Production & Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Production & Operations Management - Essay Example Causes of Quality Problem on Greasex Line There are a lot of internal factors that contributes to the quality problems on Greasex line. This includes: (a) inefficient personnel – the operator that fills the equipment lacks working experience in running the machinery equipment, presence of the operator within the site, and lack of real-time report; (b) the automated filling equipment is not exclusively designed for Greasex line purposes and has no regular schedule for maintenance; (c) purchaser(s) do not have knowledge on the quality of spare parts needed for the equipment; and (d) lack of testing on the effects of contoured can on the speed of filling or filling hydrodynamics from a high-pressured filling head. Steps Hank should follow for Continuous Improvement Hank should implement a regular real-time reporting from operator(s) of Greasex line to ensure that necessary actions will be provided to cut down on ‘down-time’ errors and regular maintenance for machine. Ensure that effective training on handling the machinery should be provided by the company. Encourage purchaser to deal with operators carefully regarding the specs of materials needed. Take time to do laboratory tests on impact of contoured cans on speed of filling machine, etc). Compute for opportunity loss of using incompatible automated filling equipment for Greasex line.

Ancient Egyptian Religion Seen Through Art and Architecture Essay Example for Free

Ancient Egyptian Religion Seen Through Art and Architecture Essay These compositions demonstrated not only a style of art never before seen, but they also showed innovative techniques that have been duplicated for centuries. Although these works, which consisted mostly of pottery and wall murals, seem to be quite simple to the untrained eye, they were what most consider to be a stylized portrait of the times. J. R. Harris comments on this in his book, The Legacy of Egypt, purported lack of grace and charm, unnatural stylizationthese were not shortcomings, but essential manifestations of Ancient Egyptian arts specific nature (194). Another unique aspect of the Ancient Egyptian culture was the construction of elaborate, and sometimes enormous, works of architecture. This is due to the great care that the Ancient Egyptian populace took in constructing the temples, tombs, and halls of their period. In construction, the perfect knowledge of geometry of the architects is fully demonstrated (Howell 41). Ancient Egypt’s buildings were, in their time, the most remarkable landmarks known to man. Also, the ability of the architects of Ancient Egypt to include decorations into the edifices they constructed was highly developed. Tombs and temples alike were greatly adorned with colorful paintings, hieroglyphs, and symbols that added to their beauty. The earliest known art of the Ancient Egyptians was believed to have been very undefined and unskilled, according to Elizabeth Payne in her book, The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Crudely at first, they began drawing the duck and the fish on the sides of their pottery bowls. Then, little by little, over the long years, their skill as artists increased and their everyday objects became as beautiful as they were useful (27). After this eventual increase in the artistic talent of the people, new practices came in to use by which Ancient Egyptians expressed themselves. For example, tombs went from being mere pits and hollows in the sand to being quite complex. These structures have become what the world knows today as the Pyramids of Giza. A main characteristic of their religion was the fact that they believed in numerous gods which each had a special power or purpose. The gods personified everything the Egyptians wondered about or feared or hoped for. Reigning supreme over this multitude was Ra, the great god of the sun (Howell 51). Each entity was constructed his or her own temple so that the people could worship there. Also, the priests made sacrifices to the entities and bathed and anointed golden figures of them. The gods were often represented by animals and specialized symbols. The religion, art, and architecture of the Ancient Egyptians were so closely tied to one another that it is sometimes hard to distinguish between them. In fact, the Ancient Egyptians religion was the most common subject matter of their sculptures, paintings, and structures. For example, the prominent area of construction was that for temples and tombs. Such edifices were skillfully painted with murals to depict the purpose of the room or section; a temple would have pictures of the gods, and a tomb would have art showing a burial or death. In addition, ancient mythological texts were beautifully carved and painted on these walls. Although these were all applications of art and architecture in religion, the most prominent is most likely the funerary art of the Ancient Egyptians. Although the Ancient Egyptians religion has been fully demonstrated through Egyptian art and architecture the influence of their beliefs has extended far beyond what is imaginable. According to Noel Q. King, author of Religions of Africa, Egyptian religion of old has had one of the greatest effects upon Africa’s modern religions (47-48). For example, the multiple gods that the Ancient Egyptians adopted into their theism so long ago are still today present in many African tribes. In addition, the methods used in ancient mummification are the root of corpse preservation in modern society. Such contributions of the Ancient Egyptians have been adapted into methods used by today’s populace in many instances. This is because the culture of Ancient Egypt has provided a stimulus which creates the desire to live, to succeed, and to be remembered in history (Showker 156). ? Works Cited Harris, J. R. The Legacy of Egypt. 2nd ed. Glasgow: Oxford University Press, 1971. Howell, J. Morton. Egypt’s Past, Present and Future. Ohio: Service Publishing Company, 1929. King, Noel Q. Religions of Africa. New York: Harper and Row Publishing Company, 1970. Payne, Elizabeth. The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. New York: Random House Publishing Company, 1964. Showker, Kay. Egypt: A Complete Guide with Nile Cruises and Visits to the Pyramids. New York: Fodor’s, 1992.

A Comparison of the Magic in The Rocking-Horse Winner and A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings :: Rocking Horse Enormous Wings Essays

A Comparison of the Magic in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Magic arises out of the two main characters of D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Paul, in the first story, pulls out higher forces to help him decide who the winner of the next horse race will be. In the Marquez story, a nameless and elderly angel lands on earth to experience first hand the human behavior he strives to correct. The magic in the air gives these stories a feeling of suspense. They are horrifying, if not in the Stephen King horror genre. These tales encompass an undeniable amount of magic, faith, greed, vindication and misunderstanding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pelayo and Elisenda, in the Garcia Marquez yarn, find the soul retriever on his way to take their child to heaven, or so it is thought. The magical angel's identity had to be discovered by a neighbor of the couple because they didn't think that an angel could wind up on their land. Who would think of an angel landing? Meanwhile, Paul doesn't show when he discovers the magical power of the rocking horse he received as a gift one year. He does ride it often as Lawrence describes. The stories are bound by the fact that the magical things they discover are unbelievable at best. They often criticize Paul for his affection for a horse he should have outgrown long ago. No one would believe that the rocking-horse essentially talked to him. Although the characters in "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" believe that an angel is in their presence, they have no idea what to do with him. No one had ever dealt with a spirit on this level before.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As he rocked back and forth on his rocking horse, Paul had faith in finding the winner of the next horse race. For some reason they could not explain, Paul's uncle and Bassett had faith in him to pick it. They kept making money on the young boy with faith. The boy, whose parents had no luck, also had the faith that they did not have. Sadly, his faith killed him. He wanted so much to rid the house of the voices he heard that he drove himself to death from the intense pressure he placed upon himself. When he died, he killed the voices as the spiritual world claimed the only member of the family with luck.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" shows that the people in this small fan can have some level of faith without directly showing it.

Deception Point Page 17

Rachel could only stare. I traveled three thousand miles for this kind of hospitality? This guy was no Martha Stewart. â€Å"With all due respect,† she fired back, â€Å"I am also under presidential orders. I have not been told my purpose here. I made this trip on good faith.† â€Å"Fine,† Ekstrom said. â€Å"Then I will speak bluntly.† â€Å"You've made a damn good start.† Rachel's tough response seemed to jolt the administrator. His stride slowed a moment, his eyes clearing as he studied her. Then, like a snake uncoiling, he heaved a long sigh and picked up the pace. â€Å"Understand,† Ekstrom began, â€Å"that you are here on a classified NASA project against my better judgment. Not only are you a representative of the NRO, whose director enjoys dishonoring NASA personnel as loose-lipped children, but you are the daughter of the man who has made it his personal mission to destroy my agency. This should be NASA's hour in the sun; my men and women have endured a lot of criticism lately and deserve this moment of glory. However, due to a torrent of skepticism spearheaded by your father, NASA finds itself in a political situation where my hardworking personnel are forced to share the spotlight with a handful of random civilian scientists and the daughter of the man who is trying to destroy us.† I am not my father, Rachel wanted to shout, but this was hardly the moment to debate politics with the head of NASA. â€Å"I did not come here for the spotlight, sir.† Ekstrom glared. â€Å"You may find you have no alternative.† The comment took her by surprise. Although President Herney had said nothing specific about her assisting him in any sort of â€Å"public† way, William Pickering had certainly aired his suspicions that Rachel might become a political pawn. â€Å"I'd like to know what I'm doing here,† Rachel demanded. â€Å"You and me both. I do not have that information.† â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"The President asked me to brief you fully on our discovery the moment you arrived. Whatever role he wants you to play in this circus is between you and him.† â€Å"He told me your Earth Observation System had made a discovery.† Ekstrom glanced sidelong at her. â€Å"How familiar are you with the EOS project?† â€Å"EOS is a constellation of five NASA satellites which scrutinize the earth in different ways-ocean mapping, geologic fault analyses, polar ice-melt observation, location of fossil fuel reserves-â€Å" â€Å"Fine,† Ekstrom said, sounding unimpressed. â€Å"So you're aware of the newest addition to the EOS constellation? It's called PODS.† Rachel nodded. The Polar Orbiting Density Scanner (PODS) was designed to help measure the effects of global warming. â€Å"As I understand it, PODS measures the thickness and hardness of the polar ice cap?† â€Å"In effect, yes. It uses spectral band technology to take composite density scans of large regions and find softness anomalies in the ice-slush spots, internal melting, large fissures-indicators of global warming.† Rachel was familiar with composite density scanning. It was like a subterranean ultrasound. NRO satellites had used similar technology to search for subsurface density variants in Eastern Europe and locate mass burial sites, which confirmed for the President that ethnic cleansing was indeed going on. â€Å"Two weeks ago,† Ekstrom said, â€Å"PODS passed over this ice shelf and spotted a density anomaly that looked nothing like anything we'd expected to see. Two hundred feet beneath the surface, perfectly embedded in a matrix of solid ice, PODS saw what looked like an amorphous globule about ten feet in diameter.† â€Å"A water pocket?† Rachel asked. â€Å"No. Not liquid. Strangely, this anomaly was harder than the ice surrounding it.† Rachel paused. â€Å"So†¦ it's a boulder or something?† Ekstrom nodded. â€Å"Essentially.† Rachel waited for the punch line. It never came. I'm here because NASA found a big rock in the ice? â€Å"Not until PODS calculated the density of this rock did we get excited. We immediately flew a team up here to analyze it. As it turns out, the rock in the ice beneath us is significantly more dense than any type of rock found here on Ellesmere Island. More dense, in fact, than any type of rock found within a four-hundred-mile radius.† Rachel gazed down at the ice beneath her feet, picturing the huge rock down there somewhere. â€Å"You're saying someone moved it here?† Ekstrom looked vaguely amused. â€Å"The stone weighs more than eight tons. It is embedded under two hundred feet of solid ice, meaning it has been there untouched for over three hundred years.† Rachel felt tired as she followed the administrator into the mouth of a long, narrow corridor, passing between two armed NASA workers who stood guard. Rachel glanced at Ekstrom. â€Å"I assume there's a logical explanation for the stone's presence here†¦ and for all this secrecy?† â€Å"There most certainly is,† Ekstrom said, deadpan. â€Å"The rock PODS found is a meteorite.† Rachel stopped dead in the passageway and stared at the administrator. â€Å"A meteorite?† A surge of disappointment washed over her. A meteorite seemed utterly anti-climactic after the President's big buildup. This discovery will single-handedly justify all of NASA's past expenditures and blunders? What was Herney thinking? Meteorites were admittedly one of the rarest rocks on earth, but NASA discovered meteorites all the time. â€Å"This meteorite is one of the largest ever found,† Ekstrom said, standing rigid before her. â€Å"We believe it is a fragment of a larger meteorite documented to have hit the Arctic Ocean in the seventeen hundreds. Most likely, this rock was thrown as ejecta from that ocean impact, landed on the Milne Glacier, and was slowly buried by snow over the past three hundred years.† Rachel scowled. This discovery changed nothing. She felt a growing suspicion that she was witnessing an overblown publicity stunt by a desperate NASA and White House-two struggling entities attempting to elevate a propitious find to the level of earth-shattering NASA victory. â€Å"You don't look too impressed,† Ekstrom said. â€Å"I guess I was just expecting something†¦ else.† Ekstrom's eyes narrowed. â€Å"A meteorite of this size is a very rare find, Ms. Sexton. There are only a few larger in the world.† â€Å"I realize-â€Å" â€Å"But the size of the meteorite is not what excites us.† Rachel glanced up. â€Å"If you would permit me to finish,† Ekstrom said, â€Å"you will learn that this meteorite displays some rather astonishing characteristics never before seen in any meteorite. Large or small.† He motioned down the passageway. â€Å"Now, if you would follow me, I'll introduce you to someone more qualified than I am to discuss this find.† Rachel was confused. â€Å"Someone more qualified than the administrator of NASA?† Ekstrom's Nordic eyes locked in on hers. â€Å"More qualified, Ms. Sexton, insofar as he is a civilian. I had assumed because you are a professional data analyst that you would prefer to get your data from an unbiased source.† Touche. Rachel backed off. She followed the administrator down the narrow corridor, where they dead-ended at a heavy, black drapery. Beyond the drape, Rachel could hear the reverberant murmur of a crowd of voices rumbling on the other side, echoing as if in a giant open space. Without a word, the administrator reached up and pulled aside the curtain. Rachel was blinded by a dazzling brightness. Hesitant, she stepped forward, squinting into the glistening space. As her eyes adjusted, she gazed out at the massive room before her and drew an awestruck breath.

