Trouble in Paradise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Trouble in Paradise - Essay Example This is one of Lubitsch’s best and the most favorite film and had chosen the main character because he liked to ‘rehabilitate obscure European plays’. It was a great box office success and had won critical appreciations from the critics. The popular genre of screwball comedy of the 1930s in Hollywood was given a new dimension by Lubitsch in this film. While the normal screwball films were racy slapstick romantic comedies that just hinted subtly at sex and united the lovers only at the end, ‘Trouble in Paradise’ reveled in sexual innuendoes and larceny. The two main characters of the film were lovers as well as partners in crime whose dedication for their work was equaled only by their passion for each other. Throughout the film, with suggestive dialogues delivered with orchestrated grace and finesse, Lubitsch has not only expanded the idea of thievery into a glamorized activity, he has also shown that sexual exploits can also become intrinsic part of the overall plot. All the works of Lubitsch have his special signature ‘Lubitsch touch’ that never fails to keep his audience very firmly to the ground realities. This film too has its share. In fact, at the start of the film itself, the romantic gondola of Venice is shown as a carrier of garbage! Indeed, the juxtaposition of the extreme is the highlight of Lubitsch films which he carries with aplomb. The film is representative of the artifice that a man is forced to portray in order to accomplish his nefarious intentions. Posing as aristocratic Baron, made it easier for Gaston to fool his intended victim, Madame Mariette Colet and steal her riches. He was an honest thief because he had accepted the fact unlike ‘Giron’, accountant of Colet, who had been ripping his boss for years and yet always pretended to be her well wisher. He even wanted to report Gaston to the police for the same crime that he had been committing for years! The film

Black Genocide Essay Example for Free

Black Genocide Essay â€Å"Black Genocide in the 21st century† also called â€Å"Maafa† is an anti-abortionist documentary made in 2009 that speaks about the relevance of birth control, White America and Black America, Planned Parenthood and how it was established, also, the conspiracy behind abortion. The movie also deeply discusses the argument between abortion being genocide and it specifically targeting African Americans. Black Genocide was a very intriguing and interesting piece of material that filled my knowledge with much more than I had intended it doing. Before watching this video, I knew a little about abortion but not about the black genocide part. You see, I knew that abortion was a way for the government to obtain legal rights to abort children who weren’t able to be cared for but I didn’t know the government was using abortion as a way to limit the black population. I also knew that African Americans were having a lot of abortions and there were, and still is a lot of abortion facilities but never put together the idea of how they were getting access to this information, furthermore, the connection between eugenics and genocide. During the film, I learned so much information that is disgusted me and changed many of my views toward abortion and other things. I learned that in the early 1800’s, Americans feared retribution and resurrection because slavery was supposed to have ended. Intermarriage also lead to the loss of international purity and for that, they had a plan of colonization. Colonization was an affect that took place, and caused African Americans to be sent back to Africa. After the colonization, the new philosophy was established and was called â€Å"eugenics†, the perfect solution to what was known as â€Å"negro dilemma.† I also learned that Eugenics believed that Africans were inferior and without guidance, they couldn’t make it. Margaret Sanger was the founder of the â€Å"American birth control league† and was successful for promoting abortion and birth control. After watching the 21st century of black genocide, I wanted to know more about the situation with the NAACP and why the government still hasn’t publicly announced the conflict between the protesters and there undercover targets. I’d also like to know more about the positive and negative eugenics and why White America was considered positive eugenics when it was used to try and dominate the black parts of America and used as a companion to exterminate African Americans. I’d also like to know more about Planned Parenthood and to see if the facilities were still being targeted in minority places. I’d also like to know more about White America and the Planned Parenthood meetings, and also if Planned Parenthood groups still targeted low poverty neighborhoods of different race, such as Caucasians.

change in art/expressive cultures Essay -- essays research papers

Through globalization western culture has changed in art/expressive cultures. Expressive culture/art has played a part in the helping professions since ancient times. As early as 500 BC, the Egyptians utilized concerts and dance in the treatment of the mentally ill. Likewise, the Greeks used drama as a way of assisting the disturbed in purging their repressed emotions. The Hebrews relied on music, and other arts, in restoring and promoting mental health too, the most famous example being David who played his harp to soothe a distraught King Saul. Literature was seen by the Romans as a specific way of helping too. Lucretius, Roman poet and the author of the philosophical epic De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of the Universe), a comprehensive exposition of the Epicurean world-view, thought poetry could disperse the "terrors of the soul". In recent times, the expressive arts consist of verbal and nonverbal ways of representing feelings, there has been renewed interest in the use of the arts especially art forms that are considered "expressive." Through concrete and abstract verbal and nonverbal art forms that inspire, direct, and heal. For example the guerrilla girls, allowing individuals options in conveying their emotions their arts are used in helping and enabling themselves in a humorous way to make informed decisions and versatility in what they believe in, Feminism. And what about, Andres Serrano, of Piss Christ, his fame which according to web site, â€Å"e...

decisions faced by managers :: essays research papers

What are some important financial decisions that Business Owners face in a slowing economy? It has been said, "solidly run small businesses actually hold their own during downturns." (Mark Vitner, a senior economist with first Union Corporation) While all business owners would like to classify themselves as â€Å"solidly Run", Here are some of the thing that I believe warrant consideration by any business owner during a â€Å"slowing economy† 1) Should I Reconsider and/or revise the existing business plan? One of the most important things you can do during an economic downturn is to evaluate your business plan. â€Å"All businesses need a plan to define where they are going and how they are going to get there†. (http://www.bizplanprep.com/) Your business plan is the working base for your company. Have your current day to day operations led you to a new position in the marketplace? Or have you strayed from a successful formula? Should you write a new business plan? Should you reinforce the guidelines for the current business plan? Sit down and examine the plan from the viewpoint of an investor looking to purchase the company and make any revisions that seem appropriate. 2) What should I do with the budget? In a downturn one of the first places many businesses cut expenses are in advertising - a real mistake. As part of the philosophy of expanding your base and recruiting more customers, you need to advertise and sell more than ever. People are looking for better ways to do business. If you have established strong customer satisfaction, this is the time to get the message out. 3) Should I start a power circle or an advisory board? â€Å"Advisory Boards are being implemented by companies globally to leverage knowledge.†(http://partner-com.com/advisory.html) Advisory boards consist of industry and community leaders i.e.: attorneys, certified public accountants, civic club leaders, owners or managers of businesses similar to yours or with whom you do business, also retired executives may be available. The latest industry jargon for these types of boards is "Power Circles." An apt name because the members should be power connections for you - knowledgeable about the marketplace in which you do business. These individuals should be able to provide you with the information that you need to make good decisions. The purpose of the board is to offer you a viewpoint other than your own. They should be people you can be truthful with and who will keep your disclosures private.

