Marketing Proposel For a Product Research Proposal

Marketing Proposel For a Product - Research Proposal Example The company can target especially the women and geographic markets for the product. In order to market the product, the company would have to devise certain effective implementation plans that include conducting surveys, meetings and analyzing the products of the competitors. The aforementioned strategies and the plans would ultimately support the company to effectively market the product of Special K. 2. Company Description The Kellogg Company which is prominently acknowledged as Kellogg’s or Kellogg is regarded as a multinational company that manufactures various food products such as vegetarian foods, crackers, cereal along with convenience foods and snacks among others. The official headquarter of the company is positioned in Michigan, United States. The different products of Kellogg’s are produced in 18 countries and promoted in excess of 180 nations. Kellogg’s started its production as Kellogg’s Corn Flakes in the year 1906 and significantly develope d a product line of well-known readymade cereals over the years that comprise Kellogg’s All –Bran, Complete Bran Flakes and Rice Krispies among others. It has been apparently observed that Kellogg’s arrived into the business of health food that manufactures significant number of products which are sold in different markets. Consequently, the company is earning considerable profits through its effective production as well as packaging strategy (Brown, Keegan, Vigus, and Wood, â€Å"The Kellogg Company Optimizes Production Inventory, and Distribution†). The vision of the company is to deliver quality products for making the world healthier. The main objective of the company is to provide healthy nourishment to every members of a family throughout the globe so that they can lead healthy life ahead (Kellogg Co., â€Å"Staying Focused. Going Further†). The various environmental initiatives as well as focusing upon different sustainability aspects ultima tely supported the organization to attain success in this competitive marketplace (Michman & Mazze 127). 3. Environmental Analysis Political The production of agricultural products provides certain risks and uncertainties for the organizations intending to sustain in this competitive financial market. . Kellogg’s efficiently performs its business operations in different regions throughout the globe. It has been observed that varied government policies as well as regulations imposed unfavorable impact upon the company that ultimately affected its decision-making procedure by a significant level. The production, marketing and distribution of the food products that are exposed to governmental regulations are increasingly becoming complex day by day. Apart from the dissimilar governmental policies and regulations, certain other factors within the political context such as licensing requirements, trade as well as pricing practices and environmental factors also laid significant im pact upon the operations of the company. Moreover, the increment in tariff rates comprising value added taxes also had an immediate effect upon the business operations of the company (Kellogg Company, â€Å"Risk Factors†). Economic It has been viewed that McDonald’s performs its operational functions in different regions throughout the globe. The company fixes the prices of its products by taking into concern the economic situation of the countries where it operates.

Teenagers sometimes complain Essay Example for Free

Teenagers sometimes complain Essay Teenagers first come into this world as a bundle of joy, but some object. As children grow and become teenagers, the problems start. Problems such as relationships, school and even monetary are rampant. So what do children do when they run into trouble? They go to their parents; so do teenagers. Teenagers in Singapore go through lots of education. From young in primary school till university for many. Education can therefore be said to be very formal and very fast paced and competitive. Teachers and parents already at this stage have their students or childrens lives planned out, but teenagers may think differently. Our elders think that teenagers need help and are always wrong. Certainly there are numerous occasions when we simply cannot do without our parents. But for the many others, we need to take a stand and speak out for whats right. Let me give you this example. There is a boy. He goes to school. Then he goes to secondary school. He is now a teenager. The O level examination is approaching, and all he does is try to study. That is good. Then the adult steps in. A responsible one would say this: How are you doing? Do you need help? Just ask me. Dont be shy. Then on the other hand an adult with fish mongering experience would say this: Aiyah! Whole day study study. You know last time My parents worked day and night, and I started working when I was your age! Now all you can do is sit here and read your book. So this is the main reason behind teenagers being treated like children. Sometimes its not the teenagers fault but instead it is the adults fault. You have just seen how family backgrounds affect how people view children. Now I shall let you see what happens when it is the teenagers fault. A good teenager would do what he or she is supposed to do to become a good person. Like so: Teacher, can I ask you a question? What topics are coming out for the tests? Then the bad one would say: Aiyah! Tests are always coming, but they never come, study wastes time, study for what? You see the good teenager has a sort of worry for his future, whereas the bad one does not. It is this mere worry that sets us about our lives. Without it, our lives would be as meaningless as the aimless punks. Adults also think about our future. Because we dont. They care incessantly about the smallest things in life, probably because when they were young, they faced the same demands of society. So it is because of this care and concern for responsibility that motivates us to behave like children, so the adults can guide us toward the right path. Now I know, what you qualify determines whether you are a child or an adult.

A Tale of Two Heroes Essay -- Novels Enders Game Orsen Scott Card Ess

A Tale of Two Heroes Ender's Game written by Orsen Scott Card and The Matrix the movie by Warner Brothers may not have much in common at least at first glance. There is much that the two charcters Neo and Ender share. In fact one common theme in both their stories is the battle between free will and fate. Both Ender and Neo also share a battle between good and evil. Our heros also face a battle between themselves and their own desires. Neo who is our hero from The Matrix is a young man who is seeking the truth about the matrix, a computer generated system. He encounters Morpheaus who becomes his guide and mentor in finding and then dealing with the truth about the matrix. Neo finds out that the matrix has control of the human race except a select few who have been freed from this "computer generated dream world" that controls them. The reality of mankind being used as battries to generate power for the machines does not come true for Neo until he is freed from the matrix. Through Morpheaus, Neo discovers that he could be the fullfilment of prophecy which promises a savior to free humanity from the matrix and end its reign over all mankind. Ender, on the other hand, is just a child when he is taken away from his family to be trained as a soldier to fight an alien civilization that is known as "buggers." These buggers have invaded Earth twice before and it is feared that they will invade again. It is believed that Ender is the only one who will be able to defeat the buggers. He is taken up into space to be trained at a battle school which teaches students the art of combat in space. Once he passes the tests that are set before him, Ender moves on to combat school where he learns to be a comandor and faces his last test... ...or small they may be. Both of our heros started off not thinking of themselves as heros but found that common ground between fate and free will where what we want to do and what we are meant to do colide. We all, even if we don't want to admit it, end up finding ourselves fighting within our own desires and what we know we must do. If we are evil we will one day have to fight good and if we are good we will one day have to fight evil. As Ender and Neo found out that they were the ones to fight and win the battles that faced their lives we too can see that like Neo and Ender we to are the ones to fight the battles that face our lives. Later on in our heros stories we find Neo was not just the one but one of many ones and like Neo, Ender was just one of many ones. We two are just one of many ones. Enjoy fighiting your battles, pick them wisely, and fight them nobaly.

History of West Point Essay

In 1778 George Washington, for whom West Point was always a crucial strategic position in the United States, appointed Kosciuszko as a chief designer of its first fundamental fortifications to which he moved his headquarters the following year. In 1802, President Jefferson officially opened the United States Military Academy at West Point. Under the superintendence of Colonel Thayer (1817-1833) who was also called the â€Å"father of the Military Academy†, higher academic standards were set and a great emphasis was put on military discipline and code of conduct. Civil engineering became the fundamental subject on the curriculum at West Point and for many years its graduates were the nation’s major constructors of the first bridges, roads, railway lines, etc in the USA (A Brief History of the Academy). During the American Civil War, both warring sides, the South and the North, were headed mainly by West Pointers, such as Grant, Sherman, Jackson, Lee, Sheridan, and others. West Point graduates also distinguished themselves in Europe during World War I. After the war, the academic curriculum at West Point was gradually diversified and enormous efforts were made to improve various physical fitness programs (A Brief History of the Academy). Among the most prominent West Pointers that distinguished themselves in World War II were military leaders such as Eisenhower, Bradley, MacArthur, Wainwright, Patton, Clark, Stilwell, and others. In the postwar period, the curriculum at West Point was broadened again and included science and technology. In 1964, the Corps of Cadets was increased from 2,529 to 4,417 resulting in the appearance of new facilities. The enrollment of women at West Point began in 1976 and each class now has approximately fifteen percent of female cadets. At present, the West Point Military Academy comprises over 4,000 cadets and every year it graduates over 900 officers (A Brief History of the Academy). â€Å"Page # 2† Code of conduct at West Point At West Point every cadet adheres to an ethical code of conduct called the Cadet Honor Code whose golden rule states: â€Å"A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do†. The Honor Code is a vital and important tradition that was initially formalized in 1922 by Superintendent MacArthur who also established the Cadet Honor Committee. The last part of the golden rule, however, was not included in its original version. In 1970, the code of conduct was revised resulting in the introduction of the â€Å"non-toleration† clause (Jones). The Cadet Honor Code in its present form has no boundaries and sets high standards of ethical behavior not only when cadets are at West Point, but also when they are at home or with friends. Living by the code means that cadets must strive for moral and ethical perfection and must never lie, cheat, steal, nor can they tolerate lying, cheating, or stealing by others. Cadets must be truthful, fair, and respect the rights and property of other people, and also assume responsibility for their actions. These principles constitute the Spirit of the Code whose goal is the development of leaders of characters. These high standards distinguish the Military Academy at West Point as well as its graduates from any other institution and students. For Cadets, they are fundamental principles of life, not just prohibitions (Jones). At the Academy, there is a democratic system of responding to any violation of the Cadet Honor Code. West Pointers are responsible for running the Honor System, convening Honor Investigations and Hearings of particular cases. The Cadet Honor Board consisting of six members gathers and evaluates the evidence to decide whether a Cadet is guilty of violation of the Honor Code. In case a cadet is found guilty of violation of any aspect of the code, Board members inform the Superintendent of his status who then decides what will happen to that cadet. In most cases, â€Å"dismissal† is the standard verdict but the cadet may also be given another chance to live honorably in the future (Jones). â€Å"Page # 3† Cadet life and religion at West Point A cadet’s life at West Point is very busy. A cadet’s daily schedule includes classes, study, physical education, athletics, military duties, and over hundred extracurricular activities coordinated by the Cadet Activities Office. Many instructors and officers reside at West Point and provide additional help and instruction to the cadets who need it, and also guide many extracurricular activities in which cadets are involved in their free time. These activities include language, aeronautics, astronautics, computer, engineering, athletic, and many other clubs (The West Point Experience). Sports play a very important role in the life of West Pointers developing self-confidence, competitiveness, and self-discipline in cadets. The Academy’s intercollegiate program includes twenty-four sports. In addition, cadets also publish publications such as â€Å"Howitzer†, â€Å"The Pointer†, or â€Å"Bugle Notes†; run the WKDT radio station; and write, produce, and perform plays and music. Extracurricular activities at West Point are viewed as an important aspect of a college community life (The West Point Experience). Religion is another important aspect of community life at West Point. The religious ministry comprising all major faith groups is provided not only for the Corps of Cadets, but also for the West Point staff. While performing the ministry, chaplains in religious communities are often assisted by councils consisting of cadets (Nonstandard Activities of the United States Military Academy). West Point cadets have the opportunity to attend chapel services and practice various religious observances. Cadets can join and regularly participate in chapel choirs, ceremonial rites, discussion groups, Sunday religious school classes run by various religious affiliations whose mission is to contribute to the spiritual and moral development of the West Point community (The West Point Experience). REFERENCES: 1. A Brief History of the Academy. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. usma. edu/history. asp 2. Jones, D. United States Military Academy’s Honor Code and System. Retrieved May 6, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. usma. edu/Cpme/HS_Outreach/HS_Outreach. htm

