The Attack On Pearl Harbor - 1478 Words

On December 7, 1941 Japan stealthily attacked the U.S. Naval base located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii resulting in many casualties. This IMC plan will outline the objectives, strategies and tactics in order to promote awareness of the attacks as well as develop positive community involvement. The challenge is to inform the residents of Hawaii as well as the general American public concerning the attacks on Pearl Harbor. The objectives discussed in this plan will be achieved through the creation of a unified design integrated throughout all marketing media including brochures, newspapers and print advertisements, targeted public relations campaigns and public service announcements. Everything that involves the event at Pearl Harbor must have†¦show more content†¦Military and government to decrypt the Japanese war codes as well as communicate effectively with each other. As Parker explains in his publication Pearl Harbor Revisited, The cryptologist and linguists were not looking to break the Japanese military codes, but to decipher diplomatic messages from the Japanese Empire. Pearl Harbor is a strategically placed naval base located near Honolulu, Hawaii. It defends the United States’ interests in the Pacific Ocean and Asia. Japan’s strategy was to expand its empire across Asia capturing parts of China, Singapore, Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. Crippling the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor would have enabled the Japanese to capture these Asian regions without the interference of the United States Military (Higgs, 2006) (See Appendix B for map of Hawaii and Japan). More than 2800 United States citizens, both military and civilian, lost their lives and over 1100 were wounded on December 7, 1941. In addition, over 340 ships and aircraft were sunk or damaged in the waters of Pearl Harbor on that day (National Park Service, n.d.) (See Appendix A for chart of casualties). This campaign is to inform the residents of Hawaii, Pearl Harbor military personnel and family as well as the American public the events regarding the attack on Pearl Harbor in a manner that promotes patriotism and subdues public panic. The campaign will cover the miscommunications and lack of communication

Globalization the Making of World Society †Book Review Free Essays

Running Head: GLOBALIZATION: The Making of World Society Review Essay: Globalization: The Making of World Society Part One: Summary Introduction Since the industrial revolution, the structure of world has been constantly evolving and progressing. The spread has involved the interlacing of economic and cultural activity, connectedness of the production, communication and technologies around the world, and it is now known as – globalization. The book I chose for this particular essay is Frank J. We will write a custom essay sample on Globalization: the Making of World Society – Book Review or any similar topic only for you Order Now Lechner’s, Globalization: the Making of World Society first published in 2009. Author Frank J. Lechner was born in 1958 in Amsterdam, Netherlands and is the director of Graduate Studies Professor Department of Sociology at the Emory University in Atlanta. In 1982 he earned his Master in Arts degree in Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh followed by a Ph. D. in 1985 in sociology as well. Most of his focus lies in global culture, change, religion and theory. One of his most recent researches involved national identity, specifically concerning the Dutch. In addition to publishing Globalization:  The Making of World Society  (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), Lechner is the author  The Netherlands: National Identity and Globalization  (2008), and  World Culture: Origins and Consequences  (with John Boli, Wiley-Blackwell, 2005), as well as numerous papers on religion and sociological theory. Book Summary In Globalization: The Making of World Society, Lechner talks about the processes that unfold in a wide range of fields such as sports, media, food industry, global economy, environment and religion due to globalization. He describes its effects on everyday experience all around the world and demonstrates how globalization is also generating new discourses, cultures, and state policies. He explains globalization as a part of a still-greater transformation, both technical and social. Lechner wrote this book and divided it into three main parts: Global Experience, Global Institutions, and Global Problems. Each of these three parts is further divided into few more sub-topics such as for example, food, sports and media in Part I. In the first part of the book, the author describes the three â€Å"waves† of food globalization around the world. The first â€Å"wave†, he describes as a â€Å"wave† in which Jamaica became a â€Å"sugar island† at the centre of the global network. The wave started not with a desire for sugar but with a search for spices. Many European explorers lured into travel by the prospect of finding gold and silver and were able to not only bring precious metals home but have brought tomatoes and potatoes to the European diet. Another part of the first wave that the author talks about is when the Portuguese reached China and introduced maize, sweet potatoes and peanuts which later helped to sustain China’s population boom. With the first wave of globalization, more people became globally connected in more ways than ever before. People in different parts of the world were able to taste foods from other continents. As the new links in globalization were beginning to become established, they benefited some and harmed many others. Early globalization thus began to create a global hierarchy. The second â€Å"wave† which dissipated in the early twentieth century is described as the time in which the Dakotas became the bread basket of the world. Also, large parts of Canada, Argentina and Australia became a source of food and profit and by 1913 they produced more wheat than all of Europe. As globalization continued to spread, a global food system emerged, tying all producers into a network of interdependence. The world market created enormous wealth and leading nations, tied together through free trade, strove to safeguard their power by extending their imperial reach. The third â€Å"wave† of globalization was called â€Å"McDonald’s in East Asia. † In this section of the book Lechner talks about how with globalization nothing stays exotic as it standardizes experience through organized diffusion. Although the third wave incorporates a lot of what the first and the second waves started, it is unique in the aspect that a fast food restaurant such as McDonald’s could be everywhere, yet nowhere in particular, as it helps deterritorialize eating itself – a step beyond both first and second waves f globalization. Furthermore, in the section on sports and the direction of globalization the writer describes the way sports and in particular soccer, has grown from the homeland of England to a worldwide game with the same rules. He explains that globalization does not mean that global rules, organizations, or models just take over. The global connections of the world society do not substitute for local ties such as America n football in US, rather they move in tandem. It is clear that in sports, globalization occurs in and through local and national settings as it adds another layer of connections and a new kind of shared awareness to the people in a certain society. In the last sub-category on global media, Frank Lechner talks about the role of Indian television, patterns in global television, and interpretations for global television as well as cultural imperialism. He describes the way the rights for television shows and programs such as â€Å"Who wants to be a Millionaire? † have been sold to well over 80 countries and have enjoyed great success worldwide. Many commercials and advertisements on TV carry subliminal messages that are aimed for a certain audience with a high degree of studying being put forward into the creation of the â€Å"perfect commercial†. In Part II of the novel the author begins to unravel the complicated and sometimes confusing aspects of the world economy. He begins with describing the way China, a country with extraordinary size and history, transformed and rebuilt itself after World War II at a time when broader reforms were sweeping the world hierarchy. He goes on to explain America’s three main goals in the post-war time: to make trade flow much more freely, to stabilize the world’s financial system, and to encourage international investment. Moreover, Lechner describes the significance of Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany in the late nineteenth century, and his role in introduction of accident insurance bills and health care bills in Germany which marked the beginning of rise of welfare states. He also outlines Roosevelt’s and Veldkamp’s positions and their contribution in Britain and Netherlands respectively. Frank Lechner continues with talking about the way in which globalization creates a political opportunity for the left-leaning political parties, promising to ride to the rescue in a time when some argue that globalization dampens welfare nations, to rather strengthen these states. Another aspect of globalization discussed in this part of the book is education. Education plays a key role in today’s society and with many people travelling with their high school kids to the United States and Canada in order to have a higher chance for a university or college admission, proves that in higher education a global market already operates. The next section of the second part of the book briefly describes global civil society and global governance. United Nations, according to the author, has taken on â€Å"a larger law-making role than its founders had envisioned†. The direction of change proposed by such an institution does not always have the full consensus of relevant states in an issue, yet that change is toward more organization of certain fields above and beyond states. Part III of Globalization: The Making of World Society strictly focuses on global concerns. The author describes key issues such as global migration, inequality, environment, and justice. First of the four issues listed is migration. The third wave of globalization witnessed a rise in migration, mainly from south to north along the gradient formed by global inequality. In this section of the book Lechner touches on the issue of redefining the national identity of a country as it is a goal in certain countries, which also links back to his previous two books:   The Netherlands: National Identity and Globalization  (2008), and  World Culture: Origins and Consequences  (with John Boli, Wiley-Blackwell, 2005). The second issue at hand in this section of his book is global inequality. In this section of the book the writer explains that globalization is essential for countries in the â€Å"bottom billion† to catch up, yet there is no single success path for all of the poorest nations. In this chapter he clearly paints his main argument that â€Å"globalization is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer,† and goes on to say, â€Å"but if it is to lead to a more tangible ‘world society’, it will have to help reduce poverty and inequality far more† (Lechner, 241). The last two section of the book primarily touch on the effects of globalization and its interconnectedness with global environment and global justice. Lechner discusses environmentalism and the way countries such as China deal with the environment and society in a balanced way. He put forward an example of Three Gorges damn built in China which displaced 2 million Chinese people, created a reservoir of nearly 400 miles and supplies 20 times more energy than America’s Hoover Dam. as an example of what a county could do in order to decrease the environmental damage, yet at the same time take a risk of displacing 2 million residents of the area. Literature Comparison Globalization: The Making of World Society by Frank Lechner is his attempt to clarify the key issues surrounding globalization in a brief, accessible and critical analysis of a complex topic. From the research conducted, I it is safe to conclude that this book is not a reply to any other book proposed by other write rs; rather it is his attempt to explain his point of view on globalization and issues proposed by it. Yet the author explaining his point of view represents one side of a bigger argument about globalization’s effect on the world, but no clear intentions of proving a point to a specific person or institution has been noted. Main Argument(s) The main argument proposed by Frank Lechner is that although there are many issues around globalization as a whole, he believes that globalization is essential for the poorest nations to catch up. He is keen on his point of view, and thus goes on to explain that development is the only way to reduce economic inequality. Another part of his argument is that â€Å"globalization is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer†¦but if it is to lead to a more tangible ‘world society’, it will have to help reduce poverty and inequality far more† (Lechner, 241). Part Two: Critical Analysis Personal Opinion After analyzing Lechner’s work, there are too many factors that make an accurate prediction difficult. The industrial revolution and the global expansion that it created, is on a scale that has never been seen in history. As a result, new issues are created, while old issues are modified. The interdependencies between nations revolve around a free market. This encourages exploitation as a method to produce capital. The astronomical growth of supply and demand puts a heavy toll on the environment and its resources, which leads to an inevitable carrying capacity. The gap between rich and poor continues to increase around the world including capitalist drivers such as Canada and United States. Although Lechner does not see globalization as the main force in the inequality gap, I believe that this issue is of great concern. In order to have a more objective opinion of globalization, we need to analyze the detrimental factors and the potential they have in slowing down or even reversing the constructive effects of globalization. When taking these factors into consideration, they become latent by the profits created. There is a growing concern with enormous amount of evidence of corruption happening in most developing, third world nations. Bribery enables transnational companies to gain export contracts, particularly in the arms trade and in construction, which they would not have otherwise won. Every year, Western companies pay huge amounts of money in bribes to the officials and rulers in the developing countries in order to win over competitors. As these bribes go through, they have unfavourable results on the developing country, as they disadvantage smaller domestic firms, weaken development and deteriorate inequality and poverty, distort decision-making in favour of the project that benefits few rather than many, increase national debt, benefit the investor not the country, as well as damage the environment. All of the factors listed above are proof of negative effects of corruption on successful globalization, which according to Lechner, â€Å"is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer† (Lechner, 241). The second issue I would like to address is the growing gap between the rich and poor in not only developing countries, but the capitalist hubs. According to the latest consensus data released on May 1, 2008 by Statistics Canada, â€Å"between 1980 and 2005, median earning among Canada’s top earners rose more than 16 percent while those in the bottom fifth saw their wages dip by 20 percent (The Canadian Press, 2008). Furthermore, the  gap between rich and poor  is widening, both within and among countries. In 1960, the richest 20 percent of the world’s population controlled 70 percent of global income, yet by 1993, the â€Å"richest 20† controlled 85 percent. In the same time period, the share of the poorest 20 percent had decreased from 2. 3 to 1. 4 percent. These disparities are likely to increase for the next half century as above stated issues such as corruption continue to affect the developing world (Human Development Report, 1996). The third big issue at hand, which I believe causes globalization to have a negative outlook in the eyes of the proletarian individuals including me, is the environmental damages that are caused. Economic theory argues that the free market can be expected to produce an efficient and improved level of resource use, production, consumption, and environment protection, yet when private costs, which are the foundation for market decision, diverge from social costs, a market failure occurs resulting in pollution levels. Intensified trade and competitiveness pressures between companies generate harmful impacts on environmental quality (Esty, D. nd Ivanova, M. ). As the big name companies move into an immature economy of a developing country, they have the power to make the government change the laws and reduce their previous environmental requirements. Thus, the company that cannot function in Canada or Germany with those amounts of emission without paying fines will use the developing cou ntry’s position to produce high level of emissions with no restrictions. This point links back to the issue of corruption in the developing countries described earlier. In addition, local government must protect the environment by not letting giant companies take over and control the government in order to make huge profits. Likewise, economic agreements that do not promote the common good and that are designed to increase the profits of few people in the world should be rejected by the authorities, if not local, then global. In conclusion, Globalization: The Making of World Society by Frank Lechner describes how the processes of globalization unfold in a wide range of fields including sports, religion, media, and the environment. The author tries to explain and analyze the complex subject of globalization in a concise and easy-to-understand manner. His main argument in the book surrounds the explanation of how he believes that globalization is essential for the poorest nations to catch up and that globalization is not bound to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. References Dauvergn, P. (n. d. ). Globalization and the environment. Esty, D. C. C. , Ivanova, M. H. (2003). Globalization effects on the environment. Globalization nd Environmental Protection: a Global Governance Perspective. Retrieved November 20, 2011 from http://www. yale. edu/gegdialogue/docs/dialogue/oct03/papers/Esty-Ivanova. pdf Lechner, F. J. (2009). Globalization: The Making of the World Society. Hong Kong: Wiley- Blackwell Publication. Research and markets; globalization: The making of world society. (2009). Investment Weekly News,  (19458177), 423. Retrieved from http://ezproxy. qa. proquest. com/docview/ 200892079? accountid=1477 1 Shah, A. (2011). Corruption. Global Issues. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from http://www. globalissues. org/article/590/corruption#GlobalizationMultinational CorporationsandCorruption The Canadian Press. (2008, May 1). Rich get richer, poor get poorer, census results show. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from http://www. ctv. ca/CTVNews/Canada/ 20080501/rich_poor_080501/ The gap between rich and poor is widening. (2004). World Resource Institute. Retrieved November 19,2011 from http://www. wri. org/publication/content/8659 How to cite Globalization: the Making of World Society – Book Review, Essay examples

