Segmentation Variables for the water market in the UK. Coca-Cola in UK Assignment

Segmentation Variables for the water market in the UK. Coca-Cola in UK - Assignment Example Dasani failed in the UK market because unlike most of the bottled water which were obtained from precious natural spring or alpine glaciers, Dasani was obtained through local tab water which the company put in the purification process and added mineral salt to it. Within just five weeks of its launched Dasani was withdrawn from the market resulting in financial loss, created a bad image in the minds of the customers reducing the brand value. Bottled water is the fastest growing product in the soft drink category and Coke needs a successful bottled water to capture the UK and European market (Garrett, 2004). Segmentation Variables for the water market in the UK The benefits of market segmentation are highly recognized by the marketing practitioners. With more advanced and sophisticated technology the consumers have become more sophisticated in their shopping behavior and so it becomes important for the marketers to consider the potential market segment and introduce the product. The p rinciple assumption lies on the fact the consumers are numerous and are varied in their product needs and requirements and are not satisfied by single offering, thus market segmentation is required to satisfy the different needs and demands of the customers. ... The UK soft drink sector has showed a growth rate in the year 2010 and is expected to grow in the future. The soft drink market registered an impressive 4.1% of growth along with 5.8% increase in the value and stood at 14585 million litters in 2010. UK soft drink sector is divided into five segments comprising of carbonates (44%), dilutables (24%), fruit juice (8%), bottled water (14%) and still and juice (10%) respectively. UK water markets are segmented into three types of water which includes natural mineral water comprising of 61%, spring water comprising of 28% and bottled drinking water which comprises of 11% (BSDA, 2011). Segments for bottled water UK soft drink sector consists of five different segments in which the bottled water compromises of 14% of the market share. Consumption of bottled water in UK was highest in 2006 where consumption amounted to 2240 million liters and in 2010 consumption of bottled water amounted to 2055 million liters. UK bottled water falls under th ree segments, still bottled water comprising of 72%, sparkling bottled water accounting for 14% and still water cooler comprising of 14% in the bottled market sector (BSDA, 2011). UK bottled water market continued to recover and grew by 0.7%in volume. With promotional activity along with few lucky breaks experienced in the weather kept the market share of bottled water rising. Segment targeted by Coke The target audience segmented by Coke was similar to the soft drinks, Diet Coke one of the most popular and famous product of Coke. The target customers were all those people who wanted to a product that would quench their thrust and at the same time is healthy. It can also be said that

Anne Franks Post Capture Diary Essay Example for Free

Anne Franks Post Capture Diary Essay The following all takes place between the time of Anne Frank and familys capture and her death in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp  4th August 1944  I dont know what happened. I just dont know. There is no way they could have found without some despicable, racist and selfish person turning us in. Margot hasnt stopped crying. She is depending on me. I have to put on a brave face no matter how terrified I am of our destination and what awaits us there. The truck we are on smells of urine and something else disgusting I cant imagine what is secreting out. They tell us that we are going to a prison where we can meet other scum like us. I think it is them who should be locked up. After all it is they themselves who are the scum 5th August 1944  We have arrived at our destination. I caught a glimpse of the name. We are in Weteringschan Prison. It means the prison of death. I can see why. Rotting corpses are all around. Many of us have vomited at the mere sight. However we have been told there is worse to come. I cant imagine a worse place than this. I am beginning to feel an illness about me. If I am sickening for something this early on, I will never survive. Soon they are shipping us off to Westerbork. I assume that where I will perish. Im so scared. I dont know how much longer I can bear this August 8th 1944  This is it. I cannot go on living anymore. They separated myself and Margot from Mummy and Pim. I kicked up such a fuss that Margot had to pull me back to keep the guards from shooting me there and then. There are no words to describe how melancholy I am feeling right now. I just have to sleep and hope that this fiendish life is all just a nightmarish dream  September 3rd 1944  I was shaken awake by guards early this morning. I was not awake enough to catch all of what they said but I caught the gist of it. Auschwitz Death Camp. Those words stroke fear deep into my heart. All hope of survival drained instantly from my body. I didnt have the energy to fight back, so I stumbled onto the train with what few belongings I had left and watched my screaming tearful mother reach out to us. I couldnt stop crying for the whole journey. Why are the Nazis doing this to us? What have we ever done to upset anyone? Ive tried to lead a good life but obviously god needs to make Jews repent for something. Maybe this is like Noahs Ark. God is cleansing the Earth of all bad things. Maybe we are bad. Maybe we do deserve to die September 5th 1944  Westerbork isnt as bad I thought. Apparently the Germans just let the Jews run the place as long we work hard. Me and Margot have been sentenced to potato peeling. There are worse jobs out there! I still miss Mum and Pim so much though. I hope theyre okay  October 19th 1944  My hopes lifted when we were sent away form this horrible place. They descended back down again as soon as I realised we were just being transported to the worst place I had ever heard of. Bergen Belsen December 24th 1942  What a way to spend Christmas. Crammed in a dark dank hole with hundreds of others like us. There appears to be an outbreak of a disease with yellow pustules oozing blood in the rest of the tents. It is only a matter of time before it reaches me and Margot. Speaking of Margot, she is sickening a lot worse than me. She is as pale as a ghost. I dont know how likely it is for her to pull through January 12th 1945  The Germans might as well have abandoned us. There is no food or water. Everyone is covered in mud and scars. We only have bits of cloth to cover ourselves with. Worst of all Margot is taking a new turn for the worse every day. She cant even walk anymore. She spends all day in bed, just coughing and spluttering. The little food I get goes to her. Im so cold. We cant last much longer  19th March 1945  I cant go on. I woke up this morning. Margot didnt. I cant even walk as I am so grief-stricken. All hope is lost. Hitler will conquer the world and it shall perish at his hands  It is believed Anne died within a few days of Margot. They both perished of Typhus in March 1945.

The Clouds :: essays research papers

CLOUDS Production The setting of the Clouds requires two doors in the skene, one representing Strepsiades's house and the other, the Thinkery, both in the city of Athens. The play begins with Strepsiades and Pheidippides sleeping in their beds. Since the ancient Greek theater had no curtain, these two men in their beds had to be carried out in full view of the audience by stagehands (probably slaves) and placed in front of one of the doors of the skene representing Strepsiades's house. The audience was no doubt expected to imagine that this was an indoor scene, because it was not usual for Greeks to sleep outside. This assumption is strengthened by the fact that, since Pheidippides is sleeping under five blankets, the weather is cool, which would make it even less likely that this was intended as an outdoor scene. The method of presenting the scholarly activities that go on inside the Thinkery is by no means certain. K. J. Dover (Aristophanic Comedy, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1972, 107) suggests two possibilities. The students could come out of the door of the skene carrying their apparatus with them, which they could leave behind when they go back inside. Another possibility is that a screen made of canvas and wood with a door, held from behind by stagehands, could conceal the students until Strepsiades asks that the door be opened. The stagehands then could remove this screen revealing the students and their equipment. When the students are ordered to go back inside, they could go through a door of the skene which then would become the door of the Thinkery for the rest of the play. One other aspect of production needs to be mentioned. Socrates first appears in the play suspended in air. The means of his suspension is undoubtedly the mechane, which in tragedy is mostly used for gods, but in comedy is used for any character who needs to fly or just be in the air. Aristophanes's Comic Portrait of Socrates Although there is something of the real Socrates1 in the character of the same name in the Clouds, it is clear that Aristophanes's depiction of Socrates in the Clouds is in good part a comic distortion. Socrates was a well-known figure in Athens who was popularly perceived as an intellectual. Aristophanes, taking advantage of this popular perception, arbitrarily places him at the head of the Thinkery, in which subjects such as rhetoric and astronomy are taught.

