Juan De Sepulveda Belittes the Indians

Juan Sepulveda was a man who strongly felt he could define a person or group as â€Å"civilized or â€Å"barbarians.† Sepulveda’s purpose in his article/primary source analysis was mainly to inform the Spanish about the Native Americans â€Å"barbaric† society and how could either try and convert them to Christianity or destroy them. His audience is mainly the Spanish royalty, and also the Christian community. Sepulveda explains what the government and activity of the Natives are like, and degrades who they are so his audience could have a feeling whether they should be enslaved or converted.During Sepulveda’s article/primary source, he mentions how he saw the government with â€Å"†¦ [No] written laws, but barbarian institutions and customs †¦ what temperance or mercy can you expect from men who are committed to all types of intemperance and base frivolity, and eat human flesh? (lines 17-20).† So far Sepulveda has had nothing positive to say about the Natives, and feels that they are far from civilized. Personally, this doesn’t seem too barbarous because everyone has a custom to something Sepulveda writes in a way that persuades that the natives are basically cavemen who know no better, compared to the Spanish norms.Although he is not lying since the natives eat human flesh, which would be barbarous, but its only safe to say that the natives are far from modern day society and the roles. Another piece of evidence that Sepulveda shares is that the natives would â€Å"wage continual and ferocious war upon one another with such fierceness that they did not consider a victory worthwhile unless they sated their monstrous hunger with the flesh of their enemies. (lines 22-24).† This time he proves a point that they would be barbarous, stating that the only reason Natives fight other Natives would be for food. As true as this may be, Sepulveda fails to tell the whole story.Indians would not fight daily for th e flesh of other humans, or else they would be extinct. And hidden to Sepulveda mind, he didn’t think about the diversity of the Natives and their different groups, so it becomes more clear that his Goal is to make them seem like savages so the Spanish would feel more bias on enslaving them rather than them being converted first. On one positive note, it is clear Sepulveda wanted to say something positive about the Natives, saying â€Å"†¦ Although some of them show a certain ingenuity  for various works of artisanship, this is no proof of human cleverness. (lines 28-29).†If all Sepulveda has been saying was negative things, and have one positive note, then it must have really caught is attention that the Natives have a thing for artisanship. This may be a key point in Sepulveda’s persuasion to converting the Natives to slavery. To say they are crafty would show that they are of use to something. This sentence he writes can be easily summarized that they have a talent, but the Spaniards will always be the superior to the Natives, as said in line 33, â€Å" [New Spain] †¦ are considered the most civilized of all.† To break down my analysis of Sepulveda’s article would be easily described in lines 57 and 58 that the â€Å"[Natives] have stated quite clearly that they have been born into slavery and not to civic and liberal life.†All that Sepulveda wants is a group of slaves that would later be converted to Christianity for the use and the good of the Spanish goals. It was clear s day Sepulveda wanted to make the Natives look bad (and good enough) to make the Spanish ruler feel they would come good use to slavery. Broken down into a nutshell, if the Indians look useless enough, but they have â€Å"artisanship,† then what better place to be than slaves. And the goals of the Spaniards are to spread their Christianity, so why not make them Christians as well.

Discussion of the history of cosmetics Essay

The dawn of modern cosmetics began divided into the following categories: Grolier (2005: 188-191). a. Powders – face powder usually contains talk, chalk, kaolin, and mixtures of zinc oxide, titanium oxide and various powdered pigments. Properly prepared, this mixture spreads easily, adheres to the skin, and absorbs some moisture. b. Emulsions – these are fine particles of oil dispersed in water. Vanishing creams and cold creams are examples of emulsions. Thinner emulsions, which contain more water relative to the oil content, are used as cleansing lotions and hand creams. c. Lipsticks – this is made up of oils, such as castor oil, mixed with waxes and pigments or dyes, and hardened into molds. Since the materials used in manufacturing lipsticks are actually taken into the body, the choice of ingredients is limited to those which are known or assumed to be non-toxic. d. Eye Makeup – these are eyebrow pencils, eye shadow, and mascara are, like lipstick, compounds of oil, wax and pigments. They, too, must be made of non-toxic or non-injurious materials. Cosmetics have come a long way in modern history and played a significant role in adorning both men and women for various occasions. It has been so widely-used that its functions have traversed into extremes for beautification purposes – it can either conceal or flaunt an asset of a person. It can serve as mask or a highlighter. This just means that it has the ability to change the appearance of the person according to the manner it was used. At the end of the day, personal psyche dictates that every person intends or strives to become pleasant to the eyes of the millions of people around him or her. What is beautiful has also changed over the years. The definition of what is beautiful goes across regions, beliefs, religion and societal perceptions. Burke (2003:75-77): According to the twentieth century philosopher Charles Hartshorne, â€Å"Beauty is the centerpiece of this classical trinity and that nothing in our experience is exempt from the touch of the beautiful†. Beyond aesthetics, what is beautiful is how one perceives it to be, in that if he or she can find beauty in there. Therefore, the quality of what is beautiful has emerged from mere prettiness or elaborate ornamentation into an instrument of life towards survival in the continuous evolution of life in this planet. It can be found that the link between biology and beauty has dictated the development of humans and other species. Scientific studies strengthens the debate that the beautiful will emerge as the survivors given that their counterparts find them more attractive than the rest and that they are perceived to produce the most beautiful offsprings. In this biological quest for a successful and healthy reproduction process, the preference is indeed given to those mates who appear healthy. A healthy individual is visually manifested in their skin and hair, by the movement of their body, by a proportioned and toned body. These are the people judged to be beautiful. If the experts are correct in these assumptions or scientific observations, men usually look for women who appear young and fertile. This is where cosmetics leverage onto. Burke (2003:75-77): The cosmetic industry tries to address this so-called â€Å"need† that women continue to appear young despite already going beyond their fertile or child-bearing years. Nevertheless, beyond the need to reproduce our genes, the core of beauty still delves on the ability of a person to identify and bring out the beauty in their lives. We need not generate only life in this world, but also generate beauty that will make life even more worthwhile. It is the appreciation of beauty in our surroundings even without the use of any form of artificial adornment such as cosmetics that will enable one to realize the beauty of life, that it is worth-knowing and worth living after all. Given how important the nation for beauty is perceived across nations, and beyond borders, how cosmetics value this perception and its effects to the human well-being is crucial. Dermatological diseases have sprung in the recent years that come in a range from minor cosmetic problems to even life-threatening problems, as displayed in some disorders commonly due to skin differentiation processes. Zeeuwen (2004:176). With this statement, one should also be vigilant and be a knowledgeable end-user of these products that attempt to change certain elements of your natural state of appearance or being to some extent. The law of economics reminds us that with in every level of quality increased, price is directly affected as it is directly correlated.

A Life Almost Lost

As I approached the tower for my first day as an Ocean Rescue lifeguard I thought I knew it all. Fresh out of recruit training and graduating in the top of my recruit class, I had the vision that I was invincible as a lifeguard. I climbed the freshly painted wooden tower, unpacked my gear, and settled into the somewhat uncomfortable plywood seat that I would be sitting on for the next eight hours. At first the water was relatively empty, with the occasional family or two entering to wade around. But by noon, the beach had started to become progressively busier, with well over one hundred bathers within the quarter mile of beach I was responsible for. It was at this exact moment that the confidence I had held earlier that same morning fell right through the cracks, and all the training I had persevered through in the previous weeks became completely useless. It started out with a single bather to my north that appeared to be out past the point where they could touch, but were still comfortable and not in any need of my help. I figured I would just keep a close eye on them through my binoculars. About fifteen minutes later two more bathers swam out past the point of touching, one straight out in front of me and one to my south. By this point I was apprehensive and unsure of what to do. I looked at the bather to my north through my binoculars, and got what is known as tunnel vision. I became so fixated on watching this one individual and making sure that he was all right that I completely disregarded the other bathers. Seconds later, the dispatcher came on the radio frantically telling me to go on a rescue for the bather to my south. Caught up in the situation, I lost my sense of location, could not find where the bather was, and ended up missing the rescue. Fortunately the person made it back to shore, but this was a mistake that could h ave cost a life. Looking back on my first day as a lifeguard, the mistake I made by missing a rescue is one of the greatest regrets of my life. But at the same time, being able to overcome this obstacle and return to the tower the next day has given me a great sense of confidence. I have learned that with hard work and the right attitude, it is possible to work through and overcome the most difficult of situations in life. Now as a senior in high school, earning a low grade on a quiz or losing one varsity tennis match does not bring me down, because I know that these things are small bumps in an unimaginably long and exciting road.

Divorce from Different Perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Divorce from Different Perspectives - Essay Example This paper will provide a platform for the analysis of the topic of divorce by first understanding their rationale on the subject. Some of the major contributors to the increased divorce cases will be identified and will finally conclude by establishing some of the ways the different parties propose for tackling this problem. According to Browning, the major causes of the change in family patterns such as increased divorce rates are modernization and globalization. This further raises a vital question such as should the changes be embraced and seen as the norm? The other important question that arises is what are the changes indicative of dynamism in family life or are they part of a wider problem or crisis? Browning notes that since the 1980’s there has been a significant change in the worldwide perception of family changes such as divorce. Studies conducted by sociologists, psychologists and economists point to these changes as to having detrimental effects on most people. D ivorce has been found to bring about immense emotional, social and financial consequences. Changes in the family patterns caused by practices such as divorce have been linked to declining well-being of children who are involved in the process. Studies into the effects of divorce have pointed out that children from families where divorce has happened have a high rate of delinquency. They were also found to exhibit low self-confidence and faced a higher risk of leading unhappy marriages in the future. It is critical to understand that each branch of Christianity views divorce in its different way. Since its commencement over two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church has maintained its stand on the indissolubility of marriage. The church holds a conservative view on the dissolution of a marriage. According to the Catholic Church teachings, marriage is a covenant not only between two consenting adults but also between the parties and God.  

