The most responsible for Evas suicide Essay Example For Students

The most responsible for Evas suicide Essay Mr. Birling was the one to knock Eva the first time you could say she was knocked off her horse, but she managed to get back up on it again. I think Mr. Birling was right to fire Eva because she was causing trouble and making women protest to try and get the pay increased by up to around 15% which was a lot of money to ask especially from thousands of workers. I think Mr. Birling should have considered that she was a good worker before sacking her. Sheila was the second one to kick Eva off the horse and I think this was Evas final blow because everything seemed to go down hill from then on. We will write a custom essay on The most responsible for Evas suicide specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Sheila is one of the people that I think is most responsible because she had to know real reason to fire Eva apart from that she was in a bad mood, it could have been to do with the hormones but I still think that she was wrong to fire her. She might have been rich and had the power to get her fired but with power comes responsibility and I think Sheila took advantage of this. Gerald seemed to me to be the best thing that happened to Eva and his intentions were to help her out and not start an affair which did happen later on. I think Eva knew that Gerald would never actually marry her or anything but he did a lot for Eva for example giving her a house and also gave her money (wasnt stolen). Even though Geralds intentions were good he did end up having an affair with her and Eva developed a relationship with him and then he went back to Sheila as if nothing had happened where as Eva went away and tried to get her head sorted out which she did but then came a long someone else. Eric went out looking for sex and came across Eva, he got sex. I have some sympathy for Eric because he was young and drunk. The fact that he comes back for more is what makes me less sympathetic towards him, he forces himself on Eva, which puts pressure on Eva and Eva doesnt really try to force him off but if she did she probably would have got beaten up. Then once they sort of start dating Eric gives Eva money but then when Erics drunk he tells her that the money was stolen and Eva doesnt want to take that money, then Eva finds out she is pregnant and tells Eric that she is and Eric does the honest thing and asks for her hand in marriage which shows that he is willing to sacrifice something which I think is quite decent of him. Eva rejects him because he is too young for her, Eric offers her money but Eva doesnt want stolen money. Mrs Birling is one of the people that I hate in this story because even after Eva is dead she still thinks that she is right in what she did even though she knows about who did what to Eva which I think is shocking and shows me that she is stubborn, that she cant even admit that she was wrong to a dead person. Mrs Birling is the final and last rejection that Eva gets. Eva goes to Mrs Birling for help but Eva lies at the beginning so then Mrs Birling doesnt believe her but the thing that infuriates Mrs Birling is that she said her name was Miss Birling. I think the fact that she lies at the beginning made Mrs Birling not trust her and I think that this was alright but when Eva came clean and told her about the stolen money and everything Mrs Birling said that she should still go and find the father because he should be more responsible and dismissed her and made all other members of the charity committee reject her as well. .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 , .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .postImageUrl , .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 , .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0:hover , .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0:visited , .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0:active { border:0!important; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0:active , .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0 .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc487869f4c184fa7d058999655d07aa0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Asdf EssayEva herself should have known that suicide was not the answer to her problems and she killed her child which I think is just selfish and she should have thought it through before taking the life of her child. I also think that she could have really avoided some of things that happened like in Mr Birlings case just go along with the strike, she didnt have to be a ring leader. If I was to put the people I have mentioned in an order I would probably put: 1. Sheila 2. Eric 3. Eva 4. Mrs Birling 5. Mr Birling 6. Gerald The reason I think Sheila was the most responsible was because she had know real reason to fire Eva because Eva didnt do anything wrong. I also think that the way she used her power to get Eva sacked was just wrong and she should have thought a lot more before actually opening her mouth and getting angry at Eva because she looked better in the dress than she did.

AP Spanish Literature Figuras Retóricas Essays

AP Spanish Literature Figuras Retà ³ricas Essays AP Spanish Literature Figuras Retà ³ricas Paper AP Spanish Literature Figuras Retà ³ricas Paper Essay Topic: Literature aliteracià ³n Alliteration is a stylistic literary device identified by the repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words. Allen ate apples awkwardly. hipà ©rbole A hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration used to make a point. I literally died. metfora A metaphor is a figure of speech that identifies something as being the same as some unrelated thing for rhetorical effect, thus highlighting the similarities between the two. Freddie is a pig when he eats. onomatopeya the use of imitative and naturally suggestive words for rhetorical, dramatic, or poetic effect. Boo! personificacià ³n Personification is a figure of speech where human qualities are given to animals, objects or ideas. It is the opposite of a metaphor but is very similar. In the arts, personification means representing a non-human thing as if it were human. The fire ran wild. sà ­mil a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid Im as brave as a lion anfora Anaphora is the repetition of a certain word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines of writing or speech. I have a dream that I have a dream that antà ­tesis Antithesis is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introduced together for contrasting effect. Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind apà ³strofe an exclamatory passage in a speech or poem addressed to a person that is not present. Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. circunlocucià ³n o perà ­frasis Circumlocution is a long, complicated word which means a long, complicated way of expressing something. To cut to the chase, circumlocution means to beat around the bush. The edge of a colossal jungle, so dark green as to be almost black, fringed with white surf, ran straight, like a ruled line, far, far away along a blue sea whose glitter was blurred by a creeping mist. The sun was fierce, the land seemed to glisten and drip with steam. elipsis enumeracià ³n An enumeration is a complete, ordered listing of all the items in a collection. Get eggs, rice, cheese, butter and milk please. eufemismo a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Passed away in place of died gradacià ³n scale first ____ then ____ hipà ©rbaton an inversion of the normal order of words, especially for the sake of emphasis, as in the sentence. This I must see asà ­ndeton the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence. I came, I saw, I conquered. cacofonà ­a Refers to the use of words with sharp, harsh, hissing and unmelodious sounds primarily those of consonants to achieve desired results. Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves,an And the mome raths outgrabe. epà ­teto An adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned. Sailing across the wine-dark sea to men. metonimia A figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. paradoja A paradox is a statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true. I must be cruel to be kind. polisà ­ndeton he use of several conjunctions in close succession, especially where some could otherwise be omitted He ran and jumped and laughed for joy. sinà ©cdoque a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something, or vice versa. She organized her life around the little yellow ball. (tennis ball) sinestesia technique adopted by writers to present ideas, characters or places in such a manner that they appeal to more than one senses like hearing, seeing, smell etc. at a given time. The word would fill her mind for a few minutes with a single color: not an unpleasant sensation but still an intrusion Patriarch: Brown, she thought, a temple of a word, a shiny red brown, like the surface of a chestnut. retruà ©cano A pun. The two pianists had a good marriage. They always were in a chord.

