Making a script for Bad-news presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Making a script for Bad-news presentation - Essay Example The continuous and dramatic changes in the consumer patterns demand that we become flexible, fluid and capable to adapt to the ever changing global environment, the demand for our products is falling, and if necessary steps are not taken immediately then it would spell disaster for all of us, as production would need to be cut down resulting in the downsizing of the workforce, in simple words, it would mean many of us will lose our jobs and our ties with this company would end. But I am pleased to report that our senior executives have taken the right decision at the right time, and in favor of all of us. After deliberate consideration, it has been decided that the national chain ‘Neilson’s Electronics’ should take Echo Computers under its umbrella and save us from unemployment. However, this is not just a one-sided game; we need to demonstrate our support and cooperation for this acquisition to succeed. You have to believe in yourselves like I believe in you, and we have to be fast and efficient in adapting to changes in our workplace environment. Our product range would widen, and now we would provide not only computer-related goods, but also general electronics and house goods, this would mean an opportunity to prove your salesman potential. The three weeks of retraining at your disposal challenges every one of you to demonstrate your competence and reliability, and gives you a chance to secure your jobs. If you do not cooperate, you would be left behind; therefore I suggest you to be united and strong, as integrity and passion would lead to your success. I must remind you that things could have been much worse if this store would have been shut down. I realize that this transitory phase is a hard time for all of you, but this is nevertheless much better in every measurable way than losing your job (wikiHow, 2010). Your goal herein is to perform up to your maximum capabilities and prove your strength, and I wish you great success and

EXAM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

EXAM - Essay Example Hence, when one is faced with a situation that one cannot explain, tension rises. This tension leads to pain. The pain arises from the views of Western psychology that everything must be accounted for within this lifetime. Buddhism argues that all the problems we experience are due to ignorance, which can be overcome by practicing Dharma. Quality of life depends on inner development of peace and happiness. Unlike Western Psychology that relates one’s problems with external factors that condition behavior, Buddhism argues that to avoid pain, we must first achieve peace in our minds. Guided by spiritual values, one is able to achieve inner peace. Western Psychology on the other hand does not recognize spiritualism or spiritual values as ways of avoiding pain. Western Psychology seeks to use facts that can be hypothetically tested to arrive at generalizations. Since spiritualism cannot be scientifically tested, Western Psychology does not recognize it in explaining the sources of one’s pain. Buddhism assumes that imprints are carried over from past life. Western psychology on the other hand assumes that everything must be accounted for within this lifetime. Western psychology links what it cannot explain to the unconscious. Although Buddhism can embrace many assumptions of Western psychology, it would use conditioning and imprints from previous life to explain why one experiences pain. Buddhism teaches how to examine the mind and explains the causes of pain and misery; and the causes of happiness. It teaches how to cultivate a mind of virtue that leads to enlightment. Buddhism argues that transforming the mind to view suffering as natural and helpful helps to maintain balance in the body. It argues that suffering should be viewed as part of a greater path which makes the mind pure and reaches a state where one conquers suffering. Thinking of suffering as an unnatural occurrence leads to

Commutative encryption and decryption

Commutative encryption and decryption El Gamal Public Key Cryptosystem The El Gamal public-key encryption scheme can be viewed as Diffie-Hellman key agreement in key transfer mode. Its security is based on the intractability of the discrete logarithm problem and the Diffie-Hellman problem. Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange The first system to make use of public-key or asymmetric cryptographic keys was the Diffie-Hellman algorithm (by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman, 1976). These systems overcome the difficulties of private-key or symmetric key systems because asymmetric key management is much easier. In the symmetric key system its important for both sides of the communication to have identical keys; the secure exchange of the keys has always been a huge concern. This concern is alleviated using asymmetric key systems because they use two keys one called the private key that secretly belongs to the user and another called the public key that can be shared with the world and thus is distributed without difficulty. Regrettably, the pros of asymmetric key systems are overshadowed by speed they are very slow for any type of bulk encryption. Presently, the typical practice is to use a symmetric system to encrypt the data and then encrypt the symmetric keys used for distribution with an asymmetric syst em. And this is what Diffie-Hellman key exchange does. Basic El Gamal encryption Complete Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange Process The Game: Mental Poker Playing the game of poker without any cards over a telecommunications device (phone or more realistically internet) is known as Mental Poker. The game usually doesnt include a trusted third party dealer or a source of randomness and as such it seems that someone (the dealer) will always know what cards have been given out or alternatively, that players will be able to lie about the cards they have. The first serious attempt at the problem was by Adi Shamir, Ronald Rivest and Leonard Adleman in 1979 in [SRA]. Its this scheme, which relies on commutative encryption. The authors first proved, in an information theoretic sense, that the problem is unsolvable and then went on to offer a solution. Their protocol worked for two players and didnt require a trusted third party. However, it did not offer confidentiality of strategy, requiring the players to reveal their hands at the end of each game. We assume two players and fifty-two cards. Five cards are dealt then one round of betting then all cards shown. Players have disjoint hands, any player can have any possible hand, no player can discover another players hand and any collusion has minimal effect. The SRA protocol was shown to leak at least one bit of information: whether the card was a quadratic residue or not. There were suggestions to overcome this problem but there was still no guarantee that other information was not leaked. The SRA protocol The protocol relies on a commutative encryption scheme i.e.: EA(EB(M)) = EB(EA(M)) Where EX denotes encryption using Xs public key. Likewise, we use DX to denote decryption using Xs private key. Steps Two players Alice and Bob together choose a large prime number n, then Alice chooses her key A s.t. gcd(A,n-1) = 1 and Bob chooses B similarly. Encode the 52 cards as integers. Encryption EA(M) = MA (mod n) Decryption DA(M) = Minv(A) (mod n) Bob permutes the cards to x1, x2, , x52 encrypts them then sends to Alice EB(xi). Alice chooses 5 cards for herself, encrypts them and sends to Bob EA(EB(xi)). Also chooses 5 cards for Bob and sends them to him (without encrypting) EB(xi). Bob can now decrypt his cards to see his hand DB(EB(xi) = xi. He also decrypts Alices cards then sends them back to her. Here is where we need commutativity so DB(EA(EB(xi))) = EA(xi) Alice receives her cards and decrypt them seeing her hand DA(EA(xi)) = xi. Implementation of Game Protocol Security Efficiency of El Gamal encryption The encryption process requires two modular exponentiations, namely ak mod p and (aa)k mod p. These exponentiations can be sped up by selecting random exponents k having some additional structure, for example, having low Hamming weights. Care must be taken that the possible number of exponents is large enough to preclude a search via a baby-step giant-step algorithm. A drawback of El Gamal encryption is that there is message expansion by a factor of 2, i.e., the ciphertext is double the length of the corresponding plaintext. Randomized Encryption Among many other encryption schemes, El Gamal encryption utilizes randomization in the encryption process, an example of others include: McEliece encryption, and Goldwasser-Micali, and Blum-Goldwasser probabilistic encryption. Deterministic encryption schemes such as RSA may also utilize randomization in an effort to avoid some attacks. The basic idea behind randomized encryption techniques is to use randomization to increase the cryptographic security of an encryption process through one or more of the following methods: increasing the effective size of the plaintext message space; precluding or decreasing the effectiveness of chosen-plaintext attacks by virtue of a one-to-many mapping of plaintext to ciphertext; and precluding or decreasing the effectiveness of statistical attacks by leveling the a priori probability distribution of inputs. Security of El Gamal Encryption The problem of breaking the El Gamal encryption scheme, specifically, recovering m given p, a, aa, ?, and d, is equivalent to solving the Diffie-Hellman problem. In reality, the ElGamal encryption scheme can be seen as merely comprising a Diffie-Hellman key exchange to verify a session key aak, and then encrypting the message by multiplication with that session key. Hence, the security of the El- Gamal encryption scheme is said to be based on the discrete logarithm problem in mathbb{Z}_p !,*, although such an equivalence hasnt been verified. It is vital that different random integers k be used to encrypt different messages. Assume the same k is used to encrypt two messages m1 and m2 and the resultant ciphertext pairs are (?1,d1) and (?2,d2). Then d1/ d2 = m1/m2, and m2 could be easily computed if m1 were known. Analysis of Mental Poker Upon receiving the shuffled and encrypted pack of cards she cant tell which is which, therefore, she picks randomly, that is, she is unable to see Bobs hand. When Bob receives Alices double encrypted hand he would be unable to read it even when he partially decrypts it. But is there information leaked by the encryption process? Yes! Its known as Quadratic Residues. Quadratic Residues An integer a, not divisible by an odd prime p, is a quadratic residue modulo p if there is a b in {1, 2,, p-1} s.t. a = b2 (mod p). Otherwise a is a quadratic no residue. So for p = 11, 1=12, 3=52, 4=22, 5=42, 9=32 are the quadratic residues and 2, 6, 7, 8, 10 are the quadratic no residues. This works in general. For a prime p there are (p-1)/2 of both residues and no residues. Cheating In 1981 R. Lipton showed for odd k, xk is a quadratic residue mod p if x is a quadratic residue mod p. So the cards whose representations are quadratic residues are still quadratic residues when they are encrypted. This allows Alice to find the cards that are residues and no residues, for the particular p used, and then choose (on average) high cards for herself and low cards for Bob. Cheat Prevention The easiest way to prevent the attack we have discussed is to only represent cards with quadratic residues. However other, more general attacks have been shown to be effective so SRA isnt a good protocol. Other protocols for the Mental Poker problem have been considered with the most successful ones using probabilistic encryption and zero knowledge proof. Crepeau solved the problem in 1987 although his protocol is not computationally feasible. Research is still going on. Conclusion Mental Poker is an important problem, both for use in the large internet poker business and as a metaphor for other multi-party computations were secrets need to be kept. It is possible to implement the SRA protocol efficiently and securely, however it has a major flaw in that it leaks one bit of information about the cards. Other protocols have been suggested with Crepeau solving the problem in 1987 although with a computationally infeasible algorithm. Bibliography http://www.ics.uci.edu/~goodrich/teach/ics247/W03/notes/poker.pdf http://www.netip.com/articles/keith/diffie-helman.htm http://www.ics.uci.edu/~goodrich/teach/ics247/W03/notes/elgamal.pdf Handbook of Applied Cryptography, by A. Menezes, P. van Oorschot, and S. Vanstone, CRC Press, 1996.

