Tuesday, August 25, 2020

How to Write an Outstanding MBA Essay

Step by step instructions to Write an Outstanding MBA Essay Most of graduate business programs require each candidate to give in any event one achieved MBA paper as an indispensable piece of the application procedure. The agents of the affirmation sheets utilize the articles, along with other application components, so as to decide if a potential understudy is an ideal fit for a specific business college. An expertly explored and appropriately cultivated MBA articles are an extraordinary open door for you to expand your odds of acknowledgment just as to contrast the foundation of different candidates. MBA Essay: What? Why? How? ‘How to compose a MBA essay?’ An average inquiry if you’re a bustling school or college understudy who has neither strong information in a specific field nor brilliant composing abilities. In the event that you’re among the unfortunate folks who are stuck in no place, we have uplifting news for you †composing a MBA article is certifiably not a troublesome undertaking by any stretch of the imagination! All you need to never really up with a first class MBA exposition is to adhere to the guidelines gave underneath: Examination. Prior to composing a paper, it is profoundly essential to do a careful examination so as to gather all the material expected to finish a decent MBA article for any school discipline be it Psychology, Marketing, IT or Engineering. Complete a solid theory proclamation. The second step that you, as the MBA exposition creator, must take is to give a reasonable and brief proposition explanation that will advise your intended interest group about the motivation behind your MBA paper. Psyche that you need to do that inside a solitary sentence. Additionally, the theory articulation ought to be clear and succinct. Your mentor shouldn’t experience any sort of difficulty while perusing and grasping your proposition articulation. Gap your paper into parts. Separation your MBA article into the body passages and make a point to give headings where suitable. Art a layout. At the point when the inquiry is the means by which to compose a decent MBA exposition, consistently make sure to utilize basic and clear language. Before you produce a real book, it is imperative to fabricate a solid diagram. With the assistance of a strong plan, you have a chance to make an incomparable quality MBA article that will show that you’ve accomplished some genuine work to think of the quality bit of composing. Besides, a decent layout will assist you with showing signs of improvement thought of what focuses you should add to the article and which ones ought to be deleted. Gap into areas. The presentation, the body, the end are the must-have for the MBA article venture. Never neglect to give them in your piece since these sections transform your MBA article into the one that merits an A+ and educate your guide about the extraordinary composing aptitudes that you have. The introduction of the MBA article is utilized to present the subject that you’re going to talk about and give a brisk and nitty gritty review of the task. Simultaneously, the indisputable piece of the MBA paper demonstrates how you react to a specific issue that you’ve featured in your introductive fragment and the body of the task. Give school points of interest. No ifs, ands or buts, you’d like to exhibit your insight into a specific school. This implies knowing and referencing explicit classes or an employee that you’re inspired by the most. Discussion about certain associations nearby that snare your consideration. Name your objectives and how the school can assist you with drawing nearer to them. The key here is all things considered and explicit, composing an account of how you can add to the decent variety of the class. Act naturally. The delegates of the affirmations board are looking for the approaches to see progressively about a possible understudy and their one of a kind character. Along these lines, ensure you have something to bring to the college network table! Cause sure to mention to them what sort of effect you to can make. With regards to the altering, guarantee the various corrections don't reduce your novel individual voice. This isn't only a MBA paper, this is your article! Presently you’re authoritatively gave everything expected to make an extraordinary MBA exposition inside the predefined cutoff time. To get more subtleties, don't hesitate to connect with the believed custom exposition composing administration that gives proficient composing help every minute of every day.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Supply Chain Management at Dell Computers

As indicated by Klapper et al, gracefully chain the board is the coordinated arrangement of capacities that try to guarantee that the results of an association arrive at a client in an auspicious way. Along these lines, the jobs of the flexibly chain director at Dell PCs are to guarantee that the client is happy with the item conveyance used by the company.Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on Supply Chain Management at Dell Computers explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The fundamental jobs of a gracefully anchor chief are to guarantee the viable determination and the executives of providers and to administer proficient transportation of items from the creation area through capacity, however capacity, lastly to the customer (Chomilier, Samii, and Wassenhove). Subsequently, at Dell, the duties of the flexibly anchor director are to guarantee that there is viable correspondence between the client, the provider, and producer of the last item. This job pro mpts an appeal for flexibly chain chiefs by firms, for example, Dell in light of the fact that the gracefully chain administrators guarantee that the company’s items are productively appropriated to different buyers in the market (Kale, 2004). These chiefs are likewise sought after in light of the fact that the organization needs to circulate its items to differing populaces, and to do this, viable correspondence in the gracefully chain is required. SWOT Analysis Strengths From the Case StudyonDell Computers, it is clear that the organization is the biggest PC producer on the planet, so showcasing the PCs is rearranged in light of the fact that they have a set brand name. Another quality from the customer’s point of view is the utilization of hand crafts to make PCs; a few clients will arrange uniquely designed PCs from the organization along these lines expanding their image dedication. The shipment system utilized by the organization is a viable technique that guaran tees that the PCs arrive at the client with negligible deferrals, which builds the promoting capability of the organization. Shortcomings The fundamental shortcoming with the advertising capability of Dell PCs is that they have a powerless relationship with retailers since the organization lean towards showcasing its own items. This implies the organization doesn't infiltrate the market adequately, and the retailers don't advertise the organization items. The other promoting shortcoming of the organization is the way that they don't have special advancements to offer the market, so new items don't expand the market capability of the organization. The issue of managing a lot of providers from various nations implies that the organization faces numerous potential issues when their items are reviewed from the market (Cohen and Rousell, 2004). Openings The principle opportunity that the organization has in the market is the chance to enhance the brand made by the originator; it presents an opportunity for the organization to grow its market abilities to districts outside the present spaces. The other promoting opportunity originate from the anticipated development to new markets like China and India, which are anticipated in the circumstance investigation to develop in the following three to five years (Clay, 2006). Dangers The fundamental danger to the advertising capability of Dell PCs is the expanding number of well known brand names in the market, which builds the serious factor and diminishes piece of the pie. Since Dell is an organization that is centered around global business, variances in world monetary standards can influence the benefit potential and advertising abilities of the organization. Creating solid relations among retailers and contending organizations that diminish the appropriation capacity of the organization, likewise influence the showcasing capability of the organization. References Case Study: Dell. Can The Icon of The Logistics Industry Survive in India? Chomilier, B., and Samii, R., and Wassenhove, L., The Central Role of Supply Chain Management at IFRC, [Online] Available at: https://www.fmreview.org/. Cohen, S., and Rousell, J., 2004, Strategic Supply Chain Management. New York: McGraw Hill. Kale, S., n.d., Global Competitiveness: Role of Supply Chain Management, [Online] Available at:â http://dspace.iimk.ac.in/bitstream/handle/2259/507/503-511+.pdf;jsessionid=22A58EB0104D0855E5F5AD128979AB25?sequence=1 .Advertising Looking for article on business financial matters? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Klapper, L., and Hamblin, N., and Hutchison, L., and Novak, L., and Vivar, J., 2000, Supply Chain Management: A Recommended Performance Measurement Scorecard. London: Logistics Management Institute. This article on Supply Chain Management at Dell Computers was composed and put together by client Omari Diaz to help you with your own examinations. You are allowed to utilize it for research and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; in any case, you should refer to it in like manner. You can give your paper here.

Saturday, August 8, 2020

I wrote a whole post on Halloween and forgot to publish it

I wrote a whole post on Halloween and forgot to publish it Happy CROMMMMBUS season (like christmas but.. not) On Halloween night I wrote this post and forgot to click publish so Im going to add a bunch of CROMBUS content and some other stuff to the end and put it up ITS HALLOWEEN. Id slept an hour in the past 30 hours but it was Halloween so I guess I had to make cookies. My favorite halloween cookies are these skeltal ones We have spoopy sprinkles Photo of my actual skeleton, thanks Kylie   While this was happening, Greg (2022) was making 2 cakes, cupcakes, and a giant cookie. Everything is vegan and he assembled it into this monstrosity with coconut flakes and oreos and frosting How was your Halloween? Tell me about your costume remember that its always spoopy season! Moving onto CROMBUS season, my friend Kristen made gingerbread houses for hall to decorate Its rainbow cause its gay  ???????????????????????? look at all the sugarrrrrr  Kylie made another work of art During finals 1E has finals feeds, where people cook breakfast or dinner or clean afterwards, and they can have food I made meatloaf and Kristen made a fritata for vegetarians its wrapped in a bacon weave and the recipe is from a guy named Angus(!!) who lived on 1E and graduated in 2018 To be honest I dont really like CROMBUS season. Its too happy and I still consider it October 87th but my friends all got me death-themed presents and Im so excited to share them with you First is a mounted snake skeleton, look how HECKIN pretty it is And a taxidermy bat I LOVE BATS theyre just little bird puppies look at its tiny teefs Also a death bible with GOLD LETTERING   Thank you to Jenny, Anna, and Kristen!  ????  Conversations about death are important but censored by society so thanks for enabling me Tell me how your break/holidays are going! Also please give me video game reccs- Ive been playing a lot of Hollow Knight and Hyper Light Drifter and some Nuclear Throne but I wanna buy things during the Steam sale (under $10 preferred)

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Essay on Addressing a Lack of Parent Involvement - 1398 Words

