The Caucasian Chalk Circle Essays - The Caucasian Chalk Circle

The Caucasian Chalk Circle The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Brecht uses epic theatre to bring forth an idea or meaning for the audience to consider while entertaining the audience. Epic theatre involves the use of alienation techniques to distance the viewer from the story but still concentrate on the overall meaning. The person who just views the story would likely take it as fantasy and not reach the true depth of the play. Brecht shocks the viewer by making the events and actions in the play strange and abstract this contrasts with dramatic plays where the audience sympathises and relates to the characters of the play. The theme throughout the play is natural justice versus class justice. The title has links to other parables and stories before it. The Chalk Circle, a Chinese play involved a legal action where the false claimant was granted custody due a bribe to claim her dead husbands estate. This however was overturned by the emperor, the guarantor of the law, in a retrial as the emperor was the father. This particular story is a whisper to the result of Grusha's trial. The emperor is portrayed as the epitome of justice and gives a true verdict. The trial scene is also adapted from the parable of King Solomon. Solomon the paragon of justice and truth oversees the trial of two mothers, one child is dead the other alive, they seek custody of the alive child. The king asks the child to be cut in half, the real mother relinquishes her claim and thus gains custody of her rightful child. In these two whispers the law is shown to be equated with justice, however Brecht seeks to highlight that within Grusinia this is not the case and it takes a greedy Azdak who despises the upper classes to give a just verdict. The class justice presented in the novel has close links to the Marxist view of the law, with the law serving all, but in reality it protects and secures the interests of the ruling classes. The play seeks to emphasise that within this class justice the poor can only gain justice under exceptional circumstances. Azdak as the judge and arbiter of justice has come to this position only through a matter of chances and mistakes. Firstly he harbours the Grand Duke from Shauva, then he confesses to the Ironshirts only to be made judge because the Duke escaped. Then through shear chance just before his execution the Duke redeems him and makes him judge, finally making him the arbiter of justice between Natasha Abashvilli and Grusha. This shows that the poor class can only get justice under a system of whims and extraordinary circumstances and that justice is intrinsically linked to a series of chances and not linked to the law as it should be in a feudal regime. Azdak finally decides in Grusha's favour on the spur of the moment, the chalk circle is a real test, and it is through this test that Azdak decides the child's fate. In order to entertain the audience, Brecht sought to keep the verdict in flux, keeping the audience in suspense as to the final outcome. Azdak although seen as the arbiter of justice between Natasha Abashvilli and Grusha is shown throughout the play as greedy and corrupt when dealing with the upper classes. The humour that Azdak displays toward the upper class is entertaining, he constantly refers to them as arse-holes.. sows.. well-born stinkers. This anal imagery is continued right through the novel. Azdak is so disgusted by the odours the upper classes emit that he occasionally before passing judgement, I went out and sniffed the roses. This helps Azdak give the verdicts he gives to the monied classes such as the Invalid, and the landowner. He swindles them into giving him money for a bribe then turns about and gives a contradicting verdict against the upper classes. This duplicity when passing judgement is seen by the audience but the lower classes see that for once the law is on their side. This is the final hint that Grusha will get the child, as she is good for the child and will continue to do good for the child, contrasting to Natasha Abashvilla's intent to get the child only to keep her late husband's estate. The singer sums up the meaning of the entire play, linking the prologue with the stories of Azdak and Grusha. That what there is shall belong to those who are good for

Assessment Plan of Students Ability

Assessment Plan of Students Ability Abstract Assessment plan is an important tool in education since it provides information about student’s ability. After completing an assessment plan, the next important factor is the analysis how it can be used appropriately. This essay will explain my assessment plan by indicating its importance and use.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Assessment Plan of Student’s Ability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The essay will then give justification that led to the selection of the context of the assessment plan. Finally, the essay will identify the reasons why the assessment constraints in my assessment plan are effective in testing the students reading and writing abilities. Student assessment is an important leaning process to both the teacher and the students and therefore it needs a plan. The need for a plan requires the development of an assessment plan that provides the guidelines on how the assessmen t will be effected. The assessment plan is also important since it allocate the available resources according to the expected uses. For the developed assessment plan to become useful, it needs to be understood by both the tutor and the learner. This essay provides an explanation for the assessment and the factors that make the assessment plan effective and appropriate in assessing students. The main objective of the developed assessment plan is to gather information about the student with the aim of identifying their weaknesses as well as their strengths (Brownlie, Feniak McCarthy, 2004). The focus of the assessment is to identify the students understanding capacity for the lessons taught throughout the course. The assessment therefore works through identification of reading strengths and weaknesses as experienced by students. Most of the course materials given to the students during the learning process are given in written form and therefore reading is a very important part. A re ading assessment is therefore an important form of assessment since it provides information about the students concerning the other courses learned in the module. The assessment also provides useful background information about the students that can be applied in determining their areas of weakness and difficulties. This information is very useful since it offer guidance on how a particular student should be advised or assisted.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For the provided assessment to become an important tool in student’s evaluation, the assessor needs to have basic or background information about how it works (Brownlie, Feniak, McCarthy, 2004). My assessment plan provides basic information about a student’s performance and therefore I have ensured that it is user friendly by making it easy to understand and use. The assessment has two learning outcomes that I believe are basic parameters in identifying a student’s strengths and weaknesses. The most important part of the reading process is the identification of the content from the rereading or obtaining information from a text. My assessment plan is considerate of this point since it identifies the main ideas from a reading as the first learning outcome. Some students work better as individual while others work better in a group setting. Some learning activates also recommend group work while others consider individual work. The assessment plan therefore considers this point by making provision for group assessment and individual assessment. The assessment can be applied to assess the reading ability of a group of students as well as the reading ability of an individual student. Writing is the second most important part of the learning process since it determines how students present their work. A good assessment plan should provide a measure on the writing ability of the s tudent using appropriate assessment parameters (Colorado, 2007). My assessment plan is an appropriate learning assessment since it provides information about the writing abilities of the student. The assessment plan mainly focuses on the grammatical aspect of writing by analyzing the student’s ability to use capitalization. Analyzing capitalization provides information on a student’s grammatical abilities and this indicates their strength in writing. The context of my assessment plan is an appropriate context for the evaluation of students and this is the main reason that made me settle for this particular plan. The first reason for choosing the plan is its ability to provide the required information in details and this makes it an appropriate assessment. The second factor that justifies my assessment plan as an appropriate plan is that it is an explicit assessment. Being explicit makes the assessment plan user friendly to both the assessor and the students. Unlike oth er assessments of similar caliber, my assessment plan is a proficient plan since it provides adequate information with minimal input. This factor demonstrates the third reason why the context of the assessment plan is appropriate.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Assessment Plan of Student’s Ability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More With an appropriate and justifiable assessment plan, the next important point is the determination of the appropriate testing constraints that makes the assessment appropriate. The basic constraints in my assessment plan are accuracy, speed and understanding capacity. These constraints are basic features of my assessment plan since they provide detailed information about a student. The second reason why I selected accuracy, speed, and understanding ability of the students as major constraints in the assessment is that they provide an appropriate measure about a student’s perf ormance. In order to have an appropriate assessment I set the constraints at a minimum of 75% and 80% for accuracy in capitalization and reading respectively. The assessment also requires that each student should complete the allocated task within the required time. Finally, the assessment requires that students should have moderate understanding ability. These constraints are also important in drafting a rubric that should be used together with the assessment to rank students according to their performance. The assessment plan is therefore important since it does not only provide information about the students but also contributes to the learning process. References Brownlie, F., Feniak, C., McCarthy, V. (2004). Instruction and assessment of ESL learners: Promoting success in your classroom. Winnipeg: Portage Main Press. Colorado, C. (2007). Using formal assessment for English language learners. Retrieved From: Colorin Colorado! colorincolorado.org/article/using-informal-assessme nts-english-language-learners

