AP European History

However, the Soviet union established a scalded unionism regime that did not adhere to the Ideologies In which communism was oral signally created, which was to serve the masses. This form of communism failed in countries such as P land, Czechoslovakia. And Hungary. The original intent of communism was meant to have a classless society. However, the e soviet communist parties did not actually achieve that. As Molotov Dismissal wrote In The New Class, â€Å"The exclusive, if unwritten, law that only party members can become policeman, officers, diplomats, and only they can exercise actual authority, creates a special privileged group of bureaucrat TTS. The unofficial class of bureaucrats defied the true meaning of communism. Communists rulers cream Ted an illusion that was named communism, but In its basis, was not communism whatsoever. Soviet communists used their privileges to create a class that pushed the everyday cit Zen further down and limited the progress an individual can ma ke. The everyday citizen was force deed to live a life where they wake up, work, go home, eat, and sleep. The citizens were stripped down t o their basic necessities that were sometimes even rejected.Croatian columnist, Slovenia Dreadful , wrote how, Every mother in Bulgaria can point to where communism failed, from the failure of t he planned economy. To the lack of apartments, child care facilities, clothes, disposable diapers, or toilet paper. † The communist did not provide all the necessities for people to live comfortably. Still, kept suppressing the lower class, while the bureaucrats lived comfortably. Communism m was never meant to have a society in which an individual is held back from their necessities. Yet , The soviet communists repressed many necessities and civil rights which included freedom of s beech and public expression.Vocal Have, president of Czechoslovakia, spoke in his New Year's Day Address of 199 how, â€Å"Our country is not flourishing. The great cr eative and spiritual potential of our nation is not being applied meaningfully. † Have perfectly understood that communism withheld a lot of their creativity by not allowing people to freely express themselves. He even mentioned how, â€Å"The state, which calls itself a state of workers, is humiliating and exploiting them instead. † Communist worked pee pole extremely hard for a low wage â€Å"producing things for there is no demand while we are in short o f things we need. †Soviet communists took advantage of the power they had over the citizens and used t hat power to enlarge the gap between leaders of the communist party and the people being ruled According to a Croatian columnist, Slovenia Dramatic, â€Å"the banality of everyday life is where it [communism] really failed, rather than on the level of ideology. † The communist party did not provide enough services for the people which caused the people be opposed to communism. Without the support of th e people, communism was bound to fail. People are what makes the sees once of government. Without people, there would be no government.The Soviet government did not make life or the everyday citizen to feel as though they were being heard or included into all the e decisions that were being made by the government every day. Without a classless society, honest rulers, or support from the ruled, communism in t he Soviet Union set itself up for failure. The citizens of the eastern European socialist states ha d no right to go through life under communist rule by the Soviets. Communism did not improve the e economy, or unify the states. Communism actually did the opposite; it impoverished the countries and s operated the states. AP European History However, the Soviet union established a scalded unionism regime that did not adhere to the Ideologies In which communism was oral signally created, which was to serve the masses. This form of communism failed in countries such as P land, Czechoslovakia. And Hungary. The original intent of communism was meant to have a classless society. However, the e soviet communist parties did not actually achieve that. As Molotov Dismissal wrote In The New Class, â€Å"The exclusive, if unwritten, law that only party members can become policeman, officers, diplomats, and only they can exercise actual authority, creates a special privileged group of bureaucrat TTS. The unofficial class of bureaucrats defied the true meaning of communism. Communists rulers cream Ted an illusion that was named communism, but In its basis, was not communism whatsoever. Soviet communists used their privileges to create a class that pushed the everyday cit Zen further down and limited the progress an individual can ma ke. The everyday citizen was force deed to live a life where they wake up, work, go home, eat, and sleep. The citizens were stripped down t o their basic necessities that were sometimes even rejected.Croatian columnist, Slovenia Dreadful , wrote how, Every mother in Bulgaria can point to where communism failed, from the failure of t he planned economy. To the lack of apartments, child care facilities, clothes, disposable diapers, or toilet paper. † The communist did not provide all the necessities for people to live comfortably. Still, kept suppressing the lower class, while the bureaucrats lived comfortably. Communism m was never meant to have a society in which an individual is held back from their necessities. Yet , The soviet communists repressed many necessities and civil rights which included freedom of s beech and public expression.Vocal Have, president of Czechoslovakia, spoke in his New Year's Day Address of 199 how, â€Å"Our country is not flourishing. The great cr eative and spiritual potential of our nation is not being applied meaningfully. † Have perfectly understood that communism withheld a lot of their creativity by not allowing people to freely express themselves. He even mentioned how, â€Å"The state, which calls itself a state of workers, is humiliating and exploiting them instead. † Communist worked pee pole extremely hard for a low wage â€Å"producing things for there is no demand while we are in short o f things we need. †Soviet communists took advantage of the power they had over the citizens and used t hat power to enlarge the gap between leaders of the communist party and the people being ruled According to a Croatian columnist, Slovenia Dramatic, â€Å"the banality of everyday life is where it [communism] really failed, rather than on the level of ideology. † The communist party did not provide enough services for the people which caused the people be opposed to communism. Without the support of th e people, communism was bound to fail. People are what makes the sees once of government. Without people, there would be no government.The Soviet government did not make life or the everyday citizen to feel as though they were being heard or included into all the e decisions that were being made by the government every day. Without a classless society, honest rulers, or support from the ruled, communism in t he Soviet Union set itself up for failure. The citizens of the eastern European socialist states ha d no right to go through life under communist rule by the Soviets. Communism did not improve the e economy, or unify the states. Communism actually did the opposite; it impoverished the countries and s operated the states.

Acer Case Transnational Management Essay

1. When Multitech was starting up, Stan Shih preached frugality in the form of not spending more money then necessary and not being wasteful with the resources the money spent provided. Shih went as far as creating a campaign that focused on turning lights off, using both sides of paper, and traveling economy class. This is vastly different then the philosophy of other startup companies that spend more money then they have available and quickly go bankrupt. Secondly, Multitech made employment very attractive through delegated responsibility. Most companies have a top-down management approach where all decisions are made at the top and employees need to do what they’re told and keep their ideas to themselves. With Multitech, there was a sense of freedom, which led to the recruitment of bright young engineers. That type of creative freedom, as long as it’s for the betterment of the company, breeds increased productivity. Third, to compensate for offering no more then a modest salary, Multitech offered key employees equity in the form of ownership in subsidiary companies. Can you imagine just coming out of college and being offered ownership in a company? I would take a little less per hour for that opportunity. Imagine if any of us had such an opportunity with Apple or Facebook. Wow! Lastly, joint ventures allowed Multitech to expand its sales into new territories without the risk of hiring more people or raising more capital. In other words, Multitech increased their market share without taking on additional expenses or putting in more money. To sum up, keeping spending under control, hiring the best minds and keeping them happy, and expanding for â€Å"free† leads to an impressive startup. 2. Leonard Liu added value to Acer by making employees responsible for their actions. Liu did this by introducing productivity and performance evaluations. Before Leonard Liu came on board, employees did not have a profit and loss responsibility and as we know, the difference between a successful company and an unsuccessful company is profit. Now, if an employee wanted freedom to make his own decisions, that employee had to make sure his freedom produced a profit. Before Liu, there was a lack of structure within the company. Liu brought a professional management structure to Acer by establishing standards for intra-company communications to make sure everyone was on the same page. Most importantly, Liu created structure within the company by creating RBU’s and SBU’s. With this change, organizations, subsidiaries, and marketing companies under the Acer umbrella all had specific responsibilities instead of doing a little bit of everything. Unfortunately, some of the changes Liu implemented seemed to do more damage then good, which eventually led to employees questioning his judgment and implementing his directives half-heartedly. The supportive family approach was gone having been replaced with an iron-fisted form of management. Employees were not responding. The change was too drastic. Something in between Shih’s approach and Liu’s approach would have probably been more productive. Also, frugality was replaced with lavish spending on accounting and law firms and full acquisitions of companies instead of joint ventures, which put all the financial responsibility on Acer. If the goal was profit, Liu was losing just as much, if not more money. 3. In regards to development of the Aspire, I believe a local-for-local model was used. The Aspire was the first product designed and developed by an RBU, in response to a locally sensed market opportunity. Acer America and other RBU’s felt that Acer’s Taiwan-based SBU’s were too distant to develop product configurations that would appeal to diverse consumer and competitive situations around the globe. The second aspect of the local-for-local model requires that subsidiaries use their own resources to develop products. With that criteria, Mike Culver, AAC’s Director of Product Management, commissioned a series of local focus groups to explore opportunities in home computing. After the focus groups showed a potential for a consumer PC, Culver hired Frog Design to create a prototype for the Aspire. By using focus groups and hiring Frog Design, a company independent from Acer, Culver was using resources available to him outside of the Taiwan home base. From start to finish, the development of the Aspire happened in the US as a product initially for the US market. 4. Shih should allow the development of the Aspire to continue as long as implementation is transferred back to the SBU’s in Taiwan. If all of the company’s engineering and production expertise is located in Taiwan, those with the most expertise should handle the launch of such an expensive product into a highly saturated and competitive market. Shih would also need to make sure that the design of the Aspire stays as-is to achieve economies of scale on production. As far as marketing, I see no problem with different markets customizing the marketing plan for the Aspire. Companies all over the world implement different marketing strategies for a product depending on the market. For example, Diet Pepsi is marketed as Pepsi Light in some countries outside of the US. What may be an important feature of the Aspire in the US market might not be as important in a different market.

