Reponses to Attachment. Two different positions Essay

My chosen topic involves the use of food stamps for fast food which raises the main question, should you be able to go for food stamps for fast food. Food stamps simply refers to an assistance food program by the federal government in the United States to offer food to the low income earners and those who do not have any income whereby they are issued with coupons or paper and currently cards are used. The food stamps are issued for free by the government to allow poor people and low income earners to access food regardless of the nutritional value from any outlets such as supermarkets which accepts the cards or the stamps. The government issues the food stamps free of charge to all people and families who are in need. I came across this topic on food stamps on the internet, when I was conducting a research on the use of adverts on fast foods by various companies. Being an individual who values charity and helping others and considering my interest in fast food business, it got me wondering what would happen if food stamps could be allowed for fast foods. This generated my interest in this topic and how it will affect fast food business. I hope to gain more understanding on the impacts of the food stamps on fast food business and to ascertain whether it could be allowed for fast food. Provide a brief summary of the topic. Explain the current issues surrounding the topic and share at least two different positions on the topic             The main aim of the government in providing food stamps to families and people who are poor, elderly and even disabled and those who are homeless was to enable them to have something to eat. However, there are certain issue which surrounds the issue of food stamps whereby it is thought to be a contributing factor towards some disorders such as obesity. According to Aldhous (2013), the food stamps could be the option which can be applied in the fight against obesity epidemic which has become rampant in the United States. The author of the article says that obesity can be controlled through the food stamps which could be issued for the purchase of nutritious foods. The author observes that restriction on the choice of foods people could access through the food stamps will be of great help ion handling the obesity situation in the US (Aldhous, 2013). This indicates the author’s support for the food stamps program which could generate health improvement among t he beneficiaries of the food stamps. It is the suggestion of the author that the use of food stamps could be the way towards a healthier nation in the coming future (Aldhous, 2013). However, in another article by Whitmore (2013) the restrictions which are to placed on the use of food stamps with regard to sugary foods may not work. The author of the article observes that putting ban or restrictions on the use of food stamps in the purchase of sugary foods may have negative impacts which will even result in the ineffectiveness of the food stamps (Whitmore, 2013). Whitmore explains that the bans or restrictions on the use food stamps will result in extra expenses for the government in terms of administration costs (Whitmore, 2013). Furthermore, the author observes that placing restrictions on the use of food stamps on sugary foods would cause stigma on the people who are supposed to benefit from the program. What specific issue will you write about within the larger topic, and what unique angle will you provide?             The specific issue that I will write about is the impacts of food stamps on fast food business and health of consumers. This is based on the observation that fast food businesses have become quite popular and therefore, it would be wonderful to know how the food stamps can impact on the business as well as health matters. Define your audience. Who are they, and what are their needs, motivations, and influences? In what ways will you need to structure your writing to appeal to them?             It is important to know the kind of audience who will make use of the information provided here. In this case, the targeted audience will include fast food business investors and also the customers who have been issued with the food stamps. The investor have the need to know how the business will be affected if the food stamps are allowed for fast foods. The motivation for this audience is the positive benefits they will receive in terms of revenue and the customer base. Furthermore, the investors are influenced by the consumer behaviour that is displayed when purchasing products. To appeal to the audience which is comprised of investors may be a challenge but in this case, this work will be structured in form of an argumentative essay. This will is due to the reason that it will easier to weigh and outline all the available options with supporting evidence which can influence the decisions of the investors. The structure of an argumentative essay will create a chance for the investors to associate more with the writing depending on which side of the argument they feel outweighs the other. References Aldhous, P. (2013). Food stamps could help US trim obesity epidemic. New Scientist, 219(2928), 10.Whitmore, D. (2013). Proposals to ban purchase of sugary drink with food stamps won’t work. Inside Tucson Business, 22(43), 22. Source document

Book design, visual analysis on “The Art of Looking Sideways”

The above quote was used by The Daily Telegraph to describe Alan Gerard Fletcher on his obituary. Fletcher was a well-known British graphic designer who was awarded the Prince Philip Prize for Designer of the Year, and was elected the President of the Designers and Art Directors Association in 1973 and was also elected as the International President of the Alliance Graphique Internationale from 1982 to 1985.He wrote a number of books, but his master piece, which was written on the topic of graphic designing and visual thinking and took him nearly 18 years to finish is the book under consideration known as â€Å"The Art of Looking Sideways†.In the words of the reviewers at the Library Journal, â€Å"this book will delight anyone who enjoys unexpected visual and verbal play, cultural and historical observations and insights, and staggering amounts of trivia and anecdotes† (The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher, p.1).The book is very extra ordinary and one of its ki nd, and the author has succeeded in presenting a nearly beyond description mixture of tales, citations, illustrations, and strange realities that presents the reader with an astonishingly warped visualization of the pandemonium of modern life (Alan Fletcher, p.1).Book Design and Visual Analysisâ€Å"Graphic designers (presumably with the support of publishers) seem to have embraced the principle that size matters. First there was Life Style, Bruce Mau's cinder-block-size illustrated meditation/portfolio. And now, at more than a thousand pages and weighing in at slightly less than a large infant, we have Alan Fletcher's The Art of Looking Sideways†.The book is based on about seventy two chapters, which have titles like Culture, Improvisation, Colour, Ideas and the likes. Comprised of nearly more than a thousand, the book is a brilliant treatise on visual thinking, one that exemplifies the sense of play and the extended frame of reference of the designer.A number of designers a s well students of design usually go through the pages of this book in order to grasp ideas, while others go through the book in order to enjoy the gently challenging mind-teasers the book has to offer.Putting together the most determined of sets for his work, aligned with a background encircling art, drawing and literature from pre-history to the current day, Fletcher has put forward a persuasive case for the role that graphic designs play in the course of civilization.The book is very visual. It has more illustrations than text. According to sources, â€Å"Sideways isn't so much a book you read; rather, it's an experience you savor over time. If it were a bottle of wine, you'd want to sip it gradually, over a period of years. Gulping is completely out of the question.On every page, you'll find a juicy little nugget† (Buchsbaum, p.1). The design of the book is rather very creative. With every turn of the page there is something new present there waiting for you to go through . The Art can easily amuse and enthuse all of the people who like the interaction amid word and image, and also those who appreciate the odd and the unpredicted.The book is nothing to read, but it can rather be taken as a visual experience by the reader, where a new image, with a new twist is waiting for the reader. The front and the back cover of the book can be taken into consideration to understand what to expect inside the book, but even that might not be much help.Through the visuals, the author or lets say the designer has put forward some pieces of information, which we would in general consider useless and ignore.All of the visuals and the illustrations that have been presented by the author barely have any connection with each other. Even on opposite pages, the reader would find pictures that are completely opposite each other.For example, presented on page number 162, is a picture of a water color of flowers along with a short note about The Academia in Venice and the art that are exhibited in its galleries and right next to it on the opposite page paragraph by Philip Roth, which also has quotes from Nietzsche, Baudelaire, Wilde, Paul Auster, Napoleon Bonaparte and many others, as well as a concise description of the word â€Å"mopery† intermingled within it.Now both of these pictures have no relation what so ever amongst themselves, which shows the broad horizon of the images that the author had. The pictures can be said to be very random and are very stimulating, which would challenge the viewer into seeing and thinking from a completely different perception, which is sideways.The design of the book consists of all kinds of visual stimuli, which makes the viewer look at ordinary everyday things with a completely new perception. In the words of the author of the book, â€Å"I am intrigued by apparently useless information, such as 8% of the population is left-handed; giraffes only sleep five minutes every 24 hours; Italians kiss twice, the S wiss three times; is a zebra a white animal with black stripes or vice versa; and, are you left or right eyed?This book is everything I was never taught at school. It has no thesis, is neither a whodunit nor a how-to-do-it, and has no beginning, middle or end. It is a book for visually curious people, full of things to make you think twice† (The Creative Life, p.1).

U.S. immigration policies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

U.S. immigration policies - Essay Example Immigration policy in the United States reflects multiple goals. The laws were framed to accommodate the tourists, businessmen as temporary non-immigrants whose visits are confined to their particular purpose of visit.First, it serves to reunite families by admitting immigrants who already have family members living in the United States. Second, it seeks to admit workers with specific skills and to fill positions in occupations deemed to be experiencing labor shortages.Third, it attempts to provide a refuge for people who face the risk of political, racial, or religious persecution in their country of origin. Finally, it seeks to ensure diversity by providing admission to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Several categories of permanent and temporary admission have been established to implement those wide-ranging goals.The US immigration was primarily established to regulate the unlawful entry of the illegal anti social elements. M ajor changes in the world economy have propelled the immigrations after the world wars. The U.S immigration has evolved from various stages from federal regulations allowing the reunification of the families who have been isolated from their family members, to entice skilled low cost employees to propel the economy with more alien power leaving the natives jobless. The laws were framed to accommodate the tourists, businessmen as temporary non-immigrants whose visits are confined to their particular purpose of visit. Globalization and technological change have radically altered the nation's industrial and occupational structures to the disadvantage of organized labor's historic membership strengths. The skilled work forces were provided with permanent residents status to gain on their low wage status. The globalization and technological advancement round the world has equally added significance in the immigration norms. The refugees and asylum seekers were allowed to enter the U.S and were granted with permanent status after a period of one year dumping large numbers of unemployable people into U.S which indirectly drive the companies to look out for foreign brains. Outsourcing has shifted the jobs of America to low investment base countries in Asia. Both refugees and asylum-seekers may file an application seeking lawful permanent resident status after one year in the United States. In 2004, about 71,000 LPR adjustments were granted to refugees and asylum-seekers, accounting for roughly 8 percent of all legal admissions to the United States. The asylum policy resulted in providing permanent residential status to illegal immigrants who were initially not allowed into America. The asylum policy has encouraged more number of people to take the path of the former illegal entrants thus creating a cumulative effect of more requests from illegal immigrants waiting for their turn. The commotion has created a major issue of inducing unskilled laborers The statistics suggest that the employers in the U.S were adopting unhealthy practices to bring in cheap labour to fill up the vacancies and build up their balance sheets. The more the availability of skilled low cost labor who can start with much lesser wages the more difficult for the native workers to get the wage hike and career advancement. The local unemployed lot has to compete with the skilled low cost laborer from other countries The local workers were left with no job as the positions are imported from skilled labour from developing countries. Immediate relatives of citizens have generally accounted for the largest share of permanent immigrant admissions. The family dependent immigrations are largely accepted in the U.S These unification may bring in more uncalculated educated population into U.S unknowingly. The reforms should address these issues to stop the ill affect on the jobs created. The increase in the number of low cost employees by employers will ultimately project a rude economic disaster"the unemployment". The companies should be monitored to make them search for resources in the native country and then venture into other countries for employees with specific skills. The number of

