Cosi – Louis Nowra

Cosi by Louis Nowra conveys significant ideas about human nature. Through the play Cosi, the audience witnesses the lives of mentally ill people unfold before them. Central characters Lewis, Doug and Julie each show and express a different view upon the world and work towards their own idea of reality. They each express their individual ideas of the norm and work together to escape reality. Many themes such as love and infidelity as well as change are conveyed throughout the play. Cosi is a comic play written by Australian playwright, Louis Nowra. An interesting feature of the play is the use of the ‘play within a play' device, which gives the play a distinctive quality. This allows the issues and concerns of the play to be reflected and commented upon in he other play as both plays are juxtaposed. The themes of â€Å"Cosi Fan Tutte† deal with love, sex and fidelity are illustrated and commented upon in the modern context as seen through Henry's emotive language â€Å"Free love, women are not to be trusted† His opinion is generated through various experiences and general knowledge. The theme of love and fidelity causes controversy as the characters have different opinions which differ from each other. One of the main themes in Cosi, is the central idea of personal growth. All characters experience growth, however, Lewis' personal growth is the most significant as his simple dialogue states â€Å"no one can sing† exemplifying his negatively towards the patients. This is juxtaposed to his dialogue. â€Å"This comes first† when Lewis begins to see the play as his top prority. His transformation is outlined through Lucy's dialogue â€Å"Working with these people has changed you. showing Lucy's thoughts concering Lewis. Lewis' inner journey has provided him with a new understanding of not only himself but the world around him. Lewis is the protagonist of the play. To begin with, Lewis lacks confidence; the stage directions describe him as â€Å"not knowing what to say,† and talking â€Å"hesitantly† and â€Å"uncertainly. † Puttin g on the play for Lewis is motivated by his need for some quick cash. ‘What if someone forgets to take their medicine and-‘Is one of the many quotes that Lewis says that expresses his uncertainty. The play opens to a dark stage. This darkness is symbolic of many things. Firstly, it represents Lewis entering into a new world- very different from his own. The juxtaposition of light and dark represents his understanding of each world. The second idea represented is the loneliness of the patients within the institution. Like a child pulling the bed covers over his head, afraid of what he can't see and therefore could be lurking in the dark, society feared and misunderstood these people, keeping them locked away. Out of sight and therefore, seemingly out of mind. The final idea is that this opening symbolises Lewis entering into this world and shinning a light into their darkness. That is, coming into a world that he did not understand and therefore feared and offering the patients improvement in their lives and the potential for belonging, understanding and friendship. Doug is a pyromaniac – a firelighter – both in reality and symbolically. His actions threaten to get the show cancelled in its early stages when he sets fire to a toilet. Doug is the most sexually frank character asking questions like: â€Å"Was Lucy a virgin when you first had her? † and â€Å"How many did Lucy have before you? † He comes across as a crass character but his questions serve an important purpose. Like fires, his frank questions tend to spark actions or reactions. They are catalysts for thought. It’s Doug who reveals to Lucy that Julie has â€Å"gone for† Lewis, which leads to the final confrontation between Lucy and Lewis. Julie’s character is significant in a number of ways. Firstly, her views about love seem to be in direct opposition to Lucy’s (Lewis’ girlfriend). Julie has, â€Å"always thought that love was being foolish and stupid. It’s about being on the edge and I like being on the edge. † Whereas Lucy sees love as well down the list of priorities in life: â€Å"After bread, a shelter, equality, health, procreation, money comes maybe love. † However, interestingly, their characters are also similar. Julie says about men and fidelity: â€Å"I don’t like men’s double standards, I guess. Men want women to deceive them because it’ll prove their worst thoughts about women†¦Ã¢â‚¬  While Lucy says that men want women to â€Å"pretend they’re true and faithful† because â€Å"that’s how they want us to be, even if they’re not true and faithful themselves. † Julie, in a way, is an altered version of Lucy in the world of the mental institution. She is the character who completely brings Lewis into this new, strange world. Her kiss with him in the dark marks the full transition of Lewis. † I like the dark,† Julie says; because it’s in the dark that you can be who you really want to be.

Dead Poets Society †Belonging Essay

I have written some introductory paragraphs for you if you are thinking about using the film Dead Poets Society as a related text. You will need to include a paragraph that examines TWO scenes, with film techniques, and discuss how the concept of Belonging is explored in these scenes if you wish to use this text Q – The challenge to belong may be resisted or embraced. The challenge to belong may be resisted or embraced and this concept is explored in detail in Peter Weir’s film, Dead Poets Society. In this film we go on a journey with the student body of Welton Academy, an exclusive private school, and English teacher John Keating as they re-form the Dead Poets Society in the hope of exloring their own dreams. Eventually though, this act is seen as defying the honour code of belonging to the school and as the boys choose to embrace their individuality they are met with tragic consequences. The â€Å"four pillars† of Welton are established in the beginning of the film and this sets the tone for the expectations of the Welton community. In the opening scenes the headmaster praises the school, its tradition and its performance and the audience is left with no doubt that to belong to Welton means to unquestioningly abide by the â€Å"four pillars† tradition, honour and discipline. To do so, as the rest of the film goes on to show, means to conform at the expense of any individual passions or pursuits, success is measured by adhering to the group expectations rather than individual goals. John Keating does not belong at Welton, not just because of his progressive teaching methods, but because he encourages boys to think and act for themselves, to change, not to conform. He incites them to take risks and break rules in pursuit of individual pleasures. The theme of resisting the challenge to belong is most sharply focused on the relationship between Neil and his father.

How technology (textting) has affected our language How it affects the Research Paper

How technology (textting) has affected our language How it affects the way we process information - Research Paper Example 28-29) describes how spoken language and written language have traditionally been seen as entirely different variations, each with their own set of rules. He explains that speech is â€Å"time-bound, dynamic and transient†, and most often occurs in face to face situations where there is both the chance to use non-verbal means like facial expressions and gestures, and the opportunity for speakers to modify their output depending on reactions coming from the listener. Written language, on the other hand, is â€Å"space-bound, static and permanent† and it is more formal because the writer does not always the person or persons who will be reading it, and must make more effort to clarify the context and anticipate what the reader might be thinking. This traditional view of language sees spoken language as more suited to emotional expressions in a social context, and written language more suited to factual purposes such as recording information or learning about something. When we look at examples of spoken language it is clear that grammar rules are used less rigorously, and there is more tolerance of errors, contractions, imperfect sentence structures, for example someone might say Think it’ll work? and the answer might be No way! The full written version of these sentences would be Do you think it will work? and No, there is no way that this could work! or No, I can think of no way in which this would work! The subject of the sentence is obvious in the spoken context, and the tone of voice conveys that there is a question and answer routine going on here, whereas in a written text these elements need to be made clear for the reader. An interesting study by Barron (2000) looks at the way all language develops and changes as new technologies arrive, for example when manuscripts gave way to printing in fifteenth century England there was immediately a much greater volume of written material available, and also a need for standardization. (Barron, 2000, p.57)

Development and business potential of automobile industry Essay

Development and business potential of automobile industry - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the Chinese automobile industry is one of the most diversified yet compact industries of the world. In comparison to the global automobile region, China has developed high standards of performance for its automobile segment. Since 2008, China has topped the charts for being the highest producer of automobile units and has crossed the European Union, USA, and Japan with their efficient automobile management processes. The production process of the Chinese automobile segment is mainly performed by establishing relationships between the local and foreign firms. Global automotive brands such as Volkswagen, Toyota, General Motors, etc have established their manufacturing units in China for increasing their output. However, the primary market for the local automobile companies of China such as Great Wall, Beijing Automotive Group, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, Geely, etc still remains the Chinese market. The history of Chinese au tomobile segment started before the Second World War. The first Chinese produced vehicle was a truck which was developed and used for military purposes. According to Oliver, Holweg, and Luo, most of the public transport and luxury vehicles used in China prior to the Second World War were imported from abroad or made within the country by manufacturing units of Multinational Companies. Jones noted that most of MNCs entered China for leveraging the benefit of low labor cost in comparison to the high-end labors of Europe or Japan.

Environmental Geology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Environmental Geology - Essay Example As the tectonic activity continued during next several million years the initial rock had influenced a series of future changes as the empty cracks in the rock were again filled with liquid magma, which later formed crystal fractions inside the granite mass. The irregular and wavy structure of granite rock witnesses for tectonic and geological activity at the primary stage of rock formation, when the future granite formation was under a high temperature and was plastic for deformations. The motion of tectonic plates and elevation caused wavy structure. Besides it was prompted by changing climate and outside physical influence such as weathering and changing temperature regime. The second unit of the outcrop is represented by sandstone which is a sedimentary rock. The presence of sandstone witnesses for the absence of serious tectonic and geological changes in later geological epochs. The next geological periods in this outcrop starting from Triassic and up to Jurassic in Mesozoic era are characterized by the presence of sea life in that region. It means that the territories taken by magmatic and granite deposits were gradually flooded by sea waters. These were the conditions essential for the future forming of sandstone as the waters brought a lot of sedimentary rocks and sand to that territory. During million years these sedimentary rocks and sand were concentrating and under the high pressure they turned into solid rock such as sandstone which on the hand with sand particles contains a reasonable amount of cement which glued sand and turned it into concrete structure. The upper stratum gradually changes into marl. Marl stratum was formed by sedimentary particles which on the hand with sand particles included clay particles and calcium carbonate particles. During million years of depositing and under a pressure these particles transformed into a solid rock formed predominantly by clay and CaCO3 elements called marl. The presence of sand and clay witness that this stratum was formed during Mesozoic era. The last stratum represented by limestone also witnesses that the territory of outcrop was still occupied by water and that it was rich in the sea life. The limestone stratum was formed by sea organisms which could take dissolved calcium salts from the seawater. CaCO3 was a fundamental structure of their shells and skeletons and after millions years of high pressure and depositing it turned into limestone. Task 2 To the north from North-American platform there is situated a wide zone of Alpine suture represented by the Rocky Mountains and Cordeliers. This zone is characterized by tectonic and mobility of quasi-planar zones, which existed from prehistorically times as there existed such sutures as Hercinian, Caledonian and Cambrian. In Mesozoic era the Western part of North America also continued to experience tectonic movement conditions and besides there existed two zones of flexure where depositing of precipitation occurred: one of them occupied the stripe of the Rocky mountains from Alaska in the north to Colorado plateau in the south and another one stretched from Aleut islands through cascade mountains in Canada and Sierra-Nevada in the USA. Between these two flexure zones there was formed a zone which experienced little flexure.