Curriculum Map Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Curriculum Map - Assignment Example A long range map acts as a vertical and horizontal approach for operational curriculum in a school or district. All instructors benefit from long range since the curriculum map is a blueprint for aligning skills and content to be taught and evaluations. Curriculum mapping is a strategy to instruction and curriculum designed to involve learners in inquiry, improve transfer of learning, and offer a conceptual structure for assisting learners make sense of distinct skills, facts and disclose the big concepts of content. Map may assist teachers identify gaps in schools where repetition takes place and those where content might be incorporated among fields. Besides, maps assist teachers to decide on what needs to stay and those to be eliminated from teaching units to best tackle essential standards. They can help in differentiating and spacing instruction. The curriculum taught in school should rotate around lasting understanding which teachers wish every student have on mathematics as we ll as other subjects. This paper therefore, attempts to uncover the long range curriculum mapping by highlighting its components. In an effort to improve an appreciation for poetry, the curriculum design puts the learners into the position of reader, critic, analyzer, poet and listener. Through various project based coursework and standardized, the instructor is allowed to observe as the learner develops into an expert of poetry in independent fashion and fun. A scheme based education has shown repeatedly that learners who engage actively in hands with activities against standardized testing can understand the content, relate the education with real problems, instances and world events. Jacobs (2010) developed and explained the six components of learning in their experiment understanding by design. With knowledge based education, an opportunity of knowing all components is achieved. Rather than listening to the normal lecture and attempting to comprehend what s being taught, the lea rners is allowed to interpret, apply, explain, have self knowledge and empathize of part of what a curriculum established to improve learners understanding. The aim of this unit s to give learners with the understanding of different methods and types of writing poetry, the utilization and understanding of poetic devices and the capability to analyze both peer and personal written poems. Within two weeks of learning and application of poetic devices through professional analysis, personal practice and notes, learners will develop a poetry anthology of individual poetry based on every day requirements which follows the specific rubric; a book by Dr Seuss which focuses on rhyme scheme, rhymed verse and meter as well as two poet study projects. The single most crucial thing an instructor must perfom is to manage the learning condition of his or her learners. He further noted that twenty minutes is the certainly the maximum time which majority of people can remain in a positive learning condition without an alteration of stimulus. When learners are despondent in the classroom, effective teaching and efficient learning are impossible. Therefore, the course gives the learners more hands on as well as autonomous learning liberating up the instructor to act mainly as an observer and a facilitator Long Range Curriculum Mapping Teacher :( Insert the name) Grade: 8th School: (Insert the name) First Week Second Week Essential Questions How does writing assist me communicate?

Diversion Is Better than Prison Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Diversion Is Better than Prison - Assignment Example Diversion Is Of Great Importance To The Child, The Criminal System, And The Society In General. Diversion Is Of Great Importance To The Child, The Criminal System, And The Society In General. Mistakes are made, anger is sometimes not controlled properly and at the end crime is done. Many young offenders fall into criminal activities for various reasons: peer pressure, broken homes, drug addiction, and many more vices. To admit fault is a bold step in life and that is one of the key requirements for diversion.  Diversion is â€Å"the halting or suspension before conviction of formal criminal proceedings against a person, conditioned on some form of counter-performance by the defendant.†(Geroge, 1984) therefore, this gives an undeserving second to young offenders where the criminal justice system is being fair in giving such services. The criminal justice system not only gives a second chance to the offenders but also reduces to the minimum the rate of crime and the rule of la w is perfectly placed in the hearts of its citizens. Law enforcement is the practical use of the rule of law and diversion makes every individual respect the law and law enforcement officers. Diversion is justified and backed by law enforcement it is a fear means of handling crime. Diversion is cost effective as it promotes the use of community service, making a potential criminal a better person, preventing future crime, bringing to a minimum the cost of building more prisons, and saves a lot of possible future crime.

Population of China and Gender Imbalance Essay Example for Free

Population of China and Gender Imbalance Essay Chinas one child policy was established by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 to limit Chinas population growth. It was designated as a temporary measure, to limit couples to just one child. Those who fail to follow the law are subjected to fines, pressures to do abortion, and forced sterilization. In 1979, the Chinese government embarked on an ambitious program of market reform following the stagnation of the economy after the Cultural Revolution. At the time, China was home to a quarter of the worlds people, who were occupying just 7 percent of worlds arable land. Two thirds of the population was under the age of 30 years, and the baby boomers of the 1950s and 1960s were entering their reproductive years. The government saw strict population containment as essential to economic reform and to an improvement in living standards. So the one-child family policy was introduced. The policy consists of a set of regulations governing the approved size of Chinese families. These regulations include restrictions on family size, late marriage and childbearing, and the spacing of children (in cases in which second children are permitted). The State Family Planning Bureau sets the overall targets and policy direction. Family-planning committees at provincial and county levels devise local strategies for implementation. Despite its name, the one-child rule applies to a minority of the population; for urban residents and government employees, the policy is strictly enforced, with few exceptions. The exceptions include families in which the first child has a disability or both parents work in high-risk occupations (such as mining) or are themselves from one-child families (in some areas). The policy has been estimated to have reduced population growth in the country of 1. 3 billion by as much as 300 million people over its first twenty years of existence. However, this rule has caused a bias against female infants; abortion, neglect, abandonment, and even infanticide have been known to occur to female infants. The use of IUDs, sterilization, and abortion are Chinas most popular forms of birth control. However, over the past few years, China has provided more education and support for alternative birth control methods. This shift in focus on implementing this family planning policy was partly in reaction to what happened in 2007 when there were reports that in the southwestern Guangxi Autonomous Region of China, officials were forcing pregnant women without permission to give birth to have abortions and levying steep fines on families violating the law. As a result, riots broke out and some population control officials may have been killed. The result of such family planning policy has resulted in the disparate ratio of 114 males for every 100 females among babies from birth through children four years of age. Normally, 105 males are naturally born for every 100 females. When the Chinese government introduced the policy in 1979 to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China, authorities claim that the policy has prevented 250 million births from its implementation to 2000. However, the policy is controversial both within and outside China because of the manner in which the policy has been implemented, and because of concerns about negative economic and social consequences. The policy has been implicated in an increase in of forced abortions and female infanticide, and has been suggested as a possible cause behind Chinas significant gender imbalance. Despite these negative reports, favorable feedback from this policy is heard from the families themselves. Since the introduction of the one-child policy, the total fertility rate in China has fallen from over two births per woman to approximately 1. 7 births today. In total, China estimates that it has three to four hundred million fewer people today, with the one-child policy, than it would have had otherwise. The reduction in the fertility rate and thus population growth has reduced the severity of problems that come with overpopulation, like epidemics, slums, overwhelmed social services (such as health, education, law enforcement), and strain on the ecosystem from abuse of fertile land and production of high volumes of waste. Another favorable feedback as a result of this policy is that it is reported that the focus of China on population control helps provide a better health service for women and a reduction in the risks of death and injury associated with pregnancy. Increased involvement of women in the labor force is also another positive feedback. Women have traditionally been the primary caregivers for children; however, with fewer children, they have more time to invest in their careers, increasing both their personal earnings and the national GDP. Another feedback that appeals to environmentalists is that, with the policy, there is decreased environmental impact. Chinas one child policy has the indirect consequence of reducing Chinas total ecological footprint and thus reducing strain on ecological resources. Despite these successes, however, the one-child only policy draws criticisms from many quarters. First, the one-child policy has been criticized by human rights advocacy groups and Western religious groups, including some evangelical Christians, as well as by pro-life advocates. Within China, criticism tends to be focused on potential social problems caused by the policy. A second type of criticism has come from those who acknowledge the challenges stemming from Chinas high population growth but believe that less intrusive options could have achieved the same results over an extended period of time. One very important concern was the human rights factor. The one-child policy is challenged in principle and in practice over violating basic human rights. Reported abuses in its enforcement include bribery, coercion, forced sterilization, forced abortion, and possibly infanticide. Even though in 2002, China outlawed the use of physical force to make a woman submit to an abortion or sterilization, it is not entirely enforced. In the execution of the policy many local governments still demand abortions if the pregnancy violates local regulations. Some critics also point to the possible economic and emotional costs the policy may bring to the people. As the one-child policy begins to near its next generation, one adult child is left with having to provide support for his or her two parents and four grandparents. This leaves the older generation with more of a dependency on retirement funds or charity, rather than their children in order to have support. If a child cannot care for their parents and grandparents, or if that child cannot survive, the oldest generation could find itself destitute. Another social problem seen is when some parents may over-indulge their only-child. The media referred to the indulged children in one-child families as little emperors. Since the 1990s, some people worry this will result in a higher tendency toward poor social communication and cooperation skills among the new generation, as they have no siblings at home. One important focus among sociologists is the issue of gender imbalance. China, like many other Asian countries, has a long tradition of son preference. Many argue that the one-child policy induces many families to use selective abortion, abandon female infants, and even kill female infants under the influence of the son preference. Some families even kill or starve the female infant and then try again for a male child. The commonly accepted explanation for son preference is that sons in rural families may be thought to be more helpful in farm work. Sons are preferred as they provide the primary financial support for the parents in their retirement, and a sons parents typically are better cared for than his wifes. In addition, Chinese traditionally view that daughters, on their marriage, become primarily part of the grooms family. Becaue of this gender bias the sex ratio at birth (between male and female births) in mainland China reached 117:100 in the year 2000, substantially higher than the natural baseline, which ranges between 103:100 and 107:100. It had risen from 108:100 in 1981 at the boundary of the natural baseline to 111:100 in 1990. According to a report by the State Population and Family Planning Commission, there will be 30 million more men than women in 2020, potentially leading to social instability. The correlation between the increase of sex ratio disparity on birth and the deployment of one child policy would appear to have been caused by the one-child policy.

