English Literature- Lamb to the Slaughter

Lamb to the slaughter -Roald Dahl     By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan Author of: Language and writing, DSB Publication Thimphu Communicative English, P. K. Books, Calicut A perception on Literary Criticism, P. K. Books, Calicut     Black comedy/blackhumour -is concerned with the humorous treatment of the shocking, horrific and macabre. Black comedy is actually a form of drama which displays a marked disillusionment and cynicism.It shows human beings without conviction with little hope, regulated by fate or fortune or comprehensible powers. In fact, human beings in an ‘absurd’ predicament at its darkest, such comedy is pervaded by a kind of sour despair; we can’t do anything. So we may as well laugh. The wit is mordant and the humor sardonic. Dramatic irony When the audience understands the implication and meaning of a situation on stage, or what is being said, but the characters do not. Example-Oedipus does not r ealize his crime. Sir Peter Tezel (in school for scandal) does not know his wife is behind the screen when he is talking about Joseph Surface.Symbols. ? The ‘warm’ and ‘clean’ attic indicates the desire for normal domestic pattern. ? The ‘curtain drawn’- shows a calm atmosphere that foreshadowing of hidden subconscious desires that are yet to surface in the form of murderous action. ? Two lamps alight- point to Mary and Patrick. ? Fresh ice cubes in the thermos points to coldness and heat. Ice is cold and thermos brings heat to the mind. Contemporary story. ? Story tells of how a pregnant woman when faced with the certainty of her husband leaving her, takes control of her situation. ? Powerful woman protagonist -breaking away from the stereotypical role of a woman. Packed with suspense and humor. ? Fast-paced action. ? ? ? ? ? ? Third person omniscient narrative. Conventional and straight forward language. Role reversals- reversal of Maryâ€⠄¢ the merry innocent docile wife to a cruel murderer Dramatic irony, A type of situational irony. A best example of a black comedy. . . Contrasting what a character perceives and what the audience and one or more of the characters know to be true. Revenge, deception and ethics are some of the issues that one could explore in this story. Theme- love- betrayal, revenge and deception. Mary Maloney a victim and a villain. A faithful, docile pregnant wife who gets cheated. Story of? Married and a romantic couple. ? Maloney’s unexplained decision to leave his wife†¦.. ? Violation of the marriage law(deception) ? Mary’s killing of her husband and her ultimate deception ? ? ? ? ? ? Setting-Maloney’s drawing room -Entire room of the house. -Sam’s grocery shop (short scene). ? Lamb is a Biblical Symbol of innocence/ symbol of peace, but here a powerful weapon of murder. ? So lamb symbolizes here violence, death and revenge- topsy-turvy to its conventional bib lical concept. By P. Baburaj, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of English, Sherubtse college, Bhutan *********************************

Introduction of Tea Essay

Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Introduction Tea, however has been a beverage in China as early as 10th century BC. Many nations throughout history have savored it and some of them are China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Greece, India, Iran and Turkey. Also, aside from being considered as a run of the mill drink, tea presents supposed health benefits. Some authorities say that drinking tea allegedly helps in preventing cancer. Of course, there are detractors who say that drinking tea can also cause coronary disease. Some even say that the consumption of various forms of tea results in acute liver damage. Considering all of these, tea, therefore can be divisive. There is, however, another way that people uniformly view tea: it can ba a viable product or business. In fact, almost all restaurants in the country offer Ices Tea. Nestle makes money out of Nestea. Tea indeed is a profitable business venture. Nowadays, there is a new tea craze sweeping the metropolis. People line up to savor this new incarnation of tea. Some even spend more than 30 minutes just to drink this new fad. It is milk tea. ——— What’s your comfort indulgence? A warm cup of coffee at the start of the day?Or maybe a mug of hot chocolate after a stressful week? For those of you who have a taste for unique, rich flavors and are craving something new yet familiar, there’s a cozy little cafe that offers just the thing you need. Nowadays, beverages are one of the most popular hangouts among adults and young adults or those whom we call â€Å"yuppies† or young urban professionals. This is the place where they can have the opportunity to relax, unwind after an exhausting week of work. The emergence of new beverage establishments is also evident these days. As a result, tight competition arises among beverage establishment. Competition  among beverages should not be the only focus of attention of beverage managers. They also have to consider the effects of the continuing economical crisis that we are experiencing today and how they will be able to handle difficult situations up with it so that their business will continue it’s operation and not be affected. The uses of promotional strategies are very famous among beverage establishments. This helps them attract more potential customers. It is also a business strategy that they can use to be able to context the tight competition, face the continuous worsening of our economy and at the same time be able to give their customer’s satisfaction in the products and services they are availing. This study is focus on promotional strategies employed by the selected Happy Lemon branches. The establishment was chosen because of the interest of the researcher which is a field of study of the researcher. Similarly the topic promotional strategies are one of the practices, most popular and common among beverages establishments to attract their customers, which the researcher should be familiar with as future entrepreneurs. Review of Related Literature A. Milk Tea in The Philippines In the past year, tea shops are increasing all over the metro, effectively cementing its place as the biggest food/beverage trend of 2011. According to Bianca Consunji and RonnaCapili, Milk Tea is more affordable than cold designer coffee. B. Milk Tea As a Business Originally from Hong Kong, Happy Lemon was brought to the country by a group of Chinese-Filipino businessmen who have been friends since grade school and college: Kelvin Gaisano, Kristine Gaisano, Smart Gilas player/TV host Chris Tiu, Andy See, Wesley Pardilla, and Edward Go. The young entrepreneurs share a common love for milk tea. Since there are only a few restaurants which serve good quality milk tea in the Philippines, they went abroad in search for the best cup of milk tea. Then, Kelvin got an idea.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Why don’t we put up a milk tea business?† he suggested. All agreed. But finding the perfect brand to bring to the Philippines was the challenge. Chris Tiu related: â€Å"Filipinos, to some extent, have already been introduced to milk tea, but we want them to develop a deeper appreciation for it by offering quality beverages that boast of unique and delicious flavors, made from the freshest ingredients from around the world.† Kelvin Gaisano added: â€Å"We know there are risks involved. But we also believe that there is an under-served market for milk tea.† In their quest to find the best milk tea, the seven young businessmen went everywhere and tried different milk tea brands. One day, they chanced upon Happy Lemon, a Hong Kong-based milk tea business that has been in the market since 2006. As they waltzed inside the store and started looking at the menu, they knew they had found â€Å"The One.† They agreed to bring the brand home to the Philippines. However, it wasn’t an easy task. Tiu shared that they had to wait long before the franchise was finally granted to them. â€Å"It was a long process of courtship,† he said. â€Å"For one, we didn’t know who to contact for the franchising. Two, only one of us, Andy See, knows how to speak straight Mandarin.† They sent letter after letter. They followed up each letter with calls, but they received no reply at all until September 2009 when someone from the Happy Lemon headquarters in Hong Kong informed them that they were open to the idea of establishing Happy Lemon in the Philippines. In November 2010, Happy Lemon opened its door to Filipino milk tea lovers, including those who are curious about the brand. A quick look at the beverage menu is enough to pique one’s curiosity. Using the good quality tea leaves imported from China which are freshly brewed every day, Happy Lemon has several milk tea variants such as the Lemon Series, recommended for those who feel thirsty; the Rock Salt Cheese, their best-seller; the plain Milk Tea series; Mousse Spin, which is more popular among the younger ones; Cocoa & Coffee, which is more chocolate and coffee based with several toppings; and the exotic Specialty Drinks and Fresh Tea drinks, which are less sugary and specially made for health conscious individuals. For former King Eagle and current television host Chris Tiu, it was a love for bubble tea that led to joining the Gaisano family and their partners in bringing Hong Kong’s Happy Lemon brand to local shores.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"In Vancouver, Canada, the tea places are really packed. Here, it’s always been about coffee, so we think that there’s room for Filipinos to learn to appreciate tea,† he shares. ——- Happy Lemon is a Hong Kong-based drink shop brought to the Philippines by a group of friends from Ateneo, who have discovered it during their travels and grown to love it. Happy Lemon has over 100 branches worldwide, with the first local branch having opened at the Promenade in Green hills only last November. Due to its immense popularity, new branches are already being planned for Eastwood and Power plant Mall. But, what makes Happy Lemon different from all the other beverage hubs cropping up lately? Athlete and TV host Chris Tiu, head of Happy Lemon’s Marketing and Business Development, says, â€Å"First of all, everything is fresh. The products, they’re all made from freshly brewed tea, so the flavor is more distinct. Plus, the products are very unique. The company spends a lot in and research and development, so they’re really [high] quality. It’s not like other brands that are mostly powdered lang.† He explained that while most fast drink providers are for to-go orders only, the group wanted Happy Lemon to be more of a homey place with a warm, welcoming ambiance. â€Å"We want to make it a destination where people can go and hang out with their friends,† says Chris. â€Å"Instead of going out on gimmicks at night or drinking alcohol, go here na lang. Wholesome tayo, ‘di ba? Healthy pa!† CJ de los Santos, Cosmo.ph Staff Writer May 23, 2011 —— Occasion Based Marketing is an approach to connect when and why consumers use the product with how they shop for the product. Companies need to realize that their customers are not only different from each other, but are also different from themselves at different times. People have different needs when they are at work and when they are at home or socializing. The results of this study would mean that the consumer durable companies and  retailers are adapting various promotional strategies to attract deal prone, promotion liking customers. Consumers are bombarded with messages pitched through a growing number of channels: broadcast and narrow cast television, radio, on-line computer networks, the internet, telephone services such as fax and telemarketing, and niche magazines and other print media. In developing the product strategy, marketers strive for the right mix of promotional elements to make sure that their product is well received. One of the primary goals of a customer promotion is to entice the customer to take the final step and make a purchase; Advertising creates the interest and excitement that brings the consumer into the store. Marketers then use other tactics in conjunction with advertising programs. In addition to leading to the final decision to buy an item, consumer promotions programs can be highly effective in bringing traffic into a store and generating brand loyalty. (Stanley George June 30, 2012) Many marketers believe that behavioral variables – occasions, benefits, user status, usage rate, loyalty status, buyer readiness stage, and attitude- are the best starting points for constructing market segments (Philip Kotler, Keller, Koshy and Jha, 2007). Buyers can be distinguished according to the occasions they develop a need, purchase a product or use a product (Philip Kotler, 2002). Marketing managers and advertising agencies have realized that to make their communication programs effective, they have to rely on sales promotions, public relations, personal selling, and direct marketing, in addition to conventional advertising campaigns. In today’s markets it is no longer a choice between advertising or promotion; rather, it is a combination of advertising and promotion (Roberto and Roberto, 2005). Research has shown that advertising is most effective when used along with sales promotion, and sales promotions are more effective when communicated well through advertising so as to increase awareness of the promotional offers (Joseph and Sivakumaran, 2008) Statement of the Problem The study intended to determine the Effectiveness of the Promotional Strategies employed by the selected branches of Happy Lemon. Specifically, the study aims to answer the following sub problem. 1. What is the profile of the customers?  2. What are the reasons for customers patronage in response to the promotional strategies? 3. How do the customers perceive the Effectiveness of the strategies as promotional tool? 4. What are the common problems the customers encounter? 5. What are the comments and suggestions to improve their promotional strategies? Significance of the Study Industry Partners of SPUQC. The study enables the Industry Partners of SPUQC to know the preferred non-alcoholic beverages of students of SPUQC for them to manufacture more of those and to accrue more profit. Entreprenuers. The study enables the entrepreneurs to be aware of what are the popular non-alcoholic beverages in the present and for them to innovate and manufacture to accrue more profits. Students of St. Paul University Quezon City. This study enables the students to be satisfied with their preferred non-alcoholic beverages and for them to know the positive and negative effects of it. Future Researchers. The study enables the future researchers to make this research as their starting point and for them to have a reference to base on what are the preferences of students on non-alcoholic beverages. Scope and Limitation This study will deal with the Effectiveness of the Promotional Strategies of Selected Happy Lemon Branches As Perceived by the Customers The variables are non-alcoholic beverages which are soft drinks, juices, tea, coffee, milk, energy drinks, chocolate drinks. This study will only include random college students of all the courses in St. Paul University Quezon City and random customers of Happy Lemon.

