Essay about The Conflicted Japan of Yukio Mishima’s...

The Conflicted Japan of Yukio Mishima’s Spring Snow Yukio Mishima was a revolutionary author. His dramatic public suicide is the perfect capstone to a life full of turmoil and unrest. Mishima himself was as conflicted as his many stories and plays, which tend to play out the problem of which direction is Japan heading, and should the nation be developing that way. Mishima romanticized the samurai and nurtured a lifelong affair with traditional Japanese theater. At the same time, he admired the West and studied Western art and literature avidly. The influence is evident, from the decidedly 19th Century British feel of his novel, Spring Snow, to the many references therein to Western art, literature, film, and philosophy. Mishima was†¦show more content†¦Kiyoaki is he son of the Marquis Matsugae, a sort of nouveau-riche during the reign of the Meiji Emperor. Kiyoaki, a beautiful young man on the path to success in the new Japan, is in love with his childhood friend, Satoko, the beautiful daughter of the Ayakura family. The Ayak uras are very prominent, of higher aristocratic class than even Kiyoaki’s family, and the Matsugaes view the closeness of the families as a fortune. Kiyoaki is a moody, pensive boy who gets a thrill out of alternately rejecting and accepting Satoko’s demure advances. Eventually the Ayakuras will wait no more for Kiyoaki to make his approach for Satoko’s hand in marriage, and, faced with another offer from an impressive suitor, Satoko becomes engaged to be married. Kiyoaki realizes only as the situation escalates beyond any reparation that he truly loves Satoko. With the help of his friend, Honda, the son of a judge in the Japanese court system, Kiyoaki begins an affair with her. The two meet cladestinely for sex, and Satoko eventually becomes pregnant. Having violated multiple social barriers, and after the realization of Satoko’s pregnancy, the couple are found out. Satoko is sent to a nunnery, and Kiyoaki dies, presumably of heartache and the flu, at th e age of 20. The tragic story follows an arc not at all unlike British literature of the 19th Century. It makes since that Mishima would use that style to write this novel; after all, given

Psy Free Essays

Predict success In achieving your goals based on your past positive experiences, your Individual personality (as determined by the trait approach discussed In chapter six), and your major field of study. This assignment must be approximately four pages in length (not Including the title and reference pages), double spaced, written in Times New Roman 12-point font, and submitted as a Microsoft Word document using the Assignment Submission button. For additional help, please see Sample Week Four Paper. We will write a custom essay sample on Psy or any similar topic only for you Order Now Support your work with citations from two scholarly sources. One can be from Adult Development and Learning; however, the other source must be from the Gifford university Library. The video, Finding Scholarly Sources, is a helpful guide to locating appropriate sources from the library. The paper must be properly formatted according to PAP style as outlined in the Gifford Writing Center and include a separate title and reference page. The Gifford Writing Center (CAW) has two kinds of tutoring available to you. I have often thought of my dream Job and what I would like to do as a career or job if I could solely focus on what would make me happy instead of would would make me he most money. Physical setting and environment in which you would like to spend your working hours. In regards to my dream Job and where I would like for it to take place. My dream Job would be owner of my own party planning company. The great part of being a party planner is that my physical setting would change providing me a change of scenery should I need It. I would have the option of working from home when need It. A office space to meet with clients and the enjoyment of meeting clients at different venues on the actual day of the events and In the different phases of planning. Types of activities and responsibilities you would Like to spend your time performing I love helping people and planning parties and events it’s something that allows me to be creative. My responsibilities would include meeting with clients and making sure that I make sure that there special occasion request are fulfilled in addition I will spend time traveling to different venues and networking with people who are in efficiently. Kinds of people like you like working with. I have spend the last 20 years working in customer service. I have met people from all walks of life. I am truly a people person. I love working with all people. One of the reasons that I chose being a party planner as my dream Job is due to the fact that I like working with people and being a party planner will give me the chance to meet and help a lot of people that I probably other wise would not get a chance to know. Personal goals an accomplishment you would like to achieve as part of your work. I like helping people in addition it has always been my goal to own run and operate a successful company. Nothing is more rewarding than helping people while doing something you enjoy and of course making money at the same time. As long as I use the skills that I have learned so far in this course in regards to accomplishing short term and long term goals I am confident that I can one day own and operate my own business. 1 . What steps does your textbooks author recommend for achieving your short term goals? The author has a lot of good advice in regard to achieving your short term goals. But the two steps that he has to get you to your goal are. To identify the appropriate goals and then devise an effective plan and strategy to achieve your goals. The author then goes into detail on how to do this such as identifying your worth term goals and then ranking them in order and then selecting what is most important or urgent. 2. What steps does your textbooks author recommend for achieving your long term goals? The author explains that setting long term goals can be a bit complex and long term goals can often change as you change or grow older. The author also explains that you need to identify the most appropriate long term goal for yourself in addition you need to have an understanding of yourself and find things that interest your or bring you satisfaction. . Describe an important decision n your academic or personal life that you will have to make in the near future. In the near future I will have a very important decision to make that will effect my academic as well as my personal life. I am thinking long and hard about relocating to a different state. If I do that will mean a new school as well as relocating my son and moving him away from friends and family. It will be hard but when I look at the pros and cons I believe that the move will be hard but in the best interest of me and my son in the long term. 4. Explain the reasons for your decision and conclude with your est. possible choice (reference the five step decision making approach described in Chapter 1, pages 21 – 24) A decision to move to another state cannot be taken lightly especially when you have others who will be effected by your decision In using the method for decision making as described in the text book I have clearly thought out by thoughts about moving to another state, what I would do when I got there could I achieve my goals without moving and if indeed moving is the right thing to do at this time. In mapping it out it is clear that I need to put a lot more thought and How to cite Psy, Papers

