Latin American Literature (Marquez) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Latin American Literature (Marquez) - Essay Example When he enters the kitchen on the morning the Bishop is expected, both the cook, Victoria Guzman, and her daughter, Divina Flora, know what Santiago Nasar will not learn for some time--that two men are waiting outside the house to kill him. (Marquez, p.15-19) They, like many others Santiago will cross in the short time before his death, do not warn him. When the narrator's mother hears the news of what is to happen to Santiago, she immediately sets out to warn Placida Linero that her son is in danger, but is stopped in the street and told that "they've already killed him." The twins even reveal their plans to a policeman who passes on the information to the mayor, yet even that does not stop the murder. On her wedding night, Angela furious husband returns Angela to her family. This is seen as violence to her family, especially in the conventions of the time where such an act brings shame to both Angela and her family. As one might expect, she is now put under a lot of pressure to tel l her family who it was that took her virginity.

Who Inspires Me Essay Example for Free

Who Inspires Me Essay Some people think that for someone to inspire you the person still has to be alive. Well in my case I just recently lost the person that inspired me the most. My father, he was the person whom I asked about money, about how to get better at playing golf and about anything else I needed help with. Wesley Doolen Morgan was a sensitive and caring man, who didn’t like to show emotion much. He never said â€Å"I love you† to us, but we all knew he did. When we needed help with buying school supplies or just advice on how to save money he was the one to ask. He may not have been good with money himself but he could teach us what not to do by what he did as an example. Wes had an example for everything we asked like, how do I start a bank account? His answer was â€Å"well not like this then go into a story of how he had messed up. Dad was the ultimate golfer. He had been teaching me to golf since I could walk, and I still love it. Golfing was dads sport, he tried to always do better and encourage me and my brother to try our hardest. Sometimes he lost his temper and started to yell but he always made up for it by ice cream or extra gas money. My brother and I were so proud of how much dad stuck to playing golf and my fathers dedication to teaching beau and I was what made us so proud. That is pure dedication. As you noticed my dad had a long life and I’m proud of what he has done. He was also a sergeant in the Marine Corps. That told me he didn’t mind a challenge. Daddy loved having control and that’s why he worked hard to get up to a sergeant. Im so inspired by how much my dad has helped not only his family but his friends he inquired over the years. He was greatly loved and is missed tremendously by his friends and family.

The use of the loose coupling theory

The use of the loose coupling theory Loose coupling theory proposes that different parts of an organization are loosely related to one another. This can be understood as that different divisions of an organization are loosely coupled with one another, i.e. activities in the higher education department are loosely coupled to those in the English department activities in one department have a minimal impact, or take a long time to show up, in the other. The main thesis of his article is to argue that there are seven pros and corresponding cons of loose couplings. According to Weick (1976), loose coupling is a cognitive response to an environment of constant change, in which connections, networks, diffusion, imitation, and social comparison are less prevalent. The loose coupling systems (LCSs) are uncoordinated and have greater differentiation among components, high degrees of specialization among workers, and low predictability of future action, including change. In general, loosely coupled systems probably are cheaper t o coordinate, but are very difficult to systematically change. The goal of Weicks article is to show that all organizations do not function with tight linkages some organizations, like educational systems, are more loose, which may create more difficult problems for researchers. The loosely coupled approach has a strong parallel in more recent approaches to viewing organizations as complex systems, which has attracted considerable interest among management and organizational theorists. Birnbaum argues that complex systems such as collegial or bureaucratic institution models provide insights to the analysis of LCSs. Complex systems are bottom-up phenomena, also defined as systems comprising large numbers of agents in highly connected webs, can display both high levels of order and disorder. Importantly, order in complex systems is usually a result of micro-structuring processes that provide for robust self-organization. This form of order is not dependent on hierarchical control but is distributed, and it can lead to system-wide stability (or instability). Complex systems do well when they engage in a search for healthier and better-off states, otherwise searches are directed from the top down, and system will likely settle into only moderately fit states. Al so systems must be relatively free to interact with other systems until good fitting strategies are found. Complex systems have slow response times not because they are any slower than simpler systems in detecting environmental threats and opportunities, but because the process of adjustment takes longer. Educational systems demonstrate considerable robustness and resilience in the face of both environmental and intended change, thus the key is to focus on relationships and the building of similar behavior based around trust. Weick (1976) notes that more loosely coupled organizations offer advantages in complex environments. More autonomous groups may be more sensitive to environmental change, and offer more simultaneously adaptation to conflicting demands at the institutional level. If problems develop in one part of the system, it can be sealed off from the rest of the system. Efforts to create a less loosely coupled system or to control and centralize have not altered the overall complex system, which still remains loosely coupled. The concept of LCS is crucial to Rhoades argument about strategic activity. While Weicks strengths and challenges related to LCSs are positioned in difficulties to change organizations systematically, Rhoades approach calls for development of strategic activity through managerialism. Rhoades emphasizes that managerialism and market approaches are two sets of ideas that recently have influenced educational decision-making processes. The problem with these ideas, especially in loosely tight educational organizations, is that although it provided some change, it may not provide a basis for future improvement in education, especially in student learning. Within this model there is an assumption that there is a tight coupling between education policy (e.g. curriculum) and how teachers teach. Where improved performance is sought it is pursued through the manipulation of formal mechanisms such as rules, procedures, rewards or changed evaluation. Bureaucratic hierarchies have however been in creasingly criticized for being non-responsive and inefficient means for organizing public administration. With respect to education, they have certainly proven resistant to change. Managerial initiative is important to Rhoades in moving the universities forward, which is in contrast with loose couplings assumption where planned change has a low predictability as is unlikely to be successful within loose coupling environment. Loose coupling concept also poses some problems for leaders who want to change their organizations. Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) were well aware of this problem of change in loosely coupled systems. They argued that administrators could get around it by finding ways to tighten the coupling patters in their organizations, such as reorganization and stabilization of exchange relationships. The idea was to reduce internal and external variability in the system so that it could be more easily controlled. Thus, loosely coupled organizations can embrace change because its impact is limited. For instance, the English department can change without any punishment if no other departments are affected by its changes the loosely coupled organization as a whole isolates and neutralizes disturbance; however, change is slow. External as well as internal influences are absorbed by this organizational structure. So, the individual departments are not themselves typically difficult to change; rather, the problem lies in getting the entire organization to change, in diffusing the change across the networks. Birnbaum (1988) clearly articulates that to strengthen academic leadership, one must reform structures, adopt more rationalized management systems, and increase the power of executive leadership to make faster, more efficient, and more effective decisions, but for leadership to be effective within LCS, communication has to be present as a sense of general openness in institutional governance and climate. Leaders create organized disorder in which dynamic things happen at multiple locales within the system, thus creating a new behavior rather than controlling organizational activities. Also, the application of data to interaction permits information to influence preferences and possibilities, and that leads to decisions grounded in reality. It is not only about collection, analysis, and dissemination of data, but also about different constituents being interested in that data a nd how it interacts (Birnbaum, 1988). The interaction leads not only to positive administrative decision-making, but also to being rational and looking for consensus among loosely coupled units. Complex organizations cannot function effectively over the long term without leaders to coordinate the activities, represent them, and symbolize the institutional purpose (Birnbaum, 1988). As to administrative decision-making, Weick (1976) notices that LCSs are difficult to change systematically, thus any decision-making change that has to be discussed will encounter a problem of systematic change. The issue with implementation of any administrative change will always come down to the fact that teaching is isolated work and improving instruction is strictly a matter of individual initiative. Thus, the problem with administrative decision-making in LCS is that colleges do not show any collective impact on student learning. The problem with it is also that decision-making is explicitly and directly concerned with the instructional core of education by arguing that educational institutions and their faculty and staff need to be accountable for student learning. Moreover, loose coupling implies that the source of an effect may be located at a considerable distance in time or organizational structure from the effect itself, thus amplification of non-linear cycles makes it p ossible for an insignificant decision to have a major effect as it moves through the system over time (Birnbaum, 1988, p. 71). Birnbaum describes this as butterfly effect and indicates that cause and effect are difficult to predict or determine in loose coupling model. Moreover, circular systems that he describes may also imply about administrative decision-making. He encourages thinking in circles as thinking of unintended consequences that may arise with complexity of how things interact. Although, institutional prestige, faculty