The Awakening - The Birds, The Lovers And The Widow Essays

The Awakening - The Birds, The Lovers And The Widow In the novel, The Awakening there are several motifs or images that assist in developing Edna Pontellier in her awakening, the birds, the lovers and the woman and black all prove to be important parts in this. It is significant that The Awakening opens with two caged birds. Throughout the novel, Edna feels that marriage enslaves her to an identity she for which she is not suited. The parrot is an expensive bird valued for its beauty. The mockingbird is fairly common and plain, and it is valued for the music it provides. These two birds function as metaphors for the position of women in late Victorian society. Women are valued for their physical appearance and the entertainment they can provide for the men in their lives. Like parrots, they are not expected to voice opinions of their own, but to repeat the opinions that social convention defines as proper or respectable. The parrot shrieks Go away! Damnation! These are the first lines of The Awakening, and they signal the essentially tragic nature of the novel. The parrot speaks French, a little Spanish, and a language which nobody understood. Again, the parrot serves as a metaphor for Edna's predicament. As she becomes more defiant, she voices unconventional opinions about the sacred institutions of marriage, gender, and motherhood. Later in the novel, Mademoiselle uses wings as a metaphor for Edna's decision to defy social conventions. She warns Edna, 138 When she asks where Edna wants to soar, she means to ask Edna if she is sure that she can escape her gilded cage. If she fails, she will become one of the sad spectacles of the birds that fail. At the end of the novel, a bird with a broken wing sinks into the surf. The bird symbolizes Edna's failure to achieve the very goal that has driven her actions the entire time. In the end, Edna's freedom takes place in death. This is the choice that social convention allows her. Throughout the entire novel, the two young lovers are usually represented in conjunction with the woman in black. The two lovers are important symbols in The Awakening. Since the lovers always appear in conjunction with the woman in black, they foreshadow the eventual failure of Robert and Edna's love for one another. The contrast between the woman in black and the young lovers has a symbolic relationship to the love between Robert and Edna. The woman in black represents the logical conclusion to the conventional woman's life if her husband dies first. However, there is no old couple to represent Robert and Edna's contented futures. Therefore, the lovers and the woman in black foreshadow the failure of their love. Furthermore, there is no figure to symbolize the old age of the rebellious woman represented in Edna. The absence of this figure foreshadows Edna's suicide at the end of the novel. It implies that Edna must choose between conforming to social conventions or disappearing fro m the symbolic scene of the stages of a Victorian woman's life. English Essays

The Beats essays

The Beats essays The 1950s saw a rise of a new sub-culture or as some prefer to call it literary generation group. The young rebelled against postwar changes in American life; they saw in the rapid development of the nation a threat to the respect to humans spiritual value, they feared mechanization of the world and uniforming of the society. The spheres of life in which their rebellion was observable was their actual life- and writing- style. About the first let us say that a typical Beat was a rebel without a cause leading a shocking to the conservative America life they did not restrain themselves from drugs, sexual promiscuity, stealing and other morally dubious behavior . They went to great lengths to show their individualism and differentness. When it comes to literature the Beats opposed literary formalism of the 1940s, they insisted on new, spontaneous, more open art which would visibly contrast with literary tradition. The major representatives of the Beat Generation were Allan Ginsberg (Howl - ), Jack Kerouac (On the Road 1957) and William Burroughs (Junkie 1953). Although all of these men were in agreement with the Beat Generation ideas they did not turn their back to literary tradition completely. They seem especially indebted to transcendental writers as Emerson and Thoreau and the resulting Walt Whitman. Also they found inspiration in William Blake and his mysticism which stemmed from a desire to achieve the mystical, and it the wish to broaden the mind and attain the spiritual that inspired the Beats to experiment with substances as Benzedrine and marijuana. As Rulad and Bradburry note in From Puritanism to Postmodernism, Allen Ginsbergs Howl has been in several ways a return and response to Whitmans vision; he measured the nations fall from grace and expressed his own pain as well as d ...

