Works of Hemingway and Remarque essays

Works of Hemingway and Remarque essays In both books, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, and All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the subject of war is seen in two strikingly different perspectives. War was thought to be productive and necessary by the older generation and central political figures, but when one hears the viewpoint of the young men who actually had to encounter it, it is a much different story. War affects the lives of people in ways that the average person cannot even begin to comprehend. The end result of the war produced a group of men coming home, who were so disillusioned and lost that they were referred to as The Lost Generation. Ernest Hemingway can find an example of the Lost Generation in the book, A Farewell to Arms. The main character, Lieutenant Frederick Henry was a prime candidate for the Lost Generation of men. Henry, who was an ambulance driver on the Italian Front found through harsh experiences, that war was not at all promising and glorious as he had thought, but that it was unessicary and truly horrible. After he had become ill and gotten out of the war, Henry felt that there was just no points to it, and he was exhausted. Hemingway wrote many different accounts of post- war experiences, and the lost generation of men that it produced. A book that is filled with references and description of the Lost Generation is All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque. Remarque, who himself had been drafted into the German army, came out completely lost and disillusioned. He went through many different jobs, not knowing what he wanted out of life anymore. Like Remarque, Paul, the main character of All Quiet, went into the war full of hopes and dreams of the life he would someday live. He was just a young boy, and was forced to serve in a war, which he hardly even knew or cared anything about. During the war, Paul went through so many terrible and shocking experiences that he knew woul...

How to Take Good News Interview Notes

How to Take Good News Interview Notes Even in an age of digital voice recorders, a reporter’s notebook and pen are still necessary tools for print and online journalists. Voice recorders are great for capturing every quote accurately, but transcribing interviews from them can often take too long, especially when you’re on a tight deadline. (Read more about voice recorders vs. notebooks here.) Still, many beginning reporters complain that with a notepad and pen they can never take down everything a source says in an interview, and they worry about writing fast enough in order to get quotes exactly right. So here are five tips for taking good notes. 1. Be Thorough – But Not Stenographic You always want to take the most thorough notes possible. But remember, you’re not a stenographer. You don’t have to take down absolutely everything a source says. Keep in mind that you’re probably not going to use everything they say in your story. So don’t worry if you miss a few things here and there. 2. Jot Down the ‘Good’ Quotes Watch an experienced reporter doing an interview, and you’ll probably notice that she isn’t constantly scribbling notes. That’s because seasoned reporters learn to listen for the â€Å"good quotes† – the ones they’re likely to use - and not worry about the rest. The more interviews you do, the better you’ll get at writing down the best quotes, and at filtering out the rest. 3. Be Accurate - But Don’t Sweat Every Word You always want to be as accurate as possible when taking notes. But don’t worry if you miss a â€Å"the,† â€Å"and,† â€Å"but† or â€Å"also† here and there. No one expects you to get every quote exactly right, word-for-word, especially when you’re on a tight deadline, doing interviews at the scene of a breaking news event. It IS important to be accurate get the meaning of what someone says. So if they say, â€Å"I hate the new law,† you certainly don’t want to quote them as saying they love it. Also, when writing your story, don’t be afraid to paraphrase (put in your own words) something a source says if you’re not sure you got the quote exactly right. 4. Repeat That, Please If an interview subject talks fast or if you think you misheard something they said, don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat it. This can also be a good rule of thumb if a source says something especially provocative or controversial. â€Å"Let me get this straight – are you saying that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is something reporters are often heard to say during interviews. Asking a source to repeat something is also a good idea if youre not sure you understand what theyve said, or if theyve said something in a really jargony, overly complicated way. For instance, if a police officer tells you a suspect made egress from the domicile and was apprehended following a foot chase, ask him to put that into plain English, which will probably be something to the effect of, the suspect ran out of the house. We ran after him and caught him. Thats a better quote for your story and one thats easier to take down in your notes. 5. Highlight the Good Stuff Once the interview is done, go back over your notes and use a checkmark to highlight the main points and quotes that you’re most likely to use. Do this right after the interview when your notes are still fresh.