Com 156 Research Plan

Associate Level Material Appendix D Research Plan As part of your research plan, you must first draft a research question for your research paper that will guide the rest of your writing. A research question, which is more specific and focused than a general topic, is the question that your research paper will be answering. For example, if your general area of interest is social security, a possible research question might ask â€Å"How can low-income families save more money if the United States had a reformed social security plan that includes personal retirement accounts? As you develop a research question, keep in mind that you will need to research sources to support your topic. Do not pick a one-sided question that will limit your research. Instead, develop a research question that lends itself to further exploration and debate—a question for which you genuinely want to know the answer. Try to pick a research question that is neither too broad, which covers too much, or too narrow, which covers too little. It should be broad enough to be discussed in a short research paper. What is your general topic or area of interest? What is it about your general topic of interest that interests you? What questions do you have about the topic that you would like to investigate? List them. Would any of the questions you listed about the topic make a good subject for a research paper? Pick or adapt one question and make it into a research question. Why do you think this research question will be appropriate for a research paper? How is your research question significant or relevant to a wider community? What background information provides the preliminary grounds for your research? What are some expert or authoritative sources of information on this research question? What type of materials will you need to review for your research paper? What procedures will you follow to conduct your research? What difficulties do you anticipate in conducting your research?

Case Netflix PR Box flop Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Netflix PR Box flop - Case Study Example Moreover, the video did well in the graphics, setting, lighting, and clarity, and recognizing the significance of the customers at Netflix, Inc (An explanation and some reflections 2011). From a customer perspective, the recently announced changes would upset a Netflix subscriber because the changes lead to an increase in prices with no guarantee to quality. Moreover, the separation of DVD and streaming did not involve customers’ views (Sandoval 2012, p. 1). Prior to the new changes, Netflix offered value to its customers in the entertainment rental industry. That value related to steady supply of internet services, timely and detailed communication, a simple-to-use Web site that delivered DVDs right to the customers’ doorstep at no late fees (Sandoval 2012, p. 1). In developing a communication, Netflix management should consider different stakeholders, which include shareholders and customers. Such a communication will affect the share price and share value in the stock market. On the other hand, the communication will influence the customers’ choice to subscribe to Netflix. It will also influence the customers’ purchasing power. Ideally, Netflix should handle the negative situation with the â€Å"@Qwikster† Twitter handle by apologizing to Netflix twitter followers, address the negativity by devising efficient measures, and responding to the negative tweets in an informed and respectable manner. It can also hire a PR consultant to advice on the best ways of addressing the online negativity. Furthermore, Netflix management might consider other business actions like seeking for professional advice on business operations, organizational change, and customer relations. The company can also engage in positive online and broadcast advertisement. Sandoval, G 2012, Netflixs lost year: The inside story of the price-hike train wreck, retrieved

Police Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Police Report - Assignment Example But instead of lining up, they went to an alley right in the middle of the line and went inside it. There was a stair leading below and opened a steel door casually. The man was greeted with a guard who was dressed in a suit. The wall had a green floral design and they were greeted cordially by the guard in suit whom the man responded by giving him a tip and greeting him â€Å"how are you doing†. They seem to know each other and the man seem to be a frequent customer of the area. The place is dimly lit and looks reddish where they were met by another guard in suit who was eating a burger. The man gave him another tip and they get inside another door. They were met by a man who appears to be a waiter in red suit. They proceeded in the alley where there were scores of men who were dressed like waiters. The man again greeted them cordially and gave pleasantries indicating familiarity of the place. The man opened another door which appears to be a kitchen of a restaurant or club. Again the man seems to be familiar with the people inside who this time were cooks and chef. Until finally, they came in a place which appears to be a club. The man was eagerly met by somebody important in the club and he was called â€Å"Anthony, nice to see you while shaking his hand†. The person who received them called the waiters who quickly assembled table for them. Anthony talked to the people around shaking hands with them and exchanging pleasantries. The woman looked amu sed. He finally sat and the woman was amused that they gave them a suit. The pleasantries continued because another group of men who appears to be important greeted him across the table and raised their glass. The woman who was the date of the man asked â€Å"what do you do?† Anthony replied† I am in construction†. Anthony replied â€Å"You don’t look like you are in construction†. Their conversation was interrupted by the drum

Org Behaviour 3 Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Org Behaviour 3 Leadership - Essay Example This has been done using the assessment and insight into self assessment, introspection and reflection through the personal mission statement for the development of leadership and finally integration and extension through the personal model of leadership. The self assessment emphasises on the self confidence, and the instrumental and end values of an individual. Moreover it also includes analysing his emotional intelligence, his ways of receiving feedback and incorporating changes as per those feedbacks, and the extent of his innovativeness. This is followed by the development of his personal mission statement, personal values, personal goals and also the personal action steps. The personal model of leadership is developed which emphasizes in his abilities, personality, values. Finally, the gaps are determined and presented with regards to espoused and the desired theories of leadership. Main Body Part 1-Awareness and Insight through Self-Assessment- 1.1 Your self-confidence The ques tions assigned in exercise number 2 are aimed at assessing the self confidence level of the respondents. The questions are structured to assess the ability of the responden

The Englishtenment Period and the Value of Women's Rights Article

The Englishtenment Period and the Value of Women's Rights - Article Example The fact that she is from China is telling and relevant. Chinese culture has not been known for gender equality, and in fact, women from the country have always been compelled to follow certain rules and strictures on how to behave. Foot binding, or the process of binding feet of girl-children so that they get deformed and resemble lotuses, is one of China’s anachronistic traditions. But the article is telling us that those days are drawing to an end and Chinese women are claiming their place and breaking new barriers. This recognition of women is one of the contributions of the Enlightenment period. To quote Carla Hesse, writing on women writers during the Enlightenment period, â€Å"the data on women writers suggests that the economic and commercial vision of the Enlightenment and Revolution opened up possibilities for female participation in an absolutely central arena of modern public life that was at odds with the dominant male conception of appropriate relations between the sexes.† How do we relate these Enlightenment values with the values of our times? In the modern days, the legitimacy of the struggle for women’s rights is largely accepted. Women are believed to be equal to men in most respects – they can work, vote, run for public office, and aspire towards their goals. Feminists all over the world have fought for these rights and have fought for the mainstreaming of gender values. Admittedly, there is still a lot that needs to be done and so much more than needs to be accomplished. In the developing world, women’s needs are still considered secondary to men, and in conflict and poverty situations, women tend to be at higher risk of hunger and malnutrition.  

Case analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Case analysis - Assignment Example The data entered at this stage include prescription, drug, customer, payment as well as insurance. The system then performs drug utilization review against previous customer history to determine drug appropriateness of the drug as well as to avoid causing any harm. In case of any problem, the system comes to a stop until reviewed by a pharmacist. The next stage in the fulfillment process is insurance check. The process of insurance check comes in after drug utilization review. The system performs insurance check, after any hard stop had been reviewed, to determine the payor. Following successful insurance check, the script goes to the production section. Under the production section, the required drugs for the script are counted by a certified pharmacy technician. Next the drugs are verified by a pharmacist to ascertain that the script has the right drugs, right quantities and the contained information is correct. After quality assurance, scripts are sealed in a bag and arranged in alphabetical order at the pick-up section, for customers to collect. The purpose and objective of CVS is to promote the health of customers by providing quality drugs according to the documented prescription in a timely manner. The purpose is derived from the organizational goals forming the basis of the sponsored research to identify problems and recommend possible changes and solutions to them. The problems identified in all five sections include unmanned drop off window, ineligible drop off and drug utilization review hard stop. Other problems included insurance check errors, insufficient inventory for filling the script during production stage as well as unpleasant customer surprises like unauthorized refills and unprocessed scripts forcing customers to walk away with a bad impression having lacked medicine. Waiting time at the pickup section was also

Importance of Philip II in the Success of His Son Research Paper

Importance of Philip II in the Success of His Son - Research Paper Example After the death of Philip, his son Alexander took over as his successor. He executed the plans of his father to invade Asia. During the tenure of Alexander, the Macedonian empire was extended in the west, including Asia Minor, Egypt, Central Asia and India (Present Kashmir and India) in the east. He was just thirty-three years old at the time of his death; he was worshiped by his followers like a God because of his bravery, comradeship and man management. He had already planned invasion in Arabia, having which he had created a long lasting, unparalleled and undefeatable empire. This brought him the title of Alexander the Great. Alexander had a very short tenure of emperorship, but yet it was very successful and full of victories. What could have been the role of Philip towards success of Alexander? Would there have been a successful Alexander the Great without having Philip as his predecessor? One thing is very clear: all historical figures are the merchandise of their predecessors. Philip was always proud of Alexander for his bravery, courageousness and his victories right at the outset of his military life. Alexander remained in school of Aristotle for three years and returned at the age of 16. Upon his return, he came to know about second marriage of his father and birth of step brother, who in his thoughts threatened his position as heir of the throne. Alexander was closer to his mother, whom he thought as a deprived lady due to the second marriage of his father. This increased distances and rivalry within the family and gave rise to conflicts / quarrels between father and son. The differences between them aggravated to an extent that Alexander was banished from Macedonia for quite a long time. Later on, both reconciled, but the distances in between remained ever increasing. Even though Alexander was one of the most popular, successful, brilliant and brave king / general that existed in any period of history, without the on-going efforts of Philip in the fi elds of politics and military, Alexander could have never been as thriving and successful. Philip had opened many avenues to conquer for Alexander. The seed which was sown by Philip in form of collation with Balkan people was harvested by Alexander the Great as subsequent victories with full administrative support by the Balkans (Cole and Coffin 2). Philip was always very concerned about the success of his son. He arranged for his good education and military training. He sent him to Aristotle for three years and then on return, handed him over to military trainers for war preparedness and learning of tactics. Despite the fact that Alexander distanced from him since his second marriage, Philip always remained forthcoming, approachable and friendly to his son. Alexander was always given the feeling of parental pride and honor by his father. His bravery and valor were always valued by Philip. Though Alexander used to remain away on campaigns for long durations, the approach of Philip t owards Alexander was characterized by care and guidance of a truly caring father. Unluckily, this relation of trust and love was not reciprocated by Alexander. He loved his father but in comparison, he was closer to his mother. But after the second marriage of Philip, he did everything in his capacity to remain away from his father but at the same time, he inherited skills of tactician and commander from his father. Alexander learned a lot

