Scarlet Letter By Hawthorne Essays (630 words) -

Scarlet Letter By Hawthorne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the letter "A" changes its meaning many different times. This change is significant. It shows growth in the characters, and the community in which they live. The letter "A" begins as a symbol of sin. It then becomes a symbol of her ability to do and help things, and finally it becomes a symbol of her respect for herself. The letter "A," worn on Hester's bodice, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This letter is meant to be worn in shame, and to make Hester feel unwanted. "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment . . ." Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She committed this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it because, though she is ashamed, she also received her greatest treasure, Pearl, out of it. She is a very strong woman to be able to hold up so well, against what she must face. Many would have fled Boston, and sought a place where no one knew of her great sin. Hester chose to stay though, which showed a lot of strength and integrity. Any woman with enough nerve to hold up against a town which despised her very existence, and to stay in a place where her daughter is referred to as a "devil child," either has some sort of psychological problem, or is a very tough woman. The second meaning that the letter "A" took was "able." The townspeople who once condemned her now believed her scarlet "A" to stand for her ability to create beautiful needlework and for her unselfish assistance to the poor and sick. "The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret the scarlet 'A' by its original signification." At this point, many the townspeople realized what a godly character Hester possessed. "Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is our Hester- the town's own Hester- who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted!" The townspeople soon began to believe that the badge served to ward off evil, and Hester grew to be quite loved amongst the people of the town. Hester overcame the shame of her sin through the purity and goodness of her soul. Unselfishly offering her time and love to those who needed her the most proved that she was not worthy of the fate which had been dealt to her. The final face of the letter "A" was a symbol of Hester's respect for herself, and for her life. It just changed to a way of life for Hester. After returning to England for years, and helping Pearl to gain a better life, Hester returned to don the badge which she now felt was a part of her. She could have lived a better life without it, begin a new life in England, but it was easier for her to return to America. The Puritan settlement was her home. It was where the most important events in her life had occurred, and she felt best being there. "But there was a more real life for Hester Prynne here in New England than in the unknown region where Pearl had found a home. Here had been her sin; here, her sorrow; and here was yet to be her penitence." Hester was in no way legally or religiously bound to wear the badge. She did though. She had found her home in New England, and that is where she intended to stay. The three changes in the scarlet letter were significant, and they showed her sin, her ability, and her life. Hester was a strong, admirable woman who went through more emotional torture than most people go through in a lifetime.

World War I Powers essays

World War I Powers essays During World War I many different types of weapons were utilized by both the Allied and Central powers. Some were variations on older models of weaponry, and others were totally new inventions created to aid in the wartime effort. Most of the new weapons were used as killing machines in trench warfare, which was practiced during World War I, while others were employed as tools of espionage, scouting land areas, or air and sea warfare. Communication also played a major role in World War I, especially the newly invented short wave radio. My report will discuss several of these new types of weaponry and communication; their uses in the war and their technical make-up. Trenches were long tunnel-like structures dug on the fronts during a stalemate in the war. They protected the troops inside from deadly artillery and especially machine gun fire. There were usually four sets of trenches dug on each side. An area of no-mans land separated the two sides. Crossing the no-mans land meant the risk of instant death by machine gun fire. An attack was usually staged in waves. Line after line of troops attempted to overrun the opposing trenches, only to gain a couple of miles. The firing trench was first, backed by cover trenches, which were a back-up line of defense in case the firing trenches were overrun. Following the cover trench were the support trench and the reserve trench. Off-duty troops lived in man made dugouts in the support trench. Rations, communications, extra troops, and other utilities were stored in the reserve trench. Some trenches also had a fifth trench dug out especially for the communications systems. Modern tanks are heavily armored track-laying military vehicles which have road speeds up to 60 mph. They weigh in between 14 and 50 metric tons and carry various types of mounted machine guns. Tanks are designed to penetrate or flank enemy lines and strike deep into the rear, capturi...