Fixed and random effects of panel data analysis

Fixed and random effects of panel data analysis Panel data (also known as longitudinal or cross-sectional time-series data) is a dataset in which the behavior of entities are observed across time. With panel data you can include variables at different levels of analysis (i.e. students, schools, districts, states) suitable for multilevel or hierarchical modeling. In this document we focus on two techniques use to analyze panel data:_DONE_ Fixed effects Random effects FE explore the relationship between predictor and outcome variables within an entity (country, person, company, etc.). Each entity has its own individual characteristics that may or may not influence the predictor variables (for example being a male or female could influence the opinion toward certain issue or the political system of a particular country could have some effect on trade or GDP or the business practices of a company may influence its stock price). When using FE we assume that something within the individual may impact or bias the predictor or outcome variables and we need to control for this. This is the rationale behind the assumption of the correlation between entitys error term and predictor variables. FE remove the effect of those time-invariant characteristics from the predictor variables so we can assess the predictors net effect. _DONE_ Another important assumption of the FE model is that those time-invariant characteristics are unique to the individual and should not be correlated with other individual characteristics. Each entity is different therefore the entitys error term and the constant (which captures individual characteristics) should not be correlated with the others. If the error terms are correlated then FE is no suitable since inferences may not be correct and you need to model that relationship (probably using random-effects), this is the main rationale for the Hausmantest (presented later on in this document). The equation for the fixed effects model becomes: Yit= ÃŽÂ ²1Xit+ ÃŽÂ ±i+ uit[eq.1] Where ÃŽÂ ±i(i=1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.n) is the unknown intercept for each entity (nentity-specific intercepts). Yitis the dependent variable (DV) where i= entity and t= time. Xitrepresents one independent variable (IV), ÃŽÂ ²1 is the coefficient for that IV, uitis the error term _DONE_ Random effects assume that the entitys error term is not correlated with the predictors which allows for time-invariant variables to play a role as explanatory variables. In random-effects you need to specify those individual characteristics that may or may not influence the predictor variables. The problem with this is that some variables may not be available therefore leading to omitted variable bias in the model. RE allows to generalize the inferences beyond the sample used in the model. To decide between fixed or random effects you can run a Hausman test where the null hypothesis is that the preferred model is random effects vs. the alternative the fixed effects (see Green, 2008, chapter 9). It basically tests whether the unique errors (ui) are correlated with the regressors, the null hypothesis is they are not. Testing for random effects: Breusch-Pagan Lagrange multiplier (LM)The LM test helps you decide between a random effects regression and a simple OLS regression. The null hypothesis in the LM test is that variances across entities is zero. This is, no significant difference across units (i.e. no panel effect). Here we failed to reject the null and conclude that random effects is not appropriate. This is, no evidence of significant differences across countries, therefore you can run a simple OLS regression. EC968 Panel Data Analysis Steve Pudney ISER University of Essex 2007 Panel data are a form of longitudinal data, involving regularly repeated observations on the same individuals Individuals may be people, households, firms, areas, etc Repeat observations may be different time periods or units within clusters (e.g. workers within firms; siblings within twin pairs)+DONE_ Some terminology A balanced panel has the same number of time observations (T) on each of the n individuals An unbalanced panel has different numbers of time observations (Ti) on each individual A compact panel covers only consecutive time periods for each individual there are no gaps Attrition is the process of drop-out of individuals from the panel, leading to an unbalanced and possibly non-compact panel A short panel has a large number of individuals but few time observations on each, (e.g. BHPS has 5,500 households and 13 waves) A long panel has a long run of time observations on each individual, permitting separate time-series analysis for each_DONE_ Advantages of panel data With panel data: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ We can study dynamics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The sequence of events in time helps to reveal causation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ We can allow for time-invariant unobservable variables BUTà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Variation between people usually far exceeds variation over time for an individual à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ a panel with T waves doesnt give T times the information of a cross-section à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Variation over time may not exist or may be inflated by measurement error à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Panel data imposes a fixed timing structure; continuoustime survival analysis may be more informative Panel Data Analysis Advantages and Challenges Cheng Hsiao May 2006 IEPR WORKING PAPER 06.49 Panel data or longitudinal data typically refer to data containing time series observations of a number of individuals. Therefore, observations in panel data involve at least two dimensions; a cross-sectional dimension, indicated by subscript i, and a time series dimension, indicated by subscript t. However, panel data could have a more complicated clustering or hierarchical structure. For instance, variable y may be the measurement of the level of air pollution at station _ in city j of country i at time t (e.g. Antweiler (2001), Davis (1999)). For ease of exposition, I shall confine my presentation to a balanced panel involving N cross-sectional units, i = 1, . . .,N, over T time periods, t = 1, . . ., T._DONE_ There are at least three factors contributing to the geometric growth of panel data studies. (i) data availability, (ii) greater capacity for modeling the complexity of human behavior than a single cross-section or time series data, and (iii) challenging methodology. Advantages of Panel Data Panel data, by blending the inter-individual differences and intra-individual dynamics have several advantages over cross-sectional or time-series data: (i) More accurate inference of model parameters. Panel data usually contain more degrees of freedom and more sample variability than cross-sectional data which may be viewed as a panel with T = 1, or time series data which is a panel with N = 1, hence improving the efficiency of econometric estimates (e.g. Hsiao, Mountain and Ho-Illman (1995)._DONE_ (ii) Greater capacity for capturing the complexity of human behavior than a single cross-section or time series data. These include: (ii.a) Constructing and testing more complicated behavioral hypotheses. For instance, consider the example of Ben-Porath (1973) that a cross-sectional sample of married women was found to have an average yearly labor-force participation rate of 50 percent. These could be the outcome of random draws from a homogeneous population or could be draws from heterogeneous populations in which 50% were from the population who always work and 50% never work. If the sample was from the former, each woman would be expected to spend half of her married life in the labor force and half out of the labor force. The job turnover rate would be expected to be frequent and 3 the average job duration would be about two years. If the sample was from the latter, there is no turnover. The current information about a womans work status is a perfect predictor of her future work status. A cross-sectional data is not able to distinguish between these two possibilities, but panel data can because the sequential observations for a number of women contain information about their labor participation in different subintervals of their life cycle. Another example is the evaluation of the effectiveness of social programs (e.g. Heckman, Ichimura, Smith and Toda (1998), Hsiao, Shen, Wang and Wang (2005), Rosenbaum and Rubin (1985). Evaluating the effectiveness of certain programs using cross-sectional sample typically suffers from the fact that those receiving treatment are different from those without. In other words, one does not simultaneously observe what happens to an individual when she receives the treatment or when she does not. An individual is observed as either receiving treatment or not receiving treatment. Using the difference between the treatment group and control group could suffer from two sources of biases, selection bias due to differences in observable factors between the treatment and control groups and selection bias due to endogeneity of participation in treatment. For instance, Northern Territory (NT) in Australia decriminalized possession of small amount of marijuana in 1996. Evaluating the effects of decriminalization on marijuana smoking behavior by comparing the differences between NT and other states that were still non-decriminalized could suffer from either or both sorts of bias. If panel data over this time period are available, it would allow the possibility of observing the before- and affect-effects on individuals of decriminalization as well as providing the possibility of isolating the effects of treatment from other factors affecting the outcome. 