Disaster Recovery Information Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Disaster Recovery Information - Case Study Example As long as the management’s input is required, their perceptions and expectations must be elicited and their commitment to the process of CSRIT must be acquired to sustain and prolong the operations of CSRIT. Resolve the CSRIT progress strategic plan: The project management and administrative issues such as specific timeframes, project group and presentation of the project group stakeholders, and communication to the management and project team should be addressed when giving thought on how to manage the progress of the CSRIT. Acquire relevant information: The necessary information required to carry out such task can be sought from the stakeholders or business manager and representatives from IT, human resource, public relations, legal department, risk management specialists and security. The information can also be obtained from conferences which offer CSRIT education. Modify the CSRIT vision: This entails clearly defining the goals, expectations, funding, organizational model, mission, objectives and constituency. The visions might also be the bargaining power when acquiring the management’s support and buy-in. After the modification of the vision of the CSRIT, the communication of the same should follow. CSRIT vision should be communicated to the constituency, management, and other person who understands the CSRIT operations after which adjustment deemed necessary are made. Implement the CSRIT: Implementation is done once the constituency and management have agreed to buy in depending on the vision. This entails recruiting and training CSRIT staff, buying equipment and building the essential network system, developing the procedures and policies to guide the CSRIT services, building incident tracking systems, and making the guidelines for reporting incidents.

Confronting Competition In The Tourism Industry

Confronting Competition In The Tourism Industry Europes tourism industry is one of the biggest tourism industries in the world and therefore has all top tour operators based in Europe. Two of the biggest names are Thomas cook and TUI. They have the maximum market share in the Europes tourism industry. The tour operators business environment consists of competitors, macro environments and industry also. Various tools used for the analysis of the business environment are PESTLE analysis, porters five force analysis and industry life cycle. SWOT analysis will be done for industrys analysis and also on how the tour operators in Europe are performing. Environmental Analysis PESTEL Analysis PESTEL helps in understanding the important factors affecting the change. Below is the PESTEL analysis: Political: After the tourist attacks, the government comes up with strict laws on immigration and also restrict the destinations after the attacks which affect the perception and also the perception of the tourist. Also, the taxation policy affects the tourism as they charge taxes on the food and lodging industry which contributes the maximum to the tourism industry. (Baum, T, 1999). Economic: The exchange also affects the tourism in the country and plays the important role.( Davidson AP, Burgess S, 2006). The gap between the Euro and the Pound sterling is decreasing, therefore, there is a possibility that the outbound tourism is affected in Europe which in turn will affect the tour operators. The recession also affected the tourism industry not only in Europe but in other countries also. Socio-Cultural: Tour operators have understood what the customers are looking for; they are looking for a brand, lifestyle and safety. Due to this the tour operator in Europe. The tour operators make customised tour packages to suit the need of the customers. The customers travelling to Europe are looking for the brand names that are doing good in the business and have a name, this is due to the demand of security when travelling to the other country. Technological: The online and internet bookings are increasing day by day due to the easy access of the internet. The online booking companys like expedia.com, hotels.com, etc are giving packages and also the customers can make their own packages. This has highly affected the tourist operators in Europe as they get the business from other countries as well. The internet booking companies are doing well in the business due to the cost saved and also less of manpower requirements. (Douglas, and Derrett 2001). Environmental: The European governments are campaigning for green holidays like farm holidays. The carbon dioxide is the major source of the pollution and the aeroplanes contribute the maximum carbon dioxide to the environment. (Munoz, J. 2005). Apart from this, the health issues like swine flu or influenza cause tourists not to travel to the country. The governments also restrict these countries for travelling. Legal: the European governments are proposing strict norms and laws for the aviation industry in terms of safety and regulations. The opening of new hotels in the country also requires legal permits for the company. Porters Five Force Analysis This identifies the competitors in the tourism industry and all these five forces are linked with each other. The risk of Potential Entrants: The threat of new entrants in terms of tour operators is low because of the high capital investment, brands already existing and have created a niche in the market and people knows about the top players in the industry. It is difficult for the new entrants to establish themselves. (Alford, 2009) The threat of Substitutes: The threat to substitute of tourism or travelling is less as people these days prefer to take a break and travel. They will not substitute travel to any other activities. Also, the European countries are full of greens and have both mountains and beaches which attract the tourists from around the world. (Alford, 2009) Bargaining power of Suppliers: The suppliers bargaining power is high only with the companies who are new to the business or holds small share in the market. However, the bargaining power is not the same with the companies who hold the maximum market share in the tourism industry. Also, the European markets have their own aviation industry which helps in bringing or supplying tourists to the country at the mitigated prices. Bargaining power of Buyers: Since Europe is a big market in tourism industry it caters to both the individual travelling customers and travelling through agencies. In the latter case, the travel agents or tour operators make the packages in such a way that people buy them. The tour operators compose a major and a powerful group for the buyers. Rivalry among the Competitors: The rivalry among the competitors is moderate as they contribute maximum to the market. TUI and Thomas cook are the two top travel operators who have a 21% and 13% market share respectively. The rivalry is only among these two as they both hold the important position in the European market. The other travel operators are not the part of the competition. Appendix 1: Porters Five Force Model for the Tourism Industry in Europe Industry Life Cycle The Industrys life cycle tells about the growth of the product that is tourism in the continent. The life cycle is well telling about the evolution of the tourism industry, its development, decline and the death. Stage one describes the early start of tourism in Europe centuries back when people started travelling from one place to another. The second stage describes the development of the tourism, which again took place centuries back as the need for the shelter and food was recognised by the people in Europe. They built small inns for the travellers and gave them basic meals. (Douglas and Derrett 2001).Thats how the food and lodging industry started in Europe and Europe was the first continent to do so. Slowly and gradually they built hotels and the tourism industry started booming and continuously doing the same with maximum people travel to the continent every year. The decline or downfall was observed during the terrorist attacks in United States of America and Bali. The second time downfall was observed during the recession period in 2008. ( Douglas and Derrett, 2001). However, the industry had seen the growth in last two years as people have started travelling again. The last stage is the death stage which the tourism industry has not yet faced as people are travelling and business is growing. (SÃ ³names, 1998) SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis of any industry will help it to grow better and maximise the business by identifying the new opportunities and also how to overcome the threats. Strengths: The European people are very warm and have a good sense of hospitality. They are very friendly and helpful also. The countryside of the Europe is very beautiful and magnificent therefore it attracts a maximum number of tourists every year. The hotels and free standing restaurants in Europe offer the best cuisines and wines as compared to anywhere in the world. The tourism industry in Europe has undergone huge investments both in the public and private sectors. ( Porter, M,(1985). In last decade Europe has come up with large accommodation facilities, tourist attractions, and other activities for the tourists and also invested a lot in training. Access to the countries in the continent is easy as there are a number of airlines that offer their services to the tourists to come in the continent. The tourism industry in Europe is well supported by the airline as well as railway industry. Weaknesses: Language plays a barrier in some of the European countries as people are not aware of any other language. The climatic conditions are generally cold and during winters it becomes difficult to access the countrysides and cities. Opportunities: The access to the countries is easy due to the high competition and also the stay is competitively priced therefore there is a possibility that due to high competition people get better deals in European countries, therefore, this factor can force them to travel to the continent. The outbound travel will grow from Asia pacific and Middle Eastern countries as they are planning to have direct flights to the European countries where they do not operate. Also, the Chinese people are now more inclined towards travelling to different countries and continents. More business expansions in the continent as the tourism will grow. (Porter, M,(1985). It is very obvious that the industry will grow from all sides when more money will flow in. Increasing demand for nature tourism. Tourist these days prefer to travel to the countries which are rich in nature and are also eco-friendly. The economy of the countries will increase especially in the less visited countries. Threats: People now prefer short vacations rather than long vacations. People travel only to those countries which are well established and doing good business, however, the countries under developed are left behind. Changing the attitude of the customers in the global recession. Terrorist attacks and health hazards will affect the tourism in the continent as people stop travelling. The economy downfall of other countries will slow the growth of tourism in the European countries.

Fadia Faqirs Pillars of Salt and Leila al-Atrashs A Woman of Five Sea

Fadia Faqir's Pillars of Salt and Leila al-Atrash's A Woman of Five Seasons The portrayal of the Arab woman has always been through several different perceptions. Some believe that these women are weak, dependant and victims of a hyper patriarchal tradition and culture. They live their lives as if caged from one man to another. First it is their father and brothers and then their husbands and sons. It is true that Arab women do live within patriarchal traditions and cultures but the same can be said for majority of the women around the globe. A much more accurate perception can come only through the realization that what popular Western concepts conceive as women liberation and independence does not necessarily apply to every women around the world. One must understand the culture, religion and traditions and history of a people to know what their ideas regarding concepts such as liberation and independence are. In the west for example women were allowed to vote relatively recently compared to Muslim women who were allowed to vote over fourteen hundred years ago, the same could be said for owning businesses and property and the right to a career. One of the most popular beliefs in the Western world today regarding oppression is that women in Arabia are sexually controlled by their men. This has been brought about especially by the concept of the Hijab as being one of the channels to control women’s sexuality and freedom. It can be argued that in various cases this is true but one cannot commit such a grave injustice and put all Arab women under one umbrella and stamp them as sexually oppressed. The fact is that the Middle East is a region where many states, cultures and identities exist. The novels that we have read are a refl... ...nary’s removal to the government, is where her victory lies. Whereas the relationship between Maha and Harb is one of passion and love, Ihsan and Nadia are the complete opposite. Nadia hates how Ihsan looks at her as a woman always and never a person. She struggles to prove her capability of being an individual and forming an identity of her own that is separate and goes beyond Mrs. Natour. She proves that she can ‘think and feel’ for herself and by herself. In the West where we have women out on the streets rallying for equality between men and women, fighting in the armies, present in the workforce, these victories may seem minute. However if one pays close attention to social structures and social norms in different cultures one can realize that this challenging and questioning is as important and holds as much weight as getting equal wages for women in America.

