Essay about The Opening Sequence of Sleepy Hollow - 666 Words

The Opening Sequence of Sleepy Hollow The very first thing the audience sees when watching this film is a thick red liquid dripping onto a parchment. Because the audience expects the film to be a horror film, they automatically think the liquid is blood. Seeing this image makes the audience assume someone has been murdered or at least injured. This one picture spurs questions in a persons mind like, who does the blood belong to? and Has someone been killed? The audience will want these questions answered, so they will continue to watch. A little later, the audience sees that the dripping blood is nothing more than sealing wax dripping onto a page. This surprises them because they did not†¦show more content†¦The actual parchment that the wax is dripping onto is someones Last Will and Testament. This instantly tells the viewer that someone has died, or perhaps is about to die since the same person that signed the document as a witness, signs it as the man that was supposed to have written the will. There is a huge close-up of the will with the camera sweeping down from the top of the page to the middle. As the camera moves down, so do the viewers eyes as they read what is written on the page. There is a sort of sweeping sound effect mimicking the cameras movement. After the will has been signed, it goes back to the dripping sealing wax and then a seal is pressed down into it. There is, again, a close-up of the seal being used and the sound effect is repeated. Since these sound effects would not occur in real life, they emphasis to the audience that the particular event they are heard with must be very important. Emphasis is given on an audio level as well as a visual level. The seal is lifted away to reveal the name of the family regarding the will. The next shot is of galloping horses, but only their legs are shown. There is a sense of urgency in this scene because of the speed of the horses and their grunts of exertion. It is as if they are running away from something. Again, this is happening in the darkness and at night,Show MoreRelatedTheme of Horror in the Sleepy Hollow Essay2188 Words   |  9 PagesTheme of Horror in the Sleepy Hollow The film Sleepy Hollow is a fantasy/gothic horror film; the rating 15 tells us it probably has some gore in it. As we watch the film, some parts could also be described as thriller. The director Tim Burton is known for his love of Hammer horror films and before starting work on this film he encouraged his team to watch Hammer horror films like Black Sunday and The Fearless Vampire Killers, as this was the effect he wanted toRead MoreGenre and Narrative Establishment in Edward Scissorhands and Sleep Hollow by Tim Burton1848 Words   |  8 PagesGenre and Narrative Establishment in Edward Scissorhands and Sleep Hollow by Tim Burton Genre is the French word for type. Type is the kind of text it is. The genre of a film text may be Sci-Fi, Horror, Action, Romantic, Comedy, etc. In most films, the genres are combined, this is known as a hybrid genre. Narrative of a film is the structure or order in which the plot (sequence of event) is presented to an audience. This piece of coursework is going to discuss howRead MoreEssay on Critical Analysis of Huckleberry Finn5056 Words   |  21 Pagesthe better the fit between narrative images or roles and reality, the greater the pleasure. Rather than figuring reality as temporally prior to and taking priority over narrative, narratives in the novel either predict and prefigure sequences of events, or events are construed in conformity to known narratives. So, for example, Hucks attempt to teach Jim about French history by telling him about Louis Sixteenth that got his head cut off in France long time ago; and aboutRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesfor a piece of critical appreciation. Nevertheless, one can give information and suggestions that may prove helpful. PLOT The Elements of Plot When we refer to the plot of a work of fiction, then, we are referring to the deliberately arranged sequence of interrelated events that constitute the basic narrative structure of a novel or a short story. Events of any kind, of course, inevitably involve people, and for this reason it is virtually impossible to discuss plot in isolation from characterRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagesthe vowel harmony system in that it can occur with both sets of vowels, but belongs to the dotted set in that it selects dotted vowels to harmonize with it: á »â€¹mÄ“ á » mà ¨là ¹Ã¯â‚¬ ¨ to do (vs. normal imÄ“) he did (vs. normal o mà ¨là ¹Ã¯â‚¬ ¨) Furthermore, the sequences i-e, o-e appear in this dialect as á »â€¹-e, á » -e: á »â€¹fe thing (vs. normal ife) à ²Ã¯â‚¬ ¤ke rat (vs. normal à ²ke). When it was intended to use the Onitsha Town dialect throughout, these dotted forms were written, but later the more general forms were restored

Gates A Famous American Entrepreneur, Computer...

William Henry Gates III is a famous American entrepreneur, computer programmer, inventor and philanthropist. He is famous for being the co-founder of Microsoft. Microsoft is a company that sells computer software, operating systems, personal computers and electronics worldwide. Because of Microsoft’s popularity, Gates is one of the richest men in the world. Besides his company, Gates is currently famous for the Bill and Melinda Foundation. This foundation is where Gates is currently doing his philanthropy work. Through his company Microsoft and philanthropy, Bill Gates should indubitably be considered hero. Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955. Gates was born in Seattle, Washington. His father, William Henry Gates II, was a Seattle†¦show more content†¦However, when he was in eighth grade, his school introduced him to computers. Gates was fascinated with the functions of a computer. One of his first programs allowed a user to play tic-tac-toe against the computer. During his time at Lakeside, Bill met Paul Allen. The two became friends due to their enthusiasm with computers. Together, they spent time using the computer and writing programs. Once, the two were banned from using the computer. They used an exploit that allowed them to use the computers longer than they were allowed to. When they were allowed to use the computers again, they offered to debug and write new programs for the computers. Supposedly, Bill once hacked into the school system, and changed his classes and schedule. At age 15, Paul and Bill created a program that monitored traffic, called â€Å"Traf-o-Dat a†, and they were able to sell it for $20,000. Bill went to Harvard University, to study law. His friend Paul acquired a job nearby. The two continued to collaborate on computers. During this time the Altair 8800 was released to the public. It was a simple computer, but it could only be used by skilled programmers. Both Bill and Paul were fascinated that people could buy their own computer for home use. They immediately bought one. They contacted the creators of the Altair, a company called Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems. The two asked if they could create a programs on the Altair

Wage-Bargain Effort-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignmenthelp

Question: What do you understand by the term 'Wage-Effort Bargain'? To what extent does it inform your understanding of the ways in which Management controls the Workforce and the Workforce may resist? Answer: Introduction: Bargaining is the concept that can be defined as the argument made between the two parties with different chokices to take out the final conclusion. This essay argues about the bargaining concept in effort and wages decision of the employees at the workplace. This essay describes the basic element of the wage-effort bargain theory along with the information that has been provided by the theory to the management and the resistant behaviour of the workers. What is wage-bargain effort? Definition: The wage- bargain effort is theory that is introduced to have a bargaining relationship between the employees and the company. According to this theory, the employees and the company bargain with each other for the wages and also for the efforts that has been made by the employees in the company. Relationship between wage and efforts of the workers is very common. It has been analysed that this relation is based on the wages that has been given by the employer to the employees who works for the company. This relation brings the conflict between the employer and the workers regarding the wage provided to the employees in terms of the continuous efforts they are doing for the employer (Daley, 2012.). Effort bargain is the concept that suggests that employees always wants to hold back the rewards that they are getting for the efforts they are making in their job but it has been identified that bargaining has developed between the employees and the employer because there exists the inequalities between the two of them. Time and motion study is conducted in order to understand the actual concept behind the effort wage theory. It analysed that the fair standard of hours have been set by the employer or the employees. This is the time in which the employees can make average efforts to give average performance. The employers hope that this effort is increased by the employees to provide more efficient performance. The conflict that rises in this situation is that the employer thinks that employees are not doing well and the employees think that they are doing well. Better in-depth knowledge of the topic can be understood by studying the two dimensions of the production process. The production process is taken as the example because it results in better understanding of the dimensions (Rossi, Luinstra and Pickles, 2014). The first dimension of the production process is number of workers that are being employees in the process and the second dimension is the level of efforts the employees exert. This helps in understanding of the impact of unionisation. No individual employees conduct the activity of bargaining but it is done by the workers union. It has been analysed that the union can only have the power to bargain over the wages when there is less supply of em ployees (Zoller and Fairhurst, 2007). It has been identified from the concept that union representatives of the company or form focuses on conducting bargain on wages as well as on efforts. Either they want to be provided with higher pay or want to be provided with lesser work. This conflict between the employers and the employees is very general and obvious. The reason behind this conflict is that the managers and the employees have different set of minds regarding the efforts and the wages for those efforts. Employees try to get more wages over fewer efforts and the managers try to make the employees work for more hours in less pay (LaJeunesse, 2009). Earlier, when the organization used to have union labour, this problem is resolved by the unions and the employers but now a day many institution of government are intervening in this issue of wages and bargaining. So, the bargaining is not only the concern of the employers and the employees but it has also become the concern of the government to remove the unethical practices by the employers to exploit the employees by paying them low wages for more efforts. Collective bargaining: Definition: Collective bargaining can be defined as the process of negotiation in which the wages and the other factors in of the business and the company is negotiated between the employees and the employers in order to get the win-win situation for both the parties. This negotiation is done in order to develop fairness in the processes. It is the concept that needs to be studied in order to understand the elements of wage-effort bargaining. This is because this concept is very much reacted to this theory of wage effort bargaining. Collective bargaining is the term that can be used to define the bargaining functions between the employers and the employees. It has been analysed that bargaining is the important element of the relationship between the employer and the employees. It has been identified that there are difference in the practices of the countries regarding the wage effort bargaining, this is because of different types of workers and the difference in the interference of the regulatory in the bargaining concept (Kaufman, 2007). If the example of Germany is considered, it has been analysed that there is confusion in the bargaining concept as there is dual system. The system considers worker representative and codetermination as well. The UK case is even more interesting, In UK, the union leader trend has not completely diminished with the introduction of collective bargaining by the employers but the trade unions have changed their roles into monitoring of the working processes. Theory for management information: The work-effort bargain is the theory that also provides the information about the management and the workers relation with each other and the functions of the management in order to handle the workers at that time (Chan and Hui, 2014). As manager is the one who needs to deal with the workers, there exist two situations. The first situation is when there is more supply of workers. In such cases, management have more control on workers. This is because there is more supply of workers in the market and the management of the company can easily get the workers. Thus at this time the workers needs to agree on the wages decided by the management. This is because the bargaining power is in the hands of the management (Lee and Rupp, 2007). At this time, the workers may also need to make more efforts for earning less and the criteria of earning incentives are also not there. If the side of the concept is discussed, it has been analysed that it is the case when the bargaining power is in the h ands of the workers. This is because the supply of workers is less in the market and the management has to get ready on the wages that are decided by the workers association. At this time workers can also get the chance to earn incentives if they make more efforts (Gertler and Trigari, 2009). They can even ask for the extra benefits if they are making more efforts for the company. It has been analysed that in both the cases only one of the part has the power to bargain. The development of trade unions results in easy communication between the mangers and the trade union representatives. as only one person needs to communicate and represent the whole union of workers to the management. It helps the management also to know about the wishes of the workers which should be considered by the management of companies in order to make the decision over wages and efforts (Brggen and Strobel, 2007). Manage has the limited control over the workers in this case as the union leader of the company has great powers because of interference of the government regulatory in the wages decision. The pieces have been released for the regulating of the wage-effort bargaining between the employees and the employers so that no unethical practice can be coincide from any of the side. Management has to manage the workers in different ways. Sometimes, they have to consider their views especially in the case when the supply of workers is low. They have to provide them other benefits also to retain n them in the company. Workers resistance: Some of the sociologists have studied that wage effort bargaining theory has resulted in resistance by the workers. This is because it may create the confusion and some of the companies or the employer may force the worriers to make extra efforts on lower wages. Sunray is the biggest example where employee resistance has been seen (Clark, Masclet and Villeval, 2010). This may be because of other reason but wage effort bargaining is one of the reasons. Wage effort bargaining creates a situation of disputes among the employees mad the employers and there is the chance that employees are being exploited by the workers. Any miscommunication between the employs and the employer may bring the situation where the bargain decision gets wrong then the employees may not get the wages they want or according to the efforts they made (Antonczyk, Fitzenberger and Sommerfeld, 2010). This made them restrict to conduct his theory. This theory believes in argument between the employer and the employee s and this argument leads to tension in the company. The union leader of the company can only bargain the wages or the efforts in case when there is less number of suppliers available (Rivas and Sutter, 2008). As in earlier days when the employees have to deal with the employers regarding the wages through some of the bargaining theories, most of the employers exploit the employees by providing them low wages. This restricts the employees to flow this in todays world (Greiner, Ockenfels and Werner, 2011). The interference of regulatory in the wage and effort decision helps the companies as well as the employees to get the fair wages. According some of the polices like National Minimum Wage or regarding the working hours, the employer get bound to follow such policies and cannot exploit or force the workers to work. Even if the worker is working for longer hours or making more efforts then they have to be paid with the incentives. Conclusion: To conclude t can be said that wage effort theory is the concept that is reacted to the bargaining between the employees and the employer regarding the wage and the efforts that are being made by the employees at the company (Agell and Bennmarker, 2007). This bargaining results in the relationship between the employees and the employers where they argue about the wished of both the parties. One of the arguments wins the bargaining game and the wages and the efforts have been decide for the employees. It has been analysed from the study that management has to cooperate and handle the workers at the time of bargaining so that they may not leave the organization. On the other hand, the employee restrict from this concept to be conducted because they feel exploited when the bargaining does not results in their side. They feel like explored, interference of government bodies in the function can results in fair wages and efforts to the employer and also maintain the relationship between th e employees and the employers or the management References Agell, J. and Bennmarker, H., 2007. Wage incentives and wage rigidity: A representative view from within.labour economics,14(3), pp.347-369. Antonczyk, D., Fitzenberger, B. and Sommerfeld, K., 2010. Rising wage inequality, the decline of collective bargaining, and the gender wage gap.Labour economics,17(5), pp.835-847. Brggen, A. and Strobel, M., 2007. Real effort versus chosen effort in experiments.Economics Letters,96(2), pp.232-236. Chan, C.K.C. and Hui, E.S.I., 2014. The development of collective bargaining in China: From collective bargaining by riot to party state-led wage bargaining.The China Quarterly,217, pp.221-242. Clark, A.E., Masclet, D. and Villeval, M.C., 2010. Effort and comparison income: Experimental and survey evidence.ILR Review,63(3), pp.407-426. Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resource management.Public Personnel Management, pp.120-125. Gertler, M. and Trigari, A., 2009. Unemployment fluctuations with staggered Nash wage bargaining.Journal of political Economy,117(1), pp.38-86. Greiner, B., Ockenfels, A. and Werner, P., 2011. Wage transparency and performance: A real-effort experiment.Economics Letters,111(3), pp.236-238. Kaufman, B.E., 2007. The impossibility of a perfectly competitive labour market.Cambridge Journal of Economics,31(5), pp.775-787. LaJeunesse, R., 2009.Work time regulation as sustainable full employment strategy: The social effort bargain. Routledge. Lee, D. and Rupp, N.G., 2007. Retracting a gift: How does employee effort respond to wage reductions?.Journal of Labor Economics,25(4), pp.725-761. Rivas, M.F. and Sutter, M., 2008.Wage dispersion and workers' effort(No. 2008-15). Working Papers in Economics and Statistics. Rossi, A., Luinstra, A. and Pickles, J. eds., 2014.Towards better work: Understanding labour in apparel global value chains. Springer. Zoller, H.M. and Fairhurst, G.T., 2007. Resistance leadership: The overlooked potential in critical organization and leadership studies.Human Relations,60(9), pp.1331-1360.

Ulysses Review Essay Example

Ulysses Review Paper Essay on Ulysses I, like many others, read Ulysses from under palki..Palka this was in the hands of my literature teacher, who said, You (ie, us) will be difficult, but it is a great product may not agree, just.. take my word. After reading the book, I decided that, indeed, the best just believe the word Defeating half of the book, I gave up trying to understand fully the content and decided to focus on the form (after all, it is famous for innovation forms of Modernism ). Only here I finally parted genius of Joyce. Zvukopis, catechism style newspaper verstok and womens magazines this is truly unique! And write an episode, using one language at different stages of its development is not a genius? And of course incomparable monologue Molly! No wonder that Jung said about this episode Only the devils grandmother knows more about the womans soul, I no. But, alas, it is all that is be available for my understanding, and that, basically, with the help of comments and theories of foreign literature. After reading the book, I came to the conclusion that at present there is hardly a person who can fully understand and appreciate this work. And its certainly not that now a little smart, intelligent people, and that people are smart and intellectuals are now several different. To freely read Ulysses, it is necessary, as already mentioned, have a thorough knowledge of ancient literature, the Bible, the world literature as a whole, as well as to understand the various philosophies. All this, you see, is more characteristic for the enlightened people XVIII-XIX century. Now, in my opinion, education and culture are less extensive database. Of course, its great that someone is reading Ulysses, he finds in it something for themselves what gives him pleasure. For most, however, is 600 pages of torture. Well, for me, Ulysses rather Encyclopedia of English modernism; as a work of art, I do not perceive him.

Free Essays on Decartes Meditations

In Descartes’ first meditation, he becomes skeptical of all knowledge he has acquired through his lifetime. The substantiality of the falsehoods he has accepted as true became unbearable and he found it necessary to demolish everything and start from scratch to find some foundation, if any, to then base his knowledge claims on. He realized that the majority of knowledge was based on his sense perceptions, and that these perceptions can be dubious at times, such as when a straight oar appears bent in water. Through this method of doubt that all his knowledge could be called into question, he set aside everything as if it was wholly false. By this, Descartes hoped to find at least one foundational, indubitable truth, an Archimedean point if you will, or if not to find that there is in fact no certainty. In his tribulations he found that in fact it was impossible to doubt the existence of your thoughts, and from this it was not possible to doubt that you exist. Further, he believed that because he could doubt that the existence of his body, but not his mind, it must be that mind is not body since one has a property the other lacks. To see Descartes’ reasoning we need to analyze this claim known as the argument for the distinctness of mind and body, or dualism. This line of reasoning is mainly based on Descartes’ understanding of himself and his body. First, certain terms need to be understood to conceptualize these ideas. Extension refers to spatially extended, tangible, physical, or material, which in Descartes’ argument refers to a body, which is spatially extended and occupies a space which excludes all other bodies, and can be perceived by sight, smell, and touch. Essence refers to a property that is essential to that thing’s existence; without it the thing would cease to be the same thing. Distinct refers to something that is understood as entirely different from another thing. For our purposes it would refer to ... Free Essays on Decartes Meditations Free Essays on Decartes Meditations In Descartes’ first meditation, he becomes skeptical of all knowledge he has acquired through his lifetime. The substantiality of the falsehoods he has accepted as true became unbearable and he found it necessary to demolish everything and start from scratch to find some foundation, if any, to then base his knowledge claims on. He realized that the majority of knowledge was based on his sense perceptions, and that these perceptions can be dubious at times, such as when a straight oar appears bent in water. Through this method of doubt that all his knowledge could be called into question, he set aside everything as if it was wholly false. By this, Descartes hoped to find at least one foundational, indubitable truth, an Archimedean point if you will, or if not to find that there is in fact no certainty. In his tribulations he found that in fact it was impossible to doubt the existence of your thoughts, and from this it was not possible to doubt that you exist. Further, he believed that because he could doubt that the existence of his body, but not his mind, it must be that mind is not body since one has a property the other lacks. To see Descartes’ reasoning we need to analyze this claim known as the argument for the distinctness of mind and body, or dualism. This line of reasoning is mainly based on Descartes’ understanding of himself and his body. First, certain terms need to be understood to conceptualize these ideas. Extension refers to spatially extended, tangible, physical, or material, which in Descartes’ argument refers to a body, which is spatially extended and occupies a space which excludes all other bodies, and can be perceived by sight, smell, and touch. Essence refers to a property that is essential to that thing’s existence; without it the thing would cease to be the same thing. Distinct refers to something that is understood as entirely different from another thing. For our purposes it would refer to ...

