Development in Oil and Gas Retail industries Essay

Development in Oil and Gas Retail industries - Essay Example The standard for spot prices for crude oil is considered as Brent crude oil. The prices of crude oil in the Brent crude oil index have been varying from $100 to $115 since 2012. In this period the supply of the liquid fuel has increased in the countries of North America especially the USA and Canada. However there has been an equivalent drop in the production and sell of crude oil from countries of the North Africa and some countries in the Middle East. While increase in supply from USA and Canada have brought into the market an additional 4 million barrels per day of crude oil since 2008, supply disruption and outages in North Africa and Middle East have largely offset this effect and prevented the prices from falling down. It is estimated that unplanned oil production outages have caused an average of 2.7 million barrels per day over the past two years and another fact is that the outages have increased from 1.8 million barrels per day in 2012 to about 3.5 million barrels per day i n May 2014. The main outages have been caused by OPEC countries such as Libya and Iran and non-OPEC countries such as South Sudan and Syria. The most problematic factor and the riskiness of the matter is that it is very difficult to predict when the supplies will return to normal levels given the geopolitical tabulations that are going on in these countries. The demand for oil has remained on the lower side in the recent years and this has contributed to the oil prices remaining stable for a large part of the recent years. The demand growth from countries outside the OECD has slowed down due to the fact that economic growth in the countries such as China, India, and Brazil has decreased in the recent years. The slower growth in the economies of these countries has correspondingly seen a decrease in the demand of the liquid in comparison to the past two decades. The consumption of liquid had reached a peak of 50

Urban Planning Essay Example for Free

Urban Planning Essay In his book Urban Geography, Michael Pacione, discusses the â€Å"Future City-Cities of the Future†. In his analysis there are several principles that must be included in the future city in order for it to strive and be successful, â€Å"by 2025 65 percent of the world’s population will be in urban areas† (Pacione 2005) The need for the city of the next 100 years to be sustainable in all aspects is paramount for its success and its citizens to live in peace and harmony. The factors that will play a large part in deciding the fate of our future cities are addressing population growth, the economics of cities, or making cities economically competitive, the effective managing and creation of various modes of transportation and mobility and managing the largest pollutant most inefficient parts of of our cities: buildings. All while maintaining high ecological and environmental standards including proper reduction and disposal of waste . The city of the next 100 years must be successful in managing the impacts of all of these stated areas. I will highlight current cities that are struggling with some of these areas and what must be done for the future to prepare for the next century. I. Population There is wave of urban migration and population explosion particularly in 3rd-world nations. The projection of future growth in Lagos, Nigeria from the current city to the future city is projected to put Lagos as the 3rd largest city in 2015 behind Tokyo and Bombay. (Lagos State Government 2011) To stem and manage such growth city planners and local authorities must be diligent. Below is a picture of the daily traffic in the main city center, this is an example of the current situation when unfettered growth and poor or lack of planning are present. While this may be an extreme example two of the projected largest cities by 2015 are both located in developing nations-Lagos being one of them and Bombay in India the other. The basic needs of the population must be met for these cities to become prosperous for its own success and for its inhabitants. With such large masses of population of people located in nations that currently have challenges handling the basic needs of its people the challenge will be to grow while still addressing these concerns. The solution to this problem of massive population growth and how to sustainability-as a city develop and grow can be found from William Rees from the University of British Columbia. He and his team have developed an ecological footprint analysis which can be used to gauge and measure whether the current natural environment can sustain the growing population. In short, breaking down the consumption of what people use into five categories: food, housing, transportation, consumer goods and services. In addition, there are also land-use categories: fossil energy land, consumed land, food land and forest land. While I will not recite the entire analysis, what is important that can be extracted from this is the characteristics of sustainable future cities, as it relates to population growth. Preserving natural capital, minimizing the ecological footprint (this can include mixed-use development, 3-4 story apartment buildings along commercial streets). (Walker, Lyle and Rees, William 1997) II. Buildings Building and how we are currently operating them in the United States alone account for 40 percent of all energy consumption. The city of New York alone emits more greenhouse- gases, more automobile exhaust and more trash per square foot, than any other U.S. city. (Fettig 2006) In the future city of the next 100 years energy consumption of buildings must drastically be reduced. While there are some new groundbreaking solutions such as The United States Green Building Council that have developed a system of measuring energy consumption of building and providing a rating as to the effectiveness and usefulness of its energy consumption and sustainability. While this may be a great start and possibly a platform or model for future development it is simply not enough. The high cost for seeking the highest standard for Existing Buildings –Platinum has pushed many building owners away from this concept. The sustainability of buildings is not only defined as installing solar panels on the roof or collecting rain water it must start with the design of our work places and homes. It’s changing how we live, how we work, architects must have knowledge not only of the aesthetic but knowledge and understanding of maintaining a high level of efficiency and sustainability. The buildings of the city can and must be an ecological master of sustainability. How we construct our buildings currently are: â€Å"the best possible product at the cheapest possible cost.† (Fettig 2006) An example of this is the construction of federal buildings across the U.S.- most of our federal buildings are large blocks of concrete with little or no efficiency or aesthetic value. The General Services Administration is the branch of government which is responsible for the construction, development and managing all federal buildings. They are the largest developer and manager of commercial space in the US. (Fettig 2006) Recently, efforts led by architect Thom Mane of Los Angeles, he was tasked with developing the San Francisco federal building located at 7th Street and Mission Ave. The building is constructed with no central air conditioning, the building is naturally ventilated. The elevators strop on every 3rd floor with stairs for use between floors. There are no corner offices/edge offices. In addition, there is mostly all natural light only. Below is rendering of the building. While the building may not be the standard from a perspective of beauty or function it mixes both the architectural form and user function and efficiency that his necessary for buildings for the future city of the next 100 years. III. Economic Competitiveness of the City. â€Å"Environmental quality is often cited as a goal that stands in opposition to economic activity. (Skinner 1997) The thinking that sustainability and environmental awareness stifles economic growth is a great myth in this county. The two can go hand in hand, and must do so for cities to grow its local businesses, create jobs for its residents, while also maintaining a high quality of life for the residents of the city. The Porter Model highlights four areas that a businesses must maintain in a city for it to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Having a strategic location, local market demand, and integration with regional clusters and utilizing human resources. (Porter 1990) For the next-century city the local businesses must play an important factor in creating jobs within the inner city that will attract residents and help create a better quality of life. Skinner maintains that â€Å"local governments have large-broad powers to regulate businesses and they various types that are allowed to operate, therefore allowing more sustainable and environmentally-friendly industries into the city.† Various particular local examples of this in the region of S. Florida is in the city of Boca Raton. The city has created a local city organized group called Boca Raton Green Partners. The makeup of the group that meets monthly are local businesses committed to sustainable practices and reviews methods that city can take and policies they can recommend to foster a practice of sustainability for the residents and businesses. The state of Florida also has a rebate program for residents to install solar panels on their homes and businesses. Residents can be reimbursed up to 20, 000 for homes and up to 100, 000 for businesses against the cost of installation. This in effect also created hundreds of local jobs for contractors and businesses this may be somewhat viewed as a public/private partnership. Environmental quality and economic vitality can be viewed as a singular entity that can fully support each other for the city to usher into the next 100 years and truly be a future city. IV. Transportation The above picture speaks volumes about the traffic problems most current cities face everyday. Smog, congestion, traffic noise, are just a few of the health consequences of our reliance of cars and the use of fossil fuels. When looking at transportation and the city it is not a one size fits all solution. There must be many options for residents and creating â€Å"accessibility rather than mobility.† (Fettig 2006) Some of the problems current cities face is large investments in highways and roads. For many years local and regional official’s solution for solving the traffic problem was building more roads. Within the city the use the public transportation is the most effective and environmentally-conscious way of mobility. While this is nothing new to many readers what may surprise is that in some cities like Paris, France the local government is taking an active role in reducing the number of cars on roads. There has been a push for residents to use more public bikes, roads have been removed and trains or trams created in their places. These simple steps have allowed public transportation to move 3-4 more times the people on the same road previously used by cars. (Fettig 2006) The goal of the city is to reduce pollutants by 40 percent by the year 2020. By building a city non-reliant on the car for mobility not only will you generate less pollutants in the atmosphere but also a higher quality of life for residents. In conclusion, the future city of the next 100 years has many challenges it faces. But these challenges can also be viewed as opportunities for innovation and change that can bring forth lasting economic and environmental benefits. By addressing these four main points: population growth, building efficiency, economic competitiveness of cities and transportation and mobility the city can be primed for the next 100 years. Works Cited E2. Directed by Tad Fettig. Produced by Elizabeth Westrate. 2006. Lagos State Government. November 30, 2011. http://www.lagosstate.gov.ng/index.php?page=subpagespid=12mnu=null (accessed November 2011). Pacione, Michael. Urban Geography, Ch. 30 The Future of the City-Cities of the Future. Routledge, 2005. Porter, Michael. The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Chap. 3, 69-130. McMillian, 1990. Skinner, Nancy. Economic Development as a Path to Sustainability. In Eco City Dimensions, 66-79. New Society Publishers, 1997. Walker, Lyle and Rees, William. Urban Density and Ecological Footprints. In Eco City Dimensions, 96-112. New Society Publishers, 1997.