Topics Discussed in Class - My Participation in Class Assignment - 4

Topics Discussed in Class - My Participation in Class - Assignment Example Physical global marketing environment topic has given a concept and understanding of how to understand the physical environment while making global marketing decisions. After understanding the physical environment the lecturer moved us towards the understanding of PEST environment. This environment teaches us that how to conduct the analysis of overall environment when making an investment or starting a business. It gives the complete understanding of absorbing all these factors of business environment (Hewett & Bearden, 2001). From week 3 of the semester lecturer move us to give the real understanding of the global marketing and advertising. The topic we had covered was values and paradoxes in global marketing and advertisement. By this topic lecturer has developed a new frame of global marketing and advertising in the mind of all the students of the class. This topic teaches us the merits and demerits of globalizing the business along with the bright side and dark side of advertise ment in the international market. It found difficult to advertise the product in the global market because it needs to understand and analyze the environments of different countries, but this topic by lecturer helps us at a great extent in understanding global marketing and advertising. The complexity of understanding different environments of different countries has made uncomplicated by the lecturer in the week 4 by discussing the topic of dimensions of culture. This topic gave us an understanding of how to understand the characteristics of culture while understanding the culture to target with the purpose of business. This topic tells us the importance of understanding the characteristics of targeted people of different cultures. After giving the understanding of dimensions of culture lecturer contained us specifically towards the understanding of consumer behavior (Keegan and Green, 2012). Consumer behavior is changing with a fast pace with the advancement of technology and adap tation of technology by consumers. Consumers are now getting aware with the changing trends so marketer needs to be very active in understanding the changing trends of the market and importantly the changing taste and preferences of consumers. Consumer behavior study taught us the factors of understanding the changing tastes and preferences of consumer with the changing trend (Terpstra, 2000). After learning the topic of consumer behavior the lecturer gave the in-depth knowledge of consumer behavior for global market by discussing the topic of consumer ethnocentrism and disidentification. This topic gave the understanding of why consumer prefers international products over the domestic products or why consumer prefer domestic product over international brands. Many factors have been discussed in this topic which can affect the consumer preferences. This study is very important for the global marketers and we have learned a lot of techniques in this study. This study will help us in creating a brand in the presence of the needs and preferences of customers of the target market. Market is smart now so marketer needs to be smart as well in understanding the market moves. In the 9th week the lecturer moves us towards the basic

Aspectual evaluation of IS in use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Aspectual evaluation of IS in use - Essay Example Since it is a flash presentation, it can also be put on a website and made available to general public for their interest. Aspectual Evaluation In order to perform aspectual evaluation for this presentation, 4 subjects have been used , which are - My sister, who hate smokers, - My brother, who smokes occasionally, - My father, who is in his 50s and, - My friend, who is a chain smoker Quantitative aspect The presentation provides information to its viewer not only through text but also images and animations. The main screen of the presentation allows user to access 5 different areas which are Story, Facts, Quitting, Gallery and Credits. There is also a Home button which takes the viewer back to the main screen. Upon clicking on Story link, the story of Smokey the smoker is told and Smokey is shown smoking at different places. Upon clicking on the fact button, various facts related to smoking and how it is hazardous to the human body and the environment are shown. The Quitting button s hows information and links which are helpful to those who are considering or are in the process of quitting their smoking habit. The Gallery section present users with information in pictures with some revealing images comparing body condition of smokers and nonsmokers. All the people who were shown this presentation liked it very much. They found it easy to navigation due to simple navigation buttons on the main screen and a clearly visible Home button. My friend and my brother were particularly interested in the Gallery section, as they found the images impressive and with a clear message (University of Salford, UK, 2008). Spatial Aspect As the presentation is in Adobe Flash format, it is not only easy to view but also easy to store. The file size of the presentation is less than 1 MB. It can be easily uploaded to a website using any internet connection available today. The presentation has been kept at a low resolution so it doesn’t take up much screen space. It was equall y enjoyable on my laptop when viewed by my friend and brother, as well as on my TV when I showed it to my sister and father. Kinematic Aspect The presentation allows it viewers to get a significant amount of information related to smoking and its hazardous through a single point, so they do not have to attend different seminars or lectures. Only my sister and father were required to move to my room in order to view the presentation. Both my friend and my brother viewed it on my laptop when I took it to their respective rooms. Physical Aspect This presentation does not have significant physical Aspect. This presentation require negligible amount of energy to view and understand. In order to view the presentation, the viewer does have to double click on the presentation file to launch it. It does not put load on computer screen or any other computer resource apart from taking some computer cycles required to process the image rendering and animation. It only exists as a magnetic patte rn on a metallic platter of a disk drive in a physical world. Biotic/Organic Aspect By viewing the presentations, all four subjects went through different emotions which brought about different biological changes. When viewing Smokey’s animation all four people were really entertained by it , thus changing their feeling to happiness which was evident from their faces. Browsing through Gallery images

