The eNotes Blog Familiarity BreedsUmmmModerate BookSales

Familiarity BreedsUmmmModerate BookSales Its no secret that breaking into the best-seller ranks, especially in hardback sales, is becoming increasingly difficult for new fiction authors. This week, Publishers Weekly reported on the top-selling hardcover authors in 2010. The big dogs dominated, and most have been successfully keeping others away from the kibble for several years. Airport kiosk favorite  James Patterson held six of the top spots on the list of thirty. Other familiar names crowded the field, including horror author Clive Cussler, mystery writer Janet Evanovich, and romance novelist Nora Roberts. Dominating not just hardback sales but trade paper, paperback, and e-books as well was Stieg Larsson, author of the The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest as well as the other novels in the Girl series. A few newcomers did manage to muscle into the top spots, among them Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes, The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, and Major Pettigrews Last Stand by Helen Simonson. First-time novelist Kathyrn Stockett made the bestseller list with her novel, The Help, in 2009 and maintained her status in 2010. But for veterans and the lucky few newbies to make top sales alike, the news really isnt all that great. Sales are way down across the spectrum, and hardcovers   perhaps not surprisingly, given the economy and the popularity of e-readers, are seeing the lowest sales in years.   PW says that only 126 works of fictionclaimed sales of more than 100,000, only slightly fewer than the 130 in 2009, but 19% fewer than the 156 in 2008. In order to encourage sales in hardcover, many vendors offer steep discounts on bestsellers, often 25% to 30% off list prices, but of course, this cuts into the bottom line. When was the last time you bought a hardcover book? Did you pay full price?

