5 Tips to Score Higher on the GRE Quant

Math on the GRE can be especially hard if you’re not much of a â€Å"math person.† But even math whizzes can find GRE Quant challenging. Here are five things you can do to score higher on GRE Quant. Tip 1: Ditch That Calculator! When they first start their GRE prep, many of my students tell me they’re not worried about GRE Quant. â€Å"I heard you can use a calculator,† they say. â€Å"I’ll be fine.† This is a rookie mistake. Don’t tell yourself you can just use a calculator and be fine. Do this, you’re falling into a classic GRE Quant trap. You see, the math problems in GRE Quant are all designed to be solvable without a calculator. The problems look complex, but there’s always some hidden shortcut, some trick that will allow you to find the answer without touching that calculator. And in fact, GRE Quant is set up so that using a calculator will often take extra time, and increase your chances of making mistakes. When you practice GRE Quant, imagine that you get charged $50 every time you touch your calculator. Make it your goal to reach for the calculator sparingly, and always look for calculator-free solutions. Tip 2: Estimate OK, so this tip doesn’t actually work on GRE Quant numeric entry problems. But numeric entry questions, ones where you have to key in the exact number, make up only a tiny portion of the math on the GRE. All the other Quantitative questions are multiple choice. This means you don’t need to calculate the exact answer. The exact answer is already among the answer choices, staring right at you. All you need to do is estimate the range the answer falls in, and then select the matching option. This is a very valuable time saver. It’s also a powerful way to minimize calculator use. Tip 3: Tap Into the Power of Your Own Mind In the 2014 movie, Lucy,Scarlett Johansson plays a woman who gains superpowers by tapping into her brain’s unused potential. Of course, in real life, there’s probably no mental hack to turn you into a full-on superpowered being. But there are mental hacks to turn you into a math superhero. There are many mental math shortcuts that allow your brain to do advanced GRE calculations. One example would be this shortcut for mentally calculating the squares of numbers ending in 5. Another would be the use of this formula for solving GRE story problems that deal with distance and time. Learn the various mental math hacks for the GRE, and you’ll approach Quant with greater speed, accuracy, and confidence. Tip 4: Learn to Play With Math If you’re not that â€Å"into† math, the idea of playing with math may seem like a strange one. Hear me out though. One of the best ways to get good at something is to love doing it. Find fun and interesting ways to challenge yourself in math. For example, you could develop number sense (a playful knowledge of math and numbers) with games such as â€Å"the 99 game† described in this GRE math blog post. Tip 5: Know What Score You’re Aiming ForSo many GRE preppers aim for absolute perfection on GRE Quant. Getting 100% (or almost 100%) on Quant is great if you can pull it off. But many students get burnt out and discouraged if they try to do this. Needless to say, you don’t want to undershoot either. To see what score you really need, look up the score ranges of the schools you’re applying to, and check out this chart of GRE score percentiles. Prep for the score you truly need, and you’ll be on your best path to success.Admittedly, this particular tip isn’t directly related to the actual math problems in GRE Quant. But the simpler â€Å"math† of knowing what score you need is still important.

Rise and fall of marks and Spencer Essay Example

Rise and fall of marks and Spencer Essay Example Rise and fall of marks and Spencer Essay Rise and fall of marks and Spencer Essay Porters five model industry analysis , BCG Matrix and the Value Chain analysis are used to evaluate the whole spectrum of factors that contributed to the rise and decline of Marks and Spencer. An attempt is also made to suggest future strategies to be adopted to regain the lost ground. MS Background The company was started in Leeds in 1884 by Michael Marks , a Russian immigrant. Ten years later , Tom Spencer joined partnership with Marks and MS was born (Beaver, 1999). Their partnership had all the components of success, uniting entrepreneurial flair with the commercial expertise required to create a string of Penny Bazaars (Christopher, 2001). In the 1920s, the business exercised a revolutionary policy of buying directly from manufacturers rather than going through wholesalers. These unique relationships with suppliers gave the business an advantage and convenience that few of its competitors could match. The growth of MS was fast and in 1926 it was listed in the London Stock Exchange as a public company (Whitehead, 1994). Two years later, Simon Marks took over the reins of MS from his father. He introduced the St. Michael brand , a symbol of excellence and quality. In 1930s, MS flagship store was opened at Marble Arch, London. Afterwards, food departments, which sold canned products, were introduced into the company. Moreover, MS started to made forays into the foreign markets in 1970s and had a mixed success in its foreign operations. It opened its first overseas store in Canada in 1973 and then the expansion continued in Europe (Daniels, 1995). It also exported its St. Michael brand merchandise to franchised stores in seventeen countries. This environmental analysis generates information which is structured and directed in a meaningful way for marketing and strategic planning process with respect to the present and anticipated situations. The internal environments are explored using the strength and weaknesses where as the opportunities and threats are analyzed for the external. The detailed factors that characterizes the strengths , weaknesses , opportunities and threats are listed as Appendix I. PEST Analysis Through the PEST analysis the external macro environment is explored. Here factors pertaining to the political, economical socio-cultural and technological aspects are looked into. Political The stability of the present labour government, its taxation policies, anti monopolistic policies, the employment laws and the formation of the competition commission so on are having a direct impact on the retail industry as well as M S. Mergers and acquisitions are not encouraged and hence thoroughly investigated. Because of the presence of the strong trade unions the companies are not in a position to introduce operation simplification just as the legendary Marks could introduce it in Marks and Spencer, immediately after the Second world war. As such firms have had to adapt to wage rises and have been forced to find other ways to lower costs. Supermarkets such as Tesco have in the past reduced costs by exploiting suppliers by taking advantage of their strong buyers bargaining power. Farmers in particular have been the subject of such exploitation though the governments competition commission has since attempted to rectify the situation by introducing a code of practice (BBC online 2001, Supermarkets code too weak ) Economic Corporation tax is currently 30% for large firms. Tax credit is allowed for research and development. Inflation and interest rates are at reasonable level with positive indicators in GNP growth rate. Even though recessionary trends are speculated about its drastic effects are not yet perceptibly seen in the economy. Of course the economy show signs of weakening. The underlying rate of inflation was 2.3% for March 2002. The Bank of England is attempting to keep inflation below 2.5% and hopes to prevent a rise in interest rates. A rise in interest rates will complicate any financing decisions and may hinder any long-term investments as it will increase the cost of debt as such alternative forms of investment such as equity become a more desirable form of investment though historically equity finance is seldom used for financing long term objectives due to the fact that it can be very costly and will dilute shareholder control. For the past two years the prediction of an impending recession has loomed large though this has not happened. Many economists predict an imminent recession. If that prediction is proved correct , history dictates that , in times of recession , consumers will be more price sensitive and less likely to purchase high priced goods due to a lack of disposable income. Socio-cultural Current trends suggest that over the last 10 years there has been a large rise in the popularity of bulk buying , with food items in particular being bought in bulk. Moreover there has been a increase in demand for convenient foods such as sandwiches and microwave meals. The impact of September 11th in conjunction with the rise of charity initiatives suggest that many people are likely to adopt a more sympathetic view to world problems and thus greater importance is likely to be placed on corporate responsibility and charity initiatives. Though Tesco and Gap practices in the past have been deemed irresponsible and yet their profit was not adversely affected. Technological The ever-increasing popularity of the Internet and the advent of broadband technology has resulted in many firms now offering online services allowing for home shopping. The use of intricate computer systems has enabled firms to automate and accelerate many procedures previously done by hand. Linked system have also enabled easier account collection, statistical analysis and identification of demographic data Porters Five Model Industry Analysis The widely accepted and commonly used Porters five model industry analysis rests upon the industry dynamics which in turn are influenced by the forces of macro and micro environments. This analysis is not one of activity alone but an on-going process. These forces exercise relative power at a point of time and it is really important to identify which of these five forces are the key forces at operation and evolve a strategy to position itself to take advantage of the opportunities and over come the threats. Because of the dynamic nature of these forces the analysis is to be repeated on an on-going basis so as to deprive of the potential competitors to overtake , regain , sustain and improve the market share and growth as the situation demands. The threats from the New entrants , buyers and suppliers bargaining power , substitutes and competitive rivalry are analyzed and shown in Appendix II Porters 5 forces model suggests that when buyers exert a high degree of choice and are able to choose from a variety of substitutes product quality, price, product differentiation and branding are likely to become prevalent factors as concerns the success of a firm. As such this is likely to be common within the market MS operates as there is a high degree of competition incurred in direct and indirect forms meaning buyers (customers) will have a high degree of choice thus firms must cater to this in the manners outlined above. Additionally the fickle nature of the fashion industry i.e. product life cycle is low due to ever changing fashion trends means that a quick and efficient response to customer demand can critically affect the degree of success a firm experiences. Additionally an awareness of future environmental conditions can be of vital importance to a firms success as the importance of price, product quality branding and differentiation can vary greatly within different cir cumstances. I.e. during a period of recession price becomes a prevailing factor, which is likely to dictate customer choice. Whereas during a period of prosperity quality and brand become dominant factors. The Core Competences Critical Success factors and Competitive Advantage Core competences arises from the unique and distinctive way that M S builds, develops , integrates and deploys its resources and competences. It can be evaluated like this. M S has a clear customer focus. Because of the inbuilt , robust competences the uniqueness of M S cannot be easily imitated. With regard to its flexibility this is one area in which M S did not respond timely in adequate measure. They lagged behind other competitors in adapting to the changes in the market or industry conditions. The company has paid a bitter price for this laxity. The extent to which value is added to the product/service is quite is good. Finally, with respect to sustainability M S could not retain the tempo of its momentum and march even though it is still the market leader. The critical success factors and core competences are pictorially depicted and is shown in Appendix III. Competitive Advantage M S could attain competitive advantage by developing and implementing these distinctive resources capabilities and competences. The strategies adopted after the great fall of 1998 enabled M S to regain its lost territory. The competitive advantage of M S can be explained in terms of its reputation for quality ,its special relationships with its suppliers and its customers. M S has a very exacting but mutually profitable relationship with the suppliers. It demands high quality at reasonable cost and flexibility in return for large volume of business. Its relationship with the customers is based upon its reputation for good service , refunds , exchange of goods and high quality value for money goods. Real competitive advantages take longer to build and last longer. M S has the best brands on high street. The customers associates with the company with dependability and value for money. The employees are always a privileged lot resulting in their high involvement and commitment. In the end result it has a performance that is superior to most of its high street competitors.

