Monday, September 30, 2019

Analysis of ‘‘The Lifeguard’’ by Mary Morris Essay

‘‘The Lifeguard’’ by Mary Morris is a short story that focusses on change over time. A lifeguard accustomed to be the lord of all he surveys and with a big self-esteem, has a rude awakening when he proves deficient in the first aid needed to save a toddler, Becky, on the beach. The author demonstrates that we realise what we have only when a shattering event occurs. Trough characterization, foreshadowing and symbolism, Morris infers that once we realise what we have, it’s too late. The character outlook of what he sees has clearly changed from the beginning to the end of the story. At first, the lifeguard saw the beach just as a way of being seen and appreciated by the girls and envied by the other man. He was narcissistic, ‘‘Girls clung to my stand, [†¦] and I could do no wrong’’ (p.98) and the way he was always talking about how much he loved his body, and it made him lose the real reason why he was at the beach. He wanted to be admired by people on the beach. But when a child almost died in his arm because he was not really aware of what was going on near him and his incapacity to save Becky started to bother him. So he went to Mrs. Lovenheim’s house, where he realised something profound on the emptiness of his live. He thought he had all what he wanted, but the most important was missing, true love. This reality changed his perception of life as he said: ‘’I’ve never seen the water and the umbrellas of summer in the same way again’’ (p.105). Mrs. Lovenheim made him fall into despair as she left him at the doorstep, him, the lifeguard who had a tremendous self-confidence. Ric Spencer acted as a foreshadowing character. He clearly missed the time where he was lifeguard. As soon as he could, he was going close to Josh to talk about the old time when he used to be lifeguard. Ric often gave advices to Josh to always be careful, because only a split second of distraction and a bad event, like the drowning of Billy Mandel, can happens. Ric was always there to tell the principal character ‘‘You don’t know what you’ve got’’, ‘‘You don’t know how lucky you are’’ (p.101), because the older man realised the chance he had to be lifeguard and because it is at about the age of Josh that h e could choose a job he would have love more. So he is often telling Josh to enjoy while staying careful, because he knows you won’t always have the perfect job and that an accident has bad consequence. When Becky almost died, it completely gave full meaning to Ric’s words. It is as if Josh hit a wall. This has ruined his summer. He should have listened to many advices given by his former lifeguard instead of laughing of him. Mrs. Lovenheim was represented as a symbol superiority of throughout the story. As it progresses, he kept on talking about how Mrs. Lovenheim was always looking at him. It made him proud; otherwise he would not have talked about her all along the story. For him, the fact that this women was looking at him was a proof that he was admired by other people on the beach, that he was superior to people around him. But when the savior of Becky did not recognized ‘‘It suddenly occurred to me that she had no idea who I was, that she’d never really seen me at all’’. So he thought he was the real king of the beach, but this made him realised he had all wrong. Maybe all what he saw was wrong, maybe all he described was false. Therefore, what he had taken for granted was no longer what it was the day before. He may have to consider everything under another perspective. But the point is that Mrs. Lovenheim was used to be the symbol of admiration he wanted, but as h e saw she barely knew him, his world rocked. In conclusion, Mary Morris displays that we must enjoy what we have while we have it, because if we lose it, it can be on your mind for long time, and you may regret not to have taken good times out of it. The author has been able to illustrate it through his usage of characterization, foreshadowing and symbolism. The author showed why it is important to take care of what we have, because a little nothing can make us lose it all.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Harry Houdini’s Affect on the American Identity

Breaking bonds in mid-air, slipping chains with a smile: Harry Houdini's greatest talent was not in performing illusions, but making any obstacle seem irrelevant (Rothstein). Life in the early 1900s was depressing and filled with extremely strenuous work. While watching Houdini, fans throughout America and Europe were dazzled by his escapism and were given a sense of hope as a result of his exploits. Nothing on Earth could hold Houdini a prisoner; every illusion achieved the impossible. To immigrants, he was an example of the freedom that came with the American dream. The magical achievements of Harry Houdini evoked a sense of limitless power and imagination that helped to inflate a belief in a limitless America. There are certain arguments, however, that must be considered when examining Houdini’s contributions to the American identity. Like all illusionists, Houdini made the impossible appear to be not only possible, but easy to accomplish. As a result, many children attempted to emulate his intricate escapes, ending up injured or worse. In addition, those who believed in a limitless sense of the possible, using Houdini’s magic as a symbol for freedom from boundaries, were disappointed by the realization that the American dream was not easily attained. Contrary to this speculation, Houdini’s contributions to the American identity were overall positive because he gave hope for a new life. Even to this day his name is known for magic and inspiration. Harry Houdini was born in the late 1800s with the birth name of Ehrich Weisz. The early twentieth century marked an era of both beginnings and endings. Americans of this time period had yet to make their mark in the world, and were very impressionable. Life for children of the early 1900s was work and school, so when they heard about the magic man, and saw Houdini, they gained a sense of imagination that had been deprived of them. Fans saw new possibilities once Harry Houdini came into the picture; innovations in the arts and entertainment gave a strong sense of national pride among the population as a whole. Houdini demonstrated the power to overcome bondage, to dissolve material obstacles, to confound expectations. The yearning that magic awakened in audiences was no less vital in himself. Even today’s most amazing magicians, like David Blaine, are still inspired by Harry Houdini. Blaine is the Harry Houdini of the current generation and as Blaine watched a video of Houdini performing an illusion he said â€Å"It's almost beautiful — the beautiful struggle. † (Barron). Today, Houdini’s legacy lives on and hardly any magicians today do not owe Harry Houdini a debt. Houdini elevated the magic arts to a phenomenon and invented an entirely new category of magic: the escape act. And as a result, Harry Houdini’s name is synonymous with escapes. His ability to get out of seemingly impossible situations made him a legend in his own time. Impossible illusions shocked crowds, the most famous being eating needles, being buried alive, escaping from a torture cell, and dangling upside-down trapped in a straight jacket. All his escape illusions made people believe that nothing could hold them back; they were free and realized it was possible to â€Å"escape† from any trouble with which they were faced (Magical History). †Nothing on Earth can hold Houdini a prisoner† read a sign from 1906, and by 1917, America seemed prepared to believe it. Houdini was publicly proclaiming the possibility of liberation. Was this, as the exhibition points out, the immigrant's fantasy as well? It must have been thrilling to watch an enactment of such transcendence, and not just of social obstacles, of course, but of spiritual ones, as well. The poor and the downtrodden embodied his acts with a kind of reverence. Even death is overcome by Houdini's powers† (Rothstein). According to one of Houdini’s reviewers, immigrants in the early 1900s came to America and saw Harry Houdini as an example of the American dream and then molded their view of what it means to be American to the magic of Houdini. The American dream includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success and it is implied that freedom is the key to that success. Harry Houdini’s death-defying escapes during his life time fascinated audiences, particularly the many European immigrants. He inspired his audiences primarily because he was, at one time, a struggling immigrant himself. To them, he was the embodiment of the American dream. Immigrants watched Houdini and felt confident in making individual choices without the prior restrictions that limit people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity. By doing things that were seen by all as impossible, Houdini gave people a feeling of invincibility contributed to the American identity. Although Harry Houdini’s achievements occurred in the past, his legend lives on more than 80 years after his death. Still considered the greatest and most well known magician of all time, Houdini’s legacy for magic, performance and dramatics endures. After witnessing his amazing illusions, people’s imaginations soared and they saw limitless possibilities in the United States that molded the American identity. During Houdini’s lifetime, he put a face to the idea of freedom and even today, if asked what it means to be an American, the word freedom will always be discussed. And since then, the feelings of freedom and possibility have been passed down through the generations and directly affect the nation and what it means to be an American. If men like Harry Houdini had not existed, then hope for a new life might have remained a dream for many. Houdini and his illusions became an icon for hope, and his legacy has remained an important thread in the tapestry of the American identity.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Enterprise portal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Enterprise portal - Essay Example It is web based. The technology behind this portal is Ext JS 4.0. This a pure and interactive JavaScript application framework for developing robust web applications exploiting techniques such as DHTML, Ajax and DOM scripting. From the web pages’ source code, it is clear that it is interoperable with jQuery and Prototype. It includes an optional architecture that provides a model view controller style of code organization. The portal has an overall superb usability experience. This is because the pages are arranged in a solid methodology coupled with proper tools. Also, all the components of the portal are working properly and together. Users can at a single glance access the university news or events and other coursework pages. The diagram below shows the layout of the pages and the components of the portal. The homepage shows two main tabs i.e. ‘My page’ and ‘Student Centre’. Under the ‘My Page’ tabs, users can access their degree progress, the enrollment date, class schedules, and financial aid, view their tuition account and also access to e-mail addresses, To-Do and holds summary, university news and events. In general, all the pages fit into a unified visual design and the flow of interaction hence providing a seamless user experience. This provides an ability for ease customization of the layout. This kind of portal aggregates information from various sources in one convenient page. Therefore users accessing the portal can reach important information such as campus news, campus events, the student center, degree progress, class schedules, and financial aid and can also view their tuition account. Each of these pages have different data sources that have been aggregated together so as to build up the portal. Therefore, for one to manage the data portal, data can be viewed, sorted and data sources filtered. The other data sources that have been

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Registration Statement (form s-1) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Registration Statement (form s-1) - Essay Example From this perspective, the registration statement form successfully takes an enterprise â€Å"off the shelf† and into a certain market officially (Miller 506). When the Security Act of 1933 takes a business off the shelf, it normally offers them a base prospectus and supplement for a deeper understanding of public trading. Even though the goal of the 1933 Security Act was to allow a prospective procurement, it is not realized all the time. I believe this unsuccessful aspect of the law is brought about by the complicated nature of the registration statement. A business needs to be able to make a logical deduction bent on reliable data, which registration requirements included in the registration statement form often constraint. For instance, an issuer might be unwilling to engage true weaknesses in an activity. As a result, he or she uses the complicated registration statement form to delay the process while adhering to the law theoretically (Miller

