Arab Spring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Arab Spring - Essay Example One of the obvious the arguments that could have caused the Arab Spring is the citizens’ anger with the old and dictatorial government regimes. Those who argue on these bases claim that the Middle East and North Africa world has a long history of a scuffle for political change, from leftist factions to Islamist radicals. But the Arab Spring that started in 2011 could never have evolved if things were better then. The revolution could not have turned into a mass phenomenon that has produced about quarter a million loss of lives and millions of refugees had it not been for the widespread dissatisfaction with a dictatorial regime(Haas et al, 56). The argument can be advanced by the fact that the economic crisis which was one of the causes of the uprising could have stabilized over time under a credible and competent government, but by late 20th century, most Arab dictatorships led by Muammar al-Qaddafi, Hosni Mubarak, Ben Ali were utterly bankrupt both morally and ideologically. When the Arab Spring occurred in 2011, Muammar al-Qaddafi had been in power in Libya for 42 years, Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak had been in power for 1980 while Tunisia’s Ben Ali from 1987. Furthermore, the leaders did not upload any human right that continuously angered the citizens for years basing on the way they even took power in the first place. For instance, Al-Kaddafi and Hosni Mubarak who were some of the oldest leaders in the world prior to the Arab Spring ruled through dictatorship.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Essay Example for Free

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Essay The book The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros is merely a collection of different (and in some ways similar) traits, experiences, cultures, traditions, values and points of views of the girls and boys living at Mango Street. From these collections collating in 44 inter-related chapters create a single topic of how the main character in the story Esperanza Cordero evolves, empowers herself, dreams and struggles to have a life she is aspiring of someday while still focusing herself to remain her feet standing on the ground.   The story also tackles some human rights issues although it is laid not in a tragic or overly dramatic situation since lightness and simple poetic style of narrating events and describing characters through short outline and vignettes are the manner the author has used.   Hence, the book is intentionally written for young mind readers for them to know and understand serious issues in a light touch. As a young preadolescent girl, Esperanza Cordero manages to identify herself in each of the character lives in her neighborhood although not exactly in the same manner.   She successful shows through her descriptions of the place and people in her life the not-so-good and not-so-bad experiences of the dual citizenship inhabitant in the city like the Latin – Americans.   She is most likely referring to females.   These females are what she actually provides us to be able to identify her as herself, or someone she wishes she could be or someone she hates exactly being a member of minority gender living in a minority community, in each of the characters given. Esperanza Cordero belongs to a family of six composed of a mother, a father, two brothers named Kiki and Carlos, and with only one sister Nenny.   Like many other kids, she has inner hopes and aspirations.   One of them is having a house she owns someday, and described as a white big one with lots of free space and bathrooms, perhaps due to her own experiences of living in a house of only one bedroom and bathroom.   After some changing of locations, her family decided to acquire a house to call their own to be free from rental obligations and irritating experiences of having landlords and landladies.   The house is situated at Mango Street.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some of the characters in the story are Cathy described as a typical rich girl who easily gets annoyed with the rudeness of people especially Esperanza’s male neighbors, Sally who at a young age forced to get married just to be free from domestic violence at home, another rich girl Alicia who always gets horrified with rats in their house, Elenita the fortune-teller, the materialistic girl Marin, Ruthie and Rafaela who always keep on telling Esperanza the disadvantages of marrying at a young age, and sisters Lucy and Rachel who are her playmates and companions in biking and in some memorable adventures along with her sister Nenny.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Empowering herself is passively done as it is only a shadow which reflects her girly actions through her noting down of observations and understandings.   It means that the struggle of Esperanza to be free over power and superiority does not mean that she has to gain it over others or at the expense of others.   It only suggests that being true to oneself, as what she does, is enough to make things change for betterment. R E F E R E N C E S Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Random House Inc. 2005

Macbeth: Schizophrenic? Essay -- essays research papers

Macbeth’s tragic downfall into insanity could be modernly diagnosed as the mental disorder schizophrenia. Many of the actions carried out by Macbeth during the play lead the reader to believe that Macbeth is crazy. However, by today’s medical standards, Macbeth falls into several of the categories under the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is defined as, "a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling, thought, and conduct." In Act I Macbeth is very uneasy in his and Lady Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan. He says, â€Å"We shall proceed no further in this business. For he hath honored me of late.† (I.7.31-32) This is an unmistakable example of how Macbeth is not fully confident in his decisions. He feels guilt and anguish, as does Lady Macbeth, for she will not commit the murder herself, due to the fact that King Duncan looks too much like her father. At this point in the play, it is quite questionable as to weather either of the conspirators will consummate to the killings. Duncan’s death can be identified as the turning point of Macbeth’s sanity. This is when Macbeth starts to clearly display numerous symptoms of schizophrenia. O One of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia is the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Macbeth displays this characteristic as he speaks vehemently to an empty chair, which he believes is the ghost of his old friend Banquo, w ho he just recently had killed. He says, â€Å"Prithee, see there! behold! look! lo! how say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel-houses and our graves must send Those that we bury back, our monuments Shall be the maws of kites.† (III, 4) Macbeth is the only one to see the ghost, not even the audience is allowed by Shakespeare to see this apparition. After this, his mental stability begins to deteriorate throughout the course of the play. Guilt and obsession are also among the leading features associated with schizophrenia. After Macbeth is coaxed into killing Duncan, he is plagued by the blood, which he has spilt. However, he still manages to kill anyone who threatens his reign, even those who are very close to him. One could say that his obsession with maintaining his royal sta... ...s disorganized and fragmented, the ill person's speech is often muddled or unreasonable. Thought disorder is frequently accompanied by inappropriate emotional responses: which means words and mood do not appear in tune with each other. The result may be something like laughing when speaking of shady or frightening events. Early warning signs, such as Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking, her irrational speech, and her loss of normal temperament were all reverberations of her mental instability. Extreme circumstances such as the ones presented in Macbeth are highly probable causes for both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s development of schizophrenia. Their behavior, although seeming quite erratic and irrational, is quite common among patients with this disorder. The term â€Å"schizophrenic,† however, was not even brought to the public until 1911, by a Swiss psychologist, Eugen Bleuler, almost three decades after Shakespeare’s Macbeth was introduced to England. Citizens during the sixteen hundreds would have just thought Macbeth and his wife were insane and should be locked away. With today’s psychoanalytic sciences, though, it can be most likely predicted that schizophrenia was present in Macbeth.

African American Musuem

Intro to Museum Studies Professor Kirsch September 19,2010 The African Museum in Philadelphia is notable as the first museum funded and built by a municipality to help preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans. Opened during the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, the AAMP is located in historic Philadelphia, a few blocks away from the Liberty Bell. Charles H. Wesley was a noted African American historian, educator, and author.He was the fourth African American to receive a Ph. D. from Harvard University. An ordained minister, Wesley’s distinguished career included 40 years of leadership with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1976, he served as Director of the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum in Philadelphia, now known as the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Programs The African American Museum that is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has some interesting education programs.These education programs focus on arts, culture, a nd heritage education. They place a major emphasis on the interests of the students, educators, artists, historians, scholars, and community organizations. These programs offer diversity with scheduling. The programs explore various African forms of cultural expressions. In these programs there are literary performances, hands on demonstrations, workshops, and storytelling performances as well.The African American Museum in Philadelphia feels its programs can be a vital link between the permanent and visiting collections for the many communities they serve. Exhibitions The exhibitions in the African American Museum in Philadelphia can some to be pleasing to the eye and stimulating to the mind. According to the African American Museum of Philadelphia these exhibitions invoke a deep collection of emotion ranging from pride and passion to excitement and enthusiasm.When visitors enter the museum they will come to Gallery 1, which includes a interactive timeline, images draw from histori cal record, that spans 100 years of history. In Gallery 2 there are full size video projections in which visitors can in engage in them. Once they are activated, a monologue about life in Philadelphia will begin. Some other aspects of the exhibit include an experience where you can walk the streets of Philadelphia through a large scale map, which is located between galleries 1 and 2 .

