Cognitive Learning Theory

Indus Civilization Writing System research paper

Indus Civilization Writing System research paper Indus Civilization Writing System research paper Indus Civilization Writing System research paper: Early civilization was first witnessed in parts of Asia and Middle East. Egyptians and Sumerians were some of the oldest people to develop in the world. In East and South Asia similar developments were being implemented along river bends and valleys. Some of these oldest developments were being carried out in the Yellow River valley, China. Here, the rich silt from Northern China provided the ideal grounds for civilization. The first Asian civilization was witnessed in the Indus River Valley. This civilization was witnessed in the 3rd millennium B.C (Kenoyer 7). This was more than a millennium prior to the Yellow River development. This civilization is also known as Harappan culture and can be categorized in the Bronze Age development together with Egypt and Mesopotamia. Ravi or Harappan stage was the first to be witnessed in the Indus development. The phase got its name tribute to a river in the vicinity called Ravi River. This Ravi stage lasted for approximately one thousand years. On River Hakra another phase came after Ravi. The phase was known as the Hakra stage. The last phase was known as the Kot Diji phase. In Ravi and Kot Diji stage, settlements some discoveries were made of early writing. These writings were dated back to 3300-2800BC together with the Egypt and Mesopotamian writings. These civilizations covered the whole of present day Pakistan and significant parts of both India and modern Afghanistan. Indus got its name from the Indus River which provided the Indus with water to irrigate and for their domestic use. The silt in the valley provided the fertile soils for agriculture (Kenoyer 26). The strategic position of the Indus valley helped in maintaining security. The Deccan plateau and the Himalayas protected the Indus from attacks from other people. The estimated area was about 1,250,000 km squared. Some of these examples of this extended development were parts of north Afghanistan in Shortughai and Hindon near Delhi in India. The population regarding all these areas was estimated to have reached the heights of about 4.5 million people. Most of this civilization is not fully known to people since it was forgotten till in the early 20th century. Writings of these developments still aren’t well scrutinized by humans and remains unidentified. Like it s rival civilization, Indus disappeared in a mystery. It is accounted to the disastrous events during the time and the early invasions from their rivals. Most facts remain unknown to people about this civilization; like the language spoken by the people during this development is a mystery, no one can tell exactly the names of these people (Mughal 88). This is in contrast with Early Egypt and Mesopotamia civilizations. Most of the people lived in enclosed cities where they could get access to the basic needs more easily. The Indus valley had a number of settlements which were referred to as cities. The residents of these cities were mostly traders and artisans. Trade was more defined here with people from the outside coming to bring their good here. The foreign materials were used for construction of city seals, ornaments for the dwellers and other household goods (Ratnagar 49). The beads made were impressive and were used to make ornaments for the wealthy city dwellers. The seals comprised of images of their gods and animals they reared. Trade goods were well trademarked with these seals. The owners of the goods wanted to maintain the originality of their goods to avoid counterfeits. This gives us the sense of early standardization that still guides production up to today. Goods in our modern trade have to possess a trade mark seal to verify that is original. It’s truly the epicenter of urb an society with all the houses in the Indus getting access to water and a good drainage system to maintain the emphasized hygiene. Technologically, most advancement was witnessed in agriculture. But there in Indus area, controversies with some scholars indicating that food was brought to the Indus from foreign land is still heated. Other archeologist like G.Shaffer argued that agriculture was indigenous in the Indus valley. The people here used mostly wheat and cereals. Barley was also a major ingredient in the food used by the Indus. The fertile Indus soil can give a supporting hand on this. The land here was also productive due to the adequate water for irrigation from the rivers in these areas. The agriculture as the studies suggests must have been enough to feed a large number of people in the Indus valley. Technology in agriculture must also have borrowed some aspect here. The plough was also used in this valley for cultivating the land. Although there is no evidence of a defined system of irrigation, the frequent floods might have been used to water the crops in the fields (Ratnagar 63). The Indus must have dug canals to divert water to build small lands that were managed by small number of people unlike in most early civilizations that people were forced to work on lager rice plantations. Moreover, the act of water harvesting was practiced in the Indus valley. This was a major step forward on the modern technology in agriculture where the water stored can be used to grow crops. Studies have shown presence of some reservoirs on the Indus valley. The people in this civilization depended on the monsoon winds which made the weather pattern to provide rainfall for only four months in a year (Thapar 28). The stored water was hence used the dry periods of the year for both domestic and agriculture use. Inclusive of all these advancement scripting and writing was also developed by the Indus. The rocky terrain and metal availability in the valley was a major influence to invention of these writings. In Indus valley, several writings have been found .The oldest and most prominent writings were several forms of seals. The seals are still in good conditions and the written material is quite visible. These seals were made of metal or rock curved in some shapes and writings scripted on them. Seals were useful to the Indus as they were used to mark their belongings and trade goods. Since clay and other malleable were widely used here, seals were very important in making impressions on them. Most of these seals have being around the world of archeologists but very little have been heard from them depicting what the seals represented. The progress on finding the truth about these well-designed writings cannot be wholly seen as blame on the scholars. The earlier used clues by archeologist to decipher the writings were all missing in the Indus scripts. The writings were small and brief bearing 5 symbols as the mean number of writings per seal. The mammoth but few seals had up to 26 symbols. Language that the Indus used is a mystery and no one knows the meaning of a single symbol in the seals. Texts in these seals were not bilingual. Scholars have come up with different theories to try and uncover this mystery. The first one was just a little acknowledgment on the non prior or present existence of such a language. Some said that the language was Aryan. This is a mixture of several languages; Indian, Iranian, Indonesian and English. Since most Northern Indians spoke Indo-European so the people here in the Indus Valley might have spoken old Indo-European language (Ratnagar 49). Although this might seem like a slight break through, the major short coming is giving to the fact that Indo-European cultures used horses in all their transportation purposes and none was discovered on the seals or the remains of horses on the Indus soil. Furthermore, archeologist yet came up with another theory which stated that the language was Dravidian. This language is spoken mostly in South India. This theory can be seen as the closest one to uncovering this mystery. The Vedic texts have shows some considerable influence of the Dravidian language. It’s thought that the Aryan replaced the Dravidian. The Dravidian might have formed the basis of what is currently spoken by Indians. A feature like the retroflex consonants in Indian pronunciations is some but a few evidence supporting this theory. There is also the structural examination that shows the Dravidian presence in Indus valley texts. The analysis simply states the possible agglutinative nature of the language spoken in the Indus valley. The language here had a number of similar signs with different signals ranging from 1 to 3 per sign. The final signs acted as the suffixes to modify words giving them a new meaning. This is well displayed by the Dravidian language. The language used by Indus had approximately 400 script symbols and about 200 signs. The script used must have been logo phonetic; signs were used for their real meaning and phonetic values. Most of the writings were in picture forms but the signs at the end changed the mother meaning of a word. With all these writings the Indus could possible and effectively communicate through scripted pieces of metal, reeds or rocks. The seals were mostly useful in trade arenas where they could be used to mark goods and be used as currencies, pass to some areas and so on. The civilization of the Indus was a major step forward to what we enjoy today in terms of technology, and advancement in major fields of our lives. Ranging in all dimensions of food, life style, and health education and scripting information on materials in our modern world. The Indus mostly feed on bread made of wheat. Barley and rice were also used as food in the Indus valley. Fruits were many in this area, consisting of peas, dates with some areas melons being grown for nutrition. This is the life style in Middle East; these foods are still eaten today there and all over the world (Thapar 28). With all these contributions to the civilization of the world the Indus made a major step forward towards the urbanization of most parts of the world. The trade, city planning, transportation and agriculture made it possible to have our modern cities and have strategies to manage their lives in a mannerly way. ______________ is a professional research paper writing service which can provide high school, college and university students with 100% original custom written essays, research papers, term papers, dissertations, courseworks, homeworks, book reviews, book reports, lab reports, projects, presentations and other assignments of top quality. More than 700 professional Ph.D. and Master’s academic writers. Feel free to buy a research paper online on Indus Civilization from our custom research paper writing service.

