Discuss and Evaluate the Role of Religion In the Formulation and Essay

Discuss and Evaluate the Role of Religion In the Formulation and Practice of Foreign Policy - Essay Example What are the potential for positive and negative outcomes of this? Do religious differences always result in war, or can differing countries unite to answer other needs? Religion is an important element in establishing identity, both for the individual, and nation states. However, sovereign states have a history of religious intolerance towards other religions, both within their domains, and with other nations. When you start making foreign policy based on religion, and particularly when it’s fuelled by religion based on absolute beliefs, you get some horrific results (Rappaport). The current differences in faiths becomes important when you consider that terms such as ‘Fundamentalist’ or ‘Crusaders’ are polemical terms which serve to label every member of that religious group as extremist and threatening: The term fundamentalism is used polemically to polarize the debate and eliminate the middle ground†¦little distinction is made among islamic tr aditionalists, neo traditionalists, radical and militant islamists, while liberal and reformist currents in Islam are ignored (Fundamentalism discourses: enemy images WAF).... Against Fundamentalisms) The 20th century demonstrated several clear examples of the difficulties posed by uniting religious belief with foreign policy, not least of all the Vatican's policy during World War II, which has been denounced as inadequate and even as actually favouring the Nazi's ( Manhattan, 171). There is also reference to "The conflicts between the Roman Church and the Freedoms of democracy" (Glenn Archer, quoted in Manhattan, 7). Sometimes the religious policies of a nation are in direct conflict with its own best interests, and the medieval histories of the Eastern European Bloc demonstrates: Constantly the battleground between the different Christian sects, and the mighty Muslim empire of the Ottoman's, Eastern Bloc states such as Yugoslavia, Romania and Hungary experienced not only external holy conflict, but internal as well. Religion is not just a state mechanism, but is also a personal belief of many World leaders, a fact which cannot be avoided when considering their foreign policy: Even in an ostensibly secular state the private religious convictions And concerns of foreign policy-makers can be crucial, even decisive Factors in shaping international relations (A. Rotter, quoted in Kirby, 3) These conflicts and difficulties can be demonstrated through three case studies. The first two shall concentrate upon religious conflicts between states within a certain time period: beginning with how foreign policy was affected by religious conflict during the reign of Henry VIII, and then considering how religion formed a part in the policies of the Cold War. This will culminate in a review of the religious troubles of the Eastern Bloc, looking at conflict in both the later middle ages and during the Bosnian War in the latter half of

Social Security Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Security Assignment - Research Paper Example The ongoing program is deemed to be insolvent by 2037 if no further additions are made to it. The problem with today’s ongoing plan is that it requires a great deal of money. As per the Washington Post report, with the passage of time the federal government will have to find additional money to cater to the needs of this plan. The present situation makes the United States unable to mobilize such a great amount by itself. So naturally, the government will be compelled either to borrowing or to raising the taxes because by the year 2027 the annual deficits of the US will have reached $200 million and by 2033, $300 million (â€Å"Whitehouse Social Security†). Even if the authorities raise the taxes to meet the expenses of the current plan, it will not be a suitable measure in the future as the costs also get increased and this will be greater than the revenue received from tax collection. In this regard, the present system of social security does not seem to be a permanent program. As Elrod reports in Senior Citizen Journal, by privatizing social security, the government puts the retirement money in the hands of the workers to invest in private retirement accounts. As a portion of their salary is retained through pay roll tax; and for this purpose it does not inflict any burden on the common people in the form of additional tax. According to Elrod, this is useful to the workers as they get a lump sum amount after retirement, and it can be invested to greater opportunities such as share market. People will have control over their personal accounts. As per the new plan, there will be no change for the existing system for people who were born before 1950. According to the new plan, employees have the opportunity to contribute towards a fund likewise thrift saving. Here the amount to be contributed by each person is decreased as he or she gets closer to the retiring age. The participants will not be allowed to access their personal accounts before they g et retired. The new plan seems to be odd when it comes to the wealth and income distribution. As for the high earning class, the new proposal is not a problem. In the US, the majority of wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Majority of rich people do not receive any income from working to constitute their wealth; on the other hand, they have it from the property they own. As Domhoff points out, the upper class own 34.4% of the privately held wealth; the middle class including professionals, the managerial and small scale industrialists hold 50.5% of wealth, and at last the common people comprising the peasants, daily wagers, and salary workers own only 15% of wealth. It definitely shows that the 20% of the total population enjoys 85% of the total wealth of the nation. As the above argument maintains, the majority of the rich are not working under the public sector, social security is not a matter of concern for them. It is the lower middle class that earn income from working who need any further social security. If the working lower class is asked to set aside a portion of their monthly earning to contribute to the social security fund, it affects their living as they will find it difficult to meet the both ends. So, this new plan is going to affect none other than the lower and middle level working class. Providing social security to its subjects is the responsibility of the government. Government has to perform this function without exerting any extra burden on the