Critical Analysis of Giac Duyen in The Tale of Kieu Essay

Critical Analysis of Giac Duyen in The Tale of Kieu - Essay Example I say this because Giac Duen is the only character whose religiosity represents the Buddhist institutional belief through her actions. Being the embodiment of Buddhist virtues, a Buddhist nun Giac Duen appears to be friendly, kind-hearted and compassionate to distressed Kieu. Indeed her friendly guardianship seems to fill up the vacuum of a religious authority that the medieval Vietnamese literary tradition often required. Du does not tell us much about the prioress’s past. Yet she appears to be self-evident because of her admirable religiosity and her actions accordingly. Indeed at times, her humanity surpasses her religiosity also. Ultimately her religiosity as well as her universal humanity makes her an outstanding figure, in the poem, which serves as an instrument that assists Kieu to get relief of the karmic retribution. In the story ‘The Tale of Kieu† Nguyen Du shows that a true friend’s assistance and love can make one successful in the end and the pr ioress Giac Duyen is the perfect example of such friendship. Giac’s relationship with Kieu grows on the basis of fellow-feeling, compassion and humanity. Though in the story Giac appears as a representative of the Buddhist religious institution, she is essentially a universal humanitarian who could surpass the boundary of her religious restriction. When Kieu flees from Hoan, the tyrant wife of Thuc, and reaches the prioress’s home, she compassionately provides her with shelter and food. This humanitarian face of Giac could have been overshadowed by her religiosity, when Kieu discloses her miserable past. But it did not happen in reality. Learning about Kieu’s past suffering, sorrow and life of prostitution, she was swinging between her compassion for the distressed girl and her religious fear about Kieu’s sin in her early life. Indeed her compassion wins over her religious fear. Even though she believes that Kieu’s suffering is the result of her Ka rma in early life, she has tried to minimize her agony. She advises Kieu to walk the noble path of a prioress. She says, â€Å"The Buddha's gate is open wide to all. But things I can't foresee are what I dread. I'd sorely grieve if something struck you here. Plan far ahead and flee - you'd be unwise to sit and wait till waters reach your feet† (line 2076). Kieu the protagonist is only able to change her destiny through the kind-hearted Buddhist nun by the name of Giac Duen. And consequently, Kieu is highly induced by the way of life of Giac and meanwhile Giac’s dominance starts playing with more priority over Kieu even her lover and husband too. Kieu took very little time to win the support from Giac. Knowing Kieu’s destiny, Giac responds to Kieu for helping her by prediction and to save Kieu from her sorrow and distressed condition which she experienced a lot in her early life. Giac also helped Kieu from jealous of Miss Hoan. So, Giac is somehow appeared as a s avor for Kieu. Giac, a strong character of integrity and loyalty tries to recover Kieu from the experience of her harsh destiny with every time assistance even with the absence of Kieu, made her great one and high character and the centered women in the story. We see that Giac didn’t leave Kieu even after her successive events of her life including death of

Assess the extend to which the merger between firms is in the interest Essay

Assess the extend to which the merger between firms is in the interest of both consumers and the firms - Essay Example This is always luxurious to the suppliers, who in a bid to keep the market under consideration will offer discounts and sale their supplies to the merged organization at a cheaper rate (Cooper, 2006). It is important to denote that the organization will not only benefit from discounted products, but it will also be able to easily access credit and finances from financial institutions cheaply. This is because of the increased size and capital base of the new organization. Another benefit of merger is that an organization is able to diversify its production and services. Take for instance, the merger between Pay Pal, and eBay. eBay is an online auctioneering firm, where as Pay Pal is an online payment system (Foster, 2010). On this basis, eBay is able to diversify the production of its services that is provision of online auction services, as well as providing services in online payments. Another important benefit of a merger is an increase in the market share of the new firm/ organization (Shenfelter and Hosken, 2010). For instance, the failed merger between Daimler and Chrysler was to help the two organizations increase the share of their markets in the United States, and Germany as a whole. This is by taking advantage of the distribution channels that the two organizations commanded. Another benefit of a merger is that they result to improving the image of a company under consideration (Cooper, 2006). This is because mergers and acquisitions normally get huge media coverage, as a result, the companies can take advantage of this, to outline their policies, and also market their products. A company that experiences a merger will also manage to increase the value of its stock, and this is because of the perception that the new entity formed will be profitable (Foster, 2010). For instance, the merger between US Airways, and the American Airlines was able to

How Impairment Testing and Off-Balance Sheet Liabilities Affect the Essay

How Impairment Testing and Off-Balance Sheet Liabilities Affect the Reliability of Financial Statements - Essay Example When an instrument is not traded in an active market there is great uncertainty about the ultimate amount that can be realized from the instrument in a transaction between knowledgeable willing parties in an arms length transaction (Eipstein and Jermacowicz 2007). In July 2002, the European Union issued a regulation requiring all EU-listed companies to prepare their year-end accounting standards in compliance with IFRS as from December 31st 2005. Following the recent wave of accounting scandals at Enron, Tyco International and WorldCom, as well as the greater concern for off-balance sheet liabilities, the IFRS has issued a number of standards (IAS 32 Financial Instruments Disclosure and Presentation, IAS 39 , IFRS 7 Financial Instruments Disclosures, and IAS 17 Leases) to help reduce bright lines that enable companies to use off-balance sheet financing. In this paper the developments in respect of convergence between national and international accounting standards since 1st January 2005 to present day will be discussed. The impact that off-balance sheet financing and impairment testing may have upon the reliability of financial statements will also be discussed. In the light of all these, the next section argues in respect to the theme of thi s paper. 1.1.1 How impairment testing and off balance sheet Liabilities affect the Reliability of Financial Statements IAS 36 requires companies to test assets for impairment. Basically, the standard requires that tangible assets should be tested for impairment when there is an indication that an asset might be impaired. (Epstein and Jermacowicz, 2007). However, intangible assets having an indefinite useful life must be tested annually for impairment. The impairment test is required to be applied to a cash generating unit, that is, the smallest group of assets for which the entity has identifiable cash flows. During an impairment test, the carrying amount of an asset or group of assets in the cash generating unit is compared with the fair value or value in use (value in use is calculated as the present value of the cash flows expected to be generated from using the asset). The higher of value in use and fair value is taken and compared with the carrying amount and an impairment loss is recognized if the carrying amount is higher than the higher of fair value and value in use. (Epstein and Jermacowiz, 2007). IAS 36 also requires a company to determine at each reporting date whether there are conditions that would indicate that impairment may have occurred and further provides a set of indicators of potential impairment some of which include (Epstein and Jermacowiz, 2007: p. 247): Market value declines for specific assets or cash generating u

Health Care Delivery System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Care Delivery System - Essay Example As governor, she brought down the percentage of uninsured by 25 percent in just two years by expanding Medicaid benefits to the near poor. She knows full well that previous national efforts to reduce the number of uninsured have failed. Just last year Congress failed to reach agreement in establishing legislation that would have increased the number of people who would qualify for Medicaid. The governor supports a move toward a single payer system in the health care industry as a vehicle to help pay for people to have access to health care insurance, but does not understand all of its components. You are the governor’s best friend and happen to  be enrolled in the bachelor’s degree program in health management  at a University. She asks you to inform her of your thoughts of implementing a national single payer system. Include in your discussion the likely effect this type of system would have on the administrative costs, delivery of services, and payment for service s rendered. Don’t forget to tell her about the possibility of pent-up demand and what may happen to availability of and access to services. Will her plan to use administrative savings cover the 16 percent of Americans who are uninsured? Why or why not? Experiences in Canada and UK have proven the effectiveness of the single payer health system, as both countries have covered large percentage of their population and have a lower cost of health care per capita than US. Implementing this same system in the US would cover most of the uninsured Americans and would provide better availability and access to services to the entire population, as the 25 % of health expenditures spent on administration would be allocated toward better health services, however, one most meanest the financial problems that arise from merging the various insurance factors as Medicare and Medicaid, as they would in united into a single health care system,

Week 5 Discussion - INTL5645 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 5 Discussion - INTL5645 - Assignment Example When leaving, he further instructs the lady to use a single chalk a day since the school has no adequate facilities. The lack of the basic learning facilities further compromises the quality of education that the students I the villages setups receive. Furthermore, the film does not depict any form of government intervention to salvage the sorry state of village education. The film further develops a theme on child labor. This aggravates the already bad state of education in the country. In a bid to cater for their personal effects, the destitute children take up menial jobs in the village. Lianjiang (8), asserts that â€Å"28 PERCENT OF CHILDREN LIVING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE ARE LEFT BEHIND BY THEIR PARENTS WHO SEEK EMPLOYMNET IN THE URBAN CITIES† . Wei the small inexperienced teacher comes to discover that Zhang has quit school to look for work in the city. Zhang is a child and not within the employable age, however, due to lack effective monitoring structures he finds menial jobs in the city and soon forgets about school. This casts a dark shadow on the future of the country’s economy besides securing an ever obscure future for the rural dwellers. China has one of the largest human populations in the world. Every year during winter, many Chinese usually go back home. This usually results in a logistic problems as the railway transport system gets overwhelmed. In this case, the analysis focuses on the movie The Last Train Home. In a broader perspective, the review seeks to bring to light the predicaments that Chinese immigrant workers face. Most of these Chinese workers are separated from their families. In this case, the focus is on the family illuminated on in the documentary. At the start, it is evident that the family is separated from one of their own who is called Qin. This is evident from the fact that the mother talks to her through the phone. They discuss issues regarding her report. Besides, when the