Quines son indocumentados y cules son sus derechos

Quines son indocumentados y cules son sus derechos La definicià ³n de los indocumentados en Estados Unidos es clara. Son los extranjeros que no tienen estatus migratorio legal y su presencia en los Estados Unidos es objeto de gran debate polà ­tico. En este artà ­culo se explica quià ©nes son indocumentados, cules son sus nà ºmeros y procedencia, quà © sucede si son arrestados, por quà © no regularizan su situacià ³n y, finalmente, cules son sus derechos. Quià ©nes son los indocumentados en Estados Unidos Son las personas de otros paà ­ses que se encuentran en Estados Unidos y  carecen de estatus legal desde el punto de vista de las leyes migratorias. En general, hay 3  formas en las que un extranjero se convierte en indocumentado: En primer lugar, por cruzar la frontera sin ser examinado por un oficial de inmigracià ³n que autoriza la entrada como admitido o parole. El caso tà ­pico es el de cruzar la frontera entre Mà ©xico y Estados Unidos, principalmente por el desierto. Esta es una actividad cada vez ms difà ­cil, por el incremento de seguridad en la frontera. Y tambià ©n muy peligrosa, por el tipo de personas inescrupulosas que controlan el cruce ilegal de la frontera y tambià ©n porque cada vez se realiza ms por rutas que cruzan el desierto durante varios dà ­as, lo cual hace que decenas de personas fallezcan cada aà ±o por deshidratacià ³n. Cruzar ilegalmente la frontera se considera como la forma ms frecuente de convertirse en indocumentado. Por la propia naturaleza de que este cruce no est registrado es difà ­cil realizar un clculo exacto. Pero se considera que aproximadamente por cada migrante arrestado cuando intentaba ingresar ilegalmente, 2 migrantes lo han conseguido.   En segundo lugar, entrar con una visa o legalmente como la tarjeta de Cruce o una ESTA por ser de un paà ­s en el Programa de Exencià ³n de Visados y quedarse ms all del tiempo autorizado. En el aà ±o fiscal 2015 un total de 525,127 migrantes lo hicieron. Esto es lo que tambià ©n se conoce como overstay de la visa y tiene serias consecuencias. Y, en tercer lugar, cometer una  violacià ³n migratoria.  Un caso tà ­pico, es trabajar sin autorizacià ³n. Nà ºmero de indocumentados en EE.UU. y origen Se estima que aproximadamente en la actualidad hay unos 11.3 millones  de indocumentados, este nà ºmero es menor al mximo histà ³rico del aà ±o 2000. El 52 por ciento del total de indocumentados ha nacido en Mà ©xico. Es decir, aproximadamente 6.5 millones de personas. El segundo paà ­s con ms indocumentados es El Salvador, con ms de medio millà ³n, seguido de Guatemala y Honduras. Muchos indocumentados forman parte de los que se conoce como familias mixtas, es decir, uno o varios de sus miembros carecen de estatus legal y otros son residentes permanentes o, incluso, ciudadanos americanos. Se estima que en la actualidad aproximadamente 4 millones de nià ±os estadounidenses tienen al menos un progenitor que es indocumentado. Pero estos infantes nada pueden hacer por sus padres, desde el punto de vista migratorio, hasta cumplir los 21 aà ±os. E incluso entonces no siempre es posible solucionar el problema. Indocumentado e ilegal Sà ­, desde el punto de vista migratorio es lo mismo un indocumentado que un ilegal. Sin embargo, se considera polà ­ticamente incorrecto dentro de la comunidad latina llamar ilegal a una persona sin estatus migratorio en regla. De hecho, existe una fuerte campaà ±a meditica para conseguir que los medios de comunicacià ³n eviten el uso de esa palabra, que se considera despectiva y que se use exclusivamente la de indocumentado. Quà © les puede suceder a los indocumentados si son detenidos por la migra Los indocumentados pueden ser enviados a prisià ³n mientras se tramita su caso. De hecho, como media cada dà ­a hay ms de 31 mil migrantes detenidos. Adems, pueden ser deportados, expulsados inmediatamente, liberados o pueden incluso en casos muy particulares ajustar su estatus y obtener asà ­ la green card. Cabe destacar que algunos migrantes aunque teà ³ricamente son indocumentados estn protegidos frente a la deportacià ³n, como por ejemplo los muchachos que en su dà ­a aplicaron por DACA y estn renovando el programa. En la actualidad, estas son las  categorà ­as de prioridades de deportacià ³n  establecidas por orden ejecutiva de Donald Trump. Cà ³mo un indocumentado puede regularizar su situacià ³n No es imposible pero es difà ­cil. Y es que a diferencia de lo que ocurre en otros paà ­ses en Estados Unidos no existe la posibilidad de regularizar la situacià ³n por radicar en el paà ­s por un nà ºmero de aà ±os. (No es verdad que si se viven 10 aà ±os se obtiene la green card. Eso es un malentendido de una medida de alivio que existe en algunos casos de procedimientos de deportacià ³n ante un juez migratorio). Estas son 15 posibilidades de legalizacià ³n de indocumentados. En ocasiones es necesario pedir un perdà ³n y obtener su aprobacià ³n. Estas son las opciones para solicitar un perdà ³n migratorio, tambià ©n conocido como waiver. Son situaciones muy particulares y delicadas por lo que es aconsejable hablar con un abogado especialista en esos temas, si es posible y si no al menos ponerse en contacto con una organizacià ³n reputada de ayuda legal a migrantes o con clà ­nicas legales de universidades. Derechos de los indocumentados Uno de los conocimientos ms importantes para los migrantes indocumentados es  saber cà ³mo hacer para saber si un indocumentado est detenido por la migra. Tambià ©n es importante saber que se tienen derechos, como a recibir el salario mà ­nimo por el trabajo realizado, a no ser abusado en el trabajo, a recibir ciertas prestaciones sociales, como asistencia mà ©dica de urgencia o alimentos por el programa WIC para lactantes y embarazadas.   Adems, algunos estados algunas categorà ­as de  inmigrantes indocumentados son considerados como PRUCOL. En estos casos podrà ­an tener acceso a beneficios sociales de los que con carcter general estn excluidos los migrantes sin papeles. Asimismo, no olvidar que todos los nià ±os tienen derecho a la educacià ³n obligatoria, sean ellos indocumentados o sà ³lo sus paps. Estos son los puntos bsicos que se recomienda conocer sobre el sistema educativo en Estados Unidos.  Todos los nià ±os tienen derecho a la mejor educacià ³n disponible. Es de Justicia y se juegan, en muchos casos, su futuro. Por à ºltimo no olvidar que Estados Unidos es un paà ­s muy grande y que los estados tienen distintas posiciones respecto a los indocumentados. Mientras que algunos permiten derechos como la licencia de manejar otros han aprobado leyes que hacen muy difà ­cil vivir el dà ­a a dà ­a. Es por eso que conviene pensar bien dà ³nde vivir, si es que hay esa opcià ³n. Tambià ©n recordar que algunas ciudades mantienen polà ­ticas pro-inmigrantes. Por ejemplo, convirtià ©ndose en ciudades-santuario que no comparten informacià ³n con Inmigracià ³n o emitiendo I.D. para poder abrir cuentas de banco, canjear cheques, etc. Adems, los consulados de varios paà ­ses emiten matrà ­culas consulares que pueden utilizarse como I.D. para gestiones como probar identidad para solicitar permiso de manejar en los estados que lo permiten, etc. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Information Technology in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Information Technology in Business - Essay Example It can make employees more comfortable and happy, which in turn yields better results in productivity. It might also be able to conserve on time and resources by making work easier and faster. It is one of the most beneficial creations of the new century, which has taken human life into a new era of technological advancement, into a world where new possibilities are achievable and business experiences a new perspective, which is easier to handle, yet gives you better results, definitely a worthy option to be considered worth applying and thus executing a better corporate position and get endless business opportunities. Information management is one of the fastest growing areas of experimentation these days, with new areas being explored everyday and new evolutions and revolutions taking place in very short lapses of time. (C Kenneth Allard, 2004) The paper talks about the implications of information technology for businesses in order to achieve competitive advantage over other competent business rivals. Further more; it talks about different aspects of IT, the reasons why IT is not the only thing to be considered and finally, the different implications of IT and some examples of the systems that can be used to achieve competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is basically a hold of a particular firm over the industry. It is an advantage that a company has over others due to a particular service that only this particular firm provides or any system that is integrated only in this particular firm etc. In order to maintain its competitive advantage, a company should keep a close watch over its potential competitors in order to minimize the risk of losing its competitive advantage for not being aware enough. It is a position of a firm in the world of business, a space that it enjoys being better than its competitors in a particular area or a general environment. But, no matter how much the competitively advantaged the firm is, its never unbeatable; not even in the cases of a monopoly. The competitive advantage only lasts till the competitors don't have that particular advancement. The moment they do, the competitive advantage is gone. Thus, to conserve the competitive advantage, a firm must keep on updating its status and looking up for more opportunities of advantage. IT & Competitive Advantage: It is one of the biggest factors that help a firm in achieving competitive advantage. It has so many aspects attached to it that one aspect or the other is bound to provide competitive advantage. Nicholas G (2004) described that the only thing that is needed is the eye to look for it and the mind to implement it in a unique, personalized and customized way so that it is integrated in the firm and is hard for the competitors to achieve and thus ensures the possibility of long lived competitive advantage instead of a short lived one. IT assists Business Growth: The organizations and companies are under constant pressure of competition. First this competition was just with the local industries, organizations and companies, but as the world is coming closer and closer every day and is turning into a global village, the circle of competition has grown from local