Leading Cultural and Organizational Change at the Royal Conservatory Case Study - 18

Leading Cultural and Organizational Change at the Royal Conservatory of Music - Case Study Example The major issues raised in the study are incorporation of environmental changes within the broad goals and objectives of RCM and meeting the challenges of time with creative inputs. It was started in 1886 in Toronto as music school and had emerged as top school for piano. It had maintained its traditional approach to teaching. But by 1950s, University of Toronto gave it a stiff competition by its modern outlook and more professional way of working. The university gradually took over its traditional role of preparing concert stage musicians which led to the decline of RCM. These events were important issues that were raised in the text. Yes, Peter Simon was successful because he was able to turn around the declining status of RCM into successful institution with wide ranging activities in the field of music. He brought in corporate culture that used technology and innovation in the area of academics. A shift from academic to corporate culture broadly means that while academic is mainl y concerned with scholastic achievements, corporate culture is goal driven and strives to meet the challenges of time with new ideas and products. Higher performance outcome and financial gains become critical paradigms of success. I would advice Peter Simon to maintain high degree of ethics within RCM so that quality in music school is maintained. The online education must be accompanied by in-house training and practical tests. It would help to gain credibility amongst the various stakeholders like students, music teachers, donors etc. Knowledge sharing has increasingly become vital aspect of competitive advantage. I would therefore suggest Peter Flagstaff and Lindsay Gibson to create a learning environment that promotes knowledge share. Use of technology within the operations would greatly help to create a large database of new ideas and information that can be shared, as and when required. Effective management information system should also be developed so that management is abl e to monitor the projects and is able to give critical inputs to the accounts executives to save time.

Transnational Actors influences on World Politics Essay

Transnational Actors influences on World Politics - Essay Example This article approves that international bodies and nation-states must usually obtain the feedback of monitoring missions and vital facts about world politics from transnational agencies and INGOs, because states are effective only within their borders due to the doctrine of non-meddling in internal affairs of other states. This is especially true without binding resolutions of international bodies such as the United Nations Security Council and the European among others. Transnational actors may be ineffective in setting the agenda for norm creation around the world or in particular economic regions due to the varying political will among the affected member states. As a consequence, the basic things needed to create effective international agreements with and across state actors normally become long-drawn and, thus, the role of transnational actors seems to be less effective. This paper makes a conclusion that owing to the inexorable role of nation-states in the world politics, it behooves transnational actors to work with states and even persuade them to adopt internationally accepted norms. The working relationship is, however, not smooth due to the varying priorities of each of the two organizations. For example, nation-states would rather observe national security over human rights. Regardless, transnational actors owe their success in fighting global problems to massive lobbying of the local societies of great powers such as the United States, to in turn buy the agenda and present it to the international community for passage and enactment.

Understanding of relational and interpretive perspective Essay

Understanding of relational and interpretive perspective - Essay Example In this research language was identified as having several components including words and action. This was an important indication to refute the general misconception that language and communication are all about speech word and for that matter words. In fact, the seminar was an important avenue for realising the role that actions play in communication. Action was identified to be useful in forms of language such as non-verbal communication including gestures. Another core area of the seminar was that actions in language come with a number of relations. This opened the door to relating language to relational and interpretive perspective. This is because once the relations are made in the course of language, listeners and on-lookers make interpretations of the language that is put across to them. Two major theories were introduced by Gergen. These were centripetal and centrifugal power. It was realised that the effect of this power cause a lot of leaders of the world to resist change. Further discussions on the chapter and seminar have been done below. Discourse and analysis are coherent phenomenon. This is to say that discourse comes with analysis. Even in cases where discourse is soliloquy, it is very much likely to contain some level of analysis because the singular speaker may want to have some meaning out of what he or she says to him or her self. Ankati explains that even though there may be many definitions of discourse, â€Å"One thing they all agree on is that the analyst's first focus must be on language, and what it does in the world.† This means that the focus of discourse is on language. Norquist (2012) gives a linguistic definition to discourse, explaining it as â€Å"a unit of language longer than a single sentence.† This means that discourse entails the delivery of a series of sentences to put across a core message discourse of sadam hussein Discourse is an inevitable phenomenon in leadership at all levels. Corporate managers, paren ts and political leaders all use discourse to achieve various purposes. It is for the reason that people use discourse very often that there is the term, discourse practice. This discourse practice may be either through words or action. Among leaders of this world whose discourse practice are commonly analysed and discussed is Saddam Hussein. Very outstanding among the discussion of the discourse of Saddam Hussein is the political discourse he used over his people as the President of Iraq. From a very broad perspective, Bengio (2002) describes Saddam’s political discourse as one that is filled with propaganda. This, according to the writer created a phenomenon known as â€Å"Saddam enigma†. Like in the case of Saddam, Bengio (2002) notes that â€Å"under any regime, political culture is built on public discourse.† This means that the kind of political discourse that a ruler puts across has the power of creating an identical political culture. This political cult ure could be linked to the relation that people build towards the political regime in question. This therefore means that both relational and interpretive perspectives are represented in political discours

Global Company Environment & Strategy Coursework

Global Company Environment & Strategy - Coursework Example Soon, true to its mission and vision, IKEA opened its first oversea store in Norway, followed by many other stores and distribution centres in many parts of Europe and the United States. Thus in 1990 onwards, IKEA embarked on a global operations strategy and put up more stores in UAE, China and other parts of Asia, Australia and even Russia. Today, IKEA pioneered the global market and successfully positioned the IKEA brand in more than 40 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia with more than 300 stores and more than 12,000 products in its product range. IKEA also introduced innovations in its stores by putting up IKEA restaurants and groceries to cater to the needs of its growing customers. All of this growth would not be possible without implementing strategic and global operations management that transcends national boundaries. ... Operations management took responsibility in protecting the environment by changing the way they do things in IKEA and by using environment friendly materials. IKEA also took care of the less privileged children in the world by generously donating and partnering with UNICEF welfare programs. 2. Compare and contrast the critical success factors (CSF) that helped IKEA to be competitive. Briefly outline how â€Å"Activity mapping technique† helps IKEA link competitive advantage, core competence, CSF and supporting activities. The major contributor to the success of IKEA is low price differentiation of its Swedish furniture that is globally appealing. While contemporary companies are focused on specialty design, IKEA keeps their design simple, light and functional, produced at the least cost without sacrificing quality. IKEA mass-produced for the worldwide market while its competitor mostly produced on demand. While IKEA’s competitors shipped and delivered bulky preassemble d products, the company innovated by selling unassembled products on â€Å"where is as is basis†, thus bringing down price without sacrificing quality. The results are â€Å"flat packages† and lowered transportation and storage cost. Another critical success factor is the way IKEA managed its supply chain. Instead of directly managing product quality and investing on costly plant, property and equipment, IKEA delegated the responsibility by partnering with more than 1,200 suppliers in 55 countries. This offers more flexibility and keeps their headquarter focus on transnational operational strategies, allows more resources for research and design, marketing and advertising campaigns, and even more resources for community social

Is Wind Power Green Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Is Wind Power Green - Research Paper Example On the other hand, fossil oil is not green. Fossil oil produces carbon monoxide (the motor vehicles’ intoxicating exhaust fumes). Fossil oil pollutes the earth’s atmosphere. Fossil oil suffocates the lungs of city residents. Fossil oil destroys life. Green power comes from several sources. First, solar energy comes from maximizing the suns’ energy. Solar panels can convert the sun’s energy to electrical energy. Second, geothermal energy, comes from hot springs. Another source of geothermal energy is the volcanic heat escaping the earth’s internal areas. Third, Ethanol energy comes from grain alcohol. Ethanol is extracted from corn, barley, sugarcane another sugar-based feedstock. Fourth, wind energy comes from windmills and tall free standing turbines. Historically, windmills have been used in Holland for generate energy. Also, the use of green wind energy creates eliminates the hazards and pollution of fossil fuel-based energy. Sidney Borowitz (199 9) emphasized â€Å"Fossil fuels are the remains of organic matter that, over hundreds of millions of years, have undergone substantial physical changes induced by pressure and chemical changes caused by the action of bacteria. The fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. They provide the United States with about 90 percent of the energy it uses. This energy was originally provided by the sun, which made it possible for the plants to grow.† In terms of wind energy, Borowitz (1999) reiterated â€Å"Fossil fuels are the remains of organic matter that, over hundreds of millions of years, have undergone substantial physical changes induced by pressure and chemical changes caused by the action of bacteria. The fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. They provide the United States with about 90 percent of the energy it uses. This energy was originally provided by the sun, which made it possible for the plants to grow†. Using coal will damage the earth’s envir onment. Borowitz (1999) insists coal is the most abundant fossil fuel on earth. Coal creates the biggest damage on the environment. Burning coal creates polluting smoke. The polluting smoke makes breathing difficult. The polluting smoke damages the Ozone layer. Wind energy reduces the air pollution trend in major cities of the United States. Judith Cherni (2002) states the concentration of industrial manufacturing plants’ exhausts immensely contributes to the atmosphere’s pollution. The air pollution significantly derails the average person’s health. Different air pollutant types exert different degrees of health damage to the people. The degree or concentration of the pollutants generates various effects on the average county resident. To reduce the current air pollution trends, the states’ air pollution policies must be effectively and deficiently revised and set into immediate motion. Likewise, a research conducted by Cornelis Van Kooten (2009) shows t hat the earth’s wind energy supplies potential research shows that the world’s wind energy supply potential influentially surpasses the world’s energy needs. However, only one percent of the world’s electricity need is presently supplied by the green wind power. The fact is true even though there is an almost fifty percent yearly growth in the wind producing capabilities over the past twenty five years. Almost 100 percent of the entire green wind energy had been