Business Ethics And Globalization : Business Essay -- Business ethics, E

In recent years many policy makers, business executives, and economists have argued for the necessity of global business in promoting economic development and reducing world poverty. "Multinational corporations, the world trade organization, the G8 summit and various international financial institutions are supposed to advance free trade and promote economic development for the people of various participating countries, including those who are less developed" (Ho, 2004) In a number of different ways the increased globalization of the economies of the United States, Western Europe, and Japan is making business practices more uniform. The structure and organization of firms, manufacturing technologies, the social organization of production, customer relations, product development, and marketing are all becoming increasingly similar throughout the advanced industrial economies. â€Å"One might logically think that a similar trend would be taking place with respect to the principles and practices of business ethics, however this is not the case† (Vogel, 1992). Despite the advances made in the way the world conducts business, business ethics has not yet globalized; the norms of ethical behavior continue to vary widely from country to the next. During the last decade, highly publicized incidents of misconduct on the part of business managers have occurred in virtually every major industrial economy of the world, as well as nearly every industrial nation in the world. Globalization will continue to be a challenge to business ethics because globalization reduces the amount of discretion that both individuals and business organizations have in making business decisions. Globalization also brings increased compeaspects of management course. The authors found that after the students took that course "there was a statistically significant change in perceptions that suggest that knowledge of the law can prompt managers to become more legally compliant and more socially responsible" (Bagley, Clarkson, Power, 2010) Similarly, the authors of Ethic Perception: Does Teaching Make a Difference found in a study of three hundred and forty undergraduate business students that learning in ethical judgement will lead the students to more ethical intentions (Nguyen, Basuray, Smith, Kopka, McCulloh, 2008). These findings suggest that students should be required to attend an ethics course as part of a business curriculum, that way when presented with real life situations of ethical ambiguity the students will be better equipped to make the correct choice. Business Ethics Implementation

Critical Research Paper Influences Paper Proposal

Critical Paper Influences Paper - Research Proposal Example Ð…amuel Langhorne ClemenÃ'• (Mark Twain) waÃ'• born in Florida, MiÃ'•Ã'•ouri, of a Virginian family. The family Ã'•oon moved to Hannibal, MiÃ'•Ã'•ouri, where Twain waÃ'• brought up. At Ã'•chool, accroding to hiÃ'• own wordÃ'•, he "excelled only in Ã'•pelling". After hiÃ'• fatherÃ'• death in 1847, Twain waÃ'• apprenticed to a printer. Her alÃ'•o Ã'•tarted hiÃ'• career aÃ'• a journaliÃ'•t by writing for the Hannibal Journal. Later Twain worked aÃ'• a licenÃ'•ed MiÃ'•Ã'•iÃ'•Ã'•ippi river-boat pilot (1857-61). HiÃ'• famouÃ'• penname Twain adopted from the call (Mark twain! – meaning by the mark of two fathomÃ'•) uÃ'•ed when Ã'•ounding river Ã'•hallowÃ'•. But thiÃ'• iÃ'•nt the full Ã'•tory: he had alÃ'•o Ã'•atirized an older writer, IÃ'•aiah Ð…ellerÃ'•, who called himÃ'•elf Mark Twain. In 1861 Twain Ã'•erved briefly aÃ'• a confederate irregular. The Civil War put an end to the Ã'•teamboat traffic, and during a period when Twain waÃ'• out of work, he lived in a primitive cabin on JackaÃ'•Ã'• Hill and tried hiÃ'• luck aÃ'• a gold-miner. "I would have been more or leÃ'•Ã'• than human if I had not gone mad like the reÃ'•t," he confeÃ'•Ã'•ed. Twain moved to Virginia City, where he edited two yearÃ'• Territorial EnterpriÃ'•e. On February 3, 1863, Mark Twain waÃ'• born when he Ã'•igned a humorouÃ'• travel account with that pÃ'•eudonym. In 1864 Twain left for California, where worked in Ð…an FranciÃ'•co aÃ'• a reporter. After hearing a Ã'•tory about a frog, Twain made an entry in hiÃ'• notebook: "Coleman with hiÃ'• jumping frog – bet a Ã'•tranger $50. – Ð…tranger had no frog and C. got him one: – In the meantime Ã'•tranger filled CÃ'• frog full of Ã'•hot and he couldnt jump. The Ã'•trangerÃ'• frog won." From theÃ'•e lineÃ'• he developed Jim Ð…miley and hiÃ'• Jumping Frog which waÃ'• publiÃ'•hed in The Ð…aturday PreÃ'•Ã'• of New York on the 18th of November in 1865. It waÃ'• reprinted all over the country and became the foundation Ã'•tone of THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAÐ…