Anthropology (Last of the Neanderthals) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Anthropology (Last of the Neanderthals) - Essay Example Therefore the original geographic range of the Neanderthals extended to northeastern Europe. They most probably have gotten this information on geographic range and population through fossils excavated in specific areas that qualified as a part of the past geographic area for Neanderthals, or perhaps any new site. Mitrochondrial DNA must have been extracted from the fossils and if the results match the ones previously found from Neanderthals, then such a case is documented. In order to determine the population estimate, the size of the geographic area as well as the possible number of inhabitants or communities might be taken into consideration. 2. What does the genetic evidence reveal about the relationship between modern humans and Neanderthals? Discuss the significance of this evidence (use at least two examples)? Do you think modern humans and Neanderthals interbreed? Why or why not? Geneticist Svante Paabo disagreed that there was interbreeding between Neanderthals and humans. Using a 40,000-year-old arm bone from the original Neanderthal man, Paabo and his colleagues found â€Å"a tiny 378-letter snippet of mitochondrial DNA (a kind of short genetic appendix to the main text in each cell† (Hall), which revealed DNA that was totally different from those found in humans. Moreover, the fact that â€Å"it was too rare to leave a trace of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA in the cells of living people† (Hall) further strengthens Paabo’s claims. Another significant genetic evidence concerning Neanderthals was the discovery of the Neanderthal pigmentation gene MC1R in October 2007. This indicated that â€Å"at least some Neanderthals would have had red hair, pale skin, and, possibly, freckles† (Hall). On the possibility of interbreeding, I rather agree with the views of Svante Paabo that it might have been impossible. Otherwise, there would have been hybrids of humans and Neanderthals which might look distinct from its

