Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Interview - Essay Example To begin with, her school, being all female offered all kinds of sports activities. These included but were not limited to swimming, basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, track and field, and Karate. Needless to say, almost all of the students participated in the school sanctioned sports activities. However, while some of them did it just for want of an activity to do after classes, there were those who took the sports seriously. These were the women who were considered â€Å"jocks† on campus and who sometimes found their sexuality called into question due to their diligence and dedication to their training programs. During her era, most of the women would go to the nearby soda shops and restaurants for a snack with their friends in order to unwind after a long day of classes. This is where the rest of the plans for their day were usually created. More often than not, this get together would continue either at a classmates house or at a nearby shopping area where they would look at entertainment magazines or see a movie. During her era, my interviewees favorite activity was going to the movies. She had always been a fan of Hollywood films and seeing those films helped her learn about the country and culture of the country that, unknown to her at the time, she would one day call her home. The 70s was the era of consciousness for the people in her country. For women of her age, sexual encounters were done but not spoken about openly for fear of social repercussion. There was a double standard of morality existing at that time for women. While men could openly discuss having sex with various women, women who engaged in sex needed to do it secretly and always with just one partner or else she would be deemed a woman of tremendously loose morals if word ever got out. Since my interviewees favorite activity when she was younger was going to the movies, she has been able to continue that activity of hers to this very day. Although

Using Semi Structured Interviews Health And Social Care Essay

Using Semi Structured Interviews Health And Social Care Essay Before initiating the interviews, approximately eighteen semi-structured questions were formulated, some of which were changed or re-worded during the course of the interview. Interview subjects were selected based on their position. The name of the delegation leader for each African member state was obtained from the UNFCCC secretariat. For certain member states, where the leading delegate was unable to be interviewed due to security reasons or timing, an alternative senior member of the delegation was sought. A total of 23 African leaders were interviewed. Appendix E lists the African Group leaders who were interviewed as part of the study. The African leaders who were interviewed consisted of Presidents, Ministers, Ambassadors, Director Generals, Directors and other senior personnel of the countries delegation such as the UNFCCC Focal Point Representative. The choice of a semi-structured rather than a structured interview was employed as it offered sufficient flexibility to approach the individual respondents in different ways, while collecting the same data. All interviews were held in the various meeting rooms of Bella Centre and half of the interviews took place during the high level segment of COP15, i.e. between the 16th 18th December 2009. The interviews were pre-scheduled; however, due to the overrunning of a number of the COP15 Plenary sessions, a certain degree of flexibility was required by the researcher. In some of the interviews, an interpreter had to be used. In all cases, this interpreter would be a member of the same African delegation as the interviewee. The duration of each interview varied from 45 minutes to 1 hours and 15 minutes. Before each interview commenced, the researcher gave an introduction highlighting the purpose and background to the research, the interview questions, the length of the interview in terms of time and the confidentiality of the results. Most senior interviewees were accompanied by security officers, directors or special assistants. A number of interviewees had invited one or two members of their delegation to give comments or information in addition to their own response and these were also recorded. The interviews were recorded using a combination or methods. Some were recorded using a tape recorder, whilst others were transcribed or a combination of both methods was used during the interview. The intention was to use a tape recorder for all interviews conducted, as this would ensure the most accurate account of the conversations held. However, due to certain reasons, some security aides and ministerial assistants did not allow the use of a tape recorder. In these instances, the interview was transcribed and a synopsis of the interview was read back to ensure the accuracy of the data captured. However, this slowed down the progress of the interview. 4.7.5 Participant Observer According to Jorgensen (1989), participant observation is most appropriate when certain minimal conditions are present: The research problem is concerned with human meanings and interpretations gained from the insiders perspective. The phenomenon is sufficiently limited in size and location to be studied as a case Study questions are appropriate for a case. The research question can be addressed by qualitative data gathered by direct observation and other means pertinent to the field setting. Jorgensen (1989) further states that participant observation is especially appropriate for exploratory studies [as it is a] a special form of observation and a unique way of collecting data [] Direct involvement in the here and now of peoples daily lives provides both a point of reference for the logic and process of participation observational inquiry and a strategy for gaining access to phenomena that commonly are obscured from the standpoint of a non-participant. Furthermore, according to Iacono et al (2009), participant observation can arise from an on-going work situation where the researcher is an industry practitioner. Given this researchers professional status as a practitioner in the field of management consultancy and her current assignment as the Special Technical Assistant to the Minister of Environment, participant observation was used as a method to further understand the group decision-making process of African leaders within the context of the African Group. Observed were the daily activities in relation to how decisions were made, the interaction between delegates and the group dynamics. The formal African Group meetings scheduled from 8am 9am daily were attended, as well as the African Group meetings relating to the Kyoto Protocol between 7pm 8pm, each day. These African Group meetings were at the technical level. A total of 18 African Group meetings at the technical level were attended during COP15. The researcher also attended all four meetings of the African Ministers Committee on Environment (AMCEN) and the two meetings of the Conference of African Heads of State on Climate Change (CAHOSCC). The plenary sessions of the COP15 / MOP5 were closed to party delegates. However, as the researcher was registered as a participant to the Conference, further need to negotiate access to the plenary sessions was not required. During the meetings of the African Group, AMCEN, CAHOSCC and the plenary sessions, detailed observations and field notes were made, including observations on the culture of the UNFCCC decision-making environment. As a researcher, being in the midst of the decision-making process allowed my own understanding and notions to be continually challenged by the action and words of the African leaders within COP15. Conversations were had and questions were asked during the African Group meetings only. 4.7.6 Focus Groups According to Morgan (1997), Focus Groups are a way of collecting data through group interaction on a topic determined by the researcher. Morgan (1997) also states that focus groups are especially useful when seeking to gather a large amount of interaction on a topic in a limited period of time. According to Greenbaum (2000), the goal of a focus group is to delve into attitudes and feelings about a particular topic, to understand the why behind certain behaviours. Other researchers, such as Gibbs (2007) states focus group research involves organised discussions with a selected group of individuals to gain information about their views and experiences of a topic that is particularly suited for obtaining several perspectives about the same topic. Gibbs further states the benefits of focus group research includes gaining insights into peoples shared understandings of everyday life and the ways in which individuals are influenced by others in the same situation. According to Fern (2001) focus groups can be distinguished in terms of the research purpose they serve, the types of information and knowledge they produce, their scientific status and methodological factors. Fern (2001) also states that there are three types of focus groups i.e. exploratory, experimental and clinical. This research uses the exploratory type, as this type is used to explore a new issue, generate a hypothesis and for theory applications including generating theoretical constructs, causal relationships, models and theories. The researchers choice of using an Exploratory Focus Group can be summarised as follows: The nature of the topic under investigation; The exploratory nature of the research; The fact the researcher had ready access to members of the African Group; The data collected would strengthen the findings of the research in conjunction with other research methods adopted for the research. The focus group process consists of seven components. These include: group cohesion, the discussion process, the outcome, group composition, research setting, the moderator and the group process factors (Fern, 2001). Some of these can be controlled by the researcher, while others cannot. The central component is the discussion process and the exchange of information. The discussion process, in turn, affects the nature of the focus group outcome. Fern (2001) also states that group cohesion is important to the success of a focus group as it provides the reason for participants to contribute to the discussion. Group composition and the focus group setting affect cohesion, both directly and in combination. Morgan (1997) states focus groups generally comprised of 6 10 individuals, whereas according to Fern (2001), smaller mini-group focus groups are also common with 4 6 participants. Morgan (1997) also states that the amount that each participant has to contribute to the discussion is a major consideration in determining group size. Small groups work best when the participants are likely to be both interested in the topic and respectful of each other when the researcher desires to gain a clear sense of each participants reaction to the topic. The researcher conducted 6 focus groups comprising of 4 9 members. Compatibility is a major concern when determining the composition of focus groups. According to Morgan (1988), when participants perceive each other as fundamentally similar they can spend less time explaining themselves to each other and more time discussing the issues at hand. Morgan (1988) also states that the classic way to achieve compatibility is by bringing together homogeneous participants. A shared background or demographic characteristics, i.e. gender, race or ethnicity, age, location or residence, educational level, occupation, income, marital status or family composition are a common basis for selection. Too much homogeneity, however, can restrict the range of issues and positions discussed; therefore a degree of heterogeneity was sought in the selection of the African Group members. In this research, the participants were selected on the basis of gender, occupation and location (in terms of the African county they represented). Gender was chosen to ensure female representations amongst members. In terms of occupation, all the respondents were leaders within the environmental sector and had a relatively good understanding of the purpose of COP15. Locality was an important factor, as the researchers aim was to have a member from each of the African states represented in the various focus groups. This was not achieved, due to the difficulty of getting participants together at the same time due to the volume of meetings and side events being held during COP15. The size of each focus group varied from 6 9 participants as stated above. The setting refers to the space in which the focus group takes place. Considerations for setting include the ambient (i.e. tangible or physical) characteristics of a room, the tables, chairs and recording equipment (Fern, 2001). The setting of the focus group meetings was fixed for the duration of the conference. The set-up of the meeting room for the focus groups is illustrated in Figure 5 below. This is based on a group comprising of six participants. The date of each focus group meeting was fixed; however there was need to be flexible on the timing due to meetings and plenary sessions over running. Most of the focus group meetings were held during the first week of the conference, to avoid impacting on the meetings scheduled to interview Ministers and Heads of Governments during the second week of the conference. The majority of the respondents used for the focus group interviews, were technical members of their delegation, but all were in a position of leadership. Suggestions about the optimal number of focus group sessions range from 2 to 8 (Fern, 2001). Though most focus group research shows that fewer than five sessions are adequate, if the purpose of the research, as is the case with this study, is to collect a total population of thoughts rather than common or unique ones (Fern, 2001). Appendix F gives a breakdown of the focus groups held, the participants and the country of origin of the participants. The aim of the researcher was to achieve a good representation of leaders across the continent. Morgan (1997) identifies some more considerations in determining the number of focus groups. Probably the most important of these is the variability of the participants both within and across the groups. Within groups, when there are more heterogeneous participants, this will typically require a larger number of groups to sort out the different sets of opinions and experiences. Degree of structure of the interview also has an impact on the number of groups required. Less structured interviews, with lower levels of moderator involvement, require more groups. Another significant consideration concerns the availability of participants. If there are fewer potential participants available or if they are highly dispersed, several smaller groups of a smaller size are required to address the criterion of saturation. All these factors were considered in determining the exact number of focus groups used in this research. Discussion process (Foulkes, 1964, as cited in Fern, 2001) provides a series of factors which guide the focus group discussion process. These factors represent sequential stages in the group discussion. The first factor, social integration, is the opportunity for equal participation of all group members in the discussion. The second, the mirror reaction, is the individual participants realization that others share similar ideas, anxieties, or impulses and this then relieves the anxieties they feel in relation to participation in the focus group. Condenser phenomenon, as the third factor, is an activation of the collective conscious and unconscious that makes it easier to talk about the issues raised in the discussion. Finally, exchange, is the process of sharing information and explanations that makes up the bulk of the discussion. In the 90 minutes scheduled for each focus group, the first 10 minutes were devoted to the first two factors, social integration and mirror reaction. This included time for participants to check in and become acclimatised to the room and engage in light conversation with the researcher and other participants. Introductions were made and participants got to know a little about each other. Participants were then asked to take a seat around the table. The researcher set the stage in terms of the role of the researcher, the purpose, and the ground rules (i.e. use of audio recorder) and the role of the researcher as the moderator for the session (Greenbaum, 2000). Interview questions were tailored for about 80 minutes of discussion. Each focus group was conducted in a moderately structured manner. As such, the researcher was guided by a set of questions, but neither the exact wording nor the order of questions was predetermined. Likewise, the questions themselves were adjusted from focus group to focus group as information gleaned and data analysed from previous groups was used to guide each subsequent group. As previously explained in earlier chapters, fully structured style was not used as this research is exploratory and the intent was to determine the participants perspective. On the other hand, a fully unstructured approach was not considered suitable as the researcher possessed insights into the relevant discussion topics from an extensive review of the literature and her personal experience as a consultant/practitioner. Generally, the focus group began with each participant providing a brief personal introduction. Questions were then asked about Africas preparedness for the COP15. This was followed by questions relating to how the African Group worked. These questions were used to ascertain, whether there was an understanding and awareness amongst members on the decision-making process of the African Group, and whether the Group leaders fully understood the process. Furthermore, it was important to ascertain whether members of the group were aware of the background and commencement of Africas common position. Other questions that were discussed included those relating to the participants views on the impacts of Climate Change on Africa and the main concerns of the African Group. In addition there were questions relating to their views on whether they felt the decisions made by African leaders were rational and what the likely outcome from COP15 in terms of the expectations of the African Group would be. A final important component to the discussion process is the moderator. In a focus group, the moderator is a facilitation or discussion leader, not a participant to the discussion (Fern, 2001). Two important considerations must be taken into account when deciding on a moderator. These are prior experience and relationship to the participants (Morgan, 1998). As the researcher had both, she made the decision to use an independent moderator for the focus groups. Focus Group Outcomes The focus group outcome refers to the success of achieving the researchers goal. Fern, (2001), defined outcome as: Task performance effectiveness (i.e. quality, quantity, and the cost of information); The users reaction (i.e. satisfaction with the process and output), and; Group member relations (i.e. cohesive, compatible, and lively groups) (Fern 2001).