Romanesque Architecture and Renaissance Architecture Compared Essay

Romanesque Architecture and Renaissance Architecture Compared - Essay Example This paper evaluates historic movements such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Islamic and mannerism, and seeks further to compare and contrast some architectural designs and artworks of these movements. Answer to Question one Romanesque architecture The term Romanesque architecture describes the building style adopted between 800AD to 1100 AD. One of the finest Romanesque architecture buildings in England is the Durham Cathedral and is often regarded as the leading Romanesque building in the world (Kimball & Edgell 251). The composite piers, of the cathedral, are alternated with drum columns, flying buttresses or lateral abutments all concealed within the triforium over the isles. These characteristics were highly inspired by the religious fervor of the Romanesque architecture period. Therefore, the design shows the Christian values which were highly valued by the people of the time. Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was most common during the early and late medieval period from 12th century through 16th century. An example of a Gothic architecture is the Cologne cathedral, which dates back in the early 19th century (Kimball & Edgell 260). The geometrical and mathematical nature of the construction is indicative of the orderly universe, which is laid logically and with rationality. The statue, the sculptural decoration, stained glass and murals incorporate the creative genius as portrayed by the old and new testaments. The building and its style emphasize the religious nature of the people and the way they valued God’s power and creative works of logic. Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture started in the fifteenth century through the early seventeenth century and replaced Gothic architecture. An example of renaissance architecture is the Palladio's Basilica in Vicenza, Italy (Kimball & Edgell 258). The church has orderly arrangement of columns, pilasters and lintels. There is the use of hemispherical d omes, which are all characteristics of the renaissance architecture (Kimball & Edgell 252). All these details were used to emphasize solid and spatial relationship where the idea of harmony leads to free and imaginative rhythms. The details of the style especially in the church building were more civic than spiritual. This feeling, therefore, emphasizes the blending of religious and secular values of the people of the time. Answer to Question two Islamic architecture incorporates both secular and religious styles from the time when Islam was founded to date and is extensively used in the shrines of Mecca and Medina (Bloom & Blair 152). Comparing the Fatimid’s architecture used in Bab al-Futuh gate and the Gothic architecture at the entrance of Carmo Church in Lisbon, Portugal, there are notable differences. Bab al-Futuh gate has a hemispherical dome while the main entrance of Carmo church has a pointed arch. In content, the Gothic architecture is created to give less democrac y in the religious sense, while the mosque architecture emphasizes freedom and secularism (Bloom & Blair 159). Therefore, the sense of holiness elicited by the two gates varies from the outside details depending on the gate architectural style. The form and content of the two are seen in the materials used, the color designs, murals employed and the emphasized details with regards to logical arrangements, balance and creativity. Answer to Question three These two works of art represent the two periods; the early Northern Renaissance and the early Italian Renaissance respectively. These two artworks are different in form. The first element that differentiates their form is the painting details, which are emphasized by