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury Chapter Twelve

Stefan looked at Elena, snow crystals dusting his dark hair. â€Å"What about Matt?† â€Å"I remember-something. It's not clear. But that first night, when I wasn't myself -did I see Matt then? Did I-?† Fear and a sick sense of dismay swelled her throat and cut her words off. But she didn't need to finish, and Stefan didn't need to answer. She saw it in his eyes. â€Å"It was the only way, Elena,† he said then. â€Å"You would have died without human blood. Would you rather have attacked somebody unwilling, hurt them, maybe killed them? The need can drive you to that. Is that what you would have wanted?† â€Å"No,† Elena said violently. â€Å"But did it have to be Matt? Oh, don't answer that; I can't think of anybody else, either.† She took a shaky breath. â€Å"But now I'm worried about him, Stefan. I haven't seen him since that night. Is he okay? What has he said to you?† â€Å"Not much,† said Stefan, looking away. † ‘Leave me alone' was about the gist of it. He also denied that anything happened that night, and said that you were dead.† â€Å"Sounds like one of those individuals who can't cope,† Damon commented. â€Å"Oh, shut up!† said Elena. â€Å"You keep out of this, and while you're at it, you might think about poor Vickie Bennett. How d'you think she's coping these days?† â€Å"It might help if I knew who this Vickie Bennett is. You keep talking about her, but I've never met the girl.† â€Å"Yes, you have. Don't play games with me, Damon-the cemetery, remember? The ruined church? The girl you left wandering around there in her slip?† â€Å"Sorry, no. And I usually do remember girls I leave wandering in their slips.† â€Å"I suppose Stefan did it, then,† Elena said sarcastically. Anger flashed to the surface of Damon's eyes, covered quickly with a disturbing smile. â€Å"Maybe he did. Maybe you did. It's all the same to me, except that I'm getting a little tired of accusations. And now-â€Å" â€Å"Wait,† said Stefan, with surprising mildness. â€Å"Don't go yet. We should talk-† â€Å"I'm afraid I have a previous engagement.† There was a flurry of wings, and Stefan and Elena were alone. Elena put a knuckle to her lips. â€Å"Damn. I didn't mean to make him angry. After he was really almost civilized all evening.† â€Å"Never mind,† said Stefan. â€Å"He likes to be angry. What were you saying about Matt?† Elena saw the weariness in Stefan's face and put an arm around him. â€Å"We won't talk about it now, but I think tomorrow maybe we should go see him. To tell him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena lifted her other hand helplessly. She didn't know what she wanted to tell Matt; she only knew that she needed to do something. talk about it now, but I think tomorrow maybe we should go see him. To tell him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena lifted her other hand helplessly. She didn't know what she wanted to tell Matt; she only knew that she needed to do something. Elena looked at him hard. â€Å"Are you sure?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"But-will you be all right? I should stay with you-â€Å" â€Å"I'll be fine, Elena,† Stefan said gently, â€Å"Go on.† Elena hesitated, then nodded. â€Å"I won't be long,† she promised him. Unseen, Elena slipped around the side of the frame house with the peeling paint and the crooked mailbox labeled Honeycutt. Matt's window was unlocked. Careless boy, she thought reprovingly. Don't you know some-thing might come creeping in? She eased it open, but of course that was as far as she could go. An invisible barrier that felt like a soft wall of thickened air blocked her way. â€Å"Matt,† she whispered. The room was dark, but she could see a vague shape on the bed. A digital clock with pale green numbers showed that it was 12:15. â€Å"Matt,† she whispered again. The figure stirred. â€Å"Uh?† â€Å"Matt, I don't want to frighten you.† She made her voice soothing, trying to wake him gently rather than startle him out of his wits. â€Å"But it's me, Elena, and I wanted to talk. Only you've got to ask me in first. Can you ask me in?† â€Å"Uh. C'mon in.† Elena was amazed at the lack of surprise in his voice. It was only after she'd gotten over the sill that she realized he was still asleep. â€Å"Matt. Matt,† she whispered, afraid to go too close. The room was stifling and overheated, the radiator going full blast. She could see a bare foot sticking out of the mound of blankets on the bed and blond hair at the top. â€Å"Matt?† Tentatively, she leaned over and touched him. That got a response. With an explosive grunt, Matt sat bolt upright, whipping around. When his eyes met hers, they were wide and staring. Elena found herself trying to look small and harmless, nonthreatening. She backed away against the wall. â€Å"I didn't mean to frighten you. I know it's a shock. But will you talk to me?† He simply went on staring at her. His yellow hair was sweaty and ruffled up like wet chicken feathers. She could see his pulse pounding in his bare neck. She was afraid he was going to get up and dash out of the room. Then his shoulders relaxed, slumping, and he slowly shut his eyes. He was afraid he was going to get up and dash out of the room. â€Å"Yes,† she whispered. â€Å"You're dead.† â€Å"No. I'm here.† â€Å"Dead people don't come back. My dad didn't come back.† â€Å"I didn't really die. I just changed.† Matt's eyes were still shut in repudiation, and Elena felt a cold wave of hopelessness wash over her. â€Å"But you wish I had died, don't you? I'll leave now,† she whispered. Matt's face cracked and he started to cry. â€Å"No. Oh, no. Oh, don't, Matt, please.† She found herself cradling him, fighting not to cry herself. â€Å"Matt, I'm sorry; I shouldn't even have come here.† â€Å"Don't leave,† he sobbed. â€Å"Don't go away.† â€Å"I won't.† Elena lost the fight, and tears fell onto Matt's damp hair. â€Å"I didn't mean to hurt you, ever,† she said. â€Å"Not ever, Matt. All those times, all those things I did- I never wanted to hurt you. Truly†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Then she stopped talking and just held him. After a while his breathing quieted and he sat back, swiping his face with a fistful of sheet. His eyes avoided hers. There was a look on his face, not just of embarrassment, but of distrust, as if he were bracing himself for something he dreaded. â€Å"Okay, so you're here. You're alive,† he said roughly. â€Å"So what do you want?† Elena was dumbfounded. â€Å"Come on, there must be something. What is it?† New tears welled up, but Elena gulped them back. â€Å"I guess I deserve that. I know I do. But for once, Matt, I want absolutely nothing. I came to apologize, to say that I'm sorry for using you-not just that one night, but always. I care about you, and I care if you hurt. I thought maybe I could make things better.† After a heavy silence, she added, â€Å"I guess I will leave now.† â€Å"No, wait. Wait a second.† Matt scrubbed at his face with the sheet again. â€Å"Listen. That was stupid, and I'm a jerk-â€Å" â€Å"That was the truth and you're a gentleman. Or you'd've told me to go take a hike a long time ago.† â€Å"No, I'm a stupid jerk. I should be banging my head against the wall with joy because you're not dead. I will in a minute. Listen.† He grabbed her wrist and Elena looked at it in mild surprise. â€Å"I don't care if you're the Creature from the Black Lagoon, It, Godzilla and Frankenstein all rolled up into one. I just-â€Å" â€Å"Matt.† Panicked, Elena put her free hand over his mouth. â€Å"I know. You're engaged to the guy in the black cape. Don't worry; I remember him. I even like him, though God knows why.† Matt took a breath and seemed to calm down. â€Å"Look, I don't know if Stefan told you. He said a bunch of stuff to me -about being evil, about not being sorry for what he did to Tyler. You know what I'm talking about?† â€Å"I know. You're engaged to the guy in the black cape. Don't worry; I remember him. I even like him, though God knows why.† Matt took a breath and seemed to calm down. â€Å"Look, I don't know if Stefan told you. He said a bunch of stuff to me -about being evil, about not being sorry for what he did to Tyler. You know what I'm talking about?† Matt nodded. â€Å"So it was your basic crap. I should have known.† â€Å"Well, it is and it isn't. The need is strong, stronger than you can imagine.† It was dawning on Elena that she hadn't fed today and that she'd been hungry before they'd set out for Alaric's. â€Å"In fact-Matt, I'd better go. Just one thing-if there's a dance tomorrow night, don't go. Something's going to happen then, something bad. We're going to try to guard it, but I don't know what we can do.† â€Å"Who's ‘we'?† Matt said sharply. â€Å"Stefan and Damon-I think Damon-and me. And Meredith and Bonnie†¦ and Alaric Saltzman. Don't ask about Alaric. It's a long story.† â€Å"But what are you guarding against!† â€Å"I forgot; you don't know. That's a long story, too, but†¦ well, the short answer is, whatever killed me. Whatever made those dogs attack people at my memorial service. It's something bad, Matt, that's been around Fell's Church for a while now. And we're going to try to stop it from doing anything tomorrow night.† She tried not to squirm. â€Å"Look, I'm sorry, but I really should leave.† Her eyes drifted, despite herself, to the broad blue vein in his neck. When she managed to tear her gaze away and look at his face, she saw shock giving way to sudden understanding. Then to something incredible: acceptance. â€Å"It's okay,† Matt said. She wasn't sure she'd heard correctly. â€Å"Matt?† â€Å"I said, it's okay. It didn't hurt me before.† â€Å"No. No, Matt, really. I didn't come here for that-â€Å" â€Å"I know. That's why I want to. I want to give you something you didn't ask for.† After a moment he said, â€Å"For old friends' sake.† Stefan, Elena was thinking. But Stefan had told her to come, and come alone. Stefan had known, she realized. And it was all right. It was his gift to Matt-and to her. But I'm coming back to you, Stefan, she thought. As she leaned toward him, Matt said, â€Å"I'm going to come and help you tomorrow, you know. Even if I'm not invited.