Ghana The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah - 568 Words

â€Å"Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah† is a book based on the life, struggles and achievements of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. In the book the author who in this case is the main person the book is about gives an indebt revelation of his childhood throughout his primary education, life overseas, challenges faced as an educated African man and shifted to his political journey. Although â€Å"Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah† was his major book because it ties in his whole life experience, he wrote various books such as Africa Must Unite, Class Struggle in Africa, Selected Speeches, and The Struggle Continues. According to Henry Kam Kah Nkrumah stated, â€Å"We must unite for economic viability, first of all, and then to recover our mineral wealth in Southern Africa, so that our vast resources and capacity for development will bring prosperity for us and additional benefits for the rest of the world. That is why I have written elsewhere that the emancipation of Africa could be the emancipation of Man.† In this statement, one realizes that Nkrumah knew that the benefits of unity were many and included the recovery of the massive mineral wealth of the continent to benefit Africa and not those who wanted to exploit them. The book entitled Ghana: The Autobiography of Kwame Nkrumah was first written in Ghana on 6th of March 1957. Since this book was written and published on Independence Day of Ghana, its analysis fulfils the ultimate aspirations of African people. Upon writing theShow MoreRelatedEssay William Edward Burghardt Du Bois or W.E.B. Du Bois3534 Words   |  15 Pagesshould be treated as a war criminal. After spending six months in disgrace and paying $35,150 for his defense, the government dismissed its case against him. The old man was freed and declared himself a communist 12 years later at age 93, dying in Ghana, a country that loved him. It was a sad end for an intellectual giant whom Kim Pearson, a professor of journa lism at The College of New Jersey who teaches a class on Du Bois, calls, the premier African American intellectual of the 19th and 20th centuriesRead MoreBible Versus the Toran12356 Words   |  50 Pagescrimes against black Americans. His detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, antisemitism, and violence. He has been called on of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history, and in 1998, Time named The Autobiography of Malcolm X one of the ten most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century. Malcom was born in Omaha, Nebraska. The events of his childhood, including his fathers lessons concerning black pride and self-reliance, and his own expericences

Analysis of Poes Successes and Failures in Poetry and...

An Analysis of Poes Successes and Failures in Poetry and Fiction Edgar Allan Poes career may have been a failure considering what he set out to do, but he did achieve some success and notoriety in his own lifetime. His most successful poem was, of course, The Raven, a piece he composed to satisfy popular taste. But some of his short fiction was popular as well. As an editor and publisher, however, Poe did not quite achieve the greatness he sought. His legacy grew only after his death, thanks to his literary executor R. W. Griswold, who won more permanent attention for him after his death by exaggerating his neurotic debility and inherited dipsomania to make him an almost Satanic figure (Bradbury 206). This paper will examine Poes poetic and short story successes and failures, and show how he was not quite the Satanic figure that the reading public preferred to imagine him to be. Poes own life is as full of melancholy and darkness as his many tales and poems. Perhaps the greatest example of his failure as a literary man, however, is found in his inability to achieve any form of stable income through his work with literature. This, of course, is no indication of his literary merit. Neither Herman Melville nor Nathaniel Hawthorne, contemporaries of Poe, had much financial success as novelists but their places in the canon of American Literature is firmly secured; and so too is Poes. Born in Boston, Poes life kept mainly to the Eastern Coast (he died inShow MoreRelatedCommon Themes of Edgar Allan Poe3152 Words   |  13 PagesAn Analysis of the Common Themes Found in selected works of Edgar Allan Poe A Research Presented to The faculty of the English Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in English IV By March 2010 Acknowledgement The researcher would like to thank the following people who help and give guidance to make this project To the Project adviser and the home room adviser of the researchers, who gave his outmost patience and time to check the drafts and format of eachRead MoreCommon Themes of Edgar Allan Poe3166 Words   |  13 PagesAn Analysis of the Common Themes Found in selected works of Edgar Allan Poe A Research Presented to The faculty of the English Department In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in English IV By March 2010 Acknowledgement The researcher would like to thank the following people who help and give guidance to make this project To the Project adviser and the home room adviser of the researchers, who gave his outmost patience and time to check the drafts and format of each part of this very

Hard Times as a Novel of Social Realism Is Wholly Unsuccessful Essay Sample free essay sample

‘Hard Times’ is a novel based on a short visit made by the writer Charles Dickens to a town similar to ‘Coketown’ called Preston. He made this journey in an effort to place the societal job of the development of mill workers. Dickens was sensitive to the societal maltreatments which pervaded the Victorian society and so with an attack of a useful denial of human imaginativeness ; he used the mills of the fictional Coketown and juxtaposed them with the contrasting. inventive and eccentric universe of Sleary’s circus. ‘Hard Times’ therefore trades with a scope of societal issues including divisions of a on the job category. rights of the ‘common people’ to prosecute in notional amusement or amusement and most of all an instruction for the less fortunate in this society. David Lodge in his essay suggests that the fresh ‘manifests its individuality as a polemical work ; a review of mid-Victorian industrial society dominated by philistinism. acquisitiveness and ruthlessly competitory capitalist economics’ ( Lodge. 1969 ) . In the clip of Dickens’ authorship of the fresh these qualities would hold been represented specifically from the Utilitarian position. Dickens represents the industrial society with his fictional ‘Coketown’ puting. Coketown is emphasised as a ‘city of fact’ which introduces the agencies of a unfavorable judgment or onslaught on the useful rules. The dwellers of this town deficiency individualism and freedom. coercing them to go merely merchandises of a mercenary society. The accent on fact is repetitive within this community and is drilled into the heads of everyone within it. In schools all kids are taught merely facts and non to allow themselves be drawn into imaginativeness or ‘fancy’ . Dickens was required to compose Hard Times in 20 subdivisions to be published over a period of five months in his magazine ‘Household words’ . He has filled the novel with his ain doctrine and symbolism. Dickens expounds his doctrine in two ways: through consecutive third-person expounding and through the voices of his characters. As a novel of societal pragmatism. his attack to world is allegorical in nature ; his secret plan traces the consequence of rational instruction of ‘cold difficult fact’ on Gradgrind’s two kids and the effort to implement this government of learning merely fact without any hint of illusion or imaginativeness on the kids of the school. He highlights two jobs in the text of his novel ; the most of import one is that of the educational system and what divides the school of Facts and the circus school of Fancy. Cissy is taken from the society in which she is able express herself and placed in a restricting society where she is made to stamp down her cognition of the notional word picture of the circus. This shows that the positive facets of society can non be destroyed easy. Fancy. imaginativeness. compassion and hope will neer vanish as they are an indispensable portion of human nature which dickens conserves in such characters as Cissy. Rachael and Sleary. The struggles of the two universes of the classroom and the circus represent the grownup attitudes toward life. While the classroom dehumanizes the small bookmans. the circus. all fancy and love. restores humanity. Dickens shows this contrast between the two separate universes persuasively in ‘Hard Times’ . The unfavorable judgment which could be made on this component of conveying the two wholly contrasting societies ; the capitalistic life style and the lives of the workers would be improbable to co-occur with each other. It is unrealistic of this clip to visualise a alteration in the society towards a more positive result. The 2nd job trades with the economic relationships of labour and direction between the workers and the foremans. In this we see that Dickens lets the educational system be dominated by. instead than function. the economic system. His doctrine. expounded through his characters. is best summarized by Sleary. who says that people should do the best of life. non the worst of it. Dickens therefore offers the circus in the novel as a redress in one sense. The character who leads the circus. Sleary. could be perceived as an solution to the job. In his address ‘People mutht be amuthed. They cant alwayth be larning. nor yet they cant alwayth be working. they aint made for it’ . He speaks out against the industrial leaders of instruction. Gradgrind and Bounderby. Their position of life is entirely materialist indicated by their methods of learning. or instead enforcing facts upo n anyone and everyone. This perceptual experience of life can and will be really confining and is portrayed by Dickens throughout the fresh screening how disastrously this manner of life can neglect. ‘Now what I want is facts. learn these male childs and misss facts and nil else. ’ Dickens purpose in this line of action could be to discredit the policies of this instruction method. The characters in Hard times are all what would be termed ‘flat’ . There is no development. In the debut of a character. the most outstanding facets are elaborate such as Bounderby’s ‘Large brown protuberant eyes’ and there is an indicant of the background of the character. nevertheless this debut is held throughout the novel and lasts until the terminal of the narrative. The reader is given a psychological portrayal of Bounderby for illustration as a ‘self-made adult male. ’ He is an single capitalist and arguably Capitalism personified. Dickens portrays the lone favourable quality of this character to be that he has dragged himself from the destitute society in which he was born. to the adult male he has become. However we find subsequently o n in the novel that this has been a prevarication. a notional word picture of what he wanted the universe to believe. Bounderby did stand for the opinion categories and the businessperson of the present. although when we learn that he has lied and was brought up in a happy loving place by his female parent he loses his land. Devils can be commended for the portraiture and representation of the leaders in his onslaught on capitalist economy. However Dickens is on less secure land with the character of Stephen Blackpool. It is questionable whether Dickens could portray such a serious topic accurately given that he learned of the ailments of this society through a short visit to a town seized by the industrialization. Dickens does look to understand the place of the leaders. those being Bounderby and Gradgrind. in society nevertheless he is on less secure land on the function of Stephen as a victim of societal subjugation. The intent of the novel is apparently to demo the resistance between ‘fact’ and ‘fancy’ and that both are needed to do society a better topographic point. In the instance of Stephen. the affairs which are responsible for his ruin are more personal instead than a consequence of the milieus throughout his narrative. He falls in love when he is already married to an other adult female. Dickens does non travel into any item of the ‘day to day’ modus operandi of the workers in the mills nevertheless it would take more than a short visit to the work stoppage scene in Preston to be able to dramatise and accurately portray this in any deepness. It is hence important that non in any fortunes in the novel does Dickens try to travel into this item. Although Dickens does look to understand the places of the leaders. when it comes down to the workers it is apparent that he is non accurately portraying the place of the workers. In the address by Slackbridge which begins ‘Oh my friends’ it could be suggested that it is improbable that the leaders would hold spoken to the workers in this manner. Dickens seems to hold intentionally falsified in a sense the nature of the Trade Unions and the leaders. Dickens’ statement overall in difficult times is that Utilitarianism consequences in detrimental poverty of the moral and emotional life of an person. He was opposed to the beliefs that sustained the ‘lassez faire’ attack to societal jobs. Dickens believed in the imaginativeness and humanistic disciplines. He besides uses symbolism in the novel in order to stress the obtuseness in comparing with the peopl e of each society. Dickens’ symbolism takes such signifiers as Coketown’s being a ‘brick jungle. strangled in sameness and smoke’ . ‘the burping mills as elephants in this jungle’ . ‘the fume as unreliable snakes’ . and the kids as small â€Å"vessels† which must be filled. His symbolism besides becomes allegorical as he utilizes scriptural intension in showing the moral construction of the town and the people. In add-on to dialogue. consecutive narrative. and description. Dickens employs understatement to convey through sarcasm the societal. economic. and educational jobs and to suggest solutions for these jobs. His frequently bantering statements equilibrate the horror of the scenery by the absurdness of wit. based on both character and subject. Hard Times is criticised for foregrounding the societal issues although offering nil to propose a solution to the jobs it addresses. The narrative screens a scope of issues including instruction for the hapless. category divisions. and the rights of the common people to amusement. Human relationships are contaminated by economic sciences and devils. In his expounding of the counter representation being the circus it is apparent that with such a strong deduction of the industrial community of Coketown. there is nil which is strong plenty to oppose it. In a manner. Dickens goes against his ain statement towards when stand foring the circus because h e mentions that Sleary is ‘stout and alcoholic’ . These fortunes go against his descriptions of the circus troupes ‘gentleness and puerility. It can hence be suggested that there is nil in the novel which is capable of countering the appendages of the system exemplified by Bounderby and Gradgrind. Mr Sleary’s universe is one of acrobats. tight rope Walkers. bareback riders and in fact all of the merriment of a carnival. The circus is idealised through the people in the society which is a blunt contrast to Coketown. where the people are determined by the desolation of society. It could hold been more effectual if Dickens had hence narrated a twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours representation of each society. particularly in the circus as it would hold made a more significant statement against the industrial based Utilitarianism and its extensions to political relations. In malice of the minor insufficiencies of the novel it does portray figures as singular for their degree of individualism ; nevertheless they serve th e subject which is capable of prosecuting serious attending. It is non merely industry which is under inquiry in ‘Hard times’ but the doctrine which operates in the procedure. When Louisa. Gradgrind’s girl whom he has ruined through his insisting of fact garbages to fall foul to visualize when she is proposed to. she asks her male parent what to make in the state of affairs. It is merely at this point that the system of instruction becomes questionable to Gradgrind. He tells Tom. his boy ‘your sisters preparation has been pursued harmonizing to the system. ’ Overall. in looking at the ways in which Dickens has created the kingdom of fancy versus fact in ‘Hard times’ . he does turn out that illusion is indispensable for the felicity of world and in this regard it is a morally uplifting novel. His place is as a societal observer assailing the useful rules. which exerted a profound influence on novelists who were to come subsequently. Some of his concerns with the ‘Condition of England’ were subsequently dealt with by other novels such as those by Martin Amis and Zadie Smith. It is hence non unsuccessful given that Dickens was non seeking to alter society. but his purpose was to do the societal issues known and to do people witting of them. which proved effectual by others taking on the topic and spread outing it in th eir ain manner. Kate Flint. writer of the new debut to Hard Times argues that the fresh defies easy classification. which is true. The novel is profoundly preoccupied with childhoods and household life although filled with insolvable tensenesss and contradictions. Bibliography Dickens. . . . 1995. Hard Times. London: Penguin Classicss.Lodge. . . . 1969. The rhetoric of Hard Times. Edward Grey edition 20th century readings of Hard Times ed. s. l. : s. n. Wheeler. . . . 1994. English Fiction of Victorian period 1830-1890. New York: Longman publication.

