Considering Booking Your Next Trip Online - 1359 Words

I’ve asked many people do they book their travel on-line or by using a travel agency and you would be surprised as to how many people say that they so it themselves and have horror stories to tell. So, here are a few questions you need to answer when considering booking your next trip online. Are you an expert as to where you are going? How many â€Å"hours† do you spend trying to figure out where to stay, what to do, and is this a good location to what I’m going to be doing? Is the hotel a nice place to stay? Are you sure you have everything covered? Have you ever gotten somewhere and didn’t have a ride to the hotel / resort? Were you so confused as to what to expect at the airport? Did it stress you out? What if something†¦show more content†¦Do you travel for business? How many hours do you spend trying to get your flights and hotel taken care of? We do corporate travel all day, every day. We know of all the off the wall places that some businesses may visit. We can track your frequent flyer points, track your hotel points, look for the best flights, and make sure you get to your hotel as well as make sure your hotel is near to where you need to be! And, we make sure you have all the necessary documents needed for you if you are going out of the country. Do you travel for pleasure? Of course you do! Looking at brochures, going on the internet checking out different places, checking out the room categories, the beaches and looking at what’s included in the price can be a bit overwhelming and very deceiving! Plus, now the online services don’t tell you of all the flights that may be offered. Here are a few benefits of why you will want to use a travel agency that is specialized in leisure travel. ï‚ · We can help you save money on your vacation – offering you the best discounts on flights and hotels. ï‚ · We can save you a ton of work when planning your vacation - You can save hours of time since our agents will be the one you deal with on the booking and preparations of your vacation. You just need to tell them where, when and why. ï‚ · Our travel agency can provide answers to any questions about documents needed for your vacation- An individual

How Much Sleep Is Enough - 1189 Words

†¢ How Much Is Enough? †¢ The amount of sleep that a healthy individual needs is largely determined by two factors: genetics and age. Genetics plays a role in both the amount of sleep a person needs, as well as his or her preference for waking up early (these are the so-called larks, or morning-type individuals) or staying up late (these are the owls, or evening-type people). Our internal biological clock, which regulates the cycling of many functions including the sleep/wake cycle, can vary slightly from individual to individual. Although our internal clock is set to approximately 24 hours, if your clock runs faster than 24 hours, you tend to be a lark and wake up early; if your clock runs more slowly, you tend to be an owl and go†¦show more content†¦If you continue going to bed at the same time and allowing your body to wake up naturally, you will eventually establish a pattern of sleeping essentially the same amount of time each night, probably in the range of 7 to 9 hours. Congratulation s! Youve identified the amount of sleep that you need. Make Sleep a Priority- Now that you know how much sleep you need—and if youve allowed your body to pay back your sleep debt and find its natural sleep patterns and duration—you are probably also feeling a lot better, sharper, happier, and healthier. This is how it feels to be well rested. The next step is to make sure that you continue to make sleep a priority and find ways to protect your sleep time. If Youre Having Problems with Sleep - You may be doing all the right things—respecting your sleep needs and patterns, setting aside an ample amount of time to sleep, keeping a sleep diary—but still experiencing daytime sleepiness, fatigue, or insomnia. If thats the case, you should consider consulting a sleep specialist who can help you set up a better sleep environment, provide support for making behavioral changes that may be interfering with sleep, or possibly diagnose a sleep disorder. You have a right to feel well rested—and there are many resources available to help you get the sleepShow MoreRelatedSleep Is Essential for Peoples Wellbeing Essay986 Words   |  4 PagesGetting enough sleep at night? Well, first off the amounts of sleep needed to function correctly differ with age, but the amount of sleep people need gets shorter as they get older. The amounts of sleep people get can also affect how they act. There are numerous ways people can catch up on sl eep though. Sleep affects how people act; sleep allows the body to perform maintenance to prepare people for the next day. When tired, always sleep and not try and force staying awake using caffeine or anythingRead MoreSleep On A Healthy Lifestyle976 Words   |  4 PagesSleep On It People seem to think that to live a healthy lifestyle a person only needs to eat healthy and exercise. Yes, those two things are very important in living a healthy lifestyle, but another concern a person should have is how much sleep they are getting. Sleep may not seem very important, but getting enough sleep can help perk your mind, heart, and even weight. Having a healthy mind is very important and is best for a person’s well being. Getting enough sleep can in fact, improve a person’sRead MoreWhy Do We Sleep? Essay618 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Why do we sleep?† is a very popular questions that many humans ask today. Sleep is very sufficient to the human body. If it was not important, then God would not have designed for a third of our life to be occupied by sleep. During this time period, many people are interested to know what is a good amount of sleep and what are the harmful effects to not getting enough sleep. The question â€Å"why do we sleep?† is a very difficult question to answer. One way to think about why sleep is important isRead MoreEffects of Sleep Deprivation881 Words   |  4 PagesSleep is an essential part of life. Without sleep, the body does not get the energy that it needs to function. Yet a large amount of people do not get anywhere near the amount of sleep they need. Whether it is because of medical reasons or because there just is not enough time in the day, sleep deprivation is a major problem in todays society. The many people who do not get enough sleep usually end up suffering the consequences. No good can come from not getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation hasRead MoreThe Human Body And Body Needs Sleep835 Words   |  4 PagesMeagan Hasselbeck English 10 Mrs. Wintrow 10 April 2015 How The Human Body Reacts To Sleep. Everyone knows the human body needs sleep. For some people, sleep is what they enjoy most, but why do human beings need sleep? Why is the urge to collapse into the warm safety of our beds so tempting? Why are we so grumpy when we don’t get enough sleep? Sleeping isn’t only relaxing but it is also helpful to your brain and body. â€Å"We have to sleep because it is essential to maintaining normal levels of cognitiveRead MoreSleep Loss Or Sleep Deprivation860 Words   |  4 PagesSleep Loss Sleep loss, or sleep deprivation, is very common throughout the world. It is very important to make sure you get at least eight hours of sleep each night for you to be ready to get up and go. It has been said that teenagers need an average of nine hours and fifteen minutes of sleep, according to my psychology teacher. It is very dangerous to go without sleep, hallucinations can and sometimes will occur. It is always easy to tell when a person is not getting enough sleep. They have bagsRead MoreEffects Of Sleep Deprivation On Academic Performance1557 Words   |  7 PagesEffect of Sleep Deprivation on Academic Performance Less sleep causes less focus on academic performance. Sleep deprivation is a problem when it comes to academic performance; therefore students should learn how to manage their time and get enough sleep. Many have argued and many others agreed that sleep deprivation does have a big effect on the performance of students in school. For those who don t agree probably think that sleep deprivation has nothing to do with the bad performance of studentsRead More What is Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Deprivation Essay example955 Words   |  4 PagesWhat is Sleep and the Effects of Sleep Deprivation Sleep is one of the things that most students can say they do not get enough of. It is a time for us to rest and for a few blissful hours hopefully forget about the stress and worries of school and life. Unfortunately, due to too much work or too much studying to do, often enough, we do not get the amount we need each night to be fully rested the next day. But we have learned to cope with the sleep deprivation by drinking coffee in the morningRead MoreThe Emotional, Physical and Mental Effects of Sleep Depravation1054 Words   |  5 PagesIs sleep important? The answer is yes, more important than imaginable. However, not everyone needs the same amount. The amount of sleep needed depends on the age of the person. Infants typically need approximately 16 hours a day while teenagers need approximately nine hours on average. Most adults need about seven to eight hours (â€Å"Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep†). How much sleep someone gets is very important. Not getting enough slee p can result in many dysfunctions throughout the day. Loss ofRead MoreThe Affects Sleep Loss Can Have On Your Body Essay1051 Words   |  5 Pages Sleep is the key to success in our world today. It there a certain amount of sleep needed? Can different methods help people get enough sleep? As simple as these two questions may seem there is an infinite amount of answers that could be given. People do not always get the proper amount of sleep their body needs to function properly. There are many ways it can affect a life and not in a positive way. Multiple people may think that there is a certain amount of sleep you need but really there is not

Economics Development and Testing of Heckscher

Questions: 1.You are the only supplier of a product and you are seeking to increase your revenue. Under what conditions would you (a) take the decision to lower the price of your product or (b) take the decision to raise the price of your product in order to achieve your goal of increased revenue.2.A country that can produce all goods more efficiently than any other country has no need to engage in trade. Discuss. Answers: 1. A single supplier of a given good that seeks to raise its revenue can decide to lower the price of the good or increase the price of the good to meet this goal. The supplier can target a given population and charge less but increase the demand for the good. Since revenue is got but price multiplied by price, a reduced price with increase quantity demanded and sold will still raise revenue since the effect of reduced price is counterbalance with the increased demand. The seller will increase the price but target wealthy people who will still by the product at high price though at reduced demand by the poor people. In this the higher price will pay off the reduced demand hence revenue will still increase by multiplying higher price with the reduced quantity sold. A single seller in the market can apply pure market discrimination as shown in the diagram above. The seller can split consumers according to their ability and sell to each based on their income ability in order to obtain the determined profit. 2. This section discusses the statement A country that can produce all goods more efficiently than any other country has no need to engage in trade. Economist has, however, reached a consensus that it is that trade between economies that make their people healthier. Even though worldwide trade remains a more quarrelsome of political matters equally locally and amid administrations, trade is required (Irwin, 2009). It is, therefore, true that even an economy which is additional competent (with absolute advantage) in all it makes, it would still gain from trading activities. The main driver of trade is comparative cost and not absolute cost of production. A given country is efficiently productive compared another country in every product. This is in the manner that such a country could make any product utilizing less factor of production than another country needs to produce the same product. Nevertheless, economist hold that such an economy will be gaining still from trade based on the comparative advantage. In this case, it will need to export the goods that it has a higher absolute advantage and then import goods whereby its absolute advantage is comparatively low even when it is non negative. Despite the a given country being two times as productive as the partner in trade in producing a good, if in case it is thrice as industrious in creating building aircrafts or steel, such a country will benefit by specializing on production and exportation of steel and aircrafts and importing clothes from its trading partner (Baldwin, 2008). The trading partner will benefit through the exportation of clothes whereby it enjoys a comparative advantage and not absolute advantage in return for the steel and aircraft. Due to comparative advantage, both countries will raise their living standards hence increasing its economic development. Even developing countries with no absolute advantage in any field benefit from trade because it has a comparative advantage in producing certain goods hence will profitably trade with developed economies. References Baldwin, R. E. (2008). The Development and Testing of Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Models: A Review, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press). Irwin, D. A. (2009).Free Trade under Fire (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 3rd ed.)