† Then her lips touched his throat. December 13, Friday Dear Diary, I know I've written that before, or thought it at least. But tonight is the night, the big one, when everything is going to happen. This is it. Stefan feels it, too. He came back from school today to tell me that the dance is still on-Mr. Newcastle didn't want to cause a panic by canceling it or something. What they're going to do is have â€Å"security† outside, which means the police, I guess. And maybe Mr. Smallwood and some of his friends with rifles. Whatever's going to happen, I don't think they can stop it. I don't know if we can, either. It's been snowing all day. The pass is blocked, which means nothing gets in or out of town on wheels. Until the snowplow gets up there, which won't be until morning, which will be too late. And the air has a funny feeling to it. Not just snow. It's as if something even colder than that is waiting. It's pulled back the way the ocean pulls back before a tidal wave. When it lets go†¦ I thought about my other diary today, the one under the floorboards of my bedroom closet. If I own anything anymore, I own that diary. I thought about getting it out, but I don't want to go home again. I don't think I could cope, and I know Aunt Judith couldn't if she saw me. I'm surprised anybody's been able to cope. Meredith, Bonnie-especially Bonnie. Well, Meredith, too, considering what her family has been through. Matt. They're good and loyal friends. It's funny, I used to think that without a whole galaxy of friends and admirers I wouldn't survive. Now I'm perfectly happy with three, thank you. Because they're real friends. I didn't know how much I cared about them before. Or about Margaret, or Aunt Judith even. And everybody at school†¦ I know a few weeks ago I was saying that I didn't care if the entire population of Robert E. Lee dropped dead, but that isn't true. Tonight I'm going to do my best to protect them. I know I'm jumping from subject to subject, but I'm just talking about things that are important to me. Kind of gathering them together in my mind. Just in case. Well, it's time. Stefan is waiting. I'm going to finish this last line and then go. I think we're going to win. I hope so. We're going to try. The history room was warm and brightly lit. On the other side of the school building, the cafeteria was even brighter, shining with Christmas lights and decorations. Upon arriving, Elena had scrutinized it from a cautious distance, watching the couples arrive for the dance and pass by the sheriff's officers at the door. Feeling Damon's silent presence behind her, she had pointed out a girl with long, light brown hair. â€Å"I'll take your word for it,† he replied. Now, she looked around their makeshift headquarters for the night. Alaric's desk had been cleared, and he was bent over a rough map of the school. Meredith leaned in beside him, her dark hair sweeping his sleeve. Matt and Bonnie were out mingling with the dancegoers in the parking lot, and Stefan and Damon were prowling the perimeter of the school grounds. They were going to take turns. â€Å"You'd better stay inside,† Alaric had told Elena. â€Å"All we need is for somebody to see you and start chasing you with a stake.† â€Å"I've been walking around town all week,† Elena said, amused. â€Å"If I don't want to be seen, you don't see me.† But she agreed to stay in the history room and coordinate. It's like a castle, she thought as she watched Alaric plot out the positions of sheriff's officers and other men on the map. And we're defending it. Me and my loyal knights. The round, flat-faced clock on the wall ticked the minutes by. Elena watched it as she let people in the door and let them out again. She poured hot coffee out of a Thermos for those who wanted it. She listened to the reports come in. â€Å"Everything's quiet on the north side of the school.† â€Å"Caroline just got crowned snow queen. Big surprise.† â€Å"Some rowdy kids in the parking lot-the sheriff just rounded them up†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Midnight came and went. â€Å"Maybe we were wrong,† Stefan said an hour or so later. It was the first time they'd all been inside together since the beginning of the evening. â€Å"Maybe it's happening somewhere else,† said Bonnie, emptying out a boot and peering into it. â€Å"There's no way to know where it's going to happen,† Elena said firmly. â€Å"But we weren't wrong about it happening.† â€Å"Maybe,† said Alaric thoughtfully, â€Å"there is a way. To find out where it's going to happen, I mean.† As heads raised questioningly, he said, â€Å"We need a precognition.† All eyes turned to Bonnie. â€Å"Oh, no,† Bonnie said. â€Å"I'm through with all that. I hate it.† â€Å"It's a great gift-† began Alaric. â€Å"It's a great big pain. Look, you don't understand. The ordinary predictions are bad enough. It seems like most of the time I'm finding out things I don't want to know. But getting taken over-that's awful. And afterward I don't even remember what I've said. It's horrible.† know. But getting taken over-that's awful. And afterward I don't even remember what I've said. It's horrible.† Bonnie sighed. â€Å"It's what happened to me in the church,† she said patiently. â€Å"I can do other kinds of predictions, like divining with water or reading palms†-she glanced at Elena, and then away-â€Å"and stuff like that. But then there are times when -someone-takes me over and just uses me to talk for them. It's like having somebody else in my body.† â€Å"Like in the graveyard, when you said there was something there waiting for me,† said Elena. â€Å"Or when you warned me not to go near the bridge. Or when you came to dinner and said that Death, my death, was in the house.† She looked automatically around at Damon, who returned her gaze impassively. Still, that had been wrong, she thought. Damon hadn't been her death. So what had the prophecy meant? For just an instant something glimmered in her mind, but before she could get a grasp on it, Meredith interrupted. â€Å"It's like another voice that speaks through Bonnie,† Meredith explained to Alaric. â€Å"She even looks different. Maybe you weren't close enough in the church to see.† â€Å"But why didn't you tell me about this?† Alaric was excited. â€Å"This could be important. This-entity-whatever it is-could give us vital information. It could clear up the mystery of the Other Power, or at least give us a clue how to fight it.† Bonnie was shaking her head. â€Å"No. It isn't something I can just whistle up, and it doesn't answer questions. It just happens to me. And I hate it.† â€Å"You mean you can't think of anything that tends to set it off? Anything that's led to it happening before?† Elena and Meredith, who knew very well what could set it off, looked at each other. Elena bit the inside of her cheek. It was Bonnie's choice. It had to be Bonnie's choice. Bonnie, who was holding her head in her hands, shot a sideways glance through red curls at Elena. Then she shut her eyes and moaned. â€Å"Candles,† she said. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Candles. A candle flame might do it. I can't be sure, you understand; I'm not promising anything-â€Å" â€Å"Somebody go ransack the science lab,† said Alaric. It was a scene reminiscent of the day Alaric had come to school, when he'd asked them all to put their chairs in a circle. Elena looked at the circle of faces lit eerily from below by the candle's flame. There was Matt, with his jaw set. Beside him, Meredith, her dark lashes throwing shadows upward. And Alaric, leaning forward in his eagerness. Then Damon, light and shadow dancing over the planes of his face. And Stefan, high cheekbones looking too sharply defined to Elena's eyes. And finally, Bonnie, looking fragile and pale even in the golden light of the candle. â€Å"I'm just going to look into the candle,† Bonnie said, her voice quivering slightly. â€Å"And not think of anything. I'm going to try to-leave myself open to it.† She began to breathe deeply, gazing into the candle flame. And then it happened, just as it had before. Bonnie's face smoothed out, all expression draining away. Her eyes went blank as the stone cherub's in the graveyard. She didn't say a word. That was when Elena realized they hadn't agreed on what to ask. She groped through her mind to find a question before Bonnie lost contact. â€Å"Where can we find the Other Power?† she said, just as Alaric blurted out, â€Å"Who are you?† Their voices mingled, their questions intertwining. Bonnie's blank face turned, sweeping the circle with sightless eyes. Then the voice that wasn't Bonnie's voice said, â€Å"Come and see.† â€Å"Wait a minute,† Matt said, as Bonnie stood up, still entranced, and made for the door. â€Å"Where's she going?† Meredith grabbed for her coat. â€Å"Are we going with her?† â€Å"Don't touch her!† said Alaric, jumping up as Bonnie went out the door. Elena looked at Stefan, and then at Damon. With one accord, they followed, trailing Bonnie down the empty, echoing hall. â€Å"Where are we going? Which question is she answering?† Matt demanded. Elena could only shake her head. Alaric was jogging to keep up with Bonnie's gliding pace. She slowed down as they emerged into the snow, and to Elena's surprise, walked up to Alaric's car in the staff parking lot and stood beside it. â€Å"We can't all fit; I'll follow with Matt,† Meredith said swiftly. Elena, her skin chilled with apprehension as well as cold air, got in the back of Alaric's car when he opened it for her, with Damon and Stefan on either side. Bonnie sat up front. She was looking straight ahead, and she didn't speak. But as Alaric pulled out of the parking lot, she lifted one white hand and pointed. Right on Lee Street and then left on Arbor Green. Straight out toward Elena's house and then right on Thunderbird. Heading toward Old Creek Road. It was then that Elena realized where they were going. They took the other bridge to the cemetery, the one everyone always called â€Å"the new bridge† to distinguish it from Wickery Bridge, which was now gone. They were approaching from the gate side, the side Tyler had driven up when he took Elena to the ruined church. Alaric's car stopped just where Tyler's had stopped. Meredith pulled up behind them. â€Å"Where are you taking us?† she said. â€Å"Listen to me. Will you just tell us which question you're answering?† â€Å"Come and see.† Helplessly, Elena looked at the others. Then she stepped over the threshold. Bonnie walked slowly to the white marble tomb, and stopped. Elena looked at it, and then at Bonnie's ghostly face. Every hair on her arms and the back of her neck was standing up. â€Å"Oh, no†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she whispered. â€Å"Not that.† â€Å"Elena, what are you talking about?† Meredith said. Dizzy, Elena looked down at the marble countenances of Thomas and Honoria Fell, lying on the stone lid of their tomb. â€Å"This thing opens,† she whispered.