Eva Duarte de Peron Essay

Eva Duarte de Peron started her life in Los Toldos in Buenos Aires. She was born on May 7 1919. Her father spent some time in high position in the political ladder where he was able to acquire great wealth. Her father died through a road accident in 1926 leading to the family to lead a poor life. At this moment, Eva was still in primary school. As she grew older, she took much of her life thinking on what she would do in her life. She was active in local theaters and spent much of her young life as an actor. She also engaged in poetry where she would right poems and perform recitations. She had the vision that her calling was in the public eye and therefore she refused to be just a small town girl. She collaborated with Tango singer Augustin Magadi whom she went with to the city of Buenos Aires where she started her life as an actress. She arrived in Buenos Aires in the3 1930’s. By 1945, she had already become a star in acting. She was heard in numerous radio shows and appeared in many plays. She joined a company of Armado Disepolo who was one of the best directors at that time. In 1943, she joined a radio station known as Radio Belgrano in 1943 where she started a series where she continued until 1945. It is at this time when the political climate had started growing hot because the elections were near (Del Testa   & Lemoine   pg 144-146). Eva got in a relationship with Juan Peron who was the chair of National department of labor. They faced some hardships at the beginning of their relationship. In 1945, Peron was asked to leave his office. This enhanced Eva to start questing for power when she realized that Peron was out of power. This motivated her to pull off her ideas. She was able to influence others by making her own personal appeals to the workers and military. She asked for favour of all the people on the basis on their personal loyalty to Juan Peron. This shows one of the qualities of leadership which she showed because this was an effective tactic by requesting people to do something that is not necessary for them to do (Gunson   & Chamberlain pg 221-222). This is a tactic, which Eva used in the rest of her political life. Eva accompanied her husband in his campaign trails where at each campaign she greeted people and introduced her husband to give speech. In 1946, Peron won the elections with a landslide and became the 29th president of Argentina. The determinant of Eva to gain what she wanted us seen in whole of her life. She worked tirelessly to make her husband gain the power that he aspired. She was able to set goals, which were achievable throughout her political career. This began when she was taken to labor secretariat where she was supposed to develop a labor policy for women (Adams pg 16). Despite the opposition that she got from men who thought that women were not supposed to hold such powerful positions, she was able to accomplish all, what was required of her in her position. The opposition did not deter her from doing what was expected of her (Chasteen & Wood pg 214-215). She was a charismatic leader who showed evident strong need for power. She would work long hours during the day and during the night so that she would get her work done. She also used to gain influence and impress her followers with furs and expensive clothes and jewellery. After years of fighting for women rights and freedom in Argentina, a law was passed in 1947, which gave women the right to equal suffrage. Eva worked with legislators, women who gathered in the civic centers, delegates who would come to see her and used the media to advertise the cause of equal suffrage to women. Her persistence and commitments was clear, as she would broadcast personal messages to all women urging them to join the fight for human rights. She possessed practical intelligence which helped her to network her ideas and which led to success. It is during this time that women in Argentina started seeing Eva as their spokesperson (Lewis pg 195-196). This is because she would motivate them and also encouraged and pushed them to go as far as they could in their lives. Women movements acted as good stepping stone for Eva. She attained the position of the president of the Peronista Women’s Party. As a result of her leadership skills throughout the fight for women suffrage, women put their loyalty in her. They put trust on her to make the right political decisions on their behalf. This lead to women to vote for Peron in the 1951 election as a show of allegiance to Eva because of her good leadership. It is believed that it is Eva’s constant workings with the descamisados or the shirtless ones that gave Peron the much political power that he enjoyed. Eva was able to make Eva Peron Foundation, which was established in 1948 to stand until 1955 when the military dismantled it. (Aufderheide   pg 159). Another characteristic that made Eva be a good leader is that she was able to articulate her goals, which had deep roots in the mind of her followers and in their hearts. She led the jobless, the laborers and the jobless. She was able to tell them what they wanted to hear and supplied them with what they needed in order to live. She was able to connect what she told the people with her upbringing. She used herself as an example of what they could be because herself she came from a humble background to attain the position that she held. She gave people of Argentina hope and self confidence in their lives. This shows the kind of charismatic leader she was which helped people to be loyal to her. Eva had a social exchange with Argentinean’s people. She provided them with hospitals, schools and houses. As a result of these connections, they gave her their everlasting loyalty. One of her greatest achievement was the construction of a huge housing project known as Eva city. (Chasteen & Wood pg 214-215). It consisted of four thousand homes where many people lived. This enhanced the connection that she had with the people. Eva made also of self sacrifices by working long hours and she showed total dedication to her work. She would take breaks to go to benefits and to attend functions, which were established by the workers. This loyalty and dedication made people have so much love for her. She sent personal funds to Italy to assist the poor people in Italy. It is this characteristic that people liked in Eva because they were able to see the more personal side of the leader and see the devotion she had to their cause by sacrificing her personal resources. Eva had great amount of surgency in her work. She was very dynamic, exuded self confidence and never showed any signs of staggering. She wanted people to look at her for help and she wanted them to see her as their savior. She showed dominance in political matters and her extrovert character in 1947 when she addressed six hundred women. It is here where she insisted her name to become the battle cry for women allover the world. She was very courageous in his persistence for women to be given the same rights as men especially when the issue of women suffrage was a hot topic in Argentina (Spengler   pg 27-30). She was also an expert in matters of social welfare. She received also of praise from other countries for the social services that she offered. She received the medal and ribbon of the Legion of Honor by the French government. This made her to be elected as a knight to French government. She also received the Great Cross of Isabel the Catholic that is the highest decoration in Spain. Her transformational leadership led the country to become New Argentina. She assisted in reduction of joblessness, hunger and poverty among the people. Her vision of creating a new society for her and the people realty (Lewis   pg 195-196).   As a result of the connection that she had with her followers, she was able to target what was most great importance to the masses by taking an active role in every project. Eva will remain to be remembered in Argentina and in all parts of the world because of her leadership during her times. This is because of all the contribution that she made in the society despite the criticisms that were directed towards her because she was a lady. However, she will be remembered for proving her critics wrong and proving that women can also be leaders just like men (Chasteen & Wood pg 214-215). Work cited Adams Jerome. Liberators, Patriots, and Leaders of Latin America, 2nd edition, New York, McFarland & Co., 2010. Aufderheide Arthur .The scientific study of mummies, New York Cambridge University Press 2003. Chasteen John & Wood James. Problems in modern Latin American history: sources and interpretations: completely revised and updated, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. Del Testa David & Lemoine Florence. Government leaders, military rulers, and political activists, New York, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Gunson Phil & Chamberlain Greg .The dictionary of contemporary politics of South America, 1st edition, New York, Routledge, 1989. Lewis Daniel .The history of Argentina, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Shafik Aasef .Global Peace Lovers,1st edition, Bloomington, Author House, 2009. Spengler Kremena. Eva Peron: First Lady of the People, 1st edition, Minnesota,

Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Essays - Free Essays

Agrarian Discontent In The Late 1800s Essays - Free Essays Agrarian Discontent in the Late 1800's "Why the Farmers Were Wrong" The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American politics. The country was for once free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably. Crops such as cotton and wheat, once the bulwark of agriculture, were selling at prices so low that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them. Furthermore, improvement in transportation allowed foreign competition to materialize, making it harder for American farmers to dispose of surplus crop. Finally, years of drought in the midwest and the downward spiral of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers. As a result of the agricultural depression, many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline in agriculture. During the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, many farmers in the United States saw monopolies and trusts, railroads, and money shortages and the demonetization of silver as threats to their way of life, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The growth of the railroad was one of the most significant elements in American economic growth. However, in many ways, the railroads hurt small shippers and farmers. Extreme competition between rail companies necessitated some way to win business. To do this, many railroads offered rebates and drawbacks to larger shippers who used their rails. However, this practice hurt smaller shippers, including farmers, for often times railroad companies would charge more to ship products short distances than they would for long trips. The rail companies justified this practice by asserting that if they did not rebate, they would not make enough profit to stay in business. In his testimony to the Senate Cullom Committee, George W. Parker stated, "...the operating expense of this road...requires a certain volume of business to meet these fixed expenses....in some seasons of the year, the local business of the road...is not sufficient to make the earnings...when we make up a train of ten of fiftee n cars of local freight...we can attach fifteen or twenty cars...of strictly through business. We can take the latter at a very low rate than go without it." Later, when asked the consequences of charging local traffic the same rate as through freight, Mr. Parker responded, "Bankruptcy, inevitably and speedy...". While the railroads felt that they must use this practice to make a profit, the farmers were justified in complaining, for they were seriously injured by it. A perfect example of this fact can be found in The Octopus by Frank Norris. A farmer named Dyke discovers that the railroad has increased their freight charges from two to five cents a pound. This new rate, "...ate up every cent of his gains. He stood there ruined." (Doc. H). The railroads regularly used rebates and drawbacks to help win the business of large shippers, and made up this loss in profit by increasing the cost to smaller shippers such as farmers. As a result, many farmers, already hurt by the downslide in agriculture, were ruined. Thus, the farmers of the late nineteenth century had a valid complaint against railroad shippers, for these farmers were hurt by the unfair practices of the railroads. Near the end of the nineteenth century, business began to centralize, leading to the rise of monopolies and trusts. Falling prices, along with the need for better efficiency in industry, led to the rise of such companies as Carnegie Steel and Standard Oil, which controlled a majority of the nation's supply of raw steel and oil respectively. The rise of these monopolies and trusts concerned many farmers, for they felt that the disappearance of competition would lead to erratic and unreasonable price rises that would hurt consumers. James B. Weaver, the Populist party's presidential candidate in the 1892 election, summed up the feelings of many Americans of the period in his work, A Call to Action: An Interpretation of the Great Uprising. He wrote, "It is clear that trusts are...in conflict with the Common law. They are monopolies organized to

How to Use the Internet as a Reporting Tool

How to Use the Internet as a Reporting Tool At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, let me explain what it was like to be a reporter in the days before googling was a verb. Back then, reporters were expected to find their own sources and interview them, either in person or over the phone (remember, before the internet, we didnt even have email). And if you needed background material for a story, you checked the newspapers morgue, where clips from past issues were kept in filing cabinets. Or you consulted things like encyclopedias. Nowadays, of course, thats all ancient history. With the click of a mouse or a tap on a smartphone, journalists have access to virtually unlimited amounts of information online. But the strange thing is that many of the aspiring reporters I see in my journalism classes dont seem to know how to appropriately use the internet as a reporting tool. Here are three main problems I see: Relying Too Heavily on Material From the Web This is probably the most common Internet-related reporting problem I see. I require students in my journalism courses to produce articles that are at least 500 words, and every semester a few submit stories that simply rehash information from a variety of websites. But there are at least two problems that arise from this. First, youre not doing any of your own original reporting, so youre not getting important training in conducting interviews. Second, you run the risk of committing plagiarism, the cardinal sin in journalism. Information taken from the internet should be a complement to, but not a substitute for, your own original reporting. Any time a student journalist puts his byline on an article being submitted to his professor or the student newspaper, the assumption is that the story is based mostly on his own work. By turning in something thats largely copied off the internet or not attributed properly, you are cheating yourself out of important lessons and running the risk of getting an F for plagiarism. Using the Internet Too Little Then there are students who have the opposite problem - they fail to use the internet when it could provide useful background information for their stories. Lets say a student reporter is doing an article about how rising gas prices are affecting commuters at her college. She interviews plenty of students, getting lots of anecdotal information about how the price rise impacts them. But a story like this also cries out for context and background information. For instance, what is happening in global oil markets that are causing the price increase? What is the average price of gas across the country, or in your state? Thats the kind of information that can easily be found online and would be perfectly appropriate to use. Its laudable that this reporter is relying mostly on her own interviews, but shes short-changing herself by ignoring information from the web that could make her article more well-rounded. Failing to Properly Attribute Information Taken From the Web Whether you are using online sources a lot or just a little, its crucial you always properly attribute the information you use from any website. Any data, statistics, background information or quotes that you havent gathered yourself must be credited to the website it came from. Fortunately, theres nothing complicated about proper attribution. For instance, if you are using some information taken from The New York Times, simply write something like, according to The New York Times, or The New York Times reported†¦ This introduces another issue: Which websites are reliable enough for a reporter to use, and which sites should she steer clear of? Fortunately, Ive written an article on that very topic, which you can find here. The moral of this story? The bulk of any article you do should be based on your own reporting and interviewing. But any time you are doing a story that could be improved with background information on the web, then, by all means, use such information. Just make sure to properly attribute it.

