Impact of Pinyin on Chinese people's ability to learn foreign Research Paper

Impact of Pinyin on Chinese people's ability to learn foreign langauges - Research Paper Example It is now possible for Pinyin speakers to connect sounds to written forms of words. This knowledge is helpful in acquisition of a phonetic based language like English. As far back as the 1930s, Chinese leaders like Mao Zedong noted that the traditional systems of writing Chinese, such as Zhiyin, Fanqie, and Zhuyinfuhao, were too difficult to learn. Because of its dependence on characters, most of the population could not learn sufficient characters to develop a rich vocabulary. Therefore, Latinisation was regarded as a mechanism for quickly eradicating illiteracy in China (DeFrancis, 2006). Difficulties in reconciling differences between written and oral Chinese also motivated the introduction of Pinyin. Chairman Mao stated that the Chinese language had several contradictions, as written Chinese came from symbols yet spoken Chinese did not (DeFrancis, 2006). It was thus difficult to learn the language and transmit knowledge in written forms. Prior to the 1950s, people who supported this movement held key positions in government. Therefore, political will existed to reform the language. However, after the 1950s, a different group known as Mao Zedong took over the government, and was dedicated to the suppression of the Pinyin movement. Regardless of this opposition, intellectuals persisted in pushing for reforms until Pinyin was finally adopted in 1958. Learning a new language is often easier when the second language has elements of one’s primary language. For a language such as Chinese, these similarities are particularly imperative in facilitating the learning process. In the United States, Chinese is regarded as one of the most difficult languages to learn. The US government has established a categorisation system in which they classify languages according to their ease of acquisition. Chinese, Arabic, Korean, and Japanese are all category IV languages, meaning that they take the longest to master. These

Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Example for Free

Martin Luther King, Jr. Essay Martin Luther King was a major driving force during the 1950-1960s African American civil rights movement. Following his influence in fighting for the respect of equal human rights, Luther has become one of the most recognized human rights icons in the American nation. According to available historical information, born in 1929, Luther started his civil rights activist activities during his early ages. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott due to segregation practices, which compromised the principle of equality of all American citizens (Darby, 1990). True from history, Luther brought much influence in the war against racial segregation and discrimination. Just to be appreciated is the fact that despite the provisions that all men are equal during the declaration of independence in the 18th century, racial discrimination was a common practice in the early twentieth century. Historical information indicate that the â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech by Martin Luther King in the 963 March on Washington triggered the African Americans into fight for their human rights (Darby, 1990). Conducting his affairs uniquely, Luther is praised advocating a non-violent approach to the realization of equal human rights in the American nation (Darby, 1990). Indeed, this was the underlying reason behind why he was given the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending racial segregation and l discrimination through non-violent means in 1964. In addition to his impact on the American community, Luther finds his honor in advocating against the violation of human rights during the Vietnam War in 1968. Following his influence in the civil rights war, Luther is globally appreciated as a crucial fighter for freedom (Darby, 1990). To emphasis on this claim, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 nine years after his assassination. Such are also found in the establishment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a U. S. national holiday in 1986. References Darby, J. (1990). Martin Luther King. Jr. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group.

Granting Time Its Passage :: Endurantism Philosophy Papers

Granting Time Its Passage Many philosophers who support a four-dimensionalist metaphysics of things also conceive of experience as a state of a mind having temporal extension or existing as a momentary feature of the dimension of time. This essay shows that such a strict four-dimensionalism — suggested in works by D. M. Armstrong, Mark Heller, and David Lewis — cannot be correct, since it cannot allow for the passing of time that is essential to awareness. The argument demonstrates that the positing of any temporal process at all must compromise the strict four-dimensionalist view of the temporality of experience. This is not to say that the traditional endurantist view is left wholeheartedly endorsed. As I point out, this traditional view makes several questionable claims of its own that must be carefully scrutinized. Still, the criticism of the strict four-dimensionalist ontology indicates a direction to be followed in developing a successful metaphysics of experience. This essay presents a critique of what I call strict four-dimensionalism, a metaphysical view supported by David Armstrong, Mark Heller, and David Lewis.(1) Strict four-dimensionalism includes "things experiential" in the group of things that are temporal only insofar as they either have temporal extension or exist at some point upon the axis of time. I argue that experience cannot exist in this way. Its temporality must be of a different order. For experience must involve the passing of time,(2) and this is something that strict four-dimensionalism must exclude. This does not, however, disprove that ontology in toto. It does not venture beyond the theme of experience's temporal nature. What is at stake here is simply the securing of experience's temporality from a misleading metaphysical interpretation. The issue is simply the metaphysics of the seemingly non-thing-like entity of temporal experience. Four-dimensionalism maintains that, strictly speaking, physical objects existing for more than an instant so exist only by being extended along the axis of time, just as common objects existing at more than one point in space exist in this way only by being extended along the three spatial axes.(3) As Lewis puts it: "Enduring things are timelike streaks" laid out across the fourth dimension, "wholes composed of temporal parts, or stages, located at various times and places" (Lewis 1976, 145). For a thing that lasts from one time to another, say from t1 to t2, it is thus not the case that the same thing once existing entirely at t1 exists later entirely at t2.