Kafka Essay -- essays papers

Kafka Franz Kafka was born in Prague, Bohemia, July 3, 1883 and died June 3, 1924 of tuberculosis at the age of 40. He came from a middle-class Jewish family. His father was a shopkeeper and tried to climb up the social ladder by working hard at his shop and sending Franz to a prestigious German high school. He went on to get a law degree and worked for two insurance companies (not at the same time) When his .tuberculosis got bad in 1917 he was put on temporary retirement with a pension. German was the language the upper class spoke and by sending Franz to German schools his father tried to disassociate from the lower class Jewish who lived in the ghetto. They were always moving from apartment to apartment advancing as the business grew. Franz had a very strained relationship with his father that traumatically affected his whole life. This is apparent in a letter to his father he wrote, â€Å"What was always incomprehensible to me was your total lack of feeling for the suffering and shame you could inflict on me with your words and judgments. It was as though you had no notion of your power† (Letter). Max Brod and Franz met in college and became life long friends. It was Max who persuaded Franz to publish some of his work and it was Max who was responsible for most of the Kafka writings that are available today. Franz had entrusted his manuscripts to Max and in his last will and testament specified that all his work was to be destroyed. Instead Max had them published after Franz’ death. Although he never married, he was engaged several times but always broke the engagement as the wedding day would approach. Most of the biographies about him tell of his problem with women and repulsion from sex and say that it was ... ... http://members.xoom.com/danielhornek/. 1 Mar. 2000. Kafka, Leni. Biography. Hp. 2000 [last update]. Online. Available: http://victorian.fortunecity.com/vermeer/287/biography.htm. 2 Mar. 2000. Letter to His Father. Hp. 2000 [last update]. Online. Available: http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/vermeer/287/lettertohisfather.htm Magil, Frank N. ed. Franz Kafka. Vol. 4 of Critical Survey of Short Fiction . Pasadena: Salem Press, 1993. Novels for Students Vol. 7 Farmington, MI: Gale Research, 1999. p281-297. Pawel, Ernst. The Nightmare of Reason: A Life of Franz Kafka. NY:Noonday Press, 1992. Spann, Meno. Franz Kafka. George Prior Publishers, 1976. Times Literary Supplement, Aug. 22, 1997 n4925 p15(2). World Literature Criticism 1500 to Present. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992.

Profitability of Slavery Essay

Briefly state the two opposing views. A. Abolitionists condemned slavery based on moral, social, and economic reasons. Many believed that slaves were mistreated and were often subjected to corporal punishment. Others argued that the forced labor of blacks was inefficient and unproductive for various racial and economic reasons. Ulrich Phillip’s studies from the antebellum slavery in the south claimed that although plantation slavery produced great wealth, even without the civil war, slavery was economically on a dead end due to the rising cost of factor prices (slaves) increasing faster than the product prices (cotton). B.Economists approached slavery as a business matter and tested its profitability. They perceived slaves as a capital investment and argued it was not in an owner’s interest to enforce severe corporal punishment because it would lower their rates of return. Alfred Conrad and John Meyer calculated the price of a slave along with their rates of return to determine profitability. They concluded that the rapid increase of factor prices (slaves) was mainly due to the fact that output per slave was also increasing. Outline in some detail the more traditional view. Where did it come from? What was it based upon? In 1905, historian Ulrich Phillips wrote a study based primarily on slave prices relative to cotton prices. Ulrich claims that American-born slaves were sold at a higher cost than fresh African slaves, because of their training in plantation labor and domestic service. Slave prices were low in the late 1780’s and early 90’s until Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin came in 1793. Due to the increasing demand for labor, slave prices steadily increased and spiked after the prohibition of the African trade in 1807. Despite prohibition, between 1800 and 1860, the slave growth rate averaged about 2.4 percent per year (W.R. 222). Based on Phillip’s table of slave and cotton prices in Georgia, it shows the average price of a prime field hand, in 1800, was approximately $450. At the same time, the average New York price of upland cotton was 30 cents; however, in 1860 we see a significant difference in prices. The average cost for a prime field hand is now $1,800 and the average New York price of upland cotton is 11 cents. Phillips explained, â€Å"The decline in the price of cotton was due to improvements in cultivating, ginning and marketing. The advance of the slave prices was due in part to increasingly intelligence and ability of Negroes and to improvements in the system of directing their work on the plantations, also to the decline in the value of the money.† (Phillips, 268) With factor prices (slaves) rising by 600 percent from 1805-1860 (Weiher), and product prices (cotton) declining by 63 percent, Phillips concluded that slavery was becoming unproductive and unprofitable due to overcapita lization in the labor force. He saw planters as bad business people, because they purchased slaves for conspicuous consumption. Furthermore, he believed the Civil War was unnecessary because slavery was doomed to fail within the generation without emancipation. Outline in some detail the revisionist view. In 1958, economists Alfred Conrad and John Meyer conducted a study by testing the hypothesis of taking appropriate variables and computing the rate of return over cost of a slave in a lifetime. Conrad and Meyer’s studies were based on four key aspects: the life expectancy of a slave, the price of a prime field hand (fixed cost) along with the of supplies necessary to maintain a slave (variable cost), land and cotton prices, and annual returns from a slave based on field labor and procreation. By understanding these variables, Conrad and Meyer were able to calculate the yearly-expected output values by taking â€Å"the price of cotton times the marginal physical product of the slave, minus yearly maintenance costs summed over the expected remaining length of life of the slave† (W.R. 225). Based on the calculation above, they were able to explain the reasons as to why slave prices would increase. If the price of cotton increases, then the demand for labor also increases which ultimately drives up slave prices. If cotton prices stay the same but there is an increase in output per worker, then the price of slaves will increase. If the cost to maintain a slave decreases, then the difference will eventually offset once slave prices increases to its equilibrium. Conrad and Meyer found Phillip’s table involving the relationship between the prices of prime field hands compared to the prices of cotton accurate; however, they explained that Phillips was missing key data to support his claims of slavery being unprofitable. Phillips completely left out the overall productivity of a slave, which was the ultimate difference in the revision of 1958. A major factor Conrad and Meyer took into consideration concerning production was the reproduction rates for females. Their researched showed that â€Å"prime hand wenches produced anywhere between 5-10 kids, and was one-half to two-thirds productive as prime field hands† (C.M. 106-107). However, an average 3 months time is lost due to pregnancy. After calculating return rates they found that women bearing 10 children would have an 8.1 percent rate of return and a women with 5 children will have a 7.1 percent rate of return. Furthermore, the rate of return per slave averaged out to 10 percen t (Weiher). In what ways do the differences in views hinge on economic interpretation? On differences in empirical evidence? On anything else? For over 50 years, Ulrich Phillip’s interpretation of slavery set precedence. His results concluded that after the mid 1850’s, slavery was increasingly becoming unproductive and unprofitable, because of overcapitalization of labor due to the rising costs of slave prices. He also believed slaves were a fictitious form of wealth based off of conspicuous consumption, and slavery was doomed to fail even without the Civil War. His studies were precedent until 1958, when economists Conrad and Meyer published an article overturning Phillips. Evidence from Conrad and Meyer implies that Phillip’s findings were inaccurate because he failed to calculate the rates of return on investments in slaves. Phillip’s relationship table between slave prices and cotton prices were accurate, and were also used in Conrad and Meyer’s studies; however, Phillips used speculation and overlooked productivity advance. Eventually Conrad and Meyer came up with a table of their own, only this time they included output. Their data shows that during the 1840’s through 1860 (the same time period Phillips said overcapitalization was steadily increasing) â€Å"slave prices rose about one and one-half times, while the value of cotton production per hand increased rose more than three times since 1842† (C.M. 116). This data supports the overturn of the overcapitalization of labor theory, because it shows that slave prices were increasing due to the fact that production was increasing more rapidly. From the rising trend of slave prices and the slave population growth suggests evidence implicating the profitability of slavery. Phillip’s believed slave prices were increasing because of conspicuous consumption, which ultimately lowed the rates of return. Conrad and Meyer countered his hypothesis with evidence showing rates of return averaging out to 10 percent, which was good or better than New England textile mills, southern railroads, and corporate bonds (Weiher). Phillip’s also suggested that diminishing returns was occurring in the late 1850’s and that slavery was going to fail soon even without emancipation. According to Dr. Weiher, from 1860-90, cotton land planted increased 2 percent per year, which was faster than the slave population growth. Land planted doubled again by 1925, which is evidence that suggests slavery was not going away in the short-term, unless emancipated. Contrast what the belief in each view can mean to the picture we have of the past and/or present. In other word, why does this difference matter? These two beliefs play a critical role in American history. The difference factor in these two views matters significantly. The traditional view claims that the Civil War was an unnecessary bloodshed to protect a system that was economically doomed; on the other hand, the revisionist’s implicates evidence suggesting the root cause of the Civil War was indeed to protect slaveholders’ investments. After Phillip’s study came out in 1905, which claimed that slavery was economically ending in less than a generation, controversy over the Civil War suggested that the reasons for fighting the war was not because of slavery, but instead, states rights. In Conrad and Meyer’s research conducted in 1958, they were able to overturn Phillip’s hypothesis and proved that slavery was not economically doomed. Their evidence showed that the rates of return for a slave was actually increasing after the 1860’s due to increased production and expansion of land planted. These results implicate conclusive evidence that shows slavery was neither unprofitable nor dying in the near future. Slaves produced much more than the cost of actually maintaining them, so it made perfect business sense for slaveholders to want to protect their assets by all means, even if it meant war.