Type of play Essay Example for Free

Type of play Essay The importance of play is reflected by the role it plays in development. Children are encouraged to play with gender appropriate toys but I have to ask myself why parents would rather have their son play with a gun rather than a doll.  Some studies have linked gunplay with aggressive behaviour and it is interesting to see (the table below) that boys are more aggressive than girls at a young age  Some child health professionals encourage parents to limit this type of play. Concern about guns also include potential confusion with real ones, which could lead to someone getting seriously injured. The media is also seen to be a major influence on behaviour. The way television affects a child depends on the childs age and what stage of cognitive development they are at. As a child watches television they absorb the program and then they interpret it to how they saw it. Some cartoons that are violent such as itchy scratchy, which is shown on The Simpsons shows a cat and mouse attack each other and put each others body parts in food blenders etc. Its a bit disturbing to some people but children find it hilarious. I think this is because it is unlikely in real life and depending on the age of the child, they will know that this sort of behaviour is not rewarded. Boys need to be parented in a different way from girls. Home, society and education have failed boys badly- these failures lead to unhappy men who cannot fully become happy, responsible emotionally confident adults.  There is a lot of research comparing the abilities and behaviours of males and females. As we consider the behaviour of boys and girls we have to consider how they differ in their behaviour. Albert Bandura believed aggression reinforced by family members was the most prominent source of behaviour modelling. He reports that children use the same aggressive tactics that their parents illustrate when dealing with others. Children learn to act aggressive when they model their behaviour after witnessing violent acts of adults, especially family members. Bandura is most famous for his Bobo doll experiment, in this experiment; he had children witness a model aggressively attacking a plastic clown called the Bobo doll. Bandura found that the children imitated the aggressive behaviour. There are many sex differences between boys and girls and one of the most comprehensive studies was conducted by, Maccoby and Jacklin (1974). They discover there were only four significant differences between the sexes. Although the differences were small they showed there is an overlap in the behaviour of boys and girls.  Although the study by Maccoby and Jacklin was in depth Shaffer (1993) pointed out, First, girls show more emotional sensitivity. Second, girls are less venerable developmentally than boys, and are less likely to suffer from learning disabilities, various language disorder, or hyperactivity. Third, boys tend to be more physically active than girls. Fourth, girls tend to be more timid than boys (PSYCHOLOGY FOR A2 LEVEL, M.W. ESYWICK, page 698)  In conclusion I would like to say, that I believe that behaviour is learned from society through the process of reinforcement and modelling. Behaviours such as, Sex-role behaviour can be learned by vicarious reinforcement. When you think about it makes sense for a person to keep doing things they are rewarded for and to stop doing things we are not. I found these quotes below and I agree with both of them on this subject.  In the theory of gender I began from zero. There is no masculine power or privilege I did not covet. But slowly, step-by-step, decade-by-decade, I was forced to acknowledge that even a woman of abnormal would cannot escape her hormonal identity.  (Paglia, Camille, 1947 American Author Critic Educator)  (Taken from: www.borntomotivate.com)  Except for their genitals, I dont know what immutable differences exist between men and women. Perhaps there are some other unchangeable differences; probably there are a number of irrelevant differences. But it is clear that until social expectations for men and women are equal, until we provide equal respect for both sexes, answers to this question will simply reflect our prejudices.

Female Poets and the Dark Side of Life Essay -- Rossetti Poetry Poems

Female Poets and the Dark Side of Life During the mid-nineteenth century many female poets including Christina Rossetti seemed to lean upon the dark side of life presenting very dark and shadowed emotions within their poetry. Yet this is not to say that they were depressed but in many ways in can be inferred that these dark themes may have been influenced by the era in which they were living. Many historians have suggested that the second half of the nineteenth century was culturally, a rather strange period. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was started in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, as a reaction against what they saw as the stale, formula-driven art produced by the Royal Academy at the time. They aimed to go back to a more genuine art, exemplified as they saw it by the work of the Nazarenes, and rooted in realism and truth to nature. The Pre-Raphaelites, being young, talented, and having many ideas of their own, felt stifled by the rigidity of the Royal Academy's idea of what tasteful, beautiful art should be. ...

Is Aristotle the Father of Logic

I believe so. Aristotle became known as the Father of Logic by demonstrating that logic was more than just an equivalent to verbal reasoning but an important tool of investigation, a way to learn everything about everything. He was the first to introduce scientific thought into daily processes. Even today, with hundreds of advances in technology and available resources, scientists find that observations he had documented two-thousand years ago are correct. For twenty years Aristotle studied with Plato and became a prominent figure at his academy. But yet after so many years of collaboration between the two, many people including Plato’s nephew Speusippus believed that Aristotle’s ideals varied greatly from Platos and indeed they did. Plato presumed that the â€Å"ideal† form of an person or animal is the result of a â€Å"sensory† world and that every man knew and understood his place in life. Whereas Aristotle believed that the â€Å"form† consisted of several characteristics together as a whole, which eventually was proven and known as DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) as well as believing that a man should create his own place in the world. Consequently, Aristotle left the academy after Plato’s death. Several years later he developed his own school known as the Lyceum at which he taught for thirteen years in a rather peculiar fashion. His lectures were offered to those that were willing to listen as he paced up and down the peripatos outside the school. His works included a vast array of subject matter including physics, biology, psychology, politics and more. In the subject of Logic, he developed the foundation of categories, a way to classify each element of an argument. He further demonstrated that the core of logical thought is a sequence of three propositions in which the first and second imply the last, known as a syllogism. These thoughts have stood the test of time and have only been slightly revised throughout the centuries. It is believed that Aristotle wrote four-hundred books in his lifetime. However, his work was hidden from the world for many, many years when he died in 322BC. Only a portion of them were discovered in 100BC, unfortunately ruined by dampness and moths. Originally taken to Athens and then to Rome, his works gained interest and were used as textbooks by Roman scholars and are still an important influence in learning today. References http://philosophy.sean.tripod.com/id17.htm http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/aris.htm http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/syllogism.aspx#1E1-syllogis