Comparing Extreme Programming and Waterfall Project Results

Comparing Extreme Programming and Waterfall Project Results Feng Ji Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Campus Mountain View, CA, 94035 [email  protected] com Todd Sedano Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Campus Mountain View, CA, 94035 todd. [email  protected] cmu. edu Abstract Waterfall and Extreme Programming are two software project methods used for project management. Although there are a number of opinions comparing the two methods regarding how they should be applied, none have used project data to clearly conclude which one is better.In this paper, we present the results of a controlled empirical study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University in Silicon Valley to learn about the effective transition from traditional development to agile development. We conducted a comparison research against these two approaches. Multiple teams were assigned a project; some used Waterfall development, others used Extreme Programming. The purpose of this research is to look at advantages and disadvantages based upon the outcomes, generated artifacts, and metrics produced by the teams. 1. Introduction 1. 1.Agile vs Traditional Since the early 1970s, numerous software managers have explored different ways of software development methods (such as Waterfall model, evolutionary model, spiral model etc. ) those have been developed to accomplish these goals and have been widely used by the software industry [1]. Methodologists often describe the Waterfall method as a stereotypical traditional method whereas they describe Extreme Programming as the stereotypical agile method. The Waterfall model, as the oldest traditional software development method, was cited by Winston W.Royce in 1970 [2]. He divided the software development lifecycle into seven sequential and linear stages: Conception, Initiation, Analysis, Design, Construction, Testing, and Maintenance. The Waterfall model is especially used for large and complex engineering projects. Waterfall's lasting imp ression upon software engineering is seen even in the Guide to Software Engineering Body of Knowledge which introduces the first five knowledge areas based upon their sequence in the Waterfall lifecycle even though the Guide does not recommend any particular lifecycle [3].Although the Waterfall model has been adopted in many large and complex projects, it still has some inherent drawbacks, like inflexibility in the face of changing requirements [1]. If large amounts of project resources have been invested in requirements and design activities, then changes can be very costly later. High ceremony documentation is not necessary in all projects. Agile methods deal well with unstable and volatile requirements by using a number of techniques of which most notable are: low ceremony documents, short iterations, early testing, and customer collaboration.Kent Beck and Cynthia Andres define Extreme Programming 2. 0 with many practices [4], like Pair Programming, Test First Programming, and Co ntinuous Integration and so on. These characteristics enable agile methods to obtain the smallest workable piece of functionality to deliver business value early and continually improving it while adding further functionality throughout the life of the project [5]. 1. 2. PET project background Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley students start their masters program with the Foundations of Software Engineering course. This course is team-based, project-based, and mentored.Each team builds The Process Enactment Tool (PET). The user personas are software developers and managers. The tool helps users plan, estimate, and execute a project plan while analyzing historical data. The tool's domain encourages students to learn about software lifecycles and methods while understanding the benefit of metrics and reflection. 1. 2. 1. PET 1. 0: In 2001, Carnegie Mellon had one of the largest outsourcing firms in the world develop Pet 1. 0. Later the student teams were brought in to do the n ext release. The initial offerings of the course had the teams follow a Waterfall lifecycle.The faculty decided to use Extreme Programming as the method for the Foundations course because it was an agile method, it had good engineering practices, and it was a safe sandbox environment for engineers to try paired programming since many managers in industry were initially skeptical about its benefits. In 2005, the faculty allowed three of the sixteen teams tried our new curriculum to see if there were any serious issues in the switch, while other thirteen teams continued to follow a start point in 2004. The feedback was extremely positive so in 2006, all teams followed Extreme Programming.For the project plan duration, Waterfall teams needed fifteen weeks to finish their tasks where as Extreme Programming teams were given only thirteen weeks, a 13% reduction in time. 1. 2. 2. PET 1. 1: In 2005, the VP of Engineering advised the three teams that rewriting the code from scratch would be easier than working with the existing code base. Team 30:1 decided to use the latest in Java technologies including Swing and Hibernate. PET 1. 1, the team's product became the starting point for the students in the following year. 1. 2. 3. PET 1. 2: In 2008, the faculty switched the core technology from Java to Ruby on Rails.Ruby on Rails' convention over configuration, afforded a lower learning curve for students. For Pet 1. 2, students would build their projects from scratch. 2. Related work Much research has been done as to when to use an agile method and when to use a traditional method. For example, Boehm Turner's home grounds look at several characteristics, criticality, culture, and dynamism [6]. Our paper aims to extend these limitations to some degree by estimating Waterfall and XP in an academic case study, which provide a substantive ground for researchers before replicating their ideas in industry.Basili [7] presented a framework for analyzing most of the experimental w ork performed in software engineering. We learned that how to conduct a controlled experiment. Andrew and Nachiappan [8] reported on the results of an empirical study conducted at Microsoft by using an anonymous web-based survey. They found that one third of the study respondents use Agile methodologies to varying degrees and most view it favorably due to improved communication between team members, quick releases and the increased flexibility of agile designs.Their findings that we will consider in our future work is that developers are most worried about scaling Agile to larger projects, and coordinating agile and traditional teams. Our work is closely related to the work by Ming Huo et al [9]. They compared the Waterfall model with agile processes to show how agile methods achieve software quality. They also showed how agile methods attain quality under time pressure and in an unstable requirements environment. They presented a detailed Waterfall model showing its software qualit y support processes.Other work has only illustrates one or some Agile practices such as pair programming [10]. 3. Experimental methodology Our research was conducted primarily using Glaser's steps [11] in the constant comparison method of analysis. Step1: Begin collecting data. We collected more than 50 teams’ detailed data during a five year period as Table 1 shows. Table 1. Team building the same project 2004 2005 2005 2006 2007 2008 Method Waterfall Waterfall XP XP XP XP Language Java Java Java Java Java Ruby Project PET1. 0 PET1. 0 PET1. 0 PET1. 1 PET1. 1 PET1. 2 Numbers of Teams 10 13 3 9 6 11Step2: Look for key issues, recurrent events, or activities in the data that become categories for focus. The approach in software design makes us categorize the data into two distinctive software development methods, namely Waterfall and Extreme Programming. Step3: Collect data that provides many incidents of the categories of focus with an eye to seeing the diversity of the dimens ions under the categories. According to Basili[7], we provided some metrics to compare these two categories, Waterfall and XP. Requirements Metrics M1: Numbers of UI screens (ie. mockup) M2: Numbers of use cases (story cards)M3: Pages of Software Requirements Specification (SRS) documents M4: Pages of User Requirements Documents (URD) Design Metric M5: Pages of detailed design documents Implementation Metrics M6: Lines of code M7: Percentage of lines of comments to lines of source code M8: Lines of test cases M9: Ratio of lines of test code to lines of program code Step4: Write about the categories that we are exploring, attempting to describe and account for all the incidents we have in our data while continually searching for new incidents. Step5: Work with the data and emerging model to discover basic social processes and relationships.Step6: Engage in sampling, coding, and writing as the analysis focuses on the core categories. During 2005, there were 13 teams following Waterfal l and 3 teams following XP during the same period of time. These three teams, team Absorb, GT11 and 30:1 are interesting teams to examine as we can compare their data against the Waterfall teams doing the exact same project. 4. Experimental results 4. 1. UI screens (M1) and Story cards (M2) comparison These wide ranges can be seen in Table 2 and Table 3 where the standard deviation of the UI mockups is often half the document size.Comparing use cases to story cards in Table 3, we see that the standard deviation for use cases is much lower than the standard deviation for story cards. This is expected since use cases are a higher ceremony document when compared to story cards. Teams might give little consideration to how to represent each feature on a story card whereas a team writing a use case step by step how a user will use the system will spend much more time thinking about the coupling and cohesion of each use case. Table 2. Average numbers and Standard Deviation of mockups Year 004 2005 Absorb GT11 30:1 2006 2007 2008 Average mockups 15. 5 11. 8 17 18 9 15 12. 8 17. 7 Standard Deviation of mockups 6. 6 6. 3 5. 4 3. 1 8. 8 Table 3. Average numbers and Standard Deviation of use cases/story cards Year Average Number Standard Deviation 2004 User cases 18. 7 2005 User cases 18. 9 2. 3 Absorb Story cards 15 1. 6 GT11 Story cards 13 30:1 Story cards 18 2006 Story cards 16. 6 2007 Story cards 18. 3 2008 Story cards 16. 6 7. 5 6. 8 8. 0 4. 2. Requirement documents (M3&M4) Starting with PET 1. 0, Waterfall teams on average add 1. 7 use cases and modified 2. use cases. Teams were given a 28 page System Requirements Specification (SRS) and on averaged finished with a 34 page SRS. XP teams starting with PET 1. 0 were given the same starting documents. Instead of modifying them, the teams created story cards that represented each new feature. Instead of spending time on writing use cases, XP teams started coding sooner. Because XP has an emphasis on low ceremony docume nts, they had more time to code resulting in an effort savings for the teams. 4. 3. Comparing the size of the detail design documents (M5) There are some insights from Table 4.Waterfall teams using Pet 1. 0 started with a 21 page Detailed Design Document (DDD), which they altered to reflect their new use cases. Waterfall teams typically did not update their design documents at the end of the project. Given the scope of the project, Waterfall teams’ final code matched the original design with respect to new classes. Table 4. Average pages and Standard Deviation of Detail Design Documents Year 2004 2005 Absorb GT11 30:1 2006 2007 2008 Starting Point 21 21 21 21 0 14 14 0 Average DDD 25. 8 31. 1 18 22 14 18. 3 12. 5 9. 5 Standard Deviation 8. 39 7. 48 7. 70 7. 8 5. 19 XP teams increased their design documents with each iteration. Because the XP teams followed Test-Driven Development, they wrote their code and had an emergent design. At the end of each iteration, the teams were a sked to update the design document to reflect important design decisions they had made during that iteration. Therefore, the design document serves a different purpose in XP. It is not a template or blueprint for future construction. Instead, it can be a guide for understanding why certain decisions were made. In this regard, it is a biography of the development, ot a plan of action. 4. 4. New lines of source code and comments, Percentage of comments in codes Table 5 shows that Waterfall teams starting with Pet 1. 0 produced lines of code with a wide variance. The two XP teams starting with Pet 1. 0 fell right within the middle of the average. Because instead of producing some documents up front, the XP teams spent a longer time coding, one would expect them to produce more lines of code. The research results also show that XP Teams had a higher percentage of comments in source code. Table 5. Average and Standard Deviation of new lines in code YearLanguage Average new lines in code Standard Deviation Lines of test codes Ratio of test codes to program code 2004 2005 Absorb GT11 30:1 2006 2007 2008 Java Java Java Java Java Java Java Ruby 9,429 11,910 13,288 14,689 0 9,628 8,572 3,670 7,946 9,851 4,920 5,465 1,507 3378 4164 1380 3186 947 3555 2212 3,255 8% 13% 4% 8% 8% 16% 10% 90% 4. 5. Submitted lines of test codes and ratio of test code to program code The observation of these two metrics in Table 5 shows that the amount of test code written by the Waterfall teams equals the amount of test code written by the XP teams.Initially the faculty thought that Test-Driven Development would increase the amount of testing code, however, given a slow adoption rate of Test-Driven Development, programmers resorted to what was familiar and thus produced similar results. 5. Conclusion In this paper, we observed and presented the data from five years of 50 teams developing the same project each year and the affects of transitioning from Waterfall to Extreme Programming. The ch aracteristics between these two methods were evaluated and compared.Waterfall teams spent more time creating high ceremony documents where as Extreme Programming teams spent more time writing code and documenting their design in their code. Surprisingly, the amount of code and features completed were roughly the same for both methods suggesting that on a three month project with three to four developers it doesn't matter the method used. It is challenging to conduct this kind of analysis of the data in hindsight. Given that this is not a toy problem, and the freedom teams have in the execution of their projects, setting up this kind of experiment properly in advance is also challenging. . References [1] Sommerville, Software engineering, 8th ed. , New York: Addison-Wesley, Harlow, England, 2006. [2] W. Royce, Managing the Development of Large Software Systems, IEEE WESTCON, Los Angeles, 1970. [3] A. Abran and J. W. Moore, Guide to the software engineering body of knowledge: trial ve rsion (version 0. 95) IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, 2001. [4] Kent Beck and Cynthia Andres, Extreme programming eXplained: embrace change, Second Edition, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2004. 