Judaism and Christianity - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 498 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2019/07/12 Category Religion Essay Level High school Tags: Christianity Essay Judaism Essay Did you like this example? Many people think that Judaism and Christianity are one and the same. However, Judaism and Christianity have many differences that the worlds population arent aware of. While Jews and Christians worship the same God, they have many different beliefs. Christianity and Judaism are different in many ways. For example, they have very different holidays. Jews celebrate Hanukkah, and Christians celebrate Christmas. There are many differences between Christmas and Hanukkah. Hanukkah began when the Second Temple was torn down by the Roman Empire. According to the Talmud, Judah Maccabee and other Jews, who were apart of the rededication of the Second Temple, witnessed a miracle. In the temple they only found enough oil to light their lamps for one day. In the end, the oil ended up lasting them eight days. They saw that as a great miracle and decided to celebrate an eight day festival. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. However, Jews dont believe that Christ has come yet, so they dont celebrate Christmas. Jews believe that Jesus was only a great prophet on the Earth and that he wasnt actually Gods son. They dont accept him in their Jewish beliefs. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Judaism and Christianity" essay for you Create order So, any holiday that involves Christ, such as Christmas, Easter, Lent, Palm Sunday, etc isnt acknowledged at all by Jews. Christians, on the other hand, believe that Jesus was sent from God to be the Messiah and save them from their sins. Another big difference between Jews and Christians, are their food laws. Christians dont have very strict food laws other than the specific rules of Lent every Friday. Jews have many food laws that they have to follow called Kashrut. The way the food is prepared is called Kosher. Jews cant eat consume dairy and meat products at the same time. They also cant eat pork, ham, bacon, seafood that doesnt have scales or fins, insects, or grape beverages that arent produced by Jews. These are the main differences between Jews and Christians. These differences cant be overlooked, because they build the foundations of their religions. Judaism and Christianity also have some similarities. They are both monotheistic and worship the same God. They both have the same founding fathers. Specifically, they are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Both Christians and Jews believe that prayer is an essential part of their daily lives. They acknowledge three types of spiritual beings including angels, demons, and spirits. They frown upon the idea of worshiping angels instead of Holy God. There is a smaller list of similarities, but they are still important to know and should be taken seriously. In order to truly understand either religion, it is essential to study and take in consideration the comparisons and contrasts of these religions. While the similarities are much fewer than the differences, the similarities are just as important and should be taken just as seriously. Both religions are very well known throughout the world, with much controversy and debate as to which one should dominate future generations.

The Gay Marriage Debate Compromise - 1294 Words

The Gay Marriage Debate Compromise Although Procon.org and Family Research Council.org (FRC.org) disagree about if or whether gay marriage should be legal in the U.S.; they do recognize the fundamental right to be married, and the right to be homosexual. They do however disagree on the definition of marriage and its application to homosexuality has been challenged. It is possible that Procon.org and FRC.org which built upon their common goals and concerns about gay marriage; that they might be able to come to terms with a compromising solution to the relatively new problem in our so society. Homosexuality has existed in past cultures and has not been tolerated well by most cultures at every period of human existence. History has shown†¦show more content†¦(Family Research Council.org). Fact not fiction, children raised without a father are more likely to be in the penal system and more promiscuous. If we take the concept of homosexual family and child raising out of the question, we are left with the marr iage aspect still. We do not find homosexual marriage in nature because a species will not survive, is one way to look at it. It goes against God, is another way to look at the big picture (ProCon.org). Most of the arguments stem from the fundamental rights to be happy and pursue life, liberty, and justice. Those same rights are derived from our nation’s belief in a Judeo-Christian God and are not found in all countries around the earth. While denying same sex marriage is believed to be against the constitution, it is in fact not infringing on anyone’s rights to happiness. The right to be gay or homosexual is not infringed upon, but questions, is the right to be married is for everyone (ProCon.org)? We find that both sides concede unions of some kind are beneficial to the happiness of the individuals, but the fundamentalists and conservatives do not want the definition of marriage to be changed. The definition of marriage is between a man and a woman by God’s law and the U.S. Some want to change that law and act more like the majority than the minority, but the definition is clear. Why not allow them to marry

Warm Bodies Chapter 6 Free Essays