Primary Education The First Stage Of Compulsory Schooling Education Essay

Primary Education The First Stage Of Compulsory Schooling Education Essay Primary education is the first stage of compulsory schooling. The primary phase is split into key stages one and two. Key-Stage one is orchestrated for children 5-7 years of age. Key-Stage two covers the age range of 7-11 years of age. Following Key-Stage two children progress to secondary school and undertake Key-Stage three learning. Thus Primary education must prepare children for KS3, and beyond. Considering the diversity of the age range and ability range of children within the Primary phase, there are a number of theories about the purpose(s) of primary education and how they should be delivered to best suit children (toward Q10). However, all theories for best practice concur that children of primary school age are at a crucial stage of learning which can drastically affect their future learning and experiences. Thankfully the idea of primary school being a place where children are told stories and draw on their own with crayons as a transition to proper school is history. Primary education is now viewed as a valuable opportunity to teach children a number of complex skills which will form the foundations for a lifetime of future learning. The knowledge and skills taught in the early years of life will directly influence the childs success as an adult in a now multicultural society (Q18; affect of social influences). Thus, the thrust of primary education must be to create a rounded experience for all children, through a range of subjects, delivered in an enriched environment by a knowledgeable, dynamic teacher with an effective pedagogy (towards Q14). To begin this process, learning content and method of delivery of this must be appropriately designed for the individual child as part of a larger group. As with all activities, it is critical to gain and retain the interest of those involved to maximise the effectiveness of the activity. It is up to the teacher and team of staff to collaborate efficiently to deliver this successfully (toward Q6). The complex skills taught in primary education are delivered through three main areas; learning to read, learning to write (as part of literacy) and learning to manipulate numbers and all related content e.g. shape and space (numeracy). Since 2008 personal, social, health and economic (PHSE) has been added to the strategy for primary education. Through these topics, enhanced by interaction with peers and adults, children are able to learn the knowledge, attitudes and range of skills required to cope with the vast range of issues that they are likely to face throughout their maturation into and during adulthood. Of equal importance during this period is that children develop the schemas required to acquire skills and are able to recognise opportunities for development. Parents, teachers and other adults can provide the required guidance. By providing exceptional care throughout Primary education it is clear that potential can be maximised and utilised for the benefit of the individual and society (toward Q1). Therefore a programme for education is required. This was introduced as part of the Education Reform Act 1988 as the National Curriculum. The concept of key stages and educational objectives relating to these were also introduced. Furthermore the element of choice was also introduced to allow parents to specify their preferred choice of school for their child; league tables provided the necessary information for parents to choose. This inclusive approach signalled directly the importance of parental involvement and influence on the well-being, education and potential future attainment of their child. However, the introduction of league tables may have paradoxically shifted the focus from childrens attainment to getting results (following emphasis on exam results used as a measure of understanding of the prescribed Curriculum content). The prescription of the National Curriculum is under the direction and control of the Government advised by educational specialists guided by research into the ways in which children learn and what it is believed will be most beneficial throughout adulthood. The National Curriculum thus offers a list of the knowledge a child must gain. This approach provides consistency, guidance for educational institutions and a framework for future assessment of attainment. The content of the Curriculum is impacted by its two aims and four purposes. The first aim is that the school curriculum should aim to provide opportunities for all pupils to learn and achieve. (National Curriculum handbook). The second aim is the school curriculum should aim to promote pupils spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare all pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life. These concepts clearly link closely with the invaluable objectives of the Every Child Matters policy. The four purposes of the National Curriculum are to establish an entitlement, to establish standards, to promote continuity and coherence and to promote public understanding (knowledge for Q15). The core statutory subjects of a national curriculum under the education act of 2002 are English, Maths, Science, Art and Design, Geography, History, ICT, Music and Physical Education. Additionally to this, all maintained schools have to teach Religious Education, which should reflect the Christian history of Great Britain. However, Religious Education should also consider practices and ideas of other religions represented in the UK; due to the movement of people, particularly to the UK, and the resultant shift in the majority, this teaching is and should be ever expanding. This is positive as Religious Education develops morals, spirituality and acceptance of others. Within a developing culture this acceptance and understanding should be encouraged, especially during the foundation-setting Primary phase. The school must be responsible through their ethos to highlight and harness the benefits of understanding and co-operation (toward Q2). For these reasons children should be encourag ed to mix with one another where possible. In September 2010, modern foreign languages will become an additional statutory requirement for delivery at Key Stage 2. The Department of children, schools and families suggests that children should also be taught personal, social and health education (PSHE). Ed Balls, of the previous Labour government confirmed that PSHE will become a statutory part of the national curriculum in 2011, but as we now have a new government this may change. PHSE can include a range of topics which aid children in their future lives. A number of beneficial topics can include drugs and alcohol education (DARE), emotional health and well-being, sex and relationship education, nutrition and physical activity, finance, safety and career education. Many of these topics are linked with the valuable outcomes of the Every Child Matters policy and allow the child to be healthy, to achieve and be safe. By learning about these topics, children can be encouraged to consider one another and the world that they live in (teaching toward Q19; promoting equality). Following this community cohesion can become possible, demonstrating clearl y the benefits of teaching PHSE. The notion of delivering PHSE through the Primary phase, rather than commencing during Secondary education, is a positive step as a preventative measure to avoid the current generation making the mistakes of previous generations. Whilst the National Curriculum sets out guidelines, each individual school is responsible for determining how they deliver the programmes of study for each of the subjects specified. The programme of study is prescribed for each subject and indicates what children should learn, as defined by the Education Act 1996, section 353b. This guide also provides a useful basis from which schedules can be planned. It is up to the teacher to decide upon the delivery to give maximum benefit to the pupils in their care. It is important for the school and teacher to deliver National Curriculum study programmes in imaginative ways (toward Q10) but not be constrained by the necessities of the Curriculum itself. Attainment targets define the expected standards of knowledge, skills and understanding for pupils in each key stage for each of the specified subjects and allows for appropriate assessment tools to be developed (http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/Values-aims-and-purposes/about-the-primary-curriculum/index.aspx). As attainment is not static and isolated to specific intervals, it is necessary for the teacher to monitor the developing achievements of the individual child, the child in the context of their peer group and relative to descriptors of attainment-level. With this in mind, it would be appropriate to ensure that class sizes do not exceed the maximal number of pupils beyond which the teacher cannot effectively plan for, teach and assess. As suggested, it is important to continually assess the abilities of pupils, and therefore their progress (towards Q12) and to report this to all involved in the education of the child, especially parents. I believe that the benefit of parental involvement cannot be overestimated; parents have an established relationship with the child and are therefore ideally placed to provide extra or remedial learning at this critical phase of education (facilitating Q5). Whilst the stipulated content of a National Curriculum aims to cater for all, it cannot always achieve this, especially if those children who fall both above and below the average are not considered. Furthermore providing a list of required learning content may be restrictive upon the ability of teaching staff and schools to provide suitably varied lessons for the group(s) of learning needs they are responsible for. Following the change of Government in May we cannot say if the National Curriculum, or even the notion of one, will remain consistent due to the difference in the ideas of Government ideology. This is particularly dynamic if the Educational Minister and her advisors of educational best-practice change (knowledge for Q15; remain aware of curriculum). For example, the Rose review (commissioned by the leaving government) and it suggestions for educational best practice for KS 1 and 2 may become obsolete. The Rose review considered the National Curriculum and the ability of teachers to effectively deliver learning content to children. Furthermore the review considers whether the curriculum needs to be altered to achieve the aforementioned key objective; in other words, what should children learn and how should this be delivered to facilitate successful learning. The Rose review states that too much time is spent revising and practising for exams rather than making sure that children have a love for learning. Teaching staff must be responsible for ensuring that children enjoy Primary school, especially as this will encourage enjoyment of further educational phases. To do this, the new curriculum must understand the way that children learn and develop physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially, culturally, morally and spiritually. Furthermore Rose indicates that the current three core subjects (English, Maths and Science) should be replaced by four skills for learning and life (Literacy, Numeracy, ICT and Personal Development). The following areas of learning should feature within the Primary curriculum: understanding English, communication and languages mathematical understanding scientific and technological understanding historical, geographical and social understanding understanding physical development, health and well-being understanding the arts (Rose Review 2008 P17 Section 31) The above revised aims for the primary curriculum take influence from the values issued under the every child matters policy of the Education Act 2002. The new curriculum must also be well-planned and fun to ensure children have the opportunity to learn independently as well as be challenged and engage in practical activities (Q22). Giving children the opportunity to learn more about the world around them, through experiences in art, literature, and religious education and much more will facilitate this. The curriculum should allow many opportunities to use learned knowledge through cross curricular studies. With the Primary years in mind, the review recommends that high-quality play-based learning would benefit young children immensely as well as teaching parents the importance of play and read to/with their child (Q5 Q30). It is also critical that opportunities for spoken communication are taken to maximise the childs ability to learn to read and write. Phonics sessions will further aid development in this critical area. Encouraging use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) is important to allow children to use a number of the tools often needed to find employment and be financially healthy in todays technologically advanced society. Generally, the review pronounces that there needs to be more continuity through the stages of learning e.g. from EYFS to Key stage one and beyond to maintain success; the DCSF should give primary schools one extra in that day in 2010 to train/understand the new curriculum and transition between key stages. As stated by Rose, the curriculum should aim to teach pupils how to learn as well as the learning content. Having outstanding teachers in any education centre is crucial for pupils success here. Therefore, it is critical to consider ways that teachers can improve their pedagogy to deliver the required content (in whatever form it takes), for the benefit of the children in their class (toward Q10). Significantly, the review also suggests that it may be appropriate to restructure Key Stage 1 to include the Early Years Foundation Stage i.e. begin schooling and reap the rewards as early as possible, especially if parental involvement is successfully encouraged. Another research based review of the Curriculum, and ways to realise successful learning, is provided by the Cambridge report. The report suggests that a new primary curriculum be introduced which is broad, deep, balanced and offers high standards in all subjects; by separating literacy and numeracy they are afforded a higher level of emphasis and importance. Furthermore, new aims and values should be adopted within modern primary education. The 12 aims of the report focus on: The individual Well-being including mental, emotional and physical welfare (in line with Every Child Matters) Ensuring children have a thirst for engagement in their learning Empowering children with knowledge to meet and be adaptive to the changing challenges of the world Autonomy to promote aspirational thought (satisfying Q1) Self, others and the wider world Promote self-respect, respect for others, respect for diversity and difference as well as acceptance of others ideas and values (awareness for Q19, satisfying Q25) Promoting interdependence to develop sustainable positive relationships. Empowering local, national and global citizenship, encouraging children to make decisions in the world around them e.g. school council, as well as knowing about human rights, conflict resolution and social justice. Celebrating culture and community; schools should strive to become the centre of the community life and culture. Learning, knowing and doing Exploring, knowing, understanding and making sense, giving children the opportunity to actively experience the world around them (towards Q25). Fostering skills to make sure that pupils have the skills which learning, employment and rewarding life depend on. This includes all customary subjects in the curriculum as well as communication, creativity, intervention, problem solving, critical practice and human relations. Exciting imagination, giving children the opportunity to extend their knowledge outside the limits of their experiences. Enacting dialogue, to help children understand the need for communication and collaboration between teacher and pupils, and among pupil whilst becoming aware that knowledge is not just given but negotiated and recreated. This form of dialogue is central to effective pedagogy (facilitating Q2). It is highlighted that language, literacy and oracy (the capacity to express oneself in and understand speech) are critical to accomplishing these aims, as well as allowing aims to drive rather than follow the curriculum. Significantly, the report advocates extending the foundation stage to the age of six. Therefore the primary phase would include children 6-11 years of age, eliminating key stages one and two. Extending the foundation stage to 6 years old gives children the opportunity to develop personally, and learn to interact, before they embark on a journey harvesting knowledge. This can only work if there is the correct cooperation, communication and cohesion between foundation stage and the primary phase and their curricula (working toward Q32; development of effective team practice). This must be embraced by the teacher with pedagogy that is centred on personal accountability for effective teaching. This is obviously aided by providing adequate space, equipment and resources to ensure that pupils EYFS education provides solid foundations for the future. To aid the process it is imperative to ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable children are given the help they need swiftly and successfully. To begin this, eradicating child poverty must be prioritised. Equally, opportunities must be provided for pupils with SEN, EAL or disability to progress to the same degree as their peers (Q19). Based on continuing research, the new Government has released a white paper for reform of the education system and the curriculum. The paper reflects much of the aforementioned, noting that the most important factor upon attainment is the quality of teaching/teachers. In order to help schools and their staff to deliver high quality teaching, the bureaucratic burden must be removed to allow focus on what is necessary for the children in their care. This burden is largely caused by the restrictive nature of the current Curriculum and the focus upon the attainment of qualifications which have the highest value in performance tables; often Primary schools over-rehearse teaching for the test (Q12, understand the value of assessment). I have experienced this with year 6 pupils preparing for SATs I felt that other subjects had been put aside to make way for the tests. The enjoyment of learning had been forgotten because of the pressures of ensuring each child passed. It was necessary to teach the children how to interpret and understand the questions rather suggesting that the assessment method may be unreliable. There appears to be a disparity between assessment, curriculum and the prescribed method of teaching i.e. utilising practical activities does not seem to match the way the children are tested. Furthermore, the National Curriculum should be tightened to contain less non-essential knowledge, especially in core subjects. By reducing the prescribed content and giving back decision making power to the school (about what, and more importantly how, to teach) it will be possible for children to gain the knowledge they to reflect the high standards expected of children in other nations. In order to improve, schools must be freed from compliance with Government initiatives to become self-improving. To aid this programme, schools should have access to regional league tables to identify and seek guidance from those schools from which they can learn (working toward Q5). In conclusion, Primary education must be grounded upon the needs of children as individuals. From this, guidelines for the content to be taught can be established. It is important that whilst the value of these guidelines is embraced, they do not become restrictive upon the imaginative element of pedagogy, allowing teaching staff to cater for all children as unique and valuable individuals. In doing so, children can learn how to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve and in doing so allow the child to make a positive contribution and achieve economic-well-being which are crucial to acceptance of the diverse culture we live in. Furthermore with guidance the child/growing adult will be free to develop social understanding/sensitivity to behave appropriately with others in numerous and changing social situations (Q1, Q19 and Q25). Adaptability and accountability of the teachers who mould young minds are paramount to childrens on-going success. As part of this group, I must strive to develop a pedagogy and effective relations with other members of the school which allows me to deliver teaching which enables children to maximise their potential (Q14, Q6, Q1). To continue to deliver this I must continue to embrace my desire for Continuous Professional Development (Q9).

Dantes Inferno :: essays research papers

The Divine Comedy was a key element to the development of European literature. By writing the epic style poem in the vernacular, he enabled all people of general literacy (ie, the commoner) with the liberty to read his work of art. This was such a landmark event because scholars of the past had always written in Latin including two of the most influential people in his life, the epic poets Virgil and Homer. Latin was the language of the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church therefore no one ever thought Dante’s use of the vernacular was capable of such poetic expression. From a mere literal perspective, The Divine Comedy can then be viewed as a pioneer in the defiance of Catholicism. Through the mere title â€Å"The Divine Comedy†, one can further unearth many significant aspects of the poem. A true comedy refers to two classical modes of composition. The tragedy was the first of these styles where the plot flowed from a high and pleasant beginning to an extremely low and destructive conclusion. The second technique is a classic comedy where the plot elevates from depressing beginning to an elevated and triumphant ending. In canto 1 it describes the 1st part of the journey vividly crossing the mtn. He keeps falling and cant quite make it. When the book ends Dante has surpassed a great deal and had learned a lot from his journey.Dante’s work is not solely dependent on either of the two styles rather it incorporates aspects of both approaches. The plot of The Inferno mirrors a classic comedy for it progresses from the horrors of Hell to the joys of Heaven, nevertheless it is constantly presenting the reader with individual situations of tragedy. EX-alive b4 jesus(virgil,limbo),suicides†¦those who are good, gays. The Divine Comedy is a truly universal work for it deals with the most significant question of humanity, the existence of an afterlife and the consequences of our lives on Earth. His convo w Virgil, Dante asks why we are here. this Dante was so confident in his abilities as a poet that he attempted to answer such questions through the voice of the vernacular.