Macbeth What are the roles of the witches Essay

Banquo himself appears at the end of the line with a mirror, thus implying an infinite number of descendants. Stupefied, Macbeth cannot believe his eyes and is angered to realize that despite all of his work, he wears a â€Å"fruitless crown. † The witches disappear and Lennox enters the haunt. He informs Macbeth that Macduff has run off to England. Macbeth decides that he must act out all of his thoughts and impulses. He determines to kill Macduff’s wife and children as his first step of revenge. Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. These lines are two of the most famous in all of Shakespeare’s works. Interestingly, the chants of the Weird Sisters are not written in Shakespeare’s primary meter, iambic pentameter, but in a rapid meter called trochaic tetrameter. Most of Shakespeare’s enchanted verse is written in trochaic tetrameter. As the chanting went on with the sisters more gruesome things got thrown into the cauldron. The ingredients start fairly small and gradually get bigger and harder to find. It starts off with the witches throwing poisoned entrails in and ends up with them throwing a gut of a starving shark or a dragon scale. The witches know something evil is on its way to knock at there door. The second witch say: â€Å"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes, Open locks, whoever knocks† And guess who it is Macbeth. The witches made this evil potion because they knew that something evil was on its way. Its like they were expecting Macbeth to come and they seem quite excited about it as well. When the consequences of the murders of Duncan and Banquo are too much for him to handle, his primal instinct is to go back to the witches. They are now his only hope. It is an admission that he cannot control things any longer and from this point on in the play we just know he is going to die. He returns to the witches because they are his last straw. They are now his only hope. He has been hit by what the consequences could be for murdering Duncan and Banquo. He has gone back to seek advice and help from the witches. He doesn’t know what to do next with his life. His life has been destroyed by evil and ambition combined. Macbeth again tries to control the witches he is commanding them to answer his questions: â€Å"How now you secret, black and midnight hags! What is’t you do? † â€Å"Tell me, thou unknown power† He is trying to control them he tries to question them and overpower them. In the end the witches disappear because they don’t like being commanded by anyone. Macbeth must be scared and confused in which the way the witches talk to him he asks them question and they give confusing and mysterious answers like: â€Å"A deed without a name† The three apparitions in Macbeth show: The first is an armed head, summoned to warn Macbeth that Macduff is coming back to Scotland to ruin him. The second apparition is a bloody child and it tells Macbeth that no man born of a woman can do him harm. This gives Macbeth great confidence: â€Å"Then live Macduff: what need I fear of thee? â€Å". The third apparition is that of a child wearing a crown and holding a tree. It declares: Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill Shall come against him. Macbeth is secure that the third apparition’s prophecy will never be, for ‘who can impress the forest? ‘ or ‘bid the tree unfix his earth-bound roots? ‘ Macbeth is misled by these apparitions he gets cocky and things no harm will come to him because he thinks that no one woman can live and that the Forrest cant move the only one that he is scared about is the third one where he is told that Banquo’s kids will be kings. There was no need to kill Mcduff’s family Macbeth just got cocky. Macbeth thought he owned the world when he got told no woman born could harm him. At the beginning of the play Macbeth got compared to a brave and noble man, but at the end he is described as a butcher because he just killed living things for no purpose. He done it out of pure evil it weren’t even his family that he killed he killed his castle and everybody in it even his animals. In conclusion to this I think that by using the roles of the witches give off a nightmarish and evilness into the play. The witches were horrible characters. They just destroyed Macbeth’s life. I don’t think that Macbeth was in charge of his own life. I think that Macbeth’s destiny lay in the hands of the witches from the beginning of the play to the end of the play. So overall I think the witches did give off an evil sense. Paul Carew 10B English Mr Lynn Page 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Career Episode Civil Essays

Career Episode Civil Essays Career Episode Civil Essay Career Episode Civil Essay Career Episode 3 a) Introduction This career episode describes my working activity from September till October 2xxx. I was working as a group leader at the design of water-supply and sewerage works and networks of the FFF Bauxite Mine and of a town situated in Komi Autonomous Republic. b) Background. After reviewing the background data I had to define water-supply sources, to calculate water consumption for domestic, industrial and fire safety purposes of the mine industrial area and the town. I also had to estimate sewage runoff and to select appropriate water and sewerage works. I had to foresee the measures devoted to environmental protection. As usual I closely collaborated with relative specialists- prospecting specialists, electrical engineers, water engineers and metallurgical specialists. For this design I carried out all the necessary calculations, developed the principal main water-supply and sewerage works schemes, water consumption and water removal balance schemes. All the calculations were carried out on a computer. While I was working on the project I took part in the negotiations with the customer, where we discussed the engineering and environmental protection problems. After completing my work I gave the explanatory note to my customer for approval. c) Personal workplace activity. For this design I studied a lot of materials which contained the information about hydrological, geological and climatic parameters of the designed industrial site area. I analysed accounts of preliminary and detailed groundwater prospecting for household water-supply. The careful study of this information made it possible for me to offer the disposition of water-intake works ( artesian wells ) not at the place recommended at the reliminary prospecting. That fact excluded the possibility of chemical and bacterial contamination of the water supply source. I carried out the calculations of water consumption for domestic, industrial and fire safety needs. On the basis of these calculations I developed the water-supply scheme. This scheme was as follows: Water from the water-intake wells is distributed by the pumps to the regulating reservoirs intended for the water collectin g before the pumping station of the second raising. The pumps at the pumping station of the second raising discharge water from the regulating reservoirs to the reservoirs where fire-proof, emergency and controlling reserve of water is kept. From the reservoirs the water flows under gravity to the circular network. I made provision for a special installation of the regulating valves with the electric drive in the wells near the tanks in order to pass the fire safety reserve of water. In this project I made an important decision regarding environmental protection. I offered to disinfect potable water at the bactericidal plants. Besides, I foresaw the reserved disinfection of water with the solution of natrium hypochlorite obtained from the solution of salt in the electrolyses. For this design we (my group under my direction) worked out the borders of sanitary protection zones for water-supply sources and water storage tanks. We kept in view the further development of our object. We also included all the sanitary steps around the zone territory according to the construction standards and rules. On the industrial areas of the mine I designed the recycling water supply systems for a diesel power station, for a crushed stone factory and for a car-washer. I estimated and selected the following works and networks of the recycling water supply systems: recycling water-supply pumping stations, water-cooling towers, car-washer sewage water treatment plants, recycling water pipe-lines. These recycling water supply systems allowed to reduce fresh water consumption. The recycling water supply systems make 92 percent of the whole mine water-supply in this design. I also calculated the following sewerage systems: household, industrially-storm and industrial ones. For the household sewerage system I estimated and selected sewerage pumping stations, domestic sewage treatment plants, sewerage networks. At the disposal works waste water passes step by step the intake chamber, the racks, the grit catchers and then enters the mixing chamber. The aluminium sulphate solution and chlorine water are fed there to improve oxidising of ammonia nitrogen. Then sewage enters the sedimentation tank, where settling takes place to separate the main part of pollutants. In order to remove residual organic pollutants and unsettled suspended matter the further sewage treatment goes on by the oxidation on the surface of the pores filter bed. Treated sewage water enters the contact chamber for the disinfection. In my explanatory note I gave the description of all the sewerage works and represented the tables of pollutants concentrations in household sewage before and after the purification. I also represented the results of the suspended matter and biological oxygen demand ( BOD ) sewage purification degree design taking into account the process of the mixing with water of the river, in which sewage is discharged after purification. Disposal works which I have selected ensure household sewage purification up to the maximum concentration limits that in turn permit to discharge sewage into basins important for fish industry. I also made provision for storm water treatment. Storm water full of black oil from the territory of lubricating materials storehouse, from a car park and garage, sewage from the repair shops enter the storm water treatment plants. Here sedimentation and purification take place on the filters. After purification storm water isn’t discharged into the basin but it is utilised in the hydraulic ash removal system of the boiler house and partly used to fill the recycling water supply systems of HPP ( heating power plant ). I also designed the second sewage utilisation for the industrial sewerage system. Sewage from the hydro-washing of the floors of crushed stone factory and of grinding-sorting factory enters the pumping station and then the sewage flows to the ash dump of HPP to fill the recycling water supply systems. In this project I had to solve the problem of the FFF bauxite mine quarry water treatment working together with the water engineer and the specialist of our institute scientific research department. I provided for the sewage treatment and the sewage discharge into the river belonging to the fish-industry basins of the extra quality, where the pollutants content was carefully controlled by the present legislation. The mine quarry water is a mixture of treated industrial water and water pumped from the mine underground roadways. The water is generally polluted by the suspended matter and the oil products. First the quarry water flows into the sedimentation tank. In the sedimentation tank the averaging of seasonal movements of water consumption and the partial suspended matter sedimentation takes place. To achieve the required purification degree I developed the process flow sheet with the reagent water treatment and the following filtration. The flow sheet includes: The suspended matter treatment in the sedimentation tank with natrium aluminate as a coagulant. Filtration. The pollutants content after the purification meets the specifications of the maximum permissible concentrations of the controlled components for fishing basins. To achieve the required purification degree I provided for the centralised control of the process, the automatic adjustment of the parameters and the analytic control of the quality of influents and effluents. To ensure reliable work and optimal sanitary-engineering conditions all the reservoirs equipment is provided by the special devices. These devices give warning signals if the limiting value is achieved. All the equipment and all the pipe-lines which are exposed to the aggressive medium acting are protected by the special corrosion proof coverage. d) Summary. In this design many tasks and problems were accomplished. They are closely connected with water-supply, water draining, sewage treatment, environmental protection of the designed object. Developing this design, I managed to apply all my knowledge and skills of a construction engineer. The design was approved and co-ordinated by the customer.