Major General Winfield Scott Hancock - Biography

Major General Winfield Scott Hancock - Biography Winfield Scott Hancock - Early Life Career: Winfield Scott Hancock and his identical twin, Hilary Baker Hancock, were born February 14, 1824 at Montgomery Square, PA, just northwest of Philadelphia. The son of school teacher, and later lawyer, Benjamin Franklin Hancock, he was named for noted War of 1812 commander Winfield Scott. Educated locally, Hancock received an appointment to West Point in 1840 with the aid of Congressman Joseph Fornance. A pedestrian student, Hancock graduated in 1844 ranked 18th in a class of 25. This academic performance earned him an assignment to the infantry and was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant. Winfield Scott Hancock - In Mexico: Ordered to join the 6th US Infantry, Hancock saw duty in the Red River Valley. With the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846, he received orders to oversee recruiting efforts in Kentucky. Successfully fulfilling his assignment, he continually requested permission to join his unit at the front. This was granted and he rejoined the 6th Infantry at Puebla, Mexico in July 1847. Marching as part of his namesakes army, Hancock first saw combat at Contreras and Churubusco in late August. Distinguishing himself, he earned a brevet promotion to first lieutenant. Wounded in the knee during the latter action, he was able to lead his men during the Battle of Molino del Rey on September 8 but soon was overcome by fever. This prevented him from taking part in the Battle of Chapultepec and capture of Mexico City. Recovering, Hancock remained in Mexico with his regiment until the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in early 1848. With the end of the conflict, Hancock returned to the United States and saw peacetime duty at Fort Snelling, MN and St. Louis, MO. While in St. Louis, he met and married Almira Russell (m. January 24, 1850). Winfield Scott Hancock - Antebellum Service: Promoted to captain in 1855, he received orders to serve as the quartermaster at Fort Myers, FL. In this role he supported US Army actions during the Third Seminole War, but did not take part in the fighting. As operations wound down in Florida, Hancock was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, KS where he aided in combating partisan fighting during the Bleeding Kansas crisis. After a brief period in Utah, Hancock was ordered to southern California in November 1858. Arriving there, he served as assistant quartermaster under future Confederate commander Brigadier General Albert Sidney Johnston. Winfield Scott Hancock - The Civil War: An avowed Democrat, Hancock befriended many Southern officers while in California, including Captain Lewis A. Armistead of Virginia. Though he did not initially support the Republican policies of newly-elected President Abraham Lincoln, Hancock remained with the Union Army at the beginning of the Civil War as he felt that the Union should be preserved. Bidding goodbye to his southern friends as they left to join the Confederate Army, Hancock travelled east and initially was given quartermaster duties in Washington, DC. Winfield Scott Hancock - A Rising Star: This assignment was short-lived as he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 23, 1861. Assigned to the newly formed Army of the Potomac, he received command of a brigade in Brigadier General William F. Baldy Smiths division. Moving south in the spring of 1862, Hancock saw service during Major General George B. McClellans Peninsula Campaign. An aggressive and active commander, Hancock mounted a critical counterattack during the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5. Though McClellan failed to capitalize on Hancocks success, the Union commander informed Washington that Hancock was superb today. Seized upon by the press, this quote earned Hancock his nickname Hancock the Superb. After taking part in the Union defeats during the Seven Days Battles that summer, Hancock next saw action at the Battle of Antietam on September 17. Forced to take command of the division after the wounding Major General Israel B. Richardson, he oversaw some of the fighting along the Bloody Lane. Though his men wished to attack, Hancock held his position due to orders from McClellan. Promoted to major general on November 29, he led the First Division, II Corps against Maryes Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg. Winfield Scott Hancock - At Gettysburg: The following spring, Hancocks division helped cover the withdrawal of the army after Major General Joseph Hookers defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville. In the wake of the battle, the II Corps commander, Major General Darius Couch, left the army in protest of Hookers actions. As a result, Hancock was elevated to lead II Corps on May 22, 1863. Moving north with the army in pursuit of General Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia, Hancock was called into action on July 1 with the opening of the Battle of Gettysburg. When Major General John Reynolds was killed early in the fighting, new army commander Major General George G. Meade sent Hancock ahead to Gettysburg to take command of the situation on the field. Arriving, he took control of Union forces after a brief squabble with the more senior Major General Oliver O. Howard. Asserting his orders from Meade, he made the decision to fight at Gettysburg and organized Union defenses around Cemetery Hill. Relieved by Meade that night, Hancocks II Corps assumed a position on Cemetery Ridge in the center of the Union line. The next day, with both Union flanks under attack, Hancock dispatched II Corps units to aid in the defense. On July 3, Hancocks position was the focus of Picketts Charge (Longstreets Assault). During the artillery bombardment that preceded the Confederate attack, Hancock brazenly rode along his lines encouraging his men. In the course of the subsequent attack, Hancock was wounded in the thigh and his good friend Lewis Armistead was mortally wounded when his brigade was turned back by II Corps. Bandaging the wound, Hancock remained on the field for the rest of the fighting. Winfield Scott Hancock - Later War: Though he largely recovered over the winter, the wound plagued him for the remainder of the conflict. Returning to the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1864, he took part in Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grants Overland Campaign seeing action at Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. Arriving at Petersburg in June, Hancock missed a key opportunity to take the city when he deferred to Baldy Smith, whose men had been fighting in the area all day, and did not immediately assault the Confederate lines. During the Siege of Petersburg, Hancocks men took part in numerous operations including fighting at Deep Bottom in late July. On August 25, he was beaten badly at Reams Station, but recovered to win the Battle of Boydton Plank Road in October. Plagued by his Gettysburg injury, Hancock was forced to give up field command the following month and moved through a series of ceremonial, recruiting, and administrative posts for the remainder of the war. Winfield Scott Hancock - Presidential Candidate: After supervising the execution of the Lincoln assassination conspirators in July 1865, Hancock briefly commanded US Army forces on the Plains before President Andrew Johnson directed him to oversee Reconstruction in the 5th Military District. As a Democrat, he followed a softer line in regard to the South than his Republican counterparts elevating his status in the party. With the election of Grant (a Republican) in 1868, Hancock was moved to the Department of Dakota and Department of the Atlantic in an effort to keep him away from the South. In 1880, Hancock was selected by the Democrats to run for president. Squaring off against James A. Garfield, he narrowly lost with the popular vote being the closest in history (4,454,416-4,444,952). Following the defeat, he returned to his military assignment. Hancock died at New York on February 9, 1886 and was buried at Montgomery Cemetery in near Norristown, PA.

Justification of Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Justification of Punishment - Essay Example This research will adamantly define the facts surrounding punishment. It is already generally conceptualized that without a reliable way to punish offenders crime would escalate to uncontrollable proportions. This is just one of the reasons for the use of punishment as a penal tool and why it is utilized by the legal system. In conclusion, this research again emphasizes upon the fact that criminal actions can be controlled and minimized with the proper form of punishment. Furthermore, the conclusive evidence at the end of this research defines the fact that, as has been said, punishment is indeed crucial to law enforcement officials in gaining control over crime and maintaining a more peaceful atmosphere for the general public at large. Restorative justice is one idea of how to relate the theory of punishment to the maintenance of legal control over criminal offenders. Although restorative justice in itself has not been shown to minimize crime, it has been helpful in bringing a relative relation between the victim and the offender and what punishments are best suited to fit the criminal actions of an offender as well (Strang 2005). The main difference between this form of justice and conventional methods is the fact that there is more of a mediating process involved to solve the problems leading to crime in the communities rather than focusing solely on the state as the main victim of criminal offenders, such as the conventional method does (Goulding 2005). It has been found that the main goal of restorative justice is to correct the harm within communities that has been caused by criminal actions placed onto them by the offenders. There is still a process of punishment associated with this new area of the judicial process but it is focused on a more humane way of dealing with crime rather than corporal punishment, or other harsher sentencing, etc (Goulding 2005). However, to some in society this is a positive attribute being added to the judicial system and to others (especially law enforcement personnel) it is neglecting the proper way to control and combat crime as there are those in the judicial system that still feel severe punishments are justifiable for certain criminal actions and therefore should be continued in order to properly control crime (Goulding 2005). Nevertheless, restorative justice does have its benefits and it is effectively being used to try and determine what rehabilitative treatment methods are best for preventing offenders from repeating their criminal behavior patterns in society. Also, in regards to punishment and treatment, restorative justice has the offender become a participant in these decisions. The offender is allowed to voice what treatment and punishment that they feel would be the best solution and penalty for their criminal actions. Researchers are defining this as a positive characteristic of this form of justice because there have been hints that allowing the offender to be a part of the justice process in a more active manner can increase the statistics that they will not continue their actions in a repetitive pattern but will rather conform to societal rules depicted by the legal process (Goulding 2005).

