Ray Of Light free essay sample

Well, once again the world-famous Material Girl has astonished and thrilled her fans and the music industry with another original, amazing album. Obviously, Madonnas maternal duties to her precocious two-year-old daughter have not kept this precedent-setter from doing her stuff! However, Madonnas conspicuous absence from headlines for some time had led to speculation that she might be toning down her act. As Ray of Light shows, this is definitely not true! The album takes a drastic turn from Madonnas previous pop-music and dreamy ballads, although some of that style is present, and enters new territory of awesome dance/techno beats. In fact, during an MTV interview, Madonna stated that her goal for the album would be to fuse techno with emotion, a goal that was definitely achieved. An especially contagious dance tune is the third track, which shares its name with the album. Then, of course, there is the well-known Frozen. We will write a custom essay sample on Ray Of Light or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This original song has decidedly Indian influences, as does Shanti/Ashtangl. These new influences stem from Madonnas recent interest in Middle Eastern culture and religion, specifically Judaisms Kabbalah, a source of mystical imagery meant to convey a certain image of the world. Although I found Madonnas lyrics to be lacking in creativity at times, overall I felt that this was close to, if not the best, album that Madonna has forged. Who knows whats next from this amazing artist? A new tour, hopefully!.

Class differences in the great gatsby essays

Class differences in the great gatsby essays In the Roaring Twenties, people from all the social classes suddenly became aware of the class differences. This may be the effect of the jump on the stock market or the aftermath of a world war. It was evident that the social classes were clearly divided by location, amount of material possessions and the way one person acts. Fitzgerald illustrates these class differences in the 1920s in The Great Gatsby by introducing to us different characters of different social classes and distinctly describes them in the way they act belonging to that of one class. Fitzgerald also introduces to us a setting that was designed to show these class differences by placing them in different locations with a basic layout. Characters such as the Buchanans, Gatsby and the Wilsons are all examples of how Fitzgerald lays it out for the reader to pick up and the novel surely shows how they conflict over these class differences. The setting in The Great Gatsby is used mainly to illustrate the class differences in the roaring twenties. There are three main places as to which the story takes place in that shows the class differences the most. These three places are East egg, West egg and the Valley of Ashes. A man named Nick Carraway is the narrator of this book and he describes to us these locations vividly. He lived at West Egg and he described it as the less fashionable of the two, (west and east egg), though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. (Fitzgerald, 9) By this, he meant that West egg was not really less fashionable than East egg because they are two egg-like piece of land that was physically the same in shape and size. However, it was less fashionable in the sense of the classes that lived there. People who lived in West egg were more of the newly rich and upper middle-class. Across the bay, was East egg, and those that liv ed there were even richer an...