Questions Essay Example

Questions Essay Question 1. You are a recently appointed Sales Manager for a manufacturer of small engines. The company has grown rapidly over recent years, but its profit margins have been declining and this is one of the key issues that you have been hired to address.After three months on the job, you have become aware that the company’s nine salespeople are focused on closing as many deals as possible regardless of whether they provide good solutions for customers. In addition, salespeople are discounting so much that your company’s margins are continuing to decrease. Clearly, your position as Sales Manager may be in trouble if this continues, plus your personal bonus is based upon achieving profit margin objectives.When you have discussed this with the salespeople, they indicate that in the past they have been encouraged to focus on sales volume and not the profitability of deals.Some changes are required otherwise the profitability targets of the organisation and your personal bon us will not be achieved. What steps do you undertake to resolve the situation and why do you undertake those steps?It is important for the Sales people to be able to have clear goals so that they may correspondingly direct their behaviour towards the achievement of these targets. If they have been accustomed to believing that they will have maximum pay-offs in increasing their sales volume, then they will continue to act as if this strategy will yield them maximum benefit. The first step I will do is to hold a general assembly which will focus on this change of mindset. I will clarify with them that it is profitability and not merely sales volume that will give both them and the whole unit maximum yield. This is consistent with the essence of expectancy theory.Expectancy theory supports the contention that people choose the behaviour they believe will maximize their payoff.   It states that people look at various actions and choose the one they believe is most likely to lead to th e rewards they want the most. This theory has been tested extensively. It has been found that expectancy theory can do an excellent job of predicting occupational choice and job satisfaction and a moderately good job of predicting effort on the job.   Expectancy theory implies that the anticipation of rewards is important as well as the perceived contingency between the behaviours desired by the organisation and the desired rewards.   The theory also implies that since different people desire different rewards, organisations should try to match rewards with what employees want (Weathersby, 1998). In other words, if the sales people realise that they will have more reward if they focus on profitability, then they will work towards this changed goal. What is important is to be able to effectively clarify what the goal is, why it was changed, and why it is crucial to achieve it.This change in mindset among the sales people may also be perceived as a change in the vision and its cla rification. It is important for me as a Sales Manager to have a clearly defined vision, both on the task and people sides of the business. This speaks of the effectiveness of their leadership, which is both people-oriented than task-oriented. All leaders have the capacity to create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and the ability to translate that vision into reality. Modern leadership literature frequently characterises the leader as the vision holder, the keeper of the dream, or the person who has a vision of the organisations purpose. If the Sales team is one in achieving a profitability target and they know the specific objectives that they have to hit to contribute to this overall goal, then I would be more confident that the overall goal of the team would be achieved.;Personal vision includes my personal aspirations for the organisation and acts as the impetus for the my actions that will link organisational and future vision. My vision needs to be sh ared by those who will be involved in its realization. Setting of a profitability target for the sales team is just one manifestation of visionary leadership, where a clear goal is identified – but I also have the responsibility to link this to more strategic organisational thrusts.;Question 2. You are the Sales Manager of an electrical goods distributor whose main customer base is electrical retailers. One of your most successful salespeople struggles to submit the weekly written reports that you require from all of your salespeople. This salesperson never submits the reports on time, you usually have to repeatedly request them and when they are submitted they don’t contain the customer information or sales activity information that you want. This also makes it difficult to keep these customer records up to date in the company’s CRM system and limits the ability of sales support staff to help manage these relationships. The rest of the salesforce submit these r eports, in hard or soft copy, on time and without complaint.What do you do about this issue and why?The first thing I will do as a Sales Manager is to hold a performance discussion with my salesman because of this poor work habit of delayed report submission. During the discussion, I would clearly state why we are holding the session and its importance. I would then allow him to express concerns about why he is always not punctual in churning out his reports. I will try as much as possible to still maintain his self-esteem despite the correction, and also to listen attentively to his concerns. At the end of the session, we should have concurred on the best course of action to be able to resolve the problem. We will then set a work plan, specifying who will do what and by when.The clarity of a goal is important – it needs to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. I should ensure that the goal of report submission comply with these criteria of well-defin ed goals / objectives. Moreover, I should also be able to show the linkage of this positive behaviour of goal submission to reward. If no such linkage is made, the salesman may not be motivated in attaining the goal set out for him. According to goals setting theories, employees set goals and those organisations can influence work behaviour by influencing these goals.   The major concepts in the theory are intentions, performance standards, goal acceptance, and the effort expended.   These concepts are assumed to be the motivation.   Participation in goal setting should increase commitment and acceptance.   Individual goal setting should be more effective than group goals because it is the impact of goals on intentions that is important.   In goal-setting theory the crucial factor is the goal.   Tests of the theory show that using goals leads to higher performance than situations without goals, and that difficult goals lead to better performance than easy ones (Maczynski ; Koopman, 2000).   Although participation in goal setting may increase satisfaction, it does not always lead to higher performance.Second, I will also ensure that continuous monitoring and feedback transpires after we hold the performance discussion. I will coach him further if necessary until he is able to correct his poor work habit. A feedback system can be a form of reinforcement system and a motivational factor for management in promoting positive behaviour among employees. Following Skinner’s reinforcement theory, I can use the feedback system as a form of motivational lever in shaping my salesman’s behaviour and in helping him aim for higher goals. I can also provide incentives for positive behaviour.;It is important to provide feedback to the salesman to assess his or her strengths and weaknesses so that further training can be implemented. Although this feedback and training should be an ongoing process, the semi-annual evaluation might be the best time to formally discuss his performance, but performance coaching sessions across the performance period is encouraged.;Question 4. If you pay a sales person enough money you will have a well motivated sales person. Do you agree? Explain your reasons.While pay is an important consideration for most workers, there are more important considerations that affect an employees’ intention to stay with the organisation and to work optimally. My salesmen’s   intrinsic motivation will cause them to exhibit organisational commitment even as he realizes that the pay offered by the company is not necessarily the most competitive.   While this is the case, tt is important to ensure that their pay is equitable – while it is not the highest in the industry – since this is intricately related to the my salesmen’s sense of job satisfaction.I should also ensure that the rewards given to my sales people are equitably given. Equity theory suggests that motivated behaviou r is a form of exchange in which individuals employ an internal balance sheet in determining what to do.   It predicts that people will choose the alternative they perceive as fair.   In other words, my sales people should find that those who contributed more to goal attainment are also rewarded as much. That is, reward is a function of performance or merit.I realise that motivating workers well in these times of change demands a balanced combination of emotional and intellectual levers. Any manager should learn to use and combine as many needs, factors, modes of reinforcement, and outputs into their message as may be necessary to motivate their employees (Legge, 2005). As Sales Manager, I can become a good motivator by knowing two things well: first, which tool or level of motivation will work for each and every employee, and second, how to motivate and communicate effectively with the use of positive reinforcement. On the part of my company, management practices which can serv e as effective reinforcers include self-esteem work shops, flexible work arrangements, customized benefits packages, individual and team performance-based reward systems, among others. Each employee is different thus their motivating factors vary from one and other. My task should be to locate motivational factors of each individual or group in order to develop a motivational environment. This will assist the me in creating a better working environment enhancing productivity and job satisfaction.;Leaders and managers like myself are the ones that provide motivation and vision to any organisational undertaking. I should posses the capabilities, abilities, and skills of a leader in order to create a motivating, working environment. Only in having such effective and motivational leadership can the organisation be assured of a healthy, sustainable, and committed workforce.Word Count: 402ReferencesLegge, K. (2005). Human resource management: Rhetorics and realities. Anniversary edition. Basingstoke: MacMillan.Maczynski, J. ; Koopman, P. (2000). Culture and leadership profiles in Europe: Some results from the GLOBE study. In Koslowsky, M. ; Stashevsky, S. (eds.), Work values and organisational behaviour toward the new millennium. London: Macmillan.Weathersby, G. B. (1998). Leadership at every level. Management Review, 87(6), 5.