Priscilla Chan and Her Story about The Most Ambitious Philanthropies Ever

Priscilla Chan and Her Story about The Most Ambitious Philanthropies Ever When Priscilla Chan was a 21-year-old Harvard student, she was working at extracurricular program for students from poor families. One day, one of those students disappeared for two days and when she came back, her front teeth were missing. â€Å"I was shocked,† said Chan after a decade to Sheryl Sandberg, a Facebook’s COO. â€Å"What was that? Did somebody hit her? Did somebody helped her anyhow? And could I prevent this horrible situation?† At this moment, Priscilla Chan realized that she wants to twist her fortune with medicine and education. She entered UCSF School of Medicine and after 10 years became a teacher and pediatrician. She has founded her own school and married Mark Zuckerberg. She is a mother of 1-year old daughter (with another child on the way) and an owner of the most popular dog on the web – a sheepdog called Beast. However, about 18 months ago, Priscilla has added a new activity to her resume. Now, she is undertaking one of the most ambitious and large philanthropies ever. Her husband and she created an investment company in 2015. Their aim is â€Å"advancing human potential and promoting equal opportunity.† To put it clear, Zuckerberg and Chan are investing in such spheres as criminal justice system, medicine and education. Some of their actions are instant and have really fast impact. For example, this year they donated $3 million to a program that provides students with eye test and glasses. Other ambitions can sound even fantastic. For example, Chan says that she aims to â€Å"cure all diseases† in her child’s lifetime. She cooperates with medical organizations and invests millions to encourage researches and mapping every cell in human’s organism. She also works on improving educational programs, doing everything to let students all over the country learn differently, considering their habits and individual needs. To make their plans come true, Chan and Zuckerberg have already invested 99% of their Facebook income over their lives. Today, this is more than $60 billion. Both Mark and Priscilla are absolutely involved in the organization. In addition to this activity, they are the main people at Facebook company, which is also a full-time job. Chan is 32 now and she is the youngest and the most ambitious philanthropist in the world. â€Å"All of us are more capable than we think or admit we are,† she says in one of her interviews. â€Å"The best way is to use this power right now, not waiting for the moment we are ready. We are always ready. We need to act.† Mark and Priscilla started dating when they were students at Harvard. She met him at one of the college parties and Zuckerberg later assumed that this was his last college party. He has created a website â€Å"hot or not† and thought that this adventure will get him expelled. â€Å"When I met her, I said: â€Å"They are going to kick me out in three days, so we need to go to a date as soon as possible,† Zuckerberg recalls. These two has been together all the time. They shared a presentation when announcing their $3 billion commitment to fight disease, held a company and travelled 30 U.S. states this year. They are dedicated to their mission and have amazing development plans. Despite the fact that Chan is not an active decision-maker at Facebook, most sources believe that one of the largest companies in the world would not be what it is without Chan’s influence on Mark. â€Å"She literally is his compass, partner and a person he trusts,† says Diane Tavenner, CEO of Summit Public Schools, a CZI partner. â€Å"Priscilla is an honest lady and she can give an advice or a feedback to all types of questions. Mark listens to her and respects her opinion no matter what. This is something everyone really needs.† Matt Cohler, an early Facebook employee and close friend of Chan and Zuckerberg, adds: â€Å"I bet that last 13 years of Mark’s life were extraordinary due to Priscilla, who is more than his wife, but a partner, that shows great judgement to all his decisions and steps.† In some sense, Chan and Zuckerberg fit personality clichà ©s. Mark is a builder of a large company, an engineer and a problem-solver, who had to teach himself to communicate with people. Chan is extremely smart, but absolutely social, emotional and empathetic. At least, these are conclusions made from the interviews, speeches and conversations with her friends, co-workers, business partners. Being a first lady of Facebook and an owner of a large philanthropic organization, Chan doesn’t draw too much attention to her personality. People learn about her and her actions mostly because of Zuckerberg. Her Facebook page contains less than 15 posts made during 4 years. Chan’s good friend and early Facebook investor Greylock’s Reid Hoffman says: â€Å"Most people are assured that intelligent people are normally leaders and try to command and give law to everybody. But Priscilla is a hard worker – she just goes and gets the work done. She is smart and thoughtful.† Mark and Priscilla share most decisions in philanthropic organization, but Chan takes more everyday responsibilities. She improves investments and grants, leads the meetings and cooperates with the company staff three of four days a week. In a word, Chan dedicates a great amount of her time to this most important activity in her life. When Chan is not at the organization, she actually works at primary school, which was founded by her and collaborates in 2016. The focus of this school is students’ health care. Chan is a teacher and CEO, so she meets her colleges regularly and does everything to expand school’s model to the whole American community. The organization Chan runs is her first startup experience and her list of mentors and advisors is impressive. For example, Desmond-Hellmann, a person behind another big-time philanthropic foundation, speaks to Chan at least once a month. He says, â€Å"Her organization is pretty much a startup, which means that there are specific questions one has to solve. How are you going to run the company? What is your governance? What are the key positions? What skills do you need? All you need are results and impact.† Chan’s desire to make an impact can be traced to 1978, a suburb of Boston. This year her parents, Chinese living in Vietnam, had to leave the country because of the war. Dennis, Chan’s father, came to Boston in 1978; Yvonne, Chan’s mother, arrived to New York this year. They were family friends since childhood in Vietnam and reconnected in America. At that time, Chan’s parents had to work hard in a Chinese restaurant, so she and her two sisters were raised by grandparents. Chan says that her first memory is of trying to help your grandmother to wash the dishes, while her mother was in a hospital, giving birth to her younger sister Elaine. Priscilla was 2 years old at that moment. At high school, Chan was a captain of a tennis team and was a robotics team member. In 2003, she entered Harvard and was the first person in her family to become a college student. As a daughter of Vietnamese refugees without high education, Chan claims that it was a miracle for her to become a Harvard student. Both Chan and Zuckerberg say that they got so far in their success not only because they worked hard and were very ambitious, but because they were lucky enough. During his Harvard commencement address in May, Zuckerberg says, â€Å"If I had to go to an average job and earn money to support my family instead of learning how to code, if I didn’t know that everything will be fine if Facebook fails, I wouldn’t be standing here right now. To be honest, we all know how much lucky we were to reach this point of our lives.† Therefore, Chan’s and Mark’s efforts are aimed at spreading luck around a lot more people, especially children. Their organization invests in an educational program known as â€Å"personalized learning†. This program allows every child to learn in his/her own pace. Moreover, Chan is concerned by a necessity to change a traditional equation model and blend students’ schoolwork with health care. As a doctor and a teacher, Chan knows what happens to students when they don’t have necessary healthcare and support at home. It is really hard to become a successful student, when you need to visit a doctor all the time. â€Å"Children cannot concentrate on learning because there are so many issues on their minds – they are hungry, tired or feel sick. School is the last thing they think about,† Chan says. This is why Chan and Zuckerberg are ready to pay their millions and help children. Diane Tavenner says, â€Å"Both of them think that this money doesn’t actually belong to them, they are just stewards and they are rich just because they were lucky to get into a certain place. So they feel that they are responsible and obliged by this position to the entire world.† Believe it or not, but an opportunity to give away your money requires years of hard work.

Find a Great Astronomy Gift Idea

Find a Great Astronomy Gift Idea Astronomy gifts are some of the coolest ones around. There is a universe of ideas, ranging from books and gear to clothing and apps. Here are some suggestions for cosmic gift-giving any time of year. Astronomy Books Reading about astronomy is a great pleasure, whether its the latest news in a magazine or a book on a specific topic. There are amazing books on astronomy for all levels, from beginner and up. The article  Astronomy Books for All Ages offers find some good reads. The best reads allow someone to curl up and explore on a cloudy night and still learn something new about the cosmos. Good astronomy books help explorers of all ages learn about the sky and whats in it. Teresa Short/Getty Images Readers can learn about observational astronomy, with books that offer tips on the best ways to skygaze and photograph the stars. Or, for those who want to dig into the science behind the stars and galaxies, there are many books that explain in approachable language. Other works highlight the lives of famous astronomers, giving a good historical context for the work todays observers are doing. Some books are available in hard copy or electronic format, so you can choose the best way to deliver the cosmos to your intended giftee. Also, consider the two best magazines around:  Astronomy Magazine  at Astronomy.com (a great subscription for every level of an observer), and  SkyTelescope.com, which offers products for both beginners and experienced observers.  Ã‚   Astronomy Apps Nearly everybody has access to a smartphone or phablet to a laptop and desktop computer, which opens up a raft of ideas for gifts. There are astronomy programs and apps for all the different devices, ranging in price from free to several hundred dollars. Also explore some of the best-known products, ranging from Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel (which are free) to apps that cost a few dollars, such as StarMap2, and others.  Apps have a great advantage because they are available on a smart device at the push of a tab. Online Astronomy Courses Astronomy courses via the Web are another good way to learn the subject. Users can go at their own speed, and in many cases, theyre learning from some of the top astronomers in the field. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, has made many of its courses available for anyone to use. Its Hands-On Astronomy course gives users a chance to learn from the best, at their own speed! NASA also has a series of podcasts that lets people explore Mars as Curiosity Rover does, one landscape at a time. There are many other delightful offerings online at the drop of a Google search for the term online astronomy courses. Telescopes Sooner or later, even the most patient star hoppers decide to magnify their view of the sky. Thats when they start thinking about telescopes. Its also when some serious money starts getting spent. If someone is ready for a telescope, its important to know what they want to observe. A telescope for planet-gazing might not be the same one theyd use for deep-sky objects. Or if telescope-buying is out of the question, consider getting a pair of binoculars first. Theyre like having a telescope for each eye, and people can also use them during the day for birdwatching and other activities. Also, look into  other good ideas about  cost-effective ways to indulge a love of skywatching. Every stargazer discovers what she or he needs to enjoy the sky. Take it easy and all good things will eventually come to you. Halfblue/Wikimedia Commons Share and Share Alike license. Stargazing Gear Stargazing exposes observers to cooler weather, no matter where they live. Even in warmer climates, evenings and early mornings can be cool and damp. So, its always good to have a sweater or jacket or raincoat handy. There isnt a stargazer alive who doesnt appreciate a sweater, jacket, or raincoat. Hats, gloves, and windbreaker, are also useful. Chemical hand warmer packs are a great stocking stuffer, along with a few energy bars to munch on during those long all-nighters. Star Party and Planetarium Visits Offering a trip to a star party is also a great gift for a friend or family member. Check out the local planetarium for a fascinating star show. Also, see if the local college or university offers public lectures in astronomy. These are all ways to give the gift of the cosmos!