“The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson

The book â€Å"The Devil in the White City† by Erik Larson describes peculiarities of Chicago life in the Gilded Age. It was the time of industrial growth and development of materialism and political corruption. The government wasn’t bothering of checking corruption in financial and political institutions. I think that â€Å"The Devil in the White City† is one of the most interesting and exciting books which has excellently captured the image of the Gilded Age.Nevertheless, the book is not simple as it may seem at the first glance, because the author has managed to combine positive shifts in architectural design and industry with horrible murders committed by serial killer. The book is shocking and thought-provoking. The author challenges traditional ideas and viewpoints offering real picture of what the Gilded Age was in the history. The work is non-fiction and from the very first pages the author introduces two men who are considered to have affected the legend ary World’s Fair in 1893 – Daniel Burnham and Herman Webster Mudgett.Larson describes Burnham as successful architect with credible reputation and experience in building the fair. The author follows him from the very first steps in his career when he was unsuccessful apprentice who had failed to enter Yale and Harvard. In the image of Daniel the author tries to show the audience the way Daniel has created his famous architectural exposition. Larson introduces Herman Webster Mudgett as opposition to Daniel Burnham to shows that there is good and evil. Neither good nor evil can exist without counter-side. Herman Mudgett uses the alias Dr. H. H. Holmes to lure innocent victims with his wit and charm.Actually, Dr. Holms is series killer who sees an excellent opportunity to kill people by attracting them into his ‘castle’ – mysterious hotel. Dr. Holms manages to hypnotize women and to gain their trust and admiration by promising them financial support an d chance to see the whole world. As a result, women are simply vanishing. The most shocking thing is that Dr. Holmes sells their skeletons to universities. Dr. Holmes is a brilliant psychologist. For example, when he sees that people are suspicious he tries to use his charisma and to persuade that he doesn’t know where women are. Firstly it may seem that it is Dr.Holms who is to be labeled ‘Devil in the City’. In the images of Burnham and Dr. Holmes the author shows skillfully that beauty co-exists with ugliness and good co-exists with evil. No period in the history can be marked as good or bad as there are always positive and negative moments. Interestingly, Larson defines these two characters as ‘artists’ providing two different viewpoints towards the World’s Fair. Larson believes that these different perspectives are equally important as they â€Å"embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized the rush of America towards the twentieth century†.(p. xi) Burnham and Dr. Holms are representatives of Chicago in the end of the 1800s. Through their images the author shows how the city looks like from negative and positive sides. Actually, the author is willing to show that his book is about eternal battle between good and evil. However, there are no winners and losers. There is only one devil in the city. Larson takes readers into the minds of cunning killer and skillful architect, though he doesn’t explain who the devil in the city is. This question remains uncertain.The Gilded Age is a matter of particular interest for Erik Larson. In the book he supports his theory in several ways. Actually, book’s chapters provide different perspectives and viewpoints as life in Chicago was dubious in those times. Larson describes perspectives of Burnham and Dr. Holmes stressing that they are equally important to the city’s representation. Burnham is representation of pride and glory, whereas Dr. Holmes represents the dark side of Chicago’s life. Larson argues that World’s Fair plays important role for Chicago and other US cities.For example, he writes that Paris organized an exposition which â€Å"showed off France’s self-proclaimed superiority in art, manufacturing, science, and engineering†. (pxxi) Similar role World’s Fair has played in America. Eiffel Tower was something people had never seen before. And Burnham becomes obsessive with idea to create his own Eiffel Tower. In those times Chicago was extremely dirty town and Daniel decided to change it by changing his way of thinking. The author views in Daniel the chance for improvement and development. Consequently, Dr. Holmes is representative of corrupt side of the city.He is the embodiment of scandal affairs and shady politicians. Dr. Holms is viewed as darkness in the city of lights and joyful hopes. Dr. Holms seems to represent the Gilded Age as, on the one hand, he is smart, char ming and wealthy, and, on the other hand, he is bloodthirsty and wicked. At the end of the novel Larson compares perspectives of Dr. Holms and Daniel Burnham uniting different aspects of Chicago. Burnham and Dr. Holms are different people, but they share similar goals. They are both viewed as architects. Burnham is willing to create something new and to challenge traditional viewpoints, whereas Dr.Holms sets the background for killing. The author â€Å"found it so marvellously strange that both these men should be operating at the same time in history, within blocks of each other, both creating powerful legacies, one of brilliance and energy, the other of sorrow and darkness†. (p. xi) Larson believes that there is no other way to portray the Gilded Age and to show main driving forces in 1893. He shows that technical advances are combined with unimaginable evil. I think that the author is very convincing in his portraying the realities of Chicago life as he doesn’t repr esent only one side.Instead, he encompasses both perspectives. To understand Chicago better one has to look at the city through the eyes of dark devil and white angel. Despite the fact that all events are not real, it seems that the whole book is a true event. Erik Larson has done brilliant job representing all events of the fair in such a way that it is hardly possible to dispute them. However, the book is shocking when the author deepens in details concerning Dr. Holmes and his victims. Nevertheless, every white city has its dark evil.

Free Essays on The Starry Night

The Starry Night Anne Sexton poem The Starry Night reflects the Vincent von Gogh’s painting The Starry Night very well. If one was to do a little research into the lives of the writer and the artist they would find that they were kind of in the same path in life when they did these two works. Sexton mood in the poem matches the one in the painting. The two works have a lot in common and that could be because of the creator’s lifestyle. Van Gogh painting â€Å"The Starry Night was completed near the mental asylum of Saint-Remy, 13 months before Van Gogh's death† (online 1) and Sexton were depressed most of the time. Though there is not much information on Van Gogh’s life, we can see form Sexton’s life why she was inspired by this painting. She had tried to commit suicide a number of times because she was obviously not happy with her life. She was searching for comfort and when she could not find it in her parents she found it in her aunt who died later on and that made her more depressed. She was not happy in her marriage and had lots of affairs, and seeing therapist who encouraged her to continuing writhing. During her life she had tried to committed suicide on a number of ocasions and was finally successful in the end. In the poem she is viewing death as a serpent that swallows up the stars, she states that’s how she wants to die, for the life to just be sucked up with no cry. (1401). She was so depressed with life that she, judging from the poem, wants to disappear form everything. She dose not want to exist anymore. Wants to die a quiet and fast death. The painting it self is very depressing, but in a sense it’s kind of restful. The way that its restful is the little houses in the village they seem in a way really cozy and peaceful, while the sky is at war with it self. The one tree that’s there in the front is very dreary and dead and that makes it depressing. The poem is also depressing a peac... Free Essays on The Starry Night Free Essays on The Starry Night The Starry Night Anne Sexton poem The Starry Night reflects the Vincent von Gogh’s painting The Starry Night very well. If one was to do a little research into the lives of the writer and the artist they would find that they were kind of in the same path in life when they did these two works. Sexton mood in the poem matches the one in the painting. The two works have a lot in common and that could be because of the creator’s lifestyle. Van Gogh painting â€Å"The Starry Night was completed near the mental asylum of Saint-Remy, 13 months before Van Gogh's death† (online 1) and Sexton were depressed most of the time. Though there is not much information on Van Gogh’s life, we can see form Sexton’s life why she was inspired by this painting. She had tried to commit suicide a number of times because she was obviously not happy with her life. She was searching for comfort and when she could not find it in her parents she found it in her aunt who died later on and that made her more depressed. She was not happy in her marriage and had lots of affairs, and seeing therapist who encouraged her to continuing writhing. During her life she had tried to committed suicide on a number of ocasions and was finally successful in the end. In the poem she is viewing death as a serpent that swallows up the stars, she states that’s how she wants to die, for the life to just be sucked up with no cry. (1401). She was so depressed with life that she, judging from the poem, wants to disappear form everything. She dose not want to exist anymore. Wants to die a quiet and fast death. The painting it self is very depressing, but in a sense it’s kind of restful. The way that its restful is the little houses in the village they seem in a way really cozy and peaceful, while the sky is at war with it self. The one tree that’s there in the front is very dreary and dead and that makes it depressing. The poem is also depressing a peac...