4 (ii.b) Controlling the impact of omitted variables. It is frequently argued that the real reason one finds (or does not find) certain effects is due to ignoring the effects of certain variables in ones model specification which are correlated with the included explanatory variables. Panel data contain information on both the intertemporal dynamics and the individuality of the entities may allow one to control the effects of missing or unobserved variables. For instance, MaCurdys (1981) life-cycle labor supply model under certainty implies that because the logarithm of a workers hours worked is a linear function of the logarithm of her wage rate and the logarithm of workers marginal utility of initial wealth, leaving out the logarithm of the workers marginal utility of initial wealth from the regression of hours worked on wage rate because it is unobserved can lead to seriously biased inference on the wage elasticity on hours worked since initial wealth is likely to be correlated with wage rate. However, since a workers marginal utility of initial wealth stays constant over time, if time series observations of an individual are available, one can take the difference of a workers labor supply equation over time to eliminate the effect of marginal utility of initial wealth on hours worked. The rate of change of an individuals hours worked now depends only on the rate of change of her wage rate. It no longer depends on her marginal utility of initial wealth._DONE_ (ii.c) Uncovering dynamic relationships. Economic behavior is inherently dynamic so that most econometrically interesting relationship are explicitly or implicitly dynamic. (Nerlove (2002)). However, the estimation of time-adjustment pattern using time series data often has to rely on arbitrary prior restrictions such as Koyck or Almon distributed lag models because time series observations of current and lagged variables are likely to be highly collinear (e.g. Griliches (1967)). With panel 5 data, we can rely on the inter-individual differences to reduce the collinearity between current and lag variables to estimate unrestricted time-adjustment patterns (e.g. Pakes and Griliches (1984))._DONE_ (ii.d) Generating more accurate predictions for individual outcomes by pooling the data rather than generating predictions of individual outcomes using the data on the individual in question. If individual behaviors are similar conditional on certain variables, panel data provide the possibility of learning an individuals behavior by observing the behavior of others. Thus, it is possible to obtain a more accurate description of an individuals behavior by supplementing observations of the individual in question with data on other individuals (e.g. Hsiao, Appelbe and Dineen (1993), Hsiao, Chan, Mountain and Tsui (1989)). (ii.e) Providing micro foundations for aggregate data analysis. Aggregate data analysis often invokes the representative agent assumption. However, if micro units are heterogeneous, not only can the time series properties of aggregate data be very different from those of disaggregate data (e.g., Granger (1990); Lewbel (1992); Pesaran (2003)), but policy evaluation based on aggregate data may be grossly misleading. Furthermore, the prediction of aggregate outcomes using aggregate data can be less accurate than the prediction based on micro-equations (e.g., Hsiao, Shen and Fujiki (2005)). Panel data containing time series observations for a number of individuals is ideal for investigating the homogeneity versus heterogeneity issue. (iii) Simplifying computation and statistical inference. Panel data involve at least two dimensions, a cross-sectional dimension and a time series dimension. Under normal circumstances one would expect that the 6 computation of panel data estimator or inference would be more complicated than cross-sectional or time series data. However, in certain cases, the availability of panel data actually simplifies computation and inference. For instance: (iii.a) Analysis of nonstationary time series. When time series data are not stationary, the large sample approximation of the distributions of the least-squares or maximum likelihood estimators are no longer normally distributed, (e.g. Anderson (1959), Dickey and Fuller (1979,81), Phillips and Durlauf (1986)). But if panel data are available, and observations among cross-sectional units are independent, then one can invoke the central limit theorem across cross-sectional units to show that the limiting distributions of many estimators remain asymptotically normal (e.g. Binder, Hsiao and Pesaran (2005), Levin, Lin and Chu (2002), Im, Pesaran and Shin (2004), Phillips and Moon (1999)). (iii.b) Measurement errors. Measurement errors can lead to under-identification of an econometric model (e.g. Aigner, Hsiao, Kapteyn and Wansbeek (1985)). The availability of multiple observations for a given individual or at a given time may allow a researcher to make different transformations to induce different and deducible changes in the estimators, hence to identify an otherwise unidentified model (e.g. Biorn (1992), Griliches and Hausman (1986), Wansbeek and Koning (1989)). (iii.c) Dynamic Tobit models. When a variable is truncated or censored, the actual realized value is unobserved. If an outcome variable depends on previous realized value and the previous realized value are unobserved, one has to take integration over the truncated range to obtain the likelihood of observables. In a dynamic framework with multiple missing values, the multiple 7 integration is computationally unfeasible. With panel data, the problem can be simplified by only focusing on the subsample in which previous realized values are observed (e.g. Arellano, Bover, and Labeager (1999)). The advantages of random effects (RE) specification are: (a) The number of parameters stay constant when sample size increases. (b) It allows the derivation of efficient 10 estimators that make use of both within and between (group) variation. (c) It allows the estimation of the impact of time-invariant variables. The disadvantage is that one has to specify a conditional density of ÃŽÂ ±i given x Ëœ _ i = (x Ëœ it, . . ., x ËœiT ), f(ÃŽÂ ±i | x Ëœ i), while ÃŽÂ ±i are unobservable. A common assumption is that f(ÃŽÂ ±i | x Ëœi) is identical to the marginal density f(ÃŽÂ ±i). However, if the effects are correlated with x Ëœit or if there is a fundamental difference among individual units, i.e., conditional on x Ëœit, yit cannot be viewed as a random draw from a common distribution, common RE model is misspecified and the resulting estimator is biased. The advantages of fixed effects (FE) specification are that it can allow the individualand/ or time specific effects to be correlated with explanatory variables x Ëœ it. Neither does it require an investigator to model their correlation patterns. The disadvantages of the FE specification are: (a) The number of unknown parameters increases with the number of sample observations. In the case when T (or N for ÃŽÂ »t) is finite, it introduces the classical incidental parameter problem (e.g. Neyman and Scott (1948)). (b) The FE estimator does not allow the estimation of the coefficients that are time-invariant. In order words, the advantages of RE specification are the disadvantages of FE specification and the disadvantages of RE specification are the advantages of FE specification. To choose between the two specifications, Hausman (1978) notes that if the FE estimator (or GMM), ˆ ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¸_DONE_ ËœFE, is consistent whether ÃŽÂ ±i is fixed or random and the commonly used RE estimator (or GLS), ˆ ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¸ ËœRE, is consistent and efficient only when ÃŽÂ ±i is indeed uncorrelated with x Ëœit and is inconsistent if ÃŽÂ ±i is correlated with x Ëœit. The advantage of RE specification is that there is no incidental parameter problem. The problem is that f(ÃŽÂ ±i | x Ëœ i) is in general unknown. If a wrong f(ÃŽÂ ±i | x Ëœi) is postulated, maximizing the wrong likelihood function will not yield consistent estimator of ÃŽÂ ² Ëœ . Moreover, the derivation of the marginal likelihood through multiple integration may be computationally infeasible. The advantage of FE specification is that there is no need to specify f(ÃŽÂ ±i | x Ëœ i). The likelihood function will be the product of individual likelihood (e.g. (4.28)) if the errors are i.i.d. The disadvantage is that it introduces incidental parameters. Longitudinal (Panel and Time Series Cross-Section) Data Nathaniel Beck Department of Politics NYU New York, NY 10012 [emailprotected] http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/faculty/beck/beck home.html Jan. 2004 What is longitudinal data? Observed over time as well as over space. Pure cross-section data has many limitations (Kramer, 1983). Problem is that only have one historical context. (Single) time series allows for multiple historical context, but for only one spatial location. Longitudinal data repeated observations on units observed over time Subset of hierarchical data observations that are correlated because there is some tie to same unit. E.g. in educational studies, where we observe student i in school u. Presumably there is some tie between the observations in the same school. In such data, observe yj,u where u indicates a unit and j indicates the jth observation drawn from that unit. Thus no relationship between yj,u and yj,u0 even though they have the same first subscript. In true longitudinal data, t represents comparable time. Generalized Least Squares An alternative is GLS. If is known (up to a scale factor), GLS is fully efficient and yields consistent estimates of the standard errors. The GLS estimates of _ are given by (X0à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1X) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1X0à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1Y (14) with estimated covariance matrix (X0à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1X) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 . (15) (Usually we simplify by finding some trick to just do a simple transform on the observations to make the resulting variance-covariance matrix of the errors satisfy the Gauss-Markov assumptions. Thus, the common Cochrane-Orcutt transformation to eliminate serial correlation of the errors is almost GLS, as is weighted regression to eliminate heteroskedasticity.) The problem is that is never known in practice (even up to a scale factor). Thus an estimate of , ˆ , is used in Equations 14 and 15. This procedure, FGLS, provides consistent estimates of _ if ˆ  is estimated by residuals computed from consistent estimates of _; OLS provides such consistent estimates. We denote the FGLS estimates of _ by Ëœ_. In finite samples FGLS underestimates sampling variability (for normal errors). The basic insight used by Freedman and Peters is that X0à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1X is a (weakly) concave function of . FGLS uses an estimate of , ˆ , in place of the true . As a consequence, the expectation of the FGLS variance, over possible realizations of ˆ , will be less than the variance, computed with the . This holds even if ˆ  is a consistent estimator of . The greater the variance of ˆ , the greater the downward bias. This problem is not severe if there are only a small number of parameters in the variance-covariance matrix to be estimated (as in Cochrane-Orcutt) but is severe if there are a lot of parameters relative to the amount of data. Beck TSCS Winter 2004 Class 1 8 ASIDE: Maximum likelihood would get this right, since we would estimate all parameters and take those into account. But with a large number of parameters in the error process, we would just see that ML is impossible. That would have been good. PANEL DATA ANALYSIS USING SAS ABU HASSAN SHAARI MOHD NOR Faculty of Economics and Business Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia [emailprotected] FAUZIAH MAAROF Faculty of Science Universiti Putra Malaysia [emailprotected] 2007 Advantages of panel data According to Baltagi (2001) there are several advantages of using panel data as compared to running the models using separate time series and cross section data. They are as follows: Large number of data points 2)Increase degrees of freedom reduce collinearity 3) Improve efficiency of estimates and 4) Broaden the scope of inference The Econometrics of Panel Data Michel Mouchart 1 Institut de statistique Università © catholique de Louvain (B) 3rd March 2004 1 text book Statistical modelling : benefits and limita- tions of panel data 1.5.1 Some characteristic features of P.D. Object of this subsection : features to bear in mind when modelling P.D. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Size : often N (] of individual(s)) is large Ti (size of individual time series) is small thus:N >> Ti BUT this is not always the case ] of variables is large (often: multi-purpose survey) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sampling : often individuals are selected randomly Time is not rotating panels split panels _ : individuals are partly renewed at each period à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ non independent data among data relative to a same individual: because of unobservable characteristics of each individual among individuals : because of unobservable characteristics common to several individuals between time periods : because of dynamic behaviour CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 10 1.5.2 Some benefits from using P.D. a) Controlling for individual heterogeneity Example : state cigarette demand (Baltagi and Levin 1992) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Unit : 46 american states à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time period : 1963-1988 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ endogenous variable : cigarette demand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ explanatory variables : lagged endogenous, price, income à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ consider other explanatory variables : Zi : time invariant religion ( ± stable over time) education etc. Wt state invariant TV and radio advertising (national campaign) Problem : many of these variables are not available This is HETEROGENEITY (also known as frailty) (remember !) omitted variable ) bias (unless very specific hypotheses) Solutions with P.D. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ dummies (specific to i and/or to t) WITHOUT killing the data à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ differences w.r.t. to i-averages i.e. : yit 7! (yit à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢  ¯yi.)_DONE_ CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 11 b) more information data sets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ larger sample size due to pooling _ individual time dimension In the balanced case: NT observations In the unbalanced case: P1_i_N Ti observations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ more variability ! less collinearity (as is often the case in time series) often : variation between units is much larger than variation within units_DONE_ c) better to study the dynamics of adjustment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ distinguish repeated cross-sections : different individuals in different periods panel data : SAME individuals in different periods à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ cross-section : photograph at one period repeated cross-sections : different photographs at different periods only panel data to model HOW individuals ajust over time . This is crucial for: policy evaluation life-cycle models intergenerational models_DONE_ CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 12 d) Identification of parameters that would not be identified with pure cross-sections or pure time-series: example 1 : does union membership increase wage ? P.D. allows to model BOTH union membership and individual characteristics for the individuals who enter the union during the sample period. example 2 : identifying the turn-over in the female participation to the labour market. Notice: the female, or any other segment ! i.e. P.D. allows for more sophisticated behavioural models e) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ estimation of aggregation bias à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ often : more precise measurements at the micro level Comparing the Fixed Effect and the Ran- dom Effect Models 2.4.1 Comparing the hypotheses of the two Models The RE model and the FE model may be viewed within a hierarchical specification of a unique encompassing model. From this point of view, the two models are not fundamentally different, they rather correspond to different levels of analysis within a unique hierarchical framework. More specifically, from a Bayesian point of view, where all the variables (latent or manifest) and parameters are jointly endowed with a (unique) probability measure, one CHAPTER 2. ONE-WAY COMPONENT REGRESSION MODEL 37 may consider the complete specification of the law of (y, ÃŽÂ ¼, _ | Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) as follows: (y | ÃŽÂ ¼, _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) _ N( Z_ _ + ZÃŽÂ ¼ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¼, _2 I(NT)) (2.64) (ÃŽÂ ¼ | _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) _ N(0, _2 ÃŽÂ ¼ I(N)) (2.65) (_ | Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) _ Q (2.66) where Q is an arbitrary prior probability on _ = (_, _2 , _2 ÃŽÂ ¼). Parenthetically, note that this complete specification assumes: y _2 ÃŽÂ ¼ | ÃŽÂ ¼, _, _2 , Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼ ÃŽÂ ¼(_, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) | _2 ÃŽÂ ¼ The above specification implies: (y | _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) _ N( Z_ _ , _2 ÃŽÂ ¼ ZÃŽÂ ¼ Z0ÃŽÂ ¼ + _2 I(NT)) (2.67) Thus the FE model, i.e. (2.64), considers the distribution of (y | ÃŽÂ ¼, _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) as the sampling distribution and the distributions of (ÃŽÂ ¼ | _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) and (_ | Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) as prior specification. The RE model, i.e. (2.67), considers the distribution of (y | _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) as the sampling distribution and the distribution of (_ | Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) as prior specification. Said differently, in the RE model, ÃŽÂ ¼ is treated as a latent (i.e. not obervable) variable whereas in the FE model ÃŽÂ ¼ is treated as an incidental parameter. Moreover, the RE model is obtained from the FE model through a marginalization with respect to ÃŽÂ ¼. These remarks make clear that the FE model and the RE model should be expected to display different sampling properties. Also, the inference on ÃŽÂ ¼ is an estimation problem in the FE model whereas it is a prediction problem in the RE model: the difference between these two problems regards the difference in the relevant sampling properties, i.e. w.r.t. the distribution of (y | ÃŽÂ ¼, _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼) or of (y | _, Z, ZÃŽÂ ¼), and eventually of the relevant risk functions, i.e. the sampling expectation of a loss due to an error between an estimated value and a (fixed) parameter or between a predicted value and the realization of a (latent) random variable. This fact does however not imply that both levels might be used indifferently. Indeed, from a sampling point of view: (i) the dimensions of the parameter spaces are drastically different. In the FE model, when N , the number of individuals, increases, the ÃŽÂ ¼i s being CHAPTER 2. ONE-WAY COMPONENT REGRESSION MODEL 38 incidental parameters also increases in number: each new individual introduces a new parameter.

