Stop! Wait! I Am Pulling Down a Menu!

San Jose, CA, with the smallest officer-to-resident ration in the country, is named one of the safest cities in the United States. From 1990 to 2004, officers worked on a daily basis with a text-based mobile dispatch system, which they had no problem with. A major issue happened when, in 2004, this system was replaced by a new Windows-based touch screen software, developed by Intergraph. In this new project, a new touch screen computer was installed in every patrol car. The idea of the software was correct, it was supposed to bring many benefits and simply help officers, make their life easier. The new software was designed to receive orders, send messages, write reports, receive maps of the city, and use the GPS to let officers know where they are located. The success of the software was not as planned. Even before it was installed, officers were already upset that their input was not asked about the design of the interface; nobody asked their opinion and suggestions for the creation of the new system. The software itself had way too many complications. Officers were not satisfied at all with it. Some of the issues included were the increasingly difficult to use code 99-emergency, the time it took them to find whether a person they stopped had violent criminal record, mapping and GPS inaccuracies, and unneeded information that took screen space along with difficult font to read. The software simply did not work, it crashed after two days of its debut. It was fixed and debugged, but still had major issues. Dispatchers were also very dissatisfied with the Intergraph system because of the risky delays in task execution, because it could not perform multiple tasks simultaneously, between many more. They too, thought should have been consulted during the interface design stage. To fix these issues, SJPOA provided more training to officers and hired a consultant to see what could be done. The consultant realized there were too many complex hierarchies that did not make sense for anyone who had to be using the system while driving a car. Even with all these disagreements, San Jose did not replace the system. While looking at the examples given about Chicago and San Diego, I can see there is still hope for San Jose and the implementation of the new system. Are the problems encountered by the police officers due to hardware or software? The problems encountered were due to both, hardware and software. Hardware refers to the physical components of computers and related electronic devices such as PDAs. It was stated in the case that older officers were having more trouble than the younger ones and I believe it is because they are not used to the new computers and devices. The input devices are the ones that receive signals from outside the computer and transfer them into the computer. The most common input devices are the computer keyboard and mouse, but some advices accept voice, imagine, or other signals (Oz, E. , 2009). In this case, their problems were with the touch screen computers, which can serve both as an input and output device. Software was the major problem in this case. The software implemented simply did not work; there were too many bugs and mistakes. The idea of the software was to make officer’s lives easier and not more complicated. It seems that the software was too complex and slow to be used by police officers and fire fighters, who can most of the time be in danger and in need of fast and accurate information. Whom do you think is at fault for the unsuccessful implementation of the new software? Why? I believe the fault is to be blamed on the police and city officials. Their thought was good, they wanted to improve their system, but did not get any input from the officers to know what kind of system would work for them, what they need to most, if it is speed, accuracy, GPS, what would make their lives easier. I believe it lacked communication between them. With all this information, police officials could have gone to Intergraph and explained what kind of system they were looking for, how they wanted it to be, what should have its emphasis on. People, specially the â€Å"technologically challenged,† are often not receptive of new technologies. Was this a major issue in this case? I don’t believe it was a major issue, but it was one. The case stated even the tolerant and receptive officers were having obstacles to adapt to the new system, and it also said the older officers were having more trouble than the younger ones. Technology is changing so fast and some of us can not get caught up with it many times. The older officers were used with the paper and pen method, some of them probably do not even have (or if they do they got it not too long ago) a computer at home. If they are used to computers I am sure it is not the touch screen one, it is the laptop or desktop type. All of these make it more difficult to accept the new technology but it is not something that can not be converted with training. After getting familiar with the computers and systems they will realize it is going to make their job much easier and simple. If you were the CEO of Intergraph before it assumed the project for San Jose, what would you do differently? As the CEO of Intergraph I would have talked to the officials to know exactly what they are looking for in the system and try to create one that is as easy as possible to use. I would hold a lot of training sections to the officers to make sure they knew what they were doing and how they could use the system to their advantage. I believe Intergraph probably created a system that is not compatible with what they were needing. They should have held sections with the officers to know how familiar they are with computers, what they do and do not know about it. I am sure with useful information like this the system created would have been much more user friendly and therefore more effectively used. My recommendations for this case are as follow: Hold more training sections: I believe with training this situation can be solved in a simple way. I know that much of it depends on the effectiveness of the software itself, but once it is solved and free of bugs, training sections will be helpful for officers to get very familiar with the system and start using it to their advantage. Nowadays they can no longer work with paper and pen, computers will save them a lot of time and effort if used correctly. I also believe the training sections should be done with touch screen computers instead of desktop or laptops. Officers need to be able to practice on a screen just like the one they are going to work with in the car. This will make them feel more comfortable when using the software on the job. Get input from officers: the best way to make officers and dispatchers satisfied with the new system and computers is to get them involved in the process. They should be able to give their opinion about the whole situation and give inputs on what they believe would make a difference and what would not. They are the ones who will use it al all times so they should know what kind of system they want and will fulfill their needs when time comes. Fix software error: I am sure this is something they are already working on, and as stated in the case, San Diego also had the same problem when started using the same software and now it is working much better. They worked with Intergraph to fit the system to their needs and I believe San Jose needs to do the same. Get officers more adapted to technology: with time they will understand that technology is there to make their personal and professional lives better. Resistance is an emotional response based on feelings. You cannot talk people out of their emotions. In fact, their emotions become fiercer when they sense that their feelings are being challenged. An alternative and more effective approach is to ask about the concerns regarding the change. Talk to the officers to know what is holding them back. I think some workshops and/or meetings with experts in technology would give them an idea of what is available to them. I am sure a touch screen computer with many icons and items can be scary to some of them, but after they understand how to use everything they will truly take advantage of it.

Juveniles With Mental Disorders

Among Incarcerated Juvenile Offenders In Mississippi. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. 35 (1). 55-74. Review of Article This article examined how 14-20% of Juveniles that are incarcerated at Youth Detention facilities suffers some type of diagnosis for a mental disorder and 9-13% can be classified as having a serious emotional disturbance.This rate is very high and shows that the majority of children involved in the Juvenile delinquent system uffers some type of mental illness. This article examine a study conducte dover a 6 month period in 2000 for youth from ages of 12-18. They were found in nine long term youth detention facilities and two long term training schools. The Juveniles had a range of offenses that included aggravated assault, manslaughter, truancy, robbery, trespassing, running away. DUI, and drug offenses. Goal of Study There were actually three goals for this study.The primary goal of the study was to determine the poing prevalence of mental Illness, substance a buse and co-occurring ental health and substance abuse disorders of Juveniles held in Mississippi detention centers and training schools. The secondary goal was to determine the types and severity of problems by gender. The third goal was to examine the geographic differences and similarities in mental health and substance abuse disorders among Incarcerated youth In Misslsslppl compared to other states.Methodology (subjects, number of subjects, research design, Independent and Dependent Variables) The subjects that participated in the study were youth, both male and females between the ages of 12-18 years old. The number of subjects that participated in the study was 482. The youth were incarcerated in long-term juvenile correctional facilities called training schools and nine Juvenile detention centers during a 6 month period in 2000. The youth were approached in groups and Individually. There were 64. 3% (292) males, 65. 4% (297) blacks, 31 . 7% (144) whites and 2. 9% other racial /ethnic groups.The average age for the participants was 15. 3 years. The way that data was research was different at the detention centers and training schools. At the detention centers, Master's level mental health counselors visited ach facility on a weekly basis, approached newly detained adolescnts, and collected measures from consenting youths on an individual basis. The Adolescent Psychopathology Scale (APS), a standardized diagnostic questionnaire, and the Juvenile Detention Interview were collected. The counselors answered 16 mental stattus indicators based on their observation of the adolescent.Interviewers then noted their clinical Impressions. In the training schools, groups of 20-25 Juveniles 1 OF3 the test aftering explaining the purpose of the study. Adolescents that needed ssistance with reading were helped individually. The Juvenile Detention Interview and clinical observations were not conducted at the training due to time constraints. The APS is a 346 item self rep ort measure of adolescent psychopathology that directly evaluates teh severity of symptoms associatd with specific Diagnostice and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Axis I Clinical disorders and Axis II Personality disorders.The APS assesses behaviors that interfere with successful psychosocial adaptation and person competence. The APS has a third grade reading level and is esigned for administration to youth 12-19 years of age either individually or in groups. The APS is composed of 20 Clinical disorders, 5 Personality disorders, 1 1 Psychosocial Problem Content, and 4 Response Style Indicator scales. The findings from this study found that Juvenile offenders have high rates of mental and substance abuse disorders.The most common disorders were ADHD, Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Over half of the offenders in this study met criteria for conduct disorder and 35. 2% for disruptive disorder. The Juvenile Detention Interview is a 30-45 minute face to face se mi-structured nterview that records psychosocial history and includes alcohol and other drug use, mental health problems, and a number of risk factors associated with dlinquency involvement and criminal recidivism.Master's level clinicians collected information on reason for the youth to be admitted to Juvenile detention, youth education/ employment history, home environment, social environment to include gang membership, alcohol/drug use, family history, menal and medical treatment history. The interview also included 16 mental status questions that were completed by the nterviewer b ased on observation of the Juvenile during the interview process. The Juvenile Detention Interview was developed as a mental health and substance abue screening and triage form specifically for use in Juvenile detention centers.There are many advantages of this interview process; it does not require special training to administer, could be administered in the time allotted, and provides a basis for ini tial clinical impressions and services needs. Findings It was found that 17-22% youth had mood disorders, 10-20% had depressive disorders and only about 7% had some type of anxiety disorder. Females were more likely to score higher for Major Depression than males and were more likely to meet criteria for PTSD. Males rated higher for Conduct Disorder.The implications of this study found that many Juveniles mental health needs are going unmet and that mentally ill Black youth are more likely to be placed in Youth Detention facilities and mentally ill White youth are more likely to be placed in psychiatric hospitals. This study has shown that mental health screening are needed to help identify which juveniles are in need of mental health services so that they can get the services eeded to hopefully prevent them from coming back to detention facilities and committing more crimes, routine follow-up is also necessary.The findings of the study were used to assist administration of Juvenile Justice and mental health services for Juvenile offenders. RESPONSE In my opinion in this article the mental health needs of the youth were going unmet because the state instead of focusing the time that was actually needed and using licensed professions they wanted to use shortcuts for time and did not use certain standardized instruments because of time constraints and because mental health linicians did not have to be licensed they were of adequate use for the facilities which were cheaper to use versus the expense of a licensed counselor.I am pretty sure that many Juveniles are Just thrown into detention centers because it is thought that incarceration is therapy when actually it is not; it is actually a hinderance to those who really need help, but the state does minimum for those who are incarcerated and that is a known fact. There is a lack of medical attention and treatment if not only Juvenile facilities, but Jails and prisons for adults as well.