Finance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Finance - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, only specific generally accepted accounting principles apply in the health sector where they define how healthcare entities prepare their financial statements (Kramer, 2014). As such, this paper will only address the principle of creditworthiness, disclosing assets and liabilities, establishing financial stability, and bargaining power, which have a direct relationship with health care (Richards, 2014). I will describe each of the named principle, define its intention, and relate it to health care. Creditworthiness is a generally accepted accounting principle that applies in health care. This principle compels accounting officers to compare the reference business with other businesses within the same industry (Richards, 2014). This comparison may relate to the profitability of the business, revenues, operating costs, market position, and assets and liabilities. By comparing the reference business with other businesses in the same industry, this principle seeks to establish the performance of the reference business with respect to the performance of the industry. This helps in determining the credit worthiness of the reference business in comparison with other businesses in the same industry. This principle is applicable in the health sector in that it allows insurance agents and financial institutions that provide services to the health aid business to compare this business with other businesses in the health and medical industry with an aim of establishing its creditworthines s (Richards, 2014). This helps in measuring the financial strength of a business or organization in the health sector. Indeed, this principle helps in comparing the revenues of different companies in the health sector. Through this principle, we can establish the projected revenues in the health sector, which defines creditworthiness. Establishing financial stability is another generally accepted

Extra Curriculum Activities Essay Example for Free

Extra Curriculum Activities Essay An ideal school need more subject options such as drama, art and music—to excel at all levels. The school works provided to students by teachers have their own academic importance, Nevertheless that alone does not fulfil the schooling and learning requirements and standards. In some schools, the educational systems are only based upon fixed set of courses that excludes extra curriculum activities, causing insufficient or restrictiveness for the student’s comprehension skills and imaginations. Although it is believed that today’s schools have the best education system including extra curriculum activities, it is yet underestimated in many schools. These activities will bring many benefits to students. Involving students to participate in extra curriculum activities is very important in helping them to develop many skills such as working and social skills. Of course, while there are definitely a large amount of benefits to extra curriculum activities for students, there needs to be a balance between that and school work. Getting involved in a few different activities is a great choice to improve various skills and attitudes, and is definitely beneficial in all aspects, but too many activities can result in students having academic problems and more. Therefore, it is important for students to set some limits in being involved in extra curriculum activities. Also not every student is a mad scientist or a mathematician, so these extra subject choices give students a chance to develop skills in particular areas they are well in. Students learn about long term commitments when they are involved in extracurricular activities as well, which is another excellent benefit. When they join one of the activities or clubs, they commit themselves to that activity for a period of time. Learning to take on commitments is important, and these activities can teach students this important lesson. Many times, being involved in extracurricular activities helps to raise the self esteem of teens. There are many teens that feel worthless or that there is nothing they are good at. Teens struggle with self esteem, and these activities are a way that they can build self esteem. Everyone wants to find something that they are really good at, and extracurricular activities provide them with a way that they can get involved in something and really shine, giving their self esteem a boost. Getting involved in extracurricular activities also allows students to get involved in various interests. It is important for students to be very diverse in their interests. These activities allow them to explore a range of interests that they may have. Students should be allowed to take another step forward and be able to explore the world of art and music and to be able to nurture their talent and explore their own potential in other areas. There are numerous advantages for students to participate in extra curriculum activities. Therefore schools should be encouraged to involve students in these activities that increase the students’ self-worth, ability to think creatively, emotional understanding, social networks and overall increase their academic performances. With so many benefits and advantages, how can schools exclude extra Curriculum Activities?