History and Geography of Turkey

History and Geography of Turkey Population: 77,804,122 (July 2010 estimate) Capital: Ankara Bordering Countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq, and Syria Land Area: 302,535 square miles (783,562 sq km) Coastline: 4,474 miles (7,200 km) Highest Point: Mount Ararat at 16,949 feet (5,166 m) Turkey officially called the Republic of Turkey, is located in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia along the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. It is bordered by eight countries and also has a large economy and army. As such, Turkey is considered a rising regional and world power and negotiations for it to join the European Union began in 2005. History Turkey is known as having a long history with ancient cultural practices. In fact, the Anatolian peninsula (on which most of modern Turkey sits), is considered one of the oldest inhabited areas in the world. Around 1200 B.C.E, the Anatolian coast was settled by various Greek peoples and the important cities of Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Byzantium (which later became Istanbul) were founded. Byzantium later became the capital of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. The modern history of Turkey began in the early 20th century after Mustafa Kemal (later known as Ataturk) pushed for the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and a war for independence. According to the U.S. Department of State, the Ottoman Empire lasted for 600 years but collapsed during World War I after it participated in the war as an ally of Germany and it became fragmented after the formation of nationalist groups. After it became a republic, Turkish leaders began working to modernize the area and bring together the various fragments that had formed during the war. Ataturk pushed for various, political, social and economic reforms from 1924 to 1934. In 1960 a military coup took place and many of these reforms ended, which still cause debates in Turkey today. On February 23, 1945, Turkey joined World War II as a member of the Allies and shortly thereafter became a charter member of the United Nations. In 1947 the United States declared the Truman Doctrine after the Soviet Union demanded that they be able to set up military bases in the Turkish Straits after communist rebellions began in Greece. The Truman Doctrine began a period of U.S. military and economic aid for both Turkey and Greece. In 1952, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and in 1974 it invaded the Republic of Cyprus which led to the formation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Only Turkey recognizes this republic. In 1984, after the beginning of governmental transitions, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group in Turkey by several international organizations, began acting against Turkeys government and led to the deaths of thousands of people. The group continues to act in Turkey today. Since the late 1980s however, Turkey has seen an improvement in its economy and political stability. It is also on track to joining the European Union and it is growing as a powerful country. Government Today the government of Turkey is considered a republican parliamentary democracy. It has an executive branch that is made up a chief of state and a head of government (these positions are filled by the president and prime minister, respectively) and a legislative branch that consists of the unicameral Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Turkey also has a judicial branch which is comprised of the Constitutional Court, High Court of Appeals, Council of State, Court of Accounts, Military High Court of Appeals and the Military High Administrative Court. Turkey is divided into 81 provinces. Economics and Land Use Turkeys economy is currently growing and it is a large mix of modern industry and traditional agriculture. According to the CIA World Factbook, agriculture consists of about 30% of the countrys employment. The main agricultural products from Turkey are tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, hazelnuts, pulse, citrus, and livestock. Turkeys main industries are textiles, food processing, autos, electronics, mining, steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, and paper. Mining in Turkey consists mainly of coal, chromate, copper, and boron. Geography and Climate Turkey is located on the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. The Turkish Straits (which are made up of the Sea of Marmara, the Strait of Bosphorus and the Dardanelles) form the boundary between Europe and Asia. As a result, Turkey is considered to be in both Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia. The country has a varied topography that is made up of a high central plateau, a narrow coastal plain and several large mountain ranges. The highest point in Turkey is Mount Ararat which is a dormant volcano located on its eastern border. The elevation of Mount Ararat is 16,949 feet (5,166 m). The climate of Turkey is temperate and it has high, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The more inland one gets, however, the harsher the climate becomes. Turkeys capital, Ankara, is located inland and has an average August high temperature of 83ËšF (28ËšC) and January average low of 20ËšF (-6ËšC). References Central Intelligence Agency. (27 October 2010). CIA - The World Factbook - Turkey. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tu.html Infoplease.com. (n.d.). Turkey: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ipa/A0108054.html United States Department of State. (10 March 2010). Turkey. Retrieved from: state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3432.htm Wikipedia.com. (31 October 2010). Turkey - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey

Definition and Examples of Interior Monologues

Definition and Examples of Interior Monologues In both fiction and nonfiction, an interior monologue is the expression of a characters thoughts, feelings, and impressions in a narrative. An interior monologue may be either direct or indirect: direct, in which the author seems not to exist and the interior self of the character is given directly, as though the reader were overhearing an articulation of the stream of thought and feeling flowing through the characters mind;indirect, in which the author serves as selector, presenter, guide, and commentator. (W. Harmon and H. Holman, A Handbook to Literature, 2006) Interior Monologues in Fiction   I looked into the reception room. It was empty of everything but the smell of dust. I threw up another window, unlocked the communicating door and went into the room beyond. Three hard chairs and a swivel chair, flat desk with a glass top, five green filing cases, three of them full of nothing, a calendar and a framed license bond on the wall, a phone, a washbowl in a stained wood cupboard, a hatrack, a carpet that was just something on the floor, and two open windows with net curtains that puckered in and out like the lips of a toothless old man sleeping.The same stuff I had had last year, and the year before that. Not beautiful, not gay, but better than a tent on the beach.(Raymond Chandler, The High Window, 1942)How much better is silence; the coffee cup, the table. How much better to sit by myself like the solitary sea-bird that opens its wings on the stake. Let me sit here for ever with bare things, this coffee cup, this knife, this fork, things in themselves, myself being m yself. Do not come and worry me with your hints that it is time to shut the shop and be gone. I would willingly give all my money that you should not disturb me but let me sit on and on, silent, alone. (Virginia Woolf, The Waves, 1931) Interior Monologue in Tom Wolfe's Nonfiction [I]nterior monologue is appropriate with nonfiction, provided theres fact to back it up. We cant get into a characters head because we suppose, or imagine, or deduce thats what he or she would be thinking. We have to know!See how Tom Wolfe does it in his book about the space program, The Right Stuff. At the outset he explained that his style was developed to grab the readers attention, to absorb them. . . . He wanted to get into the heads of his characters, even if this was nonfiction. And so, at an astronauts press conference, he quotes a reporters question on who was confident about coming back from space. He describe the astronauts looking at one another and hoisting their hands in the air. Then, hes into their heads: It really made you feel like an idiot, raising your hand this way. If you didnt think you were coming back, then you would really have to be a fool or a nut to have volunteered at all. . . . He goes on for a full page, and in writing this way Wolfe has transcended usual nonfiction style; hes offered characterization and motivation, two fiction writing techniques that can bring the reader in lockstep with the writer. Interior monologue provides a chance to see inside the heads of characters, and we know that the more familiar a reader is with a character, the more the reader embraces that character. (William Noble, Writing Nonfiction- Using Fiction. The Portable Writers Conference, 2nd ed., ed. by Stephen Blake Mettee. Quill Driver, 2007) Stylistic Characteristics of Interior Monologue Sentence fragments may be treated as interior monologue (direct speech) or regarded as part of an adjoining stretch of free  indirect speech.Interior monologue may also contain traces of non-verbal thought. While more formal interior monologue uses the first-person pronoun and finite verbs in the present tense, He [Stephen] lifted his feet up from the suck [of the sand] and turned back by the mole of boulders. Take all, keep all. My soul walks with me, form of forms. [. . .] The flood is following me. I can watch it flow past from here. (Ulysses iii; Joyce 1993: 37; my emphasis) In Ulysses James Joyce conducts more radical experiments with the form of the interior monologue, especially in his representation of the thoughts of Leopold Bloom and his wife, Molly. He eschews full sentences with finite verbs in favour of incomplete, often verbless syntagms which simulate Blooms mental leaps as he associates ideas: Hymes jotting down something in his notebook. Ah, the names. But he knows them all. No: coming to me. - I am just taking the names, Hynes said below his breath. What is your christian name? Im not sure. In this example, Blooms impressions and speculations are confirmed by Hynes remarks. (Monika Fludernik, An Introduction to Narratology. Routledge, 2009) Stream of Consciousness and Interior Monologue Although stream of consciousness and interior monologue are often used interchangeably, the former is the more general term. Interior monologue, strictly defined, is a type of stream of consciousness. As such, it presents a characters thoughts, emotions, and fleeting sensations to the reader. Unlike stream of consciousness more generally, however, the ebb and flow of the psyche revealed by interior monologue typically exists at a pre- or sublinguistic level, where images and the connotations they evoke supplant the literal denotative meanings of words. (Ross Murfin and Supryia M. Ray, The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, 2nd ed. Bedford/St. Martins, 2003)

IMPACT OF FEEDBACK ON JOB PERFORMANCE AND JOB SATISFACTION Essay

IMPACT OF FEEDBACK ON JOB PERFORMANCE AND JOB SATISFACTION - Essay Example However, if pay raises are related directly to performance, an employee who receives a healthy pay increase will more than likely also experience feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. On the other hand, feedback is the information people receive about their performance. It conveys an evaluation about the quality of their performance behaviors. Giving feedback could be done by providing information to employees regarding their performance on job expectations. This makes feedback is an important part of the education process. For instance, in the school environment, test grades let students know what they have achieved and what they must learn to do better next time. People at work give feedback to reinforce others' good behavior and correct their poor behavior. The recipient of feedback judges its value and determines whether to accept and act on the feedback, reject it, or ignore it. Feedback has different purposes at different career stages. It helps newcomers learn the ropes, mid-career employees to improve performance and consider opportunities for development, and late career employees to maintain their productivity. Managers are an important source of feedba ck because they establish performance objectives and provide rewards for attaining those objectives. Other sources of feedback are co-workers, subordinates, and customers (London, 2003, p. 11). The impact of feedback on job satisfaction could be derived in the fact that it is linked to the psychological reception of an employee. Cullen and Sackett (2003) cited Hackman and Oldham's job characteristics model that has identified the five core task dimensions-task identity, task variety, autonomy, task significance, and feedback-are seen in a number of psychological states, such as job satisfaction and subsequent organizational events (like absence and turnover). Research has indeed established that these attributes are useful predictors of job satisfaction (Cullen & Sackett, 2003, p. 169). The problem with feedback is that, generally, people tend to perceive and recall positive feedback more accurately than they do negative feedback. However, as opposed to what many people think, a feedback with a negative sign (e.g., being told your performance is below average) can have a positive motivational impact. In fact, when employees are told they were below average on a creativity test, they subsequently drove to outperform those who were led to believe their results were above average. This is why negative feedbacks can serve as a challenge and could motivate employees to pursue higher goals. Those receiving positive feedback apparently were less motivated to do better. Nonetheless, feedback with a negative sign or threatening content needs to be administered carefully to avoid creating insecurity and defensiveness. Self-efficacy also can be damaged by negative feedback, as discovered in a pair of experiments with business students. With this, Louie (1999) concluded that "t o facilitate the development of strong efficacy beliefs, managers should be careful about the provision of negative feedback. Destructive criticism by managers which attributes the cause of poor performance to internal factors reduces both the beliefs of self-efficacy and the self-set goals of recipients." The traditional top-down feedback programs have now been replaced by two newer approaches, the upward