The Poweful Message of Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five Essay

The Poweful Message of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five From Ancient Greek playwright, Euripides, ("To die is a debt we must all of us discharge" (Fitzhenry 122)) to renowned Nineteenth Century poet, Emily Dickinson, ("Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me -/ The carriage held but just ourselves/ And Immortality" (Fitzhenry 126)) the concept of death, reincarnation, rebirth, and mourning have been brooded over time and time again. And with no definite answers to life's most puzzling question of death being given, it only seems natural that this subject is further explored. Kurt Vonnegut is one of many modern writers obsessed with this idea and spends many of his novels thematically infatuated with death. His semi- autobiographical novel, dealing with his experiences in Dresden during WWII, named Slaughterhouse Five, The Children's Crusade or A Duty Dance With Death, is no exception to his fixation. "A work of transparent simplicity [and] a modern allegory, whose hero, Billy Pilgrim, shuffles between Earth and its ti meless surrogate, Tralfamadore" (Riley and Harte 452), Slaughterhouse Five shows a "sympathetic and compassionate evaluation of Billy's response to the cruelty of life" (Bryfonski and Senick 614). This cruelty stems from death, time, renewal, war, and the lack of compassion for human life; all large themes "inextricably bound up" (Bryfonski and Mendelson 529) in this cyclically natured novel that tries to solve the great mystery of death for us, once and for all. Billy's life had revolved around these ideas from the time he was a child. At the age of twelve Billy "had undergone the real crises of his life, had found life meaningless even if he could not then articulate that concept, an... ...Vol. 12. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1980. \ Bryfonski and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson, eds. "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 8. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1978. Fitzhenry, Robert I., ed. The Harper Book of Quotations. New York City: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993. Gurton and Jean C. Stine, eds. "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982. Riley and Barbara Harte, eds. "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1974. Riley, Carolyn, ed. "Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1975. Shepard, Sean. "Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse Five." http://erme.bgsu.edu/~jdowell/kvandsh5.html Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five. New York City: Laurel Books, 1969.