The strategic dealings of Tim Horton, a Canadian based coffee business Research Paper

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Women in the Military Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Women in the Military - Essay Example The reason for the exclusion of women in the military is as a result of their smaller physical body, and Fenner & DeYoung (2001 p 145) reports that women have 50 percent strength of the strength men have. According to Barno (2014), ‘in January 2014 fifty percent of women in the US marine failed to pass a physical standard test’, a test similar to the one offered to their male counterparts. The cry for greater women representation for women to serve in more diverse roles is louder than ever, in fact, the defense secretary reiterated the desire, by stating that, ‘combat positions will be more open to women’ †¦.Indeed, the civil talk of gender equality has breached the gate of the military service. The genuine need for a military service in which both men and women have equal opportunities has been thwarted by nature. Women are born naturally physically weaker than men. Debate on the roles of women in the military is as strong as ever, with the gender activist calling for standardization of the processes so that the women take positions in ground

Working Capital and Financial Environment Paper Essay

Working Capital and Financial Environment Paper - Essay Example The total amount is $10493m. They are collectable within a year. Current liabilities - is another balance sheet item. It is the sum of money owed by an organization that is due for payment within a period of one year. For GlaxoSmithKline, current liabilities for year 2005 as given in the financial statements include elements such as: - Trade and other payables - trade payables, wages and salaries, social securities, other payables, deferred income, customer return and rebate accruals, other accruals, dividends payable, derivative financial instruments - $1,0091.7m Financial regulators such as IFRS body are seen as international marks quality and transparency and thus boost the image of the reporting Entity (Michael W. Maher, William N. Lanen, Madhav V. Rajan. 2004). 4. Mitigation of risks. Effective control also ensures that risks are identified early and assessed properly inorder to come up with timely mitigation plans. This is because it is not possible to completely eliminate risks in such areas as research and development where it's not certain whether investment will bear significant returns.. 7. Control programs also ensure group's compliance with audit functions, as well as regulations and ethical codes of practice. This ensures the integrity of financial statements (Horngren, C., Sundem, G. and Elliott, J. (1991). (i) GSK has... Cash and cash equivalents Short term investments Accounts receivables Short term loans Inventories Pre-paid expenses and taxes Assets held for sale Total current assets = $41,896m (Pfizer financial reports 2005) Current liabilities - This is money owed by the company and repayable within one year. For Pfizer Inc. current liabilities include: - Short term borrowings ($11,589) Accounts payables ($2,226)m Dividends Payables ($1,772)m Income tax payable ($3,617)m Accrued compensations and related items ($1,720)m Other current liabilities ($7,522)m Liabilities held for sale ($2)m Total current liabilities are given as $28,448m = 28.45 billion dollars Working capital is therefore $41,896 - $28,448 = $13,448 = $13.45 billion b. Explain the functions of intermediaries and financial regulatory bodies with the company. Functions of intermediaries and financial regulators Financial regulators such as IFRS body are seen as international marks quality and transparency and thus boost the image of the reporting Entity (Michael W. Maher, William N. Lanen, Madhav V. Rajan. 2004). They provide a platform for comparison of similar companies in same Industry and therefore boost standardization. They also enhance financial reporting ensuring that companies understand risk controls and management and understand the impact of finance in business activities. They ensure compliance of set rules and regulations within the particular industry. C. Determine the importance of control programs and effective internal control techniques to the selected organization. Discuss the impact of the 2002 Sarbanes- Oxley Act. For GlaxoSmithKline good control programs are important due to the following reasons: - 1. They enable the board to present a balanced and

Holiday Song Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Informing of the Recent Development in the Battlefield at Hastings - Essay Example In the recruitment field, the soldiers came with horses carrying weapons such as battle-axe, long swords, and a short knife among other weapons. I went for training and started serving as a soldier to the king. The soldiers guarded the royal palace and the king was given the greatest honor in the land. King Edward could spend his time with Harold, his brother in law in the palace discussing matters of the leadership of England. Edward had no children so he had to choose heir of his throne. He chose Harold to take over his throne after his death. Harold could travel with his followers whenever he came to visit the king. Notably, Harold was religious and he could go to the church at Bosham with his men before sailing. Harold’s journey to Normandy hit a snag when he was captured at Ponthieu by count Guy. Guy took Harold to William where they made a vow to work together to oust Duke Conan. Kings had a long sword, which symbolized their leadership. The king sat on a special seat, w hich had decorations that suit the needs of the king. The king had maiden who served royal dishes. Before the death of King Edward, Harold returned to see him. During that meeting, Edward promised Harold his throne. On 5th January 1066, King Edward died in the upper chamber of his palace. His faithful followers and noblemen offered an axe and crown to Harold as a symbol of leadership. The crowning ceremony of Harold took place on 6th January 1066. He sat on his new throne with Archbishop and other dignitaries besides him. Many people were not happy with Harold crowning because he did not belong to the royal family. My life as a soldier changed following the coronation of Harold. When the news spread across England that Harold was the new king of England, rumors about William invasion gripped the palace. We had to prepare our weapons because of the impending invasion.