Spiritual Needs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Spiritual Needs - Assignment Example The results show that those who had frequent involvements in spiritual matters were significantly more likely to have longer, healthier lives. (McCullough, Hoyt, Larson, Koenig & Thoresen, 2000 ) Thesis - Of course any patient needs treatment for his illness, but this should be given as part of a holistic approach which includes an attempt to both assess and to meet his spiritual needs, whatever his particular faith stance and practice. In order to do this effectively it is necessary to be aware of particular spiritual needs. For this reason each patient should be assessed spiritually. A number of question s should be asked in order to arrive at the truth regarding an individual’s spiritual state. The answers then provide clues or pointers to what is required – does the person want to see a minister, to receive the Eucharist, or perhaps need space to put down a prayer mat if they are a Muslim.... Rather they provide an inclusive framework. They may not necessarily be addressed directly to the patient , but may be based upon observation, if for instance the patient has difficulty speaking or when there is a language barrier. They may for instance be wearing a cross or a Sikh steel bangle The questions do not include words specific to particular religious groups e.g .church, temple, synagogue, sacraments. It isn’t that these may not be used, but rather that it is necessary to establish first of all if the patient does belong to a particular faith ]tradition e.g. If they ‘I go to the Episcopalian church in my town.’ the care provider might go on to ask if anyone from the church know you are in hospital? Would you like us to let them know? If they say ‘I am a Muslim’ they can then be informed of any specifically Muslim provision such as a prayer room or told that they can use the day rom at particular times . b) My assessment of Michael R. Michael is a 45 year old gentleman whom I have come to know well over several weeks. He originally came into hospital with what he thought was simple chest infection, but was told within a few hours that he required a lung transplant, something he found to be devastating. Since that time his kidney function has deteriorated and he had a near fatal episode a few days ago. Date of interview most recent interview 27th July 2012 . Significant discoveries. Michael has a young child and, because he feels his illness is self-induced he feels a great deal of guilt about his more youthful follies such as street drug use which now prevent him from being with his child . He doesn’t want his daughter to see him in his present state. c) What went well? At first Michael pretended he didn’t want