Roman Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Roman Life - Essay Example Rediscoveries and excavations of the sites directly affected by the long catastrophe had sparked interest among the historians of the 16th century to obtain further insights and reveal the type of culture and life at the city under Roman empire. Archeological efforts that pieced together fragments of stones and layers upon layers of sediments alluded how fertile Vesuvius slopes were in ancient times that grapes and olive groves thrived along the good climate of the mountain surface which most wealthy Romans took advantage of in their lavish way of living (Pompeii). Indication of wine shops emerged as well in Herculaneum when buried artifacts unraveled distinct carvings of grapes, for instance, on jars and pots in the similar manner that bread and goat designs gave hints on the age-old containers which were intended for livelihood through milking and baking (Pompeii). Along with the frescoes found near the ruins, certain evidences showed that Pompeiis control water tower adapted a flow system that was lain out such that it set priority according to the order of society which had been a well-established truth in the Roman communities of that period. More to class divisions and means of food storage, excavating into the buried city produced other rich findings typically with the cast retrievals by Fiorelli method of furniture forms the way Pompeii civilization managed its unique architecture. Fallen or completely devastated structures also turned up landscape attitudes during the final moments as the inhabitants made horrifying attempts at avoiding the noxious fumes. In particular, the cast shapes enabled understanding of the amount of sufferings and the measure of sacrifice and courageous response to such terrible condition from which to draw inferences on philosophies by which early Romans lived in every aspect that was later to reflect in the customary gesture, practices, and set of values for the descendants to imbibe at depth down the history line

Chevron Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chevron Corporation - Essay Example Market Segmentation, by definition, is the grouping of customers into sub-units or segments based on their needs implying that a particular market segment has the same needs and as such, a business develops the same marketing strategy to respond to the needs. Segmentation of target markets takes three approaches namely undifferentiated, concentrated and differentiated. In this regard, undifferentiated segmentation entails a business treating customers as the same or when an organisation targets homogenous market while concentrated segmentation occurs when a firm focuses on several market segmentations that have same needs and preferences, for instance, price sensitive consumers. However, differentiated market segmentation entails a business targeting many market segments or heterogeneous markets as with the case of Chevron Corporation because it has various business segments. Chevron’s market segmentation depends on both the upstream and downstream business segments. Upstream business operations include exploration, development and production of natural gas as well as crude oil while downstream operations involve crude oil refinery, marketing in addition to the transportation of the finished or the final petroleum products.Nonetheless, businesses divide their market using demographics, psychographic, behavioural and geographic criteria when segmenting their markets. Demographic segmentation takes into consideration customer characteristics including gender, age, education, income status, cultural background and job.

Reporting Paper (Accounting) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reporting Paper (Accounting) - Essay Example The employees are required to be assured about the safety and security of their jobs despite takeovers. The points to be discussed in the memo include the post - retirement benefits of the employees of the organization that has been acquired. The human capital is the most essential part for the success of any organization. As and when, there is a merger or acquisition taking place, the employees often feel unsafe about their professional career. In order to, have the professional faith retained among the employees; the management of the company should inform the employees of the acquired firm about the revised perks and perquisites that are on offer. Also, the management of the company should clearly focus on the post – retirement benefits like the pension schemes (namely defined benefit pension schemes and the defined contribution pension schemes). It is prudent for the management of the company to keep the employee force informed about the proposed integration of both the prevailing segments along with the two schemes of the post – retirement benefits. Defined Benefit Pension Scheme – Defined Benefit Pension Schemes, often known as the DB pension schemes are the simplest form of the post – retirement benefits. The benefits i.e. the pensions are calculated on the basis of the predetermined formulae. Basically, the defined benefit pension schemes, which are the traditional schemes in the periphery of the post – retirement benefits, are contributed by the employers. But, employees might also contribute. There are several factors upon which the benefit depends (i.e. the variables of the formulae) and that include prevailing mortality rates, scheme assets, rate of return for the investment and changing regulatory rates among others. The tradition DB pension schemes are observed to be losing their popularity in the recent past to the DC (Defined Contribution)

Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway Essay Example for Free

Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway Essay The story under the title â€Å"Cat in the Rain† was written by Ernest Hemingway, one of the most favourite American novelists, short-story writer and essayist, whose deceptively simple prose style has influenced wide range of writers. So, the story begins with the description of the hotel where two Americans stopped. It was raining, that’s why the couple stayed in and just a cat in the rain attracted the young woman’s attention. She wanted to get the cat inside but failed and was brought another cat. The problem of the story lies very deeply and we are to uncover it. The story is written in one mood which constantly and directly increases. It starts from the beginning where it’s created by a persistent and repeated use of the â€Å"rain† with a number of phrases associating it, such as puddles, deserted square, glistening war monument. Repetition is one of the widely used and favourite stylistic devices of Hemingway. Here he applies it to reveal the relationship of the protagonist to the old hotel owner (she liked , she liked ). As the verb â€Å"to like† is not used to characterize relations of the wife to her husband, this contrast is full of the concealed but easily read meaning. Though the cases of repetition in the story may seem a bit obtrusive, their modifications enter into the core of the narration very organically. They carry emotional character, however penetrating the story the deep sorrow becomes evident gradually. We realize that little, as if meaningless, capricious wishes of a young woman reveal the drama of her fate, the absence of comfort in her life, comparable with the cat in the rain. The title of the story anticipates this confrontation and the fact that the cat’s image makes great play twice – just increases the total effect. In fact, the young woman pines for love, for home, for her family. And the purring cat she’d like to have and to stroke is a traditional symbol of home and comfort she lacks so much. She wants warmth, attention, care, joy, happiness; however she is brought the cat – a pitiful substitution of that, what she, a young, beautiful woman needs incredibly. This is the main problem of the novel we tried to uncover. Perhaps the hotel owner didn’t get the reason of her yearnings and took her wish for whim. But dignity, deference and respectfulness of the old man are confronted to egoism and carelessness of George not occasionally. The war monument is also mentioned deliberately. The world George and his wife belong to – is uncomfortable, homeless after-war world, where the fates of young people joined with such hardships and troubles. If to speak about the text itself, it is told in the 3rd person narrative. the description is interlaced with descriptive passages and dialogues of the personages. The author makes extensive use of repetitions to render the story more vivid, convincing, more real and emotional. The authors style is remarkable for its powerful sweep, brilliant illustrations and deep psychological analysis. Everything he touches seems to reflect the feelings of the heroes. The story reveals the authors great knowledge of mans inner world. He penetrates into the subtlest windings of the human heart.

Whole Foods Market Essay Example for Free

Whole Foods Market Essay In 1980 Whole Foods Market made its introduction into the natural food industry. Overtime Whole Foods has captured the title of the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods, with 193 stores in 31 states, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The company targets locations with consumers that have a college degree and are more likely to focus on the importance of consuming natural products. As our economy continues to battle the recession Whole Foods will struggle with competitors that are offering similar products at lower prices. Whole Foods will need to invent a solution to maintain their position as the number one leading retailer of their industry.