Leadership Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Leadership Theory - Essay Example This research aims to evaluate and present moral accountability as one’s ability to decide what is good and what is wicked. For organizations, it is their rules and regulations, strategies and policies and actions of management, which demonstrate that whether the organization is on the path of morality or not. British Petroleum like many other organizations has several issues regarding Moral Accountability that deteriorate their reputation and weaken the trust of their employees. One most important issue pointing out low moral accountability in British Petroleum is the killing of eleven workers and churn out of more than four million barrels of oil from Macondo well into the sea. This happened because of crash of various processes and equipments, which the experts did not maintain and investigate earlier. If they had done so, the consequences would not be that precarious. Another problem was stoppages of key disconnect system, which could have stopped the flow of oil, but unfo rtunately it did not work due to outburst and blowout preventer did not receive the signals. In addition, the automatic closure system also did not work which created a big question on the upholding and testing of blowout preventer technology. BP furthermore experienced disappointment from its remote operated vehicles, which should have worked on shear rams to close up the pipes of oil. The reason for this failure also remains a mystery. All these machinery problems are not merely results of technology failure but real causes must be the people who had the duty of taking care of all the machines responsible for saving human lives in danger (Walsh, n.p, 2010). However, they did not consider themselves accountable for loss of human lives, which resulted in this incident. This shows that British Petroleum did not have strict rules and regulations pertinent to taking care of emergency machines and systems, indicating less accountability for moral issues. Impacts of Low Moral Accountabil ity in British Petroleum Now, the important matter is that what influences a rig operator will have after the occurrence of such big destruction. Undoubtedly, he would not like to work at such a perilous place because he must have lost his trust in the technology and take a long time to recover from this dilemma (Bower & Gilbert, pp. 427-428, 2005). It would be very difficult for him to get his trust back and start working at British Petroleum or any other organization having same technologies or procedures. Another major accountability problem of British Petroleum is the decreasing value of its shares. If a person has invested a huge amount in shares of British Petroleum that he has a major income stream from its shares, then he is going to be in a great danger because after the accident of oil, the value of its shares has decreased 39 percent. People invested in shares of British Petroleum have long lasting impacts of this incident because they invested almost half of their saving s, which no more remained savings. In this way, British Petroleum lost the trust of many retirees of UK and became injurious for their invested money. Moral Accountabil

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - Term Paper Example Prior to the HR Act 1998, any individual seeking to challenge the government on breach of rights as provided by the Convention, usually sought refuge at the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg, after proving that there was no remedy in the courts in the United Kingdom. From the perspective of individuals, the HR Act 1998 has implications at the workplace, in the development of legislation, ministerial decisions and use of government policy regarding prosecutions or the enforcement of law (Home Office, 2000). Implications of HR Act 1998 The HR Act 1998 came into force in 2000. From the time it came into force it strengthens and gives effect to the rights and freedoms that are available to all citizens through the ECHR. The HR Act 1998 on its own has not created any new statutory or common law rights, but it places the onus of responsibility on public authorities like government departments, local authorities, borough councils, health authorities and the law enforcement agenci es to take actions in such a way that it is compatible to the rights provided to individuals by ECHR. Furthermore, the HR Act 1998 also makes courts and tribunals duty bound to take into consideration any relevant judgment, decision, declaration or advisory opinion of the European Court of Human Rights into consideration when settling disputes over ECHR conferred rights in the United Kingdom. In such an exercise, it is also necessary for the courts to take into consideration any opinion or decision of the European Commission for Human Rights and the decision of the Committee of Ministers under Article 46 on the jurisdiction of the European Commission for Human Rights. In addition, the reading of primary and subordinate legislation in the United Kingdom must be read in such a way as not to reduce their validity, continuing operation and validity and given effect in a compatible manner to the ECHR (Chandler, 2003). An important distinction has to be borne in mind in that the HR Act of 1998 has only vertical direct effect. This means that only civil servants and public sector undertaking employees can sue their employees, which include government departments, local authorities, borough councils, the police and other public or quasi-public authorities for damages for any believed breaches of their rights guaranteed under ECHR. This avenue is not available for private sector employees. Workers in the private sector having grievances with regard to breach of one or more of their statutory or contractual rights may pray on the basis of a particular right as provide by the ECHR, but cannot bring proceedings against employers solely on the basis of the alleged breach of this right provided by ECHR. However, the can expect the courts in the United Kingdom to interpret the law in a way that foes no harm to their rights guaranteed trough ECHR (Chandler, 2003). Thus full implications of the HR Act 1998 to a certain degree will depend on the manner in which interpretation o f primary and subordinate legislation in the United Kingdom is read against alleged breaches of human rights as guaranteed by the ECHR. Criticism of the HR Act 1998 lies in this aspect, for it is not clearly worded and the English judiciary has been used to examining words in detail, but will now have to examine and interpret on the basis of purpose and intent and also take into consid

Reimbursement and Pay for Service Essay Example for Free

Reimbursement and Pay for Service Essay Introduction In this paper we will discuss what pay for performance is and explain what the reimbursement affect is. In this paper it will show how the system figures out cost reduction and the impact of the quality care patients receive. How does reimbursement and pay for performance affect the physicians? Does this affect us now and will it in the future? Health care has been changing dramatically because of history, political and social along with economical reasons. Reimbursement and pay for performance can and may even change the quality of care. Pay-for-performance because our current payment system we are using is not emphasizing preventive care for patients or consumers. Pay-for-Performance is payment used in the health care it is and has been based off of clinical information. The idea is to help tie the payment to what and how well providers help the cost of health care drop. The intent is for preventive care medicine to helping decrease and help with the management of chronic illness. (Pay-for-Performance Incentive Programs in Health Care ( N.D.) With in several months studies have shown that the studies show that the pay for performance works and others that say it does not work. Effect of Pay-for-Performance on Reimbursement Here are some examples of pay for performance is Bridges of Excellent, which is a nonprofit health care plan. Its major factor is patients with diabetes. They feel like over 60% of patients with diabetes don’t get the proper treatment and care. The American Diabetes Association has standards and the Bridges to excellent plan gives annual bonuses to physicians in specific areas such as Boston, Louisville and Cincinnati these cities could and have meet the requirements of this health care plan. On this plan Diabetic care calls for the patient being compliant with care and medications. In this plan the blood sugar test and kidney function and retinal exams would have  to be done on a consistent bases. In this plan compensation is up to and over $100.00 per patient for the providers that stick to the rules. Another plan is Anthem Indianapolis this plan started in 1999 that employed over 25 OBGYN providers in Ohio. This is the oldest plan within the US. This plan is done on and by patient satisfaction. Providers push generic drugs instead of name brand ones. Pay For Performance Pay for performance is a movement in health care field. Providers under this arrangement are rewarded for meeting pre-established target dates for specific health care services or procedures. This is also known as P4P or â€Å"value-based purchasing,† this rewards physicians, clinics, and rehabilitation centers, Surgical clinics, hospitals, medical groups, and other healthcare providers. They are rewarded for meeting certain performance measures, as well as quality and efficiency. (Wachter, Bob; (2012) Pay for performance does things such as eliminating payments for negative consequences of care. Which can be medical errors from all health care providers. Errors have increased costs. With increase of seasoned senior citizens and disability patients the high rising cost of health care has brought the P4P to the front of the line. Brought P4P to the forefront of health policy discussions. There have been some studies done by several large healthcare systems. With this it has shown improvements with specific outcomes. A little efficie ncy has taken effect, but at no cost savings. How much are they really saving because the cost of administrative services is still required. Explains how reimbursement is affected by the pay-for- performance approach. Within the last decade or years the economy has had many people becoming unemployed and finding jobs at a lower pay rate as to where they cannot afford insurance because they are to high. With being done more people are applying for Medicaid and with all the seasoned senior citizens retiring and receiving Medicare these two insurances are already participating in this service. Majority of health care systems are participating. Many believe  that for- profit and non-for-profit health care facilities believe in lower cost for providers that meet the standards of quality care. Care field. There is a perception that cost is driving up health care treatment. Cost reductions lowers cost of visits, emergence room visits, and urgent care visits. It also helps providers to promote preventive care to their patients. Making sure that all hospitals and providers are on the same scale of service. Preventive care helps prevent insurance premiums from rising at cost to the company and consumer. Effect of Pay-for-Performance health care Providers and their Patients This plan has the support of providers, hospitals and even patients. With this pay for providers must have and use good judgment for treatment and medication and test that maybe ran. The health care cannot be rated by race, ethnic background, or the patient’s social status. This plan should not judge by a patient’s location. This plan is and should be a relationship between patient and provider. The provider needs to understand the patients beliefs and it may help them to treat them and respond to certain myths and recommendations that the provider may suggest. Hospitala and providers and helat care workers are being encouraged to buy into the P4P by different agencies and tahe government. Individual health plans area chiming in also. It has pros and cons such as weakness that may or may not improve health care. It is suppose to help lower or slow down ER visits and physicians visits. Now if the providers give quality and efficent care they would and could get financial rewards if patient care improves. P4P measures performance and policy set up for putting this service in action. Discusses the effects pay-for-performance will have on the future of health care The P4P effects that will be seen in the future of health care is that the health care field will see it expand. Pay-for-Performance-defined a reimbursement service that will have links to payments for quality care, which will be an incentive to help improve health care quality of patients by physicians, and hospitals. In improving health care it is suppose to reduce the cost of It was expected that hospitals and providers would respond to P4P incentives. For future health care will based on quality health care and it will become a contract for reimbursement. Patients should feel like they have gotten the  value of their money. One effect of future health care is those physicians and hospitals that don’t participate will be at less to receive patients. Patients that have this health care plan will be more apt to seek physicians that participate. (Goldberg, L; (2006) Conclusion People in the health care field are getting interested in the pay for performance because the health care guidelines and regulations are changing in Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance. More hospitals and clinics and specialty facilities and rehab centers are loving receiving incentives for their participation and in the process they are saving cost to patients and insurance companies. P4P is working with insurance companies and providers for the quality of care for patients to be improved. Now managed care is now looking at pay for performance. Reimbursement being linked to pay for performance is like being paid to shop for the best bargain or the most person to fit your needs.

