Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How to Find the Stated Main Idea

How to Find the Stated Main Idea How to Find the Stated Main Idea First of all, before we get into the stated main idea strategies and tricks, you have to know what the main idea is in the first place. What does it mean when a professor or teacher asks you to determine the main idea of a paragraph, essay, chapter or even a book?  The main idea of a paragraph, essay, or chapter is the point of the passage, minus all the details.  The main idea is the big picture. Its what you tell people when they ask you what you did last Saturday. You might say, I went to the movies, instead of saying, I hopped on the train to go to see Channing Tatums new movie where he blows up the planet and teams up with his long-lost love to start a new life on Pluto. I ate popcorn, used the restroom, washed my hands, then left the theater and went back to my apartment. The main idea is the general  instead of the specifics.  Ã‚     Its the Solar System vs. the planets. Its the football game vs. the fans, cheerleaders, quarterback, and uniforms. Its the Oscars vs. actors, the red carpet, designer gowns, and films. So, how do you find the  stated  main idea? The good news? Its really easy compared to figuring out the implied main idea. Read on for the details.   More info on how to find the main idea What Is a Stated Main Idea? Sometimes, a reader will get lucky and the main idea will be a stated main idea, which is the easiest to find in a passage. It is written directly in the text. Authors sometimes come right out and write the main idea in the passage for a variety of reasons – they dont want you to miss the point, they are new writers and have not figured out the art of subtlety, they like clear, informational writing. Whatever the reason, its there waiting for you; you just need to find it.   How To Find the Stated Main Idea Read the passage of textAsk this question to yourself: What is this passage mostly about?In your own words, explain the answer in one short sentence. Do not includes details or examples from the text. Do not extend your idea beyond what is written in the text, even if you know a ton about the topic. It does not matter for this exercise.  Look for a sentence in the text that most closely fits with your brief summary. Stated Main Idea Example:Because the Internet exists in a world that is already regulated with policies and laws, government officials, upholders of current laws and the voice of the people, should be ultimately responsible for the regulation of the Internet. With this responsibility comes the enormous task of managing the protection of First Amendment rights along with honoring social and public interests across the world. That being said, the ultimate responsibility still rests in the hands of Internet users who vote – they, along with the officials elected to serve them, make up the global community. Voters have the ability to elect responsible individuals to the appropriate posts, and the elected officials have the responsibility to act on the will of the people.. The main idea here is †¦government officials†¦should be ultimately responsible for the regulation of the Internet. That is a stated main idea because it is directly written in the text. The sentence fully encapsulates the passages meaning as a whole. It does not go beyond the text making inferences outside the scope of the passage, nor does it use the specifics of the passage inside it, either.   How to Find an Implied Main Idea Main Idea Practice Want to flex those main idea muscles? Here are some worksheets to practice!

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Making the Most of Palindromes

