Monday, August 24, 2020

Cartel and E-books Essay

The article I chose concerns the up and coming antitrust preliminary of Apple for intriguing with distributers to raise the cost of digital books (Chen and Bosman, 2013). For what reason was the firm explored for antitrust conduct? Apple was explored, just as a few distributing organizations for contriving to keep digital book costs high. Amazon is the greatest retailer of digital books, and the distributing business has been tossed into confusion by the notoriety of digital books. Distributing organizations utilized the old distributing model of selling digital books like print books where the distributer offers the book to the retailer, similar to Amazon or Apple, at about a large portion of the cost of the spread cost and the retailer can sell the book at whatever value it picks. (Chen and Bosman, 2013) Apple went into contracts with distributers that utilization a â€Å"agency model† to value digital books. This implied distributers would set the cost of digital books, and the retailer would get 30% of the deal cost as benefit. Apple additionally specified that distributers couldn't set a value lower than the cost in Apple’s digital book store. (Chen and Bosman, 2013) This activity by Apple was explored in light of the fact that the main role of these agreements was to keep the digital book costs higher, and to diminish rivalry between book shops. Amazon, the goliath in the market, would not have the option to contend on cost, and digital books would cost purchasers more. Recognize a portion of the costs (monetary and nonpecuniary) related with the antitrust conduct (firms having power in the market). Moreover, note the particular antitrust act (Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and so forth.) under which the infringement was examined. The monetary expense of the activities of Apple is that customers will pay more cash for books, and Apple, just as other book retailers, won't need to contend on cost with Amazon who rules the market. This will cost Amazon, and book shops and distributers may get more cash-flow to the detriment of shoppers. The non-financial cost will be that books won't be as accessible at low costs to customers who need them, however can't bear the cost of the cost. Value fixing is an infringement of segment 2 of the Clayton Act of 1914. This demonstration precludes value segregation that did not depend on cost contrasts that decreases rivalry. (McConnell, Brue, and Flynn, 2012) Given your examination and discoveries, are restraining infrastructures and oligopolies (firms exhibiting power) in every case terrible for society? Make certain to give true instances of where this might be the situation to fortify your position. Give at any rate one case of a situation where having a syndication or oligopoly may really profit the general public. As per my examination for this situation, Amazon’s show of oligopoly power is useful for society since digital book costs are lower when Amazon attempts to square different contenders from entering the digital book market, and more digital books are then accessible to people in general. This is a decent true case of the positive impact that an oligopoly can have for society, and a case of how guideline is required, and hostile to confide in laws, when oligopolies use arrangement to contend as opposed to letting the free-advertise work. References Chen, B. X., and Bosman, J. (2013, June 2). digital book antitrust preliminary of Apple to start. The New York Times. Recovered from http://www.nytimes.com/McConnell, C. R., Brue, S. L., and Flynn, S. M. (2012). Financial matters (nineteenth ed.). Recovered from http://devry.vitalsource.com/#/books/0077587766/pages/50192724

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Women Role In Society Essays - Gender Studies, Gender Role, Gender

Ladies Role In Society How American culture characterizes a female or (male) What is the lady's job in the public arena? People are in no way, shape or form equivalent. There are continually going to be sure properties of every sexual orientation that the other sex can't copy. This means the one is better than the other. Despite the fact that we are seeing an ever increasing number of ladies prevailing in life than men, American culture despite everything characterizes a ladies as inconsistent. Society has separate people by marking them. It is basic for men to be viewed as solid and ladies to be viewed as frail. The way of life imagines that ladies can't do tasks like men do, for example, firemen or cops and so on and on the off chance that they carry out these responsibilities, the way of life takes a gander at these ladies in a negative side on the grounds that these occupations are manly and ladies shouldn't carry out these responsibilities. Besides, culture characterizes a lady as a touchy individual; anyway so as to acquire these occupations, you must be forceful and intense and a lady isn't that way. The female-male compensation hole is an extremely target portrayal of an acknowledged type of male predominance, regardless of whether it is reasonable or not. In business, men have consistently been in charge. Presently, ladies are battling for equity in the work environment. Be that as it may, American culture needs a lady to be a house spouse, to simply remain at home and deal with youngsters. For what reason would it be advisable for them to? They reserve the privilege to settle on their own choices. In the event that a lady is keen on a vocation and meets the capabilities that business requires, she ought to be viewed as qualified for that activity. The fact is that men have regarded ladies as subordinates from the beginning of time since that is the thing that they have been instructed by the way of life: that ladies are not equivalent to men. With regards to sexuality, the way of life despite everything doesn't characterizes ladies as equivalent. For example, a similar young lady who is constrained into engaging in sexual relations on Saturday, may be called skank and prostitute on Monday morning, however the man who constrained her into sex at the gathering will be called something like macho man or you are the man. For what reason is this unique? This is oblivious. At the point when men have increasingly more sex with young ladies it resembles an accomplishment for them. His companions disclose to him you have accomplished a great deal throughout everyday life, except if young ladies engage in sexual relations with increasingly more folks; she is filthy and it is disfavor for her. To put it plainly, ladies ought to be characterized equivalent to men. Ladies ought to be permitted to do whatever they want in their heart, much the same as any men do. I see no explanation other than obliviousness that we should keep these standards set up. Social Issues