How the Human Brain Stores and Retrieves Memory Essay

Memory is the ability to encode, store and recall information. The three main processes involved in human memory are therefore encoding, storage and recall (retrieval). Additionally, the process of memory consolidation (which can be considered to be either part of the encoding process or the storage process) is treated here as a separate process in its own right. Encoding is a biological event beginning with perception through the senses. The process of laying down a memory begins with attention (regulated by the thalamus and the frontal lobe), in which a memorable event causes neurons to fire more frequently, making the experience more intense and increasing the likelihood that the event is encoded as a memory. Emotion tends to increase attention, and the emotional element of an event is processed on an unconscious pathway in the brain leading to the amygdala. Only then are the actual sensations derived from an event processed. Consolidation is the processes of stabilizing a memory trace after the initial acquisition. It may perhaps be thought of part of the process of encoding or of storage, or it may be considered as a memory process in its own right. It is usually considered to consist of two specific processes, synaptic consolidation (which occurs within the first few hours after learning or encoding) and system consolidation (where hippocampus-dependent memories become independent of the hippocampus over a period of weeks to years. Storage is the more or less passive process of retaining information in the brain, whether in the sensory memory, the short-term memory or the more permanent long-term memory. Each of these different stages of human memory function as a sort of filter that helps to protect us from the flood of information that confront us on a daily basis, avoiding an overload of information and helping to keep us sane. The more the information is repeated or used, the more likely it is to be retained in long-term memory (which is why, for example, studying helps people to perform better on tests). This process of consolidation, the stabilizing of a memory trace after its initial acquisition, is treated in more detail in a separate section. Recall or retrieval of memory refers to the subsequent re-accessing of events or information from the past, which have been previously encoded and stored in the brain. In common parlance, it is known as remembering. During recall, the brain â€Å"replays† a pattern of neural activity that was originally generated in response to a particular event, echoing the brain’s perception of the real event. In fact, there is no real solid distinction between the act of remembering and the act of thinking.

Musaabir Laiyemo Essays - Education, Health, Nursing, Free Essays

Musaabir Laiyemo Essays - Education, Health, Nursing, Free Essays Musaabir Laiyemo Professor Atkins ENGW 104 038 November 22 , 2015 Critical Writing Redefined Much can be said about the debate between academic and critical writing. I believe academic writing is any writing that is done for a class in a high school, college, or university and follows a particular guideline. Critical writing would be writing that is done to analyze and critique anything that the writer d eems fit . This includes but is not limited to books, plays, art, speeches, sports events, or even a normal conversation. In regards to my major, nursing, critical writing would be writing that it done to analyze and critique a paper and understand the reason why the author chose to write it. These two forms of writing have a couple of similarities and differences that distinguish what their purpose is. Academic and critical writing are two forms of literary writing that analyze and respond to events or texts for different reasons in different ways. As stated in the introduction, I believe that critical writing is writing that is done to analyze, critique, and comment on the stren g th of the argument of an event . While critical writing is usually associated with being done in response to literary work, it could be done in response to anything at all. In regards to my major (nursing) critical writing could be writing that is done to analyze and examine anything within nursing as long as it relates to the field. For example, "The Politics of Intimate Care: Gender, Race, and Nursing Work" by Charissa J. Threat is a prime representative of critical writing within nursing. This article critically examines the history of nursing and analyzes what made the field predominately female the way it is today. To accurately redefine what critical writing is in nursing, one would have to have a knowledge of what critical writing is and have experience reading and writing papers on the topic. This form of writing would be done solely for those who are in the nursing field and have a certain understanding and knowledge about the topic. This is because it would contain a lot of jargon that anyone outside of the field may not understand. While a certain form of critical writing would only be for those in the nursing field, critical writing can exist in any format. The same article that can be published in a medical/nursing journal can also be published in an everyday magazine like People or Us Weekly. However, it'd have to be written differently because the target audience isn't the same. A lot more common and simpler words would have to be used so the mainstream audience can understand. In "The Politics of Intimate Care: Gender, Race, and Nursing Work", Threat uses simple terms to describe early viewpoints on nursing. She analyzes the concept of nursing being meant for women because the actual nursing job is "inferior to medicine" (Threat 14) and women were considered to be inferior to men. Therefore, it was supposed to be the perfect job for women because they were supposed to be "cooperative, loyal, and obedient" (Threat 11) or something the y have been their whole lives. These commonly known words help str engthen her argument because the audience understands them and can now see her point of view better and take their own stand on the topic. Writers in nursing have a responsibility to their fellow peers to explain the topic that they are writing on and provide reasons for why it is important and should be taken seriously. The writer has to make sure that the topic that he or she is writing on is relevant and affects the lives of numerous people. On the other hand, writers who write for audiences outside of nursing have a harder job. These writers would have to make sure they explain what the topic is and why the audience should even read the piece of work. Moreover, the writer has the responsibility to avoid jargon and use common words to explain their topic while keeping the work fairly concise. They would also have to make sure the writing is engaging enough so that the reader doesn't put down the

Evolution On Earth essays

Evolution On Earth essays Evolution mean change in time. In biology, this means change in biological entities in time. Some may ask how did species come to populate the Earth? Where did the diversity of life that we have upon the Earth happen in time? If the definition of evolution is changing in time, then the opposite of evolution is, clearly, not changing in time, or stasis, which means to stay the some in time. Things either change in time, or they dont change in time. Those are the two opposites that must be considered when discussing evolution. Has the distribution of life on Earth change in time, or not change in time? If its change in time, then evolution is a fact; if it has not changed in time, then evolution is an error. So all we have to do is identify what has occurred in the past, in order to determine whether or not life has change over time. There is another question one could ask, How in time did life come to be on the Earth? One answer could be what science provides, according to certain rules that science choose to follow. Another answer could be God put life here. However, this is a statement that cannot be proven or disproved according to the rules of science, and it therefore is not a scientifically valid st atement. Science is agnostic on God; it takes no position on God. If we chose science and God (which many people do), then one rephrases the question slightly: How, according to the rules of nature, did God create life on Earth? This is really the same as how, according to the rules of nature, did life appear on Earth? which is the question every evolutionary scientist is trying to answer. Whether one believe in God or not, the results, when conducted scientifically, should come out the same. The idea of evolution is one of the truly great ideas humankind has ever expressed. Some people erroneously believe that the opposite of evolu ...

Star Wars Day! 4 Great Grammatical Mistakes from Hollywood

Star Wars Day! 4 Great Grammatical Mistakes from Hollywood Star Wars Day! 4 Great Grammatical Mistakes from Hollywood To celebrate Star Wars Day – slogan, â€Å"May the 4th Be With You† – we’re delving into the murky world of Hollywood movies. And while Tinsel Town might be a â€Å"Dream Factory† where fantasies are brought to life, it hasn’t always been a good grammatical role model. For example†¦ 1. Eight Legged Freaks Punctuation is often the first thing to go in a movie poster. Examples include the comma-less Burn Hollywood Burn and the missing question mark at the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. However, more worrying is the hyphen absent from Eight Legged Freaks. Maybe the spider dislodged the hyphen with its foot? (Warner Bros. Pictures) If this was a movie about giant spiders, as the poster suggests, the title should be â€Å"Eight-Legged Freaks.† But it isn’t, so we can only assume it’s about eight freaky people instead. The Pogues, maybe. 2. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids The more you think about it, the weirder â€Å"shrunk† sounds. (Walt Disney Pictures) We’ll give Honey, I Shrunk the Kids credit for knowing how a comma works. But this title still falls short. This is because â€Å"shrunk† is the past participle of â€Å"shrink,† while the simple past tense is â€Å"shrank.† As such, it should be called either Honey, I Shrank the Kids or Honey, I’ve Shrunk the Kids. In protest, we refuse to acknowledge Rick Moranis in any other role until this has been fixed. 3. Into the Wild While there’s nothing ungrammatical about the title of Into the Wild, the poster does feature the cryptic statement â€Å"Screenplay and Directed by Sean Penn.† What could this mean? â€Å"Hey guys, I’m just busy screenplaying this screenplay.† (River Road Entertainment) â€Å"Screenplay† is a noun, so â€Å"Screenplay by Sean Penn† would simply mean Sean Penn wrote the screenplay. And â€Å"directed† is a verb, so â€Å"Directed by Sean Penn† would be easy enough to understand. But put these together and we’re left with two unfortunate possibilities: Sean Penn thinks â€Å"screenplay† is a past tense verb. The poster designer didn’t care about grammatical parallelism. Neither option give us a lot of confidence in Hollywood’s proofreading. 4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens It’s Star Wars Day, so this list wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from the famous sci-fi franchise. And we’re going to pick on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This movie is interesting for the lack of commas around â€Å"Luke† when they identify Leia’s brother in the opening text crawl. (Lucasfilm Ltd./Bad Robot Productions) As this article points out, we use parenthetical commas to add non-essential details, such as a name when we already know who a sentence is about. So, if Leia only had one brother, the opening crawl should say: She is desperate to find her brother, Luke, and gain his help†¦ The commas here show us that the name is an extra detail: we know who â€Å"her brother† is without saying â€Å"Luke† because Leia only has one brother. But the crawl in The Force Awakens says: She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help†¦ And this opened up the possibility  that Leia had additional male siblings somewhere! Was J. J. Abrams hinting at something in the future of the Star Wars series? Unfortunately, the answer is â€Å"no.† Despite some excitement on the internet, it was just a punctuation error. But that’s still a more satisfying twist than the ending of Lost, so maybe we can give J. J. a pass on this one.

