Article summary example Essay

Will Rasmussen in the article â€Å"Egypt fights to stem rapid population growth,† writes about Egypt’s dilemma of trying to stop a vastly growing population. Egypt’s population doubled since President Hosni Mubarak took office in 1981 and it’s likely to double to 160 million by 2050. The nation’s growth has been quite high, in recent years the fertility rate is about 3.1 children per woman in contrast to the United States’ 2.1. Most of the country’s 82 million people compressed in urban areas near the Nile River where some districts host 41k people per square kilometer in comparison to the city of Manhattan that holds 27k people per square kilometer. The state’s officials are having a difficult time trying to find solution to the so called â€Å"pressing problem† as journalist and former member of parliament states â€Å"The population explosion is a crisis the government doesn’t know how to handle.† Presid ent Mubarak spoke once in a government sponsored conference about the population increase saying, â€Å"cutting the population growth was urgent.† However, Mubarak doesn’t mention an exact number of children on the other hand the government prefers a family of two. The country’s urgent problem presents many concerns, one of which is the economy. The nation’s financial system is frail as estimated recently to be 7 percent and unfortunately has not been steady enough to construct a middle class. Such economy can’t support a large population whose one fifth is living on less than a 1$ a day. Additionally, Egypt does not processes many resources as it depends heavily on the water from the Nile and imported goods. Many are concerned about the general welfare of the people as Magued Osman, chairman of the cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center states â€Å"The consequences are areal deterioration in the quality of life and in agriculture land per person.† Furthermore, the government has tried to use incentives to modify the nation’s â€Å"behavior†. A few measures taken to restrict large families maternity benefits that sparked protests. Egypt is not going to legalize abortion which helped Tunisia bring down fertility rate and vasectomy is  barely heard of in the state . Egypt being a predominantly Muslim country, and generally the religion allows contraception. However many Egyptian people oppose the idea of limiting the number of kids to a family. A few believe having a large family is a source of economic strength. Others deem it not for the states or government to decide on such a matter as they say it is up to the creator. Work Cited Rasmussen, Will. â€Å"Egypt Fights to Stem Rapid Population Growth.† The New York Times.The New York Times., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. .

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte is a gothic, Romantic novel that was seen by critics at the time as a controversial text. All though not revolutionary it did contain elements of social rebellion. Elizabeth Rigby from the Quarterly Review labelled ‘Jane Eyre’ an â€Å"anti-Christian† novel and an â€Å"attack on the English class system†. When read from a 21st century context, the novel shows, through the use of various motifs and imagery, the development of one central character. You can read also Analysis of Literary Devices of Jane Eyre Bronte shows Jane’s development, while highlighting aspects of her own social and personal context through the characterisation of Jane’s friends, family and acquaintances. A contemporary contextual reading allows the audience to view Jane Eyre as a character based novel. One critical paper known as the â€Å"Tablet† described Jane Eyre as being â€Å"simply the development of the human mind†. This bildungsroman genre underpins this reading of Jane Eyre. Similar to other Victorian authors of the time, like Charles Dickens, Bronte uses Jane to represent an individual’s search for identity and their adjustment to society. Q. D Leavis wrote that â€Å"the novel is not†¦but a moral psychological investigation†. As such the novel becomes laden with varying themes and ideal and is neither restricted by genre or by political view (much like the human mind) Characterisation is used consciously from the beginning of the novel to show the development of Jane’s individual nature and strength. One of the motifs used to represent Jane’s character is the colour red. A fine example of how the colour gains various meaning as the Jane develops is in the first 3 chapters. While in the first Chapter she is enshrouded by the curtains, which provide here with haven from The Reeds the colour soon becomes one symbolic of anxiousness, fear and anger as she is locked up in the red room. â€Å"A bed supported by massive pillars of mahogany , hung with curtains of deep red damask. † The description of the magnificent bed reflects Jane’s feeling of inferiority and belittlement. However in chapter 3 she awakes to the soft red glow of the fire which provides here with warmth and comfort. Bronte continues to use this theme later on to represent Jane’s passions for Mr Rochester and the wild nature of Bertha. Jane is represented as a strong-willed character with her own opinions, morals and mindset. While she is somewhat repressed by the society and context she lives in, she does not let this limit her entirely. Jane is not afraid to speak her mind even from a young age, nor is she afraid to think outside the conventional framework of society. â€Å"Women feel just as men feel†¦they suffer too rigid a constraint†. All other characters are seen through Jane’s eyes, and it is their impact on her development that is important, rather than their individual personalities. In the early stages of the novel, Jane is seen to be in conflict with Mrs Reed but later in the novel, the maturity that Jane has developed is seen, when Jane overlooks Mrs Reed’s cruelty, and treats her with kindness. â€Å"A strong yearning to forget and forgive all injuries†. Bronte’s use of setting provides a backdrop against which Jane develops from a young girl to an adult. The Five main settings symbolise the stages in Jane’s quest to find herself. The setting traces Jane’s childhood development at Gateshead Hall, followed by her schooling and work at Lowood institution and the development of Jane’s passionate nature at Thornfield. Moor House is then characterised by a moral and religious development of Jane. â€Å"God directed me to a right choice†. This counteracts the critic E. Rigby’s anti-religious reading of Jane Eyre, discussed later. Jane’s development concludes with her reunion with Rochester at Ferndean. Jane’s words â€Å"Reader, I married him†; show her internal fulfilment as she has found a balance between passion and reason and found her place as an individual in society. The gradual development of character highlights the textual integrity of â€Å"Jane Eyre† and enables readers in all contexts to trace the development of a central character. The narrative technique used by Bronte shows the gradual development of Jane as the central character. The first person narrative voice given to Jane enables a closer connection between Jane and her readers, allowing expression of feelings and emotions as her character develops. â€Å"Reader, though I may look comfortably accommodated, I am not very tranquil in my mind†. A duality present in Jane’s narration presents a child’s voice, echoed by a mature and intelligent adult voice of reasoning and reflection. â€Å"I should, if I had deliberated, have replied to that question†. This self-reflexivity is important in showing Jane’s character development. Consistency of Romantic imagery, linking nature and weather to characters, also adds to character development and sustains textual integrity. â€Å"The sun was just entering the dappled east and his light illuminated the wreathed and dewy orchard trees†. The imagery reflects the implications of characters choices and its impact on future character development. In the garden, after Jane agrees to marry Rochester, a storm breaks out and the great chestnut tree is damaged. This imagery symbolises the forbidden relationship that Jane agreed to. Throughout Bronte’s novel, elements of her personal and social context are highlighted, adding depth to her characters and her novel. Religion was significant in Bronte’s personal context, and in the Victorian context. Changing religious ideas, religious doubt, and an increase in non-conformists had emerged due to science and history. While the critic E. Rigby labels Jane Eyre an â€Å"anti-Christian† novel, I believe Bronte is representing religion without taking a clear stance on the issue. Bronte conveys no specific religious message but instead shows more of a general concern for religion, reinforced with religious language. â€Å"No nook in the grounds more sheltered and Eden-Like†. The text does not ignore religion or openly oppose Christianity; rather it represents the contextual importance of religion, while adding depth to Jane’s character development. Feminism is another contextual influence in Jane Eyre. The critic S. Gilbert suggests that Jane Eyre is â€Å"a traditional feminist reading of the Bronte’s†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This critic has drawn parallels between Bronte’s life and Jane’s life, inferring that Bronte was exploring her contextual feminist struggle through the character of Jane. While there are some elements of feminism in the novel (mostly due to the independent ubringing of Charlotte Bronte) it is not the central theme. As seen from the above discussion, Jane Eyre is about the development of a human mind, with feminist themes simply an influence on Jane. Jane’s feminist comments show her character exploring the social context. â€Å"Women are supposed to feel very calm generally, but women feel just as men feel†. These elements link back to a â€Å"moral psychological investigation† rather than an exploration of feminism. ‘Jane Eyre’ is primarily focused on the development of an individual. The text shows Jane’s development from a child to an adult using characterisation, setting, narrative voice and romantic imagery. Bronte adds depth to characters by introducing aspects of her social and personal context. While critics in the Victorian context label Jane Eyre as a â€Å"feminist novel† or an â€Å"anti-Christian book†, in my contemporary reading it is neither of these things. Its merely the exploration of an individuals development.