American life Essay

Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun reflects the cultural context in which it was created, reflecting crucial changes in American life. In particular, it reflects the American mainstream’s new tolerance for civil rights and African Americans’ rising aspirations, but it also inspired a great deal of criticism from black leftist intellectuals for paying too little attention to black issues and focusing too much on integration. The play tells the story of the Younger family, who still live in their dilapidated Chicago apartment long after they migrated north and dream of improving their lives. Mama, the old-school matriarch, fulfills her late husband’s dream of buying a home, using his insurance money for a house in all-white Clyborne Park. (Her aspirations and actions seem modest, but they are rather bold for the time and imply the older generation’s wisdom. ) Her grown son Walter dreams of making a fortune but loses the family’s savings, though he redeems himself by deciding the family should move despite white neighbors’ disapproval. Ruth, his wife, is bitter but believes in Walter’s dreams and stands by him despite his faults. Beneatha, Walter’s flighty younger sister, is the most comical character; a college student aiming to become a doctor, she seeks her identity through two different suitors – rich, effete George Murchison (Hansberry’s symbol for affluent blacks’ pretensions) and Nigerian Joseph Asagai (who inspires Beneatha to reconnect with her heritage). It draws partly from Hansberry’s own experience regarding integration. Born into an affluent black family in 1930, Hansberry moved at age eight with her parents to Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, then a white, middle-class enclave; he parents had to wage a long legal battle to move there, resulting in a Supreme Court decision that allowed racial covenants in housing. Like her family, the Youngers in A Raisin in the Sun face white neighbors who claim good intentions but try to discourage blacks from moving into the neighborhood. The family sees through Karl Lindner’s false friendliness, and Beneatha comments, â€Å"He said everybody ought learn to sit down and hate each other with good Christian fellowship† (Hansberry 107). The play appeared during a crucial phase of the civil rights movement, only five years after the Brown decision outlawed segregated facilities and only two years after the tense integration of Little Rock’s Central High School. Though the movement’s best-known campaigns focused on the South, author Mark Newman illustrates that the NAACP waged a long, successful campaign focused mainly on ending unwritten segregation and promoting integration in the North, especially Chicago (Newman 44). Indeed, Chicago was the site of extensive race riots in public housing in 1953 (Hanley et al 316), and in the 1960s Martin Luther King tried but failed to get Chicago’s neighborhoods to end their de facto segregation and stop driving out prospective black residents. Hansberry demonstrates that integration in the North was still a challenge, especially when the antagonists were not violent but superficially genial, like the Lindner character, who proposes a buyout and tells the Youngers, â€Å"I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it† (Hansberry 104), when it certainly does. When their meeting ends, Lindner’s words – â€Å"I hope you know what you’re getting into† (Hansberry 138) – betray his true feelings and perhaps those of Northern whites in general, who often favored integration but had patronizing attitudes and did not want black neighbors. In this, Hansberry launches a subtle but nonetheless clear attack on white hypocrisy. She also comments on the different facets of black society, which have different aims at this crucial time in their history. Mama has the most modest aspirations but also the most common sense; her simple, realistic desire for a home is both conservative and radical, since it involves integration, then the civil rights movement’s chief aim, though Mama is by no means militant. Walter, though fiery and impractical, sees her point of view after his own dream fails and takes a stand, refusing to defer Mama’s dream and telling Lindner they will move to Clyborne Park regardless â€Å"because my father – my father – he earned it† (Hansberry 138). The dream is Mama’s, but she and Walter together refuse to defer it any longer and act boldly. Meanwhile, Beneatha – the most comic character for her flightiness – represents younger, ambitious blacks’ efforts to find themselves. Studying to be a doctor, she rejects her mother’s traditional beliefs and dates two men who represent black youths’ aims. On one hand, George Murchison represents the black bourgeoisie, of whom Beneatha says, â€Å"[The] only people in the world who are more snobbish than rich white people are rich colored people† (Hansberry 34). Instead, she seeks her identity through Joseph Asagai, a Nigerian fellow student whose comment, â€Å"Assimilationism is so popular in your country† (Hansberry 48), makes her look away from integration as an answer. Walter, always humoring his sister, tells her, â€Å"You know, when the New Negroes have their convention . . . [you are] going to be the chairman of the Committee on Unending Agitation† (Hansberry 98). Though white audience hailed the play, black intellectuals did not receive it with equal regard. Writing in 1963, social critic Harold Cruse (a leftist who opposed integration in favor of Malcolm X-style separatism) excoriated Hansberry for catering to white liberals’ sensibilities, claiming she wanted to â€Å"assuage the commercial theater’s liberal guilt† and calling A Raisin in the Sun â€Å"a good old-fashioned, home-spun saga of some good working-class folk in pursuit of the American dream . . . in [whites’] fashion† (Cruse 278). In addition, he claimed Hansberry had an â€Å"essentially quasi-white orientation through which she visualizes the Negro world† (Cruse 283) and believed her not militant enough. Indeed, scholar Richard King claims that the play was part of a greater social context in which â€Å"cultural, racial, and religious differences were downplayed or denied in postwar America† (King 4). He claims that Hansberry downplayed her own characters’ blackness to the same degree that The Diary of Anne Frank downplayed its characters’ Jewish identity, and that Hansberry and others like her were â€Å"advocating the integrationist vision and falling prey . . . to ‘misapplied internationalism’† (King 273). However, Hansberry explores the black community’s different attitudes, rendering these criticisms ill applied. Though she was by no means militant and hailed from an affluent background, she experienced integration first-hand and knew it was not an easy sell-out (as the militant Cruse claimed). Instead, according to black scholar Jacqueline Bobo, Hansberry aimed to fight American popular culture’s still-prevalent negative black stereotypes and claimed in 1961, â€Å"I did not feel it was my right or duty to help present the American public with yet another latter-day minstrel show† (Bobo et al 184); instead, she wanted to present characters with dignity, intelligence, and genuine aspirations, which in 1959 was still a bold effort. The play is not militant, but neither does it whitewash its characters. A Raisin in the Sun is more than simply a play about a black family moving out of the ghetto; it reflects the social and cultural context of its time. It embraces the civil rights movement’s integrationist aims and reminds the audience that the Youngers’ move will not be easy, and it comments on black society’s conflicting outlooks while avoiding stereotypes. While it did not take a militant extreme by countering white racism with a racism of its own, it reflects a greater American context in which ending segregation was still a struggle, but one which the American mainstream supported and aspired to achieve (to varying degrees). REFERENCES Bobo, Jacqueline, Cynthia Hudley, and Claudine Michel, eds. The Black Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 2004. Cruse, Harold. The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual. New York: William Morrow, 1967. Hanley, Sharon, Stephen Middleton, and Charlotte M. Stokes, eds. , The African American Experience. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Globe, 1992. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. New York: Random House, 1959. King, Richard H. Race, Culture, and the Intellectuals, 1940-1970. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Newman, Mark. The Civil Rights Movement. Westport CT: Praeger, 2004.

Archaeological Evidence for Domesticating Potatoes

Archaeological Evidence for Domesticating Potatoes Potato (Solanum tuberosum) belongs to the Solanaceae family, which also includes tomatoes, eggplants, and chili peppers. Potato is currently the second widest used staple crop in the world. It was first domesticated in South America, in the Andean highlands, between Peru and Bolivia, more than 10,000 years ago. Different species of potato (solanum) exist, but the most common worldwide is the S. tuberosum ssp. Tuberosum. This species was introduced in Europe in the mid-1800s from Chile when a fungus disease almost completely destroyed S. tuberosum ssp. andigena, the original species imported by the Spanish directly from the Andes in the 1500s. The edible part of the potato is its root, called tuber. Because the tuber of wild potatoes contains poisonous alkaloids, one of the first steps made by ancient Andean farmers toward domestication was to select and replant a variety with low alkaloid contents. Also, since wild tubers are quite small, farmers also selected the bigger examples. Archaeological Evidence of Potato Cultivation Archaeological evidence suggests that people were consuming potatoes in the Andes as early as 13,000 years ago. In the Tres Ventanas Cave in the Peruvian highlands, several root remains, including S. tuberosum, have been recorded and direct-dated to 5800 cal B.C. (C14 calibrated date) Also, remains of 20 potato tubers, both white and sweet potato, dating between 2000 and 1200 B.C. have been found in the trash middens of four archaeological sites in the Casma Valley, on the coast of Peru. Finally, in an Inca period site near Lima, called Pachacamac, pieces of charcoal have been found within the remains of potato tubers suggesting that one of the possible preparation of this tuber involved baking. Potatoes Around the World Although this may be due to a lack of data, current evidence indicates that the spread of potatoes from Andean highlands to the coast and the rest of the Americas was a slow process. Potatoes reached Mexico by 3000-2000 B.C., probably passing through Lower Central America or the Caribbean Islands. In Europe and North America, the South American root arrived only in the 16th and 17th century, respectively, after its importation by the first Spanish explorers. Sources Hancock, James, F., 2004, Plant Evolution and the Origin of Crop Species. Second Edition. CABI Publishing, Cambridge, MA Ugent Donald, Sheila Pozoroski and Thomas Pozoroski, 1982, Archaeological Potato Tuber Remains from the Casma Valley of Peru, Economic Botany, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 182-192.

Arguments for Capital Punishment essays

Arguments for Capital Punishment essays Capital punishment might be cruel in some ways but when someone kills someone else, and the taxpayers have to keep them alive in jail that is not right. I support capital punishment because not only is it cruel to keep somebody locked up for life but it also is a waste of money by the state. The major argument for capital punishment is retribution. The victim's family often feels relieved when the prisoner has been executed. "Retribution satisfies the demand for justice. It channels public outrage into the acceptable form of the criminal sentence. If criminal sentences do not satisfy this demand for justice, angry citizens may lose respect for law and even, on occasion, take it into their own hands" (Samaha). The punishment handed out should fit the crime committed, if a murder is committed then he or she deserves to be executed. The best solution to the problem is to execute the prisoner right away, eliminate the nine appeals that the prisoner has a right to. This way it cuts down on the crowded prisons and saves the government a lot of money. It will open up more room for the criminals who are not in prison and allowed to stay on the streets. These convicted murderers should have no right to be allowed to live any longer than after they are convicted. Do it quickly and ease the pain. Those who oppose capital punishment are in the minority today in the United States. "By 1989 more than 80 percent of Americans favored the death penalty" (Samaha). So with support for capital punishment on the rise, why doesn't the government do what we the people want and endorse capital punishment in every state. People argue that capital punishment is immoral. But in the Old Testament, it says it is moral. In one passage from Genesis, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." Another from Exodus, "Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (Mitchell)...