Sole Proprietorship Essay Sample free essay sample

1. Liability* An proprietor has unlimited liability both personally and as the company proprietor. Liability is a disadvantage in a exclusive proprietary. 2. Income revenue enhancements* The proprietor is responsible for registering revenue enhancements and is allowed to register revenue enhancements as portion of their personal income revenue enhancements. 3. Longevity* This depends wholly on the proprietor and there continued ability to run the concern. The operation of the concern can be significantly affected if the proprietor becomes ill or dies. 4. Control * The proprietor has complete control of the concern. The proprietor is wholly responsible for all determinations refering for concern operations. 5. Net income keeping* The proprietor has 100 % net income keeping. They may take to put it back into the company or utilize it for something personal. 6. Location* The proprietor has the ability to take the location of the concern or travel it to a better location as they choose. 7. Convenience/burden* Sole proprietaries are really convenient and easy to get down up since there are no regulating Torahs as there may be with a corporation. The load of the concern including determinations made that may impact the concerns success are the exclusive duty of the proprietor. General Partnership 1. Liability* The liability is shared by all spouses of the concern. Besides. if one spouse does something negligent pertaining to the concern. all spouses can be held apt for the one spouses act. 2. Income revenue enhancements * The spouses are each responsible to describe their ain net incomes on their ain revenue enhancement return. This is the sum they received from the company as income. 3. Longevity* This depends on the understanding between the spouses. Often if one spouse is unable to go on their function in running the concern. they have the option of selling their portion in the concern to the other spouse ( s ) . If no understanding is in topographic point the concern would fade out when one spouse wanted out of the concern. 4. Control * The control is shared between the spouses. This is most normally detailed in a formal written legal understanding between the spouses. 5. Net income keeping* The spouses portion the net income keeping. This may be shared in any manner the spouses agree. Often this is based on the functions the spouses have in the concern. This is included in the partnership understanding. 6. Location * The spouses all have to hold on the location of the concern unless this determination doing power is given to one or more spouses in the partnership understanding. 7. Convenience/burden* General partnerships are easy to get down up and run. There is some added liability since there is more than one individual involved. Besides. struggles are common between spouses including one or more spouses seeking to take a spouse from the concern wholly. Limited Partnership ( non limited liability partnership ) 1. Liability* The liability is shared between spouses. There is usually one general spouse and one or more limited spouses. The general spouse assumes limitless liability with the limited spouse holding no liability since they are considered chiefly investors merely. 2. Income revenue enhancements * The revenue enhancements for the concern are handled individually. The general spouse files revenue enhancements for the concern and the limited spouses are merely needed to include the income they receive from the concern every twelvemonth on their personal revenue enhancement return. 3. Longevity * This depends on the general spouses ability to run the concern. The limited spouse ( s ) have no affect on the concern go oning. The limited spouse has the ability to go the general spouse as good but would lose their namelessness and would presume the liability that comes with being a general spouse. 4. Control * The control of the concern is the duty of the general spouse. The limited spouse has to be careful non to presume duty for operation of the concern or they risk losing their limited spouse position. 5. Net income keeping * The net incomes are split based on the written understanding. This is typically determined by how much money each limited spouse is puting in the company. 6. Location* The determinations on location must be agreed on by all spouses. 7. Convenience/burden* Limited partnerships have the convenience of leting multiple investors as limited spouses to help with hard currency available to run the concern and support betterments or other investings into the company. The load of running the concern falls on the general spouse. Regular C Corporation 1. Liability* The liability does non fall on one person alternatively it is assumed by the concern in a corporation. Persons stand foring the company can still be personally sued in some provinces. 2. Income revenue enhancements * Taxs are paid through the corporation on a corporate revenue enhancement return. It is separate from the owner’s income revenue enhancements. normally referred to as stockholders. Stockholders besides include income or losingss on stocks sold or dividends earned on their annual single revenue enhancement return. 3. Longevity * The length of service of the company is non affected when a stockholder sells their portion of the company or dies. 4. Control* The control of the corporation is managed by an elected board of managers. The officers in the company usually have to be approved by the board of managers before they are offered a place to take the company. 5. Net income keeping * The net incomes are shared among stockholders. Their net income is based on the public presentation of the company. The stockholder receives dividends on the per centum or figure of portions they own. 6. Location * Laws modulating the corporation including revenue enhancement Torahs can change from province to province. There are applications and fees that need to be filed to travel a C corporation. 7. Convenience/burden * Stockholders can be from other states leting for more chance for investors. Hundred corporations can order their ain financial twelvemonth. S-Corporation1. Liability* There is limited liability for the stockholders. They are non held apt for actions of the corporation. 2. Income revenue enhancements* There is no dual revenue enhancement for an S-Corporation. Stockholders file net incomes and losingss on their personal revenue enhancement returns with the corporation non responsible to pay revenue enhancements on the same net incomes. This is referred to as base on balls through revenue enhancement. 3. Longevity * The length of service of the company is non affected when a stockholder sells their portion of the company or dies. 4. Control* The control of the corporation is managed by an elected board of managers. The officers in the company usually have to be approved by the board of managers before they are offered a place to take the company. Stockholders are the proprietors of the company and that ownership transportations with the purchasing or merchandising of stock. 5. Net income keeping * The net incomes are shared among stockholders. Their net income is based on the public presentation of the company. The stockholder receives dividends on the per centum or figure of portions they own. 6. Location * The board of managers has the ultimate determination doing ability in finding the location of the company along with enlargement activities. Laws modulating the corporation including revenue enhancement Torahs can change from province to province. There are fees and processes involved to travel an S Corporation. 7. Convenience/burden * Stockholders must be US citizens and the financial twelvemonth must stop December 31. Limited Liability Company1. Liability* Members are non apt for debts or legal actions against the concern. Members could lose the money they have invested in the concern. but their personal belongings can non be attached to any case or fiscal issue. 2. Income revenue enhancements * There is no dual revenue enhancement for this type of concern. The revenue enhancements are paid with each single member’s revenue enhancement return and no revenue enhancements are paid by the concern itself. 3. Longevity* In the event one of the members dies. the concern can go on. 4. Control* The control of the concern is shared by the proprietors or members. A written contract as to how the duties are shared is usually in topographic point to avoid any issues. 5. Net income keeping * The net incomes are shared among the members. How net incomes are to be shared is included in the written contract understanding. 6. Location* The members have complete control over the location of the concern. 7. Convenience/burden* Most provinces allow an LLC to be with merely one member. and no provinces limit the figure of members in a LLC. The LLC provides protection of the members assets. LLC provide a batch of the protection of a corporation without far less paperwork and legal demands.

