Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Regulation of the Private Sect essays

Regulation of the Private Sect essays To what extent should governments regulate the private sector to protect the public interest? The issue is whether or not the government should regulate the public sector to protect the publics interests. The importance of this issue is that the publics interests need to be protected from a free market system. The dilemma is that if the government regulates too much or too little, there could be negative effects on the public. The alternative positions are if there is too much government regulation, then there is no more economic incentive to maintain their business, but with no regulation, the private sector can take advantage of the defenseless consumer. My position on this topic is that it is necessary to protect the publics interests by regulating the public sector. In a free market without regulation, prices for essential goods and services are not affordable for all members of the public. When the private sector is free from any rules, there is nothing stopping them from achieving the bottom line; profit. Without regulation, achieving this bottom line comes at the expense of the public. An example of this is the privatization of the Coquihalla highway in British Columbia. The Coquihalla highway was owned by the Province of British Columbia and has been slated for sale to a private firm to operate and manage. The problem with privatizing this vital piece of British Columbian road is that this private firm may raise the toll of the highway to any figure that it chooses. It is an unfair tax on the local communities that use the Coquihalla highway and for anybody who wants to travel in British Columbia while taking a shorter route. Without regulating this highway, motorists are going to face high tolls to travel on a vital road. Another example of the free market taking advantage of the consumer due to lack of regulation was in the telephone industry in Alberta about 60 years ago. Private telephone companies ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Maam and Regional Colonialism

Maam and Regional Colonialism Maam and Regional Colonialism Maam and Regional Colonialism By Maeve Maddox Where I come from, children are taught that responding to grownups with a mere yes or no is impolite. Yeah is unforgivably rude. As a child I was taught to say yes, sir, no, maam and when I grew up, I continued to say it. When I lived in England, women whom Id addressed as maam would sometimes smile and tell me that over there maam was reserved for the queen. A recent segment on National Public Radio (Sept. 8, 2010) has alerted me to the fact that in some regions of the U.S., women perceive maamas a put-down. NY Times reporter Natalie Angier apparently wants the honorific wiped out of American speech altogether. This attack on the use of maam is an example of what I call regional colonialism. In every country, the people who live in the major population centers ridicule the speech and manners of those who live in other parts of the same country. Parisians laugh at French southern accents just as much as New Yorkers make fun of southern American speakers. Now that everyone in the country consumes the same news and entertainment media, the continued existence of regional vocabulary and pronunciation is at the mercy of the speakers and writers who control the media. An example of the media driving out previous southern terminology is that of the word soda to meansoft drink. When I was young, a soda was an ice cream treat. The first time I heard the word soda used to mean cold drink from the vending machine was in the mouth of a character on Law Order. Now all grocery stores, North and South, have soda aisles where one finds Coke, Dr. Pepper, RC, and other carbonated beverages. (I did notice a fairly recent sign in a local supermarket that listed soft drinks on the same sign as sodas.) Angier wrote an article, The Politics of Polite, in which she lambastes the use of maam. She acknowledges that maam usage varies by region. She even quotes a Georgetown professor: Southerners and Midwesterners will maam with greater frequency than do the residents on the East and West Coasts but having made this obligatory nod to regional usage, she goes full steam ahead to argue that nobody should maam anybody. In theory, ma’am is a courtesy term, meant to convey respect and graciousness lightly salted with deference. Yet much evidence suggests that when it comes to fomenting a sense of good will ma’am fails even more spectacularly than â€Å"Have a nice day.† The evidence Angier presents consists of the results of a completely unscientific poll of her own, and the following examples from the media: Barbara Boxer to Brigadier General Michael Walsh of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who addressed her as maam. She told the general that she preferred to be called senator: â€Å"I worked so hard to get that title, so I’d appreciate it, Helen Mirren, playing Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison on the crime series Prime Suspect: â€Å"Listen, I like to be called governor or the boss. I don’t like ma’am. I’m not the bloody queen, so take your pick.† Kate Mulgrew as Capt. Kathryn Janeway to a young male ensign: â€Å"ma’am is acceptable in a crunch, but I prefer captain.† In each of these examples, the context is a that of a woman asserting her right to a title previously reserved for men. If I were in a gathering in which all the male academics were being called Dr. and someone addressed me as Ms., Id be annoyed too. Angiers fourth example from the media of a character who rejects the use of maam is from a television series called Nurse Jackie: when a policeman struggling to help subdue a disturbed patient [makes] the mistake of referring to Edie Falco’s eponymous character as â€Å"ma’am,† Nurse Jackie [shoots] back, â€Å"So help me God, do not call me ma’am - uncuff him!† According to reviews, Nurse Jackie is an irascible drug-addicted curmudgeon who uses language as a cudgel. I wouldnt read too much into her objection to maam. I have no illusions as to what the outcome of the assault on maam will be if the East Coast and West Coast media take it up as a cause. A pleasant and civilized idiom native to my region will give way to a more abrupt manner of address that is preferred by those who control the national media. Meanwhile, Ill just continue to say Yes maam to my four-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter so that shell acquire the habit. She can deal with regional colonialism when the time comes. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Coordinating vs. Subordinating Conjunctions50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)Confusion of Subjective and Objective Pronouns

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Marketing and Marketing Strategy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing and Marketing Strategy - Coursework Example In light of this, this paper is a marketing strategy for a hypothetical new business. 1. NAME, LOCATION & NATURE. Sequrex Security Services will be a service provider for security and related provisions’ solutions that will cover a wide spectrum of security needs. It will be located at Inglewood in Los Angeles, California. This choice of location is calculated and purposed. The market there is un exploited and there are many avenues for growth and diversification. Sequrex Security Services will be a security provision business. It will specialize in an array of inter related security Services. At the roll out, it will specialize in commercial and residential guarding, consultancy and events security. With time and growth, the company will expand its operations to GSM alarm installation, CCTV, private investigation, dog training and executive/ VIP protection. This should be in the second growth tenure. Lastly, the company should grow to offer information security, which will in volve coding for computers, phones, internet portals and virtual stores and offices. 