Science was born and survives only by questions. Essay

Science was born and survives only by questions. The whole foundation of science is questioning. And as parents and teachers well know, children are the source of unending questions. Hence, ‘child is the first scientist’. It is very important for every parent to be willing to make the effort to guide children to be good human beings – enlightened and hardworking. The teacher, the child’s window to learning and knowledge, has to play the role model in generating creativity in the child. This triangle is indeed the real role model I can think of. I would even go to the extent of saying that if parents and teachers show the required dedication to shape the lives of the young, India would get a new life. As it is said: Behind the parents stands the school, and behind the teacher the home. A proper education would help nurture a sense of dignity and self-respect among our youth. These are qualities no law can enforce – they have to be nurtured ourselves. A nation’s wealth is the young generation of the country. When they grow up, who can be the role models? Mother, father and elementary school teachers play a very important part as role models. When the child grows up, the role models will be national leaders of quality and integrity in every field including the science, technology and industry. I hope that e-techno teachers who teach and inspire the young students will continue their unmatched and noble services in the years to come, thus ensuring the march of Indian brilliance in every field. Role of students in removing illiteracy In our country is by far the most serious problem. We all recognize that illiteracy is bed, that it prevents the cultural growth of a people. But illiteracy in our country continues to exist on an appalling scale. Even today among ten in India about five are illiterate. Nor is there any organized effort to do away with this deplorable state of backlog. We tinker at the problem instead of tackling it thoroughly. We made experiments. The States have ambitious programmes of setting up primary schools in every village, but these are yet in the cold shade of neglect. But illiteracy can be removed and that quickly, if concerted efforts are made both by private organizations and the states. Within a decade, the Russians got rid of ignorance as colossal as ours; and now the Chinese have also achieved it. They took at once a total war against illiteracy for which the services of all educated men and women were conscripted. Gurudev Rabindranath also praised efforts of the Russians. For this, education must be made free and compulsory at least upto the age of fourteen. That is the plain directive of our Constitution. Recently a bill was adopted in the Parliament of India to make primary education a fundamental right. But even where education is free in India, it is not compulsory; and it is free only at the lower primary stage here and there. The result is that most of those who give up learning after this stage, are the drop-outs, lapse back, into ignorance. Of course, making elementary education compulsory demands money. Children of workers and peasants have to think of earning before they can think of learning. Mahatma Gandhi recognized this basic difficulty and he suggested a scheme by which children would begin to earn while they were learning. In that scheme, known as basic Education scheme, it is not only craft-centered, but the crafts are so chosen as to have a profit basis. The scheme however did not make much headway in free India.