Lowry’s The Giver

Character isolationism and the struggles surrounding solitude are recurring themes in many great pieces of literature. Lowry’s The Giver is an excellent work of contemporary fiction whose main character, Jonas, struggles with such a burden. In order to properly identify character relationships of isolation, I will compare and contrast The Giver with two other well-known pieces of adolescent literature: The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Jonas, in The Giver, views his hometown as the perfect place, a utopia that is self-contained and free of ruinous element such as conflict, illness, divorce, and inequality. He comes from a loving, demonstrative family unit: father, mother, one brother, one sister. Everyone in his hometown fits this perfectly balanced poster-family mold. It’s a gift-wrapped location to raise a family, or so we are led to believe. His family, as are all families in this utopia-like society, has good communication methods and are supportive of one another. Lowry creates such a background to impact his theme of a protagonist teetering into the realm of isolationism. The author uses the omniscient point of view of Jonas throughout the story. As the reader envisions the story solely through Jonas, we see his family is supposed shares their feelings and emotions when issues arise. It’s almost too perfect. Yet perfection diminishes when we discover, through foreshadowing, that a certain pilot who was in a plane crash was to be â€Å"released from the community. † The speaker’s voice takes the situation lightly, even with a hint of humor—a marker that something is amiss. One of the main themes in The Giver is individuality verses conformity. This parallels Jonas’s struggles with isolationism. Lowry leads us to believe in this utopia. Yet, as Jonas and other children freely choose jobs to increase their own knowledge base, it becomes apparent that the Elders have another purpose for them. The Elder will be choosing what direction their future will go once they are twelve years-old. Later, Jonas shares a provocative dream he had about Fiona. Jonas is pleased with the pleasure his dream brings to him. Lowry wrote, And the nakedness, too. It was against the rules for children or adults to look at another’s nakedness; but the rule did not apply to newchildren or the Old. (p. 30) This statement speaks volumes about the sexual racism and tensions that were prevalent in the society of The Giver which can be compared to the pressures that revolved around the status of wealth in The Outsiders and Catcher in the Rye. The Giver’s protagonist accepts this rule as Lowry responds to the rule against seeing other people naked. Jonas was glad. It was a nuisance to keep oneself covered while changing for games, and the required apology if one had by mistake glimpsed another’s body was always awkward. (p. 30) The author gives us subtle hints of Jonas’s isolation that is to come. He liked the safety here in this warm and quiet room (p 30) According to the Elders ‘touching’ other people outside of one’s immediate family was deemed rude and inappropriate behavior. His mother informs him that he’ll be taking a pill to help him. This is one more way for the Elders to control their youth. In event, this leads to Jonas into isolationism. Jonas begins to feel sad. When Gabe is actually allowed to live with Jonas’s family, the community sets boundaries. Gabe can stay but they are not allowed to become emotionally attached to him. The communities’ means of controlling its people sinks Jonas further into isolation. Jonas speaks with the Chief Elder in chapter eight, bringing to light the impact of his isolation. The Chief Elder says, â€Å"But you will be faced now,† she explained gently, â€Å"with pain of a magnitude that none of us here can comprehend because it’s beyond our experience†¦. So, because the Elders, hid their true motive, children are torn emotionally from what was to be a perfect life. When we consider the novel, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton we find many parallels with The Giver. Both have themes centered on isolationism and what sort of grave effects it can have on an individual, a family, or a town. There are also contrasting differences in these two novels. Both of w hich will be discussed in detail. The Outsiders is a story of two teenage gangs: the socs and the greasers. This novel is a classic East versus West scenario in a small Oklahoma town in the 1960’s. The soc’s—which is an abbreviation for socials—is a gang of affluent teenage hoodlums that drive fast cars, get the pretty girls, and have the social markings of upper class due to their family’s economic status. The greasers are the gang of teenage boys that come from the lower class, most being raised in broken homes where mom or dad—or sometimes neither parent—is around to provide guidance. One contrasting difference here is the fact that The Giver opens with families living in a utopia-like geographic area where every single family fits the perfect family unit of a father, mother, and two siblings. This family unit is structured with communication skills as well where issues are discussed on a daily basis. There are no racial tension or inequality issues to speak of in The Giver, either. S. E. Hinton, on the other hand, creates a real-life scenario that parallel’s lifestyles in Oklahoma in the 1960’s—which is when the book was written by an actual teenager. Thus, The Outsiders displays how dysfunctional families operate. There is constant conflict among siblings and taunting between the greasers and the socs. Being in a gang instantly offers the teenage-societies an extended family. They trust one another and wound die for each other. The families within the gang understand one another because they can relate to one another’s pain and suffering. Even when they are faced with such constant emotional struggles, physical entanglements, and trouble with law enforcement, the gang members are on the same wave-length and follow one another. In The Giver, the families live in an apparent pristine environment that directly opposes this. The parents and children form proper communication channels by discussing issues at dinnertime. Some of the characters in the Outsiders are lucky if they get dinner every night. Yet, the path of isolationism for Jonas is the genesis for the character’s circumstances. He cannot free himself of this downward spiral, even when he’s placed in such a positive environment. S. E. Hinton, on the other hand, displays characters coming together in the worst of times. Another parallel, in The Outsiders, ties into the issue of separation from family. Here, teens are often led to see things as only right or wrong. But, as we know, circumstances in life are rarely black and white. Too many intricacies are involved when teens are struggling to survive and discover their way to be viewed as simply all-right or all-wrong. The protagonists in both Hinton’s and Lowry’s novel have underlying subplots of youths trying to discover their place in life. Another comparison is the fact that both authors play into the common-knowledge ideal that says, life isn’t fair. Whether life is fair to the soc’s or the greasers is seen differently. The soc’s desire the glamour and status that goes along with their affluent upbringing. The greasers, on the other hand, desire a different image. They don’t want to be associated with the upper crust of society. According to a greaser, the money, clothes, and cars, are the last thing they’d ever view as a priority in life. In fact, they despise them, mainly for how society treats the lower class. However, both gangs are products of a lifestyle where parental upbringing doesn’t show respect to their children because parents are unwilling to listen to the youth’s ideas, desires, and needs. These are the precise components that led to Jonas’s separation from the family unit. In the novel, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, we find similar connections in the background of each story. Both novels depict a protagonist coming from an affluent upbringing. Salinger’s novel is set in a post World War II time when the nation was trying to make a financial recovery. Holden goes to a private school and money is of no concern to him, his family, or his immediate peer group. The breadwinner in Catcher in the Rye, Holden’s father, is a corporate attorney that is only interested in money, golf, and fancy toys such as classy cars. Freedom from financial concerns is a comparative attribute for Holden and Jonas. Holden and his father don’t understand one another which can be compared to Jonas and a discussion he has with the Elders in Chapter 20. â€Å"What about you? Do you lie to me, too? † Jonas almost spat the question at The Giver. â€Å"I am empowered to lie. † This grave scene in The Giver brings to light how painful an entire childhood can be. It’s the parents and Elders were not true to their children and thus impacts the life of our protagonist. Holden’s father is also blinded by money and his status as a corporate lawyer. This puts barriers up between him and his son. These barriers are like lying to Holden, causing him harm as he tries to find his place in society. Just as Jonas is the protagonist and narrator, Holden is also the narrator and protagonist of Catcher in the Rye. The impact of the stories theme and character relationships in both stories can be felt on a deeper level when we experience the story solely through the protagonist’s eye. Another contrasting element between the protagonists for S. E. Hinton and J. D. Salinger is how the characters are introduced to the story. It is very clear that Holden is struggling with life. He is 16 years-old with partially gray hair, thin, and out of shape. He smokes cigarettes as well. Jonas, on the other hand, is raised in this Eden-like village where everyone moves through life free of stress and ailments. Furthermore, Holden is an angry teen who is very confused and depressed. He also displays characteristics of bigotry which contrasts Jonas’s lifestyle of equality. Holton, however, is an evil person but he can be kind and even thoughtful which matches the characteristic expectations of the children in The Giver. In fact, almost every person had similar physical features as can be seen in the following citation: Almost every citizen in the community had dark eyes. His parents did, and Lily did, and so did all of his group members and friends (p. 20). Yet a distinction is drawn in Jonas as the author followed the above citation with this: But there are a few exceptions: Jonas, himself, and a female Five who he had noticed the different, lighter eyes. Thus, we are given hints of Jonas’s differences. This contrasts the obvious struggles that are in Holton’s persona. As I looked collectively at the comparisons and contrasting differences between The Giver and the two other novels, I found the likenesses to be more apparent than the differences. Each of the novels under study all had a theme of isolationism. On top of this, the protagonists and most of the minor characters in all the novels were children and young adults who struggled with loss, depression, conflict, and illness. Each story brought the reality of separation and isolationism to light as the youth banded together to overcome obstacles. The stories display how great an impact deceit, control, and lack of compassion can have on individuals growing into adulthood. People can shut down and sink into isolation. The burden of all this can either lead people away from following their dreams—sometimes destroying themselves into a pit of isolation. The strong-willed, however, find a way to learn from these challenging situations and discover ways to help themselves so that they, in turn, can help friends and loved ones.

E-Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

E-Supply Chain Management - Essay Example More and more firms accelerate to implement their supply chains in a web-based manner in an effort to lower their operating costs and attain a fast response to the market condition changes. However, this framework considers primarily two factors of the organizational ability to integrate their external partners and the complexity of operation, which are natural in a market-centric economy. In a transitional economy where a centrally planned economy moves toward that of a free market, the government influence is a factor that cannot be ignored. Another important factor is the information asymmetry that will be discussed later. The organizational ability to integrate with their external partners is the common factor used in both frameworks. We use the information asymmetry instead of the complexity of operations and the new factor of government influence. (Panta, 2003, 205) Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK Ltd is one among many Japanese automotive manufacturers which lays claim to be at the forefront of these new specific developments in customer-supplier relationships (see for instance Mair, 1994; Wickens, 1987). Toyota now has 210 suppliers in 11 European countries, of which 50 per cent (by value and number) are UK-based. As production moves up to the projected full capacity of 225,000 units per year, the value of the supply chain is estimated to reach 880 million by 1999. Toyota Motor Company, with its emphasis on lean production, efficiency and quality, is seen by many to be an exemplary model of best practice for other firms to follow. Firms joining the Toyota supply chain will fully expect to become converts to the Toyota production method and the social demands of obligational contracting ways (Winfield and Kerrin, 1996). Customer influence examined The influence of a major customer on a supplier can and does have far-reaching measurable effects. Harland (1996) draws attention to the importance of the "softer" behavioural features of supplier-customer relationships, such as the attitudes, expectations and perceptions held by both parties, which can have profound implications for the actual success of the partnership. He also suggests rather tantalizingly that these changed behaviours within the contracting partnership can have direct effects on other aspects of organization-wide behaviour within the supply firm. Toyota claims in particular to encourage close partnering with suppliers; extending even to encouraging suppliers to participate in parts design (Ohno, 1988). Toyota will even offer advice and financial assistance to its suppliers who need to upgrade their production to meet the demands of quality and the JIT manufacturing system. Help is also freely given with the design of training and with management development programmes. All this takes place within the social boundaries of frequent company visits, an atmosphere of long-term trust and of a partnership based on mutual prosperity. In selecting suppliers, Toyota places emphasis not simply on product quality and future ability to meet the just-in-time production demands; but also it seems, on more subtle cognitive and social variables. These