Child Brides Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Child Brides - Essay Example Doll represents the child - dolls are often used as puppets or symbols. Children are very often manipulated like dolls by their parents at a still young age as they are too young to be able to understand what is really happening. The female characters in â€Å"A Dolls House† by the author and playwright Henrik Ibsen project the idea that women are merely self-sacrificing entities of society. A woman can only justify her existence on earth by dedicating herself to others. It is a reality in most societies, where child marriages are still practised, that women practically have no rights whatsoever and are held in a condescending or patronizing manner by the men. The husband in the play â€Å"A Dolls House† treated her wife as a mere object or plaything, that made his wife feel depressed and trapped in the marriage (Ibsen, 2009:50). This â€Å"burka dolls† idea came from my last video project and how women are manipulated. This doll represents Islam although I am looking for a symbol towards my work; however my intention is not against Islam. According to my peers and my audience, its seems this is against Islam because I have been looking at Sara Maples works (haram or forbidden painting) who is against Islam and shown holding a pig, in which it is considered a sin to hold a pig because it is a dirty animal and therefore forbidden to cradle or handle it.

Discussion Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Discussion Questions - Essay Example According to Maslow, â€Å"each level of need must be satisfied before an individual is ready to strive for satisfaction of the next higher level of need.†(Milliken, 1998) The drive for achievement has often overridden the drive for basic needs. Sometimes in a neglectful manner, as with Picasso’s need to create making him forget all other needs, or sometimes it is done with purpose in order to achieve a goal that satisfies one of the other needs. The artistic mind will focus so intently on its creation that all other needs are forgotten in the pursuit of the expression that is hoped to be expressed. The question then becomes, is the focus of the artist able to classify him or her as mentally healthy, or by virtue of the all consuming focus is mental illness present? Achievement does not always indicate good mental health. With the presumption that Maslow’s hierarchy is an example of a healthy mind, then ignoring basic physical and social needs that should come before the priority of creativity would indicate mental disability. However, not only an artist might forget to eat or sleep. Many professions might preclude the needs of the body for the need to accomplish a goal. A scientist on the verge of discovery could easily forget to eat or sleep while focusing on that goal. Any goal that has priority in the mind of the one who is hoping to achieve that goal might interfere with the basic needs. To ignore the D-needs, or deficiency needs in favor of the needs at the self-actualization level is a situation that comes from a the concept of drive. That drive that compels those of great talent or intellect to pursue the focus of that gift is not included in the conceptual idea of Maslow’s theory. The concept of higher purpose is also not taken into consideration in Maslow’s theory. Sacrifice for a greater need often will be taken by an individual who believes that the purpose of their actions out way the