Seeing Beyond the Bright Side of Outsourcing Essay

Seeing Beyond the Bright Side of Outsourcing - Essay Example At present, outsourcing has become a very popular source of competitive advantage. By paying other companies to run IT and other support divisions, many U.S. companies are cutting staffs, costs, and increasing efficiency. The immediate benefits can be great, allowing smaller companies to gain cheaper access to expensive technologies and allowing large firms to expand there IT usage without risk of obsolescence. As with any potentially rewarding activity, there are risks involved. Companies need to weigh the risks, rewards, and costs involved before making a decision to outsource. The more vital the task, the more care should be taken with this decision (Kakumanu and Portanova, September 2006). But, first what is outsourcing According to Webster's New World Finance and Investment Dictionary (2003), outsourcing is an increasingly popular process where a company contracts with another company to manage services that it needs but that it doesn't want to provide itself. Typically, outsourced services are non-core activities such as janitorial services, information technology, and food catering for the employee cafeteria. Sometimes companies outsource manufacturing and focus on sales and marketing. As such, outsourcing became popular because it allowed companies to reduce short-term costs. On the other hand, Laabs (1993) and Spee (1994), defined outsourcing as something that involves a long-term contractual relationship for business services from an external provider. These relationships are increasingly popular in a wide variety of business activities. Firms widely outsource in areas once strictly considered internal domains, such as human resources. Although most people think that outsourcing is a new innovation, outsourcing is already an older practice than some people realize. In colonial days, American businesses outsourced the production of covered-wagon covers and clipper ships' sails to workers in Scotland. The raw material for these products was imported from India. A couple of hundred years later, in the 1970s, computer companies began to outsource their payroll applications to outside service providers. However, most of these jobs were outsourced to companies in other states rather than overseas. It was in the late 1980s that the practice of outsourcing began to boom. During this time the field of information technology (IT) was growing rapidly, and the demand for IT workers who could develop hardware and software exploded. As the Internet and telecommunications fields developed, companies created thousands of high-paying jobs to attract talented IT employees to work for them. As the U.S. economy faltered, however, comp anies had to cut their IT budgets and began to seek a less expensive labor force outside of the United States (Dunbar, 2006). Moreover, according to Dunbar (2006), India, with its large population of English speakers and trained workers, transformed to become one of the first countries to benefit from the outsourcing trend. Americans companies began outsourcing some of their low-end IT jobs to India in the early 1990s and have gradually outsourced a wide variety of work, including call center servicing, medical transcription, tax return preparation, research and development, and medical data analysis. Cities like Bangalore have become well known for their skylines dotted with call center buildings that seem to have cropped up overnight. Providing customer

Video Game and Gadget Essay Example for Free

Video Game and Gadget Essay The young and trendy generation of today judge themselves, according to the kind of gadgets they posses. The popularity of gadgets among youth has ensured that newer and trendier gadgets are introduced very passing day. The addiction of gadgets has been such among one and all that it has become unthinkable of a life without a gadget. The effect of these gadgets has been tremendous, and it is often debated that whether the impact that it has made on the youth is a positive or negative one. Video Games and Computer games can be listed as the gadget which has influenced the youth the most. Several researches indicate that these games can have a positive effect on the youths mind. However sometimes it may cause terrible changes in behaviors. It was seen that playing video games or computer games actually help the young people in concentrating much better. There are games which require you to use your brains and those games may indeed prove to be helpful. Also it was seen that it has a very good impact on the motor skills and spatial skills of todays youth. However these games may also result in the child getting absolutely isolated from the society. There is a tendency to get engrossed in the games, and forget everything else. Also there are chances that they might tend to confuse between the virtual world and real world. When you are using a gadget like a video game it is important to remember that whatever you are doing is going on in the virtual world. It would be nothing short of foolery in trying to emulate those things in the real world. Gadgets like computers or video games may turn to be very addictive. This is another worry as because these things are meant to be past times, and never should it be preferred over family or social commitments. Thus it is important to remain aware of your responsibilities while using your favorite gadget. MP3 players another popular gadget that has found its feet among the youth also has its pros and cons. It may soothe your soul when you are doing nothing, or even doing some work which is less intensive. Listening to music may also help to concentrate better at times. However listening to music for long periods of time in a high volume, may cause hearing problems in the near future which is extremely dangerous. Chapter I: The Problem And its Background Introduction: Dealing with the impact of modern gadgets on our lives weather we like it now, electric appliances and gadgets have occupied a major position in our daily lives. Though they were invented to make life better for us the first place it is an undeniable fact that many of the gadgets have negative effects and influence upon the quality of our lives in some ways. As we cannot live without them in this modern world and they are a necessarily evil, we have to find ways to reduce the negative impact of those modern appliances. A gadget is a device or appliance having a unique purpose and function. At the time of invention a gadget is often way ahead of its peers in terms of novelty and uniqueness. This is what makes them so desirable and â€Å"cool†! The top ten that change the world are debatable. Nevertheless, popular choices would be television, camera, movie camera, microwave oven, video cassette, video recorder, video gaming consoles, sony’s walkman, IBM’s personal computer (PC) and the first cellphone released in 1996 by Motorola. The latest â€Å"addicting† gadgets include superior versions of DVDs, smart phones, camcorders, laptops, Ipods and Iphones, the blackberry, PCs, computer notebooks, pedometers, ultra slim â€Å"luxury† phone, nyko’s zoom (gaming gadget), earbuds from iFrogs, JBL on Beat Air from apple, T lights, onlive (cloud-based gaming system), SWIVL, ego mac edition portable hard drive, blackberry playbook ballistic etc. The study done by Carnegie Mellon University found that spending one hour a week on the net led to an average increase of 1 percent on depression scale, a loss of 2.7 members of the net users’ social circle and increase of 0.4 percent on the loneliness scale. Statement of the Problem I .What is gadget? a. What year gadget invented? b. Who invented gadget? c. What is the famous gadget? II. How do we get addicted to gadget? a. What is effect of gadgets in everyday living? b. What will you do if your family get addicted to gadget? c. How Gadgets helps you? III .What is the effects of gadget? a. Can gadgets helps our academic achievements? b. How to get rebel by using gadget? c. How does gadgets helps youth in their academic achievements? Hypothesis The researcher believes that gadgets have a big effect. especially to the youth who spend most of their time using gadgets. Gadgets may lead to laziness in studying among youth and start addiction to it. according to youths. Gadgets is just a past time and a way to know more friends. Significance of the study Gadgets youths has a big effect on them, especially on their academic achievements. It may also affect their health status and social relations. To prevent addiction there are some remedies. First the parents should limit their youths by using gadgets. They may also make an agreement about the maximum time that their children could play only. The youths may also help themselves if they want to. Studying is the best help they can give to themselves. Discipline themselves in using gadgets. Scope and limitation of the study this study is all about on the advantages and disadvantages of effect of gadgets on youths academic achievements and their lives. it will also tackle the effects of gadgets among youth and why they are being addicted to it. The possible health problem they may encounter is also included on this study. Definition of Terms: A.) Gadget- The origins of the word gadget trace back to the 19th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there is anecdotal evidence for the use of gadget as a placeholder name for a technical item whose precise name one cant remember since the 1850s; with Robert Browns 1886 book Spunyarn and Spindrift, A sailor boy’s log of a voyage out and home in a China tea-clipper containing the earliest known usage in print. The etymology of the word is disputed. A widely circulated story holds that the word gadget was invented when Gaget, Gauthier Cie, the company behind the repoussà © construction of the Statue of Liberty (1886), made a small-scale version of the monument and named it after their firm; however this contradicts the evidence that the word was already used before in nautical circles, and the fact that it did not become popular, at least in the USA, until after World War I. Other sources cite a derivation from the French gà ¢chette which has been applied to various pieces of a firing mechanism, or the French gagà ©e, a small tool or accessory. B.) Youth- It is an alternative word to the scientifically-oriented adolescent and the common terms of teen and teenager. Another common title for youth is young person or young people. Youth is the stage of constructing the Self-concept. The self concept of youth is influenced by several variables such as peers, lifestyle, gender and culture. It is this time of a persons life which they make choices which will affect their future. C.) Gizmo- something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known; she eased the ball- shaped doodad backinto its socket;there may be some great new gizmo around the corner that you will want to use. D.) Device- . Any machine or component that attaches to a computer. Examples of devices include disk drives, printers, mice, and modems. These particular devices fall into the category of peripheral devices because they are separate from the E.) Widget- Widget is a generic term for the part of a GUI that allows the user to interface with the application and operating system. Widgets display information and invite the user to act in a number of ways. Typical widgets include buttons, dialog boxes, pop-up windows, pull-down menus, icons, scroll bars, resizable window edges, progress indicators, selection boxes, windows, tear-off menus, menu bars, toggle switches and forms. F.) Apparatus- a group or combination of instruments, machinery, tools, materials, etc., having a particular function or intended for a specific use: Our town has excellent fire-fighting apparatus. Dicussion The origins of the word gadget trace back to the 19th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there is anecdotal evidence for the use of gadget as a placeholder name for a technical item whose precise name one cant remember since the 1850s; with Robert Browns 1886 book Spunyarn and Spindrift, A sailor boy’s log of a voyage out and home in a China tea-clipper containing the earliest known usage in print.The etymology of the word is disputed. A widely circulated story holds that the word gadget was invented when Gaget, Gauthier Cie, the company behind the repoussà © construction of the Statue of Liberty (1886), made a small-scale version of the monument and named it after their firm; however this contradicts the evidence that the word was already used before in nautical circles, and the fact that it did not become popular, at least in the USA, until after World War I. Other sources cite a derivation from the French gà ¢chette which has been applied to various pieces of a firing mechanism, or the French gagà ©e, a small tool or accessory. The October 1918 issue of Notes and Queries contains a multi-article entry on the word gadget (12 S. iv. 187). H. Tapley-Soper of The City Library, Exeter, writes: A discussion arose at the Plymouth meeting of the Devonshire Association in 1916 when it was suggested that this word should be recorded in the list of local verbal provincialisms. Several members dissented from its inclusion on the ground that it is in common use throughout the country; and a naval officer who was present said that it has for years been a popular expression in the service for a tool or implement, the exact name of which is unknown or has for the moment been forgotten. I have also frequently heard it applied by motor-cycle friends to the collection of fitments to be seen on motor cycles. His handle-bars are smothered in gadgets refers to such things as speedometers, mirrors, levers, badges, mascots, c., attached to the steering handles. The jigger or short-rest used in billiards is also often called a gadget; and the name has been applied by local platelayers to the gauge used to test the accuracy of their work. In fact, to borrow from present-day Army slang, gadget is applied to any old thing. The usage of the term in military parlance extended beyond the navy. In the book Above the Battle by Vivian Drake, published in 1918 by D. Appleton Co., of New York and London, being the memoirs of a pilot in the British Royal Flying Corps, there is the following passage: Our ennui was occasionally relieved by new gadgets gadget is the Flying Corps slang for invention! Some gadgets were good, some comic and some extraordinary. By the second half of the twentieth century, the term gadget had taken on the connotations of compactness and mobility. In the 1965 essay The Great Gizmo (a term used interchangeably with gadget throughout the essay), the architectural and design critic Reyner Banham defines the item as: A characteristic class of US products––perhaps the most characteristic––is a small self-contained unit of high performance in relation to its size and cost, whose function is to transform some undifferentiated set of circumstances to a condition nearer human desires. The minimum of skills is required in its installation and use, and it is independent of any physical or social infrastructure beyond that by which it may be ordered from catalogue and delivered to its prospective user. A class of servants to human needs, these clip-on devices, these portable gadgets, have coloured American thought and action far more deeply––I suspect––than is commo nly understood. Chauncey and Omar Lopez very really wonder what makes up an iPhone, Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab or any other Apple, Microsoft or Sony gadget but can’t really wrap your head around the amount of destruction required to take these pricey tools apart? Then, you are going to love iFixit. Channeling the inner naughtiness of geeky gadget lovers out there, these guys in iFixit crack open, rip apart, and teardown the archipelago that makes up the innards of any device they can get their hands on. Thanks to them, we are able to witness the inner beauty of our beloved gadgets without disassembling our own. Gadgets and machines have become an integral part of our lives. What would we do without them These gizmos are like a necessary condition now which make our lives complete. However, we must keep in mind that everything has its own limit otherwise it can become a cause for concern and in extreme cases, fatal. Market of devices and gadgets seems to be flooded with production. Day in and day out new technologies appear in front of us. If one has bought the latest mobile phone or laptop etc then he does not have much time to feel proud on that because the next day there would be much more superior device than that in the market. This is one of the reasons of addiction. There are many inventions developed every day. Most of them are useless or would have limited application in real life. While these may seem â€Å"cool†, they will not make a dramatic impact in our lives. Out of the rough though, a few gems could always be found that could really lead to breakthroughs. Educational technology has become increasingly commonplace in classrooms, and Congress has spent billions to give schools access to technology and online learning opportunities. But research on the effectiveness of using educational technology has lagged behind technologys growth. In 2001, Congress mandated that the U.S. Department of Education conduct a scientific study of the effectiveness of using educational technology to answer the following questions Many people focus on the negative effects of these games and fail to see the opportunity for learning and growth. According to Raise Smart Kids: â€Å"The Good and Bad Effects of Video Games† there are several positive effects that come from spending time playing video games. Most games do not teach kids math, history and other subjects, however, they do provide students indirect opportunities to learn principles that can help them in their academic pursuits. Certain types of video games can help train kids to follow instructions as well as helping them develop their problem solving and logical thought processes. These skills translate directly to the classroom as students are asked by teachers to complete tasks and are presented problems that require them to use logical problem solving skills. Kids can also learn inductive reasoning and hypothesis testing. Games will often present them with a situation that needs to be solved and this causes the kids to have to develop problem-solving techniques. Before purchasing a video game a parent should talk with a representative at the store to see what the overall premise of the game is to see if it includes elements that will help build these aforementioned qualities. Although there are some positive effects that are possible form video/computer game use there are mostly negative effects. Several professors conducted a research project to determine the effect of gaming on academic performance. According to the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology: â€Å"Gaming Frequency and Academic Performance† individuals who spend two or more hours playing games on a daily basis score lower in every subject than their non-gaming counterparts . By spending a high percentage of time on video games there is not enough time left to spend in studying for classes. The study found that there was â€Å"not a single significant positive correlation between gaming and academic performance.† According to a list of statistics produced by Media Family: â€Å"Effects of Video Game Playing on Children† roughly 97 percent of kids played video games in 2008. In 2006 45 percent of kids were regular gamers, which means that they played for two or more hours on a daily basis. The high number of kids shows the importance of learning to choose games that will help strengthen and push the intellect of the child playing.