Current Situation Samsungs Position Marketing Essay

Current Situation Samsungs Position Marketing Essay Samsungs Position in 2003, was strong as compared to its current situation. Its stock was one of the most widely held amongst the companies emerging in the market as more than half of its shares were outside of Korea, its home country. In 2003, Business week ranked Samsung 25th most valuable brand from 34th position in 2002 and with a fast growing brand value compared to its competitor Sony. In the electronics Industry both Samsung and Sony are leading names and as the electronic industry requires heavy emphasis on research and development, transitions on market and to optimize supply chains. New innovations in technology runs the consumer electronic industry. Samsung uses its traditional in-house RD instead of outsourcing it from Business partners as outsourcing transfer capital investment has lower risk to other companies but has high cost, however the risk involved is lower. Samsung operates on the virtual integration model which has leveraged all the aspects of the manufacturing process from raw- materials to fully assembled products. Keeping the cost down from what it would be if being outsourced, Samsung reduced costs further by off-shoring efforts. As in off-shoring a firm uses its own assets and locates Business units in places such that it has lower costs of production, for this purpose Samsung has placed its plants in China and India. Out of the two core marketing groups of Samsung, one in Korea and the other one for rest of the world, Samsung consolidated to use a single ensure worldwide brand consistency in 2001. A percentage of the current sales of 2003 were set aside for marketing, reallocations were also made to market research to identify if marketing funds could be used to achieve high returns. SWOT: Strengths: Has a wide range of products such as mobile phones, camera, home appliance and other devices. Enjoys advantage over a few electronic items by introducing advanced features in LCD, refrigerator, Air Conditioner etc. Holds significant market share in many product Categories. Does RD to keep innovating its products and to be ahead from its competitors and to be first in the market with new range of products. Weakness: Caused product CANNIBALIZATION due to launch of series of smart phones. Lack of product software for which it has to depend on other companies. Competitors like SONY and APPLE who have their own products as well as software. Other Areas of business like Chemicals, Machinery Heavy Industry, financial Services unknown to the Public. Opportunities: Continue sponsoring major events like Olympics in order to spread brand equity and to increase sales and cut competition. Develop its own unique software in order to keep up with competitors and to make itself independent from other software oriented companies. Should increase its spending on advertising and market its products more. Threats: Recent tie up of Google and Motorola where Google has decided to sell its software only to Motorola, without its own software its very difficult for Samsung to survive in future competition. Increasing competition from APPLE and SONY. Amount of money spent in RD for product innovation and creation on new and unique products is huge, which other companies save by reverse engineering Samsungs products. Strategic Brand Management Brand Building in order to increase promotional costs and decrease revenues by sacrificing certain product lines and with the digital revolution going on a new opportunity window is there to dominate consumer electronics market. Doing so without proper precautions can cause the company some irreparable damage. The need for advertisement and promotion is a must for the company in order to increase the awareness among consumers. Though advertisement and promotion of Samsung depends on the activities done by it in the particular region. Activities carried out by the company can have both positive and negative impacts such as promotional materials intended and developed for one countrys market can limit its ability to develop promotional campaigns made specifically for another market. Samsungs competitive advantage led to unique breeding environment for innovation, RD and the production of new technology should be preserved therefore, all new products should be kept in a safe location e. g. in the Korean Headquaters. Recommendations: Moving away from the supplier mentality Samsung should de-emphasize the importance of new products, though innovation of products has brought Samsung great wealth, Samsung can still survive in the market by cutting costs spent in RD of new technology and let the market forces be the driving force in the development of new technology. Training of internal staff in making use of effective marketing as it is related to other areas of Business, especially development. First-hand knowledge of the development process should benefit the marketing team as they should know what a delay in research can mean to the project. Development of a career path in marketing and a formal structure for Samsung employees would demonstrate to the company a commitment to marketing, which would serve as a recruiter and developer to grow new marketing talent. Marketing professionals if retained within a structured environment would help Samsung further to continue build consistency with its brand identity. Use of interactive marketing such as making of online ad campaigns on frequently visited websites like Youtube, where the viewer should be able to interact with the help of annotation feature. Where multiple options should be given and if any of the options is chosen then each option should open a new video. Should move its product from price-driven stores to more focused retailers. Implementation: To make the selling of developed products easier the resources should be shifted from RD to marketing which would increase the return of RD spending. Samsung should know that branding is as important as the high quality of the products that Samsung supplies. Partnership with a Chinese firm can help reduce the labour costs related to production of legacy products without compromising on the valuable intellectual property. Samsung besides being in partnership with the Chinese, cannot forget that the Chinese can still prove as competitors which can harm their business. Therefore the company should keep a strong focus on maintaining its technological leadership by pursuing cutting-edge RD, especially towards future substitutes for DRAMS. One more way to reduce the chances of development of competition, though more risky and should be applied with care is to surpass new market entrants by lowering margins on low-end DRAMs. The profit will not be more but Samsungs name and the build quality of their products will push the competitors towards more or less operational losses, at the same time itll ensure that Samsung will still be able to earn on the other products from its wide range of portfolio.

Steven King Essay -- Biography Biographies

Bio of Steven King Stephen King Stephen Edwin King was born September 21, 1947in Portland, Maine, U.S. He is an American novelist and short-story writer whose many novels and story collections, and the numerous films adapted from this large body of work, have established his reputation as the leading author of horror fictions in contemporary literature, and with reviving the genre of horror fiction in the late 20th century. King graduated from the University of Maine in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in English. Abused by a fanatically religious mother and ridiculed by her classmates, Carrie was the first of many novels in which King blended horror, the macabre, fantasy, and science fiction. Among such works were Salem's Lot (1975), an equally nihilistic novel, which portrays a small Maine village overrun and repopulated by vampires. The Shining (1977; filmed 1980), a writer, his wife, and their young son act as winter caretakers in a ghost-ridden hotel. The Stand (1978), The Dead Zone (1979; filmed 1983), Firestarter (1980), Cujo (1981), Christine (1983), It (1986), Misery (1987), The Tommyknockers (1987), and The Dark Half (1989). In his books King explored almost every terror-producing theme imaginable, from vampires, rabid dogs, deranged killers, and a pyromaniac to ghosts, extrasensory perception and telekinesis, biological warfare, and even a malevolent automobile. Though his work was disparaged as undisciplined and inelegant, King was a talented storyteller...

Ethics of Cookies Essay -- Technology Computers Internet Essays

Ethics of Cookies eth ·ic 1 plural but singular or plural in construction : the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation 2 a : a set of moral principles or values b : a theory or system of moral values <the present-day materialistic ethic> c plural but singular or plural in construction : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group <professional ethics> d : a guiding philosophy HTTP cookie <World-Wide Web> A packet of information sent by an HTTP server to a World-Wide Web browser and then sent back by the browser each time it accesses that server. Cookies can contain any arbitrary information the server chooses and are used to maintain state between otherwise stateless HTTP transactions. Typically this is used to authenticate or identify a registered user of a web site without requiring them to sign in again every time they access that site. Other uses are, e.g. maintaining a "shopping basket" of goods you have selected to purchase during a session at a site, site personalisation (presenting different pages to different users), tracking a particular user's access to a site. This day and age, it is undisputed that computers are one of the greatest tools for a person to have, and a not having a connection to the internet is a dreadful; thought for others. The programs that are used by internet servers are a technology that advance so quickly, that it is difficult for a user to know with what he or she is exactly interacting. For example, if a user were to be browsing through a web site to buy a product, the web site (the server) could build a cookie for the user. The information that a cookie collects is claimed to be harmless by the w... ...may be one answer to this fear of privacy protection but, ultimately it is the responsibility of the internet users and servers to stay informed of the many different risks of the internet. Bibliography Glassberg, Richy. "Don't Fear the Cookie Monster." Mediaweek. 2 Oct. 2000: IQ38. Santa Clara University Expanded Academic Index. The Gale Group. 15 Nov. 2000. <http://w.../purl=rcl_EAIM_0_A66014940&dyn=5!xrn_4_0_A66014940?sw_aep=scuweb_cn> "How Web Servers' Cookies Threaten Your Privacy." Junk Busters. 14 Nov. 2000 <http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html> Lawler, Barbera. "Hot button: online privacy." Silicon Valley News. 5 Nov. 2000. San Jose Mercury News. 15 Nov 2000 <http://www.mercuryce...news/viewpoints/docs/Soapbox05.htm> "Persistent Cookie FAQ." Cookie Central. 14 Nov 2000. <http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq.htm>

2nd Order Vanity

2nd Order Vanity Rick Vigorous is a very jealous finance and pays his therapist, Dr. Jay, to find out everything Lenore thinks. Rick believes this is helping him in his relationship but it’s actually causing conflict and loss of money. This is the typical case of jealousy doing more harm than good. Rick and Lenore are engaged. Rick is 18 years older than Lenore, is divorced, has a son, and is also CEO of Frequent and Vigorous, where Lenore also works. The two met at Dr. Jays.Rick is extremely jealous of Lenore and believes that any unmarried man is a threat to his relationship. Rick continues to see Dr. Jay because he tells him everything Lenore confides in him. Rick is so obsessed that when Lenore doesn’t immediately show up for work he writes in his journal, â€Å"Lenore, come to work, where I am, remove yourself from the shower and come to work now†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (32). The weirdest part of all is that when Lenore isn’t sleeping in the bed with Rick, Rick will h ave a dream about sexually pleasuring Queen Victoria with a tortoise shell hairbrush.Rick suffers greatly from second order vanity. â€Å"A second order vain person will sit up late learning jokes in order to appear funny and charming, but will deny that he sits up late learning jokes. Or he’ll perhaps even try to give the impression that he doesn’t regard himself as funny at all†. Rick may not try to be funny but, he will use Dr. Jay to get info on Lenore and then try giving the opposite impression that he is simply using Dr. Jay for professional help. Rick attempts to hide his obsession with Lenore from her.Even when Lenore gets suspicious of Dr. Jay and Rick working as a team, Dr. Jay goes so far as to lie for Rick and deny the accusation. He also writes about trying to have sex with one of Lenore’s shoes†¦ â€Å"I will confess that I, once in a moment of admittedly irresponsible degeneracy, tried to make love to one of the shoes, a 1989 All-Star high-top, when Lenore was in the shower but failed to be able to bring the thing off, for familiar reasons. † (Wallace 59). He also believes that Dr. Jay is secretly in love with Lenore; Dr.Jay just tells Rick he is insecure. Another example of Rick’s insecurity is the way he acts when he meets Wang Dang Lang in the gay bar. He notices that he hasn’t peed once after drinking so many beers. Rick thinks that this is manly and admires Wang for that and decides he won’t pee until Wang pees, or else that will show weakness. Rick ultimately comes up with an excuse to use the bathroom. He tells Wang he wants to see if his initials are still carved in the stall from when he went to college. Wang Dang Lang follows behind him.Rick even admires the way Wang Dang Lang takes a leak and aims for the deodorant. Rick and the guy who suffers from second order vanity act like they’re not trying to hide their insecurities in the first place. This is something people suffer with daily. Lenore is just a kind person with some insecurity, but not nearly as much as Rick. She is a little lost trying to find her place in the world, which is why she sees Dr. Jay to help her with identity struggles. Lenore has a successful father with lots of money but she chooses to work a minimum wage job at Frequent and Vigorous.Her grandmother Lenore, who she visits all the time, is MIA and her brother LaVache has a fake leg with drawers for hiding his weed. Lenore suffers from hygiene anxiety and Rick estimates she showers about 5-8 times a day. She spends most of her time with Dr. Jay discussing hygiene anxiety, which basically means she feels dirty in stressful situations. Dr. Jay just wants Rick and Lenore’s money and will do anything to get it. For example: betraying Lenore’s trust by telling everything she talks to him about to Rick. Then when Lenore tells Dr.Jay she’s out of money and can’t see him, Dr. Jay advises her to come back as soon as she gets money because he is â€Å"here for her†, and to† get Rick to give her money†. Dr. Jay is a quack and a con artist! All Dr. Jay talks about is the smell of breakthrough. Lenore calls Dr. Jay, â€Å"the worst psychologist of all time†. She pays him roughly 2/3 of what she makes and still continues to see the guy! In the story about the man who suffers from second order vanity, he goes to enormous lengths to hide his vanity from his beautiful girlfriend which whom he lives with. This is just like Rick.

