Wednesday, July 31, 2019

John Proctor Essay

The audience now have conflicting emotions; there is confusion as although we know he has made a mistake, he doesn’t deserve to die for it, we also feel disappointed that Proctor has given into Danforth showing a weakness rather than power and bravery. The courts are relieved that Proctor decides to confess and they want him to sign a confession, Danforth explains why it needs to be signed ‘Why, for the good instruction of the village†¦ ‘ Proctor first shows signs of changing his mind ‘You have all witnessed it- it is enough’ Proctor is adamant that he doesn’t want to take his verbal confession any further. He says ‘I have given you my soul; leave me my name! ‘ he is in a desperate situation as although he has confessed to impiety he doesn’t want everyone in Salem to see the evidence of it. Proctor †¦ tears the paper and crumples it, but he is weeping in fury but erect. He has resolved his dilemma and has made his final decision to hang. The audience feel empathy for Proctor however we are glad he has made the righteous decision, redeeming himself in the end. His final words convey his good sense of morals and his courage. He says ‘†¦ I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. ‘ The audience agree with his decision as it separates him from the hypocrisy of others. It also expresses his honesty in direct conflict with Danforth who is completely corrupt and irrational; Proctor says ‘Show honour now, show a stony heart and sink them with it! ‘ It is a heroic end for Proctor showing his strength and dignity. By the end of the play some of the characters hold different views on Proctor. At the beginning of the play when Hale first arrived in Salem he was very enthusiastic about the witchcraft but throughout the play his views swayed towards Proctor’s explanation of the accusations. He realises that the witch-hunts are a consequence of dangerous pretence caused by a young girl’s vengeance. ‘It is a lie! They are innocent! ‘ Hale is certain that this is fraud and he feels guilty for his earlier actions. ‘Let you not mistake your duty as I mistook my own†¦. And where I turned the eye of my great faith, blood flowed up. ‘ Hale knows he has done wrong and he is sincere and honest enough to admit his errors. As the play progresses we see a change in Elizabeth’s attitude, at the very end of the play a lot of the tension between them is resolved. Elizabeth admits that she was also to blame for their difficult marriage; ‘It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery’ she has now fully forgiven him and they both realise their love for each other. Moments before Proctor hangs they share a loving, affectionate kiss He has lifted her, and kisses her now with great passion. Now that Proctor feels a genuine love and forgiveness he can die with an easy mind and with dignity. Hale’s condemnation and pleading with Elizabeth to save Proctor is a point of high dramatic tension as he knows that she is the only one that can change his mind. Hale pleads, ‘Woman, plead with him! Woman! It is pride, it is vanity. ‘ Elizabeth knows that she can’t take Hale’s advice as she knows her husband has made the morally right, honourable decision for himself. Miller uses Elizabeth’s final statement to confirm that Proctor is a tragic hero. ‘He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him! ‘ This demonstrates that she cannot intervene because she can’t take away his honesty and make his imperative decision for him. This proves that Proctor is a tragic hero as he chooses to die with an honest conscience. Proctor refuses to collaborate with the evil of the courts. ‘God does not need my name nailed up upon the church! ‘ He will not agree to his signed confession being shown to the people of Salem because he doesn’t want there to be any significant evidence of the lie he is giving. When Proctor reflects on himself, he is quite harsh. ‘I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is fraud. ‘ He is blaming himself for the situation he is in now as it is a consequence of his affair with Abigail. As he realises his mistakes he begins to see himself as a fraud. The witch-hunt shown in The Crucible has a strong link to the McCarthy trials in the early 1950s, as both occasions created a vast hysteria. Both Danforth and Abigail are closely linked to John McCarthy as they are trying to gain power. Abigail was constantly manipulating the courts; therefore a consequent fear and hysteria is created and innocent people like Mary Warren, who get frightened and intimidated, start to betray friends. Millers’ message is trying to tell the audience to be aware of, and stand up to people like Danforth and Abigail and expose things before it’s too late. Also, that we should beware that a petty pretence can become extremely dangerous. As we observe, Proctor comes across as very self-centred at the beginning of The Crucible and he doesn’t seem to be aware of his mistakes- he is hypocritical and angry at Elizabeth for not forgiving him straight away for his affair, ‘You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin’. Learn charity woman. ‘ However as the play progresses the audience experience a new, moral and powerful Proctor who notices his faults. He now understands his errors and thinks of himself as a sinner ‘I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint†¦ My honesty is broke. Elizabeth; I am no good man. ‘ I do not completely agree with the statement ‘What is John Proctor? I am no saint; for me it is fraud. I am not that man. ‘ Although he has sinned by lying and committing lechery with Abigail he doesn’t deserve to die as a consequence of Abigail’s vengeance. I feel that Proctor is being quite harsh on himself because even though he makes mistakes that put him in this situation, he redeems himself in the end by telling the truth and dying with dignity. ‘†¦ for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. ‘ To conclude, I consider Proctor as more of a saint than a sinner. He is not a complete saint but I do believe that his courage, good sense of morals and power should be honoured and respected as he was a decent, noble man.   C20th Drama Coursework Essay: The Crucible Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Psy

Predict success In achieving your goals based on your past positive experiences, your Individual personality (as determined by the trait approach discussed In chapter six), and your major field of study. This assignment must be approximately four pages in length (not Including the title and reference pages), double spaced, written in Times New Roman 12-point font, and submitted as a Microsoft Word document using the Assignment Submission button. For additional help, please see Sample Week Four Paper. Support your work with citations from two scholarly sources.One can be from Adult Development and Learning; however, the other source must be from the Gifford university Library. The video, Finding Scholarly Sources, is a helpful guide to locating appropriate sources from the library. The paper must be properly formatted according to PAP style as outlined in the Gifford Writing Center and include a separate title and reference page. The Gifford Writing Center (CAW) has two kinds of tutor ing available to you. I have often thought of my dream Job and what I would like to do as a career or job if I could solely focus on what would make me happy instead of would would make me he most money.Physical setting and environment in which you would like to spend your working hours. In regards to my dream Job and where I would like for it to take place. My dream Job would be owner of my own party planning company. The great part of being a party planner is that my physical setting would change providing me a change of scenery should I need It. I would have the option of working from home when need It. A office space to meet with clients and the enjoyment of meeting clients at different venues on the actual day of the events and In the different phases of planning.Types of activities and responsibilities you would Like to spend your time performing I love helping people and planning parties and events it's something that allows me to be creative. My responsibilities would includ e meeting with clients and making sure that I make sure that there special occasion request are fulfilled in addition I will spend time traveling to different venues and networking with people who are in efficiently. Kinds of people like you like working with. I have spend the last 20 years working in customer service. I have met people from all walks of life. I am truly a people person.I love working with all people. One of the reasons that I chose being a party planner as my dream Job is due to the fact that I like working with people and being a party planner will give me the chance to meet and help a lot of people that I probably other wise would not get a chance to know. Personal goals an accomplishment you would like to achieve as part of your work. I like helping people in addition it has always been my goal to own run and operate a successful company. Nothing is more rewarding than helping people while doing something you enjoy and of course making money at the same time.As long as I use the skills that I have learned so far in this course in regards to accomplishing short term and long term goals I am confident that I can one day own and operate my own business. 1 . What steps does your textbooks author recommend for achieving your short term goals? The author has a lot of good advice in regard to achieving your short term goals. But the two steps that he has to get you to your goal are. To identify the appropriate goals and then devise an effective plan and strategy to achieve your goals.The author then goes into detail on how to do this such as identifying your worth term goals and then ranking them in order and then selecting what is most important or urgent. 2. What steps does your textbooks author recommend for achieving your long term goals? The author explains that setting long term goals can be a bit complex and long term goals can often change as you change or grow older. The author also explains that you need to identify the most appropriate long term goal for yourself in addition you need to have an understanding of yourself and find things that interest your or bring you satisfaction. . Describe an important decision n your academic or personal life that you will have to make in the near future. In the near future I will have a very important decision to make that will effect my academic as well as my personal life. I am thinking long and hard about relocating to a different state. If I do that will mean a new school as well as relocating my son and moving him away from friends and family. It will be hard but when I look at the pros and cons I believe that the move will be hard but in the best interest of me and my son in the long term. 4.Explain the reasons for your decision and conclude with your est. possible choice (reference the five step decision making approach described in Chapter 1, pages 21 – 24) A decision to move to another state cannot be taken lightly especially when you have others who will be e ffected by your decision In using the method for decision making as described in the text book I have clearly thought out by thoughts about moving to another state, what I would do when I got there could I achieve my goals without moving and if indeed moving is the right thing to do at this time. In mapping it out it is clear that I need to put a lot more thought and

Monday, July 29, 2019

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Human Resource Management - Essay Example Organisational culture can affect the organisation either in a negative or a positive way depending on what kind of culture it develops. Positive culture not only saves the organisation from too many issues such as legal suits, it also helps in developing the organisational talent. In an organisation where there is positive organizational culture, there are efficiencies and effectiveness which are achieved by the organization in terms of the way it manages its talent. Organisations with a positive culture are also likely to be able to serve its customers in a better way and this will help the organization to be more successful. To sum it all, the reason why organisation culture affects the organisation so much is because it affects the most useful asset of an organisation, that is, the human resource. The strategic management process is a process which is geared towards giving the organisation a strategic edge against its competitors (Grà ¼nig & Kà ¼hn, 2010). This process starts by identifying the strategic goals which the organization intends to achieve. Once the organisation identifies the strategies it wants to achieve, it then narrows this down to the individual objectives (goals). These individual goals however require some resources in order to be achieved and in this case the organization must take a audit of its resource capabilities to determine which resources it has and which it lacks. At this point, the organisation refines is objectives to cater for any resource gap which may appear. After that, the plan is executed and the final results are seen. The final results are analyzed to see if that helped the organisation and the process is then repeated over and over. This helps the organization to continually become better and to gain strategic edge in the end. Both i nternal and external factors affect the process since they affect the environment and the resources available for the process. Sexual harassment issues are

