Developing Reading Activities Essays

Developing Reading Activities Essays Developing Reading Activities Essay Developing Reading Activities Essay Reading is an activity which is interactive rather than passive. In a classroom set up it is usually directed by the teachers. Scholars such as Walker (2009) contend that of all the components of reading instruction, comprehension is the most difficult to teach. This is why different methods have been implored to make reading much more meaningful. The most common method is the ‘three phase approach’ which includes pre reading, while reading and after reading. The effectiveness of this approach in teaching comprehension to a ZJC class is to be examined in this write up. Most scholars have defined effectiveness as the impact as to which something is successful in producing the desired result. In this case the impact of the three phase approach in teaching comprehension is being examined. Reading has been defined by Goodman (1971) as a psycholinguistic guessing game in which the reader reconstructs, as well as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphi c display. Pre reading also known as the ‘before, warm up or into’, reading requires the teacher to provide background to the comprehension understudy in the classroom. Cheng (2000) articulates that previewing a text or comprehension with students arouses their interests. In a mixed ability class it is important for the teacher to give brief background about the author of that passage himself or ask pupils to state their previous knowledge about the author. However there is a danger in eliciting information about the author from the pupils themselves because some of them may not be knowing anything about the author. This is why Hayes and Tierney (1982) support that presenting the background knowledge related to the topic to be learned assists readers or learners in learning and understanding the text better. Therefore it is important for a teacher to give adequate information about the author of the passage so that both the strong and weak pupils can understand

Could the self be an illusion

Could the self be an illusion The self, defined as an absolute, unchanging entity, which possesses unity, continuity and clear boundaries, may well be an illusion.Unity and continuity are easily disrupted in the normal course of life; they may be merely coincidental. Our supposedly unchanging selves do in fact alter according to their circumstances; the boundaries of the self change and a single self may even split to form multiple selves. By examining the self in terms of unity, continuity and boundaries, I will show how the possibilities for disruption of the self, as defined above, imply that it could be an illusion.Unity of a self implies that there is something that unites all my thoughts, feelings and experiences, i.e. that there is some sort of glue that makes them all true of me. The tendency is to call the glue the "self". Locke defined this as consciousness, that is, a person being "self to itself" by its consciousness of its present thoughts and actions .English: Neural Correlates Of ConsciousnessSo a single seat of consciousness may be termed a single self.This definition holds for my waking hours; however, there are obvious disruptions. What happens when I am anaesthetized, or fall into a deep sleep? I am not conscious of my present thoughts; I cannot even be said to have any "present thoughts". There are no experiences to be glued together, and there is no glue to bind them. Even when I dream, I may not be myself in my dream; I may, for example, be a butterfly . If the unified "I", as defined above, can somehow cease to exist for a time or be different things at different times, then unity, as defined by Locke, may be merely coincidental.The second question is that of continuity, that is, the sameness of the self over time.

Was the suspension of habeas corpus by Jefferson Davis necessary Research Paper

Was the suspension of habeas corpus by Jefferson Davis necessary - Research Paper Example It is thus imperative to begin with a detailed explanation of the meaning and key concepts of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is a writ founded on the legal doctrine of an accused person’s entitlement to a fair trial. Its essence is that a person deserves to be tried before an open court of law where he can respond to the charges presented before him as an accused person. It is therefore a court order to show cause as to the purpose and a justification for the arrest of the accused person. When presented before a court of law, the state is required to bring forth a prisoner held in custody so that the court can determine the lawfulness of the detention.2 It is for this reason that Habeas corpus is considered to be among the cornerstones of American civil liberties and has been used extensively as a powerful safeguard against unlawful arrests. The term ‘habeas corpus’ originates from the Latin maxim â€Å"to produce the body of†, whereby ‘habeas’ l oosely translates to â€Å"you have† and ‘corpus’ refers to the body. The writ can be traced as far back as the British occupation of the United States. However, the most accurate detailed explanation of its origin is found in the British Magna Carta. ... The American Constitution allows for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in cases of rebellion or the invasion of the public safety.4 Under the American history, the writ has been suspended severally, especially during the American civil war. The first suspension of the writ took place in 1861, where President Abraham Lincoln authorized a suspension of the writ upon the outbreak of riots, threats of succession and resident militia actions.5 Even then, this generated a public outcry in which the Maryland courts challenged the suspension of the writ.6 President Jefferson Davis repeated the same act upon the emergence of the American civil war. However, his suspension of the writ during the confederacy period earned him a lot mob criticism. This is because not only did he suspend the writ once, but also sought to seek the extension of the suspension through congress. Unlike in the north where the suspension arose from civil unrest, the suspension of the writ in the south was mai nly to spur economic development that had been rampaged by the economic crisis of the south. Partly to blame for the extension of the suspension was the reasoning, by Jefferson Davis, that winning the confederacy war and uniting the northern and southern states was his priority. The extension of the martial law was just but the means to win the war over the south and return the south to economic prosperity. This therefore meant that when the attention of the world was upon the Confederacy, President Davis’ focus was solely upon how to win the war, no matter what it took and any step towards achieving this objective was acceptable. Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy The American civil war emerged as a fight to preserve the union that was the United States of America.

CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES - Essay Example The first aspect of American Dream is the emphasis on the value of monetary success. This motivates people to become highly ambitious (Cullen & Agnew 2006, p.192) . There is nothing wrong in being ambitious, however, to what extend a man can go to fulfill his ambitions matter a lot. The dark side of the American dream is that the importance of legitimate means to attain the social success is decreased compared to the importance of attaining the dream (Cullen & Agnew 2006,, p.192). According to Merton, it is this imbalance between the goal and the means to attain the goal that motivate people to take an illegal path (Cullen & Agnew 2006, 2001, p.192). Man is a social element. The strongest motivation behind man’s achievement is to get recognition from the society. In American society, people are evaluated on the basis of ‘what’ and ‘how much’ they have achieved rather than on the basis of who they are or how they are related to others in the social structure (Cullen and Agnew, 2006,, p.192). The ultimate measure of social worth being ‘success’ and ‘achievement,’ it puts pressure on people to achieve it at any cost (Cullen and Agnew, 2006, 2001, p.192). The mentality that â€Å"it’s not how you play the game but ; it’s whether you win or lose,† has led people to take illegal and anti-social paths to achievement as it guarantees success in quick and easy way (Cullen and Agnew, 2006, p.192) The second important aspect of American Dream is the importance given to individualism(Cullen and Agnew, 2006, p.192). As Andrew Hacker (1992) said, American society drives people to achieve success on their own and hence, in an attempt to get ahead in the race, ‘I’

