Featured Post

The Protagonist Victor in “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie

Victor In the absolute first sentence of Sherman Alexie's â€Å"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,† you can acce...

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Vignette 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Vignette 4 - Essay Example The three boys of three-fifth grade occupy themselves into disreputable activities during the process of learning. Teachers and students must learn the relevant ways of navigating within cultural differences in a respectful way and atmosphere of mutual respect. This promotes learning in the most effective ways to develop ideas that promote development within learning. Students increase their ability of learning when lessons are conducted in a culturally responsive manner that is consistent with the community values and norms of interaction. It is essential for teachers to teach students new methods of learning that involves interactive cultural participation since it promotes students learning. In vignette 4, students shout out answers that elicit laughter interrupting the learning process. It disrupts the other students’ attention and develops disrespect to the other scholars, as the teacher suit irrelevancy in displaying her duties as an instructor. Classroom applications of Vyogotskian theory explain the importance of teacher preparation and changing roles of teacher in the socio cultural classroom. The theory explains the changing roles of teachers and students to develop understanding in their roles and teaching methods. Moreover, socio cultural developments of Vygoskian theory determines learning patterns that helps teachers in developing relevant teaching methods for the students especially in their different cultures that makes the learning process interesting. Moreover, students’ talking to each other in the same classroom signifies insolence and poor listening skills among the students. Such students automatically perform poorly at the end of the semester because some of the important aspects taught in the classroom overlook them and they no longer become familiar with some of the important details that were taught in that lecture. Based on psychology and education, influence on naturalism is the main cause of

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Contemporary Issue in the Chinese Economy Essay

Contemporary Issue in the Chinese Economy - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that based on the results of the 6th national census carried out in 2010, the Chinese population’s average growth rate between 2000 and 2010 was 0.57%. In the same year, the population of people aged 60 and above reached hit the 178 million mark, representing 13.26% of the whole population and up to 5.64% starting 1982. The population in the 0-14 age group, however, represented 16.6%, a 16.99% decline compared with 1982. Reports forecast that the population of people aged 65 and above will represent between 15 and 20% in 2027 and 2035 accordingly. With a growth in the number of the aging people and decline in that of the working-age population, China’s dependency ratio of population will keep increasing and reach the 0.5 mark or above in 2033. This is a worrying statistic considering that it was 0.38 just 4 years ago. Based on forecasts by the United Nations, the dependency ratio of China’s population will reach an extr emely high level of 0.8 by 2070, meaning that 4 working-age people will be compelled to support at least two aged adults and one child by that time. This change in the population structure makes the challenge of an aging population a significant one for the country to confront so that it can guarantee social and economic development in the future. The past experiences of Japan show that even in a nation with a high-income level, advanced technology, highly-skilled workforce and developed infrastructure, an aging population is still likely to cause an economic downturn and even stagnation. In 2011, Chinese aged 65 and above represented 9.1% of the total population, a scenario very identical to what Japan faced in 1990. However, China is to some degree confronted with a more serious problem than Japan because it is currently still far from qualifying as a developed country. The negative effect on economic growth caused by the aging population can be summarized this way: First, the cou ntry will lose the benefits of backwardness prematurely in its pursuit of developed countries. Secondly, the country will lose its edge when competing with developing nations that still have a demographic share. Finally, China is yet to enjoy the innovative rewards of a developed country. Consequently, its original competitive benefits are dwindling, which in turn will surely magnify the need for a reform of China’s economic growth system.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