Parent involvement in children’s education plays a critical role in student achievement and outcomes later in life (Epstein, 1995). Much research has been conducted about the benefits of parent involvement in elementary school and middle school. Less research has been conducted pertaining to early childhood education, namely children from birth through age eight. The limited research that has been conducted demonstrates that parent involvement at the preschool and primary grade levels is associated with greater achievement in reading and less grade retention all the way through grade eight (Basile Henry, 1996). Parent and family involvement provide comfort for children in social and cultural contexts, ultimately enhancing cognitive†¦show more content†¦St. Clement is a Catholic School in Baltimore, Maryland that, like many other schools, struggles with a lack of parent involvement. There are some parents who do not show up for conferences, children report do no t help them with homework, and never volunteer to help the school in any way. There is a need to increase parent involvement for many reasons, including providing children with maximum educational benefits, better meeting family needs, increasing the resources available to the school, and more. Parent involvement at St. Clement School has decreased over the last several years. To examine trends of declining parent involvement, the second grade class was used as a focus group since children in this group are still in the primary grades and are preparing to transition into the intermediate grades. In this group, it was observed that parent involvement has decreased as children have advanced grades. Perhaps, parents feel children are becoming more independent or perhaps the newness and excitement are wearing off. Nonetheless, in a class of 17 children, the same few parents are regularly involved, three to four make great effort to be involved, a few more are involved sporadically, and the rest are minimally involved, if at all. Despite, over a third of parents making aShow MoreRelatedThe Link Between Parents Perceptions Of The School And Their Responses On School Bullying954 Words   |  4 PagesThe Link Between Parents’ Perceptions of the School and Their Respon ses to School Bullying: Variation by Child Characteristics and the Forms of Victimization primarily focuses on the parental involvement and influence concerning their children experiencing bullying in school. The article s central premise suggests focusing on parental viewpoints of school environments as an element affecting the response to school bullying and the child’s victimization. #1) The article is composed of the followingRead MoreImproving The Family Unit : An Assignment Solutions And The Best Combination Of Treatment756 Words   |  4 Pageswithin this family unit are as followed: financial issues due to lack of employment and legal issues, a pending eviction, lack of communication which has resulted into family conflict, marital issues between Joe and Frances, Joe and Frances differences in culture, values, and beliefs in how a family should function, France’s depression due to stress, Joe’s alcohol abuse, Joe and France’s deficiencies in parenting, Darryl’s involvement with juvenile justice and his ungovernable behavior at home andRead MoreOverall Average Of Grades 6-8 Students Aspire Math Content Standards By Poverty Level983 Words   |  4 Pageslinked to insufficient resources in the home. The combination of home, community, and school poverty initiates low achievement among poverty stricken students. These institu tional mechanisms create larger class sizes, inadequate classroom teachers, a lack of educational resources, inferior expectations, and affects the rate of delivery of classroom content. The classroom standards in poverty stricken schools often suffer from standards being leveled at low performing students instead of challengingRead MoreThe Relationship between Health and Education737 Words   |  3 Pagesattention of educators, parents, and policy makers alike. Peer-reviewed journal articles will substantiate claims that personal and public health promotes the educational goals established by the school and federal mandate. Articles in magazines and newspapers target parents and older students, demonstrating how they can take greater responsibility for their health by eating right and exercising. 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The interviewsRead MoreThe Influence Of Departmentalization On Elementary School Students1331 Words   |  6 Pagesimpacted are the parents, teachers and administrators, and they are far more empowered. All stakeholders claim to have the same goals: increased teacher and student productivity, preservation of local schools, significant test score improvement, and all at the lowest cost possible. Key school district administrators are increasingly involving teachers, parents and a broad range of stakeholders, in decision making and leadership choices. Research indicates that parental involvement increases both studentRead MoreYouth Sports Should Not Be A Challenge For Children1361 Words   |  6 Pagescase. The challenges that the youth in sports today are going through deals with three different categories. The first is parents that are out of control and seem to take watching their children playing sports too far. In some cases not letting the kids just have fun playing, but have alternative motives for their future in sports. The darker side of youth sports, is parents that are emotional abusive and tend to bully more than support their children. The second category in challenges that the youthRead MoreDown Syndrome And The Formation Of Reproductive Cells1121 Words   |  5 Pagesmore community involvement (Family Caregiving of Aging Adults with Down Syndrome). With this increasing age it is important that research be done on improving lifestyle and care for the older adult with Down syndrome. The first article discusses the increasing age of adults and how this longer lifespan has effects on families that have received inadequate attention. For most families that include someone with intellectual disabilities there are barriers that may be faced, such as a lack of information

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Why Water Is More Dense Than Ice

Water is unusual in that its maximum density occurs as a liquid, rather than as a solid. This means ice floats on water. Density is the mass per unit volume of a material. For all substances, density changes with temperature. The mass of material does not change, but the volume or space that it occupies either increases or decreases with temperature. The vibration of molecules increases as temperature rises and they absorb more energy. For most substances, this increases the space between molecules, making warmer liquids less dense than cooler solids. Its All About Hydrogen Bonds However, this effect is offset in water by hydrogen bonding. In liquid water, hydrogen bonds connect each water  molecule to approximately 3.4 other water molecules. When water freezes into ice, it crystallizes into a rigid lattice that increases the space between molecules, with each  molecule hydrogen bonded to 4 other molecules.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

A Study of the Relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviours Free Essays