A History, a past, and a Trail Essay

The discovery of the North American continent created, literally, an entirely new world. With the congestion of Europe and a desire for agricultural land, many from the East loaded upon massive carrier ships in sight of a new life. It was a long voyage across the Atlantic. The sight of the new world from off-shore had been described as â€Å"salvation†. What these settlers did not know was that they were entering into shore-side cities that were even more cramped than their original location. The flocking to â€Å"America† is what attributed to the congestion and size of New York itself. This degraded living conditions and created an entirely new form of social status that had never been seen by Europeans. Something needed to be done to spread out the population of the Eastern shore side. Luckily our â€Å"rookie† government, fresh out of a war, had a creative idea to promote a move to the West. These politicians, in a vote of fifty-two to fifty. decided to intervene by offering any married couple six-hundred and forty acres of land. This was the equivalent to one square mile of land. They labeled the effort: â€Å"Manifest Destiny†. One can imagine how tempting this sounds to factory workers and small time farmers. Previously to this, some early explorers thought it necessary to devise a route from East to West. Lewis and Clark were the first to map the journey. The route they took covered 2,170 miles and practically covered all of the land that was accessible to wagons(Wiki). After a little â€Å"fine-tuning† by John Jacob Astor, to avoid dangerous areas of the Rocky Mountains and hostile Blackfeet Indians, the â€Å"Oregon Trail† was set in stone. This sparked many to make the dangerous move from East to West. Settlers that lived in cramped suburbs and local â€Å"Camp Towns† now had the motivation to spread out their horizons in a search for wealth and happiness. Manifest Destiny developed from a dream to a reality. With all of this came the hearsay and rumors that many viewed as dangerous. Many had heard of the â€Å"Dead Lands† located in the South Western dessert. Fatal stories were told about land that was not suited for farming. Although this caused a delay among some settlers, many had no choice to move westward, and set off on to their destination. Starting in Kansas City, the Oregon Trail began following the Santa Fe Trail. The growth of Kansas City can be attributed to being at the start of the massive trail; Local business sky-rocketed within a few years (END). The need for supplies caused many stores to become profitable overnight. Since there wasn’t much along the route to Oregon, many had to stock up for the long journey. Horses, food, and spare parts were just some of the many items a traveler would need to complete the journey (END). Many referred to the Kansas City area as â€Å"The Docks†, in reference to it being a loading dock for the expansion. After leaving Kansas City, and sticking to the rules of survival, wagons would use the natural terrain to their advantage. Many would stick to lower valleys that followed the river. After a few years, the trail was actually visible to those who traveled it; however, this does not seem to hold true for the remainder of the trip. Nebraska was in sight for most that started the trip. After crossing the Blue River it was just one river after another until arriving at the Rocky Mountains. Along the way, settlements began to form, which made the journey easier. The more who traveled, the easier it became. Many did not actually travel the entire route. If a good location or opportunity arose, families would start their new lives at that very spot along the trail (Wiki). Since many had no idea of where they were going to live when they completed their journey, it made sense that, if a good location was spotted along the way, that became their home. This is what forged cities and trade routes along the way. Even in the Rocky Mountains people began to settle. Mountain towns became good places to start the logging industry. With the rivers along the Oregon Trail flowing from North to South, logs from the Rockies found their way back down the trail to Kansas City. The direction of trade, however, was not a one-way street. The towns that were created along the trail needed supplies too. Many who traveled beyond the Rocky Mountains were sure to bring over-stocked supplies with them. Supplies were almost as valuable as gold on the Oregon Trail. Beyond the Rockies, it was pretty much a straight shot to Oregon. Following rivers one could go as far as Washington State. Many started homes in the forests of Oregon. After avoiding the southern desserts, it was clear that this area was suitable for cultivation and living. The only problem was that Oregon had harsh winters and very short windows of time for farming. New ways, such as the gold rush, were what sealed the fate of the northwestern states as being a contributing district of America. The settlers of western America were not just poor people looking for a way out of trouble. Many rich tycoons took advantage of the rising boom towns. When starting any venture, most people need a lender. Banks started to sprout at several points along the trail. In terms of business, it was common practice for towns to make their start, purely on credit. Many say that this is the reason the west side of the continent received venues for big business. It was until a newer improved method of transportation was devised that the Oregon Trail became the secondary path to the west. Until the invention of the Transcontinental Rail Road, the Oregon Trail was the main route for traversing the middle section of the country (Vance, 1961). People still relied on animal-based transportation and inefficient ways to cultivate their lands . This is where a change needed to take place the most in our country. Since the land was harder to farm and many were having a hard time finding the resources to do so, many believe that ingenuity was the only answer to the west’s problems. The need of the settlers is what sparked the inventions that farmers were looking for. New methods of plowing and irrigation were among the advancements along the trail. It seems, though, that pure luck and not the Oregon Trail is the hammer that etched the fate of the western states into stone. The Gold Rush of 1848-1855 drove the remainder of the population to the west . The search for gold and prosperity could be seen in people throughout the country. Although most were left empty handed, they had at least gained a new home in the left side of our country. This new home would suit them nicely. In the end, the Oregon Trail can be said to have carved a path of prosperity along the horizon of our nation. The details of this can often be seen in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Many started on a destination of uncertainty and ended up with more than they had bargained for. The rest worked hard and put food on the plate. History is the only area that the Oregon Trail is used today. Even though US Highway number 26 practically parallels the trail, the duration of the trail stays in the culture and heritage of families that live in the Western United States. Works Cited http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/histhome.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail

Finance and Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Finance and Accounting - Essay Example As the study presents derivative securities are financial instruments that have their value from the underlying assets. Such derivatives have different degrees of risks and therefore the certainty equivalent of cash flows can be computed by use simple multiple and based model where the cost of capital is used in finding both the current uncertain values of future uncertain cash flows. The research highlights both techniques are used in evaluation and estimation of the firms/company’s value. Additionally, both techniques use cash flows from the assets in their respective evaluations to find out the intrinsic value of the firm. Conversely, in discounted cash flow valuation, the purpose is to discover the value of assets, given their respective cash flows, growth rates and risk distinctiveness. In relative valuation, the purpose is to value assets, based upon how comparable assets are presently priced in the market. Private equity has been facing difficulties in valuing the private equity value as there have been different definitions of the fair value and inadequate/limited guidance in application of generally accepted accounting principles. Additionally, issues like financial crisis compel problems in valuation of private equity as the markets become unsteady hence triggering liquidity and placing stress on particular assets. Ineffective policies and procedu res used by managers regarding valuation of private equity bring about another problem in valuation.

Critical Discussion Papers 6088 Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Discussion Papers 6088 - Dissertation Example Second, this type of learning approach is also modifiable, as it can be augmented by both sophisticated (photonic wands) and simple (drawings and pictures) communicative supports, allowing a differentiated learning experience based on the initial individual abilities of the students. In addition, this approach is apt for heterogeneous classes, which is usually the case, because they provide high quantity and quality communicative interactions. In the study of Arthur-Kelly et al. (2008) observing classes with disabled students, spontaneous interactive communication in heterogeneous classes occurred 17% of the time, as opposed to 4% in special classes composed of disabled students only. It was likewise observed that communication among disabled students and peers without disability is the best social forum for simple communication tasks such as turn-taking, greeting and requesting. However, as Arthur-Kelly et al. (2010) as well as Maheady and Gard (2010) suggested, the downside of coop erative learning and peer tutoring is that it relies heavily on the response of the students on the interactive set-up of learning. In teaching disabled students, for example, the partner without disabilities should be sensitive to the needs of their more-challenged counterpart. The understanding and acceptance of what is given communicatively is central to the effectiveness of the teaching approach. Thus, cooperative learning and peer tutoring, as they are currently used, are impossible to standardize. Students may thus receive different levels of information, depending on how much they can process. In the future, studies may look into means of standardizing the information received by all the students. One way this can be done is alternating between big class discussions and small group or paired discussions so that the information shared in between partners are also shared to the whole class. Developing teacher intuition, reflection and responsiveness may be one of the ways by wh ich standardization can be achieved. In addition, The extensive use of augmentative and alternative communication resources may also be looked into for the improvement of the quantity of knowledge and skills built up through this learning approach. Title: The Impractical Research-Based Teaching Practices There are reasons already recognized why implementation of research practices in real-life setting cannot be done over long periods of time (Mastropieri and Scroogs, 1998). One of the most common causes pointed at is that the methods used by research studies do not reflect the true classroom setting. In addition, researchers use curriculum-based measurements to draw their conclusions regarding the effectiveness of their approach, when in fact teachers observe attitudinal and behavioral changes in students to assess the effectiveness of their teaching method. Previous studies have also suggested that teacher individualism is compromised by these research-based practices. As such, tea chers are reluctant in adapting them for effective teaching. In addition, researchers do not properly train the teachers of the methods they deem beneficial for teaching. They also fail to communicate with the teachers in developing novel teaching approaches. Thus, problems such as the narrow or overly broad scope of some of the most common research-based teaching approache