‘You need to corner sharper. You keep almost running off the road when you turn right.’ I crank the skinny leather wheel and drop my foot onto the accelerator. We will write a custom essay sample on Warm Bodies Chapter 6 or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Mercedes lurches forward, throwing our heads back. ‘God, you’re a leadfoot. Can you go easier on the gas?’ I come to a jerky stop, forget to push in the clutch, and the engine dies. Julie rolls her eyes and forces patience into her voice. ‘Okay, look.’ She restarts the engine, scoots over and snakes her legs across mine, placing her feet on my feet. Under her pressure, I smoothly exchange gas for clutch, and the car glides forward. ‘Like that,’ she says, and returns to her seat. I release a satisfied wheeze. We are cruising the tarmac, taxiing to and fro under the mild afternoon sun. Our hair ruffles in the breeze. Here in this moment, in this candy-red ’64 roadster with this beautiful young woman, I can’t help inserting myself into other, more classically filmic lives. My mind drifts, and I lose what little focus I’ve been able to maintain. I veer off the runway and clip the bumper of a stair-truck, knocking the Boneys’ church circle out of alignment. The jolt throws our heads to the side, and I hear my children’s necks snap in the back seat. They groan in protest and I shush them. I’m already embarrassed; I don’t need my kids rubbing it in. Julie examines our dented front-end and shakes her head. ‘Damn it, R. This was a beautiful car.’ My son lunges forward in another clumsy attempt to eat Julie’s shoulder, and I reach back and smack him. He slumps into the seat with his arms crossed, pouting. ‘No biting!’ Julie reprimands, still inspecting the car’s damage. As we circle back towards our home terminal, I notice the congregation emerging from a cargo loading gate. Like an inverted funeral procession, the Dead march out in a solemn line, taking slow, plodding steps towards the church. A clutch of Boneys leads the pilgrimage, moving forward with far more purpose than any of the flesh-clad. They are the few among us who always seem to know exactly where they’re going and what they’re doing. They don’t waver, they don’t pause or change course, and their bodies no longer either grow or decay. They are static. One of them looks directly at me, and I remember a Dark Ages etching I’ve seen somewhere, a rotting corpse sneering at a plump young virgin. Quod tu es, ego fui, quod ego sum, tu eris. What you are, I once was. What I am, you will become. I break away from the skeleton’s hollow stare. As we cruise past their line, some of the Fleshies glance at us with uninterest, and I see my wife among them. She is walking alongside a male, her hand woven into his. My kids spot her in the crowd and stand up on the back seat, waving and grunting loudly. Julie follows their gaze and sees my wife wave back at them. Julie looks at me. ‘Is that like . . . your wife?’ I don’t respond. I look at my wife, expecting some kind of rebuke. But there is almost no recognition in her eyes. She looks at the car. She looks at me. She looks straight ahead and keeps walking, hand in hand with another man. ‘Is that your wife?’ Julie asks again, more forcefully. I nod. ‘Who’s that . . . guy she’s with?’ I shrug. ‘Is she cheating on you or something?’ I shrug. ‘This doesn’t bother you?’ I shrug. ‘Stop shrugging, you asshole! I know you can talk; say something.’ I think for a minute. Watching my wife fade into the distance, I put a hand on my heart. ‘Dead.’ I wave a hand towards my wife. ‘Dead.’ My eyes drift towards the sky and lose their focus. ‘Want it . . . to hurt. But . . . doesn’t.’ Julie looks at me like she’s waiting for more, and I wonder if I’ve expressed anything at all with my halting, mumbled soliloquy. Are my words ever actually audible, or do they just echo in my head while people stare at me, waiting? I want to change my punctuation. I long for exclamation marks, but I’m drowning in ellipses. Julie watches me a moment longer, then turns to face the windshield and the oncoming scenery. On our right: the dark openings of empty boarding tunnels, once alive with eager travellers on their way to see the world, expand their horizons, find love and fame and fortune. On our left: the blackened wreckage of a Dreamliner. ‘My boyfriend cheated on me once,’ Julie says to the windshield. ‘There was this girl his dad was housing while the foster homes were being set up, and they got blackout drunk one night and it just happened. It was basically an accident, and he gave me the most sincere and moving confession of all time, swore to God he loved me so much and would do anything to convince me, blah blah blah, but it didn’t matter, I kept thinking about it and running it through my head and just burning with it. I cried every night for weeks. Practically wore the binary off all my saddest Mp3s.’ She is shaking her head slowly. Her eyes are far away. ‘Things are just . . . I feel things so hard sometimes. When that happened with Perry, I would have loved to be more . . . like you.’ I study her. She runs a finger through her hair and twists it around a little. I notice faint scars on her wrists and forearms, thin lines too symmetrical to be accidents. She blinks and glances at me abruptly, as if I just woke her from a dream. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you this,’ she says, annoyed. ‘Anyway, lesson’s over for today. I’m tired.’ Without further comment, I drive us home. I brake too late, and park the car with the bumper two inches into the grille of a Miata. Julie sighs. Later that evening we sit in the 747, cross-legged in the middle of the aisle. A plate of microwaved pad thai sits on the floor in front of Julie, cooling. I watch her in silence as she pokes at it. Even doing and saying nothing, she is entertaining to watch. She tilts her head, her eyes roam, she smiles and shifts her body. Her inner thoughts play across her face like rear-projection movies. ‘It’s too quiet in here,’ she says, and stands up. She starts digging through my stacks of records. ‘What’s with all the vinyl? Couldn’t figure out how to work an iPod?’ ‘Better . . . sound.’ She laughs. ‘Oh, a purist, huh?’ I make a spinning motion in the air with my finger. ‘More real. More . . . alive.’ She nods. ‘Yeah, true. Lot more trouble though.’ She flips through the stacks and frowns a little. ‘There’s nothing in here newer than like . . . 1999. Is that when you died or something?’ Another obstacle to estimating my age: I have no idea what year we’re in. 1999 could have been a decade ago or yesterday. One might try to deduce a timeline by looking at the crumbling streets, the toppled buildings, the rotting infrastructure, but every part of the world is decaying at its own pace. There are cities that could be mistaken for Aztec ruins, and there are cities that just emptied last week, TVs still awake all night roaring static, cafe omelettes just starting to mould. What happened to the world was gradual. I’ve forgotten what it actually was, but I have faint, foetal memories of what it was like. The smouldering dread that never really caught fire till there wasn’t much left to burn. Each sequential step surprised us. Then one day we woke up, and everything was gone. ‘There you go again,’ Julie says. ‘Drifting off. I’m so curious what you think about when you daze out like that.’ I shrug, and she lets out an exasperated huff. ‘And there you go again, shrugging. Stop shrugging, shrugger! Answer my question. Why the stunted musical growth?’ I start to shrug and then stop myself, with some difficulty. How can I possibly explain this to her in words? The slow death of Quixote. The abandoning of quests, the surrendering of desires, the settling in and settling down that is the inevitable fate of the Dead. ‘We don’t . . . think . . . new things,’ I begin, straining to kick through my short-sheeted diction. ‘I . . . find things . . . sometimes. But we don’t . . . seek.’ ‘Really,’ Julie says. ‘Well, that’s a fucking tragedy.’ She continues to dig through my records, but her tone starts to escalate as she speaks. ‘You don’t think about new things? You don’t â€Å"seek†? What’s that even mean? You don’t seek what? Music? Music is life! It’s physical emotion – you can touch it! It’s neon ecto-energy sucked out of spirits and switched into sound waves for your ears to swallow. Are you telling me, what, that it’s boring? You don’t have time for it?’ There is nothing I can say to this. I find myself praying to the ghastly mouth of the open sky that Julie never changes. That she never wakes up one day to find herself older and wiser. ‘Anyway, you’ve still got some good stuff in here,’ she says, letting her indignation deflate. ‘Great stuff, really. Here, let’s do this one again. Can’t go wrong with Frank.’ She puts on a record and returns to her pad thai. ‘The Lady is a Tramp’ fills the plane’s cabin, and she gives me a crooked little smile. ‘My theme song,’ she says, and stuffs her mouth full of noodles. Out of morbid curiosity, I pull one off her plate and chew it. There is no taste at all. It’s like imaginary food, like chewing air. I turn my head and spit it into my palm. Julie doesn’t notice. She seems far away again, and I watch the colours and shapes of her thought-film flickering behind her face. After a few minutes, she swallows a bite and looks up at me. ‘R,’ she says in a tone of casual curiosity, ‘who did you kill?’ I stiffen. The music fades out of my awareness. ‘In that high-rise. Before you saved me. I saw the blood on your face. Whose was it?’ I just look at her. Why does she have to ask me this. Why can’t her memories fade to black like mine. Why can’t she just live with me alone in the dark, swimming in the abyss of inked-out history. ‘I just need to know who it was.’ Her expression betrays nothing. Her eyes are locked on mine, unblinking. ‘No one,’ I mumble. ‘Some . . . kid.’ ‘There’s this theory that you guys eat brains because you get to relive the person’s life. True?’ I shrug, trying not to squirm. I feel like a toddler caught finger-painting the walls. Or killing dozens of people. ‘Who was it?’ she presses. ‘Don’t you remember?’ I consider lying. I remember a few faces from that room; I could roll the dice and just pick one, probably some random recruit she didn’t even know, and she would let it go and never bring it up again. But I can’t do it. I can’t lie to her any more than I can spit out the indigestible truth. I’m trapped. Julie lets her eyes auger into me for a long minute, then she falters. She looks down at the stained airplane carpet. ‘Was it Berg?’ she offers, so quietly she’s almost talking to herself. ‘The kid with the acne? I bet it was Berg. That guy was a dick. He called Nora a mulatto and he was staring at my ass that entire salvage. Which Perry didn’t even notice, of course. If it was Berg, I’m almost glad you got him.’ I try to catch her gaze to make sense of this reversal, but now she’s the one avoiding eye contact. ‘Anyway,’ she says, ‘whoever killed Perry . . . I just want you to know I don’t blame them for it.’ I tense again. ‘You . . . don’t?’ ‘No. I mean, I think I get it. You don’t have a choice, right? And to be honest . . . I’d never say this to anyone, but . . .’ She stirs her food. ‘It’s kind of a relief that it finally happened.’ I frown. ‘What?’ ‘To be able to finally stop dreading it.’ ‘Perry . . . dying?’ I instantly regret speaking his name. Rolling off my tongue, the syllables taste like his blood. Julie nods, still looking at her plate. When she speaks again her voice is soft and faint, the voice of memories longing to be forgotten. ‘Something . . . happened to him. A lot of things, actually. I guess there came a point where he just couldn’t absorb any more, so he flipped over into a different person. He was this brilliant, fiery kid, so weird and funny and full of dreams, and then . . . just quit all his plans, joined Security . . . it was scary how fast he changed. He said he was doing everything for me, that it was time for him to grow up and face reality, take responsibility and all that. But everything I loved about him – everything that made him who he was – just started rotting. He gave up, basically. Quit his life. Real death was just the next logical step.’ She pushes her plate aside. ‘We talked about dying all the time. He just kept bringing it up. In the middle of a wild makeout session he’d stop and be like,  "Julie, what do you think the average life expectancy is these days?† Or, â€Å"Julie, when I die, will you be the one to cut off my head?† Height of romance, right?’ She looks out of the airplane window at the distant mountains. ‘I tried to talk him down. Tried really hard to keep him here, but over the last couple of years it got pretty clear to everyone. He was just . . . gone. I don’t know if anything short of Christ and King Arthur returning to redeem the world could have brought him back. I sure wasn’t enough.’ She looks at me. ‘Will he come back to life, though? As one of you?’ I drop my eyes, remembering the juicy pink taste of his brain. I shake my head. She is quiet for a while. ‘It’s not like I’m not sad that he’s gone. I am, I . . .’ Her voice wobbles a little. She pauses, clears her throat. ‘I really am. But he wanted it. I knew he wanted it.’ A tear escapes one eye and she seems startled by it. She brushes it away like a mosquito. I stand up, take her plate, fold it into the trash bin. When I sit back down her eyes are dry but still red. She sniffs and gives me a weak smile. ‘I guess I talk a lot of shit about Perry, but it’s not like I’m such a shiny happy person either, you know? I’m a wreck too, I’m just . . . still alive. A wreck in progress.’ She laughs a quick, broken laugh. ‘It’s weird, I never talk about this stuff with anyone, but you’re . . . I mean you’re so quiet, you just sit there and listen. It’s like talking to God.’ Her smile drifts away and she is absent for a moment. When she speaks again her voice is cautious but flat, and her eyes roam the cabin, studying window rivets and warning labels. ‘I used to do some drugs when I was younger. Started when I was twelve and tried almost everything. I still drink and smoke pot when I get the chance. I even had sex with a guy for money once, when I was thirteen. Not because I wanted the money – even back then money was pretty worthless. Just because it was awful, and maybe I felt like I deserved it.’ She looks at her wrist, those thin scars like a grim concert entry stamp. ‘All the shitty stuff people do to themselves . . . it can all be the same thing, you know? Just a way to drown out your own voice. To kill your memories without having to kill yourself.’ There is a long silence. Her eyes roam the floor and mine stay on her face, waiting for her to come home. She takes a deep breath, looks at me, and gives a little shrug. ‘Shrug,’ she says in a small voice, and forces a smile. Slowly, I stand up and go over to my record player. I pull out one of my favourite LPs, an obscure compilation of Sinatra songs from various albums. I don’t know why I like this one so much. I once spent three full days motionless in front of it, just watching the vinyl spin. I know the grooves in this record better than the grooves in my palms. People used to say music was the great communicator; I wonder if this is still true in this post-human, posthumous age. I put the record on and begin to move the needle as it plays, skipping measures, skipping songs, dancing through the spirals to find the words I want to fill the air. The phrases are off-key, off-tempo, punctuated by loud scratches like the ripping of fascia tissue, but the tone is flawless. Frank’s buttery baritone says it better than my croaky vocals ever could had I the diction of a Kennedy. I stand over the record, cutting and pasting the contents of my heart into an airborne collage. I don’t care if you are called – scratch – when people say you’re – scratch – wicked witchcraft – scratch – don’t change a hair for me, not if you – scratch – ’cause you’re sensational – scratch – you just the way you are – scratch – you’re sensational . . . sensational . . . That’s all . . . I leave the record to play out its normal repertoire and sit back down in front of Julie. She stares at me with damp, redrimmed eyes. I press my hand against her chest, feeling the gentle thump inside. A tiny voice speaking in code. Julie sniffs. She wipes a finger across her nose. ‘What are you?’ she asks me for the second time. I smile a little. Then I get up and exit the plane, leaving her question floating there, still unanswerable. In my palm I can feel the echo of her pulse, standing in for the absence of mine. That night, lying on the floor of Gate 12, I fall asleep. The new sleep is different, of course. Our bodies aren’t ‘tired’, we aren’t ‘resting’. But every so often, after days or weeks of unrelenting consciousness, our minds simply can’t carry the weight any more, and we collapse. We allow ourselves to die, to shut down and have no thoughts at all for hours, days, weeks. However long it takes to regather the electrons of our ids, to keep ourselves intact a little longer. There’s nothing peaceful or lovely about it; it’s ugly and compulsory, an iron lung for the wheezing husks of our souls, but tonight, something different happens. I dream. Underdeveloped, murky, faded to sepia like centuries-old film, scenes from my old life flicker in the void of sleep. Amorphous figures walk through melting doorways into shadowy rooms. Voices crawl through my head, deep and slurring like drunken giants. I play ambiguous sports, I watch incoherent movies, I talk and laugh with anonymous blurs. Among these foggy snapshots of an unexamined life, I catch glimpses of a pastime, some passionate pursuit long ago sacrificed on the blood-soaked altar of pragmatism. Guitar? Dancing? Dirt bikes? Whatever it was, it fails to penetrate the thick smog choking my memory. Everything remains dark. Blank. Nameless. I have begun to wonder where I came from. The person I am now, this fumbling, stumbling supplicant . . . was I built on the foundations of my old life, or did I rise from the grave a blank slate? How much of me is inherited, and how much is my own creation? Questions that were once just idle musings have begun to feel strangely urgent. Am I firmly rooted to what came before? Or can I choose to deviate? I wake up staring at the distant ceiling. The memories, empty as they already were, evaporate completely. It’s still night, and I can hear my wife having sex with her new lover behind the door of a nearby staffroom. I try to ignore them. I already walked in on them once today. I heard noises, the door was wide open, so I walked in. There they were, naked, awkwardly slamming their bodies together, grunting and groping each other’s pale flesh. He was limp. She was dry. They watched each other with puzzled expressions, as if some unknown force had shoved them together into this moist tangle of limbs. Their eyes seemed to ask each other, ‘Who the hell are you?’ as they jiggled and jerked like meat marionettes. They didn’t stop or even react when they noticed me standing there. They just looked at me and kept grinding. I nodded, and walked back to Gate 12, and this was the final weight that broke my mind’s kneecaps. I crumpled to the floor and slept. I don’t know why I’m awake already, after just a few feverish hours. I still feel the weight of my accumulated thoughts bearing down on my tender brain, but I don’t think I can sleep any more. A burr and a buzz tickle my mind, keeping me alert. I reach for the only thing that’s ever helped in times like these. I reach into my pocket and pull out my last chunk of cerebrum. As residual life energy fades from the brain, the useless clutter is first to go. The movie quotes, the radio jingles, the celebrity gossip and political slogans, they all melt away, leaving only the most potent and wrenching of the memories. As the brain dies, the life inside clarifies and distils. It ages like a fine wine. The piece in my hand has shrivelled somewhat, taking on a brownish-grey tint. I’ll be lucky to get another few minutes of Perry’s life out of this, but what blazing, urgent minutes these will be. Closing my eyes, I pop it into my mouth and chew, thinking, Don’t leave me yet, Perry. Just a little longer. Just a little more. Please. I erupt from the dark, crushing tunnel into a flash of light and noise. A new kind of air surrounds me, dry and cold, as they wipe the last smears of home off my skin. I feel a sharp pain as they snip something, and suddenly I am less. I am no one but myself, tiny and feeble and utterly alone. I am lifted and swung through great heights across yawning distances, and given to Her. She wraps around me, so much bigger and softer than I ever imagined from inside, and I strain my eyes open. I see Her. She is immense, cosmic. She is the world. The world smiles down on me, and when She speaks it’s the voice of God, vast and resonant with meaning, but words unknowable, ringing gibberish in my blank white mind. She says – I am in a dark, crooked room, gathering medical supplies and loading them into boxes. A small crew of civilian recruits are with me on this salvage, all of them handpicked by Colonel Rosso except one. One of them picked herself. One of them saw a look in my eyes and worried. One of them wants to save me. ‘Did you hear that?’ Julie says, glancing around. ‘No,’ I reply instantly and keep loading. ‘I did,’ Nora says, brushing her frizzy curls out of her eyes. ‘Pear, maybe we should – ‘ ‘We’re fine. We scoped it out, we’re secure. Just work.’ They watch me constantly, tensed like hospital orderlies, ready to intervene. It changes nothing. I won’t endanger them but I’ll still find a way. When I’m alone, when no one’s looking, I’ll do it. I’ll make it happen. They keep trying and trying but the beauty of their love only drives me deeper. Why can’t they understand it’s too late? A noise. I hear it now. A rumble of footsteps up the staircase, a chorus of groans. Are Julie’s ears so much more sensitive or have I stopped listening? I pick up my shotgun and turn – No, I blurt into the middle of the vision. Not this. This isn’t what I want to see. To my surprise, everything halts. Perry looks up at me, the voice in the sky. ‘These are my memories, remember? You’re the guest here. If you don’t want to see it, you can spit it out.’ This is a shock. The memory has come unscripted. Am I having a conversation with the very mind I’m digesting? I don’t know how much of this is actually Perry and how much is just me, but I’m swept along. We should be seeing your life! I shout down at him. Not this! Why would you want your last thought to be a replay of your dirty, meaningless death? ‘You think death isn’t meaningful?’ he retorts, chambering a round in his shotgun. Julie and the others wait in their positions like background props, fidgeting impatiently. ‘Wouldn’t you want to remember yours if you could? How else are you going to reverse-engineer yourself into something new?’ Something new? ‘Of course, you dumb corpse.’ He puts his eye to the sights and makes a slow scan of the room, holding for a moment on Berg. ‘There are a thousand kinds of life and death across the whole metaphysical spectrum, not to mention the metaphorical. You don’t want to stay dead for the rest of your life, do you?’ Well, no . . . ‘Then relax, and let me do what I need to do.’ I swallow the lump in my throat and say, Okay . . . – pick up my shotgun and turn, just as the thundering footfalls reach our floor. The door blows open and they burst inside, roaring. We shoot them, we shoot them, we shoot them, but there are too many, and they’re fast. I crouch over Julie, shielding her as best I can. No. Oh God. This is not what I wanted. A tall skinny one is suddenly behind me, grabbing my legs. I fall and hit the table and my vision flashes red. Everything is wrong, but as the red fades to black I still allow an exultant shout, one last selfish orgasm before I go to sleep for ever: Finally. Finally! And then – * ‘Perry.’ A jab in my ribs. ‘Perry!’ ‘What?’ ‘Don’t you go to sleep on me now.’ I open my eyes. An hour of sun glaring through my closed lids has faded all the colours of the world to bluish grey, like an old movie poster in a dying local video store. I turn my head to look at her. She smiles wickedly and jabs me again. ‘Never mind. Go ahead and sleep.’ Beyond her face I see the looming white posts of the Stadium roof arches, and beyond that, the deep cerulean sky. I slowly alternate my focus between her and the sky, letting her face blur into a peach-and-gold cloud, then refocusing it. ‘What?’ she says. ‘Tell me something hopeful.’ ‘What kind of hopeful?’ I sit up, crossing my arms over my knees. I look out at the surrounding city, the crumbling buildings, the empty streets and the lonely sky, clean and blue and deathly quiet without its white-sketching airplanes. ‘Tell me this isn’t the end of the world.’ She lies there for a minute, looking up at the sky. Then she sits up and pulls one of her earbuds out of her tangled blonde hair. She gently plugs it into my ear. The warbled strumming of a broken guitar, the swelling of an orchestra, the oohs and ahhs of a studio choir, and John Lennon’s weary, woozy voice, singing limitless undying love. Everyone playing this song is now bones in a grave, but here they are anyway, exciting and inviting me, calling me on and on. The final fade-out breaks something inside me, and tears squeeze out of my eyes. The brilliant truth and the inescapable lie, sitting side by side just like Julie and me. Can I have both? Can I survive in this doomed world and still love Julie, who dreams above it? For this moment at least, tied to her brain by the white wire between our ears, I feel like I can. Nothing’s gonna change my world, Lennon chants, over and over. Nothing’s gonna change my world. Julie sings a high harmony, and I murmur a low. There on the hot white roof of humanity’s last outpost, we look out over our rapidly, hopelessly, irretrievably changing world, and we sing: Nothing’s gonna change my world. Nothing’s gonna change my world. I am staring at the airport ceiling again. I drop the last chunk of Perry’s brain into my mouth and chew, but nothing happens. I spit it out like gristle. The story is over. The life is gone. I find my eyes burning again, craving tears that my ducts can’t supply. I feel as if I’ve lost someone dear. A brother. A twin. Where is his soul now? Am I Perry Kelvin’s afterlife? I finally drift back to sleep. I’m in the darkness. The molecules of my mind are still scattered, and I float through oily black space, trying to swipe them up like fireflies. Every time I go to sleep, I know I may never wake up. How could anyone expect to? You drop your tiny, helpless mind into a bottomless well, crossing your fingers and hoping that when you pull it out on its flimsy fishing wire it hasn’t been gnawed to bones by nameless beasts below. Hoping you pull up anything at all. Maybe this is why I only sleep a few hours a month. I don’t want to die again. This has become clearer and clearer to me recently, a desire so sharp and focused I can hardly believe it’s mine: I don’t want to die. I don’t want to disappear. I want to stay. How to cite Warm Bodies Chapter 6, Essay examples