Recent Salary top ups Controversies in Ireland Essay

Of late, the issue concerning salary has been very controversial in Ireland. Early this year, some controversies relating to salary top-ups at charities have erupted in Ireland leading to a total damage threatening the sector. As a result of these controversies, few issues which are hazardous to the sector have emerged. Researchers and stakeholders have been worried by issues such as duration and the extent to which these issues will last and their relative impacts to various charities. There are some charities in the country specifically identified as donations or other funding sources that are used in improving executives’ salaries. As a result of these issues, majority of innocent bystanders are likely to experience a negative impact based on guilt by association. The question that majority are asking themselves is, what the future holds and how they can improve it. The research paper is mainly structured into two main categories that are used in describing the structure of the project. The first part involves the research part of the project. While the second part captures the application involving techniques and the methods used when carrying out the research. However, the first part enhances the researcher’s understanding on the recent controversies relating to salary top-ups at charities in Ireland and the emerging issues. It comprises of research definition, strategy, design and methodology used to provide a clear understanding of the report. The second part covers the broader part of the report taking the application approach. This part includes the sampling methods applied, instruments used in the research, the proposed data analysis techniques, the budget and timeline for the research estimates. Since the start of the year 2014 and slightly there before, the issue relating to top-ups salary controversy has rampantly emerged in Ireland. The issue concerning the recent controversies made majority of Irish people to become less likely to donate to charity. This is according to the latest report of Ipsos, Irish times and MRBI opinion poll. The poll also discovered that voting age population brought a total opposition. They are opposing the practice of using donations in paying top-ups of the executives’ salaries in the charity sector (Scarrow 2009: pp.193-210). The Irish government discovered that this move will negatively affect the sector and cause a negative experience to the innocent bystanders. Majority of citizens are unwilling to support the sector and thus threatening to cancel their donations. The call for yhe research project was to address the issue and discover its future prosperity and strategize on how to improve it. 1. Research definition                     Research comprises of an undertaken creative work on a systematic basis with an aim of increasing the stock of knowledge (Valbuena 2009: p.27). It includes the knowledge of a given scenario, society and culture, and the use of such knowledge to devise new applications. It is used to confirm or establish facts, reaffirm the previous work results, solve existing or new problems and support theorems. A research project can take the form of an expansion on past field work. Research takes different forms such as scientific research, research in the humanities, and artistic research. Scientific research involves application of scientific methods to harness curiosity. It gives scientific theories and information that explains properties and the nature of a given scenario. Research concerned with humanities involves methods such as semiotics and hermeneutics. It a form of research that explores details and issues surrounding a scenario, but not searching for an ultimate correct answer to a question. Artistic research also referred to as ‘practice-based research’ takes form when creative work is put into consideration both the research object and the research itself. The recent controversies in Ireland concerning salary top-ups are humanitarian issues. Research in the humanities is the best form of research used as it entails details and issues surrounding a scenario, but not giving a specific answer to a question. Other methods were excluded on the basis that they are not based on exploring a scenario. Through the research carried out, it was discovered that 96% of the respondents opposed the use of donations to top-up the salaries of the executives. The remaining had different stands as 2% felt it was acceptable while the other 2% had no opinion. The research spanned all regions, classes and party affiliations. On the issue concerning charity, 69% withdrew their likelihood of donating, 23% argued that it will make no difference, 4% found the question irrelevant as they do not contribute and 4% had no opinion. There was a similar response from people in all regions, classes, and supporters of groupings and political parties. The research was con ducted for two days using a representative sample of 1,000 voters from all constituencies. 1.1 Drop in donations                     The research confirmed that Ireland fundraising professionals were claiming that there was a drop of 40% in the charity donations. This was as a result of top-up payments controversy (Harvey 2012: pp.2008-2012). The umbrella professional fundraisers group claimed that they were constantly receiving phone calls from people who wanted to cancel their donations. Anne Hanniffy the HSE Chief Executive Officer, argued that salaries top-ups using donations was having a devastating effect on the sector. She claimed that revelations were a â€Å"million miles† from experiences and activities of most organizations, but it revealed that all charities were tarred using the same brush. This scenario brings the most serious period that the Irish non-profit sector is facing. Organizations are extremely concerned that people who are least able to survive without their support like disabled people, sick children and needy families will be most affected by the existing crisis. Despite the organizational opinions concerning the existing crisis of salary top-ups, Health Service Executives (HSE) and other organizations called upon the government to address the issue (Moran 2012: pp.137-147). Mr. Bell also warned the government that if this issue of pay top-ups was not addressed on equitable basis, it would bring a lot of challenges when trying to address different reforms. Different arguments has risen in Ireland concerning the controversial issue of salary top-ups using donations. The head of Ireland fundraising claimed that HSE used just a small portion of charities to meet its executives salary. She argued that top-up payments were not an issue as they totally relied on fundraising. She also claimed that it was difficult to reveal whether the recent surrounding controversy will have an effect to the sector. Central Remedial Clinic (CRC) confirmed that they have been recently using public donations to top-up their executives’ salaries. They are given financial support by a separate company known as supporters and friends of Central Remedial Clinic. 2. Research strategy                     A research strategy refers to a plan of action that gives direction to a person’s effort, thus enabling one to conduct a systematic research (Denzin 2010: pp.1-28). It involves discovering new ideas, thinking actively concerning the ideas and working with them. On a research strategy, a researcher may use the existing information and draw up his or her own conclusions, integrate and synthesize original ideas concerning the current scenario. Research strategies are of different forms such as non experimental that has no explicit manipulation, and experimental which manipulates some factors of a given issue. The Irish scenario applies experimental strategy as there are some factors surrounding the situation. They need to be manipulated and come with solutions to the existing issues. Non experimental is excluded on the basis that it does not allow factor manipulation. In a labor party national conference held at Killarney, social protection minis ter’s daughter Ms Burton revealed that donated funds used by CRC to top-up salaries was â€Å"extremely disturbing† (Edwards 2009: pp.595-615). During the meeting, Ms Burton demanded some issues to be made clear. Some of the issues to be manipulated include organizations to come out and clarify the disclosed issues, CRC to provide its fundraising details and their addition sources of income, lastly CRC was expected to give an account of how they have spent that money. She also emphasized that the public needed an assurance that their money generously donated to charities were used for the correct purpose. The internal audit carried out last year concerning HSE revealed that almost â‚ ¬250, 000 was spent annually (Crilly 2013: p.8). The money was used to cater for allowances of six senior executives, in addition to their state-funded salaries. These allowances utilized by the CRC were termed as unauthorized and that they have breached the pay policy of the public sector. The clinic has also been accused of misusing the funds donated to vulnerable adults and children. The company had â‚ ¬ 14 million in total funds at the end of year 2011 when it stopped giving services to the less privileged in the society. Instead of directing the money to the children and adult care, the clinic invested the money on capital projects. On the issue regarding salaries of the senior organizational members, the clinic revealed that since 2009, they agreed with HSE to increase the salaries of 9 individuals at the management level. 3. Research methodology and design                     Methodology refers to a systematic, theoretical analysis of the applied methods to a field of study (Eiben 2012: pp.582-587). It, typically and encompasses concepts like theoretical model, paradigm, phases and qualitative or quantitative techniques. It is not set to provide solutions but to provide a theoretical underpinning for elaborating the best method can be used. On the other hand, research design is the overall strategy chosen to integrate different study components in a logical and a coherent way (Parahoo 2010: p.142). It ensures effective ways of addressing the research problem. It is the blueprint for the measurement, collection and data analysis. Research design is broadly categorized into descriptive research, exploratory research, Qualitative research and non-experimental research. 3.1 Exploratory research                     Polit et al (2011: p.19) argued that explorative research is carried out when investigating a new area or when a little information is known about the area of interest. It is used to investigate nature of a phenomenon and other related factors. 3.2 Descriptive research                     According to Grove and Burns (2009: p.201), it is a form of research designed to reveal a picture of a given scenario as it happens naturally. It can be used to justify recent practices, make judgments and develop theories. 3.3 Qualitative research                     According to Grove and Burns (2009: p.19), it is a systematic subjective approach applied to describe situations and life experiences. It is also a form of social enquiry focusing on how people make and interpret sense of their experience and their living world. 3.4 Non-experimental research                     It is used in studies with an aim of describing a situation where it is unethical for independent variables to be manipulated (Polit 2009: p.178). It is a suitable research of studying people in nursing sector. The research project concerning the recent scenario in Ireland applied exploratory research. It is used by researchers when they want to produce hypotheses of what is happening in a situation. The recent controversies concerning salary top-up in Ireland needs to be explored. This will minimize the existing misappropriation of funds between organizations and their senior management. Some of the organizations like CRC have been misusing donations contributed to help vulnerable people in the society to other projects. The other research designs were excluded by the fact that the scenario required exploration but not coming up with a specific answer. 4. Sampling methods                     They are classified as either non probability or probability. In a probability case, each item of the population has a non-zero probability of being selected. It involves random sampling, stratified sampling, and systematic sampling. Non probability sampling includes convenience sampling, judgment sampling, snowball sampling and quota sampling. The research based on the recent controversies in Ireland took a stratified sampling. In this form, a subset of population is selected who are believed to have at least one characteristic in common. The research was carried out in specific areas where people with similar characteristics are expected to disclose certain information. For instance, in the labor party national conference held at Killarney, CRC senior management were ordered to disclose their sources of finance and money obtained through donations. They were also to give an account of how they have spent that money. Other alternatives were excluded as the scenario involved a specific group but not the whole population. 5. Instruments used in the research                     An instrument refers to a generic term used by researchers for a measurement device that may be in form of a test, survey, questionnaire, interview, a set of guidelines for observation, or a research tool (Voss 2012: pp.195-219). In the Ireland scenario of salaries top-ups controversies, some different research instruments have been put into consideration. During the background research, questionnaires and interview were applied when obtaining people’s opinions concerning the recent issue. An interview was also carried out when CRC senior management was requested to give an account of how they have spent donated money. 6. Proposed techniques in data analysis                     Data analysis refers to a process of cleaning, inspecting, transforming, and data modeling. This is carried out with an aim of discovering useful information, coming up with conclusions, and supporting the process of decision making (Gorski 2009: p.759). It is a multiple approaches and facets, encompassing different techniques under a variety of names. Data analysis is done using two major techniques namely univariate and multivariate analysis. Multivariate analysis is the proposed technique for the research project. This technique gives a wider variety of opinions as it involves multiple measurements. Univariate is excluded on the bases that it is focused on a single variable and the research involves different variables. 7. Estimated budget and timeline for the research                     Every research project needs to be economical and timely. The above research is estimated to take at least 3-4months. This will facilitate quick actions being taken to address the issues surrounding the charity sector before it collapses. The project will be more economical considering the existing financial issues in the countries. Considering all matters at hand, the project has an estimated budget of â‚ ¬1.2 million. In conclusion, the recent controversies in Ireland need to be addressed urgently before the whole charity sector collapses. Research has revealed that majority of the Irish citizens are unwilling to continue supporting the sector. The move to top-up executives’ salaries has made people to lose hope with the sector. Many organizations such as CRC have taken the advantage of the issue to divert vulnerable money to capital projects. A global humanitarian assistance report of July 2010 ranked the country as the fourth most generous in per citizen donations. To maintain this, the government needs to take substantive actions to solve the problem. References Eiben, G. M., Hammond, S., & Schaw, C. (2012). Research methods in psychology. London: Sage Publications. Valbuena, J., & Shaver, P. R. (2009). Handbook of attachment: theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press. Parahoo, W. K. (2010). E-learning by design (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Mann, T. (2010). The Oxford guide to library research (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Denzin, R., & Kumar, R. (2010). The long view from Delhi: to define the Indian grand strategy for foreign policy. New Delhi: Academic Foundation in association with Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations. Northern Ireland;. (2009). London: Labour Party. Symposium programme. (2011). Dublin: Central Remedial Clinic. Harvey, C. H. (2012). The act for the more effectual application of charitable donations and bequests in Ireland: (7 & 8 Victoria, cap. xcvii) : with explanatory notes on the several sections. London: J.W. Parker. Voss, B. G. (2012). Discourse as a normative instrument analysis of mental illness on a disability services discussion list. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri-Columbia. Gorski, W. L. (2009). Microsoft ® Excel Data Analysis and Business Modeling. New York: O’Reilly Media, Inc. Grove, E.& Burn, R . (2009). Adventures in social research: data analysis using IBM SPSS statistics (7th ed.). Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press. Polit et al. (2011). Collaborative interdisciplinary team teaching in Japan a study of practitioner and student perspectives. Australia: Macquarie University. Source document