Deficit Spending Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Deficit Spending - Term Paper Example Generally deficit spending refers to any kind of expenditure from the government side which exceeds the government earnings or revenues. In various countries the concept of deficit spending is different. The main difference is in the component of deficit spending. Generally government expenditures which are financed by the borrowing from the public categorized under the head of deficit spending in the USA. On the other hand, in countries like India, the concept of deficit spending is different. Here expenditure over the current revenues and non-banks borrowing are included under the head of deficit spending. (Gupta et.al, 2008, p.630) Thoma (2011) in his review has mentioned that â€Å"When the government incurs debt, the important factor to consider is what the government doeswith the money relative to what the private sector would have done with it. If the money wouldhave been used for consumption goods or remained idle in bank accounts, and the government uses it to purchase needed infrastructure instead, then this is better from the perspective of future generations since it enhances the productive capacity that they will inherit.† (Thoma, 2011). Deficit spending can create more jobs, specially the government jobs. It helps in supply of foods, unemployment insurance for the poor, in kind subsidies, medical benefits. (Mulligan, 2012). Spending on infrastructure, road, and transport helps the economy of the country to grow. In these cases the initial expense by the government can yield better result in the future. Like advantage, the deficit spending also has some disadvantages as well. Government spending often discourages the high rate of employment as government subsidy sometime acts negatively in terms of employment. Government spending often hampers the private sector activity. A single unit government subsidy means one less unit investment in the productive sector of the

Compare and Contrast of Ford Motors and General Motors (GM) Research Paper

Compare and Contrast of Ford Motors and General Motors (GM) - Research Paper Example   Moreover, the impact of changing patterns is also discussed in a brief way. Compare and Contrast of Ford Motors and General Motors (GM) General Motors Company (GM) is a transnational automobile manufacturer with its headquarter situated in the region of Detroit of the United States. It operates in more than 157 countries with a distinctive brand image and identity in the market of an automobile. On the other hand, Ford Motor Company is also the other renowned conglomerate an e operating in the similar sector i.e. automobile. Similar to GM, Ford Motor Company also has its headquarters in Dearborn region of United States. Legal Factors In this era of globalization and industrialization, the most significant issues which should be maintained in an apposite way are safety and eco-friendliness. These are essential in order to sustain in the market among others in the long run. Therefore, the government of the US introduced varied rules such as ‘National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS)’ in order to improve the safety standards of the passengers. The FMVSS introduced numerous laws, namely shoulder belts for the travelers setting in the front seats, head manacles and energy-sucking navigation columns among others in order to enhance the safety of the passengers (National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, 2011). Along with this, the government of the US also launched certain regulations namely Clean Air Act, Vehicle Air Pollution and Control Act (The National Association of Clean Air Agencies, 2003) and also restricted the utilization of leaded fossil fuels in order to reduce contamination and global warming (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Thus, in order to sustain in the market of the US, both GM and Ford introduced electric cars running on electric energy measures in order to prevent the ozone layer from getting harmfully affected. Moreov er, both the companies also followed the underlined safety measures in order to retain and enhance their market shares in the market of the US. Social Factors Apart from the legal factors, the other significant factor affecting the growth and the profitability of automobile industry is the social aspect. According to Hofstede, the dimensions of individualism and masculinity are higher in the US, therefore, personal preference and predilection highly influences the society (Greet Hofstede, n.d.). Moreover, low gender biasness and extreme fondness for luxury cars have improved the market share of automobile sector (Bradley, Bruns, Fleming, Ling, Margolin, Roman, 2005). Along with these, high income trends of US$ 49,445 in 2010 also played a major part augmenting the revenue of the automobile manufacturers (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Furthermore, high individualism made a significant impact upon the consumer decision making aspects which also enhanced the sale of the automobiles in the market of the US. Economic Factors In addition to the above discussed factors, economic factors also offer a noteworthy impact on the automobile sector of the US. The price fluctuations of oil highly influenced the sales of automobile industries thereby hampering the profitability (ESCAP, 2012).  Ã‚  