string(70) " different cultural background construct different structures of OCB\." Research Proposal: A Study of the Relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviours, Psychology Contract and Organisational Justice: Focusing on the Chinese Workers [Note: This proposal has been reproduced in anonymised from with full permission from the student. It is reproduced using single line spacing to save paper]. Name: Student Number: Date of submission: dd mmm yyyy Word account: 2122 excluding references Contents 1 Research Background 2 Research aim and objectives 3 Literature review 3. We will write a custom essay sample on A Study of the Relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviours or any similar topic only for you Order Now 1 Organisational citizenship behaviours 3. Psychological contract 3. 3 Organisational justice 4 Methodology 4. 1 Questionnaire survey 4. 2 Sample selection and data collection 4. 3 Research ethics 4. 4 Data analysis 5 Timetable 6 Conclusions 7 References 1 1 2 2 3 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 1 Research Background Fuelled by increasing globalization and international competition, many enterprises have realised the importance of recruiting, retaining, and managing human resources, which contribute to increasing competitiveness of organisations and gaining sustainable competitive advantages (Nadiri Tanova, 2010). Recently, many scholars and practitioners devote multiple efforts to organisational citizenship behaviours. The reason is that organisational citizenship behaviours contribute to improving organisational performance by maximizing their job efficiency and productivity (Organ, 1988; Wagner Rush, 2000). Jahangir et al. (2004) assert that â€Å"successful organisations have employees who go beyond their formal job responsibilities and freely give their time and energy to succeed at the assigned job† (p. 75). From these perspectives, organisational citizenship behaviours act as an essential role in strengthening organisational effectiveness. Given its importance, this study aims to examine organisational citizenship behaviours of Chinese workers in order to improve research generalizability. Either in academic study or in practice, organisational citizenship behaviours have gained much attention. Hence, many scholars examine and explore the definition, structure, antecedents and consequences of organisational citizenship behaviours. Among all antecedents, organisational justice and psychological contract have received much attention in the field of organisational psychology and organisational behaviours. The existing studies have illustrated that rganisational justice and psychological contract are positively related to organisational citizenship behaviours (Cohen-Charash Spector, 2001; Turnley et al. , 2003). Through surveying samples from United Kingdom, mainland China, France and the United States, Fok et al. (1996) also found that employees with different cultural background had different perception of fairness and organisational citizenship behaviours. Concerning for the difference of culture, it is necessary to examine organisational citizenship behaviours and its antecedents in the Chinese cultural background. At the same time, Hui et al. 2004) point out that employment relationship is different due to different psychological, social, and interpersonal mechanism. Furthermore, the existing studies associated with organisational justice, psychological contract, and organisational citizenship behaviours are rooted in western cultural background. Whether they work or not in the Chinese cultural background has not been known. Therefore, in order to improve research generalisability, this study attempts to identify the effect of organisational justice and psychological contract on organisational citizenship behaviours focusing on the Chinese workers. This proposal is arranged as follows: section two provides research aim and objectives. As such, section three reviews literatures associated with organisational justice, psychological contract, and organisational citizenship behaviours. Section four presents data collection methods. Section five provides timetable. This proposal ends with conclusions. 1 2 Research aim and objectives The aim of this research is to examine and understand the relationship between organisational justice, psychological contract, and organisational citizenship behaviours. To address research aim, the specific research objectives are presented as follows: (1)To examine the relationship between organisational justice and psychological contract focusing on the Chinese workers; (2)To examine how organisational justice affects organisational citizenship behaviours focusing on the Chinese workers; (3)To examine how psychological contract affects organisational citizenship behaviours focusing on the Chinese workers. 3 Literature review 3. 1 Organisational citizenship behaviours The term organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) was introduced by Organ (1977). In 1988, Organ defined it as ‘‘discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organisation’’ (Organ, 1988). Subsequently, Organ (1995) redefined OCB as ‘‘performance that supports the social and psychological environment in which task performance takes place† (p. 95). In terms of this definition, OCB is a part of job performance. The definition of Organ (1995) has gained considerable attention from scholars. According to Bolino et al. 2002), OCB is defined as â€Å"the willingness of employees to exceed their formal job requirements in order to help each other, to subordinate their individual interests for the good of the organisation, and to take a genuine interest in the organisation’s activities and overall mission†. This definition has gained the support of Appelbaum et al. (2004), who defined it as â€Å"a discretionary behaviour that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirement, but – is that which promotes the effective functioning of the organisation†. Based on their definitions, it can be known that OCB is an extra-role bahviour of promoting performance. In this study, the definition of Appelbaum et al. (2004) is used to understand organisational citizenship behaviours of Chinese workers. Concerning for the structure of OCB, there are different perspectives due to different research background and cultural background. In general, the structure of OCB is generalized into two dimensions, three dimensions, four dimensions, five dimensions, and seven dimensions, which I have summarised and presented in table 1. 2 Table 1 structure of organisational citizenship behaviours Reference Two dimensions Smith et al. (1983) Three dimensions Coleman and Borman (2000) interpersonal citizenship, organisational citizenship, and job/task citizenship Four dimensions Graham et al. (1989) organisational obedience, interpersonal helping, organisational loyalty, and organisational participation Five dimensions Organ (1988) altruism, conscientiousness, courtesy, civic virtue, and altruism and generalised compliance Contents sportsmanship Farh, Early and Lin (1997) identification with the company, altruism toward colleagues, conscientiousness, interpersonal harmony, rotecting company resources Seven dimensions Podsakoff (2000) and Mackenzie Helping behaviour, sportsmanship, organisational loyalty, organisational compliance, individual initiative, civic virtue, and self development According to Table 1, different scholars present different perspectives. Among these dimensions, the perspective of Organ (1988) has gained considerable attention from scholars. Because of this , different scholars with different cultural background construct different structures of OCB. You read "A Study of the Relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviours" in category "Essay examples" At the same time, the Chinese scholars Farh et al. 1997) also build five-dimensional structure of OCB. In order to reduce the effect of cultural difference, this study employs the structure of Farh et al. (1997) to measure organisational citizenship behaviours. 3. 2 Psychological contract The study of psychological contract was originated from Argyris (1960). Psychological contract is used to understand employment relationship between employees and employers. Employment relationship is reciprocity in terms of social exchange theory (Rousseau, 1990). Given its importance, many scholars define and study what is meant by psychological contract. For example, psychological contract is defined by Rousseau (1989) as â€Å"individual’s belief in the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between the focal person and another group† (p. 123). In 1995, Rousseau redefined it as â€Å"individual beliefs, shaped by the organisation, regarding terms of an exchange agreement between individuals and their organisation† (p. 9). This definition of psychological contract has been widely accepted by many scholars. In this study, the definition of Rousseau (1995) is used to understand Chinese workers’ psychological contract. As for the structure of psychological contract, there are different perspectives. The earliest structure of psychological contract includes transactional and relational dimension (Rousseau, 1990), which has gained wide application in academic study. In here, transaction contract refers to â€Å"a set of short-term economically focused attitudes involving limited involvement be tween the parties† (Raja et al. , 2004). And relational contract refers to sustain relationship with organisations depending on emotional involvement or financial benefits (Robinson et al. 1994). Subsequently, in 1995, Rousseau (1995) reconstructed four dimensions of psychological contract, namely transactional, relationship, balanced, and transitional contract. Furthermore, the Chinese scholars Hui et al. (2004) develop dimensions of psychological contract of Chinese workers, namely balanced, relational, and transactional contracts. Therefore, in order to reduce cultural difference, this study employs the dimension of Hui et al. (2004) to measure psychological contract of Chinese workers. 3. Organisational justice Justice in organisations has gained considerable attention from scholars and practitioners. The reason is that organisational justice significantly affects attitudes and behaviours of employees (Cropanzano et al. , 2001). Because of this, many scholars explore and s tudy organisational justice in different contexts. The organisational justice is defined by Folger and Cropanzano (1998) as ‘‘the conditions of employment that lead individuals to believe they are being treated fairly or unfairly by their organisation’’. According to this definition, organisational justice refers to employees’ perception towards organisation, especially for pay and promotion. In this study, the above definition is used to understand organisational justice of Chinese workers. In terms of understanding organisational justice, different scholars provide different types. The earliest study on organisational justice shows that it has two primary dimensions, namely distributive and procedure justice (Greenberg, 1990). In here, distributive justice refers to â€Å"feelings of fairness surrounding the allocation of organisational resources, including pay, bonuses, terminations, or any other resources that an organisation can provide to employees† (Deutsch, 1975). Procedural justice refers to â€Å"feelings of fairness regarding the procedures associated with determining promotions, terminations, performance ratings, bonuses, or anything else of value that the organisation provides† (Thibaut Walker, 1975, cited in Roch Shanock, 2006). In addition, some scholars provide three-dimensional structure of organisational justice, namely distributive justice, interactional justice, and procedural justice (e. g. Bies Moag, 1986). They define interactional justice as â€Å"feelings of fairness concerning for how employees are treated within the organisation†. This three-dimensional structure has gained considerable application in the academic study. Furthermore, Colquitt (2001) provides four-dimensional structure, namely distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational justice. From these perspectives, there has not consistent findings about the structure of organisational 4 justice. In order to better identify the structure of organisational justice, the scale of Colquitt (2001) is used in this study. 4 Methodology In terms of research objectives, among research strategies presented by Yin (1994), survey is applied in this study, aiming to understand respondents’ actual attitudes, perspectives, and behaviours. In this study, primary data collection methods are employed in order to gain actual information of Chinese workers. 4. Questionnaire survey In this study, questionnaire survey aims to identify Chinese workers’ actual perspectives and attitudes towards organisational justice, psychological contract and organisational citizenship behaviours. The process of conducting questionnaire survey is presented as follows: The first step is to design questionnaires of this study. The questionnaire includes four sections. More specifically, section o ne is used to establish the samples’ characteristics, which includes a series of indicators, such as gender, age, marriage, and tenure. Correspondingly, section two is used to measure organisational citizenship behaviours. In this section, the scale of Hui et al. (1999) is used, which includes 15 items. Section three is used to measure psychological contract which also employs the scale of Hui et al. (2004). Furthermore, section four is used to measure organisational justice which uses the scale of Colquitt (2001). A five point Likert type scale used to assess Chinese workers’ identification degree with each indicator (1=strongly disagree; 5=strongly agree). The questionnaire will be pilot tested with 10 employees from the company and amendments made as necessary. 4. 2 Sample selection and data collection The second step is used to send collection questionnaires. In this study a systematic random sample of employees will be selected from the human resource records of the Company in China which employs 750 people. These records are stored in salary order by department. In order to ensure 95% confidence and a margin of error of 5% I require 254 responses (Saunders et al. , 2009). Assuming a response rate of 52. % (Baruch and Holtom, 2008), this means I will have to administer my questionnaire to 482 employees using SurveyMonkey using work emails. The questionnaire will be administered in Chinese. I have gained the company’s agreement by contacting with human resource department manager. Assurances have been given that all respondents’ information is confidential and anonymous. 5 4. 3 Research Ethics Permission has been given in writing by the company to undertake this research. I have agreed that the data will be anonymised and it will not be possible to identify individuals. In addition, the company name will not appear anywhere within the dissertation, thereby preserving anonymity. Individual respondents will be told in the questionnaire covering letter that their participation is optional. 4. 4 Data analysis The final step is to do data analysis. In terms of the received data, some statistic analysis techniques are used to analyse the received data, such as descriptive statistic analysis, confirmation factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. All of these operations will be achieved by using SPSS software. Timetable The timetable of this dissertation is presented below: Table 2 Timetable of this Dissertation March Task Week 3,4 Select topic Confirm questions Research proposal Questionnaire survey Data analysis Introduction literature review Methodology Findings discussions Conclusions and Recommendations Final format and and and entry and research April Week 1,2 April Week 3,4 May Week 1,2 May Week 3,4 June Week 1,2 June Week 3,4 J uly Week 1. 2 July Week 3,4 Aug. Week 1,2 indexing Print, bind submit 6 Key dates within this are: Submission of dissertation: dd mmm yyyy I confirm I have the resources to pay for the SurveyMonkey software subscription. There are no associated travel costs. 6 Conclusions This proposal provides a framework for the writing of this dissertation. In general, research background, literature review, research objectives, methodology and timetable have been provided in this proposal, aiming to better conduct the writing of this dissertation. 7 References Appelbaum, S. , Bartolomucci, N. , Beaumier, E. , Boulanger, J. , Corrigan, R. , Dore, I. , Girard, C. , Serroni, C. (2004). Organizational citizenship behavior: A case study of culture, leadership and trust. Management Decision, 42(1), 13-40. Argyris, C. (1960). Understanding organisational behaviour. London: Tavistock Publications. Baruch , Y. and Holtom, B. C. (2008). Survey response rates and trends in organizational research. Human Relations. 61(8), 1139-60. Bolino, M. C. , Turnley, W. H. , Bloodgood, J. M. (2002). Citizenship behavior and the creation of social capital in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 27(4), 505-522. Bies, R. J. , Moag, J. S. (1986). Interactional justice: Communication criteria for fairness. In B. Sheppard (Ed. ), Research on negotiation in organizations, Vol. 1: 43-55. Greenwich, CT: JAI. Cohen-Charash, Y. , Spector, P. E. (2001). The role of justice in organizations: A meta-analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 86, 278-321. Colquitt, J. A. (2001). On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 356-400. Coleman VI, Borman WC. (2000). Investigating the underlying structure of the citizenship performance domain. Human Resource Management Review, 10, 25–44. 7 Cropanzano, R. , Byrne, Z. S. , Bobocel, D. R. , Rupp, D. E. (2001). Moral virtues, fairness heuristics, social entities, and other denizens of organizational justice. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58, 164–209. Deutsch, M. 1975. Equity, equality, and need: What determines which value will be used as the basis of distributive justice? Journal of Social Issues, 31(1), 138-150. Farh, J. L. , Earley, P. C. , Lin, S. C. (1997). Impetus for action: A cultural analysis of justice and organizational citizenship behavior in Chinese society. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42, 421–444. Folger, R. , Cropanzano, R. (1998). Organisational justice and human resource management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Graham, J. W. (1989). Organizational citizenship behavior: Construct rede? nition operationalization, and validation. Unpublished Working Paper, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL. Greenberg, J. (1990). Organizational Justice: Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Journal of Management, 16(1), 399-432. Hui C. , Lee, C. , Rousseau, D. M. (2004). Psychological Contract and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in China: Investigating Generalizability and Instrumentality. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(2), 311–321. Jahangir, N. , Mohammad, M. Akbar, M. H. (2004). Organisational citizenship behaviours: its nature and antecedents. BRAC University Journal, I (2), 75-85. Nadiri, H. , Tanova, C. (2010). An investigation of the role of justice in turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior in hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29 (2), 33–41. Organ, D. W. 1977). A reappraisal and reinterpretation of the satisfaction– causes– performance hypothesis. Academy of Management Review, 2, 46–53. Organ, D. W. (1988). Organizational citizenship behavior: the good soldier syndrome. Lexington (MA): Lexington Books. Organ, D. W. , Ryan K. (1995). A meta-analytic review of attitudinal and dispositional predictors of organizational citizenship behavior. Personnel Psychology, 48, 775-802. Podsakoff, P. M. , MacKenzie, S. B. , Paine, J. B. , Bachrach, D. G. (2000). Organizational citizenship behaviors: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research. Journal of Management, 26, 8 513–563. Raja, U. , Johns, G. Ntalianis, F. (2004). The impact of personality on psychological Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 4(4), 249–270. Robinson, S. L. , Kraatz, M. S. , Rousseau, D. M. (1994). Changing obligations and the psychological contract: a longitudinal study. Academy of Management Journal, 37(1), 137-52. Rousseau, D. M. (1989). Psychological and implied contracts in organisations. Employee responsibilities and rights journal, 2, 121-139. Rousseau, D. M. (1990). New hire perspectives of their own and their employer’s obligations: a study of psychological contracts. Journal of organisational behaviour, 11, 389-400. Rousseau, D. M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organisations. CA :Thousand Oaks. Roch, Sylvia G. , Shanock, Linda R. (2006). Organizational Justice in an Exchange Framework: Clarifying Organizational Justice Distinctions. Journal of Management, 32(2), 299-322. Saunders M, Lewis, P. and Thornhill A (2009) Research Methods for Business Students (5th edition) Harlow: FT-Prentice Hall. Smith C. A. , Organ D. W. , Near J. P. (1983). Organizational citizenship behavior: Its nature and antecedents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 653-663. Thibaut, J. , Walker, L. (1975). Procedural justice: A psychological analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Turnley, W. H, Bolino, M. C, Lester, S. W. (2003). The impact of psychological contract fulfillment on the performance of in-role and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Management, 29(2), 187-206. Wagner, S. , Rush, M. (2000). Altruistic organisational citizenship behaviour: context, disposition and age. The journal of social psychologyl, 140(1), 379-391. Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage. 9 How to cite A Study of the Relationship between Organisational Citizenship Behaviours, Essays

