Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Willys fantasies Essay Example

Willys fantasies Essay Example Willys fantasies Paper Willys fantasies Paper These kinds of conversations give us a feeling of how Willy feels boxed in, by his job, his pretences that he is constantly keeping up. And how it is exhausting him. An example of Willys fantasies is his brother Ben. Willy often speaks to his dead brother in hallucinations and flashbacks. Miller uses Ben as a device to show us what Willy really wants, he is a metaphor for all the things Willy doesnt have and Willy sees not going with Ben as his one big mistake. Ben: when I was seventeen I walked into the jungle, and when I was twenty-one I walked out. And by god I was rich. Willy: you see what Ive been talking about? The greatest things can happen! The language Willy uses is very descriptive of his character, it is confused and repetitive in parts such as phrases like personality wins the day and I am well liked. These are like Willys personal slogans that he repeats when he is unsure of himself. Miller uses flashbacks to confuse the other characters in the play. Willys speech often makes sense to us as we can see what he sees but is complete nonsense to the other characters. Such as when he is speaking to Ben in a hallucination and Charley in real life and the conversations become overlapped. We can see how others perceive him and that makes us feel sorry for him. I think Millers use of flashbacks also helps create sympathy with Willy as it shows us the life he used to have, what he used to be, an ambitious young man with his whole life before him, and now, he is in the same position financially but with no time to improve it. He has run out, in his mind and in the world he lives in. Willy knows this and is in desperate denial, and the audience know it too and wish there was something he could do or realise to make things better. We are kept wondering what disrupt between Biff and Willy has drawn them apart until after Willys sons have left him. Then after Willy is left a lonely, unemployed man the adultery scene is revealed. This is to keep the audiences sympathy as otherwise we may have thought that Willy deserved everything he got, and Miller does not want hostile feelings towards Willy. Miller helps us feel as if we are truly inside Willys head by using the stage in a very clever way. The play is very naturalistic in most ways, but to create the effect of the fantasies that Willy is having he uses different areas of the stage as Willys different levels of consciousness. Different parts of the stage light up and characters wander on and off stage, it gives us the feeling that the stage is Willys mind. Also it makes the play a believable naturalistic one. Miller uses a lot of music to demonstrate the nature of the scene. Music often starts up when Willy is having a flashback or when a moving moment of some sort is about to occur. This gives the scene meaning and also makes it more evocative as the emotion can be sensed through the music. When reading the play you see also that Miller has included very detailed stage directions. The play is never standing still but constantly moving around and this gives the flashbacks and hallucinations more substance, theyre not flat like they so easily could have been, or confusing for the audience. I think Miller includes such detailed stage directions because the play could be so easily twisted. If Miller left it up to the director to decide how to play the scenes Willy could come across in a completely different way, which would totally alter the implication of the play. Miller does not want Willy to come across as crazy as he is not. Miller has a very important message to tell in his play and has done it very effectively. Willy Loman and his family are the poor victims of American society who have been suffering because of what their government has set as a national standard. It is a tragic story and Arthur Miller has been extremely successful in making it powerful and touching.

