USC 2017-2018 Supplemental Essay Prompts Short Answer Questions

Want to be a USC Trojan? Bookmark this page to help plan your application essays for the University of Southern California! USC is one of the most popular colleges on the west coast. Located in Southern California, USC attracts a lot of students who enjoy nice, sunny weather all year round. Especially in a city like Los Angeles that offers students endless of cultural activities and internship opportunities they can take advantage of. On top of USC’s ideal location and weather, USC is well known for their undergraduate business and media studies. USC Marshall School of Business is ranked no. 9 for their undergraduate business program, specifically strong in accounting and entrepreneurship. USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism is also a popular choice for students interested in media studies, especially when paired with media internships available in an entertainment-focused city like LA. USC also has a very unique program called the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy (IYA). Students accepted to the program will be studying Arts, Technology and Business Innovation. Over the 4 years, IYA students will gain an in-depth knowledge in art and design, engineering and computer science, and finally, business and venture management. The application requires an additional portfolio and is highly selective. On average, only 25 students are accepted per graduating class. Does USC offer what you’re interested? If you are applying this fall, here are the short answer questions and supplemental essays for the 2017-2018 application season: 1. Short Answer Questions Describe yourself in three wordsWhat is your favorite snack?Favorite app/websiteBest movie of all timeHashtag to describe yourselfDream job:What is your theme song?Dream tripWhat TV show will you binge watch next?Place you are most content?TIP: These short answer questions are meant to help the admissions office know a little bit more about you and your personality. Dont spend too much time on these questions, and be true to who you are! 2. Supplemental Essay #1 Please respond to one of the prompts below. (250 word limit) Prompt 1: USC believes that one learns best when interacting with people of different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Tell us about a time you were exposed to a new idea or when your beliefs were challenged by another point of view. Prompt 2:Describe something outside of your intended academic focus about which you are interested in learning. Prompt 3: What is something about yourself that is essential to understanding you? TIP: When you choose which essay prompt to write, take into account what essay topic youve chosen for your personal statement and what you plan on writing for the second supplemental essay. The admissions office will be reading your application as a whole, so it should all come together to tell them who you are, what youre interested and what USC can offer you to achieve your dreams. 3. Supplemental Essay #2 Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests at USC. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections. (250 word limit) TIP: This is essentially your Why USC supplemental essay. Do your research about the program you want to apply. In fact, reach out to the professors in the department youre interested in studying and learn more about the program. Its important to know what USC offers, so you can talk about how those resources and facilities can enable you to achieve your interests or support your studies in a specific field. Do not just iterate what programs they have. This essay is about how USC can help you in a way no other universities can, and about how you can give back to the universitys community by being a part of it.Ourpremium plansoffer different level of profile access and data insights that can help you get into your dream school. Unlock any of ourpackagesor search ourundergraduate profile databaseto find specific profiles that can help you make an informed choice about where to apply!

