Monday, September 30, 2019

Media Worksheet

What were the major developments in the evolution of mass media during the 20th century? During the 1900’s magazines along with newspapers became the leading literature for media. When the 1940’s rolled around radio was invented and became the new way to get in touch with the masses. Folks often tuned into to get the news on what was going on during the war. Even though radio was new there was still a high demand for the newspaper as a way to get and stay informed on different things.Then in the1950’s television became the new source for information and resources for mass media. Television was everything all rolled up into one and the people loved it. In 1962 technology grew and they came up with the Satellites which gave the masses or the American Culture access to news all around the world. Today we can all just see how far technology has came and how endless the possibilities may be for the future. There are many forms of communication and it just continues to grow and communication has become almost instant these days.There is a never ending demand for more speed, more apps and new computers with high performance and so many other ways to communicate and relay information to the masses. People want instant answers to their questions and concerns and mass media makes it happen for the people. Technology only seems to grow more and more as the demand for new ways to communicate grow with it. There is always the next best thing right after the next best thing to have and buy in way of, phones, computers, and I-pads for social networks and so on.How did each development influence American culture? Mass media has developed strongly over the past years. The development of mass media has had a big influence on the American culture in many ways. It seems today, that mass media has endless possibilities to reach people. Initially in American culture we only communicated orally. In the past people depended on teachers and story tellers to obtain knowledge. One of the beginning developments in mass media was the ability to print.As far back as the 1400’s there were books in the starting stages of becoming available to people the mass media audience. Then we had the development of the Telegraph as a way of communication that was instant, and it did away with the need to transport written information. The creation of the telegraph opened the doors to cell phones, radio and fax machines. In the Twentieth century we entered the phase of electronics. This new age of information brought television to the American culture and lead to other resources like satellite and computers.Then we moved into the digital phase which gave a wealth of power to a common person. So as we can see mass media has had a profound affect on American culture in ways we have evolved in communication. No longer relying on one certain source to gain knowledge or information, we now have many avenues of media and communication that are instant and avai lable and will only continue to become better, which allows the American culture to stay in touch, get informed, and help them better and faster with communication and recourses.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Last Sacrifice Chapter Twenty