Kite Runner Essay Essay

Do you know that Afghanis play a game where they fight with kites? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini describes kite fights between local Afghani kids, regardless of their social status. The main characters in this story that come from a higher socioeconomic level are Baba, a lawyer from the Pashtun tribe, and his son Amir. The main characters in this story that come from the lower socioeconomic level are Ali, a servant from the Hazara tribe, and his son Hassan who are servants to Baba and his family. The Kite Runner explores how different classes of people worked together to run things in Afghanistan. In the Kite Runner discrimination in Afghanistan is demonstrated by the relationship between the Pashutns and Hazaras. The Hazaras were often demeaned and persecuted (www. Sparknotes. com). Baba, however, taught his family to be kind to the Hazaras. Baba learned this from his father, who was a highly regarded judge in Kabul (Hosseini 24). The story describes a day when the grandfather sentenced two young Pashtun men into the military for killing almost an entire Hazaran family. The grandfather was very dismayed that the five year old boy who survived the incident would be left an orphan. Amir remembered â€Å"As for the orphan, my grandfather adopted him into his own household, and told the other servants to tutor him, but to be kind to him† (Hosseini 24-25). The young survivor was named Ali. Quite a few years later, Baba took in Ali’s son Hassan to be a servant for his son Amir. While Baba’s house was a fair and kind place to live there was still a social barrier (www. Sparknotes. com). For example even though Baba called Ali his â€Å"family†, Ali still lived in a hut and slept on the floor (www. shmoop. com). Although Hassan was believed to be Ali’s son he was actually Baba’s out of wedlock son (Hosseini 224-225). Baba and Ali never told Amir or Hassan that they were brothers because it was shameful that Baba had a relationship with Hassan’s mother, who was in a lower socioeconomic level. Baba would never be respected again if that ever got out. Later on in Hassan’s life, he had difficulty with becoming anything but a servant. Hassan had a very strong identity as a servant, and because of this he had no sense of entitlement when he grew up. Hassan took care of Baba’s house, even after Baba left (Hosseini 218). In a scene in the book Hassan tries to protect Baba’s old house from Taliban invasion, and gets killed (Hosseini 219). Through his dying day Hassan never felt a sense of entitlement and continued to serve Baba as his owner rather than as his father. At the time of Hassan’s death he was no longer Baba’s servant. The Taliban, warriors taking over tribesman under the guise of uniting their country, made Afghanistan a very dangerous place. The Taliban were very discriminating and typically tortured, beat, and executed people of a lower socioeconomic level. During childhood, Assef bullied Hassan and Amir. Assef came from a higher socioeconomic class than Hassan. Assef is now presented in the book as a Taliban militant. The Taliban banned music in Afghanistan (Hosseini 280). Hassan’s son, Sohrab, was forced to dance to music by Assef. The Taliban continued to flex its muscles to get other people to conform to their rules. Amir thought â€Å"I guessed music wasn’t sinful as long as it played to Taliban ears’† (Hosseini 280). Amir was very critical about the Taliban and stupidly admitted to Assef â€Å"I had read about the Hazara massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif in the papers† (Hosseini 277). Amir’s point was that the Taliban killed the Hazaras anywhere they could find them even though they didn’t do anything wrong. Clearly the Taliban did not value the lives of the Hazaras (www. Sparknotes. com). Assef was one of the cruelest of all the Taliban. He told Amir this â€Å"Afghanistan is like a beautiful mansion littered with garbage, and someone has to take out the garbage† (Hosseini 284). Taliban influence in Afghanistan heightened discrimination and did not unite the country. The Kite Runner clearly demonstrated how different classes of people who are able to live peacefully together although keeping within the bound of their social class. The Taliban did not tolerate people from the lower socioeconomic classes and without conscious killed and destroyed their lives. Hassan and Amir, technically brother, grew up together but were never treated as equals (Hosseini 25). However they were able to coexist without hating each other (Hosseini 25). Amir never truly considered himself as a friend to Hassan (Hosseini 25). Hassan always considered himself a servant to Baba even at his death, in chapter 16. In my opinion the Afghan culture before the Taliban was one of working together and living peacefully but after the Taliban invaded the culture changed by forcing discrimination among the socioeconomic classes. Works Cited Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print. â€Å"The Kite Runner Chapter 4 Summary. † Shmoop. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"The Kite Runner. † SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n. d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. .

Personality type Essay Example

Personality type Essay Example Personality type Essay Personality type Essay Personality refers to a person’s specific pattern of feeling, thinking and acting. Various aspects of an individual’s personality are essential in the determination and assessment of career choice and development. The Carl Jung personality test has set the basis of determination under four main themes. Every person makes use of these preferences from time to time but a particular preference can feel more natural. After taking the self-assessment test, I am an INTJ and my results were as follows; Introvert 56%. This means that I have a moderate dislike for extraversion over introversion. Intuitive 25%. This means that I have a moderate preference to intuition over sensing. Intuitive feeling 38%. This means I have a moderate inclination towards thinking over feelings. Judging 56%. This means that I have moderate preference towards judging. The test was instrumental in the revelation of my personality and how it can be related to my career choice and development. Combination of an individual’s preferences in the four areas constitutes the personality type (Buss, 2012). In terms of extraversion, the assessment indicates that my personality is slightly inclined towards the inner world that does not engage activities and people. Therefore, my focus is on internal events gives me the energy for my career activities. Moderate preference towards intuition is an indicator that I prefer to perceive information on the â€Å"bigger picture† contrary to specific facts and the actual events. Therefore, my perception of information focuses on connection and relationships between facts. In terms of feeling and thinking my personality is more inclined on the latter. This shows that my decision making capabilities and process is based on elements that are more important to me. I am not influenced by external forces such as people and their experiences. Therefore, I am driven by my own principles and beliefs. The aspect of judging and perception is related to how individuals orient themselves to the outer world. My personality is biased on the aspect of judging. Ultimately, I undertake do not posses a strong, spontaneous and flexible approach towards various concepts. My personality traits are more directed toward careers that are suited in grasping theories that are complex. In addition, these complex theories are applied to specific problems that will formulate effective long-term strategies. The possible career paths include; engineering, science, medicine, law and management. The test therefore reveals some of the major features of my personality that are strengths while also highlighting major weaknesses. Some of my strengths include; High level of understanding extremely complex material and theories. Efficient strategist Value efficiency and knowledge Analytical Innovative and resourceful. These personality traits are important when integrated in to my career choice. Work related activities will be undertaken with the most suitable policies and strategies. Therefore, the overall outcome of my work will be effective and efficient as driven by the strengths in my personality traits. Carrying out numerous projects and activities will be fundamental in helping me increase my strengths. However, my weaknesses can prove to be a huddle towards successful career development. These weaknesses are Valuing my personal opinion over others Extremely logical. Preference to work alone. In order to work extensively and efficiently at the work place, it is necessary for employees to work collaboratively. Therefore, my personality is derailed by my individuality. In addition, organizational success is determined by the integration of various ideas and concepts from the staff. Therefore, valuing my personal opinion may prove to be dictatorial and intrusive to fellow staff. I should engage in activities that require group involvement and contribution in order to understand and apply the concept of team work. These activities include sports and group activities in class. The knowledge of my personality motivates me towards improving my talent and skills. References Buss, A. H. (2012). Pathways to individuality: Evolution and development of personality traits. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