Individual Critical Reflection Report The WritePass Journal

Individual Critical Reflection Report Abstract Individual Critical Reflection Report , p40) claims that the system requirements model entails what the system in its entirety is required to do. It may be broad and high level or more specialized and detailed depending on the type of processes in question. The group chose the detailed requirement because it allows for organization into hierarchy that culminates into highly efficient processes.  Ã‚   This was important because it helped the group meet high level requirements in the design and functioning of the process. In so doing the group was able to manage the complexity of large systems although we found it necessary to be more careful while moving to the design/ analysis model e in order to minimize on errors. The group realized that the systems requirements model had a few shortcomings like it at times fails to meet the requirements of the user and this may go undetected   until the system is integrated, when this happens, it leads to unnecessary inconveniences in terms of both time and resources. Additionally, the model has a relatively longer than the desired development cycles. The fact that requirements change so quickly with advancements in technology and other related factors often render the systems requirement model unsuitable because of the high costs incurred during upgrades for the system to meet the new requirements (International Workshop IW-SAPF-3, Linden, 2001, p53 Satzinger, Jackson, Burd, 2008, p59). It was always challenging to decide when to transit to the design/ analysis model owing to the various shortcomings that are encountered at the requirements model level. The analysis / design model Casteleyn (2009, p43) asserts that the objective of any model is to support the efforts of the architect in making the project to have the right design, specification and decisions in order to achieve the intended goals.   The right design and specification is often assessed using denominators like business viability, customer satisfaction, meeting the constraints of the project and the associated risk levels. For the designer to be able to meet the required standards, he or she needs to work with sufficient credibility, accuracy and working range. In essence the analysis/ design model is an improvement on the requirements model as it relies on it in generating information like customer preferences, market trends and the industrial characteristics.   Once the requirements stage is well orchestrated, then the analysis/ design model will be more efficient owing to the reduction in errors (Wasson 2005, p89).   The reverse is also true as inefficiencies in design leads to errors be ing carried forward to the analysis/ design stage. Issues and limitations A good model should be able to detect any defects early in the life cycle of a product. As such testing should be carried out as early as possible in order to minimise the costs of repair. This implies that testing should be integrated in the design of the system so that it can be verified against the requirements as early as possible. This is the basis on which the requirements model works as it understands and outlines the set of requirements in advance. As earlier outlined, the main reason behind modelling is to contribute to easy identification of any incompleteness and ambiguity in the input material. The requirements model often assumes that the textual requirements provided as input in the process often adhere to very high quality standards, although this is not always the case as evidenced by the defects that often arise later in the process. This is in fact where the design/ analysis models steps in as it enables the requirements analyst to improve quality by further modelli ng the requirements in a formal representation as this allows for a detailed analysis of such requirements (Slooten, ebrary, Inc. 2002, p32).   The reliance of the analysis / design model on the requirements is very evident and critical as it reuses the requirements for the verification of the various available alternative designs. This ensures that the final product is greatly improved because the errors and any other mishaps are fixed in time (Information Resources Management Association 2011, p67 IFIP WG 8.1 et al 2007, p77). One of the biggest issues that faced the group and is also a challenge to the other software developers is knowing when and how to transit from the requirements stage to the actual design/analysis stage. This was a major point of contention as some members felt that we were transiting too early while others felt that it was the right time to make the transition. The challenge here is to make the right call because an incorrect one can be very costly in terms of both time and resources. An early leap puts the whole project on the precipice of collapse because of the sketchy requirements whereas a late leap leads to postponement of high risks as they are transferred to the later stages of the project lifecycle. Possible improvements to the teams work (with regards to the specific chosen topic) One of the most important things that the group realized was that it is very important to make smooth the transition process from the requirements to design/analysis model.   It is important to have an artifact that ties directly the two workflows into one organized unit (Tari,   Corsaro,   Meersman, 2004, p72 Chiang, Siau, Hardgrave 2009, p56). The project team should make good use of case realization as the transitional artifact. This activity should occur in the first recapitulation of the elaboration phase. The use case realization acts as a transitional element that specifies how the use case will be implemented in the final project. However, it is critical to note that the use case realization is indeed a composite artifact that contains other design models that are a representation of the actual realization. The collaboration diagrams and UML sequence are some of the models that the group can use as case representations.   Once the group makes good use of this then the whole process of transition will be relatively easy as it leads to efficiency of the whole process. Bibliography Casteleyn, S. (2009). Engineering Web applications. Dordrecht: Springer. Chiang, R., Siau, K., Hardgrave, B. C. (2009). Systems analysis and design: Techniques, methodologies, approaches, and architectures. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe. IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference on Situational Method Engineering: Fundamentals and Experiences, RalyteÃŒ , J., Brinkkemper, S., Henderson-Sellers, B. (2007). Situational method engineering: Fundamentals and experiences : proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.1 Working Conference, 12-14 September 2007, Geneva, Switzerland. New York: Springer Information Resources Management Association. (2011). Instructional design: Concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. International Workshop IW-SAPF-3, Linden, F. . (2001). Software architectures for product families: International Workshop IW-SAPF-3, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Sapin, March 15-17, 2000 : proceedings. Berlin: Springer. Satzinger, J. W., Jackson, R. B., Burd, S. D. (2008). Systems analysis and design in a changing world. Cambridge Mass: Course Technology. Slooten, K. ., ebrary, Inc. (2002). Optimal information modeling techniques. Hershey, PA: IRM Press. Tari, Z., Corsaro, A., Meersman, R. (2004). On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2004: OTM 2004 Workshops. Berlin: Springer. Turban, B. (2013). Tool-Based requirement traceability between requirement and design artifacts. Wiesbaden: Springer Vieweg. Wasson, C. S. (2005). System Analysis, Design, and Development: Concepts, Principles, and Practices. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons.

The Rather Interesting History of Speak and Spell

The Rather Interesting History of Speak and Spell The Speak and Spell is a handheld electronic device and educational toy with a very interesting place in history. The toy/learning aid was developed in the late 1970s by Texas Instruments and introduced to the public at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1978. Its claim to fame is that the Speak and Spell was the first commercial product to use a brand new technology, called DSP technology. According to the IEEE: the Speak and Spell digital signal processing (DSP) innovation in audio processing is the starting milestone for the huge digital signal processing industry that has a more than $20 Billion market today. Using digital signal processing has grown tremendously with the development of analog to digital and digital to analog conversion chips and techniques. Digital signal processors are used in many of the consumer, industrial, and military applications. Digital Signal Processing By definition, DSP (short for digital signal processing) is the manipulation of analog information into digital. In Speak and Spells case, it was analog sound information that was converted into a digital form. The Speak and Spell was a product that was the result of Texas Instruments research into the area of synthetic speech. By being able to speak to children, the Speak and Spell was able to teach both the correct spelling and pronunciation of a word. Research and Development of the Speak and Spell The Speak and Spell marked the first time the human vocal tract had been electronically duplicated on a single chip of silicon. According to the manufacturers of the Speak and Spell, Texas Instruments, research on the Speak and Spell began in 1976 as a three-month feasibility study with a $25,000 budget. Four men worked on the project in its early stages: Paul Breedlove, Richard Wiggins, Larry Brantingham, and Gene Frantz. The idea for the Speak and Spell originated with engineer Paul Breedlove. Breedlove had been thinking about potential products that could use the capabilities of the new bubble memory (another Texas Instrument research project) when he came up with the idea for the Speak and Spell, originally named The Spelling Bee. With technology being what it was at that time period, speech data required a challenging amount of memory, and Texas Instruments agreed with Breedlove that something like the Speak and Spell could be a good application to develop. In an interview conducted by Benj Edwards of Vintage Computing with one of the Speak and Spell team members, Richard Wiggins, Wiggins reveals the basic roles of each of the team in the following way: Paul Breedlove originated the idea of a learning aid for spelling.Gene Frantz was responsible for the overall product design: spelling words, case design, display, and operation.Larry Brantingham was the integrated circuit designer.Richard Wiggins wrote the voice processing algorithms. Solid State Speech Circuitry The Speak and Spell was a revolutionary invention. According to Texas Instruments, it used an entirely new concept in speech recognition and unlike tape recorders and pull-string photograph records used in many speaking toys at the time, the solid-state speech circuitry it used had no moving parts. When it was told to say something it drew a word from memory, processed it through an integrated circuit model of a human vocal tract and then spoke electronically. Made specifically for the Speak and Spell, the Speak and Spell four created the first linear predictive coding digital signal processor integrated circuit, the TMS5100. In laymans terms, the TMS5100 chip was the first speech synthesizer IC ever made.

