put into the performance essay despite the complications hat occurred. In my opinion writing and performing the essay has been the most challenging drama assessment yet and I hope the next assessment will bring better luck and circumstances. In the future I hope to be more organized with the amount of work each person gets so that every member of the group will equally work on the assessment and one member wont be overloaded. I also now understand how much of a difference lack of energy can make to a performance and I hope that I have developed on these skills in not only increase the energy that I have but a lso my teammates which will evidently engage the audience better.

Purpose of Simple Machines.

Purpose of Simple Machines. Many simple machines have been created even since the early times. According to Ron Kurtus from his website article, "Simple Machines", the ancient Egyptians used levers to lift stones to build their pyramids and ramps to raise them to the top. Also he states that in Roman times, stones were tossed at enemies using catapults. The catapults used levers to fling the stones, and pulleys to pull down the arm of the catapult. The purpose of all of these simple machines is to lessen the amount of work or effort that you must put into a job. The pulley, inclined plane, gear, spring, and lever are good examples of simple machines. In the following paragraphs I will give more information about three of these, the pulley, inclined plane, and the gear.The whole concept the pulley is based on is changing the direction of the force being applied.Block and tackle with six pulleys.Just using a wheel to allow a rope to be pulled in a different direction can be much easier on someone. A pull downward on a rope to lift something is often easier than bending over and picking the load up yourself.Single pulleys are used in many complex machines where the direction of movement must be changed. One of the complex machines that pulleys are used in is the elevator. The elevator car is lowered or raised by large cables and a pulley at the top. The end of the cable has counterweights that balance the weight of the car and passengers. The electric motor turns the pulley so the car moves up and down. Even though you may not notice them, pulleys are everywhere such as on bikes, cable trams, ski lifts, and more.Pulleys can also be connected to be more powerful. For instance, if you connect...

How Culture Shapes Psychology

How Culture Shapes Psychology Free Online Research Papers In this paper I will be exploring the place where language and culture meet psychology and politics. It is my thesis that language biases communication in ways that are both determined by and influence culture and that the combined influence of language and culture shape the practice of psychology. Ultimately this plays an important role in working to support the accepted values that dominate our society and to discourage or discredit those values and perspectives that are not dominant. I begin by adopting the notion of language and communication developed by Jurgen Habermas, the German philosopher. 1 According to Habermas knowledge is always collected for some specific purpose. There is really no such thing as a â€Å"neutral† science or social science. Data collection and analysis always has as its driving force a certain set of interests. Likewise language use always has a purpose. This purpose goes beyond the simple communication of concepts, ideas or intent. The very structure of language itself is created in such a way as to bias the outcome of the communication. Habermas calls this bias of knowledge and communication â€Å"knowledge constitutive interest.†2 According to Habermas, knowledge and information is always collected for some specific purpose or intent. This purpose or intent is determined by the values, world view or ideology of the person collecting the information. Even the scientist in the laboratory collects data and information from the perspective of a belief system dominated by a scientific and technological set of values that legitimates the scientific endeavor itself. This set of values has no â€Å"objective† basis, but is in reality only one perspective about the way the world is and operates. This bias characterizes all language and the acquisition of knowledge and results in â€Å"systematically distorted communication.†3 One example of this structural bias of language, though a simple one, is the word â€Å"communism.† If one says this word to the average American, the emotional as well as the intellectual response to the word is likely to be negative. This negative emotional reaction is not the result of a balanced, reasoned assessment of communism as an economic system. Rather, it is the result of a systematic program of biasing certain words and concepts in the language in order to pre-dispose or pre-determine the outcome of thought or discourse. We have seen repeated applications of this use of language in political discourse. Most recently Rudolph Giuliani attempted to disparage certain approaches to solving the health care crisis in the United States by referring to calls for â€Å"socialized medicine.