Lord of the Flies: Symbols And Conflicts Essay

In Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, deals a lot with characterization. Each character symbolizes certain personality traits. Ralph, Jack and Simon and their symbolic importance are characters with the most symbolism for their characters. Ralph, the impression of being a tall boy with fair hair, was chosen as the chief by the other boys, which shows the natural civilized instinct within humans. He possesses the leadership qualities of man, but does not have the initiative that is needed when being a leader. For example, when Jack says â€Å"You shut up,† Ralph does nothing to stop Jack from insulting Piggy or from hitting him. Ralph does not have the initiative to protect his friend or punish Jack for his misbehaviour. Ralph was deeply troubled by the murder of Simon, which symbolized the humanity left in them. When Jack and his hunters were supposed to be watching the fire, they instead went off to hunt. They did successfully kill a pig, however this sparked conflict between Jack and Ralph, as there was a ship and Jack may have destroyed their rescue. This kill not only symbolized the start of their savagery, but it also caused the first conflict. The next hunt was not just the kill of a pig, but a mother pig. This is much worse, as when you kill the mother pig you also kill the piglets. Those piglets have no one to rely on and will die shortly. Unfortunately the savagery did not stop there. Although it could be argued that it was an accident, Simon was murdered by the hunters. The real symbolism of savagery in this situation is the complete lack of remorse felt by Jack and his group. Simon is one of the younger boys and he stands out from the rest. Simon seems calmer than the other boys and doesn’t jump to conclusions. He represents the â€Å"Christ figure† in Lord of the Flies. Simon represents the recognition of good and evil. Simon is the one who finds out that the beast does not exist, and is the one who finds out that evil lives among all the boys. Once Simon died, all evidence of good left with him. The only thing left on the island is the boys’ evil instincts. It is quite amazing how Golding added many different symbols to describe the story that may not be noticed. Golding achieves his goal of expressing the story in an in-depth manner with the use of symbols.

Cynddylan and Lore Essay Example

Cynddylan and Lore Essay Example Cynddylan and Lore Paper Cynddylan and Lore Paper Essay Topic: Poetry In Cynddylan, Thomas contrasts a farmers personality to farming after he has started using a tractor on everyday work on his land with before when all his farming was done by hand and tool. Cynddylans attitude towards nature has now been changed by this machine that helps him but masks the beauty of his surroundings. Lore, on the other hand, is about a dedicated and traditional well experienced eighty-five year old farmer who sticks to the natural way of farming by paying to attention to all driven machines and prefers to stick with conventional methods to tend his soil throughout life. In my essay I will compare this modernised farmer in Cynddylan from this traditional and more respected farmer in Lore. I will show similarities and differences in accordance to the way both farmers look at the possible approaches to farming. As R. S Thomas is the creator behind the two poems and characters, that have different opinions, I will try to understand What Thomas was trying to make stand out by comparing the two poems with each other. Cynddylan starts off on a very informal, conversational tone, ah you should see Cynddylan on a tractor. Gone the old look that yoked him to the soil This line gives us the impression the farmer has lost part of his traditional methods of farming because of this machine, and that he has become somewhat divorced from nature. His nerves of metal and his blood oil This line demonstrates to us how he become a whole new person because of the new devise, Cynddylan has now been turned into something hes not. The clutch curses but the gears obey Thomas here has created a harsh C sound by using the two words together to add emphasis on Cynddylans new selfish attitude. Out of the farmyard, scattering hens. Riding to work as a great man should. Here Thomas creates a sarcastic tone to the reader saying how scattering hens and scaring them away is part of how a great farmer should operate. He is a knight at arms breaking the fields mirror of silence, emptying the wood of foxes and squirrels and bright jays. Thomas now has shown how the tractor breaks the silence and disrupts the tranquillity of the nature, viciously destroying the farmlands wildlife and his relationship with it. The sun comes over the tall trees kindling all the hedges, but not for him who runs his engine on a different fuel Cynddylan now has become completely separated from his companion called nature, he has chosen the machine over his environment, and he himself once ran on the same fuel as these trees, by working in the sun and growing with his land in peace and serenity. And all the bills are singing, bills wide in vain; As Cynddylan passes proudly up the lane. The birds are now in devastation and disgust at watching this transformed man ride up and down the field in his tractor and are now competing to hear themselves over this new aggressive roar of the engine that fills the air they once owned. Cynddylan has no structured rhyme scheme; the voice of the poem is Thomas as a narrator to some extent and the general tone of the poem is quite negative from start to finish it consists of a farmer who was once a wise man but is now caught up with modernisation and has turned completely unconventional by the end of the poem. In Lore, the very title of the poem suggests optimism as Lore means wisdom to past down through generation. Job Davies, eighty five, winters old and still alive after the slow poison and treachery of the seasons this gives Job the first impression as a tough man who has fought his life through rough and harsh conditions to maintain his years as a farmer without paying any attention to the need for machine in farming. This builds a certain amount of respect to him from the reader. Miserable? Kick my arse! There is certainly a certain amount of defiance in Job at regarding himself as unfit or overage for the job in this line, with his experience, hes willing to overcome anything. It needs more than a rain hearse, wind-drawn, to pull me off the great perch of my laugh here Thomas inherits a certain amount of light hearted cockiness in the character of Job. He will simply laugh at how natures weather conditions fights with him on a daily basis but yet nothing has got the better of him. Whats living but courage? Thomas now is the one speaking once again in this stanza and makes Job Courageous for his dedication to his work. Paunch full of hot tea, peat-black, dawn found me Job doesnt need any luxuries in life; hell simply take the basics at the dawn of morning and return to the field where he continues the same work as everyday without complaint. Thomas has changed the voice back to Job himself in this stanza. Mowing where the grass grew, Bearded with golden dew. Thomas now exemplifies the beauty to nature which makes us realise the reason behind Davies choice towards farming. Rhythm of the long scythe kept this tall frame lithe Thomas describes how Job conducts the very commonly used scythe in farming effortlessly to the extent that it is supple and free moving. What to do? Stay green. Never mind the machine. Job expresses his thought behind farming in an overall message. This challenges the opposition poem Cynddylan on how to portray farming. . whose fuel is human souls. Job uses his wisdom in a very dramatising way by saying how the machinery revolution to farming has completely destroyed mans relationship with nature. Live large, man, and dream small Thomas here has used Paradox whereby he contradicts himself after Job has expressed his philosophy. Lore has a typical rhyme scheme of AABC for stanzas 1, 2, 4 and 5, on stanza 3 the rhyme scheme is AABB. The voice of the poem swaps every stanza between Thomas and Job, the poems character. The tone of the poem is a much happier and laughable poem compared to Cynddylan. It is more positive and has a better respected character in it compared to Cynddylan. Thomas created the two characters himself, exploring the approaches to farming, he has made it quite obvious that Job Davies has come out the better man for the route he choose to go by farming.

Euthanasia Essays - Euthanasia, Medical Ethics, Disability Rights

Euthanasia Essays - Euthanasia, Medical Ethics, Disability Rights Euthanasia The word euthanasia is derived from the Greek word eu for good and thantos which means death and originally referred to intentional mercy killing. But the word it euthanasia has acquired a more complex meaning in modern times. Proponents of euthanasia believe that a dying patient has the right to end their suffering and leave the world in a dignified manner. Those who contest euthanasia believe that man does not have the right to end another person's life no matter what pain they endure. Euthanasia is one of the most important public policy issues being debated today. The outcome of debate will profoundly affect family relationships, interaction between doctors and patients, and concepts of basic morality. The word euthanasia has acquired a complex meaning in modern times. There are several types of euthanasia and one must define them in order to avoid confusion. Passive euthanasia is the process of hastening the death of a person by withdrawing some form of support and letting nature take its course. Such a act would include removing life-support equipment, stopping medical procedures, stopping food and water and allowing the person to die. Active euthanasia involves causing the death of a person through a direct action in response to request from that person. This is also called mercy killing. Physician assisted suicide is the process of a physician supplying information and or the means of committing suicide to a patient. This would include writing a prescription for a lethal dose of sleeping pills or providing the patient with carbon monoxide gas. Euthanasia has been practiced in some form or another by many societies in our history. In ancient Greece and Rome helping others to die our putting them to death was considered permissible in some situations. In the Greek city of Sparta all newborns with severe birth defects were left to die. Voluntary euthanasia for the elderly was approved custom in several ancient societies. Although euthanasia is widely practiced in the Netherlands it remains technically illegal. In 1995 Australia's Northern Territory approved a euthanasia bill. It went into effect in 1996 and was overturned by the Australian parliament in 1997. One may ask, what is the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide? In euthanasia one person does something that directly kills another. For example a doctor gives a lethal injection to a patient. It assisted suicide, a person knowingly and intentionally provides the means or in some way helps a suicidal person killed himself or herself. For example, a doctor writes a prescription for poison, or someone who hooks up a face mask to a canister of carbon monoxide and then instructs the suicidal person on how to push a lever so that they will be gassed to death. For all practical purposes, any distinction between euthanasia and assisted suicide has been abandoned today. However passive euthanasia is different than other types of euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is the process of hastening the death of a person by withdrawing some sort of treatment. This includes removing life-support, stopping medical procedures and medications, stopping food and water to the patient and thus allo wing him to die. Or not delivering C P R or other resuscitating treatment and allowing the person whose heart has stopped to die. Perhaps the most common form of passive euthanasia is to give a patient at large doses of morphine to control pain, in spite of the likelihood of the painkiller suppressing respiration and causing death earlier that it would otherwise have. Many states in the United States and other countries engage in this type of passive euthanasia to what is known as a health-care proxy or do not resuscitate order. These procedures are usually performed on the terminally ill, suffering patients, so that natural death will occur sooner. It is also opted for persons in a persistent vegetative state, individuals with massive brain damage or in a coma from which they cannot possibly regain conscious. During the 20th century, major scientific and medical advances have greatly enhance the life expectancy of the average person. There are however many diseases that cannot be cured by modern medicine. Such diseases like AIDS, terminal cancer, multiples scalrosis. These conditions remain a certain death sentence. These diseases leave the patient