The Rise of Strategic Management Accounting Essay

The Rise of Strategic Management Accounting - Essay Example Management accounting systems ideally provide information regarding all aspects of an organisation’s transactions; by covering all spectrums of the organisation they represent an important source of information for decision making. As mentioned above, traditional management accounting has come under attack for failing to provide sufficient information for strategic decision making purposes. This failure lies in the inability of traditional management accounting to fulfil those information requirements that would contribute to both the competitiveness of the organisation vis-a-vis its competitors in the industry, and its long term performance. Langfield-Smith states that surveys of practice in the 1990’s suggested that the adoption of SMA was slow; others also go on to mention that it was ill—defined and it is unclear in terms of coverage. Others have said that there are gaps in the understanding provided by SMA and this is attributed to various interpretations th at have been put forward by writers advocating its use. This paper explains the difference between management accounting and financial accounting. ... Management Accounting versus Financial Accounting Management accounting is distinct from financial accounting in that it provides information to persons internal to the organisation to facilitate decision making, while financial accounting provides information for external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders are the management personnel of the organisation, based within various departments/sections/divisions working together to achieve organisational goals. External stakeholders include shareholders, advisors, potential investors, regulators, government authorities and creditors – including suppliers, banks and holders of debt instruments (Atkinson et al, 2003). This however does not imply by any means that financial accounting information is not used for internal purposes; it is in fact, crucial. The only difference is that it is not necessarily appropriate to apply it in the same format as it is for external purposes; although, it does derive from the same integrated account ing system. While financial accounting information conforms to standards and guidelines that have been instituted by standard setting bodies such as the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), management accounting does not conform to any particular standard since it is used for internal purposes only. Management accounting deals with both financial and non-financial information. Traditional Management Accounting versus Strategic Management Accounting In his seminal work entitled â€Å"Strategic Management Accounting† (SMA) Simmonds (1981) defined SMA as â€Å"the provision and analysis of management accounting data about a business and its competitors, for use in developing and monitoring business strategy.† Bromwich (1990, p.28) defines it as:

Sociology of Law and Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sociology of Law and Punishment - Essay Example Norbert Elias suggests that civilisation transform human habitus so that violence in all forms is gradually subjected to greater and more sophisticated forms of management and control. 'Decivilisation' according to him, encompasses processes which produce an increase in violence and a breakdown in the stability and consistency of social relations. What remains unexplored is the extent to which attempts to bring about civilisation, have revolved around essentially violent policies and practices (Robert van Krieken, Abstract, The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 50 Issue 2). Nils Christie, in Crime Control as Industry, suggests that the spiralling prison populations, particularly in the United States, represent a move towards gulags western style, in much the same way that Zygmunt Bauman saw modernity itself as creating the possibility for the Holocaust. For Christie the current 'gulagisation' of the West is not an aberration of modern society, but something that occurs naturally within it. Pratt's book suggests that man may be moving into an area of penal control that takes one beyond the gulag. The gulag it says may not be a sufficient modality of punishment to absorb the punitive sentiments of modern societies. What we find is the supplementation of modern penal sanctions by new forms of legal and extra legal punishments. For Christie, there is hope, that at some point, good sense of the ordinary people will prevail and counter the trends that the forces of modernity made possible. It is argued that there is no goodness to human values and public sen timent: unleashing them may only add to the spiral of penal control (Beyond gulags western style A reconsideration of Nils Christie's crime control as industry, Abstract, Pratt. J). 2.0 Introspection Elias offers a particular paradigm for sociological thought which opposes both the structural-functionalist and methodological-individualist tendencies in sociology. The concept that he developed hoped to severe and expose many of the central dilemmas in sociology, especially the opponents of action and structure, individualism and society. Elias' 'Civilising Process' is contentious, and overlooked with suspicion. Elias deviates from the more fashionable trends in sociology to dig deep into retrospection and seek the unknown. His writing has been a source of ideas and has appealed the senses of those who crave for the unknown. Commentators have veered between two theological pointers; an uncompromising acceptance or ungenerous rejection. His work frequently is a contradiction between supposedly admiring 'followers' and critics. To appreciate Elias, one needs to steer a path between the lines. His handling of human issues; emotions, attitudes towards the body, sexuality, socialisation, and so on, reflected a balanced and systematic approach. His analysis of the human mind is of significant relevance in the context of his larger-scale processes in State formation, urbanisation and

The human digestive system

The human digestive system The human digestive system is responsible for the intake, breakdown, absorption and finally removal of nutrients and energy needed for the functioning of the human body. It performs these duties by allowing nutrients and energy in the form of food to enter the body, and then removing the materials needed from the food, then absorbing the materials into the body, as well as sending these materials to the place that theyre needed, and finally removing the leftover materials from the body. The system consists of the primary organs; the mouth, the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestine, the large intestine, the rectum, and the anus, as well as the secondary organs; the liver, the salivary glands, the gallbladder and the pancreas. The mouth is responsible for the immediate intake of food, and is partially responsible for digestion, through the process of mastication, which is the chewing of food. Food enters the body through the mouth, where it is than chewed to soften and partially breakdown the food. Saliva from the salivary glands also aides in the preliminary breakdown of foods, because of the chemicals and enzymes contained in saliva. Once the food is sufficiently broken down, it is swallowed and brought to the next organ in the digestive system, the esophagus. The Role of the esophagus is simply to allow the partially broken down food to travel from the mouth to the stomach. Its role in digestion is minimal, but it is still considered one of the major organs in the system. At the joining point of the esophagus and the stomach, called the cardiac sphincter, is the blocker that prevents gastric acid from exiting the stomach and damaging the mouth or the esophagus itself. When the Cardiac sphincter fails its job, the gastric acid seeps into the esophagus, causing damage to the interior of the esophagus, as well as the painful sensation known as heartburn. The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the human digestive system, and is one of the primary sites of digestion. It is filled with gastric acid, a powerful acid that breaks down food with relative ease, digesting most foods in about 4 or 5 hours. The stomach contains three glands, which are used to either aid in the digestion of food, or protection of the stomach from its own digestive materials. The three types of glands are the pyloric gland, the cardiac gland and the gastric gland. The pyloric gland is responsible for secreting gastrin, a hormone which stimulates the production of gastric acid. The gastrin activates the gastric glands, which start secreting gastric acid. The cardiac glands are the centers of mucus secretion in the stomach. This mucus is used to protect the lining of the stomach. A common problem associated with the stomach is peptic ulcers, a type of ulcer formed by a disturbance in the regulation of the hormone gastrin, which causes to much gastric acid to be produced, which causes damage to the mucus membrane and the stomach lining. After food has been digested enough, it moves out of the stomach and into the small intestine. Another round of digestion occurs in the small intestine, even more than in the stomach. Absorption also begins to occur at this stage in the digestive system. The small intestine is broken down into three parts, the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum. The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine, and it is responsible for most of the food digested in the small intestine. The duodenum also regulates the rate of emptying of the stomach via hormonal pathways. The next part of the small intestine is the jejunum, which is the longest portion of the small intestine, but it is also responsible for very little digestion, but is primarily responsible for the first round of absorption, where it takes most of the nutrients out of the food matter. The final portion of the small intestine is the ileum, which is where the final bit of absorption in the small intestine takes place. Once the now digested material finishes its path through the small intestine, it enters the large intestin e. The large intestines primary purpose is to remove most of the water from the now indigestible mass, and move it to the anus, where it will be removed from the body. The large intestine is made up of the cecum, the rectum and the colon. The cecum is not very large in humans, and is barely existent at all. It serves a much higher purpose in herbivores, where it digests tough leaves with the help of symbiotic bacteria. In humans this is not necessary, so it has become very unimportant. The colon is where the water is taken from the digested food matter. The rectum is where the waste is temporarily stored before it is excreted from the body, which takes place in the anus. The secondary organs in the digestive system are also vital to the survival of a human, but they take a more passive role in digestion. The liver plays a major role in digestion and has a number of functions, including glycogen storage, decomposition of red blood cells, plasma protein synthesis, hormone production, and detoxification. It lies below the diaphragm in the thoracic region of the abdomen. It produces some of the systems bile the rest is produced by the gallbladder, an alkaline compound which aids in digestion. It also performs and regulates a wide variety of high-volume biochemical reactions requiring highly specialized tissues, including the synthesis and breakdown of small and complex molecules, many of which are necessary for normal vital functions.