Organisational Context of Management Accounting Essay - 1

Organisational Context of Management Accounting - Essay Example Agency theory has been considered as one of the significant theoretical paradigms in management accounting for the last 25 years. This theory is developed with the notion of conflicting aims between two groups, primarily agents and principals. One of the significant features of the agency theory is that it allows accounting researchers to unambiguously integrate ‘conflicts of interest, incentive problems and mechanism to control incentive problems’ (Lambert, 2007). The objective of this theory is to structure the contractual connection between the two groups: the agents take actions to exploit the welfare and benefits of principals. At the fundamental level, agency theory is utilised in accounting research in order to address two issues. The important issues involve accounting, information and compensation structure that affects incentive problems and the other significant issue is the presence of incentive problems that influence the structure and design of information, compensation systems and accounting (Lambert, 2007). On the other hand, agency theory fails to explain that the agreement between the agent and the principal is flexible in nature. This is a well known fact that principals used to possess shortage of information and are restricted in their sense of rationality; however, they are conscious that incentive related problems exist, when the contract takes place (Hauswirth, 2006). This theory can be applied in this case to understand the impact of budget cuts on the universities. The level of autonomy, as well as academic liberty in universities and colleges vary; thus it has been considered that universities act as agents, while the government acts as the principal (Auld, 2010). The contingency theory develops an expressive theory of management accounting systems (MAS). It implies that the effectiveness of a management accounting system is based on the structure of the organisation. According to this theory, the organisational structure is based on the environment and technology of the organisation. The existence of MAS enhances the effectiveness of managerial process which is dependant on the structure of an organisation. Along with the environmental and technological factor the structure of the organisation is also controlled by the situational attributes (location of information). In a ‘certain’ environment where technology is ‘routine’, there is an influence of external information. In an ‘uncertain’ environment with ‘non-routine’ technology, the information is considered to be internal. The decentralised authority is suitable for the contingency model where the environment is uncertain or technology is non-routine. When environments are certain or technology is routine, centralised authority is suitable (Martin, 1983). The contingency theory fails to explain the resemblance in the systems of management accounting across organisations. Furthermore, this provi des little assistance in designing an organisational structure (Graubner, 2006). Various aspects of this theory can be applied to the case. The structural alteration in universities is dependant upon the situational factor and based on the situational factor the decision making process of the boards can be changed. Hence, it can be concluded that the structural alte

The Major Principles of The U.S. Constitution Essay

The Major Principles of The U.S. Constitution - Essay Example Republicanism means that the country of American does not have a direct democratic government and the country gives the right to the citizens to select a representative to govern their country. 2) Popular Sovereignty: In the U.S, the power of the government is directly related to people and hence, the legislative branch of the government is consisted of representatives selected by the people. Moreover, the legislative branch is the one which formulates law that governs the country. Simmons (2010) explains that â€Å"We the people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the first three words of the preamble to the Constitution describes the essence of popular sovereignty†. 3) Federalism: Federalism is the major principle that divides the power between federal government and central government. This principle has a strong stand in US constitution as it gives a strong foundation to the central government. A country without a powerful central government often turns out to be delicate and weak. However, Federalism maintains the power of the central government and the state government which is essential for the country. limits of government. This is done to avoid the centralization of power in any one branch or government body. According to Simmons (2010)â€Å"The United States has three branches of government; legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch is responsible for making laws while the executive branch carries out the law, and the judicial branch interprets the law†. 5) Checks and Balances: This is one principle which is highly connected to the separation of powers. As per this principle the three different branches of the U.S.government possess the right to check each other’s powers as and when needed. As per Mount (2010)â€Å" In this system, several branches of government are created and power is shared between them. At the same time, the powers of one branch can be challenged by another branch. This is what the

International Taxation Rules on International Companies Essay

International Taxation Rules on International Companies - Essay Example The OEEC was later rearranged into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1961. Today, the OECD is made up of thirty countries that accept the principals of free market economy and representative democracy (Owens, 2008). Most OECD countries are developed countries, with high-income countries. Some of its members include France, United Kingdom, United States, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Japan, among others. The functions of the OECD are multifaceted. But for the purposes of this discussion, it is only imperative to mention that, OECD functions as an intergovernmental organization which aims at coordinating economic development of members as well as non-member nations through trade liberalization, multilateral trade, and economic reform. The organization also covers economic and scientific research, technology transfer, international terrorism, and economic and statistical information (OECD, 2007). As much as the OECD would want to come up with proper legislation and... For example, most developed nations have zero or low taxes for certain types of groups. As such, the organization has found itself leaning more on international taxation rules in its operations. This is because many corporations may have interests in several countries that employ different tax regimes (Doenberg & Hinnekens, 1998). A good example would be the Multinational corporations, which must employ the services of an international tax specialist to decrease the global tax liabilities. Tax laws from different countries around the world affect companies and individuals with assets and income in more than one nation differently. Tax laws vary in different nations as to what income is taxable and how it is measured, who or which entity is taxable, when deductions are allowed and income is taxed, what deductions are allowed from the taxable income and the tax rates. These variations, if not well controlled may bring a scenario where the same income of an international company is taxed by different countries (Larkins, 2004). This is better known as double taxation. As such, there is need for international tax planning to take care of the loopholes occasioned by the above named variations among countries. How then must international companies be taxed rationally The concept of international tax planning and law has gained considerable attention from the perspective of tax authorities as well as from the taxpayers. The OECD has played an active role in the creation of international tax rules to help businesses move away from double taxation, intractable disputes, and uncertainty (Owens, 2008). According to Mr. Jeffrey Owens, a director of OECD in tax policy administration, improper tax rules can discourage international activity, discourage investment, and

Social and cognitive constructivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Social and cognitive constructivism - Essay Example However, to know, how successful technology-incorporated learning behavior concerning advanced order thoughts skill will dependent upon the strategy taken to the design, delivery, choice, and operation of suitable and efficient technologies with a support arrangement to preserve and maintain the learning transactions. For this purpose educationalists must attain fresh perception in numerous diverse regions mainly of philosophical direction to education and learning. A person’s philosophical orientation will speak how educationalists will analysis teaching, learning, knowledge, and the use of technology. Educationalists those who explain and eloquent in their rational situation concerning the use of technologies in the learning procedures make out what they are doing as they use technologies to facilitate the learning. Till now, the common rational course in instructional technology was instructivism. Instructivists - often as well referred to as objectivism - dispute that usin g an educational methods design replica can be useful to instructional planners to methodically recognize the syllabus to be taught , decide how it will be taught, and assess the teaching to decide its effectiveness. Particularly, educationalists require to be cautious on to what is that is to be taught and what is that already know earlier to the learning transactions. Further they are gradually arranged starting lower order to higher order learning. The instructionist stresses the significance of using an educational methods design model.

Successfully managing this project of building the new club Essay

Successfully managing this project of building the new club - Essay Example Then I would appoint sub project managers to supervise these sub projects. These sub project managers would be well versed with their area of concern. Once the sub projects have been identified, it is time to move to the project planning phase. The activities and tasks involved in the sub projects would be highlighted and then scheduled. Civil works would include laying the foundation of water heaters; different health fitness machines and HVAC equipments. Civil structure and finishing for the cinema Hall and the swimming pool are also included under this sub project. Other civil tasks which have to be done before any other sub project is initiated include trenching for laying of utilities lines such as electrical cables, hot water, and cold water piping and drainage lines. Numerous activities shall be associated with the sub- project Electrical Works. For instance installation and erection of electrical sub station, laying down cables, installation of Motor Control Centers, installation and commissioning of instrumentation and electrical works. Some activities shall be specific to a particular system. For example the swimming pool system shall include filing pumps, vacuum pumps, filters, underwater lights, jumping board etc. Ob Obviously while constructing the cinema hall we will have to keep several factors in mind like avoiding reverberations, good quality audio and stereo system. Therefore another project to be added to our list of sub projects would be the Cinema Hall Sub Project. Here various tasks specific to the construction of the cinema hall, like the installation of acoustic system, sound system, HVAC system and fire alarm and fighting system would be carried out. After all I do not want the club users to be complaining about poor sound quality and bad air conditioning. Last but no the least is the Mechanical and Plumbing Works Sub Project. This would further be broken down into different parts like operation of water heaters, installation of plumbing systems with fittings, installation of fitness machines and the HVAC system. The significance of the work breakdown structure is emphasized in some articles. "In a hectic business environment, project fundamentals such as scope definition and the Wor k Breakdown Structure often take a backseat to a "just get going" mentality.(Wright,C.,2007) Once I have defined the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) as above, I would move unto the planning phase. The project planning matrices would help me here. Three components, which can be controlled and measured using this plan, time, cost and resources, are drawn in triangular form whereby an imbalance in one shall have an impact on the other two. Another tool would be the project planning cycle. The project is first planned, then executed, then monitored and then reviewed. If there are some flaws detected during the review phase then the cycle is repeated again otherwise we move towards the project closure phase. Planning software's would also prove beneficial in the planning phase. Project planning beings with the time plan. Therefore I would first schedule the sub projects. According to some sources" This project schedule will

Social and cognitive constructivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Social and cognitive constructivism - Essay Example However, to know, how successful technology-incorporated learning behavior concerning advanced order thoughts skill will dependent upon the strategy taken to the design, delivery, choice, and operation of suitable and efficient technologies with a support arrangement to preserve and maintain the learning transactions. For this purpose educationalists must attain fresh perception in numerous diverse regions mainly of philosophical direction to education and learning. A person’s philosophical orientation will speak how educationalists will analysis teaching, learning, knowledge, and the use of technology. Educationalists those who explain and eloquent in their rational situation concerning the use of technologies in the learning procedures make out what they are doing as they use technologies to facilitate the learning. Till now, the common rational course in instructional technology was instructivism. Instructivists - often as well referred to as objectivism - dispute that usin g an educational methods design replica can be useful to instructional planners to methodically recognize the syllabus to be taught , decide how it will be taught, and assess the teaching to decide its effectiveness. Particularly, educationalists require to be cautious on to what is that is to be taught and what is that already know earlier to the learning transactions. Further they are gradually arranged starting lower order to higher order learning. The instructionist stresses the significance of using an educational methods design model.