The conflict between different attitudes to loyalty Essay Example for Free

The conflict between different attitudes to loyalty Essay How does Shakespeare put on stage the conflict between different attitudes to loyalty? How effectively do you think he does this? On stage we are introduced to two different styles of leadership. Shakespeare uses the King and Hal to act as contrasts of leadership. We seethe king as a scary ogre, who is to be feared. When we first meet the king he is easily angered as he is not obeyed by Hotspur, as he does not hand over the prisoners which he has captured. This shows that the king immediately demands obedience and respect. Whenever someone is addressing the king, they call him my liege or my lord. This again shows that people fear him, as they feel they must respect him. However, when we first meet Hal, Prince of Wales, Falstaff addresses him with Hal and lad, which shows that people do not fear Hal as much, and that he is not as respected. Hal mingles with the common people, and he feels at home in the pub with his mates. This style of leadership is in contrast to his fathers, the King. Hal does not demand respect and obedience . He is content with others making jokes at him and having a laugh. Falstaff says to Hal for a fine thief of the age of two and twenty or thereabouts. Falstaff is suggesting that Hal is boring, but Hal is satisfied with being called this, whereas if it was the King who had received this comment, he would have got angry at being insulted. Hal himself enjoys a laugh with his mates, even if it means that someone is disadvantaged by it. For example he plays a trick on Falstaff, by allowing him to carry out a robbery and then the prince himself robs Falstaff. Hal did this just to show Falstaff up, and to make a fool of him, of which he does. Hal mixes with thieves and drunks, people of which his father would not approve. If Hal becomes king, it seems that he will not have the power and respect that his father had, because of the way he acts. It is not fit for the Prince of Wales to go on robberies, and get drunk in local pubs. People will lack respect for him and he will have no authority. In the scene with the King, we see him as not a very attractive character. He speaks in a manner which is slow, serious, and very stern. This introduction to the king is important as it is the audiences first view of him and they decide straight away what sort of character he is. This, almost evil presence around the King makes even the audience fear him, which is why the other characters in the play fear him. This is the kings way of leading his people. By being strict, snobbish, stern and fearful, this is why people follow him. We see the King lose his temper when he is disobeyed by Hotspur in the beginning of the play when Hotspur refuses to hand over some prisoners, and we also see him lose his temper over Hal because of Hals behaviour. God pardon thee! Yet let me wonder, Harry, at thy affections, which do hold a wing quite from the flight of all thy ancestors. The King here is getting angry with his own son, as he feels Hal approach to leadership and King is far different than his own or his ancestors. We do not see the King any more angered here with his own son, than he is with Hotspur earlier on. Hals approach is far different. When we first meet him he is smiling and having a joke with Falstaff, and admitting how his lifestyle is poor by thieving, and is now planning yet another one. This first impression does not make us see Hal as a leader, as he is irresponsible, and immature. He does not appear to be someone which we would look up to and respect and obey, we are more likely to argue back at him or simply be disobedience. It is difficult for the audience to see him ruling a country as king. It is the lack of respect that people have for him that makes the audience feel this way. After Falstaff was robbed, he comes back to the inn and addresses Hal with A kings son! If I do not beat thee out of thy kingdom and You, Prince of Wales! . Falstaff may have been let down by Hal as he did not help him in the robbery like was planned, but it is not normal for a normal person such as Falstaff to insult the Prince of Wales like that, and tell him that he is not suitable to be Prince. This is how people talk to Hal, without fear or respect. Shakespeare has effectively used Hal and the King as contrasts of leadership, and this is clear and easy to see. It is even more apparent when the King orders Hal to him to discuss his behaviour. The King becomes emotional at this stage and begins to compare Hal to Richard II. It is clear that the King does not approve of Hals attitude to leadership. What happens next is important, for Hal vows to his father that he will be more myself, and that he will change all of his ways. However, the next scene we see him pretending to ride a horse in the pub with Falstaff. After he vows to change, it is strange to see him act like this. It appears that despite what his father wants, he wishes to lead in his own way. The kings leadership qualities are mainly the fear which her gives out, also he speaks in poetry a lot, so he is a good speaker. He is able to address people and talk to them in a way that they will enjoy and remember. The King appears to consider things before acting upon. How ever with Hal we do not see many leadership qualities. Although one advantage Hal has is that he knows his faults, he is aware of himself, and he uses his faults to gain popularity with his locals. However, one leadership quality we see is when Hal plans the robbery on Falstaff, this was cleverly put together it is not the type of quality we look for in a King. The audience may see him now as a king in the making. Soon we hear him speaking in poetry which reminds us of his father and how he is becoming a king. It appears Hals ideas of being king are different from the kings, for he will be a sly king. He will not be bothered if others suffer because of him. As long as he is at an advantage he is happy. The current King may also do this, but in a different way. For Hal does this whilst drinking with common people, and thieving, whereas the King is apart from society and it appears he looks down on them and gives them no respect. How are people going to carry on respecting him if he does not show any signs of respecting others. Hal on the other hand may get more respect, but will find it hard to keep control of his people. Shakespeare has made an on stage battle of the contrasts in leadership. It is not evident as to which one is the correct one to use, but we can clearly see the advantages and disadvantages of both. Shakespeare has used the different types of leaderships in Hal and the King to create suspense on stage. Hal we see as a nice guy and someone who we can get on with, and because of this, we have a liking for him, and we care what happens to him. However, we may not like the King as much as Hal, but we still care what happens to him. This is because he demands respect so much on stage that we immediately we take an interest and concern as to what happens to him. This suspense is evident throughout the play, and it keeps the audience interested. Shakespeare has arranged the play so that we see the King and his associates in one scene, Falstaff and Hal in another, and Hotspur in another. So it is like having three little stories going on at once. These changes to different characters are deliberate, as it allows the audience a break. As if the play just focused on Hal and Falstaff, the suspense would be so great and constant that the audience would lose concentration. It would be too much to take in. A play needs suspense, but at the same time there needs to be breaks from that suspense for the audience to really appreciate the play, and Shakespeare has achieved this well.