Project Mercury Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Project Mercury - Research Paper Example During the period the project was active 25 space flights were completed where six of the missions were manned flights. Those six manned flights were completed with an excellent pilot safety record and with no deviation from the Mercury program basic operating parameters (Nasa). The Mercury project outlined a series of operational objectives to be completed: 1. To launch a manned space flight mission in orbit around the earth. 2. To investigate and analyze man’s capabilities and ability to function in a zero g space environment. 3. To safely land the spacecraft and recover the pilot successfully. After establishing the primary objectives, certain guidelines were put in place in order to guarantee the most efficient and safest approach to completing the mission objectives. The guidelines established were as follows: 1. Existing off the shelf the shelf technology must be used whenever possible. 2. General system design should follow a philosophy of safety and simplicity. 3. A cu rrent launch vehicle platform will be utilized to safely place the spacecraft in orbit. Mission Launch date Duration Objectives Little Joe 1 21 Aug 1959 20 seconds Test of launch escape systems Big Joe 1 9 Sept 1959 13 minutes Test heat shield and Atlas/spacecraft Interface Little Joe 6 4 Oct 1959 5m, 10 sec Testing of spacecraft aerodynamics and physical integrity during flight Little Joe 1A 4 Nov 1959 8m, 11 sec Second test of launch escape systems Little Joe 2 4 Dec 1959 11m, 8sec Carried Sam, a live monkey to an altitude of 85 km. Little Joe 1B 21 Jan 1960 8m, 35sec Carried Sam, the monkey to an altitude of 15 km Beach Abort 9 may 1960 1m, 31s Testing off pad launch abort system Mercury-Atlas 1 29 July 1960 3m,18s First flight of Mercury spacecraft and Atlas rocket booster Little Joe 5 8 Nov 1960 2m, 22sec First flight of a production Mercury craft Mercury -Redstone 1 21 Nov 1960 2sec Launch malfunction Mercury-Redstone 1A 19 Dec 1960 15m, 45sec First flight of Mercury craft and Redstone booster Mercury- Redstone 2 31 Jan 1961 16m, 39sec Carried Ham the chimp into orbit Mercury-Atlas 2 21 Feb 1961 17m, 56sec Test of Mercury craft and Atlas booster Little Joe 1A 18 Mar 1961 23m,48sec Test of launch escape systems during adverse conditions Mercury- Redstone BD 24 Mar 1961 8m,23s Redstone booster test flight Mercury- Atlas 3 25 Apr 1961 7m, 19sec Test of Mercury-Atlas with a robotic astronaut Little Joe 5B 28 Apr 1961 5m, 25 sec Test of launch escape systems during adverse conditions Mercury-Atlas 4 13 Sept 1961 1h,49min, 20sec Test of Mercury-Atlas spacecraft Mercury-Scout 1 1 Nov 1961 44sec Test of Mercury racking system network Mercury- Atlas 5 29 Nov 1961 3h, 20min, 59sec Carried Enos the chimp on a two orbit flight Unmanned Missions: Manned Missions The first astronauts were chosen from a group of 110 military pilots, picked for their flight experience and meeting certain physical requirements. A total of seven astronauts were picked, collectively known as the â€Å"Mercury Seven† (The spaceplace). Manned Missions Mission Launch date Duration Objectives Mercury-Redstone 3 5 May 1961 15m, 2sec First American to complete a sub- orbital flight, Alan Sheppard Mercury-Redstone 4 21 Jul 1961 15m, 37sec Second suborbital flight. The spacecraft sank due to a hatch falling off Mercury-Atlas 6 20 Feb 1962 4h, 55m, 23s First American to enter into orbit (3 orbits) John Glenn

Current School Finance Issues Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Current School Finance Issues Paper - Essay Example Detroit Public Schools had more than 120,000 teacher days lost to absences in 1980-81. These absences cost more than 6.2 million dollars.† (Woods, Robert C., Montagno, Ray V., Winter 1997) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3673/is_199701/ai_n8747732 Identifying various factors contributing to absenteeism is not easy and considering economic loss faced by the government it is essential to find solution through concerted efforts involving Government agencies, employers, and employees with the help of evaluation and research tools. According to the 2007 CCH Unscheduled absence Survey â€Å" personal illness accounts for 34 per cent or unscheduled absences, while 66 percent of absences are due to other reasons, including Family issues(22 percent); Personal needs (18 percent), Entitlement mentality (13 percent)and stress (13 percent) http://hr.cch.com/press/releases/20071010h.asp. Absence may be defined as the failure of an employee to attend for fork at the scheduled time and measured as the total hours lost compared to the hours they would normally be available for work. While personal illness remains the single most common reason for unscheduled absence, other reasons may be linked with weather or transportation problems. Working environment, mental and health condition of employees, financial benefits and career advancement opportunities, and hazards associated with occupation are other deciding factors of absenteeism. Morale and emotional reasons of an employee also influences in his/her decision to call i n sick at the last minute and absence from duty. Lost manpower due to illness and hospital bills of a work force with poor health condition will definitely create a dent in the budget of their employers. Hence, more attention is needed in maintaining good health of employees of an organization. Regular medical screening of employees as well as family members and calisthenics, before commencing duty everyday, will pave way for reducing absenteeism

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 151

Assignment Example http://www.yourdictionary.com/cyberpornography 2. Email spoofing involves creating and sending email messages using a forged sender address so that the recipients of the messages are mislead about the actual source of the message. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/e_mail_spoofing.html 3. Intellectual property crime is a criminal activity that involves using a person’s design, trade mark, patent, or copyright without their permission. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipenforce/ipenforce-crime.htm 6. Data diddling is the illegal act of changing data before or as one enters it into a computer system and changing it back after it has been processed by the system. http://cybercrimeandforensic.blogspot.com/2009/02/data-diddling.html 8. Virus attack is an attack to a computer system by a malware program that replicates and modifies data files, computer programs, or hard drives after getting executed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus 9. Salami attack is an attack that involves the acquisition of small, almost insignificant amounts of information or assets from different sources and using them to commit illegal activities such as electronic theft http://all.net/CID/Attack/papers/Salami2.html . 11. Trojan attack – an attack by a malware that poses as a program that is beneficial or harmless but that actually helps cyber criminals commit crime by stealing data from a computer system http://www.antivirus.com/security-software/definition/trojan-horse/ 15. Passphrase – a set of words or other characters that is used to controlling access to information, files, program, or computer system

Service Marketing Management in Ebay Case Study

Service Marketing Management in Ebay - Case Study Example This research will begin with the statement that eBay (www.ebay.com) is managed by EBay Inc., an Internet company based in America. Ebay.com offers an Internet-based service that allows for online auctions, selling and buying of new and second hand products. While the company originally began functioning in US, today it has localized branches in Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Singapore, United Kingdom, Poland, Philippines and Taiwan to name a few. Besides Ebay.com, EBay Inc also owns the sites of PayPal and Skype among its other businesses. Since the site was established in the year 1995, it has become the largest place in the world to buy and sell a range of products to a range of people. In April 2006, eBay also opened its new eBay Express site. This site works like a standard Internet shopping site for consumers from United States. A UK version and then a German version were launched later in the year and offers brand new items sold by pre-vetted sellers. T he company works with the mission to provide a global trading platform where practically anyone can trade anything. The company has a unique offering of an auction-based sales service where retailers or private seller can present their item to purchasers. Demand and supply: The level of demand and supply on eBay is high as there are many people seeking to sell what they do not need for a good deal. Approximately the site has 212 million registered buyers and sellers as of date. A wide range of things like rare items, new products, collectibles and used goods can be found for sale on the site. The site is well known as a good place for comparison shopping as many similar products are listed side by side. Auction-style listings, fixed price formats and Dutch auctions are a few kinds of auctions the site provides for. However there are cases where the required products are not available. Not much can be done in cases where demand exceeds capacity and customers just have to live with th e fact that sellers are not selling the required product. Services marketing integration and management: Customers usually search for products on parameters like price and product features. eBay allows customers to sort similar items based on pricing, making the task of purchasing a relatively easy one. Phone help is offered to select members only (those who sell a minimum of $3000 worth goods per month through the site). Live chat with customer service representatives is however available. Areas where eBay dissatisfies customers include wrong shipping labels and insufficient customer support as all queries are not addressed with the same interest. The blame culture is high at eBay, and though the site issues regular warnings, blogs and advice, many blame the site for wrong transactions. One criticism regards its privacy policy whereby eBay turns its user information to law enforcement agencies often without a subpoena. While no solid proof has been generated for this case, it is a popular rumour, popular enough to be believed by its wide customer base as true. Finally no panel of experts or support system is available to identify whether a particular product is worth the money or not.

A Man Called Horse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A Man Called Horse - Essay Example This paper illustrates that in the movie, â€Å"A Man Called Horse,† produced in 1970, there is a direct correlation between living the American lifestyle and living with the Native Americans.   The ideology is one which creates divisions and contrasts that are a part of the movie and which develop a different understanding of what it means to belong to an outside culture. The concepts of â€Å"A Man Called Horse†is set in the Wild West when America was only beginning to develop and explore the territories that were a part of the country. The movie begins with a man, John Morgan, who is going to discover the land and which is interested in developing his own area of land in the West. However, on his journeys, he is captured by the Sioux and begins to be treated as one who is trapped in the culture. The transformation which John begins to go through after this comes from watching the culture and how each of the people lives and survive on the land. This is followed by his eventual integration into the culture through gaining warrior status by killing warriors of another tribe, marrying one of the women on the land and going through initiation rights to be a part of the tribe, in which he gains the name ‘horse.’ The depictions of both cultures are then shown through the overall concept while building a sense of value that is a part of the story. The concept which is used in â€Å"A Man Called Horse† begins with the ideology of showing the white man and the ways that were known in the Wild West and depicted by the main character, John. This is shown first through showing the character fishing by the water and performing the expected routines that are a part of the concepts used for settlement. This is followed by the viewpoint which is taken after John is captured. The film shows the Native Americans surrounding John and looking foreign and like outsiders. The perspective and the way in which it is seen through John’s eye s create a sense of threat and the belief that John may die.