Factors for MRI Image Quality

Factors for MRI Image Quality Title: MRI Image Quality TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO (SNR) Figure 1 3.0 CONTRAST TO NOISE RATIO (CNR) 4.0 RESOLUTION AND SCAN TIME 5.0 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MRI PARAMETERS AND IMAGE QUALITY Table 1: MRI parameters trade-offs (Proprofs.com, 2015) 6.0 CONCLUSION REFERENCES 1.0 INTRODUCTION Image quality is the most important element in imaging radiography. According to Courses Washington Education, (2015) image quality must be assessed on the basis of average performance of some task of interest by some observer or decision maker. It was stated that image quality must be defined in terms of a task on what information to be retrieved from an image; and the observer on how the information will be extracted from the image. Since MRI image is a digital image, it is greatly depends on image contrast and its spatial characteristics. Nevertheless, one of the disadvantages of this flexibility is a greater difficulty in terms of the choice of scanning parameters. In general scan times are not negligible and there is a certain tendency towards artefact. However, the most fundamental limitation in MRI is the signal-to noise ratio (SNR) which is dependent upon the hardware, mostly the main field strength and radiofrequency (RF) coils, upon the relaxation properties of tissue and upon the choice of sequence parameters. Good image quality depends upon making good scanning parameter choices (McRobbie, 2007). 2.0 SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO (SNR) The signal to noise ratio can be defined as the ratio of the amplitude of the signal received to the average amplitude of the noise whereas the signal is the voltage induced in the receiver coil by the precession of the net magnetic vector in the transverse plane (Westbrook et al. 2011, pp.104). Noise can be defined as an undesirable backgroundinterferenceor disturbance that affects image quality (Mr-tip.com, 2015). According to Weber (2015), noise is caused by two factors which are the electromagnetic noise in the body due to movement of charged particles; and small anomalies in the measurement electronics, which depends on the size of the RF coil and the bandwidth of the pulse sequence. In addition, noise occurs at all frequencies and is also random in time and space. On the other hand, the signal is cumulative, and occurs at time TE, depends on many factors and it can be altered. The signal is therefore can be changed in relation to the noise. Increasing the signal increases the SNR, while decreasing the signal decreases the SNR. Therefore, any factor that affects the signal amplitude in gives effect to the SNR. The factors that affect the SNR include magnetic field strength, the proton density, voxel volume, repetition time (TR), echo time (TE), flip angle, number of excitations (NEX), receive bandwidth and coil type (Westbrook et al. 2011, pp.104). According to McRobbie in his book, MRI from Picture to Proton (2007), images with a poor SNR will appear fuzzy. An important aspect of image optimization is to certify that there is a high enough SNR for the images to be diagnostically valuable yet low SNR may result in losing small details or the obscuring of subtle contrast changes. Therefore, contrast to noise ratio (CNR) is always taken into consideration in the aspect of image quality. Figure 1: Increasing the basic resolution will increase the image quality. However, increasing the resolution more than the acceptable range will produce grains in the image due to low SNR and reducing it will produce a blurry image due to high SNR. Increasing basic resolution will result in prolonged time. (Image adapted from Mrimaster.com, 2015) 3.0 CONTRAST TO NOISE RATIO (CNR) CNR can be defined as a measure to assess the ability of an imaging procedure to generate clinically useful image contrast. However, the image contrast itself is not precise enough to qualify an image, because in a noisy image it is uncertain where the contrast originates. It depends on two factors either due true tissue contrast, or it may be due to noise fluctuations. The human ability to distinguish between objects is proportional to contrast, and it decreases linearly with noise (KTH, 2015). By improving CNR the perception of the distinct differences between two clinical areas of interest will be increased. In a simple word, acontrasttonoiseratio is a summary ofSNRandcontrast. It is the difference inSNRbetween two relevant tissue types (Mr-tip.com, 2015). CNR is controlled by the same factors that affect SNR. However, it is considered as the most critical factor affecting image quality (scrsl.weebly.com, 2015). 4.0 RESOLUTION AND SCAN TIME In MRI imaging, the scan time is advisable to be as short as possible. This is because the longer the patient lies on the table; the more likely it is that they will move. Moreover, if the patient has moved during the scan, the image produced will have a great SNR (Westbrook et al. 2011). The minimum scan time in MRI imaging is affected by TR, matrix size and NEX while the spatial resolution is determined by matrix size, FOV and slice thickness. By increasing matrix size or decreasing FOV and slice thickness increases spatial resolution at the expense of either decreased signal-to-noise or increased scan time. In order to obtain images of high resolution with high signal-to-noise requires longer scan times. All of the scan parameters affect signal-to-noise ratio. However, the signal within an image can be enhanced either by increasing TR, FOV, slice thickness and NEX or by decreasing TE and matrix size. The most direct way to increase signal is by increasing NEX, but increasing NEX from two to four which doubles the scan time, increases the signal by only the square root of two. Lastly, TE does not affect scan time; however, it does determine the maximum number of slices in multi-slice mode. Increasing the TE or shortening TR decreases the number of slices that can be obtained with one pulse sequence (Spinwarp.ucsd.edu, 2015). 5.0 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MRI PARAMETERS AND IMAGE QUALITY An image that is obtained in a short scan time, with a good spatial resolution and high SNR is preferable yet is hardly to achieve as increasing one factor certainly reduces one or both of the other two (Westbrook et. al, 2011). Trade-offsexists when changing imaging parameters to obtain the best images possible. For instance, the SNR, resolution, and acquisition time, are all interconnected. Changing one will affect the others. It is important to decide what factors are more important for an examination of a particular body part, patient and suspected abnormality. For example, when looking at the pituitary or cranial nerves, some SNR may need to be less considered or use longer acquisition time to improve the spatial resolution. However, in a claustrophobic of patient in pain who may be moving around, both resolution and SNR for the shortest possible examination time need to be considered to produce better image quality and preventing motion artefact (Ballinger, 2015). Thetable below summarizes the trade-offs in MRI between SNR, resolution, time, maximum number of slices and distance covered. Table 1: MRI parameters trade-offs (Proprofs.com, 2015) 6.0CONCLUSION In conclusion, the quality of an MR image depends on several factors which include the spatial resolution and image contrast, SNR and CNR and also artefacts. An MR examination is cooperation between scan time and image quality and its sequence parameters will have to be optimized in function of the organs and pathology. Moreover, the signal intensities and contrast are determined by the timing parameters TR and TE and also the flip angle. Besides, to produce a good image in MRI the scan time should always be as short as possible to avoid patient movement by using the shortest TR possible, select the coarse matrix possible and reduce the NEX to a minimum. REFERENCES Ballinger, J. (2015).Trade offs | Radiology Reference Article | Radiopaedia.org. [online] Radiopaedia.org. Available at: http://radiopaedia.org/articles/trade-offs [Accessed 3 May 2015]. Barrett, H. and Myers, K. (2004).Foundations of image science. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Interscience. Courses Washington Education, (2015).Image Quality. [online] Available at: http://courses.washington.edu/bioen508/Lecture1_partC.pdf [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. KTH, (2015).Point Spread Function. [online] Available at: http://medim.sth.kth.se/6l2872/F/F9.pdf [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. McRobbie, D. (2007).MRI from picture to proton. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Mrimaster.com, (2015). MRI resolution and image quality | how to manipulate mri scan parameters. [online] Available at: https://mrimaster.com/index.4.html [Accessed 4 May 2015]. Mr-tip.com, (2015).MRI Database : Contrast to Noise Ratio. [online] Available at: http://www.mr-tip.com/serv1.php?type=db1dbs=Contrast+to+Noise+Ratio [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. Mr-tip.com, (2015).MRI Database : Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI. [online] Available at: http://www.mr-tip.com/serv1.php?type=db1dbs=Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRI [Accessed 28 Apr. 2015]. Mr-tip.com, (2015).MRI Database : Noise. [online] Available at: http://www.mr-tip.com/serv1.php?type=db1dbs=Noise [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. Nde-ed.org, (2015).Image Considerations. [online] Available at: https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Radiography/TechCalibrations/imageconsiderations.htm [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. Proprofs.com, (2015).Flashcards Table on MRIImaging Parameters. [online] Available at: http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/tableview.php?title=mriimaging-parameters [Accessed 3 May 2015]. scrsl.weebly.com, (2015).Parameters and Trade-offs. [online] Available at: http://scrsl.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/3/0/5130772/magnetic_resonance_imaging_6parameters__trade_offs.ppt [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. Spinwarp.ucsd.edu, (2015). [online] Available at: http://spinwarp.ucsd.edu/neuroweb/Text/br-100.htm [Accessed 3 May 2015]. Spinwarp.ucsd.edu, (2015). [online] Available at: http://spinwarp.ucsd.edu/neuroweb/Text/br-100.htm [Accessed 3 May 2015]. UChicago, (2015).How does MRI work?. [online] Available at: http://wiki.ci.uchicago.edu/pub/HNL/DifficultQuestion/howdoesmriwork.pdf [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. University of Bergen, (2015).Contrast (CNR) in MRI. [online] Available at: https://wikihost.uib.no/mriwiki/images/5/5c/MRCourseLectures_Oct2011_ContrastTheory.pdf [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. Weber, D. (2015).MRI Quality. [online] Psdlw.users.sourceforge.net. Available at: http://psdlw.users.sourceforge.net/career/dweber_docs/mri_quality.html [Accessed 30 Apr. 2015]. Westbrook, C. and Kaut-Roth, C. (2011).MRI in practice. Oxford: Blackwell Science. 1