What Makes a Good Book Cover The Secret to a Converting Book Cover

What Makes a Good Book Cover The Secret to a Converting Book Cover What Makes a Good Book Cover: How to Increase Book Sales With Your Book Cover Do you know what makes a good book cover?You shouldif you ever want to maintain consistent sales of your book.Ok, so here’s the deal. What I am just about to tell you might sound controversial. It might even sound downright ridiculous.You could even get offended.But bear with me for a while. Just hear me outbecause what I really want for you is to sell more books, and your book cover is one of the most important factors playing into that reality, even though weve all been told not to judge a book by its cover.The reality of publishing isEveryone does anyways.Heres what makes for a good book cover:Focusing on the big pictureStrong compositionAn intriguing focal pointClear title and subtitlesSimplistic book cover designNOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the writing, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Program. Learn more about it hereWhat does a good book cover matter?The book cover exists to serve one and only ONE purpose. And that purpose is to sell your book. Everything else is details.Shocked? Offended? About to pick that nearby glass of water and smash it on my head? Just hold it for a few minutes.I understand how we creatives hate the four-letter words starting with an S. Sell? Sale? Sold!? But it’s true. If you haven’t read Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad yet, I urge you to get a copy and read.Robert Kiyosaki was once being interviewed by this bright young journalist. She had a real flair for writing. She asked Robert if he had any advice for her. And guess what Robert told her. â€Å"Go take a sales course†, he said.The young lady was shocked. She sat there silently for a few minutes, staring at Robert Kiyosaki in disbelief. And then she spoke. She told him she had spent all her life writing and studying. She held master’s degrees in literature and journalism.And she had worked so hard all her life, so that she won’t have to â€Å"stoop so lowâ₠¬  as learning to sell! Robert explained how she was a far superior writer than Robert could ever hope to be, but Robert was still a best-selling author, while she wasn’t. She could write the best book ever written by a human being, but it wouldn’t matter if nobody read it.And that is why you need to â€Å"SELL†.Makes sense? I hope it does because as I mentioned above, your books cover is one of the most important pieces of becoming a successful author.What makes for a good book cover?I have been on that side of the fence where creatives hate the concept of selling or marketing. And I have been on that side for the longest time. But the sooner you get yourself comfortable with these words and concepts, the better.And the best way to start is by understanding that investing in a good book cover design, and knowing what makes a good one.And why should you even listen to me? Well, I have a bachelor’s degree in marketing. And trust me, I learned nothing at s chool. After my bachelors, I spent nearly ten years convincing myself and the world that I am an artist. And you know the funniest part? All of my creative buddies and peers were in the same situation. And that is when I decided I needed to learn what I had shunned for the longest time. I needed to learn to sell. We founded Dastaan Online. And the first business that needed our help was our own. We started publishing a literary magazine called Dastaan World.Writers, artists, photographers, even those who write poetry along with readers flocked to us. I decided to design covers for every story we published. And our contributors loved them!My covers might well be beautiful, and thought-provoking and sublime and what not. But that is all secondary. They keep coming to me, because my covers help them sell their books.Every other quality of a good book cover can be indented as a subcategory or explanation of this one point.The book cover is there to promote your book, and ultimately sell it. Now, the next big question is, what makes for a good book cover that achieves this goal?#1 Focus On the Big PictureThe book cover needs to draw the viewer into the story. Even if you are writing non-fiction. You are a writer, so you know there is always a story.The cover needs to show what the book is about, without giving all of it away, much like the book title but with visuals.This example from Self-Publishing Schools coach Marcy Pusey shows just how this technique works in her book, Weirdo and Willy.The idea is to get your reader to open the book. Once they open the book, your magic as a writer will not let them put it down before reading it to the end.But to catch in your spiderweb of literary magic, you need to use a bait. And that is what your cover needs to do for you. It needs to play on the human emotions of intrigue and curiosity.So think about the big picture of what your book cover should represent.Ask yourself these questions when figuring out your book cover:Doe s your idea represent your story or message?Does it illicit intrigue?Does it stand out from other books in your category?#2 Create a Strong CompositionThis is where is start to get into the wizardry that is graphic design and illustration.Composition is one of the most fundamental skills required of anyone working with visuals. And as with all fundamentals, the composition takes a lifetime to master, at least!This is why its advised to hire a book cover designer instead of creating the cover yourself in programs like Canva or Photoshop.But if you have some experience and want to go for it, here are some guidelines on composition:Use the rule of thirdsSymmetry is your friendUse texture and patterns to add non-distracting detailsUse high and low anglesCombine several composition tips into one for full-effect (but not ALL of them)But you can start off with a few interesting guidelines or you can simply hire a book editor whos experienced in the field of composition.#3 Develop a Clear Focal PointEvery composition, every piece of deliberately designed visual communication, needs a focal point. The easiest way to find your focal point is to ask yourself (or, preferably, a friend) where your eye goes first on this piece.Whether it’s the title, your author byline, a figure in the artwork, some specific abstract shape, your focal point is what grabs your attention and catches your eye the first.And it’s not accidental. In this example by Self-Publishing Schools Omer Redden, you can see that the focal point of his book Life Doc is very clearly and intentionally the eye-catching title.There’s a whole science behind this elusive art called composition. It is this magic skill that dictates where a viewer is going to look, and in what order.You can have multiple focal points, but they should not compete with each other. They grab your viewer’s attention in the order you have designed them. Primary, secondary, tertiary and so on.This dance of at tention depends on what story you want to plant in their head. This story will make them open your book and eventually decide to buy it.#4 Title, Subtitle and Their RelativesPlease don’t make the mistake of thinking your cover is completely at your designer’s mercy. No. You are the writer. And you play the key role in determining how well your cover is gonna perform.How? The book title! When trying to come up with a book title idea, ask yourself this: Will it pull your reader from across the store? Or the webpage? It should be compelling. It should be visible and readable.AND it should be strengthened further by any additional visual elements on your cover.  Self-Publishing School coach Scott Allans book Undefeated is a great example of this. Here you can see his title plays an integral role in the cover design as a whole, with a very telling message with the torn reveal of un in undefeatedYour title, and any subtitles and taglines are going to play a pivotal role i n selling your book. So get your inner Don Draper out when crafting your cover copy!#5 Simplistic Book Cover DesignAnd finally, I like to keep my covers simple. And I personally tend to like covers that are simple and minimalistic.Although, my covers may sometimes look complex because of all the digitally painted and photo-manipulated detail, the ideas and composition must remain simple. It all goes in favor of the focal point and our intention to just say enough that will compel our viewer to buy the book.Overly complex covers usually give a very blatant impression of desperation, where the designer didn’t exactly know what to put in. And hence, they put everything they could think of in there. Not cool. Don’t do this. Keep it simple!So when you decide to finally lock down your book cover, remember to keep it simple stupid. Keep the big picture of your story in mind.Make your viewers focus on the key selling points of your book. If you feel stumped about your book co ver design, you can always reach out to a professional for help. If youre a student of Self-Publishing School, youll even be provided a list of cover designers whose work already checks the boxes of this list.You can see a little preview of this below:Just keep these guidelines in mind, whether you are designing the cover yourself, or paying someone to do it for you.Ready to get serious about selling your book?If youre ready to actually have success with your book (instead of hitting publish and hearing crickets from no book sales), we have the tried-and-true methods to help you get there.

BUSINESS STUDIES Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10250 words

BUSINESS STUDIES - Dissertation Example – CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 39 5.1 Conclusion 39 5.2 Recommendations 40 REFERENCE LIST 41 APPENDIX 46 Appendix I – Questionnaire 46 Appendix II – Focus Group Survey 46 CHAPTER I 1.1 Introduction The evolution of strategic thinking has brought genuine revolution in the way business is conducted. Strategy is also considered as a dominant framework through which companies try to determine what they are actually doing and what they intends to do so (Allio and Randall, 2010). Eminent scholars such as Aaby and McGann (1989) defined strategy as the plan or pattern that assimilates the major goals, actions and policies of the organization into a cohesive form. A well-crafted strategy assists organizations to marshal and dispense the resources into a viable and unique posture on the basis of its relative competencies, deficiencies, anticipated environmental changes and the conditional moves by the competitors. In the context of a business, strategy is often regarded as the activities or actions of the organization. This is the reason why the strategy of a company is regarded as the steps taken by organizations in order to stay ahead of the rivals and bring a new set of customers along with keeping the existing customer base (Coombs and Hull, 1998). A business consists of several resources in the form of skills of employees and managers, innovative capacity, as well as its brand image. There are different types of strategy that a company crafts and implements (Michael, Pride and Ferrell, 2007). Some of the notable ones are the business strategy, which is often regarded as the general strategies of a firm that includes the way operations will be carried out, the human resources planning, the service strategy and other business elements; corporate strategy which defines the business of the company as well as the market of the company in which it operates and also encompasses the mission and vision of the organization; competitive strategy, which d efines the strategy adopted by affirm to outplay the rivals and attain a strong position in the market place. Among the different forms of study mentioned above, this study will focus only on the corporate strategies and customer service strategy. A corporate strategy is the way by which organizations determine the best option of deploying the available resources of a firm. On the other hand the customer service strategy is the strategy pursued by firms to deliver services to the customers. This study intends to explore the impact of well-crafted corporate strategy and customer service strategy on the business of blue-chip companies in the high-tech sector. 1.2 Background of the Study