Macbeth vs. Henry V Essay

Shakespeare’s play Macbeth shows the roots of all evil, our own human nature. The play is centered on the coexistence of good and evil. Macbeth, unlike any other Shakespeare play has the protagonist convert to evil. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is shown as a hero in the Scottish army, that is ironic because Macbeth defeats a traitor and he himself becomes one later. Macbeth knows his place in the world. He is fully capable of distinguishing between right and wrong. Macbeth purposely disregards his own moral judgment to rise to power which is again ironic and goes against his own beliefs. Macbeth stands as a symbol for Satan’s sin of ambition. Like Satan, Macbeth’s thirst for power and ambition drives him to commit evil.Contrary to the theory of supernatural forces he is responsible for his own actions. The Three Witches and Lady Macbeth were only influencing factors in Macbeth’s demise. Macbeth was pressured to do a horrible deed which was driven by evil. The beginning of the evil was rooted in his wife and the witch’s but quickly spread into his mind and heart. The Three played a part in predicting the evilness of Macbeth which is known as the prophecy and Macbeth receives it from them. After receiving this prophecy, Macbeth starts to transform into an evil man who will not let anything stand in his way. For instance, when Macbeth is questioning whether or not he should murder Duncan, Lady Macbeth fools Macbeth into thinking about how any real man would commit the murder. She quotes â€Å"What beast was’t/ then, / that made you break this enterprise to me? / When you durst do it, then you were a man; / and to be more than what you were, you would/ be so much more the man† (Act 1 scene vii lines 53-58).she sees the opportunity to kill Duncan and make Macbeth king. She knows Macbeth’s ambitions, but says he lacks the ruthlessness, and although Macbeth will take an opportunity, he wants to earn his honours honestly. He also knows the murder would be wrong and he would end up paying for it. Macbeth makes a firm statement saying that â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business†(I.vii.32). But after speaking with Lady Macbeth he counter d ecides and proclaims, â€Å"I am settled, and bend up/Each corporal agent to this terrible feat†. Macbeth now proclaims himself king, fore-filling his ambition. Macbeth’s guilt is recognized after the killing of the king; when he is unable to answer himself. Macbeth’s final words in this scene tell us he has committed himself to the path of evil. â€Å"I am in blood, stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning was as  tedious as go o’er.† He acknowledges his torturous pain and knows there is no way of stopping it. He has ruined his life forever. Macbeth now doesn’t have a place among the others. He became enraged as he knew that that was true but later accepted it by going to meet with his own evil kind, the witches. Macbeth becomes ruthless and kills at will without feeling guilt. He is now a tyrant, ruling with fear until the bitter end. The thought that one can use language, rather than the conventional brute strength exemplified by Hercules and Beowulf, to achieve a beneficial outcome can be supported by Henry’s character in William Shakespeare’s Henry V. King Henry V assumes his role as king after the death of his father, Henry IV. Prior to ascending the throne, Harry, as his friends call him, was known for his debauchery. Harry was an immature prince, but as the King of England, he suddenly becomes mature and wise. Henry’s bishops convince him of his right and duty to acquire the throne of France. Soon, Britain is preparing for war and fully supporting their king in his pursuit of the French crown. Henry’s powerful words prove his ability to rouse his troops and frighten the enemy. Unlike more traditional heroes, Henry’s heroism is not shown in battle, but rather before the battle. Because Henry is able to put fear into the enemy with his threatening messages, the opposing army may not fight as well as one might expect. As seen at Harfleur, the governor surrenders to save the lives of the citizens.The speech that Henry makes demonstrates Henry’s clever tactics with his enemies. The king does this so that the governor will surrender and Henry can conquer Harfleur without a bloody battle. Although his speech sounds menacing, a quality not found in the characteristics of a hero, it is only a tactic Henry uses to achieve the outcome he wants. Henry’s reluctance to make good on his promise of this massacre is proven when he states, â€Å"use mercy to them all† (III.3. 54). Henry is not the monster he appears to be; instead, he is a leader using any method he can to gain land while keeping his troops out of harm’s way. At the final Battle of Agincourt, Henry’s ragged army expresses concern about their odds against the French; the British are outnumbered five to one. Henry’s Cousin Westmoreland. Henry, being the talented rhetorician that he is, soothes the army’s fears by delivering the inspirational speech: â€Å"[†¦] If we are marked to die, we are now To do our country loss; and if to live,  The fewer men, the greater share of honor. [†¦]But if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive.† (IV.3. 21-30). Henry explains that there is a certain amount of honor to go around once the British defeat the French. It is fortunate of those soldiers that are at the battle that they do not have to share that honor with men who are fearful and therefore unworthy of honor. Henry says that honor is most important to him and that it should also be important to his army. The soldiers, feeling a renewed sense of purpose, will go into battle and claim that honor – not just for their king, but for England as well Henry explains what the British do Will stand a-tiptoe when this day is named this day, and comes safe home, on this day will be with them for the rest of their lives: He that outlives And rouse him at the name of Crispian [†¦ ]The he will strip his sleeve and show his scars, [And say, ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s Day.’]†¦. (IV.3. 42-52). What feats he did that day.† Henry somewhat shows his softer side by expressing concern for his troops. Henry tells them he knows some will die, but those who survive will be well respected for the rest of their lives. With the reward of greatness being dangled in front of him, a speech like this can sway even the most fearful soldier into becoming the fiercest fighter. It can be argued that Henry is not a hero at all because he is fighting a meaningless war and that lives are being lost for no reason. While that might be true in one’s opinion, Henry’s opinion is quite different. Henry believes this war is for the greater good. If the British win the war, they gain land and Henry attains the crown of France he believes he deserves. Henry and the British people believe this war is justified; they cannot be faulted for doing what they believe in. Henry satisfies the qualities in the definition of a hero in using his masterful rhetoric. Henry has fought an impossible war against the French. In the final battle, the British were greatly outnumbered, but managed to escape with minimal casualties. The French, however, were not as fortunate and lost a total of ten thousand. This embarrassing defeat of the French proves just how effective Henry’s speech was in improving the morale of his doubtful army. Henry’s coldness and ruthlessness are masks that hide a man who would do anything to protect his countrymen. He uses scare tactics in his rhetoric to belittle the enemy while at the same time inspiring his men.  Remember, the definition of a hero states that bravery and firmness in any course of action qualifies one for the classification as a hero. Henry’s bravery and firmness are represented in his words, rather than his sword, therefore proving him to be a rhetorical hero. Of the two heroes Henry the V and Macbeth the more intelligent and ruthless is Henry because Macbeth was always cautious about making his decisions and needed the help[ of his wife who played the leading role in taking decisions be it to murder someone or to plot plans to get the throne. She was the more stronger person therefore she took the decisions as to what to do. Henry on the other hand did everything on his own and never liked the interference of anyone in his plotting.

Echoes of Heaven Essay

The world today seems to be going further and further from Christian Values. Denominations are arising against each other time after time. We no longer hear the proper preaching of the gospel because preachers prepare their sessions to suit the audience and therefore a lot of truth is left uncovered. A Christian who performs and leads a true Christian life seems very outdated. There are rumors of wars everywhere in the world today. People seem to rely on technology much more than on God. I am a born again Christian, I have been a Christian since I was born but there is a huge difference in my life after I accepted Jesus Christ. I have received tangible breakthroughs and therefore when I say so much truth is left uncovered in today’s churches I do it with reference to my personal experience. Sometimes suffering comes our way because God wants to show us our weakness without Him. We must rely on Him and not on our own understanding. I have observed Muslim practices closely and they are more devoted to their religion and believes than Christians! Charles I agree that God’s Love is better than Life Itself and would very much want to know where to get the book.

The Four Seasons Essays

The Four Seasons Essays The Four Seasons Essay The Four Seasons Essay Look at the structure of each poem as well as its use of language, and show how the poems not only describe the seasons but also convey its mood. As you write indicate your response to the words and ideas in the poems, and at the end say which poem you prefer, giving your reasons. I am going to tell you about three different poems I have chosen which I feel best portray the seasons. I have chosen Spring by G. M Hopkins, To Autumn by John Keats and Skating from The Prelude by William Wordsworth. The poem Spring by G. M Hopkins is a very happy and joyful poem and full of life. In the very first line, Hopkins refers to Spring as the most attractive season of them all, telling us: Nothing is so beautiful as Spring (Line 1). He carries on creating a buoyant and cheerful atmosphere by using words and phrases such as the alliterative phrases long and lovely and lush (Line 2) and With richness, the racing lambs too have fair their fling (Line 8). In the first stanza, Hopkins uses imagery with phrases such as weeds in wheels (Line 2) and The glassy pear tree leaves and blooms (Line 6), which gives the reader pictures of Springtime. The image of The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush (Line 7), gives the impression of being wrapped in a mixture of happy feelings and the promise of summer to come. The poem is very continuous and uses many enjambments so that the poem can be kept at a fast flowing speed for the reader. For example Through the echoing timbre does so rinse and wring / The ear, it strikes like lighting to hear him sing (Line 4 / 5). When Hopkins starts his second verse he writes this alliterative question What is all this juice and all this joy? (Line 9). This can be interpreted as the juice being all the new life of both animals and plants, thrushs eggs (Line 3) and racing lambs (Line 8), and the joy is in being able to see all these events happen and being part of the experience. Hopkins uses the Garden of Eden to talk about the newness and innocence of this season. He writes In Eden garden Have, get, before it cloy, / Before it cloud, Christ, lord and sour with sinning / Innocent Minds and Mayday in girl and boy (Line 11 / 12 / 13), suggesting that Spring has a purity that the later seasons lack. He supports the use of springs innocence by using the maids child towards the end of the play Most, O maids child, thy choice and worthy the winning. The Autumn Poem by John Keats is a very famous poem, written in 1819, two years before he died. The poem is written in three stanzas and he has written the poem so that at the beginning it is describing the start of autumn, progressing through the poem until autumn is turning into winter. Keats begins the poem with alliterative phrases like mists of mellow fruitfulness (Line 1), using soft consonants and extended vowels to give an atmosphere of relaxation and calmness. He uses the metaphor Close blossom-friend of the maturing sun (Line 2), to produce an image of fruitfulness and fertility. The phrase Conspiring with him how to load and bless (Line 3) makes it seem like Autumn and the Sun are human and almost God-like. He talks about all the fruit being as ripe as they are ever going to be, all the way to the core (Line 6) while the trees bend with apples (Line 5). He talks about the animals and especially the bees and says And still more, later flowers for the bees, / until they think warm days will never cease (Line 9 / 10). Keats is saying that the bees are not aware that winter is coming so they stay out still looking for more flowers. In the second stanza he talks about the main part of autumn, describing autumn as if it was a person, starting the stanza with Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? (Line 12). He gives the reader many images of autumn being a restful time, slowing down as winter approaches, using phrases such as sitting careless on a granary floor (Line 14) and on a half reapd furrow sound asleep (Line 16). He uses many restful alliterative words such as winnowing wind (Line 15) and the phrase Thou watchest the last oozing hours by hours (Line 22) also feels like life is slowing down. Even though he talks about this time being easy and lazy it is a very difficult and busy time for farmers, however this is not stated in the poem. Keats writes what is idealistic for him. He has again used lots of long vowels to create heaviness and slowness in the poem with phrases such as Drowsed with the fume of poppies (Line 17) to suggest sleepiness. In the final stanza he talks about the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, talking about regret, where are the songs of Spring? (Line 23). Keats also gives the reader images of the autumn evenings, soft-dying day (Line 25) and also rosy hue (Line 26) which means the setting sun, which is in contrast to the mature sun of the first stanza. Keats describes images of death using words and phrases such as mourn (Line 27), sinking (Line 29) and also the light wind lives or dies (Line 29) because it is the end of the summer. He uses many musical terms throughout the last stanza, such as wailful choir (Line 27), full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn (Line 30), hedge crickets sing (Line 31) and now with treble soft / The red-breast whistles (Line 31 / 32). They are all however very soft sounds, unlike Hopkins Spring which was all bustling and noisy. Keats describes a robin in the poem which suggests images of the forthcoming winter, and he talks about full-grown lambs, which suggests that the cycle of the year from when they were born in spring to their full grown state in autumn is complete. In general, throughout the poem he uses few full stops making very extended sentences. This keeps the poem very lethargic, lazy and restful. The pace is kept very slow and he does this by using many caesurae.