End of Year Speech Essay Example for Free

End of Year Speech Essay Good evening everyone. I hope everyone is having a good time, and has eaten their fill. Please eat all the food, we’ve spent a lot of money on that to be put to waste, and you’ll make the caterers job a lot easier (if the food is catered) Ladies please, help yourselves. Come on, it’s the end of the year, you’ll have a whole year ahead of you to start your diet†¦anyway Vegas buffet rules apply ladies and gentlemen, NO TAKEOUTS! So please keep your Ziplocs where they are. (of course parts like these are jokes and should be said well, as a joke). But seriously, good evening everyone and welcome to our year end dinner. It has been another successful year for us. Thanks mainly to the summer blockbuster heroes, in a sense, they did save our lives, well, at least made our company earn more money, thanks also to the mom and dads that keep bringing their kids in our store, may they be blessed with more kids, and of course, kudos to all of you for helping make another year a successful one. It has been another heroic year for us, both for the toys that we have sold and our efforts to make our company better. First we were introduced to a wealthy scientist turned super hero, who would have thought that the cousin of the tin-man would be a successful toy. Yes, Iron Man is one of our most successful toys this year, if not all of all time. The fact that Iron Man is a robot,( well, technically a bionic suit, but that’s how Iron Man is perceived) makes him subject for a lot of modifications, and thus a lot of action figure variants. Seven year old kids were just half of the market of Iron Man, toy collectors of all ages had a field day hoarding Iron Man toys from our store. Action figures sales have never been higher since the come back of comic book adaptations into the silver screen. Thank you Stan Lee! You made a lot of toy companies such ourselves very happy, we hope for more new movies and sequels to your comic books. I hope I can say the same to your reality show. Batman’s appeal has not dropped, Batman Toy’s have virtually not stopped production since the franchise came to being way back. I think only X-men and Spider Man toys have achieved a similar feat, which makes Batman the most successful comic book hero without having any super powers. Spider Man was bitten by a radio active bug, and the X-Men are mutants. Batman is just a plain dude with a fancy belt, well, a dude that can kick all our butts in one passing. If I was a kid, I would definitely be a good boy (at least for a while) to get the latest Batman action figure. I bet if we just sold action figures of Batman or an equally popular comic book superhero, we wouldn’t go out of business and still keep the store. That’s how big these toys have become, and how big they’ve been to our company’s progress. What would be a hero without an arch enemy? Not only do the heroes need a bad guy to beat up, toy companies also need villains as a source of income. Chances are, when kids buy their action figures, they want something to tests its weapons on something, might as well be the actual enemy of the hero. The Joker has been the most popular action hero as of late, thanks to the films success and all these talks about the death on Heath Ledger, the actor that played Joker in the Dark Knight. This toy has suddenly become a limited edition because it is one of the last characters the actor has played before he died, for some reason, I don’t think Mattel would buy the idea of making an action figure out of Brokeback Mountain, but that’s just me, I’ve seen stranger toys made it into production. Spider – Man toys have been around almost as long as Batman toys, especially after the new Spider Man films came out. They did not leave our shelves even if the franchise has been on a hiatus from the silver screen for a while. Actually there have not been a major Spider – Man film until the recent films and yet Spider Man toys are one of our popular toys of all time After I thank the toys, sorry guys, they do come first you know, these toys pay our bills. I would like to thank the staff of our company for doing a job well done throughout the year. Our company would be nothing if not for your efforts. Thank you for maintaining a harmonious working environment and for keeping our customers happy, your service is much appreciated. Thank you also for an outstanding team performance in all departments. It is always good for any company to work together as a team. More than working as a team, we’ve worked together, and treated each other as family. I’m not saying exactly who the mom and dads are, let’s just say we are all the children of the company okay? Special thanks to the marketing people for actively promoting our products to the buying public. They managed to sell our toys to kids who, for some reason did not go to the toy store with a particular toy in mind. Their persuasive skills have managed to squeeze some extra cash out of mommy and daddy to spend on their kids toys. Now, if they can only sell our (name unpopular toy) we would give them a big fat raise! On a serious note, thank you guys for a job well done and keep up the good work, we’ll talk about that raise deal later okay? (of course with still a sense of candidness) This party would not have been possible if had not worked hard last year. So if you guys still want the free food, we have to do just as well next year or even better. Either way, we would still have a party for sure, but our party would definitely much better if we raise our bar even just a little. So I encourage everyone to work just as hard or even harder this coming year and I promise you, our hard work would be rewarded if we have good sales next year. Incentives and other privileges would be available for us if we exceed what is expected of us, so let’s keep it up guys! The boss expects nothing less than what has already been established this year. I know we have done a good job this year but why aim for good when we can do better? The boss expects for exciting and new ideas from our staff, especially from the marketing department. Don’t be afraid to pitch in ideas even if you are not from the marketing department or if you think your ideas are too crazy. We all love new ideas. Again, thank you everyone for being part of this end of the year party and for a job well done this year. More fruitful years to come for our company! Cheers, and enjoy the rest of the evening. Let’s give a hand to ourselves! Thank you.

