Much Ado About Nothing : Acts: I & II

Benedick’s Soliloquy on ideal woman: (2.3.20-27) In Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing Benedick, a romantic young Lord in Padua, is head over shoulders in love with Beatrice, Leonato’s niece. A moment ago he satirized the â€Å"fantastical† behavior of Claudius in love. As he readies himself for love, he contemplates the sterling qualities he seeks in his love lady. He desires her to be the embodiment of all rare virtues admired by men. He would not buy her unless she is â€Å"fair†, â€Å"wise† and â€Å"virtuous†. Furthermore, she needs to be â€Å"rich†, and â€Å"mild†, and   Ã¢â‚¬Å"noble†. He also expects her to be   a brilliant conversationalist as well as an â€Å"excellent musician†. Benedick goes about choosing his woman as a fastidious buyer go bargaining for the best property at lowest price. This speech is meant to provide fun and mirth to the audience; but it also demonstrates the male attitude of regarding women as property. If he succeeds, then he would be in possession of a gem of a woman, and could go about boasting of   his prize catch. We are indeed prone to laugh at such acquisitiveness. The commodification of woman is also deplorable. She has to be tailor-made with all virtues stitched in to satisfy the male ego. It is a folly for Benedick that he rules out the possibility   that if such a perfect woman existed at all , she might   not choose him. Benedick’s reaction to hearing that Beatrice is secretly in love with him: (2.3.181-213):2 paras. On her husband like qualities. On why he is so easily duped by his friends. In the speech following the trap   set by Pedro, Claudio and Leanato, Benedict starts behaving like a very compromising lover who is willing to bury past   his antagonism with Beatrice. As suggested by Pedro, Benedick begins his introspection – self-examination to improve his chances of being a good and worthy husband. Like a repentant lover and future husband he feels he has unfairly treated the fair Beatrice, and her love â€Å"must be requited†. (2.3.216) He also decides that he â€Å"must not seem proud.† (2.3.220). He concludes that she is fair, virtuous and wise for having fallen in love with him. He has now grown wise to listen to people’s criticism which would lead to the improvement of his personality. For having so long opposing and railing against marriage, he makes a 180 degree turn and pledges to â€Å"be horribly in love with her.† (2.3.226) He further argues that he must break his vow of celibacy so that â€Å"the world must be peopled.†(2.3.233). Being conditioned and brainwashed by Leanato, Pedro and Claudio he now discovers â€Å"some marks of love in her.†(2.3.236)His conclusion – â€Å"I am a villain; if I do not love her.† (2.3.253) – is a proof of his delusion. In this speech Benedick recapitulates after eavesdropping the mock-serious conversations of Claudio, Pedro and Leanato who aver that Beatrice is dying for his love, but   is too modest â€Å"to wear her heart out first.† (2.3.195) What he so long regarded â€Å" a gull† now has become veritable truth; as he says, â€Å"This can be no trick: the conference was sadly borne.† Like the typical lover with   Ã¢â‚¬Å"imagination   all compact†, he is duped by the   prank played by Pedro and Claudio. He is unable to see through the â€Å"sport† to mislead both   the proud lovers to hold â€Å"an opinion of another’s dotage.† (2.3.208) The old and the experienced Prince and Governor are successful in manipulating the romantic but arrogant lovers to confess their love and overcome their egoes. All Beatrice’s objections like â€Å"Against my will† and forcing her on â€Å"knife’s point †¦to choke a daw withal.† (2.3.246) are romantically interpreted as signs of love. Benedick’s behavior does confirm Shakespeare’s view of lover in Midsummer Night’s Dream: â€Å"The   lunatic, the lover and the poet/Are of   imagination all compact.† (Midsummer, 5.1.7) Their wild imagination hardly resembles the reality. Qualities I like in a man or woman. Do I choose any qualities admired by Benedick? Why? Or why not? The qualities I like in a man are tenderness, affection, and a capacity for enduring relationship. He must not treat woman as a prized possession for his personal benefit; but treat her as an equal partner. The qualities admired by Benedick are male ego-centric and would not satisfy any modern woman. â€Å"Wise†, â€Å"noble† and â€Å"mild† are admirable qualities in male as well   female spouse. Some intellectual qualities like brilliant conversationalist and excellent musician are   welcome personality traits, but not a necessity. But â€Å"rich† indicates love of wealth and dowry which often creates problems in marital life. Benedick gives the impression of a customer with a shopping list of virtues rather than a lover. To match his list a woman has to be perfect. No woman would like such an exacting husband. Work Cited: Craig, W.J.(ed.),   Shakespeare: Complete Works. London. O.U.P. 1974   

Cloud Computing Now and the Future Essay

The use of cloud computing creates a growing interdependence among both public and private sector entities and the individuals served by these entities. This paper provides a snapshot of the advantages of cloud computing and the risk areas specific to cloud services which clients of cloud services should be aware of. The future of cloud computing is certainly exciting, but moving more of our lives online means we will inevitably have to consider the consequences. Cloud computing means dependence on others and that could limit our privacy because of policies to access our information, security could be a big issue and large companies like Amazon and Google could monopolize the market. The cloud is a metaphor for the space on the internet that can store your data, as well as applications to manipulate data. It is not clear when the term cloud computing was first coined. For example, Bartholomew (2009), Bogatin (2006) and several others suggested that ‘cloud computing’ term inology was perhaps first coined by Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt in 2006. Kaufman (2009: 61) suggests that cloud computing terminology ‘originates from the telecommunications world of the 1990s, when providers began using virtual private network (VPN) services for data communication’. There is however, agreement on the definition of cloud computing. The National Institute of Standards and Technology defines cloud computing as a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction (Mell 2009: 9). A computer’s operating system, data and applications are typically installed and stored in the ‘traditional’ computer environment. In a cloud computing environment, individuals and businesses work with applications and data stored and/or maintained on shared machines in a web-based environment rather than physically located in the home of a user or a corporate environment. Lew Tucker, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Cloud Computing at Sun Microsystems, explained that cloud computing is ‘the movement of application services onto the internet and the increased use of the internet to access a wide variety of services traditionally originating from within a company’s data center’ (Creeger 2009: 52). For example, web-based applications such as Google’s Gmailâ„ ¢ can be accessed in real time from an Internet-connected machine anywhere in the world. Cloud computing provides an online environment that is scalable which facilitates the ability to handle an increased volume of work without impacting on the performance of the system. The Cloud also offers significant computing capability and economy of scale that might not otherwise be affordable to businesses, especially small and medium size companies that may not have the financial and human resources to invest in IT infrastructure. Advantages include capital costs and running costs. Companies can leverage the use of large scale resources from cloud service providers and ‘add or remove capacity from their IT infrastructure to meet peak or fluctuating service demands while paying only for the actual capacity used’ (Sotomayor et. Al. 2009: 14) on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ economic model. It can also be significantly cheaper to rent added server space for a few hours at a time rather than maintain your own servers. Rental prices for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), for example, are between US$0.020 and $2.970 per hour in Oregon as an example. Pay only for what you use. There is no minimum fee. On-Demand Instances let you pay for compute capacity by the hour with no long-term commitments. As you can see in the above example the selected usage is 100 hours per month of On-Demand Instances, 10 reserved instances and 1000 GB of storage for 50 IOPS and 100 Snapshot storages. The monthly cost for this company would be $1449.41 per month. This could be much more cost affective for a company than buying the hardware and storing the information themselves. The only question is, how safe is this information that is being stored? The risk of cloud computing could be the security of the information being stored by a large company like Amazon. It is still unclear how safe out-sourced data is and when using these services ownership of data is not always clear. In a study done in 2009, a team of computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego and Massachusetts Institute of Technology examined the widely-used Amazon EC2 services. They found that ‘it is possible to map the internal cloud infrastructure, identify where a particular target VM is likely to reside, and then instantiate new VMs until one is placed co-resident with the target’ (Ristenpart et al. 2009: 199). This demonstrated that the research team was able to load their eavesdropping software onto the same servers hosting targeted websites (Hardesty 2009). By identifying the target VMs, attackers can potentially monitor the cache (a small allotment of high-speed memory used to store frequently-used information) in order to steal data hosted on the same physical machine (Hardesty 2009). Such an attack is also known as side-channel attack. The findings of this research may only be a proof-of-concept at this stage, but it raises concerns about the possibility of cloud computing servers being a central point of vulnerability that can be criminally exploited. The cloud service providers establish the privacy policies to the companies that do business with them. The businesses are faced with their own privacy and confidentiality being determined by the terms of the cloud service providers. Failure to comply with data protection legislation may lead to administrative, civil and criminal sanctions. Data confidentiality and privacy ‘risks may be magnified when the cloud provider has reserved the right to change its terms at will’ (Gellman 2009: 6). Some cloud service providers argue that such juridical issues may be capable of resolution contractually via SLAs (Service Level Agreements) and the like. Clients using cloud services could include clauses in their SLAs that indicate the law governing the SLA, the choice of the competent court in case of disputes arising from the interpretation and the execution of the contract. The Cloud Security Alliance (2009: 28) also suggested that clients of cloud services should require their providers ‘to deliver a comprehensive list of the regulations and statutes that govern the site and associated services and how compliance with these items is executed’. Businesses should ensure that SLAs and other legally-binding contractual arrangements with cloud service providers comply with the applicable regulatory obligations (eg privacy laws) and industry standards, as the may be liable for breaching these regulations even when the data being breached is held or processed by the cloud service provider. Determining the law of the jurisdiction in which the SLA is held is an important issue. It may not, however, be as simple as examining the contractual laws that govern the operations of cloud service providers to determine which jurisdiction’s laws apply in any particular case. Gellman (2009: 19) pointed out that ‘[t]he user may be unaware of the existence of a second-degree provider or the actual location of the user’s data†¦[and] it may be impossible for a casual user to know in advance or with certainty which jurisdiction’s law actually applies to information entrusted to a cloud provider’. Businesses should continue to conduct due diligence on cloud service providers, have a comprehensive compliance framework and ensure that protocols are in place to continuously monitor and manage cloud service providers, offshore vendors and their associated outsourcing relationships. This would ensure businesses have a detailed understanding of the data storage information to maintain some degree of oversight and ensure that an acceptable authentication and access mechanism is in place to meet their privacy and confidentiality needs. This would also ensure a higher consumer confidence level in the entire cloud computing industry. The future looks bright for cloud computing. Last summer Google made a very large investment in bringing Google Fiber to Kansas City, broadband internet that is 100 times faster than what we currently have today. Faster internet speeds means larger files can be stored and downloaded from the cloud. Netflix says, ‘It’s the most consistently fast ISP in America.’ Analysts from BTIG Research visited Kansas City last month and were â€Å"blown away,† by the service (Jeff Saginor 2012: 1). But at it’s heart, ‘Google’s attempt at being its own ISP is much more about forcing the entrenched service providers –the Verizon’s and Time Warner’s and AT&T’s of this world – to step up their games than it is about making this particular business a raving financial success’. Saginor goes on to say, ‘When I asked the Google spokeswoman what the ultimate goal of all this was, she replied that Google wants â€Å"to make the web better and faster for all users.† The implication is that they don’t want to just do it all themselves’. Cloud computing means dependence on others and that could limit our privacy because of policies to access our information, security could be a big issue an d large companies like Amazon and Google could monopolize the market. The Cloud provides an online environment that is scalable which facilitates the ability to handle an increased volume of work without impacting on the performance of the system. The risk of the cloud could be the security of the information being stored by a large company. It is still unclear how safe out-sourced data is and when using these services ownership of data is not always clear. Businesses should continue to conduct due diligence on cloud service providers, have a comprehensive compliance framework and ensure that protocols are in place to continuously monitor and manage cloud service providers, offshore vendors and their associated outsourcing relationships. The future of cloud computing is certainly exciting, but moving more of our lives online means we will inevitably have to consider privacy, security and ownership of the information. References Amazon Web Services http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/ Creeger M 2009. CTO roundtable: Cloud computing. Communications of the ACM 52(8): Bartholomew D 2009. Cloud rains opportunities for software developers. Dice 29 May. http://career-resources.dice.com/articles/content/entry/cloud_rains_opportunities_for_software Bogatin D 2006. Google CEO’s new paradigm: ‘Cloud computing and advertising go hand-inhand’ Zdnet 23 April. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/micro-markets/google-ceos-new-paradigmcloud-computing-and-advertising-go-hand-inhand/ Cloud Security Alliance 2009. Security guidance for critical areas of focus in cloud computing V2.1. http://www.cloudsecurityalliance.org/csaguide.pdf Gellman R 2009. Privacy in the clouds: Risks to privacy and confidentiality from cloud computing. http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/pdf/WPF_Cloud_Privacy_Report.pdf Hardesty L 2009. Secure computers aren’t so secure MIT press release 30 October. http://www.physorg.com/news176197396.html Jeff Saginor 2012. What does Google get from supercharging Kansas City’s Internet? http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion-wh-google-will-never-take-its-fiber-national/ Kaufman LM 2009. Data security in the world of cloud computing. IEEE Security & Privacy July/August: 61-64 Mell P 2009. Effectively and securely using the cloud computing paradigm. http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/cloud-computing/cloudcomputing- Ristenpart T, Tromer E, Shacham H & Savage S 2009. Hey, you, get off my cloud: Exploring information leakage in third-party compute clouds, in proceedings of the 16th ACM conference on Computer and communications security, 07. New Your, NY: ACM Press: 199-212 Sotomayor B, Montero RS, Llorente IM & Foster I 2009. Virtual infrastructure management in private and hybrid clouds. IEEE Internet Computing 13(5): 14-22 Mark D. Bowles (2010). Introduction to Computer Literacy. Retrieved from chapter’s six and seven. (Awl, 2009, p. 52)