Friday, May 1, 2020

Unnecessary Destruction free essay sample

A paper against the use of embryonic stem cells in scientific research. A paper against the use of embryonic stem cells in scientific research. The author cites legal and moral reasons in support of his/her argument. Also discussed are some of the medical procedures and issues involved. The potential for human life should always be given a chance. By destroying human embryos, the chance for a human being to make a difference in the world is destroyed along with it. Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) made a decision to fund stem cell research. However, the research is dependent upon the destruction of human embryos. In addition, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) is calling to change the current ban against federally funded embryonic research, resulting in federal funds being used to destroy even more embryos. The destruction of human embryos should be stopped, and the funding for stem cell research should be halted until a more ethical method of retrieving stem cells is implemented. We will write a custom essay sample on Unnecessary Destruction or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Gramscis Theoretical Work

Gramsci is a theorist who worked closely using Marx’s paradigm. He has broadly expanded many features of that theoretical structure to make it more pertinent to the current social relations. His theoretical contribution deals with developing problems and theories that already exist.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Gramsci’s Theoretical Work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He was not just a general theorist, but he was knowledgeable politically and was a socialist activist. Development of his theoretical writing was due to the fact that he liked his own society and he was very determined to serve it and also intended to enlighten people on political practice. He was not a Marxist in any way but decided to develop the structure of Marx’s work theoretically by adding new ideas. So, his theoretical work was based on the framework of Marx’s structure. He decided to supplement the concepts that were used by Marx with new ideas because he felt that Marx did not develop his ideas from the concrete level of history, rather, his ideas were developed at a very high level, for instance the idea of capital. In addition to that, the historical conditions of Gramsci’s writings differed from those that Marx had written, ‘’Gramsci had an acute sense of the historical conditions of theoretical production† (Hall 415). Hall continues to say that, â€Å"Gramsci felt the need of new conceptualizations at precisely the levels at which Marx’s theoretical work was itself at its most sketchy and incomplete: that is, the levels of the analysis of specific historical conjunctures, or of the political and ideological aspects—the much neglected dimensions of the analysis of social formations in classical Marxism† (Hall 415). Basically, his work was based on political and philosophical features of social developments. He contributed much on the i ssues of various political governments, cultural issues and the role of civil society. Gramsci opposed ‘economism’ that was presented by Marx. Theoretically, he felt that Marx’s idea of economism reduced everything else including the social development to the economic level. Gramsci developed a theoretical argument that analyzed a specific historical conjuncture. He replaced the reductionist approach because it would deter political and ideological formations from their economic goals. He says that, â€Å"immediate economic crises of themselves produce fundamental historical events† (Hall 419). This means that, for one to show that economic crisis has actually happened there has to be a relationship between the structure and the superstructure.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More That is, the crisis develops through the varying associations in the balancing of social forces to calamities in the state and community that grows into ethical- political efforts forming political philosophies, stimulating the understanding of the people. According to Gramsci, hegemony and ‘relations of social forces’ were obstacles against economic reductionism in some of the Marxism’s work (Hall 419) Gramsci argued that one has to comprehend the formation and the objective associations within the society or the extent of development by the productive forces. In his analysis, he also distinguished the historical movements that were meant to be long lasting in the society from those that were temporary or accidental. He says that crisis can be very long lasting because it is marked by many things such as arguments and constant movement. It is very hard to predict the length and complexity of a crisis. Periodization is another main feature in his analysis because it is similar to historical specificity. â€Å"It is precisely the study of thes e â€Å"intervals† of varying frequency which enables one to reconstruct the relations, on the one hand, between structure and superstructure, and on the other between the development of organic movement and conjunctural movement in the structure.† (Hall 422). He says that ‘relations of force’ are the greatest contributors of political as well as social efforts and development. ‘Relations of force’ can be distinguished because classes are also faced with conflicting interests especially when sharing familiar forms of existence. So, classes must be unified in a constructive manner for particular practices in economy, politics and ideology. Hegemony is very specific and does not last for long in the society, so for it to be achieved, the society must set a new historical program that is controlled by the leadership of particular development of social forces. Secondly, hegemony is multi-dimensional because for it to be successful many aspects must be incorporated. In addition to that, what leads during hegemony should not be called a ruling class but it should be referred to as a historic bloc. This implies that the main social or political force that makes decisions during a certain crisis should constitute people from different social groups. Moreover unity should be based on alliances in every system. This is because; in many societies women have been neglected since men think that are a weaker sex.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Gramsci’s Theoretical Work specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More But according to Garland- Thomson, â€Å"without the female body to distinguish the body of the male, and without the pathological to give form to the normal, the taxonomies of bodily value that underlie political, social and economic arrangements would collapse† (Garland- Thomson 290). He also opposes the idea of relating women with disability as some of the communities did. States should not just be for administrative purposes but they should be educative and formative to their citizens. Gramsci implies that every state should be ethical because it is a very crucial element and its main aim should be to raise its citizens to a specific cultural and moral level which relates to the requirements of industrious forces. Furthermore, political inequalities and all kinds of oppressions should not be based on sexuality. This is because in some of the historical periods, sexuality has been highly politicized. (Garland-Thomson 282) Ideologically, Gramsci says that every individual is an intellectual as long as he or she is able to think. In addition, cultural beliefs should not be grounds of struggle because they are usually material forces. Therefore, a wide cultural and philosophical struggle is required to produce or generate ethnic as well as intellectual unity. Ideas do not move and neither do ideologies grow without direction. On historical specificity, Gramsci emphasizes on the characteristics of racism. The characteristics can be changed by historical specificity so that they are active. He implies that racism does not occur in all sectors of social development and their effects are penetrative but unequal; the unevenness of effects can aid in deepening inconsistent sub divisional antagonisms. Gramsci’s analysis supports the idea of combining different methods of formation within the same social development because it results to specificity in the region as well as various methods of combining sectors in the social system of capital. This implies that different particular forms should be combined consistently to discourage racism. â€Å"Ethnic and racial difference can be constructed as a set of economic, political or ideological antagonisms, within a class which is subject to roughly similar forms of exploitation with respect to ownership of and expropriation from the means of production† (H all 438). He was trying to distinguish between the definitions that were made by Marx on class. Marx defined class as a stratification found in the community due to financial differences but Gramsci brings out the actual and real historic dynamic that exist between various parts and subdivisions within classes.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In his study of politics, in places where racism is rampant, he says that positive results can be obtained if his concepts are applied. The theoretical concepts include hegemony, historical bloc, change, inactive revolution and many others. This is because racism and discrimination has heightened in very many societies that almost lead to desperation. For instance, in his book, Bederman wrote about a society that could not allow black and white men to do prize fighting competitions together. One white man said â€Å"when there are no white men left to fight, I will quit the business†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..I am not determined to take a chance of losing my championship to a Negro† (Bederman 2). The white men always believed that they were better than the black men. A state can transform its racial and ethnic practices if it has an educative and ideological role to its citizens. Besides, hegemonic methods must be incorporated in all sectors of the society â€Å"Schooling, cultural orga nizations, family and sexual life, the patterns and modes of civil association, churches and religions, communal or organizational forms, ethnically specific institutions, and many other such sites play an absolutely vital role in giving, sustaining and reproducing different societies in a racially structured form† (Hall 439). This implies that there is no sector in the society that needs to be relegated. Gramsci used the term national popular to refer to his many questions that he put together. He knew that they were very essential since they contributed to popular hegemony. They were the main devices of political as well as ideological efforts and practices. Gender philosophies were shaped by the domineering structures of race. This led to the invention of homosexuality especially in the United States because it occurred the same time when questions on race were being re-devised. Racism was clearly seen in the United States of America because even the Supreme Court could ins ist that the black and white races were different. Sexuality and racism are interrelated and can be very productive (Somerville 38). Somerville continues to say that† ideologies of race, of course, shaped and reflected both popular and scientific understandings of gender† (Somerville 42). This means that races were not different from the sexual differences that exist between the blacks. Americans related manhood with race; â€Å"Americans were obsessed with the connection between manhood and racial dominance. This obsession was expressed in a profusion of issues such as the concern about the white’s man imperialistic burden oversees† (Bederman 4). Gramsci assists people in understanding racism concept because it is never dealt with seriously and also a more related kind of oppression and discrimination; gender inequality. Women should never be relegated because of their sex and the same case applies to the black people who should not be neglected by the whi tes due to their color. Works Cited Bederman, Gail. Manliness Civilization: A Cultural History of Gender and Race in the United States 1880-1917. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Print. Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. Feminist Theory, the Body and the Disabled Figure. The Disability Studies Reader, (1997): 279-292. Hall, Stuart. Gramsci’s relevance to the study of race and ethnicity. In Stuart Hall: critical dialogues in cultural studies. NY/London: Routledge, 1996. Print. Somerville, Siobhan. Scientific Racism and the invention of the homosexual body. North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2000. Print. This essay on Gramsci’s Theoretical Work was written and submitted by user Lilith Valentine to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