The Theme Of Inherit The Wind :: essays research papers

In the play Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the theme is that every person has the right to think. One example of the theme of this play is Rachel's progression towards independent thinking. In the beginning Rachel fears her father greatly. She says, "I remember feeling this way when I was a little girl. . . .But I was always more frightened of him that I was of falling. It's the same way now" (48-49). However, by the end of the book she has grown away from her father, and now has her own opinions and thoughts. Her new growth and acceptance is shown in her statement: "This is your book, Bert. I've read it. All the way through. I don't want to think that men come from apes and monkeys. But I think that's besides the point" (111). A second example of the theme of Inherit the Wind is shown by the way Drummond acts and how frustrated he becomes when he talks to Brady. In the courtroom, Brady says, "A man is on trial!" (64). Drumm ond is extremely agitated and replies by saying, "A thinking man! And he is threatened with fine and imprisonment because he chooses to speak what he thinks" (64). After their disagreement Drummond states his opinion, by saying, "I am trying to establish, Your Honor, that Howard-or Colonel Brady-or Charles Darwin-or anyone in this courtroom-or you sir-has the right to think!" (64). The theme becomes more apparent throughout the play by the way Cates stands up for and defends himself. At first, Bert Cates is very unsure of himself and is not sure if what he did was correct. Cates questions Drummond as to whether he should stay with the case or give in.

Gender Disparity a Menace in Society Essay

Gender Disparity a Menace in our society. â€Å"All men were created equal.† How about women then? It is a sad reality that gender is still a basis for inequality in many parts of the world, especially in our nation. India remains the lowest ranked among BRIC countries in the Global Gender Gap index. It ranks 105 out of 135 countries. Health, Education, and Economic participation of women have India at its worst among BRIC countries. It ranks among the lowest when it comes to infant mortality and malnutrition among girls. Almost 8 million and more missing girls with demographers projecting that by the year 2020 there would be 28 to 31 million surplus males in the 15 – 35 age group. The roots of this lie in the very ego men have been holding since the dawn of civilization. Women are equated with sensitive, nurturing, cunning or wily and men with strength, courage, aggressiveness and Dominance amongst others. At least in India, a woman still needs the anchor of a husband. India has witnessed gender inequality from its early history due to its socio-economic and religious practices that resulted in a wide gap between the position of men and women in the society. Clearly, then gender gaps that are widespread in access to basic rights, access to and control of resources, in economic opportunities and also in power and political voice are an impediment to development. There are so many Crimes happening against Women and yet they are to be blamed for the crimes. Rape, sexual harassment even extreme violence is blamed on the woman, for travelling alone, for wearing â€Å"inappropriate† clothes, for daring to cross invisible boundaries. Women have always been considered to carry on the domestic work in our society. From cooking food to caring for the children and old of the house, from washing clothes to cleaning the house†¦. these are the things that our society expects and has been expecting from women. The men are considered the â€Å"Alpha† of the house, they are the only one fit to earn, step out of the doorsteps and experience the â€Å"Masculine† world as we say. But there is another side of the coin, well not so severe as with the women but still, nowadays even men fall prey to this gender disparity. Here are some examples, ridiculing of Male nurses, Stay at home dads, Male domestic servants etc. All of this just makes me think, what have we actually become? Is this what God created us for? To discriminate and subjugate women under such orthodox beliefs, Can women never enjoy the same freedom and security that men have? What we need today are trends where girls are able not only to break out of the culturally determined patterns of employment but also to offer advice about career possibilities that look beyond the traditional pail of Jobs. It is surprising that in spite of so many laws, women still continue to live under stress and strain. To ensure equality of status for our women we still have miles to go, but as it’s said, â€Å"A spark is all that’s needed to ignite a fire, to ignite a revolution of change†. Thus, it is rightly said – Man and Woman are like two wheels of a carriage. The life of one without the other is incomplete.

A Review of A View From The Bridge Essay

A View From The Bridge, a powerful play by Arthur Miller, was staged in the round at the Manchester Royal Exchange. By producing the play in the round, the action could be viewed from all angles which was a more effective way of portraying the story. It also allowed the entire stage to be used without loss of action which allowed the stage to be split into two sections – the street and inside the house. These two portions of the stage were quite obvious, being symbolised by the telephone booth (a key prop later in the play) and the dining room table. That said, other furniture such as Alfieri’s desk, seemed a little unnecessary, especially since it had to be brought in from off stage for each of Alfieri’s scenes. This wasn’t helped by the general lighting in the theatre which could never provide a complete blackout on stage due to the large amounts of windows in the upper seating areas. The stage lighting was fairly simple with neutral ‘general’ lights used for most scenes. This was developed somewhat in important scenes such as Eddie’s death and the lighting was altered (although not significantly) when Alfieri recited his monologues. However sound was used quite effectively in these scenes with the same effect being used to symbolise a change in the setting. Although the play featured very little props, when they were used, they were used to great effect such as the crates being lowered at the beginning or the characters using real food in the dinner scene and then eating it. This also helps instil a sense of realism into the play and helps the audience to relate to the storyline. Throughout the play, tension was slowly but cleverly built up to the final climax. The main character doing this was Eddie whose ever increasing hatred of Rodolpho built up the tension until the all important telephone booth came into play. From there Eddie’s desperation turned to madness and Con O’Neill’s portrayal of Eddie made him seem like something out of a horror film, which only helped to add to the tension. The lighting in the play also helped add to the tension with more menacing and ominous lights used as the play progressed through the second act. All of the characters where depicted beautifully in the play thanks to wonderful acting paired with realistic costumes, which made this play a real delight to watch. The costumes worn by the characters were simple but effective, accurately representing the style of 1940s New York. The costumes also helped contrast the personalities between Eddie and Rodolpho with Eddie’s typical ‘working man’ clothes and Rodolpho in his smart shirts and stylish shoes. The acting was let down somewhat by the voice acting of Catherine (Leila Mimmack) whose accent seem to be very variable, ranging from broad New York to almost full-on Italian. The voices of everyone in else in the play however were superb and really helped to make the play more realistic and believable. In particular Ian Redford did a sterling job, brilliantly portraying Alfieri’s helplessness and narrating the story with exactly the right tone. A moment that really stood out for me was the very last scene in which Eddie is trying to get Marco to give him back his respect. Con O’Neill portrays Eddie’s desperation magnificently and uses every part of his body to make him seem crazy, especially his facial features. The same could also be said about Nitzan Sharron’s character Marco who is so furious with Eddies, he is practically on fire. This scene is a really shocking point in the storyline which was wonderfully acted by all since the scene featured nearly all the cast. The scene was let down somewhat by the over exaggerated and unrealistic death of Eddie Carbone. Even though producing a realistic death scene is hard to do in any play, the way Eddie was stabbed and O’Neill’s acting on his death was a bit disappointing. However this may be due to the fact that the play was performed in the round and so not everyone can experience the death as it was intended. The scene was well rounded off by Alfieri who delivered his consistently good speech which helped end the scene, and the play, extremely well.