Medusas Creation In Clash Of The Titans Film Studies Essay

Medusas Creation In Clash Of The Titans Film Studies Essay An examination of analogue and digital tools utilized in the creation and animation of Gorgon Medusa in Clash of the Titans (1981) and in Clash of the Titans (2010). This essay aim to discuss, compare and bring forth an understanding of the tools and techniques implemented in the creation of the Medusa Creature in Clash of the Titans (1981) using the technique of stop-motion animation and miniatures and in the use of digital computer generated model and motion-capture in Clash of the Titans (2010). Clash of the Titans (1981) is a Greek Epic which was directed by Desmond Davis and Produced by Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer. Ray Harryhausen, the most successful, innovative and leading animator and Visual Effects artist. He is the landmark for the stop-motion animation. A man who has inspired us all, one frame at a time. (THE SECRET LAB DISNEY FEATURE ANIMATION AND WALT DISNEY COMPANY). He was inspired by King Kong (1933) which was animated by Wills OBrien, first Stop-Motion Animator, and it changed his life. Ray Harryhausen and Charles H. Schneer are long-time colleagues. Their first combination movie was It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955). Both decided to produce Clash of the Titans (1981), a low budget product with a predictable and dependable margin of profit but it happened to develop into a big-budget production (Cinefex, 1981). Because of big-budget Ray produced extra dose of stop-motion effects. Movie took nearly three years of development and preproduction and its budget was $16 million and become the 11th highest grossing film of 1981 (CG World, 2010). He did lot of work for creating city of Argos miniature, puppets of winged horse Pegasus, Calibos, snake-tailed Medusa, Dioskilos, Scorpions and the Kraken. This was Rays last film; he took retire after the Clash of the Titans. Its been 29 years since Ray Harryhausen and Desmond Davis released the original Clash of the Titans (1981). Now the Greek Gods are back again for another battle in Warner Bros. Pictures remake of the original Clash of the Titans, directed by Louis Leterrier. Louis Leterrier was a fan of the original Clash of the Titans and he wanted to make sure this new Clash of the Titans. Nick Davis, the visual effects supervisor divided the visual effects work into three main parts because of 900 visual effects shots and short postproduction. Postproduction completed in 25 weeks by artists at The Moving Picture Company, Framestore and Cinesite (Cinefex, 2010). A colossus of stop motion goes head to head with the new giants of CG, as Jim Thacker discovers how three VFX houses re-imagined Ray Harryhausens final creature feature for the digital era (3D World, 2010). We divided it into three main parts, playing to the strengths of the different houses, and locking together those sequences that, logically, would stay together. Whoever did the Kraken, for example, would have to do the city of Argos. So that block of work stayed together and went to MPC. The Scorpioch battle was very much a stand-alone sequence, and we felt it lent itself quite well to the skill sets of Cinesite. That left everything else Hades, Medusa, Calibos, and all of the other environments to Framestore. By Nick Davis (Cinefex 2010) CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981) GORGON MEDUSA, terryfying female creature in Greek Mythology, She is one of the three Gorgon sisters. Medusa had once looking good, but after a assault in Athena Temple the goddess, Aphrodite, turned her into a weird creature having serpents on the head instead of hair and her lower body look like snake, upper body is albeit green and covered in reptilian scales and her curse of turning human life that looked at her into stone. Ray Harryhausen developed Medusa into a dynamation( it is the name of the technique used by Ray Harryhausen used to combine stop-motion footage with live action by means of split screen and rear projection) character. He researched about the Medusa creature how the art and literature painted and he discovered two paintings by Caravaggios Medusa and Leonardo da Vincis Testa di Medusa (An Animated Life, page 272). By watching the portrait of Caravaggios Medusa Ray realised that this look attractive rather than Gorgon. He saw an attractive statue of Perseus holding frightening Medusas head by Cellini in Florence and decided to design Cellinis Medusa in his film. The torso of her should give the ugliness to her face so he decided to give her a non human body. After a long debate Ray opted to twelve snakes on the head, instead of arise from the skull he laid them on head to take more space and for the lower body added a rattlesnake tail for the interesting opening sequence. When he was setting up for animation he had no idea about how the Medusa is going to move because of her lower snake body and the heavy weight of her top. He took a reference image from the 1932 Tod Browning Film Freaks, in this film a handicapped man move forward by the support of hand (An Animated Life, page 272). The model of Medusa is 14 inches high and 24 inches long from the tip to the head of the Medusa. The Medusa contains 150 armature joints (the kinematic chains used in computer animation to simulate the motions of virtual characters). Initially Ray planned to build two Medusa characters one with full body and another with only head for the close up shots. But for the close up shots with big head had to use bag filters to look good so he decided to manage with the single Medusa it is enough to shoot her face, tail and lower body individually. The animation of Medusa took days for the simple movement like moving her hand to reach the bowstring and few more days to pick the arrow and few more days to release the arrow. And also animating the general movement of the mouth, eyes and fingers and the realistic movement of her tail took more time to complete the perfect animation. Including this he had to animate the twelve individual snakes at every point on the head and the head and tail of the twelve snakes are separate and he had to move them separately, so totally twenty four movements plus one more around her wrist (An Animated Life, page 274-275). In the film the Medusa sequence is six minute and it contains fifty-three stop-motion cuts (The Stop-Motion Filmography, Page 139). The most successful achievement of the medusa sequence is it doesnt appear like composite photography. The whole shots of medusa were shoot on a full size set of chamber except some steps and the pillar is constructed in miniature. To show the creepy in the scene the opening sequence of the medusa is seen only in the part of shadows, the raising tail on the wall and the head with snakes on her hair writhe, in this part of the sequence the wall and the column are the miniatures set, placed in front of the rear-projected with flaming braziers ( The Stop-Motion Filmography, page 140). Miniature is a representational model which are built, operated and photographed so as to appear to be genuine in character and full-scale of size ( Special Effects of Cinematography, page 322). Rear-Projection and Miniatures were the common tool for the visual effects artists in early history. Miniatures presents three -dimensional, lighting can be changed from shot to shot. In long shot Medusa drags herself along with her arms enter into the scene. This is the scene which was composited by rear-projection technique. A rear projector and camera positioned on either side of a central assembly consisting of a rear process screen and an intermediate pane of glass between it and the camera. Small areas of live-action footage to be projected onto the screen and then surrounded with elaborate glass paintings. Background temple is a live action footage which was projected on to translucent screen by rare projector and camera is used to shoot on to the translucent screen, in between the camera and the translucent screen Medusa is placed and animated. To interact the character with background they used a brazier on the left of the rear projection. Fig. Dynamation by Ray Harryhausen Fig. Rear-Projection Technique In the next two shots, a composite of Medusa into the centre of shield of Perseus by using a matte technique. Matte is a technique of combining foreground and back ground image elements into one final image by compositing. In those days before computer graphic technology they used glass shots, mirror shots, travelling matte shots, in camera matte shots, optical printing and aerial image printing for matte. In this movie they used travelling matte to compose Medusa onto the Perseus shield. In travelling matte the compositing is done on a optical printer. Both the foreground and background scenes are printed onto a duplicate negative. While compositing the Medusa onto the shield the background image (Perseus with shield) looks like a still image it is used to avoid more complicate on the scene. Fig. Travelling matte Fig. Medusa on the shield of Perseus using matte. Another rear projection used in this movie is when the Medusa looks into the fallen soldier and he turned into stone because of her curse. This is a scene where the background is a live action shoot and the Medusa is composed onto background by using rear-projection. In the foreground the camera zooms in from the medium shot to close up of Medusas face to show her eyes more lighting and the skin with scaly green and her jagged teeth ( The Stop- Motion Filmography, page 140). In this scene her eyes are composed for lighting by using matte. Fig. Medusa with lighting eyes to show her power to turn into stone. In the next shot Medusa passes behind a statue. It shows the depth between the foreground, midground and the background. In the background is the live shoot and in the midground Medusa passes along on her tail and in the foreground a statue. The statue is actually a miniature and some brazier is used for lighting on a statue. This is a scene mixed of rear projection, miniature and matte techniques. The next scene Perseus is ready to cuts off the Medusas head. In this sequence the foreground Medusa puppet is actually a far off and behind live action figures. In this scene they used a camera technique by using dollies to show the foreground puppet is beside the Perseus to create the depth in the scene. This type of technique is called reality sandwich , it fools the eye to think that a foreground puppet is actually far off and behind live action figures ( The Stop-Motion Filmography, page 141). The sequence fallowed by cutting the head of the Medusa. This scene is shot by using wires for the animation of the separated head of Medusa. And one of the Medusas hand scratches with the fingernails onto the pillars. In this scene the pillar, it is actually a miniature and the scratches are drawn on a cardboard and they animated it after the Medusas hand. After the body fell down the red goo comes out from the neck, actually the goo was shot separately, it is mixed of red-tinted wallpap er paste. They cut a tube that would match the size of the neck and it is tied with the black velvet and it is poured it down the tube, it looks like oozed out. After that it is matted it into the scene ( An Animate Life, Page 274). The Medusas sequence ends with a final shot with static matte contains Perseus stands and holding the Medusas head on right and to the left the lower body of Medusa lying in a pool of red ooze ( The Stop-Motion Filmography, page 141). CLASH OF THE TITANS (2010) Warner Bros. Pictures remake original Clash of the Titans. Much as the fondly remembered 1981 feature is a reworking of the myth of Perseus, this 2010 release is director Louis Leterriers reimagining of the Harryhausen original (3DWorld, page 30). Aaron Sims Company (Production and Character Design Company) designed the variety of creatures based on the Greek mythology characters and the characters appeared in Rays original film. Weve seen so many Greek mythology characters done in films, Aaron Sims. Sims team designed more than 1000 designs by the end of the project time. The team started with pencil designs, Photoshop paintings and 3D models, textured and rendered lot of 3D characters still images. These were given to the visual effects crews and previsualization team to utilize them in the production (Cinefex 2010). Fig: Medusa Designs of Aaron Sims company (Character Design Company) Because of the short time of post production and the 900 shots of computer graphics Nick Davis divided work into 3 parts and gave to three main visual effects houses in London. Framestore got the work of Medusa, Hades and Olympus. Framestore carefully distributed the snakes on Medusas head to convince the viewer that her head and neck are capable of bearing thier weight ( 3DWorld, page 30). Based on the designs of Aaron Sims Company visual effects artists made Medusa with a massive snake body on lower part and snakes replaced with hair on the head of the Medusa and her body slithers into a womanly shape. Medusa is a beautiful lady because of the curse by gods she turned into gorgon, so they took some reference photos of Natalia Vodianova to design the face of Medusa. We had to try to make the snake body merge seamlessly into a human body and still feel snake-like, Webber says. The 50-foot snake starts changing into a human body and still hips. You see a slight bulge, a hint of stomach muscle, and the scales smooth out. She has metal armor a kind of metal bra with a snake design.( CGWorld, ) In Clash of the Titans(2010) Medusa is completely designed and animated by using Computer Graphics. When compared to original movie Ray Harryhausen used a puppet Medusa and rear projection techniques for mixing the live footage and the Medusa character for the entire sequence. To animate snakes on her hair they wrote a plug-in for Maya (Autodesks) to manage the scales. Every snake is individually animated by using this plug-in. In the original movie Ray is the only person who animated the snakes individually by hand. Eventhough she doent have any dialouges, she had facial expressions based on the Vodianova, they had full-on facial animation rig to show creepy in the audience. They modelled two models in 3D, both are animatable. One with beautiful face and the another with scary snake. They used morph to change from beautiful face to scary snake. When she pertifies people, her head changes from beautiful women to a scary snake (CGWorld, ). In the morphing the model could change, the texture could change, and the skin surface could change. It is not possible to change all at same time. She again changes from scary snake to human, in this scene the animators managed the timing for the morph and for the snakes. Because of the individual behavior of the snakes procedural techniques are not worked and so the animation of snakes ended up a lot with a hand animation. Fig. Medusas head transform from scary snake to beautiful women