morale, student enrollment, and sense of community are crucial for this model, the feedback loops are missing from this model as well as culture of the organization. Also, local adaptations will not always assist with generating efficient responses to system-wide challenges in a decision-making process. Loose coupling implies slow diffusion of central initiatives. As a consequence, the administrator would have to start projects earlier, start more project s, start projects in a greater variety of places, and even talk more frequently about those projects that have been started. The perspective of educational systems as being loosely coupled seems to be weak at explaining one major decision making fact that approaches to schooling have remained remarkably uniform across geography and time. If education systems are loosely coupled, diverse practices should emerge in response to differing local needs and differing ideas about education. Loose coupling can account for the diversity of ways in which units implement different decisions; for instance, the RCM is the way to find innovative options to strengthen individual units where the center does not correlate with units (Rhoades, 2000). In order to improve administrative decision-making, the administrator should emphasize the role of interaction among an organizations members, as well as collaboration and negotiation as methods to determine how decisions should be carried. 2. The Mode 2 knowledge production model is perhaps the most well-known term used to indicate the impact of changes for the university sector. Gibbons et. al.(1994) in the mid-1990s presented their Mode 2 theory saying that university researchers, who previously most often worked on internal disciplinary Mode 1 problems, were now more inclined to involve themselves closely in industrial and governmental research collaborations. Economical factors were seen to be the drivers, as closer relations between university research and industry developed to meet competition from the growing economies. This trend prompted new organizations such as think tanks or hybrid organizations, which often were places where the new front research was to be found. Gibbons et. al. referred to these as Mode 2 organizations, seeing them as generic for the whole research landscape. It seems that Mode 2 model especially in research area was a result of a general economic development towards post-industrialism. Moreover, mode 2 knowledge production model is application-based, and can be explored in an interdisciplinary fashion. As such, the emergence of Mode 2 production would not eclipse Mode 1 methods entirely. In a resource-seeking environment, Mode 2 would likely be more attractive to outside funding agencies and investors due to its application-based principles. Mode 2 may not lead to increased social accountability rather than being held to social values, Mode 2 knowledge would respond to market values, thus will privilege certain kinds of knowledge over others. In this sense, Mode 2 is related to academic capitalism that proposes market-relevant knowledge production. From an academic capitalism perspective, Mode 2 can have a tendency to focus on disciplines with well-known possibilities for commercial use, i.e. technology and medicine, whereas other disciplines may be mostly ignored. By the same token, since both concepts are normative, the system of norms may be well affected especially among traditional researchers within social sciences. In this area, internal interests for research questions seem to be far away from industrys interest for commercial products or the governments interest for useful results. However, one can make an argument supporting Mode 2 and somehow against the notions of academic capitalism. It has to be noticed that Mode 2 would not push research outside of the university, but rather that applied science and the facilities for training researchers would make university-industry relations stronger. For instance, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and related intellectual property legislation profoundly affected the commercial poten tial of government-sponsored research and still allowed research to be conducted within the realm of universities walls. Thus, technology transfer was quite symbolic and the Act was a step toward developing a social exchange between university science and society. In this sense, Mode 2 can be seen as a positive engine that transformed the public research model. Moreover, knowledge production is crucial because knowledge society seen through the lens of academic capitalism would focus more on the activities of higher education institutions in the two countries in a particular regional sphere. Thus, the argument may take us to propositions of globalization and internationalization. A critique that may arise from academic capitalism proponents is the fact that there is no support for a merger of interests between researchers and industry. Researchers at the institutes (or centers of excellence) instead devote their precious time to a shorter research perspective that is strictly coming from the industry or directed toward it. This process was seen as influenced by reductions in state-support, an explanation quite close to the one put forward by Slaughter Leslie (1997). Thus, Mode 2 may jeopardize a strictly public focus of research universities when these start heavily getting involved with the industry. Even though Mode 2 involves multidisciplinary teams brought together for short periods of time to work on specific problems in the real world, this concept, from strictly academic capitalism critique, may not show any organizational diversity, which is at the core of academic capitalism. Also, academic capitalism may criticize Mode 2 as a concept of political i deology rather than a descriptive theory that academic capitalism