World Literature (See attched Word Document for insutruction) Essay

World Literature (See attched Word Document for insutruction) - Essay Example Human justice is defined as one that takes vengeance on those that have done wrong against other. This moves into human injustice, which states that the murder is not committed against an external enemy, but is instead committed against the self. The divine justice is briefly referred to and is used to please the gods instead of to bring justice to society. In comparison to divine justice, this does not reward one for actions that are righteous, but instead punishes them for something that is believed as wrong. The system I would rather live under is divine justice. The ability to have compassion and reward for fearing God is one that allows one to live peacefully, as opposed to taking vengeance on those who have done wrong. The argument of all three friends would be to have human justice. Whenever something is wrong, there is the immediate desire to take revenge or to get even. Instead of living righteously, most build into a system that is based on vengeance. 2. According to the Bhagavad – Gita, the ability to be saved is one that happens when one recognizes God or the prophet of God and comes out of ignorance and irreligion. As this happens, the soul is able to progress through life cycles while coming closer to God. If one does not move out of this, then they reincarnate into a different form, either animal or human. The ignorance that they carry turns into karma and the things of the past they have done with good intent turns into dharma. As one progresses, the karma can turn into dharma, which helps the soul to progress and to be saved. Kabir has a similar concept about being saved and the progression of the soul. Kabir recognized that as one overcame ignorance and recognized the Supreme Being, they were able to eliminate karma. As this happened, the individual was able to become an enlightened soul. When one reached the highest realm of enlightenment, they were recognized as bahkti, which meant that they were an

Individual Differences in Human Sexuality Research Paper - 1

Individual Differences in Human Sexuality - Research Paper Example In addition, some scholars argue that resource allocation under free market is skewed to select sector of the economy. Therefore, government must regulation that can help bridge the gap between the unequal distributions. For this purpose, regulation are important, and help make a better society. In addition, businesses need some regulation to ensure that their operation in done in a cohesive and fair manner. Therefore, government need to regulate unfair completion, as well as malpractices among traders. The debate always revolves for and against legislation in the business world. However, it is the case of how well a politician argue their cases because bot extreme are important when applied moderately. For this reason, it is advisable for the government to interviews in cases that can bring down the economy if left at the hand of business people and corporations (Jarvis, 2011). Government should be allowed to monitor the market and introduce regulations to check

THINKING SKILLS AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

THINKING SKILLS AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT - Essay Example Finally, a conclusion shall synthesize the main points of the paper and demonstrate the continued use and viability of systematic management in post-modern management practices. Taylorism is a method of management which was formulated by Fredrick Winslow Taylor in 1911, as in the title of his monograph The Principles of Scientific Management, which aimed to enhance labor productivity and manufacturing efficiency (Zahir, Themistocleous, & Love, 2003). Taylor's background as an industrial engineer in the USA later earned him the title of the "Father of Scientific Management" (Schroeder, 2003). He analyzed worker's behaviors across industries he was involved in and determined that "One Best Way" could achieve a higher rate of production that was standardized and so cut costs to the company. He also develop a time and motion study wherein he broke down each job in a manufacturing process into its component elements and measured the duration of each component to a hundredth of a minute. This reduced the number of movements or actions that a worker needed to make in order to perform each component of the overall job. Each component could then be standardized acro ss all workers performing that job, reducing "wasted" action and increasing productivity and subsequently company profits.It was also found that the reduction in the number of actions needed to perform a total job would dramatically reduce worker fatigue (Schroeder, 2003). Taylor is noted for his study into the use of shovels, he observed that workers used the same type of shovel for a range of materials. Through systematic evaluation Taylor determined that 211/2 lb was an ideal load for a shovel, and then located or designed a variety of shovels for each type of material that could scoop that amount. Ultimately, Taylor sought to portray industrial management as an academic discipline, so that evidence-based research could be used to make informed decisions about the most effective and efficient way of maintaining a cooperative and innovate workforce that could achieve maximum productivity at minimal costs.In summary, Taylor's theory of scientific management consisted of four distin ct principles: 1. Instead of the "rule-of-thumb" of traditional work methods, tasks should be grounded in the scientific study of each task and its component parts. 2. Use systematic and standard methods to recruit, select, train, evaluate and develop each employee instead of workers continuing to train them in a passive and non-standardized manner. 3. Collaborate with workers so that systematic and standardized methods of completing a task are followed. 4. Delegate work amongst managers and workers in an equal manner to ensure that managers implement scientific management principles when planning work, and to ensure that workers actually follow-through on task procedures. In this way, Taylor approached management of work tasks as a scientific problem. After Taylor, the rapid progress of technological development paved the way for advances in statistical analyses of scientific problems. This progress led to the improvement of Taylor's systematic principles to provide more stringent quality control during the 1920s and 1930s (Miner, 2002). Quality

Advertising and Promotion- the Pills Case Study

Advertising and Promotion- the Pills - Case Study Example Beats by Dre has used this mass communication to reach out to large target customers (Ansell, Harrison and Archibald, 2007, pp. 394-400). Beats by Dre has used Television to deliver its message through its advertisement. The communication process used by Beats by Dre to communicate the Pills campaign will be explained below. Sender Through the pills campaign Beats by Dre wants to send the message that users should destroy the use of cheap generic headphone and instead use their portable wireless speakers. Encoding Through this process Beats by Dre wants to give a sense that their wireless speakers are much more improved as compared to old generic headphones. Though they are small in size it is much louder (Bitner, M. J., Brown, S. W. and Meuter, M. L. 2000, pp. 138-141). Feedback The last process in the communication process is the receiver’s response to the message sent by the source. The Pills campaign resulted in positive feedback from the customers. Answer 1.2 The UK commu nicating industry has a lot of channels through which the messages flow. The traditional form of marketing channel consists of medium, agencies, media and production units. The media is the essential component which serves as the medium through which the campaign runs. There are many forms of media like print media, television media, social media etc. Majority of the companies now uses social media and television media as their medium of communication since it involves considerably lower cost and can be done at a cheaper rate (Botschen, Thelen and Pieters, 1997, pp. 38-42). They are using the social media to drive their advertising. There are many agencies which help in the production process like the pills campaign have been done by R/GA’s London and LA offices. Their job is creating and planning the advertising for their clients. It is an independent company which helps in the efforts of the clients in selling their products or services. They can also handle the whole marke ting and branding strategies of the clients. There are many types of ad agencies in UK consisting of specialized agencies, full service agencies, Interactive agencies etc. There are separate media and production units which creates the advertisement on the basis of concept given by the company. After the production process, they hand over the media content to the ad agencies that can get with the marketing and branding aspects of it (Boulding, Staelin, Ehret and Johnston, 2005, pp. 155-159). Answer 1.3 There are many self-regulatory systems in UK like Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP). They adjudicate the complaints which they receive and its awards are published widely in the media. It is recognised as established means of protecting the consumers in non-broadcast marketing. There is legal regulation which opposes the unfair competition in the sales promotion activities in UK (Brangule-Vlagsma, Pieters and Wedel, 2002, pp. 267-270). T here are a variety of legal provisions on this. These are Consumer protection legislation, Contract law, Copyright and passing off, Lotteries an Amusement Act. Copyright infringement is not uncommon in the marketing activity. There are number cases like Liverpool daily post and Express Newspaper plc where it was a case of copyright infringement. In case of absence unfair competition, the law of passing off assist the companies in protecting their sales promotion activities against ambush marketing by its competitors (Carson and Coviello, 1996, pp. 51-54). Answer 1.4 Media fragmentation is

Leadership Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leadership Plan - Assignment Example The case study describes two significant leadership roles in the form of Vince Brofft and Kelly Mueller. The daughter and father are both dedicated leaders of their own family business, American Tool & Die. The changing scenario of the market had put excessive pressure on some of the local communities as more number of foreign automakers was grabbing the market share. In such a scenario the major goal of Kelly Mueller had been to adapt to the changing situations and shifting the business of AT&D from Michigan to Mississippi. This would eventually cause adverse effects on 195 employees as they have to get detached from their families. The concept of moral compass can be effectively incorporated in the attitude of Kelly Mueller with respect to her vision implementation. It can stated that she was more concerned with the future of these employees who were like a family to her, and she was more focused than her father in respect to goal orientation. Kelly Mueller was not a social architect rather she was more focused towards sustainability of her business. As a leader she was finding opportunities for her company so that she can take out her business from the financially unstable situation. As a leader of AT&D she was able to analyze well the potential problems surrounding the organization and take appropriate measures so as to overcome those problems. Kelly Mueller adopted the leadership role of directing its workforce towards success of the organization. She was not very determined towards following the traditional approach of leadership that focused more on coaching and supporting the employee base for business operations (Cameron, 2008). In context of moral compass Kelly Mueller can effectively put forward the virtue that decision she was taking to shift the plant was for sustainability of the business and also for the benefit of all those families of her workforce who were totally dependent on the business operations of AT &D. Her decision can