Case study on Starbucks strategy and internal initiatives to return to Term Paper

Case study on Starbucks strategy and internal initiatives to return to profitable grown - Term Paper Example The study of Starbucks Company focus on a multifaceted journey through its implication into market dominance, culture, and its development of a brand similar to integrity, longevity, and loyalty. Comprehending the Corporation’s growth into an international star and the strategic approaches they utilized to get there starts with the origins of the product itself; coffee. Starbucks acquires its strength from expansion capacities, diversification, and novelty to accomplish a strong financial operation basing on its retail store operation. The corporation has precisely used several strategies to stay at the top of the market through good leadership alliance, branding techniques, use of new technologies, and maximizing its profits at all times. Innovative techniques and products have been the major building stones for Starbucks to maintain its leadership in the market and to return to profitable growth. Starbuck’s Business Model According to Henricks, a business model is a b rief representation of how a unified set of decision variables in a business’s strategies, architecture, and economics will be addressed to achieve a competitive advantage in a certain market. From the analysis of the company’s strategies, Starbucks has been found as a business that enjoys a high level of customer loyalty, and for a long time has had a significant competitive advantage over other less popular coffee-products companies using their entrepreneur approach to business basing on customer intimacy and innovation (Henricks, 2007). Starbucks business model evolves with time to meet the needs of its customers. It treats its employees well, such as insuring their health, has a long resourced fair trade coffee, and offers mobile offices to masses of unemployed workers and freelancers looking for jobs. The Corporation as done before will always entangle its share of critics, but generally it has a set a pace for other companies to learn from. Starbucks value propos ition Starbucks was much successful in the 1990’s. It has set initiatives to return to this profitable growth by making the customers the centre of its success. Starbucks gives the first priority to its customers in its value proposition. Its value is compelling since it places the clients and the service offered to them above everything else. Though the Corporation is a retail-coffee store, its value proposition is not exclusively on coffee, rather on coffee culture and the coffee drinking experience. With this strategy, Starbucks moves away from the practical gains offered by the coffee, like stimulation, taste, and focuses on the quality of its products and the indefinable gains of the experience of customers drinking its coffee. Thus, Starbucks value proposition is not based on coffee or other products, but on the experience of drinking coffee in the company’s store incorporating the product with the emotional gains of consumers. Starbucks vision for the business S tarbucks vision is to establish itself as a premier supplier of the finest coffee globally while maintaining its categorical principles as it grows. The company visualizes a growing business with loyalty to its customers, delivering quality products, and innovative customer benefits. Strategies to achieve the vision With the objective of being the most recognized and appreciated coffee producing brand in the world, Starbucks has some strategies to achieve this. The company concentrates on employee satisfaction and working as a team, as well as customer satisfaction through a favorable environment and high standard coffee. In addition, it uses only the best coffee beans in brewing the various blends and thus achieves the vision of producing the finest coffee. The main objective of Starbucks is to grow by first valuing its employees. Starbucks approach its employees with excellent comprehensive and

Response to the Right Stuff Essay Example for Free

Response to the Right Stuff Essay David Suzuki in his essay â€Å"The Right Stuff† stresses the importance of sex education and human biology, in the course of science, in high schools. He urges that in high schools sex education should be taught first than any other subject. Suzuki argues that the impressions made in high school are very deep and are unforgotten than any other stage of life, so in this age, whatever they will learn, will always remember and will be very beneficial throughout their life. So, he urges the need of educating human sexuality in high school. Although Suzuki’s idea of teaching sex education in high school is interesting, the argument he makes is less than convincing. Suzuki’s main purpose for writing essay is reflecting the importance of sex education in high schools. He wants that science education in high schools should be taught practically and in more interesting way. He argues that the students in high school are enough mature to understand about sex education, and the lessons they learn at high schools will be helpful for their whole life and they will always remember those lessons. He says that all students do not choose science course at university level, so sex education needs to be taught in high schools. He informs that the students are interested and pay more attention towards the topics of human biology, drugs, and sex, so in science class sex education should be taught first. Suzuki in his essay uses the information from his personal knowledge and from his science background. He sees everything in a scientific way because of a science background, and suggests teachers that first they go through practically from every subject in science before teaching to students. He also wants in high schools, sex education should be plan around human biology. The major part of the essay covered his personal narration, which is his visit to a small town to judge a science fair. Suzuki also uses some information in his essay, from the book â€Å"Is There Life After High School?† that he read and some given by a high school teacher of a small town about the interes t of students towards sex, drugs and cars. The consequences of Suzuki’s reasoning are that some of the parents and religious persons maybe on the other side because maybe they do not want that their children know about sex education, that is why, they may be disagree. On the other side, if students get all the information regarding sex in their early age at high school, they might be grow too quickly, and probably get into sexual activities in their young age. In some of the religions, sex education is not allowed in high schools, if it kept compulsory in schools, so maybe some religions will oppose it. And also students may not pay much attention to other subjects, or they start watching erotic films, so that will affect their life. In his essay, Suzuki does not provide strong evidences to support his idea. He first describes the life of students in high school and the changes occur in that period, then he suddenly shifts to his personal experience in a small northern town with 400 high school students. But his main points are not properly argued. Suzuki wants sex education to be taught in high school, but he didn’t think about the bad impact of that education on students. Some students will probably do a lot of bad things, which they don’t need to do, if they will get the knowledge about sex in their teenage. So, his main point is not convincing.

Use of Magical Realism in Chronicle of a Death Foretold Essay examples

Use of Magical Realism in Gabriel-Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold   Magical realism is clearly present throughout Gabriel-Garcia Marquez's novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold.   Magical realism is the juxtaposition of realism with fantastic, mythic, and magical elements. A secondary trait was the characteristic attitude of narrators toward the subject matter: they frequently appeared to accept events contrary to the usual operating laws of the universe as natural, even unremarkable. Though the tellers of astonishing tales, they themselves expressed little or no surprise.   Obviously the most concise definition of magical realism is that it is the combination of magical and real elements. The magical elements that exist in works of magical realism are; superstitions, exaggerations, dreams that come true, universal humor and the coincidence of bizarre events. All of these Elements are present within Chronicle of a Death Foretold.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Placida Linero, Santiago's mother is one example of superstition with is the book.   "She had a well earned reputation as an accurate interpreter of other people's dream, provided they were told to her before eating, but she hadn't notice any ominous augury in those two dream of her son's" (1-2) Santiago's character also represents this element of magical realism. The statement   " Nor did Santiago Nasar recognize the omen" not only reveals his superstition but also the common faith put in superstition. There must have been some sign of the, foreshadowing or coming of his death that he could have seen. It is funny how these omens are more readily accessible after it is too late. Marquez uses exaggeration in Chronicle of a Death Foretold more than any other element... ...on, which General Petronio San Roman was a hero of. The dialogue throughout the book stays believable, even though the reports were unordinary the characters responded as if they were ordinary. Such as the narrator saying that he believed that Pedro was awake for months. It is this reality-based core with real people and places, a recognizable setting and believable conversation that enables Marquez to twist in the magical details giving this novel the genre of magical realism. "What came to dominate the story and to leave a lasting impression was the view of man as a mystery surrounded by realistic data. A poetic divination or denial of reality. Something that for lack of a better word could be called magical realism."   -Uslar Pietri Works Cited: Gabriel Garcia Collected Novellas: Chronicle of A Death Foretold. New York[:] Harper Collins Publishers, 1990.

The Fashoda Incident and the Berlin Conference

The Fashoda Incident The Fashoda Incident, also known as Fashoda Crisis, was the climax of a dispute between France and Britain, who were vying for territory in Africa, and both claimed control over a Sudanese outpost. At the end of the nineteenth century, the European powers were competing for control of Africa, hoping to extend their territory into the Sudan and the Great Lakes region. As the French extended eastward from the Congo, the British expanded south from Egypt.The disputes arose from the common desire of each country to link up its disparate colonial possessions in Africa. Great Britain’s aim was to link Uganda to Egypt via a railway from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo, while France, by pushing eastward from the west coast, hoped to extend its dominion across Central Africa and the Sudan. In July 1898, a French expedition arrived at the Sudanese outpost of Fashoda on the Nile. After British General Herbert Kitchener's victory at Omdurman, he proceeded to Fashoda on orders from the British prime minister.Kitchener claimed the entire Nile valley for Great Britain, and, after several days, both parties withdrew peacefully. The solution to the conflicting claims was later worked out by diplomats in Britain and France, and it reflected the fact that Britain had an army in Khartoum, while France had no appreciable forces in the vicinity. France renounced all rights to the Nile basin and the Sudan in return for a guarantee of its position in West Africa. The Fashoda incident is seen as the high point of Anglo–French tension in Africa. Berlin conferenceA conference held in Berlin, Germany in 1884 to 1885 in order to regulate the trade and European colonialism in Africa during the New Imperialism period. The conference was held following a request by Portugal and organized by Otto von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of the German Empire. During the 70s and 80s of the 19th century, the European powers were interested in Africa to get trades right s and access to the valuable resources, such as gold, timber, land markers and labor powers. The major competition was between the British, Portuguese, French and Belgians.The participant countries at the Conference were: Germany, Austria – Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden – Norway and The Ottoman Empire. They wanted to work out policy for the division of Africa. The US was against the Berlin Conference because it didn’t want to be considered as a colonial power. The main points achieved were: – To end slavery and the slave trades. – The Congo Free States came under King Leopold’s control (Belgium). – All the European powers were given trade rights in the Congo Basin and other territories. The Niger River and Congo River were to be free for ship traffic. – If any of the participants claimed a part of the African coast, they had to notify the other participant. -The princ iple of Effectivity was one of the outcomes of the Berlin Conference. According to this principle each colonial power had to : – have treaties with the local leader – fly their flag – establish an administration -create a police force As a consequences of the Berlin Conference â€Å"The scramble for Africa† speeded up.