Point of Presence Advertising Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Point of Presence Advertising - Essay Example The author planned to purchase a movie named Lord of the Rings – Fellowship of the Ring on recommendation of a friend and came across a pack of all the three movies of Lord of the Ring series at a price that was 20% less than the overall cost had the movies been purchased separately. The author realized that he anyway had to purchase the other two movies to complete the story and was delighted to get all the three of them at 20% discount. In the second purchase instance, the author was delighted to realize the value of the package as he owns both a Sony digital camera and Handy Cam. The total price was cheaper by 15%. Such product promotion advertisements resulted in positive impact on the author because the overall value of the buying decisions improved although the author didn’t had planned for part of the purchase. The effectiveness of these two â€Å"Point-of-Sale† advertisements resulted in win-win deal for both the store and the author – the store in creased the net sale value and the author got more useful products at lesser cost. The author was not at all annoyed but was happy with the sales girl for introducing these offers. Massy and Frank (1966. pp383) presented the findings of an exploratory study on behavior of retailer advertising thus establishing some interesting empirical generalizations. They could prove that the brands sell differently in different stores and the support to a brand depends upon the brand’s market share in a particular store type. The author discovered a linkage of this theory with the research by Kumar and Leone (1988. pp178-179) which stated that many customer packaged good manufacturers have resorted to funding short term sales promotion at the store level which primarily has two distinct advantages – the effectiveness of promotions can result in on the spot sales activity and the store management takes pride into participating in on the spot campaigns given increased margins & commissions.Both the manufacturer and the store management gain in this process – the former achieves brand promotion & quick sales and the latter achieves improved profitability of the store.  

Journal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 56

Journal - Assignment Example It is pointed out that the first Muslim college that was accredited might be biased with regard to Israel and the Jews. In this case the quality of education that it offers should be analyzed carefully. 3. The video articulates a peculiar statistics: more and more people claim that they do not belong to any religion. It is suggested that people decided to create their own interpretation of the world and live according to it. What is more important is that the contemporary society often sees religion as a certain attribute, but not a deep spiritual commitment. 4. This video points out that many people mix prejudice and patriotism. Thus, many know that America is currently engaged in armed conflicts with Islamic countries, but discriminating against Muslims in the United State should not be seen as a solution towards the problem. Moreover, the experiment showed that the majority of the people are indifferent towards discrimination and will not do anything about

Immune System and Stress Related Illness Essay Example for Free

Immune System and Stress Related Illness Essay Outline and evaluate research into the relationship between the immune system and Stress-related illness. (12marks) It is suggested that stress can result in immunosuppression which can lead to stress-related illnesses such as Coronary Heart Disease and high blood pressure. Kiecolt and Glaser conducted an experiment to see the effects of stress on the immune system. This was achieved by taking blood samples of 75 medical students one month before and during their examination period. They then compared the two blood samples and found decreased leucocyte activity in the sample taken during high levels of stress (during their exams). This shows that stress reduces the activity of the immune system, making them more susceptible to becoming ill. Advantages of the study are that blood tests are objective measurements, so there was no social desirability or experimenter bias when analysing the results. The participants were also compared to themselves which removes participant variables on how they perceive stressors. The experiment was a field experiment so there was no manipulating of the independant variable to deliberately cause stress to the participants which makes it ethical. It also means the research has ecological validity and can be applied to the wider world. However, a field experiment may have extraneous variables which impact the results. For example, the student lifestyle of having little sleep and poor accomidation may have been an alternative source of stress. Another disadvantage is that there was a biased sample used of students. It may not be possible to generalise students’ response to stress compared to the general population. Riley also did a study using rats on a rotating turntable for five hours. He found that over time, their white blood cell activity dramatically decreased and when injected with carcinogens they developed tumours more rapidly than a control group of rats. This showed that stress can make us reduce our immune system’s activity which can cause diseases to worsen or progress more rapidly. However, as the research was conducted on rats it can be argued that it can’t be applied to humans as out stress response may differ.