Friday, November 22, 2019

How to realistically fill your resume when you have no experience

How to realistically fill your resume when you have no experience You need to have a job to gain experience, but you need experience to get a job. At the beginning, just about everyone faces this catch-22. Even jobs that seem like entry-level gigs require a resume as part of your application, so how do you craft your resume to make sure you’re presenting a solid, â€Å"hire me† package even if you don’t have experience yet? Pick a friendlier formatThe good news is that resumes have gotten more flexible over time. It used to be that everyone submitted pretty much the same resume: header + objective + reverse-chronological job history + skills + extras. Now, employers are used to seeing a variety of formats. For job hunters who are forging into a new field or just starting out, it makes more sense to play up your skills- not necessarily your experience. For that, you want a resume that prioritizes your skills and know-how.For example, your resume might break down like this:HeaderObjective/Summary StatementBulleted list of skills, targeted specifically to this job descriptionEducation/CertificationsWork ExperienceThe whole point of your resume isn’t to create some arbitrary cookie cutter version of yourself, it’s to show yourself off in the best possible light. So don’t be afraid to switch up the sections if it means you’re creating a stronger narrative about who you are as an employee.Your resume should build a narrative about you that’s clear to anyone reading it, so you want to put your highlights reel first. Start with a clear statement about who you are and what you’re seeking, then emphasize the skills and strengths that you bring to the job. You should still include a work experience section even if it feels a little sparse, but you can tuck it at the end after you’ve played up your strong points.Realize you have more experience than you think you doYou may not have full-on work experience yet, at least not in the field for which you’re applying. But chances are, you do have some kind of experience, and have built skills along the way. If you’re a student (or a recent grad), think about courses you’ve taken that are relevant to this job or company. This doesn’t mean you should list every class you ever took just to take up space. Think strategically, and pick courses that relate to the job for which you’re applying. Internships are even better, if you’ve got any of those under your belt, because that’s hands-on experience.And don’t forget extracurricular activities. Volunteer experience is often overlooked because people tend to assume that unpaid experience isn’t the same as job experience. Guess what? Volunteer experience is time spent building skills and relationships- both things that look fantastic on a resume. It may seem like your volunteer experience doesn’t necessarily align with the job you want, but you can finesse it. For example, say you volunteered at a kids’ community center but you’re applying for a marketing gig. Think about the tasks you did in your volunteer work. Did you arrange things (organizational skills)? Manage a schedule (time management)? Act as a liaison for people or groups (communication and teamwork)? Create programs or lead anything (leadership)? Take skills that employers value, like ability to work with others, leadership, organization, communication, and try to match up your volunteer experience with those skills.Resist the urge to exaggerate too muchThis is a case where â€Å"fake it ‘til you make it† is not going to help you. If you include skills and experience points that aren’t quite true, you’re running a significant risk of getting caught. Best case, no one questions your whale tales and it gets you the job. All is great until someone asks you to demonstrate the Spanish language fluency you listed on your resume or use that fancy Excel wizardry you claimed to have developed at your last job. Over-exaggerating isn’t really a way to compensate for a lack of experience, and if you’re called out on it, it will be very awkward (not to mention harmful to your prospects of getting the job).Consider certificationAnother way to make up for a lack of specific job experience is to get specific education or certification that prepares you for the job. Are there certifications in your field? Licensing organizations? By going through the process of becoming certified, you’re getting an outside party to say, â€Å"hey, this person is qualified.† And that’s something you can put near the top of your resume to show you’ve got the skills and training- if not years of experience.Remember: it’s all about emphasizing what you do have and framing your resume narrative in a way that shows you’re ready, willing, and able to take the job, no matter how much experience you have (or don’t have).

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Information Technology determines contemporary social change. Discuss Essay

Information Technology determines contemporary social change. Discuss giving examples - Essay Example In the current century, we started tapping the celluloid, uranium, electromagnetism, and now the photon. To neutralize harmful germs, we even employ the services of the bacterium. Another great invention is mathematics, derived naturally from the Homo Sapiens' ability to conceive quantity. Spectacular tool making is not possible without the continuous development of mathematics. Our species has gone this far, equipped with only a few pounds of brain matter, a small and frail anatomy, and natural senses limited to a mere five (sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing). Given these leaps, it has been necessary to come up with a set of social codes to regulate behavior and ensure continuous order. The law, it is said, operates to regulate behavior and maintain the cohesiveness of a given society. In order to maintain its role as bulwark, it capitalizes on and gains credence from the idea that there is but one set of "correct" rules and that legal decisions are but logical outcomes of tested principles that are empirically-replicable. Perhaps there are very few modern developments that have posed a challenge to this notion of the law and the legal system than the advent of the Internet. Precisely because of the uniqueness of the medium and the vastness of its breadth, there has been great difficulty imposing regulatory mechanisms on its use - thereby leading, in many cases, to its abuse. There can be no denying that information technology plays an important role in the molding of social values and in the legitimization of personal perceptions. In the United States, 98% have at least one television, 70% have more than one television, 70% have cable, and 51% of households with children have a computer. (Paik, 1994) For example, on the issues surrounding Internet obscenity, Petrie (1997) found that "because the Internet is a unique communications technology, it does not fit squarely into the conceptual scheme of traditional obscenity law." (p. 638). In a nutshell, the Internet, also called the information superhighway, is a communications network wherein computers from all over the world may instantaneously communicate and exchange images with each other through the benefit of a modem and an Internet Service Provider. There is no one central source that can filter out images or regulate the flow of information. The internet cannot be shut down at will. On the issue of hate speech, The danger posed by the internet is that more often than not, it is the medium of choice of racial supremacist groups who thrive on the relative safety and untraceability that the Internet provides. Hier (2000) presents three reasons: First, there exists a considerable gap between the public images that racial supremacist groups attempt to present in the Internet and a far less benign image that emerges upon closer analysis; second, exemplified by the Freedom-site, the internet has facilitated a greater degree of solidarity between racial supremacist organizations; and third, given the impersonal nature of the internet, there exists a certain degree of danger that otherwise ordinary citizens will become more susceptible to the ideology of racial supremacism. (p. 471) The problem is not merely that the technology allows for unprecedented reach and scope. More significantly, the problem is that the law and all its traditional structures are ill-equipped to handle this revolutionary form of