How to Make Colored Sparklers

How to Make Colored Sparklers Sparklers are small handheld fireworks that give off fiery sparks rather than explode. Sparklers consist of a thin metal or wooden stick coated with a simple pyrotechnic mixture. Colored sparklers really are as easy to make as regular sparklers. The difference lies in the oxidizer that is used. Youre basically replicating a flame test, except in reverse since you know the colors to expect from various metal ions. Potassium nitrate or saltpeter will impart a violet color. Barium nitrate burns green. Strontium nitrate burns red. Aside from ordering from a chemical supply store, you can find strontium nitrate in emergency flares and potassium nitrate at some garden supply stores (or you can make it yourself). You can mix in other metal salts from the flame test or colored fire list, but only go for one color. If you try to mix colors, youll likely wind up with a basic golden sparkler. There are several recipes for colored sparklers. Here are some examples. Ingredients are listed in terms of parts by weight, so you can use milligrams or grams or ounces... whatever works for you. Red Sparklers 5 parts strontium nitrate1 part shellac Dip iron wires or wooden sticks in the mixture and allow it to dry completely before use. Be sure to leave enough room on the stick so that you can hold the sparkler safely. Green Sparklers 300 parts potassium chlorate60 parts barium nitrate60 parts aluminum fines, flitter, or granules2 parts charcoal10% dextrin in water solution Dip the wires or sticks in a mixture made from the dry ingredients with just enough dextrin solution to make a thick slurry. Dry the sparklers before use. Another option for a green sparkler is to substitute boric acid or borax for the barium nitrate. Purple Sparklers 14 parts potassium nitrate3 parts powdered sulfur3 parts powdered charcoal2 parts aluminum flitter (for sparks)10% dextrin in water Dip the sticks in a mixture made from the dry ingredients with enough dextrin solution to make a slurry. Note the human eye is not very sensitive to the color violet. The purple color is easily overwhelmed by the color that may be produced by any chemical contaminant in the mixture. If the sparkler appears yellow instead of purple, it means sodium is present. Salt is the most likely culprit. Substitutions in Sparkler Recipes By examining these recipes, you can see aluminum flitter may be added to make sparks in any sparkler. Fine particles of other metals also produce sparks. Titanium makes white sparks while iron filings produce golden sparks. Dextrin is a common binder and fuel in sparkler recipes. If it is unavailable, sugar or starch may be used. Other colors of sparklers are also possible. For example, using a copper salt will produce a blue or a green flame, depending on the oxidation state of the copper. The default color of a sparkler is yellow or gold, but the color may be brightened and enhanced by adding a small amount of table salt or sodium chloride (NaCl) to the mixture. Adding the tiniest amount of salt to a red sparkler can produce an orange flame. Calcium salts can also produce the orange color. Disclaimer: Please be advised that the content provided by our website is for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Fireworks and the chemicals contained within them are dangerous and should always be handled with care and used with common sense. By using this website you acknowledge that ThoughtCo., its parent About, Inc. (a/k/a Dotdash), and IAC/InterActive Corp. shall have no liability for any damages, injuries, or other legal matters caused by your use of fireworks or the knowledge or application of the information on this website. The providers of this content specifically do not condone using fireworks for disruptive, unsafe, illegal, or destructive purposes. You are responsible for following all applicable laws before using or applying the information provided on this website.

The influence of music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The influence of music - Essay Example Specific attention shall be paid to some of the common genres as well. This paper shall seek to look at the different ways in which music influences the listener’s behavior. Different genres shall be mentioned and the behaviour associated with each shall be studied. On the flipside, the extent to which the choice of music complements listener behavior shall also be explored. A) Message contained in the lyrics influences a listeners behavior. Rock and hip hop contain messages of a violent kind. The use of drugs in general and alcohol to be specific is a common theme. This is in turn carried on by the listeners especially the young impressionable type. Soul and blues are more sedate and advocate love not conflict. C) Generally, the mental disposition of listener influences behavior. Despite the dangerous level of sway that the factors in A and B above hold, the amount of control the listener has over their faculties is the principal determiner of general conduct. Responsible listeners are able to see through the messages and carry themselves out in ways that are good to the general

Effect of Using Facebook as a Teaching Tool on 7th Grade ESL Students Essay

Effect of Using Facebook as a Teaching Tool on 7th Grade ESL Students Motivation - Essay Example One of the main ideas for student motivation and involvement is the use of interactive technology. Smith (1997) has established that use of technology has positive effects on reading and writing . Further, Mayher (1990) and Littlewood (2001) has also expressed that students must be provided a sense of purpose and a sense of participation in learning. On the other hand, Childs (2009) has discussed the benefits that Facebook can yields in language learning owing to its ease and interactive features. Thus, I plan to use Facebook as a teaching tool to increase motivation and participation of my 7th grade students. The purpose of this Action Research study is to examine the effects of using Facebook as a teaching tool on the motivation level of my English class.This study will help me in developing clear understanding of such a strategy which may help my students to better participate in English reading and writing tasks.... All these are clear signs of little motivation to read and write English. On the other hand, (Littlewood, 2001) have stated that traditional teaching techniques cannot motivate Hong Kong ESL students to have higher participation and motivation in reading and writing English. Further, several studies indicate that despite a variety of teaching techniques including audio-visual have been used in Hong Kong to Teach English as a second language, predominant teaching method is lecture( (Melanie & Warhurt, 2000). Roman-Perez (2003) have described that incorporation of interactive technology reflrcted positive impact over the motivation level of the students for reading English. And I know that all of my students are using Facebook to be in contact with each other. Further, in current Web 2.0 scenario, Facebook has top ranking in SNSs (Kazeniac, 2009). Thus I assume that using Facebook as a teaching tool in a creative way can increase motivation and participation level of my ESL students. 4 . Literature Review: In order to implement my this idea of using Facebook as a teaching tool, I embark on reviewing relevant literature from five dimensions including motivation to learn, motivation to read and write, motivation to learn English among Hong Kong students, technology and motivation to read and write, and finally ,using Facebook as a teaching tool. 4.1. Motivation: Motivation is considered as a prompt and energizer in all fields of life (Mangal, 2002). It may be defined as the force that accounts for the stimulation, selection, direction, and continuation of certain behavior. Literatures on human psychology and on education have extensively discussed human motivation and student motivation in details. Similarly, majority of the educationists

Trader Joes Case Essay Example for Free

Trader Joes Case Essay Trader Joe’s is an up and rising supermarket that is upbeat and even has employees wear Hawaiian shirt. This gives it a more relaxed and enjoyable shopping environment. The company selects small stores and only keeps about 4000 stock-keeping units. Eighty percent of those units contain the Trader Joe’s brand. This initiates a quick turnover over rate. Trader Joe’s usual customers are college educated people living in urban areas and also college kids. The company makes it easier for these customers to buy different variety of items buy not having too much diversity that would cause shopping paralysis. With lower variety, Trader Joe’s can control quality much more effectively then it would with more options. Their product line has similar popular products that other supermarkets have but it is under the Trader Joe’s brand. The company also looks to find new interesting foods that I can add to the supermarket rather than following trends it tries to set the trends. It has options from basic organic fruits to exotic food like Belgian butter waffle cookies. When it comes to distribution; Trader Joe’s purchases directly from the manufacturers and then ships the products right to Trader Joe’s distribution centers. Trader Joes doesn’t charge its suppliers for advertising, couponing or slotting shelves. In exchange for this benefit, Trader Joe’s has asked suppliers to operate with Trader Joe’s in secrecy. The vendors cannot publicize the business relationship with Trader Joe’s in any matter. This strategy is to help prevent both consumers and competitors from gaining knowledge as to who produces the food that the store sells. Suppliers also do not like having the idea that that one store offers a lower cost version and not at the other. The pay offered at Trader Joe’s is also generous which helps produce a more enthusiastic crowd of employees. The company also contributes 15. 4% of an employee’s Gross income towards a tax deferred retirement fund. Many workers though feel that the company is losing its mom and pop shop type feel, and that the company is becoming more corporate. This is going to be an issue in the future as the company slowly grows. The company definitely doesn’t want to lose the touch which makes it stand out from different supermarkets.