Business Law Case Study of Squelch Ltd †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Business Law Case Study of Squelch Ltd. Answer: In this given case study it has been provided that Squelch Ltd., an Australian Public company which manufacturers beverages, encountered an unfortunate incident. One of the technicians of the aforementioned company Leonard had been asked by Jenifer, the director of Squelch Ltd. to physically move within the broken down machinery to resolve the issue. Such technician had resolved the problem, but before he came out, Jenifer instructed to start the machine due to which Lenard sustained serious injuries. The issue in question is whether Squelch should face civil and criminal due to the accident in which Leonard was injured. It can be stated that for the purpose of assessing the issue in context of legal provisions, it is important to discuss the legal provisions of Negligence and Work Health and Safety 2011. An organization will face civil liability in case it is established that there was Negligence on the part of the organization due to which the concerned employee sustained severe injuries. The law of Tort in Australia has been derived from English common law. The Civil Liability Act 2002 also governs thelaw related to Negligence and Tort in Australia. In order to prove that the defendant had been negligent in his actions, the plaintiff is required to establish that all the essential elements of Negligence had been present. The essential elements of Negligence can be defined as: Duty of care Breach of duty of care Causation As held in the case Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 a three part test must be applied to assess: Whether the damage or injury sustained by the plaintiff was reasonably foreseeable to the defendant Whether a proximity had eisted between the parties Whether it is reasonable, just or fair to impose liability upon the defendant. In order to establish negligence, breach of duty of care is the second most important element. The objective test as illustrated in the case Vaughan v Menlove(1837) 3 Bing. N.C. 467 is applied to assess whether defendant had met the standard of a reasonable person. The third important element of Negligence is Causation. In order to claim damages from the defendant, the plaintiff must establish that the damage sustained by him was caused due to the negligent actins of the defendant. The causation of damage is generally assessed by the application of a but for test as established in the case Barnett v Chelsea Kensington Hospital[1969] 1 QB 428. Thus by applying the legal principles to the facts of the case it can be stated that the Swelch Ltd had been negligent. The company had a duty of care to Leonard. Such duty of care can be assessed by the application of the objective test as mentioned in the Caparo Industries plc v Dickman case. Firstly it can be said that it was reasonably foreseeable to Jenifer that Leonard would sustain injuries if she turned on the machine before Leonard could get out. There was also proximity between Jenifer and Leonard. Leonard was a technician employed by the company to fix the faulty machine. Therefore it can be assessed by a reasonable person that Squelch Ltd. would be responsible for any injury sustained by Leonard. Thirdly it can be stated that it would be reasonable and only fair to impose the liability on Squelch of any harm likely to be caused to Leonard. Thus in this case a duty of care of Squelch Ltd towards Leonard ca n be said to be existing. Squelch Ltd. breached such duty of care. This can be substantiated by the application of the test as provided in the case Vaughan v Menlove. Any reasonable person in this situation would have waited till Leonard got out of the broken machiner which he was repairing. The damage sustained by Leonard, can be said to be a direct cause of the breach of duty of care by Squelch Ltd. This can be substated by the But For test. It can be stated that Leonard would not have sustained the injuries but for the omission of the negligent action of Squelch Ltd. Thus in this case negligence of the part of Squelch has been established and Leonard is entitled to claim damages for the injury sustained by him. Further it can be stated that the Work health and Safety act 2011 provides that employers can face criminal liability if they do not comply with the provisions of the aforementioned act. They will face a greater liability if such non compliance results in the death and injury of the concerned employee. Thus in this case Squelch Ltd will face criminal liability. Bibliography: Work Health and Safety Act 2011 Barnett v Chelsea Kensington Hospital[1969] 1 QB 428 Vaughan v Menlove(1837) 3 Bing. N.C. 467 Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605 The Civil Liability Act 2002

Film Contributions Of The Sixties Essays - English-language Films

Film Contributions Of The Sixties Beginning roughly with the release of Stanley Kubricks Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb in 1964, and continuing for about the next decade, the Sixties era of filmmaking made many lasting impressions on the motion picture industry. Although editing and pacing styles varied greatly from Martin Scorcesses hyperactive pace, to Kubricks slow methodical pace, there were many uniform contributions made by some of the eras seminal directors. In particular, the Sixties saw the return of the auteur, as people like Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick wrote and directed their own screenplays, while Woody Allen wrote, directed and starred in his own films. Kubrick, Coppola and Allen each experimented with characterization, narrative and editing techniques. By examining the major works of these important directors, their contributions become more apparent. Dr. Strangelove (1964), an adaptation of Peter Bryants novel Red Alert, although still bearing the usual traits of a Kubrick film, is something of a departure for him in terms of editing and spatial strategies. The films run-time more or less corresponds with the fictional or represented time in the story. This direct correspondence