Concept Map on Indigenous Peoples Essay Example for Free

Concept Map on Indigenous Peoples Essay Our group came up with concept map that illustrated our ideas when the perception of the indigenous peoples came into our minds. When we hear the said concept, the immediate idea that comes into our minds is the ceremonies that IPs do. We know that their ceremonies or rituals are part of their religion. They believe in spirits, in the notion of the after-life having spiritual leaders guiding them through the visions that the sacred aura gives them. Most of the IPs are very animistic and are called pagans by the Westerners due to the lack of formality in religion, meaning no temples are built for a proper religious ceremony. They practice both primary and secondary burial in the belief that their souls would have to journey to another dimension called the â€Å"after-life. The next thing that comes into mind is their customs and traditions. Every indigenous group has a distinct set of customs or habits. They preserve their songs, dances, literature, prayers and many others through oral tradition. In the Philippines, only the Muslims have the written tradition called tarsila. Art is a very evident characteristic that indigenous groups exhibit. The tattooing tradition which is very evident in many Austronesian societies is a status symbol. Elders and Datus who are considered the tribal leaders are seen with more tattoos than those who have low social status. The term tanda in the Philippines means wisdom which is an indicator of respect for the elders. Every indigenous group has its own language. Language is the factor, which makes an individual belong to an ethnic or ethno-linguistic group. Language is the collection of the vocabulary available in a culture. Language is termed as a dialect when there is a regional distinction of a language from the mother language. It may become evident in accent, grammar system and semantics. We have cited some examples such as the Ilocanos, Ifugaos and some foreign to us, the Aztecs. Last main branch on the concept map is the concept of heritage. All indigenous groups are struggling to preserve their heritage and culture which is why tribal laws prevail over any other constitutional or civil law in the country. They are very resistive to alien influence which makes them prone to social and racial discrimination promoted and propagated by some stupid multimedia. Their heritage is very reflective of their economic direction. They rely on a self-sufficient subsistence economy. They have no imperialist ideologies. They only tend to survive their tribe and cultivate their own environment. Agriculture and fishing are the main sources of living especially in tropical countries. They are the stewards of many ecosystems in the land, rivers and seas. Many IPs in the country have built nipa huts as their shelter. They have built houses such as the bahay kubo because most of the time, when a relative dies, they burn their houses due to their belief that spirits cause illnesses and should leave the homes of the inflicted. For the Ivatans of the Batanes Group of Islands, Spanish influence is already observed in their stone houses which are their defense to the perennial tropical storms that tend to devastate their crops and homes.

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example for Free

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Good morning/afternoon Executives of the Board of Studies. In the topic of powerful to powerless, To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic novel that is relevant and appropriate. It possesses many admirable qualities that prove its worth to be on the new curriculum. The novel explores many ideas regarding the use and abuse of power, different forms of power, the consequences of power, and how the composer has used language to portray power. To Kill A Mockingbird explores a number of different types of power throughout. There are four types of power: personal, instrumental, projected and official power. One clear example of power is that of Atticus Finchs regarding his children. As their father, Atticus has official power over Scout and Jem. He also has instrumental power as he provides a home, as well as other basic necessities for his children. Another example of power, although it is negative, is the projected power that Bob Ewell possesses over Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson highlights his fear of Bob as he testifies Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, youd be scared too. Bob Ewells power demonstrates that power can be taken and abused by others. Despite whether if you have an abundance of power of you are miserably lacking so, there will always be certain consequences that follow. Bob Ewell, as an example, believed that he was better than the African Americans despite the fact that he was considered the lowest class in white society. Bob Ewell abused his power, although it was still lacking. Ewell, was too prideful, that after being humiliated in court and stripped of dignity by Atticus, he decided to attack Atticus children. Furthermore, Arthur Boo Radley can depict a lack of power. Boo Radley had lived most of his life trapped inside his home by his oppressive family members. He was feared because of the negative connotations that surrounded him. The stories that were told of him portrayed his character as a monster, or something to fear. Furthermore, another figure in the novel that lacked power was Tom Robinson. In society, African Americans were looked down upon by the white society. Tom Robinson was racially discriminated against by Bob Ewell, who framed him for a crime he did not commit. As white people were the superior race, they had power over the African Americans. As Tom Robinson lacked power, he also lacked the ability to act against the threats of Bob Ewell because of his fear. Even though Tom Robinson was a man of great stature, and seemed adequate to engage in a physical brawl despite his injury, he was still afraid. Harper Lee employs a range of language techniques in order to convey ideas about power. Lee has described Arthur Boo Radley as having cheeks that were thin to hollowness, gray eyes that were colourless and hair that was dead and thin. It has been acknowledged that Boo is considered one of the novels most powerless figures. His name is an aptronym, it portrays his character and highlights his mysterious nature. It is also an example of onomatopoeia, hinting at negative connotations. Additionally, there are other aspects that can also assist the portrayal of his character. The author describes the Radley house as droopy and sick, this parallels to the descriptions made of Boo. Harper Lees many descriptions of Boo Radley creates a vivid picture in the readers mind, the reader is immediately drawn to the connotations that surround Boo. It is because of ideas explored previously that prove To Kill A Mockingbird to be a worthy contender on the new school curriculum. It explored the concept behind power and powerless and therefore is relevant.