Business plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business plan - Essay Example This piece of paper presents a brief business plan of studentevents.com, describing the business objectives, mission and vision of the business and analyzing projected financial performance. This paper addresses the conceptual framework related to various components in a business plan and are applied to the example of studentevents.com. StudentEvents: The Business Rationale An effectively prepared business plan must be able to describe the proposed business venture in terms of the products or services it provides, available resources and business opportunities (Leach and Melicher, 2008, p. 74). It means that the what, where, and why explanations about a business is critically important aspect in a business plan. As far as StudentEvents.com is concerned, it is small start-up company with six full time employees. Five of them are expert and qualified in computer engineering and software development and one is an educator who can update the company regarding trends, seminars, events, ac ademic sessions, syllabus components, tuition program, etc that are important to education and students around the world. Though plenty of websites attract students for chat with friends, none of them are found user-friendly and convenient for online sharing of events and parties. StudentEvent.com is not just an alternative to a social network, but an extremely useful database wherefrom students can obtain information about competition, event and programs that they may benefit attending. The image and video sharing of school-programs also will certainly attract wide numbers of customers to the website. Business Objectives As a critical component to business plan, the business objective need to cover both long and short term expectations and these need to be measured in terms of money or other tangible means (Ochtel, 2009). The primary objective of the company is to provide students with opportunity to get connected with others and to share their memories of school-events. From a bus iness point of view, it will target students, design a service wherein they can entertain, increase the traffics and commercialize this with a view to benefit the investors. Mission Statement This is meant with a view to continually add vitality to students’ life. We would like the students get connected with others and share their feelings of happiness and mishaps they experienced with various events or celebrations within their school or college campuses. Success Measures StudentEvents.com will take measures to ensure greater success in its business. The company aims: To facilitate access for students to the website to update with parties, events and celebrations, To help students organize birthday or valentine parties to friends online by automated-email messaging, To arrange summer campaigns, study tours, graduation ceremonies etc through specific online gaming arrangements To take dynamic business strategies to retain the visitors and increase traffic to get more marketi ng advantages. Marketing Plan Marketing Mix Elements Today’s business environment is rigorously competitive. No matter

The meaning of life Essay Example for Free

The meaning of life Essay During our brief time, spinning on this ball of rock, dust and water, there are questions that haunt almost every person on Earth. Why are we here? What is our purpose? And, what is the meaning of our life? These questions have been rattling around in great minds since the beginning of history, and will continue on until mankind’s eventual extinction. Many people have pondered the relevance of their lives, but finding the true meaning is knowledge that is reserved only for God. Though these questions may never truly be answered, many philosophers, authors, academics and holy men have given this question their full attention. I will explore two of these great minds, compare their philosophies, and try my best to explain my own life’s philosophy. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama The first man we will discuss is a world-renowned lover of peace and happiness; he has had a major motion picture made his life and its exploits, and is actually still alive to this day. His name is Tenzin Gyatso, otherwise known as His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The reason I chose the Dalai Lama, is because of the trials and difficulties he has endured. The Chinese forced him into exile from his home in Tibet to India because of his beliefs about peace. His strengths are admirable and he won the Nobel Peace Prize for attempting to free the Tibetan people from Chinese rule without violence (The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, n. d. ). The Dalai Lama’s theory on the meaning of life stems from Buddhist religion and I will do my best to convey this wisdom in my own words. According to the Dalai Lama’s philosophy on the purpose of life (n. d. ) â€Å"the purpose of life is to be happy† (The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama). That seems simple enough, right? That statement is essentially the very beginning of his writings on the meaning of life. He continues on to elaborate on how this seemingly easy task can be accomplished, and how one can attain a life of meaning through happiness. The way that I interpreted his teachings is that, at every human being’s core, we are all after one thing, and that is love. Love is something we crave from a very young age and that life’s meaning is derived from love and the acts of love that we all give and receive in our day-to-day lives. I also believe that the Dalai Lama’ s meaning of life teaches individuals to be dependent by nature, and that our relationships with those whom we associate ourselves are generally based on love (The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, n. d. ). His Holiness believes that we gain our life’s purpose from our interpersonal relationships. These relationships can be our colleagues at work, teachers and fellow students at school. The Dalai Lama believes that our primary ambition in all of these relationships is to earn love. For example, at work we all strive to do our best in order to earn more money. However, for many of us, it is not the money we are after, but the esteem from our superiors and subordinates for a job well done. We want to feel valuable to that company, feel an importance, a cog within the great machine. I believe that deep down these feelings stem from our inborn need to be loved. While love is a fundamental part of the Dalai Lama’s philosophy, he also speaks of the role compassion plays in our lives. The Dalai Lama teaches that life’s meaning can be attained through true compassion, which should be derived from reason, not emotions, and that it should never waiver; regardless of whether a person is being negative or positive toward you (The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, n. d). Aristotle The second philosopher we will discuss is one of the most notable to come out of the Ancient Greek Empire, Aristotle. Aristotle is to the day one of the most globally recognized philosophers, and was a student of Plato and teacher to Alexander the Great. I chose the philosopher Aristotle because his ethical beliefs are good ones to live by in order to obtain the meaning of life. His studies give off the impression that he knows the answer to the question, why? I was unfamiliar with his direct philosophies, but my research allowed the ability to understand his point of view. Aristotle’s works focus primarily on theoretical, practical and productive sciences. He â€Å"identifies the highest good with intellectual virtue; that is, a moral person is one who cultivates certain virtues based on reasoning† (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). He was extremely knowledgeable and able to absorb enough of an understanding of these sciences to be able to interpret how life worked in a way to achieve happiness. Using his theories of practical science, Aristotle was able to establish explanations relating to the actions and conducts of individuals within society (Cohen, 2008). He could easily comprehend how society clicked and how the individuals within society adapted. Productive sciences are those relating to the crafts of individuals, what they produce, and how they have evolved. By using the basis of these three sciences, Aristotle was able to establish a sense of ethics and rules of logic. He educated individuals throughout society to spread his beliefs and his understandings of the way of life. Aristotle used many factors when coming to an understanding about the philosophy of life. His main philosophy pertains to living one with nature and relating to society by simply being happy. He compares being happy to being Godlike; however, happiness is not just being happy, but instead living a life that teaches you to be happy by living virtuously (Aristotle, 350 B. C. E). Aristotle understood the meaning of life and would live and teach with that understanding. The choices individuals would make pertain to the ultimate goal of achieving actual happiness. This happiness triggers an unknown pleasure within an individual and essentially becomes a desire and drives one to maintain that happiness. With his education of theoretical, practical and physical sciences, Aristotle was able to make sense of it all. His beliefs of obtaining happiness were collected together by using knowledge and pure goodness. He felt as if knowledge, like happiness, needed to be learned through education and life experience. Aristotle believed that, â€Å"there is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses,† meaning that our knowledge is mainly absorbed through our experiences (Turner, 1907). To Aristotle, happiness cannot just be found; one has to be able to live their lives in a virtuous way to obtain honor and the greater good. Individuals need to understand what the reality of what happiness is and how to be a rational being in order to obtain it (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). His meanings and interpretations have made a significant influence to many and still continue to influence and educate. Both, the Dalai Lama and Aristotle share similar feelings relating to their philosophies of life. The main objective for the both of them is essentially to obtain pure happiness through compassion and pleasure. The Dalai Lama strives to use love and peace to reach this goal, where on the other hand, Aristotle uses virtue and knowledge. They imply to live a life that one would be proud of, taking the trials that life gives to you and turning them into an experience and strive towards happiness and love. My Philosophy My own life’s philosophy is probably pretty cliche, but I firmly believe that if something makes you happy, do more of it, and that one must work to live and not live to work. I believe that if all you do is work then you miss out on all of the things the world has to offer outside of whatever structured work environment you may be a part of. That is not to say that some people do not love their work and that for them their work is their purpose. I think that is what everyone should strive for, but I believe that once work takes precedence over your family, your friends, and most of all your happiness, then it threatens all you’re working for. I have seen this in too many career soldiers, and unfortunately, myself. I can admit that my steadfast attention on work during my last deployment was without a doubt, a contributing factor in a failed relationship. Since that time in my life, I have become determined not to let that happen again, and to let happiness be my purpose in life. Earlier I said that if something makes you happy, do more of it. This means that if you love to sing, but can’t carry a tune, then sing. If you love to work on cars, but can’t find the time, make time. For me, it is making people laugh, I love to do it, and so I will! Life is cruelly short, so let’s all find just a little time to do what makes us happy. In comparison with the Dalai Lama, I feel that my philosophy is quite similar. We both feel that life’s meaning is directly derived from happiness. He feels that we gain this happiness from love and those that surround us, while I feel that we have additional happiness to gain in life if we could just find the time to do the things that make us happy. I feel that my philosophy differs from his in the area of work. I believe that you must work to live and that your work should not come before those you love, yourself or whatever it is you work for. As for Aristotle’s philosophy and my own, I believe that his theory on using virtue and honor to obtain happiness is very accurate. I too believe that living a life filled with honor can lead to a sense of pride that is able to coincide with being happy. I also support his opinion on happiness leading to pleasure. Being happy is like an addiction and the more happiness that you attain, the more that you strive for. However, Aristotle also believes that happiness corresponds to making decisions backed by knowledge and experience. I somewhat disagree and believe that life experience does not necessarily have to be a main factor pertained to happiness. If you want to be happy, then just be, and live your life honestly and virtuously. The main things that I have learned from the teachings of the Dalai Lama that I would like to apply to my own life, is that happiness is the meaning of our life’s and that we should show patience and compassion towards everyone no matter what. If even 25% of the world could manage that, we would not be in the state of constant war we’ve been in for the past decade. I would also like to take away his capacity for love, I think his philosophy of life involving love is inspiring and makes me want to live a more peaceful, loving life. Aristotle on the other hand, has taught me to be more open-minded to knowledge and experience. To take in an experience as a lesson learned instead of just another day on the calendar and to just appreciate every moment, good or bad, and use it to the best of your advantage. References Aristotle. (350 B. C. E). Nicomachean ethics. Trans. W. D. Ross. Retrieved from: http://classics. mit. edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen. 1. i. html Cohen, M. (2008). Aristotle. Retrieved from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle/ Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2005). Aristotle (384—322 BCE). Retrieved from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www. iep. utm. edu/aristotl/ The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama (n. d. ). A brief biography. Retrieved from: http://www. dalailama. com/biography/a-brief-biography Turner, W. (1907). Aristotle. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved April 17, 2012 from New Advent: http://www. newadvent. org/cathen/01713a. htm.