Concept of Human Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Concept of Human Nature - Essay Example It is the confirmation of friendship or competition that we will concern with. In the bygone eras, there were wars and rumors of war. There were those who went to fight battles and returned as heroes. Then there were those who fought battles but did not return. There were also those who masterminded plans of action for the furtherance of kingdom. And there were others who masterminded treacheries. Scores were settled in the process of wars and battles. The charade was so well knit and appeared so real that none noticed the element of treachery in the episode. Sometimes the plans boomeranged on those who engineered the plots. The plots were so brilliantly drawn and executed that it was not till the final act was over one could perceive anything amiss. However, in the end, some way or the other, the executor of the treachery was exposed and divine justice settled the scores with just retribution (Song of Roland). Not all the scenarios ended in bloodbath. There were those who spent time in soliloquy and reflection. They were men and women of foibles and passions like the rest of mankind. They laughed and cried in their childhood. They embraced in lust in their adolescence and they went in the worldly way of business. But they remembered their ways. They felt something amiss. They knew that they had crossed the boundaries of decency at such a time and place. The peace had departed from them and they were like caged animals. They lived in the open air, but they felt the iron bars around them. They constantly felt the pricks of their emotions like swords after their souls. Then they had to break down. They had to open up (The Confessions of J.J. Rousseau). Destiny with God After all the things are said and done, the end comes with a mixture of sadness and happiness. The secret thoughts are hardly spoken. The matters of the heart are kept very closely guarded secrets. The keepers of secret do so for a reason. They dread to speak about their longings and desires. They hide them away like treasures. They wait for the end. They know the opportune time will come. The fear is there that the end might not come according to their plans. There is the lingering fear that the object of their desires might go the opposite way. They pursue the goal of their desires with all diligence. Sometimes they come so close that they could grasp it with their arms. But they must wait. The right time has not arrived. They must pine away some more time. Ultimately they reach their goal. The time is now ripe. They could count the cost. They could look back and see the long and arduous journey. Many died on the way. There is the tinge of sadness around the joy of triumph. They have won the war, but at the cost of some battles. One cannot undo the trysts of destiny. One has to march on. There are some miles yet to go. One cannot march on without having learnt to bear the gains and losses of a journey. It is enough that you have come so far. We must learn to wait to see what is yet to come (Racine). Conclusion There are those that scheme and plot to have circumstances go their way. They succeed many times. Then there are those who make sincere plans and goals and work at achieving them. They may or may not succeed. It is fine if they