International Competitive Status and Cross Culture Management of Essay

International Competitive Status and Cross Culture Management of Revlon Inc - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Revlon Inc.’s market share for cosmetics has dropped since 1998, and the company showed only one quarter as profitable from the last 8 years. The company’s growth started suffering in the 90s when the entire cosmetic industry sale to the retailers declined due to heavy competition. It is observed that the global cosmetic industry has been experiencing constant growth from 2009, but fall down in 2013. Revlon Inc.’s profits and income signifies that the company growth has been unstable. Revlon Inc. has developed its reputation in the cosmetic industry in areas like fragrance, skin care, and personal care. The company is also looking forward to business growth and various beneficial opportunities. The company’s data has given sufficient proof that in the near future, Revlon Inc. will grow positively and it will become the most valuable company as it was before. It is observed that company focus too much on profit ability in personal care products; they should also support corporate social responsibility by sponsoring events for woman’s health issues. The decision for choosing Revlon Inc. was a rationale for the rise and fall of cosmetic industry came into knowledge. The cosmetic industries sale and distribution are spread among various different countries. There are huge competitors in this industry and Revlon Inc. plays an important part in this competition. They compete with the competitors in terms of net income, goodwill, brand name, social responsibility etc. Revlon Inc. in all these categories has played a very important role and at the same time, the company has ensured for constant growth and survival in the industry.

Is market efficient testing of Hong Kong stock market Essay

Is market efficient testing of Hong Kong stock market - Essay Example Several tests could be used to test for market efficiency. The most common tests are for market anomalies such as the January, Day-of-the-Week, and Size Effects. Another is to prove that any of the assumptions of EMH is not true; for example, that there is a way of predicting stock prices so that those who are able to do so can earn above normal market returns. Practitioners of finance and economics who have studied stock market behaviour have proposed several hypotheses, one of which is the so-called Overreaction Hypothesis (ORH). ORH originated from the field of applied psychology and is a statement of behavioural prediction that people tend to overreact to dramatic news and events, regardless of whether these events are positive or negative. On the other side and related to this hypothesis is its opposite: underreaction, a phenomenon that can also be considered. ORH provides a way of making decisions to buy and sell stocks, because if it is true, then some investors can earn above market returns by buying underperforming stocks and selling overperforming stocks, taking advantage of over- or under-reaction of other investors. The Hongkong economy has been identified as the one with the freest and, in the absence of artificial market barriers that cause inefficiency, therefore the most efficient financial markets, as it was given the highest Index of Economic Freedom1 (Heritage, 2006). This paper attempts to prove this by investigating whether the ORH phenomena exist in the Hongkong Stock Exchange (HKSE). 3. Investigate presence of ORH in HKSE for the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2007 using the methodology of Fung (1999) which is similar to DeBondt and Thaler (1985) but using the geometric mean, instead of the arithmetic mean, to reduce error caused by bid-ask spread as pointed out by Conrad and Kaul (1993). Fama (1970) popularised the Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH) which states that stock prices reflect all available

Research a contemporary church community Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Research a contemporary church community - Essay Example This paper will look at the Hutterites while assessing their organization, leadership structure, venue and time of church meetings, their religious rituals, their theological teachings, and their ethical values. It will also look at the most attractive features of the community’s life and the aspects that would be most challenging. In all Hutterite churches, the church is organized in a group referred to as the Zullbrieder. It is made up of the spiritual leader and an advisory board comprised of a farm manager, two or three witness brothers, and the colony manager. The spiritual leader or minister also holds the title of the chief executive. The spiritual leader together with an advisory board makes the everyday decisions of the church. The spiritual leader’s responsibilities entail disciplining members of the church, undertaking church sermons, funerals, baptisms, and marriages. The church’s advisory board is made up of the farm manager, two or three witness brothers, and the colony manager who are selected for their entire life. The advisory board carries out the responsibilities of the directors or the board of trustees of the church organization. The duties of the church leaders are guided by the congregation (Hostetler 23). The witness brothers are also employed in the colony to handle a sec tion of the colony’s abundant duties. The spiritual leader’s companion at times is holds the position of a tailor. Therefore, she takes part in customary duties, for example choosing and buying fabrics, cooking, and medical decisions. All the church leadership positions are regarded as elective positions and a number of decisions are presented to a vote prior to their implementation. The decision-making and voting procedure is mostly based on a two-tier arrangement. It comprises a council, which is made up of seven

Social Psychology paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Psychology paper - Essay Example This makes this theory applicable only to higher mammals, including human beings. The theory is especially helpful in understanding the core processes of everyday human interactions. Say, a boss goes out to lunch with a female colleague; this is a typical scenario that falls within the application range of Causal Attribution theory. In this case, the boss orders food for his colleague while not being cognizant of her food allergies. Causal Attribution theory will help us answer such questions as â€Å"How much causal responsibility can we assign to the boss, for this apparent mistake†? etc. The theory is also useful in controlling levels of pain or joy. Since the cognitive mechanism that results in sensations of pain or joy is a matter of anticipation and expectation, painful experiences can be mitigated and joyful experiences amplified if the individual sees events from a favorable perspective. As a result, Causal Attribution theory is also useful for psychotherapists who deal with cases of chronic anxiety and depression. The techniques learned to control levels of pain/joy can also help athletes in managing niggling injuries or competitive pressure when participating in a major sport event like the Olympic Games. A few other phenomena associated with Causal Attribution theory are â€Å"The Self-Serving Bias and The Fundamental Attribution Error† (from the Presentation). Seminal work on these components was done by Jones and Harris in 1967 and by Ross and his team in 1977. Jones and Harris studied Fidel Castro’s public image and the causal mechanisms at play. Ross and his team studied game shows and found that participants â€Å"fail to see the inherent disadvantages in people† (from the Presentation). Daniel Gilbert proposed a precautionary measure to avoid Attribution Errors. He recommended against weighing behavioral and situational information at the same time. The other area where distinction

Wireless Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wireless - Research Paper Example The commonly media used in computer communication are categorized into bounded and unbounded media. Bounded media are the physical connections that make up a network system. These physical media are the most reliable for message sending, and they do provide faster data communication through high speed transfer of signals over long distances. Examples include coaxial cable, twisted pair cable and the fiber optic. The unbound media literally use the wireless connections and the transmission done via electronic waves (Odom W., Healy R., and Donohue D., 2010). Data Communication Protocols are a combination of both hardware and software standards that are established to effectively govern data transmission between computers. I.e., TCP/IP is a collection of different communication protocols based on IP and TCP. The TCP (Transmission Control Protocols) is applied in the transmission of data from an application to the network systems after breaking down data into IP packets before the transmission and assembling of the packets immediately they are received on the destination end. IP (Internet Protocol), however, protects the communication with other computer devices by sending and receiving the data packets over the internet (Clark A. P.,