Hear My Cry Essay Example for Free

Hear My Cry Essay Stacey feels responsible for his younger brothers and sister and feels the need to protect them: Stacey glowered at T. J. a moment longer, then walked swiftly to Little Man and put his long arm around his shoulders saying softly, Come on, Man. It aint gonna happen no more, least not for a long while. I promise you that. Stacey is not only loyal to his family but also loyal to his friends. When he is faced with the decision to either be truthful to his mother or face a punishment as a result of being loyal to T. J. he chooses loyalty and therefore suffers the consequences. The society the children live in forces them to mature much more rapidly than in our society. Stacey is very mature and he is well aware of the differences between right and wrong: Despite any effort to persuade Stacey otherwise, when Mama came home he confessed that he had been fighting T. J. at the Wallace store and that Mr Morrison had stopped it. He stood awkwardly before her, disclosing only those things he could honourably mention. T. J. is Staceys best friend. He is very self-centred and is loyal to no one except himself. He seems to have no conscience and is very sly: At first T. J.wouldnt do it, but then he seen Miz Logan startin toward em and he slipped Stacey the notes Jeremy is an exception to the rule. He is a white boy but he disobeys his parents and continues to socialise with the black children. This even surprises the Logan children: It was only then that I realized that Jeremy never rode the bus, no matter how bad the weather. To help us visualise the setting of the novel Mildred D. Taylor uses occasional light, evocative description. She uses just enough for us to understand the image she is trying to portray without using too much which could cause us to loose interest. These short paragraphs of description are very effective, as she does not tell us directly what the scene is like but through similes and metaphors: Before us the narrow, sun-splotched road wound like a lazy red serpent dividing the high forest bank of quiet, old trees on the left from the cotton field, forested by giant green and purple stalks, on the right. The Difference between the Great Faith school for black students and the Jefferson Davis school for white students is acute. The Great Faith Elementary and Secondary School was a dismal end to an hours journey. Consisting of four weather beaten wooden houses on stilts of brick, 320 students, 7 teachers, a principal, a caretaker, and the caretakers cow, which kept the wide crab grass lawn sufficiently clipped in Spring and Summer. Jefferson Davis County School, a long white wooden building looming in the distance. Behind the building was a wide sports field around which were scattered rows of tiered gray-looking benches. The Jefferson Davis School for White Students gives an image of wealth and prosperity in comparison to the Great Faith school for Black students. The Logan Household is warm and inviting. The features shown in the house show that the Logan family were very skilful people. They seem to be a lot wealthier than other black people at this time: The furniture, a mixture of Logan-crafted walnut and oak, included a walnut bed whose ornate headboard rose halfway up the wall to meet the high ceiling The theme of this novel is racism and discrimination towards the black people at this time. There are many occasions in the first four chapters alone which express this racism. The most white people feel they are superior to black people in every way. They feel that if a black person steps out of line by doing the slightest thing they have the right to punish or even murder them. They seem to have no hesitation about taking the life of a black person as they feel black people are there to be taken advantage of Something as simple as saying something offensive to a white man: Mr Barnette says, you callin me a liar, boy? And Mr Tatum says, Yessuh, I guess I is! Could end up with a black man being severely punished by a gang of white night men: Tarred and feathered him! T. J. announced hastily. Poured the blackest tar they could find all over him,and plastered him with chicken feathers. The children cannot understand why the white and blacks are separated; however they are forced to understand as a matter of life and death. They are robbed of their childhood innocence long before they should be due to the dangers they would face if they stepped out of line. The author is also trying to put across the message that because of the discrimination towards the black people they live in extreme poverty. The Logans are better off than most black families as they own land, however they need money so badly that the father is forced to work away from home on the railroads for money. The schools are given books for the first time however, they are not the long awaited books they were hoping for, but torn worthless books which were no use to them. In concluding, Mildred D. Taylor has successfully portrayed the hardships the black population of the southern states of America, had to endure in the early 1930s. In the first four introductory chapters, she set the scene using descriptive tactics. She introduced us to most of the main characters and told us a bit about their physical appearance and their personality. And she most importantly explained to us the difficulties the Logan family and generally, all black families faced, due to their race and how unfair society was towards them. We learn how white people took the law onto themselves, carrying out vindictive murders at the drop of the hat. Even in the first four chapters, Mildred D. Taylor has evoked sympathy for the black people. By Emma-Jane Reilly 11E Mr Devlin! Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mildred Taylor section.

Presidents Kennedy and Johnson :: essays research papers

Although President Kennedy wasn’t in office for very long, his actions in and out of the whitehouse are legendary. When President Kennedy took the oath of office in 1960 he wasted no time in cleaning up America. Several bills were enacted in President Kennedy’s tenor. A lot of the major ones had to do with crime control. A lot of President Kennedy’s bills were targeted at organized crime. Bill S1653 was singed into action on September 13 1961. This was an interstate travel bill. The bill made it a crime to travel or use any facilities in interstate commerce with intent to conduct violent crimes to further illegal gambling, liquor, narcotics, or prostitution business. This bill had a major effect shutting down a lot of â€Å"speakeasy’s† which took care of gambling, and betting. Customs got a lot tighter which had a great impact on the running of liquor to foreign countries such as Canada and Mexico. A lot of drug pushers were arrested and many Bord ellos’ were also shut down. The senate passed Bill S1653 on July 28 and House on Aug 21. This was one of many anti-crime Bills that President Kennedy would enact throughout his term. A lot of his primary goals were oriented towards organized crime. Another one of President Kennedy’s crime Bills to be passed in 1961 having to do with crime was Bill S1656. This Bill made it a crime for 2. anyone in the betting business to knowingly use a wire communication facility to transmit in interstate commerce any bets or wager information. Also it made it a crime to be caught with any betting paraphernalia such as parley sheets or wager stubs. This authorized a lot of wire-tapping and surveillance. Bill S1656 was passed by the Senate on July 28 and by the house on August 21 and was signed September 13. One other bill passed in 1961 by President Kennedy was the Fugitive felon act. This act made it a federal crime to cross boarders to avoid being prosecuted or remanded into custody after committing a violent crime or avoid giving testimony on a crime. This act was strongly enforced by local law enforcement agencies. The Federal firearms act of 1961 was a major bill passed for President Kennedy in 1961. This act prohibited the shipment of firearms in interstate and foreign lands to people under inditment for certain crimes. Not all of President Kennedy’s bills were directed towards the Mob and other such crime syndicates.

