Highland Clothes - a Medieval Tartan Fashion Article

Highland Clothes - a Medieval Tartan Fashion - Article Example English society constantly criticized and ridiculed the tartan and the 1746 Act allowed only military personnel serving King George II to wear what was termed, ‘highland clothes.’ Gaelic for a blanket, plaid denotes a type of garment while tartan refers to the actual fabric of the garment. The Act of Parliament on the part of the British hoped to make the Scottish people become more subservient and the law wanted to abolish the dissimilitude of appearance between the Highlanders and the other inhabitants†¦ ( Coltman, p183). Penalties were extremely harsh for those in violation, including six months’ imprisonment for a first offense though it is thought they were often not enforced. Because of this Act, plaid became a highland political currency. Wearing of the plaid and tartan was a clear protest against the British and used by the military. When the Act was repealed in 1782 the tartan had already gained the reputation as forbidden and became a romantic and d esired symbol for the Highland Scotts.It was suggested that tartan plaid was distinctively Roman, using folds of fabric in a toga-like representation much like the warring Roman’s wore. Though some would believe the tartan and plaid a new fad in the 1700’s, the archeologist has actually shown that Celts were weaving plaid for at least three thousand years, using bright colors and intricate patterns, unlike their Egyptian counterparts, who used fabrics of white linen. Though there is no written record of the early Celts there is much archeological evidence.There are many sources in Scotland that are used as fiber in the creation of tartans, each lending a different coarseness and texture with some being very exclusive and others much more common. The blackface sheep is one of the hardiest in Scotland and the Cheviot sheep is a Scottish border breed found in the hilly countryside. More exotic fiber sources include Soay sheep, Afghan Hounds, and the Muskox. Weavers have b een known to make use of any fiber source available, constricted only by their own ability and creativity.

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Term Paper - 1

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder - Term Paper Example icle really caught my attention because a close friend of mine often talks about her ten-year old son who was diagnosed with ADHD around two years ago. As with most ADHD diagnosed children, my friend had initially thought that he was just an overly active boy who couldn’t stay put long enough. Eventually, my friend’s son had had too many problems with his mates in school and with the teachers as well so my friend decided to have him diagnosed and that was when they found out that he actually had ADHD. While the diagnosis caused some sadness for my friend, she was also relieved at the same time because her son was diagnosed early on and was given the necessary attention and treatment for ADHD symptoms. My friend is quite fortunate too as I learned from the article that only recently were guidelines released in the diagnosis of ADHD. I quite agree with the author that these guidelines ought to be followed closely so that other children who are just normally active, for example, do not run the risk of being incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD while, at the same time, children like my friend’s son who really have this problem may be attended to early on. In addition, I was also particularly interested about the article’s claim on the seemingly â€Å"healing† effects of placebos. The article agrees with the popular view in the psychological community that confirms how much power our minds have over the issues of our bodies (Harrington, 2000). I find myself also agreeing with this view because I have been in several situations wherein my ailments â€Å"healed themselves† when I brought myself to think more positive thoughts rather than focus on my sickness. This particular branch of psychology ought to be explored more because if we are in a capacity to provide ourselves with relief from our ailments, then that would mean that we wouldn’t have to subject ourselves to medications that are sometimes, ironically, quite harmful when taken in too frequently or in larger

Case Study: Pregnancy Gestational Diabetes

Case Study: Pregnancy Gestational Diabetes Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as glucose intolerance of variable severity, with onset or first recognised during pregnancy1. This definition includes women whose blood glucose goes back to normal after giving birth, those with undiagnosed type I or type II diabetes and also those with monogenic diabetic2. GDM is believed to complicate approximately 1% to 5% of all pregnancies and is associated with increased foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality1. The prevalence ranges from less than 1% to more than 10% due to the different populations or ethnic groups being studied and lack of uniformity on diagnostic test employed1. Women from Indian subcontinent have an increased prevalence rate of GDM by eleven fold whereas those from South East Asia have eight fold increased rate3. This is followed by women from Arab or Mediterranean with six fold and Afro-Carribbean women with three fold3. The pathophysiology of gestational diabetes mellitus includes increase in maternal insulin resistance, autoimmune ÃŽ ²-cell dysfunction and genetic abnormalities which causing impaired insulin secretion4. Progression of insulin resistance normally starts near the mid-pregnancy throughout the third trimester and progresses to resistance level seen in Type II diabetes4. There are two type of insulin resistance namely physiological insulin resistant and chronic insulin resistant with ÃŽ ²-cell dysfunction. It has been suggested that physiological insulin resistance is contributed by combination of increased maternal adiposity and effects of placental growth hormones4. A study revealed the defects of postreceptor in the insulin-signalling pathway of skeletal muscle and adipose tissue has caused the insulin sensitivity reduction in pregnancy5. The alterations in the pathway reduce the insulin-mediated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle which is a major tissue for glucose disposal5. The inc rease in physiological insulin resistance and alterations in glucose metabolism are believed been influenced by placental growth hormones. This is proven when resistance abates soon after labouring in women with normal glucose tolerance6. Chronic insulin resistance is a condition where patients have ÃŽ ²-cell dysfunction which is presented before pregnancy and exacerbated during pregnancy due to some physiological changes6. Chronic insulin resistance occurred mostly in women with GDM and this had been demonstrated in a study where normal women have higher insulin sensitivity than those with GDM after physiological insulin resistance abates4. It is also believed that obesity play a role in developing insulin resistance since GDM women tend to be obese6. Among the women diagnosed with GDM, a minority of less than 10% of them have presence of cytoplasmic islet cell antibodies and anti-GAD antibodies in their circulation6. These are the markers used to identify the individuals who develop autoimmune diabetes namely Type I diabetes. Patients with autoimmune destruction of pancreatic ÃŽ ²-cells will then have inadequate amount of insulin which leads to hyperglycaemia. This subtype of patients most probably will experience rapid metabolic deterioration after pregnancy due to the autoimmune destructive condition6. Besides autoimmune ÃŽ ²-cells destruction, genetic abnormalities caused by autosomal and mitochondrial DNA mutations also contributed to less than 10% of GDM6. The autosomal mutation, for instance maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) has a dominant inheritance pattern whereas mitochondria DNA mutations has maternal inheritance pattern4, 6. Both of these monogenic forms of diabetic have a younger age onset than non-immune t ype of diabetes and the patients do not suffer from obesity and insulin resistance6. The genes involved in the monogenic diabetes appear to posses a crucial influence on ÃŽ ²-cells regulation which severe enough resulting hyperglycaemic if mutation occurs even with the absence of insulin resistance6. 3.0 Implications 3.1 Maternal implications GDM may implicate either immediate or long term mortality on pregnant women. Studies have demonstrated that GDM has complicated pregnancy by increasing duration of maternal hospitalization, caesarean delivery and also preeclampsia in pregnant women7, 8, 9. Caesarean delivery incidence is increased in GDM pregnancies in order to avoid birth trauma7. Women with GDM are also at increased risk to develop type II diabetes with trials showed that 30% to 50% former GDM women developed diabetes at 3 to 5 years after their delivery10. Women who have GDM with higher BMI are more susceptible to diabetes development. This is demonstrated by a study where approximately 60% of obese women and 30% of lean women during pregnancy have 15 years of prevalence in Type II diabetes11. The study is supported by other studies where maternal obesity plays an important role in developing diabetes later in life12. A considerable number of women with prior GDM were found to share some characteristics of those suffered from metabolic syndrome like elevated triglyceride levels, glucose intolerance, obesity and HDL cholesterol reduction. Women who are diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance at 6-12 weeks postpartum showed increased triglycerides level and decreased HDL cholesterol as well as systolic blood pressure >140mmHg compared to those with similar BMI and normal glucose tolerance13. Atherosclerosis which is known to be contributed by inflammatory responses also studied in women with GDM with findings showed that hsCRP and interleukin-6, both are inflammatory mediators, were respectively higher in GDM women after 3 months postpartum than in normal subjects14. Studies of women prior GDM on insulin resistance and factors in metabolic syndrome suggest that lipid abnormalities and inflammatory mediators significantly related to cardiovascular threat. 3.2 Foetal and neonatal implications Offspring of mother with GDM have an increased risk of perinatal mortality as well as morbidity which involved hyperbirubinemia, hypoglycaemia, macrosomia, birth trauma, childhood risk of obesity and subsequently type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease15. Improper management of GDM women during pregnancy has contributed to a four fold increasing in perinatal mortality rates11. Approximately 20% of GDM pregnancies are found to be complicated by macrosomia which defined as foetus weight lies above the 90th percentile of gestational age or more than 4000g15, 16. Maternal nutrition is a crucial factor in foetal growth. Excess foetal growth is caused by diabetic intrauterine environment since glucose passes through placenta but maternal insulin unable to cross the placenta17. Besides, increased glucose load in foetal also promotes the growth hormone under influence of developing foetal pancreas and further encourages foetal growth and adiposity17. As a result, shoulder dystocia, a con dition where one of the shoulders being stuck behind mothers pelvic bone, preventing the birth of babys body can occur if foetal weight is above 4000g18. The chance of developing shoulder dystocia is even increased by two to six folds if the growth of the trunk and shoulder is not proportionate18. A study indicated that offspring of GDM women have increased body fat when compared with same weight offspring of controlled healthy women19. Offspring of women with GDM are also found to be on 30% heavier than expected according to their height20. The study also evaluated that there is a strong relationship between pancreas cell activation in diabetic intrauterine environment and childhood obesity, which then predisposes to obesity20. Maternal insulin insensitivity is then believed to associate with foetal overgrowth, predispose to childhood obesity and glucose intolerance. Cardiovascular abnormalities can be another implication on offspring of women with GDM. Diabetes is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and this issue is evaluated and examined in offspring of diabetic pregnancies. The results significantly showed that offspring of the diabetic pregnancies has higher systolic and mean arterial blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction markers as well as cholesterol level compared to offspring of healthy mothers20. 4.0 Screening and diagnosis All pregnant women will undergo universal screening for GDM between 24-28 weeks of gestation and those with high risk of GDM development should perform the screening at first trimester21. Women with high risk of developing GDM refer to those who fulfil one or more risk factors. For instance, over 35 years old, previously diagnosed with GDM or with macrosomic, from high risk populations like American Indian, South-East Asian and Arab, obesity which BMI ≠¥ 30kg/m ², diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome and first degree relative to diabetes3, 21. The screening test is called oral glucose challenge test (OGCT) and carried out where the pregnant women were given a sugary beverage with 50g glucose load to drink21. After an hour, plasma glucose is measured and if the reading is ≠¥10.3 mmol/L, GDM is diagnosed21. If the plasma glucose reading is