buy custom First Love and Last Rites essay

buy custom First Love and Last Rites essay The First Love, Last Rites is a story by McEwan. The story is a story about Sissel and Joey who live together in a shabby room in the forth floor of an empty harbor building somewhere in an industrial city in England. Joey and Sissel share an unappealing one room house. They spend most of their time talking, asking questions about their pasts-and above all exploring each others bodies in bed. The only interruption in their rustic affair comes from Adrian, Sissels younger and lonely brother. Annoyed by his noisy presence, whenever the couple wants to get rid of Adrian, they start stripping and making love. Their relationship later begins to founder reaching its high point when a big rat comes through the wall into their dirty and untidy room. The narrator killed the rat, an action that seems to mark a significant change in their lives. First Love, Last Rites is a collection of very traditional, rather conservative stories as depicted by the kind of events it depict, the characters involved, and the issues generated by the relationships. The kind of events depicted in the story is traditional. The story depicts the fascinating character of the adolescents. They are close to childhood and yet are constantly baffled and irritated by the initiations into what the adulthood entails. The Concept First Love In McEwan's short story First Love, Last Rites, he uses the two main characters Joey and Sissel to build the theme of love. By using the term first love, the author of the story refers to the initial sexual encounter between the two teenagers in the story (McEwan 117). The two are in the prime of lovemaking to an extent that they are not even able to clean their house. The concept of the first love refers to the fact that the act of lovemaking was absolutely new to the adolescents. In fact Sissel actually admits that, Everything about women was new to me. It was thus his first experience with sexuality. She says: it was new to me, all this . The thrilling and exciting experience of their love makes them exult in each others bodies. They make love passionately until their bodies are slack with this romantic encounter and discovery (McEwan 86). The true meaning of this first love can be pictured and so precisely illustrated by the fact that two spend all their time in making love with no work or school responsibilities (Jungmann 4). All they do is sharing a steamy romance in a lazy shack. They seem lost in their own private universe, moving through day-to-day life permanently joined at the hand and often mouth. They seem oblivious to the fact that they share the planet with other people. The only thing these lovers are abe to see is each other. The scenes spend plenty of time with the young lover to create an intense atmosphere of infatuation. Joey is a Brooklyn native who has left his home for Louisiana may be because he was kicked out of the borough for not developing an accent. Sissel also comes from a broken family. He r mother and father have split up for unspecific reasons. Joey plays Sissel with a mysterious detachment and a knowing whimsy that things wont last long, but the true motivation are never developed. Later, the two characters become unable to communicate with each other resulting in a heavy symbolic climax with a pesky rat. The book gives an intimate drama about the idyllic romance of two misfits and its inevitable sad aftermath. Dissecting on the essential and universal ingredients of first adolescent love, First Love is good at illustrating how initial thrills of freedom and lust gradually turn into confusion, fear and anxiety, particularly when the grand amour concerns innocent young stars. The effects of divorce on both parents and children are also conveyed effectively. The young couple is used effectively to show the fine line between intense and quiet feelings, sexual desire and alienation. The concept of Last Rites The word rite in the title can be taken to allude to the rights of passage that describes some rituals which help young persons in the process of initiation to take an adult status or adult roles (Jungmann 4). Last Rites is represented in McEwens story by two aspects. The first aspect is the fact that the narrator is experiencing sexuality for the first time. This reveals individual attempting to negotiate the tricky passage into sexual and social maturity (Ellam 11). The second is depicted in the transformations that occur in the actors ways of life. These aspects depict an initiation that seems to take the narrator and his friend from the adolescent to adulthood. From the beginning of the story the young lovers seem neither aware nor care about their external world. They isolate themselves in a room with no responsibility. All they care for is making love. However, they experience a significant change about their knowledge in the world and that of themselves and begin to adjust to fit in the society. First Love, Last Rites is told by a narrator at the brink of adulthood. They are at the age of eighteen and nineteen though with no responsibility. The narrator confesses that even the act of lovemaking was absolutely new to him. In fact Sissel also admits that about women was new to her. It was thus their first experience with sexuality. She says: it was new to me, all this. However, the major transformation in his relationship with the silent, guarded girlfriend later becomes strangely stagnant. The two lovers in First Love, Last Rites start to live in a simultaneously inert and decaying world. The narrator reports that Sissel grew tired of her records, and her foot rot spread from one foot to the other worsening their already smelly room. Their room begins to stink and they make love less. The rubbish from milk bottles, grey sweating cheese, butter rappers, yogurt cartons, over-ripe salami that they could not bring out themselves to carry away gathered around them. This condition brought us to a subplot about a large rat scratching on the wall of the lovers apartment, threatening to burst through at any minute. The rat can be interpreted to represent Joeys doubts about his relationship with Sissel. This means that at the end of the story, when he kills the rat, he is destroying his personal fears. The turn of events that leads to the transformation of the characters began when the couple begins to argue with one another. The feeling of mistrust and mutual frustration later tarnishes their passionate affair. Before long, Joey and Sissel stop making love and cease communicating on any level. However, the two seemed to have learnt after their encounter with a pregnant rat. Their transformation into adult world is revealed when the two later seem to be ready to take on their responsibility as adults and members of the larger society. Though Sissel is estranged from her parents, she now wants Joey to meet her father, Henry, a talkative Vietnam vet. She also cleanses their room which is a sign of taking on responsibility. Joey also agrees to meet Sissels father who insisted on knowing whether he sleeps with his daughter. Somehow, the two men became partners in a bizarre eel-catching business. This is a major transformation as the initially irresponsible and isolated adolescent takes on the role of the young adult. He begins to be responsible becoming relevant in the larger society. For a moment he found meaning to life and was excited. Generally, most of the stories in First Love, Last Rites can be described as stories of initiation. It is certainly the narrators fist experience of sexual intercourse in Homemade and Butterflies. The same is the case in Henrys induction into the confused world of adult games and sexuality and also in childhood friendship in Disguises. Even Last Day of Summer depicts a further initiation of the protagonist-narrator into the world of sadness and loss. All these descriptions point to a form of passage of rites. Buy custom "First Love" and "Last Rites" essay

Irregular Past Participle Forms

Irregular Past Participle Forms Irregular Past Participle Forms Irregular Past Participle Forms By Maeve Maddox I went through elementary school in the bad old days, when teachers drilled the class on irregular verbs. For example: Teacher: go Student A: go, went, have gone Teacher: come Student B: come, came, have come Teacher: write Student C: write, wrote, have written I don’t recall when the drills began, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t do them after the sixth grade. By then, as they say, we knew the drill. From my experience I conclude that a child of eleven or twelve is capable of mastering the irregular verb forms. That’s why I don’t understand why so many grown-ups writing on the Web get them wrong. Here’s a sampling. By the way, one of these examples is from a writer of British English, and one is from the official web site of a museum in a large American city. I’ve had this post sitting around for a while. Since I’ve written it, I’ve went back and forth about posting it. A few weeks ago I started having wrist pain from playing too much basketball. Since then Ive went to many doctors and some have said its tendonitis, I want to publish my book I have wrote. Paleo-Indian people are thought to have came to Wisconsin from the west and south about 12,000 years ago. Old English had hundreds of what we now call irregular verbs, most of which have become regularized with -ed endings. For example, the old past forms of help–holp and holpen–now have the regular forms helped and helped. The process of regularization continues. For example, while many speakers still prefer to say slay, slew, (have) slain, others have begun to say slay, slayed, (have) slayed. The irregular verbs most resistant to change are the ones we use most frequently, like come and go. Because they are such high-frequency words, one can only wonder why speakers who have completed six or more years of formal education haven’t mastered their forms. Perhaps readers of forums or amateur blogs aren’t troubled by â€Å"have came† or â€Å"have began,† but readers in search of accurate information probably wouldn’t attach much confidence to anything written on the following sites, each of which presents itself as a reliable source of knowledge: Giant asteroids might have began the age of dinosaurs as well as ended it. (headline on science site) Over the last few decades humans have began to bend and break the laws of natural selection- laws that have governed life on Earth for the past four billion years.  (course offerings, university site) Working with what we have at the moment, we have began putting some of our birds together so we can open up enclosures and make them much bigger! (Australian wildlife park) Related post: Beware of the Irregular Past Participle Forms Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Coordinating vs. Subordinating Conjunctions35 Genres and Other Varieties of FictionThrew and Through

E two Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

E two - Essay Example Who holds the disposable income also matters. When women workforce increased, companies started targeting female consumers (Barringer, 2009). When teenagers were given large sum of pocket money, they helped increase business opportunities to compact disk warehouse, designer clothing, sunglasses and cellphones. Social trends include the family life and their working patterns; workplace diversity; increased attention to health care; friendships; increased use of cell phones and internet, and etcetera. People started buying readymade frozen food which they could microwave at home not because they wanted to eat frozen stuff, but because they were too busy to cook for themselves. This gave rise to business opportunities for companies that prepared frozen food. Example. Internet cafà ©s, also called net cafà ©s, continued to grow in the last decade due to increasing number of people using internet for developing friendships. CoffeNet in USA is one such cyber cafà ©. Technological advances have greatly increased business opportunities over the last decade. This is because whenever a new technology arises, it has to be accompanied by products and equipment that supports it. This directs opening up of new companies because the number of consumers who incorporate technology into their lives increase. However, it is not the technology itself that the consumers love; instead, it is the sophistication, ease and reliability the technology provides that is looked forward to by the consumers. Example. Barnes and Noble is an e-bookseller company that enables people to shop books online that are then shipped to them after online payment. This company evolved when the number of consumers increased who wanted access to books without having to go to the shop and buy because their lives have become busy. Political and regulatory changes have also given rise to many business opportunities. For example, designing of new laws regarding internet fraud brought with it the need of

Technology solution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology solution - Assignment Example Basically, the kind of human resource needed is skilled labor, who should be experts in information technology. There shall be two major groups of human resource needed for this project. The first shall be the implementers of the system where as the second shall be the operators of the system. The implementers shall be tasked with the responsibility of getting both hardware and software components of the program fixed. After the fixing of the program, the operators shall take over and use the system to manage the sales and product department. This means that whereas the implementers shall be external experts, the operators shall be internal or existing staff of the company. Hardware The system to be developed needs a very large hardware base. This is because the centralization of information technology for all sales and products sales of the company means that there shall be a large database to be handled, which needs sophisticated and well advanced hardware. The hardware shall basic ally be made up of components of a mainframe computer to be used at the central IT station. There shall also be hardware made up of components of personal computers to be used in various sales and product stores to transmit information across to the central IT station. ... There shall basically be software for the developing an integrated spreadsheet that will collate all sections of sales and product manufacturing that takes place in the company. There shall also be software that will generally make the transmission of online information from store-to-store basis and store-to-IT centre basis. Data There shall be two major forms of data to be used in the new information technology system. These are data on sales and date on product manufacturing and availability. It is expected that these two data shall play complementary roles where by data on products manufactured and products available will aid in knowing and determining expected sales. This way, it will be easier for accountants to balance their sheet on the flow of cash into and outside of the company. Network It is common knowledge the centralized information technology system for the sales and products department of the company cannot function in the absence of a well harnessed network base. Thi s is because wit the centralization, all IT systems in the company shall be reporting directly to the IT center and this can only be done if there is a network system. The preferred network system will be a wide area network (WAN) since the company has several branches outside its parent home. Activities: The newt system shall function based on the following internal activities: input There shall be two major controllers of input, who shall be operators from the sales IT centre and operators at the various sales stores. Data input from the sales stores shall basically be on the amount of sales that are done. Input data from the sales IT centre shall be feedback on the data received from the sales stores by the accountant and auditor of the company. Processing Data

