Partisan Elections essays

Partisan Elections essays In the following essay I will be talking about the disadvantages and advantages of partisan elections for state politics. I will also examine the last couple years election results and costs. Finally, I will discuss if partisanship made a difference in the vote, as well as if a judge should be decided by partisan vote. In the next couple paragraphs I will talk more specifically about these topics. First, lets talk about the advantages of partisan elections compared to nonpartisan elections. It makes voting a lot faster because the people can just go to either democrat, republican or independent column. They do not have to go through a big list of candidates to figure out who is the best choice, like it would be in nonpartisan elections. Another advantage of having partisan elections would have to be the free press and name recognition. These are really important in an election especially name recognition, because you want the people to notice your name on the ballot when it comes to election time and vote for you. I think that partisan elections help address issues and get the word out to the people, because the candidates have to campaign. This is good because they actually have to go out and talk to the people within the state they are running for. If this was a small town and the people of that town knew who you were and what you have accomplished while in politics , than there is a high probability of getting elected. That is why I think campaigning and name recognition are very important in state elections especially in small towns. Secondly, I will now talk about the disadvantages of having a partisan election. First, partisan elections cost a lot more money than nonpartisan elections, because in nonpartisan elections you do not have to campaign. The voters must do their own research on the candidates and makes the voter actually think and know why they are going to vote. A bad ...