Motivation and Self Discipline free essay sample

At times, bodybuilding seems to get a negative reputation. This is mainly due to the substance abuse associated with the sport, and the fact that critics often focus on the negative aspects of bodybuilding. However, bodybuilding has many benefits for those who do it. These include: self – discipline, goal setting, nutrition, mental strength, and most importantly, strong motivation to achieve one’s personal best. This key self – motivation is what all other benefits stem from, and it is not possible without the inspiration to be the best you can be. In order to become a body builder, one must make certain changes to their lifestyle. One must be able to think positively, and must do their best to maintain a good attitude during training. The positive attitude enables the person to keep moving forward and not allow the failures to discourage them. Being able to move forward, even after failure, is imperative because failure is a part of bodybuilding and a part of life. We will write a custom essay sample on Motivation and Self Discipline or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If the person cannot overcome failure, they will not be able to make progress because of fear of failing again. For success in bodybuilding, one must be able to set goals and drive themselves to attain them. Keeping a diet going, being able to do a certain number of reps for a workout, cutting weight or gaining muscle mass are all goals that the bodybuilder must set and strive to attain. Along with this, the bodybuilder must never settle. They must never tell themselves that they have done enough work or that their condition is ‘good enough’. But how does one motivate themself to achieve all of these things? The answer is that they must be inspired. One person motivating another is simply one person trying to convince another to do something that they do not want to do. This rarely works for long. However, a person who is inspired will let nothing stand in their way. Therefore, it is inspiration in bodybuilding that is the motivation for the change in lifestyle that is necessary to be successful. One person may inspire another, but ultimately one must reach inside in order to inspire themselves to be great. Self – discipline is the art of assuming total responsibility over ones behavior and mentality, and using this responsibility to push themself to achieve their goals. People usually have resentment towards self – discipline because it often means making a change, and change scares most people. It is also repulsive for many because it involves doing what is right, rather than what is easy. Self – discipline is immensely important in bodybuilding because of its use in setting and achieving goals. Self-discipline aids in completing the goal that was set, no matter what one’s emotional state, financial or personal situation, or other dilemmas one may be dealing with. In bodybuilding this means being able to push past your perceived limits, and use your inspiration to move forward and make progress. If the person can hold their self – discipline in place over time, they can achieve any goal they set for themselves. Impossible becomes nothing. Goal setting is imperative for bodybuilding success. It is the road map for reaching the destination you desire. When a bodybuilder is inspired to be the best they can be, they will set goals in accordance with that desired outcome. This means that they will not settle for just ‘good enough’. Their goals will be realistic, but will also push them. These set goals allow the person to see clear points along their path to success, and to always know the distance to the goal they strive to reach. Goal setting allows the person to persevere through anything, including things like workouts that make them particularly sore, taking workout supplements that they think taste awful, or staying on their diet even though they crave unhealthy foods and drinks. In bodybuilding, setting goals allows you to keep the drive and momentum going for accomplishing the goals, and allows you never to slow down or let up until victory is achieved. The diet of a bodybuilder is imperative. A bodybuilder who is inspired to be great will always take great care of their nutrition. In fact, bodybuilding is more based on nutrition than training. Though training is indeed crucial, a bodybuilder cannot succeed without the proper nutrients the body needs to grow and recover properly. Therefore, without the right diet, the training is not going to be nearly as effective. It takes a lot of self – discipline to stay on a strict nutrition plan. And when the plan is followed, it enables the bodybuilder to effectively support their training efforts and thereby achieve their goals more effectively. For instance, when the bodybuilder is going to change their physique, they are going to need to change the nutrients, and set the diet up for that goal. So, when the bodybuilder with the inspiration for victory wants to make a change, they know to write out a plan for their nutrition, and to follow it flawlessly. Mental strength is what self – discipline and positive attitude come from. It is the most important aspect of the inspired bodybuilder. When a championship – winning bodybuilder goes to sleep at night, they ask themselves the questions: why go through all the pain and suffering? Why keep up the grueling work? Why not settle for average? The championship – winning bodybuilder knows well that the answer is this: I am inspired to be great, and if anything will stand between me and my goal, it certainly will not be me! So, it is clear that the strongest asset to a bodybuilder is their mind. The mind is what sparked the fire of inspiration and the mind is what allows the person to overcome adversity. The body is the mirror of the mind, so in a sense, the body does what the mind says it can. Thus, bodybuilding is more of a mental game that a physical one. So, developing and maintaining mental strength is the inspired bodybuilder’s first step. After all, without mental strength, one cannot maintain self – discipline or positive attitude. The bodybuilder has to be in control over their emotions and thoughts, for in the end, whether you think you can or think you cannot, you’re right! Your inspiration is your drive, it is the burning desire deep in your heart, when you want something so badly that you are willing to risk everything to succeed and achieve your goal. This is what bodybuilding is made of: the inspiration for greatness. It is why the person wants to grow and become better than yesterday. Inspiration is their motivation for success. It provides the extra push to go beyond the limitations set by one’s self. It is as true in bodybuilding as it is in life; if you are inspired to be the best you can be, you will never stand in your own way. You will only succeed. Your legacy will be your victory. And that is the wisdom of bodybuilding.

Essay on Tourette Syndrome and Phonic) Tics.

Essay on Tourette Syndrome and Phonic) Tics. Essay on Tourette Syndrome and Phonic) Tics. Tic tock A Masterpiece By Chasà © Wrren Dr. Cynthia Guzmn M.D Psychological disorders affect our everyday lives and how we live them. Gilles De La Tourette (Tourette’s for short) is an exceptional example of this. In this paper I will discuss the following and its relation to Tourette’s; diagnosis, symptoms, origins and treatment options. Tourette’s syndrome is characterized by involuntary tics (sudden, repetitive motor movements or vocalizations). It is infamous for being known as a cause for people to scream or do unusual things. Tourette’s is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder, which means that it is a genetic disease that primarily affects the nervous system. Tourette’s is characterized by both physical (motor) tics, and vocal (phonic) tics. Since it is a spectrum there are a wide variety of possible side effects, it is only officially classified when a physical tic and one or more vocal tics are present in the duration of a year. When a diagnosis is being made it's not uncommon to view the patient's family history to determine if affecting disorders are present. There is no requirement that comorbid conditions preside, but it is up to the diagnostician to decide. Often diagnosis is made in early childhood and symptoms deteriorate throughout the later years. The most common symptoms include facial and vocal tics. Tics can vary in intensity from slight shrugs to screaming obscenities. Although less severe tics are more common, even a simple shrugging tic can end in self harm such as punching ones self in the face or screaming. Tics intensify based on anxiety or excitement and deteriorate under calm circumstances. Tics can also be masked, however it often causes a buildup of tension to the point where they feel that the tic must be suppressed. Tourette’s is often seen in conjunction with OCD and ADHD which can sometimes mask the less severe cases. In the early Ages people with Tourette’s were often thought to be â€Å"possessed by the devil† until Jean Marc Gaspard Itard came along and reported the first Case of Tourette’s in 1825. Jean-Martin Charcot's resident published an account of 9 patients in 1885, and thus had the disease named after him. Modern research points to abnormalities in certain brain regions resulting

