Monday, September 30, 2019

Discussion Questions Essay

1. Who is someone that you feel you have a positive relationship with? What role do you think openness and truthfulness have in making this relationship positive? Me and my friend Jeff have a very positive friendship. Openness and truthfulness play a big role because were always open and tell each other everything. Also we always tell each other the truth so we never have any arguing and have a positive friendship. 2. What effects do you think the various types of media (TV, Internet, newspapers, Facebook, etc.†¦) have on your own life and your family? Do you think the overall effect is negative or positive? How can parents reduce the negative effects? I think social media effects everyone in a bad way. I feel that pages like Twitter and Facebook make people feel like they aren’t good enough cause of what other people might say or post. People can be getting bullied and no one knows. Social media gives people low self-esteem. I think the overall effect is negative. Parents can reduce the negative effect by restricting the child from using social media pages until they are older.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Stress and Happiness–Cause and Effect

Tylynn Schaber Stress and Happiness Which sounds more fun, doing the dishes or playing a little Xbox? One would probably say playing their game and put the chores on the back burner because they could always do it later. This would be classified as procrastination. Procrastination may cause many negative effects including unnecessary stress and loss of one’s happiness. Procrastination is the practice of poor time management paired with lack of willpower. There are two different types of procrastination: behavioral and decisional.Behavioral procrastination is when one uses procrastination as an excuse to do poorly; for example, one may put off studying for an exam until last minute and blame a bad exam score on the procrastination. Another instant where one may have behavior tendencies is when one has low self-esteem or self-worth and believes that if he or she never finishes a task, he or she will not be judged. Those with decisional procrastination problems typically put off making a decision or choice; they typically are afraid of errors and are possibly perfectionists.Decisional procrastinators generally seek out other alternatives until they are made to make a decision, if they make a decision at all. 20% of the population is guilty of procrastination and recent studies show that it is on the rise. Everyone tends to procrastination, possibly not as often as most but definitely occasionally. One of the effects of procrastination is unnecessary stress. Everyone knows that stress has a very negative effect on oneself. Stress is a type of pressure or worry, usually unneeded.Stress has many effects in itself; it may take a toll on one’s body, one’s mood, and one’s behavior. The tolls it can take on one’s body include headaches, sleep problems, and stomach pains. It can affect one’s body by possibly giving a person anxiety, sadness, or even depression. Stress can affect one behavior be making one go through social withdra ws, angry outbursts, and drug and alcohol abuse. All of these additional symptoms of stress could lead to health problems, which are well worth avoiding.Upon all of the things that can come from stress, stress leads back to procrastination. So the more one procrastinates, the more stress one will get, so therefore the more they will procrastinate. Another effect of procrastination is the threat of one’s happiness. Happiness is the state of being content or completely satisfied. Happiness is important in one’s life because that is what gives one the motivation and will to wake up tomorrow and enjoy the little things of life that often go unnoticed, too.Without happiness, one will become depressed; depression has many, many additional negative symptoms. As you can see, by procrastinating, you can hurt more than just your grade. Procrastination can take effect on nearly every part of your life. It can lead to stress which in the end can take a toll on your health, which i s scary. Procrastination may also take away one’s happiness, which could lead to depression. One should note, it is much easier to do work that can be done today, today, and not put anything off for later.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