Chritiane Nords Notion of Function Plus Loyalty

Chritiane Nords Notion of Function Plus Loyalty INTRODUCTION The emergence of functionalist approaches to translation in the 1970s and 1980s was quite revolutionary in that it marked the move from what Munday (2001: 72) describes as the static linguistic typologies of translation shift, a term defined by Catford (1965: 73) as departures from formal correspondence in the process of going from the SL to the TL, to a consideration of the overall function of the Target Text (TT) in the Target Culture (TC). However, these approaches have been criticised on various grounds. This paper investigates one of these criticisms and whether Chritiane Nords notion of function plus loyalty adequately addresses the issue. SKOPOSTHEORIE As a term, functionalism is used to refer to the aggregate of approaches to translation that focus on the overall function(s) of a text or translation (Nord 1997:1). In other words, functionalism has been expressed or practised differently by different scholars and translators. However, they all appear to have drawn inspiration from what Vermeer has called skopostheorie, the birth of which apparently marked the beginning of functionalism (Honig 1997: 6). According to Vermeer (2004), [t]he skopos of a translation is the goal or purpose , defined by the commission and if necessary adjusted by the translator (236) and this notion of skopos can be applied in the translation process, the translation result as well as the translation mode (230). This skopos determines whether a text should be translated word for word or paraphrased or even adapted. As Nord (1997) puts it, the Skopos of a particular translation task may require a free or a faithful translation, or anything between these two extremes, depending on the purpose for which the translation is needed (29). Thus a single text can beget different translations according to the different translation briefs provided. This approach was quite novel in that it, to a large extent, addressed the eternal dilemmas of free vs faithful translations, dynamic vs formal equivalence, good interpreters vs slavish translators, and so on (Nord 1997: 29). However, it has also received quite a number of criticisms. One of such attacks came from Pym (1996) who questions the ability of functionalism to provide a basis for a professional ethics of translation. He then asks: Can such a theory generate a way of discerning between good and bad purposes, between good and bad translation strategies? Or is its aim merely to produce mercenary experts, able to fight under the flag of any purpose able to pay them? (2) Pym questions the apparent neglect of the ST, undue emphasis on the TT and the freedom skopostheorie gives the translator to produce any kind of text as dictated by the translation brief, whether or not the said brief is a far cry from the intentions of the author of the source text. In response to such criticisms, Nord added the concept of loyalty to functionalism. FUNCTION PLUS LOYALTY Chritiane Nord maintains that the loyalty principle is meant to account for the culture-specificity of translation concepts, setting an ethical limitation to the otherwise unlimited range of possible skopoi for the translation of one particular source text (2007:2-3). Loyalty is used to refer to the responsibility of translators, as mediators between two cultures, towards their partners namely, the source-text author, the client or commissioner of the translation, and the target-text receivers (Nord 2001: 185). It may also be seen as taking into account the intentions and expectations of all the partners in the communicative interaction named translation (195). Though the clients brief determines the skopos of the translation, it is not the only determining factor for the translation. The translator should be loyal to the ST author by ensuring that he not produce a TT that falsifies the authors intentions (Nord 2005:32). In other words, loyalty ensures some compatibility between the ST and the TT. The translator should also be loyal to the target audience, who have some expectations of what the translations should be like, by explaining in a footnote or preface how they arrived at a particular meaning, the thought-process involved. Nord distinguishes loyalty from fidelity or equivalence. While she sees the former as an interpersonal relationship between the translator and his partners, the latter she sees as concepts used to refer to the linguistic or stylistic similarity between the source and the target texts, regardless of the communicative intentions involved (2001: 185) HOW ADEQUATE? This section looks at the adequacy of Nords function plus loyalty principle to translation, especially in relation to Pyms accusation of skopostheorie producing only mercenary experts. In the first place, it checks the apparent freedom of the translator to produce any kind of translation in accordance with the clients brief. While function requires that the translation be modelled to fit into the brief provided by the commissioner, loyalty requires the translator to justify their choice of translation method by considering the interests of all the participants involved in the translation, not just that of the client. A translator should not produce a translation that goes contrary to the brief; they also should satisfy the expectations of the target audience as well as not falsify the intentions of the author. So if the brief betrays the communicative intentions of the author, it is then the translators duty to draw the attention of the client to this apparent anomaly. Pym (2007: 132) quotes Nord as saying that If the client asks for a translation that would mean being disloyal to either the author or the target readership or both, the translator should argue this point with the client or perhaps even refuse to produce the translation on ethical grounds. So the translator is not a mere mercenary since they do not accept whatever skopos is given them. Downie puts it this way: With the addition of the notion of loyalty the translator is now ethically and professionally responsible to either observe the expectations their partners have of their work or to tell them why these expectations have not been met (2), This principle reduces the number of skopoi that could be generated for a single translation text. Two questions may be raised against the loyalty principle, one of which has been partly answered in Downies quote above namely: is it always possible for every party to be made happy by the translator? According to Nord, the translator has the moral obligation not to translate on a brief that will falsify the authors intention. If after explaining the situation to the client and the client insists on not modifying the brief to make up for the defect, the translator has the moral responsibility to refuse to do the translation. Downie has already highlighted what the translator should do if the translation goes contrary to the expectations of the receiving audience. In Nords words, if the target culture expects the translation to be a literal reproduction of the original, translators cannot simply translate in a non-literal way without telling the target audience what they have done and why (1997: 125). This increases the level of confidence the audience has on the translator and makes them more ready to accept the translation as of a good quality even if their (the audiences) expectations are not met. This raises the second question: will the adoption of the documentary translation in situations where the source culture is markedly different from the target culture, seen in the additional explanations the translator has to make for the reader, not affect the reception of the work since the audience is aware that the text is not the original, but a translation? Though the reader might be affected by the realisation, the style shows that the translator has some respect for the reader and will help build their confidence in the translator for taking the pains to explain their strategy and choices. One other issue the loyalty principle addresses is the supposed dethronement of the source text. This is also one of the bases for Pym accusation of translators as being mere mercenary experts since the ST may result in TTs with which it shares a very tenuous relationship. Loyalty insists that the communicative intentions of the author be reproduced in the TT. And this can only be achieved when a detailed analysis of the ST is done to appreciate its place in the source culture, temporally and spatially. Nord insists that the interpretation of a text goes beyond the linguistic, that it is a product of the many variables of the situation (time, place, addresses) in which it originated (1997: 119), and that the analysis of extratextual factors such as author, time, place, or medium may shed some light on what may have been the senders intentions (125-6). The translator then does a similar extratextual study of the target situation to identify the expression that best reflects the author s intentions in the target situation. So in the main, the TT intentions are hinged on those of the ST. CONCLUSION It is axiomatic that a text is open to multiple interpretations, and translations. But Nords notion of function plus loyalty has indeed restricted the otherwise arbitrary production of translation briefs and translations that are a far cry from the message of the ST. It also weakens the criticism that functionalism advocates a dethronement of the ST. However, the satisfaction of every party involved in the translation process is only but an ideal, not always practicable. But loyalty has made the translator more responsible and conscious of their translations and increased the confidence of other participants on the translator. Indeed if translators will adhere to this charge of being loyal, the problems of mistranslations will be greatly reduced. REFERENCES Catford, J. C. 1965. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: Oxford. Downie, Jonathan. The End of an Era? Does skopos theory spell the end of the free vs literal paradigm? online: Pneuma Foundation: In depth resources: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/resources/in_depth.jsp Homig, Hans G. 1997. Position, power and practice: Functionalist approaches and translation quality assessment. In Current Issues in Language and Society. Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 7 34. Munday, J. 2008. Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. Nord, Chritiane. 1997. Translation as a Purposeful Activity. Manchester: St Jerome. Nord, Chritiane. 2001. Loyalty revisited: Bible translation as a case in point.The Translator. Vol. 7 No 2, pp. 185 202.. Nord, Chritiane. 2005. Text Analysis in Translation: Theory, Methodology, and Didactic Application of a Model for Translation-Oriented Text Analysis. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Rodopi. Nord, Chritiane. 2007. Function plus Loyalty: Ethics in Professional Translation. In Genesis Revista Cientifica do ISAG. Vol 6, pp. 7 17. Pym, Anthony. 1996. Material text transfer as a key to the purposes of translation. In Albrecht Neubert, Gregory Shreve and Klaus Gommlich (eds.) 1996, Basic Issues in Translation Studies. Proceedings of the Fifth international Conference Kent Forum on Translation Studies II, Kent/Ohio: Institute of Applied Linguistics, 337-346. Pym, Anthony. 2001. Introduction: The return to ethics in translation studies. The Translator. Vol. 7 No 2, pp. 129 138. Vermeer, Hans J. Skopos and commission in translational action. In L.Venuti (ed) The Translation Studies Reader. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, pp. 227 238.

Nora’s Relationship with Torvald Essay -- A Dolls House Relationships

Nora’s Relationship with Torvald The drastic change in Nora’s relationship with Torvald that occurs during the course of the play is made quite evident by what she says and the way she delivers her speech. At the beginning of the play Nora seems completely happy with her doll-like relationship with Torvald. She responds affectionately to Torvald’s teasing and plays along with him – â€Å"if you only knew what expenses we skylarks and squirrels have, Torvald†. She is quite happy to be Torvald’s â€Å"little featherbrain†. However, as the play continues, Nora starts to realise that her marriage has been a performance and that she needs her own freedom. She becomes more rebellious, starts to use the imperative with Torvald and somewhat abandons her childlike language. As the play reaches its end, Nora becomes totally independent from Torvald and talks to him from equal to equal, not daughter to father. At the beginning of the play, Nora’s relationship with Torvald seems that of a child with her father. She is patronised, called a â€Å"little squirrel†, a â€Å"skylark† and accused of being a â€Å"spendthrift† because she can’t save money although she seems quite happy to be called so as she doesn’t complain about it and even plays along - when Torvald says â€Å"scampering about like a little squirrel?† she just answers â€Å"yes† instead of complaining about being treated like a little girl. When Torvald asks her â€Å"what do they call little birds who are always making money fly?† she answers â€Å"yes, I know, spendthrifts† as if she had been taught that lesson many times because she is so childish that she keeps on making the same mistake. She never contradicts her husband – â€Å"very well, Torvald, if you say so† – asks for his approval like a... ...and that â€Å"it’s no good your forbidding me anything any longer† because she has freed herself. By the end of the play Nora has her own voice, not Torvald’s, she is no longer his doll that will do whatever he asks to please him, no longer his â€Å"little skylark† and â€Å"not the wife for you†. Over the course of the play, the alteration in Nora’s relationship with Torvald is made evident by the change in the way she speaks. At the beginning, she is his â€Å"little squirrel†, a childish â€Å"featherbrain† that is pampered and patronised by Torvald. The various turning points in the action, where Nora starts to change the way she speaks, using the imperative and contradicting Torvald start to show the change in the relationship that is completed by the end of the play, when Nora talks clearly to Torvald from equal to equal, having a voice of her own, no longer his doll.

A Room with a Japanese View :: Haircuts Culture Personal Narrative Papers

A Room with a Japanese View It's the wee hours of Saturday morning in a quiet all female low-rise dorm room at NDSU. Residents are either sleeping soundly or out having a good time some place off campus. But in one dorm room a social gathering is in full swing. I'm not talking about a swing dance either. As I walk down my motel-looking dorm hallway, I hear a male's voice with a sharp and harsh intonation. I pause in front of the door for a second, my curiosity piqued. There is silence for a moment and then I hear the voice again and I realize it's not English, but Japanese. I proceed down the hall, shuffling in my slippers, not wanting to be an eavesdropper. On my return I hear a loud electric razor coming from the same room. Again I pause in front of the wooden door, brightly decorated with two nametags, Yoko and Michelle, made by the creative RAs of our dorm (All names are pseudonyms). What's going on in there, I wonder. I see Yoko weekly at the International Student Association meeting, but only k now that she's from Japan and is here to learn English. I knock at the door, still hearing the razor and voices in the background. The door pops open and I'm greeted by a petite Japanese girl with dyed brown hair. It’s Yoko. She invites me in and I see the pile of different sized shoes near the door. My Hong Kong etiquette that I learned when I lived overseas with my family comes back to me and I promptly take off my shoes. To my left I see Kiyo, a tall Japanese guy with spiky hair, standing behind Watashi, who is quietly sitting down with a black garbage bag covering his upper body. There are garbage bags covering the floor around them and short pieces of black hair decorate the dark plastic. The haircutter and haircutee don’t say much to me. Watashi just says â€Å"hi† when I come in the door and then looks down to prevent getting freshly clipped hair in his brown eyes. Yoko walks towards them and checks out the progress. Cutting hair in the dorms is something one doesn’t see often. I don’t think most guys cut their hair in the dorms like this.