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Virtualisation and Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Virtualisation and Security - Essay Example It involves providing coherent operation process instead of physical computer view resources. Virtualization helps in facilitating many things possible since it allow computer users trick operating system to think that groups of servers operate like single pool. Virtualization can also allow running of multiple operating system in a single machine (Roemer, 2011, p. 2). The intrinsic advantage linked to virtualization shows various threats attraction that limits unlimited use when such system operates in open platforms. Setting strategic threat prevention measures act as effective dealings for virtualized infrastructure. Subsequently, the paper explores domineering strategies of that effectively eliminate potential threats to virtualized infrastructures. This classification of virtualization involves merging of physical storage system mainly obtained from multiple server networks storage located in the web. The merging of physical storage will make the device to appear as a single data storage device. It also creates more space in the device that increases the storage more information virtually (Grubor, Ivanis, 2012, p. 5). Virtualization of server describes the process whereby the server hide physical resource from the system. The physical resources hidden from the server include operating system, resources from software running them to create more space for data storage. This process has effective nature since only the user can locate data storage location thus preventing unauthorized access. This protects data from malware and hacking. (Buttyan, Bencsath, 2013, 1). This type of virtualization refers to amalgamation of network within the computing resources to form a single source. The process allows spilling of available bandwidth to form independent channels for data transmission within the network to allow faster data transfer. This independent channel also facilitates assigning of

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Thirteen Colonies and New England Essay Example for Free