Poes Fall of The House of Usher - The House and its Inhabitants :: Fall House Usher Essays

The House and its Inhabitants In the story â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher†, Poe presents the history of the end of an illustrious family.   As with many of Poe’s stories, setting and mood contribute greatly to the overall tale.   Poe’s descriptions of the house itself as well as the inhabitants thereof invoke in the reader a feeling of gloom and terror.   This can best be seen first by considering Poe’s description of the house and then comparing it to his description of its inhabitants, Roderick and Madeline Usher. Poe uses several descriptive words in his portrayal of the house.   The reader’s first impression of the house comes from a direct observation from the narrator.   This unnamed narrator states, â€Å"†¦ with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit.†Ã‚   As the narrator continues to describe the house he uses several similarly dismal adjectives.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The gloom experienced by the narrator is not limited to merely the house itself.   The vegetation, which surrounds the area, is described as â€Å"a few rank sedges and †¦ a few white trunks of decayed trees.†Ã‚   He emphasizes these facets of the house and its environs by restating the descriptions reflected in a â€Å"black and lurid tarn.†Ã‚   The narrator points out that the house seems to be in a dilapidated condition.   While he claims that the house appears structurally sound, he takes time to comment upon â€Å"the crumbling condition of the individual stones.†Ã‚   He also emphasizes the long history of the house by stating that its features recall an â€Å"excessive antiquity.† To of the most striking descriptions used to portray the house are those of the windows and the fissure.   He describes the windows as â€Å"vacant [and] eye-like.†Ã‚   With this description the narrator effectively anthropomorphizes the house.   Thus he almost gives the status of character to the house.   The other outstanding description is that of the fissure.   It is described as â€Å"a barely perceptible fissure, which [extends] from the roof of the building in front, [making] its way down the wall in a zigzag direction, until it [becomes] lost in the sullen waters of the tarn.†Ã‚  Ã‚   It is interesting to note that the narrator spends so much time describing a feature that he describes as barely perceptible. The first of the two Ushers to be introduced to the reader is Roderick.   He is first seen lying upon a couch.

Informative speech about earthquake Essay

Good morning everyone, I am Jialin Yin. Today, I want to talk about the earthquake. In 2008 May 12th, it was the first time that I felt the earthquake which was a 7.8-magnitude earthquake happened in Wenchuan China. At that time, I was a 7th grade student and sit in class room, then, I noticed that the light on the ceiling began to shake slightly. Then, the broadcast news reminds me, that was an earthquake and approximately 70000 people died in this severe natural disaster. During the speech, I will explain the earthquake in geographic view to you. Firstly, for what reason caused the earthquake? Generally, when rocks experience brittle failure, a kind of energy called seismic waves are released from the point of breakage. The seismic waves generated cause the ground shake, creating an earthquake. That point of breakage is called the focus, or hypocenter of the earthquake. A term people might be generally familiar with is epicenter which is the point on the surface of Earth directly above the focus, and the focus is the true center of an earthquake. Secondly, I want to talk about where are earthquake located, the first picture is the plate boundary. You can observe that there are many red dots on the second picture. These red dots represent epicenter of earthquakes that have occurred over the past 50 year. Actually, what you can notice right away is that most of these earthquakes occurred along with the plate boundaries. Moreover, we can also notice is that there are a few earthquakes that occur far away from plate boundaries, these kinds of earthquakes named intra-plate earthquakes. About only five percent of earthquakes that occur each year are intra-plate earthquakes. Look at this chart, here are five columns, they are magnitudes, frequency, description, example and energy release. In fact, from earthquake magnitude 2 to 6, the energy release and damage is not huge. The classes of seismic measure for the modern buildings are 5 to 6. However, if the earthquake magnitude is bigger than 6, the energy release can be destructive even billions dollar loss of life. Let us specify the damage of magnitude 8 and 9. The difference of energy from one magnitude to another is approximately 31 times.

Metacognitive Skills

Metacognition refers to learners' automatic awareness of their own knowledge and their ability to understand, control, and manipulate their own cognitive processes. 2 Metacognitive skills are important not only in school, but throughout life. For example, Mumford (1986) says that it is essential that an effective manager be a person who has learned to learn. He describes this person as one who knows the stages in the process of learning and understands his or her own preferred approaches to it – a person who can identify and overcome blocks to learning and can bring learning from off-the-job learning to on-the-job situations. As you read this section, do not worry about distinguishing between metacognitive skills and some of the other terms in this chapter. Metacognition overlaps heavily with some of these other terms. The terminology simply supplies an additional useful way to look at thought processes. Metacognition is a relatively new field, and theorists have not yet settled on conventional terminology. However, most metacognitive research falls within the following categories: 1. Metamemory. This refers to the learners' awareness of and knowledge about their own memory systems and strategies for using their memories effectively. Metamemory includes (a) awareness of different memory strategies, (b) knowledge of which strategy to use for a particular memory task, and (c) knowledge of how to use a given memory strategy most effectively. 2. Metacomprehension. This term refers to the learners' ability to monitor the degree to which they understand information being communicated to them, to recognize failures to comprehend, and to employ repair strategies when failures are identified. Learners with poor metacomprehension skills often finish reading passages without even knowing that they have not understood them. On the other hand, learners who are more adept at metacomprehension will check for confusion or inconsistency, and undertake a corrective strategy, such as rereading, relating different parts of the passage to one another, looking for topic sentences or summary paragraphs, or relating the current information to prior knowledge. (See Harris et al. , 1988; – add more) 3. Self-Regulation. This term refers to the learners' ability to make adjustments in their own learning processes in response to their perception of feedback regarding their current status of learning. The concept of self-regulation overlaps heavily with the preceding two terms; its focus is on the ability of the learners themselves to monitor their own learning (without external stimuli or persuasion) and to maintain the attitudes necessary to invoke and employ these strategies on their own. To learn most effectively, students should not only understand what strategies are available and the purposes these strategies will serve, but also become capable of adequately selecting, employing, monitoring, and evaluating their use of these strategies. (See Hallahan et al. , 1979; Graham & Harris, 1992; Reid & Harris, 1989, 1993. In addition to its obvious cognitive components, metacognition often has important affective or personality components. For example, an important part of comprehension is approaching a reading task with the attitude that the topic is important and worth comprehending. Being aware of the importance of a positive attitude and deliberately fostering such an attitude is an example of a metacognitive skill. In the preceding paragraph, metacognition has been described as a conscious awareness of one's own knowledge and the conscious ability to understand, control, and manipulate one's own cognitive processes. This is not quite accurate; but it's difficult to define metacognition more accurately. (It's easier to point out examples of metacognitive activity than to define what it is. ) It would be more accurate to say that metacognitive strategies are almost always potentially conscious and potentially controllable (Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987). For example, good readers automatically (unconsciously) employ metacognitive strategies to focus their attention, to derive meaning, and to make adjustments when something goes wrong. They do not think about or label these skills while performing them; but if we ask them what they were doing that was successful, they can usually describe their metacognitive processes accurately. In addition, when serious problems arise – as when there is a distraction, when they encounter extremely difficult or contradictory text, or when they have to advise someone else regarding the same skill – they slow down and become consciously aware of their metacognitive activity. While it is occasionally useful to consciously reflect on one's metacognitive processes and while it useful to make learners aware of these processes while they are trying to acquire them, these skills become most effective when they become overlearned and automatic. If these skills were not automatic and unconscious, they would occupy some of the effort of the working memory; and this would have the result of making reading, listening, and other cognitive activities less efficient. Therefore, like any other skill that becomes automatic and requires minimal activity in the working memory, metacognitive skills work best when they are overlearned and can operate unconsciously. Learners with good metacognitive skills are able to monitor and direct their own learning processes. Like many other processes, metacognitive skills are learned by applying principles from almost every other chapter in this book. When learning a metacognitive skill, learners typically go through the following steps (Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987): 1. They establish a motivation to learn a metacognitive process. This occurs when either they themselves or someone else points gives them reason to believe that there would be some benefit to knowing how to apply the process. (Motivation is discussed in chapter 5). 2. They focus their attention on what it is that they or someone else does that is metacognitively useful. This proper focusing of attention puts the necessary information into working memory (Chapter 6). Sometimes this focusing of attention can occur through modeling (Chapter 12), and sometimes it occurs during personal experience. 3. They talk to themselves about the metacognitive process. This talk can arise during their interactions with others, but it is their talk to themselves that is essential. This self talk serves several purposes: oIt enables them to understand and encode the process (Chapter 6). oIt enables them to practice the process (Chapter 3). oIt enables them to obtain feedback and to make adjustments regarding their effective use of the process (Chapters 3 and 12). oIt enables them to transfer the process to new situations beyond those in which it has already been used (Chapters 3 and 6). 4. Eventually, they begin to use the process without even being aware that they are doing so. This process usually represents a high-level implementation of the phases of learning and instruction described by Gagne and discussed in Chapter 3 of this book. When teachers intervene to help students develop a metacognitive process, they often use the scaffolded instruction strategies described in chapter 12. In addition, the techniques of cooperative learning and peer tutoring (discussed in Chapter 15) often provide opportunities for students to talk to others about their thought processes; and it is often the process of formulating thoughts in order to express them to others that leads to metacognitive development (Piaget, 1964). Finally, it is interesting to note an important relationship between the higher order skills of metacognition and the basic or factual skills that may be a part of a specific unit of instruction. Students typically learn metacognitive skills while they are involved in learning something else. If they are to do this successfully, it is extremely important that the learners have overlearned the prerequisite content knowledge for the subject matter topic being studied. If that prerequisite knowledge has not been mastered to a sufficient level of automaticity, then the working memory of the learner will be overwhelmed by the subject matter; and the result will be no time for metacognitive reflection. For example, when children who have largely mastered the prerequisite skills try to solve a word problem in arithmetic, they can afford to talk to themselves about what they are doing, because their working memory is not totally occupied with other demands. That is, well prepared children will have time for metacognitive practice. On the other hand, when children who are missing some of these prerequisite skills try to solve the same problem, their working memory is likely to be totally occupied with a frantic need to find the basic skills and facts needed to solve the problem. If this is the case, they not only have solved the problem less effectively; but they also have little or no time for practicing or developing metacognitive skills. When teachers and parents try to help students, it is important not to do too much thinking for them. By doing their thinking for the children they wish to help, adults or knowledgeable peers may make them experts at seeking help, rather than expert thinkers. On the other hand, by setting tasks at an appropriate level and prompting children to think about what they are doing as they successfully complete these tasks, adults can help children become independent and successful thinkers (Biemiller & Meichenbaum, 1992). In other words, it is often better to say, What should you do next? † and then to prompt the children as necessary, instead of simply telling them what to do. The preceding paragraph describes how the intellectual rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Knowledge of factual information and basic skills provides a foundation for developing metacognitive skills; and metacognitive skills enable students to master information and solve problems more easily. If teachers hope to help low-performing students break out of their intellectual imprisonment, they must find a way to help them develop both an automatic grasp of basic skills and effective metacognitive skills to enable self-directed learning. Misconceptions with regard to specific subject matter were discussed in Chapters 4 and 6. Wittrock (1991) notes that learners' misconceptions about learning-to-learn skills and about metacognitive strategies are also a critical source of learning problems. For example, a student who adheres to a belief that the best way to learn scientific concepts is to repeat the definitions ten times each night before going to bed is not as likely to come to an understanding of these concepts as a person who has a more effective conception of how to master these concepts. Finally, note that a major purpose of this book is to help you develop your metacognitive skills. In chapter 1 I suggested that you apply various strategies while reading this book. If you have done so, there is a good chance that by now you understand the rationale of many of these principles and can see how they contribute to your own learning. By becoming consciously aware of these strategies and how they work, you will not only be able to use these principles to teach others more effectively, you'll also be able to use them to monitor and improve your own thought processes. That's metacognition!