Herpes-simplex: Type 2 :: essays research papers fc

Herpes-Simplex: Type 2 Herpes is a name that is used to describe several types of skin eruptions that are characterized by formation of blisters. The term embraces primarily two distinct disorders, herpes simplex and herpes zoster, both caused by viruses. Together, these "herpes" viruses are estimated to cause more human illnesses than any other group of viruses. Two types of herpes simplex are known. The first causes cold sores or fever blisters, which is an eruption of blisters that often occurs during the course of or after one of a variety of diseases that eventually cause fever (most commonly average colds, the flu, and pneumonia). The blisters usually appear around the mouth and on the lips (herpes labialis), about the nose, face, and ears, and in the mouth and pharynx. The causative virus has been shown to be present in the cell bodies of the facial nerve in persons who do not have blisters. It is this reservoir of latent virus that is the source of repeated attacks. Except for lotions to relieve pain, itching, or inflammation, no established treatmemt has actually been developed. The second type of the herpes simplex virus, however, is the usual cause of genital herpes. Herpes infections of the genital area have become increasingly common, going along with a rise in general of many sexually transmitted diseases. Sometimes accompanied by headache and fever, the condition usually begins with a mild itching, followed by the development of clusters of blisters that break and crust to form scabs that eventually dry up. The process may last one to three weeks. In many cases new clusters of blisters appear as others heal. When a baby is born to a woman who has active genital herpes lesions, the infant is at high risk of contracting an infection that is often fatal, so these women usually have their babies delivered by a cesarian section. Primary cases of genital herpes can be treated by a drug called acyclovir, which was approved in 1982 and in another form, that is to be taken orally rather than used in an ointment form, in 1984. It also has been proving useful against recurrent attacks. The virus can also invade the central nervous system, or CNS, especially in people who are weakened by other diseases, such as cancer, causing a severe case of encephalitis.

Air Pollution in Kuwait

Air pollution is one of the problems facing the international communities. Air pollution is known to have devastating effects on the environment. Kuwait has a long history of air pollution since the era of the Gulf War.   During the Gulf War, more than 600 oil wells were set on fire leading to loss of 6 million barrels of oil everyday and devastating air pollution. There were large pools and lakes of oil that led to water and land pollution.The burning oil wells of Kuwait, which were equated to Chernobyl disaster, emitted tons of green house gases like sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen leading to devastating effects on plant and animals. Although the oil fires were put out, the imprint on the environment are still evident many more years after the Gulf War. Since the massive air pollution during the Gulf War, Kuwait has made progress in cleaning the environment but air pollution is still rampant.Policy ChallengeSince the Gulf War, air pollution is still a major problem in Kuwait.   The government has embarked on a massive program to clean the air but the policies adopted have not provided total solution to the problem.Kuwait Environment Public Authority has been on the frontline in fighting the air pollution problems which dates back to the Gulf War era. However, most of the environmental policies that were formulated by the government then were aimed at reversing air pollution effect of the Gulf War and most of them have not been able to tackle the current problems (Al Jeran and Khan, 2009).There has been tremendous growth in population in the country and the business environment has also grown in different ways. Large settlement in cities and towns has led to increased air pollution mainly from increase number of vehicles emitting tons of pollutant gases every day. Kuwait oil industry which is the mainstay economic activity in the country has also contributed to air pollution.Analysis of the problemAccording to the re sults of a study that was published in Al-Qabas Newspaper in June 2006, more than 86.9% of Kuwait population considers air pollution as the biggest environmental challenge they have to deal with (Al-Mutairi and Koushki, 2009). This is evidence of increased air pollution which shows that there has been little progress to reverse the effect of the Gulf wars more than a decade later.Air pollution in Kuwait has been contributed by two main sources including transport and oil industry. Studies have reveals that automobiles are the main mode of transport in the country with an average employed person making more than 6.1 trips every day with a mean length of 13.6 km.Studies also show an average individual is likely to be delayed for more than 68 minutes everyday in traffic congestion (Koushki, 2007). A study carried out in 2005 revealed that an average Kuwait resident traveling to and from work generated about: (Al-Mutairi and Koushki, 2009)a)   31,275 tons of Volatile Organic Compounds b)   247,764 tones of carbon monoxidec)   19,594 tons of oxides of nitrogend)   1,703 tons of sulfur dioxidee)   6 million tons of carbon dioxide  Traffic has been rated as the leading cause of air pollution in Kuwait urban areas.However, in the rural and urban areas, power stations and oil refinery plants makes a huge contribution to air pollution as well. Kuwait is one of the oil rich countries and oil contributed a large part to the country GDP. However, oil exploration has come with serious effects on the environment, notably grey clouds of smoke from oil refineries that goes up the sky.

A Resort with a difference

This will be a resort that is customized for Christians though will be open to all as far as they maintain the culture of the place. Different services will be offered including foods and drinks, conference facilities, sports facilities, accommodation, entertainment and spiritual nourishment facilities for Christians.Services will be offered in a serene environment and no alcoholic drinks or other unchristian behaviour will be allowed in the place. Spiritual nourishment facilities will include Christian literature, music and teaching sessions.The Resort will be unique in that besides offering essential services it will maintain an environment that will encourage socialization and at the same time provide spiritual nourishment. All facilities will be provided with great consideration on nurturing good morals and personal developments.The Resort will be a substitute for the local pub or club only that services and facilities will all be geared not only on socialization and entertainmen t but both on spiritual and physical development. There are many people who would like to benefit from facilities offered in pubs, resorts and clubs but their moral values, faiths or public standing prevent them from going to such places due to the nature of provision of services in such places.However, a Resort for Christians will be unique and will provide the modest environment that such people require; they will be able to watch football, popular TV programs or a movie in a place they are comfortable in and with the company of people they would prefer to be with. The churches and other Christian organisations have numerous meetings and visitors and will be easily lured into using this kind of resort because of the perception that it is a Christian place.In the next five weeks the Resort will be in the incubation period. In this period we will be preparing a grand opening of the Resort. We will do in-depth publicity of the up-coming Resort and the grand opening event. Publicity w ill be done through print and electronic media, billboards and direct mail to prominent people.In this period the Resort facilities will be prepared thoroughly and decorated in order to be   The incubation period will end with a grand opening of the Resort which will also mark the entry into the introduction stage. According to NetMBA Business Knowledge Center website (http://www.netmba.com/marketing/productlifecycle) â€Å"during the introduction stage, the primary goals is to establish a market and build primary demand for the product class.†We would do this through intense publishing the resort by the grand opening and continued advertisement. We would invite prominent people in the society, especially those who have a reputation of modesty, to grace the occasion. We will then also adopt a penetration pricing strategy by offering favourable pricing for our products for the first month of our operation.As the business grows we will continually evaluate the service provisi on systems in the facilities and ensure we offer quality services. This is because, as cited in NetMBA Business Knowledge Center website (http://www.netmba.com/marketing/productlifecycle), as a product moves through the different stages of its life cycle, it necessitates change of the marketing strategy thus calling for continuous evaluation and re-adjustment.We will establish a modest and unique culture in order to ensure that our services are different from others. This product differentiation together with continued promotion will ensure that our services are preferred. We will also invest in technology so as to increase efficiency and effectiveness in provision of services.We will maintain a well detailed website and establish links with travel agencies. We would evaluate our business continually and increase or reduce the services we offer and how are they are offered. This will be geared toward maintaining our services as different from those of our competitors and ensuring co st effectiveness. We would also keep on exploring new ways of promoting our services so as to maintain our market share and to compete effectively.ReferencesNetMBA Business Knowledge Center. The Product Life Cycle. Retrieved January 07, 2008 from http://www.netmba.com/marketing/product/lifecycle