American Writers Essay

Introduction This is a kind of work that I like very much to do because of help me to remember and memorize everything that I learned and help me to broaden my vocabulary. In this journal I’m going to do a brief analysis of everything that I learned in classes, poems, films, magazines, authors, books and other things. My objectives in this journal are not only get a good mark but also, as I mencioned, learned something else. So, enjoy this travel! â€Å"Introduction to Poetry† by Billy Collins 18/09/2012. â€Å"Two Trains Running† by Tony Hoagland 18/09/2012 What is poetry? 20/09/2012 Poetry is a form of writing in which the author chooses the length of the lines, and not the publisher. Terry Eagletor â€Å"High Windows† by Philip Larkin 20/09/2012 Poems about writing poetry 25/09/2012 â€Å"Purity† by Billy Collins â€Å"I go back to May 1937† by Sharon Olds 25/09/2012 â€Å"Paradelle for Susan† by Billy Collins 25/09/2012 â€Å"Duck/Rabbit† by Billy Collins 25/09/2012 Factors that influenced interpretation 2/10/2012 Example: â€Å"The Sick Rose† by William Blake. Satan Says (Pitt poetry series): Sharon Olds (1980) 4/10/2012 â€Å"The sisters of sexual treasure† â€Å"First night† â€Å"Indictment of Senior Officers† â€Å"Satan says† â€Å"Tricks† â€Å"The language of the brag† â€Å"Night terrors† â€Å"Late† â€Å"The housewives watching morning TV† â€Å"Prayer† The Dead and the Living: Sharon Olds (1984) â€Å"Poem to my first lover† â€Å"New mother† The Unswept Room: Sharon Olds (2002) â€Å"His Costume† â€Å"Blood, Tin, Straw†- 1999 16/10/2012 â€Å"Coming of Age, 1966† by Sharon Olds â€Å"The Toilet† by Gcina Mhlophe 18/10/2012. Extract of a novel â€Å"Dirty Weekend† by Helen Zahavi 23/10/2012 Introduction to the Sherman Alexie’s book â€Å"Flight† 6/11/2012 Chapter 1 and 2 Chapters 3 to 10 of â€Å"Flight† by Sherman Alexie 8/11/2012 Magazine â€Å"Native Peoples† 8/11/2012 â€Å"Flight is supposed to be beautiful . It’s supposed to be pure. † 13/11/2012 Movie â€Å"War Party† by Franc Roddam 15/11/2012 Literary and non-literary texts J M Coetzee- â€Å"The Life and Times of Michael K† Toni Morrison- â€Å"A Mercy† Anita Heiss- â€Å"Avoiding Mr. Right† Zane Grey- â€Å"The Spirit of the Border†. Stephen King- â€Å"The wolves of the Calla† Literary texts| | â€Å"A Mercy† by Toni Morrisonâ€Å"The Wolves of the Calla† by Stephen Kingâ€Å"The Spirit of the Border† by Zane GreyThese, are literary texts because express the inner and subjective reality of the author, allows various interpretations and not intended to inform but recreate the reality. | | Feminism 18/10/2012 â€Å"In a different voice†:Carol Gilligan â€Å"Writing a woman’s life†: Carolin Heilbrun â€Å"Ariel†: Sylvia Plath â€Å"As Novas Cartas Portuguesas†: Maria Teresa Horta

Oriane essays

Oriane essays Sexual Awakening in Marvel Morenos Oriane: Short story and Film Oriane, Aunt Oriane, was written by Marvel Moreno in 1980. It demonstrates the sexual awakening of a young girl while visiting her Aunt on vacation. There are many peculiar and eccentric similarities that both Maria and Oriane experience. The two looked alike, were both very curios at a young age, and most importantly had extremely similar sexual awakenings. Throughout the story and film the awareness of each characters sexual awakenings are bolstered by sounds. These sounds form as a way of communication and spoken language that affected each character emotionally and psychologically. They coincided with the characters feelings of awkwardness, uneasiness, nervousness and excitement to give the audience the feeling of how the character felt at that time, as well as how that character felt toward other characters in the story. Oriane had had her sexual awakening as a young girl in an affair with her half brother Sergio. Because Sergio was the bastard son of her father, her love with him was forbidden. The forbidden love caused sexual repression for Oriane. In the film, the director uses many sounds to explain the sexual tension between Sergio and Maria. There is one scene in particular where Sergio is sitting on a rocking chair while Maria is lying in the grass. As the chair rocks back and fourth, the sounds epitomize the two having sex. It is quiet comical how the director went about it. After some time of bottled up depression and anxiety, her sexual awakening became an abrupt reality when the two made love. Shortly after, her father found out and killed Sergio. Orianes awakening and severe depression due to this event made her open to Marias curiosity about her past. She wanted Maria to find out. When Oriane and Sergio made love they bore a child. Maria had a similar sexual encounter with Oriane and Sergios child ...

Being Brave The Essay Expert’s New Year’s Ressaylutions

Being Brave The Essay Expert’s New Year’s Ressaylutions Every year in January, I make New Year’s Resolutions and report them to you, my 1800 or so readers. For anyone who’s serious about resolutions, making them is brave. First of all, we need to do some honest assessment of what’s working and not working in our lives and businesses. We need to consider where we want to head in the next year. Serious resolutions mean the year is going to be a challenge. Of course many of us make our resolutions and then promptly forget about them or give up on them. They are not real to us. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. Making New Year’s Resolutions publicly holds me accountable! As some of you know, I report both my wins and my fails for the year in August and January. This transparency helps me get a lot of things done (though not everything I promise, as you will see below) and encourages me to continually assess and reassess my goals and progress. Here’s what happened in 2013: My 2013 â€Å"Ressaylutions† and results were as follows: Publish a Spanish-language version of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile. Not done. After full consideration of the possibility, I decided it would be untenable to keep up with all the updates of content and images in a foreign-language version of the book as well as an English-language version! Project tabled indefinitely. Publish a 50 Resume Tips book. DONE! In fact, I published two: How to Write a WINNING Resume and How to Write a STELLAR Executive Resume. They have been selling fairly well on Amazon – and many resume writers and clients have told me they are very helpful. I have one job seeker who updated her resume based on the book and promptly got a job! Obtain my CMRW (Certified Master Resume Writer Certification, offered by CDI). DONE! Increase the college essay / personal statement portion of my business to 25% of total business. I’m still at 10%. However, realizing that I was not going to make this goal, I have already put some things into place for 2014, and I will be focusing even more on building this aspect of my business. Start a training for resume writers. This one got put on the back burner as I completed my e-books. Tabled for now but might come up again in 2014. Ressaylutions for 2014: Increase college essay / personal statement portion of my business to 25% of business (carried over from last year for a second go). Some steps already taken in the right direction: Speaking at the NRWA Conference in Denver about how to write a standout college essay. Getting interviews for a widely circulated newspaper talking about college essays (publication still pending). And advertising a new summer program for rising high school seniors to work on their writing skills and personal statement topics (Let me know if you have a student who would like to participate). Roll out a new â€Å"responsive† (mobile-friendly) website. I have already hired web designers and they are hard at work! Choose a CRM and project management system. The Essay Expert and my assistant Jeanne Goodman do entirely too much record-keeping by hand. I will be investigating CRM and project management systems this year to determine whether there is one that will make our lives easier over here at The Essay Expert! Serve 250 clients. This year The Essay Expert worked with 200 clients to find new jobs, get into school, and achieve business results. I’m aiming to increase that number by 25%! Generate 214 success stories. I haven’t given up on collecting 200+ client success stories. This year we reached 122 (up from 109 in 2012). I’m planning to increase client numbers next year (see #4) so there will be a better chance of increasing the number of success stories. Please share yours if you haven’t already! What are your New Year’s Resolutions and how will you hold yourself accountable? Please share! Category:Life and LeadershipBy Brenda BernsteinJanuary 13, 2014 3 Comments Scott Becher says: January 14, 2014 at 12:33 am Wonderful and impressive goals Brenda. Log in to Reply Scott says: January 15, 2014 at 10:01 am Have your expectations ever been disappointed by the outcome of your goals that you had no control over? Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: January 15, 2014 at 10:34 am Ever? Im sure they have! The trick is to adjust and come up with new goals! All I have control over is my own actions and how I respond to what happens around me. Log in to Reply

HCM477-0802A-01 Finance in Health Care - Phase 3 Discussion Board Essay

HCM477-0802A-01 Finance in Health Care - Phase 3 Discussion Board - Essay Example Since the involvement of a third party increases the number of healthcare insurance enrolees, the business does not only maximize the utilization of its daily operational expenses but also serves as a good source of word-by mouth public advertisement. As a result, there is a bigger chance for the existence of the health care insurance company to be known by big multi-national companies and several government agencies. A good example of a third party business relationship can be observed when the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration decided to team up with the State Insurance departments. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2008) By doing so, both organizations are able to develop a more efficient way to address the health care needs of the local employees based on the state and federal health benefits laws. Also, since these government agencies are well-known by big- and small business organizations, establishing a good business relationship with them could result to a positive impact over the profitability of the health care insurance company. In line with developing a new marketing campaign on behalf of Fullhealth, the use of television advertisement can be effective in terms of announcing to the public the tie up between Fullhealth and a specific government agency such as the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Since many people are watching television at home, Fullhealth should be invest more money on primetime wherein more people are watching the network. Aside from the use of television marketing strategy, Fullhealth could easily make a follow-up marketing campaign by developing a user-friendly website wherein people could easily access upon viewing the television advertisement during their free time. As part of Fullhealth website design, the company could post their competitive advantage as a health insurance company. Basically, the

OS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

OS - Research Paper Example Microsoft Windows or simply Windows is an operating system family of personal computer operating systems that is developed by Microsoft to make use of the computer through graphical user interface (GUI). Additionally, the Windows operating systems have been developed from the MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk operating system), which is a non-graphical command line operating system developed for IBM compatible computers and was initially released by Microsoft in August 1981 and its final version MS-DOS 6.22 was released in 1994. However, currently the MS-DOS operating system is not widely utilized, but its command shell can be used through Microsoft Windows (Computer Hope; Microsoft Corporation). Additionally, this operating system was based on the text mode and used command-line to perform calculations. Thus, it was not a user-friendly operating system. The initial version of Windows operating system, which is also acknowledged as the initial Windows Graphic Environment 1.0 was introduced on 1 0 November 1983, however simply out of the marketplace in November 1985 designed to help and manage the computer requirements to display a picture. The initial Windows 1.0 is a software addition to 16-bit (that was not an OS) that executed on MS-DOS (as well as a number of alternatives of MS-DOS), thus, the DOS operating system was necessary to run this operating system. In addition, after this version the Windows Version 2.x and 3.x were released, which were of the similar type. A number of the newest versions of Windows (however these new versions start from the version 4.0 and Windows NT 3.1) were autonomous OS that no longer reliant upon the operating system MS-DOS (Microsoft Corporation). Beginning from DOS Shell for Microsoft’s DOS 6 Microsoft required struggling beside the best-selling Apple Macintosh that utilized a GUI, Microsoft produced Windows 1.0. However, the name â€Å"Windows† was suggested by the Microsoft

Prison reform in Ghana Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Prison reform in Ghana - Thesis Example Prisons are housed in old colonial forts. New structures are being built, but not fast enough. Since most of the population is economically poor many end up committing a crime. The poor are at the mercy of the gang members. The prisons are filled with violence, drugs, and corruption. The Ghana Prison Service is in charge of overseeing the prisons. While changes are being made, they are woefully inadequate. The problem becomes that the Ghana people are patterning a prison system after the British. This would be fine if the Ghana government had the resources of the British government. Since the country is one of the poorest in the world, their prison system cannot achieve the same goals as one of the richest countries in the world. The Ghana Prison System needs to create a correctional program based on their resources, culture, and needs. While this seems unlikely I can only hope for a better prison system in the future. I wish that all humans can be treated fairly, even those in West Africa. Ghana deserves to have their culture preserved in every aspect of their life, including their prison

English: The Official Language?