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Mexico things

Mexico things Hey Internet, how’s it going? Good? Good! Personally, I’ve had a pretty lazy past two weeks, indulging in Netflix and the sun and a near-absence of productivity three things I have not experienced consistently in a very long time! Before that, though, I was in Mexico for two months doing research at a tiny university on the outskirts of Mexico City, which was a really cool adventure. My research internship was part of our MISTI program, for which (if you aren’t familiar) you can intern abroad in a foreign country of your choice, given that there is a MISTI program available in that country. Currently there are nineteen countries, and (I just learned this from the MISTI web site) over 850 students participate in the program each year! Which is a lot, but not surprising, especially given that the internships are fully funded. So as for my experience, I will start from the beginning, when I had been procrastinating for a very long time in figuring out what I would do this summer, saying uhhh probably a UROP to anyone who asked about summer plans, when truthfully I had no idea what to do. Then some time during March or April, I heard two friends reminiscing about their MISTI internships from the previous summer and I asked them something like, oh, its too late to sign up for MISTI at this point, right? to which they said, “No, it’s not!” To be sure, some MISTI programs require you to apply during fall semester or to take certain language, history, or culture classes about the country youre applying to, but fortunately, the deadlines and requirements vary by country such that procrastinators like me can still land an internship in mid spring semester. If I remember correctly, I was even a bit past the deadline for the Mexico program when I applied, as was my friend Marcus, whom I persuaded to come to Mexico as well. As a digressionary piece of life advice, if you think youre barred from an opportunity because you missed the deadline by just a little bit, you should still communicate with whomever is in charge and see if there is leniency. I definitely dont recommend disregarding deadlines as general practice, but a lot of times, they’re flexible! Anyway, when I first met with the coordinator for the program, she asked me a couple of questions about what I was studying (Economics), what kind of internship I wanted (research in Economics, preferably public policy?), and what my past work experience was (basically nothing related!). Economics is not a super common field of study for undergrads, and while she said she thought she could probably find something for me, it wasnt entirely guaranteed. So there was still the off-chance I would have to do “uh probably a UROP” or something, though this thankfully never materialized. My impression is that at least a good majority of students who apply to MISTI do get placed into internships theyre satisfied with, but I definitely also have heard of people who dont get placed, which is especially disappointing when they dont have alternate summer plans to fall back on. Another impression I have is that not getting an internship has much more to do with the coordinator not being able to find one available in your field of study as opposed to an application that isnt “good enough,” but again that is only based on what I’ve personally seen and heard. For better information, maybe email the MISTI coordinators, who definitely know more about this than I do. What the MISTI student portal looks like. I then submitted a few other things necessary for the program, including my resume and a “Letter of Motivation” which explained why I wanted to do MISTI-Mexico and why I was interested in doing public policy research. It totally wasnt a difficult application I think the hardest part for me was asking for the two letters of recommendation, cause I felt intimidated by the idea of making such a request of my already-busy professors. When it actually came down to it though, they didn’t seem to be annoyed or sad (or like, mercilessly enraged) at all! They seemed willing and happy to do it. I don’t really know what I expected. :’) From there, it didn’t take that long for me to be notified that I was placed for the program as a research intern in a small university called CIDE, or Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas. I had very little idea of what to expect, but regardless I had an internship (!!) so I threw a tiny mental party of excitement. The only other thing I had to do after that was to attend a series of presentations about stuff like safety and Mexican culture and potential fun places to visit, and basically anything else they thought we should know before going to the country. Status: placed! I left on the plane for Mexico the day after finals ended May 21st which is super early compared to most peoples schedules. I think mid-June is more normal. The earliness was necessary in my case, though, since the place I was interning at was closed for part of the summer, meaning I would have to come during May if I wanted to squeeze in a respectable 8-week internship. I moved into a small apartment that I had found online the next day, which was somewhat difficult because the landlord spoke really fast Spanish with an accent that I could barely understand. I would experience many awkward difficulties understanding Spanish in the two months to come, as well as a massively growing sense of respect for people who can speak a non-native language well. That part was seriously not as easy as I had hoped. Sunset view outside the room Cool selfie in front of the opposite-facing window. My first work day was pretty standard: I met my research supervisor and some students from the school, got a tour of campus, and got some data to start doing things with. The professor who would be my supervisor was the director of the Economics program, and when I mentioned to the other students I was working with her, they were like wow, she is a pretty big deal! Interestingly, she lived all of her life in the US up until finishing her PhD, after which she moved to Mexico City and has lived there ever since. Her research relates broadly to development and social welfare, though her interests this summer seemed more focused on public health issues. So the first project I was given to work on was a simple study to determine how consumption of sugary beverages and foods has changed in Mexico over the last several decades and if this trend had varied across certain socioeconomic factors. I would spend most of my time thereafter doing data analysis for various hypotheses related to grow ing obesity rates, which apparently is an even more significant public health problem in Mexico than it is in the US. Although that wasnt the precise topic I was like #1 most interested in, it was definitely still a worthwhile/educational experience to do research like a Real person. I would come to campus each day between 10 and 11 and work until 6 or 7 each evening, and gave progress updates to my professor often. CIDE campus. Source One morning within the first week or two I was there, my professor mentioned to me that she thought the housing I had found for myself wasnt all that nice. I couldnt really decipher if she meant that she thought it wasnt safe, or what; I mean, I guess it was in a less-upscale part of the area, but I personally didnt have any complaints about it! Either way, she generously invited me to come and live with her and her young daughter instead, which was a much better situation cause her house is super nice, probably a lot safer, and also significantly closer to the university. I ended up living there for the majority of my time in Mexico and consequently spent more time than I had anticipated watching anime with the ten-year-old daughter of two professors who amusingly always said exactly what she was thinking. Being around kids requires patience, but it is nice. :) A picture from the neighborhood I moved to, which I only took cause I was like ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ dogs!!!!!!!!! As for other stuff I did, my professor and her daughter brought me to see the famous National Museum of Anthropology and to other interesting spots around the city while I was there, which was totally unexpected and kind. It seemed like in addition to the research internship, she was also concerned with how I was personally enjoying my time in Mexico. I noticed that in general Mexicans seem more socially forward and hospitable than Americans, and when I met new people for the first time they would say stuff like oh, you should meet my family! or suggest we could go somewhere fun on the weekend. So I ended up being taken to various places by various families and seeing a lot of the citys biggest attractions without even trying (though I did take my last five days in the country after I my internship had ended to purposefully and methodically do all the remaining touristy things). I also hung out a lot with mi amigo Marcus 18, who was the only other person I really knew who was doing M ISTI in Mexico City. Which was a fun time (???* ) though it would have been better if the city werent so enormous, cause we were still about 50 minutes apart. The time another professor at CIDE and his family brought me to see the pyramids at  Teotihuacan A very strange painting I found in a famous cathedral of three Jesuses stepping on some flying baby heads! .-. Anyway, the summer I had abroad was great thank you MISTI and thank you Mexico. :) Though of course it feels good to be home.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Actuarial Finance Advanced Enterprise Risk Management Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2772 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? A rating-based credit model can typically be looked at as two separate parts; a credit sensitive component based on the firms rating and a non-credit sensitive part which looks at other factors which have an impact on a bonds price. There are two primary ways for identifying these factors as described below. The first way to identify factor structures is to take known factors which are likely to impact the price of the bond and then use multivariate regression techniques to identify each bonds exposure to the factor. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Actuarial Finance Advanced Enterprise Risk Management Finance Essay" essay for you Create order These factors are commonly broken down into two categories: Fundamental factors These are factors which are specific to each individual issuer and can be derived from a companys annual report and accounts. For example, one factor could be the companys price to book ratio. Economic factors These are economic factors which are external to the company but known to affect the price of bonds. For example, these could include interest rates, exchange rates and / or commodity input prices. The second way to identify factors is through a statistical analysis. This method eliminates the need to have any prior knowledge about the factors affecting the bonds price. The idea of the statistical analysis is to identify other predictable time series that, in aggregate, can mainly explain the historic returns of the bonds in question. These time series are then our factors and we can calculate the exposure of each bond to each factor. The most common way to do this is through a principal component analysis. As seen in lecture notes, if we assume changes in credit ratings are independent of the other factors identified above then an r rated bond can be valued as below: Where represents the cash flow of the bond at time i. The term represents the impact on the price of the credit rating has, i.e. the discounting impact of the credit spread. The represents the price of a default free zero coupon bond paying 1 at time t, given it is currently time . Here we can build in the factor structure pricing model described above. A risk manager of the life insurer interprets the term tail dependency to mean correlations between returns in those cases where the return is relatively adverse over a relatively short time period, say, in the bottom 1% or 5% of outcomes in a given month. The risk manager asserts that bonds of similar duration issued by different companies typically exhibit higher tail dependency (as defined above) than their common stock, i.e. their equity share capital. (b) Identify economic reasons for and against this point of view. [6 marks] For: Corporate bond returns are largely driven by the underlying government bond yield (i.e the interest rate) of the same duration. Therefore, if the government bond yield at a particular duration rose sharply, the value of all corporate bonds at that duration would fall sharply, assuming credit spreads remained unchanged. A suitably large move in the government bond yield could result in all corporate bonds experience a bottom 1% or 5% outcome. Such correlations to a single underlying factor do not exist in equity markets. This is especially true for very long dated corporate bonds which are very sensitive to the underlying rate. The bottom 1% or 5% of outcomes for a bond is likely to be a default event or very close to default. A company defaulting is more likely to be a sign of hard economic times, than its common stock experiencing a tail event, which could easily be driven by a media event or localised disruption. In hard economic times you would expect the default rate to rise and credit spreads across the board to widen (i.e. tail events for a number of stocks). Equity returns are significantly more sensitive to a companys short term results (i.e. quarterly earnings and profit reports) than its bonds. These results which can trigger tail events in a companys equity are often released on different days and this observation would suggest equity markets have a lower tail dependency than bonds. Against When a companys bond has a tail event, its common stock is also likely to have fallen significantly, i.e. a tail event of its own. Therefore a tail dependency for two bonds would also imply a tail dependency for the companies common stock. Equities are much more sensitive to market sentiment in the short term than bonds. A bad market reaction to a particular piece of news can cause equity markets to crash sharply and sell off. In these situations there are rarely stocks that are exempt from the sell off and hence equities display a high le vel of tail dependency. Two bonds which have significantly different credit ratings are likely to be exposed to different factors and hence what may cause a tail event for one bond might not for another. For example, a high yielding C rated bond will be a lot more sensitive to market sentiment than a AAA rated bond and this division of market sensitivity is much less pronounced in equity markets. (c) Describe how you might test this assertion statistically. [5 marks] To test an assertion we first need to specify exactly what we want to test. We would therefore need to decide whether we are looking at the 5% or 1% tail event, what measure of tail dependence we want to look at and also which companies or markets we are talking about. We also then need to decide on what data we want to use to test the assertion. For example, we could use historic data for the specific companies or markets over the last X years. We would need to decide how many years to look at and in particular decide the relevance of major economic events and also consider if this history is likely to be a good representation of the future. Once we have decided on what data to use and collected this information we need to calculate the tail dependencies of pairs of bonds and the corresponding pairs of common stock. The tail dependence is given by Here, u is the level of tail dependence (i.e. the 1% or 5%) and the probability is calculated using the empirical CDFs or the two stocks and bonds given by the data. Once we have calculated the tail dependencies we need to check whether the hypothesis is true and also evaluate how significant the result is. For example, if the hypothesis holds in this one test but the tail dependencies are very close, there is little evidence to support the hypothesis. To further test the results we may wish to consider a longer time period, or splitting the period into a number of sub periods and seeing if the result still holds in each individual period. (d) Highlight types of insurance products the insurer might sell or investments the insurer might hold that would be particularly sensitive to correlations between different bonds or different equities in relatively adverse outcomes. [3 marks] The insurer may sell trade credit insurance to other businesses that are looking to insure against the credit risk in their accounts receivable. An increase in the correlation of credit events for the insurer, especially in adverse conditions, may trigger a high number of claims and have a large negative impact on their business. The insurer may hold a number of complex investments in credit derivative products which are highly sensitive to correlations in adverse conditions. For example an n-th to default credit derivative whereby a pay-out is made if more than n credit names default within a predefined basket. The price of the long position in the derivative will rise dramatically if there is likely to be a high correlation in the tail of bond markets. If the correlation is expected to be relatively low then it is likely even if one name defaults others will not follow and the price will be lower. Other such investment products particularly affected by the correlation in th e tail are iTraxx, CDOs, CDO-Squared, LSS and Quanto or diff swaps. The life insurer may also sell an insurance bond (or investment bond product) which allows investors to tax efficiently invest in an underlying investment fund. An investment fund which holds any of the above products will be exposed in the same way as the company to correlations in bond and equity markets. Question 2 [20 marks] (a) Summarise the main ways in which banks typical approaches to liquidity risk proved inadequate during the 2007-09 credit crisis and also summarise the main changes that Basel III is mandating to capital requirements for such risks in the light of these inadequacies. [5 marks] During the credit crisis bank balance sheets became very stretched. The majority of banks business models had relied on continued access to liquidity and I have set out a number of reason for this below. Prior to the 2007-09 credit crisis, bank risk models generally relied on past data to act as a guide to the future. Therefore stress tests carried out by banks largely underestimated the linkage between market liquidity and funding liquidity as such a scenario had not occurred before. They also had relatively little focus on developing new stress test scenarios so were caught out by the crisis. Furthermore, banks typically treated the funding cost of transaction with a maturity of less than one year to be equal. When the fear of the crisis set in and large spreads opened up between the costs of funding within the one year period (i.e. spread between overnight lending and 3 6 month LIBOR) many banks models become inadequate and had to quickly adapt. Banks also did not prop erly account for the funding and liquidity requirements of off balance sheet vehicles. Banks had largely seen these as standalone and separate from their main business, however, during the crisis banks found themselves facing large legal and reputational risks if these vehicles were not brought back onto the banks own balance sheets. This left the banks even shorter of liquidity. Additionally, a number of banks had taken out liquidity lines with other private sector firms, whereby the banks were able to access liquidity from these firms on demand. They had allowed for this provision of liquidity in their models, however, it became very difficult for banks to draw on this liquidity during the crisis. Banks found that if they were seen to be drawing on liquidity from these sources they were perceived to be more vulnerable and subsequently cut off from other sources of liquidity. Basel III has looked to address the inadequacy of banks liquidity management through two liquidity ra tios falling under pillar 1. The first of these is the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) which is designed to ensure banks hold sufficient high quality liquid assets such that they could survive and cover its net outflows over a 30 day period in a stress case scenario. The second is the Net Stable Funding Ratio which has a longer term focus and aims to encourage banks to fund their activities with stable sources of funding. Basel III also introduced additional liquidity monitoring metrics which look to address the mismatch of cash flow durations. (b) Review the risks that the pension fund might face if it enters into such a transaction and, if practical, propose refinements that might address these risks without invalidating the stated attractions of the transaction to the investment bank. You may assume that the transaction would relate to a sizeable proportion of the pension funds overall asset base. [9 marks] Firstly the pension scheme is exposed to the risk that the bank goes bankrupt and the contract becomes worthless. The pension fund would be left with a portfolio of illiquid, long-dated, less well rated corporate bonds. It may be the case that the pension scheme can sell these bonds and replace the original portfolio of bonds it had to begin with and be better off. However, in a situation where a bank has defaulted it is likely credit spreads will have widened and government yields fallen and the pension scheme would lose out and not be able to repurchase its original portfolio. One potential way to mitigate against this risk would be to invest through a pooled fund (like that run by FC) which pools pension scheme money together and put the above trade on with a number of banks, thus diversifying the risk of that one bank. Another potential solution is to enter the trade with the banks less liquid portfolio being valued at a significant haircut to market value, thus improving the likelihood of being able to replace the liquid portfolio should the bank go under. Another solution would be to require collateralisation of the difference in value between the two portfolios so that the pension scheme could regain its portfolio should the bank default. Given the purpose of the trade in the first place it would be sensible to let the bank collateralise the trade with similar illiquid holdings at a haircut. To further mitigate this risk the pension scheme could employ an investment advisor to help assess the constituents of the illiquid portfolio. Ensuring the portfolio is well diversified can help the portfolio to retain value and hence minimise losses in the event of the bank going bankrupt. The trade also introduces liquidity risk for the pension scheme, while it is true pension schemes are long term investors and are unlikely to be forced liquidators of assets, it does not mean that pension schemes are void of risks posed by low liquidity. Most of t he risks associated with low liquidity for a pension scheme are opportunistic ones. For example, suppose five years down the line, after having carried out the trade, interest rates move significantly and buyout conditions become favourable. The pension scheme would not be able to liquidate its assets for a year, in which time, markets may have moved again. Another example might be that the government wants to get pension schemes involved in infrastructure projects and offer a very attractive investment opportunity, again the pension scheme has its assets tied up and would miss out on this opportunity. There is little to be done to mitigate this risk as the pension scheme is effectively receiving a premium for its liquidity. Reducing the pension scheme illiquidity by, for example, shortening the notice period, would reduce the premium it was being paid. The only way to slightly reduce this risk without reducing the attractiveness of the trade for the bank is to ensure that the contract can be traded on the secondary market (i.e. if the pension scheme wants to get out within the years notice period, it could find another pension scheme to take its place in the trade). The easiest way for the pension scheme to do this is again to use a pooled fund. The low number of pooled funds currently offering this type of product improves the chances of the pension scheme finding a buyer in the secondary market. (c) Propose 3 reverse stress tests that might be used when reviewing and discussing the risks involved in such a transaction and indicate with reasons which of your proposed reverse stress tests might be the most plausible way in which a typical UK (defined benefit) pension fund might run into significant trouble with the proposed transaction. [6 marks] If the trade was carried out on a sensible part of the pension schemes assets it is likely an accumulation of events will need to have occurred to put the pension scheme into financial difficulties (i.e. not being able to make benefit payments as they fall due). I believe the most likely scenario is that the world economy falls into recession, leading to rising default rates and widening credit spreads. Further, the bank with which the pension scheme had entered the trade with collapses. The pension scheme is left with a portfolio of illiquid corporate bonds which are trading at extremely distressed levels due to the widened credit spreads. To add to the pension scheme woes all the growth assets are likely to have also fallen in value, while the value of their liabilities rise as gilt yields fall. In addition to the bank defaulting and credit spreads rising as two reverse stress tests, the pension scheme could be put into trouble if it faced a large portion of members request ing transfer values. This could potentially lead to the pension scheme having to sell all its liquid assets to meet these transfer values. In the extreme case, the one year lock in period could lead to the pension scheme not having assets to sell to meet its on-going benefit outgo.