Two Sides Essay -- essays research papers

Pablo Neruda’s Sonnet XLIV â€Å"You Must Know That I Do Not Love And That I Love You† clearly illustrates that love has two sides. Neruda uses the text as an example throughout his poem to explain that love has two sides. These two sides are that he loves and that he does not love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is explained through Neruda’s words:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You must know that I do not love and that I love you,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  because everything alive has its two sides;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  a word is one wing of silence,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  fire has its cold half. (107) This statement separates Neruda’s poem into two parts. Neruda clearly explains that everything has two sides. One of the examples that Neruda uses is the fire having its cold half. Neruda is saying that the fire is hot but at the same time it can give a cold feeling. The point of this poem is that love has two sides. Neruda explains, in my understanding, the sides of love are that he loves her with his entire heart but does not love her enough to marry or commit to her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"And† is the most valuable word in Neruda’s poem. â€Å"And† is used to describe the different ways that he loves and does not love. This is more clearly explained in three passages. The first: â€Å"You must know that I do not love and that I love you.† (107) The word â€Å"and† in this line tells the reader that Neruda loves but also does not love. The second: â€Å"to start inf...

Is Performing Arts a Waste of Time, Money, and Resource

Performing arts is a waste of time, money and resource? In the 21th centuries, many people may think that performing arts is a subject that existed for the teenagers who cannot excel well in studies. Most of the people also think that this subject is only for the teenagers that wanted to be an actress or singer, but actually this is a totally illogical mindset. However, the definitions of performing arts are actually a term that used to explain a national art that brings a message of a drama, rather than just present for its own interest only and without any of the moral values.Furthermore, performing art is usually means that a performance that are presented to audiences, but it does not representing a canonical theatrical play which does not refers to describe a group of artificial characters in normal script. Therefore, it allowed interaction between the performer and audience, such as spoken words or even the audience did not give any response it is still a response. The origin o f performing arts can be found in many countries especially those European countries.As for Asia countries, performing art is still not very commonly use in schools. People choose to study performing arts for many reasons, it included many personal beneficiations or just because they enjoy it. However, people have variety opinions towards how performing arts affect their life and is this really a waste of time, money and resource for studying this particular subject. In my opinion, studying performing arts is not a waste of time.It is because performing in front of a crowd; no matter it is a large or even a small audience; can be very astounding but during practice time, people will more or little grow in confidence by seeing their improvements, they will be able to use this confidence in every phase in their daily life. The most important key that a performer need is communication, for example: musician and actor communicate with the audience, actor, photographer and dancer communi cate with director, they will be able to done their job with a well communication and cooperation.In this case, to be a part of the performing arts students can improve and develop interpersonal skills. In additions, there is also proved that participate in Music, Drama and Dance will improve people’s concentration levels in their work and also develop a new phase of understanding and knowledge to the particular subject. According to the research, there are also psychological and spiritual advantages which performing art brings calmness, self discipline, self expression and fulfillment.On the other hand, there are thousands of people in this whole wide world think that studying in performing art this subject is really a waste of time, money and resource. They believe that whoever studied in this particular subject will not have any job opportunity in this society. This is a cruel society, most of the people may have the thought that if you like to have stable income every mon th or year, you should not have achieving this by doing what u enjoyed. This means that only when hard work is paid then only people can have the satisfied outcome.