Changes to Religious Conversion

Changes to Religious Conversion How have the ideas of conversion changed over time? Remember to write what conversion is n (this is for me) Conversion has been affected overtime due to many avenues that I will be discussing through this essay. ‘The Conversion of Europe’ is concerned about the conversion of the mass which differs from modern conversions such a Samson Staniforth. I will be illustrating how conversion has changed overtime due to factors such as culture, technology and time which has also changed the meaning of conversion. The conversion of Europe started in the sixth century, ‘A religion which had grown up in the Mediterranian world of the Roman Empire was diffused among the outsiders whom the Romans referred to as the Barbarians’ (this is a quote but I want it to be a sentence imbedded and leave it red please). The conversion of Barbarian Europe had sufficed a much wider change, a change larger than just a change of belief but cultural change, declaring Christianity was just the beginning. The conversion followed with the Roman and Mediterranean way of life, adopting their value, habits and customs. Fletcher illustrated that during the 5th century, Christianity was seen as more than a religion, and it was seen as a way of life hence impacted all aspects such as authority, law, government, economy, as well as social aspects such as art, food and agriculture. The ideas of conversion had been implemented in all parts of living and had also been what governs law unlike religion today which i s perceived as a social personal matter. The Gregorian mission is an example of the conversion process which took part in Kent and other part of eastern England by Pope Gregory I since 601 mentioned by Fletcher. Paulinus, a member of the Gregorian mission who had been sent around by Pope Gregory I to convert people in Northumbria. This was a success as ‘’the royal family had been converted and an archbishopric found at Canter-bury’’, this was illustrates the impact of the Gregorian mission had through preaching Christianity. Modern day conversion narrative such as George Whitfield focuses on a spiritual impact which hones one from evil to a place of grace. Furthermore; Whitfield largely focused on his bad deeds; ‘’I took pleasure in lewd conversion’’ is an example of Whitefield’s sinful past, many who have come across Whitefield’s narrative have assumed that his sins were enhanced to make his conversion seem more dr amatic. There’s a couple of factors which Augustine and the early church conversion. Augustine’s conversion had influenced many modern conversion narratives as he had been a unique experience which had been written in a chronological sense. Pg 17. Hindmash suggested ‘’Augustine’s narrative n the confessions is indebted to the Neoplatonic pattern of the ascent of the soul’’. Augustine’s quest was to achieve union with the God from whom all beauty, truth, and goodness derives, and his crisis of conversion was the crisis of philosopher who could see the nature of the good life in ascetic self-denial and contemplation, but who had not the moral power to achieve it (please can you reword the bit in red its from a book and keep it red please). Augustine’s conversion took place in the early years if 397-8CE, his conversion states his transition from his sinful youth to becoming more virtuous. Quote; ‘I heard a voice from the nearby house chantingrepeating over and over ag ain â€Å"Pick up and read, pick up and read.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, this suggests that Augustine picked up the Bible die to the children chanting and started reading. However, many sceptics may disagree perhaps view this as unrealistic, several people would have investigated out of the window hence why it may be perceived as being exaggerated. Furthermore; many would not assume a child to be one of authority figure hence why the authenticity of Augustine’s conversion is questioned. Conversion in the countryside The ideas of conversion had changed overtime for due to many factors, one of which had been where the conversion of Christianity was taking place. The Bishop’s method of conversion in the Countryside was to target landed elites, who held great influence locally pg 40 ‘’to take firm and if necessary coercive action to make peasantry Christian’’, Fletcher is perhaps indicating that the ideas of conversion had been attain in an oppressive state rather than a choice; this had taken pace in places such as Constantinople, Italy, Africa and many more. Furthermore; it is evident that the ideas of conversion were not only changed overtime but they were different within communities of the same time. The countryside is an example of hierarchical control, although not all bishops had carried out the same approach; Martin, the bishop of Tours is one who had taken matters in his own hands and ‘’choos[e] to take direct and personal actions’†™. Paganism had started to become less common overtime which changed people’s idea of God and created a more spiritual way of converting, this can be seen in the Baptism of Edwin from Bed’s narrative; according to this Edwin felt as though – evidence (the conversion of Europe)- this was seen by Edwin who said which was seen in Bede’s narrative: ‘’be-fore he set out on campaign he promised that if God grant him victory he would renounce the worship of idols and serve Christ’’; due to the success of his campaign he sent his daughter to be baptized. Baptism is a symbol of being reborn as a Christian, it is an important ceremony which conveys a lot of spirituality. Paganism is a reason why Our understanding and interpretation of conversion had changed overtime due to culture and society –evidence Physiological advancement – the meaning of conversion changed overtime there were more imitations of Augustine’s conversion which demonstrated that what it meant to be Christian during the medieval roman times to what it was in the later centuries have changed Sampson Staniforth Evangelical Conversion – Staniforth similarly to Augustine began by describing the pain that sufficed for him before his conversion which was illustrated: ‘but to continue crying and wresting with God, till He had no mercy on me. How long I was in that agony I cannot tell’. Evidently from this, we can perhaps assume from the description that life before conversion had been agonising, this is specifically demonstrated when he mentions; ‘but to continue crying and wresting with God’. Staniforth’s goes on to explain the significance of the conversion to his life as it was a defining moment. The prolonged wait for a sign from God. Hindmash mentions how conversions such as Stantiforth’s have 5 concepts which the story is focussed on: ‘autobiography, narrative, identity, conversion and gospel’. It is evident that modern te ‘p Sixteenth and seventeenth century The ideas of conversion have changed overtime which has been demonstrated through the narrative. Hindmash goes on further to speak about the Catholic’s understanding of conversion according to Puritans Thomas Goodwin and Philip Nye. They believed; ‘’England was ‘half reformed’ and they wanted to see a purer church’’pg 33. An example of the rise of conversion narrative which changed the ideas of conversion overtime is ‘spiritual brotherhood’; ‘’ preached the word of God in the same spirit and felt themselves to be members of a brotherhood’’, they ‘’ became a centre of reforming activity, teaching, and training that eventually sent many of them throughout the rest of England and even to the Netherlands and to the New World’’ (can you please rephrase this so it is not a quote and leave it red please). The puritans were described by Richard Baxter as: ‘’affection ate practical English writers’’; this illustrates the power of narrative and frame it was written in; they ‘’fostered spiritual autobiography in part by their stress upon religious experience’’.

Cuban Revolution Essay -- essays research papers

Fidel Castro, inspired by Josà © Martà ­ who first dreamt of a Cuban Revolution who died a martyr before he could succeed, wanted to overthrow the corrupt government under Fulgencio Batista. Castro gathered an army of revolutionaries known as the Fidelistas who were driven by nationalism, idealism, patriotism, and the thought of possibly becoming a martyr, a historical glory of Cuba. The result of this revolution in Cuba was an overthrow of the government and the start of a Communist state that still remains today. Several events occurred that led up to the Cuban Revolution. The first war for Cuban independence lasted from 1868 through 1878 and became known as the Ten Years' War. The following year, the "Little War" began and lasted just over one year. The next attempt for independence began in 1892 by Josà © Martà ­. In 1901 the United States passed the Platt Amendment which further angered the Cubans and increased the desire for independence. The Revolution of 1933 was led by a series of small uprisings. Then, in 1952 when Fulgencio Batista seized power and ended the constitutional government in Cuba. The 26th of July movement, also known as M-26, in 1953 was another step toward revolution. Although the M-26 was a physical fight, the first operations of the revolution did not occur until late in 1956. Fighting continued until 1959 when Batista fled the country. The Ten Years' War be...