History of the War of Okinawa

History of the War of Okinawa The war of Okinawa was one of the bloodiest battles which were fought between the United States and Japan. The culmination of this war was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States using the atomic bomb. In this regard, this paper will look at some of the issues which faced by the Army, Marines, the Okinawans and the Japanese soldiers. As such, this research will focus on Kamikaze attacks and the mass suicides of the Japanese civilians, the U.S. Congress investigation of the invasion, strategies used by both sides (Japan and the United States), the role of Okinawa in capturing Tokyo, strategic importance of Okinawa, the Japanese Soldiers propaganda and the challenges that were faced by the Marines and the Army. Introduction The 20th century witnessed a lot of wars as continents and nations struggled to establish themselves as power-movers in terms of social, economic, political and military power. In line with this, there were different wars and Cold Wars which brought dramatic changes, especially on the international scene and affected the way nations relate to each. It is important to take note of the fact that some of these wars resulted in the creation of permanent enemies between and among nations while in some cases, alliances were formed which have lasted to the present. Whereas the 20th century witnessed major wars which have ever been fought between and among nations, the two important wars which are remembered with nostalgia even at present are the World War I and World War II. However, irrespective of the fact that these wars shaped social, economic, political and military arenas across the globe, World War II is more conspicuous as compared to World War I. In line with this, some of the major participants who participated in this war are the United States of America and Japan. Notably, the United States was more had taken a passive approach to this war until when it was, in a surprise attached, bombed by Japan, destroying much of its military unit in Pearl Harbor. This move by Japan awoke a sleeping giant, who for the first time since the beginning of this war saw the need to take an active role in forming alliance and joining the war front. The awakening of the United States resulted in a more confrontation approach to the World War II, with a focus on retaliating against Japan, which according to the United States had used double in attacking the United States. In line with this, the United States utilized key geographical regions in Asia to take revenge against Japan. One of these regions was the Island of Okinawa which hosted one of the fiercest battles in the Pacific campaigns. To begin with, Okinawa was the largest amphibious offensive of the Pacific campaign and the last major campaign of the Pacific War. As a result of this, more troops put ashore, more ships were used, more supplies transported, more bombs dropped, more naval guns fired against shore targets than any other operation in the Pacific. More people died during the Battle of Okinawa than all those killed during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The casualties totaled more than 38,000 Americans wounded and 12,000 killed or missing, more than 107,000 Japanese and Okinawan were conscripts killed and perhaps 100,000 Okinawan civilians perished in the battle (Global Security 2010). These and many other cases of casualties have been reported in the course of analyzing the Okinawa battle. Following this point, it is now important to delve deeper into the attacks of Kamikaze and mass suicide of the Japanese civilians; the investigation of the invasion by the United States Congress as res ult of the sustained casualties; the strategies which were used by both side, namely the United States and Japan, and the role of Okinawa in capturing of Tokyo. Research Finding and Discussion Kamikaze Attacks and the Mass Suicides of the Japanese Civilians One of the major threats to the United States military during the Battle of Okinawa were the Kamikaze attacks which began in October 1944. To begin with, the use of Kamikaze (which is defined as divine wind) in resisting the United States invasion of Japan was a strategy which was used by the Japanese government to deal with the imminent attacks of the United States. In reference to Marx (2008), one could argue that the military leaders of Japan planned and executed the systematic slaughter of their youth -already being aware that no hope of victory was at hand (p.10). Following this argument, the Kamikaze attacks were suicide attacks which were perpetrated by the Japanese pilots as a way of executing surprise attacks on United States vessels in the pacific. There are different roles which were played by the Kamikaze attacks on the United States and in this war in general. Note that the Kamikaze pilots endangered the United States operations serious (p.12). These attacks had serious psychological impact on the United States leaders and soldiers. Importantly, the Japanese military was completely devastated and the only way this nation could come around and avoid total defeat was to sacrifice its own people in suicide missions that were meant to affect the psychological perceptions of the United States leaders and soldiers and thus ease their movement and impact on Okinawa. Needless to say, the Kamikaze attacks effectively managed to instill fear into the United States leaders and the soldiers. Nonetheless, this acted as compelling force among the United States military that this war had to be worn. On the other hand, there was a lot of Mass Suicide among the Japanese civilians as they engaged the American in the Okinawa War. In reference to Dodd Richmond (1999), it is estimated that one third of the population of Okinawa died in the war, many in mass suicides that preceded the surrender while other died from disease and starvation (p.745). Despite the fact that most Japanese civilians as well as the soldiers especially the pilot lost their lives in mass suicide campaign against the United States owing to their traditional military beliefs, they cost the Americans materially (Hellegers 2001). U.S. Congress Investigation of the Invasion The Battle of Okinawa still lingers in the minds of most Americans and war historians, scholars and researchers in the United States and across the globe. Apart from being among the fiercest battles which involved the United States military, it was also among the war engagement in which this nation recorded a very high level of casualties. It has been noted that the American losses at Okinawa were so heavy as to bring Congressional calls for an investigation into the conduct of the American military commanders (Ryan, 2007, p.80). This was further worsened by the fact that the cost of this battle in terms of lives, time and material weighed heavily in the decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan just six weeks later (p.80). It is important to note that there were no thorough intelligence reports which revealed much concerning Okinawa. As a result of this, this island was treated lightly by the United States military, irrespective of the fact that it was a critical point in attacking the Japans mainland. Therefore, the Congressional Investigations were to examine the cause of high casualty levels and the deflated military costs during this battle. It is estimated that at one point, there was one United States military casualty for six Japanese who were killed. Strategies used by both sides There were different strategies which were employed by both sides, that the United States and Japan in the Okinawa war. To begin with, the use of the Kamikaze in combating the Americans was one of the important war strategies of the Japanese, despite the fact that this meant sacrificing more civilian people. As a result, the Kamikaze was deployed to destroy America war vessels as a way of weakening their participation in this war. In reference to Wood (2007), the shimpu air tactics adopted in 1944 were a practical and relatively efficient method of engaging and inflicting significant losses on American naval forces at a time when on other method of air attack worked (Wood, 2007, p.96). The major purpose of using Kamikaze as a strategy was to immobilize the naval forces in order to reduce their ability to attack the Okinawa Island and Japans mainland. In addition to this, the Japanese carrier needed to be safeguarded and developed to enhance its capability to resist the United States attacks as well as be able to launch war planes against the United States forces. Apart from this, the Japanese government trained most civilians (corps) with military tactics who were able to fight as effectively as the military itself. On the other hand, the United States of America employed as heavy air strikes as it major strategy which involved destroying the Japanese military bases, especially their military planes (Williams, 2005, p.51). This was then to be followed by land troop who were tasked with wiping away the remaining little resistance. However, this strategy was further enhanced in Okinawa whereby there were increased cost or rather use of weaponry, which could not be compared to any other war in that the United States was involved in during World War II. Role of Okinawa in Capturing Tokyo Okinawa played a central role that led to the capture of Tokyo by the United States military in the Pacific War. Notably, initial reports indicated that there was no intelligence information in regard to the role of Okinawa in assisting the American military to capture Tokyo and thus overpower Japan. To begin with, Okinawa presented a strategic position to the United States and as a result, the United States could easily attack Tokyo from this geographical point. In consistent with this, the use of carriers to launch military aircrafts was not promoted. Therefore, the United States of America build airbases in Okinawa which would later be used to launch attack on Tokyo. According to Crozier (2005), the Okinawa Island was a major point which was used by the United States military to launch its attack on Japan. On the other hand, the resistance which was experienced by the United States at Okinawa played a critical role in motivating the United States to pursue further attack on Tokyo and Japan. It is argued that the after carrying an evaluation of its casualties, the United States choose to use the atomic bomb on Tokyo as a way of carrying out a revenge attack on Japan and forcing it to surrender to the United States enter into a peace treaty. As it was mentioned earlier, the cost of this battle of Okinawa in terms of lives, time and material weighed heavily in the decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan just six weeks later (Ryan, 2007, p.80). Stated in other words, the decision by the United States to use the atomic bomb against Tokyo was influenced partly by the state of affairs on Okinawa Island. Therefore, apart from being a launching pad of the United States military, the Okinawa Island also played a major part in the military decisions which were made against Japan. Strategic Importance of Okinawa Okinawa was of strategic importance both to the American and the Japanese in the Okinawa war. To begin with, Okinawa was strategically placed in terms of geographical position, both to the Japanese and the Americans. In reference to Kawashima (2005), the geographical importance of Okinawa is best illustrated by its proximity to all major cities in East Asia (p.43). In consistent with this, the bases in Okinawa were critical strategic locations for deployment of the United States forces. Apart from being a focal point from which the United States could access the adjacent cities in Japan and in other parts of Asia, Okinawa was more of a camping place of the United States soldiers as they arrived on the battle field. Most of these soldiers camped at Okinawa before proceeding to the battlefields. Similarly, some military costs could easily be reduce by building airfields in this place which allowed the United States to respond quickly to any attack of Japan as well as monitor and gather important intelligence information from this point. On the other hand, Japan too valued Okinawa as one of its key points to their success in this war. According to Allen (2002) the Okinawans were both a nuisance and a threat to the Japanese victory in this war (p.33). Whereas this was the perception of the Japanese military, they also recognized that the population of the Okinawa could provide important labor services to the Japanese military during the time of the war. As a result, most of the Okinawans, able men, and boys and girls were enlisted into the Japanese military that would then provide labor together with the villagers (p.33). On the other hand, some of the people from Okinawa were evacuated to the mountains and caves with their clothes alone, while their other possessions were utilized as military supplies. This emanated from the fact that it was assumed that the Okinawans were not part of the Japanese community. Japanese Soldiers Propaganda The war in Okinawa was also characterized by the Japanese Soldiers propaganda which was meant to disorient the United States soldier from pursuing their course to victory. In line with this, among the propaganda programs which were utilized by the Japanese soldiers involved argument that the Americans were monster who were bent on committing atrocities against the Japanese people during the war (Hellegers, 2001, p.65). This was meant to arouse the fear among the Japanese people in regard to accepting the fact that the Americans were fighting for a just course as well as discouraging the Japanese people from sharing any information which could give the Americans an upper hand in the Okinawa war. On the other hand, the Japanese propaganda also targeted its own soldiers who were discouraged from surrendering to the American forces despite the fact that most of them were overwhelmed by the United States soldiers. As a result of this, most Japanese soldier opted to fight to the last point rather than surrender to the Americans. Additionally, some of these soldier committed suicide when they were overpowered by the United States soldiers, making it difficult to capture Japanese soldiers. Notably, the Japanese propaganda reiterated that any person who surrendered to the American military would face torture from the Americans who were perceived as merciless, and they were ready to rape, torture and kill the Japanese. This increased fear, not only among the Japanese people but also among its soldiers while at the same time increasing their hatred towards the Americans and would everything possible to kill the Americans or destroy their military equipments. Challenges Faced by the Marines and the Army There were many challenges which were faced by the Marines and the Army. To begin with, the attacks from the Kamikaze were some of the scary attack which were faced by the United States military since these groups of people were suicide bombers and did not care how they died as long as their death was accompanied by the death of dozens of Americans (Jamieson, 2009). This was particular so when the Marines and the Army were attacked even before landing on the shore. Following this point, most of the Marines and the Army were psychologically disturbed since they had fear of imminent attacks from the Kamikaze and the Japanese soldiers. In addition, the issues of logistics also posed a challenge both to the Marines and the Army. Note that both the Army and the Marines were supposed to face the enemy. However, the Army and the marine use totally different tactics in war. In reference to Jamieson (2009), the Army is a slow-mover in the battle ground whereas the Marines work by moving very fast and as a result, the Army and the Marines flanked each other (p.44). This hardened their battles and most of them were exposed to the enemy fire. Finally, the Army and the Marines were also affected by other external problems such as jungle rot and fleas, Hepatitis A, Dengue Fever and dysentery. The Army and the Marines both suffered these challenges. The situation was worsened by the fact that medical supplies were shortcoming or was hindered by heavy fire. In addition, some of these Marines and Armies lost their peers or platoons leading to stress and depression. Conclusion The second world, as was earlier mentioned is remembered with nostalgia among most people the present world. Notably, this war shaped the way people and nations interact with each other, with some nations forming alliances while others formed permanent enemies. In line with this, there are specific war incidences which were fought that had specific impact on the participants and on other people who surrounded the place of incidences. Okinawa is one of the regions in Asia which experienced hot blood battles that are still remembered even in the modern times. The attacks of the Kamikaze were perceived as effective by the Japanese military only for them to fail at the last minute. This was not without inflicting a lot of casualty on the United States military. More so, this was accompanied by mass suicides of the Japanese civilians. The heavy casualties during this war led to Congressional investigation of the conduct of military officials. Additionally, Okinawa played a critical role in assisting both the United States and Japan to execute their strategies. This was promoted by the fact that Okinawa was strategically placed geographically, and the Okinawans played a critical role, both to the Japanese and the United States soldiers. On the other hand, history has serious records of suffering and other challenges which were faced by the Marines and the Army. These challenges hindered the movements of both the Marines and the Army as they advanced towards their enemies. This has resulted in reforms in the military to ensure that the World War II mistakes are avoided at all costs.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Magical Realism in Camus’ Black Orpheus and Zakes Mda’s Ways of Dying E

Magical Realism in Camus’ Black Orpheus and Zakes Mda’s Ways of Dying Myth and reality have gone hand in hand in every culture since the beginnings of time because mixing the two is an effective method of teaching values and morals– the modern term for this is â€Å"magical realism.† Because all cultures have mythical representations of life and death and love, the magical realism used in both Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus and Zakes Mda’s Ways of Dying is effective because, while it is specifically aimed towards either the Brazilian and South African cultures, it can be interpreted by any culture at all because of the universal themes it emphasizes. Mixing magical realism with realistic forms of expression allows a story to be rooted in and yet above humanity. This enables the reader to aspire to the precedents set by the characters while at the same time not feeling that they are entirely out of reach. Dealing with cultural issues through magical realism adds a dreamlike quality to the violence, corruption, and poverty, makin g it more palatable than bald honesty but at the same time adding a touch of familiarity through the common subjects of love, life, and death– the three topics broached by Black Orpheus and Ways of Dying. These cultural themes are approached differently in each but both Camus and Mda address the cultural issues of Brazil and South Africa through the use of magical realism. Black Orpheus is multi cultural before the story even begins, as it is directed by a Frenchman and set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil– this adds a certain depth to the film that is accentuated greatly by the mix of culture, myth, and reality that is found within the movie itself. By mixing Greek myth, Brazilian custom, and many religions... ... again. Black Orpheus blends Greek and Brazilian culture with a dash of French direction in order to bring the cultural and economic problems of the Rio de Janeiro shanty towns to the global population. Marcel Camus allows people of all cultures to understand the anguish and love that Orpheus and Eurydice endure because these themes are completely universal and span the globe. Similarly, Zakes Mda’s characters Noria and Toloki shine a ray of hope through the miasma of violence that surrounds the South African culture. Mda mixes the man with the myth and uses the same universalness of life and death to transform his characters into cultural icons rather than simple humans. Every culture’s â€Å"ways of dying are [their] ways of living,† and the global themes of love and death and life will continue to invoke feelings of reverence for life, culture, and identity. (Mda, 98)