Quran and Science Essay

Islam and science describes the relationship between Muslim communities and science in general. From an Islamic standpoint, science, the study of nature, is considered to be linked to the concept of Tawhid (the Oneness of God), as are all other branches of knowledge.[1] In Islam, nature is not seen as a separate entity, but rather as an integral part of Islam’s holistic outlook on God, humanity, and the world. This link implies a sacred aspect to the pursuit of scientific knowledge by Muslims, as nature itself is viewed in the Qur’an as a compilation of signs pointing to the Divine.[2] It was with this understanding that the pursuit of science was tolerated in Islamic civilizations, specifically during the eighth to sixteenth centuries, prior to the colonization of the Muslim world.[3] According to theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili, the modern scientific method was pioneered by Islamic scientist Ibn Al-Haytham (known to the west as â€Å"Alhazen†) whose contributions are likened to those of Isaac Newton.[4] Alhazen helped shift the emphasis on abstract theorizing onto systematic and repeatable experimentation, followed by careful criticism of premises and inferences.[5] Robert Briffault, in The Making of Humanity, asserts that the very existence of science, as it is understood in the modern sense, is rooted in the scientific thought and knowledge that emerged in Islamic civilizations during this time.[6] Muslim scientists and scholars have subsequently developed a spectrum of viewpoints on the place of scientific learning within the context of Islam, none of which are universally accepted.[7] However, most maintain the view that the acquisition of knowledge and scientific pursuit in general is not in disaccord with Islamic thought and religious belief.[1][7] Physicist Taner Edis argues this is because some Muslims are reading into the metaphorical language of the Holy books what is not there, including recent scientific discoveries.[8] Overview The religion Islam has its own worldview system including beliefs about â€Å"ultimate reality, epistemology, ontology, ethics, purpose, etc.†[9] Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the final revelation of God for the guidance of humankind. Science is the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.[10] It is a system of acquiring knowledge based on empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research. Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating empirical knowledge that explains observable events in nature as results of natural causes, rejecting supernatural notions. Islam, like all religions, believes in the supernatural that is accessible or interacts with Man in this life. One of the most important features of Science is the precise quantitative prediction. In this aspect it differs from many religious texts where physical phenomena are depicted in a very qualitative way, often by the use of words carrying several meanings. History Classical Islamic science Science in medieval Islam, Islamic cosmology, Astronomy in medieval Islam, Mathematics in medieval Islam, Physics in medieval Islam, and Medicine in medieval Islam  In the history of science, Islamic science refers to the science developed under Islamic civilization between the 8th and 16th centuries,[11] during what is known as the Islamic Golden Age.[ It is also known as Arabic science since the majority of texts during this period were written in Arabic, the lingua franca of Islamic civilization. Despite these terms, not all scientists during this period were Muslim or Arab, as there were a number of notable non-Arab scientists (most notably Persians), as well as some non-Muslim scientists, who contributed to scientific studies in the Islamic world. A number of modern scholars such as Fielding H. Garrison,[13] Abdus Salam and Hossein Nasr consider modern science and the scientific method to have been greatly inspired by Muslim scientists who introduced a modern  empirical, experimental and quantitative approach to scientific inquiry. Some scholars, notably Donald Routledge Hill, Ahmad Y Hassan,[14] Abdus Salam,[15] and George Saliba,[16] have referred to their achievements as a Muslim scientific revolution,[17] though this does not contradict the traditional view of the Scientific Revolution which is still supported by most scholars.[18][19][20] It is believed that it was the empirical attitude of the Qur’an and Sunnah which inspired medieval Muslim scientists, in particular Alhazen (965-1037),[21][22] to develop the scientific method.[23][24][25] It is also known that certain advances made by medieval Muslim astronomers, geographers and mathematicians was motivated by problems presented in Islamic scripture, such as Al-Khwarizmi’s (c. 780-850) development of algebra in order to solve the Islamic inheritance laws,[26] and developments in astronomy, geography, spherical geometry and spherical trigonometry in order to determine the direction of the Qibla, the times of Salah prayers, and the dates of the Islamic calendar.[27] The increased use of dissection in Islamic medicine during the 12th and 13th centuries was influenced by the writings of the Islamic theologian, Al-Ghazali, who encouraged the study of anatomy and use of dissections as a method of gaining knowledge of God’s creation.[28] In al-Bukhari’s and Muslim’s collection of sahih hadith it is said: â€Å"There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its treatment.† (Bukhari 7-71:582). This culminated in the work of Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), who discovered the pulmonary circulation in 1242 and used his discovery as evidence for the orthodox Islamic doctrine of bodily resurrection.[29] Ibn al-Nafis also used Islamic scripture as justification for his rejection of wine as self-medication.[30] Criticisms against alchemy and astrology were also motivated by religion, as orthodox Islamic theologians viewed the beliefs of alchemists and astrologers as being superstitious.[31] Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209), in dealing with his conception of physics and the physical world in his Matalib, discusses Islamic cosmology, criticizes the Aristotelian notion of the Earth’s centrality within the  universe, and â€Å"explores the notion of the existence of a multiverse in the context of his commentary,† based on the Qur’anic verse, â€Å"All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds.† He raises the question of whether the term â€Å"worlds† in this verse refers to â€Å"multiple worlds within this single universe or cosmos, or to many other universes or a multiverse beyond this known universe.† On the basis of this verse, he argues that God has created more than â€Å"a thousand thousand worlds (alfa alfi ‘awalim) beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has.†[32] Ali KuÅŸÃ §u’s (1403–1474) support for the Earth’s rotation and his rejection of Aristotelian cosmology (which advocates a stationary Earth) was motivated by religious opposition to Aristotle by orthodox Islamic theologians, such as Al-Ghazali.[33][34] According to many historians, science in Islamic civilization flourished during the Middle Ages, but began declining at some time around the 14th[35] to 16th[11] centuries. At least some scholars blame this on the â€Å"rise of a clerical faction which froze this same science and withered its progress.†[36] Examples of conflicts with prevailing interpretations of Islam and science – or at least the fruits of science – thereafter include the demolition of Taqi al-Din’s great Istanbul observatory of Taqi al-Din in Galata, â€Å"comparable in its technical equipment and its specialist personnel with that of his celebrated contemporary, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.† But while Brahe’s observatory â€Å"opened the way to a vast new development of astronomical science,† Taqi al-Din’s was demolished by a squad of Janissaries, â€Å"by order of the sultan, on the recommendation of the Chief Mufti,† sometime after 1577 AD.[36][37] Arrival of modern science in Islamic world At the beginning of the nineteenth century, modern science arrived in the Muslim world but it wasn’t the science itself that affected Muslim scholars. Rather, it â€Å"was the transfer of various philosophical currents entangled with science that had a profound effect on the minds of Muslim scientists and intellectuals. Schools like Positivism and Darwinism penetrated the Muslim world and dominated its academic circles and had a noticeable impact on some Islamic theological doctrines.† There were different responses to this among the Muslim scholars:[38] These reactions, in words of Professor Mehdi Golshani, were the following: â€Å" 1. Some rejected modern science as corrupt foreign thought, considering it incompatible with Islamic teachings, and in their view, the only remedy for the stagnancy of Islamic societies would be the strict following of Islamic teachings.[38] 2. Other thinkers in the Muslim world saw science as the only source of real enlightenment and advocated the complete adoption of modern science. In their view, the only remedy for the stagnation of Muslim societies would be the mastery of modern science and the replacement of the religious worldview by the scientific worldview. 3. The majority of faithful Muslim scientists tried to adapt Islam to the findings of modern science; they can be categorized in the following subgroups: (a) Some Muslim thinkers attempted to justify modern science on religious grounds. Their motivation was to encourage Muslim societies to acquire modern knowledge and to safeguard their societies from the criticism of Orientalists and Muslim intellectuals. (b) Others tried to show that all important scientific discoveries had been predicted in the Qur’an and Islamic tradition and appealed to modern science to explain various aspects of faith. (c) Yet other scholars advocated a re-interpretation of Islam. In their view, one must try to construct a new theology that can establish a viable relation between Islam and modern science. The Indian scholar, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, sought a theology of nature through which one could re-interpret the basic principles of Islam in the light of modern science. (d) Then there were some Muslim scholars who believed that empirical science had reached the same conclusions that prophets had been advocating several thousand years ago. The revelation had only the privilege of prophecy. 4. Finally, some Muslim philosophers separated the findings of modern science from its philosophical attachments. Thus, while they praised the attempts of Western scientists for the discovery of the secrets of nature, they warned against various empiricist and materialistic interpretations of scientific findings. Scientific knowledge can reveal certain aspects of the physical world, but it should not be identified with the alpha and omega of knowledge. Rather, it has to be integrated into a metaphysical framework—consistent with the Muslim worldview—in which higher levels of knowledge are recognized and the role of science in bringing us closer to God is fulfilled.[9] † Compatibility of Islam and the development of science Whether Islamic culture has promoted or hindered scientific advancement is disputed. Islamists such as Sayyid Qutb argue that since â€Å"Islam appointed† Muslims â€Å"as representatives of God and made them responsible for learning all the sciences,†[39] science cannot but prosper in a society of true Muslims. Many â€Å"classical and modern [sources] agree that the Qur’an condones, even encourages the acquisition of science and scientific knowledge, and urges humans to reflect on the natural phenomena as signs of God’s creation.† Some scientific instruments produced in classical times in the Islamic world were inscribed with Qur’anic citations. Many Muslims agree that doing science is an act of religious merit, even a collective duty of the Muslim community.[40] Others claim traditional interpretations of Islam are not compatible with the development of science. Author Rodney Stark, argues that Islam’s lag behind the West in scientific advancement after (roughly) 1500 AD was due to opposition by traditional ulema to efforts to formulate systematic explanation of natural phenomenon with â€Å"natural laws.† He claims that they believed such laws were blasphemous because they limit â€Å"Allah’s freedom to act† as He wishes, a principle enshired in aya 14:4: â€Å"Allah sendeth whom He will astray, and guideth whom He will,† which (they believed) applied to all of creation not just humanity.[41] Decline In the early twentieth century ulema forbade the learning of foreign languages and dissection of human bodies in the medical school in Iran.[42] In recent years, the lagging of the Muslim world in science is manifest in the disproportionately small amount of scientific output as measured by citations of articles published in internationally circulating science journals, annual expenditures on research and development, and numbers of research scientists and engineers.  Skepticism of science among some Muslims is reflected in issues such as resistance in Muslim northern Nigeria to polio inoculation, which some believe is â€Å"an imaginary thing created in the West or it is a ploy to get us to submit to this evil agenda.†[44] Scientific issues in the Qur’an and Hadith The belief that the Qur’an had prophesied scientific theories and discoveries has become a strong and widespread belief in the contemporary Islamic world; these prophecies are often offered as evidence of the divine origin of the Qur’an [45]; see scientific foreknowledge in sacred texts for further discussion of this issue. Taner Edis wrote An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam.[46] Edis worries that secularism in Turkey, one of the most westernized Muslim nations, is on its way out; he points out that Turkey rejects evolution by a large majority. To Edis, many Muslims appreciate technology and respect the role that science plays in its creation. As a result, he says there is a great deal of Islamic pseudoscience attempting to reconcile this respect with other respected religious beliefs. Edis maintains that the motivation to read modern scientific truths into holy books is also stronger for Muslims than Christians.[8] This is because, according to Edis, true criticism of the Qur’an is almost non-existent in the Muslim world. While Christianity is less prone to see its Holy Book as the direct word of God, fewer Muslims will compromise on this idea – causing them to believe that scientific truths simply must appear in the Qur’an. However, Edis opines that there are endless examples of scientific discoveries that could be read into the Bible or Qur’an if one would like to.[8] Edis qualifies that ‘Muslim thought’ certainly cannot be understood by looking at the Qur’an alone – cultural and political factors play large roles.[8] Russel Glasser (Skeptic on â€Å"The Atheist Experience† TV show with Matt Dillahunty and Jeff Dee) argues that interpreting the Qur’an like this is cherry picking and risks simply confirming the biases of the investigator.[47] Conception and inherited characteristics The most prominent of the ancient Greek thinkers who wrote on medicine were Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen. Hippocrates and Galen, in contrast with Aristotle, wrote that the contribution of females to children is equal to that of males, and the vehicle for it is a substance similar to the semen of males.[48] Basim Musallam writes that the ideas of these men were widespread  through the pre-modern Middle East: â€Å"Hippocrates, Aristotle, and Galen were as much a part of Middle Eastern Arabic culture as anything else in it.†[48] The sayings in the Qur’an and those attributed to Muhammad in the Hadith influenced generations of Muslim scientists by siding with Galen and Hippocrates. Basim Musallam writes: â€Å"†¦ the statements about parental contribution to generation in the hadith paralleled the Hippocratic writings, and the view of fetal development in the Qur’an agreed in detail with Galen’s scientific writings.†[48] He reports that the highly influential medieval Hanbali scholar Ibn Qayyim, in his book Kitab al-tibyan fi aqsam al-qur’an, cites the following statement of the prophet, when asked the question â€Å"from what is man created,†: â€Å" He is created of both, the semen of the man and the semen of the woman. The man’s semen is thick and forms the bones and the tendons. The woman’s semen is fine and forms the flesh and blood.[49] † Creation and evolution The Quran contains many verses describing creation of the universe; God created heavens and earth in six heavenly days[7:54] the earth was created in two days[41:9], and in two other days (into a total of four) God furnished the creation of the earth with mountains, rivers and fruit-gardens [41:10]. Then heavens and earth formed from one mass which had to be split [21:30], the seven heavens were created from smoke [41:11], forming layers, one above the other [67:3]. The angels inhabit the seventh heavens. The lowest heaven is adorned with lights [41:12], the sun and the moon (which follow a regular path) [71:16][14:33], the stars [37:6] and the constellations of the Zodiac.