Making the Most of Palindromes Making the Most of Palindromes Making the Most of Palindromes By Guest Author Anyone can come up with a list of palindromes. The real challenge is to use them intelligently in published writing. Can a writer incorporate palindromes (words or phrases that read the same backwards and forwards) in any meaningful and credible way? Or will they remain nothing more than amusing stand-alone oddities? Here are five suggested uses for palindromes in fiction writing: 1. Place them in the mouth of a social misfit. Anyone who quotes palindromes incessantly in real life (â€Å"Go hang a salami, I’m a lasagna hog†) is clearly a person to be pitied. Waiting their moment to spring their new-found witticism upon the unsuspecting audience (â€Å"We panic in a pew†), the palindrome bore will never create one of his own and is always oblivious to the drooping eyelids on his hapless victims. If your novel contains such a nerd, stick a palindrome or two in his mouth and let your readers wince. 2. Use in crime or supernatural genres as a means of filling out a character’s profile. A serial killer who leaves palindromes as his calling card, for instance, may be more memorable than one who merely cuts a lock of the victim’s hair. â€Å"Borrow or rob† seems a possible option for such a criminal. Or, perhaps, â€Å"Dennis and Edna sinned†, for a nasty double murder. 3. Incorporate into historic works especially those set in the ancient world. Both Greek and Roman cultures used palindromes. The Sator Square, for instance, confounds scholars to the present day, with over fifty published books or academic articles seeking to explain this four-ways Latin palindrome: ROTAS OPERA TENET AREPO SATOR The words literally mean, â€Å"The farmer Arepo uses his plough as his form of work†, and have been discovered etched onto several Roman buildings across Europe. Some have suggested that the graffiti is evidence of an early Christian household the letters, stretched out, make the phrase PATER NOSTER (â€Å"Our Father†) in the shape of a cross, with a spare A and O (representing Alpha and Omega). Alternatively, it has been described as a piece of magical incantation, used in Greek-inspired mystery religion. The word Abracadabra was used in a similar way in the second century as a triangular chant believed to posses healing properties. Whatever the meaning, the graffiti shows that palindromes were part of the culture of the classical civilizations. Writers locating their stories in those worlds could do worse than slip in the odd back-to-front phrase   if they can create or find one. 4.   Throw into a comedy, or use as part of a comic interlude. Hammy, Pythonesque work may best suit a character tasked with the immortal lines, â€Å"Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas†, or, â€Å"Ten animals I slam in a net†. Perhaps a suitable palindromic name (Mike Kim, for instance) might also be appropriate for this individual. 5. Create palindrome poetry. We are indebted again to the ancients, who occasionally came up with such verse. Greek, Sanskrit and Hebrew palindromes have all been discovered mostly in the form of proverbs or short poems. Surely, the mother of all niche literature would be to publish your own palindrome poetry, create the blog and monetize the experience through a palindrome product store. Mugs engraved with â€Å"A nut for a jar of tuna† (and your logo) are guaranteed to enliven any office. Perhaps not. The challenge for the palindrome poet, of course, is to get beyond the one-line Napoleons Lament, â€Å"Able was I ere I saw Elba.† The English languages first full-length palindrome novel would, of course, take the art form to the ultimate level and ensure that the writer’s memory would never fade. A reviewer of such a ground-breaking work may, themselves, be tempted to lapse into palindromic praise: â€Å"Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Good At, Good In, and Good With"Certified" and "Certificated"While vs. Whilst

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Askweek3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Askweek3 - Essay Example your son might not be so committed to steer ahead the company, and this could probably be in terms of not being active in the organization, perhaps because the organization belongs to the father, or on the other hand, he may work hard to improve the status of the organization to please the father. With such deliberations, how would you ensure your son is in the right course? Another way through which your organization may deem appropriate to solve its challenges is through adoption of a more fractal system approach. What does this approach entails? What are challenges accrued from the use of this approach? According to Stacey (2011, pp. 491-493), people embracing the concept of complex adaptive systems might go about â€Å"rethinking the roles of leaders and managers†. In this regard, do you find this being applicable in your organization? If you were given an opportunity to advise your senior managers on ways through which their behaviors can help improve the status of your organization, what advice would you give? Leaders who fall into the neurotic forms of leadership fails to meet the long-term goals of the organization. Their behaviors exhibit short term strategic thinking. In this regard, and given an opportunity recommend the best strategies to oversee realization of long-term goals of your organization, what strategies would you

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

IT In Financial Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

IT In Financial Organizations - Essay Example Various technologies have been invented to automate certain business functions of an organization. The type of technology depends totally on the type of operation and the organization's infrastructure support. The financial institutions have adapted to various advanced technologies so as to enhance the services they provide to the customers dependent on the upgraded business processes. Many financial institutions collect the information related to individual customers such as their personal details and their financial details associated with the institutions and various businesses carried out over a period of time. This is information is then processed and then certain data can be obtained automatically by implementing certain technologies. Asset Management serves the investment needs of institutions, governments and government agencies around the world. An asset can be defined as anything owned by an individual that has a cash value, including property, goods, savings, and investments. Asset management, therefore, refers to the management of the assets by money managing teams. Though the major emphasis is on managing the investment portfolios of a company, asset management also includes management of physical assets such as money, equipment and property, as also the non-tangible assets such as information and the workflow processes (ittoolkit, 2007). Assets, in any commercial set up, include the monetary investments, plants, infrastructure and its human resources. Asset management is, therefore, a process that aims at the optimum utilization of resources for maximum returns at the minimum investment or costs. The first priority of any asset management team is to identify the company's 'assets' or resources. Once these are identified, the team can then focus on the business process or, in other words, understand the functioning of the tangible or non-tangible assets (netsimplicity, 2005). Preparing the monetary investment portfolios is an important aspect of asset management. The investment portfolios give a clear picture of the income- expenditure ratio, as well as the financial status of a company. Based on the study, the asset management team can remove deficiencies, or modify the investment structure to maximize returns. Property, plant, and equipment are the tangible assets of the company. Asset management involves the study and analysis of the actual property on which the plant is built and all the equipment that is required to run the business. Plant and equipment need effective management. Their depreciation values needs to be studied. Their analysis helps the team to arrive at a decision whether to repair or replace machinery in order to reduce running costs. Human Resources include the non-tangible resources of the company. Managing human resources involves studying individuals, departments; divisions, planning for improvement of skills, improving comfort level and security, and, thereby evolving a policy for maximum output by the employees (Cole, 2006). Ensuring accurate tax and paying for these on time is also one of the ways which companies consider an attractive option rendered by asset management. Depreciation, amortization,