The Life of Sculptor Constantin Brancusi

Our simplest words are often the deepest in meaning: birth, kiss, flight, dream. The sculptor Constantin Brancusi spent his life searching for forms as simple and pure as those words—forms that seem to have existed forever, outside of time. Born a peasant in a remote village in Romania, he spent most of his adult life in Paris, where he lived in a single small room adjoining a skylit studio. Upon his death in 1957, Brancusi willed the contents of his studio to the French government, which eventually re-created the studio itself in a museum (1. 1). Near the center of the photograph are two versions of an idea Brancusi called Endless Column. Pulsing upward with great energy, the columns seem as though they could go on forever. Perhaps they do go on forever, and we can see only part of them. Directly in front of the white column, a sleek, horizontal marble form looking something like a slender submarine seems to hover over a disk-shaped base. Brancusi called it simply Fish. It does not depict any particular fish but, rather, shows us the idea of something that moves swiftly and freely through the water, the essence of a fish. To the left of the dark column, arching up in front of a patch of wall painted red, is a version of one of Brancusi's most famous works, Bird in Space. Here again the artist portrays not a particular bird but, rather, the idea of flight, the feeling of soaring upward. Brancusi said that the work represents â€Å"the soul liberated from matter. †1 A photograph by Brancusi shows another, more mysterious view of Bird in Space (1. 2). Light from a source we cannot see cuts across the work and falls in a sharp diamond shape on the wall behind. The sculpture casts a shadow so strong it seems to have a dark twin. Before it lies a broken, discarded work. The photograph might make you think of the birth of a bird from its shell, or of a perfected work of art arising from numerous failed attempts, or indeed of a soul newly liberated from its material prison. Brancusi took many photographs of his work, and through them we can see how his sculptures lived in his imagination even after they were finished. He photographed them in varying conditions of light, in multiple locations and combinations, from close up and far away. With each photograph they seem to reveal a different mood, the way people we know reveal different sides of themselves over time. Living with art, Brancusi's photographs show us, is making art live by letting it engage our attention, our imagination, our intelligence. Few of us, of course, can live with art the way Brancusi did. Yet we can choose to seek out encounters with art, to make it a matter for thought and enjoyment, and to let it live in our imagination. You probably live already with more art than you think you do. Very likely the walls of your home are decorated with posters, photographs, or even paintings you chose because you find them beautiful or meaningful. Walking around your community you probably pass by buildings that were designed for visual appeal as well as to serve practical ends. If you ever pause for a moment just to look at one of them, to take pleasure, for example, in its silhouette against the sky, you have made the architect's work live for a moment by appreciating an effect that he or she prepared for you. We call such an experience an aesthetic experience. Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the feelings aroused in us by sensory experiences—experiences we have through sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Aesthetics concerns itself with our responses to the natural world and to the world we make, especially the world of art. What art is, how and why it affects us—these are some of the issues that aesthetics addresses. This book hopes to deepen your pleasure in the aesthetic experience by broadening your understanding of one of the most basic and universal of human activities, making art. Its subject is visual art, which is art that addresses the sense of sight, as opposed to music or poetry, which are arts that appeal to the ear. It focuses on the Western tradition, by which we mean art as it has been understood and practiced in Europe and in cultures with their roots in European thought, such as the United States. But it also reaches back to consider works created well before Western ideas about art were in place and across to other cultures that have very different traditions of art. THE IMPULSE FOR ART No society that we know of, for as far back in human history as we have been able to penetrate, has lived without some form of art. The impulse to make and respond to art appears to be as deeply ingrained in us as the ability to learn language, part of what sets us apart as humans. Where does the urge to make art come from? What purposes does it serve? For answers, we might begin by looking at some of the oldest works yet discovered, images and artifacts dating from the Stone Ages, near the beginning of the human experience. On the afternoon of December 18, 1994, two men and a woman, all experienced cave explorers, were climbing among the rocky cliffs in the Ardeche region of southeastern France. From a small cavity in the rock, they felt a draft of air, which they knew often signaled a large cavern within. After clearing away some rocks and debris, they were able to squeeze through a narrow channel into what appeared to be an enormous underground room, its floor littered with animal bones. Pressing farther into the cave, the explorers played their lights on the walls and made an astonishing discovery: The walls were covered with drawings and paintings (1. 3)—more than three hundred images as they eventually found—depicting rhinoceroses, horses, bears, reindeer, lions, bison, mammoths, and others, as well as numerous outlines of human hands. It was evident that the paintings were extremely old and that the cave had remained untouched, unseen by humans, since prehistoric times. The explorers agreed to name the site after the one in their number who had led them to it, Jean-Marie Chauvet, so it is called the Chauvet cave. What they did not realize until months later, after radiocarbon testing had accurately dated the paintings, was that they had just pushed back the history of art by several thousand years. The Chauvet images were made about 30,000 B. C. E. and are the oldest paintings we know. The paintings date from a time known as the Upper Paleolithic Period, which simply means the latter part of the Old Stone Age. Archaeologists have formed some tentative conclusions about how the paintings were done. Pigments of red and yellow ochre, a natural earth substance, along with black charcoal, could have been mixed with animal fat and painted onto the walls with a reed brush. In powdered form, the same materials probably were mouth-blown onto the surface through hollow reeds. Many of the images are engraved, or scratched, into the rock. More intriguing is the question of why the cave paintings were made, why their creators paid such meticulous attention to detail, why they did their work so far underground. The paintings clearly were not meant to embellish a dwelling space. The cave artists must have lived—slept, cooked their meals, mated, and raised their children—much nearer to the mouths of these caves, close to daylight and fresh air. Until the Chauvet cave was discovered, many experts believed that ancient cave paintings were done for magical assistance in the hunt, to ensure success in bringing down game animals. But several of the animals depicted at Chauvet, including lions and rhinos and bears, were not in the customary diet of early peoples. Perhaps the artists wished to establish some kind of connection with these wild beasts, but we cannot know for sure. Fascinating as these mysteries are, they pass over perhaps the most amazing thing of all, which is that there should be images in the first place. The ability to make images is uniquely human. We do it so naturally and so constantly that we take it for granted. We make them with our hands, and we make them with our minds. Lying out on the grass, for example, you may amuse yourself by finding images in the shifting clouds, now a lion, now an old woman. Are the images really there? We know that a cloud is just a cloud, yet the image is certainly there, because we see it. Our experience of the images we make is the same. We know that a drawing is just markings on a surface, a newspaper photograph merely dots, yet we recognize them as images that reflect our world, and we identify with them. The experience was the same for Paleolithic image-makers as it is for us. All images may not be art, but our ability to make them is one place where art begins. The contemporary British sculptor Anthony Caro has said that â€Å"all art is basically Paleolithic or Neolithic: either the urge to smear soot and grease on cave walls or pile stone on stone. †2 By â€Å"soot and grease† Caro means the cave paintings. With â€Å"the urge to pile stone on stone† he has in mind one of the most impressive and haunting works to survive from the Stone Ages, the structure in the south of England known as Stonehenge (1. 4). Today much ruined through time and vandalism, Stonehenge at its height consisted of several concentric circles of megaliths, very large stones, surrounded in turn by a circular ditch. It was built in several phases over many centuries, beginning around 3100 B. C. E. The tallest circle, visible in the photograph here, originally consisted of thirty gigantic upstones capped with a continuous ring of horizontal stones. Weighing some 50 tons each, the stones were quarried many miles away, hauled to the site, and laboriously shaped by blows from stone hammers until they fit together. Many theories have been advanced about why Stonehenge was built and what purpose it served. Recent archaeological research has confirmed that the monument marks a graveyard, perhaps that of a ruling dynasty. The cremated remains of up to 240 people appear to have been buried there over a span of some five hundred years, from the earliest development of the site until the time when the great stones were erected. Other findings suggest that the monument did not stand alone but was part of a larger complex, perhaps a religious complex used for funerary rituals. What is certain is that Stonehenge held meaning for the Neolithic community that built it. For us, it stands as a compelling example of how old and how basic is our urge to create meaningful order and form, to structure our world so that it reflects our ideas. This is another place where art begins. In our society, we tend to think of art as something created by specialists, people we call artists, just as medicine is practiced by doctors and bridges are designed by engineers. In other societies, virtually everyone contributes to art in some way. Yet no matter how a society organizes itself, it calls on its art-makers to fulfill similar roles. Stonehenge was erected in the Neolithic era, or New Stone Age. The Neolithic era is named for the new kinds of stone tools that were invented, but it also saw such important advances as the domestication of animals and crops and the development of the technology of pottery, as people discovered that fire could harden certain kinds of clay. With pottery, storage jars, food bowls, and all sorts of other practical objects came into being. Yet much of the world's oldest pottery seems to go far beyond purely practical needs (1. 5). This elegant stemmed cup was formed around 2000 B. C. E. in what is now eastern China. Eggshell-thin and exceedingly fragile, it could not have held much of anything and would have tipped over easily. In other words, it isn't practical. Instead, great care and skill have gone into making it pleasing to the eye. Here is a third place we might turn to for the origins of art—the urge to explore the aesthetic possibilities of new technologies. What are the limits of clay, the early potters must have wondered. What can be done with it? Scholars believe such vessels were created for ceremonial use. They were probably made in limited quantity for members of a social elite. To construct meaningful images and forms, to create order and structure, to explore aesthetic possibilities—these characteristics seem to be part of our nature as human beings. From them, art has grown, nurtured by each culture in its own way. WHAT DO ARTISTS DO? First, artists create places for some human purpose. Stonehenge, for example, was probably created as a place where a community could gather for rituals. Closer to our own time, Maya Lin created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a place for contemplation and remembrance (1. 6). One of our most painful national memories, the Vietnam War saw thousands of young men and women lose their lives in a distant conflict that was increasingly questioned and protested at home. By the war's end, the nation was so bitterly divided that returning veterans received virtually no recognition for their services. In this atmosphere of continuing controversy, Lin's task was to create a memorial that honored the human sacrifice of the war while neither glorifying nor condemning the war itself. At the heart of the memorial is a long, tapering, V-shaped wall of black granite, inscribed with the names of the missing, the captured, and the dead—some 58,000 names in all. Set into the earth exposed by slicing a great wedge from a gently sloping hill, it suggests perhaps a modern entrance to an ancient burial mound, though in fact there is no entrance. Instead, the highly polished surface acts as a mirror, reflecting the surrounding trees, the nearby Washington Monument, and the visitors themselves as they pass by. Entering along a walkway from either end, visitors are barely aware at first of the low wall at their feet. The monument begins just as the war itself did, almost unnoticed, a few support troops sent to a small and distant country, a few deaths in the nightly news. As visitors continue their descent along the downward-sloping path, the wall grows taller and taller until it towers overhead, names upon names upon names. Often, people reach out to touch the letters, and as they do, they touch their own reflections reaching back. At the walkway's lowest point, with the wall at its highest, a corner is turned. The path begins to climb upward, and the wall begins to fall away. Drawn by a view of either the Washington Monument (as in the photograph here) or the Lincoln Memorial (along the other axis), visitors leave the war behind. In a quiet, unobtrusive way, the place that Maya Lin created encourages a kind of ritual, a journey downward into a valley of death, then upward toward hope, healing, and reconciliation. Like Stonehenge, it has served to bring a community together. A second task artists perform is to create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects. Just as the Neolithic vessel we looked at earlier is more than an ordinary drinking cup, so the textile here is more than an ordinary garment (1. 7). Woven in West Africa by artists of the Asante people, it is a spectacular example of a type of textile known as kente. Kente is woven in hundreds of patterns, each with its own name, history, and symbolism. Traditionally, a newly invented pattern was shown first to the king, who had the right to claim it for his own exclusive use. Like the Neolithic vessel, royal kente was reserved for ceremonial occasions. Rich, costly, and elaborate, the cloth distinguished its wearer as special as well, an extraordinary version of an ordinary human being. A third important task for artists has been to record and commemorate. Artists create images that help us remember the present after it slips into the past, that keep us in mind of our history, and that will speak of our times to the future. Illustrated here is a painting by a 17th-century artist named Manohar, one of several painters employed in the royal workshops of the emperor Jahangir, a ruler of the Mughal dynasty in India (1. 