Emperor Hirohito Essay

Emperor Hirohito ruled for 53 years, during those years, Japanese civilians invaded China, the Rape of Nanking happened, they attacked Pearl Harbor and Japan rose to become the world second economic superpower. He was the first Japanese Emperor to be welcomed into Europe. He married at age 16, was crowned prince in November 1921. He died in his 80’s of a sickness called Myocardial Infraction. In his early life at age 7 he was taught proper behavior by Maresoke Nayi at Peer’s School. Also, his parents hired two Confucian tutors for him to learn. A few years later at age 11 his father was crowned Emperor because the formal Emperor had died of old age. Hirohito was to marry at age 16 to a young Princess which name is Nagako Kuni who was only 14 at the time. Before he had married the princess he went and traveled around Europe and was the first Japanese prince who was welcomed by the royal queen herself. During the time he had traveled he became very interested in the study of Marine Science. He also developed an interest in golf, drinking tea and eating bread. After coming back from Europe he changed the law that said that royal family members could not travel the world and make new traditions. His main inspiration was watching how in Europe people could do as they please and not get judge for it. Around that same time his family had heard a rumor that said the Princess Nagako Kuni was colorblind, so Hirohito’s family decided to delay the wedding until they figured everything out. They didn’t get married until a year later in 1924. Just a couple of years later he had to become Emperor because of his father death (due to a mental illness). People refused to him as a god because of the way he ruled. Also, because nobody ever saw him. Hirohito was one who believed in democratic politics over any other thing. Due to this he everyone believed that Japan wanted to go to war with every single country. So many people had judged him very harshly for not putting himself together in the right time before the war. And his own military wanted to get someone more worthy of the thrown, not Hirohito. It was hard on him and even more because of the surprise attack f the two atomic bombs which were dropped an August 6-9, 1945 (O’Neil 1). Nobody knew what to do or how to do it. The only person that knew what to do was Hirohito. He had decided to surrender to Great Britain and United States and to see if that would make his people follow him again. Or maybe put him on their good graces. He ordered his government to make an unconditional surrender. Hirohito had to make a fast action and an effective plan for seizing power (Oâ€℠¢Neil 1). Even though he had to do all those things he never wanted to give in to those countries. He knew he could do better if he had done some military service. But he didn’t he had married young and did everything so fast due to his father’s death. But still no one gave him the credit for doing it. For this, he deserves considerable credit (O’Neil 1). He toured Europe in 1971, the first reigning Japanese monarch to visit abroad, and traveled to the United States in 1975 (Leaders 1). He was one of the first Japanese Emperor’s to do this. Later on in life he wrote a few books on Marine Science. It was one of the things that interested him in his younger ages. He has 7 children named: Akihito, Prince Hitachi, Atsuko Lkeda, Takako Shimazu, Shigeko Higashikuni, Kazuko Takasukasa, and Princess Hisa Sachiko. Hirohito’s reign was designated Showa, or â€Å"Enlightened Peace† (Leaders 1). But some people were relieved when he died and his son Crown Prince Akihito became Emperor. Even though they were glad there were disappointed because the Prince had married a commoner. Some contemporaries who lived in his time were Hitler and Hideki Tojo. Their roles in his life were that both of them had lived in the same days as Hirohito. And they never met in person but they had heard of each other. Emperor Hirohito was a very important person in his days because of the way he had treated his people he didn’t make any decisions with out considering the way they would have felt about it. After the war he had said â€Å"That most unfortunate war, which I deeply deplore. † The main reason he had said that was because of all the people who had lost their life just because of that war. Another quote he had said was â€Å"I made efforts to swallow tears and to protect the Japenese Nation. †

