Personal Narrative My Fathers Death Essay - 730 Words

My father passed away in 1991, two weeks before Christmas. I was 25 at the time but until then I had not grown up. I was still an ignorant youth that only cared about finding the next party. My role model was now gone, forcing me to reevaluate the direction my life was heading. I needed to reexamine some of the lessons he taught me through the years. One of the earliest memories I have of my father is when he would take me to the park and we would play baseball. My father was eager to teach me everything he knew about the game, and I was eager to learn. He took it easy on me at first, allowing me to overcome my fear of being hit by the ball. Each time we went back to the park he would throw the ball a little harder. It was not long†¦show more content†¦I began to rebel and grades were no longer as important to me as they were to my father. My grades slipped to a C average, and that was not good enough. Instead of getting upset, my father encouraged me to apply myself. It too k a couple of years, but he made me realize the importance of school, and that I only had one shot at doing it right. I graduated high school in the top ten percent of my class, thanks to my father. As I entered my teen years, my father expected more out of me than just being a good student. Dad always seemed to have projects going on around the house, and I became his helper. It did not matter what the project was, he always seemed to need my help and I was not happy about that. I had better things to do than wasting a weekend working around the house. Somehow my dad knew how to do everything and felt it was his job to teach all of it to me. I was a teenager and had all of the knowledge I would ever need, so I thought. As it turned out, most of the skills I obtained helping my father led me to a rather lucrative career in manufacturing a few years later. Dad was a very stable man, holding the same job at an office furniture retailer for 25 years. In 1985 he decided to take a chan ce and open his own furniture business, a retail store that competed for sales with the very store where he spent most of his life working. It did not take long to make the new venture a success. Most of my father’s customers from hisShow MoreRelatedEssay about Baldwins Notes to a Native Son1712 Words   |  7 PagesJames Arthur Baldwin helps to bring about one of the main points of his essay, â€Å"Notes of a Native Son.† Baldwin’s composition was published in 1955, and based mostly around the World War II era. This essay was written about a decade after his father’s death, and it reflected back on his relationship with his father. At points in the essay, Baldwin expressed hatred, love, contempt, and pride for his father, and Baldwin broke down this truly complex relationship in his analysis. In order to do thisRead MoreSandra Cisneros And Reyna Grande’S Representation Of Their1220 Words   |  5 Pagesdo not recognize transnational identit ies. 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As time goes on, the narrator and his sisters realize that their tru e passions involve receiving a higher education and attending a university outside of their small fishing communityRead MoreAnalysis Of H Is For Hawk By Helen Macdonald1053 Words   |  5 Pagesby Helen MacDonald. In her novel, MacDonald interweaves the information she researched about falconry and TH White, with the story of her struggling to cope with the death of her father. I found it interesting how she clearly connected three seemingly very different topics, her personal narrative of dealing with her father’s death, information on falconry, and a biographical account of TH White’s life.. When discussing a memory of spending the day with her father when she was nine years old, MacDonaldRead MoreEssay about Baldwins Writing Style in Notes to a Native Son1507 Words   |  7 PagesRegrettable James Baldwin is known to be one of the best essay writers in the twentieth century who wrote on a few topics including race, discrimination, sexuality and most of all his personal experiences. In â€Å"Notes of a Native Son†, he uses two main strategies to get his point across. First, he likes to tell a story in a narrative view. Following is normally his analysis of the event. He describes the event and then gives his theory on the matter. By doing this, he grants the reader a chance to decipherRead More Narrative and Opinion in Notes of a Native Son Essay1912 Words   |  8 Pagesis most often cited is his ability to interweave narrative and opinion seamlessly into his essays. One example of this ability is in his â€Å"Notes of a Native Son† essay. He interweaves narrative of his father and his death with his opinions about the relationship between blacks and whites at that time. James Baldwin uses contrasting ideas such as public vs. private, father vs. son, and p ast vs. present to switch back and forth between the narrative and his opinions. The major contrastingRead MoreBeing Raised As Slaves By Harriet Jacobs And Frederick Douglass953 Words   |  4 PagesDouglass devoted their professional life for telling their true story based on their own experience. As a matter of fact, their works â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† (1861) and â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave† (1845) are considered the most important works in the genre of slave narrative or of enslavement. Thus, this paper will compare and contrast between Jacobs and Douglass in terms of the aforementioned works. Losing their mothers and realizing their status asRead MoreRomulus My Father and Comparison Text1246 Words   |  5 Pagesarrived in a foreign land. In Romulus my father we are repeatedly forced to read about various people in the book who suffer from mental illnesses such as depression, this depression motif is used to emphasis the feeling of loneliness, desolation and non-belonging because of the migrant experience and even Romulus himself goes through states of madness during his life because of the migrant experience. Dell’oso uses the suitcase motif to represent her narrative story but, unlike Gaitia, she uses thisRead MoreEssay on Racial Hatred in Notes of a Native Son1630 Words   |  7 Pagessentences that state the events going on around him at the time of his father’s death. The atmosphere is tense and solemn as the funeral procession moves through a barren wasteland of destruction on the way to the cemetery. Only the bare facts are written and Baldwin deli berately avoids using any colorful descriptions or interesting phrases in order to recreate the mood at this particular moment in his life. With this stripped down narrative passage, Baldwin sets an overall tone of bleakness, harshness andRead MoreWhat We Are Who We Should Be: Literary Realism1132 Words   |  5 Pagesbut provide a practical solution. More often than not though, realists will leave it up to their reader to formulate a cure. In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner looks back on the relationships of an aging southern belle, using third and second person narrative to comment on the happenings of the story. The title character of the story, Miss Emily Grierson, has two main relationships in her lifetime. The first, the relationship she had with her father, is described as controlling: â€Å"†¦ that quality of her

Essay on Milkman’s Search for Identity in Song of Solomon

Milkman’s Search for Identity in Song of Solomon Song of Solomon tells the story of Deads unwitting search for identity. Milkman appears to be destined for a life of self-alienation and isolation because of his commitment to the materialism and the linear conception of time that are part of the legacy he receives from his father, Macon Dead. However, during a trip to his ancestral home, â€Å"Milkman comes to understand his place in a cultural and familial community and to appreciate the value of conceiving of time as a cyclical process†(Smith 58). The Deads exemplify the patriarchal, nuclear family that has traditionally been a stable and critical feature not only of American society but of Western civilization in†¦show more content†¦Pilate Dead, Macons younger sister, provides a marked contrast to her brother and his family. While Macons love of property and money determines the nature and quality of his relationships, Pilates sheer disregard for status, occupation, hygiene, and manners is accompanied by an ability to affirm spiritual values such as compassion, respect, loyalty, and generosity. Pilate introduces a quality of enchantment into the novel. The circumstances of her birth make her a character of supernatural proportions. She delivered herself at birth and was born without a navel. Her smooth stomach isolates her from society. Moreover, her physical condition symbolizes her lack of dependence on others. Her self-sufficiency and isolation prevent her from being trapped or destroyed by the extremely decaying values that threaten her brothers life. Before Milkman leaves his home in Michigan, he perceives the world in materialistic, unyielding terms that recall his fathers behavior. Indeed, the search for gold that sends him to Virginia reveals his perception that escaping from his past and his responsibilities and finding material treasure will guarantee him a sense of his own identity. Milkmans assumption that his trip south holds the key to his liberation is correct, although it is not gold that saves him. In his ancestors world, communal and mythical values prevail over individualism and materialism; when heShow MoreRelatedEssay on Song of Solomon: A Bildungsroman of Milkman 1092 Words   |  5 PagesIt can be said that Song of Solomon is bildungsroman which is defined by The Encyclopedia Britannica as â€Å"a class of novel that deals with the [coming-of-age or] formative years of an individual†. Furthermore, in a bildungsroman, a main protagonist usually undergoes some transformation after seeking truth or philosophical enlightenment. In Morrison’s novel, the plot follows the main protagonist Milkman as he matures within his community while developing relationships with others and discovering hisRead MoreReview Of Charlotte Bronte s Jane Eyre 10879 Words   |  44 Pagesmorning...I looked neither to rising sun, nor smiling sky, nor wakening nat ure† (369). The calm and clear weather parallels Jane’s mind after she decides to do what is best for her. When Jane arrives at Moor House, the storm represents her desperate search to find food and shelter. Characters (adjectives, quotes) Bertha Mason Insane â€Å"The honeymoon over, I learned my mistake; she was only mad, and shut up in a lunatic asylum† (352). Beautiful â€Å"My father said nothing about her money; but he told me Miss

Closed Head Injury free essay sample

Thailand studying electrical engineering at the university. He was ejected from a moving vehicle, which was traveling 70 mph. His injuries included a severe closed head injury with an occipital hematoma, bilateral wrist fractures, and a right pneumothorax. During his neurologic intensive care unit (NICU) stay, Y. W. was intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation, had a feeding tube inserted and was placed on tube feedings, had a Foley catheter to down drain (DD), and had multiple IVs inserted. He developed pneumonia 1 month after admission. Closed head injuries result from a blow to the head as occurs, for example, in a car accident when the head strikes the windshield or dashboard. These injuries cause two types of brain damage. 1. Define the term primary head injury. A primary head injury (or primary impact) is also known as a â€Å"coup injury. † The injury occurs under the site of impact with an object such as a hammer or a rock. We will write a custom essay sample on Closed Head Injury or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The brain strikes the skull after the head strikes the object of impact (Lewis, et al, Fig 57-14). This is the site of the direct impact of the brain on the skull. Often there is edema around the site of impact. 2. Define the term secondary head injury. The secondary head injury is also known as contrecoup injury occurs on the side opposite the area that was impacted. These injuries tend to be more severe and overall patient prognosis depends on the amount of bleeding around the contusion site (Lewis, et al, 1425). Often it is the secondary brain injuries that show few initial symptoms and then have serious side effects days to weeks later. 3. What is normal intracranial pressure (ICP), and why is increased ICP so clinically important? Normal intracranial pressure ranges from 5 to 15 mm Hg. A sustained pressure above the upper limit is considered abnormal. Pressure changes in the brain effect the brain’s compliance. Compliance is the â€Å"expandability of the brain† With low compliance, small changes in volume occur and result in greater increases in pressure. Elevated intracranial pressure is clinically significant because â€Å"it diminishes CPP, increases risks of brain ischemia and infarction, and is associated with a poor prognosis†.