Intellectual Beauty

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Let's find out if you're on the right track†¦ * * * Home > SparkNotes > Poetry Study Guides > Shelley’s Poetry > â€Å"Hymn to Intellectual Beauty† contents * Context * Analysis * Themes, Motifs & Symbols * Summary and Analysis * â€Å"Hymn to Intellectual Beauty† * â€Å"Ozymandias† * â€Å"England in 1819† * â€Å"Ode to the West Wind† * â€Å"The Indian Serenade† * â€Å"To a Skylark† * Study Questions * Further Reading * How to Cite This SparkNote sparknotes Shelleyâ₠¬â„¢s Poetry Percy Bysshe Shelley Get this SparkNote to go! lt; Previous Section Themes, Motifs & Symbols Next Section > â€Å"Ozymandias† ————————————————- â€Å"Hymn to Intellectual Beauty† Summary The speaker says that the shadow of an invisible Power floats among human beings, occasionally visiting human hearts—manifested in summer winds, or moonbeams, or the memory of music, or anything that is precious for its mysterious grace. Addressing this Spirit of Beauty, the speaker asks where it has gone, and why it leaves the world so desolate when it goes—why human hearts can feel such hope and love when it is present, and such despair and hatred when it is gone. He asserts that religious and superstitious notions—†Demon, Ghost, and Heaven†Ã¢â‚¬â€are nothing more than the attempts of mortal poets and wise men to explain and express their responses to the Spirit of Beauty, which alone, the speaker says, can give â€Å"grace and truth to life’s unquiet dream. † Love, Hope, and Self-Esteem come and go at the whim of the Spirit, and if it would only stay in the human heart forever, instead of coming and going unpredictably, man would be â€Å"immortal and omnipotent. The Spirit inspires lovers and nourishes thought; and the speaker implores the spirit to remain even after his life has ended, fearing that without it death will be â€Å"a dark reality. † The speaker recalls that when he was a boy, he â€Å"sought for ghosts,† and traveled through caves and forests looking for â€Å"the departed dead†; but only when the Spirit’s shadow fell across him—as he mused â€Å"deeply on the lot / Of life† outdoors in the spring—did he experience transcendence. At that moment, he says, â€Å"I shrieked, and clasped my hands in ecstasy! † He then vowed that he would dedicate his life to the Spirit of Beauty; now he asserts that he has kept his vow—every joy he has ever had has been linked to the hope that the â€Å"awful Loveliness† would free the world from slavery, and complete the articulation of his words. The speaker observes that after noon the day becomes â€Å"more solemn and serene,† and in autumn there is a â€Å"lustre in the sky† which cannot be found in summer. The speaker asks the Spirit, whose power descended upon his youth like that truth of nature, to supply â€Å"calm† to his â€Å"onward life†Ã¢â‚¬â€the life of a man who worships the Spirit and every form that contains it, and who is bound by the spells of the Spirit to â€Å"fear himself, and love all humankind. † Form Each of the seven long stanzas of the â€Å"Hymn to Intellectual Beauty† follows the same, highly regular scheme. Each line has an iambic rhythm; the first four lines of each stanza are written in pentameter, the fifth line in hexameter, the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh lines in tetrameter, and the twelfth line in pentameter. The syllable pattern for each stanza, then, is 555564444445. ) Each stanza is rhymed ABBAACCBDDEE. Commentary This lyric hymn, written in 1816, is Shelley’s earliest focused attempt to incorporate the Romantic ideal of communion with nature into his own aesthetic philosophy. The â€Å"Inte llectual Beauty† of the poem’s title does not refer to the beauty of the mind or of the working intellect, but rather to the intellectual idea of beauty, abstracted in this poem to the â€Å"Spirit of Beauty,† whose shadow comes and goes over human hearts. The poem is the poet’s exploration both of the qualities of beauty (here it always resides in nature, for example), and of the qualities of the human being’s response to it (â€Å"Love, Hope, and Self-esteem†). The poem’s process is doubly figurative or associative, in that, once the poet abstracts the metaphor of the Spirit from the particulars of natural beauty, he then explains the workings of this Spirit by comparing it back to the very particulars of atural beauty from which it was abstracted in the first place: â€Å"Thy light alone, like mist o’er mountains driven†; â€Å"Love, Hope, and Self-esteem, like clouds depart†¦ † This is an inspired technique, for it enables Shelley to illustrate the stunning experience of natural beauty time and again as the poem progresses, but to push the particulars into the background, so that the focus of the poem is always on the Spirit, the abstract intellectual ideal that the speaker clai ms to serve. Of course Shelley’s atheism is a famous part of his philosophical stance, so it may seem strange that he has written a hymn of any kind. He addresses that strangeness in the third stanza, when he declares that names such as â€Å"Demon, Ghost, and Heaven† are merely the record of attempts by sages to explain the effect of the Spirit of Beauty—but that the effect has never been explained by any â€Å"voice from some sublimer world. † The Spirit of Beauty that the poet worships is not supernatural, it is a part of the world. It is not an independent entity; it is a responsive capability within the poet’s own mind. If the â€Å"Hymn to Intellectual Beauty† is not among Shelley’s very greatest poems, it is only because its project falls short of the poet’s extraordinary powers; simply drawing the abstract ideal of his own experience of beauty and declaring his fidelity to that ideal seems too simple a task for Shelley. His most important statements on natural beauty and on aesthetics will take into account a more complicated idea of his own connection to nature as an expressive artist and a poet, as we shall see in â€Å"To a Skylark† and â€Å"Ode to the West Wind. Nevertheless, the â€Å"Hymn† remains an important poem from the early period of Shelley’s maturity. It shows him working to incorporate Wordsworthian ideas of nature, in some ways the most important theme of early Romanticism, into his own poetic project, and, by connecting his idea of beauty to his idea of human religion, making that theme explicitly his own. < Previous Section Themes, Mot ifs & Symbols Next Section > â€Å"Ozymandias† Become a fan on Facebook   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Follow us on Twitter Help | Feedback More Help Ask Miss Marm Help with grammar, writing, and your papers Shelley's Poetry Message Board Ask a question or post an answer. 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Apple Firm Strategy Analysis Essay