Causes of the Russian Revolution Part 2

Causes of the Russian Revolution Part 2 Causes Part 1. Ineffective Government The ruling elites were still mostly land owning aristocracy, but some in the civil service were landless. The elites ran the state bureaucracy and sat above the normal population. Unlike other countries the elites and the landed depended on the tsar and had never formed a counter to him. Russia had a strict set of civil service ranks, with jobs, uniforms etc., where advancement was automatic. The bureaucracy was weak and failing, losing the experience and skills needed in the modern world, but refusing to let people with those skills in. The system was a vast overlapping chaos, full of confusion, tsarist divide and rule and petty jealousy. Laws overrode other laws, the tsar able to override all. To the outside it was arbitrary, archaic, incompetent and unfair. It stopped the bureaucracy from becoming professional, modern, efficient or as a counter to as medieval looking monarch.Russia had got like this by making a choice. An influx of professional civil servants produced the Great Re forms of the 1860s, to strengthen the state through western reform after the Crimean War. This included ‘freeing’ the serfs (of a sort) and in 1864 created zemstvos, local assemblies in many areas leading to a form of self-rule sandwiched between nobles, who resented it, and peasants, who often did too. The 1860s were liberal, reforming times. They could have led Russia towards the west. It would have been costly, difficult, prolonged, but the chance was there.However, the elites were divided on a response. Reformists accepted the rule of equal law, political freedom, a middle class and opportunities for the working class. Calls for a constitution led Alexander II to order a limited one. The rivals of this progress wanted the old order, and were made up of many in the military; they demanded autocracy, strict order, nobles and church as dominant forces (and the military of course). Then Alexander II was murdered, and his son shut it down. Counter reforms, to centralize control, and strength the personal rule of the tsar followed. Alexander II’s death is the start of the Russian tragedy of the twentieth century.    The 1860s meant Russia had people who had tasted reform, lost it and looked for†¦ revolution.Imperial government ran out below the eighty nine provincial capitals. Below that peasants ran it their own way, alien to the elites above. Localities were under governed and the old regime was not a hyper powerful all seeing oppression. Old government was absent and out of touch, with a small number of police, state officials, who were co-opted for more and more by the state as there wasn’t anything else (for instant checking roads). Russia had a small tax system, bad communications, small middle class, and a serfdom which ended with the landowner in charge still. Only very slowly was the Tsar’s government meeting the new civilians.Zemstvos, run by locals, became key. The state rested on landowning nobles, but they were in decline post emancipation, and used these small local committees to defend themselves against industrializing and state government. Up to 1905 this was a liberal movement pushing for safeguards and provincial society, e.g. peasant versus landowner, calling for more local power, a Russian parliament, a constitution. The provincial nobility were the early revolutionaries, not workers. Alienated Military The Russian military was full of tensions against the Tsar, despite it supposedly being the man’s biggest supporter. Firstly it kept losing (Crimea, Turkey, Japan) and this was blamed on the government: military expenditure declined. As industrialization was not as advanced in the west, so Russia became poorly trained, equipped and supplied in the new methods and lost. The soldiers and self-aware officers were being demoralized. Russian soldiers were sworn to the Tsar, not the state. History seeped into all aspects of the Russian court and they obsessed over little details like buttons, not fixing a feudal army lost in a modern world.Also, the army was being used more and more to support the provincial governors in suppressing revolts: despite the facts much of the lower ranks were peasants too. The army began to fracture over demand to stop civilians. That was before the condition of the army itself where people were seen as serfs, sub civilian slaves by officers. In 1917, ma ny soldiers wanted a reform of the army as much as of the government. Above them were a group of new professional military men who saw the faults through the system, from trench technique to supply of arms, and demanded effective reform. They saw the court and the tsar as stopping it. They turned to the Duma as an outlet, beginning a relationship which would change Russian in early 1917. The Tsar was losing the support of his talented men. An Out of Touch Church The Russians were involved in a foundation myth of being at one with and defending the Orthodox Church and orthodox Russia, which began at the very start of the state. In the 1900s this was stressed this over and over. The Tsar as political-religious figure was unlike anywhere in the west and he or she could damn with the church as well as destroy with laws. The church was vital for controlling the mostly illiterate peasants, and priests had to preach obedience to the Tsar and report objections to police and to state. They allied easily with the last two Tsars, who wanted a return to medieval times.But industrialization was pulling peasants into secular cities, where churches and priests lagged behind the vast growth. The church did not adapt to urban life and a growing number of priests called for reform of it all (and the state too). Liberal clergy realized reform of church only possible with a move away from the tsar. Socialism was what answered the workers new needs, not old Chri stianity. Peasants not exactly enamored of priests and their actions harked to a pagan time, and many priests were underpaid and grasping. A Politicized Civil Society By the 1890s, Russia had developed an educated, political culture among a group of people who were not yet numerous enough to truly be called a Middle Class, but who were forming between the aristocracy and the peasants / workers. This group were part of a ‘civil society’ which sent their youth to be students, read newspapers, and looked towards serving the public rather