Marketing mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing mix - Essay Example In order to do this, he makes use of a number of tools, which is known as the marketing mix. Marketing mix generally consists of the choices an organisation has to make to introduce a product or service or to increase the saleability of the product. According to renowned marketing guru Philip Kotler, "The marketing mix is the set of marketing tools the firm uses to pursue its marketing objectives in the target market" (Kotler P.2003, Marketing Management, pg 15). In 1960, E.J. McCarthy put together the 4Ps of marketing, which is now widely considered to be the best way to make the marketing mix work most effectively. Small business owners can use this marketing mix model of the 4Ps - Product, Price, Place, Promotion effectively when deciding to introduce a new product or when they want to evaluate their existing strategy. Any business that wants to sell its products must first choose the market it wants to sell its product to. Once that is determined it is easy to identify the customers and their needs. A product should also be one that has to be replaced periodically. Customers who buy the products should come back to buy again once they use the product. This will automatically increase the volume of sales. When choosing a product based on popularity it is very important to time the product. A product has to be picked before it becomes popular and it should be at the beginning of the product life cycle that means building product awareness, low pricing, selective distribution and innovative promotion. Quality is another important aspect to be considered before choosing a product. The range of products offered must be narrow. The product should be simple to start with. More products can be added as the business grows. The design and appearance of the product are also very important for a product to succeed. A product must be functional and satisfy the needs and requirements of the customer. For example, Haagen-Dazs ice cream used a high

United Grain Growers Essay Example for Free

United Grain Growers Essay United Grain Growers Limited (UGG) is the third-largest grain handler and distributor of crop inputs (seed, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides) in Canada. UGG was formed in 1906 and, until 1993, operated as a farmer-owned cooperative whose primary business and income came from grain handling in western Canada. Western Canada has more than 100,000 farms, and in 1997, farm expenditures on crop inputs and feed totaled approximately C$4 billion. In the late 1990s, Canadas share of world wheat trade was 22 percent, virtually all produced in western Canada. UGG fulfills a key role in the â€Å"seed-to-supermarket† food system. It provides a reliable supply channel, with on-time delivery to exacting specifications. Canadian law requires that all wheat and barley destined for human consumption be sold through the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). These are known as â€Å"Board grains,† for which UGG is paid a preestablished handling tariff per tonne. UGG also buys â€Å"non-Board grains† (e. g. , canola, flax, linola, peas, feed barley, and other grains not subject to the CWB monopoly) and markets them domestically and internationally. UGG earns a margin on non-Board grains based on the efficiency with which it markets and manages inventory and hedges its positions on world futures markets. UGG serves as the link between the CWB and the farmer for handling Board grains, and between the farmer and the market for non-Board grains. UGG delivers Board grains, purchased on behalf of the CWB, to meet CWB sales contracted on domestic and international wheat and barley markets. UGG sells non-Board grains, purchased directly from farmers, on its own account in domestic and international markets. United Grain Growers Ltd. (UGG), a Canadian grain distributor, audited its exposure to a number of key risks, especially the impact of weather on grain volumes and operating income. Understanding these risks was crucial because the company was in the midst of a major modernization and diversification program. But although UGG already managed traditional risks through a variety of control processes, it was still faced with the problem of how to deal with the biggest risk; the weather.

All for Show †The Post-Petrarchan Poetry of Wyatt, Sidney, and Spenser

The difficulty of discussing the representation of women in the work of sixteenth century English poets like Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Philip Sidney, and Edmund Spenser is the need to address authorial intent in its historical context. As a critic, one cannot attribute to words what the author did not intend; however, one can attribute intentions that the author did not word. For example, it is easy to justify the objectification and subordination of women in the English-Petrarchan sonnet tradition but is it entirely factual? Does object of desire necessarily mean desired object? Does such a designation deny the agency or even apply to the beloved? The question to ask is whether contemporary criticism can be applied retroactively; that is, whether theories concerning objectification or ‘othering’ are relevant merely because they fit. The real challenge is to decide if evidence of objectification can be discovered or simply applied to a text that has no concept of it. It is p articularly disconcerting that much of the modern renaissance criticism researched for this essay sees no possible contradiction in linking rhetorical evidence to intent; that is to say, they show little evidence of investigating the possible discrepancies between treating objectification as ahistorical and socially contextual, even when they argue for the historically situated nature of identity. One must also consider the fact that theories of objectification interpret and interrogate the text, not the author; that is unless one presumes they are the same thing. To do so, however, commits one to a series of requisite and problematic assumptions. The first of these is the exchange of mimesis for art as an imitation of the author, a shadow of a shadow. Speaking his... ...ing Astrophil and Stella to implode under its own contradictions Sidney ensures that its only lasting consequence is the affect it has on the beloved. In the same way Spenser tries to forge a tangible bond between himself and the beloved by rendering them both physically present in the words of Amoretti, Sidney tries to promote his signifiers to signifieds in an effort to exchange â€Å"semiological [intimacy] for sexual desire† (Stephens 93). The difference is that Spenser offers the beloved a shared space while Sidney seeks exclusive control of the courtship. Much like Wyatt tries to have the last word in Whoso List to Hunt, Sidney and Spenser write their sonnets in anticipation of the beloved’s response. As their efforts to adapt her subjectivity show, all three poets recognize the beloved as powerful, but is this the power of a reader or a social and sexual equal?