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Practices and the Performance of a Nigerian Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME). The WritePass Journal

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Practices and the Performance of a Nigerian Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME). Introduction Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Practices and the Performance of a Nigerian Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME). IntroductionObjectives of the Study Research QuestionsResearch OutlineLiterature ReviewResearch Methods and DataDataReferencesRelated Introduction The contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the economic growth and development has been enormous. This contribution is significant for both the developed and developing world. Many governments acknowledge the fact that SMEs play a significant role in the growth and development of their economies. Consequently, a number of government investment projects are geared towards fostering the growth and development of local SMEs. The institution of policies geared towards the facilitation and empowerment of SMEs as well as improving the performance of SMEs remains a major objective of many economic policy makers and governments. In addition, international economic and financial bodies such as the IMF, World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) have invested heavily in making SMEs robust and vibrant in developing countries. Furthermore, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in developing countries such as Nigeria have employed advocacy and capacity-building campaigns to promote the growth of SMEs. Despite the importance accorded to SMEs as well as their contribution to economic growth, Onugu (2005) argues that the performance of SMEs in Nigeria has been below expectations. Unlike SMEs in other countries, the contribution of Nigerian SMEs to economic growth has not been very impressive (Onogu, 2005). Following from its independence, the Federal government of Nigeria has invested significant sums of money to promote entrepreneurial and small business development projects (Mambula, 1997, 2002). However, results from these projects have not been very impressive. In order words, most of these projects have often been unable to yield their expected returns. Despite the country’s endowment with raw materials and other natural resources, there has been little progress towards the development of the manufacturing sector, which could have increased the production of value added products thereby substituting imports, increasing exports and increasing employment (Mambula, 1997, 2002). Business failure often comes as a result of a number of factors. This could be as a result of poor customer service, poor management and poor human resource management. While the poor performance of SMEs in Nigeria can be attributed to a number of factors, human resource management could be a major factor in determining this poor performance. Human resources are a principal source of economic growth. Like other resources, human resources require effective and efficient utilisation so as to ensure maximum contribution is achieved from them. Approximately 50 per cent of people work in small and medium sized enterprises. Despite this high proportion of human resources in SMEs, most studies that study human resource management have focused on large corporations with very limited attention to SMEs. Moreover, most studies on the practices of human resource management have been carried out in the developed world with very limited attention paid to developing countries like Nigeria. This study is one of the few studies that focus on the management of human resources in SMEs in a developing country. The country that has been chosen for the study is Nigeria. The paper examines the factors that affect the practices of human resource management in an SME in Nigeria and how these practices can affect the performance of the SME in particular and its contribution to the overall growth of the economy as a whole. Objectives of the Study The objective of the study is to examine the SHRM practices of an SME in Nigeria. The study will also examine how those practices affect the performance of the SME and provide policy implications of the findings for future strategy development. Research Questions The paper will be providing answers to the following questions: What are the Strategic human resource management practices of the SME? How do these practices affect the performance of the SME? What are the implications for future development of strategic human resource management practices at the SME? Research Outline The paper is going to follow the following areas: Section one will cover the introduction; section 2 will be dealing with the literature review; section 3 will be discussing the methodology and describing the data; section 4 will provide the results and analysis; and section 5 will present conclusions and recommendations. Literature Review Strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices refer to those activities that are specifically developed, executed and implemented on a deliberate alignment to a firm’s strategy (Huselid et al., 1997). The phrase â€Å"strategic human resource management is an indication that people in the firm are regarded as strategic resources (i.e human capital) that must be managed and leveraged when implementing and executing the strategy of the firm. In early years, efforts made to develop a conceptual framework on strategic human resource management were based on the assumption that in order to promote human behaviour that would fulfil the strategic objectives of the firm, the firm had to implement specific human resource management practices (Fisher, 1989; Schuler and Jackson, 1989; Snell, 1992). A strategic approach to human resource management is an approach that links the human resource management policies with the strategic objectives of the firm. There has been significant debate over the term SHRM as has been the case for human resource management (HRM). Many researchers argue that SHRM lacks conceptual clarity (e.g., Bamberger and Meshoulam, 2000). Three competing frameworks on SHRM have emerged: the contingency, universal and configurational perspectives (Miles and Snow, 1984; Schuler and Jackson, 1987; Delery and Doty, 1996; Pfeffer, 1998; Youndt et al., 1996; Boxall and Purcell, 2000, 2008). According to the universal perspective, all HR practices in all firms have a positive impact on firm performance (Delery and Doty, 1996). The configurational perspective suggests that firm performance depends on unique HR practices while the contingency perspective suggests that a firm’s HR practices are a function of its strategy (Miles and Snow, 1984; Schuler and Jackso n, 1987). A number of studies have tested the different frameworks and found contradictory results. For example, Youndt et al. (1996); and Chang and Huang (2005) argue in favour of the contingency perspective while Tackeuchi et al. (2003) favour the configurational perspective. The frameworks suggested above are mostly relevant for large organisations. Little effort has been devoted towards the development of SHRM in SMEs. For example, Saini and Budhwar (2008) in a study of SHRM practices in SMEs in India argue that bounded rationality tends to constrain the willingness to implement innovative HR practices in SMEs in India because most owners of SMEs tend to believe that they are doing their utmost best. Barber et al (1999) observe that HRM practices that work well in large organisations do not work properly in small firms. As a result, Heneman and Tansky (2002) stresses the need to develop different HRM models for SMEs rather than simply extending existing models that are suitable for large organisations to SMEs. The literature on Human resource management in SMEs suggests that a strategic approach to HRM in SMEs is yet to be developed. Conceptual models that relate human resource management practices in SMEs to the strategic capabilities of these organisa tions need to be developed in order to enable SMEs achieve the full benefits of their human resources. As can be observed, most of the studies of HRM practices in SMEs have been limited to SMEs in Western Europe, U.S.A and India with very limited attention given to Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. In the light of the above limitations, this study aims at contributing to the literature by studying the SHRM practices of SMEs in Nigeria. The study does not intend to test any hypothesis. Rather it intends to focus on providing an in-depth analysis and discussion of the HRM practices of a Nigerian SME. Research Methods and Data Research Methods are the approaches taken to achieve the objectives of a research project (Saunders et al., 2009). There are two main approaches to research including the inductive and deductive approaches. The inductive approach is an approach that aims at developing testable hypotheses while the deductive approach focuses on testing existing hypotheses. The inductive approach can use a single case study to multiple case studies while the deductive approach depends on the use of multiple cases. Moreover, the inductive approach can use either qualitative or quantitative methods whereas the deductive approach relies heavily on the use of large data sets and quantitative research methods. The inductive approach is advantageous over the deductive approach in that it does not generalise its results to all cases. It aims at providing an in-depth analysis of a small number of cases. Therefore, it is the approach that will be used in this study. In other to achieve the objective of this study, this paper will use a case study approach. In order to do this, a Nigerian-based SME will be selected. An in-depth analysis of its SHRM practices will be examined and related to its performance. In order to gain detailed understanding of the approaches, the â€Å"Interpretative phenomenological Analysis (IPA) will be used to gain an in-depth analysis of the HRM practices of the SME.   The Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is an experimental qualitative approach to research in psychology and the human, health and social sciences (Smith et al., 2009). The human resource practices that will be investigated include recruitment, selection, training, remuneration, leave of absence, interpersonal communication, sick pay, and promotion. The practices of these variables will be analysed and an evaluation of how they affect the performance of the SME will be conducted. The performance measures that will be used include profitabil ity, liquidity, management efficiency and leverage ratios. The ratios will be analysed in relation to the SHRM practices identified along with the Nigerian economic environment in which the SME is based. Data The research will use both primary and secondary data. Data for the SHRM practices will mainly be primary data. This data will be collected using survey questionnaires issued to the employees of the SME and interviews conducted with key management staff. Performance data will be collected from the financial records of the SME. Data on the performance measures will be gathered from the financial records of the SME. References Boxall, P., Purcell, J. (2000). Strategic human resource management: Where have we come from and where should we be going? International Journal of Management Reviews, 2(2), 183−203. Boxall, P., Purcell, J. (2008). Strategy and Human Resource Management. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. Chang,W. J. A., Huang, T. C. (2005). Relationship between strategic human resource management and firm performance: A contingency perspective. International Journal of Manpower, 26(5), 434−449. Delery, J. E., Doty, D. H. (1996). Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 802−835. Huselid, M.A., S.E. Jackson, and R.S. Schuler. 1997. â€Å"Technical and Strategic Human Resource Management Effectiveness as Determinants of Firm Performance,† Academy of Management Journal 40(199), 171-188. Miles, R. E., Snow, C. C. (1984). Designing strategic human resources systems. Organizational Dynamics, 13(1), 36−52. Schuler, R.S. and S.A. Jackson. 1989. â€Å"Determinants of Human Resource Management Priorities and Implications for Industrial Relations,† Journal of Management 15(1): 89-99. Snell, S.A. 1992. â€Å"Control Theory in Strategic Human Resource Management: The Mediating Effect of Administrative Information,† Academy of Management, Journal 35(2), 292-327. Schuler, R. S., Jackson, S. E. (1987). Linking competitive strategies with human resource management practices. Academy of Management Executive, 1(3), 207−219. Pfeffer, J. (1998). Seven practices of successful organizations. California Management Review, 40(2), 96−124. Onugu, B. A. N. (2005) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects, St. Clements University Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., Larkin, M. (2009) Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research, Sage Publications. Heneman, R. L., Tansky, J. W. (2002). Human resource management models for entrepreneurial opportunity: Existing knowledge and new directions. In J. Katz, T. M. Welbourne (Eds.), Managing people in entrepreneurial organizations, vol. 5 (pp. 55–82). Amsterdam: JAI Press. Barber, A. E., Wesson, M. J., Roberson, Q. M., Taylor, M. S. (1999). A tale of two job markets: Organizational size and its effects on hiring practices and job search behavior. Personnel Psychology, 52, 841–867. Saunders M, Lewis P and Thornhill A (2009) Research Methods for Business Studies, 5th edition, Prentice Hall FT Harlow Saini, D. S., Budhwar, P. S. (2008) Managing the human resource in Indian SMEs: The role of indigenous realities, Journal of World Business, Volume 43, No. 4, Pages 417-434 Takeuchi, N., Wakabayashi, M., Chen, Z. (2003). The strategic HRM configuration for competitive advantage: Evidence from Japanese firms in China and Taiwan, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 20(4), 447−480.