Validation of Agreement-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Questions: 1.Advise if the agreement signed by Susan was valid. 2.Advise if Steve was legally bound to buy the car from Jason. 3.Advise if Carl was negligent and whether any defence was available to him. 4.Advise if Betty has any rights under ACL. Answers: 1.Issue: The primary issue of this case is to determine whether the agreement that has been signed by Susan is valid or not. In the present case, it has been noticed that husband of Susan had handed over the alleged agreement to her where it has been stated that if at any time the matrimonial tie between both of them has been dissolved, Susan could get hardly $100.000 and she will not claim more than that. It has further stated by him that if she will not agreed to sign the same, he will not going to marry her. Rules: It is clear from the facts of the case that the provision of duress will be suitable to resolve the dispute[1]. The term has been included in the Contract law and it has been mentioned in the provision that if any act attracts duress, it will cease the enforceability of contractual liabilities. This provision is used as a weapon to defend himself who was forced to convey their consent over an agreement the terms of which go against the interest of him. It has been mentioned under the essentials of contract law that both the party to a contract should have to enter into the contract with free consent. However, if certain situations cropped up where one of party threatened the other to obtain consent regarding the agreement and that party forced to give his consent by putting signature, that will attract the provision of duress. In Australia, section 50 of the Contract law envisages the provision of duress. The rule regarding the same is that the consenting party will get an opportunit y to terminate the contract[2]. the rule regarding the same has been applied in the case of Barton V Armstrong [1973] UKPC 27 where the Court has decided to deliver their judgment on behalf of the consenting party and told to cancel the terms of the contract. Application: It is clear from the case that Susan, who gave consent over the agreement, forced by her husband Tom and it is clear that she had no intention to deliver her free consent over the contracted issue. These stipulations attract the provision of Duress. Conclusion: The case can be concluded with the fact that Susan will get the opportunity to rescind the contract on the ground of duress. 2.Issue: The pivotal issue regarding the case is to consider the issue whether Steve is liable to meet his promise to buy the car that has been made to Jason or not. The main theme of the case evolved with the topic regarding the promise made by Steve to Jason regarding a car that has been inspected by Steve for several times. It has been seen in the case that Steve demanded certain things in respect to the car and told Jason that he will buy the car if all his requirements are fulfilled. After knowing the fact, Jason had modified the car, installed all the features to the car, and met all the requirements respectively. However, it has been observed that Steve on later stage denied to buy the car. Rules: The subject matter of the case has drawn the arena of promissory estoppels and it is a part of the contracted provision. It has been mentioned under the Contract Act that if a promise has been made regarding something and the other party relies on the same to that extent the termination of the promise may affected his interest, law binds the promise maker to keep the promise[3]. The terms of the promissory estoppels consist of certain rules regarding the obligation of the party regarding the promise and it has been stated that the party should meet all the promise mandatorily[4]. The term promissory estoppels consists of the general rule and ethical issues regarding the commencement of a contract that enhance the hand of the law so that it can forced the promise maker to keep the promise. It has been stated that the grounds of the promise should have to be legal in nature[5]. In Crabb v Arun D.C. (1976) 1 Ch 179[6] it was held that the promise maker has to perform as per his statemen t. Application: In this present case, Steve expressed his view regarding the buying of car and made a promise to Jason that if all his requirements are fulfilled, he will buy the car. Therefore, he made a promise to Jason. It is clear from the fact that Steve had made a promise and that binds him to perform the same. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be concluded that Steve is legally bound to purchase the car from Jason. 3.Issue: The primary issues regarding the third question is whether Carl has any responsibility under the acts of negligence and is there any scope to defend himself here or not. Rules: It is clear from the facts of the case that the subject matter of the case has been attracted the provision of the act of negligence[7]. The term negligence is a provision under the chapter of Tort. It has been mentioned under the section of negligence that if a person failed to perform his duty of care, he will get liable for the offence of negligence. It has also been mentioned under the rule that the negligent work should have to cause great monetary loss to the other party. the case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 is one of the historical judgment in the history of negligence and it has been noticed that the manufacture is personally liable for the negligent acts[8]. It can be stated that the act of negligence is malafide in nature and it causes great injustice to the person who are harmed. However, the person can get certain defence provision to submit on his behalf and can prove his innocence. The rule regarding contributory negligence and assumption of risk can be such defence to him. If it has been proved that the victim knew that risk can be taken place out of the act of the defendant, he will also be held liable for the accident. Application: It is noticed in this case that the defendant Carl was an angler and a chef and his friend Harry used to have the food made by Carl. Carl was not a professional chef and both of them knew the fact. After knowing the fact, the plaintiff Harry continued to eat the foods made by Carl. It is clear from the facts of the case that Harry became ill by consuming the foods made by Carl and it was found that Carl did not know the process of preparing the fish and he even did not wash the fish well. Thus, it can be stated that Carl is liable under the principle of negligence. However, it is also a fact that Harry knew the fact that Carl is not a professional chef and there can be risk regarding the foods made by him. In spite of the fact, he took the food and fell ill. Therefore, Harry can be liable for the acts of contributory negligence. Conclusion: Therefore, the provisions regarding the contributory negligence and voluntary assumption of risk can be taken by Carl to defend him. 4.Issue: The issue of the case is to determine the fact whether Betty can get any right under the Australian Consumer Law or not. Rules: The issue of the case is to determine the outcome of the misleading advertisement and statutory provisions regarding the same that are applied in this case. The provision regarding the misleading advertisement has been mentioned under the provision of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Act. It is written under the section that if products have been advertised with certain features and the delivery of it holds different features, the consumer can sue the product under the ground of misleading advertisement[9]. The Consumer law also imposed certain statutory duties on the same and section 56 of the Australian Consumer law deals with the same. If the goods has not been delivered as per the proposed feature, and there are sufficient grounds for the consumers to reject the same, the goods can be replaced by the respective authority[10]. The policy regarding the R3 (Repair, Replace and Refund) will be applicable in this case. Application: It has been noticed that Betty has regimented for an Apple I-phone that has 5x zoom and has good battery superiority. However, the phone that she got had certain inconsistency as the camera was 3x and the battery support was also not that good. Therefore, it can be said that both the provisions of section 18 and 56 will be applicable in this case. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be held that Betty can get aid under section 18 and 56 of the Australian Consumer Law. References: Faerber, A.E. and Kreling, D.H., 2014. Content analysis of false and misleading claims in television advertising for prescription and nonprescription drugs. Journal of general internal medicine, 29(1), pp.110-118. Feldman, S.W., 2015. Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements, Freedom of Contract, and the Economic Duress Defense: A Critique of Three Commentaries. Clev. St. L. Rev., 64, p.37. Fried, C., 2015. Contract as promise: A theory of contractual obligation. Oxford University Press, USA. Kim, N.S., 2014. Situational Duress and the Aberrance of Electronic Contracts. Chi.-Kent L. Rev., 89, p.265. Lee, R., 2015. Promissory Estoppel and Proprietary Estoppel: A Response to the Myth of a Unifying Approach. King's Student L. Rev., 6, p.iii. Mungan, M.C. and Seidenfeld, M., 2016. Investments to Make Threats Credible, Rent-Seeking, and Duress. Supreme Court Economic Review, 23(1), pp.341-351. Price, W.N., 2013. Legal implications of an ethical duty to search for genetic incidental findings. The American Journal of Bioethics, 13(2), pp.48-49. Richards, J., 2013. Deceptive advertising: Behavioral study of a legal concept. Routledge. Robertson, A., 2014. Three Models of Promissory Estoppel. Browser Download This Paper. Tamblyn, N., 2017. The Law of Duress and Necessity: Crime, Tort, Contract. Routledge. Faerber, A.E. and Kreling, D.H., 2014. Content analysis of false and misleading claims in television advertising for prescription and nonprescription drugs. Journal of general internal medicine, 29(1), pp.110-118. Feldman, S.W., 2015. Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements, Freedom of Contract, and the Economic Duress Defense: A Critique of Three Commentaries. Clev. St. L. Rev., 64, p.37. Fried, C., 2015. Contract as promise: A theory of contractual obligation. Oxford University Press, USA. Kim, N.S., 2014. Situational Duress and the Aberrance of Electronic Contracts. Chi.-Kent L. Rev., 89, p.265. Mungan, M.C. and Seidenfeld, M., 2016. Investments to Make Threats Credible, Rent-Seeking, and Duress. Supreme Court Economic Review, 23(1),pp.341-351. Richards, J., 2013. Deceptive advertising: Behavioral study of a legal concept. Routledge. Lee, R., 2015. Promissory Estoppel and Proprietary Estoppel: A Response to the Myth of a Unifying Approach. King's Student L. Rev., 6, p.iii. Price, W.N., 2013. Legal implications of an ethical duty to search for genetic incidental findings. The American Journal of Bioethics, 13(2), pp.48-49. Tamblyn, N., 2017. The Law of Duress and Necessity: Crime, Tort, Contract. Routledge Robertson, A., 2014. Three Models of Promissory Estoppel. Browser Download This Paper.

Sba accounts free essay sample

I would like to thank all those who assist me in completing this project. I thank my family members who gave me the best encouragement throughout this exercise. Finally, special thanks to my teacher Miss Moulton who guide me throughout the completion of this project. The aims hoped to achieve are: 1) To allow for the application of accounting principles learnt. 2) To get a â€Å"hands on† experience in recording, analyzing, interpreting and communication accounting information. 3) It is in partial fulfillment of CXC Principles of Accounts requirement. The aim of the study is to determine whether Debro’s Wholesale is operating at a profit or a loss. Data was gathered from source documents and posted to the journals, ledgers and final accounts. The performance of the business was determined by using ratios. Debro’s Wholesale is a newly developed and simulated entity located at 12 Anchovy Main Road and owned by DebbieAnn Rowe who is the sole proprietor. We will write a custom essay sample on Sba accounts or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Debro’s Wholesale offers a variety of food items and miscellaneous goods, serving most of the island in its convenient location. The supermarket employs fifteen staff along with Ms. Rowe who is acting as owner/manager. There are three supervisors and twelve general workers who act as shelf stackers, cashiers, as assistance and security. The accounting records are kept on double entry principles, with all the necessary journals, ledgers, a cash book, trial balance and balance sheet. Debro’s Wholesale allows some of their customers to buy on credit and they also buy from many retailers on credit The period under review is Feb 2009

Chicago Referencing †Citing a Newspaper (Author-Date Style)

Chicago Referencing – Citing a Newspaper (Author-Date Style) Chicago Referencing – Citing a Newspaper (Author-Date Style) Chicago referencing can seem complicated. This is partly because of the number of source types it covers. But it’s also because there are two versions: author-date citations (common in the sciences) and footnote citations (common in the humanities). In this blogpost, we focus on how to cite a newspaper with author-date style citations. Make sure that this is the version you’re using in your paper before you follow the advice! Do I Need to Cite Newspaper Articles? The Chicago Manual of Style’s online guide says that â€Å"Newspaper and magazine articles may be cited in running text†¦ and they are commonly omitted from a reference list.† This means that you may be able to simply mention a newspaper article in your work: As Edith Lederer notes in a Washington Post article published December 31, 206, Ban Ki-moon valued meeting with world leaders as part of the fight against climate change. However, most colleges want you to demonstrate your ability to cite sources, so you should check your style guide before omitting a citation for a newspaper article. If your style guide doesn’t offer specific guidance on newspaper articles, it’s usually better to include a citation and an entry in the reference list. In-Text Citations The rules for in-text citations of newspaper articles are the same as for other sources: i.e., give the author’s name and year of publication in parentheses: Ban Ki-moon valued meeting world leaders to discuss climate change (Lederer, 2016). If the author is named in the text, give the year of publication immediately afterwards. If quoting the print version of an article, you should also give page numbers: Lederer (2016, 23) reports that Ban Ki-moon valued â€Å"face-to-face meetings† with world leaders to discuss fighting climate change. For online articles, no page numbers are required (although you can give a paragraph number if you need to be specific). Some newspaper articles may not have a named author. In such cases, use a shortened version of the article title instead: Ban Ki-moon valued meeting world leaders to discuss climate change (â€Å"Ban Ki-moon buoyed by climate accord,† 2016). Most newspaper articles will have a named author, though, so remember to check carefully. Reference List In the reference list, newspaper articles should be listed using the following format: Surname, First Name. Year. â€Å"Title.† Newspaper Name, Month Day. Chicago referencing doesn’t include page numbers in the reference list, even for print articles. This is because pagination can differ in different editions of the same newspaper. A reference list entry for the Washington Post article cited above would therefore appear as: Lederer, Edith M. 2016. â€Å"Ban Ki-moon buoyed by climate accord but laments conflicts.† Washington Post, December 31. If no author name is available, use the title instead. For online articles, a URL should be given as well. In addition, for regional newspapers, you may want to name a city and state: â€Å"Climate Change: ‘If We Save Tuvalu, We Save The World’.† 2016. Civil Beat (Honolulu, HI), September 2. civilbeat.org/2016/09/climate-change-if-we-save-tuvalu-we-save-the-world/