Grapes of Wrath

Krystal Giffen The Grapes of Wrath Part 1: Literary Analysis 1. A. â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœWhat’s this call, this sperit? ’ An’ I says, ‘It’s love†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (page 23, Chapter 4). This quote is an example of an metaphor. The use of this metaphor was to show the reader why the preacher doesn’t preach anymore. The effect the metaphor had on the reader was, for them to see how the preacher really viewed ‘the sperit’. B. â€Å"One cat’ takes and shoves ten families out. Cat’s all over hell now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 8, Chapter 2). This quote is an example of symbolism. The truck driver uses the animal cat to describe the people who tractor out croppers from their crops and homes.The effect of using a cat to describe someone was negative. The cat description made the reader view the person who tractors out croppers as evil, cunning and thoughtless. C. â€Å"†¦ The Bank -or the Company-needs-wants-insists-must have -as though the Bank or the Company were a monster, with thought and feeling which had ensnared them. † (pg. 31, Chapter 5). This quote is an example of an epic simile. The use of his simile is to show the reader that the Bank or Company that takes the land acts as a monster, being mean and cold. D. â€Å"Can you live without the willow tree? Well, no, you can’t.The willow tree is you. The pain of that mattress there – that dreadful pain – that’s you. † (pg. 89, Chapter 9). This quote is an example of a metaphor. The use of this metaphor is to relate all of the families belongings to them, that the belongings are indeed part of them. The effect of this metaphor is to show the reader how much the families belongings actually meant to them. E. â€Å"Damn it,’ he said, ‘a pick is a nice tool (umph), if you don’ fight it (umph). You an’ the pick (umph) workin’ together (umph)’ (pg. 298, Chapter 22). This quote is an example of Epizeuxis.The use and effect of this epizeuxis is to show emphasis on how heavy the pick was and how hard it was to work back then. The epizeuxis helps the reader image Tom working in the hot sun with the heavy pick, working for just twenty-five cents an hour. 2. A. â€Å"You know the land is poor. You’ve scrabbled at it long enough, God knows. The squatting tenant men nodded and wondered and drew figures in the dust, and yes, they knew, God knows†¦ The owner men went on leading to their point: You know the land’s getting poorer†¦ If they could only rotate the crops they might pump blood back into the land.Well, it’s too late†¦ A man can hold land if he can just eat and pay taxes; he can do that. Yes, he can do that until his crops fail one day and he has to borrow money from the bank†¦ a bank or a company can’t do that, because those creatures don’t breathe air, don’t eat side-meat. They breather profi ts; they eat the interest on money†¦ Can’t we just hang on? Maybe the next year will be a good year. God knows how much cotton next year†¦ Next year, maybe†¦ We can’t depend on it. The bank-the monster has to have profits all the time. It can’t wait. It’’ die.No, taxes go on†¦ The tenant system won;t work anymore†¦ You’ll have to get off the land. The plow’ll go through the dooryard† (pg. 33, Chapter 5). The significance of this passage is that it shows how the Banks would take the land from the croppers and how the croppers were crushed. This passage relates to the work as a whole because it shows the reader how the migration to the west started, how hundreds of families would get evicted from their land and forced to move elsewhere. B. â€Å" ‘Who’s in here? ’ Ma asked. ‘What is it you want, mister? ’ ‘What you think I want?I want to know who’s in here. â €™ ‘Why, they’s jus’ us three in here. Ma an’ Granma an’ my girl. ’ ‘Where’s your men? ’ ‘Why they went down to clean up. We was drivin’ all night. ’ ‘Where’d you come from? ’ ‘Right near Sallisaw, Oklahoma. ’ ‘Well, you can’t stay here. ’ ‘We aim to get out tonight an’ cross the desert, mister. ’ ‘Well you better. If you’re here tomorra this time I’ll run you in. We don’t want none of you settlin’ down here. ’†¦ ‘Mister,’ she said, ‘ you got a tin button an’ a gun. Where I come from, you keep your voice down. ’ She advanced on him with the skillet.He loosened the gun in the holster. ‘Go ahead,’ said Ma. ‘Scarin women/ I’m thankful the men folks ain’t here. They’d tear ya to pieces. In my country you watch your tongue. ’ The man took two steps backward. ‘Well, you ain’t in your country now. You’re in California, an’ we don’t want you goddamn Okies settlin’ down. ’ †¦ ‘Yeah, Okies! An’ if you’re here when I come tomorra, I’ll run ya in† (pg. 215, Chapter 18). The significance of this passage is it shows how life changed so much once the Joads moved west, they were in someone else’s territory now.This passage shows how the Joads would have to change the way they acted since they moved to California. This passage relates to the work as a whole because it shows the reader how difficult and cruel it was to move to the West back during the dust bowl. People weren’t treated equally because of were they came from and how poor they were. C. â€Å"They had no more the stomach-tearing lust for the rich acre and a shining blade to plow it, for seed and a windmill beating its wings in the air. T hey arose in the dark no more to hear the sleepy birds’ first chittering, and the morning wind dear acres.These things were lost, nd crops were rechoned in dollars, and land was valued by principal plus interest, and crops were bought and sold before they were planted. Then crop failure, drought, and flood were no longer little deaths within life, but simple losses of money. And all their love was thinned with money, and all their fierceness dribbled away in interest until they were no longer farmers at all, but little shopkeepers of crops, little manufacturers who must sell before they can make. Then those farmers who were not good shopkeepers lost their land to good shopkeepers.No matter how clever, how loving a man might be with earth and growing things, he could not survive if he were not also a good shopkeeper. And as time went on, the business men had the farms, and the farms grew larger, but there were fewer of them† (pg. 231-232, Chapter 19). The significance of this passage is it shows the reader how the land used to be owned by people, farmers, who loved the land and cared for the land but it turned into a business over the years. Farming wasn’t about the feel or love anymore, it was all about money.This passage relates to the work as a whole because the whole book is about how money can affect people, how ownership can turn into something terrible and turn people against each other. D. â€Å"She sat down and opened the box. Inside were letters, clippings, photographs, a pair of earrings a little gold signet ring and a watch chain braided of hair and tipped with gold swivels†¦ For a long time she held the box, looking over it, and her fingers disturbed the letters and then lined them up again†¦ And at last she made up her mind†¦ She took a letter from an envelope and dropped the trinkets in the envelope.She folded the envelope and put it in her dress pocket†¦ She lifted the stove lid and laid the box gently am ong the coals. Quickly the heat browned the paper†¦ She replaced the stove lid and instantly the fire sighed up and breather over the box† (pg. 108, Chapter 10). The significance of this passage is it shows the reader how it’s so hard for the Joad’s to just give up all their belongings and leave. This relates to the story as a whole because it show’s how during the dust bowl you had to give up a lot if you wanted to survive. E. â€Å"I know, Ma. I’m a-tryin’.But them deputies- Did you ever see a deputy that didn’ have a fat ass? An’ they waggle their ass an’ flop their gun aroun’. Ma,’ he said, ‘if it was the law they was workin’ with, why, we could take it. But it ain’t the law. They’re a-workin’ away at our spirits. They’re a-tryin’ to make us cringe an’ crawl like a whipped bitch. They tryin’ to break us. Why, Jesus Christ, Ma, they comes a time when the on’y way a fella can keep his decency is by takin’ a sock at a cop. They’re workin’ on our decency† (pg. 278-279, Chapter 20). The significance of this passage is it shows how even the law was corrupt do to greediness.The deputies were corrupt so they could eat, feed their family and feel powerful. This passage relates to the work as a whole because it shows how people change once hunger and stable living comes into play. The people who have nothing are honest and look out for each other while people who have something do everything in their power to keep it, even if that means corrupting what’s right. Part 2: Plot, Setting, Themes and Vocabulary 3. Tom Joad- A young man, the favorite child of the Joad family. Tom went to jail for killing a man at a bar fight, but he got put on parole after 4 years in prison for his good record.He doesn’t regret what he did, he even says he’d do it again if he had to. Tom is the one who guides his family throughout the book, acting as the protector of the family. 4. Tom’s purpose in the story was to lead the Joad family to California and to make sure he could do everything in his well-being to make living possible for him and his family. Tom is a dynamic character, he changes when there are different people around. He knows when he needs to keeps pushing or when he needs to stop. 5. Tom is related to the majority of the other characters.Toms relationship with Casy is that they met when Tom was searching for his family, and they helped each other out because they knew what each other was going through. Tom and Floyd are very similar in that they want they same thing, they want to do good for their family. Tom was the once who suggested that Ivy and Sairy Wilson travel with the Joads. Muley Graves- A former neighbor of the Joads. Helped Tom find his family when he first got out of jail. Muley got evicted from his house just like the Joads but he could ’t leave the land, his family left him for California. 4.Muley’s function in the story was to help Tom find his family when he got out of jail and went back home. Muley was a static character who just showed his anger towards the bankers and Willy. 5. Muley was the Joad’s neighbor back in Oklahoma, and used to go to church where Casy was the preacher. Ma Joad- Ma Joad is the mother of the Joad family, she’s the one who is trying to keep the family together throughout the whole book. She takes on all her motherly duties without the blink of an eye. She is tough and won’t get pushed around easily but doesn’t know when not to speak up when she is getting pushed around. . Ma’s purpose in the story was to hold the family together and be strong when no one else could. She helped the family stay together though all the tough times. Ma was a dynamic character who changes a lot throughout the story. She was very quiet at the being of the story but once the story progressed she got more vocal and outspoken. 5. Ma is the mother of all the Joad family. She used to bring the Joad’s to the church that Casy used to preach at. The Wilson’s helped Ma out by sharing the food they had with the whole Joad family.Pa Joad- The tenant farmer who got evicted from his farm, the father of the Joad family and married to Ma Joad. Once he got evicted he focused on getting the family to California. Once they got to California Pa wasn’t able to find work and became weaker than Ma and became desperate. 4. Pa’s purpose was to help the family get to California and find work once they got there. Since Pa didn’t find work, he helped Ma out. Pa is a static character who doesn’t change much during the book. 5. Pa is the father of the Joad father and went to the church that Cast used to preacher at.Pa helped any way he could with the Wilson’s car when it was broken-down. Jim Casy- Jim was a former prea cher until he gave it up because he got to thinking that ‘the sperit’ he believed in so much was just love, and the other spirit wasn’t in him anymore. He goes along with the Joad family to California but before he could find a job he got arrested to protect Tom during a fight between laborers and a deputy from the California police. During the trip to California he helps the Joad family out a lot by praying for both Granma and Granpa Joad when they passed. 4.Casy’s purpose in the story was to the Joad family by praying when it needed to be done like at Granma and Granpa Joad’s deaths. Casy was a dynamic character because at the beginning of the story he was alone because he didn’t want to preach anymore but as the story moved on he preached when he had to and he also saved Tom and Floyd by giving himself in. 5. Jim Casy used to the preacher that the Joad family used to go to, he baptized Tom when he was younger. Casy helped Floyd out by givi ng himself up instead of letting Tom and Floyd take the blame. Casy was the preacher of Muley’s family too.Noah Joad- The first born of the Joad family. He was deformed at birth because Pa panicked during the delivery and tried to pull him out. He felt that he wasn’t as loved as the other Joad children so he left the family at a stream near the California border, saying he was better off there. 4. Noah’s purpose in the story was to help the family get to California. Noah could be both a dynamic or a static character because throughout the whole story he didn’t change much but at the river he took a bold step and left the family. 5. Noah was the oldest son of the Joad family, who used to go see Casy preach.Noah never met Floyd and Muley used to be his neighbor. Rose of Sharon (Rosasharn)- the oldest daughter in the Joad family who is married to Connie. She journeys to California with Connie and the Joad family while being pregnant. The couple imagines how life will be once they get to California but once reality hits Connie abandons her during their first stop in California, and her baby is born dead. 4. Rose of Sharon’s purpose in the book was to be strong when so many bad things happen in life all at once. Rose of Sharon showed how you had to be mature and strong even though live was tough.Rose of Sharon was a dynamic character because at first she was love struck but then she started acting immature and babyish. But by the end of the book she matured and was a strong woman. 5. Rose of Sharon was the oldest daughter in the Joad family. She used to be preached by Jim Casy and was married the Connie. Ivy and Sairy Wilson were friends while they traveled together. Connie- He is Rose of Sharon’s husband who has unrealistic dreams with his wife. He dreams too much and soon abandons Rose of Sharon to go study tractors and to hopefully get paid 3 dollars and hour. His leaving surprises only Rose of Sharon. . Connie’s purpose in the story was to leave the Joad family to show how stress, depression and money can really move some people. Connie was also a dynamic character because he was ‘in love’ with Rose of Sharon for the whole story until they got to California and reality hit that getting a job was harder than they both thought. Connie left the Joad family in hopes that he would be able to make 3 dollars a day back in Oklahoma. 5. Connie was married to Rose of Sharon making him a brother in-law and son in-law of the Joad family. Casy was just an acquaintance of Connie. Connie never met Muley or Floyd.Granma Joad- Granma loved having Casy around because she was a Christian. She too loved to torment Granpa Joad just like he did her. Once Granpa died she started to slowly die herself, she dies right after the Joad family reaches California. 4. Granma’s purpose in the story was to show even though she was dying the family never left her behind because she was family. Granma was static character because while Granpa was alive all they did was rise hell with each other but once he didn’t she got sick and didn’t talk or do much. 5. Granma Joad was the mother of Pa and the Granma of the Joad children.She loved Casy because she was a devoted Christian and he was a preacher. Granma Joad appreciated the help of the Wilson’s during Granpa’s death. Granma never met Floyd. Granpa Joad- He was the one who ran the Indian’s off of the land to make the Joad farm possible, is now old and feeble. He loves to torment his wife and family. He is connected to the land and didn’t want to leave it for California, but Tom drugged him to get him to come. On their first stop along the journey Granpa dies of a stroke, most likely a heat stroke. 4. Granpa’s purpose in the story was to show his love for the land was stronger that anything else.Once he left the land he got sick and died. Granpa was a dynamic character because during th e whole story he would just rise hell for the whole family but then once he was about to die he broke down and started crying. 5. Granpa Joad was the father of Pa and the Granpa of the Joad children. Granpa like Casy because he would pray for his wife. Granpa Joad never really met the Wilson’s but they helped him out tremendously by giving him a tent to die in. Granpa never met Floyd and was the neighbor of Muley. Al Joad- 16-year old son of the Joad family. His main interest is in girls and cars.He was responsible for the whole family on the long voyage to California because the car was his responsibility. If something happened to the car it would have been his fault, resulting in the suffering of his family. He looks up to Tom throughout the book, but soon becomes his own man. He falls in love with Agnes Wainwright while working and stays with her instead of leaving with his family. 