than the Tsar. Largely liberal, the events of a severe famine in the early 1890s both politicized and radicalized them, as their collective action outlined them to them both how ineffective the Tsarist government now was, and how much they could achieve if they were allowed to unite. The members of the zemstvo’s were chief among these. As the Tsar refused to meet their demands, so many of this social sphere turned against him and his government. Nationalism Nationalism came to Russia at the end of the nineteenth century and neither Tsars government nor liberal opposition could cope with it. It was the socialists who pushed regional independence, and socialist-nationalists who did best among the different nationalists. Some nationalists wanted to stay in the Russian empire but get greater power; the Tsar inflamed this by stamping on it and Russifying, turning cultural movements into fierce political opposition. Tsars had always Russified but it was now much worse Repression and Revolutionaries The Decembrist uprising of 1825 triggered a series of reactions in Tsar Nicholas I, including the creation of a police state. Censorship was combined with the ‘Third Section’, a group of investigators looking into acts and thoughts against the state, which could exile to Siberia suspects, not just convicted of any transgression, but just suspected of it. In 1881 the Third Section became the Okhranka, a secret police fighting a war using agents everywhere, even pretending to be revolutionaries. If you want to know how the Bolsheviks expanded their police state, the line started here.The revolutionaries of the period had been in harsh Tsarist prisons, hardened into extremism, the weak falling away. They started as intellectuals of Russia, a class of readers, thinkers and believers, and were turned into something colder and dark. These derived from the Decembrists of the 1820s, their first opponents and revolutionaries of the new order in Russia, and inspired intellectuals in succeeding generations. Rejected and attacked, they reacted by turning to violence and dreams of violent struggle. A study of terrorism in the twenty first century finds this pattern repeated. A warning was there. The fact that western ideas which had leaked into Russia ran into the new censorship meant they tended to be distorted into powerful dogma rather than argued into pieces like the rest. The revolutionaries looked to the people, who they were usually born above, as the ideal, and the state, who they reviled, with guilt driven anger. But the intellectuals had no real concept of peasants, just a dream of the people, an abstraction that led Lenin and company to authoritarianism.Calls for a small group of revolutionaries to seize power and create a revolutionary dictatorship to in turn create a socialist society (including removing enemies) were around far before the 1910s, and the 1860s were a golden age for such ideas; now they were violent and hateful. They didn’t have to choose Marxism. Many didn’t at first. Born in 1872, Marx’s Capital was cleared by their Russian censor as they though to too hard to understand to be dangerous, and about an industrial state Russia didn’t have. They were terribly wrong, and it was an instant hit, the fad of its day – the intelligentsia had just seen one popular movement fail, so they turned to Marx as a new hope. No more populism and peasants, but urban workers, closer and understandable. Marx seemed to be sensible, logical science, not dogma, modern and western.One young man, Lenin, was thrown into a new orbit, away from being a lawyer and into being a revolutionary, when his older brother was executed for terrorism. Lenin was drawn into rebellion and expelled from university. He was a fully blown revolutionary derived from other groups in Russia’s history already when he first encountered Marx, and he rewrote Marx for Russia, not the other way round.   Lenin accepted the ideas of the Russian Marxist leader Plekhanov, and they would recruit the urban workers by involving them in strikes for better rights. As ‘legal Marxists’ pushed a peaceful agenda, Lenin and others reacted with a commitment to revolution and creating a counter Tsarist party, strictly organised. They created the newspaper Iskra (the Spark) as a mouthpiece to command the members. The editors were the First Soviet of the Social Democratic Party, including Lenin. He wrote What Is To Be Done? (1902), a hectoring, violent work that set out the party. The Social Democrats split into two groups, the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, at the second Party Congress in 1903. Lenin’s dictatorial approach pushed the split. Lenin was a centraliser who distrusted the people to get it right, an anti-democrat, and he was a Bolshevik whereas the Mensheviks were prepared to work with the middle classes. World War 1 Was the Catalyst The First World War provided the catalyst for Russia’s revolutionary year of 1917. The war itself went badly from the start, prompting the Tsar to take personal charge in 1915, a decision which placed the full responsibility for the next years of failure on his shoulders. As demand for ever more soldiers increased, the peasant population grew angry as young men and horses, both essential for the war, were taken away, reducing the amount they could grow and damaging their standard of living. Russia’s most successful farms suddenly found their labour and material removed for the war, and the less successful peasants became ever more concerned with self-sufficiency, and even less concerned with selling a surplus, than ever before.Inflation occurred and prices rose, so hunger became endemic. In the cities, workers found themselves unable to afford the high prices, and any attempt to agitate for better wages, usually in the form of strikes, saw them branded as disloyal to Ru ssia, disaffecting them further. The transport system ground to a halt due to failures and poor management, halting the movement of military supplies and food. Meanwhile soldiers on leave explained how poorly supplied the army was, and bought first hand accounts of the failure at the front. These soldiers, and the high command who had previously supported the Tsar, now believed he had failed them.An increasingly desperate government turned to using the military to curb the strikers, causing mass protest and troop mutinies in the cities as soldiers refused to open fire. A revolution had begun.