† Another obvious example of distorted communication and one that permeates our entire society is advertising. Advertising language is a form of communication devoted entirely to and shaped by a specific interest, namely: the pursuit of profits. This use of language does not seek to engage the rational faculties or result in a balanced assessment of the claims put forth about the product. Rather, it is intended to manipulate the consumer through appeals to emotion, obscuring the facts and outright misrepresentation of the true intentions of the entity who has initiated the communication. The implications of systematically distorted communication are enormous and go far beyond commercial speech. Language is the only medium by which we individually or collectively relate to one another and engage the world. It is the medium through which we seek the â€Å"truth,† in so far as â€Å"truth† is knowable to us. If the very language we use is not â€Å"value neutral† then the search for â€Å"truth† whether on the part of the scientist in the laboratory or on the part of citizens engaged in public discourse and debate is seriously compromised. This has the potential, as Habbermas and others have observed, to call the entire democratic process into question.4 The pervasiveness of advertising language or â€Å"hucksterism† has in my view contributed much to the cynicism, alienation and disaffection we see in citizens toward a whole range of social, cultural and political institutions. Like any other field of knowledge or endeavor, psychology is not immune from the influence of systematically distorted communication. During its early period the field of psychology had radical implications for and stood in opposition to much social and political orthodoxy. Freud, Jung and others drew out the implications of their new discipline in ways that were quite challenging to religion, politics and societal norms. In The Future of an Illusion, for example, Freud employed the insights of psychology, arguing that a belief in God had its source in human psychological need and the needs of ego maintenance. God itself was an illusion kept â€Å"alive† due to human weakness at best, or neurosis or psychosis at worst.5 At its outset, the purpose of the psychotherapeutic process as designed to illuminate the sources of unhappiness in the individual. Not surprisingly, much of this source of unhappiness could be found in the social, religious, cultural and political world in which the individual existed, a world that was at fundamental odds with what people needed to live â€Å"authentic† and happy lives.6 Building on the early insights of psychology, a whole genre of work evolved that brought into question the wisdom and utility of the structures that western societies had put in place, and which increasingly looked, when taken as a whole as a â€Å"toxic culture.† Over the course of time religious and secular authority attacked psychology, and especially those aspects of it that were challenging to their authority or power. Herbert Marcuse has discussed this attack on psychology in his Eros and Civilization. 7 According to Marcuse the radical aspects of psychology were destroyed or undermined by the same forces employed in our society to undermine any challenges to its authority. The use language, distorted through the association of certain terms and phrases with negative emotions is the primary way this was done. But it was also accomplished through attacks by conservative and religious interests who tried to undermine the legitimacy of questioning the way things are in our society. 8 Ultimately, psychology was brought into line with the prevailing economic, social and political orthodoxy. Psychology no longer served as a foil to the economic, cultural, social and political sources of human unhappiness. The stress was no longer on questioning whether the environment was one conducive to healthy psychological development. Now psychology and the therapeutic process became concerned with reconciling the individual to the society and its values as they existed. This process today increasingly relies on the use of drugs and medication designed to mitigate feelings of depression and unhappiness, with the stress placed on the individual as the source of the problem.9 The solution to the problem of distorted language, a toxic culture and a psychology that has been made to serve the powerful interests that benefit from the current state of things is complicated. Apart from revolutionary change the best hope for reform lies in a series of steps that would limit the power of wealthy interests to shape our language. One approach would be to remove first amendment protections from commercial speech and imposing strict controls on advertising and what can be said in it. Another approach would be to once again make psychology the radical discipline it once was. A third approach might be to follow what Habermas has proposed in trying to create â€Å"ideal speech situations.† This entails creating conditions in which genuine human interests can be discussed outside of attempts to distort the process of communication itself. 1 Sources for this section are: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosohpy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/habermas. And Jurgen Habbermas, Knowledge and Human Interests, Beacon Press, Boston, 1968. 2Knowledge and Human Interests, page 191. 3 Thomas McCarthy: The Critical Theory of Jurgen Habermas. MIT Press, Cambridge, 1982. pg. 4 Noam Chomsky has made this point as well in his Necessary Illusions, 1988, South End Press, Boston and other works. 5 Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, Double Day, Anchor Garden City, New York. 1957 pgs. 47-53 6 Ibid. 7 Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization, Beacon Press, 1955, 1966 8 Ibid. 9 I found materials for this section in the Radical Psychology Network. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Psychology_Network Research Papers on How Culture Shapes PsychologyAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeThree Concepts of PsychodynamicRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenOpen Architechture a white paperQuebec and CanadaAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into Asia