CORPORATE STRATEGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

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Journal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 56

Journal - Assignment Example It is pointed out that the first Muslim college that was accredited might be biased with regard to Israel and the Jews. In this case the quality of education that it offers should be analyzed carefully. 3. The video articulates a peculiar statistics: more and more people claim that they do not belong to any religion. It is suggested that people decided to create their own interpretation of the world and live according to it. What is more important is that the contemporary society often sees religion as a certain attribute, but not a deep spiritual commitment. 4. This video points out that many people mix prejudice and patriotism. Thus, many know that America is currently engaged in armed conflicts with Islamic countries, but discriminating against Muslims in the United State should not be seen as a solution towards the problem. Moreover, the experiment showed that the majority of the people are indifferent towards discrimination and will not do anything about

The Necessity of Art Essay Example for Free

The Necessity of Art Essay What is art? There are many definitions that can be given to art depending on the person talking about it and by these definitions; the following questions can be answered. Why is art necessary? What does it benefit us if art is applied in our lives? What can it do for us? What is its importance? These are the questions some people think of when they hear the word art. I have learned some things in my GREATWK class especially the definition of art and how to answer these questions. To give a heads up, I got a quote from Fischer, a writer and it says: Art is necessary in order that man should be able to recognize and change the world. But art is also necessary by virtue of the magic inherent in it. Art in capitalist society may appear as a discrete area of leisure or luxury, but this is wholly exceptional for human society. Art was humanity’s attempt to control the world. Art and magic were the same thing: ‘The newly acquired power to grasp and control objects, to prompt social activity and bring about events by means of signs, images, and words, led him to expect the magical power of language to be infinite. Fischer, 2012). In relation to Fischer’s idea of why is art necessary, it is because in today’s time, more and more people often use art as a form of communication, expression, imagination, exploration and many more. Art is important in viewing things differently, and the world where we live in, in general. People, specifically, young people or the youth use art for their own creativity and expression. People use art to express what they are feeling about things which other people tries to understand what it conveys to them especially in social reality or in society, rather. One of the things why art is important in our society is that art can show how change and improvement may be brought about with a mixture of creative imagination. It may be considered as a guide to our society as well but more of that later. We will be discussing what I learned through this subject in the course of this paper. Art and Its Importance What is Art? First of all, what is Art? This question had been and is still asked and at the same time answered by several human minds ever since ancient Greek philosophers had lived. Many may argue that art cannot be statically defined, in as much as that art is a very complex and dynamic term which can be proven by the drastic changes of the definition of the term over the years. To better understand its importance, we must first know its definition. Art stimulates different parts of our brains to make us laugh or incite us to riot, with a whole gamut of emotions in between. Art gives us a way to be creative and express ourselves. For some people, art is the entire reason they get out of bed in the morning. It is something that makes us more thoughtful and well-rounded humans. Art is such a large part of our everyday lives that we may hardly even stop to think about it. Art is something that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing to our eyes. For some students Art is their motivation for coming to school and an area where they have success or excel, providing an important balance in their total educational experience. These are some of the definitions of art. Art has its own distinctive and indispensible features. It has the ability to convey messages and emotions; †¢It is a mere combination of man’s own cognitive and creative attitudes to reality recorded in words, colours, plastic forms, or melodically arranged sound; †¢It also has an ability of having profound communicative function; †¢It also contains the cognitive, moral and social substance; †¢It makes use of different styles like paintings and poems. There are many definitions of art but to simply put it, art is a diverse range of human acts and what it produces. Art is created by man and man alone. It has been characterized, specifically, in terms of expression, communication and emotion. There are other values that characterize art but these 3 specifically characterize it. Another main definition of art is that it is form and content, meaning all art consists of form and content. Form simply means the elements of art used, its design principles and the physical materials used. Content, on the other hand, is idea-based and it means that what the artist meant to portray, what the artist did portray and ow we, individuals, react to both the intended and the actual messages. Additionally, content includes ways in which a work was influenced by something like politics, religion, society or sometimes even the artist’s use of hallucinogenic substances at the time it was created. All of these factors, together, make up the content side of art. Why is Art Necessary? Art is born of necessity to a world of imperfection. In a sense, we all live within ourselves, within our own cons ciousness, within our perceptions. In this simple fact of human psychology art is born. Through the arts, we have the capacity to consciously shape our perception and the perception of others. The sensations created by an art form are called aesthetics. Beauty is a part of aesthetics, but only a small part. Often the reason an artist is compelled to create has nothing to do with capturing beauty or perfection. The need to create, the creative imperative, is more primal and infinitely more subtle than the cliche of beauty. (Gregson, 2005). There are many, different reasons why art is important. Some of those reasons were already mentioned. There are other reasons of why art is important and these are the following: †¢They are languages that all people speak that cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness. †¢They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality. †¢They develop both independence and collaboration. †¢They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths. They improve academic achievement enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking. †¢They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and problem-finding. †¢They provide the means for every student to learn. (DoSomething. org, 2012). Importance of Art as discussed in our GREATWK Course Our GREATWK course, pro vided us, students, a chance to develop cognitive skills and at the same time creative skills and helped us develop our imaginations through the discussions made by our professors. Individually, it also helped me grasp the definition of Art through the works of four, not alike famous Philosophers or Artists. The course defined art through the specific works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Aristotle, Leo Tolstoy, and Frida Kahlo. Nietzsche focused more on Tragic Art through the Birth of Tragedy, Aristotle on Tragedy and Mimesis through Poetics,, Tolstoy on â€Å"What is Art† and Frida Kahlo on Visual Art through her famous paintings. The four combined and created a quadrumvirate form of definition of what art is and helped me grasp a better and scholarly perspective on what art is to me. By the discussions made by our professors in our class, art was defined and was discussed thoroughly with the help of the specific works made by some of the greatest artists in history. It was also discussed why it is really significant in our lives. In the following sections, each of the four artists will be discussed, what is art for them and why art is necessary for us. Frida Kahlo defined Art mostly through her paintings which conveyed her biographical features to the audience. Through Visual Art, Frida freely expressed herself through the paintings, her experiences, ideas, and the significant happenings that happened in her life. One famous artist, Leo Tolstoy, who pretty much defined what art and beauty should be and composed of to be considered as real art and beauty. According to Tolstoy, art must form some kind of emotional link between the artist and his/her audience, one that emotionally affects the viewer. With respect to Kahlo, whose work represented a lot of experience and/or events within her life, it is quite very important for us viewers to know the story behind the art more than about the creator for us to understand the deeper meanings behind the figures. Tolstoy shows how the works of Frida can be considered as perfect examples of art and beauty. For Tolstoy, Art can only be considered as art only by the artist’s emotions through his/her creations, the form, and the intentions in creating such artwork. Art is considered beautiful only if the art portrays the sincerity of the artist, clearness or clarity of what the artist wants to express to his/her audience, and how the artist’s individuality is visibly shown to his/her audience. Freidrich Nietzsche In Nietzsche’s ideology, man is the main structure of this world. He believed that without man, life is useless and meaningless. In order to attain meaning in this world, man should live life dangerously, one of his famous lines, regardless of any consequences that may happen. He believed that there is no God and that it is through art that man may find path to becoming an ubermench. In Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche developed an idea of art and nature using the two ancient Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus as metaphors for these two fundamental principles. The Apollonian principle is most clearly expressed through the arts of painting and sculpture which, Nietzsche states are representations of the world. But these representations are fantastical in nature and, therefore, allow us to escape from the reality of the world, rather like a pleasant dream. The Dionysian principle, however, is more in touch with the cruel realities of nature and is most clearly expressed through ecstatic music and dance. It is also a form of forgetting or drunkenness. For Nietzsche, dreams represent the realm of beautiful forms and symbols, an orderly place of light and appearance. Drunkenness, on the other hand, is that state of wild passions where the boundaries between self and other dissolve. If we are to be truly human and experience any form of genuine understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. Ultimately, a person should strive to find a balance between the Apollonian and the Dionysian forces. In relation to art being a necessity in life, according to Nietzsche, Art sustains life. Art is what makes life endurable and thus possible. Art is what make life worth living. Nietzsche depicts this through a beautiful metaphor: Once again we may see the artistic buoyancy and creative joy as a luminous cloud shape reflected upon the dark surface of a lake of sorrow. Hence, this is another basic role of art: art as a metaphysical solace. Nietszsche, analyzing the Greek tragedy writes: The metaphysical solace (with which, I wish to say at once, all true tragedy sends us away) that despite every phenomenal change, life is at bottom indestructibly joyful and powerful. (Quesada, 2009). Leo Tolstoy and Aristotle In Poetics, Aristotle proposed that the origin of Art for the likings of Human existence was Imitation. Based from Aristotle himself, Poetry, which is a form of Art, imitates life through harmony, rhythm, and language. Tragedy is one form of poetry that deals with feelings of pity, fear and of Catharsis, or the purification of emotions. The poet is the one who serves as the writer and narrator of the tragedy who in a way in which imitates life through pity and fear. The poet is also the one who takes the recipient into a lampoon type of worldview within the tragedy. With that in mind, the recipient evokes in himself/herself the idea of criticizing the tragedy and thus recollects once again and tries to recall whether he/she really did felt pity and fear towards the tragic hero. For Tolstoy, on the other hand, he described art and explained why art is necessary in different ways in his work entitled â€Å"What is Art? †. First, he described and explained how art can be considered as a work of art. It is based on these three: †¢On the greater or lesser individuality of the feeling transmitted; †¢On the greater or lesser clearness with which the feeling is transmitted; †¢On the sincerity of the artist, i. e. , on the greater or lesser force with which the artist himself feels the emotion he transmits. (Tolstoy, 1986). Then he also explained why art is necessary. Art acts as a message for the viewers to see and feel. It is based on the fact that a man, receiving through his sense of hearing or sight another mans expression of feeling, is capable of experiencing the emotion which moved the man who expressed it. Conclusion In conclusion, with all the definition of art given by the artists/philosophers aforementioned, I now know how complex and dynamic art as a subject is. Art is a diverse range of human acts and what it produces. It can be something that can be expressed through individual thoughts, emotions, feelings and senses. Art evolves in a way that when expressed properly with the correct criteria used in judging if it is a work of art or not, it is transformed into creative forms through creative and cognitive skills like novels, paintings, dramas, plays, etc. Every person has its own perspective and understanding of art. There are many definitions of art. We can define art based on our own understanding and our own experience. Art is really necessary for us because it can bring about change and improvement. We, as human beings, we are always subject to change no matter what because it is who we are and it is how we grow and improve to become better. By becoming better citizens, we can create a better society and by doing so, we can create a better world where we can live peacefully and in harmony. Art can be really important in our lives because it can be a form of communication, emotion, expression, creativity, imagination and many more. Through art, we have the capacity to consciously shape our perception and the perception of others. Art can be considered as way to connect tragedy with our lives (Nietzsche), a way to pour out our emotions and feelings through our paintings (Kahlo), or as an imitation of one’s life (Aristotle) and that it is in our own selves how we criticize and create a life perspective based on the decisions we make that could either lead to a misfortune or contentment in life.