Achieving Happiness

Nowadays we believe that if we are wealthy and have material possessions we would be happy and content with our lives. Is this really the case, how does money and materialistic items help us achieve happiness? If we look at celebrities, athletes, or individuals who possess large sums of wealth and material possessions we believe they are the happiest individuals; that they have everything and buy anything. However, are they really content with their lives? In Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project, she explains that to be happy it must come from inside oneself; you must do the things you love, have fun, freedom, be positive, and most important that inner drive to push you on the right track in becoming happy. Rubin realizing she was in danger of wasting her life gave herself a year to conduct a happiness project; to not only become happier, but also to be more satisfied and content with every life. Every month she completed a different set of resolutions to help her along the way. Nonetheless, Rubin was innately motivated to achieve true happiness and had that inner drive to change old habits and create new ones. Moreover, the methods Rubin used to become happy relates to Daniel H. Pink’s book Drive. Pink helps us understand whether or not happiness comes from outside sources or is it within oneself to make the change. His study on extrinsic forces such as money or material possession implies that these only keeps people happy for a short period of time; on the other hand intrinsic forces such as ones inner drive is a greater force than outside influences. Rubin also used intrinsic motivation to commit to her happiness project and commit to her daily habits. Charles Duhigg defines habit as â€Å" Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit explains how we human beings can change addictive habits or create new and healthy ones. Rubin created and changed habits such as, keeping a low temper, and having more fun. Her overwhelming happiness rubbed off on others and ultimately changed the atmosphere around her house and friends. This emotional contagion relates to Lauren Slater’s text book Opening Skinners Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century where she explains two cientists John Darley and Bibb Latane’s who conducted an experiment to test the reaction of a naive subject; and if that naive subject attempted to aid themselves or others when something disastrous or out of the ordinary occurred. Rubin’s intrinsic motivation based on Drive, her creation of her habit loop and changing of habits explained by Duhigg, and social imitation based on Darley and Latane’s smoke experiment motivated her to change her habits, and become happier and content with her life. Gretchen Rubin was a mother of two young beautiful daughters, seven-year old Eliza and one-year old Eleanor. She was married to a handsome man named Jamie who loved her as much as she did. Rubin lived in New York City and was a full time writer. However, one April morning Rubin was sitting on a bus looking through rain spattered windows when realized she was in danger of wasting her life. She did not feel happy; she had everything: a loving husband, a loving family, two beautiful kids, friends, wealth, but she did not feel happy. Rubin describes â€Å"I wasn’t depressed and I wasn’t having a midlife crisis, but I was suffering from midlife malaise† (2). This midlife malaise was a sense of discontent and feeling of disbelief that she could not do and accomplish anything. As a result of being frustrated and unhappy, Rubin started her own happiness project; every month she set out 4 to 5 resolutions she wished to accomplish by the end of the month for one whole year. These goals led her to intrinsically motivate herself to start a long and dedicated track towards happiness. During the month of January she was dedicated to boost her energy and vitality; she had five resolutions to accomplish during that month: going to sleep earlier, exercising better, organizing her entire house, tackling a nagging task, and acting more energetic. Furthermore, these resolutions had to rely on being intrinsically motivated to complete them. Pink defines intrinsic motivation as â€Å"that enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and pervasive driver† (21). Her 2nd goal during January was to exercise better; however, her father used extrinsic motivation to try to make her exercise. Rubin says â€Å"with extrinsic motivation, people act to win external rewards or avoid external punishments† (22). As a result Rubin never became too fond of exercising on her own; only when someone forced her to she would. However, with this exercising goal, she inertly motivated herself to try to exercise every day; she did this to make herself feel better, boost energy, and look better. Studies show that when someone feels and looks better; they will be much happier with the way they look and feel. At the end of January Rubin was off to a promising start; she had been intrinsically motivated to become happier and rewarded herself with a check mark on her resolution chart, which made it easier for her to be motivated and stick with her happiness project. All the resolutions Rubin followed during every month were mostly habits that had to be developed. During the month of April, one of her resolutions was to sing in the morning. This was where instead of lashing out on her kids or husband as she used to do, she would try to sing their mistakes or complaints and make them laugh. This took extreme discipline for Rubin, because it was a habit of hers to attain a quick temper and lash out on her kids or husband. This is where the habit loop and golden rule of habit change comes into play. Duhigg defines the habit loop as â€Å"a loop which consists of the cue, routine, reward; cute, routine, reward becomes more and more automatic† (19). The cue is the trigger that tells your brain to go into instinctive mode and which habits to use† (19). Secondly, the routine is the action or addiction itself, it can be done mentally, emotionally, or physically (Duhigg 19). Lastly the reward is the pleasure and satisfaction in executing a habit. Rubin’s cue before her habit change was when her husband or kids complained about anything such as, when Rubin was changing Eleanor’s diaper and Eliza was complaining that she had not eaten her breakfast (Rubin 95). Her routine whenever this complaining occurred was lashing out or getting upset and lastly her reward was silence or the job getting done. According to Duhigg, the â€Å"golden rule of habit change is only achievable if you use the same cue; provide the same reward, but modify the routine to successfully change the habit† (62). Her new habit to sing in the morning changed her previous routine of lashing out to sing her child’s or husbands complaint and make them laugh and have silence. The cue was still the complaining and the reward was still silence or getting the job done. Rubin describes â€Å" One morning Eliza whined ‘why do I have to go to class today? I don’t want to go to tae kwon do ,’ I wanted to snap back, ‘ you always say you don’t want to go, but then you have fun,’ or ‘I don’t like to hear all this grumbling. ’ instead, even thou it wasn’t easy, I sang out ‘ I on’t want to go tae kwon do’† (96). This type of mentality in dealing with kids or spouses increases happiness and helps marital and child relations. This habit change allowed Rubin to not only deal with problems in a positive way, but also allowed her to spread happiness in an easy, but effective manner. Moreover, another habit that Rub in changed was during the month of June; she always had a problem with gossiping. However, one of her resolutions for that month was to stop gossiping all together. To obtain long term happiness, you must give up something that brings short term happiness; such as gossiping (Rubin 155). This short term happiness of gossiping is increasingly fun for social functions, but it is not a nice thing to do and whenever you say critical things about other people the spontaneous trait transference occurs. The spontaneous trait transference is a psychological phenomenon where people unintentionally transfer traits to the people who ascribe them (Rubin 156). For instance, if I was to tell Josh that Bill is ignorant; Josh would believe I was also ignorant. As a result Rubin wished to stop. Furthermore, her cue before stopping was an urge or a juicy story, the routine was talking excessively about it and lastly the reward was the happiness and satisfaction she gossiped. Moreover, she stopped her gossiping by replacing the routine with either walking away or defending the person individuals were talking about. Rubin shares an experience â€Å"I was at a meeting when someone mentioned of mutual acquaintances, ‘I heard that their marriage was in trouble. ’ ‘I hadn’t heard that,’ someone replied. So fill us in was the implication of her tone. ‘Oh I don’t think that’s true,’ I said dismissively. Let’s not talk about that was the implication of my tone† (155). Furthermore, two scientists John Darley and Bibb Latane conducted an experiment to test whether or not human beings are driven by social imitation. To test this they brought in three college students; two as actors and one as a naive subject and told them to fill out a questionnaire on college life. A few minutes into the experiment, nonhazardous smoke began to flow out from vents and captivate the room. The two actors continued to fill out the form, but the naive subject was more interested in the heavy smoke pouring out like cream. Slater describes â€Å"The confederates were instructed to keep filling out their forms, to display no fear. They did. The smoke started pouring like cream, coming faster, heavier, smearing the air and blotting out figures, faces. The smoke was an irritant and caused one to cough. Each time, the naive subject looked alarmed, looked at the smoke going from wisp to waft, looked at the calm confederates, and then, clearly confused, went back to filling out the questionnaire†(104). The results were extraordinary; the naive subject imitated the actors in the room, doing nothing about the smoke. Slater described â€Å"we are driven by imitation† (IDK). This experiment shows that we are driven by social imitation; copying other people to please ourselves and feel comfortable rather than feeling out of place. However, can this be related to happiness? Rubin described â€Å"a phenomenon called ‘emotional contagion’ is unconsciously catching emotions from other peoplewhether good moods or bad ones (127). Thus, social imitation and emotional contagion are the same; For example, we all have that friend that has a â€Å"contagious laughter†. Why do you think that is? Well, because of that friend’s continuous laughter, everyone else in the group may start to inexplicably feel the same way, sometimes without even realizing what is causing their reaction. During May, one of Rubin’s resolutions was to take time to be silly. Even though controlling her temper by singing complaints had done wonders, Rubin wanted even more happiness around her home. She wanted to create a happy atmosphere. One day while putting groceries away, Rubin used two clementine’s to make goggle eyes at her two daughters; not only making her laugh, but her whole family as well. Since, Eleanor and Eliza saw her mother laughing at her silly joke, they also joined in. This was exactly how the naive subject reacted when he saw the two confederates ignoring the smoke. Instead of reporting the smoke as an emergency, the naive subject also ignored the smoke. Moreover, social imitation or emotional contagion also played a role during the month of June when one of her resolutions was to make three new friends.