5] Mike Cohn, Agile estimating and planning, Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference, Nov 11, 2005. [6] Barry, Boehm and Richard Turner, Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed, Addison Wesley, August 15, 2003. [7] Basil, V. R. , Selby, R. and Hutchens, D. , Experimentation in Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (invited paper), July 1986. [8] Andrew Begel and Nachiappan Nagappan, Usage and Perceptions of Agile Software Development in an Industrial Context: An Exploratory Study, MiIEEE Computer Society MSR-TR-2007-09, no. 2007): 10. [9] Ming Huo, June Verner, Muhammad Ali Babar, and Liming Zhu, How does agility ensure quality? , IEEE Seminar Digests 2004, (2004):36. [10] Jan Chong, Robert Plummer, Larry Leifer, Scott R. Klemmer, and George Toye. Pair Programming: When and Why it Works, In Proceedings of Psychology of Programming Interest Group 2005 Workshop, Brighton, UK, June 2005. [11] Glaser, Barney G, Strauss, and Anselm L. , The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago, 1967. Comparing Extreme Programming and Waterfall Project Results Comparing Extreme Programming and Waterfall Project Results Feng Ji Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Campus Mountain View, CA, 94035 [email  protected] com Todd Sedano Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley Campus Mountain View, CA, 94035 todd. [email  protected] cmu. edu Abstract Waterfall and Extreme Programming are two software project methods used for project management. Although there are a number of opinions comparing the two methods regarding how they should be applied, none have used project data to clearly conclude which one is better.In this paper, we present the results of a controlled empirical study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University in Silicon Valley to learn about the effective transition from traditional development to agile development. We conducted a comparison research against these two approaches. Multiple teams were assigned a project; some used Waterfall development, others used Extreme Programming. The purpose of this research is to look at advantages and disadvantages based upon the outcomes, generated artifacts, and metrics produced by the teams. 1. Introduction 1. 1.Agile vs Traditional Since the early 1970s, numerous software managers have explored different ways of software development methods (such as Waterfall model, evolutionary model, spiral model etc. ) those have been developed to accomplish these goals and have been widely used by the software industry [1]. Methodologists often describe the Waterfall method as a stereotypical traditional method whereas they describe Extreme Programming as the stereotypical agile method. The Waterfall model, as the oldest traditional software development method, was cited by Winston W.Royce in 1970 [2]. He divided the software development lifecycle into seven sequential and linear stages: Conception, Initiation, Analysis, Design, Construction, Testing, and Maintenance. The Waterfall model is especially used for large and complex engineering projects. Waterfall's lasting imp ression upon software engineering is seen even in the Guide to Software Engineering Body of Knowledge which introduces the first five knowledge areas based upon their sequence in the Waterfall lifecycle even though the Guide does not recommend any particular lifecycle [3].Although the Waterfall model has been adopted in many large and complex projects, it still has some inherent drawbacks, like inflexibility in the face of changing requirements [1]. If large amounts of project resources have been invested in requirements and design activities, then changes can be very costly later. High ceremony documentation is not necessary in all projects. Agile methods deal well with unstable and volatile requirements by using a number of techniques of which most notable are: low ceremony documents, short iterations, early testing, and customer collaboration.Kent Beck and Cynthia Andres define Extreme Programming 2. 0 with many practices [4], like Pair Programming, Test First Programming, and Co ntinuous Integration and so on. These characteristics enable agile methods to obtain the smallest workable piece of functionality to deliver business value early and continually improving it while adding further functionality throughout the life of the project [5]. 1. 2. PET project background Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley students start their masters program with the Foundations of Software Engineering course. This course is team-based, project-based, and mentored.Each team builds The Process Enactment Tool (PET). The user personas are software developers and managers. The tool helps users plan, estimate, and execute a project plan while analyzing historical data. The tool's domain encourages students to learn about software lifecycles and methods while understanding the benefit of metrics and reflection. 1. 2. 1. PET 1. 0: In 2001, Carnegie Mellon had one of the largest outsourcing firms in the world develop Pet 1. 0. Later the student teams were brought in to do the n ext release. The initial offerings of the course had the teams follow a Waterfall lifecycle.The faculty decided to use Extreme Programming as the method for the Foundations course because it was an agile method, it had good engineering practices, and it was a safe sandbox environment for engineers to try paired programming since many managers in industry were initially skeptical about its benefits. In 2005, the faculty allowed three of the sixteen teams tried our new curriculum to see if there were any serious issues in the switch, while other thirteen teams continued to follow a start point in 2004. The feedback was extremely positive so in 2006, all teams followed Extreme Programming.For the project plan duration, Waterfall teams needed fifteen weeks to finish their tasks where as Extreme Programming teams were given only thirteen weeks, a 13% reduction in time. 1. 2. 2. PET 1. 1: In 2005, the VP of Engineering advised the three teams that rewriting the code from scratch would be easier than working with the existing code base. Team 30:1 decided to use the latest in Java technologies including Swing and Hibernate. PET 1. 1, the team's product became the starting point for the students in the following year. 1. 2. 3. PET 1. 2: In 2008, the faculty switched the core technology from Java to Ruby on Rails.Ruby on Rails' convention over configuration, afforded a lower learning curve for students. For Pet 1. 2, students would build their projects from scratch. 2. Related work Much research has been done as to when to use an agile method and when to use a traditional method. For example, Boehm Turner's home grounds look at several characteristics, criticality, culture, and dynamism [6]. Our paper aims to extend these limitations to some degree by estimating Waterfall and XP in an academic case study, which provide a substantive ground for researchers before replicating their ideas in industry.Basili [7] presented a framework for analyzing most of the experimental w ork performed in software engineering. We learned that how to conduct a controlled experiment. Andrew and Nachiappan [8] reported on the results of an empirical study conducted at Microsoft by using an anonymous web-based survey. They found that one third of the study respondents use Agile methodologies to varying degrees and most view it favorably due to improved communication between team members, quick releases and the increased flexibility of agile designs.Their findings that we will consider in our future work is that developers are most worried about scaling Agile to larger projects, and coordinating agile and traditional teams. Our work is closely related to the work by Ming Huo et al [9]. They compared the Waterfall model with agile processes to show how agile methods achieve software quality. They also showed how agile methods attain quality under time pressure and in an unstable requirements environment. They presented a detailed Waterfall model showing its software qualit y support processes.Other work has only illustrates one or some Agile practices such as pair programming [10]. 3. Experimental methodology Our research was conducted primarily using Glaser's steps [11] in the constant comparison method of analysis. Step1: Begin collecting data. We collected more than 50 teams’ detailed data during a five year period as Table 1 shows. Table 1. Team building the same project 2004 2005 2005 2006 2007 2008 Method Waterfall Waterfall XP XP XP XP Language Java Java Java Java Java Ruby Project PET1. 0 PET1. 0 PET1. 0 PET1. 1 PET1. 1 PET1. 2 Numbers of Teams 10 13 3 9 6 11Step2: Look for key issues, recurrent events, or activities in the data that become categories for focus. The approach in software design makes us categorize the data into two distinctive software development methods, namely Waterfall and Extreme Programming. Step3: Collect data that provides many incidents of the categories of focus with an eye to seeing the diversity of the dimens ions under the categories. According to Basili[7], we provided some metrics to compare these two categories, Waterfall and XP. Requirements Metrics M1: Numbers of UI screens (ie. mockup) M2: Numbers of use cases (story cards)M3: Pages of Software Requirements Specification (SRS) documents M4: Pages of User Requirements Documents (URD) Design Metric M5: Pages of detailed design documents Implementation Metrics M6: Lines of code M7: Percentage of lines of comments to lines of source code M8: Lines of test cases M9: Ratio of lines of test code to lines of program code Step4: Write about the categories that we are exploring, attempting to describe and account for all the incidents we have in our data while continually searching for new incidents. Step5: Work with the data and emerging model to discover basic social processes and relationships.Step6: Engage in sampling, coding, and writing as the analysis focuses on the core categories. During 2005, there were 13 teams following Waterfal l and 3 teams following XP during the same period of time. These three teams, team Absorb, GT11 and 30:1 are interesting teams to examine as we can compare their data against the Waterfall teams doing the exact same project. 4. Experimental results 4. 1. UI screens (M1) and Story cards (M2) comparison These wide ranges can be seen in Table 2 and Table 3 where the standard deviation of the UI mockups is often half the document size.Comparing use cases to story cards in Table 3, we see that the standard deviation for use cases is much lower than the standard deviation for story cards. This is expected since use cases are a higher ceremony document when compared to story cards. Teams might give little consideration to how to represent each feature on a story card whereas a team writing a use case step by step how a user will use the system will spend much more time thinking about the coupling and cohesion of each use case. Table 2. Average numbers and Standard Deviation of mockups Year 004 2005 Absorb GT11 30:1 2006 2007 2008 Average mockups 15. 5 11. 8 17 18 9 15 12. 8 17. 7 Standard Deviation of mockups 6. 6 6. 3 5. 4 3. 1 8. 8 Table 3. Average numbers and Standard Deviation of use cases/story cards Year Average Number Standard Deviation 2004 User cases 18. 7 2005 User cases 18. 9 2. 3 Absorb Story cards 15 1. 6 GT11 Story cards 13 30:1 Story cards 18 2006 Story cards 16. 6 2007 Story cards 18. 3 2008 Story cards 16. 6 7. 5 6. 8 8. 0 4. 2. Requirement documents (M3&M4) Starting with PET 1. 0, Waterfall teams on average add 1. 7 use cases and modified 2. use cases. Teams were given a 28 page System Requirements Specification (SRS) and on averaged finished with a 34 page SRS. XP teams starting with PET 1. 0 were given the same starting documents. Instead of modifying them, the teams created story cards that represented each new feature. Instead of spending time on writing use cases, XP teams started coding sooner. Because XP has an emphasis on low ceremony docume nts, they had more time to code resulting in an effort savings for the teams. 4. 3. Comparing the size of the detail design documents (M5) There are some insights from Table 4.Waterfall teams using Pet 1. 0 started with a 21 page Detailed Design Document (DDD), which they altered to reflect their new use cases. Waterfall teams typically did not update their design documents at the end of the project. Given the scope of the project, Waterfall teams’ final code matched the original design with respect to new classes. Table 4. Average pages and Standard Deviation of Detail Design Documents Year 2004 2005 Absorb GT11 30:1 2006 2007 2008 Starting Point 21 21 21 21 0 14 14 0 Average DDD 25. 8 31. 1 18 22 14 18. 3 12. 5 9. 5 Standard Deviation 8. 39 7. 48 7. 70 7. 8 5. 19 XP teams increased their design documents with each iteration. Because the XP teams followed Test-Driven Development, they wrote their code and had an emergent design. At the end of each iteration, the teams were a sked to update the design document to reflect important design decisions they had made during that iteration. Therefore, the design document serves a different purpose in XP. It is not a template or blueprint for future construction. Instead, it can be a guide for understanding why certain decisions were made. In this regard, it is a biography of the development, ot a plan of action. 4. 4. New lines of source code and comments, Percentage of comments in codes Table 5 shows that Waterfall teams starting with Pet 1. 0 produced lines of code with a wide variance. The two XP teams starting with Pet 1. 0 fell right within the middle of the average. Because instead of producing some documents up front, the XP teams spent a longer time coding, one would expect them to produce more lines of code. The research results also show that XP Teams had a higher percentage of comments in source code. Table 5. Average and Standard Deviation of new lines in code YearLanguage Average new lines in code Standard Deviation Lines of test codes Ratio of test codes to program code 2004 2005 Absorb GT11 30:1 2006 2007 2008 Java Java Java Java Java Java Java Ruby 9,429 11,910 13,288 14,689 0 9,628 8,572 3,670 7,946 9,851 4,920 5,465 1,507 3378 4164 1380 3186 947 3555 2212 3,255 8% 13% 4% 8% 8% 16% 10% 90% 4. 5. Submitted lines of test codes and ratio of test code to program code The observation of these two metrics in Table 5 shows that the amount of test code written by the Waterfall teams equals the amount of test code written by the XP teams.Initially the faculty thought that Test-Driven Development would increase the amount of testing code, however, given a slow adoption rate of Test-Driven Development, programmers resorted to what was familiar and thus produced similar results. 5. Conclusion In this paper, we observed and presented the data from five years of 50 teams developing the same project each year and the affects of transitioning from Waterfall to Extreme Programming. The ch aracteristics between these two methods were evaluated and compared.Waterfall teams spent more time creating high ceremony documents where as Extreme Programming teams spent more time writing code and documenting their design in their code. Surprisingly, the amount of code and features completed were roughly the same for both methods suggesting that on a three month project with three to four developers it doesn't matter the method used. It is challenging to conduct this kind of analysis of the data in hindsight. Given that this is not a toy problem, and the freedom teams have in the execution of their projects, setting up this kind of experiment properly in advance is also challenging. . References [1] Sommerville, Software engineering, 8th ed. , New York: Addison-Wesley, Harlow, England, 2006. [2] W. Royce, Managing the Development of Large Software Systems, IEEE WESTCON, Los Angeles, 1970. [3] A. Abran and J. W. Moore, Guide to the software engineering body of knowledge: trial ve rsion (version 0. 95) IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA, USA, 2001. [4] Kent Beck and Cynthia Andres, Extreme programming eXplained: embrace change, Second Edition, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2004. 5] Mike Cohn, Agile estimating and planning, Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference, Nov 11, 2005. [6] Barry, Boehm and Richard Turner, Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed, Addison Wesley, August 15, 2003. [7] Basil, V. R. , Selby, R. and Hutchens, D. , Experimentation in Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (invited paper), July 1986. [8] Andrew Begel and Nachiappan Nagappan, Usage and Perceptions of Agile Software Development in an Industrial Context: An Exploratory Study, MiIEEE Computer Society MSR-TR-2007-09, no. 2007): 10. [9] Ming Huo, June Verner, Muhammad Ali Babar, and Liming Zhu, How does agility ensure quality? , IEEE Seminar Digests 2004, (2004):36. [10] Jan Chong, Robert Plummer, Larry Leifer, Scott R. Klemmer, and George Toye. Pair Programming: When and Why it Works, In Proceedings of Psychology of Programming Interest Group 2005 Workshop, Brighton, UK, June 2005. [11] Glaser, Barney G, Strauss, and Anselm L. , The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago, 1967.