claims to be. As for similarities, both concepts apply that there are three major actors in science university, industry and government and these extend beyond their former specific areas and change their former roles in closer collaborations for the benefit of economic development of society, thus academic capitalism partly confirms the claims of rising Mode 2. From the perspective of institutional theory, Mode 2 is a problem related to institutional structures. From an institutional theory standpoint, there are templates for organizing institutions that are implicitly understood and translated to new members of an organization. Moreover, these templates are interpretive schema, underlying values and assumptions, similar to mental models (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Scott, 1995). Templates of institutional behavior create resistance to change. One concept within the institutional theory that has regularly been applied to higher education institutions to explain change is institutional isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983), which suggests that institutions do not change as a result of a competitive market, external pressures or efficiency, but rather through the force of homogenization, striving to be like other types of colleges perceived to be elite. Mode 2 contrasts with institutional theory in the sense of the concept of change because influence of market and other external forces (such as NGOs or TNOs) create a high degree of heterogeneity among institutions. Institutional isomorphism also suggests that institutions tend not to be distinctive in their identity development or image, while Mode 2 emphasizes on organizations that do not have to necessarily conform to the rules and belief systems prevailing in the existing environment. For instance, older and well-established universities with strong cultures will have more specific power to resist change, while other institutions may be more vulnerable to market ideas. Since universities are complex and conflicted organizations, the institutional isomorphism that is projected by institutional theory may be one of the limitations of this theory to encourage distinctiveness and diversity of HED institutions. A critique that might arise from the institutional theory perspective is that the institutions have to learn to share their resources (physical, intellectual and  ¬Ã‚ nancial) with other kinds of knowledge producing institutions. According to Janson (2002), this task may be very difficult to accomplish considering that universities have held the monopoly among knowledge producers. Mode 2 is a threat to this status quo by encouraging alliances as well as collaborative relationships with other knowledge producers. Another critique from an IT standpoint is that Mode 2 would change standards of evaluation and accreditation as well as success and progression that would encourage more of a multidisciplinary context. For IT proponents, disciplinary boundaries are important, thus not only is traditional career path model being challenged by Mode 2, but also the nature of the undergraduate curriculum. Mode 2 is not the only knowledge production model that is challenging the more traditiona l, basic sciences model, but globalization and internationalization as well. According to Gibbons (1994), knowledge is transdisciplinary, problem-oriented, application-based, team-driven, multi-sited, partnership-based, socially useful, heterogeneous, quality controlled, re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ective and responsive, and less hierarchical than disciplinary knowledge of the kind produced in universities, that is being characterized as typically centered on disciplines, with academic hierarchies, more norm-concentrated, authoritative in regards to social behavior as well as concerned with homogeneity. Another critique is that it will be hard to protect academia from worldwide economic trends as well as production of knowledge in purely economic terms. Because Mode 2 is strictly defined in economic terms, all institutions may have a tendency for duplication and may follow one economic trend in order to survive. Scott (1995) indicates that, in order to survive, organizations must conform to the rules and belief systems prevailing in the environment because institutional isomorphism, both structural and procedural, will earn the organization legitimacy (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Meyer and Rowan, 1977). The institutional theory claims that change is less likely to happen within or among organizations, while Mode 2 encourages change especially toward the private sector being more entrepreneurial and challenging the traditional values found especially in higher education institutions. While institutional theory supports traditional values of HED institutions, Mode 2 encourages growth o f those hybrid organizations that capitalize on connections to teaching, research, and service. 4. The most important differentiation is that the concepts of globalization and internationalization that are characterized by glonacal agency heuristic (GAH) are situated above the level of nation-state. GAH as a method of thought focuses on institutions, positions, agency, and structure at three levels: national, local, and global. The concept focuses on colleges and universities (and units and faculty within them) as global agents, encouraging studies of activity and stratification regionally and internationally. However, it is not a method of positioning yourself relative to others. Globalization is not universal, because it does not feel the same for everyone, thus it is not inevitable. In this respect, globalization is uneven and asymmetrical. Moreover, the pressure that it is felt as an institution most of the time mediates. For instance, even if the pressure comes