Analysis of The Cool Web by Robert Graves Essay

Why is the title of the poem â€Å"The cool web†? Give a reason for your answer. The poem discusses an adult’s predisposition to use linguistic dexterity to avoid the consequences of extreme emotion. The title combines two words, â€Å"cool† and â€Å"web†, each of which evokes a strong impression, to create a third even more evocative image. There are many English expressions which use the word â€Å"cool† to convey repressing emotion. This usage is similar to using â€Å"calm†: â€Å"cool down†, â€Å"don’t lose your cool†, â€Å"go and cool off†, â€Å"cool it!† and so on. Even the slang interpretation of â€Å"cool† in the sense of fashionable or sophisticated conjures up the idea of a relaxed and casual attitude. In the context of the poem, â€Å"cool† can be seen as synonymous with a lack of passion and an increase of self-control. â€Å"Web† is used to convey the sense of being enveloped by a layer which inhibits freedom. Graves could have used â€Å"net† or â€Å"mesh†, however those words lack the sinister connotation of the most common use of â€Å"web†: that of a â€Å"spider’s web†. In this sense, there is an air of vulnerability and menace; the spider’s prey has not chosen to be caught in the web, but is ensnared nevertheless. The combination of â€Å"cool† and â€Å"web† creates an image of forced composure. The â€Å"cool web† is a linguistic lobotomy which life imposes on humankind. What is the effect of the repetition of ‘hot’ and ‘dreadful’ in the first stanza? The first stanza creates a threatening atmosphere. The adjectives used are  intense: the day is not warm, it is hot; the evening is not dark, but black; the soldiers are full of dread, not just alarming. (Although now used in the same way as frightening, â€Å"dreadful† really describes a greater level of terror.) This development of menace is further emphasised by the repetition of the â€Å"hot† and â€Å"dreadful†. The point is driven home to the reader. If Graves had used synonyms – blistering for â€Å"hot† and frightening for â€Å"dreadful† – in the second instances of each, the meaning would be essentially unchanged. However, the sound and rhythm of the stanza would be significantly affected. The effect is also assisted by repeating not only â€Å"hot†, but the assonance and alliteration of the phrase â€Å"how hot†. The repetition and emphasis of â€Å"hot† in lines 1 and 2 also provides contrast between the word â€Å"cool† in the title and â€Å"chill† in line 5. â€Å"Cool† and â€Å"coldly† are also used in the body of the poem in contrast to â€Å"hot†. (This emphasis through repetition is used a number of times: in the second stanza with â€Å"spell†; in line 10 with â€Å"too much† and in the last stanza with â€Å"facing†.) Who are ‘we’ in the second stanza (line 5)? The use of â€Å"but† at the beginning of line 5 contrasts â€Å"we† from the children of the first stanza and presumably Graves therefore means adults. Adults have a more sophisticated command of language with which to interpret events. Children are direct in their approach to the world and do not attempt to obscure reality for any reason. On meeting an overweight person, a young child will cheerfully ask them why they are so fat. An adult would be unlikely to broach the subject at all. Children simply state what they think; adults use euphemisms and oblique vocabulary to ward off unwelcome emotions. Comment on the use of: The adjectives ‘cruel’ to describe the rose’s scent and ‘overhanging’ to  describe the night (lines 6 and 7). The reader is jolted as these adjectives are associated with unfamiliar subjects. This is a form of foregrounding to draw attention to the language of the poem. The use of â€Å"cruel† to describe the scent of a rose is especially jarring. Almost without exception the rose is a symbol of romance and love, not one of cruelty. Graves seems to be implying that anything that intrudes – even something pleasant – is objectionable and to be â€Å"dulled†. By describing the night as â€Å"overhanging† Graves refers to the sense of intimidation, of something unexpected looming over us. The poet then tells us that this should – and can be – be spelled away as undesirable. The verb ‘spell’ in the phrase ‘we spell away’ (lines 7 and 8) Graves exploits a double meaning of â€Å"spell† to intertwine the ideas of language and trickery. In the linguistic context â€Å"spell† means to form a word by arranging its constituent letters in the correct order. ‘Spell† also means to influence someone or something by means of magical powers. In this way, the poet concentrates a number of images into a single word. An adult’s desire to misrepresent reality is a form of magical spell, but it requires the ability to spell words. (Graves also uses this technique in line 1 by describing children as â€Å"dumb†. This could mean that they are stupid and therefore unable to manipulate and distort the world. It could also mean that children have no linguistic faculty as in â€Å"deaf and dumb.