English Written Task Essay

Prescribed question: How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? Title of the text for analysis: Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe Part of the course to which the task refers: Part 3: Literature – text and context Key Points: †¢ Define masculinity in Okonkwo’s viewpoint †¢ Explore how Okonkwo never shows his emotions because of fear †¢ Describe the struggle of Okonkwo’s strength †¢ Discuss the importance of Okonkwo’s reputation of Umuofia †¢ Explain why Okonkwo emphasized on his masculinity Critical Response In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, interpretations of masculinity were challenged. Masculinity commonly means the characteristics related to men. Okonkwo, a strong wrestler and leader, had his own attributes of what manliness was. According to Okonkwo’s definition of masculinity, men were presented as strong. Anything that did not demonstrate strength was considered as weak, which was not in his definition of masculinity. While masculinity meant having qualities of a man, Okonkwo was represented to show how he perceived a man truly defined through the factor of fear and why he displayed manliness in this approach. Okonkwo was afraid of showing emotions, because revealing any sentiments showed flaws. Okonkwo liked Ikemefuna and treated him as if he was his own son. However, Okonkwo did not show any emotions towards Ikemefuna. He thought showing affection was a sign of weakness. Due to his fear of imperfection, Okonkwo felt the emotions inwardly. The only real emotion he ever brought to life was anger. â€Å"The only thing worth demonstrating was strength.† (Achebe, 1994, p. 28) Showing emotions such as happiness or sadness was a portrayal of tenderness, which Okonkwo hated. If Okonkwo showed any emotion at all, it would be evidence that he was weak. In one scenario, Okonkwo had to choose his reputation of a strong male authority or his devotion to Ikemefuna, the one he thought of to be his son. This huge struggle to prove Okonkwo’s strength was questioned when he was forced to kill Ikemefuna. Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna when Ogbuefi Ezeudu ordered him to not touch the boy. (Achebe, 1994, p. 57) The man cleared his throat, drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. He heard Ikemefuna cry ‘my father, they have killed me!’ as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak. (Achebe, 1994, p. 61) Okonkwo was afraid people would think that if he did not kill Ikemefuna, whom he loved, he would seem weak. His character to show others that he was not weak was a greater importance than his attachment for the boy. He wanted to be brave and keep his reputation as a wrestler and a leader of Umuofia. There was one instance that Okonkwo went against his definition of being manly. This showed the vulnerability of Okonkwo, which showed why he was afraid of being weak. Okonkwo became depressed after the death of Ikemefuna. He did not sleep and did not eat any food. (Achebe, 1994, p. 63) Okonkwo was compared to a â€Å"shivering old woman,† (Achebe, 1994, p. 65) showing that only woman showed their emotions. If a man could not get over the death of someone he loves, he was nothing more than a woman, who was generally the one that mourned the death of another. Being depressed over a death was a sign of gentleness, which Okonkwo did not desire. Shivering implies weakness because when people shiver, they shake, are unstable, and are not usually strong enough to hold themselves together. So, Okonkwo could not control himself in this situation. It also showed fear and a loss of composure, two things that a man should never express. The use of the word ‘old’ also showed how fragile he was becoming in this instance. It was a similar idea when Okonkwo thought he was old because old people in general were weak; as people get older, their heart and muscles were degenerated, so the quality was not durable. There was a reason why Okonkwo emphasized his masculinity. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was poor, weak, lazy, a failure and a coward. Unoka was in a lot of debt. He loved gentleness and idleness. He did not like the sight of blood. (Achebe, 1994, p. 6) In contrast, Okonkwo entered upon to be strong and hardworking, not wanting to be gentle or idle. The strong wrestler was not scared of blood at any moment, showing he was a strong individual that can deal with death of others. (Achebe, 1994, p. 67) From then on, Okonkwo wanted to show Umuofia that he was not similar to his father in any way; he wanted to be better than his father because he did not want to be known as a son of a borrower who did not give money back to the lender. As a result, Okonkwo worked to not be a failure like his father. He changed how he behaved as a man to be successful. (Achebe, 1994, p. 4) Okonkwo worked hard to have a title in Umuofia and to supply money for his family. Masculinity was shown in the fear of weakness because Okonkwo represented masculinity through his behavior. Masculinity was depicted in Okwonko’s fear of weakness. In some parts of this novel, Achebe showed the reader the wrong ways to be a man by showing what was weak, causing the readers to believe the complete opposite of how a man should truly act. Okonkwo was afraid of being weak because it would directly contradict his idea of how he should act as a man. He strived for strength and power. By showing his aversion of weakness to the readers, it gave Okonkwo’s definition of masculinity. Okonkwo viewed masculinity as strength, bravery, successful, and feelings of anger. Works Cited Achebe, C. (1994). Things fall apart. New York: Anchor Books.

Contract Definition Paper Essays - Contract Law, Contract

Contract Definition Paper Essays - Contract Law, Contract Contract Definition Paper Brian Olson Business Law 8 January 2001 A contract is a binding agreement made between two competent parties that can be written verbal or implied. The purpose of a contract is to create an agreement that can be supported by the law (Wests Encyclopedia). As we enter the new millenium, and with the increase in the number of businesses (including e-commerce), we need to know more and more about contract law. Knowledge of contract law can also protect consumers and businesses from misunderstandings. The six elements of a contract are: binding agreement, competent parties, form required by law, legal in purpose, consideration, and genuine assent. Binding Agreement A binding agreement is a contract, verbal or written, between parties that is bound by law. When two competent parties make an agreement, it is considered binding. A binding agreement must have an offer and an acceptance. An example of a binding agreement would be if Kelly told Jamie that she would buy her car for $6,000 and they both agreed to it. This agreement is legal in purpose, supported by consideration, is in the form required by law and is made by two competent parties who gave genuine assent. Competent Parties To make an agreement a legal contract, both parties have to be competent. All adults are assumed to be competent. Its important for people who are making contracts to be of sound mind. This means that the people involved cannot be under the influence of any substances or be mentally ill. Convicts and enemy aliens are also considered to lack capacity. Capacity means the ability to understand ones actions and the effects of those actions. It is legal for minors to enter into contracts, but they cannot be bound by law because younger people have limited experience and are more vulnerable than adults (Mietus 163). The purpose of competency is so people dont take advantage of those who are not competent when entering into contracts. When an adult makes a contract with a minor, the minor is the only one who can disaffirm the contract. The adult is bound by law (Mietus 163). An example of a contract that cannot legally be bound would be if John wanted to buy Ryans car for $2000 and Ryan refused. Later that day, John took Ryan out to a bar and offered him several drinks. John offered to buy Ryans car again and Ryan agreed because he was under the influence of alcohol. Due to Ryans lack of competency, this contract is void. Consideration Consideration is the promise or action that one person (the promisor) gives in exchange for the promise or action of the promisee (Mietus 198). A promise of giving without receiving is not a legal contract and would be called lack of consideration. An example of lack of consideration would be if grandpa said he would pay for your college tuition if you get straight As in high school and then decides not to do it. That promise would not be legally binding because he is not getting anything in return. Both parties must get something in return for the contact to be legal. An example of consideration is if two competent parties traded a pen for a watch. Each party is giving and receiving something of value, which is called consideration. One of the exceptions to consideration is promissory estoppel. An example of this would be if your dad said he would buy you a brand new car if you paid your way through law school. Because you suffered an economic loss to hold up your end of the bargain, the other party could be legally bound by promissory estoppel. Another exception to consideration are charitable contributions. For example, if I told Red Cross that I was going to donate $500 per year, then I could be legally bound to do so. Genuine Assent Genuine assent exists when consent is not clouded by fraud, duress, undo influence or mistake (Mietus 212). For example, if Billy pulled out a gun and got Ed to agree to sell his bike for $5, Ed is under duress and is not giving genuine assent to sell the bike. Genuine assent must be communicated clearly in some way (written, verbal or strongly implied). An example of not