Blog Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Blog - Coursework Example The effect of this is that global polity and affairs were modified to integrate and accept all peoples through the acceptance of human rights. This has led to the creation of laws that protect the minorities and allows people of all backgrounds to operate within societies. This has led to the creation of multicultural and multiracial societies around the world Naturally, diverse societies mean diverse markets. And the implication is that a bank will be serving customers of diverse backgrounds. Thus, diverse teams used in the banking sector implies that consumers are not going to be of one single background. Typically, a bank in London will serve not only Anglo-Saxon customers including English, Irish, Scot and Welsh customers. In the 21st Century, there are customers with diverse origins including Indians, Arabs, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese, Africans and a wide diversity of people. There is therefore the chance and opportunity for a diverse team to produce better results through the operation of a service that considers and integrates all people and all communities. Thus, in terms of marketing and income generation, diverse teams have a much better chance of surviving and producing optimum results ahead of non-diverse teams. In the technical sense, diversity in teams involve the presentation of people from diverse occupation backgrounds. This involves people who have different expertise and different competencies. Due to this, a leader is likely to have a pool of different competencies and different thinkers. This allows the team to get a wide range of people who can add up to a rich and a diverse group of conversations to deal with matters in a positive sense and manner. A common problem in the banking sector is what the experts term groupthink. Groupthink is defined by Johnson and Scholes (2012) as a situation whereby all group members tilt towards a given solution and members fail to think and analyse things critically before giving a decision. As

Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament Essay

Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that undeniably, many countries have adopted the British parliamentary system of government and modified it over time to suit their needs. British parliament system is a supreme legislative body with crown dependencies and located in Westminster in London. Queen Elizabeth, the British monarch is the sovereign head and the chief of state of the United Kingdom. The parliament has legislative supremacy and hence ultimate power over all political bodies in the UK. In addition, the parliament has two divisions including the upper house or the house of lords and the lower house or the house of the Commons. The House of Commons includes government ministers, elected to the chambers every five years in accordance with the constitution. The Monarch chooses the prime minister who works together with the government through accounting to the parliament and public on the usage of public finances. British parliament suffers from serious democratic defici encies partly because of its organization. In normal circumstances, a parliament as an institution of democracy needs to embrace a government that works towards fulfilling people’s expectations and solving problems they encounter in their daily lives. In this regard, it is important that the people they represent from diverse communities elect members of the parliament. Failure to this causes bias since parliamentary members will act in favor of a small group with personal interests.... What is Democracy? In 2005, UN World Summit declared democracy as a universal value, which does not belong to any region or country. In fact, it is based on freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social, and cultural systems (UN, 2005, p.31). Different democracies share different features in that the government puts people’s interests as a first priority but there is no single model of democracy. Every parliament should be a democratic institution because it is an elected body. Therefore, parliamentarians should endeavor to represents the society and its interests as much as possible. Democracy calls parliamentarians to reconcile conflicting interests of different groups in the diverse communities they represent through dialogue and compromise. In addition, they have the task of adapting society laws to changing needs and circumstances, accounting their actions in full to the public (Beetham, 2006, p. 2). Democracy also entails an inclusion of women, disabled and other minority groups interests that the parliament represents. The fact that only a certain percentage of the British Parliament members are elected in office by the public lessens democracy. Ways of Solving Democratic problems in the UK Change the Electoral Process Elections are held every five years after parliament is dissolved through Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Elections vote in 650 members of the House of Commons who oversee the actions of the government. â€Å"First past the post† used to vote in the House of Common members denies citizens the basic democratic rights of votes of equal value. In this system, votes do not carry the same value (â€Å"UK Parliament,† N.d,

Compare and Contrast one aspect of French people's experience in WWI Essay

Compare and Contrast one aspect of French people's experience in WWI and WWII - Essay Example The First World War took place from 1914 – 1918 and the Second World War from 1939 – 1945. Before the wars broke the state of each countries economy was in the strongest position. In the interim period between the two wars the economy was crippling. The First World War was ignited due to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand; the invasion of Poland by the Germans led to the Second World War. In both cases it was the Germans who attacked first – they entered through southern Belgium in the First World War (and wanted to attack Paris from there) and invasion of Poland in the second. All countries that participated in World War I also participated in World War II. I shall compare and contrast the German invasion and torture on France during both the wars. The Germans soldiers moved into Belgium and then planned to suddenly attack France through Paris from the north during the First World War but their plans were thwarted by the French army. The French army s topped the Germans along the River Marne – north of Paris which came as a blow to the plans of the Germans.

Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament Essay

Resolving democratic deficiencies in British parliament - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that undeniably, many countries have adopted the British parliamentary system of government and modified it over time to suit their needs. British parliament system is a supreme legislative body with crown dependencies and located in Westminster in London. Queen Elizabeth, the British monarch is the sovereign head and the chief of state of the United Kingdom. The parliament has legislative supremacy and hence ultimate power over all political bodies in the UK. In addition, the parliament has two divisions including the upper house or the house of lords and the lower house or the house of the Commons. The House of Commons includes government ministers, elected to the chambers every five years in accordance with the constitution. The Monarch chooses the prime minister who works together with the government through accounting to the parliament and public on the usage of public finances. British parliament suffers from serious democratic defici encies partly because of its organization. In normal circumstances, a parliament as an institution of democracy needs to embrace a government that works towards fulfilling people’s expectations and solving problems they encounter in their daily lives. In this regard, it is important that the people they represent from diverse communities elect members of the parliament. Failure to this causes bias since parliamentary members will act in favor of a small group with personal interests.... What is Democracy? In 2005, UN World Summit declared democracy as a universal value, which does not belong to any region or country. In fact, it is based on freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social, and cultural systems (UN, 2005, p.31). Different democracies share different features in that the government puts people’s interests as a first priority but there is no single model of democracy. Every parliament should be a democratic institution because it is an elected body. Therefore, parliamentarians should endeavor to represents the society and its interests as much as possible. Democracy calls parliamentarians to reconcile conflicting interests of different groups in the diverse communities they represent through dialogue and compromise. In addition, they have the task of adapting society laws to changing needs and circumstances, accounting their actions in full to the public (Beetham, 2006, p. 2). Democracy also entails an inclusion of women, disabled and other minority groups interests that the parliament represents. The fact that only a certain percentage of the British Parliament members are elected in office by the public lessens democracy. Ways of Solving Democratic problems in the UK Change the Electoral Process Elections are held every five years after parliament is dissolved through Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Elections vote in 650 members of the House of Commons who oversee the actions of the government. â€Å"First past the post† used to vote in the House of Common members denies citizens the basic democratic rights of votes of equal value. In this system, votes do not carry the same value (â€Å"UK Parliament,† N.d,

Atlantic Slave Trade and Christianity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Atlantic Slave Trade and Christianity - Essay Example 213). After its abolition by the start of the 19th century, slavery materialized in the South as product of the trans-Atlantic trade. Christianity by then was already present because of the European settlers and colonizers in the New World. Issues have been raised pertaining to the legality of slavery in the laws of God compared to the laws of man and the society. From these things, a question emerges: "What is the legacy the Atlantic slave trade brought to the white and black Christians" In order to address this question, this paper gives a background of the Atlantic slave trade including the main places who participated in the triangular trade. It also mentions the role of Christianity in assessing slave-ownership and slave trade in America. Nathan Nunn (2005) reports the total slave exports from Africa in the year 1410 up to 1913 as shown in Figure 1. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade has the highest African slave exports with a total of 12.7 million slaves. It is followed by the Trans-Saharan trade with approximately 3 million exports. The Red Sea and Indian Ocean trades have 1.3 million and 1.1 million respectively. He also showed the top African countries that have the highest slave exports in the same duration. Nigeria, Zaire and Angola are the three highest slave exporting countries with a total of almost 2 million exported slaves each (12 percent). (Nunn 2005) Figure 1 The Triangular Trade An important feature surrounding the trans-Atlantic trade is the triangular trade. In 1450 until the latter part of the 19th century, the African slaves were acquired by the European countries like Portugal from West Africa. The kings and merchants in Africa fully supported the routine because they got different varieties of trade goods like beads, cowrie shells, textiles, brandy, horses and guns. This process describes the first side of the triangular trade. From West Africa, the acquired African slaves were transported to the New World. This represents the middle or the second side of the triangular trade. This part of the trade was the worst for the African slaves because they suffered malnutrition and new diseases en-route to the New World. After reaching the New World, the slaves worked on different plantations. The final products: cotton, sugar, tobacco, molasses, and rum were shipped to Europe. This scheme is the final side of the triangular trade.1 B. Main Actors Portugal In the year 1502, there were reports of the existence of African slaves in the New World or now the Unites States of America. Portugal was regarded in that time as the country that held a monopoly of African slaves for almost 200 years starting from 1440 up to 1640. The Portuguese played a major role in exporting the slaves from Africa during the span of time. For almost four and a half centuries, Portugal had exported an approximate number of 4.5 million African slaves accounting to 40 percent of the overall number.2 Britain Britain also participated in the trans-Atlantic slave trade although later it instituted the banning of slave trade. In the early decades of the 18th century Britain was a key trader who transported 2.5 million out the 6 million