Internet Memes and Political Participation

Internet Memes and Political Participation Internet memes: As a new form of political participation 1. Introduction The term â€Å"meme† has been emerged in various spheres in a few studies, and it has been discussed with some applied research and cultural research (Hofstadter, 1985; Dawkins, 1976; Blackmore, 1999; Chesterman, 1997). As the basic unit of culture, meme plays an extremely important role in the reproduction of culture. Given this orientation, some researchers started to address and explore the relationship between meme and politics, argue that meme has a positive effect on the development of political. (Shifman, 2013, Milner, 2013). In the 21st century, the rise of digital media has changed the information dissemination ecological, as well as the way of thinking of people. With the advance of social media and digital technology, meme theory also need to adapt the new environment and focus on the present convergence for new field. Accordingly, the new branch of meme study has come out, which is internet meme. In this Internet age, a memes ability to reproduce and spread is grad ually expanding, thus highlighted increasingly as the dominant force in transmission media, and playing an increasingly important role in the public domain in terms of the news public opinion and political communication. What’s more, websites like Know Your Meme, 4chan, Reddit and Tumblr are meme manufactures which have helped people produce thousands of memes. The internet meme has raised the pace of social political awareness and community building in cyberspace. Shifman (2013) defines that internet meme has three functions in terms of political participation: as forms of persuasion or political advocacy, as grassroots action and as modes of expression and public discussion. This paper builds on existing knowledge in the fields of internet meme, based on Shifman’s work and combines with other’s studies to demonstrate that internet meme is a new form of political participation. At the same time, this paper will illustrate it from three aspects: as a persuasion way in election, as a resistance of people (collection action) and as a public discourse of political issues. Body What is a meme? The definition of meme in The Oxford English Dictionary is: an element of culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means, especially imitation. The term â€Å"meme† was created by Dawkins in his book â€Å"The selfish Gene† in 1976, when he tried to explain the culture evolution. He defined it as â€Å"small units of culture that spread from person to person by copying or imitation† (Dawkins, 1989). In addition, he analogized meme with biological gene, considered that meme also evolved through coping(imitating), variating and selecting, like gene transmits its genetic information to the next generation. A clear difference between these two is that genes are the genetic factors of biology, while meme is the derivative of culture. Besides, gene propagates through heredity, a physical process to replicate but meme through imitating, which is a mental process. In his work, he indicated that meme has three characters: 1) Heredity, the process of meme’s diffusion is heredity. For example, when one religion or belief is propagating to others, the religion as a meme is acquired by people and copied to their mind and continuing passed along to believers. 2) Variation, the contents of meme by imitated are not the same, they could be changed. For instance, when people telling a story to others they will add or delete some details, which results in variation. 3) Selection, the ability of diffusion is varying from different memes, some are easy to spread while some are not, they are competing when being propagating, which is like the natural selection in biologic theory (Dawkins, 1989). Despite some researchers criticized that Dawkins has limited the culture in the sphere of biologic and simplified human behavior later, it cannot be ignored that his efforts on the research of meme, which accentuates the realization of cultural gene. Next, Douglas Hofstadter put forwarded a new interdisciplinary subject â€Å"Memetics† in 1985. This subject is based on the perspective of Darwinian evolution to study the content of the mind, aiming to explore the social evolution model of cultural information transmission (Hofstadter, 1985). Since then, the meme concept has been discussed and accepted by various of subject: phycology, physiology, anthropology,  linguistics and so on. For instance, Daniel Dennett, an American philosophy who agreed with the concept of meme, and applied it into his book â€Å"Consciousness Explained† and â€Å"Darwins Dangerous Idea† to interpret the mechanism of spiritual evolution (Vasiliki, 2014). Furthermore, Finland linguists and translation theorists Andrew Chesterman, combined meme with the British philosopher Karl Popper’s idea about the schema of knowledge evolution, established the translation theory framework of the system by a descriptive study on the translation standard and strategies (Chesterman, 1997). In 1999, Susan Blackmore (1999) considered meme as an independent replication factor in her book â€Å"The Meme Machine†, suggested that whatever the form of memetic information is, it could be regarded as meme when it can be copied by imitate.   Based on the previous studies, this paper adopts Shifman’s (2013) idea and apply it to the analyze. She describes the meme constituted with two principles: 1) looking at diffused units as incorporating several memetic dimensions namely, several aspects that people may imitate; 2) understanding memes not as single entities that propagate well, but as groups of content units with common characteristics. 2.2 What is an internet meme? Meme has been widely accepted and applied to several subjects which has mentioned before, but it only gets attentions of mass media researchers until 21 centuries (Davison, 2012). According to Shifman (2013), she defines an Internet meme as: 1) a group of digital items sharing common characteristics of content, form, and/or stance; 2) that were created with awareness of each other; and 3) were circulated, imitated, and/or transformed via the Internet by many users. Generally, in the digital media era, the advancement of Internet and social networks enable people to acquire more information and accelerate the information exchange. With the advent of web2.0 and platformlization, meme is actively involved in the process of information dissemination, in terms of longevity, fecundity, and copy fidelity have been enhanced through internet, which regard as the three basic properties that help meme to spread successfully. For longevity, it is attributed to numerous archives, which can store data indefinitely not rely on memory. For copy fidelity, it mainly because the digitization allows lossless information transfer compared to traditional media. For fecundity, due to the infrastructure, it can achieve the swift diffusion of any given message to numerous nodes. These facilitates the creation and exchange of user-generate-consent, which emerges participation (Shifman, 2013). Apart from this, easier access to the Internet enables people to receive mounts of information every day, in comparison to the limited information acquiring approaches in the past. Also, the speed of transmission is no longer limited by the movement of individuals. Hence, it is necessary to pay more attention on internet meme, exploring its role on constructing shared values in contemporary digital cultures. As Shifman (2013) claimed, the internet meme has three properties in the web2.0: 1) A gradual propagation from individuals to society. In other words, memes could shape the mindsets, forms of behavior, and actions of social groups. People can easier sharing and communicating in digital era, which facilitates the process of spreading memes from person to society; 2) Reproduction via copying and imitation. In the digital world, people can spread content by forwarding, linking, or copying, they can use some software like Photoshop and application like Snapseed to imitate and remixing instead of reproducing as well; and 3) Diffusion through competition and selection. The internet magnifies the competition and selection of meme. On the one hand, it allows researchers collect data and track the process of meme evolution. On the other hand, it offers users an opportunity to understanding and knowing the preference of choice relating to meme diffusion (Davison, 2012). It is always mentions viral when talks about internet memes, their differences and similarities are the major parts of meme research. This paper does not go in further with details about this, but indicates the mainly difference between viral and internet meme is that viral is consisted of single units while internet meme is a collection of text. In order to better analyzing, this paper focus on the images form of internet memes, takes some images as example to illustrates the idea. Based on the studies of Knobel, Lankshear (2007) and Kuipers (2005), internet memes can be divided into two categories: recycled images and macros images. Recycled images have a template which build by numerous imitations and stable images which include original content and are passed along with transformation or not, as presented in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Macros images usually constitute with a single image overlaid with a white text written in capitals and express the humorous note, as presented in Figure1.3 and Figure1.4. Figure.1 and Figure.2 Figure.3 and Figure. 4 2.3 Internet memes as a new form of political participation In recent years, internet meme has been constantly evolving into the political participation. This appeared to be attributed to the digital media. First it offers the opportunities for people to become the subject of expression, and then reducing the cost of political participation, especially for the young generation who are less likely to engaged in political activities (Anduiza, 2012). Second, public and political events are more likely to be exaggerated than in the past with rapid spread in the internet. Last, the so-called image politics according to Wilson (2000), image symbols have more vitality and tension than words. Since the visual impact has more strong effects on emotion and could save the time for reading too much words, it is extremely easy to be used to participate in discussing political issues, especially in sensitive areas. For this reason, the exaggerated effects and interesting composition of meme makes its transmission have powerful appeal, which makes the combination of both of them play the role of two-way gain. Therefore, internet meme has built the bridge between citizens and political, as a new way to deconstruct by the form of image with humor to gains serious political, build a unique participate system (Hristova, 2014). This paper classified this political participation into three sub-items in terms of facilitates political participation according to Shifman’s work: 1) As a persuasion way in election; 2) As a resistance of people (collection action); and 3) As a public discourse. Following will combining cases to analyze these three functions (Shifman, 2013). 2.2.1 As a persuasive way in election Social media allows users to publish their opinions or ideas so that their friends, family, and strangers can read these posts and comments back. And it is has been demonstrated that people are more likely to believe in their friends and family, which makes the online ideas become more convincible (Shifman, 2013). As a consequence, internet meme through social media could influence people for their psychological cognition, behavior patterns and guide their recognition (Tay, 2015). As politics move to the Internet where more and more voters get their news and information with the trend of digital technology. The politicians and their companies start to consider taking advantage of internet meme to create great political profile with their personalities and campaign slogans. In this way, enabled mobilizing voters outside of official political discourses. A few studies consider politicians who appear â€Å"cool† in the eyes of ordinary citizens to be rare successes (Tay, 2015) The 2008 American Presidential election is known for being the first modern Internet campaign, Shifman (2013) chooses the â€Å"Obama Girl† video as an example of memes as political persuasion, explains that the video become widely popular due to it just focus on a praise of Obama not talks about specific political issues. Here, this paper uses The Hope Meme in 2008 American election as an example to analyze. This meme is the depiction of Barack Obama by artist Shepard Fairey (Figure 5), it has thousands of replications and then a vast number of users participated in creating their own replications (Figure 6 and Figure 7). This meme portrayed Obama as the ideal candidate and introducing a vision for the country, which triggered peoples approval (Foster, 2014). Subsequently, Obama’s supporters enjoying creating new versions of the Hope Meme itself to show their stance (Seiffert, 2017). With the propagation of the hope meme, a climbing mount of people acknowledge the appearance of Obama even they do not participate in, they can see the images in social media through their friends or families. Moreover, Obama’s campaign posted a LOLcat a few days before the 2012 election (Figure 8) to call on people to vote. This meme combing with the internet culture, the lol culture and cute cat, make people perceived as Obama is proximity to the ordinary people. The fact is, Obama is a popular figure referred to in Internet memes, involved discussions and supportive commentaries (Tay, 2015). Figure.5 and Figure. 