â€Å"YOU SHOULD SLEEP.' Sydney's soft voice nearly made me leap out of my skin, proving that even while in Lissa's mind, I could still stay alert. I tuned back to Sonya's dark living room. Aside from Sydney, everything was quiet and at peace. â€Å"You look like the walking dead,' she continued. â€Å"And I don't say that lightly.' â€Å"I've got to stay on watch,' I said. â€Å"I'll watch. You sleep.' â€Å"You're not trained like me,' I pointed out. â€Å"You might miss something.' â€Å"Even I wouldn't miss Strigoi beating down the door,' she replied. â€Å"Look, I know you guys are tough. You don't have to convince me. But I have a feeling things are going to get harder, and I don't want you passing out at some crucial moment. If you sleep now, you can relieve Dimitri later.' Only the mention of Dimitri made me give in. We would need to relieve each other eventually. So, reluctantly, I crawled into Sydney's bed on the floor, giving her all sorts of instructions that I think she rolled her eyes at. I fell asleep almost instantly and then woke up just as quickly when I heard the sound of a door closing. I immediately sat upright, expecting to see Strigoi busting down the door. Instead, I found sunlight creeping in through the windows and Sydney watching me with amusement. In the living room, Robert was sitting up on the couch, rubbing his eyes. Victor was gone. I turned to Sydney in alarm. â€Å"He's in the bathroom,' she said, anticipating my question. That was the sound I'd heard. I exhaled in relief and stood up, surprised at how even a few hours of sleep had energized me. If I only had food, I'd be ready for anything. Sonya didn't have any, of course, but I settled for a glass of water in the kitchen. As I stood there drinking, I noticed that the Dashkov brothers had made themselves at home: coats hanging on hooks, car keys on the counter. I quietly grabbed hold of the keys and called for Sydney. She came in, and I slipped her the keys, trying not to let them rattle. â€Å"Do you still know about cars?' I murmured. In one exquisite look, she told me that was a ridiculous and insulting question. â€Å"Okay. Can you go do a grocery run? We're going to need food. And maybe on your way out, you can, um, make sure their car has engine trouble or something? Anything that keeps it here. But not something obvious, like slashed tires.' She put the keys in her pocket. â€Å"Easy. Got any food requests?' I thought about it. â€Å"Something with sugar. And coffee for Dimitri.' â€Å"Coffee's a given,' she said. Victor stepped into the kitchen, his typically unconcerned expression making me think he hadn't heard me instructing Sydney to sabotage his car. â€Å"Sydney's getting groceries,' I said, hoping to distract him before he might notice the missing keys. â€Å"Need anything?' â€Å"A feeder would be nice, but barring that, Robert has an especial liking for Cheerios. The apple cinnamon kind.' He smiled at Sydney. â€Å"I never thought I'd see the day an Alchemist would be an errand girl. It's charming.' Sydney opened her mouth, no doubt to make some biting comment, and I quickly shook my head. â€Å"Just go,' I said. She went, and Victor soon returned to Robert's side. Convinced the brothers wouldn't be going anywhere in full daylight without a car, I decided it was time to check on Dimitri. To my surprise, Sonya was awake. She sat cross-legged on the bed with him, and the two spoke in hushed tones. Her hair was disheveled from both sleep and fighting, but otherwise, she showed no cuts or bruises from the battle. Dimitri had been the same after his transformation, escaping terrible burns. The power of a Strigoi restoration healed all injuries. Between my skinned legs and pseudo-concussion, I kind of wished someone had transformed me from a Strigoi. Sonya turned from Dimitri as I entered. A sequence of emotions passed across her face. Fear. Astonishment. Recognition. â€Å"Rose?' There was hesitancy in the word, like she wondered if I was a hallucination. I forced a smile. â€Å"It's good to see you again.' I chose not to add, â€Å"Now that you're not trying to suck the life out of me.' She averted her eyes down to her hands, studying her fingers like they were magical and wonderful. Of course, after being a monster, maybe having her â€Å"old hands' back really was wondrous. The day after his change, Dimitri hadn't seemed quite so fragile, but he'd certainly been in shock. That was also when he'd grown depressed. Was she? Or did she want to turn again, as Victor had suggested? I didn't know what to say. It was all so strange and awkward. â€Å"Sydney went for groceries,' I told Dimitri lamely. â€Å"She also stayed up so that I could sleep last night.' â€Å"I know,' he said with a small smile. â€Å"I got up once to check on you.' I felt myself flushing, somehow embarrassed that I'd been caught in weakness. â€Å"You can rest too,' I told him. â€Å"Get some breakfast, and then I'll keep an eye on everything. I have it on good authority that Victor's going to have car trouble. Also that Robert really likes Cheerios, so if you want some, you're out of luck. He doesn't seem like the sharing type.' Dimitri's smile grew. Sonya suddenly lifted her head. â€Å"There's another spirit user here,' she said, voice frantic. â€Å"I can feel it. I remember him.' She looked between Dimitri and me. â€Å"It's not safe. We're not safe. You shouldn't have us around.' â€Å"Everything's fine,' said Dimitri, voice so, so gentle. That tone was rare for him, but I'd heard it before. He'd used it on me in some of my most desperate moments. â€Å"Don't worry.' Sonya shook her head. â€Å"No. You don't understand. We †¦ we're capable of terrible things. To ourselves, to others. It's why I changed, to stop the madness. And it did, except †¦ it was worse. In its way. The things I did †¦' There it was, the same remorse Dimitri had felt. Half-afraid he'd start telling her there was no redemption for her either, I said, â€Å"It wasn't you. You were controlled by something else.' She buried her face in her hands. â€Å"But I chose it. Me. I made it happen.' â€Å"That was spirit,' I said. â€Å"It's hard to fight. Like you said, it can make you do terrible things. You weren't thinking clearly. Lissa battles with the same thing all the time.' â€Å"Vasilisa?' Sonya lifted her eyes and stared off into space. I think she was digging through memories. In fact, despite her ramblings now, I didn't believe she was quite as unstable as she'd been just before becoming Strigoi. We'd heard healings could lessen spirit's madness, and I think Robert's transformation had lightened some of the darkness within her for now. â€Å"Yes, of course. Vasilisa has it too.' She turned to me in a panic. â€Å"Did you help her? Did you get her out of there?' â€Å"I did,' I said, trying to emulate Dimitri's gentleness. Lissa and I fled St. Vladimir's for a while, partly because of warnings from Sonya. â€Å"We left and then came back and, uh, were able to stop what was hunting her.' I didn't think it was a good idea for Sonya to know that the thing–or rather, person–hunting Lissa was now sitting out in the living room. I took a step forward. â€Å"And you can help Lissa too. We need to know if–‘ â€Å"No,' said Dimitri. No gentleness now in the warning look he gave me. â€Å"Not yet.' â€Å"But–‘ â€Å"Not yet.' I shot him a glare in return but said no more. I was all for giving Sonya her recuperation time, but we didn't have forever. The clock was ticking, and we had to find out what Sonya knew. I felt like Dimitri would have been able to give us this information immediately after he'd been changed back. Of course, he hadn't been unstable beforehand, so he'd kind of had an edge. Still. We couldn't play house in Kentucky forever. â€Å"Can I see my flowers?' asked Sonya. â€Å"Can I go outside and see my flowers?' Dimitri and I exchanged glances. â€Å"Of course,' he said. We all moved toward the door, and that's when I had to ask. â€Å"Why did you grow flowers when you were †¦ like you were?' She paused. â€Å"I've always grown flowers.' â€Å"I know. I remember. They were gorgeous. The ones here are gorgeous too. Is that why †¦ I mean, did you just want a pretty garden, even as a Strigoi?' The question was unexpected and seemed to throw her off. I was about to give up on an answer when she finally said, â€Å"No. I never thought about pretty. They were †¦ I don't know. Something to do. I'd always grown flowers. I had to see if I still could. It was like †¦ a test of my skills, I guess.' I met Dimitri's eyes again. So. Beauty hadn't been part of her world. It was just like I'd told him. Strigoi were notoriously arrogant, and it seemed the flowers had simply been a show of prowess. Growing them had also been a familiar habit for her, and I recalled how Dimitri had read Western novels while Strigoi. Being Strigoi might cost someone their sense of goodness and morality, but old behaviors and hobbies remained. We took her out to the living room, interrupting a conversation between Victor and Robert. Sonya and Robert both froze, sizing each other up. Victor gave us one of his knowing smiles. â€Å"Up and around. Have we found out what we need yet?' Dimitri shot him a look similar to what I'd received when asking about interrogation. â€Å"Not yet.' Sonya dragged her gaze from Robert and moved quickly toward the patio door, pausing when she saw our shoddy patch job. â€Å"You broke my door,' she said. â€Å"Collateral damage,' I said. In my periphery, I think Dimitri rolled his eyes. Needing no guidance from us, Sonya opened the door and stepped outside. With a gasp, she came to a halt and stared upward. The sky was a perfect, cloudless blue, and the sun had crossed the horizon now, illuminating everything in gold. I went outside too, feeling the warmth of that light on my skin. Some of the night's coldness lingered, but we were in store for a hot day. Everyone else came out too, but Sonya was oblivious. She lifted her hands upward, as though maybe she could grab hold of the sun and wrap it in her arms. â€Å"It's so beautiful.' She finally looked away and met my eyes. â€Å"Isn't it? Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?' â€Å"Beautiful,' I reiterated. For some reason, I felt both happy and sad. She walked around her yard, examining every plant and flower. She touched the petals and inhaled their fragrance. â€Å"So different †¦' she kept saying to herself. â€Å"So different in the sun †¦' Several especially caught her attention. â€Å"These don't open at night! Do you see it? Do you see the colors? Can you smell that?' The questions didn't seem to be for anyone in particular. We watched, all of us kind of hypnotized. At last, she settled into the patio chair, happily gazing around, lost in sensory overload–in that beauty that had been denied to her as a Strigoi. When it became obvious she wasn't leaving for a while, I turned to Dimitri and repeated Sydney's advice about him taking a turn at sleeping while we waited for Sonya to recover. To my surprise, he actually agreed. â€Å"That's smart. Once Sonya's able to talk, we'll need to move.' He smiled. â€Å"Sydney's turning into a battle mastermind.' â€Å"Hey, she's not in charge here,' I teased. â€Å"She's just a soldier.' â€Å"Right.' He lightly brushed his fingers against my cheek. â€Å"Sorry, Captain.' â€Å"General,' I corrected, catching my breath at that brief touch. He gave Sonya a kind goodbye before disappearing into the house. She nodded, but I don't know if she really heard. Victor and Robert brought out two wooden kitchen chairs and set them in the shade. I chose a spot on the ground. Nobody spoke. It wasn't the weirdest thing I'd ever experienced, but it was certainly strange. Sydney returned later with the groceries, and I briefly abandoned the group to check in with her. Victor's keys were lying back on the counter, which I took as a good sign. Sydney unloaded an assortment of food and handed me a box of a dozen donuts. â€Å"Hope that's enough for you,' she remarked. I made a face at her presumption but took the donuts anyway. â€Å"Come on outside when you're done,' I told her. â€Å"It's like the barbecue of the damned. Except †¦ there's no grill.' She looked puzzled, but when she joined us later, she seemed to get what I'd been saying. Robert brought out a bowl of Cheerios, but neither Sydney nor Victor ate. I gave Sonya a donut, the first thing that took her attention from her yard. She held it in her hands, turning it over and over. â€Å"I don't know if I can. I don't know if I can eat it.' â€Å"Of course you can.' I recalled how Dimitri had regarded food uncertainly too. â€Å"It's chocolate-glazed. Good stuff.' She took a tentative, rabbit-sized bite. She chewed it a billion times and finally swallowed. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed. â€Å"Such sweetness.' Slowly, she continued taking more tiny bites. It took forever for her to get halfway through the donut, and at that point, she finally stopped. I'd polished off three donuts by then, and my impatience to accomplish something was growing. Part of it was still the irritability from spirit, and part of it was just my continual restlessness to help Lissa. â€Å"Sonya,' I said pleasantly, fully aware of how pissed off Dimitri was going to be at me defying his instructions. â€Å"We wanted to talk to you about something.' â€Å"Mm-hmm,' she said, gazing at bees hovering around some honeysuckle. â€Å"Is there a relative of yours †¦ someone who, uh, had a baby a while ago †¦ ?' â€Å"Sure,' she said. One of the bees flew from the honeysuckle to a rose, and she never looked away. â€Å"Lots.' â€Å"Articulate, Rosemarie,' remarked Victor. â€Å"Very articulate.' I bit my lip, knowing an outburst would upset Sonya. And probably Robert too. â€Å"This would be a secret baby,' I told her. â€Å"And you were the beneficiary on a bank account that took care of the baby †¦ an account paid for by Eric Dragomir.' Sonya's head whipped toward me, and there was no dreamy absentmindedness in her blue eyes now. A few seconds passed before she spoke. Her voice was cold and hard–not a Strigoi voice, but definitely a back off voice. â€Å"No. I don't know anything about that.' â€Å"She's lying,' said Robert. â€Å"I didn't need any powers to figure that out,' scoffed Sydney. I ignored both of them. â€Å"Sonya, we know you know, and it's really important we find this baby †¦ er, child. Person.' We'd made guesses on the age but weren't 100 percent sure. â€Å"You said you were worried about Lissa earlier. This will help her. She needs to know. She needs to know she has another family member.' Sonya turned her attention back to the bees, but I knew she was no longer watching them. â€Å"I don't know anything.' There was a trembling in her voice, and something told me that maybe I shouldn't push this after all. I couldn't tell if she was afraid or on the verge of rage. â€Å"Then why were you on the account?' This came from Victor. â€Å"I don't know anything,' she repeated. Her voice could have made icicles form on the ornamental trees. â€Å"Nothing.' â€Å"Stop lying,' snapped Victor. â€Å"You know something, and you're going to tell us.' â€Å"Hey!' I exclaimed. â€Å"Be quiet. You don't have interrogation rights here.' â€Å"You didn't seem to be doing a very good job.' â€Å"Just shut up, okay?' I looked back at Sonya, replacing my glare with a smile. â€Å"Please,' I begged. â€Å"Lissa's in trouble. This will help her. I thought you said before that you wanted to help her?' â€Å"I promised †¦' said Sonya. Her voice was so low, I could barely hear it. â€Å"Promised what?' I asked. Patience, patience. I had to remain calm. I couldn't risk a breakdown. She squeezed her eyes shut and raked her hands through her hair violently, almost like a child about to have a tantrum. â€Å"Promised not to tell. Promised not to tell anyone †¦' I had the urge to run over and shake her. Patience, patience, I repeated to myself. Don't upset her. â€Å"We wouldn't ask you to break your promise if it wasn't important. Maybe †¦ maybe you can get in touch with this person †¦' Who had she promised? Eric's mistress? â€Å"And see if it's okay to tell us?' â€Å"Oh for God's sake,' said Victor irritably. â€Å"This is ridiculous and getting us nowhere.' He glanced at his brother. â€Å"Robert?' Robert hadn't done much so far today, but at Victor's command, Robert leaned forward. â€Å"Sonya?' Still obviously distraught, she turned to look at him †¦ and her face went still. â€Å"Tell us what we need to know,' said Robert. His voice wasn't kind so much as smooth and lulling, with a faintly sinister touch. â€Å"Tell us who and where this child is. Tell us who the mother is.' This time, I did jump to my feet. Robert was using compulsion on her to get the answers. Sonya's eyes stayed locked on him, but her body began to shake. Her lips parted, though no sound came out. A tangle of thoughts swirled in my mind. Compulsion would get us what we needed to know, but something told me, it wasn't right– Sonya stopped me from any more pondering. She shot up almost as quickly as I had. She was still staring at Robert, but no longer in that transfixed, hypnotized way. She'd broken the compulsion, and now †¦ now she was pissed. The features that had been scared and fragile earlier were filled with fury. I had no magical senses, but after being with Lissa, I knew raging spirit when I saw it. Sonya was a bomb, about to explode. â€Å"How dare you †¦' she hissed. â€Å"How dare you try to compel me?' Plants and vines near Robert suddenly sprang to life, growing to impossible heights. They reached out, tangled themselves around his chair's legs, and pulled. The chair toppled over, Robert along with it. Victor moved to help his brother, but Robert was already taking matters into his own hands. Recovering remarkably fast, he narrowed his eyes at Sonya, and she went flying backward, slamming against the wooden fence. Air users could do that trick sometimes, but this wasn't air blowing her back. This was spirit's telekinetic abilities. He apparently possessed them outside of dreams too. Lovely. I'd seen spirit users battle it out before, when Avery Lazar and Lissa had gone one on one. That hadn't been pretty, particularly since more than this exterior psychic phenomena had occurred. Avery had actually dug into Lissa's mind–and mine. I didn't know Robert or Sonya's full skill set, but this couldn't end well. â€Å"Dimitri!' I yelled, springing toward Sonya. I didn't exactly know what I was going to do, but tackling her seemed like a sound plan. From what I'd observed, a lot of spirit involved eye contact with the target. And sure enough, when I managed to wrestle her to the ground, she struggled half- heartedly but mostly fought to keep her gaze on Robert. He screamed in sudden alarm, looking down at his own body in terror. Sonya was planting visions into his head. His expression hardened. He had to know it was an illusion, and a few moments later, he looked up, having broken her spell like she'd broken his earlier compulsion. Dimitri came tearing out the door at that point, just as Robert used his mind to fling one of the chairs toward Sonya. Of course, I was on top of her, so the chair hit me in the back. Dimitri picked up pretty quickly what was going on and ran toward Robert, attempting the same tactic as me. Victor, possibly thinking his brother was in physical danger, tried to pry Dimitri away, which was futile. More vines began to reach toward Robert, and I realized constraining Sonya wasn't all that useful. â€Å"Get him inside!' I yelled to Dimitri. â€Å"Get him away from her!' Dimitri had already guessed that and began dragging Robert toward the door. Even with Victor interfering, Dimitri's strength was enough to get Robert out of there and back into the house. As soon as her target was gone, all the energy seemed to fade out of Sonya. She made no more efforts to fight me and collapsed to the ground. I was relieved, having feared she'd turn on me once Robert was gone. Tentatively, still on guard, I helped Sonya sit up. She leaned against me, weak as a rag doll, and cried into my shoulder. Another breakdown. After that, it was a matter of damage control. In order to keep the spirit users apart, Dimitri had taken Robert to the bedroom and left Victor with him. Robert seemed as worn out as Sonya, and Dimitri deemed the brothers safe enough to leave alone. Sonya collapsed on the couch, and after both Dimitri and I had tried to calm her down, we stepped away while Sydney held the Moroi woman's hand. I briefly recapped what had happened. Dimitri's face grew more and more incredulous as I did. â€Å"I told you it wasn't time!' he exclaimed. â€Å"What were you thinking? She's too weak!' â€Å"You call that weak? And hey, I was doing fine! It wasn't until Victor and Robert got involved that things went to hell.' Dimitri took a step toward me, anger radiating off him. â€Å"They should never have gotten involved. This is you, acting irrational again, jumping in foolishly with no thought of the consequences.' Outrage shot through me in return. â€Å"Hey, I was trying to make progress here. If being rational is sitting around and doing therapy, then I'm happy to jump over the edge. I'm not afraid to get in the game.' â€Å"You have no idea what you're saying,' he growled. We were standing closer now, hardly any space left between us as we engaged in our battle of wills. â€Å"This may have set us back.' â€Å"This set us forward. We found out she knows about Eric Dragomir. The problem is she promised not to tell anyone about this baby.' â€Å"Yes, I promised,' piped up Sonya. Dimitri and I turned as one, realizing our argument was fully visible and audible to Sonya and Sydney. â€Å"I promised.' Her voice was very small and weak, pleading with us. Sydney squeezed her hand. â€Å"We know. It's okay. It's okay to keep promises. I understand.' Sonya looked at her gratefully. â€Å"Thank you. Thank you.' â€Å"But,' said Sydney carefully, â€Å"I heard that you care about Lissa Dragomir.' â€Å"I can't,' interrupted Sonya, turning fearful again. â€Å"I know, I know. But what if there was a way to help her without breaking your promise?' Sonya stared at Sydney. Dimitri glanced at me questioningly. I shrugged and then stared at Sydney too. If someone had asked who could stage the best intervention with a crazy woman who'd formerly been an undead monster, Sydney Sage would have been my last guess. Sonya frowned, all attention on Sydney. â€Å"W-what do you mean?' â€Å"Well †¦ what did you promise exactly? Not to tell anyone that Eric Dragomir had a mistress and baby?' Sonya nodded. â€Å"And not to tell who they were?' Sonya nodded again. Sydney gave Sonya the warmest, friendliest smile I'd ever seen on the Alchemist. â€Å"Did you promise not to tell anyone where they are?' Sonya nodded, and Sydney's smile faltered a little. Then, her eyes lit up. â€Å"Did you promise not to lead anyone to where they are?' Sonya hesitated, no doubt turning every word over in her mind. Slowly, she shook her head. â€Å"No.' â€Å"So †¦ you could lead us to them. But not tell us where they actually are. You wouldn't be breaking the promise that way.' It was the most convoluted, ridiculous piece of logic I'd heard in a while. It was something I would have come up with. â€Å"Maybe †¦' said Sonya, still uncertain. â€Å"You wouldn't break the promise,' Sydney repeated. â€Å"And it would really, really help Lissa.' I stepped forward. â€Å"It would help Mikhail too.' Sonya's mouth dropped open at the mention of her former lover. â€Å"Mikhail? You know him?' â€Å"He's my friend. He's Lissa's friend too.' I almost said that if we found the missing Dragomir, we could then take Sonya to Mikhail. Recalling Dimitri's feelings of unworthiness, I decided to avoid that tactic just now. I didn't know how Sonya would react to a reunion with her beloved. â€Å"And he wants to help Lissa. But he can't. None of us can. We don't have enough information.' â€Å"Mikhail †¦' Sonya looked down at her hands again, small tears running down her cheeks. â€Å"You won't break your promise.' Sydney was so compelling she could have been a spirit user. â€Å"Just lead us. It's what Mikhail and Lissa would want. It's the right thing to do.' I don't know which argument convinced Sonya the most. It could have been the part about Mikhail. Or it could have been the idea of doing â€Å"the right thing.' Maybe, like Dimitri, Sonya wanted redemption for her Strigoi crimes and saw this as a chance. Looking up, she swallowed and met my eyes. â€Å"I'll lead you there,' she whispered. â€Å"We're going on another road trip,' Sydney declared. â€Å"Get ready.' Dimitri and I were still standing right next to each other, the anger between us beginning to diffuse. Sydney looked proud and continued trying her best to soothe Sonya. Dimitri looked down at me with a small smile that shifted slightly when he seemed to become aware of just how close we were. I couldn't say for sure, though. His face gave little away. As for me, I was very aware of our proximity and felt intoxicated by his body and scent. Damn. Why did fighting with him always increase my attraction to him? His smile returned as he tilted his head toward Sydney. â€Å"You were wrong. She really is the new general in town.' I smiled back, hoping he wasn't aware of my body's reaction to us standing so close. â€Å"Maybe. But, it's okay. You can still be colonel.' He arched an eyebrow. â€Å"Oh? Did you demote yourself? Colonel's right below general. What's that make you?' I reached into my pocket and triumphantly flashed the CR-V keys I'd swiped when we'd come back inside. â€Å"The driver,' I said.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The Kid with a Bike Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Kid with a Bike - Movie Review Example This paper is a review of the film â€Å"The Kid with a Bike† Directed by Jean Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. The film is about the one sided yet blissful blood bond relation between a father and an eleven year old who is abandoned by his father and lives in a foster home and is being told by the father that he would have to live there for only a short while. With hopes in heart that he would return to his father soon, the distracted boy is never able to relate to life without his father and his desired bicycle. He runs in search of the bike which he considers a special symbol of attachment to his father. To his small childish memory he runs tracing his father in all the places he can image. He visits the place where his father lived, but much to his disappointment, he finds out that his father has moved out.The very first scene of the movie tells us about the boy’s state of mind who is lacking the peace and it is evident through an encounter with the counselor of th e foster home where the boy hopes to find out about his father. He often tries to flee the foster home in hope of going to his real home which was promised by his father to him. While in pursuit of his little dream, and peace, along with hope of finding the bicycle and his father again, his life and future days take a turn for the good when he comes across a generous hairdresser who would later on adopt him. The Theme is based on the attempt of interpretation of the boy’s distracted mind which he suffers due to one of his parent’s unstable social standing.... While in pursuit of his little dream, and peace, along with hope of finding the bicycle and his father again, his life and future days take a turn for the good when he comes across a generous hairdresser who would later on adopt him. The Theme is based on the attempt of interpretation of the boy’s distracted mind which he suffers due to one of his parent’s unstable social standing. Being not able to bring him up, he falsely tells his young son that the stay at foster home would be a brief one; however, in real the things are gloomier for the ill fated boy. The theme is a very apt one considering the modern day unstable social standings of number of parents in various societies across the world, and it equally applies to the American Society and parents as well. It lives up to the expectations and delivers the message in a very calculated manner and warns all those with such intentions that abandoning their kids is the last best option available for their kids. Early day s of life are the days where the kid needs proper attention and their parents guard. Even the toys and other childhood kits do not mean as much to the kids as much as their own parents. This has been shown in a very skill full manner where the kid considers the bicycle as a symbol of his father’s love towards him. The movie will definitely leave a spark in the minds and hearts of all those parents who are going through the thick of times and have even for once thought over similar lines of foster homes for their children. They would get to know what these actions could have in offer for the young ones if sent away from home. What three or four sequences are most important in the film? Why?   There are number of scenes that would give the viewers goose bumps on any given day, and those moments were