Analysis of Ancient Roman Architecture

Analysis of Ancient Roman Architecture Ancient Rome is well recognised for its potential to produce large, dense and complex network of infrastructure ranging from roads, aqueducts, bridges, baths, and temples. The Romans were impressive builders and some of the structures built by the Romans that still stand up to this day exhibit this. Large infrastructure was one of the fundamental aspects that allowed the Roman Empire to maintain its expansive territory; roads allowing the free movement of goods, information and troops, the sewers and freshwater systems enabling the growth of large populations. Thus, with these benefits, the Roman empire began to flourish and sparked a golden age of technological advancement and architectural development. Under the Roman empire, city development followed the grid plan based framework adopted from late Greek cities of the Hellenistic period. Roman cities had two major roads, the Cardo Maximus, the main street running through the north-south and the Decumanus, running east-west, serving as a secondary street, emphasised in the ancient Roman city of Timgad (figure 1), which was a common aspect of Roman cities. In essence, the Cardo Maximus and Decumanus played an integral part of city planning, but also served as a central hub for economic life and business. Figure 1: The city of Timgad in Algeria (Marten Kuilman 2010) Furthermore, the Roman grid-based city plan transitioned towards an urban plan by the first century B.C.E. However, it was not planned entirely in advance during the development of Rome. On the other hand, by superseding grid-based plan, an urban plan was a more flexible solution resulting in a more elaborate and organic plan that allowed Rome to expand, improve and grow in splendour (Evans, 2017, p.24-5). Thus theatres, public buildings, basilicas, temples, libraries, and amphitheatres were sprinkled all across the urban fabric of the city so that every building was surrounded by a public structure (Kostof, 1991, p.214). Albeit, Rome did suffer from urban issues, most of which was the gap between the wealthy and poor. The vast majority of Roman citizens were poor and lived in multi-storey flats or apartments known as Insulae (figure 2), which were simplistic buildings that only provided at best a maximum of 2 rooms with no indoor plumbing; therefore, the poor had to commute to public baths to get a supply of water. Figure 2: Remains of a insula in the Capitol hill, in Rome (II century a. C.) (Peter Collony and Hazel dodge 1998) On the other hand, the rich lived in single storey private houses called Domus, consisting of multiple rooms, lavishly laid out walls, gardens and courtyards surrounding the atrium (figure 3) which was the large central hall of the Domus.  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­ Figure 3: A Pompeian Interior oil on panel Dahesh Museum of Art (Luigi Bazzani 1882) The Roman forum was an oblong space adapted from the Greek agora, located near the intersection of the Cardo Maximus and Decumanus whereas the theatre and amphitheatre were located at the perimeter of the city, wrapped around by fortified city walls. The forum was mainly composed of public buildings such as baths, temples of worship, civic centres and administrative buildings, enclosed by colonnades and either a town hall or a basilica. This was because of the Roman propensity to enclose public buildings, for example, the classical Greek theatres evolution that initially began as an open structure (figure 4), however, it was improved upon by the Romans into an enclosed theatre (figure 5) through the combination of the auditorium and stage (Wheeler, 1964, pp.111-2). Figure 4: Greek theatre (Twinningblog 2008) Figure 5: Greek theatre (Twinningblog 2008) Public buildings were adorned with sculptures, paintings, and fountains that were used as a source of civic pride for the Roman public. As a result, the forum became the focal point of business, social existence and the centre of political debate amongst the people of the empire and politicians. Roman temples such as the Maison Carrà ©e, Nimes (16 B.C.E.) (figure 6) were considered the home of the gods as Roman religion played an important part of Roman society. People went to temples to worship and pray to a multitude of deities such as Jupiter, Juno, Venus and Mars amongst many other main gods. Figure 6: The Maison Carà ©e, the Arenas and the Magne Tower in Nimes (Hubert Robert 1787) The Roman theatre, amphitheatre and Hippodrome provided Roman society with an abundance of entertainment. Amphitheatres such as the Coliseum (figure 7) was the home of violence presented in many forms. Entertainment ranged from gladiatorial fights, executions, wild animal fights and the occasional naval battles that required the Coliseum to be flooded, in front of 50,000 spectators from different social classes arranged on stands that the Coliseum was able to house. Therefore, the Coliseum became a public spectacle to a society that loved blood and could decide the fate of the loser but also reflected the social stratification of Roman society. Figure 7: Colosseum: Cross-section (Granger 2014) Whereas the Circus Maximus offered a different kind of entertainment that was chariot racing in front of a maximum capacity 250,000 people that were as famous as the events held at the Coliseum. Even though society loved watching fights and races, however, some members of the public were opposed to the idea of watching fighters die for entertainment at the Coliseum. Thus, the theatre was the ideal alternative to the Coliseum and the Circus Maximus, where plays were held. Roman baths were considered as an essential requirement for day-to-day life in Rome. The Roman practice of Bathing was initially a Greek tradition; that gained popularity amongst Roman society during the second century B.C.E. Moreover, due to the popularity that baths gained, it highlighted the requirement for a centrally based bath complex within the urban structure of every Roman city as more Roman cities began to emerge, epitomised by the city of Bath that gained its name for its Roman bath complex. By the early third century C.E., Eleven main aqueducts supplied the city of Rome on average 190,000 cubic meters of water daily to homes, public and private baths, which had to be provided and distributed via a system of pipes made from either clay or lead. The aqueduct in Segovia, Spain, built in the second Century CE is still being used today. Whereas the Pont du Gard that is part of the aqueduct de Nimes (figure 8) is probably regarded by many architects and engineers as the most impressive aqueduct built by the Romans, standing at a total height of 48.77 metres, shows the skill and complexity that Roman engineers were able to attain. Figure 8: Pont du Gard (Emanuele 2007) Despite water being supplied to Roman baths and houses via a system of pipes, fees were charged in accordance to the pipes size, the larger the pipe, the higher the tax. Therefore, for personal hygiene, Roman citizens went to local baths such as the baths of Caracalla (figure 9), known for its complex functionality, sophistication and immense size. Romans were able to bathe for a small fee; however, Roman baths also became areas of social interchange where gatherings gossiped and conversed about current events or to discuss business matters while getting clean at the same time. Figure 9: The Baths Of Caracalla (Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema 1899) Some Roman structures have survived the test of time and still reside within the urban fabric today, many of these have been changed, repurposed and modernised into urban forms within the city and have contributed to the formation of cities. The Roman amphitheatre turned into a public circular square in Lucca, Diocletian palace that became the centre of Split in Croatia, which was a palace with walls that became the downtown of the city since the collapse of the roman empire. Furthermore, piazza Navona was built on the site of the stadium of Domitian, the amphitheatre and basilica having significant influence on Western architecture. To conclude the Romans were a sociable society that transformed the legacy of Greek architecture into their vision, a vision turned into an art form and embodied in many cities today. Despite Roman architecture being around for millennia, it is one of the most influential architectural styles that became a source of inspiration for many architects throughout time. Bibliography: Kuilman, M. (2010). QA596 The city of Timgad in Algeria. [image] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/quadralectics/4361584827/in/photostream/ [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Collony, P. and Dodge, H. (1998). Remains of a insula in the Capitol hill, in Rome (II century a. C.). Photography from CONNOLLY, Peter y DODGE, Hazel: La Ciudad Antigua. La vida en la Atenas y Roma clà ¡sicas, Madrid, 1998.. [image] Available at: http://www.catedu.es/aragonromano/images/insulac2.jpg [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Bazzani, L. (1882). : A Pompeian Interior oil on panel Dahesh Museum of Art. [image] Available at: http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2008/pompeii/images/atrium_int_large.jpg [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Twinningblog, (2008). Greek Theatre. [image] Available at: https://twinningblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/t-greco.jpg [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Twinningblog, (2008). Roman theatre. [image] Available at: https://twinningblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/roman-theatre1.jpg [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Robert, H. (1787). The Maison Carà ©e, the Arenas and the Magne Tower in Nimes. [image] Available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Hubert_Robert_-_The_Maison_Car%C3%A9e%2C_the_Arenas_and_the_Magne_Tower_in_Nimes_-_WGA19601.jpg/612px-Hubert_Robert_-_The_Maison_Car%C3%A9e%2C_the_Arenas_and_the_Magne_Tower_in_Nimes_-_WGA19601.jpg [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Granger, (2014). Colosseum: Cross-section. [image] Available at: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-icVVTe7uLeA/TyHbBA9tasI/AAAAAAAAE7k/UWnt4CwKQgc/s400/colosseum-cross-section.jpg [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Emanuele, (2007). Pont du Gard. [image] Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/[emailprotected]/1566294527 [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Alma-Tadema, L. (1899). The Baths Of Caracalla. [image] Available at: https://uploads1.wikiart.org/images/alma-tadema-lawrence/the-baths-of-caracalla-1899.jpg!Large.jpg [Accessed 8 Jan. 2017]. Dudley, D. (1991). Roman society. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Evans, G. (2017). Cultural planning : an urban renaissance. London: Routledge. Gates, C. (2004). The archaeology of urban life in the ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece, and Rome. London: Routledge. Hodge, A. (2002). Roman aqueducts water supply. London: Duckworth. Kostof, S. and Richard, T. (1991). The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History. London: Thames and Hudson. Macaulay, D. (1975). City : A Story of Roman Planning and Construction. London: Collins. Perez de Arce, R. (2017). Urban Transformations and the Architecture of Additions. [ebook] London: Routledge, p.xvi-ii. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CX09BAAAQBAJprintsec=frontcover#v=onepageqf=false [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017]. Rykwert, J. (1976). The idea of a town. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Vitruvius Pollio., Schofield, R. and Tavernor, R. (2009). On architecture. London: Penguin Books. Watkin, D. (2009). The Roman Forum. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Wheeler, M. (1964). Roman art and architecture. London: Thames and Hudson. Yourcenar, M. (2000). Memoirs of Hadrian. London: Penguin.