Sergei Eisenstein essays

Sergei Eisenstein essays Through five editing techniques, Sergei Eisenstein in his 1929 article, "Methods of Montage," addresses the cinematic possibilities that can be used by filmmakers to influence the viewer. He believes that montage is the most powerful cinematic device and that through careful study and usage it can appeal to the many layers of the human brain, penetrate the subconscious, and stimulate psycho-physiological responses. To Eisenstein, montage can control a wide range of human functions from simple voluntary movements such as swaying to complex ideological beliefs and convictions. In his 1928 film October, his five editing techniques are used diversely to create tension, conflict, and physiological and intellectual overtones throughout the film. This paper draws on Eisenstein's article, "Methods of Montage," from his 1929 book, Film Form, and provides detailed examples from Eisenstein's 1928 film, October, to provide evidence of his revolutionary and controversial ideas of psycho-physiolog ically stimulating montage. Eisenstein's first and most easily understandable form of montage is metric montage. Metric montage is obtained by shortening the lengths of sequential shots in a series and joining them together according to their durations "in a formula-scheme corresponding to a measure of music." Thus, tension can be created or heightened by shortening sequential shots in a series while quickening the music. As Eisenstein explains, metric montage is "capable of impelling the spectator to reproduce the perceived action, outwardly." He goes on to cite an account of a member of an audience quietly rocking from side to side as he was watching a metric sequence in Eisenstein's film Old and New in which characters were making a movement from one side of the frame to the other. This event was humorous to Eisenstein and only confirms his beliefs that cinematic montage has the capability to influence the cortical functions of the human brain. ...

Indonesia essays

Indonesia essays This report will be on the History in Brief of Indonesia, the Government of Indonesia, the island of Java, and the Geography of Indonesia. In early days, the region from India to Japan, including Indonesia, was known to the Europeans as the Indies. Chris Columbus was looking for a westward sea root from Europe to the Indies, when he arrived in America. During 1600s the Dutch political control began to spread Indonesia. Indonesia declared it's independence in 1945 and fought the Dutch until 1949, when they gave up their control. At first, the Dutch allowed nationalist movement to develop. In 1905, it had introduced councils to govern the towns and cities. By 1920, there were 32 such councils, with little electoral franchise. Other councils were also established. They included provincial councils in Java, and group communities councils outside Java. The current government of Indonesia is based on a constitution written in 1945. A president serves as the head of government. The preside nt appoints a sheet of advisers consisting of top military leaders and civilians. In theory, the assembly is supposed to establish a general direction of the government's policies. A house of peoples Representatives is the nation's parliament, however, in practice neither the assembly nor the house has real power. Instead, it is the president who makes all of the important decisions. The president is elected to a five-year term the Peoples Consultative assembly. The assembly has 1,000 members. It includes the 500 members of the people's representatives. It also includes 500 members of regional, occupational, and other groups. All assembly members serve five-year terms. The assembly usually is only held once every five years. The 500 members of the People's Representatives includes 400 who are elected through a system that insures that the government's political organization win most of the seats. Serviceman have no vote, so the remaining ...

Edmontonia - Facts and Figures

Edmontonia - Facts and Figures Name: Edmontonia (from Edmonton); pronounced ED-mon-TOE-nee-ah Habitat: Woodlands of North America Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (75-65 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 20 feet long and three tons Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Low-slung body; sharp spikes on shoulders; lack of tail club About Edmontonia Edmonton in Canada is one of the few regions in the world with two dinosaurs named after itthe duck-billed herbivore Edmontosaurus, and the armored nodosaur Edmontonia. However, you should bear in mind that Edmontonia was named not after the city, but after the Edmonton Formation where it was discovered; theres no evidence that it actually lived in the environs of Edmonton itself. The type specimen of this dinosaur was discovered in Canadas Alberta Province in 1915, by the swashbuckling fossil hunter Barnum Brown, and initially assigned as a species of the nodosaur genus Palaeoscincus (ancient skink), a classification that fortunately never caught on. Naming issues aside, Edmontonia was a formidable dinosaur, with its bulky, low-slung body, armor plating along its back, andmost intimidatinglythe sharp spikes jutting out from its shoulders, which may have been used to deter predators or to fight other males for the right to mate (or both). Some paleontologists also believe Edmontonia was capable of producing honking sounds, which would truly have made it the SUV of nodosaurs. (By the way, Edmontosaurus and other nodosaurs lacked the tail clubs of classic armored dinosaurs like Ankylosaurus, which may or may not have made them more vulnerable to predation by tyrannosaurs and raptors.)