English: The Official Language? For better or for worse, like it or not, English is in effect the official language of the planet. It is the most commonly used language of international commerce, politics, science, diplomacy, and the most commonly used language on the Internet. It is a lingua franca, or vehicular language, i.e. a language spoken and utilized outside of the country or countries of its origin, as opposed to a vernacular language, i.e. a language spoken within and amongst native speakers in the country of origin. English, like other lingua franca of the past, is often used as a second language to effect common communication for a specific purpose (such as diplomacy) between people for whom the lingua franca is not their first language. For example, French was once the lingua franca of diplomacy up until around World War I, only to be supplanted by English; scientists themselves declared English to be their lingua franca in a 1989 article in The Scientist magazine bluntly entitled The English Language: The Lingua Franca Of International Science. One may view the domination and global use of English as linguistic and cultural imperialism, and indeed we shall explore this notion further, but the simple fact is that the situation is unlikely to change any time soon. It is everywhere. Some 380 million people speak it as their first language and perhaps two-thirds as many again as their second. A billion are learning it, about a third of the worlds population are in some sense exposed to it and by 2050, it is predicted, half the world will be more or less proficient in it. (The Economist, 2001). It is thus in the best interest of citizens and governments of any nations that wish to participate on the global stage economically, politically, scientifically, etc., to embark upon official programs to ensure that people have the opportunity to learn English; in fact, it may be argued that the teaching of English should be mandatory in such nations. While there are cultural drawbacks to the institutionalized teaching of English in non-ENL countries, the benefits seem to outweigh the drawbacks, and we shall explore both as well. To understand the merits of education in English, as well as its drawbacks and the practical requirements therein, we must first understand something of the merits of the English language itself, the historical circumstances and cultures that spawned it, and why it continues to be durable and vital as a universal language. The global influence and power of the British Empire, and then subsequently the United States as the British Empires scope gradually eroded, is primarily responsible for the primacy of English as a de facto official international language. Latin, once the lingua franca for most of Europe, was gradually supplanted in the 17th and 18th century as global exploration and colonization; for a time, scholars and clerics who regularly traveled across the boundaries of national languages continued to use Latin and their lingua franca. But as knowledge of Latin declined and the rise of merchant and professional classes produced travelers unschooled in Latin,people sought alternative means of international communications. (Graddol,2000, p. 6) The victory of the Allies in World War II cannot be underestimated in terms of representing a huge step in cementing the destiny of English as the language eventually destined to be the universal language of the globe. The only two potential rivals at the time were French, mostly due to historical inertia, and German, mostly due to the astonishing rise to military and economic power of Nazi Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Had the U.S. not lent its economic and military might to defeat the Germans and the Japanese, English might be a quaint relic of the planets short-lived experiment in democracy. Had Hitler won World War II and had the USA been reduced to a confederation banana republics, we would probably today use German as a universal vehicular language, and Japanese electronic firms would advertise their products in Hong Kong airport duty-free shops in German. (Eco, 1995, p. 331) Unlike almost every other major nation that fought in World War II, the United States emerged with its economy not only intact, but also thriving. It was therefore no surprise that the United States took the lead in forming and administering institutions to aid the reconstruction and reintegration of Europe, Japan, and many other regions of the world. In short order, English-speaking nations were also exporting their culture, not simply their goods and goodwill. The ongoing hegemony that the United States and Britain enjoy in terms of cultural communications film, television, books, music, etc., helps perpetuate the influence and staying power of English as an official language. Even such cultural communications that are translated into the native languages of individual countries are not immune to the Englishness of the communications, i.e., the distinctly American and/or British cultural elements that inform the language of the communications and therefore necessarily survive any competent translation and are inculcated into the minds of the listener/viewer/reader. In ways too intricate, too diverse for socio-linguistics to formulate precisely, English and American-English seem to embody for men and women throughout the world -and particularly for the young the feel of hope, of material advance, of scientific and empirical procedures. The entire world-image of mass consumption, of international exchange, of the popular arts, of generational conflict, of technocracy, is permeated by American-English and English citations and speech habits. (Steiner, 1975, p. 469) Other than the cultural, military, and political hegemony of the British Empire and of the United States, what might account for the staying power of English as a lingua franca? From a linguistic perspective, English is hardly the most sensible choice for a quasi-official global language. English, simply put, is not the most efficient and consistent language. English is an irregular and fractured language comprised of influences from Latin and Celtic, and later Scandinavian and Norman French tongues. Its syntax, construction, verb conjugation,spelling, and other grammatical constructions, etc., are riddled with maddening inconsistencies that at times befuddle even native speakers, to say nothing ofthose who struggle for years to master it as a second language. English lacks the simplicity and consistency of the Romance languages to the extent that it varies from its Latin and French influences, though it is certainly easier to learn and utilize than some Asian tongues. However, these same elements that make English a flawed language are also believed by many linguists to be strengths that assist in the durability and adaptability of English; it has historically adapted to and incorporated language influences with ease that it has encountered from around the globe. English has always been an evolving language and language contact has been an important driver of change Some analysts see this hybridity and permeability of English as defining features, allowing it to expand quickly into new domains and explaining in part its success as a world language. (Graddol, 2000, p. 6) As English owes its existence to the fact that it absorbs, not rejects new linguistic and cultural influences, its inherently hybridized nature makes it all the easier for English to assimilate characteristics of other cultures and languages, instead of reject them or demand they conform to some sort of rigid structure. As the rules of English are a bit fast and loose, English is well-suited to evolve on the fly. There are a variety of challenges facing both those who wish to learn English as a second language and those who wish to teach it. Some of these challenges are cultural, some are practical, but the utilization of English by non-native speakers in non-ENL nations is never as simple a matter as it might seem. Culturally speaking, some aspiring English speakers may feel pressure from the more traditional and/or conservative members of their own cultures to resist what they may label as American cultural imperialism, the decadent influence of consumer capitalist values from the West that are transmitted through theEnglish language. To embrace these values at the expense of ones own language and culture is frowned upon in many conservative cultures, for example, particularlyin fundamentalist Muslim cultures which have suffered from seriously strained relations with the United States in the past six to ten years. Often, proficiency in one or more indigenous or native tongues will co-exist, mingle, and/or exist in hierarchal forms of usage with English. The acquisition of English skills does not necessarily lead to the supplanting or replacement of the native tongue with English; the choice of which language to speak is often context- and audience-dependent. For example, in some cases speakers will employ code-switching, in which two participants in a conversation, who know both English and a local vernacular language, will switch back and forth between the two tongues as a means of negotiating and navigating their relationship, in some cases even alternating back and forth between languages within the same sentence. Graddol (2000) outlines some fascinating examples, including a situation in which a young job seeker enters an office in Nairobi, Kenya, seeking employment. The vernacular language in question is Swahili; the young man commences his job inquiry with the owner of the establishment by speaking in English. The Kenyan manager of the office, however, insists on using Swahili, thus denying the young mans negotiation of the higher status associated with English. (Myers-Scotton, 1989, p. 339) Their conversation goes as follows: Young Man: Mr Muchuki has sent me to you about the job you put in the paper. Manager: Uitumabarua ya application? [Did you send a letter of application?] Young Man: Yes,I did. But he asked me to come to see you today. Manager: Ikiwaulituma barua, nenda ungojee majibu. Tutakuita ufike kwa interviewsiku itakapofika. [If youve written a letter, then go and wait for a response.We will call you for an interview when the letter arrives.] (pause) Leo sina lasuma kuliko hayo. [Today I havent anything elseto say.] Young man: Asante.Nitangoja majibu. [Thank you. I will wait for the response.] (Graddol, 2000,p. 13) The managerasserts his authority as both manager and adult in a position that commandsrespect, and he utilizes his insistence on the vernacular tongue to indirectlycommunicate this authority and demand for respect from the young man. Theyoung man is shrewd enough a native speaker of Swahili to grasp the subtext ofthe exchange, which is in essence a command to show proper deference and notwalk into a shop trying to exploit the connection with a mutual Kenyan friendby speaking English. It is not that the manager does not speak English; hedoes, but he insists on a certain element of cultural integrity by insisting onSwahili. The young man picks up on this, and therefore switches to Swahili tobid the manager farewell and tacitly submits to the shopkeepers authority byconforming to his wishes. Had the young man entered the office and spokenSwahili, he might have been granted an interview on the spot, though it ispossible the boy meant no disrespect and in fact wished to display hiseducati on by speaking English. In any case, this example shows thefascinating, multi-layered cultural and personal interchanges that go on duringcode-switching. (Note also that the manager chooses to use the English termsfor interview and application, perhaps because there is no directequivalent in Swahili, or perhaps to illustrate his own ability with English asa point of both pride and warning.) As further examplethat the finding of linguistic common ground is not the cure-all forcommunications difficulties, we now turn to the topic of how speakers interactwhen they share only one language in common, i.e., English, instead of sharingin common speaking ability in both English and their own native, vernacularlanguage. Graddol (2000) provides us with another scenario from the studies ofFirth (1996), in which international phone calls between Dutch and Syrian goodstraders were analyzed to see how the respective parties interacted in English.In some cases, where one speaker is less proficient than the other, the formerwill employ a conversational strategy termed let it pass, in which the lessproficient speaker will mask his lack of understanding of what is being said bythe other by delaying a request for clarification, in hopes that what the firstspeaker said will become understood as the conversation continues. Onehumorous exchange went as follows, in which a Dane (D) and Syrian (S) discussan order of cheese that had gone awry. S: So I told himnot to send the cheese after the blowing in the customs. We dont want theorder after the cheese is blowing. D: I see, yes. S: So I dontknow what we can do with the order now. What do you think we should do withall this blowing, Mr Hansen? D: Im not uh(pause) Blowing? What is this, too big, or what? S: No, thecheese is bad Mr Hansen. It is like fermenting in the customs cool rooms. D: Ah, its goneoff! S: Yes, itsgone off. (Graddol, 2000,p. 13) What this exampledemonstrates is that an entire skill set and mode of sub-communication developsbetween non-native speakers who do not have another frame of reference incommon, i.e., the same vernacular language, further complicating theutilization of English in business and/or commerce situations. There are alsonumerous practical considerations that affect the utilization of English,particularly in teaching it to non-ENL speakers. For example, which versionof English should be taught? Despite the extensive global use of English, itis far from a homogenous language spoken and written in the precisely samemanner in each country. English, as befitting its history, is a language ofmany diverse dialects; British English is different from American English,largely in pronunciation, accent, and certain vocabulary words, and American Englishitself is sub-divisible into any number of different sub-dialects, includingBlack/African-American English, which in its purest form is so unique inaccent, grammar, and slang that it is almost completely unintelligible to manynative English speakers, to say nothing of speakers of English as a secondlanguage (ESL). The numerouschallenges presented by English pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary may alsoserve as a roadblock for both students and teachers. The difficulty ofteaching the ambiguities of unstressed vowels, consonant phenomes, and stresstiming is considerable. English grammar and verb conjugation is extremelyirregular, requiring a considerable amount of rote memorization, instead of theapplication of logical and consistent rules, as found in Romance languages(Spanish and French rely on a consistent set of 13 verb tenses with largelyregular characteristics; English does not.) English vocabulary also requires a large amount of rote memorization, as the innumerable linguistic influences from which English draws its unusually large lexicon make it difficult to extrapolate and create words from basic linguistic structures as a speaker of Spanish can do. For example, the Spanish words pertaining to meat are all rooted in the Latin word carnivorus, whereas in English, they are not: carne = meat; carnicero = butcher; carnicerÃÆ'Â ­a = a store where meat is sold. For Spanish speakers, learning the underlying root word of a concept means the speaker should have little trouble deducing how to say related words; in English, there is no such consistency and therefore the barriers to effective learning and usage are high. On the other hand,there are inherent flaws in other major world languages, for which Englishprovides a natural compensation. One such example is Japanese, an ancient andbeautiful language rich in complexity and the capacity for subtlety and nuanceof expression, but also notorious -for those same reasons for itsinefficiency and lack of clarity when it comes to matters of politics, law,debate, and decision-making. In 1999, one of the most influential Japanesenewspapers, Asahi Shimbun issued a hotly debated call for English to beadopted as the official language of Japan, citing advantages ranging from theobvious greater Japanese ability to participate in science, internationaltrade, politics, etc. to the unusual, i.e., the newspaper asserted that theuse of English would in fact strengthen the usage of Japanese, whose linguisticweaknesses, the paper asserted, played a large part in the inefficiency of thegovernment. Quoting Yoshio Terasawa, a former director of Japans Economic Planning Agency, former member of the House of Councilors, and former president of Nomura Securities U.S. division, the newspaper delivered a stinging indictment of its own native language and recommended the usefulness of English when it came to decision-making in business and government: Japanese is fullof vague expressions, so people rarely talk in terms of black and white and itis very easy to blur responsibility. It is an everyday occurrence forgovernment ministers to spend 10 minutes answering a question in the Diet [theJapanese Parliament] without actually saying anything. But if Diet memberscould put their questions in English, it might be possible to do away with thenon-committal bureaucratic language that is too wishy-washy to translate intoEnglish. People wouldnt be able to fudge the issues any more, and not just inpolitics. (Kinomoto, 1999) The article wenton to remark, with some astonishment, that the expected outcries of culturalimperialism and the imminent demise of the celebrated individuality andindependence of the Japanese culture, were few and far between. The Japanesehave yet to make English their official language, unsurprisingly given theirhistoric national pride, but the open advocacy of the virtues of English usagewas remarkable. In the end, theutilization of English as a lingua franca second language has clear benefits.While the potential obliteration of cultural diversity worldwide, a constantsource of worry and debate, seems valid, one only need look as far as theexample of the Swahili-speaking office manager to see that indigenous speakersare finding ways for English and their own vernacular languages to co-exist,even with a bit of unease. So the challenge becomes not so much about whetheror not English is of neutral or positive benefit; it self-evidently is; butrather how to go about navigating the parallel use of English with otherlanguages across the globe, both augmenting the strengths of and compensatingfor the weaknesses of local cultures and local tongues. BIBLIOGRAPHY/ REFERENCES Fennell, Barbara. A History of English:A Sociolinguistic Approach, Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Garfield, Eugene. The English Language:The Lingua Franca Of International Science, The Scientist Magazine,1989, 3(10):12, 15 May 1989. The Triumph of English: A World Empire byOther Means, The Economist, 20 December 2001. Graddol, David. The Future of English?The British Council, 1997, 2000. Eco, U. The Search for the PerfectLanguage. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995. Graddol, David, Dick Leith JoanSwann. English : History, Diversity and Change London: Routledge, 1996. FBailer, R. M. Gorlach,(eds.) Englishas a World Language. Ann Arbor: Michigan University Press, 1982. Myers-Scotton, C. Code Switching withEnglish: Types of Switching, Types of Communities, World English, Vol.8, No. 3., pp. 333-46. Kachru, B.. The Alchemy of English.Pergamon Press, 1982. Trudgill, P. J. Hannah. InternationalEnglish: A Guide to Varieties of Standard English, Arnold Publishers, 1982. Kinomoto, Keusuke. Should English Be Madethe Official Language? Asahi Shimbun, 29 August 1999.