Nafta - hinderance or catalyst Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Nafta - hinderance or catalyst - Essay Example omises particularly because it has undermined the influence of states on public policy while promoting development models that enhance decentralized capitalism (Sieppert & Rowe 22). Consequently, this paper proposes that NAFTA has been a hindrance to Canada and should be replaced by a more equitable agreement for all the three states, or an international agreement that will enhance the general well-being and health of Canadian citizens regardless of geopolitical pressures in the region. This article provides an international analysis of NAFTA’s diverse effects in all the three member countries; the writers propose that the agreement has altered not only the economic, but also the social outcomes in each of the countries, Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Similarly, the paper addresses the major social justice effects of NAFTA, including issues of labour and migration, the implications for income distribution, outcomes touching on agriculture and the environment, as well as the implications for the health of citizens and health services in all the three countries (Sieppert & Rowe 6). Generally, the article regards these issues within the broader context of globalization but makes a set of recommendations from a social work perspective. This article is essential for this present assessment of the negative implications of NAFTA on the three countries, and Canada in particular because it shades light on the numerous shortfalls of the agreement, besides expl aining its foundations. Initially, the article highlights the origins of NAFTA, in the negotiations between the leaders of the three states, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico, and President George Bush of the U.S.A, which later led to its implementation in 1994. The article further outlines the initial intentions of NAFTA as liberalization of trade between the three countries while promoting economic cooperation as well as enhancement of investment

Are all waste products simply resources that have not been used yet Essay

Are all waste products simply resources that have not been used yet - Essay Example Waste products are made resources by the process of section, transportation, recycling and treatment. In addition, the system disposal is applied in determination of the number of recycle bins required to facilitate garbage collection at the curb. Nevertheless, the paper focuses on determining whether the waste products can be considered resources that have not been exploited. There has been a significant growth of governmental investment, among industrial sectors leading to increases of interest concerning Municipal Solid Waste MSW management projects. In this case, MSW management offers a vital opportunity for conversion of waste materials to resources. On the other hand, in order to convert waste materials to resources, there is need to understand the current situation experienced in MSW management (Hongtao & Yongfeng, 2001, 255). In fact, there are substantial factors playing a vital role in generation of MSW, which entail economic development, consumption rates, administrative s ystems, urban population and geographic location. However, the most important factors include the urban population and economic situation, which are considered a contributor to improvement of MSW quality. Waste products have been converted to resources through MSW for the last twenty years, thereby resulting to a change in the waste composition and an increase for waste. Therefore, value of waste based on increases of reusability is influenced by impacts of MSW components. Moreover, this entails domestic fuel used and other living standards, which are associated with the levels of composition. Some of identified sources of MSW include residential, municipal, institutional, commercial, and other attributes of the city that entail size, location and economic condition. There are high recyclable content gathered through MSW in exclusive residential districts; for instance, there are percentages of kitchen waste, ash and dirt, which are lesser than regular to inhabited district (Hongtao & Yongfeng, 2001, 259). On the other hand, there are other fractions of kitchen residue, thereby making up a higher portion of waste disposed by residential district. There is waste gathered from neighborhood as a high moisture content that has a lower calorific value. Historically, there is influence of waste composition based on the living standards of people living is various regions. Therefore, management of MSW has become a global issue due to its significance based on judgment made by mayors, county executives and city and country council broads. In fact, this decisions made by these actors has led to a significant impact on the emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG), thereby contributing to climatic changes (Weitz, Thorneloe, Nishtala, Yarkosky & Zannes, 2002, 1001). Waste caused CH4 emissions emanating from decomposition of biodegradable elements present in waste streams such as food scraps, yard trimming and papers, they have led to increased potential for global climatic chang es (Weitz, Thorneloe, Nishtala, Yarkosky & Zannes, 2002, 1002). Moreover, this is associated by the release of GHG, which is debated in the country and in other countries around the world. MSW management program is applied as a resource for reduction of GHG emission, whereby it is

Vietnam War Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Vietnam War - Research Paper Example in O’Brien’s â€Å"The Things They Carried†, but the author illustrates the base that Kiley used to be at in â€Å"The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong†, which is comparable to the base at the Khe Sanh. O’Brien’s intention in the book is to portray on how the war changes people and even if we know the story, what happens inside their minds is still impossible to â€Å"truly† understand. O’Brien writes, â€Å"Fine with me. But you don’t know human nature. You don’t know Nam† (O’Brien 97). The author wants to emphasize that while people strive to understand each other, this attempt would only be limited to personal opinion, and there can be no truth in every individual understanding. O’Brien adds, â€Å"He couldn’t pin it down; her body seemed foreign somehow – too stiff in places, too firm where the softness should be† (99). It appears that the author is trying to evaluate the re sponses of people in the war against his personal views on how people should really behave during a war scene. But as aforementioned, the Battle of the Khe Sanh is one of the most controversial wars in history. Why? The war shows evidence of the fabrication of the American national identity. There are many misrepresentations of facts, particularly in the socio-cultural and political dimensions of the war. In order to obtain control over the infiltration routes south of the Demilitarized Zone and near the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the former French outpost along Khe Sanh was walled and nearly 6 thousand Americans and South Vietnamese were designated in order to secure the base (Browne, â€Å"Battlefields of the Khe Sanh†). In the succeeding passages, the display of horrific scenes including more than 150,000 projectiles and more than 100,000 pounds of explosive ordinance were released on the encompassing hillsides of once silent village of Khe Sanh (Clarke 185). The lush foliage will never go back to the valley that surrounded Khe Sanh and the pristine beauty that it used to have can no

Accommodations and Modifications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Accommodations and Modifications - Assignment Example Accommodations and modification have been helpful when administering instructions and assessment for students with special needs. This is because accommodations strategies are designed to meet the needs of every individual that ensures equal delivery, as well as standard academic contents. In this research work, the student with specific learning disability (SLD) will be considered. This disability makes the victim to have difficulty in understanding and acquiring language both written and spoken. In addition, being a student learning English as a second language, the student also has a disability of English learning. In specific, the student suffering from this disorder has problems of listening, spelling, writing, speaking and performing complicated puzzles together with doing mathematics (Beech 23). Such student can be supported by the use of the accommodation and modification. This strategy is organized into four categories namely presentation, response, scheduling, and setting. Presentation involves setting the student to access the relevant information. Since this student has difficulty in reading, instructions and assessment can be administered in form of illustrations and graphics such as audio, visual, or tactile. However, this approach cannot be effective in some cases where the information to be relayed cannot be either graphed or illustrated. Additionally, preparing theses illustrations and graphics is difficult and time consuming. For response, the student can be introduced to alternative ways of responses as opposed to the conventional ways such as writing, speaking, and drawing. The alternative methods of response, that student should be introduced to include scribes, computers, or word processors, braille, and word prediction software. Other alternative methods of response are voice recorders, portable sound recording

Vermeers The Music Lesson and Rubens The Three Graces Essay

Vermeers The Music Lesson and Rubens The Three Graces - Essay Example The essay "Vermeer’s The Music Lesson and Ruben’s The Three Graces" discovers Baroque Painting in Relationship to Renaissance Aesthetics. The focus is on the Vermeer’s The Music Lesson and Ruben’s The Three Graces. The way in which light and colour were used emphasized the drama that was sought after during this time. In comparing the work of the Baroque period to the work of the Renaissance, one can see a heavier and richer use of colour, while sharper uses of light and shadow combine to emphasize a climactic point of drama. In order to examine the differences between the works that was done in the Renaissance in comparison to the work done in the Baroque period, pieces with the same theme allow for clear contrasts. The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens reveals that the fascination with mythological subjects that was observed during the Renaissance still provided subject matter for the painters of the Baroque period. Rubens’ work allows one to obse rve that there is an emphasis on the curves of the body, the heaviness of the form accentuated with more extreme chiaroscuro. The light and dark of the painting creates a more dramatic look to the work. As well, the tones that are used provide a higher level of drama to the moment of the embrace between the three deities. When you compare the work of Rubens to the earlier works of Botticelliand Raphael, there is a distinct difference in the tension within the composition. In the works of Botticelli and Raphael, the figures are light.... Botticelli, Primavera (1485-1487) interaction creates a higher level of drama in the Rubens work from the Baroque period than in the paintings from the Renaissance period. The Baroque period provided for a more painterly approach to the artwork that was generated. The dynamism of the work was created through a less controlled performance of the act of painting, while the Renaissance had work that was done in a more linear format. According to Beardsley, the linear work of the Renaissance in comparison to the more painterly work of the Baroque â€Å"is comparable to the shift of emphasis from rhythm to harmony† (218). Where linear painting is defined by carefully rendered images that are three dimensional due to the use of carefully controlled perspective, painterly work has an element of randomness that is Figure 3. Raphael, The Three Graces (1504-1505) created through the emotions of the act of painting. According to Staiger, â€Å"Linear perspective uses the artist’s viewpoint to figure out angles of things that recede into the distance† (104). In painterly work, however, the brush strokes are applied where they feel right, rather than through a perspective that is relevant to the position of the artist. The paint strokes are more visible and have a textural effect that is not present in a more linear work of art. Johannes Vermeer did work that embraced the aesthetics of light and shadow in combination with rich toned hues. He was greatly influenced by the changes that were being made away from the aesthetics of the Renaissance period. According to Gowing, â€Å"The baroque provided the example which dominated Vermeer’s beginnings. And while other Dutch painters could carry its rhythm as a