Dimmesdale: The Scarlet Letter Essay

Richard Perle, a political advisor of the 1940s, once said, â€Å"Sometimes the things we†¦ do seem objectionable in the eyes of others† (â€Å"Brainy Quote† 7). This is true of people and situations we encounter in our everyday lives, and all of us are most likely deemed objectionable more frequently than we realize. Our behaviors can appear undesirable, offensive, or scornful to others, while we may not conceive it ourselves. This is certainly true of the way readers perceive Dimmesdale’s actions to be in The Scarlet Letter, an acclaimed novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story is a romance involving characters that have been embroidered so intricately that their natures can be equated to the needlework created by Hester, a protagonist in the story. The complexity of the romance woven into the tale soon consumed the lives of all three of the main characters, to the point where both Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, the two male characters in the plot, underwent drastic changes. Uncharacteristically, the romance brought out the worst in the characters, allowing the reader to question which of these two men can be considered to have the least admirable of qualities. Arthur Dimmesdale, because of his lack of moral fiber, his inability to living up to the values of both the Puritan and Christian beliefs of his ministry, his cowardice, and his hypocrisy, is by far the most objectionable character of the two. Unable to control his lustful impulses, Arthur Dimmesdale committed adultery with Hester, and sired their illegitimate child, Pearl. Dimmesdale’s immorality defied all that he preached as a minister, as well as the commandments of his Christian faith. Dimmesdale made an extremely poor decision. To make matters worse, while Hester continued to be publicly scorned for her sin of adultery, Dimmesdale’s chose to conceal his part in this sin from the public. He left the entire burden of this sin on Hester’s slim shoulders. Because of his unwillingness to confess sleeping with another man’s wife, Dimmesdale lived a life of guilt and adopted vigils involving self-harm; â€Å"In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. Often times [he] had plied it on his own shoulders†¦ it was his custom, too, as it has been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast† (Hawthorne 289-291). He both fasted and whipped himself, emulating devout Catholics. Dimmesdale failed to open himself to help and choose other forms of repentance, making his choices additional bad stitches in the tapestry of his life. Dimmesdale’s failure to realize that his poor decisions were leading him into a downward spiral and that there were ways to dig himself out of his grave, confirm in the reader his disreputable character. As mentioned before, Dimmesdale’s sin of adultery was kept quiet, as he never publicly confessed his actions, nor took responsibility for them. As the minister of the Boston, he was revered and admired by the entire town. â€Å"â€Å"The godly youth! † said they among themselves. â€Å"The saint on earth! †Ã¢â‚¬ (289), did the congregation exclaim regularly. It is because of this acclaim and Dimmesdale wish to keep his high place in the social hierarchy that he refrained from publicly revealing his true character. The narration comments on Dimmesdale’s practices saying, â€Å"And he himself, in so far as he shows himself in a false light†¦ the only truth that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul,† (293). The only truth was his anguish. The minister continued to struggle with himself, and after one night of his dangerous vigils, staggered to the scaffold on which Hester had stood years earlier, in an attempt at confession. Pearl and Hester, coming back from an errand, joined him and Pearl asked if he would stand with her and her mother at noontide. Dimmesdale’s reply disappointed her as he said, â€Å"â€Å"Nay; not so, my little pearl! †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ for, with the new energy of the moment, all the dread of public exposure, that had so long been the anguish of his life, had returned upon him†¦ â€Å"Not so†¦ I shall, indeed, stand with thy mother and thee one other day, but not to-morrow† (307). In this instance, Dimmesdale disregarded his wishes to liberate his soul and once again refused to own his sin. For some time, Dimmesdale was patient and carried on with his life, but his patience slowly metamorphosed into cowardice, a despicable trait in a man. Further supporting the argument that Dimmesdale was a hypocrite, is the fact that he preached prodigious sermons on the topic of morality and confession, but was unable to live up to their messages. Roger Chillingworth stated this to Hester, â€Å"his spirit lacks the strength that could have borne up, as thine has, beneath a burden like thy scarlet letter† (343). Dimmesdale could preach the consequences of sin, but could neither keep himself from sinning nor own up to his sin. When Hester was put onto the scaffold, Dimmesdale spoke to her directly, as he was directed to do by the magistrates, in an effort to force her to speak of her sinner, and said, â€Å"Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him†¦ though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life†¦ Thy silence †¦ compel him†¦ to add hypocrisy to sin? † (133). Dimmesdale argued that if her lover were to step down from his high status onto the scaffold beside Hester, it would be better than for him to hide his sin for eternity. Yet, Dimmesdale, the sinner, did not do this. Lastly, Dimmesdale stated when meeting with Hester, â€Å"I should long ago have thrown off these garments of mock holiness, and have shown myself to mankind as they will see me at the judgment-seat. Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom! Mine burns in secret! † (383-385) and ultimately expressed to her his jealousy towards her. He envied how public her sin was and stated that he was in agony because his scarlet letter burned in secret. Yet, he, coward and hypocrite that he was, refused to state his sin to the entirety of Boston. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale cannot have his cake and eat it too. His impotence was contemptible. As a minister and leader of the town, he should have been able to remain strong and reinvent himself. Some readers may argue that Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, was the more abominable of the two, claiming that he wed Hester knowing she did not love him and that he did not love her, tormented both Hester and Dimmesdale, and turned into a devil. In order to fully understand and empathize with Chillingworth, the reader must consider things from his point of view, climb into his skin and walk around in it. It was common in Puritan times for couples to wed for money and security rather than for love. Many of these loveless marriages were successful. In addition, Chillingworth’s â€Å"torments† towards Hester and Dimmesdale were out of passion towards his wife. He, like any other man, felt it necessary to remain close to his wife, regardless of the lack of love felt between them. Yes, Chillingworth did turn into a bit of a devil in the end, lusting after vengeance towards Dimmesdale. But Dimmesdale turned into a floppy, soggy, mush of fabric, unable to support himself. Chillingworth was still able to support himself, and properly chase after and acquire his goal. Dimmesdale was not. In summation, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was an objectionable character not only because of his cowardice, but because of his hypocrisy, lack of moral fiber, and poor choices. Ambrose Bierce, a journalist in the 1940s caveats to his readers, saying â€Å"note the particulars in which one person or thing is, if possible, more objectionable than another. † (â€Å"Think Exist†, 9). And as readers of The Scarlet Letter, we do just that; the audience realizes the altogether disgraceful character of Dimmesdale, a man whose life came apart at the seams because of love, but who, because of his poor choices, was unable to stitch his muddled tapestry back together. In many ways, The Scarlet Letter is actually Dimmesdale’s story, as the central struggle is his. The other characters employ nearly fixed positions while the minister must – in one sensational decision – dismantle his actions of seven years’ time. And it is that reversal that marks his defeat over himself and marks the apex of the novel. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter: A Kaplan SAT Score-raising Classic. New York: Kaplan Pub. , 2006. Print. â€Å"Objectionable Quotes and Quotations. † Think Exist. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. â€Å"Objectionable Quotes. † BrainyQuote. Xplore, n. d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.

Creating a Nonfiction Book Proposal

Creating a Nonfiction Book Proposal For millennia, the human race relied on oral tradition to pass on history, mythology, and religion on to the next generation. With the revolutionary advent of the written language, the human race merely began to write down what had been delivered for generations, in speeches. Therefore, it seems intuitive to this writer, having a strong background in public speaking, that the same guidelines that govern good public speaking also govern good nonfiction writing.There are as many approaches to writing nonfiction as there are nonfiction writers. As the adage goes, there is more than one way to skin a cat. What is presented here may not be the best way for you, but it has worked for me, and it will be appealing to anyone with a background in public speaking.In order for a book to be considered nonfiction, it is assumed that at least the author believes that the content he is setting forth is historically or empirically true. In the case of a book on the Mayan calendar, for example, the au thor himself does not need to believe in the religion or astrological processes of the Mayan people. He does, however, have to be convinced that he is giving a true representation of their beliefs.This means that nonfiction writing is very much like persuasive speaking. Some are polemic in nature, attacking another established position. Others are more akin to apologetics. I use the word apologetics in the academic sense and not in its common usage. An apologia is a formal argument or defense of something, such as a position or a system.Although your topic may not seem as volatile as a public debate, you were, no doubt, drawn to it because there is some degree of controversy to it. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, controversial topics get better traction. If it were a settled matter, you would not be writing the book and others would not bother to read it.A novelist often desires to leave readers wandering, to leave questions unanswered for as long as they dare string the reader along. When one writes a novel, they dont want to answer the readers questions until the reader has had time to ponder them awhile. When approaching nonfiction as you would a persuasive speech, you want to be much more deliberate. Slight cliffhangers are acceptable, but you want to lead your reader from point to point with as few lose ends as possible. You want to answer those questions for them so that they can move with you to your deeper line of reasoning. In fact, you may wish to preempt many of their questions; ask them in your book before they think of the question, so that they can see how you have cross examined yourself. This will help your reader trust your line of reasoning better.If your nonfiction is narrative in nature, then your outline is the chronology of events. If your book will be topical in nature, this type of outline could prove very valuable to you. What follows here is a typical outline for a persuasive speech, and how you can use it to start organizi ng your book.TopicThis is the easy part. Most writers have a few of these kicking around in their head at any given time.PurposeYour purpose may never appear in print, as such, in your book, but you need to know what it is. You need to have the mission of your book at the forefront of your mind at all times.Thesis StatementYour thesis statement is a concise description of the work you are setting down to write. Can you sum up the message of your book in one, or no more than two, sentences? If not, you need to further refine your message.IntroductionIn public speaking, one would need something to first get the attention of their audience. The same is true of your book. Some use an ice breaker, such as a humorous or anecdotal story that segues nicely into their theme. Others use a more aggressive approach. They will start with a very shocking or controversial statement to create an intentional tension. Either of these tools will serve your introduction well.Your books Introduction mig ht include one or multiple chapters. In the first chapter, you could do as I have just described and get the attention of your reader with some anecdotal story or some shocking proclamation. In the second chapter, you could tie that opening attention-grabber to your readers in some way. In the third, lay out your purpose and thesis. Of course, all of this could be in your opening chapter, depending on how concise you want to be.One note of caution: Many modern readers are not sitting down for long periods of time but rather read books in bite-sized chunks. This means that many readers will find many smaller chapters more appealing than fewer longer chapters. A writer must, as a public speaker must, always keep their audience in mind as they craft their outline.BodyIf you look closely at your main points, you will see that they have a progression of logic to them. In other words, one would need to be addressed before another. Some points will have to build upon the strength of others .While each of your arguments may serve as individual chapters, once you have supported them with research, you can organize them in related groups and organize those groups in a logical order.If you are looking to add weight to your work, ask yourself whether you have considered giving to each of your points a reason, an example, and an application. Not all of your points will merit such care, but considering them for each point will ensure you are being thorough.ConclusionYou can signal that you are wrapping things up by putting different points from the body of your work together to come up with a third point. This is called a syllogism: Fact A plus fact B produces a third dependent fact, Fact C.This is also the time to summarize your objective, perhaps more assertively, more boldly than you did in the introduction. It will also be necessary to apply abstract or lofty ideas from your work to your readers daily life or encapsulating them in more common language that they can take with them, from your book. Finally, depending on the genre you are writing in, it may be appropriate to challenge your reader to take action or to make a decision based upon what you have conveyed.Ordering Your IdeasYou can begin organizing your nonfiction book right now, as you are reading this article.Take a piece of paper and write down your purpose and thesis. Next, begin writing points down as they come to you. Your subject is likely a topic about which you are passionate, or you wouldnt be writing a book about it; so these points should come readily to you with just a little reflection.If you write them down on paper with a pen, after you are done, read over the page a few times. You will begin to notice that many of your points, arguments, and supporting statements are related. Begin to organize those by highlighting or using a numbering system. After this is done, you will have narrowed your points down under umbrella categories. Points that are outliers, or do not fit under any of the primary themes, should likely be dismissed.If pen and paper never factor into your writing process, you can do this on your computer screen. It makes ordering the ideas as easy as Cut and Paste. As good as this sounds, many find the brainstorming session is more creative when they are physically writing the ideas down.If you have done that, you are ready to create an outline for your nonfiction book.  Plug your organized ideas into your outlines Introduction, Body, and Conclusion and then get writing.