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Everglades National Park Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Everglades National Park - Research Paper Example Background: Balanced Diversity Everglades National Park is the largest park and preserve in the state of Florida. It has a combination of sensitive wetland and estuarine environment, spanning 1,508,000 acres in area. The mangroves that mostly constitute the park are important breeding ground for numerous marine species as well as a natural habitat for alligators and many species of birds. It is also considered the largest wilderness area east of the Rocky Mountain, the biggest continuous section of saw-grass prairie and the most important breeding location for tropical wading birds in the North America. (Kras 2009, p. 9) In 1979, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated it as a world heritage site. Such recognition was fundamentally given due to its rich biological diversity, which represented a balanced relationship of human life and nature. According to UNESCO, the area has extreme importance to the world because it has a unique blen d of human history and the diverse life forms that harmoniously lived together for ages, including those animals and plants that are considered endangered species. (Kras, p. 9) Ecological relationships A Senate Report summed up the Everglades Park’s interesting interrelationships among its life forms. It explained: The intermingling of plant and animal species from both the tropical and temperate zones, plus the merging of freshwater and saltwater habitats provide the vast biological diversity that makes Everglades National Park unique. (US Congress, p. 340) Experts point out that the park is not consisted of one single ecosystem but a system of ecosystems. The above statement underscores this highlighting how numerous and diverse habitats are in existence that offer homes to a number of flora and fauna that collectively form a kind of relationship that continually amazes scientists. Much of the area is covered by saw grass, trees and shrubs as well as palm trees, cypresses, among other tropical plants. They provide a natural habitat for animals like the American crocodile, alligators, deer, Florida panther, roseate spoonbill, wood stork, snakes, turtles, among other reptiles and animals that are endangered like the southern bald eagle. The animals are sufficiently represented to sustain a healthy food chain and sheet-flow ecosystem connected by the water system beginning with Kissimmee River, into the Lake Okeechobee and, finally into the Gulf of Mexico. The intrusion of man, particularly with the agriculture cultivation that takes place in the Everglades’ periphery, and the damage it inflicts is increasingly destroying the habitats and the relationships within. For instance, the fertilizers discharged from nearby agricultural areas led to the growth of cat-tails and furry grasses that began depleting oxygen from the waters, endangering the lives of several animals that thrive on them. (Europa 2001, p. 77) Human Intrusion Another factor that mak es Everglades National Park unique is the fact that it is situated in a mouth of a waterway instead of in a headwater like Glacier, Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Unfortunately, this variable became a major contributor in the damage being done to the park. Human activities have disrupted the water cycle that occurs within the area due to agricultural cultivation and the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Business Model (International Business Management) Essay

Business Model (International Business Management) - Essay Example In the foreseeable future there will be heavy demand of organic apparel products, and the market will grow. To enter the market with this plan, we will adopt the strategy of a Wholly Owned Subsidiary for entrance. Choosing a strategy to enter the market is very essential. It must be well thought out and it completely defines what will happen to the enterprise. There are various ways one can enter a market, such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, turnkey projects, etc. â€Å"A Wholly Owned Subsidiary is a subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there is no minority owners.† (â€Å"Wholly Owned Subsidiary†). This eliminates the share holders and thus the concept of co owners of the enterprise. This gives the management benefits such as full control over the decision making. Turkey is one of the world’s leaders in organic cotton production: â€Å"Turkey is a world leader in organic cotton production with a 53 per cent share of the market. The countrys history, climate and culture play main role in this leadership." (Gulveren). This makes Turkey a good choice in which to launch a wholly owned subsidiary. Many of world well known fashion companies such as Gap, Banana Republic and Nike are producing their products in Turkey. Thus there are already existing original equipment manufacturers in Turkey that ensures that obtaining raw materials will be easy. â€Å"This Original Equipment Manufacturers segment has helped triple apparel export in the past decade - apparel now accounts for more than 20% of Turkey’s total export volume† (â€Å"Apparel† 365 ) Turkey houses a high percentage of skilled labor. This plays a very important role the plan chosen and will be very beneficial to the authorities since a good workforce leads to better work and better results. Being a wholly owned subsidiary unit would mean taking over the operations of an existing

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Chartered Portfolio Manager and Investment Management- week 3 Essay

Chartered Portfolio Manager and Investment Management- week 3 responses - Essay Example I agree that it is not suitable to add a hedge fund to such a client’s portfolio who has low capital base, risk averse nature, and willingness for long-term returns. Despite the accessibility of general public to the hedge funds as a result of their inclusion in mutual funds, they are not a viable option because of their cost and subjectivity of information. Participation in returns is not likely to increase considering the current limitations of the hedge funds. You have provided a concise definition of hedge funds. This was a particularly informative post as it introduced some new concepts such as derivatives and the investment technique of leverage. I don’t think it is suitable to add hedge funds that use leverage to a client’s portfolio given the enormity of risk of loss. I agree that institutions’ willingness for diversification drives them toward hedge funds. However, a fair understanding of risk and its comparison to the capital base is fundamental to making informed

Monday, September 23, 2019

Energy Drink Study (will give case study info) Essay

Energy Drink Study (will give case study info) - Essay Example In the beverages industry, marketing is an essential undertaking. Each firm tries as much as possible to create product awareness, study consumers’ buying behaviors, and subsequently offer a competitive product in terms of quality and prices. Market demands vary across different consumers. In this regard, different products are offered by the different players in the beverage industry. Energy drinks, sports drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages have persistently become a central component of the beverage industry (Gamble 81). Carbonated soft drinks and fruit juices have had to deal with the stiff competition that has been realized with the production of alternative beverages. Firms that produce carbonated soft drinks and fruit juices have had to turn to the production of alternative beverages as competition in the industry exacerbates. Consumption of energy drinks, sports drinks, and vitamin-enhanced drinks have significantly increased, leading to reduced consumption of carbonated soft drinks and related products. Major players in the beverage industry like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull among others have pursued creativity, innovativeness, and technological advancement in the pursuit of producing alternative beverages that are highly demanded, thus fetching huge revenues for these firms (Rhum 150). The alternative beverages have become quite lucrative, in many instances outperforming carbonated drinks and related products. A company like Coca-Cola that primarily dealt with carbonated drinks has also engaged in the production of alternative beverages due to the high price premiums and profitability associated with alternative beverages. With the competitive trend in the industry, marketing has had to be informed by responsible marketing practices. Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull among others have dominated this business, resulting in stiff competition for a worldwide market share. Fair competition has

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Risky aspects of the economic growth of China Essay

Risky aspects of the economic growth of China - Essay Example The corporate debt in China has increased from 108 per cent to 122 per cent in the one year from 2011 to 2012, and has achieved its highest level in the last 15 years (Roberts). As a result of this, China has become the most debt-laden country in the world. Andrew Batson, the GK Dragonomics Research Director comments on the effect of debt crisis on companies operating in China in these words, â€Å"Companies have seen their business slowing down and revenues were not what they had expected. They have bridged the gap by taking on more debt† (Batson cited in Roberts). A researcher from the State Council’s National Development and Research Center, Li Zuojun made a speech on 17 September 2011. This speech made at the Changsha Alumni Organization of Huazhong University of Science and Technology’s internal meeting spread virally over the Internet. A post over the largest social media website of China Weibo got forwarded over 9000 times (Zitan). Mainland media portals l ike Sina and Sohu also widely reported this information. Li Zuojun noted that banks, local governments, and small and medium-sized companies in China are undergoing bankruptcies that serve as the signs of economic crisis nationwide. In his speech, Li presented four reasons for predicting China as the next stop for financial crisis. Those reasons are economic, hot money, political, and cycles (Zitan). Risky aspects of the economic growth of China Economic The two main causes of the possibility of occurrence of financial crisis in China are the worsening local debt crises and the bursting bubble of real estate. According to Li, the overall economic downturn in China has exposed the small and medium sized companies to financial challenges that have played an important role in reducing the commercial and industrial tax revenues. Local governments in China have suffered from the reduction of revenues because of the depression in the industry of real estate. Local governments in China hav e immense are bearing the pressure of spending more over a whole range of items that include but are not limited to local infrastructure, national defense, social insurance policies, construction of houses, maintaining social stability, and improvement of the hydraulic structures. However, as the local debts are maturing, local governments are facing even more pressure and are being forced into bankruptcy. In the long run, this would cause the banks to declare bankruptcy and eventually, Chinese citizens would have to bear the burden of the debt. Therefore, Li foresees a full-blown economic crisis. Hot money Although China’s economy is slowing down, the US is undergoing an economic recovery at the same time. This is contributing to the flow of large sums of the international hot money out of China. As a result of this, economic implosion is taking place in China. Political New leaders in China have risen as a result of the leadership transition of the year 2013. The priorities of most of the new leaders are not addressing economic woes of China. It takes anywhere between three and five months for a new leader to expose the past problems after taking charge. Li estimated the mid of the year 2013 to be the most probable recognition of the economic collapse of China. â€Å"Following the economic bubble bursting, there will be a subsequent period of suffering. But for the new leaders, this is nothing bad, since they are not to blame for the suffering†¦With the economic bubble bursting, the new leadership can adopt practical approaches. †¦ New political achievements will be gained more easily, since the starting point is comparatively low†

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Appalachian Mountains Essay Example for Free