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Liverppol Vision Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Liverppol Vision Company - Essay Example In addition, they have also gained resources from Europe and from the National Government, to create a City Centre that brings in new investment and employment opportunities to the people of Liverpool city. They have made a total investment of 3 billion, towards the regeneration of Liverpool city centre. The aims of economic revival have been targeted at their chosen areas of action, which are as follows: Kings Waterfront - This region has the largest development on the Liverpool waterfront. Liverpool Vision and its partners English Partnerships, Northwest Development Agency and Liverpool City Council are jointly promoting its development by using its potential for residential, hotel, office, retail, leisure, community and open space uses. Hope Street Quarter - Hope Street connects Liverpool to its cultural, spiritual and educational epicenters. It is the place of magnificent attractions such as The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and the successful award winning Hope Street Hotel. Another significant aspect of this area, is its distinct historic environment, the hallmark of which are the two landmark Cathedrals. Liverpool Vision is working with key businesses and other stakeholders, with the intention of promoting the economic potential of this area by taking necessary steps to connect this area with the life of the city. Pier Head & Mann Island - This area of Liverpool has been the essence of what constitutes Liverpool to the rest of the world. It is made up some of the best known architectures such as of the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building, and the Port of Liverpool Building, collectively known as the Three Graces - with striking views of the river. In June 2005, Planning and Development Brief prepared by Liverpool Vision in collaboration with the two landowners, National Museums Liverpool and Northwest Regional Development Agency, was endorsed by the Liverpool City Council. This is the first step towards implementing the idea of rejuvenating this part of the city. Commercial district - This area was established in the 19th Century. Two of the most important stock exchanges Corn Exchange (Dale Street) and Cotton Exchange (Old Hall Street) are located in this district. Using resources, Liverpool Visions has ambitions to create a 21st century business environment, in commercials district to make up for the shortage of high quality commercial space in Liverpool. In October 2005, Liverpool Vision was given the Outline Planning consent for a new Commercial Quarter in the heart of Liverpool City Centre. The proposals put forth will see the creation of 1.5m sq ft of high quality commercial space, new public spaces, and associated car parking on the area bounded by Leeds Street, Pall Mall, Tithebarn Street and Old Hall Street. Castle Street (Live Work District) - This area is made up of Victorian office buildings, which are now being converted into apartments, with their ground floors being used for commercial purposes. Liverpool Vision is not just concerned with bringing new developments into residential and official area, but it also aims to remove traffic from main routes of this areas in order to, create a more pedestrian friendly environment. Lime Street Gateway - Lime street gateway is the key gateway to Liverpool

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Music assignments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Music assignments - Assignment Example The introductory part of the prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun has prominent parts of the harp and wind instruments. A unique feeling is created by the chromatic note sequence of the wind instrument heard in the initial stages of the Prelude. Derived harmonies and derived chords of namely 7ths, 9ths, augmented and diminished are heard creating a spectacular feeling of peace and anticipation at the same time. The feeling of the time of the day i.e., Afternoon is uniquely and clearly brought out. The song through unusual note sequence and mood changing notes introduced at the demarcation point of the stanzas of the musical piece creates a journey on its own. The undulating tone and progression and regression of notes introduce the feeling of being close to nature and natural cycles. The Afternoon of a Faun represents many feelings, peace, satisfaction, relief, fear, quest, confusion and relaxation. Quite unique and characteristic to Claude Debussy, his work is in this piece is characterised by unconventional rise and fall of tempo, intensity and notes. It involves the waxing and waning of the overall mood that the composition tries to convey. A rhythmic variation is also noticed towards the middle for the composition where stringed instruments dominant for most of the part. Claude Debussy’s unexpected harmony of strings and thought provoking combination of notes are seen in the background sequences that fill up the musical piece. The signature line of the musical piece shows Debussy’s ability to skilfully blend discordant notes into a mystical harmony and give it a life like affect. The signature line has the alternating major and minor chords playing. Debussy’s sight variation of the opening material is revealed toward the end with sharp clarinet sequences, differing in tempo, rhythm, timbre and overall texture. It is

Friday, July 26, 2019

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe Essay

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe - Essay Example Poe draws this classical connection between the family and the land early on, saying bluntly that the House of Usher is "an appellation which seemed to include, in the mind of the peasantry who used it, both the family and the family mansion" (Poe 45). The future of the House is revealed in the observation that the family "had put forth, at no period, any enduring branch" (Poe 45). It is not a prolific family tree, and neither Roderick nor the Lady Madeleine exhibit the sanguinity to make them fit stewards of the property or likely to bear any descendents. The House of Usher, we are to understand, is dying. Their lands exhibit an atmosphere of death, the family is vulnerable to illness, both physical and mental, and they just don't seem like the kind of people with the inclination to procreate. The very idea of children feels sacrilegious in this somber atmosphere. The bleak surroundings are apparent before any observations are made on the family. The story opens with a long paragraph describing precisely how desolate and disconcerting the landscape is. The house is located in "a singularly dreary tract of country" (Poe 43), the first adjective used to describe it is "melancholy" (Poe 43), and the narrator's first emotional response to its sight is, "a sense of insufferable doom" (Poe 43).

Leadership credibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership credibility - Essay Example An overview of the four characteristics described in Kouzes and Posner Being honest This is the first among the characteristic of effective leadership as described by in Kouzes and Posner, which requires that a leader should always be truthful (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). According to Kouzes and Posner, leadership is all about relationships, and no one can possibly do it alone. Therefore, it requires the ability to inspire others to take up the challenge of realizing a common goal that an organization or a group of people have set to achieve. However, without being honest and truthful, there is no way that a leader can inspire others, because honesty does not only come in the form of acting and telling the truth, but also living the truth, demonstrated through following a set of ethical standards and principles (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Therefore, it is through the consistency of the leader to say, to act and live what is truthful, through adhering to ethical principles and set standards, that motivates the other subordinates within the organization to join in the challenge of achieving what the organization has set to achieve. Forward-Looking This fundamental principle of great leadership provides that leaders must have a vision for the organization that they lead, but most importantly is that the vision should be well aligned with the aspirations of the organizational stakeholders (Kouzes & Posner, 2012).... on, and this way, makes it easy for the people to rally behind the leader, simply because they all know the direction they, and the organization is headed (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Inspiring Maintaining a positive attitude has always been the fundamental principal of achieving, on the face of numerous existing challenges (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Therefore, the only way through which an organization can succeed is through having employees and a management team that shares a positive attitude, which then gives them a commitment to continue striving towards realizing the future objectives of an organization. Motivation, therefore, forms the basis of good leadership, where great leadership does not seek to castigate the subordinates or continuously point at their weakness and failures, but on the contrary, it entails seeking for their areas of strength and motivating them to enhance it, with genuineness and interest in their positive achievement (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). A great leader alw ays shares the excitement of future organizational possibilities, and then shares the excitement with the team that works through him/her, through motivating them to put on a positive attitude and brace to overcome all obstacles towards realizing the organizational vision. Competent The greatest achievement that any leader can ever have is the ability to get things done. How better then it is, to have things done, through instilling a positive attitude on the team that works towards realizing the set objectives (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). Therefore, competency is an essential characteristic of any great leader, since it entails the application of both leadership and behavioral skills, to rally the workforce behind an established organizational course, and motivate them towards realizing the

Thursday, July 25, 2019

America Prior to the Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

America Prior to the Civil War - Essay Example The most important changes at the time of industrialization were the development of machines that replaced hand tools, the use of steam and power that substituted for the use of muscles of man animals, and the adoption of factory system. The Industrial revolution started in Great Britain in the mid-18th century. America was behind because its population was more occupied in farming and trading. It was too slow to adopt machineries because, as a new nation, America had little capital for investment. Labor was scarce since men were pushing westward and were engaged in clearing forests, and establishing themselves on the land (â€Å"Economic growth and early industrial revolution†). Industrialization in the United States started in 1790 and is credited to Samuel Slatter who copied the mill technology from the British model. Slatter came to the United States in 1789 and was hired to build a mill. English laws do not allow export of machineries or plans on making it. So Slatter des igned the mill from his memory and built it in 1790. When British products became difficult to obtain because of war, American investors thought of building more factories and machineries; thus, historians aptly called these changes as the first industrial revolution (â€Å"Economic growth and early industrial revolution†). Soon enough, New England developed the important textile industry. The inventions of the spinning and weaving machines operated on water made production more feasible. Other inventions were introduced. In Pennsylvania, smelting in stone furnaces produced iron for machines, tools, and guns. Charcoal was discovered in forested land. Steam driven spinning machines operated in New York by 1810. And by 1814, the first practical power loom was installed in Massachusetts. A factory system of production was also introduced in the shoe production in Massachusetts in the early 19th century (â€Å"Economic growth and early industrial revolution†). The use of m achines paved the way for an organizational strategy that implemented a factory system to increase productivity. The factory structure replaced the output work system wherein small parts of a larger production process were carried out in individual homes. In the factory system, work was done in a centralized location. The new system promoted efficiency in production. All these developments caused New England to be the first area in the United States to be industrialized. Invention in cotton production altered the shape of agricultural production. Prior to industrialization, historians cited farmers playing the pivotal role in the economy. Up to 1850, farmers accounted for 85% of the population (Scott). Tobacco cultivation, once profitable, gave way to cotton production. Cotton has diminished production of cattle, indigo and pine trees in the south. The price of labor increased because of the demand for slaves to work for cotton production. The cheap and easy way of cotton production made it easier for the masses to wear cotton dresses. Facts submitted by Dr. Carolle Scott (1997), a history professor, showed that British demand for cotton and the Midwestern settlement started the regional specialization and trade that now account for the economic term of comparative advantage. The development of machines is an era

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Social Prejudices against Divorced Women in Modern China Research Paper

Social Prejudices against Divorced Women in Modern China - Research Paper Example She initiates the divorce and is okay living her life as a single mother. However, in the eyes of society, this is not the case. To them, a divorced woman is an unhappy, miserable woman. According to that society, it is assumed that a woman must be left or dumped by her husband for a divorce to take place. An illustration is when everyone in her workplace condemns Zhu Xiaofen’s husband for leaving her, without even knowing the full story or letting her explain her side of the story. Another example is when her friend from college insists that Zhu is aging and looking sickly just because her husband left her. When her colleagues see her jumping the rope outside their office, they all think that she is jumping to impress them and trick them to believe she is fine, so as to suppress her real feelings. In the story, another form of prejudice noted is that for a divorce to take place the woman must be the cause and she must do everything to avoid the shame of divorce. This is best illustrated when Zhu’s former principle sees her on the train and tells her that women must behave well in order to make a marriage work and avoid the shameful act of divorce. She claims that if Zhu had taken things seriously, her marriage would work. Another form of social prejudice observed is that divorced women cannot be self-sufficient. This is illustrated in the story when her friend who was a ticket-taker at the train station assumed that since she was divorced, no one would come and pick her and she even suggested asking her husband to give Zhu a lift in his cab. This is an assumption that when a woman gets divorced, she lacks the support of her husband and so she cannot do some of the tasks on her own. They tend to insist on helping even when it is not necessary.  Ã‚  

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Finacce for buisness Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Finacce for buisness - Speech or Presentation Example Round off to the nearest $1. 11. Bobby’s grandmother deposited $100 in a savings account for him when he was born. The money has been earning an annual rate of 12% interest, compounded quarterly for the last 25 years. He is getting married and would like to take his new bride on a fabulous honeymoon. How much does he have in this account to use? 13. Harold Hawkins bought a home for $320,000. He made a down payment of $45,000; the balance will be paid off over 30 years at a 6.775% rate of interest. How much will Haroldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s monthly payments be? Round off to the nearest $1. 14.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  You want to travel to Europe to visit relatives when you graduate from college three years from now. The trip is expected to cost a total of $10,000. Your parents have deposited $5,000 for you in a CD paying 6% interest annually, maturing three years from now. Aunt Hilda has agreed to finance the balance. If you are going to put Aunt Hildaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s gift in an investment earning 10% over the next three years, how much must she deposit now so you can visit your relatives in three