How to Lose Weight Rough Draft Essay

In this essay I will discuss the different ways there are of losing weight. For some it may be simple excersize and for others they may need more help then just excersize. We will go over the different ways that your body works to metabolize what your eating so that your body will help you to lose that weight. The process of losing weight can be a hard one, but if you choose the right one it can be easy. There are lots of options. Body: There are lots of options for losing weight but first I want to talk about metabolism first. Metabolism is what processes your food at a certain speed. If you have a high metabolism youll find that your food will process at a very fast rate and youll be using the restroom pretty quick right after you eat. Metabolism also plays a big part in your figure also. If you eat nothing but greasy fattening food then your metabolism will have issues keeping up. So in order for your metabolism to be where you want it you have to stay fit and eat correctly. The next thing I want to talk about is dietary pills. These can help if used correctly. Some people think they can take them without having to do any excersize or eating right. For some diet pills this is correct but others no. Its always important to keep your health in general up by eating the correct food and keeping yourself physically fit. There is also the danger of taking too many or not eating with them. If you take too many then you have the risk of possibly overdosing and your body becoming intolerant to them. And if you don’t eat with them in your system then you come up with the risk of malnutrition. So I would suggest that anyone who takes them only takes the amound suggested on the bottle. Ok now were going to go to dietary foods. This is important for any sort of situation you decide to diet with. If you don’t use dietary food then you probably shouldn’t diet. Because your body has to become fit all over again. To become fit it has to ingest nutrients and vitamins that fruits, vegtables and meats carry. The last and final subject I want to cover is surgery as a possible resource. They have different surgeries that can help in a lot of different situations. If your dieting and excersizing and trying everything possible and you still cant lose weight then I would suggest the surgery. There are little health risks from it and it Ive heard that the lap band surgery has had amazing results. Conclusion: These are the options that I have researched for How to lose weight. The options that I have researched are diet pills, excersizing, eating healthy and surgeries. With these options anyone can become a healthier person.