UNION BARISTAS AT STARBUCKS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

UNION BARISTAS AT STARBUCKS - Essay Example the National Labor Relations Act(NLRA).Thus, the NLRA clearly states that employees shall have the right to organize themselves, forming, joining, or assisting labor organizations so as to have a collective bargain through choosing their own representatives ,engaging in other intensive activities for the goal of collective bargains and it shall be unjust labor practice for an employer to impede, hold back or force workers in exercising of the guaranteed rights. In the formation of a union however, ignorance of the law is always a main issue. A worker should be informed that s/he has a legal right of joining as well as supporting a union in addition to attending meetings during non-work time to discussing issues related to joining a union. A worker is also entitled to speaking about the union any time other non-work talk is permitted, reading and distributing union literature so far as s/he does this in during non-work times like lunch hours, breaks, before or after work and outside the work area. An employee is also entitled to signing a card or petition to showing support for a given union. Lastly an employee can request fellow workers to support the union, sign petitions or cards asking their employer to be aware of as well as bargaining with their union. On the other hand it is illegal for an employer to issue threats of or actually sacking, lying off, disciplining, harassing, transferring, or reassigning workers due to their supporting a union. In addition an employer should not show favoritism to workers who are ag ainst the union over those in support in such aspects as job assignments, promotions, hours, salaries, implementation of rules or any other working condition for that matter. It is also illegal for an employer to close the work station or remove any benefits or privileges workers already enjoy so as to dispirit presumed union activity. An employer should also not make promises to workers’ pay raise, promotion, benefit or unique favor for opposing

Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Psychology - Essay Example The child learns to anticipate S and make R in anticipation of changes in S. For instance, in trying to reach for a dangling toy, the child makes adjustive steps or positions to reach it in the direction he finds most accessible. A bottle of milk is sucked at the end nipple which he has associated with the source of milk. The pre-operational thought period can be most understood by two concepts: Pre-conceptual stage (2-4 years) and Intuitive phase (4-7 years). During the pre-conceptual stage, the child starts to use different kinds of symbols in play behavior and in language. Wherein, play activities may take in the form of imaginary situations and objects. In the intuitive phase, the child is now able to respond to groups of objects. The child is able to classify objects’ size and shapes. There is now a finer distinction in specific concepts. The principles of reversibility and conservation are acquired. For instance, that the objects are not altered with change in the way they appear. The capacity for logic and reasoning are well-developed in the later stages with respect to concrete and specific objects. The child develops space concepts in the following geometric order: first, nearness, separation, enclosure (Geoghegan et al 1963). There are two characteristics of in the child’s intuitive stage. 1) Egocentricism – the child’s inability to take the point of view of another and 2) Emphasis on successive states of a situation rather than transformations by which one state grades into another. This means that the child doesn’t have a grasp of the facts that the situation can change gradually and grade into a new one; he only emphasizes the beginning and end states. In the period of concrete operations, the child is less egocentric and is able to group objects and events on concrete observations. At this stage, the child is able to think on various concrete

Status and the norms and values of Hipsters Research Paper

Status and the norms and values of Hipsters - Research Paper Example Research questions i) Is subculture still relevant in the society of today? ii) How does subculture existence in the society help in society building? iii) Is the subculture today the same as it was in the yester years? iv) Do people still identify with the subcultures? v) Why would the society still need subcultures? Research hypothesis HO: Subculture is still very relevant to the society of today and its role cannot be overlooked. HA: Subculture is not relevant to the society today and its role can be overlooked Literature review In each and every society there exists a subculture to which different people belong to. A subculture can be categorized as a group of individuals that share similar unique behavior and beliefs which make them unique. This groups allow for people to congregate and share very many things under the guidance of set principles and norms. Their beliefs and behaviours are guided by a certain code to which they tow and adhere to. Share of so much in common within a subculture only serves to foster peace and unity as well as love and understanding within the subculture members. Subcultures also give people a sense of identity and belonging as individuals from a certain subculture can identify themselves with subculture to which they belong. ... Although crucial to the existence of the people, it cannot be ignored that the existence of subcultures also comes along with its challenges which range from tribalism, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, narrow mindedness, hatred and a wide range of many other negative prejudice. Therefore in identifying with this groups and choosing what subculture to belong to or identify with, careful consideration needs to be taken so that the need to identify with a group does not bring about unfair judgement and discrimination amongst people that have existed so peacefully before. An individual can belong to several subcultures and it can allow them to identify with these cultures but it should also serve as an opportunity to foster messages of peace and unity amongst a given set of friends, community, society, nation, continent and even the entire world at large. I am a member of XXXX course at YYYY School. We are a total of 200 students currently attending this program which constitutes a subcultur e. This is because we share the same goal and adhere to several common rules which are supposed to guide our behaviours in pursuit of the same goal, which is to be excellent professionals in the field we have chosen to undertake. The set standards aply to all over us like for instance the course is supposed to take a 4 year period during which we are expected to have class sessions that is supposed to strictly be attended to. During the period we are also anticipated to be taking regularly at certain fixed intervals as well as assignment and term papers with an aim of assessing our understanding and progress during the entire period of the program undertaken. The program also has helped us the students of

Creating Tastier and Healthier Fruits and Veggies with a Modern Article

Creating Tastier and Healthier Fruits and Veggies with a Modern Alternative to GMOs - Article Example Furthermore, he highlights on the effects of repeated use of these chemicals, as weeds would have become resistant to this chemicals and thus hard to get rid of and as a result, this has served to decrease the yields and at times no yields at all. What is sowing change? It can be described as the process of improving vegetables and fruits for instance tomatoes through artificially breeding different plants to create a new species with new traits How has the use of technology fostered the improvement in quality of yields in fruits? Through the employment of modern techniques of agriculture for instance artificial breeding, there has been a development of new species of fruits for instance many chilly flavours which have improved quality of yields. How are the traditional modes of farming relevant to this day and age? They serve as a basis through which research can be carried out. For instance, in a bid to improve on seeds, one must first study the one in use before developing new one. In conclusion, genetically engineered organisms are harmful to the health of individuals and thus there is the need to incorporate and employ alternative ways of improving fruit and vegetables and consequently,

Status and the norms and values of Hipsters Research Paper

Status and the norms and values of Hipsters - Research Paper Example Research questions i) Is subculture still relevant in the society of today? ii) How does subculture existence in the society help in society building? iii) Is the subculture today the same as it was in the yester years? iv) Do people still identify with the subcultures? v) Why would the society still need subcultures? Research hypothesis HO: Subculture is still very relevant to the society of today and its role cannot be overlooked. HA: Subculture is not relevant to the society today and its role can be overlooked Literature review In each and every society there exists a subculture to which different people belong to. A subculture can be categorized as a group of individuals that share similar unique behavior and beliefs which make them unique. This groups allow for people to congregate and share very many things under the guidance of set principles and norms. Their beliefs and behaviours are guided by a certain code to which they tow and adhere to. Share of so much in common within a subculture only serves to foster peace and unity as well as love and understanding within the subculture members. Subcultures also give people a sense of identity and belonging as individuals from a certain subculture can identify themselves with subculture to which they belong. ... Although crucial to the existence of the people, it cannot be ignored that the existence of subcultures also comes along with its challenges which range from tribalism, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, narrow mindedness, hatred and a wide range of many other negative prejudice. Therefore in identifying with this groups and choosing what subculture to belong to or identify with, careful consideration needs to be taken so that the need to identify with a group does not bring about unfair judgement and discrimination amongst people that have existed so peacefully before. An individual can belong to several subcultures and it can allow them to identify with these cultures but it should also serve as an opportunity to foster messages of peace and unity amongst a given set of friends, community, society, nation, continent and even the entire world at large. I am a member of XXXX course at YYYY School. We are a total of 200 students currently attending this program which constitutes a subcultur e. This is because we share the same goal and adhere to several common rules which are supposed to guide our behaviours in pursuit of the same goal, which is to be excellent professionals in the field we have chosen to undertake. The set standards aply to all over us like for instance the course is supposed to take a 4 year period during which we are expected to have class sessions that is supposed to strictly be attended to. During the period we are also anticipated to be taking regularly at certain fixed intervals as well as assignment and term papers with an aim of assessing our understanding and progress during the entire period of the program undertaken. The program also has helped us the students of