Ionic Equation Definition and Examples

Ionic Equation Definition and Examples An ionic equation is a chemical equation where the electrolytes in aqueous solution are written as dissociated ions. Usually, this is a salt dissolved in water, where the ionic species are followed by (aq) in the equation to indicate they are in aqueous solution. The ions in aqueous solution are stabilized by ion-dipole interactions with water molecules. However, an ionic equation may be written for any electrolyte that dissociates and reacts in a polar solvent. In a balanced ionic equation, the number and type of atoms are the same on both sides of the reaction arrow. Additionally, the net charge is the same on both sides of the equation. Strong acids, strong bases, and soluble ionic compounds (usually salts) exist as dissociated ions in aqueous solution, so they are written as ions in the ionic equation. Weak acids and bases and insoluble salts are usually written using their molecular formulas because only a small amount of them dissociates into ions. There are exceptions, especially with acid-base reactions. Examples of Ionic Equations Ag(aq) NO3-(aq) Na(aq) Cl-(aq) → AgCl(s) Na(aq) NO3-(aq) is an ionic equation of the chemical reaction: AgNO3(aq) NaCl(aq) → AgCl(s) NaNO3(aq) Complete Versus Net Ionic Equation The two most common forms of ionic equations are complete ionic equations and net ionic equations. The complete ionic equation indicates all of the dissociated ions in a chemical reaction. The net ionic equation cancels out ions that appear on both sides of the reaction arrow because they essentially dont participate in the reaction of interest. The ions that are canceled out are called spectator ions. For example, in the reaction between silver nitrate (AgNO3) and sodium chloride (NaCl) in water, the complete ionic equation is: Ag(aq) NO3-(aq) Na(aq) Cl-(aq) → AgCl(s) Na(aq) NO3-(aq) Notice the sodium cation Na and nitrate anion NO3- appear on both the reactants and products side of the arrow. If they are canceled out, the net ionic equation may be written as: Ag(aq) Cl-(aq) → AgCl(s) In this example, the coefficient for each species was 1 (which is not written). If every species had started with a 2, for example, each coefficient would be divided by a common divisor to write the net ionic equation using the smallest integer values. Both the complete ionic equation and the net ionic equation should be written as balanced equations. Source Brady, James E. Chemistry: Matter and its Changes. John Wiley Sons. Frederick A. Senese, 5th Edition, Wiley, December 2007.

A Loan Versus A Sale

Loan and sale The example of fraudulent transaction between Enron and Merill Lynch Bank proved to be a good example of how to use a loan for promotion. In fact, they are not sold technically. In 2004, following the Nigerian barge deal, Enron sold a power generation barge to Merrill Lynch. Company executives recorded a huge sale, which turned out to be a loan rather than a sale, and since the Enron was not actually acquired from the transaction, the US Securities and Exchange Commission conducted a survey in 2004. * Inappropriate reduction of cost or market (LCM) valuation of loans intended for sale: general industry practice of LCM assessment of loans intended for sale is group-by-category lending-run or grouping and monitoring bad loans. With this approach, the mortgage company can properly perform the valuation and monitor the performance of the loan. However, as New Century Financial Corporation organized the two types of performance loans and bad debts into one group, the new cen tury loans held for sale were overvalued and did not make it, so there would be a difference in actual net income . In 2010, Colorado Province undertakes a new loan, with payment date loan reduction, loan cost reduction, six months extension of minimum loan period, ban on sale of incidental products, proportional invoice reimbursement Reduced motivation. According to the responsible loan center, the first minute has been repaid Market lenders constitute a specific subset of private credits and have received a lot of attention recently - the clear feature of this type of lender is that they are offering a selling loan through the online platform . These platforms attract interested borrowers, provide underwriting, set the price of the loan based on the perceived risk level (set the interest rate) and transfer the entire loan to one or more investors throughout the market I will sell it. Rental clubs are typical examples of peer-to-peer (P2P) loans and alternate loans / market loans. Prosperity is very similar and competitive market. Though they all focus on consumer debt, SoFi Common Bond is focusing on student debt, although other people like Ondeck Kabbage focus on SME debt. A Loan Versus A Sale Loan and sale The example of fraudulent transaction between Enron and Merill Lynch Bank proved to be a good example of how to use a loan for promotion. In fact, they are not sold technically. In 2004, following the Nigerian barge deal, Enron sold a power generation barge to Merrill Lynch. Company executives recorded a huge sale, which turned out to be a loan rather than a sale, and since the Enron was not actually acquired from the transaction, the US Securities and Exchange Commission conducted a survey in 2004. * Inappropriate reduction of cost or market (LCM) valuation of loans intended for sale: general industry practice of LCM assessment of loans intended for sale is group-by-category lending-run or grouping and monitoring bad loans. With this approach, the mortgage company can properly perform the valuation and monitor the performance of the loan. However, as New Century Financial Corporation organized the two types of performance loans and bad debts into one group, the new cen tury loans held for sale were overvalued and did not make it, so there would be a difference in actual net income . In 2010, Colorado Province undertakes a new loan, with payment date loan reduction, loan cost reduction, six months extension of minimum loan period, ban on sale of incidental products, proportional invoice reimbursement Reduced motivation. According to the responsible loan center, the first minute has been repaid Market lenders constitute a specific subset of private credits and have received a lot of attention recently - the clear feature of this type of lender is that they are offering a selling loan through the online platform . These platforms attract interested borrowers, provide underwriting, set the price of the loan based on the perceived risk level (set the interest rate) and transfer the entire loan to one or more investors throughout the market I will sell it. Rental clubs are typical examples of peer-to-peer (P2P) loans and alternate loans / market loans. Prosperity is very similar and competitive market. Though they all focus on consumer debt, SoFi Common Bond is focusing on student debt, although other people like Ondeck Kabbage focus on SME debt.

Marketing Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing Principles - Essay Example These approaches include effective competition through production of superior commodities cost effectively. Key marketing activities involves identifying exceptional consumer needs and tailoring products or services that will best serve their needs (Nellis & Parker, 2006, p). Therefore, producers should scrutinize the available market and identify deficiencies in order to design unique product for that specific market or create a new market for the available products. The marketers should ensure they design goods for specific groups because different people have different requirements for the same products. The products should be designed differently in terms of colour, packaging, size and pricing among other features to meet varying consumer tastes (Fuller, 1997, p.13). For example, Wilkinson has different products for different categories of consumers. This enables them to cover wider market and make greater revenue due to increased sales. Similarly, by designing their products dif ferently, the company is able to satisfy the needs of different clients more effectively. Marketers design marketing activities to satisfy different aspects of consumers needs. These include Products, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Positioning and packaging (Parkin, 2002, p.6). Consumers buy products and services for various reasons and for different purposes. Marketers should understand the needs for consumers in order for them to sell those commodities which consumers want most. They should carryout informative campaign to let consumers know that the products they require are available, and at what price, how to use them (Hill, 1998, p.13). The promotion activities should aim to influence consumer conduct by making them feel that certain product is capable of satisfying a specific need which other products from different sellers are not able to satisfy. Wilkinson has been facing stiff rivalry from other retailer in UK especially supermarket. They have reacted to this rivalry by designing new products for different market (Business Case Studies LLP, 2013). Their main targets today are students hence they are designing products which are more appealing and preferred by students (Dicken, 1998, p. 5). The marketers should ensure the product or services they offer are within the proximity of the potential consumers. For example, in Business Case Studies LLP (2013), Wilkinson has established their outlets close to learning institutions to ensure that students are able to get their products near their institutions when they need them. Wilkinson products are lowly priced to ensure they overcome rivalry and entice the student population in their business. Those products are attractively package to appear presentable to student consumers. Companies should develop different approaches to create, sustain and expand the market of their commodities in order to overcome their rivals in the same market. To achieve this, companies should ensure they have a wide range of co nsumer products in the market in order to win clients from different backgrounds. Wilkinson reacts to varying consumer needs as a retailer of various commodities like food, home, garden, office, and health and beauty products (Business Case Studies LLP, 2013). They sell groceries and supermarket goods to ensure clients get varieties of consumer goods under one roof. When developing a

Should Arizona Keep Trying to Vote Sheriff Joe Arpaio Out of Office Research Paper

Should Arizona Keep Trying to Vote Sheriff Joe Arpaio Out of Office - Research Paper Example Economic arguments have sometimes been in favor of the immigrants such as the fact that they are a cheap labor source for the industries in Arizona City. On the other hand, the social impact arguments have mostly been negative particularly because the immigrants are often seen to be undermining national identity, taking up resources and jobs from the local city residents as well as causing other related problems such as congestion. Although some analysts argue that immigration workers are providing the much needed labor for the booming construction industry in Arizona, it is undeniable that they have also imposed both social and economic costs on the Arizona residents. The costs incurred by the health care systems in the entire Pinal County have significantly risen over the past few years and this is largely attributed to the rapidly rising immigrant population (Okie, 527). Another social that is related to the rising number of immigrants is the currently high level of drug trafficki ng in the City and its environs. Many researchers however believe most of the illegal Mexican immigrants are smuggling illegal drugs such as Marijuana across the Mexican border and this as also resulted in high levels of violence and crimes in the city. The high number of illegal immigrants has also resulted into an increased crime rate in the City of Arizona. This is particularly evidenced by the fact most of the state and federal prisons in the city have doubled up their spending in a bid to accommodate the rising number of criminals who are mostly illegal immigrants. Additionally the cultural conflict between the immigrants and the locals is now evident in several parts of Arizona. The ethnic tension between the Mostly Hispanic immigrants and the locals is growing. Most locals regard the immigrants as â€Å"illegal aliens† and believe

Charater in education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Charater in education - Essay Example Character education is mainly based on two premises. The first premise is that virtues are objectively the good human qualities and are good for humans whether they know them or not. Virtues have a claim on human’s personal as well as collective conscience. Basically, they are affirmed by religions and cultures around the world. In simpler terms, virtues express the common humanity of human beings. They transcend time and culture. Unselfishness, pursuit of truth, diligence, wisdom, perseverance and patience has always and will remain to be virtues, irrespective of the number of people practicing them (Lickona, 2004). Humans form beliefs that make it more likely for them to act virtuously in future. Beliefs are not only the mental states worth mentioning, but emotions and desires are also equally important for virtuous behavior. Just having a belief, for example to stop gossiping can leave somebody indifferent to actually behave in that way if he or she does not also care about these things. Therefore, for humans to become virtuous they have to form appropriate beliefs and cultivate the right emotions and desires. Right emotions and desires are the components that play a central role in having virtuous people (YouTube video, 2007). The very first set of beliefs basically has to do with the character of other people. However, people also beliefs about themselves such as believing that they are honest, they care about other people, and their spouses think that they care for other people or other people do not see them as lazy. The first two sets of beliefs are mainly about people’s own virtuous character. Labeling themselves in this way can have an effect on their virtuous behavior since they want to live up to how they believe in themselves to be moral people. On the other hand, the third and the fourth beliefs have to do with