Friday, September 27, 2019

Religion And Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Religion And Morality - Essay Example (Koterski, 2002) Thus ethics also speaks of the virtues that people carry out. Morals and values mean that a person should be at his best when he is dealing with people and in that perspective he must be ready to forgive others for their mistakes, instances of faults and errors since he himself can be on the receiving end of someone’s forgiveness at some point in his life. (George, 2006) He must expect virtuosity from others if he has been kind to the whole humanity that has been around him. It is a classic case of empathy where a person puts his feet in someone else’s shoes. He must understand that forgiving can prove into a long term relationship and bond with the offending individual since this person will learn the positives from the mistakes that he has done and would also agree on being kind and caring with the one who has pardoned him for his slip-up. Morality is documented in a number of different ways. The first and foremost manner is within the performance of one’s duties towards own self. Then he has to be responsible for his actions and thoughts towards people he owes something of value. These could include his immediate family members, his wife and kids and so on. Morality is also held accountable in terms of performance of duties. This means that the individuals who work in offices have to remain in charge of the activities that they carry out and hence make their own standing within the office place. When they are responsible and carry out duties in accordance with their respective job focus, then they are hailed by all and sundry. Otherwise they are looked down upon as people hailing from a very irresponsible lot – a fact that is manifested in the modern day office place nearly all over the globe. Morality has to come from within. (Peach, 2002) People can be motivated to be morally responsible but then agai n it is one’s own task to act in a responsive manner and make