#FreelancerFriday #4 - Belinda Jones, Editor

#FreelancerFriday #4 - Belinda Jones, Editor #FreelancerFriday #4 - Belinda Jones, Editor â€Å"You have to keep thinking, keep interrogating the text: ‘Is this keeping the flow well? Is it convincing me?† If something sounds a bit hollow or a bit flat, you’ve got to flag it up.â€Å"With a 15-year career – so far – behind her, Belinda Jones has worked on everything from commercial and literary fiction, to historical non-fiction and celebrity memoir. We talked about her start as an editor, the recent YA resurgence, and the need to be sensitive when dealing with author comments.–REEDSYHow did you find yourself starting out as an editor?BELINDA JONESLooking for work after university, I did a correspondence course with Chapterhouse to get going with the proofing symbols and that sort of thing. I got to London and, to gain what experience I could, I took on part-time work with Virgin Publishing – in the rights department, strangely enough. The agreement was that if they were going to have me for  £50 a week, the editorial dep artment would use me for editing work. That worked out quite well – I was able to build up a good foundation of freelance editing work at the time just by being there and obviously working as well (mornings only, but that was the deal).As ever, it’s about building up a CV for experience.REEDSYWhat sort of books were you working on when you started out?BELINDA JONESI was hoping you wouldn’t ask that†¦ I first worked on gentle ‘erotica’ – you can imagine my parents’ delight. It was well paid, I have to say, and got some very good dialogue practice going on. It’s interesting when people ask how you train as an editor. I think you have to have a natural leaning towards it; I’m not sure its something you can actually learn to do. In the same way that some people are natural mathematicians, natural tennis players, I’d say editors have to have a natural aptitude. And if you’re getting experience, it probably d oesn’t matter what you’re editing so long as you’re honing those skills and getting feedback.I was incredibly lucky in my career to freelance with Reader’s Digest. The woman who took me on has become a sort of guru to me. Everything I’ve learned I would put down to her. She said at the beginning: "You have this natural aptitude. That’s great, we can work with that,† and that was why I was taken on by them. There’s no doubt that if you’re working with someone who’s very good at their job with high, exacting standards, you will raise your game accordingly. I think good editors are people who have those exacting standards, and possibly a bit of OCD as well – when you want to track down that  last potentially blurred fact that might have slipped away, or the niggling somethings that are not quite right†¦ Natural aptitude plus a little bit of OCD probably makes someone the ideal editor.REEDSYWhat’s the importance of working with an editor who’s not just technically trained, but experienced?BELINDA JONESExperience leads to confidence. When you start out you think you’re expected to know it all when, of course, you can’t possibly. I think that’s a mistake all young people make starting out, thinking that you have to hit the ground running. Sit back, take your time, learn from your boss. I’ve been doing this for 15 years and I’m pretty aware that I do a good job because I have the experience that’s needed to do that. As a result that’s very much become a confidence thing. Often, in-house, you don’t receive too much feedback because people are simply too busy to do it. You might get a quick â€Å"That’s great, thanks so much, we’ll work with you again in a month’s time.† You can ask for feedback, of course, but it’s something I’m reluctant to do – busy people don’ t have time to spoon-feed you. If I do ask for feedback, it will be from someone for whom I’ve not worked before, and will be about how I could do better next time. And that builds up over the years, of course – improving your work.REEDSYAs a freelancer, do you work directly with the author or via the publisher?BELINDA JONESI mainly work via the in-house editor, who will usually ask me to work in Track Changes, but more and more my comments are going directly to the author for me and them to discuss, rather than via in-house to be checked first. You have to be very diplomatic with the comments that you use – you’ve got to have an appreciation that this is the author’s baby that they’ve been working on for however long. Your comments have to be well structured, and you always need to back up a bit of text you’ve changed with the reason why. Put yourself in their position – how would you feel if you’d been working on somet hing for anything from 6 months to x number of years, and then someone you don’t know from Adam tells you to change this, this and this.You learn to be sensitive about this with experience. It isn’t pointed out or ‘taught’. You learn it yourself the more you do the work. The comfier, more confident in the work you do you are, the more you can think about what the author would be wanting, or needing rather, to hear back from you.REEDSYOne editor we spoke to recently described the work of an editor by saying that the client isn’t the author, but the reader   – that the editor is mediating the concerns of both. Is that similar to how you work?BELINDA JONESI agree with that. When I’m working I put on my reader’s hat. I’m a reader, so I’m at home on the sofa or sitting on the train, I’ve bought this book and I want to enjoy it. In other words, you’re editing to make it the most effortless read possible. You’re smoothing flow, polishing any clunky or bumpy bits; you’re saying, â€Å"Hold on a minute, what you’ve said about that character on page 114 is not what was said about that character on page 23.† I hate it when I come across something like that in books I’m reading for pleasure – it blows the whole thing. But of course, at the same time you’re working for the author. I find 'keeping the author sympathetic’ is another good phrase. As the editor, I would say your job is to make sure the author comes across as a reasonable person, certainly an authoritative writer whom the reader can trust. You have to balance both these things.REEDSYWhat are some projects you’ve enjoyed recently?BELINDA JONESLiterary fiction will always be my first love to work on. Young adult fiction too, I think, has immense potential, which is being tapped both convincingly and unconvincingly at the moment. Fiction all the way, generally, for me! I’ve done plenty of non-fiction which can be very good too, especially when it’s historical, but there’s a huge difference between working on fiction and non-fiction. When you’re an editor for non-fiction, you absolutely have to fact-check everything, especially when it comes to a celebrity autobiography.REEDSYWhat do you love about YA?BELINDA JONESI think it’s such a wonderful crossover between the youngish readers and the fairly precocious readers, right up into adulthood. The Hunger Games, for example – hasn’t that done well? Both for the books and the box office, with teens and adults alike. I actually belong to a book club of adults who read YA fiction and then critique it fiercely in the pub afterwards! We’ve read some stinkers, of course, and that just makes me want to die – it’s such an important time for readers to be encouraged to keep reading. If you’re coming across horrendously clichà ©d work you just want to say, â€Å"Come on everyone! Just because it’s YA doesn’t mean it doesn’t have to be good.† Quite the reverse! There’s a huge market for good YA – I wish there was more of it. We can’t blame publishers, they have to make money in what’s a very tough market but let’s not just go straight for that Hollywood jugular the entire time. But that’s the same with fiction and books the world over, isn’t it? In any genre there’s going to be good and bad. But, right now, I really think YA is a superb genre to be in.REEDSYIs developmental editing quite different from copyediting?BELINDA JONESYes. Analysis is another thing you have to have an aptitude for, particularly for developmental editing. Again, you have to keep thinking, keep interrogating the text: ‘Is this keeping the flow well? Is it convincing me?â€Å" If something sounds a bit hollow or a bit flat, you’ve got to flag i t up and either suggest or make the change yourself. Usually a manuscript, by the time I get it, has been very much edited in-house. That’s a bit of a tightrope you need to be aware of as a freelance editor – it’s not about your ego, which is something I’m embarrassed to say I had to reign in at the beginning. When for the first time you’re given free reign on a manuscript you think, "Let’s get cracking!† but, like I said, there are many concerns to weigh. Ones that are usually outlined in a brief from the in-house editor.REEDSYFinally, what do you like to read yourself?BELINDA JONESOh, general fiction, literary fiction, YA. A bit of everything, to be honest. I’m currently savouring Les Miserables (a Christmas present from my French in-laws) but I am interspersing it with more digestible reads too. Not something I’d normally allow myself to do  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  !REEDSYThank you for your time Belinda.

HIST 1400 essay 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HIST 1400 1 - Essay Example This diverts from the key purpose of the French revolution. Moreover, French Revolution is more radical, cruel, and violent. The French Revolution has disputes involving Europe, Kings, and the Church. Many promises and targeted achievements during the old regime and this period have not been achieved. Church disputes are clear when Martin Luther criticizes the Catholic Church saying that he is enlightening the people. In his 95th thesis of the year 1517, he suggested that his main aim is not to suppress the church (The Protestant Reformation 1). Martin Luther argues that he hopes to see it reformed. He identifies that churches were driving their believers away from the Creator. However, he is rude while addressing the situation. He openly talks of the Catholic leaders in a negative manner. These enlightening ideas suggested by Luther cause much suffering to the citizens. The revolution betrays the people. It destroys and divides the people pretending to enlighten them. The Roman Empire extends up to France. Consequently, most of the people in France are Catholics. According to Martin Luther, he explains that the Romans have three walls that protect them such that not anyone who tries to reform them is able (The Protestant Reformation 4). He does not put into consideration whether the Christians are satisfied about their religion. First, it is agreeable that Martin Luther believes that the temporal power is always below the spiritual power (The Protestant Reformation 2). He does not support most of the pope’s ideas. Only a pope would call for a council at any time. He argues that many people’s rights are violated because they are not able to overcome the rules strategized by the Catholic rulers. The French Revolution is against the Catholic Church. Consequently, it longs to see the end of this religion in France. There is a great intention to weaken the people through the French Revolution. However, this is only achievable through