Miami International Airport Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Miami International Airport - Research Paper Example The airport has three terminals, North, Central, and South. Both the Central and South terminals handle international travelers. Although public transportation from MIA is difficult, taxis, shuttles, and rental cars are available. The Miami International Airport Hotel is located right inside the airport at Concourse E. The airport has over 80 airlines providing flights to over 150 destinations around the world. It occupies 3230 acres of land in downtown Miami with its terminal undergoing an expansion of more than seven million square feet through a capital improvement program to be completed in 2014 (MIA, 2013). The Miami international airport serves other aviation facilities such as the Kendall-Tamaini Executive airport. This airport is 15 minutes away from the business center of south Miami-Dade. The airport’s proximity to Biscayne national park, Florida Keys, and Everglades’s national park makes it the perfect destination for eco-tourism. Its primary business is recr eation and private flights serving as to relieve to MIA. MIA’s general aviation center managed by the Miami-Dade aviation department offers flights round the clock, every day. Its services are minor like telephones, public lounge with vending area and restrooms (Mobile Reference, 2010). It houses the US customs and border protection that clears arriving international flights including charter, cargo, and private. Another executive airport that closely relates with MIA is the Opa-Locka Executive airport that is located just 7 miles away from MIA. It is the largest of the general Miami -Dade county airports that handle private, cargo and business flights as a relief to MIA (FAA, 2013). Chapter 2: MIA’s Airside The Division Director of  Airside Operations is a 30-year veteran Lonny Craven. He ensures the safe day-to-day operations of MIA's airfield. He also ensures Part 139 Compliance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations. Above all, he is also responsi ble for all Airside Operations at MIA, including aircraft gate and apron control, the security and safety of aircraft , airside motor vehicle decal program, construction, cargo, aircraft parking, ramp, passenger loading bridges, access (FAA, 2013), Flight Information Display System (FIDS) and, motor vehicles and pedestrian traffic on the Aircraft Operations Area (AOA). The Airfield Operations Division of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department is divided into three different sections. These sections include Ramp Control, Aircraft Gate Control, and Access Control. Each of these Airside sections has a common goal but with distinct responsibilities and a staff reporting to the Division Director, Airside Operations. The three section's principal role is to promote the safe, secure, and efficient operating environment for passenger airlines, cargo airlines, a large General Aviation component, and all the ramp employees. The Ramp Control Section of Airside Operations ensures the safe operation of aircraft on the airfield. It also maintains the Airport's Certification; it reviews all runways, taxiways, and airport surface conditions for compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations, part 139. Ramp Control personnel  also monitor all construction activity in the Aircraft Operating Area (AOA) to ensure compliance with the Department's safety requirements. The Access Control Section monitors the access and movement of vehicles within the restricted areas. Access Control also administers the AOA decal

Iran Nuclear Deal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Iran Nuclear Deal - Essay Example In as much as the Iran nuclear deal has raised a lot of debates on the implications of the deal on international platform, it is evident that the deal is a great milestone achieved regarding international relations and diplomacy. America and the international community have for many decades put measures including international sanctions and freezing of the Iranian assets as a means of averting the Iranian intention of making nuclear weapons, but only with immense level of failure. It is thus obvious that the Iran nuclear deal framework is a diplomatic way of solving the nuclear issue (Bremmer, 2015). With the agreement towards the Iran nuclear deal, the deal would help in the reduction of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. This is an important step since uranium is one of the major nuclear elements required in the manufacture of an atomic bomb. A reduction in the stockpile of uranium is thus a peaceful means of ensuring Iran does not manufacture the bombs. Additionally, the deal through the limit of the nuclear facilities in Iran would increase the time required for Iran to process a nuclear bomb from two to three months to at least one year. The increase in duration is very crucial as it gives the international community time to monitor Iranian nuclear activities ensuring Iran does not manufacture a nuclear weapon. Being that Iran agreed to international monitoring of its nuclear activities with robust level of transparency, it would be difficult for the country to use its nuclear stockpile for military purposes;

Poem Explication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Poem Explication - Essay Example The poem is patterned in three stanzas structure, having an identical rhyme scheme (ababab cdcdcd efefef). The same basic meter (iambic tetrameter) is maintained throughout the poem. The division of stanza in the poem corresponds to the poem’s meaning in internal structure, within the three stages of his acquaintance with the advancing lady, first from a distance, then next to him and finally, after the encounter. The point of relationship between the author and the subject lady are expressed by the prepositions â€Å"which†, corresponding to the distance between the author and the lady. Then â€Å"how†, expressing the lady’s closeness to him, and finally, â€Å"whose†, conforming to time after the encounter. The lady the writer notices in stanza one possesses beauty and displays it as she walks along. The timing is in a cloudless night, which gives him the chance to observe the lady without being noticed. Probably, he was imagining on how the ladyà ¢â‚¬â„¢s beauty matched with the starry skies. Even in the darkness, the author imagined the lady to appear bright and was mesmerized by the brightness of her eyes. Perhaps, the dressing of the lady adorned her by its glittering. The poem is all about beauty which possessed the lady of the night. Moreover, the author imagined that the lady was surrounded by beauty like an aura. The Lady was not only beautiful physically, but the stanza introduces the inner beauty of the lady as she was tender. The second stanza introduces some contrast in darkness and in the light, and that the lady was fair in the dark, but not so fair in the light. The author expresses his sentiments by use of words to claim that her graceful and beauty were nameless, which could be implying that he could not quite point out what made her so graceful. â€Å"Every raven tress† could be something to do with her beautiful hair, which â€Å"lightens her face†. The woman’s facial expression reveale d the sweet serenity of her thoughts. The speaker is deep in imagination that the sweet expression of the lady reflected her state of mind â€Å"dwelling place†. The contrast of the inner thoughts and outer expression is developed over and over as â€Å"sweetness† and â€Å"pure†, which all summed up as valuable and precious â€Å"dear†. The smiles and tints (blushes) that â€Å"glow† on the lady’s cheek and brow (poetic term for fore head) are calm and serene. This could imply that the woman was quite and elegant, yet her smiles and blushes were eloquent. The writer was strongly attracted by the expressive smiles and blushes. Byron seams to suggest that the smiles expressed all the time that the lady spent on doing good acts. Because the lady was not just pretty faced, but was equally kind and good, she managed to appear notably â€Å"calm† with serenity around other people (â€Å"all below†). Finally the love of the lady was innocent, which could mean that she had not fallen in love as yet. It could as well mean that she was in a platonic love. The writer of the poem utilized plenty of figurative speech to express the theme of romance. The title of the poem is presents some figurative as the term â€Å"walks† could imply advancement both in space and in time. In other words, the beauty evidenced in the lady was not just for the particular period that the writer noticed her, but it could mean that beauty possessed her. Similarly, by introducing the aspect of light and

Peace order in country Essay Example for Free

Peace order in country Essay There are three types of peace orders: Interim peace orders. If you wish to file for a peace order but the district court clerk’s office is closed, you can file for an interim order by going to the nearest District Court commissioner. If the commissioner believes that you have been abused by the person you are filing against and that the abuser is likely to abuse you again in the future, s/he may issue an interim peace order.* An interim peace order goes into effect once the respondent is served by a law enforcement officer. *1 The interim peace order lasts until a judge holds a temporary peace order hearing or until the end of the second business day that the court clerk’s office is open after the interim peace order is issued, whichever comes sooner. If the court is closed on the day on which the interim peace order is due to expire, the interim peace order will be effective until the next day on which the court is open, at which time the court shall hold a temporary peace order hearing.*2 The interim peace order has to include the date for the temporary peace order hearing, and a tentative date for the final peace order hearing.*3 Note: Even if you are denied an interim peace order, you can still apply for a temporary or final peace order.*4 Temporary peace orders. When you go to court during normal court hours to file for a final peace order, you can ask for a temporary peace order, which can be issued the same day. If the judge believes that you have been abused by the person you are filing against and that the abuser is likely to abuse you again in the future, s/he may issue a temporary peace order. This order can be issued with or without the abuser present.*5 The order is effective when it is served.*6 The temporary order is in effect for up to 7 days after service of the order unless the court is closed on the day on which the temporary peace order is due to expire. In that case, the temporary peace order shall be effective until the second day on which the court is open, by which time the court should hold a final peace order hearing. However, the judge may extend the temporary order to allow for service of the order or for another good reason, but not to more than 30 days.*7 Note: If the respondent is at the hearing, the judge may go ahead and hold a hearing for a final peace order instead of a temporary one if you and the respondent agree to this.*8 Final peace orders. The respondent has the opportunity to be present at the final peace order hearing. If the judge believes that you have been abused by the person you are filing against and that the abuser is likely to abuse you again in the future, s/he may issue a final peace order, which can last for up to 6 months.*9 As of October 2011, peace orders can be extended.*10 See Can I modify, cancel or extend my peace order? for more information.