between fictional and real time adds to the sense of temporal compression induced by the films insistent editing patterns. Although Dr. Strangelove employs many long takes, it contains the shortest average-shot-length of any Kubrick film. The film consists of roughly 700 shots and has a run time of 94 minutes for an average-shot-length of 8 seconds. Despite the rather short average-shot-length, Dr. Strangelove still resorts to crucial long takes to slow down the rapid momentum of the story (Falsetto, 35). Several spatial and temporal procedures are at work in Dr. Strangelove, such as the use of the long take. Conversely, the B-52 sequences, often accompanied by various versions of When Johnny Comes Marching Home, employ different editing patterns than the rest of the film. These edits reinforce the films theme of inevitability. Through editing, the B-52 sequences display a strong cinematic rhythm. The shots are generally shorter than the other sections of the film, and they significantly contribute to the films shorter average-shot-length, despite Kubricks deliberate use of long takes (Falsetto, 44). Stanley Kubricks next film was the science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. 2001 represents Kubricks most ambitious presentation of cinematic subjectivity, most prominently in the Star-Gate sequence and in the final episode of Dave Bowman in an isolation room. These sequences are a result of a film, which for most of its run time does not presented the subjective vision of any one character. In stylistic and visual terms, there is a movement from the three-dimensional style of the films first half to the flatter, more abstract visual style of the Star-Gate sequence. The films movement towards abstraction can be understood both in visual and narrative terms (Falsetto, 115). 2001s presentation of details from the Dawn of Man sequence, to later space travel scenes are shot with complete conviction and impeccable detail. The viewer believes that the world might have actually looked like what Kubrick presented it as, several million years ago, and the depiction of space travel is just as convincing. The use of models, front projection, the slow editing techniques and camera work all help to create a more complete illusion (Falsetto, 141). If 2001 was presented almost completely objectively, than Kubricks next film, A Clockwork Orange (1972) was presented almost completely subjectively. This may have been in part due to the constraints of the original novel by William Burgess, but nonetheless the film is told from the point of view of its central character, Alex. When Alex is not speaking on camera, he can often be heard as a voiced over narrator, interjecting his comments on the action which is occurring on screen. The elements of fantasy and theater are evident in the infamous rape scene, where Alex does a freaked-out impersonation of Gene Kelly, performing Singing in the Rain. He moves with great flair, and his violent actions become a creative release. Carefully choreographed movements and gestures punctuate his actions. Part of the reason the films violence is so attractive is because not only is it presented with great imagination, but it is also performed by the only

Mariner 4 - Mission to Mars - Brief History of Mariner 4 Mission to Mars

Mariner 4 - Mission to Mars - Brief History of Mariner 4 Mission to Mars Mars is in the news a lot these days. Movies about exploration of the planet are popular, and several space agencies around the world are planning human missions in the next decades. Yet, there was a time not so long ago in human history when NO mission had been to the Red Planet. That was in the early 1960s, when the Space Age was picking up momentujm. Since then, scientists have been exploring the planet Mars with robotic spacecraft: mappers, landers, rovers, and orbiters  such as Mars Curiousity, as well as the Hubble Space Telescope, which observes Mars from orbit around Earth.  But, there had to be a first successful mission to get this all started. Mars excitement began when Mariner 4 arrived at the Red Planet on July 15, 1965. It got as close as 9,846 km (6,118 miles) from the surface and returned the first good images of the cratered, dusty terrain. It was not the first mission launched to Mars, but it was the first successful one.   What Did Mariner 4 Show Us? The Mariner 4 mission, which was the fourth in a series of planetary exploration missions, revealed the cratered, rust-colored surface of the planet. Astronomers knew Mars was red from years of ground-based observations. However, they were amazed at the color seen in the spacecrafts images. Even more surprising were pictures that showed regions showing evidence that liquid water had once etched its way across the surface. Yet, there was NO evidence of liquid water anywhere to be found.   In addition to various field and particle sensors and detectors, the Mariner 4 spacecraft had a television camera, which took 22 television pictures covering about 1% of the planet. Initially stored on a 4-track tape recorder, these pictures took four days to transmit to Earth. Once past Mars, Mariner 4 orbited the Sun prior to returning to the vicinity of Earth in 1967. Engineers then decided to use the aging craft for a series of operational and telemetry tests to improve their knowledge of the technologies that would be needed for future interplanetary spacecraft. All in all, the mission was a great success. Not only did it serve as a proof of concept for successful planetary exploration missions, but its 22 images also revealed Mars for what it really is: a dry, cold, dusty and apparently lifeless world.   Mariner 4 Was Designed For Planetary Exploration NASA built the Mariner 4 mission to Mars to  be tough enough to get to the planet and then study it with a set of instruments during its quick flyby. Then, it had to survive the trip back around the Sun and supply more data as it flew. Mariner 4s  instruments and cameras had the following tasks: study interplanetary fields and particles, including the magnetic field of Mars, cosmic dust, cosmic rays, and the solar wind;take close-up images of Mars in hopes of discovering the geologic and atmospheric processes at work on the planet over the eons;provide experience in operating long-term interplanetary missions.   The spacecraft was powered by solar cells that provided about 300 watts of power for the ships instruments and television camera. Nitrogen gas tanks supplied fuel for attitude control during flight and maneuvers. Sun and star trackers helped the spacecraft navigation systems. Since most stars were too dim, the trackers focused on the star Canopus.   