Thirteen Colonies and New England Essay The Literature of Early America p. 1-5 1. The first Europeans to establish settlements on this continent did not call it America until the 18th century. What did these early settlers call it? The New World 2. The colonies that became the United States were for the most part inhabited by individuals from which European country? England 3. How much is known of the perspectives of the native inhabitants of this continent before the European arrival? Why? With the help of archaeologist, ethnographical, and oral materials much has been learned 4. What was the so-called Columbian Exchange, and what were the results? The passing of biological matter between Native Americans and Europeans. The result is illness and death reduced to less than 10% of the original number 5. Although Leif Ericson first saw North America as early as 1000, and Columbus, of course, arrived in 1492, when did French and English colonization really begin to take hold? Early 1600s 6. After the Native American oral tradition, which writing could probably be considered the first American literature? American Literature 7. What three things set the stage for the seventeenth-century expansion of English colonization that would ultimately lead to the first United States? 1)The Reformation 2)English defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 3)emerging capitalist economies 8. Unlike the Spanish explorers who were financially supported by royalty, how were the English settlers supported? How did this affect the future of the colonies? English settlers were supported by banks joint-stock companies. It moved it away from the old hierarchies of church crown 9. What were the three general cultural/economic groups established in these early British colonies? Southern Colonies, Middle Colonies, New England 10. Which area was initially the most difficult to settle and why? Southern Colony-malaria and starvation were rampant in the early 17th century 11. Which crop ultimately proved quite profitable to the southern colony in Virginia? tobacco 12. After the native populations had been decimated by disease and the brutality of enslavement, how did the English settlers respond to the demand for labor? Indentured servants 13. Which of the British settlements was the most ethnically and religiously diverse? Middle Colonies 14. Who were the first group of Europeans in America to denounce slavery? The Quakers 15. Which group established the first permanent colony in New England? What was it called, and when was it established? Pilgrim settlement of Plymouth 1620 16. Which much larger Puritan settlement was established in New England ten years later? Puritan â€Å"Great Migration† 1630 17. What was the name of the first permanent English settlement in North America? Where was it located and when was it established? Est Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 Captain John Smith 18. What is the name of the English sea captain who wrote what is described as the first distinctly American writing in English? Captain John Smith 19. In what way did Smiths descriptions help lure the Pilgrims and the Puritans to this new land? He described as Paradise. His vision of a new abundant world, along with his mapping 20. Smith also created maps of which area? New England Coast 21. Why did literature develop more slowly in the South? Towns were few, farms were separated, urban audience for books and newspaper were scant 22. Which two movements greatly influenced the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay? Renaissance and Reformation 23. Why is the Renaissance generally regarded as the beginning of modern civilization? It was the advancement of government, philosophy, and science 24. In what sense did firearms and books break down the social and political hierarchy? Books taught people to think for themselves, guns gave them the power to destroy body armor 25. In what sense does the work of Copernicus reflect the Renaissances break with tradition and authority? It questioned the pagan believes 26. A new spirit of scientific inquiry was inspired by the invention of which two scientific instruments? Gun power and printing press 27. During the Reformation, what aspects of the Church did the religious reformers criticize? The authority of its spiritual leader, the pope and priest 28. How did Protestants earn that name? because of the protest against church doctrines, and the power of priest, and commands of bishops popes ________________________________________ John Smiths Biography p. 41-42 1. Why do you suppose the first permanent English colony was called Jamestown? Because King James I granted a royal charter to plant colonies in England’s North America Territories 2. Why was the settlement at Jamestown, initially, disastrous? Jamestown was swampy, lacked steadfast leaders, didn’t build houses, plant crops, find gold. More than half died the 1st winter 3. What role did Smith assume? A leader, President 4. In Smiths A Description of New England, published in 1616, he mapped the coast of New England. However, his trip to New England in 1614 wasnt for that purpose. Why did he go? To search for jar gold called Jars 5. Which group of settlers purchased Smiths maps of New England? Pilgrims 6. What was the first English book written in America? A True Relation of Occurrences and Accidents in Virginia 7. In Smiths most influential book The General History of Virginia (1624), how did he describe the New World? Riches and wilderness delights, place of freedom, joy, and abundance 8. Who named the area New England? Smith 9. Why do some question Smiths romantic account of his rescue by the Indian princess Pocahontas? Because it was written seven years after Pocahontas’ death. He could have been adopted and not known 10. The Smith/Pocahontas tale is one of the earliest examples of what particular narrative form in early American literature? fable ________________________________________ John Smith from A Description of New England (1616) p. 55-63 1. Although this work was published in 1616, it was based on Smiths return trip to New England in what year? 1614 2. Why was his trip a financial failure? Looking for gold and copper and it wasn’t fish season 3. Why did Smith find it difficult to trade fish and furs in the area? Because Sir Francis Popham traded a lot and he got most of it 4. What characteristics does Smith say one must have to conquer this land and make it thrive? Ability to work 5. What do you think the following quote suggests to those reading his account back in England? only here and there we touched or have seen a little [of] the edges of those large dominions which do stretch themselves into the main[land], God knows how many thousand miles there is a lot more land to discover, don’t limit yourself 6. He describes the coast as being overgrown with [what] and an incredible abundance of [what]? Good timber, most sorts of fish, fowl, and good fruits 7. As he discusses the abundance of fish, what European comparison does he make to elevate this lowly staple to something that can, in fact, build countries? Which group (who settled here later in 1620) might this have appealed to? Hollanders 8. What does Smith use to lure people from England to the New World (see middle paragraph on page 58)? Men can be master of their own fate/no landlords 9. Smith mentions the fertile ground, but he also says that, if need be, one can trade with the natives for goods like corn. What does he say (and what tone does he use) about those savages who may be uncooperative? With 30 or 40 men sufficient to bring in line/disdain 10. Notice the way Smith begins each of the paragraphs on page 60: Of mines of gold Of woods The waters The herbs and fruits Oak Eagles Whales Moose What is he doing to try to lure the English to this new land? Painting a picture of abudance 11. What kind of individuals do you think Smith is targeting when he says, Who can desire more content, that has small means or but only his merit to advance his fortune, than to tread and plant that ground he has purchased by the hazard of his life? The Common Man 12. What do you think of Smiths reference to the holy quest some might take by making the journey to the New World? : If he have any grain of faith or zeal in religion, what can he do less hurtful to any or more agreeable to God than to seek to convert those poor savages to know Christ and humanity? Crusaders 13. What emotions do you think Smith is tapping into when he says the following? : What so truly suits with honor and honesty as the discovering things unknown, erecting towns, peopling countries, informing the ignorant, reforming things unjust, teaching virtue, and gain to our native mother-country a kingdom to attend her, find employment for those that are idle because they know not what to do? 14. On page 62, what does Smith say might be his role in helping these newcomers adjust to this new land? Do you see this as self-serving or sacrificial on Smiths part? If he lied they can fault him/ self-serving 15. Smith has spoken of the rewards that will come from hard work. What does he say about the pleasures to be enjoyed in this new land? Hunting or hawking is great

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Vik Muniz Photographs :: Essays Papers