NSW Personal Development, Health and Physical Education Essay

NSW Personal Development, Health and Physical Education - Essay Example This program promotes the general well-being of the child as they will tend to live a balanced lifestyle, healthy sense of recreation and develop skills necessary for an active lifestyle (Anon., 2006). Sport also develops each student’s competence and confidence in a broad range of games, sports and physical activities. Students develop fundamental movement skills (FMS), progressing to more games and sports-specific skills in non-competitive and competitive environments that foster positive feelings of success and enjoyment. They will be able to understand dynamics, spatial awareness, relationships, timing and rhythm of movement (Anon., 2006). Kids who engage in sport have† greater anaerobic and aerobic ?tness than non-athlete in accord with their sport and its demands† (Armstrong & Welsman, 2005 pg. 545). Their sense of fair play is typically learned in sports. Values such as perseverance, observance of the rules and honesty can be learned in sports. II. Convincin g the child to participate in sport Normally, children are interested in sport. There are instances however that the child does not show interest in sport. It is however important for the child to be encouraged to participate in sport not only to promote an active lifestyle but also to develop the child’s social capabilities through sport. ... The concept of ‘serious leisure’ originates with Stebbins (1992 qtd in MacPhail & Kirk, 2006 pg. 58) and denotes a participant’s strong sense of social identity, level of investment and persistence in a particular activity, namely the commitment to long-term leisure forms† (Raisborough, 1999 qtd in MacPhail & Kirk, 2006 pg. 58 ). â€Å"The commonly cited definition of serious leisure is the ‘systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity that participants find so substantial and interesting that, in the typical case, they launch themselves on a career centered on acquiring and expressing its special skills, knowledge and experience† (Stebbins, 1992: p. 3 qtd in MacPhail, Ann; Kirk, David, 2006 pg. 64). In short, the child has to view the sport as leisure for him or her to engage voluntarily. To encourage a child in sport, it is important to know what interests him or her. Maybe the type of sport that was presented to the child was not particularly interesting to him or her which is why the child is not interested. One of the best ways of making a child interested is by arousing his or her curiosity. Once the child’s curiosity is aroused, it will naturally follow that the child will try the sport. Friends that a child trust also plays an important factor for a child to consider a particular sport (MacPhail, Ann; Kirk, David 2006). It may not be the sport itself that may interest the child at first but rather the companionship of his or her friends. But if the sport itself will prove to be fun for the kid, then the interest for the sport will naturally grow and the participation will just naturally follow. It is just important at this stage for the

The Tin Drum Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Tin Drum - Term Paper Example This shows Alfred a Nazi character, but it also shows that he is weak, under the influence of his wife, and not an absolutely fanatical Nazi. Hitler and Beethoven represent the cultural tensions in the family which in turn result in the young Oskar’s somewhat confused understanding of the power struggles that are going on. Oskar describes Alfred’s fondness for the visual image that the Nazi uniform presents, but the description also shows how uncomfortable it was to wear, since the strap of the cap â€Å"scraped his chin† (p. 116) and he had to get wet in the rain because he refused to use an umbrella. (p. 116) Alfred goes out to Sunday demonstrations but apart from that, there is very little change in his activities, since he still cooks, and washes up in the home as he did before. Section b. As far as we can tell from Oskar’s rather biased narrative, Alfred did not really have much of a career as a Nazi Party member. Oskar describes his motivation for jo ining the party as a natural tendency to conform to his surroundings: â€Å"he always had to wave when other people were waving, to shout, laugh and clap when other people were shouting, laughing and clapping.† (p. 152) His membership is described as â€Å"quite unnecessary, brought no benefits, and just wasted his Sunday mornings† (p. 152) and so it is obvious that Oskar trivializes and mocks Alfred’s status there. Even when Oskar mentions Alfred’s promotion, he does it in an off-hand manner: â€Å" Like all unusual happenings, his promotion was the occasion for a family skat game.† (p. 115) This is echoed later in connection with a drinking session when Alfred is grieving over the death of Agnes beneath the portrait of the Fuhrer: â€Å"the teetotaling Fuhrer was silent, because Matzerath, a drunken little unit leader, was unworthy of Providence† (p. 185). These disparaging comments show that Matzerath filled a very low rank and was of ver y little importance in the Nazi regime. Section c. The Nazi rally on a summer day in 1935 was a planned set piece which was intended to whip up support from the faithful. The way that Oskar describes it, however, subverts the intentions of the stage and the rows of flag bearing people. It is set up so that people go to a rostrum to look up in awe at the spectacle before them. Everything is regimented in straight lines, and yet the advice of Mr Bebra urges Oscar to be aware of the hidden mechanisms of power that operates during these rallies: â€Å"Always take care to be sitting on the rostrum and never to be standing out in front of it.† (p. 114) Oskar views the rostrum from behind it, which shows the mechanisms which orchestrate the event, or from underneath, where he can disrupt it without being seen. Dramatic displays like â€Å"torchlight processions and parades past rostrums† (p. 115) may look impressive from the perspective of a spectator, but the depiction in Th e Tin Drum suggests that the whole thing is a sham, and that it is better either to be fully in favour of it, and on the rostrum, or to utterly oppose it. Going with the flow, like Matzerath, is seen to be the worst option. Section d. There is a lot of symbolism in Oskar’s account of the death of Alfred Matzerath. Clearly the party membership pin that

Charater in education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Charater in education - Essay Example Character education is mainly based on two premises. The first premise is that virtues are objectively the good human qualities and are good for humans whether they know them or not. Virtues have a claim on human’s personal as well as collective conscience. Basically, they are affirmed by religions and cultures around the world. In simpler terms, virtues express the common humanity of human beings. They transcend time and culture. Unselfishness, pursuit of truth, diligence, wisdom, perseverance and patience has always and will remain to be virtues, irrespective of the number of people practicing them (Lickona, 2004). Humans form beliefs that make it more likely for them to act virtuously in future. Beliefs are not only the mental states worth mentioning, but emotions and desires are also equally important for virtuous behavior. Just having a belief, for example to stop gossiping can leave somebody indifferent to actually behave in that way if he or she does not also care about these things. Therefore, for humans to become virtuous they have to form appropriate beliefs and cultivate the right emotions and desires. Right emotions and desires are the components that play a central role in having virtuous people (YouTube video, 2007). The very first set of beliefs basically has to do with the character of other people. However, people also beliefs about themselves such as believing that they are honest, they care about other people, and their spouses think that they care for other people or other people do not see them as lazy. The first two sets of beliefs are mainly about people’s own virtuous character. Labeling themselves in this way can have an effect on their virtuous behavior since they want to live up to how they believe in themselves to be moral people. On the other hand, the third and the fourth beliefs have to do with

The Tin Drum Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Tin Drum - Term Paper Example This shows Alfred a Nazi character, but it also shows that he is weak, under the influence of his wife, and not an absolutely fanatical Nazi. Hitler and Beethoven represent the cultural tensions in the family which in turn result in the young Oskar’s somewhat confused understanding of the power struggles that are going on. Oskar describes Alfred’s fondness for the visual image that the Nazi uniform presents, but the description also shows how uncomfortable it was to wear, since the strap of the cap â€Å"scraped his chin† (p. 116) and he had to get wet in the rain because he refused to use an umbrella. (p. 116) Alfred goes out to Sunday demonstrations but apart from that, there is very little change in his activities, since he still cooks, and washes up in the home as he did before. Section b. As far as we can tell from Oskar’s rather biased narrative, Alfred did not really have much of a career as a Nazi Party member. Oskar describes his motivation for jo ining the party as a natural tendency to conform to his surroundings: â€Å"he always had to wave when other people were waving, to shout, laugh and clap when other people were shouting, laughing and clapping.† (p. 152) His membership is described as â€Å"quite unnecessary, brought no benefits, and just wasted his Sunday mornings† (p. 152) and so it is obvious that Oskar trivializes and mocks Alfred’s status there. Even when Oskar mentions Alfred’s promotion, he does it in an off-hand manner: â€Å" Like all unusual happenings, his promotion was the occasion for a family skat game.† (p. 115) This is echoed later in connection with a drinking session when Alfred is grieving over the death of Agnes beneath the portrait of the Fuhrer: â€Å"the teetotaling Fuhrer was silent, because Matzerath, a drunken little unit leader, was unworthy of Providence† (p. 185). These disparaging comments show that Matzerath filled a very low rank and was of ver y little importance in the Nazi regime. Section c. The Nazi rally on a summer day in 1935 was a planned set piece which was intended to whip up support from the faithful. The way that Oskar describes it, however, subverts the intentions of the stage and the rows of flag bearing people. It is set up so that people go to a rostrum to look up in awe at the spectacle before them. Everything is regimented in straight lines, and yet the advice of Mr Bebra urges Oscar to be aware of the hidden mechanisms of power that operates during these rallies: â€Å"Always take care to be sitting on the rostrum and never to be standing out in front of it.† (p. 114) Oskar views the rostrum from behind it, which shows the mechanisms which orchestrate the event, or from underneath, where he can disrupt it without being seen. Dramatic displays like â€Å"torchlight processions and parades past rostrums† (p. 115) may look impressive from the perspective of a spectator, but the depiction in Th e Tin Drum suggests that the whole thing is a sham, and that it is better either to be fully in favour of it, and on the rostrum, or to utterly oppose it. Going with the flow, like Matzerath, is seen to be the worst option. Section d. There is a lot of symbolism in Oskar’s account of the death of Alfred Matzerath. Clearly the party membership pin that