Digital Media Report on Management of Innovation Essay

Digital Media Report on Management of Innovation - Essay Example The company is co-owned by Amargi Investments and UK Safety Company with the former owning 90%, while the latter being in possession of the remaining share. The initial idea was first developed at the end of year 2002 by Leigh Dowie, while in Woodside’s LNG IV Project. Being an engineer and experiencing complications in keeping the workplace accident free, he saw it as an opportunity to improve on the existing safety systems. In 2003, research was started on the existing safety systems and the problems realized in the systems prompted the embracing of technology in new designs of the security systems. Leigh Dowie went on to design new safety systems, carrying out the planning excellently and executing IP strategy, which will be explained in details in the subsequent sections. In 2005, with the design ready, Dowie approached the authorities in order to be handed a license and did promotion on the first prototype that was released in the course of the year. Comprehensive prototy ping then followed in the year 2006 with the final design being achieved in the following year. Additionally, license negotiation was carried out in 2007. Lots of efforts were put into the design in 2008 and 2009 with Dowie achieving to establish a license, trial production being run and also validation testing being done and completed. In the year 2010 early commercials trials were done on the design and the design acquired standard certification in the same year. The systems were now ready for the market by 2011 and commenced first distributor sales with Exclusive Rights being cancelled the same year. In 2012 the company has now focused on raising the capital and initiating distributor networks and direct sales Establishing an environment for innovation IP Strategies IP is the abbreviation of Intellectual Property rights, which are the rights accorded to an inventor of a design by the government so as to avoid exploitation of the inventor and also avoid a situation in which someon e else would use the design without consent from the design owner1. There are different kinds of IP rights, which chiefly depend on the kind of property being granted the right of ownership. In cases where a new design is developed or an existing design modified a patent is given to the inventor to prevent his/her work from being used by others without the inventor benefitting2. The process of maturing and sustaining an efficient IP strategy is quite cumbersome, but is very necessary before a new product is taken to the market for sales. In order to mature an IP strategy the following steps are used as guidelines: study more on the IP strategies, find more about the freedom acquired when using IP strategies, approach relevant authorities and lastly develop an inclusive IP strategy and operation plan Leigh being so much aware of the risk his innovation faced developed a competitive IP strategy making a very smart move, which should be emulated by other innovators. He patented his des ign of the two independent spools joined by a locking mechanism hence put on clear line between his invention and those that preceded his design. New Zealand, Canada and Australia all granted him safeguard for his invention from parties, which could take advantage and use the design for personal interests. Managing organizational knowledge and innovation strategies Leign is very innovative and creative, which is evident in him coming up with a very good design of a safety system

Richards Soliloquies Essay Example for Free

Richards Soliloquies Essay i)Identify the context for each ii)Analyze the language of each and its meaning iii)Consider what insights they give into Richard’s character, emotions and thinking at the time iv)Discuss how the soliloquies help structure the play and are used to create dramatic interest 1. The opening soliloquy: â€Å"Now is the winter of our discontent† 1. 1. 1-41 The opening soliloquy involves of Richard contemplating the end of the civil war, and the change from warfare to peace. This soliloquy is important to the rest of the play as it shows Richard’s true character – malicious, deformed and cunning. It helps set up the dramatic irony for the rest of Richard’s encounters, because as Richard ‘acts’ we see him for who he truly is. The language that Richard uses is clever, sarcastic and determined. His second line, ‘made glorious summer by this son of York’ is a play on words of Edward being the ‘son’ of York and the ‘sun’ of the glorious summer. From this first line the audience is immediately able to tell that Richard is witty, and clever with the way in which he speaks and phrases his words. He continues on to talk about the King in a somewhat sardonic manner, bringing attention to his ‘sportive tricks’ and amorous pleasures. Richard continues, objecting to himself that ‘since I cannot prove a lover’ he reveals that he is ‘determined to prove a villain’. This quote foreshadows how the rest of the play will pan out, and how Richard is depicted throughout. The most important thing in this quote however, is that this quote shows a logical decision in which Richard has made – therefore his malignity is motiveless. He chooses to be evil, and his only excuse for it is that he is unfortunately deformed. The brings the next point. In his soliloquy, Richard also draws on self-deprecation, he describes to us his deformities in the most gruesome way. This immediately gives the audience prejudice against him. â€Å"Cheated of feature by dissembling nature / Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time / into this breathing world scarce half made up / And that so lamely unfashionable / That dogs bark at me as I half by them. † The audience ultimately feels pity for him, however when its is made clear that Richard has thought about his premeditated strategems, the audience is aware of his duplicitous nature. 2. â€Å"He cannot live† soliloquy: 1. 1. 146-163 Act 1 scene 1 closes with Richards’ second soliloquy. Although it is fairly short, Richard hopes for Clarence to die before Edward does. He also reveals his plans to ‘woo’ Lady Anne, from the House of Warwick. The audience truly sees the full revelation of Richard’s wickedness, as he claims to have killed Lady Anne’s father and husband in the war that has just passed and yet he still wants to seduce her. However this sickening twist makes sense to Richard, as he wants to woo her so that the House of Lancaster don’t turn on him in the future. The concept of ‘keeping your enemies close for political gain’ comes across through Richard’s actions. Richard uses the strange yet humourous words to describe what the world will be like when he is King. He says, â€Å"Which done, God take King Edward to his mercy / And leave the world for me to bustle in! † The word bustle seems quite merry, and this reflects on how Richard has no grief or anguish to his brothers’ deaths – he merely wants them dead so that he is able to enjoy the world. The last line Richard says â€Å"When they are gone, then must I count my gains. † Richard is talking about his brothers Clarence and Edward, and the foreshadowing of their deaths closes the scene. This soliloquy allows the audience to realize and prepare ourselves for what Richard has in mind. He confirms that both his brothers will die – Clarence because of him and Edward because of sickness. The audience realizes that Richard is truly going to go through with his premeditated strategems, and this is only the beginning, however his downfall is also inevitable and anticipated. 3. â€Å"Was ever woman†¦wooed† soliloquy: 1. 2. 231-67 This soliloquy is a perfect example of Richard’s duplicitous nature. As soon as Lady Anne leaves, he drops his mask and becomes who he really is – the schemer. He revels in his triumph in getting Anne to consider being wooed by him. Despite his killing of her husband and her father, and despite his deformities, he has managed to overwhelm Anne using only his words. This is where the audience really sees how overpowering Richard is, and how if he was to really reign as king there would be many dangers. The audience assumes that Richard would be triumphant in scoring Lady Anne, however he says â€Å"Was ever woman in this humour wooed? / Was ever woman in this humour won? / I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long. † Through this quote the audience realizes that Richard merely wooed her for security of safety from the House of Lancaster (which Lady Anne belongs to), and he has the upper hand now that his wooing has transformed her loathing into acceptance. The foreshadowing of this quote also allows the audience to note that Lady Anne will ultimately be killed somewhere along Richard’s plans. The last lines in Richard’s third soliloquy goes â€Å"That I may see my shadow as I pass. † The use of his ‘shadow’ outlines his malevolent alter-ego, the evil Richard is lurking, hiding, but always present. Richard is constantly building up his plans and notably successing as each person goes by him and accepts him. This soliloquy shows how Richard really does have a way with his words, and how he can turn Lady Anne’s loathing and hatred (after all, Richard did kill her husband and her father) into acceptance and tolerance. The audience is somewhat admirable of him, yet they realize it is all just an act by a clever, manipulative person. 4. â€Å"I do the wrong† soliloquy: 1. 3. 324-338 In this soliloquy Richard expresses slight disbelief and smugness in how things have played out for him. He has managed to get Clarence killed and blame it on Rivers, Vaughn and Grey, as well as get Hastings, Derby and Buckingham to support him. His tone is proud when he admits that his malicious plots at the beginning of the play have become others’ evil actions. Richard has mastered the game of manipulation, and has everyone (except for a few) believing that he is a holy and good man. By using  preexisting conflicts, as well as his â€Å"relationship† and â€Å"appeal† to God, he is going to set everyone against each other. This is where we realize that Richard has managed to weave a web that he has total control over – for now. Richard says, â€Å"Tell them that God bids us do good for evil. And thus I clothe my naked villainy / With odd old ends stol’n forth of holy writ, / And seems a saint when most I play the devil. † These lines sum up Richard’s role as an actor within himself, within the play. He claims to use the Bible as his sanction and yet he contradicts himself by cloacking himself as the devil. 5. â€Å"Give me another horse! † soliloquy: 5. 3. 180 This soliloquy is the first time that Richard feels any guilt for his actions, and this is also where he finally realizes what he has ultimately done to himself and to the people around him. His mind is in turmoil, and the tone of his soliloquy is deeply troubling. He is wrestling to come to terms with all the murders he has indirectly caused and all the threats of vengeance he has posed. This is Richard’s last soliloquy, and from the beginning of the play he has come a full circle. In the beginning, Richard portrayed himself as an megalomaniac and egotistical, he gloated â€Å"As I am subtle, false and treacherous,† and now he says, â€Å"O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me? † The personification of ‘conscience’ and how it has become cowardly shows that Richard now considers his conscience as a part of him, something that he didn’t have before. The rheotorical question is more posed towards himself. He is unsure and worried, and this is reflected in the next couple of lines. â€Å"What? Do I fear myself? There’s none else by. Richard loves Richard, that is, I am I. / Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am. † The manifestation for himself and the unclearness is a reflection of how muddled his mind has become. Richard wrestles and tries to confirm with himself that he is doing the right thing, that he isn’t a murderer, that there is no one who loves him but himself, but his conscience has finally caught up with him and as a result, the murder and threats of vengeance have come rushing back to him. The full realm of the horror that has become his life hits him in  the face – he finally realizes that he is truly and utterly alone. He says: â€Å"There is no creature loves me, / And if I die no soul shall pity me. † His segregation from humanity dominates him at this point in the play, when he finally grasps that he is truly all alone. This soliloquy foreshadows Richard’s inevitable and imminent death. It is the last time the audience really feels something for Richard, whether it be pity or sadness or justification, the audience understands that Richard has finished and come to the end of his time.