A Short Quiz About Parallel Construction

A Short Quiz About Parallel Construction A Short Quiz About Parallel Construction A Short Quiz About Parallel Construction By Mark Nichol What’s wrong with these sentences? They each have syntax that creates an obstacle to clear understanding of the relationships of words or phrases to others. Revise them, and then scroll down to see my annotated solutions. 1. â€Å"People do not go outside their homes after dark, saying they fear muggers and police looking for bribes.† 2. â€Å"Marc Antony was not to be depicted as a monster, but as a love-struck fool.† 3. â€Å"People no longer seem to care about owning movies, are decreasingly interested in going to the movie theater, and studios seem to be betting on the fact that the format, not the actual movie, is the selling point.† 4. â€Å"The company apparently wastes very little money on lobbying and political contributions- nor, obviously, on a public relations department.† 5. â€Å"He founded and ran the trade journal from 1987 to 1991.† Answers 1. â€Å"People do not go outside their homes after dark, saying they fear muggers and police looking for bribes.† Explanation: The original sentence construction implies that residents fear being shaken down for bribes by muggers and police. A confusing sentence structure is sometimes clarified by reversing the order of the listed items, but â€Å"they fear police looking for bribes and muggers† only replicates the problem; now, the concern is identified as police on the lookout for both extortion opportunities and hoodlums. However, giving the police objectives equal weight muddles the sentence’s meaning. Introducing parallelism inspired by the previous phrase â€Å"they fear both muggers and police looking for bribes† is better but still somewhat awkward. A superior solution is to use the correlative conjunction â€Å"not only† and its companion phrase â€Å"but also,† which not only provides logical syntax but also strengthens the sentence’s impact by introducing the mundane followed by the unexpected: â€Å"People do not go outside their homes after dark, saying they fear not only muggers but also police looking for bribes.† However, the original solution offered above does so most simply. 2. â€Å"Marc Antony was to be depicted not as a monster but as a love-struck fool.† Explanation: This syntax resembles the correct form of the â€Å"not only . . . but also† construction alluded to above. However, the phrase â€Å"was not to be depicted as a monster† works only if it is juxtaposed with an independent clause: â€Å"Marc Antony was not to be depicted as a monster; the intent was to portray him as a love-struck fool.† Otherwise, the solution is to poise not directly after the verb (depicted), rather than before it, so that the alternatives are represented in parallel, one preceded by â€Å"not as† and the other following as. (The as before â€Å"a monster,† sundered from not, does not logically convey the opposing idea of the as before â€Å"a love-struck fool.†) 3. â€Å"People no longer seem to care about owning movies and are decreasingly interested in going to the movie theater, and studios seem to be betting on the fact that the format, not the actual movie, is the selling point.† Explanation: This sentence expresses three ideas: movie ownership, interest in viewing movies in theaters, and studio perception that format is more important than product. But structurally, it implies that all three ideas will pertain to what consumers want. The presence of the third, studio-centric idea, however, means that the subject â€Å"people† pertains only to the first two ideas, which need to be linked with a conjunction, not a comma. (The studio idea is expressed in an independent clause.) Therefore, this is not an â€Å"a, b, and c† sentence, but an â€Å"a and b, and c† sentence. 4. â€Å"The company apparently wastes very little money on lobbying and political contributions. (It also, obviously, spends nothing on a PR department.)† Explanation: Nor is associated only with negative expressions: â€Å"Neither you nor I is responsible†; â€Å"I didn’t get to see the movie, nor did I want to.† This sentence, though it refers to a company policy of minimalization of funding for certain activities, does not include a negative expression, so nor is incorrect. For it to be appropriate, the entire sentence would need to be cast in a negative sense, as in â€Å"The company apparently doesn’t spend very much money on lobbying and political contributions- nor, obviously, on a public relations department.† But perhaps the clearest revision is one that divides into separate sentences the comment about contributions from the one about public relations. 5. â€Å"He founded the trade journal in 1987 and ran it from its launch to 1991.† Explanation: The sentence structure implies that the consultant founded the trade journal during the given span of years as well as running it during that time, but founding occurs at a point, not along a time continuum, so the two actions founding and running need to be separated into distinct syntactical elements. But if you are editing this sentence, rather than writing it, and don’t know the facts firsthand, you need to confirm the founding date; the founder didn’t necessarily run the journal from the beginning. (They might have taken the operation over from someone else who was originally in charge.) 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:20 Types and Forms of HumorTry to vs. Try andWhile vs. Whilst

Deciphering Quotes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Deciphering Quotes - Assignment Example This eternal failure depresses people. The whole area of morality and justice involves official laws and courts, which can constrain people with more and more detailed prohibitions. Perhaps officialdom brings out the worst in people, and laws which are intended to be helpful are often used as weapons for people to humiliate and punish each other in public, rather than sorting out their differences in an informal discussion. The last statement about industry and profit is a very good one for our present times because it highlights the danger that comes when people build up huge amounts of wealth and possessions. This enrages people who are poor, and encourages them to steal from the rich, because the gap between rich and poor is so extreme. It seems that Lao-tzu recommends a quiet and modest life, in which each person lives by his or her own conscience, looking after self and others in a gentle way, rather than chasing after high ideals or great wealth which do not make people happy. 2 Plato: â€Å"The prison house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to my poor belief, which at your desire, I have expressed whether rightly or wrongly God knows.† In this quotation Plato explains the true meaning of his famous allegory of the cave. He has just been describing a â€Å"prison house† which is a cave in which human being are chained facing one wall, unable to see each other, or look in any other direction except at the wall in front of them. This makes me think of the way that many people have very fixed ideas about things, and can only see one perspective. In this allegory, however, the intention is not to point out the error of one particular way of thinking, but instead Plato wants us to think about the limitations of human understanding in general. The prisoners can only see shadows which are ref lected on the wall, because they are physically constrained to do so. This is an analogy for the way that human beings are forced to apprehend the world through their physical senses. They see some of the attributes of things in the world around them, but they cannot see others, for example the naked eye cannot see microscopic creatures or distant planets, but these objects do exist. The notion of the â€Å"ascent of the soul into the intellectual world†, which Plato represents as a journey out of the cave and its shadows into the full light and space of the world outside, shows the huge benefit that people gain when they use their mental faculties to complement the partial understanding that they gain from their senses. In a way this journey of the soul is a definition of philosophy, and an encouragement for students of Plato to step outside the purely physical dimension and think about higher things. 3 Aristotle: â€Å"The study of humankind requires awareness of peopleâ⠂¬â„¢s differences of background, education, habit, temperament, and other similar factors.† Aristotle is making a very important point about human nature, which is the great diversity that exists in society. It may be that Aristotle is arguing against the kind of philosophy that generalizes about human beings, as if they were all the same, or as if there is one model of