The 60s and American Society Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The 60s and American Society - Research Paper Example As the current Vice President to outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower, Nixon would have gained some sense of what the job would entail and would wish to have the office for him, so that he would be able to enact his own vision for the American people moving forward. As the young Senator from Massachusetts and a member of one of the more prominent families in the United States at the time, John Kennedy would ultimately be guided by a desire for public service and a quest to help the average American. This would prove to be a crucial election for many reasons, some yet to be seen at this point in time. The ultimate outcome would see Kennedy overcome the opposition from Richard Nixon and be able to move on to the White House in January 1961. Each political party would profess views for the betterment of the American public and the national ideals, with each differing in points and desired execution. With regard to the Republican Party, "Through the 1960s the emergent conservative wing, first witnessed in Barry Goldwater's 1964 candidacy, began to push out liberal Republicans," ("Profile", p.1). A political group that would, in many ways, wish to define themselves as a party that sought to protect conservative values and ideals. Thus, the Republicans would ultimately find themselves becoming a political party that would wish for such things as lower taxes and higher national defense. With regard to the Democrats, "In the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy challenged an optimistic nation to build on its great history. Kennedy proclaimed a New Frontier and dared Americans to put a man on the moon, created the Peace Corps, and negotiated a treaty banning atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons," ("The Democratic", p.1). Both p olitical parties, through their public assertions and general action taken, would claim to be the party of the average citizen. With every Presidency, events transpire that can not only shape the public itself but also, influence the trajectory of the President's administration. Impact the very decisions made by the chief executive, as they wish to serve the public for whom they were elected by, in such a manner that stays within the realm of the power of their office. For John Kennedy, two of the key events that would occur during the period of his administration, would be the Bay of Pigs in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Events that would involve the island of Cuba but despite that, would bring about differing circumstances that would force the young President to act and to act quickly, so that the world would be safe from eminent danger. With its entrance early on in Kennedy's presidency, the Bay of Pigs would be one of many attempts made by the intelligence community, as they sought to invade the island of Cuba and ideally, remove the dictator in power. Subsequent events that would transpire, would ultimately lead to the declaration of the invasion being seen as a failure and as such, something that would be seen as a humiliation for the President. In the aftermath of the invasion, Kennedy would take what he learned and utilize it in future circumstances, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 that would find the American people pitted again the Soviet Union, with the island of Cuba being in the middle of this scenario. With the missile

Seven Steps to Project Planning Essay Example for Free

Seven Steps to Project Planning Essay Seven Steps of Project Planning April Willochell Project Management Every project is an opportunity to produce something new, to make a real difference. You can introduce change, increase productivity, enhance capabilities of your company or of a client or build new relationships. Seven steps are essential to success in organizations that simultaneously manage multiple initiatives. Effectiveness begins with good pre-project planning plus an understanding of what a project is and what can be at stake. Consistently following these seven key steps can directly improve a company’s operations, profitability and sanity. The first step is a setting goals phase. â€Å"During this stage the teams responsible for the project are assigned and a brief is provided containing information on what the project hopes to achieve and what approach will be taken to complete various actions required. Additionally, this stage usually leads to the appointed of a project manager and executive in charge who with the help of the team start to plan the next step. † (7 Steps, 2013) In this stage all stakeholders should state their needs and how they would like them to be fulfilled. Ultimately, this is the goal setting phase. The next step would be initiating the process. This means that a team would be assembled and the overall project is outlined to detailed specifications. This includes strategic planning, like how long the project will take, how many steps will take place, and what tools will be needed to execute the project. Deciding how the project will be controlled is the third step. This step is also called directing the project. This means that the organization that is controlling the project is defined. Also, all organizations within the company that will be involved are determined. This part of the planning process will determine who receives reports and makes final decisions in the planning process. â€Å"This step is about developing a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) that identifies the low-level tasks and activities required for doing project work and producing the deliverables. The WBS is a critical piece of the project planning process because it defines how tasks will be structured and what dependencies will be created. It is also used for setting up urations, task assignments, resource requirements, and cost estimates. † (The Planning Process, 2013) The control stage is the fourth stage. â€Å"You must develop a project strategy that follows the mission and outlines the high-level actions for implementing the project objectives. You must develop a project strategy that follows the mission and outlines the high-level actions for implementing the project objectives. â⠂¬  (The Planning Process, 2013) This process will let the team know who will need to sign off for what processes in the project. This stage will also let the team know where potential problems may arise and if they do how they should be dealt with. This stage is very important in the planning process. The fifth stage of project planning is setting up boundaries for each stage of the project. This is basically setting up deadlines for each stage of the project. If a stage is not met, there also needs to be backup plan on how the plan will play out in this event. This stage also determines how each stage will close and the steps following that closing. â€Å"The penultimate stage is the management of product delivery. In this step the project manager works with team managers to ensure that a set of formal requirements are created for every piece of work contained in the project. Essentially if this is done correctly all of the work should be delivered on time and to a suitable standard. † (7 Steps, 2013) This sixth stage is to make sure that all paperwork is in order, the project and its product follow all regulations, and all parts are in working order. This is basically, a quality control stage. The seventh and final stage is the closing stage. This step is the risk management assessment part of the planning process. Project managers and their teams must identify all the risks in their project and discuss the alternatives. The plan will be reviewed, discussed, and any potential changes will be made. Once all seven steps are followed accurately a project plan should be planned perfectly and executed just as well. Resources 7 Steps to Project Planning. Retrieved on January 17, 2013 from http://EzineArticles. com/4767743 The Planning Process. Retrieved on January 18, 2013 from

Television and Its Imapact on Society Essay -- essays papers

Television and Its Imapact on Society Introduction Vladimir Kosma Zworykin created a rudimentary versionof the television in 1924; however, the first realistically working television was made possible by Philo Taylor Farnsworth in the 1940s. These televisions were exceptionally expensive, consequently only the affluent members of society had access to them. It was only in 1960 beginning with the presidential election that the television became fashionable to the common public. From that moment on, television has had an immense impact on nearly every facet of our social order, from political affairs to child behavior. This paper will observe some of the more remarkable proceedings and issues television has, and is still, concerned with. Ultimately, this essay will conclude with the nature of influence this solitary device has had on our way of life throughout the years. Vietnam War Television can, and in many cases does, transform the public attitude of political events, as was illustrated in the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, Hollywood began generating films in order to rouse controversy over the war. These films were filled with anti-war propaganda and allusions to World War II, which triggered America?s contempt for American involvement in the Vietnam crisis. Upon seeing this and becoming conscious of the threat Hollywood posed, the government began to use those same strategies against the cinematographers. Government documentaries began to come on the scene to give significance to what was happening in Vietnam. From that point on, the Vietnam War became a ?television war? because it was said that more citizens were watching the television than the actual war. Journalists began to show ?history through camera lens.? One such journalist is Walter Cronkite. Cronkite visited Vietnam after the Tet Offensive, and publicized his conclusions on national television. His remark that ?the [Vietnam] War can not be won honorably? caused Lyndon B. Johnson to withdraw himself from the Democratic Primary Election. Vocal oppositions to the war pealed out across the country as a result of the television broadcasts. Rallies, protests and demonstrations began draft-resistance movements. Scenes of cruelty, maimings, bombings, dying Americans, and fleeing refugees flooded American homes everyday. Reporters did everything in their power to... ...al and social decline in America. Bibliography: Bailey, William C. ?Murder, Capital Punishment, and Television: Execution Publicity and Homicide Rates?, American Sociological Review, Vol. 55, No. 5,(October 1990) Boyer, Paul S., et. al. The Enduring Vision. Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 1996. Cook, Thomas D., et. al. ?The Implicit Assumptions of Television Research: An Analysis of the 1982 NIMH Report on Television and Behavior?, Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 2, (Summer, 1983) Grabber, Doris A. ?Press and Television as Opinion Resources in President Campaigns?,Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 3, (Autumn, 1976) Hallin, Daniel C. ?The Media, the War in Vietnam, and Political Support: A Critique of the Thesis of an Oppositional Media?, The Journal of Politics, Vol. 46, No. 1 (February 1984) Hillard, Robert L. ?Television and Education?, Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 29, No. 8, (November, 1958)? Is the Problem with Television or Viewers, American Enterprise. March, 1999 Rollins, Peter C. ?The Vietnam War: Perceptions Through Literature, Film, and Television?, American Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 3. (1984)