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Atelophobia: fear of imperfection Essay

Atelo means not being good enough and phobo means fear. Atelophobia: fear of imperfection. While a great number of us aim to be perfectionists, some of us take it too far. This could lead to obsessive-compulsive disorder, which is definition of person making their life perfect. If they couldn’t achieve the absolute best, it may cause them to stress. However, people who have a type of behaviour that only draws in disappointment and compromised social relationship are known to have Atelophobia. People with this disorder aim to make everything as flawless as possible. Atelophobia often ruins friendships and relationship, and can often cause conflicts between families; they fear that they won’t be good enough for them. They usually set themselves high standards that are impossible to achieve. These people who have this fear are mostly worried about disappointing others. Victims of Atelophobia can develop this fear by several reasons; media is one of the reasons. Targets usually look up to celebrities. They look at photo-shopped pictures of them and want to be similar to them. Among 7–13th school years, 47% said they wanted to lose weight because of magazine pictures. It could be based on looks, weight, talent etc. It could lead the society to think it’s normal. If everyone had similar thoughts then, people who do not reach to society’s standards would be labelled as ‘different’. A fear of being unique or divergent to others; Unusophobia. Atelophobia victims could also develop this disorder owing to this fact that they wanted to fit in the ‘crowd’. Lastly, Atelophobia could’ve been developed by bullying. Bullying could involve their family or friends. Their childhood could have an experience of people listing harshly of their faults and weaknesses. They could have parents who were too demanding or set unrealistic expectations they could never meet. As a student, it’s highly likely to experience bullying than adults;  statistics proves it. It’s no different for Celebrity, Demi Lovato. At age four, she would look into mirror at herself thinking, â€Å"I was fat† (MTV). The star also explained how her feelings of low self worth lead to her shedding a huge amount of weight at the age of just twelve years old but it did not make her feel better. She stated a group of girls first started to taunt her how she never has straight hair just like the others and it had eventually led on to her other weaknesses. She had then got taken into rehab after her mother finding out she self-harmed herself.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Drama Monolouge

All my life I have had aspirations to become an ambitious and strong leader, I wanted to grow up and become the president of the United States of America. I had many dreams and hopes that would make the world I lived in a better place for the people of America. That was all changed because of one man, my father. He was very old fashioned, he wanted me to follow in his ‘footsteps' and have a ‘meagre' job as a farmer. I hated my father, he was a cruel man. He was a heavy drinker – a dire alcoholic. In the end my mother and I had enough of his attitude and problems; he used to become very abusive and violent towards us for the smallest of reasons so my mother and I left home when I was only ten years old. I never heard from him ever again from that day on. I received word that he died a lonely death just last year but I must say that even so I am happy that he was alone after all the suffering he caused on my mother and me. Even Now I hate reminiscing about my child hood, I grew up during the cold war, I despised the fact that I could have been blown to pieces at any moment by a Russian nuclear weapon. I loathed the fact that I could lose my friends and the only family member I had – my mother at any second. That's when it happened, my mother passed away. She committed suicide. She took an overdose of pills, and to think I was only fourteen when this occurred. That was the moment I had no one in my life. All my family was gone. My mother just could not handle life anymore. She was jobless and we had little income. I had to work after school in a little cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, clearing up the place just to earn enough money to feed us that night. I had to go to school and work at such a young age. Her life became unbearable then ‘click' (N.B *click your fingers during the performance) she was gone. That was I had the burden of deciding my future, I had the choice of going back to live with my father or to stay with a foster family that had been found for me to live with. I did not want to live with my father because he would oppress me again. I decided to live with a foster family. My foster father was a colonel in the army so he would always be away working with the government. My foster mother was always at home, she would always tell me amazing stories about her husband and how he was helping America. I appreciated the way she looked after me, and having a foster father who you could look up to and respect was for me truly inspirational. He was the father that my real father could not be. My foster parents encouraged me to follow my dream. I studied and excelled in my work so that one day I could live my dream as a reality and lead America in to a free and peaceful tomorrow. I have almost fulfilled that and can not begin to show my gratitude towards the people who raised me into what I am today. Through all of that though I will never forget my real mother. For her I will become the most patriotic man to walk America. Use of Movement For the opening of the monologue I am going to be positioned near to the corner of the room. I will slowly walk from the corner towards center stage at a diagonal. My facial expression should be firm and strong with a hint of vacancy. When delivering the opening I would inhale deeply so that my chest will push outwards. Facial expression should show some what pride and slightly joyful when speaking. Slowly walking towards the audience for the delivery of the second paragraph. Moving upstage in a straight line. Now with a slightly more grimace tone on my face. When speaking I would be using powerful arm gestures throughout the paragraph. The arm gestures are to be what seems to the audience random, jerky and fast. Ideally when mentioning the facts about my father I would use powerful arm movements. Now I should be walking backwards in a straight line but slowly while delivering this paragraph, I should return to the position at the centre of the stage where I delivered my opening from. My facial expression should be very strong and firm showing my anger but with a certain amount of fear and concern. Showing anger by frowning at this stage will affect the drama positively. Arm gestures should be made specifically on the phrases ‘blown to pieces' and ‘loathed'. When speaking I would be looking down slightly towards the floor. At centre stage before the performance I would have set up a chair specifically for this paragraph. With a bereaved expression, this paragraph is to be acted out while seated. Having my head in my hands would highlight the emotion with me taking my head out of my hands after each sentence and looking up at the audience. Now, for this section I would stand up for this paragraph. Positioned center stage, with smooth arm gestures moving outwards after every sentence. For the final section of this monologue, I would again come towards the audience in a straight line. Slowly getting closer with each word and using arm gestures such as clenching my fists throughout the paragraph with tense but sustained movements. Positioned upstage at the center where I would become noticeable to the audience. Then to end I would finish with a freeze with my hand placed over my heart, with a still and strong finish sustained. Use of Voice The prologue to the monologue should be started in a very proud and optimistic tone, with particular expression put on the adjectives such as ‘ambitious' and ‘strong'. The opening should be at a medium pace but at the same time calm and smooth whilst expressing a joyful opening. Now with the second section bathos – a change in tone should occur. With the emotional content in this part, the tone should change to sad. I would change my voice so it is in a hurried fashion. While sadness is shown at particular points when concentrating on the words ‘footsteps' and ‘meagre' sarcasm should be shown. The paragraph should be sharp and at a quite heavy and loud tone but maintaining the emotion at the same time. A protective tone of voice should be adopted when talking about your mother and yourself becoming subjects to violence. When mentioning that you were happy when your father passed away, a glimmer of hatred and evil would affect the piece positively. When speaking here a similar tone should be maintained as the previous section. Here concentrating on how your childhood had burdens. Subsequently expressing your self through exaggeration when talking about being blown to pieces b a nuclear bomb at any moment. With jealousy expressed when using the word ‘loathed'. This part of the monologue should be performed in a lethargic tone of voice. Speaking slowly with a twitchy voice after every few words or so. Contrasting the first paragraph drastically. Stressing on the points of your mother dying and having a job and school to consider, using deliberately pessimistic tone. With the humorous type of sarcasm when saying ‘click' then she was gone. Mood and tone are again contrasted from the last segment of the monologue. Tone should be a significant amount more formal and with signs of things becoming better for you. Fast pace but with optimistic tones present. Pace should be built up for the conclusion with it going from a slow opening to the end to a climactic finish. Contrast again to the last paragraph. Tones of self belief and strongly sustained. Pauses after every sentence should be invoked. A build up is required for a dramatic ending. Optimism and varied loudness should be used until the last line. A dramatic impact with the uses of the emotions of pride joy but a hint of sadness. A calm expression of voice near the beginning would aid the build up. With a use of a loud voice at the end of the passage to highlight the end. The ending should not be conflicted with any sarcasm because it would ruin the stage for a grand finish with all of your energy inputted into it. Impact on Audience With the opening I want to project the mood of pride and optimism. The audience should get the sensation of a meaningful and joyous introduction. It should engage the audience in to thinking whether the monologue will be †cheerful† or †gloomy† in the simplest of terms. The voice should convey a message that it is an optimistic opening and is filled with happiness. The issue that should raise a question and again make the audience think is where I enter from. Why did I enter from the corner of the room? The reason v=being it has a hidden meaning of despair about it – the despair being obvious later on during the performance. The contrast should stun the audience. With the sarcasm and cruelty with speech it should make the audience feel pathos for me. The movement towards the audience should show tension. I want to communicate the feelings of hatred and anger through my voice so the audience can see that their first possible impression was wrong. I want to show them the frustration that has been built up in me for years. I am projecting myself to show them that I am furious about the past. I want to convey and portray my fear. Again a slight contrast to the previous paragraph. Even though fear and jealousy are invoked, at this point I want to try and make the audience feel what I feel – all the tension and fear from the war. I could make the audience involved by particular messages and use of body language. The audience should feel my emotion and feel they have lost something when they hear my tragic story of losing my mother. I want to portray a grieving relative / family member, but show the variation with the slight sarcasm with the ‘click' section. This has a deeper meaning – the audience may realise certain sarcasm. The burden upon me of choice should reflect the previous paragraph; I want to communicate the idea that still life for me is all hardship. The final paragraph should show the audience that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It shows the variation to them that can be seen throughout the piece. It should make them see that life is a virtue and that not everything is bad. Inspirational things can happen to anyone. The contrast is my method of acting out and showing to the audience a broader variety of emotions, language and movements. Belief and patriotism is another point I am trying to convey through the use of my language – this is shown when talking about my foster father and my dreams to turn America in to a peaceful country. The last line and sustained freeze would make a bold point by giving the piece a climactic finish and endeavour the audience to really see the provocative emotions used; in turn causing the audiences provoked reactions and mixed feelings to the piece. The object of my monologue was to convey many messages about voice, movement and dramatic performance in drama.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Crystal Flower - How to Crystallize a Real Flower