8). At the center of the painting we see Jahangir himself, seated beneath a sumptuous canopy. His son Khusrau, dressed in a yellow robe, offers him the precious gift of a golden cup. The painting commemorates a moment of reconciliation between father and son, who had had a violent falling out. The moment did not last, however. Khusrau would soon stage an armed rebellion that cost him the throne. Although the intricate details of Mughal history may be lost on us today, this enchanting painting gives us a vivid glimpse into their vanished world as they wanted it to be remembered. A fourth task for artists is to give tangible form to the unknown. They portray what cannot be seen with the eyes or events that can only be imagined. An anonymous Indian sculptor of the 10th century gave tangible form to the Hindu god Shiva in his guise as Nataraja, Lord of the Dance (1. 9). Encircled by flames, his long hair flying outward, Shiva dances the destruction and rebirth of the world, the end of one cycle of time and the beginning of another. The figure's four arms communicate the complexity of this cosmic moment. In one hand, Shiva holds the small drum whose beat summons up creation; in another hand, he holds the flame of destruction. A third hand points at his raised foot, beneath which worshipers may seek refuge, while a fourth hand is raised with its palm toward the viewer, a gesture that means â€Å"fear not. † A fifth function artists perform is to give tangible form to feelings and ideas. The statue of Shiva we just looked at, for example, gives tangible form to ideas about the cyclical nature of time that are part of the religious culture of Hinduism. In The Starry Night (1. 10), Vincent van Gogh labored to express his personal feelings as he stood on the outskirts of a small village in France and looked up at the night sky. Van Gogh had become intrigued by the belief that people journeyed to a star after their death, and that there they continued their lives. â€Å"Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen,† he wrote in a letter, â€Å"we take death to reach a star. †4 Seen through the prism of that idea, the night landscape inspired in him a vision of great intensity. Surrounded by halos of radiating light, the stars have an exaggerated, urgent presence, as though each one were a brilliant sun. A great wave or whirlpool rolls across the sky—a cloud, perhaps, or some kind of cosmic energy. The landscape, too, seems to roll on in waves like an ocean. A tree in the foreground writhes upward toward the stars as though answering their call. In the distance, a church spire points upward as well. Everything is in turbulent motion. Nature seems alive, communicating in its own language while the village sleeps. Finally, artists refresh our vision and help us see the world in new ways. Habit dulls our senses. What we see every day we no longer marvel at, because it has become familiar. Through art we can see the world through someone else's eyes and recover the intensity of looking for the first time. Ernst Haas' photograph Peeling Paint on Iron Bench, Kyoto, 1981 (1. 11) singles out a small detail of an ordinary day and asks us to notice how rich it is if we really take the time to look. Rain has made the colors shine with fresh intensity, brilliant red against deep black, and the star-shaped leaves could almost be made of gold. After seeing through Haas' eyes, we may find ourselves—if only for a few hours—more attentive to the world around us, which is stranger, more mysterious, more various, and more beautiful than we usually realize. CREATING AND CREATIVITY Out walking on a rainy day in Kyoto, Ernst Haas could have noticed the park bench, smiled with pleasure, and continued on his way. Standing in a field over a century ago, Van Gogh could have had his vision of the night sky, then returned to his lodgings—and we would never have known about it. We all experience the moments of insight that put us where art begins. For most of us, such moments are an end in themselves. For artists, they are a beginning, a kind of raw material that sets a creative process in motion. Creativity is a word that comes up often when talking about art, but what is creativity exactly? Are we born with it? Can it be learned? Can it be lost? Are artists more creative than other people? If so, how did they get that way? Many writers and educators have tried to analyze creativity and determine what makes a person creative. 6 Although the exact nature of creativity remains elusive, there is general agreement that creative people tend to possess certain traits, including: †¢ Sensitivity —heightened awareness of what one sees, hears, and touches, as well as responsiveness to other people and their feelings. †¢ Flexibility —an ability to adapt to new situations and to see their possibilities; willingness to find innovative relationships. Originality —uncommon responses to situations and to solving problems. †¢ Playfulness —a sense of humor and an ability to experiment freely. †¢ Productivity —the ability to generate ideas easily and frequently, and to follow through on those ideas. †¢ Fluency —a readiness to allow the free flo w of ideas. †¢ Analytical skill —a talent for exploring problems, taking them apart, and finding out how things work. †¢ Organizational skill —ability to put things back together in a coherent order. We might bear that list in mind as we look at Tim Hawkinson's Emoter (1. 12). Like many of Hawkinson's works, Emoter looks like a do-it-yourself science project that has gotten a little out of hand. The stepladder on the floor houses a black-and-white television monitor tuned to a local broadcast station. Rows of light sensors attached to the monitor's screen react to changes in the moving image, sending signals through a tangle of cords, cables, and wires up to a large photograph of the artist's face. The components of the face—eyes, nostrils, eyebrows, and mouth—move continuously in response to the signals they receive, generating expressions that are as extravagant as a mime's. Certainly, sensitivity made Hawkinson a keen observer of faces, and originality suggested to him that such unlikely material as laboratory experiments monitoring brain waves, or antiquated scientific theories linking specific facial expressions to specific emotions, could inspire a work of art. Playfulness, flexibility, fluency, and productivity set him to exploring ways in which his project could be given form, while analytical and organizational skills allowed him to carry it to completion. The profession of artist is not the only one that requires creativity. Scientists, mathematicians, teachers, business executives, doctors, librarians, computer programmers—people in every line of work, if they are any good, look for ways to be creative. Artists occupy a special place in that they have devoted their lives to opening the channels of visual creativity. Can a person become more creative? Almost certainly, if one allows oneself to be. Being creative means learning to trust one's own interests, experiences, and references, and to use them to enhance life and work. Above all, it means discarding rigid notions of what has been or should be in favor of what could be. Creativity develops when the eyes and the mind are wide open, and it is as important to looking at art as it is to making it. We close this chapter by exploring what looking creatively might involve. LOOKING AND RESPONDING Science tells us that seeing is a mode of perception, which is the recognition and interpretation of sensory data—in other words, how information comes into our eyes (ears, nose, taste buds, fingertips) and what we make of it. In visual perception, our eyes take in information in the form of light patterns; the brain processes these patterns to give them meaning. The role of the eyes in vision is purely mechanical. Barring some physical disorder, it functions the same way for everyone. The mind's role in making sense of the information, however, is highly subjective and belongs to the realm of psychology. Simply put, given the same situation, we do not all notice the same things, nor do we interpret what we see in the same way. One reason for differences in perception is the immense amount of detail available for our attention at any given moment. To navigate efficiently through daily life, we practice what is called selective perception, focusing on the visual information we need for the task at hand and relegating everything else to the background. But other factors are in play as well. Our mood influences what we notice and how we interpret it, as does the whole of our prior experience—the culture we grew up in, relationships we have had, places we have seen, knowledge we have accumulated. The subjective nature of perception explains why a work of art may mean different things to different people and how it is that we may return to a favorite work again and again, noticing new aspects of it each time. It explains why the more we know, the richer each new encounter with art will be, for we will have more experience to bring to it. It explains why we should make every effort to experience as much art in person as possible, for physical dimensions also influence perception. The works reproduced in this book are miniaturized. Many other details escape reproduction as well. Above all, the nature of perception suggests that the most important key to looking at art is to become aware of the process of looking itself—to notice details and visual relationships, to explore the associations and feelings they inspire, to search for knowledge we can bring to bear, and to try to put what we see into words. A quick glance at Juan de Valdes Leal's Vanitas (1. 13) reveals a careless jumble of objects with a cherub looking over them. In the background, a man looks out at us from the shadows. But what are the objects? And what are the cherub and the man doing? Only if we begin to ask and answer such questions does the message of the painting emerge. In the foreground to the left is a timepiece. Next to it are three flowers, each one marking a stage in the brief life of a flower across time: budding, then blossoming, then dying as its petals fall away. Then come dice and playing cards, suggesting games of chance. Further on, a cascade of medals, money, and jewelry leads up to an elaborate crown, suggesting honors, wealth, and power. At the center, books and scientific instruments evoke knowledge. Finally, back where we began, a skull crowned with a laurel wreath lies on its side. Laurel traditionally crowns those who have become famous through their achievements, especially artistic achievements. Over this display the cherub blows a bubble, as though making a comment on the riches before him. A bubble's existence is even shorter than a flower's—a few seconds of iridescent beauty, and then nothing. Behind the books, a crystal globe resembles a bubble as well, encouraging us to see a connection. When we meet the man's gaze, we notice that he has drawn back a heavy curtain with one hand and is pointing at a painting he has thus revealed with the other. â€Å"Look at this,† he all but speaks. The painting depicts the Last Judgment. In Christian belief, the Last Judgment is the moment when Christ will appear again. He will judge both the living and the dead, accepting some into Paradise and condemning others to Hell. The universe will end, and with it time itself. We might paraphrase the basic message of the painting something like this: â€Å"Life is fleeting, and everything that we prize and strive for during it is ultimately meaningless. Neither wealth nor beauty nor good fortune nor power nor knowledge nor fame will save us when we stand before God at the end of the world. † Without taking the time to perceive and reflect on the many details of the image, we would miss its message completely. Vanitas is Latin for â€Å"vanity. † It alludes to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, a meditation on the fleeting nature of earthly life and happiness in which we read that in the end, â€Å"all is vanity. The title wasn't invented or bestowed by the artist, however. Rather, it is a generic name for a subject that was popular during his lifetime. Numerous vanitas paintings have come down to us from the 17th century, and together they show the many ways that artists treated its themes. Closer to our own time, the painter Audrey Flack be came fascinated by the vanitas tradition, and she created a series of her own, including Wheel of Fortune (Vanitas) (1. 14). Knowing something of the tradition Flack is building on, we can more easily appreciate her updated interpretation. As ever, a skull puts us in mind of death. An hourglass, a calendar page, and a guttering candle speak of time and its passing. The necklace, mirrors, powder puff, and lipstick are contemporary symbols of personal vanity, while a die and a tarot card evoke the roles of chance and fate in our lives. As in the painting by Valdes, a visual echo encourages us to think about a connection, in this case between the framed oval photograph of a young woman and the framed oval reflection of the skull just below. Flack may be painting with one eye on the past, but the other is firmly on our society as we are now. For example, she includes modern inventions such as a photograph and a lipstick tube, and she shuns symbols that no longer speak to us directly such as laurels and a crown. The specifically Christian context is gone as well, resulting in a more general message that applies to us all, regardless of faith: Time passes quickly, beauty fades, chance plays a bigger role in our lives than we like to think, death awaits. Despite their differences, both Flack and Valdes provide us with many clues to direct our thoughts. They depict objects that have common associations and then trust us to add up the evidence. At first glance, a contemporary work such as Jim Hodges' Every Touch seems very different (1. 15). Every Touch is made of artificial silk flowers, taken apart petal by petal. The petals were ironed flat, intermingled, then stitched together to form a large curtain or veil. Yet although Every Touch may not direct our thoughts as firmly as the other works, we approach it in the same way. We look, and we try to become aware of our looking. We ask questions and explore associations. We bring our experience and knowledge to bear. We interrogate our feelings. We might think of spring. We might be put in mind of other art, such as the flowered backgrounds of medieval tapestries (see 15. 24) or the role of flowers in the vanitas tradition. We might think about flowers and the occasions on which we offer them. We might think about the flowers we know from poetry, where they are often linked to beauty and youth, for all three fade quickly. We might think about petals, which fall from dying flowers. We might think about veils and when we wear them, such as at weddings and funerals. We might notice how delicately the work is stitched together and how fragile it seems. We might think about looking not only at it but also through it, and about how a curtain separates one realm from another. The man in Valdes' painting, for example, draws back a curtain to reveal the future. Every Touch is not as easily put into words as the vanitas paintings, but it can inspire thoughts about many of the same ideas: seasons that come and go, how beauty and sadness are intertwined, the ceremonies that mark life's passing, the idea of one realm opening onto another, the fragility of things. In the end, what we see in Every Touch depends on what we bring to it, and if we approach the task sincerely, there are no wrong answers. Every Touch will never mean for any of us exactly what it means for Hodges, nor should it. An artist's work grows from a lifetime of experiences, thoughts, and emotions; no one else can duplicate them exactly. Works of art hold many meanings. The greatest of them seem to speak anew to each generation and to each attentive observer. The most important thing is that some works of art come to mean something for you, that your own experiences, thoughts, and emotions find a place in them, for then you will have made them live.