from a national or global context, the local arena may be able to mediate things. For instance, Raytheon company has a heavy involvement on the University of Arizona, however does not have hardly any on Pima Community College. On the other hand, the PCC has a pressure from auto repair industry in cooperation with Jim Click to have mechanics to fix cars. Thus, GAH provides a different response of institutions to globalization. It seems that for GAH there is no separation between globalization and internationalization because both are a total of complex interactions of human and institutional agencies at local, national, and global levels. Marginson and Rhoades (2002) define two types of agency: human agency and institutional agency. For them, it is all about positioning things not individuals. For instance, a supranational agency such as the World Bank has an im pact in developing countries, and the whole impact is being driven by market forces; thus individuals do not shape the globalization process. It takes a lot of agencies to understand what is going on and understand and find a point of where we could resist the impact. According to GAH there is limited analysis of the complex agencies and processes that define them; no global dimension to analyze yet. Thus, with it more comparative studies need to be conducted to know human agency better and also local dimensions institutions and agents. While depicting GAH, the authors base their concept on Clarks description of academic profession that is structured by a triangle, in which market-state is a starting point, from which everything spills over to disciplines and professions as well to government and management. Knight (2004) replies to this issue with the process of internationalization that is supposed to be happening on a continuum basis. Her concept of internationalization is chara cterized similar to Clarks description as a triangle, in which interactions may be of hexagonal shape, but the whole process of internationalization will happen on a continuum basis. For Knight, globalization/internationalization is binary and is an omnipresent force that institutions have to respond to. It is similar to the Newtonian account of action and reaction. However, unlike Marginson and Rhoades, she is interested in institutions approaches (the ways in which they internationalize) and their rationale (why you are doing it explanations and goals), and how they interconnect (by preparing students to exist in global society or bringing in faculty from around the world). Thus, reciprocity is of important value to this concept. It is up to you how you are changing the world. So in that sense, Knight disagrees with Marginson and Rhoades that there is opportunity for everyone to progress. It is worth mentioning that the concept of internationalization is often confused with globalization (Altbach, 2004). The main difference is that globalization may not be unalterable, but internationalization is a process involving many choices. Globalization tends to concentrate wealth, knowledge, and power in those already possessing these elements, thus diminishing the importance of peripheries. International academic mobility similarly favors well-developed education systems and institutions, thereby compounding existing inequalities. Initiatives and programs, coming largely from the north, are focused on the south. The key here is that Altbach summarizes programs and activities relevant to the American study abroad tradition while Knight emphasizes on internationalization as a process. For Knight, internationalization is a two-way street that serves important needs. For Altbach, the concept is focused largely on the south-north spectrum, where students move primarily from south to north, where north controls the process. In this sense, Altbachs approach is based on radical dependency theory that relies on neo-colonialism core. Also, I got an impression that Knights concept of internationalization is not focused on economic (mostly financial) ends. Instead, internationalization is supposed to enhance research, knowledge, and cultural understanding. For instance, one of the initiatives may include study-abroad experiences or enrichment of curriculum through offering a major in international studies or other area studies. Deeply in the core, it does not seem that the process is intended to bring financial profits, but strategically implemented will enhance competitiveness and institutional prestige. However, the process itself, if not controlled, may focus too much on institutional strategies and policies while excluding national governments. In the same aspect, I could sense a tint of skepticism in Altbachs approach in regards to an economic trend of globali zation. Even though he acknowledges the trend and claims it is inevitable, he emphasizes on negative aspects of internationalization as a process that will further diminish the intellectual as well as cultural sides within the developing countries. In addition, Knights definition of internationalization seems to limit itself to the teaching function of the institution by concentrating on the expansion of international curriculum. Although both articles of Altbach and Knight are written in the same year, it seems that Altbach hardly mentions supranational organizations while Knight already acknowledges the new trend proclaiming that not only institutions and national policy makers alone are driving the internationalization, but supranational organizations as well. The tendency for Knight is to look at challenges that globalization presents us from an insider perspective how institutions as well as individuals react to globalization through internationalization, while Altbachs approach can be seen from the outsider perspective that acknowledges institutions, but not the processes and individuals within.