Participant Observation Social Desirability And Operational Definition Psychology Essay

Participant Observation Social Desirability And Operational Definition Psychology Essay 1- Short notes on Participant Observation, Social desirability and operational Definition a- Participant Observation Participant Observation is a humanistic as well as a scientific method that produces a kind of experiential knowledge that allow a researcher talk convincingly. This method of fieldwork produces effective and positive knowledge and it involves getting very close to people and making them feel comfortable with researchers presence so that he can observe and record information about their lives (Bernard, p. 2006, p. 342). Participant observer is basically carrying out a naturalistic approach to conducting research and it seems to be a commitment that attempts to adopt the perspectives of studies shared in the day to day experiences. Participant observation has been described as an ongoing and intensive observing, listening and speaking with some explanations (Ely, 1991, p. 42). Many researchers use participant observation as an umbrella term for all qualitative data gathering and data handling. Participant observation includes going out or staying out in search for qualitative data gathering, and thus the observer may learn a new language in order to express the experiences about the lives of people that the researcher comes to know. With this type of research approach, the researcher is prompted to be immersing himself in a specific culture and also learning how he can get rid of the same immersion so that he will be able to intellectualize what he has seen and heard. He will express them in writing, speaking to others and will try to convince others (Bernard, p. 2006, p. 344). Participant observation is therefore more likely to be a fieldwork, but all fieldworks are in contrary not participant observation. Social Desirability Social desirability is a major source of response bias in conducting a survey research. Some times, participants in a survey research show social desirability bias as their answers reflect an attempt to enhance social desirable characteristics or attempt to minimize certain social undesirable characteristics. Social desirability has been defined as a tendency to give culturally sanctioned and socially approved answers for a survey research to provide socially desirable responses to describe oneself in terms judged as desirable and to present one-self favorably (Craighead and Nemeroff, 2002, p. 1557). Social desirability affects the accuracy of data to be gathered. It is mainly influenced by the way questions are prepared or asked. Many of survey research questions are more likely to create chances of social desirability so that respondents answer questions in a pre-made answer formats. Engel and Schutt (2005, p. 234) stressed that social desirability effects are more likely to occur when discussing issues that are of controversial in nature or when researcher expresses a view that is not popular or not widely accepted. When survey researcher or interviewer asks the participants with certain ready-made questions, especially when the questions have highly desirable answers, respondents feel conflicts between a desire to conform to the definition of good respondent behaviour and a desire to respond and appear to the interviewer to be in a socially desirable category. In surveys with pre-made multiple choice questions, social desirability is more likely to occur among the respondents. Operational Definition An operational definition, in the context of data collection and research, is an obvious, brief, complete and careful description of a measure. Social scientist uses operational definition as a measure to explain various conceptual terms (Sprague, Stuart and Bodary, 2008, p. 205). As different types of data were gathered, operational definition is very fundamental. The operational definition is a significant one in a situation at which the decision is to be taken about something regarding whether it is correct or not, or something having the confusion about its accuracy and usefulness. The data can be collected any time but it should be made clear that how to collect data and how it will be processed. Without processing the data, meaningful information may not be maintained. The ambiguity may arise while people viewing different opinions and it will negatively affect the data collection. Forming a detailed and consistent operational definition helps eliminate such ambiguity. If data are collected by comprising errors on it or about a product line, for instnace, it may lead to selecting a defective product and probably rejecting a good one. Similarly, when some accounting transactions or other business invoices are inspected to see errors among them, the data collection may not be treated as meaningful unless the term error has not been made clear. Lewis (2010, p. 417) asserted that an operational definition is required in order to maintain almost same meaning and understanding of a problem mainly to get it solved. It is because, operational definition establishes a language that communicates same meaning to everyone involved in solving the issue. 2. Explain the hypothesis testing procedure, using an example. Developing and testing of hypothesis are critical steps in most researches. Hypothesis testing is a statistical procedure that helps a researcher use sample data to draw inferences about the population according to researchers interest. As far primary data collection is concerned, observing every individual in a population is practically impossible or difficult to be conducted and therefore most researchers depend on sample surveying and thus sample data are used to help answer specific research questions. Hypothesis testing has been defined as a process of deciding whether a null hypothesis is to be accepted or rejected in favor of an alternative hypothesis. In hypothesis testing, there wont be any errors in decision making if the null hypothesis is rejected when it is false and also if it is accepted when it is true. Sample data being collected is the base for taking decision regarding whether to reject or accept the null hypothesis. The statistical hypothesis is an assumption about an unknown population parameter and hypothesis starts from an assumption that is termed as hypothesis. A hypothesis cannot be accepted or rejected on the basis of intuitions or on the basis of general assumptions that researchers have while conducting the research. Process of Hypothesis Testing In hypothesis testing, the researcher first assumes that the hypothesis is true. The researcher then collects data to test the hypothesis. Based on the data being collected, the researcher will calculate the confidence interval and probability for the hypothesis to become true. In this calculation and assessment, in the probability of hypothesis to be true is smaller than the pre-set level, the hypothesis will be rejected (Vaughan, 2001, p. 59). Though hypothesis testing can be different from situation from situation, or from project to project, the general process involved in hypothesis testing remains almost same. Hypothesis test is thus a statistical method that uses simple data to evaluate a hypothesis for studying a population. Following are the logics and steps involved in hypothesis testing: The researcher first states a hypothesis about a population. In general research contexts, the hypothesis concern the population values in parameter. Before the researcher selects a sample, the hypothesis will be used to predict the characteristics and specifications that the sample must have. The sample also requires being similar to the population and the researcher should always expect certain amounts and levels of errors. Next, the researcher obtains a random sample from the population. Finally, the researcher makes a comparison and analysis between the sample data obtained and the data that were predicted for the hypothesis. If this comparison shows that the sample mean is consistent with prediction, it will be concluded that the hypothesis is reasonable. Similarly, if it shows that there is big discrepancy between the sample data and prediction, then the hypothesis will be reckoned to be wrong (Gravetter and Wallnau, 2008, p. 189). Example for hypothesis Testing For instance, a researcher wants to find out knowledge and expertise of a universitys students in terms of their familiarity with university library and the amount of time they spend in library. Various journalism programs have been arranged to make students more aware of the library use and other relevant matters that are important to them. Do this journalism programs affect the amount of time that students spend in library? This is the main issue to be found out with the research. A random sample survey has been conducted from around 40 students in the number of hours they spend in the library in a week. As previously thought, students were spending around 5 hours per week in the library, but it is required to test whether students spend more than that after the journalism programs. This hypothesis testing includes following steps: a) Formulating two competing hypothesis, namely null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis, b) Calculating the test statistics by using the latest sample data being collected. c) Determining the probability that the null hypothesis is true based on the test statistics d) Comparing the pre-set value or pre-determined value with probability value (Vaughan, 2001, p. 59- 62). Briefly explain the following (i.e., what it is; what its used for, etc.). Null hypothesis There are various types of tests in statistics. In research and hypothesis testing in particular, null hypothesis plays very significant role. Hypothesis is statements that researchers, or decision makers or analysts believe to be true. This statement will be verified by using statistical tests. Practically, hypothesis is employed in pairs. Out of the two hypotheses, the first one is normally stated in negative forms, for instance, stating as something is not true, or the variable is not related etc. this negative form is termed as null hypothesis and the other is alternative hypothesis. Null hypothesis is represented by the symbol H0 and alternative hypothesis H1 or H2 (Downing and Clark, 2010, p. 66) The tested statement in statistics is called the null hypothesis because it is often in the form like there is no relationship between a variable and b variable, or both x and y are not related etc. Before testing the measure, the researcher or statistician may draw only two probabilities, X = y and X ≠  y. When a statistician observes a result likely to be so, then that assumption is called alternative hypothesis, and the opposite assumption is called null hypothesis (Howell, 2007, p. 152). For instance, an investigation is required to know the average ability of students in a class (X standard) in the co-scholastic area. They assumed that it will be above 50. Then the x≠¥ 50 is an alternative hypothesis and x< 50 is null hypothesis. The test revealed that the average ability is 70, H0: m < 50 H1: m ≠¥50. 20 is therefore population standard deviation Replicability A research which has replicability is often considered to be more accurate. When a researcher adopts almost the same procedures with similar settings and systems of research and surveying used by another researcher and this helps him obtain similar findings, the research can be said to be replicable. To be replicable is also considered to be an important tenet of an effective scientific research as well (Holloway, 1997, p. 137). Langbein and Felbinger (2006, p. 33) noted, replicability of a research helps the researcher make empirical claims more defensible and clearly objective. If the research lacks replicability, the conclusion and claim would be considered to be personal opinion and causal observation. Replicability of a research thus makes conclusions more traceable. Qualitative research may not as replicable as quantitative mainly because the relationship between the researcher and the participant in the research seems to be unique and cannot be replicated. Moderator variable Normally, there are two main variables in a research; they are independent and dependent variables. But, some time, there can be a moderate variable, which is a special type of variable that the investigator has chosen to determine how the relationship between independent and dependent variables is affected (Brown, 1998, p. 11). In simple terms, moderate variable is a third variable that affects the relationship between independent and dependent variables. As moderator variable affects the relationship between the independent and dependent variables in a research, it takes form of or plays roles of expressions like specification, contingency, conditional and qualification etc. For example, Mr Joseph decides to study Chinese and the issue to be considered is his study of Chinese for one year and his expertise or proficiency in that language may vary for male and females. In this example, Josephs study of Chinese is independent variable, his proficiency in Chinese is dependent variable and there is one point to be debated, which is whether the proficiency will vary from male to females. Proficiency variation between male and female is arguably moderator variable. Cross-sectional study A cross sectional study is part of sampling or surveying involving observations of a sample of a population or phenomenon that are made at one point in a time. Both exploratory and descriptive research methodologies are often considered to be cross sectional study (Babbie, 2008, p. 111). In a cross sectional study, the researcher or the investigator would make all of his measurements and analysis on a single occasion or within relatively a short period of time. The researcher who makes cross sectional study draws from the population and searches variables distributions within the sample, often by designating and predicting the outcomes of variables based on information from other sources. Cross sectional study is very much suited to describing variables and their relative distributions patterns. This type of study never takes into account the temporal relationship between the factors that are already explored and this usually includes an evaluation of a cross section of a particular population in a given period of time (Rao and Richard, 2006, p. 205). 4. Compare and contrast each of the following, giving examples: Primary and Secondary Data Sources of data are basically two, either primary or secondary. Primary data comprise of those data that a researcher collects directly from a specific population through ways of sampling, survey or any other technique of data gathering. Primary data are raw data and are not already used or published in books, journals, newspaper or any other sources. When primary data are published through media and made available to the public, and later they are used by others for their purpose, the data becomes secondary and the source becomes secondary source of data. Primary sources of data are those where the researcher describes his or her own work and the process that has been employed to come to conclusion. Secondary sources are usually books, articles, journals, statistics published in them, and other publications that are written by people with only a passing or second hand knowledge of a specific subject (Guffey and Loewy, 2009, p. 259). Primary data includes information that are developed or gathered by the researcher specifically for a particular research at hand. Secondary data refers to those data that are previously been gathered by someone other than the researcher for some purpose other than the research project at hand. Primary data is raw-data where as secondary data are previously used by others and may not be very appropriate for the purpose of second users. A survey conducted by local government to know exact numbers of farmers and industrialist in its region gives primary data, but when this data is used by a newspaper for studying the same regions financial strength, it becomes secondary data. Field study versus Comparative study A field study in research methodology refers to a method of data gathering based on direct observation from the population. For instance, a business organization may conduct a field study about its customers, their preferences, their specific requirements and their responses etc. in conducting field study, the researcher or the investigator directly observes users or the population they target, most probably taking notes on certain activities that their targeted people do indulge with, copying their activities clearly, and noting down the answers they give for specific questions. Comparative study is typically a qualitative analysis tool that attempts to figure out a specific issue or find out answers to specific issues by comparing two known variables or already studied areas of a given topic. An unknown fact may be explored by comparing its dimensions with an already known fact. For example, 50 Biology students in a university who are very fond of reading of library books were found to have scored more than 65 percent of marks. The relation between scoring marks and reading library books in known. In analyzing what factors led many students score high marks in business studies, the reading and high soring in biology can be compared. Bibliography and References Most researches, mainly literature review part, depend on literatures of published book or journals. The researcher may give direct quoting or parenthesizing in between texts and the details of these sources are required, according to almost all referencing formats like APA, MLA, Harvard etc, to show in detail at the end of the research paper on a separate title called references. References thus refers to those sources that are mentioned in text in a research, may be with or without the year of publishing or page numbers, but with last name of the author. Any specific idea that a researcher depends from a previous study and uses to develop his research must give its details in references. References thus indicate sources of specific ideas he parenthesized or quoted from another work. But, bibliography refers to the lists of books or journals or any other type of literature work that a researcher has read and used for his work, but not directly quoted an idea from them or not parenthesized from those sources. Researchers normally read several books and journals and they list them in bibliography to give readers an insight to further reading. Criterion and Predictor Variable In research methodology, criterion or criterion variable is the variable that measures the construct of interest to the researcher. Criterion variable is an outcome variable that can be predicted from one or more predictor variables, and it is often the main concentration in the study as it is the outcome variable mentioned in the research problem (Hatcher, 2003, p. 30). The predictor variable, in contrast, is a variable that is used to predict values on the criterion and it has a causal effect on criterion (Hatcher, 2003, p. 30).