Media Coverage of Womens Sports

Media Coverage of Womens Sports Women and Sports Introduction Media coverage of sporting activities performs a role in shaping attitudes of the society with regards to women’s sports. This is largely attributed to the thousands of hours or sports recording undertaken by the television network record each year. But for many decades, men’s sports activities have dominated the airwaves (Carlisle et al.). The domineering nature of men’s sports has led to women sports receiving little to no airplay; this is in large parts attributed to the lack of equal coverage between the two genders. A recent survey in the United States affirmed that women sports only received 1.6 percent airplay across all television network as compared to 96.3 percent given to men’s sports. This paper takes the position that the mass media is not doing enough when it comes to encouraging women sports (Messner and Cooky). The lack of adequate media coverage with respect to women sports has dealt a negative impact on the growth of the game. Even after the enactment of the Title IX legislation, women are yet to be treated in the same way as their male counterparts (Www2.ed.gov). The legislations ensure that men and women are treated equally when it comes to any activity that is federally funded, sports included. Problem definition Mass media companies don’t accord women the same prominence in their sports segments only relegating a small portion of the airtime. Some of the reasons women get little airtime on mass media companies include: Sexual Objectification Female athletes are still targets of being sexualized and objectified by the commentators. Despite the commentator not speaking about the athlete in a sexual manner, the inclusion of visual images of the women diverts attention from what is really important (Tanner). This is not an entirely new phenomenon, in the 1920s women basketball players’ pictures were used to draw the cognitive attention of the male audience to come and watch games. The women were being fitted with short shorts and tight t-shirts. Studies conducted in the United States revealed that women objectification has not changes even in the twenty-first century. The revelation was informed of the fact that most television networks were still portraying women in humorous and sexual as compared to their male counterparts. The objectification of women is further aggravated by the comments made by the sports commentators. Most of the commentators are male, as such they take most of the time to objectify women by put ting sexual visuals and making trivial jokes that demean women sports (North). Gender marking Another impediment faced by female athletes is the gender marking on their game titles. For instance, when an advert is being put up to announce the finals of the feminine game it is always marked as â€Å"Women’s Finals Tournament† (Tanner). This is in contrast to their male counterparts when men are playing there are no gender markers in the advertisements. Most broadcasters and mass media companies assert that they use gender markings to differentiate games that are being played at the same time. For instance, In the United States Tennis opens, all the games are played on the same day and at most times simultaneously. Some mass media companies use visuals that reinforce gender difference in games played (Tanner). For instance, CBS’s coverage of the 1989 NCAA basketball tournaments used the pink color to denote women’s matches while using the blue color to denote men matches. The mass media companies ought to drop the genders markers for women games sinc e it gives the notion that women games are in the â€Å"others† category (Tanner). Cause of the problem This section highlights the different reasons why women are not accorded the same prominence in the sports segment in all major media houses. Some of these reasons include: Society Society is another impediment to women’s sport and also gives mass media an excuse to reduce women sports coverage. Society defines that there are games that are lady-like which women can participate, these games include tennis and golf. But when women attempt to play games that are seen to be masculine in nature, the society shuns them. The main point as to why it is difficult for women to participate in such sporting activities is because it is seen as though they are going against social norms and customs. The stereotype with respect to the types of games women should play can be attributed mostly to media framing. Media framing can be defined as pieces or exhibits a journalist, or a news editor considers to be most important (Shaller). Through media framing, the editors bring about the most important characteristics of a story and highlight them; it is also an opportunity for both the editor and the journalist to stress the most important things they consider to be more im portant to their audience. The use of this tactic has been detrimental to women’s sports coverage; this is because most journalists and editors emphasis on masculinity as compared to femininity (Shaller). Media framing manipulates the audience’s psychology and makes the audience follow what the editor and journalist are putting across. Media framing one of the reasons why men sports are given prominence over feminine games in mass media. Another critical aspect is male hegemony; this can be defined as the process of male domination in the society. The mass media promotes male hegemonic beliefs when it comes to their domineering tendencies in the sports realm (Shaller). Commentators The field of commentators is largely dominated by men. A study of all major sports media companies indicated that there was an increasing incorporation of racial diversity in their news coverage (Messner and Cooky). But there was little progress with respect to women being given archonship positions or commentator positions. Most of the women in the sports scene are not regular anchors and used as auxiliary reporters. Despite the accomplishments that have been made with respect to women’s sports participation, there is still sexual segregation with respect to women holding influential positions on the sports desk. The commentator makes remarks that do not reflect women’s professionalism in sports. For instance, a commentator said, â€Å"the new mom Candace Parker leads the Los Angeles Sparks,† this was to reinforce the societal stereotype of women. This segregation ensures that the amounts of women sports feature being aired on these main mass media companies wou ld largely remain the same (Messner and Cooky). As already attested to earlier, having more women on board and in positions of making decisions enable them to cover women feature stories better; as they tend to give their female counterparts better airtime as compared to male reporters in the same field. Racial diversity has not yet been emphasized in with regards to women anchors. The study confirmed that women anchors were still largely white, this means that women from all different ethnic backgrounds need to join. This will ensure that women from all walks of life would be able to participate in sporting activities or develop an interest in watching sports feature, this will mirror the accomplishments that have been done by their male counterparts (Messner and Cooky). Gatekeeping A study performed in America showed that mass media companies with female reporters as editors tend to shed positive light to women’s sports. The coverage was seen to be more positive with regard to the progress women have made since the introduction of the Title IX amendment. Despite these the positive indicators, the survey also affirmed that female reporters did not offers equitable coverage to women’s sports as their male counterparts (Kian and Hardin). But women reporters were apt to giving women athletes airtime as compared to their male counterparts. The study also confirmed that when an editor wanted a women’s sport story to be aired, he/she would assign the story to a female reporter; but this assignment is largely considered as trivial as compared to male sports (Kian and Hardin). The study also expounded on the decision-making process editors embroil in when trying to make a story coverage assignment; these factors include work routine, expectation of readers, organizational demand and also the editor’s attitudes and biases with respect to the a women’s sports. All these factors encourage editors to further neglect and put aside women sports in their coverage features (Kian and Hardin). The effects of seclusion The constant neglecting of women in sports has an effect on consumer utilizing the mass media. It impairs their psychology in that they become bias with respect to what games they can watch and which ones not to. These effects can be explained through: Cultivation theory This theory explores the impact the comments made by sports commentators have on their audience (Tanner). This theory is highly applicable to those members of society that are considered to be big consumers of television content. The way these individuals experience the real world would be greatly influenced by the content they have been exposed to while they watched television. The act of cultivation occurs by the continuous accrual of images and voices they pick up while watching television; these pictures and stories that have accrued over time will thus have the ability to skew an individual to be biased against a particular social issue. With respect to sports, people are exposed to sporting actions most of the time during the day; this means they collect images and stories from commentators and store them in their minds. Most of the time, people are exposed to information that does not accurately portray the real image of female athletes. Some of the stories are exposed to sugg est women to be sexual objects and does not highlight their competencies as athletes. The continuous accumulation of negative portrayal of women in sport greatly impacts the ability of the audience to be objective when it comes to female athletes; in the end, they dismiss media coverage of women games (Tanner). Another effect of cultivation theory is the mainstreaming notion. With respect to mainstreaming, heavy consumers of television content are not affected by the gains made by women in the fields of sports. The events happening in social realities have little impact in influencing these types of individuals; factors like politics, regional differences do not resonate with their belief systems (Tanner). Over the decades, women’s participation in sporting activities has increased. But heavy television users are most time oblivious to these facts while watching television (Tanner). They hold the notion that women are sexual beings and are emotional but do not appreciate their prowess when it comes to sporting actions. These types of individuals also believe that women sports are still second tier as compared to men’s sports; this is further encouraged by the use of gender markers while advertising the sporting actions that are going on. Such individuals in society will always view women as sexual objects first before considering them as competent athletes (Tanner). Advertisement revenue Studies indicate that there is a vested interest when it comes to sports journalism. Male athletes are considered to produce the highest turnover with respect to sponsorships, advertisement revenues, and television viewership. In retrospect, mass media companies will gravitate toward covering stories that would culminate in them getting more advertisement revenues. The stories are designed to draw male viewers and increase the advertisement revenues from companies that advertise products while the sports news are commencing. This form of bias against women’s sport relegates women to waiting until the Olympics when they receive considerably better media coverage. In advertising, male athletes are usually chosen (Jones). The reason is because they are more recognized all over the world; this, in essence, means that the advertisement revenue would be higher as compared to when female athletes are on the magazine. Due to the low recognition of women as compared to their male count erparts, media companies are skewed to favor male sports as compared to women’s sports due to the advertisement revenue generated. In most magazines in the United States, men get almost 13 times more photographs in newspapers and sports journals as compared to women athletes (Jones). Agenda Building Through agenda building, mass media conglomerates advertise events they believe are important and the audience should be waiting for (Tanner). This is done by carefully choreographic what events to give airtime to and what not to. As already asserted in the earlier, they do this because they have vested interest in the game. By giving prominence to a particular game and neglect, other sends out a message to the audience that some games are far important as compared to the others. This is what happens to women’s games. The media corporations ensure that they give a lot of airplay to games like Nation Football League as compared to women’s soccer (Tanner). This undoubtedly tells the audience that women sports are second tier to men’s games, the corporations also stand to make a lot of income with respect to advertisement that would be brought to them when they will start airing the games. Another factor that leads to poor advertisements for women’s games is the general lack of interest from viewers. The mass media conglomerates assert that the production of women’s events is below average (Kane). The producers of such events do poorly with respect camera work and graphics editing; the combination of these factors renders women’s events as less attractive to the majorly male dominated viewership. They also assert that some features in men’s games are missing, features like slow motion and broadcasting prowess that is in tandem with men’s games (Tanner). Another factor that diminishes the position of women’s sports in media conglomerates is the fact that men are present in all levels of management; this means that they have a say with respect to what stories to highlight and how the stories are going to be shown. Male dominance ensures that all male sporting events are flashier and more glamorous as compared to women’s sporting events (Tanner). Possible solution For the mass media companies to make positive change with regard to women sports they need to hire more women. As already cited previously, when women are given the opportunity to interview athlete, they stand a better chance of giving fellow women more airtime as compared to their male counterparts (Kian and Hardin). The second possible solution is the media companies changing their agenda-setting strategies. As mentioned earlier, media companies turn viewers focus towards men’s games, it would be fruitful if the same tenacity is provided towards women sports. This will ensure that more fans gravitate towards women’s sports. These companies ought to invest the same amount of technology with respect to graphics like the ones in men’s sports. It has been cited that people dislike women’s sports due to poor graphics and lack of glamor. If this equipment is put in place, the game stands a better chance to gain more following both locally and abroad. Media com panies ought to hire more women commentators who should work alongside their male counterparts (Messner and Cooky). Women commentators will ensure that the use of derogatory phrases and sexually objectifying visuals while depicting female athletes (Kian and Hardin). Another front to improve women sports is the disbandment of gender makers in games. This phenomenon has been cited to relegate women’s games to the â€Å"others† category. The disbandment of gender makers would shed a positive light on women’s sports and make people more willing to watch the games. Finally, media companies have to use media framing in equal proportions; previously it has been used to incline audiences to watch male games as compared to female games. With positive media framing to women’s games, the audience’s psychology towards women’s games would be changed to a less bias one (Shaller). Conclusion Since the enactment of the Title IX act, women have made incredible strides in bringing their sports to the mainstream media. The act ensured that everyone participating in any form of sport funded by the federal government should not be discriminated against with reference to gender or race. But there is a considerable amount of resistance from the mass media companies. In tandem with other factors such as the objectification of women as sexual beings rather than considering their athletic prowess are major roadblocks. It is important and necessary that the media organizations put equal emphasis on the way the share out airtime. The media framing used for the men should also be used to women; this will ensure that the public perception of women’s games is gradually changed. This will ensure that the stereotype associated with women in sports is dispensed with, and a culture of professionalism is cultivated. Commentators are also supposed to refrain from making comments that a re deemed derogatory to women in sports and also refrain from using visuals that don’t represent the professionalism of women participating in sports. References Bernstein, Alina, and Neil Blain. Sport and the media: The emergence of a major research field.Sport in Society5.3 (2002): 1-30. Carlisle, Margaret Duncan et al. Gender Stereotyping In Televised Sports LA84 Foundation. LA84 Foundation. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015. Cooky, Cheryl, Michael A. Messner, and Robin H. Hextrum. Women Play Sport, But Not on TV A Longitudinal Study of Televised News Media.Communication Sport1.3 (2013): 203-230. Hanson, Valarie. The Inequality of Sport: Women Jones, Dianne. Womens sports coverage: online images of the 2008 Olympic Games.Australian Journalism Review32.2 (2010): 89-102. Kane, Mary Jo. Media coverage of the female athlete before, during, and after Title IX: Sports Illustrated revisited.Journal of sport management2.2 (1988): 87-99. Kian, E. M., and Marie Hardin. Framing of sport coverage based on the sex of sports writers: Female journalists counter the traditional gendering of media coverage.International Journal of Sport Communication2.2 (2009): 185-204. North, Louise. The gendered world of sports reporting in the Australian print media.JOMEC journal(2012). Messner, Michael A., and Cherly Cooky. Gender in Televised Sports.Center for Feminist Research(2010). Tamir, Ilan, and Yair Galily. Women’s Sports Coverage in Israel: Perception Versus Reality.International Journal of Sport Communication3.1 (2010): 92-112. Shaller, Jessica. Female athletes in the media: Under representation and inadequacy.Undergraduate Review: a Journal of Undergraduate Student Research8.1 (2013): 50-55. Tanner, Wendy. Marginalization and Trivialization of Female Athletes and Women’s Sports through Commentator Discourse A Study of ESPN’s SportsCenter. (2011). Womens Sports Foundation,. Womens Sports Foundation. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015. Www2.ed.gov,. Title IX And Sex Discrimination. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 May 2015.