Crime and Punishment :: essays papers

Crime and Punishment The main character of the novel Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky, Raskolnikov, is in reality two totally contradicting personalities. One part of him is the intellectual. This part is cold and inhumane. It is this side that enables him to commit the most terrible crime imaginable - taking another human life. The other part of his personality is warm and compassionate. This is the side of him that does charitable acts and fights out against the evil in his society. This dichotomy of Raskolnikov’s personality can be clearly seen through the dream about the mare, as well as through other characters in the novel. Raskolnikov's dream about the mare can be used to probe deep into his mentality to discover how he really feels inside. The dream suggests that Raskolnikov is a "split" man; after all, his name in Russian means, "split". He has a cruel and thoughtless side as well as a caring, compassionate side to his personality. Through the dream and the symbols within, a reader can cast Raskolnikov, as well as other characters from Crime And Punishment, into any of the various parts in the dream. Each part that a character takes on leads to a different conclusion about that character. Raskolnikov himself "fits" into the positions of Mikolka, the child, and the mare. If Mikolka, the drunken owner of the mare, were to represent Raskolnikov, then the mare would most probably represent Alyona Ivanovna. The senseless beating of the mare by Mikolka is similar to the brutal attack on Alyona by Rodion. These heartless attacks foreshadow the crime that Raskolnikov is contemplating. Dostoevsky unveils Raskolnikov's cruel side during this dream, if it is to be interpreted in this way. Similarly, the little boy could represent Raskolnikov’s compassionate side. The child, watching the beating, realizes the absurdity of it. He even rushes to Mikolka, ready to punish him for killing the mare. This illustrates Rodion's internal struggle while contemplating the murder of Alyona. His humane side, the child, tells him to ‘live and let live’. And his "extraordinary" side, according to his definition, tells him that he should eliminate Alyona altogether, for the good of mankind. The flip side of this is that the mare itself could represent Raskolnikov. However, the burden which the mare must carry (the cart, the people, etc.