Islamic Criminal Justice Essay -- Religion Criminal Law

Comparative Criminal Justice System Criminal Law has and will continue to be a fluid and ever-changing aspect of humanity, and yet the distinctive base of religious belief is still a foundation for a variety of laws today. While the separation of church and state is in effect, history states a wide range of laws have been established based on religious beliefs and ideals, the Bible for one, and currently the Qur’an, which is the basis for Islamic Law. It is the only true form of law in the present time that is not backed by a Government because it is a form of law based completely on religion. The two primary sources of the Islamic Law stem from the Shari’s and the Sunnah, the Shari is the law defined by God, or Allah, and told directly to Gods’ prophet on Earth, Muhammad. The Sunnah, the second factor in Islamic Law deals with the issues not addressed in the Qur’an, yet is still in the word of the Prophet. â€Å"In a few Islamic countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Sudan, it is proclaimed as the basis for all law, including the harsh Islamic criminal law based on the ideal of retribution† (Fairchild & Dammer 2001 P. 61). Also stated in the text Comparative Criminal Justice Systems by Fairchild and Danner is the four distinct types of schools in the belief of Islamic Law: â€Å"There are four major schools of Islamic Law, derived from religious leaders living in different areas and facing different problems in the two centuries following the death of Muhammad. These schools are Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi’i. The main differences between these schools are in matters of emphasis, whether on tradition, judicial reasoning, or the elaboration of the Qur’an† (2001 P.62). Therefore in the following paper the obj... ...w, but in Afghanistan it is just the opposite it is difficult to try to change Islamic Law especially in a country where many individuals truly believe in Islamic Law. Islamic law does not exist in very many countries but in Afghanistan those who follow the Islamic laws keep it alive and well which will make it difficult for the government if they wish to change anything within the Islamic laws of Afghanistan. References Dammer,Harry R. & Fairrchild, Erika. (2001). Comparative Criminal Justice Systems. (2nd Ed.) Wadsworth/Thomson. Lau, Martin. (2008). Islamic Law and the Afghan legal System. Retrieved on December 12, 2008 From: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN018244.pdf Reiber, Ney. (2008). Islamic Law, Shariah. Retrieved on December 12, 2008 from: http://www.bible.ca/islam/islam-kills-islamic-law-shariah.htm

Employee of the Month Essay

Zack Bradley, a box boy at Super Club, a Price Club/Costco/Sam’s Club type store. He’s more than content with his life as a box boy. He lives with his grandmother, hangs out with his buddies in their homemade lounge in the center of the store’s shopping racks, trades away dented goods, and gets along with just about everyone. In fact, there’s only one person Zack can’t seem to get along with: lead cashier Vince Downey (Dax Shepard), the epitome of retail world brown nosing. Vince has been employee of the month at Super Club for seventeen months straight and winning the eighteenth time means big prizes (including a â€Å"newish† Chevy Malibu) and a promotion. Usually that title wouldn’t mean anything to a slacker like Zack, but when the new hot cashier Amy (Jessica Simpson) appears on the scene with rumors that she goes for employee of the month, Zack decides to give Vince some competition. This is, at its heart, an underdog film, which I almost always enjoy to some degree. Zack is constantly trod upon by Vince’s overwhelmingly good luck. Even when Zack and his friends try to get the best of the big suck up, something good happens for the egotistical wonder that allows him to come out ahead. It’s a real testament to the power of positive thinking once you learn that Vince sees his job as a big success (â€Å"why climb a mountain when you can win the land race? † he asks) while Zack knows his job sucks but took it as a way not to hurt anyone after a business failure cost his grandmother her retirement savings; Vince thinks well so he does well, Zack doesn’t. But really it’s a way of making the audience really want Vince to get his comeuppance, and feel a great sense of satisfaction once he begins to. With a cast comprised of stand-up comedians, singer turned actors, and former Ashton Kutcher â€Å"Punk’d† assistants one doesn’t exactly expect Oscar caliber acting from Employee of the Month, however the performances aren’t terrible either. Dane Cook acts as a subdued Ryan Reynolds which is exactly what this role needs. Reynolds’ normal antics would be too much for the tempo of this movie. Jessica Simpson only has the demand of being attractive and an object of desire; a role she fills perfectly, although a few of her lines are still wince-worthy. Dax Shepherd is a bit over the top in the villain role, but it works. The true standout performances come from the supporting comedic roles, filled with actors like Andy Dick, Harland Williams, Brian George, Tim Bagley, and Napoleon Dynamite’s Pedro, Efren Ramirez. With a cast able to capture laughs in just about every direction, the film keeps the audience snickering, if not making them laugh a little louder. Indeed, Employee accomplishes more chuckles with a little subtlety than with its attempts at the big laughs, although there are more than a few of those. Observant audience members will notice just how much the employees of Super Club abuse the store’s merchandise, from using broken products as bargaining chips to having gallon buckets of ice cream and massive bags of chips in their homes. People willing to consider the movie even further will find hilarity in the way the employees of Super Club treat their retail jobs so seriously, as if cleaning up that spill or the speed of a cashier’s pass-through rate really matters. Dane Cook and Dax Shepard may not offer the best underdog comedy this year, and the movie certainly doesn’t stand up to Wedding Crashers (which shared the same producers as the advertisements are more than happy to remind everyone) but it’s still an enjoyable, silly little comedy. Consider it along the same guilty pleasure lines as Jingle All the Way or Dodgeball or a more viewer friendly version of that Steve Carell comedy. It’s good for lighthearted fun, just don’t expect any life changing experience watching two store clerks competing for the grand title of Employee of the Month.