The 23 SAT Tips and Tricks You Must Use

The 23 SAT Tips and Tricks You Must Use SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Studying for the SAT is a big undertaking, and you might not know where to start. A good way to get yourself into gear is to learn about the structure of the test and different ways you can adapt your strategy to improve on each section. In this article, I’ll provide you with a comprehensive list of the top 23 tips (broken down by section) that you should be using to get your best scores ever on the SAT. Overall SAT Study Tips Tip 1: Eliminate 3 Wrong Answers The most important rule to remember for the SAT is that there is only one correct answer for each question, and you should be able to eliminate all the others. This means that your number one strategy on the test is process of elimination. If you're struggling with a question, try to find reasons to rule out most of the answers rather than reasons why certain options could work. Learn to be extremely picky about which answers to eliminate. This especially applies to the Reading and Writing sections. If a question seems subjective, keep reminding yourself that it’s an illusion. All incorrect choices are incorrect for good reasons, and it’s your job to find those reasons until you narrow your answers down to one possibility. Tip 2: Always Understand Your Mistakes This is vital if you want to see dramatic improvements. If you take the time to understand each mistake you make on practice questions, why you made it, and what you will do to avoid it in the future, you’re virtually guaranteed a good score on the test. Mistakes usually fall into one of four categories: #1: Content weakness#2: Time pressure#3: Question comprehension issue#4: Careless error After you finish a practice test, catalog all the questions you answer incorrectly so you can work on detecting error patterns. Did you consistently answer a particular type of math question wrong (content weakness)? Did you keep missing the words â€Å"except† or â€Å"least† (careless error) in questions? Did you consistently miss questions at the end of sections (time pressure)? Whatever your issues, you have to understand them completely so you can fix the problems you’re having and see positive changes in your scores! SAT Reading Tips Tip 3: Pay Attention to Connotation and Context This tip is critical for answering tough questions in the Reading section. Look for words that indicate positive or negative connotation in the part of the passage that the question references. This can help you to eliminate at least a couple of choices even if you have no idea which of the remaining choices is correct. Context is also very important! Don’t just look at the exact line that is referenced in the question- look at the sentences around it too. Look for contrast words such as â€Å"however†, â€Å"rather than† or â€Å"still†. You should also pay attention to strong adjectives that might help you to determine connotation. Positive or negative connotation- you decide. Also to whoever made this image: I think we know what thumbs up and thumbs down mean. The faces are overkill. Tip 4: Use Find the Evidence Questions to Your Advantage The new SAT has questions that ask you to choose an excerpt from the passage that serves as the best evidence for your answer to the previous question. These new questions can help you tremendously in identifying mistakes and clearing up ambiguities. For example, say you've picked out two answers that you think could be correct for a reading question. If the next question asks you to identify the best evidence for your answer, you can read through all the options the find-the-evidence question gives you and see which choice most directly connects to one of your two potential responses for the previous question. In almost every case, it will become abundantly clear which of the two choices is correct because only that one will have a corresponding tidbit of direct evidence tucked away in one of the answer choices for the find the evidence question. Tip 5: Read Passages Strategically Try to nail down a good passage reading strategy for the SAT before test day. This will save you time and stress later. There are a few methods you might use depending on how comfortable you are with the test and where you are in your reading comprehension skills. Method 1: Skim the Passage First This is the method I would be most inclined to recommend. You can get a sense of the main ideas of the passage without wasting too much time reading it closely. To skim effectively, just read the introductory paragraph, conclusion paragraph, and first and last sentences of each body paragraph. Answer main idea questions first while the overall point of the passage is still fresh in your mind. Then you can read specific sections of the passage more closely as needed to answer questions about smaller details. Method 2: Skip Straight to the Questions Because the SAT gives you line numbers for questions on the Reading section, skipping the passage altogether can be an effective initial strategy. If you do this, you should answer questions about small details in the passage first, so you end up reading a bit of the passage while answering questions. Then, when you move on to main idea questions later, you’ll already have a solid sense of the message of the passage as a whole. Method 3: Read the Passage in Full If you’re both a quick and thorough reader, you might be able to pull this off without any problems. Just make sure it’s not slowing you down. There's more material to read on the new SAT, so this strategy might be less feasible than it was in the past. If you're reading this way and find you can save a few minutes (and not lose any points) by using one of the other methods, then you should do that instead. It’s always better to have extra time at the end so you can double-check your answers! Tip 6: Don’t Ignore Passage Introductions At the beginning of every passage on the SAT, there is a little italicized blurb giving you a bit of context about the passage and its author. This introductory blurb contains valuable information, and if you skip it, you could miss out on easy points. At the very least, passage introductions give you context for what you’re about to read so you aren't too confused about who’s who or where the passage is set. Even if your method of attack for SAT passages is to skip straight to the questions, you should still make a point of reading the italicized intro before you do anything else. Tip 7: Get Interested in the Passages If you want to retain information as you’re reading passages on the SAT, the best way to do it is to force yourself to engage with the material. Treat this as a learning experience, not a chore, and you’ll find it much easier to remember what happened in the passage. If your brain is in â€Å"wow, interesting† mode rather than â€Å"blah, blah, just have to get to the questions† mode, you’ll have a more pleasant experience on the test and a better time answering the questions overall. Tip 8: Look for Direct Evidence Though questions on SAT reading may sometimes seem subjective, the reality is that you should always be able to find direct evidence in the passage or chart you are referencing to support your answers. Even inference questions, which ask you to look beyond the literal facts in the passage, will be backed up by logical deductions that can be made from the evidence that is presented. For inference questiosn especially, you might end up looking beyond the sentence referenced in the question to find the evidence you need. But the evidence is always in there somewhere! If you’re thinking about choosing an answer that seems like it could be correct, but you can’t find any evidence for it, hold off. Any answer that can’t be backed up by specific information in the passage has to be incorrect. U on the SAT irl SAT Math Tips Tip 9: Focus on Filling Content Gaps First If you have problems with basic math skills, it doesn’t matter how many practice SAT questions you do- you’re going to have to fix those knowlege gaps before you can improve your SAT Math score. If you notice you’re missing practice SAT Math questions because you are uncomfortable in a certain content area, work on your content weaknesses before you do anything else. This is the fastest way to improve your scores dramatically. You can go from here to fix other types of mistakes that are more surface-level (such as reading questions wrong or basic carelessness). Tip 10: Re-Solve Questions You Missed Before Looking at the Answer Explanations This is the best way to make sure you truly understand how to solve questions you initially messed up on the Math section. It’s one thing to read the answer explanation and say â€Å"oh, of course, that’s how you solve it," but it’s a completely different matter to work out the problem yourself. The process will stick in your mind much better if you go through it, rather than if you just read about it. Look at what the correct answer choice should be and try to get there yourself before you read the explanation. Tip 11: Underline Key Parts of the Question You should use this tip on the math section if you've been missing questions by accidentally solving for the wrong value. Underline what you need to find in the question so you don’t get confused during the calculation process. Sometimes math questions ask you to solve for a value that necessitates solving for something else along the way. That something else will often be one of the incorrect answer choices (though this sort of tricky incorrect answer choice is less likely to show up on the new SAT). Many students accidentally pick the trick answer choice because they lose track of the value that they were originally supposed to find. You can avoid this by underlining relevant parts of the question to maintain your focus. Tip 12: Memorize Formulas Although the SAT math section does provide you with a list of formulas, you’ll