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Causes and Effects of Smoking Essay Example for Free

Causes and Effects of Smoking Essay â€Å"Smoking is bad for health†. It is a very familiar slogan that you can easy to see in all pack of cigarettes and in public places. However, there is a fact that, despite knowledge about smoking damage, the number of people who smoke is increasing day by day. Smoking causes many negative effects than people think. It affects not only health but also environment and society. First, smoking affects health of both smoking person and people around him. There are many dangerous disease germs in tobacco, so that health of people who smoke is threatened a lot when they smoke. According to World Health Organization (WHO), there are 200 toxic chemicals per 4000 chemicals in tobacco, and in these 200 toxic chemicals, there are about 40 chemicals cause cancer such as nicotine, monoxide carbon, benzene, ammoniac, etc. These chemicals have bad effect on nervous system, blood vessel and are the main reason of heart disease, cancer, memory damage. A study of WHO also shows that each day, average 5 million people die because of tobacco and this figure could rise to 10 million by 2020 if countries don’t have effective solution to restrict smoking. In addition, smoke is easy to spread in the air, therefore not only smoking people but also people around them are affected. That mean, when a person smokes, he is harming both himself and many people especially children. These people are call â€Å"passive smoking† people. Because immunize system of children doesn’t complete, they are easy to be affected by harmful factors from smoke. That’s why the threat of disease cause by smoke in children is higher than others. Some statistics in Vietnam show that about 60 -80 per cent children under 5 are affected by smoke. They are also easy to get some diseases like asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis if they usually contact with smoke. Smoking also has bad effect on environment. The tobacco manufacture releases an amount of waste including a lot of toxic chemicals such as oils, plastic, ethylene, glycol, nicotine, etc. These chemicals make water and soil as well as air in surrounding areas is contamination. In USA, tobacco manufacture is rank 18th in toxic industries. Each year, tobacco manufacture of the World releases about 300 million kilograms nicotine, one of toxic chemicals causes cancer and heart disease. Moreover, do you know that 95 per cent filter of cigarette made of plastic cellulose acetate? This chemical is very difficult to decompose and can’t recycle, so that it takes several years to disappear. In this time, this chemical may cause many effects on soil, water, even animal because some kind of birds and small animals confuse filter of cigarette as their food. Chemicals in cigarette filter make animals can’t digest and they may be killed by these chemicals. Not only health and environment but also society is affected a lot by smoking. First, smoking restrains economic development. Because of tax, tobacco is not cheap. In Vietnam, tax on tobacco is accounted of 45 per cent retail tax. It is supposed that a pack of cigarettes costs 10 thousand VND, so if a person smokes one pack a day; he has to pay 300 thousand VND a month for smoking. However, in fact, this is maybe much more money because some kinds of cigarette have higher price and with addicted people, a pack of cigarettes a day is not enough. For person got married, wasting a lot of money for smoking a month affects much on economics of family, especially poor family. Consequently, economics of a country cannot develop when economics of family doesn’t develop. In addition, another problem of smoking is medical burden. Smoking causes many diseases and also kills a lot of people. In Vietnam, each year, there are about 40,000 people die because of diseases related to tobacco. This figure is three times as much as people die because of traffic accident. Furthermore, each year, government has to spend a lot of money for health service in general and for treating diseases cause by tobacco in particular. In fact, expense for treating diseases cause by tobacco in Vietnam increases rapidly from 429, 8 billion in 2004 to 1160 billion in 2006, and in the future this expense maybe higher. It makes a big burden for government to solve smoking problem. There are not any benefits of smoking but serious effects in health, environment and society. It’s very important for people to realize the danger of smoking and give up it. That’s why WHO choose the day 31/5 is World No Tobacco Day. All of us join together to make a world without smoke.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Loves Labours Lost Essay -- Plays Shakespeare Papers