Main factor Project management for successful completion of a project

Main factor Project management for successful completion of a project Project management is an important aspect of an organization a main factor for successful completion of a project. In todays changing times tools such as project management, if used properly can provide a useful way for organizations to manage that change effectively. Managing construction projects is a complex undertaking. The quality of a project is the result of many factors the quality of Project Manger is one such factor. Project manager make things happen on a project. A project needs a good planning, organization management which would bring out the maximum benefits for the organization and this can be only achieved by a good leader-Project manager. Another area which needs a lot of attention in an organization is conflicts disputes. Conflict is an inevitable aspect of an organization. It can be destructive as well as functional and it depends on the project manager to resolve the conflict in a manner so that it does not lead to the loss for an organization. There have been many past studies on project success factors affecting project success. These include Project managers competence, control systems responsibilities, selection of teams, politics, contracting solving of conflicts, proper allocation of resources etc. Effective project management begins with selecting and prioritizing projects that support the firms strategy and mission. Project managers have to plan and budget projects as well as orchestrate the contributions of others. Social-skills, decision making skills, problem handling skills, opportunities recognizing skills, and management of conflicts are certain personal attributes of a project manager affecting p roject success. The main aim of study is to find different attributes of a project manager which would help in overcoming all the challenges faced while working on a project as this marks the success of any organization. Project manager plays a very important role in a successful working of any organization and the aim of this study is to deeply study all those attributes which a project manager must have to become a good leader who can manage his team well extract maximum benefits out of them within the limits of time, money resources. Projects are inherently uncertain face unexpected events, from small changes to unforeseen changes like conflicts within organization, with the client, resource unavailability, etc. Project Manager forms a link between the top management the other employees so it is the responsibility of the project manager to maintain a good balance between both. The conflict can arise in top management as well as other employees. The aim of the study is to see how project manag ers respond to such events. As this forms a major reason for the success of any organization, the aim is to give an in depth study of these characteristics of a good project manager which is profitable for all the organizations draw a critical relationship between the Project Managers managerial attributes, the use of key project management principles, practices project performance. The study would also recommend some methodological processes, conceptual frameworks, experiments, experiences some conclusions drawn from various studies done in various companies compare contrast them with previous studies to attain a broad analysis for successful working of a project manager his role in successful completion of a project within the given constraints. Initially the study would examine what a project is, what project management is and what is the role of a project manager. Then the study would examine the causes, types effects of conflict followed by the ways they can be resolved the role of Project manager in conflict resolution. SEARCH STRATEGY The search strategy starts with an aim objective in mind. The aim the objective of present study are as follows: AIM: To study the roles responsibilities of an effective Project Manager analyze what attributes of a Project Manager are required to resolve different conflicts in an organization. OBJECTIVES: To define Project Project Management. To define the roles responsibilities of an effective quality Project Manager. To define conflict, examine its causes, types, core processes effects in an organization. To examine what attributes of a Project Manager are required to manage Conflict effectively. The key words used in the study include: Project, Project Management, Project Manager quality, Project manager roles, Unexpected events, Conflict, Conflict Management, work performance of Project Manager, Managerial attributes, Project Performance, Power, Politics, organizational politics, leadership, communication, motivation, managing project teams, project stakeholders, project life cycle. These words are relevant for the search because they cover the required objectives of the study. They help in finding the appropriate journal papers, links or other information regarding the different aspects of a project, project management, Project manager, conflict conflict management by a project manager. These words help in finding information that can describe the overall aim objectives of the study. The other sources of information include: Search engine used: Science direct, Scopus, Google Scholar, Engineering Village. Other sources: Project Management: the managerial process 4e by Gray Larson. Business Psychology Organizational Behavior by Eugene McKenna. Commercial Management of Projects defining the discipline by Dawid Lowe with Roine Leiringer. Industrial Organizational Psychology by John B. Miner. www.ogc.gov.uk www.apm.org.uk REVIEWS OF FOUR JOURNAL PAPERS: Project Quality project managers: This journal paper Project Quality Project managers- http://tinyurl.com/24d9ue8 emphasizes on the fact that a successful project requires sound project management practices and for any project management system to be effective, a project must be managed by a project manager who exhibits high quality managerial attributes. The research discussed in the paper is sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute. The main purpose of the paper is to confirm the critical relationship between the use of key project management principles, practices project performance. The paper emphasizes on the effective project management practices their use by project managers at all levels during a project life cycle. The paper argues that the relationship between a Project Managers managerial attributes project success is indirect. The project performance is affected by the effective application of project management principles by a project manager. Further the paper also argues that the high quality managerial attributes are an equally important contributor to project success and commensurate with high quality technical skills. The paper presents the key principles recommended practices such as strategic project organizing, design effectiveness, project control management of quality articulated by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) the Business Roundtables Construction Industry Cost Effectiveness (CICE) project. They are believed to have the strongest effect on project performance. The paper clearly defines the objectives scope of the research. The data does not only give theoretical results but also provides empirical support by acquiring data through detailed questionnaire developed to survey 400 construction companies where the respondents provide individual views based on their experiences on projects in the heavy engineering, building industrial construction sectors. This paper also provides strategies to improve project manager effectiveness. This helps in deeper understanding of the managers ability to consistently produce project success. However this paper considers only the aspect of project Manager as the factor for project success. Project success could be assessed not only on project management techniques but also on other external factors. The Project Manager must also allow the client to take equal responsibility of the project. It is important to determine the expectations importance of each customer in the project by the project manager as t his also marks one of the factors for successful running of project. [1,2] Along with leadership skills there is also a need of emotional competencies and as the project managers progress they need to enhance their leadership competencies particularly developing the emotional dimensions. [3] This paper also does not examine the working environment affecting the performance of project managers. This is important not only for determining the success of a project, but also in continual of the good performance of project managers. [4] The research done by CII CICE indicates that the critical factor to project success is the quality of a Project Manager. Managing construction projects is a complex undertaking requires many factors. The quality of Project Manger is one such factor. Project Manager needs to stress different attributes at different times over the life of a project to make the project successful. Many Project Managers are perceived to lack the requisite managerial skills so new strategies such as increased pre appointment training, mentor system, careful selection of potential project managers etc are suggested to improve the quality of an effective Project Manager. 2) Conflict its management: This journal article http://tinyurl.com/37skcfr presents a detailed analysis of conflict its management by disputants themselves or by third parties such as Project Managers, mediators etc. The paper first examines the causes, core processes effects of conflict subsequently probes into conflict escalation de-escalation, context conflict management. In the end the paper also concludes some suggestions for future research provides recommendations for practicing managers. The article highlights the issues by reviewing certain scholarly reviews of the conflict literature which have already been published. The major purpose of the article is to draw attention towards the inevitable unanticipated nature of conflict and how these can be managed by disputants or by third parties such as Project Managers who play an important role in conflict management. The article defines conflict as a process where one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. It then goes onto explain the causes of conflict like individual characteristics, inter-personal factors, communication, behavior, etc. It explains the effects of conflicts on individuals organization subsequently determines the concept of conflict escalation de-escalation. It then unfolds the conflict context which has been approached from 4 different perspectives: (i) A description of the conflict setting, (ii) A reference to the independent variables, (iii) The environment in which the conflict is embedded (iv) The structural level or paradigm of the conflict. The article then explores the role of disputants in managing conflict such as Perspective (establish co-operative goals, note the alternatives etc), descriptive ( agree to symbols of defeat, compromise, convert the opponent etc) the role of third parties such as Project manager tactics (adopting appropriate leadership styles, group-discussions, encouraging negotiations etc), mediation, arbitration, conciliation recapitulation. The article helps in deeper understanding of all the phases of conflict, its inevitable nature, its effects causes. It not only explains the conflict phases , its management but also gives research managerial suggestions for future references. The suggestions provided though are beneficial for the practicing managers but should have been more detailed provide with examples to help in clear understanding of the point. It is important to identify five modes of conflict resolution such as confronting, compromising, smoothing, forcing avoiding. [5] This article does not mention any cognitive analysis. Cognitive analysis approach( identifying conflict domain, generation of conflict cases, exercise of judgment, analysis of result cognitive feedback) identifies cognitive difference between the parties as the main source of conflict which needs to be taken care by a Project manager.