Essay on War

Essay on War The history of the world comprises a number of wars and the students are required to write essays on war such as essay on civil war, essay on Iraq war, essay on world war, essay on cold war, essay on Vietnam war, essay on world war I, essay on world war II, essay on Korean war, war on terror essay and essay on Spanish American war, etc. For writing essays on war, the students should be well read about the war for which they are writing an essay on war. The essays on war should be informative in terms of the war topic that the student is assigned to write on. In an essay on war, you should give certain aspects of wars such as what are the causes of the war, what are the after effects of the war, the destruction that the war has caused and the involvement of parties who are at the back of war. All the aspects of the war should be depicted in an essay on war, which will make it a strong essay. The format of an essay on war should be like that, that the writer must give the background of the war and should gradually move towards its impacts, the affected people and at the end; the havocs of war should be described. All types of essays on war such as essay on civil war, essay on Iraq war, essay on world war and essay on cold war and others should be written by following the same pattern that is described earlier. The essays on war should contain a full-fledged introduction in which you should introduce the war on which you are writing an essay on war. For writing a persuasive essay on war, all the aspects described above should be considered while writing an essay on war because by considering those aspects you will do a deep research in terms of that war. While writing a war essay, you should be neutral which means that you should not depict any kind of prejudice in your essay on the war. An unbiased essay on war will make your essay more persuasive and readable. In your essay on war, you can also indicate the harmfulness of wars that are fought. The countries who fight with one another keep the lives of their citizens on stake and then the citizens face the after effects of war so, your essay on war can also work as peace proposal for the countries who have fought earlier on or who are planning to do a war.

Free Essays on Ordinary People

The book I did my report on is called Ordinary People, by Judith Guest. It is a very well written novel about a boy’s battle with depression, suicide, the loss of his brother, and communication gaps with his parents. The story starts by not telling you much about the situation, and the more the book ropes you in. The boy in the story starts out being 17, his name in Conrad Jarrett. Conrad had an older brother who died in a boating accident, he drowned. Conrad idolized his older brother, and never really came to terms with the loss, and about 1 year later, Conrad tried to take his own life. After that, his parents sent him to a hospital for the depressed, he spent 8 months there, and fell a year behind in school, and grew apart from his friends. This story starts when he is back in school and repeating his Jr. year. Throughout the story you see his ups and downs and recovery. Also, one of his main problems is communicating with his parents. His father feels tremendous guilt and just constantly tries to make him happy, but his mother on the other hand, resents him for trying t take his own life. In the end Conrad finally comes to terms with his loses, and faces his problems head on. He regains the friendships that, in his mind are worth it, and lets go of the ones that really weren’t. Conrad is the main character in this story. Throughout the story he undergoes many changes, good and bad. At first he goes through many low points, where he feels he has nothing, no friends no family, and no one to rely on. Until he finds a psychiatrist named Dr. Tyrone C. Berger. Mr. Berger helps Conrad to come to terms with his problems and face them. Conrad doesn’t develop any close relationships with anyone throughout the story until Berger comes along. Then he becomes involved with a girl named Jeannie. He develops a good relationship with her, and they are still going out at the end of the story. I think Conrad is a good kid that just tries t... Free Essays on Ordinary People Free Essays on Ordinary People What exactly makes a world and it’s people ordinary? In the spellbinding novel Ordinary People, Judith Guest gives readers a taste of life after having to deal with a terrible crisis, and introduces us to an ordinary family living in an ordinary world. The novel’s descriptive nature highlights the main character, Conrad’s, struggle in maintaining sanity in an ordinary world. Conrad Jarrett is a precise description of a teenager, having to deal with things every teenager his age has to go through daily. The internal conflicts he struggles with, especially his need for affection, and his sense of wanting to belong is what deepens the plot and intrigues readers even more. We see conrad’s point of view on life, of the world in which he lives, and where he sees himself fitting into. "†¦.Your sense of identity is what seems to have been misplaced. No. Wrong. You don’t lose what you never had." (pg.24) Readers can take his point of view and compare it with their own observations. The next issue is that the affection he is searching for, he gets from the wrong person, his father, while he really needs it from his mother. "†¦.She loves my father, I know that. She loved my brother, too. It’s just me."(pg.188). Trying to get his mother’s affection and approval is what in some ways intensifies his struggle, as well as affects h is parent’s marriage. The descriptions Judith Guest gives throughout the story, regarding all the different issues, that come up, make the book even more realistic, and in some instances even humorous. The descriptions given, depend of Conrad’s mood at that time. Although it may seem like it is a bad thing it’s not! The variety in the descriptions (which resemble his moods), add excitement to the novel, and make the story flow a lot better. The reader will know what to expect from a chapter, just from the descriptions given at that moment. For example, will it be humorous? Depressing? Touching? ... Free Essays on Ordinary People The book I did my report on is called Ordinary People, by Judith Guest. It is a very well written novel about a boy’s battle with depression, suicide, the loss of his brother, and communication gaps with his parents. The story starts by not telling you much about the situation, and the more the book ropes you in. The boy in the story starts out being 17, his name in Conrad Jarrett. Conrad had an older brother who died in a boating accident, he drowned. Conrad idolized his older brother, and never really came to terms with the loss, and about 1 year later, Conrad tried to take his own life. After that, his parents sent him to a hospital for the depressed, he spent 8 months there, and fell a year behind in school, and grew apart from his friends. This story starts when he is back in school and repeating his Jr. year. Throughout the story you see his ups and downs and recovery. Also, one of his main problems is communicating with his parents. His father feels tremendous guilt and just constantly tries to make him happy, but his mother on the other hand, resents him for trying t take his own life. In the end Conrad finally comes to terms with his loses, and faces his problems head on. He regains the friendships that, in his mind are worth it, and lets go of the ones that really weren’t. Conrad is the main character in this story. Throughout the story he undergoes many changes, good and bad. At first he goes through many low points, where he feels he has nothing, no friends no family, and no one to rely on. Until he finds a psychiatrist named Dr. Tyrone C. Berger. Mr. Berger helps Conrad to come to terms with his problems and face them. Conrad doesn’t develop any close relationships with anyone throughout the story until Berger comes along. Then he becomes involved with a girl named Jeannie. He develops a good relationship with her, and they are still going out at the end of the story. I think Conrad is a good kid that just tries t...

Who or what started and perpetuated the Cold War Essay

Who or what started and perpetuated the Cold War - Essay Example Bernard Baruch who was the senior advisor to Harry Truman (33rd president of the US), in context to the frequent occurrence of the crisis among the two nations, termed the situation as â€Å"Cold War† in 1947 (Global Security, 2010). The Cold War began in 1917, with the appearance in Russia of a radical Bolshevik regime dedicated for dispersal of communism throughout the modern world. There were differences in opinion between the US government and the Soviet Union. The US government interpreted communism to be an international development that was in the direction of favouring transnational communism. But it was found out that the communists across the world were loyal as they received orders from Moscow (Global Security, 2010). In the year 1918, the US had united unresponsively in an unsuccessful linked effort to collapse down the revolutionary Soviet regime. Distrustful relations between the Soviets and the US long before the Second World War prepared them as reluctant supporters in the combat against Nazi Germany (Global Security, 2010). The Great Britain and the US struggled against the Bolsheviks, between 1918 and 1920. In 1918 American groups contributed in the allied involvement in Russia in support of anti-Bolshevik armed forces (Global Security, 2010). The argument lies between the interpretation of the US government and the thought of the Soviet Union. The Russian argued that whether this approach of the Soviet Union proved to be a threat to the US or whether the US decision makers, misinterpret Soviet and communist. The Soviets ideology might have been interpreted in wrong way due to political interest. The US government could have perceived the level of threat to be huge and not in favour of the political environment in future (Macdonald, 1995). There are numerous thoughts and perceptions that had created the Cold War and were argued whether the issues were right or wrong in the context of the Soviet and the US political leaders.