Love's Labour's Lost The Elizabethans thought of it merely as "a wittie and pleasant comedie" ; Samuel Johnson remarked that "all the editors have concurred to censure [it]" ; and William Hazlitt opined, "If we were to part with any of the author's comedies, it should be this." It was not until well into the twentieth century that Love's Labour's Lost really came into its own, and this fact alone may be enough to make a case for it as Shakespeare's most forward-looking play. It is its ending in particular, an unexpectedly grim conclusion in which nothing is actually concluded, that has appealed to modern sensibilities and made Love's Labour's Lost the Shakespeare play for the twentieth century. Trevor Nunn makes this point emphatically in a recent National Theatre production that presents Love's Labour's Lost as a tale of society's passage out of the nineteenth century in the devastation of World War I. Though neither this idea nor any other aspect of his production is entirely novel, it emerges as possi bly the darkest interpretation of the play yet presented, taking the disturbing qualities that have so delighted modern audiences and pressing them to their limits and beyond. Reading the play now, it seems hard to believe that the unusualness of the ending could have gone apparently unnoticed for so long. With the stage set for the usual comedic ending of multiple marriages, the news of the Princess's father's death comes as a complete shock: Marcadà © enters at a moment of such carefree mirth that the Princess playfully chides him, "thou interruptest our merriment" (5.2.712). A moment later, his news is told and the atmosphere of the play has noticeably changed, as Berowne himself acknowledges when he says, "The scene begin... ...ns. Ultimately, Nunn succeeds in making his dark vision of Love's Labour's Lost convincing, and in using the play to make the usual points (the fleeting nature of happiness and happy endings, the necessity of confronting difficult realities, the inevitability of death) with exceptional force. But these triumphs come at the price of two priceless aspects of Shakespeare's ending: its unanticipated overthrow of audience expectations and its startlingly modern open-endedness. Bibliography Gilbert, Miriam. Love's Labour's Lost. Shakespeare in Performance Series. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1993. Holland, Peter. English Shakespeares. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Peter, John. "Growing Pains," Sunday Times, Feb. 2003, p. 19. Woudhuysen, H. R., ed. Love's Labour's Lost. 3rd series. London: The Arden Shakespeare, 1998.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Htrl – Notes

7/5/12 Notes – How To Read Literature by Thomas C. Foster Introduction: How'd He Do That? 1. Interpreting Literature A. Same Story, Different Theory, Why? The Professor is a lot more experienced than his students â€Å"We don't get it. And we think you're making it up. † – His mind is open to different theories and situations, making him somewhat optimistic. While they're pretty much closed minded only viewing situations from one point of view. They're not using the same method of thinkingThey don’t have the same â€Å"language of reading,† the students aren’t applying the same rules and strategies that the professor has learned to apply over time Putting aside the age difference, simply, people don’t think alike B. Grammar of Literature Novels, poems, plays, movies, etc. all have patterns. After the pattern is complete the audience is either pleased or not. Memory, symbol, and pattern are interpreted differently, separating professori al reading from everyone else Memory – After watching a great movie, it sticks to you.So when reading a book that the same events somewhat relates to the characters actions in the movie, one will automatically apply what they saw in the movie to the characters action which opens up another view or interpretation of what’s going on. Symbol – Professors read symbolically, opening their minds to different ideas and comparisons between different things that a student, for example, wouldn’t be able to find alike any way, shape, or form. Pattern – Observing a pattern of literature has a lot to do with mechanism 2.Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not) A. When It's Not? The story with the young teenager didn’t seem like a quest but in fact was because it had the same characters and actions that a quest has, it's a quest in disguise. A quest consist of five things and the story had those five exact things, it just wasn’t so obvious The quester is usually young and inexperienced The quester usually fails the stated task In a quest, there’s always challenges and trials 3. How, Where Have I Seen This Before? A. Connecting the dotsAfter studying and practicing literature for so long, a person begins to recognize patterns and concepts Studying literature is mostly practice After studying one thing and read others, you begin to connect the two and think â€Å"where have i seen this before† 4. It's Greek to Me A. Myths Myths show sacrifice and lost or heroism and loyalty Authors use myths to have a nice plot We sometimes use myths in our daily language, for comparisons Most myths function in the same manor Every myth have a hero with a dangerous and difficult goal that they either achieve or don’t achieve B.Underworld The underworld is a setting for final battle Conflicts in the story is made clear in the underworld 5. Is That A Symbol? A. Symbolism Sometimes an author would use allegories instead of symbols Allegories shows a specific message just as an item can be symbolic, so can an action Imagination, instincts, and past experiences is used to find symbolism in literature 6. Does He Mean That? A. 7. †¦ So Does The Season A. â€Å"†¦ writers can work magic with the seasons† Famous authors have used seasons as an advantageAuthors use seasons as different symbols for different things For example: age, moods, life, and death Not only do they use seasons but they also use holidays 8. One Story 9. Don't Read With Your Eyes A. Perspective You shouldn’t read from your point of view When reading certain things to fully understand and get a clear vision it is important to sometimes feel sympathy or even empathy Reading from another perspective helps you to better understand the text When reading something from a different culture one doesn’t have to accept the idea, just sympathy