Monday, July 22, 2019

Alcohol Peer Pressure in College Essay Example for Free

Alcohol Peer Pressure in College Essay In the article â€Å"Above the Influence,† the main idea focuses on how alcohol in college has clinched onto society and is now considered a norm. The goal of this study was to explore how non drinking college students negotiated communication about a potentially stigmatized behavior abstinence from alcohol (675). The concept of the paper goes into depth on how students who dont drink alcohol are usually an outcast or fall into peer pressure to fit in. In order to support the claims, researchers conducted an experiment to prove their hypothesis. They used both strict non drinkers and drinkers and placed the participants on a party school campus where alcohol is greatly abused. The actions of the kids varied on whether they would keep their non drinking low key or allow others to know about their situation. The research allowed the experimenters to see the variation of how the abstinent drinkers used communication to still fit in. The claims I most agreed with was allowing different non drinkers with various backgrounds to be put in similar situations. The diversity gave a better out look on how they would try to still be social even without the alcohol consumption. When the students used their different tactics to party without upsetting the other drinkers, I believe the empty cup was the best plan (679). When youre communicating and trying to avoid any issues or quarrels, it is best to please the opposite party. Although some of the students did not drink, holding a cup would allow them to socialize without being hounded. Drinking has become a normality in both college and adult culture. It can even be seen as disrespectful to some to refuse the offer or abstain from it. The empty cup allows positive face to take place without questioning or disturbance from drunken or concerned peers. Participant Kristen stated that the cup gave her â€Å"control† of the situation and did give any negative vibes toward others. She was able to fit in the crowd with no problem. The non alcoholic cup could also allow the student to assimilate with new friends without feeling awkward or left out. It can give power to those who feel uncomfortable and out of place when faced with alcohol. Being a minority can always be harsh but the cup trick allowed a path into the majority without losing morals and beliefs. The claims that I did not agree with the most was blatantly telling fellow party goers that they were not drinkers. Choosing to abstain from alcohol should be kept as a private matter and does not need to be show boated or announced. A non drinker who states their lifestyle can be seen as a prude or over responsible. Their actions can belittle a social drinker and even stir up an argument (678). As shown in the article, participant Andy was caught in an argument with a girl after declaring his abstinence. He could have hurt his relationship if the issue had gotten out of hand. His honesty without privacy has caused an uneasy feeling among others. Some of the students could have tried to please themselves and their peers by using a prop to get out of pressure. College students already know how hard it is to assimilate without adding alcohol to the mix and should try to avoid any persecution. In many cases it is great to own up to a positive lifestyle, but dealing with young adults is in another spectrum. The brutality and insults given by peers can damage a person both emotionally and mentally. The bashing can also cause one to change their outlook or mentality about drinking. By being unaccepted into the norm, a person can try to change their selves to fit in. Not only can denying drinking be an issue to the victim, but also a fellow peer. Alcohol is not always the center of a party or get together, but it is shown that when someone refuses a drink, the offered can feel offended, as if he or she were being dismissed as a person (677). Looking to keep the best interest of both parties is not to inform others about personal decisions. The experiment overall did allow many questions to be debunked, but I dont agree with using a college as a normal situation. In college, students are given a great amount of freedom which causes curiosity and experimenting. Whether it is with drugs or alcohol, college students use foreign or illegal items excessive when they are accessible. Most students are able to kick the negative habits when they are thrown into the real world and given real problems. The experiment should have been used in both college and adult life to give a feel on how being a non drinker is abnormal. I believe that a non drinker would be more accepted in a real world situation because being responsible is admirable when older. When put into a college realm, people tend to be very judgmental due to the level of maturity. Peer pressure never disappears but it does subside when the level of maturity develops fully. Adults do not force or ridicule others when they are giving off a positive action. Although non drinkers can fall into stereotypical types such as a recovering alcoholic (676), it is easy to kick the labels when older. Therefore I do believe this article and research met the goal of different communication skills when dealing with abnormal choices in society. The experiment allowed to explore the responses of people when deciding on how they deal with abstaining from alcohol. Some of the feedback gave positive and accepting results while other communication methods created tension and unwanted stress. Although some forms of communication worked better in social situations rather than others, having an array of different attitudes helped determined which faces worked best in college. The positive face allowed participants to have both a good time and maintain their safety. The other participants who chose their own route did have a hard time being accepted by others. Both methods created different paths, but allowed their abstinence of alcohol to be accepted in either a positive or negative light.