How to Write the UPenn Application Essays 2018-2019

Located just across the river from downtown Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania is one of the world’s premier institutions of higher learning. UPenn is known not only for its academic prowess but also for its thriving student life scene. This encompasses not only the myriad of on campus extracurricular pursuits but also the bustling metropolis just minutes away from campus. As an Ivy League institution, UPenn is one of the most elite institutions in the world. Its acceptance rate for the class of 2022 was a mere 8.39%. The middle 50 percent of ACT scores ranged from 32-35, and the middle 50 percent of SAT Math and Reading scores ranged from 690-770 and 680-750 respectively. In terms of structure, UPenn has four undergraduate divisions: the School of Arts & Sciences, Wharton School of Business, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Nursing. They also offer a myriad of interdisciplinary specialized programs that range from cognitive science to network analysis. Many of these programs combine the business of practices of UPenn’s legendary Wharton School with other disciplines, such as the Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business. This guide will provide invaluable advice for each of the essay prompts. Whether you’re majoring in chemistry or applying for the 7-year pre-dental program, we’ll provide you with plenty of tips for how to present your best self to the UPenn admissions office. Penn has one 400-650 word essay that all of its applicants must write, but those who want to apply to specialized programs, such as the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business or the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology , will have to write one or two additional essays. The first question you may have about your application is: what is the relation between your general application essay and your specialized program application essay? The first thing to know is that these specialized programs are very selective. They are not just looking for the â€Å"smartest† students, but rather the students whose particular experiences and goals best fit with what that specialized program has to offer . If you are not selected for a specialized program, it does not mean that you are intellectually inferior — it just means that other students were a better â€Å"fit.† For example, the Huntsman program is incredibly selective , admitting only 45 students per year out of an incoming class of almost 2,500. What this means is that applying for, and not being admitted to, a specialized program will not hurt your application to Penn. In your first essay (which everyone who applies to Penn must write), you will talk about how you will pursue your intellectual interests at Penn through one of its four large undergraduate schools: the Wharton School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the School of Nursing. Then, if you are applying to a specialized program, you will make a specialized case for why you should go to that school. When you write, you’ll want to make sure that you are not repeating information between these two essays and that each essay can stand on its own . This can be a little bit of a challenge, but if you have what it takes to get into Penn it probably means that you have a wealth of different ways to talk about your interests. * Students applying to Digital Media Design and Computer & Cognitive Science should address both the specialized program and single-degree choice in their response. For students applying to the other coordinated dual-degree and specialized programs, please answer this question in regards to your single-degree school choice; your interest in the coordinated dual-degree or specialized program may be addressed through the program-specific essay. This essay is asking a very straightforward question: what do you want to study and why do you want to study that at Penn in particular. With this question, the admissions officers are trying to do three things. First, they are trying to weed out those candidates that are just applying to Penn because it is a â€Å"fancy school.† Second, they want to learn something about your intellectual passions and interests. Third, they want to see if you have done your research and started to figure out how you will use Penn to pursue those intellectual passions and interests. When they ask you to talk about your major within one of the four schools — Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Nursing, and Wharton — you should realize that you are not necessarily talking about these schools in general. Each of these schools contains a multitude of different majors, areas of focus, research opportunities, and Penn wants to know that you have taken the time to research their offerings. For example, if you are applying to the College of Arts and Sciences, you should not be talking about â€Å"Arts and Sciences† as a whole (everything from biology to French literature!). Focus on the major and classes within the school of Arts and Sciences that you want to pursue. Maybe you want to study at Penn because of its remarkably high number of professors (10!) working on differential geometry — a subject of particular interest to you. You might begin your essay by talking about how you have been interested in differential geometry ever since you asked your high school math teacher, â€Å"Okay, we’ve gone over how to find the surface area of a cube, but how would you even begin to find the surface area of something like a plastic bag floating in the air?† You can then go on to talk about the work you’ve done studying new topics in geometry over the summer, the thrill of thinking about how billiard balls bounce around differently shaped boards , and the overlap between your interests and the unique research profile of Penn’s mathematics faculty. An important thing to remember here is that you need to talk about both your passion for a particular subject area and what Penn has to offer you — both aspects are equally important! If you are interested in one of Penn’s specialized programs, you still need to write an essay about how you intend to pursue your intellectual interests at Penn, regardless of whether you are admitted to a specialized program or not. The trick here is to write an essay that communicates the full force of enthusiasm and excitement for a plan of study at Penn that does not hinge exclusively on admission to a specialized program, such as Huntsman (discussed in more detail below). Maybe you have been fascinated with international relations and diplomacy ever since you started learning French and playing Massive Online Multi-player strategy games that required weaving complex treaties with people from many different parties. You can write a great essay about how you hope to use Penn’s resources to pursue a major in international relations, and how you especially look forward to studying abroad — maybe to meet some of the people who you have been collaborating with from all over the world. Then, if you are interested in the intersection of business and international relations, you might use your Huntsman essay to talk about your abiding interest in logistics (perhaps related to your work in gaming) has drawn you to the problem of how conflicts in international law might affect the efficiency of global shipping supply chains. The College of Engineering’s special programs in Digital Media Design and Computer & Cognitive Science are something of a special case. For these two programs, your statement of why you fit into them belongs in this general admissions essay, not in a separate prompt. As such, you need to treat this essay like an application for a specialized program that also addresses the major you will pursuing outside these specialized programs. This means you will need to cram a lot into this essay. The trick in these cases is to use your essay to show how the distinctive intellectual interest that you are pursuing in the College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Engineering will be augmented by the addition of these specialized programs. For example, if you are applying to Computer & Cognitive Science, you might also be applying to the College of Arts & Sciences to study Linguistics. You can start the essay by talking about how language has always fascinated you: you always wanted to dig deeper than the rules listed in your grammar books. Why — you ask — do we say â€Å"the big red house† and not â€Å"the red big house?† Maybe part of what drove you to start learning Spanish and Russian was to see if rules of syntax in English also applied to other languages. Then, you’ll pivot in a new paragraph to talk about how your interest in syntax also makes you interested in Penn’s program in Computer & Cognitive science. Your interest in word-order might go beyond human-made languages and extend to the languages machine intelligences are starting to create . In order to show the admissions committee that your passion for computing is no less than your passion for learning new languages, you might talk about the work you did programming a chatbot or creating a little video game to help you study your Latin declensions. If you are applying to any of these interdisciplinary programs, you want to show the admissions committee that you have already started to think across disciplinary boundaries. What if you are not particularly interested in any of Penn’s specialized programs? That’s perfectly fine! Not applying to those programs will not hurt your application or make you seem like an â€Å"unambitious† student. After all, most of the specialized programs are focused on the intersection between the business school and other areas of study. Returning to our math example above, maybe you are just fascinated with geometry and not particularly concerned with its applications on Wall Street? That’s perfectly fine! But for those with a sincere interest, Penn’s specialized programs offer unique interdisciplinary possibilities. The rest of this article will tackle those prompts. Finally, though this essay asks you to discuss the â€Å"specific undergraduate school† you are applying to, that does not mean you cannot mention (in a short paragraph, maybe at the end of the essay) some of the social and cultural reasons that attracted you to the city of Philadelphia and its surrounding social and cultural possibilities. Maybe you are a history buff fascinated with Benjamin Franklin or maybe there is an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of art that you have been dying to see. You won’t spend all your time in class at Penn, and it can’t hurt to offer a glimpse of your extracurricular interests in this essay. As Penn says, â€Å"Your essays tell us what sort of person you are — and provide a glimpse into the intangibles you might bring to our community.† The first thing to do if you are considering applying to any of Penn’s specialized programs is research . Go to their websites and read those â€Å"mission statements† and â€Å"about us† sections! More than that: go deeper and see what kinds of classes are offered and what the faculty who teach these classes research. If you can, talk to an alumnus of one of these programs. Or stroll through YouTube and see if there is a video posted from events and conferences sponsored by these different programs. The more details you have about these programs, the better you will be able to talk about how your specific interests line up with what these programs have to offer. If you want to apply to the program in Life Sciences and Management, it will not be enough to say that you are interested in â€Å"life sciences† because you really enjoyed your AP Biology class, and that you are interested in â€Å"management† because you’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur who finds â€Å"practical solutions to real world problems.† You’ll need to get specific and show that you’ve really done your homework and that your interest in these interdisciplinary fusions is more than just a passing phase. The Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business is a unique, four-year interdisciplinary undergraduate course of study that integrates business education, advanced language training and a liberal arts education. Huntsman students earn two degrees — a B.A. in International Studies from the School of Arts and Sciences and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School. Huntsman students specialize in the area of the world in which their target language is spoken and graduate with a nuanced understanding of the political, economic and cultural complexities in a changing world. One key aspect of the Huntsman curriculum is choosing a country/culture, and then engaging in focused study for the next four years. Though this question may seem to be asking about all international issues, and though it may be tempting to try to synthesize global commerce in 500 words, what this essay really wants you to do is talk about a specific international issue from the perspective of a particular cultural or regional focus. The key is to analyze that issue from both the perspective of politics and from the perspective of business. Even if you are focusing on a very specific issue, this is a lot of ground to cover in just 500 words. Another way to give your essay focus is to talk about an issue that you have some kind of connection to or interest in because of your own history or experience. Maybe you come from or have relatives in the region that you are discussing? Maybe you have traveled to or worked in that region? Maybe you live in a neighborhood that has a lot of immigrants from a particular region? It is, of course, possible to write a thoughtful essay about a topic and region that you only know through a collection of diverse and carefully studied sources. But it can help your readers better understand your own personal interests if you can offer some kind of narrative as to why you are writing your essay on one particular issue when there is a whole world of problems to consider. For example, maybe you have family ties in Venezuela and are worried about the political and economic turmoil that country is currently experiencing. A compelling essay might discuss the challenges that come from threatening sanctions in order to get the Venezuelan government to open up its borders to foreign aid. Might sanctioning oil only cause further economic hardship for the citizens of Venezuela? Are sanctions an effective means of responding to repressive regimes? When and how can governments intervene in trade policy for humanitarian ends? The meaning of your analysis lies not only in the larger trends you are observing but also in the hospitals without medicine and the collapse of currency . An especially compelling version of this essay does not just engage in a cold analysis of international governmental and business relations, but also discusses how those problems impact the lives of real people. For another less politically charged but no less complex example, you could have a deep interest in how Chinese business has traditionally been conducted without enforced contracts . Maybe you do not have any family ties in China, but you read about this strange aspect of Chinese trade in the Wall Street Journal and wondered whether that editorial writer was just dealing in cultural stereotyping (â€Å"they are irrational!†) or whether there was something about the structure and practice of Chinese contract law that made it different from (if not necessarily better than) United States contract law. Perhaps your work in the Huntsman program will prepare you to help multinational corporations understand the nuances of informal contract law in China, perhaps even understanding how those informal structures might grant them greater flexibility. Of course, if you do write about a region that you do not have any personal connection to, you will also want to demonstrate more than a passing interest in that region. As you write this essay, you should also find space to mention how you have been studying the Chinese language for the last three years and expect to continue studying it at Penn. One last word on how the Huntsman curriculum might help you â€Å"resolve† the issue: if you are talking about a complex problem, you are not going to propose a â€Å"solution† in the space of a 500-word essay. Instead, you want to talk about how that curriculum will help you acquire the skills necessary to collaborate and further study the problem. In the Venezuelan example, you might point to the limitations of sanctions given that country’s history of seeing the United States as an â€Å" imperialist interloper .