What Positive Steps

If you ask anybody what positive steps will you take to tackle climate change? Moreover everyone's answer would be â€Å"What will happen if only I start taking positive steps to tackle climate change? First let someone start then I will also start;† Friends this is wrong. To start anything the steps should be taken by us but we will wait till others start and others do the same. What's the first thing that comes in your mind when you hear about climate change? Answer is Global Warming or Rising Temperature.Global warming is one of the main reasons of climate change. Rising sea level, drought and Increasing temperature are the cause of climate change. And the one who suffers It are we and nature. And the main reason for it is human activities. What positive steps can you take to tackle climate change? There are many ways to do so like using renewable resources, using solar light, windmill, etc. The first way Is very simple and easy. The way Is traveling small distances by cycl e instead of scooter/car. These reduce the use of forest fuel like terror which is getting lesser and lesser day by day.We should also save petrol for future generations. We can also travel by public transport. Traveling by public transport could reduce the use of fuel by individual four or two wheelers. Some people feel uncomfortable in public transport. The recent launched car/bus by which run on hydrogen rather than petrol is also one way. The second thing I or we can do is save energy in the form of electricity. Day by day energy resources are getting scarce. The thing you or I can do is finish your work in daytime when there is natural eight given by sun, so there Is less use of artificial light.Another thing that we can do Is when there Is no need of electric appliances Like computer, bulbs, lights, fans, T. V. ‘s etc. Just don't forget to turn It off. Also In summer at night when you go to sleep Just open the windows rather than turning on the A. C. ‘s, so there I s natural air, electricity is conserved and pollution of air by A. C. Will not happen. The next boy is, to use 3 magical Or's. Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. They are the most common topics when we start talking about climate change. 1. ReuseReuse the thing which you have used once like plastic, bottles, plastic bags, glass bottles, etc. These are the materials which are very harmful to the climate. 2. Reduce Reduce the use of non- biographer waste like things made up of plastic. They take 100 of years to decompose. In the dump yard they Just burn it to finish it up. By burning It very poisonous smoke is formed which can harm the climate and human beings. 3. Recycle After using the things once never throw It If It can be recycled. We can put things Like bottle in the bottle bank. NAS into save-a-can and give paper to the person who ND I can take is the one most people in the word have ignored. That is being vegetarian. Friends, at least we can be vegetarian we could reduce 51% of greenh ouse gases. The step is weird and simple but very powerful. Going vegetarian indirectly reduce deforestation. Non-vegetarian people are the cause of 1/3rd deforestation of grass in the word. They cut forest for grazing animals and to make them health in order to produce good meat. Meat industry produces more carbon dioxide then all word's cars and rare planes.Also being vegetarian could expand our fife by 15 years, and could protect us from diseases like Swine Flu and Bird Flu. In you and l, some people are farmers. So the next point is for them. People which are farmers amongst ‘us' should use. New methods of irrigation by which the use of water would become less and also should take interest in soil conservation for growing good crops and not letting a place become drought affected by making embankments, dress and forestation. So readers think that we should not wait for anyone to get on, instead we take a real step forward to save our mother planet.

How to Punctuate Non-He Said Attributions of Quotations

How to Punctuate Non-He Said Attributions of Quotations How to Punctuate Non-â€Å"He Said† Attributions of Quotations How to Punctuate Non-â€Å"He Said† Attributions of Quotations By Mark Nichol The speaker of a quotation or a line of dialogue is normally identified in an attribution, a phrase as simple as â€Å"he said† that attributes the words to a particular person. However, there are other ways to attribute, including the ones illustrated in these examples, that don’t explicitly require an attributive verb. The sentences below illustrate the major difference between explicit and implicit attribution: punctuation (or lack thereof). (Note that explicit and implicit are not terms of art; I’m using them in the absence of, to my knowledge, any established terminology for these distinct types of attribution.) When â€Å"he said† or the like follows a quotation, it is preceded by a comma; if, less often, the attribution comes first, a comma follows it. Meanwhile, a colon, not a comma, should follow attributions such as â€Å"She had this to say in her defense.† But note the deletion of commas or colons in revisions to the following examples in which the attribution is merely implied: 1. â€Å"I had been opening my speeches with the line, ‘Are we entering a new era of American prejudice?’† When a sentence that includes a quotation does not include an explicit attribution, and the quotation is grammatically integrated into the sentence, omit any intervening punctuation: â€Å"I had been opening my speeches with the line ‘Are we entering a new era of American prejudice?’† 2. â€Å"‘The deepest bias in the history of the American people,’ is how historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. referred to our nation’s history of anti-Catholic prejudice.† See the explanation of the revision above; the same guideline applies when the quotation opens the sentence: â€Å"‘The deepest bias in the history of the American people’ is how historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. referred to our nation’s history of anti-Catholic prejudice.† 3. â€Å"You’ll be hearing from him again† was my friend’s guess. This sentence and its attribution are simpler than the preceding sentence and its attribution, but the rule is the same when a verb follows a quotation, punctuation after the quotation is unnecessary: â€Å"‘You’ll be hearing from him again’ was my friend’s guess.† 4. â€Å"I think they’re going to have that mentality of: ‘How dare he?’† In this case, punctuation is redundant to the preposition that precedes the quotation: â€Å"I think they’re going to have that mentality of ‘How dare he?’† The statement is colloquial; if it were not a direct quotation, it could be revised to a slightly more formal version: â€Å"I think they’re going to have that ‘How dare he?’ mentality.† 5. â€Å"To pass a necessity test usually means a negative response to the question: ‘Can the same result be obtained by other means?’† As in the first example, above, this sentence’s quotation is integrated into the flow of the sentence, so no punctuation is required: â€Å"To pass a necessity test usually means a negative response to the question ‘Can the same result be obtained by other means?’† 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 Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant NamesOne Fell SwoopThe 7 Types of Possessive Case

Anabolic Steriods essays

Anabolic Steriods essays A new form of drug abuse is spreading in the nations gyms and health clubs among men and women seeking physical dexterity rather than a narcotic high. Anabolic Steroids are man made versions of the human testosterone, which aids growth of muscles, bone and skin. The use of Anabolic Steroids has greatly increased over the past few years (since 1991). It has been mainly among young teenage boys, but now its becoming popular among the young teenage girls as well. Theyre legally prescribed for things such as treating delayed puberty, but theyre often illegally obtained by athletes trying to build muscle mass. Young athletes who mess with anabolic steroids to build muscle mass are messing up their bodies, big time. Doctors agree that there becomes an increase in strength, but it also comes at a very serious price. Males usually face premature balding, impotence, reduce sperm count, breast enlargement and shrunken testicles, and in harsh cases, there is sometimes the affect of aggressive behavior. Physicians say that men use the steroids more than women because the results are visible in just weeks rather than spending months or even years in drug-free training to gain substantial muscle bulk in their arms, chest and legs. Teenage boys have been drawn to anabolic steroids recently to attract the eye on young women. Its the deal of would you rather be Clark Kent, or Superman? They do it for cosmetic reasons; they want to walk into a room and see peoples jaws drop. Researchers say that its the old story of the kid getting sand kicked in his face and the guy with the big arms and chest coming by and stealing his girlfriend that has some truth to it. Adolescent girls can face abnormalities of their menstrual cycle, stunted height, severe acne, shrinkage of the breasts male hair growth, male-patterned baldness and deepening of the voice. More and more y ...