Appalachian Mountains Essay The â€Å"Appalachian Mountains† refers to the mountain range that covers most part of the eastern North America and some sections of another country, the neighboring Canada. Professionals believe that the Appalachian Mountains is divided into three; the south part, the north part and the central portion of the Appalachian Mountains. The presence of the Appalachian Mountain range is important for the US because of several reasons. One of the reasons is that the Appalachian Mountains act as a dividing line separating the Midwest territory of the US from its eastern seaboard via the Eastern Continental Divide, which traces a path alongside the Appalachian Mountain range starting from Pennsylvania leading up to Georgia. There are also other important roles that the Appalachian Mountain range play and it can be socially, economically and geographically. Another important characteristic that is attached to the Appalachian Mountains and it formation is that it marked the beginning of plate collisions which was in turn responsible for the building of several mountains and mountain ranges in the planet, and this mountain building phenomena was believed to be responsible for the creation of Pangaea (Klyza and Trombulak 14). Because of the importance of the Appalachian Mountain range, studies on its geological aspect have been undertaken for years now. The Appalachian Mountains is believed to have undergone a series of different physical transformations and the movements that the Appalachian Mountains experienced throughout its history and creation have made it what it is today. Like other mountain ranges in the world, the Appalachian Mountains, at various times through ages, have risen to great heights from the sea or have been continental rock covered by shallow oceans (Adkins 49). The geological history of the Appalachian Mountains is a very important and very interesting topic to delve on. Because of this, the focus of the paper is centered in discussing the different aspects of the changes that happened on the Appalachian Mountain ranges, from its creation, the timeline involved and the processes that shaped the formation of the Appalachian Mountains from the start until today. When did they form? Most experts believe that the geology of the Appalachian Mountain ranges goes as far back as nearly 500 million years ago, particularly around 480 millions years ago. The timeline of the formation of the Appalachian Mountain ranges involved the changes that happened in several different eras. According to professionals, as far back as the Paleozoic Era there were already movements happening in the natural rock formation of the planet that lead towards the creation of the Appalachian Mountain ranges. This was particularly in the era’s Ordovician Period which was believed to be the time where rock movements led to the rising of the Appalachian Mountain ranges and its transformation from an erstwhile buried state, being submerged underwater during earlier times (Geologic Provinces 3). After the Paleozoic Era, there were still changes that affected the Appalachian Mountains. During the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, structure and feature changes affected the creation of Appalachian Mountains, and some uplifting in the rock formation during the Cenozoic Era also contributed to some of the changes that happened in the Appalachian Mountains (Geologic Provinces 8). How did the Appalachian Mountains Form? The Appalachian Mountain range is a very complex and very old natural geological feature of the planet. The physical characteristics of Appalachian Mountains provide the observer with hints and clues towards how the Appalachian Mountain range was formed and what processes were involved in the formation of this particular mountain range. A major characteristic of its geology is the presence of elongate belts composed of marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks, as well as parts of an ancient ocean floor. These are all impacted by thrust faulting and folding processes that shaped the Appalachian Mountain ranges from how it was during its initial formation up to how it is now after years of constant transformation owed to the natural rock movements that impact natural geological formation of rocks on the planet (Adkins 50). Before it would rise up and become a mountain range, the region where the Appalachian was to rise from was considered as a passive plate margin. Because of this, there are times when the area is found underwater, buried by sea water under a sea that was nonetheless shallow, especially since there were also periods where it was above water. The Appalachian region would not remain passive forever, and the change from being passive to being active happened during the Ordovician Period, wherein plate motion movements changed and paved the way for the Taconic orogenym or what is known as mountain building event, in this case the first during the Paleozoic Era. By this time, the Appalachian is already considered as a plate boundary that is very active in its movements (Geologic Provinces 3). The Iapetus, another oceanic plate situated close to the Appalachian, was considered to collide against the Appalachian. Because the collision eventually sank, it submerges itself under the craton of North America. Because of what was happening in Appalachia and what has happened in the Iapetus, there was a resulting creation of what is known as the new subduction zone. The creation of this new particular feature was believed to be the birth of what would be known today as the Appalachian Mountain ranges (Chapter 2: Plate T-11. Appalachian Mountains 11). The Taconic orogeny was not the first mountain building plate collisions that helped create and develop the Appalachian Mountain Ranges, because there are still a series of other plate collisions that is set to happen that impacted mountain building, particularly the building of the mountains of the Appalachians. Several other orogenies, like the Caledonian orogeny, the Acadian orogeny, the Quachita orogeny, the Hercynian, orogeny as well as the Allegheny orogeny all contributed to the mountain building process that shaped the Appalachian Mountain ranges (Chapter 2: Plate T-11. Appalachian Mountains 5). As the Appalachian Mountain range was developing through the years, experts believed that at one point, it was standing as high as, or even higher than the height of the present day Himalayas. This is largely because of the consistent collision of ancient continents that pushed the mass of land upwards and raised mountains like the Appalachian higher and higher. The activity in the rock features shaping and re-shaping several geological features like the Appalachian mountain ranges experienced change, leading towards being still once again after the Pangea continent started to break apart during the Mesozoic Era. After this, erosion took over, and the once towering Appalachian was transformed into a vast plain. But this situation would not remain permanent. There were new waves of uplifting that would affect the region in the near future following its transition towards becoming a vast plain, and the uplifting allowed the Appalachian to rise up again, particularly during the Cenozoic Era (Geologic Provinces 7). What Geologic Processes were Available for the Formation? There were several geological processes that contribute to the shaping of the features of the Appalachian mountain ranges and the creation of the Appalachian mountain range itself. The most important perhaps is the plate collisions, which pushed the rocks upward to create the mountain range. Erosion was also part of the history of the formation of the Appalachian Mountain ranges. It comes into play during the time when the Appalachian region was flattened, a temporary state since the mountains will eventually be a towering feature again in this area after activity in rock movements resume and allowed the Appalachian mountain range to rise up. Other geological movements, like thrust faulting, are also at play throughout the history of the Appalachian mountain range. Criticisms Despite the presence of the theory on how the Appalachian Mountain ranges was created, there are still criticisms that challenge existing belief by providing newly discovered data involving the geological events and changes directly involved in the shaping and re-shaping the Appalachian Mountains. This is normal especially since the information on the Appalachian mountain range formation is not yet set on stone especially since there are still gapping holes that are not closed because of the absence of solid proofs to support scientific claims. One of the criticisms was raised in 2006 after scientists believed that they have found new evidence that can change how experts look at the formation of the Appalachian mountain ranges. According to an Ohio University professor, the ocean involved in the collision that started the creation of the Appalachian mountain ranges was not Iapetus but rather Rheic (Ohio University 7), which was believed to have been closed down after the collision between Gondwana and North America, leading to the formation of Pangea and the creation of Appalachian Mountain ranges (Ohio University 8). There are also those which point to other assumptions involving the Appalachian mountain ranges. Some believe that there were other mountain ranges and chains involved or interconnected with the Appalachian mountain ranges during the millions of years of its rise and erosion. What is today traditionally called the Appalachian Mountains really represents several different mountain chains, formed at different times over a span of at least 130 million years (Klyza, Trombulak 14). But despite the criticisms, the study and understanding of the Appalachians contribute significantly in scientific study. The scientific attitude and approach towards understanding and studying tectonics as well as mountain-building was developed largely by the efforts to study the Appalachian mountain ranges. Other plate tectonic concepts, even those that involve the studying of how oceans open and close before, was also influenced significantly by the study on Appalachian mountain range formation (Chapter 2: Plate T-11. Appalachian Mountains 3). Conclusion The history of the Appalachian Mountain ranges is something that is eventful and important today because it is significantly important to other important aspects of world history, like the formation of super-continents and its breaking apart, influencing the geography that modern world has today. Understanding this phenomenon may not be as easy but modern literature is growing and growing to provide more information about this aspect. Works Cited Adkins, Leonard M. Appalachian Trail: A Visitors Companion. Menasha Ridge Press, 1998. â€Å"Chapter 2: Plate T-11. Appalachian Mountains. † National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 6 October 2008. 25 February 2009 http://daac. gsfc. nasa. gov/geomorphology/GEO_2/GEO_PLATE_T-11. shtml. â€Å"Geologic Provinces of the United States: Appalachian Highlands Province. † United States Geological Survey (USGS). 13 January 2004. 25 February 2009 http://geomaps. wr. usgs. gov/parks/province/appalach. html. Klyza, Christopher McGrory and Trombulak, Stephen C. The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History. Middlebury College Museum of Art. 1999. Ohio University. â€Å"Geologists Find New Origins Of Appalachian Mountains. † Science Daily. 17 November 2006. February 24, 2009, from http://www. sciencedaily. com/releases/2006/11/061117123212. htm.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Apple Macro Environment