The Anglican Liturgy Essay -- Religion/Spirituality

â€Å"†¦the Prayer Book is not only a manual of public devotions, it contains the fullest statement of the teaching of the Church†. This understanding of the prayer book as the dominant treatise of Anglican belief is central to this essays argument that the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (1979), and particularly its rite of Baptism, has fundamentally shifted Anglican thinking and liturgical practice in relation to Eucharist and ministry. We will explore this argument by first clarifying what is said in the Book of Common Prayer (1979), especially within its preface to the rite of Baptism, comparing this to the Book of Common Prayer 1662, to elicit differences and subtle nuances within the theology expressed. The consequences of these changes in relation to Eucharistic practice and invitation will then be explored, particularly the way in which confirmation is understood in the new schema. Following this, we will seek to understand the impact that this has had upon t he Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia and how it has affected our Anglican Identity liturgically and ecclesiologically, especially in regards to ministry. Finally, we will offer a small critique of the liturgical understanding of Baptism as full initiation to the Eucharistic table, drawing upon biblical images and Church teaching to pose questions of whether this is appropriate. ‘Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s body the Church’. These few words are the initiatory comments in the Book of Common Prayer (1979) concerning the rite of Baptism and the purpose of the service. Within them lies an understanding that, while possibly implicit, in previous Prayerbooks had not been made clear, or was deliberate... ...can Style. July 10, 2010. http://anglocatholic.net/2010/07/10/communion-anglican-style/ (accessed May 14, 2012). The Church of England. The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the use of The Church of England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1662. The Church of the Province of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. A New Zealand Prayer Book/He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. Auckland: Collins, 1989. The Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church : together with the Psalter or Psalms of David according to the use of the Episcopal Church. New York, NY: Church Hymnal Group & Seabury Press, 1979. White, James F. Introduction to Christian Worship. 3rd Edition. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000.