Sugarcane Bagasse Characterization

Sugarcane Bagasse Characterization The major composition of a lignocellulosic biomass is lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose, which is responsible for the structure and rigidity of plant. These components has been reported to have high potential energy and are been widely used as fuel in automobile and industries. The components of the bagasse were chemically characterized by measuring their dry weight. Table # represents the composition of dry sugarcane bagasse analysed in the present study compared with data collected from other research articles. The dissimilarities in composition of lignin and cellulose might be due to genetics variations, growing location, methods of harvesting, growing conditions and analytical procedures. Table 1. Major component of sugarcane bagasse Cellulose (%) Lignin (%) References 46 19.6 Present Study 40.57 25.93 (Zeng, Tong, Wang, Zhu, Ingram, 2014) 25 16.2 (Dhabhai, Jain, Chaurasia, 2012) 40 23 (Irfan, Gulsher, Abbas, Syed, Nadeem, 2011) 45.4 23.4 (Pereira, Jacobus, Cioffi, Mulinari, Luz, 2011) As per the generated data, cellulose content in the bagasse was 46%, which was further reformed into accessible form for the saccharification enzyme. While the lignin constituted 19.6%, thus removal of lignin was carried out by the pre-treatment of bagasse for an efficient enzymatic hydrolysis. Cellulose Unit Activity The AumEnzymes, India generously donated two commercial cellulases, Acid Cellulase and Neutral cellulase. The cellulase activity of Aspergillus terreus, acid cellulase, and neutral cellulase were compared in order to proceed for the optimization of saccharification phase. The International Unit for enzyme activities (IU) of all the three cellulases were based on the total cellulase activity and endoglucanase activity, determined by the CMCase assay and FPU assay respectively. Table# represents the FPU and CMCase activity presented by all the three enzymes. The data in the table# clearly concluded that all the three cellulase have negligible total cellulase activity, while they have a high amount of endoglucanase activity. Table 2. Comparison of Cellulase Activity Cellulase CMCase Activity (IU) FPU Activity (IU) Aspergillus terreus 0.273 0.045 Acid 0.966 0.028 Neutral 0.223 0.000 Which might indicate that all the cellulases has endoglucanase activity but, the negligible exoglucanases activity resulted in considerable reduction in total cellulase activity. Since the Acid cellulase had relatively higher enzyme activity, it was further used as the saccharifying enzyme. The protein content in the Acid cellulose was found using the protein assay and it was found to be 67.67 ÃŽ ¼g/mg of Acid cellulase powder. The specific activity was 14.11 IU/mg of Acid cellulase, indicating that 14.11 ÃŽ ¼mol of sugar is released by 1 mg of Acid cellulase (protein) in one unit. Optimization of alkaline The statistical design used for the microwave assisted alkaline pre-treatment is a four factors (weight of bagasse, power of microwave in wattage, NaOH concentration and the exposure time period) system, the response of the pre-treatment was based on the cellulose composition and reduced lignin after the pre-treatment. The design summary is shown in the Table #. Table 3. Design Summary Study Type: Response Surface Runs: 21 Initial Design: Central Composite Design Model: Quadratic Factor Name Units Low Actual High Actual Low Coded High Coded Mean A Bagasse g% 2.5 10 -1 1 6.25 B Microwave W 100 600 -1 1 350 C NaOH g% 1 5 -1 1 3 D Time minutes 5 10 -1 1 7.5 Response Name Units Analysis Minimum Maximum C.V % R2 Y1 Cellulose g% Polynomial 0 81.2 9.3 0.9679 Y2 Lignin Removal g% Polynomial 0 67.25 8.54 0.9735 The design was a set of 21 runs, combinations of four factor experimental design, based on the RSM and CCD (Tabel#). The RSM is mathematical based system to study the interactions between the factors, while the CCD enables us to deduce an optimal condition for the pre-treatment. Table 4. Test design and results of response surface analysis Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Response 1 Response 2 Std Run A:Substrate B:Microwave C:NaOH D:Time Cellulose Lignin Removal g W g% minutes g% g% 16 1 6.25 350 3.0 11.7 76.8 48.14 15 2 6.25 350 3.0 3.3 59.2 42.7 6 3 2.50 100 5.0 5.0 55 44.35 21 4 6.25 350 3.0 7.5 72.3 46.7 8 5 2.50 100 1.0 5.0 48.5 35.38 10 6 12.56 350 3.0 7.5 74.6 42.7 13 7 6.25 350 -0.4 7.5 48.25 40 5 8 10.00 100 1.0 10.0 50.6 38.4 9 9 -0.06 350 3.0 7.5 0 0 19 10 6.25 350 3.0 7.5 71.2 46.8 20 11 6.25 350 3.0 7.5 79.5 50.3 2 12 10.00 600 1.0 5.0 56.2 42.7 4 13 2.50 600 1.0 10.0 59.98 48.25 3 14 10.00 100 5.0 10.0 60.6 52.1 11 15 6.25 -70 3.0 7.5 61 48.53 18 16 6.25 350 3.0 7.5 77.1 44.23 7 17 2.50 600 5.0 10.0 75.6 62.5 12 18 6.25 770 3.0 7.5 76.3 67.25 17 19 6.25 350 3.0 7.5 69.7 48.9 1 20 10.00 600 5.0 5.0 71.85 57.23 14 21 6.25 350 6.4 7.5 81.2 60.56 According to the table#, runs #17, #18 and # 21 had maximum lignin removals while the #1, #1 and#21 showed maximum retained cellulose. The quadratic polynomial equations describes the correlation between the significant coefficients i.e. p-value (Prob>F) less than 0.05 and is used to obtain the regression values of coefficients where only significant coefficients are considered. But since this model supports hierarchy, the insignificant coefficients were not omitted. This equation was used to derive the predicted responses for cellulose (equation 1) and lignin removal (equation 2) Equation1 Equation 2 The adequacy of the quadratic model for the experimental responses (cellulose Y1 and lignin removal Y2) was checked using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), which was verified using the Fisher’s statistical model (F-value). The table# shows the ANOVA for Y2 response. Table 5. ANOVA result of quadratic regression model for lignin removal Source Sum of Squares Mean squares F-value p-value (Prob > F) Model 3411.23 14 243.66 15.74 0.0014 significant A-Bagasse 911.65 1 911.65 58.88 0.0003 B-Microwave 175.22 1 175.22 11.32 0.0152 C-NaOH 541.91 1 541.91 35.00 0.001 D-Time 14.80 1 14.80 0.96 0.366 AB 3.88 1 3.88 0.25 0.6347 AC 3.14 1 3.14 0.20 0.6684 AD 0.86 1 0.86 0.06 0.8216 BC 4.67 1 4.67 0.30 0.6028 BD 534.56 1 534.56 34.52 0.0011 CD 2.48 1 2.48 0.16 0.7031 A2 955.51 1 955.51 61.71 0.0002 B2 362.14 1 362.14 23.39 0.0029 C2 74.46 1 74.46 4.81 0.0708 D2 3.95 1 3.95 0.25 0.6317 Residual 92.90 6 15.48 Lack of Fit 71.34 2 35.67 6.62 0.0539 not significant Pure Error 21.56 4 5.39 Cor Total 3504.13 20 ANOVA of the regression model for lignin removal had 15.74 â€Å"F-value† which described that the model is significant and also defined that there is only 0.14% chance that a â€Å"Model F-value† this large could arise due to noise. Since the â€Å"p-value† 0.0014, lesser than 0.005, it indicates that the lignin removal is sensitive to the coefficients/factors in the model. In other words weight of bagasse (A), microwave exposure (B), NaOH (C), BD, A2 and B2 have strong influence on the lignin removal. The p-value 0.0011 for BD (B-coded for microwave, D-coded for time), indicates the strong mutual interaction between B and D in removal of lignin. The â€Å"Lack of Fit F-value† of 6.62 justifies that there are 5.39% chances that such large values of â€Å"Lack of Fit F-value† might occur due to noise, where lack of fit is an error that would occur when one of the factor is omitted from the process model. Another statistical measurement that is a sig nal to noise is the ‘‘Adequate precision’’. The desirable ratio is greater than 4, as such the Adeq Precision value is 20.22, this model can be used to navigate design space and further optimization. â€Å"Multiple correlation corfficient or R2† value denotes the correlation between observed and predicted values, i.e. if the value is closer to 1, it means better correlation. In this case the R2 value is 0.9735, indicating better agreement between experimental values and predicted values. The â€Å"coefficient of variation (CV)† indicates the degree of precision to which the experiments are compared. The lower reliability of the experiment is usually indicated by a high value of CV. In the present case the CV value is low (8.5%) indicates a good precision and reliability of the experiment. At the same time, Adjusted determination coefficient (Adj R2)† was high specifies improved precision and reliability of the conducted experiments. The 3D surface plot illustrated below (Figure#) shows co-operative effect of microwaves and NaOH on the removal of lignin. From the plot, it can be predicted that with rise the concentration of NaOH and high powered microwaves exposure a increased degradation of lignin was observed, maximum lignin removal is observed with 5% NaOH concentration and microwave irradiation with power of 600W. But the low power microwaves and NaOH concentrations had no substantial removal of lignin. Figure 1. Co-operative effect of Microwaves and NaOH on lignin removal The second response considered in the pre-treatment was the amount of cellulose retained (Y1) after the process. The ANOVA of quadratic regression model for cellulose retained after pre-treatment illustrated in Table # is a significant model as evident from the Fishers F-test value (12.91) with a very low probability value [(Prob > F) = 0.0165]. This also indicates that there is only 0.24% chance that the F-value occurs due to errors during the experiments. Among model terms A, C, BD and A2 are also significant with probability of 99%. The interaction between B and D significant effect on increase in cellulose retaining response. The goodness of fit of the model was checked by determination coefficient (R2). In this case, the value of the R2 (0.9676) indicates that only 3.24% of the total variation between experimental values and predicted values are not explained by the model. The value of the adjusted determination coefficient (Adj. R2=0.8929) was also high, at the same time a rela tively lower value of the coefficient of variation (C.V. = 9.3%) which indicates model is significant and the conducted experiment is consistent and has a good precision. The level of noise that affected the model is also very low, i.e. 11.16% determined using the Lack of Fit F-value (3.99). The Adequate Precision (15.608) for this model is greater than 4, this suggests the model can be used for navigating the design space and optimizing the experiment. Table 6. ANOVA result of quadratic regression model for cellulose concentration after pre-treatment Source Sum of Squares df Mean Squares F-value p-value (Prob > F) Model 6226.99 14 444.79 12.91 0.0024 significant A-Bagasse 2782.58 1 2782.58 80.76 0.0001 B-Microwave 117.05 1 117.05 3.40 0.1149 C-NaOH 779.62 1 779.62 22.63 0.0031 D-Time 154.88 1 154.88 4.49 0.0783 AB 36.72 1 36.72 1.07 0.3417 AC 1.56 1 1.56 0.05 0.8387 AD 8.14 1 8.14 0.24 0.6441 BC 27.27 1 27.27 0.79 0.4079 BD 1626.88 1 1626.88 47.21 0.0005 CD 1.51 1 1.51 0.04 0.8414 A^2 2013.06 1 2013.06 58.42 0.0003 B^2 4.08 1 4.08 0.12 0.7426 C^2 54.52 1 54.52 1.58 0.2552 D^2 8.46 1 8.46 0.25 0.6379 Residual 206.74 6 34.46 Lack of Fit 137.67 2 68.83 3.99 0.1116 not significant Pure Error 69.07 4 17.27 Cor Total 6433.73 20 Figure # is a 3D response surface plot generated for 6.25 g of bagasse and 7.5 minutes of treatment by the regression mode, illustrates the effect of microwave irradiation (B) and NaOH (C) variables and the interactive effects of each on the cellulose concentration. It can be observed that by increasing both factors B and C results in increased cellulose concentration. The shading on the graph indicates the NaOH concentration from 3% to 5% is adequate for increasing the cellulose concentration to 75% and above along with the microwave irradiation within range of 350 W to 600W. Which indicates that higher microwave irradiation favours lignin removal. This results in high power consumptions and charring of cellulose. To avoid the destruction of cellulose to an inaccessible substance, the treatment can be carried at lower power microwave irradiations under high pressures. The two response models of microwave assisted alkaline pre-treatment have shown positive influence on the removal of lignin and increased cellulose in bagasse. Thus the statistical analysis is reliable to generate the optimal conditions required for pre-treatment, the optimum condition was predicted using numerical optimization. The optimal values selected were, 6.37 g of bagasse irradiated at 350 W in 5% NaOH solution for 8.87 minutes. The predicted cellulose concentration was 81.94% and 56.6% lignin removal. The figure # represents the graph obtained using the numerical optimization methods. Figure 2. Co-operative effect of Microwave and NaOH on cellulose concentration Figure 3. Counter plot for predicted values of Lignin removal and cellulose concentration at optimized condition There was 48% loss in dry weight of the bagasse after pre-treatment at optimized conditions, which might be either due to removal of lignin or lost during the washing process after pre-treatment bagasse. The result was similar to the work done by (Farid, Noor El-Deen, Shata, 2014). Optimization of Saccharification The pre-treated bagasse was washed and further used for saccharification using the Acid cellulase. The efficiency of saccharification is evaluated by the saccharification%, it is the ratio of sugar released and the amount of polysaccharide present in the bagasse. Thus the saccharification% was used as the response factor for the statistical design used to optimize saccharification. The saccharification% response was assessed as a function of pre-treated bagasse loading (A), Acid cellulase loading (B) and time of incubation (C). The design developed using RSM and CCD is summarized in the Table # below. Table 7. Design Summary Study Type: Response Surface Runs: 20 Initial Design: Central Composite Design Model: Quadratic Factor Name Units Low Actual High Actual Low Coded High

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Control Theory And Gang Related Crime Criminology Essay