Information systems in organisations

Information systems in organisations Abstract Successful system roll-out is not a task that can easily be achieved. As many organisations and governments have found to their cost, it is not simply the case that they can throw money at an information system in the hope that it will be successful. The primary case study used is that of the London Ambulance Service Computer Aided Despatch system. After looking at the background of the case the implementation and subsequent failure are discussed. The reasons for failure are explained, which show the project as essentially being doomed from the start. Although system failure is a common occurrence many organisations do not seem to learn from the mistakes of the past, resulting in several other high profile cases. There are some strategies, however, that can be adopted in order to combat against failure, which mainly side on the softer aspects of system design such as management, organisational culture and human relations. What are the major causes of systems roll-out success or failure? What strategies can organisations take to ensure the success? To answer this question fully we must first understand what an information system (IS) is; and more importantly, what constitutes the success and, or failure of an IS. An information system in an organization provides processes and information useful to its members and clients (Avison Fitzgerald, 2003). Flynn (1992) also describes it as An information system provides procedures to record and make available information, concerning part of an organization, to assist organizations-related activities. An IS is made up of a complex set of factors, including human, organisational, technical, political and financial factors (Flowers, 1996). The interaction between these can give rise to either the success or failure of a system roll-out. The success of an IS is measured mainly on whether or not it meets the productivity target of being developed on time and to budget, and the quality target of meeting the clients requirements. A successful system is one that meets its targets of quality and productivity (Flynn, 1992). An IS is deemed unsuccessful if it fails either one, or both of its targets. In some instances the system is never actually delivered to the end user, which obviously is another case of system failure. An unsuccessful system is one that fails to meet either its quality or its productivity targets (Flynn, 1992). Successful system roll-out is not the easiest of tasks, with many governments and companies finding this out to their cost. In some cases these cost have run into hundreds of millions of pounds. The latest Standish Group report CHAOS Summary 2009 shows that more projects than ever are failing, and also that the number of successful projects is on the decrease. Only 32% of projects met their targets and could be classed as successful; with 44% of systems meeting either only some or none of their targets and 24% were never completed (The Standish Group, 2009). There are estimates that the cost of project failure in the U.S. alone is well in excess of $100 billion; emphasising just how costly a problem system roll-out can be if not done correctly. One reason as to why there are so many instances of IS failure is partly due to the fact that a lot of the time they are constructed without a full understanding or anticipation of reality (Xalles Limited, 2005). This is known as the Vacuum Mentality syndrome (Xalles Limited, 2005). These realities include changes in technology, changes made by the user community, reorganisations, changes of needs, change of key players and project sponsors, issues with resources and changes of processes (Xalles Limited, 2005). This idea is backed up by Maddison Darnton (1996) who explain that human issues are usually more important than technical ones in determining success or failure. Highlighting the fact that it is not necessarily technical issues with an IS that are the main problems during the development process, but instead ones regarding human incompetence. One of the most dramatic IS failures reported in recent years is that of the London Ambulance Service Computer Aided Despatch (LASCAD) system. The LAS is the biggest ambulance service in the world, dealing with over 2,500 emergency calls a day. This inevitably put massive strains on the manual paper-based system that was being used, which already had several major problems with it. This led to the standards of performance falling below the ones agreed to as part of the national standards for ambulance response. It was, therefore, imperative that a new, more effective computer aided despatch system was introduced in order to meet the performance levels. The new system worked by a Control Assistant receiving an emergency call and entering the details given by the caller into the CAD system. Using call-box identifier and mapping systems, the exact location of the caller was calculated. Based on the information on the incident the CAD then worked out a level for the emergency, thus informing the Control Assistant on the appropriate specialist vehicles and skills that should be deployed to the emergency. The most appropriate and closest vehicle to the incident was then pinpointed via the use of mobile data terminals and the vehicle tracking system, and despatched to the emergency. The CAD system sent details of the incident to the vehicle via the on-board computer. Throughout dealing with the incident the crew were constantly updating the CAD system as to their arrival at the scene, their depart ure from it, their arrival at the hospital, and finally when they were free to deal with another call (Flowers, 1996). The intention of the CAD system was to eradicate the inefficiencies of the old paper-based system. However, as the LAS soon found out this was far from the case. On Monday 26th October 1992 the entire LASCAD system went live. It became quickly apparent, however, that it could note cope with the volume of calls. A number of calls were somehow getting lost in the system, leading to duplicate calls being made (Flowers, 1996). This meant that people who were in emergency situations had to wait, in some cases, for 30 minutes for their call to be dealt with. Even when the calls were dealt with, the ambulance allocation system had also failed meaning this had to be done manually, resulting in further delays. Amidst the confusion, it was even reported in some cases that two ambulances turned up to a single emergency, or that one never turned up at all (Flowers, 1996). As the day progressed, the number of calls increased, putting even more pressure on the already faltering system. The newer calls were now overwriting the earlier calls, resulting in even more incidents not being dealt with. The situation became that bad that all the queues were cleared in an attempt to decongest the system. However, this only succeeded in making the problem even worse, as a new flood of calls that were previously lost came through (Flowers, 1996). It was only Tuesday afternoon when the system was eventually shut down as a result of the escalating situation (Finkelstein, 1993). The LAS were instead forced to revert to a former part computerised system. Just over a week later they were back using the fully manual system. It is impossible to consider all of the factors that contributed to the demise of the CAD system. However, there are several major issues which could, ultimately, be seen as the contributing factors towards its failure. Flowers (1996) states that the primary reasons behind the failure were those of the design of the system, the management ethos, the procurement process and the timetable to which the system was developed. The system had been designed without sufficient testing, and on the basis that it would be operating in a perfect world where everything goes according to plan. It relied solely on the requirement that all the information received was perfect. In reality this was far from the case, and so the system was unable to sufficiently despatch resources to the incidents. As highlighted in the official inquiry into the failure: It is probable that the development team did not have full appreciation of the importance of these elements or, at least, of the consequences of failure, or less than perfect performance, of any one part (Finkelstein, 1993). The management ethos at the LAS was one that was inward looking and old-fashioned (Flowers, 1996). As a result of the recent restructuring which had been forced upon the LAS by the National Health Service, there were reported high levels of stress amongst senior management, which had seen a great number of previously loyal staff quitting (Mellor, 1994). In the years leading up to this there was a distinct lack of investment in areas such as the training and development of managers. During the implementation process a report was commissioned by the LAS into staff attitudes. It was clear to see from the results that staff had little faith in the management and were not satisfied with their jobs. This view had already been exposed from the result from a survey conducted in 1989 (Flowers, 1996). The official inquiry also highlighted a culture within the organisation that bred a fear of failure amongst the employees; whereby the success of the system was the one and only consideration (Flowers, 1996). This created an atmosphere in which people were scared to mention any problems or doubts they had with the system. As a result the system had become a sacred cow, in the fact that it became unreasonably immune to criticism from anyone associated with it. Senior managers believed that the system could be developed at a cost of just  £1.5 million. To meet the stringent financial restrictions regarding the purchase of the system, it was recommended by the selection team that the LAS accept the lowest offer, no matter who the tender was; unless they believed they had good and sufficient reason on the contrary (Flowers, 1996). The consequence of being forced to accept a tender in this manner was that the one with the lowest offer was an inexperienced small software company that had gravely underestimated that task at hand; hence the reason for their offer being considerably lower than all others. Having never worked on a project of this kind the companys resources were massively stretched, leading to falling standards in areas such as quality assurance, resulting in several mistakes being made with the development of the software. The inflexible time scale of just 6 months to which the system was set was far less than the industry average of 18 months for a project of this scale. It was believed by a vast majority within the LAS that the time scale was highly unrealistic. Inquiry Team member Paul Williams stated that The timetable was impossible (Mellor, 1994). Staff complained of the inadequacy of the training received for the system. There were major doubts about the quality of the training received and that it was provided long before the system was actually implemented; meaning it was not as effective as it could have been. The situation was made even worse by the fact that the control room staff were trained separately to the ambulance staff, which caused the potential for miscommunication. Other reasons include the fact that it had been decided by management that there was to be a trade off between the performance of the system and usability. The system was developed with little input from system users such as ambulance crews, with no LAS staff being assigned full time to the project (Mellor, 1994). These, therefore, were not ideal conditions in which to launch the new CAD system. Flowers (1996), on the other hand, argues that there is never an ideal time to introduce a major new computer system. However, he does also go on to say that rarely has such a large scale information system ever been introduced under such difficult circumstances (Flowers, 1996). This was not the first time that the LAS had tried to implement a CAD system for ambulances. Beginning in the early 1980s the system was doomed after tests revealed it would not be able to deal with the sheer volume of calls and so was abandoned in 1990 at a cost of  £7.5 million. For a system roll-out to be successful it must contain these four phases: Implementation Planning, Implementation Delivery, Post-Implementation Support, Post-Implementation Analysis (Xalles Limited, 2005). These implementation methods are based on a number of principles and assumptions. The approach by management to the project should be disciplined. As the case of the LASCAD has shown; strong and effective management is essential for the success of a system. Managers should be able to competently handle and issues or problems that develop during the implementation of the system. Accurate and concentrated documentation is needed in order to effectively communicate throughout each of the implementation phases. The end user(s) should be kept in mind throughout the development process so that the System Requirement Specification can be met. It is essential that organisations learn from the mistakes of others regarding the roll-out of an information system. However, this can pose quite difficult as many organisations, if they have difficulties, tend to keep these problems in-house, as not to bring any negative press to themselves. In conclusion it is clear to see that the roll-out of a successful IS is not an easy achievement, with organisations not always learning from the mistakes of others. After reading several case studies of high profile IS failures including LASCAD, TAURUS and Heathrow Terminal 5, it shows that the price of failure are extremely high with these companies losing tens of millions of pounds between them, and in the case of the LASCAD people losing their lives. These cases also highlighted that the main contributing factors towards the demise of each project were in fact from poor management, rather than technical difficulties. It is argued that the main factors for success comprise of timing and budget, perceived usefulness and ease of use, fitting the organisations business strategy and objectives, the management culture and human relations, and lastly acceptance of the system by the user(s) (Maddison Darnton, 1996). In order for a system roll-out to be successful all of this must be ta ken into consideration. Bibliography Avison, D. Fitzgerald, G. (2003). Information Systems Develolpment: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools Third Edition. Mcgraw Publishsing Flynn, D. J. (1992). Information Systems Requirements: Determination and Analysis. McGraw-Hill International Flowers, S. (1996). Software Failure: Management Failure: Amazing Stories and Cautionary Tales. John Wiley Sons Ltd. Finkelstein, A (1993). Report of the Inquiry Into The London Ambulance Service. International Workshop on Software Specification and Design Case Study. The Communications Directorate. Finkelstein, A Dowell, J. A Comedy of Errors: the London Ambulance Service case study. School of Informatics, City University. Lin, A (2009). Information Systems in Organisations. Department of Information Studies, The University of Sheffield. Maddison, R. Darnton, G. (1996). Information systems in organizations: improving business processes. Chapman Hall. Mellor, P. (1994). CAD: Computer-Aided Disaster (High Integrity Systems). Vol. 1, 2, pp. 101-156. The Standish Group (2009). New Standish Group report shows more project failing and less successful projects [Online]. http://www.standishgroup.com/newsroom/chaos_2009.php [Accessed 1 January 2010]. University College London (2009). Unit 3: Case Study London Ambulance Service CAD System [Online]. http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/A.Finkelstein/advmsc/3.pdf [Accessed 5 January 2010]. Xalles Limited (2005). Successful Systems Implementation [Online]. http://www.xalles.com/reports/Successful%20Systems%20Implementation.pdf [Accessed 30 December 2009].