2. SELF-ANALYSIS Ensure that the self-analysis is relevant to the proposed service and that you make the comparisons. Security is a personal take due to the influences of the environment. I have researched widely on security from a personal interest to understand the key components of such a business. My fascination with security systems and creations has aroused my interest and eventual understanding of a business that has a potential market that has not been exploited fully. To run a security services business, one ought to have a number of skills, abilities and competencies. It is hard to find all these traits in a single individual but for the lack of them, employment of qualified complementary individuals should have a fully functional team. I am well placed to run such a business because the security business requires verbal and spatial aptitudes. I am also flexible and attentive to detail. Th e use of the important critical thinking and decision making is also imperative in management and running of the business. The knowledge of the market and the information acquired from previous observation and research has also put me in an apt place to deliver in the business. The security service business however requires leadership, firmness and general managerial skills which I lack. This predisposed the business for failure but with the employment of a manager, this will be taken care of. The potential market requires competitiveness and abrasiveness; it is a business for the tough. It requires knowledge of the changing security services, creativity to lure customers and the innovativeness to keep them. Previous experience is important as it is expediency for start-up and growth. The market also looks up to the service providers for deployment of guards who have a set of expected ethics and who can conduct themselves properly and sensibly in the line of duty. This therefore cal ls from leadership and role modeling. It also means that enforcement of discipline on the workforce is key. As I am not endowed with such competence and skill, I will source an experienced manager who should oversee operations and human resource. This will cater for my lack of prior experience and also have the effect upon the employees to give guidance and set an example. The leadership of such an individual will be the back that the reputation of the company will ride on. California has a set societal

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Equity And the Law of Trust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Equity And the Law of Trust - Essay Example An express trust is created by the settlor’s conveyance of property by will or deed to a party, for this property to be held in trust for others. Creation of a trust does not require consideration. Written and formal documents are needed only for Trusts of real estate as required by the Statute of Frauds. A resulting trust is created when the intention is inferred or presumed, by a court of equity, from the terms of disposition of the property. Finally, a constructive trust results when a court of equity compels the person having legal title, to hold it for the benefit of another. A person guilty of fraudulent acquisition of title to property will be deemed by the court to be the trustee and will be ordered to hand over the property to the defrauded party. (Trust – property law-, n.d). Trusts are set up for the joint ownership of the matrimonial home, reduce amount of tax payable, provide for infants, the elderly or mentally disordered and to protect people from their vices. Sometimes the public donates money in response to some disaster or crisis and the law has to formulate a mechanism to administer the resulting fund. (Equity and the law of Trusts, n.d). In the present day world, the role of Trusts has assumed great significance. Trusts minimize estate taxes or help people who cannot manage their own assets for example minor children, disabled children or aged parents. Sometimes a trust is created to provide support and property management for a surviving spouse and minor children or for the educational purpose of children and grandchildren. Conditions of Revocable Trusts can be changed only during the lifetime of the settlor. This is beneficial for adapting to the changes taking place in tax and estate laws. Irrevocable Trusts cannot be changed, revoked or terminated once they are set up and do not provide for changes in the tax and estate laws. Some of the modern day varieties of Trusts are: Living Trusts or Trusts which are created and

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Virtue and Character Essay Example for Free

Virtue and Character Essay 1. a distinctive trait; 2. behavior typical of a person or group; 3. moral strength; 4. reputation. Character is an evaluation of a particular individuals moral qualities. It can also imply a variety of attributes including the existence of lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits. When someone is a moral character, it is primarily referring to the assemblage of qualities that distinguish one individual from another. Character is who we really are. Its what we do when no one is looking. It s the accumulation of thoughts, values, words and actions. These become the habits that comprise our character. That character determines our destiny. Six pillars of character: A person of character thinks right and does right according to core universal values that define the qualities of a good person: They are †¢Trustworthiness †¢Respect †¢responsibility †¢fairness †¢caring †¢citizenship The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition calls these the Six Pillars of Character. Whatever we call them, though, our role as character developers is to guide young peoples thoughts, words, actions and habits toward these values, which all people share, regardless of other differences. Primary character building force: The family is the primary character-building force in a childs life, and character education is a major family obligation. Its a parents job to help our kids engage the world with as much trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship as possible. This challenge becomes more manageable by taking a simple approach and involving the full community in sending a common message about the standards of good character. Humility and character are the two important steps of true education. If we have our childrens best interests at heart as parents and teachers, we will make the development of their character a high priority. Good character consists of knowing the good, desiring the good, and doing the goodhabits of the mind, habits of the heart, and habits of action. All three are necessary for leading a moral life; all three make up moral maturity. It also helps to identify other major character influences in anyones life: †¢ people we admire †¢ people who spend time with us †¢ reactions we observe †¢ goals †¢ expectations †¢ games †¢ friends †¢ life experiences †¢ stories we hear †¢ books we read †¢ words we hear †¢ music we hear †¢ TV shows and movies How character is related to life: Heraclitus said that â€Å"A man’s character is his fate.† There are certain personal traits that can lead to a good life. Psychology guru Martin Seligman says that these character qualities foster good physical and mental health and so improve our quality of living over all. Instilling them early will set a person up for life. The good news is that we can all learn and develop these qualities and a good life is available to every one of us, and at any age.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Abiding in the Lord :: essays research papers

Abiding in the Lord NOT QUENCHING THE SPIRIT OR NEGLECTING THE LORD’S WORD Scripture Reading: 1 Thes. 5:17-21; Col. 3:16-17; Eph. 5:18b-20 Prayer: O Lord, we thank and praise You from the depths of our heart for gathering us once again. Your Spirit dwells in us, and also Your word is in us. We truly offer up our worship to You from the depths of our being because You have drawn us to seek You and Your word. Cleanse us again with Your precious blood. We trust in Your presence and the moving of Your Spirit; we do not trust in what we can do. Lord, we pray that You bless every one of us. We can sow and plant, but we cannot give life to others or cause them to grow. Lord, only You can do these things. For this reason, we really look to You to take care of the needs of everyone, especially the newly saved ones, that we may be full of light within and have Your word as a base to know assuredly that we have been saved, and that every one of us may become living to flow out Your life from within us. O Lord, give us the utterance and pour out Yourself again upon us so that Your thought, Your feeling, and Your rich word may dwell in us. May what we speak be only Yourself. We pray that You come to every one of us that we may gain You right now. O Lord, we can never forget Your enemy, Satan, the evil one. We ask You to crush him, even crush him now from within us. We bind him in Your name; we plunder his goods and release those who are bound by him. O Lord, set every one of us free—from sin, from the bondage of the world, and from the oppression of Satan. O Lord, glorify Your own name. We give You all the honor and glory. In Your own lovely name. Amen. ABIDING IN THE LORD BEING A MYSTERY THAT CAN BE EXPERIENCED In the previous chapter we clearly saw that a living way for us to abide in the Lord is to pray unceasingly and to give thanks in all things. The phrase abiding in the Lord is truly a mystery to the Chinese, but I believe that from the previous chapters we all must have gained some understanding.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

How does Miller build tension in Act 1 in A View from the Bridge?