Crystal Flower - How to Crystallize a Real Flower Heres how to crystallize a real flower to make a beautiful decoration. Crystal Flower Materials You can do this project with any type of real (or fake) flower. Flowers with strong stems, like this thistle, work very well because the stem can support the weight of the crystals. If you use a fragile flower or a seed head, you may wire the stem or support it with a pipecleaner to help it support the weight. The crystals will absorb pigment from the flowers, producing a pastel tint, or you can add food coloring to the solution to color the flowers. Real flowerBoraxHot waterFood coloring (optional) What To Do Find a cup or jar large enough to hold the flower.Pour boiling water into the cup.Stir in borax until it stops dissolving. Add food coloring, if desired.Place the flower in the cup. You can tie a string to the stem of the flower and hang it in the cup from a pencil if you are concerned about crystals sticking the flower to the cup, but it isnt usually a big deal.Let the crystals grow for a few hours to overnight, depending on how thick you want the crystals to be.Remove the flower from the cup and gently place it on a paper towel to dry.You can place the flower in a vase to display it. Edible Crystal Flower If you substitute sugar or even salt, you can made an edible crystal flower. The principal is the same, but the crystals typically require a day or longer to grow. To get sugar crystals on a flower, add as much sugar as will dissolve in boiling hot water. Feel free to add food coloring or even a drop or two of flavoring. Let the solution cool to near room temperature before adding the flower. Place the container in a quiet location. You may need to break a top crust off the solution and occasionally move the flower to keep it from sticking to the sides or bottom of the container. You could suspend the flower in the liquid by tying it to a pencil or butter knife laid across the top of the container. The sugar solution is much thicker (syrupy) than the borax solution, so its best to attempt this project after youve mastered easier-to-grow crystals. Learn More Make a Glow in the Dark FlowerBorax Crystal SnowflakeMake Colored Flowers

Monday, October 21, 2019

Definition and Examples of Complex Transitive Verbs

Definition and Examples of Complex Transitive Verbs In English grammar, a complex transitive is a  verb that requires both a direct object and another object or an object complement. In a complex-transitive construction, the object complement identifies a quality or attribute pertaining to the direct object. Complex-transitive verbs in English include believe, consider, declare, elect, find, judge, keep, know, label, make, name, presume, pronounce, prove, rate, regard, and think. Note that verbs often belong to more than one category. For example, made can function as a complex transitive (as in Her thoughtless remarks  made  him unhappy) and also as an ordinary transitive verb (She made a promise). The  adjective  or  noun phrase  that qualifies or renames the object that appears before it is sometimes called an object predicate or object predicative. Examples During the night leprechauns painted the barn green.The judge declared the man guilty on two counts.Jack found his brothers behavior deplorable.Elena Kagan clerked for Thurgood Marshall and has long considered him a hero.When the Congress unanimously elected George Washington president, he accepted reluctantly.This man had made her happy and  made her miserable, but he was dependable. (Allison Brennan, Compulsion.  Minotaur Books, 2015)Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence. (Edgar Allan Poe, Eleonora, 1842)We called him Mother Superior on account of the length of his habit. (Mark Rent-boy Renton, Trainspotting, 1996) Meaning in Transitives and Complex Transitives [M]any of the verbs that appear in complex transitive clauses will also appear in transitive clauses without an object complement; but when they do, there is a change of meaning. Think about the different meanings of the verb in the following pairs of sentences: (49a) Transitive: Ahmed found the professor.(49b) Complex transitive: Ahmed found the professor marvelous!(49c) Transitive: Hojin considered the matter.(49d) Complex transitive: Hojin considered the matter a waste of time. (Martin J. Endley, Linguistic Perspectives on English Grammar: A Guide for EFL Teachers. IAP, 2010) The Relationship Between the Two Complements of a Complex Transitive A  complex transitive verb  has two complements, an argument NP [noun phrase] direct object and either a predicate NP or an AP [adjective phrase]. (5a) We considered Sam [direct object] our best friend [predicate noun phrase].(5b) They elected Mrs. Jones [direct object]  president of the PTA [predicate noun phrase]. There is a special relationship between the two complements of a  complex transitive verb. The predicate NP or AP says something about or describes the direct object, just as the predicate NP that is a complement of a linking verb describes the subject. The predicate NP or AP is either currently true of the direct object or comes to be true of the direct object as a result of the action of the verb. Part of the meaning conveyed by (5a), for example, is that Sam is our best friend. Part of the meaning conveyed by (5b),  for example, is that Mrs. Jones comes to be president as a result of the action named by the verb. Thus, complex transitive verbs, like linking verbs, are either current or resulting verbs.(Dee Ann Holisky, Notes on Grammar. Orchises, 1997) Active and Passive As is the case with any type of object, the DO [direct object] in complex-transitive complementation can also be passivized. An interesting fact is that the co-reference between the OC [object complement] and the DO survives passivization. 59. They made him president.60. He was made president. Note, however, that it is the direct object and not the object complement that can passivize! 61. They made him president.62. *President was made him. (Eva Duran Eppler and Gabriel Ozà ³n, English Words and Sentences: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2013)

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Listicle - Definition and Examples of Listicles

Listicle s of Listicles Listicle is an informal term for an article made up of a series of facts, tips, quotations, or examples organized around a particular theme. Listicles, which may be numbered or bulleted, are particularly common in blogs and other online articles. Listicle is a blend (or portmanteau) of the words list and article. Examples and Observations on Listicles Something had happened to my brain during my long tenure at womens magazines. I wasnt sure if it was because my mind moved a million clicks faster than my mouth could keep up, or if I had edited one ​listicle, charticle, gridicle and relationship quiz too many. But I had developed a bizarre inability to speak before higher-ups without stuttering, which the creative director eulogized in a drawing of me with a stream of Er, ah, duh, durs coming out of my mouth.(Jessie Knadler, Rurally Screwed: My Life Off the Grid With the Cowboy I Love. Berkley Books, 2012)[H]is digressive narrativewhich sometimes makes use of self-amused listiclesseems suspiciously influenced by styles that are popular on the digital platforms he inveighs against.(Review in The New Yorker [January 21, 2013] of The Missing Link by Philip Hensher)When Beyoncà ©s publicist emailed Buzzfeed earlier this week to ask that they kindly remove some unflattering photos of her client that were included in a listicle of The 33 Fiercest Moments From Beyoncà ©s Halftime Show, little did she know that the Internet doesnt quite work that way.In fact, thats the exact opposite of the way in which the Internet works.Now, thanks to an unforgiving Internet phenomenon known as the Streisand Effect, those photos are not only everywheretheyve become a full-fledged meme.(Neetzan Zimmerman, Beyoncà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Publicist Asks Internet to Remove Unflattering Beyoncà © Photos; Internet Turns Unflattering Beyoncà © Photos Into a Meme. Gawker, February 7, 2013) Writing for Readers With Short Attention Spans Editors at many newspapers and magazines welcome list articles because these features can be expanded or reduced as space allows. More important, list articles make great cover lines that motivate readers to buy magazines. When we put lists on the cover, our newsstand sales go up, said Mens Health editor David Zinczenko in a televised interview about the power of lists. In his blog, Zinczenko offers lists that inform readers on timely topics: the six worst foods to eat at the movies, the eight ultimate flat-belly summer foods and the six things your dad wants for fathers day. Lists are perfect for guys with short attention spans, jokes Zinczenko....List articles usually follow a two-part formula. First, you need an introductory paragraph that sets up the article by explaining the purpose of the list. Since these articles are straightforward, the introduction should be brief and to the point. Second the list is presented in either a bulleted or a numbered format. . . .Although list ar ticles seem simple to write, most of them require research.(David E. Sumner and Holly G. Miller, Feature and Magazine Writing: Action, Angle and Anecdotes, 2nd ed. Blackwell, 2009) The Appeal of the Listicle The listor, more specifically, the listicleextends a promise of the definitive while necessarily revealing that no such promise could ever be fulfilled. It arises out of a desire to impose order on a life, a culture, a society, a difficult matter, a vast and teeming panorama of cat adorability and nineties nostalgia. . . .The rise of the listicle obviously connects with the Internet’s much-discussed effect on our ability (or desire) to sit still and concentrate on one thing for longer than ninety seconds. Contemporary media culture prioritizes the smart take, the sound bite, the takeawayand the list is the takeaway in its most convenient form. But even when the list, or the listicle, has nothing really to do with useful information, it still exerts an occult force on our attention- or on my attention, at any rate. (34 Things That Will Make ’90s Girls Feel Old. 19 Facts Only a Greek in the U.K. Can Understand. 21 Kinds of Offal, Ranked By How Gross They Look.) Like many of you, I am more inclined to click on links to articles that don’t reflect my interests if they happen to be in the form of countdowns. And I suspect my sheep-like behavior has something to do with the passive construction of that last sentence. The list is an oddly submissive reading experience. You are, initially, sucked in by the promise of a neatly quantified serving of information or diversion. . . . Once you’ve begun reading, a strange magnetism of the pointless asserts itself.(Marc OConnell, 10 Paragraphs About Lists You Need in Your Life Right Now. The New Yorker, August 29, 2013) Despite the growing derision of listicles . . ., numbered listsa venerable media formathave become one of the most ubiquitous ways to package content on the Web. Why do we find them so appealing?The article-as-numbered-list has several features that make it inherently captivating: the headline catches our eye in a stream of content; it positions its subject within a preà «xisting category and classification system, like talented animals; it spatially organizes the information; and it promises a story that’s finite, whose length has been quantified upfront. Together, these create an easy reading experience, in which the mental heavy lifting of conceptualization, categorization, and analysis is completed well in advance of actual consumptiona bit like sipping green juice instead of munching on a bundle of kale. And there’s little that our brains crave more than effortlessly acquired data. . . .But the list’s deepest appeal, and the source of its staying power, goe s beyond the fact that it feels good. . . . Within the context of a Web page or Facebook stream, with their many choices, a list is the easy pick, in part because it promises a definite ending: we think we know what we’re in for, and the certainty is both alluring and reassuring. The more we know about somethingincluding precisely how much time it will consumethe greater the chance we will commit to it.(Maria Konnikova, A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists. The New Yorker, December 2, 2013)