Everything You Need to Know About The Great Gatsby Setting

Everything You Need to Know About The Great Gatsby Setting SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One reason that The Great Gatsby has now become a byword for the East Coast of the Roaring 20s - the decadently extravagant post-WWI era - is that Fitzgerald was amazing at creating memorable settings. Whether it's the sprawling luxury of Gatsby's mansion, the drunken chaos of Myrtle's apartment, or the suffocating airlessness of a suite at the Plaza Hotel, The Great Gatsbyfeatures settings that perfectly encapsulate character, mood, atmosphere, and emotions. In this article, I'll go through all of the Great Gatsby settings, explain what role settings play in a novel, show how these settings compare with one another, and explore what symbolic meaning they have. Article Roadmap Why Is Setting Important All the Settings in The Great Gatsby Great Gatsby Time Period Setting 1922 Summertime Comparing and Contrasting PairedGreat GatsbyLocations Midwest versus East Coast Manhattan versus Long Island East Egg versus West Egg Gatsby's mansion versus Daisy and Tom's mansion The Valley of Ashes: Setting and Symbol How to Write About Setting Why Is Setting Important? The literary term "setting" means the time and place of anovel's events. If the characters are the "who," then the setting is the "where" and "when." This "where and when" can be very general - for example, "20th century Earth." Alternately, the setting can beeach of the manydifferent places where any of the novel’s actions occur, no matter how small. For instance, you could a imagine a domestic drama where different rooms in the same house work as different settings. Usually, novels feature several different settings, and authors use descriptive language to explain what these times and places look, smell, sound, and maybe even feel like. Using these descriptions, we can learn a lot! Settings help readers fully understand characters. Character backgrounds, motivations, and the pressures they feel from their environment and surrounding society, are often coded into the places where they are.For example, a 20-year-old woman in a novel set in Victorian England would be under enormous pressure to get married and have kids (this desperation isthe plot of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth). Meanwhile, the same woman in a novel set in today’s NYC is going to be more worried about getting a job (the main drama in The Devil Wears Prada). Settings develop or affect plot. Actions that are commonplacein one setting would be impossible in another. Often this has to do with what is and isn't considered acceptable behavior. Other times, it has to do with the technology, transportation, or means of communication that are available in a particular time. Many bad decisions in G. R. R. Martin'sSong of Ice and Fire happen because it takes weeks or monthsto get a piece of information from one castle to another - the quasi-medieval setting dictates this part of the plot. Settings contribute to mood,tone, and atmosphere. Many novels use setting as a way of developing a particular mood. For instance, the magical yet desolate and creepy setting of the moors inWuthering Heights creates the prevailing air of menace, imprisonment, and terror that infects that novel. Contrast this with the cozy setting ofLittle Women, where the March house represents the loving, close-knit, family atmosphere of the novel as a whole. Settings are used for symbolic or thematic purposes. Sometimes a particular setting is linked to one of the novel's themes, functions as a symbol, or if used to make moral, ethical, or aesthetic judgments. For example, in The Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes – an industrial neighborhood in Queens – symbolizes the desperate circumstances of those who are victims of the capitalist system the novel describes. There's a reason horror movies aren't typically set in sunny green meadows. All the Settings In The Great Gatsby Before analyzing theGreat Gatsby settings, I'm going to briefly explain and describe all the different settings that the novel uses. Time Setting The Great Gatsby takes place during the summer of 1922. The 1920s are a period that is sometimes called the Roaring 20s or the Jazz Age. Location Settings The Great Gatsby takes place in the United States. Most of the characters come from the Midwest to the East Coast. In the novel, the East Coast setting is divided into three distinct places: Manhattan, Long Island, and an industrial part of Queens that the novel calls either the Valley of Ashes or just the ashheaps. In Manhattan, we see two main settings: Tom and Myrtle's apartment uptown in Harlem, and asuite in the very posh Plaza Hotel next to Central Park. Gatsby's Long Island is broken down into two incredibly wealthy towns that face each other across a bay: West Egg, less fashionable and home to new money people,and East Egg, where older and more established families live. We see two WestEgg settings: Jay Gatsby's sprawling, extravagant mansion, and Nick Carraway's small rented house next door. In East Egg lies Tom and Daisy Buchanan's red and white Georgian mansion. In the novel's version of Queens, the main setting is George Wilson's garage and the road that runs next to it, connecting Long Island and Manhattan. Oheka Castle, one of the real life mansions that aresaid to have inspired Fitzgerald. Quick Note on Our Citations Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book. To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text. Great Gatsby Time Period Setting What makes the Roaring 20’s different from other periods in history, and why does all the action take place in the summer time? 1922 The novel takes place during a period of enormous change and transition for the U.S. 1919 brought the end of World War I, a war marked byits massive death toll and the horrors of trench warfare which countered the image of soldiering as glorious and heroic. The young men who fought inthe war were dubbed The Lost Generation: the devastated and aimless survivors and the needlessly slaughtered dead. The post-war period in Americawas later dubbed theRoaring 20s because ofthecountry's rapidly growing economy and the greater influence abroad that came as a result of American involvement in the war. Many of the things this time period is famous forconnect with eventsin the novel. Prohibition went into effect in 1920, making almost all recreation alcohol illegal. This means thatany time you see people drinking alcohol in the novel, they are breaking the law. Moreover,Gatsby’s enormous wealth comes from him being a bootlegger - someone who illegally sells alcohol Women got the right to vote in 1919, and the Equal Rights Amendment wasfirst introduced in Congress in 1923. InThe Great Gatsby, the power and agency of women come up often. The three women in the novel make choices about their independence; Daisy and Myrtle find it hard to escape dysfunctional marriages, though they try through affairs; Jordan is able to lead a more independent life. The production and ownership of cars skyrocketedafter Ford popularized the efficient mass production of cars by assembly line. In the 1920, 1 out of 4 Americans owned a car. In the novel, cars are associated with danger and recklessness, as people are constantly either talking about car accidents or getting into them.And of course, the climax of the novel is when Daisy runs over and kills Myrtle. Summer The Great Gatsby pointedly takes place during the summer,as opposed to any other season. I say pointedly because the novel goes out of its way to assign meaning to summertime and to contrast it with the rest of the year - and often even with itself. For example, summer is somehow both healthfully airy and horribly suffocating. Nick initially relishes the Long Island summer, shirking his work because there is "so much fine health to be pulled down out of the young breath-giving air" (1.12). But in the tense confrontation in the Plaza Hotel, where Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy have a life-changing fight, the oppressive and unbearable summer heat means the room has basically no breathable air at all: The room was large and stifling, and, though it was already four o'clock, opening the windows admitted only a gust of hot shrubbery from the Park... "Open another window," commanded Daisy, without turning around. "There aren't any more." "Well, we'd better telephone for an axe- - " "The thing to do is to forget about the heat," said Tom impatiently. "You make it ten times worse by crabbing about it." ...the compressed heat exploded into sound and we were listening to the portentous chords of Mendelssohn's Wedding March from the ballroom below. "Imagine marrying anybody in this heat!" cried Jordan dismally. (7.174-190) Similarly, it's up for debate whether the summer brings with it life - the way we typically associate new foliage with a sense of rebirth - or not. On the one hand, Nick starts out with a traditional view of the summertime: And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees-just as things grow in fast movies-I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. (1.) But soon, Jordan compares summer unfavorably to the potentially positive change that fall brings when she says. Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall. (7.75) This desire to have life start over again is crucial, since this novel is so interested in how the wish for forward momentum fights against the way the past anchors us and pulls us back. Despite his initial positive feelings about the summer on the East Coast, Nick eventually reverts to his roots in the Midwest. He contrasts the disappointing summer he spends on Long Island withthe season he associates with Midwestern wholesomeness and goodness - winter: That's my middle west- not the wheat or the prairies or the lost Swede towns but the thrilling, returning trains of my youth and the street lamps and sleigh bells in the frosty dark and the shadows of holly wreaths thrown by lighted windows on the snow. I am part of that, a little solemn with the feel of those long winters, a little complacent from growing up in the Carraway house in a city where dwellings are still called through decades by a family's name. I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all- Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life. (9.125) I don't know about you, but I'll take this version of summer any day. Comparing and Contrasting PairedGreat GatsbyLocations Now let'stackle theGreat Gatsby settingsthatfunction as foils to one another. We can analyze them by comparing and contrasting them to each other. Midwest vs. East Coast Considering Nick eventually decides that whathe has written is really the story of Midwesterners failing to make it on the East Coast, these might be the two most significant settings in the novel. Still, before we dive in, it's important to remember that this Midwest is Nick's version of the Midwest, which is often undercut (for instance,a lot of Gatsby's criminal business comesas phone calls frombig Midwestern cities like Detroit). Nick describesthe Midwest as the center of all things moral and wholesome.It's a place where everyone is friendly, happy, innocent, and so much "in it together," that when he is describing his memories of the Midwest, Nick doesn't use the pronoun "I," but instead starts writing in the first floors person plural "we": One of my most vivid memories is of coming back west from prep school and later from college at Christmas time...I remember the fur coats of the girls returning from Miss This or That's and the chatter of frozen breath and the hands waving overhead as we caught sight of old acquaintances and the matchings of invitations: "Are you going to the Ordways'? the Herseys'? the Schultzes'?" and the long green tickets clasped tight in our gloved hands. And last the murky yellow cars of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad looking cheerful as Christmas itself on the tracks beside the gate. When we pulled out into the winter night and the real snow, our snow, began to stretch out beside us and twinkle against the windows, and the dim lights of small Wisconsin stations moved by, a sharp wild brace came suddenly into the air. We drew in deep breaths of it as we walked back from dinner through the cold vestibules, unutterably aware of our identity with this country for one strange hour before we melted indistinguishably into it again. (9.123-124) In contrast, the East Coast is a place where everyone is so out for themselves, that after Gatsby dies none of the people whom he spent an entire summer entertaining can even be bothered enough to come to his funeral. In the beginning, this Midwestern quality of goodness strikes Nickas boring, which is why he decides to go East to New York: Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe- so I decided to go east and learn the bond business. (1.6) But after his experiences during the summer, Nick comes to see the East as a kind of nightmare of debauchery, violence, and a disregard for human life: Even when the East excited me most, even when I was most keenly aware of its superiority to the bored, sprawling, swollen towns beyond the Ohio, with their interminable inquisitions which spared only the children and the very old- even then it had always for me a quality of distortion. West Egg especially still figures in my more fantastic dreams. I see it as a night scene by El Greco: a hundred houses, at once conventional and grotesque, crouching under a sullen, overhanging sky and a lustreless moon. In the foreground four solemn men in dress suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress. Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. Gravely the men turn in at a house- the wrong house. But no one knows the woman's name, and no one cares. After Gatsby's death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my eyes' power of correction. (9.126-127) Manhattan vs. Long Island The action in The Great Gatsby is about evenly split between Manhattan and Long Island. Overall, Manhattan is the place where characters go to show off their disregard for society’s rules and lawful behavior. It's the easiest place to accommodate sexual indiscretions and shady business dealings: In Chapter 2, Tom takes Nick there to meet his mistress, Myrtle, and go to a party at their apartment, where Tom has sex with her while Nick waits, and where Tom ends the evening by punching Myrtle in the face. Gatsby takes Nick to Manhattan in Chapter 4 to have lunch with Meyer Wolfshiem, the gangster who fixed the World Series and who is Gatsby’s business partner. Finally,Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, Jordan, and Tom to go Manhattan in the explosive Chapter 7 showdown where Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby. Partly this is because Manhattan is portrayed as a melting pot where a diversity of social classes, races, and backgrounds is par for the course, and where unusual people don't really stand out. For example, check out this passage where Nick and Gatsby are driving into the city: The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world. A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of south-eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish Negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry. "Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge," I thought; "anything at all. . . ." Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder. (4.55-58) There are wealthy African-Americans, European immigrants, the living and the dead, all mixed together without a problem. The city is awash in possibility, the "wild promise" that anything could happen there - "even Gatsby." Also, misdeeds are easy to get away with in Manhattan because its size affords everyone enormous anonymity, which Nick loves: I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I liked to walk up Fifth Avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine that in a few minutes I was going to enter into their lives, and no one would ever know or disapprove. (3.157) On the other hand,Long Island is a much smaller, more insular community. Instead of shrugging off anonymous misbehavior, the people on Long Island care deeply about who their neighbors are and what theyare doing. It's harder to conduct affairs, shady business, or whatever else there without incurring the moral opprobrium of everyone else. While Gatsby is unremarkable in Manhattan, in West Egg he becomes the focal point of unending rumors. People say he is related to Kaiser Willhelm (the ruler of Germany during WWI, and thus America's main enemy), that he is a German spy, and any number of other things: Gatsby's notoriety, spread about by the hundreds who had accepted his hospitality and so become authorities on his past, had increased all summer until he fell just short of being news. Contemporary legends such as the "underground pipe-line to Canada" attached themselves to him, and there was one persistent story that he didn't live in a house at all, but in a boat that looked like a house and was moved secretly up and down the Long Island shore. (6.5) Similarly, Tom's affair with Myrtle benefits from its city setting, asTomfeels free to cheat on his wife in public: "he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew" (2.4). Meanwhile, when Daisy and Gatsby start their affair, Gatsby has to fire his entire household staff because he is worried that his servants will tell everyone what they've seen: Gatsby had dismissed every servant in his house a week ago and replaced them with half a dozen others, who never went into West Egg Village to be bribed by the tradesmen... The grocery boy reported that the kitchen looked like a pigsty, and the general opinion in the village was that the new people weren't servants at all. Next day Gatsby called me on the phone. "Going away?" I inquired. "No, old sport." "I hear you fired all your servants." "I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. (7. 9-14) You can see how rumor immediately spreads and is uncontainable in the close circles of Long Island. Even despite all of Gatsby's precautions, Nick has already "heard" from someone else that Gatsby has fired all his servants. This minute observation of one's neighbors really differentiates the towns in Long Island from the big city of Manhattan. The rumor mill even brings a reporter out to interview Gatsby in Chapter 6. West Egg vs. East Egg While very rich people live in both East Egg and West Egg, the difference is the kind of rich people live in each town. East Egg is for the old money crowd - people whose wealth is inherited, and who have been the upper crust of society for generations. In contrast,West Egg is for the nouveau riche - self-made people who have become rich recently and who were originally born into working or middle-class families. This means that in generaleveryone from East Egg looks down on everyone from West Egg in order to demonstrate their superiority.(Nick is one of the exceptions: he lives in West Egg despite having the family background necessary to fit in in East Egg).At one of Gatsby’s parties, Nick hangs out with an East Egg group who don’t socialize with anyone else and who are clearly there to mock and be appalled by the other party guests: Jordan invited me to join her own party who were spread around a table on the other side of the garden...Instead of rambling this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside- East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety. (3.37) This also means that since they can’t distinguish themselves through their wealth, East Egg residents rely on their better understanding of the nuances and minutiae of manners and behavior to signal that they are so very far above their West Egg neighbors. We get the sense that every East Egg person is forever sending knowing looks at every other East Egg person every time they encounter someone from West Egg. For example, check out Gatsby’s encounter with Tom’s horseback riding friend Sloane and his woman friend, when Gatsby repeatedly puts his foot in his mouth: Mr. Sloane didn't enter into the conversation but lounged back haughtily in his chair; the woman said nothing either-until unexpectedly, after two highballs, she became cordial. "We'll all come over to your next party, Mr. Gatsby," she suggested. "What do you say?" "Certainly. I'd be delighted to have you."... "You come to supper with me," said the lady enthusiastically. "Both of you."... Gatsby looked at me questioningly. He wanted to go and he didn't see that Mr. Sloane had determined he shouldn't... "My God, I believe the man's coming," said Tom. "Doesn't he know she doesn't want him?" "She says she does want him."... Suddenly Mr. Sloane and the lady walked down the steps and mounted their horses. "Come on," said Mr. Sloane to Tom, "we're late. We've got to go." And then to me: "Tell him we couldn't wait, will you?" Tom and I shook hands, the rest of us exchanged a cool nod and they trotted quickly down the drive, disappearing under the August foliage just as Gatsby with hat and light overcoat in hand came out the front door. (6.38-59) Gatsby, the quintessential West Egg-er, can’t tell that the woman doesn’t want him to come to her party. He is even less able to see that Sloane really doesn’t want him to come. And he doesn’t seem to sense how rude they are being to him - something which Tom and Nick pickup on immediately. This social cluelessness and lack of social adroitness translate into the style with which Gatsby lives his life. He spends enormous sums of money, but with every purchase, he is always showing that he is new to the moneyed scene. Let’s see how this plays out in his house. Gatsby’s Mansion vs. Daisy and Tom’s Mansion The differences between old money and new money are reflected primarily bydifferences in style, aesthetics, and taste. Gatsby typifies the ostentatious, over-the-top conspicuous consumption of those whose wealth is new and so must be always on display: I lived at West Egg, the- well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard- it was a factual imitation of some Hà ´tel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby's mansion. (1.14) His house is a reproduction of French chateau. This is ridiculous both because this French design is out of place in America, and also because it is a visibly brand new building trying to replicate something that would be centuries old. It’s completely ludicrous, and it is telling that the only person who has the desiredresponse to this mansion is Gatsby’s father: It was a photograph of the house, cracked in the corners and dirty with many hands. He pointed out every detail to me eagerly. "Look there!" and then sought admiration from my eyes. (9.102) Gatsby’s father has the same taste as Gatsby - the appreciation of a poor person for the trappings of wealth. Meanwhile, Daisy and Tom live in a house that is also extravagant, but one that has its luxury somewhat concealed: Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens- finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold, and wide open to the warm windy afternoon (1.18) The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling- and then rippled over the wine-colored rug (1.26) The house is much more fit for its location - Georgian Colonial is an architectural style that is appropriate toAmerica (as its name suggests, it came from England during the colonial period). The description also confirms the permanenceof the Buchanans' mansion. Gatsby’s house is fighting with its surroundings (it’s off both in time period, and it seems to be having a problem with the â€Å"raw† ivy). In contrast, Daisy and Tom’s house is so much a part of the environment that the grass â€Å"seemed to grow a little way into the house,† blurring outside and inside just like the open windows that let the breeze blow through. It may not be too much to read some foreshadowing into these contrasting descriptions: Gatsby’s house is too new and not rooted enough. Meanwhile, the place where Daisy and Tom live is deeply embedded and seems unbreakable. No one's pulling this thing out of the ground anytime soon. The Valley of Ashes: Setting and Symbol The Valley of Ashesin The Great Gatsby functions both as a literal place where the climactic event of the novel happens, and is also a powerful symbol – in other words, a concrete object that stands for an abstract idea connected to the novel's themes. The Valley of Ashes is the name that Nick gives to an industrial neighborhood in Queens that the rich have to drive through on their way from the Eggs to Manhattan. This is where George Wilson has his gas station, and where Myrtle Wilson is run over and killed by Daisy. Suitably, it is a horribly bleak and drab place: About half way between West Egg and New York the motor-road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight. (2.1) This is the place where those who cannot make it in the cutthroat world of East Coast capitalism end up. It is also the place propping up much of that wealth through the production coming from the factories that are polluting the spot. But the description that transforms the ash that covers everything from simply being dust to a scary substance capable of creating otherworldly plans and people signals that this Valley of Ashes has rich symbolic meaning. For a detailed analysis of how this symbol functions within the great Gatsby, check out our articles on how to approach symbols in general and on the Valley of Ashes as a symbol in particular. How to Write About The Great GatsbySetting So how do you use setting to create a compelling essay? Pick a Topic There are severalways to go about findingyour topic when tackling this kind of assignment. Here are some possibilities: Close reading. You can focus on settings themselves, digging really deeply into the description of one, two, or more places or times in the novel to explore how word choice, similes, metaphors, and any other literary devices help the reader visualize location. For example, you could trace the way the word "ash" appears in the novel, at first defining The Valley of Ashes itself is a kind of fantastical alternate reality, and then spreading outtoward the places of the privileged. You could focus on a literary device called metonymy, using a part to stand in for the whole, and explore why the novel chooses to focus on Dustin Ash as the representative aspect of this neighborhood. Connection to character. Often, setting is away to define character. If you write about this, your essay will tease out the common qualities of a character and of the place most closely associated with that character. These will either be synergistic, with one amplifying the other, or else theywill play as a contrast, undercutting the character. In our case, for instance, Gatsby's mansion speaks volumes about how he sees himself andhis money, and also about the vast gulf that separates him from the upper elite that he really wants to be part of. Conversely, Nick's pokey little house seems humble and unassuming, much like Nick wants to project himself to be. But in reality, by being located next to obscenely luxurious mansions, the house is only falsely modest, and shows off some of Nick's poorly disguised snobbery. (Read more about all the novel's characters in our overview article.) Connection to theme. Similarly, setting can help clarify a novel's theme by providing a concrete example of an abstract idea. In the great Gatsby, you could focus on the way one or more of the settings play into the failure of the American Dream, one of this novel's most salient themes. One way to do this would be to focus on the Valley of Ashes, the place where dreams come to die, both literally and figuratively. If the idea of the American dream is that through hard work anyone can become successful, then George Wilson's tragic fate, as exemplified through his garage and circumstances, serves to completely debunk this myth. Create an Argument It’s not enough to just describe one of the novel'ssettingsand explain its possible connections to either character or theme - or to compare and contrast it to another setting. Instead, you have to make sure that you’re making some kind of point about why/how the settingfunctions in the novel as a whole. How do you know if you’re making an argument and not just saying the obvious? If you can imagine someone arguing the opposite of what you’re saying, then you’ve got an argument on your hands. Once you've figured out what you want to argue, startsmall by analyzing chunks of the text where the symbol pops up, and then broadening your points out to the rest of the book. This way, your argument will be strengthened by textual evidence. What’s Next? Learn how to write about the themesthat settingsare usually linked to. Get help on other assignments by reading our guide on analyzingor comparing and contrasting characters. Brush up on the context of these settingsin our summary of The Great Gatsby. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Free Appropriate Public Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Free Appropriate Public Education - Essay Example Free and Appropriate Public Education is, within the context of the stated, an affirmation of the right of disabled children to receive an education which meets their specific and special needs, without extra cost to them or to their families. Given the legislative roots of the defined right, schools are obligated to provide special needs students with an education which is tailored to meet their specific requirements, even as it prepares them for future independent living and employability. It is interesting to note that even though Free and Appropriate Public Education is clearly delineated by legislature as a right owed to disabled children, the constituent elements of FAPE are not clearly outlined. Questions regarding precisely what constitutes a free and appropriate public education persist. This paper will try to answer these questions. Free public education has long been recognized as a responsibility owed by governments, not just to citizens, but to their societies and nations. As Chief Justice Warren noted in Brown v Board of Education: Public education is a principal instrument for awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him or her for later training, and in helping them adjust normally to their environment. It is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he or she is denied the opportunity of an education (Brown v Board of Education, 1954). The above statement, made in 1954, underscores the importance of free, public education, insofar as it identifies it as the foundations of citizenship, acculturation, socialization and success. Whether on the individual or the collective/societal level, free public education is a fundamental concern since its availability is one of the primary determinants of national progress and development. Free public education is important but, of greater importance, is