Vik Muniz Photographs I observed a very unique series of photographs by Vik Muniz called Seeing is Believing. Vik Muniz’s images are not simply photography but are pictures of complicated pieces of art he has produced at earlier times. Utilizing an array of unorthodox materials including granulated sugar, chocolate syrup, sewing thread, cotton, wire, and soil Muniz first creates an image, sculpturally manipulates it and then photographs it. Muniz’s pictures include portraits, landscapes, x-rays, and historical images. One work that particularly caught my attention was a photograph called â€Å"Big James Sweats Bullets† from the series Sugar Children. The content or subject matter of the artwork is representational. The photograph depicts the hardworking children of sugar cane plantations in South America. This particularly photo is a portrait of a dark skinned boy, slightly overweight, standing and grinning. The photo is of neatly arranged granulated sugar across a piece of black paper which produces the image of the boy. Many different sensory properties compose the artwork. There is a soft light that seems very natural coming off the boy’s face. The light shines at the boy’s face at an elevated level, as if he were outside on a hot afternoon with the sun overhead. There is a wide range of tones from very bright, in the reflection off the boys cheeks to very dark in the skin of the boys face. Muniz does an excellent job using shadows to provide a feeling of depth and adding curves to the boys body and face. The shape of the boy is positive, but the background is not defined, allowing a negative shape or void in the picture. Although there is no actually texture on the photograph the texture from the original work of art is apparent. The use of sugar gives off a hazy effect preventing the photo from having a clear focus. The portrait of the boy has a frontal vantage point with his body centered and balanced on at all angles. This shows the expression on the boys face and the size of the boys body, which is important to the title of the work. When looking at the photograph the eyes are immediately drawn to the boys face and grin.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Experimental Estimating Deflection of a Simple Beam Bridge Model Using Grating Eddy Current Sensors

Abstract: A novel three-point method using a grating eddy current absolute position sensor (GECS) for bridge deflection estimation is proposed in this paper. Real spatial positions of the measuring points along the span axis are directly used as relative reference points of each other rather than using any other auxiliary static reference points for measuring devices in a conventional method. Every three adjacent measuring points are defined as a measuring unit and a straight connecting bar with a GECS fixed on the center section of it links the two endpoints. In each measuring unit, the displacement of the mid-measuring point relative to the connecting bar measured by the GECS is defined as the relative deflection. Absolute deflections of each measuring point can be calculated from the relative deflections of all the measuring units directly without any correcting approaches. Principles of the three-point method and displacement measurement of the GECS are introduced in detail. Both static and dynamic experiments have been carried out on a simple beam bridge model, which demonstrate that the three-point deflection estimation method using the GECS is effective and offers a reliable way for bridge deflection estimation, especially for long-term monitoring. Keywords: three-point method; deflection estimation; relative deflection; absolute deflection; grating eddy current sensor (GECS) OPEN ACCESS Sensors 2012, 12 9988 1. Introduction. After a bridge is put into use, gradual deterioration is inevitable because of loading, temperature changes or other environmental factors. In order to guarantee the safety and durability of those bridges which are expensive and closely related with people’s livelihood, long-term and continuous structural health monitoring is an essential part of the maintenance management. Among the various structural performance evaluations, vertical deflection is an important parameter that can directly and effectively indicate a bridge ’s behavior. In terms of instrumentation for deflection estimation, there are contact and non-contact deflection estimation methods. Traditional displacement sensors such as mechanical dial gauges or linear variable differential transducers (LVDTs) are used in contact measurement, through which static or real-time displacement values can be obtained directly or fed into a computer for processing and displaying via a data cable. This method, however, requires access under the bridge and installation of a temporary supporting system to mount sensors, which is time consuming and not very efficienct. In addition, it might even be unavailable when bridges are over rivers, highways or have high clearance. Another contact sensor is the fiber optic Bragg-grating (FBG) sensor through which the deflection is calculated from the measured strain data and displacement-strain relationship [1,2]. In this way, however, the calculated displacement from strain data is sensitive to noise, and the sensors are expensive and must be embedded into the structure, which to a certain degree is difficult for bridges in service. To cope with those inconveniences in contact measuring methods, various non-contact approaches have been proposed. Based on the detection of the Doppler shift of the laser light, a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) equipped with displacement and velocity signal decoders can measure both bridge deflection and vibration simultaneously [3]. In this way, a static reference point (usually underneath the bridge) is needed for device mounting, and the device should be attended, which limits it’s usability for long-term monitoring. Among image methods, dynamic deflection with high resolution of the bridge can be obtained through using digital image processing techniques [4], while deflection distribution from the images of the bridge girder surface recorded by a digital camera before and after deformation can be evaluated by digital image correlation techniques [5], and digital close-range terrestrial photogrammetry (DCRTP) can measure the spatial coordination in three-dimensions [6,7]. Like the LDV, devices such as video cameras used in image methods cannot be left unattended and they are easily affected by weather conditions. Use of a Global Positioning System (GPS) can provide spatial locations of the measuring points on the bridge in real-time by comparing with a continuing operational reference station (CROS). It offers a long-term monitoring approach without being affected by climatic factors [8,9], but due to its relatively low accuracy, it is only applied to those bridges with significant deformations. All the non-contact methods mentioned above, although they differ in instrumentation, have one thing in common, a static reference point or CROS that is kept a certain distance away from the bridge is selected for installation of the measuring device, otherwise measurements cannot be carried out. Another method is using inclinometers which can be installed on the bridge directly along a line paralleling the bridge span axis [10,11], and both static and dynamic deflection time history curves can be calculated through curve-fitting technology based on the accurate angle records of the inclinometers. An outstanding feature of the inclinometer is that static reference Sensors 2012, 12 9989 points mentioned above are no longer needed. This approach reduces the dependence on environmental conditions and it is suitable for long-term monitoring. To avoid those deficiencies in conventional estimating deflection methods mentioned above, a novel three-point deflection estimation method is presented in this paper. Measuring points along lines paralleling the bridge span axis are chosen equidistantly. Among these measuring points, every three adjacent measuring points are defined as a measuring unit in which a straight connecting bar linking the two endpoints is taken as a relative reference line. Relative deflection of the mid-measuring point relative to the intermediate point of the connecting bar on which a displacement sensor is fixed can be measured, and thus the absolute deflection of each measuring point can be calculated from the relative deflections of all the measuring units. Compared with the contact and non-contact methods mentioned above, only real spatial positions of the measuring points are taken as relative references without any other static reference points. Moreover, the selected displacement sensor is the grating eddy current absolute position sensor (GECS) which is different from traditional eddy current sensors based on vertical characteristics [12,13]. Since the structure of grating reflective conductors is adopted, the measurement range is extended but without compromising the accuracy. In addition, as an inductive sensor, the GECS is waterproof and dustproof in principle, thus it can work under bad weather conditions, which makes it ideal for long-term monitoring. In this paper, both the principles of the three-point method and displacement measurement of the GECS are presented. Then, this three-point method for deflection estimation is verified in a simply supported girder bridge model in the laboratory. Comprehensive static and dynamic experiment results on the laboratory tests demonstrate this method is effective and offers an alternative way for bridge deflection estimation.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