Technology Solutions for Human Services Essay Example for Free

Technology Solutions for Human Services Essay There are numerous barriers in every aspect of human service; they vary as much as the clients themselves. These barriers can come in many areas of human service like services, planning, funding, or empowerment. Every human service agent needs to look at each barrier as a personal challenge. This will help the agent find an application that could overcome the barriers. Three main barriers are technology, perceived differences, actual differences, and finances. There are numerous types of barriers that also can be the solution such is the case with technology. If an agency is behind the times their equipment may be slow, not efficient, and not work properly. This can cause loss of information, irritation, or cause client frustrations. â€Å"As resource-strapped human services agencies face countercyclical demand, leaders are exploring emerging technology applications to improve efficiency and capacity. They know they must serve increasingly connected customers who expect immediate, convenient access. They recognize that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has provided additional resources that, if deployed strategically, can enhance modernization. They know too that they must drive coordination and collaboration to truly integrate human services delivery. Despite these imperatives, technology decisions in human services can be overwhelming. It’s easy to get bogged down in a swirl of concerns — from financing and infrastructure to security and compliance. But in planning an IT agenda, human services agencies should specifically focus on four opportunity areas where the fish are swarming — and all else will follow† (Swaminathan, 2012). The solution could be updating it, but this can cause other barriers like finances, maintaining equipment, parts, accessories needed to make technology work, staff training, staff rejection, resistance, human errors while learning, and the issues of incorporating new techniques. Sometimes it is just adding a small program that can increase accessibility to tools that can make an organization run smoother. Like adding a Microsoft suite package r office package that would cost a smaller amount then rewriting entire programs, but would assist with tools like excel, word, Powerpoint, or adding something like a camera and a free chat service like Skype. †Everyone would like to do more with less. Regardless of the service an agency provides, every organization is looking for faster and more efficient ways to provide that service. In many ways, technological advancements have allowed organizations to increase productivity; however, in human service organizations, technology can impede organizational effectiveness† (Goliday, 2013). Issues in technology can have compounded issues like causing communication problems and service issues as well. So when considering technology an agency needs to realize how much technology can be a barrier if not used correctly. Another barrier can be the infusion of cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the barriers created by this can affect different aspects of both the client and the agent. It can touch services, planning, funding, and empowerment. There can be a different set of beliefs, practices, language skills, communication, and translation issues. There also can be barriers in health beliefs, attitudes, time orientation, and concepts of achievement (Scheppersa, Dongenb, Dekkerc, Geertzend, Dekkere, 2006). â€Å"Everyone has a basic right to health care. This is a principle that all people should share and all nations should strive for. Achieving this goal means working to break down the barriers that prevent people from getting the care they need. Sometimes those barriers have to do with resources, when people can’t afford the treatments they need. Sometime those barriers have to do with geography, for example when people live in rural areas with little access to health care providers. And sometimes those barriers have to do simply with who people are – and that’s what we’re here to talk about today† (Sebelius, 2012). The barriers can extend into areas of respect, hand gestures, and word meaning. Some barriers that come with ethnic and culture groups are values concerning health, illness, perceptions, knowledge of physiology, knowledge of disease, religious practices, personal resources, immigration rules, income/financial means, health insurance, knowledge of services available, perception, health practices, traditional, and self-treatment (Scheppersa, Dongenb, Dekkerc, Geertzend, Dekkere, 2006). Any of these or any combination can cause barriers for the client and the agent. The way to work with these would be raising awareness, educating, learning, and remember that no one view is right. â€Å"The barriers are all tied to the particular situation of the individual patient and subject to constant adjustment. In other words, generalizations should not be made† (Scheppersa, Dongenb, Dekkerc, Geertzend, Dekkere, 2006, Pp. 325-348). These barriers can cause all sorts of new barriers like emotional distancing, client may become removed, depression, fear, communication may break down, and loss of empowerment. This leads to barriers of perceived differences and orientations. Overcoming perceptions can be a huge barrier to health services. An agent’s own beliefs and opinions kind of need to take a backseat to the needs of his or her client. This can sometimes be harder than almost any other barrier because an individual always wants to share his or her opinions. An agent needs to set aside beliefs on age, sexual preference, mental status, criminal activity, and sometimes their opinion on almost every topic, view, opinion, and stereotype because to help a client those personal barriers cannot exist. Another barrier is finances with the economy and all the budget cuts, it makes an agent’s job all the harder. They have to struggle with service cuts and older equipment to help their clients and their clients suffer because of the lack of funds. Agents need to use the tools they have available to find the things he or she needs like using the Internet to find resources or free tools to help out his or her clients and agency. Barriers can overwhelm a person completely and block his or her way, but agents need to remember the struggle is for the people he or she is helping. Some barriers affect small areas and some large. There are barriers that the solution itself creates other barriers. As an agent faces these personal challenges, he or she needs to focus on the needs of his or her clients. As they struggle over each barrier, they need to know that one barrier can lead to another, but there are solutions available they just need to be found.