The 18 Hardest ACT English Questions Ever

The 18 Hardest ACT English Questions Ever SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’ve been hard at work studying for the ACT, you’ve mastered the basics of the test. But are you ready to tackle the hardest grammar, punctuation, syntax, and writing logic questions that ACT English will throw at you? Read this article to try your hand at 18 of the toughest, most confusing challenges ACT English poses. Then check out the detailed explanations of what makes each question tick, how to solve it and others like it, and what to watch out for when faced with similar questions on the real test. Why Should You Care About the Hardest ACT English Questions? Of course it is good to be able to answer all the questions you'll see on the ACT. But, how deeply you should be concerned about acing the hardest questions depends on what yourtarget score is. Are you trying to get as close to aperfect ACT score as possible?Getting above a 33 on ACT English leaves almost no room for error, so if you’re aiming for the highest scores, these are the questions you need to be able toanswer correctly. If you’re lessconcerned with getting the best possible score, then it’s good to know what the toughest questions look like because your strategy may be to skip some of them. What Makes ACT EnglishQuestions Hard? Surprisingly, questions aren’t hard because they test new or more complex material.Instead, what makes the hardest questions so challenging is that often, they ask you to do several types of thinking at the same time. Often, questions propose counterfactual ideas, where you have to keep in mind both the original and a completely different version of the text. For example, a regular reading comprehension question would ask what the main point of a passage is. Meanwhile, a difficult reading comprehension question would first present a scenario where the passage was altered in some way, and then ask how its main point would change as a result. (See Question 8 below for how this works in practice.) Also possible are questions that test several different grammar, punctuation, and style issues at once. For instance, each suggested answer choice for a hard grammar-based question could be completely plausible rather than obviously wrong. You would have to comb the sentence for meaning and style, not just grammatical information, in order to answer correctly. (Question 5 does this particular trick.) Finally, questions can add a layer of complexity byswitching from a detail-oriented to a big-picture focus. You could be asked to correctly complete a sentence in a passage - and then realize that your answer changes depending on how you interpret that passage! (Question 7 is an example ofthis.) Complexity is created when many simple things are layered on top of each other. Spoiler Warning! Before I show you the actual hardest questions, I think it's only fair to warn you. These questions are all fromthe official ACT practice tests(the PDF tests, not the online oneon the ACT website)! If you’re the type of person who will see them once and remember them forever, maybe wait to read the rest of the article till after you’ve taken the practice tests in test-day conditions. The Hardest ACT English Questions Since ACT English is an entirely passage-based section, all of these questions come from long passages, which I mostly haven’t included. Try to answer each question in about 35 seconds – that’s how long you’ll have on the test. Once you're done, check out theanswer and explanation that follows each question. Question 1 The county cleared this path and paved it with packed gravel, so they would have a peaceful place to hike and bike. Which of the following alternatives to the underlined portion would NOT be acceptable? path, paving path and then paved path before paving path paved The Challenge This question is hard for two reasons. First, because your brain is trained to assume that most answers are wrong, so this reverse question format - where most of the answers are correct - is challenging. And second,because each suggested option tests your knowledge of a different piece of grammar. Answer: D Explanation To find the unacceptable alternative, let’s first figure out the meaningof the original sentence. Two things happened: first the county cleared the path, and then the county paved it. So any answer choices that express this sequence of events would fit the sentence, and thus not be the "wrong" answer that we are looking for here. Answers A, B, and C all express the same idea in slightly different ways,creating perfectly grammatical phrases. Now let’s see what happens when we plug in answer J. We get this weird sentence: â€Å"The county cleared this path paved it with packed gravel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is clearly arun-on sentence, so answer J is our odd man out. Question 2 The first train took twenty-six minutes to complete the route, which ran from City Hall to West 145th Street in under a half an hour. NO CHANGE in the completion of its route. in twenty-six minutes. DELETE the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period. The Challenge Redundancy is sometimes tricky to spot. Especially when, like here, the repeating thing is a concept rather than a word used more than once, and is placed far away in the sentence from whatever it’s duplicating. Answer: D Explanation You first have to realize that 26 minutes is the same thing as "under a than half hour."Once you see this, you know that the question is testing editing out repetition. The original (answer A) doesn’t work, since it’s repeating the route length already described in the beginning of the sentence.Answer C has the same problem – it’s repeating the route time exactly as already expressed.Answer B takes one type of redundancy and replaces it with another, since it’s just a variant of the words â€Å"to complete the route† already in the sentence. So, the only answer that fixes all the redundancies is D. Question 3 The fresco is a dynamic work because, by capturing the energy, humanity, and collective achievement of the Detroit workers, celebrates all working men and women. NO CHANGE that, while, that was, The Challenge By interrupting the sentence with a long aside, the question breaks your concentration and makes it hard to see that although â€Å"because† fits the meaning and logic of the sentence, it isn't grammatical. Answer: B Explanation If you realize that the sentence is being broken in half by a long descriptive phrase, then you can simply take it out! Without the phrase"by capturing the energy, humanity, and collective achievement of the Detroit workers," our sentence simply reads: The fresco is a dynamic work because celebrates all working men and women. That clearly doesn't work, so answer A is out. Now you can simply plug the other answers in to see which of them makes sense. C and D also create nonsense sentences. Answer B is the only choice that gives us a functional sentence with orwithoutthe long descriptive phrase. Question 4 We talked just as easily as we had in the past, when we would sit in the field behind Joan’s house atop the rabbit hutch and discuss our friends and our hopes for the future. NO CHANGE in the field atop the rabbit hutch behind Joan’s house atop the rabbit hutch in the field behind Joan’s house behind Joan’s house in the field atop the rabbit hutch The Challenge This question is all about figuring out how to fixmisplaced modifiers. It's hard because there’s a confusing jumble of three different prepositional phrases that you have to sort into the right order. Answer: C Explanation Let make a mental image of what’s happening, and then zoom out to do the correct placement of bodies. Imagine a movie camera literally zooming out from the conversation to show us where these two people are: There are two people. They are sitting on top of the rabbit hutch (basically a small shed). The hutch is in a field. The field is behind Joan’s house. OK, so now let’s go through the answers to see which describes that reality. The original text (answer A) says, basically: There are two people. They are sitting in a field. The field is behind Joan’s house. Either the field or Joan’s house is on top of the rabbit hutch. That makes no sense. Answer Bgoes: There are two people. They’re sitting in a field. The field is on top of the rabbit hutch†¦ ok, that’s also wrong. Answer Dhas: There are two people. They are sitting behind Joan’s house. They are in a field. The field is on top of the rabbit hutch. That’s the same problem again. Only answer Cfits our mental image of the scene. Don't picture the rabbits in your mental movie, though. Their cuteness is too distracting. Question 5 In some agricultural parts of Japan, for instance, these three stars are commonly referred to as Karasuki and represent a three-pronged plow. Given that all the choices are true, which one provides a detail that has the most direct connection to the information that follows in this sentence? NO CHANGE distant populated historic The Challenge Questions where there is no logically â€Å"wrong† answer are hard because you can’t easily eliminate answers by a quick glance. Here, you have to extract the correct information from the sentence and fit it to thevocabulary offered. Answer: A Explanation Since the question asks us to connect anadjective to what the sentence is about, let’s first figure out what is being described. The bits of information we have are: Something about stars A foreign word for the stars The stars look like a type of plow Now, let’s see whichword choice connects with one of these pieces of information. â€Å"Distant† means far away. Certainly the stars are far away, but in this sentence â€Å"distant† would modify â€Å"parts of Japan† and nothing in the sentence discusses geographic distances of any kind. â€Å"Populated† means inhabited, or where people live. That doesn’t go with anything else in the sentence. â€Å"Historic† means important because of past events that happened there. Again, this doesn’t connect with anything in the sentence. The original word â€Å"agricultural† means having to do with farming. And that goes directly with the fact that the stars represent a â€Å"three-pronged plow,† a type of farming implement. Question 6 Unbricking a kiln after a firing is like a person uncovering buried treasure. NO CHANGE someone a potter OMIT the underlined portion. The Challenge Illogical comparisons can be very tough to spot unless you are familiar with what to look for. Answer: D Explanation The basic rule is that you can only compare things that are alike in some way. For example, you can compare pears and plums (both fruits!), but you can’t compare a pear to a person eating a plum. One trick to spotting illogical comparison questions is to look for words like â€Å"than† or â€Å"is like† that signal that something is about to be compared to something else. This something else needs to immediately follow the words â€Å"than† or â€Å"is like.† So, what’s being compared here? â€Å"Unbricking a kiln.† Even if you don’t know what that means, it’s clearly an action of some sort. The original text (answer A) compares this action to â€Å"a person.† An action is clearly not like a person, so that’s out.Once you realize this, you can see that answers B and C are also out, since all they do is replace the word â€Å"person† with alternate versions. Only answer D removes the illogical comparison, so that the sentence now compares â€Å"unbricking† to â€Å"uncovering† – two similar actions. Question 7 [1] Our son has started playing organized T-ball, a beginner’s version of baseball. [2] â€Å"Organized† is what parents call it, anyway. [3] Joe is seven, living in those two or three years when children can manage to throw a baseball a few feet but when what they’re really interested in are things closer at hand: bugs, butterflies, dirt (if they’re in the infield), grass (if they’re in the outfield). [4] Children of that age still think nothing of doing little dances in the outfield, often with their backs to home plate and, consequently, the batter. [5] It’s not as if the outfielders’ positions matter much, though- the ball never gets hit hard enough to reach there. The writer wishes to add the following sentence in order to emphasize the uncertainty already expressed about an idea in the paragraph: I still have doubts. The new sentence would best amplify and be placed after Sentence: 1. 2. 3. 4. The Challenge This question is hard because you have to recognizethe sarcasm in the sentence before you can figure out that the author doesn’t mean what is written literally. Answer: B Explanation This question is testing your ability to detectauthorial mood and voice. In this case, the sentence â€Å"I still have doubts.† has to back up something that the author disagrees with or doesn’t believe in.The best way to solve this is to go option by option to see which sentence is the one where skepticism is introduced. The first sentence (answer A) is completely factual. The author tells us about her son’s new activity, and explains that T-ball is a type of baseball. None of this is in dispute, so putting â€Å"I still have doubts† after this wouldn’t make sense. Sentence 3 is alsoquite fact-based. We learn the son’s age, and then get the author’s generalization about the inability of young kids to focus on the game. This is an opinion that the author clearly believes in, so putting â€Å"doubts† after this would be wrong. Sentence 4 continues the theme of distractibility, with a funny image of outfielders dancing around while the ball is in play. The author doesn’t doubt that this is the case – it’s clearly a description coming from personal experience. Sentence 2, on the other hand, is riddled with sarcasm and humor. We can tell because the word â€Å"organized† is now in quotation marks, separated out as being untrue. The phrase â€Å"what parents call it† signals that despite being called organized, T-ball is anything but. Finally, the adverb â€Å"anyway† signs the author’s shoulder shrug at the fact that other parents can see any organization on the field – a shrug that is followed by a bunch of evidence of how little attention the kids are paying to the game in progress. Right after sentence 2 is the perfect place to emphasize the author’s disagreement with the sentence â€Å"I still have my doubts.† Baseballs, tennis balls, a stuffed animal - just your basic T-ball chaos. Question 8 Banneker lived and worked on the family farm. After his father died in 1759, Banneker took over the responsibility of the farm and the care of his mother and younger sisters. In addition, he pursued scientific studies and taught himself to play the flute and violin. If the writer were to delete the last part of the preceding sentence (ending the sentence with a period after the word studies), the paragraph would primarily lose: support for the essay’s point about Banneker’s love of learning. a direct link to the previous paragraph. a humorous description of Banneker’s other interests. an extensive digression about music The Challenge The trick here is that it’s difficult to mentally process counterfactual information, like the question expects you to. The fact that answers B and C also sound plausible is an added challenge. Answer: A Explanation This question is checking to see how well you understand sentence-levelauthorial intention – why a writer includes or leaves out particular supporting details or examples. Another way to reframe this question is to ask: what purpose does the phrase â€Å"and taught himself to play the flute and violin† play in this passage?From reading it, we can see that it points to Banneker being interested in things other than just the farm and science.Now, let’s go through the answers to see which fits this description of the phrase. Answer D says that the section is an â€Å"extensive† discussion of music. Music is mentioned in the phrase, but only briefly and without any specific details. This answer is clearly wrong. It’s tempting to pick option C, since the phrase does deal with â€Å"other interests† – that’s what we noted in our own description – but there is nothing â€Å"humorous† about it. So, answer D is out. Answer B is also tempting – much of the longer passage dealt with Banneker’s various talents and skills. But we have an even better option to go with in this case. Answer A describes exactly what the phrase that question suggests cutting out does: it shows that Banneker loved to learn about all sorts of things. Question 9 The two principal types of kayaks are: the easily maneuverable white-water kayak and the largest sea kayak. NO CHANGE very biggest more large larger The Challenge You have to know that you are only comparing two things, so you can’t use thesuperlative form of the adjective. Answer:D Explanation When we compare a specific quality of several things, we can change the form of the adjective we use to show which object has more of that quality. For example, three tiny things can be ranked in size order: Small Smaller (the comparative form of the adjective â€Å"small†) Smallest (the superlative form of the adjective â€Å"small†) The rule is that if three or more things are being compared, then one of them can be labeled with the "-est"form of the adjective.But if only two things are being compared, then only the "-er"form of the adjective can be used. In this case, we are comparing two things: we are ranking the â€Å"white-water kayak† and the â€Å"sea kayak† in size order.Since there are only two things, we can’t use either â€Å"largest† or â€Å"biggest† to describe the sea kayak, so answers Aand Bare out. Some adjectives need the words â€Å"more† and â€Å"most† to indicate comparison. For example, you can’t say â€Å"this actor is woodener than that one,† you have to say â€Å"this actor is more wooden than that one.