Pricing Strategy and Channel Distribution Essay

Pricing Strategy and Channel Distribution - Essay Example Market penetration pricing strategy will introduce Hall detergent at a lower price than the other detergents already existing in the market. The introduced products will come in different packages, each of which will have its price depending on the amounts packaged. The company is aware that it is exploring a competitive market segment where lowering prices at the entry stage will enable the company to acquire its own market niche. Once the detergent has gained a significant share of the market, the company will pursue other strategies and reduce prices accordingly. Market penetration is going to attract people who have never used the detergent before. The company aims at attracting new customers to use Hall detergent for their daily household activities such as washing and cleaning. The penetration pricing strategy will help the company to create a high market share for the new detergent. By using market penetration strategy, the company is going to create the presence of its produc ts in the consumers’ mind. This pricing strategy will create goodwill for the brand name of the detergent and will consequently make them positively attached to the product for a long time. The strategy will create a room for cost reduction and control right from the initial manufacturing stage to the end user. The increase in cost controls will help the company to increase profit margins throughout the channels of distribution and gain a competitive advantage against other companies manufacturing detergents. The tactics that the company is going to adopt in penetration pricing will include price competition and value pricing. The company will employ competitive pricing strategy tactic to penetrate the market already occupied by other players, as well as to set pieces according to the prices of similar detergents in the market. The competitive tactic is aimed at creating a distinction for the Halls detergent from the other detergents in the market. The Hall detergent is going to have a lower cross price elasticity as well as price elasticity, which will increase the demand for the detergent. Competition pricing strategy will create a room for the customers to explore the features of the hall detergent. This product has been made of high quality ingredients to ensure that cleaning becomes a fun activity. The effortless usage of the Hall detergents is the main feature that the company seeks to market using penetration and competition pricing strategies. The competitive pricing strategy will give the customers the right to choose between varieties of products as the company has a chance of displaying their products with high quality features at a lower price. In competition pricing strategy, a seller offers low products produced with low costs. However, the company will not use less quality ingredients in its bid to sell products at a lower price or control prices. The company will produce the Hall detergent with strict quality control and assurance. Once the product has gained its market share, the company will employ a value based pricing tactic. According to Boone and Kurtz (2010), value based pricing tactic will compare the quality and prices of the competing products in the market. The strategy will only work for goods that that are relatively low priced.

My Educational Philosophy Essay -- Philosophy of Education Teaching Es

My Educational Philosophy "Let experience be your teacher. Let challenges be the test of life!" ~Unknown Education is an experience that without a doubt no one can avoid at least for a while. While this process should be positive sometimes it can seem more negative. People should not look back at their education and perceive it as a â€Å"bad† thing or a waste of time. Logically one would think that a person is entitled to their own opinion; however, the opinion of one’s education should never be portrayed as a negative one. Every teacher or educator, whether they realize it or not, has developed an educational philosophy probably starting at the time they became interested in the field of education. It is through this educational philosophy or goal that the classroom teacher prepares children for their future. The purpose of education as a whole is to prepare children intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically for the world they are making a large portion of. As a child develops in these four major areas there are more requirements or minimal expectations set for the student. Today you it is very difficult for an adult to get a well paying job without the proper background in education. I hope that by becoming an educator I can help students acquire the â€Å"want† to get the necessary background to do whatever it is they so choose. I plan to teach all of these aspects in my classroom alone. I am an education major at the present time; however, I am not aware of exactly which content area I want to set my mind on for the rest of my life. If I had my choice, I would teach in elementary or middle school. This is because I want to feel as though I have the maximum impact on my students, and I feel children ... ...lusion, I have all intentions of impacting my students in a more than positive way. I want them to be comfortable enough with me to talk to me about their problems and concerns when it comes to education. I will focus not only one education of the intellectual self; instead, social, emotional, and physical skills will be further developed and strengthened. During my, what seems like never ending, many years of education, I have encountered teachers that were both effective and those who were not effective in the slightest. I have experienced teachers that I could talk to with my concerns about classes and those that I could not. When my students are grown and have lives of their own, I want them to be able to look back and feel as though they learned more than what they had to in my class. I want to be remembered as an â€Å"effective† teacher.