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Service marketing assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Service marketing - Assignment Example Lower expectation can however make for the greatest satisfaction and with it word of mouth is an important and vital in the journey towards the purchase of the service. It is important to determine the target market and set an objective which would help the firm to determine the area which is of interest to the marketer (Greechie, 2008). The marketing objectives for a brand in the hospitality industry often includes customer satisfaction and gaining the trust of the customer which would increase the customer loyalty towards the brand and make the customers come back to the same brand again and again. The service sector chosen is hotel industry, hospitality services as it has been defined to be the friendliest sector and it is important to take care of the needs of the customers. The service providers in the hospitality sector need to set an optimum level of services for the customers as a high level of expectation might result in negative outflow. As per Bitner and Tetrealt (1990) cu stomer tends to look at the basic needs such as in a hotel customer would look for clean room, a secure room and treat the customers as guest (Kumar, 2010). Hospitality Industry The hotel to be dealt in with is a unique kind of hotel which aims to provide customer satisfaction to the highest level. ... According to Brown (2002) hotels should develop strong brand in order to create loyal customers because it is the brand that wins are preferred by the customers. Unique concepts of hotel which are very much famous and attractive to the customers are the themed hotels, design hotels, boutique hotels lifestyle hotels, co-branded hotels and service quality hotels. Thus the type of unique hotel taken into account is lifestyle hotels. As per the Overlook Hospitality Management (2002) lifestyle hotels are mainly designed to fill the emotional needs of guests. To take an example, the largest hotel in the globe with about 3500 hotels, the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) which launched a new brand named Hotel Indigo a lifestyle brand, lodging alternatives for travelers who are seeking a hotel and not just merely a room. According to PWC, (2003) lifestyle hotel is small yet fashionable and stylish and at the same time offers excellent value for money. Porter argues that for organization to produce better result it is important to adapt the differentiation strategies. The company can differentiate through charging a high price, a premium price and also to chose attributes which are different from the competitors. Therefore the unique hotels tend to differentiate themselves from the normal or the traditional hotels as they pose few unique features. The hospitality industry is a competitive industry and thus it is essential to differentiate the products. As per Kotler (1997) new products can easily convert undifferentiated products and offerings. The hotels with unique concepts can position itself through differentiation. The unique concept hotels offers almost the same kind of product which a

Friday, October 18, 2019

Article on the reflection of media on new scientific research Essay

Article on the reflection of media on new scientific research - Essay Example Rossi brings about an understanding that previously used techniques firstly are extremely inefficient and do not always produce a true IPS. Secondly, due to the use of a retroviral vectors the cells tend to reject the attempt of incorporating the modified RNA and view the viruses as infectious threat leading them to undergo apoptosis and activation of interferon pathways. Furthermore, due to the nature of retroviral integration the cells become prone to mutagenesis leading to cancer due to activation of Onco-genes. Thirdly, once an IPS cell is produced by the old method there is a question of how closely these cells are able to act as the Gold Standard ES Embryonic Stem cells, and if they are prone to reversing back to their pre- induced state. Lastly, the future of IPS is to have them generated specifically for each patient and the old ways of Pluripotency Induction are very limited and only a small amount of Pluripotent cells are able to be derived (Johnson, 2010). New IPS cell der ivation technique is quite impressive in a number of ways; primarily in the derivation simplicity and then in the technique itself. Above all Rossi states there is no need for a specialized lab, as any scientist with basic RNA modifying equipment is able to create the IPS cells, the media realizes this opens up enumerate possibilities for not only future research but also gene therapy(Warren et al., 2010). These therapies will be able tobe carried out all over the world as regular scientist will be able to modify cells in not only high tech labs such as Harvard Univerity but also in remote places as hospitals across Africa. The IPS generation technique described in the Rossi article entitled â€Å"Highly Efficient Reprogramming to Pluripotency and Directed Differentiation of Human Cells with Synthetic Modified mRNA† discusses that the induction discovered by Yamanaka requires the manipulation of only four Genes; KLF4, c-MYC, OCT4, and SOX2 (KMOS) are the four strips of RNA th at are required as transcription factors to re-set a skin cell in to an IPS cell. As it turns out the new induction procedure is also faster at producing IPS cells; Lowry and Takahashi found that the new technique produces IPS cells with efficiency thirty six times the previously used method, this indicates an enumerate improvement on IPS cell production efficiency, and opens opportunities for larger scale treatments in the future. As the comparative research carried out by Chan and Lowry indicates the new technique produces IPS colonies within seventeen days, which is roughly twice as fast then the four week minimum it would take using the out dated technique. Over all, the media reporters seem to be moving in the direction of how this research will effect the general population, clinical stem cell application and future research. Their curiosity is in the right place as this research will revolutionize the way stem cells are perceived by the general public, since we probably will no longer require cells from aborted fetuses. Moreover, due to the quantity and speed of production of IPS cells researchers may conduct mass scale clinical

Critique on The Affluent Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critique on The Affluent Society - Essay Example For that purpose he gave an idea in his book "the Affluent Society". This book became a best seller as it highlighted the back draws of lesser public goods such as highways and education. In this book Galbraith highlighted an important term 'Conventional Wisdom'. This is cited in the 2nd chapter of the book. Conventional wisdom means something that is accepted generally by the public. Conventional wisdom is said to be what the public generally believes will prop development and in economic theory these are well defined in the new growth theory that is somewhat like keeping budget deficits small, keeping a easy to collect tax base, keeping inflation low and spending more on public goods rather than private goods. Inflation has a high impact on almost every sector of the economy. Its awareness is considered very important when it comes to general public and the system should be educated enough to deal with this threat. However inflation is regarded as the best tool for expansion ONLY if it is CONTROLLED. Inflation is the general increase in the price level. It can also be defined as a persistent or continuous rise in the general price level or in other words it can be presumed as an unrelenting or gradual fall in the value of money. Inflation refers to the change in the general level of prices. It does not refer to changes in one commodity price relative to other commodity prices. These differences are common when the overall system is balanced even. For the term inflation, the rise in the price level must be significant and continue over a period longer than a day, week, or month. According Galbraith inflation was presented by the increase in public demand for goods. This meant that the aggregate demand came nearer to what actually the economy can sustain to produce. This conversely gave rise to prices and therefore the private sector in the World War II phase grew stronger as to meet their demands people paid more. Inflationary effects Inflationary effects upon the Economic growth are considered as difficult challenges. As the tools present to deal with inflation need other trade offs which an economy does not want. Such as to reduce the price level the economy must try to reduce costs and in doing so it may lose quality production. Some products are meant to be expensive and reducing their prices will cause the suppliers to lose out. Inflation tends to widen the gap between the rich and the poor as the rich becomes richer and the poor pays the penalty. During the time of high inflation the main priority of the state becomes to provide the poor with proper food shelter and clothing at a reasonable cost. Another shortcoming of the (uncontrolled) inflation is that the industries start loosing out to the outside competitors thereby creating job cuts which further bring down the GDP level of the economy. The US and Inflation The US economy suffered the same disease that the price level soared and people were unable to cope with it. What can be an effective tool to stop this disparity is the introduction of a strong Fiscal Policy as at the time of World War II US was suffering from deficits and the actual level was lower than the budgeted or predicted. At this time I believe that the Keynesian approach is the strongest as the monetarists can only be able to control price thereby creating more trouble for the