Examples of Legends in Literary Texts

Examples of Legends in Literary Texts A  legend is  a  narrative - often handed down from the past - that is used to explain an event, transmit a lesson, or simply entertain an audience. Though customarily told as true stories, legends often contain supernatural, bizarre, or highly improbable elements. Types of legends include folk legends and urban legends. Some of the worlds most famous legends survive as literary texts, such as Homers Odyssey and  Chrà ©tien de Troyes tales of King Arthur. Folktales and Legends Although folktales and legends are both important genres of orally told narrative, in many ways they are decidedly different. As folklorists use the term, folktales are fictional stories; that is, they are regarded as fictions by those who tell and listen to them...Legends, on the other hand, are true narratives;  that is, they are regarded by their tellers and listeners as recounting events that actually took place, although to say so is an oversimplification....Legends are historical accounts  (such as the account of Daniel Boones encounters with Indians); or they are sorts of news accounts (as with contemporary or urban legends in which, for example, it is asserted that a madman with a hook arm recently attacked parked teenagers somewhere nearby); or they are attempts to discuss human interactions with other worlds, whether in the present day or in the past...However, in the social contexts in which legends  are told, attitudes toward the veracity of any given narrative may differ; some people may accept its truth, others may deny it, still others may keep an open mind but not commit themselves. (Frank de Caro, Introduction to  An Anthology of American Folktales and Legends.  Routledge, 2015) How Have Legends Appeared in Literary Texts? One of the worlds most famous legends is the story of Icarus, the son of a craftsman in ancient Greece. Icarus and his father attempted to escape from an island by making wings out of feathers and wax. Against his fathers warning, Icarus flew too close to the sun. His wings melted, and he plunged into the sea. This story was immortalized in Breughels painting Landscape With the Fall of Icarus, which W. H. Auden wrote about in his poem Musee des Beaux Arts. In Breughels Icarus, for instance: how everything turns awayQuite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman mayHave heard the splash, the forsaken cry,But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shoneAs it had to on the white legs disappearing into the greenWater, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seenSomething amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.(From Musee des Beaux Arts by W. H. Auden, 1938) As stories handed down from the past, legends are often revised by each subsequent generation. The first stories of King Arthur, for example, were recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae  (History of the Kings of Britain), which was written in the 12th century. More elaborate versions of these stories later appeared in the long poems of  Chrà ©tien de Troyes. By several hundred years later, the legend was so popular that it became the subject of parody in Mark Twains humorous 1889 novel  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court.

9 Steps to a 1st Grade Lesson Plan for Telling Time

9 Steps to a 1st Grade Lesson Plan for Telling Time For students, learning to tell time can be difficult. But you can teach students to tell time in hours and half-hours by following this step-by-step procedure. Depending on when you teach math during the day, it would be helpful to have a digital clock sound an alarm when math class begins. If your math class begins on the hour or the half hour, even better! Step-by-Step Procedure If you know your students are shaky on time concepts, it’s best to start this lesson with a discussion of morning, afternoon, and night. When do you get up? When do you brush your teeth? When do you get on the bus for school? When do we do our reading lessons? Have students put these into the appropriate categories of morning, afternoon, and night.Tell students that we are going to get a little more specific. There are special times of day that we do things, and the clock shows us when. Show them the analog clock (the toy or the classroom clock) and the digital clock.Set the time on the analog clock for 3:00. First, draw their attention to the digital clock. The number(s) before the : describe the hours, and the numbers after the : describe the minutes. So for 3:00, we are exactly at 3 o’clock and no extra minutes.Then draw their attention to the analog clock. Tell them that this clock can also show the time. The short hand shows the same thing as the number(s) before t he : on the digital clock - the hours. Show them how the long hand on the analog clock moves faster than the short hand - it is moving by minutes. When it is at 0 minutes, it will be right up at the top, by the 12. (This is hard for kids to understand.) Have students come up and make the long hand move quickly around the circle to reach the 12 and zero minutes several times.Have students stand up. Have them use one arm to show where the long clock hand will be when it is at zero minutes. Their hands should be straight up above their heads. Just like they did in Step 5, have them move this hand rapidly around an imaginary circle to represent what the minute hand does.Then have them imitate the 3:00 short hand. Using their unused arm, have them put this out to the side so that they are imitating the hands of the clock. Repeat with 6:00 (do the analog clock first) then 9:00, then 12:00. Both arms should be straight above their heads for 12:00.Change the digital clock to be 3:30. Show what this looks like on the analog clock. Have students use their bodies to imitate 3:30, then 6:30, then 9:30. For the remainder of the class period, or at the introduction of the next class period, ask for volunteers to come up to the front of the class and make a time with their bodies for other students to guess. Homework/Assessment Have students go home and discuss with their parents the times (to the nearest hour and half hour) that they do at least three important things during the day. They should write these down on paper in the correct digital format. Parents should sign the paper indicating that they have had these discussions with their child. Evaluation Take anecdotal notes on students as they complete Step 9 of the lesson. Those students who are still struggling with the representation of hours and half hours can receive some extra practice with another student or with you. Duration Two class periods, each 30-45 minutes long. Materials toy analog clockdigital clock

Fiber optic is reliable with networking. I mean” how is it been Essay

Fiber optic is reliable with networking. I mean† how is it been secure† - Essay Example In a relatively short amount of time, a vast number of households and companies shifting from cable wires to this technological option. So just what makes this piece of technology so indispensable today? In a study from the Sans Institute Reading Room site, it says that fiber optic cables "can go an average of 62 miles versus 1.2 miles that copper can go before the signal needs to be regenerated or boosted."   (Witcher, â€Å"Option 1†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) Fiber optic cables also do not conduct electricity, since they are not metallic, which makes them less interfered by radio frequencies, electromagnetic interferences, or even lightning. They are also smaller and lighter than copper wires, and are not affected by atmospheric conditions making them even more "installation-friendly" to areas that copper wires cannot go. With all these, plus the fact that fiber optic cables do not produce electrical radiation, fiber optics has been the choice solution for a better and a more secure means of communication by companies across the globe. However, it is not all good news. Through the years, research has proven that fiber optic cables can be easily tapped. One, which is the easiest, is called splicing. Splicing is done by an inserted apparatus intercepting a signal while it is currently transmitting data to an end party.   However, this method is easily detectable by most network security systems.  Another method of getting data from fiber optic cables is through splitters and couplers. This method is done by slightly  bending, crooking or putting a clamp on an optical fibers length so that light photons will leak into the tappers receiving device.   Lastly, there are the non-touch methods. The more advanced of these methods are able to derive the underlying optical signal by understanding the interactions between the fiber plant and the extra light added into it. Without any physical-layer optical signal protection,

Eric Rauchways Murdering McKinley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Eric Rauchways Murdering McKinley - Essay Example Such a system thereby magnified some of the social challenges that the political regime appeared slow to resolve. The murder of President William McKinley was an epitome of the of social revolution portraying the urgency with which the populace wanted some of the social and economic challenges resolved as discussed in the analysis of Eric Rauchway’s Murdering McKinley in the essay below. The historical masterpiece analyses the circumstances in the country prior to the murder of the president, the subsequent speedy apprehension and execution of his murderer, Leon Czolgosz1. The change in the political regime in the country thereafter ended the implementation of some of the policies formulated by McKinley and instigated the Roosevelt progressivism policies that the people believed would solve most of the social and economic problems thereby providing America with a progressive future by creating a conducive environment for the development of the economy. The murder of McKinley thus appears to have been engineered by his successors and the populists who succeeded the government soon after his death. The book analyses such thus providing more insights to the death and the influence of such to the development of the modern day political, economic and social structures in the United States. An industrial America would present better living conditions for the populace. The economy would grow rapidly and the states would grow, as different industries would begin operations thereby employing millions of America. The development of cities as a modern settlement pattern brought people together thereby intensifying integration in the society. However, the American society was grappling with serious social and economic issues that would stifle the industrial revolution. The inability of the different regimes prior to McKinley’s tenure

Is our Education System Failing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Is our Education System Failing - Essay Example Research evidence seems to indicate the problem may be one of inappropriate measurement methods; however, a more detailed examination of American secondary schools indicates that although measurement methods might negatively affect our estimates about how much high schools are failing students, an underlying problem still exists and it needs to be corrected. This underlying problem with secondary schools is one that revolves around the concept of accountability, and a number of issues emerge from unaccountable schools. An important consideration to make when considering the success or failure of American secondary schools is the statistics involved with either side of the argument. A graduation rate is a good indicator of whether a specific school is successfully educating and preparing its students. Therefore, it is essential to see whether the statistical measurements of graduation are actually correct or not. Swanson (analyzes American graduation rates across the country, and offe rs a resource for better evaluating and measuring the graduation crisis. The analysis points to a clear role for public policy in improving the conditions and environmental circumstances in which American secondary schools operate. An important consequence of this is that â€Å"the findings here do tell us that there is a strong and very detrimental linkage between graduation rates and the environmental conditions that go along with factors like poverty and segregation† (Swanson, 2003, p. 35). Accordingly, the author of this report is convinced that incorrect concepts of graduation rates leads to incorrect views (and incorrect solutions) of the educational crisis. That is, by identifying the environmental circumstances surrounding failing schools, officials can be better prepared with â€Å"better knowledge† about how to fix the problem. However, ascribing poor graduation rates to environmental circumstances (such as poverty and segregation) is a point of view that mov es responsibility for failings away from the schools themselves. Swanson (2003) is suggesting that the only solutions to the graduation crisis can only come from successful interventions, which implies that internal changes to schools is not an effective strategy. But studies such as Chiang (2009) indicate that accountability pressure, which is defined as the â€Å"threat of sanctions on low-performing schools,† is not an effective tool when schools are able to manipulate the accountability system. Referencing claims like those made by Swanson (2003), Chiang (2009) argues that accountability systems within schools properly constructed and maintained make educational reforms more likely to generate test score gains. So, even if in fact American secondary schools are failing their students in terms of the students’ long-term benefits, improved accountability systems within schools will lessen the impact of environmental circumstances that decrease student performance. Fo r instance, in some cases, sanction threats prompted schools to increase spending on instructional technology, which improved student performance. Knowing that accountability is the best solution for making sure secondary schools do not fail their students, one might compare that result with additional studies where accountability is a problem