[6] An awareness of the potential approaches to conflict resolution and the understanding of their consequ ences can provide project managers with a invaluable set of tools to create an optimal work environment. The article concludes that a conflict is self-generating inevitable in an organization. The conflict process is dynamic, self-perpetuating constantly changing: like effects become causes; original causes may disappear; new causes arise; the number of parties change etc. This makes conflict management a difficult target. Project Manager plays an important role in recognizing conflicts managing them as and when required. Conflict is prevalent cannot be recognized at all times so its management requires a lot of efforts. The challenge for organizational leaders and project managers is to try to maintain the right balance and intensity of conflict in project management. By utilizing project management principles, understanding the dynamics of conflict, and learning approaches to conflict resolution, managers will be able to establish an environment in which creativity and innovation is encouraged and project goals are accomplished. [7] 3) The Titanic sunk, so what? Project manager response to unexpected events. The journal article http://tinyurl.com/364k9rb studies the responses of Project manager to unexpected events during a project life cycle. This paper stresses on the point that unanticipated events are inevitable in a project the project success depends on the responses of the project manager to such events. This paper explores the gap between the practice success by defining three elements namely: Event, Response the perceived success. The article compares contrasts the successful unsuccessful responses to draw attention on successful practices. As responding to unexpected events is a fundamental function in project management, an analysis of 44 unexpected events faced by 22 experienced Project Managers in defense defense related organizations was conducted in the given study. The participants were asked to think of significant unforeseeable events during the project which took them by surprise or were unknown or unpredicted their responses were recorded to such events. The research was designed using a grid to unfold the differences between successful unsuccessful responses to unexpected events from the perspective of a project manager. The results found that some participants had difficulty in identifying unknown-unknowns ( circumstances, events outcomes that were not identified in the first place) from known-unknowns ( circumstances, events or outcomes that have been identified as possibly existing, but do not know whether they will take place or not). The ability to identify possible risks reflects the experience of the participants. The main purpose of the paper is to draw the importance of unexpected events during a project which many times are just neglected by Managers to study their responses in such events. These unexpected events threaten the viability of a project. The study carried on groups organizations looked at the behavior of individuals during crisis like situation. An Adapted Repertory Grid (RepGrid) method was used to explore the unexpected events their responses. The data was collected in three steps namely: discussion on each event to derive an overview of what happened in each event, response monitoring finally evaluation of the internal validity of data. The study revealed that successful responses were organic based on three pillars: A responsive functioning structure at organizational level, good interpersonal relationships at group level competent people at the individual level. The study gives an idea of responses to unexpected events their evaluation as success or failure. Certain studies suggest that conflict develops not only in environmental circumstances but in the styles used by individuals when confronted with a conflict. The manner in which a person responds to organizational decision and uncertainty will influence the responses of others and the individuals work experience. [8] But this has again beeen contradicted by concluding that a Project managers previous experience has a minimal impact on the projects performance whereas the size of the previous managed project does affect the managers performance.[9]. However some researchers found no relationship between project success project size. [10] The results conclude that the successful responses to unexpected events lie within the three pillars: Responses functioning structure, Good interpersonal relations Competent people. Simple, responsible functioning structures are highlighted by the study participants as fundamental pillars of success. The analysis suggests that there is a need to refrain from merely adopting a process based approach to predict all possible events. It should be understood that the combination of structure, people, relationship are more likely to enable a successful response to an unanticipated event. The result emphasizes to focus on behavioral aspects of project management further draws attention on successful unsuccessful responses of project managers to such events. 4) Understanding the role of politics in successful project management: This journal paper http://tinyurl.com/2va3ass links the ability of project manager other key players in an organization to understand the importance of organizational politics which is one of the major factors of conflict as a sign towards successful project management. Politics is most often regarded as damaging but common experiences acknowledge that politics often one of the prime moving forces within any organization for better or worse. The main purpose of this paper is to draw attention towards the role of politics in successful project management identifying ways in which Project managers can use politics in a positive effective manner. It focuses on the point that Project Management politics are inextricably linked. Successful managers are those who understand that their job consists of more than simply being technically managerially competent. Power politics is rarely addressed in project management but it needs to be understood that their presence is ubiquitous their impact is significant. The paper points to three modes of power: Authority, Status influence illustrates that these are the key problems faced by Project Manager in attempting to develop their projects in organizations. The paper explains the implications of project politics stresses that a Project Manager needs to acknowledge politics as a fact of organizational project life. It focuses on the fact that it is important to learn to cultiv ate appropriate political tactics as they decide whether it is healthy or unhealthy give characteristics of political behavior like underlying attitudes, techniques etc. Politics if not handled on time may lead to conflicts within the organization so a Project manager needs to acknowledge politics and manage it accordingly. The article suggests some measures to be adopted by Project manager such as the need to employ certain tactics such as conduct performance appraisals on their project team subordinates as it helps in sending a clear message throughout the members that the projects are valuable project contributions among team members will be remembered rewarded. The Project Manager needs to learn the art of influencing by developing a reputation as an expert, and also suggests a Project Manager to develop good negotiating skills recognize that conflict is a natural side effect of project management. These tactics as suggested can help Project managers in dealing with politics hence would prevent conflict within the team. This article gives a good understanding of politics which generally is neglected by Project managers. Organizational politics is one of the important factors responsible for conflicts in an organization but this factor many times is neglected. Conflict if avoided can lead to difficult situations. . Managers at all levels of an organization should be attentive to enhancing employee perceptions of organizational justice in order to encourage the use of more cooperative styles for organizational conflict management.[10] There needs to be more emphasis on project team relationship as it can be one of the causes of politics and hence can lead to conflicts. Unwillingness to cooperate is one of the major reasons for failed teams leading to conflicts Hence, successful project completion depends to a large extent on members being able to work together effectively.[4] This article helps to draw attention towards the importance of politics provides effective project implementation techniques w hich may help in avoiding conflicts arising from politics. But it does not provide any empirical data proving the theories mentioned. The paper concludes that politics and project management are interlinked a project cannot be run without understanding politics. Politics is not necessarily evil but depends on how it is used that decides its effect. Managers do not understand the importance of politics many times but they need to understand that politics is ubiquitous; that is it operates across organizations functional boundaries.. Successful Project Managers are aware that politics, if used judiciously can have an extraordinary positive impact on the implementation of their projects.. SUMMARY: The journals provide a clear understanding of project, project management, roles responsibilities of a project manager, conflicts unexpected events in an organization the ways in which a Project manager could successfully manage them. All the journals focus on one point which is that a successful Project Manager requires a sound project management practices for any project management system to be effective, a project must be managed by a Project Manager who exhibits high quality managerial attributes knows to handle unanticipated situations in a project life-cycle. The research sponsored by the CII( Construction Industry Institute) in the first paper-Project Quality Project Manager highlights the importance of a quality Project Manager as one of the basic factors required for the success of a project. The paper specifies some suggestions to improve the Project manager effectiveness such as increased pre-appointment training, Establishing a mentor system, careful selection of potential Project Manager etc. The second journal article-Conflict its Management presents a broad analysis of conflict its management. This article stresses on the fact that conflict is inevitable in an organization can be handled by disputants themselves or by third parties such as Project Manager. Again this article stresses on the importance of the managerial qualities required in a Project Manager to handle conflict effectively. It provides suggestions for Project Managers to overcome conflict. These include: Project Manager should not always avoid conflict, should identify the issues carve them down to manageable set etc. Both the journal papers suggests that an effort needs to be made to identify develop key management skills that may be unique to the project management environment. The third journal -Project Managers response to unexpected events opines that projects can face unexpected events studies how Project Managers respond to such events. The article examines some events but found that human behavior issues predominantly led to failure while all other types of events could be managed either successfully or unsuccessfully. It identifies three pillars on which success response was dependent: Response functioning structure(high degree of freedom, rapid decision making implementation etc); good interpersonal relationship( Engagement with stakeholders, communication relationship between people involved) competent people( competence of leader team, behavior including self awareness ability to deal with stressful situations). The fourth journal paper- Understanding the role of politics in project management identifies organizational politics as one of the causes of conflict reveals that successful project management is linked to the ability of a Project Manager to understand its importance to make it work for project success. It states that project politics are interlinked it is up to what Project managers do depends on their ability to effectively manage not only the technical aspect of their job but also the behavioral side as well. It also focuses on the behavioral issues which need to be effectively handled by a Project Manger by understanding the dynamics of conflict process by learning to cultivate appropriate political tactics. It can be summarized that a project is an endeavor undertaken to meet specified goals objectives is usually constrained by time, scope budget. The discipline of planning, organizing managing resources to bring about the successful completion of such goals objectives during a project is known as Project management. A project manager is vital indispensable in any project. It is the Project manager who is accountable for accomplishing the objectives goals during a project life-cycle. The key project manger responsibilities include clear attainable project objectives, building the requisite environment, managing all the constraints of project, managing all unexpected events during a project such as conflicts etc. The quality of Project Manager is critical to achieving project success. Project Managers should emphasize different attributes at different stages of a project to be more effective. A project manager needs to understand that projects are inherently uncertain should be ready to manage them by understanding their importance make them work for project success. Proper skills in dealing with conflict can assist project managers and other organization members to handle and effectively resolve conflicts which can lead to a more productive organization as a whole. Using Project management principles and applying them gives the project manager the ability to establish success measures, incorporate quality principles, resolve conflicts and unexpected events, address future risk before becoming a problem, work within the scope of the project etc. The Project manager must have a combination of above average leadership human relations skills and administrative experience. Project performance is affected by the effective application of project management principles by a project manager. An effective Project manager should be capable of making decisions, communicate actions eliciting the commitment of team members. An effective Project Manager needs to diagnose conflict manage it by various methodologies such as improving communication, encourage joint responsibilities, create new alternatives, instill a co-operative, problem solving attitude between the conflicting groups. Successful project manager understand that project management skills if used judiciously can have an extra-ordinary impact on the successful implementation of their projects. Great successful organizations have always believed in idea generators executors for overall excellence. Project Manager is expected to have both qualities and the ability to handle all events during the course of a project. Effective instrumental leadership abilities initiatives have always lend a Midas touch to the organization. Since the aim of the study to be done is to analyze Project Managers roles and responsibilities and define attributes required in a Project Manager to prevent conflict during a project life cycle, these journals help in supporting the fact that Project Managers are one of the important factors required for project success. These journals define the various conflicts, its causes and explore the characteristics required in a Project manager to overcome unexpected events during a project. This would help in the further study of the current research and help in achieving the objectives of the research.