4. Al’s purpose in the story was to help keep the car running on their journey to Cal ifornia. Al made sure the car kept running all the way to California and made sure it never broke down.Al was a dynamic character because he was some what immature at the beginning of the story but he ended up acting very mature by the end of the story. He was idolized Tom, but soon grew up to be his own man. 5. Al was the middle son of the Joad family. He helped Floyd fix his car before they had to flee the Hooverville. Al helped the Wilson’s by fixing their car too. Casy made sure Al wasn’t around when he got arrested so their wouldn’t be any connection to Tom. Ivy and Sairy Wilson- The Joads met the Wilson’s on their first night stop on their journey to California.Both of the Wilson’s were sweet and nice, they lent their tent to the Joad’s so that Granpa Joad would have a comfortable place to die. To return the favor Al and Tom fixed their broken-down car, and then they two families decided to travel to California together. During the jou rney their car break down again and Al and Tom fix it again but before they can move on the Wilson’s said they couldn’t move on because of Sairy’s health. 4. The Wilson’s purpose in the story was to help the Joad family by sharing their food and their car with them. The Wilson’s showed the reader that even during these tough times people could still be nice.The Wilson’s were static characters always being helpful but knew because of Sairy’s health they would eventually have to stop. 5. The Wilson’s relationship with the Joad family was they helped each other out, they were friends. The Wilson’s liked Casy because before the Joad’s left the Wilson’s Casy prayed for Sairy even though he didn’t want to. The Wilson’s never met Muley or Floyd. Uncle John- Pa’s brother who is crazy, stringy and mean. John is filled with guilt and shame because years ago he didn’t get a doctor for his 4 month pregnant wife who complained of stomach pains and died the day after from a ruptured appendix.He blames himself for her death and because of it his loneliness cuts him off from people and his appetite. 4. Uncle John’s purpose in the story was to help out in any way he could but to also show selfishness when he got depressed. Uncle John was a static character because throughout the whole story he just felt guilty and ashamed of what he did so long ago. 5. Uncle John was Pa’s brother and the Uncle of the Joad family. He talked to Casy about his sins a few times and appreciated the advice of Casy. Uncle John was the neighbor of Muley and never really met Floyd.Ruthie Joad- The sencond and youngest Joad daughter who has almost a twin-like relationship with her younger brother Winfield. During the book they do almost everything together, they feed off of each other’s energy. 4. Ruthie’s purpose in the story was to help out Ma in any way she could and so me what look after Winfield whenever they were together. Ruthie was a dynamic character because at the beginning of the story she acted fearless but during the story we found out she was only fearless with Winfield by her side. She also acted immaturely and didn’t think things through before she spoke. 5.Ruthie was the youngest daughter of the Joad family and used to be preacher by Casy. The Wilson’s were companions of hers, Muley was her old neighbor and she never really met Floyd. Winfield Joad- He is the youngest Joad at the age of ten. He does everything with Ruthie. 4. Winfield’s purpose was to help Ma out in any way he could. Winfield was the youngest child in the story and had to grow up during these tough times making it hard to act like normal ten year-old. Winfield was a static character because he was just a child throughout the whole story. 5. Winfield was the youngest child of the Joad family.He traveled with the Wilson’s and Casy but never t alked out associated with them much. Muley used to be Winfield’s neighbor and he never really met Floyd. Floyd Knowles- A migrant worker who Tom meets at the first Hooverville. He gives Tom word on a job up north. His outspokenness gets him into an argument with a deputy where Casy gets arrested for him and Tom’s sake. 4. Floyd’s purpose in the book was to help the Joad’s find work and to work with Tom in making labor unions. Floyd was a dynamic character because he seemed go know when to stop talked when he first got introduced but once the deputy came into the story he was outspoken. . Floyd helped the Joad family out by giving them word on work up north. Casy gave himself in for Floyd and Tom. Floyd never met the Wilson’s or Muley. Part 3: Plot, Setting, Themes and Vocabulary 6. The central settings of the story were in Oklahoma and California. The significance of Oklahoma was that was where the whole story started. Oklahoma was were the Joad fa mily grew up but they got evicted from their house. Oklahoma got changed while they were living there. Granpa Joad stole the land and then the land got stolen from him but the Bank Company.Oklahoma was not there home anymore so they moved on to California. California was described as beautiful land with plenty of jobs available. But once they reached California they learned that the land was beautiful but the people who owned it were not. California was dirty land because of the people who ran it. California wasn’t what the Joad’s expected and they wanted to change that, and Tom eventually did. 7. The exposition of Grapes of Wrath is Tom gets paroled out of jail and goes to find his family. He finds out both his family and his Uncle got evicted from their homes so they travel to California for work.The main conflict throughout the whole book is the drought of the Dust Bowl, which results in hundreds of families getting evicted from their homes and being forced to move west. The Joad family was one of those hundreds of families who had to move. The rising action in the story is the journey of the Joad family to California. Once in California the Joad family has a hard time finding work, and at the first Hooverville get into an argument with a local deputy, resulting in Casy getting arrested. The family lives at a government camp for a while but then move on to find work.One night there was a strike at an orchard and Tom finds Casy there. Casy gets murdered by one of the policeman that was trying to stop the strike. In response, Tom kills the policeman in spite, which is the climax of the story. Tom becomes an outlaw and has to hide from the world to protect his family. In the end Tom ends up running, leaving the rest of his family to escape and be free, which is the resolution of the story. 8. The major themes presented in the work are Bad treatment of the migrant workers, also known as the Okies; the Survival of Kinship and Growth and Maturity.Ba d treatment of the migrant workers in one of the major themes in the Grapes of Wrath because all of the Okies looking for work would be smaller wages and would have to live in Hoovervilles. The workers barely made it by because of how badly they were being treated and paid but the California police and land owners. An example of this would be how the first deputy treated Floyd and Tom because they were outspoken. The Survival of Kinship is also another major theme in the Grapes of Wrath because Ma tries to keep the family together no matter what. During the Dust Bowl all you could count on was your family, no one else.Family is the only thing the Okies really had left, so they would do anything in there power to stay together. An example of keeping the family together would be when Tom had to knock Uncle John out to have him move up north with the rest of the family. Growth and Maturity was also a major theme in the Grapes of Wrath. Every character grew and matured during the story, showing the reader that the only why they would be able to keep living would be to grow up and become mature. An example would be how Rose of Sharon matured after her baby was a still born. 9.Emulsion- a mixture of mutually insoluble liquids in which one is dispersed in droplets throughout the other; a light-sensitive coating on photographic film or paper. â€Å"Now the dust was evenly mixed with the air, an emulsion of dust and air† (pg. 3, Chapter 1). Insinuation- to imply in a subtle, indirect, or artful way â€Å"His voice had the same quality of secrecy and insinuation his eyes had† (pg. 8, Chapter 2). Judiciously- having, exercising, or characterized by sound judgement â€Å"The driver squinted judiciously ahead and built up the speed of the truck a little† (pg. 8, Chapter 2). Auger- a tool for boring †¦ and sometimes they drove big earth augers into the ground for soil tests† (pg. 31, Chapter 5). Beseech- to beg urgently â€Å"He did not know or own or trust or beseech the land† (pg. 35, Chapter 5). Leanto- A shed with a single-pitch roof attached to the side of a building; A shelter made from planks or branches raised in the front on poles. â€Å"Joad paused at the entrance to the tool-shed leanto, an no tools were there†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 40, Chapter 6). Petulant- Unreasonably irritable or ill tempered; peevish. â€Å"†¦ the mouth held tight and small, the little eyes half scowling, half petulant† (pg. 45, Chapter 5).Peddler- One who peddles for a living, a hawker; also called â€Å"packman†. â€Å"She aimed to go for that peddler with the ax†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 48, Chapter 5). Boils- A painful swelling of the skin and subcutaneous tissue with a hard pus-filled center, caused by bacterial infection, usually occurring at a hair follicle. â€Å"Look out for boils on that jackrabbit† (pg. 50, Chapter 5). Blazoned- To paint or depict (a coat of arms) with accurate heraldic detail; to adorn or embellish with or as if with blazons; to announce publicly; proclaim loudly and widely â€Å"†¦ the garages with blazoned signs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 61, Chapter 5). Jalopy- An old, dilapidated car. Get ‘em out in a jalopy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 61, Chapter 6). Heifer- A young cow, especially one that has not yet given birth to a calf. â€Å"Well, one day he takes a heifer over to Graves’ bull† (pg. 70, Chapter 7). Meerchaum- A claylike material consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate; A tobacco pipe with the bowl made from this. â€Å"Over old Tom’s unwhiskered cheek bones the skin was as brown as meerschaum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 71, Chapter 8). Citadel- A fortress, typically on high ground, protecting or dominating a city. â€Å"She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 74, Chapter 8).Jabbering- talk rapidly and excitedly but with little sense; fast, excited talk that makes little sense. â₠¬Å"All over the State, jabbering in the Hoovervilles† (pg. 237, Chapter 19). 10. A). Why were the deputies corrupting the law and treating the Okies unfairly? B). What the importance of keeping the family together even though Tom killed another man and was on the run from the law? C). Did Rose of Sharon do any real sin that would result in her having a still born baby? D). Was it right of Casy to give himself up for Tom, just so he could get in trouble with the law again? E). What was the outcome of the Dust Bowl? Grapes of Wrath Steven Messner November 1, 2012 Changes Along the Road John Steinbeck’s book, The Grapes of Wrath, shows the audience future changes in America, namely the coming Industrial Revolution, and the conflict between the locals and the Okies. These themes are supported by subplots of desperation, hunger, and the upcoming change in America. These subplots are particularly highlighted and illustrated in chapters 11 and 21. Steinbeck begins chapter 11 with a metaphor illustrating the coming change in the United States.The Industrial Revolution was coming and Steinbeck used this metaphor to show how machines would change the way the farmers lived their life. Steinbeck used this chapter not only for a picture of their vacant homes but as future inference for the coming times of disconnect between farmers and their land. â€Å"So easy that the wonder goes out of work, so efficient that the wonder goes out of the land and working it, and with the wonder the deep understanding and the rela tion† (115) Farming, to Steinbeck, was not just a way that crops were produced, but a lifestyle.Steinbeck understood that the little things mattered to farmers and their industry. Things like the way that land was worked from generation to generation, the care and dedication that were put into the seasonal turning of the soil, and rotating the crops to make sure the land stayed well. All these things were, for the farmer, not simply for this short benefit, but supported his long term goals. His love for the land caused the land to love him back. Steinbeck understood this relationship between the farmers and the land.The coming Industrial Revolution would change this relationship between farmers and their land. The way of life for these farmers was changing before their very eyes. The dedication and care that farmers once needed would be swept away. â€Å"And in the tractor man there grows the contempt that comes only to a stranger who has little understand and no relationâ₠¬  (115) Steinbeck is touching on the idea that once the farming industry is revolutionized, there would no longer be a need for small family farmers. When the industry is revolutionized, large companies would be able to farm great amounts of land.They would be able to mass produce crops, with little concern for quality, and ultimately, the quality of the soil itself would deplete. â€Å"When the corrugated iron doors are shut, he goes home, and his home is not the land. † (116) The revolution would not treat the land as sacred, and the close relationship between farmers and their land would be over. In chapter 21 Steinbeck once again illustrates his larger themes using the â€Å"migrants† and the changes they undergo during their journey. He uses the migrant’s story to further illustrate his negative feelings towards big industry.In this chapter, he moves along in time to show how big industry is taking away from the country as a whole. Steinbeck opens the cha pter by comparing the farmers who started this journey across the country and the migrants who are on the same journey now. The journey has changed these people before their very own eyes. This was a change that the â€Å"Okies† had to make no matter what. These people experienced being hungry for the first time, seeing their children go hungry and not be able to do anything about it. This would undoubtedly change a man forever. Change did indeed occur.The Okies grew angry and mean towards the locals. The local people lived in fear of the Okies. The locals knew that there was nothing on this earth that could keep the Okies away from their food and land. This began to ferment a problem between the locals and the Okies. â€Å"When there was work for a man, ten men fought for it- fought with a low wage. † (283) This illustrated the fact that one Okie would seemingly always charge less to work than another in order to keep a job. When there are ten men fighting for the job , the wages go from 25 cents to just working for food.This was beneficial for the owner because wages stayed so low. The Okies didn’t believe their circumstances could become any worse; however they would soon find out how wrong they were. They had no idea of the upcoming problems they would face with the large canneries. â€Å"And when the peaches were ripe he cut the price of fruit below the cost of raising it. And as cannery owner he paid himself a low price for the fruit and kept the price of canned goods up and took his profit. † (283-284) This was a dramatic economic challenge for the Okies.I believe at this point they realize things would never get back to the old ways. The way they lived their lives would be forever different. They were forced back on the road, and back to search for food. â€Å"The great companies did not know that the line between hunger and anger is a thin line† (284) â€Å"On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food. And the anger began to ferment† (284) Steinbeck points towards his feeling that big industry ruined the life of these people forever. The changes that Steinbeck illustrates are not just temporary, but permanent and life changing.These changes in industry would change the way the entire nation functions. The way people are used to living would be revolutionized. The people who aren’t ready to accept this change or are unaware how to accept these changes would be left behind. When looking back at both of these chapters, and understanding the negative changes, we see some irony in the way Steinbeck structured this book. These small chapters, in between the longer ones, gave Steinbeck a chance to not only give setting, but also to express his opinions of the current state of events though his metaphors.He used the small chapters of 11 and 21 to depict a scene the Okies were fleeing. They were leaving Oklahoma with the hope that California would somehow save them. â€Å"I like to think how nice it's gonna be, maybe, in California. Never cold. An' fruit ever'place, an' people just bein' in the nicest places, little white houses in among the orange trees. I wonder–that is, if we can all get jobs an' all work–maybe we can get one of them little white houses. An' the little fellas go out an' pick oranges right off the tree. † (91)The Okies believe they would find an area of California that would allow them to get back to their old ways of farming, and sadly, this simply would not happen. The Okies were running to a hopeful scene, while this hopeful scene was running from them. â€Å"Wonder if we'll ever get in a place where folks can live ‘thout fightin' hard scrabble an' rocks. I seen pitchers of a country flat an' green, an' with little houses like Ma says, white. Ma got her heart set on a white house. Get to thinkin' they ain't no such country. I seen pitchers like that. â€Å"Pa said, â€Å"Wait till we get to California.You'll see nice country then. â€Å"Jesus Christ, Pa! This here is California. † (204) They begin to realize, there really is nowhere left to run. In conclusion, I believe that in Chapters 11 and 21 the Joads were used as a metaphor for America. The Joads, like much of America, were not ready to accept the upcoming changes, and they were not prepared to deal with the disasters they had along the way. Ultimately, their journey was unsuccessful. They lost members of their family, animals, and friends. The Joads, like much of America, had lost their entire way of life.