How does Miller build tension in Act 1 in A View from the Bridge? The play A View from the Bridge was written by American playwright Arthur Miler in the early 1950’s. The play is set in Red Hook, Brooklyn. This is where the ports are near the Brooklyn Bridge that is the gateway to Manhattan. The play is centred on an Italian-American longshoreman– Eddie Carbone. Eddie lives with his wife Beatrice and his niece Catherine who he has developed improper feelings for, however his feelings are repressed.These matters are further complicated when Catherine falls in love with immigrants they are sheltering from the US government. Eddie repressed feelings suddenly begin to seep out in the form of rage and anger. Miller initially wanted the play to have one big arc culminating in a â€Å"final bang†. It was intended to have only one Act but was split up into the two. Because of this, the first Act does not contain any major climaxes in the plot but rather includes various tension-building elements that form the path to the eventual pinnacle at the end of the play.A View from the Bridge is a very tense play, with numerous layers of conflict consistently going on, and almost all of these are with Eddie. The tension aroused in Act 1 is crucial for the rest of the play. Miller during Act 1 creates tensions in a variety of manners. One of the ways Miller creates tension is through the sphere of sex and love. This is a key theme throughout the play. There are many examples of sexual tension in Act 1. On various examples it is obvious to the audience the sexual tension that exists between Eddie and Catherine even if they cannot see it.This is evident right from the opening of the play where Eddie is complementing Catherine on her new look. Eddie is supposedly the father figure in the life of Catherine and though nothing he says here is too improper, Miller from the outset has planted the seeds that Eddie thinks that Catherine, to some extent, is quite attra ctive. This idea that Eddie is sexually attracted to his niece is further illuminated by his overly protective nature of her. Even though she is practically an adult Eddie still treats her like a child.Beatrice conveys this when talking with Catherine when she says â€Å"I told you fifty times already you can’t act the way you act†¦if you act like a baby he be treatin’ you like a baby†. However, this is not the main reason why Eddie treats Catherine in an over protective manner. When Catherine is showing off her new skirt Eddie reacts by saying â€Å"I think it’s too short, ain’t it†¦I don’t want to be a pest, but I’m tellin’ you you’re walkin’ wavy. †His over  protectiveness in this instance demonstrates the idea that Eddie is not comfortable with the fact of other guys being attracted to his niece, as his feelings towards her are not resolved. Further tension is created in this household when Catherine alerts Eddie that she wants to go to work. Eddie thinks of all the possible excuses to sway her decision. Simultaneous to this Beatrice is questioning why Eddie is so overly concerned by this. Eddie tells Catherine and Beatrice one of his lacklustre excuses for Catherine not taking the job â€Å"I know that neighbourhood, B., I don’t like it. †, Beatrice responds with â€Å"â€Å"Tell her to take it. You hear me†.This is a clear example of Eddie’s possessiveness for Catherine and how Beatrice seemingly doesn’t see it as his feelings are suppressed. Sexual tensions are further highlighted by the problems that are going on between Eddie and Beatrice. This is evident when Beatrice demands of Eddie â€Å"When am I going to be your wife again? † This implies that Eddie has rejected his love for his wife because of these strange and confusing feelings he has bottled-up.He fears that if he engages in any romantic way with Beatrice his tr ue feelings will spill out. One of the crucial aspect of the build-up of tension is the fact that the audience always knows more than Actual characters themselves. They understand that Eddie has feelings for Catherine, they can see that it is burning him up inside and they can also notice the obliviousness of Beatrice to this improper love. Miller in Act 1 has verbally conveyed much of the sexual tension, however there are various occasions where sexual tensions is expressed through physical and visible ActionOn various occasions in Act 1 Miller has created tension by physical Actions and events rather than by any verbal dialogue. Sometimes physical dialogue is more powerful than any verbal dialogue as it can sometimes to be more accessible to the audience, as the message that is trying to be conveyed is easier to comprehend. In Act 1 this can once again be seen by the creation of tension between Eddie and Catherine. This is clear in the scene where Eddie is talking about the immine nt arrival of Beatrice cousins Marco and Rodolpho. After talking of this Catherine goes gets Eddie a cigar.Catherine is eager to be at Eddie’s assistance and to even light it for him. The long spherical shape of a cigar can be likened to a phallus. This image of Catherine lighting the cigar is quite provocative thereby provoking quite blatant sexual imagery. Another key moment in the play in regards to tension building is the scene where Eddie teaches Rodolpho how to box. This scene ultimately culminates in the display of Marco’s superior strength. This scene evokes tension in different ways. Initially Eddie has taken the manly role in trying to get Rodolpho to box.By doing this, to some extent, he is patronising Rodolpho as he treats him as a physically inferior being. This idea of Eddie’s superior strength climaxes when he punches Rodolpho. However, quickly the tension is turned around as Rodolpho reacts by saying â€Å"No, no, he didn’t hurt me. To Ed die with a certain gleam and smile: I was only surprised†. This is a very subtle way of showing that maybe Eddie has physical superiority but Rodolpho can hurt him mentally which in reality is much more painful. This is achieved by Rodolpho asking Catherine to dance in front of Eddie.Tension is then further increased as Marco challenges Eddie’s physical superiority. Marco asks Eddie if he can lift the chair with one hand by grabbing one of the legs at its base. Eddie cannot manage to do it however in a symbol of pure strength and force Marco is able to do it. The stage directions describe the end of the scene â€Å"Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaws, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head – and he transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph, and Eddie’s grin vanishes as he absorbs his look†.This is the end of Act 1 and it substantially esta blishes the tension that is to arise in Act 2. The tension in this circumstance is built by the changing mood of the scene in such a short time. Eddie initially felt masculine and superior; however any sort of superiority seems to be lost as Rodolpho can torture him with his relationship with Catherine. But more importantly the brute, strong, physically superior character of Eddie is no longer as Marco demonstrates his grander strength. Eddie no longer has any power and has essentially, in a way, been stripped of his masculinity.Eddie has no power in the Marco or Rodolpho now. In Act 2 it becomes clear that Eddie due to the tension between him and Marco and Rodolpho has resorted to the pettiest measures to get what he wants. The grin Eddie once had of knowing that he was strongest has disappeared as there is a new man of the household. Arthur Miller in Act 1 creates tension by using visual imagery and Actions. In this manner the events that go in front of our eyes carry a greater si gnificance while we also gain a better understanding of emotions as we are able to see the Actors faces.The tension that is existing between the characters is more visible as in some situations the tension is physically present. In Act 1 Miller employs various techniques to create tension. In the scheme of the whole play Act 1 is crucial as it sets up for the climax that is to come in Act 2. Miller creates tension in Act 1 verbally through various moments of sexual tension. Furthermore tension is created in Act 1 through physical interactions. Arthur Miller creates tension in Act 1 in A View from the Bridge through verbal and physical dialogue.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Management Accounting Assignment

602 Management Accounting David Xu Id: 65990771 Session Preparation Assignment (SPA) #2 Understanding Key Cost Relationships 1. Read Chapter 2 of SN, Key meanings in the Chapter. Understanding key cost in a firm is the most important issue in management accounting. That is because business survives on value exchange. Customers and business are willing to exchange money and services (products) based on the costs. How products cost can effect a firm’s financial health is very important for managers. Cost objects are the different aspects of a firm’s operation, or products, it is essential concept in management accounting.If not properly handled, cost objects can hinder, not help, the manager to understand to company’s reality. The example here is very easy to explain the situation. Also cost objects are vital to planning, motivation, and controlling. In some cases, manager makes decision to close or open new store in a region based on the cost objects. We can also see products as cost object, normally happen in manufacture business. Because accrual accounting makes a number of judgement and assumptions and all that are subjective, so it is common that managers sometimes understate or overstate a company’s profits in a period.Direct cost and indirect cost VS Raw Material and Maintenance cost The main business in NZ and Australia are service business, mostly dealing with people. Cadbury is a good example for manufacture business. Product cost and period cost. The later is a new concept and is not difficult to understand. Apportion indirect cost. Deciding indirect cost in a company is often not straightforward and sometimes involving a number of judgements and assumptions. We can attach overhead cost to products to better understanding the reality. Function based costing system Predetermined Overhead Absorption ratesActivity based costing systems Variable costs are normally direct costs, it is used in the cost of work-in-progress and fini