Karl Marx :: essays research papers fc

KARL MARX: HIS WORKS This paper will be about the main elements of Karl Marx’s work, which includes the Paris Manuscripts, which will focus on alienation. The Communist Manifesto, which will focus on Marx’s political and economic theories and Capital Vol. 1., Marx’s final work about how profits are made by the capitalist. Karl Marx was a liberal reformist who believed that capitalism could be reformed and inequality and exploitation of the working classes could be addressed and abolished. (Stones, p.22) . In 1844 Karl Marx wrote and published â€Å"The economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844†, better known as â€Å"The Paris Manuscripts.† This was Karl Marx’s first work, where he writes a study about alienation of workers. (Hughes p.27) What does one mean by alienation? Karl Marx states that the alienated person feels a lack of meaning in his life, or a lack of self-realization. (Hughes p.27) â€Å"One must understand, he argues, that there are three types of alienation. The first type of alienation is alienation from oneself. The second type of alienation is alienation from his fellow human beings. The third type of alienation is alienation from the world as a whole. These three forms of alienation are interconnected, and Karl Marx describes the connections between them. This is the core of his approach to the problem of alienation (Monthly Review, 2000, p.36-53). An example of alienation does not have to stem from the workplace, however. For example, I k now many persons who attend the same church as I do, but attend it for completely different reasons. I go to church to pray, to continue the family tradition, and to enjoy in the church functions. People go to church for a variety of reasons. People who attend the church only to be seen there and be superficially perceived as believers, are soon discovered and identified as such, and are usually alienated from the congregation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1844 Karl Marx met Fredrick Engels, another intellectual, and they became good friends and collaborators for life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Communist Manifesto was Karl Marx’s best-known work. The Communist Manifesto was intended to be a book easy to read and understand by the working class. (Manning, Lecture Notes) Karl Marx believed that if everyone understood what the bourgeoisie was doing in order to exploit the worker, the proletariat would unite and stage a revolution against the bourgeoisie. The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848, just before practically all of Europe became engulfed in revolution.

Phaedo by Plato :: Papers

Phaedo by Plato The main theme behind the "Phaedo" is Socrates' readiness and willingness to die, because of his belief of immortality. Socrates believed that when his body ceased to exist anymore, that his soul would leave and join that of the forms, where he would be eternally. Socrates believed so strongly in this, that not only did he not fear his death, he welcomed it. He believed that only when the soul separated from the body, is a person able to be truly enlightened and gain all knowledge. This "enlightenment" has been Socrates' life long goal of discovering the truth. Even at his hour of death, Socrates showed no hesitation. However, Socrates' friends did not believe so strongly, and took some great convincing by Socrates, to allow his friends to be okay with his death. The two proofs that Socrates used to convince his friends are the "Doctrine of Opposites" and the "simple and composite theory. The first proof, the "Doctrine of Opposites," is the type of proof that uses a sequence of factual statements the lead from to another to prove that one thing is the same as another thing. The "Doctrine of Opposites" uses simple references to allow the reader to easily comprehend and follow the steps of the logical process. For example, hot comes from cold. An object could not possibly be hot if it was never heated up from the state of being cold. The same holds true for the reverse of this analogy. If cold object must have at one point been cooled down from a state of being hot. Since hot and cold are opposites, this simple statement proves that things come from there opposite. Also by using this example, Socrates is trying to imply the idea of eternal existence. He is saying that cold doesn't come from thin air. It had to have come from some previous existence in some other form, which in this case would be hot. Another example that he uses is the asleep and awake analog y. One would have to agree that a person could be only one or the other. If you are not sleeping, then you are awake and if you are not awake then you have to be asleep. This example further proves that you can only be one of something or the other, its opposite, but you must be one of them.

Burying Your Life Essay

1. The short story Burying Your Life is written by Harkiran Dhindsa and published in 2010 on The Guardian website. Rahul is standing in his backyard trying to dig a grave. The soil is extremely hard so he struggles a lot with the hole. As he digs his wife Sarah walks back and forth from the house to the grave. They have agreed be nice to each other when Tom their son is around. Rahul try to make Sarah understand that it for the best that Tom stays with him at the house because of the incident with George their cat which has died. As Rahul continues to dig Sarah comes to the hole and try to explain that she haven’t been unfaithful and that it ´s just a friend that she has been seeing. Rahul don’t believe her as she is trying to explain her innocence. When the grave is complete they all gather around it. As Rahul puts the box with the dead cat inside down into the pit Tom says goodbye and help covering the grave with soil. Rahul watches Sarah stroking Toms back and gets emotionally touched. 2. Rahul is a normal man with a calm temper who lives with his wife Sarah and their son Tom in London. He gets home from work on time at least three times a week to eat with his son. He is a dependable person who appears to be in good contact with his own emotions. As Sarah wants to leave with Tom to her mom, Rahul try to talk her out of it. He is afraid of two things. That Tom is going to stay there for good and that Sarah will meet up with her lover again. He gets very affected by Sarah ´s unfaithfulness and actually don’t believe her, but on the other hand he want to believe her because he want their family to be together. Rahul is too dependable and that’s maybe why Sarah has been seeing another guy. Rahul is boring. 3. Sarah has many issues leaving her husband. The gardener Chris who she has been unfaithful with is probably more exciting than Rahul. They have been together for nine years and the spark between them is gone. But she still loves him and they have a son together. So that why she isn ´t just leaving him at once. She wants to work things out first by going to her mom and stay there for some time with Tom. As she walks back and forth from the house to the grave it is like she hasn’t completely made her mind yet about leaving. She can ´t decide whether to leave or stay with Rahul. She has big issues with keeping a job and drifts around from job to job and that also shows that she has big difficulties in keeping her attention on one thing for a long time. As she tries to explain to Rahul several times that she hasn ´t been unfaithful she also tells us that she wants to stay with Rahul or at least justify what she has done.

Marketing Consumer Group: Child Help Organization Inc.

ChiledHelp.org is a foundation that prevents and treat abused children.   ChildHelp.org has a mission to, â€Å"to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused and neglected children. We do so by focusing our efforts in the areas of treatment, prevention, and research.†[1]  Ã‚   They function on the premises that: every child has a purpose to help the community, giving unconditional love is the beginning of healing, and that these unfortunate children deserve the best that the community can give.[2]This wasn’t always how Childhelp.org was.ChildHelp.org was founded in 1959 by two American actresses, Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson.   It started when they went to Japan after the war to entertain the US troops, a practice to maintain the morale of the soldiers.   While they were there, they noticed 11 desperate orphaned Amerasian children on the street suffering the cold.   Out of the kindness of their hearts, they decided to bring t hem to an orphanage, later on realizing that these 11 orphans had been rejected by the orphanages due to lack of space and the ethnicity of the 11 children.   Eventually, they found a woman in a hut who was already caring for Amerasian children.   Mama Kin, as she was called, made an agreement with the 2 actresses to take in the 11 children if O’Meara and Fedderson could find financial support. [3]O’Meara and Fedderson did and their efforts were recognized resulting in the establishment of 4 orphanages under their lead in Japan.At that time, they were called International Orphans, Inc. (IOI).   In 1966, they were invited to the White House and were asked to do the same thing for Vietnamese-American children.   They were able to build 6 orphanages, but when the Americans pulled out of Vietnam, the actresses were instrumental in the â€Å"Baby Lift† Operation wherein the Vietnamese children were pulled and were adopted off to very willing and loving Americ an parents.[4]In 1978, the foundation was asked by the White House to put their attention and efforts to abused children in the United States.   This is the point where they changed the focus of their foundation, from orphans to abused children and thus they changed their name to ChildHelp.org.[5]Since then ChildHelp.org has created numerous programs to help abused and neglected children.   They have advocacy centers in 8 regions, namely, Michigan, California, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia, Virginia, Washington D.C, and Arizona which houses two centers, one in Phoenix and the other in their headquarters in Scottsdale.   Each center coordinates with other institutions in the area.For instance, in Phoenix, a partnership has been established between Child Help and Safe Child Center at Flagstaff Medical Center to attend to tribal rural areas.   In Georgia, the Good Touch / Bad Touch program, a violence prevention program and now considered a premium educational product, is being endorsed and given to schools by ChildHelp.org so that the children, as well as the teachers and administrators can be properly educated about sexual abuse.[6]   In Tennessee, a foster family program is being endorsed so that sexually abused children can live in a safe foster home.These kinds of programs that involve the community are one of the ways that ChildHelp.org creates awareness throughout the community.Another strategy that they use, which is often used by most people, is that they have Hollywood celebrities to endorse their product.   In the case of ChildHelp.org it is not a product that they are promoting but they are creating awareness by using their celebrity patrons.   Due to the founders Hollywood connections, a movie was created to pay tribute to the work of O’Meara and Fedderson.   This movie, entitled For the Love of a Child, was an immediate eye opener for the whole of America.   With this movie, not only was the problem of child abuse put to the forefront, but also, the mission of ChildHelp.org was advertised to allow people to contribute to and help these abused children.Another way of promoting and pushing the cause of ChildHelp.org is by affiliating companies and corporation to the program allowing the employees to donate via their employers to ChildHelp.org.   Apart from a straight donation, people can buy items from ChildHelp.org, the profits of which will go to their programs or people can volunteer for programs or become a foster parent. [7]ChilHelp.org has gone a long way from Japan and its orphanages.   It cannot be doubted the effort that Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson have put into this foundation, making them extremely deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.   From these two people a lot of children have been given proper futures and families.   It started in a small hut Japan and transformed into a fortress of love and care.   It has also transformed itself numerous times to address the needs of childr en, whatever they may be, in Asia and in America.   Although, the focus may have changed from orphanages to abused children, the core remains the same – children have a purpose and with enough love from the community they will be able to achieve it.Reference:ChildHelp.Org. 12 September 2007.   Child Help Inc.. 12 September 2007. < http://www.childhelp.org/home>Good Touch/ Bad Touch. 12 September 2007.   Child Help Inc. 12 September 2007. â€Å"For the Love of a Child†.   LifetimeTV.com. 12 September 2007.   12 September 2007.https://childhelp.6connex.com/event/SpeakUpBeSafe/login