The 13 BEST Self-Publishing Companies of 2019

The 13 BEST Self-Publishing Companies of 2019 The 13 BEST Self-Publishing Companies of 2019 Deciding to self-publish your book is both exciting and nerve-wracking - on one end, you’re the master of everything. Yet there are so many choices that you, the publisher, need to make that it can be overwhelming.One such crossroads is the pivotal decision you’ll need to make when you decide which is the best self-publishing company for you. There are a lot of them out there advertising their services to self-published authors. And it’s tough to wade through them, especially when some are reputable and some are, well, not so much!That’s where this post comes into the picture. We’ll guide you through the 13 best self-publishing companies in the industry and give you tips on which one to choose, so that you emerge at the end of the tunnel with a beautiful book ready to be read by the world.What are your options when it comes to the best self-publishing company? How to Self-Publish a Book on Amazon Read post 💠° Pricing: Free to upload 💠¸ Royalties: 70% if the eBook price is between $2.99 and $9.99 OR 35% if priced is below $2.99 - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? BothThe titan of online bookstores, Amazon is the first retailer on which most authors think to sell their titles. And it’s for good reason: it’s the world’s biggest seller of digital eBooks and around 74% of all eBooks bought in the U.S. in 2015 were bought from Amazon.com.Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon’s self-publishing platform (not to be confused with "Amazon Publishing" - their division that operates like a traditional publisher), which recently grew even bigger after its merge with CreateSpace. Any author can self-publish a book using KDP, though you’ll need to do it manually yourself. For a step-by-step guide, check out this comprehensive post on self-publishing on Amazon KDP.Note that Amazon KDP is not the same as Amazon KDP Select. KDP Select is Amazon’s exclusivity program - meaning that, if you choose to enroll in it, you can only sell your book on Amazon. In exchange for this, Amazon will giv e you:Access to Kindle Countdown Deals and free promotions. You can discount your book - and even set it to free on the Kindle store - for a certain period of days every 90 days. Learn more about the power of discounting (and the smart way to go about it) in this Reedsy Live.Enrollment in Kindle Unlimited. KU is Amazon’s subscription service for readers, which allows members to read as much as they want. It’s very popular and a good portion of Amazon customers only read titles from KU these days.If you’ve researched these perks and decided that KDP Select is the route for you, then there’s no need for you to read the rest of this post, as you’ve essentially agreed not to use any other self-publishing company 🙂 Instead, you can familiarize yourself with the KDP Select program with these resources:KDP Select vs. â€Å"Going Wide† - Which Option is Right For You?The Complete Guide to eBook DistributionApple Books💠° Pricing: F ree to upload 💠¸ Royalties: 70% on most books ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? BothAnother big name that everyone should know, Apple founded its self-publishing arm in 2010. In 2012, Apple announced that 400 million books were downloaded on Apple Books (though it’s important to note that the number of downloads differs from the number of books sold, as The Digital Reader clarifies in this post). Though Amazon far eclipsed it as the foremost eBook reading platform since then, Apple Books still gets a fair amount of eyes.While figuring out ways to monetize a book on Apple Books might be a challenge, it’s much easier to actually publish one. Apple Books provides a platform called iBooks Author for self-publishing authors to create their books. It’s relatively easy-to-use and uploading is free!Barnes Noble Press💠° Pricing: Free 💠¸ Royalties: 65% on books priced between $2.99 and $9.99 OR 40% for books priced below $2.99 - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? BothAs you might expect, Barnes Noble Press (formerly known as NOOK Press) is Barnes and Noble’s self-publishing platform. Barnes Noble Press has pretty infamously struggled for market share against Amazon. However, as for as interfaces are concerned, it’s easy to publish on BN Press - and, similar to the other big retailers, it’s free to upload your book. Exclusivity is not required to publish with BN Press.It’s important to note that you can set your book for free on BN Press. What’s more, Barnes Noble is still working on innovating and adding new features for self-published writers. Just this January, BN Press introduced an ad portal, making it easy for new authors to create marketing campaigns on the Barnes Noble website for their books. Check out this page for more information on self-publishing on BN press.Rakuten Kobo💠° Pricing: Free to upload 💠¸ Royalties: 70% on books priced more than $2.99 in the U.S. OR 45% for books priced below $2.99 - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? PrintRakuten Kobo is the last big retailer that you should know. It’s a Canadian company (that’s a subsidiary of the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten) - as such, it’s got a strong reach in the international eBook market. However, it’s only the #5 store in terms of market share in the U.S., though it’s growing year by year.Kobo Writing Life is Kobo's free-to-use self-publishing arm - and it's fairly simple to use! Kobo’s international focus is also a sweet bonus if you’re aiming to sell your eBook in countries outside of the U.S. Don’t forget that distributing to Kobo through Kobo Writing Life (rather than an aggregator) gives you several perks, too, one of which is access to some exclusive promotion opportunities on Kobo. class=panel-body>Master advertising on KoboSign up for this free 10-part course! Enter your email below and select 'Distribution - Kobo Hacks for Optimizing Sales' in the drop-down menu of the next pop-up.Speaking of aggregators, let’s find out what are the best aggregators currently operating in the business.AggregatorsIf you’re getting a migraine just thinking about uploading your book onto all of these different book retailers by yourself, that’s when aggregators come into the picture.Aggregators are capable of aggregating all of these markets: pushing your book to each retailer and centralizing it all into one sales report. With a single upload to, for instance, Draft2Digital, your book would be on sale on Amazon, BN Press, Apple Books, Kobo - and even more smaller retailers.Then you’d be able to track your sales across all of these retailers through Draft2Digital’s interface, receiving one royalty check a month. In exchange for this service, a n aggregator will take an additional cut of your royalties - which means that this route is for anyone who wants to quickly save on time and doesn’t mind paying extra.Draft2Digital💠° Pricing: 10% of the book’s retail price per copy sold 📇 Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes Noble, Google Play Books, Kobo, Playster, Tolino, OverDrive, Scribd, Bibliotheca - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? eBookIf you decide to use an aggregator, Draft2Digital is the one that we recommend at Reedsy. Why’s that? Lots of factors, including excellent customer support, an easy-to-use dashboard, and a sleek website design. Not to mention the extra perks that D2D packs into the deal: they do the formatting for you, whether you’re using eBooks or print copies of your book. D2D also:Gives authors Universal Book Links (UBL). As its name suggests, these UBLs easily make books discoverable by allowing authors to generate a link to each of their books, which goes straight to the customer’s preferred book retailer.Touts an â€Å"automated back matter† tool. This nifty service automatically adds your newly published eBook to the â€Å"Also by this author† section for your other books on every store.Add the fact that it distributes to all of the major eBook stores, and you’ve pretty much got the whole package in Draft2Digital.Smashw ords💠° Pricing: 15% of the retail price on Smashwords and 10% on other platforms per copy sold 📇 Distributes to: Apple Books, Barnes Noble, Scribd, Kobo, Blio, the Smashwords store - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? eBookThe original aggregator, Smashwords was the undisputed king in town until Draft2Digial entered the picture. However, Smashwords is still very popular today.On a simple side-by-side comparison, Smashwords and Draft2Digital offer similar pricing structures and royalties. Where Smashwords falls short is in terms of its user experience and ease of use (you need to do the formatting yourself on Smashwords, which definitely isn’t a piece of cake). Smashwords also does not distribute books to Amazon. That said, outside of Amazon, it’s got a slightly more extensive distribution network than Draft2Digital, so whether or not you want to sell your book on some of these more obscure retailers is up to you. Our friend over on Kindlepreneur, Dave Chesson, wrote an in-depth take on the differences between Smashwords and Draft2Digital, which you can read here.PublishDrive💠° Pricing: 10% of the retail price per copy sold OR subscription pricing 📇 Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes Noble, Scribd, OverDrive, Playster, Odilo, Bookmate - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? eBookPublishDrive might be the new kid on the block, but it’s definitely made the most of its time. Founded in 2015, it works with over 4,500 publishers and can connect you to over 400 stores today. It’s got all the workings of the other aggregators: a modern interface and regular sales reports to keep you up-to-date on your profits. What sets PublishDrive apart from the pack are:PublishDrive’s subscription pricing options. If you just agree to pay $100 per month, you can keep all of your royalties, which might be a good fit for established authors in the industry.Its distribution options. Along with all of the major Western retailers, PublishDrive also specializes in international distribution, giving indie authors access to foreign markets that were previously out of reach.StreetLib💠° Pricing: 10% of the retail price per copy sold 📇 Distributes to: Amazon, Google Play, Apple Books, Barnes Noble, Kobo, Scribd, OverDrive, Indigo, Baker Taylor - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? eBookAnother international distributor, StreetLib gives you even more options if you’re aiming to reach an international audience. It’s got a strong presence in Latin America and Europe, to the extent that its dashboard can be configured in English, Italian, Spanish, Hindi - and more! One more case in point for its international strength: in January 2019, it even began offering its services for authors in Egypt.As you can probably guess, StreetLib was founded in Europe, but it’s been making recent strides in the U.S. and the U.K. As of April 2019, it distributes books to all of the major Western stores. It’s worth checking out for any author who’s particularly thinking about selling in European territories or elsewhere abroad. Maximize your profits abroadSign up for this free 10-part course! Enter your email below and select 'Distribution - Pricing Books for an International Audience' in the drop-down menu of the next pop-up.XinXii💠° Pricing: 30% of net sales for books priced more than $2.49 OR 60% for works between below $2.48 📇 Distributes to: Amazon, Hugendubel, Angus Robertson, Thalia, Buecher, Whitcoulls, Indigo, Kobo, Livraria Cultura, Kobo, Scribd - more info here ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? eBookXinXii isn’t actually Chinese - it’s based in Berlin. (Surprise!) As such, it offers authors foreign distribution channels that might not be readily available elsewhere. Note that it’s particularly got a strong presence in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, distributing to a number of important retailers in those countries. However, its customer support could be found wanting, and its user interface is a bit on the clunky side: trade-offs that the author will need to make to conduct business with XinXii. 13 best self-publishing companies - and more in this masterpost #ampubbing Print-On-Demand DistributorsA print-on-demand distributor will tout itself as a one-stop shop for all of your self-publishing needs, whether that’s book cover design, book distribution, or book printing. Their costs for eBook distribution can be on the steep side (you can check out their pricing models below), but if you’re aiming to print, publish, and distribute a book, they can be incredibly useful.IngramSpark💠° Pricing: Learn more here 📇 Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes Noble, Follett, EBSCO, Booktopia, Kobo, Zola Books, 24Symbols, Bookmate ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? BothIngramSpark, owned by Ingram, is simply the biggest book wholesaler in the world. For a promo code, read our IngramSpark review.BookBaby💠° Pricing: Learn more here 📇 Distributes to: Amazon, Google Play, Vearsa, Apple Books, Kobo, Bookshop, Barnes Noble, Powell’s Books, Books-A-Million ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? BothBoasting an easy-to-use interface and reliable customer service, BookBaby is an option for many first-time self-publishing authors. To learn more about BookBaby, go to this review.Blurb💠° Pricing: Learn more here 📇 Distributes to: Amazon, Apple Books, the Blurb bookstore ðŸ“â€" Print or eBook? PrintBlurb is one of the most well-known and trusted print-on-demand services out there. We particularly recommend it for visual works - such as magazines and photo books. For an in-depth evaluation of its user friendliness and pictures of the quality of its printed books, go to this review.How can you choose the best self-publishing company for you?So that brings us to the question: how do you choose which of these self-publishing companies is the best for your book?Well, it depends on your needs. If you’re printing your self-published book (and selling printed copies), you might want to read this in-depth guide on print-on-demand services, which includes a recommended distribution setup for selling print books on online bookstores.And if you’re only planning to publish an eBook, you’ll find everything that you need to know about eBook distribution in this complete guide, which includes a full analysis of Amazon exclusivity versus â⠂¬Å"going wide,† as well as a comparison of royalties by eBook publishing platforms and retailers and a recommended eBook distribution setup.  Whatever option you choose, understand that it may take a bit of trial-and-error until you realize your perfect self-publishing system. There's no right or wrong way to go about it  - which is all a part of the magic of self-publishing in the first place.What's your experience with the best self-publishing companies? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Art for Individual And Social Changes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art for Individual And Social Changes - Essay Example Her exhibit showcased portraits from each of these women. They allowed themselves to be vulnerable, so that they can share their experiences and lessons with the world. The main argument of the article is that art can be used to promote individual and social changes through accepting one’s vulnerabilities, while having hope in life’s possibilities. This paper analyzes the rhetorical strategies used to assert this primary argument, specifically repetition, emotional appeals, and anecdotes, which are effective in illustrating the transformational power of homelessness, and using art to be released from its financial and psychological trauma. Before this paper proceeds to analyzing the rhetorical strategies of this article, the premises of the article will be examined first. The stated premises are: art provides deeper self-understanding; art presents universal meanings that people from different backgrounds can relate to; and more artists should engage in activist art, in order for them to address contemporary social and political issues using their talents. The implicit premises are: 1) art is the language of the human soul and 2) even those in the margins have a capacity for making art and making sense out of art. In essence, even the poor have art in their hearts. These premises are relayed to the rhetorical strategies used in the article. ... ough† and â€Å"poor† are repeated twice in this statement, as well as the word â€Å"African American.† This statement effectively shows that minority groups have rougher lives than the white population, because there are fewer economic and social opportunities for them. Because of these rough lives, they can also easily slide back to poverty, even when they have escaped it earlier in life. For instance, many of these women in the article, when they lost their jobs, husbands, or homes, declined from middle class status to lower class. The older they get, the more vulnerable they are, because society views the old as dispensable beings. As a result, an old African American woman is exposed to the greatest risk of being homeless and poor. This article also made successful employment of emotional appeals, without sounding naive or sentimental, and instead, they underscore the universal feelings, dreams, and fears of people, whatever their race, age, gender, and soci al class might be. Fulmer discloses how these women’s art will also emotionally affect her: â€Å"The act of creating the artwork meant permitting myself to feeling vulnerable to their experiences that may hurt, twist, turn, and otherwise impact my own personal psyche.† She is saying that when these women become vulnerable, she becomes vulnerable too. They open their hearts, which opens hers in the process. When they go back to the past and remember their pain and suffering, Fulmer cannot help but identify with them, not because she has been homeless before, but because at different points in their lives, people also experience the same hopelessness and loneliness that homeless people feel. In addition, Fulmer also reflects on her writing, which helps her cope with the emotional engagement she feels with this