Donald Trump Promises - List and Details

Donald Trump Promises - List and Details President-elect Donald Trump made a lot of promises while he was running for office in the 2016 election. Some political observers counted hundreds of Trump promises. Trump promised major action on everything from illegal immigration to coal mining to bringing jobs back from overseas to building a wall along the Mexican border to launching an investigation of his opponent in the presidential election, Hillary Clinton. Which promises has Trump kept in the days since he  took office on Jan. 20, 2017? Heres a look at six of the biggest, and probably the most difficult to keep, Trump promises. Repeal Obamacare This was a biggie for Trump and his supporters. Trump repeatedly called the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, a disaster.   One thing we have to do: Repeal and replace the disaster known as Obamacare. Its destroying our country. Its destroying our businesses. You take a look at the kind of numbers that that will cost us in the year 17, it is a disaster. Its probably going to die of its own weight. But Obamacare has to go. The premiums are going up 60, 70, 80 percent. Bad health care at the most expensive price. We have to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump has promised a full repeal of Obamacare. He has also promised to replace the program by expanding the use of Health Savings Accounts;  allowing policyholders to  deduct health insurance premium payments from their tax returns; and permit shopping for plans across state lines.   Build a Wall Trump promised to construct a wall along the entire length of the United States border with Mexico and then force Mexico to reimburse taxpayers for the cost. The president of Mexico, Enrique Peà ±a Nieto, has openly stated his country will not pay for the wall.  Ã‚  At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump, he said in August 2016, I made clear that Mexico would not pay for the wall. Clintons position on immigration was much different; she mocked the wall and supported a path to citizenship. Bring Jobs Back   Trump promised to bring thousands of job back to the United States that had been shipped overseas by American companies. He also promised to stop American companies from shifting positions overseas through the use of tariffs. I will bring jobs back from China. I will bring jobs back from Japan. I will bring jobs back from Mexico. Im going to bring jobs back and Ill start bringing them back very fast, Trump said. Cut Taxes On the Middle Class Trump has promised to drastically cut taxes on the middle class. A middle-class family with 2 children will get a 35 percent tax cut, Trump said. He promised the relief as part of a Middle Class Tax Relief And Simplification Act. Isn’t that nice? Trump said. It’s about time. The middle class in our country has been devastated. End Political Corruption in Washington His battle cry: Drain the swamp! Trump promised to work to end corruption in Washington, D.C. To do that, he said he would seek a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of Congress. He also said he would ban White House and congressional staffers from lobbying within five years of leaving their government positions, and place lifetime bans on White House officials lobbying for foreign governments. He wants to also prohibit foreign lobbyists from raising money for American elections. The proposals were outlined in his Contract With the American Voter. Investigate Hillary Clinton In one of the most startling moments in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton and the many controversies surrounding her. If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there’s never been so many lies, so much deception,† Trump said during the second presidential debate. Trump later backed down, saying: â€Å"I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, and I am not looking to hurt them at all. The campaign was vicious.†

An examination of the efficacy of Behavioral Finance Essay

An examination of the efficacy of Behavioral Finance - Essay Example 383) -The weak form hypothesis asserts that stock prices already reflect all information that can be derived by examining market trading data such as the history of past prices, trading volume, or short interest. Numerous papers have demonstrated that early identification of new information can provide substantial profits. Insiders who trade on the basis of privileged information can therefore make excess returns, violating the strong form of the efficient market hypothesis. Even the earliest studies by Cowles (1933,1944), however, make it clear that investment professionals do not beat the market. It has already been stated that an efficient market is one where the prices of securities fully reflect all available information, but then what are the sufficient conditions for capital market efficiency? In an idealized world, such conditions would be The debate about market efficiency has resulted in thousands of empirical studies and literature attempting to determine whether particular markets are in fact ‘efficient’, and if so to what degree. In fact, the majority of studies and researches of technical theories have gone to the result that it is difficult to predict prices. Moreover, the random walk theory indicates that price movements will not follow any trends and so by knowing the past price movements it’s not possible to predict the future price movements. All these state that markets are in fact efficient. However, researchers have also exposed many stock market anomalies that seem to be inconsistent with the efficient market hypothesis. Trading strategies seem to be widespread among fund managers and there is little evidence that they would generate excess returns in practice (Malkiel, 2003). Evidence proof that the use of trading strategies might be closely related to behavioural anomalies. It is impossible to consistently make abnormal returns using a

How Can Diet Help Prevent Heart Attacks Research Paper

How Can Diet Help Prevent Heart Attacks - Research Paper Example All in all, it has been concluded that diet and nutrition, along with lifestyle activities, can have a significant impact on heart conditions. Introduction A healthy diet provides favorable effects on individuals who suffer from heart disease; generally speaking, a healthy diet can primarily contribute to the prevention of heart disease, slow down the progression of the heart disease that the individual is currently experiencing, as well as enable the patient to easily recover from heart surgery and other heart-related experiences (Kromhout, Menotti, Kesteloot, and Sans, 2002). Specific components of one’s diet significantly contribute to the prevention and cure of various heart disease aspects. Unhealthy diet, along with physical inactivity, can greatly lead to overweight and obesity and have been considered as the most prevalent factors that increase risks for heart disease. The function of diet and nutrition has been influenced by economic, physiological, cultural, and soci al factors. Most often, a healthy diet is combined with physical activities and behavioral changes to obtain positive outcomes when it comes to preventing heart disease and enabling heart disease patients to successfully recover. The following sections will then delve into the concept of a healthy diet and its impact on heart-related conditions. Additionally, the foods to avoid as well as those that should be consumed will be discussed along with the available ways with which the public can obtain assistance for heart disease cure and prevention. Discussion Definition of a Healthy Diet A healthy diet refers to one that supports the individual in maintaining and improving his/her health. It plays an important function for lowering the chronic risks for adverse health conditions, including heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and cancer (Hu and Willett, 2002). A healthy diet is comprised of adequate amounts of important nutrients along with sufficient amounts of water. Nutrients are obtained through a wide range of foods; therefore, a healthy diet requires a balance among various nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. This way, it will be capable of supporting the individual’s energy needs and providing the nutrients to address the needs for nutrition without having to bring about toxicity or excessive weight as a result of consuming disproportionate amounts of food (Kromhout et al, 2002). Several diets and recommendations have been established and promoted by certain health institutions, such as the World Health Organization. The group advises that health can be promoted and certain disease be prevented by following a number of guidelines, such as focusing on obtaining the ideal weight and achieving energy balance. Individuals should also limit their intake of saturated fats, focus more on unsaturated fats, and eliminate trans-fatty acids. Meanwhile, it has also been advised by the WHO to increase the consumption of nutritious groups of f ood, including whole grains, fruits, and vegetables while limiting the intake of sugar and salt. The American Heart Association also established recommendations with regards to having a healthy diet that is comprised of