Adolescent Gangs and Violence in Schools Essay -- School Violence Essay

Dave Reichert once said â€Å"Gang violence in America is not a sudden problem. It has been a part of urban life for years, offering an aggressive definition and identity to those seeking a place to belong in the chaos of large metropolitan areas† (Dave Reichert Quotes). These days, gangs are not only made up of adults on the streets, but teens who are in school as well. Various experts say that â€Å"gang membership is particularly widespread among urban youths under the age of 18† (Teen Gangs). As a result, gangs are now seen in many schools, and as a result may lead to increased violence among students. Schools must take a firmer stand against these gangs in order to reduce the increased violence. Throughout the history of the United States, gangs have always been groups that regularly use threats to commit crimes. Crime rates escalated during the 1960s and 1970s, partly because of the large number of teenagers involved in crime. During the 1980s, juvenile crime continued to rise even though particular types of crime fell. But according to most reports, â€Å"gang activity declined somewhat in the 1990s. Experts attribute the decline to a combination of factors, including an improved economy, a decline in crack cocaine use, stricter law enforcement and more violence-prevention programs† (Teen Gangs). Statistics show that the number of gang members dropped to â€Å"780,000 in 1998 from 846,000 in 1996, according to the OJJDP† (Teen Gangs). Another report coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that â€Å"the proportion of high-school students who reported carrying a weapon during the past 30 days declined to 18% in 1997, from 26% in 199 1† (Teen Gangs). Various people come to believe that membership in a gang is a severe dan... ...eb. 22 May 2012. . "School Safety." Issues & Controversies On File. Web. 23 May 2012. . "Teen Gangs and Crime." Issues & Controversies On File:. Web. 23 May 2012. . "Teen Gangs." Issues and Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 09 Apr. 2009. Web. 22 May 2012. . "Update: School Safety." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 11 May 2007. Web. 5 June 2012. . "Zero Tolerance." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 13 July 2001. Web. 5 June 2012. .