A Visit to The Tenement Museum Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

A Visit to The Tenement Museum - Term Paper Example Although my grandparents had also immigrated to America from Ireland, yet I could not learn about the difficulties immigrants faced as much from them as I learned in the Tenement Museum. Perhaps, my grandparents had had a smooth journey through it all, so they never told me things were as harsh for the immigrants as I saw in the Tenement Museum.   The Tenement Museum is one of its own kind. Unlike the trend in conventional museums, the tenements cannot be seen unless the visitor makes a walking tour in the form of a group. Visitors can not just roam about the place individually as they would like to. Although not many visitors like me approve of this idea, yet I find it a wonderful way in which the visitors can be made aware of maximum things in the minimum time. My group mates and I together went on the tour titled â€Å"Getting By†. In the tour, we had an insight into the life of two families, one of which was of the German-Jewish origin, while the other family was of Italian-Catholic origin. The families were called as the Gumpertz family and the Baldizzi family respectively. The Gumpertz family lived through the Panic of 1873. The Baldizzi family lived in the period of the Great Depression.   The apartments that the immigrants were provided with to live in were very small. Within some square feet, the immigrants had to adjust all areas of a home including the kitchen and the toilet. This tells how tough life must have been for them. As the visitors walk past the houses in groups, they have narrated the stories of the families that lived in them. I particularly liked the character of Nathalie, that was the mother in the Gumpertz family. Julius, the father of the family had run away and the only son Nathalie had passed away when he was very young. Nathalie accordingly became the head of the family. She had no source of income and had to run the expenses of the family.

AN INDIVIDUAL PROJECT PROPOSAL Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

AN INDIVIDUAL PROJECT PROPOSAL - Dissertation Example The Standards for acquiring accessibility through technical specifications and interface design have been laid down for the conventional Web, but, how far e-learning systems are conforming to these standards is still unclear. More so, there remains conflicts between educational features and usability. There is a need for Institutions to meet recent accessibility andb fulfil government targets to deliver growing access to Higher Education. It can only be achieved by evaluating e-learning system usability and identifying the arising accessibility needs. Aims of the research The project intends to fulfil certain objectives. The research project will look at the current levels of accessibility in e-learning systems, that is the Virtual Learning Environments. It will go ahead to assess theproblems faced by disabled users in accessing system features these will include textual resources, interactive content, navigation features and tools for communication. The other things that will be car ried out may include semi-structured interviews with educational support staff, among them lecturers and Information Services staff that support the disabled users example, disability support staff,e-learning support. When it comes to the empirical research with learners, six to seven university sites will be taken to assess practices and policies in accessibility support that is within different e-learning systems. This practical investigation and research activities will help gain user views and perspectives on system usability example through questionnaires or interviews. There is a need for Institutions to know which features should be avoided or used with care so that to enable disabled students to access e-learning systems. They should also be able to know the features that are educationally valuable and if they can be supported with more training for disabled learners. General context descr?pt?on This project is personal research in the field of Information Science,especially within the area of end-user systems accessibility. It a coomon issue that in Higher Education there is constant innovation and changing methods to provision of online services, but , there remains grey areas when it comes to issue of user accessibility. This issue has turned into a neede requires secondary consideration. This research looks towards underpinning improved provision of accessible systems for disabled adult learners. It has been discovered that one of the major barriers for people with intellectual disabilities in accessing electronic programmes is due to the lack of accessible adult training material and information in simple language. Through focusing directly on people with disabilities, and also on the staff of adult education or e-learning providers, this Project tackles this problem and focuses on improving the accessibility of lifelong learning programmes. Research questions The research is aimed at answering the following questions: 1. What are the major obstac le faced by students when undertaking learning in an online setting? 2. What are the usability and accessibility issues in e-learning systems? 3. What are the training needs of disabled users in facilitating online learning? 4. How can usability and access issues be practically addressed? Research methodology The research will go for a practical research element to investigate questions outlined in the study mainly targeted at

Unacceptable governance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unacceptable governance - Research Paper Example In many circumstances refused to assent to laws.â€Å"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.†2. He forbids his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance.A head of state must encourage governors to pass important laws.The king of Great BritainDuring governors meetings, he has always forbidden governors to pass laws.â€Å"He has made it inadmissible for his Governors to legislate on delicate issues unless he assents to it, and even when he permits, he neglects them.†3. He refuses to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people.A good government must derive its powers from the consent of the governed.The King of Great BritainMany people allege that The King of Great Britain passed laws for his own interest.â€Å"He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of districts with high populations unless the populations would not a representation in the Legislature, a right unfat homable to them and only suitable to tyrants.†4. He calls together a legislative body at unusual, uncomfortable, and distant places in order to fatigue members and make them comply with his measures.A common comfortable meeting place for legislators symbolizes good government.The King of Great BritainLiterature provides enough evidence of the King calling meetings at remote places.â€Å"He has assembled legislative bodies surprisingly at unusual places, deplorable, and away from reach to their documented public Record.