CRM at Minitex Essay

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a strategy used to learn more about customers’ needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them. It plays an important role in understanding customer’s needs by gathering the information about the customers that helps in marketing and selling the company’s products. With an effective Customer Relationship Management strategy, an organization can increase revenues by providing better services and selling products effectively what the customers want. CRM is the key to better customer services. Through CRM, it is possible to discover new customers and retain the existing ones. For it to function effectively, it is of importance for the organization to understand about their customers, their needs and develop a strategy to meet those needs. Therefore, an organization must look at how the information can be saved and how useful it can be. (Wailgum, 2007) Minitex is a company that sells its products which mainly centered through finance and insurance. These 2 divisions are administered by 4 systems namely marketing, insurance, finance and CFO. (Reddy, 2015) George Degas is the director of sales at Minitex. Harold Blufmen is the VP of insurance division and Mariella Hopkins head of the finance division. It consists of the administration system that works on the billing and payments of the customers, a General Management system that keeps track of the customers are the two back-end systems for the insurance division. (McKeen, 2008) The main Problems at Minitex are: Unprofessional Sales Calls to same customers because the data in Minitex is not centralized, so as the Sales people cannot keep track of customer information with current systems. Mariella Hopkins, VP of the finance who is IT enthusiast is open to collaboration with other department do not want to compromise existing systems. Another drawback is its divisions have specialized system terminology. (Reddy, 2015) Figure 1: CRM relationship and Management (Mckeen, 2008) Aspects for Flow of Information in Minitex The Customer Contacts System: The Customer Contacts system was created recently by Degas’s boss, Jon Bettman. This system gives sales people a better way to keep track of customer information. This system schedules,  sales call on a periodic basis and provides mechanisms for generating and tracking new leads and it also forms the basis on which the marketing department pays the sales people’s commissions. Real- time information on sales by product, salesperson, and region gives Bettman and his team excellent feedback on how well their centralized marketing strategies are performing. For purposes of invoicing and servicing the accounts, the Customer Contacts system also feeds data into the insurance and financing divisions systems after sales are made. The Management Business Center System: Mariella Hopkins the VP of financing, and her division funded the development of a management business center application. This system acts as an online customer self-service system. By this system, customers can obtain statements and online financing and often can get credit approved instantly. Customer service representatives use the same basic system, with to track customer transactions and to provide customer support as needed. The Credit Administration System: Minitex is using a Credit administration system which was developed 20 years ago. Harold Blumfen, VP of insurance is a major profit maker at Minitex, he and his division uses a credit administration system to track customer billings and payments. The General Management System: Minitex uses a general management system to keep track of which products a customer has bought and what services the customer is entitled to. Both Credit Administration System and General Management System fundamentally back end systems. (McKeen, 2008) Discussion Questions 1. Explain how it is possible for someone at Minitex to call a customer and not know (a) that this is a customer and (b) that this is the third time this week that they had been called. With Minitex’s systems, both of these seem easy to accomplish. With the divisions not sharing the same system, they may not have the most updated information when one person is looking up information. This would explain why an employee may call and not know that they are calling a customer. This is especially true, because some of the employees track their own information to their own records, thus not updating the systems. It is possible to not know that a customer has been contacted three times, because the employees use their own memory to keep track of who they have called. 2. Outline the steps that Bettman must take in order to implement CRM at Minitex. In your plan, be sure to include  people, processes, and technology. To start this process of implementing CRM, Bettman needs to get everyone on the same page. He also needs to take leadership of his department, making final decisions based on evidence of the best choice for the entire department, whether or not everyone agrees. Bettman needs to get with Harold Blumfen and Mariella Hopkins and create unity between the two departments of things such as terminology, explaining that both divisions need to collaborate. The next step would be to get a handle on the current system, until they can obtain a new system. This needs to start by making sure that all information is input into the system, ensuring all employees have the most accurate and up-to-date information. This will prevent blunders, and can be a major example to put in Degas’s business case petitioning for a new IT system. Degas, meanwhile, will be working on his business case to give to IT, explaining that a new centralized system is needed. The system needs to be able to have a customer interface, but functionality for both divisions to input information and receive the information output related to their department. He can show the difference of customer interaction with less and more information flow. Degas needs to get Bettman to network with IT in the request for the new system, having the main boss involved will give it more importance. Finally, with leadership and CRM at Minitex, the department will be back on track. (McKeen, 2008) References McKeen, J. D., & Smith, H. (2008). IT strategy: Issues and Practices (2 nd Ed) Reddy, A. (2015, February 12). Crm at Minitrex. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.papercamp.com/essay/147554/Crm-At-Minitrex Wailgum, T. (2007, March 6). CRM Definition and Solutions. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.cio.com/article/2439505/customer-relationship-management/crm-definition-and-solutions.html

Aristotle on the Soul Essay

Aristotle’s notion differs from the usual conception of a soul as some sort of substance occupying the body, existing separately and eternally. To him, the soul is the essence of a living thing. The soul is what makes an organism an organism at all by actualizing its potential for life, and it’s constituted by its capacity for activities essential to that specific type of being. His investigation into the nature of the soul demonstrates basic principles of his philosophical theories at work, including Hylomorphism, potentiality and actuality, and his four causes. His use of these theories in analyzing and teasing out the complexities of the soul make for a cohesive and comprehensive study, easily amenable with his other works. In this paper I will analyze his notion of the soul as described in De Anima, recounting how he came to define the soul, the explanation of the soul, how the souls of different kinds of ensouled beings differ, and his unique concept of how the soul is related to the body. Aristotle begins Book 1 of De Anima by stating that since the soul is a principle of animals, and here I will interpret animals to mean more broadly beings, describing its essence has implications beyond its obvious scope. In unfolding the nature of the soul, it is possible to determine which attributes belong to the soul alone and which belong to the organism in virtue of having a soul (Aristotle, De Anima 402a). So besides exploring the nature of life, his analysis will also seek to answer the question of whether all mental states (of the soul) are also material states of the body, or whether some attributes of the soul are unique to it. In doing so, we are confronted with the interesting implication of Aristotle’s position on the mind/body problem, to which I will get to later on. Returning to the question at hand (what is the soul? ), Aristotle starts his investigation by use of his explanatory theory of Hylomorphism, which states that substances are compounds of matter and form, and change occurs when form actualizes matter (Shields). There are three sorts of substances; form, matter, and the compound of form and matter. Matter is potentiality and form is actuality. Form actualizes matter, which possesses the potential to be what it is. So using Aristotle’s example of a bronze statue, the matter, in this case the bronze, only actualizes it’s potential of being a statue when it acquires the form, or the shape and features. Of interest is the third kind of substance, compounds, which make up living beings. The body is the substance as matter, so the soul is the substance as form or shape. Here we get to Aristotle’s preliminary definition of the soul as the actuality of a natural body having life potentially (Aristotle, De Anima 412). It is in virtue of this form, the soul, that makes an organism alive. Without the soul, the body would only have the capacity for life potentially, and so the soul is the essence (the form) of living things. This preliminary definition is taken a step further when Aristotle identifies the soul as the â€Å"first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive† (Aristotle, De Anima 412a). He claims that the actuality that is the soul is like the actuality that is knowledge, in that we speak of it in two ways. We can distinguish between a state of knowing x and a state of attending to the knowledge of x, where the latter is more of an active process. The passive of state of knowing x is the first actuality, first because it must necessarily come prior to attending or remembering that knowledge i. e. potential precedes actual. Similarly, the soul of a sleeping person is like the passive state, the first actuality, while the soul of an awake person is like the active state. The soul must be the first actuality, for if not we would be forced to say a sleeping animal lacks a soul, a conclusion we do not want to make (Aristotle, De Anima 412a-412b). First actuality seems to correspond to a capacity to engage in the activity of the second actuality, and in this way is a kind of potential to exercise some function, like the ability to engage in thought. Aristotle makes this clear when he states that, â€Å"If the eye, for instance, were an animal, sight would be its soul† (Aristotle, De Anima 412b). Sight is the capacity of the eye for seeing, where sight is the form and the eye is the matter. The first actuality is the capacity for seeing, and the second actuality is seeing, actively exercising the potential ability. So it seems that beyond defining the soul as the ‘first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive’, we can say the soul is a set of capacities that characterize living things. These characteristic capacities are different in different beings, and we will see that it is by these that Aristotle creates his hierarchy of ensouled beings or the degrees of souls. I will return to this distinction later in this paper, when describing how the souls of different ensouled beings differ. At this point we have a definition of the soul, but as Aristotle stresses throughout his various works, we must determine the cause or explanation in order to truly grasp the essence, and therefore get at complete picture of his view of the soul. The definition just given explains the what, but a full account must explain the why. He states in the Physics, â€Å"for our inquiry aims at knowledge; and we think we know something only when we find the reason why it is so, i. . , when we find its primary cause† (Aristotle, Physics 194b). His criteria for an adequate definition, one that is sufficient for knowledge, rest on his theory of causation and explanation. The four causes include the material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause. Material cause is what something is made of, the formal cause is the form or pattern of which a thing is what it is, the efficient cause refers to the agent of change or rest, and the final cause is the intended purpose of the change or the reason why a thing is done (Shields). We must, therefore, determine why the soul is what it is in virtue of these four general causes. The soul is the principle and the cause of the living body, for it is in virtue of the soul that the body is alive, and thus it plays an explanatory role. It is the cause of the living body in three of the four ways, as â€Å"the source of motion, as what something is for, and as the substance of ensouled bodies†(Aristotle, De Anima 415), corresponding to the efficient cause, the final cause, and the formal cause respectively. It is the source of motion in that it causes growth and decay in the organism. The soul is also the cause of the living body by being the final cause, as the body is merely an organ for the sake of the soul, aimed at the soul. And finally, the soul is the formal cause of the living body for it causes life by being the form and actuality of what is potentially. The body makes up the fourth cause, the material cause, by being the matter that makes up a living organism (Aristotle, De Anima 415). I will use Aristotle’s example of the nature of a house as described in Book One, when he is discussing the importance of form, in order to better illustrate the necessity for analysis of a concept under his theory of causation and explanation. To merely define a house as stones, bricks, and timbers, is not to capture its full essence. A house is stones, bricks, and timbers (material cause), built into an enclosed structure (formal cause), fashioned together by a carpenter (efficient cause), in order to provide shelter from the elements (final cause). We can describe the what, but without further details about the explanation, we don’t really know the nature of a house. Similarly the soul is why, it gives the explanation for, the life activities of a living body. At this point Aristotle’s notion of the soul is quite clear; it is the first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive, it is a set of capacities for life-giving and defining activities of organisms, and it is the form, the source of motion, and the means (it directs) to the end of the living body. Souls of different living beings are differentiated by their capacities to engage in the activities characteristic of that type of organism, which comprise their livelihood and survival. It is these differentiating faculties that make up the soul. Among these faculties are the nutritive and reproductive, perceptive, locomotive, and the capacity for thought and understanding. Aristotle claims, â€Å"the soul is the principle of the potentialities we have mentioned—for nutrition, perception, understanding, and motion—and is defined by them† (Aristotle, De Anima 413). There are three types of souls, arranged in a nested hierarchy, so the possession of a higher soul entails possession of all that are below it. The lowest, or most basic, in this hierarchy is the nutritive soul. All living things possess the capacity for self-nourishment, for without this they would not live. Next is the sensitive soul, which is possessed only by animals. The highest type of soul is the rational soul, belonging only to humans. These three souls are differentiated by their function, corresponding to the ensouled being in possession of the soul with the power to exercise that function. While the animal soul possesses the nutritive and the sensitive, and the human soul the rational as well, each has but one unified soul with a various sets of capacities (Shields). The nutritive soul is the potentiality held by all living things to preserve it and equip it for life. The function of this soul is the use of nourishment and generation, or reproduction. Generation is the most natural function, as it is a means for a living being to participate in the future (the â€Å"everlasting and divine†) by producing something else of its own sort. The use of nourishment allows the being to preserve itself, only existing while it is nourished. Nourishment allows an organism to grow as well as decay, according to its form. Since all living things possess the nutritive soul, all living things have the capacity for self-nourishment, growth, decay, and for reproduction. Further, since all nourishment involves digestion, and digestion involves heat, all beings contain heat (Aristotle, De Anima 415-416). The sensitive, or perceptive soul, distinguishes plants from animals. Perception is a type of alteration, in that a suitable sense-organ in perception is affected or changed by an external object. The external object acts as the agent, possessing the qualities in actuality that the sense-organ possesses potentially. Aristotle describes that it is through an intermediate condition, such as air, that sense organs receive the forms or qualities of the objects of perception, not the matter, when involuntarily acted upon by the external object. Thus, the sensitive soul has the capacity to receive sensible forms, resulting in perception. The sense-organs become like the agent after being affected, or receiving the qualities (Shields). Again, we can see Aristotle returning to his theory of Hylomorphism in describing perception as the change in the sense-organ as a result of the acquisition of form. The potential of the sense-organ is made actual in virtue of the external object which possesses the form in actuality. Aristotle states that every animal has the sense of touch, but not all possess the sense of sight, hearing, taste and smell. Animals are further distinguished along these lines; while each possesses a nutritive and a sensitive soul, there are various degrees of complexity of the latter soul corresponding to the activities of the animal. Aristotle continues further that the possession of the perceptive soul implies that the animal has the capacity to desire, and desiring includes appetite, emotion, and wish. He also determines possession of this soul entails the ability to feel pleasure and pain and it is in virtue of this soul that some animals possess the power of locomotion (Aristotle, De Anima 413-415). The rational soul, perhaps the most difficult section to interpret of De Anima, is essential and indicative of humans alone. It is in virtue of the rational soul, the intellect, that we come to know and understand things. The intellect is the seat of thought and thus reason. Thinking is similar to perception, as it involves the reception of form by a suitable capacity. However, while the object of perception is external and is the composite of form and matter, the object of thought is within the soul and is form alone (Shields). While hard to follow, I believe the objects of thought are the forms of forms; they get their intelligible forms in virtue of the sensible forms sensed in perception. Aristotle discusses the concept of â€Å"appearances†, which are different from perceptions and beliefs, for appearances exist while we sleep, with no external stimuli actualizing the ‘sensation’, and beliefs involve conviction, while appearances do not. Appearances are images resembling objects of perception (Aristotle, De Anima 428). It is helpful to think of appearances as the representation of reality we see in imagination. I believe Aristotle is claiming that it is these appearances that are the objects of thought. In intellection, the mind is made to be like the object of thought through reception of its intelligible form. The intellect is pure potentiality, it potentially has all of these objects of thought, and only in thought do these intelligible forms become actualized in the mind (Shields). As Aristotle’s philosophical worldview rests on a Hylomorphic principle, it is difficult to see how the alteration, bringing the intellect from potentiality to actuality in thought, comes about. In perception, this is in virtue of an external object that acts as an agent for change in the sense-organ. But what is the agent of change in intellection? Aristotle divides the intellect into the active and passive intellects. The active intellect acts as the agent of change; when the mind thinks the active intellect actualizes the intelligible forms in the passive intellect. The passive intellect stores the concepts of knowledge and intelligible forms in potentiality, to be recalled by the active intellect during thought. This means however, that the actual must precede the potential, contrary to what was discussed above. The nature of the active intellect is its activity, so it must be unremittingly active in order to cause the passive intellect to act and us to have thoughts and reason. If it is continuously active, this part of the rational soul must be eternal and thus stands in stark contrast with the rest of the souls Aristotle posits, but this controversial point is something I will not take up in this paper (Shields).