Personal project for class project management Essay

Personal project for class project management - Essay Example This provides our graduates who are not soccer talented to holistically compete favourably in the competitive society. The modality for enrolment of the children is very elaborate and it encourages diversity in all aspects since children are enrolled using a formulae that represents the face of the world. Of importance is that the enrolment is gender sensitive. The institution prides itself for being non prejudice in any form with a clear understanding that a peaceful world or society brings out the best in everyone (Cynthia 17) We have different centres world over. In the North America we are based in Canada, in South America in Brazil, in Africa there are three centres-in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, and in Asia the centres are in China and India. However the main administrative office is based in London in the United Kingdom ( Posner Center Para 4) Our values dictate all our tasks ranging from strategic planning, enrolment of children and recruitment of both volunteers and technical professionalexperts, and programmes created. Discipline, honesty, diversity, and professionalism are some of the epicentre of our values. As the notion goes that education without character is a clever devil special emphasis ison discipline (Cynthia 17) Recruitment of staff based on meritocracy with indicative credentials of exhibiting honesty, leadership and professionalism. In addition, Creation of well stratified leadership structure with responsibility accorded to each echelon.Second, coming up with clear projects each year and ensuring these projects are completed within the set time schedule. Compulsoryprojects must conform to the rules and regulations as well as legal requirements of the member countries. In addition, any project carried by the institution must align with the mission, vision, objectives and values as stipulated by the club.Third, each year’s fiscal budget elaborately spelt with emergence and

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Reality television Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Reality television - Essay Example This has created two different audience that watch shows on televisions. We have one with high intellectual appeal, and the other one with low intellectual appeal. With these two groups, Scripted Television Shows and unscripted Television Shows are created to make each group with the shows they watch. With Scripted shows, shows are penned script handed to performer only to perform according to the commands of the show-runner or the director. This is different with the unscripted shows that are broadcasted with the news reporters improvising the information to make it more appealing over the scripted one. Shows like Survivor, American Idol and Real housewives of New Jersey can help us in expounding the argument. All of these shows are reality based shows, but their targeted audience differs. For the Survivor, the audience is a group of people that have an adventurous, out-going and a courageous state of mind. For the American idol, the demographic market is varied with mixed audience watching this program. College students, high school kids, sub-urban housewives and teenage girls have their share in making American idol a success. The Real Housewives of New Jersey are kind of shows that appeals to both sub-urban and rural house wives by incorporating issues such as gossips, divorce and infidelity as their character (Neil 1). The 2nd biggest media industry in the world is India. In terms of revenue, it is the chief competitor to the Hollywood. In 2003, India had the first performance of its first reality television series Roadies. The ground of the show was to bring contestants from all over India together. Sixteen contestants from the four cities were selected in the audition for the journey in all over India. In the journey, they were to perform one contestant to be eliminated from each round. The premise of the show was essentially an Indian version of the American hit series â€Å"Survivor†, but the

Criminology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Criminology - Assignment Example Department of Justice. 2008). Approximately 73% of rape victims know their assailants which will be discussed in more detail later. For now let’s just add few numbers concerning rapists who are, as mentioned, familiar with their victims, 38% being friends, 28% intimate partners and 7% relatives (RAINN 2007). When looking through data displayed on RAINN website, although with exceptions, we can say that a rapist is a married man, already having criminal record, often under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The crime usually occurs in victim’s home, during evening hours and involves mostly the use of physical force. As the list of numbers grows, so is the dual feeling of disgust and disbelief after facing these facts. How is it possible that today, in the 21st century, in the western, modernized world, when animals have rights and get treated with dignity, rape persists as a phenomenon in these proportions. Explanations are abundant and diverse, but for the purpose of this paper we look into Lee Ellis’ book â€Å"Theory of Rape: Inquiries into the Causes of Sexual Aggression". Ellis devoted separate chapters of the book to three distinctive theories dealing with rape. Feminist theory claims that rape is largely the result of male domination in sociopolitical and economic affairs and subsequent use of sexual intimidation and exploitation by males to maintain their supremacy. Supporters of this theory assert that rape is simply a crime of power and has very little to do with actual sex. â€Å"Women are often seen as little more than property for which men compete† (Ellis 1989). Women have never been seen as equal to men, therefore there is a need to dominate them, and, as Ellis observes, the incidences of rape will rise as women increasingly defy the status quo in the society. Every new little victory for women as gender could mean more attempts of male population to continue domination. Ronald Akers and

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Reality television Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Reality television - Essay Example This has created two different audience that watch shows on televisions. We have one with high intellectual appeal, and the other one with low intellectual appeal. With these two groups, Scripted Television Shows and unscripted Television Shows are created to make each group with the shows they watch. With Scripted shows, shows are penned script handed to performer only to perform according to the commands of the show-runner or the director. This is different with the unscripted shows that are broadcasted with the news reporters improvising the information to make it more appealing over the scripted one. Shows like Survivor, American Idol and Real housewives of New Jersey can help us in expounding the argument. All of these shows are reality based shows, but their targeted audience differs. For the Survivor, the audience is a group of people that have an adventurous, out-going and a courageous state of mind. For the American idol, the demographic market is varied with mixed audience watching this program. College students, high school kids, sub-urban housewives and teenage girls have their share in making American idol a success. The Real Housewives of New Jersey are kind of shows that appeals to both sub-urban and rural house wives by incorporating issues such as gossips, divorce and infidelity as their character (Neil 1). The 2nd biggest media industry in the world is India. In terms of revenue, it is the chief competitor to the Hollywood. In 2003, India had the first performance of its first reality television series Roadies. The ground of the show was to bring contestants from all over India together. Sixteen contestants from the four cities were selected in the audition for the journey in all over India. In the journey, they were to perform one contestant to be eliminated from each round. The premise of the show was essentially an Indian version of the American hit series â€Å"Survivor†, but the

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Victim’s responsibility Essay Example for Free

Victim’s responsibility Essay According to Karmen (2007), the question of â€Å"victim’s responsibility† can be reduced to six, listed from least to most guilty. The first is 100% guilt free victim, a victim that might be the victim of a random crime. After this, there is victim proneness, the specific kind of victim I have chosen for the first example used. Proneness is actually the adaption of a risky lifestyle that leaves one open to criminal mischief without actually precipitating it in any way. The next stage if victim facilitation, where certain ingredients for a crime are left in the vision of the criminal, such as wearing gold rings in a crime-ridden part of town. Then there is victim precipitation, where the victim has goaded the criminal in some way, leading to a crime. After this is the worst, victim provocation, where the victim has attacked or otherwise abused the criminal to such an extent that the criminal becomes such involuntarily. Lastly, the 100% guilty victim, the victim creating a crime for various motives, getting attention, etc. For this project I have chosen two murder cases: the first, the murder of Lana Clarkson by famed music producer Phil Spector in 2003, and the more recent murder of Meredith Kirchner by Amanda Cox (et al) in 2007. Given the evidence of the two cases thus far it is likely that both perpetrators are guilty. Cox has confessed to the murder of Kirchner, and, while the jury is still out on the Spector case, it does not look good. This essay will, for the sake of the course, assume that both Cox and Spector are guilty. The first case happened in February of 2003. The victim, a long time actress in secondary roles, was working part time in a local, trendy nightclub in Los Angeles. She met Phil Spector, and, only after a few hours, was in his mansion, where she was murdered. Spector says that she killed herself and was complaining of being â€Å"down† (Guardian, 2003). But the question of victimology is given in a (2003) op-ed piece by Wesley Strick, who chides the victim for getting into a limo with a stranger, or, barring that, that Mr. Spector was no strange, and had a reputation for violence and bizarre behavior (Strick, 2003). Hence, this case seems to flirt between victim proneness and Mr. Strick’s clear statement of victim felicitation. While it is true that working as an attractive hostess in a trendy bar is itself risky, the fact that she would have no qualms about getting into Spector’s limo with only a brief amount of time together may well bleed into victim felicitation. The second case I chose was the more recent murder of British college student in Italy, Meredith Kerchner. As of this writing, Amanda Cox, one of her murderers, has been convicted in Italy after a confession (Owen, 2007a). But Owen (2007b) holds that there was a certain level of victim felicitation. The reports of this case show that Miss Cox was mentally unstable, and that some of her roommates were very interested in vampirism and violent images (comics, etc). The reports on this case all suggest that violent sex games were planned Holoween night, and that Miss herchner was killed for refusing to play them. But it also is clear that the victim knew of these propensities, though not of their extent (Owen, 2007a) It seems that staying in this company goes a bit beyond victim proneness (thought this can be argued) and their Halloween antics might show a greater tilt towards victim felicitation, similar to the above case. Regardless, in both cases, the minimum one can claim is that both victims were prone to crime and were living risky lifestyles. At the same time, the decision to get into the car with Spector is parallel with the decision to stay with roommates and friends who had already shown some inclination to bizarre behavior. Hence, one can hold that both victims facilitated the crimes they became the victims of. At the same time, neither of the two victims mentioned above can be convicted of any of the more extreme forms of victim guilt, that of precipitation or provocation, at least with the evidence so far uncovered. If, for example, Miss Kerchner was involved in the sex games, and then withdrew, then one could make the claim that she was precipitating the crime. References: For the Lana Clarkson case: na (2003, 4 February). B-Movie Actress Named as Shooting Victim. Guardian.Strick, Leslie (2007, 18 April) Lana Clarkson’s Fade to Black. Los Angeles Times For the Meredith Kerchner case: Owen, Richard. (2007a, 7 November) Meredith Kerchner Killed After Refusing Orgy. The Times Online (http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2821154. ece) . (2007b, 9 November) Meredith Killed for Refusing Violent Sex. Times Online. (http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2841412. ece) For the victims typology: Karmen, A (2007) Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology. Thompson-Wadsworth.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Four Framework Approach to Richard Branson