Control Theory And Gang Related Crime Criminology Essay Discuss how control theory and classicism theory adequately explains gang related crime This essay will help us understand the reasons behind gang related crime. To discuss the causes of gang related crime we will look at two criminology theories. Classicism and control theory will be used to understand and to demonstrate a discussion on the matter. We will look at each of the theories separately and then apply them to gang related crime. Classicism or classical school has been around for quite considerable time. A group of philosophers of the 18th century argued that human problems have to be tackled in a reasonable and more traditional way(Coleman, Norris. 2000. p.17).There was a feeling that criminal justice system of the 18th century was too inhumane, ineffective and judges had too much discretion and punishment was too barbaric(Coleman, Norris. 2000. p.18). That is the reason why classicism argues: too much policing or punishment could change law abiding citizens(Jacobs. 2009. p.97). We would think that harsher punishment would change the amount of crime, however classicism stands a strong case that more policing and tougher sentences would not help the cause(Jacobs. 2009. p.97). From everything what we have looked so far we can say. Classicism is so concerned with the tough sentencing then surely it would propose us how tackle the crime. Classicism will assume that human beings make rational choices (Jacobs. 200 9. p.97) and therefore this is the reason why they commit crime. For some people pleasure and gain that they get from crime is a lot larger than the pain of punishment(Coleman, Norris. 2000. p.18). Some people get so distressed and so obsessed with what they think is injustice towards a particular group of people or race that they are ready for the most extreme measures. As an example of these measures we could give you London 7/7. One of the bombers behind the attack only did this as he was willing to revenge England for how the police treated his own kind(Jacobs. 2009. p.98). One of the main interests of classicism is the immediate circumstances that surrounds the offence(Jacobs. 2009. p.98). Therefore classicism thinks that all of us are potential criminals(Jacobs. 2009. p.98). Accordingly to classicism criminology have to press one main question: whether the law is being too rigorously or softly enforced(Jacobs. 2009. p.98). Here, on one hand, we have classicism that argues that too much policing and tough sentences are not the answer, yet, on the other hand, classicism is concerned that the law is softly enforced. Classicism as such is quite an extreme reference point in human behaviour study. Classicism is orientated on the immediate circumstances that have triggered a crime(Jacobs. 2009. p.99). This gives us some guidance as to what will be the main things that classicism would be interested in and concentrating more than anything else. In classicism we would have to consider why an opportunities arise for people to commit crime. Why this is somethin g that is happening in certain areas and mainly to certain types of people and certain times of day(Jacobs. 2009. p.99). Some of the scientists have concerns that repressive and unjust laws could turn people into criminals. Another belief of classicism is that human beings are mainly guided by free will and hedonism and therefore these two factors are the ones that drive the crime(OConnor. 2006). As we saw earlier classicism is concerned about tough punishment and that is the reason why each and every offence has to have equal treatment under the law(OConnor. 2006). Look at this controversial thought in our mind, but completely normal under classicism: bad people are nothing more than the result of bad laws (OConnor. 2006). Next thing that we have to look at is control theory. Control theory is concerned on the measures that would stop people to commit and engage in crime and criminal activities(Jacobs. 2009. p.163). Control theory argues that crime exists and is happening where there are opportunities to commit crime and where is a complete lack of socio-central(family)( Jacobs. 2009. p.163). Therefore there will be no crime or as little as none where proper solutions are in place, such as effective controls and lack of opportunities(Jacobs. 2009. p.163). Durkheim had a theory that social world is maintained by integration and regulation(Jacobs. 2009. p.163). Control theory has emerged from the findings on family and social bonds under the Chicago School. Family and local community started to loose their grips on family members and community in general(Jacobs. 2009. p.163). Over the years many criminologists have created their own ways of control theory with the key issues that they thought were necessary. Instead of concentrating on why people commit crime, Reiss was more concerned on how to develop an instrument to predict which factors are to blamed behind crime(Jacobs. 2009. p.163). As a result Reiss saw delinquent group of people not as a disorganized but rather a functional consequence of the failure. Failure of personal and social controls. Therefore the key issues from Reiss point of view is that the family, society and neighbourhood were the main sources of the failure (Jacobs. 2009. p.163). All of the above were in the positions which would influence the present and future of the child(Jacobs. 2009. p.163). What do we get out of this: intervention with the child at the early years of his life could play an essential and a key part to success(Jacobs. 2009. p.163). However one wrong decision could influence the way this child is going to live the rest of his life. On the other hand Nye(1958) took completely different approach in his studies of control theory. He was looking for an explanations as to why crime is not more common(Jacobs. 2009. p.164). In his studies Nye concluded that the most important REAGENT of the social control was the individuals family(Jacobs. 2009. p.164). Nye came up with four types of control: direct, indirect, internalized control and alternative satisfaction. The key one in his mind was the family, school and police. They control people using direct restraints accompanied by punishment. However other types of control theory would reinforce each other depending on the context of the individual(Jacobs. 2009. p.164). Another one who had his opinion was Reckless(1967) who saw family as the main source of influence of a small child. Reckless realized that urban lifestyle contained many temptations to commit crime. Reckless came up with a suggestion that each individual has to break through numerous barriers to commit crime. These barriers were inner and outer containment where inner was a self control and outer was social control(Jacobs. 2009. p.164). Reckless main concern was concentrating on the self control or so as called inner containment. He suggested that we can control ourselves regardless of what happens around us(Jacobs. 2009. p.1634). Regarding the inner circle containment Reckless came up with four key factors: self concept, goal orientation and two later ones frustration tolerance and norm retention. Reckless has discovered that norm erosion is more bigger problem than norm retention. Sykes and Matza(1957) argues that it takes only a split second to commit a crime. Therefore for the people who were involved in criminal activities and delinquency it only took a small part of their life(Jacobs. 2009. p.165). What were they involved in between committing crimes? Could it be a small and temporary drift away from crime? In the eyes of Sykes and Matza many offenders still had bonds with social order. Sykes and Matza tries to explain this sort of behaviour and as a part of explanation they believed that we would learn conventional behaviour rules by learning the excuses or techniques of neutralization( Jacobs. 2009. p.165). In a simple terms we try to explain our dealings and ignore an obvious. We deny our behaviour and even victims. Hirschi(1969) on the other hand believed that social bonding hold the key to law abiding and delinquent behaviour(Jacobs. 2009. p.165). Social bonds had to be strong and effective or otherwise people would turn themselves to delinquency. The key factor for this drive would be rewards that can be gained. Hirschi categorized the social bonds as: attachment, commitment, involvement and belief. Attachment is quite an important social part of a person. A delinquent person will never have the same social bonds with his friends, teachers, relatives as a person who is out of the crime world. Concern for what people think about us is the driver or controller of our actions. Commitment is another example of a perfect people behaviour. It takes one small stupid act to ruin your life and everything that you have built in your life. So this is something that you are daring to loose. Therefore crime is not going to be an option for you. Involvement and belief could be combined as one. You believe in yourself and you are committed to the rules of society. Because of this you will be involved in as many activities as possible so that you can be busy and have no time for crime. Having looked at criminology theories let us look at the actual gangs. Some say that gangs are created spontaneously. However they become integrated in society by conflict(Greene, 2007. p.1375). Gangs differ in the members they all have. The type of activities they do. What type relationships do these gangs have with local community(Conly. 1993. p.20). Gangs can be defined as: group of people involved in the significant amount of antisocial activity(Conly. 1993. p.7). Reading all the above, we see that family has a massive role in childrens family. One of the key points in control theory is family. Control from the family has to have the biggest impact on the way the child looks at the world. Society and neighbourhood comes after. In the society we are living in many families have only single parent. In 2006 24% of children lived in single parent family(Self, Zealey,. 2007. p.15). Young people from different backgrounds have one thing in common. They all need families. Due to a lack of control many young people turn to gangs when their families have failed. A video on BBC website regarding gangs clearly emphasises this problem(Gangs, knives and crime. 2008). As a youngster you want to have a role model. In the family this could be your father. However in gangs, this can be an older gang member. Gangs replace a family for young kids. Looking at gangs and classicism we are unable to draw a common things. Classicism stated that any person could be a criminal. Therefore being in a gang would not make you different. However gang as such could be crime driven. In that case, all of its members could do criminal activities. In conclusion, we know what is the key issues in classicism and control theory. Classicism concentrates on the immediate reasons on why crime has happened. As much as to why these opportunities arise for people to commit crime. Control theory makes us understand which time in the childs life is the most important. At what stage we can get the biggest influence. In control theory main figure is family and the way family can control the youngster. As of gang related crime we understand the reasons why young people have to join gangs. This is due to the lack of control from family. When youngsters commit crime the pleasure they get is more than pain if they are caught. From classicism point of view: they have nothing to lose, because they havent earned anything yet. Family values and your own achievement would hold you back from crime. Therefore we can clearly say: both of these theories combined gives us an easy understanding of gang related crime.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Essay examples --

I am a person who has always had a profound passion and fascination for areas requiring an analytical approach. Right from early days at school, Mathematics has intrigued me. The most challenging of all problems were my favorites and obtaining solutions to them would leave me with a sheer feeling of ecstasy. I always did and always would thrive on solving the most challenging problems. With a compelling desire to excel, hard work became my second nature. My aspiration for a technical career prompted me to take up one of the most coveted undergraduate program in Computer Engineering at SR Engineering College, the best of such institutions. My own systematic & methodical towards finding a solution to any problem best suits this field. On joining the college, I concentrated on acquiring knowledge not only through the classroom teaching materials, but also through the volumes of Computer related materials. In the process I have acquired in-depth knowledge in the fields of Database Management Systems, Data Mining and Data Warehousing, Software Engineering especially in the concepts related to process organization and responsibilities. I was also fascinated by the growth of Networking and Communication Technology and developed keen interest in the subjects such as Computer Networks, Data Communications and Network Protocols. The Operating systems lab and Computer Networks lab unleashed a relentless desire in me to excel at its usage and find innovative applications. My undergraduate preparation at the Computer Science of my University has given me a very substantial knowledge of the basic areas of Computer Science. Any amount of learning in Computer Science would be incomplete without hands on experience of Programming. In a world where... ...ts in the same direction. After extensively studying the course work, faculty profiles and lab facilities, I have observed that the@@@@@@is highly suitable for realizing my goals. The positive spirit of the university, the positive feedback from students and the level of expertise of the faculty in the computer science department are amongst the most compelling factors which have led me to choose@@@@. I am aware of the hard work and perseverance necessary for research work and I know that it is not always as exciting as the published results seem to indicate. Nevertheless, I am sure that my aptitude and drive will see me through the challenge. It is with this in mind, that I look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with your university as a graduate student, I take this opportunity to thank the University faculty for their patient perusal of my application.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Marlow’s Narrative Voice as a Rejection of the African People Essay

In â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness†, Chinua Achebe says that â€Å"it is the desire ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€one might indeed say the need—in Western psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe† (337). Indeed it is wise for Achebe to make this claim while discussing Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a short novel that presents the relationship between Europe and Africa as an entirely one-sided narrative which denies the African people their right to personage. For a majority of the novel, Marlow’s narration of a story goes so above and beyond telling one narrative, that it works toward preventing the African people from developing a voice of their own. Edward Said, in Culture and Imperialism, provides perhaps the most efficient explanation as to how the narrative that Marlow tells in the novel works against the African people: As one critic has suggested, nations themselves are narrations. The power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming and emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism, and constitutes one of the main connections between them. (xiii) Marlow possesses the power to narrate, and therefore the power to block the African people from possessing their own voice. Achebe is right in saying that Marlow’s depiction of Africa â€Å"projects the image of Africa as ‘the other world,’ the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization† (338). However, beyond preventing a narrative from happen through the telling his own, Marlow performs a narrative that works toward creating a separation between â€Å"us†, the Europeans, and â€Å"them†, the Africans (xiii). His narrative, for the benefit of European identity, denies the African people any voice at all in the affairs between the two continents. Therefore, Marl... ...tz has been aligned with by his confrontation of the darkness, the same savagery that ultimately consumes him, finds it’s only voice in his last words: â€Å"The horror! The horror!†, but regardless, Marlow cannot allow them to become a part of the final narrative. He knows better than to allow the voice of a savage, which Kurtz became through becoming so engulfed in the darkness, have a voice in his narrative. Once again, the narrative denies the Africans, even in the voice of a European man, ever from having a voice in a narrative that primarily takes place on their territory. Marlow, as a man of Europe, appears to make the decision as to whether or not tell the intended Kurtz last words, but he knows that he could not since they would be a voice of the Congo. In conclusion, Marlow’s narrative is the narrative of the European city which exploits the African colony.