Optimism in The Grapes of Wrath Essay

At the end of the novel The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, it seems as though the Joads have nothing left to live for, however Steinbeck shows signs of optimism through symbols and biblical allusions. The Joads have gone through tremendous hardships throughout their entire trip to California to find work. They have lost several family members, have gone without work and lived on extremely low rations for months. At the height of their struggles, the Joads are without food, shelter, and their strongest member Tom Joad. The daughter, Rose of Sharon also delivers a stillborn baby. Steinbeck does however end the story with symbols of hope. The rain, which is constantly pouring down, is a symbol of renewal. The rain represents the coming of spring and plants. The rain has made A[t]iny points of grass came through the earth@ and Athe hills were pale green with the beginning year@(592), enabling for new crops to grow and for families to find work. Rose of Sharon=s stillborn baby is also a symbol of optimism. Uncle John is told to bury the baby after it is delivered. Instead Uncle John decides to float the baby down a river in its coffin. Through this action, Steinbeck alludes to Moses, who was also sent down a river as a baby, and later freed his people from slavery and brought them to Isreal. As Uncle John puts the stillborn baby into the river, he tells it to AGo down an= tell =em. Go down in the street an= rot an= tell =em that way@(609). Uncle John is telling the baby to show the rich landowners what their greediness has done. Uncle John sends the baby down as a symbol of the great suffering the have-nots have been through, saying, Amaybe they=ll know then@(609). The last  symbol of optimism comes when Rose of Sharon nurses a dying man. The man has been deprived of food for six days and is not able to digest solid foods. Rose of Sharon, after just delivering a stillborn baby, understands the situation and lets the man drink her milk. This action shows the tremendous growth Rose of Sharon has gone through as a person and ends the novel with optimistic gestures of generosity and unselfishness.

Debt Example

Debt Example Debt – Coursework Example Debt The restrictions placed on and local government debt in North Carolina In North Carolina, there are limitations or restrictions on the amount of outstanding debt for the local government in relation to the state’s property tax base. The second major restriction is on property tax rates that the local government can levy for debt service requirements. This restriction is important as it limits the power of the local government to borrow carelessly with an aim of imposing the resultant burden on the citizens. The third restriction is the need for the approval of the bond issues that the government has proposed and this is done through a specific referendum. This constitution applies only to debts that the local government wants to acquire for a particular purpose. The state government is required to provide a balanced budget that does not have any carryover. This reduces the chances of having huge deficits that prompt the acquisition of loans. If a deficit occurs during a f inancial year, then it must be eliminated by increasing taxes or reducing spending instead of getting loans. Methods needed to avoid restriction limitsThe local government should utilize every of its money prudently. Any borrowing by the local government should also be done responsibly, prudently and in a locally responsive manner. The national debt should be reduced and the federal income tax should be replaced with tax from national retail sales. There should be fiscal discipline mechanisms or budgetary rules that will ensure that the local and state government does not spend more that it has. These include expenditure and tax limits. This means the budget size has to fit to the existing resources to the most practical extend possible. ReferencesBane, F. Et al. (1961). State Constitutional and Statutory Restrictions on Local Government Debt. Retrieved on 1st August, 2011. www.library.unt.edu/gpo/acir/Reports/policy/A-10.pdf

African Cats essays

African Cats essays The majority of the animals in Africa entered the human world as predators. Soon after, the roles had reversed and these beautiful creatures became human prey. Not only do humans prey upon African animals but also Africas habitats are being destroyed. This forces the small animals out of the forest and soon they die. Then the larger animals have nothing to hunt and eat so they end up dying off as well. Zoologists began to notice the disappearance of Africas beautiful creatures and now are working toward animal protection. Animal rights groups have formed to help put an end to animal slaughter. Some animal rights groups have gone too far but they have good intentions. With the help of zoos, science and technology, hopefully there wont be any more animals from Africa on the endangered species list. Due to humans cutting down forests and hunting in Africa, helpless animals have become endangered, needing humans to help procreate their species. In Africa humans and animals once lived together peacefully. Africans wild animals have decreased in numbers after the arrival of the Europeans because of intensive hunting and destruction of natural habitats (Veron 19). In the beginning of the year 1960 wild animals were thought of as carriers of diseases so the Europeans tried their best to kill off all diseases. Sadly this was the beginning of a killing spree in Africa. In Africa alone mass extinction takes place every 26 million years (Stuart 3). The biggest cause of extinction is the overpopulation of people (Stuart 3). Africas loss of habitat has been so bad that these areas may be irreversible (Veron 19). Many of Africas animals have become endangered and some even extinct. One way humans can end this mass destruction of creatures is by controlling human population. With more people in the world there is a need for more homes, which causes the destruction of natural habitats. In 1990 ...