Douglas Stuart and Gordon Essay Example for Free

Douglas Stuart and Gordon Essay People may believe that they do not need any hermeneutical training, but a general reading of the book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Fee and Stuart is essential for Christians who have any inclination towards scripture. The guidelines and rules outlined in the book are very good and some of them are very well developed from the point of view of interpreting and understanding scripture. For the Bible student and the inquiry seekers, the book is an excellent tool for teaching. Douglas Stuart and Gordon Fee have displayed their competencies in making the interpretation of the principles of the Bible available to present day readers. While Gordon Fee is an Old Testament scholar, Douglas Stuart is a student of the New Testament and they have covered in the book matters relating to translations, the legendry genres of poetry, parable, narratives and epistles and the meanings conveyed in the writings that were presented to their original audiences. The authors have shown how the right interpretations require different ways of exegesis as per the literary texts being studied in terms of Wisdom, Apocalypse, law and Wisdom. When considering New Testament Epistles, it is realized upon reading the book that the authors have given excellent advices in saying that the book should be treated as letters. This implies that individuals must read the book several times just as they would read letters from their close ones and then try to understand the meaning conveyed in them. It is very important to understand that the text aims at revealing the concept that the book was written to address a specific audience in order to make them understand the intricacies of Christianity. It is not possible for a reader to be extra subjective in trying to apply the different passages from the scripture to his or her own life particularly when a specific passage does not connote the meaning as believed by the reader. The book has lot of positive components and attributes that make it an excellent piece of reading. It effectively describes the complication and difficulty faced in translation and provides general principles and rules of effective interpretation. It endorses the consideration of the cultural and historical perspective and observes the writing styles and genres used in the books, and also suggests being cautious against any kind of misinterpretations. The authors have presented an easy to understand style which brings forth the art of biblical interpretations within the reach of the normal human being in a way that make the study of the Bible very rewarding and interesting. The book provides recommendation for the use of bible translations, concordances and dictionaries as facilitation to the studies. The back cover has clearly explained about the book, In clear, simple language, it helps you accurately understand the different parts of the Bible—their meaning for ancient audiences and their implications for you today—so you can uncover the inexhaustible worth that is in God’s Word. The authors have exhibited certain negative attributes especially in regard to some specific viewpoints which every reader may not agree with. For example, the material available in Acts and the Epistles was more relevant during the days when the texts were written and is considered a much lesser positive aspect in the viewpoint of King James and New King James Bible. The present day international version of the Bible is known to be much influenced by feminism while the translation versions of the Bible, especially the English Standard Version, are not much influenced by feminism. This is considered as being more sought after as the Dynamic Equivalence way of translation. Some scholars have come to believe that all hermeneutic theories have not been adequately dealt with by the authors. Since one of the authors is said to be an associate of the Assemblies of God Church, he has made some critics to point that the hermeneutics have been presented in his style. There have been several allegations of the flow of content being difficult while the style of writing has not been up to the mark. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth guides the reader in a way that he or she can handle the Scripture in a better way, and teaches how misinterpretations can be avoided by using the context properly. The entire book emphasizes the importance of holistic reading of passages as per the over all substance of Scripture. Quirky doctrines and bad exegesis are the result of instances when passage and biblical statements are taken out from the theological, historical or cultural contexts and focused on aspects that are away from the whole of the revelation. In this context the introduction in the books has aptly explained that, The aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness; one is not trying to discover what no one else has ever seen before. Interpretation that aims at, or thrives on, uniqueness can usually be attributed to pride (an attempt to ‘out clever’ the rest of the world), a false understanding of spirituality (wherein the Bible is full of deeply buried truths waiting to be mined by the spiritually sensitive person with special insight), or vested interests (the need to support a theological bias, especially dealing with texts that seem to go against that bias). It is realized that the authors have made powerful points when one tries to understand the historic tests of the Old and New Testaments. They firstly make a case in favour of reading these books in order to see the activities of God in the matters pertaining to His Church and Israel. Hence these books are better understood if they are divided into separate sections that should be read as a successive account of deliverance history. Additionally the authors have warned that the passages should not be decontextualized and allegorized since such actions become tempting while reading historical narratives which do not appear to have much spiritual and theological importance. Significant points have been made by the authors in enhancing the awareness of the gospels. It is initially affirmed that some knowledge of the historical texts is important and crucial and that one is at a disadvantage if he or she is not conversant with Mediterranean culture of the 1st century. Secondly, it helps to read accounts of similar gospels and understand the minor differences which can enhance the understanding in regard to the audiences that the gospels intend to address and the kind of message that the authors are aiming to convey in those instances. It is established in the entire book that, as a rule, one must think and read in paragraph form to make the best and most meaningful use of the books. The treatment of the legal books of Hebrews is very impressive. The authors make a strong point that the given laws were specified for Israel in order to make them get benefits by understanding and applying them to the Israeli people. This point is considered valid by the authors but they also point out that there needs to be a precise way of teaching that the law did not emphasize upon. Moreover, the New Testament is no longer binding on the people today and is not considered by the authors as a strong argument. The laws that condemned rape, incest, homosexuality and bestiality were not specifically stated by Jesus, but they are believed to be true and applicable today also. The book is concluded in dealing with revelation, wisdom literature and psalms. However there is nothing new or revolutionary in these narrations which include strong and sound advice in regard to some negligible points of contention. Although the book cannot be considered exhaustive as a guide it is undoubtedly the best in enabling the understanding and reading of the Scripture. In essence, the book has aptly demonstrated how the Bible should be read theologically through the eyes of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ instead of the overtly idealistic and literalistic methods. Bible reading is revealed as being not only informative but also resulting in the positive transformation of human beings. Bibliography Fee Gordon D and Stuart Douglas, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, 2003, Zondervan

The Reagen and Bush Presidencies Essay -- Comapre Contrast Comparison

INTRODUCTION It is widely accepted that George Bush Snr. was forced to play out his presidency in the mighty shadow of Ronald Reagan. Reagan's charm and personality was one of his greatest strengths and, even now, is widely revered for his time as President. Bush was reportedly always conscious of people's expectations of him in view of his predecessor and this burden seemed to weigh heavily. Reagan's achievements in Washington were considerable, if not in number then in impact. His political and strategic skills were impressive and Bush cannot be said to have equalled his achievements at home, and this is borne out by Bush's failure to win re-election. Nevertheless Bush made some staggeringly important contributions to the international arena and is deeply respected for his part in world events where there is every reason to suspect that Reagan would not have been. The huge differences between the two are even more interesting given that Bush was a dutiful Vice President to Reagan for eight years and sought on gaining office only to take over where he left off. Bush did not set out to ring the changes between Reagan and himself; quite the opposite. He purported to be the archetypal guardian president; consolidating Reagan's good work and continuing to steer America on the same path. So why then did they turn out to be such almost polar opposites? This essay explores the realms of domestic politics, vision and leadership and international issues with the focus on drawing comparison between the two men and their styles of leadership and analysing in each instance who may have been the more effective president. I will conclude that, regardless of actual achievements real success in presidential terms depends on successful handling of the media, an area Reagan understood and Bush never would. IMAGE, PERSONALITY, AND MEDIA RELATIONS It is almost universally agreed that Ronald Reagan's greatest strength, certainly early in his first term and arguably until he left office was his ability to communicate with the American people. He won the presidency not only on his package of radical reforms at a time when the current policy orthodoxies had failed the Americans (along with most of the rest of the western world), but on his winsome personality, his awesome eloquence and his considerable charisma. A direct comparison with Margaret Thatcher can ... ...symbolism than the vast disconnect between what people close to Bush perceive about the man and what much of the public ultimately believed" Reagan, on the other hand, is remembered not only for his reforms in policy, but overwhelmingly for the connection he managed to achieve with the American voting public. This not only secures him a place in fond memory but was ultimately what allowed him to achieve that which he did whilst in office; "In the modern era, the presidential image is tantamount to reality" . Where Bush might easily have been the better President given the requisite media talents and a little more political sophistication, in fact Reagan came out of his term of office the more successful of the two. BIBLIOGRAPHY Â · Kellerman, B., 'The Political Presidency', Ch. 11; (1984) Â · Light, P., 'The President's Agenda' Chs. 10, 11, 12; (1999) Â · Mervin, D., 'George Bush and the Guardianship Presidency', Chs. 2, 9; (1996) Â · Rose, R., 'The Post-Modern Presidency', Ch. 15; (1991) Â · Rozell, M. J., 'In Reagan's Shadow: Bush's Antirhetorical Presidency', Presidential Studies Quarterly; (Winter 1998) Â · Wildavsky, A., 'The Beleaguered Presidency', ch. 12; (1994)