People, Management & Organisations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

People, Management & Organisations - Case Study Example It is clear from the case study that Cox’s Container Company is suffering from several internal issues related to the workplace culture and organizational behaviour. It is highly important for an organization to adopt and implement effective change management process in order to overcome the current issues and challenges. However, it is highly important for the Cox’s Container Company to implement change management process in the organizational culture in order to enhance strategy development and decision making process. In addition to this, it will help the organization to overcome the current issues that is affecting the profitability and business performance of the organization. This case analysis will outline and analyze the current internal issues and problems related to the organizational structure, organizational behaviour and work culture of the company. In addition to this, this report will discuss about motivation and change management theory that can be imple mented in the management of the organization in order to overcome the issues. Lastly, the study will provide some recommendation plans in order to overcome the current issues. Being one of the leading and profitable organizations, the management of the Cox’s Container Company failed to overcome the organizational behaviour related issue. The organization was founded by Harold Cox. This part of study will outline and analyze the problems that are affecting the business performance of the organization. The management of the organization was following family ownership structure. It can be considered as the consideration, adoption and implementation of the centralized decision making process. The organization faced several issues due to the adoption of centralized decision making process. It is highly important for an organization to ensure effective strategy development and decision making process in order to overcome the issues (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010, p.73). Poor

Vermeers The Music Lesson and Rubens The Three Graces Essay

Vermeers The Music Lesson and Rubens The Three Graces - Essay Example The essay "Vermeer’s The Music Lesson and Ruben’s The Three Graces" discovers Baroque Painting in Relationship to Renaissance Aesthetics. The focus is on the Vermeer’s The Music Lesson and Ruben’s The Three Graces. The way in which light and colour were used emphasized the drama that was sought after during this time. In comparing the work of the Baroque period to the work of the Renaissance, one can see a heavier and richer use of colour, while sharper uses of light and shadow combine to emphasize a climactic point of drama. In order to examine the differences between the works that was done in the Renaissance in comparison to the work done in the Baroque period, pieces with the same theme allow for clear contrasts. The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens reveals that the fascination with mythological subjects that was observed during the Renaissance still provided subject matter for the painters of the Baroque period. Rubens’ work allows one to obse rve that there is an emphasis on the curves of the body, the heaviness of the form accentuated with more extreme chiaroscuro. The light and dark of the painting creates a more dramatic look to the work. As well, the tones that are used provide a higher level of drama to the moment of the embrace between the three deities. When you compare the work of Rubens to the earlier works of Botticelliand Raphael, there is a distinct difference in the tension within the composition. In the works of Botticelli and Raphael, the figures are light.... Botticelli, Primavera (1485-1487) interaction creates a higher level of drama in the Rubens work from the Baroque period than in the paintings from the Renaissance period. The Baroque period provided for a more painterly approach to the artwork that was generated. The dynamism of the work was created through a less controlled performance of the act of painting, while the Renaissance had work that was done in a more linear format. According to Beardsley, the linear work of the Renaissance in comparison to the more painterly work of the Baroque â€Å"is comparable to the shift of emphasis from rhythm to harmony† (218). Where linear painting is defined by carefully rendered images that are three dimensional due to the use of carefully controlled perspective, painterly work has an element of randomness that is Figure 3. Raphael, The Three Graces (1504-1505) created through the emotions of the act of painting. According to Staiger, â€Å"Linear perspective uses the artist’s viewpoint to figure out angles of things that recede into the distance† (104). In painterly work, however, the brush strokes are applied where they feel right, rather than through a perspective that is relevant to the position of the artist. The paint strokes are more visible and have a textural effect that is not present in a more linear work of art. Johannes Vermeer did work that embraced the aesthetics of light and shadow in combination with rich toned hues. He was greatly influenced by the changes that were being made away from the aesthetics of the Renaissance period. According to Gowing, â€Å"The baroque provided the example which dominated Vermeer’s beginnings. And while other Dutch painters could carry its rhythm as a

Critical Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical - Literature review Example Shareholders in a certain corporation take keen interest in the manner which the corporation carries out it business activities. In most cases, the shareholders focus on what the corporation has done, either positive or negative relative to its impact on the society (Subhabrata, 2007). Additionally, the shareholders show interest on how the corporation develops and takes care of its work force. Thus corporate social responsibility can be simply defined as the capacity of a company to build protractible livelihoods. The company upholds the cultural differences of the locals and finds opportunities in developing skills of employs, the public and the government thus gives back to the society. In fact, this model is much more convincing mainly because: a) Social responsibility forms an integral part of the society’s wealth creation process, which enhances competitiveness of a business hence maximization of wealth creation in society. b) In tough economic times, there are incentive s to implement corporate social responsibility and better as compared to other corporate social responsibility models. However, corporate social responsibility has had a philanthropic definition in the United States. In the philanthropic model, companies earn profits, unhindered with an exception of fulfilling their taxation responsibility. Then the companies give a certain amount of funds, which is a percentage of their profits as a donation to support charitable activities. Nevertheless, corporate social responsibility has been defined in different model referred to as the European model that is more oriented in how business is executed in a socially answerable way, harmonized by the investment in the local communities for justifiable business reasons. It is noteworthy that different corporations implement corporate social responsibility differently due to their varied nature of business. Depending on a business priorities and core values, a corporate social responsibility is mani fested in form of incentives and the business processes. Existing literature on corporate social responsibility has associated this practice to ethical ad moral conduct of business. Thus corporate social responsibility is perceived as an obligation not only to the law but also long term aims for the good of the community, which the business serves. In this sense, corporate social responsibility involves carrying out business in an ethically acceptable way in the interest of the society at large (Thomas, 2007). Thus a corporation is expected to: Respond in appositive in regards t o emerging societal priorities and prospects Willing take measures ahead of regulatory conflict Balance the interest of the shareholders against the interests of the society The main facets of corporate social responsibility: Economic responsibility to generate profit for the corporate owners Legal responsibility to strictly comply with all regulatory requirements Ethical responsibility not only to generate profit, but also act in just and a fair in business processes Voluntary and philanthropic responsibility to uphold human welfare and helpfulness In this paper, my chief focus on how the new policy published the European commission for the 2011-2014 action agenda has impacted business reorganization by the corporations so as to implement corporate social responsibility. The new policy was introduced to enhance a better alignment of European enterprises to better corporate social