shed good inventories of products. Fixed and variable costs VS Rates and Raw Materials Variable cost and company’s activity level Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis Use of function can help to understand the analysis Very good example to explain the case Contribution margin = Sales – Variable Costs Managers have to make some assumption to in terms of how cost and profits may change at different level of activity 2. Think back to your answers to Section 3 in SPA#1. hat might be the key costs of Ryman Healthcare Ltd? What might be the key issues facing Ryman in terms of managing its costs? Why do you think this? What might be the key cost relationship that you would need to deeply understand in order to be able to manage the business of Ryman Healthcare? The key costs according to the principles of cost objects, they can be: 1) Costs to maintain the retirement villages, including nursing cost, medical cost, etc. 2) Costs to construct retirement villages, including building mate rials, mortgages and interests, etc. ) Costs to market in selling the retirement village units, including advertise, commercials, etc. 4) Logistics costs, includes warehouse, etc. 5) Overheads, including power, rates, security, etc. If I am the CEO of Ryman Healthcare, I think the key issues in managing the costs will be: 1) Hidden costs between different departments in the company. These costs are usually indirect costs in Ryman Healthcare Ltd, like costs to fix leaky buildings in the village units, ever increasing financial costs in the recession economy. ) How to properly apportion indirect costs to Ryman’s main service, occupation rights of individual retirement village units. We have to make some judgement and assumptions in the process. For example, when fix a leaky buildings, the costs can be categorized in building maintenance costs; when financial costs increases because of the financial crisis (more difficult to borrow money), it can be categorized to construction c osts. 3) To analysis the fixed and variable costs in the company. Fixed costs are staff wages, electricity, rates, etc. variable osts are village unit construction cost, outsourcing nursing cost when extra help needed, etc. The key task here is to increase profits and also put the variable costs under control, which is big challenge to CEO in Ryman Healthcare. 4) Use different methods in dealing different department of the company. We can use functional-based costing system method in construction department, and use activity-based costing system in nursing department in apportioning of the indirect costs. Key cost relationship in Ryman Healthcare: The cost relationship can be best expressed in Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis (CVP).Function y is variable cost and x is number of village unit, then y = f(x). We assume that variable cost is straight-line function, which means when village units increases, the variable costs (costs to run the villages) increase in the same trend. In reality, when running a retirement village, it has a minimum cost regardless how many units are occupied. We call this minimum cost is M. We also use C as cost to run each unit, the total variable costs can be represented as: Y = M + C x X Y: variable cost M: minimum cost to run a village, it is fixed cost C: cost to run one village unitX: number of village units From the financial statements of Ryman, it has $40 million profits last year, way above break-even point, so we will focus on minimising the total cost. In the above function, if we increase the number of units X, and keep fixed cost at a certain level, then the average fixed cost per unit will reduce. Here we also assume that cost to run per unit is hard to reduce and unchanged at a certain level of village units, and used as constant here. In this CVP analysis, CEO of Ryman Healthcare can deeply understand the cost relationship between fixed cost and variable costs.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

This is a brief introduction into my R.E coursework, which is based upon religious programmes in the media Essay Example

This is a brief introduction into my R.E coursework, which is based upon religious programmes in the media Essay Example This is a brief introduction into my R.E coursework, which is based upon religious programmes in the media Essay This is a brief introduction into my R.E coursework, which is based upon religious programmes in the media Essay Since religious programmes started broadcasting on the television in 1946, many peoples knowledge about other faiths other than their own, have grown. This is due to the fact that there is a vast majority of viewers tuning into these programmes shown on the television, which are usually shown on the television on a Sunday morning or afternoon. They are usually aired at this time because many older people are unable to get access to their local church so they watch these programmes instead. These series of programmes are called the God slot.Many other religions show programmes to do with their faith if there is a religious occasion, but it is mainly Christian programmes about the church and issues concerning the world.Most religious programmes give the viewers either a positive or negative impression towards their religion. This often influences younger viewers against the idea of religion, if they see the church as a dull and place which only old people go to. Some programmes give th e viewers this impression, but now there are many programmes in which they show the church in a much brighter and more enjoyable place to be. They show many programmes during Christian festivals (Christmas and Easter) that show the church as a fun and enjoyable place, which they hope, will influence younger viewers and increase the number of people attending the festivals in churches. This tactic is also used for other religions such as Hinduism and Judaism when they have important festivals up coming such as Deepawali and The Passover. This is quite a useful way of broadcasting other religions and showing to the viewers that the programmes on the television concerning religion are not biased.I have concluded that if comedy is added to religious programmes, this will increase the number of younger viewers. This is because they will find the church much more than a chore or a place of no fun with loads of old people, but of a place that makes religion enjoyable and fun for others.Rel igious DocumentariesIntroductionIn our previous R.E lesson, we watched two videos that was to teach people from other religions about the Muslim ways of life and about a course that could make people that are not very religious, into religious people. These types of religious programmes are called religious documentaries. There are many other categories of religious programmes other than documentaries, and here are a few of them:* Worship* Magazine* Animation* MusicHere is a chart that states whether these religious programmes are documentary, worship, magazine, animation or music.Name of ProgrammeChannelBroadcast timeLengthCategoryThe Heaven and Earth ShowBBC 110.00 am1 hourMagazineThe Beginners BibleChannel 58.00 am1/2 hourAnimationSunday MorningITV111.00 am1 hourMagazineMy Favourite HymnsITV110.30 am1/2 hourMusicThe Belief FileThe programme about the Muslim faith was called the Belief File. This is on BBC 1 around 2am to 6am for 1 hour on a Sunday morning and this is classified a s a documentary.The people in this documentary about the Muslim faith, where young Muslims explaining about their religion and answering the questions put forward by the couple of children that where learning about the Muslim faith. They mentioned the 5 pillars of Islam and how a Muslim prepares themselves in their special way for their daily prayers.I cannot recall any music being used in this presentation, but there was some prayers being read out and that sounded musical.The audience was our class and they were watching the video and taking down notes on what they were seeing about the Muslim faith. After watching the video our teacher asked us what we had thought about the video that we watched and had a class discussion.The pace of the programme was quite steady; they repeated a couple of the words twice so the audience could understand the pronunciation of the words. They did use subtitles for these words so the viewers knew how they were spelt.I think that the target audience was younger viewers. I think that they want to give younger viewers a well-balanced look towards religion in the world and so that they do not think that there is only one religion dominating the world. They want them to know that they live in a multi-cultural society.I do not think that this programme was very enjoyable, even though I thought that it taught very well about Islam.I think that some people might have not liked the fact that it is on in the early hours of the morning and that there was no background music.It was what I had expected from a religious point of view, as it taught people about the Islamic faith and their ways of life very well.I think that it was a good representation of the Islamic religion as it out lined the most important things in a Muslims life.I think that aim of the documentary was to teach younger viewers about the many religions in the world and I think that they might have succeeded in this.I do not think that they have taught the viewers very i nterestingly in this programme.ConclusionI think that this programme was good in terms of teaching the Muslim faith but was rather dull. Most of my classmates thought that as well.Alpha-Will it change their lives?The programme about the Alpha course was called Alpha-Will it change their lives? This is on ITV late at night for 1 hour. This programme is classified as a documentary.This programme was based on the Alpha course, in which many people that are not religious go along to meetings and discussions, which teach them about Christianity and bring them, closer to God. We watched a clip of the programme where a taxi drivers wife had been going to these classes and then he decided to join also. He says it completely changed my life and he also said he is in touch with the Holy Sprit.There was no music involved with the clips of the programme we watched and was no audience participation at all.The pace was quite moderate