Globalization & Getting a handle Essay Example for Free

Globalization Getting a handle Essay We cannot overstate the effects of the trend of globalization on our thinking, culture and the media. From the television ads and shows, our style of dressing and the way we converse and communicate with each other in our own country and people from overseas. What is this phenom that we call globalization? How does it affect us now and in the future? What are its benefits as well as its drawbacks? This paper will try to put a body, a face if you will, on the globalization trend. II. DEFINITIONS: Globalization refers to† increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the social, economic, technological cultural, political and ecological spheres. † It can also be defined as a â€Å"comprehensive term for the emergence of a global society in which economic, political, environmental and cultural events in one part of the world quickly come to have significance in other parts of the world†. Now basing from the definitions given, it can mean that globalization can come to mean a trend toward the interconnectivity or interdependence on one another even if we are in two different places. This is its basic concept that is to establish more and better lines by which the world can be bought together in ever increasing ways and means. Now for the questions on how this trend affects the media industry, we can just take a look at the Internet. This system is ready at hand to connect different peoples and cultures with the touch of a button, as it can connect us more swiftly rather than the traditional modes of communication. III. THE EFFECTS ON THE FILM, RADIO AND TELEVISION INDUSTRIES: The entertainment industry have focused their energies on the larger overseas markets for the sale and the promotion of their current offerings, movies, radio shows, television shows have already become a staple in some countries that these have seemed to replace the local industries for the share for the slice of the local market in that country. At the core of the entertainment industry-film, music, television-there is a growing dominance of U. S. products. It can be seen in most parts of the world, products such as KFC, McDonalds or Coca- Cola just to name a few of the transnational companies doing business in other nations aside form the local market. These companies shop around other countries that have lower costs for doing business, thus spurring the local employment and talent pool from those countries to adapt their educational and training pools to the needs of the incoming foreign investors. Some companies, for example, America Online and Time Warner merged to form AOL Time, matching AOLs Internet businesses and Times massive holdings in media, entertainment and news concerns. More and more of these companies ten to look overseas to promote their products and services abroad. But while the trend is focusing on global interconnectivity, that in our modern day environment, time and distance are a negligible factor in terms of dispensing media to other parts of the world. According to Professor Kalyani Chadha at the Philip Merill College of Journalism; â€Å"While popular rhetoric suggest that we live in an increasingly interconnected globalized world in which time and space have collapsed and media experiences are increasingly uniform, the reality is often different Media systems in different countries continue to be characterized by significant differences in press and broadcasting laws, business and economic structure, access to technology and to nature of journalistic practices, resulting often in variations in both content and perspective. † In a nutshell, it is saying that what may be true and acceptable in other countries and regions might not be acceptable, even palatable in some others. The difference may stem from the traditional as well as the cultural background in the country itself or in some belief system that this particular society holds. But in the discussion of the trend of globalization, the problem herein lies in the fact that in the march for interconnectivity, some of these traditions might have to give way. IV. EFFECTS ON CULTURE: The Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines culture as the â€Å"the total pattern of human behavior and its products embodied in speech, action and artifacts and dependent upon man’s capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations† Thus, cultural globalization can thus be defined as the worldwide cultural standardization. Also, it can refer to the postcolonial culture, cultural pluralism and â€Å"hybridization†, or bringing two or more cultures together to create a new one. In the picture of globalization, we must recognize that the global view will effect the change in the cultural standings of some nations. In the long run of things, we must be resigned to the fact that some of these traditions must give way. Remember that globalization is linked to affecting the global community concept, a â€Å"global village†, if you permit the phrase. ( Marshall McLuhan popularized this belief to highlight his observations that an electronic nervous system ( the media) was rapidly integrating the planet—events in one part of the world could be experienced from other parts in real-time, which is the human experience was like when we lived in small villages). In this â€Å"village†, everybody was with the same beliefs and held to the same traditions, at least most of the time. But in the set up of the globalization concept, those beliefs and traditions sometimes, if not most of the time, have to give way to the establishment of a unified set of beliefs from a strong or stronger source. That is cultural hegemony, wherein the stronger or predominant influence will produce ways of thinking and seeing, and especially eliminating alternative views to reinforce the status quo, meaning the status quo of the more predominant influence. Some people fear a loss of cultural diversity as U. S. companies become dominant. Such companies tend to â€Å"bundle† their products, meaning they ship their products in wholesale form. Movies, television shows audio products all come into the local market and compete with the local industry, thus competing for the attention of that market. These tend to replace local alternatives. This would explain in part the prevalence of the media especially the visual media to promote their advertisements in other countries without thinking of the sensibilities that the ad might be offending. Video games and television games flash ever more violent images that seem to engross kids from many nations that were not ready to absorb these kinds of media. All day long, hey would sit in front of the television and just either stare at the monitor watching these violent shows and absorb the values of the characters of the shows’ characters or sit endlessly at video games and get in to the violence that these game icons display. Local culture and social culture are now shaped by large and powerful commercial interests that earlier anthropologists could not have imagined. Early anthropologists thought of societies and their cultures as fully independent systems. But today, many nations are multicultural societies, composed of numerous subcultures. These subcultures are present and very visible to us, in the forms of food, clothes and even in the places that we often frequent. Rarely do we don’t see that in any of the places that we go, there is not one member of these subcultures that we don’t come across. And we tend to borrow these things, if you will, in the way that we prepare our food, the way we buy our clothes and shoes and other accessories, in our choice of products that seem to satisfy our craving to be what the television stars portray on camera. The values that seem to be displayed out there want to look like them, that we can somehow imitate the way they look to be what these companies want us to believe to be acceptable. People are therefore more biased in the products that they purchase or services that they get for themselves so the image that is bought in to them are to look like the people they see. The transnational companies can manipulate the way that people think of themselves also by making us think that standards have to be met in order for us to be acceptable, or part of what is acceptable in the eyes of the global society as a whole. In short, they dictate what constitutes the â€Å"good life†. For example, if you don’t have a certain kind of piece of clothing such a shirt or pair of sneakers, you’re supposed to feel left out of the loop. Or, in the case that you still wear a shirt that is not in fashion, and this is still dictated by the multinational companies abroad, you’re still going to be left out. Or if you don’t drive a certain brand of car or model of that car, it’s an antique they’ll say. In many instances, this trend of cultural globalization tends to make us want these companies say that we have to be to be happy. From whatever the products or producers say, is what we have been conditioned to think, that these are the keys to be living it up. It is argued that one of the consequences of globalization will be the end of cultural diversity, and the triumph of uni-polar culture serving the needs of transnational corporations. Hence, the world drinks Coca-Cola, watches American movies and eats American junk food.

Photovoltaics in the Energy Industry and Nanotechnology

Photovoltaics in the Energy Industry and Nanotechnology Nanotechnology The field of nanotechnology dates back to the late 1950s when theoretical physicist Richard Feynman gave his famous talk called Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom. In his talk, he introduced the concept of the control and manipulation of objects i.e. atoms, molecules, at a minute scale. It was K. Eric Drexler who popularised the term nanotechnology after using it in the title of his book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology.   The term nanotechnology can be defined as the science of studying very small things or in other words studying things at the nanoscale (1-100nm). During the latter part of the 20th century increasing advances in microscopy technology such as SFM, AFM and TEM allowed scientists to view nanoparticles. A particles properties greatly changes when the particle is in the nanoscale range. This is due to the Quantum Effects phenomena. Properties such as melting point, fluorescence, electrical conductivity, magnetic permeability, and chemical reactivity are vastly altered as the size of a particle reaches the nanoscale. As a result of the quantum effects that occur at this scale, a materials properties can be tuned to give a desired property by changing the size and shape of the particle. There are however many other parameters that affect a materials properties these will be become more evident later. A simple example where a materials properties change with reducing size to the nanoscale is that of the element gold. To the human eye gold appears to be a yellow colour while nanoscale gold a reddish colour is observed. This is as a result of the previously mentioned quantum effects, in this case the electrons of nanoscale gold particles are trapped (confined) and as a result react differently with light giving a different colour. This trapping of electrons property (quantum confinement) will further discussed later. As a result of the many desirable properties that are present in nanomaterials, numerous industries and fields alike have and are developing applications incorporating nanotechnology. The previously mentioned example of gold nanoparticles are utilised within a number applications of the medical industry. Biomedical applications for laser phototherapy, therapeutic agents as well as drug carriers have all been developed using gold nanoparticles. 1 The previously stated property of increased reactivity that occurs at the nanoscale relates to another specific property nanomaterials attain. As the size of a particle decreases the surface area increases. This increase in surface area has a profound effect on the reactivity between materials i.e. greatly enhanced reactivity. A number of different applications benefit from this nanoscale property including applications relating to the energy industry such as catalysts, energy storage and energy conversion devices. Nanotechnology has led to fabrication of novel devices and equipment and also many applications in a variety of fields none more so than the energy industry. Although several strides have been made in recent years in new technologies in the energy, current technologies cannot cope with man kinds ever increasing demand for energy. Therefore, there still remains a need to develop new sustainable energy technologies without detrimentally effecting the environment. Many leading experts in the energy industry believe that nanotechnology is the way forward to curbing these energy issues. 2,3 Photovoltaics in the Energy Industry Nanotechnology has in recent decades been incorporated into a number of technologies in the energy industry that utilise solar radiation as an energy source. Exploiting the suns energy is by far one of the most suitable ways out of all the renewable energy resources that exist for a number of reasons. Solar energy is free and basically limitless as solar energy provides approximately 15,000 times more energy in a year than is actually needed to meet the worlds current energy demands. 2 According to a 2014 renewable energy report by Eurostat the amount of renewable energy produced by EU member states increased by 73.1% between 2004 and 2014. Despite this increase only 16% of the EUs total energy consumption was from the renewable energy sector. The majority of the rest of the energy that was consumed came from fossil fuel based energy sources. Of the total renewable energy consumed, solar energy accounted for only 6.1% of total amount. These statistics highlight the improvements have been made in incorporating renewable energy, but also highlight the potential there is to integrate more solar based renewable energy. 3 The need to incorporate more renewable energy and replace existing fossil fuel based energy resources such as coal, gas and oil stems from their negative environmental impact. The ever increasing global temperatures are directly relating to rising CO2 levels, this is in part is as a result of the increase in the consumption of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution and peaking today in the early 21st century. The lack of utilisation of solar energy technologies such as photovoltaics (The 2014 GSR report indicates only 1.2% of global electricity production comes from photovoltaics) despite it being free and its wide abundance is largely due to cost. 4 It is the main reason why photovoltaic devices have failed to become more mainstream especially in comparison to non-renewable based energy sources whos cost per Watt of electricity are generally lower. The price of electricity produced from photovoltaics has certainly decreased in recent years as outlined in the Renewables 2016 Global Status Report. Prices in Germany for photovoltaic electricity have been quoted to be as low as à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬0.08/kWh which is comparable to the equivalent price of natural gas. Despite this figure the costs of photovoltaic electricity can be further be reduced with continued advances in its technologies. Electricity is produced in PV solar cells by conversion of photons from the light harnessed from the sun, otherwise known as the photoelectric effect. Traditionally PVs are fabricated using silicon wafer based solar cells. These wafers comprised of crystalline silicon are generally between 150-300 nm in thickness and these largely remain the main material in PV fabrication today. A variation to these PV devices includes utilising semiconducting thin films on top of complimentary silicon wafers. This method is a much more cost effective method but suffers from poor photon to electricity conversion rates. 2 The integration of nanomaterials specifically nanocrystals in the fabrication PV devices can curb some of the limitations that currently exist. First, the ability to control the energy bandgap provides flexibility and inter-changeability. Second nanostructured materials enhance the effective optical path and significantly decrease the probability of charge recombination. Thirdly and most significantly solar cells utilising nanocrystals have shown great potential as a low cost alternative to conventional solar cells. Solution based synthesis methods such as the colloidal method has a relatively straight forward process. The solution containing nanocrystals can easily and efficiently be incorporated into a solar cell using a number of low cost deposition techniques. As well as these facts copper based nanocrystals have attracted a deal of attention due to their abundance and low cost, which further emphasises the probability of nanocrystals replacing conventional solar cells.   Figure 1 below provides contrasting schematics of the conventional silicon based solar cells against the new generation of solar cells. Figure 1. Conventional vs Nanostructured Solar cells.2