Effects of Sexualisation of Culture on the Media

Effects of Sexualisation of Culture on the Media â€Å"Raunch culture isn’t about opening our minds to the possibilities and mysteries of sexuality. It’s about endlessly reiterating one particular – and particularly commercial – shorthand for sexiness† (Levy 2006: 30). With reference to your own examples, discuss the sexualisation of culture and its effects on media production. When we look at examples of how the sexualisation of culture, in particular women, has risen over the past decade we turn to things such as ‘raunch’ culture. It is all tied to the discourses of consumerism, empowerment and individualism. The significance of sex in culture has been brought more into light of late as an interest in the mainstreaming of sex or ‘striptease’ culture has risen. Mainstream sexualisation has become a way of describing how sex has become a bigger part and more visible part of contemporary western cultures. As things such as pornography and other explicit materials become easier to access by more people, many just being a click away. In many ways the pornographic industry has entered the mainstream world as porn stars are becoming celebrities and the pornographic ‘style ‘is becoming a commonplace in many industries, including advertising, Television, film and music videos. It is normal now to see scantily clad women in ice cream adverts and rap videos, but it is not only in the media that this is normal now, it is also common to see such things on the streets. Ariel Levy’s book on ‘Raunch’ culture describes sexualisation as ‘a desperate stab at free-wheeling eroticism in a time and place characterised by intense anxiety’ (Levy, 2005: 199) suggesting that the increase of sexualisation in the mainstrea m media does more harm than it does good. Britain in particular has a longstanding culture of sexual explicitness of women in the mainstream media mostly starting at the turn of the millennium. However this is no longer passive, a contemporary image of femininity is now likely to be enunciated as being ‘active, recreational, material, independent [and] consumerist’ (Evans, 1993: 41). Contemporary British culture has been sexualised in part by a neo-liberal bombast of choice and self-determination, which in turn has created a femininity with and ‘up for it’ and active personality. The shift in public discourse from a heterosexual female who is passive and has less sexual prowess than her male counterpart to an active female has been created by this mainstreaming of the explicit material. But it is not only in women we see this cultural shift as men have also been given an image that the must conform to in order to be the ideal heterosexual man. For both sexes it is clear that the change in sexuality in modern culture has had an effect on what it means to be desirable. If we look at Film as an example of how much sexual propriety has changed. â€Å"It’s a Wonderful Life† is an excellent example of how innocence and passivity were coveted in the 1940s, when the film was released. Donna Reed who plays Mary Hatch is the ideal image of youthful innocence, she is well spoken, young, beautiful and most of all quite passive and naà ¯ve in her sexuality. All we have to do it look at the original Disney princesses and the ones we have now to see how much the ideal passive love struck woman has changed into one of independent mind and sexuality. Where in the past we can see clearly that women were objects to be desired but not to desire themselves, whereas now there are many examples of sexually aware and advanced women in film. ‘Friends with Benefits’, a comedy starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, is about two friends who engage in sex without being married or in a relationship. This film in itself can show how sexuality ha s become less of something to happen in private, as it would have in older films, where the camera would usually fade into the distance or look away, and more something to be broadcasted. Mila Kunis in the film embodies what it means to be a free thinking, sexually independent, heterosexual women, she is beautiful and fierce. Radner (1999: 15) states, ‘the task of the Single Girl is to embody heterosexuality through the disciplined use of makeup, clothing, exercise, and cosmetic surgery, linking femininity, consumer culture and heterosexuality’. His statement shows us how the sexualisation of culture is having a profound effect on the media, where there was once naivety and innocence there is now cleavage and sex. Showing the â€Å"shift from sexual objectification to sexual subjectification† (Gill: 2008, 41). Concerns have been raised over this shift in discourse as not only raises the sexual subjectivity of women but it also excludes many people who do not fit the narrow, homogenised quota of what is means to be feminine and beautiful – young, heterosexual, Caucasian. (Gill, 2009; McRobbie, 2009, Orchbach, 2009) Though some see this as a negative, it can also be seen as an opportunity for which women can now be free to express their sexuality without distain or outrage. If we look at female icons like Lady Gaga or Katy Perry we can see how they use their own sexuality to empower themselves and inspire others. Though there is a fine line between sexual empowerment and sexism. It can be both sexist and empowering to show cleavage, where on one hand it is the women showing she is sexually independent, it can also be seen as sexist because she has to use her sexuality to get the places instead of using other means. If we look at the cultural changes in youth culture we can see how much sexualisation has changed over time and how it has affected the media. Shows like ‘Toddles in Tiaras’ and those like it show how the shift in sexuality has changed how we view the young. It has become almost normal for children to dress sexually, in short skirts and tank tops and covered in make-up. ‘Toddles in Tiaras’ is an example of just how extreme the change in the sexualisation of children has been. In it there a children as young as 4 dressed like they are 30 dancing around the stage. Gill (2007a: 72) contends that ‘[f]or young women today in postfeminist cultures, the display of a certain kind of sexual knowledge, sexual practice and sexual agency has become normative – indeed, a ‘technology of sexiness’ has replaced ‘innocence’ or ‘virtue’’ (p. 72). Even advertising has changed to mirror this new sexualisation of childre n. Toy companies and even lingerie companies have started releasing more sexual merchandise aimed toward the young. Jours Aprà ¨s Lunes launched a Loungerie Line for young girls, the advertising for it consisted of pre-teens dressed in their underwear. The shift in cultural sexualisation has made it a social norm to see young girls flaunting their sexuality. 10-year-old French model Thylane Loubry Blondeau ended up making news headlines when she appeared on the cover of Vogue France in a high-fashion pose many though was too mature and sexual for her age, yet images like this continue to be shown. This is due to the endless bombardment of sexual imagery that is shown to children making them want to look like adults and to look sexy in order to be women. More of print and advertising has become sexualised as we can see when we analyse the covers of the magazine Cosmopolitan. If we look at the cover for the 1894 edition, there isn’t actually an image for the consumer to look at, instead just text detailing what will be in the magazine, much of which is informative and formal. As we move up to 1896 we start to see women being present on the cover, she is dressed formally and again the text shown is not explicit or suggestive in any way. Yet as we move into the 1940s we start to see more idolised images of women, on the cover of 1941 is a beautiful blonde woman with a small amount of shoulder showing, though this can be seen as sexual it is not sexual in a sense that she is showing sexual prowess. The model looks more innocent with baby blue eyes and rosy cheeks inferring innocence, as was desired prior to this decade. Now into the 70s the images and style of the magazine have changed completely, sexual culture has started to shi ft more towards objectification of sexuality as opposed to innocence. Moreover the language on the cover has changed a lot to what it once was, the words are more suggestive of sexuality. The images are becoming â€Å"Less regulated, more commercialized, and more pluralistic sexual culture† (McNair 2002: 11). What we see when we reach the current decade is a clear and obvious indicator as to how much the ideas of what is considered sexual and sexualisation of culture has changed over time and its profound effect on the media. The images are of beautiful women flaunting their beauty while showing off a lot of skin, moreover the text around the images is much blunter and to the point about being sexual. The work ‘Sexy’ is capitalised across the cover of the December 2012 edition and on the March 2013 edition the words ‘your best sex ever’ are captioned along the top. As we can see through the progression of these covers the effect that the change in th e sexualisation of culture has actually had on the media. The constant advertising of this one type of image as the ideal sexually confident woman can be seen ‘as consumers in pursuit of their own pleasures’ (Juffer, 1998:147). Overall we can see that culture, generally, has always been quite sexual in the sense that we have always coveted sex in an intimate way. Yet it has not always been so open and obvious, especially in the media. What we can say is that sexuality has always been present in our society in one form or another whether it be beautiful innocence in the movies or picturesque models on magazines. The major change that we have seen is that instead of it being about sexuality, it has become more about sex itself. With the help of the media sex and sexual behaviour has become a norm in society where once it was a private act. We see it more in the movies and on the covers or magazine and it has become even easier to access online. Our culture is no longer looking for just the image of sexuality in men and women but about the act itself. Magazines and movies are no longer selling the sexy looking models and actors, they are selling sex, and be it in advice columns, perfume adverts or sex scenes i n the movies. Sex sells and the media knows it. Despite the regulations in place to stop the endless flow of sexual images reaching the public, it has become a social norm to be a sexualised person and that is mostly due to the media jumping on the band wagon that is the cultural change in what it means to be sexual and sexy. Bibliography Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, Free Press, 2005 Cosmopolitan March 1894: Cover. Print. Cosmopolitan May 1896: Cover. Print. Cosmopolitan November 1941: Cover. Print. Cosmopolitan February 1970: Cover. Print. Cosmopolitan December 2012: Cover. Print. Cosmopolitan March 2013: Cover. Print. Evans, D.T. (1993) Sexual Citizenship: The Material Construction of Sexualities. London: Routledge. Gill, R. (2007a) ‘Critical Respect: The Difficulties and Dilemmas of Agency and â€Å"Choice† for Feminism: A Reply to Duits and van Zoonen’, European Journal of Women’s Studies 14(1): 69–80. Gill, Rosalind. (2008). Empowerment/Sexism: Figuring Female Sexual Agency in Contemporary Advertising. Feminine and Psychology. 18 (35), 41. Gill, R. (2009) ‘Beyond the â€Å"Sexualisation of Culture† Thesis: An Intersectional Analysis of â€Å"Six-packs†, â€Å"Midriffs† and â€Å"Hot Lesbians† in Advertising’, Sexualities 12(2): 137– 60 Juffer, Jane (1998) At Home with Pornography: Women, Sex and Everyday Life. New York London: New York University Press. McNair, B, 2002. Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratization of Desire. 11: Routledge. McRobbie, A. (2009) the Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change. London: Sage. Orbach, S. (2009) Bodies. London: Profile Books Radner, H. (1999) ‘Introduction: Queering the Girl’, in H. Radner and M. Luckett (Eds) Swinging Single: Representing Sexuality in the 1960s. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press

Revenge in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay examples -- Shakespeare Hamlet E

Revenge in Shakespeare's Hamlet In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses revenge as a major theme present throughout the work. Revenge plays a crucial role in the development of Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and Laertes, son of Polonius. All three men seek revenge for the murder of their fathers. Revenge can be interpreted as a separate character in Hamlet. Revenge is set to overcome anyone who seeks it. Initially, after each of the murders, every son had a definite course of action to obtain vengeance. Or in Hamlet's case the choice was to seek no vengeance. As the play unfolds, each young man approaches the desire for revenge and chooses a different path towards gaining it based on the guidance of another character in the play. Fortinbras' good decisions and self-control, as well as, Hamlet and Laertes' bad decisions can be attributed to the outside guidance they receive. Fortinbras, son of the slain King of Norway, is the first to seek revenge. Although King Hamlet, the now deceased King of Denmark, held sole responsibility for the death of King Fortinbras, young Prince Fortinbras seeks vengeance toward the entire country of Denmark. Horatio, a friend of Hamlet?s, said, ?As it doth well appear unto our state, but to recover of us by strong hand and terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands so by his father lost (I.i.101-104). By this, Horatio is saying Fortinbras plans to forcefully regain the land King Hamlet took from King Fortinbras. Fortunately, King Claudius, the new King of Denmark, intervenes and sends two courtiers, Cornelius and Voltemand, to Norway in hopes of convincing the new King of Norway, Fortinbras? uncle, to prevent the attack. Upon hearing the message, Fortinbras? uncle vetoes Fortinbras? plan to wage war on Denmark. However, he encourages Fortinbras ?to employ his anger, against the Polack? in order to vent his rage (II.ii.74-75). After taking the advice of his uncle, Fortinbras additionally ?makes vow before his uncle never more to have th? assay of arms against your majesty,? (II.ii.70-71). This intervention could be what saves Fortinbras? life. With the counseling of his uncle, Fortinbras is able to put aside his longing to settle the score for his father?s murder. In the end, he is greatly rewarded. Because of his persistent doubt of whether Claudius did, in fact, kill his father Hamlet defers making pla... ...events leading to the success of Fortinbras and the failure of Hamlet and Laertes was initiated by a command from someone close to them. King Claudius had an ulterior motive of saving his land, yet by telling Fortinbras? uncle of Fortinbras? plan to attack Denmark his uncle was able to deter his nephew?s anger. By choosing not to attack Denmark Fortinbras was able to avoid harm?s way. The ghost of Hamlet?s father caused Hamlet?s death by advising Hamlet to seek revenge. Before his encounter with his father Hamlet did not want any part in the act of revenge. In attempt to pursue his father?s wishes Hamlet kills Polonius, which causes his death. When Laertes listens to King Claudius he brings death upon both of them. Laertes did not think his sword would be used against him. In the end, the men?s fate was determined not only by their own feelings, but by the actions taken under the command of another person. For Hamlet and Laertes successful revenge led them to death. The guidance he received, as well as, inner strength surmounted Fortinbras? need for revenge and led him to happiness. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Cyrus Hoy. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 1992.