Single Variable Equations on SAT Math Complete Strategies

Single Variable Equations on SAT Math Complete Strategies SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In a way, single variable equations are some of the most common and least common types of questions on the SAT math section. Why? Because it’s rare to find more than one or two single variable equations per test, and yet knowing how to solve and manipulate single variable equations is a basic requirement for solving most all SAT math questions. Even though you won’t often see single variable equations by themselves, it is crucial that you know how to set up, use, and manipulate them. You cannot solve the more complex expressions like quadratics, multiple variables, and so on, without first understanding single variable equations. This guide will be your complete walk-through of single variable equations for the SATwhat they are, how you’ll see them on the test, and how to set up and solve them. Once you get the hang of single variable equations, you can go on to solve more and more complex problems. What Are Single Variable Equations? A single variable equation is comprised of two parts: the (lone) variable and the equation. So let’s look at what those are and how to put them together. A variable is a symbolic placeholder for a number we do not yet know. Often, you’ll see x or y used as a variable in math problems, but variables can be represented by any symbol or letter. $$4t=20$$ In this case, t is our variable. It represents a number that is currently unknown. An equation sets two (or more) mathematical expressions equal to one another. To show that the expressions are equal, we use an equals sign (=). Each side of the expression can be as simple as a single integer or as complex as an expression with multiple variables, exponents, or anything else. $$15(a+b^3)−(a−3)^12=22$$ The above is an example of an equation. Each side of the expression equals the other. So if we put together our definitions, we know that: A single variable equation is an equation in which there is only one variable. The variable can be used multiple times and/or used on either side of the equation as long as the variable remains the same. Some examples of single variable equations: $${4(a−3)}/a=2(a^8)$$ $$a+7−(a+3)=4$$ $$6a+a−3=a+21$$ You’ll notice that some of the equations used the variable, a, multiple times. Other equations used the variable on either side of the equals sign. No matter how many times the variable is used, all of these are still single variable problems because the variable remains constant and there are no other variables. Once you find your variable, you can solve the whole puzzle. Typical Single Variable Equations on the SAT Single variable equations will fall into two broad categories on the SATgiven equations and word problems. Word problems are by far the more common and you should expect to see one or two per test. Given equations, when they appear, will usually fall between problems 1-4 on any given math section. Let’s look at each type. Given Equations A given equation will provide you with the equation you need to use to solve the problem. We will go through the exact processes needed to solve this kind of problem in the next section, but for now just understand that your goal is to isolate your variable. (We will walk through how to solve this question later in the guide) In this problem, you are being asked to find the isolated variable as your final answer. But do be sure to note that this is not always the case. Sometimes the question will ask you to solve for y alone (or x or any other variable), and sometimes the question will ask you to solve for y to a different term (2y or 12y, etc.). Always pay close attention to exactly what the question is asking you to find. You need to first isolate your variable to solve the problem, but always double-check whether you should stop there or if you need to continue on, in order to find your final answer. Word Problems A word problem will describe a situation and ask you to find a missing variable. You must write your own equation based on the information you are given in the question. Again, your final answer may be the value of your variable (x or y, etc.) or your variable taken to a different term ($2x$, $y^2$, etc.). (We will walk through how to solve this question later in the guide) How to Manipulate a Single Variable Equation In order to solve a single variable equation, we must isolate our variable on one side of the equation. And the way we do this is by shifting everything else to the other side of the equals sign. In order to shift our terms (expressions), we must cancel them out on their original side. This means we have to set the non-variablesto zero when using addition/multiplication, and set the variable to 1 when using division/multiplication. (Why do we set it to 1 when using division/multiplication? Because we use multiplication and division to isolate our variable. But setting it to 1, we give ourselves just the one variable to work with.) The way we cancel out our terms is by performing the opposite function of each term. Opposite function pairs are: Addition and subtraction Multiplication and division For example, if we have a term on one side that has a minus sign (subtraction), we must add that same amount from both sides. $x−4=6$ $x−4+4=6+4$ $x=10$ If we have a term that is being multiplied, we must divide that same amount from both sides. $4x=20$ ${4x}/4={20}/4$ $x=5$ And so on. Whatever you do on one side of the equation, you must do on the other. This cancels out like terms and essentially moves your terms from one side of the equation to the other. Manipulating equations isall about balance. Steps to Solving a Single Variable Problem Let us take a typical variable expression and break it into the steps needed to solve it. $14−2x+2+6x=64.$ Find ${1/2}x.$ #1: Combine like terms If there is more than one term with a same variable, we must combine them in order to ultimately isolate that variable. We can add or subtract terms with a same variable in the same way we can any other numbers. $14−2x+2+6x=64$ Here we have a $−2x$ and a $6x$ (notice how we had to keep the signs in front of the numbers intact). Now we add them together. $−2x+6x=4x$ We also have multiple numbers without variables on the left side of our equation. We must combine these as well, as they are also like terms. $14+2=16$ So now, when we put the pieces together, our equation looks like this: $16+4x=64$ #2: Isolate the term with your variable Once we have combined our variables, we must isolate the variable term. If the term is simply the variable itself (e.g. $x$), then we can skip this step. But since our term here is $6x$, we must isolate the whole term first. $16+4x=64$ We have a positive 16 here that we want to get rid of in order to isolate our $4x$. This means we must subtract 16 from both sides of our equation. Why? Because we have a positive 16, which means that it is addition. And subtraction is the opposite of addition. We must also subtract 16 from either side to cancel out the 16 on the first expression (make it zero) so that we can isolate our variable. $16−16+4x=64−16$ $4x=48$ #3: Isolate your variable Now that we’ve isolated our term ($4x$), we can further isolate the variable. Again, we perform an opposite function of the term. In this case, we have $4x$, which uses multiplication. In order to isolate the variable, we must therefore use division (the opposite of multiplication) by dividing by 4 on both sides. This will set our x equal to one and thus isolate it. $4x=48$ ${4x}/4={48}/4$ $x=12$ #4: Double-check your variable by plugging it back in Now that we’ve solved for our variable, let us check to make sure it is correct by plugging it back into the original equation. $x=12$ $14−2x+2+6x=64$ $14−2(12)+2+6(12)=64$ $14−24+2+72=64$ $−10+74=64$ $64=64$ Success! We have correctly isolated the variable and found its value. #5: And, finally, double-check to make sure you are answering the right question. Ah-ha! We can’t stop here. Our initial question asked for the value of $1/2x$, not just x by itself. If we had stopped here at $x=12$, we would have gotten the final answer wrong. Now, we end the problem by saying: ${1/2}x=(1/2)12=6$ So our final answer is 6. Always be sure to double-check both that your variable is correct and that you are answering the exact question the test is asking you to answer. Now let’s try it again with our given equation problem from earlier. We have ${1/3}y+9=0$ and we must isolate our variable in order to ultimately find the value of y Step 1, combine like terms: There are no like terms to combine, so we can skip step 1. Step 2, isolate the variable term: $1/3y+9=0$ $1/3y+9−9=0−9$ $1/3y=−9$ Step 3, isolate the variable: $1/3y=−9$ $3*1/3y=−9$ $y=−27$ Step 4, double-check answer: $1/3y+9=0$ $(1/3*−27)+9=0$ $−9+9=0$ $0=0$ Step 5, double-check if answering the right question: The initial question wanted us to find y, and that is exactly what we found. We can confidently say that we are finished. Success! Our final answer is A, -27. Ready to put your single variable equation knowledge to the test? Test Your Knowledge 1. 2. 3. 4. Answers:700, B, A, C Answer Explanations: 1. This problem is one to be cautious of because you'll note that your final answer is NOT your variable. Why? Because we are asked to find the total amount of money each person made during the week and yet our variable is the amount of sales they made. So let's walk through the problem and set up our equation. We are told that both Tom and Alison made the same amount of money in a certain week, which means that this is an equation problem (their earnings are set equal to one another). We also know they had the exact same number of sales and that this number is yet unknown. This is our single variable. Let us call it x. Tom made 300 dollars plus 20% of his sales. We can set up his half of the equation like so: $300+0.2x$ (For more on percentages and why we can set up 20% of x as $0.2x$, check out our guide to SAT fractions and ratios.) Alison made 200 dollars plus 25% of her sales. So we can set up her half of the equation thusly: $200+0.25x$ Now, let us set the two sides equal to one another and solve for our variable. $300+0.2x=200+0.25x$ First, let us combine our like terms by moving them to opposite sides of the equation: $300−200=0.25x−0.2x$ $100=0.05x$ Now, let's isolate our variable: $100/0.05={0.05x}/0.05$ $2000=x$ This means that they each sold 2000 dollars worth of product. But wait! We can't stop here. The question asked us to find their weekly compensation, NOT their weekly sales. We must plug 2000 back into one of the original equations in place of x to find our final answer. Let's take Tom's weekly earnings again: $300+0.2x$ $300+0.2(2000)$ $300+400$ 700 So both Tom and Alison (remember, they made the same amount) earned 700 dollars that week. Our final answer is 700. (Note: you can also double-check your answer with Alison's original equation as well: $200+0.25x$ $200+0.25(2000)$ $200+500$ 700 Either way, the answer is 700) 2. We are told that a triangle has a perimeter of 13 and one side length of 3. The other two sides are equal. That means we would set up an equation that would look like this: $3+2x=13$ The left side of the equation is the sum of all the triangle’s sides. x is substituting for our unknown side lengths. And we have multiplied our x by 2 because the two unknown side lengths are equal. Now, we solve. $3+2x=13$ Subtract 3 from both sides $3−3+2x=13−3$ $2x=10$ Isolate our variable ${2x}/2=10/2$ $x=5$ So each of the other side lengths must be equal to 5. Let’s plug the answer back in to make sure this is correct. $3+5+5=13$ $13=13$ Success! And we are being asked for the length of each side, so we know that our variable answer is the final solution. Our final answer is B, 5. 3. We are being asked to find the number of sandwiches that Ali made, so let’s make our unknown variable a for Ali. This means that Ali made a number of sandwiches. We are told that Ben made three times as many sandwiches as Ali, which means that Ben made $3a$ sandwiches. Now Carla made twice as many sandwiches as Ben. We will still say that all the sandwiches made are in terms of a number of sandwiches, so Carla made $2*3a=6a$ sandwiches. And we also know that the total number of sandwiches was 20. So now, when we put it all together, we get: $a+3a+6a=20$ Combine our like terms and we get: $10a=20$ Isolate our variable. ${10a}/10={20}/10$ $a=2$ Now let’s double-check to make sure that is correct. If Ali makes 2 sandwiches, and Ben makes three times as many, he will have made 6 sandwiches. If Carla makes twice as many as Ben, she’ll have made 12 sandwiches. $2+6+12=20$ 20=20 Success! We have correctly isolated our variable. Since we said that a was the number of sandwiches that Ali made, this means: Our final answer is A, Ali made 2 sandwiches. 4. We are given the problem: "$10+x$ is 5 more than 10." The "is" in the question sets the terms equal, so when we translate this statement, we get: $10+x=15$ Now, let’s isolate our variable. $10−10+x=15−10$ $x=5$ Now let’s double-check by plugging our x back into the original equation. $10+x$ is 5 more than 10. $10+5=15$ is 5 more than 10. Success, we have isolated our variable. But wait! The final question wants us to find the value of 2x, not just x. $x=5$ $2(5)=10$ So our final answer is C, $2x=10$ Whoo! You conquered those single variable equations! The Take Aways Single variations make up the backbone of many other SAT problems. By knowing how to manipulate these kinds of expressions, you’ll be able to build on these techniques to solve much more complex problems and equations. Just remember to always perform the same act to each side of the equation and save isolating your variable for last, and you’ll be conquering single variable equations left and right. Now you’ve got the building blocks for understanding how to go forth and take on the rest of the SAT math topics. So build upon this knowledge and tackle the rest of what SAT math has to offer. What’s Next? You’ve build up your mathematical foundation and now you’re raring to take on more. Before you start in on another SAT math topic guide, make sure you have a good idea of all the topics covered on the SAT math. Think you might need a tutor? Check out the best ways to find a tutor that suits your needs, whether online or in person. Taken a practice test and don’t know how you match up for schools? Make sure you have a good idea of what your ideal score truly is. And if you feel like you’ve got a handle on the math itself, but struggle with the timing, then be sure to check out our guide on how to complete your SAT math section on time. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Math strategy guide, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Data, Information and Communication in Organizations Management Essay - 10

Data, Information and Communication in Organizations Management - Essay Example Data needs analysis and interpretation with probable possibilities to enable for the proper development of information in management processes. Communication incorporates data processing by the sender through channels in a manner that the recipient can understand. Communication within organizations requires clear and well-defined channels, which pass instructions to various stakeholders within organizations. Organizations use well-analyzed data, processed information and channeled communication to improve efficiency and effectiveness in networking and team building among employees. The use of data within an organization enables the disclosure of various facts that are invaluable in the implementation management practices. At Nike Company where I serve, for instance, the use of statistical data to know the population of people using Nike products assists in the production of a significant number of products that serve all customers. Statistical information on Nike products gives figures on how Nike products get into the market and the level of their demand and supply. Proper application of the statistics ensures appropriate production in the company without any shortage in the marketplace. Based on the theory of price mechanism, especially in management, the use of data in organizations gives them the real figures on demand and supply chains. Therefore, the use of data in organizations en ables for the implementation of demand and supply theory in management (International Conference On The Bookmark Of The School Of The Future, Taylor & Hogenbirk, 2013, p. 138). Information increases efficiency in organizations by expanding knowledge among stakeholders on the proper operations and management techniques. Remarkably, the use of information allows various employees and customers to equip themselves with ideas on various products and their use.  