† In the Chinese example, you are exploring the nuances of communication and how promises are formed and sustained, not suddenly convincing China to take up a whole new legal framework. A mature essay avoids simple and grandiose solutions and shows that you are intellectually curious and open to the sustained inquiry and collaboration needed to tackle tough problems. LSM is an  undergraduate dual-degree program  administered jointly between Penn’s College of Arts & Sciences and the Wharton School. Each year, the program enrolls approximately 25 exceptional students and offers them the opportunity to pursue an interdisciplinary curriculum combining bioscience and business, leading to the completion of two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in a life science major, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Economics. To ensure that every student learns how to apply their knowledge, the program provides the means for him or her to find two required, paid internships, one centered in scientific research, the other in business or public policy. Completion of the LSM program is an ideal starting point for students intent on careers in the life sciences sector by preparing them for the  advanced training we anticipate they will then go on to pursue through MD, PhD, MBA, JD, and/or  other graduate programs. LSM is suited to students with interests in h ealthcare; biomedical, agricultural, and environmental research and development; public policy; and the financial and strategic management of  life science organizations. This question is similar to the Huntsman question, as it requires to you to synthesize your interests and explain why LSM is the program for you. This program attempts to bridge the constant gap between scientific innovation and marketable solutions. An effective way to answer this is to point to a problem within a lab setting and explain how management overhauls can address it. For example, you could focus on the problem of managing the profitability of important drugs in low-margin markets. An example would be a cure to dengue fever that targets extremely low-income individuals in developing natures. As such, research efforts are dampened by a perceived lack of profitability amid large R&D expenses. An LSM education could provide the insight into the management side of life sciences to effectively raise the margins of a new drug that would motivate investment and seed funding to ultimately bring about a cure for millions of individuals. But if you go this route, you should also be wary of talking in a vague way about how â€Å"management† magically improves efficiencies. You will want to try to be specific about the organizational changes that you think might be helpful. In the dengue fever example, maybe you are interested in studying how leaders in marginalized countries might be incorporated into the drug’s distribution channels — perhaps both decreasing the need to build expensive new distribution infrastructure and hopefully securing the trust of community users. As you compose this essay, you should be aware that it asks you to be both as specific and as original as possible . You may be really excited about how gene therapies might allow HIV patients to forgo the onerous task of taking antivirals every day. On the business side, this new treatment could potentially reduce costs and lessen the number of trips patients have to take to the doctor — an especially relevant consideration for people in rural areas and people with limited mobility. But instead of just saying what we’ve said in the previous two sentences, there might be a more inventive way of approaching your prompt. What if you started your essay by presenting the script for a fictional advertisement for your new therapy? After you’ve talked up its benefits of gene therapy in your fictional TV spot, you might add a paragraph reflecting the particular challenges of getting patients to accept new treatments. The challenges facing gene therapy are not just technical challenges to be solved in the lab; there are also public relations challenges in a world where people are skittish about genetic engineering that need to be solved by an effective business communications strategy. Maybe the reason you are applying for the LSM is that you are interested in all the challenges that come with bringing a new treatment to the market from advancing through clinical trials to selling the treatment to doctors and patients. The benefit of this particular â€Å"creative† option for the essay is that it is not simply â€Å"off-the-wall,† attention grabbing for the sake of nothing more than surprise value. If you are writing about communication strategies and your essay presents itself as part of that communication strategy, then the form and content of your writing synergize. If you use a creative gimmick in your essay, it needs to amplify, rather than obscure, your central claim. The Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, affectionately called the M&T Program, is the oldest coordinated dual degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. The Program combines academics from two phenomenal Penn assets, Penn Engineering and the Wharton School, into one unique educational experience. Students enrolled in the M&T Program pursue degrees from both schools concurrently, creating a truly interdisciplinary learning experience. This combination enables our students not only to understand engineering and business concepts, but also to understand the integration of the two and how this intersection distinctively shapes our world. This prompt is unique in the sense that it provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate your analytical reasoning and argumentation beyond discussing personal characteristics or facts about the school. Your best bet here will be taking a solutions-driven approach. Luckily, the structure of this essay is relatively clear-cut. The true difficulty comes in devising a response that is creative but also intelligibly grounded in reality. You should begin your essay by identifying one such disruptive technology and what the popular opinion is regarding its predicted significance. When selecting your form of technology, it’s important to be specific. For instance, don’t just write about machine learning, but instead write about something more detailed like machine learning software that encrypts secret government information. Also, it might be helpful to choose a technology that isn’t too ‘mainstream’ but that also does have seemingly serious implications for society. This will demonstrate your familiarity with the field. Once you’ve constructed a short introduction that establishes both your chosen technology and the common perception about its imminent success, your next step is to knock that argument down. Carefully research all possible implications of your chosen technology, and try to evaluate possible alternative nuances to each one. Brainstorm other extenuating factors that seem relatively unspoken of and could diminish the success of this technology. In essence, UPenn wants to see your ability to make a strong argumentative case against some technology. This will demonstrate both your familiarity with the effects of technology and your ability to think critically about its implications in society. Finally, you should focus on addressing the concerns arisen in the previous section. These solutions could come in many forms: possible tweaks to the initial technology, alternative uses of other, related technologies, etc. UPenn wants to see not only your foresight for potential technological issues, but also your creative problem solving capabilities that address these issues in turn. Here, admissions officers want to see that your problem-solving style demonstrates leadership/creativity. This is important because Jerome Fisher heavily emphasizes leadership and collaboration with others. Make sure your response reflects both leadership and creativity. Furthermore, you should emphasize genuine leadership through actions—not just a title you’ve held. For instance, if you were the treasurer of Key Club, talk about the initiatives you helped direct rather than solely the position itself. For example, maybe you helped start a can drive competition at your high school and then transported the cans to a local food kitchen. Furthermore, leadership in this sense doesn’t necessarily have to relate to a title. People demonstrate leadership all the time in their daily lives. For instance, maybe you were doing group work in your economics class, and you helped guide your team through a challenging problem. Just make sure you’re showing rather than telling . In terms of structure, you should first write a short introduction wherein you present the main problem. This problem can be literally anything. The important part is how you solve it. The bulk of your response should address your problem-solving method. Make sure the resolution of your problem involves both creative problem solving and effective group communication on your part. The purpose of this prompt is for UPenn to find people that have both ingenuity and strong leadership skills. For instance, maybe your robot breaks down at a robotics competition. You then respond by assembling it in a slightly flawed manner and collaborating with your team to reconstruct several lines of code. Only through your calm coordination is the team able to rebound and then place first in the competition. Likewise, only through your creative adaptability is the team able to suitably fix the robot’s code. Whatever scenario you present, make sure to address both your creativity and leadership in equal part. In the NHCM  program, you’ll study simultaneously in both schools and graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Economics. Your work will include science and clinical courses, along with general education courses in the Arts and Sciences. We designed the   curriculum   to boost expertise in patient care and deepen your knowledge of how to manage the way that care is delivered. Nursing is a caring profession . Nurses handle patients when they come in the door, dressing wounds and calming anxieties long before the doctor appears. Nursing programs are justly proud of the way that they train their students in both the art of medicine and the art of empathy. The interesting challenge of this essay lies in speaking to the intersection between this deeply personal field that focuses on one-on-one interactions and the often depersonalized technocratic work of â€Å"management,† which looks to maximize systematic efficiencies. How to write an essay that situates your interests at the intersection of these apparently opposite fields For most nursing programs, the traditional essay dives into two aspects: (1) your training in science that prepares you to understand the technical aspects of working with individual bodies, and (2) your capacity for empathy and the humanistic training that allows you to treat each body as a full person. You will certainly need to address both of these topics in this essay. To do so, you might talk about a particular harrowing experience you had while shadowing a nurse at your local ER. When a patient came in after falling down the stairs, you saw how the nurse’s knowledge of applied physiology helped them maneuver the patient’s body without aggravating his head injury. But in order to learn that the patient’s head was injured, the nurses also needed to communicate with a panicked sister-in-law who was also the nurse’s best source of information. The good nurse must be both scientist and humanist in order to care for the individual. But in order to apply for the NHCM, you will need to add one more aspect to your essay: the management aspect. This includes the problems of budgeting, classification, scheduling, billing, and medical device supply chains that create an environment where healthcare professionals can do their best work. The trick is to show how these managerial concerns are actually intimately tied to the individualized caring that nurses do. For example, you might write about how you know that long shifts for nurses have been shown to result in high levels of burnout and more patient dissatisfaction . In order to make sure that the nurses are always at the top of their game (as they were when you shadowed the nurses who dealt with the head trauma), maybe you have an interest in developing new scheduling software that breaks up shifts into smaller segments and tracks the fatigue that nurses accumulate over the long term. After all, maybe it was something more than personal brilliance that allowed the nurse you were following to do their job particularly well; maybe they were also at the beginning of their shift, still fresh from a day’s rest and physically capable of navigating a complex situation. Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. The VIPER program engages students in energy research early on, enabling them to perform graduate level work as undergraduates. Upon successful completion of the program, students receive two degrees: a BSE and a BA. The ultimate goal is to raise innovators in high-caliber research careers who develop sustainable ways to harness, convert, and use energy. The VIPER program has faculty and staff dedicated to advising the VIPER students and meet one-on-one with each cohort member. Cohorts bond, study, work, and get involved in research starting their first year at Penn. If you have conducted research in some sort of energy-related field, then this is a very straightforward essay. You should outline the goals of your project, your hypotheses, your approach, your results, and your conclusions. This seems like a very straightforward outline, but this essay is not just asking for a description of a research project. It is also asking you to discuss what makes you passionate about energy research and the larger social and political contexts that make your research important. The middle three terms — â€Å"hypotheses, approach, and results† — are the more straightforward terms where you say what you did in your research. Maybe you participated in a summer program where you studied how spent nuclear fuel rods behave when stored in different geological formations. You can describe the initial theory you tested, how you went about testing it, and what you found. As you do so, don’t feel the need to cram in the maximum amount of jargon in order to communicate your technical mastery. Wherever possible, use layman’s terms or define the specialized language you are offering. One of the things that these science programs are looking for when they read your essays is not just your capacity to do research, but also your capacity to communicate the importance of your research to a wider audience of non-specialists. After all, even though your VIPER application will be read by people with backgrounds in energy science, they might no t know anything about the particular subfield you were working in. The first and last terms — your â€Å"goals† and your â€Å"conclusions† — should be thought about in slightly more expansive terms. Don’t just talk what about you studied; talk about why you studied it. What is the larger social, economic, and political purpose behind the research that you were doing? For the example about researching spent nuclear fuel rods you might begin by saying that this is an especially important issue because we know that these rods need to be stored for 300 years in order to ensure safety. You might conclude your essay by taking offering a more philosophical approach, talking about how the future of sustainable energy research is not just a matter of coming up with new technologies, but also a matter of looking back and continuing to reckon with the challenges posed by the energy technologies developed in the 20th century. Alternatively, since this still a personal essay and not just a research statement, you might wan t to talk about why this research is particularly important to you . Maybe you live in Nevada’s Nye county, near Yucca Mountain , the first United States’ first nuclear waste storage repository? What if the research you have done is not directly related to energy? If so, that is perfectly fine: the skills you learned in one area of scientific inquiry can easily be transferred to another field. You should still follow the advice above about being a good communicator: avoid excessive jargon, don’t get lost in the weeds. More than a truncated research paper, the admissions committee is looking to see what you learned about the process of research from your experience. When talking about your methods you might talk about how you collaborated with your teammates to solve a particularly difficult problem. Maybe the chemical compound you were using as a catalyst was not congealing properly, and you were stuck until you figured out that the temperature reading for your refrigerator was off by one degree. More than any specific technical know-how, the applications committee is looking for teamwork and problem solving skills. You’ll be studying a lot of textbooks when you get into college, cramming your brain with more technical know-how than you can even imagine. An eager and collaborative spirit is something that you need to bring to the table. If the research experience you are talking about is not related to energy, you will also want to spend some time talking about why you want to get into the field of energy research in particular. Maybe you hope to take the teamwork skills you’ve learned doing fieldwork on sea urchin populations in Monterey Bay to the study of how salt-water algae might be farmed and used as biofuels ? You can also talk about other work that you have done which might not be directly related to scientific research, but is concerned with the political aspects of building a sustainable energy future. Maybe you worked on a campaign to convince local business to become carbon neutral? Whatever you end up writing, you need to convince the admissions committee that you are not just interested in â€Å"science† but rather that you are dedicated to building a sustainable energy future. If you have not done any directed research in the sciences, your essay will be focused on your interest in sustainable energy. You can still demonstrate that you have the skills to be a good researcher even if you have not already worked in a lab. Where have you demonstrated your problem solving skills and your capacity to work with a team? Maybe you worked for a political campaign and collaborated with a team to sort and analyze donor data? Which of your extracurricular activities demonstrates your scrupulous attention to detail and your boundless curiosity in learning how things work? Maybe you built a radio or spend your free time woodworking? Networks permeate and influence virtually every aspect of our lives-everything from how millions of Parisians travel on the Metro to how individuals make friends. Networks lift entire economies and elect presidents. They start revolutions. Move commerce. Make scientific discoveries. Cure diseases. Secure peace. Save lives. To understand and predict behavior, and to design new capabilities and services, we must understand people, systems, and incentives, and how the structure and properties of networks affects interactions. To that end, we’ve created an entirely unprecedented, multidisciplinary program that connects the study of networks with the study of human behavior. Networked & Social Systems mixes courses in engineering, mathematics and science with courses in sociology, game theory, economics and policy. More than just gaining the fundamental knowledge that navigates the various strategies and decisions that make up human interaction, you will build the digital solutions that anticipate the way people — and systems — will act. This essay is very open ended, and it is trying to gauge your capacity to think creatively about how different disciplines relate to each other, and how the concept of the â€Å"network† might hold them all together. But what is a network? A network is an abstract formal pattern. A set of nodes and edges (or lines and dots) that synthesizes the ways people, places, and things are connected. The strength of the network as an analytic tool lies precisely in its abstraction, the fact that it can be used to model and study many different phenomena, from the â€Å" transportation network † of New York’s subway system, to the â€Å" business network † of Donald Trump’s real estate empire. The questions that you might bring to any network are manifold. What is the quickest way to get from one point to another? Which actors are located in central or â€Å"influential† positions? What would happen if one node were knocked out? In statistics and mathematics, big data network analysis is a rapidly expanding research field. In ecology , scientists are using networks to analyze the ways that organisms are related to each other, and modern sociology is consumed with the anal ysis of â€Å"social networks† — not just online, but also in businesses and families and cities. The list of applications for network analysis goes on and on and on. To focus your response and avoid getting lost in the tangle, you will want to write about one specific network that fascinates you. Let’s take the example of the New York City subway system. True, this is not the â€Å"high tech† network like the â€Å"Internet,† but because a network is a kind of formal analysis, the questions raised in the study of one network can be applied to many other different networks. Moreover, NETS’ website mentions that they are interested in both â€Å" digital and real world networks .