5 Most Important Things You Can Do for the Environment

5 Most Important Things You Can Do for the Environment If you feel you’re not doing enough for the environment by replacing your incandescent light bulbs with LED lights and composting your kitchen scraps, maybe you’re ready to make a deeper commitment to environmental stewardship. Some of these strategies may seem a little radical, but they are among the most valuable actions you can take to protect and preserve Earth’s environment. Have Fewer Children- Or None Overpopulation is arguably the world’s most serious environmental problem because it exacerbates all of the others. The global population grew from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion in 1999, an increase of 100 percent in just 40 years. According to current projections, the world population will expand to 9 billion by 2040. This represents a slower growth rate than that of the last half of the 20th century, but it will nevertheless leave us with many more people to accommodate. Planet Earth is a closed system with limited resources- only so much fresh water and clean air and only so many acres of land for growing food. As the world population grows, our finite resources must stretch to serve more and more people. At some point, that will no longer be possible. Some scientists believe we have already passed that point. Ultimately, we need to reverse this growth trend by gradually bringing the human population of our planet back down to a more manageable size. This means more people must decide to have fewer children. This may sound pretty simple on the surface, but the drive to reproduce is fundamental in all species. The decision to limit or forgo the experience is a difficult one for many people because of emotional, cultural, and religious traditions and pressures. In many developing countries, large families can be a matter of survival. Parents often have as many children as possible to ensure that some will live to help with farming or other work and to care for the parents when they are old. For people in cultures like these, lower birth rates will only come after other serious issues such as poverty, hunger, poor sanitation, and freedom from disease have been adequately addressed. In addition to keeping your own family small, consider supporting programs that fight hunger and poverty, improve sanitation and hygiene, or promote education, family planning, and reproductive health in developing nations. Use Less Water- And Keep It Clean Fresh, clean water is essential to life- no one can live long without it- yet it is one of the scarcest and most endangered resources in our increasingly fragile biosphere. Water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, but most of that is salt water. Freshwater supplies are much more limited and today a third of the world’s people lack access to clean drinking water. According to the United Nations, 95 percent of the cities worldwide still dump raw sewage into their water supplies. Not surprisingly, 80 percent of all illnesses in developing countries can be linked to unsanitary water. Especially if you live in a dry climate, you should use only as much water as you need, avoid wasting the water used, and strive to protect  water supplies. Eat Responsibly Eating locally grown food supports local farmers and merchants in your own community as well as reducing the amount of fuel, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions required to move the food you eat from the farm to your table. Eating organic meat and produce keeps pesticides and chemical fertilizers off your plate and out of rivers and streams. Eating responsibly also means eating less meat and fewer animal products such as eggs and dairy products, or perhaps none at all. Eating less meat is a matter of good stewardship of our finite resources. Farm animals emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, and raising animals for food requires many times more land and water than growing food crops. Livestock now uses 30 percent of the planet’s land surface, including 33 percent of farmland worldwide, which is used to produce animal feed. Every time you sit down to a plant-based meal instead of an animal-based meal, you save about 280 gallons of water and protect anywhere from 12 to 50 square feet of land from deforestation, overgrazing, and pesticide and fertilizer pollution. Conserve Energy- And Switch to Renewable Energy Walk, bike, and use public transportation more. Drive less. Not only will you be healthier and help to preserve precious energy resources, but you’ll also save money. According to a study by the American Public Transportation Association, families that use public transportation can reduce their household expenses by $6,200 annually, more than the average U.S. household spends on food every year. There are dozens of other ways you can conserve energy. You can turn off lights and unplug appliances when they are not in use and substitute cold water for hot whenever practical. Other small steps you can take include weather stripping your doors and windows and not overheating or overcooling your home and office. One way to start is to get a free energy audit from your local utility. Whenever possible, choose renewable energy over fossil fuels. For example, many municipal utilities now offer green energy alternatives so that you can get some or all of your electricity from wind, solar, or other renewable energy sources. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Many human activities- from using coal-fired power plants to generate electricity to driving gasoline-powered vehicles- cause greenhouse gas emissions that heat the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Scientists are already seeing significant climate changes that point to the likelihood of serious consequences. Some scenarios foresee increasing drought that could further reduce food and water supplies and, at the same time, rising sea levels that will submerge islands and coastal regions and create millions of environmental refugees. Online calculators can help you measure and reduce your personal carbon footprint, but climate change is a global problem that requires global solutions and, so far, the world’s nations have been slow to find common ground on this issue. In addition to lowering your own carbon footprint, let your government officials know that you expect them to take action on this issue- and keep the pressure on until they do. Edited by Frederic Beaudry

Michael Porters Five Forces Analysis Coursework

Michael Porters Five Forces Analysis - Coursework Example The five forces are threat of new entrants, bargaining power of the purchasers, bargaining power of the suppliers, threat of the substitute products or services and the rivalry among the existing competitors (Porter 6 – 10). The following diagram shows the five forces. Foremost, the bargaining power of the suppliers is driven by the number of suppliers for every essential input, the uniqueness of the inputs or services, the size, and strength of the supplier and the cost involved in switching from one supplier to another. This force includes assessment of the probability of the suppliers to increase their prices. Secondly, the bargaining power of the buyer includes assessing of the probability that the buyers will bring down prices of commodities and services. The assessment is controlled by the number of purchasers available in the market, the significance of every individual buyer to the firm and the cost likely to occur if the buyer switches from buying in one firm or the other. When a business has a few of powerful buyers, the firm is in a position to dictate the terms to the buyers. Thirdly, competitive rivalry is driven by the capability of the competitors in the market and their number. When a big number of competitors offer undifferentiated services or products, they reduce the attractiveness of the market. Substitution threat applies in that, when there are close substitute products, the likelihood of increased switching of customers to the alternatives occurs responding to the increase in prices. In such a scenario, the market attractiveness and the suppliers’ power reduce. Threat of new entries implies that a profitable market attracts new entrants in the business and erodes profitability of a firm. Not unless incumbents have durable and strong barriers to entry, the profitability goes down to a competitive rate. The barriers to entry in the market include

Consumer Rights and Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Consumer Rights and Protection - Essay Example Moreover, the US Federal Trade Commission helps in the passage of the bill by creating the software â€Å"Do Not Track,† which prevents advertisers from monitoring the online activity of web users. The US Consumer privacy bill of rights was formulated after several alleged sharing of consumer information among companies that sell video games and gadgets. This information was randomly solicited and was even just casually asked from visitors who would occasionally visit the sites. The privacy bill will therefore strictly enforce companies to make sure that collected data should not be used for another company, and that disclosures must be presented t consumers at all times. Moreover, the efforts of the United States government in executing the privacy bill of rights is somehow also based on the fact that European governments have done the same with their web companies, email providers and social networking sites. Summary #2 Based on the article, big US banks have been increasing their rates when it comes to the handling of checking accounts. Among these banks include Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citibank and JPMorgan Chase. Changes involve the introduction of fees ranging from $7 to $25 a month, which translates to around $300 a year. Aside from these, the big banks have their own way of charging hidden fees and interchange fees anytime their services are used by their clients, such as in the use of debit cards while making purchases. In fact, consumers have reacted to these changes with anger and resentment especially because they knew how expensively these banks would normally pay their top executives, like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase who received a salary of $20 million in 2011. The aforementioned big US banks used to charge only small fees for their checking account maintenance. However, there have been amendments in the bank regulations that caused banks to maximize the number of overdrafts, increasing the number of charges and manipulating purchas e sequences so that the customer will have to pay higher fees. The higher fees were in fact viewed by the public as a part of a â€Å"regressive and unfair system† and was something that these banks would strategically employ in order to prey on human weaknesses. However, although consumers will surely suffer from having to handle these charges, there is a solution – resorting to credit unions and smaller banks that are friendlier when it comes to fees. This explains the jolly but somewhat paradoxical nature of the article’s title: â€Å"Higher Fees? Let’s Celebrate!† The jolly tone means that the author seems to be telling consumers that had the big banks not overly abused them, they would not have found better options on where to put their money. Now, since bank clients have been transferring their money from the big banks to the small ones, the greedy and inefficient big banks have to suffer as a consequence. This natural effect is explained by the idea that American capitalism usually does not favor the companies who are greedy and inefficient. Nevertheless, last year only 1 out of 14 Americans were able to make a decision to transfer their checking accounts from the big banks to the smaller banks and credit unions. Thanks to the formulation and passage of many regulations that benefited the consumer: the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act as well as the Consumer Protection Act,