† Of course, he means both.) Explain how, in your opinion, ‘the cool web’ may protect one against ‘too much joy or too much fear’ (lines 5 to 11). â€Å"The cool web† of language is used to rationalise extreme emotions. Instead of reacting instinctively to a situation, we can drown it in verbose explanations. From pulpit to parliament, and from lawyer to liar, we use language to distort reality to suit ourselves. It is through language that we can persuade ourselves that the noise we hear in the night is just the  cat and not a violent burglar. This is the basis for Graves’s reference to retreating from â€Å"too much fear.† Less obvious is the desire to protect ourselves from â€Å"too much joy†, a condition that would appear to be desirable. Perhaps the poet believes that we are unable to cope adequately with either extreme of fortune. There are a number of superstitions in this regard such as labelling something as being â€Å"too good to be true†. It may be that Graves is suggesting that we subconsciously know that we can’t sustain a state of delight for long and that the pain of the ensuing disappointment is not worth the moment of joy. It reflects a low-risk paradigm where we would forego the highs to avoid the subsequent inevitable lows. What indications are there in stanza 4 to show us what the speaker’s attitude is towards such protection? The phrases â€Å"self-possession† and â€Å"throwing off† show us that the speaker believes that the protection which language offers is an imposition and not a natural state of affairs. He notes that this enforced situation controls us for our whole life until we die. While implying that this protection is a burden, Graves also tells us that without it we would go mad. In other words, this protection is a necessary evil. Why do references to the day, the rose, the night and the soldiers recur throughout the poem? These words occur in the first, second and fourth (last) stanzas. The repetition in the second stanza and the fourth stanza fulfil different purposes. The reference in the second stanza forms the basis for a contrast with the initial reference in the first stanza. In the first stanza these objects are described via a child’s simple outlook: hot and dreadful. In the second stanza the same words are described via an adult’s more complex, language-distorted view. The last stanza has a different form than the first three; it breaks a  pattern of 4-line stanzas and, by doing so, demands extra attention from the reader. In this last stanza the words â€Å"day†, â€Å"rose†, â€Å"night† and â€Å"drums† are listed simply without adjectives. This neatly reminds the reader of the beginning of the poem and completes the comparison between children and adults, and their differing use of language. Briefly state the speaker’s conclusion about the role of language in our lives (lines 13 to 18). The speaker concludes that we need language to protect ourselves from the reality of life. Graves states that without the capacity for persuading ourselves that situations are not what they appear, we would find it impossible to cope and would go mad. The diction (choice of words), structure, rhythm and tone of the first and last stanzas are markedly different. What do you think the purpose of these differences is? The first three stanzas have a relatively simple rhyme scheme of A B C C. The effect of lines 3 and 4 of each of these stanzas rhyming is that each stanza is concluded firmly. Three stanzas with the same structure creates a pattern and an expectation that the next stanza will be the same. The fact that it is not is a surprise and a type of foregrounding. The last stanza has a rhyme of A B C D C D and this difference in structure alerts the reader and demands additional attention. This warning is welcome as the message in the last stanza is far more direct than previously where metaphor and allusion are used. The last line states unequivocally â€Å"we shall go mad no doubt.† It is in this last stanza that Graves delivers his judgement on our use of language.