“Mean Girls” and its sociological structure Essay

Sociology is everywhere we look, it is everything we are, and can be describe with everything we do. Mean girls is a very popular movie in today’s society. It seems as though people of all gender, sex, age, race, ethnicity, and class has seen this movie and can relate to some aspect of it. Mean girls portrays the rough life of high school and the many cliques it has in place. It shows the many challenges students and teachers go through to get to the end of the year. In this movie I have seen many sociological themes. Many people in today’s society go through challenging things in our lives and high school is a teenager’s worse one. From discrimination to power, property, and prestige this movies depicts it all. As portrayed in (fundamentalsofsoc) the popular girls also known as the â€Å"plastics† control the school in which they accompany. They control it by have good looks, money, Popularity, and power. They receive all the material items wanted because their parents can afford it; with the exception of Cady. Originally there are three â€Å"plastics†: Regina George which is the leader of the group. Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith. Cady, a transfer student from Africa get the special and rare request to join their clique. There is a sub- click that Cady is a part of and that includes Janis Ian and Damian. Everyone in the school wants to be Regina George, so they copy everything she does. After Cady and Regina go for the same guy Cady wants to ruin the plastics because she and Janis which was out casted by Regina feel like the school would be better off without the hierarchy and social control that Regina creates. The movie starts off with a stereotype. Stereotype defined as â€Å"a widely held but fixed and over simplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.† Cady sits down at the â€Å"Plastics† table after being peer- pressured into joining them during lunch and she gets questioned because the popular girls know everybody in the school and they had not seen her before. This is an example of social interaction. Cady mentions that she just transferred here from Africa. Gretchen Wieners goes about saying â€Å"If you’re from Africa then why you are white.† This shows the  stereotype of Americans believing that all people that live in Africa are African American. This also happens with other cultures as well. They lay out a map of the cafeteria and who sits where and we see then that people are characterized in specific cliques such as: JV jocks, Asian nerds, and black hot ties and many other cliques’ people are set to be in. We also see t hat Cady’s culture is different from the common high school teenager. Cady does not partake in common teenage girl practices, she does not wear makeup, or dress provocative. Regina, Gretchen, and Karen have rich parents. They use their wealth as power against everyone they know. Since they have everything there is a lot of jealousy in the air, also Gretchen ‘uses her wealth against the principle. When she is called into the office because of a burn book incident she says† I don’t think my father, the inventor of toaster strudel, would be too happy to hear about this.† She believes that her parent’s wealth will get her out of trouble which it does not. Regina she uses her property as her power. She as the biggest house, the biggest room and the nicest car. Showing off her property gives her power. When Cady and Janis try to ruin the plastics; shows the revolt against the governing body is seen a lot in other cultures. In a natural society there are always people that oppose the government and try to â€Å"Bring it down.† In the middle of the movie Cady has a role conflict. She was supposed to go to Maddison with her parents, but her friends wanted her to do other stuff that night as well. She had to choose the role in which she wanted to partake in. She choose the role of a teenager. She threw a party. In the end Cady and Regina are both hated by the school and the â€Å"plastics† is no longer a governing body. The â€Å"Plastics† join other school clicks and everyone seems to be at peace until a new generation of plastics appear. It made a point that although one change occurred. That does not mean future generations will change. A change cannot occur over a generation unless there are people to pass the knowledge down the line. Which is why we store cultural knowledge in books, films and media sources. Mean girls shows many sociological themes through the entire movie which all involved social interaction and the biggest idea of the movie: social class. Works cited Fundamentalsofsoc.edublogs.org/†¦/media-representation-of-mean-girls/ Dictionary.reference.com/browse/definition

The Origins of Memorial Day

The Origins of Memorial Day Memorial Day is celebrated in the United States each May to remember and honor military men and women who died while serving in the nations armed forces. This differs from Veterans Day, which is celebrated in September to honor everyone who served in the U.S. military, whether or not they died in service. From 1868 through 1970, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30th each year. Since then, the official national Memorial Day holiday is traditionally celebrated on the last Monday in May. Origins of Memorial Day On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)- an organization of former Union soldiers and sailors- established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The cemetery already held the remains of 20,000 Union dead and several hundred Confederate dead.  Presided over by General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant and other Washington officials, the Memorial Day ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of General Robert E. Lee. After speeches, children from the Soldiers and Sailors Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns. Was Decoration Day Really the First Memorial Day? While General John A. Logan credited his wife, Mary Logan, with the suggestion for the Decoration Day commemoration, local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead had previously taken place. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.Today cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day between 1864 and 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Georgia, claim the title, as well as Richmond, Virginia. The village of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, also claims to be the first. A stone in a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, the wartime home of General Logan, carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on Ap ril 29, 1866. Approximately twenty-five places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried. Official Birthplace Declared In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, the birthplace of Memorial Day. A local ceremony held on May 5, 1866, was reported to have honored local soldiers and sailors who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-mast. Supporters of Waterloos claim say earlier observances in other places were either informal, not community-wide or one-time events. Confederate Memorial Day Many Southern states also have their own days for honoring the Confederate dead. Mississippi celebrates Confederate Memorial Day the last Monday of April, Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, and Georgia on April 26th. North and South Carolina observe it May 10th, Louisiana on June 3rd and Tennessee calls that date Confederate Decoration Day. Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day January 19th and Virginia calls the last Monday in May Confederate Memorial Day. Learn the Stories of Your Military Ancestors Memorial Day began as a tribute to Civil War dead, and it was not until after World War I that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars.  The origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity. The Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nations wars: Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. What a fitting reminder to all of us to learn about and tell the stories of our military ancestors who died in service. How to Trace Your U.S. Military AncestorsAre You Descended from a Civil War Soldier?Discover Your American WWI AncestorsResearch Your Revolutionary War Patriot AncestorSymbols, Acronyms Abbreviations Found on Military Tombstones Portions of the above article courtesy of the U.S. Veterans Administration