The Different Types Of Custodial Sentences

The Different Types Of Custodial Sentences For this report, I have decided to focus on the effectiveness of the use of non-custodial sentences and to explore how certain types of punishment may be the reason why some criminals re-offend. Observations Of the twenty cases I witnessed, almost three-quarters of them resulted in a community order sentence or fine, with a quarter either resulting in a conditional discharge, warrant of committal or extended sentence. It appeared that the cases were dealt with subjectively; whereby individuals circumstances were taken into account before delivering a suitable sentence. For example, in one case, a young woman pleaded guilty to possession of a Class A drug, which breached her suspended sentence. As she had attended two-hundred and thirteen hours of rehabilitation (out of a possible two-hundred and fifty), had otherwise not breached her sentence and her cravings had significantly reduced over the eighteen months of her sentence, the Magistrates decided to remove her suspended sentence and offered her a six-month conditional discharge instead. In light of the theories of punishment, particularly the Self-Regulatory Penalty, I did not see how giving the defendant a conditional discharge was deemed to be a punishment. According to Braithwaite (1989), this is referred to as denunciation; whereby an otherwise upright citizen who has breached their contract with the local community is seen to be enough to shame and reintegrate them with that community. (Worrall and Hoy, 2005: 5). However, this was the defendants second offence and the self-regulatory penalty theory fails to explain why some individuals offend. On the contrary, the breach was for a drug abuse problem which, understandably, is difficult to control and therefore can be said to justify her actions. Additionally, the defendant showed signs of remorse and disappointment as her charges were read out. Her solicitor explained, in the facts of the case, that she had earnestly handed over the drugs to the police when asked to do so. Magistrates have reported that generally female defendants areà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦widely perceived to be less threatening in their behaviour and appearance, and so more deserving of compassion. (Evans and Jamieson, 2008; 119) But is this softening towards female convicts a cause for concern? In a study conducted, three Magistrates disagreed, arguing that for a woman to be brought to court was in itself a n indication of the seriousness of her conduct. (Evans and Jamieson, 2008; 119) Alternatively, the number of financial penalties given to the defendants compared with the number of community sentences given was almost equivalent. By simply imposing a fine, it hits them where it hurts-in the pocket, but is not always seen as holding the offender sufficiently accountable for their breach of contract with the community. (Young, 1989 quoted in Worrall and Hoy, 2005: 5) The paying of a fine does not constitute the same emotions of guilt or infliction of pain that would result from a punishment. In order to determine whether these sanctions are working effectively, the government and probation services need to monitor the rate of re-convictions. Studies have shown that the rate of males and females re-offending has decreased from 43.7 to 39.0 from the years 2002-2006  [1]. This reflects that the use of community penalties is having a positive effect on offenders behaviour. However, the rates of reconvictions are not reliable as they do not include offences that have not resulted in a conviction and only cover the post-two year period from the individuals previous conviction. (Davies, Croall and Tyrer: 2010; 845) Further data has shown that the likelihood of convicts reoffending is greater if the individual already has a history of previous convictions. The trends in the data show that it is often very difficult to control the behaviour or alter the attitudes of particular individuals who live the so-called life of crime. In addition to this, the chances of an individual re-offending are often influenced and affected by extraneous factors such as; age, sex, previous history of offending, types of offence, as well as the sen tence imposed. (Davies, Croall and Tyrer, 2010; 486) Thirteen of the twenty cases I witnessed were offences made by working class males between the ages of 21 and 50, with the other offences made by working class females between the ages of 32 and 45. The majority of the cases involved criminal acts of theft, violence, drug abuse and breaches of previous sentences. Having predicted that the majority of offences would be made by young males, I noted that whilst it was young men that were more frequently convicted than women, for first-time offences, the majority of them re-offended. According to Worrall and Hoy (2005; 110) Predisposing hazards, based on research, suggest that re-offending is more likely to occur in young men whose first conviction was at an early age or who have a large number of previous convictions with no recent break in the pattern. Contrastingly, the least likely to reoffend are older women with late first convictions or few previous convictions with a long gap since the last conviction. It also appears that the se riousness of the present offence holds no weight on the likelihood of reoffending. This leads me on to discuss the theory of individual deterrence. This form of punishment stems from the branch of justification known as Reductivism (Walker, 1972). This form of justification serves punishment as a preventative measure for future criminal intent thereby helping to reduce crime. However studies have indicated that quite contrary to what the theory of individual deterrence suggests- that offenders who suffer more severe or punitive penalties (including penalties specifically aimed at deterrence) are more (not less) likely to reoffend.'(West, 1982: 109; Brody, 1976: 14-16; Lipsey, 1995: 74 quoted in Cavadino and Dignan 2007: 37) Therefore, if punishment, in general, is not having the desired effect on offenders, the justice system needs to consider the personal factors and elements, relevant, which may be influencing the behaviour of offenders. Conclusion As a prospective lawyer and current law student, this experience has enhanced my understanding and awareness of current issues within the criminal justice system. Theoretically the methods of punishment in place, so far, appear to be working but in practice, are not working effectively enough. The number of individuals re-offending may have reduced but the number of people committing first-time offences has increased. Probation services need to find alternative methods of eradicating criminal behaviour, attitude and intent in order to prevent reoffending.

Evaluating Compensation Strategy and Incentive Plans

Evaluating Compensation Strategy and Incentive Plans 1.1.0 Introduction It has become more and more important, especially in the current conditions following the credit crunch for organisation to monitor and control labour costs, whilst striving for increased productivity, better quality and good customer service. For this reason; there has been need to review strategies, if not bring in new strategies towards employee compensation and incentive schemes. In this competitive environment, companies are looking to recruit and retain high performing and highly committed employees and taking note that this comes at a cost, but a cost justifiable enough to ensure competitive advantage and success of the organisation. Michael H. Schuster, P.H.D on Aligning Compensation Strategy notes that Companies are examining the method and basis for compensating employees, there has been a growth in the number of companies seeking to develop high performance, high committed work systems, based upon expanded roles for employees, require that employees accept more responsibility and accountability. Therefore employee compensation is an important element to the financial success of the organisation. A strong emphasis is placed on the fact that compensation and reward schemes should transparently reflect the financial potential of the company and align it to the organisation strategy and objectives. In the past, wages and salaries usually grew only by a consistent and constant spinal point. More recently, there has been a growth where the labour market has become more and more aggressive and has brought about the notion that compensation and incentive packages must be competitive enough to attract and retain well skilled workers. 2.1.0 Compensation Strategy As all strategies for any organisation, the ultimate goal and objective is to maximise the wealth for shareholders. The compensation strategy should take into consideration that; They should clearly implement a value based company management system. The long term appreciation and capital value of the company Market conditions and orientation of engaging qualified and skilled workers And important aspect is the cost of the strategy to the organisation. Compensation is one of the main concerns to secure the high performance of the organisation. There is no understatement in saying that organisations perform because of the work being carried out and accomplished by the people it employees, and therefore they make the difference. In saying this, it is important to note that protecting human capital is crucial, and this is done through motivation, recognition, an appropriate reward and compensation scheme. An obvious and important element to consider in the strategy is the possible analysis of the cost of executive and employee compensation will cost the organisation. This will be concentrated on the opportunity cost to the company of the stock and performance based parts. The cost in this case to the company would therefore be the foregone resources on the compensation agreement. It is said that money is a powerful source of motivation. But its also said that salary increase can only motivate until the next pay increase is due. An element of any organisations compensation strategy is to always reflect the strategic business objectives. The objectives and goals should be clearly defined, making them achievable through the compensation structure. As stated earlier and reemphasised now, the compensation plan should be integrated with the performance objectives of the organisation and with the employees individuals goals. 2.1.1 Core Elements of Compensation Strategy An intensive analysis needs to be carried out on the organisation framework, this will be able to establish and reflect the demands of the future business development and which framework conditions will be required to structure an effective compensation strategy. It is even more important to define the management and operative levels taking into account value orientation. As well as the objectives that have been set out for each employee and how their performance is evaluated. Therefore clear roles and responsibilities need to be defined and a strong communication system to be put in place to ensure that all employees are aware and know how their performance is reflected into the incentive scheme. Other elements to consider are should be; Generic They should be a buy in into the incentive plan by the employees. It should be designed in such a way that employees at all levels are participative and have the same gaol and direction. Be of significant and Perceived Value to the employee. Employees should be able to easily recognise the potential reward related to performance. Related to Individual Performance As stated by Bob Normand Institute of Smart Business Management. A factor in the determination of how much an individual employee receives should be their performance rating as determined by their formal job review and appraisal. Employee Loyalty A good incentive plan should be able to retain employees and gain their loyalty. Therefore, an incentive plan should foster employee tenure and performance. There are two main streams of rewards being monetary and non monetary. The monetary being the preferred, and is usually a Pay-For-Performance scheme. Types of performance based pay are; Stock based This will include stock options and grants, equity shares. Cash Compensation These are usually bonuses and are related to the achievement of performance objectives and goals that were set out. Cash incentive is the most common and preferred form of an incentive scheme. An effective compensation strategy if implemented successfully can fulfil other objectives. This has been summarised in the table below; Objective Result Alignment to the strategy of business units. Strong market position. Strengthens the performance and is result oriented. Competitive Advantage Enable organisation change and flexibility to adapt to changed business situation. Success and forward moving organisation. Promotes motivation and loyalty Retaining of highly skilled employees. Controversy Over incentive schemes 1Over the past years, and more recently the past 2 years, where the economy experienced a depression and a down turn in the market for most industries, there have been continued sensitive arguments over corporate executives compensation and how they align to the firms performance. Holmstrom 1979,  [2]  looked at the contribution that made clear the trade off between risk and incentives in the moral hazard problem. This study was partly based on his unpublished dissertation. The media, public, politicians have raised concerns over the current executives compensation packages that seem to drive employees towards taking short term risks, without taking into consideration the long term repercussions and effects on their organisation. As a result of this, there have been regulations being put on the table that look at restricted stock pay options and maximum level cash incentive, or other types of compensation that will focus more on long term performance. This will push executives to always base their investment and finance decisions with the shareholders best interest at hand. There will have to be a strong correlation between long term incentive compensation and the future firm performance. With the emphasis on transparency, CEOs pay is usually publicized in the press in papers and magazines such as Fortune Magazine that has an annual ranking of the highest paid CEOs. It has been observed that the firms that pay their CEOs the highest are organisations that tend to be the ones experiencing high returns, and high operating performance in comparison to others. 4.1.0 Performance Measurement and Incentive Schemes Leonard, 1990 and Hayes and Schaejar 2000, looked at the studies that focussed on the relationship between pay and the future accountancy performance of the organisation. There has been an assumption that in efficient markets, executives and investors will capitalise the present value of future firm performance increase into the stock price. The question is always 2 how do you align strategic performance measures and results to compensation and incentive plans?. The first question to ask when designing a bonus plan that replicates the incentive of an owner is how to measure business performance. The right measure of corporate performance will have strong ties to the amount of additional wealth that a company produces for its shareholders and by extension for society at large. It will guide people to make the decisions that will generate the added value necessary to fund their bonus, to re w a rd the shareholders and to reinvest in business growth. They are several models that organisations can use to measure the performance and determine the level of incentive to be paid out to executives and employees. Strategic Performance Measurement (SPM) System This measurement translates the business strategies and objectives into deliverable results. The advantage of this model is that it combines the financial, strategic and operating measures and compares it against how well an organisation meets its objectives, goals and the targets. Economic Value Added (EVA) / Value Based Management This model emphasises on performance measurement and the cost of capital and measures the value created for shareholders. The main advantage of this measure is that its focus is on wealth creation. Balanced Scorecard System Its core element is its emphasis on the key business drivers such as customer and employee satisfaction, operational excellence and new product development. 4 As strongly supported by Stern and Co. Economic Value Added offers more to an organisation as it focuses on measuring value created for shareholders, which is the essence and objective of any organisation; to create wealth for its shareholders. This measure is also focuses more towards the capital markets and assists in developing organisation strategies at all levels of the organisation. 5 Other advantages of EVA as a measurement tool are; It creates measurable objectives and goals for employees and are specific It can easily align the operations and business units with the overall corporate strategy. EVA can link individual performance and compensation plans to business strategies. 5.1.0 Relationship between Stock Price Performance and Incentive Schemes The hypothesis by a paper written by M. Cooper, H. Gulen and P. Ray Performance for Pay? looked at the relationship between CEO incentive compensation and future stock price performance. They summarised that The efficient market hypothesis suggested that markets capitalise incentive pay grants into the stock price at the announcement day, resulting in no relation between incentive pay and future stock price performance. On the other hand, the optimal incentives hypothesis suggests that whilst compensation and incentive schemes can be aligned to managerial interests with shareholders value wealth creation and maximisation, investors may not necessarily react to the information. This could be as a result of not understanding the incentive strategy, and not having the right measurement model to gauge it against. Therefore investors are not able to observe or attain the value it may have to the organisation future stock price performance.  [6]  7A positive relation may be evaluated between the incentive pay and the future stock price performance. 8Needless to say, based on studies carried out in the past and present on the relationship between Stock Price Performance and Incentive Schemes, there is not much direct evidence that shows that incentive plans do lead to a companys improvement in future stock price performance. One of the challenges of stock returns are they having shareholders expectations imbedded in them. Other challenges are that economic theory would not be able to predict that increase in incentives would lead to increase in profitability. 9 A much earlier study by Masson 1971 linking financial incentive to future performance of the organisation, his findings were that firms and organisation that had attractive financial incentives showed a better stock market performance during the post-war period. Conclusion Due to the increased competition of business, it has subsequently increased the competition for employing skilled workers, and retaining them. A compensation strategy creates and brings about a unified culture, and offers corporation and advances the implementation of the business strategy. This will essentially promote performance and employees will be result oriented. Incentive plans should be reviewed annually to analyse if they are actually effective and increasing the performance of the organisation and meeting the strategic objectives. This involves looking at any accomplishments and the desired outcome. Despite the soaring pay, many experts argue that the system is working better than ever. They see the bull market and healthy corporate sector as proof positive that companies get what they pay for. (Business Week April 21, 1997, p.p 60) Performance based pay is the best incentive strategy for any organisation as it maximises on the strategic plan, as the compensation strategy requires that the plan is set on organisation goals and objectives. This has a major influence on the employees. Pay for performance has been cited to be a more motivating factor, both short term and long term incentives.  [10]  A study carried out established that employees showed a more positive work attitude with a pay for performance incentive. Other benefits of a pay for performance incentive scheme is the pay receives special treatment in some contexts. This is under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Essentially, at the end of it all, the compensation strategy and incentive plans main purpose is to: Attract and retain employees. Motivate and establish loyalty towards the company. Making sure the cost of the strategy is line. Encourage peak performance.