† Even a creaky old subway system is fair game. So, if you were writing about the New York City subway you might start off by saying that you first became interested in the study of networks as a child zooming along the â€Å"6,† out of Manhattan and into the Bronx. You can springboard from an account of your personal experience as a young rider to your more mature analysis as a student of urban design. Maybe Hurricane Sandy made you ask questions about how the networks that hold cities together might be made more resilient in the face of rapidly changing climate? After zooming out to think about network systems as a whole, you might end your essay by zooming back in on the unique aesthetic experiences that a modern networked world offers as a unique arts and performance space that lets new people and new artists move fluidly across the whole city. Another thing to keep in mind as you write this essay is that NETS is not just interested in the technical details that make a network work : they are also interested in the questions of power. You could call the Internet a jungle of machines-computers, cell phones, and millions of servers in data center warehouses-communing through copper, optical, and satellite links. The universal communications layer of these machines offers services and capabilities that are extensible in ways we never imagined just a few years ago, from online education and sharing jokes with millions in a matter of minutes to transforming entire media industries. But the Internet is not the sum of its machines. Who owns them? Who uses them? And who invents, negotiates and delivers the services in between? While the prompt above talks about the â€Å"creation of beneficial content for society† you might also write about the very real challenges that come with a modern networked society. The internet can be used to spread harmless content, like memes with otters snuggling goats , but it can also be used to spread more disturbing ideas . While it may seem like the Internet offers anyone and everyone a chance to speak, what does it mean if the infrastructure and management of those networks is under the control of a small number of incredibly wealthy companies ? This program is not just looking for talented engineers, it is also looking for interdisciplinary thinkers who are curious about how technologies shape societies and how societies shape technologies. Bio-Dental submatriculation is a seven-year joint program of the College and Penn’s School of Dental Medicine for students who will major in Biology and who wish to enroll in the Dental School during their senior year in the College. Application to the program must be made at the time of application to Penn. Applicants will be notified of their conditional acceptance into the program when they are notified of their admission to Penn. Full acceptance into the program is made after the student’s junior year and is based on academic performance during those three years and meeting the admissions standards of the Dental School. For details, see the   Biology Department   website. The Bio-Dental submatriculation program is highly structured and may not allow students to pursue dual undergraduate degrees. As with most of the essays for the highly structured Bio-Dental program, this essay is looking for information first, and narrative second. This does not mean that there is no room for creativity, but the most important thing is to clearly and effectively communicate what you have done and what you have learned. The first prompt lays out two different ways of answering its question depending on your level of experience. 1) The first option is more straightforward of the two: if you have medical or dental experience, you need to â€Å"list† that experience. And by â€Å"list,† they mean offer some type of resume that is specifically targeted to your interest in medicine and dentistry (no need to discuss your volunteer experience as an elementary school chorus director). The more specific you can be with numbers and dates, the better. But whatever you do, do not feel the need to inflate your accomplishments or the number of hours spent. This is very tempting, but in the end the Bio-Dental program is less interested in the exact number of hours you’ve volunteered than in the demonstration of a consistent and long-standing interest in medicine. Admissions officers know that for financial or family reasons not everyone can afford to volunteer for 15 hours a week. 2) The second option is much more difficult. If you have not had any specific medical or dental experience, then you will need to take a slightly different approach to this essay. You will need to write a very compelling 250-word statement about how your background has prepared you to enter a highly specialized and incredibly competitive seven-year dental program right out of high school. But before writing your essay, if you have absolutely no background in medicine or research, you should first question if you actually want to commit to a 7-year program in the first place (especially one as difficult to get into as Penn’s). If you are set on the decision, however, this essay is of crucial importance to legitimize your application amongst an applicant pool of relatively outstanding students with actual medicine backgrounds. Maybe you have not done any structured research, but you have had a lot of experience going to the dentist because you suffered from a rare gum ailment, and you have done a lot of independent research on your own case and hope to build on that work to help others? Maybe you are deeply interested in medicine, but instead of being able to do resume-building volunteer work you have had to spend a lot of time at home caring for your father who was suffering from Parkinson’s? This essay is attempting to gauge your physical capabilities as a doctor. Talking about your experiences in Woodshop, Robotics, etc., can be a good way of demonstrating your ability to work with your hands. If you were relatively hands-off in high school with respect to your activities, pulling an example from outside of school can help you answer this essay. Perhaps you are the one in your family that eagerly assembles Ikea furniture, or are an avid fan of Lego. Keep in mind that you don’t need to appear capable of brain surgery at this point in your life; you simply need to illustrate to Penn that you are comfortable connecting your brain and your digits. This question is a lot more open-ended. You can speak about anything from a leadership position to a community service role to even your experiences at home with siblings. If you still feel the need to highlight your interest in medicine, you can try to answer this from a medical perspective. Perhaps you had a relatively hectic administrative position in a hospital ER — your ability to calmly and collectively perform tasks with others in this stressful environment can highlight your teamwork abilities as well as emphasize, once again, your passion for medicine. This essay is more specific than a simple â€Å"Why Medicine?† essay. You need to explain why dentistry as a field appeals to you among all other medical fields. You can focus on a modern problem in the field and explain how you hope to pursue it at Penn. Alternatively, you can have a more human answer and explain why patient care in the industry is important to you, and how you hope to take your education and make some impact in that area. Be careful, however, that this essay does not too strongly overlap with your essay about pre-dental experience. If you had no experience to begin with, you likely wrote about how you developed an interest in the field. Make sure you don’t use the same topic for this essay.    There is also a little bit of a trick here: the â€Å"what interests you least† part of the prompt may seem a little bit unusual. In an essay where you are supposed to be communicating your passion about dentistry, wouldn’t it come off as strange to spend precious words talking about what you don’t want to do? The thing to recognize is that this part of the question plays an important role weeding out the applicants who have no business committing to a 7-year dental program as an 17 or 18 year old. People with experience in their intended careers will understand what they do and do not like and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Being able to speak to your lack of interest in a particular problem is part of how this prompt wants you to demonstrate your depth of experience and what you have learned from that experience. As you talk about â€Å"what interests you least† be careful not to be too negative; even if a certain aspect of modern dentistry does not interest you, you should still make it clear that you respect those who focus their energies on that topic. (Indeed, the people reading your admissions essay might very well be specialists in the topic that â€Å"does not interest† you). While working as a clerk in Dr. Lee’s dental office, I really admired her detailed knowledge of the latest advanced surgery routines, and we would often talk about the research she was doing on enamel erosion. But one thing that Dr. Lee and I also discussed was the difficulty of communicating complicated physiological concepts to patients who did not have her specialized medical training. What those conversations led me to think about was that I was ultimately less interested in the detailed lab research that Dr. Lee focused on, and more committed to developing new methods of clearly communicating the work in the lab to patients. What I like about this response is that it shows a deep involvement with the problems of modern dentistry, and that it pays proper respect to the detailed research that other dentists do, while also showing that you have started to learn about your own strengths. Another version of this essay might talk about how your involvement with one research project on the effectiveness of different kinds of mouthwash led you away from research on consumer products and into a deeper interest into gum tissue. You might say that are now looking into a future career that is less focused on testing consumer products and more focused on in-depth anatomy research. This is also straightforward. If you have relatives, mention them. If you do not, don’t stress too much. You won’t be disqualified for a lack of legacy. Want help on your University of Pennsylvania application or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program and Essay Editing Program . For personalized mentorship and one-on-one guidance through the application process, check out ’s mentorship program and application guidance services . How to Write the University of Michigan Essays 2017-2018 The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is a top-ranked public university with a long history of excellence in sports, the arts, and academics. Founded in 1817 with the motto, â€Å"Arts, Knowledge, Truth,† the university now has one of the largest alumni networks in the world. No matter which of Michigan’s 19 schools or colleges they attended, alumni are always willing to help out fellow alum because of their adoration for their shared and beloved alma mater. Year after year, the university receives a record number of applicants, and last year they accepted around 42.4% of their in-state applicants and 24.5% of their out-of-state applicants. The school is currently home to 28,312 proud undergraduate Michigan Wolverines. Michigan’s location in Ann Arbor provides its students with access to one of the continuously best-regarded college towns. It is not only a fun and attractive place to live, but it is also home to many work opportunities and an entrepreneurial spirit. With a campus spanning 3,211 acres, more than 250-degree programs, and more than 900 student organizations, Michigan is home to endless opportunities. Students looking for a large school with a diverse student body and a lot of school spirit find exactly that and more at the University of Michigan. Read on to learn how to write the University of Michigan supplemental essays. This prompt represents a common category of supplement prompts that ask you why you want to study a specific program at a specific school. The main purpose of these â€Å"Why Us?† essays is to show the school why you are interested and why you are a good fit. This is done in two parts: 1. why you want to study what you have indicated and 2. why you want to study it here at this specific school. Make sure to do some research so you can provide more than generic examples like â€Å"I want to go to a big schoolâ€Å" or â€Å"I like sports† that could apply to many other schools. To learn more about â€Å"Why Us?† type essays, read our essay guide, â€Å" How to Write the â€Å"Why Us?† College Essay .† When you start to write this essay, you first want to develop why you wish to study what you have indicated on your application. An anecdote is often the most effective means of accomplishing this. You could recount how your time in physical therapy, love for your biology class, and long history of playing sports fueled your passion to learn more about the human body and how it moves. This perfectly lines up with the field of Kinesiology. Next, you need to demonstrate why Michigan is the perfect place to study what you have selected. Continuing with the Kinesiology example, you could talk about its excellent reputation and some specific classes you really look forward to taking. With preferred admission applications, it is important to discuss your future goals as well as past experiences that make you sure you will want to be a part of this program. For example, if you apply for the Pharmacy program, you will want to discuss why you are interested in pharmacy and detail the moments in your life that have led you to this decision. Perhaps you have always had a passion for chemistry and helping others, and hearing from your friend’s mom about her career in pharmacy was consistently one of your favorite parts of your weekly hangouts. With dual-degree programs, the key is not only discussing why you want to pursue a degree in each of them, but why you think the combination is especially important for you. For example, if you are applying to the dual-degree Ross School of Business and College of Engineering program, you could discuss your dream of beginning your own tech startup and needing both the technical engineering knowledge and business savvy. You could write about how you first came up with your idea and when/how you realized Michigan’s dual-degree program would be the perfect place to bring it to life. The main purpose of this question is to get at what the applicant believes to be central to their perception of self. Michigan wants to know something special about you and your background and how that will contribute to their diverse campus. No two people have the same exact story, and this is your opportunity to show how yours is different. Often, when students read the list of possible communities in this prompt, they immediately know which of their many communities they will write about. Others have a hard time identifying a community in their life that has shaped them. For those of you who feel that way, the most helpful path to discovering this impactful community is to write out a list of the communities you belong to or have belonged to at some point in your life. It could include your hometown, grade school, in-school club, church group or something that will require more explanation like the car you drive or your favorite food. For those who are truly stumped, the latter approach can be a good way to spin something that most people would not see as a community into one. Let’s take the â€Å"favorite food† community for example. You could write an essay about being part of the community that believes waffles are superior to pancakes. You could talk about how your grandma always made you her famous waffles and taught you a life lesson that changed your perspective while mixing the ingredients. This essay would discuss how you became a part of this community and why it is important to you in a very creative way. Almost anything is possible with this prompt. No matter what approach you choose, make sure to develop your place within the community with an anecdote or deep personal reflection. Don’t forget to showcase your voice as a writer and keep this prompt personal! The communities we are a part of impact us all in very different ways. There is no right answer. Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. The most important part of writing this essay is deciding which of your activities you will write about. Note that the prompt does not ask which of your activities takes up most of your time or which you have engaged in the longest. It asks which one you would keep doing if you could only choose one. For this reason, you should write about the activity to which you feel the greatest personal connection. Ask yourself: â€Å"If I had to choose one descriptive word to describe me, what would I want it to be?† Then, â€Å"Which of my activities showcases that?† Use this essay to tell Michigan about one of the most important aspects of who you are. An important thing to keep in mind is that the prompt only calls for approximately 100 words. You need to be short and sweet in your response. Do not spend too much time discussing the specifics of what the activity is. If the activity is widely known (e.g., Model UN, Speech and Debate) you may jump right into your personal involvement and connection. If the activity is not well known by outsiders, you may want to spend a short sentence discussing the activity before transitioning to its significance. Because of the personal nature of this prompt, it is nearly impossible to list exemplary activities. If five different people participated in the same five activities, they could very well all have different responses to this prompt. The one thing that should not differ in their responses is the development, or the level of detail of the â€Å"why.† If you were to write an essay about being on the varsity soccer team, you would want to talk about the leadership skills you gained as captain, how you learned to be a team player, and other formative experiences. You could talk about technical aspects of the game if they have a personal meaning for you or if they contain a metaphor for your life. Maybe you discuss how being a goalie helps you think differently because you need to anticipate the next move and developing these skills helps you on and off the field. No matter what, always go one step further in your analysis. You can read more about how to answer this type of question in our guide on How to Write â€Å"Most Important Extracurricular† Essays . The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is looking to fill out a diverse class of incoming students. They ask the questions they do because they want to understand what makes you stand out from the pack. They want to know what you will bring to campus that will make you a key member of the community. Show them what you’ve got! Would you like more help with any of your schools’ applications or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program and Essay Editing Program . Want us to quickly edit your college essay? Submit it to our Rapid Review Program , and we’ll get it back to you quickly with comments from our expert team.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Conduct an interview with an Informatics Professional Essay