COINS CASH MACHINE Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

COINS CASH MACHINE - Coursework Example Porter?s five forces will be applied with regards to the viability of the proposed development. Introduction A cash machine is an electronic dispositive from which individuals with a banking card can deposit and withdraw paper money. A digital coin is a form of electronic payment)qfinance). A coin cash machine contains a housing which has an opening by which cash coins or a magnetic card may be input in order to conduct a transaction (Google Patents, 2011). The contemporary coins cash machine was invented by Yoshihgiro Watanabe. The US patent number is US4733765. The original issue date for this patent is 1972. The initial assignee is Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba. The present United States of America categorization of this patent is 194-206; 209-534; 221/12; 235-379; 273/3.01; 271/3.12; 271/160; 453/3; 902/11; 902/12; D20/4. The international categorization of the US patent for the contemporary cash management dispositive is G07F704 B07C502. The US patent which was originally invented by Yoshihiro watanabe was modified to US patent number US4023011. The initial assignee of the modified patent is Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co. Ltd. This patent is titled automatic bank note depositing machine. The US patent on the cash management dispositive which was US4023011 was modified to US patent number US4372478 on February 8th , 1983 to a fare recuperation system and the systems contained. The initial assignee of the revised patent is General Railway Signal Company. The original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued to POM, Inc. on Novemeber 14, 1989. This refernce is titled park card system for electronic parking meter. The second relevant reference is titled Parameter control system for electronic parking meter, patent number US4967895 (Google Patents 2011). The most relevant reference to the original invention by Yoshihiro watanabe was issued on April 9th , 1991. The relevant US patent was issued to Nippon Conlux co. Ltd. as a dispositive for validating and collecting p aper money and coins. The next relevant US patent was issued to Nippon Conlux co Ltd. on March 3rd, 1992. The designation of this dispositive is a device for choosing and dispensing paper currency with a magnetic card. The next relevant patent which was referenced to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued to Hitachi, Ltd. On February 16th, 1993, the disposive which was refernced to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe is designated patent number US5186334. This disposive is designated as a bank note management system of a continuous type. The next relevant reference to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued to Coinstar, Inc. on September 1, 1998. The US patent number issued is US5799767. This device is designated as a maintenance dispositive and a system for a coin currency enumerator and a voucher administrator system (Google Patents 2011). The next relevant reference to the original invention by Yoshihiro Watanabe was issued on April 27th , 1999 to Capital Security Systems, Inc. This disposive is designated as an automated document cashing method. The US patent number is US5897625. The next relevant refernce was issued on November 16th, 1999 to Capital Security Systems, Inc. This dispositive was designated as an automated banking system for making change on a card or user account. The US patent number which was designated is US5987439. The next relevant reference number to the original patent number US4733765 which was invented by Yoshihiro Wata

Swash Zone Modeling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Swash Zone Modeling - Essay Example However, an accurate model is still lacking for at least a couple of reasons (Nielsen et al., 2001). Firstly, the water motion in the swash zone is quite different from that in the inner surf zone and not well understood. In particular, the bed shear stresses have not been measured. Secondly, there is a possibility that perpendicular to the sand surface (in/exfiltration or ventilation) and/or strong horizontal pressure, gradients near bore fronts could influence the sediment motion significantly in the swash zone. In the swash zone, the bore collapses at the shore, surface rollers are not present and consequently the velocity distribution given by Eq. (1) is not valid. Thus, this dissipation mechanism (i.e. surface roller concept) cannot be applied in this region. Instead of this, the eddy viscosity concept is adopted in order to simulate the dissipation due to turbulence in the swash zone (the run-down point is considered as the offshore limit of the swash zone). Details can be found in Karambas and Koutitas (2002). The numerical solution of the Boussinesq-type equations is based on an accurate higher order numerical scheme, which has been developed by Wei and Kirby (1995). They used a fourth-order predictor-corrector scheme for time stepping and discretize the first-order spatial derivatives to fourth-order accuracy. This discretization automatically eliminates error terms that would be of the same form as the dispersive terms, and which must therefore be corrected for if lower order scheme are used. In order to validate the above model, Karambas and Koutitas (2002) compared the numerical results with experimental data (including swash zone). As mentioned by Turner and Masselink (1998), vertical flow through a porous bed induces two effects: (a) bed stabilization-destabilization, and (b) thickening or thinning of the boundary layer. On the uprush, downwards-directed piezometric head gradients (infiltration) will increase the effective weight of sediment (i.e. bed stabilization), thereby decreasing the potential for sediment transport

Steve Jobs Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Steve Jobs - Term Paper Example Background - experience, past and present - impact on the current organization Born in the year 1955, Steve Jobs was in Homestead school, in California. He often visited companies like Hewlett-Packard, after his lectures. Jobs first assignment was at Atari, as a technician where he created a circuit board for a game. Finally Wayne, Wozniak and Jobs founded Apple computers and used to sell it in the garage of Jobs’ parents in the year 1971. As a company Apple started its existence in 1976 with much of funding from investors. (Steve Jobs Leadership Case Study) Apple was expanded over the years until it became huge. It was Jobs who observed the commercial potentials from mouse driven GUI belonging to Xerox PARC and this inspired the creation of Apple Lisa. Based on this a year later, Macintosh was invented in 1984. Due to some incidents of dispute Jobs retired from Apple in 1985, and in that year only formed NeXT Inc. (Steve Jobs Leadership Case Study). NeXT Inc was later was abs orbed by Apple in 1996 bringing back Jobs. It was in 1997, when he once again became the CEO of Apple. Under Jobs’ supervision, the invention of i-Pod, i- Mac, i-Tunes, and subsequently i-Pad ensued. Fighting with cancer since 2003 he finally resigned from his duties as a CEO in August 2011. Finally he was elected as a chairman in Apple (Lomas). Jobs never limited himself to Apple or NeXT only. He bought Pixar, and merged with Disney, produced innumerable computer animated pictures such as â€Å"Toy Story†, â€Å"A Bug’s Life† and others (Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple) Six leadership characteristics Jobs exhibited Few traits of quality leadership that Steve jobs possessed are enumerated and analyzed below- â€Å"Look-ahead† mindset He set precise goals and had a clear and concise vision of the future. He ensured that the vision got inculcated in the minds of everyone throughout the organization. Effective leaders like him have always envisione d exactly what they want and how they are going to achieve their goals in order to get what they want. (Lomas) Jobs always focused on what Apple should do next in the future. He always invited employee’s suggestions about the future actions. His each and every week started with having a three or four hour discussion regarding the scenario they would foresee in the world in the coming days. In a statement he commented, "We are inventing the future... Come down here and make a dent in the universe" (Jobs). His unfathomable and unparalleled obsession with brightening the future with technological advancements paved the way for Apple to be the first name uttered amongst many, when it comes to everyday gadgets, be it mobiles or digital music players or PCs or even OSs. (Hyatt) Persistence - Steve Jobs epitomizes the virtue persistence and it was most exemplified through his exit from Apple. He refused to give up, and in fact, went on to start NeXT computers which would eventually be acquired by Apple Computers Inc. It would have been obvious for a common person to give up at this point and regret the loss. As a leader, one has to be prepared to encounter and conquer hindrance. It is all the more important to show this character, especially if one would like to form a

Emerging Trends Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Emerging Trends Case Study - Essay Example Technical courses require creative thinking in science subjects which is the main obstacle to success to most students. Fear for science subjects has highly contributed to this problem to many candidates. Constant rise of trade schools all over America for students who are not good enough to join colleges for further studies has contributed a lot for shortage in vehicle assembly industries. The rise of trade school makes most of the students not to have vision of being a technician in future. They therefore, end their dreams in businesses (Prosser, 2009). However, most of the technicians industries are managed by aged people creating no room for the young people. The need of strong learning background in to qualify to be an automotive technician has created fear to students. Increase in wages to the workers working in industries may solve this crisis but to some extent. (U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Oak Ridge Associated Universities.,& Southern Interstate Nuclear Board. 2014)Due to increase wage, majority of students will have an aim of meeting the demands of qualifying to be a technician due to better pay due to demand for money to most youths. However, most of the students have developed fear of doing science subjects completely. In summary, there is a need for the government to ensure that every institution is entitled to offer a compulsory science subjects to students to foster the level of awareness to science related courses. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission., Oak Ridge Associated Universities., & Southern Interstate Nuclear Board. (2014).  Nuclear related technician demand and supply: Southern Interstate Nuclear Board Region, 2013. Washington?: publisher not