Cathy Ames as the Devil in John Steinbecks East of Eden Essay

Cathy Ames as the Devil  in East of Eden    East of Eden was a novel that explored the roots of evil in its most primal form. Through intricate plot lines and complex characters, John Steinbeck weaved a tale of brutality, cruelty, and isolation. One important character that helped to illustrate the presence of evil throughout the book was Cathy Ames, an intelligent woman who ruthlessly used other people to serve her own needs. When reflecting upon East of Eden, a debate that often surfaces is whether Cathy's evil was a result of nature or nurture. Arguments for and against both sides are in the book. At some times, Cathy is portrayed as a wicked fiend who's aggression stems from nowhere but her own empty heart. Other times, Cathy appears weak and afraid of people who aren't the least bit intimidating. Those are the moments in the book where one must question whether Cathy is truly evil, or just an impatient and self-centered individual.    Cathy's upbringing did not seem to be a likely place to foster dissent and animosity in the young girl. Her pa...

Drama: Daydreams and nightmares

The issue we were set to explore in the lessons was daydreams and nightmares. I enjoyed doing this topic because it allows you to act out scenes that are not real and what normal people think about in their everyday life. It also allows you to express your own thoughts. I think that nightmare chair is a very effective way of putting across to the audience what has happened during the course of the play. We started the topic off with nightmare chair. In groups of six we had to make up a play with the second scene as nightmare chair. Our group found it very hard to think of a nightmare to do. So we ended up with our story being about a boy called Jack, who dared his friend, Paul, to walk across the railway track. However while Paul was walking back a train crushed him. This meant that Jack, who dared his friend, was having the nightmare. Jack had to sit in the middle and everyone else in a circle around him. We were chanting things like ‘ You shouldn't have done that', ‘you killed my best friend' and ‘you killed my son'. We then had to develop our plays so that they had the beginning of the story, then the nightmare chair, and then the end of the story. We had to have a monologue at the beginning of the story, but it could not tell the whole story. I found that making up the beginning and the end was harder to make up then the nightmares was. This was probably because we had the middle of the play and had to work around that. We then began the daydream part of the topic. We started off by reading a few pages of a play, Ernie's Great Hallucinations. This play was about a boy who used to daydream a lot however in his hallucinations they actual came true. The part we read was when Ernie and his Auntie May had gone to a fair, and the go to see a boxing match. The boxer want to win loses and the winner challenges anyone from the audience to go and fight him. No one from the audience goes so Auntie May goes in. that's when Ernie starts to daydream that his Auntie becomes the world unofficial champion and she does. We got to read the play once and then had to make our own interpretation of it from memory. This helped us to give us an idea of how we could do our next task. In different groups of six we had to make up our own versions of Ernie's hallucinations. We had two choice of how to do our plays. We could either have the daydream affect real life or just have it as a normal daydream. We chose to have the daydream affect real life. The play was about a girl called Edwina who wanted to become a super model. One day she was in her maths class and she started to daydream about being a world famous model and winning an award for being the worlds most beautiful model. Then the next day at school teacher asks for Edwina's homework and tells him she did not do it because she was modelling we then realise that her daydream was not actually a dream but did actually happened. When we first started doing the play no one liked it. NIGHTMARE CHAIR. In the nightmare chair play I did not have a very big part. I was the passer-by at the railway station. When Paul gets crushed I offer Jack my mobile to call the ambulance. When Jack is having a nightmare I walk around him saying ‘you shouldn't have done that.' My character thought that the boys should have had more sense than to play near the railway tracks. She was always looking up from her paper as she thought they were up to no good whish they were. When I offered Jack my phone I had to make my voice sound panicky and had to rush my words to show that she was thinking quickly about what to do next. When doing the nightmare chair I had to make my voice sound flat and cold, so that it sounded like we were all blaming Jack for killing Paul. I think my performance as an individual could have been improved by me learning my words correctly and knowing when and how to say them. I think I could have also improved my performance by making my actions clear and confident, because I was not sure what I should have been doing