Apple Macro Environment Apple Inc Company, started by Steven Jobs, Steve Wozinak and Roynald Wayne is 30 years old now; Steven Jobs is the man behind this successful company. Apple has expanded from computers to consumer electronics over these years and lot of changes has occurred during these periods, which obviously happens in any creative industry. In the month of January 2007 the name was changed from Apple Computer Inc to Apple Inc Officially. Some of the products of apple over a decade are power Mac g4 cube, I pod, Mac book pro, I phone and the latest one is the I pad. In the marketing system economic environment plays a major significant role. It is concerned mainly about the consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. According to high economic growth assures higher standards of employment and income, which leads to marketing boom in many industries. Marketing plans are influenced by many economic items such as current income, prices, savings and credit. The major trends of income and consumer spending in the market should be known to the marketers. The economic factors of Apple Inc revenue in 2008 was less when compared to 2009. The revenue growth of 2009 was projected to increase by 10%. The sales of I phone and I pod increased enormously during this period. The iPod has contributed majorly for apple computers. The sales of personal computers decreased about 8% in 2009. They have updated the softwares in new iphone. Apple tv which was 40gb has been changed to 160 gb during sept 2009. They upgraded the imac by replacing the cold cathode fluroscent lamp with mercury free LED. These frequent changes in the products made the consumers to buy more. Since 2006 Apple inc has set and met the important goals to reduce the impact on the environment. Every product which is shipped has assessed the full life cycle of green house gas emissions (GHG). Green house gas emitted from the production, transport, use and recycling of products is over 95% and the rest 5% is used for facilities. Everyday operations and environmental impact is managed carefully by apple. Energy consumption by them is reducing year by year to control carbon emissions foot print. Apple has introduced a renewable energy in the year 2008 which has converted 100 % of energy to renewable sources. They have introduced recycling and composting programs to reduce the waste. Continuous environmental, health and safety managements are done to improve the product, process and services. Innovative ideas create a new product, changing the old product by updating new softwares. Factors and trends related to innovations that affect the development of new products or the marketing process. New technologies make the consumers to buy the product imperatively. Advanced technologies can bring forth latest industries, gives rise to new business and advance products for existing business. New technology factors can also create negative sides for business. To improve their positions marketers should constantly monitor the vocational environment to look for better opportunities. Apple inc is mainly dealing with computers and electronic gadgets so technology plays an important role. They update their softwares regularly so people tend to buy the new version one. In the year 2009 apple has updated many specifications like, desktops and mac notebooks earn epeat gold status, mac mini, imac and mac pro has met the energy star 5.0 specification, mac book pro has been updated by built in batteries and iphone 3GS has a power adapter which performs global energy efficiency standards. Apple inc is Planning to introduce the latest mobile device Ipad which is something very thin and has multi touch screen where you can experience the web, email, photos and videos within seconds. It is very convenient to handle also. Mostly all the functionalities will work in any orientation. This way you can check your mails, messages and chat with your friends immediately. Political Environment: The political environment consists of the laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence and limit various organizations and individuals in society. The social and economic environment is related closely to the political one. Some of the issues you must know are , what is the governments perspective on the economy, culture ,religion and finally on marketing ethics . Apple has invested approximately $ 580,000 since 2002 for political activities. The Cost cannot be determined exactly because reporting at the state level is incomplete and can be misguided. It has failed to publicly disclose its political contributions. It is a member of the retail industry leader association (RILA) acts as a solicitor for the retail industry. They are main members of American electronics association (AEA) .It represents mainly the technology segments, because apple is dealing with sophisticated electronic equipments. By doing this it modifies the governments at the state, federal and international levels; business opportunities and capital access are provided, Offering several business services and networking programs. Cultural Environment: This environment is mainly concerned about the peoples behavior and trends, cultural factors like values, ideas, attitudes, beliefs and the population of subgroups which affects consumers purchasing behavior. The cultural characteristics and trends in different markets must be carefully understood by the marketers. Apple inc targets the younger generations with more advanced technologies .The I phone, ipod and mac computers are spread worldwide. The companys target includes almost all sectors of the society, for younger and the older generation. They have designed the gadgets softwares and colors according to it. This kind of target market is larger sources of income. Most of them in the UK and the US are using apple inc products from ipod to the iphone. Hope in forthcoming generations it will be the ipad. SWOT ANALYSIS: This analysis is done after the PESTEL analysis. It tells about the External environment impact on the strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats that affect the business. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are the external factors (S)trengths: Strengths of apple inc are the speculations are given in detailed, Delivery to the customer is done perfectly in a controlled retail experience like apple store. Customers prefer apple inc products because of the quality and service they provide. (W)eakness: The weakness of apple inc is the cost which is very high for research and development when compared to other laptops like dell, hp etc..The unit sales will be limited because they never compete at the bottom end of the market. (O)pportunities: Opportunities of apple where I phone and virtualization can be re-entries to corporate market. I phone has been successful in corporate market by developing multiple price points. (T)hreats: The close competitor to the apple is Microsoft. Microsoft is good in the dominant PC operating system player it could stop the market shares. Microsoft has refined many OS from the XP to vista and now it is windows 7. OS 7/8 was one of the major disasters. Marketing Mix: To make a business achieve its objectives by marketing its products with different kind of strategies and services effectively to different consumer groups. The 4Ps plays a major role in any kind of business they are Product, Price, Promotion and Place. In addition there are 3Ps People, Process and Physical Evidence is called has the extended marketing mix. Any concern needs to make sure they are marketing the right product to the right person at the right price in the right place at the exact time with the necessary promotions. You should identify your target customer groups. For example: If you are taking bags and decided to target childrens of school and college, it would be appropriate to market Different designs of bags (Product) At a moderate rate (Price) Selling at stationers places (Place) Promoting some products with discounts (Promotion) Product Life Cycle: Product means tangible or physical items you are selling to the consumers. Marketing is about identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer needs. Product can be characterized by its means, materials, form and functions. A product will consist of a brand name, packing, service, maintenance and warranties. There are 3 levels of a product; The core product: Which is tangible and it is actually to satisfy the needs of the customer. Actual Product: The product is defined by such things like color, style, branding and fashion and how people are purchasing it. Augmented product: All the services offered after buying the product like warranties, guarantees, customer services and installation services. To keep the customers interested you should make clear that creating innovative products is becoming increasingly necessary for business. So consumers prefer apple Inc products. One of the booming industries in the world is mp3 players. Apple Inc has become popular in this market category. They are the innovators in the mp3 industry. Some of the hardware products include Macintosh computer, I pod, I phone, latest I pad and many more. Apple has created more portable devices where in the user can watch movies and videos through it. Through the use of proper strategy and varied opportunities, apple has achieved rapid growth and development within a short span of time. Services: The website of the company has all the support services which is available for the clients. If the product is not functioning properly the client can check it on the website and fix the problem. Consumers can get the helpful information about the product and can also download support systems. Company has different services centers all over the world. Price: According to the consumer point of view, price is a substantial factor. Value of the product or service at the market which is fiscally expressed is known has price. The price must be fixed according to the products quality and brand. Price fluctuates in certain periods which are done according to the market value. This P of marketing mix plays an important role in business because it tells about the revenue generated. To be stable in a business you should study about your competitors price Apple inc has a standard price for most of their products. They are targeting brand loyal customers. Fluctuation of products is done very rarely. Different market segments has various prices, clients will have lesser doubts about taking a look at the companys product and the products that they can afford. The starting price of Mac book is from  £816 is expensive when compared with other laptops. They have lot of good features when compared to others. When you are comparing the zune and the ipod, zune does not have WAV uncompressed and Bmp Photos file compatibility. They have the feather touch facilities and its very easy to handle. Services are done for free for a particular period of time. This is one of the major reasons many people choose apple products. Apple products range starts from ipod shuffle - £46 to the expensive mac pro which is  £1940. Customers know about the product standards and the services that are available. The 16gb ipad which is the latest gadget ranges fr om 499 -899 £. Customers will be definitely satisfied with the price, because they are getting the latest technology product with more features in it. Place: Place is also known as channel, distribution or intermediary. It is the means of distribution on the product which you select or service you are marketing. Pricing and promotion decisions will impact on your choice. Product can be sold through wholesalers and retailers. Distribution must be done in an effective and efficient manner in order to meet the marketing objectives. Two type of distributions they are Indirect and direct distribution. An Intermediary is used like the wholesaler and then to the retailer in indirect method. In the direct method dealing is directly done with the consumers and manufacturers . Intensive distribution is used to sell low price products. Exclusive distribution takes place in a single outlet and the product is highly priced. Selective distribution is where consumers are willing to shop around and small number of outlets are selected to circulate the product Apple inc products can be reached to customers through net by online purchasing. They use a very diverse distribution mix. The products can be purchased from apple directly. Products are available through various channels. Some of the online resellers are Amazon, eBay, Wal-Mart, cellular and electronic retailers. Apple has 286 retail stores worldwide and the latest one is opened in the New York City. The largest apple store is in regent street London. In India, Reliance retail has opened istore. Apple follows both distribution strategies like exclusive and the selective one. They have opened 31 stores in the year 2009, the first one was opened in village located in downtown and the last one was in Bristol at cribs causeway on Dec 12th. Apple is going to open many stores in the future and the rough figure is about 70 specific locations. Promotion: Promotion is done by communicating and explaining about the product uses to target customers. It is mainly made up of these factors like advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing and personal selling. By doing lot of promotions the customers can be updated about the products and also know the value of it. This activity takes place in the initial stage of marketing, for the customers to be familiar with the product. The communication process must be conveyed properly to the customers end and the promoter should get a feedback. With the feedback they can analyze and improve their strategies. The concern should start with the identification of prospects and customers should be kept informed what is happening and how the staffs are handling customer complaints. Apple inc uses many promotional methods the main is through advertising including the internet (website, banners and pop up ads). They are advertising also by means of TV commercials, magazine ads and also in store advertising. They have done lot of promotions like Think different campaigns and the ipod people. Apple has advertised couple of rebate offers for products last year they are iwork software, mobile me and printer promotions. Back to school offers was like getting a Mac for college and get a free ipod touch was the latest. Apple can change the terms and conditions of the promotion at any time without prior notice. The promotional activities attracted more number of customers to buy apple products. The touch rebate has changed its cost to  £229 when compared to the last year. Conclusion: From the above analysis macro environment and marketing mix is substantial factors for a concern to do good business. We feel that Apple must focus on several key aspects to continue to grow and succeed. They must continue a stable commitment to licensing, push for economies of scope between media and computers, and become a learning organization. In the Demographic part you can see that Apple Inc has opened more stores last year. More revenue has been created in the sales of ipod and iphone. Forthcoming year the revenue will be increased by ipad. Energy consumption and the resources are utilized in a proper way. Apple is so unique from other products because of its innovative design. Technology is improving day by day to make things very easier to the customers. Latest ipad will be one of the reasons for high technology. From the socio-cultural factors we come to know that they are targeting all age groups. By getting feedback from each and every people worldwide, they are improvisi ng the product. From these given factors they can know their positive and negative feedback. The 4 Ps of marketing mix describes about different marketing strategies. The marketing mix will focus to reach more marketers. In the coming years it will be able to provide a deeper analysis of marketing problems and also give direct solutions to it. It will be an analytical tool for various marketing solutions. The whole of marketing mix is important in developing effective positioning. The services of apple Inc have satisfied lot of customers. Product is purchased directly through internet mostly. Apple is planning to open many retail stores worldwide and the count is still going on.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Essay --