Medieval Torture Paper

People have these romantic notions that the medieval time period was full of knights in shining armor and fairytale princesses, when in all reality, the medieval time period was a bloodthirsty and violent time period. Government and religious officials used sadistic torture to punish suspects and obtain confessions. Torture is the deliberate and cruel infliction of mental and physical suffering to obtain information or for any other reason. †The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear† ( Lovecraft). The tools and devices used brought extreme pain to the victim.This cruel infliction of mental and physical suffering was said to be done in the name of crime and its deserved punishment. It was also done as a means to intimidate a suspect or for revenge. The laws of this time period did not have any fixed rules for the treatment of prisoners or suspects. The different types of torture were used depending on the victim’s crime and social status. The government tu rned its back on these practices, which lead to the creation of gory torture chambers because of the misuse of freedom.In bigger cities like London, crime was more harshly enforced. A skilled torturer used instruments, methods and devices to prolong life as long as they could, while inflicting the most pain before they executed the victim. Many castles had torture chambers in the dungeon or in the tallest tower, where they can torture many victims at once. Medieval tortures had two types of devices. Devices they used to torture victims and devices they used to execute victims. Torture chambers of the medieval time period are designed to scare the victims.These chambers are built underground or in the tallest tower of the castle. When the victim enters the chamber, there awaits the torturer wearing a black hood with their face covered. The entrance of these chambers were accessed through winding passages, which served the function of muffling the screams of the victims throughout the rest of the castle. The torture chambers are small, usually eleven feet by seven feet. Most of the chambers were dingy, vermin infested and dimly lit.Tortures could hold ten to twenty victims in the room at once and would never clean the blood or flesh, so victims would suffer from diseases and viruses. Physical torture is the most common type of torture during the medieval time period. They created many types of torture devices that they would use on their victims to obtain confessions. Their method of torture depended on the victims crime and social class. â€Å"What strikes us most in considering the mediaeval tortures is not so much their diabolical barbarity †¦ as the extraordinary variety, and what may be termed the artistic skill, they displayed.They represent a condition of thought in which men had pondered long and carefully on all the forms of suffering, had compared and combined the different kinds of torture, till they had become the most consummate masters of the ir art, had expended on the subject all the resources of the utmost ingenuity, and had pursued it with the ardour of a passion† (Parry). During this time period there were no laws that stated how prisoners or suspects should be treated, so people of this time period decided torture was the best.The government knew of these practices and turned their backs to them, which lead to the creation of gory torture devices. They created two different types of devices, ones they used for torture and ones they used for execution. These torture devices were feared among the people because they didn’t want to be the torturers next victims. Some of the most gruesome and feared devices that were created were the judas cradle, brazen bull, the wheel, the stake, the rack, pear of anguish, and the breast ripper.The judas cradle was a terrible medieval torture device. The victims were placed on top of a pyramid-like seat. The victim was usually naked to increase the humiliation and had th eir feet tied together. The tip of the pyramid was placed into the victims anus or vagina. This torture could last between a couple hours to a couple days. The time it took for a victim to die varied from victim to victim. To speed up the dying process, tortures would add weights to the victims legs or they would put oil on the device.Some torturers tried to speed up the process where as others tried to prolong the process as much as possible. Some tortures would lift the victim off the device at night with ropes and continue the torture in the morning. To obtain vital information from a victim, or if a victim refused to talk, the torturer would rock the victim on the pyramid, or make the victim fall repeatedly. The pyramid was never washed, so if the victim did not die quickly enough, or if the torture was interrupted, they would end up dying from and infection.The brazen bull was a hollow statue made out of brass to look like a bull. First the victims tongue would be cut out, then they were placed in the hollow statue. After the door was shut, a fire would be lit around the bull. The movements and screams made the bull seem alive, which brought amusement to the audience and took away from the fact that a person was being burned alive inside the bull, because the people could not see or hear the victim. Legends say that the brazen bull was made by a Greek named Perillus. He made it for a tyrant.Expecting a reward, Perillus was the first person put into the bull. The wheel was one of the most adaptable torture devices the medieval time period used. Earlier torturers would tie victims to a wheel and send them rolling down a rocky hill side. Through the medieval time period torture devices became more elaborate. Torturers mounted the wheel to a frame so it could spin freely. They would tie the victim to the wheel and place fire under the victim or spikes to rip the victims flesh to shreds. The wheel itself could have spikes on it so pain came from all the differ ent sides.The worst torture by the wheel was when the torturers broke all four of the victims limbs and threaded them through the spokes on the wheel. The wheel would be attached to a tall pole and left outside. â€Å"The rack is commonly considered the most painful form of medieval torture† (Medievality). The rack was a wooden frame with two ropes tied at the bottom and two tied into a handle at the top. Using a handle that pulled the ropes, the torturer pulled the victims arms. After so long of the victim being pulled, the victims bones were dislocated.If the torturer kept pulling, the victims limbs could be torn apart. This method was mostly used for obtaining confessions, but it was also used to bring psychological fear to the victims. If a torturer went too far, they could leave the arms and legs useless. As the medieval period advanced the rack was also advanced. Spikes were put on the wood frame to penetrate the victims back as their limbs were being pulled apart. Bein g burned at the stake was the last stop for the tortured victims, because this torture was always fatal.All torturers had to do was make a pile of dry wood with a stake in the middle to tie the victim to, then light the wood. Most of the time it only took thirty minutes for the victim to lose consciousness, unless it was windy, then the victim could endure up to two hours of being burned alive. Before being burned at the stake, victims were tortured using other devices. Being burned at the stake was a public event where people brought their kids to watch, hoping to put fear in their minds, so that they wouldn’t grow up and break the law. Torturers had special practices they used on women.Women only torturers were designed to destroy and mutilate aspects of femininity. The practice of sexually torturing women can be traced back to the roman times. â€Å"Female victims were given to soldiers to be raped, or sent to brothels. They might be tied up or paraded through public stre ets naked. These public humiliations were sometimes followed by bizarre sexual mutilations† (Grabianowski). Torturers were fixated on womens breasts. They would burn, brand and amputate them. The worst device used on a woman was the breast ripper. The breast ripper was a metal claw that pierced the skin of the breasts.The victim would be tied to the wall and the claw would pull the breast away from the body, shredding them. This method was used as an interrogation practice or it would be used to punish women that had children without being married and or were convicted of hearsay, adultery or an accomplice of another crime. The pear of anguish of anguish was a torture device that was worse than the breast ripper. This torture device was a pear shaped device made up of four metal leaves joined by a hinge at the top along with a key or a crank. The pear could be inserted into the anus, vagina or the mouth.When the torturer turns the key, the pears leaves open up causing internal damage. The orifice that received the pear was symbolic. If the victim received the oral pear they were convicted of hearsay. Anal pears were received by homosexuals and the vaginal pear was received by women. Tortures not only use physical torture, they also use psychological torture. Psychological torture uses non-physical methods of torture. Psychological torture of the medieval time period is not as well known as the physical torture the tortures inflict on their victims.Psychological torture is subtle and easier to conceal than physical torture. This type of torture uses extreme stressors and situations, like shunning, mock execution, violation of sexual or social norms and solitary confinement. Psychological torture can induce severe psychological pain, suffering and trauma with no visible effects. Tortures often use physical and psychological torture in combination, to make the effects more terrifying. If the victims survived the hours, even days of torture and weren’ t put to execution, they suffered lasting physical and psychological effects.All the devices and torture tactics used in the medieval period left the victims permanently disfigured, mutilated and crippled. â€Å"Prolonged confinement in a scavenger’s daughter would render the victim permanently unable to stand up† (medievalwarefare). The torture brought immediate pain, but just because the torture stopped, doesn’t mean the pain stopped unless the victim were put to execution. Victims of torture would suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder with symptoms such as flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, insomnia, nightmares, depression and memory lapses.Victims also feel emotions like quilt and shame brought on by the humiliation they have endured. Victims may also feel betrayed not only by themselves but by their family and friends. Not only do victims suffer from psychological effects, they also have physical effects that go along with their torture. Physical effects can be wide ranging. They can suffer from sexually transmitted diseases, musculo-skeletal problems, brain injury, dementia and chronic pain syndromes. The medieval time period was a blood thirsty and violent period.They created numerous torture devices that they used on victims to obtain confessions. They also created torture chambers that were used to add psychological harm to the victim before they were tortured and then executed, depending on their crime and social class. They used psychological torture and physical torture like the judas cradle and the rack. If the victim was spared or wasn’t killed by being tortured, they ended up with lasting mental and physical problems. They were left permanently disfigured, mutilated and crippled and also ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Seiko Go Upmarket