The firm I have chosen to analyze is Apple. Apple, officially called as Apple Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steven Wojniak. It was incorporated on January 3, 1977. (Mohta, 2010) Apple designs and manufactures consumer products such as computers, laptops, tablets, phones and music players and computer software products such as Mac OS Operation System and iTunes. Over the past few years, Apple has gained a large customer base and been able to dominate the market share. Strategic frameworks such as Porters five forces and Strategic focus will help us in analyzing how Apple has managed to sustain its profits over a long period of time. Porter’s five forces framework Threat of Competition When it comes to computers, tablets and music players, Apple dominates the market share by a huge margin. The gross profit for Apple in the year 2012 is $65.64 billion whereas the gross profit for HP and Dell is $27.64 billion and $13.06 billion respectively. (Sparks, 2012) HP was unable to compete with Apple in the tablet market that it has started to consider focusing only on the computer industry. In the smartphone market, Samsung has by far been the biggest competitor for Apple. Samsung has 29.1% of the market share in the smartphone market whereas Apple only has 24.2 % of the market share. (Reisinger, 2012) Threat of new entrants Considering the large customer base Apple has, threat of new entrants is quite low. The new entrants have neither been able to match up to the quality of the Apple products nor to the sales volume held by Apple. Hence, if Apple continues to design and manufacture innovative products, it will be extremely difficult for new entrants to be able to compete with Apple. Threat of Substitutes When it comes to Apple’s hardware products, there are no substitutes as such that could replace it. However, when it comes to Apple’s software products such as the iTunes, which is the music store designed and developed by Apple for the purpose of purchasing and downloading music, there is a high possibility that the customers could look out for alternative sources for music such as limewire, youtube.com. (Mohta, 2010) Power of buyers Apple has always focused on hardware and software integration of its products. Hence, Apple customers end up owning more than one Apple product. As a result of this, switching costs are extremely high. Also, due to the fact that large sales volumes are promised by Apple to the carrier networks such as AT&T and Verizon, iPhones are sold to the customers at a subsidised rate. This is an indication that the carriers have very less buying power. (Sparks, 2012) Power of suppliers Apple has an advantage over its suppliers as it outsources most of its manufacturing and has also started producing its own supplies. Consequently, it also gives Apple a huge competitive advantage. (Term paper warehouse) Strategic focus framework The three value disciplines that are taken up for analyzing a company are: Operational Excellence Apple as a company is highly efficient when it comes to operational excellence. All the departments in the organization starting from the sales forecasting department to the Distributions department are synchronised with each other leading to a highly efficient supply chain. Also, Apple has a limited product line. (Lariviere, 2011) Hence, it is able to provide its complete focus on designing and manufacturing those products rather than drifting away from the organizations objective to sustain profits with a large number of product lines. Customer intimacy â€Å"Apple targets people. It focuses on users. And it lets them decide how and where they will use its products.† (Asay, 2010) Apple has always been a customer focused company where its main aim is to deliver high quality products to its customers. Product Leadership Apple has managed to be a leader in its industry because of the fact it has been able to design innovative products. It has initiated changes to which its competitors had to respond. For example, Apple revolutionised the Smartphone market by introducing the iPhone. Except for Samsung, no other competitor of Apple has been able to come up with a strategy to deviate market focus from Apple. In addition, Apple has always on the lookout for new products to design and new markets to enter. This strategy has led to Apple being a leader in its industry. References Asay. M. (2010). Apple Doesn’t target Markets. It Targets People. GIGAOM. Retrieved from: http://gigaom.com/2010/08/26/apple-doesnt-target-markets-it-targets-people/ Bargaining Power of Suppliers. Term Paper Warehouse. Retrieved from: http://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Bargaining-Power-Of-Suppliers/84367 Lariviere. M. (2011). Operations: Apple’s Secret Sauce? The Kellogg Insight. Retrieved from: http://operationsroom.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/operations-apples-secret-sauce/ Mohta, J. (2010). Poter’s 5 forces model case Apple Inc. Slideshare. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/jontymohta444/porters-5-forces-model-case-apple-inc Reisinger, D. (2012). Samsung Pulling away from Apple in smartphone market. CNET. Retrieved from: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57424779-94/samsung-pulling-away-from-apple-in-smartphone-market/ Sparks, D. (2012). Competing with Apple is No Fun. The Motley Fool. Retrieved from: http://beta.fool.com/danielsparks/2012/09/03/apple-2012-50-growth/10776/ Spartanski. (2009). Case Study Apple Inc. Slideshare. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/Spartanski/case-study-apple-inc-2008

An Overview of the Sport, Volleyball, Its History, Rules and Regulations, and Famous Volleyball Players

An Overview of the Sport, Volleyball, Its History, Rules and Regulations, and Famous Volleyball Players Volleyball is a fast-paced game in which two teams are separated by a net and compete to volley the ball over the net in an attempt to make the opposing team drop the ball on their side. Volleyball was originally called mintonette and was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan. The game was designed to be a combination of tennis, basketball, baseball and handball. The first volleyball net was actually a tennis net and was only 6’6† high. Morgan originally explained that the object of the game was to keep the ball in movement over a net. There were originally no restrictions on the number of contacts for teams or individual players, no limit to the number of players per side, and no rotation. Since then, volleyball remained mainly unchanged, until 1912, when the first major rules were implemented. The rules were that the number of players on each side was six and that the team was required to rotate positions before serving. By 1920, the game had many more rules implemented, such as the net was raised to eight feet, and the ball could not come to rest in the hands. Volleyball was originally created to be a calm pastime, but has evolved into a sport that is played all over the world by all kinds of people everywhere like in the Olympics, in the park, at the beach, in gym classes and more. Volleyball has many many different rules and regulations. The rules and regulations of volleyball have evolved a lot throughout the years. The rules of volleyball are not difficult to understand, and depending on the level of competition, they can differ. The main objective of the game is to not let the ball hit the floor on your side of the net, at the same time, you must try to get the ball to hit the floor on your opponent’s side of the net. There is a maximum of three contacts per team before they hit it over the net. The three preferred hits are a bump, followed by a set, and then an attack, which will send the ball over the net. Players are also allowed to block the ball as it comes over the net. Blocking does not count as one of the three contacts. Each side must have six players to fill the six different positions that rotated between during the game. The players must rotate clockwise through each position. Players rotate with each new server. The six positions that are rotated through are the left, middle and right front, and the left, middle and right back. The server is in the back right. The scoring method that is used in volleyball is known as â€Å"the rally point system†. The point is gained at the end of the rally when the ball is dropped and the side where the ball has not been dropped gains the point. There are many well known volleyball players. Most famous volleyball players have played in the olympics. One well-known player in the U.S. is Misty May-Treanor, a professional beach volleyball player. She has three olympic gold medals, and has been playing beach volleyball since she was a child. She started her professional career in 1999. Another well-known U.S. player is Karch Kiraly, who is also a professional beach volleyball player and plays indoor volleyball. He won three olympic gold medals, two in indoor and one in beach. Another player in the U.S is Kerri Walsh Jennings. She won three olympic gold medals with Misty May-Treanor in beach volleyball. Walsh Jennings also played indoor volleyball.