Louis Kahn, Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, 1959-1965 Assignment

Louis Kahn, Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, 1959-1965 - Assignment Example The Salk compound is at the centre of the large courtyard that has identical concrete rows of laboratory space and offices. At the end of the courtyard is a magnificent view of the Pacific, coupled with the soothing fountain sounds. Designed by Louis Khan, the courtyard is the main highlight of the site. The courtyard is inspired by Louis Barragan, a Mexican architect. Khan had initially planned to have plants and trees at the courtyard but was advised by Barragan against that decision (Treib). It enabled Khan to come up with a stone plaza that created an open feeling with the large sky; it also had a water feature (Anderson). Originally, the buildings were built by different cement mixtures with various colors; this is evident in the basement of the complex. Khan introduced wood to compliment with the cement. Inside, the buildings have no walls; this is a promotion of collaboration. The basement has one floor with another two floors existing above it, on both sides (Anderson).Lighting fixtures in the form of easy slide rails have also been used to promote collaboration. Roman techniques are evident in the architecture as the concrete was created from volcanic ash to create a pinkish glow. Each laboratory block consists of five study towers each containing offices, but those at the entrances consists of only two study towers. The diagonal walls enable each of the thirty-six scientists in the studies to have a view of the Pacific. The original design of this complex had conference buildings and living quarters but were never

Reflective of future thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Reflective of future thinking - Essay Example However, there are a myriad of factors to be considered before developing innovations in a company, including the sustainability aspect of new products and technology. Overall, there are many changes in the world, as well as in the business world. These have mainly been realized because of the advanced changes in technology, which in turn influence the economy of a country and the global economy as well. Various industries today also exhibit great changes in their practice and products, compared to past decades. In this presentation, the main focus is on the car industry, which has not been left behind, with regard to technology. In the world of technology today, new inventions are developed to increase efficiency. Similarly, in the car industry, major new technologies are unveiled on a regular basis. These might be concerned with improving safety of cars, usefulness of cars, cars’ entertainment and luxury aspects, or for purely innovative reasons. Most of the new car innovati ons are exciting and have improved efficiency in various aspects of cars. The first car was invented in the year 1769. Today, this first car cannot be compared to the present supercars, in terms of technology and efficiency. As a result of increased technological advances in cars, today’s cars are more safe and reliable than they were in past years. In the car industry, technological advancement is key, therefore, it is expected that this industry will produce more technologically advanced cars in the future (Christidis, Hildalgo & Soria 2003). However, different factors will influence the extent to which technology is adopted in the car industry in future. These include the availability of fuel and level of pollution by cars. With regard to fuel, the car industry, compared to the pat years, has increased the number of cars that it manufactures, and reduced the cost of cars, thus making cars to be affordable to many people. This therefore, has led to high consumption of fuel, and it is feared that in future, fuel might become scarce, since it is being exhausted today at a high rate. Additionally, the car industry is regarded as one of the top industries that highly contribute to global warming. Most cars today use petroleum, which emits Carbon dioxide gas on combustion. Therefore, in future, the car industry might consider fuel economy and reducing global warming, when it develops new car models, as these factors will promote sustainability (Macrel & Cooper 2011). In order to analyze the future of cars with regard to technological improvement, this paper will employ different tools and techniques of foresight. The initial thinking about the future holds that there is so much unpredictability in the future. It is therefore, not possible for people to perfectly figure out what the future holds, since a myriad of factors, which are beyond human control, influence the events of the future. Human beings have different expectations about the future. Although no human being can peer into the future, these use their minds and imagination to create a picture of the future, which might be unrealistic. Overall, people expect positive things to happen in the future. However, these expectations might not be in line with what the future really holds. This

Edward R. Murrow, Army-McCarthy hearings Research Paper - 1

Edward R. Murrow, Army-McCarthy hearings - Research Paper Example He constantly accused the federal government of being involved with the Communists. This is what initiated the army-McCarthy hearings in the first place. But in the end, his accusations and remarks were decreed as groundless. McCarthy blamed the army and the army blamed him and said that he was stating those remarks to please his senior David Schine and his friend, Roy Cohn (Caute). Many people in the government were intimidated by Senator McCarthy because of his popularity and his gift of gab. Despite his blames and accusations, people listened to him because he was an excellent orator. But it is unfortunate that he used his skills for the wrong purposes. This is why his sudden decline was his own fault, as was later proved by Edward Murrow. Another reason for McCarthy’s growing popularity was his relation with the Kennedy family. He was in their good books and while the Kennedy family was at its prime, McCarthy took unfair advantage of it. Moreover, the Kennedy’s were Catholics and so was McCarthy and this forged a stronger bond between the Kennedys and McCarthy. This is also why McCarthy gained infinite support when it came to targeting the Communist tribes. Many journalists and critics also claim that for McCarthy, being Communist was more of a personal issue and it was his fault that he amalgamated it with his profession(Caute). After these remarks began to surface, the Senate took the matter in its own hands. The Senate set up a committee to find the root of the problem. Normally, McCarthy was the one who governed these meetings but as this time he himself was being charged, Karl Mundt was elected as the leader of the committee. He was also a renowned Republican senator. At first the Senate was a little hesitant to make Mundt the head of committee because McCarthy was a lot stronger opponent and he made a rude opponent, but many members of the committee voted in favor of Mundt.

Learning Objectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Learning Objectives - Essay Example This is why I want to seek out a better understanding of development from a leadership perspective both in economic and social terms. While we know that development has a social benefit, with a leadership role, the economics of development also become an important consideration for those who choose to take up this field. Secondly, development is a field which has been modified significantly in both national and international terms ever since it was first created as a separate discipline. Just by looking at the list of journals and magazines related to development one can see that the advances made in the field have to take their guidelines from many different sciences including sociology, psychology, science, computer technology and statistics. This points us towards the fact that the field is growing and the latest developments in the field as well as understanding their application is very important for those who wish to take leadership roles in development. Finally by learning and examining the practices which worked in the field as compared to those which did not, I hope to learn the best practices and methods which have been successfully applied. Although there is never a miracle pill solution for all problems of development but by knowing the solutions which worked a person can come to certain conclusions about what may also work in a given situation. This is also a learning objective for me since I wish to know how to spot solutions for development problems by understanding what developers in the past have worked with and how they managed to solve any given problem of development. If I am able to apply these learning tools and meet my objectives that I have set for myself, I think that I will be able to call my taking this class a success. At the same time, as I progress through the classes I think that certain objectives may be

The emotional intelligence competence I most want to develop and why' Essay

The emotional intelligence competence I most want to develop and why' - Essay Example This developed my insight on what competencies constitute emotional intelligence and scopes of the competencies. I then applied the derived knowledge to examine my intelligence potentials. Based on the literature review and self-evaluation, I identified self-confidence, self-control, and initiative as my top three emotional intelligence competencies. My identified weakest competencies are however adaptability, innovativeness, and communication. This activity was useful in facilitating self-awareness for personal development. Its developmental aspect was based on the activity’s scope that created awareness of elements of different emotional intelligence competencies towards understanding personal competency and the need for improvement. My identified strength in self-confidence, self-control, and initiative means that I can exercise integrity in managerial or leadership roles within my profession. Even though my weaknesses may challenge my leadership and managerial potentials, I can improve on them to enhance my capacity to lead and manage. Adaptability is the emotional intelligence competence that I most wish to develop. This is because of its scope that is instrumental to achieving change, a very critical concept in leadership and management. In improving my adaptability competence, I seek the ability to multitask and manage priorities in dynamic environments, and become flexible to people’s responses and my perceptions. I will apply the SMARTER goal as a strategy to making the desired development. My specific objective is to improve my adaptability competencies. I will measure my competencies through an independent examiner who will evaluate and rate my adaptability potentials on an interval scale. Improving on my adaptability capacity will require financial resources for a qualitative research that aims at understanding people’s strategies to developing and improving their adaptability potentials. The process will also require human

Learning Objectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Learning Objectives - Essay Example This is why I want to seek out a better understanding of development from a leadership perspective both in economic and social terms. While we know that development has a social benefit, with a leadership role, the economics of development also become an important consideration for those who choose to take up this field. Secondly, development is a field which has been modified significantly in both national and international terms ever since it was first created as a separate discipline. Just by looking at the list of journals and magazines related to development one can see that the advances made in the field have to take their guidelines from many different sciences including sociology, psychology, science, computer technology and statistics. This points us towards the fact that the field is growing and the latest developments in the field as well as understanding their application is very important for those who wish to take leadership roles in development. Finally by learning and examining the practices which worked in the field as compared to those which did not, I hope to learn the best practices and methods which have been successfully applied. Although there is never a miracle pill solution for all problems of development but by knowing the solutions which worked a person can come to certain conclusions about what may also work in a given situation. This is also a learning objective for me since I wish to know how to spot solutions for development problems by understanding what developers in the past have worked with and how they managed to solve any given problem of development. If I am able to apply these learning tools and meet my objectives that I have set for myself, I think that I will be able to call my taking this class a success. At the same time, as I progress through the classes I think that certain objectives may be

Fast food restaurant Essay Example for Free

Fast food restaurant Essay Analysis on Fast Food Culture and Its Double-side Effects to the world from the Development of American Fast Food ?. Introduction Fast food is becoming more and more popular around the world these years. It is estimated that there are more than 100 branches of McDonald’s and KFC only in Beijing. The appearances of the fast-food arouse a new thing named â€Å"fast-food culture†, and also the debate about this culture by people. ?. Brief history of American fast food 1. McDonald’s two brothers named Richard and Maurice McDonald left their home in New Hampshire and seeking jobs in southern California. At first they tried opening a theater but it was not a success. Then they caught on to the new craze of eating at drive-in restaurants and they opened one in 1939, in Pasadena, California, calling it â€Å"McDonald’s Famous Hamburgers†. (http://hi. baidu. com/) 2. The Emergences and Expansion of KFC KFC, shorted from Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky. KFC primarily sells chicken in form of pieces, wraps, salads , sandwiches and so on. The popularity and novelty of KFC made it famous and popular throughout the world. The fast food like KFC is also developed in the whole world. (http://www. kfc. com. cn) ?. The Development of Fast Food Industry Most people think that it is the McDonald brothers who start the fast-food craze in America, but in reality, it is the White Castle hamburger chain that actually started fast food history in America. J. Walter Anderson opened the first White Castle in 1916 in Wichita, Kansas, Richard and Maurice McDonald, the two brothers who created the first McDonald’s restaurant in 1948 in San Bernardino, California. By 1953, the brothers had decided to franchise their idea, and two franchisees opened in Downey, California and Phoenix, Arizona. Today, fast food chains have spread all around the world, and have spread American culture right along with them. There are many more popular chains, like Carls Jr. , Arby’s, Dominos and Dairy Queen, indicating that fast food isn’t always about hamburgers. ?. Globalization In 2006, the global fast food market grew by 4. 8% (Linda Stradley, 2008) Globalization is that the world is moving away from self-contained national economies towards an interdependent, integrated global economic system. It refers to the shift toward a more integrated and interdependent world economy. Fast food is becoming more and more popular around the world these years. It is estimated that there are more than 100 branches of McDonald’s and KFC only in Beijing. But the fast food sell in China which crude material is always manufactures in other countries. So if something changed in China, it is sure affects other countries. Fast food is already spread into the world, it is sure increase the knowledge between countries. Conclusion Throughout the world, American fast-food chains have become symbols of Western economic development, opening everywhere from Bulgaria to Western Samoa.and attracted a large number of consumers and the economic benefits. Fast food industry is decided by the development of social progress and economic development, it improves people’s living standards and way of life. The fast food industry is an important industry of living environment and investment environment, and also an important component of the consumer leisure, tourism, consumption, shopping and spending. The competition in the fast food market is very intensely, but should be focused on one aspect: that is, to eat fast food with nutrition, health. High-calorie fast food as a high-fat food is not suitable for eating. Fast food does have double-sided effects on the development of economy and people’s life. Though fast food still have so many shortages of this or that, This kind of food culture is true developed to be part of people’s life, no matter the criticism of fast food is true or not, fast food is still to be a trend in the future. Works Cited Linda Stradley. 2008. What’s Cooking America New York: New York University Press http://hi. baidu. com/ http://www. kfc. com. cn.