Executive Summary Seiko Watch Corporation and its predecessor had always been innovative in watch technology development and brought many industry firsts to the watch market, and Seiko was very successful before the 1990s. With competitive environment change started in the 1990s, Seiko found it was not in the right segment of the market for growth, this segment is high end watch market. Seiko tried to break into the high end watch segment, but the attempts haven’t been proved successful.Based on detailed analysis of Seiko’s industry environment, competitive arena, and internal issues, conclusion was drawn that Seiko’s past vision, strategy and structure didn’t support its ambition to be an important player in the high end watch market. Countermeasures were then proposed: 1) have a clear and viable vision for future; 2) install a solid strategy of brands differentiation; and 3) match the strategy with organizational structure and resources. * IntroductionTh is case, â€Å"SEIKO WATCH CORPORATION: MOVING UPMARKET†, examined Japanese watch maker Seiko’s history, major technology developments, competitive environment, business expansion, and efforts and challenges to uplift brand image to compete in high end market segment. Seiko’s predecessor K. Hattori was established by 22-year-old founder Kintaro Hattori in 1881. The business was started with second-hand clocks sell and repair, and later on retailing and wholesaling of imported clocks.Hattori then established Seikosha (â€Å"Seiko† means exquisite and â€Å"sha† means house in Japanese) in 1892 to begin to produce wall clocks, launched the first wristwatch in Japan in 1913, and started to use Seiko brand on watches in 1923. Since then, Seiko had been enjoyed rapid growth in domestic market until 1950s when it accounted for 50% of total production in Japan, while Citizen and Orient shared the remaining 50%. Facing pressure from Swiss watch makers, Sei ko started to upgrade its technology to improve accuracy and add features, and managed to be comparable with Swiss products in terms of accuracy in the early 1960s.Around the same timeframe, after dominating the domestic competition in the late 1950s, Seiko started to go abroad. Through advertising initiatives such as being official time keeper of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and continued technology focus such as being the world’s first company to introduce quartz wristwatch in 1969, Seiko earned its place in international market: it had become the leading watch brand in most Asian countries and successfully built sales channels in US and European countries by 1970s.Though Seiko was historically accepted by domestic customers as luxury watches producer at top-end of the market in addition to mid-range watches, its several attempts to reposition itself to high-end segment in international watch market didn’t enjoy much success: in the late 1970s, Seiko bought Jean Lass ale, a Swill watch brand, to form a sub-brand â€Å"Seiko Lassale† to sell luxury quartz dress watches at higher price points in international markets, but this brand was not successful in the US and Europe markets and eventually discontinued; another sub-brand â€Å"Grand Seiko†, once alive in 1960s aiming at the high end of the domestic watch market, was re-launched in the late 1980s to flight with Swiss watch makers in the high end segment, this attempt didn’t meet its desired effect otherwise Seiko would have not taken the third try in 2000s to move upward of the market through the spring drive technology. In 2007, doubt about brand upgrade was casted on Seiko again. * Analysis of the issues The myriad of problems facing Seiko can be traced to below three causes. Industry environment – Strategic context change of the horological industryThe first phase – before the late 1950s / early 1960s, everybody in the watch industry had competed in a pret ty straight forward environment: watches were mainly used for chronometric purpose, watch’s core technology was homogenous (everybody in the horological industry used mechanical movements system), and main objectives for watch makers were to mass produce precise timepieces at competitive cost and sell to everybody needs a watch. Seiko did a nice job in this era. It occupied majority of Japanese domestic market share and caught Swiss rivals up in terms of production facility and product accuracy. The second phase – from the late 1950s / early 1960s through the 1970s and 1980s, technological revolution, mainly application of electronics and quartz technologies, reshaped the horological industry. Every watch shared certain common elements: a movement to measure the passage of time, any energy source, a display, a case, and a bracelet or strap.Electronics altered the stereotype of energy source and display, while more significantly, quartz timekeeping technology broke the tradition of mechanical movement to bring much more accuracy to watch benefiting from its properties of a quartz crystal oscillating at precise frequencies. Comparing to mechanical components, electronics and quartz components could be produced and assembled at more stable, economic, and fashionable way, Watches then could be offered to customers with unprecedented accuracy, lower cost, and fashion statement. To embrace the change or be changed, all players of the industry went through an era of uncertainty and innovation. Seiko was very creative in the time and pioneered many watch technologies to the market. Seiko started expanding overseas and its international brand image was formed during the period. In the meanwhile, Seiko began efforts to setup sub-brand to move up in market.People would not have known ramifications of what they were doing when in process of historical events, but looking back into history, we know today the seed of Seiko dilemma was planted in the 1970s and 1980s under the soil of its success. The third phase – the 1990s was a no name decade for Japanese watch makers including Seiko. Domestic economy was staggering. Watch technology was still in evolution, but there was no break-through invention like quartz could stir up the arena. Low cost economies such as China and Hongkong were arising to take over in mid-priced and low-end watch market. Swiss watch makers firmly seized hold of high-end watch market while fighting back in mid to low end market.Watch Competitors came out from outside of the chronological industry: pocketable digital device made watch no longer a functional necessity for timekeeping purpose. Seiko sales declined in the decade. The fourth phase – after the millennium, prevalence of cell phones further deteriorated watches’ position as personal primary timekeeping accessory. People bought watches not for time telling but for social status and prestige distinguishing. Global demand for luxury goods grew, and high-end segment of the watch market was emerging as the most profitable and the fastest growing sector. Seiko was adjusting itself to the new era, but its brand image had never been perceived as luxury.Competitive arena – Strong Swiss competitors in high end segment, fierce competition in mid and low end segments from LCE (low cost economy) watch makers, domestic rivals, and Swatch group In the high end segment, Swiss watch makers were lost in the 1970s when quartz technology was changing the game. Though painful, a number of Swiss watch companies such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Omega chose to stick to mechanical watch making, and they laughed at last. Below quotation could best describe the situation: We worked really hard in the 1980s where everybody was dead. The quartz movement came in the 1970s, so all the other watchmakers threw away everything, both their equipment and their movements. In the 1980s is when we started to redevelop all our complications.At the time, my father [Philippe Stern] had a vision that only one type of watch should remain – the one with a mechanical complication. He believed there would always be people who appreciate fine mechanisms, whether it's manual winding or automatic. And he was right. It's like a nice painting. It's something unique, rare and made with passion. * Thierry Stern, Patek Philippe President, interviewed by Timezone. com in Sep 2012 In the mid and low end segments, Seiko’s attacks were from all around as technologies were easy to duplicate and consumers really cared about money they were spent, thus if you could provide fair quality watches with lower cost, e. g.LCE watch manufacturers, you could win some share of the market segment; if you could provide good quality watches with comparable cost but more features and fashion styles, e. g. Japanese domestic competitors Citizen and Casio as well as Swatch group from Swiss, you could gain some other share of the segment of this market. Company vision, strategy and structure – Seiko had no clear vision and strategy for the era of watches as prestige symbol, its structure was prohibitive from effective decision making and resources utilization Vision – we know in the 1970s and 1980s, Seiko enjoyed much success and went global as an icon of precise and inexpensive quartz technology.Seiko didn’t foresee that the greater success it appreciated the stronger consumer would tie it to the quartz brand, and fine craftsmanship of mechanical watch making would override in the future. Seiko has always been innovative in technology development, but failed to grasp a watch’s implication to today’s consumer: time is timeless and invaluable; consumers would eventually wish their watches as seen carrier of time are timeless and invaluable as well. Quartz or electronics is perceived by consumers as ephemeral and cheap consumable stuff. Strategy – Seiko made mistakes in brand portfoli o strategy. It launched two sub-brands to go up of the market segment in the years.The â€Å"Seiko Lassale† equipped with quartz movement was launched in the late 1970s and discontinued when it turns out not welcomed in US and European markets. The â€Å"Grand Seiko† featuring mechanical movement was alive from 1960-1975 within Japan domestic market only, and had been stopped for more than a decade in the quartz era until re-launch in 1988 for global market featuring quartz movement, after another decade, the â€Å"Grand Seiko† sluggishly began to shift to high grade mechanical movement. Both the â€Å"Seiko Lassale† and the â€Å"Grand Seiko† were too close to Seiko name and technology of quartz to reverse the quartz image of usually non-luxury items. In addition, it seemed Seiko didn’t have a carefully planned long range brand strategy.High end sub-brands were created and abandoned. The recent example was that Spring Drive, Seiko’s latest breakthrough mechanical movement technology bared management hope to upgrade brand image, first debuted in lower â€Å"Seiko† product line rather than high end â€Å"Grand Seiko† line. Seiko’s another high end brand â€Å"Credor†, though had long history and good acceptance at home, had never been marketed in international markets. Structure – Seiko historically had too complicated structure arrangements: a sales company purchased Seiko watches from its parent company owned manufacturing arms, and the arms were competing with each other and developed into firms with watch as minor business.The good thing was Seiko management realized this point and reorganized the company in 2001 to streamline decision making and focus on branding. * Conclusion and Recommendation Seiko’s vision, strategy, and structure didn’t help the company to gain advantage over its rivals in the competitive environment in recent two decades. Recommendation for Seiko is to build prudent and viable company vision ;amp; strategy, link the vision and strategy together with organization structure and resources, and get the vision and strategy realized. Details are following: Seiko needs to re-think that who are Seiko’s intended, actual, potential, and future customers, and what do these customers value in a watch.Watch collectors and enthusiasts, successful executives, and younger generation of rich families should be target clients for top end watches. These people care about watches’ craftsmanship and uniqueness, aesthetic and intricate style, status and symbol indication, as well as investment and heritage value, much more than superior accuracy and function for daily use. Seiko should take care of the demands of these people. However, Seiko shouldn’t give up the mid to low end market. Consumers of this market segment need a quality watch for money, fashion, function features, and some kind of status symbol will be plus. Seiko needs to have a solid strategy of distinguishable brands to server different segment demands.Seiko can get best practice idea and lessons learned from companies in the watch industry, such as Swatch group, and in other industries, such as VW group in automotive industry and L’Oreal group in cosmetic industry. Though the basic inner technology and formula could be shared across different brands and models, the exterior and style must be different. Different brands should convey clear different messages to customers. It would take too many resources and too long time to move the current Seiko brand up. The â€Å"Grand Seiko† name is no significant different from â€Å"Seiko† name thus is not appropriate to be a top end brand, but could cover the segment in between.The brand â€Å"Credor† is suggested to carry over the high end segment responsibility and needs to expand globally under intensive and well-designed promotional campaign. Seiko made a positive move to centralize and streamline watch company organization; the next step would be to match brand differentiation needs with organizational structure and resources. The â€Å"Credor†, â€Å"Grand Seiko†, â€Å"Seiko†, and other brands could share R;amp;D, production facility, IT, finance, HR and administration. But segmental marketing and sales, brand management, and some other specialized tasks can’t be shared. Each brand should be led by experienced and proved executives and take its own profit and loss responsibility.

Causes of Air Pollution Essay Essay Example

Causes of Air Pollution Essay Essay Example Causes of Air Pollution Essay Paper Causes of Air Pollution Essay Paper Essay Topic: Air pollution Causes and Effects of Air Pollution-Essay When air gets polluted with dust, smoke, motor vehicles, mills and factories etc. Is called air pollution. We know that air is an important element of our environment. But it is a matter of great regret that it is being polluted day by day in different reasons. Causes of Air pollution: There are different kinds of reasons of air pollution. The causes of air pollution are described below. Using poison in agriculture: In agricultural sectors, farmers often use insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers etc. These get mixed with air and causes air pollution. Besides, Ammonia is a very common by product from agriculture related activities and is one of the most hazardous gases in the atmosphere. Air Pollution-Paragraph Burning of Fossil Fuels: Burning of fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and other factory combustibles is one the major causes of air pollution. Smoke emitting from vehicles like buses, trucks, jeeps, cars, trains, airplanes etc. Causes air pollution. Industrial smoke: In mills and factories, large amount of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, organic compounds, and chemicals is emitted that causes air pollution. It is true that mills and factories can be found at every corner of the world that cause a huge amount Of harmful gases that are the major causes of air pollution. Indoor activities: Different kinds of household activities like cleaning products, washing, painting etc. Emit different kinds of toxic chemicals in the air and cause air pollution. Effects of Air pollution: There are different kinds of negative and harmful effects of air pollution. The effects of air pollution are described below. Global warming: Air pollution causes global warming in a great scale. With increased temperatures world wide, increase in sea levels and melting of ice from colder regions and icebergs, displacement and loss of habitat have already signaled an impending disaster if actions for preservation and normalization arena undertaken soon. Causes diseases: The effects of Air pollution are very harmful for health. It causes different kinds Of respiratory diseases like heart attack, Cancer, bronchitis etc. Every year millions of people of all over the world die due to direct or indirect effects of air pollution. Acid Rain: Acid raining is another effects of air pollution. Harmful gases like nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are released into the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels. When it rains, the water droplets combines with these air pollutants, becomes acidic and then falls on the ground in the form of acid rain. Acid rain can cause great damage to human, animals and crops. Depletion of Ozone layer: Air pollution depletes Ozone layer. Ozone exists in earths stratosphere and is responsible for protecting humans from harmful ultraviolet (XIV) rays. Earths ozone layer is depleting due to the presence of chlorofluorocarbons, hydro chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. As ozone layer will go thin, it will emit harmful rays back on earth and can cause skin and eye related problems. XIV rays also have the capability to affect crops. Harms to the wild life: Air pollution harms the wilderness. Humans and animals face a lot of devastating effects due to air pollution. Toxic chemicals present in the air can Orca wildlife species to move to new place and change their habitat. The toxic pollutants deposit over the surface of the water and can also affect sea animals. Depletion of Ozone layer: responsible for protecting humans from harmful ultraviolet (LIVE) rays. Earths harmful rays back on earth and can cause skin and eye related problems. Conclusion: In the long run, it can be said that it is the right time to protect air pollution. To create a better place to live in for the human being and wilderness we have stop air pollution.