†But in this case, â€Å"large† does easily take the "-er"form, so answer Cis out, and answer Dis the right one. Question 10 Radioactive pools of toxic waste are okay for others to live in; even acid cannot kill them. NO CHANGE are all right for others to live in; are home to still others; suit others to a tee; The Challenge It can be hard toavoid overly colloquial speech and to modulate language level correctly. Answer: C Explanation Using words that are appropriately formal and avoiding diction that’s too slangy or casual is an important skill on the ACT. In this case, there is nothing grammatically wrong with the underlined phrase,but the sentence is clearly a piece of scientific writing, so this language is just too casual for this context.That means we have to find a version of the phrase that means the same thing, but uses more elevated language. The word â€Å"okay† in particular jumps out as being inappropriate here (so answer Ais wrong).Answer Bproposes changing â€Å"okay† to â€Å"all right† – this doesn’t really raise our diction in any way, so this answer is out.Answer Dreplaces the phrase with theidiomatic phrase â€Å"suit to a tee,† but this kind of folksy expression is still not the right fit. The most neutral and least casually inflected option is answer C, which creates themost compact and formal version of this description. Question 11 As the dancers step to the music, they were also stepping in time to a sound that embodies their unique history and suggests the influence of outside cultures on their music. NO CHANGE are also stepping have also stepped will also step The Challenge Some questions aboutmatching verb tenses are tricky because of the context of the sentence. Here, the words â€Å"time† and â€Å"history† can lead you down the wrong path, as can answer choice C. Answer:B Explanation Usually, verbs in the same sentence should be in the same tense: present, past, or future. Sometimes, though, when a sentence explains a shift in time, verb tenses shift along with it. For example: I think (now, so present tense) in the future we will be (later, so future tense) wearing utilitarian jumpsuits. In this question, the sentence seems to point to something about the dancing taking place in the past, as we connect the dancers dancing now to a â€Å"history.† But you have to realize that the dancing itselfis only happening in the present. This means that both forms of the verb â€Å"step† have to be in the present tense. The original verb (answer A) is in the past tense, whileAnswerDoffers us the future tense - both wrong. Answer Cis tempting because the helping verb â€Å"have† seems to be in the present tense. However, the full verb isâ€Å"have stepped† which is a past tense that'sused for actions that started in the past and are still ongoing. That’s not the case here, so answer Cis out. Answer Bsolves the problem by matching the present tense of the first verb, â€Å"step† with the present continuous â€Å"are stepping.† Question 12 To add to the confusion, every New Year’s Day a person according to this Korean counting system, becomes a year older, regardless of his or her actual birthday. NO CHANGE person, person; person who, The Challenge The many different commas in the sentence can easily throw you off track. You have to seethat the phrase â€Å"according to this Korean counting system† needs to be set off with commas. Answer: B Explanation This sentence is such a confusing jumble of phrases that it’s hard to make heads or tails of what goes with what and which punctuation is appropriate. First, let’s take the sentence apart and connect the pieces that actually go together. â€Å"To add to the confusion,† – prepositional phrase â€Å"every New Year’s Day† – prepositional phrase â€Å"a person† – subject â€Å"according to this Korean counting system,† – verb phrase â€Å"becomes a year older,† – verb â€Å"regardless of his or her actual birthday.† – prepositional phrase Breaking everything down like this shows us that there is a descriptivephrase separating the sentence’s subject and verb, which are: "a person becomes a year older." This means that this separating phrase needs to be set off from the rest of the sentence by commas, so answers A and C are out.Answer D gives us the comma, but it also introduces a dependent clause subject (â€Å"who†). We only have one verb, so we don’t need two subjects, so this answer is wrong. Only B fixes the actual problem, adding a comma to set off the modifier. What if you were born on New Year's Day? Do you get to celebrate twice? No? OK, fine - how about just two slices of cake then? Question 13 Wearing Jeans in School In 1970, the school board in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, approved a dress code that prohibited students from wearing certain types of clothing. The school board members believed that wearing â€Å"play clothes† to school made the students lax and indifferent toward their school work, while more formal attire established a positive educational climate. When twelve-year-old Kevin Bannister wore a pair of blue jeans to school, he was sent home for violating the dress code. Kevin and his parents believed that his constitutional rights had been violated. The United States District Court of New Hampshire agreed to hear Kevin’s case. His claim was based on the notion of personal liberty- the right of every individual to the control of his or her own person- protected by the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. The court agreed with Kevin that a person’s right to wear clothing of his or her own choosing is, in fact, protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The court noted, however, that restrictions may be justified in some circumstances, such as in the school setting. So did Kevin have a right to wear blue jeans to school? The court determined that the school board had failed to show that wearing jeans actually inhibited the educational process. Furthermore, the board offered no evidence to back up its claim that such clothing created a negative educational environment. Certainly the school board would be justified in prohibiting students from wearing clothing that was unsanitary, revealing, or obscene. The court remained unconvinced, therefore, that wearing jeans would actually impair the learning process of Kevin or of his fellow classmates. Kevin Bannister’s case was significant in that it was the first in the United States to address clothing prohibitions of a school dress code. His challenge initiated a review of students’ rights and administrative responsibility in public education. Suppose the writer’s goal had been to write a brief persuasive essay urging students to exercise their constitutional rights. Would this essay fulfill that goal? Yes, because the essay focuses on how Kevin encouraged other students to exercise their constitutional rights. Yes, because the essay focuses on various types of clothing historically worn by students as a freedom of expression. No, because the essay suggests that the right to wear blue jeans was not a substantial constitutional right in the 1970s. No, because the essay objectively reports on one case of a student exercising a particular constitutional right. The Challenge After spending time examining this passage on a sentence level for all the other questions associated with it, it's pretty challenging tohave to zoom out and think about what is actually being said here. Plus, the answers all hit plausible notes. Answer: D Explanation You’re being tested on how well you understand overallauthorial intention – what the purpose and point of a given piece of writing are. So what features would an essay urging people to act have in it? It might be organized around a bit of activism. It might tell the story of some protest or challenge to the order of the day. It would have a clear point of view of who/what is right and who/what is wrong in a given situation or problem. It would most likely either start or end with a directive to go out there and do something. Does this passage do those things?It does tell the story of a legal challenge to established order.But it doesn’t do any of those other things. And, even if you can’t immediately picture what an essay urging action would sound like, you can check out the descriptions of this passage in the answers to see whether any of them actually fit what you just read. Answer A is wrong because there is no mention of Kevin interacting with other students in any way. Answer B is wrong because aside from jeans, there is no mention made of any other self-expressive clothing choices made by students. Answer C is tempting because it agrees that the essay is not urging anyone to do anything, but the answer also says that the passage picks a side in the fight over whether jeans are a constitutional right. But the essay does no such thing, so this answer is out. Answer D is the only one that actually describes this essay: it’s a simple, chronological, fact-based, neutral account of one court case. Question 14 Some sixty years later, an elderly Frances Griffiths publicly admitted that her and her cousin had staged the photographs as a practical joke. NO CHANGE her cousin and herself she and her cousin her cousin and her The Challenge The question is asking you to correct what is a prettycommon mistake in spoken English, where we don’t pay careful attention to pronoun forms when we use compound nouns. Ifyou're used to hearing people speak this way, you might be caught off guard here. Answer: C Explanation One trick to use, when you’re looking a compound noun (two nouns or pronouns connected with the word "and"), is to take the noun away, leave the pronoun, andsee whether the sentence still works. Here, we would get: "Frances Griffiths admitted that her had staged the photographs,† which is clearly wrong.This means answers A and D are out – both use the â€Å"her† form of the pronoun. Using the trick with answer B, we would get: â€Å"Frances Griffithsadmitted that herself had staged the photographs,† which also doesn’t work. The only answer that works is C, which uses the subject form of the pronoun: â€Å"she.† Question 15 One significant aspect of this relationship was: that Susan was perhaps the only reader of Emily’s poems-in-progress. NO CHANGE was that Susan was, that Susan was that Susan, The Challenge The difficulty here is that there are two types of punctuation rules being tested at the same time. Answer:B Explanation This question is testing how well you know how to punctuate a modifying clause (basically, a part of a sentence that explains the rest of the sentence). The rule is that if the modifying phrase is necessary for the sentence to make sense, then it doesn't need any commas around it. In this case,the modifying clause explains the relationship between the two women-â€Å"that Susan was perhaps the only reader of Emily’s poems-in-progress." Without it, the sentence wouldn't work at all: One significant aspect of this relationship was. This tells us that the correct answer is the one that leaves out any punctuation -answer B. Question 16 A lot of people hate to ride the New York City subways, but I love them because I like to get places fast. A musician balancing a cello case, two Buddhist monks in saffron robes, and a group of stockbrokers in crisp, charcoal gray suits get on at Wall Street. A passenger placidly sews while the subway train flings and jolts. A teenager who’s holding a shoebox containing a kitten as tiny as a gingersnap smiles as a line of girls in frilly white communion dresses file by. About three and a half million people a day ride the subways, and I think maybe I’ve met them all. At this point, the writer wants to provide one reason why she likes to ride the subways. Which choice is most relevant to the information provided in this first paragraph? NO CHANGE I never know what I’ll see there. they are so much cheaper than taxis. they are places of enormous quiet and calm. The Challenge This question challenges you to find the common theme of the paragraph and then circle back to apply it to this sentence. It's easy to get it wrong because eachof the answers is a completely plausible way to end the sentence - if you don't connect it to the rest of the passage. Answer: B Explanation Each answer option would create a totally different topic sentence for this paragraph. Yourjob is to use the paragraph to find clues for what a relevant topic sentence would be here The passage that follows the sentence is basically a long list of different people that the author has seen riding the subway: a musician, monks, stockbrokers, someone sewing, a teenager, and girls. Let’s see whether one of the answer choices sets up this list. Answers A and C are about the advantage of the subway as a mode of transportation. They’re true, but they aren’t what this paragraph is about. Answer D actually is about the environment inside the subway, but the paragraph describes a crazy mishmash of people and things, while â€Å"quiet and calm† are adjectives better suited to a library than public transit. Answer B is the only one that gives us an intro to what is to come in the rest of the paragraph. Then we all took off one shoe and got on the subway together! Question 17 The Navajo language is complex, with a structure and sounds that makes them unintelligible to anyone without extensive exposure to it. NO CHANGE makes it make it make them The Challenge Because this question is testing both subject/verb agreement and noun/pronoun agreement, it's easy to get tripped up by it. Answer:C Explanation We are asked here to figure out two things: whether the verb â€Å"make† should be singular or plural and whether the pronoun "them" should be singular or plural.Let’s take these one at a time. A verb has to match its subject. In other words,a singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural subject makes the verb plural.In this case, to figure out the right form of the verb "make," you have to first determine what is doing the making. What is making Navajo language complex? The structure and sounds. So, since the subject is plural, the right verb is "make," eliminating answers A and B. Similarly, a pronoun has to match the noun that it's linkingback to. Here, you have to analyze: what is being made complex by the structure and sounds? The Navajo language. Since this noun is singular, the underlined pronoun should be too, making C the correct answer. Question 18 On each wing, all flighted birds have ten primary flight feathers, each one shaped slight different. NO CHANGE slight differently. slightly differently. slightly more different. The Challenge Here, you have to realize that you have to use anadverb to modify a verb and another adverb. Answer: C Explanation Choosing whether to usean adjective or an adverbdepends on what you want to that word to describe. The rule is: nouns can be modified by nouns or adjectives; butadjectives, adverbs, and verbs can only be modified by adverbs. In this case, it’s important to first figure out what function the underlined words are playing.The sentence is explaining that each feather has a different shape from those around it. That means that the verb â€Å"shaped† is being modified by the word explaining variations in form. Since it’s modifying the verb, it needs to be an adverb, so it has to be â€Å"differently.† This means answers A and Dare out. But the sentence also points out that the feathers aren’t all that different from one another – their shapes have mild, not extreme variance.So the adverb â€Å"differently† is being modified by the word expressing the degree of difference. Since it’s modifying an adverb, it has to be â€Å"slightly,† so answer Cis correct. Flight feathers in action. How to Tacklethe Hardest ACT English Questions Now that you've seen what the ACT English section is ready to dish out, how can you get ready to meet its most difficult challenges? TakeComplexity Step By Step. Most of the hardest questions are difficult because they layerseveral rules, ideas, or concepts into one pile. Whenever this happens, your best bet is to untangle each part of the question and solve it on its own. Not only are you less likely to make mistakes if you work in simple steps, but often, solving one part of the question will lead you to find the right answer for the other parts as well. Use the Process of Elimination. Another useful technique is to cross out the answers you know are wrong. After you've done this, look at what's different about the remaining answer choices. Often, you will realize what the question is testing by looking at these left-over answers and comparing the changes they suggest with the original text. Balance Your Time Wisely. Earlier in this article, I told you that you would have only about 35 seconds to solve each ACT English question. But that's only if you spend the same amount of time on each of the questions in this section of the test. A better approach is to do a first pass through the section to solve the easiest questions as quickly as you can while still being precise. Then, you will have more time left to devote to the questions that need extra attention and care. Trust Your Gut.If all else fails, trycovering up all the answer choices (including the underlined originaltext), and read the restof the passage. See ifyou can form your own opinion about: the logical progression of the passage structure the way the different sentences, or the different parts of one sentence, relate to one another how you wouldfill inthe blank space yourself Then, try to find the answer choice that most closely matches your own thoughts, rather than being distractedby the answer choices. The Bottom Line The most challenging questions on ACT English are difficult because they: Check your understanding of more than one grammar, editing, or punctuation skill at the same time. Have several answer choices that seem correct on first glance. Force you to flip between detail-oriented, sentence or phrase-level observation and passage-wide comprehension. Present counterfactual information. Some ways to tackle these hardest questions on the test are: Simplify multi-layered questions by solving each component by itself. Use the process of elimination to cross out obviously wrong answers, and then figure out what the question is testing by comparing the remaining answers to one another. Balance your time wisely to have more time to spend on the most difficult questions. Trycovering up the answer choices and rewriting the underlined piece of the passage yourself. What’s Next? Shooting for the top score on the ACT? Check out our article on 9 strategies to a perfect score on ACT English, our guide togetting a perfect ACT score, and a discussion of how many questions you can miss and still score a 36. Need to study more for ACT English? Check out our guides forthe best way to prepare for ACT Englishandboosting your overall ACT score in 10 days. Wondering how you’ll stack up when you take the test? We’ve gotan explanation ofwhat a good/bad/excellent ACT score looks like, and advice onfinding a target score. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

