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,