Japanese American Learning Styles free essay sample

As educators began to realize that the growing diversity of the country would eventually mean that the dominant white culture would itself become a minority, perhaps by as soon as the generation after the next, the conclusions of studies comparing the academic performance of various ethnic groups with one another would create all manner of controversy and conflict, as various interests competed to define the strategies and course of action to be undertaken to improve the American educational system. In determining some of these strategies, certain ethnic groups were assigned the label â€Å"at risk,† as the evidence used to measure their educational success showed that they lagged behind other ethnic groups in terms of measurements of their cognitive and intellectual abilities, with the various explanations as to why these deficits existed generating the most intense conflict and disagreement. The most insidious explanations came from social scientists who proposed that the condition of these at-risk groups was actually hereditary, and that their lower intelligence was â€Å"no fault of their own,† being â€Å"due to inherent shortcomings about which little can be done. We will write a custom essay sample on Japanese American Learning Styles or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † Interestingly enough, when certain ethnic groups scored higher on IQ testing than the dominant Euro-American class, these same sociologists did not credit hereditary advantage for their success, but rather chalked these results up to differences in cultural backgrounds and child-rearing practices. From this school of thought emerged the term â€Å"model minority,† used to describe Asian-American students who outperformed white students in measures of educational achievement. The term â€Å"model minority† was first deployed in an article that appeared in The New York Times Magazine in 1966, entitled â€Å"A Success Story, Japanese-American Style. The article begins by praising the subject family for having risen above â€Å"color prejudice,† and in so doing avoiding the characteristics of those groups that the article refers to as â€Å"problem minorit(ies)†, a label used to categorize the experience of other ethnic groups at this point in history, notable primarily for the emergence of the Civil Rights movement. The political implications of such a label are described by writer Malcolm Yeung, â€Å"Asians were being used as a tool to quiet the cries of the enraged minorities (specifically African-Americans) and, on a much more subtle level, used to assuage the guilt of a white America whose system was†¦clearly not working for non-whites†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Nonetheless, the term â€Å"model minority† would grab hold of the country’s collective consciousness, and as any ethnic stereotype is bound to do, inflict damage on both its subjects (Asian-Americans, among them Japanese-Americans) and those who would view them through this narrow prism. Growing out of and emerging alongside the theories of multicultural education changing the American academic system in the second half of the twentieth century, educators would also focus their efforts to improve student performance on research which would yield more promising inventories of ways to understand and educate the growing diversity of ethnic groups comprising American classrooms, the development of learning style theories, or what educator Rita Dunn calls â€Å"instructional delivery systems responsive to how diverse students learn. In the case of â€Å"at-risk† populations, a certain urgency helped guide the development of such strategies to improve their academic performance, as the successful and effective application of an approach predicated on tailoring learning styles to address the needs of various ethnic groups could help put to rest the notion that their deficits were hereditary. In the case of Asian-Americans, who outperformed even the dominant white cu lture in America’s schools, however, there was little if any urgency involved in efforts to uncover the reasons behind these statistical outcomes. What interest and attention that was devoted to the phenomenon of Asian-American success in the American educational system at this time only served to reinforce the myth of the model minority, now a prevalent stereotype, and a deeper exploration of the â€Å"mechanisms† behind their superior performance collided with the notion that, as Grace Kao put it, â€Å"the success of Asian(-Americans) was not a problem in need of a solution. This does not and should not mean that exploring ways to improve the American educational experience for students of Japanese-American descent should be given less priority or consideration than studying, applying, and improving learning styles for students of any other ethnicity or cultural background. Indeed, given their success in the current form of that educational system, investigating and understanding more fully the role that their ethnicity plays in determining the learning style most conducive to their own academic success may be of ben efit to other students. Studying the learning styles of Japanese-Americans will not only help us to understand their unique ethnic identities as students in our own American educational system, but could help to answer the many questions that arise when studying any of the diverse ethnic populations that make up our classrooms. One such question was posed in a study done by researcher Heather Tehani Fuchigami, who asked, â€Å"Do Japanese immigrants and the learning styles representative of their cultural attributes assimilate to the prevalent ‘American’ cultural learning style by continuation in the country through second, third, and subsequent generations? Many of the assumptions and beliefs that inform American educators’ understanding of Japanese-American learning styles have most likely been designed for first-generation American immigrants or their children and may not be applicable to the generations after them, whose lives have undergone various degrees of transformation and may bear little if any resemblance to the immigrant experiences that informed their acclimation to a new country. Her study of multigenerational Japanese-Americans is of particular interest, for it is one of the very few to have examined the evolution of learning styles over many generations. Indeed, as Nellie Tran and Dina Birman tell us, â€Å"Because so many of the studies reviewed†¦have compared predominantly immigrant Asian-American subsamples to predominantly third-generation or beyond subsamples of Whites, they have confounded immigrant status with ethnicity and perhaps even overemphasized Asian immigrant experiences. † Tran and Birman warn that, â€Å"This large body of work may have created an undifferentiated and often erroneous impression that Asian Americans outperform Whites. In addition to generational status, it is important to distinguish studies of specifically Japanese-American learning styles and educational outcomes from studies of â€Å"Asian-Americans,† a category which Tran and Birman note â€Å"consist(s) of at least 30 different ethnic groups. † They warn that, â€Å"not examining the specific ethnicity of those in the Asian-American group can mask important heterogeneity among them. In particular, the lower performance of some groups (e. g. , Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders) may be concealed when they are grouped with higher-performing groups (e. . , South Asians, Japanese, Chinese). † There is some consensus in the studies about the traits which characterize the learning styles of first-generation Japanese immigrants in America, and the available literature describes it as a methodical way of learning that includes a precision-oriented preference for repetition, sequential learning, routines, and accuracy. In Heather Fuchigami’s study, she compares the cultural characteristics of Japanese immigrants to America to the traditional traits that are used to describe the American cultural learning style in the following table: JapaneseAmerican InterdependentIndependent ReservedOutspoken CautiousImpulsive ReflectiveActive HolisticSegmented ConcreteAbstract CircuitousDirect SensitiveIndifferent PreciseInterpretive This table provides some insight into the assumptions and even stereotypes by which educators often categorize Japanese-Americans, and Fuchigami notes that school systems made brochures and literature available to teachers that described their Japanese-American students in these terms. When using assessment tools specifically designed to elicit and measure learning styles in their native countries, further distinctions were found between American students and Japanese students in their native countries. In the area of decision-making, American students were found to display impersonal, individualistic, and rational tendencies, while the Japanese place value on interpersonal traits and prefer group harmony. Americans place greater value on being time-efficient and getting right to the point when sorting out differences of opinion, with the focus rarely straying from the argument t issue, while the Japanese would take time to build relationships and seek a consensus before making changes, noting that trust between parties is as important to them as the specific terms of any contract. An experiment involving American and Japanese kindergartners shows these distinctions put into practice: The children were asked to draw a picture of their family. American students imme diately set to work on the assignment, while the Japanese children waited until everyone had been given a sheet of paper and checked in with their neighbor before beginning to draw. When they finished, the Japanese students would wait until everyone else finished before turning the papers in. From this picture, we see how Japanese students are more reflective, introverted, and cooperative, and Americans are more impulsive, individualistic, and competitive. Perhaps most interesting about examples like this is that even though the Japanese students take the longest amount of time to finish assigned tasks, they also produce the fewest mistakes. In Japan, the focus of the educational system is on effort, whereas Americans tend to believe more in the strength of natural ability. Japan has had one set of standards by which all students are measured, with no special education services. There are no report cards and no retention or promotion by grade level; students are simply expected to live up to the established standards of the Ministry of Education. Many credit their perseverance and dedication to effort (known as ganbaru) for the success of their country’s educational system, in which, â€Å"Illiteracy has been almost completely eliminated,† and in which, â€Å"The average score of the lowest-scoring native Japanese classroom [is] above that of the highest-scoring American classroom. Interestingly enough, this educational system is said to be patterned upon the systems used in America and Europe in the late-1800’s. Two non-Western strategies employed in Japan are their own unique form of repetitive learning, in which students continually rewrite or recite difficult Chinese characters or passages until mastered, and â€Å"sticky prob ing,† which employs a form of the Socratic method of discussing an issue or problem while a teacher looks on and judges the results of the discussion. In her study of the evolution of the learning styles of multiple generations of Japanese-American students, Heather Fuchigami posed the hypothesis that, â€Å"It is expected that while Japanese-American students will also have acclimated many of their learning traits to traditional Western practices, pieces of their cultural heritage will still be apparent†¦and will therefore continue to manifest in their learning style. She also posits that a propensity for intermarrying with non-Asians, as well as changing times and social pressures, will contribute to the evolution of the learning style over multiple generations. The study identified the native Japanese learning style by the term â€Å"Diverger,† and the traditional Caucasian American style as the â€Å"Converger,† and administered a series of learning style assessments to first, second, third, fourth, and fifth-generation Japanese-American students. The results of the study yielded some very interesting result s. As stated by Ms. Fuchigami, â€Å"It was surprising to see that at no time did a majority of students of Japanese descent ever pull towards [the Converger] learning style, particularly because the overlying school structure was assumed to be Anglo-American, and therefore a dominating factor in the acculturation of students into the prevalent European-American learning style. † She notes that the Diverger learning style did manage to prevail throughout all generations studied, remaining as the preferred learning style of a quarter of the fifth-generation participants in the study. A new predominant learning style, however, would emerge by this fifth generation, identified by over half of the study participants. As Ms. Fuchigami describes it, â€Å"Rather than acculturating to the American ways of teaching and learning†¦at least a fourth of the population do remain true to their native descriptors of reserved, reflective, and precise, while the majority of Japanese-American students have truly evolved into a new type of learner altogether. She identifies this learning style by the term â€Å"Accommodator,† and forecasts a future in which, â€Å"†¦educators will witness the evolution of a truly distinct Japanese-slash-American culture that falls somewhere between the two native factions. † She also makes recommendations for those educators regarding how to best address this emerging population of learners, â€Å"General assumptions made about the assimilation of native cultures to the prevalent Caucasian-American culture are not true, a nd therefore should not be used as standard up on which to base curriculum design. † Finally, it is important to clarify this new learning style, identified as the preferred learning style by over 55% of one sample of fifth-generation Japanese-American students. Concrete experience and active experimentation are the foundations of this learning style, with these students drawn to leadership roles in which they can use trial-and-error and hands-on methods to accomplish tasks. These learners enjoy problem-solving and are both flexible and adaptable in the face of challenges. Being goal-oriented, they prefer to work cooperatively on assigned tasks, and prefer that new information be presented in terms of its applications in real life. Given these basic preferences, it is best to create a purposeful and organized environment for these learners, in which the educator can utilize practice and drill and demonstration strategies. A product-based emphasis should be employed, as they work with their senses and prefer that this work incorporate tangible objects rather than ideas only. Again, real world application is important to them, for unless the practical application of the subject being taught is conveyed to them, they see little reason to learn new concepts. They rely on intuition and risk-taking to solve problems, preferring to demonstrate mastery of new skills in a competitive forum. They prefer an organized classroom in which the rules and procedures are made clear, so that they can keep busy and know what is expected of them. This new learning style is characterized by a preference for questions with a right or wrong answer, rather than subjective answers that are open to interpretation. They value accuracy over creativity, and they prefer feedback on their work in those terms as well. Traditional school methods, such as worksheets, repetition, memorization, fact recall, and other work that can be easily scored, were designed for these kinds of learners.

The Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson

The Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson The Fourteen Points were a set of diplomatic principles developed by the administration of President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. These were intended as a statement of American war aims as well as to provide a path to peace. Highly progressive, the Fourteen Points were generally well received when announced in January 1918 but some doubt existed as to whether they could be implemented in a practical sense. That November, Germany approached the Allies for a peace based on Wilsons ideas and an armistice was granted. In the Paris Peace Conference that followed, many of the points were set aside as the need for reparations, imperial competition, and a desire for revenge on Germany took precedence. Background In April 1917, the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies. Previously angered by the sinking of Lusitania, President Woodrow Wilson led the nation to war after learning of the Zimmermann Telegram and Germanys resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. Though possessing a massive pool of manpower and resources, the United States required time to mobilize its forces for war. As a result, Britain and France continued to bear the brunt of the fighting in 1917 as their forces took part in the failed Nivelle Offensive as well as the bloody battles at Arras and Passchendaele. With American forces preparing for combat, Wilson formed a study group in September 1917 to develop the nations formal war aims. The Inquiry Known as the Inquiry, this group was headed by Colonel Edward M. House, a close advisor to Wilson, and guided by philosopher Sidney Mezes. Possessing a wide variety of expertise, the group also sought to research topics that could be key issues at a postwar peace conference. Guided by the tenets of progressivism which had steered American domestic policy during the previous decade, the group worked to apply these principles to the international stage. The result was a core list of points which stressed self-determination of peoples, free trade, and open diplomacy. Reviewing the Inquirys work, Wilson believed that it could serve as the basis for a peace agreement. President Woodrow Wilson addresses Congress on January 8, 1918. Public Domain Wilson's Speech Going before a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, Wilson outlined American intentions and presented the Inquirys work as the Fourteen Points. Largely drafted by Mezes, Walter Lippmann, Isaiah Bowman, and David Hunter Miller, the points stressed the elimination of secret treaties, the freedom of the seas, limitations on armaments, and the resolution of imperial claims with the goal of self-determination for colonial subjects. Additional points called for the German withdrawal from occupied parts of France, Belgium, and Russia as well as encouragement for the latter, then under Bolshevik rule, to remain in the war. Wilson believed that international acceptance of the points would lead to a just and lasting peace. The Fourteen Points as set forth by Wilson were: The Fourteen Points I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined. VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired. VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all. IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development. XI. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into. XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of an autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant. XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. Reaction Though Wilsons Fourteen Points were well received by the public at home and abroad, foreign leaders were skeptical as to whether they could be effectively applied to the real world. Leery of Wilsons idealism, leaders such as David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and Vittorio Orlando were hesitant to accept the points as formal war aims. In an effort to gain support from the Allied leaders, Wilson tasked House with lobbying their behalf. Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Library of Congress On October 16, Wilson met with British intelligence chief, Sir William Wiseman, in an effort to secure Londons approval. While Lloyd Georges government was largely supportive, it refused to honor the point regarding freedom of the seas and also desired to see a point added regarding war reparations. Continuing to work through diplomatic channels, the Wilson Administration secured support for the Fourteen Points from France and Italy on November 1. This internal diplomatic campaign among the Allies paralleled a discourse that Wilson was having with German officials which began on October 5. With the military situation deteriorating, the Germans finally approached the Allies regarding an armistice based on the terms of the Fourteen Points. This was concluded on November 11 at Compià ¨gne and brought an end to the fighting. Paris Peace Conference As the Paris Peace Conference began in January 1919, Wilson quickly found that actual support for the Fourteen Points was lacking on the part of his allies. This was largely due to the need for reparations, imperial competition, and a desire to inflict a harsh peace on Germany. As the talks progressed, Wilson was increasingly unable to garner acceptance of his Fourteen Points. Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. Library of Congress In an effort to appease the American leader, Lloyd George and Clemenceau consented to the formation of the League of Nations. With several of the participants goals conflicting, the talks moved slowly and ultimately produced a treaty which failed to please any of the nations involved. The final terms of the treaty, which included little of Wilsons Fourteen Points on which German had agreed to the armistice, were harsh and ultimately played a key role in setting the stage for World War II.