Rabbit Proof Fence Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rabbit Proof Fence - Movie Review Example Further, orders were issued to eradicate forcibly half-caste children from their paternal and maternal families. It was a disastrous and dangerous racist policy that brought about the suffering and misery of what they called the stolen generation. In the movie Rabbit proof fence, the director Philip Noyce presents a perspective of what real happened to the half-caste children in Australia during the 20th century. In addition, via the movie, the director highlights the events that happened in order to overcome the disastrous racist law. For instance, having been removed forcibly from their mothers, the three women, Gracie, Sampi, and Sansbury escape from one of the detention center in Moore and goes on mission to look for their mothers. It is rational to argue that with the incredible journey ahead of the three women in the movie, they try to free themselves from the oppressive government policies. It is depicted in the film that they tried to identify their way out of the rabbit proof fence. I think this represents the unrelenting effort to fight for equality in society. In addition, the movie depicted how racism or racial profiling in 20th century Australia. It is evident that during this time, racism in Australian society looked like cancer in that it had no cure and it would have continued were it not for the effort of the three women to fight for justice. However, separation and exclusion is seen all around Australian aborigine children. It is clear that suspicion, fear, and ignorance parting away communities. At the same time, public figures, the media, and heads of states, who are the people supposed to fight and defend pluralist and inclusive societies, initiate attacks on multiculturalism. While this negative outlook may be so widely accepted challenging it seems to be a hard but important

Strategies Unit-5DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategies Unit-5DB - Essay Example A virtual retailer must find companies which will supply the necessary commodities that it sells online. Though inventories are significantly lower than that of traditional retailer, internet retailers also need to have its warehouse. Virtual retailers also need to forge partnerships with logistics companies in the delivery of their products. Online operation must also backed by support staffs which are committed in delivering a excellent customer service. In terms of physical resources, online retailers less resources than a brick and mortar which operates on an international level. One virtual store is needed for an international internet retailer to serve all its global customers. A dot-com retailer also requires fewer inventories but it should be noted that companies must heavily invest in computer hardware and software to support processes. Financially, an online operation requires smaller cash outlay to finance physical resources and overhead. It should also be noted that e-commerce necessitates lower levels of working capital and telecommunication costs. In terms of human resource, an international internet retailer needs to deploy more employees who will man order taking and after-sales support. However, the total number of an international internet retailer is significantly lower than its brick and mortar counterpart. According to AC Nielsen, Google, Inc.