International Financial Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Financial Management - Assignment Example S. dollar. If the same mobile phone cost 1000 dollars in U.S., American consumers would buy it from India. When large volumes of such mobile phones were purchased from India by American customers, the price of rupee will go up until one dollar equals 25 Indian rupees. Purchasing power parity (PPP) theory can be divided into two different categories; absolute PPP and relative PPP. Absolute PPP is based on the belief that without international barriers, consumers will shift their demand to wherever prices are lower whereas relative PPP is based on the notion that market imperfections (tariffs, transportation costs, etc), prices of the same products need not be same in different countries when measured in a common currency Madura, 2009, p. 214-215) In economics inflation refers to the rise of prices of all the goods except the money. The values of the currencies of countries with higher inflation would be less compared to the values of countries with lower inflation as the purchasing power of the consumers will be lessened by the increase in prices in countries with higher inflation. The rationale behind PPP theory is that when inflation occurs at a higher level in a particular country, foreign demand for goods from that country would be decreased whereas demand for foreign goods from that country should increase and subsequently, the home currency of that country will weaken. The currency depreciation will continue till the foreign country’s goods are no more attractive than the domestic goods (Relationships Among Inflation, Interest Rates, and Exchange Rates, n. d, p.107) In order to check whether PPP exists, it is better to choose two countries and compare the differences in inflation and the exchange rate change different periods. If the exchange rate changes are in accordance with the PPP theory, then we can safely conclude that PPP exists. The major limitation in testing PPP is that based on the periods chosen, results can vary. The periods

Ethical dilemmas facing multinational corporations in their marketing Essay

Ethical dilemmas facing multinational corporations in their marketing of goods and services abroad - Essay Example The best thing is that the benefits and disadvantages are determined even before the organization goes the global way and thus it saves itself from embarrassment which it might face without having proper knowledge and adequate research within it. The significant thing here is to get prepared and be ready for what is to come in the future as concerns to the organization that we are talking about here. (Beckman, 1967) The ethical concerns rose in the wake of marketing of goods and services abroad remains one of the most talked about concerns and this is highlighted within the length of this paper. The ways and means that are usually taken care of whilst managing the goods and services abroad are aplenty and it is only up to the top management within a company that the same can be handled in a several different methods. They are the ones to decide as to what is the real manner in which the firm’s goods and services would be handled as well as who will head the respective departments, lead the business strategic units and act as legal and media representatives of the said business. The business, as marketers say, exists to satisfy its target audience through fulfilling a need courtesy its products and/or services or a combination of the both, the same being true in case of a retail outlet which sells gasoline to local consumers, thus giving in petrol plus extra services in the form of window cleaning, fuel gauge checks and so on and so forth. (Kelley, 1973) A company or an organization needs sound management framework at its top so that the staff and the employees workin g at different levels feel at ease with the job as well as the working environment. This indeed is very important as it builds long-term credibility of the organization that it cares about its employees and not just the customers and in cases profits and revenues only. (Korzeniowski, 2001) International businesses with regards to

Middleware Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Middleware - Essay Example Current business trend require integration such as ERP, SCM and CRM. Business to Business (B2B) communication needs will further accelerate this trend. The need for middleware stems from this increasing growth in the number of applications and in the customizations within those applications. - Platform Transparency - Using interfaces and APIs abstraction features, Middleware provides Platform Transparency. Client and server don't require to have intimate knowledge of each other in order to work together. - RDBMS Support - Data access middleware provides transparency across different data storage formats. It will make different RDBMS look like the same RDBMS by providing multiple RDBMS support from both proprietary and standard APIs. - Advance applications - New enterprise applications harness Middleware technology for Single System Login, Enhanced Security, Location Transparency, Database and Application Oriented Services however they are not very common. - Remote Procedure Call (RPC) - Remote procedure call Middleware extends the procedure call interface familiar to all programmers offering the abstraction of being able to invoke a procedure whose body is across a network. - Distributed Object Middleware (DOM) - DOM suc... Based on the uses they can be categorized in following categories: - Remote Procedure Call (RPC) - Remote procedure call Middleware extends the procedure call interface familiar to all programmers offering the abstraction of being able to invoke a procedure whose body is across a network. - Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM) - Message-Oriented Middleware provides the abstraction of a message queue which is accessible across a network. They are based on SOAP. - Distributed Object Middleware (DOM) - DOM such as DCOM and CORBA gives all the advantage of OOPS such as encapsulation and inheritance. It provides the abstraction of an object that is remote yet whose methods can be invoked just like those of an object in the same address space as the caller. are such examples. - Direct data access (DDA) for accessing databases directly as opposed to going through an application to get the information. Middleware offers many technical benefits. Current enterprise applications involve multiple applications interacting with same application. Instead of providing different APIs for different client application, we can put a Middleware with single set of APIs for each application. This can significantly simplify the communication. Also the Middleware can be used for handle different services such as checking the data for integrity, reconciling the data with other applications, data splitting and formatting so that we don't have to rewrite those services again and again for different applications. Middleware may have the capability to hold this data for a while so that it can be served to other applications which need it. Thus, it can introduce a type of persistency in the system. However there are some limitations of the

As It Is in Heaven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

As It Is in Heaven - Essay Example At the beginning, the presence of the church environment gives an assumption that everything is going well in this society. It is not until every individual’s privacy is revealed that the viewer realizes that family issues are a society planning issues that has remained largely unresolved. When Daniel sought refuge in his home village, he is received by a church minister who hands him a bible. Daniel is used to capitalistic life in town, and he tries to shun social life as seen when he turned down the minister’s invitation to a diner. However, the pressure from the church choir and music in him is too high and he accepts to join and train the choir members. The armature singers use the music to placate their familial challenges. In their chapter seven article Massey and Denton (1993) start by quoting Pam Grier who analyzes that people are hopeless in the society because their daily lives are challenging, hence prompting them to go to some sort of entertainment. In this film, music is the outlet that the choir members chose to indulge in to release their live stresses. David teaches them how to sing as they listen to their hearts, how to perfect their vocals and how to cooperate and not compete in their common endeavors. This goal is of great importance because it symbolizes the way family institution should function in the society. It is a contrast of how the families in the movie have been operating and how women have been enduring their problems. For instance, Daniel is caught in a web of attention when several women from the choir start competing for his attention. His attention was caught by Lena, a young attractive girl in the choir. As their love grows, the personal problems of the other choir members confront him. This is a microcosmic example of the family issues in the society. For example, Inger the minister’s wife also secretly admires Daniels because she is sexually repressed. The woman is enduring a failed sexual relationship w ith her husband. This is a depiction of how the church has failed to plan family matters. The extreme of this irony is when the church minister becomes jealous when the choir starts succeeding. He is threatened by the unity and the zeal of the choir. He tries to shatter their dreams but he failed and this failure leads to his ultimate nervous breakdown. Daniel engages the choir members into lessons that liberate them, and the first person to be set free is the minister’s wife. Inger later goes to her husband and tells him that she no longer believes in sin. She claimed that their marriage is spoilt by the religion, which was brought to the community by outsiders. Gabriella is a highly talented singer in the choir, but her husband always batters her and the village is not concerned; everyone is minding his own business. It was Gabriella’s husband, Connie who schooled with Daniel and drove Daniel out of the village. Connie is later left by his wife and he blames Daniel a nd the choir for influencing his wife wrongly. He attacks and assaults Daniel, an act that sends him to jail. Individual freedom and the society relation with members The movie gives an excellent depiction of how individual freedom is compromized by the society members. At the beginning of the movie, the viewer meets Daniel who has already returned to his village after

Corporate governance Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate governance - Literature review Example A comparison of different perspectives will also be discussed in this paper. Corporate Governance, in broader terms, can be defined as regulations, legislation and the procedures, which govern, standardize and control the whole business operations. Corporate Governance encompasses internal elements, such as managers, executives, shareholders, or organizational structure, and the external elements, such as customers, suppliers and government laws. The purpose of defining the corporate governance is to generate the well-organized and prescribed structure of the organization in a way that operates in the best manner for all organizational members. It guarantees that the corporation has implemented the prescribed rules, moral duties, and best practices. That is why, organizations have developed their operations effectively at local level, state level, and also global level. Within contemporary years, the concept of corporate governance has been attending much focus, as there has emerged eminent outrages, such as misuse of corporate authority and purported illega l actions taken by corporate managers. The establishment of â€Å"civil and criminal suits†, against the people who misuse the name of the corporation to fulfill their illegal interests, is a vital part of corporate governance (Rouse, 2008). Corporate Governance is basically the established structures, codes, and procedures, which controls the corporations. It establishes guiding principles which help in providing direction and managing the organization in order to achieve organizational objectives in the most effective way. Such established systems enhance the organizational value and are fruitful for all members in the long run. Organizational members include all stakeholders which are affected by such system, such as directors, stockholders, suppliers, managers, employees, and general people. The organizational management undertakes themselves