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Change in Marji Persepolis - 1311 Words

Topic: Character Analysis of Marji in Persepolis Audience: Teacher Purpose: To Persuade You Are Who You Are Dean Acheson once gave the timeless advice of â€Å"always remember that the future comes one day at a time†. This quote highlights how truly important each and every day is and the significance of the time you use or waste. The way that you choose to use that time, the decisions you make, and the things that surround you change who you are and greatly affect your future. These are all aspects that were clearly shown throughout the graphic novel Persepolis. It is because of these aspects of life that Marji developed the characteristics that she did. As an Iranian citizen Marji was consumed by war for a long time. This is what†¦show more content†¦For example, one day Marji’s parents told her about her Uncle Anoosh that she had never met. The two immediately had a very close bond that stayed strong even through their final few moments together. He taught her about the war, and through his stories and actions he taught her to believe in hersel f, and her ideas no matter what any one else thought. Anoosh believed in the revolution wholeheartedly and even though it may not have turned out great for him, his dedication, perseverance, and stubbornness are all traits that Marji later portrayed throughout the book. Another person who greatly impacted Marji’s life was her grandmother. She had a great influence on Marji who looked up to her, and knew that her grandmother was always there to look out for her. Marji’s grandmother had a strong moral sense that showed in every situation. She frequently acts as Marji’s conscience throughout the story; for example, in the film when Marji was about to get caught by the Guardians of the Revolution, she did whatever was necessary in order to avoid persecution. But her grandmother was quick to tell her that what she had done as wrong, and had to be set straight. Her grandmother keeps her grounded, and helps her remember who she is and where she comes from when she lose s sight of it. She taught her about humility, integrity, and that in â€Å"Life, everyoneShow MoreRelatedThe Aftermath Of War And Violence923 Words   |  4 PagesThe young generation are growing up being taught that the best way to solve something is to go to war and kill people. War and violence are making society fall to little pieces. In Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, the main character Marji lives in Tehran, which is in the middle of a war that goes on throughout Marji s childhood there. Many of the friends that she had and family members either served in the war or were prisoners of war, like her uncle that gets arrested and then killed. The WomanRead MorePersepolis : A Child s Perspective1222 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"Iran was the epitome of evil† This was the world’s view of Iran during its revolution. Persepolis is the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, and it is written from a child’s perspective. Telling Persepolis from a child’s perspective affects the empathy a reader would have for Marji because people often feel more sympathy for children than other adults. Children are often seen as innocent, impressionable, and kind. This places them in a separate category where they are often judged as innocentRead MorePersepolis : The Story Of An Iranian Child Meeting Westernized Culture1205 Words   |  5 Pages Persepolis: the story of an Iranian child meeting Westernized culture Works in Translation Paper English A: Literature HL Catalina Pino-Rios XXXXX (Candidate Number) Mrs. Smithson May 2017 Bethesda Chevy Chase High School Word Count: 1207 Many people from around the world have a different perspectives of what western culture really is depending on where you are in the world, or what cultures and religions you follow. Some see is at a place of wealthRead MorePersepolis: perceptions of the veil1546 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿Persepolis; Perceptions of the veil [Satrapi, (b) p52] â€Å"And say to the believing woman that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty...that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty...† SÃ… «rah 24:31 The autobiographical novel â€Å"Persepolis† depicts the early stages of its author, Marjane Satrapi’s life. It shows her growing up in Iran, to her studies in Vienna, and her return. In an interview in 2008, she stated that she composedRead MoreAnalysis Of Persepolis And The Kite Runner 1023 Words   |  5 PagesBildungsromans Challenge Gender Roles in Society In both Persepolis and The Kite Runner, readers are presented with two main characters in search for their own self-realization. According to Lukà ¡cs’s theory, â€Å"the self-realization of the individual ultimately sheds some light also on ‘social reality’† (22). Ultimately, readers are able to gain insight to the social realities of the characters’ nation states in both novels. Persepolis allows readers to learn about women and femininity in Iran’sRead MoreMarjane Satrapis Persepolis1238 Words   |  5 PagesPersepolis Review â€Å"One can forgive but one should never forget† is one of the quotes that Marjane Satrapi says in her memoir titled Persepolis. The memoir tells the story of Marjane when she was ten years old during the Islamic Revolution in the Middle East, specifically in her home country Iran. Most people evacuated the country because they knew there was not going to be a safe, prosperous future for their children. Due to Marji’s development from youth to maturity, she undergoes teenage rebellionRead MoreMarjane Satrapi s Persepolis 1646 Words   |  7 Pages Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis is an expressive memoir of her growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, the fall of the Shah’s regime and the Iran-Iraq War. Unlike conventional memoirs, she uses the black-and-white comic book form to find her identity through politics and her personal experiences in Iran and it has become effective and relevant in today’s society because she is a n ormal person that has had to live through extreme circumstances. Marjane has contributed to a wholeRead MorePersepolis : The Invisible Art Essay1369 Words   |  6 PagesPersepolis In graphic memoir Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi illustrates the eventful life of Marji, an Iranian girl’s living most of her life in Tehran, Iran during the Islamic Revolution. The author commences her story as child and creates a timeline of series of events as she enters adulthood. Marji, represents many disenfranchise women, as she faces discrimination, exile, and confusion in her own country. Uniquely, Starapi’s work can be a justification to prove Scott McCloud’s design theories inRead MoreA Young Girls Growth to Maturity in Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi803 Words   |  3 PagesThe graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi is a political and personal account of a young girl’s growth to maturity. The novel serves as an autobiography of the author’s childhood in Tehren, Iran. It describes what it was like to grow up during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the end of the Shah’s regime, and the war with Iraq. One of the most prominent themes i n the novel is the clash between modernity and fundamentalism. The reader can observe this conflict through Irans internal oppositionsRead MoreHow and Why Is a Social Group Represented in a Particular Way? Persepolis1442 Words   |  6 Pagesgrew up under oppression during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. * Give and explain evidence of how the author presents that different social groups were marginalized/silenced. * Show how Marji and her parents shared the same beliefs when making reference to the regime.    The graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, explores her childhood years in the middle of the Islamic Revolution. Situated in the commotion of the overthrowing of the Shahs regime, and the war with Iraq,  the reader

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Social media and the elderly Free Essays