Homework policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homework policy - Essay Example Positive social interaction encourages learners to communicate with one another. The homework policy adopted by Mr. Collet encourages positive social interaction in numerous ways. Some of those ways include preparation of students in advance by encouraging them to buy student’s planner. The use of planners assists in proper time management for students as well as enabling them to have an effective balanced study in all their subjects (Pandey, 2005). Second grade students are very interactive and feel appreciated when their teacher identifies any effort they make. Using a planner Mr. Collet will be able to track all activities done by each student. Mr. collet will use the planner to gauge the attentiveness of the student by checking on how the student updates his/her planner. In case the planner has not been well updated, the teacher continuously monitors the activities of the student. Through the monitoring, the performance of the student will enhance since he will not like th e teacher to keep monitoring him. The planner will also act as a reminder to the students on the take-home assignment. Students following the information in the planners will enhance their social interaction with Mr. Collet. Explaining assignment to a second grade student verbally creates conducive environment for Mr. Collet and the students. The students will ask for clarification in case, the instructions are not clear. By so doing the teacher and students develop a strong bond towards each other.

Interior architecture - Detail and the user Essay

Interior architecture - Detail and the user - Essay Example The large number of Scarpa’s architectural projects reflect his unique concepts and ideas of design (Scarpa, Beltramini, Battistella et al, 2007). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate Carlo Scarpa’s use of the relationship between the body and architecture, and examine the roots of his conception of the elements of architectural construction as â€Å"beings†. Further, Scarpa’s imaging the user, with architectural details in relation to the user’s body, and his layering of memories based on the affinity between architecture and place, will be discussed. Relationship Between the Body and Architecture In European culture, there has always been a significant place for the relationship between the body and architecture, and the complex phenomenon of corporeality. This tradition originated from Marcus Vitruvius, the ancient Roman architect and engineer in the first century B.C., who compares the human body directly to the body of a building, and reinforces the analogy, so that the importance of symmetry, proportion and harmony in architecture become secondary to his theory of the link between corporeality and architecture. According to Dodds, Tavernor and Rykwert (2002: 28) â€Å"although this highly provocative subject has been treated with great attention and subtlety by critics, it remains nonetheless poorly understood†. ... Thus, the body was used not only to designate conceptual, but also material reality. Plato followed by Aristotle undertook to find a clear understanding of corporeality. The concept of the body is always open for further improvemen â€Å"through the continuous reciprocity of necessity and reason† (Dodds et al 2007: 28). Consequently, the body is perceived as a comparatively stable structure in the context of reality as a whole denoted by the cosmos. There is a surprising richness and depth of understanding of the relation between the human body and the world, the common corporeality and meaning, rendering the body as a microcosm. There is great reciprocity between the human body and the world, and between the human body and architecture. Joints, Frames and Building Construction Mass as â€Å"Beings† In the mid-nineteenth century, Gottfried Semper divided built form into two separate material procedures: the tectonics of the frame in which members of different lengths ar e joined together to encompass a spatial field, and the stereotomics of compressive mass that, â€Å"while it may embody space, is constructed through the piling up of identical units† (Frampton 2000: 181). Tectonics relates to the construction of buildings. The work of Carlo Scarpa is a contemporary manifestation of Semper’s approach supporting the concept of framework as aerial and dematerialization of mass, while the mass form is telluric or relating to the earth into which it is embedded deeply. The former tends towards the light, and the latter towards the dark. These gravitational opposites, the immateriality of the frame and the materiality of the mass are considered to symbolise the two cosmological polarities towards which they reach out: the sky and the earth. The experiential limits