Discuss the relationship between the informal economy in the socialist Essay

Discuss the relationship between the informal economy in the socialist states and the emergence of capitalism in these states after 1989 - Essay Example This was referred to as the socialist experiment that became defunct in the year 1989 throughout the Eastern Europe for unidentified reasons, eventually resulting in the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. This in turn, unlocked new doors of transitions and socio cultural transitions in the region. The formal economy is the essence of the contemporary perceptive of the states following the capitalist concept to influence the globe whereas the informal economy is the unpredictable or irregular perception designed and practiced by specific people although these are less powerful than the ones endorsed by dominant power and wealth. The study of the same era and the historical accounts help one to understand the theory of socialism and its practice as well as the changes that occurred from region to region. For instance China, the largest country in East Asia developed into a socialist state in 1949 and the Republic of Cuba witnessed the Cuban Revolution that led to the overthrow of the Dictator government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July movement and other revolutionary organizationsin 1959, and was declared a socialist state in 1961. The trends occurring in socialist and post socialist Eastern Europe and akin in the capitalist West, such as privatization, the growth of neo-liberalism or the weakening of the welfare state resulted in many changes over the years. According to Pine (1996) the importance of class and gender equality became bona fide in the Eastern European states after the end of socialist states therefore allowing equal rights to the women with the likes of men in the society. As in Poland where previously extremely progressive rights were practiced that failed to be implemented in the socialist period. The Eastern Europe observed the same with women consigned to the private sphere, depriving them of basic rights. The same observation has been derived by Foucault (1991) regarding the improvement in the governmental operations in terms of practicality and efficiency through the historical perspective by learning and inventing innovative likewise improved plans of governing. Disparagement further sti mulates such progress through the modifications in actions and extensions of limits. If we study the comparisons of some post socialism countries, using ethnographic examples we come to know that vast diversities from Hungary, Romania and Transylvania considering each nation has a different backdrop of the post socialism period along with specific array of tribulations. The Hungarian ethnographers demonstrated dissimilarities in personalities, interests and specializations between the North American and native European ethnographic studies. In Eastern Europe citizens were faced with colonialists, Western and capitalist society settings. Considering similar issues the anthropological studies and comparisons of the Eastern Europe with the Third and fourth world countries were conciliatory. As Verdery (1999) points out the presence of additional features of socialism that made general ideas significant for normal people living in regions having ethnic groups amalgamated rather than territorially

Creativity in the Urban Environment

Creativity in the Urban Environment Creative and cultural spaces Jana Sorel Introductie The creative industries determine the future of our region by ensuring a flourishing creative and cultural climate. – Flanders Creative Industries Platform (2011) Today, the knowledge and experience economy has expanded towards an economy which recognizes the importance of cultural and now also creative industries (Evans G., 2009). Creative industries are something of the 21th century, but creativity itself has been used since the 70’s to improve the development of a city. During that period, cities were empty because the process of suburbanization was going on. Then there was the awareness in the heads of policymakers that this process leads to a drain of the city centres and they tried to attract people to the city centre again by creating a space filled with artists (and other creative people) who used educational background to produce small, high-tech businesses or start-ups. It was picked up by policymakers as the way to turn the process into growth and prosperity of the cities again (Vanneste D., 2015). Bottom-up regeneration of those abandoned areas was stimulated by the creative class (Florida, 2002). Creativity took an importan t role in the cities but they didn’t talk about creative cities/hubs yet. Now, since the late 90’s creativity becomes linked with creative industries in which they focus on production and consumption of so-called creative products. Creativity is now linked with innovation and economic growth but what is a creative city exactly? According to the paper of Evans G. (2009), creative industries are now seen to comprise â€Å"those industries that have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have the potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property† (DCMS, 1998/2001, p. 5). Different researchers state that there’s a growing evidence that cultural and creative industries are good sources of growth and jobs, benefiting local communities, regions and states (EY, 2014). The aim of this paper is to identify the influence of creativity clusters (â€Å"creative hubs†) on the urban e nvironment, both urban neighbourhoods and communities. Influence of creativity on the urban environment Scientific research states that the cultural and creative industries play a crucial role in the development of the regional economy. Figures illustrate the growing employment and the share of these sectors in the Gross National Product (GNP) (Evans G., 2009 ; Martens B. et al., 2014). The creative industries determine a region’s future by ensuring a flourishing creative and cultural climate (Flanders Creative Industries Platform,2011) and a focus on the creative economy therefore represents the latest wave of interest in culture as a post-industrial urban revitalization strategy. However, some places are more successful than others. The importance of creativity in a place is namely not only about production but also about consumption. It’s the government that invests money in places where a lot of people and as a consequence a lot of voters live, so cities are privileged, but why†¦? Creative hubs maintain collective order through social and cultural capital in combination with distinctive institutional infrastructure. Educational institutions, trade unions and a lot of other institutions (such as museums, galleries,†¦) are present in those hubs (IPoP, 2011). Creative hubs are not only places of cultural production, but also act as places where creative know-how and competences are being preserved, interchanged and combined. In this way, fresh affluxes of new talented individuals can be assured (IPoP, 2011) and creativity and culture are now seen as knowledge-based innovation strategies. Since creative hubs go for high educated and skilled activities, research often poses that the economic factor is the most important aspect for the creation and development of creative industries. Artists’ centres make important contributions to regional economies, but also to the social, cultural and commercial lives of their neighbours. First of all, cultural and creative industries are among the EU’s biggest employers and have experienced sustained growth even through recession. Today, around 3.3 percent of the active population in Europe is (in)directly employed in creative industries (figure 1). Job creation in cultural and creative industries is still growing at a rate of 0.7% (between 2008 and 2012), even as the number of jobs in the rest of the economy fell 0.7% (EY, 2014). In most cases they are thus relatively small, but when you look at specific sectors not directly associated with cultural or creative industry sectors in ‘creative occupations’ (such as car design) numbers will be much higher, for example in the Netherlands this counts for 47% of the employment (Evans G., 2009). Figure 1: employment distribution between the different sectors in thousands 2012 (source: EY, 2014). Secondly, income can be generated for housing and local shopping, sometimes amplified by drawing tourists and visitors from surrounding areas. Money is spent in the stores and restaurants (Markusen A. Johnson A., 2006). In association with the occupation and beautification of vacant buildings, rent rises and property regenerates (Evans G.,2009). Next, according to da Cunha I.V. and Selada C., the environment of a so-called creative hub tends to be diverse, multicultural and vibrant, with the presence of foreign talents too. People are attracted to places which combine different functions such as residential, working, learning, shopping and entertainment functions. Such places foster the emergence of a good place to live, work, learn and play. In addition, â€Å"informal arts† play a critical role in building social networks and connections across communities. Studies show that for example Mexican immigrants in Chicago â€Å"use artistic and cultural practices to break down social isolation, create new social networking relationships, strengthen bonds among group members, and create local and transnational ties with [outside] institutions† (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). Creative hubs build a bridge between different social classes, ethnicities,†¦ . Mutual exchange within these creative hubs improves bot h innovation and competitiveness, but reduces social inequalities as well. Creating a common space is probably the most challenging collaboration. In the same article, it’s argued that the engagement in cultural activities increases life quality of the inhabitants of a community because of the reinforcing social diversity. Creative activities construct and reinforce shared cultural identities among different groups of people such as immigrants, refugees, and people of colour (Grams D. Warr M., 2003). Likewise, diverse neighbourhoods house more cultural programs, cultural participants and artists because of the â€Å"open door mentality†. According to Markusen A. and Johnson A. (2006) â€Å"anyone who expresses an interest may become a member, have access to events and services at an affordable price, and apply for merit-based mentorships, funding, and exhibitions†. Nevertheless, competition and tensions can tax the energy of people inside the creative hub (Mark usen A. Johnson A., 2006). The creation/development of cultural and creative hubs is sometimes seen a possibility to draw tourists too. Researchers found a direct connection between culture and revitalization of a community (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). Creative hubs are located in places where economic and social as well as cultural assets are available. Creative activity complements and stimulates the creation of other artistic, commercial, and community venues. As mentioned by Jacobs (1961) â€Å"mosaic of unique cultural destinations that encourage city residents to cross porous borders to visit distinctive neighbourhoods†. However, this is criticized by Evans G. (2009): â€Å"it is clear that these are judged and celebrated by their proponents in cultural, heritage and local ‘endogenous’ terms such as property and local trade (Jayne and Bell, 2004), rather than in macroeconomic market terms†. Externalities Although the development of creative hubs is stimulated and one of the main focuses is of policy makers, gentrification and the possible expansion of inequality remain the most common fears. Of particular relevance to the creative hubs is the emergence of â€Å"winner-take-all† labour markets (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). The increased inequality can be explained by the requirements of jobs within these industries. The creative industries are namely dominated by jobs with high educational requirements (Stern M.J. Seifert S.C., 2008). This increases the opportunities for high skilled workers, but for people with less educational qualifications, the opportunity to find a job will decrease. Conclusion In this paper, different aspects are listed of how a creative hub can influence the urban environment. In many cases creativity is used as a synonym of culture, but culture doesn’t cover everything. We have to understand that culture also includes non-profit, public, and commercial organizations as well as independent artists. In addition, we have learned to recognize the importance of strong leadership, which is a key element for the success of a region. The artists’ centre must present a face to the neighbourhood and larger community, invite entry, and maintain its attractiveness. The presence of creative hubs is programming are especially important for a community’s cultural vitality. But, can a creative economy ameliorate urban poverty in the world or is the creative hub- development more a winner-takes-it-all-scenario? Sources Flanders Creative Industries Platform (2011). Creative industries in Flanders. Position paper. Florida, R., (2002). The Rise of the Creative Class: And How Its Transforming Work, Leisure and Everyday Life. New York: BasicBooks. Evans G. (2009). Creative cities, creative spaces and urban policy, Urban Studies 46(56): 1003-1040. Vanneste D. (2015). Lecture Economic and financial geography: Creative industries. Martens, B., Dobbels, J., Amez, L., Ysebaert, W. (2014). Cultuur en creativiteit in beeld: opzet van een meetinstrument voor metropool Brussel. EY (2014). Creating growth. Measuring cultural and creative markets in the EU Stern M.J. Seifert S.C. (2008). From Creative Economy to Creative Society. A neighborhood-based strategy to increase urban vitality and promote social inclusion. GIA Reader, Vol 19, No 3. Grams, D., Warr, M. (2003). Leveraging assets: How small budget arts activities benefit neighborhoods. Chicago: Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Da Cunha, I. V., Selada, C. (2009). Creative urban regeneration: the case of innovation hubs.International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development,1(4), 371-386. IPoP Institute for spatial policies (2011). Potentials of creative urban regeneration. Spatial distribution of creative industries in Ljubljana Urban Region. DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) (1998) Creative industries mapping document. DCMS, London. DCMS (2001) Mapping creative industries technical document. DCMS, London. Markusen, A., Johnson, A. (2006). Artists’ centers: Evolution and impact on careers, neighborhoods and economies. 1