6 Figure.7 and Figure. 8 To give another example is the 2012 American election, between Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. On April 4, a meme containing President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posted on a Tumblr blog. It imagines an exchange between them, and Obama asking â€Å"whatchu doing?†, she responds, â€Å"Running the world† (Figure 9). In this image, Obama is lying down while reading, and seems relaxed, Clinton has a solemn expression, and is busy with work. The post got a lot of attention and received thousands of notes. Clinton becomes a synonym of respectability, and a representation of female empowerment. Since then, her supporters involving into this internet meme and imitate their own picture by change the text or content. (Figure 10 and Figure 11). The meme became a major part of Hillary Clintons positive cultural revival as a political figure, which was already seen as particularly powerful in the 2016 presidential campaign. This has made her a viable candidate (Tay, 2015). Figures 9, 10 and 111 These examples have illustrated the use of internet memes as a persuasion way referred to political participation. As an active social software, internet memes have a place in the political expression of new media with the linking, forwarding and imitating, which increased the exposure of political figures. In the presidential election, candidates in the media show the image of appearance, and in the narration part is partly deciding the success or failure of his election (Foster, 2014). Politics in the media society is becoming more and more a performance, an act of creating an image. 2.3.2 As a resistance of people (collection action) Indeed, most of political memes are generally resistant to nature, and as weve seen, resistance itself is a critical mass mobilization. Shifman (2013) defines one function of memes is as grass-roots action with the example Occupy Wall Street online movement. The â€Å"Pepper Spray Cop† which shows a police officer spraying protesters with pepper spray. The â€Å"We are the 99%†, becomes one of the main visual markers of the on-the-ground Occupy Movement after it spread quickly online. They serve as a call to action for the protest to continue. Shifman indicates that the power of organization is declining, instead being replaced by massive, mobile social networks, which is collective action (Milnerï ¼Å'2013). The background of the developing collective action cannot be separated from the remarkable rise of internet memes. First, the threshold is low and there is no need for technological skill to express and participate. Besides, image meme helps these protests go deepe r with the visual effects. The most important thing is that internet meme allows the citizens to participate in collective action and at the same time can retain their individuality, since one of the character of meme is alter (Anduiza, 2012). There are several studies has worked on the Occupy Wall Street, this paper will apply the collective action in Facebook between China mainland and Taiwan in 2016 as a case study. This is the first internet meme and political participation refer to collective action have been combined in public view in China. In January, Ziyu Zhou, a member of the south Korean womens group, was accused by the artist An Huang about Taiwans independence on Weibo, leading to a wave of public opinion against Ziyu Zhou. As the incident continued to heat up, then Ziyu Zhou issued a video on Facebook to apologize for the previous uproar. Celebrity Gengxin Lin forwarded the apology to video, and said apologized too suddenly and didnt have time to memorize the manuscript, which caused Taiwanese netizens and Chinese netizens started a debate in Lins Facebook. A few days after, it is said that 20 million Chinese young people have started a collective action to Facebook of Taiwan’s three media homepage. Noncitizens take internet meme as main expression, showed a high degree of organization, to resist the independence of Taiwan (Tang, 2016).   As showed in Figure 12, Figure 13 and Figure 14, these memes are from the China mainland, people try to use the beautiful scenes from China mainland and some ironic words to resist the supportive of independence of Taiwan. The contents of these meme are from traditional Chinese slogans, events with Chinese characteristics and political propaganda themes. On the one hand, it evokes the value recognition of people. On the other hand, they combined with familiar things of public, which will have a greater influence on transmission. The most important thing is, there are millions of people participate in this action, and post millions of images on Facebook, the homepage was full of images which is powerful and spectacular. Figure.12 â€Å"invite Taiwan people to enjoy the beautiful China mainland scene.† Figure.13 â€Å"Follow me: Taiwan has been Chinas territory since ancient times. You dont know its okay. Figure. 14   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Dont talk with a picture† These internet memes from the mass production by organizing, and hide the emotional expression in the images, aim to use it to gain the attention occupation and presents people’s political stance of resist. According to sharing and remixing, transfer it into collective action, reflects the ability to participate in narrative construction and civic organization. Therefore, memes can be used as a tool of political participation in terms of turn the public opinion fragmentation into collective action (Tang, 2016). 2.3.3 As a public discourse of political issues Social media is considered to be more effective in terms of information diffusion comparison to traditional media, it expands the source of information and knowledge for people. People not only are the receiver of the political information in network environment, they also are a political message of reproducing and disseminator, which means everyone is likely to be the news publishers, and likely to be receiving information. The advantages of digital media including openness, virtualization, interactivity and timeliness build a great environment for the public discourse, and helping people freely communicate and express their opinions. Therefore, net citizens are keen on discuss politic issues through digital media. The richness, floating and uncertainty of meme allow everyone revolve around the image to construct the legal qualification and compete for their statements, thus it is easy to be used to participate in discuss sensitive political issues (Hristova, 2014). They are now been a part of our internet culture, participating in a larger media and material ecosystem that helps shape the political identity and political union. Meme could be a catalyst for political discussion (Shifman, 2013). Compared to the past people have to talk or write articles to show their political stance while now they just can use an image. Like the Pepe the Frog, it becomes a Nazi Trump supporter and Alt-Right symbol (Figure 15). It attracts not only people’s attention, but also political discussions by its powerful visual impact. Some notable examples are: The 2015 General election of United Kingdom, the image of eating of candidate Miliband, which is different from his appearance on newspapers, evokes a vast number of imitation of people with parody and ridicule (Figure 16). After that, many politicians actively to follow the trend, post out their own eating images to get attention and discussion. This meme is similar to the Sihao Bai in 2014, the mayor of New York city. He used a knife and fork in an undisciplined manner in an image (Figure 17), which made people questioned his ability to govern because he has a more powerful appearance in newspaper than this image. Back to the Occupy Wall Street case, the We are the 99% meme. It is widely popular in Facebook and has numerous replicators. At first, most of them are from the 99% people to support with fixed images, annotation or remix (Figure 18). Gradually, the 1% people participate in and post their own images with the text â€Å"tax me† or â€Å"redistribute† (Figure 19). At the same time, they got mounted of comments along with (Milner, 2013). This meme engages in multiple discussions and arguments on Facebook. Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 19 With the propagation characteristics of memes, public discourse is totally different than the past. The increasing of complex hotspot issues duration, degree of attention and transformation mechanism, a serial of crisis involved in, the more complex issues appear at the same time including and the increase of average time of the single issue are catalyzing the public discourse with political issues in digital era. In another way, internet memes as a political catharsis, it represents a strong demand of citizens for political participation. Significantly, when people engaged in this discussion rather than sharing or forwarding, it has more powerful since it empowers citizens to share their opinions of political stances (Shifman, 2013). 3. Conclusion In the era of media, the process of political participation can be well deserved to internet meme, which from the bottom to top, allows people to have the chance to get involved in political activities. The three basic characters of meme including heredity, variation and selection have been enhanced in digital media, and that is the major reason why the internet meme could leave a great influence on political participation. From one hand, internet meme as the persuasion way mainly reflected on the political elections, help politicians to build positive image thus get voter’s approval. From another hand, it allows ordinary people to resist through mastery of dominance on the spread of images, not only can modify the content of the meme, also can undertake production and innovation. Besides, it offers a new way for net citizens to seek affirmation and self-expression in political communities. The future study of internet meme could focus on the effects, like how to measure the effects of internet memes on elections or collective action. As a new way to participate in politics, internet meme has its own advantages and it is deserved to study in the future. References Anduiza, E., Jensen, M.J. and Jorba L., eds. (2012). Digital Media and Political Engagement Worldwide: A Comparative Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Blackmore, S. (1999).The Meme Machine, New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Chesterman, A. (1997).  Memes of translation. 1st ed. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. Davison, P. (2012).  The Language of Internet Memes. Dawkins, R. (1976).  The selfish gene. New York: Oxford University Press Inc., pp.189-202. Foster, B. J. (2014). Its all in a meme: a content analysis of memes posted to 2012 presidential election facebook pages.  Dissertations & Theses Gradworks. Hofstadter, D. (1985).  Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers. Hristova, S. (2014). Visual memes as neutralizers of political dissent.  TripleC (Cognition, Communication, Co-Operation): Open Access Jo,12(1). Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2007). Online memes, affinities, and cultural production. In A new literacies sampler (pp. 199-227). New York: Peter Lang. Kuipers, G. (2005). Where was King Kong when we needed him? Public discourse, digital disaster jokes, and the functions of laughter after 9/11. The Journal of American Culture, 28(1), 70-84. Milner, R. M. (2013). Pop polyvocality: internet memes, public participation, and the occupy wall street movement.  International Journal of Communication,  7(1), 2357-2390. Seiffert-Brockmann, J., Diehl, T., & Dobusch, L. (2017). Memes as games: the evolution of a digital discourse online.  New Media & Society (2), 14614448177Tay.G (2015). Binders full of LOLitics: Political humour, internet memes, and play in the 2012 US Presidential Election (and beyond). European Journal of Humour Research 2 (4) 46-73. Shifman, L. (2013).  Memes in Digital Culture. The MIT Press. Tang,J.T (2016).The political participation and collective action of the online community in the case of Facebook. University of News (3),96-101 Vasiliki, P. (2014).  Satirical User-Generated Memes as an Elective Source of Political Criticism, Extending Debate and Enhancing Civic Engagement. University of Warwick. Wilson, K. (2000). Image politics: the new rhetoric of environmental activism.  Journalism & Mass Communication Educator,  55.