Alex opened his eyes to the taste of dust and blood. His head was on the floor. He tried to lift it, but to no avail. A small groan escaped his lips, followed by a fit of coughing. What happened? The scene before him was something out of a Michael Bay movie. Grey concrete, rebar, settling dust, unconscious bodies. Unconscious, or maybe dead. What happened? He tried to move his leg, with the effectiveness of putting out a fire with gasoline. It was crushed by several tonnes of concrete and twisted metal. What happened? He finally found the strength to raise his head a fraction of an inch from the concrete. Caroline. He desparately searched the carnage around him until his eyes locked on a face. His wife. Dammit, what the hell happened? He tried to lift his head further, but only succeeded in inducing a coughing fit, forcing him to relinquish the small amount of progress he had made. Suddenly, a weak, sickly sounding voice pierced the unnatual stillness that had enveloped the space since he awoke. â€Å"Hey.† Her lips were powder white, and the voice was barely above a whisper, but she was alive. He managed a weak smile before moving his own lips. â€Å"Hey.† His eyes traced a line from her face, down her body, only to see a foot of rebar protruding from her ribcage. His smile wavered, but he forced himself to keep a smile plastered on his own powder-caked face. Later. Later I’ll tell her. â€Å"How are you doing love?† â€Å"A little sore.† She managed a weak trace of a smile, that quickly turned into a grimace. Her labored breathing caused the rebar to sway back and forth, like a macabre tree in an invisible breeze. The effort of talking obviously exhausted her. He once again started examining the surrounding wreckage, giving her a little ti... ...bye to the love of his life. He gripped the steering wheel, and put the car in reverse, swinging out of the parking spot, and onto the open road, Caroline’s last words echoing in his head. â€Å"’Til Death do us part.† The words echoed all the way home, and followed him into the house. His every thought was occupied by her. The more he thought, the more he realized it felt like she was actually there. He closed his eyes, and opened them, disappointed to find that it wasn’t actually true. Despite this, he smiled and laid back, his head propped up, the way he used to do when she laid on top of him, often falling asleep on a summer afternoon, and only waking up to go to bed. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that made her seem absolutely tangible to him, despite the absense of her presense. He finally said, to nobody in particular, â€Å"Darling, you’ll never be dead to me.†

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Tiny Robots in Your Bloodstream: The Future of Medicine

The thought of microscopic robots traveling through your body may seem like a science fiction novel from the 1960’s but, in the next decade or so, it may become science fact. Imagine clogged arteries being swept clean, cancer cells detected and destroyed and kidney stones being dissolved, all done by minute robots, eliminating the need for costly and invasive surgery. These are just some of the possible applications of nanotechnology in medicine, also known as nanomedicine. Nanomedicine can dramatically improve medicine and healthcare beyond our imagination. Nanotechnology was first mentioned in 1959 in a talk given by physicist Richard Feynman. Although he did not use the term, he described a process by which a pair of normal sized robot arms would build a copy of itself that was one tenth its size. That pair of arms would continue the process and so on until the arms reached the size of a molecule. (Patel 63) This would be the level of nanotechnology. Nano comes from the Greek word meaning â€Å"dwarf†. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter and when we speak of nanotechnology we are speaking of devices in the 1 to 100 nanometer scale. To help visualize how small that is, a germ is about 1000 nm wide, a human hair is about 100,000 nm wide. (Marchant, G. E. 231) The scanning tunneling microscope, invented in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer, allowed humans to see individual atoms. Binnig and Rohrer both worked as physicists for the computer company IBM. The atomic force microscope was invented a few years later which allowed the user to actually move atoms by using a feeler with an extremely small, sharp needle on the end which allows it to see and move the atoms by f... ... and we will be able to create our own virtual realities that will integrate all our senses, expanding our intelligence in ways we cannot imagine. Nanomedicine will give rise to AI by giving humans extremely detailed scans and diagrams of the human brain and how it functions. Eventually, AI will be able to think and have emotional responses thanks to the info gathered by Nanobots. The two technologies will feed off one another resulting in a world that may be more wild than any science fiction novel ever written. (Kurzweil 40-46) It is clear that nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize health care and even transport humanity into the next evolutionary leap, but great care must be taken in order make sure we get there safely. Once technology becomes smarter than humanity, we may not be able to control our destiny any longer.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Psychological Theory And Research And The Foxwood Inclusion Education Essay

â€Å" Inclusive instruction is concerned with all scholars, with a focal point on those who have traditionally been excluded from educational chances – such as scholars with particular demands disablements, kids from cultural & A ; lingual minorities, and so on ( UNESCO, 2001 ) † This is an inclusion which was set out by the guidelines for learning. With that being the instance it is difficult to grok why some students with SEN, who â€Å" attend mainstream † school, are frequently still separated from their typically developing equals. This is known as integrating and was identified to hold 3 types ; location, societal or functional- ( Warnock, 1978 ) . . It can be seen by the survey of students with SEN who attended categories in a particular unit- Sinclair Taylor ( 1995 ) . Here it was found that these pupils, even though they had SEN, were cognizant of how others around them thought about them and knew they were non like the remainder of their typically developing equals due to this separation. The classification of those with SEN is based on medical rules and factors which Belanger ( 2000 ) researched and schools frequently abide by this theoretical account prior irrespective of their consent or want. What features can be identified that are consistent with the recommendations from psychological theory & A ; research? Inclusive instruction is centred on the human right to instruction, which was asserted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948: â€Å" Everyone has the right to instruction†¦ † ( art.26 – Universal Declaration of Human Rights ) From the present article it was addressed that the really word picture of what inclusion is to each individual needs to be addressed in articles environing this subject, an as Booth and Ainscow ( 2002 ) pointed this out as being â€Å" cardinal † to inclusion but which is frequently left out, The present survey does a good occupation to turn to their conceptualization of what inclusion is early in the article. From the Education Act ( 1981 ) and the Education ( NI ) Order ( 1986 ) the authorities had been be aftering a steady patterned advance towards inclusion. This entails that all kids should hold entree to a basic but good quality education- ( Frederickson & A ; Cline, 2002. ) There is grounds that kids can do appropriate advancement in a mainstream scene if specific course of study distinction and instruction schemes are employed ( Manset & A ; Semmel, 1997 ) . In the Foxwood inclusion, this was adhered to as the single plans were developed for the demands of each kid alternatively of them seeking to suit into a stiff plan or course of study that would non function their best involvement. Pupil diverseness is something which needs to be accounted for in order for successful inclusion to happen. Wedell ( 1995 ) besides reported that stiff learning methods and regulations that merely cater for typically developing pupils may do issues for pupils with SEN. Local instruction governments ( LEAs ) are now draw a bead oning to explicate 1why a kid ‘s demands can non be met in mainstream schools if they have SEN, 2 why inclusion can non be achieved without the intervention to other kids ‘s instruction 3and why inclusion puts emphasis on resources portraying it to be complicated to supply schools with resources. Some have implied that the impression of inclusion extends further than simple integrating. It is people ‘s revised thought that has led to a re-conceptualisation of â€Å" particular demands † . If troubles had by the students are recognized, it makes advancement more likely. Communication between those involved in the kid ‘s integrating into the new school was recognised by the Foxwood inclusion programme as being imperative. Mainstream categories, predating and during the first phases of debut of students from the SEN school, were provided with a equal readying bundle. This included workshop activities which were held by an inclusion squad member and besides the category instructor. This provided the pupils with information to help their supportive interactions towards the kids with SEN. The kids with SEN wore the same uniform as the remainder of the kids in the Foxwood inclusion strategy. This brought a sense of integrity and belonging to the kid as they were visually granted the sense of adjustment in and being the same as the other pupils. This characteristic has been given more attending in the US than the UK. What farther developments could be suggested? In a survey carried out by El-Ashry ( 2009 ) the relationship and attitude of instructors towards kids with a disablement and their inclusion into mainstream schools was investigated. This showed a negative attitude from the instructors towards these kids. However, instructors that reported a relationship with one of the kids with a disablement spoke more favorably of their inclusion. This could hence be implemented in schools and reversed to happen out the attitudes of kids with SEN towards their instructors and in add-on, the instructors ‘ attitude towards them. It could give penetration into the possibility of the kid with SEN picking up on the instructors ‘ attitude towards them and their ideas on inclusion, whether it is negative or positive. Conveyance to and from school would necessitate to guarantee the obliteration of a seeable barrier implemented between mainstream and SEN. If kids with SEN are required to utilize â€Å" particular conveyance † this is a seeable separation of them from their equals e.g. â€Å" The xanthous coach. † Goodman and Burton ( 2010 ) used â€Å" Semi-structured interviews to analyze instructors ‘ experiences and attacks to including pupils with BESD in mainstream instruction † . They stated that they found this difficult â€Å" due to a deficiency of resources and degree of proficiency † . Their work showed that although the sum of work done was extended and hence a assortment of schemes for working with pupils with BESD identified, they were still concerned that instructors still raised by issues resembling those recognized in policy over 20 old ages ago. This would propose that despite the alterations that have been made ; already established obstructions to guarantee inclusion have yet to be addressed. There would necessitate to be more schoolroom helpers available to help the instructors every bit good as the pupils. Wedell ( 2000 ) really stated that for effectual inclusive instruction at that place needs to be a greater alteration than is presently acknowledge d. Educational psychologists have a cardinal function to play, nevertheless the assorted demands placed upon them raises issues as to how they can concentrate on inclusion to accomplish a coveted result every bit good as support from specializer instructors ( Takala & A ; Aunio, 2005. ) Therefore once more at that place needs to be more resources and services available in any inclusion scene, nevertheless, the Foxwood inclusion did demo grounds of this. Information and communications engineering has potential for larning among students, as has the development of equal tutoring. This could advance the sense of belonging and credence for kids with SEN every bit good as a sense of duty towards them from their equals, which in bend may turn out to decrease the extent of intimidation. Class Wide Peer Tutoring, ( CWPT ) was used to heighten the spelling public presentation and societal interactions of three typical pupils and three pupils with mild disablements in an probe by Sideridis ( 1996. ) The consequences showed a addition in the truth of spelling of all pupils, an addition of pupils ‘ continuance of positive societal interactions and eventually the satisfaction of pupils and instructors showed an addition besides. Another survey showed the same consequences, although somewhat less clear cut, with regard to kids with autism ( Ward and Ayvazo 2006, Mc Donnell et Al 2001. ) If this was incorporated it could demo success and advance coveted emotional and societal success for both the kids with SEN and their equals. In such scenarios, learning and larning becomes a collaborative activity. How might the undermentioned facets be investigated: the societal competency & A ; affectional operation of the kids with SEN, and the attitudes & A ; behavior of their schoolmates towards them? Gresham et Al ( 1997 ) described this, societal capableness, as â€Å" multidimensional concept made up of societal accomplishments, adaptative behavior and equal relationship variables. † There are multiple ways in which societal competency or ability can be investigated. A technique which could be used would be the Roster and Rating Scale. It provides the kids with a record of all those being targeted for the intent of the consequences, i.e. , their schoolmates. The numerical graduated table is explained and the kid rates each kid in conformity with this. Forced Choice Group Preference Record is besides one which can be used. Connolly ( 1983, cited by Frederickson & A ; Furnham, ) emphasized the hazards of recognizing unpopular kids, yet, Fredrickson and Furnham ( 2004 ) argue that this fact-finding method is suited for mensurating societal inclusion and besides noted that few researches supported Connolly ‘s claim as small grounds was found to reenforce it. Frederickson & A ; Graham ( 1999 ) reported dependability and cogency with respects to the information which the method produced. The present survey investigated some of these facets by analyzing the relationship between strong-arming and exploitation between kids with SEN and their equals. In a reappraisal by Gresham ( 1997 ) it was concluded that kids with mild disablements had poorer societal accomplishments and besides displayed more clogging job behaviors. They were unsuccessfully accepted or discarded by equals. However, it is Important that the instruction proviso giv es extra attending to warrant that kids who have SEN are non subjected to severe societal rejection since they lack expertness in cardinal societal and emotional countries. Dodge et Al ( 1982 ) illustrated that kids with SEN experienced troubles in certain societal state of affairss as they found it hard to construe these state of affairss in the manner that their equals could. The â€Å" Guess who † societal behavior, bully and victim steps developed by Frederickson & A ; Graham ( 1999 ) was used in the Foxwood inclusion strategy and is utile for the indicant of the pupils sentiments to give an penetration into the attitudes towards the kids with SEN. Some worried that if kids with SEN were incorporated into a schoolroom or school with typically developing kids, that the typically underdeveloped kids would be disrupted. However research by Kalmabouka et Al ( 2007 ) found there to be no unfavorable effects for the first initial pupils when SEN kids were included in the school. In the Foxwood inclusion article, it was reported that Trends in equal studies of strong-arming suggest that there is no room for complacence and that ongoing monitoring is required. Humphrey ( 2008 ) worryingly admitted that after their research for including kids with SEN among their equals that â€Å" none of the schemes outlined here or elsewhere are likely to be successful unless they are underpinned by nucleus values and attitudes that include regard for ( and jubilation of ) diverseness. † Decision of inclusion The current Foxwood inclusion strategy made usage of bing research and schemes, every bit good as guidelines for successful inclusion. The students were good supported and accepted contrary to Warnock ‘s ( 2005 ) uncertainnesss. The equal readying bundle may be responsible for the differences among the consequences of credence. They admitted more research would be insightful. In order for the concerns of intimidation and credence within the schoolroom, the literature could be farther examined to set into topographic point any suggested which may farther better the state of affairs. Combined work on inclusion along with the hereafter developments discussed supra could hopefully retroflex the consequences shown by the Foxwood strategy except on a more cosmopolitan graduated table. The inclusion of a kid would normally come about by the petitions of the parent or the kid ; therefore it is the figures in the educational system, pupils and parents etc to guarantee the kid ‘s e xperience is worthwhile.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Inclusive Growth of India: a Study of the Informal Sector in India Essay