as they got through I think 4 or 5 people in a 1-hour episode. As I only saw 1 clip, I cannot comment on the structure of the programme.I think that the target audience of this programme was none religious people. This is because they were trying to introduce what the Alpha course is about and there would be no point showing it to religious people, as they are already aware of their religion, instead it is aimed at those less religious people.There was nothing at all enjoyable in this programme and I didnt expect it to be anyway.I think that some people might not like the programme because was trying to make people turn into religious people and many none religious people might frown upon some course trying to change their lives.The programme was not what I had expected. This is because I thought that it would be a bit more fun as they are trying to make people join this Alpha course and it was actually a boring programme, from what I saw anyway.I think that it was not great representation of the religion, but was okay. It showed how the cours e changed peoples lives, but it was rather dull too.I think that the aim of this documentary was to turn people that are not particularly religious, into religious people.I am not sure if the aims were met as I only watched a bit of it, but I would guess that did meet the aims they had set themselves.It didnt teach interestingly also and that is the sole reason why I did not particularly like this programme.ConclusionI think that this programme was very dull and most of my classmates thought that as well.A Religious Magazine ProgrammeIntroductionIn our previous R.E lesson, we watched two videos that were both religious magazine programmes. One was called The Heaven and Earth show and the other was called Sunday Morning. They are both shown at 10am on a Sunday morning and they both last 1-hour. The Heaven and Earth show is shown on BBC 1 and Sunday Morning is shown on ITV. I am now going to analyse the two magazine programmes.The Heaven and Earth showThere were two presenters, who we re joined by guests, on each separate topic that was being discussed.There was not much music being added to the background in this programme, but there was some music at the beginning of the programme and when they were showing the viewers what issues they were going to discuss in the programme.There was some audience participation, as they had a phone in, where the viewers had their say on the issues being discussed and there was also an email address, so viewers could email them instead of phoning in if they preferred.The pace of the programme was quite slow and they had quite a lot to say, which might have made it quite boring for younger viewers.I think that the programme wasnt structured that well. They might have interested the older people, but they might have put the younger people off, as they didnt have particularly interesting topics. But they did have a quite good issue at the end, which might have pleased the younger people, if they were still watching, which was when the Reverend went to a dating agency. Although they did cover four different topics well.In this programme, they were discussing many different issues. They were discussing:* War and Afghanistan* Stardom* Dreams* Reverends and dating agenciesOn the discussion panels about the war and Afghanistan, there was John Torode, from the Daily Mail and Dr Scilla Elworthy. In the interview on stardom was David Essex, talking about his music career and about when he played Jesus in a play, and how he was publicly criticised as people were saying that he wasnt religious. In the conversation on dreams, was Helen McLean. This was also when there was a phone in, where people discussed their dreams and what they could possible mean. Lastly, there was their Reverend, and how she went to a dating agency and when she met many different people.There was not much religion mentioned in the programme. There was a bit religion coming into the Reverend and the dating agency and when they were talking about W ar in Afghanistan, but that was it. It was not what I had expected, I thought they were going to discuss more religious issues.ConclusionI thought that this programme was not that bad as I enjoyed the part at the end when the Reverend went to the dating agency. Before that, the programme was not that interesting and me and other classmates found the last bit to be the best bit.Sunday MorningIn this programme there was also two presenters, who were joined by guests, on each separate topic that was being discussed.There was more music in this programme than in the previous programme. They had some at the beginning and when they showed the topics that they were going to discuss, but they also had a band singing in the studio called Shine. This band is a girl band that brings up religion in their songs.There was also some audience participation in this programme, but this had an agony aunt in the studio.The pace of the programme was also slow like the previous programme.The programme st ructure was a bit 50/50, as they might have interested younger viewers with the music at the beginning, but might have made the older people that this wasnt a programme about religion and could put them off the programme.They were discussing a second marriage for divorced people and how hard it is to find a church to marry them. They had a discussion with the girl band and why they are singing songs that have a link to religion and God. They had a chat with Terry Waite, who had been a hostage and also had the agony aunt at the end.There was more religion in this programme than the previous, and it was all about Christianity.It was a bit of what I expected, but I thought that they might have had a multifaith conversation, which they didnt.ConclusionI think that this programme was very dull! It started off well with a girl band singing in the studio but the programme became quite a bore really. Im almost certain that all of my classmates hated the Sunday Morning show and preferred the Heaven and Earth Show.A Religious Worship ProgrammeIntroductionIn our previous R.E lesson, we watched a religious worship that is called Songs of Praise. This is shown at 5.20pm on Sunday, on BBC1. This last for approximately 35 minutes. I was not in the lesson when the rest of the class viewed this particular episode, so I have had to watch it in my own time and therefore seen a different episode to the rest of my class.In this programme the presenter, Pam Rhodes, was talking to people and discussing stuff such as great British musician, Elger, Christian unity in the Cathedral in Worchester, 5000 books in the church written by monks, 2 local men taking part in a rowing tournament and Terrorism in the world today. The members and choir of the church also sang about 7 hymns in the course of the programme.In this programme, there was a few people being interviewed and the rest of the people involved were the choir and the people singing the hymns in the church.There was quite a lot o f music in this programme. At the beginning there was some and there was a lot of hymns being sung.The audience for this programme was the church and the people watching the programme on the television.The pace of the programme was quite quick, and they covered about 5 topics on the show.I think that the target audience of this programme was likely to be older religious people as it had many older people singing in the church and in the choir. I think that they focus on these people as some older people might not be able to get to church and would rather watch the hymns on the television. This might be why they had the lyrics for all the hymns sung.I do not think that this programme was interesting or enjoyable at all! It was all about people singing in the church and I found this very boring.I think that some people might not like this programme and think that it was not fashionable because it was more for the older people that couldnt get to the church in time for the hymns. I als o think that some people might not have liked this programme because it was rather old fashioned, they talked a lot about the past and history of the city Worchester.I think that this programme was quite good in representing the Christian religion and was better in terms of religious output than the previous programmes in the other sections. They had the church in it a lot, they had hymns and they had history about religious people.I think that that most religious Christians would have liked this programme very much as they had lots of hymns being sung and they talk about many religious issues in the world today as well as in the past. For example, when they were talking about the terrorism, one man said that they should not be killing innocent Afghans, but they should kill Satan himself .The people talking about their separate issues were not particularly mentioning God but I think that when the man was saying, kill Satan himself I think that had a link to God. As God does not w ant people killing one another, but wants them to kill Satan himself by resisting the temptation of bombing Afghanistan. I also think that the people singing the hymns were reaching out to God and praising Him.ConclusionI think that this programme was very boring and although my classmates did not see the episode that I did, but the one that they watched, must surely have been equally as boring and dull.Religion in Soap OperasIntroductionIn our previous R.E lesson, we watched two soap operas. A Soap Opera is a very popular form of television in which sets of characters are followed as they live theyre lives individually and in their community. We watched them to see their religious content. Most Soap Operas tend to base their stories on things like abortion, euthanasia, racism, prejudice, homosexuality, theft etc. We watched Brookside, which is shown three times a week at either 8pm or 8:30pm on Channel 4 and Eastenders, which is shown four times a week at either 7:30m or 8pm on BBC 1.BrooksideAddle, who is 14 years old, has had an abortion. In many religions this is considered to be a sin, as it is considered to be murder. It also interferes with The Sanctity of Life, but in the Hindu faith, this would be okay as they believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation is when you die and then you will keep coming back to earth