HBCUs: Relevance in 21st Century Essay -- Race

Imagine this; the year is 1836. You are a 17-year-old student interested in learning more about the world around you; however, such an opportunity won’t come your way because you are black. Due to this fact you have no hope of furthering your education past the reading, writing, and arithmetic their slave masters taught your parents. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. The minds of many African American’s go to waste due to individual ignorance of their people and thus of themselves. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were put into effect to educate the black mind and eliminate the ignorance. The discussion of whether Historically Black Colleges and Universities are still necessary in the 21st century has taken place in recent years. Within the discussion many debate that due to the fact that the world is no longer like it was in the 1800’s, the time period in which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were created, the purpose of them no longe r exists. However, the cultural significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities seems to be overlooked by those who argue their importance and relevance in a time where blacks have the option of attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The purpose and grounds on which Historically Black Colleges and Universities were developed are still being served. The need to increase efforts to not only rouse, but support Historically Black Colleges and Universities is necessary now more than ever in order to preserve our past, fulfill the purpose of our present, and ensure our future. History In order to fully understand the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as the importance of their preservation and need for continuation, one... ...2010. "Building Partnerships to Revitalize America's Neighborhoods." HBCU Central (Winter 2002): 1-6. Winter 2002. Web. 2 May 2012. Cokley, Kevin. "The Impact of College Racial Composition on African American Students' Academic Self-Concept: A Replication and Extension." Journal of Negro Education 71.4 (2002): 288-96. JSTOR. Web. Oates, Gary L. St. C. "The Color of the Undergraduate Experience and the Occupational Attainment of Blacks and Whites: Evidence from Longitudinal Data." Sociological Quarterly 45.1 (2004): 21-44. JSTOR. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. Redd, Kenneth E. "Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Making a Comeback." New Directions for Higher Education 1998.102 (1998): 33-43. WILEY. Web. Roebuck, Julian B., and Komanduri S. Murty. Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Their Place in American Higher Education. Westport: Praeger, 1993. Print.