Four Framework Approach to Richard Branson Introduction Leadership was once about hard skills such as planning, finance and business analysis. When command and control ruled the corporate world, the leaders were heroic rationalists who moved people around like pawns and fought like stags. When they spoke, the company employees jumped. The entire career system in some organizations is based on using hard functional skills to progress. But when executives reach the top of the organization, many different skills are required. Corporate leaders may find that although they can do the financial analysis and the strategic planning, they are poor at communicating ideas to employees or colleagues, or have little insight into how to motivate people. The modern CEO requires an array of skills. Some suggest that people expect too much of leaders. Indeed, renaissance men and women are rare. Leadership in a modern organization is highly complex and it is increasingly difficult. It is sometimes impossible for finding all the necessary traits in a single person. Among the most crucial skills is the ability to capture audiences. Richard Branson, the funder of Virgin Group and Virgin Atlantic Airline could be one of best leader in the industry. Biography According to Virgin group website, Richard Branson was born in July 18, 1950 in Surrey, England. He is the son of a lawyer and an airline stewardess. He was educated at the exclusive Stowe School, but did not excel, possibly due to his nearsightedness and dyslexia. In his teens he developed a national magazine, Student at the Age of Sixteen. At seventeen he began a student advisory service. After leaving school, Branson entered the music industry. Considering that he could sell records cheaper than the existing average, he started a mail-order catalogue with friends. It was a success, and they opened a record discount shop. They named the business Virgin, because it was their first venture. Virgin Airlines is one of Bransons main businesses. Formed in 1984, it is part owned by Singapore Airlines, and it is the second largest British long haul international airline, and has won many awards. During the 1990s the fleet and the air route network expanded and a Premium Economy service was introduced. In 2003 Virgin Atlantic launched the innovative Upper Class Suite with a flat bed and seat, and in 2006 the Virgin Clubhouse opened at Heathrow with a spa, brasserie, cocktail bar, hair salon and games room. Branson is also well known for his personal adventures by Virgin Atlantic Flyer. In 2010, and less than 40 years after the original conception of the Branson Virgin businesses, Branson boasted over 200 Virgin Megastores worldwide. All told, Branson employed 24,000 employees in 150 companies, with revenues totaling an estimated five billion dollars each year from the entire Virgin Group including the music stores and airline. The Virgin empire was is the largest privately owned business in England (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). Bolman and Deals Four Framework Approach to Richard Branson Leadership models can also help us to understand a leaders organizational influence. Bolman and Deal, in Four Framework Approach, suggest that leaders display behaviors in one of four frameworks: Structural, Human Resource, Political, or Symbolic. Each requires a specific organizational setting to be successful. The Structural Framework From the rational perspective, organizations are instruments designed to achieve specified goals. Organizations are purposeful in the sense that the activities and interactions of participants are centrally coordinated to achieve common objectives; behaviors in organizations are rational in the sense that roles and role relations are prescribed independently of the personal attributes of the individuals in the structure (Richard, 1992). In the rational domain, organizations are driven by strategies, and the role of management is to align strategies and structure with the external environment. Strategy development includes two kinds of approaches mainly. The first one is prescriptive approach which is the firm defined the objective and/or the main elements before brainstorm the strategy; vice versa, another one is have no clear objective and/or elements, all the strategy will be developing during the process, which call emergent approach. Finally, what people and task performed base on above approaches that will generate the strategic change by formal or informal organizational structure from the managers, because of environment, business relationship, technology, people, life cycle, political power, etc (Tichy, 1983). The importance of strategic change is that may occur considerable disruption, but this practice is also useful to analysis the specific causes for planning the best direction on Bransons management change. Bransons Corporate Level Strategy Diversification: The core business of Virgin Group is travel, but since early 1990, it has begun to involve in many other different businesses, such businesses are no directly or substantial relationships between each other. Such businesses include mass media, entertainment, beverage, finance, weight industries and more, all these small business units (SBUs) enriched the Virgins portfolio. Brand Extension: Branson built its red brand to represent value for money, quality, fun, innovation, success and trust. This idea is developed and applied on its whole range of businesses. Joint-Venture: In the flight service, each airline have to get the permission for access paths by during with local governments, this process is very complicated and consume a lot of resources in terms of human, money and time. Joint-venture is the method that can be easy to get this permission, also could be easy to meet the economic of scale to reduce cost, and share or lower the risk. Bransons SBUs Level Strategy Differentiation: Branson provides the offer which other firms no. The very common example is, Virgin Atlantics souvenirs are always different and united. Another one example is Virgin Atlantic keeps its safety record is zero accident, to increase the confidence to its passengers, or customers though its air ticket is expensive then others in generally. The Human Resource Framework Although people are intentionally rational, not all human behavior is the result of rationality. People do not leave their emotions and feelings at home when they come to work in the morning, and noneconomic objectives are pursued alongside economic objectives (Powell, 1999). In the human domain, the central issue is how to integrate human needs with organizational rationality. Virgin Group considers peoples as the important assets, so it pays attention on peoples motivation, culture and even the individual desires to manage and maintain peoples work well and comfortable. Branson also thinks staff first, then customers and shareholders, therefore the chairperson, staff, customers and shareholders could be considered as the key stakeholders. Chairperson Shareholders: Branson is as a leader in Virgin which has used the corporate brand name across its entire product, the whole Virgin Group is influenced by him, and he is the greater single asset in the group (Ensor Drummond, 2001). Meanwhile, Branson is one of the shareholder of Virgin Group companies, so as same as other shareholder, his values will be added into the group and will be implemented in running the business. Bransons values are innocence, innovation, quality, fun and irreverence of authority, all of such values could be found in his choices of new ventures. Investor: The investors mainly focus on the profit and the return of investment (ROI). This issue makes the conflict between investor and customers, because customers want to have better services that will increase the cost and decrease the maximization level of the profit Staff: The skills, knowledge and suggestions of the staff are important to the company, Branson also understand this point so that he wants his best people will stay in his company for venturing (Grant, 2003). Example: Julie Bower, Virgin Atlantic Project Manager, response to source alternative customer relations management (CRM) software, then experienced partially customized system with Virgin Atlantics own data. Finally, Saratoga System has been chosen as the provider of CRM system (Thomson Corporation Company, 2005). This example shows the valuable staff will affect the strategic development. Customers: The best products or services are always seeking by customer, in order words, firms are required to provide best product or service for maintaining current customers and exploring new customers. Companies that survive profitably in a competitive environment must be providing value for money (Johnson et al, 2005). Therefore, customers also influence the strategies of the company. Our first time with Virgin Atlantic, and out last! Chaotic queue at LHR took three hours to reach check in desk. The cabin crews were arrogant and more interested in putting on more make up than serving passengers. Virgin relies on their reputation from the eighties, but they have lost it big time. Want to travel and enjoy the experience avoid Virgin at all costs (Skytrax, 2008). This example not only explains how customers influence the strategy development, also explains to provide the certain products to customer can reduce the probability of finical loss. The Political Framework From the political perspective, organizations are coalitions of diverse individuals and groups with enduring differences in values and preferences. They are governed not by a single center, as is assumed in the rational perspective, but by a dominant coalition of interest groups. As such, organizations often operate with unresolved conflicts in goals (March Shapiro, 1992). From the human domain perspective, malfunctions arise from structural misalignment or from personal deficiency; while from the political perspective, divergent interests and resource scarcity inevitably turn organizations political. Government: The core business of Virgin Group is transport service, and this business is highly regulated by the government. In the result, government policy is very import to the Branson and company as well, like policy on safety, route, franchise etc. These factors are about the change in government or government policy. The airline industry in UK has been privatized already, this action is initiated by UK Government. Branson got the opportunity to run the airline services from this political change to be a franchisee. Branson entered the markets or industries that have large, well established competitors, for instance, David is one of his favorite roles who against Goliaths, it is the example that the corporate against a big business. Now, the airline industry is run by two parts, Virgin Atlantic and British airways, provide flight and airline services respectively. Moreover, British Airways is the main competitor for Virgin Atlantic that leaded Virgin Atlantic always played the underdog role in competing with British Airways. Though Virgin Atlantic and British Airways had been role as underdog and bully respectively, in 1992, Virgin Atlantic had been success to claim one and half million dollars from British Airways (Aker, 2005 Grant, 2003). The Symbolic Framework Symbolism plays a critical role in human experience. In the rational domain, the point of life is choice. However, organizational life is only partly concerned with making decisions (March Shapiro 1992). Decision making is often an arena for symbolic actions. Many events and processes are more important for what is expressed than for what is produced (Bolman Deal, 2008). The leaders use symbols to capture attention; they try to frame experience by providing plausible interpretations of experiences; they discover and communicate a vision. Innovation: Branson understands the new matters could attack the new customers and maintain the current customers, but its competitors also understand this simple theory. Therefore Virgin Atlantic based on the existed offers with new concepts or packages as a new products or services to get the competitive advantage in the industry. These factors are about the application of new inventors or ideas. The technology in air applies to the development of safe airplane, or reliable engine. Virgin Atlantic is the pioneer in this area, Branson introduced the Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines to power its new Airbus fleet of 10 A330-300s has triggered a big switch from polution to green eco-friendly travel on the route. The Trent 700 is the first engine in the highly successful Trent family. The 72,000lb thrust engine has lower maintenance costs, lower weight and