Where the Red Fern Grows :: Essays Papers

Where the Red Fern Grows Billy is coming home from work one day when suddenly he hears some dogs up the street fighting. He goes to check it out and finds them picking on a redbone hound. He saves the dog and cares for it through the night. It reminds him of his childhood. When Billy was ten years old he lived on a farm in the Ozark Mountains of northeastern Oklahoma. He wanted two good coonhounds very badly, he called it â€Å"puppy love†, but his papa could not afford to buy him the dogs. For many months, Billy tries to content himself with some rodent traps his papa gives him, but he still wants a dog. Then one day he finds a sportsman’s catalog in an abandoned campsite. In it he sees an ad for good hounds, at $25 each. He decides he wants to save $50 and order himself two hounds. Billy works hard, selling fruit and bait to fishermen, and gathering fruit that he sells to his grandfather at his store. Finally, he saves enough money and gives it to his grandfather to order the dogs for him and asks him to keep it s secret. When a notice comes that they have arrived at the mail depot in the nearby town of Tahlequah, they decide to go into town the next week. That night Billy decides he can not wait any longer. He packs himself a little food, and heads of for town following the river through the woods. He walks all night, and finally reaches town in the morning. The people in town laugh and stare at the young hillbilly, but it does not bother Billy he is there on a mission to get his dogs. He finally collects his dogs and walks back out of town with their small heads sticking out of his bag. Some schoolchildren mob around him and knock him down, but the town sheriff rescues him. The sheriff is impressed with Billy’s determination, and says he has grit. That, night Billy camped in a cave with his two puppies. They wake up in the middle of the night to hear the call of a mountain lion. Billy builds a fire to keep them safe, while the bigger of the two dogs, the male, barks into the night air. The next morning he stops at the campsite where he found the catalog.

Discuss Stevensons portrayal of the nature of good and evil and the dual nature of mans personality Essay