Con Side of Christian Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Con Side of Christian Science - Essay Example Over the past years, the fundamentalist faith healing practices have grown tremendously to the extent that it has raised serious concerns about its legal basis and for how long it can be tolerated. This can only be considered to be a sect that is illegal. It is considered to be primitive Christianity one which rejects modern scientific inquiry since it emphasizes on the idea that spiritual healing has to be understood in a scientific manner. According to the medical societies, those practicing Christian Science were liable to prosecution through the medical quackery laws (Young 268). This would help transform the bogus medical practitioners into trained and licensed practitioners. To the practitioners, it was through tolerance and faith that one would get healed. It was evident that the numbers of deaths were rapidly rising and this was attributed to the fact that most people were ignoring medical attention and preferred Christian Science. In 1989, a four year old boy named Morris co ntracted a mysterious disease which led to a respiratory infection. By then, his parents were members of the followers of Christ church. According to his parents, true Christians were not expected to turn to medicine when they fell sick. They therefore decided to turn to prayers for their son believing that he would be healed. They bought and anointed him with the holy oil and went ahead to pray for him for 46 days but during this period, his condition continued to deteriorate. The boy did not survive but died after 47 days (Young 269). A medical examiner said that the boy needed basic anti biotic and he would be fine. From the medical examiner, this was the worst case he had experienced from the Christian scientists and to him the parents were liable to a criminal act and they were to be subjected to legal justification. The fact that the parents were religiously motivated made the child a victim of traditional abuse just like the children who die of treatable illness. They could b e subjected to criminal law as this was not right as the parents had failed to undertake an affirmative defense on their child who was still dependent on them for their care. This has indicated that children die unnecessarily due to such ignorance. The survival rates were low for children and this was a negative show for the survival of children as it had been threatened. They can be accused of murder since their son was still too young to seek medical attention on his own. This is feared t become a threat with time as more fatalities that are as a result of Christian Science are still being reported. This relates to another scenario where AIDS patients are only prayed for and not taken to hospital in Christ the king church. According to the church it is only through Jesus that we can receive true healing and therefore going to the hospital to seek medication is an indication that you worship the doctors and not the church. Most transmissions of the disease were as a result of injec tions and heterosexual intercourse. Culture plays a major role in what members of society do and it will definitely shape their attitude towards various aspects including HIV (Young 270). As for politicians, they have come up with campaigns against the disease where they employ people to create awareness on the disease and how they can

What is the best way to address obesity in the United States Essay

What is the best way to address obesity in the United States - Essay Example If we look at 'obesity' etiologically, we would come to know that it is a multifactor issue caused by poor diet and physical inactivity. Poor diet refers to poor dietary habits include intake of junk food or high calorie fast food and excessive sugar in our diet. Instead of using fresh food, fruits and vegetables in our everyday diet, we prefer preserved or frozen food followed by no exercise or physical activity at all. One of the most common reasons for rapid increase in obesity among U.S population is the increased interaction of people between built in environment followed by technology and social context. "The built in environment encompasses the entire range of structural and social elements that make up the fabric of a community: housing, roads and walkways, stairways, density, transportation networks, shops, markets, parks, public amenities, and public spaces. The structural features of the urban built environment its enormous size, its large and densely clustered population, its social institutions, its psychosocial stressors, its economy, its rapid pace, its violence, the configuration of its streets, parks, schools, and play spaces all affect health, growth, and development of individuals". (Frieden et al, 2003, p. 684) The rising trend in obesity is further followed by the convenience, which is driven by modern technology like the concept of walking is becoming vague by the passage of time; people like to use any mode of transportation in order to travel even minute distances. In this kind of technologically savvy society, modes of entertainment have changed. Gone are those days when parties and social gatherings were considered to be entertaining. Today, entertainment comes through watching television, playing video games and sitting for hours in front of computer. Hence our lives are driven by a sedentary lifestyle escorted by technological advancements. While coming back to 'foods' it is found that often people in United States feel insecure when food is concerned. The diet of food insecure people tends to be less healthy. One reason for the intake of frozen foods is that "canned fruits and vegetables, which tend to have more salt and sugar, are much less expensive than fresh fruits. Leaner cuts of meat tend to cost more. However, according to Dr. Walter C. Willet, "A calorie is a calorie is a calorie." (Willet, 2001, p.44) Theoretically, no matter how unhealthy a person's diet, that person can only gain weight from fat by using fewer calories than he or she takes in. The quality of diet would only affect susceptibility to disease and health problems". (Obesity1) In my opinion there are two reasons for very little choices in food, one leads to the economic infrastructure of United States in which healthy and nutritious foods are often more expensive than junk or fast foods, also they are easily available and accessible by all the classes. The second reason for no choice in food other than fast food is the lack of time. More than half of the population of United States believes in "time is money", whether it is middle-middle or middle-upper class, every individual has to work in order to achieve a better living. It seems there is a social race in which every individual wants his car to move faster and faster, due to which they have no time to prepare and enjoy their family life and so

Cultural Assessment - Sweden Essay Example for Free

Cultural Assessment Sweden Essay Culture is a dynamic structure of behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, habits, beliefs, customs, languages, rituals, ceremonies, and practices that are unique to a particular group of people. I see great value in learning about different cultures and about cultural diversity, including a broader perspective of others, enhanced problem-solving ability and creativity, and potential improved productivity in my future workplaces. For this assignment, I have chosen to do a cultural assessment of the Swedish Culture. Doing so has broadened my understanding of the Sweden’s cultural perspectives and will help in bridging cultural gaps with future Swedish clients. I hope this will help me become a more culturally competent nurse and help me in providing optimal, global healthcare in a society which is growing more and more culturally/ethnically diverse. I know first-hand that variation does occur within each cultural group, and there is a tendency to assume that all members of an identified group are the same. Sweden, a country that once reflected only a single or perhaps a few ethnic groups now comprises more than 100 different ethnic groups so for the purposes of this paper, I will write about the Swedish culture as a whole. Sweden is a country on the Scandinavian peninsula in Northern Europe, with it’s capital being Stockholm. It is fourth in size among the European counties, with about 15% of its total area situated north of the Arctic Circle. You would think that the weather in Sweden would be colder year long due to it’s longitude but the average Stockholm’s average temperature is 20-65 degrees Fahrenheit year round. Sweden has a total population of about 9. 4 million people as of 2009 with the majority of residents living in urban areas. Sweden’s capital city, Stockholm, had a population of 1,697,000 in 2005. From 1865 to 1930, nearly 1,400,000 Swedes, emigrated; over 80% went to the United States, and about 15% to other close by countries. This heavy migration ended in the mid-1900s when resource development in Sweden started to keep pace with population growth. Since the early 1970s, there has been a flood of immigration to Sweden, mostly due to refugee migration and family reunification from countries in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. As far as cultural makeup, the Swedes are primarily Finish, Scandinavians or of German origin. The remaining population is comprised of immigrants, including Danes, Poles, Iraqis, Iranians, Norwegians, Greeks, and Turks. Swedish is the national language in Sweden. It consists of the same letters of the English alphabet in addition to a, a, and o. Many Swedes speak and understand English and German, and to a lesser extent, Finnish. English has been a compulsory subject for all Swedish students since the late 1940s. Swedens high-quality scientific, communication and technological development is renowned throughout the world. The World Economic Forum 2009–2010 competitiveness index ranks Sweden the 4th most competitive economy in the world. Three of Swedens largest industrial corporations are engineering companies: L. M. Ericsson, Volvo, and SAAB-Scania. Ericsson, one of the largest telecom companies in the world was started by Lars Ericsson of Sweden. Technology is prevalent all over Sweden. Swedes are accustomed to communicating through the same technology that is available in the United States. Swedes communicate via. cell phones, internet, media, and print. As far as family roles and organization within Swedish culture, human rights and equality are deeply respected in Sweden. Sweden is one of the most egalitarian societies in the world. Family life is important in typical Swedish families, but family structure is diverse and offers differing lifestyles and beliefs from one family to the next. In a typical family, both parents work. Household chores are usually democratically divided among Swedish family members, regardless of traditional female and male roles and age. Swedish houses tend to be small and tidy. Mutual respect between children and adults is nurtured at an early age. More than 5 percent of the Swedish population are aged 80 or over. Many elderly people in Sweden are in good health and lead active lives. Most live in their own homes by choice, and can do so thanks to public support in the form of home meal delivery, help with cleaning and shopping, transportation and healthcare when needed. Health and social care for the elderly constitutes an important part of Swedish welfare policy. Most elderly care is funded by municipal taxes and government grants. Sweden invests more of its GDP in caring for its elderly than any other country in the world. All Swedish residents are entitled to a guaranteed minimum pension from the age of 65, the standard retirement age in Sweden. In the Swedish healthcare system, responsibility for health and medical care is shared by the central government, county councils and municipalities. Sweden is divided into 290 municipalities, 18 county councils and two regions. Around 90 percent of the Swedish county councils’ work involves healthcare, but they are also involved in other areas, such as culture and infrastructure. Responsibility for providing healthcare is decentralized to the county councils. I learned that county councils are political bodies whose representatives are elected by their residents every four years. Every county council must provide the population with -quality health and medical care, and work toward promoting good health for the entire population. County councils are also responsible for dental care for local residents up to the age of 20. Swedish people have free choice in health care meaning they can obtain care in any of the 60 hospitals in Sweden that provide specialist care, with emergency services 24 hours a day. Eight of these are regional hospitals where highly specialized care is offered and where most teaching and research is based. What’s great is everyone in Sweden has equal access to healthcare services; The Swedish healthcare system is taxpayer-funded. According to the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control, a Swedish government expert agency, Sweden is relatively well protected from the spread of communicable diseases. Good hygienic conditions prevail among Swedish society and public health is well developed. Medical progress and preventative measures protect the Swedish population from infections that, in other countries of the world, may cause large scale disasters. Sweden continues to vaccinate, trace infections, fight outbreaks, and engage in research on diseases. Sweden as a whole, maintains a high level of preparedness in order to prevent disease, and avian influenza from gaining a foothold in Sweden. Life expectancy in Sweden continues to rise. In 2008, it was 79 years for men and 83 years for women. Sweden along with Italy has Europe’s largest elderly population as a proportion of the national total. According to www. sweden. se, Sweden’s healthcare system performs well in comparison with other countries at a similar level of development.