Applying Balanced Scorecard Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Applying Balanced Scorecard - Assignment Example Businesses were faced by unclear situations of distinguishing an important aspect from what is not. Kaplan and Norton stated that the important aspects of a business should be presented in a balanced way. A balanced scorecard has three basic components that are important. They include strategic management framework, measurement system and communication tools (Blokdijk, 2008). The banking industry, greatly benefits from the balanced scorecard and management system. The BSC system helps managers in the banking sector accomplish the institution’s objectives. The major scorecard perspectives that can be implemented by managers are better-quality customer service and efficiency in the internal business processes (Blokdijk, 2008 p 113). Banks strategies are always based on the customer and therefore with improved customer service, the bank will end up improving on its profits, sales and turnovers. Banking industries are also able to improve by ensuring that they have efficient business processes. Blokdijk (114) states that with efficiency in the internal business processes, a banking industry will be able to retain its customers. With retained customers, the financial returns go up and the thus improvement in the

From Research to Practice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

From Research to Practice - Assignment Example One of these researches to practice demonstration is the use of heparinized saline for the flushing peripheral intravenous catheters was compared to saline (Keele, 2011). In this practical, saline was found to be more clinically effective in maintaining the peripheral catheters. As a result to this research, majority of acute care facilities made a recommendation use on patients only as a plush for the peripheral catheters. Research on cancer fatigue has been in progress for the last decade, and a research was conducted on the effects of active and moderate exercise on patients undergoing active cancer therapy, and treatment. The results showed that active exercise had positive results on fatigue, functional capacity, activity level and sleep. Since then, this method is practiced in the treatment of cancer related fatigue which has been adopted by many cancer treatment centers, and thus showing that research can be put into practice and show success. In the near future, it is good to use evidence based research in the field of nursing as it gives a wide choice of solution, and gives the correct treatment to a client. Evidence based practice is important for nursing, but its full implementation is hindered by the evidences

History of jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of jazz - Essay Example The next brass band was formed in 1884 and it consisted of a Creole cornet player called Manuel Perez who was an addition to the group. Different bands continued forming after that as well and they consisted of Creoles up until 1898. Jazz consisted of several different kinds of music such as blues music, ragtime and the brass band fanfares. Religious music was however not included in the mix of music during formation of jazz. White music which was popular was also missing at the beginning of the jazz music formation but was later on incorporated to add a commercial sense to the music and enable it to sell widely. In 1898 immediately after US defeated Spain and liberating Cuba, troops who had been in the war landed in New Orleans on their way to other locations. They brought brass instruments with them and they sold them on the black market which was adopted quickly. These brass instruments were unlike what was used before as they were European instruments and hence the music played from then incorporated European aspect into the Creole jazz blending the two up1. This new form of jazz with both African and European music and instruments in it was soon picked up across New Orleans and it formed the basis of the present jazz as it is known to date. New Orleans was a city which was filled with people of different races. There were Africans who were slaves, the Spanish from Cuba and who were at war with the US as well as other races such as the French, Germans and even Italians all whom were in South America but some also resided in New Orleans. Even though they had different cultures and languages, they shared a commonality which was the love for music. Each race had its own form of music which they sang in different places. It is these different genres of music that combined together to form jazz. The most renowned historian of jazz was

From Research to Practice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

From Research to Practice - Assignment Example One of these researches to practice demonstration is the use of heparinized saline for the flushing peripheral intravenous catheters was compared to saline (Keele, 2011). In this practical, saline was found to be more clinically effective in maintaining the peripheral catheters. As a result to this research, majority of acute care facilities made a recommendation use on patients only as a plush for the peripheral catheters. Research on cancer fatigue has been in progress for the last decade, and a research was conducted on the effects of active and moderate exercise on patients undergoing active cancer therapy, and treatment. The results showed that active exercise had positive results on fatigue, functional capacity, activity level and sleep. Since then, this method is practiced in the treatment of cancer related fatigue which has been adopted by many cancer treatment centers, and thus showing that research can be put into practice and show success. In the near future, it is good to use evidence based research in the field of nursing as it gives a wide choice of solution, and gives the correct treatment to a client. Evidence based practice is important for nursing, but its full implementation is hindered by the evidences

Military History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Military History - Essay Example A Short History of the NCO is dedicated to the foundation of the NCO, its evolution, history, educational system; includes explanatory photos and tables. NCO Duties, Responsibilities, and Authorities Study Guide is a list of the main UCO duties and responsibilities which is shown in the form of questions and answers. B. The purpose of this paper is to show the role of the NCO corps and staff in the postwar history. The question demanding the answer: has the NCO played the active and appreciable role in the postwar U.S. Army history 2. A. After the World War II the constant growth of military technologies led to the necessity of new educational programs development: "Emphasis on NCO education increased to the point that by 1959 over 180,000 soldiers would attend NCO academies located in the continental United States. In addition to NCO academies, the Army encouraged enlisted men to advance their education by other means" (1). In 1950 the U.S.A. sent soldiers in Korea. The NCO soldiers took part in the war, and some of them were real heroes: "Near Surang-ni, Sergeant Ola L. Mize led the defense of "Outpost Harry." Learning of a wounded soldier in an outlying listening post, during an artillery barrage, Mize moved to rescue the soldier. Returning to the main position with the soldier, Mize rallied the troops into an effective defense as the enemy attacked in force" (2). During the war in Vietnam the NCO took a large part in combat leadership: "Needing large numbers of NCOs for combat, the Army created the Noncomm issioned Officers Candidate Course. Three branches were established at Fort Benning, Fort Knox, and Fort Sill" (2). There were also many cases of heroism among the NCO soldiers during the war: "Five times, Ashley and his newly-formed unit attacked enemy positions, clearing the enemy and proceeding through booby trapped bunkers. Wounded by machine gun fire, Ashley continued on, finally directing air strikes on his own position to clear the enemy. As the enemy retreated, he lapsed into unconsciousness" (2). B. In 1971 the NCO Educational System was introduced. Firstly it consisted of three training levels: "Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course (to provide basic leadership skills and a knowledge of military subjects needed at the squad and team level), Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Course (to provide the student with advanced technical and leadership skills), and the Sergeants Major Academy (which prepared senior NCOs to perform duties as sergeants major at the division and higher headquarters)" (2). The next rather important step of the NCO reforming took place in 1986, when was "established the Primary Leadership Development Course as a mandatory prerequisite for promotion to staff sergeant. This was the first time an NCOES course actually became mandatory for promotion" (2). In 1987 a new Sergeant Major Academy was build: "This 17.5 million dollar, 125,000 square foot structure allowed the Academy to expand course loads and number of courses" (2). Today the NCO Education