Critique Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critique - Research Paper Example The book is a natural follow up for the regular readers of Stephen Covey who have already been introduced to his unique life philosophies and ideas on effectiveness and ambition. Covey is famous for his book ‘Seven habits of highly effective people’, which is considered to be the one of the most influential books on personal development and strengthening of the 1990s. Stephen Covey, an MBA from Harvard started his professional life as a college professor at Brigham Young University and during his tenure cultivated, organized and codified his thoughts and philosophies on the ways to achieve the best out of life. These were taught through seminars and conferences and eventually Stephen Covey became the co-founder of the Franklin-covey organization which works towards finding practical solutions to the problems faced by businesses and organization through the application of Covey’s ‘principle-centered’ approach to management and leadership. Touted as one of Times magazine’s 25 most influential Americans, Covey has conveyed his principled life message through his many books and annual seminars; that success in life is achi evable if we adopt central principles of ethics, empathy and resource management in both our personal and professional lives. The books provide a framework for cultivating the frame of mind to allow the adoption of these principles and they have resonated greatly with people in all ages and occupations. Covey’s seven habits have found almost a cult like following in fields as diverse as academia, Church groups and the corporate culture. Subsequently all his follow up books seem to have been directly or indirectly written to support and provide further instructions for his original readers. Titles such as Such as seven habits of highly effective families and living the seven habits provided further insight into the philosophies while the Third alternative is a more thorough

CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT - Essay Example In this paper macro level facts of France would be evaluated, the business culture in France would be analysed, the challenges that the manager might face would be identified and probable recommendation would be put forward, so that the assignment turns out to be successful for the company. Macro level facts about Paris, France France is considered as one of the most contemporary countries of the world. It has a very influential role in United Nation Organisation. It is the largest country in Western Europe and has the 9th largest economy in Europe (CIA, 2013). Paris is the capital of France, which is situated in the north of France. It has a typical oceanic climate, which is mainly because of the influence of North Atlantic current. As far as the overall climate of the city is concern, it is moderately wet and mild throughout the year. In summer, the days are usually pleasant and warm, while winters are freezing. It rains throughout the year in Paris. The city is managed by the muni cipality and the since 1834, apart from the government and other governing bodies. The population of Paris in 2010 was around 2.25 million, which obviously has increase by now (CIA, 2013). The wages are quite high in Paris and media income in the city in 2011 was approximately â‚ ¬25,000, which signifies that the standard of living of Paris is comparatively high. The higher income people are mostly found in the western part of the city. Paris is considered to be one of the economic centres and the wealthiest area of the country. The GDP of the country is $2.609 trillion in 2012. Majority of national income of the country is generated by the service sector (79.2 percent). The currency of France is Euro and CFP Franc (CIA, 2013). Majority of people are French, but other ethnic groups such as North African, Latin, Indochinese, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian, etc are also seen in France. French is the official language and spoken throughout the country. The population of the countr y on 2013, 65,951,611, in which majority of the population, that is around 38.9 percent are between of age of 25 to 54 years (CIA, 2013). Value Description – Hofstede Model In this segment, the French culture would be discussed with the help of Hofstede model, which will provide a view of the drivers of French culture. In addition to this, the Chinese culture would be simultaneously examined, so that a comparative analysis can be portrayed. The five elements of Hofstede model are: a) power distance, b) individualism, c) uncertainty avoidance, d) long term orientation and e) masculinity/ femininity. Figure 1: Hofstede Model: Comparison between France and China Source: (The Hofstede Centre, n. d.). Power distance: Both France and China has a high power distance score, which signifies that in both societies inequality is accepted. However, in China the inequality in the society is higher as the score is 80 in comparison to France, whose score is 68. So the superiors have the pri viledge, which in many cases are inaccessible for the inferior strata of the society. Individualism: The individualism score of France is 71, which means French prefer private and individual opinion and are more interested in taking care of themselves before their family. Individual recognition at

Jackson Pollocks and Yunhee Tohs Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jackson Pollocks and Yunhee Tohs Painting - Essay Example One of the most striking similarities between Pollock and YunheeToh in their paintings is that both of these artists took a divergent painting approach as compared to the common painting methods. Toh abandoned the materials that are usually used in painting, which were pencils and brushes and used her hands in creating this painting. Toh used her hands in an attempt to create artistic expressions that were accurate and direct. She opted to use her hands on this painting because she felt that graphite drawings were more time consuming and did not bring out the art form that she desired. Pollock on the other hand, was a liquid painter who later used paint pouring as an emerging technique on his canvases, which became his signature ‘drip’ technique. In this painting, Pollock paved the way for what was later to become the action painting term where the artist deviated from painting on a mounted canvas to working on it on the studio floor. The similarity between these two pai ntings is that the creation of both of them happened from new dimensions as these artists challenged the Western tradition of using the painting brush and easel. Pollock was an extremist, especially because he went against the conventional painting techniques meaning that he was not afraid to explore. The One: Number 31, 1950 is a unique painting as Pollock did not make his painting brush to interact with the canvas through the strokes being able to create the elements of art. Additionally, Pollock’s painting was quite extreme.

Law of the European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law of the European Union - Essay Example The doctrine of pre-emption differs from the Supremacy clause of EC law ruled in Costa v. ENEL4 in that the latter is a guide when two existing norms regulating the same thing are in conflict,5 whereas pre-emption consists in determining whether there is a conflict between a national measure, be it in application or decision, and a rule of Community law. In a further step, in (Case 11/70) Internationale Handelsgesellschaft GmbH6, the Court held that Community law took precedence even over a fundamental rule in the German national constitution. The clearest statement of the implications of the supremacy of Community law came in (Case 106/77) Simmenthal SpA (No. 2)7 where the Court held that national courts, even a lowly court of first instance, have a duty to set aside provisions of national law, which are incompatible with EC law. There was no need to wait for the national law to be amended in line with national constitutional procedures: the national rule had to be set aside immediately if it conflicted with a directly applicable or directly effective Community provision. Nor does the obligation to set aside conflicting national rules only apply to national courts: even an administrative agency dealing with a national social insurance scheme was held to be required to do so in Case C-118/00 Larsy v INASTI8. Although the national me asure is rendered 'inapplicable', this does not absolve the Member State from the need formally to repeal it. In [Case 22-70] the ERTA case (European Road Transport Agreement) the ECJ decided that where the EC concludes a treaty in pursuance of a common policy (Transport, in this case), the possibility of concurrent authority on the part of MS towards non-member states is excluded: and any other purported exercise of concurrently authority will be over ridden to the extent that it conflicts with Community law. However, the ECJ develop pre-emption legal principle. The Court first formulated a principle of pre-emption in the ERTA case where the Court held that "once a Community common policy has been initiated,9 Community competence pre-empts Member State competence". Subsequently in Costa v. ENEL10, the principle of pre-emption has been made pragmatic and more flexible. In the interests of legal certainty, the Court said that Member States must also repeal the offending national rule: (Case 167/73) Commission v France (French Merchant Seamen)11. Even if it is not yet clear whether a person actually has a right which they claim under community law (i.e. it is a 'putative' right, not a definite one), the doctrine of supremacy requires a national court to set aside any national procedural rules which might prevent them from getting the full benefit of the Community right if it IS eventually found that they have it! This was laid down in the case (C-213/89) R v Secretary of State for Transport, ex parte Factortame Ltd and others12. Spanish fishermen claimed that the UK's Merchant Shipping Act breached a number of EC Treaty articles and wrongly prevented them from fishing in British waters. They asked for interim relief (an injunction setting aside the offending clauses of the Act pending the full hearing of the case). The problem was that under English law, courts could not

Crosscultural Miscommunication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crosscultural Miscommunication - Essay Example Negotiating styles of Australians and Canadians are explored to identify their similarities and differences against the GLOBE framework. It is seen that negotiation skills are of primary importance for any leadership position across all kinds of businesses and it determines the success of the business to a large extent. Negotiation is of relevance when there is a need to achieve common goals and the same needs to be communicated to the other parties. Also, when communication and personality differences are identified, need for negotiation can arise. In such situations, the participants are required to have a clear idea of the goals needed to achieve and also be aware and respect the differences in communication and personality styles (Walters, 2007). Wade observes that a culturally common solution is offered at the beginning of any negotiation (1999). Both Australians and Canadians prefer to start an informal conversation before the actual negotiation process. Australians tend to prefer straight forwardness as their Canadian counterparts and do not leave much to be interpreted in a conversation. Both have a culture of saying 'no' directly when they are uncomfortable with the negotiations.

Business and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business and Accounting - Essay Example I can always listen to music conveniently while at home or at my car. Eventually, I knew I had interest in business making and saving money. For me, learning is not only a process of gaining knowledge, values and skills through formal study but from experiences in working as well. After realizing my interest in the business field, I decided to work for a few months in a company that was owned by my father's friend before going to the United States. Even by just being a receptionist, I learned that it takes a lot of diverse skills such as good communications and sensitivity of other's needs is needed to do a good job in any business. I started working for my father's company as an accounting assistant in year 2005. I was assigned in making simple statements of different accounts and doing money wire transactions to companies that we deal with. Aside from this, I learned to use information systems to track the financial performance of the company. Through work, I discovered more on the enormous potential of the business world. To develop knowledge and skills required in this world, I therefore believe that studying the Business and Economic program offered in the University of California would prepare me to become a successful businessman. I consider leadership as a significant quality that I can contribute to the Universit

Crosscultural Miscommunication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crosscultural Miscommunication - Essay Example Negotiating styles of Australians and Canadians are explored to identify their similarities and differences against the GLOBE framework. It is seen that negotiation skills are of primary importance for any leadership position across all kinds of businesses and it determines the success of the business to a large extent. Negotiation is of relevance when there is a need to achieve common goals and the same needs to be communicated to the other parties. Also, when communication and personality differences are identified, need for negotiation can arise. In such situations, the participants are required to have a clear idea of the goals needed to achieve and also be aware and respect the differences in communication and personality styles (Walters, 2007). Wade observes that a culturally common solution is offered at the beginning of any negotiation (1999). Both Australians and Canadians prefer to start an informal conversation before the actual negotiation process. Australians tend to prefer straight forwardness as their Canadian counterparts and do not leave much to be interpreted in a conversation. Both have a culture of saying 'no' directly when they are uncomfortable with the negotiations.