13 Reasons Why You Should Write a Book This Year

13 Reasons Why You Should Write a Book This Year 13 Reasons Why You Should Write a Book This Year Deciding to write a book is analogous to the decision to become a parent. You can weigh the pros and cons and read all the expert books on parenting.You’ll try to decide whether you’re emotionally, financially, and physically ready to take the plunge. But until you become a parent, you’ll never know how amazing, enriching, and challenging your life could be.Once you become a parent, you know that your life will never be the same. These same concepts apply to becoming an author. Until you’ve ushered new creative life into the world you have no idea the incredible, myriad of ways writing a book can better your life and even your business.You’ll ask yourself why you waited so long to make it happen. We’re here to tell you that you should write a book, and you should do it this year. If not now, then when?Here are 12 reasons why this is the year you’ll write your book.NOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the wri ting, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Program. Learn more about it here#1 You are a writer (you just need to write)Listen, everyone can be a writer. Each one of us has a story to share. In fact, most of us have more than one story to share.he simple truth is that in order to be a writer, you just need to write. And to become an author, you just need to publish what you write.At Self-Publishing School, we’re here to tell you that both of these worthy goals are within your reach. You just need to start- today.#2 You’ll discover who you are.By it’s very nature, writing is an introspective, thoughtful activity. The process of writing a book will force you to turn your thoughts inward. Through writing, you’ll gain perspective about what really matters to you. Writing a book will also teach you about the unique value of your own willpower.The simple act of committing to a writing project, and seeing it through, will measure the de pths of your discipline. Writing a book can be a powerful way to get in touch with your thoughts, values, and motivations.Plus, writing is cheaper than therapy!#3 You’ll have created a professional-quality, ready-to-sell book.It used to be that only writers with a publishing deal or those who paid for vanity publication ever got to see their books in print. Those days have changed.Thanks to the rise of self-publishing, any person with a story to tell can become a published author and sell their book. Self-publishing is now affordable, easy to implement, and requires only basic computer skills.If you can type your book on your keyboard, you can figure out how to self-publish. As your own publisher, you call the shots. You’re the CEO of your own destiny.Even better, you get to retain more of the royalties if you self-publish. What’s not to like? Even better, you get to retain more of the royalties if you self-publish. What’s not to like?#4 You’ll p ocket a healthy chunk of change. The brilliant ideas you have kicking around in your head aren’t earning you any money. Only once you commit those ideas to paper and hit publish will you earn income from your thoughts.Your book can earn you a stream of passive income simply by existing. And then there’s the future- audiobooks, courses based on your book, and speaking gigs! And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can make money off your self-published book- but you need to write it first.#5 You’ll let Amazon do the heavy lifting. Amazon self-publishing is easier than ever. Amazon makes it intuitive and straightforward for authors to upload and sell their books.They’ve also made it easy for readers to find and buy your book. It’s a win-win.That’s not to say that you can set up an Amazon page and let it flap in the breeze untended. In order to sell your book, you’ll need to do some marketing and PR.The good news is that Amaz on gives you the tools and resources you need to succeed.#6 You’ll embrace the mantra, â€Å"nobody lives forever.†Nobody’s getting out of this life alive. Our time here is finite. It’s our choice how we want to spend our time. If you’ve ever wanted to write a book, don’t wait for a life crisis to force your hand.The time is now.You have a chance to share your words, thoughts, and passions with the world. Don’t let that chance slip through your fingers.#7 You’ll reignite a passion.Each one of us has a passion for something- whether that’s rock-climbing, organic cooking, or comedic storytelling.What’s your passion? You already know the answer to that question.Here’s our next question: When’s the last time you stoked that passion? If that answer is, â€Å"you can’t remember† or, â€Å"it’s been years,† then youve got some work to do.You owe it to yourself to explore your passion and write a book. We promise that when you’re writing about something you love, it won’t feel like work.#8 You’ll be a pro author. Only 1% of the world’s population ever publishes a book.That’s a heady statistic. By writing a book, you set yourself apart from the masses. Even if your book is fiction or a memoir, the fact that you’re now an author lends an air of authority to your professional endeavors.You can now add â€Å"author† to your CV, LinkedIn, and professional website. In short: No matter what you write a book about, becoming a published author boosts your professional authority.You’ll have accomplished something few other people have. Our preemptive greeting: Welcome to the Author Club!We guarantee you’ll like the rarified air up here.#9 You’ll tackle a new challenge. Life has so many obligations- taxes, school pick-up, miles on the treadmill- it can be easy to fall into a daily rut. Writing a book is leaving your comfort zone.Trying something unfamiliar can be scary- we get it. But, that’s precisely why it’s exciting. The only way you grow as a person is by forcing yourself to leave your comfort zone. Time to jump off the cliff- write a book and become an author this year.You’ll be amazed at how much you’ll gain by pushing the limits of your own self-imposed boundaries.#10 You’ll become smarter.Writing a book requires research. No matter what topic you’re writing about, you’re going to have to research new concepts and topics.By opening the door to new ideas, you’ll educate yourself on a broad array of ideas. You’ll be invigorated by how much you learn while youre writing, and emerge much brighter for having done so.And when you’re done, you can assert yourself as an expert in your field. Your book can then open the door for speaking engagements, conference presentations, and other professional netwo rking opportunities.#11 You’ll stop making excuses and just do it.We know, we know, you’ve been mulling over the idea of writing a book for months (years?) now. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article.How long are you going to give yourself permission to keep quashing your dreams?It’s time to commit and just do it.#12 Because you can!And you will! No more excuses. You can’t afford to put off writing a book any longer. All that counts is that you get your first word on paper, and then a word after that.Before you know it, you’ll have a completed first draft. Think about how amazing you’ll feel? Don’t put it off another day. Write your book today. This is the year for you to finally become an author. Are you FINALLY ready to take action?The only difference between an author and anyone else is the fact that they wrote the book. They started.And you can start TODAY.