Religion, Creation Stories, and Creation Myths Essay -- Theology Relig

Religion, Creation Stories, and Creation Myths One of the fundamental questions that religions seek to answer is that of origin. How was man put on earth? Why and from what was he created? Who created him? What does his creation imply about the status of human beings? Some or all of these questions are answered by a religion’s creation stories. Every religion’s creation myths attempt to give solutions to problems present to that religious society. Because of this, each religion may have one or more creation stories, each of those different from one another in the questions they ask and the answers they give. Genesis In the Western world, the most well-known creation story is in Genesis (Myth A), in the Old Testament of the Bible. Surprisingly, even the Bible does not relate only a single account of Creation. In the book of Genesis itself, one can find two versions of the Creation of the world that are similar in idea, but different in content and detail. The story in Genesis I claims that God created the world and everything comprising it in six days. On the first day, God created Day and Night. Next came Sky, then Earth, and then Stars and Sun on the fourth. The fifth day was used to create water and sky dwelling creatures, and finally, on the sixth day, God created all the animals of Earth, finishing with mankind. In this version of the creation story, God created man and woman together, on the sixth day. The seventh day was Sabbath, saved for rest. However, another version of Creation exists in Genesis II, which relates the more popular story of Adam and Eve. Genesis II starts by telling how God rested on the seventh day and then goes into elaboration of the creation of mankind. This seems to imply ... ...telligent species in the universe. We cannot possibly fathom what plan this higher power has, or even if a plan exists, and any attempts to do so would be futile. Instead, we must live this life doing what we believe to be true and right, ideas we ourselves created and so only we can live by. Works Cited Deussen, Paul. The Philosophy of the Upanishads. New York: Dover Punblications, 1966. Eliade, Mircea. Essential Sacred Writings from Around the World. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1967 Freund, Philip. Myths of Creation. New York: Washington Square Press, 1965. Heidel, Alexander. The Babylonian Genesis. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954. The Holy Bible. King James Version. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2000. The Rig Veda: An Anthology. Betty Radice, ed. London: Penquin Books, Ltd, 1981.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 24-29