Business Law 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Law 7 - Essay Example The ferns were liable because they were active in business operations. Explanation: Signal, Co had an appraiser who valued its subsidiary at $230 million to $260 million. Another company, Burma Oil offered to buy the subsidiary at $480 million. Signal’s board of directors accepted the offer. Signal Co.’s shareholder sued Signal to prevent sale. Rule: The board of directors violated the business judgment rule, by accepting the offer without getting the approval from other shareholders. An injunction is necessary until both parties determine the company’s value. The Eisner case is only one of the many cases that show how companies are generous to some employees even when they have underperformed. In the course of 14 months that Michael Ovitz had worked, he did not increase foreign revenues and he also lacked experience when it came to managing a diversified public company. Ovitz was excessively compensated by the compensation Board of directors, who had not consulted the shareholders of Disney. It was not only a waste of corporate finances, but the board violated the business judgment rule. This problem is widespread in companies where employees are favored by some team members in the management. The most viable solution for this issue would be to compensate a little amount of severance pay to an employee after consulting all shareholders in a

Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Humanities - Essay Example This comparison in the simile echoes a similar instance in Book 2, which described Aeneas first reaction to the Greek invasion of Troy. In both of these portrayals, Aeneas was unaware of his surroundings. Furthermore, in Dido’s comparison with the wounded deer, there is the suggestion that she is not entirely innocent and that she was more responsible for her plight than Aeneas. The queen’s passion and her own desires have led her to her suffering. These made her respond to her feelings not entirely as a rational and sentient person but a wounded animal. With the deer-simile, the reader sees Dido’s transformation from an earlier huntress representation, with her comparison to Diana, to being the hunted – organized for Aeneas enjoyment and amusement. The hunter became Aeneas whose divine appearance and standing inspired a hint of Bacchic frenzy. The deer-simile functioned in several other ways as well. The simile, for instance, highlighted Didos nature as a lover and by representing temptation and a kind of love that would lull a man to choose the easier and more comfortable path, established how she was reduced to a mere test of Aeneads character, a test that he must face before he could reach Italy. Dido’s role would be relegated to an experience, which was designed to strengthen Aeneas worth as a man. With Dido as the â€Å"wounded deer† as illuminated in the previous explanation, Aeneas was presented with a major crisis that he must overcome in order to carry on with his destiny. Dido and Aeneas with the deer-simile also came to be compared with the tragedy of doomed lover - those caught in the clutches of warring dieties. The hunter and the deer became victims of forces that are beyond their control. Venus and Juno are the main puppeteers in this tragedy, without them the story could have trudged on differently. With the deities’ power and selfish interests: Venus, with her intent in preserving Aeneas line; and, Juno with her hatred for