US Gulf Oil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

US Gulf Oil - Essay Example The two articles bring out a sharp contrast between those who are for the oil drilling process and those against it. Kent Gaber in his article argues that there is the need for oil therefore; offshore drilling of the oil is the solution to the escalating oil prices.The politicians are also in support of the expansion of the drilling area to increase production of oil in order to curb the energy crisis in the country whereas Bob Keefe is more concerned of the effects to humanity and the aquatic life that would come about as a result of conducting this exercise. Gaber is for the opinion that majority of the Americans are in favor of the oil drilling process for the hope of the reduction of oil prices but kefee argues that the drilling would bring devastating effects to the aquatic life, the water movement and contribute dangerously to global warming. Gaber further argues that the oil price crisis is more complex than it is assumed by the American people. Furthermore, the unavailability of the complex drilling equipment as Gaber argues is the impediment to the drilling process leading to low production and not being able to meet the demands of oil for the American people whereas Kefee argues that lack of this equipments both for drilling and for monitoring the whole process in order to avoid the risk of spillages as lead to oil leakages and spillages and thus causing unwanted effects to the environment. The Government is in full support of the oil drilling process with the congress arguing that oil drilling is the way to go in its quest to fight the energy crisis saying that the past oil spillages are unlikely to occur due to the use of new technologies in the drilling process but at the same time there is no human endeavor without faults and hence exposing humanity to risk. (Gaber, 7&Kefee, 40) The drilling as the American people think is expected to result in immediate reduction of the global oil prices but Kefee argues that this is not the case as drilling does not directly result to decreased oil prices as it is a complex process which could take years or decades for the situation to change. The oil drilling companies are pushing further to the deeper waters where the oil is more and thus resulting to more and more exploitation of the environment. The government is in support of this as it aims to lift a ban on the drilling sites and allow more drilling to take place .Gaber argues that although the whole process is aimed at benefiting the American people, it is incredibly dirty and it could damage the precious coastal beaches. (Gaber, 8&Kefee, 15) Gaber also argues that company leases have taken place as a result of the inadequacy of oil and this therefore supports his general believe that the companies should be allowed to drill oil in order to keep them in operation but Kefee is states categorically that the more the oil the companies are allowed to exploit the more it is detrimental to the environment and the people in it. This is con strained by the fact that only a limited number of individual companies have got the technology to exploit the oil and on top of that it normally takes a long period of time before the oil starts flowing. (Gaber, 7&Kefee, 40) Kefee further says that even the long serving personalities in the oil industry such as Bullock are against the idea of allowing more exploitation of oil arguing that offshore drilling and management are not the sole solutions to the oil crisis as it involves more that just that. He further says that the risk of a tanker causing spillage is higher than the benefits that could be obtained by merely drilling more wells of oil but Gaber says that the available oil fields are limited for the increasing number of oil exploiting and drilling companies and therefore it requires expansion of these fields to cater for the increased number. Some Americans such as Jacqueline M. Lloyd believe that their status quo has changed as a result of the oil drilling and transportat ion process. The oil spillage he says has

Palestine Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Palestine Crisis - Essay Example Moreover, the Arabs argued that Israel without rhyme or reason had denied them access to their religious worship sites which were on the region. This included the Al-Assa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (Brynen & El-Rifai, 2007). The notion spread abroad and some Jews living abroad developed a feeling that they were being excluded from specific parts in the society because of the presence of anti-Semitism forms in their midst. In addition, they believed that equality could not exist between them and the other European tribes since tribes which were not theirs were totally not interested in the issues that were affecting them. They, therefore, considered themselves to be second class citizens compared to other citizens coming from other European States. The hatred they felt amongst themselves drove them to form a political apparatus where they could freely stand up for their civil rights. Their intentions and ideologies in the begging were pure with secular connotations, but when reli gious Zionism was introduced, they joined as one and changed their ideology with their sole intention geared towards provoking conflict in the land. However, Zionism was strongly opposed by many for different purposes. Their objective was to acquire land for the Jews to be considered as country and they used different approaches to make this a success. Initially, the Zionist tried to figure out different ways to make the Jews leave the country for them. They knew that by constructing a building in the land of Israel, the Jews would be quickly attracted to the region and they partially succeeded in this because some Jews had started to purchase... This essay stresses that the Jewish at the time were very spiritual and they considered Israel, which is currently a nation to be a sacred place for worshipping God. They were further promoted by the biblical writings which argued that Jerusalem was a city of God. They believed that this land was promised to them by God and that the land was them as an eternal gift from God. Therefore, they did not take it lightly when strangers visited the land or possessed possession within it (Selby, 2003). Even after they came out of the country, many amongst them always longed to return to the land. The idea is still being nurtured by a sect amongst the Jewish like the religious Zionist who view the current resettlement process as part of God’s wider plan to see it become a reality. This paper makes a conclusion that the Palestine crisis has led to untold suffering amongst individuals who have kept the past to stick to their hearts. Finding a solution to the on going crisis will bring to an end the hatred that is felt by both conflicting sides and will lead to peace in the conflict torn region. The numerous peace negotiations between the two conflicting sides are symbol of hope for peace as different issues are addressed in these negotiations. In my opinion, because of the numerous challenges faced by the two sides in their attempts to find solutions, all sides should place an intense effort and should have an open and realistic mind during the negotiation process to find a peaceful solution for both Israel and Palestine.

Lord of the flies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Lord of the flies - Essay Example The novel, with its structure, symbols, motifs and allegories, serves the purpose of showing the innate evil of man. In his lecture of 1962 given at the University of California at Los Angeles Golding explained that the breakdown of civilization in his novel resulted from nothing but the inborn evil of man: â€Å"So the boys try to construct a civilization on the island; but it breaks down in blood and terror because the boys are suffering from the terrible disease of being human† (In Burris 1999). Golding does not justify this evil by the structure of the society, but quite the contrary, explains the defects of the society by the traits of the humanity. The writer stated that the shape of the society created by the boys on the island is â€Å"conditioned by their diseased, their fallen nature†. Intentionally, he avoided any elements that could make us think that it was the society rather than the human nature responsible for the breakdown: â€Å"The boys were below the age of overt sex, for I did not want to complicate the issue with that relative triviality. They did not have to f ight for survival, for I did not want a Marxist exegesis. If disaster came, it was not to come through the exploitation of one class by another. It was to rise, simply and solely out of the nature of the brute† (Golding, In Burris 1999). Though it is possible to suggest that in circumstances different the events would develop differently, the author insisted that the tragedy occurred â€Å"simply and solely out of the nature of the brute† (in Burris 1999). As the result of his views, Golding builds his novel around the central conflict between two opposite impulses existing within human beings: the tendency to live according to rules and moral commands, in peace and for the good of the group against the desire to satisfy one’s immediate desires and impulses, act aggressively to achieve supremacy over other people, and impose one’s will. For Golding

Analysis of Tower Group ,Inc. (easy work, only two questions) Research Paper

Analysis of Tower Group ,Inc. (easy work, only two questions) - Research Paper Example OBPL was acquired by the company in the third quarter of the 2010 financial year. In the financial year that followed, 2010-2011, a progressive trend was realized in total revenues. Up to 21.8% increase in total revenues was recorded as at 31st December, 2011. This trend was as well associated with OBPL acquisition in the previous year. Net premiums and investment income also contributed to this positive trend. Reflection period of the acquisition was now longer than that of the previous financial year. On more specific grounds, $1789.8 million of premiums earnings were recorded in the year 2011. 2010’s figure stood at $1519.6 million. Another measure of financial operation success is operating costs. In order to realize maximum benefits, operational expenses should be minimized up to the point where profits are maximized. In the year 2010, operational costs stood at $497.7 million. In comparison to the previous year, operational expenses had gone up by 40.7%. However, this was expected due to the aforementioned acquisition of OBPL. Commercial Insurance segments were also restructured and improved technologically, thereby increasing the cost of operation. The scenario was not different in the year 2011. However, although there was an increase in operating expenses, the percentage increase in operational costs declined. In the year 2011, operational costs increased by 18.5%. This was as a result of an improved underwriting expense ratio that stood at 35.7% and 34.1% in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Taxation is an inevitable principle in the business environment that the company operates in. It is therefore a critical determinant of any given company’s financial welfare. Tax expense in the company’s context increased between 2009 and 2010. The increase was directly proportional to the total taxable earnings. Taxes applicable to the company are local and state taxes. From the tax perspective, it is evident that the

Lord of the flies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Lord of the flies - Essay Example The novel, with its structure, symbols, motifs and allegories, serves the purpose of showing the innate evil of man. In his lecture of 1962 given at the University of California at Los Angeles Golding explained that the breakdown of civilization in his novel resulted from nothing but the inborn evil of man: â€Å"So the boys try to construct a civilization on the island; but it breaks down in blood and terror because the boys are suffering from the terrible disease of being human† (In Burris 1999). Golding does not justify this evil by the structure of the society, but quite the contrary, explains the defects of the society by the traits of the humanity. The writer stated that the shape of the society created by the boys on the island is â€Å"conditioned by their diseased, their fallen nature†. Intentionally, he avoided any elements that could make us think that it was the society rather than the human nature responsible for the breakdown: â€Å"The boys were below the age of overt sex, for I did not want to complicate the issue with that relative triviality. They did not have to f ight for survival, for I did not want a Marxist exegesis. If disaster came, it was not to come through the exploitation of one class by another. It was to rise, simply and solely out of the nature of the brute† (Golding, In Burris 1999). Though it is possible to suggest that in circumstances different the events would develop differently, the author insisted that the tragedy occurred â€Å"simply and solely out of the nature of the brute† (in Burris 1999). As the result of his views, Golding builds his novel around the central conflict between two opposite impulses existing within human beings: the tendency to live according to rules and moral commands, in peace and for the good of the group against the desire to satisfy one’s immediate desires and impulses, act aggressively to achieve supremacy over other people, and impose one’s will. For Golding

The Dicode PPM (DiPPM) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Dicode PPM (DiPPM) - Essay Example The results from the simulation tests have revealed that when the RS decoder is used it increases the transmission efficiency of the DiPPM to a large extent by decreasing the number of photons. In addition, the system using the RS code has also been shown to provide an improvement of 5.12 dB as compared to the systems which do not employ the RS code. Such an improvement is observed when the code functions at the optimum rate of (3/4) and at a code length.Further, the results have also shown that at this optimum code rate, the DiPPM system achieves maximum transmission efficiency. However, when the system is operated below this optimum level, there is an increase in the number of redundant symbols which in turn negatively affects the performance of the system. It is only above the optimum coding rate that the redundant symbols are found to decrease which implies that the amount of correcting symbols also decrease thereby reducing the transmission efficiency. From the results, it is al so evident that the DiPPM system while using the RS code required only about 14.3 x 103 photons per pulse when it is operated at a bandwidth equal to or above 0.9 times the PCM data rate. On a comparative basis when the DiPPM system uses the MLSD system it achieves a reduction in a number of photons per pulse when it is operated at a bandwidth of less than 1 normalization. From this, it is evident that the DiPPM system when using the RS code outperforms that of the MLSD system when it is operated at a high bandwidth.