225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You

225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You 225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You 225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire You By Mark Nichol Here’s another writing challenge for you, a sequel to 150 Foreign Expressions to Inspire You. I’ve listed foreign phrases that eloquently draw, in just a few words, a portrait of a person or a situation. Some are obscure in their figurative language (esprit d’le escalier, one of my favorite expressions, refers to the chagrin you feel about coming up with a bon mot or an insult only after the opportunity to utter it has passed) and may require some research on the reader’s part, though everyone can identify with them once the meaning is clear. Others (crise de conscience) are not only universally resonant in our experience but also transparent. Once you’ve chosen one expression, use it as a prompt for a short story. Think what you can do with a story titled â€Å"Mole ruit sua† or â€Å"Hic illae lacrimae.† (Moliere wrapped an entire play, one of the greatest ever written, around malade imaginaire.) Alternatively, this post is a rich mine for a tale featuring an insufferable boor who tosses off foreign expressions ad arbitrium to advertise his erudition. At the very least, employ these phrases to encapsulate your characters; the preceding type could be labeled folie de grandeur, or you might keep faux-naif in mind when writing another character. 1. ab incunabulis: from the cradle 2. a bon chat, bon rat: to a good cat, a good rat (retaliation in kind) 3. a bouch ouverte: with open mouth (eagerly, uncritically) 4. ab ovo usque ad mala: from egg to apples (from beginning to end) 5. a bras ouverts: with open arms 6. ab uno disce omnes: from one learn to know all 7. a coup sur: with sure stroke (surely) 8. acte gratuit: gratuitous impulsive act 9. ad arbitrium: at will (arbitrarily) 10. ad extremum: to the extreme (at last) 11. ad majorem Dei gloriam: to the greater glory of God 12. ad patres: to his fathers (deceased) 13. ad unguem: to the fingernail (exactly) 14. ad utrumque paratus: prepared for either event 15. aegri somnia: a sick man’s dreams 16. aequam servare mentem: to preserve a calm mind 17. aequo animo: with even mind (calmly) 18. aere perennius: more lasting than bronze 19. a huis clos: with closed doors 20. a l’abandon: carelessly 21. a la belle etoile: under the beautiful star (in the open air at night) 22. a la bonne heure: at a good time (all right) 23. a la page: at the page (up to the minute) 24. alter idem: another self 25. a maximis ad minima: from the greatest to the least 26. a marveille: marvelously 27. amicus humani generis: friend of the human race 28. amicus usque ad aras: a friend as far as to the alters (a friend to the last extremity) 29. ami de cour: court friend 30. armamentum ad baculum: argument of the staff (appeal to force) 31. arrectis auribus: with ears pricked up 32. a torte et a travers: wrong and crosswise (without rhyme or reason) 33. au bout de son latin: at the end of one’s Latin (at the end of one’s mental resources) 34. au fait: to the point (socially correct) 35. au grand serieux: in all serious 36. au mieux: on the best terms (on intimate terms) 37. aurea mediocritas: the golden mean 38. auspicium melioris aevi: an omen of a better age 39. ausssitot dit, aussitot fait: no sooner said than done 40. autres temps, autres moeurs: other times, other customs 41. aut vincere aut mori: either to conquer or to die 42. bellum omnium contra onnes: war of all against all 43. bien-pensant: right minded (orthodox) 44. bon gre, mal gre: whether with good grace or bad (willy-nilly) 45. bonis avibus: under good auspices 45. brutum fulmen: insensible thunderbolt (futile threat of display of force) 47. cadit quaestio: the question drops (the argument collapses) 48. capable de tout: capable of anything (unpredictable) 49. cause sine qua non: an indispensable cause or condition 50. cheval de bataille: war-horse (argument constantly relied on) 51. comedie humaine: human comedy (the whole variety of human life) 52. comedie larmoyante: tearful comedy (sentimental comedy) 53. comagnon de voyage: traveling companion 54. compte rendu: report 55. concordia discors: discordant harmony 56. confessio fidei: confession of faith 57. contemptus mundi: contempt for the world 58. coup de maitre: masterstroke 59. coup d’essai: experiment 60. coute que coute: cost what it may 61. cri de coeur: cry of the heart 62. crise de conscience: crisis of conscience 63. crise de nerfs: crisis of nerves 64. crux criticorum: crux of critics 65. cum grano salis: with a grain of salt 66. custos morum: guardian of morals (censor) 67. de bonne grice: with good grace 68. de l’audace, encore de l’audace, et toujours de l’audace: audacity, more audacity, and ever more audacity 69. de mal en pis: from bad to worse 70. Deo favente: with God’s favor 71. de profundis: out of the depths 72. desipere in loco: to indulge in trifling at the proper time 73. Deus absconditus: hidden God (unknowable God) 74. dies faustus: lucky day 75. dies infaustus: unlucky day 76. dies irae: day of wrath 77. esprit d’le escalier: the wit of the staircase 78. faux bonhomme: false friend 79. faux-naif: affectedly simple or childlike 80. festina lente: make haste slowly 81. feux d’artifice: fireworks, or show of wit 82. folie de grandeur: delusion of greatness, megalomania 83. furor loquendi: rage for speaking 84. furor poeticus: rage for poetry 85. furor scribendi: rage for writing 86. gens du mond: fashionable people 87. guerre a outrance: war to the uttermost 88. haut gout: slight taint of decay 89. hic illae lacrimae: hence these tears 90. homme d’esprit: witty man 91. in omnia paratus: ready for all things 92. in partibus infidelium: in the land of the infidels 93. in statu quo ante bellum: just like before the war 94. januis clausis: behind closed doors 95. jeu de mots: play on words 96. ktema es ai: a possession for ever (enduring art or literature) 97. la belle dame sans merci: the beautiful lady without mercy 98. lacrimae rerum: tragedy of life 99. lapsus calami: slip of the pen 100. lapsus linguae: slip of the tongue 101. laudatory temporis acti: one who praises past times 102. lusis naturae: freak of nature 103. magni nominis umbra: the shadow of a great name 104. malade imaginaire: imaginary invalid 105. malis avibus: under evil auspices 106. mauvais quart d’heure: uncomfortable but brief experience 107. meden agen: nothing in excess 108. mens sana in corpore sano: a sound mind in a sound body 109. metteur et scene: (stage or film) director 110. meum et tuem: mine and yours 111. mirabile visu: wonderful to behold 112. mole ruit sua: it collapses from its own size 113. monumentum aere perennius: a monument more lasting than bronze 114. multum in parvo: much in little 115. mysterium tremendum: overwhelming mystery 116. ne quid nimis: not anything in excess 117. nil admirari: equanimity 118. nolens volens: willy-nilly 119. nostalgie de la boue: attraction to what is unworthy, crude, or degrading 120. novus homo: upstart 121. novus ordo seclorum: a new cycle of the ages 122. nuit blanche: sleepless night 123. obscurum per obscurius: explaining the obscure by means of the more obscure 124. onus probandi: burden of proof 125. ore rotundo: eloquently 126. otium cum dignitate: leisure with dignity 127. outre-mer: overseas 128. pallida Mors: pale Death 129. panem et circenses: bread and circuses 130. pater patriae: father of his country 131. paucis verbis: in a few words 132. pax vobiscum: peace be with you 133. peine forte et dure: strong