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Mobile Services Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Mobile Services - Research Proposal Example Some of the services available on a mobile phone include voice call, text messaging, video conferencing, ring tones, weather, news, horoscopes, music, emails, mobile internet, video camera, Bluetooth, MP3, still camera, WiFi, mobile television, gaming, Microsoft Office programs, multimedia messaging including pictures and photos, data access and transfer with personal computers, and a number of other value added features. Many people and organisations have carried out a number of researches to find out the impact of new and varied mobile services on users. These market researches are particularly important when new products and services are to be produced. Nielson company has announced that they will conduct a research study to find out the most frequently used mobile phone functions (Balan, 2007). The purpose of this research is to identify the areas which appeal to mobile phone users, and hence target efforts to develop new and novel ways to enhance services in these areas. For instance, if consumers prefer to use text services over watching mobile television; the companies can enhance text messaging option by providing word editor etc. on their mobile phones; and pull back from providing mobile television services since these do not attract consumers' attention. As Balan (2007) quotes, "Reliable and accurate measurement of mobile consumers will enable advertisers to properly evaluate the mobile ma rketing opportunity. Independent measurement of the cross-media behavior of the growing mobile audience will support and accelerate the evolution of mobile media business models" (Jeff Herrmann - Vice President of Nielsen Wireless). Despite the fact that an increasing number of people keep and use mobile phones, there are groups of people who think that using mobile phones in public is annoying and should be discontinued. Monk, Carroll, Parker, and Blythe conducted a study in 2004 on this topic and the results show that many people believe that face to face meeting is much more effective than mobile phone calls. In addition, the research revealed that people generally disapprove mobile phones ringing in churches, trains, funerals and other events and places of such nature. It is generally treated as unethical as per the research (Monk Carroll Parker Blythe, 2004, p.33-41). In addition, there are some controversies regarding mobile phone use, with regard to medical and health issues. Many people have raised voices against mobile phone usage claiming that it results into brain cancer and other medical disorders, especially in children. BBC News (2000) published a story regarding the cries against mobile phone usage in children, and provided results of various researches on the topic. The summarised results indicated that although there were no proven medical problems from the use of cellular phones, yet children should be kept away from mobile phones until absolutely necessary. This and similar news items and researches have contributed a great deal in reducing the number of mobile phone users and have even more affected the use of other mobile services besides voice calls and text messaging. The recent introduction of third generation (3G) mobiles has revolutionised the way mobile communication used to work. 3G mobiles provide high data speed, better voice and data transfer quality and high availability. However, as per the resear

Spiritual Life Coaching Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Spiritual Life Coaching - Essay Example However, for this to happen, one must comprehend the true depiction of coaching to begin with. Coaching does not come about as a routine norm for many – it is the basis of attaining a significant level over other individuals yet feeling occupied with one’s own self over a period of time. Since coaching adheres to some good standards on its way, there is a dire requirement to set things right within a person’s entirety. For this reason, it is closely linked with his spiritual life which is cleansed from the inside, and is pure in the most basic sense. A spiritual life is not always assisted by coaching alone – there are other perspectives to it as well. This can be gauged from the dimensions that a society finds itself connected with. It could comprise of the good deeds, the mannerisms of sanity, discussions on topics that have a positive and long-lasting effect, and a number of other subjects related with honesty, clean ways to spend a life, being good to others, use of morality, etc. Coaching is at times even compared along side the training modules and mentoring regimes. This is because these are much similar yet have minute differences existent amongst them. What is important however is to gain an understanding that all three of these – coaching, training and mentoring form the very crust of success that an individual is looking forward to having within his fore, so that his spiritual life could be restored and he can enjoy the benefits that life has to offer to him, time and time again (Walz, 2005). When coaching connects itself with the essence of a spiritual basis, then only can a spiritual life come into full action. This has been proven with the passage of time and much research has already showed that the relation between the two indeed exists. The coaching phase is therefore directly reliant on how well the peers are able to garner interest so that the ones being coached know exactly what to expect out of it and how to go about completing their respective tasks. The spiritual life basis will result from the very same not before they have been taught the very basics of coaching and are geared to reach the top most levels under the aegis of coaching. Whether or not coaching speaks to a person’s spiritual life largely depends on how well he has been coached, as discussed in the above paragraphs. If his coaching helps him to seek an inner world pleasure, then this means something is driven correctly as far as his life realms are concerned. On the other hand, if he believes that he is not being able to satisfy his own self through the coaching methodologies and norms, then this implies for the loss that he has to take the burden of (Nielsen, 2012). What remains to be seen is how well he musters up confidence to turn the coaching module into one of a spiritual journey so that his own life could benefit from it. Often times, the success is in the head alone, yet difficult to envisage due to a n umber of mental blocks along the way. When coaching experts are asked regarding the process of coaching and how it can be termed as merry for one and all, they credit the same to the willpower of the individuals, and how well they adapt to the different situations and behave in accordance with the same. This is much similar to how coaching should be carried out where the inner essence needs to bank on the premise of bringing about a positive change, so that success within such dimensions could be achieved without any hindrance or difficulty. This is however no easy task because the person under consideration has to comprehend his nuances accordingly and thus identify where he has gone wrong all this while by taking the corrective steps along the way. From biblical research, it has been proved that anything

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Little Signs of Passion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Little Signs of Passion - Essay Example One of the stylistic devices used in Little signs of passion is the mismatch of text with the images. In a single panel where the text is supposed to inform the context of the images Spiegelman intentionally creates a disconnect between the two. Spiegelman has constructed Little signs of passion as a collage of contexts within panels. The collection of collages is made to produce a confused and broken register by collapsing it inwards. Spiegelman destabilizes the chronology, timeline, and narrative voice in a manner that creates incoherence. Further, Spiegelman creates a discordant and amplified register in order to distort the slapstick tumble format. It is also clear that Spiegelman’s work is preoccupied with the themes of depression and madness, but using a postmodern approach. Spiegelman has intentionally distorted the formal unity and coherence of the narrative in many ways. One of the ways that Spiegelman does this is the use of off-beat word-picture combination with a touch of disturbing images creates an agonizingly slow pace of transition for the reader and Spiegelman crowns all this with the aura of impending terror. Spiegelman further uses modern thematic to introduce some underlying terror which is barely expressed. The use of formal play in Little signs of passion distorts the format of jokes so that they become difficult to decipher, and they tend to resist interpretation. In Little signs of passion, amplification is achieved through diegetic development. The narrative of Foul Bernie leaving a pornographic film is played in over thirty panels with later versions of the narrative including other characters such as Roxie and Augie to give Foul Bernie an opportunity to deliver an anecdote before tripping.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Gun Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gun Control - Essay Example He went past the crowd, straight to the senator’s table and he shot her point blanc in the head before anyone could comprehend the situation. After Giffords was shot, Loghner continued with the violence and opened fire at the people present. In the next 15 seconds, six people were kiled while thirteen lay wounded. The killing spree stopped only when Loughner stopped to re-load his weapon and some brave bystanders overpowered him and kept him pinned to the ground till the police arrived. This is the latest incidence in gun-related violence that has revived the gun control debate in the United States (Huffington Post 2011; Doeden 2012). Gun control has been a debatable issue in the United States of America and has sparked many controversies with many people upholding the significance of stricter gun control laws whereas others advocate the permission to lenient gun laws. Loughner had been in trouble with the law many times in the past. He was a troubled student and many of his f riends and neighbours described him as mentally unstable. How is it that despite a criminial backgorund and dubious mental health was he able to legally obtain a firearm? Gun control is a complex issue in the United States. Incidences like this have taken place in the United States either in schools, in homes and on the street. ... Everyone is of the opinion that when wrong people get hold of guns, tragedies happen. Those in favor of gun control say that more guns mean more gun-related deaths. The best way to stop gun violence is to make it more difficult for people to get guns in the first place. Those in favor of gun rights have a simple counter argument- â€Å"guns don’t kill people, people kill people†. They argue that people need to more educated and then allowed to keep and use their guns. The real question here is how to identify those who are dependable enough to use their guns responsibly from those who may end up being dangerous with guns? (Doeden 2012). When President Regan was shot in 1981, the bullet landed in his lung and he recovered from it soon. However, his press secretary Jim Brady was not so lucky and a bullet ended up in his head paralyzing him for life. (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: Jim Brady). The shooter was John Hinkley Jr. who had bought the revolver used for s hooting at a pawnshop in Dallas, Texas using false information. After the shooting of her husband, Jim Brady’s wife Sarah became an active advocate for gun control saying that if Hinkley had been subjected to a background check, his criminal history would have been detected and this tragedy could have been avoided. Sarah Brady became the Chair of the board of Handgun Control Inc. (HCI) and in 1987 introduced the Brady act in U.S. Congress. Once the Brady law was passed HCI was renamed to the Brady Centre for Gun Control and it is still actively working on getting guns off the streets (Brady and McLoughlin 2002). According to information from the Brady Centre, up to 3042 young children and adolescents lose their lives owing to gunfire in the Unites States. This figure

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Positive and Negative Aspects of Adult Education Essay

Positive and Negative Aspects of Adult Education - Essay Example Therefore, they are now focused on acquiring education and on making themselves compatible to the progressing environment. Governments of various countries like America, Hong Kong, UK have always encouraged older people to have education so that they match and compete with younger students. This prospect has made them independent, knowledgeable and modern literates. Adult students have gained back their lost confidence, importance and strength and are now ready to accept new challenges coming ahead. Many companies prefer to employ adults rather than having youngsters due to more experience and capabilities. For instance, a company would prefer to have a 40-year old manager rather than having a 28 year old youngster with higher education for the same post. In other words, adults are much more comfortable with resolving problems and they manage to do so easily. Institutions, where both young and adult students are enrolled, have a very strong inter-generational relationship. Exchange of ideas, flow of knowledge and wisdom, interpersonal communication and reduced differences in mental level can be well-observed in such institutions. Generation gap has been overcome to a large extent. In short, older adult students have seen to be more socially responsible than the younger ones. Besides having a positive effect on the lives of peopl