in another body until you are pure enough to get to Moksha. Moksha is what Hindus believe is heaven.I think that the producer has chosen this topic as it is quite a well-known thing and comes up quite a lot in peoples lives. The relationship between the family members is very brittle. This is because the mum had had a miscarriage and she really wants a baby and her daughter had got pregnant and then had an abortion. The mum is angry with her husband as he drove her to the abortion. Addles brother is very upset about the abortion but the dad seems to be okay about the whole thing.The minister, who comes to talk to Addle and tell her that she will me et her baby in heaven, is dealing with the whole abortion issue quite well and is comforting her although Addle is very stressed. This is when religion is brought into the soap opera.I think that the effect on the viewers must have been quite big, as they must have all thought that she would have kept the baby and that she did not want to commit another sin.In this episode there was quite a bit of religion mentioned as they had the minister coming to talk to Addle. I also think that it was a direct reference to religion.I dont think that there were the opinions two different religions in this episode.The events that occurred in the programme were not faithful to a religious position as she had the abortion and committed another sin, which was sex before marriage, which both the Bible and the Quran say is wrong.I think that soap operas are the best place to deal with these types of issues as they can occur in many peoples lives and in soap operas, they show how to deal with the situa tion. At the end of some soap operas they will have a telephone number at the bottom for people to ring if they have been effected by any of the issues in the episode.ConclusionI myself do not watch much of Brookside, but I think that this episode was quite good and mot of my classmates had varied expressions on the episode.EastendersFrank, who is married to Peggy and Pat, who is married to Roy commit adultery. This is forbidden in possible every religion known and many people that arent very religious also think that this is morally wrong. In the Ten Commandments it says, Do not commit adultery and also the Quran says, Resist temptation, permissiveness and adultery is wrong . But they can not resist the temptation and commit adultery. In this episode, Peggy and Roy discover Frank and Pat and then Frank runs away.I think that the producer has chosen this topic, as it is the most well known issue to occur in peoples lives today.The end result of this was that Peggy and Roy found o ut what was happening and therefore Peggy breaking up with Frank and Roy breaking up with Roy, although they both got back together again. It ended with them being found out, Frank running away and Roy eventually forgiving Pat.This must have come to be a big shock for the viewers, as Pat and Frank broke up and had moved on, but they renew their love once again.I think that what happened was not religious and that there was no religion what so ever mentioned in it. They did not think about the sins that they were committing, but more about what they were going to do if they were found out!I do not think that the episode was faithful towards any religion as they had done what every religion tells you not to do, which is commit adultery.I think that religion could have easily been brought into this episode, with a friend who knows what is going on stopping them or referring them to a minister or something like that.Once again I think that soap operas are the right place to deal with th ese situations. I think this because many people watch Eastenders and if they see the things that are happening and if they are happening to them or friends then they will know how to handle the situation.ConclusionI watch a lot of Eastenders and myself and my classmates enjoyed the episode as they have Peggy and Roy finding out what Frank and Pat have been getting up to.How a religious/moral issue isDealt with in a drama/filmIntroductionVery often, even if a film or drama is not a specifically religious film or drama, religious and moral issues are part of the story line. Issues such as abortion, racism, sexism, euthanasia, adultery, etc.Four weddings and a funeralIn this film, the issues being looked at are, immorality, marriage and living in sin. These issues are all religious, as they are all going against what is written in the Bible.Marriage is not going against what is written in the Bible, but in this film, a man is about to get married to a women that he does not love, whic h is not considered to be right in the Bible. He then does what would be considered to be the right thing in the eyes of God, when he tells the woman that he does not want to marry her, as he loves someone else. This was the right thing to do as in the vows that they take, they are suppose to spend the rest of their life together, not to keep secrets from each other and to love and cherish each other, etc.Immorality comes into this film when the woman is talking to the man about how many people she has slept with and it actually came up to about 30!Living in sin comes into this film when at the end when the man has told the woman that he was going to marry, that he does not want to marry her, he asks the woman that he loves to live with him. She accepts and then they live in sin together.I am not sure that these issues will have a massive effect on the characters themselves, as it vastly depends on whether they are very religious, not partly religious or not religious at all.If ther e was religious viewers watching this film, then they would not be pleased with the sins being committed, but would probably be pleased when the man tells the woman that he does not want to marry her, as it was the right thing to do in the eyes of God.Religion says that immorality and living in sin are both wrong and are sins. In the Ten Commandments it says, Do not commit adultery and also the Quran says, Resist temptation, permissiveness and adultery is wrong.ConclusionI think that this film was a great success and did cover the religious aspects of the film particularly well because there was a lot of sins being committed in the film, and I feel they did make the religious viewers understand that it was part of the film story line.The Vicar of DibleyThe episode of The Vicar of Dibley that we watched during class was the first episode ever. This religious drama is shown on BBC 1 or 2. The religious issues being discussed in this episode is to do with sexism and discrimination. Thi s religious issue as it is to do with the church ministers being sexist towards the new vicar who is a woman. The church has often been accused of being sexist and this is being fully exploited in this episode. The Bible also says that discrimination is wrong, its says to treat all equally.In this episode, the village of Dibley was awaiting the arrival of theyre new vicar after the death of their previous vicar. Then the new vicar arrives and the are all shocked to find that the replacement of their previous vicar is a woman.The fact that the replacement vicar was a woman shocked the village people and could had great impact on the viewers that are religious and were watching this episode. They might not have expected a woman vicar and still many religious Christians could not accept a woman vicar, although the Church of England, Protestant and other churches, except for the Roman Catholic churches say that is ok to have a women vicar.ConclusionI think that this programme shares the views of many religious people on a woman being a vicar but still is considered to be sexism and discrimination in the eyes of God and many other non-religious people. Some may argue that Jesus did not have any female disciples, but at that time if he did have woman disciples, he and them would have probably been killed. But Jesus did have a vast amount of woman followers and he also treated them equally.Does television always presents religious people as being out of touch with the modern world?IntroductionI am going to look at examples and evidence from both sides to come to a conclusion on whether religious people in television programmes are in touch or out of touch with the modern world. When we say this person is in touch this means that they are aware of the current affairs in the world and in terms of television, music, sport, etc. A person that is out touch with the modern world is a person that does not know much about the current affairs in the world and dont know much a bout television, music, sport, etc.The Simpsons Marge SimpsonMy first example of a character that is in touch with the modern world is a character in an animation called The Simpsons who is called Marge. She is a religious person and I will be analysing this religious character to decide whether she is in or out of touch with the modern world. Marge Simpson is one of those religious people that know about the world and I would say she is in touch with the modern world. She not like most religious people on the television, she is popular, knows about the modern world in the terms of music and television, she has reasonable answers to peoples questions that keep them happy. In a paper article I saw in class the writer, has included quotes from people saying that Marge is my candidate for saint-hood. She is a forgiving, loving person, absolutely saintly. Another quote was that, they actually speak to God. The producer probably had an idea that The Simpsons should be rather a hell rais ing family, but instead people are praising them for being very religious.Peak PracticeMy second example of a character that is in touch with the modern world is the new vicar in Peak Practice. I think that this vicar is not what you would call a stereotypical vicar. From the moment I saw the vicar, I didnt believe that he was a vicar. Most vicars you would see would be dressed like a normal old-fashioned vicar. Although this vicar was still wearing his dog collar, he was wearing jeans and a red jumper over his it and you would not have known he was a vicar if you met him on the street. I think that he is in touch because for one, he went to the pub for the quiz night, and at the quiz night, he knew the answers to all the questions to do with sport, films and