Desertion in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong :: Things They Carried Essays

Desertion in Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong  Ã‚   The "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is a story of many things when looked at from the right perspective. The validity of the story actually has nothing to do with its main purpose, which is to explain how Vietnam changed the American soldiers who were a part of the conflict. O'Brien's purpose is to inform his readers of the effect that Vietnam had on American GI's. Told by Rat Kiley, the "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" can be seen as a touching love story; sweethearts united even during a war. However, the true focus of the story is not love but change and desertion.   Kiley is telling the story to illustrate how all GI's changed in their Vietnam experience. The fact that the main character is a woman drives his point even farther home. She is the very portrait of mainstream, wholesome America; the only thing she lacks is an apple pie. Kiley describes her as "This cute blonde - just a kid, just barely out of high school - she shows up with a suitcase and one of those plastic cosmetic bags." (O'Brien 90) This girl is the antithesis of what one would expect to find in Vietnam. She is pure and innocent. Throughout her time in Vietnam she changes from this image to something very different, she spends less time with her boyfriend, Mark Fossie. Mary Anne hangs around with the Green Berets, who are very different from the other soldiers. Eventually she becomes one of them, marking a total transformation, "There was no emotion in her stare, no sense of the person behind it. But the grotesque part, he said, was her jewelry. At the girl's throat was a n ecklace of human tongues. Elongated and narrow, like pieces of blackened leather, the tongues were threaded along a length of copper wire, one overlapping the next, the tips curled upward as if caught in a final shrill syllable." (O'Brien 110) Vietnam changed Mary Anne; it forced her to become something as foreign to America as the war itself.   The "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" is also a story of desertion: desertion of people and customs. Mary Anne deserts her boyfriend and her culture. As she becomes more involved into Vietnam she drifts away from her boyfriend, Fossie. She disappears one night and Fossie is distraught, "'Gone,' Fossie said, 'Rat, listen, she's sleeping with somebody.

Importance of Osborne in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff Essay -- Journeys

Importance of Osborne in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff From the very beginning of the play, Sheriff suggests to the audience that Osborne is the father figure and therefore that he is the voice of reason to the other men. We find out that Osborne is a middle-aged man with 'iron-grey hair'. Osborne however is physically in very good shape and is a 'tall, thin man' who is 'physically as hard as nails.' As Raleigh enters the audience sees a kind, caring side to Osborne. Sheriff puts across the ideas of Osborne being a family man through his calming conversation with Raleigh, where he tells Raleigh from what way he should look at the war. "There's something rather romantic about it all." Sheriff deliberately decides for the other characters in the play to call Osborne 'Uncle', this once again shows his maturity and that he quite responsible. He is always there when something needs to be done and he also very quick to volunteer to do any jobs that may come along. "I'll do the duty roll and see the sergeant major - and all that." For this the men respect him and therefore call him 'uncle'. Osborne is also quite affluent and may be seen as an intellect. This is shown by the fact that he is a teacher and that he doesn't jump to conclusions about people and their actions. The first time that the audience meets Osborne is in his conversation with Hardy who is the introducer of the play to the audience. The audience realises that Osborne is in the trench as he tries to take the men's thoughts away from the war and instead focus them of previous lives of things that have nothing to do with the war. "It's a nice looking sock." .. ... raiding party returns there is chaos amongst the ranks, this could possibly suggest that Stanhope and the other men require Osborne's experience in life and there seems to be a vast emptiness, this is shown by plenty of pauses followed by short, sharp conversations representing chaos. Tension is also built as Raleigh naively sits upon Raleigh's old bed. "Must you sit on Osborne's bed?" This shows that without the experienced, peacemaker, Osborne the men begin to have more heated arguments between themselves. In conclusion, therefore, Osborne added a sense of calmness to the abstract position that the men are put into. I believe that Sheriff has accomplished the task of catching the reader's eye through the voice of experience from Osborne. Work Cited Sherriff, R. C. Journey's End. New York: Brentano's, 1929.