How to Get a Perfect 1600 SAT Score, by a 2400 Expert Full Scorer

How to Get a Perfect 1600 SAT Score, by a 2400 Expert Full Scorer SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Updated for the New 2016 SAT! The maximum score on the SATis a 1600. Out of the 1.7 million students who take the test every year, only about 300 get the highest possible SAT score. This elusive perfect score catapults you to the top of high school academic achievement and can be a big boost to your college applications. I scored perfect scores on the SAT. I actually scored two perfect scores- a 1600 in 2004 when I was in high school, and a 2400 in March 2014 when I took it ten years later. Most of the advice out there about how to get a perfect score come from people who didn't get perfect scores. In this exclusive article, I'll be breaking down exactly what it takes, and the ruthless techniques I used to get a perfect score. Quick Disclaimer Let me start with a few disclaimers. I'm a humble person, and I don't like talking about my accomplishments without good reason. I know a lot of you are looking to score the highest SAT score possible, so I've written this guide to help you get there. So whatever I say here, please take it as advice from a mentor eager to help, not as a braggart strutting his stuff. Also,a last note:I co-founded the company PrepScholar- we create online SAT/ACT prep programs that adapt to you and your strengths and weaknesses. I want to emphasize that you do NOT need to buy a full prep program to get a great score. If you follow the principles below and are very driven, you'll do just fine. I do believe, however, that PrepScholar is the best SAT program available right now, especially if you find it hard to organize your prep and don't know what to study. I'll refer to decisions we made in creating the program to flesh out principles I discuss below. What Perfect SAT Scores Look Like For full transparency, let me show you my personal score report. This is a screenshot from my College Board SAT Organizer: I took the two SATs 10 years apart. The 2004 test was in an old format of the SAT and was scored out of 1600. I took the new test in 2014 and scored a 2400. (Yes, I took the SAT as an adult. Besides getting funny looks from high school students, I wanted to go through the experience anew so I knew what my students at PrepScholar were going through.) So that you can see in bleeding detail how I got the 2400, I've attached my unofficial detailed score report from the College Board. You can see exactly how many questions I missed and read my essay (my handwriting could use some work). Using my score report as an example, let's examine what it takes to get a perfect SAT score. While this score report talks about the Old 2400 SAT, the principles are still the same. In the new SAT, there are still Reading, Math, and Writing sections, and you still need to do EXTREMELYwell on them to get a perfect score. What It Takes to Get a 1600on the SAT At the top end of the scoring range, the SAT is not forgiving. You need to aim for perfection. Specifically, here's what you need to do in each section: In Reading, you can only miss 1 or 2 questions. This depends on the curve for that test. It's best to aim for missing 0 or 1 question. In my test, I missed 1 reading passage question. In Math, you need to get every question correct. No question about it.The curve is unforgiving for Math. Miss 1 question and you won't get an 800 on this section. In Writing, you can sometimes miss 1 question at most.In some tests, you have to get a perfect Writing and Language score to have a shot at an 800. Essentially, you need to aim for perfection during your prep. If you're consistently missing one or more questions on each section, you're not performing consistently enough to be safe for a 1600. We'll go into more detail about this below. If you want to confirm my statements here, check out the College Board score charts for official SAT practice tests. One last question to answer before my actual advice: But Wait...Are You Just Smart? Will This Advice Work for Me? You may have heard about top scoring students who just rolled out of bed, strolled to the SAT test center, and scored the highest possible SAT score without any prep. This was not me. Some people like the above may in fact exist, but they're rare.In high school, I was naturally stronger at math- I participated in math and science competitions- and I could reliably get 800's on the math section. But my reading and writing needed work. When I started off, I consistently got in the 700 range. Now, this is already pretty high, but it wasn't enough for the top schools I was aiming for. I just wasn't that accustomed to the SAT reading passages and the types of questions they asked. It took a lot of hard work for me to learn how the SAT works, how it tries to trick students, and how to find a strategy that worked for myself so I could reliably get top scores.My co-founder at PrepScholarhad a similar story. Since I'm older, I also have the benefit of seeing whether my methods worked over time, or just on the SAT. Emphatically, the principles below have worked throughout my academic career. Here's another example. As an undergraduate in college, I planned to attend medical school, so I had to take the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test). In my view, this is a much harder test than the SAT. It covers many more topics: general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology, and verbal reasoning. Furthermore, you're competing with pre-med's across the nation, people who are naturally driven and competing to get into medical school, not just the average high school student. When I started studying for the MCAT, I scored around the low 30's. The test is scored out of 45, and it's curved very aggressively. Again, this was already well above average, but it wasn't enough for the top medical schools I was going for. So I worked hard. I put in the time, covered all the subjects I needed to know, and was ruthless about my prep. In the very end, I scored a 44: As the testing organization notes, this is in the 99.9 percentile rank, with 0.0% achieving this score (this figure is rounded). I had multiple medical advisers tell me that they had never seen a score this high before, and there might indeed be fewer than three people per year- or none at all- who get a 44.Scoring this high definitely helped me get into the MD-PhD program at Harvard Medical School and MIT. I wish I were talented enough to get these test scores naturally without hundreds of hours of hard work. That would be the cooler thing to say. But it wasn't true for me, and it probably won't be true for you either. With this foundation laid, here's the meat of what I want to say: What Do You Need to Do to Get a Perfect 1600 SAT Score? In broad strokes, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of smart work, and some amount of luck. But you've heard this before so just this alone isn't helpful. Let's dig deeper. You have to want it. Really, really want it. You need the motivation to push yourself. You need to put SAT prep as one of your top priorities in life, overcoming watching Youtube or hanging out at the mall. In the darkest of days, when you take a practice test and drop 100 points inexplicably, and your parents are freaking out, and you're worried you're never getting into your top college, you need the inner fire to not get depressed. Instead, you need to pull yourself up and objectively rip apart your mistakes so you don't repeat them. People don't often mention motivation, but in my view this is one of the most important pieces that differentiate successful people from not, in all aspects of life. It's much more important than just being smart. Make a list of all the reasons you want to get a perfect score. Write them down. Stare at them when you lose faith. Want to get into Harvard or an Ivy League school? Want to make up for a bad GPA? Want to prove to your parents that you can beat their expectations? Want to compete with your friends?Want to show up your 3rd-grade teacher who said you would never amount to anything? That's all good. Anything that drives you from within is a valid reason to work hard. You'll need this to combat procrastination and laziness. You'll need this to push yourself to execute every strategy I tell you below. If you're not motivated, it's just too easy to brush aside failure and be sloppy about your weaknesses. In my personal case, beyond the academic benefits, I thought the SAT was a dumb test that was impeding my life. I was angry at test writers who devised tricks to fool students. I approached it like a video game- the SAT and the College Board were bosses that I needed to dominate. Plus, my brother had a near-perfect score, and I wanted to one-up him. Write down all the reasons you want a perfect score and use it to fuel yourself every study session. Exclusive Blog Bonus: We've written a popular free guide on 5 tips to improving your SAT score by 160+ points. Get a free download here. Step 1: Do High-Quality Practice and Avoid Low-Quality Materials The SAT is a weird test. It's unlike tests that you've taken throughout school. It presents simple concepts in bizarre ways. This is essentially how the College Board makes the test hard- it takes concepts most students have seen before, twists them to be unfamiliar, and counts on students to screw up. To excel at this test, you need the highest quality practice materials. Because the SAT has questions that are twisted in a particular way, you need to train in exactly the way they're twisted so you learn the patterns. As we've said before, by far the best practice material comes directly from the College Board in the form of official SAT practice tests.When I was studying, I devoured every SAT practice test I could find. I took over 15 full-length practice tests and was ruthless about finding my mistakes, as I'll talk about soon. Just like the mantra about your diet and body, what you put in is what you get out. Trash in, trash out. If you train yourself on questions that don't reflect what's on the SAT, you're going to learn the wrong patterns. Using bad materials is like training for baseball by playing tee-ball. Yes, if you spend 1000 hours practicing tee-ball, you'll be a tee-ball pro. But when someone pitches a real baseball at you, you're going to freak out- "why is the ball traveling so fast? Why's it so close to my face? Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod." And then you strike out. To be frank, most of the books available on the market are trash. They boast about having a lot of questions, but they're written by people who aren't truly experts on the test. This means the questions don't test concepts in the same way; the answers are sometimes ambiguous; the questions don't trick you in the same way the SAT does. In my company PrepScholar, we hire only SAT full-scorers and 99 percentile scorers to craft our thousands of test questions. You need to have mastered the test to really understand the intricacies of how the SAT works. We've turned away dozens of applicants who scored below a 2300since they really don't understand the test well enough. If you likestudying with books, here's my list of the top SAT prep books available. There are some pretty high-quality books written by true experts, though they can get pricey- buying the top five books will cost you at least a hundred dollars. Collect good prep materials and study using only these. Step 2: Focus on Quality First, Quantity Second Now you have a lot of materials. Some students focus hard on getting through every single page of every book they have. They might not know why they're studying what they're studying, but at least they sure put in a lot of time and effort! This is the wrong idea. You don't want to pound your head against the wall and use a brute force approach. Improving your SAT score is about quality first, and quantity second. It's so tempting to just focus on getting work done, because that's the easy part. Understanding your weaknesses, as we discuss below, is what takes real energy and insight. Think about it this way- let's say you're learning to throw a football with a perfect spiral. You can pick up a football and, by trial and error, if you throw it 1,000 times, you'll make some progress. Now imagine you have New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady standing by your side. You throw the ball once, and he corrects your technique. Move your foot back this way, have your hand follow a certain motion, and follow through. You try again, and it's way better. In throwing 50 balls this way, I'm certain you'd end up doing better than 1,000 by yourself. I'm not suggesting that Tom Brady is a tutor, and you must have a tutor. You can be your own Tom Brady, and we discuss below how to do that. But you need to make sure you get the most out of your studying and make it as efficient as possible. You need your own SAT Tom Brady. Step 3: Be Ruthless About Understanding Your Mistakes On the ground level, when you're actually studying, this is by far the most important way you'll succeed over other students. EVERYmistake you make on a test happens for a reason. If you don't understand EXACTLYwhy you missed that question, you will make that mistake over and over again. If you're performing at the 700 level, you're missing around 10% to 15% of all questions. This means you have some consistent errors that are holding back your score. This is what you need to do: On every practice test or question set that you take, mark EVERYquestion that you're even 20% unsure about. When you grade your test or quiz, review every single question that you marked, and every incorrect question. This way even if you guessed a question correctly, you'll make sure to review it. In a notebook, write down the gist of the question, why you missed it, and what you'll do to avoid that mistake in the future. Have separate sections by subject and sub-topic (reading- passages vs sentence completion, writing- sentence errors vs improving paragraphs). It's NOT enough to just think about it and move on. It's NOT enough to just read the answer explanation. You have to think HARD about why you specifically failed on this question. By taking this structured approach to your mistakes,you'll now have a running log of every question you missed, and your reflection on why. Everyone who wants to get to an 800 on a section has different weaknessesfrom you. It's important that you discover for yourself what those are. No excuses when it comes to your mistakes. Go Deeper- WHY Did You Miss It? Now, what are some common reasons that you missed a question? Don't just say, "I didn't know this material." Always take it one step further- what specifically did you miss, and what do you have to improve in the future? Here are some examples of common reasons you miss a question, and how you take the analysis one step further: Content: I didn't learn the skill or knowledge needed to answer this question. One step further:What specific skill do I need to learn, and how will I learn this skill? Incorrect Approach: I knew the content, but I didn't know how to approach this question. One step further:How do I solve the question, and is there a general rule that I need to know for the future? Wrong Guess:I was stuck between two answer choices, and I guessed wrong. One step further: Why could I not eliminate one of the last answer choices? Knowing the correct answer now, how I can eliminate it? Does this suggest a strategy I can use for the future? Careless Error: I misread what the question was asking for or solved for the wrong thing One step further:Why did I misread the question? What should I do in the future to avoid this? Does this seem hard? It is- you have to think hard about why you're falling short and understand yourself in a way that no one else can. But few students actually put in the effort to do this analysis, and this is how you'll pull ahead. By the end of my studying, I had notebooks filled with practice questions that I'd missed, and when eating breakfast I could thumb through them to review them, like flashcards. Adopt a no-mistake-left-behind policy toward your mistakes. Letting one slip through can mean you make the same mistake on your real SAT. Five Why's Here's another useful trick when reviewing mistakes: ask yourself "Why?" five times? This is a revolutionary technique developed by Toyota to figure out the root cause