Literature Survey On Steganography

Literature Survey On Steganography In this chapter, the literature survey on the steganography and various network security mechanisms are described. Many existing algorithms for steganography since 1991 to 2009 are studied and presented in this literature survey. Numbers of web sites as well as research papers are referred on virtualization, ARP Spoofing, IDS Architectures. The description of the research papers referred pertaining to steganography and network security are given in the subsequent sections. The literature is presented in chronological order for these two areas separately. 2.2 Literature survey on steganography Bender et al. [6] in this paper, the authors describe the techniques of data hiding like low bit rate data hiding in detail. Johnson, N. and Jajodia S. [34] This article explores the different methods of steganography such as LSB, Masking and Filtering and also explains about different software tools present in the market for Steganography, such as Stego Dos, White Noise Storm, S-tool etc. Marvel et al. [38] It is proposed that (Spread Spectrum Image Steganography) SSIS is a blind scheme where the original image is not needed to extract the hidden information unless the receiver possesses the secret key to extract the secret message, otherwise it is virtually undetectable.Thus making this technique reliable and secure. Jessica Fridrich et al.[32] This paper proposes a highly accurate steganalysis technique which can even estimate the length of secret message embedded in LSB method. In this method, the test image is divided into groups of n consecutive or disjoint pixels. This method exploits the modified pixel values to determine the content of secret message. A discriminating function is applied on the group of pixels. This discriminating function determines the regularity or smoothness of pixels. Then a permutation function called flipping is applied on the pixel groups. By using discriminating function and flipping, Pixels groups are classified in to three categories, i.e Regular groups, Singular groups and Unused Groups. For a given mask, fraction of Regular groups Rm and fraction of singular groups Sm are calculated. Presence of noise in the image causes Rm to be greater than Sm. R. Chandramouli and N. Memon[49] It gives the analysis of various methods of LSB techniques for image steganography. Tseng, Y.C et al. [63] This paper presents a secure steganographic scheme which makes sure that if any modified bit in the cover image should be adjacent to another bit that has the same value as the formers new value. By this way the detection becomes extremely difficult. But for achieving this, data hiding space has to be reduced. Da-Chun Wu, and Wen-Hsiang Tsai [23] proposed a differencing steganographic method that uses the difference between two consecutive pixels in the same block to determine the number of secret bits to be stuffed. In this method a range table is used which ranges from 0-255. The difference value is subsequently adjusted to the difference in the same range to embed the secret bits, and the difference between the original difference value and the new one is shared between the two pixels. Extraction scheme in this method is quite simple and it do not requires cover image. Sorina Dumitrescu et al.[55] This paper proposes a new steganalysis technique to detect LSB steganography in digital signals such as image and audio. This technique is based on statistical analysis of sample pairs. By this technique the length of hidden message embedded via LSB steganography can be estimated with high precision. C.-C.Chang and H.-W. Tseng [9] this paper proposes a novel steganographic technique, which modifies the pixel values. This method does not replace the LSBs of pixel value directly, but changes the pixel value into another similar value. In a word, this steganographic method provides a large embedding capacity with little perceptual distortion. Mei-Yi Wu et al. [40] this paper presents a new iterative method of image steganography based on palette which reduces the Root Mean Square error between an original image and its corresponding stego-image. Based on a palette modification scheme, which can embed one message bit into each pixel in a palette-based image iteratively. The cost of removing an entry color in a palette and the profit of generating a new color to replace the old color are calculated. If the maximal profit exceeds the minimal cost, an entry color is replaced in iteration. C.-K. Chan and L.M. Cheng [11] this paper proposes LSB technique in which the secrete data is embedded in the Least Significant bits of the image pixel. Huaiqing wang and Shuozhong wang [29] Different techniques of steganography and steganalytic methods were discussed in detail in this paper. This paper focuses on LSB modification techniques, Masking techniques, Transformation domain techniques, Techniques incorporated in compression algorithms, and spread spectrum techniques. Then the important attributes of a steganographic system are presented, security, payload and robustness. This paper also presents various steganalytic methods such as, RS steganalysis, Chi-square test, Histogram analysis and universal blind detection. Xinpeng Zhang and Shuozhong Wang [65] this paper proposes the steganalysis of PVD method proposed by Wu and Tsai. This steganalysis is based on Histogram analysis. The zigzag scan of the image pixels produces a vector called Image Vector and the difference of every pair of pixels in this vector produces another vector called Substitute vector. An image from Substitute vector is built which is named as substitute image. Histogram of substitute image is constructed and analyzed. Andrew D. Ker [4] Detecting LSB matching steganography is quiet difficult compared to the LSB replacement steganography. In this paper Histogram characteristic function (HCF) is used for the detection of steganography in color images, but it cannot be used for gray scale images. Alvaro Martà ­n et al. [3] Authors have experimentally investigated three different steganographic algorithms. steg, MHPDM, and one of the algorithm used in S-tools. Jsteg embeds a message in the least significant bit of JPEG DCT coefficients. The MHPDM (Modified Histogram preserving Data Mapping) algorithm, which is developed from HPDM (Histogram Preserving Data Mapping), works by altering the least significant bit of a subset of the JPEG DCT coefficients of an image. Chin-Chen Chang et al. [15] this paper proposes two efficient steganographic methods for gray-level images by utilizing the run-length concept. The two methods embed bits of the secret data in each two-pixel block. In addition, the modular operation is applied in both methods to control image quality. The experimental results demonstrate that both methods in this study perform better than all previous methods, in terms of image quality and embedding capacity. Chin-Chen Chang and Tzu-Chuen Lu [13] the method proposed in this paper exploit the difference in the expansion of the pixels to conceal large amount of message data in a digital image. The payload capacity of the proposed scheme is higher than Tians scheme and Fridrichs scheme.In addition, the quality of the embedded image of the proposed scheme is even higher than those of the other schemes. Chin-Chen Chang and Tzu-Chuen Lu [14] SMVQ (Side Match Vector Quantization) exploits the correlations between the neighbouring blocks to predict the index of an input block that improves not only the block effect of VQ, but also the compression performance of VQ. Owing to the good compression performance and image quality, more concerns are given to SMVQ. Suk-Ling Li et al. [56] In this scheme, the best match cover-image block of the secret-image block is first selected based on the block difference. Then, the error-matrix, the normalized error- matrix, the difference-degree and the quantized-error matrix between the cover-image block and the secret-image block are computed. The block header information is embedded into the cover-image by the simple LSB substitution method. Chin-Chen Chang et al. [17] this new scheme classifies the host image pixels into two groups of pixels according to the pixel values. For each group of pixels, the corresponding secret pixel values go through an optimal substitution process and are transformed into other pixel values by following the dynamic programming strategy. Then, embed the transformed pixel values in the host pixels by using the modulus functions and obtain the stego-image. Hideki Noda et al. [27] The JPEG compression using the discrete cosine transform (DCT) is still the most common compression standard for still images. QIM(Quantization Index Modulation) is applied in DCT(Discrete Cosine Transformation) Domain. DCT based steganographic techniques are immune to Histogram based attacks. Two different quantizers are used with QIM, one for embedding 0 and another for embedding 1. Another method called HM-JPEG(Histogram Matching JPEG) Steganographic method is also presented along with QIM-JPEG Steganography. In these two methods embedding of secret message takes place during quantization of DCT coefficients only, not by modifying quantized DCT coefficients. Chin-Chen Chang et al. [12] it presents a reversible data hiding scheme for compressed digital images based on side match vector quantization (SMVQ). In Vector Quantization or SideMatch Vector quantization based methods VQ and SMVQ Compression codes are damaged by the secret data embedded in the message. And they cannot be constructed completely after extracting the secret data. By using this method, the original Side Match Vector Quantization compression Codes can be completely reconstructed, after extracting the embedded secret data. Ran-Zan Wang and Yeh-Shun Chen [51] this paper presents a new steganography method for images which use a two-way block-matching procedure to find for the maximum similarity block for each block of the image. The indexes which get along with some non matched blocks are noted in the least significant bits of the carrier image, using a hop scheme. This algorithm provides a high data payload capacity. C.-C.Chang and W.-C. Wu [8] this paper provides a technique to improve the embedding capacity without reducing the quality of cover file. That technique is called an adaptive VQ-based data hiding scheme based on a codeword clustering technique. Adaptive embedding method is superior to the fixed embedding method in terms of embedding capacity and stego-image quality. Xinpeng Zhang and Shuozhong Wang [64] a novel method of steganographic embedding in digital images is illustrated in this paper. In this method each secret digit in a (2n+1)-ary notational system is carried by n cover pixels, where n is a system parameter. This method offers a high embedding efficiency than that of previous other techniques. Mehdi Kharrazi et al. [39] this paper gives the experimental evaluation of various steganographic and steganalytic techniques. Chin-Chen Chang et al. [18] in this paper, a new watermarking based image authentication scheme is implemented. The feature extraction process of the proposed scheme is block-based, and the feature of a block is obtained by performing a cryptographic hash function. Then, the bit stream of the feature is folded and embedded into some least significant bits of the central pixel in the corresponding block. Po-Yueh Chen and Hung-Ju Lin [48] this paper proposes a new image steganographic method based on frequency domain embedding. The frequency domain transform applied in this method is Haar-DWT. There are three regions i.e., low frequency region, middle frequency region and high frequency region. And embedding occurs in Middle frequencies. Tse-Hua Lan and Ahmed H. Tewfik [61] the authors have proposed an algorithm which is based on the quantized projection embedding method. Quantized Projection (QP), combines elements from quantization that is QIM and spread-spectrum methods. It is based on quantizing a host signal diversity projection, encouraged in the statistic used for detection in spread-spectrum algorithms. Yuan-Hui Yu a et al. [67] in this method, a color or a grayscale secret image is hided in a true color host image. Procedures to different secret image types are independent. There are three image-hiding types, which depend on the type of secret image. The second type is a palette- based 256-color secret image. The third type is a grayscale secret image. Ran-ZanWang, and Yao-De Tsai [52] This paper presents an efficient image-hiding method that provides a high data hiding capacity that allows the embedded image to be larger than the cover image. In this method the image to be hidden is divided into a series of non-overlapping blocks. A block matching procedure is adapted for each block of the image to search for the best matching block from a pool of candidate blocks. This selection of best matching block is done by K-means clustering method. Then the indices of secret image are hidden in the LSBs of best matching block in the cover image. Bibhas Chandra Dhara and Bhabatosh Chand [7] Block truncation coding and vector quantization are the two widely used spatial domain compression techniques. In the proposed method the inter-plane redundancy is reduced by converting RGB to a less correlated triplet. The spatial redundancy is reduced by block quantization using BTC-PF method and the code redundancy by entropy coding using Huffman code. Nan-I Wu and Min-Shiang Hwang [41] this paper presents a survey of current methods of steganography in Gray scale images. The following methods are compared and analyzed in this paper. 