Essay --

Bees are vital to our ecosystem and human society. They provide economically valuable pollination service. Roughly 90% of the world’s plant species are pollinated by bees. Without pollination by animals, most flowering plants would not reproduce sexually and humans would lose food and other plant products. In particular, honeybees remain the most valuable pollinators of crop monocultures worldwide. However, in recent years there has been an observation of honeybee decline. Around 2006 many beekeepers around the world began to notice that their honeybees are disappearing. This was a mystery that caught scientists’ attention. They entitled this mystery: colony-collapse disorder (CCD) (Walsh 2013). This disturbing trend continues until now - honeybees are still dying progressively. One - third of U.S. honeybee colonies disappeared during the past winter. Beekeepers experienced tremendous losses that went above 42%. As a result, the colony loss is putting intense pressure on the industry and agriculture. Scientific investigations of CCD suggest that microbial pathogens are causally involved (Suryanarayanan 2013). Different scientific studies that have identified different sets of associated microbial pathogens have suggested that the discovered pathogens are secondary infections, with the primary cause yet to be found. Scientists have been suggesting many theories on bee decline. Agricultural pesticides were considered as the most obvious suspects and specifically popular chemicals known as Neonicotinoids. Other theories were focused on bee killing pests or a varroa destructor - a parasitic mite that has ravaged honeybee colonies since it was accidentally introduced in U.S. in the 1980s. (Walsh 2013). The imp... ...erdose of insecticides near the hives of the bees. Adolescent bees, living in hives contaminated by pesticide, have their body surfaces and fat tissues poisoned with these substances. Besides leading to bee deaths, insecticides used in agriculture for combat work also causes the problem of residues remaining from chemicals used as varroacides. Bromopropylate, coumaphos (perizin) and melathion are typical examples of varroacides, whose residues have been examined in bee products such as honey. These chemical are oil-soluble and volatile. The impact of parasites and viruses on bees The varroa mite or varroa distracter is currently the most serious parasitic mite on honeybees. This parasite is feeding on the hemolymph of immature and adult bees (Harbo and Harris, 2001) .It causes many biological effects like weight loss, malformation and short lifespan of honeybees.

Perfect Storm Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger was an account of an immense storm and its destructive path through the North Atlantic. In late October of 1991, many a crew of several different fishing ships left their port for their final haul. Little did they know that they would soon cross paths with one of the greatest storms ever recorded. This particular storm would create huge swells, high winds, and hard rain. The system was said to be a â€Å"perfect storm† because all of the elements were just right to create the worst imaginable storm ever seen claimed some meteorologists. Such a storm left little room for rescue if one’s boat got into trouble. But there were those daring rescues from the Coast Guard during the storm that saved the lives of many and cost the life of one. These men risked their lives for the safety of others and have earned the title of â€Å"hero.† The Para rescue jumpers and pilots, our heroes in The Perfect Storm, had a re sponsibility to the well being of everyone at sea. When a distress call was made, it was their duty to answer it to the best of their ability. It seemed â€Å"to the best of their ability† meant do the job until they died trying. These men had undergone extensive training in their fields to prepare for such situations as the perfect storm presented them. The PJ’s had undergone a highly selective process that many Navy SEALS could not complete. And the pilots of the helicopters and jets showed tremendous skill as they navig...

Revenue Cycle Management Essay -- essays research papers

Synopsis - Integrated solution for Revenue Cycle Management and Medical Records Overview Physician practices are being called on to do more than ever before. Today’s physicians must treat more patients, document interactions more meticulously, wrangle with more complex managed care rules, keep track of an ever-expanding array of drugs, submit and track claims and pay rising malpractice insurance bills. In many cases, physicians must treat 20 percent more patients than they did five years ago to generate the same revenue. In the face of these burdens, some practices are struggling to remain financially viable. For many practices, the biggest impediment to meeting these challenges is continual administrative burden, a lack of automated clinical documentation, and inefficient practice workflow systems. Despite the dramatic advances in many areas of healthcare technology over the past several years, most physician practices—especially small and midsize ones—are still using the same manual and paper-based office management systems they’ve used for decades. With mounting pressure from insurers, government agencies, and patients, physician practices need to reexamine the ways they work and interact. As physicians see more patients and insurers demand reformed documentation for rapid processing of claims, the manual healthcare systems that were adequate in the past will become less and less able to meet new demands. The problem The paperwork burden among solo/small group physician...