all the time. As a group our performance could have been improved by making sure everyone knew exactly what they were saying and when they should be saying it, so that we did not have so many pauses. We have made our actions more confident. DAYDREAMS. In our play about Ernie's hallucinations I played the part of Eddie Edwards. I was the boxer that lost. My character Eddie was a boxer and probably thought of himself as a tough and very good boxer. However he was not because he got knock out during the first round. In this play I did not have to speak, so I did not have to change my voice to suit the part I was playing. However I was mainly acting, so my actions had to good. I had to keep my hands in a tight ball, and close to my head. I also have my back slightly bent in order to give the affect that I was boxing. For our main play I played the part of a clever girl in Edwina's class, and I was a person watching Edwina's fashion show. My character in Edwina' s class always had her hand up to answer a question. She was a very clever and liked to show off she was not a very interesting person. As a little girl in Edwina's class I had to make my voice hi pitched and sound child like. When I has to recite my two times table I had to make my voice quite loud and make my mouth movement bigger like a young girls would. As the person watching the fashion show I did not have to say much. My actions as the little girl had to be different too. When I was sitting down I hard to sit up straight and place my hand straight up in the air when a question was asked. When I was playing the person watching the fashion show I had try to act posh. I tried to put this across when I clapped at Edwina. I had to clap very delicately and with my tips of my fingers. Making my voice louder and not being so self-conscience could have improved my individual performance. I could have also made my actions more precise and confident. I think everyone learning their lines so they do not stutter and leave long pauses could have improved the whole groups performance. CONCLUSION. When we were first trying to make up the play no one really like it, and we had a lot of problems acting it. No one could put in the effort to make the play look and sound good, but after we listened to everyone's ideas and thought of better ways to end it I think we made a very well acted performance.

Why Cigarette Smoking Should Be Banned

Cigarette smoking should be banned. Cigarette smoking is a dangerous habit that not only affects the user in a negative physical and psychological way but also endangers others around them. Would you play Russian roulette – A deadly game of chance involving a revolver and a single bullet– and then force others around you to participate? Cigarette smoking has detrimental effects on both the user and innocent bystanders effectively initiating a game of Russian roulette. Considering the dangers of cigarettes, banning them could potentially protect society from their dangerous effects.The physical effects of smoking are quite frightening and include a wide variety of diseases. These include but are not limited to: cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and a wide variety of cancers. A common outcome of the more serious tobacco related diseases is death. It is noted on the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) website that ‘More deaths are caused each year by tobacco than all deaths caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. (CDC – Fact Sheet – Tobacco-Related Mortality – Smoking & Tobacco Use, 2011) With all this evidence pointing to the physical dangers of cigarettes, why then do people continue choosing to engage in this behavior? Perhaps the psychological effects of cigarettes can account for the continuation of their use. Cigarettes can have not only a stimulating effect, but also a perceived calming effect and can also induce feelings of euphoria. Nicotine in tobacco causes these perceived effects and feelings.Nicotine is a psychoactive drug found in tobacco products, and it is this chemical that causes users to develop a dependency on cigarettes. One particular cause for alarm is taken from the CDC website. ‘Research suggests that nicotine may be as addictive as heroin, cocaine, or alcohol. ’ (CDC – Fact Shee t – Smoking Cessation – Smoking & Tobacco Use. 14 Nov. 2011) With this in mind, we now start to understand the psychological dangers of smoking cigarettes. The addiction compels the user to continue smoking.Having looked at the physical and psychological effects of smoking on the users, let us now take a look at how detrimental cigarette smoking is to non-smokers. Cigarette smoking is extremely dangerous to non smokers. Secondhand smoke is a mixture of side stream smoke — smoke from the end of a lighted cigarette—and mainstream smoke—smoke exhaled by a smoker. This secondhand smoke contains 250 known harmful chemicals of which 60 are known to cause cancer. This dangerous concoction of chemicals in the smoke puts those that have chosen not to smoke in harm’s way.According to the website of the American Cancer Society, each year, second hand smoke is responsible