Michelangelo Buonarroti Essay -- essays research papers fc

Michelangelo Buonarroti   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in 1475. He was born in a small town called Caprese, in Tuscany, Italy. Michelangelo was one of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance. According to Charles de Tolnay Michelangelo's three greatest works of his later life, were the Tomb of Pope Julius II, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the Medici Chapel(37).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Michelangelo's specialty was painting the human body unclothed. In order to learn to paint the human body so well he would dissect human corpses. His artistic talents were noticed at a very early age. Michelangelo went to study with Domenico Ghirlandago, who taught him about painting. He then went on to work with Donatello to learn about sculpture. Between the years of 1490-1492 Michelangelo lived in the house of Lorenzo de' Medici and was influenced by Neoplatonic thought. Some of Michelangelo's early painting showed the influence of Giotto and Masaccio. Also many of his early sculptures show the influence of Donatello (Columbia University Press) .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Michelangelo's artistic career can be divided into two periods. In the early period he focused on realism. During this early period Michelangelo's works included the â€Å"Pieta† and the â€Å"David.† At the age of 24 he completed a statue called the â€Å"Pieta,† showing the dead Jesus Christ in his mother's arms. In 1501 Michelangelo returned to Florence, Italy to sculpt the famous nude sculpture called the â€Å"David.† The â€Å"David† measures 18 feet tall, and is so massive that it took 40 men to move it from Michelangelo's workshop(World Book 5016)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second period of Michelangelo's career was based upon his imagination. In 1505 Michelangelo was summoned by Pope Julius II to fabricate his tomb. Michelangelo was so excited about making the tomb for the Pope that he spent many months looking for the perfect piece of marble to make the tomb. A short time after starting the tomb Pope Julius II selected Michelangelo to decorate the Sistine Chapel ceiling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Sistine Chapel is in the palace of The Vatican in Rome. The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV in 1473. The Sistine Chapel ceiling took over four years to complete, 1508-1512. Michelangelo was able to accomplish this enormous job in such a short amou... ...ecause of Michelangelo's unhappiness with the Pope it caused him not to express his true feelings to the Pope. This made Michelangelo more upset and frustrated. Michelangelo's relationship with the Pope became a vicious cycle(Liebert 152).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Michelangelo was one of the most recognized artists of the Italian Renaissance. He was a great sculptor, painter, writer, and poet. He was a true Renaissance man. One of his best works was the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Even though he was unhappy with the outcome of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, the ceiling turned out to be magnificent List Of Works Cited De Tolnay, Charles. The Art and Thought of Michelangelo. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Random House, 1964 Janson, H.W. History of Art. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Liebert, Robert S MD. Michelangelo, A Psychoanalytic Study of His Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  and Images. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983. â€Å"Michelangelo.† Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Online.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Columbia University Press, 1994. â€Å"Michelangelo.† The World Book Encyclopedia. 1959. Vol. XI.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  pages 5015-5016.

Options Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

Options   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As early as 1000 B.C., we can see an early sign of options. According to the Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, Thales the Philosopher knew from the stars that there would be a great olive harvest. Thales did not have much money, but was able to purchase options for the use of olive presses. When the harvest arrived he was able to rent the presses at a substantial profit. Thales speculation on the harvest allowed for him to purchase rights to the presses. He could then exercise his rights if his speculations on the harvest were correct.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An option is a contract giving the buyer the right to buy or sell an asset at a specific price for a limited time. An option is a contract between the buyer and seller with defined parameters. The asset that is bought or sold is called the underlying. This underlying asset could be a commodity, a futures contract, or stock. The seller gives the buyer the rights for a sum of money called a premium. The price that the underlying right is bought or sold at is called the exercise price. The two types of Options are Calls and Puts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When an option gives the buyer the right to purchase underlying assets from a writer is called a call option. The call option is the most straightforward strategy for capitalizing on an anticipated increase in the price of the underlying asset. The investor that buys a call option is said to be in a long call position. An investor that believes the price of an underlying asset will decline or remain the same, can if his speculations are correct, realize income by selling a call option. The seller is said to be in a short call position.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the purchaser of an option has the right to sell the underlying asset the option is called a put option. With a put option you can insure an asset by locking in a selling price. If the price of the underlying falls you can exercise your option and sell it at the locked in price. If the price of the underlying asset increases then you would not exercise your right and the only cost incurred is the premium paid for the option. The investor that purchases a put option is said to long put position. The investor that can earn income buy selling a put is said to be in a short put position.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The people that buy ... ... However, if understood they can be very useful. They are excellent tools for hedging and lowering risk as well as investments for profit. The option market allows for two types of transactions to be exercised at the same time; buying and selling the options and being able to sell the underlying asset holdings. The Option Clearing Corporation makes sure that these day to day option trading runs smoothly. These reason are why options are a good alternative to other security trading. The Wonderful World of Options   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brealey, Myers, Marcus, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fischer Robert, Stocks or Options? Programs for profit. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fabozzi Frank, Zarb Frank, Handbook of Financial Markets 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stewart Joseph, Dynamic Stock Option Trading 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chicago Board Options exchange- Web site-

Wells Anti Lynching Campaign

Ida B. Wells was a well-established journalist who lived during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. She was born in Mississippi in 1862 to James and Elizabeth Wells, who were enslaved until the Emancipation Proclamation. When Ida was 16, both of her parents and her youngest brother were killed by a yellow fever epidemic. Ida took the responsibility of looking after and providing for her five remaining siblings. Wells moved to Memphis with her aunt where she made many connections with nationally renowned figures focused on the betterment of African-American society. While in Memphis, Wells became a leading figure in the community. She wrote her first article in 1884 and by 1889 was the co-owner of the Free Speech and Headlight paper. Wells was also elected to the position of National Press Association secretary. In 1892, three of Wells’ friends were wrongfully lynched. Until this event, Ida had supported the idea of lynching as a punishment for crimes. She began to take a closer look at lynching and was astonished by what she discovered. This prompted Ida to launch her anti-lynching campaign. After being exiled from Memphis, Ida found a writing position for the New York Age. On June 25, 1892, Ida published an article depicting her exile from Memphis. This gave her anti-lynching campaign the momentum it needed to get off the ground. Lynching was a common practice in the south during the late 19th century. At first it was used as a way to serve justice for crimes. But it quickly evolved; whites used lynching as a way to control the African-American population with the fear of being killed. These events were not isolated what so ever. The events occurring following the Robert Charles manhunt in New Orleans are a prime example of how lynching was not isolated to the perpetrator at all. Charles was being wrongfully arrested and retaliated. After injuring one of the officers and escaping, the man hunt ensued. Mobs formed quickly began to lose focus. Instead of focusing their anger and rage against Charles, they directed it at any African-American they saw. It was no longer an isolated incident and innocent people were being brutally beaten and killed. Ida Wells told the story of what happened in New Orleans to help raise awareness to the events that took place. She wanted to show the rest of America that lynching was not isolated and was completely race biased. Mobs of people were walking through the streets beating or killing ever African-American in sight. They didn’t stop there; they killed innocent people while they were sleeping in their houses. While this started with one man, it turned into a city-wide, bloodthirsty, racially biased conviction. Ida Wells published â€Å"Mob Rule in New Orleans† on September 1, 1900. The text within depicted the events that took place during the manhunt and the mass mob lynching. She describes all of the events in detail, starting with the initial confrontation with Charles. Ida also focused on the innocents caught by the mob, and newspaper articles regarding the individuals. Ida Wells writes, â€Å"its[the mob] only purpose was to pursue, beat and kill any colored man or woman† (Wells, 191). In the publication, Ida expresses that these events were motivated in no way. She explained that the only cause behind this was race, and that America did have a race problem. The South was very divide, and the division was dictated solely by race. Lynching was used as a deterrent, a way to scare African-American into accepting oppression. Ida Wells brought light to the nation on the truth about lynching. She showed the North that it was no longer a practice of justice; instead it had become a crucifixion of anyone with dark skin. The anti-lynching campaign kicked off in 1892. In that year there were 241 lynchings as reported by the Chicago Tribune (Wells, 206). By then end of the century, that number was reduced to 107. It’s no coincidence that the numbers decreased as the campaign grew in strength. The campaign spread the truth about lynching to the nation. Ida Wells was focused on improving the quality of life for all, and she was successful in doing so. She was a very influential person, not only the aspect of anti-lynching, but also on the civil rights front. Her message was heard loud and clear across the nation. Her efforts to stop lynching and improve the quality of life were very successful, paving her way into the history books.