India’s post 1990’s economic growth has made it one of the world’s fastest growing economies in the world. Its GDP growth rates of about 9% in the last few years are historically unparalleled except by the neighbo ring China. With the rapid growth rates, however, come new challenges and new questions. One such challenging question concerns the spread of the benefits of growth across different segments of society. To ensure that growth has been well distributed, India’s Planning Commission has made Inclusive Growth their explicit goal in the eleventh five-year plan. The concept of Inclusive Growth has dominated discussions across India. Its popularity has sparked intense discussions among politicians, economists, policymakers and the general public. In addition, Inclusive Growth has been the focus of studies by bilateral and multilateral aid agencies such as the UN, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Foundations such as the ICICI Foundation, NGOs, and Civil Society Organizations alike. However, Inclusive Growth should not be confused with Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). Despite all the attention that Inclusive Growth has received in the last few years, there lacks a precise and agreed upon definition of the te rm. Overall, the literature is divided between two concepts; whether the benefits reach the poor and whether the benefits reach the poor proportionately more than it reaches the non-poor. By the first definition, India may have performed quite remarkably i n the last two decades, although the magnitude is hotly debated. By the second definition, India’s performance against inclusive growth seems more lackluster. Gini coefficient indicates that income inequality in India has increased from 0. 209 in 1980-81 to about 0. 257 in 2005-06 both at an overall level as well in almost all f the states both for urban and rural areas . There are evidences suggesting that growth in the lower income states is relatively lesser than the growth in high income states. Not only this, but studies have shown that the rising disparity is also present at an intra-state level too. To address these challenges going forward, evidence suggests that there are a number of macro and micro level interventions that are poverty reducing and th us conducive to Inclusive Growth. At macro level, there is little doubt about the usefulness of the augmented Washington Consensus (Rodrik, 2006). At micro level, evidence suggests that improving the following factors will help accelerate poverty reduction : reduction of inequality, not limited to income inequality, access to public infrastructure and services especially health and education, access to markets, accountability and voice, good governance, and the role of civil society organizations, women empowerment. Inclusive growth can also be studied as a clash between the informal as the formal sector. Various literatures are available in the following context by noted economists and policy makers. A firm stand to improve the condition of the economy is subsided in the entrepreneurship sector of the country, which holds huge potential. The Indian economy today boasts of many magnificent opportunities but sadly enough, not many of them are fully utilized. The entrepreneurship front of the country epitomizes such a condition. Liberalization of economy started by the PV Narasimha Rao government in 1991 and the Information Technology boom of the mid and late 90? s have ushered in tremendous changes and set the stage for a wave of entrepreneurship taking India by storm. The capacity of Indians for entrepreneurship is substantial. However, the society and government have not been very encouraging towards entrepreneurship in India. The rankings of India have also been deteriorating in the recent years. From a rank of 2 in the field of Total Entrepreneurship Activity (TEA) according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring Reports, India’s position has been slipping ever since and has reached a level rather close to the world average. In spite of the shortcomings, it ranked ninth in the survey of entrepreneurial countries by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). India ranks the highest among a group of countries in n ecessitybased entrepreneurship, which is associated with developing countries. Conversely, it ranks fifth from the bottom in opportunity -based entrepreneurship. Indians have entrepreneurial capacity. However the society and government are not very encoura ging towards entrepreneurship. To a large extent, the Indian society is risk averse. People usually seek secure and long -term employment, such as government jobs. The physical infrastructure needs to be improved. Social Attitudes, lack of capital, inadequa te physical infrastructure and lack of government upport are major factors of hindrance. While the growth trends of India and China are similar, both had initiated different policies in their approaches. While China was mostly growing on FDIs, India was b uilding a rather self-sustaining model for growth as it concentrated on the institutions that supported private enterprise by building a stronger infrastructure for its development. The Government has encouraged entrepreneurship by providing training and also the facilities to succeed, particularly in the rural areas. One style of innovation that really works in a country as large and diverse as India, is grassroots innovation: this includes inventions for a milieu that is quintessentially Indian. The middle-class Indian has been growing rapidly in context to the global economy. In an era of globalization, a middle class of 250million and rising can be considered a â€Å"veritable gold mine†. The G7 economies account for almost 67% of the global GDP at a market exchange rate and this has been the scenario since 1965. Underpinning the performance of the G7, and indeed driving the global economy, is a large middle class. The midd le class is an ambiguous social classification, broadly reflecting the ability to lead a comfortable life. The middle class has played a special role in economic thought for centuries. It emerged out of the bourgeoisie in the late fourteenth century, a group that while derided by some for their economic materialism provided the impetus for an expansion of a capitalist market economy and trade between nation states. Ever since, the middle class has been thought of as the source of entrepreneurship and innovation—the small businesses that make a modern economy thrive. Middle class values also emphasize education, hard work and thrift. Thus, the middle class is the source of all the needed inputs for growth in a neoclassical economy — new ideas, physical capital accumulation and human capital accumulation. The role of Asia, who accounts for just les s than 1/4th of the middle class population of the world, could boast of doubled figures of the same by 2020, accounting for around 40% of the global middle class GDP. With the exception of Japan and Oceania, Asia’s rapid growth has not been driven by a la rge domestic middle class. The expansion of factors of production driving potential output has happened without a significant middle class. Saving and education have been willingly undertaken even by poor households, in the face of large returns to such ac tivities in a globalized world, as well as by governments. Technology has been imported from abroad by corporations through FDI, imported machinery and participation in global supply chains. Thus with the American consumers retreating back after facing fears of a double dip recession now, it suits well for the emerging Asian economies like China and India to step up and fill the consumption voids. Within Asia there is significant talk of rebalancing towards domestic demand (more specifically domestic consumption) as a way of sustaining growth in the face of potentially sluggish exports. But the policy prescriptions to achieve such a rebalancing are not easy. They involve creation of a social safety net, medical insurance schemes, and better public education services. In short, Asian consumption is tied in the minds of many analysts to long -term institutional changes. Given the difficulties of implementing such changes, it is hard to be very confident that this rebalancing will happen in the medium term. The lack of inclusivity is again clearly shown in the Indian scenario. The middle class consumption levels are far below the average global levels. There exist such disparities on the expenditure side due to the fact that the middle class is largely inactive in this process. Moving back to the production side of the economy, the retail industry in India has been showing tremendous potential amidst the bullish growth trends of the economy as a whole. To prove this point, we see that the penetration of the organized retail sector in the US is about 85% while that in India is just about 8% (Velagapudi, 2011). The retail industry can be divided into registered as well as unregistered sectors. The unregistered sector, which usually includes all the small grocery shops, street vendors etc, accounts for over 93% labor force. Although as seen earlier, the value added to the SDP and consequently the GDP isn’t even comparable to that by the organized sector. The initial target is to bring the contribution of the organized sector to 9-10%. Retail industry is also the 2 nd largest employment provider in India after agriculture. The penetration of organized retail will happen much faster in the coming decade, even in tier and tier 3 cities, because of the changing demographic s of our population and a healthy rate of economic growth. With good underlying economic growth, increase in disposable income, increased awareness due to penetration of broadband and mobile devices with internet accessibility, the demand for consumer goods will rise. With better systems and processes in place, all this is bound to assist in increasing the penetration of the organized retail sector in India. The organized retail market in India is expected to grow to 14-18% by 2015 of the total retail market in India from 8% in 2008. Its value is estimated to be around US$450 billion by 2015 (Mckinsey Reports). The BMI India Retail Report for the first quarter of 2011 forecasts that the total retail sales will grow to US$ 674. 