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation Lessons in Joy, Leadership, and the Mona Lisa

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation Lessons in Joy, Leadership, and the Mona Lisa Mona Lisa Smile Have you ever tried smiling with just the one side of your mouth? I attempted to do so as part of a leadership workshop last week and was surprised to find out what happened. Before I reveal the punch line, try it yourself: Really smile, with your eyes and everything. Just only use the left side of your mouth. How did it go? OK. Now try smiling with the right side of your mouth. Smile with your mouth and with your eyes. Surprised? If you’re like me and everyone else I know, you found yourself grimacing more than smiling in the second part of this exercise. For me, the seeming impossibility of cracking a right-sided smile was a true eye-opener about where in our brains our emotions show up. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the Mona Lisa is smiling on†¦ guess which side of her face? This phenomenon was just one of the many things I learned about last week when I attended a leadership training with the Wright Institute. The training was a total immersion in a sea of topics including emotional intelligence, creating joy, the formation and workings of the human brain, and getting group projects done with the right leadership (note: the link will bring you to an introductory weekend training; the one I attended was a more in-depth week-long retreat). After the retreat, we were asked to write an essay about the experience in order to cement our learning- something akin to â€Å"What I Did on My Summer Vacation.† I’m sharing my essay here. What I learned will inform the way I live my life and conduct my business for years to come. I gained takeaways not just about Mona Lisa smiling tricks but also about what it means to be a leader, share myself, create joy, and, well, be human. My wish is that you see something for yourself in the following words What I Learned on Summer Training 2013 At Summer I learned how to show up as a leader. It’s not about what I’ve done. It’s not about my skills as they relate to stuff I can do. It’s not about being liked. Leadership requires presence. It requires being willing to risk and to correct myself and others. It requires a strong vision and the ability to communicate it powerfully. It requires being incredibly awake! And it requires caring about the people I’m leading more than I care about getting stuff done. At Summer I learned how to share. It’s not about telling stories or talking about insights. It doesn’t require â€Å"getting it† or having â€Å"done the homework.† It doesn’t require â€Å"knowing† anything. All it takes to share is to be with my feelings, be with the person I’m with, be with my heart and feel into the hearts of the people around me. At Summer I learned how to â€Å"dedicate† to joy. It’s not about being happy all the time. It’s not easy. It’s not a one-shot deal and there’s no magic pill. Joy is not a phenomenon based on life circumstances. Dedicating to joy is a responsibility- a big one to the world and the people around me. Joy is a choice, made moment by moment. Joy often looks like hurt, tears and anger fully felt that open into joy. Joy requires opening- over and over. Joy is accessible to us all. It takes practice. 10,000 hours to mastery, as with so many other things. (See Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers) At Summer I learned that I matter. Not for the things that I do, not for my talents and not for my creativity or my singing voice. I learned that I don’t have to prove that I matter, and that trying to do so is a losing battle, since in that paradigm as soon as I’ve had to prove it I don’t really matter. I matter because I am. I matter because I have feelings and heart waves that reach out at least 3 feet from my body. Because I am everything that I am. And I learned that these are the things that make other people matter too. At Summer I learned that the lifelong journey of getting to know myself as a leader and group member has only just begun. Getting to know the people around me (including the intricacies of their left and right side facial muscles) is an integral and fascinating part of that journey. I will continue to explore over the next year, and look forward to taking the next steps forward on Summer Training 2014.

Beryllium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements

Beryllium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements Beryllium Atomic Number: 4 Symbol: Be Atomic Weight: 9.012182(3)Reference: IUPAC 2009 Discovery: 1798, Louis-Nicholas Vauquelin (France) Electron Configuration: [He]2s2 Other Names: Glucinium or Glucinum Word Origin: Greek: beryllos, beryl; Greek: glykys, sweet (note that beryllium is toxic) Properties: Beryllium has a melting point of 1287/-5Â °C, boiling point of 2970Â °C, specific gravity of 1.848 (20Â °C), and valence of 2. The metal is steel-gray in color, very light, with one of the highest melting points of the light metals. Its modulus of elasticity is a third higher than that of steel. Beryllium has high thermal conductivity, is nonmagnetic, and resists attack by concentrated nitric acid. Beryllium resists oxidation in air at ordinary temperatures. The metal has a high permeability to x-radiation. When bombarded by alpha particles, it yields neutrons in the ratio of approximately 30 million neutrons per million alpha particles. Beryllium and its compounds are toxic and should not be tasted to verify the metals sweetness. Uses: Precious forms of beryl include aquamarine, morganite, and emerald. Beryllium is used as an alloying agent in producing beryllium copper, which is used for springs, electrical contacts, nonsparking tools, and spot-welding electrodes. It is used in many structural components of the space shuttle and other aerospace craft. Beryllium foil is used in x-ray lithography for making integrated circuits. It is used as a reflector or moderator in nuclear reactions. Beryllium is used in gyroscopes and computer parts. The oxide has a very high melting point and is used in ceramics and nuclear applications. Sources: Beryllium is found in approximately 30 mineral species, including beryl (3BeO Al2O3Â ·6SiO2), bertrandite (4BeOÂ ·2SiO2Â ·H2O), chrysoberyl, and phenacite. The metal may be prepared by reducing beryllium fluoride with magnesium metal. Element Classification: Alkaline-earth Metal Isotopes: Beryllium has ten known isotopes, ranging from Be-5 to Be-14. Be-9 is the only stable isotope.Density (g/cc): 1.848 Specific Gravity (at 20 Â °C): 1.848 Appearance: hard, brittle, steel-gray metal Melting Point: 1287 Â °C Boiling Point: 2471 Â °C Atomic Radius (pm): 112 Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 5.0 Covalent Radius (pm): 90 Ionic Radius: 35 (2e) Specific Heat (20Â °C J/g mol): 1.824 Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 12.21 Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 309 Debye Temperature (K): 1000.00 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.57 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 898.8 Oxidation States: 2 Lattice Structure:Hexagonal Lattice Constant (Ã…): 2.290 Lattice C/A Ratio: 1.567 CAS Registry Number: 7440-41-7 Beryllium Trivia Beryllium was originally named glyceynum due to the sweet taste of beryllium salts. (glykis is Greek for sweet). The name was changed to beryllium to avoid confusion with other sweet tasting elements and a genus of plants called glucine. Beryllium became the official name of the element in 1957.James Chadwick bombarded beryllium with alpha particles and observed a subatomic particle with no electrical charge, leading to the discovery of the neutron.Pure beryllium was isolated in 1828 by two different chemists independently: German chemist Friederich WÃ ¶hler and French chemist Antoine Bussy.WÃ ¶hler was the chemist who first proposed the name beryllium for the new element. Source Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952), CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (89th Ed.)