The Relationship Between Domination and Resistance Essay

The Relationship Between Domination and Resistance - Essay Example The absolute power of the monarch was then displayed to all in the (punishing of the) body of the prisoner. In later centuries, systems changed. Prisons were introduced, and prisoners were subject to strict discipline and control. Discipline meant that almost every bodily movement of prisoners was sought to be controlled - the space they used, the movements (exercises) they did, the food they ate and even their sleep. The panopticon, a circular design for prison houses (designed by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century) with the warder's room in the center, allowed the warder to view a prisoner at any time; this made the prisoner feel that he was constantly being watched. This drill of prison life led to the transformation of people into obedient zombies, which facilitated the exercise of control by the state. The way the death penalty is administered in many countries of the world, including the US, is evidence that state sanctioned violence still exits. Such violence is orchestrated in a bizarre, ritualistic manner to make it appear as a necessary tool of the state justice system. But when we consider that capital punishment does not deter crime in any way, it becomes evident that it continues as a throwback to a primitive and uncivilized way of treating fellow humans. Dwight Conquergood gives some horrifying facts about the administration of the death penalty in the US. For instance, the US is one among a handful of countries, which allows the death penalty for a minor. Besides, a greater part of those who are on death row are minorities; a large percentage of women charged for serious crime are lesbian; one in seven persons are wrongly executed (!); and all this, though capital punishment is much more costly to administer than a life sentence. (Conquergood 2002)Power is thus used by t he state to reinforce the viewpoint of the majority. An impression of humaneness is sought to be created through the sanitation of the whole process of killing by the state. Prisoners are made to participate in their own annihilation. When a person on death row accepts the fact that he has no way to escape his fate, he is 'persuaded' to go through silly rituals of stating what he wants for a last meal, articulating his 'last wish' before death and so on. (Conquergood 2002)In the face of the exercise of such raw and violent power by the state against those who dare to express opinions contrary to what the state sanctions, political prisoners in Turkey have refined hunger strikes as a way of expressing their dissent. Patrick Anderson chronicles the longest lasting such strike, which started in Oct 2000 in Turkish prisons as a protest against shifting of prisoners to solitary cells. The strike has been carefully managed by the strikers so that they do not die of starvation soon. The st rikers have developed methods to see that their emaciated bodies survive - by drinking more liquids, by using potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride and so on. (Anderson 2004). Moving from the details of the narration, what is horrifying is the fact that in almost all countries of the world, including those which claim to be developed, the legal and justice system exists for the privileged class.Power operates outside prison gates too - through the mechanism of the market economy. An 'upper' class

Unacceptable governance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unacceptable governance - Research Paper Example In many circumstances refused to assent to laws.â€Å"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.†2. He forbids his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance.A head of state must encourage governors to pass important laws.The king of Great BritainDuring governors meetings, he has always forbidden governors to pass laws.â€Å"He has made it inadmissible for his Governors to legislate on delicate issues unless he assents to it, and even when he permits, he neglects them.†3. He refuses to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people.A good government must derive its powers from the consent of the governed.The King of Great BritainMany people allege that The King of Great Britain passed laws for his own interest.â€Å"He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of districts with high populations unless the populations would not a representation in the Legislature, a right unfat homable to them and only suitable to tyrants.†4. He calls together a legislative body at unusual, uncomfortable, and distant places in order to fatigue members and make them comply with his measures.A common comfortable meeting place for legislators symbolizes good government.The King of Great BritainLiterature provides enough evidence of the King calling meetings at remote places.â€Å"He has assembled legislative bodies surprisingly at unusual places, deplorable, and away from reach to their documented public Record.

Marks and Spencer and Global Environmental Factors Essay

Marks and Spencer and Global Environmental Factors - Essay Example Marks and Spencer is a highly successful giant operating in the UK retail sector. The success of the organization has been due to its clear mission statement and vision. It has managed to become a powerful and vibrant brand in the UK for the past one hundred years. A diverse product line enables the organization to achieve efficiency and effectiveness. It has premium products that cater to the unique requirements of various segments. Marks and Spencer pursues a dynamic business strategy in which its tries to give the consumer a sense of attachment and feeling with specific brands. This is a highly successful strategy that has enabled excellence and quality at operational and strategic levels. Marketing operations of the organization is also based upon applying smart and prudent strategies. Marks and Spencer conducts an extensive research and appraisal of the business environment. It determines clear and precise goals based upon its strengths and weaknesses. Appropriate business strat egies are formulated in order to take advantage of business opportunities. The organization seeks to use its core competencies.The rapid rise of globalization has created tremendous opportunities for business organizations. However it has led to significant challenges for business processes and structures. In the twenty first century, marketing staff cannot ignore the importance of global environmental factors. These factors need to be studied and analyzed in order to achieve optimum results.

The Features of Sony Reader Prs T2 Essay Example for Free

The Features of Sony Reader Prs T2 Essay Introduction An E-reader is one of the most useful technologies today because of its design and features, particularly in its capacity to make information portable. The dawn of e-readers introduces readers to a unique reading experience wherein they can take their reading materials anywhere they go without the bulkiness and hassle that goes along with bringing actual printed materials. Of all the e-readers available in the market, Sony E-reader stands out over its competitors because of its design and features. In going over the specific features of the matte black model of Sony Reader PRS-T2, one can say that the said e-reader is a must-buy item for readers due to its considerable benefits, regardless of its disadvantages. Features Primarily, Sony E-Reader’s most noticeable features are its design and dimension, display, and performance. Although the reader do not hold a considerable competitive, price advantage over its competitors, the reader may also be considered sufficient enough in addressing customer’s standards on performance. In terms of design, the reader features a 6. 87† tall by 4. 37 wide dimensions; it is also . 37† thick, which is considered lightweight compared to other E-readers (Van Camp, 2012). With its thin design, the reader only weighs 5. 9 oz, which is quite portable and light. Further, the reader is rubberized, and it sports a large chin-area that allows readers to hold the device from the lower part. Aside from this, the reader’s display and performance also play a vital factor in determining its overall appeal and usefulness to readers. Specifically, the E Ink display type and 6† screen size gives readers a larger reader interface. Sony Reader’s battery also lasts to at least 2 months, if the Wi-Fi connectivity is turned on, while 6 weeks if the Wi-Fi technology is turned off. Pros and Cons The most noticeable advantage of Sony E-Reader is its lightweight and attractive design, connectivity features, and features. For instance, with its light and slim design, the reader easily fits the hand while it is also more portable. The reader also features five physical buttons below the screen, which are not available in Kindle’s Paper White model. With this feature readers are better able to toggle from page to page singlehandedly; other e-readers do not have this feature, regardless of the fact that customer’s also prefer to have physical page-turn buttons. Aside from this, Sony Reader’s connectivity features allow readers to connect to social networks, such as Evernote and Facebook, allowing them to post and share their thoughts. Readers can also customize the look of their homepage. The reader also prides itself with its compatibility feature, particularly to diverse digital formats such as Microsoft Word, PDF, Epub, and image file formats. With this compatibility range, users of Sony Reader may also have access to different e-book stores. Although Sony Reader PRS-T2 has its valued, beneficial features, it also has a few disadvantages. For instance, in terms of price, the reader is so far behind its competitors. Its price range, which is at $127-$130, is quite expensive as compared to Kindle Paper White’s $119-$199. Aside from its price, the reader also lacks a reader-friendly illumination, which requires readers to find a suitable place to read on their own (Van Camp, 2012). Further, Van Camp (2012) mentions that Sony still have not provided the exact number of available books in its library, which leaves readers hanging resulting to their patronage of other online libraries. Further, there is also a need to refine the Refresh interface of the E-Reader while it also necessary to advance its page-turning interface to accommodate the diverse finger placements of the readers. Conclusion Considering the features of the Reader, one can say that, if users are going after battery life, portability, and compatibility with diverse digital file formats, the Sony Reader PRS-T2 is a reasonable choice. This is because the said Reader offers longer battery life, thin and weight design, open compatibility to diverse formats, and gadget aesthetics. However, price is a major concern when choosing Sony’s Reader because of its high price range, which surpasses its more popular competitors such as Kindle. Further, it is also noteworthy to consider Sony Reader’s lack of illumination as another limiting factor when buying Sony’s Reader. Conclusively, it is safe to say that the selection of an E-reader depends on the user’s needs, and users should try out e-readers with their own hands to ensure that they get the most value for their money. Reference Van Camp, J. (2012, October 11). Sony reader PRS-T2. Retrieved from http://www. digitaltrends. com/ebook-reader-reviews/sony-reader-prs-t2-review/