Area Evaluation for District Registered Nurse

Area Evaluation for District Registered Nurse Greenon Local School District Stephanie C Ebbs Wright State University College of Nursing and Health School Nursing The Ohio Department of Health (2014) defines public health nursing as promoting physical and mental health, disease prevention, injury, and disability. The ODH goes on to state public health nursing includes the individual client, family and support system of the client, as well as the community in which the client lives to provide services. Public health services include monitoring health, identifying health problems, educating on health issues, developing partnerships in order to identify and solve problems, developing plans and policies for individuals and communities, providing information on needed personal health services, and evaluating effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal and population-based services. (ODH, 2014) Carolynn Agresta is the Greenon Local Schools district registered nurse in Enon, Ohio. Carolynn graduated nursing school from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio with a bachelor’s degree in September of 1981. Carolynn’s 33 years of experience includes being a nursing school adjunct and working oncology, neuro-surgical, orthopedic, ICU, and home health nursing settings. In 2000 she began working as a school nurse without school nurse licensure. Primarily Carolynn spends her days with the students in grades 7-12. Two assistants generally tend to kindergarten through grade 6. Both assistants have medical experience and have worked for the Greenon Local School district for the past couple of years. Carolynn is responsible for the entire Greenon school district which currently enrolls 1,838 students. Population The Enon, Ohio area is predominately Caucasian with an average age of 48 years of age. A majority of the population (58%) is married. 19% of the population have never married. 12.5% of the population is divorced. 9% are widowed and 2% are separated. Other ethnicities are prevalent in the community, but represent less than 25%. 91% of the Enon community has a high school degree, 28% of the community have a bachelor’s degree, and 13% have a graduate or professional degree. 8.5% of the Enon community is unemployed. Many in the community drive everywhere since a majority of the region is in a rural setting. Crime rates are below the national and state average and are mostly property related. (U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences and Advameg Inc., 2014) Struggles Carolynn faces includes the repercussions of multiple failed levees leaving tough necessary budget cuts on the school district. Teachers have not received a raise for the past three to four years and one of the four buildings open in 2013 has been closed. Carolynn reports the Enon, Ohio population to be many retired individuals who cannot pay any more than they already do for the district. She explained she is sad and happy at the same time for the merging of buildings as she moved from the now closed building into the Grennon Jr/Sr High School building this year. Carolynn states most of the buildings in the Greenon district need replaced and offers a metaphor of budgeting of the school buildings as placing a band-aid over a hemorrhaging wound. The buildings are just not in good enough condition to be continually repaired anymore. She reports pipes burst every winter and ruin the teachers’ classrooms. It forces the teachers to rebuild the classroom and shuffling the students to other rooms while repairs are being made. Many students require medical attention throughout the day at Greenon Jr/Sr High School. Most students come with minor requests of a band-aid for a minor cut, an ice pack, or feeling ill. Carolynn reports five students have Epi-Pens in the locked cabinet in the school nurse office in case of an emergent allergic reaction. One student reports having hypoglycemia and visits the school nurse’s office for a granola bar a few times during the week. One student has severe migraines. Two students are currently being monitored for type two diabetes. Three type one diabetics are present in the high school building and are Carolynn’s admitted biggest worry most days. She advocates independence of diabetic students, takes action during hypo/hyperglycemic episodes, and reports concerns to the student’s parent(s). One student is independent in diabetes management. Two students visit the school nurse’s office daily for diabetes management. One student in particular is poorly controlled and recently reported a hemoglobin (Hgb) A1C score of 13. It is a very poor score indicating the student’s diabetes is out of control. Carolynn shows genuine concern regarding the student’s long-term health. She reaches out to the student’s parents with concerns over constant hyperglycemia episodes. She is constantly helping the student try and understand how to manage carbohydrates in the diet effectively. Fears of amputation, vision and nerve damage, and a shortened life span for the student worries Carolynn. (ADA, 2014) Standards Carolynn must keep up with Ohio department of health (ODH) guidelines, Ohio state laws, HIPAA, and Greenon Local School district rules. Keeping up with compliance is no easy feat. Caring to a continuous steady stream of students needing attention, documenting care, calling parents, updating state required vaccination records of students, and instructing voluntary staff members how to tend to emergencies in her absence requires a lot of time, patience, multi-tasking, and skill. Ohio House Bill 264, safe at school, keeps children with diabetes medically safe at school. The bill allows volunteer school staff to be trained in assisting diabetic children with insulin administration and glucagon in an emergency situation. The safe at school bill also allows children to self-manage their diabetes while at school if able and capable. (ADA, 2014) One student is independent in diabetes management at Greenon. One student requires privacy to inject insulin at lunch time which is why Carolynn bought a divider for the school nurse office. One diabetic student requires a great deal of supervision and monitoring. Another law, House Bill 296 recently passed highly recommending and allowing schools to stock Epi-Pen in case of an emergency on a student not previously identified with anaphylaxis. This law will help save lives of students unaware of severe allergic reactions. House bill 296 also authorizes middle and high school students to carry an epinephrine pen with them at all times (with proper documentation from physician and parents turned into the district school nurse). Greenon Local School district does not currently stock Epi Pens, but eventually will. Carolynn states she wants to apply for a grant or at least investigate how to get the school buildings donated Epi Pens. She states she just has not been able to as of yet since the bill passed in April of 2014. (Legislative Information Systems, 2014) Five students have epinephrine auto injectable pens in the school nurse office. Most of the five students keep another Epi Pen on their person at all times in case of emergency. Students requiring epinephrine pen injection are required to be transported to the hospital and parental contact. No student is required to self-administer the epinephrine and volunteering staff are trained to assist students in case of an anaphylaxis. The Ohio Department of health has requirements of students regarding vaccinations. Polio, MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), and Varicella (chickenpox) are required vaccinations before children begin kindergarten school. DTaP//DT/Tdap/TD are a required set of vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis required before kindergarten and once before entering seventh grade. Every fall Carolynn must document and send letters to parents in order to have the proper documentation for students to remain in school. (ODH, 2014) Carolynn abides by the ODH standards of infection control prevention guidelines. She constantly is hand washing, changing paper bed linen after each student, changing thermometer probe covers with each student, cleans her stethoscope with alcohol before and after use, and never allows students to share ice packs, blood glucose monitors, band-aids, or ace wraps. Carolynn strives to protect herself, students, and staff from infection and illness and maintains high standards for herself in care of students. Care Carolynn provides a non-biased and supportive environment for all students. She listens intently to each student as they come to her office. Students always refer to Carolynn by Mrs. Agresta. She has a 700 dollar a year budget for the school nurse’s office and uses it on food and supplies. She provides free granola bars, juice, water, graham crackers, and fruit snacks to students upon request or diabetic need. Since the Greenon Local School district is public spirituality is limited. She can pray with students and families if requested, but not impede upon spiritual beliefs by federal law. Parents must be contacted to provide non-prescription medication at the school. Carolynn contacts parents daily for cough, cold, and allergy medications for students. Remaining in a supportive attitude and complying with parental wishes regarding care is a necessary component of school nursing. Giving parents an educated report of a student’s condition is required in communicating. Sometimes parents will take the student home to rest with or without recommendation of the Carolynn acting as school nurse. Carolynn is responsible for maintaining privacy in her clinic while caring for students. She requests students wait in the hall outside her office momentarily while she tends to another student. She has a nurturing motherly style approach to each student and treats each student with respect, attentiveness, and compassion as if each student were her own child. Carolynn is a dedicated nurse who tries to provide the best quality care possible in an economically struggling school district. She wishes she had more resources to help. Carolynn does reach out to local area school nurses, the Clark County Combined Health District, and the ODH for help and reference. Carolynn provides training to voluntary staff members on insulin, glucagon, and epinephrine auto-injector pens. She also answers any questions with educated research and provides additional information. She hangs health information in her office and around the school on bulletin boards to keep the student and staff population educated on their health. References Advameg, Inc. (2014). Enon, Ohio Statistics. http://www.citydata.com/city/EnonOhio.html#ixzz3DorjZSUU American Diabetes Association (ADA). (2014). Diabetes, complications, and safe at school. http://www.diabetes.org Legislative Information Systems (2014). House Bill 296 http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=130_HB_296 Ohio Department of Health (ODH). (2014). Immunization summary for child care, head start, pre-school, and school attendance: ohio. http://www.odh.ohio.gov U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics. (2014). Greenon Local Schools: Greenon High School. http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1DistrictID=3904623ID=390462302475

Herald :: Essays Papers

Herald The Webster’s dictionary defines a herald as an official at a tournament of arms with duties including the making of announcements and the marshaling of combatants. This simple definition just barely scraps the surface of what a herald actually is. The office of herald has changed immensely over the centuries, as they became more dignified figures in the chivalrous world. The earliest record of a herald just mentions him as a messenger in war. He was a medieval officer in charge of carrying messages to and from the commanders of opposing armies. As we will see, this simple office turns into a complicated job that is still around in today’s society. In the twelfth century, the herald’s job grew to consist of announcing and conducting tournaments. This included announcing the proclamation of each joust and the name of each combatant. It became essential for the herald to be able to recognize the arms of the local nobles and thus become familiar with their family lineage. This ability became useful in combat, seeing how the heralds could recognize the opposing armies’ leader from the coat painted on his shield. The shield was the obvious place to paint the coat of arms since it had the largest surface area. With this knowledge of the different coats, one of the original roles of heralds was to identify and catalogue the arms of the men who had gathered at tournaments. Thus, heralds made a living by the perilous favorite sport of the nobility. Throughout the thirteenth century heralds began to serve nobles on a more permanent basis. They even wore the coat of arms of their master. Then, in the fourteenth century, heralds achieved an established position and were dignified figures in the chivalric world. Heralds of this century were acknowledged experts in armory and in all matters of secular ceremony. These ceremonies included displays of jousts and tournaments, in the judgement of prowess, in the ceremonial attire of coronations and in knightings and funerals. Officials in tournaments even trusted heralds with the vital task of deciding whether or not a contestant had a valid claim to knighthood. Their job also included recording promotions to knighthood on the eve of battle, and to search after it was over among the dead to note the names and arms of those who had shown prowess in the field.

Greek Tragedy Exemplified in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare

Greek Tragedy Exemplified in Shakespeare's Hamlet For several thousands of years, drama has existed among mankind. The ancient Greeks are accredited with the creation of drama, which began as simple religious rituals and eventually evolved into the more complex forms of tragedies and comedies. The first rules of drama, not surprisingly, were also written by a Greek--the famous philosopher and intellectual, Aristotle. Aristotle took note of the what qualities created a successful dramatic piece by observing a plethora of plays written by different Greek dramatists. As a result of what he observed, Aristotle compiled a set of guidelines to define the perfect tragedy. So influential, thorough, and well crafted were his writings that many poets and playwrights since have patterned their own works after them. Aristotle noted six basic requirements for a good tragedy--plot, character, diction, thought, spectacle, and song. The most important of all of these is obviously the plot. The plot needs to have a beginning, which doesn't necessarily follow any event; a middle, which follows the beginning and causes the ending; and of course the finale, which is caused by the middle and does not itself cause any other event. Common sense, therefore, dictates that all of the acts need to be skillfully woven into one another instead of each act abruptly starting and abruptly ending. The last need of a good plot is the incorporation of situation reversals and scenes of recognition. These are almost always the most powerful parts of any good plot, as they invoke emotional interest in the viewer. Character is the next most important aspect of the perfect tragedy after the plot. Every tragedy needs to contain a tragic hero. A complete vil... ...oetic form of all of Shakespeare's plays is always well crafted and problems with wording are nonexistent. Hamlet also contains some of the most famous soliloquies that Shakespeare ever wrote. Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech is probably one of Shakespeare's best known speeches outside of Mark Antony's "friends, Romans, county men, lend me your ears" speech from Julius Caesar. Elements of song are also found in this play through the character Ophelia when she is in her maddened state. Hamlet is most definitely a shining example of an ideal tragedy. Its plot, characters, and wording are all masterfully crafted. It is well thought out and flows smoothly. William Shakespeare has truly embraced Aristotle's idea of the perfect tragedy through his own Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Global Shakespeare Theatre Series. 1996.