Learn About Where Polar Bears Live

Learn About Where Polar Bears Live Polar bears are the largest bear species. They can grow to from 8 feet to 11 feet tall and about 8 feet long, and they can weigh in anywhere from 500 pounds to 1,700 pounds. They are easy to recognize due to their white coat and dark eyes and nose. You may have seen polar bears in zoos, but do you know where these iconic marine mammals live in the wild? Knowing can help us help this threatened species survive. There are 19 different populations of polar bears, and all live in the Arctic region. This is the area that is north of the Arctic Circle, which lies at 66 degrees, 32 minutes North latitude. Where to Go If Youre Hoping to See a Polar Bear in the Wild United States (Alaska)Canada, including the provinces and territories of Manitoba, Newfoundland, Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon Territory)Greenland/DenmarkNorwayRussian Federation Polar bears are native to the countries above and occasionally are found in Iceland. A polar bear range map from the IUCN can be seen to view populations. You can see live footage of polar bears in Manitoba. If you want to see a polar bear in a completely non-native region, you can check out the polar bear camera from the San Diego Zoo. Why Polar Bears Live in Such Cold Areas Polar bears are suited to cold areas because they have thick fur and a layer of fat that is 2 inches to 4 inches thick that keeps them warm despite the frigid temperatures. But the main reason they live in these cold areas is that that is where their  prey  resides. Polar bears feed on ice-loving species, such as seals (ringed and bearded seals are their favorites), and sometimes walruses and whales. They stalk their prey by waiting patiently near holes in the ice. This is where the seals surface, and therefore where the polar bears can hunt. Sometimes they swim below the ice to hunt, directly in the freezing water. They can spend time on land and not just on ice banks, so long as there is access to food. They can also sniff out where seal dens are for another means to find food. They need the fat from the seals to survive and prefer these types of high-fat creatures. The range of polar bears is limited by the southern extent of sea ice. This is why we commonly hear about their habitats being threatened; less ice, fewer places to thrive. Ice is essential for the survival of polar bears. They are a species that is threatened by global warming. You can help polar bears in small ways by reducing your carbon footprint with activities such as walking, riding a bike or using public transportation instead of driving; combining errands so that you use your car less; conserving energy and water, and buying items locally to cut down on the environmental impacts of transportation.