1. The simple LSB method : Secret data is hidden in the Least Significant Bits of the Cover image. Quality of 3-bit LSB stego image is merely acceptable. 2. The optimal LSB methods: To improve the quality of stego image optimal procedure is adapted in LSB embedding. When data is hidden the nearest value is hidden in the cover image so that cover image distortion is minimized. 3. PVD method (Pixel Value Differencing): In this method the image is divided into non-overlapping blocks of two pixels in zig-zag manner. The amount of secret data to be embedded is determined by the difference in pixel values of two adjacent pixels. More amount of data can be hidden when the difference of pixel value is high, and less amount of data is hidden when the difference is low. In this method the cover image is not required for extraction of the secret message. 4. MBNS method (Multiple Based Notation System method): This method is based on Human vision sensitivity(HVS). The amount of secret data that can be hidden in a pixel is determined by a parameter called local variation. Local variation depends on Human Vision Sensitivity, and it is determined by three surrounding pixel values. Greater the value of Local variation, more amount of data can be hidden in that pixel. And less amount of data can be hidden in pixel if local variation value is small. When these methods are compared for low capacity hiding PVD and MBNS approaches produce better stego images than LSB based methods. Zhe-ming-lu et al. [68] this paper proposes an image retrieval scheme based in BTC based Histograms. BTC (Block Truncation Coding) is simple and easy to implement image compression technique. To reduce the bit rate of each part of BTC coded triple data, Vector Quantization is applied. Chin-Chen Chang et al. [19] this paper proposes a reversible data-hiding scheme for embedding secret data in VQ-compressed codes based on the de-clustering strategy and the similar property of adjacent areas in a natural image. This method has more flexibility and higher embedding capacity than other schemes. H. Motameni et al. [25] the authors have proposed a novel technique for hiding text message in a grayscale image. In this method different colors in the cover image are labeled in order to identify dark regions in the image. Data embedding in the these darker regions results in high quality stego images. This method offers more security than other LSB techniques. Zhensong Liao et al. [69] this paper summarizes the present techniques of data hiding capacity techniques. Various Communication channel models and host data models are discussed in this paper. H. Arafat Ali [24] the author, proposes a spatial domain steganographic scheme for JPEG images. This technique is based on statistical analysis and called IVSP (Improving Visual Statistical Properties) Method. This proposed method enhances the statistical properties of the stego image and also reduces the quantization error, which creeps in with JPEG format. And this method is also more secure when compared to the other techniques which are in use presently. Youngran et al. [66] this paper proposes a new method which is able to provide high quality stego image. According to pixels characteristics, number of bits can be embedded in stego image is varying and also providing the integrity of original data. Andrew D. Ker [5] Batch steganography problem deals with spreading payload in multiple covers. Author has proved that the secure steganographic capacity is proportional to the square root of the total cover size. Hong -juan zhang and Hong-jun tang [28], Proposed a novel method of image Steganography which can withstand for statistical analysis tests like RS and Chi-Square steganalysis techniques. Kazuya Sasazaki et al. [35] this paper proposes scheme for hiding data that loss lessly stuffs a data bits into a carrier image using the two differences. In this scheme, a three-pixel block in an image contains two absolute differences-the difference between pixels one and two, and the difference between pixels two and three. Such a difference is called block difference. Chung-Ming Wang et al. [21] this work is an improvement over Wu and Tsai scheme of pixel value differencing (2003). In this method the image is divided in to the blocks of two consecutive pixels and the number of bits that can be embedded is determined from the width of the range table. The reminder of sum of two pixel values with width of suitable range is calculated and modulus of pixel values is adjusted to the decimal value of binary string to be embedded in the block of two consecutive pixels. This method also addresses the falling-off boundary problem and produces high quality stego images than any other technique of spatial domain steganography. But the hiding capacity is low in this method when compared to other methods. Chien-Ping Chang et al. [20] Authors have proposed a novel data hiding scheme that embeds a message into a cover image. This method uses Tri way pixel value differencing method. In this method blocks of four pixels are considered at a time. This four pixel block is divided into three pairs. And the PVD method is applied separately to these three pairs. From the modified pairs on pair is chosen as a reference pair and other two are adjusted. By this method the hiding capacity enormously increases over Pixel Value Differencing Method. But the quality of stego image when expressed in terms of PSNR value decreases. Adem Orsdemir et al. [1] this method is based on the Higher Order Statistics Steganalysis. Generally any steganographer focuses more on undetectability and payload but not about the statistical difference between the stego image and cover image. When the steganographer is well aware of the steganalysis methods HOS steganalyzer and by formulating statistical in distinguish ability requirement, visual quality requirement, and detect ability requirement the method of steganography can withstand the steganalysis methods based on statistical differences. Chin-Chen Chang et al. [16] It is proposed in this method that digital images can be compressed using Block Truncation Coding (BTC). BTC is the most efficient spatial domain method with simple computations and acceptable compression rates. Zhiyuan Zhang et al. [71] generally in two-description image coding the image are partitioned into two parts and each description is produced by alternatively concatenating a finely coded bit stream of the other part. Multi Description Coding is a reliable method for robust transmission over unreliable networks. H.B.Kekre et al. [26] This paper proposes a new improved version of Least Significant Bit (LSB) method. Before embedding the data a 8 bit secret key used and XORed with all the bytes of the message to be embedded. Message is recovered by XOR operation, by the same key. Depending on the MSBs the number of bits of LSB utilized for data embedding are calculated. This method is simple to implement and offers high payload than other methods like PVD. Sathiamoorthy Manoharam [54] analyzes the steganalysis of LSB technique using the RS Steganalysis technique. The two classes of images- natural photographic images and synthetic images are taken as the cover medium. Ahmad T. Al-Taani and Abdullah M. AL-Issa [2] the proposed method provides good quality and high embedding capacity of stego image. Here the carrier image is divided into blocks of equal sizes and then stuffs the original data bits in the edge of the block depending on the number of ones in left four bits of the pixel. Experimental results of this method are compared with Pixel Value Differencing method and Gray Level Modification Method. P. Mouli and M. Mihcak [45] described the data hiding capacities of various image sources. Hong -juan zhang and Hong-jun tang [28] Proposed a novel method of image Steganography which can withstand for statistical analysis tests like RS and Chi-Square steganalysis techniques. 2.3 Literature survey on Network Security John McHugh et al. [33] this paper describes the role of an IDS in an enterprise and also gives survey on mostly used intrusion detection techniques. This paper also describes the various representative systems from the commercial, public, and research areas. Ray Spencer et al. [53] this paper, proposed a Flask micro kernel based operating system, security architecture which provides the solutions for the access rights sort of problems and it is suitable for many operating environments. Clive Grace [22] it gives a detailed understanding of various types of attacks possible and also various types of intrusion detection systems and soft wares. Nong Ye et al. [42] this work paper gives an investigation on a multivariate quality control technique. This method is finds a long-term profile of normal activities in the profiles in order to detect intrusions. Tal Garfinkel and Mendel Rosenblum [59] it proposes the Intrusion detection architecture and also the results are demonstrated to detect the attacks using the IDS which are completely isolated from the monitored host. Tal Garfinkel et al. [58] This architecture provides a tamper resistant trusted hardware platform where each and every application will be running on either the open platform that is general purpose platform or the closed platform that is general purpose platform with security and integrity properties. P. Englund et al. [43] this paper describes the trusted platform which provides a strict control over the software and hardware platforms to withstand the various vulnerabilities. Suresh N.Chari and Pau-Chen Cheng [57] Blue box, the host based IDS, is designed based on the system call introspection. They designed some set of fine grained rules for access control to the system resources. M. Rosenblum and T. Garfinkel.[37] It describes the virtual machine monitor and also how the VMM is useful to provide security. It also looks after the various implementation issues and future directions for the VMM. James E. Smith and Ravi Nair [30] in this paper various levels of abstractions of virtualization and also the architecture of virtual machines are described. Process and system virtual machines are also described over here. Peyman Kabiri and Ali A. Ghorbani [47] it gives a review on current trends and technologies implemented by re- searchers and also elucidated the applications of honey pots to detect attacks. Petar Cisar and Sanja Maravic Cisar [46] this paper describes a flow based algorithm combined with data mining techniques for intrusion detection. Jenni Susan Reuben [31] this paper gives a literature survey on various security issues as well as threats which are common for all virtualization technologies. Zhenwei Yu et al. [60] this paper gives an experimental result for an automatically tuning intrusion detection system which controls the number of alarms output to the system operator and according to the feedback mechanism provided by the system operator, tunes the detection model when false alarms are identified. The Flask architecture of security enhanced Linux for red hat is described in detail in this website [81]. 2.4 CONCLUSION This literature described the various methods and algorithms existing for the steganography and network security. Based on the existing algorithms, the conclusions are proposed to provide the efficient methods for the below 1. Data Security 2. Network Security 2.4.1 Data Security For providing the data security, there are many cryptography and as well as steganography methods existing for the data to be transmitted on the channel. But for any algorithm, it is has its own disadvantages. In the case of Steganography, the basic algorithm is LSB algorithm and some variations on the spatial domain techniques. But at any point of instance, algorithm is public. Once the algorithm is known, attacker will be trying to get the secure data. In this thesis two algorithms are proposed to provide the data security, which were not presented so far, which are as follows: Highly Secured, High Payload and Randomized Image Steganographic Algorithm using Robust Key: In this proposed method, the algorithm used for steganography process is either the PVDM or LSB algorithms depending on the inter pixel difference value in order to increase the data stuffing capacity with out disturbing the quality of the stego image. The position of pixels where to stuff bits will be decided by the stego key which is randomly selected by the user and this key is transmitted to the other party in encrypted form. So the key is robust. Highly Secured, High Quality, High Payload and Randomized Image Steganographic Algorithm using Robust key based on Tri way PVDM Method : In this proposed method, the algorithm used for steganography process is the Tri way PVD with Modulus which is an extension of Tri way PVD [20] in order to increase the stego image quality. The position of pixels where to stuff bits will be decided by the stego key which is randomly selected by the user and transmitted to the other party in encrypted form. So the key is robust. 2.4.2 Network Security For Providing the Network Security, There are many software and hardware devices available like firewalls, IDS etc.,. Generally an intrusion is detected by the IDS, immediately that can be patched by using the available techniques, meanwhile the applications are to be stopped temporarily, where as the proposed trusted architecture for providing network security will provide a self healing intrusion detection system without disturbing the actual state of the system, and trust can be taken back to the system by using the virtualization concepts.