Accountability in the UK Public Sector

Accountability in the UK Public Sector To what extent has the public sector become more or less accountable as a  result of the changes since 1980s in the way in which the public sector is  organised and managed? The following will discuss whether the public sector has become more or less accountable as a result of changes in its organisation and management since the 1980s. There have been at face value some profound changes to the public sector since the 1980s yet whether those changes have had a great impact on the public sectors accountability, or have been merely cosmetic changes will be examined below. As will be outlined below, the public sector was greatly affected by privatisation, de-regularisation, or greater central government scrutiny, as well as changes in the ways in which it was organised and managed. The differences and similarities in the methods in which both Conservative and Labour governments have wanted to change the way the public sector is organised and managed has been critical for the levels of accountability within the various parts of the public sector. The public sector accounts for a major share of the economy, the majority of government spending, alongside the bulk of the provision of public goods and services to the majority of the British population. The public sector had a tradition of not being readily accountable to the people it supposedly served, even though it could be held to account by government ministers and Parliament (Comfort, 1993 p. 491). The public sector was widely seen as being provider-centred rather than citizen-centred, an attitude, that still persists even if the emphasis of public sector organisation and management has changed (Watmore, 2005 p. 32). Since the 1980s, the aim of successive governments was to make the civil service as efficient as it is politically impartial. Central government would also focus its attention on local councils, which were responsible for a quarter of public sector spending and service provision. Councils were also accountable to the electorate, facing local elections every yea r besides being accountable to central government their performance and reliant on central funding. However, local councils have the ability to raise their own revenue from local taxation which is crucial for their organisation and management, whilst causing conflict or debates with central government. Ultimately, local councils would believe that their accountability to central government takes precedence to their accountability to the local electorate. After all, central government can abolish any council it wants, as Margaret Thatcher did (Savage and Atkinson, 2001 p.17). In 1979, the public sector was larger in size and scope than at present. The public sector did not just comprise of government departments, the civil service, or the services provided by central and local government. The public sector also included nationalised industries such as the railways, coal and steel, as well as ailing private sector firms such as British Leyland that were nationalised to keep people employed and factories open. Margaret Thatcher came to power with the intention of radically altering Britain’s economy and society, alterations that reshaped the public sector. Thus, changing the organisation and management of those parts of the public sector that unlike British Telecommunications that could not be quickly privatised, or those parts that unlike the coal industry were not left to go into extinction. The Thatcher government’s adoption of neo-liberal monetarist economic policies was intended to change the ethos and management of the public sector almo st as much it was intended to change the private sector (Fisher, Denver Benyon, 2003 pp 7 –8). Thatcherism could not dismantle the public sector, nor could it reverse the welfare state. However, the parts of the public that could not be privatised were opened to internal markets to make their organisation and management more efficient, if not more accountable (Jenkins, Independent, 2 April 1987). The enterprises that left the public sector became less accountable to the general public through Parliament, although their organisation and management became more accountable to their new shareholders. By the time the Conservatives left office in 1997, public owned enterprises produced only 2 % of gross domestic product. That compares to 12% in 1979 (Bannock, Baxter Davis, 2003 p. 309). The remnants of the public sector would become more accountable by spending budgets more effectively, reducing waste and error whilst cutting unnecessary expenditure. Government departments were set more stringent budgets, whilst both Conservative and New Labour governments have set performance stan dards for the public sector to achieve to improve efficiency if not directly increasing or decreasing accountability. The Conservatives wished to make high spending councils more submissive to central government and were rate capped if they refused to curtail their spending. Organisation and management had to be changed to avert the punishment from Westminster rather than being more accountable to the public (Coxall, Robbins Leach, 2003, p. 43). Local government was probably the segment of the public sector that has had its accountability increase the most since the 1980s. Higher unemployment and the perceived unpopularity of cutting spending on the NHS meant that welfare spending could not be cut as much as Thatcher had intended. On the other hand, the Conservatives were able to maintain tight control of local government. Funding was reduced or made conditional on working â€Å"with other public and private agencies† (Stoker, 1999 p. 1). Conversely, whilst elected local authorities were made more accountable to central government, more functions were being transferred to unelected bodies known as quangos. These quangos were spending  £ 40 billion of public money annually by 1996 with little or no accountability compared to local government or central government departments (Fisher, Denver Benyon, 2003 p. 263). Councils lost some of their greatest capital assets with the increased sales of councils during the 1980s . Thatcher had promoted these sales to increase the number of homeowners and reduce the size of the public sector without much concern about the dwindling supply of affordable housing for the poorest members of society. Conservative success in promoting home ownership through selling off council houses was shown by the 15 % increase between 1979 and 1997 (Coxall, Robbins Leach, 2003 p. 42). Councils were made more accountable for the way the remaining council houses were organised and managed, even though they had far less control of budgets, sales of council housing, and the proceeds of those sales than ever before. The Conservatives were also keen in promoting the transfer of council housing to social landlords and housing associations. Since 1997, New Labour has not tried to reverse any of those transfers of housing stock back into the public sector. In fact, New Labour has tried to expand joint public and private schemes in its efforts to increase service provision and efficiency rather than accountability (Fisher, Denver Benyon, 2003 p. 272). Accountability within the public sector for the way it is organised and managed has increased since the 1980s due to the increase in inspection and intervention from central government. The Conservatives were as enthusiastic about inspecting schools, councils and hospitals as they about greater consumer or citizen choice, market approaches and selling off what public sector assets they could. Whilst individual schools and hospitals were given greater opportunities for self-management, they were also faced with meeting performance targets, and more frequent inspections. Not only did the government want greater accountability; Parliament increased its ability to scrutinise government departments and the public sector through the expansion of the select committee system. These committees have been able to uncover much that both Conservative and New Labour government ministers would have liked to have left unknown, whilst gaining greater information from the public sector. Ministers have wanted more information from public sector management when going before select committees, increasing the pressure for public sector organisation and management to be fully accountable to the minister (Coxall, Robbins Leach, 2003 p. 245). New Labour has extended the roles and remits of inspectorates such as Ofsted, the Audit Commission and the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate. All these inspectorates have increased the accountability of public sector organisation and management, often in its attempts to meet or exceed government targets (Seldon Kavanagh, 2005 p. 77). New Labour put most of its inspectorates together under the auspices of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department of Work and Pensions to assess local councils under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment scheme, to make them accountable for their failings or to praise them for their successes. Poor performing councils can face greater levels of inspection whilst the best performing councils can have the ir inspections reduced. The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate has had considerable success in making Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit more effective and councils more accountable (DWP, 2003 pp. 38-9). The 1980s not only witnessed the growth of inspection and scrutiny, it also witnessed the emergence of New Public Management to make public sector administrators more efficient by forcing them to work along private sector lines rather than more traditional public sector ones. Operating along the principles of the market economy did not make public sector organisation and management more accountable, hence the increasing use of inspectorates and nation wide performance standards (Davis, 2005 p. 11). Advances in IT have provided the basis for the public sector to improve its organisation and management, and allow for the collection of greater levels of management information for its various scrutinisers. Of course, more advanced IT allows the public sector to become citizen focused and offers the possibility of decentralised decision-making and even online benefit claims or queries from the general public. Improved IT and technology can raise the public expectation of better services. The NHS for instance has to ration new treatments that everybody wants as it has a limited budget. Accountability has to be amended to adapt to changing circumstances and technologies. New Labour has attempted to make both private and public sector companies and organisations more accountable for the electronic data they hold through the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection Act (Watmore, 2005 p.33). The government has another motivation for developing better IT within the public sector, it can reduce the infrastructure, resources, and staff needed to provide public services. Better management of resources has allowed the Treasury to gain  £6 billion a year between 1999 and 2004 from the disposal of public sector assets. Gordon Brown also believes that greater efficiency means that 84,000 civil servants were no longer needed, a decision that provoked anger from public sector trade unions (Davies, 2005 p.11; Simpson, 2005 p. 14). Therefore, it can be successfully argued that public sector organisation and management has become increasingly accountable since the 1980s. The Thatcher and Major governments made the public sector more accountable, or at least the parts of it that could not be privatised. Thatcher’s changes were not primarily concerned with promoting accountability, that was just a consequence of her aim of reducing the public sector, curtailing trade union power and increasing control over local councils. The Major government did introduce the Citizens Charter to make public service providers more accountable to the public. New Labour has continued the trend of increasing the accountability of public sector organisation and management, although more for reasons of efficiency than any ideological attack on the public sector. The public sector has become increasingly accountable to central government, although its accountability to the general public is less obvious despite legislation such a s the Data Protection Act, which gives the public greater rights to information and making complaints. The culture within the public sector has also changed to some extent from being provider-centred to being citizen-centred. Bibliography Bannock G, Baxter R E Davis E, (2003) The Penguin Dictionary of Economics 7th edition, Penguin, London Comfort N (1993) Brewer’s Politics, a phrase and fable dictionary, Cassell, London Coxall B, Robbins L Leach R, (2003) Contemporary British Politics 4th edition, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Davies W, Is efficient government necessarily good government? Public Service Director, January 2005, A GovNet Communication, London Department for Work and Pensions (2003) – Departmental Report 2003, The Stationary Office, London Fisher J, Denver D Benyon J, (2003) Central Debates in British Politics, Pearson Education Limited, Harlow Jenkins P, â€Å"Waking Up From the Long Communist Nightmare†, Independent, 2 April 1987 Savage S P and Atkinson R, (2001) Public Policy under Blair, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke Seldon A Kavanagh D, (2005) The Blair Effect 2001-5, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Simpson J, ‘Selling Britain by the pound’, Public Service Director, January 2005, A GovNet Communication, London Stoker G, (1999) The New Management of British Local Governance, Macmillan, Basingstoke Watmore I, ‘Using IT to transform Government’, Public Service Director, January 2005, A GovNet Communication, London

The Notebook Essay -- Film Movie Notebook Essays Movies

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Notebook is a phenomenal film with incredible performances and many heartfelt moments from beginning to end. It is a love story that many of us fantasize of living someday. The story unfolds in recent times at a Nursing home with the introduction of an elderly lady (Gena Rowlands) who is being visited by an old man, known as Duke (James Garner), who also resides in the nursing home, and he's there to read her a story. He begins to read about a young girl named Allie (Rachel McAdams) who was visiting a cousin one summer in the late 1940s. Allie was a beautiful teenage girl who eventually caught the eye of Noah (Ryan Gosling), her cousin's boyfriend's best friend. Initially, she showed no interest in Noah, considering the fact that she was a well rounded rich girl, and Noah, a poo...

Mad Cow Disease :: essays research papers

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

Death Penalty Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death by execution has existed as a punishment since the dawn of time. Yet although this has existed seemingly forever, the question of its morality has also existed for that same amount of time. Killers kill innocent people, there is no question about that, but does that give us the right to kill these killers? I do not think so.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Racism is often the driving force behind crime. Yet in a justice system that preaches equality, it too is led by racism. There is â€Å"a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty† according to a 1990 U.S. Government report. An overwhelming majority of death row defendants since 1977 were executed for killing whites despite the fact that whites and blacks are victims of murder in approximately equal numbers. In Texas, for example, blacks found guilty of killing whites were found to be six times more likely to receive the death penalty that whites convicted of killing whites. Of the 3,061 inmates on death row 1,246 of them are black, making 40% of death row inmates black. Compare this to the fact that blacks make up 12% of the U.S. population. Furthermore, many black prisoners on death row were sentenced to death by all-white juries after prosecutors had deliberately excluded black peop le from the jury pool.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Racism alone is not the only problem with Capital Punishment. Many inmates on death ...

Civilization of Ancient Greece

Greece produced classics in almost all genres of creative expression: literature, philosophy, music, the visual arts, and architecture. These classics advanced the aesthetic principles of clarity simplicity, balance, regularity, and harmonious proportion. As a style, Classicism is characterized by these aesthetic principles and by the related ideals of reason, moderation, and dignity (Firer 29). Greek culture is a very original culture in their way of life. A good example is the Parthenon.It towers in height with its beautifully elegant and simple design. It served as a shrine to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Many people visit it each year for its history and unique structure. It had a columned design, made marble and realistic lifelike sculptures the first of its kind. Greek architecture has a specific look and feel to it that has been repeated in inspiration of many artists. It has been used as a design for many current structures, including banks, and libraries. The Iliad and the Odyssey are very unique epics that are the first of their kind.During the long period of political and social turmoil that followed, storytellers kept alive the history of early Greece, the adventures of Mycenaean, and the tales of the Trojan War, passing them orally from generation to generation (32). It was not until at least the ninth century B. C. E. That these stories were transcribed; and it was yet another three hundred years before they reached their present form. They became â€Å"national† poems of ancient Greece, uniting Greek-speaking people by giving literary authority to their common heritage (33).They tell stories that the Greeks held close and wanted to last forever within their culture. These are even used for Inspiration today in writing and poetry. Both are also taught In high school In basic literature classes. They carry lessons that we use In today's culture; for example, the concepts that everyone makes mistakes (even heroes), to follow directi ons, loyalty, and to never give up or let go for the ones that you love. All of these life lessons are very Important In our culture today. Work Cited Hero, Gloria K. Landmarks In Humanities. D deed. New York. McGraw Hill, 2013. Print Civilization of Ancient Greece By pleasantries and wanted to last forever within their culture. These are even used for inspiration today in writing and poetry. Both are also taught in high school in basic literature classes.