The End of the War is Just the Beginning Essay Example for Free

The End of the War is Just the Beginning Essay In the world of poetry, the most inspirational topics are often the most tragic. War is one of those subjects that evoke a bottomless well of stories, opinions, and emotions. Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941 and Dulce et Decorum Est are two examples of poems centered around battle with different perspectives on war itself. In the poem Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941, author Sharon Olds gives an account of a visit to a burial site where hundreds of dead bodies lay, victims of the siege on the city of Leningrad in World War II. The image is further darkened by the fact that since the ground is frozen, the corpses are unable to be buried. The overall effect created by this poem is to show the brutality of that time on and off the battlefield, as well as to convey the message that there is no hiding from the truth: the world is not a perfect place. The use of metaphors and similes, diction, sounds of words, and most importantly, the overall tone communicates harsh details. Though distributed throughout the work, these features are sometimes concentrated in specific sections; my guess is to create a stronger effect en masse. Though written without stanzas, I could see this poem being divided into four separate parts. The first part serves as an objective view of the cemetery itself and describing the image before the speaker. The first line That winter, the dead could not be buried (1) creates the sort of impact that Olds wanted to have carried throughout the whole poem. This unflinching depiction of truly gruesome scenes is what makes this piece so powerful. Readers are given an image of bodies lying in the cold and then told that the coffins were burned for firewood and that the gravediggers too hungry to work. This is, to say the least, a very bleak picture. When I read the next section, the s sounds filled me with a bit of a chill like I could feel the cold of the winter there. So they were covered with something and taken on a childs sled to the cemetery in the sub-zero air. (5) This is an example of one of the many tactics used by the author to further draw the reader in and make the poem more of an involving experience and not just some words on a page. The next defining section comes with the description of the corpses themselves, though not in a the same grisly detail-filled way as would be suspected after what had been written so far. Although the overall descriptions are tragic, they are camouflaged by metaphors and similes dealing with positive messages in an attempt to pull away from this grim spectacle. Corpses wrapped with dark cloth and rope are compared to a trees ball of roots/ when it wants to planted(8) an image often associated with the beginning of somethings life, not the end. The same lifelike comparison is found in the next sentence when those wrapped with sheets are associated with cocoons that will split down the center/ when the new life inside is prepared (11). Another very positive outlook on the current situation, but also very out of place, especially considering the diction used later to describe the corpses as, pale, gauze, tapered shapes/stiff (10). However, the work then takes a complete turnaround and changes positions very quickly, taking the antithesis of the previous comparisons by associating the bodies with inanimate objects naked calves/ hard as corded wood(14). Its as if the speaker is returning back to the reality of the present situation from the temporary escape the speaker had just made with his positive descriptions and allusions to new life. The use of sounds of words is used once again, but with a sharp k sound to emphasize the harshness of the surroundings. But most lay like corpses, their coverings coming undone, naked calves hard as corded wood spilling from under a cloak, a hand reaching out (15) This harsh alliteration gets back to and more closely follows one of the original motivations of the poem, to shock and disturb readers. The last part of this poem, without a doubt, holds its most powerful image and in turn its most powerful message serving as the best example of the pieces straight forward and introspective tone. From under a cloak, a hand reaching out with no sign of peace, wanting to come back even to the bread made of glue and sawdust, even to the icy winter, and the siege. (18) Throughout this work, there are a number of references to death and life, ends and beginnings, but this is the only mentioning of a longing to return to life from death. It strongly communicates the idea that any sort of life that the reader is leading, no matter how bad, is a life nonetheless for which he or she should be grateful. Here these corpses lay and would give anything to be alive, even if it meant living in this awful place under these terrible conditions. Its better than death. The use of general and formal features explains both the speakers attitude towards the scene at the cemetery as well as creates a stance on Grays theories concerning the lust of the eye. The two practically overlap because the goal of the work is to recreate the scene that caught the speakers eye in the first place. Then relay it to the audience and capture them with the lust of the poetic ear. Shock and amazement are prevalent throughout this piece, especially in the end and the sight of the outstretched hand. Though different from Grays panoramic and impersonal images of power and destruction, these grisly images evoke the same lust of the eye in the speaker and upon viewing them, he tries to delude himself. By comparing the images he sees to more positive visions he can relate to, such as the butterfly cocoon and the trees roots, he feels more comfortable, it calms him. These ideas are but fleeting, though, and he is brought back to realize that the world is no longer perfect. It is as he sees it and no more, and that is overall message. There is no escape from the truth. In the poem Dulce et Decorum Est, author Wilfred Owen provides the reader with not just one, but two entirely different views on war, both of which vary greatly from Olds. Written in an as it happens type style, the piece depicts a group of soldiers caught in the middle of a mustard gas attack during World War I. Owen then switches gears and describes the aftermath of the assault with a cynical view not apparent in the first half of the poem. The purpose and overall effect of this poem is tell the reader that the messages created by the media are wrong and that dying for ones country is not a glorious thing. This idea cant be truly realized unless one has looked death in the face personally. The use of tone, imagery, diction, and stanzas are crucial in getting this point across and I have pointed out where and how they are utilized. The first thing that struck me about this poem was the impact created by the imagery used by the author. Like the Leningrad cemetery, this view it is powerful in scope; only filled more with action and allows less time for reflection by the reader. The first scene is described as a group of soldiers returning from battle Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,/ Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge, (2) Moving as this image is, it is somewhat ironic that the imagery can be so powerful when you consider that due to the gas, the senses of the speaker and his companions are practically inoperable. This somehow enhances what the reader experiences. I say this because if these soldiers could take everything in, it wouldnt be any great surprise for them because they were so desensitized to war, a familiar concept felt in Olds poem. I often viewed the speaker in the Leningrad cemetery as being someone like a reporter or gravedigger that no longer sees the bodies as the truly lay. He can only see the images that the bodies remind him of. However, by describing normally insignificant events of battle going on around those numbed physically and mentally, the audience is given a clearer picture of what the world they are living in is like. Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots/ Of disappointing shells that fell behind (8). Bombs fall around them and they pay no heed. This ignorance lasts not for long though. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling/ Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time (10). This surprising interjection of action breaks the ambience of the background noise and the silent solace in which they marched. Inventive and unorthodox diction is responsible for making some of the most profound statements in this section that much more noticeable. Not only for the scenes these words help to create, but to make the reader stop and question their usage. The use of the word ecstasy to describe the fumbling of the gas mask caught my eye. Whether we should view this as comical or just plain hopeless leaves the audience uncertain what to feel and in a way temporarily pulls the reader away from the seriousness of the current situation. But someone still was yelling out and stumbling/ And floundering like a man in fire or lime (12). Gripped with a fear for his own life and the gravity of the moment, the speaker can do nothing but watch his comrade guttering, choking, drowning (16). Another example of how the power of the diction fuels the fire of the emotions already being felt by the reader. Its after this point that the speaker reaches his breaking point and realizes that things will never be the same. The stanzas, which had been similar in length and mostly objective, take a dramatic turn in the last half of the poem. After watching his companion die, a new stanza starts only two lines in length. As in the first poem, the last part of the work takes a turn to make an overriding point with just one image. In these sentences, the speaker stops reflecting on the past and talks about the present. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight/ He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning (16). We realize that for the speaker, this war has never really ended for him, but just keeps getting replayed over and over in his head. He knows hell never be able to shake that image and expresses his feelings in the final stanza. In this last and most important paragraph, time slows down and the memory burned into the speakers head comes bubbling to the surface, as fresh as if he had seen it yesterday. He accounts, with gruesome details, the body of a dying soldier flung in the back of a cart. A man whose slow death he had been witnessing for the past few minutes and was unable to help. He was now on his way to being just another statistic and the all the speaker could do was watch. And watch the white eyes writhing in his face/ His hanging face, like a devils sick of sin; (20). It is here that his tone becomes obvious and he relays to readers his belief about war and that the glory so often talked about is absent when it comes to dying on the battlefield. As General Patton once said, No man ever died for his country. Go out and make some other man die for his country. Both of these poems strongly emphasize the aftermath of war more than the grand spectacle itself. Its this shared factor that in a way negates what Gray says about the lust of the eye and becoming separated from the world by the panoramic and jaw dropping sight of battle. Though neither of the poems disproves this idea, both Olds and Owen focus on a different lust of the eye, one having more to do with what is seen at the end and not so much during the conflict itself. The images of the dead create a lasting impression in the readers minds that as uncomfortable as it may be, must be a thousand times worse for a material witness. It gives me a whole new respect for veterans. I no longer appreciate just what they did, but what they have to live with.