Statistical Package For Social Sciences Education Essay

This chapter shall show the information gathered in the study and interview conducted by the research worker. The quantitative consequences gathered undergone assorted statistical trials through the usage of Statistical Package for Social Sciences ( SPSS ) . The qualitative informations obtained from the interviews were discussed and analysed in relation to the bing literature. Cronbach ‘s Alpha Normally, the Cronbach ‘s Alpha dependability coefficient ranges between 0-1. However, there is no existent bound for the coefficient. The closer Cronbach ‘s alpha coefficient is to 1.0 the greater the internal consistence of the points in the graduated table. Based upon the expression _ = rk / [ 1 + ( k -1 ) R ] where K is the figure of points considered and R is the mean of the inter-item correlativities the size of alpha is determined by both the figure of points in the graduated table and the average inter-item correlativities. George and Mallery ( 2003 ) provide the undermentioned regulations of pollex: â€Å" _ & gt ; .9 – Excellent, _ & gt ; .8 – Good, _ & gt ; .7 – Acceptable, _ & gt ; .6 – Questionable, _ & gt ; .5 – Poor, and_ & lt ; .5 – Unacceptable † . In the instance of the obtained informations, the dependability coefficient is.887 which indicates good dependability coefficient. While increasing the value of alpha is partly dependent upon the figure of points in the graduated table, it should be noted that this has decreasing returns. It should besides be noted that an alpha of.8 is likely a sensible end. It should besides be noted that while a high value for Cronbach ‘s alpha indicates good internal consistence of the points in the graduated table, it does non intend that the graduated table is unidimensional. The dimensionality of the graduated table can be computed utilizing the factor analysis which will be discussed in the following subdivision. Factor Analysis The method followed here was to first analyze the initial responses of the participants with a position to choosing a subset of features that might act upon farther responses. Then, study responses were analysed at the point degree, utilizing figures, tabular arraies, or text entirely, to supply a first feeling. These point degree responses were scrutinised for underlying forms via factor analytic processs ( Note that all processs reported here utilise SPSS ) . A requirement for including an point was that responses were non excessively severely skewed ( i.e. , 90 % or more of responses clustered in individual cell ) and that more by and large, the degree of response to that point was non deficient ( & lt ; 15-20 % ) to destabilize analysis. The factors identified in this manner correspond to the primary subjects or latent variables to which letter writers seem to be reacting in footings of assorted related points. The protocol adopted here for factor analysis was to utilize default scenes ab initio ( Principal Axis Factor – PAF ) and to revolve the matrix of burdens to obtain extraneous ( independent ) factors ( Varimax rotary motion ) . The premier end of factor analysis is to individuality simple ( points loadings & gt ; 0.30 on merely one factor ) that are explainable, presuming that points are factorable ( The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin step of trying adequateness trials whether the partial correlativities among variables are little. Bartlett ‘s trial of sphericalness trials whether the correlativity matrix is an individuality matrix, bespeaking that the factor theoretical account is inappropriate ) . Once clearly defined and explainable factors had been identified ( Factor loadings = & gt ; .10 were illustrated via an included tabular array even though merely point burdens & gt ; 0.30 were considered relevant to factor burdens ) , and responses related to these factors were saved in the signifier of factor tonss. These Bartlett factor tonss are tantamount to sub-scale or scale tonss with agencies of nothing and standard divergences of one ( z-scores ) , and with participants credited with separate tonss in relation to each identified factor. A Principal Axis Factor ( PAF ) with a Varimax ( extraneous ) rotary motion of 22 of the 24 Likert scale inquiries from this study questionnaire was conducted on informations gathered from 20 participants. An scrutiny of the Kaiser-Meyer Olkin step of trying adequateness suggested that the sample was factorable ( KMO=.698 ) . Descriptive Statisticss The descriptive statistics computed the mean, standard divergence, and the discrepancy of in between constituents of the variable presented. Table 1 shows the sum-up of the said calculation. The calculation revealed that it has -3.439 random effects on the variables. Table 1 – Summary of Descriptive Statistics Computation of Variables Nitrogen Mean Std. Deviation Std. Mistake 95 % Confidence Interval for Mean Minimum Maximum Between- Component Discrepancy Lower Boundary Upper Bound 75 3 85.00 5.292 3.055 71.86 98.14 79 89 76 2 88.50 .707 .500 82.15 94.85 88 89 77 1 89.00....89 89 78 1 82.00....82 82 79 1 87.00....87 87 80 1 89.00....89 89 82 1 94.00....94 94 83 1 88.00....88 88 84 1 90.00....90 90 85 4 87.75 .957 .479 86.23 89.27 87 89 86 1 80.00....80 80 87 4 85.75 5.965 2.983 76.26 95.24 77 90 88 1 89.00....89 89 89 4 89.25 2.062 1.031 85.97 92.53 87 92 90 3 81.67 9.074 5.239 59.13 104.21 75 92 92 1 87.00....87 87 Entire 30 86.77 4.614 .842 85.04 88.49 75 94 Model Fixed Effectss 4.953 .904 84.83 88.71 Random Effectss .904a 84.84a 88.69a -3.439 Another high spot of the descriptive statistics is the frequences of the evaluations achieved by the kindergartners. Tables 2 and 3 summarize the frequence.Table 2 – Summary of Preschoolers Rating Frequency before Portfolio AssessmentFrequency Percentage Valid Percentage Accumulative Percentage Valid 75 3 9.7 10.0 10.0 76 2 6.5 6.7 16.7 77 1 3.2 3.3 20.0 78 1 3.2 3.3 23.3 79 1 3.2 3.3 26.7 80 1 3.2 3.3 30.0 82 1 3.2 3.3 33.3 83 1 3.2 3.3 36.7 84 1 3.2 3.3 40.0 85 4 12.9 13.3 53.3 86 1 3.2 3.3 56.7 87 4 12.9 13.3 70.0 88 1 3.2 3.3 73.3 89 4 12.9 13.3 86.7 90 3 9.7 10.0 96.7 92 1 3.2 3.3 100.0 Entire 30 96.8 100.0 Missing System 1 3.2 Entire 31 100.0Table 4 – Summary of Preschoolers Rating Frequency after Portfolio AssessmentFrequency Percentage Valid Percentage Accumulative Percentage Valid 75 1 3.2 3.3 3.3 77 1 3.2 3.3 6.7 78 1 3.2 3.3 10.0 79 1 3.2 3.3 13.3 80 1 3.2 3.3 16.7 82 1 3.2 3.3 20.0 87 7 22.6 23.3 43.3 88 3 9.7 10.0 53.3 89 9 29.0 30.0 83.3 90 2 6.5 6.7 90.0 92 2 6.5 6.7 96.7 94 1 3.2 3.3 100.0 Entire 30 96.8 100.0 Missing System 1 3.2 Entire 31 100.0 One Way Analysis of Variance ( ANOVA ) One manner Analysis of Variance ( ANOVA ) is done with the dependant variable which is the reading development of the kindergartners with the independent variable which is the portfolio appraisal. The computed F value for the tonss of the kindergartners is.745 which is greater value of significance which is.711. This show a important consequence of the portfolio appraisal in the addition of acquisition of the kindergartners based on a 0.05 degree of significance. Discussion of Questionnaires Question 1 – What are the things that can actuate kids to be interested in reading? Based on the gathered consequences most of the kids are motivated to be interested in reading by agencies of the ocular artworks that accompany the stuffs. Besides, the kids are motivated based on the learning scheme of the instructors during the talks. Another relevant factor in the kids ‘s involvement is the wages system being given if they are making great in their several work. Question 2 – In your observation, about how long does it take for kindergartners to accomplish entire reading development? Based on the consequences gathered, most kindergartners achieve entire reading development in about six months. This is in close coordination of instructors every bit good as the parents in practising their kids. However, there are kindergartners that develop their full reading ability in about a twelvemonth. Assorted factors affect this such as the kid ‘s involvement, sum of coordination and monitoring of parents among others. Question 3 – Based on your experience, what is the feedback that you get from pupils when they are making their portfolios? Based on the consequences gathered, the common feedback that pupils have with respects to their portfolios is that it ‘s really interesting and they find it really utile towards the betterment. However there are pupils that are happening the portfolio really hard and finds it as a challenge. Question 4 – What differences do you detect in the span of clip of reading development activities where portfolios are involved and those that are non? Based on the collected consequences, the major difference observed in the underdeveloped activities of the pupils under the portfolio is that their comprehension has been improved. Besides, their involvement towards reading has been improved. Although there are pupils that does n't look to do a difference towards their reading attitude and wonts. Those pupils that are non under the portfolio did non do any difference with respects to their reading attitude and wonts prior to the survey. Question 5 – Do you believe the responses to these portfolios depend on the group of kids that are being taught? Based on the gathered information from the instructors, the assorted responses of the kids on the portfolios being taught depends upon the age group of the kids. This was observed by the instructors with older pupils that develop their involvements and reading attitudes significantly. On the other manus, younger pupils under the portfolio does n't look to develop every bit much involvement as that of the older 1s. Question 6 – Based on your professional experience, does a portfolio appraisal consequence accurately reflect the degree of reading development of a kid? Based on the consequences gathered from the professional experience of the instructors, the portfolio appraisal can reflect the accurate degree of the kid ‘s reading development. As per Chen and Martin ( 2000 ) portfolio appraisal makes usage of happy standards that are indexs of success. Portfolio appraisal is an efficient tool for finding a pupil ‘s learning degree and degree of betterment. Portfolio appraisal besides encourages student-teacher interaction and therefore encourages interactive larning utilizing diverse instructional methods. Numerous surveies ( Chen & A ; Martin ; Colley & A ; Walker, 2003 ) demonstrated that portfolio appraisal can be helpful in bring oning acquisition, peculiarly in reading ( Afferblach, 2007 ; Hillmer & A ; Holmes, 2007 ) . Question 7 – Describe the extent to which you believe the usage of portfolios in the schoolroom has improved reading direction. The instructors interviewed in the survey believed that the extent of the betterment in the reading direction by agencies of the portfolios are important. Portfolios can supply grounds that pupils have met criterions that a assortment of learning techniques are used in the schoolroom, and that pupils are actively engaged in larning ( Damiani, 2004 ) . Portfolios can assist instructors assist pupils realistically appraise themselves by supplying specific qualitative ends and forms that avoid vagueness, unrealistic positive or negative self-evaluation, either-or thought ( the work is either good or bad ) , or perfectionism ( Damiani ) . Question 8 – Based on your experience, should the usage of these portfolios be implemented in all schools that teach preschool kids? Based on the response of the instructors, they believe that the execution of the usage of portfolios in schools that teach preschool kids is in topographic point. Student portfolios can besides function as theoretical accounts for instructors to develop their ain portfolios to demo their professional development. A instructor ‘s professional portfolio could include a statement of learning doctrine ; videotapes of successful categories, course of study stuffs developed ; class course of study ; sample lesson programs ; professional development ends and aims, professional development seminars, categories, or workshops attended ; articles published ; pupil ratings ; acknowledgment awards or certifications ; professional associations, and principal ‘s and supervisor ‘s ratings ( Attinello, Lare, & A ; Waters, 2006 ) . Question 9 – What betterments can you propose for the betterments of these portfolios? Most of the instructors ‘ suggestions sing the betterment of the portfolios are the customization of the portfolios into assorted reading ability degree. Portfolio-based appraisal is one option to standardise assessment methods and is believed to offer more authority as an appraisal method ( Miholic & A ; Moss, 2001: King, Patterson, & A ; Stolle, 2008 ) . While attacks involved in this method differ, they have in common digests of the work activities of pupils, besides known as the pupil portfolio ( Au, Raphael, & A ; Mooney, 2008 ; Berryman & A ; Russell, 2001 ; Hillmer & A ; Holmes, 2007 ) . This aggregation shows the attempts exerted by pupils and their personal academic development and accomplishment. Included in the aggregation are indicants of the engagement of pupils in choice of contents, standards for choice and judging virtues, and confirmations of the pupil ‘s self-reflection ( Miholic & A ; Moss ; Hillmer & A ; Holmes, 2007 ) . The portfolio is intended to in carnate a digest of the plants or attempts by pupils considered as their ‘best ‘ ; that is, pupils ‘ personal choices of their sample work activities and of import paperss that pertain to accomplishments and advancement ( Lynch & A ; Struewing, 2001 ; Hope, 2005 ) . Question 10 – What other stairss or processs do you urge to back up portfolio appraisal of kindergartners? The most common recommendation based on the instructors ‘ responses is the portfolio should be customized depending on the degree of reading ability of the pupils. In some attacks, instructors normally scan through the portfolio and measure the work with mention to a hiting usher. In some instances, pupils or their schoolmates would besides rate their plants. A acquisition record is so prepared by the instructor, which shows the concluding mark with affiliated confirmations such as a sample essay ( Lynch & A ; Struewing, 2001 ; Hillmer & A ; Holmes, 2007 ; Hope, 2005 ) . Decision Chapter 4 is the presentation of the consequences, analysis and treatment of the informations gathered from the respondents of this survey. The quantitative informations gathered were analysed utilizing the statistical trials Cronbach ‘s Alpha for dependability of the information gathered ; Factor Analysis for the scrutiny of the initial responses of the respondents ; and One Way Analysis of Variance ( ANOVA ) for the dependant and independent variables. On the other manus, the qualitative informations were discussed in relation to the bing literature sing the topic of the survey. The computed informations revealed that there ‘s a important consequence of the portfolio appraisal in the addition of acquisition of the kindergartners based on a 0.05 degree of significance.

The World Tomorrow

In a dimly-lit alley filled with strewn garbage and nondescript graffiti over the walls, a magnificent sight somewhat overpowered the rather dismal scene. A bright city that was once filled with concrete buildings, stood gleaming against a dark evening sky. The building are pearly-white, sleek, patterned after many ultra-modern designs of the day. Yet the city still retained vestiges of the past, with many obsolete yet historic buildings scattered around the city. Cars still fill the busy highways in and around the city. The luxurious-looking cars are environment friendly, has the most up-to-date safety features, while remaining affordable to most of the citizens. And yet, in spite of all these advancements, the human race envisioned something better than themselves – creating artificial intelligence in order to decrease the woes of manual labor. Humans then have the power of god himself, not only creating life but also creating consciousness. This intelligence is implanted on machines that replaces manual labor that human beings usually do. Highly-efficient, low-maintenance and cheap, human life may have become marginally easier than in the past. Yet, society remains. Humans, motivated by individual will, still create problems that eventually destroys themselves. There is still much squabble of power, sphere of influence and domination over other countries. Political power becomes the forefront of every country, always trying to prove dominance Even with the disguise of modern development, the essence of society still remains as a grim reminder of the past. In twenty years, the human race would have taken a great leap forward in technology, but would have evolved slowly as a society. As long as there humans on earth, there will be always misunderstanding.