lose time and momentum by constantly turning back to reference them. It's best to have all the formulas memorized beforehand. Check out our article on the formulas you need to know for the SAT Math section to make sure you’re prepared. You can use a calculator for half of the Math section, but if you don't know the formulas, it's not going to be much help. SAT Writing Tips Tip 13: Memorize Grammar Rules The SAT Writing section has a specific standardized approach to grammar, so it’s useful to memorize the rules to reduce confusion. Even if you think you're pretty good at grammar, it’s not always enough to just go by what "looks right" to you. If you’re not used to some of the more archaic grammar rules tested on the SAT, you should memorize them. This will prevent you from accidentally choosing NO CHANGE for phrases that have errors according to the SAT's formal grammar guidelines. Check out this article for a review of all the grammar rules you’ll see on the SAT! Tip 14: Be Careful with NO CHANGE Answers If you notice that you’re answering NO CHANGE for lots questions on the Writing section, you should go back and double-check your answers. NO CHANGE will only be the answer for 25 percent or less of the questions where it's an option. If you’re choosing it more than that, you might be missing something. Be sure to verify it again before you commit. On the flip side, you also shouldn't be overly worried about choosing NO CHANGE. It will inevitably be the correct answer a few times, so don't get too caught up in second-guessing yourself. Tip 15: Skim the Paragraph Before Answering Rhetoric Questions Unlike grammar questions, which only require reading through a couple of sentences at most to answer correctly, rhetoric questions challenge you to examine entire paragraphs or the passage as a whole to find the right answer. Examples of rhetoric questions are questions about sentence function, the logical sequences of sentences, and the author's style and tone. The SAT mostly sticks to asking Writing questions chronologically, so you'll likely find yourself answering several grammar questions about specific sentences, followed by a couple of rhetoric questions that relate to the paragraph as a whole. Don't be lulled into complacency and think you can answer rhetoric questions just by reading through the specific sentence the question asks about and using vague memories of the content of the other sentences you just answered grammar questions on. Instead, skim through the paragraph as a whole and then attempt the rhetoric question. Tip 16: If Both Answers Are Grammatically Correct, Pick the More Concise One One of the skills SAT Writing tests is conciseness, or the use of as few words as necessary to convey meaning clearly. Being able to answer concision questions correctly requires knowing not just what the grammatically correct choice is, but which is the best grammatically correct choice. This might be daunting, especially if you're not a native English speaker, so we recommend following this tip: if both answers are grammatically correct, choose the most concise one. Here's an example of a real SAT question with multiple grammatically correct answer choices: One of the artist’s most famous images showed Tweed with a bag of money in place of his head. A) NO CHANGEB) famous and well-knownC) famous and commonly knownD) famous, commonly known Answer choices A), B), and C) are all grammatically correct replacements for "famous" in the question sentence. So which one is correct? By following the rule of choosing the most concise answer, we can rule out B) and C) to arrive at the correct answer, A). Note that the correct concise answer isn't always going to be the shortest (even though it was in this case); it's the shortest answer that preserves the meaning of the original sentence. In this case, "famous and well-known" and "famous and commonly-known" are both wordier and redundant ways of saying "famous," so there's no reason to change the sentence. SAT Essay Tips Tip 17: Analyze, Then Write Essay prompts on the new SAT ask you to analyze an argument presented in a passage. The graders want to see that you fully grasp the author's point and can write a clear explanation of how he or she builds the argument. You have fifty minutes for the essay, and you should spend a good 10-15 minutes making sure you understand exactly what the author is saying and how you'll outline your essay based on your analysis. Tip 18: Use Specific Evidence Don't just describe how the author builds the argument in your own words; prove your points with specific examples. When you're first reading through the passage, underline sentences or phrases that provide evidence of the author's persuasive techniques. Direct quotes should be used in your essay to reinforce the most important points. Using the evidence at your disposal, you will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the author committed the crime of having an opinion. SAT Test Day Tips Tip 19: Get Ready the Night Before On the morning of the test, you'll inevitably be nervous. There's a lot of stuff you need to bring to the SAT, and you don't want to forget something at the last minute while you're distracted by your nerves. Here's a checklist to ensure that this doesn't happen: Admission ticket Photo ID #2 pencils and eraser Calculator We also recommend that you bring snacks and water as well asa watch to monitor your pacing.Just put everything in your bag the day before. Don't procrastinate! Tip 20: Skip Difficult Questions This is a key tip if you struggle with time pressure on the SAT. If you're having trouble with a question, skip it and move on before you waste too much time. Lingering on hard questions could cost you easy points if it means you’re not getting to questions later in the section. For the Math and Reading sections, don’t spend more than a minute trying to figure out each question. For the Writing section, don’t spend more than 30 seconds. Circle any questions that you skip so that they’re easier for you to pick out when you go back through the section. You might find that after you’ve answered the rest of the questions, you’ll feel less pressure and be able to think more clearly on questions that initially stumped you. If you still can't figure out the answer, take a guess! The new SAT has no guessing penalty, so it's always better to guess than to leave a question blank. Tip 21: Bubble at the End A good way to save a few minutes of time is to fill in all your answers at the end of the section. Circle your choices in your test booklet as you go along, then go back and bubble them in when you’re done with the section. With this tip, you’ll avoid going back and forth between your test booklet and answer sheet, which is not very efficient and adds a few seconds to your time for each question. Make sure you only use this strategy if you already know you're capable of finishing the section with at least 3-5 minutes to spare! It would be terrible to answer all the questions in your booklet and not have time to fill in your choices on the answer sheet. Tip 22: Double-Check Your Answers While it's tempting to take a rest if you have extra time at the end of an SAT section, you should always double-check your answers first. When you initially make your way through each section, circle questions that you’re unsure about so you can double-check strategically. If you have lots of extra time, you might even go through and check every single one of your answers. This way you’ll pick up on any careless mistakes you might have made if you were rushing or missed a key word in a question. Always double Czech. Tip 23: Stay Calm Above all, keep a cool head on the test. If you see a question you don’t understand, don’t let it psych you out. Just keep going. You might need to skip some questions at first, and that’s ok. Though there is a lot of pressure to finish each section on time, there's nothing wrong with doing the questions out of order. Look at each section with fresh eyes, and try not to dwell on what you might have gotten wrong earlier in the test. Review In this article, I've given you 23 of our best tips for success on the SAT. Here's a quick list for review: Overall Study Tips #1: Eliminate 3 Wrong Answers#2: Always understand your mistakes SAT Reading Tips #3: Pay attention to connotation and context#4: Use find the evidence questions to your advantage#5: Find a good passage reading strategy#6: Read the italicized passage introductions#7: Get interested in the passages#8: Look for direct evidence for your answers SAT Math Tips #9: Focus on filling content gaps#10: Re-solve questions you get wrong before looking at answer explanations#11: Underline the key parts of questions#12: Memorize the formulas SAT Writing Tips #13: Memorize the grammar rules#14: Be careful with "NO CHANGE" answers#15: Skim the paragraph before answering rhetoric questions#16: If both answers are grammatically correct, pick the more concise one SAT Essay Tips #17: Analyze, then write#18: Use specific evidence SAT Test Day Tips #19: Get ready the night before.#20: Skip difficult questions#21: Bubble at the end#22: Double-check your answers#23: Stay calm With these tips, you should be able to improve your performance on the SAT significantly. You should also pay attention to more in-depth strategies in your studying so that you can improve your content knowledge and feel more confident on the test! What's Next? For more strategies, take a look at our guides to getting a perfect SAT score on Reading, Math, Writing and overall. If you're trying to plan out your studying, read our complete plan for SAT studying and our guide to how long you should be studying for the SAT based on your goals. What kinds of study materials do you need to study for the SAT? We break down what the best prep books are (and which books to avoid) in this expert guide. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