True History of the Kelly Gang essays

True History of the Kelly Gang essays Ned Kelly, the narrator of this fictional account of his life, was a real-life outlaw in the outback of Australia. He lived during the 19th century, and wreaked havoc with his gang, but captured popular attention. Many saw him as a modern-day Robin Hood, who tried to care for his poor relatives by stealing from the wealthy and powerful while evading the inept police for years. Some historians saw him as a brutal and violent man, but Carey's portrayal makes him seem more like a man who was part victim and part determined youth who hated the police, and thus sealed his fate. To make the book more realistic, Carey employs narration that is at times illiterate and yet imaginative. He attempts to portray Ned as what he was, a semi-educated man with the capacity to dream and look forward to the future. For example, Ned "writes" early in the book, "Tis not poverty I hate the most nor the eternal groveling but the insults which grow on it which not even leeches can cure" (Carey 8). His sentences are sometimes difficult to decipher until the reader gets into the rhythm of the book, but one the cadence becomes clear, the reader is caught up in the vivid descriptions of outback life, and the difficulties these settlers had to face. Carey portrays Ned as a kind man who is a victim of circumstance, prejudice against the Irish, and the British colonial rule of Australia at the time. He does not enjoy killing, but can certainly theorize why outside forces consistently influence his actions. When he kills Strahan at Stringybark Creek he says, "What choice did I have' This were the ripe fruit of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick" (Carey. 250). Kelly is a national folk hero in Australia, and this book only enhances his image. Carey seems to idealize the man whose legend has never died down under, and this book is certainly sympathetic to Kelly and his notorious gang, using the langu...

Using the Latin Supine for Verbal Nouns

Using the Latin Supine for Verbal Nouns The supine is a Latin verbal noun. Since it is a noun it has a declension, but it only appears in the accusative and ablative singular. To decline the supine, use the fourth declension. Since you only need the accusative and ablative singular, the only endings you use are -um and -u. The tricky part, if you dont have a dictionary, is figuring out the stem to which to add the -um (used for purpose with verbs of motion; translated like an infinitive) or -u (used with adjectives and sometimes verbs). This depends on the conjugation to which the verb belongs. If you have a dictionary, the fourth principal part is usually the supine, but with an  us ending. To Form  the Supine for Verbs in the 1st conjugation - remove ending but keep thematic vowel (a); add a -t- and then add the 4th declension endings (either -um or -u), as in paratum.2nd conjugation - remove ending and thematic vowel (e); add -it- and then add the 4th declension endings (either -um or -u), as in habitum3rd conjugation, you must deal with irregularities. The supine of mittere is missum, but the supine of capere is captum. Although this may not be entirely predictable, the supine is usually used as the fourth principal part in the dictionary entry for the verb, so it should be familiar.4th conjugation - remove ending but keep thematic vowel (i); add a -t- and then add the 4th declension endings (either -um or -u), as in auditum. Examples of the Supine Venerunt visum they came to see.Mirabile dictu wondrous to say. Can you figure out why you would probably not use the supine to say they walk to work using  4th declension nouns?

Private Security Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Private Security Laws - Essay Example The peace officers that have been employed by the government entities have a separate set of rules and requirements then the ones who are being employed by private security officers. The peace officers belonging to any kind of private investigation business or private security business that are engaged in this business, with the consent and knowledge of chief executive officer who belongs to the law enforcement agency of the peace officer, may be exempted from the requirements and rules which are applicable to other security officers in the state of Maryland (Security Officer Law & Legal Definition, 2013). The private security officers are employed by the private security companies to protect the physical property as well as the lives of humans. They are obliged by law in the state of Maryland to enforce rules and procedures of their employers, prevent trespassing to the property of customers and employers, control access and prevent the damage or loss of the employer’s property or asset. They are also responsible for managing the flow of traffic by allowing only authorized visitors and employees and deter any kind of criminal activity on the property of their clients. The responsibilities of private security officers may differ from police officer and other government security officers in the state of Maryland, as they do not have the same authority and duties as public law enforcement officers. The private security officers in Maryland are permitted to exercise the arrest authority, while most of them may have a similar arrest authority like any normal citizen of state. Priva te security officers may also have same power and authority of arresting as the Sheriff Deputies while they are on the property that they have been paid to protect (Licensing Information, 2014). Â  Private security companies and the officers who work for them are always

Fourth Latern Council of 1215 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fourth Latern Council of 1215 - Essay Example The first Lateran Council was convened during 1123 BC that confirmed the Concordat of Worms. The second Lateran Council was convened during 1139 and formulated several tenets such as invalidation of the clerical marriage, regulation of clerical dress and excommunication of the people who attacked clerics2. The third Lateran Council was convened during 1179 and continued reforms in church with condemnation of simony, limitation of papal  electees  to the  Cardinals  and forbiddance of promotion to  the episcopate  before thirtieth year of the age. The fourth Lateran Council was convened during 1215 and continued with reform measures such as papal primacy, transubstantiation and conduct of clergy.3 The council was also concerned about distinguishing people of other religions such as Muslims and Jews from the Christians in  public area,  and they suggested the differentiation of the dress as a resolution of the issue.   The fifth Lateran Council that was convened during 1512 to 1517 continued with further reform of the Church. The fourth Lateran Council was summoned by Pope Innocent III during 1215 to resolve many issues that concerned Roman Catholic Church. These issues included the disaster at the Crusade wars, to strengthen the faith and continue reforms in the church. 4 Pope Innocent III himself worded the goals of the fourth Lateran Council as the plantation of the virtues, eradication of the vices, reformation of the morals, correction of the faults and removal of heresies. The other goals included the establishment of the peace, settlement of the discord and getting rid of the oppression. He also wanted to persuade Christian people and princes to aid the cause of Crusades. 5 There were many reasons why Pope Innocent III summoned the Fourth Lateran Council. The Christian society and Roman Catholic Church were in considerable turmoil due to moral issues. In addition to

Should Morbidly Obese Kids Be Taken from Their Parents Essay

Should Morbidly Obese Kids Be Taken from Their Parents - Essay Example This paper provides the summary and response to the article written by gaelle faure, â€Å"Should Parents of Obese Kids Lose Custody?† published on Time.com on Friday, Oct. 16, 2009 (faure) Western world is facing the critical question,† Should morbidly obese children be taken from their parents?† at present. Reports from Scotland, California, New Mexico, Texas and New York, as well as Canada have shown that because of a childs obesity the parents lost the custody of their children. Because of child privacy laws, many such incidents have been kept as secrets whereas only few of them have been published. The above issue has first appeared in public debated issues, two years before with a British television documentary about Connor McCreaddie, an 8-year-old who weighed more than 200 lbs. and was at risk of being taken from his mother by authorities. It is an accepted fact that removing children from their parents remains a last resort, but obesity experts are increasingly debating whether doing so can boost a childs chances for a healthier life. Childhood obesity can cause physical problems like Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, high cholesterol orthopedic problems, and mental problems due to hypertension, sleep apnea and early puberty. The major reason for over weight is overeating itself. Even though, parents have a major role in making their children obese, other issues like genetic predisposition and socioeconomic status and environmental factors, like whether children have access to parks and playgrounds are also major reasons for child obesity. As per Tam Fry, chairman of Britains Child Growth Foundation, if the parents refuse to address the child obesity issue, then they should be put in the care of professionals — with the provision that parents may visit, till the steps are taken to alter the familys diet so that the child may eventually return to a

Comparison of cultural contact between 2 books, black robe(brian Essay

Comparison of cultural contact between 2 books, black robe(brian moore) & things fall apart(chinua achebe) - Essay Example Initially planned as journey against hunger, exhaustion and cold, the mission ends up fueled by suspicious beliefs and hostility provoked in the local tribes. The focal moment and central theme in Black Robe is the clash between two different cultures. Moore (1997) explores the complexities of utterly divergent cultures and tries to juxtapose them on the background of historical events happening at the beginning of 17th century Canada. Moore (1997) attempts to give new understandings about both cultures. For Native Indians, baptism is â€Å"water sorcery†. To pray over beads would mean to put a curse of someone. To the savages the idea to have only one God is absurd. For the Jesuits, on the other hand the Indians appear barbaric and uncontrollable. Their religion is surrounded with sorcerers and superstitions. The way they observe and follow their customs are bloodthirsty. What Moore (1997) reveals in front of the reader is two cultures that are diametrically different. The Indian way of life and religion is frightenly dissimilar to the Western culture of Laforgue. The attempts from both sides to reach out for each other are direct ed by mutual incomprehension. Overcoming to grasp the different thinking and customs of each culture is the theme of the whole novel. The language barrier is not so difficult an obstacle than to understand the other. Both cultures test their beliefs in their contact of the contrasting culture. Moore (1997) best describes this in the Introduction of the novel: The Indian belief in a world of night and in the power of dreams clashed with the Jesuits preachments of Christianity and a paradise after death.   This novel is an attempt to show that each of these beliefs inspired in the other fear, hostility, and despair, which later would result in the destruction and abandonment of the Jesuit missions, and the conquest of the Huron people by the Iroquois, their deadly enemy. Things Fall Apart, is an African