37 billion by 2014, from US$ 392. 63 billion in 2011. The growing wealth with the middle-class in India, the population size and the big percentage of population being in 30s, makes immense possibilities for entrepreneurial growth in the retail sector. Some of the fastest growing segments of this industry are food & beverages, electronics and apparels. The consumer electronics segment is expected to grow at about 55% between 2011-2014, with most of the growth driven by demand for TVs, mobile devices and laptops and desktops. With changing lifestyles and habits, food segment is also expected to double to US$ 150 billion by 2025. Inclusive Growth: A Review of Literature This section is a review section of the disproportionality between the registered and the unregistered manufacturing secto rs. The causes that have been suggested by various authors through their studies have been put forward with an aim to assemble and study the registered as well as the unregistered sector thoroughly. The section starts off with the causes of differentiatio n between the registered as well as the unregistered sector and their differences in productivity , followed by how a thrust can propel the unregistered sector into the registered sector. This is followed by literature about the employment scenario in India for both the sectors and how there exists a large disproportionality. Finally the section ends with a study of the registered manufacturing sector and a study on the role of infrastructure in the economic developments. The growing divergence between the i nformal and the formal sectors, especially in the manufacturing sector can be seen as one of the major causes for lack of inclusive growth in the country. The paper by Goldar, Mitra and Kumari shows us useful evidences regarding the same. The paper claims that the economic reforms of 1991 had a negative impact on the informal sector since import restrictions had been removed and the informal manufacturing sector started facing even more stringent competition from producers whose products were of a better qu ality. It shows evidences that the value added by the informal nonagricultural sector kept on falling even though the employment rate increased from 76% in 1983 to 83% in 1999-2000, thus exhibiting a downward trend in productivity. Empirical data study suggests that the growth of employment in the informal manufacturing sector has always been higher than the employment growth rate of the total manufacturing sector (3. 3% over 3. 1% in 1961-87) which includes the period of â€Å"Jobless Growth† in the 1980s where the employment rate of the organized manufacturing sector was -0. %per anum. But when it comes to value added, the informal sector lags behind, which is the chief cause of serious concern of the Indian economy. Data trends show us that post liberalization, the value added by the informal manufacturing sector fell from 6. 1% (1980 -90) to 4. 89%(1990-2005). In this context, a paper by Sreepriya S. lays emphasis on the development of the informal sector and how government policy measures should be taken to increa se the productivity of the sector. The paper points out that in an economy which is labor abundant and is developing, the significance of the small -scale sector which is less capital intensive and generates employment for over 86% of the workforce of the country is of utmost importance. The informal sector constitutes a major component of the small sector industries in the manufacturing sector. The problem lies in the fact that 86% of the workforce only adds on 25% value to the economy, 20. 5% of the fixed capital and 16. 9% of the total output produced. A particular significant result in this context can be seen in the agricultural sector. A study by the NSSO shows us that even in 2009-10 around 67% of the rural population as well as 6. 7% of the urban populat ion is dependent on the agricultural sector even though it contributes to only 14% of the GDP. This further enhances the stand on the widening disparity amongst the distribution of income amongst the population. In a paper by Maiti & Mitra ( January 2011), the proposition is put forward that since the informal sector only caters to the local and regional demands and with ubstantial exposure to education and technical skills, the producers in the informal sector will be elevated to the formal level. With this perspective, the paper looks into the supply push component of the informal sector across Indian states. But a paper by Chowdhury (EPW August 2011) on the employment structure of India suggests that that there has been a decline in the labor force participation rate (LFPR) for both rural and urban women in the NSSO surveys of 2004-05. This, he concluded, was due to the increased interest in attaining education for the women were the cause of the fall in LFPR. Similar is the explanation for the slow gro wth in LFPR for women through 2004-05 and 200910. But this explanation does not adequately explain the employment scenario of the country. This is because the gap created by the fall in employment of the age group 15-24 due to the desire of attainment of education should have been filled up by the other age divisions. This brings forth the point that in order to attain inclusive growth the employment structure needs to be structured on stronger grounds so as to accommodate the growth as well as the metamor phosis of the informal sector. Another interesting paper by Rana Hasan shows how the Indian employment scenario is condensed in either small or large enterprises where the medium enterprises lose out completely. He suggests that the formal sector with la rge enterprises offers better perks and incentives but the layoff risks are much higher resulting in lesser job security. While in the case of the unregistered sector, it accounts for most of the total manufacturing employment. This contradiction, he explained, is due to the labor regulations which are in place within the country. A strong urge here is made to liberalize the labor market finally. Hasan used empirical and statistical data to show that 85% of the workforce of India is working in firms with a total workforce of less than 50. This suggests a strong implication that large enterprises are more productive and pay more to their workforce (as per statistics). Thus the dominance of the work force in smaller informal sectors suggests that most of the workforce has to settle for a low wages as per comparisons. Rana uses the concept of economies of scale to explain the problem of the â€Å"missing middle†. He shows as to how the highly productive large sectors are usually more capital intensive, maintaining a very low labor to capital ratio while the other traditional industries like textiles is more labor intensive. Hence since the textile industry employment rate is 12times more than that of the automobile industry; it has a significant claim on the total emp loyment structure of the economy. As our economy is more dominated by industries like the textile industry rather than capital intensive automobile industry, we can see why the middle economy is still undeveloped. A study by Das &Kalita shows empirical evidences regarding the context of inclusivity of growth in the registered sector. The paper addresses the issue of declining labor intensity in India’s organized manufacturing in order to understand the constraints on employment generation in the labor intensive sectors. Using primary survey data covering 252 labor intensive manufacturingexporting firms across five sectors—apparel, leather, gems and jewelry, sports goods, and bicycles for 2005-06, they attempted to find out the factors which constrain employment generation in labor intensive firms. Their study shows several constraints in the path of employment generation in labo r intensive sectors—non-availability of trained skilled workers, infrastructure bottlenecks, low levels of investment, labor rules and regulations, and a noncompetitive export orientation. They also shed light on the decade of â€Å"jobless growth† where the economy was witnessing an increase in output and value added in the manufacturing sector but there was no increase in the employment scenario of the sector. As per statistics, only 484,000 jobs were created in the registered factory sector between 1980-90. There are many a reasons cited amongst which it can be considered that maybe the difficulty in labor retrenchment post the job security regulations in 1970 which forced employers to shift to a more capital intensive mode of production. They also cited another reason as the capital deepening technique adopted by firms which increased the real cost of labor in the 1980s. Their study also points out towards the inefficiency of the economic reforms in migrating the majority of the workforce from the unregistered sector to the registered sector. A mere 13% employment generation of the registered manufacturing sector after a decade of liberalization highlights the inefficiencies. This was not however the case throughout the decade. As per Nagraj, the initial years of the reforms showed us a growth in the employment of the registered sector but this boom soon turned bust as the momentum could not be sustained in the latter half of the decade. As per statistics, around 1. 1 million people of around 15% of the workforce of the registered sector lost their jobs during 1995 2000. The problem of inclusive growth is again witnessed as we face a quest ion as to why the labor intensive section of the organized sector failed to generate employment potential despite good performances by some of these sectors individually.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