The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in Essay

The life Winston experienced in 1984 which has a parallel in contemporary American life - Essay Example Technological innovations have deeply impacted the life of the people all over the world, and it has proved to be the single important factor in â€Å"uniting† the world. Even though â€Å"the world is one family,† is the often-repeated slogan, technology and internet revolution have achieved that goal to a great extent in their areas of influence without ever pronouncing it, and without any supporting propaganda. Weaponry and strategies play a prominent role during wartime, and propaganda has even bigger influence. Misinformation to misguide the enemy contributes in a major way to confuse the enemy. A misinformed enemy is the greatest asset to gain advantage in war-situations. Being in Britain, George Orwell watches from close range how the operations in theaters of Second World War are conducted by the powers that have major stakes in the outcome of the war. The broadcasts of BBC are greatly influenced by the dictates of the Government for its overseas propaganda. Per verse double talk is the order of the time. Orwell’s model for the lying Ministry of Truth in his book 1984 is the British wartime Ministry of Information that censors BBC broadcasts. Politicians alone cannot be blamed for the grave societal ills that are always there. Democracy is not choosing one of the two evils (political parties) once in 4-5 years. It is about active participation of the people and their willingness to protest against the smallest deviations relating to the democratic norms in any area concerning the Republic. Life for an average citizen has mostly been the same under all systems at any given time during the course of history—that is, BAD! 1984 and the conditions prevailing in America at present corroborate this fact. The people have got to be ever vigilant and keep themselves in readiness to fight for their rights. 1984 The common man, an ordinary citizen, always receives the first blow and suffers and therefore, he has to remain ever vigilant an d guard his individual freedom and other democratic rights. George Orwell is a revisionist. Officially sponsored atrocity and hate propaganda are not to his liking. History is not imagination; it needs to be subject to free and impartial enquiry and that is possible under the conditions of freedom of speech and writing. Every era has serious issues to deal with, or the issues are made serious by the rulers of the time. As for the political game, one important observation holds good for all the time, past present and future. The â€Å"Powerful Chairs† (politicians and bureaucrats) wish to maintain their hold on â€Å"Chair- less Powers† (the common citizens) for self-aggrandizement. In the present context, they extensively use the economic weapon called corruption. Take the issue of drug culture. Drugs in any form are illegal and they are confiscated and destroyed; besides the involved individuals are arrested and severe punishment follows, upon indictment. In this area , the Government is not willing to accept any new ideas and the drugs are banned outright. Banned in paper, and yet the industry thrives, due to corrupt practices at the implementation level. After the 9/11 incident, the life of the section of citizens and immigrants has been put under legal microscopic examination. The curbs are more or less similar to the ones in vogue as described in the book

Milk and Fresh Fruit Juice Essay Example for Free

Milk and Fresh Fruit Juice Essay Breast milk can be produced fresh or can be frozen for use at a later date. Breast milk can be left for up to five days in a fridge with a tempeture of 4 degrees Celsius or lower, it can be left up to two weeks in the freezer compartment of a fridge. If the breast milk is frozen it can be left up to six months in a freezer with a tempeture of at least minus 18 degrees Celsius. It is recommended by the department of health that formula milk should be made fresh rather than made up in advance, for more convience liquid formula can be bought. If liquid formula isn’t available then a flask with boiling water can be made so formula can be made when needed. EYMP3-5. 2 It is important to follow carer’s instructions regarding dietary requirements as some children will have severe reactions to some food. Diabetic children will have specific dietary requirements that need to be followed carefully because if not could lead to the child having low or high blood sugars. Children that have food intolerances may get diarrhoea if they are given foods that they are intolerant to. Children with known allergies should be supervised whilst eating. The signs of an allergic reaction are; swelling of the lips and eyes, redness of the face or other parts of the body. They could also start to itch or have difficulty breathing. Children with a severe may be prescribed an epi pen and training should be given before administrating. EYMP3-5. 3 CULTURE| DIETARY REQUIREMENTS|. Hindu| Mainly vegetarianSome lambPork rarelyNo beefSome chickenSome cheeseNo milk or yoghurt with rennetSome eggs and shellfishNo fast periods| Muslim| Halal lamb, beef and chickenNo porkSome cheeseNo milk/yoghurtHalal fish/shellfishFast during ramadan| Christian| Some lambNo porkSome beef and chickenMost cheese/milk/yoghurt/eggsSome fishNo shellfishNo cocoa/tea/coffeeNo fast periods| Jewish| No PorkKosher Beef/chicken/lambNo cheese or milk with meatNo blood spots in eggsNo ShellfishFish with fins and scalesFast periods on Yom Kippur for adults| Sikh| No beefPork rarelySome lambSome chicken and cheeseSome fish and shellfishMilk/yoghurtNo fast periods| Buddhist| Mainly vegetarianEating fish and meat is allowed in Buddhism, though vegetarianism is encouraged. Buddha advised the monks to avoid eating ten kinds of meat for their self-respect and protection: humans, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers, boars and hyenas. Some animals attack people when they smell the flesh of their own kind. Tibetans will not ever eat fish, and usually stay away from foul. The reason is that different kinds of meat supposedly give different kinds of obscurations. Fish, the obscuration of aggression; foul the obscuration of desire; and red meat the obscruration of ignorance. Evidently, they would take the ignorance over the others. Also, it was generally better to eat red meat because the animal killed was very large and only one life had to be taken to feed many people; with fish, you usually have to take many more lives to fill the same number of stomachs. | Rastafarian| Some lambNo porkSome beef, chicken, cheese, milk yoghurtNo shellfishNo fast periods| EYMP 3 – 5. 4 Educating children in food management and portion control is very important as eating habits developed in childhood will continue into later life. Education starts with the parents and it is in the home where all children’s eating habits are formed. Leaflets should be given to parents when they give birth about properly feeding their children and the importance of nutritional value of food. Nurseries and schools should give regular newsletters to parents with the importance of nutritional value in foods. Educational establishments should educate children and parents about the importance of portion control and ensure that correct portion sizes are given. This message can be reinformed with smaller plates. Health Visitors, school nurseries, health professionals and dieticians are all crucial in spreading the message to children and parents about the importance of healthy eating and portion control. They are also crucial in checking that children are gaining weight healthily but not too much. Encouraging lots of physical play in school/nursery will help in keeping childrens weight under control. Educating children in the importance of not bullying other children who are overweight is also very important. SHC 32 – 1. 1 Job description Look after children and ensure they are kept healthy and safe Ensure all health and safety guidelines are strictly adhered to Carry out risk assessments before any new activities/toys are introduced Devise educational and fun activities for children from age 4 to 11 Supervises activities Supervise children Read to the children Supervise toilet trips Prepare healthy and nutricious snacks for children Keep play areas clean and tidy Assist children with homework Baking with the children SHC 32 1. 2 I am expected to follow the following codes of practice: Safeguarding – ensuring that the children are kept safe whilst in our care and also be very observant as to what happens when the children are not in our care, ie if the children arrive with bruises or if they are upset, shaken or distressed when they arrive or as they are leaving. Also to make sure that other staff treat all the children well and do not mistreat any of them. Whistleblowing Policy – ensuring that if there is anything that we do not feel comfortable about, for example if we feel that one of the staff members are behaving inappropriately towards any of the children, we are expected to report this to our Manager to ensure that action is taken to prevent further mistreatment. Health Safety at Work Act – acting responsibly in the environment in which we work. Ensuring that we follow all guidelines to keep our work place safe and that we keep ourselves, our colleagues and the children safe. National minimum standards – EYFS Welfare Requirements – ensuring that children are developing properly in line with targets set for their ages. National Occupational Standards – Ensuring that we conform to best practice set within the industry to make sure that we are complying with standards set. SHC 32 2. 3 Working practices may be affected if hypothetically my Manager decided that a game of hopscotch was not appropriate for the young children to play but, as a younger person, I believed that it was a safe game to play. I would have a discussion with my Manager and explain why I thought it was safe and my Manager would explain that she had carried out a risk assessment for Hopscotch and decided that it was inappropriate. In a previous role, I did not agree with the way a member of staff disciplined young children when she was unhappy with their behaviour. She shouted at the child without coming down to their level or explaining what the child did. I was uncomfortable with this and brought it to the attention of my Manager who addressed this with the member of staff. This gave me the confidence and experience to ensure that I was very aware of the way my colleagues behaved and to take appropriate action when required. SHC 32 4. 1 I have regular meetings with my Supervisor to discuss how I am progressing within my role and any feedback from parents or colleagues is passed on to me. I have regular meetings with my Manager to discuss my progression where I am asked if I need any additional help or whether I have any comments as to how we can make things better. I regularly meet with my colleagues to discuss planning and how we can make things better for the children and planning activities for the different age groups to ensure all our activities are consistent with each other. I have regular appraisals to monitor my progress and to give and receive feedback about my role and development. I have a college tutor who is there to help me develop my role, develop as an employee and develop my skills as I work towards my Level 3. I frequently research new activities and legislation on the internet to consistently develop. EYMP 4 – 4. 1 It is key to review my practice to ensure that I am fully up to date with latest legislation as things change so frequently and it is important that children are always kept safe and parents are always kept fully informed. It is important to think critically about what I do in my work and analyse how I do it and why I do it that way and asses the effectiveness of what I am doing at work and how I can become more effective. It is something that we need to do regularly to get a clearer picture of what we do in our roles and assess whether we are being really effective.