HR Employee Development & Workplace Learning Essay

Human resource development and knowledge is extremely essential for the success of an organization because HRD reflects upon the objectives and goals of the business which can be achieved through proper human resource planning and management activities and also through implementing the most effective human resource learning theories such as behaviorism theory and situated theory of learning which enhances the skills and talents of the employees to a great extent. (Allan, C. Greg J. Bamber, Nils Timo.. , 2006). It is extremely important for all organizations and managers to acknowledge the fact that the highly competitive business environment of today’s world mainly focuses upon the efficient use of human resources through learning and training them so that they can produce the maximum in a given time rate. Therefore, managers should clearly understand that they need to concentrate all their efforts into obtaining the best from their human resources. Butteriss,M. , 1998). Human resource development and management has always been a topic of discussion. Companies over many decades have tried to understand the complexities of human resource management and many researchers, analyst and great managers have come up with various theories and ideas to deal with this issue. (John B. P, 2009). To go forward with the discussion of HR development, we should first of all clearly understand what appropriate human resources are. Appropriate human resources refer to the individuals within the organization who make a valuable contribution to management system goal attainment. Research into this matter has proven that production in all businesses is accomplished by effective human resource interaction and combination of human resource management and theories. (Sheehan, C. , Peter Holland, Helen De Cieri. , 2006). Research has proven that if employee management and performance management (appraisal) works side by side then no problem can stop the organization from going towards success. For example, if through employee training and learning and training theories, the performance and output of the worker is evaluated then that knowledge regarding the workers performance can help the organization in giving bonuses and rewards to the worker for his dedication, motivation and hard work. (Bray, M. and Peter Waring. , 2006). For instance, a worker’s performance is checked through the performance appraisal system and it proves that the worker is very efficient and hardworking, then that worker can be awarded rewards and bonus for his efficiency and effectiveness. Peetz, D. , 2005) Extensive research into this matter has also proven that if organizations only focus on building and training their employees and do not focus on any program of performance check or management then these organizations will not be able to achieve effective results in the long run. This is because employees need to be constantly checked in order to find out whether they are working with dedi cation and motivation or whether their skills have become outdated or not. Leaving employees totally on their own can lead to disastrous effects. Performance management has become extremely popular in the recent years because its worth and value has been recognized by most organizations nowadays. Human resource managers now clearly understand that without appraising the performance of their workforce they can never find out how productive and effective their workforce is. Moreover, performance appraisal also allows the organization to give bonuses to their employees for good performance and to motivate them more for the future. Research shows that due to performance appraisals nowadays employees are dealt with strictly when they come late to work on a regular basis. Therefore, performance appraisal immediately makes the employees more efficient and effective and ends any kind of laid back behavior that they already had towards their work. (Mamman, A. and Christopher J Rees. , 2005) HR Management and development comprises of not only employee training but it consists of a broader aspect of employee development, learning and education. Through research, it has been found that the employees who have obtained extensive training, learning and development education are the most efficient and effective ones to work in today’s highly competitive business environment HR management basically tries to build the skills and work tasks of the employees so that they can give maximum success and productivity to the organization for which they work. (Ghai, D. ; Hewitt, C. , 1994) Research proves that the accuracy and fairness of the performance appraisal of employees keeps changing every now and then because the role of HR management itself is continuously changing all over the world due to a multiple reasons. (Hicks, N. L. ,1993) Furthermore, the recent crisis the world is facing namely, the War on Terror, has greatly affected the financial condition of the economy of the world due to which oil prices have increased, unemployment has increased, corruption has risen, privatization and consumerism has taken place and all these policies have had a very strong impact upon HRD as it changes to reduce employee stress. Freeman, C. ; Soete, L. , 1993). There are many theories given by a lot of renowned scholars on various issues of HR Management. Two of them are Behaviorism Theory and the other is the Situated Theory. These two theories play a major role in enhancing a trainer’s understanding of the learning process. The Theory of behaviourism is useful for the development of competencies and also for exhibiting technical skills. This is a learning theory and is most advantageous when a change in behavior of a worker is desired. This theory is really helpful for all the major organizations in the world as it plays an important role in judging the attitudes of the employees. Behaviourism is actually a model of training for employees. The systematic training designs, training objectives, computer or electronically device based learning, and also competencies are all a major part of behaviorist learning theory. There are few assumptions related to this learning theory which are to be given importance in order to implement it in an organization.