Views on Poetry and Other Art Forms in Emersons The Poet :: Emerson Poet Essays

Views on Poetry and Other Art Forms in Emerson's The Poet Emerson's "The Poet: An Essay," is packed with statements, and ideas that contradict each other in many ways. His use of lofty language and ego driven ideals are built to confuse the average reader and are clearly not meant for the purpose of entertainment. As a reader, I found the text to be confusing and unfounded in its theories about man's connection with nature. Firstly, Emerson starts right off by throwing a wrench in his own works. His description of admirers of fine art and sculpture is nothing more than a generalization. One cannot make such sweeping statements about a group of people. There are always exceptions to the rule. I am sure that many admirers of fine art know a lot about the subject and have very good reasons for liking what they do. Not only does Emerson slam the artistic elite, but his whole essay is an embodiment of the ideals he is trying to dispel in these first few sentences. Emerson treats poetry in the exact same manner in which he scoffs at in the beginning of the essay. The author feels that The "true poet" is our closest connection with nature. I am very sure that there are people who admire paintings of a fine nature scene, and they surely feel that it is our closest connection with nature. Words are not the only way to express oneself in a connecting way with nature. This brings me to another sweeping generalization that Emerson makes in the body of this essay. He actually makes the statement that words to a song are not poetry in a sense. Being a musician, I strongly disagree with such a statement. Song lyrics can be just as touching as any other type of poetry. In fact, this type of poetry has another added bonus besides the words. This is called music! Music itself can even stand alone in painting a very vibrant picture of nature with no words at all. This is more of an accomplishment, because the author is not allowed to use words in his sound painting. Music that describes nature without the use of language is still using symbolism to convey the connection between man and nature. The difference is that a violin might symbolize the wind instead of a bunch of words.

Students vs. The System Essay -- essays research papers fc

Students vs. the System Education has always been a great factor in determining human survival and success. Whether it is learning to live in a harsh environment or learning to manage a company, education is and always will be incredibly significant. Education is so important in modern society that a system of grades has been developed to evaluate students of all ages and levels. In Paul Goodman’s essay â€Å"A Proposal to Abolish Grading† he argues that the grading system that is commonly used in our society is ineffective and should be done away with. This idea is wrong since there are many positive outcomes that result from the current grading system. Goodman opens up his piece by making his claim that grades have take precedence over everything in classrooms. He also mentions that some authorities in the educational field agree with and support this statement. â€Å"I think that a majority of professors agree that grading hinders teaching and creates a bad spirit, going as far as cheating and plagiarizing† (Goodman 206). Here, he talks about how grading has lost its power, and has been reduced to a meaningless letter on paper that tempts students to cheat in order to receive a passing grade on their assignments. He also goes on to declare that, â€Å"†¦grading is inevitable; for how else will the graduate schools, the foundations, and corporations know whom to accept†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Goodman 206). By expressing these ideas in such close proximity, it can be inferred that Goodman believes grades are unreliable sources of data due to cheating. Although cheating is a prevalent problem in all places of work, it should not be a reason to disregard looking at grades when considering an applicant for hire. Letter grades from all schools simply represent the work ethic of that particular student. The threat that a person who received high grades could be a cheater is always present, but the characteristics of a cheater can easily be recognized by other workers and by the employer. So the belief that grades are unreliable due to cheating is erroneous, due to the fact that not all students are cheaters. The grading system simply provides a standard that all students should fall under, which implies that all applicants be educated. This is just a small sample of what Goodman includes in this essay. Two other topics that Goodman covers in good detail are the purpose of a test and the self-awar... ...defend and help people, but when used in the wrong hands, it becomes a weapon for evil. This grading system, much like a gun, is a tool just as capable of being used for evil in the sense that teachers abuse their power to grade by forcing lazy students to work. By abusing the system and threatening students with grades is what prompts them to cheat, steal, and copy, not the grading system itself. The current grading system implemented in schools today is a great thing, where students are able to monitor their own progress, and be rewarded for their hard work with high grades. Goodman makes some good points in his proposal by mentioning the somewhat unreliability of grades, and by acknowledging the strength of a self-aware student, but they are outweighed by his weak, one-sided arguments accusing the modern grading system of being useless and bad. Education is a powerful tool in the present day and age, and although what people are being taught has changed significantly, one can never learn too much to prepare for future success. Works Cited Goodman, Paul. â€Å"A Proposal to Abolish Grading.† Elements of Argument. Ed. Ellen Rottenburg. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003. 206-209

Fossil Fuels and the Environment: :: Envrionmental Pollution Essays

Fossil Fuels and the Environment Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been watching cartoon shows like Captain Planet, which talked about pollution and the earth. I didn’t really understand what they were talking about then and its sad to say that only recently have a grasped the true message of the show. As kids and adolescents were mostly told to recycle, it wasn’t until college that I acquired a broader perspective on the subject of preserving the environment. Fossil fuels are an indispensable part of human survival. However, from beginning to end this process leaves many scars on the planet. In the process of extracting coal for example, we destroy the top soil of the earth. Before the environmental acts, the holes where the excavation was performed were left uncovered, creating acid lakes from the iron pyrite left behind. End use produces pollutants from combustion, such as sulfur and nitrogen oxide (SOX and NOX), particulate matter (ROX), and carbon monoxide (CO) and un-burnt hydrocarbons (UHC). These pollutants, either separately or in combination with one another, are responsible for smog in the ozone, acid rain, and The Greenhouse Effect. Now comes the interesting part. The earth gets the majority of its heat from the radiation of the sun. Most of this heat should be radiated into space, yet this process is being obstructed by the amount of CO2 and other gases. While researching for this subject I also came across the problem of deforestation. Scientists say, since temperature changes could affect major climate patterns, alter species’ habitats, and have other unknown consequences. The melting of the polar Ice caps is the biggest cause for worry at the moment. Rising temperatures have a dramatic impact on Arctic ice, which serves as a kind of "air conditioner" at the top of the world. Since 1978 Arctic sea ice area has shrunk by some 9 percent per decade, and thinned as well. Climate models suggest that global warming could cause more frequent extreme weather conditions. Intense hurricanes and storm surges could threaten coastal communities, while heat waves, fires and drought could also become more common. Reading this information causes trepidation particularly because of the abnormal amount of Hurricanes that we suffered through this year. This only proves that global warming is real and a bigger threat than we might have envision ed. As mentioned before the earth receives most of it heat form the sun, at least 32% of it is reflected back by the ice caps.