Business strategy mcdonald Essays

Business strategy mcdonald Essays Business strategy mcdonald Essay Business strategy mcdonald Essay If we all have different receptions of reality then the big question is; do we know real true picture of reality? Reality in accounting is something I believe is very hard for us people to determine. Firstly is that most of the measurement used in the accounting system are arbitrary. How can we know that something which is based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or systems is the truth? Secondly accounting is also based on assumptions. So what is seems like that in accounting there is no such thing as reality. Obviously we couldnt know what is true if methods of accounting are based on arbitrary methods and assumptions. If this is so, then again the big question is; how can accountants communicate reality if we dont know what is reality. A. In the given question, the directors decision on deciding not to life the going concern assumption while the companys performance and position is deteriorating is totally wrong and unethical. The company knew very well that there are people out there who are going to rely on their financial decisions to make very important decisions. Not lifting the going concern assumption will make stakeholders think especially primary users that the companys financial performance and position is going well and healthy when in act its not. In this case the directors are communicating a false reality. B. Well communicating a false reality doesnt mean that also you are creating a false reality. For God. Anything can happen in the future. Revenue might increase as well as sales, profit might increase and the business might again run well. In this case the company is creating a reality. . ) Fiji Sugar Corporation. The Fiji Sugar Corporation is said to be responsible for the pollution of the Aqua River in Labs. The question to ask is whether the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FCC) is really responsible for the pollution of the Aqua River that had resulted in the killing f the marine life. Or is the waste dumped by the FCC in the Aqua River the cause of pollution. It is being evident that the waste dumped by FCC to the river is the direct c ause of the killing of the marine life in the river. ( If]times. Mom) (The Fiji Times, 24/12/08) Last year we took samples from the river and results confirmed that the chemicals were from FCC so this new testing is part of our prosecution process. Mr Kumar Tests result shows that the death of river plants and vaporizing useful gases is the result of a rise in temperature in the river that was caused by hot water being poured into the Aqua River.. All Saints Secondary School students and hundreds of residents beside the river complained of headache as a result of the pollution by FCC. ( If]times. Mom) (Fiji times, 03/09/09) With the evidence given above, can we say that the organization is responsible for the pollution of the Aqua River? Ruth D Hines said that we must not think that the fence of the organization sets the limit or the boundary of the organization. The only thing the fence does is to separate the other people from the organization or to designate it so to speak. Well in terms of pollution, I do agree that the organization is responsible for the pollution. As evident above that the waste dumped by the FCC is the direct cause of the pollution which had an adverse effect on the river, environment and the people. If it wasnt for the organization dumping rubbish into the river there wouldnt have been any pollution. Hines also said that we should account for something that we are accountable for. It would be unethical for FCC not to account for the pollution caused by them. Even though we might think that the pollution is outside of the organizations context but in reality we know that the damage to the environment is directly caused by pollution by the organization. As a conclusion we can say that pollution is very much part of the organization. As it is the direct effect and outcome of the production process of the organization. So Fiji Sugar Corporation should account for the pollution. B. ) The organization is now placing more significance on sustaining a clean environment in particular waste water release from mill operation and air pollution not only for its staff but its stakeholders too. The organization is aiming on the execution of various engineering controls. This will result in the minimization of waste to the environment and by doing this they will e adhering to the Mill Upgrade Program. All mills around the country had formed committees that will observe and address pollution. Annual report 2010). Recognizing revenue in the period or periods that the revenue-generating activities of the companies are performed is the objective of the firm. There are two conditions that needs to be satisfied before revenue can be recognized in the realization principle: 1 . The earnings process is Judged to be complete or virtually complete (the earnings process refers to the activity or activities performed by t he company to generate revenue). 2. There is reasonable certainty as to the collegiality of the asset to be received (usually) (http://connect. McGraw-hill. Mom) Businesses recognize revenues ate different point in time due to a number of reasons: Businesses are different in nature. The activities performed by the companies to generate revenue are differently judged to be complete. It because of these two catteries that revenue are differently recognized. For example revenue from selling of inventory are recognized at the date of sale often interpreted as the date of delivery. This is because at the date of delivery the earnings process is Judged to be complete. For revenue from rendering services are recognized when services are completed and billed.

What characteristics of the opposite gender do heterosexual males and Research Paper

What characteristics of the opposite gender do heterosexual males and females consider most important for sexual and marriage partners - Research Paper Example Many theories have been conceptualized based on the findings of the researches. Cross-cultural evidence proves that men tend to place more value on physical attractiveness while women seek earning potential and possession of resources as valuable traits of potential romantic partners. (Buss et al, 1990). Matlin (2008) explains this gender difference in trait preferences for a partner as based on an evolutionary psychology approach. According to this approach, people’s preferences have roots in evolution where men prefer young, attractive, healthy-looking women who are likely to pass on men’s genes to the next generation. On the other hand, women are drawn to men who are economically stable to ensure that their future children are well provided for (Matlin, 2008). This is consistent with the findings of Sakalli-Ugurlu (2003) where women were found to be more concerned about the future security of their future families than men are. Some have very high standards in their choices that nobody comes to par and they end up alone. Men and women hold different views on mate selection. This study aims to explore those differences, specifically on the traits they hold dear in prospective partners. ... These preference for so-called luxuries are held more by more affluent women in western cultures than women in poorer and more traditional cultures (Geary, Virgil and Byrd-Craven, 2004). Men consistently have admitted their primary preference for a partner’s youth and physical attractiveness as well as a mate’s chastity and sexual fidelity (Buss et al, 2001). This may be explained by the social structural theories. In most cultures, women view marriage as a ticket to material comfort so they search for potential husbands based on their economic potentials and resources. However, as cultures evolve, women have become more empowered in creating their own material abundance through their careers and as they gain economic equality with men, they now focus less on a potential mate’s resources and status and more on aforementioned relationship â€Å"luxuries† such as kindness, honesty and a sense of humor. This theory is backed up by Eagly & Wood (1999) who foun d that the structural features of societies may dictate mate preferences. For example, gender differences in preferences for a mate’s earning potential (men) and homemaking skills (women) may be strongly influenced by the economic status held by men and women in various societies. Following the tradition of large-scale studies of Buss (1990) and Eagly and Wood (1999), Lippa (2007) was likewise engaged in a more modern study involving an internet survey sponsored by BBC, wherein over 200,000 participants ranked their preferred traits in potential mates. The 23 trait choices were age, ambition, communication skills, dependability, domestic skills, face attractiveness, fitness, fondness for children, hands, health, honesty, humor, industriousness, intelligence,

The combaination between delphi and scenario methods in future studies Literature review

The combaination between delphi and scenario methods in future studies - Literature review Example In doing this therefore a variety of models are used. Two basic models are used on which this discussion is going to be based on: the Delphi technique and scenario planning. The Delphi technique and scenario planning The Delphi technique is a kind of survey that makes use of the intuitive knowledge of experts in a given field. This technique is therefore flexible and provides a wide range of both qualitative and quantitative results which are important for planning. The technique involves rounds of surveys in which experts are asked questions concerning a given topic. Their varied opinions are then analysed and extremes are generated. The experts with these extreme opinions are asked to explain the reasons as to why they settled for the opinions (Armstrong, 2001, pp. 127-129). The rounds continue in this manner until a consensus is achieved. Feedback is very important in the whole process which must take place at the end of each round. Scenario planning on the other hand has also rec eived a lot of attention from scholars with very little consensus on the exact meaning of the term. Cutting across the major definitions of scholars it is possible to say that scenario planning is seen as a strategic management tool that is used to describe sets of future environmental conditions which are uncertain and upon which decisions have to be made to address them. However there is a strong agreement among scholars that scenario planning is not a prediction but rather a tool that makes visible the large scale forces that are usually uncertain due to the ever changing nature of the world so that a planner can recognize them and act on them on the verge that they do happen (Lindgren & Bandhold, 2003). Combining the Delphi technique and Scenario planning It is of great importance that before combining the techniques a thorough understanding of the various design approaches is made of both techniques to find out how the Delphi technique can fit into the approach used by the scen ario planning method. The scenario planning method has various approaches and this is because of the various schools of thought that are in existence. The technique actually involves a number of approaches each with stages that range between six and ten. There are three approaches that have been used widely and these are: the intuitive logic, trend impact and cross impact approaches. However later on, the last two approaches were combined by Bradfield et. al (2005) into one method called the probalistic approach and introduced the la prospective school as the third school in scenario planning (Bradfield, 2005, pp. 795-812). A closer examination of these approaches reveals they have varied stages that could be seen to serve the various interests of the authors with very little consensus on what should be the common approach. Each of these approaches is seen to work in the same manner with the other though there exist slight variations. Nowack, Endrikat & Guenther (2011: 1606) in thei r research identify one generic approach that cuts across all the three schools and which was built on the generic foresight approach proposed by Bishop et. al. The approach is divided into six stages for it to be complete and includes two main phases of scenario planning which are: scenario development and scenario transfer. In the first phase the planner sees various states of the future while in

Celebrities from magazines Essay Example for Free

Celebrities from magazines Essay I have chosen to study and research this statement as I believe that the media puts pressure on young girls to conform to to the idealistic images constantly portrayed in the media. Slimming articles along with related television programmed has increased. The number of young girls within this age span that develop eating disorders has increased in the last thirty five years. I feel that the media and its ideal of super slim models and celebrities that dominate the media affect me. I intend to tackle the issue head on and first of all ask the question what is the relationship between the media and eating disorders. Vaughnhan and Fous conducted a study looking at the amount of time that girls were exposed to media and the development of eating disorders. They used 374 girls ranging from 12-14. They were surveyed twice at different times, each being one year apart. The girls were given the same survey both times which contained questions regarding the amount of time they were exposed to fashion magazines and TV. They also included questions that would reveal symptoms of have eating disorders. After obtaining the results from these surveys they were able to com up with some possible conclusions. The results showed that the girls who had increased their exposure to fashion magazines from the first survey to the second had also increased signs of eating disorder symptoms, and visor versa. The evidence from this study suggest that there is a definite link between developing eating disorders and the media. Results also imply that girls become influenced by the media and can develop a complex about their bodies from a young age. From this we can see that media has a direct effect on young girls which could lead to eating disorders. Girls/women predominantly strive to be perceived as attractive to the opposite sex. I want to see if within the last fifty years the ideal body image has changed. Is the ideal woman sown as slim, attractive young etc.? Garner, looked into this when he assed the height , weight and body measurements of Playboy centrefolds and miss America pageants from 1960 to 1979. He found that the percentage of the average weight of the models had decreased. In 1960 the average weight of playboy models were 91% of the average mean, but by 1978 the mean weight of the models had dropped to 84%. It would be interesting to see id this trend continued, from my own observations of women used in the media today, when the normal size for a model is a size 6, I would believe that they had, from looking at various popular fashion magazines. This would suggest that the statement thin is in used in these magazines is true. Both studies suggest that the concept I lay out, that womens ideal shape that they strive to be is directly influenced by the material they read, is very much true.

Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Ess

Symbolism, Imagery, and Theme of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost How can an author effectively convey a universal message to the broadest audience possible? Simple. The author must simply create a completely impartial narrator, devoid of sex, status, or age. The Road Not Taken is a poem told by an impartial narrator who has come to a crossroads in his/her life. The crossroads is represented by a forked path that leads through a forest. The setting is also impartial; the forest is anytime and anywhere the reader desires it to be. The narrator is forced to make a life-decision, thus changing the course of his/her life forever. Symbolism and imagery are used effectively to reinforce the main theme of the poem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One instance of symbolism in the first stanza is "And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth;".   This symbol shows to me that the person who needs to make this life decision is trying to peer into the future to see what the outcome would be if he takes a certain path.   Ã‚  He cannot see past the immediate future, hence the ref...

Decision Making Stages Essay

Decision making (decision from Latin decidere â€Å"to decide, determine,† literally â€Å"to cut off,† from de- â€Å"off† and caedere â€Å"to cut†) can be regarded as the mental processes (cognitive process) resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice.[1] The output can be an action or an opinion of choice. * | Decision making stages Developed by B. Aubrey Fisher, there are four stages that should be involved in all group decision making. These stages, or sometimes called phases, are important for the decision making process to begin Orientation stage – This phase is where members meet for the first time and start to get to know each other. Conflict stage – Once group members become familiar with each other, disputes, little fights and arguments occur. Group members eventually work it out. Emergence stage – The group begins to clear up vague opinions by talking about them. Reinforcement stage – Members finally make a decision, while justifying themselves that it was the right decision. It is said that critical norms in a group improves the quality of decisions, while the majority of opinions (called consensus norms) do not. This is due to collaboration between one another, and when group members get used to, and familiar with, each other, they will tend to argue and create more of a di spute to agree upon one decision. This does not mean that all group members fully agree — they may not want argue further just to be liked by other group members or to â€Å"fit in†.[12] Q2 A management information system (MIS) is a system that provides information needed to manage organizations effectively. Management information systems are regarded to be a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Applications of MIS ———With computers being as ubiquitous as they are today, there’s hardly any large business that does not rely extensively on their IT systems. However, there are several specific fields in which MIS has become invaluable. Strategy Support While computers cannot create business strategies by themselves they can assist management in understanding the effects of their strategies, and help enable effective decision-making. ï  ¶ MIS systems can be used to transform data into information useful for decision ma king. Computers can provide financial statements and performance reports to assist in the planning, monitoring and implementation of strategy. MIS systems provide a valuable function in that they can collate into coherent reports unmanageable volumes of data that would otherwise be broadly useless to decision makers. By studying these reports decision-makers can identify patterns and trends that would have remained unseen if the raw data were consulted manually. ï  ¶ MIS systems can also use these raw data to run simulations – hypothetical scenarios that answer a range of ‘what if’ questions regarding alterations in strategy. For instance, MIS systems can provide predictions about the effect on sales that an alteration in price would have on a product. These Decision Support Systems (DSS) enable more informed decision making within an enterprise than would be possible without MIS systems. Q3 Information Resources Management (IRM) is an emerging discipline that helps managers assess and exploit their information assets for business development. It draws on the techniques of information science (libraries) and information systems (IT related). It an important foundation for knowledge management, in that deals systematically with explicit knowledge. Knowledge centres often play an important part in introducing IRM into an organization. Identification:- * Identifies gaps and duplication of information * Clarifies roles and responsibilities of owners and users of information * Provide costs saving in the procurement and handling of information * Identifies cost/benefits of different information resources * Actively supports management decision processes with quality information Development :- 1. Understand the role of Information. Information can add value to your products and services. Improved information flows can improve the quality of decision making and internal operations. Yet many managers do not fully understand the real impact of information – the cost of a lost opportunity, of a poor product, of a strategic mistake – all risks that can be reduced by using the appropriate information. 2. Assign Responsibility for Leading your IRM Initiative. Developing value from information resources is often a responsibility that falls between the cracks of several departments – the user departments in different business units, and corporate planning, MIS units or librarians.. 3. Develop Clear Policies on Information Resources Policies for ascertaining information needs, acquiring and managing information throughout its life cycle. Pay particular attention to ownership, information integrity and sharing. Make the policies consistent with your organisational culture. 4. Conduct an Information Audit (Knowledge Inventory). Identify current knowledge and information resources (or entities), their users, usage and importance. Identify sources, cost and value. Classify information and knowledge by its key attributes. Develop knowledge maps. As knowledge management gains prominence, this is sometimes called a knowledge inventory â€Å"knowing what you know†. 5. Link to Management Processes. Make sure that key decision and business process are supported with high leverage information. Assess each process for its information needs. 6. Systematic scanning. Systematically scan your business environment. This includes the wider environment – legal and regulatory, political, social, economic and technological – as well as the inner environment of your industry, markets, customers and competitors. Provide selective and tailored dissemination of vital signs to key executives. This goes beyond the daily abstracting service provided by many suppliers. 7. Mix hard/soft, internal/external. True patterns and insights emerge when internal and external data is juxtaposed, when hard data is evaluated against qualitative analysis. Tweak your MkIS system to do these comparisons. 7. Optimize your information purchases. You don’t have to control purchasing, but most organisations do not know how much they are really spending on external information. By treating consultancy, market research, library expenses, report and databases as separate categories, many organisations are confusing media with content. 8. Introduce mining and refining processes. Good information management involves ‘data mining’, ‘information refining’ and ‘knowledge editing’. You can use technology such as intelligent agents, to help, but ultimately subject matter experts are needed to repackage relevant material in a user friendly format. One useful technique is content analysis, whose methods have been developed by Trend Monitor International in their Information Refinery, and are used in our analysis services. The classifying, synthesising and refining of information combines the crafts of the information scientist, librarian, business analyst and market researcher/analyst. Yet many organisations do not integrate these disciplines. 9. Develop Appropriate Technological Systems Continual advances in technology increase the opportunities available for competitive advantage through effective information management. In particular, intranets, groupware and other collaborative technologies make it possible for more widespread sharing and collaborative use of information. Advances in text retrieval, document management and a host of other trends in knowledge management technologies have all created new opportunities for providers and users alike. 10. Exploit technology convergence. Telecommunications, office systems, publishing, documentation are converging. Exploit this convergence through open networking, using facilities such as the World Wide Web, not just for external information dissemination but for sharing information internally. 11. Encourage a Sharing Culture Information acquires value when turned into intelligence. Market Intelligence Systems (MkIS) are human expert-centred. Raw information needs interpretation, discussing and analysing teams of experts, offering different perspectives. This know-how sharing is a hall-mark of successful organisations. Q4 Mis use in financial management: Management Information Systems (MIS) in Finance have been widely adopted both by corporations as well as governments. They are information systems with capacity to maintain large data bases enabling organizations to store, organize and access financial information easily. 1. General Ledger * The main use of a management information System (MIS) in finance is that it automatically updates all the transactions in the General Ledger. The General Ledger is the core component of all financial information systems. Financial transactions are simultaneously posted on the various accounts that comprise the organization’s â€Å"Chart of Accounts†. Simultaneous updating of accounts such as sales, inventory and accounts receivable, reduces errors. It also provides an accurate and permanent record of all historical transactions. Cash Management * Cash flow management is an important use of MIS in Finance. Cash Management refers to the control, monitoring and forecasting of cash for financing needs. Use of MIS in Finance helps companies track the flow of cash through accounts receivable and accounts payable accurately. Accurate records also help in monitoring cost of goods sold. This can help pin point areas that eat up cash flow such as inventory costs, high raw material costs or unreliable sales. * Sponsored Links * CFP Certification course ICICIdirect experts help you become a Certified Financial Planner.Apply www.icicidirect.com/CFP Budget Planning * Financial budget planning uses proforma or projected financial statements that serve as as formal documents of management’s expectations regarding sales, expenses and other financial transactions. Thus financial budgets are tools used both for planning as well as control. MIS in finance helps organizations evaluate â€Å"what if† scenarios. By modifying the financial ratios, management can foresee the effects of various scenarios on the financial statements. MIS thus serves as a decision making tool, helping in choosing appropriate financial goals. Financial Reporting * The use of MIS systems in Finance enables companies to generate multiple financial reports accurately and consistently. Generation of financial statements both for internal reports as well as for shareholder information takes less effort because of the automatic updating of the General Ledger. Compliance with Government regulations as well as auditing requirements is also easier because the records are accurate and provide a permanent historical map of transactions that can be verified. Financial Modeling * A financial model is a system that incorporates mathematics, logic and data in the form of a large database. The model is used to manipulate the financial variables that affect earnings thus enabling planners to view the implications of their planning decisions. MIS in Finance enables organizations to store a large amount of data. This helps managers develop accurate models of the external environment and thus incorporate realistic â€Å"what if† scenarios into their long-range planning goal. PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: Production means transformation of Raw materials into finished products for sale. According to E. L. Brech, â€Å" Production Management is the process of effective planning and regulating the operations of that section of an enterprise which is responsible for the actual transformation of materials into finished products†. 1.Statergic planning 2 tactical planning 3 operational procedure. Q5 computer programs that are derived from a branch of computer science research called Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI’s scientific goal is to understand intelligence by building computer programs that exhibit intelligent behavior. It is concerned with the concepts and methods of symbolic inference, or reasoning, by a computer, and how the knowledge used to make those inferences will be represented inside the machine. Of course, the term intelligence covers many cognitive skills, including the ability to solve problems, learn, and understand language; AI addresses all of those. The Building Blocks of Expert Systems Every expert system consists of two principal parts: the knowledge base; and the reasoning, or inference, engine. The knowledge base of expert systems contains both factual and heuristic knowledge. Factual knowledge is that knowledge of the task domain that is widely shared, typically found in textbooks or journals, and commonly agreed upon by those knowledgeable in the particular field. Heuristic knowledge is the less rigorous, more experiential, more judgmental knowledge of performance. In contrast to factual knowledge, heuristic knowledge is rarely discussed, and is largely individualistic. It is the knowledge of good practice, good judgment, and plausible reasoning in the field. It is the knowledge that underlies the â€Å"art of good guessing.† Knowledge representation formalizes and organizes the knowledge. One widely used representation is the production rule, or simply rule. A rule consists of an IF part and a THEN part (also called a condition and an action). Example: Robotics Use of robots: for example, in industry, health, warfare, airlines, space, underwater exploration Q6 An integral part of any eBusiness system is its database. However, an advanced study of implementing databases is beyond the scope of this course. Here, for now, we are concerned with understanding the role that a database plays in an ebusiness system and in gaining an appreciation for the relational approach to managing data. A relational database turns raw data into persistent structured collections of information. In addition to managing information a database defines the relationships within an ebusiness system. The MIS is supported by database in its endeavor to support the management in decision making. The database models be it the NDBM, the HDBM or the RDBM, play the same role in the MIS. With the latest computer hardware and software capabilities the RDBMS have become popular. The concept of the end user computing can be implemented easily with the database approach to the information system. With the database approach, considerable data processing efforts, which were spent in the approach of the conventional system, are saved. The data is made independent of its application. The MIS designs have become more dependable due to the database and the SQL. The rigidity of the design is replaced by the flexibility of the design. It is now possible to review the applications more frequently from the point of view of utility and have them modified, if necessary. The database has strengthened the foundations of the MIS due to the following: * The database can be evolved to the new needs of the MIS. * The multiple needs can be met with easily. * The data design and the output design is flexible * Open system design of the MIS is possible. * The query handling becomes easier due to the Standard SQL. * User-friendly end user computing is possible. * The data is freed from its ownership and its use has become universal. * The Information Technology provides tools to handle distributed multiple databases making the MIS richer.