A Review of Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Keri Momon Period 3 English Title: The Hunger Games Author: Suzanne Collins Type of literary material: science fiction- adventure, action, suspense, drama Setting: time-future, place- Panem (the future untied states) Main Character: A. Katniss Everdeen- she is the very main character in the story B. Peeta Mellark-he is the bakers son C. Haymitch-he is the town drunk Point of View- first person because the main character is telling the whole story. Conflicts- man vs. man Man vs. himself Man vs. the supernatural/ the unnatural Plot –Introduction- in district 12 in the country of Panem lives Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and Haymitch Narrative Hook- Primrose Everdeen (Katniss little sister) is called as a tribute for the hunger games. Katniss panics to the thought of her little sister being in the hunger games and volunteers as tribute so her sister won’t have to go. Rising Action- Katniss and Peeta and Haymitch are talking about ways to survive in the hunger games on t he train. They get dressed up for the ceremony and for the interviews. Then they train with the other tributes, then go and get rated for the judges.Climax –when they enter the hunger games and fight to the death with the other tributes Falling Action- When they get interviewed for the last time gets on the train and go home. Resolution- when they arrive home back in district 12 The Hunger Games (Introduction) In district 12 nicked named the Seam is a girl names Katniss Everdeen. She wakes up and goes into the wood with her bow and arrow as her usual routine. She crawls under the gate and starts looking for game. And in the woods waiting for her was her best friend Gale. They sat down and enjoyed some bread that Gale scored from the baker and the cheese Prim left for Katniss.While they were eating they made fun the Capitals accents. After they gathered up their game they went into the Hob and trade then went home to get ready for the reaping. Katniss came home took a bath and got dressed in one of her mother’s dresses. When they got to the reaping they are separated by age and gender. After they show the video of the dark days of the uprising in district 13 which led to the hunger games to show that the Capital is always in power. A woman from the capitol named Effie Trinket who draws the names for the hunger games. Narrative Hook) Effie draws the first name from the girls bowl and read it out loud. The name was Primrose Everdeen. As Prim slowly made her way to the stage Katniss started to panic and ran to grab her sister. But the guard grabbed her before she could reach Prim. Then out of fear she found herself yelling† I VOLUNTEER†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I volunteer as tribute†. They finally let her go to grab Prim. Gal had to come get Prim because she kept refusing to leave. Katniss slowly took her place on the stage. Then the name was called for the boys. The name she pulled out was Peeta Mellark.She asked for volunteers but no one stepped f orward. Katniss saw him and remembered when her family was slowly starving to death and she was lying in the rain. Peeta came out side to throw some bread he burnt then he saw her and threw her the two loaves of bread and went back into the bakery. She quickly lost her concern for she knew in time she would have to face him the Hunger Games. After the anthem a group of Peace Keepers took them into the Justice Building for their last goodbyes. After that they headed for the train to head for the capital. After they got on the train and took off they got ready for supper.When they arrived at the dinner table they realized Haymitch (the previous victor of the hunger games) wasn’t there. So they got started eating anyway. When Haymitch finally came, he vomited on the floor. So Katniss and Peeta carried him to his room, into the bathroom, and turns on the shower. But when Katniss tries to help clean him up Peeta says it’s ok and tells her she can go. So she went to her room , took off her clothes and hopped into bed thinking Peeta being kind is just a strategy to trick her in the games and make her an easy target. When she wakes up she goes in the dining hall and starts her breakfast.After the drama is over Haymitch promises that he will stay sober enough to help them if they don’t interfere with his drinking. They all agree. After they pass through the tunnel they see the Capitol and in no time they arrive at the train station. They instantly token by their stylist and they get started on prepping for the ceremony. After they’re done they take her in the remake center so she can wait for her main stylist. She waits about three hours until he finally arrives. She is so surprised by how normal he looks compared to the other citizens in the Capitol. He introduces himself then starts to observe her look.They go into a room and talk over lunch. After lunch he gets her into her outfit. Then once Cinna is done with her makeup she meets Peeta at their chariots where the other tributes are. Then Cinna and Peeta stylist explain how they are going to light up their outfits with a fake fire. Once the chariots went out one by one finally it was their turn to go out. As they rolled out Katniss got a look of herself on the projector and realized how breath taking she looked. Then felt Peeta’s hand slowly moving toward hers. She pulled away then Peeta said it would make them look good so they grabbed hands and raised them in the air.As she heard them chanting her name she knew Cinna was right†¦ she was the girl on fire. The next day they begin to talk over dinner about the ceremony and what strategies they will have in the games. After dinner Katniss and Peeta go up to the roof and begin to talk. Peeta shows Katniss the garden and after they get done talking Peeta takes Katniss back to her room then he leaves. Katniss wakes up from her disturbing dreams, drags herself out of bed, and goes to eat breakfast. Eventually P eeta and Haymitch come in and start talking about each other’s strategies and what they’re supposed to do at training.When they get to the training center they get started learning survival skills Katniss goes over to the camouflage station and finds Peeta. She realized how talented he was. He told her he learned from doing all those cakes in the bakery. Finally the day for the game maker’s judges the tributes on their skills. It came the time when they summoned Peeta. And finally it was Katniss turn to go in and be judge. She grabbed the bow and arrow and tries to concentrate. Katniss aims the arrow and shoots. The arrow didn’t hit any part of the body. In response the game makers starts to laugh and ignores her.She tries again and she hits the target right where heart is. In excitement she has a big smile on her face but then it fades when she realized the game makers didn’t even see what she did. They were too busy looking and admiring the roast ed pig in front of them. In a sensation of anger she aimed the arrow and shot it straight through the group of game makers and hit right in the middle of the apple in the pigs mouth. The games were speechless. To end the silence Katniss said â€Å"Thank you for your consideration†. Then she left without being dismissed. After Katniss left, she started to panic.A novel of thought went through her mind and what’s going to happen. When she entered the room to eat, everybody wanted to know what Peeta and Katniss did. Peeta told them what he did then they turned to Katniss for her explanation. She told them what she did. Everyone was kind of over reacting except Haymitch. He simply got her to say what she did them he just finished eating. Then came the time to see what all the tributes were rated. They went district by district, tribute by tribute. Then it was finally got to Peeta and Katniss. The tributes are rated on a scale from 1 to 12. Peeta was rated an 8.He was surpr ised but everyone cheered when they saw that Katniss was rated an 11. They started to get ready for the interview. Haymitch starts talking to Katniss about how she is going to steal the audience. After that she spent most of the day getting prepped up by Cinna. Finally she saw herself and that she was as radiant as the sun. When she arrived she saw Peeta and Haymitch and Haymitch had to remind both of them that they are still friends. The order the interviews went was girl then boy, first to last district. Finally it was Katniss turn for her interview. She slowly made her way to the seat.The interviewers name was Caesar Flickerman. He asked her what was her favorite thing about the Capitol and she said the lamb stew. From then through the rest of the interview they loved her. When she left she watched Peeta’s interview. As she watched she saw he was natural speaker. But as she watched she heard something so stunning it was unreal. Caesar asked Peeta if he had a special girl b ack in district 12. At first he said no but then he said there was a girl he had a crush on for the longest. Caesar said if he wins the hunger games she will have no choice but to go out with him.Then Peeta said that won’t be any help. (Climax) Caesar asked why and Peeta said because she came with him here. Katniss was speechless but filled with rage. So when they got to their floor out of anger Katniss pushed Peeta and he feel down on a broken urn and his hands were filled with the broken pieces. She started yelling at him. Then Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, and Portia came in asking what happened and after everything was said and done they all agreed that Katniss and Peeta would be star-crossed lovers. Then they went to eat dinner. The next day they were going to arrive at the hunger games.Each tribute is put in a separate room with their stylist. So after they land Katniss meets Cinna in their room and after she’s ready and ate a little food Cinna says his final words the n Katniss goes into the cylinder and she lifted up where the other tributes are on their own metal plate. Then a voice announces â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin! † The tributes have to wait 60 seconds before they can run and start. Katniss sees the bow and arrow but by the look on Peeta’s face she knew he was giving her the look that says† Don’t go for the bow and arrow†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ DON’T, NO†.The gong rings and she realized that she missed her chance, so she goes for the first thing she sees. She goes for the backpack that she had to race to get from a boy in district 9. When she gets it she takes off in the woods. When she gets settled she didn’t see any sign of water so she settled in a tree she sees how many kids died that day then wondering what happened to Peeta because he is still alive. The next day she looks for game then she takes a nap and a sound awakes her†¦.. A snapping sound. Th en she sees a fire. She realizes that a tribute had lit a fire.Then she sees some careers that had obviously made an alliance kill the tribute that made the fire. Then she hears them talking about her saying they need to find her, then she an extra voice. She almost fell out tree when she realizes that voice belonged to Peeta. She hears them saying why don’t they just kill him. The leader from district 2 says that he is the only way to finding her. She realized that the think if she looks for him they can find her and kill her. Her instincts tell her to forget about him. After they leave she goes and cooks a rabbit. After she eats half of it she goes and looks for some water.After pretty much a whole day she has no luck until she sees a bush of berries. After she grabs some and about to eat them she gets s good look at them, opens it up and sees the juice is blood red. So she tosses them and keeps moving. She climbs a tree and looks for signs of water but sees nothing but the same unending trees. She keeps walking until she is stumbling to the ground. So she climbs into a tree and goes to sleep. She wakes up with pain in her joints with every movement. When she falls on to the ground she feels mud then thinks of the sent she smells.Then all of a sudden she realizes that a pond is nearby. She crawls into the pond and downs as much as she can then fill her jug fill of water, and then goes into a tree. A few hours later she wakes up to a stampede of feet running. She look up and sees what their running from. It’s a forest fire. She quickly got out of the tree, grabs her thing and takes off. As she’s running she thinks to herself that this fire must be the game makers doing. She runs and takes cover on a stone to catch her breath. Then suddenly a fire ball hits right where she was lying. She jumped right before it could hit her.Katniss keeps running until a fireball almost hits her but she dodges it but not soon enough. Her calf is screaming w ith pain. After a while of wondering the pack of careers spot her. She climbs the tree and wakes for them to kill her. But when of then try to climb the tree he falls. She realizes that they are too heavy to climb the tree. In response she starts to mock and tease them. After a while they make a fire and sleep around the tree. When night time falls Katniss sees a pair of eyes looking at her. First she thinks it’s an animal but she takes a closer look then sees it’s the little girl from district 11.It was Rue looking at her. And she’s pointing at something above Katniss’s head. She looks up and