and hard punishment 134. per angusta ad augusta: through difficulties to honors 135. peu a peu: little by little 136. peu de chose: a trifle 137. peu d’occasion: piece for a special occasion 138. piece justificative: document serving as evidence 139. piece montee: set piece (said of decorative food) 140. pleno jure: with full right 141. plus royaliste que le roi: more royalist than the king 142. pocas palabras: few words 143. point de repere: point of reference 144. police verso: with thumb turned (down) 145. pour rire: for laughing (not to be taken seriously) 146. pro aris et focis: for alters and firesides 147. pro bono publico: for the public good 148. pro hac vice: for this occasion 149. pro patria: for one’s country 150. pro rege, lege, et grege: for the king, the law, and the people 151. pro re nata: as needed 152. quantum mutates ab illo: how changed from what he once was 153. quantum sufficit: as much as suffices 154. quoad hoc: to this extent 155. quod erat demonstrandum: which was to be proved 156. quod erat faciendum: which was to be done 157. quod semper, quod ubique, quo dab omnibus: what (has been held) always, everywhere, by everybody 158. quorum pars magna fui: in which I played a great part 159. raison d’etat: reason of state 160. reculer pour mieux sauter: to draw back in order to make a better jump 161. re infecta: the beusiness being unfinished 162. religio loci: religious sanctity of a place 163. ruse de guerre: war strategem 164. rus in urbe: country in the city 165. saeva indignatio: fierce indignation 166. sal Atticum: Attic salt (wit) 167. salon des refuses: salon of the refused (exhibition of officially rejected art) 168. salto mortale: deadly jump (dangerous or crucial undertaking) 169. sancta simplicitas: holy simplicity (naivete) 170. sans doute: without doubt 171. sans gene: without embarrassment or constraint 172. sans peur et sans reproche: without fear and without reproach 173. sans souci: without worry 174. scene a faire: obligatory scene 175. secundum artem: according to the art (according to the accepted practice) 176. secundum naturam: according to nature (naturally) 177. se defendendo: in self-defense 178. semper eadem: always the same (feminine form) 179. semper fidelis: always faithful 180. semper idem: always the same (masculine form) 181. semper paratus: always prepared 182. simpliste: naive 183. splendide mendax: nobly untruthful 184. spolia opima: rich spoils (spoils of the victor) 185. status quo ante bellum: the state existing before the war 186. suaviter in modo, fortiter in re: gently in manner, strongly in deed 187. suo jure: in his own right 188. suo loco: inits proper palce 189. suo marte: by one’s own exertions 190. sur place: in place (on the spot) 191. suum cuique: to each his own 192. tant mieux: so much the better 193. tant pis: so much the worse (too bad) 194. tempus edax rerum: time, that devours all things 195. totidem verbis:: in so many words 196. totis viribus: with all one’s might 197. toto caelo: by the whole extenet of the heavens 198. toujour perdix: always partridge (too much of a good thing) 199. tour d’horizon: circuit of the horizon (general survey) 200. tous frais faits: all expenses defrayed 201. taut au contraire: quite the contrary 202. tout a vous: wholly yours (at your service) 203. tout bien ou rien: everything well (done) or nothing (attempted) 204. tout court: quite short (simply) 205. tout de meme: all the same (nevertheless) 206. tout de suite: Immediately 207. tout ensemble: all together 208. tout le monde: everybody 209. trahison de clercs: treason of the intellectuals 210. tanche de vie: slice of life 211. tristesse: melancholy 212. ultima ratio regum: the final argument of kings (war) 213. uno animo: with one mind 214. urbi et orbi: to the city and the world (to everyone) 215. utile dulci: the useful with the agreeable 216. va et vient: coming and going (traffic) 217. ventre a terre: belly to the ground (at very great speed) 218. verbatim ac litteratim: word for word, and letter for letter 219. vieux jeu: old game (old hat) 220. vin du pays: wine of the locality 221. virgo intacta: untouched virgin 222. virtute et armis: by valor of arms 223. vis medicatrix natureae: the healing power of nature 224. vita nuova: new life 225. vox et praeterea nihil: voice and nothing more Want to improve your English 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Technology in TEFL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Technology in TEFL - Essay Example It is against this background that this assignment is being written. This assignment aims at exploring the rational by which computer-based learning material has been designed. The computer-based learning material was designed to aid teaching among a group of Arabic students who are learning English at the per-intermediate level. The assignment would also give the learning context for the creation of the computer-based learning material. The learning context shall be made up of a vivid description of the students who are to benefit from the computer-based learning material that has been designed. Portions of the description shall include the strengths and weaknesses of students, the learning needs of students as well as the prospects of the students in becoming excellent English students. It is worth emphasizing that the computer-based learning material was designed based on the needs, weaknesses and future prospects of the students in questions. 2. Learning context Type of lesson: G eneral English Skills Covered - vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, reading, listening and speaking Level: Pre-Intermediate Time: 60 minutes Class profile The class to benefit from the computer based learning material is a group of Arab students at the secondary school level. The learning level of these students can best be described as being at the pre-intermediate level. ... As noted by Gucker (2010), students generally acquire and master the receptive skills before productive skills and this is no different among the class. The students have a better command over reading and listening than writing and speaking. Clearly, the situation has arisen because with the receptive skills, much of the effort comes from teachers as compared to students. For instance in listening, it is the teacher who does the speaking for students to list. Students therefore hear the correct usage and pronunciation of English words. The same applies to reading as the teacher normally reads verbatim for students to follow. However with speaking and writing, students are expected to produce their own efforts, a situation that causes a lot of learning stress to students. Again, in students’ attempt to speak or write, it has been observed that they always have conflict of language usage with their native Arabic language. The class is made of fifteen (15) students, all of whom a re females. The number of students is relatively handy and so class monitoring and feedback is not as difficult as would have been in classes with larger class size. This means that the problem identified does not have much to do with the class size. However the problem could be linked to the limited instructional period for English language. This is because students have English lessons only two hours in a week. This situation results in students having very little time to practice English language. Clearly, language learning is an interactive exercise that demands constant learning and application of ideas studied to ensure proper comprehension (Koduah, 2001:91). Needs of Students and Aim for Lesson The most immediate needs of students has to do with their pending end