Sunday, November 10, 2019

To what extent did Russia undergo economic

To what extent did Russia undergo economic and political reform in the years 1906-14? After the 1905 revolution Russia was in need of reforms both economically and politically, to allow it maintain its role of a great power and to prevent another revolution occurring the answer to this was the October Manifesto. However, due to the stubbornness of the Tsar who was determined not to relinquish his autocratic powers, what may have appeared as reforms were largely superficial making little change in particular to the Russian political system. In early 1906 the OctoberManifesto was published as a result of the 1905 revolution and as a way to appease the peasants and appear as a revolutionary change, when truly very little was changed by this. Political activity was now legal so political parties now no longer needed to remain secrets; freedom of speech was also introduced along with the introduction of a state elected Duma. Most of these changes were made as a bid to make the peasants co ntent and prevent the chances of another revolution; however this also banned trade unions and newspapers. The introduction of the first Duma was short lived due to to the disapproval of the Tsar, who dissolved it under theFundamental Law, after only 73 days. This was due to the number of members that were revolutionaries, who wanted to push through more moral ideas and reforms than the Tsar was willing to do, only 2 out of 391 made it into the law. This then led to the Wborg manifesto, which was a group of frustrated Duma members teaming up to go against the Tsar's action of raising taxes – unfortunately this backfired, leading to all 200 members being banned from standing in the next Duma. The next Duma followed a similar suit, Just with the gaining of the Social Revolutionaries and theSocial Democrats gaining seats, it was the third and fourth Dumas that raised the most change within Russian society, but this may have been due to the Electoral Reform. In order to make sure that the government gained the best support, voting was restrained to the wealthy, meaning that only 30% of Russia could vote. This meant that the majority of the revolutionaries supporters could not vote, leading to to mostly pro-government parties winning the vote. The Duma was never seen as political institution and was never meant to be, it was supposed to be a simple forum o please the masses and make them believe that the autocracy was listening.The Third ; Fourth Dumas managed to make some successful reforms as the government were more inclined to listen to them, they managed to replace the biased Land Captains, introduced universal primary education, create health and accident insurance programmes and made improvements to the army and navy. Despite the fact that the Duma were never supposed to be parliamentary, they still successfully managed to have the Duma debates reported in the press, meaning that the reformers and radicals participating managed to influence public opi nion egitimately – something that had been denied to them previously.This reform had helped helped create political reform, as it had created a space where a forum for political debate could be taken note ot, and could be published without being censored. It meant that political parties had been established legally, and despite the fact that the Third and Fourth Dumas thwarted many reforms, they helped too, as not all of the seats in this institution had been pro-government. Another factor affecting the amount of political change over the years is the use of Peter Stolypin, the Russian Prime Minister from 1906- 1911.It is hard not to see Stolypin as a reformer, as he evidently saw what policies and laws needed to be changed or created in order to vanquish any repeat of the revolution, as he brought great changed to the Russian countryside, giving peasants the freedom to leave their communes, offering them cheap land in Siberia, or helping them to own their pieces of land thro ugh the redistribution of peasant wealth through the Land Bank.This had a big impact, as it lead to 50% of peasants having ownership of land, and agricultural production had risen from 45. 9 million tonnes to 61. 7 million tonnes in 1913. It is said by historians hat had war not broken out, Russia could have developed a more stable, loyal and prosperous peasantry, as Stolypin envisaged. On the other hand, despite the rise on crop yields and production, not much was done about the living and working conditions of Russia's industrial workers.This was definitely shown after his assassination, where a plague of Russian unrest came around again, only leading to the Lena Goldfield massacre of 1912 in Siberia, which led to strikers being killed by the police. This was then a tipping point for more strikes and demonstrations, reminiscent of the 1905 revolution, to take place, showing that despite the fact Stolypin had helped reform a little economically, it was immediately undone by the wra th of popular unrest amongst the lower classes once more.From these two arguments it is very easy to see points helping question the extent of the Russian economic and political changes over the years, but I believe that the true tipping point comes to the Fundamental Law. This Fundamental Law, created in 1906, created the constitution of the Russian Empire, creating a national parliament with the lower house (the Duma), being elected. This all sounds very good, and sounds like political eforms were in their heights in 1906 – but this was completely changed in Article 87.This gave the right for the Tsar to govern by decree, thereby ignoring his faithfully created' parliament. This basically meant that the creation of the Duma was practically pointless, as the Tsar could still change his mind as to what laws he wanted created, and which laws he would go against, putting incredible restrictions on how much could be done within the Russian Empire. Therefore, I find that the exte nt to which the Russian Empire underwent economic and political changes were the smallest possible, as Nicholas was not willing to create any reforms.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Platos allegory of the cave Essays