Project Management Of IT Projects

Project Management Of IT Projects Although computer systems have been employed since the 1970s in significant applications military, civil, government, finance, business and so on, unlike any other engineering discipline the success rate of ICT projects remains unacceptably low. Describe and discuss why ICT projects fail and what measures can be taken to improve the chance of success. ICT Project is the development and forward of an ICT system where as an ICT system is a combination of computer hardware, software, input and output, activity data or information and the personal that have to use it. ICT Projects can bring changes and improve organizational activities. Business and processes can become more effective and efficient by the use of information and communication technology (ICT) systems as in case with engineering discipline but unfortunately successful applicants in other field like military, civil, government is still questionable even they are employed there since very long. Performance evaluation of the project can also direct the determination of victory or malfunction of an ICT project. Also such evaluations cannot be justified as good or bad without the successful execution of such project. The core value of any of the ICT projects can be accomplished to figure out its capability to support the organization in finding right result to its troubles. The adaptability of ICT system and its overheads can only be logical if there are benefits accruing to it. Few of the benefits can be listed as below: Escalating capacity of system Efficient access to data Improved efficiency and outputs Transparency Simplicity Lessening of Cost Quality Service Enhanced and effective decision making FAILURE OF ICT PROJECTS: Regardless of the successful stories of ICT projects around the world, studies have proved high speed of ICT Project failure. These failure can be either project stakeholder expectations or correspondence failure where the project failed to meet the specified objectives such as enhancing efficiency, upgrading in resource utilization, superior output etc. It can be process failure which refers to plan overruns, resources blowouts and it may be interaction failure where new system may be or was used shortly and then terminate or occasionally used or not used at all. Although benefits of ICT cannot be disputed but there are several issues and points about its achievements as well as the approach in its implementation. Triumph of any project can be evaluated or measured on different factors but success of information and communication technology (ICT) project depends upon timely completion within budget, trustworthiness (bug-free), user friendliness, easy inexpensive alteration and maint enance in addition that it must meet specifications, goals and satisfaction of users. In order to understand the extent of ICT failure, we need to categorized failures related to information systems which can be technical breakdown, project collapse, organizational crash, environmental breakdown, developmental stoppage and user disappointment ICT failure can be categorized depending upon the degree of its achievement or usage. It can be total failure where initially the ICT was never implemented or in which a new system was put into action but immediately discarded. It can be considered as partial failure as major goals are unattained or in which there are major unwanted results. There is another class of sustainability failure where an initial implementation was first succeeded but is then neglected after a year or so. REASONS FOR FAILURE OF ICT PROJECTS: The failure factors which prevent smooth execution of ICT projects can either be Infrastructure, finance, poor data system, lack of compatibility, skilled personnel, leadership styles, culture, bureaucracy and attitudes There are certain factors which may not prevent the execution or implementation of projects and can the hinder system advancement and its sustainability. Among them are User needs, Technology, Coordination, ICT policy, and Donor pressure. There can be a number of reasons, which require a detailed and careful review to fully identify. ICT projects are often too ambitious and too complex because of the combination of the political, organizational and technical factors lacking top management prop up, insufficient resources of project, lack of user input, poor project management, design problems, scarce training, unsuitable technologies, and many more including incomplete requirements, changing requirements, technology Incompetence, unrealistic expectation. Therefore Projects run into problems, they get far more expensive than budgeted, need more time than planned or do not deliver the intended results. Unfortunately, project failures can also be related to lack of post-mortem probes across all sectors (private and public). Organizations are neither interested to achieve organizational erudition for themselves nor are they allocate their difficult experiences with others. Vision without substance and a budget without vision are two sorts of planning. Problems encountered encase of vision without substance are ambiguity of future vision, lack of organizational vision, current position and time. Budget without vision arises questions as to what problem is being solved, priorities and definition of the roles and responsibilities. Poor Project planning in organizations are due to lack of risk management, business systems are not utilized and understood completely and also lack of concern involvement from management. MEASURES FOR THE SUCCESS OF ICT PROJECT: Success or failure of any ICT project can be measured by identifying institution where we they are now and where the new project is taking them. Success factors are those whose presence or absence establish the success of an ICT project. They can be drivers or enabler. Some of these are vision and strategy, stakeholders support, external pressure and cooperation, consumer expectations, technological alteration, upgrading, and globalization in addition to efficient project coordination and good practices. Degree of change is proportionally related to risk of project success. Bigger change might produces bigger organizational improvement at the cost of big risk of project disaster whereas small change might promise less degree of change at the price of less project risk. Thus we can say that there is a trade-off between threat and transformation. ICT projects can be designed according to models of engineering and managerial concepts. Drafting of complex technical systems in much more perplex social surroundings through development of local knowledge base systems can lead to avoid failures. Review by local sections and organizations to determine the extent of ICT failures can also be very useful and productive approach. These experts can make conclusive and detailed analysis and they can point out flaws and make recommendation for the improvement of ICT projects. Reports and lesson learnt should be available to other practitioners in other organizations for betterment of their projects. Division of the project in smaller groups and controlling subsidiary projects is better approach as changes during the project are sometimes or often unavoidable and difficult to manage. Information systems qualities which are achieved via efficient ICT projects affect the perceived benefits. An ICT project implementation can be considered successful if the perceived benefits are determined and understood. ICT services quality can be reviewed after vigilant assessment of the infrastructure to establish technical functionality. For instance with reference to networking different departments, the point to check is whether it may be has been achieved successfully or not. This in turn will involve a technical and user assessment of the efficient communication systems. Generation of information can be assessed to determine efficiency of Information system quality for budgeting purposes, the question might be whether the information system can generate exact and timely financial information and data or not. Perceived benefits are the end products that can be used to judge the success of the whole system. If the perceived benefits like easier communication, networking, and system integration, timely, relevant, complete and useful information are not realized, then the system will be perceived to have failed. Attributes of each component are shown for clarity and focus. A familiar maxim says, if you cannot plan it, you do not do it. Another maxim says, I never planned to fail, I just failed to plan. Project planning begins as soon as project planning activities determine the organizations strategy and identifies the ICT projects. Under the few limitations, project plans evolve with the lifecycle. These limitations are time and money so each project should have a define deadline and a tight budget. Planning as a tool can be helpful in minimizing waste by classifying the pre-requites conditions for successful ICT implementation rather than rushing into a complex strategy. ICT needs careful planning, communication and coordination prior to implementation instead wise trial and error methods. Clarify goals, targets and objectives shall be established. These goals may form major role in planning process and ultimately help in the successful implementation of ICT projects. ANALYSIS Improvement in the ability of those involved in the design, execution and management of IT related projects shall be enhanced to solve and tackle specific contextual attributes of the institute, division, country or location where such ICT projects will be implemented. Strategy and support are the core areas which lead to success of any ICT project and at the same time finance and lack of fund in addition to weak infrastructure leads to failure of such projects. Maximum benefits and output of ICT implementation can be achieved if there are no failure factors but its not possible but framework can be developed for the maximum output. This framework must cover and identify themes, prioritize activities develop program of action, categorize target groups and in the final stage implement solutions ICT projects must be streamlined and established while focusing following approaches. Never underestimate complex environment where ICT program evolves. Get maximum output and benefits for the target group Staff shall be re-skilled to cop up with changes Identification and utilization of new technologies How institute processes will fit in technology Strong and supportive program management Dont underestimate the total cost of ICT project. Part B COMP1592 Organisation and Project Management Tutorial for Week 1.5 Introduction to ICT Project Management Upload your answers in Week 1.6 List the problems you experienced when you carried out a recent assignment. Try to put these problems into some order of magnitude. For each problem consider whether there was some way in which the problem could have been reduced by better organisation and planning by you. Risk management Team management Team collaboration Schedule Project plan was impractical Identify the main types of personnel employed in an ICT department. For each stage of a typical ICT development project, list the types of personnel who are likely to be involved. Business Analyst (who gathers requirements from client) System Analyst (based on the requirements, design the software) Solution Architect (application is designed on the basis of technical specification) Software Developers (who develops the software) Database developers (design and maintaining of DB) Quality Team (who tests the developed software) Configuration manager A public library is considering the implementation of a computer-based system to help administer book loans at libraries. Identify the stakeholders in such a project. What might be the objectives of such a project and how might the success of the project be measured in practical terms? Stakeholders Following are the stakeholders for computer based library system: Librarian Library Staff Administrator/ Technical Board Book Suppliers/ Volunteers Partner Universities Friends of the Library (Providing funds and assistance to Library) Educators/ Trainers (train the usage of the system) Software House or company developing the computer based system Library Users (those who lend the books) Objectives Cataloguing (classification and indexing books) Compilation of books and the stuff Control of books circulation Track users Efficiently confirm the availability of books Automate the library loan system and make it computer based System will be fully authenticated as it will be solely based on computer Issue and return dates will be catered by the system which will ensure that no preference is given to any public user in case of late return. Automation and authentication will be achieved. Record of all the books will be managed and kept up to date Success of the project: Success of the project will be measured on the following parameters: Productive system usage System efficiency Gradual rise in users will predict the success Ease and comfort for public Reduction of staff Confidence of stakeholders on the system Authentication and automation is an important factor Authentication i.e. more authenticated the system is more will be its progress 4. A software house has developed a customised order processing system for a client. You are an employee of the software house that has been asked to organize a training course for the end-users of the system. At present, a user handbook has been produced, but no specific training material. A plan is now needed for the project which will set up the delivery of the training courses. The project can be assumed to have been completed when the first training course starts. Among the things that will need to be considered are the following: Training materials will need to be designed and created; A timetable will need to be drafted and agreed; Date(s) for the course will need to be arranged; The people attending the course will need to be identified and notified; Rooms and computer facilities for the course will need to be provided for. A. Identify the main stakeholders