Violence And Media Textual Analysis Film Studies Essay

Violence And Media Textual Analysis Film Studies Essay Textual analysis is crucial in film analysis of any kind. Almost all film studies module will always consist of textual analysis as the first assignment. Textual analysis is usually focused on sequences from film or television program. (Anon, 2011). Always stick to the specified text, ensure that the analysis is demonstrably relevant to the asked question. (Anon, n.d.). I am going to analyze the films un-forgiven and Seven in this article. Textual analysis of the film unforgiven Most of the information on the film Unforgiven attempts to examine several concerns. The concerns include generic issues pertaining to western world, such as violence, screen violence, heroism, justice and myth making, gender relation inequity, and social and political parallels. This criticism tries to identify the most important as the film as Clint Eastwood (nexus of most debates). Clint Eastwood finally becomes the measure of how the film succeeds in the topic. Despite the crucial role of this figure, the film tends to conflate the actor, the character and the director as a single Clint Eastwood. Early in the film, William Munny seems to be a family man and great farmer. He will only return to crime if he gets into financial constrains. William Beard suggests that the movie depicts that William Munny was forgiven by his dead wife, Claudia in a period that predates the opening. This led to Munny escaping the maelstrom of nihilistic compulsive violence and drunken self-obliteration. (Groves, 2001). Munny is only provoked back to violence by the humiliating death of his old partner, Ned Norgan late in the film. The film, however, indicates the gradual transformation of Munny. The confession of the criminal is heard without any judgement based on the argument his forgiveness did. Though the past is never forgotten, it is usually displaced. This creates a chance for psychological renewal as that experienced by Munny on marrying Claudia. Its though worthy noting the past is always present somewhere. It seems that if the criminal does lose or reject forgiveness, he is likely to commit to further crime. The Schofield Kid reaches at the Munnys farm to tell him that he was invited by the wronged prostitutes, the mise-en-scene and narrative look simple and clear. Munny is flailing around trying to save his dogs. He listens to the Kids story but refuses to accept the young mans plan. He returns to his dogs after the Kid leaves. We can accept his change and rehabilitation. He can be said to be living in self-imposed prison. He tells the kid that he thought he was coming to kill him for something he had done in old days. Before living for Big Whiskey, he tells his children that the dogs were getting even worse because of cruelty he had caused on other animals before he mate their late mum. In their discussion, the kid reminds them how their uncle Pete Sathau implicated Munny as the meanest goddamn sonofabitch alive. (Groves, 2001). Munny only replies, Pete said that, huh? At this point, Munnys children appear at the door and the conversation changes. Munny refers to Claudia, acclaiming her profound influence on him. The night scenes on the train still portray the divided character of Munny. He expresses his sorrow to the crimes he committed to Logan, insisting his redemption was never jeopardized. The only source of light is the camp lamb and the men are surrounded by darkness. The camera shot is taken at about 45 degrees at the time Buddy refers to his former associate, Eagle (Hendershot) who hated him . Munnys face is bathed in the lambs golden glow, but we can see little else of remaining body, his cloth blending into the darkness. As Logan goes to sleep, Munny remain seated in a rigid posture trying to keep warm with the overcoat. We have an impression that he is trying to protect himself from mental darkness surrounding him. Though the manner his face is illuminated is halo reminiscent, there is question on his forgiveness. This account is further reinforced next evening when the kid joins them. Munnys determination during this period implies internal struggle. The kid questions him about h is past deeds upon which Munny participates reluctantly. Munny remains stationery covered in a blanket throughout the whole scene. Though the lighting is brighter than the previous scene, his face is harder to see because of flickering light of the burning wood and his distance from the camera. It is hard to separate his forgiven present from damned aspects of the past. This is reinforced when they meet the prostitutes the following day. Munny gets a bout of fever and hallucinations which seems to be psychological: the threatening darkness now seems to overwhelm Munny. This is further emphasized by the mise en scene where Munny adopts a similar posture as the previous night. He seems to be hiding and his eyes are obscured by his hat and the fact that the scene is shot from above or face level. His face disappears; his halo has been replaced y shadow of darkness. The room has a smoky dim appearance and the characters seem to blend with the saloon surrounding- the brown color of the c ustoms clothing resembles those of the walls and fixtures. This depiction of saloon and Munny tries to imply the hardship in separating good from bad, aggressor from victim. In Greelys, Munny refuses Logans offer of whisky, he refuses to have coitus with a prostitute. He does not hit back soon when the sheriff attacks him. Little Bill Dagget implies that Munny belongs to men he refers: assassins and men of low character. There two camera shots when Logan asks Munny if he wants a prostitute. In the beginning, his face remains in darkness while in the second he turns little so that only one eye is in the light. He turns refusing the suggestion. However his longing may be shown by the way he gestures and silence which is echoed when he is taunted by Daggett. The sheriff rants at him: What if I was to say you were a no good, son-of-a-bitch and liar? (Groves, 2001). Three left profile camera shots are taken. Munny does not respond to this provocation with violence though, the glare on his face indicates he wanted to respond violently. This profile shots emphasize his conflicted personality. Notably, the shots prefigure him during the final shots as he confron ts and kills the brothel owner (Skinny Dubois) and the sheriff who ranted at him initially. (Groves, 2001). Film textual analysis of the film Seven Seven was released in the year 1995. It was written by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Fincher was the director. Its a horrifying, dark and intelligent thriller. As the film opens, veteran cop Lieutenant William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is appalled by the society that embraces apathy as a virtue. After 35 year on the police force, he is six years from retirement when John Doe comes along. He meets David Mills (Brat Pitt), a young cop; together they investigate equally murders involving Greed, Lust, Gluttony, and Envy, sloth, pride and wrath. Seven takes place in an unnamed city which is rotting so fast, and places the detective in a stylized underworld. (Se7en opening scene: a textual analysis, n.d.) The film features many famous actors thus good acting skills make it somehow realistic story. Apart from what happens in the scenes, macro and micro elements, editing, sound effect, mise-en-scene and music make the scenes excellent. The camera shots, movements and angles used in the opening of the film have many extreme close ups, Dutch and high angles and still movement. The extreme close-ups show the details of torture and weaponry as emphasized during the shedding of the skin from the antagonist fingers. There images of badly mutilated people and corpses-disgusting to the audience. The Dutch angles and slanted angles emphasize the issue of spying to the audience. There is little camera movement in the beginning to ensure appreciation of what happening in the scenes by the audience which adds on the close shots. The editing of the introduction represents the characters feelings, it hides information from the audience, and it makes the audience understand what is happening in the scene. The rapid editing is to represent the characters thoughts. It implies the fact that a lot of ideas are going through his head. The use of red color overlay over the images to represent the macro element of blood, danger and death. Blurring has been made use of to hide the antagonist from the audience which creates the feeling of uneasiness to the audience. The antagonists feelings ahs also been expressed through one edit of two shots overlaid together. This idea of superimposition connotes that the character is either psychological or mental ill. Music has been used to create tension and feeling of romance by just variation in pace and tone. In seven, the music is industrial and tense with different sound effects added. This corresponds well with the editing as if things happening in the film are producing the sounds. Here is a high pitched scream that is used to show that he tortures people. We get the impression that he is feeling devious as the music becomes aggravating and jumpy. The mise-en-scene creates tension in the audience. There dull colors of brown, grey and white with no inviting colors like blue or pink. He however uses the color red which stands out among the other dull colors. Red shows blood or signifies death which is what the plot is all about. Though out the whole introduction, the character is making scrapbooks about the people he has tortured and killed. The whole idea of serial killer is quite disturbing as evidenced by the scrap book which contains sepia colors to make them look old. There element of weaponry as evidenced by use of scissors he uses to cut up his gruesome images, the books plus the needle he uses to attach the pages together. The extreme close up of tea bag dissolving in hot water like blood color gives the impression of danger and death. In one part of the opening, the word GOD is upside down to give the ideology of antichrist/ anti-religion. This is also seen in another seen where the word GOD is cut out. There is casts of shadows due to poor lighting and this creates fear- darkness. The idea of violence, death and suffering has been well illustrated in this film. (Se7en opening scene: a textual analysis, n.d.).

Reflections of Milton in Paradise Lost and On Having Arrived :: comparison compare contrast essays

Reflections of Milton in Paradise Lost and On Having Arrived At a young age, John Milton was convinced that he was destined for greatness. He thought that he "might perhaps leave something so written to aftertimes as they should not willingly let it die"(Text 414). For this reason he thought that his life was very important to himself and to others. He often wrote directly about himself, and he used his life experiences as roots for his literature. In Paradise Lost and in a sonnet entitled "On His Blindness," Milton speaks indirectly and directly of his loss of vision. Also in Paradise Lost, he uses the political situation of his time as a base for the plot, and he incorporates elements of his own character into the character of Satan. In "On Having Arrived at the Age of Twenty-Three", he speaks plainly about the course of his life. In the latter part of his life, Milton lost his vision. This loss was very traumatic for him because he had not yet completed his mission of writing a memorable work of literature. Soon after, he continued his work with the help of his daughters. He dictated to them a sonnet he called "On His Blindness" in which he asks how God expects him to do his work blind. Milton's ambitious side says that his writing talent is "lodged with [him] useless"(Text 417). His religious side soon realizes that he is "complaining" to God and he takes it back. He discovers that God will not look down on him if he does not write a masterpiece. He granted Milton a great talent, and he expects Milton to be happy. He has to learn to do his work in a dark world. This poem was not the last time Milton referred to his condition in his writing. In book one of Paradise Lost, while invoking the Muse, Milton says "what in me is dark illumine"(Hndout 22). He asks to be granted the power to work through his blindness. He obviously thinks of his blindness as a major weakness. Later in the text, he describes Hell as having "no light, but rather darkness visible"(Hndout 270). It is Milton's way of almost subliminally implying that his condition is comparable to

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) SWOT Analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysi

Our recommendation is to take Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) private through a private equity buyout. After doing so, we recommend implementing a centralized management structure and recruiting retail-savvy executives for the upper management team. We then recommend focusing on increasing value by capitalizing on SHLD’s real estate holdings through leasing agreements and increasing partnerships with complementary enterprises. Also, we recommend improving employee retention rates and retaining exclusive rights to private brands. Finally, we recommend focusing on a long-term strategy to continue to maximize SHLD’s ecommerce platforms. We believe these recommendations will lead to long-term stability through increases in customer base and revenues and decreases in overhead costs. Strengths One of SHLD’s main strengths is its proprietary brands such as Diehard, Kenmore, Craftsman, and Lands’ End because these brands have a great amount of customer loyalty and repeat customers. Another one of our strengths is our vast pool of valuable real estate assets. These assets enable SHLD to generate continuous revenue through leasing agreements and a safety net in a liquidity crunch. Additionally, â€Å"mygofer† and â€Å"Shop Your Way† programs account for more than 60% of revenues for Sears and Kmart stores. These loyalty programs have created a strong and loyal member base who provide repeat business for SHLD. Lastly, Sears Holdings’ has been around for over a hundred years and thus has an established brand name within the discount retail sector. Weaknesses One of SHLD’s weaknesses is an upper management team who lacks knowledge of the retail sector and fails to communicate effectively across business units. A second weakness is the de... ...uch Does It Cost Companies to Lose Employees?" CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. McSherry, Mark. "70 Billion Reasons For A Public Company To Go Private." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. Santoli, Michael. "Sears Grows on the Web – but Can It Shrink Fast Enough Offline?" Yahoo Finance. Yahoo!, 22 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. "Sears Selling Craftsman at Costco, Will Kenmore Soon Follow?" Sears Selling Craftsman at Costco, Will Kenmore Soon Follow? Consumer Reports, 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2013 Tekippe, Abraham. "How Kraft, McDonald's, Sears Are Doing Social Media Right." Crain's Chicago Business. Crain, 2 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. Young, Chris. "Employee Retention Strategies Drive Revenue Growth at Sears." Employee Retention Strategies Drive Revenue Growth at Sears. Street Directory, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Analyse the effects of education on the developing countries Essay

Analyse the effects of education on the developing countries Development is one of the themes of modern society and there are a variety of elements influencing the development. Many countries experience declares that education gradually play a more and more vital role in development. Education policies which depend on the specific national conditions can lead to a different result. Overall, primary education may be a key to promote the influence including population, health and economic growth. Secondary education not only provides some skilled workers to society, but also is the foundation of higher education. When the country tries to develop the high-tech economy and to transform the social structure, the tertiary education will make a necessary and positive effect on its development. In the education system, basic education is the foundation of secondary and tertiary education. But primary education is not only a part of the education system. It is a very important element which impact on the level of mass culture, Social stability, economic development, population growth and public health. These parts and primary education are interrelated and interact on each other. It is an efficient way to develop these together and lead to a steady and rapid development of society by improving basic education. To make it clear we can put it into a chart(see appendix 1). There are 800 million illiterate adults who are very hard to find a high-income job in the earth, although the world develops rapidly. To solve this problem, universal basic education is a prime way. For example through popularize basic education farmers are able to read the instruction of fertilizer and some agriculture machine, which has an obvious effect in increase of agricultural productivity (Brown, 2008). The situation in industry is similar because of the higher efficiency. There is no doubt that mass culture level and economic growth would also get ahead because of this. In this respect, both Bangladesh and Iran can serve as models which have successful adult literacy programs (Brown, 2008). Widening gap between rich and poor is a source of instability of society (Brown, 2008), while primary education is an important way to narrow it. In most instances, especially for those countries whose rich-poor gap is it is enormous, it is a key to improve the living standard of the poor by universal basic education. Education could also decrease the crime rate (Stephen, Linda, 2003). Therefore, the narrower Rich-poor gap can provide a steady social surrounding in order to a better foundation for economic growth. Economic growth also has feedback in education. When government has enough money to invest to the education, the better education surrounding and higher teacher level would surely improve education, and finally reach a benign circulation. It is justification for public spending on education, because it is based on the high social rate of return. The study shows that investment of primary education can bring the highest social rate of return, followed by secondary and tertiary education (Gupta et al,2004) For developing countries, overpopulation is usually regarded as a basic and important problem. The increase of population would Significant bring the decrease of per capita resource, which also brings huge stress on environment and government. To solve this problem, it is a basic way to spread basic education especially for women. If girls accept more education, they would marry later, and have fewer children, which is a win-win-win situation (Plan 2008). Furthermore, they will have a higher expect and more requirements on their children. Meanwhile, they would focus more on their children’s quality instead of quantity. No doubt that this situation has a positive effect on Population quality Education also has a great effect on public health. First point, Use female education as an example, data shows that there is obvious relationship between educational attainment of mothers and mortality rates of under-5 children (Unicef, 2005). They are also more likely to have healthier children (World Bank, 2008). For the adult, once they receive more medical knowledge, the chances of infection by various diseases get significantly lower. For example, the best way to cure disease like AIDS is teach people how to prevent it. Health also has effect on education. In this aspect, Health and poverty usually work together. In poor areas, children usually hungry or ill, so it is hard for them to have a good state to study. Secondary education, linking primary and tertiary, is the easiest to be undervalued. Occasionally people purely regard lower-secondary as the continuance of basic education and upper-secondary as the preparation of higher education, and the effect of secondary education itself is ignored. However, data given by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of Austrian Academy of Sciences shows that secondary education provides a big boost to economic growth in low-income countries. The annual GDP growth  rates in a country with half population in secondary and universal primary (13%) is twice as much as that in one with merely universal primary (6. 5%) (Lutz et al, 2008). Another research suggests the return of secondary education is 18. 2% for men and 17. 0% for woman (Goh & Gopinathan, 2008). Education begins to differentiate at secondary level, upper-secondary especially. Usually secondary education is classified into academic secondary and vocational secondary. Academic secondary education is mainly pre-tertiary education and sometimes pre-vocational education. Graduates from academic secondary school are easier to find a ‘white-collar’ job, which is believed to be safe, comfortable and well-paid in Asia (Goh & Gopinathan, 2008; Holsinger & Cowell, 2000). Students in Asian are fond of academic secondary schooling due to the preference for ‘white-collar’ jobs, but all students are not suitable for academic secondary education. Vocational secondary schooling, which is specifically aimed at job skills, may be more beneficial to other students. Despite of low matriculate quality, many Asian countries seems still successful in vocational secondary education, Singapore for example. Since 1964, Singapore offered vocational secondary education to students who fail in entering academic secondary school. Because of vocational schooling, many of them master some basic skills, become skilled workers and find a job. When Singapore developed labor-intensive industries and were in huge demand for labor in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, vocational secondary schooling provided large quantities of workers for nation. Simultaneously, as the low mark students are matriculated in schools instead of coming into society too early, they are protected from unhealthy practices in society (Holsinger & Cowell, 2000). As vocational secondary education help people to find a work, it also decreases unemployment rate. In Africa, a good illustration of success in training programs is Zambia. Most training graduates can be employed in half a year. Unfortunately, in most of Africa where vocational training remains in low quality, graduates from training school still have difficulty in obtaining employment. Namibian for example, five years after graduation, the unemployment rate of graduates is as high as one fourth. That means vocational secondary education is ineffective when it is in poor quality (Kingombe, 2008). Like academic secondary education, vocational secondary education can also be provision for post-secondary education. In Singapore, after four years of vocational secondary education in the Normal Technical (NT) streams, most NT students enter the Institute of Technical Education to receive ‘high-tech’ education since 1992 (Goh & Gopinathan, 2008). secondary education provides high return at low cost. Academic secondary education sometimes seems still expensive and indirect to occupation, while vocational secondary education significantly increases the quality of workforce and the employment rate. Many poor countries with a scarcity of educational resource cannot afford to invest higher education. Therefore, secondary education may be the most cost-effective choice (Lutz et al, 2008; Goh & Gopinathan, 2008; Holsinger & Cowell, 2000). Tertiary education can play a vital role in the country’s development. However, only the appropriate policy of tertiary education can make great positive effect on the development. South Korea is a good case in point. The very important prerequisites whether the policy of the tertiary education is efficient and suitable is basis: average education level; economic level and so on. Before the Korea War (1950-1953), Korea’s industrialism had just started? (Sacad and Shaw, 1990). The military force not only interrupted the industrialism, but also damaged national economic seriously, remaining the fact that Korea’s per capita gross national product (GNP) was even less than that of the poorest countries, such as Sudan. At this circumstance, South Korean government decided to encourage the massive industries and to recover the nation economic (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2008). To achieve the goal, in the early 1960s, South Korea needed a large number of generally skilled labour? to take part in the industrialism reforming, which was the main reason why the government focused on the development of primary and secondary education in this period of time, which are talked clearly in the last paragraph. Without a solid economic and education foundation, tertiary education can never make an obvious effect on the development. Almost meanwhile, the tertiary education started to grow although the enrolment was far less than that of primary and secondary education. There two reasons why the government didn’t pay too much attention to the tertiary education. First one was the nation’s GDP per was still too low to invest the tertiary education. Second one is that people at that time didn’t receive the universal basic education. Later in the early 1970s the export which focused on light manufacturing and electronic goods accelerated (Kim, 2005), which needed the certain skilled labour. However, the labour who had general education couldn’t match the reality, leading to the result that the government turned to emphasise on the vocational education (Kim, 2005). Developing the tertiary education to produce the adapted labour was urgent. However, because the production didn’t refer to much high-tech, the development of university remained slow while the vocational education greatly expanded. The labour who had received the vocational education helped relieve the talents shortage to support Economic sustainable development effectively. During 1960s-1970s, the nation economic grew rapidly. In mid-1970s-1980s, Korea’s major industry had become heavy and chemical industry and its main export had transformed kinds of like iron industry, shipyard, precision manufacture and so on (Kim, 2005). In this case, the problem of lacking of high-tech talents to support economic was becoming more serious, especially in the engineering and scientific areas. At this circumstance, when the vocational education can not meet the practical needs, the boom of university was inevitable. Hence, the government’s attention and investment in university education increased in the next decade. In addition, the private investment on university education also increased. With the encouraged policy, the universities developed rapidly during 1980s. A study shows, ‘ in the mid-1970s, there were more than 7% of high school graduate who enrolled into the university. Compared to other developed countied, Japan gained the goal in the 1950s, Taiwan in mid-1960s, and the U. S. in the 1930s ‘(Phelps et. Al, 2003; Hayhoe, 1995). It shows that developing the university education is the necessary way for every country which is determined to develop high-tech economic. Some studies point out the technology change which can improve the productivity will make obvious progress or facilitate some new product when the long-term growth is keeping more than 50%. With rapid development of information technology, the economic and social structure is changing day by day. Trade made a active effect in South Korea’s export-oriented economy and during 20th century it occurred many problems such as the freedom of the market. When the government noticed the various problems, they realized Korea should become a knowledge-based society and its economic should be the knowledge-based economic. Therefore, university concentrated on the informational technology, such as semiconductor, Information and communication technology, which made a huge progress during this period of time (Kim, 2005). Moreover, computer, cellular phone and memory chip were the major export product, which also showed the transformation of the economic segments. University education plays a more and more important role in the social transformation. The case of South Korea claims that when the general education is already comprehensively done, the appropriate investment and policy on tertiary education will show the effects on the development in an obvious way. The case of South Korea claims that when the general education is already comprehensively done, the appropriate investment and policy on tertiary education will show the effects on the development in an obvious way. In conclusion, primary education fully promotes economy and society in the poorest countries. In slight wealthier countries, secondary education leads to a leap of economy, and paves the way to further promotion. On a solid foundation of primary and secondary education, the developing countries will achieve considerable development with the help of tertiary education. When education is adapted to national conditions, it helps maximum of economic and social development. List of reference Brown, L. (2008) Plan B 3. 0: Mobilizing to save civilization. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Earth policy institute Steurer, Stephen J; Smith, Linda G (2003) Education reduces crime: Three-state Recidivism Study Plan (2008) Playing the Price[online], Available from:http://www. plan. org. au/mediacentre/publications/research/paying_the_price[07 Dec. 2010] Gupta, s. , Verhoeven,M. , Tiongson, E. R. (2004) Helping countries Develop: The role of Fiscal Policy Unicef (2005) Investing in the Children in the Islamic World http://www. unicef. org/pulications/files/Investing_Children_Islamic_World_full_e. pdf [07 Dec. 2010] Lutz, W.and Goujon, A. and KC, S. (2008) Education: the Key to Development. p. 12-15. [oline]. Available from: [9 October 2010] Goh, C. H. & Gopinathan, S. (2008) ‘The Development of Education in Singapore Since 1965’. In Lee, S. K, Goh, C. B, Fredrikson, and Birger (ed) Toward a Better Future: Education and Training for Economic Development in Singapore since 1965. The World Bank: 2008. p. 12-38 Holsinger, D. B. & Cowell, R. N. (2000) Positioning Secondary School Education in Developing Countries. Paris: December 2000. [Online] Available from: [22 October 2010] Kingombe, C. (2008) ‘Evaluating the Effects of Vocational Training in Africa’. OECD Development Centre Policy Insights. Paris: April 2008. P. 1-3 Encyclopedia of the Nations (2008) Balance of payments – Korea, Republic of (ROK) – export, growth, power [online]. Available from [8 Dec 2010] S, Kim and Ju-Ho Lee (2004) Changing Facets of Korean Higher Education: Market Competition and the Role of the State* [online] March 2004 Available from : [8 Dec 2010] Bloom, D. Canning, D. Chan, K. (2006) Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa. Washington D. C. Harvard University.