Historic Preservation and Environmental Conservation Essay

The preservation of historic sites and other historic artifacts is said to be significant if a society or a community values its heritage that paved the way to how far the society has reached. Historic preservation implies raising the public’s awareness regarding historical objects so as to ensure that these objects will be well taken care of through time. It is not only that these historic objects serve the purpose of reminding the public of their history and from where their society came from long before the present generation existed. It is also that these objects of historical value serve the purpose of providing an insight into the past which could very well contribute to the knowledge of the larger society, teaching lessons and principles from the past that still apply in contemporary times. As Donovan Rypkema explains, historic preservation â€Å"revitalizes and revalues the nearby existing investment of both the public and private sectors (1999, March). † However, there are criticisms against the purposes from which historic preservation is founded. For the most part, preserving large infrastructures that no longer meet the modern architectural standards faces the challenge of justifying the preservation of such historic architectures especially when health hazards to the general public are involved. Another consideration is when historic objects take a huge chunk of finances in maintaining their conditions through decades, if not centuries. While it is certainly convincing to say that the preservation of objects and landmarks that share a sizeable history of a community or a society is important, there remains the challenge of allocating the proper finances and other resources in order to address the task of preserving such objects through time. Moreover, the external conditions which are beyond the control of humanity such as the various forces of weather pose significant threats to the preservation of historical objects which further increase the allocated resources required to fulfill the task of preserving such objects. Nevertheless, the thought that historic preservation might demand for a huge share of resources while risking the health of the public to a certain extent does not necessarily entail that the task of preservation should be abandoned quite easily. Efforts to weigh and mitigate the competing public interests are equally paramount in order to bring about a shared sense for history. That goal can be done in various ways, from legislative efforts in the government to the collaboration of the government sphere with the sphere of private individuals and organizations. Historic preservation can overlap with environmental conservation precisely because these two things are interconnected in some areas. For instance, an effort to hinder the demolition of an ancient landmark to give way for the construction of a modern edifice is connected with the preservation of the natural resources surrounding the landmark. On the other hand, an effort to conserve the remaining flora and fauna in a tropical region can help in securing the area’s present condition which can give way to the preservation of the cultural heritage of the people whose ancestors have lived in the area many years back. In essence, any attempt to preserve history has a corresponding effect on the conservation of what remains of the environment and vice versa. In a more general sense, preserving historic sites and objects creates an impact on the demand of human beings on the resources of the world. That is, as old buildings and other significant landmarks are destroyed and are replaced with new structures, the environment surrounding the area is altered. Especially in cases where the historic landmark that is to be destroyed is situated in an environment teeming with natural resources such as trees and wildlife which local folks depend on for their daily needs to live, destroying the site will also alter the ecological footprint of these people in certain cases. Connecting Historical Preservation and the Environment Conservation The preservation of history and the conservation of the environment come hand in hand in many ways, one of which is the case where the demolition of an existing historic landmark so as to give space for a new building to be constructed requires the alteration of the current geographic and environmental location of the landmark. For example, the historic landmark may be a 19th century railway station which has been used until the beginning of the 21st century in America. The historic value of the railway station may come from the fact that it was the means of long-distance transportation of the people during those times, and that it was the first of its kind in the whole world. It may also come from the fact that the railway station is one which symbolized the beginning of the era of American interstate transportation, and that the landmark was built from the rising demands for an effective and efficient way of providing a cheaper transportation system in America. It may also come from the fact that the landmark has been built by the local people and, thus, the railway station stands as the concrete proof, literally and figuratively, of the common desires of the people and of the unity of the public consciousness during those times. With those things in mind, it can then be said that the railway station’s historic value justifies its preservation. If the landmark is to be destroyed, a portion of American history will vanish with it and that those who labored for its realization after years and years of work will soon just become another page in history books never to be seen firsthand by the generations to come. The part where the environmental conservation aspect comes in is the part where the actual demolition of the landmark transpires. The mere fact that in order to build a new edifice right on the spot where the railway station is built implies that the railway station has to be demolished. Architectural and engineering considerations oftentimes require not only a major altering of the exact location where the landmark is situated but also an altering of the vicinity around the landmark which in this example is the railway station. In the process of demolishing the old structure and building a new one in place of it, trees might be cut down, fertile topsoil might need to be excavated and replaced with cement, and wild animals might be driven away from their habitat just to name a few. Moreover, the debris and other wastes resulting from the demolition of historic infrastructures poses threats to the environment (The Greenest Building). However, if the historic site is retained and the goal of establishing a new edifice in its place is abandoned, there will be no need to cut the trees, to dig the fertile topsoil and to drive away wildlife from their dwelling place. In the end, the status quo of the environment around the old railway station is maintained and, thus, there will be no ecological concerns. Ecological Footprint First used by William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel in the early 1990s, the concept of â€Å"ecological footprint† involves the measurement of the demand of human beings over the ecosystems of the planet. With the planet’s capacity to regenerate its land and water resources, ecological footprint compares the consumption of natural resources with that capacity. Moreover, if all human beings lived a given lifestyle, then it is possible to know exactly how much human demand is being provided for by the planet’s ecosystem through its numerous natural resources in order to support humanity’s existence. Does historic preservation have an effect on one’s ecological footprint? Apparently, there is no easy answer to this question simply because it is not always the case that historic preservation affects one’s ecological footprint. Neither is it always the case that historic preservation does not affect one’s ecological footprint. Simply put, historic preservation may or may not entirely affect one’s ecological footprint depending on the circumstances. The calculation of the ecological footprint for areas with dense population, for instance, is said to lead to the perception that such populations are â€Å"parasitic† because small cities or countries with a huge population have little internal capacity to generate and regenerate its biological resources especially biological resources on the land to provide for its large population. Moreover, the ecological footprint would indicate that these small cities and countries might depend on the hinterlands just to meet the demands for natural resources for its dense population. Since historic preservation basically involves the preservation of historic sites and the objects that may be found in these sites, cities such as the first-class and heavily industrialized ones with historic sites may choose to demolish such sites in order to put commercial infrastructures in its place. And since these cities already depend largely on the hinterlands for its needs of natural resources, there will be a very minimal effect, if not a negligible one, on the ecological footprint of the whole city. There are instances, however, where historic preservation directly affects the ecological footprints of certain groups of people or certain societies. In the case of the people living in the hinterlands and where there are several historical sites which have been left untouched for several years by commercial or business ventures, the obliteration of local historic landmarks such as famous barns and classic farmhouses built in earlier times would alter the current state of the environment. For instance, removing the barns and farmhouses in order to give way to the construction of a new highway affects the production capacity of the locality in making use of the natural resources. Moreover, the construction of a new highway makes the lands in the hinterlands more accessible for capitalist ventures such as the creation of houses and other commercial infrastructures—like wood gathering facilities—in place of the barns and farms. These things would eventually lessen the natural resources available in the land while increasing the size of the population of the locality at the same time. Thus, the failure to preserve historic sites in the hinterlands, for instance, causes the alteration of the consumption rate of the natural resources by the hinterland’s population of both wildlife and the people. This in turn leads to an alteration in the capacity of the ecosystem in the hinterland to generate and regenerate its natural resources since an increase in the demand of resources such as land, water, plants and other animals and a decrease in the locations where the ecosystem can continue to regenerate its resources distorts the balance between the supply and demand for such resources. The hinterlands or the wilderness truly indeed have benefits, specifically from providing critical habitat for endangered animals to maintaining the important biological diversity (Wilderness Society, 2004, p. 1) In essence, the extent of the influence of historic preservation on the ecological footprint of a given population depends on whether or not the population lives in small cities or countries that rely on the resources found outside of their immediate territories to supply their population’s demands. A small city with a dense population that primarily depends on its neighboring hinterlands in meeting its needs for resources may not be directly and largely affected either by the failure or the success of efforts to preserve historic sites situated within its boundaries. On the other hand, a small town with a dense population that largely depends on its internal natural resources and barely depends on the resources coming from other towns will be greatly affected by the demolition of historic landmarks found at its vicinity. The removal of such landmarks for the intent of expanding the commercialization of the town will decrease the natural resources available and, thus, decreasing the resources that would have been regenerated by the town’s ecosystem. Depending on the existing demands, the size of the population and the location of historical sites, historic preservation may nonetheless affect ecological footprints. Demand and supply Conventional wisdom reveals that a high demand for natural resources requires a high supply of those resources as well. The interconnection between historical preservation and environmental conservation is further highlighted with the connection between the demand for resources and nature’s supply of resources. As more heritage sites and cultural landmarks are destroyed in order to give way to the construction of more modern buildings and sites, and while more farmlands are being transformed into residential and commercial areas, the supply of natural resources continue to dwindle. This is because the ecological footprint would reveal how the ecosystem is continuously losing the resources to generate and regenerate, outpaced largely by human consumption. On another note, the demand for knowledge about the heritage and history of peoples and societies is always present whereas the supply of the original sources of such history and heritage is on the decline. For instance, constant looting of ancient tombs in Egypt brings a decline in the artifacts which can be used for further investigative study and research on Egypt’s rich history. As a result, knowledge that could have been eventually derived from such artifacts never gets to reach the awareness of the public. Nevertheless, there are current efforts to preserve what is left of the Egyptian tombs and other important historical sites in Egypt (Aslan, 2007). Historic preservation and environmental conservation are two important factors in the existence of mankind. They not only give the people a sense of history and an attachment to the biosphere—more importantly, both things also give the people a sense of responsibility over the things that provide them sustenance to their physical and mental lives. While the preservation of historical objects and the conservation of the environment are tasks that require concerted efforts and a huge volume of tasks to be completed, the benefits at the end of it all far outweigh the challenges that may stand against the way of humanity. References Aslan, R. (2007). Rescuing Cairo’s Lost Heritage. Islamica Magazine, 15. Rypkema, D. (1999, March). Historic Preservation is Smart Growth. Speech presented at National Audubon Society of New York s Conference on Smart Growth, New York. The Greenest Building (2008). The Greenest Building is the One Already Built. Retrieved July 31, 2008, from < http://www. thegreenestbuilding. org/> Wilderness Society (2004). FACTS: National Wilderness Protection System: 1.