Anita Desai Essay Example for Free

Anita Desai Essay The main characters who struck me the most are Uma and her brother Arun; to them are dedicated the two parts of the novel. Personally I think they have a lot of things in common and I’m not only considering the fact that they belong to the same close-knit family: they are somehow subjected to a reality from which they both want to escape. Uma is the plainest character of the novel, I think: she always obeys her parents and makes everything they want her to do. This is not completely a negative point but, reading the first pages of the book, I admit that I would like to react for her to the commandments of her MamaPapa, as they are often mentioned†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Go to the cook†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Prepare the packet for your brother†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Write a letter†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦but how can she manage to do all these things together?! In my opinion Uma is also naà ¯ve, she seems to be somehow tied by a sense of duty to her parents, especially after the failure of her two arranged marriages, and what about the dowry she has squandered?! as her father reminds her. The only â€Å"pause† of her life is given by the visits of Mira-masi, a particular woman who deeply fascinates Uma for the stories she tells her: she represents a ray of hope into the life of the girl, although her parents don’t approve the complicity created between them. Arun, whose birth was really longed for, is sent to the USA where he attends the college: being the only son of the family he has the honour of receiving a good education and he has also the possibility to live far from the oppressing reality of his homeland. But his life remains very unhappy: also the family to which he lives while in America is a sort of weight for him. The second part of the novel seems to me a long digression about food, I think that the food itself is the only reason for a link between Arun and the new family, Mrs Patton in particular. I think both brother and sister are oppressed voices who want to live in peace and to escape from the world they live in, although they aren’t able to rebel against it. For this very reason I would like them to write to each other, what does not happen in the novel. Dear Arun, Maybe for the first time in my life I admit that I’m very sad but what troubles me the most is the fact that I’m not able to find a way out†¦ Our cousin Anamika is dead. Everybody here is trying to give an explanation but†¦what for, she won’t ever come back and there are no acceptable explanations for her death†¦ I absolutely can’t imagine that the urn in front of me contains her ashes†¦she is dead†¦ but I’m dead too. Her awe for the family led her towards death, but what about me? I will stay forever with MamaPapa, I can’t abandon them, they are†¦my life! When mama grips my hand I know, I feel that there is something strong between us and I can’t, I can’t leave†¦ MamaPapa is calling me†¦I have to go. I don’t know if I will ever send this letter to you: perhaps I will burn it. Uma Dear Uma, A new semester at the college is beginning and my stay with the Pattons is over. I’m happy because I can leave this strange family: it wasn’t my place, I didn’t feel comfortable with them, I felt oppressed and obliged to be part of it, maybe only because I felt sorry for Mrs Patton and I didn’t want to disappoint her. This is the reason why I gave her the presents you sent me (but please don’t reveal anything to MamaPapa!): I didn’t want her to be worried about me when I silently walked out of her life. Arun Alice Bravin 5 H Liceo Scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Pordenone Anita Desai â€Å"FASTING, FEASTING† The novel by Anita Desai appeared insipid to my eyes. If I were asked to collect all the emotions that the book has stirred in my heart, I would find myself in anguishing troubles, for I’m quite numb to it as well I am frustrated by each work of art dominated by a sense of heaviness. The characters are imbued with, or even better, they are emblems of this heaviness which reveals itself mainly in the temperament of Uma, who is the best-built character of the novel. Anita Desai succeeded in the enterprise of creating a character without personality, a woman deprived of her soul. She is the designated victim who is doomed to endure the burden of life, symbolized first of all by her parents. Uma doesn’t strike my sensibility: I don’t feel pity for her, nor would I establish a sort of sympathetic relationship with her; her ineptitude doesn’t arouse my anger, nor would I shake her out of the status of torpor she experiences. I am quite interested in one of the psychological aspects of Uma, that of repression. Uma is not free to be what she wants to be, to do what she wants to do, so she is utterly repressed in her passions, in her feelings, in her personality; this last dimension is completely neglected to her. These inner forces run inside her veins and arteries, like water permeating through the cracks of a rock and when temperatures gets colder, it becomes ice and causes the explosion of the rock. The same happens inside Uma and the implosion is disguised as a sort of disease. Convulsions, nausea which leads to vomit, suffered cries, these moments are the most involving – and at the same time disturbing – moments and situations of the novel. I would have appreciated if Anita Desai had developed this edge of the prism of Uma. Sigmund Freud stated that mental patients are like diamonds, whose structure is based on its corners. In these lines the diamond would break in case it fell on the ground. Uma is like that. Her body seems possessed by a demoniac spirit, her limbs, her bowels are rocked by the unique act of rebellion which is allowed to her. I wonder why the writer has snobbed this issue, which probably assumes a religious and philosophical value and is strictly connected to Indian culture. The heaviness that haunts the book is expressed even by the settings. Concerning this point I would like to recall the image of Uma and her aunt who leave together on a spiritual trip. The bus they catch is incredibly crowded: this episode evokes the image of mingled noises and smells within the dusty and sandy air of India. The writer enables us to appreciate each aspect of the setting – thanks to her detailed language – so that the reader manages to broaden his sensorial perceptions and is caught by the use of synaesthesia. ( The description of the believers bathing in the Gange becomes meaningful in this sense ). Before starting reading the book I thought it would be quite precious for me in order to learn more about the Indian world, even appreciating it by means of the parallel Anita Desai draws with Northern America. But I was wrong: â€Å"Fasting, feasting † doesn’t seem so representative of India: the impression I get is that of a character – Uma – who might be possibly Irish or even Italian. Westerners share the same common imagery about India and this common imagery is banal and dominated by prejudices. The book is ambiguous, in the sense that neither supports this statement, nor deny it. The same ambiguity lies in the second part of the novel – that dedicated to Arun – which takes place in the United Stated of America. Anita Desai gives us tenets and traits of the American Society coming in the story of an American family. Here there aren’t crowded busses or temples, but televisions, junk food, couches, barbecues, baseball matches and people who enjoy all these objects and events. The same dusty air is breathed by Arun when he goes back home walking on the boundaries of the street. The same atmosphere of heaviness which degenerates into disease. For these very reasons I state that Uma and her story are not so â€Å"Indian†. Moreover, I have some perplexities about the last chapter – really shorter than the first one – which doesn’t find a proper literary justification. It is a sort of appendix, even if only almost at the end of the book there’s the precise reference to the tile â€Å"Fasting, feasting† and is embodied by the bulimic girl. Alessandra Crimi 5 H Liceo Scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Pordenone Anita Desai – Fasting, Feasting Fasting, Feasting is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. Thanks to the brilliant descriptions and the elegant narration the reader has the opportunity to create an imaginary but precise setting were characters develop during the story. I think that this novel is like a mirror because it gives the opportunity to reflect, in both meanings of the word. We can reflect ourselves in the protagonists (mirror-like effect) and we can reflect, think, about the different values and importance that people from different societies give to ideals they believe in. In my opinion the rhythm of the narration is sometimes too slow, but I can understand that it is due to the fact that, once again, it mirrors the context where the story takes place. In India, in fact, there is no frenetic life, no stress, no anxiety of living and for this very reason people can pay attention to little events that we probably ignore. When the father asks for his drink, it seems to me that everyone in the family has to stop and be there for this event; when a guest arrives unexpectedly, all the attention is directed to him; even the choice of one kind of food rather than another seems to be one of the most important problems of the day. . The character of Mumdad is what emotionally touched me most, maybe because to a certain extent I can detect in them some traits my parents have. The image of Mumdad on the swing describes their indissoluble bond. Mumdad are a unique person/entity made up of two different souls. These two souls are always at unison, they never take opposite decisions, they argue but they always find a compromise, they are, in a word, complementary. I always admired this ability to build little by little a life together even if, for a child, sometimes it’s not so easy to accept their decision, or rather, their impositions. Uma is my favourite character. In some parts of the novel I felt really involved in her problems, in her thoughts and desires. She loves school even if she isn’t able to get good marks; she loves learning, she wants to try again, to spend another year at school, she’s sure she will improve. She suffers when Mumdad decide she should give up her studies. She suffers when she understands she is not as beautiful, intelligent as her sister Aruna, and so she is considered a lesser woman. Uma suffers silently, she accepts her condition of inferiority, yet she is always looking for a moment of glory that, unfortunately, never comes. She is like the most humble flower that grows up silently, that is trampled from the gardener that gave her birth, because a rose is blooming next to the humble flower and he must be there to praise the perfection and beauty of the rose. I’m not saying that I reflect myself in Uma , absolutely not, on the contrary, I’m saying that all my life I have been an Aruna, and I didn’t know about it. I’m an only child, there is no Uma in my family, but thanks to the juxtaposition of the two characters I have understood that I have always been loved and pampered and nursed and highly considered and I don’t really know if I deserve all this. This book has really been a great opportunity for me, it has made me reflect on my values and on the meaning of my â€Å"little† life: too often we don’t realise what is around us. But now I want stop talking about me. I would love to write a few lines about arranged marriages. In our Western society, marriage is generally viewed as a value strongly linked with the concept of freedom, the freedom to choose the person with whom we would like to spend all our life. We have this great opportunity and we often waste it. We are free to love a person for his peculiarities and not for his money and often people choose the partner for his richness, we get married and then we divorce and kids are treated as merchandise, we often get married for reasons that sometimes are far away from love and we claim to judge a society where parents choose a spouse for their children. I think that Western people are more contradictory than what they want to admit and perhaps less happy. Perhaps it is this very feeling that leads plenty of us to judge other cultures. DA PIEVE LUCIA 5 H Liceo scientifico â€Å"M. Grigoletti† Anita Desai â€Å"Fasting,Feasting† This is the first book by Anita Desai I have ever read. Her observations are astute whether they are on living conditions in India or USA. Anita Desai uses her words perfectly to convey exactly what she feels,but even if it could seem a contradiction,I think that the problem with the book is its dry, clinical approach in chronicling the lives of the characters, the book lacks passion. I was always on the outside, looking into the lives of people. The book offers few chances of getting involved with the characters ,in fact while reading the book I didn’t feel the compulsion of finishing it quickly. The part I liked better is the first half of the book that deals with life in a small, slow town in India, with rigid parents and well-drafted routines. The †Indian half† is more detailed than the other half which deals with the â€Å"rule-less† life in suburban USA. In the first half there is a partly successful, proud father, who goes through life, with set patterns and no passion. A mother who goes along with her husband, doing what is supposedly right and expected of her, curbing and killing all her innate desires. Three children. The eldest, Uma, clumsy . The middle daughter Aruna, pretty, ambitious and smart, but eventually also a victim of her choices. The last, a son, Arun, on whom the parents put all their dreams and energies. All of them, along with members of their extended family, go through some form of deprivation (of will, of fun, of passion and of love). I think that a merit of this book is the way it highlights the Indian traditions, cultures and mostly the place of a woman in an Indian family. I liked the character of Uma in the book because she is both willing to take a chance with life and at the same time dedicated to her family.She takes whatever happens to her life with such grace that she does not give me a chance to cry for her. I like her inner strength. The story in itself is told from the perspective of the protagonist, Uma, who starts out as a wideeyed child at a convent who shows an enthusiasm for education but with the birth of her brother Arun, Uma takes on the role of nanny. Here, one encounters the distinct preference parents have for the male child. Desai next explores the conventional belief that ties a woman’s worth to her physical appearance. A woman who lacks beauty is often rushed into the first marital offer she receives, only to pay a heavy price later on. Desai shows the challenges a single woman faces regardless of how successful she is. By contrast, Uma’s cousin is portrayed as the ultimate success because she is able to marry well thanks to her looks. She makes the reader wonder how happy she truly is, when she eventually takes her own life. Uma is the main character in the first half of the novel. She is a clumsy, uncoordinated woman who finds it difficult to succeed in almost everything she does – she fails in school, can’t cook, spills food and drink and can’t find anyone worthwhile to get married to. Her father feels that Uma is incapable of fending for herself, as she is too clumsy, uncoordinated and proves a failure in almost everything she does.Uma fails in school, in the kitchen and she even fails to find anyone worthwhile to get married to. The father asks Uma to interrupt her studies in the Christian convent when he find out she not doing very well at school. He feels that it was a waste of time and money to provide Uma an education ;he has other plans for her.She will look after her baby brother Arun and take care of the household while her mother rests after giving birth. Uma’s life is constantly planned by her father.Uma cannot resist her father’s oppressive patriarchal ideology, as she is afraid of the consequences that would befall her if she angered the colonial characteristics of her father. Uma’s entertainment comes in the form of her cousin, Ramu. When Ramu is around, Uma feels at ease. But the father feels that Ramu is a bad influence on Uma. He does not want Uma to be influenced by other men who are capable of brainwashing her to resist the demands of his patriarchal nature. Anita Desai. (2016, May 06).