How to Say Good Morning in French Correctly

How to Say Good Morning in French Correctly SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Who hasn’t dreamed of having breakfast in an adorable French cafe, dipping a croissant into a delicious coffee, and chatting with a new friend over pastries? Only- quelle horreur!- when you go to greet your friend, you suddenly can’t remember how to say â€Å"good morning† in French. In this article, we’ll cover not only how to say â€Å"good morning† in French, but how to address the greeting to different people, and even how to say goodbye. It's that easy! How Do You Say Good Morning in French? If you know anything in French or you’ve ever watched Beauty and the Beast, you probably know how to say hello: â€Å"Bonjour!† Well, good news- †Bonjour† is also the standard French way to say â€Å"good morning† In French, bonjour is pronounced bon-zhoor. The French ‘j’ sound, as it’s heard in bonjour, is a bit like sh in English crossed with the dg sound in â€Å"judge.† It’s not the expected â€Å"j† sound we have in English, so be sure you really listen to how it’s said before you accidentally greet somebody by saying, â€Å"Bone Jurr.† Literally translated, â€Å"bonjour† means â€Å"good day.† â€Å"Bon† is the French word for â€Å"good,† and â€Å"jour† is the French word for day. Generally, French people use bonjour as a greeting up until about six PM, at which point they switch to another greeting, covered below. However, though we might say â€Å"good day† to greet or say goodbye to people, it’s purely a greeting in French. We’ll cover the goodbye version below! There is another method of saying good morning in french: â€Å"bon matin,† pronounced bon mah-teen. However, though this is a literal translation of â€Å"good morning,† it is not typically used in France. It’s an Anglicization, or Anglicisme, that works as a literal translation but that isn’t commonly heard. However, bon matin may be heard more frequently in Quà ©bà ©cois French, the variety of French spoken in Canada. Generally speaking, bonjour is the standard method of saying â€Å"good morning.† But depending on where in the world you are, you may also be able to say bon matin! Interestingly, you generally want to say bonjour to someone once per day. The next time you see them, you should use a more informal greeting! Ahh, bonjour, mon ami. Personalizing â€Å"Bonjour† But maybe you have a specific person you want to say â€Å"good morning† to, or you want to get a little fancier. Bonjour is a simple greeting that can be adapted to a lot of different situations! If you want to be polite and you’re speaking to someone whose name you don’t know, you can greet them with â€Å"bonjour† and a title. French is a language with gendered nouns, so there are different forms of address for people depending on their gender: Madame is used to refer to married women, just as â€Å"Mrs.† would be used in English. It’s pronounced mah-dahm. Mademoiselle is used to refer to unmarried women, just like â€Å"Ms.† in English. It’s pronounced mah-dehm-wah-zell. Monsieur is used for men, just like â€Å"Mr.† in English, and is pronounced something like meuh-syeuh, with both syllables rhyming with â€Å"the.† These vowel sounds can be quite tricky for non-native French speakers to master, so spend some time listening to native French speakers saying it and imitate them. All of those words can be added to the word bonjour for a proper â€Å"good morning† greeting in French- †Bonjour Madame/Mademoiselle/Monsieur.† If you’re greeting a small group of people, you can greet them all by name: â€Å"Bonjour Isabelle! Bonjour Delphine! Bonjour Étienne!† But if you want to greet an audience, you probably can’t greet them all by name. In that case, you’d add the phrase tous to bonjour, changing it from an individual â€Å"hello† to â€Å"hello everyone!† Literally translated, tous means â€Å"to all.† It’s pronounced ah toos. But you can get even fancier, if you so desire. Because bonjour is such a flexible greeting, you can add all kinds of additions to it to make it more specific, such as: Phrase Meaning Pronunciation Mon amour My love Mohn ah-moor Ma chà ©rie My sweetheart/darling (to a woman) Mah shey-ree Mon chà ©r My sweetheart/darling (to a man) Mohn sher Ma belle My beautiful (to a woman) Mah bell Mon beau My handsome (to a man) Mohn boh Bonsoir, Paris How to Say Goodbye and Good Night in French Parting is such sweet sorrow- in French, you need a goodbye to match. â€Å"Au revoir,† pronounced oh rev-wahr, is the typical French goodbye. Literally translated, it means something close to, â€Å"Until I see you again.† You can say this any time of day in any kind of situation, formal or informal. Saying goodbye in the evening gets a little trickier. The literal French version of good evening, â€Å"bonsoir† is used as a greeting after about six PM. You don’t generally use bonsoir as somebody is leaving unless the situation is formal- instead, you’re more likely to say â€Å"bonne soirà ©e,† bohn swah-ray, which is the same phrase with feminine endings, when you’re wishing somebody a good evening as they or you are leaving. You also wouldn’t say â€Å"bonne nuit,† literally translating as â€Å"good night† and pronounced bohn nweet, unless the person is literally going to bed. In general, â€Å"au revoir† is a good all-purpose goodbye unless you’re looking for something more specific. In that case, one of these other goodbyes may suffice- just be certain you match the correct one to the situation, especially because regional differences may make one or the other more acceptable. Watch and listen to what other people do and follow their lead! What’s Next? Want to become a polyglot who excels in morning greetings? Check out this article on how to say good morning in Japanese! Considering making French your major in college? Read up on all the reasons a foreign language major is a great idea (and the reasons it may not be)! If you're still early in your language-learning career, check out this discussion of which foreign language you should take in high school! Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article! Tweet Melissa Brinks About the Author Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. 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Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Media - Essay Example Table of Contents Thesis Statement 2 Introduction 4 Astonishing Effects of Newspapers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 Conclusion 5 References 7 Introduction A newspaper is a type of publication, which offers varied types of valuable news and information regarding varied aspects to its customers. It mainly attempts to offer real news to the viewers, so as to make them well aware about the facts and facets of the entire nation and world. On the basis of which, varied types of decisions are taken by the viewers, so as to improve their well-being, resulting in improvement of the country as well. Other than this, the segment of trade and commerce is resting over the economic conditions of the country. Along with this, the decisions of the buyers and shareholders are also entirely dependent over the daily news, advertised in printed hard copies or online website s. Moreover, all types of trade related decisions are always based upon information - that is accurate, substantial, and appropriate. It proves quite beneficial for those individuals, desiring to invest in varied shares and debentures of different companies (Price Water Cooper, â€Å"Moving into multiple business models†). This helps in fulfillment of the inner desires of the heart of most of the entrepreneurs, i.e. to become rich in a very short period of time. It can be possible only if, an individual or an entrepreneur remains aware and conscious about the facts and information, occurring in everyday life, so as to take the accurate planning’s and decisions. It acts as a mirror for all the viewers, providing a fair image of the entire world. Along with this, it also provides a facility to analyse the opinions of varied popular individuals, acting as an intermediary to exchange different ideas and thoughts. Astonishing Effects of Newspapers Just as the proverb, †˜Time and tide wait for none’, similarly good news also never waits for anyone. So, to remain updated with every sort of information or data, it is extremely essential to keep an eye on the online newspaper sites as well. Moreover, its craze increased with a remarkable speed due to the introduction of information technology. It gave an up-thirst to the online websites of newspaper, by enhancing the passion of the viewers over internet. This affected in an optimistic way, augmenting the internal spirits of the enthusiastic and energetic personnel’s to select journalism as their career in future times. Moreover, according to Cole &Harcup, â€Å"newspapers conquer a critical place in human world, acting as a realm of social life† (Cole, P & Harcup, T. â€Å"Newspaper Journalism†). This is because; it offers detail reports about the various places of the world, business opportunities, environment, sports, political scenario and various types of holiday sport s and the economy among others. With the help of this, an individual can attain a complete picture of the entire country, residing in far-away places. Therefore, it might facilitate a country to improve the economic condition of the country as compared to other players of the market. Other only this, it might also facilitate by increasing the number of customers, thereby improving their lifestyle. It is extremely essential for any developed country, to retain and enhance its portfolio day by day, among other countries. Moreover, as most of the

Monday, February 3, 2020

Real Estate Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Real Estate - Statistics Project Example The sum appears quite intimidating for a middle class citizen. However, the deal was easy for Sam as all he had to do was sell his own smaller 2-BDRM 600 square feet flat for US$135,000 and make up for the difference with the help of mortgage loan. When he had purchased it, the price amounted to US$70,000 which he had raised with the help of mortgage loan and paid up a couple of years ago. Fortunately for Sam, the person who purchased his old flat was foreigner who paid up the amount Sam was looking at without a murmur. Coincidentally, the one from whom Sam had purchased the flat he is now living in was also a foreigner who was in a hurry to sell as he was moving out of the United States. Thus, the principles in buying and selling of properties are intact although they may have slowed down a bit due to the current recession. In Sam's case, he saved a significant amount having purchased a second-hand flat in a premium location. A brand new flat in the same location would have cost him at least 25% more. One may have to pay the agent some commission. However, despite the commission, the overall saving is quite high when compared to purchasing a brand new flat. Normally, when someone purchases realty, he or she has long time plans in mind. Except for housing agents, few may opt for purchasing properties for business purposes. The normal consideration for purchase of property is residential or business. Then the property may remain in the hands of the owner for decades unless he or she plans to sell it earlier for some reason. Again, normally nobody thinks much about the market value of the flat because, as residents, they do not want to dispose the flat. They need the flat for their residential or business purpose. They cannot do without the flat as it fits their lifestyle. Thus, the market value only serves as a prestige issue rather than any profit or loss in business terms. Likewise, properties purchased for business too are not overtly influenced by market trends since the purchase is based on long term requirements. If a firm desires to purchase property for commercial use, it will by all means go by the trends of its balance sheet rather than bemoan the market trends. Chain retailers and eateries such as MacDonald have powered their presence through prudent use of real estate. Real estate is a magnificent method for conserving wealth for those who have the means to purchase property and develop and d'cor it. So if you are very rich, investments in properties will most probably make you richer. This is because when you are rich, you will invest in doing up the property and the environments and this will naturally add to the property's worth. Secondly, as people realize that you have purchased certain property in a certain location, they will readily buy adjacent properties pushing property prices in the process. For instance, if