for ‘an estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease’, â€Å"About 340 0 lung cancer deaths’, and ‘Between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children’. (â€Å"Secondhand Smoke. â€Å", 14 Nov. 2011) The list carries on, but we can now see how cigarette smoking not only affects smokers, but non smokers too. As detrimental as cigarettes are to everyone’s health, there are still those that claim it is their right to be able to smoke.Opponents of cigarette banning claim that it is their civil right to choose to smoke and that society does not have the right to dictate what people do to their bodies, regardless of whether it is unhealthy for them or not. They claim that if the government bans cigarettes on the basis that it is harmful to one’s health, then they may as well ban other things that pose a health risk, like â€Å"junk food†. The problem with this argument is that while eating junk food does pose a health risk to the person eating it, there is no immediate health risk to the peopl e around them.Even governments have started to recognize the dangers of cigarettes by allocating smoke free zones where smoking is not allowed. Even though this is a step in the right direction, it still does not keep everyone safe from the dangers of cigarette smoking. By examining the all the information, it is easy to see that cigarette smoking is particularly dangerous on both physical and psychological levels while also needlessly endangering non-smokers. Could the banning of cigarettes potentially wrestle the revolver from the hands of the smoker and finally put an end to this dangerous game of Russian roulette?

3 Types of Superfluous Use of Semicolons

3 Types of Superfluous Use of Semicolons 3 Types of Superfluous Use of Semicolons 3 Types of Superfluous Use of Semicolons By Mark Nichol Proper use of semicolons is sometimes seen as such a challenge that some teachers of composition recommend not using them until one develops a more sophisticated grasp of language, which is akin to saying one should hold off on learning the more complicated letters of the alphabet until one is ready for them. The following examples, however, point out that some writers need to study the functions of the punctuation mark. 1. Banks must keep pace with rapidly developing technologies; and this requires organizations to transform how they develop new apps and software. One of the functions of the semicolon is to separate independent clauses that are closely associated in cases in which the strength of the period is not necessary. In this case, a simple comma, teaming up with a conjunction, suffices to distinguish the two clauses: â€Å"Banks must keep pace with rapidly developing technologies, and this requires organizations to transform how they develop new apps and software.† (A semicolon should not precede a conjunction unless the punctuation mark and the word are part of a complex list structured something like â€Å"a, b, and c; d, e, and f; and g, h, and i.) 2. It is one thing to determine that a hundred million dollars in synergies can be achieved; it is another matter to actually achieve those savings; and still another matter for the savings to be reflected in the financial statements. The first semicolon in this sentence is used correctly, but the second one is not; the phrase beginning with and should be part of the second independent clause (the one beginning â€Å"it is another matter†): â€Å"It is one thing to determine that a hundred million dollars in synergies can be achieved; it is another matter to actually achieve those savings and still another matter for the savings to be reflected in the financial statements.† Alternatively, the final point can be bolstered with its own pronoun and verb and set off as one of three sentence segments separated by commas: â€Å"It is one thing to determine that a hundred million dollars in synergies can be achieved, it is another matter to actually achieve those savings, and it is still another matter for the savings to be reflected in the financial statements.† 3. They must continuously direct scarce resources to sustain vital government activities and services; they must manage their operations in the face of constantly changing circumstances; and they must provide assurance to various stakeholders that they can protect and enhance their organizations. Here, three phrases are separated as if they are independent clauses. It is true that the three phrases can stand on their own as such, but they are also serviceable as simple list items, as shown here: â€Å"They must continuously direct scarce resources to sustain vital government activities and services, they must manage their operations in the face of constantly changing circumstances, and they must provide assurance to various stakeholders that they can protect and enhance their organizations.† (Semicolons are necessary in place of the commas only if one or more of the phrases itself uses punctuation to separate items in a list.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:25 Subordinating ConjunctionsWhenever vs. When Ever3 Types of Essays Are Models for Professional Writing Forms