The enzyme amylase Essay Example for Free

The enzyme amylase Essay Risk Assessment Using hot water could cause a risk of burns. Variable Table Type Variable Value How Measured Dependent Variable Amount Of Glucose Colour black or shade of orange Using Iodine Independent Variable Temperature Degrees 10i C to 80i C Thermometer Controlled Variable Volume of Chemicals 30ml Graded Tube Controlled Variable Concentration of Chemical All chemicals are from the same original unchanged source. Controlled Variable Time for reaction Minutes Using a stop watched Method Diagram Trial Data This trial data was done on a focus science computer program. Temperature. Reaction Time 10oC No Reaction 15oC 17 minutes 20oC 11 minutes 25oC 8 minutes 30oC 6 minutes 35oC 5 minutes 40oC 5 minutes 45oC 5 minutes 50oC 6 minutes 55oC 10 minutes 60oC No Reaction From the trial data it is clear to see the only variables that have an effect on the experiment are time and temperature. Obtaining Evidence Introduction These are my results I found out when I did my experiment. I repeated the experiment 3 times to ensure the best accuracy. Experiment 1 Temperature Time 25. No Reaction Experiment 2 Temperature Time 2C 180 Seconds 50i C 213 Seconds 55i C 240 Seconds 60i C N/A Analysis Experiment 1 In this graph of experiment 1, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:30 this happens at 35iC. The highest value occurs at 25i C and this is 5:00. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at a decreasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Experiment 2 In this graph of experiment 2, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:20 this happens at 35i C. The highest value occurs at 55i C and this is 3:20. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at a decreasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Experiment 3 In this graph of experiment 3, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:00 this happens at 35i C. The highest value occurs at 60i C and this is 5:20. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at an increasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 60i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Mean Averages In this graph of the mean averages, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:20 this happens at 35i C. The highest value occurs at 55i C and this is 3:20. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at an increasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Conclusion From my graph of averages, I can see that when the results are put into a mean average form the Y axis in this case, the reaction time has a minimum and a maximum value. The maximum occurs at 55i C and is 4 minutes and the minimum value occurs at 35i C and is 1. 26minutes which happens to be the closest value to 37i C, which is the temperature I predicted the enzyme amylase would function best in. From all my results I can tell that enzyme activity was slower below the optimum temperature of 37i C but lower than 37i C was better than the enzyme being above 37i C, due to the enzymes changing of shape at extreme temperatures. All my results match my prediction. The rate of reaction dramatically dropped above and below 37i C in most instances above 37i C was slower than below 37i C. However this wasnt the case for experiment 1 possible reasons for this could have been the concentration of my amylase solution or possible the concentration of my starch solution. Reliability of Results From the results I can tell they were reliable because they follow my predicted trend and I only had one anomalous result which I did not use to calculate the 60i C average, as the anomalous result was the only result I got for 60i C in experiment 3. One possible reason for this result could have been that the solution of amylase was different to the other experiments or the starch solution was different to the other experiments. Also experiment 3 doesnt follow the trend that 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at a decreasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate it has this trend, from 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at an increasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 60i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. The reason for this is the same as why I got a result for 60i C the fact that the concentration of the amylase and starch could have been different from the ones used in my other experiments. Evaluation Accuracy of results. Measuring Of Time One difficult thing about taking the readings at a certain time was allowing enough time to follow the planned procedure and drop 3 drops in at a specific time. I had to allow my self time to drop the solution into the iodine so I could get as close to my target time as possible. Also the stop watch measures to one hundredth of a second. This could have been better by using another more accurate stopwatch but for our investigation it wasnt too big a factor. However with the equipment we had to measure time, the best results were found. Measuring of Solution The method to test the solution for traces of glucose was preformed accurately and the iodine preformed its job perfectly on all occasions. Each time it did this it was a fair test there was little to no variation in the amount of Iodine in each section of the spot tile. Reliability There was only one significant problem found in the test was that the concentration of amylase was never suitable to fit our plan so we had to change the plan and test for a reaction over a shorter amount of time. However this aside the accuracy and reliability of the results and conclusions are very good. Improvements The procedure used was simple and straightforward, however only one difficulty was encountered as mentioned before. This was the concentration of the amylase. A small improvement could have been made by testing the concentration of the amylase at the start before starting our experiment. Alternatively, our own concentrations of amylase could have been made up, as to ensure that the amylase was always the same concentration. We could of also have taken results at different temperatures to increase our range of results this would of helped dramatically to able us to a see a trend more clearly. More repeats could be taken but I dont think this would add much to the accuracy of the conclusions. More accurate equipment could have been used but again but I dont think this would add much to the accuracy of the conclusions. Extending the investigation Suggestions have already been made to extend the investigation to improve our knowledge of enzyme activity. After having previously found out about how temperature affects one particular enzyme, we could test other enzymes but according to my background knowledge most enzymes function at body temperature anyway. We could also test to see what the effects of PH have on enzyme activity and test to find out the optimum PH. Then we would have a full set of results to show the overall best conditions for enzyme activity. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