Religion, Poverty and Wealth Essay Example for Free

Religion, Poverty and Wealth Essay Describe how followers of this religion may put their ideas into practice. Helping others is a big part of being a Christian, because of the importance of the commandment Love thy neighbour. Since the 19th Century, Christians have been setting up homes for the poor and needy. However recently there has been an increase in awareness of poorer people, putting more pressure on people to help others. A very popular way of helping others is by setting up, and giving to charities. There are many different charities, both Christian and non-Christian, which offer a wide range of help. The Church of England Childrens Society helps to better the lives of underprivileged children; The Hospice Movement aims to help the dying spend their last days in a loving, caring environment; the LArche Community helps disabled people. Christian Aid is one of the most famous Christian charities. It was set up in Britain and Ireland at the end of the Second World War, with its main aims being to improve the quality of peoples lives, particularly those of refugees who were struggling to cope with the aftermath of World War II. It also funded Churches to help repair damage caused by the war. Gradually over time, the work of Christian Aid began to involve other countries around the world. It now has an income of approximately à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½40 million a year, and there are forty churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland who are a part of Christian Aid. Most of the money, which they make through door-to-door collections and donations from members of the public and various churches, is put towards development work to help people in the long term. Another famous charitable organisation is The Samaritans. The Samaritans was set up in 1953 when Chad Varah, a priest, was horrified to find out that three suicides took place every day in London. He believed that the best way to help someone who was contemplating committing suicide was to talk to them. So he set up a phone in his church and advertised that people could phone for helpful advice if they were feeling suicidal. Today The Samaritans speak to 2 250 000 people a year. Aside from charities, many Christians feel that they should give a small percentage of their wages to help the less fortunate. Sir John Templeton grew up in a poor family on a farm in Tennessee. He was educated at both Yale and Oxford University, after which he became a financial consultant in New York. Throughout his life he gave 10% of his earnings to help the poor (a process called tithing). Eventually he became very wealthy running a multimillion dollar investment company, where he successfully managed funds for over two million people worldwide. In 1972 he started the Templeton prize to be awarded for progress in religion, which is worth more money than the Nobel Peace Prize. Fifteen years later he was knighted for services to philanthropy. In 1992, he sold his investment company for a colossal $400 million. He still gives money to support projects around the world which further understanding of spirituality and the importance of the human character. George Macleod felt so strongly about helping others that, in 1938, he formed a Christian Community on Iona, an island off of Scotland. He found volunteers to learn building, stone masonry and carpentry skills and together they rebuilt Ionas ruined abbey. After that he opened a centre to provide shelter for young people from across the world, and to allow them to live in a close community. The people of the community feel it is more important to live like this and share everything than to be rich and not live as closely. They take it in turns to cook, clean, garden and work away. When they are not working, they pray. This is very similar to the ideas expressed by Jesus according to the Bible. The first Christians followed Jesus teachings very closely. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Not only are there many passages in the Bible that tell Christians how to treat the poor, there are also some in the Old Testament. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear. Isaiah 58:6-8 Another example of how Christians helped the poor was the Liberation Theology movement. This started in the late 1960s when the poorer inhabitants of South American countries decided that they didnt want to be exploited any more. They made a decision to stand against the corrupt governments, with inspiration from the words of Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has appointed me to preach good news to the poor. The Christian followers of Liberation Theology try to fight out against poverty, lack of human rights and the exploitation of certain peoples. Many Priests, especially Oscar Romero, involved in this endanger their lives by speaking out against their government. Romero knew he was in danger, but felt that it was his Christian duty to fight against oppression and injustice. He was shot dead in March 1980 whilst conducting mass. In South America, many people see him as a great martyr. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them. All Christians feel it is their duty to God to help the poor and needy, and to be kind to those who need their kindness.

Landscape Architecture as a Profession :: Research

Landscape Architecture as a Profession A landscape architect is an individual who arranges and modifies the effects of natural scenery over a tract of land so as to produce the best aesthetic effect for the land's use. Landscape architecture is the design profession which applies artistic, cultural, and scientific knowledge to the design, planning, and development of the land. Landscape architects accept certain responsibilities related to the health and welfare of the public and are concerned with resource conservation of the land. The practice of landscape architecture requires an appreciation and understanding of natural and social processes, a creative imagination, and a commitment to preserve or improve the environment for human use and enjoyment. Landscape architects plan the most harmonious relationships between the land and the objects on it by proper combination of open space and planting, and by wise use of land formation (Concise 151). They may work on parks, gardens, housing projects, school campuses, golf courses, or airports. They begin a project by reviewing the needs and desires of the client. They study the site, mapping such features as the slope of the land, existing structures and the type of soil. They check local building codes and availability of utilities, make drawings which outline the work in detail, and draw up lists of materials to be used. They then invite bids from construction companies and landscape nursery companies. With the awarding of the contracts, their work may be finished, or they may stay on to supervise the work as their client’s representative (151). A major branch of landscape architecture, golf course architecture, integrates the skills of a landscape architect on a larger scale. The aim a golf course architect is to create a truly great golf course by utilizing to the fullest extent possible the potential of a promising piece of land (Golfplan 1). This potential is expressed in the site’s location, slope, vegetation, water features, soil types, climate and orientation. The role a golf course architect is the realization of this potential under the constraints of design criteria that separate the truly great golf course from the ordinary (1). Landscape architecture, the science and art of modifying land areas by organizing natural, cultivated, or constructed elements according to an aesthetic plan (Encarta 1). The elements include topographical features such as hills, valleys, rivers, and ponds; and growing things such as trees, shrubbery, grass, and flowers; and constructions such as buildings, terraces, roads, bridges, fountains, and statuary. No unalterable rules exist in landscape architecture because each plot of ground offers unique problems caused by variation in contour, climate, and surrounding areas

Night :: essays research papers

Throughout history During World War II, millions of European Jews suffered and died at the hands of Adolf Hitler and his anti-Semitic Nazi regime. In the historical fiction Night, the author Elie Wiesel, portrays to the readers the emotional truth behind the Holocaust, based on his experience. He insists: â€Å"The only role I sought that of witness. I believed that, having survived by chance, I was duty bound to give meaning to my survival, to justify each moment of my life.† He opens our eyes and touches our hearts as he takes us to Eliezer’s psychological journey, as the Holocaust robs him of his faith in God and exposes him to the deepest inhumanity of which man is capable. Thus, the author wants us to understand the importance of learning from the tragedy that was the Holocaust: â€Å"The Holocaust, shows that how people think and act needs revision in the face of those facts, unless one wishes to continue the same blindness that produced the darkness of Night. Yet failure to use the Holocaust to call all of humankind into question diminishes the chances to mend the world.† Eliezer started out as religious and studious young man who possessed a strong sense of tradition and faith, as well as being deeply interested in Jewish mysticism. When asked why he prays to God, he answered, â€Å"Why did I pray? A strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?† His belief in God was unconditional. However, his confidence in God diminishes as he is faced with the truth of what lies ahead for them: "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever†¦ Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust.† This notion is also well illustrated by the author when he describe the hanging of three Auschwitz prisoners – one of them a child.