Antebellum Steamboats

The success was amazing. People could now defy wind, waves, tides, and downstream currents. Carrying capacity doubled. Keelboats went up the Mississippi at about 1 mph which was very expensive. The steamboats traveled over 10 mph against the current. By 1820 there were 60 steamboats on the Mississippi. By 1860 there were over 1000. Rivalries developed and led to racing. The steamboats led to an opening of the West and South which were filled with rivers. Until 1830 the products of the western region went southward and very little finished products made their way back west. The steamboat helped to send the finished products upriver and helped bind West and South together. This binding inspired the transportation revolution. In 1787, John Fitch built the first recorded steam powered boat in the United States. It was propelled by a row of oars on each side of the boat. He experimented with side-mounted paddle wheels, but in 1790 he used stern mounted oars instead. Fitch was the first to operate a steamboat commercially. It had scheduled transport of passengers and freight on the Delaware River in 1790. The first successful use of steam power to navigate a paddle wheel boat in America was in 1793. Samuel Morey used his steamboat on the Connecticut River. Robert Fulton became interested in steamboats at the age of 12 when he visited William Henry in 1777. He built and tested an experimental steamboat on the Seine River in 1803. Before returning to the United States, Fulton ordered a steam engine from Boulton and Watt, and built what the North River Steamboat. In 1807, the ship began passenger service between New York City and Albany. Antebellum Steamboats The success was amazing. People could now defy wind, waves, tides, and downstream currents. Carrying capacity doubled. Keelboats went up the Mississippi at about 1 mph which was very expensive. The steamboats traveled over 10 mph against the current. By 1820 there were 60 steamboats on the Mississippi. By 1860 there were over 1000. Rivalries developed and led to racing. The steamboats led to an opening of the West and South which were filled with rivers. Until 1830 the products of the western region went southward and very little finished products made their way back west. The steamboat helped to send the finished products upriver and helped bind West and South together. This binding inspired the transportation revolution. In 1787, John Fitch built the first recorded steam powered boat in the United States. It was propelled by a row of oars on each side of the boat. He experimented with side-mounted paddle wheels, but in 1790 he used stern mounted oars instead. Fitch was the first to operate a steamboat commercially. It had scheduled transport of passengers and freight on the Delaware River in 1790. The first successful use of steam power to navigate a paddle wheel boat in America was in 1793. Samuel Morey used his steamboat on the Connecticut River. Robert Fulton became interested in steamboats at the age of 12 when he visited William Henry in 1777. He built and tested an experimental steamboat on the Seine River in 1803. Before returning to the United States, Fulton ordered a steam engine from Boulton and Watt, and built what the North River Steamboat. In 1807, the ship began passenger service between New York City and Albany.

Ad analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ad analysis - Essay Example This essay considers the specific aspects of audience, picture, language, and technique, as they are implemented in a Prudential advertisement that is featured in the current issue of the New Yorker. Audience The specific advertisement was found in an issue of the New Yorker. With this concept in mind it’s possible that the intentions of the advertiser were to reach a more educated audience, who already has a general understanding of financial aspects and upper-level vocabulary and comprehension skills. In these regards, the extent the audience is clearly middle to upper class and educated. Picture There are a great many visual techniques implemented in the advertisement. The first notable concept is that the advertising consists of a full page spread with an entirely dark blue background. The effect of this is such that it creates a juxtaposing effect in relation to the heavy text-based stories that constitute the majority of the magazine. In terms of specific pictures, in th e upper-right hand of the advertisement a city backdrop is pictured in muted-tones. The signification of this imagery seems to indicate that Prudential has a urban feel, perhaps reminiscent of Wall-Street. This is further indicative of an understanding of financial systems as being rooted in industrial or urban life. The very functions of the urban experience demonstrate the gear and wheels of the working economy; indeed, right next to the picture of buildings are pictures of gears in motion. Pictured even further to the left of these individuals is a small man in yellow. The implications of this imagery seem to empathize with the potential customer or client. In essence, the advertising is situating the reader in the position of the small man in yellow, and the Prudential advertisement is saying that through going to Prudential for financial advice will result in the individual being able to navigate this challenging urban environment. Language Perhaps unique to this advertisement is the reliance it places on text. One possible explanation for this is the obvious implication that since the advertisement is from the New Yorker, it is believed that the audience will be more interested in reading text than perhaps in a publication such as People or ESPN the Magazine. In fact, text is featured in two long columns throughout the entire body of the page. In terms of the actual language that is implemented, the first relies on a rhetorical feel, attempting to empathize and draw the reader into the advertisement. Even though it is featured in the New Yorker, the text still retains a crisp and to-the-point tone. Phrases such as, â€Å"What if today was the day we took on the big challenges?† are balanced against more financially specific language such as, â€Å"What if we could help create more reliable and durable forms of financial security?† Ultimately, it’s clear that the language remains in traditional advertising form, while acknowledging th at the reader is aware of general financial terminology. Technique The overall technique is the creation of an advertisement that doesn’t insult the reader’s intelligence, conforms to traditional advertising trends, and considers the medium in which it will be displayed. The overall signification of the advertisement seems to indicate that through Prudential’s experience the reader will be able to navigate the challenges of the contemporary financial environment. In these regards, the text moves from a general rhetorical style to more specific information related to reader interest. It implements contrast to bring out the heading ‘Bring Your Challenges’ which also represents the general theme of the advertisement. It also displays this theme in visual ways through the juxtaposition of the sm

This paper has to be about the Leadership and organizational behavior Essay

This paper has to be about the Leadership and organizational behavior of the movie "The wolf of wall street" - Essay Example n Belfort played by Leonardo DiCaprio exemplifies this attribute as he takes nothing too seriously in his life and has no regard for authority around him. He shows the audience the different sides of a stockbroker and the process of acquiring power in Wall Street having been in Wall Street from an early age to become one of the players in Wall Street and make money through his own company. Jordan is supported by his business partner ad friend Donnie Azoff played by Jonah Hill and their interaction and friendship surmounts a good interaction and comic prowess from the two actors. This paper looks at some of the conceptual aspects that come out from the different interactions and also the use of power in the film to highlight different aspects of production exemplified in the Wolf of Wall Street. The Wolf of Wall Street is a movie about Jordan Belfort who is a stockbroker in Wall Street but later acquires his own company Stratton Oakmont with the help of his friend and business partner Donnie Azoff. He runs the business through scams and fraudulent behaviors that are later discovered by the authorities and are constantly targeted(Scorsese et al n.d). He manages to construe get his money out of the United States and into offshore accounts in Switzerland where there are no extradition treaties using the name of his wife’s aunt. The plan however, backfires on him and he is arrested and used by the authorities to spy for them against other rogue stockbrokers in Wall Street. The different methods and manipulation techniques as he looks to money, power and live the lavish lifestyles are his downfall as he soon after loses all and ends up in prison. He loses his wife and also in a twist of fate loses his children to her wife as well. The pursuit of power and money is evident from the different developments in the film as the authorities hack his powers and he ends up reliant on their power so that they can show him mercy(Scorsese et al n.d). One of the main aspects that

Premature birth & the sociological effects Research Paper

Premature birth & the sociological effects - Research Paper Example Dr. Mathew Allin, the research leader, has linked these symptoms to different possibilities such as remaining in the incubator makes bonding of the child and the parents difficult; genes could also be a reason of this personality disorder (BBC News). A premature baby faces continuous exposure to stress from invasive procedures, pain, sleep disturbances, and changes in less severe problems such as temperature, noise, and hunger. Even after being delivered to parents from the ICU care, a child experiences stress from regular fever, growth delays, and feeding problems. The life-risky problems challenge the under-developed coping mechanism of the child, as a child can undergo on an average 60 painful invasive procedures after admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. In a study by Brandt et al, it was found that about 50% of all premature babies have learning disabilities in comparison to 9% of their peers. The IQ score of low-birth-weight premature babies is low in comparison to normally delivered babies (Maroney 679-83). There is a correlation between post -traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD) in the parent of a premature baby and its resultant effect on the baby. The level of PTSD shown by the parent of the premature child is not definite but studies have shown that mothers of such babies show more PSTD symptoms in comparison to mothers of normally delivered healthy babies. Babies of such mothers are more prone to happenings of PSTD. Effects of such stress remain for long term in the lives of PSTD children. As the main care provider to the infant is the mother, studies have shown that due to the close relationship between the mother and the child, the mother can help the child in controlling the stress and providing a feeling of security. Parents of such children should provide Kangaroo Care with suitable Infant Massage to the child to reduce the stress level of the premature baby (Maroney 679-83). A child views the surroundings and