music. An old woman had also questioned him in the pub about him drinking and he replied, even Jesus had a drink once in a while. He had previously asked six local lads, if he organised a church football team, if they would pla y.Vicar of DibleyMy third example of a character in a television programme that is in touch with the modern world is the women vicar in the Vicar of Dibley who is called Geraldean. She is the type of vicar that most people in the 21st Century would love to have as their vicar. I think that she is in touch with the modern world because she is a fun, loose type of woman and she also is aware of many things in the world in terms of films, television and music. She even has a picture of an actor next to her picture of Jesus in her bedroom!The Heaven and Earth ShowMy fourth example of a character that is in touch with the modern world is the women vicar from The Heaven and Earth Show. She is similar to the women vicar in the Vicar of Dibley. She is a loose type of person and she is not particularly a stereotypical vicar. As seen in this episode, she was going to a dating agency and taking part in it.Alpha Will it change their lives?This is my first example of a person in a television pr ogramme that I think is out of touch with the modern world. His name is Reverend Doctor Steven Shakespeare from a church in Sheffield. We only saw a brief clip of this programme in class, but from what I saw of this Reverend, he seemed to be very dull and boring. He didnt talk about much apart from the Bible, but you could tell from the way in which he dressed that he was out of touch with the modern world.The Simpsons Reverend LovejoyThis is my second example of a character in an animation, but this time I feel that this character, Revered Lovejoy, is very out of touch with the modern world. He doesnt seem to be aware of what is fun and good in the world and is a very boring character. He bores many of the people that go to the church on a Sunday and when anyone asks him for advise, he doesnt seem to care or no what to say.The Simpsons Ned FlandersThis is my third example of a character in an animation, Ned Flanders, that is very out of touch with the modern world. He is very cau tious on what he or lets his children do, as he thinks that things such as sweets with a devil on the front, are bad for his children. The way he dresses also shows how out of touch and out of fashion he is.Eastenders Dorothy CottonThis is my fourth example of a character in a television programme that is out of touch with the modern world. She is a stereotypical Christian. What I mean by this is that she is always going to church on a Sunday, is very cautious on what she says and does, as she feels that it might have some affect on her religion.ConclusionI have come to a conclusion that there will always be at least one out of touch religious person in a television programme. I think that many in touch religious people are being introduced to television programmes, butthere will always be at least one out of touch person as I think that they are there to show that religion is not all changing because many younger religious people are not being old-fashioned and doing as they pleas e.Overall ConclusionAfter 4 months on studying religion in the media, I have noticed and learnt many different things about how religion is acted by the characters and how it is presented on the television to the audience. Religion is not always the moral of many soap operas, but religion, most of the time, comes up in the story line, even if it was not intended to. There are programmes that are meant to involve religion and revolve around it such as religious documentaries and magazines. Films are most probably where you would least expect religion to be in, but believe or not, it is brought up quite a lot.The actors that are playing the part of a religious person in many cases today are coming across as young, sociable people and there are becoming fewer old fashioned religious people in television programmes.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Where to Find the Best DBQ Examples

Where to Find the Best DBQ Examples SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One of the best ways to prepare for the DBQ (the "document-based question" on the AP European History, AP US History, and AP World History exams) is to look over sample questions and example essays.Doing this will help you to get a sense of what makes a good (and what makes a bad) DBQ response. That said, not all DBQ essay examples are created equal. I’ll briefly cover what makes a good DBQ example and then provide a list of example essays by course. Lastly, I’ll give you some helpful tips on how to best use sample essays in your own preparation process. What's a Good DBQ Example? Without a doubt, the best sample resources come from the College Board.This is because they are the ones who design and administer the AP exams. This means the following: Any DBQ essay example that the College Board provides will include a real DBQ prompt All samples are real student responses from previous years, so you know they were written under the same conditions you'll have when you write your DBQ- in other words, they're authentic! They not only have scores but also explanations of each essay's score,in accordance with the rubric Each prompt includes several sample essays with a variety of scores Some DBQ examples outside those available from the College Board might be worth looking at, particularly if they highlight how a particular essay could be improved. In general, though, a superior example will do the following: Include the prompt and documents:It will be much easier for you to see how the information from the documents is integrated into the essay if you can actually look at the documents themselves! Have a score:Seems simple, but you'd be surprised how many DBQ examples out there in the uncharted internet don't have one. Without a real, official score, it's hard to gauge how trustworthy a sample actually is. With that in mind, I have compiled lists, organized by exam, of high-quality example DBQs below. Don't spend all your study time sharpening your pencil. Every DBQ Example Essay You Could Ever Need, by Exam Here are your example essays! We'll start with AP US History, then move to AP European History, and finally wrap up with AP World History. AP US History: Official College Board Examples Because of the test redesign in 2015, there are right now only four official College Board sets of sample essays that use the current rubric: 2018 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2018 2017 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2017 2016 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2016 2015 Free-Response Questions| Sample DBQ Responses 2015 If you want additional sample question sets, you canlook at older College Board US History DBQ example response sets.To look at these, click "Free-Response Questions" for a given year. For the corresponding DBQ examples and scoring guidelines, click "Sample Responses Q1." Note that these examples use the old rubric (which is integrated into the Scoring Guidelines for a given free-response section). General comments on the quality of the essay, outside information, and document analysis still apply, but the score is on a 9-point scale instead of the current 7-point scale, and some of the particulars will be different. Older DBQs had up to 12 documents, while the current format has six to seven documents. If you do look at older DBQ examples, I recommend using the current rubric (as of 2017)to re-grade the essays in the sample according to the 7-point scale. I'll also give more advice on how to use all these samples in your prep later on. Mr. Bald Eagle is an AP US History DBQ grader in his spare time. AP European History: Official College Board Examples Unfortunately, there aren't as many sample resources for the AP Euro DBQ compared to the other AP history tests because 2016 was the first year the AP Euro test was administered in the new format. This means there are only three sets of official samples graded with the current 7-point rubric: 2018 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2018 2017 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2017 2016 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2016 The rest of the existing available samples were graded in the old 9-point format instead of the 7-point format implemented in 2016. In the old format there were6 "core" points and 3 additional points possible. The old rubric is integrated with the sample responses for each question, but I'll highlight some key differences between the old and current formats: With the old format, you were given a brief "historical background" section before the documents There were more documents- up to 12- but the current format has six to seven There was an emphasis on "grouping" the documents that is not present in the current rubric There was also explicit emphasis on correctly interpreting the documents that is not found in the current rubric While the essential components of the DBQ are still the same between the two test formats,you should definitely refer to the current rubricif you decide to look at any old AP European History samples. You might find ituseful to look at old essays and score them in accordance with the current rubric. Here are the old sample DBQ questions and essays, organized by year: 2015 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2015 2014 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2014 2013 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2013 2012 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2012 2011 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2011 You can get samples in the old format all the way back to 2000 from the College Board. (Click "Free -Response Questions" for the questions and "Sample Response Q1" for the samples.) Consider how you might integrate this castle into the DBQ that is your life. AP World History: Official College Board Examples The World History AP exam transitioned to a new format to more resemble AP US History and AP European History for the 2017 test. This means that there are only two past exams available that use the current DBQ format: 2018 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2018 2017 