Analyse the effects of domestic and global free trade Essay

Analyse the effects of domestic and global free trade and protection policies on the Australian economy Free trade is the unrestricted purchase and sale of goods and services between countries without the imposition of protection such as tariffs and quotas. This enables economies to focus on their core competitive advantage(s), thereby maximizing economic output and fostering income growth for their citizens. Australian exports rose from $66.6 billion in 1990-91 to $300.4 billion in 2012-13, with an average growth in export volumes of 4.6 per cent per annum since 1990-91. This is reflective of Australia’s proactive actions to phase out protection since the 1970s. The major effects of domestic and global free trade and protection policies on the Australian economy are structural change, competitiveness and efficiency, unemployment, living standards and economic growth. A move to trade liberalisation since the 1970s in Australia has drastically changed the structure of the economy. Structural change involves changes in the patterns of production that reflect changes in technology, consumer demand, global competitiveness and other factors. Protection polices affect the natural change in the structure of an economy, often leading to a decline in globally competitive industries. In 2011-12 Australia’s net tariff assistance was $1.1 billion, a very small percentage of GDP (less than 0.1%). Tariff levels in Australia have fallen from a massive 36% in 1968-9 to 1.8% in 2011, thus illustrating why Australia is one of the most open economies in the world. However, this has caused both positive and negative effects; the positive being that Australian industries have become more competitive and efficient as they are forced to focus on their comparative advantage; the negative is that heavily protected industries have suffered decline and job losses. Australia’s rural and manufacturing industries have suffered sustained negative growth over the past decade due to a reduction in domestic protection policies. On the contrary, the minerals and metals industry has grown significantly over this period. The removal of protectionism can jeopardise employment, especially in import competing industries and low-skilled labour industries. For example, Toyota and Holden will close their manufacturing operations partly due to tariffs on imported cars being reduced from a previous 50% to 5% in 2010, ending Australia’s car manufacturing sector by 2017. However, removing protectionism should lead to new employment opportunities and up-skilling of  the workforce into new and emerging growth sectors such as Biotech and Green Engineering industries etc. Australia’s composition of exports was relatively equal in 1989-90 with 33% being minerals and metals, rural 23%, services 20% and manufacturing 13%. As of 2012-13, minerals and metals dominated Australia’s composition of exports at 57%, whilst rural exports dropped to 12%, with a general decline in others. This not only shows the large impact of the mining boom on the Australia’s composition of exports, but also how a move to free trade has influenced the structure of the economy, especially agriculture and manufacturing. Globalisation has been both a benefit and a hindrance as regional trade blocs and other agreements work on a ‘most favoured nation’ principle, making export-competing industries suffer all around the world in small economies, and limiting the advancement of global free trade. Because Australia has a high level of agricultural trade (12% of total exports), and is a relatively small economy, they suffer disadvantages as a result of protectionist policies of other nations and trading blocs. One of the most infamous trading blocs in relation to agriculture is the European Union. The EU for several decades has subsidised agricultural production through the Common Agricultural Policy. Additionally, farmers receive significant subsidies in other areas of the world, such as the US, Japan, Korea and Switzerland. In 2012, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) estimated that the removal of China and Korea’s wine tariffs would increase the export revenue of the Australian wine industry by $47 million. Unfortunately, there has been poor progress in reducing agricultural protection in recent years. In fact, if global trade liberalisation was achieved by the WTO’s Doha Round, it could have boosted Australia’s agricultural exports by US$9 billion by 2020; thus displaying how highly protectionist economies and trade blocs adversely affect the Australian economy. Since Australia’s first free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand in 1983, Bilateral and Multilateral FTA’s have been a great advantage and focus in securing economic prosperity for Australia. Australia’s two-way trade in goods and services was A$616 bn in 2012. Australia has seven FTAs currently in force with New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, US, Chile, ASEAN (with New  Zealand) and Malaysia. Together, these countries account for 28% of Australia’s total trade, which displays the great benefit of bilateral FTAs to the Australian economy. Additionally, there are four bilateral FTA negotiations currently in place, two of which are substantial trading partners; China, being Australia’s largest export market (A$78.7 bn) and Japan, being Australia’s second largest export market (A$49.8 bn). The Japanese Free Trade Agreement has been negotiated, and will be a great benefit to the Australian economy, especially the agricultural sector, for example tariffs on beef and dairy exports will be reduced from 38% to 23.5% over 20 years. Australia’s main multilateral agreement is the AANZFTA which came into effect in 2010, and covers 20% of Australia’s trade in goods and services and effectively creates a free trade area of over 600 million people. This agreement is forecast to boost the Australian economy by US$19 bn during the decade following its implementation in 2010. These examples of Australia’s FTAs show the positive effects of global free trade on the Australian economy. As Australia continually lowers protection levels and trade barriers, there will be both positive and negative effects, leading to a long term decrease in the current account deficit. When protection is lowered, there will be a short term increase in the CAD, as tariffs and quotas wil l be waived leading to higher export volumes. However, since less protection leads to a more competitive economy, the CAD will decrease in the longer term as exports will generally increase. The government’s reluctance to lower trade barriers up until the 1970-80s is arguably the reason for Australia’s lower competiveness and higher CAD, being a deficit of $23 bn in 2012, and $10 bn in the fourth quarter of 2013. Australia’s growth in exports reached 6% in 2012, double the average rate over the last 10 years. However, this has not contributed to any decrease in the CAD, as export prices declined by 10.2%, and Australia’s terms of trade decreased by 10.7% mainly due to the slowing of the mining boom. As protection levels reduce, hopefully the competitiveness of the Australian economy picks up during this period of structural change, leading to a long term decrease in the CAD. The effects of domestic and global free trade, although mostly negative in the short term, will increase Australia’s competitiveness and benefit the Australian economy in the long term. Unfortunately, many regional and unilateral protection polices still remain in p lace, disadvantaging the  economy in many ways, and limiting the advancement of global free trade.