Conduct an interview with an Informatics Professional - Essay Example Therefore, although companies differ in the way they use this term, CSO is increasingly used to refer to the highest ranked person responsible for the entire security of an organization, that is, both physical and digital (CSO, 2008). This paper, through interviewing a person working in this position, investigates the roles, responsibilities, qualifications, background, experience and challenges facing chief security officers. The telephone interview involved Mr. Anthony Gacanja who is the current CSO of Safaricom Kenya, a major network provider company in Kenya. Mr. Anthony Gacanja is currently the Chief Security Officer at Safaricom Kenya. He did his O level at St. Mary’s School Nairobi and holds a bachelor degree in Bsc. Electrical and Electronics Engineering (majoring in Telecommunication) from Nairobi University. Before joining Safaricom, he worked as a Manger of Technology Security and Risk Services in Ernst and Young and also as an Application Systems Developer at Software Technologies Limited. He has vast experience in IT consultancy and information systems assurance and audit. Besides holding a bachelor degree, Mr. Gacanja is also passed his exams both in Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM). When asked about the main roles and responsibilities of a CSO, Mr. Gacanja said that a CSO has several duties and responsibilities depending on the company he or she is working with. However, although he accepted that these duties and responsibilities may vary from one organization to another, he points out a common aim for all CSOs is to ensure good security to an organization and work force. He gave the following as the main roles of any CSO in any organization: On qualification, Mr. Gacanja said that any individual who wishes to be a chief security officer must have a strong knowledge of security related concepts and excellent contacts