Women in World War II :: World War II History

Women in World War II When the war across seas broke out in 1939 Canada was called to the front as a part of the British Empire. Canada's work force was now severely depleted. Everyone remembers the prestigious men and women of Canada for their effort in the war helping the Allied side defeat the German enemy. We must remember though that the soldiers were not a self sufficient army, navy, and air force but rather part of the larger war machine that was Canada. When Canadians think of the war they must remember the country that stood behind our soldiers in Europe. As Canadians we must especially remember the women who stayed home and were major contributors to holding together the labour force. As well their volunteering in society helped push Canada through the War. By temporarily assuming non-traditional roles in the labour force and in society, Canadian women became an important part of the war effort from 1939-1945. In 1939 the war broke out in Europe. Canada was still fighting the struggle to rebuild their economy from the depression of the 1930's . A great number of Canadian Women were affected both directly and indirectly. As more then a million of our full time service men and Militia went across seas to fight the war many women were left home alone with no husband's, son's, brother's or any other male relatives . The Depression sported more the 900,000 Canadians out of work, and 20 per cent of these were women . The Military Recruitment and the new war industry put an end to the Depression, and the widespread unemployment that accompanied it. By 1941 the population of women in the labour force had already jumped by 100,000. The employment of women was now highly evident in almost all of Canada . It is obvious now in retrospect that for the most part the Second World War divided Canada's men and women. But to fully understand this we have to first know why men and women, in most aspects of the war, were given this sexual division. We must also get a good scope of what was accepted and expected of men and women before the war broke out. From the first natives in Canada to the industrializing society of today men and women have had different gender roles in society. These have reflected the norms, values, and beliefs of our culture that have been in Canada as long as the "white man" has.