Power and Control in Hawk Roosting Essay

GRADE G In Shakespeare’s play a man called Macbeth kills the king to get his power. Ted Hughes’s poem ‘Hawk Roosting’ is about a hawk who thinks he is powerful. GRADE F In _Macbeth_ Shakespeare writes about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth who have a plan to kill the king and take over. â€Å"Hail, King thou shalt be.† Ted Hughes writes about a hawk and how powerful he is: â€Å"My manners are tearing off heads.† GRADE E Shakespeare shows that Lady Macbeth wants to be a powerful character because she wants to kill the king so that Macbeth can become the new king: ‘You can putt this night’s great business into my dispatch.† Ted Hughes also writes about power, but from the point of view of a hawk. We know that the hawk has a high opinion of itself: ‘I kill where I please because it is all mine.’ GRADE D The theme of power/ambition is explored in _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting.’ Shakespeare focuses on Lady Macbeth’s relationship with Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth learns about the witches’ prophecy that Macbeth will become king, she hatches a plan to make it happen. Ted Hughes also writes about ambition because the hawk in the poem wants to be the best: â€Å"Now I hold Creation in my foot.† A difference between them is that the hawk is very confident about his own power, but Macbeth is too  loyal to the king to be able to reach his ambition.: â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honoured me of late.† Lady Macbeth is more ambitious than her husband. GRADE C Ted Hughes’s poem ‘ Hawk Roosting’ shows the world as seen from a hawk’s point of view. The hawk seems very determined and powerful. Shakespeare also presents the theme of power and determination, but the difference is that he presents is with a husband and wife who plot to murder the king and take his crown. The hawk also has thoughts of murder: ‘in sleep rehearse perfect kills’. The word ‘rehearse’ suggests that the hawk enjoys killing, and practises to make himself perfect – even when asleep. This also suggests that he is proud of himself. Similarly, in _Macbeth_ Lady Macbeth is proud of her ambitious nature: ‘O never/Shall sun that morrow see.’ She has murderous thoughts and she will kill the king that night. GRADE B _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting’ both seem to be about power and ambition. In ‘Hawk Roosting’ the speaker is a hawk who describes his view of the world: ‘The earth’s face upward for my inspection.’ This image suggests how the hawk is very confident that the world is there to suit his needs. It is in the form of a statement, which adds to the feelings of the hawk’s confidence. Lady Macbeth is also very powerful at the beginning of the play. She wants Macbeth to entertain the guests while she prepares to kill King Duncan. When hatching the plan, she says to her husband, ‘Leave all the rest to me’. This implies that she feels that she is more capable to commit the crime than Macbeth. The audience will see her as more ambitious at this point. GRADE A Although _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting’ differ in form, there are distinct links that can be drawn between them. They both concern power and ambition  and how a character’s persona is formed by their self-belief, and what they are prepared to do to achieve their aims. In both texts we are given an insight into the characters’ innermost thoughts. In ‘Hawk Roosting’, because the poem is written in the first person, in the form of a dramatic monologue, we gain a great insight into the speaker’s confidence. The hawk starkly portrays how he feels that the world is there for his ‘convenience’. He arrogantly describes how the ‘air’s buoyancy’ and ‘sun’s ray’ are ‘of advantage’ to him. Similarly, Lady Macbeth initially believes that the crown is her right, and shows her desire for achieving it: ‘Take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers.’ The fact that she is calling on spirits to give her the strength to act implies that she will stop at nothing to achieve her aim. An audience may view this as a shocking, evil and ruthlessly ambitious act. GRADE A* _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting’ share some common ground in that they are concerned with the unpleasant side of power and ambition. The main characters in both texts appear to be overly confident and assured. ‘Hawk Roosting’ is a dramatic monologue spoken by a non-human voice, a hawk. We are provided with a series of images which depict the hawk’s arrogance and pride. Indeed. The hawk is brimming with superiority: ‘It took the whole of Creation/To produce my foot, my each feather.’ The hawk is seemingly bragging and delighting in how magnificent it appears. This can be directly compared to Lady Macbeth. The way she belittles her husband, referring to him as ‘afeard’ and ‘a coward’ reveals her merciless ambition to become queen. She, like the hawk, feels that she deserves to be ‘great’, and wants her husband to share the power; he calls her ‘My dearest partner of greatness.’ COMPARING _MACBETH_ AND _HAWK ROOSTING_ – SAMPLE ANSWERS (THEME = POWER AND AMBITION) 1. Although _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting’ differ in form, there are distinct links that can be drawn between them. They both concern power and ambition and how a character’s persona is formed by their self-belief, and what they are prepared to do to achieve their aims. In both texts we are given an insight into the characters’ innermost thoughts. In ‘Hawk Roosting’, because the poem is written in the first person, in the form of a dramatic monologue, we gain a great insight into the speaker’s confidence. The hawk starkly portrays how he feels that the world is there for his ‘convenience’. He arrogantly describes how the ‘air’s buoyancy’ and ‘sun’s ray’ are ‘of advantage’ to him. Similarly, Lady Macbeth initially believes that the crown is her right, and shows her desire for achieving it: ‘Take my milk for gall, you murd’ring ministers.’ The fact that she is calling on spirits to give her the strength to act implies that she will stop at nothing to achieve her aim. An audience may view this as a shocking, evil and ruthlessly ambitious act. 2. The theme of power/ambition is explored in _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting.’ Shakespeare focuses on Lady Macbeth’s relationship with Macbeth. When Lady Macbeth learns about the witches’ prophecy that Macbeth will become king, she hatches a plan to make it happen. Ted Hughes also writes about ambition because the hawk in the poem wants to be the best: â€Å"Now I hold Creation in my foot.† A difference between them is that the hawk is very confident about his own power, but Macbeth is too loyal to the king to be able to reach his ambition: â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honoured me of late.† Lady Macbeth is more ambitious than her husband. 3. _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting’ both seem to be about power and ambition. In ‘Hawk Roosting’ the speaker is a hawk who describes his view of the world: ‘The earth’s face upward for my inspection.’ This image suggests how the hawk is very confident that the world is there to suit his needs. It is in the form of a statement, which adds to the feelings of the hawk’s confidence. Lady Macbeth is also very powerful at the beginning of the play. She wants Macbeth to entertain the guests while she prepares to kill King Duncan. When hatching the plan, she says to her husband, ‘Leave all the rest to me’. This implies that she feels that she is more capable to commit the crime than Macbeth. The audience will see her as more ambitious at this point. 4. Shakespeare shows that Lady Macbeth wants to be a powerful character because she wants to kill the king so that Macbeth can become the new king: ‘You can putt this night’s great business into my dispatch.† Ted Hughes also writes about power, but from the point of view of a hawk. We know that the hawk has a high opinion of itself: ‘I kill where I please because it is all mine.’ 5. _Macbeth_ and ‘Hawk Roosting’ share some common ground in that they are concerned with the unpleasant side of power and ambition. The main characters in both texts appear to be overly confident and assured. ‘Hawk Roosting’ is a dramatic monologue spoken by a non-human voice, a hawk. We are provided with a series of images which depict the hawk’s arrogance and pride. Indeed. The hawk is brimming with superiority: ‘It took the whole of Creation/To produce my foot, my each feather.’ The hawk is seemingly bragging and delighting in how magnificent it appears. This can be directly compared to Lady Macbeth. The way she belittles her husband, referring to him as ‘afeard’ and ‘a coward’ reveals her merciless ambition to become queen. She, like the hawk, feels that she deserves to be ‘great’, and wants her husband to share the power; he calls her ‘My dearest partner of greatness.’ 6. In _Macbeth_ Shakespeare writes about Macbeth and Lady Macbeth who have a plan to kill the king and take over. â€Å"Hail, King thou shalt be.† Ted Hughes writes about a hawk and how powerful he is: â€Å"My manners are tearing off heads.† 7. In Shakespeare’s play a man called Macbeth kills the king to get his  power. Ted Hughes’s poem ‘Hawk Roosting’ is about a hawk who thinks he is powerful. 8. Ted Hughes’s poem ‘Hawk Roosting’ shows the world as seen from a hawk’s point of view. The hawk seems very determined and powerful. Shakespeare also presents the theme of power and determination, but the difference is that he presents is with a husband and wife who plot to murder the king and take his crown. The hawk also has thoughts of murder: ‘in sleep rehearse perfect kills’. The word ‘rehearse’ suggests that the hawk enjoys killing, and practises to make himself perfect – even when asleep. This also suggests that he is proud of himself. Similarly, in _Macbeth_ Lady Macbeth is proud of her ambitious nature: ‘O never/Shall sun that morrow see.’ She has murderous thoughts and she will kill the king that night.

Medea Novel Analysis Essay Example

Medea Novel Analysis Essay Example Medea Novel Analysis Essay Medea Novel Analysis Essay the story’s climax. Medea’s conversation with Jason between a locked door to her departure from the city on a chariot, serves as the play’s falling action. Medea’s departure from Corinth is also part of the story’s resolution and serves as her deus ex machina. Medea involves foreshadowing, when Medea received the first news of a murder in the royal palace, and flashbacks; when the Medea reminisced about her old life in Colchis. A moment of catharsis in the play is when Medea killed her children. This scene may have convinced its audiences that although all have unique experiences with jealous women like Medea, their experience may still be better, for it doesn’t involve murders, like in the story. Medea had moments of recognition when she thought about the need for her children’s murder, although she kills them in the end. Medea has so many conflicts that its plot can be considered man versus man; for her murders of the royals and her children, man versus society; for her banishment from Corinth, and man versus self; for her internal struggles when she thought about her children’s murder. The play’s theme involves a woman’s equality and their status symbol as a prize, and a political asset. Medea’s complex imageries and characters made the play into a timeless classic and include problems with the role of women in society that still is an important issue in many cultures in the world today.