Financial Markets and Bank Management Coursework

Financial Markets and Bank Management - Coursework Example The banking and financial system in Cyprus is significantly large when compared to the Cypriot economy. Total asset held by the country’s banking system is close to 900% of the gross domestic product generated by the country (Stephanou, 2011a). This number is strikingly high when compared to EU and Euro zone asset acquisition of 357% and 334% respectively (Stephanou, 2011a). Even if the overseas operations conducted by the country’s domestic banks are excluded, the size of the country’s banking system will still be large thereby exceeding the gross domestic product by the multiple of 7 (Stephanou, 2011a). Nevertheless Cyprus is not exclusive in this respect. This is precisely because a number of EU member countries have similar or larger banking system. The banking system in Cyprus grew considerably over the last decade. The underlying reason behind this rapid enlargement is the accommodation of a global environment as well as the policy enacted by regulatory aut horities in the country in order to highlight them as international financial centre. It is only off late that the financial crisis-provoked deleveraging of globally active banks and delay in cross border capital flows have stopped that trend (Michaelides, 2012). Two aspects that differentiate Cyprus from another country with a large banking system are domestically owned credit institutions such as commercial banks and cooperatives which have an instrumental role in ensuring economic stability and the country’s domestic banks which are although small in absolute terms but are considerably large as far as their asset acquisition is concerned (Milesi†Ferretti and Tille, 2011). While the domestic owned credit institutions account for nearly 64% of the total banking system assets, the domestic owned banks own a considerable proportion of assets as a proportion of the country’s GDP (Stephanou, 2011a). Not many European countries are

Steve Jobs Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Steve Jobs - Term Paper Example Background - experience, past and present - impact on the current organization Born in the year 1955, Steve Jobs was in Homestead school, in California. He often visited companies like Hewlett-Packard, after his lectures. Jobs first assignment was at Atari, as a technician where he created a circuit board for a game. Finally Wayne, Wozniak and Jobs founded Apple computers and used to sell it in the garage of Jobs’ parents in the year 1971. As a company Apple started its existence in 1976 with much of funding from investors. (Steve Jobs Leadership Case Study) Apple was expanded over the years until it became huge. It was Jobs who observed the commercial potentials from mouse driven GUI belonging to Xerox PARC and this inspired the creation of Apple Lisa. Based on this a year later, Macintosh was invented in 1984. Due to some incidents of dispute Jobs retired from Apple in 1985, and in that year only formed NeXT Inc. (Steve Jobs Leadership Case Study). NeXT Inc was later was abs orbed by Apple in 1996 bringing back Jobs. It was in 1997, when he once again became the CEO of Apple. Under Jobs’ supervision, the invention of i-Pod, i- Mac, i-Tunes, and subsequently i-Pad ensued. Fighting with cancer since 2003 he finally resigned from his duties as a CEO in August 2011. Finally he was elected as a chairman in Apple (Lomas). Jobs never limited himself to Apple or NeXT only. He bought Pixar, and merged with Disney, produced innumerable computer animated pictures such as â€Å"Toy Story†, â€Å"A Bug’s Life† and others (Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple) Six leadership characteristics Jobs exhibited Few traits of quality leadership that Steve jobs possessed are enumerated and analyzed below- â€Å"Look-ahead† mindset He set precise goals and had a clear and concise vision of the future. He ensured that the vision got inculcated in the minds of everyone throughout the organization. Effective leaders like him have always envisione d exactly what they want and how they are going to achieve their goals in order to get what they want. (Lomas) Jobs always focused on what Apple should do next in the future. He always invited employee’s suggestions about the future actions. His each and every week started with having a three or four hour discussion regarding the scenario they would foresee in the world in the coming days. In a statement he commented, "We are inventing the future... Come down here and make a dent in the universe" (Jobs). His unfathomable and unparalleled obsession with brightening the future with technological advancements paved the way for Apple to be the first name uttered amongst many, when it comes to everyday gadgets, be it mobiles or digital music players or PCs or even OSs. (Hyatt) Persistence - Steve Jobs epitomizes the virtue persistence and it was most exemplified through his exit from Apple. He refused to give up, and in fact, went on to start NeXT computers which would eventually be acquired by Apple Computers Inc. It would have been obvious for a common person to give up at this point and regret the loss. As a leader, one has to be prepared to encounter and conquer hindrance. It is all the more important to show this character, especially if one would like to form a

Financial Markets and Bank Management Coursework

Financial Markets and Bank Management - Coursework Example The banking and financial system in Cyprus is significantly large when compared to the Cypriot economy. Total asset held by the country’s banking system is close to 900% of the gross domestic product generated by the country (Stephanou, 2011a). This number is strikingly high when compared to EU and Euro zone asset acquisition of 357% and 334% respectively (Stephanou, 2011a). Even if the overseas operations conducted by the country’s domestic banks are excluded, the size of the country’s banking system will still be large thereby exceeding the gross domestic product by the multiple of 7 (Stephanou, 2011a). Nevertheless Cyprus is not exclusive in this respect. This is precisely because a number of EU member countries have similar or larger banking system. The banking system in Cyprus grew considerably over the last decade. The underlying reason behind this rapid enlargement is the accommodation of a global environment as well as the policy enacted by regulatory aut horities in the country in order to highlight them as international financial centre. It is only off late that the financial crisis-provoked deleveraging of globally active banks and delay in cross border capital flows have stopped that trend (Michaelides, 2012). Two aspects that differentiate Cyprus from another country with a large banking system are domestically owned credit institutions such as commercial banks and cooperatives which have an instrumental role in ensuring economic stability and the country’s domestic banks which are although small in absolute terms but are considerably large as far as their asset acquisition is concerned (Milesi†Ferretti and Tille, 2011). While the domestic owned credit institutions account for nearly 64% of the total banking system assets, the domestic owned banks own a considerable proportion of assets as a proportion of the country’s GDP (Stephanou, 2011a). Not many European countries are

Elizabeth looked Essay Example for Free

Elizabeth looked Essay Discuss the significance of this statement within the play and the wider political and historical contexts. The play, The Crucible, portrays a community which is based on paranoid accusations of witchcraft ending in mass hysteria. The accusations led to dozens of alleged witches being prosecuted in the Massachusetts colony; resulting in the death of nineteen people being hung and one pressed to death, over the following two years. Set in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts during 1692, it depicts one man, John Proctor, in his struggle to keep his pride and name from being destroyed with lies, deceit and accusations of consorting with Satan. In 1915 Arthur Miller was born in New York City where he grew up. When he was older, in 1934, he paid for himself to enroll at the University of Michigan and graduated in 1938. Then during 1953 he published The Crucible but was then later criticized for being an Anti-American. Arthur Miller was intrigued by the witch trials of the 17th Century Salem, but he was also concerned with United States political events; parts of which were opposing the spread of communism. The McCarthyism era, in 1938, was created and led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, it was on the basis that communism was spreading and would undermine and destroy capitalism. McCarthy gave across the point that communism was to be feared and that it was a threat to America. Slowly Americans seemed to grasp his paranoid ideas and began to eradicate communism from the country. John Proctors statement, I have given you my soul; leave me my name! is significant within the play and also outside of it. Proctor was a village person, who lived in a small, friendly community where everybody knows each another and so a name would mean a lot about that person living in that community. For that reason Proctor wishes to keep his name as it is because he believes that it is the only thing he has left to hold onto. Yet outside of the play labels are formed for specific groups such as communists and capitalists. A name has been a strong idea throughout history where Kings are recognised by their names and everyone is given a name at birth. One of the main characters in Arthur Millers play is John Proctor. He was known in Salem as having a high moral status and being a respectable, honest and hard working farmer. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth Proctor had 3 children; John tended to the farm while Elizabeth looked after the house and children. He had a strong belief that he should stick to what he believes by holding his head high against accusations and immoral justifications. He stands up for himself when he is told to sign the confession papers to be nailed onto the church door and does not let people over come him. You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me! John Proctor is a character who, since the start, denounced the whole proceedings of the Witch Trials unjust and that the afflicted girls were liars. This builds up a life changing dilemma where he is accused of witchcraft and eventually will be hung unless he confesses to working with the devil. One of the choices he could take was to lie; he was to sign his name to a document confirming he performed witchery while in association with Lucifer. This outcome would result in him letting down this wife, children, his friends and even the people who have already been hung for witchery. Although ultimately he would be letting himself down and losing his pride and honour. The other choice he could take was death. Proctor ultimately chooses death as he wanted to hold onto, what was left of, his pride, honour and reputation. During this execution he pleaded for a little respite of time while claiming he was not fit to die. His plea was, of course, unsuccessful. Another main character is Abigail Williams; she is revealed to show her true malicious self as the play progresses.