CHAPTER 24 Silas gazed upward at the Saint-Sulpice obelisk, taking in the length of the massive marble shaft. His sinews felt taut with exhilaration. He glanced around the church one more time to make sure he was alone. Then he knelt at the base of the structure, not out of reverence, but out of necessity. The keystone is hidden beneath the Rose Line. At the base of the Sulpice obelisk. All the brothers had concurred. On his knees now, Silas ran his hands across the stone floor. He saw no cracks or markings to indicate a movable tile, so he began rapping softly with his knuckles on the floor. Following the brass line closer to the obelisk, he knocked on each tile adjacent to the brass line. Finally, one of them echoed strangely. There's a hollow area beneath the floor! Silas smiled. His victims had spoken the truth. Standing, he searched the sanctuary for something with which to break the floor tile. High above Silas, in the balcony, Sister Sandrine stifled a gasp. Her darkest fears had just been confirmed. This visitor was not who he seemed. The mysterious Opus Dei monk had come to Saint- Sulpice for another purpose. A secret purpose. You are not the only one with secrets, she thought. Sister Sandrine Bieil was more than the keeper of this church. She was a sentry. And tonight, the ancient wheels had been set in motion. The arrival of this stranger at the base of the obelisk was a signal from the brotherhood. It was a silent call of distress. CHAPTER 25 The U. S. Embassy in Paris is a compact complex on Avenue Gabriel, just north of the Champs-Elysees. The three-acre compound is considered U. S. soil, meaning all those who stand on it are subject to the same laws and protections as they would encounter standing in the United States. The embassy's night operator was reading Time magazine's International Edition when the sound of her phone interrupted. â€Å"U. S. Embassy,† she answered. â€Å"Good evening.† The caller spoke English accented with French. â€Å"I need some assistance.† Despite the politeness of the man's words, his tone sounded gruff and official. â€Å"I was told you had a phone message for me on your automated system. The name is Langdon. Unfortunately, I have forgotten my three-digit access code. If you could help me, I would be most grateful.† The operator paused, confused. â€Å"I'm sorry, sir. Your message must be quite old. That system was removed two years ago for security precautions. Moreover, all the access codes were five-digit. Who told you we had a message for you?† â€Å"You have no automated phone system?† â€Å"No, sir. Any message for you would be handwritten in our services department. What was your name again?† But the man had hung up. Bezu Fache felt dumbstruck as he paced the banks of the Seine. He was certain he had seen Langdon dial a local number, enter a three-digit code, and then listen to a recording. But if Langdon didn't phone the embassy, then who the hell did he call? It was at that moment, eyeing his cellular phone, that Fache realized the answers were in the palm of his hand. Langdon used my phone to place that call. Keying into the cell phone's menu, Fache pulled up the list of recently dialed numbers and found the call Langdon had placed. A Paris exchange, followed by the three-digit code 454. Redialing the phone number, Fache waited as the line began ringing. Finally a woman's voice answered. â€Å"Bonjour, vous etes bien chez Sophie Neveu,† the recording announced. â€Å"Je suis absente pour le moment, mais†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Fache's blood was boiling as he typed the numbers 4†¦ 5†¦ 4. CHAPTER 26 Despite her monumental reputation, the Mona Lisa was a mere thirty-one inches by twenty-one inches – smaller even than the posters of her sold in the Louvre gift shop. She hung on the northwest wall of the Salle des Etats behind a two-inch-thick pane of protective Plexiglas. Painted on a poplar wood panel, her ethereal, mist-filled atmosphere was attributed to Da Vinci's mastery of the sfumato style, in which forms appear to evaporate into one another. Since taking up residence in the Louvre, the Mona Lisa – or La Jaconde as they call her in France – had been stolen twice, most recently in 1911, when she disappeared from the Louvre's† satte impenetrable† – Le Salon Carre. Parisians wept in the streets and wrote newspaper articles begging the thieves for the painting's return. Two years later, the Mona Lisa was discovered hidden in the false bottom of a trunk in a Florence hotel room. Langdon, now having made it clear to Sophie that he had no intention of leaving, moved with her across the Salle des Etats. The Mona Lisa was still twenty yards ahead when Sophie turned on the black light, and the bluish crescent of penlight fanned out on the floor in front of them. She swung the beam back and forth across the floor like a minesweeper, searching for any hint of luminescent ink. Walking beside her, Langdon was already feeling the tingle of anticipation that accompanied his face-to-face reunions with great works of art. He strained to see beyond the cocoon of purplish light emanating from the black light in Sophie's hand. To the left, the room's octagonal viewing divan emerged, looking like a dark island on the empty sea of parquet. Langdon could now begin to see the panel of dark glass on the wall. Behind it, he knew, in the confines of her own private cell, hung the most celebrated painting in the world. The Mona Lisa's status as the most famous piece of art in the world, Langdon knew, had nothing to do with her enigmatic smile. Nor was it due to the mysterious interpretations attributed her by many art historians and conspiracy buffs. Quite simply, the Mona Lisa was famous because Leonardo Da Vinci claimed she was his finest accomplishment. He carried the painting with him whenever he traveled and, if asked why, would reply that he found it hard to part with his most sublime expression of female beauty. Even so, many art historians suspected Da Vinci's reverence for the Mona Lisa had nothing to do with its artistic mastery. In actuality, the painting was a surprisingly ordinary sfumato portrait. Da Vinci's veneration for this work, many claimed, stemmed from something far deeper: a hidden message in the layers of paint. The Mona Lisa was, in fact, one of the world's most documented inside jokes. The painting's well-documented collage of double entendres and playful allusions had been revealed in most art history tomes, and yet, incredibly, the public at large still considered her smile a great mystery. No mystery at all, Langdon thought, moving forward and watching as the faint outline of the painting began to take shape. No mystery at all. Most recently Langdon had shared the Mona Lisa's secret with a rather unlikely group – a dozen inmates at the Essex County Penitentiary. Langdon's jail seminar was part of a Harvard outreach program attempting to bring education into the prison system – Culture for Convicts, as Langdon's colleagues liked to call it. Standing at an overhead projector in a darkened penitentiary library, Langdon had shared the MonaLisa's secret with the prisoners attending class, men whom he found surprisingly engaged – rough, but sharp. â€Å"You may notice,† Langdon told them, walking up to the projected image of the MonaLisa on the library wall,† that the background behind her face is uneven.† Langdon motioned to the glaring discrepancy. â€Å"Da Vinci painted the horizon line on the left significantly lower than the right.† â€Å"He screwed it up?† one of the inmates asked. Langdon chuckled. â€Å"No. Da Vinci didn't do that too often. Actually, this is a little trick Da Vinci played. By lowering the countryside on the left, Da Vinci made Mona Lisa look much larger from the left side than from the right side. A little Da Vinci inside joke. Historically, the concepts of male and female have assigned sides – left is female, and right is male. Because Da Vinci was a big fan of feminine principles, he made Mona Lisa look more majestic from the left than the right.† â€Å"I heard he was a fag,† said a small man with a goatee. Langdon winced. â€Å"Historians don't generally put it quite that way, but yes, Da Vinci was a homosexual.† â€Å"Is that why he was into that whole feminine thing?† â€Å"Actually, Da Vinci was in tune with the balance between male and female. He believed that a human soul could not be enlightened unless it had both male and female elements.† â€Å"You mean like chicks with dicks?† someone called. This elicited a hearty round of laughs. Langdon considered offering an etymological sidebar about the word hermaphrodite and its ties to Hermes and Aphrodite, but something told him it would be lost on this crowd. â€Å"Hey, Mr. Langford,† a muscle-bound man said. â€Å"Is it true that the Mona Lisa is a picture of Da Vinci in drag? I heard that was true.† â€Å"It's quite possible,† Langdon said. â€Å"Da Vinci was a prankster, and computerized analysis of the Mona Lisa and Da Vinci's self-portraits confirm some startling points of congruency in their faces. Whatever Da Vinci was up to,† Langdon said,† his Mona Lisa is neither male nor female. It carries a subtle message of androgyny. It is a fusing of both.† â€Å"You sure that's not just some Harvard bullshit way of saying Mona Lisa is one ugly chick.† Now Langdon laughed. â€Å"You may be right. But actually Da Vinci left a big clue that the painting was supposed to be androgynous. Has anyone here ever heard of an Egyptian god named Amon?† â€Å"Hell yes!† the big guy said. â€Å"God of masculine fertility!† Langdon was stunned. â€Å"It says so on every box of Amon condoms.† The muscular man gave a wide grin. â€Å"It's got a guy with a ram's head on the front and says he's the Egyptian god of fertility.† Langdon was not familiar with the brand name, but he was glad to hear the prophylactic manufacturers had gotten their hieroglyphs right. â€Å"Well done. Amon is indeed represented as a man with a ram's head, and his promiscuity and curved horns are related to our modern sexual slang' horny. â€Å"No shit!† â€Å"No shit,† Langdon said. â€Å"And do you know who Amon's counterpart was? The Egyptian goddessof fertility?† The question met with several seconds of silence. â€Å"It was Isis,† Langdon told them, grabbing a grease pen. â€Å"So we have the male god, Amon.† He wrote it down. â€Å"And the female goddess, Isis, whose ancient pictogram was once called L'ISA.† Langdon finished writing and stepped back from the projector. AMON L'ISA â€Å"Ring any bells?† he asked. â€Å"Mona Lisa†¦ holy crap,† somebody gasped. Langdon nodded. â€Å"Gentlemen, not only does the face of Mona Lisa look androgynous, but her name is an anagram of the divine union of male and female. And that, my friends, is Da Vinci's little secret, and the reason for Mona Lisa's knowing smile.† â€Å"My grandfather was here,† Sophie said, dropping suddenly to her knees, now only ten feet from the Mona Lisa.She pointed the black light tentatively to a spot on the parquet floor. At first Langdon saw nothing. Then, as he knelt beside her, he saw a tiny droplet of dried liquid that was luminescing. Ink? Suddenly he recalled what black lights were actually used for. Blood. His senses tingled. Sophie was right. Jacques Sauniere had indeed paid a visit to the Mona Lisabefore he died. â€Å"He wouldn't have come here without a reason,† Sophie whispered, standing up. â€Å"I know he left a message for me here.† Quickly striding the final few steps to the Mona Lisa, she illuminated the floor directly in front of the painting. She waved the light back and forth across the bare parquet. â€Å"There's nothing here!† At that moment, Langdon saw a faint purple glimmer on the protective glass before the Mona Lisa. Reaching down, he took Sophie's wrist and slowly moved the light up to the painting itself. They both froze. On the glass, six words glowed in purple, scrawled directly across the Mona Lisa's face. CHAPTER 27 Seated at Sauniere's desk, Lieutenant Collet pressed the phone to his ear in disbelief. Did I hearFache correctly?† A bar of soap? But how could Langdon have known about the GPS dot?† â€Å"Sophie Neveu,† Fache replied. â€Å"She told him.† â€Å"What! Why?† â€Å"Damned good question, but I just heard a recording that confirms she tipped him off.† Collet was speechless. What was Neveu thinking? Fache had proof that Sophie had interfered with a DCPJ sting operation? Sophie Neveu was not only going to be fired, she was also going to jail. â€Å"But, Captain†¦ then where is Langdon now?† â€Å"Have any fire alarms gone off there?† â€Å"No, sir.† â€Å"And no one has come out under the Grand Gallery gate?† â€Å"No. We've got a Louvre security officer on the gate. Just as you requested.† â€Å"Okay, Langdon must still be inside the Grand Gallery.† â€Å"Inside? But what is he doing?† â€Å"Is the Louvre security guard armed?† â€Å"Yes, sir. He's a senior warden.† â€Å"Send him in,† Fache commanded. â€Å"I can't get my men back to the perimeter for a few minutes, and I don't want Langdon breaking for an exit.† Fache paused. â€Å"And you'd better tell the guard Agent Neveu is probably in there with him.† â€Å"Agent Neveu left, I thought.† â€Å"Did you actually see her leave?† â€Å"No, sir, but – â€Å"Well, nobody on the perimeter saw her leave either. They only saw her go in.† Collet was flabbergasted by Sophie Neveu's bravado. She's still inside the building? â€Å"Handle it,† Fache ordered. â€Å"I want Langdon and Neveu at gunpoint by the time I get back.† As the Trailor truck drove off, Captain Fache rounded up his men. Robert Langdon had proven an elusive quarry tonight, and with Agent Neveu now helping him, he might be far harder to corner than expected. Fache decided not to take any chances. Hedging his bets, he ordered half of his men back to the Louvre perimeter. The other half he sent to guard the only location in Paris where Robert Langdon could find safe harbor. CHAPTER 28 Inside the Salle des Etats, Langdon stared in astonishment at the six words glowing on the Plexiglas. The text seemed to hover in space, casting a jagged shadow across Mona Lisa's mysterious smile. â€Å"The Priory,† Langdon whispered. â€Å"This proves your grandfather was a member!† Sophie looked at him in confusion. â€Å"You understand this?† â€Å"It's flawless,† Langdon said, nodding as his thoughts churned. â€Å"It's a proclamation of one of the Priory's most fundamental philosophies!† Sophie looked baffled in the glow of the message scrawled across the Mona Lisa's face. SO DARK THE CON OF MAN â€Å"Sophie,† Langdon said,† the Priory's tradition of perpetuating goddess worship is based on a belief that powerful men in the early Christian church ‘conned' the world by propagating lies that devalued the female and tipped the scales in favor of the masculine.† Sophie remained silent, staring at the words.† The Priory believes that Constantine and his male successors successfully converted the world from matriarchal paganism to patriarchal Christianity by waging a campaign of propaganda that demonized the sacred feminine, obliterating the goddess from modern religion forever.† Sophie's expression remained uncertain. â€Å"My grandfather sent me to this spot to find this. He must be trying to tell me more than that.† Langdon understood her meaning. She thinks this is another code.Whether a hidden meaning existed here or not, Langdon could not immediately say. His mind was still grappling with the bold clarity of Sauniere's outward message. So dark the con of man, he thought. So dark indeed. Nobody could deny the enormous good the modern Church did in today's troubled world, and yet the Church had a deceitful and violent history. Their brutal crusade to† reeducate† the pagan and feminine-worshipping religions spanned three centuries, employing methods as inspired as they were horrific. The Catholic Inquisition published the book that arguably could be called the most blood-soaked publication in human history. Malleus Maleficarum – or The Witches' Hammer – indoctrinated the world to† the dangers of freethinking women† and instructed the clergy how to locate, torture, and destroy them. Those deemed† witches† by the Church included all female scholars, priestesses, gypsies, mystics, nature lovers, herb gatherers, and any women† suspiciously attuned to the natural world.† Midwives also were killed for their heretical practice of using medical knowledge to ease the pain of childbirth – a suffering, the Church claimed, that was God's rightful punishment for Eve's partaking of the Apple of Knowledge, thus giving birth to the idea of Original Sin. During three hundred years of witch hunts, the Church burned at the stake an astounding five million women. The propaganda and bloodshed had worked. Today's world was living proof. Women, once celebrated as an essential half of spiritual enlightenment, had been banished from the temples of the world. There were no female Orthodox rabbis, Catholic priests, nor Islamic clerics. The once hallowed act of Hieros Gamos – the natural sexual union between man and woman through which each became spiritually whole – had been recast as a shameful act. Holy men who had once required sexual union with their female counterparts to commune with God now feared their natural sexual urges as the work of the devil, collaborating with his favorite accomplice†¦ woman. Not even the feminine association with the left-hand side could escape the Church's defamation. In France and Italy, the words for† left† – gauche and sinistra – came to have deeply negative overtones, while their right-hand counterparts rang of righteousness, dexterity, and correctness. To this day, radical thought was considered left wing, irrational thought was left brain, and anything evil, sinister. The days of the goddess were over. The pendulum had swung. Mother Earth had become a man's world, and the gods of destruction and war were taking their toll. The male ego had spent two millennia running unchecked by its female counterpart. The Priory of Sion believed that it was this obliteration of the sacred feminine in modern life that had caused what the Hopi Native Americans called koyanisquatsi – â€Å"life out of balance† – an unstable situation marked by testosterone-fueled wars, a plethora of misogynistic societies, and a growing disrespect for Mother Earth. â€Å"Robert!† Sophie said, her whisper yanking him back. â€Å"Someone's coming!† He heard the approaching footsteps out in the hallway.† Over here!† Sophie extinguished the black light and seemed to evaporate before Langdon's eyes. For an instant he felt totally blind. Over where! As his vision cleared he saw Sophie's silhouette racing toward the center of the room and ducking out of sight behind the octagonal viewing bench. He was about to dash after her when a booming voice stopped him cold. â€Å"Arretez!† a man commanded from the doorway. The Louvre security agent advanced through the entrance to the Salle des Etats, his pistol outstretched, taking deadly aim at Langdon's chest. Langdon felt his arms raise instinctively for the ceiling. â€Å"Couchez-vous!† the guard commanded. â€Å"Lie down!† Langdon was face first on the floor in a matter of seconds. The guard hurried over and kicked his legs apart, spreading Langdon out. â€Å"Mauvaise idee, Monsieur Langdon,†he said, pressing the gun hard into Langdon's back.† Mauvaise idee.† Face down on the parquet floor with his arms and legs spread wide, Langdon found little humor in the irony of his position. The Vitruvian Man, he thought. Face down. CHAPTER 29 Inside Saint-Sulpice, Silas carried the heavy iron votive candle holder from the altar back toward the obelisk. The shaft would do nicely as a battering ram. Eyeing the gray marble panel that covered the apparent hollow in the floor, he realized he could not possibly shatter the covering without making considerable noise. Iron on marble. It would echo off the vaulted ceilings. Would the nun hear him? She should be asleep by now. Even so, it was a chance Silas preferred not to take. Looking around for a cloth to wrap around the tip of the iron pole, he saw nothing except the altar's linen mantle, which he refused to defile. My cloak, he thought. Knowing he was alone in the great church, Silas untied his cloak and slipped it off his body. As he removed it, he felt a sting as the wool fibers stuck to the fresh wounds on his back. Naked now, except for his loin swaddle, Silas wrapped his cloak over the end of the iron rod. Then, aiming at the center of the floor tile, he drove the tip into it. A muffled thud. The stone did not break. He drove the pole into it again. Again a dull thud, but this time accompanied by a crack. On the third swing, the covering finally shattered, and stone shards fell into a hollow area beneath the floor. A compartment! Quickly pulling the remaining pieces from the opening, Silas gazed into the void. His blood pounded as he knelt down before it. Raising his pale bare arm, he reached inside. At first he felt nothing. The floor of the compartment was bare, smooth stone. Then, feeling deeper, reaching his arm in under the Rose Line, he touched something! A thick stone tablet. Getting his fingers around the edge, he gripped it and gently lifted the tablet out. As he stood and examined his find, he realized he was holding a rough-hewn stone slab with engraved words. He felt for an instant like a modern-day Moses. As Silas read the words on the tablet, he felt surprise. He had expected the keystone to be a map, or a complex series of directions, perhaps even encoded. The keystone, however, bore the simplest of inscriptions. Job 38:11 A Bible verse? Silas was stunned with the devilish simplicity. The secret location of that which they sought was revealed in a Bible verse? The brotherhood stopped at nothing to mock the righteous! Job. Chapter thirty-eight. Verse eleven. Although Silas did not recall the exact contents of verse eleven by heart, he knew the Book of Job told the story of a man whose faith in God survived repeated tests. Appropriate, he thought, barely able to contain his excitement. Looking over his shoulder, he gazed down the shimmering Rose Line and couldn't help but smile. There atop the main altar, propped open on a gilded book stand, sat an enormous leather-bound Bible. Up in the balcony, Sister Sandrine was shaking. Moments ago, she had been about to flee and carryout her orders, when the man below suddenly removed his cloak. When she saw his alabaster-white flesh, she was overcome with a horrified bewilderment. His broad, pale back was soaked with blood-red slashes. Even from here she could see the wounds were fresh. This man has been mercilessly whipped! She also saw the bloody cilice around his thigh, the wound beneath it dripping. What kind of God would want a body punished this way? The rituals of Opus Dei, Sister Sandrine knew, were not something she would ever understand. But that was hardly her concern at this instant. Opus Dei is searching for the keystone.How they knew of it, Sister Sandrine could not imagine, although she knew she did not have time to think. The bloody monk was now quietly donning his cloak again, clutching his prize as he moved toward the altar, toward the Bible. In breathless silence, Sister Sandrine left the balcony and raced down the hall to her quarters. Getting on her hands and knees, she reached beneath her wooden bed frame and retrieved the sealed envelope she had hidden there years ago. Tearing it open, she found four Paris phone numbers. Trembling, she began to dial. Downstairs, Silas laid the stone tablet on the altar and turned his eager hands to the leather Bible. His long white fingers were sweating now as he turned the pages. Flipping through the Old Testament, he found the Book of Job. He located chapter thirty-eight. As he ran his finger down the column of text, he anticipated the words he was about to read. They will lead the way! Finding verse number eleven, Silas read the text. It was only seven words. Confused, he read it again, sensing something had gone terribly wrong. The verse simply read: HITHERTO SHALT THOU COME, BUT NO FURTHER.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