7 Great Online Research Resources for Writers

7 Great Online Research Resources for Writers 7 Great Online Research Resources for Writers 7 Great Online Research Resources for Writers By Mark Nichol Doing research to strengthen a current story or article, or to get ideas for a new one? You can google all you want and hope for a productive return, but to engage in a focused search, try one of these mediated experiences instead: 1. Infoplease From current events to reference-desk resources to features about history, this site puts a remarkable array of information within reach. Guides to the nations of the world, timelines of political, social, and cultural developments, special quantitative and qualitative features like â€Å"The Worlds Most Corrupt Nations† and â€Å"Color Psychology,† and more cover just about anything you could think of. 2. The Internet Public Library Unlike the other reference centers on this list, the IPL is a portal to other Web sites, brimming with directories of links in topics like Arts Humanities. (Dictionary of Symbolism? Check. Ask Philosophers? Right. Legendary Lighthouses? We got your legendary lighthouses right here.) If you need background information on either fiction or nonfiction projects, stop by for a visit I just dare you to leave without a digressive click or ten. 3. The Library of Congress The online presence of the official repository of knowledge and lore of the United States is an indispensable resource not only for nonfiction writers seeking background information for topics but also for fiction authors seeking historical context for an existing project or inspiration for a new one. 4. Merriam-Webster Online The publishing world’s dictionary of record is at your fingertips online as well as in print, with a thesaurus and Spanish-English and medical compendia, to boot. The dictionary also includes refreshing can’t-we-all-just-get-along usage commentary. (That and which, as pronouns that introduce restrictive clauses, are interchangeable.) You’ll also find video tutorials on usage from dictionary staff, a Word of the Day feature, word games, and a variety of language-watch features. 5. Refdesk Refdesk.com, like Infoplease, is a clearinghouse for online research, with links to headline news and timeless information alike. You can easily get lost in its Daily Diversions directory, which includes links not only to humor, games, and trivia sites but also to more respectable resources like DailyWritingTips.com (whoo!). If you have a question, chances are you can find the answer on this site. 6. Snopes How do you verify that this self-described â€Å"definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation† is what it claims to be? Go to the site and find out. The fine folks at Snopes.com will set you straight about any one of hundreds of posts each with a prominent judgmental icon, and commentary to back it up about that one thing you think you remember you heard about that one thing. (For example: Posh comes from an acronym for â€Å"port out, starboard home† the ideal respective locations for accommodations on a luxury liner right? Cue the buzzer. Bogus.) TruthOrFiction.com is a similar site. 7. Wikipedia This user-generated online encyclopedia got a lot of flak a few years ago for some inaccurate information posted by someone with a grudge, but that was an isolated incident. Also, many sources warn against using Wikipedia as a primary source for research. That said, don’t hesitate to avail yourself of the wealth of information available on the site much of which is written by subject-matter experts in the field in question. Then click on one of the online sources linked in the footnotes, or take your search to one of the other sites in this list. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Grammar Test 1Writing the Century45 Idioms with "Roll"

The Impact of the Cold War Policy and International Conflicts on the D Assignment - 1

The Impact of the Cold War Policy and International Conflicts on the Development of East Asia since 1945 till Today - Assignment Example The Cold War benefited China since it triggered a civil war between the communist and nationalist Chinese. The victory of the communists Chinese in 1949 resulted in the installation of a government, which effectively unified the Chinese people. Additionally, the victory of the communists resulted in the restoration of China to an independent state, free of the European interference. Nevertheless, the Cold War had a negative impact on Korea, China, and Japan in the sense that it created regional instability. For instance, the Korean War reportedly created an armed conflict between the U.S. and China to the extent that it created serious regional stability, which impacted negatively on the economy of the region. Again, during the Cold War, the USSR supported North Korea while the U.S. supported South Korea. Since then, the two nations have been involved in a conflict with Russia still maintaining its support for North Korea and the U.S. casting its weight behind South Korea. These historical conflicts whose origins are traced to the Cold War period are impacting negatively on regional stability. By extension, the conflicts impact negatively on the development of the region since it hampers trade. China, Japan, and Korea were once among the poorest countries in the world. In fact, the three countries were not considered economic powers until after the end of World War II. It is after the war that the countries took a path to modernize themselves. The modernization process in the three countries began by creating political stability. In the early part of the 20th century, all three countries were ruled by autocratic leaders. As such, the countries were marred by corruption to the extent that only a few, mainly the rich benefited. This resulted in the unequal distribution of resources. To modernize the three countries, the citizens of these countries, particularly those in the opposition, pushed for the replacement of autocratic leaders with governments elected by the people. This in part involved calling for the modernization of institutions in the countries to ensure that democracy and the rule of law are embraced. Japan and China then moved with speed to establish a strong mi litary to ensure that the kingdoms and empires are protected and that their political stability was maintained. However, Korea did not focus much on building a strong military as its counterparts. Instead, Korea embarked on creating economic reforms to promote trade and investment in the country. Japan and China, however, embarked on creating economic reforms after building a strong military. The three countries share a similarity in that all embarked on infrastructural development as part of their modernization process. Today, the three countries are among the top ten largest economies in the world.

How will Russia and Ukraine likely address their current and future Essay

How will Russia and Ukraine likely address their current and future conflicts in the coming decade Is war likely - Essay Example Issues of natural wealth, such as oil and gas, in the Crimea are very important to all actors involved in the region, including modern day Russia, the United States and Ukraine. Issues surrounding accessibility as well as resource scarcity have recently come to the fore and have involved all actors with a stake in the region. On the surface it may seem clear that the stronger regional power (i.e. Russia) would have the upper hand over Ukraine and eventually determine the fate of the relations between the two countries. Yet there are complexities that dictate the intrigues of international relations and foreign affairs. Ukraine, although is not yet a member of the European Union, is looking forward to NATO membership in order to safeguard its defense in an unforeseen political future. The most immediate resistance to Russia’s regional hegemony is the European Union, which continues to stymie its attempts to throw its weight around regionally (Recall the brief Russian-Georgian W ar last year caused by the break-away Republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia). Still, the EU is burdened with the scarcity of natural resources and consequent economic dependence on other nations; 82% of its entire consumption of oil and 57% of gas makes it the world’s leading importer of fuels. The major supplier for these fuels is Russia, and this has been increasing following strategic investments and agreements from Russia. The EU is hampered by its economic dependence - a factor that cannot be overlooked. The isolation of Russia amongst the former members of the Soviet sphere of influence is a real threat to the decision makers in Moscow.