There is much research which indicates that social media makes it easier to interact with there people, to find people with similar interests, and to keep in touch with those whom one already knows. However, there is nearly just as much research which indicates the opposite -? that social media serves to disconnect one from one’s friends, that it creates social isolation, and that it causes superficial interactions. Adding to the difficulties in reaching a clear conclusion about this matter is the fact that many, if not most of the studies about the effects of social media on friendships and social interactions have been done on the young. We will write a custom essay sample on Social media and the elderly or any similar topic only for you Order Now Even for studies about the young, it is not entirely retain if a broader social network encourages adoption of social media, or if adoption of social media encourages a broader social network. Judging from what is known about other differences between older people and young people, it is quite likely that the ways in which they use social media will also significantly differ. Among other things, it is known that older people are usually later adopters of technology than are young people. Other things are known about social media usage regardless Of age. In particular, social media has a very different effect on one’s local social networks than it does on those at a regional or national level. Social Media A number of different researchers have found contradictory results about the effects of social media usage on older people. For instance, some studies have found that using Faceable increases weak social ties at the expense of stronger ties, while other studies have found that that does not occur. The studies which found no effect also found a relationship between the quality of in-person friendships and the use of instant messaging on social networking sites. Additionally, other differences were seen among users of social media. For instance, for those adopters of social networking who had high social irises, their number of friends increased faster than did the number of friends of those who had smaller social circles. Users of social networking sites were also less likely to ask their neighbors for help Social Networking and Mental Health In Older Adults Up to this point, there have not been very many studies of how use of social networking effects the mental and emotional health of older adults. A number of studies have found that large circles of friends is strongly associated with increased cognitive performance in older adults, while depression is strongly connected to feelings of isolation and loneliness. Because of this, there is a good possibility that using social networking can stave off depression because it can give people a greater number of social contacts. There is also some evidence that the use of social networking can help older adults to improve their cognitive performance and overall quality of life. This is because social networking increases social capital. Other studies have confirmed this and found that social networking in itself does not have any positive or negative effect on older adults. Rather, the way in which social networking is used plays a strong role in determining what effect it will have n an older person’s quality of life – some people use social networking as a way to compensate for otherwise-inadequate networks of friends, while other people use it to actively keep in touch with people they know. Making Social Networking Accessible One of the areas which the above studies have neglected is accessibility. Older people often suffer from poorer vision and other problems. Many, if not most, social media websites are designed for young and middle-aged adults. These designs are often not conducive to older people gaining as much as possible from their use of these sites. Chaos, Lair and Lie conducted a duty of how social networking can be made more accessible to older people. They found that many of these sites had been designed without older people in mind and thus did not incorporate several design principles that they found to be important. These principles included using contrasting colors, making sure that interfaces were relatively simple and intuitive, and excluding extraneous information whenever possible. They found, that if these design principles were followed, then it is likely that the satisfaction which elderly people gain from using these sites would increase significantly. Conclusion Currently, there is no consensus on how social media affects the elderly. However, there is a lot of data that suggests two possible conclusions. The first possible conclusion is that using social media either has no effect on older adults or a very mild negative effect. How to cite Social media and the elderly, Papers

Monday, April 27, 2020

Spoken English free essay sample

1. What is your name? My name is Priya. 2. What is your fathers name? My fathers name is Mr. Kannan 3. What is your mothers name? My mothers name is Mrs. Lakshmi 4. What is your father? My father is a Businessman 5. What is your mother? My mother is a House-wife 6. How many sisters do you have? I have no sister 7. How many brothers do you have? I have one elder brother 8. Where do you live? I live in V. K. Puram 9. How old are you? I am fifteen years old 10. Who is your spoken English teacher? My spoken English teacher is Mrs. Angel RaJamani 11. How many girls are there in your class? There are 62 girls in my class 2. What day is today? Today is Wednesday 13. Do you like your school? Yes, I do 14. Do you play in the evening? Yes, I play in the evening 15. What games do you play? I play throw ball, basketball 16. We will write a custom essay sample on Spoken English or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Who is your favourite teacher? Our English teacher is our favourite teacher 17. Do you read newspapers? No I dont read newspapers 18. Do you watch T. V? Yes I watch T. V 19. When do you get up in the morning? Usually I get up at 6. 00 a. m 20. How do you go to school? I go to school by bus/by cycle/on foot 21 . When does your class start? My class starts at 9. 30. a. m My favourite subject is mathematics 3. Who is your friend? My friend is Sheela 24. When do you go to bed? I go to bed at 9. 00. p. m 25. Have you got a bicycle? Yes I have got a bicycle 26. Who is our president? Our president is Mrs. Prathiba Patel 27. Who is our prime minister? Our prime minister is Mr. Manmohan Singh 28. Who is our chief minister? Our chief minister is Mr. M. Karunanidhi 29. Who is our education minister? Our education minister is Mr. Thangam Thennarasu 30. Who is your school head mistress? My school head mistress is Rev. Sr. S. Patricia 31 . Who is your school correspondent? My school correspondent is Rev. Sr. S. Arul Mary 32. How many classrooms are there in your school? 44 classrooms are there in my school 33. Do you like stories? Yes, I like stories 34. Can you dance? No, I cant 35. Can you sing? Yes, I can sing 36. Why are late to the school? I missed the bus 37. Why are you crying? I have lost my purse 38. Has the bell gone? Yes the bell has gone 39. Is tomorrow a holiday? Yes, tomorrow is a holiday 40. Who broke the bottle? I dont know 41 . What is the time now? It is 8. 00. a. m 42. May I come in Madam? Yes, come in 43. May I drink water? Yes you may 44. May I go to toilet? 45. May I read the lesson? 46. Which class are you studying in? I am studying in IX standard 47. Which section are you in? I am studying in section B 48. What day is tomorrow? Tomorrow is Friday. 49. What day was yesterday? Yesterday was Tuesday 50. Do you bring your lunch to school? Yes I do 51 . Is your school big? Yes my school is big 52. Do you pray to God daily? Yes I pray to my God daily 53. Do you help your mother? Yes I help my mother 54. Do you study well? I am trying to study well 55. Who sits near you? Nandhini sits near me in my class 56. Who is the tallest girl in your class? Gopika is the tallest girl in my class 57. Who is the best girl in your class? Gayathri is the best girl in your class 58. How many days are there in a week? There are seven days in a week 59. What are they? Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 60. How many months are there in a year? There are 12 months in a year 61 . What are they? January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December 62. How many days are there in February? 28 days in ordinary year and 29 days in leap year 63. What can I do for you? Please lend me your pen 64. What do you want to buy? I want to buy notebooks 5. What is the name of your school? My school name is Amali girls higher secondary school Tamil Nadu 67. What is the name of your country? India 68. Which district do you belong to? I belong to Tirunelveli district 69. What are the two important expressions in English? PLEASE and THANK YOU 70. Have you traveled by train? Yes I have travelled by train 71 . Do you have a garden in your school? Yes we have a beautiful garden in our school 72. Do you like to watch cricket? Yes I like to watch cricket 73. Have you ever visited a museum? No I havent 74. Does your teacher beat you? Never she is good to us 75. Are you proud of your school? Yes I am proud of my school 76. Will you pass in all the subjects? I will try to pass in all the subjects 77. Do you revise your lessons everyday? Yes I revise my lessons everyday 78. What fruit do you like? I like mangoes, apples, oranges 79. What is your favourite colour? Rose is my favourite colour 80. When do we celebrate Independence day? Every year on 1 5th August 81 . Where does our president live in? Our president lives in Rashtrapathi Bhavan 82. Why didnt you come to school yesterday? I was not well 83. Where are you going? I am going to the market 84. What are going to buy? I am going to buy Vegetables 85. When will you be back? I will be back in half an hour 86. What is your date of birth? My date of birth is 16th September 1996 87. Did you show your report card to your parent? Yes I have shown it 88. Have you brought the money for the excursion? 89. Have you been to Chennai? No, I havent been to Chennai 90. Why are you standing here? I am waiting for my friend 91 . Are the taps left open? No they are closed 92. Why were you punished? I didnt do my homework 93. What is your ambition in your life? My aim is to become an I. A. S. officer 94. Why do you want to become an I. A. S Officer? I like to serve the people 95. Have you gone to library? Yes I have gone to library 96. What kind of books do you like to read in the library? Auto-biographies of great personalities 97. How many marks would you like to score in sslc? I would like to score above 450 98. Why are you coming late from school today? We had special class today 99. In which subject? Anything special? English. We Practiced spoken English 100. Why do you want to learn spoken English? I would like speak fluently in English. 101 . Who teaches you spoken English? Our English teacher Mrs. Angels RaJamani teaches us spoken English.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