Language of Graphs and Charts for ESL Learners

Language of Graphs and Charts for ESL Learners The language of graphs and charts refer to the words and phrases used when describing results depicted within these formats. This language is especially useful when making presentations  because charts and graphs measure various statistics and are helpful when presenting large amounts of information that need to be understood quickly, including facts and figures, statistical information, profit and loss, polling information, etc. The Vocabulary of Graphs and Charts There are a number of different types of graphs and charts including: Line Charts and GraphsBar Charts and GraphsPie ChartsExploded Pie Charts Line charts and bar charts have a vertical axis and a horizontal axis. Each axis is labeled to indicate what type of information it contains. Typical information included on vertical and horizontal axis include: age - how oldweight - how heavyheight - how talldate - which day, month, year, etc.time - how much time is requiredlength - how longwidth - how widedegrees - how hot or coldpercentage - a portion of 100%number - numberduration - the length of time required There are a number of specific words and phrases used to describe and discuss graphs and charts. This vocabulary is especially important when presenting to groups of people. Much of the language of graphs and charts relates to movement. In other words, the language of graphs and charts often speaks of small or large movement or differences between various data points. Refer to this language of graphs and charts to help improve your ability to speak about graphs and charts. The following list the verb and noun used to speak about positive and negative movements, as well as predictions. Example sentences are found after each section. Positive to climb - a climbto ascend - an ascentto rise - a riseto improve - an improvementto recover - a recoverto increase - an increase Sales have climbed over the past two quarters.Weve experienced a rise in consumer demand.Consumer confidence recovered in the second quarter.There has been an increase of 23% since June.Have you seen any improvement in customer satisfaction? Negative to fall - a fallto decline - a declineto plunge - a plungeto decrease - a decreaseto worsen - a slipto deteriorate - a dip Research and development spending has fallen by 30% since January.Unfortunately, weve seen a decline over the past three months.As you can see, sales have plunged in the northwest region.Government spending has decreased by 10% over the past two years.Theres been a slip in profits this past quarter.Comedy book sales have deteriorated for three quarters. Predicting Future Movement to project - a projectionto forecast - a forecastto predict - a prediction We project improved sales in the coming months.As you can see from the chart, we forecast increased research and development spending next year.We predict improving sales through June. This list provides adjectives and adverbs used to describe how quickly, slowly, extremely, etc. something moves. Each adjective/adverb pair includes a definition and an example sentence. slight - slightly insignificant Theres been a slight decline in sales.Sales have declined slightly over the past two months. sharp - sharply quick, large movement Investment rose sharply during the first quarter.We made a sharp increase in investment. abrupt - abruptly sudden change Sales dropped abruptly in March.There was an abrupt drop in sales in March. rapid - rapidly quick, very fast We expanded rapidly throughout Canada.The company made a rapid expansion throughout Canada. sudden - suddenly without warning Unfortunately, consumer interest suddenly decreased.There was a sudden decrease in consumer interest in January. dramatic - dramatically extreme, very big Weve dramatically improved customer satisfaction over the past six months.As you can see from the chart, the dramatic growth has come after we invested in a new product line. calm - calmly evenly, without much change The markets have reacted calmly to recent developments.As you can see from the graph, consumers have been calm over the past few months. flat without change Profit has been flat over the past two years. steady - steadily no change There has been a steady improvement over the past three months.Sales have improved steadily since March.

Video Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Video Analysis Paper - Essay Example The color and pomp in the video is eye catching, while the dancers in the video look beautiful as they dance to music made by a percussion band. The dance moves are consistent to the tempo of the music even though the skimpily dressed women are challenged by their high heels. The progression of the string instruments are played according to the beat tempo and excitement of the dancers. This genre of music is symbolic of youthfulness, sexuality and beauty as expressed in the costumes and props in the video. The camera works of the film direction is also consistent to the prevailing mood (Bakan 277). The carnival mood is considered chaotic and difficult to control but the film directors have been able execute the filming appropriately. The feeling and significant characteristic The feeling derived from watching this video is one that invokes happiness to the viewer. Samba music is the dominant genre in this video with a rich culture and a number of characteristics. The amount of excite ment in the genre is described as a musical explosion with several percussion instruments. The rhythms that come out of the music are created to match the instrumentation of the music. It is evident that the participants in the video seem to be competing against one another as they parade all the way through the streets of the city. The video reveals that the music genre is rhythmical and involves a lot of choreography that requires much attention to capture the best picture while filming. The amount of choreography involved in a Samba dance is one that requires utmost care especially when there are so many people involved in the film. The style of the genre indicates that the participants are used to the practices of the genre that has also resulted to an elaborate lifestyle (Mirror News 1). The film seems as though it was shot in a studio or ball room given the fact that there are minimal mistakes in the video. The amount of organization in the dances is elaborate even though the dances are performed in the streets. The relationship between videos and genre The relationship between this video and the genre as described in the textbook is that it is sensitive to the prevailing culture of the surrounding society. The carnival is a cultural event while Samba is provides the means for the participants to express themselves based on their cultures. This video provides a substantial illustration on the expectation of the participants during the event. This event is taken seriously because of the cultural significance associated to it. Samba music provides those who are involved with the opportunity to express their true feelings during such performances. The relationship between the Bhangra video and the genre is that it bridges the gap between its musical application and interactive inclusion of the audience. The music genre is also dominated with a combination of percussionist drums that indicates who and modern instrumentation. The video also illustrates that t here are a number of new modes of talking part in the performance (Mirror News 1). The modes involve understanding of the essential dance moves as illustrated in the video. The filming technique of the video is illustrative of the amount of professionalism employed to illustrate the best performance. There is also a substantial amount of good film direction that is essential for most film