Platos allegory of the cave Essays Platos allegory of the cave Paper Platos allegory of the cave Paper Platos theories about reality involve the allegory, in which Plato expresses something of his beliefs about learning, and his beliefs about the relation between the world of appearances and the world of Reality. Plato suggests that there was a difference between intellectual knowledge, gained through reason, and the knowledge gained through using the senses. He thought that knowledge gained through the senses was no more than opinion, because the senses can be mistaken; but knowledge gained through philosophical reasoning was certain. Platos philosophy is his Theory of Forms, sometimes called the Theory of Ideas. He believed that, as well as the material world in which we live and which we experience, there is also another, eternal world of concepts or Forms. This eternal world is more real than the world we experience through the senses, and it is the object of knowledge, not opinion. Plato believed that this material world cannot reveal the certain truth. He stated that the material world can only present appearances, which lead us to form opinions, rather than knowledge. The truth is to be found elsewhere, on a different plane, in the non-material world of ideas or forms. According to Plato because we have concepts of the ideal forms, without having experienced them, our souls must have known the forms before we were born. This leads him to the belief that people must therefore have immortal souls. Plato also explained that in the world of forms there is an ideal everything created by god. The things we see in our every day lives are just copies and inferior to the ideal form. The ideal form is eternal and is the object of knowledge, not opinion. The most important form / most perfect forms are the form of the good, which is the ultimate principal. As Plato realises that the general run of humankind can think, and speak, etc., without any awareness of his realm of forms. The allegory of the cave is supposed to explain this. In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the theory of forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up the puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, which pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. The prisoners therefore mistake appearance for reality. They think the things they see on the walls are real. Though obviously they are wrong and Platos point is that they would be taking the terms in their language to refer to the shadows that pass before their eyes, rather than to the real things that cast the shadows. Platos point is that in terms of our language are not names of the physical objects that we can see. They are actually names of things that we cannot see, things that we can only grasp with the mind. This statement refers back to Platos theory upon what we presume is reality is in fact mere the opposite. When the prisoners are released, they can turn their heads and see the real objects. Then they realise the error. Platos aim is to describe what is necessary for us to achieve this reflective understanding. But even without it, it remains true that our very ability to think and to speak depends on the forms. The prisoners may learn what certain objects are as they would have seen the shadows of them but if they referred back to a certain object thinking of the shadows they would be mistaken. Likewise, we may acquire concepts by our perceptual experience of physical objects. But we would be mistaken if we thought that the concepts that we grasp were on the same level as the things we perceive. Also referring back to the perfect form, the form of good in the story the cave is the sun as the good illuminates the other forms. The allegory of the cave overall, suggests that people are philosophically ignorant, and are like the prisoners chained to the floor of the cave. They can only see the shadows playing on the back of the cave. They assume that these shadows are in fact the whole of reality. The world outside represents the world of the forms. The prisoner who escapes is like the person who achieves philosophical enlightenment. Platos, forms are sorts, kinds or types of things. They were not created, and they do not do anything. They are simply there. The forms are timeless, unchanging and beyond space. The created world, by contrast, is made of contingent, imperfect, stuff, which has been subjected to change and also decay.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How Runoff Primaries Work in US Politics