The Formulation, Implementation and Evaluation of Public Policy

The Formulation, Implementation and Evaluation of Public Policy Introduction The efforts to solve certain problems attracting public concerns create the necessity to formulate and implement public policies. Ridde (2009:939) defines a public policy as an action that a government deems appropriate or inappropriate for its citizens.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Formulation, Implementation and Evaluation of Public Policy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Put differently, public policy encompasses a set of aims coupled with a specified group of activities, which resolve a particular public problem when properly executed (Lyhne, 2011:324). From this paradigm, the processes of formulation, implementation, and evaluation of policies are defined as covering the integration of myriads of fragmented process (sub-processes) (Ridde, 2009:943). In some situations, governments adopt policies that fail to achieve the anticipated outputs. This scenario occurs when a formulated public policy is implemented, but the problem intended to be solved by the policy continues. Such a situation attracts the attention of policy analysts, who try to determine the reasons for the policy failure. One of the most common approaches to this involves finding out the deficiencies within the policy-formulation and implementation phases (Ridde, 2009:945). Public policy is an important aspect of contemporary government operations. Taking the above arguments as a starting point, this essay aims to discuss evaluation as an important component of policy formulation and implementation. Non-incorporation of evaluation in the two phases creates difficulties in determining eminent deficiencies in policy that has been formulated and implemented. Deficiencies in policy formulation and implementation are risk factors for the failure of a policy to achieve the anticipated outcomes. This essay is divided into two main sections. It first describes the processes of policy formulation, policy implementat ion, and policy evaluation as discrete entities. A discussion of policy evaluation as an integrated process in policy formulation and implementation then follows in the analysis section. The essay also addresses the rationale behind integrating public-policy evaluation into the formulation and implementation stages. In conclusion, the essay will hold that the evaluation, formulation and implementation of public policy cannot be separated into discrete stages. Description Formulating Public Policies Governments, organisations and groups of people set and adopt procedural guidelines towards the achievement of their set goals and objectives. Policies are generally initiated to influence various environments, thereby addressing adverse effects that arise in those environments.Advertising Looking for essay on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Public-policy formulation involves the processes of studying an d assessing issues that emerge as a potential threat and the impact they may have on the public (Vizzard, 1995:342). The public-policy formulation process intends to limit the identified consequences of a problem for the subject environments or invoke better performance of undertakings in the public sector (Fyfe, Miller McTavish, 2009: 214). Well-formulated policies are rational, specific in their statements, and applicable to specific extents only (Marsh McConnell, 2010:565). Such policies are not ambiguous and are effective in achieving the intended objectives. The process of public-policy formulation is intricate. Creating a policy in order to oversee all stakeholders and pressure groups is a dangerous mistake. The civil society working together with the government is one way of ensuing democracy and collective representation. In the end, this enhances the effectiveness of the policy-formulation process. For an effective policy-formulation process, it is crucial that staff is h ighly knowledgeable of, and conversant with, institutional processes. Institutional processes encompass the determination of policy subject matter, implementation plans, and designing and scrutinising the assessment and revision of public policies (Vizzard, 1995:344). Thorough analysis based on the identified problems in public-policy formulation enhances the realisation of well-formulated policies; thus, mitigating the risks of unintended consequences emerging. Plans made for dealing with organisational setbacks in policy management play a significant part in raising the policy-formulation capability. The process of creating public policy involves decision-making processes; it centres on making amendments during the implementation of public policies (Milward, 1980:256). This implies that the formulation and implementation of public policies works mutually, but not as two separate entities. Implementing Public Policies Policy implementation follows the process of policy formulation. Mazmanian and Sabatier (1983:56) describe policy implementation to include exercising particular policy decisions in a manner directed by the prescriptions of an administrator, law, or court guidance. There are two main approaches to policy implementation: bottom–up, and top-down.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Formulation, Implementation and Evaluation of Public Policy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The top-down approach is bureaucratic. Sabatier (1986:32) notes that it starts through a â€Å"policy decision and focuses on the extent to which its objectives are attained over time and why†. The establishment of the capacity of the implementation process to be consistent with causal theory, coupled with policy objectives, aims, and goals, is essential for a successful top-down process of policy implementation. The top-down approach to policy implementation is unidirectional (Sabatier, 1986:28). The process does not provide room for information flow through feedback channels. The success of the top-down process of public-policy implementation is a function of the capacity of the legal frameworks and the enforcing agencies to force or compel groups of people targeted by the policy to abide by the policy guidelines. In the implementation of any policy, one determinant of success is how skilled the people charged with the implementation are (Matland, 1995:162). Success in implementing a policy using the top-down approach is also dependent on socio-economic factors. The socio-economic factors have a role to play in policy implementation, as they constitute one of the measures used to assess the success of implementation. The top-down approach requires political willingness as well as political support. May and Wintner (2009:467) maintain that the approach demands that the eventual success of the policy implemented should be measured by how well it is able to solve the problems that it was initially meant to offer solutions to. The process divides the public-policy implementation process into two main segments. The first segment, the ‘top’, takes the role of the development of the policy. The ‘bottom’ constitutes the public-policy implementation agents. This segmentation ensures the flow of voice of command from the uppermost level to the lowest level in a single direction so that bureaucracy is enhanced during the implementation process. A major challenge of using the top-down approach in the implementation of public policies is encountered when all issues affecting groups targeted by a given policy must be fully addressed in the implementation of that policy. As a result, researchers supporting the top-down approach, such as de Leon and de Leon (2002:468), and researchers opposed to it, such as Howlett, Ramesh and Perl (2009:14), fail to agree on an appropriate process for public-policy implementation.Advertising Looking for essay on political culture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Leon and de Leon (2002:472) state that bureaucrats constitute important agents for public policy implementation, although they are ignored by those who are charged with the role of implementing the top-down approach in public policy. The main argument here is that abiding by policy guidelines should not be a choice. Rather, it is mandatory. As opposed to the top-down approach to policy-implementation process, the bottom-up approach integrates the groups of people targeted by a public policy into the implementation process. Sabatier (1986:32) notes that this step is initiated by â€Å"identifying the network of actors involved in service delivery in one or more local areas and asking] them about their goals, strategies, activities, and contacts†. The acquired contacts are then utilised in the development of myriads of networks with an objective of increasing the number of local, national, and regional actors who would play the roles of financing, planning and executing the pol icy. In the bottom-up approach, ‘top’ as well as ‘bottom’ actors in the process of creating public policies collaborate and exchange information about policy formulation and implementation via a dynamic process. The bottom-up approach maintains that the phases of policy implementation and formulation are inseparable (Matland, 1995:167). According to Pastine and Pastine (2010:85), the approach views politicians and administrators as playing critical roles in the successful process of policy formulation followed by its implementation. Policy-making experts and politicians form the top level of the policy-making process. The people whose problems a public policy seeks to solve form the bottom level. The need for a public policy emerges from the bottom. The response to these needs, however, is a responsibility of those at the ‘top’. Sabatier (1986:41) criticises this direction of information flow in policy-making in the context of the bottom-up app roach, claiming that it is unidirectional because policy-making initiates from the ‘bottom’ and moves towards the ‘top’. The successful implementation of public policies requires the integration of the person affected by the policy in the planning, formulation, and implementation phases of the policy (Cope Goodship, 1999:9). Considering that the top-down public-policy implementation process is unidirectional and Sabatier (1986:46) argues that bottom-up approach is also unidirectional, hypothetically, perhaps the best approach to public-policy implementation is the one that encourages constant interaction between the ‘top’ and the ‘bottom’ actors in formulating and implementing public policy via forward and backward information-flow loops. Such an approach can aid in capturing various intricacies that impede successful policy implementation (Whitford, 2007:21). Efforts to ensure the identification of pitfalls to successful policy i mplementation highlight the need to evaluate public policy at the formulation and the implementation phases (Barzelay Jacobsen, 2009:319). Evaluating Public Policies The evaluation process encompasses an integral aspect of the process of making public policies. It aids in the identification and reflection on the unanticipated and anticipated outcomes of a policy. Evaluation is the process of measuring the efficacy, utility, advantages, disadvantages, and the necessity of a particular process or physical installation (Cope Goodship, 1999:8). The main objective of policy evaluation is to inform policy developers of the progress of policy implementation and to what extent the formulated policies under implementation are providing the anticipated outcomes (Cope Goodship, 1999:11). When public-policy evaluators discover that policies being formulated or implemented have deficiencies that would cause those policies to fail to achieve the desired outcomes, evaluation becomes the tool fo r alerting policy-makers about the need to consider alternative policies. It also helps in the correction of erroneous aspects of a policy during the process of implementation (Rist, 1995:43). Where the policy-implementation process yields the anticipated outcomes, evaluation is also crucial because it forms the justification for the legitimacy of public policy. The evaluation process constitutes an important part of the learning process around policy-making. Evaluation is applied in the policy-making process as a scientific activity and a positivist exercise (Rist, 1995:56). It serves the functions of determining the quality, effectiveness, policy effects, capacity to achieve desired goals, and the rationale for costs incurred in the formulation and implementation of public policies (Marsh McConnell, 2010:580). In this context, evaluation does not form a discrete activity in the making of public policies. Rather, it is integrated into all processes of making public policy, includi ng policy formulation and implementation. Analysis In the description section, policy evaluation was treated as a discrete activity, separate from the formulation and implementation of public policies. In this section, it is presented as an integral part of the implementation and formulation phases of public policies. Simultaneous Evaluation of Public Policies in the Implementation and Formulation phases The formalisation of laws, rules and regulations precedes the process of implementing public policy. In a bid to ensure that policies work, bureaucratic forces then come into play (May Wintner, 2009:473). Policies are developed to ensure that the delivery of public services is in line with public demands and expectations. For the achievement of this outcome, whether bottom-up or top-down approaches to public-policy formulation and implementation are adopted, the evaluation of each of these phases is crucial. It is necessary for every step taken in the formulation and implementation of a policy to be evaluated in a bid to determine its relationship with the final desired outcome (Whitford, 2007:26). The evaluation of the overall effects of all the stages in the formulation of a policy aids in the determination of the overall effects of the formulated policy before it is implemented. In this way, it becomes possible to avoid challenges related to the implementation of policies that have errors at the formulation stage. Policy evaluation should be carried out during the formulation and the implementation phases and after the completion of each of these phases. Evaluation at the Policy-Formulation Phase Executing the policy-evaluation process alongside the formulation phase curtails policy-formulation errors. Such errors replicate themselves in the policy-implementation phase. The political climate and the interests of stakeholders influence the formulation of public policies (Palumbo, 1987:68). Evaluation at the formulation stage ensures that these concerns are addressed in the policy’s formulation process to ensure that the policy achieves the intended outcomes as determined by the stakeholders and the political-philosophical system of leadership in force. Evaluation at the formulation stage captures the attention of policy activists and groups supporting the government. These actors determine the kinds of public policies necessary for implementation (May Wintner, 2009:473). In the absence of evaluation at the formulation phase of any policy, regimes and administrations in power have a chance to advance their interest, which may not be in favour with the public. In later regimes, such policies become irrelevant, which amounts to a waste of scare public resources. Agents of policy formulation mainly include researchers interested in change and who are keen on the elements of a policy at its formulation phase (Palumbo, 1987:78). The researchers are also interested in the policy implementation, which means that they cannot be prevent ed from conducting in-depth scrutiny (evaluation) of the policy’s capacity to achieve its intended change. According to Pollitt (1999:82), policy makers should consider the political influences in the process of policy formulation. An independent body should be contracted to determine the nature and amount of this influence. Successful evaluation of public policy should be measured by the success of its implementation. It ensures that the implementation phase cannot trace its problems back to the formulation phase. Whitford (2007:29) states that the only challenge that can arise is in the event of policy-implementation agents failing to implement the formulated and evaluated policy in a manner that meets the expectations of its recipients. In the formulation phase, evaluation brings together measuring the capacity of the formulated policies to meet the desired policy objectives, aims, and goals. Evaluation at the Policy-Implementation Phase Implementing public policy through bureaucracy places more focus on the conformance of the groups of people targeted by the policy, and less focus on their reactions to that policy. This aspect creates a need for evaluation of policies at the start of the implementation phase through a bureaucratic system of administration throughout its development. Evaluating the implementing agency ensures the determination of its capacity to enforce the policy through established rules, regulations and laws to avoid deviance. The evaluation of policies before the onset of the implementation process is important as it ensures that the enforcing agents are compliant with the legal provisions of these policies, with legal consequences being advanced to those failing to adopt the policies. Bureaucracy is important in the implementation of public policies. It has the capability to understand and alter mythologies, aims, and areas of importance in the policy-implementation process to ensure compliance (Page, 1992:40). It has the abilit y to redefine appropriate policy goals to some extent. Such a policy-remoulding process in order to reduce the reluctance of target groups to comply with the policy constitutes the public-policy evaluation process in the implementation stage. The ability of bureaucratic systems of policy implementation to redefine some aspects of public policy explains the importance of public-policy evaluation at the implementation stage. Evaluation helps in monitoring the actions of the implementation agents. This is important in an effort to mitigate risks associated with the implementation agents’ capacity to redefine policies in ways that impair the implementation approach and methodologies prescribed during the formulation stage (Page, 1992:54). For this purpose, policy-implementation administrative agents such as courts and Parliament (de Leon de Leon, 2002:473) become important evaluators of the policy-implementation process. They also assist in the determination of necessary actions during the implementation process (May Wintner, 2009:474). Administrative agents responsible for policy implementation establish interim and final rules necessary for guiding the implementation process. Evaluation is essential to ensure strict compliance with the rules. It needs to be conducted at all stages of implementation to guarantee congruency of the policy and its anticipated goals, aims, and objectives enumerated during the evaluated formulation stages. Purpose of Integrating Policy Formulation, Implementation, and Evaluation Development of public policies takes place through interrelated stages. The appropriateness of each stage within a phase determines the appropriateness of the next phase in the process to foster the creation of a policy that responds effectively to a public problem. Evaluation is the tool for measuring the extent of the appropriateness of each stage with respect to the anticipated outcomes of the fully formulated public policy. This aspect means that the formulation or implementation of successful public policies is less likely when evaluation is treated discretely. Problems encountered at the policy-formulation phase result in policies failing to achieve their intended outcomes at the implementation stage. These challenges encompass certain implementation constraints, which prove problematic to the agents for policy implementation. These include inadequate time, financial resources, insufficient understanding of policy goals, and a resistance to comply with directions and commands issued by implementation agents (Hogwood Gunn, 1984:82). Integration of evaluation in all steps and sub-steps in the formulation and implementation phase helps to capture all of these challenges. Conclusion Policy formulation and implementation are two important phases of making public policies. The outcome of the implementation phase depends on the proper formulation of policies, which suggests that the two phases are related and their needs are int erlinked. This essay proposed evaluation as the important interlinking phase requiring incorporation in the formulation and implementation phases of making public policies. Evaluating the steps within the formulation and implementation phases helps to avoid the replication of errors and problems impeding realisation of the intended outcomes upon full implementation of a public policy. This essay holds that evaluation during the formulation phase coupled with its successive sub-phases helps pave the way to a successful policy-implementation process. In this context, the essay considers evaluation as an important phase in the process of making public policies, which merges the formulation and implementation phases to avoid the replication or even occurrence of challenges impeding realisation of the intended outcome of a public policy. The top–down and bottom-up approaches were discussed as the main theoretical frameworks of making and implementing public policies. The two theor etical approaches have the inherent problem of treating evaluation as a discrete entity. In proposing an alternative approach to making public policies, this essay discussed and assessed the relevance of incorporating evaluation as an integral part of the policy-implementation and formulation phases. The essay finds that the separation of formulation, implementation, and evaluation of public policies into discrete phases is inappropriate. Reference List Barzelay, M Jacobsen, A 2009, ‘Theorising Implementation of Public Management Policy Reforms: A Case Study of Strategic Planning and Programming in the European Commission’, Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, vol.22 no.2, pp. 319–334. Cope, S Goodship, J 1999, ‘Regulating Collaborative Government: Towards Joined-Up Government’, Public Policy and Administration, vol.14 no.2, pp. 3-16. DelLeon, P DelLeon, L 2002, ‘What Ever Happened to Policy Imple mentation? An Alternative Approach’, Journal of Public Administration and Research Theory, vol.12 no.4, pp. 467-492. Fyfe, G, Miller, J McTavish, 2009 ‘Muddling Through in a Devolved Policy: Implementation of Equal Opportunities Policy in Scotland’, Policy Studies, vol.30 no.2, pp. 203-219. Hogwood, W Gunn, L 1984, Policy Analysis of the Real World, Longman, New York. Howlett, M, Ramesg, M Perl, A 2009, Studying Public Policy, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Lyhne, I 2011, ‘Between Policy-Making and Planning: SEA and Strategic Decision-Making in the Danish Energy Sector’, Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, vol.13 no.3, pp. 319–341. Marsh, D McConnell, A 2010, ‘Towards a Framework for Establishing Policy Success’, Public Administration, vol.88 no.2, pp. 57-69. Matland, R 1995, ‘Synthesising the Implementation Literature: Ambiguity-Conflict Model of Implementation’, Journal of Public Adminis tration Research and Theory, vol.5 no.2, pp. 145-174. May, J Wintner, C 2007, ‘Politicians Managers and Street Level Bureaucrats: Influences on Policy Implementation’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, vol.19 no.3, pp. 453-476. Mazmanian, D Sabatier, P 1983, Implementation and Public Policy, Scott Foresman, Glenville. Milward, B 1980, ‘Policy Entrepreneurship and Bureaucratic Demand Creation,’ in H Ingram D Mann (eds), Why Policies Succeed or Fail, Sage, Beverly Hills, pp. 61-73. Page, E 1992, Political Authority and Bureaucratic Power: A Comparative Analysis, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Palumbo, J 1987, The Politics of Program Evaluation, Pluto, London. Pastine, T Pastine I 2010, ‘Politician Preferences, Law Abiding Lobbyists and Caps on Political Contributions’, Public Choice, vol. 145 no. 4, pp. 81-101. Pollitt, C 1999, ‘Stunted by Stake Holder? Limits to Collaborative Evaluation’, Public Policy and Admini stration, vol.14 no.2, pp. 77-90. Ridde, V 2009, ‘Policy Implementation in African States: An Extension of Kingdon’s Multiple-Streams Approach’, Public Administration, vol.87 no.4, pp. 938-954. Rist, C 1995, Policy Evaluation: Linking Theory to Practice, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River. Sabatier, P 1986, ‘Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to Implementation Research: a Critical Analysis and Suggested Synthesis’, Journal of Public Policy, vol.6 no.1, pp. 21-48. Vizzard, W 1995, ‘The Impact of Agenda Conflict on Policies Formulation and Implementations: The Case Guns Control’, Public Administration Review, vol.55 no.4, pp. 341-347. Whitford, B 2007,’Decentralised Policy Implementation’, Political Research Quarterly, vol.10 no.1, pp. 17-30.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