Audit Accounting Red Bluff Case Essay

1. The two biggest concerns relating to possible fraud for the motel part of the business are: a) The couple failing to record hotel guest stays in order to steal the cash paid. By not recording the hotel stay their cash reconciliations would be clear. b) The couple has no incentive help the motel perform at a profit since they are paid at salary. Since there is a high demand for their motel, service and quality could take a significant slip without losing too much money. The first control that could be set in place is through the intake process. Mr. Fernandez can easily set in place controls that would automatically create a transaction every time a new key was created. This is assuming the doors are operated with electronic keys. The only way this key system would work is if the keypad reset once the client was checked out of the system. Meaning the key would no longer work on that room and would need to be reprogramed i.e. create a new charge in the system. Another control that Mr. Fernandez could set in place would be to give the couple incentivized pay. It could be made up of both a base salary and bonuses based on the motel’s performance. Separation of duties- Might be limited because there are a small number of ppl. Have the cleaning staff report directly to Mr. Fernandez to let him know how many rooms they cleaned. Rooms cleaned should meet revenue. Tip line- If you don’t receive a receipt call this number. 2. The two biggest concerns relating to possible fraud for the cafà © part of the business are: a) Cash Receipts- Again the couple has too much control over transactions being recorded and the handling of money. b) Inventory- The cafà © inventory is a big concern because it is probably one of the most vulnerable assets behind cash. Mr. Fernandez can set up cameras in the cafà © and the motel that he can access remotely. This would be one way to deter the couple as well as employees. One of the best ways to make sure the couple and their staff is recording all meals sold is to have an touch screen order taking device. The customers can order the meals themselves or have their waitress/waiter record their order on a hand held mobile device. This recording system would also be able to keep track of any discounts or compensated meals the couple gives out. Another control that would need to be put in place is a monthly inventory check. This would help keep track of what items are being used in relation to what revenue is being produced. High inventory turnover with lower than usual revenue would probably prompt Mr. Fernandez to check the camera’s for stolen inventory. Preload the menu with set meals/price. Everything should match revenue and inventory. The Cafà © should be separate from the motel. All goods should be sent through Mr. Fernandez so that he can see what the couple is buying. 3. If the system automatically created a charge in the system, this would not only keep track of what rooms are available, but it would also encourage the employees to accurately check-in and out each guest to avoid discrepancies with money collected and money due from a customer’s stay. By paying the couple an incentive based salary they will most likely perform better for the benefit of the motel and cafà ©. They will be motivated to hire the most qualified staff that would help create a profitable business. Having the cameras installed in the motel and cafà © wouldn’t cause any issues with productivity. By having the customers and employees use an electronic device to record meal orders would increase efficiency because orders could be instantly sent to the kitchen to be made. Performing an inventory for the kitchen’s assets every month might not be too efficient but it would be effective. Depending on how large the cafà © is, having staff perform inventory every month might be too much of an arduous task. 4. I believe the proposed controls would help boost productivity and benefit the motel/cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s day to day operations. However, if Mr. Fernandez were to change the salary of the couple they might feel as if Mr. Fernandez is backing out on what he originally agreed to pay the couple. Mr. Fernandez could alleviate any animosity and tension by ensuring the couple that a good performance on their part could potentially bring in more money than their original base salary.

Culture similarities and differences in early East Asian history Essay

Culture refers to people’s way of life. Culture is transmitted from one generation to another. Culture is leaned. Culture is a means through which society share values, beliefs, customs, behavior and artifacts. Tradition refers to the process of doing an action more than once. For example, repeating an action now and again makes it be a tradition. Going home to celebrate festivals together as a family could become a tradition if every festive you go home. Culture in the Asian countries rotates around art, beauty, medicine and cuisines. Chinese culture In the Chinese society, there are five necessities that define their culture. These necessities are: Food, clothing, housing, transportation and education. Chinese cooking is of two types. That is, Northern and Southern cooking styles. Northern dishes have a lot of oil and garlic and vinegar are usually pronounced. Pasta is valued in the Northern style of cooking. In the Southern cooking styles, chili peppers are valued. Rice and rice products are usually used as accompaniments. In Chinese cooking, color, smell and taste are given same value in meal preparation. Most of the time, a meal will include three to five colors. Most valued during cooking is the preservation of the fresh natural taste of the spices. The three properties of color, aroma and taste are not only the issues valued in Chinese cooking, but nutrition is of great importance. According to Shang dynasty(Chinese culture 16th to 11th B. C ) Yi Yin, he related the five tastes of sweet, sour, bitter, piquant and salty to the nutritional needs of the five major system organs of the body( the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys) and emphasized their function in maintaining good physical health. Most of the vegetables used in Chinese cooking such as garlic, dried lily buds, tree fungus have components that help in preventing and alleviating diseases. Chinese culture believes that food and medicine share the same origin. Chinese culture has got certain restrictions associated with eating. That is, meals taken while seated, sitting arrangement is based on age and gender. The dishes are arranged per table basis with a table capturing around ten to twelve people. Chinese dressing symbolizes a meaning of its own. The main types of Chinese traditional dressing are: pien-fu, long robe and shen-i. The pien-fu is a ceremonial costume in which one had to wear a tunic like top that extends to the knees and a skirt that touches to the ankles. A pien is a cylindrical cap. Similarities between these clothing are wide cut and voluminous sleeves with straight lines. They are also made more attracting by adding ornaments onto them such as doing embroidery along the edges, decorated bands, draped cloths and silk. In the traditional Chinese clothing, dull colors were favored to light colors. Bright colored clothes were used by common people around the houses. Chinese culture associated certain colors with specific times such as green symbolizes spring, white representing autumn, black for winter and red for summer. Traditional Chinese housing is characterized by a rectangular- shaped unit space that is joined into a house. The Chinese structures combine rectangular patterns of different sizes and positioned in order of preference, with every stage clearly distinguished. In the traditional buildings, the principle of balance and symmetry is taken into consideration. The main building is the axis with the other buildings being joined to the sides to form wings on both sides serving as the main room and yards. All other Chinese structure such the church, residential houses, palaces and official structures follow the same design. The interior space is allocated in away that it defines the Chinese social setting and ethics. For instance the main room is for the master, elder members of the master occupy the backyard of the main room while the junior members live in the right and left wings with the most senior occupying the left wing and the others right wing. Certain pronounced features of Chinese structures are its wooden structural frame with pillars and a beam, and mud made walls surrounding the three faces. The main doors and windows are constructed on the front face of the building. Woods is used in Chinese structures because they believe that wood represents life which is the essence of their culture. Chinese people build houses that have deep and over hanging roofs. Because of this, they came up with their own way of giving the roofs support. This invention is called ‘tou-kung’, which goes up stage by stage from pillar to pillar. The tou-kung gives support to the structure and at the same time acts as a unique and attractive ornamentation. The significance of using wood in the Chinese construction is that the size of the rooms depends on the wooden frame used. Again, color is applied to prevent the wood and third is the skill of building a structure on a platform to prevent moisture. The use of various colors in Chinese buildings has both symbolic and aesthetic meaning. In the transport system, china did not have any kind of wheeled vehicles until importation of the chariot was done from central Asia in the period of 1200bc. Scholars also ague that early Bronze Age china did not own the skills of the chariot and never invented any other means of transportation such as wheelbarrows or carts. For example, Edward Shaughessy found out that during the Shang periods, â€Å"there is absolutely no artifactual evidence for other types of wheeled conveyance†. In the 19th and 20th centuries, rickshaws became most popular but were later overtaken by cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws. Bicycles today are so many in china that, they cause traffic jams. Today china use both railways and waterways as modes of transportation. Education system in china is socialist oriented with a classroom having a capacity of about 50 students. Learning is always through group work to promote team spirit and cooperation among the students. Chinese value education because they believe it is a stepping stone to success. In china excellence is the main purpose for education. This is because they aim at producing responsible citizens who can give quality service to society. That is, a student excels to benefit the country but not him or her. Japanese culture Japanese culture is largely borrowed from china but Japanese culture is mainly influenced by its language. Japanese language is a combination of subset languages that are borrowed from china. That is, hiragana, katakana and kanji. Japanese usually have different types of traditional foods for various seasons such as osechi-ryori foods for New Year, kabochi on winters, weeding foods and mother dinners. Japanese also use spices in food preparation so as to make it tasty and give an appetizing smell. Japanese have got eating manners that they expect people to adhere to when eating. These tips on how to eat varies from one meal to another. Their dishes include sushi, tempura and teriyaki. Japanese performing art is characterized by costumes, mask and stylish gestures. Their four theatres are noh, kabuki and bunraku. Japanese way of building is also an important aspect of their culture. It was heavily influenced by the Chinese architecture and examples of these are seen in the temples, shrines and castles. In terms of clothing, Japanese wear kimono. Kimono implies â€Å"something to wear. † Initially Japanese used the word kimono to refer to all types of dressing but today it only implies long dress that is worn by men, women and children. Kimono is available in different colors with men prioritizing dark colors and women prioritizing brighter colors. The summer kimono is light and it’s called yukata. In the world of sports, methods that were used to train warriors in the past have been organized into sports. For example, kenjutsu, kyudo, and sumo. Again, Japanese popular culture presents a link to the past. Favorite films, television programs and music are all established from the traditions. Japanese also have got aculture of making sculptures. The oldest sculpture made is known as Amitabha in the Zenko-ji temple and it is made of wood. Japanese value wood and it has been used in Japan as one of the main materials by architectures. Other materials that have also been used are stone and pottery. They also have a flower arrangement art known as Ikebana which emphasizes on harmony, rhythm and color use. Comparison between the two cultures However there are certain variations in the two cultures. That is, in Japan buildings are structured around grand palaces while in china, they are based on the concept of walled cities. In terms of food, their primary dish is rice even though the mode of preparation is different. In their concept of beauty, Japanese considers beauty as a concept that is temporary to life. They use a symbol known as sakura (cherry blossom) to express the fleeting property and wilting nature of beauty. But in china, beauty is part of nature and this explains the common paintings of lions, cats and tigers. Musically, Japanese love more vocal music that takes its routes from dramatic styles such as Noh, Kabukl, and Bunraku while Chinese traditional music is dominated by instruments such as the flute and oboe. Traditionally the two societies do not like each other. Japanese have a collective kind of culture than Chinese. Both Chinese and Japanese up hold respect for tradition, family and beauty but Japanese tend to be consistent with the practice. Taking the above discussion into consideration, I wish to conclude that the two cultures are different even though Japanese culture was influenced mainly by Chinese culture, References Chinese culture and tradition. The five necessities of Chinese culture. Retrieved. December 15, 2008. from, http://www. chinatownconnection. com/chinese_culture. htm eHOW, How to distinguish between Japanese and Chinese culture. Retrieved December 15, 2008. from, http://www. ehow. com/how_2081085_distinguish-between-japanese-chinese-cultures. html