Instant Messaging :: Internet Communication Web

Instant Messaging Instant messaging (IM) is the latest trend in communication, which allows two or more persons to communicate by typing in text form and the message being received in real time. This form of messaging, compared to e-mail, allows for quick and easy responses to satisfy ones need for instant and constant communication. We will discuss the history of instant messaging; explore how it works and what is needed to enable this application. We will also discuss companies involved, regulatory issues, future trends in this area and the global implications of this relatively new form of communication. In the 1970's early forms of messaging were implemented on private networks, and were used on the PLATO and DEC PDP-11 systems referred to as the "talk" program. Messaging was later incorporated into UNIX system and used by academics and engineers throughout the 1980's and early 1990's. In 1987 MIT created the first instant messaging tool called the Zephyr. In 1996 the company called Mirablis introduced ICQ, a free instant messaging tool in which anyone could use. America On Line (AOL) which had instant messaging as fee service became threatened by the number of users of ICQ and purchased the company. With the explosion of growth from ICQ, it led to new companies seeking to build upon this new form of communication.

Case 1.1 – Enron Corporation

Case 1. 1 – Enron Corporation ————————————————- Discussion 1 The parties we believe to be most at fault for the crisis in this case are a) the Audit Firm engaged in the Enron audit (Arthur Andersen); b) Enron Management (Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow; and c) the SEC. The Public Accounting Firm: Arthur Andersen The auditor has the responsibility to evaluate the risk of material fraud, including: * Incentives and motives for fraud : Enron was a fast growing company with many start-ups projects, such as the Energy Wholesale Services (a B2B electronic marketplace for the energy industries) or the Enron Broadband Services (an operating unit serving as intermediary between users and suppliers of broadband services,) that constantly needed huge amount of money to succeed. * The opportunity to commit fraud: Enron internal controls were weak and the management was promoting a culture that encouraged fraud rather than honesty. Rationalizations that might allow someone to commit fraud: the management at Enron believed that they were only trying to grow the company and increase their stock price by misrepresenting their financial statements. Once their new ventures would succeed, they would be able to cover the losses previously incurred. All the ingredients were present for Anderson to uncover the fr aud. Moreover, the auditors have a responsibility to disclose material fraud and illegal client acts to the audit committee and the Board of Directors. If the financial statements are not restated, the auditor should issue a qualified, an adverse opinion or consider withdrawing from the engagement. The team auditing Enron should have followed the guidance when the management acted with scienter. As mentioned in the case, Arthur Andersen was being paid exorbitant amounts of money to audit Enron and attest to the validity of its financial statements. The firm failed on every front to catch any of the fraudulent accounting transpiring and many critics questioned whether Anderson was involved with â€Å"cooking the books†. Given the scale of the compensation and how entrenched the firm was in Enron’s financial operations, it is hard to believe that the Andersen auditors, CPAs, failed to notice such obviously illegal accounting treatments of transactions. As so well said by the auditor of Accounting Today, â€Å"if a firm accepts and collects the audit fee, then it should be prepared to accept the blame, otherwise it is not part of the solution, but part of the problem†. The fault not only goes to the auditors, but to the company’s management as well. Enron’s management Kenneth Lay turned a blind eye to anything that could obstruct Enron’s growth. He said that his ultimate goal was to make Enron â€Å"the world’s greatest company. † This is a great goal for any CEO to have; however, in his attempts to reach this goal, he developed a case of tunnel vision that led to unexpected consequences. When Sherron Watkins wrote him a letter questioning the treatment of certain accounting transactions and puzzled disclosures, he ignored her and stated that â€Å"he’d rather not see it†. Kenneth Lay even failed to acknowledge or address the issues after most of the Enron scandal had fully unraveled by refusing to testify before Congress in 2002. Jeffrey Skilling basically followed in the footsteps of Kenneth Lay and brought with him a similar approach to running a business. Skilling shared the same tunnel vision approach as Lay as evidenced by their â€Å"laser-focus on earnings per share†. They both were willing to ignore any wrongdoing in the company as long as earnings per share continued to increase. Skilling also developed a certain level of arrogance after being singled out as the number one CEO in the country. He would make â€Å"brassy and tacky† comments regarding Enron’s competitors and critics. This arrogance likely aided in his ability to shield out the negative aspects of Enron’s operations and to only see the positives. He was the â€Å"best CEO in America†, so Enron couldn’t possibly do anything terribly wrong under his watch. When being questioned by Congressional investigators regarding the scandal, he simply passed the blame by stating that â€Å"he is not an accountant. Andrew Fastow was the CFO and created the financial infrastructure for Enron. He, like Skilling, was hailed as one of the top executives in the country as evidenced by his Excellence in Capital Structure Management award presented to him by CFO Magazine. As the CFO of Enron, Fastow should have known better than to do what he did with the creation and operation of the SPEs. His brass was at such a high level that he even named several of them after his children. He, like Kenneth Lay, refused to take any accountability by refusing to testify before Congress in 2002. SEC and FASB The SEC and FASB also share the responsibility for the fraud scandal that took place. The organisms should have passed stronger accounting standards to regulate auditing. Both organizations were in favor of the 3% rule for SPEs. This rule stated that a SPE needed only a 3% investment from an outside investor to be considered independent. This rule allowed Enron to discharge all its unprofitable businesses in SPEs to avoid consolidating losses. That is, the SEC and FASB endorsed a law that allowed companies to dump considerable losses in off-balance entities. A case of fraud was bound to happen. The Auditors, the SEC, and the FASB made it easy for Enron’s management to commit one of the biggest frauds in the history of accounting. ————————————————- Discussion 3 Andersen’s