sees there’s a trackerjacker nest above her head. She was about to saw it down but she decided to wait till morning. When goes back down to her sleeping bag she sees there is something on her stuff waiting for her. She knows it’s a sponsor when is in her sleeping bag. After she opens it up she sees it’s a burn medicine. She was relieved and appl ied it to her wound. When she’s done, she falls asleep. When she wakes up, she looks at her leg and sees that it’s almost healed. Then she gets up and starts sawing the branch with the nest on it.In the process she gets stung by three trackerjackers. But finally the nest falls and sends the careers running. A tribute named Glimmer died from all the trackerjacker stings. When Katniss climbs down the tree she sees that the dead tribute had the bow and arrows. She grabs them and a ball of relief rolled off of her shoulder. After she got the bow and arrow and walked around for a little while the hallucinations started and out of a blur Peeta comes out limping yelling at her. He was yelling at her to go and runaway. He pushed her and she barely ran but then she fell and passed out on a log.When Katniss awake she finally was relieved that the hallucinations and the venom had both drained from her system. Then she saw a little person standing behind a tree. It was Rue. When s he came out and explained how she helped to get the venom out of the stings. Them they gathered some food, ate then developed a plan on how to weaken the careers. Then they both realized one thing the careers needed. They needed food. So the mad a plan to get rid of all their food. So they made a signal to tell each other that they are ok. So Katniss and Rue started the plan. Katniss went to where the careers were at.Rue set the distraction and Katniss went into action. She was going to hit the bag of apples with her arrow and blow the mines that were buried and will blow up all their food. So she waited until Rue started and when they left she shot her arrow and blew up everything. When the food blew up Katniss was blown back and hit the ground. When she got up she realized that she couldn’t hear out of her left ear. But eventually she got up and sent the signal to tell Rue that she was alright. As she ran through the forest she never heard the signal back and so she started to panic.Then finally after all the searching she heard the signal from Rue that meant she was alright. So she followed the sound of the signals. Then all of a sudden she heard a frightening scream. It was a child scream and she knew it came from Rue. So she yelled her name until she responded. Then Rue yelled Katniss name and so eventually she found Rue. She found her trapped in a net. But when she grabbed Rue out of the net and hugged her, a fellow tribute had set up this trap. He threw the spear but Katniss dodged it and killed him with an arrow. But Rue wasn’t so lucky.When Katniss turned around she saw that the spear he threw entered Rues body. After Katniss saw what happened she took Rue laid her on the ground. Rue asks her if she blew up the food and told her that she had to win. And finally Rue asked Katniss if she could sing to her and she did until the cannon shot telling Katniss that Rue was dead. But instead she wanted to show that Rues death just didn’t m ean anything. So Katniss arranged flowers all around Rues body because she knew that all the cameras were on her. After she got up she put up 3 fingers which meant that a loved one would be missed.So she left and sat down and cried. Then she climbed up in a tree then she heard an announcement from the game makers. They said there were changes in the ruling of the games. They said there can be two victors of the games if they were from the same district. Katniss took a minute to take the news in and without thinking she started yelling Peetas name. When she realized what she did she put her hands over her mouth. But still in excitement she started to climb down the tree but decided to wait till morning. The next day she started the search for Peeta.She started looking for him and while looking she saw something. She saw some blood and followed the trail. Eventually she made it to the lake and as she was stepping toward the water she heard a voice. It was Peetas voice. She looked down and saw nothing but then Peeta smiled and she saw that he had made a camouflage to blend into the bolder. So she got up cleaned him up and started looking at his wound. He had a deep cut in his upper left leg. She realizes how sick he was when he tells her that he hasn’t been hungry for days so she gets him to eat some dried apples then decides to clean her wound.She takes off his shoes, socks, and pants and sees how bad it is. The cut is oozing both blood and pus also his leg is swollen. So she pours water over the cut but it begins to look even worse so she makes him eat some dry fruit and she goes and washes the rest of his clothes. Then she chews up some leaves that gets rid of infections and puts them on his cut and the pus begins to drain out of his leg and she think that’s good. After she cleaned his clothes and lets him rest for a while they looked for a new place to rest. So they find a cave like structure to settle in.She kisses him then goes outside and see s that Haymitch left some broth. Then she practically kisses him awake then gives him the broth that Haymitch sent him. After she makes him drink the broth they go to sleep. That morning she gets up and gets some berries and when she returns he was up and was about to go looking for her. She sat him down and fed him the berries then he told her she needed to rest so he made her sleep. When she woke up she realized how long she slept but it didn’t matter so she tended to his minor wounds then his cut.When she looked at it her heart dropped. The pus was gone but the swelling had increased, his skin was tight and there were red streaks crawling up his leg. He had blood poisoning. He realizes it to but she doesn’t want to talk about. She makes him some soup but he doesn’t want any although he does want to hear a story. So she tells him the time on how she got her little sister Prims goat. Then there’s another announcement. There was going to be a feast which means each tribute needs something so they are going to leave it in the middle of the arena tomorrow.Katniss lies and says she wasn’t going but he knew she was and that if she goes he will go too. Then she says ok and goes to clean herself up then sees the sponsor Haymitch sent her. She got excited but then saw it wasn’t his medicine but a small bottle of sleeping syrup. So she mixed it up with some berries to feed to him. As he was eating it he thought they were really sweet then realized what was in the berries but it was too late. He already started losing consciousness. And even when he was going down Katniss could tell by the look on his face she had done something unforgiveable.She gathered her things and went to go get the medicine. When she got there she observed the area for a while. Then the girl from district 5 ran out got her bag and left. So Katniss went to get her bag but Clove came hit her with a knife and pinned her to the ground. She told Katniss that they had planned to kill Rue. Then Thresh the other tribute from Rues district came and grabbed Clove and started yelling saying â€Å"did you kill her†. Clove yelled Cato’s name and he yelled her name back but Thresh already started beating her heard with a stone until her heard was dented.He looks at Katniss and said â€Å"I’ll let you go this time for Rue†. Katniss ran back to the cave, gave Peeta the shot, and then passed out. When she regained consciousness Peeta is looking at her in relief. They ate the rest of the food, laid down, and began to talk. Katniss act him when did he start liking her. He told her the whole story on how he first saw her when she was 5 and how she sang in music class and from then on he watched her walk home every single day. Then right when they were about to kiss a sound scares then. Peeta goes outside and Haymitch sent them a feast to eat.After they eat and talk a little more Peeta tells Katniss that Thresh is dead. Afte r Peeta comforts Katniss and they go to sleep, the next day they went hunting and gathering. Before Katniss leaves Peeta she tells him to look for roots and berries. When she was hunting she went back looking for Peeta and saw the apple and cheese was gone. When she found him she started yelling at him for eating the food and he said he didn’t do it and that the berries he found were toxic. Then the cannon went off and then they saw the girl from district 5’s body then realized that she ate the poisonous berries and the food.After talking for a little bit they realize that fox faces death wasn’t a good thing. Now that Cato knows she’s dead he will come looking for them. So they decide to look for another form of shelter. So they get their stuff and look for a place but then they just go to the cave. But they sit in the open waiting for Cato and when they see him he is running toward then with some type of armor but his speed doesn’t slow down and a s he passes them Katniss notices the creature he is running from and their about a half a dozen more. So Katniss takes off with intentions of only saving herselfAs Katniss is running she turns around remembering that she left Peeta with his bad leg. So she grabs him and follows Cato to the Cornucopia. They climb to the top and then Cato tells them that the creatures can climb. When Katniss looked down at the mutts and recognized the features on it. It had blonde hair, green eyes, and the number 1 on its collar. Then Katniss realized that it’s Glimmer. She starts looking at all the other mutts and notices all of them were the tributes that died. She even notices the smallest on. It had curly brown and big brown eyes. She knew it was Rue.When she pulled Peeta up Cato grabbed him and Katniss aimed his arrow at him but he said if she shoots him Peeta will die with him. But Katniss shoots his hand but she grabs Peeta before he could fall. Cato fall into the pack of mutts and becau se of the armor it was taking a long time and he was suffering so Katniss shot an arrow at his head. Then the mutts ran off. They were happy and relieved until an announcement was made. They said that the rules had changed back to normal and that there can be only one victor. Peeta said he should be the one to die but Katniss had an idea.She pulled out the night lock she had saved and said they will both die and they counted to three and just as they raised the night lock to their lips the announcer said stop and announced that they were the Seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games victors. As they went up into the hovercraft Katniss would not let go of Peeta, but when there on board Peeta falls to the ground unconscious. They took him to a table and started working on his leg. They place Katniss behind a door where she yells until they land and they jab a needle in her. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a room with no windows or doors are visible.Then she notices that she can hear out of her left ear again and all her wounds and scars are gone. After they let her out she finds out that Peeta is fine and there is going to be a last interview. So she goes with Cinna to get ready. He puts her in a yellow dress with flats and a head band to go for a more innocent look. When she meets Haymitch he tells her the capitol is furious because she showed them up in the arena. And she is to say that she was so madly in love that wasn’t in control of her actions. She said ok and got into her position.When she got on stage she saw Peeta and ran into his arms and they started kissing. And finally Caesar told them they had to start the show. And after the interview President Snow came out with a metal for each of them. Even though he had a smile on his face his eyes were filled with unforgiving rage. And the next day they had another interview. And they showed the clips of when Peeta and Katniss were in the cave and everything. And then Katniss found out that Peeta had to get a new artificial leg. She freaked out and started saying it was her fault. After the interview they took a walk along the train.When Haymitch told them keep up the good work Peeta didn’t know what he meant. So Katniss told him that Haymitch had told her to act like she was in love him. Peeta was furious and stormed back to the train. But right before they stopped in district 12 he told her one more time for the cameras. His voice wasn’t angry but it was hollow. So Katniss grabbed his hand tightly dreading the time she would have to let go. The End 1. I loved the novel because it was exciting, suspenseful, and this book makes you about the future. 2. The main characters name is Katniss Everdeen.She is a strong independent girl who had to provide for her mother and little sister. But when she was in the hunger games she started having feelings for the bakers’ son Peeta Mellark. She is a good character for this story because in the beginning she had to be t ough but then she changed she became more innocent and started to show her feelings more. 3. Yes because in the beginning she was all hard and tough and by the end she was more sensitive and showed her feelings more. 4. Yes, and the book was easy to comprehend because even though the plot was exciting and suspenseful it was simple wording and easy to understand.