of manufacturing problems. The point is that when you ask yourself "Why?" five times, you'll dig deeper and deeper to understand what the underlying cause is, and how to fix it. Here's an example. Let's say you miss a Reading passage question. Everyone does this. Starting point: I missed a Reading question about the big picture summary of the passage. Why? I picked the wrong answer choice, out of the two I had left. Why? The wrong answer choice had a phrase that was in the passage, but otherwise the meaning was wrong. I got tricked. Why? I didn't fully understand the passage when I was reading it. Why? I read the passage too quickly. Why? I was scared about running out of time. Wow- you see how a single question can give you a TON of information about where you went wrong? Now you have a lot of opportunities to improve- on how you read passages, how you eliminate answer choices, and how to process big picture questions. Again, very few students actually have the discipline to go through this reflection. And this is why YOU'REgoing to get a better score. Step 4: Find Patterns in Your Weaknesses, and Drill Them to Perfection Now that you're collecting mistakes in a notebook, you'll be able to start finding patterns to your weaknesses. This might be a content area- like problems with math circle problems, or a specific grammar rule. Or it might be a personal habit of yours, like misreading the passage or eliminating the wrong answer. Focusing on your weaknesses is CRITICALbecause you have a limited amount of time to study, and you need to spend that precious time on the areas that will get you the biggest score improvement. I've worked with students who just love drilling their strong points because it's comfortable. Of course, this is a waste of time- you have to confront your demons and pick at where you're weak, which is uncomfortable and difficult. When I was studying for the SAT and MCAT, I kept track of my mistakes in an Excel spreadsheet. I found, for example, that I consistently missed Reading passage questions about inferencesbecause I was reading too far into what the author was saying. I then focused on drilling those specific types of questions until I had developed my own strategy for solving the questions. As another example, back when the SAT emphasized vocab more, I needed to study thousands of vocab words, any of which could show up on the test. I developed my own method onthe best way to study SAT vocab words- what I call the Waterfall Method. This method forces you to review words you don't know over 10x more than words you already know- efficient studying. You don't need to use this for the New 2016 SAT, but you may still find it helpful for any class you need to use flashcards for- foreign language, history, or English. Find the weak link in your chain. When you find your weakness, you need to find resources to drill that content area. If you're weak in Trigonometry questions, you need to find a lot of SAT Trig questions to really drill those skills. If you're weak in subject/verb agreement, you need to find grammar questions to drill. Doing all of this well is tough for many students, because you have to at once: Do practice questions Diagnose your weaknesses Find more practice questions Understand whether you're improving or not Adjust your plan continuously This is the backbone of every effective study method, but it takes a lot of mental energy to do well. This is actually why we started PrepScholar- we wanted to build an online prep program that would do all the heavy lifting for you, so that you can concentrate on learning.In our PrepScholar program, we detect your weaknesses andautomatically organize your quizzes by skill so that you can focus on learning and not on the higher-level activities of analyzing your own progress. By the way, a quick side point- be suspicious of any content-level strategies that promise you results. By content-level, I mean strategies that tell you how you must solve a type of question. At your level, you need to focus on what works best for you. For example, people approach reading passages differently. Some read the passage first, then answer questions. Some skim questions first, then go back to the passage. I know what works best for me, but that's not necessarily what works best for you. What you will have to do is aggregate strategies for your weaknesses, then test them out yourself to see if they work for you. Specific strategies for each weakness is out of scope of this article, but we'll post examples later. Step 5: Eliminate Careless Errors These types of mistakes are by far the most frustrating. You know the content, you know how to solve it, but because of a misreading of the question, you don't get the question right. This can already disqualify you from an 800 on Math. In my own SAT, I made careless errors because I was trying to finish early and save time for the end, so I would rush through questions too quickly. I hated myself every time I made a careless error. But when I focused on the two things below, I was able to claim back my lost points. #1: Double-check that you're answering the right question.The SAT is designed to ask you tricky questions.You might find the area of the square, but the question actually asks for the perimeter. To eliminate this, always underline what the question asks you to solve for. Don’t stop your work until you solve for the correct thing. Another strategy is to write what the question is looking for in your scratch area. For example, if it asks for seconds instead of minutes, write â€Å"= ____ seconds† and circle it before you start your work. This might sound like extra work, but how you defeat careless errors is by having a reliable, failproof system. #2: Be wary about choosing the "No Change" option.For Writing, a common careless error is choosing "(A) NO CHANGE"in grammar questions. That's because when you read the question, it seems grammatically correct to you because the grammar rule just isn't ringing a bell. Whenever this happens, make sure you double check the other answer choices to make sure that NO CHANGEis absolutely the best answer choice. You should check especially for grammar rules that are easy to overlook, like Subject-Verb Agreement and Misplaced Modifier. By analyzing your mistakes, you'll be able to find patterns in grammar rule weaknesses that you have. You can then build your own system for grammar rules that you often miss- for example, for Subject-Verb Agreement, identify the subject and the verb, and then make sure they match. Step 6: Develop AmazingStudy Habits If you're highly motivated and aiming for a top score, you're likely to spend at least 200 hours studying for the SAT. Your job is to get the most out of every hour you can. Learning how to study more effectively has huge returns on your time. Think about it- if you can learn some techniques to improve your study efficiency by 20%, this will effectively give you back 40 hours of your life. Here are my best recommendations on great study habits, all of which I follow myself. Habit 1: Create a Schedule and Force Yourself to Stick to It It's important to have a plan. You need to understand when you're going to do what, and then you need to follow that plan. Here are questions to ask yourself: How much time do I have until my next test? How much time will I spend studying every week? How many practice tests should I take before then? When will I take them? During each week, what specific times and days will I be studying? What will I actually be studying each day? Why? How should my schedule change based on the info I receive from practice tests? Do NOT approach SAT prep without a plan like this. You'll wander aimlessly from book to book, test to test, without actually focusing on what is going to get you results. We designed PrepScholar to take care of all this hard work for you. Every week, we create customized lesson plans so you know exactly what to study and when. We schedule practice tests for you at the best moments leading up to your test date. We ask you for your weekly study schedule,then text you reminders to study. We send you progress reports so you know how well you're doing and whether you need to study more. If you feel like you don't know how to create your own study schedule or aren't confident you can stick to one, you might like PrepScholar's SAT program. Habit 2: Eliminate All Distractions You have so many distractions at your fingertips- Snaps, texts,YouTube, games, and more. All of these are super fun and super easy to consume for hours on end. All of these will improve your SAT score by ZERO. If you're studying and you glance at your phone every 3 minutes, you are NOT STUDYING. The brain is actually terrible at multitasking, and every time you lose attention, you take minutes to go back to full concentration. I know how tempting it is to stay up to date with everything your friends are doing. There's major Fear of Missing Out. You don't want to miss a hilarious joke or be late to a scandalous story. The thing is, in the long term, these little interactions don't actually make a big difference. Think about the last time responding to a text within 3 minutes was VITAL to your friendship. You are not missing out on anything important if you text back an hour later.Maybe you'll call me an old man and just claim I don't get it, but a friend who gets mad at you for not replying within a few minutes doesn't sound like a good friend to me. I once sat in a coffee shop next to a girl who was trying to study chemistry. Every few minutes she would look at her phone, laugh, and return a text. She got through two pages in an hour- I kid you not. Instead, here's what you need to do: Go to a quiet place where you won't be interrupted. Wear earplugs if it helps. Turn your phone off or leave it another room. Don't listen to music where you actively have to listen to words. Don't study with friends. It's more fun but everyone does a crappy job of studying. If you're using a program like PrepScholar on a web browser, use tools like StayFocusd to keep yourself off of distractions. Treat this seriously.One hour spent studying at full concentration is better than three hours at 50% concentration. Habit 3: Have a Positive Mindset. Your Job Is to Grow. When you're trying to get a perfect 1600 SAT score, you'll get frustrated when you make mistakes. I was the same way, and I got mad at myself for making careless mistakes or for forgetting something I used to know. The important thing is to channel that frustration into learning and growth. Treat every mistake as a learning opportunity. Every mistake tells you exactly where your weakness is, and what you need to do to fix it. You are allowed to get upset, but not so much it paralyzes you. Instead, treat your primary goal as getting better- not as getting a specific score. Step 7: Get Fast Enough to Always Double Check Your Answers Now that you’re aiming for a top score, you need to finish each section ahead of time to give yourself time to double check your answers. A good rule of thumb is to finish the section with at least 5 minutes to spare. As you get better at the SAT, this will be easier to accomplish since you’ll solve each question in less time. When I took the SAT, I reliably finished each section with 5-10 minutes to spare. I would mark any questions that I felt I had to return to and double-check. I had enough time to review all my answers twice. The real time-killers are questions you get stuck on. It’s very easy to get sucked into a question for five minutes, frustrated that the SAT is taking a point away from you. Avoid this temptation. Follow this rule: if you’ve spent 30 seconds on a question and can’t see how you’re going to get to the answer, circle the question, and skip it. You’ll have time at the end to come back to it. For now, you need to work on the other questions.How do you double check effectively? It varies between sections. For math, you should try to re-solve the question quickly in a different way. For some questions, you’ll be able to plug the answer back in. For others, you’ll just need to check your steps you took the first time around.For writing, confirm that the sentence has the error you think it does. Again, for No Error answer choices, make sure you aren't missing something in the question.For reading, confirm that there is no other better answer ch oice than the one you picked. For passage questions, make sure you rule out four incorrect answers. For sentence completion questions, plug the words back into the blanks to make sure they fit perfectly. As you get better at the test, you'll have more time left. Aim for at least 5 minutes left after each section, and use that time to double-checkyour answers. Stay calm during the test, even if you get confused on a question. Step 8: Don't Get Inside Your Own Head During the Test If you're vying for a perfect 1600 score, you'll face pressure during the test. You know how little room for error there is. This means that if you're having trouble with a question, it's easy to psyche yourself out. "Oh no! I'm having trouble with this math question. If I don't get this right, my 800 in math is gone!" This will make you nervous, which makes you even less likely to answer the question, which makes you more nervous, and so forth. This vicious spiral can suck you down for the rest of the test. Controlling your mental status is important during the test. Just like a pro athlete or performer, you need to be confident about your skills. You already put in a ton of work, and you've learned most of what the College Board has to throw at you. The last thing you want to do now is ruin more of the test. So it's a single question you're unsure about- this doesn't affect your performance on any other question. Try your best and clear your head, then move on. Does All of This Really Work? I can say from personal experience that these are the principles that I used to excel in academics. If you follow these principles for your own classes and in college, you'll do an amazing job. I would also be hard-pressed to find any top scoring student who doesn't agree wholeheartedly with the advice above. This advice also works if you're not aiming for a 1600. If you want to improve from a 1200 to a 1500, you can use these principles to power your learning. These principles also work in life. As a startup founder, I adhere to lean principlesto constantly analyze where my weaknesses are, how to build them, and how to focus on what's really important for our company. While the SAT tests specific skills that you may not use in everyday life, the process of preparing for it can teach you a lot about yourself, your limits, and your ambitions. This sounds a little hokey, but take it from this old man, you can learn a lot about yourself. Finally, keep in mind that you don't need a 1600to get into top colleges! A 1520+ will make you more than competitive for top schools like the Ivy League. If you get a 1540, your time is better spent building up the rest of your application than eking out a few more points. Quick Plug:I've mentioned my company PrepScholar a few times. If you agree with what I say above, you'd like my course. I designed our SAT course around the principles above, knowing that most students don't have the energy or expertise to diagnose their own weaknesses. PrepScholar automatically figures out what you need to work on and focuses your learning by drilling your weak skills. It also builds in motivational features so you're up to date on your progress and commit to more study time. Check out our SAT program here. What's Next? If you liked this article, you'll also like my expert guides on getting an 800 in each of the SAT sections. Each one goes further into deeper details on how to ace each section. Check out: How to get an 800 in SAT Math How to get an 800 in SAT Reading How to get an 800 in SAT Writing Aiming to get into Harvard and the Ivy League? Read my How to Get Into Harvard guide. Youmight learn that you're headed straight to the rejection path. Finally, check out our online SAT prep program.We have a 160+ point money back guarantee: if you finish our course and don't improve by 160 points, you get all your money back, no questions asked. I designed the PrepScholar program around the principles in this article. Thousands of students have used PrepScholar to improve their score by hundreds of points, which is why I'm confident it'll work for you too. Try our program with a 5-day free trial today:

Should the Death Penalty be legal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Should the Death Penalty be legal - Essay Example Those who are against the use of capital punishment do not think that the government should be given the authority to subject any of its people to death. They also say that this practice is overtly costly, racially partial and does not realize the intended result. The vast majority of Americans consider the death penalty to be neither cruel nor unusual, quite the opposite; they think it’s a fair and just punishment. They not only accept but stridently insist that the â€Å"ultimate punishment† be sustained for several reasons which will be thoroughly covered in this paper. It will also take into account the opponents’ logic concerning why it should be ended in an effort to show an inclusive summary of the contentious death penalty debate. History of Punishment Historically speaking, the justification for punishing offenders has been to â€Å"avenge the crime, to protect society by imprisoning the criminal, to deter that person and other potential offenders from the commission of crimes and to obtain reparations from the offender† (Wolfgang, 1998). All through the history of civilization, this rational has not altered appreciably. The four fundamental reasons humanity punishes criminals can be classified by two basic motivations. One is to obtain the desired outcome which includes protecting society, deterrence and seeking compensation. The other, retribution or vengeance involves reprimanding those who have committed a crime on society. For thousands of years people have subscribed to retribution as validation for using the death penalty which can be found in the Biblical reference ‘an eye for an eye.’ In other words, aggressive actions against society must be confronted with an aggressive punishment (Olen & Barry, 1996: 268). This use of any type of punishment is humanity’s method of striking back at a person or persons who have disturbed the ethical and emotional sensibilities of a society. The ‘eye for an eye’ justification continues to be used by many people and nations today. Those who embrace this viewpoint are undoubtedly correct when they state that capital punishment assures that the offender will not be able to commit another transgression against society. The death penalty is the definitive preventative measure (Olen & Barry, 1996). Opponent Position Persons who oppose use of the death penalty think that all life no matter how despicable should be considered of value and that putting a person in prison for life without the opportunity for parole is sufficient punishment. Opponents also believe that revenge as justification is wrong and in the end more harmful to the values of society than is the crime of murder itself. Additionally, opponents think that banning the death penalty will â€Å"allow opportunities for confronting those who had been hurt most and possibly encourage remorse or reconciliation (and) suggest those that have killed be made to service the commun ity as a way of partially making amends† (Olen & Barry, 1967: 272). According to opponents the death penalty is morally and ethically objectionable in modern society. Some are against it based on religious reasons referring to morality as the primary issue; however, differing religions and the faithful within those religions have conflicting opinions. For example, Christians who live in America overwhelmingly support it while Christians in Europe tend to oppose it. Legal Interpretations The U.S. Supreme Court has maintained that use of the death

How does changing the ways in which we connect to others offer us new, Essay

How does changing the ways in which we connect to others offer us new, positive possibilities How does it affect us negatively - Essay Example There are plenty of ways to connect nowadays, though the old traditional one is coming face to face for a conversation – it enables the fullest effect and the most genuine emotions. However, it is often impossible because of the distance, lack of time or other factors. Nowadays, technologies offer the mankind a thousand options and opportunities – for work, shopping, entertainment and communication. One doesn’t need travel to another part of the country or even the world to see and talk to his/her relatives as it is now possible to call them on the phone, e-mail them or write on Facebook. Keeping in touch with friends is also much easier via social networking technologies, and prompt professional communications are guaranteed as cellphones, faxes and computers are always at your fingertips. In general, technology has been playing a significant role in our lives recently, and its importance continues to increase. Growing popularity of the World Wide Web make us mo re and more addicted to the new ways of communication and connecting to people. In fact, our entire social life beginning with childhood is now dominated by technological means of communication, which produces a complex and dubious effect on us. Technologies as new ways of connecting to people may either offer opportunities or impose difficulties on people, and this issue is considered in works of Sherry Turkle and Adam Gopnik. Adam Gopniks essay, â€Å"Bumping into Mr. Ravioli†, offers a look at the issue of overwhelming technologies, perpetual busyness caused by them and the state of suspension in communication between people. Turkle elaborates on related ideas in her book, â€Å"Alone Together† (the fragment of which was offered for reading), promoting the idea that technologies crowd our lives overwhelming us and making us tired of life they make possible. Thus, technological means of communication and connection to the outer world produce an ambiguous mixed effect on