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Objective Of Music Creation And Techniques Music Essay

Objective Of Music Creation And Techniques Music Essay In the modern time, music instrument can be found everywhere. Different kinds of instruments are on sell in musical instrument shops. Besides, there are also many books about music to teach us how to compose or play music instruments. Whats more, many training institutions teach students to acquire music techniques. And different kinds of examinations about music try to test our music level. But problems occur when people try to gain music technique. Some people believe it is the most important to acquire music technique  ¼Ã‹â€ Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã… ¾Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¼Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¼Ã…’ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. So in this essay, it talks about whether music is art or technique. In the first part, it refers to something about the character of music art. In the second part, the focus is on the technique of music. Finally, this essay tries to tell that people should not fall into the trap of technique.  ¼Ã‹â€ Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã…“â⠀š ¬Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¡Ã‚ ¨Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¾Ã‚ ¾-à ¥Ã‚ ¼Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ §Ã‚ Ãƒ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ºÃƒ ¦Ã…“ ¯Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ºÃ‚ º-à §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾-à §Ã‚ «Ã‚  Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¦Ã‚  Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã… ¸Ãƒ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ §Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ ¦Ã…  Ã¢â€š ¬-à ¤Ã‚ ºÃ¢â‚¬  Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¨Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã‚ ´Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ´Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ª-à §Ã‚ «Ã‚  Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ »Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¦Ã‚ Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ºÃƒ ¤Ã‚ »Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¹Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¼Ã…’à ¤Ã‚ »Ã… ½Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ »Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¹Ã‹â€ -à ©Ã‚ Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ºÃƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ ³Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° It is incredible for us to live without music. Different kinds of music can be found everywhere. Young people often wear headphone to listen to pop music when they walk around. Someone prefer to classic music or musical play. Music often makes the listeners feel happy, sad, excited or negative. The art of music can cause a strong feeling in peoples heart directly ¼Ã…’ (even) some kinds of music can even cure mental illness. Whats more, musics territory can cover the whole world as almost everyone would like to hear music no matter where he comes from (Mark, 2003). Music art produced as sound wave vibrate. It performs as the time flows. It can cause different kinds of emotional reactions and emotional experience by peoples hearing organ. Music is the component of country or areas culture. So it may affect the nations culture level and peoples quality (Barry, 2001, p.882). Music will have a positive or negative influence on peoples mind. In some western country, people have great enthusiasm on music creation. Some music can affect peoples way of thinking and even childrens intelligence. By enjoying elegant music people would like to behave gracefully. So it plays a significant role in modeling peoples behavior. It is hard to think that grace music produced by vulgar nation (à ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¨Ã†â€™Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¦Ã‚  Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ¼Ã…’nationà ¦Ã…“†°vulgarà ¤Ã‚ ¹Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¥Ã‹â€ Ã‚ «Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¹Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¸Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¿Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¦Ã‚  Ã‚ ·Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ´Ãƒ ¦Ã…“†°Ãƒ ¦Ã‚ ­Ãƒ ¨Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã… ¸). The character of ar t in music can be found in four aspects as follows. Firstly, music is an art of sound. Sound is the material base of music. And music is living by different kinds of sound wave vibrating. Sound can be divided into two different kinds which are desired sound and undesired sound. The major sound used in music is desired sound. Noise like tucket can be hard to bear. And it will almost not be used in music creation. Its musical sounds physical properties such as pitch, flat, tone and so on make it possible for music to have different style. So singers are eager to have a good voice and musical instrument should also have a good tone (Thomas, Richard and Paul, 2002). Secondly, music is the art of time. Here, time mostly means musics rhythm. Music will disappear when the body of sound stops vibrating. The times length of music can have an important influence on rhythm. The rhythm can be soul of music. People would like to start to dance when he hears some wonderful music whose rhythm is quite good. It is musics rhythm such as elasticity, density and speed which make music to have a good expressive force (Julius, 2003). The rhythm of music can be something which infect peoples feelings directly. And it is easy for people to remember the rhythm and spread it unconsciously. Third, music can be the art of hearing. It is almost for people to enjoy music without hearing. When people hear a piece of music they will feel the corresponding emotion in their heart. All the effect aroused in peoples heart cannot live without hearing. So it is important to have a good sense of music. The sense of music will have a big influence on peoples understand of music. And it also effect musicians creation. Almost every musician would like to compose a piece of music which can be accepted widely. -à §Ã…’ ® Last but not least, music is the art of affection. Musics creation, performance and appreciation are based on human beings affection and mental activities. What music tries to communicate is peoples affection. A musician cannot compose without any affection and a listener who listens to the music cannot have resonance without affection. The reason why do people like to listen to the music is because we have the similar feelings. Whats more, animals or even plants have the ability to appreciate music. Human beings cannot communicate with animals by language but sometimes sound can solve the problem. So it is clearly music can be a basic method to communicate with each other (Kenneth, 1996). Although we cannot deny music is a kind of art but it is impossible for people to compose music without any techniques. Music has a long history and its origin can data back from time unrecorded. Human beings have already known to use high-low or strength of voice to express their meanings and emotions before language occurs.  ¼Ã‹â€ -à §Ã…’ ®Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Besides human beings, animals like birds can also make beautiful sound. And the sound of water flowing and wind blowing can also be seemed as music. In the beginnings, people just use their voice to make music such as sing a song. But as the time flows, other appliances have been used to create music. Some instruments try to imitate the sound of nature. It can be the first time for people to think about the technology of music. Music has strong affection on peoples mind and feeling. People would be infected with different kinds of music. They can know what the music tries to express and sometimes feel resonance in their heart. They would appreciate it like other artwork. And it is important for a musician to gain good reputation from reviewers. When people realize different music appliances will have a big influence on music creation they try to seek good appliances as possible as they can. Whats more, some musicians leave their preious experience on music creation to incomers (Patrik and Daniel, 2008, p.563). From thus, music theory or technique develops quickly. People who have an interesting on music would like to learn these music theory or techniques in order to create good music works. So the standard of music technique also develops quickly. It is clearly that musics objective is to have a good effect on both creators and appreciators. So people may think that they will create wonderful music if musi c technique is good enough as they had learned. Although the learning of music cannot live without techniques but it is not enough. A music piece which is regarded as a good one should contain consummate technique and spirit of art. A music opus which has no flaw in technique but lacks of inspiration of art cannot be considered as a success one. Art can be defined as the product or process when human beings try to create beauty. Art need technique but it is not technique. When people create music they would like to create beauty in the meantime. It is impossible for musician to create music without any techniques but it also can be a big problem whether good technical quality of music equal to good music. In all ages, people use different kinds of technique to create music. But music opus can be created without particular technique. For example, in the early time, there is no piano and people dont know the technique of how to play piano. But people can create music by other music instruments. However, the piano help musician to have another way to create music. The direct purpose of technical in music which belongs to the concept of technology is to make the music expression better. In the modern music, music technique can be seen in many music areas. For examples, examinations such as piano level exam whose targets is to test piano technique; teaching activities which have been technicalization; teaching material classify in terms of technique and so on. Whether technique can become beauty is a question need to be discussed. In someones eyes, music technique also has its aesthetic value. The developing of ability of aesthetic is also the developing of appreciation of the technique. For example, it is no doubt that the ability to painting belongs to the appreciation of art while how to use pigment, line and tools is the problem about technique. But some people have the different opinions. As we know it is hard to evaluate whether a music opus is good or not and it is also difficult for teachers to teach music. That means in order to solve t he problems we faced in modern time we should make the music standardization. To write a good music opus or give a wonderful instrumental performance can be someones dreams. In the modern time, music is not merely to express ones feelings or minds but it can gain honour or reputation (Mikael, Mika and Vesa, 2009). People would like to think that it is amazing for a child to pass piano ten levels. The childs parents would gain much praise. Sometimes, it equals to success when someone acquire high challenge techniques of music. So it is easy to understand why there are so many training institutions to teach techniques of music. In such situation, someone may acquire exquisite techniques but his opus is worthless. Of course, human beings compose, sing and give an instrumental performance is something related to art appreciation. But how do people sing, play music is the problem of technique. The aesthetic value of technique can be found not only when the techniques are used to make music better but also exist in technique itself. For example, the mellow and full voice can be seemed as a beautiful sound in the practice of vocal music. Bel canto is deemed as a both scientific and systemic way to sing. It has its own aesthetic value no matter whether it takes part in the expression of music or not. In the skills of playing wind instruments, pure tone can be the life of these wind instruments. The good tone is the basic technique requirement in the playing of wind instruments. The beauty of oboe may be lost if the player make the tone like sunray. As to the problem of making instrument, the developing of technical quality of music becomes more clearly. Such as the appearance of instruments, postur e of the players can be included in the view of music technique. From this point, we cannot deny that music technique has its own value and it will not die out as the bad music opus. It is also obviously that better techniques will do much help on the performance of music. Music technique is the foundation and means of music expression. Skilful music technique can help to maximize the effect of music expression. The development of music art and music technique will bring motive power to both of them. That is to say, when people pursue the expressive force of music art it will promote the development of music technique. On the other hand, the improvement of technique will have a positive influence on the music expression force. It is necessary for a composer to master first-class technology if he wants to create a desirable works no matter how abundant his imagination is. That is to say, a good composer must grasp knowledge about how construct different music forms and should have the ability to utilize them expertly. The techniques which have a strong rational factor play a significant role in how to transfer the emotion content into music. The expectation of imagination can be realized by the using techniques. In the process of making music, technique should be served to the creativity imagination and also be responsible for it. If the musician has no inspiration but technique the opus can become quite hollow and unworthiness. Music technique should not betray the objective of art. It must be just used to realize the objective to better the music expression after reaching the standard of techniques. Otherwise, composers may fall into the trap of flaunting technology. Someone who has grasped good skills ma y not compose a good music piece. For example, a singer who own excellent skills and wonderful voice may also lose the performance. Some singers put too many energy on the phrase while ignore the integrity of a song. Such songs cannot be regarded as a good one. In other situation, it feels quite mechanical when some signers sing a song which is quite familiar to them. So as a result, a composer will not get a good work of art if he only has the willing to compose but no technique. Meanwhile, someone who only has technique cannot cause resonance in listeners heart. In the modern life, the development of technique doesnt bring much happiness to human beings but it causes the survival crisis and the decline of spiritual civilization. This can be regarded as the dissimilation of technique. Dissimilation means something (object) which is the opposite of subject emerges when subject take actions, and then the object becomes an outside and alien power to govern and control subject.  ¼Ã‹â€ -à §Ã…’ ®Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Modern western music together with some professional modern music in China in 1980s tries to subvert traditional music in order to get rid of the constraint of traditional music. They try their best to create something new and original in the music technique (Lamere, 2008, p.109). For examples, the deconstruction of tune, melody and musical form. Some composers seem to get rid of the restraint of traditional music. But the result is that they had fallen into the trap where pursue technique only. And this makes the long distance with the listeners. Music art is the achievement of human beings spiritual creation. Why do people need music art is the reason that it can bring the enjoyment of beauty and the happiness on the spirit. If a kind of music cannot be accepted by the most people, this music may have a bad future. In the view of accepting aesthetics, the subjects who enjoy art should be put in a high position. That means the art should be easy to understand and receive. The integr ated system of music art should include creation, performance and acceptance. So the lack of acceptance by listeners in modern music should be considered deeply. It can lead to the breakdown of art when technique is higher than the music expression. In the teaching of music, teachers give important position to the teaching of technique and ignore the foster of music performance and art quality (Nina and Bharath, 2010, p.601),. So what the education system created is craftsmen rather than musician. This proved the dissimilation of music technique. Popular song is an art which has been technicalization and it is the result of the combination of human voice and machine. Popular songs can express peoples emotion easily. It is easy to find peoples feelings in a popular song but it is hard to find the rational thinking. Some singers would like to express affection optionally with the absence of necessary technique. So it is important for popular art to import technique. But it is not unconditional. In a short word, the result should reflect art is higher than technique and people just utilize technique. But such utilization should not be too much. Too much technique which is not necessary can destroy a music piece. So it is important for musician to prevent the dissimilation of technique (Martina Mladen and Dijana, 2008, p.71).For example, a child may acquire the technique to play a piece of Chopin but it is almost impossible for him to understand what the piece tries to express. It feels like someone who only has a human body but no feelings. Conclusion From this essay, it is clearly to us that art is the objective of music creation and techniques are the methods to reach such the objects. Art cannot live without technique but it makes no sense when people only have technique. A good piece of music needs the necessary technique. But if someone only try his best to pursue the master of technique while ignore the feeling of music it is hard for him to compose a good opus. So the objective of art in music creation should be put in the first position. People should not fall into the trap of just pursueing techniques.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Stefan’s Diaries: Origins Chapter 17