Literature ans society Essay

The literature of an age, and its social set up keeping and reacting one over the other. Literature influences the society; society is reflected in Literature and in this way, in all languages and at all times there has been a close interaction between the two. Literature of any age cannot escape the influence of the social scene and therefore is found reflecting the society of the age when it is created. The poet, the dramatist, the novelist, the essayist are all the product of their age and their-age openly and clearly gets imaged in their compositions. That cannot be helped, it so seems. Take  the example of two literatures — English and Hindi. Chaucer is called the father of English poetry and actually English literature in its form and language which kept on developing and improving, begins from him. His most representative work is the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales and then the Canterbury Tales. All the characters painted in these tales are the true representation of the types of such people as they were in his times. While Chaucer is a reflector of those characters and their types of his age — he is virtually and truly described as the chronicler of his age — his characters whether a  Knight; the Prioress; the monk, the fat fryer, the sailor, the squire, the priest — all are truly the representatives of their types in the contemporary society as they actually were. Chaucer is a painter as well as a critic of his society. Shakespeare — the greatest dramatist of English language — one of the greatest of all languages brings in ‘ghosts’, ‘witches’, and ‘courtier’ and ‘fools’ in his plays which were as per the liking of his audience and a part of the English Society of his times. That is what is rightly said about Shakespeare that in addition to the normal three ‘unities’—  Time, Place and Action in drama, he brought about the fourth unity — ‘unity with the people’. That encomium clearly Shakespeare being influenced by the society of his age and in his plays he, though never gave any message or pronounced any philosophy, but that is always there — the triumph of the good over the evil. This was the message that was most needed to his age after all that had happened earlier — Henry VIII —the king having been killed, Mary Tudor — a despotic, arrogant, a cruel ruler and then a benevolent, all embracing middle-path follower queen — Queen Elizabeth. As is the king so are the people — is an old but true saying and Shakespeare reflects that hilarious sometimes, but somber and philosophic at the other in his plays. Hulton was very much the product of his age. A truly puritanical person; a deeply religious man, he gave to his age which was battling with belief and disbelief — the message of God’s triumph over Satan. The Eighteenth century of English literature is a true product of the age. The social scene had degenerated into debauchery and license after the Restoration of Charles II who brought along with him all that he had enjoyed during his exile and adjourns in France and the literature of that period reflects all that was happening in the society. Alexander Pope’s ‘Rape of the Lock’ is a reflection of the so-called lascivious high society of and pungent satire too, on all that was too much too bad for the society. Thus Pope is a reflector as a corrector of his age. So are Addison and Steele as essayists. Balzac, Zola, Maupassant of France had cast their influence on every Wycherley, conserve and later Restoration dramatists who had gone to the lowest depth in describing social disparity and this is how literature reflected the age. The French Revolution — a very significant political and social event of Europe had as its basic tenets — Equality, Fraternity and Liberty — and these tenets and the revolution did cast its spell all over Europe and England and the English poets could not escape that influence. Wordsworth was moved by the humanitarian aspect of the revolution in the earlier phase but later its bloodiness and violence disillusioned him and all this is reflected in Wordsworth’s poetry — ‘poet of man’ and in his later poetry. Shelley was moved by the revolution’s ‘spirit’ of revolution and Byron by its fighting spirit. Tennyson was a true representative of the Victorian age and sang of the glories of the Empire while his nature poetry gets influenced by the advancement of Science in the later nineteenth century. He did not remain a ‘priest of nature’ as Wordsworth was because where science advances religion declines. Charles Dickens saw the backside of industrialization — the poor getting Poorer and the rich richer — the sufferings of the poor are ignored and his novels reflect all this. The First World War (1914-19) created a group of who sang of the glories of war, of chivalry and  Sacrifice for the nation and then there is the post w poetry and post-war drama — Bernard Shaw dramatist known for his pungent satire, pricking the balloon of romanticism associated with war heroism and love in his ‘Arms and the Man’. Eliot comes on the literary stage to deal with the utter disillusionment of the age in his ‘Wasteland’ all this about English Literature. Similarly in Hindi Literature, when Prithvi Raj Chauhan was fighting valiantly with Mohammad Gori Chandrabardai — the warrior poet was singing of the glories of war and his hero in his ‘Prithvi Raj Raso’. Then came the Bhakti Kal — the period of Bhakti — the country and the nation had fallen under the Muslim yoke and there were class conflicts on the basis of faith and religion. There came on the literary scene, Kabir, who preached anti-fanaticism; pricked the bloated balloon of superstitions and blind faiths and admonished both ‘mullahs’ and ‘Pandits’ and showed the way of God. Tulsidas found the Hindu society divided into factions ‘Shaivas’ and ‘Vaishnavas’ and showed the path of love, brotherhood and mutual respect for all Gods and presented the ideals of a son, a brother, a wife, and a devotee. The triumph of Ram — the incarnation of the Good over Ravan, the symbol of Evil is an eternal lesson given by him to the society — whose lessons remain revered even till today. The period of comparative social peace created a set of poets who indulged in pleasing their patrons — the Kings — as their courtiers and songsters. Their poetry is full of amorous sports in which they make Krishna a Radha and the Gopis their actors — a very wrong a vitiated depiction — unbecoming of those great. This was done just to gratify their patrons — the sensuous and sensual kings. This is how the social scene was reflecting itself in literature. Then, comes the modern age. The British were ruling India and there were classes close to the ruler and classes suffering at the hands of the officials and at the hands of the so-called elite of the society. There were classes created — the superior, the downtrodden — the imperialists and the nationalists. Prem Chand — the great novelist unravels this class fight in his novels and thereby, not only reflects the society of his times but gives a lesson too. His novels, his short stories — all have a lesson to give. There was Bhartendu Harishchandra — the poet the harbinger of the modern age and thought, who successfully caricatured the classes — social and religious — thus reflecting the social scene with a point to reform it. Thus goes on the scene. Maithili Saran Gupta — the Gandhian poet sings of the glory of Ram, of the glory of Lord Buddha, of the glory of other mythological heroes his thrust throughout being to awaken the masses and enlighten them into cordial social contacts. The national fervor reverberated through the veins of the Psyche under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and poets  after poets, writers after writers sang of the of our ancient land and its culture. Jai Sanker rasad, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, the poets; Dharmvir Shrilal Shukla — the novelists brought into focus the inequalities and imbalances that plagued the social scene and through their thoughtful and sometimes highly satirical way brought to the fore the social and political malaise through which our present generation passing. This true presentation has been with a purpose — to awaken the social conscience to the problems that dog the people. Literature thus has been holding the mirror up to Nature on one hand; reflecting all traditions,  trends and tendencies while rising up the finger of caution too to guard against all that goes against the basic values of life. Literature and Society have remained and shall remain ever intertwined and the more they so remain, the more solid would the foundations be laid for a sustained growth; a well-coordinated growth and a corrected social order Literature has to play its part as a reflector and a corrector of society and society has to inspire men of letters to keep themselves on their guard towards their mission of social good.

Admitting average or mediocre students into college has not debased american higher education

American higher education is one of the oldest in the world. Since the establishment of the first higher institute of education in the country, there has been tremendous growth in the number of students admitted to our higher education institutions every year.In deed, College education has been the aspiration of the many young adults in the country.   As the modern technology takes centre state in life, education has become in important tool to assist a student to cut an edge in the technology driven economy.However the issue of admission to American colleges has remained controversial in respect to the admission of average or mediocre students. While some have argued that the admission of average and mediocre students has debased American higher education, this paper strongly refutes this claim. Poor base structure in our education system can be held responsible for debasing American higher education.American education poor base structure debasing higher educationAccording to the charter of human rights, every student has the right to education and admitting average or mediocre students does not debase American higher education (Guinner, 1998).There have been differeing college admission criteria which have denied some students a chance to acquire higher education.   It has been argued that average or mediocre students have debased American higher education but there are other factors which have debased the higher education.First we have to understand what makes an average of mediocre students.   There are many factors which are used to grade students and therefore determine their entry criteria to higher education institutions.   Some of these factors include the low grades, SAT scores, environment and social behavior factors.Therefore these factors determine the ability of the student to purse higher education. However some of the average or mediocre students have performed better than other students. Therefore the first point that refutes this claim is that our system has poorly divided and graded our students (Thill, 2006).SAT has been widely used in determining the eligibility of a student to higher education institutions.   There are many scholars who argued against the use of SAT to determine the eligibility of student to higher education arguing that it is flawed and very unreliable.The first factor that has debased American higher education is the use of SAT in determining the eligibility of students. Therefore we can say that there are no averages or mediocre students but we only have a mediocre system that is used to scrutinize them and this system is SATs.There are other college admission criteria that have debased American higher education system. There are some students who are admitted to college based on their past sports record. Rothchild (2008) argue that there are a number of top colleges which pay students exorbitant amounts of money or award with possessions in order to sway students to join their colleges and play for their teams.No one is quite sure whether the coaches who admit these students to their team really look into the minds like the SAT test looks into student minds.   Most of these students do not really deserve to be college student as their mediocre or average classmate.This means that it is not the admission of average and mediocre students which has debased American higher students but rather the discriminate admission of students based on other factor like sports career.