Professional Practice in Early Years Settings Essay

1.1 Explain how the range of early years settings reflects the scope and purpose of the sector The range of Early Years Settings reflects on the requirements of parents and families for their children. Some parents want care for their children so that they can return to work, some may want to stay with their children while they socialise, some may want their children in a setting which offer services aimed at learning, whilst some may want their children to be in a home based environment and some families cannot afford to pay fees for provision. This is why the |Early Year’s sector has various forms of provision to meet the needs of families. Provision include Nurseries, child minders, pre-schools, crà ¨ches, children’s centres and parent and toddler groups. 2.1 Identify current policies, frameworks and influences on the early years There are various policies in place which each setting is required to follow. There are five basic policies of good practice, Equality and Diversity Rights and responsibilities Confidentiality Promote anti discrimination, effective communication. There is also the Childcare Act 2006 were Child minders and childcare providers registered on the Early Years Register must meet the legal requirements set out by this act. The legal requirements you must meet for the safeguarding and welfare and the learning and development of young children are set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. There is the EYFS Framework which was put into place to ensure every child is given the best possible start in life and to ensure every effort is made ensure a child has equal opportunities to learn in a safe and secure environment. There is also the Foundation Stage, The Birth to Three Matters Framewor k and the National Standards for Under 8s Daycare and Childminding, to which are replaced by the EYFS. There is also the Every Child Matters Framework. The education act introduced free childcare provisions for under-fives and since September 1st 2010 this rose from 12 and a half hours a week to 15 hours a week. 2.2 Explain the impact of current policies, frameworks and influences on the early years sector The purpose and impact of current policies, frameworks and influences on the Early Years sector is about connecting everyone  together as a whole. By having policies and frameworks in place it ensures the safety and welfare of the children. Children are now able to play, engage in and express themselves freely and are being heard. With all groups linked together, working with the same child will mean that the child will learn more effectively. Information is encouraged to be shared with the children and families. Whatever their backgrounds, all children and families are now given the access to affordable quality childcare. 2.3 Describe what is meant by evidence-based practice and give examples of how this has influenced work with children in their early years Evidence based practise is a setting which is influenced by objective evidence gained from research. Professional practices require you to keep up to date with researched findings and to consider how these can be applied to your own setting. An example of how research has influenced work with children is The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) which is a comprehensive report which investigated the effects of pre-school provision, its findings found that children who had attended early years provision were more likely to have better cognitive, social and behaviour skills when they started formal education than those who had no early years provision. EPPE also confirmed the value of early learning through ‘play’ especially from low-income families. Key Elements of effective practice (KEEP) is another example. This documen t emphasises that effective learning in children is dependent on secure relationships. Learning through play and forming secure relationships are both key elements to the EYFS. 4.1 Explain the importance of reviewing own practice as part of being an effective practitioner It is important to review your own practice to enable opportunities to evaluate and reflect on your own work. Reflecting on practice will help to see where changes need to be made and also note if errors have been made and how to rectify them and ensure the same errors are not repeated. To reflect on practice, as a setting you need to be able to provide constructive criticism, question actions and see whether what you are doing is working or whether there is room for improvement. Reflecting on your practise will help you to have a clearer picture of what you actually do within your work role and what is expected of you, and to ensure you are  meeting the required standards. 4.2 Undertake a reflective analysis of own practice Through working with 0-2 year olds it has provided me with opportunities and experience to acknowledge children’s needs by finding ways to communicate through body language. By having opportunities to extend by knowledge via different courses has allowed me to extend my knowledge. Although I have gained a great deal of experience with deal with behaviour and leaning to different forms of discipline, I would like to learn more and extend my knowledge and experience. 4.3 Develop strategies to deal with areas of difficulty and challenge encountered in professional practice in early years setting One of the main difficulties a setting comes across is how to deal with a child that may have difficulties with their behaviour, and how to approach the child’s parents. The first strategy would be to follow the setting’s policy on behaviour and monitor the situation. It may be necessary to approach the parent’s and try and work together. It may be useful to explain the settings policies and strategies to the child’s parents to enable them to carry out the same strategies at home.