Personal experience with banking concept of education Essay

Education, the process of taking in and applying information, is an important part of life that directly impacts an individual’s judgement and reasoning of both themselves and society. A person’s educational experience has the ability to influence their life despite their intelligence level or home life situation. In Paulo Freire’s book, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, two major learning styles, the â€Å"banking† concepts and the â€Å"problem-posing† methods of education, and their effects on students are discussed. My personal early education was within a public school system in the small town of Canton, Massachusetts. While public schools are often stereotyped as being both diverse and inferior compered to private schools, my high school was mainly white and Roman Catholic and it contained many students that were academically focused and capable of getting accepted to prestigious colleges such as the University of Miami. In my experience, certain teachers within this school system have helped me to see, through a process of trial and error, the best way I take in new information. My education has undoubtedly been molded by a combination of both the â€Å"banking† concept and the â€Å"problem-posing† method and has allowed me to develop into the person that I am today. Being from a public school of a relatively small suburb in the Northeast, I have been pressured since the start of my education to learn in order to pass a government issued exam. Even as early as third grade, the focus of my teachers was to prepare their students for the dreaded statewide MCAS exam. The majority of my school memories from elementary school are of me practicing for the essay portion of this exam and being taught to use â€Å"50 cent† vocabulary words that would catch a grader’s attention and help us students gain a higher score. Yet, at this age, I did not really give my education too much thought. I automatically assumed that this type of mechanical drilling was the only way to do well in school and ultimately to make my parents and the people I cared about proud of me. As I grew older, I have realized that I will never know the true reason that my teachers chose to teach to standardized tests. Their reasons for this may have been purely self-interested and inspired by incentives such as receiving an extra pay bonus. Still, I personally believe that the intentions of my earliest teachers were mainly benevolent and helped to prepare me for my later education. As a starting point for learning, elementary school teachers are expected to tell students what they needed to know. Even though a large portion of this process may include having the â€Å"receive, memorize, and repeat† information as if they are almost robotic, this instills them with a set of skills that will become critical in the later part of their education (Freire 260). While it may seem that an elementary school teacher who teaches with this method would have little to no impact on how a student will succeed in life, these educators taught me educational techniques that I still value to this day. Many of the experiences that I have had with these teachers have taught me the importance of personal management. If my teachers had not placed an emphasis on the importance of organization and structure, and its relationship to success, then I would not be able to handle having a large study workload. Also, by introducing me to the importance of competition at a young age, I have been motivated to accomplish more academically and outside of the classroom than I would have without their guidance. Even though the initial principles of this â€Å"banking concept of drilling information into students may appear to be oppressive and constrictive, the benefits received by both the instructor and the student typically serve their best interests and satisfy what the student is looking to gain from their education. Therefore, I believe that it is slightly inaccurate to deem this educational method purely as a means of depositing information from one person to another. I am thankful that a portion of my education has been similar to that of the â€Å"banking† concept because it has given me the framework to pursue more advanced studies. Although a portion of my academic career has been somewhat impersonal and standardized, I was fortunate enough to take a class that gave me a chance to both think critically and cognitively while learning new material. In my junior year of high school, I was able to take an Advanced Placement history class that has brought my style of learning to a more advanced level. In this history class, the teacher gave us a schedule of what we would be doing each day of the current unit we were in that was very similar to a college syllabus. Each day of class we came prepared with background information on the topic we would be learning about which was reinforced by the teacher giving us an almost daily quiz. Although at the time taking these quizzes was tedious, it allowed for the class to discuss numerous historical topics in a short period of time. Our teacher, with the use of technology, presented different copies of primary sources to the class which led to a natural and flowing discussion of different topics. That history class was unlike any other course I had taken in the past and, while it was still challenging, I was able to do well and I scored a high grade on the AP test. I believe that the reason for both my personal success and that of many others in my class was due to the fact that my teacher combined methods of both the â€Å"banking† concepts and the â€Å"problem-posing† methods that were presented in Freire’s article. Instead of pretending to know all of the answers, my teacher posed problems to us students that we were able to work together to solve (Freire 265). While I was challenged academically to think on a critical and comprehensive level, there were certain aspects of that type of learning that required me to simply fill my brain with information. Without taking the time to learn basic facts and concepts of a certain subject, I would have never been able to insightfully discuss or give a knowledgeable opinion on it. Only by putting in a substantial amount of individual effort was I able to grasp anything that my teacher or classmates would say during a lecture or discussion. Although this experience may appear to solely support the â€Å"problem-posing method†, without the initial instruction of my early teachers to be self motivated to learn and do well in my classes, I would have believed that spending time studying outside of the classroom was pointless and that without a teacher I would be incapable of learning anything. Therefore, my academic growth that occurred during my junior year would not have been possible if I did not have such influential elementary school teachers. My educational experience over the past twelve years has definitely established me as the student that I am today. While many aspects of growing up in a small town in the Massachusetts with many similar types of people surely affected my education, it is certainly my teachers who have made the largest impact on me. With both the initial guidance from my elementary school teachers and with the introduction of critical thinking that was introduced by my history teacher, I have developed a style of learning that feature aspects of both the â€Å"banking† concept of education and the â€Å"problem-posing† method and this has proven to be successful for me in the past. Still, I hope that as I begin to continue my education at the University of Miami and possibly even in graduate school, that I will continue to grow as a student. In the future, I plan to take many different courses and be exposed to new types of thinking that will help me to develop intellectually. If I follow this path one day I may possibly be able to perfect my learning style and develop an efficient method that will help to bring me both success and knowledge in the future.