September 8, 1864 She is not who she seems. Should I be surprised? Terrified? Hurt? It's as if everything I know, everything I've been taught, everything I've believed in my past seventeen years is wrong. I can still feel where she kissed me, where her fingers grasped my hands. I still yearn for her, and yet the voice of reason is screaming in my ears: You cannot love a vampire! If I had one of her daisies, I could pluck the leaves and let the flower choose for me. I love her †¦ I love her not †¦ I †¦ I love her. I do. No matter the consequences. Is this what following your heart is? I wish there was a map or a compass to help me find my way. But she has my heart, and that above all else is my North Star †¦ and that will have to be enough. After I slipped away from the carriage house back to my own chambers, I somehow managed to sleep for a few hours. When I awoke, I wondered if everything was all a dream. But then I shifted my head on the pillow and saw a neat puddle of dried, crimson blood and touched my fingers to my throat. I felt a wound there, and though it didn't hurt, it brought back the very real incidents of the previous evening. I felt exhausted and confused and exalted all at once. My limbs were enervated, my brain abuzz. It was as if I had a fever, but inside I felt a sort of calm I'd never felt before. I dressed for the day, taking extra care to wash the wound with a damp cloth and bandage it, then buttoned my linen shirt as high as it would go. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I tried to see if there was anything different, if there was some glint in my eye that acknowledged my newfound worldliness. But my face looked just as it had yesterday. I crept down the back stairs toward the study. Father's schedule was like clockwork, and he always spent the mornings surveying and visiting the fields with Robert. Once I closed myself in the cool, dark room, I ran my fingers along the leather-bound spines on each shelf, feeling comforted by their smoothness. I just hoped that somewhere, in the stacks and shelves of books on every subject, there would be a volume that would answer some of my questions. I remembered Katherine reading The Mysteries of Mystic Falls and noticed the volume was no longer in the study, or at least not in plain view. I walked aimlessly from shelf to shelf, for the first time feeling overwhelmed by the number of books in Father's study. Where could I possibly find information on vampires? Father had volumes of plays, fiction, atlases, and two full shelves of Bibles, some in English, some in Italian, and some in Latin. I traced my hands against the gilt- lettered, leather spines of each book, hoping that somehow I'd find something. Finally, my fingertips landed on a thin, tattered volume with Demonios written in flaking silver on the spine. Demonio †¦ demon †¦ This was what I was looking for. I opened the book, but it was written in an ancient Italian dialect that I couldn't make heads nor tails of, despite my extensive tutoring in Latin and Italian. Still, I carried the book with me to the club chair and settled in. Trying to decipher the book was an action I could understand, something easier than trying to eat breakfast while pretending everything was normal. I ran my fingers along the words, reading out loud as if I were a schoolboy, making sure I didn't miss a mention of the word vampiro. Finally, I found it, but the sentences surrounding it were nothing but gibberish to me. I sighed in frustration. Just then, the door to the study creaked open. â€Å"Who's there?† I called loudly. â€Å"Stefan!† My father's ruddy face registered surprise. â€Å"I was looking for you.† â€Å"Oh?† I asked, my hand flying to my neck, as if Father could see the bandage beneath the fabric. But all I felt was the smooth linen of my shirt. My secret was safe. Father looked at me strangely. He walked toward me, taking the book off my lap. â€Å"Y and I ou think alike,† he said, a strange smile curving onto his face. â€Å"We do?† My heart fluttered in my chest like a hummingbird's wings, and I was sure Father could hear my breath catching in short, shallow gasps in my throat. I felt sure he could read my thoughts, sure he knew about Katherine and me. And if he knew about Katherine, he'd kill her and †¦ I couldn't bear to think of the rest. Father smiled again. â€Å"We do. I know you took our conversation about vampires to heart, and I appreciate you taking this scourge seriously. Of course, I know you have your own motivations in avenging the death of your young Rosalyn,† Father said, making the sign of the cross over his chest. I stared at a thin spot on the Oriental rug, where the fabric was so faded, I could see the stained wooden floor below. I couldn't look up at Father and let my face betray my secret, betray Katherine's secret. â€Å"Be assured, son, that Rosalyn did not die in vain. She died for Mystic Falls, and she will be remembered as we rid our town of this curse. And you, of course, will be an integral part of the plan.† Father gestured toward the book I still held. â€Å"Unlike your good-for-nothing brother. What good is all his new military knowledge if he can't put it to use to defend his family, his land?† Father asked rhetorically. â€Å"Just today he went off on a ride with some of his soldier friends. Even after I told him I expected him here this morning to accompany us to our meeting at Jonathan's house.† But I wasn't paying attention anymore. All I cared about was that he didn't know about Katherine. My breathing slowed. â€Å"There wasn't very much information that I could understand in this book. I don't think it's very useful,† I said, as if all I'd been doing this morning was indulging in a scholarly interest in vampires. â€Å"That's just as well,† Father said dismissively, as he carelessly placed the book back on the shelf. â€Å"I feel that together we have a good store of knowledge.† â€Å"Together?† I parroted. Father waved his hand impatiently. â€Å"Y and I ou Father waved his hand impatiently. â€Å"Y and I ou and the Founders. We've set up a council to deal with this. We're heading to a meeting right now. Y ou're coming.† â€Å"I am?† I asked. Father glanced at me in annoyance. I knew I sounded like a simpleton, but there was simply too much information swimming in my mind to even begin to understand it all. â€Å"Y And I'm taking Cordelia as well. She has es. a good knowledge of herbs and demons. The meeting is at Jonathan Gilbert's house.† Father nodded, as if the subject was closed. I nodded as well, even though I was surprised. Jonathan Gilbert was a university teacher and sometimes inventor who Father not so privately called a crackpot. But now Father said his name with reverence. For the thousandth time that day, I realized this truly was a different world. â€Å"Alfred is hitching up the carriage, but I will drive it. Do not tell anyone where we're going. I've already sworn Cordelia to secrecy,† Father said as he strode out of the room. After a second, I followed him, but not before I slipped Demonios into my back pocket. I sat next to Father in the front seat of the carriage, while Cordelia sat in the back, hidden from sight lest she arouse suspicion. It was strange to be out in the morning, especially without a footman to drive us, and I caught the curious stares of Mr. Vickery as we passed by the Blue Ridge Estate next door. I waved, until I felt Father's hand on my arm, a subtle warning not to attract attention to ourselves. Father began talking once we entered the barren stretch of dirt road that separated the plantation road from town. â€Å"I don't understand your brother. Do you? What man doesn't respect his father? If I didn't know better, I'd think he was consorting with one of them,† Father said, spitting on the dirt road. â€Å"Why would you think that?† I asked uncomfortably, a trickle of sweat running down my spine. I ran my finger beneath my collar, recoiling when I felt the gauze bandage of my neck. It was damp, but from sweat or blood I could not tell. My thoughts were a tangle. Was I betraying Katherine by attending this meeting? Was I betraying Father by keeping Katherine's secret? Who was evil or good? Nothing seemed clear. â€Å"I think that because they have that kind of power,† Father said, using the whip on Blaze as if to prove the point. Blaze whinnied before shifting into a fast trot. I looked back at Cordelia, but she was impassively staring straight ahead. â€Å"They can take over a mind before a man realizes anything is amiss. They compel them to submit fully to their charms and whims. Just a glance can make a man do whatever a vampire desires. And by the time a man does know he's being controlled, it's too late.† â€Å"Really?† I asked skeptically. I thought back to last night. Had Katherine done that to me? But no. Even when I was frightened, I'd been myself. And all my feelings had been mine. Maybe vampires could do that, but Katherine certainly hadn't done it to me. Father chuckled. â€Å"Well, not all the time. One hopes that a man is strong enough to withstand that type of influence. And I certainly have raised my sons to be strong. Still, I wonder what could possibly have gotten into Damon's head.† â€Å"I'm sure he's fine,† I said, suddenly very nervous at the idea that Damon might have figured out Katherine's secret. â€Å"I think he's simply not sure what he wants.† â€Å"I don't care what he wants,† Father said. â€Å"What he needs to remember is that he's my son and I will not be disobeyed. These are dangerous times, much more so than Damon realizes. And he needs to understand that if he is not with us, people might construe that his sympathies lie elsewhere.† â€Å"I think he just doesn't believe in vampires,† I said, a sick feeling forming in the pit of my stomach. â€Å"Shhh!