Reality and Fiction in Virginia Woolf’s “to the Lighthouse” Essay

Reality and fiction in Virginia Woolf’s â€Å"To the Lighthouse† I have chosen this subject because I found very interesting debate, and the author is one of the greatest writers of all times. His works is large and full, his characters are contoured such that it fascinate you. Victorian period also is one of the most famous, with most changes produced in English literature To the Lighthouse is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. A landmark novel of high modernism, the text, which centres on the Ramsays and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920, skillfully manipulates temporal and psychological elements. In To the Lighthouse ,one of her most experimental works, the passage of time, for example, is modulated by the consciousness of the characters rather than by the clock. The events of a single afternoon constitute over half the book, while the events of the following ten years are compressed into a few dozen pages. Many readers of To the Lighthouse, especially those who are not versed in the traditions of modernist fiction, find the novel strange and difficult. Its language is dense and the structure amorphous. Compared with the plot-driven Victorian novels that came before it, To the Lighthouse seems to have little in the way of action. Indeed, almost all of the events take place in the characters’ minds. Although To the Lighthouse is a radical departure from the nineteenth-century novel, it is, like its more traditional counterparts, intimately interested in developing characters and advancing both plot and themes. Woolf’s experimentation has much to do with the time in which she lived: the turn of the century was marked by bold scientific developments. To the Lighthouse exemplifies Woolf’s style and many of her concerns as a novelist. With its characters based on her own parents and siblings, it is certainly her most autobiographical fictional statement, and in the characters of Mr. Ramsay, Mrs. Ramsay, and Lily Briscoe, Woolf offers some of her most penetrating explorations of the workings of the human consciousness as it perceives and analyzes, feels and interacts. The Transience of Life and Work Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay take completely different approaches to life: he relies on his intellect, while she depends on her emotions. But they share the knowledge that the world around them is transient—that nothing lasts forever. Mr. Ramsay reflects that even the most enduring of reputations, such as Shakespeare’s, are doomed to eventual oblivion. This realization accounts for the bitter aspect of his character. Frustrated by the inevitable demise of his own body of work and envious of the few geniuses who will outlast him, he plots to found a school of philosophy that argues that the world is designed for the average, unadorned man, for the â€Å"liftman in the Tube† rather than for the rare immortal writer. The Subjective Nature of Reality Toward the end of the novel, Lily reflects that in order to see Mrs. Ramsay clearly—to understand her character completely—she would need at least fifty pairs of eyes; only then would she be privy to every possible angle and nuance. The truth, according to this assertion, rests in the accumulation of different, even opposing vantage points. Woolf’s technique in structuring the story mirrors Lily’s assertion. She is committed to creating a sense of the world that not only depends upon the private perceptions of her characters but is also nothing more than the accumulation of those perceptions. To try to reimagine the story as told from a single character’s perspective or—in the tradition of the Victorian novelists—from the author’s perspective is to realize the radical scope and difficulty of Woolf’s project. The Lighthouse Lying across the bay and meaning something different and intimately personal to each character, the lighthouse is at once inaccessible, illuminating, and infinitely interpretable. As the destination from which the novel takes its title, the lighthouse suggests that the destinations that seem surest are most unobtainable. Just as Mr. Ramsay is certain of his wife’s love for him and aims to hear her speak words to that end in â€Å"The Window,† Mrs. Ramsay finds these words impossible to say. These failed attempts to arrive at some sort of solid ground, like Lily’s first try at painting Mrs. Ramsay or Mrs. Ramsay’s attempt to see Paul and Minta married, result only in more attempts, further excursions rather than rest. The lighthouse stands as a potent symbol of this lack of attainability. James arrives only to realize that it is not at all the mist-shrouded destination of his childhood. Instead, he is made to reconcile two competing and contradictory images of the tower—how it appeared to him when he was a boy and how it appears to him now that he is a man. He decides that both of these images contribute to the essence of the lighthouse—that nothing is ever only one thing—a sentiment that echoes the novel’s determination to arrive at truth through varied and contradictory vantage points. The Sea References to the sea appear throughout the novel. Broadly, the ever-changing, ever-moving waves parallel the constant forward movement of time and the changes it brings. Woolf describes the sea lovingly and beautifully, but her most evocative depictions of it point to its violence. As a force that brings destruction, has the power to decimate islands, and, as Mr. Ramsay reflects, â€Å"eats away the ground we stand on,† the sea is a powerful reminder of the impermanence and delicacy of human life and accomplishments. Subjective Reality The omniscient narrator remained the standard explicative figure in fiction through the end of the nineteenth century, providing an informed and objective account of the characters and the plot. The turn of the 20th century, however, witnessed innovations in writing that aimed at reflecting a more truthful account of the subjective nature of experience. Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse is the triumphant product of this innovation, creating a reality that is completely constructed by the collection of the multiple subjective interiorities of its characters and presented in a stream-of-consciousness format. Woolf creates a fictional world in which no objective, omniscient narrator is present. There is a proliferation of accounts of the inner processes of the characters, while there is a scarcity of expositional information, expressing Woolf’s perspective on the thoughts and reflections that comprise the world of the Ramsays. Time is an essential component of experience and reality and, in many ways, the novel is about the passage of time. However, as for reality, Woolf does not represent time in a traditional way. Rather than a steady and unchanging rhythm, time here is a forward motion that both accelerates and collapses. In â€Å"The Window† and â€Å"The Lighthouse,† time is conveyed only through the consciousness of the various characters, and moments last for pages as the reader is invited into the subjective experiences of many different realities. Indeed, â€Å"The Window† takes place over the course of a single afternoon that is expanded by Woolf’s method, and â€Å"The Lighthouse† seems almost directly connected to the first section, despite the fact that ten years have actually elapsed. However, in â€Å"Time Passes,† ten years are greatly compacted into a matter of pages, and the changes in the lives of the Ramsays and their home seem to flash by like scenes viewed from the window of a moving train. This unsteady temporal rhythm brilliantly conveys the broader sense of instability and change that the characters strive to comprehend, and it captures the fleeting nature of a reality that exists only within and as a collection of the various subjective experiences of reality.