Poem Explication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poem Explication - Essay Example There are six stanzas in it, but none of them follow traditional poetic forms or a set meter. Instead, Hughes allows the lines to be choppy, like how he imagines a hawk might think. The animal's self-impression is given as he seems to judge his body, "on falsifying dream / Between my hooked head and hooked feet: / Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat" (2-4). The thoughts are presented as fragments only loosely connected to each other. As the hawk surveys his land through these choppy thoughts, it becomes clear he considers himself the master of his domain, â€Å"Nothing has changed since I began. / My eye has permitted no change. / I am going to keep things like this† (22-24). The mind of the hawk is flighty, but shows two primary drives -- an appreciation for beautiful detail and a deadly purpose. Hughes demonstrates a strong understanding of the hawk's world as something that is both beautiful and terrible. He says, "the earth's face is upward" (8) as he talks about th e trees poking into the sky, the buoyant air of the mountain and the warm sunshine. These details bring to mind a beautiful spring day glittering with promise.

Discussing Public Administration Select Committee, Service Committee, Assignment

Discussing Public Administration Select Committee, Service Committee, Human Rights Act of 1998 - Assignment Example The Standards and Privileges Committee investigated claims that Peter Mandelson – the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry – had contravened the individual ministerial responsibility by receiving a loan of  £373,000 from Geoffrey Robinson – the then Paymaster General of the Treasury. This case was exacerbated by claims that Robbinson had been involved in financial misconduct that Mandelson had overlooked. The committee presented its findings in which they found that Mandelson had erred and violated the ministerial responsibility. The Public Administration Select Committee conducted a review of Jo Moore, special adviser to Stephen Byers – the then Transport Secretary –, conduct in making public sensitive government information. In addition to Moore resigning, Byers was also asked to resign since he was Moore’s immediate supervisor thereby creating a situation in which he (Myers) had contravened the ministerial responsibility. For that matter, they determined that Myers, as the secretary in charge of the ministry, was liable for the official conduct of his immediate subordinates. The Public Administration Select Committee sought to determine whether Ministers were accountable for their special advisor's actions. There sitting was necessitated by repeated incidences of government officials engaging in unbecoming conduct – as set by the ministerial responsibility – for which it was difficult to determine whether the cabinet secretaries, as their boss, were liable. The report referred to the Public Service Committee, Ministerial Accountability and Responsibility (HC 1996-97, 313) report to determine that in addition to constitutional accountability, cabinet secretaries were also personally responsible and liable for the conduct of the immediate personnel.

Early-Age Marriage in Ethiopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Early-Age Marriage in Ethiopia - Essay Example In this particular research, I want to look into the cultural differences that spell the differences on how different societies view, and react to, early-age marriages or unions. In the Americas, I have come to believe that early-age unions, if ever they occur, are generally viewed, or judged, as a result of lack of parental guidance. Ironically, according to research, in Ethiopia, early-age marriages are planned by parents for many different reasons, but mostly to have a little â€Å"relief† from continuous poverty. My aim in this research is to try to look at the different reasons and effects of early-age marriages to present them to readers in order to not only learn on the Ethiopian culture, but also to gain an insight into how important this aspect is in a person's life. Should people see how the freedom that young people have in a nation whose civil rights movement is at its highest is sometimes taken for granted because they are not placed in an opposite position, they might place more importance on matters that other people of their age would give everything to have. Background Should people, especially in underdeveloped communities where access to health care is inadequate, delay the age of marriage, problems on the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of these young girls will be lessened. Early-age marriage is a common occurrence in developing countries. One example of this is Ethiopia, where â€Å"62% of Ethiopian women aged 20-49 get married before the age of 18,† (Alemu 4) and most, if not all, of these are arranged by the parents of the couple. Furthermore, Ethiopia is ranked as having 12th largest occurrences of early marriages according to the International Center for Research on Women. In such marriages, these young girls are usually just forced to give in to their parents’ wishes for marriage. Permission of the bride is usually not sought, and even prior knowledge or consultation is usually not given. Because of thi s, the child-bride's physical, emotional, and mental well-being are placed under risk of damage that could sometimes be irreparable. Physical problems such as domestic violence, spousal rape, or complications during child-bearing and giving birth can cause severe damage to the child-bride (Gossaye et al. 2). Additionally, emotional issues such as depression, trauma, and even mental distress are evident in a big percentage of these marriages (Gossaye et al. 2). Furthermore, mental problems can also be observed in such marriages. For one, these child-brides are rarely able to go back to school after marriage. This deprives them of self-development and chances for growth. Self-fulfillment becomes rare for these females. Physical Problems in Early-Age Marriages I have not really immersed in a community where early-age marriages abound. However, there are certain multi-cultural communities in rural settings where these types of marriages or unions can be seen. I have observed that while domestic issues are present in every marriage, such issues are more emphasized if one of the spouses is very young. For one, I have always been against domestic violence. There is a general consensus that aside from the children, women are almost always the victims in domestic violence. If adult woman has problems in preventing it from happening to her, how much more can a child-bride prevent it from happening

Formal Strategic Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Formal Strategic Planning - Essay Example UK is an abbreviation for United Kingdom, Words in quote are exact words used by author. For a common man, the word "strategy" simply means being systematic. A tactic he will use to ensure his success or to his belief is the right way to prevail. If we are to really critically analyze the impact of formal SP to the business performance of Hospitality SME's and arrive into a realistic conclusion, we must clearly identify every aspect of SP and business operations of SME's. Strategic Planning definitions or implementation varies in the environment and business type. A more general and maybe the most practical interpretation of the term is concern with "long-term direction of the organization" (O'Regan et. al., 2002). It is where an organization defines the business they should to take on and match their business activities to the current situation while taking great consideration to the resources on hand .This method by and large helps to reduce the threats and take full advantage of opportunities. However, SP although a "long-term" plan may constantly change in order to survive and maintain equilibrium to the ever changing business environment. It should forestall and act in response to its varying dynamic operational environment (O'Regan et. al, 2002). It is then a competent and effective management tool to augment the company's ability or strength in relation to its business adversary. Strategic planning maybe categorized into two types, informal and formal. The informal type of SP, referring to Robinson and Pearce, 1983, along with several authors, is likely occurring in smaller firms than larger ones (Hannon et. al, 1997 p.105). They stress that it is the size of the business and the stage of development of that business influenced the nature of planning. In addition, smaller businesses tends to aim more and concentrate on the "process of planning" (Hannon et. al., 1997, p. 105) which is opposite to larger firms approach of identifying their goals and objectives. The author also added that informal planners in small firms undergoes some kind of "strategic decision-making" activity which is also similar to the strategies being perform by formal planners. They also believed that the activity or the process itself has more advantage to small firms than the production of written or formal outputs (Hannon et al., 1997, p.105). Formal planning according to Armstrong, ( 1992), as stated by Hannon et. al., (1997), is the setting up of clear goal and processes to realize a particular task. It is therefore worth considering that the statements provided points to informal planning as the type where smaller firms are focusing largely on the business operation process rather than "output" or goal of the process. Formal "strategic planning" according to Cox B., (2005) though, is a "top-down, vision-driven process" to develop an organization's future value. Although literatures do not mention a universal definition to separate or set a clear distinction between formal and informal SP, we may define informal planning as a less documented and unofficial but similarly effective and efficient type of SP. According to Needle D., (2000) referring to Hickson et. al. (1969), size is an important