Profile and Analyse the Changing Spectrum of Economic Crime Essay

Profile and Analyse the Changing Spectrum of Economic Crime - Essay Example Ideally with the appropriate research we would also try to lay specific emphasis on profiling all the criminal activity that took place in the incident and how it fundamentally affected the economic culture surrounding it. Profile and Analyze the Changing Spectrum of Economic Crime As fundamentally stated in The New York times Asia pacific section â€Å"The catchall term â€Å"economic crimes† is frequently used as a legal cover by police officers who wish to detain or imprison someone whom Communist Party officials consider a political threat. Such crimes can include prosaic failures to properly comply with regulations on business registration or taxation.† (The New York times Chinese Defend Detention†¦.). These kinds of specific situation have recently been on frequent terms observed in the economic culture of China and as such are a cause of great concern for the economic Asian giant. To be technically precise China is the most powerful economic strength in the world today but even so economic crimes of any measure are the first step towards the collapse of a country’s financial assets. ... With the introduction of newer technology the spectrum of economic crimes is changing. People and organizations are involved in newer kinds of crime every day and types of crime that fall under the category of economic crime are increasing day by day. They are able to find loopholes in the law and able to exploit these loopholes to their advantage. With faster communication economic crime has become more organized. Unlike the blatant act of crime committed by the Georgian legislators nowadays people are committing economic crime that can be concealed and the law authorities often take years to uncover a crime that was committed long ago, long after the thief may have died. Some people like Jonathan James do it for fun and take the breaching of someone else’s computer system as a challenge. Others like Charles Ponzi do it for personal gain. Some people like Pablo Escobar made it their business and their crimes were well organized. Whilst internet has helped mankind in many ways it has made the committing of economic crime very easy for people. With so much information available on the internet such as people’s social security numbers, credit card details and bank details chances are that sensitive information may fall into the wrong hands and that information may be used for someone’s own personal gain. Economic crime is here to stay. With more technology, faster communication and more knowledge available to criminals they are able to commit more and more of these crimes, cause more and more loss to the public and economy (65 billion Ponzi scam that affected as many as 1300 investors) and elude capture from the authorities. There is also some very active political situation regarding such an issue stated earlier with reference to the New York

Legal Right and Ethical Obligation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legal Right and Ethical Obligation - Essay Example This causes a certain deviation from the law for a judgement to be ethically viable. "When important ethical principles are jeopardized by law, citizens are confronted with an ethical problem." (Loewy, 2000). In a situation where people who have suffered loss of life and property claim for compensation, there is no doubt that all legal possibilities will be explored in order to ensure that the company does not lose heavily. In a case where a passenger (of American origin) tries to sue the cruise line that claims immunity under 'flag of convenience rules', the question is more of an ethical issue than a legal one. It would be quite unjust to argue that by merely flying the flag of another country, the DWI are under no obligation to pay for the loss of life and/or property of a passenger who has boarded their cruise with a fervent hope that he and his belongings will be safe. Third party billing problems occur most of the time either in phone companies or in the medical sector. Most disputes arise when people are oblivious of the declarations and statements made in fine print in most bills and invoices. As in the case of Mr. & Mrs.