Input And Output Devices Of A Computer Essay

The terms â€Å"input† and â€Å"output† are used both as: verbs to describe the process of entering /displaying the data. nouns referring to the data itself entered into /displayed by the computer. Input Devices Input devices are necessary to convert information or data in to a form which can be understood by the computer. A good input device should provide timely, accurate and useful data to the main memory of the computer for processing. Keyboard Keyboard is the standard input device attached to all computers. The layout of a keyboard is just like the traditional typewriter of the type QWERTY. It also contains some extra command keys and function keys. It contains a total of 101 to 104 keys. You have to press correct combination of keys to input data. The computer can recognize the electrical signals corresponding to the correct key combination and processing is done accordingly. The computer keyboard is used to enter text information into the computer. The keyboard can also be used to type commands directing the computer to perform certain actions. Commands are typically chosen from an on-screen menu using a mouse, but there are often keyboard shortcuts for giving these same commands. keyboards usually have a numeric keypad, a bank of editing keys, and a row of function keys along the top. Laptop computers don’t have room for large keyboards. they include a â€Å"fn† key so that other keys can perform double duty. Most keyboards attach to the PC via a PS/2 connector or USB port. Pointing Devices The graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in use today requires some kind of device for positioning the on-screen cursor. Typical pointing devices are: mouse, trackball, touch pad, trackpoint, graphics tablet, joystick, touch screen. Pointing devices are connected to a PC via a serial ports (old), PS/2 mouse port (newer), or USB port (newest). Mouse A mouse is an input device that is used on personal computer. It rolls on a small ball and has two or three buttons on the top. When rolled across a flat surface the screen censors the mouse moves in the direction of mouse movement. In older mice, a ball in the bottom of the mouse rolls on the surface as it moves. internal rollers sense the ball movement and transmit the information to the computer via the cord of the mouse. The newer optical mouse uses a light and a small optical sensor to detect the motion of the mouse by tracking a tiny image of the desk surface. Optical mice avoid the problem of dirty mouse ball, which causes regular mice to roll unsmooth. A cordless or wireless mouse communicates with the computer via radio waves. such mice need internal batteries. A mouse also includes one or more buttons (and possibly a scroll wheel) to allow users to interact with the GUI. The traditional PC mouse has two buttons, while the traditional Macintosh mouse has one button. On either type of computer you can also use mice with three or more buttons and a small scroll wheel. Touch pad Most laptop computers have a touch pad pointing device.   Moving the on-screen cursor is done by sliding a finger along the surface of the touch pad. The buttons are located below the pad, but most touch pads allow you to perform â€Å"mouse clicks† by tapping on the pad itself. Touch pads have the advantage over mice that they take up much less room to use. They have the advantage over trackballs that there are no moving parts to get dirty and result in jumpy cursor control. Trackpoint Some sub-notebook computers, which lack room for even a touch pad, incorporate a trackpoint. a small rubber projection embedded between the keys of the keyboard. The trackpoint acts like a little joystick that can be used to control the position of the on-screen cursor. Trackball Trackball is sort of like an upside-down mouse, with the ball located on top. A is fingers is used to roll the trackball, and internal rollers sense the motion which is transmitted to the computer. Trackballs have the advantage over mice in that the body of the trackball remains stationary on a desk, so much room is not needed to use the trackball. Early laptop computers often used trackballs. Touch screen Some computers, especially small hand-held PDAs, have touch sensitive display screens. The user can make choices and press button images on the screen. Stylus is often used, which you hold like a pen, to â€Å"write† on the surface of a small touch screen. Graphics tablet A graphics tablet consists of an electronic writing area and a special â€Å"pen† that works with it. A graphics tablet allows artists to create graphical  images with motions and actions similar to using more traditional drawing tools. Joysticks Joysticks and other game controllers can also be connected to a computer as pointing devices. They are generally used for playing games, and not for controlling the on-screen cursor in productivity software. Scanners A scanner is a device that images a printed page or graphics by digitizing it, producing an image made of tiny pixels of different brightness and color values which are represented numerically and sent to the computer. Scanners scan graphics and pages of text which are then run through OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software that identifies the individual letter shapes and creates a text file of the page’s contents. The common optical scanner devices are: Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR), Optical Mark Reader (OMR) , Optical Character Reader (OCR). Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) This is widely used by banks to process large volumes of cheques and drafts. Cheques are put inside the MICR, as they enter the reading unit, the cheques pass through the magnetic field which causes the read head to recognize the character of the cheques. Optical Mark Reader (OMR) This technique is used when students have appeared in objective type tests and they had to mark their answer by darkening a square or circular space by pencil. These answer sheets are directly fed to a computer for grading  where OMR is used. Optical Character Recognition (OCR): This technique unites the direct reading of any printed character. Suppose you have a set of hand written characters on a piece of paper. You put it inside the scanner of the computer. This pattern is compared with a site of patterns stored inside the computer. Whichever pattern is matched is called a character read. Patterns that cannot be identified are rejected. Microphone A microphone is attached to a computer to record sound. The sound is digitized and stored in the computer to later processing and playback. MIDI Devices MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a system designed to transmit information between electronic musical instruments. A MIDI musical keyboard can be attached to a computer and allow a performer to play music that is captured by the computer system as a sequence of notes with the associated timing. Output Devices Visual Display Unit (VDU) The most popular output device is the VDU. The VDU is also called monitor. Monitor is used to display the input data and to receive messages from the computer. It has its own box which is separated from the main computer system and is connected to the computer by a cable. In some systems it is compact with the system unit. It can be color or monochrome. CRT Monitor Traditional output device of a personal computer has been the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor. It contains a large cathode ray tube that uses an electron beam of varying strength to â€Å"paint† a picture onto the color phosphorescent dots on the inside of the screen. CRT monitors are heavy and use more electrical power than flat panel displays. CRT are preferred by some graphic artists for their accurate color rendition, and preferred by some gamers for faster response to rapidly changing graphics. Monitor screen size is measured diagonally across the screen, in inches. Not all of the screen area may be usable for image display, so the viewable area is also specified. The resolution of the monitor is the maximum number of pixels it can display horizontally and vertically (such as 800 x 600, or 1024 x 768, or 1600 x 1200). Most monitors can display several resolutions below its maximum setting. Pixels (Picture Elements) are the small dots that make the image displayed on the screen. The spacing of the screen’s tiny phosphor dots is called the dot pitch (dp), typically .28 or .26 (measured in millimeters). A screen with a smaller dot pitch produces sharper images. Computer must produce a video signal that a monitor can display. This may be handled by circuitry on the motherboard, but is usually handled by a video card in one of the computer’s expansion slots; often the slot is a special one dedicated to video use, such as an AGP slot (Accelerated Graphics Port). Video cards are also called video display adapters, and graphics cards. Many video cards contain separate processors and dedicated video memory for generating complex graphics quickly without burdening the CPU. Flat Panel Monitor A flat panel display usually uses an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen to display output from the computer. The LCD consists of several thin layers that polarize the light passing through them. The polarization of one  layer, containing long thin molecules called liquid crystals, can be controlled electronically at each pixel, blocking varying amounts of the light to make a pixel lighter or darker. Other types of flat panel technology exist (such as plasma displays) but LCDs are most commonly used in computers, especially laptops. Older LCDs had slow response times and low contrast, but active matrix LCD screens have a transparent thin film transistor (TFT) controlling each pixel, so response, contrast, and viewing angle are much improved. Flat panel displays are much lighter and less bulky than CRT monitors. They consume much less power. They are more expensive than CRTs, but the price gap is narrowing. The display size of a flat panel is expressed in inches, and the resolution is the number of pixels horizontally and vertically on the display. Terminals Terminal is a very popular interactive output unit. It is divided into two types: hard copy terminals. soft copy terminals. A hard copy terminal provides a printout on paper. A soft copy terminals provides visual copy on monitor. Printer Printer is an important output device used to get a printed copy of the processed text or result on paper. There are different types of printers that are designed for different types of applications; Depending on their speed and approach of printing. printers are classified as: impact. non-impact printers. Impact printers Impact printers use the familiar typewriter approach of hammering a typeface against the paper and inked ribbon. Dot-matrix printers are of this type.   Dot matrix printers use small electromagnetically activated pins in the print head, and an inked ribbon, to produce images by impact. These printers are slow and noisy, and are not commonly used for personal computers anymore they can print multi-layer forms, which neither ink jet nor laser printers can. Non-impact printers Non-impact printers use electro-static chemicals and ink-jet technologies. Laser printers and Ink-jet printers are of this type. This type of printers can produce color printing and elaborate graphics. Ink Jet Printer For hardcopy output, you need some kind of printer attached to the computer. The most common type of printer for home systems is the color ink jet printer. These printers form the image on the page by spraying tiny droplets of ink from the print head. The printer needs several colors of ink (cyan, yellow, magenta, and black) to make color images. Some photo-quality ink jet printers have more colors of ink. Ink jet printers are inexpensive, but the cost of consumables (ink cartridges and special paper) makes them costly to operate in the long run for many purposes. Laser Printer A laser printer produces good quality images by the same technology that photocopiers use. A drum coated with photosensitive material is charged, and then an image is written onto it by a laser (or LEDs) which makes those areas lose the charge. The drum then rolls through toner (tiny plastic particles of pigment) that is attracted to the charged areas of the drum. The toner is then deposited onto the paper, and then fused into the paper with heat. Most laser printers are monochrome, but more expensive laser printers with multiple color toner cartridges can produce color output. Laser printers are faster than ink jet printers. Their speed is rated in pages per minute (ppm). They are more expensive than ink jets, but they are cheaper to run in the long term if you just need good quality black & white pages. Other Printers Multi-function printers are available that not only operate as a computer printer, but also include the hardware needed to be a scanner, photocopier, and FAX machine as well. Sound Output Computers also produce sound output, ranging from simple beeps alerting the user, to impressive game sound effects, to concert quality music. The circuitry to produce sound may be included on the motherboard, but high quality audio output from a PC usually requires a sound card in one of the expansion slots, connected to a set of good quality external speakers or headphones. Multimedia is a term describing computer output that includes sound, text, graphics, movies, and animation. A sound card is an example of a multimedia output device .