Writing a Rabbi Sermon #3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing a Rabbi Sermon #3 - Research Paper Example Here is a good example; back in the year 1982, a rabbi who was at then a U.S. Sixth Fleet navy chaplain within an Italian town had his daughter attend one of the catholic preschool within the area for the first day. H hoped that his daughter would learn Italian as well as come to have new friends out of the navy base. After school, he was waiting for his daughter and so began to wonder if at all he had prepared his daughter for a catholic school run by nuns in their black traditional habit. He was wondering how the day might have been for his child when suddenly the school bus appeared. Through the window his daughter looked so happy when they finally reunited she could not wait to tell him how she had, had quite an interesting day and the lovely teachers from sound of music. Definitely, this he did not expect. Why? Because of the stories that had modeled his view of nuns (Resnicoff, 2014). The stories that this rabbi had known had become the way through which e viewed the world of nuns. People’s believes are their foundation as well as framework for their vision. If this little girl had grown up under the influence of anti-Catholic stories, could be she would have encountered nuns with hatred as well as fear but not the excitement and happiness she found in them. It is important that everyone learns that what children learn from stories will determine their way of life in a major way (Resnicoff, 2014). As far as believers are concerned, this is a major part of the faith. Abraham explained the story of how one God created the universe. Through this the idea of the past was planted in the hearts as well s minds of people. This is what people believe in today. A single God it is. This is the reason that yesterday’s happenings have today’s bearing. If there were many gods, then people would be dealing with different gods at different times. This would mean that what happened yesterday with one God would mean nothing

Formal Strategic Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Formal Strategic Planning - Essay Example UK is an abbreviation for United Kingdom, Words in quote are exact words used by author. For a common man, the word "strategy" simply means being systematic. A tactic he will use to ensure his success or to his belief is the right way to prevail. If we are to really critically analyze the impact of formal SP to the business performance of Hospitality SME's and arrive into a realistic conclusion, we must clearly identify every aspect of SP and business operations of SME's. Strategic Planning definitions or implementation varies in the environment and business type. A more general and maybe the most practical interpretation of the term is concern with "long-term direction of the organization" (O'Regan et. al., 2002). It is where an organization defines the business they should to take on and match their business activities to the current situation while taking great consideration to the resources on hand .This method by and large helps to reduce the threats and take full advantage of opportunities. However, SP although a "long-term" plan may constantly change in order to survive and maintain equilibrium to the ever changing business environment. It should forestall and act in response to its varying dynamic operational environment (O'Regan et. al, 2002). It is then a competent and effective management tool to augment the company's ability or strength in relation to its business adversary. Strategic planning maybe categorized into two types, informal and formal. The informal type of SP, referring to Robinson and Pearce, 1983, along with several authors, is likely occurring in smaller firms than larger ones (Hannon et. al, 1997 p.105). They stress that it is the size of the business and the stage of development of that business influenced the nature of planning. In addition, smaller businesses tends to aim more and concentrate on the "process of planning" (Hannon et. al., 1997, p. 105) which is opposite to larger firms approach of identifying their goals and objectives. The author also added that informal planners in small firms undergoes some kind of "strategic decision-making" activity which is also similar to the strategies being perform by formal planners. They also believed that the activity or the process itself has more advantage to small firms than the production of written or formal outputs (Hannon et al., 1997, p.105). Formal planning according to Armstrong, ( 1992), as stated by Hannon et. al., (1997), is the setting up of clear goal and processes to realize a particular task. It is therefore worth considering that the statements provided points to informal planning as the type where smaller firms are focusing largely on the business operation process rather than "output" or goal of the process. Formal "strategic planning" according to Cox B., (2005) though, is a "top-down, vision-driven process" to develop an organization's future value. Although literatures do not mention a universal definition to separate or set a clear distinction between formal and informal SP, we may define informal planning as a less documented and unofficial but similarly effective and efficient type of SP. According to Needle D., (2000) referring to Hickson et. al. (1969), size is an important