Kite Runner Assef Analysis Essay

Many believe that there is a part of good and a part of evil in each of us. Hosseini conveys in his novel â€Å"the kite runner† that some people have a natural tendency to express their bad side. Assef, one of Hosseini’s charachter symbolizes those people. He carries a kind of madness, and is violent. Hosseini implies that being given a target for hate, and a morality for their actions, in this case religion, those people can become powerful. Assef is an example of how it is possible to reach power and abuse of it by avoiding to deal with justice as he joins a groups of terrorists. He evolves from a child who uses violence to make himself feared, and rule his neighborhood, to a Talibans who can freely and honorably commit crimes in the name of God. This author introduces Assef to the reader when he firsts encounters Amir. Those are Amir’s thoughts at the view of Assef â€Å"Assef crossed his thick arms on his chest, a savage sort of grin on his lips. Not for the first time, it occurred to me that Assef might not be entirely sane.† The reader then directly discovers, from this simple description of Assef’s appearance the type of character he is. He is just passively crossing his arms, but still gives an overall image of a strong, savage, not entirely sane person. The insanity recurs, it is often visible in Assef’s eyes, and the grin is now linked to violence† I will never forget how Assef’s blue eyes glinted with a light not entirely sane and how he grinned, how he grinned, as he pummeled that poor kid unconscious† Amir was marked by the time he saw Assef beating up a little kid. Assef is a bully that takes pleasure in hurting other kids. At this point, he is a child and violence is like a game that let’s him express his madness. Other kids are scared by his attitude, no one dears to contradict him. This is one of Amir’s thought about one of Assef’ â€Å"friend†, right before the rape of Hassan. â€Å"He wasn’t afraid of Hassan, not really. He was afraid because he had no idea what Assef had in mind† Assef is not even understood by his followers, no one knows what’s in his mind. They apprehend his ideas, and fear them which gives an idea of how deranged he is. In fact Hassan refuses to give the kite to Assef, and Assef is then about to rape him when he declares: â€Å"I’ll let you keep the kite Hazara. I’ll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what i’m about to do† This is a significant quote. Assef shows his cruelty by intending to hurt deeply, and leave a reminder of the pain. It also foreshadows all the horrors he is going to cause because his madness his going to last. Assef’ is seen differently by other adults, those don’t fear him, because his real personality is hidden from them. Hosseini uses the parents as a symbol for control, and justice. Assef therefore bypasses justice, he is still controlled as he has to hide his madness. â€Å"On the surface, he was the embodiment of every parent’s dream, a strong, tall, well-dressed and well-mannered boy with talent and striking looks, not to mention to wit joke with an adult. But to me, his eyes betrayed him. When i looked into them, the facade faltered, revealed a glimpse of the madness hiding behind them.† The author personificaties Assef’s eyes who â€Å"betrayed† him by revealing his madness. The Betrayal has a religious connotation, to the evil. As if he was hiding behind the appearance of an attractive boy. The author enlarge Assef’s dangerousness. In contrast with the other parents, his genitors know his real nature and in fact are frightened. â€Å"†¦I wondered if maybe, on some level, their son frightened them.† They should be giving him a education to make him become good, instead they are powerless. He in fact has the power over them. At Amir’s birthday party, he comes with them â€Å"He led them toward us, like he had brought them here. Like he was the parent, and they his children.† His leadership is broadened to his genitors who should be superior. This comparison, shows that his parent’s don’t have authority or control over him. but it is the first sign that Assef will be out of control. Assef went to prison at some point. There, he was mistreated in the same way as he used to mistreat others. He was put in a position of powerlessness â€Å"What could i do?† a guard came to violently persecute him, and as he kicked him. â€Å"He kicked me on the left kidney and the stoned passed. Just like that! Oh, the relief!† But Assef, who is a mad character, feels this relief as a redemption, and connects it to God, while it in fact could have been a biological reaction. † †¦ Suddenly i knew that had been a message from God: He was on My side. He wanted me to live for a reason.† This miracle, leads Assef to pretend that he has been granted a mission. â€Å"I’ve been on a mission since.† This mission could also have made him turned into a better man but instead it only made him madder. It gives him a sudden excuse and claims to be doing great acts, even though they are harmful to others. He is therefore truly satisfied with the horrors he accomplishes, because now he has a reason to do them. â€Å"†¦ stood in a roomful of targets, let the bullets fly, free of guilt and remorse, knowing you are virtuous, good, and decent. Knowing you’re doing God’s work.† He even uses the words virtuous, implying that his act have a morality. â€Å"There are bad people in this world, and sometimes bad people stay bad. Sometimes you have to stand up to them.† Amir says this as he is thanking Sohrab for stopping Assef. Assef was in fact stopped by a little kid with his slingshot. The author conveys that sometimes, justice can easily stop evilness. That evil people shouldn’t be supported by religion.