Compare and contrast at least two theories which purport to provide an explanation for offending Essays

Compare and contrast at least two theories which purport to provide an explanation for offending Essays Compare and contrast at least two theories which purport to provide an explanation for offending Essay Compare and contrast at least two theories which purport to provide an explanation for offending Essay Control theories try to explain that crime is more likely in the absence of controls. Some control theorists argue that people have a free choice whether to commit crime or not and are influenced by the likelihood of being caught or punished. Clarke (1980) argued that crime resulted from a rational choice on the part of the offender who assessed the risks of any particular situation (Croall 1998:73). These theories are closely related to anomie theories because they focus on regulating natural urges that people have to commit crime. There were four main theorists who dealt with control theories regarding criminal activity: Travis Hirschi, David Matza, Stephen Box and Harriet Wilson. Hirschi (1969) Travis Hirschi gave the statement, The question, Why do they do it? is simply not the question the theory is designed to answer. The question is, Why dont we do it?' (Maguire, Morgan Reiner 2002:57). He basically was saying that control theories were mainly focused on trying to explain why people did not commit crime but in doing so, these theories provided explanations for why people really do commit crime. Hirschi believed that crime comes about when social bonding processes fail. He provided four elements that related to these processes, which, if they failed, would result in criminal acts. * Attachment: relates to an individuals receptiveness to the ideas and opinions of others. * Commitment: the amount of time and effort that a person is willing to put in to ensure that they conform. * Involvement : the amount of participation in conforming activities * Belief: the amount of conviction that a person has to follow the rules. Hirschi later developed this theory even more, with Gottfredson, by introducing self-control and impulsivity into the equation. They believed that low self-control results in crime because crime provides a direct and simple gratification of desires that is attractive to those who cannot or will not postpone pleasure (Maguire, Morgan Reiner 2002:57). They also believed that crime can result from lack of sympathy for the victim and requires hardly any skill or planning in advance. This makes crime attractive (mainly to youths) because it can improve the offenders feelings of power. The benefits of crime are often short lived and can be described as quick fixes for the criminal. This, according to Hirschi, can appeal to the impulsive nature of criminals and provides a compelling argument stating that most criminals are risk-taking, short-sighted individuals. Matza (1969) In David Matzas book, Delinquency and Drift Matza theorises that criminals are not very different from the average human being because most of the time they conform with societys stipulations. He does however say that sometimes the grip of control (Matza 1969) loosens on these individuals and this compels them to crime because they feel that they are no longer responsible for their actions. David Matza and Gresham Sykes developed their theory concerning techniques of neutralization. These techniques provide offenders with a way of counteracting the guilt that they may feel while committing an offence. This relief often urged them even more to commit crime and can be an explanation for why people commit crime. Such techniques can be: * to condemn their condemners to blame the faults of the police or courts for their actions * to deny injury to say that there was no harm in their actions * to deny the victim to say that the victim of the crime was insignificant and that it was probably their own fault anyway * to appeal to higher loyalties to say that they were committing the crime for a good or worthy cause. Box (1971) Stephen Box linked the theories of Hirschi and Matza together by introducing his own set of variables that affect social control: * Secrecy the chances that a delinquent could hide his/her criminal acts * Skills the skills and knowledge