Comparison Of Building Vulnerability Assessment Methods Engineering Essay

Comparison Of Building Vulnerability Assessment Methods Engineering Essay A review of vulnerability assessment methods for buildings is conducted out with a view to evaluate their appropriateness for use in seismic risk assessment. A ranking scheme has been developed to score each vulnerability assessment method. The ranking considers general description of vulnerability, building response factors, variance in output, applicability and ease of use, which are the major characteristics for vulnerability assessment tools used in seismic risk assessment. A case study in the older portion of Dhaka city, Bangladesh has been conducted to investigate the efficiency of some state-of-the- art vulnerability assessment methods. The hybrid vulnerability scale, which uses a FEMA 310 and IITK GSDMA approaches score high in the ranking, whilst the other scales based on the Rapid Visual Screening FEMA 154, Euro Code 8, New Zealand Guidelines, Modified Turkish Method and NRCC perform differently in various weighting scenarios. However, it is found that none but the hybrid ( which includes the local site specific issues as well as the results from non destructive testing and experimental data) method effectively suits all the criteria essential for their use in seismic risk assessment, especially emphasis on physical vulnerability factors, applicability and variances in output. Keywords vulnerability assessments, physical vulnerable parameters, seismic risk assessment 1. Introduction Seismic risk assessment is a vital tool to manage the growing risk in the face of the ever-increasing exposure in highly seismic regions. Due to the changes in the built environment and continuously evolving seismic sciences, it is essential to refine the risk assessment modeling continuously. In particular, vulnerability of buildings to ground shaking is recognized as a key element in any seismic risk model (Spence et al. 2008). Therefore, seismic vulnerability assessment is an essential tool for governments and individuals to mitigate the consequences of earthquakes. Existing vulnerability assessment methodologies vary with various postulations proposed for the characterization and prediction of earthquake hazard and the methodology used to evaluate building regarding the hazard (FEMA 1999; Bertogg et al. 2002). The development of a region-wide seismic vulnerability assessment framework, such as FEMA 310 for the US (FEMA 1999), requires a unique vulnerability assessment tool to acc ommodate all the above mentioned issues. Within this paper, a comparison and critical review of existing vulnerability assessment methodologies for buildings is conducted out, with a view to their utilization in a region-wide seismic risk assessment. A hybrid method consisting of FEMA 310 (FEMA 1999) and IITK GSDMA (Durgesh 2005) has been set up to evaluate vulnerability, combining an analysis of building typologies with expert judgment. Background information on the most significant vulnerability assessment methods are provided in the paper together with their advantages and disadvantages for use in seismic risk assessment. Moreover, the seismic vulnerability for contemporary and historical 93 buildings in old Dhaka City, Bangladesh has been assessed as a case study to show the spatially distributed qualitative risk within the area with the help of different vulnerability assessment tools. Finally, a scoring method is proposed to qualitatively represent the relative rankings of the selected vulnerability assessment tools t o find out a suitable uniform approach to be used for seismic risk assessment. 2. Selection of suitable building classification system Vulnerability can be defined as the susceptibility of buildings to damage in presence of seismic ground motion (Hill and Rossetto 2008). The evaluation of building vulnerability is a basic part of any risk assessment methodology. An accurate, transparent and conceptually sound algorithm for assessing the seismic vulnerability of the building stock is one of the main ingredients in a seismic risk model and indeed over the past 30 years many tools and methodologies have been proposed for this purpose. This study takes an overview on some of the most noteworthy contributions in the field of vulnerability assessment and the key advantages and disadvantages of these procedures have been identified in order to distinguish the main characteristics of an ideal methodology (Calvi et al. 2006). In vulnerability studies, it is essential to differentiate various building types, since, different types of buildings tend to respond in a different way under similar ground motions (Tesfamariam and Sa atcioglu 2008). Hence, the buildings should be classified according to their similar dynamic properties, before the conducting a vulnerability assessment of an urban area. The parameters that influence the dynamic response of a structure to ground motion are well recognized, for example, in Euro code 8 (BSSC 2003; CEN 2004), and embrace the structures geometrical and material properties. A building classification system that considers a high-degree of segregation in vulnerability studies and an enhanced estimate of the financial losses, has been expressed elsewhere (Carvalho et al. 2002). This study focuses on the dominant building types of the Indian region (Alam et el. 2010), which comprises mainly of reinforced concrete buildings and masonry buildings. 3. Existing seismic vulnerability assessment methodologies: an overview Table 1 in Appendix A briefly describes each vulnerability assessment tool selected and the rationale for their selection. It is obvious that the review is not extensive; however, the tools have been selected for the predominant building classes as well as to the contemporary practices in seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings. From the literature, it is evident that, there is a lack of unified vulnerability assessment technique, which covers the entire local as well as the global parameters. To cover the location-specific physical components present in both the developed and the developing countries, a hybrid method has been formulated for the vulnerability assessment of existing structures incorporating FEMA 310 (FEMA 1998, 2003, ASCE 1998) and IITK GSDMA (Durgesh 2005) methods. Other vulnerability assessment tools are chosen from a wide range of published and peer reviewed papers in seismology, structural vulnerability, and earthquake engineering fields. Since, most of the tools have been developed for some particular circumstances, such as vulnerability assessment in the field, for structural analysis etc. they may not contain some of the uniqueness specified in the scoring structure. However, they are included in this study, as either elements of these guidelines or tools have been used in past seismic vulnerability assessment of buildings or they illustrate a distinctive characteristic, which is essential in a tool for the seismic vulnerability assessment. 4. Investigation of the suitability of different vulnerability assessment tools: a case study A case study of 93 buildings of older portion of Dhaka city-the capital of Bangladesh (Alam et al. 2010) has been selected to evaluate the suitability of various vulnerability assessment tools for seismic risk assessment. The predominant structural types, specially associated with medium to high seismicity, present in South Asian countries have been presented in the building classification system. After considering building inventories of different countries of South Asian region, it was found that South Asian building inventory is primarily composed of reinforced concrete buildings and masonry buildings. The study includes Bangladesh (CDMP 2009), Nepal (AUDMP 2007), and India (Durgesh 2005) for classifying major building classes for the area. There exist some other types, such as adobe (mud house), tin-shed housing, timber and steel structures etc, which contribute a very small proportion of the existing inventory with moderate to high seismicity. The premier resolutions of relevant building type sub-categories for the vulnerability assessment are the reinforced concrete frames with and without masonry infill as well as the unreinforced masonry buildings for the study area. The seismic vulnerability of buildings in the stock varies widely with different vulnerable factors (Hugo 2002). The principal vulnerability factors used in the categorization of buildings in the study area are structure type (the main lateral force resisting system of buildings), number of story, and code level (seismic design standard applied in the design of buildings). Moreover, architectural features which are the parameters for defining geometry of buildings such as story height, span length, presence of open first-storey etc. act as factors for the vulnerability assessment. Several structural features may be considered as the factor affecting vulnerability of buildings. These factors include soft story, heavy overhang, short column, pounding possibility between adjacent buildings, and visible ground settlement. During this study a number of vulnerable factors were identified that are comprehensively discussed here. According to Turkish method (Bommer et al. 2002, Tesfamariam a nd Saatcioglu 2010), the level of building damage during earthquakes depends on the apparent building quality which is, in turn, related to the quality of construction materials, workmanships and building maintenance. Well-trained observers can classify a buildings quality roughly as good, moderate, or poor. Many building collapses during seismic events may be ascribed to the absence of the bracing elements (e.g. available walls in the upper floors) in the ground floor, and hence develop a ground floor soft in the horizontal direction. The plastic deformations at the plastic hinge points of the columns can develop an undesirable sway mechanism with a large concentration of the plastic deformations at the column ends (Hugo 2002). Hence, the soft story buildings exhibit a less safe behavior than the similar regular structures during moderate and severe earthquake. Normally, this situation can be resulted from the building that locates along the side of the main street as the first sto ry is being used for a commercial space that has opening between the frame members for customer circulation. Figure 1 shows some of the examples of soft story (ground floors being used as shop) in Shakhari Bazar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. In addition to soft stories, another vulnerable factor, termed as heavy overhanging floors in multistory buildings lead to irregularity in stiffness and mass distributions (Hugo 2002). From the earthquake engineering view point, these irregular plan shapes are undesirable as they cause inappropriate dynamic behaviors when subjected to horizontal earthquake ground motion. Typical heavy overhangs found in the old part of Dhaka City are shown in figure 2. Moreover, the shear failure of short columns is another major cause of building collapse during a seismic event (Hugo 2002). It is also termed as squat columns, i.e. columns having relatively high thickness compared to their height, and most of the cases are fixed in strong beams or slabs. By unintentional addition of parapet infill in frame structures, slender columns can also be converted into short columns. In case of short columns with significant bending capacity, enormous moment gradient can develop a large shear force under horizontal actions of a seismic event, which generally leads to a shear failure before the plastic moment capacity is being reached (Hugo 2002). It was observed after the August 17th, 1999 earthquake in Turkey (Mw=7.4) that a large number of buildings were damaged due to the presence of short columns (Saatcioglu et al. 2001). Damage due to pounding can also be observed after almost every earthquake events. Different vibration periods and non-synchronized vibration amplitudes cause the close buildings to knock together. Buildings subjected to pounding receive heavier damage on higher stories (NZSEE 2000, 2003). Topographic amplification may also increase ground motion intensity on hilltops during earthquake; hence, this factor should be taken into account in the seismic risk assessment. In the last not the least, building shape and elevation are major factors affecting buildings during an earthquake. It was evident from the experience of different seismic events, that the buildings with irregular shape are more damaging than the buildings of regular shape (Hugo 2002). Similarly elevation of building is also another important factor responsible for structural/building damage during an earthquake. Narrow tall buildings are more vulnerable during an earthquake (Hugo 2002). Figure 3 shows vertical irregularity of an existing building in the study area. There exists a numerous numbers of vulnerability assessment techniques, that utilize various types of vulnerability factors. Table 2 summarizes different vulnerability factors, which are frequently, used in different seismic vulnerability assessment techniques utilized in the study. From this study, it can easily be identified that some of the seismic vulnerability assessment techniques are very robust, e.g. FEMA 310, FEMA 154 etc, whereas in case of some other methods, (e.g. Euro Code 8) some of the major vulnerability parameters are not clearly defined. The results from the assessment of 93 buildings in the study area are depicted in the figure 4. For risk evaluation, it is required to collect, analyze and properly match a huge quantity of data. Geographic information system (GIS) can effectively be utilized to manage and overlay the information levels and graphical output of the results (Codermatz 2003). Therefore, a geographical information system (GIS) database has been developed to represent the spatial distribution of the vulnerable buildings for different assessment techniques within the study area. Figure 5 shows the distribution of vulnerable buildings in GIS environment, resulted with the use of FEMA 154 method, which shows that most of the buildings fall under very high risk group. Whereas, the distribution of risk classes within the buildings are in a wide range in case of hybrid method, depicted in figure 6. The distribution of vulnerable buildings assessed by Euro Code 8 and NRCC are also presented in figure 7 and figur e 8 respectively, which show comparatively lower risk variances. 