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Electrochemical cell lab Aim Essay Example for Free

Electrochemical cell lab Aim Essay Aim :- To find out the feasibility of a redox reaction by looking at the cell potential of the reaction . Quantitative observation The table below shows the values of cell potential that were recorded when the experiment was performed Reaction Cell potential (ÂÂ ±0.01V) CuSO4 and ZnSO4 0.99V CuSO4 and AgNO3 0.64V Ag 1.39V Qualitative Observation Reaction Obsevrations CuSO4 and ZnSO4 Copper sulphate turns from clear to blue , whereas zinc sulphate remains colorless CuSO4 and AgNO3 Copper sulphate is blue in color , silver nitrate is colorless Ag Data processing Experiment 1 Zn(s) - Zn2+ (aq) + 2e- (aq) Cu2+ (aq) + 2e- (aq) - Cu (s) Cu2+ (aq) + Zn(s) - Cu(s) + Zn2+ (aq) Experiment 2 Cu(s) - Cu2+ (aq)+ 2e- (aq) Ag+(aq) + e- (aq) - Ag(s) Cu(s) + 2Ag+ (aq) - Cu2+ (Aq) + 2Ag (s) Experiment 3 Zn(s) - Zn2+ (aq) + 2e- (aq) Ag+ (aq) + e- (aq)- Ag(s) Zn(s) + 2Ag+ (aq) - Zn2+ (aq) + 2Ag (s) The table below shows the literature values for the respective cell potential Reaction Cell potential (ÂÂ ±0.01V) CuSO4 and ZnSO4 0.34V CuSO4 and AgNO3 0.46 V. Ag 1.10 V Error percentage = (|difference between the literature and experimental value|)/(the literature value )x100 = (|0.34V 0.99V|)/(0.34V) x100 = 191.17% We can similarly find the error percentages for other cell potentials also The table below shows the respective error percentages of each of the cell potential Reaction Error percentage CuSO4 and ZnSO4 191.17% CuSO4 and AgNO3 39.13% Ag 16.36% Theory Electrochemical cells In an electrochemical cell, electricity is produced through chemical reactions. There consist two electrodes: the negative electrode and the positive electrode. At the negative electrode

Friday, September 20, 2019

Change management in a police organisation

Change management in a police organisation This essay will analyse a change management situation in a police organisation, namely Strathclyde Police and will compare two approaches to leadership which could be used in the situation and select a suitable approach, drawing a reasoned conclusion on why it is likely to be effective in the situation. The two approaches to leadership under examination will be The Traits Approach and the Contingency Approach. It will select two different inter-personal skills, namely influencing and negotiating, which a leader could use and draw conclusions on how each skill could contribute to the effectiveness of a leader. Finally this essay will use relevant concepts to analyse the role of a leader and suggest and justify actions which a leader could take to ensure all aspects of change are effectively implemented, in doing so this essay will look at such methods as change implementers, Force Field Analysis and PESTEL analysis. Firstly, we must answer the question, what is the difference between leaders and managers? The leader is followed. The manager rules The Difference between Management and Leaders (online) Available at http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/MENG/ME96/Documents/Intro/leader.html (accessed April 2010) This is a very simplistic definition that portrays an image of a leader making a stand and being followed, through choice by his subordinates or fellow workers whereas with management, subordinates have no choice but to follow him. Kotter (1990) argued that managers and leaders each have three main tasks but they undertake and complete them in entirely different ways. These tasks are: deciding what needs to be done, creating networks of people and relationships that can accomplish the agenda and trying to ensure that people actually do the job. However, Kotter goes on to say that managers and leaders deal with these tasks differently. Zaleznik (1977) thereafter identified 4 areas which followed on from Kotters ideas whereby managers and leaders differed. They are as follows; attitudes towards goals, conceptions of work, relations with others and senses of self, leaders when compared to managers appear to adopt a more personal role. Prentice (1961) stated Leaders achieve goals through their understanding of their fellow workers and their relationships of their individual goals to the groups aim. It should also be noted that managers can be leaders and vice versa. APPROACHES TO LEADERSHIP There are a number of approaches to leadership and this essay will focus on the Contingency Approach and the Traits Approach. The Contingency approach was a continuation of Tannenbaum and Schmidts Continuum of Leadership. It believed that there was not one single style of leadership which was appropriate for every situation a leader could face. Instead the contingency Approach argued that good leadership was dependant upon the situation at hand. The Contingency Theory is to analyse the situation you currently face and select the most appropriate style to deal with the circumstances. This will require the leader to adjust their managerial style with every situation they face. In a policing sense, no two situations faced by a leader will ever be identical and as such no two solutions will be the same. Therefore, a leader within the police service must be able to be fluid in his approach and be able to take cognisance of the situation at hand and be willing to change to deal with it. Situations and circumstances faced by police officers are also ever changing; a solution which was possible one minute earlier may no longer be suitable. Fiedlers (1967) argued that the behaviour of leaders rested on three main factors, known as Fiedlers Contingency model. The factors were; Leader Member relations, this involves the amount of trust between the leader and subordinate and how far team members were willing to follow their leader. Task Structure this covers the extent to which the task is clearly defined and whether there are standard procedures for carrying out the task and the power of the leader for example the power of the leader within the organisation and how they could influence team members. Another mode of the Contingency Theory is Situational Leadership by Hersey and Blanchard (1988) in this form, leadership style takes cognisance of the extent team members are ready to perform a task. There are 4 levels of readiness named R1, R2, R3 and R4. In a policing environment, the follower in R1 could be described as a probationer whereby the follower is unable or unwilling or unable and insecure to follow the task, R2 could be a less competent police officer who is wiling to carryout the task and confident in doing so but is unable to carry it out to the required standard, R3 could be the police officer who is able but unwilling or able but insecure, who perhaps lacks confidence in his own ability, whereas R4 is able, willing and confident in carrying out the task and could be described in a policing term as a senior man figure. Willingness refers to the followers commitment and motivation whereas as insecurity refers to team members who lack confidence in their ability. Hersey and Blanchard state there are two dimensions of leader behaviour, one of which denotes the amount of direction given by the leader to the followers, the other is how much support they offer their followers. There are four leadership styles derived from this which are S1, S2, S3 and S4. S1 is telling or directing little support is offered by the leader but he does offer a great deal of advice and direction. S2 is selling or coaching whereby the leader displays a lot of directing and supporting behaviour as well as support by telling followers what to do and offering them support and encouragement. S3 participating or supporting, the leader gives little direction but offers a lot of encouragement and support by way of communication with team members. S4 delegating, the leader does little in the way of supporting or directing. Different people will react differently to different forms of leadership, and a leader should tailor his style to the individual person he is directing. The Traits Approach argues that there are specific qualities associated with Leadership, whereby leaders can be differentiated from others by the possession of specific characteristics or traits. It is based on the assumption that leaders are born and not made and therefore you can not learn to be a leader but are born with these traits. Many people have attempted to conjure up a definitive list of personal qualities or traits that these great leaders possess. Typical traits include self-confidence, initiative, enthusiasm, integrity, decisiveness, judgement and imagination. The problem with the Traits approach is that it proved impossible to come up with a definite set of traits that could be applied to leadership. It also became apparent in research that successful leaders often had different personalities and traits. As a result of these short comings the Traits Approach fell into disfavour, however, the idea of successful leaders possessing certain qualities is still in survival. INTER-PERSONAL SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP Successful and effective leaders and managers require a range of interpersonal skills. Two particular aspects of inter-personal skills are Influencing trying to get someone to do or think something that they might not have ordinarily done and negotiating making a bargain with others to arrive at a mutually acceptable outcome. This essay will look at these two skills in more detail and draw conclusions on how these skills could contribute to the effectiveness of a leader. It should be noted that these two skills overlap each other however this essay will deal with them as separate entities. Influencing can be said to be the critical skill hat a leader must possess. Influencing is the process in which one person gets another person to do something. There are methods which a leader can use to exert influence, these are known as influence strategies, and there are 6 different ways of classifying influencing strategies Reason, assertion, exchange, courting favour, partnership and coercion. Within a policing environment Reason is probably used most often, whereby using reasoned and logical arguments to convince someone to act or think in accordance with the influencer. Another less positive action used within the police service would be coercion which is using or threatening to use some kind of sanction, either a positive or negative sanction. An example of this would be when Strathclyde police wished to implement a new shift system known as VSA, there was a lot of unhappiness and a refusal to change. As such Strathclyde officers were informed if they did not agree to VSA they would be put back on a very old shift pattern of 7 earlies, 7 lates and 7 nights which was worse than the proposed VSA, as such the Strathclyde officers reluctantly accepted the VSA shifts. Of the 6 influencing strategies all of them except coercion would be classed as pull strategies which mean that they aim to persuade or pull the other party into accepting what the influencer wants. Coercion is a push strategy which means pushing the other party into accepting. The second inter-personal skill we will look at is negotiating. Negotiating is a process of bargaining, the end result is where all the parties involved come to an agreement. Negotiating is a way of resolving differences between people of which there are two factors which can have a considerable effect on negotiations these are, the stages in the negotiating process and negotiating behaviours. The ideal outcome in any negotiation is Win Win this is where both parties win from the negotiations. However there is also Win Lose whereby one party loses and lose lose where both parties are worse off than before they started. There may be situations when the result is a Lose Lose situation where to reach an agreement both parties must compromise and give something up Fisher and Ury (1981) came up with a method called BATNA which stands for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. BATNA is where a leader chooses not to negotiate if the outcome was to lead to a less favourable outcome than they had hoped for or accept an outcome they feel is unsatisfactory. There are four main processes of negotiation and they aim for a Win Win outcome, these are; preparation, opening phase, getting movement to reach agreement and closing the negotiation. Good negotiators must also adopt behaviours which aid and help negotiations and lose traits which may hinder them. Good negotiators are clear on what they want to achieve and of the final outcome, they are flexible and not tied to one particular outcome and will consider other outcomes and ideas and they work towards a Win Win situation. In a policing sense, negotiations take place between the Police Federation in an internal and external fashion, an external negotiation could be with the Government or an internal negotiations could take place between the Police Federation and Senior Officers. Managers or leaders on a shift may have to negotiate with leaders of other shifts in the same office in order to look after their own staff, an example of this is a local agreement between supervisors that officers attending at work to go to court on their day off get to go home if the shift on duty has adequate numbers and it is not overly busy on their return from court. This is a Win Win situation for all involved. Another example of successful negotiations is CID officers allowing uniformed officers to borrow their unmarked police vehicles when they have spares and all marked cars are being used on the proviso that uniformed officers wash the unmarked CID cars on a Sunday early shift! THE ROLE OF LEADERS IN ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE All organisations have to respond to changes in society, changes in government and changes within society, the police service is no different. Richard Daft (1993) defines organisational change as The adoption of a new idea or behaviour by an organisation it can also be describes as Closing the gap, moving an organisation from its original state to a desired future state because there is a gap between where the organisation is at the moment and where it wants to be and change is needed to fill this gap. Kanter et al (1992) said that different people play different roles in organisational change. There are three different type of people; change strategists or initiators, those who initiate change and set direction for it, these people are normally leaders, there are change implementers those who co-ordinate and carry out the change and are normally managers and change recipients those affected by the change. Organisational change can take place on both a large scale and small scale. Senior (2002) identifies four main types of change; Fine tuning where minor changes are made to ongoing processes, incremental change this involves small scale modifications such as introducing new technology, an example of an incremental change in the police could be the addition of AIRWAVE, modular transformation is a major change centred on one or more departments or divisions such as the recent transformation in Strathclyde police where Divisions and Sub divisions were reshuffled which done away with E and C division and created new sub-divisions throughout the force to bring the beats and sub divisions in line with local council wards, and finally Corporate Transformation which involves a change in the whole organisation, perhaps the appointment of a new Chief Constable to a force or in Strathclyde police the creation of the Major Crime and Terrorism Investigation Unit as a direct response to the Glasg ow airport terror incident. There are different levels of change within an organisation, it can occur at individual, group or the whole organisation. The higher the level of change the harder and longer it will take to implement. Force Field Analysis and was devised in the 1950s by Kurt Lewin and is a technique used far analysing internal and external pressures that can influence any organisational change. It takes cognisance of both forces which may promote change and those which may oppose change. It is more often used in large scale transformative change. The idea of Force Field Analysis is that there will be forces for and against change. Where these forces are equal there will be no change in the organisation. This is called equilibrium. However, change will take place when the driving forces exceed the resisting forces. The advantages of Force field analysis are; it helps to identify all the forces that impact change, it highlights the fact that some forces may be stronger than others, it helps access whether or not an organisation is ready for change, it can be a quick and simple way of assessing whether a suggested change would be a success and it can be used as a guide to action. The disadvantages are it is subjective and it relies on who carries out the force filed analysis, it can be imprecise as the strength of a force can not be accurately judged and it is a snap shot at a point of time and by the time it is implemented it can be out of date. External forces which could lead to an organisational change can be identified using a PESTEL analysis which takes into account the following factors, Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural, technological, Environmental and Legal, however, no such analysis tool exists for internal forces. There can be a lot of resistance to change, the 4 main reasons are; parochial self interest, misunderstanding or lack of trust, different assessments and low tolerance to change. In a policing organisation the biggest resistance could be parochial self interest which means that people resist change as they believe that their position could be at threat and that they will lose out, another example would be misunderstanding or lack of trust, subordinates in the police can be very wary of senior management and may distrust or misunderstand the reasons for change. This can be as a result of a lack of communication between the parties involved. However such resistance can be overcome by education and communication and participation and involvement to name but a few. CONCLUSION To conclude, I feel that the traits approach to leadership is not very valid and suggests that a leader is born and does not learn how to become a leader, the qualities associated with the traits approach are very much needed by a manger in order to lead so there is some benefit to this approach. The contingency approach shows us that not one single style of leadership will suit every situation and that you must be able and willing to change. Situational leadership goes on to show that a leader must also be aware of the skills his officers possess and tailor the advice he offers them to their level, some officers may require more help and guidance than others and a leader must be aware of this. Both influencing and negotiating are vital interpersonal skills for any leader to have but both can be used for negative reasons such as influencing and negotiating another to accept a deal which is unfair to them and a leader must try and not fall into this trap. In order for any organisation to succeed in the future it must move to close any gaps a good tool for any leader to utilise when closing the gap is force field analysis there can be resistance to change but there are many ways in which a leader can move to remove this resistance with the use of education, involvement negotiation and agreement.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Financial Aid Essay :: Financial Scholarship Essay