Importance Of Time Management And Teamwork

Importance Of Time Management And Teamwork Personal development is very useful and influence people to be success. Personal development means activities which can improve the self-knowledge and identity. It also develops the talents and potential in order to support human development at the individual level in an organization. Besides that, personal development can identify the strengths and development needs. It also is an importance for managers which can let them know which parts employee need to develop their personal awareness and skills. In this assignment, it will through four questions to perform my personal development. Everyone have different personal experience, but most of the things we can remember are those unforgettable things. One of the things was happened during my learning in the university in china. In that time, I just graduated from senior middle school, and as a new student join into the university. In class, I join the evidence match for monitor and identified with classmates, and I become my class monitor. Soon or later, I joined my department student council. In the student council, the hardest thing was to arrange my study time and activity time. Every day we got a full time study, from morning to afternoon and then, we even got a night study. The left time just used for entertainment and council work. Our work was to make show to present our department feature, and some evidence among the different departments. I usually feel time is not enough, without study, there have some class things need to do and help my coordinator to control my class. And I need to join the student counci l activities. The competition is strong. Through the life is busy, Im happy. The thing was cause by a school department ending year meeting. All the departments in school would join and got an evaluation by school president. And in this time, I would get my exam soon, Im a bit worry about exam and Our council got a big challenge because most of tasks we need to do. I was arranged to lead and teamwork with other five people to gather information and work to make a report for a presentation. My senior told me a lot of attentions for my working because this speech is very important. But in that time, I was in bad temper, I ignore what he said. I thought I understand what he said and my computer operation skills were good enough. I also think I can do the thing with not a hurry, the team was surplus. I arrange many work for them, just left me some easy one. This was the first time I did not fair things for my teammates. Through the different media tools, I found the information and I finished my work before council arrangement. I was so happy and proud because I finished the work, but unfortunately, the result is not good. When my senior check my PPT he got a cry, he was very disappoint for our work, because I ignored many attentions he told to me, and I not told my team. It was t he last day, and he help us to correct our mistake in a hurry night. From this things, I start to get a change, tell myself to do things seriously, if I perfunctorily to finish, it is waste others times and myself times. What have you learnt about yourself thorough these experiences? Everyday we can get different experiences and from these experiences we can learn several of knowledge and it makes us growth. Through this event, I learned a lot and everything not just like what I think going. For myself by the thing, I recognize that I got some problem in my working pattern. The basic I dont have a good hearing behavior to take care the attention problem, it will cause a bad result. A good hearing is respect to other, and it will let opposite know you are well bred. With in the student council and work as a monitor I find time is hard to control and it pass very fast. To get a good time management is very important. Everyone no matter busy or lazy just only have 24hours a day, or 1440minutes. No matter how to use it, it will run away from us. During I work in the student council, I found it hard to use time with my personal entertainment. If I want after work get a play, it will influence the next day study. I understand a good time management is very important. I use a paper to calculate my spend time in a day and know which parts I worse the time. I get a schedule to do good arrangement of my time, I put study first, then use the free time like time before lunch and after class time to deal with the council work and coordinators work. Then the left night time I can share with my friends for entertainment or get a over time for student council, with this arrangement, I not lose any friends and get a good work in my class and student council. The other things I learn are it is important to use your team to finish the work. Teamwork is very important. One persons power cannot bigger than the group. It is important to know each others advantage and disadvantage, and then do an appropriate arrangement. In the student council, I find no matter do what things there always get a meeting. The meetings talk always makes a thing more depth to consider. If just let me to do it, I think my ignorance and arrogant will make me fail. With the work, I find one important weak. I need to develop my leadership. Stress management skill is one of the important skills of the leadership. Stress management required to maintain control and stability. To maintain a team success, the leader must be calm and various consider. For myself, I always feel lose if the work heavier than I can afford when I am a team leader. It also called lack-confidence. With to development this skill, I start to learn the SMART strategy. How have you developed your skills during the practice of management skills module? The practice of management skills is not like other subjects only have theory and calculation, it showed us something we need and can used in our life and study. Our lecturer provides the chance to have us improve our management skills systemic for several weeks. Through the study, I recognize different parts like importance of active listening and giving verbal feedback, time management, teamwork and good presentations and make a C.V. are real useful for my life. During the session active listening, I know a guy who dont listen others and later he got problem. And this story vividly told me the importance to understand others speaking. It has a direct influence to me. Through I laugh the guy in video I recognize I also do the same mistake. I find it is important to change the bad habit. A good listener should listen and responding the other by observes the other persons behavior and body language. And we need to give respect to the speaker no matter what he says good or not, and then we can get good communication with each other. Factors which contribute to active listening: A relaxed but alert posture Frequent eye contact Feedback to speaker Checking understanding Avoiding expressions of judgment During the time management, we do a calculation for one days time and be aware of time is really important and no matter how you spend your time, it still will go over. A good time management can help me reducing stress, gaining time, reducing avoidance, promoting reviews and eliminating cramming. Another advantage is managing time helps us to stay motivated while we avoid procrastination. A good start from how you arrange your time, the time management is really a important session for me to learn. During the teamwork study, class separate as several parts and choose one leadership to lead to use creativity to match. The different person works in the team help me understand how teamworks important and suitable use it will have a good result. During the good presentations, I learn how to make a good presentation. To do a good effective presentation, firstly need to formulate strategy for specific audience, secondly to develop a clear structure, thirdly, support the points with evidence. Then combine the ideas with an enhancing presentation style. To do better, you must good preparation and practice, practice and practice. A good presentation is very useful in my life, obviously, it is a useful session in my study. During make a C.V. I really got a clear understand about how to write a C.V. in before through I want write a C.V., I dont know the form to write .with the session learning, I get a correct thought to write my C.V. a good C.V. should not be long, it need short and enough, can exhibited your feature. To understand this is very important and avoid fail in the working way. Through our textbook not heavy and every session is simple, and not many lectures for PMS, I think I got a good unstinting about it, every lesson is marrow and after class I can find what I doing is not enough and wrong, it help me get a good check for myself. The class is vivid and emotion and I very enjoy the learning atmosphere. How will you develop this skill? Napoleon said He who doesnt want to be a general isnt a good soldier. For the student, who do not want to success in the future? I m one of these want success in the future. So I need to have a good development to operate myself. I have a lot of defects, like not calm, hurry to be success. It needs a clear goal, just like SMART goals. The SMART goals include: Specific A specific goal is much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Understand the specific goal ,I need to know who involved and what I want to accomplish. Get more detail like location and time schedule and with a clear reasons or purposes. For example, a general goal would be finish my homework but a specific goal would be finish the homework at home by three days with five books for references Measurable It establishes concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When I want to measure my progress,, I will ask myself the question such as when can finish ,how to accomplish . Give me a target time, and experience the exhilaration of achievement to reach my goal. Attainable When I identify the goal is most important, I try to figure out way I can make it come true. I try to develop my skills, abilities and attitudes to get it. Realistic The goal must represent an objective toward which I can work and willing to work. Try to keep myself get a good conditions. Some of hard work I can finish because I get the exhilaration which I love it and can do it simple Timely It is a goal should be grounded within a time schedule. If with no time schedule, there is no sense of urgency. A good timely will help you set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal. From this, I start my action from now. my action planning is to get clear goal and make everyday useful. I learning the session from lecturer like time management, stress management, teamwork, and I think I will mix mum them together to arrangement my life, and make me feel enough per day. No matter what I do the thing, I will consider its smart goals and give me a detail specific method to finish it. Conclusion In my assignment, I represent my experience of the study in university and work in student council and class. From the experience, I recognized the importance of time management and teamwork. I identified that stress management is a weakness for me especially some activity make me stress. I also emphasized the important learning from my session and these learning are very important and strong influence for my life. At last, I get how to develop my skill and my action planning. And I think with this preparing, my personal development will have a large growth.

Fantasy :: Free Essay Writer

Fantasy Comparing and Contrasting the Fantasy Trilogies Daughter of the Blood and Arrows of the Queen The trilogies Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop and Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey are both stories of young girls who grow up among characters of fantasy to become queens. In Daughter of the Blood, the story of Jaenelle Angelline’s struggle with extreme magical powers and the curse of being both Queen and Witch is described. It tells of her traumatic past caused by her gifts and also her recovery and the transition form childhood to adulthood and monarchy. In Arrows of the Queen, the tale follows an abused Talia as she becomes one of the magical Heralds of Valdemar. Poor Talia though isn’t just blessed with being an everyday Herald (an excruciating task in it’s self) but she is also the Queen’s Own which means she’s in charge of all dealings with the queen and her only family member, the Royal Brat or more formally known as Princess Elspeth. As the story goes on we see the reformation of the young princess Elspeth through the eyes of her exasperated caretaker, Talia. While, as you can see, the characters and plots are technically the same, the novels differ significantly. In the beginning, the lives of the main characters are very similar. Talia grows up in a multi-wife household where women are plentiful and no one cares if a single female child is abused, so of course she’s hit and raped quite often. Then there’s Elspeth, she grows up in a huge house with powers not seen in Valdemar in centuries. While these two characters have really no relation besides pupil and teacher, together they describe Jaenelle. Jaenelle grew up in a house full of nobles where pleasure slaves were abundant and her pedophiliac father resided. Starting at the age of five, she is continuously shuttled back and forth between her house and a house for the emotionally disturbed on her uncle’s orders even though she’s not ill. At the hospital, her and the other patients are continually raped, beaten, and forced to watch the murders of others â€Å"sick† children. According to the story, a witch raped as a child goes mad unless, like Jaenelle, th ey are powerful enough to back away from the Twisted Kingdom. Unfortunately for Jaenelle’s fellow prisoners though, no one else is this powerful and because of the continuous supply of young witches, no one really cares when one is broken.