The Concept of Acculturation

The Concept of Acculturation Acculturation has been defined in many ways and various definitions are provided to give a better understanding of the concept. According to Suinn and Khoo, acculturation is a process that can occur when two or more cultures interact . Furthermore, Berry defined acculturation as a process concerning two or more cultural groups with consequences for both; in effect however, the contact experiences have much greater impact on the non-dominant group and its members . This chapter explains briefly the theoretical concepts at the basis of this study and focuses on the acculturation process of Indian American immigrants with respect to their dress, food, marriage customs, religion and language. As Indians have a very diverse and rich culture going back to thousands of years, one can assume that it may be very difficult for them to change or adapt to a new culture and tradition when they immigrate to America. At the same time we have to assume that Indian culture has also undergone changes within the past 50 years. Some of these issues are discussed in this section with representative examples. It is very important to understand the concepts of cultural change before discussing acculturation. A bilinear model regarding the adaption to a new culture is proposed by John Berry and his colleagues . These authors theorized the following four acculturation attitudes: integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization based on combining either high or low levels of acculturation and enculturation: (see Figure 3.1). The meaning of these four different attitudes is explained. As John Berry claims, integration involves immigrants accepting the new culture, while maintaining close ties with their original culture. These immigrants learn and follow local customs without losing their bond with their customs from their homeland. They are both highly acculturated and enculturated as shown in the diagram below . Assimilation, on the other hand, involves immigrants who totally accept the new culture, and reject their original culture. These immigrants will learn the language and follow local customs so thoroughly that no trace of their original heritage remains. People become assimilated in American society when they erased their cultural identity, unlearned their ethnic cultural practices and beliefs, and accepted the core values of mainstream American culture . Separation occurs when immigrants reject their new culture and live according to the customs of their original culture. These immigrants move to a new culture and find people from their homeland, and live as if they are still in their original culture, only in a different place . Marginalization represents immigrants who reject the new as well as their original culture. These immigrants no longer feel comfortable with their heritage, but the new culture does not appeal to them either . According to Berry, the attitude affects the process of acculturation. For example, as immigrants prepare to go to the U.S., they may have decided to assimilate into the culture. However, upon arrival they discover that they reject some customs of their new country. As a result they change their attitude from assimilation to integration. Thus, the attitude changes according to the various traits of the immigrants. Portes and Rumbaut argue for three major factors that can impact and change the attitude of immigrants. According to Portes and Rumbaut three factors are vital to understanding the acculturation trajectories of contemporary migrants. The first factor is their educational background, fluency in the English language, and economic and class status in their homeland. The second factor refers to the social policies of the host government and the historical and contemporary perceptions and attitudes of the mainstream society toward a particular immigrant group. The third factor is the immigrants social presence and networks and their family structure. The educational background of the immigrant groups and their social class back home are the social and cultural capital that they bring with them, which has an enormous impact on their economic assimilation. Although all three factors help determine how immigrants will acculturate into the larger mainstream American society, the second factor is the most relevant to shaping the acculturation outcomes of many nonwhite immigrants, especially of t hose immigrant groups who have little social and cultural capital and are not white. Even though the Indian Diaspora is racially distinct from the larger American mainstream, professional Indian Americans have an abundance of human-cultural capital acquired through their advanced education, knowledge of the English language, and social class in their home country. The low political profile of the Indian Diaspora also gives them a degree of invisibility that shields them from the scrutiny of the larger mainstream culture . The three major factors of acculturation presented by Portes and Rumbaut naturally change the course of the process for many immigrants. For example, an immigrant with poor English skills, who is determined to assimilate, may find it impossible because of the language barrier and decide instead to integrate into or even separate from the host culture. Bhatias work illustrates the process of how these factors affect Indian immigrants as they adapt to their new culture. Indians after immigrating to America, inevitably undergo some type of adjustment or acculturation process. Though inside the home Indian immigrants could maintain their culture, once outside the home, the system or society itself forced Indians into the acculturation process on all levels of culture. It is necessary to understand how immigrants acculturate in the U.S. As Waters and Bhatia suggest, unlike many Caribbean immigrants, most Indian professionals are middle class, live in suburban America, and are not subject to the structural inequalities of low wages, racism, and violent neighborhoods . However, there are some parallels in how both these groups of migrants come to terms with their racial and ethnic identity. On one hand, the Indian migrants are very proud of their Indian ethnicity and heritage. On the other hand, they invoke what Bhatia calls the discourse of sameness [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] and universal humanity to distance themselves from their racial and ethnic identity . I n other words, they realize that certain costs associated with being Indian are painful and hurtful and that invoking the discourse of sameness is meant to establish equivalence with the white majority. For example, Indian immigrants compare their experiences in the work place with those experiences of white Americans in an attempt to show equality with the majority. In one of Bhatias interviews an immigrant credits his own hard work and accomplishments for his position in the company, while: If I was a white American male, you know, maybe there would be prejudice because Im too short. [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] So being an Indian, I dont think it put me at a different spot. Or at least, thats how I feel . Sunil Bhatias study demonstrates that the members of the transnational Indian Diaspora are more comfortable with a cultural identity than a racial identity because their insertion in the transnational Diaspora has transformed them from being Indian to being people of color . The research illustrates the complicated nature of the acculturation of Indian immigrants. As demonstrated above, the attitude of the immigrants toward their new host country is only a starting point for the process. As these immigrants experience their new culture, their own personal background reshapes their attitude, and changes the way they interact with people, regardless of nationality. Clearly Indian immigrants move through a process as they acculturate to their new surroundings. While Berry, Portes and Rumbaut and Bahtia all approach the subject from different directions and perspectives, and though they may not agree with one another, it is clear that each body of research illustrates a complicated process of acculturation. Taken individually the research results may appear to be contradictory, however, a closer analysis shows that their research actually supports one another. The attitude of the immigrants, studied by Berry, plays a major role in the process, but these attitudes may change in response to the three major factors affecting acculturation presented by Portes and Rumbaut. This ever changing process has been documented in Bhatias work, which demonstrates that immigrants adapt individually to their new culture, in this case the United States. That means there is no set formula for determining what will happen to an immigrant once he or she arrives. This process takes place within any immigrant to any country, therefore it will be beneficial to de monstrate specifically some of the elements unique to Indian immigrants, and how these elements influence the process. Influencing Elements of Acculturation Family Perhaps the most important element to consider for Indian immigrants is family. As these Indian immigrants relocate to the U.S., start a family and begin the process of finding their place in society, it is important to understand the processes which influence the impact of acculturation on their families. To first-generation Indian immigrants and their children, family plays a vital role in their lives. Hodge agrees with this assessment, and points out the stark difference between Indian culture and western culture. Western culture emphasizes the individual, material success and secularism. The Indian culture, by contrast, places much more value on community, especially the family, and on spiritual matters . Acculturation plays an important role in understanding about the family structure, including family conflict as well as differences between first and second-generations. For example, the process and outcomes of acculturation determine which values are important to the first-generation and therefore retained and passed on to the succeeding generations. In addition, the process of acculturation might also determine expectations for subsequent generations. For example an assimilated individual would expect the same from his or her children. Most of the work reviewed on acculturation includes some variables related to the family structure, including family conflict, specifically intergenerational family conflict. Some scholars dedicated their studies to South Asian families. Among them, for example, Mathews provided a more general consideration of South Asian families to explain how they function. First, she explains the relationship of the family in a social order, where the father is usually considered the head of the family, which continues to be the traditional way of Indian families in America. Furthermore, she describes the role of both father and mother in the family, in which the mother usually takes care of the household and raises the children and the father usually serves as decision maker and provider . Bringing up the children in a new and different culture, which often conflicts with their core ethnic values, creates problems for not only the parents but also for their children. As values may be extracted from both the native culture and host culture, it is inevitable that conflicts arise. Thus, in this case both parents and children struggle to balance family values of their own culture with the family values of the mainstream culture. In addition, according to the traditional Indian family, the eldest person is considered to be a decision maker such as career decisions for family members or approving marriages. This naturally means parents, especially in the first-generation, make the important decisions . Clearly the attitude of immigrants from India to the U.S. will be greatly influenced by the strength of their bond to their traditional family values. This attitude will steer them through their acculturation process. Dress According to Khandelwal, Indian American immigrants have a mixed type of acculturation regarding dress. It is quite different for men as compared to women. In the case of men, they adopted western dress more easily than women due to the influence of colonialism. Indian American men started wearing a western style of dress even from the first-generation. However, most of these first-generation Indian immigrants do not have a correct idea of the weather and climate system of the U.S. For example, an Indian man, who came to America in the winter of 1994, was wearing a light silk suit and shivering outside. One old man saw him and told him: Son, this is not the time to show off your new silk suit. I told you how it is going to be cold here today. If you catch a cold or become sick, nobody will take care of you in this country. Here you have to take care of yourself. All the money your family spent on making this suit for America will go down drain in one doctors visit here. There will be other occasions when you can use this suit! . Indian women immigrants are recognized mainly by their traditional dress called sari. Accordingly many female Indian immigrants try to preserve their culture by continuing to wear this kind of traditional dress. Saris are considered works of art due to the careful design and color combinations. However, in the workplace they alternatively wear western style clothing. An Indian woman who immigrated to America during the 1990s was forced to wear Western dress due to her job requirements as a cashier in a store. She said the following: See, I have to wear these mens clothes here. Its ok because I am doing mens job here. Our clothes do not fit in this American culture. To feel Indian, we can wear our own clothes when we are not on the job Before coming to America, she had never worked outside of her house and wore only traditional clothing. However, she adapted to the Western dress because American culture forced her to do so . Khandelwal continues to suggest that US born immigrant children are unlikely to continue wearing traditional dress. For example, young