How Runoff Primaries Work in US Politics Runoff primaries are held in nearly a dozen states when no candidate in a race for their partys nomination for state or federal office is able to win a simple majority of the vote. Runoff primaries amount to a second round of voting, but only the two top vote-getters appear on the ballot - a move that ensures one of them will win support from at least 50 percent of voters. All other states require the nominee to win only a plurality, or the most number of votes in the race.   This requirement that you have a majority vote is hardly unique. We require the president to get a majority in the  Electoral College. Parties have to get majorities to choose presidents. As John Boehner can explain, you also need to have majority support in the  House  to become  speaker, Charles S.  Bullock III, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, said during a 2017 panel discussion held by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Runoff primaries are  most common in  the South and date back to single-party rule. The use of runoff primaries is more likely when there are more than two candidates seeking the nomination for a statewide seat such as governor or U.S. senator. The requirement that party nominees win at least 50 percent of the vote is seen as a deterrent to electing extremist candidates, but critics argue holding second primaries to achieve this goal is costly and often alienates large swaths of potential voters.   10States That Use Runoff Primaries The states that require nominees for state and federal office to win a certain threshold  of votes and hold runoff primaries when that doesnt happen, according to FairVote and the National Conference of State Legislatures, are: Alabama: Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Arkansas:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Georgia:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Louisiana:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  Mississippi:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  North Carolina:  Requires nominees to win at least 40 percent of the vote.  Oklahoma:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  South Carolina:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.  South Dakota:  Requires certain nominees to win at least 35 percent of the vote.  Texas:  Requires nominees to win at least 50 percent of the vote.   History of Runoff Primaries The use of runoff primaries dates to the South in the early 1900s, when Democrats held a lock on electoral politics. With little competition from Republican or third parties, the Democrats essentially chose their candidates not in the general election but the primaries; whoever won the nomination was guaranteed electoral victory. Many southern states set artificial thresholds to protect white Democratic candidates from being toppled by other candidates who won with mere pluralities. Others such as Arkansas authorized the use of runoff elections to block extremists and hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan from winning party primaries. Justification forRunoff Primaries Runoff primaries are used for the same reasons today: they force candidates to achieve support from a broader portion of the electorate, thereby reducing the chance voters will elect extremists. According to Wendy Underhill, an expert on  elections and redistricting,  and researcher  Katharina Owens Hubler: The requirement for a majority vote (and thus the potential for a primary runoff) was intended to encourage candidates to broaden their appeal to a wider range of voters, to reduce the likelihood of electing candidates who are at the ideological extremes of a party, and to produce a nominee who may be more electable in the general election. Now that the South is solidly Republican, the same issues still hold true. Some states have also moved to open primaries to try to reduce partisanship. Downsides of Runoff Primaries Turnout data show that participation declines in runoff elections, meaning those who do turnout might not fully represent the interests of the district as a whole. And, of course, it costs money to hold primaries. So taxpayers in states that hold runoffs are on the hook for not one but two primaries. Instant Runoff Primaries An alternative to runoff primaries growing in popularity is the instant runoff. Instant runoffs require the use of ranked-choice voting in which voters identify their first, second and third preferences. The initial count uses every voters top choice. If no candidate hits the 50-percent threshold to secure the party nomination, the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped and a recount is held. This process is repeated until one of the remaining candidates gets a majority of votes. Maine became the first state to adopt ranked-choice voting in 2016; it uses the method in state races including those for​ the legislature.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Mitosis, Meiosis, and Mutation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mitosis, Meiosis, and Mutation - Assignment Example Select each sample with your mouse and â€Å"drag† it to the virtual microscope in order to observe the cells in each sample. It was observed that 90 percent (nine cells) of the normal cells were in the anaphase stage of mitosis in the first sample while only 10 percent was in prophase. In the second sample, 90 percent of the cells were in anaphase while only 10 percent of the cells were in the telophase stage of mitosis. These two observations showed than in normal cells, only 10 percent of the cells were actively dividing at any given time. In sample 3, which was a cancerous tissue, 70% of the cells (7 cells) were in the interphase stage while 20 % (2 cells) were in the prophase stage. 10 % (1 cell) was in the anaphase stage. Similarly, in sample 4, 70 % of the cells were in interphase while 10% (1 cell) was in prophase, metaphase and telophase stages of mitosis. These findings showed that cancer cells have an abnormally higher rate of division and proliferation. Therefore, the results of the experiment were in line with the expected observations of the experiment. These findings suggest that a general approach to combat cancer is preventing the abnormal multiplication of cancerous cells. One such way is through eliminating the cancerous cells, which can be achieved through chemotherapy as well as radiation therapy. Chemotherapy involves the use of chemical agents that target certain stages in the cell cycle of cancerous cells (Priestman, 2012). In addition, anticancer drugs work against certain proteins that are vita in the survival of cancer cells. Radiotherapy, on the other hand, is the utilization of high-energy radiations to eliminate malignant cells (Reilly, 2010). The two methods may be used concurrently. Another treatment option is the surgical removal of the malignant cells. Though the mode of action of the various methods may differ, all cancer treatment methods aim at eradicating