The Language of Mistrust and Fear

From the beginning, Bram Stoker makes it clear that Count Dracula should be viewed as The Other, a psychological distinction that has been used to describe the way people view the world in â€Å"them† and â€Å"us†. Stoker uses the concept of The Other to show how different Dracula is from the English and to create an underlying tension between the remaining characters and the vampire. He also uses the psychological distinction as a means of preventing the characters from determining the nature of the vampire earlier as they are aware that they have societal differences from the count.The characters choose to overlook many of the first warnings of the oddness of the Count because they were afraid they were acting out of a misunderstanding about the cultural differences. Stoker manages to establish Count Dracula as the other easily within the first chapter of the novel. In the first chapter, the impressions we have of Count Dracula all come from Jonathan Harker’s journal and Stoker establishes early on that Harker is uncomfortable with his surroundings.â€Å"The impression I had was that we were leaving the West and entering the East; the most western of splendid bridges over the Danube, which is here of noble width and depth, took us among the traditions of Turkish rule† (Stoker, Chapter 1). Even in his writing, Stoker decides to play up the strangeness of the land with the strange spelling of Budapest as Buda-Pesth. He establishes immediately that Harker is leaving the civilized world and going to a completely different land.He uses the lure and the mystique of â€Å"the East† to establish the difference all within the first paragraph of the book that Count Dracula is different from everyone else. As Harker travels inland, we learn that the count is from the edge of Hungary near the Carpathian Mountains, â€Å"one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe. † (Chapter 1) This is another attempt by the author to establish that Dracula is weird, and unlike the other characters. By claiming that he is from a wild and unknown region, Stoker is relying on the themes of Romanticism to imply that he is potentially evil and dangerous.And just a few paragraphs later he tells us that â€Å"I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting. † (Chapter 1). These lines establish clearly that Harker believes the people of Hungary to be less educated and different from the people of England. Furthermore, by establishing that he has heard they are a superstitious folk, he can justify their odd behavior to himself and not question the decisions that he is making (going alone to the Count’s castle despite their warnings).Throughout the novel, Stoker relies on the concept of the other to isolate his main characters from the world around them an d never is this as evident as in Harker’s initial journey to meet the count. All along the way, Harker is the tourist, intrigued and yet critical of local population. â€Å"The women looked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy about the waist. † (Chapter 1) He describes the traditional dress and the more rotund nature of the populace as â€Å"clumsy about the waist† emphasizing the fashion of the time in Britain to be very thin with corsets cinching the waist in even farther.And, to the men, he is even less generous. The strangest figures we saw were the Slovaks, who were more barbarian than the rest, with their big cow-boy hats, great baggy dirty-white trousers, white linen shirts, and enormous heavy leather belts, nearly a foot wide, all studded over with brass nails. They wore high boots, with their trousers tucked into them, and had long black hair and heavy black moustaches. They are very picturesque, but do not look prepossessin g. On the stage they would be set down at once as some old Oriental band of brigands.They are, however, I am told, very harmless and rather wanting in natural self-assertion. To the average reader at the time of this writing, Stoker’s words about the people of Europe would have been strange and more than a bit fearsome, driven by the fear of the unknown. The author, realizing this, includes that very observation in Harker’s journal, when he hastens to explain that despite the many odd things in his journal, he had not overindulged in either food or drink, going so far as to list what he has eaten.There too, Stoker attempts to make the reader revile the locals with a comparison of their dinner to the â€Å"simple style of the London cat's meat! † (Chapter 1). Having established the physical differences between the inhabitants of Eastern Europe and those in London and draw attention to their different manner of dress and food, Stoker is ready to cut the last tie w hich might bind the two groups together: religion. On the eve of Harker’s approach to Dracula’s castle, the innkeeper’s wife attempts to prevent him from going.She relays the fear that something untoward will happen to him at the Castle and begs him to take her crucifix. I did not know what to do, for, as an English Churchman, I have been taught to regard such things as in some measure idolatrous, and yet it seemed so ungracious to refuse an old lady meaning so well and in such a state of mind. She saw, I suppose, the doubt in my face, for she put the rosary round my neck and said, â€Å"For your mother's sake,† and went out of the room. I am writing up this part of the diary whilst I am waiting for the coach, which is, of course, late; and the crucifix is still round my neck.(Chapter 1) In this short passage, Stoker firmly establishes that the Hungarians are not like the English, establishing them firmly as The Other, but he also manages to establish the ir humanity. When the woman asks him to take the crucifix, â€Å"For your mother’s sake†, Stoker overcomes the barrier between them, pointing to a common bond among all humans, the love of a mother for her child. This is done for two reasons: first, to illustrate to the reader that the oddities of the count are in fact unnatural and second, to begin to create a mood, to explain the beginnings of the fear that Harker feels as he approaches the castle.The reader is meant to feel that Harker’s observations about his trepidation as he approaches the castle at midnight are justified, that he is not merely some frightened little boy who starts at the darkness. This concept that the fear might be justified is building all along Harker’s journey to the castle and might have built more if he had understood the languages his fellow passengers spoke, Stoker writes, again playing to the classical definition of the other as someone outside our normal understanding, se parated by culture, religion and sometimes, by language.Then, in a subtle criticism of the Carpathians, another form of creating distance between groups, Harker observes that the roads and rough and that the driver seemed to â€Å"fly over it with a feverish haste. † (Chapter 1) This observation is meant to again set the people apart from the English who, it is implied, would never think of driving at such a pace and would have most certainly kept the road in better repair. â€Å"I was told that this road is in summertime excellent, but that it had not yet been put in order after the winter snows.In this respect it is different from the general run of roads in the Carpathians, for it is an old tradition that they are not to be kept in too good order. Of old the Hospadars would not repair them, lest the Turk should think that they were preparing to bring in foreign troops, and so hasten the war which was always really at loading point. † (Chapter 1). Even in his discuss ion of the fear of the Turks, Stoker is driving a wedge between the English and the Hungarians, as the British never feared invasion from aggressive neighbors thanks to the fact that they were on an island.This is just another means of driving a stake between the two cultures. For the normally reserved British, the thought of strangers giving Harker gifts along the way also helps to establish the difference between the cultures. â€Å"One by one several of the passengers offered me gifts, which they pressed upon me with an earnestness which would take no denial. These were certainly of an odd and varied kind, but each was given in simple good faith, with a kindly word, and a blessing, and that same strange mixture of fear-meaning movements which I had seen outside the hotel at Bistritz– the sign of the cross and the guard against the evil eye.† (Chapter 1). This passage actually plays on English attitudes in two matters: First, it would have been unconscionable to give a random gift to a stranger and make him feel that he must accept it. Second, the fact that they were actively demonstrating their religion and superstition was an act the British of the time would have found completely unacceptable. The British largely believed that church, the Church of England, was something you did when you went to services and not something to be practiced at any other time.Furthermore, the concept that you would let someone catch you making a hex sign of any sort was simply unbelievable. The British would simply be too polite to have anything in common with these heathens, further establishing them as The Other. In the end, Stoker’s work is masterful at clearly establishing the differences between class lines and cultures and creating The Other on numerous different levels. He establishes that Mina and Jonathan are the others when compared to Lucy and her well-to-go friends, both of them having been raised with next to nothing.He establishes Renfield a s the other via his madness and his actions during his fall to Dracula’s control and even Lucy is somewhat established in this manner, being the least learned and scientific of the group. Stoker made each of the characters unique and bound them to one another, but also invested in making clear divides between them to create an additional tension and confusion in the book that is just complicated by the arrival of Count Dracula. Upon the count’s arrival in London, he is regarded as exotic and interesting, a facet as completely a portion of The Other as the fear and trepidation.Often we are fascinated by those things that are different from us and we desire to see them, to learn more about them and even to imitate them while still holding them at a distance, knowing that they are not like we are. The fact that Stoker felt it necessary to establish this extreme difference when Dracula could easily have become the other certainly by virtue of being a creature of the night implies that Stoker was perhaps attempting to force the scholars that would read his novel to recognize a certain xenophobia within their culture.His depiction of the Eastern Europeans as highly different, almost medieval compare to the bustling and modern London can hardly be considered accidental. Stoker clearly had some thoughts about the way that the British observed the world around them and made Harker the extreme viewpoint of that British charm. Harker had to be an extreme, the most British of British subjects in his observations for stoker to force his audience to see how absurd such characterizations could be. Works Cited Stoker, Bram. â€Å"Dracula† Accessed at http://www. literature. org/authors/stoker-bram/dracula/chapter-01. html, December 9, 2007.