Intrest throughout the three stories Essay

Sherlock Holmes is the main character in the story, as in all the Sherlock Holmes stories. He is a very proper and intelligent man with an extraordinary gift. He is Observant and analytical person and can obtain a large amount of information from a small amount of clues, which most others would overlook. From early on in the story Holmes does not hesitate to show off his detective skills when he meats Helen Stoner: â€Å"You have come in by train this morning, I see. I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver†. This shows that Holmes considers these observations to be trivial, and that they do not stretch his talent whatsoever. Doctor Watson is Holmes’ assistant. He is a fully qualified doctor and so a clever man, but next to Holmes he often comes across as a clumsy, less intelligent person. This contrast makes Holmes and Watson an interesting duo to read about. Watson is used for occasional humour during the story. It is very apparent that Watson admires Holmes: â€Å"I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his professional investigations and admiring his rapid deductions†. Finally, Conan-Doyle uses Watson to put forward questions and opinions, which the reader may be thinking of. Holmes never openly rejects these opinions, but nor does he accept them or answer Watson’s questions clearly. This creates red herrings, which ensure that the outcome of the story remains a mystery to the reader. Helen Stoner, the lady that has come to Holmes for help, is portrayed in this story as the ‘damsel in distress’. She is in desperate need of assistance and has no one else to turn to. Whilst Helen is trying to explain her predicament to Holmes, He is very calm and collective and does not let her tell the story in full immediately; he frequently asks for details or interrupts Helen. This keeps the reader interested because he or she is eager to learn the story. Holmes’ attitude towards Helen reflects the time the story was written in. Holmes is very sympathetic and gentlemanly towards Helen: â€Å"‘you must not fear,’ said he soothingly, bending forward and patting her forearm. ‘We shall soon set matters right, I have no doubt'†. Holmes is not being sexist in his assumption that Helen is helpless and afraid, he is merely showing the attitude towards women that was shared by most men at that time. Holmes knows that Helen needs help from someone who is reassuring and confident. Roylott is Helen’s stepfather. Roylott is an aggressive, violent character who threatens Holmes by bending his poker. Roylott is the prime suspect in the story for the reader, because the death of his stepdaughters would mean he would receive their inheritance. Throughout the story, Conan-Doyle gives several clues as to the outcome of the mystery. Firstly, when Helen is telling her story from the beginning, the reader learns that Roylott, who would inherit an amount of money in the case of the two sisters’ deaths, is a short-tempered, dangerous man who has a history of violence: â€Å"There was a series of disgraceful quarrels and brawls with anyone giving him the least offence†. These clues make Roylott the prime suspect for the death of Julia Stoner. Secondly, although it leaves many questions unanswered, Helen reveals that Julia’s last words were: â€Å"Helen! It was the band! The Speckled band! â€Å". It turns out that she was describing the snake that bit her. Finally, there are several important clues given in Helen’s bedroom, next to Roylott’s room, before the plot is unfolded. Above Helen’s bed, which is fixed to the floor, is a bell rope that does not work, and a ventilator. The ventilator is in a very strange place: the dividing wall between the two rooms. It turns out that these features were to allow the snake to get to Helen. Such clues were intended to intrigue the reader and hint to the reader, giving them a chance to work the mystery out for themselves. These clues are typical of the mystery genre. There are also several red herrings in the story, for example, the gypsies living in the grounds: â€Å"It must have been those wretched gypsies in the plantation†. These points are irrelevant but raise questions in the mind of the reader, making them want to read on. Conan-Doyle also uses tension to keep the reader interested. When Holmes and Watson are waiting for the snake to arrive in Helen’s room, they are in darkness and speak in whispers. Holmes makes it clear to Watson that they are in considerable danger and must not get caught. Conan-Doyle also uses language techniques such as shorter sentences to achieve this tension. At the end of the story, as was common in stories of this genre, Holmes gives an explanation of the crime for the benefit of the reader. ‘The Devil’s Foot’ is similar to ‘The Speckled Band’ in that from the start there is a character that we have reason to suspect: Mortimer. At first, Mortimer does not seem to be as vicious an enemy as Roylott, as was common in the time the story was written, but several clues unearthed by Holmes point the finger at him. The murder in this case is also similar to the murder in ‘The Speckled Band’. It is a very horrific and mysterious murder that some in the story believe to be of a supernatural nature. Murders like this were often present in stories of this time and genre and were designed to fascinate and shock the reader. Holmes, however, says: â€Å"if it is beyond this world then it is certainly beyond me†. This makes the reader believe that there must be a logical or scientific explanation. The crime is again solved by Holmes, who solves the mystery by noticing small clues and gathering information, in this case, noticing the link of combustible powder between the two rooms in which the murders took place. To support his idea of this powder being the cause of the deaths, Holmes puts his life on the line and tries it on himself. This eccentricity and willingness to go so far to solve a crime makes Holmes all the more interesting and unusual to the reader.