Child Labour: Causes and Impacts

Child Labour: Causes and Impacts Child labour is a global issue that is becoming increasingly common in modern society due to implicating factors such as labour law/ employment protection, poverty, and the economy (i.e. supply and demand for goods and services). Child labour refers to the employment of young people in jobs that are considered to be illegal and/or exploitive. Including (however not limited to): agriculture, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, prostitution/sexual exploitation and domestic service. This map in which displays the 2014 child labour index has data categories ranging between Extreme Risk, High Risk, Medium Risk, Low Risk and no data/ not applicable. There are concentrations of extreme risk areas across the entire world, centralized in predominantly Northern South America i.e. Brazil and Bolivia, Central America i.e. Mexico and Guatemala, The majority of Africa excluding anomalies sparsely scattered on the periphery of Africa (predominantly in the extreme Northern and extreme Southern area s) including South Africa, Libya and Gabon, Far East Europe, Northern and Southern Asia excluding central countries such as Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and random scatterings in South-East Asia. The top three extreme risk counties in the world are located in the Northeastern periphery of Africa (Eritrea), The Eastern North East periphery of Africa (Somalia) and lastly the core of Africa (Democratic republic of Congo). This displays a central clustered pattern of extreme risk areas in Africa on a global scale. High-risk zones are scattered randomly across the globe, including: within the remainder of South America (the areas that have not already been mentioned as extreme risk), Southern Africa, far Eastern Europe and the remainder of Asia (the areas that have not already been mentioned as extreme risk). Areas that are of low or medium risk include Central and Northern North America, Central and Western Europe, New Zealand and Australia. Lastly there are anomalies in which have no data regarding their child labour statistics including but not limited to: Western Sahara and Greenland. This can be as a result of low population and therefore sparse data collection, data censorship, or in terms of less economically developed countries, not enough funding. Overall the pattern is generally clustered in the core, South-western and North-eastern segments of the map with a holistically dense scattering of child labour across the globe. Factors Poverty Poverty can be defined as a state of being extremely ‘poor’, having inadequate living necessities such as: food, water, shelter, money, goods or means of support. The particular factor of child labour has helped to shape the pattern of this global issue as displayed through the relation between their patterns. Concentrations of risk for child labour are generally compliant to that of poverty rate, the relation being that as poverty rate increases, so does Child labour risk. With the exception of certain anomalies, which do not comply with the shared general trend of poverty and child, labour e.g. China. The most prominent concentrations of child labour on a global scale can be found in Africa with the top three worst recorded child labour index’s being centralized in: Eritrea, Somalia and the Democratic republic of Congo. This relates to multiple independent studies on the poverty rate, which suggest that the proportion of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa is currentl y the highest in the world, therefore showing an interaction between the three highest risk areas for child labour, and poverty rate. Other global regions poverty statistics (apart from Sub-Saharan Africa) which are displayed in the graph of ‘Extreme Poverty Falls in Every Region of the Developing World’ include: Asia (excluding India), South-Eastern Asia, Eastern Asia (China only) Western Asia, Latin America (and the Caribbean), Sub-Saharan Africa and lastly Northern Africa. All of the regions mentioned for being of the worst poverty rates in the world correspond directly to the concentrations of extreme risk and high risk (high risk being the minority) child labour regions, therefore finalizing the proof of a relationship between poverty and Child labour. Countries that are considered as below the poverty line consist of families within financial struggle who are unable to obtain a sustainable income and further-more basic living necessities such as sanitation, safe-d rinking water, food, and shelter. This lack of essential human requirements results in a need for alternate finance, which in some cases is then derived from their children. They are forced to expose their children to child labour in order to gain finance to support their families, which shows a direct interaction between poverty and child labour. However there are also other aspects of poverty in which lead to child labour including lack of education. Lack of education being one of the many measures of poverty, which can result in children being used for cheap labour as opposed to gaining an education. Lack of education occurs due to either communal financial struggle meaning that they are unable to fund a schooling system or individual financial struggle in which individual families cannot afford to send their children to school which once again results in their children becoming victims of child labour. Labour law/ employment protection The labour law/ employment protection within a country is a primary contributor to the pattern of child labour risk globally. This is because a country in which has un protected worker rights, is a country that leaves their citizens helpless against employment exploitation such as child labour. There are a number of independent studies that take place with regards to employment rights, one of which is carried out by The Institute of Global Labour and Human Rights. This institute acts to investigate employment protection and rights amongst developing countries. Developing nations are under scrutiny for their labour laws more so than developed nations as less economically developed countries tend to be more prone to seeking out cheap labour due to their still developing businesses and corporations. Still developing in the sense that they are a predominantly primary industry meaning that the profit from their efforts in minimal as they are not selling a final product (which is where the majority of profit is coming in from) and rather are a small part of a larger process. Another reason this study focuses on whether or not less economically developed countries in particular abide by the labour laws in place is because often one of the reasons for a country being less developed is due to government instability which influences enforcement of labour laws. This is because an instable government tends to have less general control over its citizens therefore making them less likely to be able to enforce laws upon civilians and protect the rights of their workers, maximising chance of human rights breach. In the same breath, bribery is also often present within an instable government meaning that corporations often have the ability to use bribery in exchange for the dismissal of their employment exploitation. Less economically developed regions are located approximately within: Latin America, Southern Asia, Far Eastern Europe, and Africa. These regions are all densely c lustered with child labour at both high and extreme risk levels, displaying an interaction between the areas under suspicion for labour rights breach and the areas of high/extreme risk of child labour. This therefore shows the implications that labour laws and employment rights can have on child labour, because (as discussed previously) the areas that are less developed are at higher risk of their labour laws being breached due to the requirement for cheap labour amongst developing nations combined with the possibility of government instability which results in lack of protection for workers. However more developed countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and Canada in which have a stable democratic political leaders, have laws placed with the intent of protecting the rights of workers rights, and they have the ability to enforce these laws. These same developed countries are also included in the low risk concentrations of child labour dispersed globally once again displaying the d irect interaction between a countries labour laws/ employment rights and the pattern displaying risk of child labour on a global spectrum. Economy The economy plays a huge part in shaping the pattern of child labour found globally, the sparsely and densely concentrated areas as well as the general dispersal. The success of a world economy can result in child labour in a number of different ways, such as through supply and demand, and general economic change. The general increase in global economy creates competition between countries in order to produce and sell more goods and services in order to enable economic stability within the country and create more employment opportunities. However this increased magnitude of employment opportunities is one of the factors in which helped to shape the pattern of child labour globally. This is due to the fact that the economic growth occurring in present times in developed countries enhances the demand for goods and services to be produced at a low cost.. The demand for commodities to be produced at a low price is one of the influences of child labour within less economically developed n ations. This is because although goods and services are readily accessible to developed countries, they demand for less costly commodities which is produced through one or multiple different less economically developed countries before being exported to a more developed country which then sells it for a far greater profit than what they initially obtained it for, strengthening the economy of already developed nations and depleting the economy of less developed nations. Less economically developed regions are located approximately within: Latin America, Southern Asia, Far Eastern Europe, and Africa. These regions are all densely clustered with child labour at both high and extreme risk levels, due to the economic factors previously discussed. However, this is not the only trend that has helped form the global pattern of child labour. Urbanisation is a process, which by extension, can result in a higher risk of child labour. This is because within less developed countries, the population is often self-sufficient or work in independent agricultural businesses. However due to peoples perspectives on the gradual improvement of the economic environment, and the benefits of a paying job versus a self-sufficient farming life, urbanisation rates are increasing and people are progressing from being self-sufficient to dependent on an employer and income. However as a result of the ever-changing economic environment, urbanisation is risky as often, due to the fluctuations of economy they risk unemployment, which can lead to poverty and their children being forced into child labour as a result, which displays how the economy with relation to urbanisation, helps shape the pattern of child labour globally. Significance Economic The significance of child labour on the economy is enormous in terms of the affects that it has on the economy. Despite child labour being a form of modern slavery, which is highly illegal and inhumane, it generally has a positive affect on the global economy. This is because regions in which practice child labour have the ability to greaten their GDP as they are generally producing and exporting commodities at a faster rate and a greater magnitude. This allowing for an economic increase within the countries affected by child labour. More economically developed countries also receive economic benefits as a result of child labour as they are able to imports goods at a far cheaper rate than if the commodities had come from a corporation in which pays their workers a higher salary, spends more money on safety precautions, facilities and materials/supplies. This improves the economy, as developed countries are able to spend less money on the imported items and there fore expand to a grea ter profit margin, further developing their corporations and businesses, economic environment. Although the economic affects of child labour are generally positive, there are negative aspects including the fact that because the products are coming from these primary industries in which have few resources and sparsely educated, pre-adolescent staff, the goods are not always of the same quality/ value that they would have been, had they have been made in better conditions by a more knowledgeable staff. The affect of this lack of quality is that some corporations will opt for a more expensive alternative that tends to last longer as opposed to buying the products produced by cheap labour, which would ultimately reverse the positive affects of child labour. However this reigns true only for a minority allowing to conclude the significance of child labour within the economy in predominantly positive. Social The significance of child labour socially in terms of a global spectrum can include aspects such as: Dehumanisation, Breech of human rights, and the promotion of child exploitation/abuse (especially within families and communities). As a result of child labour, socially, we are dehumanising both the recipients of child labour produced products as well as the children who are being exposed to this form of labour. This is due to the fact that the people who are receiving these products are often knowledgeable of its origins, and still choose to purchase it regardless. Also, children who are working in child labour environments are trapped within a form of modern slavery in which they are forced and obligated to complete work tasks in which are out of the normal social guidelines for their age: i.e. getting an education and developing their social skills. This leads to dehumanisation as child labour has changed social regulations in order to make it appropriate to dismiss the compassion and sympathy that humans are meant to feel for each other. Another social implication is the fact that child labour is a clear breech of human rights, as any involuntary act that a person is forced to do is against their right as a human-being, as well as the fact that often they are denied their education, social life, and childhood, which is also a breech of their rights. Lastly, the occurrence of child labour promotes exploitation and abuse amongst families and entire communities. Often child labour is caused by parents who send their children into labour due to the fact that they need the extra salary in order to survive, regardless of this fact, a parent sending their children into child labour is a form a abuse as they are exploiting their children in order to gain finance. The same can be said for a community who allows child labour to occur, displaying the social significance of child labour on a global spectrum. Bibliography: Galli, R. (2001). The Economic impact of child labour. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/dgreports/inst/documents/publication/wcms_193680.pdf Multiple authors from ILO, Child Labour. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/langen/index.htm Srivastava, Kalpana. Child Labour Issues and Challenges. Industrial Psychiatry Journal. Medknow Publications Media Pvt Ltd, 2011. Web. 5 May 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3425238/>. Latest Products and Reports. Child Labour Index. Maplecroft, 2013. Web. 2 May 2015. http://maplecroft.com/portfolio/new-analysis/2013/10/15/child-labour-risks-increase-china-and-russia-most-progress-shown-south-america-maplecroft-index/>. Naeem, Zahid, Faiza Shaukat, and Zubair Ahmed. Child Labor in Relation to Poverty. International Journal of Health Sciences. Qassim University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2011. Web. 2 May 2015. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3533357/>. Varma, Bhakati. Child Labour and Its Impact on Economic Growth. Child Labour and Its Impact on Economic Growth. Slideshare, 2011. Web. 5 May 2015. http://www.slideshare.net/BhaktiVarma/child-labour-and-its-impact-on-economic-growth-9225274>.