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Ethical Behavior of Employee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ethical Behavior of Employee - Essay Example Menzel’s compliance model suggests that the employee’s conduct is regulated to spur obedience to minimum standards and legal prohibitions; what the law says, what the rules mean, and what one needs to do (Ethical Moments in Government page number). Employees must abide by the applicable rules and practices to stay out of trouble. If they break the rules, they will be subject to punishment. Punishment would be harsh to those who break the rules with willful intention and less harsh if the rules are broken due to ignorance (Menzel, â€Å"PM Plus†). In sharp contrast, Menzel’s integrity-based model is value driven, not rules driven. It combines the awareness of public service ethos, ethical standards, and legal prohibitions, as well as the process of moral reasoning to inspire exemplary actions and ethical conduct (Menzel, Ethical Moments in Government page number). Values may differ depending on the mission, leadership, incentives, awareness, education, and training, aspirations, and culture (Menzel, â€Å"PM Plus†). The employee must choose what is right and what is wrong depending on these considerations. Let us take the city manager’s ethical dilemma here. From a strict compliance point of view, the city manager has no deal with the neighboring community. A verbal agreement is not enforceable under law or under contract in such a situation. As there is no compliance-based ethical issue here, he could go back on his word with the neighboring community and accept the higher offer from his own community without violating professional ethics.

Communication assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Communication assignment - Essay Example Then finally the areas of improvement in the system are discussed. Finally the paper is concluded by developing a costing implementation plan. In recruitment process Communication is an inevitable element. The recruits are taking care of the company's organization structure, its policies and practices. To make people aware of company's supervisor, its rules and regulations Communication is necessary Communication helps to perform functions of employees effectively. Employees should be sincere in their job (i.e. Employees must show real affection to the organization in which they are working that will finally lead to its great success) If a Soldier really knows why is in his nation's army and why he have to follow certain rules/procedures with the citizens so it is easier to develop love towards nation as commitment to his nation. In order to make the subordinates know about their contribution to the enterprise activity Communication is unavoidable. By this the employees are motivated and will get some idea about what their supervisors and the organization are expecting from them. Communication is needed to teach employees about personal safety on the job. This is essential to reduce accidents, to lower compensation and legal costs and to decrease recruitment and training cost for replacement. Communication helps the manager in his decision process. ... his nation's army and why he have to follow certain rules/procedures with the citizens so it is easier to develop love towards nation as commitment to his nation. In order to make the subordinates know about their contribution to the enterprise activity Communication is unavoidable. By this the employees are motivated and will get some idea about what their supervisors and the organization are expecting from them. Communication is needed to teach employees about personal safety on the job. This is essential to reduce accidents, to lower compensation and legal costs and to decrease recruitment and training cost for replacement. Elite groups and the wider public have acquired about its goals, activities and accomplishments by the amount of support which an enterprise receives from its social environment. Communication helps the manager in his decision process. There is a spate of varied information produced in an enterprise. The manager must make a choice of useful and essential information which should reach him. Co-ordination is achieved through communication. Co-ordination is needed among its component parts on the basis of division of labors and specialization. Many interdependent activities are performed in different departments of an organization. This interdependence is not tolerated in the absence of communication. Communication promotes co-operation and industrial peace. Because of lack of communication most of the disputes in an enterprise takes place. CURRENT APPROACHES TO INTERNAL COMMUNICATION: Formal channels Intranets Intranet is the popular approach to internal communication. E-Mail Newsletter Periodic Presentations By The Boss Open House or Town Hall Sessions and even Good old Team Briefings or Staff Magazines, Notices and Posters. All can

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Auditing - Essay Example However, globalisation is also associated with different business and financial risks. Globalisation can have varied effects on different economies in the world. Various forces like investors, borrowers, financial institutions, etc. are having an impounding effect on increased levels of financial globalisation (Schmukler, Zoido & Halac, n.d., p.1). With globalisation and associated risks, accounting and auditing procedures are also encountering significant changes worldwide. In this report the effects of globalisation on auditing mechanisms and various developments of auditing procedures have been studied. Globalisation Globalisation can be defined as the process of increasing association of the markets worldwide and the interdependence between the business processes followed by different organisations all over the world. Recent years have encountered a rapid increase in such phenomenon. Globalisation describes the spread and interconnectivities of new advanced technologies, communic ation systems and production all over the world (Smith & Doyle, 2002). The two important driving factors towards globalisation are: a) Advancements in infrastructure of telecommunications and b) the increasing use and advancement of internet. The economies of the world are getting connected and resulting in increased opportunities for business concerns as well as rising competitions amongst themselves. There is a development of sharing of international cultures as well. The expansion of trade worldwide and globalisation have brought about significant benefits for different economies all over the world. However the recent Global Financial Crisis has somewhat put a hold on the globalisation process (International Monetary Fund, n.d.). Various benefits to citizens of a country as a result of globalisation includes admittance to increased varieties of products and services at lower costs, increased number of job opportunities, higher standard of living, etc (International Monetary Fund, February 2008). Effects of Globalisation on Accounting and Auditing The number of business organisations operating globally is vast and it is increasing at an increasing rate. This puts emphasis on the development of accounting language which is common to all the countries in the world. Globalisation has brought about significant changes in the accounting and auditing procedures all over the world. There had been profound changes in reporting standards of financial statements of organisations as a result of globalisation. This is quite evident from instances like the convergence agreement that has been signed between International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the year 2002 and the adoption of International Accounting Standards (IAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by the European Union (EU) in the year 2005 (Ding, Jeanjean & Stolowy, 2008, p.145). Globalisation is having a significant effect on the accoun ting profession itself. With the advancement of information technology and internet web based financial reporting systems are becoming more common and also mandatory for most of the business concerns. The accounting models used by different business organisations have changed. Globalisation has also brought about changes regarding the systems of communicating financial

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Mathew Brady (the 19th century photographer) and his influence on Term Paper