Question- â€Å"Discuss Stevenson’s portrayal of the nature of good and evil and the dual nature of man’s personality. What does this show us about Stevenson’s view of Victorian Britain?† Born into the middle-class, prosperous district of â€Å"new† Edinburgh in Scotland, 1850, the young Robert Louis Stevenson’s life was a existence of opposites and contradictions. Just a few miles from his homeland lay the slums of â€Å"old† Edinburgh- a destitute sprawl of old urban living, disease and vice widespread and all to common. The young Master Stevenson was forbidden from this area, instead confined to his bedroom with his fanatic religious nanny- largely in part to his poor health and fragile immune system. His nanny, Alison Cunningham, was a devout Calvinist, a religion with a mixture of both Christian and Folk religion ideals. Calvinism teaches that every human being is born into sin, and thus must take it upon themselves to seek God, going against their natural inclination. This rule, entitled Total Depravity, was taught to the young Stevenson by his nanny, therefore leading the young seven year old to question his every step, paving the way for horrific nightmares of Hell and the fury of the Devil. As Stevenson grew up he found himself swept up in the cultural revolution that was â€Å"Bohemianism.† A now teenage Stevenson found himself attending raucous parties and living a second hand existence in near poverty, as what was expected from any bohemian person. He also found himself increasingly attached to the bottle and, on more then one occasion, visited prostitutes- an act that was seen as greatly immoral in the Victorian era and an action that would certainly have shocked his nanny. This deliberate act of rebellion shocked his parents and they temporarily disowned him and, although, Stevenson kept his attitudes and dislike of religion, the fall-out with his parents made him question the gulf in lifestyle that he and his parents had and the arguments also led him to question just what was right, and what was evil. Whilst travelling Stevenson met a certain Fanny Osborne, a women both older then him and already married. They had a short lived affair before Osborne absconded, leaving her husband for the young Stevenson and the couple soon wed. Second marriages were considered a â€Å"taboo† topic in the Victorian era, and Stevenson once again found himself branded as â€Å"evil† and â€Å"ignorant†, further stimulating Stevenson’s mind on right and wrong. Stevenson’s first wrote â€Å"The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† in 1885 and the book was released a year later. Rumour has it that Stevenson wrote the book whilst heavily drugged; the author had a considerable liking of Cocaine, a mind-altering drug. The drug would have momentarily changed his perceptions and view on the world, and this is perhaps reflected in the book, further strengthening the divide that was beginning to shape his book. The book was fairly popular yet drew heavy criticism from some scholars who read the book as an allegory of inappropriate sexual desires. At the time Stevenson re-buffed the ideas, through fear of the popularity of his book diminishing, but he later admitted that the book could be read as an allegory of the troubles of Victorian society. There are many themes that run deep through Stevenson’s novella, all centred around the line that divides good and evil. This topic of morality particularly fascinated the Victorian audience, largely thanks to the strength of the British Empire. The common Londoner’s heard tales of strange, far-away lands and peculiar, ritual-abiding tribe’s man and started to question their own rituals and actions. Stevenson’s book tapped into this market, asking whether what was considered â€Å"good and evil† was â€Å"good and evil† everywhere, or whether different people had different opinions on the difficult and dividing topic. Stevenson’s story begins with â€Å"The story of the door†, an opening chapter which tells the friendship of Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield, two respectable men who refuse to indulge in the spread of gossip. However they eventually begin to discuss the indecent trampling of a small girl, committed by a mysterious, twisted man, later named as Hyde. The fact that Hyde is introduced before Jekyll keeps the character of Mr Hyde fresh in the mind, and the irregular pattern (time-frame) of the book leads to the resulting conclusion being even more startling, especially for the Victorian audience who wouldn’t have expected anything similar to the actual ending. The chapter is also rich in subtle foreshadowing of opposition and restraint. â€Å"He was austere with himself; drank gin when he was alone, to mortify a taste for vintages;†, is a perfect example of Stevenson’s subtle touch. The fact that Utterson drank Gin when alone, a drink regarded at the time as a â€Å"poor-man’s† drink, a drink that was crude and often associated with criminals and vice, to quench his thirst, nay, desire for rich wine represents Jekyll’s attitude towards Hyde: Jekyll deliberately starves himself of the drug he slowly becomes addicted to, the drug that turns himself into Hyde despite despising Hyde with every bone in his body. Yet Jekyll still feels a craving for the drug and has to substitute himself with other activity’s, despite his attempts at distraction resulting in vain. The setting and atmosphere of Enfield’s recollection of the night when he first met Hyde also reflects the duality of man, a crucial aspect in Stevenson’s book. â€Å"A black winter morning†¦there was literally nothing but lamps† being a prime example of this. This abnormal lighting situation would produce shadows- the shadows representing the underclass of London society, the people that would hug street walls late at night, trying desperately not to be seen as they went about their shady business. The natural image of the black winter morning also juxtaposes the artificial light of the lamps, depicting the fact that, in the Victorian era, the citizens were always trying to triumph over nature, attempting to create social standards that even Mother Nature abided to. The stark contrast between dark and light is almost ignored in this quote, as the blackness of the night and the brightness of the lamps merge seamlessly into one another, thus representing Enfi eld’s confusion. This confusion is epitomised by the quote: â€Å"I got into the state of mind when a man listens and listens and belongs to long for the sight of a policeman,†. Enfield states his nervousness and â€Å"longing† for a policeman, a rather unusual trait as the Metropolitan Police Force was still in it’s infancy and battling many an unfavourable opinion. Also the character was earlier described as a rather dull man, the â€Å"man about town†, an experienced figure who had seen just about every city occurrence. Yet here Stevenson describes him as worried and nervous, determined to find a member of the establishment that was so untrusted around town. As well as this Stevenson implies that he character can sense something is wrong; he has potentially sourced the overbearing threat of Mr Hyde. This demonstrates the main antagonists intimidating nature before we are even introduced to him. This fear of the unknown could be related to Stevenson’s upbringing, surrounded by religion and threat of the Devil. In Christianity, and Calvinism, the Devil is both feared and yet paradoxically respected. His fundamentalist Nanny would have taught him of the threat of the Devil and also of the reason why the Devil was cast into Heaven (most prominently for failing to understand that he was created by God (that he had a dual nature)). This links in with Hyde’s nature and internal struggle- he can never fully become Jekyll because he was created BY Jekyll. The quote: â€Å"like a forest in a fire† is a good example of Stevenson’s views on current society and the changing world that was revolving around him. The simile is used to emphasise the differences between the old, poor row of houses and the new, upper class street- no doubt a product of the industrial revolution that was currently sweeping the country. Forest’s contain nothing but wood, and the single most dangerous thing one could encounter in a forest is fire, where the spitting flames spread from tree to tree. The simile could be linked to the Victorian industrial revolution: Stevenson views it as a hungry flame, sweeping away all of nature’s beauty and all of what the world used to comprise of, for now metal and steel is starting to replace the natural woods used to build shelter, and trees were being cut down to feed machines, which spat out new inventions and ideas. The quote has a negative edge relating to the industrial revolution, which fits in with Stevenson’s lifestyle and ethics. For he was a romanticist, a bohemian- interested in the preservation of nature, which they believed directly fed and influenced literature, poetry and art. The quote symbolises the divide that the industrial revolution was creating, and also questions whether the industrial revolution is good or bad, similarly to how the main theme of the book questions whether humans truly are good or evil. The second chapter, entitled â€Å"The Search for Mr. Hyde† continues with some important quotations regarding the duality of man, â€Å"It was his custom of a Sunday, when this meal was over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity†, being one of these. The â€Å"dry divinity† means a religious book or text, and the reading of these kinds of texts was considered a honourable and dutiful act in the Victorian era. However Utterson describes the text as â€Å"dry†- he finds it boring, dull. Thus the quote informs us that Utterson sticks to conventional Victorian traditionalism, yet aches with boredom in doing so. He yearns to be doing something else, somewhere else but feels compelled to follow his upstanding â€Å"Sunday custom†. This is typical of Victorian society and a crucial element of understanding the â€Å"duality of man†. For the Victorians tried to quench man’s natural instinct and mould him into a figure they determined respectable. Yet in pushing, in repressing people so far man rebelled, and began to question the life he lived under, leading to all of the Victorian â€Å"vices†, sex, alcohol and homosexuality becoming acceptable. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the Victorians oppression of the minority and the poor we probably wouldn’t be living in such a free society. The usage of pathetic fallacy is a common and important tool in Stevenson’s novella. The fog increases in depth and prominence whenever Hyde is near , and the fog clears towards the end of the story when the mystery is close to being unravelled. â€Å"the first fog of the season, a great chocolate coloured pall lowered over the heavens† is a quote from the chapter: â€Å"The Carew Murder Case† and the use of pathetic fallacy has connotations of impending danger as well as connotations of the industrial revolution. The â€Å"chocolate coloured† essence of the fog has implications of the industrial revolution â€Å"poisoning† the fog, changing it’s colour and also the times when the fog appears. The fog is stated as being the â€Å"first of the season†, yet the timeline would mean the fog was unnaturally early, implying the industrial revolution is harming and manipulating Mother Nature. The fog could be interpreted as nothing more then smog, a poisonous relation of the cleaner and more natural fog. The relationship between the unnatural smog, produced by the industrial revolution and the natural fog could also be linked to the relationship between Jekyll and Hyde; Hyde is a less natural side effect of Jekyll’s curiosity, Hyde is the poisonous, dangerous aspect of Jekyll. Jekyll could be interpreted as the influence of nature on Victorian society, an old-fashioned traditionalist being poisoned by new ideas and new beliefs. The murder of Sir Danvers Carew is an important part of the book, and Stevenson’s description adds to the sense of confusion and fear that is created. We are fed the murder from the viewpoint of a maid who was â€Å"romantically given† just before the crime was committed. â€Å"he was trampling his victim under foot†¦under which the bones were audibly shattered and the body jumped upon the roadway† is an extract from the murder description. The description is vivid, Stevenson notes how the maid heard the â€Å"bones shatter†, surely an awful, sickening sound. The murder is incredibly violent, representing Hyde’s anger boiling to the surface- alas; the exact reason for the murder is never truly revealed, leading us to think that Hyde needs violence to satisfy himself when he is allowed to roam free. The phrase â€Å"the body jumped upon the roadway† is also an interesting use of language, possibly representing the violence of the act; the body has been hit and abused so hard it is physically moving away from Hyde, his blows have pushed it away. The phrase adds to the sense of strength Hyde possesses, making him an even more formidable character. â€Å"with indescribable amazement read the name of Gabriel John Utterson† We first learn the full name of Utterson in â€Å"The Last Night†, after Jekyll puts his name on his will. His name could be interpreted as some as incredibly significant to the story. There are many religious connotations in Stevenson’s novella, and Utterson’s first name could be another of these connotations. In the religion of Christianity, Gabriel is the arch-angel of God, and God’s chief messenger. He passes on messages from God to various biblical figures, giving him the title of â€Å"God’s medium†. His role in Christianity is similar to Gabriel John Utterson’s in the â€Å"Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde†, he retells messages between Lanyon and Jekyll, and also uncovers the truth by reading messages intended as replies to another. Utterson’s first name also reveal his â€Å"good† side- he is a constant friend to Dr. Jekyll throughout the novella. Nearly every member of the reading Victorian audience would be familiar with the arch-angel Gabriel, and many readers would have made the link between â€Å"the two messengers†. Stevenson could also of used Utterson’s name as a way of stating that not everyone caught up in evil, is evil. Utterson is confronted with pure, undiluted evil a number of times in the story but he never once loses his sense of moral decency or moral fibre. The final chapter in Stevenson’ story contains the most information regarding the â€Å"duality of man†. The final chapter is in chronological order- right from Jekyll’s childhood to his death. The chapter also informs us of how Jekyll grew up harbouring an â€Å"evil† side. â€Å"Hence it came about that I concealed my pleasures† being an example of his youthful, dual personality. A youthful Jekyll realises that, once one enters manhood and the adult world one must learn to conceal any hope or joyfulness for fear of be let down by society or taken advantage of. So we learn that, even from childhood, Jekyll is living a lie and hiding his â€Å"split† personality from the world. â€Å"I was in no sense a hypocrite; both sides of me were in dead earnest† is an example of a slightly older Jekyll’s newly stifled personality. He has forced down his natural, animal-like instincts and replaced them with an acceptable, Victorian type attitude. He has learnt to ignore his impulse and instead confer to Victorian era conformity. He has become emotionally repressed and, whilst he is coping at the minute there will always be a threat of his emotions bubbling over in a â€Å"Jack the Ripper† type emergence. â€Å"My Devil had been long caged, it came out roaring†¦Instantly the spirit of Hell awoke in me and raged† is an example of such an outburst. We know from the story that a drug causes Jekyll’s evil side to emerge but the warning Stevenson writes of is that anybody can be unleashed, any human has the potential to be a crazed mass-murderer, or an evil psychopath if pushed (or oppressed) hard enough. This would of hit a chord with the reading audience who were still recovering from the Jack the Ripper attacks, which left many Londoners wondering just what kind of person could commit such crimes. The answer? Anybody- for the Victorian style of living had the potential to depress, oppress and ultimately, end lives†¦ Overall, I believe Stevenson wrote â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde† as a warning to the Victorian reader. He wanted the audience to realise that everyone, regardless of social stature, finance or credibility, had the potential to be evil. Yet, in his novella, Stevenson almost determines that there is no real definition of â€Å"good and evil†. The human body is a complex machine and, like a snowflake, the human body changes with each individual. Humans realise and readily accept that every human has different fingerprints yet seems to find it harder to link this fact with the human brain. For ultimately, every single human is different thus the guidelines of â€Å"good and evil† change with every single person. And, ultimately, who are we to question who is good and who is evil? There are thousands of different religions, what if they are all wrong and the one, true religion (if there is one) actually determines evil as good, and good as evil. We are just mere mortals, and the human brain is the most complex thing on the planet. Before we even begin to scrape the surface of this complex machine, we must first begin to understand the secrets of the universe, and life. â€Å"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.† So said Albert Einstein, one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century. I believe that this quote sums up Stevenson’s approach to the dividing line between good and evil. For where other people of the age, fresh from the horrors of the Ripper murders, strived to find a logical answer to the line between good and evil, Stevenson instead â€Å"moved in the opposite direction†. Rather then attempt to answer the question, he questioned the question, asking whether there was an answer to a question that people were still questioning. After all, how can one answer a question that is not even based on fact, or truth, but instead on prediction? Stevenson’s opinion on religion is prevalent throughout the story. The story has a number of biblical links, no doubt harking back to the days he spent locked in his room with Alison Cunningham, whilst being fed awful stories of Hell and the Devil. There are a number of religious links, one of these being: â€Å"This inexplicable incident, this reversal of my previous experience, seemed, like the Babylonian finger on the wall, to be spelling out the letters of my judgment.† This quote mirrors the experience of Prince Belshazzar, a Babylonian prince featured in the book of Daniel. The prince, whilst dining one night, sees a mysterious, disembodied hand floating behind him. As he turned to face it, the hand begun writing in a mysterious code, on the wall. A translator later interpreted the coded writing as: â€Å"Thou art weighed In the balance and art found wanting†. Later that night Belshazzar is murdered in peculiar circumstances, hence the popular saying; â€Å"the writing on the wall†. Jekyll can see his impending doom, due to his evil exploits as Hyde but his good side is still portrayed by Stevenson, the use of religion is used for this. In the book, I believe Stevenson uses religion as a writing technique; when Stevenson wants to signify the emotive nature of people , he uses religious links and connotations. Hyde is forever associated with Hell and the Devil, whilst Jekyll and Utterson is associated with Gabriel, and the â€Å"light† side of religion. Religion is used to measure and signify, to compare and contrast. Religion also represents a divide in beliefs and personality. The end of the Victorian era was the first time, since the beginning of Christianity, that people were beginning to question and doubt religion. â€Å"Jekyll and Hyde† was penned during this time and concerns itself with the duality of man. Stevenson simply used the biggest cultural divide of the day: religion, and weaved it into his book, making the theme of duality more relevant to the reading Victorian audience. Overall, â€Å"The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde† questions and challenges what would have been conventional beliefs in the Victorian era. It makes the reader question his own sense of right and wrong, and challenges religion and science- the two cultures that were so opposed to each other in the Victorian ere. It incorporates the depression that surrounded the Victorian dynasty, the industrial revolution, the Jack the Ripper murders and the strict conformity of living the Victorians imposed. But it also includes the first green shoots of hope that began to surface around the late 1800’s- Charles Darwin’s â€Å"The Theory of Evolution† is integrated through Jekyll’s science and the fact that Jekyll, despite through the persona of Hyde, engaged in activities such as sex and alcoholism sent the message that man can experiment, as long as it didn’t threaten or harm anyone else. The book was aware of the duality and diversity of it’s audience and revelled in this. Stevenson’s book was a revolution in itself. For it changed the conventional type of living and made people question the rules they lived under. And any book that can influence people on this scale is a rare, and beautiful, thing. â€Å"The mark of a good action is that it appears inevitable in retrospect.†