Policy and Strategy in Global Competition Essay

Discussion Question 11.1: Why is it important for an organization to have alignment between its strategy and organizational structure? The relationship between an organization’s strategy and structure are extremely important because it â€Å"directly impacts a firm’s performance† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 309). Also, as an organization grows, it should reevaluate the current strategy and structure to ensure that it remains the optimal choice for the organization (Rothaermel, 2013). The four types of organizational structures, listed in order of least to most complex according to Rothaermel (2013), are: (1) simple, (2) functional, (3) multidivisional, and (4) matrix. The simple structure is for small firms or organizations that are just starting out (Rothaermel, 2013). The decision-making structure is quite flat, as â€Å"the founders tend to make all the important strategic decisions† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 309). Growth will often cause the higher-ups to feel o verwhelmed under this type of structure, requiring the organization to adopt a different, more complex structure (Rothaermel, 2013). A functional structure groups employees into teams, allowing for increased decision-making at lower levels of the managerial chain (Rothaermel, 2013). The opportunity for specialization allows for the functional structure to be employed with each of the business-level strategies: cost leadership, differentiation, or integration (Rothaermel, 2013). One of the hurdles to overcome would be the likely increase in difficulties which arise from departmentalization of the varying teams (Rothaermel, 2013). The best way to overcome such a hurdle is through cross-functional teams (Rothaermel, 2013). Whenever the organization seeks greater diversification, into varying product lines and service offerings, it will likely look into utilizing a multidivisional structure (Rothaermel, 2013). Under this structure, the organization is further compartmentalized  into strategic business units (â€Å"SBUs†) which are governed by their own profit-and-loss (â€Å"P&L†) responsibilities (Rothaermel, 2013). At this level, each of the SBUs is viewed as its own independent entity, pursuing its own profit-creating goals (Rothaermel, 2013). While organizations with a corporate-level strategy with a single or dominant business would be best served by a functional structure, organizations seeking related or unrelated diversification would be wise to utilize a multidivisional structure (Rothaermel, 2013). Lastly, the matrix structure is a combination of the functional and multidivisional structures (Rothaermel, 2013). It is most appropriate when an organization needs a structure which allows for both centralized and decentralized decision-making, and can be organized by geographic areas and product divisions (Rothaermel, 2013). While a global strategy does not automatically lend to a matrix structure, a transnational strategy which has the requirements above is better served through a matrix structure (Rothaermel, 2013). Discussion Question 11.3(a): What commonalities across the products would likely be enhanced by flexible cross-functional teams? Gore has product lines which include consumer products like guitar strings and vacuum filters, cables and cable assemblies, electronic and electrochemical materials, fabrics, fibers, filtration products, medical products, pharmaceutical processing, sealants, and venting products (Gore, 2015). Its product lines are used in industries ranging from aerospace and automotive to military and textiles (Gore, 2015). Gore utilizes cross-functional teams to help develop its many products within varying lines (Rothaermel, 2013). Cross-functional teams allow for individuals from differing functional areas within an organization to temporarily come together and work on a particular project (Rothaermel, 2013). These teams would allow for the differing products, though developed for a particular function, to be developed for use in more than one of the organization’s products (Rothaermel, 2013). As an example, the cables developed for aeronautics can likely be used in other electronic or automotive applications if developed by members from the appropriate cross-functional teams. Discussion Question 11.3(b): What would be your expectations of the type of norms found at W. L. Gore? Organizational norms â€Å"define appropriate employee attitudes and behaviors† (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 318). The norms which exist at Gore likely arise from founder imprinting,  which means that Bill Gore, the founder of W. L. Gore & Associates, has helped to establish and define the company’s culture (Rothaermel, 2013). The organization’s four core values, stated succinctly, are: (1) fairness, (2) freedom, (3) individual commitment, and (4) consultation and collaboration (Rothaermel, 2013). These values, coupled with the open nature of the organization’s structure, result in organizational norms which encourage the free exchange of ideas and collaboration up and down the organizational ladder (Rothaermel, 2013). Employees, associates as they are called at Gore, likely show great respect to one another and to the customers for whom their products are developed (Rothaermel, 2013). Chapter 12 Discussion Question 12.1: How can a firm lower the chances that key managers will pursue their own self-interest at the expense of the stockholders? At the expense of the employees? Corporate governance tools are utilized to help align the interests of principals and agents, or organizations and employees (Rothaermel, 2013). A board of directors is one such tool which helps to prevent key managers to avoid pursuing their own self-interest at the expense of the stockholders (Rothaermel, 2013). A board of directors is independent, made up of both inside and outside directors, and answers directly to the shareholders (Rothaermel, 2013). Another tool is executive compensation which links compensation to the performance of the company (Rothaermel, 2013). This means that the CEO would receive certain stock options in lieu of pay (Rothaermel, 2013). If the company’s stocks are doing well, likely showing that the company is successfully operating, then the CEO receives greater value in the stock options (Rothaermel, 2013). The concept of the market as a corporate control has the potential to protect both stockholders’ and employees’ interests through a key manager’s fear of being replaced if the company performs poorly (Rothaermel, 2013). If a company is not performing well, then the stock prices will begin to plummet, increasing the opportunity for an entity to purchase enough shares to exert significant control over the company (Rothaermel, 2013). Such control would likely result in the removal of current management, and possibly the dismantling of the organization (Rothaermel, 2013). This clearly injures the management, employees, and shareholders of the failing organization. As  such, managers are motivated by the external market to perform well, thereby protecting the interests of stockholders and employees alike (Rothaermel, 2013). Discussion Question 12.2: Why are these two roles typically separated? Is it a positive development for so many firms to have a combined CEO and board chair? The two roles of management and ownership are typically separated to ensure that the board of directors maintains its necessary independence (Rothaermel, 2013). Where a board of directors is   The decline stage differs from those above, as it introduces four strategic options for firms to pursue: (1) exit, (2) harvest, (3) maintain, and (4) consolidate (Rothaermel, 2013). The exit strategy is precisely as it says: it involves the firm choosing to leave the market to pursue other endeavors (Rothaermel, 2013). The harvest strategy means that the firm will still sell the product or service, but will reduce the level of investment in its maintenance and development (Rothaermel, 2013). The maintain strategy is also exactly what it sounds like: the firm continues offering the product or service at the same level as it has been, despite the declining demand (Rothaermel, 2013). The consolidate strategy involves the purchasing of rivals in an effort to shrink the industry, which provides firms employing this strategy to reach near-monopolistic status (Rothaermel, 2013). References Rothaermel, F. T. (2013). Strategic Management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Walmart. Our story. Retrieved on January 25, 2015, from http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/

Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accounting - Assignment Example After the negotiation, the checking of the cars history report is important. The car that is to be bought should be that with a positive report (Sharif, 23). Test driving the car before the payments is much important since it makes the buyer satisfied with the elements and the features that cab be got from the test. Inspection of the car will make the next step where the car undergoes several checks to make sure it is well. Negotiation of the deal becomes the next step after the inspection. This makes the buyer able to insist on the price which is lower than the one stated by the seller (Sharif, 203). The last step will be closing the deal after the seller agreeing to sell the car between the limits of 15,000 to 25,000 dollars with the least price possible. Budgeting for the car entails the inclusion of the operational budget items such as the maintenance costs and the buying of fuel for the car. The budget also entails the decision on the payment of the car whether to do nit monthly or annually when the car is bought on installments. The budget should also be address and consider the parts of the car that are not paid for or those that need continuous change (Sharif, 57). The budget addresses the objective of the car which is mainly to use it for work during summer. The budget will also consider the flow of cash to be used in the maintenance of the car. The budgeting also considers the alternatives that are available apart from the purchase of the car for example the use of public means to go to work. The budget for the car considers the different related items that are needed in the use of the car and the methods to be used in the payment (Sharif, 87). The budgeting also entails the creation of a spreadsheet after the collection of several data about the different cars and their costs. The buying and selling of the car should entails integrity between the buyer the seller. This will bring the negotiation between the two to come to the good price

Description of Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Description of Project Management - Essay Example The first step is for the team and customer to identify set of stories that exhibit the system functionalities that the end product should possess. In the next stage, the project team reads and discusses the stories obtained from the first stage and these stories are ordered according to the estimated duration of story implementation. Here big stories are disintegrated into small stories. There is always difficulty in estimating the effort required for a particular item. It is also difficult to estimate the time that the same may take. To solve this issue, several to-do things are availed so as one can easily make judgments regarding which stories are lengthy and time-consuming. A story may have two to eight points depending on its difficulty. This is done for all the stories in the list. However, the Gantt chart is simple and easy to use since it only includes the drawing and the painting of bars in different colors. Nicholas and Steyn (67) argue that the Gantt chart experiences delays which are especially true when multiple activities that require the same resources are scheduled for the same time. When resources are not sufficient to satisfy the needs of all of them, some activities must be delayed. There are uprising criticisms about the network methods because they incorporate assumptions and yield results that are unrealistic sometimes. The importance of networks is that they show precisely the interdependencies of the project's activities and also the scheduling affects the latter have on each other. I object this suggestion by Nicholas and Steyn (62) on the grounds that the resources are not always available. This, therefore, considers the scheduling of projects with resource constraints and the effects of these constraints on workload fluctuation and project duration. A

English Language in UAE Universities Research Paper

English Language in UAE Universities - Research Paper Example The United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation of seven Arab Emirates, is no exempt from the far-reaching influence of the English language. Despite the fact that the UAE recognizes Arabic as the official language, the region uses English as the Lingua Franca. This implies that English serves as the working and unifying the g language in the UAE. Virtually every job in the region requires some English speaking abilities. Further, for the advancement of education beyond junior level, Emiratis are expected to be fluent in English. However, critics insist that mandatory use of English as an instructional language in higher education is gradually eroding the quality of Arabic and undermining the cultural identity of Arab students. It is imperative to note that the UAE holds a high rank among global nations, in terms of higher education applications and enrollment. This could partly be attributed to the fact that the UAE government funds university education and many have come to perceive t his as a right for every Emirati. Most of the instructors in these institutions of higher learning are foreigners, emphasizing the need for a common language. UAE higher education is primarily based on four policy provisions; one among them being predominant use of English as an instruction language (Findlow, 2006). In support of the UAE government’s policy of English instruction in universities, the UAE Ministry of Higher Education places emphasis on specific university admission standards. This ministry with the help of the UAE Ministry of Education, which governs lower education levels, set specific language objectives for schooling in the country (Findlow, 2006). For instance, if a student wants to enroll in a federal institution of higher education, he or she must take a test that measures their proficiency in the English language. Students who score below the stipulated minimal level are usually denied admission even to English-language curricula at the pre-baccalaureat e level. This further implies that the students cannot join any of the three UAE federal universities. More than 90 percent of the accepted students must undergo remedial English training before being allowed to commence studies in their respective degree programs. These standards must be altered slightly to become a bit lenient and avoid denying students the opportunity to further their studies. For example, English learning programs can be increased at primary and secondary levels, but still run concurrently with Arabic lessons. This would give students a higher chance of passing the preliminary university admission exams. Close to a third of government universities’ budgets are used to support Basic English courses after the admission of students. These pre-entry English foundation programs are usually blamed for excessive utilization of resources that would otherwise be distributed throughout the education chain. These programs also waste significant time, since undergrad uates end up taking five or six years to complete their degrees.