Friday, November 1, 2019

UltraSound - Current Disruptive Innovation and Theories Essay

UltraSound - Current Disruptive Innovation and Theories - Essay Example However, disruptive technologies generally refer to mechanisms and equipment by which simpler and cheaper products are created. Disruptive technologies assist in the creation of new markets and product value networks, in the process interfering with the established or existing markets and value networks. That is, with the emergence of a disruptive technology, a given market or value of a product is changed in a manner the market does not expect (Scott et al., 2008). For instance, a disruptive technology could create a new class of customers through processes that lower product prices. Disruptive technology thus opposes sustaining technologies, which do not create new value networks or markets. Although most disruptive technologies may be cited to relate to computers and the associated products, such as desktop publishing, microcomputers, gps, smartphones, and the social media, other industries such as education and health care are also awash with disruptive technologies, which have c reated new markets, value networks, and customer classes. Ultrasound as Disruptive Technology The market disrupted by the ultrasound technology is the radiography, in which the X-ray imaging technology has been disrupted. One of the features of the disruptive technology that ultrasound has is its creation of a new market, interfering with the market advantages enjoyed by X-ray companies, which never participated in ultrasound until much later, after they acquired some major ultrasound equipment manufacturing firms (Tribikram, 2004). According to Professor Clayton Christensen of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, the emergence of ultrasound in clinical applications is a good example of disruptive technologies that address certain inefficiencies in modern health care standards. For instance, comparatively, ultrasound is simpler, less expensive, and more convenient than other modern imaging systems. Therefore, according to Christensen, healthcare should be more dis ruptive, flexible, and simpler to meet the divergent needs of patients. Similar to the case of other disruptive technologies, ultrasound entered the healthcare market and immediately won a big chunk of customers who had hitherto used other technologies. Although other technologies such as CT, MRI and PET imaging earlier introduced had displaced the X-ray, ultrasound is obviously more disruptive than the CT, MRI, and PET (Christensen, 1997). Moreover, ultrasound allows mere caregivers and technologists to take imaging to patients rather than the more expensive specialists. Interestingly, those behind the ultrasound invention and manufacture are small companies such as the Ultrasonix, which are rather new to the industry, and not the long-established healthcare multinationals. In fact, Ultrasonix designs, develops, and manufactures different diagnostic ultrasound systems that make ultrasound technology easier to apply in several areas of patient care (Christensen, 1997). With their la rge monitors and image quality, these ultrasound systems are quite ideal for guiding interventional procedures. According to Adner and Snow (2010), disruptive technologies such as the ultrasound are met with skepticism from some stakeholders who, instead of embracing a new technology, would rather continue with, or