Achebes view of the missionaries in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

Achebes view of the missionaries in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, is a story about a Nigerian Igbo tribe forced to endure, and live with European Christians. These Europeans were colonizing Africa with the intentions of setting up Christian missionaries. While their intentions were genuine, their presence was devastating to the Ibo culture. Achebe did not like how the Europeans and the Igbo people interacted with each other. The European missionaries viewed their religion as superior to the Igbo religion because there was never an effort made by them to understand the Ibo religion.English: Chinua Achebe speaking at Asbury Hall, Bu...The missionaries' goal was to come to Nigeria and take control of the Igbo society. In order for them to do this, they had to win the people over and for them to do that; they converted the Igbo people to Christianity. Achebe did not agree with the missionaries and in his story, he tried to get the reader to emphasize with the Igbo culture. In the story, he describes every reason and purpose for every action the Igbo people did. He talked about their festivals and their traditions. He even used words like obi and egwugwu as a way to connect the reader with the Igbo language.Achebe hated what the missionaries did and how they tried to colonize his people. I think the story of a man who killed a messenger and hanged himself makes an interesting reading. The death of Okonkwo is symbolic and Achebe ends the story like this to show the reader how the Europeans viewed the Igbo people. Okonkwo killed himself because the Christian missionaries did not understand their religion and all they wanted to do was to break up their religious meetings and convert people to Christianity. Achebe felt like if the Christian missionaries learned about the Igbo people, they might...

Resting Easy! 5 Top Tips for Beating Student Insomnia

Resting Easy! 5 Top Tips for Beating Student Insomnia Resting Easy! 5 Top Tips for Beating Student Insomnia If you’re a student, there’s a good chance you’re tired while you’re reading this. After all, there’s a lot you have to pack into your life: studies, a social life, a part-time job, extracurricular activities Finding time to sleep amidst all this can be hard! Add to that the high rates of insomnia caused by stress and bad sleeping habits, and we have a lot of exhausted students out there! Scenes like this can be seen in college libraries across the world. [Photo: Shanghai killer whale/wikimedia] But a lack of sleep can affect your grades, as well as your long term health. So it might be time to put sleeplessness to bed (PUN ALERT! PUN ALERT!) using our top five tips for beating insomnia! 1. Have a â€Å"Bedtime† You probably remember â€Å"bedtime† as something you resented as a child. But now that you’re old enough not to have to be told when you should rest, setting a regular time at which you go to bed can ensure healthier sleeping habits. 2. Beware Screens We’re all glued to our smartphones, tablets and laptops these days, but did you know that the blue light these screens emit can trick your brain into thinking it is daytime when it isn’t? Not likely to sleep any time soon. [Johan Viirok/flickr] If you need to use your computer or smartphone in the evening, you should use a filter that removes the blue light produced by many electronic devices so it doesn’t affect your sleeping patterns. 3. Diet and Exercise As much as you might hate to hear it, a diet of beer, coffee and junk food (all celebrated parts of the student lifestyle) is unlikely to help you sleep. Particularly important is cutting back on caffeine, alcohol and fizzy pop before bed. Likewise, some vigorous exercise around six hours before you sleep will burn up excess energy and help ensure a peaceful night. 4. De-Stress Yo’ Self! Stress is a cause of insomnia and lack of sleep can cause stress, so it’s easy to get stuck in a vicious circle of not sleeping and worrying about feeling exhausted. As such, it’s vital to know the signs of stress and to relax whenever possible. If you don’t feel like you have time to chill, it might be a good idea to cut down on non-essential activities so that you have chance to rest. 5. Manage Your Sleep Environment Make sure your bedroom is a suitable sleeping habitat. Ideally, your room will be cool, dark and quiet throughout the night. And a good mattress is an investment you won’t regret. If you still need convincing, try spending several months sleeping on an inflatable mattress in a tiny box room in a busy, noisy part of town and see how tired you feel at the end of it. In our experience, this is enough to make anyone appreciate the value of a proper bed. These guys have it right. Be more like these guys.

Written Assignment 3 - Bank of America Corporation

Written 3 - Bank of America Corporation - Assignment Example Purchasing countrywide financial and Merrill lynch can be termed as an unwise decision taken by the company (Richard, 2013) as they did this while the economy faced a financial crisis. Therefore, the company failed to make sound decisions relating to its operations. Bank of America serves as the largest consumer bank in the United States of America. It has a large number of members, both locally and internationally. Being a global company allows it to reach a wider group of customers, thus increasing its competitiveness. More to these, the company deals with a multiple of activities. The activities include consumer and small business banking, corporate banking, credit cards, mortgage lending, and asset management. The various activities contribute to the success of the company as losses in one segment can be countered by profits in another sector. More to this, the law suit against the company exposes it to negative publicity, which may lead to greater losses of the company. The bank also faces a financial shortage, which makes the running of the organization difficult. According to the company’s balance sheet for this period, the company experienced a decrease in its cash resources by $12912 million, its fixed assets dropped by $1194 million, while the noncurrent assets increased by $42804 million. The debtors of the company increased by $3708 million. This shows that the company’s operations became worse from 2009 to 2010. More to these, the liabilities of the company grew by $44806 million, thus depicting financial difficulties for the company. In terms of shareholding, the number of preference shares reduced by more than half within this period, but the ordinary shareholding increased marginally. However, the company received a decline in the amount of total equity from 2009 to 2010. Given the need to retain, and attract more customers to the company, the bank should focus on promoting the convenience of

Film Analysis of final sequence in Se7en Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Film Analysis of final sequence in Se7en - Essay Example While Mills is controlling Doe at gunpoint, Doe talks about how much he admires Mills, but does not explain why. Somerset opens the box and shrinks back in horror at the scene of the contents in the box. He runs back to advise Mills not to pay attention to Doe, but the murderer discloses that the box has Mills wife’s head. Informing that he had bought information about Mills by pretending as a tabloid reporter, Doe declares that he symbolize the sin of "Envy" as he was envious of Mills ordinary life, and murdered Tracy after unable to "play husband" with her. He then torments the distressed Mills with the information that Tracy was expecting. Somerset is powerless to control Mills as he empties his gun into Doe, becoming the incarnation of "Wrath". After a  highly shaken and dazed Mills is taken away, Somerset is asked where he will be to which he answers, "around". The most significant scene in the clip is when Doe is inciting Mills and at the same time Somerset is trying t o reason with Mills. The two distinct but overlapping voices are playing in the background and finally Mills shoots Doe. Narrative Function - The last scene brings out the remaining two sin and two bodies as told by Doe to the police. The last scene connects the dot or clues which were spread over the entire movie. Doe craves for a normal life yet feels he has to do his duty of punishing the sinners. He sees that Mills is short tempered. Doe feels he himself is a sinner as he is envious of Mills’ life. The last scene shows three people behaving completely different from one another. The sequence makes it clear to the audience why Doe turned himself in. The sequence brings out very clearly the three different personalities. Here it is seen that Mills is an emotional person while Somerset is more stable and logical. Even in dire and extreme situations Somerset chooses to think and act. Doe on the other hand is clearly shown as the patient person, who

Anger and Fear in Post-Traumatic Experiences Essay - 13

Anger and Fear in Post-Traumatic Experiences - Essay Example As the paper outlines. while Peter seems to be devoid of our usual notion of fear and anger, the ensuing analysis would indicate that he is actually suffering from these two emotions, albeit, in a different manner. Fear is defined as an emotional feeling generated when a person feels a threat or some form of harm manifested through bravado or anxiety and usually prompting a decision whether to fight or escape from it. Anger, on the other hand, is defined as a strong feeling of grievance and displeasure. How does fear and anger manifests in the seemingly jovial and confident Peter? From our definition of fear, we can see that Peter responds to the threat of permanent paralysis by using self-reassuring (bravado) techniques such as the ‘my parents will take care of it’ and rejection of the most probable outcome by constantly thinking that he will get better and be back to normal. Anger is not readily apparent as it is not outwardly expressed but one can surmise that Peter i s angry at himself for his unfortunate accident and the ensuing helplessness the paralysis has brought upon him. He grieves for himself and his reliance on his parents signifies his resignation. This suppressed anger at his situation is often referred to as ‘hidden’ anger. Traumatic events are multidimensional in nature and are perceived as extremely unpleasant subjective experience. Not only is the biological aspect of the body harmed but also the psychological well-being of the person. Psychological response to life-changing traumatic experiences differs for every individual and depends on his personality and cognitive appraisal. Herrero observes that certain personality types are more adaptive than others. Those with a healthy personality have been observed to be more optimistic and confident with their situation and treatment than those with personality disorders such as being schizoid, antisocial, dependent and avoidant.  