for this project; Software House Software developers Trainers End users/ Client Customers of client (must not be an end user) B. Draw up a statement of the objectives for this project; Evaluation, planning and business handling in an efficient manner. Identify and develop connections between sales, planning and purchasing (by using tools such as flow charts and activity diagrams) Create business to business environment by creating link with customers. Encourage staff input to identify problems and solutions. Handling customers feedback. C. for the objectives, identify the measures of effectiveness; Evaluation, planning and business handling: efficient report generation and boost the business. Identify and develop connections between sales, planning and purchasing: by comparison with previous records Create business to business environment by creating link with customers: gradual rise of customers Encourage staff input to identify problems and solutions: system improvement and staff satisfaction. Handling customers feedback: customers satisfaction D. For each objective, identify relevant sub-objectives or goals and who would be responsible for each of them Evaluation, planning and business handling: company management is the goal and sales team is responsible. Identify and develop connections between sales, planning and purchasing: sales team is responsible Create business to business environment by creating link with customers: sales team is responsible. Encourage staff input to identify problems and solutions: Human Resource department is responsible. Handling customers feedback: Quality assurance department is responsible. Organisation and Project Management Tutorial for Week 1.6 Introduction to Database Design Upload your answers in Week 1.7 A company providing photo storage on the web needs a database to support the website. Visitors to the site can register by providing personal details including their email address, username and password. Once registered the user can create photograph albums into which they can upload their photographs (stored as files on the company server) along with a suitable caption and description. Users can add as many tags as they need to each one of their albums and their photos in order to classify them and enable meaningful searches. Design a database schema that fulfils these requirements. visitor username password Email address Photograph album Album ID name caption description tags photograph photographID name tags Username is foreign key in photograph album and albumID is foreign key in photograph Convert your logical schema from question 1 into a physical schema identifying each attribute data type. visitor Username Password Email address Photograph album albumID Name Caption Description Tags Photograph photographID Name tags A visitor has multiple photo albums i.e. 1-n relationship between visitor and photo album A photo album has multiple photographs in it i.e. 1-n relationship between photo album and photograph Write SQL statements which will implement the physical schema you created in question 2. Create some INSERT statements which will populate your tables with example data. INSERT INTO `photograph` (`photographID`, `caption`, `tags`) VALUES (photo1, caption1, tag1), (photo2, caption2, tag2); INSERT INTO `photographalbum` (`albumID`, `name`, `caption`, `description`, `tags`) VALUES (album1, name1, caption1, description1, tag1), (album2, name2, caption2, description2, tag2); INSERT INTO `visitor` (`username`, `password`, `emailAddress`) VALUES (visitor1, 12345, [emailprotected]), (visitor2, 12345, [emailprotected]); Using either the MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server database servers provided by the school implement your database using the SQL statements you created in question 3. SET SQL_MODE=NO_AUTO_VALUE_ON_ZERO; CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `photograph` ( `photographID` varchar(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT , `caption` varchar(30) NOT NULL, `tags` varchar(30) NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (`photographID`) ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1; CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `photographalbum` ( `albumID` varchar(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT , `name` varchar(30) NOT NULL, `caption` varchar(30) NOT NULL, `description` varchar(30) NOT NULL, `tags` varchar(30) NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (`albumID`) ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1; CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `visitor` ( `username` varchar(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT , `password` varchar(30) DEFAULT NULL, `emailAddress` varchar(30) DEFAULT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (`username`) ) ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1; Write a SELECT statement which will output all of the filenames in an album with a tag matching punk created by a person called Leibovitz. COMP1592 Organisation and Project Management Tutorial for Week 1.7 Critical Thinking Upload your answers in Week 1.8 For each of the following questions you must explain your strategy and approach to answering the question. Simply providing an answer is not sufficient. 1. In these designs there is a particular shape and a particular colour such that any of the designs which has one, and only one, of these features is called a PHOG. If the Blue Diamond is a PHOG, could any of these other designs be a PHOG? Answer: Since Blue Diamond is a PHOG, it means that the particular shape is Diamond or the particular colour is Blue. Based on this observation, we can say that Red Diamond (because it has the shape but not colour) or Blue Circle (because it has the colour but not shape) are PHOGs. 2. Which of the hidden parts of these cards do you NEED to see in order to answer the following question decisively? For these cards is it true that if there is a circle on the left there is a circle on the right? If above is ordering of respective cards, we should check Card-A and Card-D. For Card-A, if there is a circle on the right side and for Card-D, there is no circle on the left side, we can conclude that: If there is a circle on the left there is a circle on the right. It is useless to check Card-B, because even if there is a circle or not, it shall not affect the conclusion drawn. Similarly for Card-C, if there is a circle on left side, our conclusion shall be justified. And if there is no circle on the left side, it shall not affect the conclusion. 3. There is a truth teller (always tells the truth), a liar (always lies), and one who sometimes answers truthfully and sometimes lies. Each person knows who is who. You may ask three yes or no questions to determine who is who. Each time you ask a question, it must only be directed to one of the people. You may ask the same question more than once, but of course it will count towards your total. What are your questions and to whom will you ask them? Answer: Let us call them TT, AL and TL to symbolize. All of them shall say NO if they are asked if they are a Liar so: Ask TT: If I ask AL if he is a Liar, what would his answer be? If he says YES, TT is a Liar. If he says NO TT, is a Truth Teller. Then ask AL: If I ask TL if he is a Liar, what would his answer be? If he says YES, AL is a Liar. If he says NO, AL is a Truth Teller. And then ask TL: If I asked TT if he is a Liar, what would his answer be? If he says YES, TL is a Liar. If he says NO, TL is a Truth Teller 4. Three boxes are all labeled incorrectly, and you must get the labels right. The labels on the boxes read as follows: [Box 1] buttons [Box 2] coins [Box 3] coins and buttons To gain the information you need to move the labels to the correct boxes, you may remove a single item from one of the boxes. You may not look into the boxes, nor pick them up and shake them, etc. Answer: Since all labels are marked incorrectly, we know that the Box 3 marked with [Coins or Buttons] has any one of the two items and not both. Remove the label from this Box 3, pick one item from this Box 3 (it must be a coin or a button), remove the respective label (depending upon the item obtained) from other two boxes (Bow 1 or Box 2) and put it on this Box 3. Now we have Box 3 that has the right label on it. Now there is one Box without a label and the other Box with incorrect label. Remove the incorrect label because it is on the box that must be having both [Coins and Buttons]. Put this label on the other Box and [Coins or Button] label on this box. In this way we have done the right labeling. COMP1592 Organisation and Project Management Week 1.8 Step Wise: An approach to planning software projects Upload your answers in Week 1.9 What are the products created by the Step Wise planning process? Which of the following are not SMART objectives and why? Market research Research similar products User acceptance testing Investigate product requirements User training Test and Evaluate Design database Implement middleware Improve network performance Measure MTBF SMART means Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, Time Framed Market Research: It is not a SMART objective because it is Specific to a segment of market, product; and there is no time framed specified Research Similar Products: It is not a SMART objective because it is not measurable with respect to other products. Also there are no time lines mentioned for it. User Acceptance Testing: It is not a SMART objective because it is not time bound. Investigate Product Requirements: It is not a SMART objective because the product is not specified; also there is no time line specified for it. User Training: It is not a SMART objective because the User training is not measurable and also there is no time frame mentioned for it. Test and Evaluate: It is not a SMART objective because there is no measuring parameter specified for evaluations. Also time frame is not available in which this testing and evaluation is to be done. Design Database: It is explicitly specified that the database of application is to be developed. But it is not a SMART objective for there is no time specified for it. Implement Middleware: This is a specific, measurable and realistic objective but not SMART because there are no timelines available for implementation. Improve Network Performance: There are no measuring elements that are mentioned for this performance activity. Also time frame is not mentioned for it. It may be specific and realistic but not a SMART objective. Measure MTBF: Measuring Mean Time between Failures is not a SMART objective because there is no time line mentioned to perform this task For each of the objectives in Q2 which are not SMART re-writes the objective so that it may be considered as SMART. Explain your reasoning. SMART means Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, and Time Framed Market Research: Perform Market Research in next 2 weeks to check for need of a mobile phone that supports instant texting at university level and include students of age between 18-24 years. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. Research Similar Products: Perform a Research Study among shop keepers of market in 4 weeks to check for competitors of Nokia 6300. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. User Acceptance Testing: Conduct Software Testing with at least 50 students to check for newly developed Online Registration System in next 5 days. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. Investigate Product Requirements: Have minimum of 5 meetings with client and prepare SRS document of new Software to be developed by the end of this month. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. User Training: Arrange and ensure a single user training session for changes made in one of the modules. This training should not be of more than two hours. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. Test and Evaluate: Conduct thorough testing of new Recording solution after taking minimum of 100 calls in 15 minutes. Repeat this activity 10 times at different timings. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. Implement Middleware: Develop the Middleware of Patient Education module in 2 weeks and engage maximum of 4 available programmers. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. Improve Network Performance: Identify applications that have higher network usage and try to monitor and configure them for next 24 hours to gain 5% improvement in network performance. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. Measure MTBF: Execute parallel applications and determine MTBF within 2 hours after connecting 10 users to it. This is a SMART objective for it is specific about the work to be done, has time frame included into it, and is measurable, realistic and acceptable. 4. Amanda works for the Management Services department of a local authority. She has been active in organising the development of a computerised payroll processing system. The system is in the final stages of development. What products must exist before the activity test program can take place? Products: Software: Scope Context (environment) Information Objectives (input and output) Functionality and performance requirements Objectives: Scope Context What products does this activity create? Software Project Management activities are: Feasibility Report Planning Monitoring Execution Production Delivery Closing End of program 5. You are about to embark on an assessed group project as part of your degree programme. Draw up a list of the risks which may affect your assignment outcome. Individually classify the risks as high, medium and low. What can be done to reduce the impact of these risks on your project? Following are the risks that can be faced during this project or academic assignment. Scale: High Risk- H Medium Risk M Low Risk -R Project risks Budget (H) Budget risk can be reduced if the market value and demand of the project is marketed before. Schedule (M) Proper formal MS project plan will help reduce this risk. Personnel (L) Although it is an academic project and the personnel risk has low COMP1592 Organisation and Project Manageme