Force Plate Design And Use Health And Social Care Essay

Force Plate Design And Use Health And Social Care Essay Force plates are a powerful tool for examining the kinetic characteristics of an athletes movement. The plates offer a large variety of information about the external forces involved, but have very specific characteristics that define the potential quality of collected data. Through proper understanding of these qualities, and sound use of calibration, filtering, and sampling procedures, the user can ensure that the error disguising the signal of interest is minimized. Thus, the collected data is at its highest possible quality, and inference about the athlete in question is strongest. This paper deals with the aforementioned topics related to force plate design and use, including a section describing an example laboratory set-up. Keywords: force plate, filtering, sampling, data collection, kinetic Introduction Force is the entity that results in movement- it can be understood as a push, or pull, or simply, a tendency to distort a material. Measurement of force can allow a coach or sport scientist to quantitatively understand an athletes execution of a skill, or to assess an athletes physical progress. For example, assessment of the external forces applied to the ground by an athlete in a vertical jump provide a very good picture of the explosive abilities of an athlete, as well a very good indicator of the progress of those abilities if measured at multiple time points in a training program. Force plates and other force measurement devices are widely used to assess the external forces generated by athletes. Force plates in particular measure external ground reaction forces in up to three planes -vertical, anterior-posterior, and medial lateral. This data provides a picture of the interaction within an athlete-ground system, something extremely difficult to do without a force plate. It is important to distinguish between kinetic and kinematic analysis. Kinematics is related to movement, what is visually observable, e.g. positions velocities and directions, while kinetics refers to what causes the movement to occur (i.e. torques and forces), and is not directly observable. Force plates allow one to see the kinetic characteristics of a skill, and thus the forces that cause the precise execution of that skill. Force Plate Design and Use Force plates measure external forces based on the principles of Newtons third law- that an object exerting a force on another object has a simultaneous force exerted upon it that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the original force exerted. Thus, the force plate measures ground reaction force (GRF). GRF is the force the ground exerts as a reaction (equal, opposite, and simultaneous) to the forces applied to the ground or other object by the athletes body (see Figure 1). This principle allows the researcher to determine the forces exerted by an athlete while in contact with the force plate. In a vertical jump for example, the athletes body mass and propulsion forces from the jump exert a push on the plate, causing a tendency of the plate to distort. This tendency is measured as GRF. The kinetic information obtained from force plate data then provides an understanding of the kinematic characteristics through a derivation of Newtons second law that the force on a body is directly proportional to the mass of the body and the acceleration of the body, represented by the equation force = mass X acceleration. Given that the forces can be measured by a force plate, and the mass of the athlete is known, a very good understanding of the kinematic characteristics of the skill can be obtained through calculation of the acceleration of the athlete using the aforementioned equation. Five important pieces of information can be obtained from a modern full featured force plate: force in the X, Y, and Z directions, the center of pressure, and moment (torque) around each of the axes. Each of these variables shows a picture of the forces exerted by an object (i.e. a limb) on the force plate. This data allows the investigator to determine a multitude of measures. For example, force plates have been used to study the take-off forces in pole vault technique (3) and the forces involved in the second pull in weightlifters (7); as it stands, the uses for force plates are numerous. Before analysis and use of the collected data, processing of the analog signal must occur. Figure 2 shows the complete flow of the force plate data, from the initial analog signal output (continuous voltage) from the force plate, to the final digital input signal leading into the final analysis. Force is applied to the force plate, which changes the excitation charge sent through the force plate in proportion to the force applied. That new charge is sent to an amplifier. Analog signal processing (some kind of filtering or smoothing of the signal) can occur. After the signal has been amplified, the current goes to a data acquisition device, where it enters an analog-digital converter which converts the continuous analog signal to a discrete digital signal. The newly-converted digital data is recorded as evenly spaced samples, and more processing of the digital signal can occur. It is at this point that the recorded digital signal can be analyzed. Load Cells Forces must be measured through indirect means, through a force transducer. A force transducer functions toconvert physical states into electrical signals (21). The load cells in a force plate transduce the force applied to the plate into a measureable electrical voltage and current. There are a variety of load cell types. Two commonly used load cells in force plates are piezoelectric transducers and strain-gauge load cells. Both types of load cells receive an excitation voltage input, and output an different electrical current which is proportional to the load experienced by the cell (based on Ohms Law: current = voltage / resistance) (1). The operation of each differs in a few distinct ways. Piezoelectric cells operate based on the fact that when a piezoelectric material has a force applied to it, a charge appears on the face of the material; This charge is proportional to the force applied. Recording of the resultant voltage allows calculation of the applied force. The strain gauge load cells operate on the fact that changes in electrical current occur when a metal or semiconductor is deformed (1, 19). A thin sheet of metal or semiconductor material is bonded to a metal object, which provides a solid structural device on which to apply the force. Deformations in the device and the bonded sheet result in changes of the electrical resistance of the bonded sheet, thus modifying the current that moves through the bonded sheet. Monitoring of these changes allow for calculation of the force applied to the device. A common form of the strain gauge is the shear beam load cell (1, 19). One end of the beam is anchored to a stable platform, while the other is extended so that it can receive a load. A foil sheet or semiconductor is bonded to the beam, and an electrical current is run through the sheet. Force applied at the end of the beam (perpendicular to the plane of the sheet) causes deformation of the beam, resulting in electrical resistance changes across the sheet bonded to the beam. This results in a different electrical current and allows measurement of the applied force. Shear beam load cells have the advantage of a high force capacity and accurate measurement, which can make them a good candidate for use in force plates. A typical tri-planar force plate is constructed with four three-component load cells (14). Each three-component cell measures force in the X, Y and Z direction, and the placement of the load cells allow for calculation of center of pressure, center of force and torque about the axes. The four load cells are arranged in each of the four quadrants of the force plate, evenly spaced from each other and from the edges. Moment about the axes, center of pressure and center of force can be calculated based from measurements from data from individual load cells and their respective locations on the forceplate. Typically, the forces that are transduced from force plates are summed from measurements from individual force transducers on the plate. For example, in a force plate with four load cells, one in each corner, vertical ground reaction force is calculated from the sum of the forces measured on each cell. Likewise, in a force plate that is capable of anterior-posterior measurement or medial-lateral forces, the forces of interest are the summed composed of the total of the load cells of the plate. Sampling Monitoring the changes in force applied to the force plate requires sampling at regular intervals. Sampling frequencies of 500 to 2000 hertz (Hz) have been noted in the more recent sport science literature, however a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz is perhaps most common (14). While substantial research has examined sampling frequency in a wide variety of applications (engineering, for example), substantially less has been done to examine sampling frequency in sport science, although several authors have evaluated the variability of vertical jump performance data with different sampling frequencies. Vanrenterghem, et al. (24) found that sampling frequencies of above 100 Hz were adequate and Hori, et al. (10) found that sampling at about 200 Hz was accurate enough for accurate measurement. Contrary to the previous authors, Street, et al. (23) found that sampling rates of less than 1080 Hz could lead to an underestimation of jump height (calculated via the impulse method) by up to 4.4%. Other authors have recommended a sampling frequency of 500 Hz or 1000 Hz in force plate research to ensure accuracy, especially when impact is involved (2). Sampling frequencies must be high enough to ensure accuracy of measurement and reduction of signal aliasing (where the recorded digital signal fails to accurately show the original signal due to inadequate sampling). The Nyquist Theorum suggests that the absolute minimum sampling frequency is two times the frequency of interest. Bartlett (2) recommends a sampling frequency of at least 500 Hz, however 1000 Hz is a common choice for force plate capture of human motion (14). High sampling frequency is especially important when creating force-time curves in the early time segments of the curve. For example, some performance monitoring testing evaluates forces applied in the first 50ms of application of force in the isometric mid-thigh pull (12). At a sampling frequency of only 200 ms, if one were to construct a force-time curve, only 11 data points could be used for constructing this 50ms long curve. While a polynomial function could be applied to the 11 data points, a greater degree of accuracy for the curve will be obtained with a frequency of 500 Hz or 1000 Hz, because there would be 26 and 51 data points, respectively, from which to construct a curve. Signal Amplification and Conditioning Data collected from the force plate is not useable until amplification and signal processing occurs. Typically, analog signals (the raw voltage values) from the force plate are amplified and sent to an analog to digital (AD) converter (14). The AD converter then converts the analog voltage signal into a scaled digital signal, a signal that is able to be processed by computer software. Custom software developed in programs like LabVIEWTM (National Instruments, Austin, TX, USA) or Matlab (Mathworks Incorporated, Natick, MA, USA) can perform signal processing to clean up some of the noise from the data for use. Other methods exist for smoothing data that can be done in spreadsheet software such as Microsoft ExcelTM (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). Many force plates come with proprietary software with filtering and smoothing methods included. Through the collection process, amplification and A/D conversion, there are a number of electrical noise sources that may contaminate the data (5). A number of methods exist for filtering the noise in the signal, in order to best isolate and identify the signal of interest. This filtering can be done on either the analog or digital signal, or both. A low-pass filter eliminates frequencies above a certain level defined in the method, while a high-pass filter eliminates frequencies below a designated level. As noise often occurs at higher frequencies, a low pass filter is able to eliminate much of the noise in the signal. Sometimes it is necessary to restrict the data collected to within a range of frequencies, during which time a band-pass filter can be used. Other times it is necessary to eliminate a certain range of frequencies from a signal; a notch filter will be able to accomplish that task. There are a multitude of signal processors and conditioners that are used in digital signal processing. Three common methods of reducing signal noise are Butterworth filters, splines and frequency domain techniques, such as Fourier Analysis (5). Yet another method is a moving average, which is relatively simple to calculate in Excel. Each of these methods operates differently, and provided that the optimal filter is applied to a signal, the end result is the same: the signal is less choppy and smoother, thus data is cleaner and easier to analyze (for more detailed information, the reader is directed toward Bartlett (2), Challis (5)) and Street, et al. (23). The general recommendation for filter choice is the one that most effectively and accurately isolates the signal of interest. Calibration Force plate calibration is necessary to establish a regression equation to calculate ground reaction forces from output voltage, as well as to ensure accuracy of data obtained from testing. Because force plates only provide an output voltage, a calibration equation must be used to calculate what the ground reaction forces actually are. Unfortunately, often little is done by researchers to address the proper calibration of force plates (9). While calibration of some of the testable variables of the force plate can be difficult, calibration is absolutely necessary given the immense error that can be introduced even with small errors in calibration (9). The general idea behind calibration is that a range of known forces is applied to the force plate to see the resultant voltage given by the load cells, allowing the creation of a regression equation (1). For the Z-direction, a common method of calibration is to place a range of dead weights of known mass on top of the force plate, which allows the researcher to calibrate based on the resulting output voltage of the known mass. Calibration of the horizontal forces, torque and center of pressure can be a more difficult endeavor. However, researchers have proposed methods of calibration that are possible in the laboratory environment, such as a pulley system for X- and Y-direction calibration as proposed by Hall, et al. (9). In the pulley system, a regression equation is built from the output voltages with progressively higher (horizontally) applied loads. A pendulum system for dynamic calibration designed by Fairburn, et al. (6) is also a possibility for more advanced calibration. In-laboratory testing would allow a laboratory to avoid the potentially expensive calibration that is done by the force plate companies and private metricians. Technical Information of Note Force plate technical reports typically contain a data table with information about some or all of the following: linearity, hysteresis, crosstalk, and/or natural frequency. Each of these items provides valuable information about the characteristics of the force plate, as each affects the data obtained from it. Refer to Table 1 for recommended ranges. Linearity Linearity is the maximum deviation of collected force plate data from a straight line (2). Perfect linearity is ideal, but is not necessarily a requirement for accurate data collection and analysis, as it can be calibrated for by applying a higher order polynomial to the data points(2). Linearity can be expressed as: ( Where y=maximum deviation from linearity, and Y=full scale deflection (8). Full scale deflection refers to the voltage output with the highest load within the limit of the force plate. Dividing deviation from linearity by the highest voltage achieved gives a relative measure of linearity, and allows comparison to a standard. Hysteresis Hysteresis is the difference in output values seen during the loading and unloading of a material (2). This is a quality that should also be minimized, as many force plate measurements involve both a loading and unloading component (see Figure 3). For example, large hysteresis in a load cell might over-estimate the forces in the eccentric portion of a squat, while correctly estimating the forces during the concentric portion. Hysteresis is sometimes seen as a result of a mechanical lag in deformity return to normal shape occurring during loading of the force transducers. Hysteresis can be calculated with the equation: ) Where XL = output voltage for a given load during loading, XU = output voltage for the same given load during unloading, and Z =full scale deflection (2). Cross-Talk Many force plates measure forces in multiple planes; the components required to measure the different directions generally have at least a minor amount of cross-talk. Cross-talk refers to the interference of force in one component direction with the measurement of force by a component in another direction (2). It is important that this quality is minimized, so that forces from one plane are not measured on another, thus falsely attributing forces to an incorrect source. Bartlett (2) stated that less than 3% of full-scale deflection is preferable. Natural Frequency Maximum Frequency Ratio When struck, every object has a frequency at which it will tend to vibrate, (5). Force plates, as they are constructed of multiple materials, sometimes have multiple natural frequencies. Force plate manufacturers often report the natural frequency of the force plate when set up according to manufacturer specifications. This natural frequency should be significantly higher than that of the measurement, as it greatly increases the ease of isolating the measurement signal from the plate vibration. Force plates generally have high natural frequencies to aid in the ease of isolation through filtering. For example, the Kistler Type 9281E Triplanar force plate has a natural frequency of 1000 Hz (Kistler Group, Winterthur, Switzerland). The high natural frequency of this force plate is high enough to measure the impact activities of sports, which can surpass 100 Hz (2). The ratio of frequency of the measured skill to natural frequency (Maximum Frequency Ratio) should be less or equal to 0.2, so that the information of interest in the signal can be effectively isolated from the natural frequency of the plate. Minimizing Error The possibility of inaccurate measurements must be minimized if accurate conclusions are to be drawn. Certain steps can be taken to reduce the possibility of error, although even the most optimal setup will have at least a small amount of error. First and foremost, if a user does not know how to properly use the force plate and the software associated with it, the largest source of error may be the user himself. In this article, it is emphasized that with a proper education and the right information, the reader of this paper should be able to understand the basics of using a force platform, thus severely reducing potential for user error. Adherence to the recommendations by Bartlett (2) will also serve to ensure accuracy of the data collected by the plate. Any deviance of the force plate characteristics outside of the recommendations increases the risk of inaccuracy. For example, Lees and Lake (14) and Hall, et al. (9) showed how cross-talk of even 1% could introduce a large amount of error in certain gait measurements. Calibration should occur over a range of loads, from unloaded to above the highest expected load, within the manufacturer-specified loads of the force plate (if the expected loads are outside of the range, then a new plate with greater load range is necessary). For example, in an isometric pull, where measurements of vertical ground reaction force can exceed 7000 N or more (4), the force plate should be calibrated in the Z-axis with loads ranging from 0kg to more than 700kg. For horizontal calibration, a pulley system, like the one designed by Hall, et al. (9) would suffice. Dynamic calibration can be a bit more tricky, requiring expensive equipment or complex methodology. This can be done by major force plate companies or by private metricians. It is also extremely important to install and adjust force plates based on manufacturer recommendations. Manufacturer-reported technical data about the force plate (e.g. hysteresis, linearity) are measured and determined under set conditions. Recommendations for where the force plate is installed, the type of flooring installed on and which floor level it is installed on must all be followed. A level surface for installation is required. Should the conditions during use deviate from those specified by the manufacturer, there is the possibility that those reported qualities (linearity, hysteresis) are no longer accurate. Even with an ideal setup, there remain other sources for error. Other such sources of error are thermal noise, chemical noise, and electrical interference. Thermal noise is associated with the temperature of the device in use. Part of the reason for allowing a device to warm up is so that thermal noise is allowed to stabilize, as rising component temperatures result in changing electrical noise. Chemical noise is random noise that exists everywhere, and comes from variations in temperature, humidity, pressure and other sources. Electrical noise results from devices around the testing area that use electricity, such as lighting and equipment. Electrical noise is at 60 Hz and progressively weaker at its harmonics- 120 Hz, 180 Hz, etc. For example, if a force platform is placed in a room that has fluorescent lights, air conditioning/heat, and the building is located near power lines, electrical noise may be a substantial source of interference. In all devices, the measured value is the result of the true score plus error. While one can attempt to eliminate as much error as possible, there will always be a degree of error in the collected data. It is up to the tester to eliminate and reduce as many sources of error as possible, and a theoretical judgment as to how much error in the collection is acceptable. Our Laboratory Equipment and Processing While our laboratory uses tri-directional force plates, the majority of force plates we use are unidirectional, and measure only in the vertical direction (See Figure 4 for a photo). Although it is a drawback to only allow collection in the vertical direction, the plates offer a substantial reduction in cost over other plates offered by KistlerTM or AMTITM, for example. Furthermore, a number of studies have demonstrated that vertical forces and vertically- oriented skills have strong relationships to explosiveness and speed in sporting movements, thus measurement of vertical forces is of substantial importance (12, 20, 22, 25). In addition, we use force plates (0.914 x 0.46 m; 3 x 1.5; Rice Lake Weighing Systems, Rice Lake, WI) situated side-by-side to allow for collection of unilateral force data. For bilateral data collection, the forces from each force plate are summed. Each plate sits on a level concrete pad that is on the ground floor of the laboratory, to reduce contamination o f data from extraneous sources. Each force plate in the Sport Science laboratory is attached to Transducer Techniques TM0-2 amplifier and conditioner module (Transducer Techniques, Temecula, CA, USA). The amplifier provides both the excitation signal (the initial current going to the strain gage load cell) and amplification of the analog signal. In addition, the module provides an analog low-pass filter at 16 Hz. In between the amplifier/conditioner and the A/D converter is a shielded connector block. The BNC-2110 (National Instruments, Austin, TX, USA) accepts the analog signal and conveys the signal to the A/D converter. The block then connects to a DAQCard-6063E (National Instruments, Austin TX, USA). The DAQCard-6063E converts the analog signal to a digital signal. The digitized signal is then analyzed with custom software developed in LabVIEWTM (National Instruments, Austin TX, USA). The custom software weve developed in LabVIEWTM samples the analog signal at 1000hz. The custom software has been set up to save the digital signal file and filter the digitized signal using a 4th order low-pass Butterworth filter at 100 Hz. From there, the signal can be analyzed for whatever variables are of interest. Refer to Kraska, et al. (12) for examples of measures of interest for static and countermovement jumps, and Leary, et al. (13) for examples of measures of interest in the isometric mid-thigh pull. The Data Collection Process Calibration of our force plates is performed immediately before the data collection process, which ensures that the calibration equation used in data analysis is established under similar environmental conditions as the data collection as well as avoids a potential shift of voltage output over time. Prior to calibration, force plates, amplifiers, A/D converters and computers are all turned on so that all of the collection equipment can warm up (thus stabilizing thermal and instrumentation noise). After this warm up period, the force plates are calibrated using loads from 0 kg to 350kg or 500kg, depending on the specific use of the plate (either jumps or isometric pulls). The plates are progressively loaded in 25kg increments, with the output voltage recorded each time. A linear regression equation is then applied to the calibration load data set in Microsoft Excel. This regression equation is saved, and used in the custom LabVIEWTM program during analysis. Conclusion A full understanding of a testing device and its characteristics are an integral part of accuracy, validity and reliability of testing. The force plate is a rather complex device. The complexities of the device and its peripherals allow the user to collect a large variety of high-quality data for analysis that are difficult to obtain via other means. While it is somewhat difficult to master use of the device, the plethora of information that can be obtained from a force plate makes the endeavor more than worthwhile.