Magnetic Susceptability :: essays research papers

Magnetic Susceptability Abstract:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The change in weight induced by a magnetic field for three solutions of complexes was recorded. The change in weight of a calibrating solution of 29.97% (W/W) of NiCl2 was recorded to calculate the apparatus constant as 5.7538. cv and cm for each solution was determined in order to calculate the number of unpaired electrons for each paramagnetic complex. Fe(NH4)2(SO4)2â‚ ¬6(H20) had 4 unpaired electrons, KMnO4 had zero unpaired electrons, and K3[Fe(CN)6] had 1 unpaired electron. The apparent 1 unpaired electron in K3[Fe(CN)6] when there should be five according to atomic orbital calculations arises from a strong ligand field produced by CN-. Introduction:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The magnetic susceptibility is a phenomena that arises when a magnetic moment is induced in an object. This magnetic moment is induced by the presence of an external magnetic field. This induced magnetic moment translates to a change in the weight of the object when placed in the presence of an external magnetic field. This induced moment may have two orientations: parallel to the external magnetic field of or perpendicular to the external magnetic field. The former is known as paramagnetism and the later is known as diamagnetism. The physical effect of paramagnetism is an attraction to the source of magnetism (increase in weight when measured by a Guoy balance) and the physical effect of diamagnetism is a repulsion from the source of magnetic field (decrease in weight when measured by a Guoy balance).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The observed magnetic moment is derived by the change in weight. This observed magnetic moment arises from a combination of the orbital and spin moments of the electrons in the sample with the spin component being the most important source of the magnetic moment. This magnetic moment is caused by the spinning of an electron around an axis acting like a tiny magnet. This spinning of the  ³magnet ² results in the magnetic moment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paramagnetism results from the permanent magnetic moment of the atom. These permanent magnetic moments arise from the presence of unpaired electrons. These unpaired electrons result in unequal number of electrons in the two possible spin states (+1/2. -1/2). When in the absence of an external magnetic field, these spins tend to orient themselves randomly accordingly to statistics. When they are placed in the presence of an external magnetic field, the moments tend to align in directions anti parallel and parallel to the magnetic field. According to statistics, more electrons will occupy the lower energy state then the higher energy state. In the presence of a magnetic field, the lower energy state is the state when the magnetic moments are aligned parallel to the

Forecasting Lost Sales Case Study Essay

Carlson Department store suffered heavy damage from a hurricane on August 31. As a result the store was closed for four months, September through December. Carlson is in dispute with its insurance company regarding the lost sales for the length of time the store was closed. Section II: Problem Identification Two issues to address are the amount of sales Carlson department store would have made if there had been no hurricane and if they are entitled to any compensation for excess sales due to increased business activity after the storm. One further important factor is that eight billion dollars in federal disaster relief and insurance money came in to the county which in turn increased sales at department stores and numerous other businesses in the area. Section III: Approach: The method to be used is forecasting with seasonality in order to obtain approximate sales data for the months that Carlson was closed. Section IV: Options After reviewing different methods of forecasting and their measures of forecasting accuracy the linear forecasting method is shown to be the most effective given that the mean square error, and the mean absolute error and the mean absolute percentage error are very close to zero. *See attached Excel spreadsheet for further clarification/breakdown of forecasting methods. However, although the linear trend line can be useful it can also prove to be inappropriate for business retail sales. Real trends change their slope and intercept over time and rarely tend to follow a fixed straight line. Therefore, linear regression with seasonality will be used to determine lost sales. In the past five years Carlson’s overall monthly average for sales was 2.43375. The monthly averages for the months under consideration are as follows; September: 1.8975 October: 2.215 November: 2.775 and December: 4.1875. Approximately thirty nine percent of Carlson’s sales occur within the Sept through December months. The seasonal index as show in figure 6.7 further breaks this down. While reviewing Carlson  department store’s forecasted sales for September through December and taking into account that the time frame is during the holiday season; it is apparent that sales typically increase during this period in relation to seasonality. Section V: Conclusions/Recommendations Figure 6.6 displays the forecast of lost sales for Carlson had there been no hurricane. This table displays that Carlson is entitled to 12.43 million in lost sales for the four months that it was closed. The surrounding department stores showed a consistent increase in sales during the four listed months (September through December) as shown in figure 6.9. The amount of sales were well above what was typically forecasted (On average the surrounding department stores did 18.67 million above forecast). The amount of sales during this time frame increased by 27.03 percent. Based off of this data, Carlson should be provided additional compensation for the increase of sales they would have encountered from disaster relief funds and insurance money. Carlson would have gained an approximate increase of 3.36 million in sales, therefore making the total compensation owed to Carlson from their insurance company 15.788 million for lost sales. Section VI: Other Considerations Some other factors that may require further consideration are moving holidays, or the effect of holidays on the forecasting method. Some holidays may have changing dates which can impact more than one month in a way that depends upon the date. Section VII: Resources References Anderson, D. R., Sweeny, D., Williams, T., Cann, J., Cochran, J., Fry, M., & Ohlmann, J. (2013). Quantitative Methods For Business. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Disease Trends and the Delivery of Health Care Servies Essay