Using the Word Humility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Using the Word Humility - Essay Example Applying this term can assume different articulation with the same effect of being modest and lowly. The word often has a positive connotation because it meant being non-offensive and is neither rash nor arrogant. Humility also has the religious connotation that it is considered a virtue. Taking on its religious meaning, humility meant the acknowledgment of his or her defect and shortcomings being a mere creature of a Supreme Being. Being such, humility is the acceptance of a divine grace for assistance, guide, wisdom, etch of a deity of an organized and hierarchal religion. Humility is often a precursor of any divine grace because it makes one a loyal servant deserving of God’s grace of any religious affiliation. Humility can also be taken as deference to a god or Supreme Being that our talents, capabilities and whatever we have come from Him. The philosophical meaning of humility can take in the form of ethics. Philosophically, being humble or modest meant being non-offensive to those who do not possess exemplary characteristic or those who do not have much in life. It is the modest estimation of one’s capability or worth so as not to intimidate or make others uncomfortable. In short, humility is also taken as a way to level down to others so as to make them feel welcome or not to intimidate them with one’s stature or bearing. Humility can be taken as a way to subordinate to oneself to authority. This is the realization that the act of submission to a higher authority will be good to everybody and thus humble enough to submit. This can be observed in government, organizations, and associations of people. For example, we can cite the government and its subjects on how humility assumes a different meaning. The people must humbly submit before the law that governs society to establish order. This is to subordinate the individual’s caprices to the greater good of society.

Budget Control Methodology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Budget Control Methodology - Essay Example Control Centers To build a budgetary control hub together with your business clusters. Usually, responsibility centers are classified into four; investment, revenue, profits and expense. Conventionally, these are characterized by income and cash flow account. Together, these statements have ordinary interconnections, which can be scrutinized with time to achieve equilibrium. The working capital formula derived from the value of current assets minus current liabilities qualifies as a general assessment tool for investors while judging company's basic operational competence. Capital values affixed to any inventory, also known as current assets or money owed to the firm by clients, which is the current liabilities, may not be utilized to settle up a firm’s financial liability. When the flow of working capital is delayed between different cycles, then inefficiency is said to have occurred (Brownell 1985). Forecasting Forecasting is the most decisive element in a budgetary techniqu e. This entails the capacity to chart out a well planned strategy for future prospects. Simply, forecasting is deliberating on potential aspect that may arise in coming days. Every manager is obliged to organize specific drafts, showing objectives and capital requirements. These needs should be assessed against the larger outlook to guarantee compatibility with business standards. A lot of emphasis should be directed towards setting up a responsive budget, which presents proportions of general accounts for relevant sectors. Budgeting should be considered as a device in addition to a control measure (Little et al. 2002). 2. Costing methodologies: While examining costing methods, several methods may be applied to establish expenditure proportionate to administrative obligations. These applications may be classified as follows: Absorption costing: this denotes the guarantee of expenses after they are incurred according to the structure - both fixed and unpredictable costs are apportion ed to cost units while the sum total of overheads is taken up by real activity levels. Absorption costing is defined as total costing owing to the fact that total costs are final amounts assigned to costs. This is also submitted as a standard or time based costing. Still, due to the reality that costs are certified after they have been acquired, and large time-gaps subsist from the point of expenditure to the time of cost citation, it is evident that it does not mitigate cost control. Marginal costing: this system illustrates the theory whereby variable expenses are levied to expenditure units, whereas fixed costs associated with the related duration is settled up wholly versus the input in the given timeframe. The contribution noted marks the variation between sales and the subsidiary cost of sale. Marginal costing can be described as a straight or variable costing.   The technique is a vital tool to the management while deliberating on crucial guidelines, which include pricing, product preference and final choice. Standard costing: this strategy employs standard for costs and returns with a view to management through a variance investigation. Values are set up according to each cost factor on a systematic basis for nonstop future prospects, while actual expenses are weighed up against the same standards. Discrepancies accrued from standards are investigated; logical causes are formed and remedial measures put in place to deter a repeat of wasteful business practices. Differential costing: the technique is mainly concerned with