An Overview of Environmental Ethics

An Overview of Environmental Ethics Free Online Research Papers The term environmental ethics has been used fairly recently when discussing the impact we have on the world around us even though we have always been tasked with protecting the earths resources. We will discuss some of the early environmental issues that mankind faced, the focus that it’s been given in the past three decades, and potential issues we will face in the near future. With the growth of the world population the need for the resources to last for future generations and the ability to manage our present day surrounds is growing more dire each year. Environmental ethics helps us to examine the many possibilities we are faced with as a civilization. The field known as Environmental Ethics emerged in the late 60’s with the first scientific journals being produced in North America in 1979 (Environmental Ethics, 2010). Centuries before this, during the ancient civilization, mankind faced decisions which impacted the environment and our future. As early as 60,000 years ago there is evidence that fire was used to deliberately clear forest in Tanzania (Kovarik, 2001). Mankind is also impacted by our interaction with the environment. In civilized areas there was air and water pollution from dust, wood, animal manure, and tanneries (Kovarik, 2001). We begin to mine the earth for precious rocks and gems. Then we started stripping away the forest as towns and cities emerge and grow. By 2600 BCE the first laws were being passed to preserve the forest and limit the amount of clearing that can be done in Ur (Kovarik, 2001). Even with these types of measures taking place in some parts of the world other area are deforesting lan d so quickly that erosions is destroying the very cities and civilizations they built. Not only are we having an impact on the plants, water, and soil but we are also impacting the other living animals of the planet. Centuries ago animals were used for labor and typically slaughtered for food it was also common to sacrifice animals. In 1300 BCE Hebrew Law dictates a requirement for the humane slaughter and care of work animals (Kovarik, 2001). Then between 740 – 500 BCE vegetarianism was being taught by prominent figures in Hebrew, Buddhism, Jainism, and Greek societies (Kovarik, 2001). Even with all of these movements there will still be thousands of different species of animal that become extinct because of mankind’s mismanagement. As mankind expands its reign on the planet we begin to be negatively impacted by our advancement with the onset of water pollution, smog, plague, and disease through the middle ages and renaissance all of the way through the industrial revolution. With each obstacle we found ways to overcome the impact on ourselves but not always on the environment. We created sewer systems and brought fresh water to cities which decreased the spread of disease while increase water pollution. We stopped cutting down the forest and began using coal which created air pollution and excess waste. Even into modern day civilization we see examples of exposure to radiation or asbestos causing injury and death. Modern day environmental ethicists have focus and influence in many disciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics, ecology, and geography (Environmental Ethics, 2010). Some of the specific examples of the field today, as described by Alan Marshall, are Libertarian Extension, Ecologic Extension, and the Conservation Extension (Environmental Ethics, 2010). The Libertarian Extension focus on the equal rights of all members of a community but much debate exists over whether or not that includes the non-human members of a region. Then in the Ecologic Extension the emphasis is on the interdependence of all biological life and not sure human rights (Environmental Ethics, 2010). This area of study is best known for its view that the earth is a holistic entity that is ever evolving and that mankind is of no significance in the big picture. Lastly in the Conservation Extension there is a focus on the environment in terms of it’s benefit to mankind. In addition to Marsh all’s described fields of study there are other braches of Environmentalists. Once group would be Anthropocentrism where mankind is considered the primary species and all ethical situations are considered with how it will impact us (Environmental Ethics, 2010). There is also Deep Ecology which focuses on the equal rights of all living things and similarly to Marshall’s Ecological Extension (Brennan Lo, 2008). The future of the field expands beyond the earth, air, and water in which we live today and into the environment of the future. We have already begun spreading debris into our own atmosphere and will reach for the moon in the next few decades. Beyond that we will continue to explore out to other planets inside our galaxy and potentially someday reach beyond to other far reaches of the universe. When that happens we will need to take into consideration our impact on the other biological and non-biological entities we come in contact with. As originally stated the term Environmental Ethics is relatively new but the practices of acknowledging mankind’s need for the environment and our ability to impact has existed for centuries. In ancient times mankind became negatively impacted by deforesting the land and polluting near its cities and there were several movements across the globe supporting vegetarianism and the protection of animals they lead us away from the practice of animal sacrifice. After the ancient times disease and pollution lead to the creation of more sanitary living conditions at the expense of new forms of pollution involving the advancement in fossil fuel use. In the Common Era environmentalists are involved in most all facets of life and have varied view points when considering what is â€Å"right†. Lastly the future of Environmental Ethics lies beyond our planet as we search out new worlds to explore beyond our own galaxy. References Brennan, A., Lo, Y.-S. (2008, January 3). Environmental Ethics. Retrieved from Stanford University website: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-environmental/ Environmental Ethics. (2010, July 3). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_ethics Kovarik, W., Ph.D. (2001). Environmental History Timeline. Retrieved from Radford University website: environmentalhistory.org/ Research Papers on An Overview of Environmental EthicsGenetic EngineeringPETSTEL analysis of IndiaRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesDefinition of Export QuotasBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductTwilight of the UAW

6 top apps for teachers in 2018

6 top apps for teachers in 2018 Fact of life: teachers are busy, both in the classroom and outside of it. Apps can be a godsend to help keep organized and improve the classroom experience for students. But there are so many apps out there- which ones are tops for teachers and can help streamline their lives inside and outside of the classroom? Let’s look at some of the best apps for educators for 2018, designed to help these busy professionals keep their days (and their classrooms) organized.TeacherkitTeacherkit is special-made for teachers, and used by more than 1 million people around the world. It can log student attendance, keep notes on individual students, record grades, and generate reports for students and parents, among other tasks. This is an app that can be used by teachers at all levels: K-12, college, and beyond.Available on: iOS, AndroidCost: Free, though you can upgrade to a premium version of the appClassDojoClassDojo helps teachers enhance the classroom experience by taking a multimedia appr oach to setting up student groups, maintaining real-time classroom data, generating creative classroom project ideas and activities, playing music or videos in the classroom, and sharing data with parents or colleagues so they can see what’s going on day-to-day.Available on: iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, any computerCost: FreeRemindTired of giving the same reminders and announcements over and over, or sending out emails that you know are never read? Billing itself as â€Å"the end of unread emails and handouts,† Remind eases teacher communication by sending out reminders and messages to targeted groups. You can be sure the people who need to get messages are receiving them and schedule reminders that go out as automated messages. Remind is great for use with students and parents, as well as colleagues and administration.Available on: iOS and AndroidCost: FreeEdmodoIf you’re looking for a way to build your classroom community (engaging parents and families, keeping students involved in their progress), then Edmodo could be the communication app for you.Available on: iOS and AndroidCost: FreeToo NoisyIs â€Å"indoor voice, please† part of your daily repertoire? Too Noisy is a bit counterintuitive- it uses chaos to combat noise. As the classroom gets louder, the app has custom tracking that displays changing graphics and alarms that tell students things are getting too loud. Students learn what â€Å"normal† sounds like, and the teacher can set whatever trigger levels he or she wants.Available on: iOS and AndroidCost: $3.99AnimotoIf your classroom presentations could use a little jazzing up (and really, whose couldn’t?) Animoto gives teachers fun templates for slide shows, as well as access to a large database of music and videos that can be exported for presentations, emails, or other digital documents.Available on: iOS and AndroidCost: FreeIf your goals for the year include a more organized classroom or more fun ways to en gage your students and the school community, any of these options will help you hit those with digital style.

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

Napoleon Bonaparte - Research Paper Example This research paper describes life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Many historians appreciate and acknowledge Napoleon as one of the best and great men of all time. He was ruler of the French who strengthened and institutionalized a lot of restructuring of the French Revolution, that occurred during 1789 to 1799. Napoleon, even today, is considered to be one of the best military commanders of all time. This research pape is very well-structured and divided in 6 parts. The researche focuses most on describing Napoleon Bonaparte’s place in history, explores his controversial status as a hero or a villain, described Napoleon Bonaparte's years at St. Bernard and also deeply analyzed the biggest mistake in his life - the Russian Campaign. In this research paper full presentation on the Russian Campaign is given. It mentiones some important facts, such as Napoleon's confidence that he would win, the number of troops he had, war strategies that was used both by him and by Russians and his defeat. In conclusion of this research paper, author states that without the changes that Napoleon brought into effect in many countries, these nations might still be in the national devastation that they were prior to Napoleon taking over. The French revolution aroused and floated new ideas pertaining to parity, justice, liberty, and the very nature of social contact. Author concludes that the heroic efforts of Napoleon not only in battle, but also in the French society as a result of the French revolution should be remembered forever.

Film Remakes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Film Remakes - Essay Example Film remaking is both an elastic concept and complex situation especially because the interrelated roles and practices of the industry, critics, and audiences both enable and limit it, thus, to try and understand film remakes, it has been broken down into three major tiers. The first tier deals with remaking as industrial category (Verevis 2006, p.3), which entails issues such as production, including commerce and authors; the second tier is remaking as textual category, and it deals with the genre, plots, and structures. The third and final tier is that of remaking as critical category, which investigates issues of reception, including audiences and institutions; the film remake emerges as a case of repetition, a function of the cinematic discursive fields that is maintained by specific practices in history. For instance, some of the historical practices that actively maintain the concept of film remakes include but are not limited to things such as copyright law and authorship, can on formation and media literacy, in addition to film criticism and reviewing. In that case, the concept of film remaking is a common feature in the history of cinema and it entails a number of technological, textual, and cultural practices; however, film remake has since then been maintained as a separate phenomenon, yet connected. This paper seeks to address some of the crucial pertinent issues surrounding the concept of remaking, while trying to explore a broad theoretical approach that provides both an understanding of the concept of cinematic remaking, and individual film remakes in the contemporary times. Introduction For many years, the cinema has been repeating and replaying its own narratives and genres from the beginnings of time yet film remaking has hardly received any critical attention worth noticing especially because most of the pertinent questions surrounding this concept remain unexplored in film studies. For instance, some of the questions that have seldom been ask ed in film studies concern what film remaking really is, which films that are remakes of other films, how film remaking differs from other types of repetition such a quotation allusion, and adaptation, in addition to, the relationship between remakes and other commercial forms such as sequels, cycles, and series. Apart from these, other pertinent questions that need to be explored in film studies regarding film remakes concern how film remaking differs from the cinema’s more general ability to repeat and replay the same film as many times as possible through re-issue and redistribution. Additionally, film studies might also want to consider the interesting question of how film remaking differs from the way every film is remade- dispersed and transformed- in its varied contexts and reviewing; these and much more are some of the crucial questions that are hardly asked and answered in film studies. There exists several accounts of cinematic remaking, and most of them have provid ed different versions of definitions of film remakes, as new versions of existing films, and as films that to some substantial degree strike as being related to either one or several previous movies. Film remaking is not just about the simplistic cultural knowledge of the existence of, and nature of film remakes because when understood alongside the much broader concept of intertextuality, it can refer to the never-ending and fluid possibilities given forth by the discursive practices of a film culture. Ideally, the remake is distinguished not by the fact of its being a repetition, but by the fact of its being a typical institutional form of the structure of repetition†¦the citationality or iterability, that exists in and for every film† (Verevis 2006, p.1). Just like in the case of the