INTRODUCTION Americans use health care services every day, and they use them for a number of different reasons. Whether it is for preventing or curing illness, mending broken bones, delivering infants, or perhaps long term care in a nursing home there has been and will always continue to be a consistent need for the health care industry. According to an article published by the National Center for Health Care Statistics, there are a number of different factors that determine how much health care people use, the various types of care that they use, and the timing of care that they seek (Bernstein, Hing, Moss, Allen, Siller and Tiggle, 2003). These factors could include many different variables; however, for the purpose of this paper we will discuss how trends such as the aging population, and the growing rate of obesity in America are likely to influence the delivery of health care services in the future. THE AGINING POPULATION The population of the United States on April 1, 2010 was 308.7 million people. This is according to an article regarding the 2010 Census report (Howden & Meyer, 2011). In the same article the age composition of the population is broken down. It shows that those aged infant to 18 accounted for 24.0 percent of the country’s population. In addition citizens between the ages of 18 and 44 represented 36.5 percent, and those 45 to 64 made up 26.4 percent of the population. Finally, individuals aged 65 or older accounted for 13.0 percent of the United States population (Howden & Meyer, 2011). These numbers are expected to change significantly over the next few decades. More specifically, the older population which consists of  individuals 65 or older is expected to grow rapidly. This expected growth is largely in part due to the generation known as the baby boomers. This concept is supported in another article published by the U.S. Census Bureau. It states, Between 2010 and 2050, the United States is projected to experience rapid growth in its older population. In 2050, the number of Americans aged 65 and older is projected to be 88.5 million, more than double its projected population of 40.2 million in 2010. The baby boomers are largely responsible for this increase in the older population, as they will begin crossing into this category in 2011. (Vincent & Velkoff, 2010, para 2). In addition, there are other factors that support the population growing older. These factors include a decline in fertility rates, and an increase in the age of average life expectancy. It goes without saying that older generations have different medical needs then do younger generation. Furthermore, as the populations grows older there will be a greater demand for health care services. According to a summary report published by the University of Albany it is estimated that 84 percent of people 65 or older are likely to suffer from at least one chronic medical condition. Such conditions include cancer, heart disease and diabetes to name a few (2006). Along with rising health care needs there will be a greater demand for prescription medications as well. In conjunction with these factors the need for long term care facilities will grow also. As we know already when there is a demand for something there must also be an adequate supply. There is great concern that as the population ages it is probable that the supply of health care services may not be enough. In the same summary published by the University of Albany it states, The expected growth of the older adult pop ulation in the U.S. over the next 50 years will have an unprecedented impact on the U.S. health care system, especially in terms of supply and demand for health care workers. The supply of health care workers may decrease as they age and large numbers retire and/or reduce their working hours. At the same time, older adults consume a disproportionately large share of American health care services, so the demand for health services will grow. The aging population will also affect the nature of the skills and services the health care workforce must be equipped to provide, and the settings in which this care is provided.  (2006, page 2) In addition, there will not just be a greater need for health care professionals such as psycians, nurses, lab technicians and more. There will also be a large necessity for advancements in health care technologies and facilities. We know that there is nothing that can be done to stop the process of aging itself; however, there are measures that can be taken to reduce the health complications that are related to aging. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a few opportunities to improve health and quality of life in older generations include promoting healthy lifestyle choices such as quitting smoking, and increasing the use of preventative services (2011). THE GROWING RATE OF OBESITY Obesity is a disease that is associated with having an excess amount of body fat. It is condition that has been linked to a number of different medical issues including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and stroke to name a few. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over one-third of the population is considered obese costing the United States an estimated $147 billion in 2008 (2013). Although the numbers are already astonishing they are only expected to grow in the future. An article featured in the American Medical News predicts that if the obesity trends continue to rise by 2030 an estimated 50 percent of America’s men and 45 to 52 percent of its women will be obese (Henry, 2011). There are many factors that contribute to the growing trend of obesity. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the environment around us does not support healthy lifestyle habits (2012). This is because we live in a world with advance d technologies and conveniences. With busy schedules it is often easy for people to give in to fast food or microwave dinners because they are quick and easy. It can also be difficult for people to get physical exercise because many neighborhoods around the country lack safe places for recreation, or affordable gyms (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). A few different demographic factors linked to the obesity trend include age, sex, and race. As mentioned previously, Americans spent as estimated $147 billion for health care services in 2008. This number is expected to grow substantially  over time. One author wrote that the cost of obesity is expected to reach $344 billion by the year 2018 (Thorpe, n.d.). These numbers are outrages. In addition to the rising health care cost that stems from obesity we have to be concerned about the health complications that can come with the disease. Obesity has been linked to an insane number of health conditions including type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, some forms of cancer, sleep apnea and many more. There are steps that can be taken to prevent obesity, and the health issues that are associated with it. Eating healthy is vital, and not always as easy as it sounds. It can be so very easy to fall into food traps but we should focus our time and energ y towards foods that are rich in nutrients and low in calories. These foods include lean meats and proteins, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. It is also important to exercise on a regular basis. Exercises such as walking, swimming, or running are excellent. In addition, reversing the obesity epidemic in America is going to require a community effort. Schools, places of business, and government agencies should all be involved in this mission. CONCLUSION As our population ages, and obesity rates rise in America there is no doubt that the health care industry will need to adapt. These issues will require many advancements is medical technology, as well as a larger supplies of health care professionals including doctors, nurses, mental health providers, lab technicians, long term care providers, and administrators. The list could go on and on. Therefore, in the next few decades it will be important for the industry to recruit, and adequately train new health care professionals as the baby boomer population nears retirement. Moving forward, it will also be important for the community, and not just the health care world, to implement new ways to encourage preventative care. This will require many different organizations to become involved, most especially schools because the key to prevention is education. If the younger generations are taught the healthy way to live, and if more parents lead by example the future of this country would i n turn be much more healthy. The world of health care is ever changing, and there are many different  trends that affect it. As the future rolls forward it will be most interesting to see how health care professionals adapt to each trend. REFERNCES Bernstein, A. B., Hing, E., Moss, A. J., Allen K. F., Siller A.B. & Tiggle R. B. (2003). Health Care in America: Trends in Utilization. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/healthcare.pdf Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/aging.htm Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Obesity and Overweight. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html Henry, T. A. (2011). U.S. Obesity Rate Expected to Reach 50% by 2030. Retrieved from http://www.amednews.com/article/20110912/health/309129951/4/ Howden, L. M., & Meyer, J. M. (2011). Age and Sex Composition: 2010. 2010 Census Briefs. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf Thorpe, K. (n.d.). New Data Shows Obesity Costs Will Grow to $344 Billion by 2018. Retrieved from http://www.fightchronicdisease.org/media-center/releases/new-data-shows-obesity-costs-will-grow-344-billion-2018 University of Albany. (2006). The Impact of the Aging Population on the Health Workforce in the United States: Summary of Key Findings. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/news/pdf_files/impact_of_aging_excerpt.pdf U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). What Causes Overweight and Obesity?. Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/causes.html Vincet, G. K., & Velkoff, Victoria A. (2010). The Next Four Day Decades the Older Population in the United States: 2010 to 2050: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p25-1138.pdf

To what extent are writers also detectives in the novels you have studied?