How to Read a Book

The author, Joseph Brodsky, of this passage taken from â€Å"How to Read a Book† from On Grief and Reason, presents the reader with an enigmatic literature dilemma that individuals face in determining what they should read. This dilemma questions how to manage all the literature material that is presented continuously and how to decide what one should read, as there is limited time of one existence. This passage has an educative, informative, and didactic tone to present this dilemma, as it tries to inform and teach the reader about the controversial enigma about literature, and presenting some solutions to the problem, however ending in the beginning. From the beginning of the first paragraph he presents two kinds of antithesis ideas. As the first sentence says, â€Å"Since we are all moribund, and since reading books is time-consuming, we must devise a system that allows us a semblance of economy. † The first idea is that the task of reading is a time consuming one. The other idea is that as human being, we have limited time of existence, therefore limited time of reading. Here the author is presenting one part of the dilemma, of how to manage what to read, as there is limited time. For the author, in the end this management of reading, is only done because human want to learn, for this reason the need, as the author says, â€Å"for concision, condensation fusion – for the work that brings human predicament, in all its diversity, into its sharpest possible focus; in other words, the need for a shortcut. The author embraces an extended metaphor for the search of a shortcut, and marks it as â€Å"some compass in the ocean of available printed matter†. Nevertheless, Brodsky suggests that the role for the compass is â€Å"played by literary criticism, by reviewers†. The author goes on by explaining the trouble of the reviewers` purposes. It says that the reviewer can be someone that does not knows much and is not that smarter that ourselves, a â€Å"hack†, someone that has strong bias one certain subjects, or simply be influence by the publishing industry, or someone with a great literary talent that will make the review even more appealing and interesting than the book itself. The author mentions one of the great literature influences, Jorge Luis Borges, supporting his point that at the end â€Å"you may end up reading reviews rather than the books themselves†. Joseph Brodsky expands his metaphor of the compass in the third paragraph. He does this by interpreting the reader as a castaway adrift in a literary ocean, â€Å"with pages and pages rustling in every direction, clinging to a raft whose ability to stay afloat you are not so sure of. † The author then suggests an alternative solution for this particular dilemma. He suggest that the reader could â€Å"develop your own taste, to build your own compass, to familiarize yourself, as it were, with particular stars and constellations – dim or bright but always remote. † However, he then establishes that this process consumes a lot of time and concluding that at the end this is not a respectable idea. He then proposes another alternative solution, implying that is kind of similar than the first one, that to rely on a â€Å"friends advice†, and find something that is appealing. However, the author continues to find a downside by saying that it is a â€Å"poor insurance, for the ocean of available literature swells and widens constantly. † At the end of the passage the author has just come to the same question of what to do, and just leaves something to thing about. The passage end with rhetorical questions â€Å"So where is one’s terra firma, even it may be but an uninhabitable island? Where is our good man Friday, let alone a Cheetah? This conclusion of the passage can be interpreted that at the end there is no answer. Therefore at the end I think the author did not accomplish what was intended of providing a solution for the dilemma that individuals face in determining what they should read, as the author does not presents a clear and direst answer to the pr oblem. Nevertheless, at the end the author, alludes to the castaway protagonist in Daniel Dafoe’s novel Robinson Cuisses’ â€Å"man Friday† and to the Tarzan’s chimpanzee companion Cheetah. Both of these allusions strongly support the idea of a guidance, which this dilemma does not have to obtain the answer.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Cetaceans Essays - Megafauna, Cetaceans, Cetacea, Whale, Free Essays