Shia Political Islam and Its Sunni Counterpart Essay

Shia Political Islam and Its Sunni Counterpart - Essay Example On the one hand, throughout the history writers of Shia and Sunni revealed different approaches to reading Quran and understanding what exactly a good society is. Even though both sects agree on three fundamental Islamic principles (monotheism, Day of Judgement, and parenthood), they use these prerequisites differently in explaining ordinary events that appeared after Mohammed’s life (Ameli and Malaei 32). As Ja’fari explains the term ‘Shi’a’, the essence of it refers to â€Å"followers, party, group, associates, partisans, or in rather looser sense, ‘supporters’† (6). In this situation, the word ‘mawla’ the Shia understand as leader and patron. Hence, the Shia believe that Imam Ali is a successor of Muhammed they should worship as an authority (Ameli and Malaei 23). On the contrary, the definition of ‘Sunna’ refers to nobility and high moral qualities (Ja’fari 9). For them, ‘mawla’ is a friend, or the nearest kin (Ja’fari 23). Thus, they think Muslims had selected the leader after Muhammed, Abu-Bakr, among themselves, which underlines his equal status with other Muslims. This preposition leads to higher level of tolerance and acknowledgement. For example, Sunni commentators of religious texts tend to include the wives of Prophet while referring to his relatives. In fact, this different attention to the details signalizes of different degree of patriarchy within families.In this situation, such generally unequal understanding of the balance of power should lead to contradiction between two branches.

History of the Vietnam Wars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History of the Vietnam Wars - Essay Example eneva, in which Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold the unification elections† (Learn about the Vietnam War, 2010). It is difficult to understand what the French and the Americans tried to achieve. If they felt they could impose their might through superior military prowess, they had difficult time proving it in the marshy soil of tropical Vietnam. In the first place, the military preparation was nothing short of disaster. The huge pile of weapons stocked by the French and the Americans was of little avail to the Vietnamese. The weapons only served to aggravate or spoil things for the French and the Americans by adverse reactions from their own homelands. Nothing much is known about adverse public reaction to the Indo-China war in France. The protests were largely muted and it was left to the politicians to take action as they deemed fit. The French defeat in Dien Bien Phu was a substantial eye-opener to the French government and they did not waste time in tactfully concluding the war with a peace conference in Geneva. The Americans were, however, more noisy. In the United States, opposition to the war was vociferous. As the years progressed, the media was pregnant with news of public protests and atrocities committed on American soldiers. Politically, both President Johnson and President Nixon faced angry crowds swearing by anti-war statements. The American Presidents were sensitive to adverse political decisions and had no idea the chaotic situation at home might cause in the present or in the future. In the latter years of President Nixon, he was too caught up with the Watergate scandal to think clearly on issues with regard to Vietnam. His frustrations compounded issues and the failure of the Americans in the Vietnam was the result of political wrangles that only added to the

Exam review Essay Example for Free

Exam review Essay List three examples of operating system software. Linux, OS X, and Microsoft Windows List three examples of application software. Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and Visual Studio Programs that make a computer useful for everyday tasks are known as application software What is used to translate high level language programs to machine language (or machine code)? Compiler What both translates and executes the instructions in a high level language program? What was the first programming language designed to perform complex math functions? Interpreter. Fortran Rules that are strictly enforced during compilation are called what? Syntax Rules What are violations of strictly enforced rules during compilation called? Syntax Errors Which will not prevent compilation, syntax or logical errors? Logic Errors Instead of binary numbers, assembly language uses short words for instructions known as what? Mnemonics Name a high level language you use in the course. Visual Basic The words that make up a high level programming language are known as what? Keywords Which runs faster a compiled or an interpreted program? Compiled Which language utilizes binary numbers like 01110000? Machine Language How many steps are in the Program Development Cycle and what are they? 1 Design the Program2 Write the Code3 Correct Syntax Errors4 Test the Executable Code 5 Debug the Code What is an informal language that has no syntax rules and is not meant to be compiled or executed? Pseudo Code What is a diagram that graphically depicts the steps that take place in a program? Flowchart What is a set of statements that execute in the order that they appear? Sequence Structure What is a logical design that controls the order in which a set of statements execute? Control Structure What graphically displays boxes that represent each module in a program? Hierarchy Chart Which flowchart symbol represents a terminal point like Start or Stop? Oval Which flowchart symbol represents processing and is used with the keywords Set and Declare? Rectangle Which flowchart symbol represents decisions and is used with the keywords If/Then? Diamond Which flowchart symbol represents input and output and is used with the keywords Input and Display? Parallelogram Which flowchart symbol represents calling modules and is used with the keyword Call? Rectangle with 2 Vertical Lines In programming, a storage location in memory is called what? Variable A variable that is declared inside a module is called what? Local Variable What is the term that describes the part of the program that a variable can be accessed? Scope A variable that can be seen throughout the program is called what? Global Variable True or false: A variable can begin with a number. False True or false: A variable can contain spaces. False True or false: A variable can have a number as the last character of the variable name? True True or false: A variable can contain an underscore. True True or false: A constant can be changed during execution of a program. False True of false: A variable can be changed during execution of a program. True What are the four main data types discussed in class so far? 1. Integer2. Real3. String4. Boolean What is used to check the relationship between two values? Relational Operator Which relational operator is used to denote greater than or equal to? = Which relational operator is used to denote not equal to? != Which relational operator is used to denote less than? What is the difference between using the relational operator = and the relational operator ==? = is used for assignment and == is used for comparison What is the symbol used to indicate raised to the x power in pseudo code? ^ What is the truth table for AND? True AND True = True True AND False = False False AND False = False False AND True = False What is the truth table for OR? True OR True = True True OR False = True False OR False = False False OR True = True What does NOT False evaluate to? True Indicate three benefits of modules? Faster Development, Simpler Code, Code reuse What is a variable passed to a module called? Argument Define the abbreviation ASCII. American Standard Code for Information Interchange Relational Operators Great Then Less Then = Greater Then or Equal 7 is false 5 7 Is True (5 7) or (10 3) is True (5 7) and (10 3) is False NOT (5 7 ) and (10 3 )is true because the NOT reverses All programming languages that allow you to create expressions that can be evaluated as either true or false are called ? Boolean expressions. Boolean expressions uses relational operators

Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Chivalry by the Knight and the Squire Essa

Different Perspectives of Chivalry by the Knight and the Squire in Canterbury Tales  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the medieval period that is described by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, chivalry was perhaps the most recognized quality of a true Christian gentleman. This quality is explored in Chaucer's two characters of the warrior class, the Knight and the Squire. The Squire is in fact the son of the Knight; both ride gallantly and have the air of true gentleman warriors. However, the two are very dissimilar despite their appearances. The Knight possesses the true qualities of chivalry, devotion to service, constancy in humility, and honesty. The Squire possesses none of these qualities truly, instead his demeanor is a shell that encloses a less virtuous constitution. Although both claim the same vocation, the Squire and the Knight display contradicting attitudes in respect to dedication, material possessions, and sincerity. The most recurrent point in the description of the Knight was the abundance and importance of his battles, while it was the least mentioned aspect of the Squire. While the entirety of the Squire's military exploits are named in two lines, "he had seen some service with the cavalry / In Flanders and Artois and Picardy.", the list of the Knight's battles clearly dominates the text of his description, running for many lines: When we took Alexandria, he was there . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In Lithuania he had ridden, and Russia, No Christian man so often, of his rank. When, in Granada, Algeciras sank Under assault, he had been there, and in North Africa, raiding Benamarin; In Anatolia he had been as well And fought when Ayas and Attalia fell... This pass... ...o some degree boastful, lusting, or superficial. The Squire was never directly criticized by Chaucer, but the implications that resulted from the description amounted to an extravagant, un-chivalrous image, a reflection of the actual knights of Chaucer's day. Because of the reality of the corruption that was portrayed by the Squire, the true and complete chivalry portrayed by the Knight was unknown. Therefore, it follows that Chaucer was not merely comparing two knights and delineating the virtues that comprised chivalry, but in a grander sense was re vealing many of the corrupting point of humanity by comparing the fundamental difference between the reality of our humanity with the ideal of perfection. Works Cited: Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed Mack, Maynard et al. W. W. Norton and Co. New York, NY. 1992.

Are Crises Threatening the Benefits?