The Chemical Reaction That Causes Rust

The Chemical Reaction That Causes Rust Rust is the common name for iron oxide. The most familiar form of rust is the reddish coating that forms flakes on iron and steel (Fe2O3), but rust also comes in other colors, including yellow, brown, orange, and even green! The different colors reflect various chemical compositions of rust. Rust specifically refers to oxides on iron or iron alloys, such as steel. Oxidation of other metals has other names. There is tarnish on silver and verdigris on copper, for example. The Chemical Reaction That Forms Rust Although rust is considered the result of an oxidation reaction, its worth noting not all iron oxides are rust. Rust forms when oxygen reacts with iron  but simply putting iron and oxygen together isnt sufficient. Although about 20 percent  of air consists of oxygen, rusting doesnt occur in dry air. It occurs in moist air and in water. Rust requires three chemicals to form: iron, oxygen, and water. iron water oxygen  Ã¢â€ â€™Ã‚  hydrated iron(III) oxide This is an example of an electrochemical reaction and corrosion. Two distinct electrochemical reactions occur: There is anodic dissolution or oxidation of iron going into aqueous (water) solution: 2Fe  Ã¢â€ â€™Ã‚  2Fe2  Ã‚  Ã‚  4e- Cathodic reduction of oxygen that is dissolved into water also occurs: O2  Ã‚   2H2O 4e-  Ã¢â€ â€™Ã‚  4OH-  Ã‚   The iron ion and the hydroxide ion react to form iron hydroxide:   2Fe2   4OH-  Ã‚  Ã¢â€ â€™Ã‚  2Fe(OH)2 The iron oxide reacts with oxygen to yield red rust, Fe2O3.H2O Because of the electrochemical nature of the reaction, dissolved electrolytes in water aid the reaction. Rust occurs more quickly in saltwater than in pure water, for example. Keep in mind oxygen gas, O2, is not the only source of oxygen in air or water. Carbon dioxide, CO2, also contains oxygen. Carbon dioxide and water react to form weak carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is a better electrolyte than pure water. As the acid attacks the iron, water breaks into hydrogen and oxygen. Free oxygen and dissolved iron form iron oxide, releasing electrons, which can flow to another part of the metal. Once rusting starts, it continues to corrode the metal. Preventing Rust Rust is brittle, fragile,  progressive, and weakens iron and steel. To protect iron and its alloys from rust, the surface needs to be separated from air and water. Coatings can be applied to iron. Stainless steel contains chromium, which forms an oxide, much like how iron forms rust. The difference is the chromium oxide does not flake away, so it forms a protective layer on the steel.