Cetaceans Essays - Megafauna, Cetaceans, Cetacea, Whale, Free Essays Cetaceans Whales, dolphins and porpoises make up the classification order Cetacea, which contains two suborders, Mysticeti and Odontoceti. The baleen whales are members of the Mysticeti suborder, while the toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises make up the suborder Odontoceti. Altogether, the two suborders contain eighty-one known species, separated into thirteen different families. In each family are a number of species, each classified further into 'sub-families', or genera, of which there are 40. What Are Cetaceans? There are many misconceptions about cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), the most common of which is the idea that cetaceans are fish. They're not - they are mammals, like you and me. Millions of years ago, they lived on land; their bodies were covered in hair, they had external ears, they walked on four legs, they beared live young. As mammals, cetaceans have these characteristics that are common to all mammals: * They are warm-blooded animals. * They breathe in air through their lungs. * They bear their young alive and suckle them on their own milk. * They have hair - though generally only a few 'whiskers'. Another way of discerning a cetacean from a fish is by the shape of the tail. The tail of a fish is vertical and moves from side to side when the fish swims. The tail of a cetacean is horizontal and moves up and down instead. The Cetacean's Adaptations for Sea Life Over a period of millions of years, the cetacean returned to the sea - there was more food there, and more space than on land. Because of this increase in space, there was no natural limit to the cetacean's size (i.e. the amount of weight its legs could hold) since the water provided buoyancy. It had no longer any need for legs. During this time, the cetacean lost the qualities that fitted it for land existence and gained new qualities for life at sea. Its hind limbs disappeared, its body became more tapered and streamlined - a form that enabled it to move swiftly through the water. For the same reason, most of its fur disappeared, reducing the resistance of the giant body to the water. The cetacean's original tail was replaced by a pair of flukes that acted like a propeller. As part of this streamlining process, the bones in the cetacean's front limbs fused together. In time, what had been the forelegs became a solid mass of bone, blubber and tissue, making very effective flippers that balance the cetacean's tremendous bulk. After the cetacean's hair disappeared, it needed some way of preserving their body heat. This came in the form of blubber, a thick layer of fat between the skin and the flesh that also acts as an emergency source of energy. In some cetaceans the layer of blubber can be more than a foot thick. Breathing, Seeing, Hearing and Echolocation Since the cetacean is a mammal, it needs air to breathe. Because of this, it needs to come to the water's surface to exhale its carbon dioxide and inhale a fresh supply of air. Naturally it cannot breathe under water, so as it dives a muscular action closes the blowholes (nostrils), which remain closed until the cetacean next breaks the surface. When it does, the muscles open the blowholes and warm air is exhaled. To make this easier, the cetacean's blowholes have moved to the top of its head, giving it a quicker chance to expel the stale air and inhale fresh air. When the stale air, warmed from the lungs, is exhaled it condenses and vapourises as it meets the cold air outside. This is rather like when you breathe out on a cold day and a small cloud of warm air appears. This is called the 'blow', or 'spout', and each cetacean's blow is different in terms of shape, angle and height. This is how cetaceans can be identified at a distance by experienced whalers or whale-watchers. The cetacean's eyes are set well back and to either side of its huge head. This means that cetaceans with pointed 'beaks' (such as dolphins) have good binocular vision forward and downward, but others with blunt heads (such as the Sperm Whale) can see either side but not directly ahead or directly behind. The eyes shed greasy tears which protect them from the salt in the water, and cetaceans have been found to have good vision both in the water and out. Akin to the eyes, the cetacean's ears are also small. Life in the sea accounts for the cetacean's loss of its external ears, whose function is to collect