Amending the Constitution Essay Example for Free

Amending the Constitution Essay Step 1: Which route do you choose? The route I chose was Congress route. Smart start! Why? You remembered that, historically, constitutional amendments have never been initiated at national conventions, even though that is one of the two possible methods outlined in Article V. Your decision to use the route that has proved successful in the past increases the odds of your effort succeeding. Question #2: House or Senate First? Step 2: Which route do you choose? The route I chose was the House First. Great choice! Why? You have two distinct advantages in the House that you dont have in the Senate: (1) you are a senior and respected member, and (2) a block of House members already supports the amendment. If you succeed in the House, your odds of also succeeding in the Senate are increased because the House vote may convince many skeptical senators. Question # 3: Negotiations in the House Step 3: Whose support will you go after? Good move! Why? Fiscal conservatives arent overjoyed with your decision, because leaving in the two-thirds language will still allow the government the option to run a deficit. But, they still want some kind of amendment that will make running a deficit more difficult for the government. Moderates, on the other hand, are happy that youve sided with them. The result is that the bill passes in the House by a comfortable margin, with only a small block of the most ardent fiscal conservatives voting against it. Question #4: A Court Challenge Step 4: What is your response? Good choice! Why? As your supporters thought, the suit is thrown out. The judge rules that it is without merit. Having wasted no time on the suit, you are ready to begin working on the Senate to pass your proposal. Question #5: Negotiations in the Senate Step 5: What is your response? Smart move! Why? The president gives a forceful speech in support of the proposed amendment and within three weeks the bill passes in the Senate. Youve achieved your goal of succeeding at stage one of the process. Now youve got to turn your attention to getting two-thirds of the states to ratify the amendment, and that could take years. Your work is cut out for you, but youve made it farther than most! You Are Proposing a Constitutional Amendment (cont.) Conclusion Amending the U.S. Constitution is not easy. Remember, only 27 amendments to the Constitution have been ratified, while over 10,000 have been proposed. One reason there are so few amendments is that the writers of the Constitution made it very difficult to amend it. The two-stage process established by Article V sets the bar high and ensures that any amendments are supported throughout the land before they are added to the Constitution. Based on what youve learned in this simulation, consider the following: * Are there any issues right now that you think have enough support throughout the country to become constitutional amendments? * What is the primary benefit to having a constitution that is so difficult to amend? * What is the primary problem with having a constitution that is so difficult to amend? You have completed this activity. To find out if your professor has made a test available for the activity, close this window and return to your course.

Features of Crime Fiction

Features of Crime Fiction The Inside of Crime Fiction Documentary Script Crime Fiction, a source of constant fascination. Being amidst the danger, pulse-pounding exploits, or the nerve-racking chase to a rocket-driven conclusion, we revel in the stories of crime fiction, the stories of murder from greed, lust, avarice, revenge, cowardice and nobility. We love to live through a characters experiences, that makes it tolerable, even enjoyable. To be amongst the heroes that solve the case and look out for our protection. But why are we arrested and captured by the genre of crime fiction novels and shows in this modern-age. Its because of one significant reason that stands out from many: the chance youll encounter a ghost, be transported to another planet, or have some paranormal experience is quite remote and so is the Sci-fi and dystopian genre, struck in pure fantasy, which doesnt seem to be within the realm of possibility. Crime novels tap into the prospect of the possible which makes them ever more compelling and frightening. But more than fear it is the possibility of evil driving the popularity of this genre. The Inside of Crime Fiction, will take into view two of televisions enthralling crime dramas, Midsomer Murders and Murdoch Mysteries and dive into the similarities and differences of the features. Each series contains elements that a crime fiction cannot be without. These are evident in both crime dramas: the seemingly unsolvable, impossible to solve case, an interested sleuth, unsavoury and empathetic characters, danger and tension: the heart racing element of suspense until the very last second, a motive of the criminals actions pieced together at the end of the story where the puzzle is finished, a criminal: a murderer, the more charming, smart or psychopathic, the more compelling the search is. Suspects, a range of people who could have committed the crime, clues that point toward the criminals identity and wrong-doings and red herrings driving the viewer away from the right conclusion, on a path to a dead end rather than a path to more pathways and an alibi, to demonstrate that the accused was not present at a crime. Midsomer Murders and Murdoch Mysteries features these elements that drives a successful crime fiction series that has been producing for 10+ consecutive seasons. Based on the original novels by Maureen Jennings, we transported back-in-time, at the turn of the 20th Century: the late 1890s to early 1900s, distinguishes eccentric Canadian Artful Detective, William Murdoch, closely investigating alongside his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden and side-kick, Constable Crabtree. Investigating the toughest cases with Steampunk operations and technologies at his side, employing radical new scientific and forensic techniques like fingerprinting, ultra violet light, blood testing, surveillance and trace evidence to solve the city of Torontos most covered, precise and gruesome murders. (Writer of Original Novel Series: Maureen Jennings Talking) Weve specially added thought to the nature of how we wanted to create a series using realism but also capturing the 20th century technologies, inventors, scientists and history throughout the episodes, featured in the 10 consecutive seasons. Episodes feature anachronistic technology whereby Murdoch uses the existing technology of his time to improvise a crude prototype of a technology that would be more readily recognizable to the shows 21st-century audience. Weve also incorporated a major of the worlds most historical figures and true, universal shaping scientists and inventors including Sharpshooter, Annie Oakley, English writer, H G Wells, Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer, Nikola Tesla, Queen Victoria. Also featured is Oliver Mowat, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Henry Ford, Sir Winston Churchill, Alexander Graham Bell, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini and Thomas Edison. Weve created a world where characters refer to inventions of the 19th century and generalise from them, to future inventions. Such as: microwave ovens, night-vision goggles, computers, Cluedo, the family favourite board game and Hangman. In comparison with Murdoch Mysteries, Midsomer Murders is based in modern day English fictional county of Midsomer, initially written as a book series by Caroline Grahams, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The British detective drama revolves around DCI Barnabys efforts to solve numerous murders that take place involving town folk throughout each episode. Bizarre and gruesome murders are not unnatural featurings of the show. Murder implements include a cricket bat, a fire iron, a saucepan, a faulty microphone, the cord of a camera light meter, a candlestick, a doped horse, a pitchfork, a Celtic spear, liquid nicotine, a syringe, toxic fungus, a necktie, a slide projector, a switchblade razor, a drinks cabinet, a plough, a hammer, hemlock, vintage claret, bottles of relish, a poisonous frog, a longbow arrow, a French guillotine, a prop theatrical knife, King Neptunes trident, a hatpin, an Iron Maiden, rabbit grooming scissors and alien abduction. Visual and audio elements are utilised as a major enabler for the emotions that a viewer/reader feels. In Murdoch Mysteries and Midsomer Murders the audio used is either diegetic: visible on screen sound or non-diegetic sound: sound that is neither visible nor has it been implied to be present this includes sound effects for dramatic effects and/or mood music. Although the audio can be scarce, when used, it provides a large impact as it is used a climax or when a major event has occurred, the murder is in practise, the case is finally solved and a suspect is being interrogated. Visual is used to co-operate with the mysterious nature of the story and so, various narrative codes are in the visual of crime fiction. Flashbacks are used to give the audience information, showing aspects of a characters past which could contribute to their understanding of the crime and/or narrative. Point-of-view shots allow the audience to see the action from different perspectives even specifically the m urderers or victims eyes to build tension and suspense. Many other film techniques are used in crime fiction television dramas including the privileged spectator positons, places where the audience is shown aspects of the narrative that other characters cannot or will not be able to see and enigma codes, where the camera many only show some of the narrative, leaving the audience with unanswered questions. These visual and audio aspects are the appeal and thrill of crime drama that captures the audience to be addicted to the genre. But, why are television crime dramas important to the television industry and gain such an audience, one may ask? Crime Fiction is a well-established drama, ever rapidly growing as technology is established. They have high production values, a strong, rich narrative with much thought, literacy devices and elements used that not anyone can create and a range of characters and suspects. They reflect the real-life issues which are of relevance towards an audience. Finally, the thrill and popularity of Crime Fiction Television Dramas is for clearly one of multiple reasons, the audience is involved alongside the detectives to solve the impossible crime.