that is required from the offender to commit the act * Social Support the encouragement that the offender gets to commit an offense by his friends and peers * Symbolic Support the encouragement that the offender gets from other areas of the culture Box concluded that the higher the access to these variables then the higher the likelihood that a person commits an offence will be. Wilson (1980) Harriet Wilson conducted her studies on families who were socially deprived in Birmingham, England during the 1970s and 80s. She believed that socialization within the family, the community and the school..were informal agencies of control (Croall 1998:73). She reported that chaperonage differentiated families with delinquent youths and families without. This showed that if youths did not have adults accompanying them around their areas then they were more likely to commit crime. The parents were effectively acting as guardians and preventing the youths from committing crime and this was seen as a form of social control. Routine Activities Theory This theory is mainly based on the works of Marcus Felson and focuses on how crime occurs during routine activities within normal, every day life. The main concepts of routine activities theory draws on the concepts of control theory and creates a different theory regarding these ideas. Felson (2002) * Believed that most criminals were not that much different from the average person not very skilled, petty and unremarkable. * Concluded that Crime is embedded in the very architecture of everyday life (Maguire, Morgan Reiner 2002:61) The basis of routine activities theory is that, according to Cornish and Clarke (1986), the offender seeks to gain quick pleasure and avoid imminent pain (Felson 2002:37). The whole point of crime is to obtain things without much effort and dedication. Crime is seen as a choice that every individual makes and different aspects affect these choices. Felson pointed out that most crime was fast and easy and that criminals were not required to be skilled or extremely daring in order to commit an offence. Choices are the central theory behind Felsons thinking and he theorised that everyone makes decisions whether or not to commit a criminal act but some factors affect these choices more than others. He compared the criminal act to a theatre setting as in the cue-decision sequence. The sequence emphasises that offenders respond to cues in their immediate surroundings as shown below: 1) An individual enters the setting 2) Cues within the setting communicate temptations and controls 3) Interpretations are made of these cues by the individual 4) The individual then decides whether or not to commit an offence. As you can see, normal, everyday stimuli affect the individuals decision and the environment out with of the individuals control influences their decision to commit a criminal act. It is important to note that some settings have high controls and some do not. Also, some settings have stronger temptations than others. Each different setting contains different factors that greaten or lessen the possibility that a person will commit a crime. Another sequence that influenced Felsons way of thinking is the disinhibition sequence. This mainly focuses on the blame and control factors that influence our choices. 1) An individual starts drinking some alcohol with friends 2) He/she starts to get a buzz but keeps on drinking 3) They start to smoke marijuana and get even more of a buzz 4) Some of the group decide to commit a crime. Some criminals tend to blame their criminal acts on the amount of alcohol that they have smoked or the amount of drugs that they have taken but these are not defences that will stand up in court. This theory of blame is more to alleviate the offenders from the guilt that they feel concerning the crime itself. Felson believed that self-control had quite a lot to do with why people commit crime. He thought that individuals who had low self-control were more likely to commit crime because they were not as fully in control of their minds, bodies and actions as normal individuals. He also thought everybody receives constant environmental cues that assist us in keeping our self-control. These reminders occur in lots of different settings and can come in verbal or physical forms.