Financial crisis 2007-2012 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial crisis 2007-2012 - Essay Example The investments in the mortgage market in US were very lucrative as it offered high returns in short interval of time. More and more numbers of people considered the investments in US mortgage market as an instrument of short term gains. According to efficient market theory, the information flow from the market was such that it influenced not only the borrowers but also the lenders for purchase of housing properties (Harder, 2010, p.59). The policies of the US government also contributed to the flow of market information to the investors suggesting that the investments in the real estate and housing markets of US is likely to produce easy profits in a short span of time. The US government also made the ownership of houses for US citizens as a fundamental right. All these information flow from the markets influenced the investment decisions in the housing markets. Thus investments in the mortgage markets increased with instances of bank lending with open hands. On one hand when the ma rket information influenced the financial decisions, the underlying bubble of crisis was not noticed. Due to assumptions of the efficient market theory, the valuation of the underlying mortgages got overvalued. The banks provided finances for housing loans without adequate check on the credit parameters which led to the entry of huge borrowers who were not creditworthy (Carey and Stulz, 2007, p.44). The weight of bad loans started to increase when the borrowers defaulted in repayment of loans.... The US government also made the ownership of houses for US citizens as a fundamental right. All these information flow from the markets influenced the investment decisions in the housing markets. Thus investments in the mortgage markets increased with instances of bank lending with open hands. On one hand when the market information influenced the financial decisions, the underlying bubble of crisis was not noticed. Due to assumptions of the efficient market theory, the valuation of the underlying mortgages got overvalued. The banks provided finances for housing loans without adequate check on the credit parameters which led to the entry of huge borrowers who were not creditworthy (Carey and  Stulz, 2007, p.44). The weight of bad loans started to increase when the borrowers defaulted in repayment of loans. The valuation of the mortgages fell which were accepted as underlying securities at the time of financing the loans. This led to erosion of value of the company and the sharehold ers which eventually led to financial crisis of 2007-2012. The underlying causes of financial crisis were not reflected in the information flow to the investors that led to bad investments (Palan, 2007, p.25). This establishes the redundancy of efficient markets in explaining the financial decisions. Financial theories and models This part of the study will evaluate several aspects of Efficient Market Hypothesis and Random market Hypothesis. Efficient Market Hypothesis Efficient Market hypothesis is also known as joint hypothesis problem. It declares that the financial market is efficient. According to this hypothesis, an individual cannot

Why was Ancient Greek society as influential as it was, on the rest of Essay

Why was Ancient Greek society as influential as it was, on the rest of the world - Essay Example The classical Greek was mostly rocky and mountainous and colonized with many new states across the Mediterranean Sea (Ancient Greek Colonization, 2012). Greece as a society was a male dominated patriarchal society in nature where women did not had many rights. Their ranks were established in accordance of their husbands’ and fathers’. Most of the women in Athens were not entitled to reading, writing, ownership of property and right to politics. They were under the protection of their male counterparts, fathers and relatives. As we see in many states today those women have not been entitled to many rights, the influence seems to come from ancient Greece. The Greek society was actually divided between two types i.e. Citizens and Slaves. Citizens enjoyed all rights while slaves did not have right to property or families of their own while citizenship was only entitled to males of the city states who had freeborn parents (Ancient Greece and Rome, 2012). The Greeks has great influence on the intellectual history. They not only produced many philosophers but invented alphabets that led the foundations of modern day language. The alphabet was invented by the Semites of the Mediterranean coast,  including the Hebrews and the Phoenicians, who did not used words to represent consonants instead they used simple drawings. The Phoenicians apparently passed it on to the Greeks.   The Greeks improved on the idea by inventing vowels, using some extra letters their language had no use for. The word alphabet is believed to be taken from two Greek words Alpha and Beta (Boeree, 2012). Classical Greek philosophy is the most important factor that strengthened the footings of modern day intellectual work. Greece produced the world famous philosophers like Socrates and Plato and Aristotle etc. Socrates revolutionized many areas of western thought introducing the fields of democracy, epistemology and ethics. Then his student Plato introduced the idea of spiritualism a nd the existence of God by understanding the manifestations of the material world. Aristotle then produced a new philosophy where he demonstrated that the world is what we can sense through our five senses (Rise of Western Culture & Philosophy, 2012). The ancient philosophy gave us the basis for modern day philosophy by providing metaphysics. Meta physics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the questions of what this world is made of and what is the substance of this reality named as world. Greek philosophy provides us with the ancient concepts that provide the basis for modern day knowledge of ethics, cynicism and hedonism, empiricism and epistemology. That’s why Ancient society has been so influential in its era to other societies but it also provides the basis for modern day knowledge to excel and intellectualism to prevail (Boeree, 2012). Greece is one of the most powerful societies ever that impacted rest of the world in the most influential way. Especially Greece influenced the west in the past and today the ideas of political systems working in United Nations of America are profoundly influenced by the Greek and Romans. The Ancient Greek umpire practiced the citizen based political participation. In an Assembly, all male citizens of the time used to gather to discuss about the issues and vote. As the participation in Assembly was paid and full democratic in nature so every citizen could have participated in the affairs of government. The modern day representative democratic style of government has been derived from Greece too where the Greek had a council and each tribe used to send about 50 citizens to the council from which a representative was chosen.

Financial crisis 2007-2012 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial crisis 2007-2012 - Essay Example The investments in the mortgage market in US were very lucrative as it offered high returns in short interval of time. More and more numbers of people considered the investments in US mortgage market as an instrument of short term gains. According to efficient market theory, the information flow from the market was such that it influenced not only the borrowers but also the lenders for purchase of housing properties (Harder, 2010, p.59). The policies of the US government also contributed to the flow of market information to the investors suggesting that the investments in the real estate and housing markets of US is likely to produce easy profits in a short span of time. The US government also made the ownership of houses for US citizens as a fundamental right. All these information flow from the markets influenced the investment decisions in the housing markets. Thus investments in the mortgage markets increased with instances of bank lending with open hands. On one hand when the ma rket information influenced the financial decisions, the underlying bubble of crisis was not noticed. Due to assumptions of the efficient market theory, the valuation of the underlying mortgages got overvalued. The banks provided finances for housing loans without adequate check on the credit parameters which led to the entry of huge borrowers who were not creditworthy (Carey and Stulz, 2007, p.44). The weight of bad loans started to increase when the borrowers defaulted in repayment of loans.... The US government also made the ownership of houses for US citizens as a fundamental right. All these information flow from the markets influenced the investment decisions in the housing markets. Thus investments in the mortgage markets increased with instances of bank lending with open hands. On one hand when the market information influenced the financial decisions, the underlying bubble of crisis was not noticed. Due to assumptions of the efficient market theory, the valuation of the underlying mortgages got overvalued. The banks provided finances for housing loans without adequate check on the credit parameters which led to the entry of huge borrowers who were not creditworthy (Carey and  Stulz, 2007, p.44). The weight of bad loans started to increase when the borrowers defaulted in repayment of loans. The valuation of the mortgages fell which were accepted as underlying securities at the time of financing the loans. This led to erosion of value of the company and the sharehold ers which eventually led to financial crisis of 2007-2012. The underlying causes of financial crisis were not reflected in the information flow to the investors that led to bad investments (Palan, 2007, p.25). This establishes the redundancy of efficient markets in explaining the financial decisions. Financial theories and models This part of the study will evaluate several aspects of Efficient Market Hypothesis and Random market Hypothesis. Efficient Market Hypothesis Efficient Market hypothesis is also known as joint hypothesis problem. It declares that the financial market is efficient. According to this hypothesis, an individual cannot

The Effect of Titanic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Effect of Titanic - Essay Example Titanic was a ship people dreamed to sail in. Being able to sail in Titanic was an experience cherished much. Yet, had the people known what they were destined to end in, nobody would have boarded it in the first place.A particular scene in Titanic changed me as a person. It was when Rose’s fiancà © offers the officer money to be allowed to sit in the boat, and the officer smashes the money at the fiance’s face saying it is of no use. I learned that life cannot be priced.To make the most out of my life, I derive happiness by helping and caring for others. The lesson I derive is that we should never take pride in anything in life. Everything belongs to God and He can take it from us anytime. A particular scene in Titanic changed me as a person. It was when Rose’s fiancà © offers the officer money to be allowed to sit in the boat, and the officer smashes the money at the fiance’s face saying it is of no use. I learned that life cannot be priced.  