‘Macbeth’ was one of the first plays written during the reign of James I Essay

‘Macbeth’ was one of the first plays written during the reign of James I. Shakespeare intended to honour the King by glorifying Banquo, the legendary founder of the Stuart line. Hence the play also serves as a mirror for magistrates, a dramatization of the theme of kingship. James I strongly believed in the Divine Right of kings. He believed that the lord of the heavens had placed kings to rule over people in the world, thus Kings had a god-given right to rule and treachery was like turning away from God and not only the king. In actually fact, if you went against your own king, you were indeed challenging God. James I had ruled the Scottish Parliament more or less how he liked using the concept of Divine Right but when he came to rule over England, he found the English parliament far less easy to handle, insisting that the king could only rule by its consent. In ‘Macbeth’ the common theme is based on the natural order of things. Macbeth’s lawless act destroys all law: it occasions confusion and disorder in the world of men and animals as well as in the heavens above. Everywhere there is upheaval: on the night when the murder is done, chimneys are blown down, lamentations and strange screams of death are heard in the air, and some say the earth was â€Å"feverous and did shake† (2,3,53-59). All this confirms the interdependency of man and nature. The natural elements, following the death of Duncan, are in strange disorder and there is the further recounting of other amazing violations of nature, the unnatural behaviour of animals no longer acting according to their ways. ‘A falcon towering in her pride of place was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed’ (2,4,13). As you can probably guess the owl is supposed to represent King Duncan, on top of the chain, and mousing owl is supposed to be Macbeth, the person who broke this chain and disordered everything, to the tiniest atom. ‘Macbeth,’ at the time would have been exceptionally, politically advantageous to James because it would have greatly increased the public’s view that James I was God’s so-called Sergeant on earth, and so had the right to do or change whatever he pleased. The easiest way to attack a political rival was to accuse him of treachery and the easiest way to prove his treachery was to link him with one of the proscribed religious groups. In 1605 James dealt with some troublesome rivals by claiming to have detected a Catholic plot to blow up the parliament. In Scotland, even more than in England at the time, political troublemakers were accused of witchcraft and heresy. James himself was an authority on witchcraft and the London edition of his Demonology was published in 1603, the year of his accession to the throne of Great Britain. Certainly most people believed in the existence and power of witches, devils and ghosts and the religiously orthodox stressed that the devil could take many shapes. According to the teaching of the Church, Heaven and Hell were actual places and the central teaching of Christianity was the sinful (fallen) nature of man and the necessity of a sense of guilt to bring the sinner to accept the salvation from sinfulness offered by Christ. The reason of man was not foolproof and the Church urged the faithful to be on their guard against any suggestion of communication with the Devil. In Act I, Scene 3 of ‘Macbeth’ Baquo expresses similar fears concerning the witches: Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten on the insane root That takes the reason prisoner? (Lines 82-84) And And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s In deepest consequence (Lines 122-125 At the start of the play there surrounds two conflicting views of the hero, Macbeth. In scene 1, when the audience have already found out that the witches have met in order to meet Macbeth, a big question mark surrounds Macbeth. The audience is forced to ask themselves who is this Macbeth and what business does he have with these foul witches. In scene 2 the audience finds out the true identity of Macbeth. He is indeed a Hero! We learn that a battle between King Duncan’s army and the rebels is raging nearby. The scene starts of with King Duncan being given the latest news of the rebellion by the sergeant. The sergeant reports, with great enthusiasm, how the battle was at first, in balance. That is until, gallant and brave Macbeth, ignoring all the odds, slashing in and out with his bloody sword reached the traitor Macdowald and with no pity, ripped the traitor from head to toe. After hearing how the battle went, King Duncan has nothing but praise for the heroic deed of Macbeth and announces that Macbeth is to be given the title of Thane of Cawdor and the treacherous Cawdor is to be executed immediately. The battle is given a size and importance that magnify the qualities of Macbeth and our curiosity and anticipation are aroused to meet this might champion so praised by all who have seen him. But our memories still hold the mention of his name by the witches and the finale line of the scene (‘What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won’) reminds us of line 4 in scene 1 (‘When the battle’s lost and one’) and this connexion is consolidated in Scene 3. Macbeth’s first words echo the witches ‘so foul is fair a day I have not seen.’ This suggests Macbeth is already in tune with the way the witches think. Banquo believes that these witches are in league with the devil and thus should not be trusted, ‘Can the devil speak truth?’ However Macbeth wants to hear more of this ‘strange intelligence’, ‘upon this blasted heath you stop our way with such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you.’ The witches predict two things:- that Macbeth will become the thane of Cawdor, and the king hereafter. They also predict two things for Banquo that he will be lesser than Macbeth, and his children will be the kings after Macbeth. The witches second prediction of Macbeth (‘All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter’) is exactly what Macbeth wants to hear because it is his greatest ambition to be king, the ultimate prize is his for grabs. The soliloquy beginning ‘Two truths are told’ which shows that the witches second prediction has come true about Mabeth earning the title of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth then begins thinking about the witches’ third prophecy ‘the greatest is behind’ and what he needs to do now to become king. It is at this point that he starts to consider murder but he feels very uneasy about the word even though he is renown around Scotland as a ruthless soldier, ‘why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs’ (1,3,134-136). Macbeth is confused but still very ambitious. Macbeth shows signs of having a good heart and good intentions, but he also shows that he has a weak mind that ignores and disobeys what he knows is right. You can straight away see that Macbeth has got a powerful conscious when Lady Macbeth has a torrid time trying to convince him to kill King Duncan. At first he absolutely refuses to do such a horrible deed to such a noble person. He knows in his heart that to kill Duncan is wrong and deceitful. The reader can tell that Macbeth is trying is utmost best to resist the misgivings of his wife. ‘We will proceed no further. He hath honoured me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon’ (1,7,31-35). Although he knows that this deed will have profound consequences he allows Lady Macbeth to persuade him into doing what he knows is wrong. Macbeth knows he has chosen the wrong path when he says, ‘I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on’t again, I dare not’ (2,3,46-48). Therefore Macbeth is disobeying what his own heart is telling him. In fact, Macbeth speaks of the distrust he has for his own heart when he says ‘False face must hide what the false heart doth know.’ Lady Macbeth persuades her husband to do the murder by telling him that, all he is doing, is fulfilling his own lofty ambition and that surely he is not a coward. If he is a man, he should act like one. The fact that Macbeth is so easily persuaded to kill a man, proves that he must have considered murder before. It is also the sign of a person who has a weak mind and who does not stand up for himself. Lady Macbeth feeds on this weakness. Macbeth is tempted to do evil and Lady Macbeth is the key human agent – the one Macbeth trusts and loves- who ensures his temptation is through and complete. Lady Macbeth, when we first encounter her is, dominant, determined, powerful, and even perhaps frightening in the intensity of her uncompromising desire for her husband to ascend the throne. Be it, the price of murder. We understand that Macbeth has his own ‘deep desires,’ but this seems tame compared with Lady Macbeth’s unquenchable aspirations (she summons evil itself into her body and soul to unsex her and remove any doubts she might have). Further, we see in her actions, a cool, self-assured person, unlike her husband. When Macbeth falters, she is there and she also has the courage to return the daggers and to faint at the news of King Duncan’s murder, and so distract any attention from her husband. She plans the details of the murder; she has the future worked out. She is also pre-eminently cunning and shows no fear of the supernatural and death itself. That is why she can say, ‘a little water clears us of this deed’ (2,2,67), because there is nothing to fear from God and old-fashioned ideas of retribution. She can happily envisage hypocrisy and falsehood. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth fates are inextricably joined, but her role and character support Macbeth’s destiny. However like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows moments of humanity – she would have killed Duncan herself only he reminded her of her own father. It is these small details that perhaps indicate that she is not as cold and inhuman as she makes herself to be. It could actual, all be an act just to persuade Macbeth to do the final deed. This of course makes her breakdown seem the more inevitable as she is bound to blame herself in some way for the murder. Ultimately she finds out that water will not wash away the stain of blood. It is then ironic that Macduff on first meeting Lady Macbeth refers to her as ‘gentle lady’ and one too sensitive to even hear the word ‘murder.’ By the end of the play she is recognized for what she is, a ‘fiend-like queen’ (5,6,108). Macbeth, in the final analysis, is too preoccupied with his own role to give support to her. Once he has done his first major murder he needs no help from her to do the others†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦. Macbeth is a man of action: the play proves this in more ways then others. He is a fearless warrior – and an important lord – who defends his king against treachery. However, ambition is his finale weakness. He allows, first the witches’ prophesy and then his wife’s ambition for him, to undermine his integrity. It is clear that he is not easily won over to evil. His conscience is strong and throws up many objections to his doing the deed. However, he is also too easily influenced in the direction that he secretly desires to go. Once he has decided, he does not deviate, and each step subsequently reaffirms his initial choice. Macbeth, then, is determined, and with this determination turns to a violent and ruthless path, full of chaos. So how does Macbeth ‘a peerless kinsman,’ develops into King Duncan’s murderer? Is Macbeth’s mistake in killing ‘gracious’ king Duncan, his entire fault? Is he to blame for his own doing or were they any other factors that bade him to do this terrible deed? Is Macbeth still the hero at the end of this play and does he deserve what he gets? For these Questions to be answered we need to look at the fundamental theme of the play, Ambition. Partly because it is the driving force of Macbeth’s life. ‘Macbeth’ is a deep sentimental tragedy. ‘Tragedy,’ in Shakespeare usually concerns a great person, the hero, who through some weakness of his character falls from grace, endures intense sufferings (which fascinate the audience), and who inevitable dies a tragic death. In fact, who must die as a consequence of their weakness. Thus if you look at ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’, we find all these ingredients; and if we consider what is the hero’s weakness, it must and can only be ambition. Macbeth says this specifically when he is attempting to resist the murder of Duncan: ‘I have no spur†¦.but only/Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself’ (1,7,25-7).This acknowledgement comes after he has considered all the good reasons for not murdering Duncan. Only ambition is left to overrule his troubled conscience. Furthermore, whilst the influence of both Lady Macbeth and the witches is strong, their power over Macbeth is only possible because the ambition is already there. Macbeth ,then, is a hero but one who is fatally undermined by his ambition, that are the fabric of the play. Put in another way: it is his ambition that leads Macbeth to murder, treason, hypocrisy, corruption and deepest evil.