Xemba Translations Project Plan

Xemba Translations Project Plan Project Performance Measurement Metrics The broad objectives of the work of any project manager are the delivery of a project on time, within budget, and within the quality criteria. These objectives provide the basis for the development of performance measurement metrics for any project. The following five metrics will be applied to the performance measurement of the Xemba Translations Project.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Xemba Translations Project Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The first metric is the measurement of the budgeted cost of labor versus actual cost of labor. While general metric dealing with all costs would still provide some information, the nature of labor in this project calls for proper accounting for its use. The human resource for this project came with a price tag. The hourly pay model gives a clear indication of what it costs the company to motivate human resource commitement to the project. The measurement for this metric will be the number of hours billed versus the number of hours in the project plan. The project will be performing poorly if the budgeted hours are less than the hours actually used in the project for the designated work packages. The second metric is similar to the first one, although it is related to the cost of acquisitions. It measures the budgeted versus the actual cost of acquisitions. This metric needs monitoring because of the expected increase in the cost of acquisitions. This expectation arose from the realization that the company will need twelve more computers to complete the project. The measurement of the metric will be similar to the method used to measure staff performance. This is the calculation of the money actually spent on acquisitions versus the money budgeted. If more money goes to the acquisitions compared to the money in the budget for that purpose, then the project will be off budget. The third metric to be used in the measurement of project performance will be the variance between the scheduled versus the actual time spent on the activities of the project. The deadline for the project is the beginning of the third quota. A failure to keep time will have consequences for the company’s operations. This measure will come from the Gantt charts for the project, which show the amount of time needed to complete the project.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A related metric will be the task completion rate. This metric will combine the Gantt chart values with time indicators to determine whether the project stakeholders are handling their tasks as planned. The task completion rate will help determine whether the pace of the project at any time is commensurate to the targets set to complete these tasks. This metric, calculated weekly, will give a value indicating the pa ce of the project. The project is currently behind schedule and there is need to monitor the daily progress of the tasks to ensure that everything ends on time. The task completion rate will provide the basis for making conclusions about any discrepancies in the delivery of work packages. It is essential to complete the project on time, which is before the third quarter. The reason why the work packages are important to measure is that they provide critical information for reporting the progress of the project to all stakeholders. The completion of any work package constitutes a project milestone. The calculation for this metric will rely on time. Justification of Metrics The need to deliver the project on time and within budget informed the decisions that guided the choice of metrics for performance measurement for the project. The five metrics deal with time management or financial management. The justification for the using labor expenses as a metric for the project is as follows . First, the company committed some employees and contract workers to work on the project. The company bills the project for the time the employees and contract workers spend working on the project. Secondly, the time that the members of staff spend working on project reduces the overall project time. This means that an observation of how much money goes towards paying for the resource persons is an indirect indicator of the progress of the project.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Xemba Translations Project Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The decision to have a separate metric measuring the cost of project acquisitions came from the realization that there is need to keep track of the cost of items earmarked for purchase. The main items that the company will need to acquire are new computers that can replace slower ones. There is information that the number of computers the company needs to buy to replace the slow computers is more than the number estimated at the beginning of the project. A second reason to monitor these computers is that the supplier will be late in supplying the computers by two weeks. This is because there was a fire that affected their main supplier. In addition to these two reasons, it is necessary to make a decision regarding the type of computers to buy. The choices that exist now are between laptops and desktop computers. The laptops are more expensive. This means that buying desktop computers may help in managing the budget. However, there are operational factors regarding their use that need consideration. The third metric regarding schedule management arose because of the need to bring the project back on track. All the work packages are behind schedule. There is need to identify the causes of delay and to find ways of ensuring that the project concludes on time. Keeping track of the schedule will benefit the project in two ways. First, it will ensure tha t there is an objective measure of the use of time at regular intervals. This will help in the identification and elimination of the sources of delay in the project delivery. Failure to uncover the causes of delay may cause further interruptions to the project. Secondly, the project needs to recover time because of the delays already experienced. The only way to measure the degree of recovery needed and the impact of new measures geared towards the recovery of time is by using a performance measure that tracks the schedule. The task completion rate as a metric will help monitor the actual output derived from the project resources. The first reason for measuring the task completion rate is that this is the only way that the project management team can know whether the resources assigned to the project are creating value for the project.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Secondly, task completion is the basic unit of measurement of the delivery of project goals. It is an accurate means of measuring the progress of the project. The final metric chosen to measure project performance is the rate of delivery of work packages. The work package is a larger unit of work which completion amounts to a milestone for the project. The first reason for choosing this metric is that it is very important for reporting progress to the stakeholders such as the management. Secondly, the delivery of a work package is a milestone for the project with a complete set of benefits. It is important to keep track of the completion rate of the work packages in this regard. Project Status Based on Metrics Resource Name Cost per Hour ($) Budgeted Hours Budgeted Cost ($) Work Completed ($) Remaining Hours Projected Hours to Complete Project Time Overrun (hrs) Cost Overrun ($) Elizabeth 70 121.43 8500.1 122 -0.57 0 0.57 39.9 Hugh 70 120 8400 103 17 17 0 0 Kimberly 70 76 5 320 72 4 16 12 840 Phoebe 68 98 6664 76 22 20 -2 -136 Ben 68 138 9384 93 45 52 7 476 Zeke 65 384.67 25003.55 153 231.67 245 13.33 866.45 Malinda 75 224 16800 58 166 160 -6 -450 Willis 70 108 7560 160 -52 68 120 8400 Jackson 45 268 12060 177 91 112 21 945 Valene 60 150 9000 116 34 64 30 1800 Kendrick 40 78 3120 86 -8 0 8 320 Marcel 75 432.85 32463.75 268 164.85 200 35.15 2636.25 Clemencia 80 218.05 17444 104 114.05 114 -0.05 -4 Lianne 37.5 204 7650 170 34 110 76 2850 Darius 55 72 3960 30 42 42 0 0 TOTAL 2693 173329.4 1788 905 1220 315 18583.6 Table 2: Analysis table for various costs The Budgeted cost of labor for the project was 173,329.4 dollars. Projected time overrun shows that the money required for the project to go to completion is 18,583.6 dollars. This is an increase of 10.7% from the original budget. This proves that there is a need to monitor the way the resources use project time because of the obvious increase in the budgetary deficit for th e project. Willis and Marcel lead in both the time spent on the project above the budgeted time, and the time needed to complete their tasks. Special focus needs to go into monitoring the time these two employees spend on the project. The company budget shows that acquisitions for the project must not exceed 73,670.57 dollars. The report presented, which is related to the need to acquire new computers shows that the company needs to buy twelve extra computers. The initial plan was to buy thirty-five computers. However, after auditing the existing ones, the total number of computers due for replacement went up to forty-seven. This will escalate the cost by between 11,400 dollars and 14,200 dollars, depending on whether the company acquires desktop computers or laptops. Variance in Activity Time Task Name Work (hrs) Baseline (hrs) Variance (hrs) Actual (hrs) Remaining (hrs) % Work Complete Computer inventory and requirements 375.95 340 35.95 375.95 0 100% Technical support 197. 