Are crises threatening the benefits from international portfolio diversification? This essay examines whether rising international stock market correlations during market crises are weakening the efficacy of modern portfolio theory, which promises benefits from international portfolio diversification. The importance of the combining assets that are not perfectly correlated is discussed, as are reasons why we might expect markets to move more closely during crises. If it is clear that markets are moving more closely together during crises, investors are losing diversification benefits at the most critical time.However, because of assumptions, it is apparent that there is considerable debate over the validity of the correlation coefficient for use in explaining the co-movement of market returns. It may be that markets are moving closely together at all times. Also, over the long run, short term rises in correlations may have negligible effects for the investor. For these reasons, we ca nnot discredit the worth of international portfolio diversification. The correlation coefficient is a key statistic for devising the optimal portfolio.In accordance to Modern Portfolio Theory, where risk is to be minimized for a given level of return, the correct combination of assets relies critically on the correlation between those assets. When defining the risk of a portfolio as its standard deviation, when assets that are less that perfectly correlated are combined, the standard deviation of the portfolio is actually less that the weighted average of each individual asset’s standard deviation, although the expected return from a portfolio is simply the weighted average of the expected return of each individual asset (Bodie, Kane, Marcus, Perrakis, &Ryan, 2008, p. 08). This is why combining assets with correlations of less than one (proper diversification) is referred to as a ‘free lunch. ’ It is also apparent that this principle also extends to international portfolio diversification, where market returns are less that perfectly correlated. From examining the correlation data from Table 2, the financial crisis of the late 2000’s seems to be yet another example of international stock market correlations rising during bear markets.The selective correlations of the UK’s FTSE 100 Index, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Average, and Brazil’s Bovespa Index to the S&P 500 come from simple fifteen year data series’ on monthly index returns. All correlations were higher from 2008 to March 2009 (the substance of the S&P 500’s decline during the financial crisis) relative to correlations for the entire sample period, and even higher relative to correlations for the bull run of 2003-2008. This correlation behaviour may create misgivings for an investor who values his ‘free lunch,’ and raises the questions: do markets move more closely during crises and why ?When using the correlation coefficient to measure the comovement of market returns, we are making assumptions about the underlying data (stock market returns. ) An important assumption is that the underlying data follow a normal distribution. A study by Campbell, Forbes, Koedijk, and Kofman (2007) examined annualized mean return data for five stock indices from 1990-2005 and found that each data set failed to conform to normality, by displaying significant skewness and kurtosis.They also test conditional correlation estimators under normality and under the student-t distribution, and find that â€Å"earlier studies may have overestimated the excess in conditional correlation by assuming bivariate normality,† and that under the student-t distribution excess conditional correlation ceases for the left tail (bear markets) of returns (para. 4). Furthermore, Forbes and Rigobon (2002) assert that the correlation coefficient is further biased as an estimator of market comovement because of the heteroskedasticity of market return da ta (volatility changes), while the correlation coefficient assumes homoskedasticity.They conclude that increases in volatility during crises result in an upward bias in correlation coefficients during those periods. After adjusting for this bias, they find that there is no statistically significant increase in market correlations during crises. They do find that markets comove strongly at all times, which they call â€Å"interdependence†(p. 2250). It is important to note that Forbes and Rigobon’s result is not uncontested, and that they also employed their own set of assumptions, and when violated, â€Å"correlation coefficients are not always biased measures of dependence when markets become more olatile†(Bartram and Wang, 2005, para. 1). This illustrates the academic uncertainty of dismissing or accepting correlation coefficients as an effective measure of market co movement. It is because of the uncertainty in the literature, and the inherent assumptions of t he correlation coefficient, that we cannot strictly conclude, by examining stock market return correlations, that markets move more closely together during crises.In a study of the comovement of stock market returns during the aforementioned financial crisis, Didier, Love, Soledad, and Peria (2011) provide some insights into why shocks may transmit and manifest in different stock exchanges. They test three possible drivers of market comovement: real linkages through trade; financial linkages, both direct and indirect, including the actions of international investors with respect to margin calls, risk aversion, and herding; and ‘demonstration effects’, where investors give new attention to risks that have materialized, and then update valuations.From their empirical tests, they find that financial variables played the largest role in transmission during the financial crisis of the late 2000’s, while ‘demonstration effects’ also contributed to increase d comovement in the early stages of the crisis. Also, although trade linkages were not found to explain co movement during the period, the authors remind â€Å"this does not mean that they will not play an important role in future crises (as they have in the past)† (p. 2). The drivers of stock market correlation by Didier et al. do provide meaningful explanations of why we might expect markets to move together during crises, but they aren’t all excluded from working in the opposite direction (not just in crises). Assuming market correlations are in fact an unbiased and accurate measure of market comovement during crises, this would result in a significant loss of the benefits of international diversification during downturns.According to Butler and Joaquin’s (2002) test of an equally weighted portfolio amongst international markets, investors would get an annual return of 2% less than predicted by the normal distribution in extreme bear markets (5% left tail). T hey conclude that in this case investors may benefit from trying to predict which markets will have near-normal market correlations during bear markets, and then weight their portfolios more heavily in these markets. Is that (potential guesswork) really necessary? According to Asness, Israelov, and Liew (2010) the answer is no, at least if you are a long-term investor.Asness et al. compare the returns of holding a local portfolio vs. an equal-weight global portfolio, where they find that a global portfolio shows lower short term volatility (for one month and one year averages) but greater skewness where â€Å"simultaneous market crashes cause the global portfolios to experience worse risk adjusted crashes†(p. 6). Over the long run, though, they find that holding a global portfolio provides considerable insulation from local downturns, and the skewness of the global portfolio approaches zero.They contend that in the long run countries’ market returns are driven by count ry-specific underlying economic performance, and that international diversification insulates the investor from being exposed to any one underperforming country in concentration. This long run result gets back to the premise of modern portfolio theory, that is, combining assets that aren’t perfectly correlated, or don’t co-move in direct proportions. As we can see, it is hard to discredit the efficacy of international portfolio diversification by strictly examining rising international market correlations.Because market return data may not conform to the assumptions inherent to the correlation coefficient, there is uncertainty over its usefulness as a measure of market co-movement. Also, if the investor has a long-term horizon, the benefits from international diversification are still strong. References Asness, C. S. , Israelov, R. , & Liew, J. M. (2010). International diversification works (In the long run). Social Science Research Network, n/a. Retrieved from http:// www. retailinvestor. org/pdf/ForDiversify. pdf Bartram, S. M. , & Wang, Y. H. (2005).Another look at the relationship between cross-market correlation and volatility. Finance Research Letters, 2(2), 75-88. doi:10. 1016/j. frl. 2005. 01. 002 Bodie, Z. , Kane, A. , Marcus, A. , Perrakis, S. & Ryan, P. (2008). Investments: sixth Canadian edition. Canada: McGraw Hill. Butler, K. C. , & Joaquin, D. C. (2002). Are the gains from international portfolio diversification exaggerated? The influence of downside risk in bear markets. Journal of International Money and Finance, 21(7), 981-1011. doi:10. 1016/S0261-5606(02)00048-7 Campbell, R. A. , Forbes, C.S. , Koedijk, K. G. & Kofman, P. (2007). Increasing correlations or just fat tails? Journal of Empirical Finance, 15(2), 287-309. doi:10. 1016/j. jempfin. 2007. 01. 001 Didier, T. , Love, I. , Soledad, M. , & Peria, M. (2011). What explains comovement in stock market returns during the 2007–2008 crisis? International Journal of Finance and Economics, n/a. doi: 10. 1002/ijfe. 442 Forbes, K. J. , & Rigobon, R. (2002). No contagion, only interdependence: measuring stock market co movements. The Journal of Finance, 57(5), 2223-2261. doi: 10. 1111/0022-1082. 00494

Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer is the story of a custody battle, but in its time (1979) and place it becomes a battle of mothering vs. fathering and over how men and women should lead their lives.   Ted Kramer, a Madison Avenue art director is so consumed with his career that he doesn’t understand the basic needs of his son or even the grade he is in school.   Joanna Kramer, a former employee of Mademoiselle, had left her career to care for their son, Billy.   Joanna finds herself overwhelmed with feelings of worthlessness and leaves her son and husband to find herself.   Ted is forced to learn to be a parent and Billy loves being with his father more.   After a period of fifteen months, Joanna returns.   She is not looking for forgiveness but rather to obtain custody of their son.   Their battle leaves us questioning the very definition of gender in our society. Ted and Joanna Kramer had a life that was defined as our society would have seen fit.   Joanna, being biologically suited, would remain at home and care for their son.   She provides for the emotional needs of the family.   Ted, operating in the public sphere, would provide for the families material needs.   This is what American culture has defined as the nuclear family.   This is the standard that our society would define as desirable. This ideology is so clearly spelled out in the courtroom.   Part of the case that Streep  presents for herself during the custody trial is a simplistic appeal-to-the fact that motherhood is  powerfully persuasive as a social institution.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I'm his mother. He's my child. I love him. He needs me more  than he needs his father. I'm his mother.† The simple fact that Streep as the boy's biological mother is supposed to outweigh, in  court, any particularities of their individual case. And on the basis of this argument the court  grants custody to Streep. As Hoffman's lawyer says, â€Å"They went for motherhood right down the  line.†Ã‚   The movie insists that gender is the primary factor in child custody determinations at the  time of divorce. Having established gender as the key, the movie then goes to court, where  proceedings are seen from a distinctly male perspective. Attorney Shaughnessy warns Ted Kramer that courts favor mothers in custody battles over young children. The task, Shaughnessy is certain, is to prove Joanna is an unfit mother. Shaughnessy also apparently overlooks the fact that the parties had already divorced, and Ted had custody, so the issue was not custody but rather custody modification. Even assuming a maternal preference rule, modification hearings place great weight on maintaining child care continuity.   fictional Judge Atkins sees things the way attorney Shaughnessy does. Atkins' award of custody to Joanna Kramer relies almost completely on the â€Å"tender years† When the Kramers do in fact have their day in court, viewers are propelled to defend Ted.   It seems unfair when Joanna's attorney asks Ted on the stand about his move from one advertising agency to another for lower pay. Viewers are angered by the suggestion that it was Ted's negligence that caused Billy's playground fall. But somehow, this does not seem quite as bad when Shaughnessy questions Joanna about her sexual liaisons since the time of her divorce from Ted. Even Ted sympathized with Joanna at the legal proceedings seems. With Joanna wilting on the stand from a brutal cross-examination, Ted shows no vindictive pleasure. With Joanna struggling with the question â€Å"Were you a failure at the most important personal relationship of your life?† Ted establishes eye contact and supportively shakes his head no. Even after the legal proceedings conclude with a decision adverse to Ted, we continue to reflect on developments from Ted's perspective. When Ted asks Shaughnessy about an appeal, Shaughnessy warns that it would be necessary to put little Billy on the stand. Ted realizes how destructive this would be. The viewer shares his appraisal of the legal process' twisted ways and seconds his decision to back off for Billy's sake. Ted continues to win our sympathy. Kramer vs. Kramer, this issue is gender inequality.   In New York, where the movie takes place, the courts were no longer going to rely on gender to decide custody battles, but gender was still a topic on the minds of the public in the 1980's, when the movie was released.  Ã‚   I believe that in a large proportion of our population today, there continues to be gender issues when parenting or custody issues are reviewed.   There still exists the notion that women are built to be parents and nurture a child, something men are not emotional enough to do. In this case, Kramer vs. Kramer, the court’s finding of Joanna as the custodial parent, does not appear to have been a decision based on anything other than gender.   The decision was made on the societal belief that a mother will be the better parent, it is what women were built to do.   Ted is denied custody on the basis of gender, he cannot possibly be a better or even equal parent. The demonstration that Ted is not an adequate provider because he lost one job and took a lesser paying job, and that this somehow makes him unfit because as the father he is to be the breadwinner and this outweighed the fact that Joann had abandoned her child.   The belief that Joanna should have stayed with her family, despite her own desires or wishes, and the portrayal of her as promiscuous because she had other relationships, further highlight the gender issue. The inequality of the decision in this case, is inequality to both the parents.   Both Ted and Joanna had the ability and means to be a good parent.   The court did not evaluate the case on that basis.   The court evaluated the case on the basis of gender roles and who should be doing what given the society beliefs present.

Effects of Discrimination Essay Example

Effects of Discrimination Essay Example Effects of Discrimination Paper Effects of Discrimination Paper The potential effects of discrimination Describe the potential effects of discrimination Effects include isolation, possible exclusion, situations where self-esteem and confidence can be damaged. Forms of discrimination are gender, age, disability, sexuality, race, culture, religion ,poverty, education, personal features and English Is not first language. Discrimination against any child regardless of their needs can make them feel isolated and different to other children. Very often children with special needs have a very difficult time trying to fit in with other children especially if they are in a busy school. All children can be mean to one another and not mean to. They should be helped to understand that everyone is different and how this is good. Explain to other children â€Å"we are alike but different. † There are four areas of potential for the effect discrimination has Physical- Signs of poor health may manifest. self harming, attempting suicide, cutting, etc. Bullying might become physical and other types of abuse this is more likely in older children. Emotional Emotional signs are a little more harder to see as some children put on a front to avoid having to admit they are being discriminated against, old children may exclude themselves from the group being quiet and emotionally fragile. Social lack of friends, social exclusion, older children not having no one to talk to about interests or plans for now and the future. Being treated as though someone doesnt belong left out and not involved in tasks/games. Could lead to more emotional harm, physical harm, intellectual harm, etc. Intellectual Not wanting to learn, withdrawing from places of learning, avoiding school/ missing classes . Not wanting to be around others