Miss Julie” by August Strindberg and “Death In Venice” by Thomas Mann Essay

The presentation of the theme and the main characters of â€Å"Miss Julie† by August Strindberg and â€Å"Death In Venice† by Thomas Mann. The comparative study will examine the theme of lust and love, and the similarities between the two main characters from the play â€Å"Miss Julie† by August Strindberg and the Novel † Death in Venice† by Thomas Mann. The main characters from each story come from a higher class, and they are expected to act noble, but somehow they both fail because of their desires for love and lust. August Strindberg wishes to portray a high class family that have certain standards and values, that Miss Julie; the daughter of the family, fails to fulfill. Miss Julie flirts with the servant and looses her virginity to him, her â€Å"curiosity† for the servant results in her being dishonored by people around her. Her lust for the servant makes her weak and in the end she commits suicide because she was provoked by the servant called Jean. In Thomas Mann’s novel on the other hand, the main character is a man called Gustav von Aschenbach, who comes off as a conservative and somewhat â€Å"religious† man. He is a known author that travels to Venice and comes across a boy that fascinates him, his fascination makes him follow the young boy called Tadzio around Venice. Even at a young age Tadzio is well aware of his beauty, and he uses it to capture Aschenbachs attention and his curiosity. Aschenbach too, dies because of his love for Tadzio. Aschenbach gets poisoned by the cholera epidemic in Venice. He dies while watching Tadzio on the beach, he dies in his chair. Miss Julie is a daughter of a count and therefore she is wealthy, and has a full staff of servants. Miss Julie seems like a very extroverted person, she approaches the staff and talks to them. One in particular, the servant called Jean. One midsummer night Miss Julie grabs Jean and dances with him, but it was not a subtle dance, Jean describes it while talking to his fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Christine. Jean: † I took the count to the station, and when I came back by the barn, I went in and had a dance and there I saw a young lady leading the dance with the gamekeeper. But when she caught sight of me, she rushed right up to me and asked me to dance the ladies waltz with her. And ever since she’s been waltzing like – well, I never saw the like of it. She’s crazy.†1 This is an example of how Miss Julie approaches people, in a confident way. When you read the dialogue between Jean and Miss Julie throughout the book, it is noticeable that Jean is doing all the talking, and â€Å"philosophizing†, Miss Julie sits with him alone in the kitchen and listens carefully. Their situation is a problematic one, because even though Jean is Miss Julie’s servant he is also a man, and because of the time the story takes place, the man is above the woman. Miss Julie looses her virginity to Jean in the kitchen, and after Jean has sexual intercourse with Miss Julie he realizes that she has no honor or money herself. She realizes what her lust for him has made her do, she will now become dishonored by her dad and everyone around her. Jean disrespects her, even though he was the one who just slept with her, and Miss Julie doesn’t know what to do with herself? Julie: Help me, help me! Tell me only what I am to do – where I am to turn? Jean: O lord, if only I knew myself! Julie: I have been exasperated, I have been mad, but there ought to be some way of saving myself. Jean: Stay right here and keep quiet, Nobody knows anything. Julie: Impossible! The people know, and Christine knows. Jean: They don’t know, and they would never believe it possible. Julie: (hesitating) But – it might happen again. 2 This dialogue is a clear example of their relationship, Miss Julie seemed confident in the start, but because of her developing feelings for Jean she becomes insecure, and starts to ask Jean what do to. The play ends with Miss Julie following Jean’s advice and committing suicide, so she would not have to confront her mistakes. She looses all her power, and nobility by sleeping with the servant. In the end it is obvious to observe that Miss Julie simply just wanted a man that could take care of her, and her lusts took over her common sense. Miss Julie’s dilemma is very controversial, because what she was doing was very common amongst the male aristocrats. This is a typical example of inequality between sexes! Thomas Mann’s controversial novel portrays a man called Gustav von Aschenbach who is an author that travels to Venice alone on a trip. When he arrives in Venice he is very observant, and he notices different people around him, acting silly and he almost gets appalled by their behavior. He saw an elderly man with a mask on, entertaining some younger people. â€Å"They seemed to be tolerating his presence among them as something habitual and to taken for granted, they treated him as an equal, reciprocated without embarrassment when he teasingly poked them in the ribs. How was this possible?† 3 This is why Aschenbach is a very conservative man, who does not see beyond his own black and white world. This is one thing that changes on his trip, after checking in to his hotel, he notices a Polish family, amongst them there is a young boy who startles Aschenbach, his beauty startles him and the boy called Tadzio catches Aschenbach’s full attention. Aschenbach’s love and desire for the boy persuades himself to make up an excuse to stay in Venice, even though he was about to leave because of his bad health condition. His weeks in Venice result in him sitting by the beach and observing Tadzio. One day, Tadzio turns around and looks directly at Aschenbach, he stares at him in a cocky way, as if he is self aware of his beauty and how Aschenbach feels about him. Aschenbach merely convinces himself that he only has an â€Å"abstract and artistic interest.† Though it is obvious that he has gotten a serious obsession for him, and started to almost love him. The city of Venice was infected with a bad cholera epidemic, Aschenbach can smell how bad it had gotten, but instead of leaving or staying inside he continues to walk around, as if it is a sense of redemption for what he is thinking. Aschenbach knows himself that what he is doing, and thinking is wrong. His fascination for the boy has taken over his common sense. He does not approach Tadzio but he follows him around Venice, and he dreams about him, and discovers his sexual lusts. One afternoon he goes to the lobby and finds out that the Polish family is leaving, then even in his ill condition he goes to the beach to watch Tadzio for the last time. Tadzio is standing unsupervised by the beach and looking out at the water, he looks back at his admirer, Aschenbach tries to get up but falls back in his chair and dies. Miss Julie was written in 1888, and Death in Venice was written in 1912. There are not many similarities between the authors, and the styles these two stories were written in. Yet they do have similar themes and similar characters. Lust and love, was what drove both main characters to act differently, and controversial to what they are use to. They both die because of there actions, which were made because of their desires. Both the stories are tragedies but expressed in very different ways, one through a play another through a novel. Miss Julie and Gustav Von Aschenbach have both suffered, suffered what they normally would believe was a good thing, love. It was forbidden love and lust. Bibliography Strindberg, August. Miss Julie. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print. Thomas, Mann,. Death in Venice and other stories. London: Vintage, 1998. Print. 1 Miss Julie, August Strindberg P.2 2 Miss Julie, August Strindberg P.25 3 Death in Venice, Thomas Mann P.211

1. Why will a weather derivative be useful for PNW Essays - Economy

1. Why will a weather derivative be useful for PNW Essays - Economy 1. Why will a weather derivative be useful for PNW? 2. What does Enron stand to gain by selling a weather derivative? 3. Should PNW purchase a weather derivative? Why or why not? Earnings per share (EPS) is the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share ofcommon stock.Earningsper share serves as an indicator of a company's profitability. Capital intensive refers to a business process or an industry that requires large amounts of money and other financial resources to produce a good or service.In finance, thecost of equityis the return (often expressed as a rate of return) a firm theoretically pays to itsequityinvestors, i.e., shareholders, to compensate for the risk they undertake by investing their capital. Ahedgeis an investment position intended to offset potential losses or gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. In simple language, a hedge is used to reduce any substantial losses or gains suffered by an individual or an organization. Cost of debtis the interest a company pays on its borrowings. : Mary Watts , the chief financial officer of Pacific Northwest Electric. Why will a weather derivative be useful for PNW? 1, weather derivative targets at power producers that was exposed to volume risk as a result of changes in weather. Volume related revenue - the deviation of actual acumulative degree days from an established threshold Weather is biggest independent variable in power business Watts analysis - seasonal demand is highly correlated with cumulative HDD 2000-01 is expected to be an unseasonably warm weather- less consumers (use of electricity) - huge impact on earning (devastating) 2, public utility - regulations permit them to pass along costs to consumers Capital intensive firm But there are already a variety of producers on the power grid where consumers can purchase power from. If they pass along costs to consumers , it would result in a loss market. Weather derivative can be an alternative way to compensate the loss in income associated with lost demand instead of increasing prices. What does Enron stand to gain by selling a weather derivative? 1, Enron corporation is the world's leading integrated natural gas and electricity company Discover a method for hedging its own weather risk - help other power producers to manage their own weather risk (customerized products) not just price risk but also volume related risk 2,Better meet customer demands(compared to two other options insurance and capital and commodities markets) exchange traded contracts need to be marked to market frequently - the hedge was pegged to a market index. Should PNW purchase a weather derivative? Why or why not? Yes Gross margin per HDD is 40.30 ? Contract Limit : 20,000 * 400HDD= 8000,000

Virtual Environments at a Geographical Scale, in either a Rural or an Urban The WritePass Journal