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Assisted Suicide Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Assisted Suicide - Research Paper Example Assisted suicide can be in form of Physician assisted suicide, whereby the physician provides the means for death, or Euthanasia which occurs in three forms which include; voluntary, non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is whereby the patient gives his or her consent for the termination of his life while non-voluntary is whereby the consent of the patient cannot be acquired maybe due to the reason that he or she cannot make independent decision for example in a child. Involuntary euthanasia refers to the situation whereby the patient is assisted to die against his or her will (Sissela, 2005). This essay will discuss issues concerning assisted suicide revolving around the following scenario. â€Å"You are the manager of the Cancer Center in a small suburban hospital. For the past two weeks you have worked closely with your nursing staff because they have been expressing â€Å"Burn Out† (frustration, dissatisfaction, or lack of interest in a job) as a result of the increase in the number of patients coming to the center who were diagnosed with terminal cancer. Nancy Nurse confided in you that she is particularly saddened about the rapid decline in Mrs. Jones’ health, a 30 year old single mother. She decided that the next time Mrs. Jones comes in for her treatment, she is going to give her an extra dose of a narcotic that could potentially end her life.† The bill of rights protects each and every person against threats to life whether self imposed or otherwise. This means that it is a crime for a person to terminate his or her life through suicide and in fact if not successful, one may face punishment through imprisonment. However, there have been heated constitutional debates on the legality of physician assisted suicide, whereby some support the act while others oppose it based on moral and religious basis (Manning, 2002). In the

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Describe the main duties of an Accountable Manager. How does the Coursework - 1

Describe the main duties of an Accountable Manager. How does the holder of this position relate to the financial management - Coursework Example The accountable manager is usually considered to have some position in the Board of directors or other equivalent body of the company. This allows him a more close connection with the owners of the company. So, the objectives set by the Board of Directors contain an opinion on his part. It also assists him further to understand the objectives fully and other underlying requirements of these objectives. The presence of a person in setting objectives makes such manager more accountable as the objectives are set with full collaboration of such manager. However, larger organizations usually consist of more than one units who either dependent of each other or independently work to achieve the desired results and objectives. The regulations for each of these units are also different. So, different accountable managers are appointed for all these units who supervise the work of these units. These managers are accountable to their respective Regulatory body. Usually, accountable managers are solely responsible for the accomplishment of desired objectives. However, the tasks are not carried out by them alone. A large number of subordinates are involved and it is inevitable for the accountable manager to rely upon the work of subordinate managers. However, these subordinates are responsible to report to the accountable manager about their work. The Accountable manager is after all responsible for their own work s well as the work of their subordinates. Because of such greater responsibility, the accountable managers are not given any other task which they are capable of carrying out. The reason is that the focus is not diverted to any other work which is less important than the primary job of such manager. In case of companies which carry out air operations, the accountable manager is responsible to the regulatory body, either within or outside the company, for all the operations which are

Saturday, January 25, 2020

The Landscape of History Essay -- Book Review, John Lewis Gaddis

In The Landscape of History, John Lewis Gaddis makes a cohesive argument concerning about the debate over the objectivity of truth by stating â€Å"objectivity as a consequence is hardly possible, and that there is, therefore, no such thing as truth (Gaddis 29). The question for objective history has long been debated by numerous historians, and the differing viewpoints of history have led to a transition in our ways of thinking in the modern world. Ultimately, the question that this paper focuses on is: to what extent is history objective? Along with this, the relation to historical consciousness and the challenges of living in modernity will also be assessed. This paper will analyze the texts of John Lewis Gaddis, Nietzsche and the Birth of Tragedy, Modernity and Historical Vision, Living in Modernity, and Hermeneutics. Finally, the paper will argue that history is not largely objective, and is fundamentally shaped through the historian’s subjectivity. John Lewis Gaddis, in his book, The Landscape of History, generates a strong argument for the historical method by bringing together the multiple standpoints in viewing history and the sciences. The issue of objective truth in history is addressed throughout Gaddis’s work. In general, historians learn to select the various events that they believe to be valid. Historians must face the fact that there is an â€Å"accurate† interpretation of the past ceases to exist because interpretation itself is based on the experience of the historian, in which people cannot observe directly (Gaddis 10). Historians can only view the past in a limited perspective, which generates subjectivity and bias, and claiming a piece of history to be â€Å"objective† is simplistic. Seeing the world in a multidimensiona... ... in history. There is no real objective aspect to history, but a multitude of attitudes towards history can make history a discipline that allows for multidimensionality. The debate regarding whether or not history could be objective has been discussed and interpreted by many historians. The ways we think about history has allowed for the divergence of various perspectives in the world we live in today. In sum, the question discussed in this paper pertains to the extent of which history can be objective. This question has left room for several interpretations in the field of historiography and challenged our experienced in the era of modernity. This paper’s argument went for the subjective side of the argument with evidence for my argumentation from John Gaddis, Friedrich Nietzsche, Postmodernity and Modernity, Living in Modernity, and Heidegger’s Hermeneutics.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” the Peter Brooke version (1960) and the Harry Hook Essay