Future Years ACT Test Dates 2019, 2020, and Beyond

Future Years' ACT Test Dates 2019, 2020, and Beyond SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Future ACT dates are only confirmed a little more than a year in advance, but at PrepScholar, we’ve researched patterns from previous testing years to predict future ACT test dates. The ACT test dates for 2019-20 have been officially released, but I’ll also provide the confirmed and likely dates for 2020-21 and 2021-22. From the data we’ve looked at, we can predict these dates with a fair degree of confidence. 2019-2020 ACT Test Dates Here are all the ACT dates, registration deadlines, and score release dates for the current 2019-20 school year. All dates and deadlines have been confirmed by ACT, Inc. Test Date Deadline Late Deadline Online Score Release* Sept 14, 2019 Aug 16, 2019 Aug 30, 2019 Sept 24; Oct 10, 2019 Oct 26, 2019 Sept 20, 2019 Oct 4, 2019 Nov 12; Nov 26, 2019 Dec 14, 2019 Nov 8, 2019 Nov 22, 2019 Dec 24, 2019; Jan 7, 2020 Feb 8, 2020 Jan 10, 2020 Jan 17, 2020 Feb 18; Mar 3, 2020 Apr 4, 2020 Feb 28, 2020 Mar 13, 2020 Apr 14; Apr 28, 2020 June 13, 2020 May 8, 2020 May 22, 2020 June 23; July 7, 2020 July 18, 2020** June 19, 2020 June 26, 2020 July 28; Aug , 2020 *The first date is when multiple-choice scores come out, and the second date is when complete scores become available**No test centers scheduled in New York for this date. 2020-2021 ACT Test Dates This is the anticipated schedule for the ACT test dates, registration deadlines, and score release dates for the 2020-21 school year. All dates are based on our own projections. Test Date Deadline Late Deadline Online Score Release* Sept 12, 2020 Aug 7, 2020 Aug 21, 2020 Sept 22; Oct 6, 2020 Oct 24, 2020 Sept 20, 2020 Oct 4, 2020 Nov 3; Nov 17, 2020 Dec 12, 2020 Nov 6, 2020 Nov 20, 2020 Dec 22, 2020; Jan 5, 2021 Feb 6, 2021 Jan 8, 2021 Jan 15, 2021 Feb 16; Mar 1, 2021 Apr 10, 2021 Mar 5, 2021 Mar 19, 2021 Apr 20; May 4, 2021 June 12, 2021 May 7, 2021 May 21, 2021 June 22; July 6, 2021 July 17, 2021 June , 2021 June 25, 2021 July 27; Aug 10, 2021 *The first date is when multiple-choice scores come out, and the second date is when complete scores become available 2021-2022 ACT Test Dates Finally, let's take a look at the projected dates and deadlines for the 2021-22 ACT testing year. As noted above, all of these dates are our own projections. Test Date Deadline Late Deadline Online Score Release* Sept , 2021 Aug 6, 2021 Aug 20, 2021 Sept 21; Oct 5, 2021 Oct 23, 2021 Sept 19, 2021 Oct 3, 2021 Nov 2; Nov 16, 2021 Dec , 2021 Nov 5, 2021 Nov 19, 2021 Dec 21, 2021; Jan 4, 2022 Feb 5, 2022 Jan 7, 2022 Jan 14, 2022 Feb 15; Feb 28, 2022 Apr 9, 2022 Mar 4, 2022 Mar 18, 2022 Apr 19; May 3, 2022 June , 2022 May 6, 2022 May 20, 2022 June 21; July 5, 2022 July 16, 2022 June 10, 2022 June 24, 2022 July 26; Aug 9, 2022 *The first date is when multiple-choice scores come out, and the second date is when complete scores become available How Accurate Are These Future ACT Test Dates? The 2019-20 ACT test dates and registration deadlines have been confirmed by ACT, Inc. All other dates are our projections based on the testing patterns from previous years' schedules. The ACT test dates and registration deadlines for future years should be fairly accurate, as there's little variation from year to year. The score release dates for all years are less predictable, but scores should come out within a week of the anticipated score release dates. Also, note that not everyone receives their multiple-choice scores at the same time. How to Use These ACT Test Date Projections Most of the future ACT dates in this article should be correct. If you have an idea of the month and year you want to take the test, you can check to see whether your test date is on the same day as, say, prom or your birthday. Basically, these charts make it easy to figure out whether you’ll have any possible conflicts. If any of the test dates are off, they’ll most likely be exactly a week earlier or later. Remember, though, that there is some margin of error and these are still just projections. You can plan your ACT schedule using our projections, but definitely check again within a year of the test for the confirmed dates. Nevertheless, the above dates should give you a good idea of when future ACTs will take place. What's Next? Are you wondering when you should sign up to take the ACT for the first time? This guide to choosing the right ACT test date describes the most important considerations to help you choose the best test date for you. Starting your ACT prep? Check out our guide on the best ways to study for the ACT for all the tips you need to know to reach your goal score. In addition, learn how to make your own study plan. Practice tests are an important part of ACT prep, and our guide to using ACT practice tests will explain everything you need to know about how to use them correctly. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Sleep and sleep disturbance factors among critically ill patients Research Paper - 1

Sleep and sleep disturbance factors among critically ill patients - Research Paper Example The process of adaptation was labeled general since it is argued to be produced by agents with general effect. Adaptive involves stimulation that helps in the maintenance of state of inurement. At alarm stage, generalized stimulation of the nervous system is believed to be automatic stimulation in the initial stages of the alarm reaction. An occurrence of nonspecific breakdown takes place at this stage. Nevertheless, a counter shock phase is recorded if the stressor continues (Nevid, 2009). This stage is characterized by increased heart beat rate, blood pressure, and alertness among others. On the other hand, resistance stage occurs when there is a reduction in the alarm reaction. This is where developmental adaptation takes place. Even with the stress is noted, at this stage, there is an immense attempt to maintain proper functioning of the body (Hesson & Olpin, 2013). In the last stage, exhaustion stage, if the organism is unable to get back into its normal status, the stage of exhaustion takes place. At this point, the initial characteristics of the alarm stage occur while there little effort to counter the stressor. It is apparent that sleep disturbances are connected to some stressors. Critically ill patients are susceptive to external factors that interacts the patient during the sleep (Berry, et al, 2005). For instance, environmental factors such as noise and light could be termed as sleep disturbance. It is apparent that noise is a stressor that causes sleep disturbance not only to sick persons, but also to health people. In fact, when there is noise around, one is not able to maintain the sleep as the nervous system is disturbed. This alarms the patient and forces him to be awake for as long as the stressor persists (Berry, et al, 2005). For some people, it is possible for them to resist the stressor and continue sleeping. This is mostly noted to people