E-Commerce Marketplace

BUSINESSRetail consumer E-commerce spread oers to amaze up at double-digit regularises. The online demographics of shoppers reside to broaden. Online meshwork locate continues to reinforce advantageousness by refining their c alling models and supplement the capabilities of the net gain. The first wave of E-Commerce trans kinded the line of business organisation world of books, music, and air travel.In the consequence wave, eight brand-new industries are veneering a similar transformation teleph wholenesss, movies, television, jewelry, original estate, hotels, bill fees, and software system package. The breadth of E-Commerce offerings formulate ups, especially each and e genuinely unity in travel, breeding clearingho uses, entertainment, retail apparel, appliances, and home furnishings. to each one and every one business and entrepreneurs continue to flood into the E-Commerce marketplace, often riding on the infrastructure craft by manufacturing giants such a s amazon, eBay, and Overture. Brand citation each and every one the flair by means of the lucre grow ups as monstrous firms such as Sears, J.C. Penney, L.L. Bean, and Wal-Mart lock integrated, multi give noticealise bricks-and-clicks strategies.B2Bsupply twine transactions and collaborative commerce continue to reinforce and grow up beyond the $1.5trillion mark. TECHNOLOGY radio set network federations (Wi-Fi, Max, and 3Gtelephone) grew up speedyly. Podcasting takes off as a new media format for statistical distribution of radio and user-generated commentary.The Internet broadband rear end ploughs stronger in households and businesses. Bandwidth prices of telecommunications companies re-capitalize their debts. RSS (Real Simple Syndication) grow ups to expire a whitethornor new form of user- control take information distribution that rivals e-mail in some applications. Computing and mesh topologying dowry prices continue to fall dramatically. New Internet-based mode ls of computing such as.NET and blade work turn in a fit B2B opportunities. SECIETYSelf-publishing (user-generated content) and syndication in the form of blogs, wikis and social network grow up to form an in all new self-publishing forum. Newspapers and new(prenominal) conventional, customary & conventional media adopt online, interactive models.Conflicts all everywhere secure management and control grow up in signifi weedce. Over half the Internet user population (about 80 trillion adults) joins a social group on the Internet. Taxation of Internet sales becomes more widespread and accepted by large online merchants. Controversy over content prescript and controls b first base ones stack and rises.Surveillance of Internet communications grows ups in s significance. Concerns over mercenary and governmental privacy invasion grow up. Internet fraud and abuse occurrences amplify and rise. First Amendment rights of free speech and experience on the Internet are challeng ed. email grows ups despite new laws and promised technology fixes. impact of personal privacy on the sack expands as marketers discover and locate new ways to trend users.BUSINESS finish OF E-COMMERCETypical business organizations (or parts indoors a business organization) design, produce, market, deliver and confine its crossingion (s)/ aid(s).Each of these activities adds cost and shelter to the ingathering/service that is eventually distributed to the client. The value-chain consists of a serial macrocosmation of activities designed to satisfy a business need by adding value (or cost) in each phase of the process.In adjunct to these primary activities that turn out in a final product/service, supporting activities in this process in addition should be includeManaging confederation infrastructure Managing human resources Obtaining diverse inputs for each primary activityDeveloping technology to book the business competitive.For instance, in a piece of article of piece of furniture manufacturing society, the caller-out profanes wood (raw materials) from a log corporation and then converts the wood into precede (finished product) chairs are shipped to retailers, distributors, or customers. The social club markets and work these chairs products.Those are the primary activities (value-chain) that adds value and result in a final product/service for the company. Value-chain analysis may spotlight the opportunity for the company to manufacture products directly. This means, for furniture manufacturer, it may enter in the record business directly or through partnership with others.he value chain may continue after(prenominal) delivering chairs to the furniture hive away. The store, by offering other products/services and mixing and matching this product with other products, may add additional value to the chair. The Internet can increase the bucket along and accuracy of communications between suppliers, distributors, and customers. Furthermore, the Internets low cost bring home the bacons companies of any size to be able to take advantage of value-chain integration. E-commerce may improve value chain by identifying new opportunities for cost reduction. For instance, using e-mail to notify customers instead of using lawful mail helps for reduction cost. Selling to irrelevant customers using the company web web site may allow gross proceeds or generation.These sales may not have been materialized otherwise or merchandising digital products such as songs or computer software or distributing software through the web. Offering online customer service or new sales channel identification helps for product/service improvement.Dell computing device generates a large portion of its revenue through the mesh by eliminating the middleman.cisco systems sell untold of its networking hardware and software over the Web, improving revenue and reducing cost. United Parcel Service (UPS) and federal official Express use t he Internet to track packages that result in enhanced customer service.History of EcommerceOne of the some popular activities on the Web is shopping.It has much allure in it you can shop at your leisure, any clip, and in your pajamas. literally anyone can have their pages built to parade their specific goods and services.History of ecommerce dates back to the invention of the very old notion of sell and deprave, electricity, cables, computers, modems, and the Internet.Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened to moneymaking(prenominal) use. Since that date thousands of businesses have interpreted up residence at web sites.At first, the term ecommerce meant the process of execution of commercial transactions electronically with the help of the hint technologies such as Electronic data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds dislodge (EFT) which gave an opportunity for users to exchange business information and do electronic transactions.The ability to use these technologies appeared in the late 1970s and allowed business companies and organizations to send commercial documentation electronically.Although the Internet began to advance in popularity among the general public in 1994, it took approximately four old age to develop the security protocols (for example, HTTP) and DSL which allowed rapid access and a persistent connection to the Internet.In 2000 a great public figure of business companies in the United States and occidental Europe represented their services in the World Wide Web. At this time the meaning of the word ecommerce was changed. People began to peg down the term ecommerce as the process of purchase of functional goods and services over the Internet using secure connections and electronic payment services.Although the dot-com collapse in 2000 led to unfortunate results and numerous of ecommerce companies disappeared, the brick and mortar retailers recognized the advantages of electronic commerce and began t o add such capabilities to their web sites (e.g., after the online grocery store Webvan came to ruin, two supermarket chains, Albertsons and Safeway, began to use ecommerce to enable their customers to buy groceries online).By the end of 2001, the largest form of ecommerce, Business-to-Business (B2B) model, had close to $700 billion in transactions. correspond to all available data, ecommerce sales continued to grow in the next few years and, by the end of 2007, ecommerce sales accounted for 3.4 percent of fit sales.Ecommerce has a great deal of advantages over brick and mortar stores and mail order catalogs. Consumers can easily essay through a large database of products and services. They can see unquestionable prices, build an order over some(prenominal) days and email it as a wish list hoping that someone testament pay for their selected goods. Customers can compare prices with a click of the mouse and buy the selected product at best prices.Online vendors, in their turn, in like manner get distinct advantages.The web and its reckon engines provide a way to be found by customers without expensive advertisement campaign. Even small online shops can execute global markets. Web technology also allows to track customer preferences and to deliver individually-tailored marketing.History of ecommerce is unimaginable without Amazon and E-bay which were among the first Internet companies to allow electronic transactions.Thanks to their founders we now have a handsome ecommerce sector and roll in the hay the buying and selling advantages of the Internet. Currently in that respect are 5 largest and most far-famed worldwide Internet retailers Amazon, Dell, Staples, Office memory board and Hewlett Packard. According to statistics, the most popular categories of products sell in the World Wide Web are music, books, computers, office supplies and other consumer electronics.Amazon.com, Inc. is one of the most storied ecommerce companies and is located in S eattle, Washington (USA). It was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos and was one of the first American ecommerce companies to sell products over the Internet. After the dot-com collapse Amazon lost its position as a successful business model, however, in 2003 the company made its first annual profit which was the first step to the further development.At the outset Amazon.com was considered as an online bookstore, but in time it extended a transformation of goods by adding electronics, software, DVDs, video games, music CDs, MP3s, apparel, footwear, wellness products, etc. The original name of the company was Cadabra.com, but shortly after it become popular in the Internet Bezos unconquerable to rename his business Amazon after the worlds most voluminous river.In 1999 Jeff Bezos was authorize as the Person of the Year by Time Magazine in experience of the companys success. Although the companys main headquarters is located in the USA, WA, Amazon has set up sort out websites in other e conomically develop countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and China.The company supports and operates retail web sites for many famous businesses, including Marks Spencer, Lacoste, the NBA, Bebe Stores, Target, etc.Amazon is one of the first ecommerce businesses to hand an affiliate marketing program, and nowadays the company gets about 40% of its sales from affiliates and terce party sellers who list and sell goods on the web site.In 2008 Amazon penetrated into the movie theater and is currently sponsoring the film The Stolen Child with twentieth Century Fox.According to the research conducted in 2008, the line of business Amazon.com attracted about 615 million customers every year. The most popular feature of the web site is the review system, i.e. the ability for visitors to submit their reviews and rate any product on a rating scale from one to v stars.Amazon.com is also well-known for its clear and easy advanced search facility which enab les visitors to search for keywords in the full text of many books in the database.One more company which has contributed much to the process of ecommerce development is Dell Inc., an American company located in Texas, which stands third gear in computer sales indoors the industry behind Hewlett-Packard and Acer.Launched in 1994 as a static page, Dell.com has made rapid strides, and by the end of 1997 was the first company to record a million dollars in online sales. The companys unique strategy of selling goods over the World Wide Web with no retail outlets and no middlemen has been value by a lot of customers and imitated by a great number of ecommerce businesses.The key figure of Dells success is that Dell.com enables customers to choose and to control, i.e. visitors can betray the site and assemble PCs piece by piece choosing each single component based on their budget and requirements. According to statistics, approximately half of the companys profit comes from the web si te.In 2007, Fortune magazine ranked Dell as the 34th-largest company in the Fortune 500 list and eighth on its annual Top 20 list of the most successful and admired companies in the USA in comprehension of the companys business model.History of ecommerce is a history of a new, virtual world which is evolving according to the customer advantage. It is a world which we are all building together brick by brick, position a secure foundation for the upcoming generations.