Mathew Brady (the 19th century photographer) and his influence on historical media - Term Paper Example He is also considered to be one of America’s greatest photographers in his time, during the 19th century. Later on, he became and is currently known to be the father of photojournalism. Born on the eighteenth day of May in the year 1822 in Warren County in the state of New York to an Irish immigrant family, Matthew Brady grew up, later left his Irish immigrant parents and moved to the city of New York when he was only sixteen years of age. When he arrived in that city, he first took the profession of being a clerk in a department store. Soon after working in this job, he created and made his very own business industry in the making, manufacturing and creating cases for jewelry and other trinkets and charms. As a hobby and leisure pursuit, Brady had a great interest and loved to take photographs. He decided to study photography soon after. One of the teachers that he had was William Page. In the year 1839, Page had introduced Brady to Samuel F. B. Morse, who had been one of Page’s instructors and mentors in the art of pictures and was one of the first to ever introduce photography to the United States of America. At that time, Morse just came back from the continent of Europe, who has just begun to start the application of photography, which was still a new process during that time. During his classes as a student of photography, his incredible and exceptional talent and skill in photography was observed and noticed. He was able to quickly realize and find out about his natural ability and gift in taking daguerreotypes and photographs, mostly portraits of renowned Americans. Through Samuel Morse and William Page, he was able to become more and more interested and fascinated with the new art of photography. Because of his growing interest and love for photography and pictures, he later decided to save up his own money to have enough capital in order to create and own his very own photography studio so that he could follow his ambition

Monday, September 23, 2019

Women fce greter chllenges thn men in their ttempts to climb to the Essay

Women fce greter chllenges thn men in their ttempts to climb to the top of the corporte ldder - Essay Example More recently, however, there hs been n influx of women into non-trditionl, higher sttus occuptions, nd it ppers tht trditionl ptterns of occuptionl segregtion my be slowly chnging. It is considered, tht women fce greter chllenge thn men in their ttempts to climb top of the corporte ldder. This suggestion hs been mde due to historicl chnges tht took plce in the distribution of gender workforce nd will be discussed lter in this pper. lthough women nd men hve lwys engged in purposeful ctivity, the set of ctivities tht mny people consider work or employment is not lwys cler. Historiclly, men nd women worked side by side together in the fields. Tody, however, distinction is mde between pid, public work externl to the fmily nd unpid, privte work in the home. Ech of these spheres of work hs come to be sex-typed, with pid work being viewed by mny s the domin of mles nd unpid work in the home the domin of femles. These perceptions re chnging but re still deep-seted in mny respects. Historiclly, men nd women hve hd very different experiences of work. Men hve either secured goods or worked externl to the fmily unit, wheres women often hve worked more integrlly s prt of tht unit. Beginning with industriliztion nd continuing to the workplce tody, men's nd women's experiences of work hve vried significntly, lrgely due to the continuing sex segregtion of occuptions. However, with the onset of two world wrs, both Blck nd White women stedily incresed their numbers in the externl, pid workforce. During the 1990s, the mjority of both men nd women, Blck nd White, were employed outside of the fmily unit. The reltions between men nd women - sometimes chrcterised s "wr" - hve since been trnsformed. In the City of London tody, for exmple, some highly pid expectnt mothers ttempt to time their bonus pyments so tht they fll within the reference period used to clculte mternity py entitlements. If they mnge to win bonus between 18 nd 26 weeks before their expected birth dte, they cn receive mternity py mounting to much more thn they ern normlly - nd with the pprovl of the Inlnd Revenue. How much of this chnge is due to the lw, nd how much would hve hppened nywy becuse of economic nd lbour mrket pressures It is, s lwys, difficult to sy. Yet most commenttors rgue the SD hs hd significnt impct on British working culture. "Tody, it is unusul for women to be discriminted ginst directly becuse they re women, which is wht used to hppen," sys Michel Rubenstein, the founder of Equl Opportunities Review, specilist journl. "The discrimintion tht tkes plce now is mostly round women's fmily roles nd resentment of the disruption it cuses." (Overell, 2006). Jmes Cox, n employment prtner t shurst, n interntionl lw firm, sys: "The City [of London] is the lst bstion of old-style employment prctices, where the focus is on working hrd nd ceding your life to your employer nd clients. "But in the lst few yers it hs been hit relly hrd by women tking [employers to] tribunls nd sometimes wlking wy with multimillion-pound compenstion pyments. It is those cses of the lte 1990s, directly due to the SD, tht hve forced the City to chnge its wys." (Overell, 2006). It is only in very recent yers tht there hs been notble rise in the number of people (mostly women) using sex equlity lw to chllenge employers. In 1998-99, 6,200 women took their employers to tribunl; by 2003-4 the figure hd risen to 17,000 people

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Essay Example for Free

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Essay Tony Morrison became the prominent American writer of the second half of the 20th century mainly because of her novel â€Å"The Bluest Eye† published in 1970. The family relations, beauty and ugliness, cruelty and love are in the focus of the novel. The novel is narrated by a young black girl, Claudia MacTeer and the reader realizes through her perception the atmosphere in the family of her friend Pecola Breedlove. The family relations in the Pecola’s family are very hostile. The topic of racial inequality is one of the central topics. The Pecola’s mother Pauline hates the entire family because she keeps comparing the life of the white family for whom she works as a maid with hers, watching some kind of ideal in the life of the whites. This is the manifestation of the lost identity of the Blacks, an identity which has been suppressed by the cultural development of America. African Americans and their tragedy of the lost culture are in the center of the novel.   The novel is built on the passionate desire of Pecola to be loved by her family and her school friends. Pecola thinks that the reason of the hostile attitude towards her is her black skin and she wants to resemble the American idols like Shirley Temple. Shirley Temple is just an ideal created by the mass culture, an idol which is a part of American dream. The conventional American perception of beauty is connected with the blue eyes and white skin like those of Shirley Temple. A talented young singer, dancer and actor, she no doubt deserves acclaim for her abilities, but as a cultural representation, she symbolizes far more than uncanny, childhood innocence. Tony Morison studies the position of the blacks in America. She names the things which sometimes are not in public but in minds. American society is divided according to the racial principle and nobody can do anything with it.    The author states that America treats its black citizens like people of a lower grade, pariahs, â€Å"There are several levels of the pariah figure working in my writing. The black community is a pariah community. Black people are pariahs. The civilization of black people that lives apart from but in juxtaposition to other civilizations is a pariah relationship. In fact, the concept of the black in this country is almost always one of the pariahs. But a community contains pariahs within it that are very useful for the conscience of that community.†(The Bluest Eye. Review). American culture has produced an utopian image of America, called â€Å"an American Dream†. It is not bad at all; it indicates, at least the standards to be reached and the goals to be gained.   This collective image is an image of a rich country populated with the nice successful people. There is only one problem in this image. The country is rich and the society is successful, but people personifying this success are narrated with the blond hair and white skin. This is just what great American Martin Luther King said about. The racial inequity is in the very essence of the American society. This racial inequity is indicated not in the hostile relations of the Whites and the Blacks but in a lack of the black standards of beauty. A color of the skin is given by God and it can not define the position in the society. Pecola identifies her personal position in the community with the position of the black community in the American society, i.e. as soon as the Blacks are pariahs in the society; she feels herself a pariah within the community. What is more, she understands the position of the black community in the American society and naively associates it with her personal position in the black community. Her dream of blue eyes is a naà ¯ve attempt to break through the concept of the faceless, i.e. it is a protest against her position of a pariah. Tony Morison intentionally uses a dream of a small girl which would never come true to underline the improbability of such a dream to resemble an American icon Shirley Temple in the same way as black community would never become an equal part of the society. The values of the society imposed on the black children are destructive. Pecola is morally suppressed by the values she accepts. These values are dominant and black children are not able to evaluate them critically. Pecola is destroyed by the cultural values she has to adopt. The white culture influences the personalities of the black people especially young ones. The Anglo Saxon standards of beauty follow the children outside the class. Movie blondes with blue eyes catch their sight from the cinema screens, billboards, newspapers and magazines. There is no place to hide from the bluest eyes. These beauties keep telling the children that if they were white with blue eyes they would achieve success. This destroys the girl’s identity. She mistakenly associates her physical appearance with the wealth and happiness. White mass culture shows white skin, blue eyes and blonde hair in association with wealth, happiness and success and a young girl realizes erroneously that her life is defined by her appearance. Pecola’s admiration of Sherley Temple is one of her personal tragic illusions. The success of the movie star Temple poisons the life of Pecola. The mass culture shows the physical beauty in the context of prosperity. This self humiliation develops the complex of inferiority of the girl. â€Å"Long hours she sat looking in the mirror, trying to discover the secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made her ignored or despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike, She was the only member of her class who sat alone at a double desk.†( Tirell, Lynne) A utopian desire to resemble an American idol became an obsession for Pecola. â€Å"Each night, without fail, she prayed for blue eyes. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ She would see only what there was to see: the eyes of other people.†( Morrison, Toni, p.45) Shirley Temple was extremely popular in America during the Depression. She helped to strengthen the spirit of the nation. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, speaking in 1935, praised Shirley: â€Å"During this Depression, when the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents, an American can go to a movie, look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles†( The Bluest Eye, Review). When the nation needs to raise its spirit the value of such idols like Shirley Temple is very high. The Pecola’s aspiration to resemble the American idol drives the girl crazy. She looses the connections with the reality. As soon as the world does not understand her desire and does not want to give her a chance to become closer to her idol she decides to lock in herself and find a piece of mind keeping her dreams in herself without letting them out. The hate of people, ideal dream on the movie star physical appearance, the hostile atmosphere at school and in the family and the rape by her father and the hate of her mother made the girl crazy. But is still dreaming of her ideal. Pecola attempts to create her own imaginary reality opposing the real one. After Cholly raped Pecola the second time, even her imaginary friend is not able to bring the piece of mind for Pecola.   You didnt need me before a truth so threatening and painful to Pecola and so close to the psychological reality that it immediately adds, I meanyou were so unhappy before. I guess you didnt notice me before ( Morrison, Toni, p.205) Her imaginary friend created by her imagination reassures her that she has the blue eyes. Still the attitude of people towards Pecola does not change. Her eyes do not produce the expected effect and Pecola finds the explanation in insufficient blueness of her eyes. The parallel between Pecola and Oedipus of Sophocles is marked by the author (Morrison, Toni, p.196 ). The author introduces Claudia to contrast the Pecola’s perception of beauty imposed by the white culture. The white ideal of beauty neglects the self esteem of the black people. The white idols destruct the human dignity of both adults and children. These idols destruct Pecola completely. Claudia in her turn does not accept these idols unconditionally. The attitude towards the white culture defines the survival of Claudia and the demise of Pecola. It is not the white community that has directly destroyed Pecola, but the black community and her parents. They should have insulated her from the white communitys values and have protected her (Hinda Barlaz). The words of narrator about the destructiveness of the physical beauty and romantic love are given in the context when Pauline, pregnant black American woman was watching history of romantic love in the movie theatre. She broke her tooth then as if recapitulating the comparison of romantic love in the movie with her current position. The image of Jean Harlow from the screen destroys the Pauline’s identity as a woman, her belief in American dream and her own beauty. The broken tooth symbolizes her belief in happiness which is destroyed. Toni Morrison and a great American Martin Luther King, Pecola and Pauline, Hero of the Doctorow’s Ragtime and The Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, all of them have the common feature. They are all looking for identity as well as other best representatives of the humanity. Martin Luther King and Pecola, no matter how strange it may seem had the same dream, a dream of equality for all disregarding the color of the skin. Hero of the Doctorow’s novel and Oedipus Rex were looking for their lost identity. John Lennon joined Great American King in his dream of â€Å"a brotherhood of men† in his â€Å"Imagine†. Martin Luther King was looking for the identity of the black people of America and paid his life for it. Pecola was looking for her own identity and paid her mentality. John Lennon was looking for a â€Å"brotherhood of men† and paid his life for his search. These principles can not come from the outside; they should be in the people’s mind which is an identity. A hero of one Russian classic (Bulgakov, The Heart of the Dog) kept threatening himself, â€Å"there is a devastation in the country!!!† and he got a respond â€Å"this devastation is in your mind†. The same could be said of identity. We create the identity in our minds and then we apply it to the entire society. Bibliography I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr, Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior, Pocket Books, NY 1968, available at http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html, retrieved 7.04.2005 Tirell, Lynne. â€Å"Storytelling and Moral Agency.† Toni Morrison’s Fiction: Contemporary Criticism. Ed. David Middleton. New York: Garland, 2000. 3-25. Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York: Penguin, 1994. Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye, Review, available at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html#pv Hedin, Raymond. The Structuring of Emotion in Black American Fiction. Novel 16 (1982): 35-54. Edmund A. Napieralski, Morrisons The Bluest Eye., 1994 Heldref Publications, The Explicator, Fall 1994 v53 n1 p59(4), available at http://www.cofc.edu/~farrells/Farrell/oedipus.html, retrieved 6.04.2005 Hinda A. Barlaz, A Reading Guide to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, available at http://students.adelphi.edu/learningcenter/pdfs/tonimorrison.pdf, retrieved 6.04.2005 Trudy Mercer. Female Childhood Icons in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye, available at http://www.drizzle.com/~tmercer/write/morrison/bluesteye.shtml Chris Booker, The Social Status of the African American Male: 1999, available at http://www.pressroom.com/~afrimale/status99.htm Gibson, Donald B. (1989), â€Å"Text and Countertext in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye†, Taylor, Paul C., Journal of Aesthetics Art Criticism, MALCOLMS CONK AND DANTOS COLORS; OR, FOUR LOGICAL PETITIONS CONCERNING RACE, BEAUTY, AND ,  , available at http://www.lib.tjfsu.edu.cn/ymwx/essay/The%20Bluest%20Eye1.htm Bjork, Patrick B. The novels of Toni Morrison: the search for self and place within the community. NY: P. Lang,1996.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Frankenstein and Darkness by Lord Byron