The Definition of Natural Experiment in Economics

The Definition of Natural Experiment in Economics A  natural experiment  is an empirical or observational study in which the control and experimental variables of interest are not artificially manipulated by researchers but instead are allowed to be influenced by nature or factors outside of the researchers control. Unlike traditional randomized experiments, natural experiments are not controlled by researchers  but rather observed and analyzed. Natural Experiments Versus Observational Studies So if natural experiments are not controlled but rather observed by researchers, what is there to distinguish them from purely observational studies? The answer is that natural experiments still follow the primary principles of experimental study. Natural experiments are most effective when they mimic as closely as possible the existence of test and control groups of controlled experiments, which is to say that there is a clearly defined exposure to some condition in a clearly defined population and the absence of that exposure in another similar population for comparison. When such groups are present, the processes behind natural experiments are said to resemble randomization even when researchers do not interfere. Under these conditions, observed outcomes of natural experiments can feasibly be credited to the exposure meaning that there is some cause for belief in a causal relationship as opposed to simple correlation. It is this characteristic of natural experiments - the effective comparison that makes a case for the existence of a causal relationship - that distinguishes natural experiments from purely non-experimental observational studies. But that is not to say that natural experiments arent without their critics and validation difficulties. In practice, the circumstances surrounding a natural experiment are often complex and their observations will never unequivocally prove causation. Instead, they provide an important inferential method through which researchers can gather information about a research question upon which data might otherwise not be available. Natural Experiments in Economics In the social sciences, particularly economics, the expensive nature and limitations of traditionally controlled experiments involving human subjects has long been recognized as a limitation for the development and progress of the field. As such, natural experiments provide a rare testing ground for economists and their colleagues. Natural experiments are used when such controlled experimentation would be too difficult, expensive, or unethical as is the case with many human experiments. Opportunities for natural experimentation are of the utmost importance to subjects like epidemiology or the study of health and disease conditions in defined populations in which experimental study would problematic, to say the least. But natural experiments are also used by researchers in the field of economics to study otherwise difficult to test subjects and are often possible when there is some change in law, policy, or practice in a defined space like a nation, jurisdiction, or even social group. Some examples of economics research questions that have been studied through natural experimentation include: The return on investment of higher education in American adultsThe effect of military service on lifetime earning  The effect of public smoking bans on hospital admissions Journal Articles on Natural Experiment: The Economic Consequences of Unwed Motherhood: Using Twin Births as a Natural ExperimentNatural and Quasi-Experiments in EconomicsA Natural Experiment in Jeopardy!

Tutoring in high school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tutoring in high school - Essay Example I assisted Rose times by helping her organize her backpack because her bag had so many worksheets and she could not find her homework easily. Also, I stayed after homework hours and assisted students with many recreational activities. I worked with students in baking cookies, brownies, puppy chow, and cupcakes for their parents’ meeting. I also played Scrabble with them and a variety card games such as Uno, Egyptian Rat Screw, and Speed. One afternoon we had a girls’ time and Rose painted my fingernails blue. I thought about Rose every moment I saw my fingernails. I interacted with students from diverse backgrounds. Most students get bus tokens to take the city bus home, some live in unstable homes with family problems, and some live in unsafe environments. I gained a sense of their hard lives by tutoring and playing sports with them. I truly felt that I was making a difference in their lives and I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope I can expand my desire to help young children in the

Journal 1 and 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Journal 1 and 2 - Essay Example In my mind, the concept of human security was shaped by the ideas and concepts from presidents and the media. It is not only about military power and being protected from other nations, as we should not trust the authorities. After reading the first section, I began to view the concept of human security in a different way. Indeed, most security issues nowadays come from domestic groups rather than outsiders. In fact, it is groups of people who are being ignored by the government or not taken seriously that are causing chaos and conflict in the state. For example, the main cause of the Arab Spring revolution was because the people wanted a change to their system and regime. They wanted a change that would provide them with all their basic needs, such as safety and respect. When this change did not happen, or was not accepted by their leaders, people started to rebel against their leaders and this created conflict in the country. In addition, as I included in my QIP reflection of secti on 1 of the book, the author indicated that to achieve human security patriarchy should be replaced with gender equality. For example, this means allowing women to get involved in making security decisions. Also, the institutions of war must be destroyed (Reardon and Ash Hans 111). ... However, the discrimination against women is not about men and women but it is about the roots of each person's origin. In other words, people who don't have Arab roots might be involved but not as deeply as the local people, where they get the chance to be ambassadors and take higher positions in the political field. In fact, the reason why people who have Iranian roots are not involved in the political system is because of distrust and suspicion that those people may cause conflict in the state. This discrimination increased a lot after the involvement of Iran in the revolution in Bahrain between the Sunnis and Shias. This also caused tension between the Sunnis and Shias in the most of the Gulf countries as well. Not involving women in the political sphere is not only about the idea that men are more powerful than women, it is also about other concepts, such as religion and trust. Moreover, women can find jobs in any other field easier than they do trying to get a job in politics. The teaching notes, A Gendered Analysis of Women, Power, War and Peace, written by Professor Barbara Wien, presented five feminist schools of thoughts: eco-feminism, liberal feminism, post-modernism, radical feminism, and difference feminism. I always heard about feminist schools of thought but I did not know what each one was called and what each stood for. The teaching notes helped me to understand the different feminism schools clearly, and I was impressed by many of the concepts that the schools stand for. For example, when it comes to the liberal feminist school of thought, it supports the fact that women are neither peaceful nor softer than men, but it also says