5. Vulnerability assessment methodology scoring system The general description of vulnerability assessment methods which include the input variables, are very useful for the people involved in the field directly, where as the information about physical measurable parameters are necessary for the detailed analysis of a structure and the decision makers utilize the description of output for generating an effective decision (Hill and Tizina 2008). A reliability or performance scoring system has been developed to rank the vulnerability assessment methodologies according to the criteria mentioned above. The proposed scoring system consisting of 3 main sections with 17 sub-categories is depicted in Table 2 of Appendix A. The score obtained in each of the 3 sections is given equal weighting in the computation of the total reliability score for vulnerability assessment. The system tries to reduce most of the subjectivity implicated in the ranking of different vulnerability assessment methods. Since, some subjectivity has been utilized to assign the categories, the resultant scores can be utilized only as a qualitative representation of performance or reliability. To provide a clear indication of each methodologys performance or reliability, an affirmative score is given as 3 points, a moderate score is given as 2, a negative score 0 point, whereas the method partially fulfills the requirement is given 1 point. Since, experimental value provides data based on real-life experiences, it is more preferred in the scoring system. Analytical and judgment-based values are considered as second and third best respectively. For the sub-categories, the scoring is based on the Table 3 of Appendix A. This scoring for reliability or performance has been applied to the vulnerability assessment methods applicable for mainly reinforced concrete buildings as well as unreinforced masonry building types. Category A of the scoring system in Table 2 deals with the basic input description of vulnerability assessment tools, i.e. ease of measurement (Saatcioglu, et al. 2001), range of buildings types covered (FEMA 2002, ASCE 2003, UNDRO 1980), site specific factors, including local and global aspects regard (ASCE 2003, ASCE 1988, NRCC 1993, Durgesh 2005) .This is important for the people working in the field measurement. In category B mostly physical measurable vulnerability factors have been considered, which is very useful for analyzing the structural behavior. It deals with the scope of vulnerable parameters (ASCE 2003), quantity of database (ATC 2004), applicability of tools as non-structural components of the structures (NRCC 1993). Finally category C of the proposed scoring system utilizes the involvement of the output factors, which encompasses the well defined vulnerability scales (FEMA 2002) (ASCE 2003), risk variances (ASCE 2003, Durgesh 2005), impact of non-structural components as well as the adoptability (NRCC 1993). This category mainly focuses on the preferences for the decision makers. For different specific needs, risk assessment specialists may prefer different weightings on the scoring categories. The categories are weighted according to four different scenarios (I-IV) as depicted in Table 4 of Appendix A. These weightings give a maximum score of 51 points in each case which are only for illustrative indication. An example of use of the proposed scoring method is given in Table 5 of Appendix A. The final ranking for the vulnerability assessment tools considered is shown in Table 6 of Appendix A. The individual scores are given in Table 7 of Appendix A 6. Discussion on vulnerability assessment method scoring This section discusses about the performance of different vulnerability assessment tools in different scoring categories in wider aspect for all the weighting scenarios proposed. At this point it is essential to re-state that the vulnerability assessment ranking reflects how appropriate the method is for use in seismic risk assessment. To rank the techniques, several weighting scenarios have been utilized with the calculated scores. For weighting scenario I, equal weighting for each category was adopted which provides an overall view of the vulnerability assessment methods performances. The authors believe that each of the identified features is equally important and it is suggested that proposed scoring system utilizes this weighting scenario. Hybrid method, NRCC (NRCC 1993) guidelines and FEMA 154 (FEMA 2002, ATC 1998) rank the top three positions for the weighting scenario I. The Hybrid method contains detailed descriptions for different classes of buildings and has a well defined methodology for calculating physical vulnerability factors. The ASCE 31 standard (FEMA 310) is not a building code.  Ã‚  It is a method of evaluating existing buildings to determine if they meet seismic performance objectives such as Life Safety or Immediate Occupancy.   NRCC guideline follows the similar principles as the hybrid one; however, the calibration for building typology for NRC guidelines considers the Canadian construction practice. Fundamentally, the score ( seismic priority index) in NRCC is related to the seismic risk for a particular building, given the occurrence of an earthquake equivalent to that specified in the National Building Code of Canada (NRCC 1993). It is to be used as an initial assessment for deciding which building should have more detailed evaluation in order of priority. Moreover, the effect of torsional irregularities has not been taken in to account. In FEMA 154, the score was affected by the lack of sufficiently detailed analysis; rather it e ncompasses a rapid visual screening method (FEMA 2002). The use of seismicity regions, rather than site-specific seismic hazard data, for the Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) procedure substantially reduces the accuracy of results because the calculations use levels of ground motion which differ from the levels of ground motion at all sites except those where ground motions are at the median value for a seismicity region. Thus, RVS final scores are systematically shifted and overestimate the level of risk for locations with below-median ground motions and underestimate risk for locations with above median ground motions. In case of weighting scenario II, more weighting is given to general description of vulnerability to highlight the methods suited for in-field measurements. For weighting scenario II, again the same results happened, i.e. Hybrid one out ranked all other approaches. For weighting scenario III, more weighting values have been given to the physical vulnerable parameters. And in case of scenario IV, weighting has been given to the variance in output. For this purpose, a case study of 93 buildings of old Dhaka city of Bangladesh has been conducted. In this case study, different types of buildings have been assessed with various methodologies. Here, Hybrid and NRCC Guidelines ranked the 1st where as FEMA 154 (FEMA 2002, ATC 1998) and NZ Code ranked 2nd and 3rd. The variation and the results of the assessment have been depicted in Figure 5 through Figure 8. In weighting scenario V, more conscious was given to Canadian present construction practices (Cook 1999, Onur et al. 2004). Here, the Hybrid as well as the NRCC method outranked the other methods. 7. Scoring Summary with Different Multi Criteria Decision Making Tools The proposed scoring system is a wide-ranging tool to compare different vulnerability assessment methods in the context of ease of use and applicability. It cannot catch all the parameters, but qualitatively gives a better indication of the suitable seismic vulnerability assessment method for buildings. First of all, it can be remarked that, the positions of the methods in the ranking change markedly between the different weighting scenarios. Of the considered seismic vulnerability assessment methods, it is seen that the Hybrid method composed of FEMA 310 (FEMA 1998, 2003, ASCE 1998) and IITK-GSDMA outperforms other vulnerability assessment in all respects. However, NRCC (NRCC 1993) method also performs adequately, where the guideline was developed specifically with Canadian buildings in mind, though certain features are lacking within the description of detailed analysis. Nonetheless, for all the weighting scenarios, the proposed hybrid method performs well and should be considered as the preferred alternative. Moreover, the presence of FEMA 154, Euro Code 8(Milutinovic and Trendafiloski 2003, CEN 2004) and New Zealand Guidelines (NZSEE 2000, 2003) in the ranking system are notable. However, it is clear that the methods do not capture a sufficient quantity of characteristics that are required of such a guideline for the particular weighting scenarios. In this study different multi criteria decision making tools (e.g. AHP. Elctre I Is, and TOPSIS) have been utilized to find out the suitable most alternative. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a decision-aiding method developed by Saaty (Saaty 1980). The main goal of AHP is to quantify the relative priorities for a given set of alternatives on a ratio scale, based on the judgment of the decision-maker, and stresses the significance of the perceptive judgments of a decision- maker as well as the consistency of the comparison of alternatives in the decision-making process (Saaty 1990). Whereas ELECTRE I (Benayoun et al, 1966; Roy 1971) is an overall method of ranking alternative systems in the presence of qualitative criteria. The idea in this algorithm is to choose those nodes (i.e. alternative systems) which are preferred for most of the criteria and yet do not cause an unacceptable level of discontent for any one criterion. Moreover in case of TOPSIS (Technique for Order pre ference by Similarity to Ideal Situation) method, the selected alternative should be as close to the ideal solution as possible and as far from the negative-ideal solution as possible. The ideal solution is formed as a combination of the best performance values revealed in the decision matrix by any option for each attribute. The negative-ideal solution is the combination of the worst performance values. Propinquity to each of these performance poles is measured in the Euclidean sense (e.g., square root of the sum of the squared distances along each axis in the attribute space), with elective weighting of each attribute (Olson 2004). By utilizing Electre I Is (Hwang and Yoon 1981) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (Yang and Lee 1997); it was found that the proposed hybrid method outranks all the methods in all cases (Figure 10 and Figure 11). Finally TOPSIS method (Chu 2002) has validated the same decision about the proposed hybrid method to be the preferred one. In the context of decision making and field measurement, hybrid method consisting of FEMA 310 (FEMA 1998, 2003, ASCE 1998) and IITK-GSDMA is recommended. Whereas, if the rapid assessment of buildings is the major concern, vulnerability assessment through FEMA 154 (FEMA 2002, ATC 1998) and NRCC (NRCC 1993) guidelines should also be considered as the preferred options. 8. Conclusion This study has identified significant characteristics that should be included for an appropriate seismic vulnerability assessment method of buildings. A scoring system has been proposed for the qualitative review of various vulnerability assessment techniques and a particular attention was given to potential use in Canada. It is found that a vulnerability assessment technique termed as hybrid method i.e. combination of FEMA 310 (FEMA 1998, 2003, ASCE 1998) IITK GSDMA (Durgesh 2005) captures characteristics to a wider degree that a suitable vulnerability assessment method should posses. However, the proposed hybrid method is calibrated with the data from US and Bangladesh, which can be applied to other regions with slight modifications. In seismic risk assessment, the building vulnerability assessment depends on data from many sources, amongst which, the past earthquake damage survey data are of major concern. Existence of various vulnerability assessment approaches, raises concern over worldwide to have a simplistic effective vulnerability assessment tool, to be useful world-wide. The authors believe that the proposed hybrid method provides a robust basis for vulnerability interpretation and recommended future studies of vulnerability assessment method to combine more consistent and wider descriptions of the parameters for use in seismic risk assessment. Reference: Alam M.J., M. Abdur Rahman Bhuiyan, and M.Roqibul Islam(2006) Seismic Structural Assessment of Damaged Chittagong Public Library Building During 27 July 2003 Earthquake 4th International Conference on Earthquake Engineering Taipei, Taiwan Alam M. N., K. Mashfiq, A. Rahman, and S. M. 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