Computers In Modern Life Essay

Cause / Effect Essay Many phenomena, events, situations and trends can be better understood by describing their causes and effects. The cause and effect essay explains what happens and why it happens. Cause / Effect Essay Specific Vocabulary Obesity is a cause of / a reason for premature death. Media coverage affects / influences voting patterns. Media coverage leads to / gives rise to / brings about changes in voting patterns. Voting patterns are affected / are influenced by media coverage. Stress causes / produces / results in low exam scores. Low exam scores are caused by / are produced by / result from stress. Low exam scores are a consequence of / are a result of / are due to / the effect of stress. When / If there is constant economic instability, currency crashes occur. As a result of / As a consequence of constant economic instability, currency crashes occur. There is constant economic instability. As a result, / As a consequence, / Consequently, / Thus, / Therefore, / Hence, / For this reason, currency crashes occur. Because / Since / As some areas face extreme weather conditions, there is damage to property. Owing to / On account of / Because of / Due to the fact that some areas face extreme weather conditions, there is damage to property. Owing to / On account of / Because of / Due to extreme weather conditions, there is damage to property. Owing to / On account of / Because of / Due to extreme weather conditions, damage to property occurs. Cause / Effect Essay Structure While writing a cause / effect essay, the order of the main points given in the thesis statement is followed in body paragraphs. The following example is an outline for a cause essay about the reasons for cities becoming overcrowded. Thesis statement: There are two main reasons why these and other cities are becoming so crowded; one economic, the other socio-cultural. 1st body: economic reasons 1. cities are engines of development. 2nd body: socio-cultural reasons 1. education 2. urbanization The following example is an outline for an effect essay about the effects of the computer on life. Thesis statement: The two main areas in which computers have brought about a profound change in our lives are in the economic field and in the field of communications. 1st body: economic effects 1. computers in business 2. computers and national economies 2nd body: effects on communication 1. e-mail 2. globalization The sample shows essay organization Why are Cities Becoming Overcrowded? General Statements The fact that the world’s cities are getting more and more crowded is well-known. Cities such as Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Bombay and Shanghai are now considered ‘mega-cities’, because of their enormous size and huge populations. There are two main reasons why these and other cities are becoming so crowded; one economic, the other socio-cultural. First, the primary cause of cities becoming so crowded is economic. As a country develops, its cities become the engines of development, thus jobs are available in these areas. Frankfurt, Istanbul, Bombay and Sao Paolo are all the economic centres of their countries. For example, Tokyo was the motor for Japan’s rapid economic development in the 1960’s and 70’s; as a result, its population increased rapidly. People moved to Tokyo because they could find employment and establish economic security for themselves and their families there. Second, another factor in the huge increase in urban populations is the socio-cultural factor. Thousands of people migrate to the cities not only for jobs but also for educational and personal reasons. The  better universities are always located in big cities and this attracts thousands of students every year, and these students stay on and work in the city after they graduate. Moreover, young people will move to the city as the villages and rural areas are more custom and tradition oriented. Therefore, young people believe this is an obstacle to their personal freedom. Thesis Statement Topic Sentence Topic Sentence Concluding Sentence In conclusion, economic and cultural factors are the major causes of huge urban population. People will always move to the areas which provide opportunity and to the places which can give them the freedom they desire. Final Thought The sample shows essay connectors Why are Cities Becoming Overcrowded? The fact that the world’s cities are getting more and more crowded is well-known. Cities such as Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Bombay and Shanghai are now considered ‘mega-cities’, because of their enormous size and huge populations. There are two main reasons why these and other cities are becoming so crowded; one economic, the other socio-cultural. First, the primary cause of cities becoming so crowded is economic. As a country develops, its cities become the engines of development, thus jobs are available in these areas. Frankfurt, Istanbul, Bombay and Sao Paolo are all the economic centres of their countries. For example, Tokyo was the motor for Japan’s rapid economic development in the 1960’s and 70’s; as a result, its population increased rapidly. People moved to Tokyo because they could  find employment and establish economic security for themselves and their families there. Second, another factor in the huge increase in urban populations is the socio-cultural factor. Thousands of people migrate to the cities not only for jobs but also for educational and personal reasons. The better universities are always located in big cities and this attracts thousands of students every year, and these students stay on and work in the city after they graduate. Moreover, young people will move to the city as the villages and rural areas are more custom and tradition oriented. Therefore, young people believe this is an obstacle to their personal freedom. In conclusion, economic and cultural factors are the major causes of huge urban population. People will always move to the areas which provide opportunity and to the places which can give them the freedom they desire. The sample shows essay specific vocabulary Why are Cities Becoming Overcrowded? The fact that the world’s cities are getting more and more crowded is well-known. Cities such as Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Bombay and Shanghai are now considered ‘mega-cities’, because of their enormous size and huge populations. There are two main reasons why these and other cities are becoming so crowded; one economic, the other socio-cultural. First, the primary cause of cities becoming so crowded is economic. As a country develops, its cities become the engines of development, thus jobs are available in these areas. Frankfurt, Istanbul, Bombay and Sao Paolo are all the economic centres of their countries. For example, Tokyo was the motor for Japan’s rapid economic development in the 1960’s and 70’s; as a result, its population increased rapidly. People moved to Tokyo because they could find employment and establish economic security for themselves and their families there. Second, another factor in the huge increase in urban populations is the soc io-cultural factor. Thousands of people migrate to the cities not only for jobs but also for educational and personal reasons. The better universities are always located in big cities and this attracts thousands of students every year, and these students stay on and work in the city after they graduate. Moreover, young people will move to the city as the villages and rural areas are more custom and tradition oriented.  Therefore, young people believe this is an obstacle to their personal freedom. In conclusion, economic and cultural factors are the major causes of huge urban population. People will always move to the areas which provide opportunity and to the places which can give them the freedom they desire. The sample shows essay organization What effects has the computer had on our lives? The twenty-first century is already turning out to be the century of the computer. The computer revolution that started after the Second World War is now developing exponentially and computers are beginning to influence and take over nearly every aspect of our lives. Computers are clearly changing and affecting society in many ways. The two main areas in which computers have brought about a profound change in our lives are in the economic field and in the field of communications. The computer has led to immense changes in economic and business life. First, businesses now have to be computerised or they risk failure. Every big corporation bases its operations on computing, regardless of which sector they are in. For example, Coca-Cola, the BBC and Levi’s market and sell different products and services, yet they all share one basic property – without computers their operations would collapse. Second, computing is an economic dynamo. Japan, China, India and many other countries have large IT sectors which drive their economies upwards. Furthermore, the developed world is moving from an industrial-based economy to a computer and IT-based one. It is not just in business that computers have affected us so profoundly; communication has been revolutionised totally. Firstly, whereas before, people wrote letters, which would often take weeks to reach their destinations, or speak on the phone, which was terribly expensive, now they e-mail. For instance, instead of waiting weeks for a letter now, we can read it instantly, seconds after it’s been written. Secondly, many people use computers to communicate with people all around the world using chat rooms and chat programs, this was impossible before the computer became widespread. As a result, now people who live thousands of kilometres away from each other can communicate as much as they want and whenever they want using e-mail and/or chat rooms. Concluding Sentenc e Topic Sentence General Statements Thesis Statement Topic Sentence In conclusion, computers have had a profound effect on our lives in many ways and it is in business and communication that they have had the greatest influence. In the future, if the computer continues evolving at such speed, our business practices and methods of communication will undergo even more radical changes. Final Thought The sample shows essay connectors What effects has the computer had on our lives? The twenty-first century is already turning out to be the century of the computer. The computer revolution that started after the Second World War is now developing exponentially and computers are beginning to influence and take over nearly every aspect of our lives. Computers are clearly changing and affecting society in many ways. The two main areas in which computers have brought about a profound change in our lives are in the economic field and in the field of communications. The computer has led to immense changes in economic and business life. First, businesses now have to be computerised or they risk failure. Every big corporation bases its operations on computing, regardless of which sector they are in. For example, Coca-Cola, the BBC and Levi’s market and sell different products and services, yet they all share one basic property – without computers their operations would collapse. Second, computing is an economic dynamo. Japan, China, India and many other countries have large IT sectors which drive their economies upwards. Furthermore, the developed world is moving from an industrial-based economy to a computer and IT-based one. It is not just in business that computers have affected us so profoundly; communication has been  revolutionised totally. Firstly, whereas before, people wrote letters, which would often take weeks to reach their destinations, or speak on the phone, which was terribly expensive, now they e-mail. For instance, instead of waiting weeks for a letter now, we can read it instantly, seconds after it’s been written. Secondly, many people use computers to communicate with people all around the world using chat rooms and chat programs, this was impossible before the computer became widespread. As a result, now people who live thousands of kilometres away from each other can communicate as much as they want and whenever they want using e-mail and/or chat rooms. In conclusion, computers have had a profound effect on our lives in many ways and it is in business and communication that they have had the greatest influence. In the future, if the computer continues evolving at such speed, our business practices and methods of communication will undergo even more radical changes. The sample shows essay specific vocabulary What effects has the computer had on our lives? The twenty-first century is already turning out to be the century of the computer. The computer revolution that started after the Second World War is now developing exponentially and computers are beginning to influence and take over nearly every aspect of our lives. Computers are clearly changing and affecting society in many ways. The two main areas in which computers have brought about a profound change in our lives are in the economic field and in the field of communications. The computer has led to immense changes in economic and business life. First, businesses now have to be computerised or they risk failure. Every big corporation bases its operations on computing, regardless of which sector they are in. For example, Coca-Cola, the BBC and Levi’s market and sell different products and services, yet they all share one basic property – without computers their operations would collapse. Second, computing is an economic dynamo. Japan, China, India and many other countries have large IT sectors which drive their economies upwards. Furthermore, the developed world is moving from an industrial-based economy to a computer and IT-based one. It is not just in business that computers have affected us so profoundly; communication has been  revolutionised totally. Firstly, whereas before, people wrote letters, which would often take weeks to reach their destinations, or speak on the phone, which was terribly expensive, now they e-mail. For instance, instead of waiting weeks for a letter now, we can read it instantly, seconds after it’s been written. Secondly, many people use computers to communicate with people all around the world using chat rooms and chat programs, this was impossible before the computer became widespread. As a result, now people who live thousands of kilometres away from each other can communicate as much as they want and whenever they want using e-mail and/or chat rooms. In conclusion, computers have had a profound effect on our lives in many ways and it is in business and communication that they have had the greatest influence. In the future, if the computer continues evolving at such speed, our business practices and methods of communication will undergo even more radical changes.

Meme Analysis: Rage Comics Essay

Many people may always say a picture is worth a thousand words; well the information held within the rage comics represents much more and exemplifies the perfect example of this saying. The Rage comic meme is about a series of comics that can be made by anyone using the common rages faces, which are also memes. These comics are web-based and usually describe real life scenarios from the rage comic creator. The first amateur Rage Comic originated in 2007 on an image board site named 4chan consisting of four panes. The first comic starred the ffffuuuu guy, which is the first ever created rage face. The Rage Comics started to spread a few years after the first rage comic was created. The rage comics gained its popularity on the internet forum Reddit. In January of 2009, a subreddit was launched by Reddit which became more popular than expected. This subredditt was widely known as f7u12 and was called â€Å"FFFFUUUUU†, the rage guy. This rage guy represented serious disappointment, exasperation, or displeasure in any situation within a comic. The subreddit f7u12 allowed users of Reddit to create their own comics, which led to the creation of many other rage faces and characters in the rage comics. As the Rage Comics transformed, many characters became popular, while others didn’t. A few of the most popular rage faces is the Okay guy, the cereal guy, the forever alone guy, and the Y U NO guy. When these faces are seen in a comic, most Rage Comic readers already know what the face stands for. For example, the forever alone guy represents disappointment and loneliness in life and may be used in a comic where a person goes through a break up. The cultural reference in these Rage Comics is used to make fun of society resulting in humor. In normal life one person may do something and expect a certain response, well in the rage comics it is similar. The responses are displayed through the rage faces and rage characters. Usually at the end of a comic there is a punch line (rage face) that represents an emotion because of the situation that just occurred. One known cultural reference that the rage comics represent is the me gusta guy. This shows a cultural difference because you do not need to know Spanish to know what me gusta mean. This character is usually used in a situation responding to an awkward or disgusting event. This meme in my opinion has made its own statement because it has certain words that are used in the comics that mean certain things. For example, in almost every comic there is going to be some form of derp or herp. In actuality derp is used to represent stupidity, but in the rage comics it is used as expression to represent unimportant dialogue, just as blah blah is used. Using derp or herp in the rage comics is also a form humor showing social indifference by not caring. The rage comics use a different language tied in with the cultural norms that we all understand to create humor. The original context of the meme, Rage Comics was to humor others with your ridiculous stories that may or may not have happened to you. In some cases the rage comics’ mutations fit well into new context, and then on the other hand some are taking way out of proportion. For example, there are quite a few rage faces and when making rage comics you are expected to use the correct rage face or chara cter that will fit your scenario. Also people have taken it out of hand because when you think of a comic you think of something simple with few words. Some people don’t grasp the concept of the rage comics so when the comics are sometimes mutated it’s been for the worse and not for the better. The comics that are mutated for the better represent great new context because the more rage faces the better you can describe your scenario in a comic with few words. To conclude, Rage comics are used to take serious moments and put them into a comic to make it not so serious and funny. Rage Comics have came a long way, too long of a way that it is losing its social meaning. When the Rage Comics first started to spread and become popular is when it had its greatest cultural impact, although it still has an impact today. The Rage Comic has a great affect on all cultures because the different rage makers give people something to get into to express feeling in a different way. In the end from its origin, even though the punch lines at the end are called rage faces, they all are not meant to represent rage. It just kept its name from the first â€Å"ffffuuuu† guy. You can pretty much find rage comics anywhere on the internet if you search Google, but here are a few sites that have them. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rage-comics http://memebase.cheezburger.com/ragecomics/page/3 http://ragecollection.com/