Martin Lynch-Gibbon, is a London wine merchant married to Antonia

Martin Lynch-Gibbon, is a London wine merchant married to Antonia. They had wed due to convenience and they do not have a child.He is having an affair with Georgie, an academic younger than he is. She gets pregnant early on, but they end it. She attempts suicide after rejections by Martin and his brother.Seemingly out of nowhere, Antonia declares that she is leaving him. Martin is shocked. She goes with Palmer, one of their friends and her psychoanalyst. As it turns out, she and Palmer have been having an affair as well.Martin leaves their house, but he does not want his affair to go public, or be committed any further.Then he falls for Honor, Palmer’s stepsister who teaches anthropology at Cambridge. One night, he goes into her house uninvited and unannounced, and finds her in bed- with her stepbrother.Later, Antonia tells Martin that she has been seeing Alexander as well, his older brother, and it dates back to them having been introduced to each other.He turns to whisky to battle his problems. More than being an adulterer, he thinks of himself as a cuckold.â€Å"A Severed Head† explores fear of intimacy between the married couple, the fear of being in a relationship that values commitment. It also illuminates the ways in which sexual relationships are unraveled, especially when one manipulates or dominates the other.

Simulation

SLIP is a privately held investment corporation founded in 1961. It had become a diversified company consisting of a total of 9 subsidiaries. The oldest three were In the home products business: a Virginia-based brass software company, an outdoor lantern company based In Maine, and an antique reproduction furniture company in Maryland. A second group of four subsidiaries formed in the sass's was focused on research in the fields of consumer product marketing, computer software, tax research, and investment financial analysis.Hoping to capitalize on their tax and investment expertise, they recently armed Spring Lane Development Corporation and Spring Lane Natural Resources, which were Involved In real estate development natural resource exploration, respectively. Spring Lane employed a total of 525 people and had revenues of $30 million in 1987. Spring Lane Natural Resources was formed to pursue natural resource exploration because SLIP management felt that favorable tax laws provided them opportunities to achieve significant profits In this arena.Their primary goal was to find and produce natural gas from shale, to capture the so-called â€Å"Section 29† tax credits associated with such gas. Ingress passed this tax credit In 1978 as part of the Natural Gas Policy Act in order to stimulate drilling for natural gas found in shale. Although natural gas exploration was clearly riskier than their other investments, SLIP felt the risks could be managed by drilling only sites that were surrounded on three or four sides by existing wells. To date, SLUR had drilled four wells.It wasn't difficult operationally to drill the wells, but It was challenging to find enough high- quality investment opportunities. In the first five months of production, one of the wells had already paid back 52 percent of its initial investment well ahead of the argue payout. The other wells were also doing quite well and all were on schedule for meeting their target return on investment. SLUR hopes to drill 20 more wells in 1988. Formed. This gave SLUR full responsibility for choosing the sites and managing the well if gas was found. SLUR would retain about 25 percent ownership and sell the rest to several general partners.As managing general partner, SLUR was responsible for hiring a general contractor who would do the drilling. Slur's geologist, Brad Thomas, would determine whether there was enough gas to make it worth completing the well. If he decided to go ahead, the general contractor would be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the well. SLUR had entered into a Joint venture with Excel Energy of Bridgeport, West Virginia, in which it was agreed that Excel would act as the general contractor for all of Slur's wells in West Virginia. Excel also agreed to take a small ownership interest in each of these wells.The Bailey Prospect: Base Case Analysis Exhibit 1 is a copy of the spreadsheet developed by Lisa Weatherboard to analyze the Bailey Prospect. The Ba iley Prospect is surrounded by four producing wells from the target gas formation. Thus, SLUR was pretty confident that they would hit the gas formation, but they were mindful that there is always a possibility that due to geological anomalies (e. G. , drilling into a fault), a well might fail and result in zero production. Brad Thomas (the geologist) estimated the probability of this kind of failure at the Bailey Prospect to be about 10 percent.If they were successful, SLUR would sell the gas to pipeline distributors who would pay a price for the gas that depends on the BTU content of the gas. [2] The BTU content of the gas would not be known until the well was producing, but once reducing, the BTU content would not change over the lifetime of the well. Brad Thomas estimated the BTU content of the gas to be 55 BTU per cubic foot; this was the average of the BTU contents at the nearby wells. The current price paid by the pipeline is $1. 90 per AMBIT (million BTU); the price paid by the pipeline would be tied to the market prices for gas and, hence, might change over time. 3] Lisa assumed that prices would grow with inflation over time. [4] The rate at which gas would flow from the well would not be known until the well was completed. Brad estimated that the gas would initially flow at a rate of 33,000 Mac thousand cubic feet) per year and then decline following the schedule shown in Exhibit 1. The spreadsheet shown in Exhibit 1 is essentially an income statement over the life of the well. (The spreadsheet goes out 25 years; only the first 13 years are shown in the exhibit. ) The gross revenue is the price per Mac of gas times the Mac of gas produced in a given year.To get to net cash flows, royalties, expenses, and taxes must be deducted: 1) From gross revenue, a 12. 5 percent royalty payment to the owner of the mineral rights is deducted, leaving net revenue. This royalty rate was the standard argental pall to ten property owners In ten west Valhalla area. 2) Excel Energy would be paid approximately $300 per month to operate the well. Lisa had budgeted an additional $3,000 per year for other expenses associated with the lease that might be incurred but couldn't now be accurately forecast. These costs were increased annually to reflect inflation. 3) Local taxes of 4. Percent times the gross revenue would be paid to the county and a severance tax[5] of 3. 4 percent would be paid to the state of West Virginia. 4) Depreciation expense for year O equaled the intangible drilling cost[6], which as 72. 5 percent times the total well cost. The remainder of the drilling cost would be depreciated on a straight-line basis over seven years. 5) To compute profit after tax, depletion[7], and state and federal income taxes were subtracted from profit before tax. Numerically, depletion was the smaller of 50 percent times the profit before tax or 1 5 percent times the revenue. ) The state income tax equaled the tax rate multiplied by the difference betwe en profit before tax and depletion. This tax was then reduced by a credit equal to one- half of the severance tax paid to the state. ) Federal income tax was calculated by multiplying the tax rate times the profit before tax less depletion and state tax paid. The federal tax was then reduced by an energy tax credit as allowed in Section 29 of the tax code: the tax credit was determined by multiplying the current tax credit rate ($0. 76 per AMBIT in year 1) by the amount of qualifying production that year.The tax credit rate was increased each year with inflation, but its future value was in the hands of Congress and far from certain. The after-tax cash flow is given by adding back depreciation and depletion to the after-tax profit. Finally, there is the issue of the lease bonus. A lease bonus is a cash payment or bonus paid too landowner in exchange for the drilling and mineral rights. The proposed drilling area at the Bailey Prospect lies on a farm where the owners Mr.. And Mrs.. B ryan Cotter had been reluctant to allow drilling on their land; this is why the surrounding areas were developed and this property was not.Mr.. Cotter had recently passed away and Mrs.. Cotter (at the urging of her children) was now willing to allow drilling and production on her land. Though no offer had yet been made, SLUR had proposed offering Mrs.. Cotter a bonus of $40,000; the lease bonuses for similar properties in the area had been in this range. Financially, if the well is successful, the lease bonus comes directly off the bottom line, providing no tax deductions or depreciation. [8] on ten Dad's AT tense mummers, ten prospect looked good It NAS an rater-tax equity payback period of about 35 months and an internal rate of return of about 29%.To calculate the net present value (NP), Lisa discounted the cash flows using a discount rate of 15 percent, which was Slice's hurdle rate for projects like this. The result was an NP of approximately $79,000. Your Assignment Your boss, Steve Bodily, had presented the results of Alias's analysis to Henry Oysters, a potential general partner. Oysters was impressed with the base-case scenario, but was very concerned about the potential downside risks. â€Å"What if the well doesn't work? How do you know that it will produce that much gas? What if gas prices continue their recent decline?Just about every number in here is a guess. † Bodily was prepared for the first question and knew that, if the well failed, the pretax loss would be approximately $170,000 the cost of drilling the well plus the lease bonus or a net after-tax loss of Bodily was not prepared for the other questions but promised Oysters that he would get back to him with a complete description of the risks associated with the Bailey Prospect. The goal wasn't Just to evaluate the Bailey Prospect but, more generally, to get a better understanding of the risks associated with the kinds of investments SLUR was pursuing.Since Lisa Weatherboard is out of town, Bodily came to you and asked you to examine the risks associated with the Bailey Prospect. Your report will go to SLIP as well as to Oysters. In your conversation with Bodily, he posed the following questions: ) What are the key risks here? 2) What is the project's expected NP taking into account all of these risks? 3) How risky is this project? What is the chance that we have a negative NP on this? 4) How big lease bonus can we afford? Not that I plan to offer Mrs.. Cotter more than $40,000, but it would be good to know how far we can go and still make money. ) What if the Section 29 credit goes away? Congress has been making some noise about that lately. 6) What if the well fails? While we've got the crew out there, should we drill another well? 7) Finally, I know that you don't have time to run numbers for our whole portfolio f properties, but suppose we had 20 opportunities Just like the Bailey Prospect, how risky would this portfolio be? Which would the key uncertainti es be? A qualitative discussion will suffice: we don't need hard numbers on this, but we should be prepared Tort ten question.Bodily concluded, â€Å"Those are the kinds of things that come to mind. Of course, I haven't had much time to think about it and could be missing some important issues. I've scheduled a meeting with Oysters and some of the SLIP partners for next Thursday. Could you prepare a 20-minute presentation on this for then? Good. Thanks. I'll be out of town until then. If you have any questions about doing these kinds of analyses, you might try Jack Grayson. He's done a lot of these risk analyses and will be at the meeting on Thursday. You might want to talk to Brad Thomas as well. Additional Information Fortunately, Brad Thomas (the geologist) was available and offered to help. As far as drilling another well in the event the first one fails, Thomas said, â€Å"Yeah, that might be a good idea. A second well would be cheaper to drill. Of course, it would also be le ss likely to succeed. If the second one fails too, it would be pointless to drill a third ell. † He estimated the cost of drilling the second well to be roughly 75% of the cost of drilling the first well â€Å"you don't have to truck all the drilling equipment out again and you don't have to pay another lease bonus. The cost of completing a second well (if successful) would be the same as the cost of completing the first. Thomas estimated the probability of the second well succeeding (given that the first fails) to be . 50. He also indicated that, if the first well fails, he would revise his estimated initial flow rate down by a third. The decline rate would remain the same. Thomas also indicated that it would not make sense to drill a second well if the first is successful since the two wells would be draining the same area. A second well would speed production you'd get roughly twice as much production at first but you probably double the decline rate as well and end up wit h about the same total amount of gas (maybe slightly more) and be stuck with twice the drilling cost. † On the other issues Thomas said, â€Å"Yeah, this business is pretty much a crap shoot. I'm a geologist. I can't tell you much about Congress or natural gas prices, but I did work up some ranges on the estimates I gave Lisa. See Exhibit 2. ) I've found that I give better estimates if I think about the ranges before I give a particular value.I actually keep track of my estimates and then later see how I did. While I don't always get the right answer, my ranges are pretty good. † These ranges, Thomas says, can be interpreted as 10th and 90th percentiles numbers such that there is a I-in-10 chance that the true value will be below and above these amounts. The base case numbers used in Alias's spreadsheet can be interpreted as 50th percentiles or medians. â€Å"Let me know if you need anything else. † Jack Grayson at SLIP could only offer general advice. As far as developing ranges for the other uncertainties, use your Judgment.I can send you some historical data on inflation and natural gas prices (see Exhibit 3), but looking forward we'll have to guess. If it is important, I may be able to get you more information next week. I know a consultant won may De addle to Nell us Walt ten gas price Toreros t. He could probably get us more on inflation too. I also know a lawyer in D. C. Who has been working with the IRS on Section 29 issues. She might be able to tell us more about that. But I don't want to call these people unless it is important.Let's talk on Monday ND we can decide then whether to call them. † Grayson also suggested that you should be careful about the discount rate. â€Å"The 15 percent rate that Lisa used is risk adjusted – it informally adjusts for the possibility that the well fails, uncertainty about operating costs, etc. Since you are going to explicitly model these risks, you should use a lower discount rate. Because all of these risks with this investment – including natural gas prices – are pretty much uncorrelated with the market as a whole, I would suggest using a risk-free discount rate.The yield of 5- to 10-year treasury bonds is currently around 9 percent why onto you use that rate instead. See you on Monday. † [pick] [pick] *Note: The production decline rates – shown near the top of the spreadsheet – are highly correlated. If you have rapid decline in the first year, you are likely to have rapid decline in subsequent years as well. Similarly, if you have slow decline in the first year, you are likely to have slow decline in subsequent years. To capture this dependence, we need to vary all of the decline rates together.