The Epistemology of Hegels Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit

The Epistemology of Hegel's Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit In his Phenomenology of Spirit, G.W.F. Hegel lays out a process by which one may come to know absolute truth. This process shows a gradual evolution from a state of "natural consciousness" (56) (1) to one of complete self-consciousness - which leads to an understanding of the "nature of absolute knowledge itself" (66). By understanding the relation between consciousness and truth, one may come to know the true nature of our existence. Hegel proposes to answer these questions in one bold stroke; he relates them in such a way as to make an infinitely complex and indiscernible universe a unitary whole. This process from a natural state to a kind of transcendence leads one from the chaos of the immediate to the sublimity of the universal. Consciousness begins as what Hegel calls "a natural consciousness" (56). That which is known to this consciousness "will prove to be knowledge only in conception, not in reality" (56). This kind of consciousness assumes knowledge of reality that is often refuted. Hegel says, "since natural consciousness does forthwith think it really knows, it views its own experiential course in a negative light, taking the very realization of its conception to be instead its own loss" (57), demonstrating the frailty of this method of thought. To respond to this shortcoming of consciousness, some might attempt to find an absolute absolved from one-sidedness, from sheer relativity to the knowing subject. Others will not respond this way, however, instead spinning off into apathy, subjectivism, or nihilism (59). Those who do attempt to find an objective truth most often turn to science. Some have suggested that the intellect is an ... ...s to relate to that reality at all. Thus as one comes to be fully aware of consciousness, one becomes fully aware of absolute reality. Hegel describes a way by which one may come to know absolute truth. This process shows a transition from a state of "natural consciousness" (56) to one of complete self-consciousness - which leads to an understanding of the "nature of absolute knowledge itself" (66). By understanding the relation between consciousness and truth, one may come to know the true nature of our existence. Thus, Hegel answers these questions in one bold stroke; he relates them in such a way as to make an infinitely complex and indiscernible universe a unitary whole. This whole is not only total self-consciousness, but also total awareness of absolute reality. 1. * Page References are to the unpublished translation by Peter Fuss and John Dobbins.

Symbols and Symbolism in Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest :: One Flew Over Cuckoos Nest

Symbolism in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey presents his masterpiece, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, with popular culture symbolism of the 1960s. This strategy helps paint a vivid picture in the reader's mind. Music and cartoons of the times are often referred to in the novel. These help to exaggerate the characters and the state of the mental institution. Popular culture supplies the music which is used as a recurring theme in the novel. McMurphy dislikes the tape playing in the day room because it represents how the ward is run routinely and without change. McMurphy also uses music to obtain good relations with the patients. On his first morning in the hospital, McMurphy is heard singing several verses of "The Wagoner's Lad": "Hard livin's my pleasure, my money's my o-o-own, an' them that don't like me, they can leave me alone" (Kesey 93 ). In this scene, he sings to express his good spirits (Twayne). Later, in the hall, as one of the aides goes to talk to the angry Big Nurse, McMurphy whistles, with an illusion to the Globetrotters, "Sweet Georgia Brown" as " an amusing accompaniment to the aide's evasive shuffle" (Sherwood 399). After shocking Nurse Ratched with his whale shorts, he accompanies her retreat to the Nurses' Station with the song "The Roving Gambler" to establish his style, define his character, and show his indifferen ce to policy: "She took me to her parlor, and coooo-ooled me with her fan'- I can hear the whack as he slaps his bare belly - whispered low in her mamma's ear, I lu-uhvve that gamblin' man" (Kesey 97). The cartoon symbolism demonstrated in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest helps create dynamic features and traits in each character. Bromden indicates early that the ward is "Like a cartoon world, where the figures are flat and outlined in black, jerking through some kind of goofy story that might be real funny if it weren't for the cartoon figures being real guys..."( 31). Technicians in the hospital speak with voices that "are forced and too quick on the comeback to be real talk - more like cartoon comedy speech" (33). Kesey chooses to describe some of his characters as symbolic caricatures, and others as stock figures who outgrow their black outlines (Twayne). The Big Nurse remains a cartoon villain, funny in her excessive frustration and hateful in her manipulations towards the patients.