Essay Sample on Urban Grooves and Their Appreciation

Essay Sample on Urban Grooves and Their Appreciation Some say its rubbish and it wont get anywhere, others say its the new thing and the future, but judging by the recent events in it has urban grooves music reached the point of appreciation from the renowned musicians. Zimbabwe will one day stand up and applaud the fathers of the true Zimbabwean music. It is not long ago that the older and more experienced musicians where the ones at the forefront of scoffing at the urban grooves campaign that saw most of the young artists being castigated for their different ways of making new contemporary music. Oliver Mtukudzi was one of them and he always castigated the way the music of these youngsters was being done. Veteran Thomas Mapfumo has also been known to echo the same sentiments about this new genre of music. But in an about turn Mtukudzi has recorded a song with urban groover XQ whilst last year Macheso did the same with Mudiwa. Can this be the point of realisation and appreciation of urban grooves music from the seasoned musicians? Looking back at the beginning of the music industry in Zimbabwe, one can only applause the distance which these young musicians have come so far. The biggest criticisms being that they were performing with soundtrack CDs and were perceived as not being serious about music. To the renowned artists this one man show type of music meant no creativity at all. Even the audiences used to scoff at seeing an urban groover alone on stage with just a sound track in the back and lip singing. To a certain extend this criticism helped in sprucing up the act of these young artist as most are now turning to live instruments and even if they play backtracks, they now have dancers to entertain their audiences. Listening to the latest XQ album one gets to appreciate the depth of the urban groove artist who has come of age but it is only after listening to the song Pane Rudo that a familiar voice of Mtukudzi assures you that truly the young man has come of age. Now that older artists are teaming up with these young artists a point of appreciation has now been realised and finally heavens doors seem to have opened for urban grooves. We asked the artists what really is urban music is and the answer was one that was delivered with astute confidence by Stunner. This is a new type of music mostly spearheaded by youngsters in urban centers hence the name urban grooves. He went on to say that this is todays music, here to stay and going to be music for tomorrow. â€Å"Off course our elders in the music industry always try to do us down but the real factor is that our music is here to stay. Can you imagine Museve making it in the few years to come,† echoed Leonard Mapfumo another urban groover. He went on to say that this was not only in Zimbabwe but also in countries like Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia where this music is called Urban Mondo. As stated by the website wikipedia.org this genre of music in Zimbabwe closely resembles American Rap, Hip Hop, RnB, Soul and other international music genres. The site goes on to say that this imitation of the West has resulted in Urban Grooves being unpopular with older listeners and artists who accuse the younger generation of shunning their cultural music and identity. Mapfumo had this to say again, We grew being made to listen to guys like Lionel Ritchie, Dolly parton and all those American and European artists by our parents. Later on we chose to have our own taste in music and hence we started liking urban American music because we had been exposed to such foreign music from young age. Now that we are doing it using local languages people see it wrong. Urban grooves is here to stay. Talking to another urban groover, Mudiwa, who recorded with Macheso last year he said its also a marvel for the youngsters to be able to record with big and established artists. My titles on my songs are all inspired by Macheso. I take his Shona titles for his albums and songs and I put them into English with his full support, he said. He went on to say that this means that urban music is now growing interest from adults. On my new album Macheso is going to be there as well. In actual fact he is my mentor, said Mudiwa. Tendai Chidarikire popularly as Sasamania says that it is unfair to box up these musicians and call them strictly urban groovers as this tends to make their music autonomous. â€Å"The moment you box an artist and label them a Museve artist or urban groover then there is no room for diversity. Look at R Kelly. He can sing in almost all genres be it RB, soul or hip-hop said Chidarikire. Some of us have been boxed for sure but then there are same of us who opt to go out of the box and then come back said Stunner Has urban grooves music now reached Heaven’s doors? Has it finally now achieved the so much needed recognition synonymous to the genres like Sungura, Contemporary and Ethnic in Zimbabwe? The answer lies only in the appreciation this music is going to get from the listeners as well as its appreciation from seasoned musicians.

How to Understand Mandarin Chinese Tones

How to Understand Mandarin Chinese Tones While residents across China use the same written character system, the way the words are pronounced differs from region to region. Standard Chinese is Mandarin  or Putonghua, and it consists of five pronunciation tones.  As a student of the Chinese language, the hardest part to differentiate is first, second, and fifth tones.   In 1958, the Chinese government rolled out its Romanized version of Mandarin. Prior to that, there were several different methods to sound out Chinese characters using English letters. Over the years, pinyin has become the standard around the world for those wishing to learn to properly pronounce Mandarin Chinese. This is how Peking became Beijing (which a more accurate pronunciation) in pinyin. Using characters, people simply know that that character is pronounced with a certain tone. In Romanized pinyin, many words suddenly had the same spelling, and it became necessary to designate tones within the word to differentiate them. Tones are of vital importance in Chinese. Depending on the choice of tone, you could be calling for your mother (maÌ„) or your horse (mă). Heres a brief introduction on the five vowel tones in the Mandarin language using the many words that are spelled ma. First Tone: ˉ This tone is designated by a straight line over the vowel (maÌ„) and is pronounced flat and high like the ma in Obama. Second Tone:  ´ This tones symbol is an upward slant from right to left over the vowel (maÃŒ ) and begins in the mid-tone, then rises to a high tone, as if asking a question. Third Tone: ˇ This tone has a V-shape over the vowel (mă) and starts low then goes even lower before it rises to a high tone. This is also known as falling-rising tone. Its as if your voice is tracing a check mark, starting at the middle, then lower then high. Fourth Tone: This tone is represented by a downward slant from right to left over the vowel (maÌ€) and begins in a high tone but falls sharply with a strong guttural tone at the end like you are mad. Fifth Tone: †§ This tone is also known as the neutral tone. Has no symbol over the vowel (ma) or is sometimes preceded with a dot (†§ma) and is pronounced flatly without any intonation. Sometimes its just slightly softer than first tone. There is another tone as well, used only for certain words and is designated by an umlaut or  ¨ or two dots over the vowel (lü). The standard way of explaining how to pronounce this is to purse your lips and say ee then end in an oo sound. Its one of the hardest Chinese tones to master so it may help to find a Chinese-speaking friend and ask them to pronounce the word for green, and listen closely!

Business Performance and Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business Performance and Strategy - Essay Example Details of the global market share by percentage are given in the figure below. In terms of revenue measure, GSK’s global rating as of the end of midyear 2014 was given as 6th largest pharmaceutical company (Palmer, 2014). This was accounted for with average annual revenue of  £25.602 billion. The company’s operating income for 2014 was given as  £7.771 billion, of which  £5.237 billion was realised as net income (Palmer, 2014). The major need for a competitive strategy at GSK can largely be said to be based on an ever increasing global competitiveness which has always made the company a 4th force in terms of market share and market capital. This situation is better exemplified in the table below which shows the direct competitor comparison of GSK since 2005. For the past ten years, GSK has strived to either maintain its market position or improve on it. This need is what has informed the use of a peculiar strategy that seeks to make the company competitive and set it apart from its major competitors. An important area of the strategy has been the need for the company to become economically sustainable. This is because the extent to which the company can competitively participate in the global pharmaceutical industry is largely dependent on its capital force (Flyvbjerg, 2003). In the following section of the paper, what has gone into the company’s strategy in the past 10 years and how the strategy can be explained by theories of positioning and resources are analysed. Based on theory, GSK’s current strategy can be said to have been selected based on the application of Bowman’s strategy clock. This is because the strategy clock outlines 8 major competitive positions that may be used by companies in gaining competitive advantage (Barton, 2004). On the whole, the competitive positions can be said to be largely focused on pricing, segmentation and value

US and UK Political Systems Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

US and UK Political Systems - Assignment Example Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations or dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence†-John Adams To start with, there are three parts of the UK; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, each having a special status and local administration with a wide spectrum of responsibilities however England which represents the 84% of the total UK population does not have any regional government as compared to the US where every state has its own local government hence the British political system does not have anything equivalent to the federal system of the US. Secondly, the most important concept is that of separation of powers which clearly distinguishes between the US and UK government. In the US the constitution entails that three arms (the executive, the legislature and the judiciary) must be completely and strictly independent and indifferent from each other e.g. the president (head of the executive) cannot be the member of the Congress but in the UK it is the complete opposite. The British political system is pragmatic and flexible since the three arms of the government are easily dif fusible. The most striking contrast between the two systems is the absence of a written constitution in the UK. While in the US like other nations of the world, the constitution makes an integral part of the federal government while British political system relies heavily on the judgment of politicians, executive, judiciary and law arbitrators. The Britain parliament has a bicameral structure which consists of British House of Commons and the House of Lords; the latter is the upper chamber with far less authority than the former, it cannot veto a decision passed by the British House of Commons. This two-house law formulation and approval arrangement is a product of a thousand years long slowly evolved British Political system. Now when we compare it with the US, we notice that the US politics is dominated by two political parties; the democratic and the Republicans, (the British equivalent of these are the Labor and the Conservative parties).