The Microsoft Dominance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Microsoft Dominance - Essay Example The paper tries to analyse the economic position of Microsoft and understand why they have been able to retain themselves as a monopoly in the market. Let us start with the definition of monopoly and then analyse the same definition with respect to the share controlled by Microsoft in the market. â€Å"A situation in which a single company or group owns all or nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service. By definition, monopoly is characterized by an absence of competition, which often results in high prices and inferior products.† Monopoly Definition." Investopedia.com - Your Source For Investing Education Inferring from the above definition, a monopoly is a state of market where one company controls the market with a tight management in place and holding a dominant share where it can dictate the prices and the supply of the product to the market and therefore would exercise a position of power in the respective market. Microsoft enjoyed such dominance in the OS market for computers for two decades and still holds that position due to the free availability of its products in the market. â€Å"Microsoft accounts for 90-95% of microcomputer operating systems, and it is the de facto standard for computer applications. It is obvious that it is dominating the market. However, one could argue that its market power is gained from the consumer choices†¦its legitimacy rests upon consumers who willingly, and in a market with alternative resources and options, chose to buy Microsoft products.† InfoTech & Public Policy  » Blog Archive  » Is Microsoft a â€Å"monopoly† Based on Standard Economic Theory?" The economic theory behind the dominance of Microsoft has been monopolizing the market and creating products which the competitors failed to innovate in. Microsoft was able to take the Windows to a level where there was no competition at all from the rest of the players in the market. Let is have a look at the OS market to understand why Microsoft was so successful in monopolizing the market for such a long time. At the time when Windows was launched, there were only two players in the market for OS. One was the Macintosh designed by Apple, and the other was windows designed by Microsoft. The precarious thing about Apple was that they only created their OS for their own machines and did not outsource the product to other manufacturers waiting in line to produce the Macintosh. Since Apple did not sell their Macintosh OS to third parties, the manufacturers were left with only one option, and that was to buy the OS from Microsoft, the Windows based application. Since Macintosh was more expensive than Windows and did not give an opportunity to oither manufacturers in the market to use their OS, the Windows grew in popularity. The OS was much more cheaper to use and to apply on machines, and since was an open software there were more applications designed for it than they were for the Macintosh. â€Å"eco nomists maintain that a monopoly does not exist simply because there is only one provider of a good or service. For example, in the Microsoft case, the Windows operating system is enormously popular, but the potential for a competing firm to provide a similar product exists. In fact, Macintosh is a small but important competitor in the computer and operating system market. Linux has also emerged in recent months as a viable alternative to Microsoft Windows† South-Western: Is Microsoft A Monopoly?" Web. 27 Nov. 2011. Whether the Monopoly is in the Public Interest: There are two sides to the argument whether the monopoly has been in the public interest or not. The paper address both the points of contention and then understand why one arguments

Organizations & Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizations & Behaviour - Assignment Example This is mainly the case when the leadership situation in the organization is competitive in nature. Servant leadership is mostly applicable in an organization that believes in values, which is a factor that was not culturally applicable to Fancy footwear. The three most valuable motivation theories for managing different groups within an organization is inclusive of Herzberg’s theory on money as a de-motivator, the four personal styles and the theory of motivation that involves three basic needs. The basic needs in this case are affiliation, achievement and power. The theories of motivation are based on the concept of intrinsic motivation, which is stronger than extrinsic motivation. A vital thing to consider is the fact that the manager in an organization cannot be able to motivate the employees, but can be able to create an environment that enables them to motivate themselves. Consequently, the application of the three motivation theories focuses on the creation of strong working relationships through the development of vibrant working environments. Managers in an organization should be willing to exert efforts towards the achievement of the organizational goals, whose conditioning takes into consideration the ability to satisfy the needs of individuals in the organization. Motivation involves getting someone to do something that he or she wants to do (Salas, 2013, 18). Motivation is a vital task for managers since it compromises their ability to encourage, delegate, communicate, train, brief, challenge, and provide rewards to the other people. The normative view of group dynamics gives a description of how to perform activities as well as organize the group. The second consideration of group dynamics involves a set of techniques that includes sensitivity training, role-play, group dynamics transactional analysis and team building among other considerations. The other view of group

The Risks That UK Coal, an FTSE Listed Company, Can Potentially Face Case Study

The Risks That UK Coal, an FTSE Listed Company, Can Potentially Face In Undertaking Cross-Border Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Activity - Case Study Example The researcher states that cross-border mergers and acquisitions are complex undertakings packaged with risks and rewards. When two organizations with different internal controls, management styles, corporate cultures and processes attempt to integrate, the business risk increases substantially. Before embarking on M&A journey, it is imperative that all risk factors are considered prior to injecting capital in the host country. UK Coal needs to conduct due diligence so as to ensure that M&A activity fits its long-term strategic objectives. Due diligence identifies, confirms or disputes the business reasons for proposed merger or acquisition transactions. Due diligence demands a thorough data analysis of assets and liabilities, particularly large balance sheet items such as accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable to establish fair market value. It is imperative that a fair value for the business is accurately established so that a reasonable price is paid for the target a ssets. A careful analysis of the target company's financial statements avoids incidents of overpaying and mismanaging shareholders' expectations. Differences in corporate culture, business practices, and institutional layouts can hinder firms from fully realizing their potential. According to a KPMG study, 83 percent of all M&As failed to economically benefit the shareholders and over 50 percent actually destroyed value. A research was conducted involving over 100 senior managers to determine the reason behind this failure which turned out to be the cultural differences. In pursuing a cross-border M&A, it is vital for an organization to assess the political situation prevailing in the target country. This assessment will not only uncover any potential political risks but also prepare the host company to face them and find appropriate solutions for them. Another potential barrier to a successful M&A activity is lack of knowledge about the target company. Knowledge about the company l eads to a successful post-merger integration. Â  Another factor that should be taken into account is the effects of trade impediments on cross-border M&A. Academic studies have found that on an aggregate basis, trade costs affect merger activity negatively, though the effect is less pronounced for horizontal mergers, i.e. mergers between firms within the same industry. UK Coal needs to ensure that its target company is one which will lead not only to economical but also intercultural synergies between the two companies. To identify an appropriate acquisition target, aforementioned due diligence should be adequately employed. Moreover, UK Coal needs cognizance in matters relating to exchange rates, local accounting standards, foreign government potential trade regulations, etc. UK Coal should have information regarding its local competitors in the host country and their respective market positions. This will lead to reasonable projections and estimates for the business. Expectations of UK Coal from this activity should be realistic and in parity with the overall strategy formulated at the design stage. Regulatory aspects also need attention to avoid any legal risks. Competent professionals (lawyers, accountants) must be hired to provide financial and legal opinions regarding the merger or acquisition transaction.

The Controversial Role of Women in Today's Time Research Paper

The Controversial Role of Women in Today's Time - Research Paper Example In the past, it was usual for women candidates to experience discrimination and unfairness by party leaders. These party elites refuse to employ women to compete for office, and they did not advocate women candidates (Thomas & Wilcox, 1998). Consequently, women experienced hardships in raising financial supports and in being respected as trustworthy candidates by the electorate and the mass media. Women in Politics: Past and Present Recent studies report that such inequities and discrimination has ebbed significantly. As stated by Georgia Duerst-Lahti, although women have been normally defeated by the men in elections in the past, it ceases to be the case nowadays (Thomas & Wilcox, 1998). As Barbara Burrell claims, in recent elections women have been more triumphant than men at all phases of the procedure from ‘early money through the general election’ (Thomas & Wilcox, 1998, 4). Negative responses of the electorate to women candidates have been reported as well. In the past, large numbers of voters believed that the place of women was not in politics (Carroll, 2003). Recent studies discover that women elected officials have mainly surmounted these barriers. According to Foerstel and Foerstel (1996), a significant percentage of the masses remain quite less sympathetic or accommodating of women candidates, but the percentage of citizens having this sentiment has decreased drastically, and although such sentiments remain they are frequently overpowered by incumbency status or party allegiance. Scholars studying fund-raising performances, voter preference, and party leaders’ treatment or perception of women candidates have assumed that when women compete for office, they win elections as frequently as their male counterparts do (Foerstel & Foerstel, 1996). Nevertheless, the removal of several barriers does not imply that men and women play on an even field. Barriers to the representational parity of women remain and contribute in the explanatio n of the relatively low proportions of women running for political positions (Rajoppi, 1993). These barriers comprise the rigidity of the incumbency aspect, media exposure of candidates, social qualification, electoral system, and socialization impacts. New Barriers to Women’s Political Participation Social qualifications relate to the expectations of the public about the eligibilities of those who are qualified contenders. Usually this involves specific job-related backgrounds, educational achievements, military involvement, and number and form of earlier political experiences, and so on (Carroll, 2003). Even though there has been a great deal of progress, women nowadays remain less probable than their male counterparts to occupy political positions from legal professions, for instance, and are more probable to have joined politics from women’s organizations or community assistance (Carroll, 2003). Thus, women may be perceived as less competent aspirants. Even though the impact of social qualifications have weakened later on, the gap in this aspect imply the women still confront bigger or new barriers to surmount to attain the same objectives. One implication of the conflicting qualifications and backgrounds is that women are less predisposed to view themselves as competent contenders for political positions (Thomas & Wilcox, 1998). The kind of socialization that encourages women to look for professions in law firms or business organizations also leads to their lower degree of self-esteem (Thomas & Wilcox,