Critical response to ‘Z for Zachariah’ Essay

The book I read is ‘Z for Zachariah’ by Robert C. O’Brien. I enjoyed this book because it contained few but excellent characters and is full of mystery and suspense. ‘Z for Zachariah’ is about a sixteen-year-old girl, called Ann Burden who thinks she is the only person to survive a nuclear war. However, as her diary entries progress, you learn of a person in a green suit who is pulling what looks like a trailer covered with the same green material as the suit approaching Ann Burden’s valley. Later in the diary you find out that the person is a man who had been an industrial chemist before the war, working for the Government designing a suit to protect people in the event of a nuclear explosion. His name is Mr Loomis and he is wearing the only one of these suits. When Mr Loomis finally arrives in the valley, he is amazed by the fact that there is water, which appears to be safe but Mr Loomis makes one severe mistake. When he checks the water for the level of radiation with his Geiger counter he in fact checks the clean water in the stream but then goes on to venture further down the valley, where he finds Ann Burden’s home where the polluted Burden Creek is nearby. Once Mr Loomis has seen inside Ann’s house (where Ann has cleverly hidden any clues that could show the visitor that there has been people living there recently) he then proceeds towards Burden Creek in the hope of getting his first bath in probably months. However, not realising that the stream and Creek are not connected and in fact the Creek runs into the valley from over the hill where the pollution is, he jumps right in. Within a very short period of time after Mr Loomis has had his bath he became very ill, as he had been exposed to a lot of radiation. When Mr Loomis becomes sick Ann then realises she will have to help him and that is when she first shows herself. Ann’s diary entries take you through the events that happen when she is and is not in the company of Mr Loomis. My favourite part of the book is the first three diary entries. In these diary entries Mr Loomis has not yet arrived in the valley however Ann has seen smoke from over the hill for three days, which she presumes is from a human made fire because it is in a thin column that it rises. The smoke comes at the same time everyday, in late afternoon. Each afternoon the smoke is nearer to Ann’s home. I like this part of the book the most because in it you find out what it has been like for Ann being alone for so long because her family left her to look for other people and had never returned. It is interesting to read Ann’s thoughts of being excited and scared that she may in fact not be the only person left in the world. It is obvious why Ann would be excited about someone else coming into the valley but maybe not so clear why she would be scared. Ann is scared because after the nuclear explosion some radio stations had still broadcasted, but towards the end of them broadcasting the presenters seemed to be going crazy. Here is a quote from the second diary entry which will explain why Ann is scared â€Å"Suppose a car came over the hill, and I ran out, and whoever was in it got out – suppose he was crazy? Or suppose it was someone mean, or cruel, and brutal? A murderer? What could I do?† After this quote, you realise that Ann is a very sensible and careful person because she decides to move her things to a cave nearby her home and make it look as though no one has lived in her house. That way she can watch whoever is coming into her valley and if they are crazy or mean she can stay in the cave unbeknown to the visitor and wait until they leave. At the end of the third diary entry Ann has still not seen anyone but knows that they are camping at the crossroads and exploring North, South, East, West and when they come into the South they will find Ann’s valley. The most remarkable character in the book I think is Ann Burden. She is careful, mature, kind, helpful, sensible, confused, and strategic/logical. In the following paragraph I will explain why Ann Burden is all of the things I have just said: The reason I think Ann is careful is because when Mr Loomis is first entering the valley she goes to the cave to live there as she does not know if Mr Loomis is ‘safe.’ During the book ‘Z for Zachariah’ you realise that in fact even though Ann is only sixteen she is more mature than Mr Loomis who is quite a bit older than Ann. The proof that shows this, is all of the words I am using to describe her and she also thinks about having children to begin the human-race again. The words kind, helpful and sensible describe Ann well because when Mr Loomis is ill with radiation poisoning she helps him and is kind to him even though he’s a stranger. Also Ann still helps Mr Loomis after he tried to rape her – she gives him half of everything i.e. eggs, milk and chicken and lets him have the comforts of her home while she moves into the cave. It is obvious that Ann is confused, as she does not know why Mr Loomis is being so horrible to her especially when she has done everything she can to be nice to him and to help him. The last words to describe Ann are strategic and logical; I think these words describe Ann well because when she does not want Mr Loomis to find her she thinks about what he can and cannot see e.g. when she builds a fire she thinks about where and how to build it so Mr Loomis can’t see it – she also thinks about what time of the day to light it. The style of ‘Z for Zachariah’ is in diary form. Throughout the book there were not many figures of speech, however, there were a few similes, here is a quote from the book that describes Ann’s dog Faro when he has returned from the dead lands where there is radiation, in it there is a simile â€Å"as thin as a skeleton.† The structure of ‘Z for Zachariah’ is in chronological order, each event happening in an order that makes sense and makes the story more intense and interesting. During the book, there is not much direct speech as the genre of the book is in diary form so it contains more of the thoughts and feelings of Ann Burden. The themes in the book are effects of modern technology, survival, dominance, bullying, age against youth, optimism/realism, breeding, art v science and religion v atheism. In the following sentences, I will discuss the themes that occur in ‘Z for Zachariah.’ The first theme ‘effects of modern technology’ is the theme that allowed the story to occur because nothing in the book would have happened had there not been a nuclear explosion. The themes of survival, dominance and age against youth are all linked together and are in a way very similar to each other. These three themes are perhaps the strongest and most occurring ones throughout the book, I will explain why: survival of course is going to be a major issue, Ann is the one who thinks about this the most having thought of growing her own crops, so when the supplies run out in the shop she will still have food to survive, and that is just one example. Throughout the book Mr Loomis tries to be the stereotypical ‘Alpha male,’ he wants everything to be done his own way and to be done by him. For example when Ann said she would go into the town with the safe suit to collect books, even though Mr Loomis is still ill he refuses to let her go, perhaps thinking she is incapable or he could have been worried she wouldn’t come back with the safe suit, although I think the first scenario is more likely. The only time Mr Loomis seemed to let Ann do things her way is when he could not do things for himself, however, he never admitted it. ‘Age against youth’ is another strong theme as throughout the book you realise that Mr Loomis even though he is older he is not always wiser and more mature, in fact Ann is definitely the more mature of the two characters. Optimism and realism are two words that can explain Ann and Mr Loomis’ completely different personalities. Ann being the optimist who thinks that the results of an action will always be good and Mr Loomis being the realist he makes decisions based on facts and not on false hope. Throughout the book breeding is a theme, but more with Ann – she thinks towards the future and beginning the human-race again. The theme of art v science is one that occurs throughout the book. As Ann is interested in art and Mr Loomis is interested in science, a few quarrels occur between them. However, ‘quarrels’ is perhaps the wrong word because Mr Loomis always seemed to get his own way. Again, I will use the example of when Ann wanted to use the safe suit to collect some engineering and physics books for Mr Loomis; she also suggested that she get some for herself. Such as poetry. Yet Mr Loomis refused and said, â€Å"You could not go. Understand that. Keep away from the suit. Never touch it.† After Mr Loomis had given Ann his lecture, she could not understand why he had become so angry. It was alright if he wanted something but as soon as Ann wanted something to do with her interests, it was too much of a risk. Religion v atheism is a theme in the book. Ann being the religious one and Mr Loomis the atheist. I don’t think Ann is strongly religious, I just think she finds going to the church and praying a ‘comforting factor.’ Earlier I said Mr Loomis is an atheist. This means that he doesn’t believe that any god or gods exist, therefore he does not understand why Ann would want to go to the church and ‘waste her time’ praying. I enjoyed this book because there were few characters, which allowed you to get to know them better. I also liked the style of the book being in diary form because you didn’t have to read the minute by minute accounts of what is happening in the book you only get to read the exciting and more intense parts which would be written in a diary. The thing that made the book a little boring was the fact that there weren’t many different figures of speech. The length I though was too long, some parts of the book seemed to be dragged out to give it a longer length, for example when Mr Loomis is sick the book got a little boring because in the diary entries you really were only told what Ann had did that day, there wasn’t enough character interaction. One thing that I thought ruined the book was the ending, I thought it was exciting when you were told that there was hope that there could be other people still living and you wanted to keep reading and know if there was anyone else out there, but it just stopped. Taking the entire book into account my opinion is that it is quite good as I think it gives a good insight into what could happen if there is a nuclear explosion – it is realistic.