A media study comparing two cinematic interpretations of Golding’s â€Å"Lord of the Flies† the Peter Brooke version (1960) and the Harry Hook version (1990). These two interpretations of William Golding’s â€Å"The Lord of the Flies† have been directed by Peter Brooke in 1960’s and then Harry Hook’s version in the 1990’s. The original, black and white, version stays far closer to the book storyline altering only the slightest things. Peter Brooke keeps the boys from a public English school with strict rules about behaviour and uniform. The main idea behind the story is to see, just how long these boys will keep rules and order now that they have no one to enforce them upon them. It’s to see, just how long they will live with this civilised and orderly world, before they turn to the savage and more primitive world. In Harry Hook’s version, the story has been changed a great deal. The main difference is the boys themselves are now Americans from an American military school. Harry Hook has brought the film right up to date and more modern. The main reason for changing the boys to American, I believe, is because of tickets sales. Far more people would want to see these boys than English boys, partly because many people wouldn’t understand the English boys’ accent. Another major change Harry Hook has added is the role of the pilot. In the book and Peter Brooke’s version, the pilot is dead upon encountering the island on top of the mountain in the middle of the island with the tangled parachute, rapped around him, to make him look more like a beast. However, in Harry Hook’s Colour version, he has kept the pilot alive, with Ralph, one of the main boys, saving him from drowning at the start. Later on, he then dies up in a cave on the mountain, making him appear to be a beast. I think that Harry Hook’s version is more effective and believable to a modern viewer like me because if we look at a person wrapped in a parachute it wouldn’t appear to be a beast or anything like that. I believe in the 60’s people were far easier scared than what we are today. Also Harry Hook has touched up the film a bit by adding more technology into it, like the glow sticks or the pyrotechnics of the burning island. These changes he’s added make it easier for modern viewers to understand. I belief Harry Hook has been successful in creating a more updated and modern film. The opening scenes and sequences to both these films are very effective in their own ways. They both use different techniques of camera shots and angles and different audio and soundtracks and different way of putting across the message of what has just happen to this group of boys. In Peter Brooke’s version he runs through a series of images resembling certain things about the civilised world and what they are about to al leave behind. First of all he show images of some class rooms with lecturers at the front, dictating what appears to be maths and Latin. These symbolise rules and order, maths with all the rules and Latin with a very orderly structure to the language. He is trying to put across how the boys used to live before the plane crash. He also shows images of a cricket match showing more rules and the idea of fair play and all working together as a team. The quire is also introduced into these images representing harmony and peace. Peter Brooke then starts flicking in images of war, like the planes, tanks, bombs and troops. He is trying to show just how bad things are about to get. Peter Brooke has all the boys in these images dressed up smartly in there uniform. This again represents order. He is putting across to the viewers just how much the boys are going to loose and how far the boys are willing to stray from civilisation. The quire, which he also introduces, is also dressed up in these very smart and fine black robes. Peter Brooke has got them all dressed this way to show they are all together as a team and are all united in peace. When Peter Brooke has these war images introduced to the credits the intensity of the soundtrack is increases, adding this drum beat in the background. The very same drum beat is reintroduced later on in the film to show that civilisation has finally fallen apart completely. I this worked very well, reintroducing this intense drum beat because you then are able to relate the drums to war and uncivilised behaviour which is a very important theme to the whole film. In Harry Hook’s version, he has decided to put these images across in a very different way, but still, he’s very effective in doing so. His first shot is of the pilot sinking down the screen under water, until Ralph dives down and rescues him. Everything is silent underwater, until they hit the surface then is a burst of screams and shouts from the other boys. He’s trying to make it look and feel like the boys are being reborn. The sea is representing the old world and blue representing an empty or neutral colour and everything has been wiped clean suggesting everything has been wiped clean and they are starting life over, rebirth. Ralph is the first to be briefly introduced, which is also before the title credits. He dives down into the sea, rescuing the pilot, and then again, diving down rescuing the life boat which saves all the boys. The pilot is a good symbol of the old world and how it’s slowly disappearing and slipping out of their grips. Harry Hook is immediately trying to show, Ralph as the one who wants the old world to come back, her wants to hold on to the old world and save it. Underwater, it has been deliberately made silent to try and contrast the two worlds and show how completely different they are. This worked very well for the film. The title is then brought up onto the screen against a black background with the films theme tune. In my opinion, I feel this has worked better than Peter Brooke’s opening credits because there’s more drama and suspense about, whether these boys are actually going to survive in the water and what they will do. Also it is easier to read the opening credits against a black background, rather than have to focus on what’s going on in the background as well as read the credits. In both of the films they then start to introduce the main characters, starting mainly with Ralph, closely followed by Ralph and Piggy two. Both directors have decided to focus mainly on these three characters at the beginnings. Each one of these has also been singled out and is noticed by a very distinguishing feature. In Peter Brooke’s film, Ralph is noticeable because he has kept all his uniform on, whereas most the others have started to take items off, whereas, in Harry Hook’s film Ralph is given a sling. Giving Ralph this sling makes him stand out a great deal from all the other boys. In both the films, Piggy just looks completely different from all the other boys. He’s short, fat and has glasses. Piggy is also the most mature out of the group and can see a lot more clearly about what’s going to happen to them. His glasses are a symbol of the old world; they enable him to see things clearer than what the other boys can. He is also able to blind him self from the truth if he doesn’t like it or danger by taking them off. If he knows trouble is going to happen, he generally takes them off to clean or something. Finally there’s Jack. In Peter Brooke’s version he is the head chorister of the quire and then in the Harry Hook version he is first seen with no jacket on. Jack is the first boy in both films to remove all his clothes and becomes the chief of the tribe, which is created later on in the film. I think again Harry Hook has been more successful in singling out the main characters of the film. When first viewing the island, both directors have kept it in black or a silhouette against the sky. They keep it in this format to symbolise mystery and uncertainty about things to come. When all the boys are sailing into the island, in Harry Hook’s version, the main point he is trying to portray is all the boys are altogether as one group. No individuals and no one have any identity yet. They’re all in black against the blue sea representing the old world, with no characteristics trying to show they are still together and united as one group, coming from the old world of civilisation. This is done differently in Peter Brooke’s version because they are all assembled together on the beach but the same points are still made. I feel Harry Hook made this scene better too because all the characters no each other and can be classed as a group, whereas Peter Brooke’s boys didn’t no each other and have to find out who each boy is at the beginning. When Ralph saves the pilot in the colour film, it shows that he still clutches to this old world and wants it back. The boys wrap the pilot in a mosquito net and treat him like a child, I feel Harry Hook is trying to show the roles have now been reverse and the adult is now this child or baby and the boys are the adults. When the boys are in the big group on the beach, Ralph starts with a green glow stick, the green symbolising fear and loneliness. The camera angles in both films are mainly all in medium shot while introducing the boys, so you can get a good look at all the boys and work out first impressions for yourself. It also has a few close-ups on the main characters to show these are the one’s that’ll make a difference. The boys soon discover that the island isn’t that bad, by finding water and wild pig’s for food. In both films, all the boys are working together to show they are still this team but some of the boys have already started to get annoyed by piggy and mock his name. Both directors establish the island in more detail and show it’s a small island. For Ralph, this island is a dream come true or a paradise for him. Yet again, I feel Harry Hook has captured this better by introducing this gigantic water pool they find in the middle of the forest, where all the boys drink from and play in. Ralph can’t get enough of this paradise, golden sun, sandy beaches, warm and clear water, but best of all, there is no adults to enforce any rules upon them but he soon starts to wish there were adults. This soon becomes a nightmare and a burning hell. Piggy is the first boy to realise this and what will happen, so he goes back to the water, in hope to find someway of brings back the old world and what he finds is the conch. This allows them to keep some rules and order with the other boys but this doesn’t last very long and it not long, before a lot of the boys start to rebel against all these rules and start to realise they aren’t going to be rescued so make the most of it. When Ralph and Piggy are first introduced in to Peter Brooke’s version, they are frantically struggling through the undergrowth of the forest floor, in an attempt to gain access to the sea once again and the old world. I don’t think this scene is capture very well, not because of camera angles or soundtrack because I feel they worked very well, having all the bugs and animal noises in the background, but because of Hugh Edwards, the boy who played Piggy. I feel he didn’t relate into the character as well as the new Piggy, Dan iel Pipoly. This has let the film down but it was still a very good film, putting across all the main points. Soon the fire is introduced which is a huge symbol of power and nature. As the film progresses the fire’s symbol changes. First off it starts off as power of nature and stands for rescue but later on it is used for cooking and hunting. The first fire the boys set goes horrible wrong and out of control very rapidly. The directors here are trying to give us a glimpse of things to come like disaster. All the boys are still together at this pint and work together to put the fire out, except Piggy who is isolated and alone. Piggy is shot through the fire showing he hasn’t got long left and he knows it. Piggy’s specs are also a great aspect and an important feature of the film because these start the fire. Piggy can’t see without them so when there is danger, he uses this to his advantage and takes them off, blinding him from the truth. With the fire lit the boys now start to get out of control and start almost a tribal dance, Piggy is again deliberately shot outside the group, showing he is already being left out. Piggy knows this and he knows what is going to happen. In the colour version, Harry Hook, has added a single tree standing alone, next to the fire. This is completely burnt down and incinerated. This tree symbolised innocence which has now gone, destroyed and crashed down. This again shows the power of nature and things to come. Probably the main or key scene, of the film is when Simon, the first to be killed and realise the truth about the beast, is killed. This is the key point where finally the boys are divided and both groups head off in completely different directions. Once Simon has been killed, nothing could ever be the same. Once Jack, has finally become more like a native and so primitive, he’s killed once and is willing to kill again. Ralph and Piggy now realise they are the only ones with any sense left and know if they aren’t rescued soon, they too will be killed. The sequences leading up to Simon’s death introduce the face paints and body paints, acting like masks, where the boys can hide behind. Once the boys have these paints they are hidden from everything and are able to commit far more serious crimes, like murder. On both films, Simon sits in front of the sacrifice, or the pig’s head, which Jack has placed for the beast, just staring with no expression or emotion, just trying to work out what actually is going on. In Peter Brooke’s version he has nothing but the buzzing of flies in the background to show it’s the flies eating away the flesh and meat of the head, not a beast. Simon figures it out and goes up to the mo9untain to check what he believes and finds the dead pilot in both versions. Simon has a lot more sense than the other boys and can see that there isn’t a beast, but the beast that they fear is inside of them all. The camera’s keep switching between the beach, where Jack and his tribe are dancing around a fire, in a very primitive and savage way, pretending to do rituals where they chase a boy round the fire who is pretending to be the pig, or the beast which builds up tension for when Simon is actually killed, it also gives the film a lot more co nfusion to show the boys aren’t to sure what is going on. Each time the screen is switched from Simon to Jack and his tribe, it’s getting darker and every time it gets darker the tribe are getting far more wild and aggressive. The sound of crashing waves against rocks is introduced to the backing music to show there is a war going on between these two worlds. A few boys start throwing the fire into the water, rejecting the old world. Both films captured these sequences very well and all this helps built up tension, suspense and fear before Simon’s death. Simon races down to the beach to tell the other boys his discovery. By now it’s really dark, the night has drawn in and the only light is the central fire where all the boys are dancing round and racing round after a pretend pig. Ralph and Piggy are still shot out of the group though because they can sense something bad is going to happen before the night is over. When Simon is spotted, there is a big question mark on whether Jack actually knew it was Simon and had him deliberately killed or he genuinely thought it was the beast. This question arises because Simon keeps the boys in his tribe by fear of the beast and by threatening them. He goes on about how his hunter will protect him from the beast, but if the truth is revealed, that there is no beast, not many of the boys would actually follow Jack. Harry Hook, in my opinion again, has captured this scene very well. It was a good effect, having a camera track Simon down the beach and have him running, with this green glow stick. The glow stick gives him a more monstrous appearance and makes the accidental killing storyline more believable to viewers. After the boys back away and realise what they’ve done, the sea comes rolling up the beach once more. The sea representing the old world comes crawling up the beach and wraps around Simon, now taking him back to this old world. Peter Brooke captures this very well, giving it a religious appearance by having the stars sparkling reflection upon the water shore and the quire in the backing music. This makes it feel like a religious ceremony. I think the point Peter Brooke was trying to put across was Simon was a martyr, dying trying to reveal the truth about the beast. Once the boys have committed this, there is no going back. This scene is the very turning point of the play, where Jack, finally, has total power and all the boys except Piggy and Ralph have turned so primitive. Jack has now painted his whole body with these paints in tribal markings which singles him out as the leader of the tribe. Also the original uniforms, which were a symbol of the old world, have now been taken over by these markings, and the new world. Ralph and Piggy have both lost all hope in rescue and know if t hey stay here it’ll be there turn soon enough. An additional scene Harry Hook has added into his version is the dream sequence where Ralph is dreaming about them all being rescued and saved when, suddenly, the helicopter just bursts into flames and explodes in Ralph’s face. Here Harry Hook is trying to emphasize the point that Ralph and Piggy are giving up hope on getting rescued and it is getting more and more less likely for them to get rescued. However I don’t think this was a very good idea because all it does is confuse the viewer. In the last scene, where Ralph is being hunted down in the forest by the hunters in there new natural habitat, the directors for both films have concentrated greatly upon creating the ending with so much suspense and tension and excitement as they could possibly get. Harry Hook has Ralph go speak to Sam and Eric the night before the hunters attack on Ralph to confirm what Ralph thinks will happen. He calls them Jack’s slaves. The whole area surrounding them is in this dark blue showing Ralph is lost within the darkness and can’t find away out, but needs to soon. By going up to Sam and Eric, Ralph is testing their loyalty to him and to see just how primitive they have got, to see if they have any civil behaviour at all left in them. He wants to see if they are just another tribal unit. Peter Brooke didn’t add this scene in which again, I feel, lets the film down slightly. This part explains the film more clearly to viewers. Both Harry Hook and Peter Brooke, have Ralph awaken in the forest, lost and alone, only to hear the sounds of birds, insects and small creatures. He then starts to hear the quiet cries of the hunters calling to each other, like a pack of animals; this again shows just how primitive the other boys have become. Suddenly the sound of burning is brought into the background. The camera shows close ups on Ralph’s face, trying to capture his fear. When Ralph realises the hunters are coming after him, he jumps up and runs as fast and as far as he can. He doesn’t know where he is going though, he’s trapped on the island, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The camera tracks Ralph through the forest and every where he runs. Peter Brooke has Ralph literally crawling on his hands and knees through the forest, sprawling through the undergrowth of the forest floor. He is trying to suggest the Ralph has now become this Pig and is being hunted. This works very well and gives another glimpse to just how far the boys have gone. When Ralph is running through the forest, the directors have both chosen to shoot a reverse shot on Ralph. This is when in the one minute he’s running to the right, then the next he’s going to the left. They have done this to show just how lost and confused Ralph is, showing he has nowhere to run. Usually this is seen as a weakness in films, but I feel it worked well for this film and gave it more suspense. It also enables the directors to show more fear within Ralph, having him know he doesn’t know where the hunters are, but they are on the island somewhere. They also both do panning shots of Ralph, running past the camera. In Harry Hook’s version, because of the 30years of advances in technology, he is able to use pyrotechnics at the end on the burning island, which I believe, gives the film more suspense, it shows the island burning, resembling the island has now become this hell. Peter Brooke wasn’t able to do this in his interpretation of the lord of the flies because they didn’t have the technology so they just used smoke which didn’t work as well for me. After scrambling through the forest, Ralph eventually stumbles upon the beach and in front of a navel officer. Both films jump from images of the hunters, all in these rags and paints, then to the naval officer, all in uniform, all perfect and orderly. Both directors are trying to sum up, just how far the boys had finally gone and strayed away from civilisation. Peter Brooke has done this exceptionally well. He picks out one boy who, at the beginning of the film could remember his name, address and telephone number but now can’t even speak. He just walks up to the officer and is speechless; he opens his mouth to talk but can’t remember anything. This again underlines have far the boys have gone. The final images you get in Peter Brookes version is the burning island, which has now become this burning hellish nightmare. He also gives you images of Ralph’s face. The camera shot is a close up to see the emotion this ordeal has put him through. Overall, I feel Harry Hook’s version was better, purely because of the advances in technology like colour. Also the use of language and swearing makes it easier for a modern viewer to interpret it. I believe the script editor has done a great job and fits the story in well and keeps it up to date with technology, which in turn make the whole film more believable and interesting.