involvement in Enron’s accounting and financial reporting decisions violated the following professional auditing standards: AU 220, Independence, SAS 1) – this standard requires the auditor to be independent. Auditors issue an audit opinion that will serve as a reliable source of information on the company to external parties (investors). Thus, it is necessary for the auditor to be unbiased when reporting his findings to the public. The lack of independence of the team auditing Enron can be derived from the fact that Andersen was providing consulting services as well as auditing services to Enron, with consulting work accounting for more than 50% of the total yearly revenue received from Enron. This situation led Andersen to be at the same time external auditor and internal auditor to Enron. AU 316, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit (SAS 99) – this standard concerns â€Å"fraudulent acts that cause a material misstatement of the financial statements. † Andersen helped Enron misrepresent significant information in the financial statements. The team auditing Enron intentional misapplied accounting principles relating to the classification, the manner of presentation, and the disclosure of the financial statements. To clarify, Enron would use the mark-to-market ccounting method on long-term accounting contract, which immediately recognizes earnings when contracts are secured rather than when services are rendered. That accounting method results in financial statements being materially misstated and at the same time, it considerably increased the compensation of Executives at Enron that was based on earnings. AU 317. 05, Illegal Acts by Clients (SAS 54) – this standard indicates that the auditor’s responsibility for misstatements resulting from â€Å"illegal acts having a direct and material effect on the determination of financial statement amounts† is the same as that for errors or fraud. Enron would issue stocks to different SPEs in exchange for notes receivable; however, US GAAP does not allow for the recording of receivables in exchange of stocks issued. These misstatements led to a reduction of $1. 2 billion in Owners’ Equity after the reversal of previously recorded transactions as assets. In addition, Enron had investments in companies (not SPEs) that it consolidated, but when the investments began to show losses, they were transferred to SPEs so that it would not have to reflect these losses on the financial statements. AU 334, Related Party Transactions, SAS 45 – this standard requires auditors to follow GAAS established procedures when auditing financial statements in order â€Å"to identify related party relationships and transactions† and to estimate whether or not the required financial statement accounting and disclosure had been followed. This standard was also violated as Executives of Enron were managing some SPEs (p. 13. ) Andrew Fastow, Enron’s CFO, earned a profit amounting to $30 million on one of his investment in an SPE that he was managing. Furthermore, â€Å"Fastow’s friends realized a profit $1 million on investment of $5,800 in 60 days in the same SPE. † AU 319, Consideration of Internal Controls in a Financial Statement audits – The auditor’s report on internal control over financial reporting that goes to the public must report material weaknesses in internal control. Andersen audit team in charge of Enron auditing failed to provide an unbiased opinion on the effectiveness of the system of internal control over financial reporting. ————————————————- Discussion 6 After Enron and other fraud scandals, we see a shift from the self-oversight of public accounting firms to an independent oversight of accounting firms auditing public companies by government bodies such as the PCAOB. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002 which goal was to strengthen the financial reporting rules for public companies. It also forced public companies to prepare reports on the quality of their internal controls as well as limit the types of consulting services that an accounting firm is allowed to provide to its clients in concurrence with audit services provided. Fraud scandals also led to the establishment of the regulation requiring management of public companies to provide a letter asserting that the financial statements are fairly stated. Most recently, the SEC voted to adopt whistleblower rules mandated by Section 922 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act). â€Å"The rules implement the Act’s requirement that the Commission pay an award to whistleblowers who voluntarily provide original information to the SEC that leads to a successful enforcement action with sanctions of over $1 million. Professionalism in public accounting has changed over the past decades for a variety of reasons from the advances in technology to the globalization of the economy. One of the ways professionalism has changed is that independence has become a major component for public accountants. Independence confirmations before the audit and during the audit are major parts of being professional in today’ s definition. Ethics are another major part of professionalism. Being ethical in your decisions is stressed more now than ever before. Being courteous of others cultures, beliefs, and religions are a new addition to being professional. With everything becoming global and information quickly being spread by technology, being conscientious of what is said and done is very important for accountants for one bad thing can have severe implications. Being professional is more than just how you act in the business place for since you represent the company, your actions are watched on and off the job. With the increasing numbers of investors in the market it becomes more pressing to have reforms to regulate the circulation of information and assure investors that they are using the highest quality of financial statements. ———————————————— Discussion 7 The SEC has required public companies to have their quarterly financial statements audited before filing of theirs quarterly report on Form 10-Q. Therefore, audit firms will need to follow all the audit standards set out, from establishing an understanding with the c lient to performing analytical procedures, inquiries and other review procedures to prepare an audit report on the review of interim financial information. It is our opinion that quarterly financial statements should be audited because they will be more reliable and credible to the investors. Auditing quarterly financial statements will also shade lights on questionable management’s earnings. At the same time, a continuous (quarterly) audit will allow for less restatement at the end of the year; that is less surprise for investors. The auditor will be required to follow the clients’ financial situation more closely and address any material issues sooner. Quarterly audited financial statements will give investors confidence in relying on the company’s financial information.