Frankenstein and Darkness by Lord Byron The Romantic period is probably one of the most significant periods of change in literature. It is during this period that a lot of high quality works were produced be it in literature, art or music. Apart from being rich in poetry the period can be seen as an exaltation of the imagination. This was replacing the rational thought which had overcome Europe at the time. The Romantics also saw themselves as prophets and used their works to prophesise about the future of mankind. Due to this it is interesting to investigate whether these prophesies of the future of mankind have actually come true. The essay will look at how exactly the two romantic writers of Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) and the poem Darkness (Lord Byron) and what these two writers prophesised in their works. Also in the end see whether what the writers are trying to portray in their texts can be applied to modern day. References to other romantic works by William Wordsworth and William Blake also aid in this investigation. The essay reaches a conclusion that the various themes displayed in the texts can be applied to modern day and do serve as a warning as most of which these writers feared would happen to mankind is actually taking place to this day. As a final point, that indeed their warnings are justified. Introduction Throughout the ages it can be observed that they were a lot of periods of change that happened throughout the history of literature. These include the Victorian era. One of the most influential periods of change happens to be the Romantic era. The word suggests that this era was based on peoples appreciation of love and romance. All the same, though love was a common theme during works of the time the Romantic of era was in actual fact a movement in the creativity of artists and writers of the time. This movement was not just a shift in the mind sets of those involved with literature but it also involved art and music. The movement began in the late 1700s in Western Europe and continued towards the mid 1800s. In the 1700s there were a lot of advancements being made by the European people including advancements in science and social changes such as the Industrial Revolution. Majority of these changes were brought forth by the Age of Enlightenment that went through the 18th century which saw the awakening of scientific thought, the overthrowing of the conquering religious knowledge and the change in European philosophy as a means of finding reason in the world. It also saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution which took over Europe during the 18th century. The Romantic era was basically a rebellion against the scientific and rational thought that gripped Europe during the previous age of enlightenment. This rebellion saw the shift from rational thought to more concentration on emotions, passion for life and nature. Other important themes of the Romantic era were nationalism, freedom and liberty. These themes formed the ideals of most Romantics and they displayed them through all their works. Romantics also concerned themselves with using their works as a means of displaying human society and its link with nature often spoke of the future of mankind. They saw themselves as prophets of the future and used heir works as warnings of the future. One of the most influential works of literature written at the time is the poem Darkness by Lord Byron. The poem was written in 1816 in the midst of very strange events which people thought at the time were signs of the apocalypse. That year was known as the year without a summer due to darkness which had over shadowed the land which originated from the volcanic ash cloud of the eruption of Mount Tambora a volcano situated in Indonesia the previous year. Unfortunately the people in Geneva did not know this and went into a panic believing the apocalypse was near. The chaos and activity of the time were the inspiration behind Byrons poem. In addition he wrote his poem as a means of writing about the calamity which will take over mankind if immoral behaviour is continued. Another important work is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley was the wife of another famous poet by the name of Percy Shelley. The book was written while on a visit to the Swiss Alps with Percy at the Lord Byrons home. Here due to the unseasonal rain they had to remain indoors and entertained themselves with ghost stories. Due to the urging of the Lord himself a competition was set to see who would write the creepiest story and Mary took the prize through the writing of her book Frankenstein; Or The Modern Prometheus which is the full name. The book is based on the story of a young ambitious scientist who sets out to create life but ends up creating a monster. This book is a metaphor for what would become of mankind if they continue to tamper with nature. The theme of nature and its destruction is a common theme in a lot of Romantic works. In this paper the manner in which these two writers warn the reader of the misfortune that will take over mankind by looking at various themes and methods the authors use to expose them. Also reference will be made to other works of the Romantic period to show the similarities and differences of the works. Chapter 1: The Theme of Nature in the Works The theme of nature was very prominent in many Romantic works. It was believed that nature possesses an ability to revitalize the mind and help man escape from the constraints of civilisation. The root of these beliefs also come from the fact that the Romantic period arose from the time when Europe was undergoing the Industrial Revolution which saw the destruction of forests and beautiful scenery to make space for factories and mills for industrial purposes. According to them, nature was viewed as a sublime Godly creation which was to be appreciated and not destroyed. This is portrayed through the setting of the texts and the many creative ways the writers made lucid descriptions of nature. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses elaborate description of the scenery to display this. Looking at the first letter from Richard Walton, he describes sensations he feels as he walks through the streets of St Petersburg, I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which braces my nerves and fills me with delight. The beauty of the environment around him inspires him to continue his voyage to the north pole and increases his excitement about the beauty of the north pole which is he is so eager to see. Throughout the novel it can be noted how nature uplifts and provides some healing for both the monster and Victor Frankenstein. Another famous work is the poem Daffodils also known by the title I wondered lonely as a cloud by William Wordsworth, a celebrated Romantic poet. Wordsworth wrote this poem after taking a walk with his sister admiring the daffodils in the fields surrounding him. Similar to Mary Shelley, he paints an ostentatious image of the beauty of the flowers their ability to invite him to enjoy them through use of language. He describes the flowers as fluttering and dancing as if to say the movements of the flowers are as gentle as the fluttering of butterflies and birds in the breeze and their motions graceful as if they were dancing. The use of imagery was also very important tool for the Romantics to exhibit their message and aid the reader in appreciating the beauty of nature they often portray. There, Margaret, the sun is for ever visible; its broad disk skirting the horizon and diffusing a perpetual splendourà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Here, Walton describes in his first letter to his sister Margaret, how the sun spreads over the horizon at the North Pole. The words perpetual splendour further enhance the beauty of the region. In Daffodils, Wordsworth also refers to the power of nature to enlighten his heart from sadness, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦For oft, when on my couch I lie/ In vacant or in pensive mood,/They flash upon that inward eye/Which is the bliss of solitude;/And then my heart with pleasure fills,/And dances with the daffodils. The words vacant and solitude describe his empty state of mind. The daffodils flash appear brightly within his inward eye which is his imagination filling his heart with pleasure. These are all demonstrations of the power nature has over the individual as portrayed by the Romantic writers. Chapter 2: The Consequences of the Pursuit of Knowledge One of the major themes in Frankenstein is the pursuit of knowledge and its consequences. The prior to the Romantic period was the Age of Enlightenment which saw a rise of rationalism and continuous significant scientific advancements. These concerned Mary Shelley and other Romantic writers. The concern was they saw this rationalist movement as man trying to meddle with the laws of nature. This is the foundation of the character of Victor Frankenstein. At the age of 17, Frankenstein goes off to university where he meets many intellectuals and wise professors who inspire him to pursue natural science. Sadly, this inspiration eventually turns into an obsession. I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation. From this we see how Frankenstein aspires to achieve greater accomplishments than philosophers before him. He also aims to overcome nature. This means he aims to overcome God himself for God be the creator of nature. Due to this obsession, he sacrifices all his time, energy and health to create life, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding places. It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils. This opening line of Chapter Five sets a dark, depressing, and cold scene which gives a feeling of foreboding as a means of warning of events to come. Words such as anxiety, agony depict the depressing scene of the coming to life of the monster. Shocked at the hideousness of his creation he laments, How can I describe my emotions at this catastropheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as a part of reinforcing his shock there is a use of exclamation marks as he says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Beautiful! Great God! This is ironic, in that Frankenstein had sought to create life as a means of being able to uncover nature and certifying himself to be greater than God. Ironically, he calls upon God upon his failure though he never mentions God before. The monster is described to have yellow skin, lustrous black hair and pearly white teeth which form a horrid contrast with his watery eyes, dun white sockets his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips. This image painted of the monster depicts how he was created to have beautiful features yet upon his awakening, they come together to form a hideous being. The eyes in their sockets also give a sense of sadness within the monster. The monster is therefore an unnatural being with human features. Unable to bare the being he had created he runs of to his room. He begins to develop fever like symptoms. He recalls the monster as, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the wretch the miserable monster I had created. The use of the word I demonstrates his selfishness and how he does not even consider how the monster feels. The fact that he does not give the monster a name and refers to it as the creature or the wretch, demonstrates his disappointment and dislike for that which he has created. Through these different devices Mary Shelley allows the reader to visualise the scene and have a share in the experiences of the characters. Nonetheless, it may be possible that the monster is a metaphor for scientific creations created with the intention of beauty going horribly wrong. This can be paralleled to the pursuit of knowledge and how it can have dire consequences for in the story it can be seen that the monster brings death and destruction. Chapter 3: The Consequences of the Immorality of Mankind The poem Darkness, creates grisly apocalyptic images of the earth and mankind at their demise. The opening line of the poem Darkness by Lord Byron along with the title of the poem already prepares the reader of the grim mood displayed in the poem. I had a dream, which was not at all a dream. Here the narrator of the poem describes having an experience similar to a dream which but turns out to be more of a nightmare not in his mind but in reality. Basically, Byron speaks as though he had a premonition of the grave future ahead for mankind. This opening just as the opening of chapter five of Frankenstein, It was on a dreary night of Novemberà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is foreboding and gives a sense of grief and impending doom. The inspiration behind this poem was not only due to the very strange events of the time which made people believe in the coming of the apocalypse but also immoral acts of mankind. The Industrial Revolution had also provoked a lot of social unrest. Countless underprivileged European citizens moved from their rural countryside homes to work in factories. They worked under very harsh conditions and were paid vey low wages. This exploitation was all in the name of greed and the pursuit of wealth and prosperity in the advancing European societies. These inhumane acts in the name of gaining wealth and gaining status were part of the inspiration behind another famous Romantic works. One such work is Jerusalem by William Blake which was inspired by the writers condemnation of the products of the Industrial Revolution. Written in 1804 Jerusalem later became a patriotic hymn during the First World War and is used as a national anthem for England at certain sporting events. This piece speaks of England being a special land and a possible candidate for the building of a New Jerusalem given the possibility that Jesus Christ visited the land as a boy. In essence, the poem Jerusalem gives hope to the society where as lord Byrons poem speaks of death and destruction giving no sign of optimism of a brighter future. The poem has no obvious structure. It is an 82 lined poem of free verse. It is not divided into any stanzas and is therefore continuous but there is a large use of punctuation marks to break this continuality. This is very evident through lines 78 and 79. The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave, /The moon, their mistress, had expird before; These repetitive breaks portray the disturbance of he natural flow of nature and life during this catastrophe hitting the world. They also help vary the tone and speed of the poem. At the beginning it is slow and calm displaying the gloom of the world, then fast and chaotic and finally slow and calm again to portray the doom taking over the earth. Nature is also at a standstill and seemingly dead as the lightless world. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The winds were witherd in the stagnant air/ And the clouds perishdà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and The rivers, lakes and ocean all stood still/ And nothing stirrd within their silent depths. It seems nature too has died due to the disappearance of light. Byron uses a lot of interesting words to expose the pure gloom and doom he experiences in the events of the poem. The poem itself is centred on the disappearance of light from the earth. Words which accentuate this theme are, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦swung blindà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ blackened dull gloomà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ In addition, the light is described as despairing. In other words, it is as if it is non existent. Fear is also exposed as he talks of how it has overcome the people and how even the toughest of animals were tame and tremulous. Onomatopoeic words such as shrieked, gnashed, howled, hissing, describe the sounds. The fact that there are a lot of sounds creates a certain degree of chaos. Furthermore, the sound of the forests crackling as people try to make fire to light up shows the desperation. The main image in this piece is that of mankind turning into beasts due to the desperation to find light. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the wildest brutes/ Came tame and tremulousà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The more frightening creatures are also consumed by fear to the point that they began to pose no danger and instead the humans became the monstrous ones. Images used to enhance this are, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦vipers crawldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Hissing, but stinglessthey were slain for foodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The vipers which were now harmless were being slain. The word slain puts an emphasis on the cruelty now consuming the humans. The images used in Darkness can also be linked to apocalyptic images used in the bible. Matthew 24:29 reads, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. This is similar to Byrons imagery of, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The bright sun was extinguishd, and the stars/ Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth/ Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air. In the desolation and men becoming beasts Byron adds, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there was no love leftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ which can be a reference to Matthew 24:19, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. The disturbance in the peace is enhanced when the writer states, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦And War, which for a moment was no more/ Did glut himself again: a meal was bought/ With bloodà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This demonstrates that war had arisen again with man fighting and killing each other just for food. This can be compared to the war referred to in Jerusalem by William Blake. Firstly, a sense of evil of the unjust is also displayed in Wordsworths poem. The dark satanic mills the poet describes are a reference to the mills and factories built during the Industrial Revolution causing all the social unrest which he protested against. The word satanic fully highlights how Blake views the mills as sinister due to the unjust manner in which workers were being treated. In the 3rd stanza he speaks of gathering up arms in order to fight against the evil brought forth by the mills. On the other hand, it turns out the war he refers to is more of a mental fight for he says, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I will not cease from mental fight, / Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand/ Till we have built Jerusalem/ In Englands green and pleasant land. In effect, Jerusalem is a tool in restoring peace and tranquillity in England. The poem itself is more of a call to the English people to rally against the iniquitous acts done to them due to Industrial Revolution. It also gives a sense of hopefulness that freedom and harmony can be restored to the human race. In contrast, Lord Byrons poem does not speak of hope that in the end light which is seen from the last line, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Darkness had no need/ Of aid from themShe was the Universe. This line is as if to say nothing can save the human race from the cruel end they have subdued themselves onto by their immoral acts. Darkness is finally personified and the fact tat it is compared to the universe shows the vast degree to which darkness has taken over the world. Chapter 5: The Symbols of Light and Fire in the Two Texts Symbolism is a very important literary tool used to convey different messages and present ideas and emotions to the reader. The most important symbol in the texts is the symbol of light. In Frankenstein light symbolises knowledge and discovery. This is first illustrated when Richard Walton asks, What could not be expected in the country of eternal light? Walton is clearly vey optimistic about reaching the north pole and looks forward to the enlightenment which will be brought forth by the voyage. The light is a positive object both Walter and Frankenstein try to reach in the hopes of gaining knowledge and enlightenment. Lord Byron uses light to represent life and the balance between nature and the human race. It also represents morality and discretion of man. The disappearance of light means, firstly, the loss of morality of people, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ men forgot their passions in the dread/ Of this their desolationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Secondly, a break in the balance with men turning into beasts and beasts becoming tame. The end result is chaos, gloom and the destruction of nature. This is what the darkness represents in the poem; consequences of mans loss of morality. Likewise, the scene set for the opening of Chapter five of Shelleys book is dull and cold taking place under half-extinguished light giving a foreboding effect of the consequences of Frankensteins work. Fire is a more dangerous version of light which can be created by man. Although fire provides light it also burns and causes pain as discovered by the monster while he was by himself in the forest in Chapter 11. How strange, I thought that the same cause should produce such opposite effects. Normally, to create a fire there must be a spark. Frankenstein collects his materials and then infuses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a spark of being into the lifeless thingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This spark could symbolise the starting of a dangerous fire. In Darkness, the disappearance of light causes the world to become void/à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a lumpà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in other words, an empty place. This results in people becoming desperate for light and they try to create their own light, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The habitations of all things which dwell/ Were burnt for beaconsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Forests were set on fire. The desperation only causes more destruction as they destroy nature by setting it to fire all in the search of light. The symbol is further enhanced through the full name of Mary Shelleys Book which happens to be, Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus. In context, the Greek God Prometheus was assigned by Zeus, the god of the sky and the king of the Greek gods, to form man out of water and Earth. However, against the orders of Zeus, he gives man the knowledge of fire. He was then severely punished for this deed and defying Zeus by being tied to a stake where everyday an eagle came to eat his liver. Victor Frankenstein can be compared to Prometheus, as his attempt to acquire more knowledge for himself and mankind only brought dire consequences resulting in the deaths of the ones he loved. Though he did not give fire to humanity he gave the gift of the secret of life, the spark of being but withal it still remains unknown exactly what this spark really is. Similar to Prometheus defying Zeus, Frankenstein tries to defy God and he too is punished for it. CONCLUSION Romantic writers prided themselves with being individuals and Mary Shelley and Lord Byron clearly pay testament to that. These two texts are all very unique though there are some similarities the main one being the ability of the writers to warn of the future. Other writers vey well known woks which waned of the fall of mankind In Frankenstein, the monster is basically an unnatural being. The coming to life of the monster brings an aftermath of death and destruction. In addition the anxiety which Frankenstein experiences could be an illustration of the anguish mankind will suffer from due to these scientific advances. The use of religion i.e. the defiance of God in Frankenstein and apocalyptic imagery in Darkness further enhance their warnings. The question is. were the Romantic writers correct? The answer is yes. The world has changed with wars and global warming, terrorism, corruption and immense poverty being just some of the troubles of the world.