Reflection on Research and Analysis Project

Reflection on Research and Analysis Project First Meeting: Before having my first meeting, I attended an open day with Mr. Collin Biggs who gave brief lecture on the requirement of RAP and topics which can be chosen to do a successful RAP. The topic I chose from the Oxford Brookes Project topic areas is number 8 which is The business and financial performance of an organisation over a three year period. For the 1st meeting my mentor Ashley Cooke asked me to write The Introduction of the RAP before having the first meeting. I decided to analyse the financial and business performance of GlaxoSmithKline and Astra Zeneca as a comparator. After choosing the topic and organisation I started to research the information about GlaxoSmithKline and Astra Zeneca. From the website of GlaxoSmithKline and Astra Zeneca, I downloaded their audited financial statement and annual reports for three years periods from 2007 to 2009. Situation: My mentor asked me to send the Introduction of my RAP three days before the meeting so that he can go through the work I had completed and prepare feedback for my 1st meeting. I was unable to send him the Introduction part of my RAP three days before the meeting as I underestimated the work required and I also was not quite familiar with Microsoft Word. I was able to send him the email with the Introduction of my RAP just two days before the meeting. During the first meeting, my mentor was not satisfied with my approach which I adopted to write Introduction of my RAP. Introduction about the company was very much in detail. My mentor told me to be precise and write only relevant information about the company. He also told me that my work was lacking quality as I only used Companys official website and did not refer to independent opinions and views. Lesson Learned: I learnt that I have to manage my time better as I need extra time to deliver my assignments on time as I am lacking the skills of effective use of Microsoft Word. I also learnt that I have to use third partys opinions and reviews about the companys performance which tend to be less biased. Second Meeting: As my first meeting was not up to the scratch so I was advised by my mentor to take some extra time to do sufficient work for my second meeting. He asked me to finish most of the research and analysis work prior to the second meeting. I tried my best to finish all the analysis work necessary to evaluate my project objectives such as trend analysis, ratio analysis, market research and strategic analysis of GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Astra Zeneca Plc. At the end of my second meeting my mentor shocked me when he asked me to prepare Microsoft Power Point slides for presentation. I was not sure how to make such slides using Microsoft Power Point. And I told my mentor there and then that I do not know how to use Microsoft Power Point to prepare slides. He was very helpful and he taught me how to prepare slides using Microsoft Power Point on his laptop. Situation: I was working very well according to the suggestions of my mentor. But I was unable to finish most of the work before time and could not email all the required work to my mentor three days before the second meeting. The reason was that my niece suddenly became sick and she was taken to the Hospital just five days before the second meeting.She was very seriously ill and I had to take my family couple of times to the Hospital. I could not finish my whole work. But I managed myself to attend the second meeting. My mentor told me that he was expecting more work from me. I explained the whole story to him. He inquired about the health of my niece and advised me that I have to be well planned and ready for such incidents and leave some buffer time for such uncertainties. Lesson Learned: I realised that if I would have left some buffer time, I would have completed my work well before the second meeting. Now I realised that I should try my best to finish my work and the task given before time to avoid any mishap or uncertainty. Third Meeting: My mentor asked me to give ten minutes presentation which should be summarised but comprehensive. My mentor told me that my presentation should be a glimpse of my overall RAP. My presentation will be followed by short question and answer session where I will be questioned on my work and my findings about the chosen organisation Situation: I was quite time pressured for my third meeting as I had some work left from my second meeting to complete and extra work to be done for the third time including the preparation of slides for presentation. I had to do rehearsal for my presentations as I have not given any presentations before this. I was a bit worried and nervous about my presentation. Lesson Learned: I learnt I should not leave the work till the last minute from my previous experience as unknowns can happen and delay the process. I gave myself an earlier deadline so that I could finish my work before the original deadline. Due to this I managed to finish my RAP on time. I also learnt a lot from the presentation part of my RAP. I learnt how to make slides on Microsoft PowerPoint as evidence; slides are attached with the submission of my RAP. I made my presentation to the Mentor. I ran out of time and could not complete the presentation well in time. I spent too much time on the introduction and the reason why I choose the organisation. I failed to present the conclusion and recommendation part of my presentation. I could not do justice with my efforts I put in my research work because of the way I presented my report to the mentor. I was not successful because of the lack of planning of my presentation. I did plan what I will present but due to the lack of practice I could not deliver what I was expecting from myself. Nevertheless, I learnt a lot from this experience. I learnt not to be over focused on the irrelevant things and properly giving time to more important areas. Question 2: How well do I think that I have answered the research questions? At the initial stage of my RAP I was confident that I will be able to do my RAP easily on the chosen topic. But in reality the chosen topic and finding information on organisation proved to be hard and challenging for me. I was not sure in the beginning from where should I gather information about GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. I was carrying out my RAP research on limited information available but I came to know from a friend of mine that British Library is loaded with information regarding any organisation. I got financial and non financial information from British Library about GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca which was enough to do RAP analysis properly. During my secondary research, internet played a pivotal role in gathering data. Internet was of great help when reading up results of GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca for the first quarter of 2010 as this data was not easily accessible from other sources. It was hard for me to decide which ratios should be calculated in ratio analysis as each and every ratio has its own significance and importance. Time was a real issue in this project. I could not allocate time properly to the different areas of my research which I could have done better if I would have had more time. More time would have allowed me to visit more business libraries to get an in depth knowledge of the Pharmaceutical industry and its competitive environment. Question 3: How have you demonstrated your interpersonal skills and communication skills during the project work? Interpersonal and Communication skills are two skills which are not only important in academic life but in professional life as well. These skills facilitate in academics during presentations, class discussions, and project report writing and during professional life like dealing with customers, suppliers, peers and management. During my RAP, I used my interpersonal skills which I learnt through my studies, especially paper F7 (Financial Reporting) of ACCA. Initially the communication with my mentor was not very effective as I struggled to communicate properly with my mentor. My mentor sometimes could not understand my accent and he asked me to repeat few times during my interactions with him. I lost precious time of my meetings with him due to this communication problem. English is not my mother tongue. Even though my English have improved significantly after studying ACCA in England, native English speakers sometime find it difficult to understand me because of my strong accent. My mentor Ashley Cooke has been very patient with me and he never showed any signs of discomfort whilst communicating with me. I realised that in order to communicate effectively I had to be more confident when facing somebody face to face and I should speak slowly and clearly so that even with my strong accent, people could understand me. I have to improve my oral, verbal and non-verbal skills so that Ill be able to perform better both in academics and in work environment. Question 4: How has undertaking the Research and Analysis Project helped me in my accountancy studies and/or current employment role? I learnt a lot by doing my RAP which will help me in my reaming ACCA studies and also when I start my professional job. One of the things, I learnt whilst doing my RAP was how to do a research and gather information about a real world organisation, this helped me in developing my research skills. The research skill will be beneficial to me for my further studies and career. Communicating with people in an effective way was the new learning experience and it is very important for me when I will start my professional job in the future. My communication skills have improved significantly by doing this RAP. I think I would be in a better position to cope with the challenges in the future, which really would not have been possible without undertaking a project like this. Other thing, I learnt a great deal about is IT skills which I lacked before doing this RAP. I was not very familiar with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. This project taught me a great deal about these packages as I had to use them to draw graphs, make tables and prepare slides for my presentation. Graphs and appendices in my RAP are evidence of my learnt skills. IT skills are very crucial for a modern accountant to have in order to succeed in this day and age. I knew a little about these software packages before but this project has given me an opportunity to draw graphs using data from tables which I did not know before. This skill will assist me a great deal in my further studies and career. In a nutshell, whilst doing my RAP I learnt how to manage time effectively and meet deadlines, which will not only help me in my academic and professional life but will also, bring positive changes in my life.

Comparing Excess in Morrison’s Sula and Ginsberg’s Howl Essay -- compa

Application of Excess in Morrison’s Sula and Ginsberg’s Howl  Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell, he declares that "the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom†¦Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained." These beliefs are reiterated and expanded upon in both Toni Morrison’s novel Sula and Allen Ginsberg’s epic poem Howl. Both authors challenge the conception of socially imposed boundaries, which suppress the absolute freedom of thought and action, by venerating the human characteristic of excess. Instead of abiding by the social norms of the general cultural animosity towards excess, Morrison and Ginsberg use this vilified "attribute" as a means to transcend the aforementioned boundaries that have hampered intellectual growth and the liberation of the self. The fact that both authors are of minority backgrounds compounds the acuteness of oppressiveness that both have experienced in their lives and allows us to draw parallels between their beliefs and how they chal lenge such despotism. Morrison’s Sula deals with the novel’s namesake’s journey to follow the road less traveled, and to escape the throes of a perceived life of perpetual imprisonment of the self that has engulfed most of the women of her time. The most obvious trait that resides in all aspects of Sula’s character is that of excess. She wages a one-woman war against society’s prescribed boundaries with an arsenal of excessive behavior and actions. The prospects of a fixed life of marriage and childbearing, which is the envy and ultimate objective for women of her age in Bottom, is unappealing and an altogether putrid existence to her. In order to understand the complex infrastructure of Sula’s character... ... electrified out of the coma by our own souls’ airplanes roaring over the roof they’ve come to drop angelic bombs the hospital illuminates itself imaginary walls collapse O skinny legions run outside O starry-spangled shock of mercy the eternal war is here O victory forget your underwear we’re free"(111). Freedom is what Morrison and Ginsberg strive for in their respective works of Sula and Howl. Both authors implement the use of excessive behavior, deemed heretical to the social standards of the day, in order to transcend its boundaries and achieve self-actualization. Morrison and Ginsberg in effect countermand the adage of "conform or die" into that of "conform and die." Works Cited Ginsberg, Allen. Howl: Original Draft Facsimile, Transcript, and Variant Versions. Ed. Barry Miles. New York: Viking, 1986. Morrison, Toni. Sula. 1973. New York: Plume, 1982.