33 200 -2.67 160.67 36.67 81% Computing support 258 210 48 192 66 74% Document servers 356 330 26 242 114 68% Shared drives 351.2 310 41.2 228.8 122.4 65% FTP Sites 621.67 609 12.67 230.87 390.8 37% Firewalls 417.6 424 -6.4 97.6 320 23% Web-based meetings 430 270 160 260 170 60% 3007.75 2693 314.75 1787.89 1219.87 Table 3: Activity summary of tasks and work packages Task Completion Rate The activity summary shows that in almost all areas, there will be a need for more time than scheduled. Various factors affected the progress of the project. The important issue to bear in mind at this point is that most work packages will require more time to deliver. Table 2 also shows that work package delivery is still very low, with the completion of only one work package. The high number of hours beyond the planned time that the project requires before completion is of more interest. Impact of Current Problems The analysis of the status of the project revealed the following i ssues. First, two employees will account for more than fifty percent of all cost overruns related to labor. The two employees carry the highest staff costs for the project. Marcel and Willie will require more than 10,000 dollars out of the total projected cost overrun of about 18,000 dollars. This presents three problems to the project. First, it means that any interruption in the availability of these two employees will lead to further delays in the project. Secondly, the nature of task distribution that led to this situation reveals a fundamental problem with the original organization of the project. The two employees seem to carry an inordinate amount of responsibility in the project. This may lead to lapses or inclusion of errors in their output because of the strain on them. Thirdly the two employees need extra time to complete their tasks because of the exhaustion of their previous time allocation This is an indication that there is need to investigate the actual distribution of work in relation to the two employees. Is there a chance that the two employees are not creating value for the project as initially intended? The second main problem that the analysis revealed is that the project will exceed the budget by more than ten percent. This conclusion comes from two observations. The first observation comes from the projection that the cost of staff will exceed the budget by 10.7 %. These projections came from the estimated time the project staff members require to deliver the project. The causes of the delays that led to the need for more time still exist. For instance, not all information that relates to the operations of the final system is available. It is only wise to anticipate some more delays that may lead to the need for more time, especially in relation to the testing of the new system. The second observation is that the cost of acquisitions will exceed the budget. The reason for this is that there are components whose necessity became apparent only after the inception of the project. For instance, the budget estimates show that the number of new computers the organization will need to buy to replace the slower ones is thirty-five. However, the actual number of computers that the organization needs to replace is forty-seven. This will increase the cost of acquisitions by more than 10,000 dollars. The third main problem the analysis revealed is the risk of catastrophic failure of the system. The two main aspects of the project that will lead to this eventuality are time and technical constraints. The rigid deadline set when the project started, demands the completion of the project before the third quarter. The project is already behind the schedule because of various factors. The only way to ensure that the project ends on time is to increase the work rate of the employees available or to assign more employees to the project. The second problem related to the technical limits is that the team must work within. Many techni cal risks exist around the project. If any of the associated risk events occurs, the project will be in jeopardy. The relationship between this situation and the analysis above is that the project is under dire time and resource constraints. If there is no injection of new resources to support the delivery of the project on time, then the available resources may not be sufficient to mitigate the risks. All it will take for a catastrophic failure to occur is one mistake. Mitigation Measures The mitigation measures needed to deal with these problems are as follows. First, there is a need to undertake an audit of the work assigned to Marcel and Willis. This will help determine the cause of the huge time requirements that they need to complete their work packages. In the event that the distribution of work was overwhelming for them, then it will be important to assign more resources to handle aspects of their work packages. If the audit shows that they are incompetent, then the best act ion in the interest of the project will be to replace them. Nothing can bring the project back on budget at this stage. Since the management gave an allowance of going over-budget by up to ten percent, there is need to approve the necessary funds to cover for the impending shortfall. This will ensure that the team meets the quality criteria for the project. The board needs to approve a supplementary budget to cater for the financial shortfalls experienced by the project so far. The risk of catastrophic failure due to time and resource constraints is the most challenging issue to deal with in this project. The risk management matrix revealed that several risks could occur concurrently leading to catastrophic failure. This will require very careful management of the project to keep these risks from taking place. The best way to ensure that the entire project succeeds is to bring the project online in phases. It will also help to carry out more performance tests than earlier planned. I t is also possible to increase the resources available to the project to increase the work rate of the employees. This will enable the project team to handle the risks more easily. Executive Summary Xemba Translations is in the middle of an IT project geared towards making it possible for telecommuters to work effectively for Xemba. The new risks identified include the likelihood for resource competition among project priorities, and an increase in labor costs. Other risks are the failure to meet the project deadline and the potential for a catastrophic technical failure due to implementation mistakes arising from pressure to deliver the project on time. The metrics that will help in measuring the performance of the project are as follows. The first metric is a comparison of budgeted cost versus the actual cost of labor. This arises from the realization that labor consumes project funds at an hourly rate. The second metric is a comparison of the budgeted cost of acquisitions versus the actual cost. The third metric is the measurement of the actual time consumed by project activities, compared to the scheduled time. The fourth metric is the task completion rate. The project has fifty-five tasks. This metric will help to measure how well the project is performing based on task completion rate. The fifth metric is the measurement of the delivery of work packages. After applying these metrics, the main problems uncovered during the project are that two resource persons account for more than fifty percent of labor cost overruns. Marcel and Willie need more 10,000 dollars to complete their work. The second problem is that the project will exceed the budget by more than ten percent. The third main problem is that there is a risk of catastrophic failure of the project arising from the time and resource constraints. The measures required to mitigate against these problems include auditing Marcel and Willie’s work to ensure they are competent and that they are ca pable to deliver on their workpackages within the remaining time. Secondly, the project requires more money for it to be completed on time. It is necessary to approve the required money as soon as possible because it exceeds the 10,000 dollar threshold. Thirdly, from this point, the project manager must observe every process closely to ensure no more time goes to waste. References Arson, E. W., Gray, C. F. (2011). Project Management: The Managerial Process,. New York, NY: McGraw Hill International. Meredeth, J. R., Mantel, S. J. (2011). Project Management: A Managerial Approach (8 ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Phillips, J. (2010). IT Project Management. New York: McGraw Hill Professional.

Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essays

Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essays Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essay Analysis of Sonnet 146 by Shakespeare Essay Sonnet 146 is well known for its deeply intriguing religious aspect, as it is one of Shakespeare’s religious sonnets and almost the only religious one. It is religious as its tone mentions its concern with heaven, asceticism and also the progress of the soul all through out the sonnet. The idea that the poet was trying to convey to his audience is that the body exists at the expense of the soul, so that adorning or worrying about its beauty can only be accomplished at the souls expense. The poem is an internal monologue, which makes it first person point of view. This helps the audience understand that he is talking to himself and whom he is talking about. This sonnet can also be referred to as mediation between the soul and the body relationship. The imagery in the first line ‘my sinful earth’ stands out as it has a stronger tone with iambic pentameter, which causes ‘my’ to have an emphasised tone. The sentence then reflects the image of us, as it is our responsibility to keep this earth well. With the use of Shakespears imagery throughout the sonnet, he did a good job on structuring the poem so that we can understand the basis of our life and then moves onto more religious aspects of the sonnet. Sound is also a technique used in the poem to slow down the pace. In line 11 ‘buy terms divine in selling hours of dross’, sounds smooth because of the slight consonance sound of ‘s’ and makes this line sound serious and gloomy. Throughout the sonnet the speaker is continuously asking himself questions. This affected myself as when I was reading the poem it started to make me think about all the rhetorical questions. Is this really life? The poets use of rhetorical questions through out the sonnet is quite redeeming as he asks his soul why it allows itself to suffer for the sake of its ‘sinful earth’. In line 7 of the sonnet the poet questions his soul’s expenditure on bodily ‘excess’ knowing that it will all go to the worms in the end anyway. The most important metaphor in this poem is the beginning line ‘poor soul the centre of my sinful earth’, where earth represents the place we live in. The words poor and sinful are both negative. We can understand through this negative tone that the poet or the ‘earth’ in this sonnet is a bad place and we then link ‘sinful’ to ungodliness, which is what the whole poem is about. Another example of metaphor used in this poem is found in the second quatrain; ‘fading mansion’ which is used the represent our body. This metaphor explains that our souls are slowly dying and becoming very dull and fading as we do not live our lives like we are suppose to, according to the poet. In line 13 ‘so shalt thou feed on death’, gives us the audience a thought that we must constantly be thinking about death and also as a part of human nature we ponder about life. In other words, for this metaphor, we as humans feed on death, which in turns feeds on us. ‘Why so large a cost, having so short a lease’ this ‘lease’ refers to life, which is short as we as humans are not immortal. This metaphor asks why we as humans put so much effort into life when death comes so quickly. Closing couplet: The metaphor from the 3rd quatrain is continued and expanded in the closing couplet. It finishes from the 1st quatrain of the starving person within the mansion and then turns into irony of the idea that death feeds on humans. And in the last lines, ‘death’ and ‘dying’ are words used as imagery to describe and give us the final image of eternal life. Shakespeare, with the use of vivid imagery, makes us understand that we as humans cannot live forever. What we do to ourselves will also not last forever and eventually it will become dull. The metaphors in this sonnet helps how we think about ourselves as humans, though we are civilised we still tend to neglect morals and we will always have flaws in life. When I read through this, I cant help but question myself about my existence here in the world and what will happen when we eventually do pass on. With the use of these rhetorical questions it does get the audience questioning themselves and really interacts with the reader and Shakespeare has done this very well. He shows us that we make the best use of our time and work on our soul instead of our external self and with the use of his language techniques; Shakespeare can clearly demonstrate this point to the readers.

Describing Arizona SB1070(2010) Base on Political Conservatives View Essay

Describing Arizona SB1070(2010) Base on Political Conservatives View - Essay Example Liberal Beliefs. n.d.). Based on many debatable facts, the conservatives hugely support SB 1070 and describe it as positive step towards the betterment of the sate. The Fountain Hills State Representative, John Kavanagh is a strong advocate of Arizona SB 1070 and explains that the illegal immigrants are a significant problem. With considerable numbers of illegal immigrants within a population of 6 million in Arizona, we also look at the children eligible for availing government services (e.g. education). Since they were born here and are more deserving for these services, it becomes increasingly assuring that illegal immigrants should be driven out (Murphy 2012). Conservative Southern part of Tucson and Cochise County Representative, Ted Vogt has also described Arizona SB 1070 as being positive step since he believes reduced spending from the Government towards illegal immigrants is really important for the economy and the SB 1070 advocates this. Citing an official Government website, he had stated that the illegal immigration has costed to be around 900 million to 2 billion. The issue of illegal immigrants sweeping majority of the workforce also sparked some reservations which led to Arizona SB 1070 being supported. Russell Pearce’s support for SB 1070 is reflected when he stated that he believed that the illegal immigrants were reducing job opportunities for legal immigrants (Murphy 2012). The conservatives are also speaking in the favour of Arizona SB 1070 because; they believe that the crime is more rampant amongst the illegal immigrants. Representative Kavanagh made substantial claims using ‘Center for Immigration Studies report’ that, 8.9% of the population constitutes of illegal immigrants and are held responsible for 21.8% of the crime taking place in Maricopa city. Based on his experience doing an internship at US attorney

The Main Types of Investment Products Research Paper

The Main Types of Investment Products - Research Paper Example All these four asset classes have their own combination of growth and risk associated with it. The asset allocation strategy of an investor among the various asset classes is influenced by a multitude of factors and is as much art as it is science. While investors with more risk appetite will opt for equity-based investment products, an investor who prefers stability or in other words is a risk-averse will prefer Debt/Fixed income investment tools more. However, financial companies have designed investment products that are not pure-play Equity/Fixed income/Cash instruments but are hybrid in nature and have varied components of equity, debt and cash instruments. Pooled investments are managed by professional fund managers and are considered to be safer for individual investors. These pooled investments have exposure to almost all asset classes to spread risk, maintain growth rate and liquidity. Stock represents a part of ownership in a firm. Buying stock of a given company is equivalent to being a part owner of the company, and the investor, in essence, becomes part owner of all future earning of the company. The value of an investment in stock is dependent on the performance of the company. If the company performs well, the value of the investment goes, and vice versa. Investment in stock entails higher risk as compared to other investment products like fixed income/debt/bonds and cash instruments. Additionally, money invested in stock has lower liquidity as compared to other products. However, the possible upside of investment in stock is much higher as compared to other investment products. Investment in stock should be done only after proper research on the company, its future prospects, the market it is operating in and other factors influencing the company. It is very strongly recommended to invest in a group of companies (portfolio) rather than investing in a single company. By investing in companies from different domains and with varied market capitalization, the inherent risk can be substantially managed. However, developing and managing a well spread out portfolio requires a good amount of research, insight and constant tracking that may be difficult for an individual investor. One of the best ways of avoiding this effort is by investing in Mutual Funds. A Mutual fund is an investment company or a trust in which investors pool their funds and invest them in a wide variety of securities. (District Human Resources, n.d.) Â