female immigrants in America prefer having readily made kurta-pyjama outfits to the saris, because they do not know how to wear these saris . At the same time, weddings among Indian Americans still continue to be traditional, in which the couple wears traditional dresses either bought in America or brought from India during a visit to the home country. However, due to some specific reasons, some of the Indian American immigrants and their children mostly use western styles only. For example, Nikki Haley, a daughter of Sikh Indian immigrants and one of the current rising stars in the Republican Party, wears mostly a suit, rejecting the sari in order to gain greater public acceptance while running for governor of South Carolina in November 2010 . There is a significant difference in clothing style between India and the U.S. Immigrants who desire to retain their cultural style of dress will have different experiences with acculturation than those who are willing to accept western standards. This plays a bigger role in the lives of women immigrants than for men. Religion Religion plays a major role in the life style of Asian Indian Americans. Religious beliefs and practices are intricately interwoven with the aspects of acculturation and cultural identity of these immigrants. So it is important to understand the influence of religion on the acculturation of Asian Indian immigrants. India is a country of diverse religions such as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. Among these religions, 82.6 % of Indians practice the Hindu religion which makes up a clear majority of the population, while the remaining 17.4% of the population practices Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Judaism and Parsis . These percentages reflect the population of India; however, Pakistan and Bangladesh have larger percentages of population which practice Islam. The existence of many religions in India indicates that religion plays a major role for Indian people. Thus, most of the Indian people have one religious belief, whether it is Hindu, Islam, Christianity, etc. Each immigrant community brought its own sociological traditions from its place of origin, including ethical and religious behaviors. In the same way when Indians first started to migrate to the United States, they essentially had to carry out religious practices and teachings on their own . As the population of immigrants practicing Hinduism increased, so increased the number of religious organizations. With the development of a greater Hindu population practicing religion at home and in specific religious organizations became the norm. Leonard also noted that as the number of Indian immigrants has increased, religion has naturally become more important, as it has become a part of Indian American identity. Hinduism helps Indian Americans differentiate themselves in the United States, from mainstream U.S. culture as well as from other Asian and South Asian groups . Like earlier immigrants, the post-1965 Indian immigrants maintained their belief system, which provided an important way to keep and transmit their values to following generations . Most of the Indian immigrants in America can practice their religion. As an Indian immigrant Rupu notes: I think thats what it is about America. Thats what brought everybody here. Its that being American you can be who you want to be and still be an American. Theres a freedom of religion, a freedom of expression . In America, the practice of Hinduism reflects its American surroundings. For instance, most related religious activities take place on weekends in order to suit work schedules and priests explain sacred texts in English, rather than Hindi or Sanskrit . Asian American immigrants faced lot of challenges due to strong religious beliefs which influenced their acculturation. For example, their religious beliefs may be challenged or even given up as they are exposed to the religious beliefs, practices, symbols, and rhetoric of the mainstream culture. For Asian American immigrants who are faced with prejudice, racism, and discrimination, religious conversion may provide a sense of refuge and facilitate processes of assimilation and acculturation, which may explain why the majority of Asian Americans in the United States identify themselves as Christian . But one should not assume that Asian American immigrants adopt Christianity merely as a way to be accepted by the majority culture. Indeed, for some Asian American immigrants, Christianity is their religion of choice. However, it is different in the case of immigrants from India. As Khandelwal claims, unlike other Asian immigrants, Indians who are mostly from Hindu religion, have displayed little questioning of their faiths and they are unlikely to convert to another religion. Moreover, Hinduism, the dominant religion in India, faces the challenge of being a minority religion in America, where Christianity is dominant . These immigrants will therefore face the challenge of maintaining their belief system in the minority, which is opposite from their homeland. This in turn, will affect their acculturation process greatly as they struggle with their religious views. Clearly religion plays a major role in the process of adapting to a new culture. Religion is especially important for Asian Indian immigrants, who already place a high value on their own belief system. Whether holding fast to their own religion, or converting to some other religion, these immigrants will practice some kind of religion after their arrival in the U.S. Food Indians who have a vast variety of food habits have a hard time adapting easily to Western food. One of the major causes for this lies in the great number of religions practiced by Indian immigrants. As a result of religious food laws many of Indias people do not consume animal products, which include eggs. The work of Bankston and Hidalgo shows that Indian immigrants are highly unwilling to change their food consumption habits. For example, most Indian Hindus avoid beef and pork, while Pakistanis avoid pork and alcoholic beverages. Most Indians prefer meals from their own culture. However, in households with children, American style meals have become more frequent . Indians have preferred home-cooked meals for a long time, and it has been a part of their culture. They believe that eating at home together with all members of their family is an important ritual for bonding with each other. Many Indian Americans continue to preserve their traditional food habits in America. However, most of the Indians are also adapting to Western food. One example is that pizza is the next alternative food in popularity when compared to their native foods, as well as a timesaver when cooking at home. Indian parents in America expect their children to appreciate home-cooked food more than meals eaten outside the home, although sometimes US born children have a hard time understanding why they need to eat homemade food . Some Indians run Indian restaurants, where they serve national food for not only Indians but also other Americans. As Indian food is mainly spicy, the waiters ask American customers if they prefer their food mild, medium or spicy. One owner of an Indian restaurant had the following to say: I have seen situations where Indian food can send them sweating all over [running to decrease their spiciness by drinking more water or juices] that is not good for our business, so we try to accommodate them . For many Indian immigrants food plays a major role in the acculturation process. While religion prohibits complete adaptation to American food, traditional spices and preparation of Indian cuisine varies greatly from that of Western cuisine. This also plays a role in preventing some Indians from accepting the new style of food. Naturally everyone must eat, therefore food plays a major role in the acculturation process. Marriage Customs According to Indian tradition, Indians get married based on an arranged marriage usually within their own community. This tradition has been preserved from generation to generation. The selection of a marriage partner depends on a set of persons recommended by the partners families (with the full approval and consent of the parents). Family or community members continue to be involved in the selection of a suitable mate. The family and educational backgrounds of the potential partner are thoroughly examined before introductions are made. Indians believe that their children will be happier if they are married to someone who shares the same history, tradition, religion, and social customs and who will be able to impart these values to their children, thus ensuring the continuity of the community. They believe that such marriages made within the community tend to be more stable and long lasting than those that cross community borders . In fact, many American born Asian Indians encounter tremendous obstacles in dating and marriage. On the one hand, their parents warn them not to date until they marry and expect that the children get married according to an arranged marriage which is a custom brought over from India . Indian parents believe that sexual contact before the marriage is immoral and corrupt. On the other hand, the American born children have friends for whom dating is very common and normal. These immigrants desire to fit in the environment in which they find themselves. Accordingly there have been many cases where some Indian lovers are secretly married, and in the worst case, some couples have committed suicide as of result of their relationship being rejected by family. However, some Asian Indian American men and women still prefer to return to their homelands for arranged marriages. In these cases, family members at home seek out appropriate possibilities for marriage to their son or daughter. At the right time, the son or daughter returns home to choose from the candidates assembled by their family . Even the other religion practiced by these immigrants plays a role in the process of acculturation. For example Muslim parents usually accept interfaith marriages for boys, because children customarily follow the fathers faith. However, daughters face a greater challenge because parents do not want their grandchildren to lose their Islamic affiliation . Some Indians came after their marriage in India, whereas some came as students. Most of the students have returned to India for getting married. There are also a few instances where an Indian married an American because of the relationship between the countries and individuals. Other Indians have dated Americans. However, the fact is that dating is not a traditional Indian custom and Indian parents tend to warn their children not to date, although they are slowly yielding to their offsprings demands to be allowed to date . The situation of arranged marriages in India is changing too. As second-generation immigrants Sanjay and Veera observed that: Even in India you see people pushing back and becoming more Westernized, more mainstream. Ive seen my cousins, and [by, #184] leaps and bounds, theyve gone past what is traditional. [Indian American young adults] dont drink and smoke and have lived a sheltered life. Theyve always lived at home and havent gone out much. My cousins in India are more advanced. A lot of my cousins married their boyfriends . Customs surrounding marriage can have a major impact on the acculturation process. Especially for those coming from India, where marriages are still arranged by family, the concept of dating before marriage creates an obstacle for many parents and their children. While customs among Indian immigrants are changing, allowing for young people to find their own spouse, many first-generation immigrants have a hard time letting go of old habits. For these families the acculturation process will be influenced by the marriage customs of the U.S. Language Different languages are spoken in India depending on different regions. Some languages are quite independent and difficult to understand by the neighboring people who speak a different language. In spite of these language differences, most people are able to speak Hindi due to its status as a national language and English due to British colonial rule for two centuries in India. The Indian government recognized the English language as an additional official language. Language is one of the main norms that brings people together and helps them to adapt to the U.S. Proficient English knowledge is one of the reasons Indians migrate to America, and it also helps them to assimilate more easily into life in America . After 1965 most of the Indians arrived in America from different language groups. However, they all knew English. Most immigrants join Indian communities, where they can practice not only Hindi but also their regional language. As Khandelwal claims, first and second-generation immigrants practice different uses of language in America. As for the first-generation, they tend to speak English and at the same time they tend to maintain their native language. However, first-generation immigrants face linguistic problems to speak American English due to their thick Indian accent. The second-generation immigrants who are already born and brought up in the US are usually thought to speak English with an American accent and rejected their parents Indian accent, in turn; their parents considered their childrens English as too American. These second-generation Indian immigrants are involved with Indian languages through movies, songs or when they visit India. Though they understand their parents language, most of them are not able to speak or to write it . According to Khandelwal, the first-generation immigrants tend to be more integrated speaking both English and their mother tongue, whereas the second-generation grows up speaking English as a mother tongue and learn their parents language only to satisfy their parents wishes. Obviously, language plays an important role in the acculturation process for Indian immigrants. While many immigrants have already learned English before they arrived, their English proficiency affects their ability to assimilate into the new culture.