better performance retention. With the lowest lifecycle fuel burn, lowest cumulative emissions and lowest noise levels the Trent 700 has the lowest environmental impact of any engine on the A330 (TravelDailyNews, 2009). Branson reduces the time taken for long distance travel and efficiency in helping to customers. Except the improvement on speed, Branson also increased number of channels for passenger to buy tickets by web and machine. The software was designed to link customer details, flight information and limo service details together and provides Virgin Atlantic staff with accurate information and tools to efficiently and effectively manage the Upper Class Wing operation (Journalism UK, 2008). Virgin Atlantic has got the opportunity to operate the UK and World air service by the government policy. The inflection perhaps people will be willing to expand more on the travelling. The change of working place also affects the demand on all the modes of transport. The new channels have been developed through the web and new machine system. The market still has space to operate obviously, but the most important consideration of a transport services provider is safety. So the most strength of Branson and Virgin Atlantic has been improving its reputation especially in safety and on-time to get confidence of passengers. Comparison of Richard Bransons corporate strategy decision In the stage of setting up the strategies, Branson definitely understand the strategies of which are the ways in which strategy develops in organization. Bransons Virgin Atlantic Airline Strategic Development Command View and Culture View are highlighted by Virgin Atlantic The culture view is that it occurs as the outcome of the taken-for-granted assumptions and behaviors in organizations. (Johnson et al, 2005) Branson founded Virgin Atlantic in 1984; in fact, Virgin Atlantics success highly depends on the founders principles to provide the highest quality innovative service at excellent value for money for all classes of air travelers. This principle created and established the culture of Virgin Atlantic, because all Virgin companies also maintain an entrepreneurial culture based on Bransons principle. There are four strategic developments have been found out and will be further described in following: Strategy One: Differentiation Branson also has another philosophy in his principle which is to be a pioneer rather then a follower of the leader. In order to reach this point, Virgin Atlantic must offer highest quality innovative service for its air travelers. Its innovative actions include: 1986, the 1st airline provided sleeper seats in upper class 1990, the 1st airline brought in the automatic defibrillators, trained the staff to help in-flight cardiac arrest victims The 1st airline installed individual TVs to all classes of passenger on the wide-bodied aircraft 2005, won the RFID Breakthrough Integration Award since it is as a leader in RFID 2005 Virgin Atlantic applied RFID tag on the important parts that used in aircraft maintenance and repairs at Heathrow Airport warehouse, UK. The technological advancement is always the advantage taking for Virgin and the customers, said by Mark Butler, System Implementation Manager, Engineering Department, Virgin Atlantic (Tata Consultancy Services Limited, 2007). Strategy Two: Jointing Alliance Virgin Atlantic has jointed an alliance with many airlines until 2006 that providing better choice on where and when for its customers flights, the member of that alliance includes Singapore Airline, Bmi British Midland, Continental Airline, South African Airways, US Airways, Virgin Blue and Air China. All above airlines also signed Codeshare Agreement, so the connections between partners services become closer, customers could enjoy better service and value, such as checking customers and their luggage over to their final destination and synchronizing their schedules with Virgin Atlantics partners. Turn out the customers of Virgin Atlantic could enjoy the shortest possible connections between their services (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). The crises of 11th September, 2001 that affected the worldwide economy, Virgin Atlantic also got heavy losses in financial aspect. The alliance strategy was significantly assisted the recovery, because it reduced the investment and the accompanying inflexibility and risk during the uncertainties of operating in other countries (Aaker, 2005). Strategy Three: Partnership In 1999, Singapore Airline acquired 49% Virgin Atlantic stake that can reinforce to provide the highest quality innovative service at excellent value for money for all classes of air travellers. Singapore Airline is a unique global partner, this is a perfect collaboration since both two airlines have an incomparable reputation for quality and innovation, and have own numerous awards from the travel industry. According to the terms of the dealing, both two airlines routes will not overlap each other and are uniquely complementary, also they keep independent managements, and the rights to develop their own products. This partnership action generated greater benefits to both companies passengers, such as fare, access to lounges world-wide and an increasingly seamless travel experience across their airlines network (Virgin Atlantic Airways, 2010). Japan Airline Strategic Development In terms of strategic management, the major contrast between Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline is, Japan Airline is the one managed by traditional state-run or government hierarchy, so its companies strategy was established by country leader and the board, as same as or followed by the strategy of government, often the goal or the result is extremely unrealistic to the commercial. The gap occurs in between the top management board and the tactical managers which more strengthen the difficulties in implementation and lessen the competitiveness in international airline market. Moreover, Virgin Atlantic emphasizes on command view and culture view; in this session, Japan Airline emphasizes on planning view to develop its strategies. In the planning view, strategic planning is to use a formal planning system for the development and implementation of the strategies related to mission and objectives of the organization. (Lynch, 2000) Japan Airlines Background Japan Airline is a joint-venture company which was founded by one governmental company and two private companies, Japan Airline Company, Philippine Airlines and Northwest Airlines in 1951. Japanese Government bought the share from Northwest Airlines that leaded to Japan Airline totally transfer to Japanese Government. Nowadays, all decisions are made by the Board of Directors and their strategic development is mainly focused on strategic planning (Fundinguniverse, 2010). Japan Airlines Planning Procedure One of the Japan Airlines department, Corporate Planning Information Technology Services is established in Japan Airline for responsible to suggest strategies for Japan Airline. After the seminar in 1987, this department suggested five corporate strategies for planning strategies and implementation, one of the strategies is about operational. The Board of Directors and the management group suggest that it (the operational strategy) is now a matter of urgency that Japan Airline must speed up the development of the airlines state enterprise plan in compliance with the policy and guidelines., Minister Shintaro Ishihara, Tokyo Conference, Nov 6, 1987. Then, Minister Ishihara grouped Japan Airlines problems for Japan Airlines management group to take actions (Sanchanta Takahashi,2010). Although this company is now privatized, but used to be country-owned and running by Government long time, the country leaders provide comments and policies on commercial-based company. This manner had been intervened the flexibility of Japan Airline. In 2006, Japan Airlines Chairperson, Haruka Nishimatsu established three committees, Strategic Steering Committee, Project Management Committee and Task Force Committee to increase competitiveness and the value of shareholder (Sanchanta Takahashi,2010). Today, Japan Airline failed to be effectively competing with other airlines because of such time-consuming and not really flexible to implement in Japan Airlines planning. Conclusion Leaders establish goals, assumptions, policies, strategies, and accepted norms of behavior. They usually recruit and promote managers who conform to their own values and expectations. While a leaders influence is evident in all organizations, it will apply more to small, highly centralized firms, or young, owner run businesses, and can increase with tenure. In the addition, the most relevant contrasts between Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline are: Virgin Atlantic emphasizes on culture and command view because of following the principle that provided by Branson that it is controlled by the company. Japan Airline emphasizes on planning view which is controlled by Government so almost every strategies development is produced follow the planning procedure to lead the company more systematic. In theory it should not only focus on single view, but these two companies are only focused one or two views, that led some limitations in Virgin Atlantic and Japan Airline. For Virgin Atlantic, it is highly depends on the principles of Branson, he almost becomes the only one and unique person that can decide the future of Virgin Atlantic, includes stay in the market or shut down the business. Another side, for Japan Airline, it involves more procedures for making decision that could be enhances and smoothen the running for a company. As mentioned, there is only Branson is the key person for Virgin Atlantic or the whole Virgin Group, for the future, Virgin Group is suggested to established a number of rules or methods to maintain and investigate the current saturation of its businesses or the new ventures. After that, Branson is the most key person that affects all the things in Virgin Group, then is the staff, last is the customers. Last but not least, whether success to run a business depends on the policy, economy, society and technology in the place where located or plan to locate the business. In the result, the leader should aware all Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic framework in mind for coping the political, social, economic and technology factors positively. So, the finial suggestion is Richard Branson have to establish a committee to share and continue his great work.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Leeches :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leeches   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The leech is a segmented worm that in all actuallity has a very vivid life. From being used by doctors to just being blood-sucking parasites, the leech is a true wonder of the mind.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The leech has a series of ring-like segments that make up its body structure. They maybe from 2 to 20 centimeters long and have the ability to shorten or lengthen their bodies. They mostly come in colors of black, red or brown, sometimes with stripes or spots. They are extremely sensitive to touch, temperatue, and drying out. Also, they have clusters of cells on the front end thatare light-sensative, almost like eyes. Leeches usually live in dark, damp areas such as the bottoms of lakes, jungels, or shallow streams. Finally, the leech is a Hermaphrodit, containing bot male and female sexual reproductive organs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With a sucker at both ends of it's body, the leech usually lives as a parasite, feeding upon the blood and tissue of other animals, or on decaying plant and animal materials. It has a mouth centered on the front sucker with teeth in some cases. Leeches, that are parasites, attach to their victim with the front sucker, create a wound, then suck out blood with, usually, both suckers. Blood-sucking leeches give out a liquid substance called Hirudin. This chemical prevents the blood from thickening and enables the blood to be easily sucked by the leech.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Doctors once used leeches, or what they called medicinal leeches, to remove blood from patients in an orderly manner. The first clinical use of leeches in this fashion occured approximatly 2,500 years ago. Since the leeches bite produces a small cleeding wound ,that mimics a venous circulation in an area of compromised tissue, the leech is particlarly valuable for reconstruction surgery. Special properties of the bite, such as the chemical hirudin, allow continued bleeding for up to 48 hours after the leech