The last chapter of the novel ‘The Crucible’

‘Here. Now. It's all clear,' whispered Abigail coarsely, choking back a cough. Mercy squeezed through the small gap in the fence to join Abigail the other side. Together, grasping each other's hands for comfort, they darted through the trees, into the forest that served as a barrier between the sea and Salem. They ran along a faint path of trampled grass, till they arrived at a clearing, the same clearing where they and the others had danced six months ago. They stopped at the edge, panting for breath, with the moonlight streaming in through the gap in the trees illuminating the way ahead. They gazed around in silence, till Mercy sniggered. ‘I was just rememb'rin' the time we danced, and Parris,' she paused, smiling in amusement, ‘and Parris, he saw me dancin' naked!' ‘Aye, and dear Betty,' said Abby, ‘she were too young, we should never have let her come.' ‘That were wierdish, though. She lay on her bed, frozen, whimp'ring for her Mama. Aye, that were wierdish.' ‘Mary meant to tell-I know it. I remember her words even now, ‘Witchery's a hangin' error', ‘it's a sin to conjure',' Abby imitated, with a likeness that caused Mercy to shiver with remembrance as it all came back to her head. ‘Did you hear what happened to Tituba? She left the courtroom with Sarah Good, shoutin' to a cow ‘Take me home, Devil; Devil take me home.' She told them all that the Devil, ‘him be pleasure-man in Barbados!† Mercy laughed, as Abby ran through the trees shouting charms in Tituba's Barbados accent. ‘You beg me conjure, come, make charm with me!' Abby shrieked, violently swaying over an imaginary fire, as Tituba had done, calling out the names of the ingredients as she plucked them from the air. She beckoned to Mercy in a low whisper, ‘Come try Tituba's charm, come drink to kill Goody Proctor.' ‘Abby, you'll make me dream corruptions soon, and yourself,' said Mercy, with a serious tone to her voice. ‘You make me think I did see spirits, that I did see that yellow bird, on the beam, behind the rafter in the court room.' ‘Come on Mercy, you're harder than that,' teased Abby, ‘if I hadn't seen your face, I would have thought you were Mary Warren.' Mercy playfully punched Abby in the arm. Abby lay there shivering as the cold night breeze passed through the forest, whistling through the trees. The events of the last six months ran through her head, it was only the spring when they had danced. The bluebells had gone now, but the memories hadn't. The trial had taken its toll on Abby, her face was pale and the bags under her eyes grew each day. The days that went on forever in the courtroom, tirelessly questioned, till they got the answer they wanted, truth or not. She still had the guilt feeling in her, that Proctor's death was not meant to happen, and that she could have stopped it. But she forced this to the back of her mind, but it haunted her when her mind was still, each night, and slowly, it was wearing her down. She looked over at Mercy, whose large figure was stretched out on the grass beside her, her mouth wide open, loudly inhaling the cold air. Mercy was a tough girl, she had to be to work at the Putnams', yet had a conscience but Abby knew that it could easil y be convinced by some persuasive talking. She slowly drifted into doze but was easily awoken by the first light of dawn. She leapt up, knowing they had to be out of the region fast, or else they would be caught, made to return and punished. Within minutes, Mercy and Abby were running through the trees till they were out in the open fields at least three miles from Salem. ‘We'll have to stop for some food at a farm, else we'll never make it to Andover,' Mercy said. ‘When the sun rises over those hills,' said Abby pointing to the East where the red, early morning light was focused. ‘Then we'll find the nearest farm, and get somethin' till last us till tonight.' They walked for an hour, hardly talking. Their shoes pounded on the dirt track road, with an urgency that urged them to walk faster. They reached a turning to a farm, and turned down. ‘I'm goin' to talk to the farmer,' said Abby, taking control. ‘Stay a few metres back, but still in view.' Abby strided on up to the door and beat her fist on it, before Mercy could argue. ‘Good Sir, we have been travellin' for over a week now, and our bodies are weak. We had to leave our small village as Mercy, this girl here, she was found guilty of traffickin' with spirits.' Abby's voice deliberately started to crackle, as if attempting to hold in her tears but not very successfully. ‘She was so weak; I felt I couldn't leave her to run away by herself, if she didn't, she would have had to face the rope, and I care for her, I do.' ‘Aye,' the farmer said, nodding. ‘And so you gave all up for this sinner here.' ‘Aye, 'tis right good Sir. My name will be soiled in these parts, but Mercy would never have made it to Boston by herself. I felt it my duty as a friend.' A tear dropped from Abby's eye, and she made no attempt to wipe it away. ‘I'm sure my wife will have some spares for you,' said the farmer, smiling kindly down at her. ‘But she won't like you sharing it with your friend, she will never help the devil in any way. Goody Jones, do you have any left of yesterday's pie?' ‘Aye, of course, I'll bring it to you right away,' called a voice from within the small old building. Within moments, a small plump lady had appeared, with a kind smile, and welcoming eyes, like her husband's. ‘Oh, how long have you been travelling, child?' she asked, looking at Abby, ‘you'll need to get some of this down you soon. Here let me wrap it up in a cloth.' She disappeared again, for a moment, ferreted around in some drawers, and appeared with a patterned cloth to wrap up the pie. ‘Here you go. And safe journey.' ‘Safe journey,' called the two of them, as Abby turned round and started to walk towards Mercy. She stopped at the sight of Mercy's face. It was tense with anger, and as red as the fresh berries on the bush nearby. ‘Abigail Williams, how dare you? You lied, you lied, I never-‘ she broke off in anger. Her eyes could have shot like arrows. Her body was stiff and started to shake. ‘We had to get food, I had to,' Abby replied defiantly. ‘You lied,' repeated Mercy, spitting the words out as if they were poisonous. ‘You had to leave too, Abigail Williams, we left as you could not walk through the village without hearing your soiled name mentioned, and people running from your face. It were not my fault we had to leave, Abby, 'twas yours as well. Tell them that, Abby, tell them that you caused the death of John Proctor, and mark it Abby, mark it, Elizabeth is sure to hang once her baby is born.' Mercy was almost shouting by now. Abby kicked a stone in the road. ‘Look we had to get food,' she explained, knowing she shouldn't have, but never prepared to admit. ‘I'm goin' to Andover, and then to Boston. I don't care about you, I saved you Mercy from the judges, I saved you, and this is how you repay me? Well Mercy Lewis, you go by yourself and I'll go by myself and we'll see who gets there in the end.' ‘Fine, I can manage myself, I'm eighteen now, older than you, and you never helped, just caused problems. 'twas your fault we danced, you begged Tituba to conjure, because of you, Abigail Williams, the whole country's talkin' witchcraft.' At this, Abby turned her back on Mercy and strode down the dirt track, her eyes focused on the skyline ahead, not turning to look back, at Mercy's aghast face. She smiled a tight, forced smile, but she was happy, Mercy was shocked. Mercy's face was frozen in horror, the words had just come out of her mouth, she knew, although she was older than Abby, she couldn't look after herself, and Abby could. It was Abby's imagination that had lied them through, it was Abby's determination that would get her to Boston, it was Abby who could look after herself, not Mercy. She could never give in to Abby, so she turned dejectedly back down the long straight road and started to walk the long way back to Salem. She dragged her feet on the ground, wishing she hadn't said anything. She was tempted to run after her, but it was too far, and that was exactly what Abby wanted. Abby, meanwhile, was far in the distance. She sat down on a boulder by the side of the road to rest her aching feet. She closed her eyes and thought of Boston. She imagined the skyline view, the way it had always been described. A big town, busy with people, no one would know her name, or what she had done. She was about to start a new life. She could smell all the market fish, and could hear the buzz of noise from the inhabitants. The place was alive with colour, she had left Salem, and its old wooden buildings, her mud covered clothes, faded in time. Her life seemed awash of brown and grey, but now as she thought ahead, she dreamt of the exciting new start, about to begin.