Quantitative Methods for Finance and Investment Essay

University of Bristol – School of Economics, Finance and Management QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR FINANCE AND INVESTMENT (EFIMM005) Review Questions Question 1: Concepts a. Deï ¬ ne a stochastic process. Give an example in Finance of a quantity that can be modelled as a stochastic process. b. Deï ¬ ne a stationary stochastic process. c. Consider a stochastic process {Yt , t = 1, .., T }. Deï ¬ ne the partial autocorrelation function (pacf) associated to this process. d. Explain the diï ¬â‚¬erence between estimator and estimate. e. Let {Ut , t = 1, .., T } be a mean zero white noise process. What is the value of pacf at lag 2 for the process Yt = .5Yt−1 + Ut ? f. Explain the diï ¬â‚¬erence between the autocovariance function and the sample autocovariance function. Question 2: Application The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) can be written as E(Rjt |Rmt , Rf t ) = Rf t + ÃŽ ²j (Rmt − Rf t ), where Rjt is the net return of security j at period t, Rmt is the return on a market portfolio proxy, and Rf t is the return on a risk-free proxy. The coeï ¬Æ'cient ÃŽ ²j is the CAPM beta for security j. Suppose that you have estimated ÃŽ ²j by ordinary least squares and found that the estimated value was 1.37 with standard deviation 2.6. based on 3665 observations. a. A city analyst has told you that security j closely follows the market, in the sense that security j is equally risky, on average, to the market portfolio. Perform a 5% signiï ¬ cance level test of hypothesis to determine whether data support the analysts claim. b. Are hypotheses tested concerning the value of ÃŽ ²j or its estimated values? Question 3: Techniques Consider the moving average process: Yt = ÃŽ µt + ÃŽ ¸1 ÃŽ µt−1 + ÃŽ ¸12 ÃŽ µt−12 with {ÃŽ µt }T a mean zero white noise process with variance ÏÆ' 2 > 0. t=0 a. Calculate the mean of Yt . b. Calculate the variance of Yt . c. Calculate the autocovariance function of {Yt }T . t=a T =120 d. Assume that {yt }t=1 represents the monthly tons of ice cream sold in the UK between Oct. 2001 and Oct. 2012. What type of dependence can the term ÃŽ ¸12 ÃŽ µt−12 capture? 1

Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman (cited) Essay Example for Free

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (cited) Essay Marriage (796) , Death (671) , Arthur Miller (560) , Sales (458) , Death of a Salesman (121) , Willy Loman (98) , Henrik Ibsen (84) , A Doll's House (53) , Krogstad (43) , Nora Helmer (19) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints Willy and Nora: Tragic Heroes or Home-wreckers? No one has a perfect life. Despite what Aaron Spelling and his friends in the media might project to society today, no one’s life is perfect. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these conflicts can be just as varied as the people themselves. Some procrastinate and ignore their problems as long as they can, while others attack problems to get them out of the way as soon as possible. The Lowman and Helmer families have a number of problems that they deal with in different ways, which proves their similarities and differences. Both Willy Loman, the protagonist of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Nora Helmer, protagonist of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House experience an epiphany where they realize that they were not the person the thought they were: while Willy’s catharsis brings about his death, Nora’s brings her to a new life; hers. Both character’s flaws bring about their departure from their respective families as well. They are both overly concerned with the appearances they and their families present to society: as a result they both project false images to others. From their appearance, both seem to be involved in stable marriages and appear to be going places. Willy’s job as a traveling salesman seems stable (although we never know what it is he sells) when he tells his family that he â€Å"knocked ’em cold in Providence, slaughtered ’em in Boston† (Miller 1228). It is not until Willy’s wife, Linda tells us that he â€Å"drives 700 miles and when he gets there, no one knows him any more, no one welcomes him† (Miller 1241). If that’s not enough to convince readers of his failure on the job, the fact that he gets fired after working for the same company for 36 years cements his incompetency in the business world to readers. While Nora does not work in the business world, (few woman, if any did over 120 years ago) her failure to take care of her responsibilities becomes quite evident as well. When the play opens and Nora enters with a Christmas tree and presents for the children, she gives off the impression of a good mother trying hard to prepare a great Christmas for her family. Upon further analysis we see that Nora’s duties, in general, are restricted to caring for the children, doing housework, and working on her needlepoint. Nora cannot complete these duties even with the full-time help of Anne Marie, a housekeeper who cleans up after Nora just as much as the children. When Nora and Kristine are having a discussion towards  the start of the play, Nora informs her friend that, â€Å"I’m so happy and relieved [with my marriage]. I must say its lovely to have plenty of money and not have to worry. Isn’t it?† (Ibsen 1119). The rosy picture she painted of her family and marriage are in stark contrast to the â€Å"stranger of a man† (Ibsen 1168) she refers to her husband as. We realize that she had not been living her life at all; rath er the life that her husband wanted her to live. While both Willy and Nora succeed in giving of the appearance of being competent, efficient and helpful family members who contribute to the well being of their respective families, they prove otherwise as the plays progress. While the two plays take place nearly 100 years apart, are set on different continents and each have completely different family members, both engage in lies and deceit that hurt their families; after which each protagonist leaves their family. Not only does Willy lie about his performance on the job, he lies about his â€Å"faulty car† as well. He tells his family that the Studebaker keeps malfunctioning when in reality we find out through Linda that he has been deliberately trying to kill himself. The biggest way in which Loman deceives his family is by cheating on his wife while away for work in Boston. When his eldest son discovers his father’s unfaithfulness, he loses all trust for his father, and Biff’s life pretty much goes downhill from there. Willy Loman’s lies, deceit, unfaithfulness have resulted in huge problems for his family. Nora also starts trouble in her household through lies and deceit. Nora’s crime of forgery is not even a crime in her mind; she does not realize that the law does not take into account people’s motivations behind their actions. While she knows that Krogstad has been associated with shady law practices, she does not realize that his crime was on the same level, if not less illegal than the one that she has committed. When Tourvald opens the letter and finds out about her crime, he goes ballistic, and cannot believe that his own wife could be capable of such a crime. This is ultimately the reason / situation that helps Nora realize that she must leave her family in order to begin to live her own life. But Nora even lies about the little things in life such as the eating of macaroons (Ibsen 1126). Her husband forbade her from eating them on account that they will rot her teeth, and when she is seen eating them in her house, she says that they are a gift from Kristine, which is a lie. Both Willy and Nora’s lies and deceitfulness frustrate their families to the  point where each protagonist much leave their family; although Willy’s departure is his death, Nora’s is the start of her real life. Both main characters also use an escape mechanism to leave reality when they realize that their lives are on the wrong path. When Loman starts to realize that his pride and joy in life, Bi ff, â€Å"is a lazy bum† (Miller 1218) he begins to talk to himself (Miller 1221). These mental lapses bring Loman to a happier place and time, when his kids were young and innocent and he thought that the best part of his life lay still ahead. This acts almost as a defense mechanism against the pains of reality for Willy. In the final scene, after Biff tells his father that he is â€Å"a dime a dozen† and that the Loman name really doesn’t mean much, Willy engages in the ultimate escape mechanism; suicide. Although it may appear on the surface to be a selfish and coldhearted move to spite his family, he actually did it so that his family may live a better life with money he thinks they will receive from his life insurance policy. When faced with the harsh pains of reality, Nora also uses defense / escape mechanisms to ignore the problems at hand first, then to conquer them in the end. She believes that she has done nothing wrong, and that if what she has done is illegal, that her good intentions will nullify the illegality of her forgery. When Krogstad informs her otherwise, tells her the possible repercussions of her act, and ultimately gives her an ultimatum, this is her first touch of reality outside of the doll’s house that she lives in. To cope with the harshness outside of t his doll’s house, she immediately retreats back inside and attempts to distract herself with Christmas decorations (Ibsen 1133). She uses the tree and presents to distract her from her problems, and tells the nursemaid Anne Marie that she’s too busy to play with her kids who want to see her because she must try to distance her mind from the subject at hand. Here she is only making the problem worse by not dealing with it. When she finally realizes that her â€Å"main duty [is] to [her]self† (Ibsen 1166), and that she has been living life according to what her father and husband have wanted rather than what she has wanted, Nora’s epiphany is complete. She knows that the only possible solution that can work for her is to leave right away. Willy and Nora both escape their problems first by drifting away with mental distractions, then when they fully realize their problems, they both must physically leave their families. For Willy this means death, for Nora, the  start of (a new) life. Willy and Nora share a fatal flaw: they try to make others happy before making themselves happy. All that Willy ever wanted in life was to be â€Å"well-liked† and for his sons to follow in his footsteps. Their lives focused too much on fulfilling others rather than themselves, and in the end this flaw led to their departure from each of their respective families. When Charley asks Willie â€Å"when the hell are you ever going to grow up?† and Biff declares that â€Å"we never told the truth in this house for 10 minutes† (Miller 1280) we realize that Willy will never grow up and that he must leave his family because he will never grow up and that nearly his whole life has been a farce. Similarly, when Nora tells her husband that the only way he (and her) can only change if Tourvald has â€Å"his doll taken away† (Ibsen 1168) we realize that Nora’s life too has been a farce and that she must leave in order to begin her own life. 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