Maintainanse of relationship Essay Example for Free

Maintainanse of relationship Essay The social exchange theory assumes relationships provide both rewards (e.g. sex, affection, intimacy) and costs (e.g. time, energy, money). Everyone tries to max reward for min costs. If a relationship is to continue, people expect the partner to reward them as much as they do. Therefore, the greater the rewards and lower the costs, the more attractive the relationship is. How to judge whether the rewards worth more than costs or vice versa depend on the Comparison Level (CL). CL is the overview of what to expect in the exchange from our past experience. If the person has a bad relationship before, he/she will expect little from the current partner; How satisfactory a person feels depends on the rewards (e.g. sex) and costs (e.g. argument) involved if they have another relationship with someone else (CL alt). The equity theory extends this view. It proposed that people strive for fairness between rewards costs. So, a person expects the same proportion of rewards to their costs; otherwise they will feel distress. This theory can account for individual differences as people have diff. view towards rewards and costs and so what is acceptable may not apply to others. For example, Argyle found that many women feel less satisfied when they are over-benefited in a relationship, whereas many males feel little dissatisfaction. Therefore, it becomes very useful in explaining extreme cases where some people in very unhappy relationship do not dissolve, yet those in mediocre marriages do- this is because the investment is high (e.g. children) and the alternatives are low (e.g. no money) and so people tend to stay (Rusbult). However, the claim that people constantly strive for rewards as motivation to maintain relationship has suggested people are selfish and self-centred in relationships. Yet it may be true to the Western individualistic cultures which emphasises on personal interests, but may not apply to non-western collectivistic cultures. This is because they emphasise on group values and so personal selfish concerns become socially undesirable. Therefore these theories are only relevant to Western cultures (Moghadamm et al). Another theory, the socio-biological theories, states that our behaviours are the result of evolution in order to max the chance of passing on the genes. This would mean all relationships are evolved to increase the survival of individuals and opportunities for successful reproduction. Buss suggested that women often seek older, successful men because these men can support them and their children; whereas men prefer younger women because they are likely to be more fertile than older ones. After successfully pass on the genes, we have to protect them so as to max the chance to pass on further. So we are evolved to form close families to protect our children as they shared genes with us. The closer the genes, the more we prepare to sacrifice to protect them. This is the kin-selection which suggests survival of an individuals genes is ensured by helping close relatives to survive. The claim for kin-selection is supported by Fellner Marshalls study who found that 80% of parents are willing to donate their kidneys to their children. This shows that people with the closest generic relationships (i.e. parents children) are willing to sacrifice to protect each other for their survival, thus support kin-selection. Therefore, this theory has made the specific nature of family worldwide- the enormous resources and energy devoted to children- explainable. This means it appears to gain validity. However, such validity is limited because it cannot explain other common relationships such as homosexuals and close friendships. If the claim that relationships are to reproduce successfully is true, it will not apply to homosexuals as they cannot pass on genes. Furthermore, Grajek found that women love their best friend more than their partners. This cannot be explained by this theory as friends outside relatives cannot help pass on genes and so should be as important as their partner. Grajeks contradictory findings have made this theory insufficient to explain most relationships.

Modernization Program Project Management

Modernization Program Project Management Interrelated duties or tasks implemented within a certain time in a fixed period on a certain cost with other limitations following a certain strategy is known as project (Dictionary.com (2016), occasionally these projects have been outsourced to a specialized outsourcing companies which are specialized in project management, in order to maximize their efficiency within available resources. Being employed by a consultancy firm, I have been given a task to complete a consultancy report so the company can reemploy and execute its Modernization Program. The report will help to identify and rectify the best abilities being executed on the basis of the detailed set of the tasks explained in this report. All the analysis and the evaluation of the said program to cover all the aspects of the execution will be provided. The relationship between the firm and Remploy will be strengthened by implemented the required changes. Reason The general objective of this venture is to modernize Remploy processing plants that are being worked by debilitated individuals to limit operational cost. Another objective is to augment the general effectiveness of all Remploy manufacturing plants by diminishing the reliance on individuals and limiting general blunders that may happen. The change must be made in a manner that the representatives dont feel constrained or debilitated by this modernization. The extent must be finished inside the given spending plan.[G9][G10] Employees must be acceptable, moved and remuneration must be given to the individuals who are not willing to acknowledge this change.[G11][G12] To guarantee that Remploy and its representatives are happy with the general execution of the program. This must be done gently. Scope Remploy is in charge of the work of crippled individuals all through the Assembled Kingdom. This includes extraordinary abilities with a specific end goal to handle incapacitated individuals and help their reintegration in the general public. Remploy has been practical since the finish of World War II and from that point forward they have been in charge of making and giving employments to a large number of impaired individuals. Through this modernization program, Remploy means to make more occupations and increment the number of individuals utilized while keeping the spending restricted. This has been remembered and a Gantt diagram has been made to meet the given time span of the venture.[G13][G14][G15] An exhaustive arrangement has additionally been set up to guarantee a smooth and simple move of Remploy to a more current working environment. This reintegration is aided by the given spending plan on which light will be shed also in this report. Objectives The program plan for this report diagrams the essential undertakings that will be required to start, arrange and execute the program for Remploy. This will likewise incorporate a definite design of the arranging of the program which will be the urgent piece of this program. All dates are well thought and plainly named. Gantt Chart S. No Task Number Task Name Start Date End Date Duration 1 1 Initialization of the program[G17] 2/1/2017 26/1/2017 20 days 2 1.1 Scope definition 2/1/2017 7/1/2017 6 days 3 1.2 Identification of roles 10/1/2017 15/1/2017 6 days 4 1.3 Finalization and Gain of approval 17/1/2017 26/1/2017 8 days 5 2 Planning of the project 27/1/2017 24/4/2017 62 days 6 2.1 Development of a plan 27/1/2017 16/3/2017 35 days 7 2.1.1 Work breakdown structure development 27/1/2017 7/2/2017 8 days 8 2.1.2 Program staffing plan 8/2/2017 16/2/2017 7 days 9 2.1.3 Program schedule plan 17/2/2017 2/3/2017 10 days 10 2.1.4 Project budget development 3/3/2017 16/3/2017 10 days 11 2.2 Project Control Plan Development 17/3/2017 24/4/2017 27 days 12 2.2.1 Technical assistance development 17/3/2017 28/3/2017 8 days 13 2.2.2 Quality management plan 29/3/2017 6/4/2017 7 days 14 2.2.3 Contingency management plan 7/4/2017 17/4/2017 7 days 15 2.3 Finalization and Gain of approval 18/4/2017 24/4/2017 5 days 16 3 Execution of the Project 25/4/2017 25/4/2021 1044 days 17 3.1 Phase One 18 3.2 Phase Two 19 3.3 Phase Three The program plan for this report diagrams the essential tasks that will be required to start, arrange and execute the program for Remploy. This will likewise incorporate a nitty gritty design of the arranging of the program which will be the critical piece of this program. All dates are well thought and plainly marked. The execution of the project will be done in three basic stages that have been estimated to take around 3-4 years depending on the number of working days and the efficiency of execution. The stages are in line with the case study of Remploy which breaks it down to its core levels. The manpower to be used has not been highlighted in the chart due to its vast and immense execution. This will need a more thoroughly thought plan to be done during the planning phase of the program. The execution phases have been described below: Phase 1 Closing of sites that have been selected for the program Transfer of employees and equipment to a new site Phase 2 Reintegration of employees in the new environment Restarting business in the new sites using transferred equipment and employees Phase 3 Help change the mindset of employees and speed up the progress of business by helping them settle down in the new environment Ensure that the business operates competitively and efficiently with the market and all legislations are satisfied COST ESTIMATION A comprehensive budget provides management with an understanding of how funds will be utilized and expanded over time for projects or operations (Insight ®, 1997). [G18]The budget for the five-year plan has been set around 555[G19] million pounds by the department of work and pension. The Minister for disabled people had set out this budget in order to reduce costs by modernization and helping disabled people compete with the competitive market. The breakdown of this budget is shown below. It should be kept in mind that Remploy is responsible for 84 factories that need to be modernized and employees relocated, therefore, the execution of the project is bound to use the maximum amount of [G20][G21]allotted money. The amount of money that remains can be used to compensate and make up for any damage that may be incurred during the implementation of the project.[G22] Task No. Item Cost (GBP) 1 Initialization of the project 100,000 1.1 Identification and Development of personnel 100,000 2 Planning of the program[G23] 11,000,000 2.1 Development of a plan 500,000 2.2 Development of project control plan 500,000 2.3 Finalization of the program[G24] 100,000 3 Execution of the program[G25] 268,000,000 3.1 Phase one 168,000,000 3.2 Phase two 50,000,000 3.3 Phase three 50,000,000 Total 279,100,000 Advantage administration arranges required to determine the advantages that will be conveyed by the usage of a venture or a program (Benefit administration arrange layout activity, 2015). In this report, an intensive advantage administration arrange has been created to guarantee that the turning points are unmistakably delineated and distinguished to guarantee that the program is on track with its encouraging. Without an advantages administration program, this report would pass up a great opportunity for one of the vital elements that should be distinguished and fill in as a reason for the execution of the program. One such advantage and encouraging to accomplishment have been laid out in the table beneath while utilizing key execution pointer as a help screen the viable use of accomplishing business destinations (Inc, 2016).[G26] BENEFIT: Reduction in operational cost KPI: Liquidity and cash flow improvement Measure Baseline Value (dd/mm/yyyy) Target Value (dd/mm/yyyy) Interim target No Source Monthly cost Reporting Forum Bi-monthly report Start date Frequency Every two months End date When will reporting finish (dd/mm/yy)?[G27] Responsibility for reporting Name Position Factory supervisor Organisation Remploy Dangers are constantly present when the usage of another program is considered. This hazard must be imagined and distinguished by the venture administration group to guarantee that the administration can handle and moderate any dangers without bringing on any money related weight. The dangers distinguished are ordinarily overseen by the firm all through the usefulness of the firm which makes is simpler for them to be taken care of. As a specialist, we are pleased with our capacity to prepare for time and deal with the program at each progression of the arrangement.[G28][G29][G30] Risk Risk Level Likelihood Mitigation Strategy Hours per person High Certain A comprehensive management approach must be applied Programme Schedule High Certain Strict policy of implementation and extra days kept for delays and losses Project deliverables Low Likely to some extent Deliverables are clear to all parties. Will be reinforced from time to time Lack of commitment Low Unlikely Team is motivated to ensure a smooth transition Media and Political pressure Medium Uncertain Constant update and communication with stakeholders and media personnel Loss of individuals Low Unlikely Retention and bonus payments provided to key individuals to keep them motivated Partner administration is the way toward dealing with the desire of any individual who has an enthusiasm for a venture or will be influenced by it and is a key initiative instrument. At the point when there is a cognizant and organized drawn nearer, partner administration secures the possession and responsibility fundamental for conveying changes (Board, no date). The accompanying graphs portray the partner administration and correspondence arranges altogether [G31]that will be actualized to guarantee that correspondence between the venture administration group and the group of Remploy will be all around educated at all time. Stakeholders need to be identified and informed about the processes going on within the program. These stakeholders are as following: Project management consultant HR team of Remploy Remploy financial experts Remploy operational expert Remploy management Equipment suppliers Office of Minister for disabled persons Equipment suppliers and contractors Employees of Remploy The following matrix shows the distribution of the above-mentioned stakeholders for the modernization program to be implemented by Remploy.   Ã‚   Introduction According to Management Guide.com, a project management framework is a subset of tasks, tools, and templates used in combination by the team to envision the major elements of the projects which ar[G34]e needed to initiate a program (Guide, 2010). These elements ensure that the resources such as money, employees, equipment and time are used to their maximum potential by efficient planning, implementation, and control. This ensures that the deliverables of the project are achieved on time which helps the overall p[G35]rogress of the program. There are numerous frameworks that are used in the business world today which are there to aid the project management team to work their way around a project. These frameworks include the Risk management framework, Change management frame[G36]work, Process based management framework and lean management framework. It is not easy to decide which framework to work with since there are numerous businesses with multiple deliverables and no framework is proven to produce the best result. Two or more frameworks can sometimes be merged by a manager depending on their requirements. Two frameworks that will be discussed for this project are Change management framework and Risk management framework. The advantages, disadvantages and critical analysis of each framework are discussed below. CRITICAL JUSTIFICATION Risk Management framework Risk management framework identifies the risks involved in the project with respect to stakeholders and provides a detailed analysis of each risk. The risk management framework is widely used due to its vast application and capability of mitigating risks related to a project. The disadvantage of using this framework especially for this Modernization program would be the huge amount of expertise required to calculate and analyze all risks involved with the project. Since the program is scheduled to be implemented in five years, this can cause an, even more, uncertainty which would increase the cost related to expertise.[G37][G38][G39] Change Management framework Chance administration system distinguishes the dangers required in the venture as for partners and gives a point by point examination of each hazard. The hazard administration structure is broadly utilized because of its immense application and ability of moderating dangers identified with a venture. The detriment of utilizing this structure particularly for this Modernization program would be the enormous measure of ability required to compete and break down all dangers required with the venture. Since the program is planned to be actualized in five years, this can bring about a significantly more instability which would build the cost identified with skill.[G40][G41] Reflection and Conclusion (2016) in Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/project.html (Accessed: 18 December 2016). Insight ®, P. (1997) Project management and the comprehensive project budget. Available at: http://www.projectinsight.net/project-management-basics/basic-project-budget (Accessed: 19 December 2016). Benefit management plan template initiative (2015) Available at: http://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/Publications/Investment-planning-and-evaluation-publications/Investment-management/Benefit-management-plan-template-Initiative (Accessed: 19 December 2016). Bourda, F. (no date) Tata Consultancy Services. Available at: http://www.tcs.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/White%20Papers/EntSol-Whitepaper-Stakeholder-Management-0713-1.pdf (Accessed: 19 December 2016). Inc, K. (2016) KPI examples. Available at: https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/kpi-examples#gref (Accessed: 19 December 2016). Guide, M.M. (2010) Project management framework: Definition and basic elements. Available at: http://www.mymanagementguide.com/project-management-framework-definition-and-elements/ (Accessed: 19 December 2016). Unknown (2010) Change management framework work process improvement Charles Sturt university. Available at: http://www.csu.edu.au/special/wpp/resources/change-management-framework (Accessed: 19 December 2016). 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Emily Bronte :: Essays Papers