Essay on Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man and The Wall

The Artist in Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man and Pink Floyd's The Wall      Ã‚  Ã‚   Foragers, the people who live in hunter-gatherer societies, have no artists. It is only when society becomes complex enough to support a division of labor do artists emerge-first as shamans, then as the painters, singers, writers, etc., that we usually think of today. Society, then, creates the artist, but it can also destroy him. In A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man, James Joyce describes the particular development of Stephan Dedalus that led to his becoming an artist. Pink's development in Pink Floyd's The Wall, mirrors that of Stephen yet concludes in the destruction of the artist.    An important similarity between them is their isolation. Joyce believed that the separation from society is important for an artist in order to see society clearly. Common people are easily swayed by authority figures, as Dante and other Irish Catholics are against Parnell by the church's condemnation, or by other trendy movements such as the peace testimonial, all of which are rejected by Stephen in the end. When Stephen in his discourse on beauty describes the basket, he says "your mind first of all separates the basket from the rest of the visible universe which is not the basket. The first phase of apprehension is a bounding line drawn about the object to be apprehended" (212). Thus, by extension, if an artist is to apprehend the society, a line must be bound around society separating the artist from it in order to view it; it is difficult in a maze of hedges to comprehend the pattern, but when viewed from above the paths in and out become clear. The artist must stand outside the changeable mindset of the average human being in orde... ...at make up the crowd or the eerie, bulbous faces on the train. Stephen fulfils his role as an artist by becoming a sort of teacher-shaman as he gives his discourses on esthetics to Lynch and prepares to depart into the world, like some wandering monk or sage. Separate from society he is able to search out and convey the truth of society. Pink's isolation, however, utterly destroys him. Unable to endure, the wall is torn down by the hammer of conformity and Pink becomes the very personification of repressive society. If the role of the artist is to objectively show society the truth of itself, then Pink emerges an artwork in himself, an accurate mirror of the forces that shaped him.       Works Cited    Joyce, James. A Portriat of the Artist as a Young Man. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.    Pink Floyd. The Wall. Sony Wonder Studios, 1982.   

pearl harbor :: essays research papers

The U.S. Entering World War II "A date that will live in infamy," (Snyder 33) was what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called December 7, 1941. It was a calm Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. Then two U.S. soldiers saw an oscilloscope signal on their mobile radars. They immediately called this in to their commanding officer but he told them to ignore it because the base was expecting a squadron of friendly B-17's to be coming from the mainland. Thirty minutes later the first bomb fell and almost killed a courier boy who was trying to deliver a message to Pearl Harbor Naval Base that the Japanese Imperial Navy was going to attack them. The Japanese bombers caught the base by surprise due to the Americans' tradition of not working on Sunday's. As the bombs fell, so did all the chances of the United States not joining the Allies in the Second World War that was raging in Europe and the western Pacific. Up to that point the U.S. had just been supporting the Allies but they weren't tec hnically at war with the Axis powers. All throughout the first two years of the war, President Roosevelt focused on making life difficult for the Japanese. One way he did this was by creating various policies that would deter the Axis powers from being able to maintain the needs necessary to wage war on the Allies. One of these policies was the American financial and economic embargo, which supported China in its fight against Japan. It also, somewhat, forced neutral countries to side with the U.S. because it threatened that if any country would aid one of the Axis countries then that country would no longer be given aid packages from the United States. A second policy imposed by Roosevelt was the "moral embargo" of July 1938. This banned neutral countries from exporting Planes and equipment to countries who engaged in the bombing of civilians. This made the U.S. look like the good guys because they were protecting the innocent people who were being killed just because the lived in a different country. By imposing these policies, the U.S. was disallowing the economic growth of the Axis countries and forcing Them to support themselves, as long as they were against the Allies. These policies were a type of weapon that Roosevelt used in order to attack the enemy without formally declares war. pearl harbor :: essays research papers The U.S. Entering World War II "A date that will live in infamy," (Snyder 33) was what President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called December 7, 1941. It was a calm Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. Then two U.S. soldiers saw an oscilloscope signal on their mobile radars. They immediately called this in to their commanding officer but he told them to ignore it because the base was expecting a squadron of friendly B-17's to be coming from the mainland. Thirty minutes later the first bomb fell and almost killed a courier boy who was trying to deliver a message to Pearl Harbor Naval Base that the Japanese Imperial Navy was going to attack them. The Japanese bombers caught the base by surprise due to the Americans' tradition of not working on Sunday's. As the bombs fell, so did all the chances of the United States not joining the Allies in the Second World War that was raging in Europe and the western Pacific. Up to that point the U.S. had just been supporting the Allies but they weren't tec hnically at war with the Axis powers. All throughout the first two years of the war, President Roosevelt focused on making life difficult for the Japanese. One way he did this was by creating various policies that would deter the Axis powers from being able to maintain the needs necessary to wage war on the Allies. One of these policies was the American financial and economic embargo, which supported China in its fight against Japan. It also, somewhat, forced neutral countries to side with the U.S. because it threatened that if any country would aid one of the Axis countries then that country would no longer be given aid packages from the United States. A second policy imposed by Roosevelt was the "moral embargo" of July 1938. This banned neutral countries from exporting Planes and equipment to countries who engaged in the bombing of civilians. This made the U.S. look like the good guys because they were protecting the innocent people who were being killed just because the lived in a different country. By imposing these policies, the U.S. was disallowing the economic growth of the Axis countries and forcing Them to support themselves, as long as they were against the Allies. These policies were a type of weapon that Roosevelt used in order to attack the enemy without formally declares war.

Maybank online banking system Essay

Maybank is a trade name for Malayan Banking Berhad and is the largest bank and financial group in Malaysia with significant banking operations in Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. Maybank was founded by Malaysian business tycoon Khoo Teck Puat, who died in 2004. The bank also has large interests in Islamic banking through Maybank Islamic Berhad and insurance via its Etiqa subsidiary. Maybank is the largest bank in Malaysia with 401 domestic branches. Maybank operates consumer banking, business and corporate banking as well as private banking services, through a network of 401 branch offices and more than 2,900 automated teller machines in Malaysia Beside its commercial banking network, Maybank operates a number of specialized subsidiaries in the insurance, investment banking and assets management, and finance sectors. Online banking is becoming more and more popular because the advantages of online banking for the majority of banking users. You can apply most of it without leaving your home, if you wish. Internet banking is a great secure and convenient way to handle your cash flow.By using the internet banking, you can make most of different transactions. It is possible to pay bills directly from the checking account online. This saves you the cost of a stamp and saves your times. It also provides you more leeway in how quickly you need to pay your monthly bill. In case you need to mail it, you can send it out long ahead of the due date.Consumers will become more comfortable with doing the majority of their shopping online. Maybank online banking system has provided its full day access to bank accounts and advanced services. Currently, users can now check their finances status with a click of button. They can also view their bank statements, check the balances or manage some transaction by using the online banking system. Recently Maybank had taken a huge step by announcing its internet banking services for the customers. This is due to achieve the same standard as other conventional banking facilities that are in Malaysia. In this era of technology, people tend to seek for things or option that could benefit them in many ways.

John Steinbeck’s “The pearl” Essay

John Steinbeck’s The Pearl is a tale of a poor Indian family who stumbles upon the greatest pearl in the world. Headed by a man named Kino and his supporting wife Juana, they both are determined to live a wealthy life no matter what the cost. Although the story is fictional, it is based on the unpleasant truths of life as we know it. Steinbeck reveals an array of irony like no other: Starting with Kino finding the pearl of the world, the pearl buyers not to buy the magnificent pearl, and ending with the evil that the pearl brought upon the characters. Kino and Juana woke on a gloomy morning after a tragic accident where their baby, Coyotito, was slashed by a deadly scorpion and left to die. With hope of being able to pay for medication, Kino and Juana coasted out to sea to rummage around for their prize. Things were very uncertain on this dark and foggy day and their eyes were sure to be playing countless tricks on them. Even though Kino was an expert at his trade, pulling an ordinary clam into his canoe and prying it open to find the furthermost perfect pearl in the world was an incredibly ironic factor especially due to the misgivings of Mother Nature. â€Å"The great pearl, perfect as the moon† (19). Kino went on a brief voyage to sell the pearl to the local pearl buyers to achieve his dreams of a better life for him and his family. When he got to the main part of town and met up with each pearl buyer he was shocked to hear that the pearl buyers were not as greatly awed by the pearl the same way everyone else was. At first Kino and Juana accepted what the pearl buyers said and they sadly realized the flimsiness of their dreams. Kino wanted Juana and him to â€Å"be married – in a church† (24). Kino wanted a new harpoon and rifle. Kino imagined Coyotito going to school to â€Å"read and open the books† (26). The pearl was the path to his dreams. But instead of precious possessions and wonderful opportunity coming from it, it had pernicious reactions. The pearl brought evil over all the characters of the story. They were very wicked in the attempt to get what they wanted. The doctor is portrayed as unsympathetic and heartless. He does not care about the welfare of anyone but himself. He pretends to cure Coyotito’s scorpion bite and tries to  convince Kino that maybe he should give the pearl to him for safe keeping. The pearl also overcomes the priest of the church. The priest is not concerned with representing God. He was only lusting after â€Å"repairs necessary for the church† (21). He had the nerve to go to Kino and Juana in the village to remind them of the needs of the church and to convince them to have a wedding. Kino is not exactly a prime example of a good person himself. His greed for the pearl drove him to hit Juana and even kill a man. Kino did however learn his lesson at the end. It seems that the only person that remained pure throughout the whole novel was Juana. She never let the pearl take over her life like it did the other characters. She knew that the pearl was bringing evil to their family all along but couldn’t do anything about it. The pearl was perfect on the outside but the inside was manifested with great evil. Kino and Juana triumphed past the uncertainties of the dark and gloomy day to find the greatest pearl ever and their dreams were crushed when they discovered that the pearl buyers weren’t going to buy the pearl from them. The perfect pearl brought evil upon Kino and Juana. As you can see, Steinbeck shows us many ironic trials and hardship that are crucial for contouring Kino and Juana into wiser individuals.