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

The Environmental Impacts of Droughts

The Environmental Impacts of Droughts As summer approaches, headlines about worrisome drought conditions usually dominate the news. All across the world, ecosystems from California to Kazakhstan have dealt with droughts of varying lengths and intensity. You probably already know that a drought means there is not enough water in a given area, but what causes a drought? And how do ecologists determine when an area is suffering from a drought? And can you actually prevent a drought? What Is A Drought? According to the National Weather Service  (NWS), a drought is a deficiency in precipitation over an extended period. It also occurs more regularly than you might think. Actually, almost every ecosystem experiences some period of drought as part of its natural climate pattern. The duration of the drought is what sets it apart.   Types of Droughts The NWS defines four distinct types of drought that vary depending upon their cause and duration: meteorological drought, agricultural drought, hydrological drought, and socioeconomic drought. Heres a closer look at each type. Meteorological Drought: This type of drought is defined by a lack of precipitation over a period of time.  Agricultural Drought:  This is the type of drought that occurs when factors such as lack of rainfall, soil water deficits, and reduced groundwater levels combine to produce conditions that do not allow an adequate water supply for crops.  Hydrological Drought:  When lake or stream levels decline and the groundwater table is diminished due to a lack of rainfall, an area may be in a hydrological drought.Socioeconomic Drought: Socioeconomic drought occurs when the demand for an economic good exceeds an ecosystems water-related means of sustaining or producing it. Causes Of Drought Drought can be caused by meteorological conditions such as a lack of rainfall or excess of heat. They can also be caused by human factors such as increased water demand or poor water management. On a wider scale, drought conditions are often thought to be the result of climate change that causes higher temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns. Effects of Drought At its most basic level, drought conditions make it difficult to grow crops and sustain livestock. But the effects of drought are actually much more far-reaching and complex, as they affect the health, economy and stability of an area over time. Droughts can lead to famine, wildfires, habitat damage, malnutrition, mass migration (for both people and animals,) disease, social unrest, and even war. The High Cost of Droughts According to the National Climatic Data Center, droughts are among the most costly of all weather events. There were 114 droughts recorded in the United States through 2011 that have resulted in losses in excess of $800 billion. The two worst droughts in the U.S.  were the 1930s Dust Bowl drought and the 1950s drought, each one lasted for more than five years affected large areas of the nation. How to Prevent a Drought Try as we might, we cannot control the weather. Thus we cannot prevent droughts that are caused strictly by a lack of rainfall or abundance of heat. But we can manage our water resources to better handle these conditions so that a drought does not occur during short dry spells. Ecologists can also use various tools to predict and assess droughts around the world. In the U.S., the U.S. Drought Monitor provides a day-by-day visual of the drought conditions around the country. The U.S. Seasonal Drought Overlook  predicts drought trends that may occur based on statistical and actual weather forecasts. Another program, the Drought Impact Reporter, collects data from the media and other weather observers about the impact of drought in a given area. Using the information from these tools, ecologists can predict when and where a drought might occur, assess the damages caused by a drought, and help an area recovery more quickly after a drought occurs. In that sense, they are really more predictable than preventable.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Marketing - Essay Example All the shampoos and conditioners of the line are packed and labeled in a similar manner, but each type of the product has a different color of packaging (Palmolive Hair Care 2011). The bottles that are used for packaging all have a label that outlines the purpose of each separate product (for brilliant color or for smoothing hair, for instance), and stresses that the shampoo or conditioner includes natural ingredients. The life itself is called Palmolive Naturals. There are no extra services or products that the consumer gets when purchasing the product. Palmolive shampoos and conditioners are mass consumer goods (Kotler and Keller 2006). For this reason, their search cost is low – all similar products are located in one place, so a consumer can instantly compare them all and make a choice. Substitutes will be accepted as well. 1.2 Current Pricing The market of shampoos is rather competitive. Though it requires quite high entry costs, the number of current competitors of Colg ate-Palmolive is quite significant, and includes such large companies as Procter & Gamble, Church & Dwight Co, L’Oreal and Unilever. The market is characterized by strong buying power of retailers, high threat of substitutes and high degree of rivalty (Morningstar, Inc. 2010). Currently the price of Palmolive Naturals shampoo ranges from $4.45 (Getprice.com.au 2011) to $5.13 (Thefind.com 2011). The price for the conditioner ranges from $3.55 to $4.60 (Getprice.com.au 2011). At the same time, Thefind.com (2011) reports that Procter & Gamble Pantene shampoo prices start at $4.99. The price in most cases is higher than that of Palmolive shampoos. The cheapest L’Oreal shampoo sells at $5.49. So, Palmolive products seem to be the cheapest famous brand goods in their niche. Though there are some competitors’ products, the price of which is rather close to Palmolive’s, the number of such shampoos is not great. At the same time, the number of highly priced produc ts of the rivals is very significant. So price can be said to be one of the competitive advantages of Palmolive. Therefore, if Palmolive changes the price for its products, consumer demand for them may decrease since there will be more similarly priced substitutes. Since Palmolive is a mass-consumer shampoo, consumers do base their purchase decision on price: David Mercer outlines that individual consumers always tend to spend less (Mercer 1996). However, brand awareness is important as well. The price of the product is determined on the basis of business’s costs in the first place. Business’s costs determine the minimum price at which the product can be sold to cover the business’