Linguistics and Children Essay

The power of language to reflect culture and influence thinking was first proposed by an American linguist and anthropologist, Edward Sapir (1884–1939), and his student, Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941). The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis stated that the way we think and view the world is determined by our language (Anderson & Lightfoot, 2002; Crystal, 1987; Hayes, Ornstein, & Gage, 1987). Instances of cultural language differences are evidenced in that some languages have specific words for concepts whereas other languages use several words to represent a specific concept. For example, the Arabic language includes many specific words for designating a certain type of horse or camel (Crystal, 1987). To make such distinctions in English, where specific words do not exist, adjectives would be used preceding the concept label, such as quarter horse or dray horse. Cultural differences have also been noted in the ways in which language is used pragmatically. In our American culture, new skills are typically taught and learned through verbal instruction (Slobin, 1979). In some cultures, new skills are learned through nonverbal observation. A distinction has also been made between cultures that encourage independent learning and those that encourage cooperative learning (McLeod, 1994). Differences in the social roles of adults and children also influence how language is used. Home and school contexts may represent different cultures, subcultures, or both and may influence language acquisition in noticeable ways. Nonverbal cues (e. g. , facial expression) and contextual cues (e. g. , shared experience) have different communicative roles in different cultures (Kaiser & Rasminsky, 2003). In some cultures, prelinguistic children (who are not yet verbalizing) are spoken about rather than spoken to (Heath, 1983). Children may be expected, and thus taught, to speak only when an adult addresses them. They are not encouraged to initiate conversations with adults or to join spontaneously in ongoing adult conversations. Additionally, in some cultures, children who enthusiastically volunteer answers at school are considered show-offs (Peregoy & Boyle, 1993). In some cultural settings, children are not asked recitational questions. Instead, they are asked only questions of clarification or for new information. Thus, when these children experience recitational questions in a school setting, they may be confused as to the purpose of the questioning and the expected response. Further cultural differences in how language is used in educational settings have been documented by Tharp (1994). These differences include variations in how stories are told, the wait time given by teachers to students during questioning sequences, the rhythmic patterns of the verbal interactions, and the patterns of conversational turn-taking. During the 1970s and 1980s, educators and linguists researched and debated the verbal-deficit perspective. This perspective contended that anyone who did not use standard English did not have a valid language and thus was verbally deficient. Although the verbal-deficit perspective has now been proven invalid, it is important to understand the research that was conducted to either support or discredit that perspective. Bernstein (1971), Bereiter and Englemann (1966), and Labov (1979) were among the researchers who studied language differences between different social groups, including middle- and lower-income groups and ethnic groups. This body of research identified specific differences in the way children from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds used language in school and out-of-school settings. Implications of this research have been widely discussed and interpreted in a variety of ways. Basil Bernstein (1971) documented the different linguistic codes used by children from lower- and middle-income families in England. Lower-income children were described as using a â€Å"restricted code† or highly contextualized language, while children from middle-income families used an â€Å"elaborated code,† or decontextualized language. His research also documented differences in school achievement for these two groups of children. Interpretations of Bernstein’s work concluded a cause–effect relation between language use and school success, supporting a â€Å"verbal deficit† perspective: the working-class environment of the low-income children created a verbal deficiency responsible for subsequent low educational achievement (Winch, 1990). Here in the United States, Bereiter and Englemann (1966) conducted further research from the verbal-deficit perspective. They focused on the language of preschool African American children in Urbana, Illinois. Bereiter and Engleman concluded that the language used by African American children was not a valid language and thus recommended that these children needed to be taught English in the school setting (Winch, 1990). Academically oriented preschool curricula were developed (e. g. , Blank, Rose, & Berlin, 1978) to provide the needed English language training for verbally deficient children. William Labov (1979; Winch, 1990) explored social dialects of lower income African American children in urban settings. He studied the differences in children’s in-school and out-of-school (e. g. , playground) language competencies. His data directly challenged the verbal-deficit theory because it documented the elaborated and systematic linguistic properties of Black English. His research supported the idea that Black English was a separate language system with its own grammar and rules. Labov described dialects as having â€Å"slightly different versions of the same rules, extending and modifying the grammatical processes which are common to all dialects of English† (Labov, 1995, p.54). Labov’s research supported the idea that verbal differences are not verbal deficits. Because Labov’s research focused on language used in academic and nonschool settings, he also created a greater awareness of the role of context and dialect in communication. Tough (1977) conducted a longitudinal study of children from advantaged (college-educated, professional parents) and disadvantaged (parents who were in unskilled or semiskilled occupations) homes. The study began when the children were 3 years old, with follow-up at 5 1? 2 and 7 1? 2 years. At age 3, the disadvantaged children and the advantaged children showed significant differences in the ways they used language. Specifically, the disadvantaged children did not use language to recall and give details of prior experiences, anticipate upcoming events and possible outcomes, reason about current and remembered events, problem solve using language for planning and considering alternatives, reach solutions, create and sustain dramatic play events, and understand others’ experiences and feelings. When these children were studied again at 5 1? 2 and 7 1? 2 years, the disadvantaged children produced shorter, less complex responses. This research contributed to our understanding that children from different cultural environments may be learning to use language differently and may experience difficulty in participating in the language environment in classrooms. Further awareness of the role of cultural environments in the acquisition of language was influenced in the 1980s by ethnographic research techniques that were used by language researchers. Ethnographic studies have contributed significantly to our understanding of linguistic diversity. Ethnography uses participant observation in real-life settings and focuses on individuals within their social and cultural contexts. In her ethnographic study, Heath (1983) explored children’s acquisition of language at home and school in two communities in the southeastern United States. She found differences in communication in working-class black and white families as well as among middle-class townspeople of both ethnic groups. Heath also described differences in story structures, language, and sense of â€Å"truth† (fiction vs. nonfiction) that children learned at home that were different from those expected at school. To be successful at school, these children had to be able â€Å"to recognize when a story is expected to be true, when to stick to the facts, and when to use their imaginations† (Heath, 1983, p. 294). Heath’s research also documented valid and authentic differences in the ways language is used and in the ways in which children in those respective communities become competent language users. Heath concluded that the contrasts she found in language were not based on race, but on complex cultural influences in each community. The importance of family context in language acquisition was more recently described by Hart and Risley (1995, 1999). Findings from their longitudinal study document the significance of â€Å"talkativeness† in families in influencing language acquisition rather than the family’s socioeconomic status or ethnic group identity. Differences in language use were attributed to the complex family culture—not simply due to socioeconomic status or ethnic group identity. Among the families that were studied, the most important difference was in the amount of talking. Children in families where there was more talking developed higher levels of language in the areas of vocabulary growth and vocabulary use. These differences were strongly linked to school performance at age 9. Among these families, Hart and Risley (1995) identified five quality features in parents’ language interactions with their children: 1. Language diversity: the variation and amount of nouns and modifiers used by the parents 2. Feedback tone: the positive feedback given to children’s participation in the interaction 3. Symbolic emphasis: the emphasis placed on focusing on names and associated relations of the concepts and the recall of those symbols 4. Guidance style: parental interaction that used asking rather than demanding in eliciting specific behavior from the child 5. Responsiveness: parental responsiveness to requests or questions initiated by children Hart and Risley (1995) speculated that these categories may be â€Å"important for the language-based analytic and symbolic competencies upon which advanced education and a global economy depend† (p. 193). A current hypothesis on why children from diverse linguistic backgrounds experience difficulty in school is the socialization mismatch hypothesis. This hypothesis â€Å"predicts that children are more likely to succeed in school when the home language and literacy socialization patterns are similar to those that are used and valued in school† (Faltis, 1998, p. 23). This hypothesis has been applied to children who speak a nonstandard English dialect as well as to children who are learning a second language. Home language socialization patterns may differ from those favored in the school classroom in the following ways (Faltis, 1998): 1. The amount of talk directed to preschool children 2. The participation of young children as conversation partners with adults 3. Opportunities children have to explain or give a personal interpretation of events 4. The types of questions asked of children during storybook sharing 5. The forms of narrative that are used (e. g. , fiction, nonfiction, or ongoing narratives) In addition, the social interaction patterns used in the classroom may vary from the home culture’s with respect to expectations for competitive versus collaborative or cooperative activities as well as the â€Å"courtesies and conventions of conversations† (Tharp, 1994, p. 140).