† Father whispered, waving his hand toward me to quiet me down. The horses were clip-clopping into town, just past the saloon, where Jeremiah Black was already nearly passed out by the door, a half bottle of whiskey at his feet. Somehow, I didn't think Jeremiah Black was listening or even seeing what was going on, but I nodded, pleased that the silence gave me a chance to sort through my thoughts. I glanced over to my right, where Pearl and her daughter were sitting on the iron bench outside the apothecary, fanning themselves. I waved to them, but, seeing Father's warning glance, thought better about calling out to say hello. I closed my mouth and sat silently until we reached the other end of town, where Jonathan Gilbert lived in an ill-kept mansion that had once belonged to his father. Father often made fun of the fact that the house was falling apart, but today he said nothing as Alfred opened the door of the carriage. â€Å"Cordelia,† Father called tersely, allowing her to walk up the rickety steps of the Gilbert mansion first as we followed suit. Before we could ring the bell, Jonathan himself opened the door. â€Å"Good to see you, Giuseppe, Stefan. And you must be Cordelia. I've heard much about your knowledge of native herbs,† he said, offering his hand to her. Jonathan led us through the labyrinthine hallways and toward a tiny door next to the grand staircase. Jonathan opened it and gestured for us to head inside. We took turns ducking down to enter a tunnel that was about ten feet long, with a flimsy ladder at the other end. Wordlessly we climbed the ladder and emerged into a tiny, windowless space that immediately made me feel claustrophobic. Two candles burned in tarnished candleholders on a water-stained table, and as my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I could make out Honoria Fells sitting gingerly on a rocker in the corner. Mayor Lockwood and Sheriff Forbes shared an old wooden bench. â€Å"Gentlemen,† Honoria said, standing up and welcoming us as if we were just stopping in for tea. â€Å"And I'm afraid I haven't made your acquaintance, Mrs†¦.† Honoria glanced suspiciously at Cordelia. â€Å"Cordelia,† Cordelia murmured, glancing from one face to another, as if this was the last place she wanted to be. My father coughed uncomfortably. â€Å"She treated Stefan during his spells after his †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"After his fiancï ¿ ½e got her throat ripped out?† Mayor Lockwood said gruffly. â€Å"Mayor!† Honoria said, clapping her hand to her mouth. As Jonathan ducked back out into the hall, I settled on a straight-backed chair as far away from the group as possible. I felt out of place, though probably not as out of place as Cordelia, who was now awkwardly sitting on a wooden chair next to Honoria's rocker. â€Å"Now, then!† Jonathan Gilbert said, coming back to the room, his arms laden with tools and papers and objects I couldn't even begin to identify. He sat on a moth-eaten velvet armchair at the head of the table and looked around. â€Å"Let's begin.† â€Å"Fire,† Father said simply. A shiver of fear ran up my spine. Fire was how Katherine's parents had perished. Was that because they were vampires, too? Had Katherine been the only one to escape? â€Å"Fire?† Mayor Lockwood repeated. â€Å"It's been recorded, many times in Italy, that fire kills them, as does beheading or a stake in the heart. And, of course, there are herbs that can protect us.† Father nodded to Cordelia. â€Å"Vervain,† Cordelia confirmed. â€Å"Vervain,† Honoria said dreamily. â€Å"How pretty.† Cordelia snorted. â€Å"It ain't nothing but a herb. But if you wear it, then you have protection from the devil. Some say it can also work a bit to nurse those who've been around them back to health. But it's poison to them devils you call vampires.† â€Å"I want some!† Honoria said greedily, holding out her hand eagerly. â€Å"I don't have any with me,† Cordelia said. â€Å"Y don't?† Father looked at her sharply. ou â€Å"It's all gone from the garden. I used it for Mr. Stefan's remedies; then when I went to pick it this morning, it was all gone. Was probably the children who took it,† Cordelia said indignantly, but she glanced straight at me. I looked away, reassuring myself that if she had known about Katherine's true nature, she would have told my father by now. â€Å"Well, then, where do I get some?† Honoria asked. â€Å"It's probably right under your nose,† Cordelia said. â€Å"What?† asked Honoria sharply, as if she'd been insulted. â€Å"It grows everywhere. Except our garden,† Cordelia said darkly. â€Å"Well,† Father said, glancing at the two women, anxious to diffuse the situation. â€Å"After this meeting, Cordelia may escort Miss Honoria to her garden to find vervain.† â€Å"Now, wait just a damn minute,† Mayor Lockwood said, pounding his beefy fist on the table. â€Å"Y lost me at the woman talk. Y mean to ou ou tell me that if I wear a lilac sprig, then the demons will leave me alone?† He snorted. â€Å"Vervain, not lilac,† Cordelia explained. â€Å"It keeps evil away.† â€Å"Y es,† Father said sagely. â€Å"And everyone in town must wear it. See to it, Mayor Lockwood. That way, not only will our citizens be protected, but anyone who does not wear it will be exposed as a vampire and can then be burned,† Father said, his voice so smooth and matter-of-fact that it took every ounce of self-control for me not to stand up, rush down the shaky ladder, find Katherine, and run away with her. But if I did that, and if Katherine was as dangerous as the Founders thought †¦ I felt like a trapped animal, unable to find any escape. Was I trapped with the enemy right now, or was the enemy back at Veritas? I knew that, beneath my shirt collar, the wound on my neck was beginning to ooze specks of blood, and it would only be a matter of time before they soaked through the fabric and stood out as a visible reminder of my betrayal. Mayor Lockwood shifted uneasily, causing the chair to creak. I jumped. â€Å"Now, if the herb works, that's one thing. But we're in the middle of a war. We've got a lot of Confederate government officials passing through Mystic Falls on their way to Richmond, and if word gets out that instead of aiding the cause we're fighting storybook creatures with flowers †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He shook his head. â€Å"We cannot issue an edict that everyone wear vervain.† â€Å"Oh, really? Then how do we know you're not a vampire?† Father demanded. â€Å"Father!† I interjected. Someone had to bring a voice of reason into the discussion. â€Å"Mayor Lockwood is right. We need to think calmly. Rationally.† â€Å"Y son has a good head on his shoulders,† our Mayor Lockwood said grudgingly. â€Å"A better head than yours,† Father mumbled. â€Å"Well †¦ we can discuss vervain later. Honoria, you'll be in charge of making sure that we have a ready supply, and we can strongly encourage those we love to wear it. But for now, I want to discuss other ways we can find the vampires that walk among us,† Jonathan Gilbert said excitedly, unfolding large sheets of paper onto the table. Mayor Lockwood put his bifocals on his nose and peered at the papers, which had complicated mechanical drawings on them. â€Å"This here looks like a compass,† Mayor Lockwood said finally, pointing to a complicated drawing. â€Å"It is! But instead of finding north, it finds vampires,† Jonathan said, barely containing his excitement. â€Å"I'm working on the prototype. It just needs a bit more fine-tuning. It's able to detect blood. The blood of others,† he said meaningfully. â€Å"Can I see that, Mr. Jonathan?† Cordelia asked. Jonathan looked up, surprised, but handed her the papers. She shook her head. â€Å"No,† she said. â€Å"The prototype.† â€Å"Oh, ah, well, it's very rough,† Jonathan said as he fumbled in his back pocket and pulled out a shiny metal object that looked more like a child's trinket than a tool for finding victims. Cordelia turned the compass slowly in her hands. â€Å"It works?† â€Å"Well †¦Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬â€œJonathan shrugged–â€Å"it will work.† â€Å"Here's what I propose,† Father said, leaning back on his chair. â€Å"We arm ourselves with vervain. We work day and night to get the compass to work. And we make a plan. We set up a siege, and by month's end our town will be clear.† Father crossed his arms in satisfaction. One by one, every member of the group, including Cordelia, nodded their heads. I shifted on the wooden chair, holding my hand against my neck. The attic was hot and sticky, and flies were buzzing in the rafters, as if it were the middle of July rather than the middle of September. I desperately needed a glass of water, and I felt like the room was going to collapse in on me. I needed to see Katherine again, to remind myself that she wasn't a monster. My breathing became shallow, and I felt that if I stayed here, I would say something I didn't mean. â€Å"I think I'm feeling faint,† I heard myself say, even though the words rang false even to my ears. Father looked at me sharply. I could tell he didn't believe me, but Honoria clucked out sympathetic noises. Father cleared his throat. â€Å"I'll see my boy out,† he announced to the room before following me down the rickety ladder. â€Å"Stefan,† Father said, grabbing my shoulder just as I opened the door that would lead back to a world I understood. â€Å"What?† I gasped. â€Å"Remember. Not a word of this to anyone. Even Damon. Not until he comes to his senses. Except I think his senses may be taken with our Katherine,† Father muttered, half to himself as he let go of my arm. I stiffened at the mention of Katherine's name, but when I turned around, Father's back was toward me as he headed into the house. I walked back through town, wishing I'd ridden Mezzanotte instead of coming in the carriage. Now I had no choice but to walk home. I turned to my left, deciding to cut through the forest. I simply couldn't interact with any more humans today.