Chris McCandless Essay

McCandless wanted to live an independent and self-reliant life. As a child, he grew up in a materialistic and dysfunctional family. Although he had a close relationship with his sister, Carine, Chris preferred isolating himself. It was unimaginably difficult for Chris to have a relationship with his father after he had found out about his father’s second family. Chris’s mother, Billie, didn’t have much of a relationship with him either. For Chris, being alone was normal and part of his every day routine. As he got older he wanted more and more to live on his own and be in the wild. Chris and his family would go to the mountains every year to visit which gave Chris this love for nature. He wanted to live in his own Utopia, in the wild. McCandless wasn’t careless or delusional. He was determined, and focused on his task at hand; to, in his own words, â€Å"no longer be poisoned by civilization, and walk alone to become lost in the wild. † He met many people through-out his travels towards Alaska, but didn’t stay too long to become attached to them. On April 28, 1992, James Gallien gave Christopher McCandless a ride to the Stampede Trail in Alaska where Christopher set out to begin in journey into the wild. This was the last date that anyone ever saw Christopher McCandless alive. Walking into Denali National Park with a . 22 caliber rifle and a 10 pound bag of rice isn’t necessarily ridiculous, but expecting to survive an entire summer off nothing but the land and wild game certainly is. Chris read many books by his favorite, Jack London being one. Jack wrote a book about the wild and the dangers of being in it, which is where Chris got some inspiration from. Chris carved the phrase â€Å"Jack London is king† in a tree stump near his campsite.. Chris writing that phrase shows that his quest went farther than finding himself. Chris wanted a connection with nature. He did what he was striving for and although his ending was tragic, he still did it by himself and without anyone or anything.

Candide, The Divine Comedy, Tartuffe, Othello essays

Candide, The Divine Comedy, Tartuffe, Othello essays Voltaires Candide can be easily considered one of the most potent satires of all times, as it is directed not to a particular aspect of the world but to the world as a whole and to the entire human race. What Voltaire mocks is not so much the state in which the world and humanity are in, but the inveterate optimism that characterized the Age of Reason. The values and creeds of the Enlightenment philosophers are demolished one by one in Voltaires work: the famous statement maintained by Leibniz and Rousseau that our world is the best of all possible worlds, the belief that the universe is in a state of unshakable harmony that only gives the impression of chaos, the general optimism that regarded even the dreariest events in the world as good, the faith in the human reason and the free will of man and so on. To remonstrate against what he felt was just hypocritical optimism, Voltaire makes the eponymous character of his work, Candide (who is, not by accident and as his name indicates, incredibly naive and simple) experience, through his journeys and adventures, the entire range of human sufferance: wars, natural disasters, maladies, slavery, religious persecution, rape and so on. In his way, Candide experiences all there is to experience and meets with all the evil in the world. His companions represent three different philosophical attitudes that influence Candides evolution. His gullible nature disposes him to believe the more comfortable theory, which is that of his master Pangloss. Pangloss is thus the prototype of the Enlightenment thinker, the professed optimist who believes in the absolute perfection of the world. Despite of the disasters he meets with and despite of the evil nature of the men he encounters, Pangloss remains a stubborn optimist, an advocate of the perfect harmony of the universe: Master Pangloss taught the metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigology. He could prove to admiration that ...

Heres why your paycheck is disappearing