American Civil War was not just the war of ideology

According to fundamentalist historians the American Civil War was not just the war of ideology: freedom versus slavery. The more significant reason was the power struggle initiated between free states and slave states due to the economic and political implications of slavery. Why common people chose to join the forces to fight this war, can be understood more clearly if this rationale is kept in mind. A northerner might have been more concerned about the independence of the south than slavery itself. While the southerner might have felt that secession would prevent the north from empowering the southern culture. This power struggle caused adversity and pain for millions of people, which is almost impossible to determine.As a direct consequence of the war, more than 350,000 Union soldiers were killed, while The Confederacy lost more than 250,000.   The lives of civil war soldiers were specially hard and arduous because they were mostly under-prepared and under-equipped. When they fi rst joined the army, they were housed in spacious barracks, but once they received their marching orders they were condemned the tent. In camp, the soldiers had to live in â€Å"dog tents† made from two pieces of canvas buttoned together. A majority of confederate soldiers weren’t issued any tents, so most of them had to contend with tents captured from the Union soldiers. In the winter, several soldiers would live in wooden huts made from logs and mud with a roof made from canvas or sawn boards (Gettysburg).Reveille was sounded to begin the day at 5 AM, followed by an assembly for morning roll call and breakfast call. Sick call was sounded soon after breakfast, followed by assemblies for guard duty, drill, or to begin the march. Drummers were also important on the march to keep soldiers in step during parades and to call them to attention. In battle, drums were sometimes used to signal maneuvers and give signals for the ranks to load and fire their weapons. Soldiers d rilled as squads and in company formations, each man getting accustomed to orders and formations such as marching in column and in a â€Å"company front†, how to face properly, dress the line, and interact with his fellow soldiers. After an hour of drill on that level, the company moved onto regimental level drills and parades.The Union private’s salary was $13 per month until June '64, after which he got $16. The Confederate private was paid at the pre-war rate of $11 per month until June '64, when the pay raised $7 per month. Soldiers were supposed to be paid every two months in the field, but they were lucky if they got their pay at four-month intervals (in the Union Army) and sometimes they even went six to eight months without being paid. Payment in the Confederate Army was even slower and less regular (Boatner).The types of food that were provided to the soldiers were limited because as they did not have any way of preserving the food. Meats were salted or smoked while other items such as fruits and vegetables were dried or canned. Daily rations for Union soldiers included 12 oz of pork or bacon or 1 lb. 4 oz of fresh or salt beef; 1 lb. 6 oz of soft bread or flour, 1 lb. of hard bread, or 1 lb. 4 oz of cornmeal. Per every 100 rations there was issued 1 peck of beans or peas; 10 lb. of rice or hominy; 10 lb. of green coffee, 8 lb. of roasted and ground coffee, or 1 lb. 8 oz of tea; 15 lb. of sugar; 1 lb. 4 oz of candles, 4 lb. of soap; 1 qt of molasses. In addition to or as substitutes for other items, dried vegetables, fruit, pickles, or pickled cabbage might be issued (Boatner).Confederate rations were smaller in quantity but essentially the same. It was up to the soldiers to find ways of cooking their own food. The most common diet of both armies was hard bread, or â€Å"hardtack.† This was the easiest for the soldiers to carry when on the march. The hardtack cracker became an item of humor to the soldiers of both sides because it was such an outrage. With rations sometimes being issued at an irregular rate, the soldier had to turn to foraging. Turkeys, geese, chickens, ham, bread and anything edible was taken (Vasile). Some men turned into obsessive foragers, spending most of the day reinforcing their possessions in any way possible. Most of these were never to be found on the field of battle.The soldiers were not provided with summer fatigues as were during later wars. The basic uniform material was wool. The average Union soldier had to carry about fifty pounds of gear and clothing which included: a musket, bayonet, cartridge box (40 rounds), belt, cap, pouch, haversack, canteen, knapsack, blanket, shelter half, winter greatcoat, tin cup and plate, and leggings. This cost the Federal Government about forty-two dollars per man in 1861 (Vasile). The soldiers would get rid some of the more unnecessary items, but would later regret throwing away the items like the greatcoat come winter.Most of the free time w as spent writing letters home at every opportunity. It was the only method of communication with family. Some even sent home money to support their families. Mail day caused huge celebration in the camp and distress when it was delayed. Union soldiers could so to the sutler's store to barter for toiletries, canned fruit, etc at inflated prices. Confederates did not have the luxury of sutlers, which disappeared soon after the war began. Instead they depended on the generosity of folks at home or farmers and businessmen near the camps (Gettysburg).Many of the men attended church services on a regular basis and some even carried small testaments with the rest of their baggage.Discipline in the military was very strict. Petty offenses such as shirking camp duty or not keeping equipment in good order were usually treated with extra duties such as digging latrines, chopping wood, or standing extra hours on guard duty. â€Å"Bucking and gagging† was also common punishment- the soldi er’s limbs were bound and he was gagged so he could not speak. In the artillery, the guilty person might be tied to the spare wheel on the back of a caisson. Desertion, spying, treachery, murder, or threats on an officer's life were the most serious offenses to which the perpetrator was condemned to military prison or shot by a firing squad. Crimes committed against civilians were also punishable by the army and felons were executed by hanging before a formation of soldiers.The boredom of camp life, the drill, the sickness and loneliness all became secondary and seemed to be forgotten on the day of the battle. Although fighting consumed a small portion of the soldier's actual time in the service, the thought of it was never far from his mind. They were all afraid. But they were not only afraid of being killed or wounded. They also had a dread of losing their nerve in combat and running from the battlefield. This would bring shame upon themselves and their regiments (Vasile).T he lack of medical knowledge, failure to provide ample antiseptics to wounds and the horrible effects of modern weapons forced doctors to favor amputation in most cases. Unsanitary conditions existed virtually in every soldier’s camp during the war. Unsuitable or inadequate clothing, unhealthy food and contaminated water contributed to diseases. The adoption of an ambulance corps and field hospital system also helped the wounded in their time of need. Until it was established, there was no way for the wounded to be evacuated to the rear and receive proper medical care (Vasile).The end of the war in 1865 brought a welcome peace, especially for the men who served as soldiers. Armies were disbanded and regiments mustered out of service. Former soldiers returned to the farms and stores they had left so long ago

A Critical Evaluation of the Engagement and Psychosocial Asessment of a Client Living with Psychosis in the Health and Social Care Practitioners Work Setting.