Since the day I was born, I have enjoyed story telling. My first memories are of my father spinning me tales, as I nodded off. Every night I traveled back in time through his stories. I learned of Nero's sadistic burning of Rome, Adolph Hitler's maniacal reign, and Sojourner Truth's brilliant speech. All elements of our historical heritage, for which I have great affection. When I was quite young, my father purchased our very first computer. Through his hobby, I grew to love the technical side of the world in which we live. Through the years, we have owned many computers and they each taught me something new. Due to these two loves, I have chosen to double major in history and computer science. "Jewel, you have to make it. I want you to finish what the rest of us have started. You must finish college," my grandmother has stated to me many times. No one in my family has completed a four-year degree. It is my intent to blaze a trail for my posterity, as also is my grandmother's ambition. As long as I can remember it has been my fondest dream (and my furthest goal) to attend college. From the beginning, I knew it would be an uphill climb to gain admission into a prestigious university.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES W. SWEENEY :: essays research papers

BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES W. SWEENEY Retired Dec. 27, 1979 Brigadier General Charles W. Sweeney was born in Lowell, Mass., in 1919. He graduated from North Quincy High School (Mass.) in 1937. After graduating from high school, he attended evening classes at Boston University and also at Purdue University. Charles Sweeney joined the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet on April 28, 1941. Receiving his commission as a pilot in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet on April 28, 1941. Receiving his commission as a pilot in the Army Air Corps in December 1941, Lieutenant Sweeney spent two years at Jefferson Proving Grounds Ind. From the proving grounds in 1943, Charles Sweeney, now a captain, moved to Eglin Field, Fla., where he served as an operations officer and also a test pilot. In 1944 he was promoted to the rank of major in the Army of the United States. At this time he was acting as a B-29 pilot instructor at Grand Island, Neb. Later in the same year, Major Sweeney was reassigned to Wendover Field, Utah and it was here that he began working in the "Silver Plate" project, the code name of the pilot and crew training program for the coming World War II atomic missions. On May 4, 1945 (at the age of 25 and with the rank of major) Charles Sweeney became commander of the 393d Bombardment Squadron, a B-29 unit, which seven weeks later (on June, 1945) flew to a base on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. It was during August 1945 that Major Sweeney flew the history-making missions and dropped the bomb which brought World War II to a close. In November 1945, Major Sweeney and the 393d Bombardment Squadron returned home to Roswell Air Force Base, N.M. His mission at Roswell was to train aircrews for a third atomic mission -- a peacetime experiment on Bikini. Just a few months later on June 28, 1946, he was discharged from active duty with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Colonel Sweeney, on Feb. 21, 1956, was appointed wing commander by Governor Christian A. Herter. Also in 1956, the unit was again re-designated as the 102d Air Defense Wing, and on April 6, 1956, Colonel Sweeney received his promotion to the rank of brigadier general. 1958 saw the wing receive its present designation as the 102d Tactical Fighter Wing. General Sweeney

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

A Psychological Profile Of Holden Caufield :: essays research papers fc

Thesis: Holden Caufield is a hostile, negatively charged character that suffers from depression which stems from a desire not to grow up and a lack of closure in his brothers death."If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like . . . "(pg. 1) These first words that Holden Caufield communicates during his tell of events that brought him to his breakdown, show the pent up hostility that still lingers. This pattern of speech, the constant expression of negativity, is a character trait of Holden that shows his inner anguish. Holden also feels a continual need for affirmation of what he just said with phrases such as, "He really would."(pg. 25) or "It really isn't." (Pg. 89) This continual need for approval shows a lowered level of self-assurance. This lowered self-assurance probably stems from his self-awareness that he is an unreliable source. The reason he is unreliable is due to his deceitful narrative of occurrences. This is seen repeatedly as Holden builds an individual up as good or righteous such as Stradlater, (pg. 25) then tears him down later. (pg 43) This inability to give truthful accounts of individuals could stem from his constant digression from the point at hand. Holden freely admits to this trait on page 183 when he says "The trouble with me is, I like it when somebody digresses. It's more interesting and all.""Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone."(pg. 122) This phrase Holden made while discussing how things were different each time he went to the museum, stems from an inability to accept that he must grow up. The thought of growing up has driven Holden into bouts of depression as inhis discussion on page 133, " It'd be entirely different. I said. I was getting depressed as hell again." This nonconformist desire has led Holden to have illusions of grandeur as a fictional savior, "The Catcher in the Rye."(pg. 173) The catcher in the rye is undoubtedly a metaphor, for keeping children from falling into the same norm as adults. The inability of Holden to accept growing up and the depression caused by it has made Holden suicidal, "what I really felt like, though, was committing suicide.