Heres why your paycheck is disappearing It’s not a magic trick- your paycheck may seem like it’s vanishing faster than you can earn it, but there are reasons why this seems to happen. It’s a common phenomenon: payday comes around and you start thinking about all of the things you’d like to do with your money when it comes in, but then reality hits, and your grand plans for your paycheck seems to evaporate into thin air, along with your funds. If you’re often struck by this disappointing occurrence, take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. The simple truth comes down to this: for many of us, the size of our paychecks haven’t kept pace with the rising costs of the things we purchase, and when this occurs it should be no surprise that the â€Å"vanishing paycheck† is such a common phenomenon.What you’re earningThe statistics on historical wage trends paint a daunting picture, and goes a long way to explain why our earnings don’t seem to go as far as we’d like them to. According to a recent report by The Brookings Institution, inflation-adjusted wages have only grown around 10 percent over the last 45 years, with real wage growth crawling forward at a paltry .2 percent annually. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that when adjusted for inflation, real average hourly earnings have remained virtually unchanged for the American workforce over the last four decades.There are a number of factors that can be pointed to in an effort to explain this trend, from cheap labor overseas affecting supply and demand to globalized corporate competition and an economy weakened by the Great Recession and unexpectedly high inflation, but the bottom line is that this level of wage stagnation reflects a significant lack of opportunity for economic advancement for the average American worker.Furthermore, although companies have been earning massive profits in recent decades, largely due to rising costs of products and globalization o f markets and labor pools, this increased revenue simply has not made its way into the pockets of the employees who contribute to their success. The Economic Policy Institute reports that the average worker’s share of corporate-sector income in the form of wages and benefits has been on the decline since 1979.Wage inequality is another recent yet disturbing trend. According to recent BLS data, although there has been wage growth for those in the top earning percentile brackets, the opposite is true for workers in the bottom and lower-middle earning categories. This growing economic stratification creates a deep divide between the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have nots,† leaving many workers with little hope that their financial situations will dramatically improve.What you’re spendingIf stagnant wages wasn’t challenging enough, consider the fact that the goods and services we purchase are taking bigger and bigger bites out of our paychecks than ever befo re. This includes everything from essentials like housing, food, and utilities to non-essential purchases like luxury items, vacations, and even expensive coffee (which has turned into a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry), all of which gnaw away at our earnings faster than we thought possible.Current BLS data indicates that average prices for consumer goods are increasing at an average rate of around 2 percent a year; this may not seem significant, but when many workers don’t see steady wage increases each year, paying an extra 2% for everything they purchase can really add up. There’s also a wide array of expenses that today’s average worker shoulders that previous generations did not have to worry about- think student loans, smart phone bills, and numerous credit card payments to name just a few- all of which further stretches workers’ paychecks beyond capacity.The bottom lineWhat does this all mean? There’s a growing unbalance between what th e average American worker earns and what he or she spends, and it paints a bleak economic picture for many people. If you’re not a captain of industry or among the earning elite, chances are good that the money you’re earning just isn’t going as far as you’d like it to, due to a variety of disadvantageous economic forces and trends that are showing no sign of reversing anytime soon. With all of these factors at play, the magic trick known as the â€Å"vanishing paycheck† isn’t so mysterious or magical after all.