Factors that Affect Profitability Essay -- Business, Exporting, Forei

Procedures that you need to follow when exporting After establishing that South Korea is an economy with an increasingly more liberal economy, there are some problems for foreign direct investment, mainly through non-transparency and burdensome regulations (Heritage Foundation). In order to take it a step further and to perform a complete analysis of the business environment, it is necessary to compare the business procedures when doing business. As an industry, the imports of foreign goods procedure will be analyzed and contrasted with neighboring countries in order to have a complete snapshot of the business environment. Firstly, The country of interest: South Korea. In what the import of foreign goods is concerned, South Korea has a relatively quick and easy process. Importing procedures are estimated to take 7 days, (2 days for each: preparation of documents, port handling and inland handling and approximately 1 day for customs clearance). The cost of the procedures for the 7 days is estimated to be $790 (World Bank Doing Business, 2011). This information, at first glance seems positive. The procedures are fairly quick and the $790 cost is not an absurd amount of money paid in order to import goods. The bureaucracy is simple. The documents needed are: the bill of lading, customs import declaration and terminal handling receipts (World Bank Doing Business, 2011). Corruption Perception Index The latest corruption perception index by transparency international in 2008 includes five sets of data. These include: the 2008 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score, the amount of surveys used, the standard deviation, the high low range and the confidence range. Before the analysis of the data, it is important to understand what ea... ...). The Heritage Foundation has ranked South Korea with a very low score of 55 out of 100, which might imply that corruption is widespread and there is still a long way to go to have a positive rating. (Heritage Foundation, 2011) 10) Labor Freedom Labor freedom has the lowest score of 46.5 out of 100. This shows that there are various problems regarding labor, a clear example is the very high cost of firing an employee whilst the non salary cost of employing a worker are moderate (Heritage, 2011). In conclusion, the overall freedom of the country is relatively positive. The ratings of the Heritage Foundation are fairly high, above the world average for the most part. Additionally, the government involvement in business is quite low compared to other countries and at least it is not widespread to a degree to which investors would be fearful to engage in business.

Daughters of Edward Darley Boit by John Singer Sargent :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While visiting family in Boston for the weekend, I returned to the Museum of Fine Arts. I came upon another of John Singer Sargent’s works, Daughters of Edward Darley Boit. The composition of the painting intrigued me; and so I have chosen to write about the piece.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This painting of four girls in an elegant room and doorway of what I presume to be their home, is a very posed, stagnant depiction. Three of the girls appear to be staring blankly at the painter, while one stands facing to the side, staring forward, away from the painter. None of the girls is engaged in the scene. It does not appear, however to be frozen in time, as no girl is actively acknowledging another, nor actively playing with their toys and dolls, as in the case of the girl sitting on the rug. Two of the girls stands in the darkened doorway, similarly dressed, with one a bit more stiffly posed than the other. In the front, a girl stands at attention behind and to the side of the child sitting on the floor. The curiosity I found with this painting is that for the most part they do not appear comfortable in their surroundings. The one noticeable dissent to that is that one girl in the doorway leans back against a large porcelain vase, probably a very expensi ve one, and so I would think that a child leaning against such a thing would cause great alarm to a parent for fear that it might be broken accidentally. Representing the child leaning against it leaves me to question whether she is simply very comfortable in her home, or perhaps upset or angry and responded by carelessly leaning against such a lavish piece of art. Theoretically, Sargent posed the girls himself, however I could not devise a reason for placing the girl facing off to the side the way she is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another compositional point I wish to make is that the painting feels somewhat unbalanced. Although the lights and darks work very well together with balanced contrast, I find the left side to be too heavy for the right. With the entire bodies of two girls, plus half of another, in addition to the very tall vase does not measure out against the smaller girl sitting on the floor and half of a girl in the back. What’s more is that none of the girls comes close to sitting near the right side, leaving the left side very weighty.