How does Rees use Language to Make the Reader Empathise with Mary? Essay

In the story, Witch Child, Celia Rees uses many different components of language to make the reader empathise with the main character, Mary. Witch Child is a book, compiled of diary entries, written by a young woman called Mary, who lived in the 17th century. Rees uses empathy to make the book seem more personal, like the reader is the only one reading it. Empathy is also important, because it is when you understand and identify with somebody else’s problems or emotions, and if the reader feels a bond with Mary then they are going to continue reading the book. It keeps the book gripping and stimulating. Celia Rees creates empathy in many ways, using a clever but subtle style. She uses factors such as sentence structure, emotive language and tone to provoke a feeling, similar to the one she has created for Mary. Rees’s style means that without the reader realising it, they become hooked. In this essay, I will be finding out how she uses language to do this and will be including quote from the book. At the beginning, before the story begins we are given a little background information. This information is not true but we are told that the diary entries were found hidden and that they are a true story. Witch Child is in fact entirely fiction but this prologue helps with creating empathy because if the reader believes it is real then their emotions are also more likely to be real. If something is realistic then you are going to believe it where as if you know it is made up, then you will not relate to it. Also the way that it is in diary format helps as well. It makes it seem more personal and make the reader feel valued because they have been allowed to read personal thoughts and feelings. The language Celia Rees uses has a large effect on the way the reader interprets her words. Some of the language is in the style of how it would have been written in the time the book is set. Sometimes the words in the sentence are in a different order to what is familiar today, and sometimes she just uses uncommon words. However, Rees has used a simplified language, to appeal more to her target audience, of teenage and older children. This is sensible because a diary in the 1600’s would have been written in such a way that modern children/teenagers may have struggled to understand the meaning behind her words. Celia Rees intentionally chose this language, and it has helped the book seem more realistic. Mary goes through a lot as she grows from a girl to a woman. At the beginning her grandmother, who was her main guardian and who she was very close to, was killed after being accused of being a witch. This is a key part of the story, and is carried through the story. It makes the reader empathise with Mary because her grandmother is her only family, and the only one that has ever cared for her, so when she is taken away it would have been very upsetting. One quote from the book that I think illustrates this well is ‘The men watched, as the woman did this and my grandmother was forced to stand before their gloating eyes, a naked old lady†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This quote is from when her grandmother is going through witch tests. The reader empathises with Mary at this point because Mary empathises with her grandmother. The words ‘naked’ and ‘old’ make her grandmother seem vulnerable and helpless. She sounds vulnerable because she is naked and being watched by strangers. The way she is described as ‘old’ makes her seem defenceless, which to some extent was probably true. She had no dignity in front of the men and was probably embarrassed and ashamed. The word ‘forced’ makes it sound like the men have bullied her into it. Rees tells the story so that the men seem higher and superior (but cruel) and her grandmother seems humble and this makes her sound innocent. The men seem quite sick and perverted for wanting to watch an old woman naked. The word ‘gloating’ makes it sound like they are proud of themselves and happy that an old woman is being hurt. The men’s eyes are described which implies that they are watching intently. We feel empathy for Mary because she must have been there, to know the story is such detail, and the reader feels bad because they know there is nothing she can do. Also the reader feels guilty because the way Mary has written ‘my’ makes it sound like she is quite protective of her grandmother. Also you get the impression that, understandably, Mary resents the woman that is hurting her grandmother and as I have already said, the reader automatically thinks the woman and men are cruel and the bad ones, therefore again the reader empathises with Mary. This is also near the first time the witch theme is mentioned. The quote seems so horrific it makes you think that they wouldn’t just do it to anyone. This makes you wonder whether she was actually a witch, and this question is continued to be asked throughout the book. Another quote from the book is, ‘I seized on this, turning the leaves, hoping that here I would find the answers to ease my heart’. The first thing the reader thinks about and pictures is Mary, searching in desperation. This shows she is curious to find out about her past. You get the idea she is so frantic that she has forgotten her surroundings and is lost in her own world. You think of her searching because Rees says ‘find answers’ and ‘turning the leaves’. The whole quote creates a distressed and quite depressing atmosphere. ‘Seized on this’ makes her sound even more fraught because it makes it sound like she really noticed it, and immediately thought it could solve her uncertainties. The way Rees uses the phrase ‘ease my heart’ makes you realise that Mary must have been fretting over it for a long time. ‘Ease my heart’ is also an example of emotive language because it is powerful and provokes a reaction from the reader. Another example of emotive language in the quote is ‘hoping’ and both of these makes you feel empathy with Mary because you feel her longing, and therefore create a stronger bond with her. Emotive language adds to empathy between the reader and Mary because if you feel a bond then you are going to understand her emotions and link it to yourself. Rees also uses quite an old fashioned style of language. She uses the word ‘leaves’ which these days is unlikely to be used, a more familiar word would be pages. This makes it more realistic, which means the reader is more likely to connect with Mary and feel empathy. You feel empathy with Mary because most people have really wanted to know or find something out. The reader also feels empathy with Mary because the quote is quite personal and, I think, quite obviously from a diary. This makes her emotions seem raw and unchanged, and this makes the bond stronger between her and the reader because it sounds like her feelings are truly coming from her heart. The bond strengthens as the quote goes on. This is because with each clause she adds more detail, creating a more intense image and making your emotions more extreme and that therefore increases the level of empathy between Mary and the reader. In this quote you also start to get the impression that Mary is an outsider. This is because she has just boarded the boat she will be travelling on and is sat on her own looking through a case at this point; instead she could be meeting new people or exploring the boat. This is a theme that is carried on throughout the book. Rees carries on portraying Mary as an outcast throughout the book. The reader wonders why this is. It could be because Mary’s grandmother was killed, or it could be to do with the fact that she has to cover up any signs of her supernatural background. The next quote shows the way she has to hide her abilities in order to try and fit in, ‘I have seen his past. I have seen his future. I know how death will come to him and I feel the knowledge like a burden. Grandmother said never to reveal the manner of someone dying.’ This quote continues both the witch and the not fitting in theme. It goes against the common belief that witches don’t exist because it’s saying she has seen an extraordinary thing, and has powers. It makes the reader wonder whether she is actually a witch or whether she was hallucinating. The reader feels sorry for her because she has just seen something very important and she has to keep it to herself. The reader empathises with Mary b ecause she can’t do anything about the powers she was given, she didn’t ask for them, she was just given them, and all she wants to do is live a normal life, and she can’t. She is trying to be good and please everyone, her grandmother wouldn’t have wanted her to tell but she is probably wondering if it would be the best thing or not. The whole quote creates a stressed atmosphere and there is definitely a sense of confusion, while she is trying o work out what to do for the best. The way Rees says ‘like a burden’ makes it sound like Mary really didn’t want to have that vision, and now she has to keep it to herself it’s even worse. It also makes it sound like it strains her, which probably means she has had more than one of these visions. You also get the impression that she has had numerous visions because it says ‘Grandmother said’ which make it sound like her and her grandmother talked about how to deal with them. The fact that she has had several premonitions intensifies the empathy connecting the reader and Mary because she must have been put under a lot of stress. The quote sounds almost like she is keeping something to herself, and that she is not really saying how she feels about the event. She doesn’t say whether she is angry, proud or any emotion. This could be Rees cleverly linking in the time when the book was supposedly written. In the 1600’s, the norm was not to show what you were feeling inside. This would explain why she has not written it. However this explanation has a weakness because the book is composed of diary entries, so why would she hold her feelings back. The quote has quite a few short sentences in it. These make it dramatic and it gets to the point. It can mean a point is emphasised, and in this case it does. It means that there is only one point in the sentence and so the reader’s attention can’t be diverted. Mary never seems to be sure of what she is meant to be doing. She doesn’t really stand up for herself and nearly always does what other people tell her. A good example of this is, ‘I do not know what this place has in store for me. The ship is familiar to me; it has been home to me’. This quote is appropriate because Mary doesn’t want to leave her comfort zone, but will when everybody else goes. She doesn’t really stand up for herself because she has got on a boat and is now in America, with no-one she knows. This quote makes the reader feel empathy connecting themselves and Mary, because most people have been reluctant to do something and to leave their comfort zone which is exactly what Mary is feeling at the moment. Sentence structure plays a key part in how the sentence comes across. Short sentences often sound more dramatic and can add pace to a sentence. Long sentences can be used to add detail and make an image in the readers mind. Witch Child uses both short and long sentences add different effects, including empathy. In this quote short sentences help the reader to understand Mary’s emotion. The short sentences make it sound like she is speaking fast which could be linked to panicking and not wanting to do something you have to. This adds to the empathy because if she is panicking it means it is something she really doesn’t want to do, which makes the reader feel almost guilt. The short sentences add pace and make you realise she can’t go back. You feel guilty because even though it isn’t your fault you feel like your taking the only thing that’s normal away from her. The word ‘familiar’ makes you think the boat is comforting and she is happy on board. The quote also makes you realise that even if she did protest, they had already made the journey and there was nothing she could do about it, she was stuck in America. The reader also questions why Mary doesn’t want to leave the boat, whether it is just that the boat is familiar or whether there is something more to it. The reader could wonder, maybe she doesn’t want to have to make a whole new life, maybe she’s scared of being rejected by the others or maybe she’s scared the new people will find out she’s a witch. Again her emotions are not clearly written about; instead the style in which it is written means you can pick it up from the context. It could be as before, the age problem, nobody then talked about their feelings. Another explanation could be that she doesn’t want to come to terms with her feelings because they will upset her. If that were true then there would be a stronger sense of empathy because the reader would feel sorry for Mary, not being able to display her emotions openly. Rees uses powerful words to get through to the reader. In each of the quotes I have chosen so far I have picked at least one word out, and I probably could in most of the book. ‘My few precious things. All I have to show for my life so far lived’. There are powerful words in this quote that are very important, without them, the quote wouldn’t mean the same thing. The words ‘precious’ and ‘few’ makes the items seem very dear and valuable to her and makes it sound like she’s needy. They are all she’s got, which makes her sound like she’s alone. You also get the impression that she relies on them and this makes her sound vulnerable. The outcast theme is continued here because she is alone and has been rejected by the group. This is a depressing part because she has nothing positive in her life. However she values what she has and is not being a brat by saying that she wants more. The words ‘all I have’ also makes her sound weak. The reader understands Mary’s feelings at this point because she sounds vulnerable and susceptible which makes her sound innocent and the reader is more likely to trust and feel close to her if they think she is innocent. The reader also feels empathy with Mary because she has been rejected by a group, which is what she has always feared, and this makes the outcome even more damaging. The quote again is written in an old fashioned/ unusual style. This time it is not the words used but actually the word order; ‘so far lived’ is an unusual way of arranging the words, the normal way today would be ‘lived so far’ or just simply ‘so far’. Celia Rees uses many effects to get the reader to feel empathy, and they have all worked. She cleverly made choices so the reader was drawn in and made to feel a connection and friendship with Mary. From analysing quotes I have learnt a lot more than at first glance.