Supramolecular Polymers based on Hydrogen Bonding Essay

Supramolecular Polymers based on Hydrogen Bonding - Essay Example The paper tells that a supramolecular polymer refers to any kind of self-assembly that results in the creation of polymer-like aggregates occurring through reversible interactions between one or more kinds of components. Because of the reversible interactions, these polymers can thermally equilibrate with their monomers, unlike conventional polymers. These polymers are responsive to external stimuli. The mechanical properties of these polymers respond strongly to changes in solvent or temperature because of their reversible interactions, and so, they are in continuous equilibrium with their environment. Therefore, the functional properties of these polymers are highly useful. Supramolecular polymers show polymer like rheological properties because of their macromolecular structure and can also form gels if the self-assembled chains are long enough. Supramolecular polymers comprise of non-covalently bonded monomers and are of various types that include crystals, colloids, gels, liquid crystals, and hydrogen bonded polymers. Hydrogen bonded supramolecular polymers are those polymers in which the monomers are held together only by hydrogen bonds. The utility of hydrogen bonds in bringing polymers together was first shown by Stadler and coworkers. Supramolecular polymers can generally be classified into main-chain and side-chain polymers. The main-chain polymers are further divided into linear main-chain polymers, networks and linear polymers based on their bidirectional units. Side-chain polymers are further divided into two classes. The first one includes polymers with binding motifs in the side-chain, and the second one includes polymers with binding motifs in the main chain (Ligthart 2006). Supramolecular polymers of the linear main-chain type can be formed via the assembly of bifunctional or multifunctional monomers or planar structures that can assemble on both sides of a plane (Ligthart 2006). Figure 1 — Two classes of supramolecular polymers (a) Main -chain polymers, (b) Side-chain polymers (Source: Ligthart 2006, p. 3) According to Greef et al. (2009), supramolecular polymers can be classified based on the type of interactions that lead to their formation. Accordingly, the different types of supramolecular polymers that can be classified based on the interactions include those that are formed by hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, ?-? interactions, and metal-ligand binding. However, Greef et al argue that this scheme of classification, although useful, ignores mechanistic details that have been revealed as research in the field progresses. They thus propose another system of classification, which includes two groups. The first group of polymers are those that have monomers of single type, which undergo complementary end-group or self-complementary interactions. With the help of complementary couples that are directional (A-B), and self-complementary binding motifs (A-A), all kinds of polymeric structures such as cross-lin ked networks, linear homo-polymers and copolymers, and branched structures can be synthesized (Ligthart 2006). For instance, polymerization of an A2 monomer which results from the reversible A: A self-complementary interaction, comes under the first group. The polymerization of A-B monomer through a reversible A: B complementary end-group interaction is another example of the first group of supramolecular