Instances of Free Will in Antigone by Sophocles Essay

Free will is a gift given to man to remain in control of their lives; our fate and destiny are determined by our free will and the decisions we make. In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles Antigone demonstrates her free will when she decides to bury her brother, directly defying Creon’s law. As a result of this defiance her fate was suicide. The choice she made functions as a exercise of free will because she considered the consequences and defied Creon anyway, that defiance sealed her fate. Antigone clearly controlled her fate through free will. However this is not always the case in A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich written by Alexandr Solzhenistyn, Ivan has little to no free will because he does not make his own choices, his fate is controlled by others. Free will is a term used to describe a course of action you would take among various alternatives. Philosophers argue that the concept of free will is closely connected to the concept of moral responsibility. Acting with free will is to satisfy the requirements of being responsible for one’s actions. Antigone bury’s her brother Polyneices because she believes it is her Moral duty to do so, as he is her brother and everyone deserves a proper burial. Antigone’s free will is to act upon this moral responsibility in which she feels she is obligated to do. Our fate is not determined by us but a much more powerful force. Fate â€Å"is an inevitable and often adverse outcome, condition, or end.† According to the Webster dictionary. In the book A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Ivan’s fate is inevitable, he is no longer in control of his life after being sentenced to 10 years in the Soviet Gulag system. In the camp Ivan is forced to live under very strict rule and if he disobeys the regulations he can be killed. Clearly Ivan has no control over his life and is forced to live a certain way in order to stay alive. Antigony goes against Creon’s law that forbade anyone to bury polyneices, her brother. Breaking of Creon’s law will result in death. Knowing the consequences Antigone bury’s her brother regardless, having guard over his body. Antigone was caught burying Polyneices and brought to Creon where she faced death. Antigone made the decision to bury her brother. This act was not forced upon her by anyone but her own morals. She determined her fate through free will. Though she knew the consequences she made the decision that she did which sealed her fate, because she knew she would die if she buried her brother. Antigone would rather die than not let her brother be buried. â€Å"And if I have to die for this pure crime,/ I am content, for I shall rest beside him;/ His love will answer mine† (lines 72-74). This quote demonstrates how Antigone makes the decision that she does knowing she will die. She is content with the idea of dying if it means her brother will get a proper burial. Antigone is pursuing her fate by burying her brother. Antigone is not looking at it as death she has a different approach to things than others, for example her sister. This approach makes her fearless, she does not see dying necessarily as a bad thing but simply the price she will pay for burying her brother. This fearlessness in her makes it so she can confidently make the decision that she does, excepting the fact that it will result to her death. Not only does Antigone decide her fate by burying her brother but she also chooses when and how she dies. Creon had planned to kill her anyway, but with her own free will she pursues her death in the fashion that she so chooses. Antigone hangs herself with the red and gold cord of her robe. Her decision to do this is her own free will. Antigone could have ignored this option and let her fate control how she dies, by either being stoned, or perhaps Creon deciding to set her free. We will never know what Antigone’s fate would have been if she did not kill herself, she deprived us of what could have happened by making her own rash decision. Antigone believes she has the right to live the way she wants, she is controlling her fate by deciding how she dies. A contrasting example comes from the book A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. The main character Ivan does not have free will. Ivan was charged with being a German spy and therefore sentenced to 10 years in the Gulag. Ivan knows he is not a German spy, however he has no control over his sentencing and is forced to serve the 10 years. Ivan no longer controls how he lives, he lives by a strict life style created by the guards of the camp. â€Å"In camp the squad leader is everything: a good one will give you a second life; a bad one will put you in your coffin.† (pg. 36). This quote illustrates how much Ivan and other prisoners lives are determined for them. He says that your squad leader determines weather or not you live. In these camps life were cruel not only because of harsh conditions but the fact that others determined your fate, whether you lived or died. Theses prisoners have very little control over their own life, they no longer worry about simple decisions, the concerns of the prisoners is who will be the one to decide their fate. Even though, the prisoners destiny is pre-determined based upon the harsh circumstances they are forced to live by, they can still make small unnoticeable decisions to maintain sanity in their life. These small choices they make are their free will. For instance, Ivan takes his hat off every time he eats a meal despite the fact that it is below freezing. Ivan has always removes his hat before eating long before he was sentenced to the Gulag, he feels he must continue this tradition as a sign of respect. Ivan is making this small decision on his own in a place that is filled with decisions that are made for you. Ivan wants to keep the little dignity he has left and by doing so he takes off his hat when he eats. This represents that no matter how confined a human is they will still find ways to pursue their own lifestyle. Ivan find this morally just to take off his hat when he eats, he is making that decision based off of free will. Because he makes this decision it greatly affects Ivan’s attitude towards things, because this small tradtion shows he has taken a piece of his ordinary life and continued that practice in somewhere as horrible as the Gulag. Ivan’s free will is to be able to take his hat off when eating. Finally, this essay shows how in the play Antigone and the book A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich, both of the main characters in these two pieces of literature find ways to control their fate. In Antigones case she bury’s her brother, for she believes that it is her moral responsibility. Ivan takes control over his free will by taking off his hat when he eats. Antigone’s fate is determined by her free will to defy Creon. Ivan is not in control of his own fate, therefore he must find small ways to remain in control as much as possible of his life.