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2017 In the old format there were7 "core" points and 2 additional points possible. The old rubric is integrated with the sample responses for each question, but I’ll highlight some key differences between the old and current formats: There were more documents- up to 10- but the current format has six to seven There was an emphasis on "grouping" the documents on the old rubric that is not present in the current rubric There was also explicit emphasis on correctly interpreting the documents that is not found in the current rubric In the old rubric, you needed to identify one additional document that would aid in your analysis; the new rubric does not have this requirement The essential components of the DBQ are still the same between the two formats, although you should definitely look at the current rubricif you study with any old AP World History questions and samples.You might find ituseful to look at the old essays and score them according to the current rubric. Here are old AP World History questions and DBQ sample responses, organized by year: 2016 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2016 2015 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2015 2014 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2014 2013 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2013 2012 Free-Response Questions|Sample DBQ Responses 2012 Don't worry, the old format isn't as old as this guy right here. How Should I Use DBQ Examples to Prepare? Now that you have all these examples, what should you do with them?In this section, I'll give you some tips on how to use example DBQs in your own prep, including when to start using them and how many you should plan to review. What Should I Do With These DBQs? Officialsample essay sets are a great way to testhow well you understand the rubric. This is why I recommendthat you grade a sample setearly on in your study process- maybe even before you've written a practice DBQ. Then, when you compare the scores you gave to the official scores and scoring notes given to the samples, you'll have a better idea of what parts of the rubric you don't really understand.If there are points you are consistently awarding differently than the graders, you’ll know those are skills you'll need to work on. Keep giving points for the thesis and then finding out the sample didn't get those points? This tells you to work more on your thesis skills. Not giving points for historical context and then finding out the AP grader gave full credit? You need to work on recognizing what constitutes historical context according to the AP. Check out mytips on building specific rubric-based skills in my guide on how to write a DBQ. Once you've worked on some of those rubric skills you're weaker in, such as evaluating a good thesis or identifying document groups, grade another sample set.This way, you can see how your ability to grade the essays like an AP grader improves over time! Obviously, grading sample exams is a much more difficult processif you're looking at examples in an old format (e.g., AP European History or AP World History samples). The old scores as awarded by the College Board will be helpful in establishing a ballpark- obviously a 9is still going to be a good essay using the current 7-point scale- but there may be some modest differences in grades between the two scales. (Maybe that perfect 9is now a 6out of 7due to rubric changes.) For practice grading with old samples, you might want to pull out two copies of the current rubric, recruit a trusted study buddy or academic advisor (or even two study buddies!), and have each of you re-grade the samples. You can then discuss any major differences in the grades each of you awarded. Having multiple sets of eyes will help you see if the scores you're giving are reasonable, since you won’t have an official 7-point College Board score for comparison. How Many Example DBQs Should I Be Using? The answer to this question depends on your study plans. If it's six months before the exam and you plan on transforming yourself into a hard diamond of DBQ excellence, you might do practice grading on a sample set every few weeks to a month to check your progress to being able to think like an AP grader. In this case, you would probably use six to nine official sample sets. If, on the other hand, the exam is in a month and you are just trying to get in some skill-polishing, you might do a sample set every week to 10 days. It makes sense to check your skills more often when you have less time to study because you want to be sure that you are focusing your time on the skills that need the most work. For a short time frame, expect to use somewhere in the range of three to four range official sample sets. Either way, you should be integrating your sample essay grading with skills practice and doing some practice DBQ writing of your own. Toward the end of your study time, you could even integrate DBQ writing practice with sample grading. Read and complete a timed prompt and then grade the sample set for that prompt, including yours! The other essays will help give you a sense of what score your essay might have received that year and any areas you might have overlooked. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to using sample sets, but in general they are a useful tool formaking sure you have a good idea what the DBQ graders will be looking for when you write your own DBQ. Hey, where can we find a good DBQ around here? Closing Thoughts: Example DBQs for AP History Tests Example DBQ essays are a valuable resource in your arsenal of study strategies for the AP history exams. Grading samples carefullywill help you get a sense of your own blind spots so you'll know what skills to focus on in your prep. That said, sample essays will be most useful when integrated with your own targeted skills prep. Grading 100 sample essays won't help you if you aren't practicing your skills; rather, you'll just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Make sure you aren't using sample essays toavoid writing practice DBQs either- you'll want to do at least a couple, even if you only have a month to practice. And there you have it, folks. With this list of DBQ examples and tips on how to use them, you are all prepared to integrate samples into your study strategy! What's Next? Still not sure what a DBQ is? Check out my explanation of the DBQto learn the basics. Want tips on how to really dig in and study for AP history tests?We've got a complete how-to guide on preparing and writing the DBQ. If you're still studying for AP World History, check out ourtop AP World History study guide,or get more practice tests from our complete list. Want more study material for AP US History? Look into this article on the best notes to use for studying from one of our experts. Also, read our review of the best AP US History textbooks! Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Critical Analysis of Giac Duyen in The Tale of Kieu Essay

Critical Analysis of Giac Duyen in The Tale of Kieu - Essay Example I say this because Giac Duen is the only character whose religiosity represents the Buddhist institutional belief through her actions. Being the embodiment of Buddhist virtues, a Buddhist nun Giac Duen appears to be friendly, kind-hearted and compassionate to distressed Kieu. Indeed her friendly guardianship seems to fill up the vacuum of a religious authority that the medieval Vietnamese literary tradition often required. Du does not tell us much about the prioress’s past. Yet she appears to be self-evident because of her admirable religiosity and her actions accordingly. Indeed at times, her humanity surpasses her religiosity also. Ultimately her religiosity as well as her universal humanity makes her an outstanding figure, in the poem, which serves as an instrument that assists Kieu to get relief of the karmic retribution. In the story ‘The Tale of Kieu† Nguyen Du shows that a true friend’s assistance and love can make one successful in the end and the pr ioress Giac Duyen is the perfect example of such friendship. Giac’s relationship with Kieu grows on the basis of fellow-feeling, compassion and humanity. Though in the story Giac appears as a representative of the Buddhist religious institution, she is essentially a universal humanitarian who could surpass the boundary of her religious restriction. When Kieu flees from Hoan, the tyrant wife of Thuc, and reaches the prioress’s home, she compassionately provides her with shelter and food. This humanitarian face of Giac could have been overshadowed by her religiosity, when Kieu discloses her miserable past. But it did not happen in reality. Learning about Kieu’s past suffering, sorrow and life of prostitution, she was swinging between her compassion for the distressed girl and her religious fear about Kieu’s sin in her early life. Indeed her compassion wins over her religious fear. Even though she believes that Kieu’s suffering is the result of her Ka rma in early life, she has tried to minimize her agony. She advises Kieu to walk the noble path of a prioress. She says, â€Å"The Buddha's gate is open wide to all. But things I can't foresee are what I dread. I'd sorely grieve if something struck you here. Plan far ahead and flee - you'd be unwise to sit and wait till waters reach your feet† (line 2076). Kieu the protagonist is only able to change her destiny through the kind-hearted Buddhist nun by the name of Giac Duen. And consequently, Kieu is highly induced by the way of life of Giac and meanwhile Giac’s dominance starts playing with more priority over Kieu even her lover and husband too. Kieu took very little time to win the support from Giac. Knowing Kieu’s destiny, Giac responds to Kieu for helping her by prediction and to save Kieu from her sorrow and distressed condition which she experienced a lot in her early life. Giac also helped Kieu from jealous of Miss Hoan. So, Giac is somehow appeared as a s avor for Kieu. Giac, a strong character of integrity and loyalty tries to recover Kieu from the experience of her harsh destiny with every time assistance even with the absence of Kieu, made her great one and high character and the centered women in the story. We see that Giac didn’t leave Kieu even after her successive events of her life including death of