Slavery in belle isle in Richmond VA Research Paper

Slavery in belle isle in Richmond VA - Research Paper Example The only barrier that kept the prisoners in one place was a ditch and a wall made from earth. However, the guards shot the prisoners that wanted to escape and crossed the barrier. Because the prisoners were exceedingly many in the prisons, the owners of the prisons sold them or made them work for people (Takagi 43). This way the congestion in the prison reduced significantly because of the number of prisoners sold as slaves. Therefore, the factories that existed in the island received labor from the slaves and made substantial profits from their trade. The slave trade existed in the island for nearly two hundred years. The black slaves constituted the biggest number of slaves. Even after the abolition of the slave trade in most places around the world, it did not end in the island. This is because the slave trade brought substantial profits to the traders and owners of the prison. Slave trade was particularly beneficial to the people that owned farms, factories and industries in Richmond, the owners of the island. This is because they offered cheap labor. Because the owners of the productions had many slaves, they did the work easily. The slaves bought were usually from Africa meaning that they were blacks. The economic importance of the slave trade made the trade exist for an exceedingly long time. The economy of Richmond grew (Takagi 45). Because of the inhumanity that had developed towards the slave trade the trade existed for even a longer time. With time, Virginia had the biggest number of slaves in America. This was because of the prisoners held in the area as well as the agricultural demand of labor. The place depended fully on plantation farming for its economy. This means that they had to exploit the farms that they had, and this was only though slavery. Both men and women worked in the farms. After the civil war, many people in America set the slaves free (Takagi 43). Virginia

Examining The Concept Of Lean Synchronization Information Technology Essay

Examining The Concept Of Lean Synchronization Information Technology Essay Lean manufacturing is an approach of continuous improvement that focuses on the removal of waste resources from a process so that the goods flow to the customer at determined rate with minimum inventory. It mainly focuses on eliminating resources that does not create value for the customer. Based on Toyota Production System, Lean concentrates on preserving value with less work. Lean synchronization is the aim of achieving the flow of products and services which is able to deliver exactly what customers want, in exact quantities, exactly when needed, exactly where required at the lowest possible cost (Slack et al, 2010). This report evaluates the utility and relevance of basic Lean principles and Management and applies the same principles in contemporary business environment. Executive Summary First part of the report talks about theoretical aspect of lean. The concept of lean synchronization is explained first. After this the principles of lean and benefits of using lean are described. Subsequently barriers to lean implementation are explained. Second half of the report accounts practical application of lean in context with healthcare industry. Firstly the need to apply lean in hospitals is determined. Basic need of lean in hospitals is to: Reduce patient wait time Reduce cost and increase savings and Improve staff efficiency. Lean principles are than applied on hospital operations. Analysis discovered that time creates value to the patient. After this, value stream was assessed and waste processes were identified in the journey of patients recovery and treatment. Further to this, wastes were identified and recommendations were proposed to eliminate those wastes. Important Identified Wastes are: Extra work done for simple and easy tasks. Investigations and tests those are not required. Patient waiting for tests and surgeries. Redundancy in treating a patient. Recommendations to eliminate such wastes: Avoid the use of complex equipments that makes the processes tedious and time consuming. Perform only those tests that are required for the treatment. Equipments must be ready before a patient comes to pathology lab and operation theatre so as to avoid waste of time. Things must be done in right way in first attempt so as to avoid repetitive actions. Concept behind Lean Synchronization The term lean came into existence post World War II when there was a huge shortage of resources in Automobile sector in Japan. Toyota Company developed the concept of achieving most with optimum resources, by continuous elimination of waste. Today this concept is well known as Lean Manufacturing across the globe and is not limited to manufacturing processes. Lean applies to the whole enterprise including supply-chain, new product development process and services. The concept of lean thinking was introduced to European world in 1991 by the book written by Womack, Jones, and Roos: The Machine That Changed the World. According to Slack et al (2009), lean synchronization is concerned all about: Elimination of waste in whole process Involving all the resources and Continuously improving the process Lean approach simply calls to work smarter rather than harder with value driven sense of purpose. Organizations that follow lean thinking understand customer value and focus the processes to increase it. The ultimate aim is to create a perfect value process for the customer with zero waste. Such contemporary approach creates processes that enable companies to respond to changing customer desires with high quality, high variety, and low cost with very fast throughput times. Lean Principles The main guiding principle of lean to create right value for the customer with minimum effort is compounded of five key principles: value, value stream, flow, pull and perfection. Value: The key principle is to identify the customers view point about what creates value to the customer. Value Stream: This is to identify all the steps in value chain and to eliminate all those that do not create value to the end product. Flow: In order to make a smooth flow of the product towards customer, the value-creating steps must occur in tight sequence. Pull: Make only what is pulled by the customer and creates synchronization between demand and manufacturing process. Perfection: Once the value is identified, value stream is specified with wasted steps eliminated and flow and pull are introduced, execute the whole process again and continue until perfection is reached in which perfect value is developed without waste. 5stepslean.gif Fig.1 Benefits of Applying Lean Traditional Approach: Traditional approach assumes that each stage is separated from the other stage by placing the output in an inventory. The next stage will take the outputs from the buffer inventory and will pass them to the succeeding buffer e.g. as shown in fig.2, outputs from stage A are stored in buffer inventory which feeds the system for Stage B. In this manner each stage of the operation acts independently and picks material from buffer inventory and processes it for the subsequent buffer. These buffers insulate each stage from its neighbors and operations of one stage do not hinder the next stage. Hence if operations at stage A cease due to some reason, stage B can still continue for at least one time. The condition of insulation of each stage that seeks to promote traditional approach is indeed the learning argument of this system. Problems: Inventory remains idle. Slow throughput times since items spend more time waiting in buffer. Lack of coordination due to insulation of stages. Problem solving responsibility will be centered on people working in that very stage. C:UsersVibhorDesktopUntitled.jpg Fig.2 Lean Approach: In contrast with the traditional approach, lean approach processes and passes items directly to the next stage, eliminating the buffer inventories, hence reducing the barriers between stages. This provides the required amount of input for each stage at the required time. In this approach, problems at any stage have different impact on the process e.g. in fig.3 if stage A stops its operations, than subsequent stages will immediately notice the issue and the problem is quickly exposed to the whole system. This helps in improving the quality by providing quick feedback at each stage. C:UsersVibhorDesktopUntitled1.jpg Fig.3 In the traditional approach, if one stage stops functioning the other stage may continue to process by the available buffer resources resulting in high capacity utilization. But generally this situation would not sustain for a long period of time and the whole process will come to halt once the buffer is empty. On the other hand, in lean approach each time there is a blockage in any stage of the process, the whole process will come to halt, reducing the capacity utilization initially. Therefore where traditional approach encourages efficiency by protecting each stage from disruption, lean approach motivates the whole system to solve the problem. Fig.4 Source: Slack et al, 2010 According to Wild (2002), following are the benefits of Lean synchronization. Also evident from the above differentiation: Reduced inventories and work in progress; Less use of space; Shorter throughput times; Increased employee motivation and participation; Smoother work flows; Increased productivity; Improved quality and customer service Barriers to Lean Synchronization Lean synchronization aims at managing the operations process in such a way that it achieves exactly what customers are looking from the operation. Pure lean synchronization intends smooth, continuous flow without any sort of delay, waste and imperfection. Following are the major barriers to achieve this ideal state: Failure to eliminate waste in all parts of the operation Failure to harness the contribution of all the people involved in the operation. Failure to establish improvement as a continuous activity. Source: (Slack et al, 2010) Waste Identification and Elimination: Elimination of waste is the basic part of lean thinking and identifying the waste is the first step towards its elimination. Any activity that does not add to value is called as waste. The wastes that hinder the streamlined flow are: Wait time worker wait time and machine wait time is waste. This is usually dependant on efficiency of machinery and workers. Conveyance Change in layout can bring processes closer resulting in reduced movements. Inventory Inappropriate quantity of production According to Toyota, supplying less or more quantity than required is the greatest source of waste. Delivery Time- Early delivery is wasteful. Therefore items must be delivered Just In Time. Variability- If quality varies according to customer expectations and customer considers to be inadequately supplied than the whole process is wasteful. waste-poster.jpg Fig.5 Employee Participation: Organizations following lean philosophy must encourage its employees to participate in problem solving activity. The intention to encourage the feeling of personal responsibility and ownership within the employees is referred as respect-for-people. Some basic factors in encouraging employee involvement are: Environment Safety safety standards and environment must be followed by everyone. Flexibility employees must be given authority to take decisions and restrictive practices must be removed. Equality each employee must be treated equally. Creativity each persons creativity must be utilized to improve the processes. Total people involvement- staff must be encouraged to participate in other activities like recruitment, supply chain and customer dealing. This improves the processes and benefits the company as a whole. Continuous Improvement: Kaizen: Kaizen is a Japanese term for improvement or change for better. In terms of Masaaki Imai, Kaizen is a continuous process of improvement in which each individual of an organization is involved to achieve a state of perfection. Three guiding principles of kaizen as explained by Hill (2005) are: Process reviews review of entire process from designing stage to delivery. People participation employees insights to improve the process. Constant need for change seeking improvement and implementing changes result in achieving perfection. kaizen.JPG Fig.6 Source: Archfield Consulting Group Deming Cycle: It is also called PDCA cycle which involve a team of people who continuously find improvements in an organization. Waters (2002) defined this cycle as: Plan review of existing processes, information gathering, finding alternatives and suggesting improvement plans. Do plan in implemented and performance data is collected. Check analyzes the collected data to check if expected improvements appear or not. Act- if improvements are visible, the operation is made permanent else lessons are learnt. deming cycle.png Fig.7 Applying Lean in Healthcare Industry Applying lean in healthcare industry is similar to its application in manufacturing. Lean manufacturing reduces waste from the set of operations that takes place in producing of items. Similarly lean can reduce waste and improve the services provided to the patients in hospitals. This may also help hospitals to manage issues like financial deficits, infections, waiting queues and capacity management. Why Lean in healthcare? Alike other industries, healthcare also face problems like safety concerns, capacity and waiting queue management, low level of efficiency and lack of staff motivation. To get rid of these issues and to deliver improved and timely patient care, it is important to base hospital processes on lean synchronization. Lean implementation in hospitals can also prevent hospitals acquired infections, avoidable injuries, death and less recovery time. Traditional practice in hospitals Major time of patients and hospital staff is wasted due to multiple trips made by the patients and the staff members. Once the tests are performed, patient is called for diagnosis after few days. Treatment for the illness may or may not start on the same day. This delay in treatment may cause deterioration in patients condition. Implementation of lean in hospitals will reduce the time taken in treating the patient. According to lean process, a patient must come once and all the processes must be done on the same day e.g. tests are done and the treatment is started soon after the diagnosis from the tests. The process mentioned in the figure consumes unneeded time of patients and hospital staff and this in turn increases the overall cost and risk to life. Avoiding such unnecessary trips eases patient care and reduces the workload on doctors. Lean eliminates waste processes and increases the overall throughput in hospitals. Untitled.png Fig.8 Untitled.png Fig.9 Source: NHS Confederation Principles of lean in healthcare Value: To ensure patient satisfaction, hospitals need to analyze the patients viewpoint as depicted in fig.10. Value is the perception of a patient and can be created when right consultation, test, diagnosis, communication, treatment and after care is provided to the patient. By eliminating waste processes and utilizing resources, staff will be able to concentrate more on patient care. figure3.jpg Fig.10 Source: JWA Inc. Value Stream: Value stream is the process of identifying all the steps that creates value to the patient and eliminating those that creates no value to the patient. Usually hospitals tend to group patients on the basis of clinical similarity. However lean focuses not on similar conditions but similar processes.Fig.11 shows various steps and processes taken to discharge a patient. Untitled.png Fig.11 Source: Flinders Medical Centre In a hospital a value stream is the end-to-end process of caring for a group of patients whose overall care process have enough in common for them to be managed together, irrespective of clinical diagnosis (David Ben-Tovim, 2006). Following are the steps that may not create any value to the patient and should be eliminated: Patients visit to hospital on different days for different tests. Time wasted when patient waits to be seen by the doctor. Unnecessary step of nurse checking the patient. Time wasted in collecting medical equipments and information. Repetition of processes such as diagnostic tests and paperwork. Time consumed in searching medical history of patients. Performing tests that are not required. Fig.12 The factors stated above signify that time is the most valued element for the patient as well as for the hospital staff. To eliminate this waste of time, we first need to identify the cause of this waste. Fig.13 shows the causes that increase the waste in waiting time. Cause and Effect 3.jpg Fig.13 Waste Identification: Waste is anything that does not create value to the patient. Inventory: Holding excess material to avoid unreliable supply is referred as inventory waste in hospitals. Eliminating such waste can reduce cost and time of both the patient as well as the hospitals. Extra Processing: Use of complex equipments to conduct simple tests makes processes large and inflexible and may cause stress to the staff. Overproduction: Unnecessary tests and investigations are referred as overproduction in healthcare industry. These tests must be avoided to save time and cost. Waiting: This is the patient wait time that created due to process or material waiting e.g. patients waiting for test or surgery due to equipment readiness. Transportation: Movement of patients and materials are considered as waste but these cannot be eliminated completely. Processes must be arranged in a manner that steps become sequential and easy to identify. Defects: Defects increase the processes and are caused due to wrong medication or infections. Doing things in a right way will reduce redundancy as well as defects in a process. Movement: Hospital layout must be in a way that it minimizes the repetition of movements by staff and patients e.g. in operation theatres, all equipments must be in reach of the operation table so as to ease the surgeon while doing surgery. Mapping Value Stream: The challenge in value stream is to map exactly the things that actually occur at each stage of patients journey towards recovery, as depicted in fig.14. Lean redesigns this flow to enable seamless movement of patients to the next step without unnecessary work or wait. Fig.14 Fig.15 shows an example of process mapping where it just takes one step on the process of tests and lists each step of work that is currently performed. Amount of time, distance covered and required amount of materials can be added to each such step. It is evident that huge amount of work is being done without creating any value. Involvement of staff during waste identification is usually advised so that the effect of one persons actions is visible to all. Fig.15 Flow: Flow is the process where every patient is worked with single unit at a time and passed to the next step without any delay. Following are few processes that can be redesigned in order to implement lean operations: Concurrent medical problems complicate patient care of an elderly patient who got fractured. Treatment is affected because specialists fail to communicate and coordinate with each other. This problem can be resolved by creating another department called Trauma Unit which creates a single team having all kind of specialists. A standard hand off process between each member will make it possible to identify and address treatment issues regardless of who is on duty. In hospitals, usually same type of operations is conducted on one day and another type of operations on other day. To increase flow through surgeries, it is suggested that few operations of each type should be performed each day. This will reduce waiting time for patients as well as burden on wards. In outpatient department, patients are usually called in the morning at same time say 9a.m. and it is highly likely that not all of them will be treated at the same time and some have to wait till noon. Hence patients must be called according to priority and severity of the problem. Samples are held back in pathology to process them in batches. This leads to increase in wait time for patients. Samples must be tested soon they arrive to the lab. Pull: To create value to the customer, services should be provided in line with the demand. If the demand is for 100 admissions a day, it implies that 100 patients must be discharged on that day to accommodate the demand. To achieve this demand in hospitals all the key processes and interfaces between them must be redesigned. The time required to spend on each activity to achieve output in line with demand is called as Takt Time. It is the time that identifies the speed with which work and materials flow within different departments. In pull system, each patient is treated as one unit at a time and passed to the next level without as soon as it is ready. Fig.16 shows a pull system where each stage of the process pulls the patient towards it. Untitled.png Fig.16 Source: NHS Confederation Perfection: After eliminating all the waste processes without compromising the quality of service, the whole operations process is repeated until perfection is achieved. To achieve perfection in hospitals, following aspects must be taken care of: After Lean Implementation Patient first Wait time unaccepted Reduced errors Existing resources Reduce waste Problems visible to all End to end process Before Lean Service provider first Wait time Errors New resources Reduce cost Problems not visible Functional management Perfection Fig.17 Perfection is achieved by continuous improvement of the operations process. It is therefore necessary to that all the staff members and the hospital management must commit to seek perfection at their level. By creating standard, visible and clear processes, we can develop the foundation of uninterrupted improvement, where every new improvement becomes a landmark or platform for future processes. Advantages of Lean in Hospitals: It is observed that implementation of lean in hospitals have increased efficiency from 15 to 20 percent with safer and improved services using the existing infrastructure, technology and staff. Hospitals across the globe, which have adopted lean philosophy, have benefited from its implementation. According to David Ben-Tovim of Flinders Medical Centre, Australia, the hospital was struggling to survive and was on the verge of meltdown. But after applying lean in their operations process, they managed to earn more profits and decreased the costs. Some important advantages of lean are: Reduction of wait time for patients. Reduced cost and increased savings. Reduction in physical floor space by 30%. Productivity increases from 75% to up to 125% in some cases. Good customer relations. Staff motivation and reduced stress levels. Untitled.png Fig.18 Conclusion The aim of this research was to understand the lean philosophy and to apply lean principles in healthcare industry. It is evident from the study that lean philosophy brings positive results. It improves safety, quality and morale of the staff along with reducing time and costs in the operations process. Lean when enforced in hospital operations can add value to patient care and improve efficiency. Lean principles are generic and can be applied anywhere. If lean principles are applied at each stage of the operations process than huge amount of time can be saved. These principles challenge the whole idea of batching, triage, economies of scale and de-skilling. Results of lean implementation are potentially significant. Lean acts as antidote to traditional approach of performance management. Its emphasis is to put the whole system in a valuable stream. Leans focus is to improve effort on things that weigh importance to patients and hospital staff. It opposes the external benchmarks whic h tend to express the things that are indirectly related to improve patient care. It is also evident from the data that hospitals that have adopted lean in their operations have improved in terms of patient care, costs and time. Hence it can be concluded that implementing lean in any industry will prove to be the best bet.