INTRODUCTION This assignment is a critical evaluation of the engagement and psychosocial assessment of a client living with psychosis in the community. It provides a critical and analytical account which encapsulates assessments, psycho education, problem solving, implementation and evaluation of strategies used. I will also use Gibbs (1988) model of reflection to reflect on my assessment process and how learning can be taken forward in terms of my own practice development and that of the service setting. My client l shall call Emily a pseudo name used to maintain confidentiality in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 2002 Code of Professional Conduct that outlines guidelines of confidentiality. Emily was initially on the acute ward where l started the process of engagement with her before she was discharged under our team in the community to facilitate early discharge. Emily was suitable for psychosocial based interventions (PSI) and this was identified as part of her care plan in order to provide support in adapting to the demands of community living and managing her illness. PSI should be an indispensable part of treatment and options of treatment should be made available for clients and their families in an effort to promote recovery. Those with the best evidence of effectiveness are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and family intervention. They should be used to prevent relapse, to reduce symptoms, increase insight and promote adherence to medication, (NICE 2005). Emily is 33 year old woman with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. She was referred to my team to facilitate early discharge from the ward as part of her discharge. She lives in supported housing and had had several hospital admissions and some under the mental health act. Emily was being maintained in the community on medication but it was felt that there was still an amount of distress in her life and that her social functioning was suffering as a result. Emily presented with both delusional and hallucinatory symptoms and as part of her treatment cognitive approaches were considered to help alleviate the distress and modify the symptoms. Emily was brought up in a highly dysfunctional family. Both her parents had problems with drugs and the law. Emily had been introduced to drugs at an early age but due to her illness she had stopped using them at the age of 30 when she went into supported accommodation. There was family history of schizophrenia as her grandfather had it and he had killed himself. Emily identified that her problems started in 2007 when her grandfather passed away as she was close to him and had lived most of her life with her grandparents. I completed a time line to look back at while she talked about her life history (see Appendix 1). It is vital that the client is allowed to tell their story with the minimum intervention from the practitioner and the timeline can be used to examine if there are any links to their relapses and psychotic episodes (Grant et al 2004). In the community setting we have a variety of patients with different diagnosis of mental health problems. The rationale for choosing this patient is that she had had various interventions such as medication changes and a lot of experience with the mental health professionals including compulsory treatment under the mental health act (1983). All these factors are likely to have an impact on the individual’s degree of willingness to engage in psychological interventions (Nathan et al, 2003). Hence initially it was a challenge to engage Emily and establish a relationship and build rapport. (Nelson 1997) states rapport is built by showing interest and concern and be particularly careful not to express any doubts about what the patient tells you. The development of a therapeutic relationship is critically important in work with persons with schizophrenia, which maybe difficult with patients struggling with mistrust, suspicion and denial (Mhyr, 2004). Rapport took some time to develop and was established by core conditions of genuineness, respect and accurate empathy (Bradshaw 1995). I met with Emily to set the agenda and explained to her that she was free to terminate the session anytime should she feel it necessary. It was also vital to ensure that the sessions were neither confrontational and totally compliant with Emily’s view of the world ( Kingdom & Turkington, 1995) I encouraged Emily to describe her current problems and to give a detailed description of the problems and concentrate on a more recent problem. l was directive, active, riendly and used constructive feedback, containment of feelings to develop the relationship(Tarrier et al,1998). l used her interest in Christianity to engage her and because l showed an interest this became a regular point of conversation and strengthened the connection. I also demonstrated some flexibility in response to Emily’s needs and requirements at different stages of the t reatment and intervention. It is not possible to maintain a sound collaborative therapeutic relationship without constant attention to the changing situation and requirements of a patient (Gamble and Brennan, 2006). Since the development of antipsychotic medication and dominance of biomedical models during the 1950`s mental health care has changed and evolved. The dependency on the sole use of medication was found to have left patients with residual symptoms and social disability, including difficulty with interpersonal skills and limitation with coping (Sanford&Gournay, 1986). This prompted the return of PSI to be used in conjunction with medication management. The aim was to reduce residual disability and to include in the treatment process social skills and training rehabilitation (Wykes et al, 1998). As part of my assessment process l carried out a comprehensive assessment using CPA 1, 2, and 4 in conjunction with the Trust Policy. This was to establish what her problems were and formulate a clear plan. A process of structured, comprehensive assessment can be very useful in developing an in-depth understanding of issues surrounding resistance to services (Grant et al 2004). I carried out a Case Formulation (CS) using the 5W`s What? , Where? , When? , With Whom and Why, and Frequency, Intensity, Duration and Onset ( FIDO) model to explore and get a detailed explanation of the problem and explore the `Five aspects of your life experiences` (Greenberger and Padesky 1995) (see Appendix 3). CS maps out the relationship on how the environment impacts on your thoughts, emotion, behaviour, physical reactions (Greenberger and Padesky,1995). While the assessment helped to form a picture of Emily’s suitability for PSI it also provided a scope for further work on her coping skills. Given the assumption that a person may feel reluctant to give a particular way of coping as this maybe the only means of control (Gamble & Brennan, 2006), the exploration was collaborative. From the assessment and case formulation Emily’s goal was to go out more and reduce the frequency and intensity of her voices or even have them disappear. l explained to Emily that we had to be realistic about her set goals and having voices disappear was unlikely. Kingdom (2002) states that though patients desire to make voices disappear are unlikely since voices are, as far as reasonably established, attributions of thoughts as if they were external perceptions. Goals are positive, based in the future and specific (Morrison et al 2004) and the golden rule in goal setting is to be SMART, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Limited. Emily then rephrased her goal statement to that she wanted to reduce the intensity of her voices in the next few weeks by using distraction techniques that she had not tried before. I used the KGVM Symptom Scale version 7. 0 (Krawieka, Goldberg and Vaughn,1977) to assess Emily’s symptoms which focuses on six areas including anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and behaviour, elevated mood, hallucinations and delusions. A KGV assessment provides a global measure of common psychiatric symptoms (feelings and thoughts) experienced with psychosis. The framework ensures that important questions are asked and a consistent measure of symptoms is provided. The KGV is a valid tool with a considered level of high reliability (Gamble and Brennan, 2006). Assessment is a process that elicits the presence of disease or vulnerability and a level of severity in symptoms (Birchwood & Tarrier, 1996). This gathering of information provides the bases to develop a plan of suitability of treatment, identifies problems and strengths and agree upon priorities and goals (Gamble & Brennan,2006). l also used the Social Functioning Scale (SFS appendix 6) (Birchwood et al,1990) which examined Emily’s social capability and highlighted any areas of concern. Emily was a loner and though living in supported accommodation she was hardly involved with the other residents or joined in with community activities. She expressed that she was afraid people could hear her voices and were judging her at all times and used avoidance as a coping strategy. On using the KGV assessment and from the results (see Appendix 2) Emily scored highly in four sections hallucinations, delusions, depression and anxiety. It appeared during assessment that her affective symptoms were econdary to her delusions and hallucinations, which were initiated and exacerbated by mostly stressful events in her life. Her hallucinations were noted to be evident at certain times and were followed by sleep deprivation. Emily expressed fleeting suicidal thoughts but denied having any plans or intentions. She also experienced sporadic moments of elation which appeared to be linked to stress. It was important for Emily to understand how life events had an impact on her difficulties an d the use of the Stress Vulnerability Model SVM (Zubin and Spring 1977) demonstrated this (see Appendix 4). Practical measures arising from an assessment of stress and vulnerability factors seek to reduce individual vulnerability, decrease unnecessary life stressors and increase personal resistance to the effects of stress. One of Emily’s highlighted problems was a lack of sleep and this could be linked to the stress vulnerability and her psychotic symptoms. Normalisation was used to illustrate this to Emily. Her increase in psychotic symptoms could then be normalised through discussing about the effects of sleep deprivation on her mental state and reduction of the associated anxiety. Emily was able to recognise how stress impacted on her psychosis. Emily identified the voices as a problem from the initial assessment. She was keen to talk about them but listened to suggestions l made to tackle the voices. The assumption of continuity between normality and psychosis has important clinical implications. It opens the way for a group of therapeutic techniques that focus on reducing the stigma and anxiety often associated with the experience of psychotic symptoms and with diagnostic labelling. Kingdom and Turkington(2002) have described such approaches as normalising strategies, which involve explaining and demystifying the psychotic experience. They may involve suggesting to patients that their experiences are not strange and no one can understand, but are common to many people and even found amongst people who are relatively normal and healthy. Normalising strategies can help instil hope and decrease the stigma and anxiety which can be associated with the experience of psychotic symptoms. This rationale emphasises the biological vulnerability to stress of individuals with schizophrenia and the importance of identifying stresses and improving methods of coping with stress in order to minimise disabilities associated with schizophrenia (Yusupuff & Tarrier, 1996). (Grant et al 2004). The problem l encountered when applying and using this model with Emily was that she realised and understood that she was not the only one experiencing voices but she wanted to find out why she experienced the voices. I used the belief about voices questionnaire (BAVQ-R appendix 5) which assesses malevolent and benevolent beliefs about voices, and emotional and behavioural responses to voices such as engagement and resistance (Morrison et al 2004). We identified the common triggers of her voices such as anxiety, depression and social isolation. During my engagement with Emily l emphasized enhancing existing coping strategies (Birchwood& Tarrier, 1994); (Romme &Escher 2000). The idea was to build on Emily’s existing coping methods and introduce an alternative. We agreed upon distraction as a coping strategy. The plan was for Emily to listen to music or carryout breathing exercises when the disturbing voices appear and to start interacting with them by telling them to go away rather than shout at them. Emily used this plan with good effect at most times as it appeared to reduce the psychological arousal and helped her gain maximum usage of these strategies in controlling the symptom (Tarrier et al, 1990). To tackle Emily’s social functioning we identified activities that she enjoyed doing and she enjoyed going to church but had stopped due to her fears that people could hear her thoughts and found her weird. I suggested that she could start with small exposure, like sitting in the lounge with her fellow residence and going on group outings in the home as these were people she felt comfortable with as she knew them. This would then hopefully lead to Emily increasing her social functioning and enable her to attend church. Emily expressed that she felt more in control of her voices REFLECTION My work with Emily was made easy as she agreed to work with me although l did face some reluctance initially. As my intervention and engagement with Emily started while she was on the ward this made it easier for me to engage her in the community. We developed good rapport and she felt she could trust me, which made the process of engagement easier. Through my engagement and assessment process l improved on my questioning and listening skills. Emily was clearly delusional at times and working with the voices present proved a challenge at times, but l realised that l had to work collaboratively with her and gain her trust and not question her beliefs. At times though l felt l was interrogating her and did not follow a format and also because of the constraints on time l did not allow much time to recap and reflect and could never properly agree the time of next meeting. I also worked at her existing strengths and coping strategies that she had adapted throughout her life and this empowered her and made her feel like she was contributing. At times though l felt we deviated from the set goals and l lost control of sessions. On reflection this is an area that l will need to develop and improve on and be able to deviate but bring back the focus to the agreed plan. My interventions were aimed at Emily’s voices and increasing her social functioning. This l discovered was my target areas and not necessarily Emily’s. n future l will aim at concentrating more on what the client perceives as their major problem as this will show client involvement in their care. This will also help me have a clear and rational judgement and appreciate every improvement the client makes no matter how small. I did not focus much on Emily’s family which l realised was a topic that she wanted to explore but l felt l was not equipped in exploring this part of her life in relation to her illness. The other difficulties l faced was because of my working pattern l had to cancel some of our meeting appointments. As part of the set agenda l had to reintroduce myself and the plan and goals that we had set out in the initial stages and this always proved to bridge the gap. It was also difficult for continuity in the team that l work in as one did not carry a personal caseload so delivering interventions was not always easy and there was not always continuity as some of my colleagues were not familiar with some applications of PSI. This highlighted as a service that there was a need for us as nurses in the team to have PSI training in order to continue with the work if the main practitioner was away and also as a team we hardly ever sed assessment tools and were therefore not confident and competent in their use. l also had difficulties in completing assessment in time due to constricted time frames. l could not always spend as much time with Emily because l had other clients to see in a space of time. In future l will have to negotiate my time and improve on my time management. In this assignme nt l had to carry out a critical evaluation of the engagement and psychosocial assessment of a client living with psychosis and carry out a critical self reflection on the assessment process and how this could be improved on. From my case study l deduced that use of some applications of PSI remains highly experimental and requires considerable research and more theoretical models. Furthermore discussion is also lacking on the details as to ways in which symptoms improved or social functioning enhanced in behavioural terms in relation to social context. However the interventions used in this case study highlighted considerable strength in supporting claims that PSI can work and does help reduce symptoms of psychosis. REFERENCES Birchwood M and Tarrier N (eds) (1996) Psychological Management of Pschizophrenia. Wiley Publishers Bradshaw T (1995) Psychological interventions with psychotic symptoms; a review. Mental Health Nursing. 15(4) Birchwood, M, Smith, J, Cochrane, R, Wetton, S, Capestake, S (1990) The social functioning scale: development and validation of a scale of social adjustment for use in family interventions programmes with schizophrenia patients, British Journal of Psychiatry,157, 853-859 Chadwick, P, Birchwood, M, Trower ,P (1996) Cognitive Therapy for Delusions, voices and paranoia, Wiley & Sons. Gamble,C, Brennan,G (2000) Working with serious mental illness:a manual for clinical practice. Grant, C, Mills, J, Mulhern, R, Short, N (2004) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Mental Health Care, Sage pub. Greenberger,D, Padesky,C A(1995) Mind over mood: A Cognitive Therapy Treatment Manual for clients. Guilford Press. Krawieka, M, Goldberg,D, Vughn,M (1977) A Standardised Psychiatric Assessment scale for rating chronic psychotic patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 1977;55: 299-308. Kingdom , D and Turkington,D (1994) Cognitive Behaviour Therapy of Schizophrenia. 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MIND Publications Sanford T and Gournay K (1996) Perspectives in Mental Health Nursing. Bailliere Tindall. Tarrier, N, Yusupoff, L, Kinney C, McCarthy E, Gledhill A, Haddock G and Morris J (1998) Randomised controlled trial of intensive cognitive behaviour therapy for patients with chronic schizophrenia. British Medical Journal 317,303-307. Zubin, J, & Spring, B (1997) Vulnerability: A new view on schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 86, Topic: Students will carry out a critical evaluation of the engagement and psychosocial assessment of a client living with psychosis in the health and social care practitioner`s work setting. Word Count: 2826