Emily Bronte Emily Bronte was born on July 30th, 1818, the 5th child of the Reverend Patrick Bronte, a stern Evangelical curate, and his wife Maria. When Emily was three years old, her mother died of cancer, and her Aunt Branwell, a strict Calvinist, moved in to help raise the children. They lived in a parsonage in Haworth with the bleak moors of Yorkshire on one side and the parish graveyard on the other. When Emily was 6 years old she went to a boarding school run by charity. The students were kept hungry, cold, tired, and often ill. In 1825 Maria and Elizabeth both died of tuberculosis, the disease that was later to claim Emily's own life, and that of her younger sister Anne. Following these new bereavements, the surviving sisters Charlotte and Emily were taken home, but they would never forget the terrors and the hardship of their lives at school. Life at home was much better for Emily and her siblings. In their isolated childhood on the moors, they developed an extremely close relationship partly based on their mutual participation in a vibrant game of make-believe. They developed two empires. They were Angria and Gondal. She left home to be a governess in 1837 and to study in Belgium in 1842, but both times she found she was unable to bear being away from home and her beloved, wild countryside. In 1845 Charlotte, Emily, and Anne published a book of poetry under the names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. They sold only two copies, but did not give up writing. Wuthering Heights was probably written in 1845. Wuthering Heights (by Ellis Bell), was published in 1847, and attracted considerable critical attention. Many people were shocked and horrified by sheer violence of Emily's novel. Emily Bronte :: Essays Papers Emily Bronte Emily Bronte was born on July 30th, 1818, the 5th child of the Reverend Patrick Bronte, a stern Evangelical curate, and his wife Maria. When Emily was three years old, her mother died of cancer, and her Aunt Branwell, a strict Calvinist, moved in to help raise the children. They lived in a parsonage in Haworth with the bleak moors of Yorkshire on one side and the parish graveyard on the other. When Emily was 6 years old she went to a boarding school run by charity. The students were kept hungry, cold, tired, and often ill. In 1825 Maria and Elizabeth both died of tuberculosis, the disease that was later to claim Emily's own life, and that of her younger sister Anne. Following these new bereavements, the surviving sisters Charlotte and Emily were taken home, but they would never forget the terrors and the hardship of their lives at school. Life at home was much better for Emily and her siblings. In their isolated childhood on the moors, they developed an extremely close relationship partly based on their mutual participation in a vibrant game of make-believe. They developed two empires. They were Angria and Gondal. She left home to be a governess in 1837 and to study in Belgium in 1842, but both times she found she was unable to bear being away from home and her beloved, wild countryside. In 1845 Charlotte, Emily, and Anne published a book of poetry under the names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. They sold only two copies, but did not give up writing. Wuthering Heights was probably written in 1845. Wuthering Heights (by Ellis Bell), was published in 1847, and attracted considerable critical attention. Many people were shocked and horrified by sheer violence of Emily's novel.

Assassination of a Dictator – Justifiable?

Throughout history, there have been many dictators who have ruled with an iron fist. Julius Ceasar of Rome, Joseph Stalin of Russia, Nicolea Ceausescu or Romania, and Adolf Hitler of Germany were – to name a few – famous dictators. Dictators rule countries with absolute power, taking away the rights and choices of citizens. Most would argue that the assassination of a dictator is a good, justifiable thing to do, and I find myself agreeing. Yet, despite dictators' unrighteous actions, there are some who still argue against getting rid of oppressive leaders. If a dictator is killed, many deaths could be prevented. The killing would be for the greater good. Who wouldn't go back in time to kill Hitler? Thousands of lives would be spared. One death, in comparison, is trivial. These dictators do not just pose a threat internally – they are a threat to everyone. A dictator's assassination could even prevent a war. Although most people assosciate assassinations with outside interference, this often isn't the case. During World War Two, Hitler's own generals plotted the Fuhrer's downfall. These attempts were very close to being successful, but for a spy within the conspiracy. Even Joseph Stalin, the â€Å"Man of Steel†, was not immune to traitors within his Polit Bureau. Julius Ceasar himself was killed by his assosciates and supposed best friend after declaring himself dictator for life. When these people seize power, they are determined to hold on to it through fair means or foul. Their assassination may be the only way to change a country from dictatorship to democracy, particularly if an internal police force under the leader's rule has been upholding his or her will and preventing internal opposition. A popular arguement against the assassination of a dictator is that there is an alternative to being them to justice. The leaders can be put on trial, and be held responsible for their crimes. The International Criminal Court provides a permanent means to go about this, and acts as a deterent against anyone taking complete control. Slobodan Milosevic was able to be put on trial for his deeds, and Saddam Hussein faced justice in Iraq. However, this alternative method would allow the dictator to be in power for longer, and they would still have some power. Not all trials are fair, and the dictator may escape justice, and continue as they were. The attempt could also make them look untouchable, or even heroic. I think that, if the situation calls for it, dictators should be assassinated. Although some pro-life, and anti-death penalty protestors would disagree with this form of justice, there will always be disagreements about this contraversial topic. Although assassination is illegal, not much that dictators do is legal either. Killing a dictator is for the greater good. Any utilitarian would agree that, by taking out the root, the problem can be easily solved. By removing the driving force, the whole system of the dictator would colapse, dying with them. Dictators oppress citizens, and take away basic rights, such as the right to be heard. In order to give people back their rights, the dictators must be removed. One person is a small price to pay for this, particularly if the dictator is bloody. Take Joseph Stalin, for example. He personally signed the deaths of nine thousand people, and killed many others indirectly. By taking away one life, so many thousands could be saved. Even the people close to dictators want them gone – who wouldn't? The populace of countries taken over by dictators need a signal to find the courage and daring to campaign for change. What better way to signal than to take out the bad guy? The thoughts against assassination, I feel, are simple remnants of the â€Å"rules of war†, from long ago. In a war, it is okay to kill perfectly innocent citizens. Yet, it is immoral to kill the leader? This, to me, makes no sense. From saltmines to glasnost, from stalags to democracy, from apartite to Nelson Mandella walking free, from fascism to capitalism, peace and progress can be achieved by the removal of dictatorships. -January 2011