The crime and the detective novel and their conventions have changed considerably over the last century. As societies have changed, these genres have adapted and branched out to meet the needs of writers attempting to express new concerns. Edgar Allen Poe's detective novel, The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) follows conventions we would now consider to be traditional in mystery writing. Bearing a close resemblance to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, we find a detective who relies on reasoning and deduction to solve a mystery that to all intensive purposes appears unsolvable; a locked room mystery such as Doyle's The Speckled Band (1892). In America, between the world wars, emerged the ‘hard-boiled' private eye novel, featuring tough private investigators, often themselves outcasts from society. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are examples of authors from this school of detective fiction. After the Second World War there was increasingly a feeling that literary fiction was an inadequate means of accurately describing the horrors of the modern world. ‘New journalism' emerged, a term coined by Tom Wolfe to describe non-fiction novels by authors such as Truman Capote. His true crime novel, In Cold Blood (1965) is one of the texts that will be examined in this essay. Later in the century literature became more preoccupied with issues of alienation as a result of city living and capitalist expansion. Postmodern concerns were expressed in detective metafiction, such a Paul Auster's New York Trilogy (1987). This novel will also be examined. Lastly, this essay will look at James Ellroy's My Dark Places (1996). Ellroy himself has described this as an â€Å"investigative autobiography†, but it also contains elements of the police procedural novel, which came into being in 1940's America. This sub-genre deals with the more detailed elements of police detection, in comparison to that of the private eye. The extent to which writers are also detectives in these three texts varies greatly. The fact that they are all very different in terms of the sub-genres of detective or crime fiction makes direct comparison difficult. Therefore this essay concentrates on each in turn, drawing together the main arguments in the conclusion. I have tried to give equal attention to each text, but the fact that each story in Paul Auster's New York Trilogy can stand alone as an individual piece of writing has made this difficult. In New York Trilogy, the distinction between writer and detective is particularly indistinct. This is complicated by the fact that Auster continually subverts the conventions of the detective genre that are expected by the reader. For instance, in a detective novel there is generally an expectation on the reader's part that a crime has been committed, and that the mystery surrounding this crime will be solved thereby restoring the social order. In the first story of the novel, City of Glass, no crime takes place. The central character, I will for now call Quinn (this term as I will later explain is also problematic), accepts a surveillance job, which only becomes a mystery when his employers, Virginia and the young Peter Stillman disappear. Rather than providing a solution to this mystery the novel instead throws up more questions and leaves the reader increasingly confused. It is with this central character, Quinn, that the distinction between writer and detective first becomes unclear. Quinn is an author of detective fiction. He has created the character Max Work, a private eye, under the pen name of William Wilson. At this stage Quinn has already to some extent become a detective. For Quinn the roles of, â€Å"the writer and detective are interchangeable†1. Both the writer and the detective must look out in to the world and search for thoughts or clues that will enable them to make sense of events. They must both be observant and aware of details. Quinn appears to exist only through the existence of Max Work, â€Å"If he lived now in the world at all, it was only at one remove, through the imaginary person of Max Work. â€Å"2. He even finds himself imagining what Max Work would have said to the stranger on the phone after receiving the first call. Perhaps this is why the next time he answers the phone to the stranger he finds himself taking on the identity of the unknown detective, Paul Auster. Surely this is not an action one would expect from the uncomfortable writer Quinn, but one that could be easily identified with the confident private eye Max Work. From this moment on, Quinn the writer has also taken on the physical duties of the detective. Adding to the complication, by taking on the identity of an unknown and apparently non-existent detective named Paul Auster, Quinn also takes on the identity of an existing writer Paul Auster, who agrees to cash the checks paid to Quinn by the Stillmans. At this point Quinn (as his name suggests3) has five identities. Three of these are writers and two are detectives. As a detective, Quinn finds that the thought processes in which he must engage are not dissimilar to those of a writer. As â€Å"Dupin says in Poe†¦ ‘An identification of the reasoner's intellect with that of his opponent'†4is necessary. In this case Stillman senior is the opponent. This is similar to the process in which Quinn must put himself in the fictional Max Work's place in order to determine what course of action he might take in order to make him appear realistic to the reader. In the second story of the trilogy, Ghosts, the reader is introduced to Blue, a professional rather than sham detective. A man named White hires him to watch a man called Black, and to make weekly reports on his movements. In contrast to the first story in which the writer becomes detective, in this we see the detective become writer. Faced with very little understanding of the case he has embarked upon, Blue finds himself making up stories in order to bring some meaning to the position he is in, â€Å"Murder plots, for instance, and kidnapping schemes for giant ransoms. As the days go on he realise there is no end to the stories he can tell. â€Å"5. Blue is hardly restricted in the number of theories he can advance because he possesses only a small number of facts they have to meet. The detective becomes a writer in his attempt to reconstruct a possible crime. This can be seen in any number of detective or crime novels, including In Cold Blood and My Dark Places. According to Peter Huhn in his article ‘The Detective as Reader: Narrativity and Reading Concepts in Detective Fiction', †¦ he text of the novel can be said to have two authors (at least): the criminal (who wrote the original mystery story [by committing the crime]) and the detective (who writes the reconstruction of the first story). As a detective, Blue has never previously had difficulty with writing reports. It is only when he sits down to write his first report on Black that he encounters a writers struggle to find a way of adequately expressing events. Before, action has always held â€Å"forth over interpretation†7 in his reports. As he feels pulled towards interpreting events he becomes more a writer than detective. In one report he even includes a completely fictitious observation, that he believes Black is ill and may die. The incident in the Algonquin Hotel, in which Blue approaches Black under the guise of a life insurance salesman named Snow, the reader is made aware that perhaps Black is also a private detective (unless he is lying). If we take this to be the case then it could be considered that Black the private detective is also a writer, in that his actions determine those of Blue. Blue must follow him wherever he goes, is trapped by Black's routine and so Black is, in effect, writing Blue's life. Conversely then, the same must be true for Blue. If Black really is a private detective, as Blue is, then Black must follow Blue, becoming trapped in his routine. Blue is therefore the writer of Black's life. In the third story, The Locked Room, the central character, an un-named author is a writer who turns detective in an attempt to locate his childhood friend Fanshawe. Until Fanshawe contacts the narrator in a letter, he has been presumed dead. Initially, the process of detection begins under a pretext of writing a biography of Fanshawe's life. As a writer of a biography, one is expected to stick to facts, as is a detective. However, as this biography would be written under the illusion that Fanshawe is dead it would actually in effect be a work of invention rather than accurate reconstruction. The narrator tells us, â€Å"The book was a work of fiction. Even though it was based on facts, it could tell nothing but lies. â€Å"8. Thus, in this story, the central character even through the process of detection remains, in essence, a writer. The extent to which writer is also detective in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood must be looked at in a very different way due to the type of crime novel it is. Tom Wolfe has as I have mentioned, described it as ‘New journalism'. Capote himself, however, distances his novel from this school of writing. He views his work as â€Å"creative journalism† as opposed to for instance, a â€Å"documentary novel†9. The distinction for Capote is that to be a good creative journalist a writer must have experience in writing fiction so that he has the necessary knowledge of fictional writing techniques. Writers trained in journalism for example would not possess the skills needed to write a creative journalistic piece, but are more suited to writing documentary novels. Capote's distinction is relevant to the question because it gives us an insight into the extent in which In Cold Blood was created as a compelling true crime novel, largely based on fact (by a writer), in comparison to the extent in which a crime and it's effects was accurately reconstructed and completely based on fact (as a detective would attempt to do). In order to determine the real extent to which Capote as author of this novel was also a detective a number of issues need to be addressed. To begin with the opinion that in researching and writing In Cold Blood Capote was in fact acting as a detective will be examined. The research Capote undertook in writing this non-fiction novel was indeed extremely thorough. He arrived in Holcomb in November 1959, the same month of the murders and a month before Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were arrested. He was therefore present during the time in which the initial police investigation was taking place. He conducted hundreds of interviews with residents of Holcomb, and other individuals who had come into contact with the two murderers. Some of these interviews, as he told George Plimpton in an interview for the New York Times in 1966, went on for three years. Capote also undertook â€Å"months of comparative research on murder, murderers, the criminal mentality,† as well as interviewing, â€Å"quite a number of murderers† in order to gain a perspective on Smith and Perry10. In his interviewing of Smith and Perry after their arrest, he acted to a great extent as a detective is expected to. As the men were kept apart following their arrest, Capote was able to cross-reference their interview answers in order to determine fact from fiction, â€Å"I would keep crossing their stories, and what correlated, what checked out identically, was the truth†11. In Cold Blood has been widely accepted as an extremely accurate portrayal of the Clutter murders and the following investigation. However, the opinion that In Cold Blood was as much a work of fiction as of fact needs to be considered. Within this novel there are several instances in which Capote could be said to have used artistic licence. The clearest example of this is the last scene of the novel in which Detective Alvin Dewey meets murdered Nancy Clutter's childhood friend at the graveyard in Holcomb, four years after the family's deaths, ‘And nice to have seen you, Sue. Good luck,' he called to her as she disappeared down the path, a pretty girl in a hurry, her smooth hair swinging, shining – just such a young woman as Nancy might have been. 12 We know this to be an utterly fictitious scene because, according to Dewey's biographer Gerald Clarke, Dewey never met Susan Kidwell until the executions of Smith and Hickock in 196513. According to Capote, however, the meeting at the graveyard took place the previous May, in 1964. In the novel, the reader also cannot escape a feeling that Capote is somewhat biased towards Perry Smith. As a writer, personal opinions and feelings are perfectly acceptable inclusions in a reconstruction, but as a detective they are not. Of course this bias may arise directly from Capote's observations of the two men, and of factual, psychological evidence. In which case this would be a fair assessment. However, it has been suggested by some that this bias arises from Capote's feelings for Perry Smith and the relationship they developed whilst Capote was conducting his research. Ned Rorem, referring to a dinner conversation with Truman Capote in 1963, said of Capote â€Å"he seemed clearly in love with him [Perry]. It must be remembered however that this is just speculation. In Cold Blood has also been seen as a polemic against capital punishment and the American justice system. By indicating in the novel that Perry Smith was in a â€Å"psychological cul-de-sac†15 at the time he committed the murders he insinuates that the death penalty was an unjust sentence. With regard to Capote's attack on the justice system, his criticism can clearly be seen in his account of the jury selection for the trial, The airport employee, a middle-aged man named N. L. Dunnan, said, when asked his opinion of capital punishment, ‘Ordinarily I'm against it. But in this case no' – a declaration which, to some who heard it, seemed clearly indicative of prejudice. Dunnan was nevertheless selected as a juror. 16 If this is indeed a polemic, it must be the case that opinions and facts in opposition to Capote's argument would have been left out. This would make him more writer than detective. He himself confessed that, I make my own comment by what I choose to tell and how I choose to tell it. It is true that an author is more in control of fictional characters because he do [sic] anything he wants with them as long as they stay credible. But in the nonfiction novel one can also manipulate. 17 Ellroy's My Dark Places is also a true crime novel containing, as I have mentioned, elements of autobiography and of the police procedural. Unlike In Cold Blood, in which the reader is aware of the culprits' identities from the beginning, it is more of a ‘whodunit' in that the reader does not know who the murderer is. Through the process of detection, and with the help of a homicide detective named Bill Stoner, Ellroy retraces the initial investigation into his mother's murder in the hope of finally solving it. As in New York Trilogy, however, the reader is denied the solution and restoration of order generally expected from (and often desired in) a detective novel. The novel is written in four parts, and the extent to which Ellroy is both writer and detective varies with each one. The first part, ‘The Redhead' is Ellroy's reconstruction of the original investigation. Although true crime, this section reads as a police procedural novel, involving meticulous detail of each piece of evidence and information collected at the time. Ellroy has had to take on the role of detective in this section in order to reconstruct events as they happened at the time, 1958, thirty-five years before his own investigation. Unlike a fictional police procedural, in which the reader expects at least a portion of the evidence to be significant in solving the case, in the end it proves to be useless. It is Ellroy's inclusion of this irrelevant information that increases the extent to which he is also detective. Rather than using it as a plot device, he has included it for the purposes of accuracy. This section is also largely devoid of emotion, regardless of the significance of the case to Ellroy. The title, ‘The Redhead' is an example of this emotional absence; it provides a superficial physical description of Ellroy's mother with no real clue as to her identity. Ellroy himself, as narrator, is absent. He appears only as a character in the drama, the murdered woman's son. Unlike the last section in the novel, Ellroy does not appear as a detective. The second part of the text, ‘The Kid in the Picture', is autobiographical. It traces Ellroy's personal involvement in crime, such as going on â€Å"righteous burglary†18 runs, and his development as a writer of crime fiction. In this section Ellroy is clearly writer rather than detective. This is made even more evident as he mentions novels written by him during this period, such as L. A. Confidential – which he describes as a novel â€Å"all about me and L. A. crime†19. The third part of the novel, ‘Stoner', introduces the reader to the detective Bill Stoner, the man who will eventually aid Ellroy in the search for his mother's killer. This section is a biography of Stoner's life and cases as a homicide and later as an unsolved crime detective. Ellroy himself is again absent from this section. As a writer he would had to have investigated the events in Stoner's life that are mentioned here. Thus, in writing this section Ellroy has had to, in effect, engage in detection. The other way in which Ellroy could be seen to also be a detective in this part is the language he employs. Much of the information we are given reads as would a police report. As Blue in New York Trilogy is accustomed to writing reports in which â€Å"action holds forth over interpretation†20, we see Ellroy writing in the same manner. This can be seen in the following extract, The Soto guys let her in. Karen verbally attacked John's common-law wife and ran out of the apartment. The wife chased her. They traded insults on the sidewalk until 2:00 in the morning. John Soto ran down. He made his wife go upstairs. The whole of this section is written in the same manner. In contrast to In Cold Blood there is no emotion or interpretation, only facts. For this reason, as Ellroy's novel also deals with true crime, it could be said that Ellroy is a detective to a greater extent than Capote because he sticks more rigidly to the facts. The fact that the reader finishes this novel with a sense of dissatisfaction (as the case is not solved) could also add credence to this idea. This is because as a self-consciously literary exercise, rather than accurate detection, In Cold Blood manages to create a sense of suspense even though the reader knows who has been killed and who committed the crime. Ellroy instead recounts facts as they were rather than attempting to satisfy readers' expectations. Conversely, if we are talking about conventional detective literature, we could say that Ellroy is less of a detective (in the traditional manner) for the very reason that he fails to solve the crime, thereby failing to restore social order. The final section, ‘Geneva Hilliker', is that in which Ellroy is most evidently a detective as well as writer. This section of the novel details Ellroy's own investigation. It follows his collation of evidence, false leads followed and the final (if unsatisfying) resolution to Ellroy's story. Even if the reader does not find out who killed Geneva Hilliker, they, as Ellroy does, find out about her and her life. For Ellroy this provides some closure, as we would expect from a crime novel. It is not conventional to the genre but does resolve some of the questions Ellroy hoped to answer when he embarked on the investigation, thus consolidating his position as detective (however temporarily). In each of these novels, writers have to a considerable extent also been detectives. It is difficult to determine whether this is truer in any of the texts than in the others due to the different ways in which this has been the case. In My Dark Places and In Cold Blood, the authors of the novels have also carried out acts of detection in the research carried out for those novels. In New York Trilogy we see characters that happen to be either writers or detectives exchanging these roles. It may be said that any author is to some extent a detective, whether they are researching a factual book, or writing a fictional novel in order to discover something about the world in which they live. As Quinn believes, â€Å"the writer and detective are interchangeable†21.