Summary and Analysis of The Knights Tale Essay -- The Knights Tale E

Summary and Analysis of The Knight's Tale The Knight's Tale, Part I: The Knight begins his tale with the story of a prince named Theseus who married Hippolyta, the queen of Scythia, and brought her and her sister, Emelye, back to Athens with him after conquering her kingdom of Amazons. When Theseus returned home victorious, he became aware that there was a company of women clad in black who knelt at the side of the highway, shrieking. The oldest of the women asked Theseus for pity. She told him that she was once the wife of King Cappaneus who was destroyed at Thebes, and that all of the other women with her lost their husbands. Creon, the lord of the town, simply tossed the dead bodies of the soldiers in a single pile and refused to burn or bury them. Theseus swore vengeance upon Creon, and immediately ordered his armies toward Thebes. Theseus vanquished Creon, and when the soldiers were disposing of the bodies they found two young knights, Arcite and Palamon, two royal cousins, not quite dead. Theseus ordered that they be imprisoned in Athens for lif e. They passed their time imprisoned in a tower in Athens until they saw Emelye in a nearby garden. Both fall immediately in love with her. Palamon compares her to Venus, and he prays for escape from the prison, while Arcite claims that he would rather be dead than not have Emelye. The two bicker over her, each calling the other a traitor. This happened on a day in which Pirithous, a prince and childhood friend of Theseus, came to Athens. Pirithous had known Arcite at Thebes, and on his request Theseus set Arcite free on the promise that Arcite would never be found in Theseus' kingdom. He now had his freedom, but not the ability to pursue Emelye, and lamented the cruelty of fate... ...ructure of the tale gives priority to certain values. Theseus, the arbiter in the conflict between Arcite and Palamon and thus the character in the tale who determines the moral significance of the characters' actions, places great emphasis on honorable codes of conduct; he sets specific rules for the battle meant to ensure justice, and even orders that no soldier shall die in the battle (which then descends from a contest among gladiators to a rough approximation of modern sports). Compounding these values is a tendency toward displays of wealth and power. Each of the final events in the story are punctuated by great pageantry. On the orders of Theseus, the simple duel between Arcite and Palamon transforms into a gala event requiring the construction of a massive coliseum for two armies to wage war on one another, even bringing in the kings of two foreign nations.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (known as BSNL, India Communications Corporation Limited) is a public sector communications company in India. It is the India's largest telecommunication company with 25.14% market share as on December 31, 2007. Its headquarters are at Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Harish Chandra Mathur Lane, Janpath, New Delhi. It has the status of Mini-ratna – a status assigned to reputed Public Sector companies in India. BSNL is India's oldest and largest Communication Service Provider (CSP). Currently BSNL has a customer base of 68.5 million (Basic & Mobile telephony). It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi which are managed by MTNL. As on December 31, 2007 BSNL commanded a customer base of 31.7 million Wireline, 4.1 million CDMA-WLL and 32.7 million GSM Mobile subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2007 stood at INR 397.15b (US$ 9.67 b) with net profit of INR 78.06b (US$ 1.90 billion). Today, BSNL is India's largest Telco and one of the largest Public Sector Undertaking with estimated market value of $ 100 Billion. The company is planning an IPO with in 6 months to offload 10 % to public. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. formed in October, 2000, is World's 7th largest Telecommunications Company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India: Wireline, CDMA mobile, GSM Mobile, Internet, Broadband, Carrier service, MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VoIP services, IN Services etc. Within a span of five years it has become one of the largest public sector unit in India. BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country and now focusing on improving it, expanding the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT applications in villages and wining customer's confidence. Today, it has about 47.3 million line basic telephone capacity, 4 million WLL capacity, 20.1 Million GSM Capacity, more than 37382 fixed exchanges, 18000 BTS, 287 Satellite Stations, 480196 Rkm of OFC Cable, 63730 Rkm of Microwave Network connecting 602 Districts, 7330 cities/towns and 5.5 Lakhs villages. BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts and planned initiatives to bridge the Rural-Urban Digital Divide ICT sector. In fact there is no telecom operator in the country to beat its reach with its wide network giving services in every nook & corner of country and operates across India except Delhi & Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible areas of Siachen glacier and North-eastern region of the country. BSNL serves its customers with its wide bouquet of telecom services. BSNL is numero uno operator of India in all services in its license area. The company offers vide ranging & most transparent tariff schemes designed to suite every customer. BSNL cellular service, CellOne, has more than 17.8 million cellular customers, garnering 24 percent of all mobile users as its subscribers. That means that almost every fourth mobile user in the country has a BSNL connection. In basic services, BSNL is miles ahead of its rivals, with 35.1 million Basic Phone subscribers i.e. 85 per cent share of the subscriber base and 92 percent share in revenue terms. BSNL has more than 2.5 million WLL subscribers and 2.5 million Internet Customers who access Internet through various modes viz. Dial-up, Leased Line, DIAS, Account Less Internet(CLI). BSNL has been adjudged as the NUMBER ONE ISP in the country. BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP infrastructure that provides convergent services like voice, data and video through the same Backbone and Broadband Access Network. At present there are 0.6 million DataOne broadband customers. The company has vast experience in Planning, Installation, network integration and Maintenance of Switching & Transmission Networks and also has a world class ISO 9000 certified Telecom Training Institute. Scaling new heights of success, the present turnover of BSNL is more than Rs.351,820 million (US $ 8 billion) with net profit to the tune of Rs.99,390 million (US $ 2.26 billion) for last financial year. The infrastructure asset on telephone alone is worth about Rs.630,000 million (US $ 14.37 billion). BSNL plans to expand its customer base from present 47 millions lines to 125 million lines by December 2007 and infrastructure investment plan to the tune of Rs. 733 crores (US$ 16.67 million) in the next three years. The turnover, nationwide coverage, reach, comprehensive range of telecom services and the desire to excel has made BSNL the No. 1 Telecom Company of India. History The foundation of Telecom Network in India was laid by the British sometime in 19th century. The history of BSNL is linked with the beginning of Telecom in India. In 19th century and for almost entire 20th century, the Telecom in India was operated as a Government of India wing. Earlier it was part of erstwhile Post & Telegraph Department (P&T). In 1975 the Department of Telecom (DoT) was separated from P&T. DoT was responsible for running of Telecom services in entire country until 1985 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved out of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai. It is a well known fact that BSNL was carved out of Department of Telecom to provide level playing field to private telecoms. Subsequently in 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the Government for Private investment, therefore it became necessary to separate the Government's policy wing from Operations wing. The Government of India corporatised the operations wing of DoT on October 01, 2000 and named it as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).BSNL operates as a public sector.

Elisa Allen: A Mystified Identity Essay

John Steinbeck’s short story â€Å"The Chrysanthemums† is centered on the protagonist named Elisa Allen. The vivid portrayal of her character in different parts of the story makes the reader wonder who she really is. Steinbeck started by portraying her as a strong and knowledgeable gardener, with a sense of masculinity, following which she is portrayed as someone who yearns for sexual attention in her sensual encounter with the tinker, and concluded with her being described as a beautiful, feminine lady, and then back to her masculine self all within a span of a few hours. The evolution in the expressions, emotions, and the portrayal of Elisa Allen is an important element of Steinbeck’s â€Å"The Chyrsanthemums. † Firstly, Elisa Allen is described and presented in a very masculine manner. The words â€Å"strong†, â€Å"a man’s black hat† and â€Å"heavy leather gloves† showcase the masculinity. Additionally, her features described as, â€Å"her face was eager and mature and handsome†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦over-powerful. † lend substance to her masculinity. Interestingly, this description of Elisa is in stark contrast to the societal perception of females in that era who are meant to be more feminine. The fact that she is she is thirty five years old and has no children also de-emphasizes her femininity. However, this presentation of masculinity augurs well with her acuity for business which is demonstrated in her interest in knowing more about the conversation of her husband, Henry Allen with the men in business suits. Also, her negotiation skills with the tinker showcase the business acuity of Elisa that has gone unnoticed by Henry. The societal norms have dictated that she carry out her role as a gardener with penchant. As a result, Elisa devotes all of her energy to maintaining her house and garden. Although she rightly brags about her green thumb, Elisa’s connection to nature seems rather coerced and not something that comes as naturally as she claims. She knows a great deal about plants, most likely because as a woman, gardening is the only thing she has to think about. This constant tussle between her femininity and her masculinity lend an interesting insight into Elisa’s character. Next, Elisa is been demonstrated as a woman who lives an unsatisfying, under stimulated and frustrated life who looks to the tinker for a stimulating conversation and even sex. Her physical attraction to the tinker and her flirtatious, witty conversation with him bring out the poet in Elisa. The phrases, â€Å"she shakes out her dark pretty hair and with her eyes shining, she admits the stranger into her yard. She strips off her protective gloves†, â€Å"she looks deep into his eyes, searchingly† and â€Å"She was kneeling on the ground looking up at him. Her breast swelled passionately. † describe the sensual encounter of Elisa with the tinker. During this encounter, there is also evidence of how unsatisfied Elisa is with her life when she says the following, â€Å"I’ve never lived as you do, but I know what you mean. When the night is dark—why, the stars are sharp-pointed, and there’s quiet. Why, you rise up and up! Every pointed star gets driven into your body. It’s like that. Hot and sharp and—lovely. † This statement also showcases the poet in Elisa. Besides the poetic conversation, it symbolizes the level of incompleteness in her life. It seemed that she got carried away in the heat of the moment, and realized at a later point and felt ashamed of what she did and had been saying. After the sensual encounter with the tinker, the femininity is showcased of Elisa is showcased at its fullest by the narrator. Firstly, when she tries to dress up and present herself as a beautiful lady. This is seen in the following narration of the scenario, â€Å"After a while she began to dress, slowly. She put on her newest underclothing and her nicest stockings and the dress which was the symbol of her prettiness. She worked carefully on her hair, penciled her eyebrows and rouged her lips. † Following the dressing up, and showing up in front of Henry, the conversation that the couple have is nothing less than hilarious. Evidently, Henry is not used to seeing Elisa dress up and presents her in the feminine manner that she did. The banter that takes place between Henry and Elisa, especially when describing her as â€Å"strong and happy† and â€Å"You look strong enough to break a calf over your knee, happy enough to eat it like a watermelon† was amusing. This conversation clearly showed that Henry did not know how to react to Elisa’s femininity, supporting the fact that Elisa could have been unsatisfied with her current relationship with Henry, and hence seeking an escape in her encounter with the tinker who seemed to be more receptive and appreciative to her. However, the conversation that took place while in the caravan negated the short burst of feminism in Elisa and was overpowered with a sense of masculinity by the topics of their conversation which included: â€Å"wine over dinner,† and â€Å"women going to fights. † This could be because of the realization that nothing has changed. She is still the same lady who was gardening a few hours ago. The tinker, despite showing interest and stimulating her, was only concerned in his profit, and was manipulative to say the least. Interestingly, in the final sentence of the story, the narrator describes Elisa as a â€Å"weak, old woman. † In conclusion, the narration has been so vivid that the reader could see the emotions and the constant tussle that Elisa faces as a woman and a wife. Her life as a woman has been confined to her duties as a gardener, with no affection and love been shown by her husband Henry. This incompleteness in her life leads her to seek solace in her encounter with the tinker where she sees a ray of hope to experience her feminine self. However, this feel-good experience is short-lived when she says her chrysanthemums that she gifted to the tinker lying on the road. This shattered her dreams of being a free woman, and brings her back to reality. The reality of course is that she is confined to her reserved, unfulfilling, monotonous life as a wife with no children. The pace at which she experienced the highs and lows of her life, in a span of a few hours is note-worthy and adds to the literary value of Steinbeck’s â€Å"The Chrysanthemums. †