James Wright’s A Blessing Essay

â€Å"A Blessing† by James Wright Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota, Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass. And the eyes of those two Indian ponies Darken with kindness. They have come gladly out of the willows To welcome my friend and me. We step over the barbed wire into the pasture Where they have been grazing all day, alone. They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness That we have come. They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other. There is no loneliness like theirs. At home once more, They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness. I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms, For she has walked over to me And nuzzled my left hand. She is black and white, Her mane falls wild on her forehead, And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist. Suddenly I realize That if I stepped out of my body I would break Into blossom. James Wright composes â€Å"A Blessing,† by introducing a narrator who recalls a memory about an experience he had with a friend on a trip around Rochester, Minnesota. On this trip, the narrator and his friend encounter two Indian ponies, one of which appears to make a pronounced impact on the narrator. Rather than describe what the scenery may look like or how his friend is feeling about the trip, the narrator instantly speaks of the ponies and continues to speak of them for the remainder of the poem. However, â€Å"A  Blessing† leaves many questions to be asked. Why does James Wright decide to only sex one of the two ponies his narrator encounters? Why does he fluctuate between the physical and the mental, which divides the themes in his poem? What does Wright try to accomplish by packing â€Å"A Blessing† with alliteration, assonance, and consonance? Is there any identity to be found within his carefully placed lines and what does the reader take away from t he varying tenses throughout Wright’s poem? Wright fills several lines of â€Å"A Blessing† with assonance to create varieties of structure for his poem. Wright believes that the moment between his narrator and the ponies is precious and delicate. Therefore, he used one stanza to craft his poem because he does not want to interrupt their meeting. If the poem would have been constructed into varying stanzas, the poem would be broken rather than one conscious thought or action. By keeping the poem as one stanza the narrator’s interaction with the ponies is untouched. It is kept whole and beautiful. The structure of the poem is a direct comparison to the spiritual relationship between the narrator and the ponies. Wright begins with this delicate theme with the soft â€Å"o† sound in â€Å"softly† and â€Å"ponies† in lines two and three. The soft sound connects softly and ponies and by doing so sets the scene for the reader that the kindness the ponies display to the narrator and his friend is the beginning of the impact they make on the narrator. Wright provides textual evidence of this compassion by telling the readers, â€Å"And the eyes of the two Indian ponies / Darken with kindness† (3-4). Wright continues with alliteration in lines five through eight with the â€Å"w† at the beginning of â€Å"willow,† â€Å"welcome,† â€Å"we,† â€Å"wire,† and â€Å"where.† When spoken aloud, the repetition of the â€Å"w† sounds like the snorting a horse makes, which can be displayed as a greeting towards the narrator and his friend. The alliteration continues in lines nine through twelve with repetition of the â€Å"th† sound in â€Å"they,† â€Å"that,† â€Å"there,† and â€Å"theirs.† The â€Å"th† sounds like the thumping on the ground of the pony’s hooves while they move towards the narrator. The movement of the ponies is a sign of openness and welcome. Nearing the end of the poem, Wright comes back to the â€Å"o† sound again in â€Å"forehead,† long,† and â€Å"over.† This sound softens the moment between the female pony and the narrator. This distinction helps the reader comprehend the intimacy the narrator feels with the female pony. The soft â€Å"o† sound also imitates the sound of someone sighing; an action that often  displays an emotion of tenderness or care. In the same lines, Wright uses both alliteration and consonance with the repetition of the â€Å"f† and â€Å"l† sounds, â€Å"falls,† â€Å"forehead,† â€Å"light,† â€Å"long,† and â€Å"delicate.† The alliteration and consonance reflect the gentleness that was created by the â€Å"o† sound. Wright uses alliteration one last time in his concluding lines with the use of â€Å"b† in â€Å"body,† â€Å"break,† and â€Å"blossom.† The â€Å"b† used in Wright’s concluding two lines, â€Å"That if I stepped out of my body I would break / Into blossom.† (23-24). â€Å"B† as a sound is explosive when it comes out of a speaker’s mouth. This movement of the mouth parallels the narrator’s explosion of excitement and realization of his discovery. Throughout the poem, the narrator expresses his enthusiasm towards this meeting with the ponies. It was important to Wright to end of the poem on this explosive note so that it parallels the narrator’s excitement in the beginning. The alliteration, consonance, and assonance create an emotional arc through â€Å"A Blessing.† Each of the sounds created throughout the poem help the reader better comprehend the emotions the narrator is feeling during that given time. â€Å"A Blessing† begins in the present tense. By using the present tense, the reader can imagine the actions in the poem as the narrator does them. In different tenses, certain words carry different connotations. The present tense makes the reader feel as though they are watching the eyes of the ponies darken or as if they are stepping over the barbed wire with the narrator and his friend. By describing the beginning of the poem in present tense, the narrator seems more reliable to the reader. The emotions and actions appear real because they are being done as the audience reads them. The present tense creates a sense of intimacy between the narrator and the reader because they are in tune to the actions he is performing or the effects he is seeing. In line sixteen, Wright changes the tense from present to past. Up until that point, the poem is written in the present tense as Wright describes for his audience what actions the narrator takes as he approaches the horses. In line sixteen, rather than describing the moment as it is happening, Wright chose to say that the pony walked over to him, in the past tense: â€Å"For she walked over to me† (16). The tense change is abrupt and grabs the reader’s attention. The reader’s attention is drawn deeper into the relationship between the narrator and the ponies. The narrator also seems less reliable for he is recounting the ideas rather than  speaking of them as they are happening. The reliability also plays in effect towards to relationship between the narrator and the ponies. The past tense and the reliability make the last half of the poem light and flighty. This flighty atmosphere relates to the otherworldly connection between the narrator and the ponies. Line sixteen not only begins the tense change but it is also the climax of the poem. Wright and his friend had been waiting the entire poem to make contact with the Indian ponies. Wright displayed their eagerness throughout the first fifteen lines of â€Å"A Blessing† by building the anticipation within his narrator and the audience. Wright wants his readers to realize how critical the moment shared between the female pony and his narrator is. â€Å"A Blessing† is composed of two divisions, the physical and the mental. The beginning ten lines describe physical actions performed or things physically seen by the narrator. Wright’s narrator mentions that, â€Å"And the eyes of those two Indian ponies / Darken with kindness† (3-4). These two lines describe something seen by the narrator. By describing what Wright’s narrator is seeing as he draws closer to the ponies allows the reader to understand and visualize for themselves what is being felt by the ponies and how their physical appearance and demeanor changes. To the ponies, the narrator and his friend are strangers. For most animals it is instinctive when strangers enter thei r territory they become territorial and act in aggression towards the unknown. For the ponies to not act in their natural instincts towards the narrator and his friend shows compassion. This compassion hints at an unseen bond between the four characters. â€Å"We step over the barbed wire into the pasture / Where they have been grazing all day, alone† (7-8). Wright uses lines seven and eight for the narrator and his companion to take physical action, where they cross the boundary between themselves and the Indian ponies. The narrator watches a physical action taken by the ponies as their eyes darken and they became more excited as the narrator and his companion draw nearer. When a person or animal feels excited, their eyes naturally widen, allowing more light into their eyes causing their pupils to widen and their eyes to appear darker. Directly preceding line four, Wright’s narrator says, â€Å"They have come gladly out of the willows / To welcome my friend and me† (5-6). The eyes of the ponies show this natural attraction which is then directly followed by them coming to greet the narrator. The ponies are naturally attracted to the  narrator and his friend. In lines eleven and twelve, Wright begins his first emotional division. Line eleven shows a physical action taken by the ponies, â€Å"They bow shyly as wet swansâ €  (11). However, Wright follows that sentence immediately, in the same line, with an emotional one, â€Å"They love each other† (11). Line eleven is the only line where Wright formatted two sentences on one line. This is a development to draw attention to the importance of the ponies’ actions. Love is an emotion and therefore is not something that can physically be seen. However, actions between two participants are used to display affection, which is often interpreted as love. Wright also describes the loneliness of the horses, another emotion that cannot be physically seen but is often portrayed by the one who is feeling lonely. â€Å"There is no loneliness like theirs† (12). The horses bowing their heads can be seen as a sign of loneliness because by bowing their heads they are hiding their faces, which shield their emotions. If the ponies were happy, they would have no need to protect their delicate emotions. To be in love but to be lonely are not two emotions one would typically place together. Love is an emotion that is shared between two companions. If two people are present, one would assume t hat there should be no sense of loneliness because two people are together. However, Wright puts these together successfully which draws the reader to become invested in the emotional state of the ponies and it shows that the narrator himself is invested in the ponies. From lines fourteen to twenty, Wright begins to drift back into the physical division by describing the female pony, her actions towards the narrator, and his actions against her. The horse nuzzles the narrator’s left hand and a light breeze moves him to pet her. â€Å"For she had walked over to me / And nuzzled my left hand† (16-17) and â€Å"And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear† (20). Each of these actions shows emotion, presumably love or lust, which Wright described in earlier lines. By creating actions that exude an emotion Wright ties action and emotion together as if they are one entity. The relationship that Wright shows between the narrator and the ponies is spiritual in that humans cannot physically have relationships with animals. However, the na rrator continues to emphasize the emotional draw he has towards these beautiful creatures. The narrator is becoming all the more entangled in this special encounter with the ponies. In the concluding sentence which consisted of lines  twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty-four, Wright comes full circle and ends with a mental or emotional division. He leaves the narrator thinking to himself that if he was able to step out of his body that he would blossom. Wright uses blossom as a term of development for his narrator that his experience with the ponies has so greatly affected him that he feels he has now grown and grown so much so that he can have an out of body experience. â€Å"Suddenly I realize / That if I step out of my body I would break / Into blossom† (22-24). Blossoming can also be used to describe the freedom the ponies have of being outside free to roam their pasture and belong in nature. By nature, ponies are wild animals, free of any responsibilities. The nature of the ponies and the nature of the narrator are direct contrasts to each other. The ponies are unrestricted and the narrator is looking for this freedom which is why he is so fascinated by them. Wright’s use of emotional and physical divisions throughout his poem illustrates the narrator’s inner turmoil between what he wants and what h e physically has. The narrator wants to be free to roam around, like the ponies, but rather he is human and therefore possesses daily responsibilities. He is straining to find what he is looking for and finds beauty in the freedom that the ponies are allowed. Wright uses the divisions to alter the attention of the reader and divide his one stanza poem. â€Å"A Blessing† has an understated identity, one in which the speaker is hoping for a chance to join the ponies in another life. Wright mentions on several occasions breaking or crossing a barrier. He begins in his first line, â€Å"Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,† (1) where the narrator is bridging the gap between manmade â€Å"the highway† and nature â€Å"just off.† He then continues to â€Å"We step over the barbed wire into the pasture.† (7). In this line, the narrator and his companion are physically stepping over the barrier between themselves and the ponies. Nearing the end of the poem, Wright breaks the physical barrier between the narrator and the ponies when one of them touches his left hand, â€Å"And nuzzled my left hand† (17). Each of these barrier crossings can be viewed as passages to an afterlife. Each of these barriers must be crossed in order for him to be effectively revitalized. Wright mentions reawakening in the last two lines of his poem. â€Å"That if I stepped out of my body I would break / Into blossom† (23-24). The narrator mentioned earlier in the poem that the ponies were of Indian descent. It is common belief in many Indian  or Native American tribes that rebirth or reawakening is a part of their religious philosophies. This reawakening contributes to the narrator’s relationship with the ponies. The relationship shared between the narrator and the ponies is spiritual and in the last two lines the narrator expresses his need of wanting to be as close with them as possible. Therefore, he desires to step across these borders and join the ponies so that they can be together. Wright’s narrator is searching for himself in the ponies and within the nature around them. He hopes that these events will transcend into a rejuvenating experience. He also gives only one of the ponies an identity. He describes one of them as female and personifies her with human characteristics. In line fifteen he describes her as â€Å"the slender one† and in line eighteen he calls to her coloring â€Å"black and white.† In lines nineteen and twenty-one he talks about the way her hair falls and how delicate her skin is. By giving the pony human characteristics, the reader can see that this pony was possibly someone the narrator had known in another life. The ponies cannot greet the narrator as the narrator would greet a fellow human. To bridge the gap between animal and human, the narrator personifies the ponies. James Wright composed a poem of enlightenment and curiosity. Wright draws his readers in by creating vivid images. He developed a new way to entertain the idea of love. The relationship between the narrator and the ponies is one of endearment which is commonly seen between two humans rather than an animal and a human. Th e spiritual relationship held between the narrator and the ponies, especially the female pony, is the basis of everything the narrator does and describes before and after the encounter. Wright has created new interpretive descriptions of crossing into another lifetime. He developed a life where animals and humans can walk as one and where humans can walk as freely as animals. He also incorporated the common human need for rejuvenation and created â€Å"A Blessing† as a new way to fulfill that human need. James Wright developed a poem that touched on several topics, bringing them all together to create a coherent and fulfilling new life.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Blades Inc Solution of Ifm