Queer Culture in Southeast Asia

When discussing queer culture In modern times, It is automatically classified as a western Idea. Queer Identities and queer struggles are associated with whiteness, as a white concept. This is one of the many causes of colonization, and how in some way it erased the history of oppressed communities. However, pre-colonization history indicates that queer culture had been developed within ancient civilizations. If we look at ancient civilizations in Latin America, societies had a different ideology of what ender was, and were open to the idea of same-sex Interactions.It Is no different of Southeast Asia. As we examine several cultures we see that queer culture has a historical context within marginalia communities. The Business people are an ethnic group of South Usualness, which is a providence in Indonesia. Their origins trace back to 2500 BCC as being ancestors to people with an Stationeries background. Gender, for this ethnic group, is seen as fluid. There are five genders within t his ethnic group: male, female, Calais, Calais and Bissau. The Business people, like other ethnic groups, believed that male-female Identities helped with the structure of the universe.Thus, ritual specialist exalted androgynous characteristics in order to communicate with spirits. The Bissau, an example of ritual specialist with androgynous characteristics, have the main purpose to give blessings to people, since it is believed that they are possessed by spirits. This ethnic group believes that the Bissau came to be when Bator Guru was sent down to create life in the planet. However, since he was not the best at organizing, so two issue were sent down to help Bator Guru create a culture that would blossom. In this sense. The Business people acknowledge that this culture was created, by two gender non-conforming aides.The Bissau influenced, is also connected to the modern- day Wars of Indonesia. Part of the connection between the Wars and the Bissau is that they are completely diffe rent from Western concepts of transgender culture. Even though I was unable to find much history of the Wars, due to geographical location, It makes sense that a connection does exist between the Wars and the Bliss. Bator Guru, a deity In several Indonesian mythologies, Is a Hindu God. This means that this notion of gender fluidity goes back to Hinduism. However, it Is soul extremely difficult to find any history of queer culture before colonization.Third-gender identities are now more evident in modern day and post-colonial times. The Philippines are an example of this, but as mentioned before, to find much history of when they came to be Is an extremely difficult task. Malaysia, and the Make Young Is another example of queer culture Is Southeast Asia. This form of traumatized once Is believed to be almost 1000 years old. Now a days, It Is Just seen as any other regular performance, and its roots from queer culture have been neglected, but it's known that the Make Young and other c ommunities in Malaysia were mainly made up of gender fluid and queer members.There's history of queer relationships in the Han Dynasty and Chou Dynasty. Emperor Ai (27 BCC-I CE) and Duke Ling of Wee (534 BCC- 403 BCC), respectively, are example of these cultures. Even though we find these forms of relationships In Ancient South Salsa and East Asia, Southeast Salsa is still hat colonized settlements had been exposed to their own queer culture and queer identities, neglects and oppresses people from those ethnic back grounds, and formulates this idea that within the LIGHT+ community, brown bodies are being saved by colonization, from their â€Å"homophobic† cultures.When thinking of modern day queer culture, and how it intersects with race, I personally think that it's important to be critical of the history of pre-colonization. Queer identities have been around for years, and they do not belong to western cultures, as we have been taught to believe.

Financial Detective Essay

Health Products: Company A is Johnson & Johnson, which is a diversified manufacturer of prescription pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, over-the-counter drugs, and medical devices. Company B is Pfizer Inc., which develops, manufactures, and markets patented pharmaceuticals such as Liptor and Celebrex. The most significant strategic differences between the two firms lie in their product mix and their customer focus. J&J sells most of its products directly to the consumer while Pfizer sells exclusively to doctors and institutions. Firm B has intangibles worth more than twice as much as firm A, which may reflect firm’s B’s higher investment in R&D. Firm B may also have higher intangibles due to their ownership of patents and its investments in licensing arrangements. Firm B’s gross margin is more than 12% higher than company A’s, which reflects the higher input costs for company A’s medical diagnostics and devices product segment. Company A has a far quicker inventory turnover than company B. Company B sells almost exclusively to institutions and pharmacies, which usually take longer to exhaust their supplies compared to company A, who markets its consumer products to retailers, which have a higher turnover orientations. Many of company A’s and B’s products are branded consumer products that command a price premium. However, company B’s premium is higher, reflecting the benefits of patent protection on prescription pharmaceuticals, and the additional returns needed to support company B’s large R&D efforts. Beer: Company C is Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., which is a producer and marketer of a number of mass-market beers such as Budweiser, Michelob, and Busch. Company D is the Boston Beer Company, which is the seller of the popular Sam  Adams line of beers. Boston beer’s products are part of a microbrew. Company D’s proportion of cash and cash equivalents, which is extremely higher than company C’s show their conservative approach to its financial management. Company C shows a relatively high level of PP&E, which is consistent with its status as a major brewery. Company D has much lower net fixed assets since much of their operations are outsourced. Company C also has higher fixed assets due to its other holdings such as theme parks. Company D has higher gross profit, consistent with the premium pricing of its specialty brews versus the mass-marketing approach that was taken by company C. However, company C’s net profit margin is almost three times greater than company D’s. This may reflect the economies of scale that company C can achieve through its large size. Company D’s current assets to current liabilities ratio is three times greater than company C’s, whose current ratio is less than one. That is illustrating a careful financial approach. The commitment to financially conservative policies is shown with company D’s relatively low level of debt. Company C’s mass-market approach shows a significantly higher inventory turnover than company D’s turnover. Company D’s asset turnover is much higher due to the outsourcing. Company C’s lower turnover is consistent with a firm that owns its manufacturing facilities as well as asset-intensive theme parks. Computers: Company E is Dell Inc., a worldwide manufacturer and direct marketer of built-to-order computers and related equipment. Company F is Apple Computer  Inc., a manufacturer of a highly differentiated group of personal computers, software, and consumer electronics. This is motivated by the differentiation where company E seeks to sell a relatively high volume of lower-margin products, while company F attempts to sell an adequate volume of higher margin products. The computer and software industry is extremely volatile, which company F has experienced. Company F has extremely large holdings of cash and cash equivalents, which may represent their efforts to insure the company against any future difficulties. Company E has a higher percentage of A/P, which may reflect a higher degree of supplier financing. Company F has a lower COGS percentage, which reflects both its premium pricing and the lower cost associated with software production. Company E’s COGS is higher due to its strategy of making money on volume rather than from individual product margins. Company F has higher gross profit than company E due to its premium pricing. However, Company E’s net profit margin is almost twice as large as company F’s, which reflects their low-cost focus. Company E has low cost mail-order strategy, which leads to a lower SG&A percentage compared to company F’s who goes with a more unique retail store concept. Company F has a higher receivables turnover, which reflects the fast payments made by consumers in the form of credit card purchasers. Company E’s asset turnover is more than twice as large as company F’s. This might reflect E’s strategy as an assembler of components that have been manufactured by its supplier. Books and Music: Company G is Amazon.com, the online retailer of books and music plus a variety of other consumer goods. Company H is Barnes & Noble, Inc., the largest bookseller in the United States. The main difference between the two is that one being an established, traditional retailer and the other being a relatively new online business. Company G has more than half of its assets in cash and cash equivalents, which could be explained by its carefulness in a volatile online retail business. Company H has significantly higher proportion of inventory than company G because they have to maintain stocks of books, CDs, and videos at all of its stores, whereas company G can keep limited inventory at its distribution centers. Company G obviously has a significantly lower net fixed asset due to being an online retailer compared to having multiple stores to sell its merchandise. More than half of company G’s percentage of total liabilities and equity is comprised of long-term debt. This is most likely due to its issues of being able to raise capital after the dot-com bust environment. Company G’s beta is more than three times higher than company H’s, which shows a relatively higher risk of company G. Company G just recently started to show positive net income. Company G is able to keep a higher inventory turnover since they don’t have to sit with a lot of inventory on hand at all times compared to company H who has to store its inventory in their store, which lowers their turnover. Company H has a regular discount strategy, which could explain their lower net profit margin. Paper Products: Company I is the International Paper Company, a large, vertically integrated paper products manufacturer. Company J is the Wausau paper Paper Corporation, a small, specialty-papers operation. The distinctions between the firms arise primarily from their scale and scope. Company J carries more than twice the rate of company I, which may be the case due to its smaller size it requires the firm to carry a higher proportion of inventory in order to satisfy its demanding customers. Company I has a material lower percentage of COGS than company J, even though the raw materials are essentially the same. This illustrates the benefits of Company I having its own forests and lumber operations and their ability to negotiate lower volume-prices. Company I’s SG&A expenses are higher than J’s, which probably reflect the higher costs associated with being a large company. Hardware and Tools: Company K is Black and Decker Corporation, which manufactures and markets a broad range of power tools. Company L is Snap-on Inc., also a manufacturer of tools and other hardware, but the company is known for its high quality merchandise and for its direct sales to professional mechanics and commercial technicians. Company L has a higher percentage of receivables compared to K’s. This result occurs because K markets directly to professional end-users and provides financing, which may cause delays in repayment. On the other hand, company L primarily sells its merchandise to large retailers, which may have more regular payment schedules. Company K sells lower-priced products intended for the consumer market, whereas company L markets higher margin precision tools for the commercial customer. Therefore, Company L’s gross profit percentage is measurable  higher than K’s. Company L has a higher SG&A expenses, which corresponds to the costs associated with maintaining its large direct sales force. Company L’s payout ratio is more than four-and-a-half times greater than K’s, which may suggest its need to maintain a high rate of reinvestment to remain competitive. Retailing: Company M is Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is well known for the breadth of its merchandise and its low price strategy. Company N is Target Corporation, which also is a discount retailer, however target appeals to its customers’ more upscale tastes. Company N has much higher receivables than M, reflecting N’s substantial credit activities. Company M has higher inventory levels relative to N, which may reflect the company’s commitment to providing a vast selection of goods. Company N has relatively lower COGS percentage, reflecting its fuller price for designer-made products. M offers low prices, which would result in a higher COGS percentage. Company M has a higher receivable turnover due to its lower use of credit sales. Newspapers: Company O is Lee Enterprises, the owner of a number of small newspapers in the Midwest. Company P is New York Times Company, and their strategic difference between the two entities is along the centralization/decentralization dimension. Company P has a centralized  strategic approach while company O has a decentralized approach. Company P, who has a centralized approach, has a significantly higher level of net fixed assets than O. K bears some of the features of a decentralized operation, since its intangibles comprise almost 77% of total assets, which suggests the existence of substantial goodwill. Company P’s level of COGS is lower than O’s, which suggests that as a larger centralized company, P may be in a better position to negotiate for volume discounts than O. Although O is decentralized, the case shows that they have slightly lower SG&A expenses than P. One example to this could be that high prices may be masking a relatively high SG&A expense. Company O’s P/E ratio is higher than P’s, which may indicate the expectations of growth for O. As the dominant player on a larger scale, P may be unable to grow through strategic acquisition. O’s net profit margin is higher, which may reflect the local monopolies, or at least less intense competition outside of the major metropolitan newspaper markets.