Virtual Environments at a Geographical Scale, in either a Rural or an Urban Introduction Virtual Environments at a Geographical Scale, in either a Rural or an Urban IntroductionReferences:Related Introduction To understand the word Virtual Environments, we have to go through the term Virtual Reality (VR). The term ‘VR’ means a computer simulated environments which can simulate the physical presence in places in the real world and also in the imaginary world. Most of the current virtual reality environments are firstly the visual experiences which are either displayed on the screen or through special additional sound effects. Now-a-days, these virtual environments are being employed in many areas such as gaming, computer science, geography etc. A good example in the context of geography is Virtual Globe. This is a 3D software model or just to say a representation of the Earth or another world. It provides the user, an ability to freely move around in the virtual environment. The viewing angle and position can be changed and provides a real virtual world. Different geographical features such as roads, buildings, and also demographic quantities such as population can also be vie wed in a very real virtual environment. On 20th of November, 1997, Microsoft released a very popular virtual globe in name of Encarta virtual Globe 98, which was followed by Cosmi’s 3D World Atlas in the year 1999. But the first publicized online virtual globes were NASA World Wind (mid-2004) and Google Earth (mid-2005). The application of the virtual environments, in the context of the geographical visualisation which is likely geovisualisation had many challenges that are involves in that. Working on this aspect, over the past decade had many successful results. Visualisation in scientific computing (ViSC) is one of the successful implementations in this area particularly. To be more successful in the visual presentation, one should take the fullest advantage regarding the cognitive systems developed for interacting with the real world. However the use of the virtual environments in the visualisation includes many challenges and poses many questions regarding these either i n a rural or an urban landscape. The special challenges in this are mainly with the kinds of information depicted, methods which are developed on this information over decades on depicting that particular information and then for what that information is applied was the problem. The virtual environments can be analysed by considering many aspects into consideration. The main thing is that â€Å"what may be meant by an environment†. Then comes â€Å"What is meant by the process of virtualization† and next is that â€Å"Some aspects of the human performances that constrain the environmental design†. These are aspects involved in analysing the VE’s. Any experiment that is likely to be conducted in the virtual environment comes very closer to the issue in the real environment. In Conroy, 2001 it was stated that the previous research investigating topological perception and the way finding in the virtual and real patterns has shown the movement patterns in rea l and virtual environments are very much alike. In the experiment conducted regarding the distance calculation through a virtual environment, by taking six urban areas in to consideration, there are many key points that were observed at the end of the experiment analysis. The one with more heights are more confusing, windows and doors doesn’t make any big difference, too much detail etc were the comments received after the experiment. In this experiment, in order to investigate the perceptive of the scale, the virtual urban environment’s were explored and navigated to observe this particular issue. Now, we will consider steamboat Chronicles, which is a game that represents a virtual environment. This is being discussed here because this also interestingly displays some similar characteristics to the urban landscapes. In this game, the player is likely to identify and discover the place by crossing the obstacles and boundaries same as in real life. It is necessary in th is game to stop at stop-signs, respecting the speed limits etc and which is similar to the facets of the urban structures that we generally experience in our own real urban landscapes. And now this leads a viewer to consider this system in our own real urban landscapes, which helps in improving the transportation facilities, helping the law enforcement agencies etc. The innovation in the transportation technology can be observed in this particular game. This is how, the virtual environments brings up the issues and will become as grounds for some new technological innovations. A great change in one system can reflect a change that is made in another system and finally that would reflect on the total system. This is a rapidly changing world with a rapidly increasing technology. Now-a-days, the computer power and graphical display capabilities are tremendously increased. This is why the virtual environments have now proven to be more and more powerful medium for visualising. The visua lisation of the spatial information and sharing these experiences regarding a common virtual study with other people is done through this medium. The combination of the virtual environments and the decision making practices for a good understanding of the real environments and its related dynamic natural processes. By this, these provide us a good opportunity for a greater involvement in the community decision making. When we consider a particular case study area â€Å"Tool bin catchment in Western Australia†, a Live Link provides a network link between some game engine and a GIS. By this action, it helps communities envision landscape changes and in evaluating the decisions made in association with the selected scenarios. Augmented reality usually refers to the technology that is being integrated with the human sensory input or output. There are many good examples for the virtual environments and their capability in the context of rural or urban landscapes. Mostly, when we c onsider some popular games such as final fantasy VII, Farmville etc they present themselves as best examples for the virtual environments and we all know how addicting those games are. We will be in a different environment which provides reality with non-reality. To conclude, the virtual environments provides best ways in visualisation as a good medium for communicating as well as several other purposes in the context of geography. References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_globe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_environment#VR_reconstruction geovista.psu.edu/publications/NPIVM99/ammNPIVM.pdf sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B75C5-48TN3T9-1_user=10_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1991_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=gateway_origin=gateway_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0_userid=10md5=1bdd9ec15514f2be59913321de9ed895searchtype=a spacesyntaxistanbul.itu.edu.tr/papers%5Clongpapers%5C105%20-%20Mavridou.pdf http://blogs.utexas.edu/gamegeog/springerlink.com/content/m6542k3nnrm44kgr/ sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6V9K-4DDXMB2-2_user=10_coverDate=05%2F31%2F2005_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=gateway_origin=gateway_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0_userid=10md5=18c35dfff1c4c7c51ec78f0190bac901searchtype=a   http://books.google.com/books?hl=enlr=id=M3rAuvR-o-gCoi=fndpg=PA26dq=Virtual+Environments+at+a+Geographical+Scale,+in+either+a+Rural+or+an+Urban+Landscapeots=T-Wfg3hln8sig=vZwcvZYMj3t_twfxRaxG9PZc-34#v=onepageqf=false mrl.nottingham.ac.uk/~cmg/cgreenhalgh-thesis-singlespaced.pdfhttp://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=331781 mightystudents.com/essay/Navigation.Virtual.Environment.160463 geovista.psu.edu/publications/ica/ica99/ http://people.plan.aau.dk/~lbo/SIM/Geoviz_06/19-bodum.pdf

How does due diligence differ from due care Why are both important Essay

How does due diligence differ from due care Why are both important - Essay Example nd, is most often defined as the test of liability for negligence whenever there is a question as to whether a person acted in an ordinary and reasonable manner in terms of certain instances considered to be an issue at the time. Each person who enters into a business arrangement, negotiation, or contract usually based upon certain everyday concerns that can be addressed without having to take extra ordinary measures. Due care insures that the agreement was not entered into in a haphazard manner by either party and that the contract or arrangement does not have any adverse effect on the parties concerned. Both due diligence and due care are important aspects of contractual agreements because these two factors, once proven to exist in any contract, could be used to negate or void any agreement based upon legal standards. It is therefore imperative that both parties entering into any agreement ensure that due care and diligence are properly exercised in the creation of the contract and its terms and

Personnel Resourcing & Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Personnel Resourcing & Development - Essay Example The first one is technological advancements, which has contributed in eliminating the influence of time, space and other such intermediary factors in the business environment. Similarly it has also contributed in promoting low cost and high speed data transmission, hardware that produces information more conveniently and quickly, and software that makes the data and communication tools more accessible (Sack & Albretch, 2000). The second factor is that of globalization. In business sphere it plays a vital part in availability of instantaneous information, faster means of transportation making the world a huge market place (Sack & Albretch, 2000). Third factor is that of increased power of the market investors with such an influence on the business sphere that if they are displeased it can put the business in jeopardy and hence their consent is given quite an importance (Sack & Albretch, 2000). Effects of changes in business strategy on people resourcing focus and activities: Current b usiness scenario is as such that it is dominated by the continuously changing economic environment along with the globalization phenomena, characterizing the ever changing investor and consumer demands, and the factor of competitive advantage. All these drivers make it vital to the existence and sustainability of the organizations to continuously improve in terms of all the fronts of cost, productivity, time and skills management just to name a few (Becker & Gerhart, 1996). Substantial changes seem to have taken place in the workplace structure all around over the past few decades which are being intensified all the more by the current turbulence in the business spheres. In order to succeed in today’s business environment, organizations have now started to focus more on the knowledge aspect of things rather than the mindset of the industrial economy (Saini, 2006). The front running companies now invest more in the intangibles so as to gain a more long term market value. The m ost crucial of such intangibles is in relation to the work force in terms of their mindset, skill, speed, learning ability, collaboration, accountability and leadership qualities. In the picture of such intangibles, it becomes one of the top most priorities to capitalize on these aspects through cooperation and unions so as to be able to effectively utilize their talent along with creating future competencies, which now hold critical importance to all the industries (Saini, 2006). The strategy makers have now shifted their focus from systems, structures and strategies to skills, staff and shared values. The focus on these aspects has exacerbated the importance of the adoption of the HR strategy and people development in terms of inculcating soft skills and establishing high performance work systems (Saini, 2006). The true worth of any organization is defined in terms of its workforce. As Bill Gates puts it in Fortune: â€Å"Take our 20 best people away, and I will tell you that Mic rosoft would become an unimportant company.† (Gates, 1996) On the same grounds, in terms of the gambling industry we see that it has undergone a dramatic change all around over the past few years. Previously, while it just used to comprise of a ‘horses and dogs’ business, it now certifies as just comprising 60% of the overall industry. In other words we see that the wide range of topics and events that people can place bets on have had a huge impact on the gambling indu