Prison system of the 18th and the early 19th century Essay Example for Free

Prison system of the 18th and the early 19th century Essay In the early 1800s, state prisoner were leased to Florida companies where they were often worked as slave labor. Mart Taber was a young prisoner convicted of stealing a ride on a freight train. He died as a result of the brutal treatment administered by a lumber company boss to whom he was leased. The prison system of the 1800s and the early 1900s was based on cruel and inhumane treatment. Punishment was very tragic. The prisoners were treated as animal and consider less of inhuman because of their lawlessness. They were made to right the wrongs that they have committed either trough physical pain, endure mutilation, torture, mulcted in fines, deprive of liberty, adjudges as slave or even put to death. The American prison as we know began in New York in the early 19th century. Reformation was the goal of the founders of the system. During the colonial period and in the early years of the nation, long-term imprisonment was not a common form of punishment in prison. Instead, execution was the prescribed penalty for a wide range of offenses. People who committed less serious offenses faced public punishment such as pillorying, whipping and maiming. At the beginning of the 19th century, imprisonment had replaced public punishment and execution as a form of punishment for most crimes, except murder and treason. The early places of imprisonment ranged from wood frame houses to copper mine, such as the Connecticut prison in 1790. Then, in the early 19th century two concepts of imprisonment were introduced in New York and Pennsylvania, including what the structures should look like and how they should be operated, Few people had any idea what the structures should look like or how they should be administered. (The Evolution of the New YorkPrison System, Part I. Page1) These institutions were not only meant to be houses of convicted criminals, they also had the objective of reforming inmates into temperate, industrious, hard-working citizens and return them to their societies as new men. Sentences were long enough to allow the prison system its program of reformation. In Pennsylvania, the prison system of reformation was to separate the inmate and provide him with a small room and a exercise area totally isolated from  the human companionship Only in the purity of complete isolation could be the corruption be overcome and the restoration of faith and honesty be attained (The Evolution of the New YorkPrison System, Part I. Page2) After an appropriate period of total isolation and inactivity, the prisoner was allowed to small bits of handicraft work and a Bible in his cell. The inmate was not allowed to see another prisoner. The founders of the prison system believed that isolation was the only way for a prisoner is rehabilitated. Prison system of the 18th and early 19th century left a reasonable quantity of dead prisoners and also physical abuse to the inmate. The crime that any prisoner has committed doesnt justify the cruel and inhumane treatment they receive in jail. If the founders of the prison system from that time of period wouldnt have been so cruel, they would had avoid so many death and people being maltreated. Instead of merciless punishment they should had given them social work as their sentence and should had taken advantage from the prisoners keeping in mind that they are human beings.

Hawthorne and Young Goodman Brown :: essays research papers fc

It has always appeared to be fact that sin was an easy word to define and that merely doing anything that goes against God and his teachings is a sin. In order to avoid sin, one must possess an infinite amount of faith and be able to follow the teachings of a master that one can’t always see, but needs to understand is always there. In literature, many works have been created dealing with faith and sin, but most are usually not written from a perspective in which a sinning man does not seek redemption. Most stories are not allegories dealing with a man leaving his wife – named Faith – so that he can go off into the woods and, literally, dance with the devil. Most stories, however, are not Young Goodman Brown and most are not written by Nathaniel Hawthorne as a response to the guilt he felt over being the descendant of people involved in the Salem Witch trials. An immensely important part of this allegory is the character of Faith, Young Goodman’s wife, wh o represents just what her name says, and how her character affects the entire story. Her existence alone allows for the crisis Young Goodman Brown feels and even later further enhances that same crisis. She is both the cause and solution to all of Brown’s problems, if only he would allow himself to accept his faith rather than enter into the kingdom of the devil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Faith is a highly subjective thing that all people who wish to have religion in their lives must have and embrace. Now, Hawthorne wrote Young Goodman Brown as a commentary on a seriously religious society that went as far as to drown women who were preported to be witches. As Brown tells his wife that he is going away for a while, she – in her pink bows and her young face, implores him not to go. Brown knows that he’s about to embark on a journey where having faith is important and necessary. Even he acknowledges such a fact when he states â€Å"what a wretch am I, to leave her on such an errand.† (Hawthorne 614). Brown is fully aware that on the journey he’s about to embark on, he needs his faith. However, he’s also aware that if he brings his faith along then the meeting with the devil will go differently than planned and will end with him maybe not accepting the devil’s pleas.

Keats’ grandfather Essay

I liked ‘Death of a Naturalist’, although it wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t nice. Sometimes it wasn’t even like a poem, more like a story that I can relate to, for I used to gather frogspawn and watch the small tadpoles develop into frogs.  I like the fact that it is a modern poem, that Heaney lived in N. Ireland and that this is probably a personal memory. It makes it interesting for me; I often wonder where that flax-dam is, or if it is still around, or if it looks as I imagine. I like the way there are no specific rules followed by this poet, that Heaney doesn’t allow them to rule his poem, and that we get that precious bit of child information. That is what makes the poem different, unique and special. Then the change in atmosphere alters the poem, makes it frightening, and I can laugh at the child here because that never happened to me.  Comparison of Keats’ and Heaney’s different attitudes and techniques  Keats lived in 19th century England and Heaney lived in 20th century N. Ireland, so their outlooks on life are bound to be different, reflecting on their poetry. Keats lived at a time when ‘poets were born, not made’, and those who were poets tended to be upper class gentlemen who did not need to earn an income. So the odds were stacked against him from the start. He was born in 1795 and came from a lower class family and when he was ten the first of many tragedies struck him, changing his personality forever. His father was thrown from his horse, killing him, then Keats’ mother remarried, and almost immediately after Keats’ grandfather died. While Keats and his siblings moved in with their grandmother his mother disappeared, and then reappeared a few years later, ill with tuberculosis. Keats nursed her until she died and after that his attitude to the world changed. He then trained to be an apothecary and passed the exam in 1816  It was at this time that Keats started to write poetry. Although Keats was considered a Romantic poet Romanticism at that time was a rebellion, the lead figures being Coleridge and Wordsworth, who were under heavy criticism. In 1818 the tuberculosis that would kill Keats showed itself, probably contracted from his brother Tom who Keats had nursed. While under the strain of his illness he met Fanny Brawne, with whom he fell in love with, and in September 1819 Keats wrote many odes including ‘Ode to Autumn’, despite his sickness.  He died in 1821 when he was just 26. Keats had a short, intense life, and his poetry reflected that. He was passionate, and never did anything by halves; he put all his effort into it. In ‘Ode to Autumn’ Keats writes fervently about his autumn as he sees it. However Heaney was born almost 145 years after Keats in 1939. He lived at the family farm in Mossbawn. In 1961 he took a first in English at Queen’s College, and two yr. later took up a position as an English lecturer there.  His poetry began under the guidance of Philip Hobsbaum, an English poet whose work involved his interest in natural imagery, with occasional violence filtered through. Heaney used these ideas in his work, and was also influenced by Ted Hughes, a personal friend and fellow poet. Heaney’s poem is about nature turning nasty, and at time Heaney had already lived through World War II, so the world seemed like a dark place at that time. This poem may be Heaney echoing this thought.  Keats and Heaney both see things passionately, and paint a vivid intense picture of it, they microscope what they see, like that they are similar, but the similarities end there as what they do see is very different. Keats sees the beautiful cover of nature and Heaney to the bare basic of nature. The most obvious differences in these two poems are the techniques, as Keats and Heaney are far apart in years their language and various techniques differ. Keats uses old language, which was probably common in those days, while some of Heaney’s words are very close to speech. Keats language accompanies his classic English style of poem, uses the traditional metre in conjunction with that customary style of English poem. Heaney’s poem uses the metre along with alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, punctuation and scatological words to get his message across; Heaney’s often strong words mean that your throat even moves like a frog. In ‘Ode to Autumn’ Keats writes as if he is removed from the autumn scene, watching from afar. An air of calm detachment surrounds it, and it is more of an expression of ‘This is how it is’ than ‘I feel’. Keats’ autumn is a picture frozen in time, beautiful and undying; ageless for him. He sees it as it is then, and not the decay, which will eventually take over. Keats refuses to see that, and is an idealist, thinking that things stay as you see them, but in a way they do for Keats because we see it in the poem and he sees it in his head the same forever, and the poem is a way of forever preserving it. Heaney’s nature has a darker meaning, beneath the surface there is many layers to nature, this is just one, one of the many. However the same is not true for Keats as his nature is more simple and idealistic. Heaney chooses to show us that nature is splendid, but underneath the cover it is also frightening. He is looking for answers because we only ever see part of the story (like in the poem, we only ever see the story from the child’s point of view), because we don’t know everything. We have to grow and learn from our experiences, and this is Heaney’s experience, and there is a change in the child from being a child emotionally and being protected from things like that, and being an adult, as he grows and learns. Heaney allows us to feel and see the full force of nature, the horror, and see that we cannot control it, but that the decay can. The decay equals the change in nature, and is a metaphor for the change in the child. We are part of nature and while we are not controlled by the change caused by decay what we see and feel and thus learn from changes us.  Keats’ nature is a divine force, nothing, not even decay can change it for Keats. The power of this poem is supposed to bring alive for us autumn as Keats sees it. That’s what Romanticism is about, turning something that an ordinary person would see as perhaps disgusting, into something beautiful and wonderful. For Keats art cures everything, it didn’t matter that he was dying of tuberculosis but it did matter that he wrote this poem. I think Heaney is trying to show that maybe we are taught to see things by society, and nature is the untamed truth e.g. the child is taught at school about the frogspawn but not how it is made, not mentioning the sexual reproduction involved. Nature is a better teacher than man, it teaches about that, it teaches about recycling in the decay.  It is not enough for Heaney to just watch nature like Keats does. He must be involved in nature. He gets his wellington boots out and gets stuck in. This most likely comes from having lived on a farm, and having all the experiences he did. Keats’ poem came from his ultimately dreamy heart, forever impractical on looking at things as they are.