Get an answer from tutors to this homework question now: Chapter 5 Blades, Inc. Case Use of Currency Derivative Instruments Blades, Inc. needs to order supplies 2 months ahead of the delivery date. It is considering an order from a Japanese supplier that requires a payment of 12. 5 million yen payable as of the delivery date. Blades has two choices: Purchase two call options contracts (since each option contract represents 6,250,000 yen). Purchase one futures contract (which represents 12. million yen). The futures price on yen has historically exhibited a slight discount from the existing spot rate. However, the firm would like to use currency options to hedge payables in Japanese yen for transactions 2 months in advance. Blades would prefer hedging its yen payable position because it is uncomfortable leaving the position open given the historical volatility of the yen. Nevertheless, the firm would be willing to remain un-hedged if the yen becomes more stable someday.Ben Holt, Blade s chief financial officer ( CFO), prefers the flexibility that options offer over forward contracts or financial officer ( CFO), prefers the flexibility that options offer over forward contracts or futures contracts because he can let the options expire if the yen depreciates. He would like to use an exercise price that is about 5 percent above the existing spot rate to ensure that Blades will have to pay no more than 5 per-cent above the existing spot rate for a transaction 2 months beyond its order date, as long as the option premium is no more than 1. percent of the price it would have to pay per unit when exercising the option. In general, options on the yen have required a premium of about 1. 5 percent of the total transaction amount that would be paid if the option is exercised. For example, recently the yen spot rate was $0. 0072, and the firm purchased a call option with an exercise price of $0. 00756, which is 5 percent above the existing spot rate. The premium for this opt ion was $0. 0001134, which is 1. 5 percent of the price to be paid per yen if the option is exercised.A recent event caused more uncertainty about the yen s future value, although it did not affect the spot rate or the forward or futures rate of the yen. Specifically, the yen s spot rate was still $0. 0072, but the option premium for a call option with an exercise price of $0. 00756 was now $0. 0001512. An alter-native call option is available with an expiration date of 2 months from now; it has a premium of $0. 0001134 (which is the size of the premium that would have existed for the option esired before the event), but it is for a call option with an exercise price of $0. 00792. The table below summarizes the option and futures information available to Blades: the option premium for a call option with an exercise price of $0. 00756 was now $0. 0001512. An alter-native call option is available with an expiration date of 2 months from now; it has a premium of $0. 0001134 (which is t he size of the premium that would have existed for the option desired before the event), but it is for a call option with an exercise price of $0. 00792.The table below summarizes the option and futures information available to Blades: Before Event After Event Spot rate $. 0072 $. 0072 $. 0072 Option Information Exercise price ($) $. 00756 $. 00756 $. 00792 Exercise price (% above spot) 5% 5% 10% Option premium per yen ($) $. 0001134 $. 0001512 $. 0001134 Option premium (% of exercise price) 1. 5% 2. 0% 1. 5% Total premium ($) $1,417. 50 $1,890. 00 $1,417. 50 Amount paid for yen if option is exercised (not including premium) $94,500 $94,500 $99,000 Futures Contract Information Futures price $. 06912 $. 006912 As an analyst for Blades, you have been asked to offer insight on how to hedge. 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages for Blades to use currency option contracts and currency futures contracts to hedge its 12. 5 million yen payables respectively? 2. If Blades uses call o ptions to hedge its yen payables, should it use the call option with the exercise price of $0. 00756 or the call option with the exercise price of $0. 00792? What are differences between these two alternatives? 3.Given the above information, how may you take advantages of this situation? 4. Assume the standard deviation for yen is about $0. 0005. If you believe that the future spot rate will likely be two standard deviations above and below the expected spot rate (0. 006912) by the delivery date, what are your maximum gain and loss for option contracts and future contract respectively? Please draw a contingency diagram for each type of contract and also mark the maximum gain, loss, and a break-even price point for each type of contract in your answer. Please show your calculation

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Edgar Allen Poe’s Essay

From the very first line written in the â€Å"Cask Of Amontillado†; â€Å"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge. † We are thrust into a ride, much like one you might find at the amusement park or the carnival, with the distinct difference that although this ride is in fact on rails, how it will affect us and how we will interpret the events during is completely up to us. Edgar Allan Poe does a remarkable job of employing several psychological techniques in his short story † The cask of Amontillado † , but I will only focus on one, which even by today’s standards is flawless. The technique is the mystery. Who is Fortunato? What has he done to Montresor that has caused so much emotional and psychological damage? Obviously the answers to these questions will elude and intrigue the audience. So we are instantly on the hook. To find the answers to these questions we must avert more of our attention and interest to the piece at hand. Poe, now with our utmost and full attention, begins to plunge us into the mind of his protagonist. Not so by simply introducing us to Montresor but instead by showing us his actions, his thoughts, his mannerisms. He accomplishes this by exposing us to Fortunato and the conversations between them that will ensue. On the surface Montresor seems like a normal man with no ill will. Although quickly we begin to learn otherwise. † My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today. So begins the series of dialogues Song 2 and conversations that would appear to be like any other had by two good friends. At first Montresor is nothing but amicable, he compliments his good friends on his looks, dress and even praises his good taste and reputation. † And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own. † The audience now fully engaged in the story though the methods of mystery, curiosity and perhaps even endearment or empathy f or Fortunato continue to delve deeper into the event unfolding before our very eyes. Just as the protagonist and the antagonist begin to descend upon the catacombs and the halls of the Montresors manor, so does the conversation and the dialogue taking place between them. † We will go back; your health is precious. you are rich, respected, admired , beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. † We are now beginning to be exposed more openly to the sociopathic ways of our protagonist; Montresor. Willingly and cheerfully guiding our poor and still at the moment helpless, Fortunato , as he is still under the spell of Montresor. When we finally arrive to the depths of the catacombs the reader is now aware that some horrible event is bound to ensure, but the conversation and the presentation made by the writer has now fully invaded the reader. Little by little inch by inch as we descended down through the catacombs, we have been made more anxious, more uncomfortable. Now all the built up tension that has been gathering is ripe for the telling. † Pass your hand † Is the cue that signals the reader. We are here, this is where our journey has been leading you, here is the end. Over the wall; you cannot help feeling the nitre. † It is then that Poe unleashes his â€Å"Single effect† all done with a fine attention to detail. The message is clear. you are now here, you will go nowhere, this is where you will rest. Presumably after achieving his single effect the reader will sense a series of emotional responses; ranging from fear to terror to relief. Relief that the built up tension and anx iety has now been released. The ride has finally come to an end and it is now time to go home and think upon the emotions you have felt here today.