Economic Indicator Analysis (XBOX 360) Research Paper

Economic Indicator Analysis (XBOX 360) - Research Paper Example Moreover, region specific media access to third party media is also offered through streaming services such as ESPN and Netflix. Currently a slimmer version of the Xbox 360 is being shipped which sports a number of features. These include Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), TOSLINK S/PDIF optical audio out port, five USB 2.0 ports and a specialised AUX port. (Takahashi, 2010) All previous models of the Xbox series have been discarded since. The console ships with a standard 250 GB hard drive and a cheaper stock keeping unit ships with 4GB internal storage space. Special editions of the Xbox 360 ship with 320 GB hard drives. Microsoft holds that the Xbox 360 platform is only through half of its projected life that is deemed to continue up to 2015. (Robinson, 2009) In terms of performance and capability, IGN named the Xbox 360 as the sixth best video game console of all times out of a total of 25 gaming consoles. (IGN, 2011) The processor is a triple core Xenon designed by IBM. Each core can process two threads simultaneously and so in total it can process six threads. (Microsoft, 2008) The Xbox 360 handles graphics through the ATI Xenos GPUS that sports 10 MB worth of eDRAM and has a main memory pool of 512 MB. The controllers for the Xbox 360 are shipped in both wired and wireless models. A host of technical failures were associated with the Xbox 360 since its release but these have been dealt with by Microsoft by extending warranty periods to three years and by modifying hardware to accommodate thermal instability. Microsoft is a leading software and IT business company with roots stretching as far back as the late seventies. The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on 4th April 1975. With the introduction of the company’s DOS (Disk Operating System) that was extensively utilised by IBM, the company saw unprecedented growth. The development of the Windows framework allowed the company to expand its reach to newer consumers around the globe. The mid nineti es saw Microsoft under fire for monopolistic business practices and was subsequently prosecuted under anti-trust laws. Moreover, Microsoft expanded into the word processing domain with its Microsoft Office software suite that sports little competition. Recent years have seen Microsoft diversifying its portfolio by delving into newer markets such as video games, consumer electronics, digital services, cellular phone operating systems and VoIP communications. As of 2011, the company hosts revenue of some $69.96 billion while its operating income stands at $24.1 billion as of 2010. The video gaming industry is far more open than the video games console industry as it allows successful start-ups. Developmental costs for software are lower than those for hardware and this allows the video games market to be more open to competition. However, the video games console market requires multi faceted research aimed at developing and sourcing hardware that can be utilised to outstrip the perfor mance of the competition’s consoles. Consequently, there are few companies in the market that are manufacturing and marketing video gaming consoles. Notably the market is occupied by Nintendo’s Gamecube and Wii, Sony’s Playstation series and Microsoft’s Xbox series. Both Nintendo and Sony develop customised hardware for their gaming console platforms including processing, storage and GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) along with networking and other supporting features. In contrast, Microsoft tends to source its hardware from various sources

Scope, potential and benefits of urban farming and its importance to Research Paper

Scope, potential and benefits of urban farming and its importance to local communities in US - Research Paper Example The food production has been declining; earth has been becoming a hotter place without adequate green cover; the quality of food available for people in general has been decreasing; and as more leisure got created, more and more human beings have been detached from physical labour resulting in lack of exercise and the emergence of new kinds of life style related diseases. These are only a few of the many problems faced by humans as they got distanced from nature and agriculture. The detachment from nature has thus kickstarted a process of decline in quality of life caused by its impact on food security, employment, carbon fixation, oxygen availability, mental happiness, relaxation, physical exercise, peace of mind received from nature, aesthetic appeal, fresh food, food traceability, pollution control, waste utilization, waste water utilization, waste-to-energy conversion, space availability and optimal utilization of available space. Pearson has categorised the benefits of urban far ming into three, namely, â€Å"social, economic, and environmental goods and services† (3). ... It can be said, the north and south represent two growth stages in human civilization but it is more important to note that in Southern cities, urban agriculture â€Å"plays a significant role in providing a measure of food security and income for a rapidly increasing urban population† (2). It has to be remembered that urban farming is not a newly introduced concept to cities but has been existing in all cities as vestiges of rural life until the development bandwagon erased it completely at least from the mega-cities. In this context, this paper envisages finding out the scope, potential and benefits of urban farming for the world in general and the US in particular. This investigation is carried out keeping in mind, urban agriculture is not a monolithic concept but include: Residual, often peri-urban broadacre farmland, small ‘community gardens’, personally managed allotments, home gardens, portions of parks that were previously planted entirely with amenity spe cies, fruit trees along roadside reserves, greenhouses, green roofs and green walls (Pearson, 3). In the backdrop of the huge â€Å"knowledge gap† that exists regarding the potential, methods and benefits of urban farming, this study envisages preparing a knowledge database on different aspects of the same (Pearson, Pearson, and Pearson, 9). Review of Literature The early ideas on urban farming as we know it was initiated during the era of New Deal, when â€Å"homesteads were organized as examples of how the country could benefit from a proliferation of semirural neighborhoods, where part-time farming on inexpensive but desirable land would encourage uplifting social functions and help establish a