Frontier Expansion vs. the American Bison :: American America History

Frontier Expansion vs. the American Bison â€Å"The wilderness masters the colonist. It finds him a European in dress, industries, tools, modes of travel, and thought. It takes him from the railroad car and puts him in the birch canoe. It strips off the garments of civilization and arrays him in the hunting shirt and the moccasin. It puts him in the log cabin.... Before long he has gone to planting Indian corn and plowing with a sharp stick.... In short, at the frontier the environment is at first too strong for the man. He must accept the conditions which it furnishes, or perish, and so . . . little by little he transforms the wilderness, but the outcome is not the old Europe.... The fact is, that here is a new product that is American....† --Frederick Jackson Turner, 1893 The great westward expansion of European American pioneers is one of the most celebrated periods in our country’s history. We idealize its ruggedness, its characters, and the many sure dichotomies of the frontier: good versus evil, civilizations versus savagery, man versus the wilderness. The pioneers set out to create a new world, to push the boundaries of home, morality, and familiarity. In the process they irreversibly affected the established ecosystems and Native American dwellers. The challenges and harshness of the environment had their own effects upon the settlers, effects that have engrained themselves into our national consciousness. We celebrate â€Å"rugged individualism† while at the same time ignoring the price we pay for that stubbornness and strength of character. Westward expansion resulted in the extinction or endangerment of hundreds of native species of flora and fauna, altered entire ecosystems, such as the Great Plains, and impacted aquifers and w atersheds across the entire nation. One species famously affected by these pioneers and settlers was the American Bison, a relic of the last ice age. It is estimated that over 40 million of these great beasts roamed the American Plains in 1800. By 1883 the population was down to less than 6001. What happened? Why did those pioneers, so appreciative of the bounty that the â€Å"new† territory had given them, slaughter the bison throughout the 19th century? â€Å"They lived and moved as no other quadrupeds ever have, in great multitudes, like grand armies in review, covering scores of square miles at once. They were so numerous they frequently stopped boats in the rivers, threatened to overwhelm travelers on the plains, and in later years derailed locomotives and cars, until railway engineers learned by experience the wisdom of stopping their trains whenever there were buffaloes crossing the track.

Extent of Government Change Under Essay

It was during this time that the Federal Government first began promoting things like worker safety on the job. For example, the Railway Safety Appliance Act was passed during this time. It required railroads to install safety devices such as steps and handrails on their engines and cars to reduce the number of industrial accidents. President Theodore Roosevelt vastly increased the traditional perception of the role of the federal government. His policies, such as â€Å"Big Stick Ideology† abroad and the â€Å"Square Deal† at home, expanded the influence of the government on manifold levels. Two cases, however, that of trust-busting and that of conservation, specifically accentuate this expansion. In the year 1901, President William McKinley had just been assassinated, and America needed a leader to which she could turn to. Theodore Roosevelt became the new president, and unbeknownst to the people, would immortalize the presidency forever. Roosevelt made considerable efforts at the conservation of the planet for future generations by use of the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 and by establishing the Bureau of Reclamations and broke up the destructive and all too powerful trusts that were ruling corporate America by instating the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Expedition Act of 1903, during what would later become known as the Progressive Era. During Theodore Roosevelt’s term in office, changes in the government began to be made. Roosevelt’s mindset was to change the role of the government for the betterment of the economy during the Progressive Era. Through trying to break up trusts in the government, such as the Sherman Anti-Trust Acts, he believed he could change the U.S. government for the better. Conflicts from labor (the Square Deal) and conservation during the Progressive Era helped Roosevelt change multiple roles of the federal government.

Cloud Computing Research Paper Essay

Introduction Cloud computing is the answer for â€Å"affordable† business technology platforms. It is a more affordable solution for media content than any other medium, and this is why Netflix, Amazon.com, and Apple are among the leaders in cloud usage and development. Ultimately cloud computing will be the primary way data services are accessed by businesses and consumers alike. Marston, Li, Bandyopadhyay, Zhang, and Ghalsasi 2009 conclude cloud computing offers companies the opportunity to deploy cutting edge IT services without the enormous upfront costs that deter so many organizations from making the investment in infrastructure. Now that affordable solutions are becoming more readily available it is likely that more small and medium sized businesses will try and streamline their IT services. Small and medium sized businesses will likely be attracted to billing features that only charge for actual usage, as opposed to a flat fee. This format of doing business seems confusing on its surface, which led Kamra, Sonawane, and Alappanavar 2012, to compare Cloud Computing to Municipal Water Departments. Cloud Computing can be explained using a simple example. Many decades ago people used to go to their well to get the water needed to live their lives, nowadays things are different. Municipalities have placed water taps at every door step, so you can turn on and use the service as needed. Cloud computing is the same concept. You do not need to build a Water Plant to have water in your home, and now businesses do not need a massive computer lab to run their IT Services. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon provide a cloud to their customers, business partners and employees that allows services to be provided on a 24/7 basis. Discussion A perfect example of cloud computing would be Yahoo.Com and Gmail.Com e-mail addresses. As recently as seven years ago Microsoft Outlook was a program installed on the hard drive of your computer that helped to facilitate your incoming and outgoing e-mails. Now â€Å"web-based† or â€Å"cloud mail† is what 99% of the people using computers use for e-mail services. A company will be able to use cloud services on a per usage, or metered basis. This is the future of computing and the majority of new services in the future will be based around this type of technology, which leads us to the importance of network uptime and availability. Ambrust et, al 2010, suggest that just as large ISPs use multiple network providers so that failure by a single company will not take them off the air, we believe the only plausible solution to very high network availability is multiple cloud computing providers used simultaneously. I agree wholeheartedly with this concept and this is how Facebook became the powerhouse of a company that it is today. In both the movie â€Å"The Social Network†, and the book â€Å"The Accidental Billionaires†; Mark Zuckerberg, is described as â€Å"convinced† that a network outage as short as one day could irreversibly unravel the entire company. Facebook is revered as an incredibly stable platform. While I do not have inside information with regard to Facebook’s cloud computing strategy, I believe it is a very easy assumption to make that they have multiple ISP and Cloud sources to ensure platform availability. As another example a company like Amazon.Com which has no retail presence, depends entirely on the uptime of their network and website, a disruption of a few hours in service could cost the company millions of dollars in lost sales opportunities. Multiple back up Internet Service Providers is a must. Conclusion Aljabre 2012, suggests the concept of cloud computing in business may sound ideal and easy to implement, but like all new technology being introduced in to a business with an IT system already in place has both negative and positive aspects. Aljabre uses Amazon.com as his example of a company that has successfully utilized this technology. Amazon has 80 million customers, and 17 thousand employees, and has a need for cloud access at the highest possible level. Amazon has a mission critical need for many different people, both employees and customers alike to be able to access the internal network for employees and the website itself for both sellers and buyers. Aljabre considers Amazon to be the number one company on the planet with regard to cloud utilization and the success of the company and high regard for its network stability is a testament to how much cloud computing has advanced in the short time it has been implemented. Virginia Watson Ross 2010 believes today’s organizations are being tasked with finding ways to minimize costs, while their computing and data needs grow, cloud computing is a viable option to consider. With its economy of scale and high performance assets, it has the potential for meeting increased organizational computing and data management needs., and surges in demand, while minimizing costs. The challenge is to determine what factors drive a company’s decision makers to choose or not to choose to employ cloud computing to meet organizational needs. The advantages of cloud computing include cost savings, meeting computing needs, reliability, and centralized security functions. This will lead to overall lower costs, improved information handling, and greater convenience for end users. All of these advantages make cloud computing worth considering. References Marston, Sean R., Li, Zhi, Bandyopadhyay, Subhajyoti, Ghalsasi, Anand and Zhang, Juheng, Cloud Computing: The Business Perspective (November 23, 2009). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1413545 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1413545 Armburts, Michael. â€Å"A View of Cloud Computing.† Communications of the ACM 53.4 (2010):50. Aljabre, Abdulaziz. â€Å"Cloud Computing for Increased Business Value.† International journal of business and social science 3.1 (2012):234. References Ross, Virginia W. â€Å"Factors influencing the adoption of cloud computing by decision making managers.† Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms, (2010). :2021. Kamra, Varun. â€Å"CLOUD COMPUTING AND ITS PRICING SCHEMES.† International Journal on Computer Science and Engineering 4.4 (2012):577.