Mad Cow Disease :: essays research papers

Mad cow disease kills many and is spreading rapidly throughout Britain and is slowly affecting the United States. Mad cow disease is a serious disease that affects many different species. There are different forms of the disease. This disease has occurred in Britain and can occur in the United States as well. Mad cow disease can be prevented.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mad cow disease has several different names. It is called Bovine Spongiform encephalopathy or BSE. Other names are New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or vCJD (Morris). Transmittable Spongiform encephalopathy or TSE is another name. Spongiform encephalopathies are nervous system disorders which nerve cells of the brain die, causing the brain to assume a sponge-like appearance (Montague, Part 1). In 1985 a veterinarian found odd symptoms in a cattle (Morris). Cows in Britain began to die of mysterious ailments (Montague, Part 1). German physicians Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt and Alfons Jakob first discovered vCJD in its natural form in the 1920’s (Shell, Part 2). In 1996 British government conceded that people were falling victim to a degenerate new brain disease linked to BSE (Morris).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some cows in the United States may already have mad cow disease. It is also very possible that people in the United States may have the human form of the disease. Cows are vegetarians by nature. They can be infected when they are forced to eat parts of other infected animals. When animals are slaughtered for human food at least half of the carcass-hide, hooves, entrails, etc can not be sold for human consumption. It’s then sent to a â€Å"rendering† plant where it’s ground up, boiled down and driven into the consistency of brown sugar. Now, it’s sold for feed for cows, pigs, chickens and pets. Eating infected animals transmits mad cow disease or eating animal parts especially brains and spinal cords (Montague, Part 3). Cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry that are exposed to BSE via animal food can secretly harbour the disease (Morris). Scrapie is a disease that has affected sheep for at least 200 years. Sheep infected with Scrapie rub up ag ainst fences or barns until they scrape away their wool, leaving raw wounds, then they die. Scrapie infected sheep are sometimes fed to cows (Montague). Humans can get the human form of mad cow disease by eating infected meat.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mad cow disease has a severe effect on animals. The infamous disease has increased 23 percent a year in Britain since 1994 (ABC News).

‘’Reunion’’ by John Cheever

A. An essay analyzing the short story This essay is going to be an analysis and interpretation of the short story ‘’Reunion’’ by John Cheever. It will begin with a summary of the short story. Afterwards the plot, the conflict and the setting will be analyzed. Then I’ll move on to the characterization, the possible surprise ending and the theme and message. Finally I will draw parallels between the short story ‘’Reunion’’ and the essay ‘’Living With Strangers’’ by Siri Hustvedt. ‘’Reunion’’ is a short story about a boy called Charlie and his last interaction with his father.Charlie was travelling by train from his grandmother’s to a cottage his mother had rented. He would be in New York for about an hour and thirty minutes while waiting for the new train and therefore he wanted to meet his father. He hadn’t seen his father for three years and Charlie was exi ted to see the man he looked up to again. Because of the lack of time, they couldn’t go and see the father’s club, so they had to find a restaurant in the area. They went to four restaurants and they get more or less thrown out of all four. The father in this short story was either really drunk or/and very arrogant.In all occasions he talked down to waiters or behaved bad in one way or the other. In spite of his bad behavior they managed to get a ‘’Beefeater Gibson’’ at one place. It all ended with the father going up to a newsstand, again with a bad attitude, which was the final straw for Charlie who said ‘’Goodbye, daddy’’ and walked towards the station. That was the last time Charlie saw his father. This short story is one big flashback. The whole story is a flashback that concedes chronologically. It starts with a very short introduction in which Charlie just says ‘’The last time I saw my father was in Grand Central Station.’’, and from thereon he tells the story as a flashback.The conflict in this story is the high expectations from Charlie. Charlie admires his father very much, but when he meets him, he’s an arrogant and probably drunk jerk. Three years have gone, since they last saw each other and that is a long time. People can change a lot during three years and this is probably what also happened to the father or else Charlie just remembered him differently. The end shows that the conflict was too much to bear for Charlie as he says ‘’†¦that was the last time I saw my father. ’’.The reason why it was the last time they saw each other is probably because of the disappointment Charlie must have felt. Probably he doesn’t want to see his former ‘’hero’’ anymore, because he actually is a jerk. The setting takes places in New York City or more precisely around the Grand Central Station. Furt hermore it takes place in four restaurants and by a newsstand. It is most likely to take place in the last half of the 20th century. It was first published in 1962, but the scene could still take place today. The fact that Charlie’s parents are divorced also makes the story more modern, since that problem is very common nowadays.Back in that time where it was written it was unusual to be divorced, actually it was almost weird. Now let?s move on to the characterizations. Charlie is the main character and he’s probably a young boy. He lives with his mother, as his parents are divorced. His age is not mentioned, but in the text there is a line that makes him sound young: ‘’I knew that when I was grown I would be something like him’’. This makes the reader picture him as a child as he says ‘’when I was grown’’. But o the other hand later on he drinks alcohol with his father, which makes him seem to be almost a grownup.T o begin with, he looks very much up to his father, that changes and it all ends with him not wanting to be with his father and actually never wanting to see him again. During the story he doesn’t really say much. Of course he’s the narrator, but it is the father who leads the conversations. The father owns a club and has a secretary. He smells of ‘’†¦a rich compound of whiskey and after-shave lotion, shoe polish, woollens, and the rankness of a mature male. ’’. The fact that he smells partly of whiskey suggests that he had been drinking. His behavior could also verify that, as he behaved like an unstable person.He could also just be very, very arrogant as he almost feels that he is more than for example the waiters. He talks down to people and is generally very unpleasant. Neither his name or age is mentioned, but he might be in the mid-forties. The characters are directly told about by the narrator for example in this part of the text à ¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢I smelled my father the way my mother sniffs a rose. It was a rich compound of whiskey and after-shave lotion, shoe polish, woollens, and the rankness of a mature male’’. He describes his father directly with a comment on his smell.It is called ‘’direct characterization’’ The father is a flat character – he remains the same throughout the story. He remains being a jerk, while Charlie is a round character as he develops throughout the story. At first he is excited to see his father again, but he ends up not wanting to ever see him again. We are dealing with a first person narrator, who in this story is the protagonist. The ending could be seen as a surprise ending since Charlie starts being excited to see his father but ends up saying ‘’Goodbye’’ and never wanting to see him again.On the other hand it isn’t really surprising, as the father throughout the story seems very unpleasant and may be even embarrassing to be around. It is a case of argument. The themes in this short story are love, father and son relationship, expectations, abuse of alcohol, disappointment (the grass isn’t always greener on the other side) and the hard word ‘’goodbye’’. The message here must be not to have too high expectations and that people change. Now it’s time to draw parallels between ‘’Reunion’’ and ‘’Living With Strangers’’. These two stories both take place in New York and they both touch the subject ‘’the meeting with strangers’’.In ‘’Living With Strangers’’ the narrator tells us about strange strangers, but in ‘’Reunion’’ Charlie’s father actually is the strange stranger. He marks the people he talks down to, with his boisterousness. They will maybe think back some time of the ‘’drunk/arrog ant jerk, who thought he owned the world’’. Generally these two stories show the two sides of a story. Another parallel could be the ‘’not making a big deal out of something’’. The waiters f. ex. don’t make a big deal out of the boisterousness, they just send Charlie’s father outside. That is the ‘’PRETEND IT ISN’T HAPPENING’’-rule.