HRM of Tesco and Sainsbury Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

HRM of Tesco and Sainsbury - Case Study Example The top managers are the ones who make the most crucial decisions of the organisation. The workers and the customers have no say in the decision making process. The writer now looks at the ways that the workers of these two organisations are motivated by the human resource personnel. This will help the writer in identifying the weaknesses and strengths of each motivation procedure. This is very important considering the fact that the business that the writer wants to embark on will be in the line of these two organisations. Tesco and Sainsbury are the competitors that the writer's grocery store will be up against. In this light, it becomes very important to study the dynamics of two organisations that are at extremes; one a success while the other can be described as a kind of a failure. The writer will examine the motivation that the Tesco management uses on their workers to motivate them to be one of the best in the industry. He will also embarking on checking why Sainsbury workers are not as motivated. At the end of the examination, the writer will have a very good idea of how to motivate his workers. He will combine the best aspects of these two different giants while avoiding or modifying the places that the two had gone wrong. The first task will be to examine the motivation theories that the two sets of managers use to motivate their workers. The strengths and weaknesses of both will be noted. This will be made possible by an examination of the leadership styles employed by the two companies. The second task will be to identify the structure, nature and functioning of groups within the organisations. This is because groups and group dynamics is very important to the operations of an organisation. The writer will note the opportunities and threats that these groups and how they are handled poses to the organisations. Lastly, the impacts of the technology on the functioning of the groups will also be examined. Task 1: An Examination of Motivational Theories in Leadership within Sainsbury and Tesco Companies There are many leadership styles as there are leaders. The style that a particular leader opts to employ will depend on his personality, believes and convictions and also the situation under which he is operating. The type of leadership employed is very important since it is going to determine the fate of the organization: whether it will succeed or not. The different forms of leadership styles that are employed by different managers in motivating their staff account for the varying performance that is found between two or more organizations that employ different approaches to leadership. And this explains the different picture that is Tesco chain of stores and Sainsbury, both in Europe. They are both giants, as far as retail market share is concerned. But Sainsbury is more of a small giant in comparison with Tesco. The latter is the market leader in U.K. But Sainsbury comes a distant third, after Asda. It is not far fetched to claim that the difference between the two performances h as been partly as a result of the different leadership styles that are employed by their leaders in motivating their employees. Task 1a: Leadership Style in Tesco and Sainsbury Tesco The word leadership in Tesco's context brings to mind the leadership style that is practiced by Sir Terry Leahy (Heller: 2005). This is the chief executive who has been on the helm of this giant since 1997 (Heller: 2005). Under his

The Solar System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Solar System - Essay Example Our solar system can be said as the example of the above case [Nebula: Wikipedia]. It is believed that the formation of nebulae is the result of supernova explosions. One example of such is Crab Nebula, in Taurus, which is result of recorded supernova in 1054 AD. Also at the center of a nebula, a neutron star exists. It is also believed that the nebulae are created at the end of star’s life (star greater than 1.4 solar masses), when they become red giant and unable to sustain their entire mass [Nebula: Wikipedia]. In 1734, Emanuel Swedenborg had proposed the current accepted theory of planetary formation, which is know as the nebular hypothesis. Later in 1755, Immanuel Kant having familiar with the theory of Swedenborg developed this theory further. Kant said that nebulae slowly rotate, gradually collapsing and flattering due to gravity and eventually forms stars and planets. In 1796, Pierre-Simon Laplace had proposed similar model for nebulae [Nebular hypothesis: Wikipedia]. The nebular hypothesis states that a planetary system begins as a large (~10,000AU), roughly spherical cloud of very cold interstellar gas, which is a part of larger molecular cloud. This nebula is dense enough so that begins to contract under its own gravity and collapse of this been initiated by a pressure wave from nearby event, shock wave from a supernova, compressing the molecular cloud and thus forming the resulting star and planets. During collapse, three physical processes shape the nebula: it heats up, its spin increases, and it flattens [Nebular hypothesis: Wikipedia]. At the center of the solar nebulas, an increasingly dense protostar created because of gravity. The protostar gradually compacts further (about 10-50 million years) during the process of planet formation in the disk, reaching the conditions of temperature and pressure needed to initiate hydrogen nuclear fusion (star born). Initially microscopic seeds of solid

Population Density reserach paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Population Density reserach - Research Paper Example They choose a leader unanimously and look for guidance towards that group that they have chosen. The limited resources are not even much of a problem, as people will willingly give up a part of their share so as to help their own counterparts. The situation is quite under control in this case. The homogeneity makes it a gelling factor for the whole community to stick together even in adverse circumstances. If the population belongs to the same culture then comparably life becomes easier for people living there. In contrast if the population contains people of different culture there is always a war going on in which each culture is trying to supersede the other. There is constant conflict and each group strives to get power over the other. It has been seen that such groups have continuous struggle to gain the top position. Even there are constant fights and tussle for the resources. People tend to take more than required just so that the other person doesn’t get it. There is a constant war like situation and people try to get the better of each other and dominate the others to gain full authority. If there are many poor in the society then the situation worsens and people start worshipping some false person even to have their own selfish desires filled. This way they become more disoriented and lose the real purpose of their existence. It is really difficult to survive in a society that has a non-homogenous mix of people and majority of the people are poor. People tend to believe that life is a mess and the only way to survive is to fight their way through life. Survival of the fittest is the main concept here. While if there is a homogenous environment and the people are not poor at all, then again there are huge chances that peace will prevail (Baldassare, 1979). Today in AMERICA there are many minorities living. There is so much diversity in the culture that they are losing their own traditions. It has been observed that in areas where two to three di fferent minorities live strife is a norm. Some of the areas have become so dangerous those even policemen are scared to go there. At night the neighborhoods become small war stripes that people fear to tread. Even the areas near the neighborhoods are considered a difficult place to live. It has been seen that people who generally have low incomes live n these areas, but they face many troubles like small thefts, occasional muggings and sometime one or two knife fights. Usually the white kids also mix up with the kids from these areas and end up ruining their own lives (Baldassare, 1979). Sharing a living place with quite a lot many people and having limited resources is a difficult situation, it has happened quite many times with kids who have lost their parents, or ran away from their homes or even ran from their foster homes. There are many hygiene issues that come up with this kind of living and drug problems also arise. When I had to live in a college dorm, there were in total 7 people who were sharing it with me. They all belonged to different cultures so earlier there were quite a lot of hesitation among us, but gradually the barriers broke and we understood each other perfectly fine. We even started to cover for each other. It became a norm among us that once a month each one of us had to give others a treat. There were unspoken rules for never talking about your own roommate to others. Americans usually try to avoid such areas, and they try to move out of such areas as

Economics & the Legal Environment of Business Research Paper

Economics & the Legal Environment of Business - Research Paper Example Macroeconomic factors The macroeconomic conditions are very important for business. Conducive macroeconomic conditions help a business to earn excellent profit, whereas unfavorable macroeconomic situations may convert the profits into losses. There are several macroeconomic factors that can influence the business operation of the company. Some of the vital factors are total production or GDP (gross domestic product) of the country in which the company is located, unemployment situation, prevailing and expected rate of inflation, and rate of interests. (Culp, 2001) If the country in which the company is located has been suffering from negative growth of GDP, then it will produce some adverse impacts on the construction industry also as it a part of the entire economy. For example, if a country is going through recession, then every industrial sector will feel the heat in the form of decreased demand and lower production. On the contrary, if an economy is going through economic expansi on with high rate of GDP growth then, purchasing power of the population will increase which might help in creating higher demand in the construction industry. (Culp, 2001) Similarly, unemployment situation is also a vital factor that might influence the business operation. ... (Culp, 2001) Inflation rate is also a quite vital thing to consider for the growth of a construction company. If the overall consumer price index for an economy is rising for quite a long time, then industry specific consumer price index will also feel its impact. Thus in the presence of high rate of inflation, consumer price index for the construction industry will also be quite high. This mainly happens because in the presence high rate of inflation in an economy costs of production in almost all the industries increase which is in turn reflected in the prices. Now in the presence of high consumer price index of construction industry, the construction company will loose many customers as the prices may not fit to the pockets of the customers. On the contrary, during low level of inflation, the company will get more customers and thus it can expand its production. (Culp, 2001) Interest rate is another vital macroeconomic factor in case of construction industry. This is so as most of the potential customers of a construction company very often depend on loans at the time of purchasing a product of this company. no matter whether the buyer is a government or any private agency or any individual, credit lending plays an important role here. Thus, if interest rate becomes higher, then the cost of borrowing becomes higher and consequently, the products of the construction company will look more expensive. This will simply reduce potential customers of the business entity. However, in the events of lower interest rate, the company will get more customers without changing its prices for its products. (Culp, 2001) Microeconomic factors: Microeconomic factors