Launch and Beyond Mariner 4 rode to space aboard an Agena D rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch complex in Florida. Liftoff was flawless and a few minutes later, the thrusters fired to put the spacecraft into a parking orbit high above Earth. Then, about an hour later, a second burn sent the mission on its way to Mars.   After Mariner 4 was well under way to Mars, an experiment was approved to study the effect of transmitting the spacecrafts radio signal through the Martian atmosphere just before the spacecraft disappeared behind the planet. This experiment was designed to probe the thin blanket of air surrounding Mars. That task threw mission planners a real challenge: they had to reprogram the spacecrafts computer from Earth. That had never before been done, but it worked perfectly. In fact, it worked so well that mission controllers have used it many times with other spacecraft in the years since then.   Mariner 4 Stats The mission was launched on November 28, 1964. It arrived at Mars on July 15, 1965 and performed all its mission activities well. Controllers lost communication with the mission from October 1, 1965 to 1967.  Then contact was restored for a few months before it was lost again, for good. Throughout its entire mission, Mariner 4 returned more than 5.2 million bits of data, including imaging, engineering and other data.   Want to know more about Mars exploration? Check out Eight Great Mars Books, and also keep an eye out for television specials about the Red Planet. Its a sure bet that there will be an increasing amount of press as humanity gets ready to send people to Mars.

Learning Theories for Teachers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Learning Theories for Teachers - Essay Example The science of psychology focuses its study area on the mind of the individual, often drawing on cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses to measure and determine the mind's structures and functions. It is generally conceded that many human behaviors are learnt, and so psychologists have sought to identify a learning theory that explains learning processes. Education professionals, in turn, draw on this knowledge base to inform and provide ideal learning conditions for students. The text presents contemporary learning theories as emphasizing cognitive, socio-emotional and physical aspects of learning across the lifespan. This paper aims to present a review of the major learning theories used for teaching in the 21st century, especially noting the advantages of a cognitive-construcitonist approach. Firstly, the two major families of learning theory as conceived by Bigge and Shermis shall be presented. The specific theories of Skinner, Vygotsky, and Brunner shall be detailed. Secondly, a conclusion shall synthesize the main points of this paper, and provide support for education professionals to incorporate cognitive-interactionist theories into their classrooms. Bigge and Shermis identify the two major learning theories of relevance to current education as being the behaviorist and the cognitivist schools of thought. The behaviorists focus on observable behavior and reduced the learning experience to a process of stimulus and response. This psychology approach to learning was adopted in the USA during the early 1900s, when science and technology were experiencing a time of accelerated growth. Hence, the concept of studying measurable, objective, human behaviors aligned with current values of a modernized society embracing standardized production methods. For the extreme behaviorist, all human behavior can be understood through the processes of conditioning, these being classical and operant in form.An example of classical conditioning is Pavlov's dog that 'learns' to salivate when it hears a bell. B. F. Skinner is famous for his development of the principles of operant conditioning, that is, that any behavior is shaped by the consequences t hat follow it. Skinner pointed out that a positive, negative or neutral consequence following a behavior influenced whether a particular behavior was repeated in the future, or if it was not. So, a person learns new behaviors, or is able to modify existing behaviors, as a function of environmental events that either reward or punish that behavior. In this way, Skinner's learning theory is a move away from the traditional behaviorist approach of stimulus and response, as he differentiated between types of responses. When a response was elicited by a known stimulus is considered to be associated with the known stimulus. Alternatively, responses that do not require a specific stimulus, which he termed operants, are independent of the stimulus. Skinner emphasized that it was the operant response that could be strengthened or weakened by use of personal, social or environmental rewards or punishments respectively.Skinner's principles advocated the idea that learning could be 'programmed, ' which fit

Business management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business management - Essay Example Business management It is argued that the supply chain standards are not fixed at a uniform level or universal conditions cannot be established. Several factors should be taken into consideration while implementing a supply chain implementation or improvement plan. Factors contributing to the effective development of supply chain management are many and varied, which include: - Design and Planning Services: The company offers Design and Planning Services in order to eke the customers in order to develop efficient and ever ready data availability, layered network which supports the customer in reaching new markets and improve performance. - Operations Services: " Managed Network Operations, IT Professional Services, Technical Information Products/Services, and a comprehensive Network Support Program, ensure comprehensive operational, troubleshooting, and maintenance support that keeps your network running smoothly and ensures high network availability. - Performance Services. GSM Network Optimisation Services provide multi-vendor optimisation of 2G and 2.5G networks based on unique modelling and data analysis tools, which utilise real measurement, report data from network users in the optimisation process. - Evolution Services. With Motorola knowledge, tools, and resources, you can conduct comprehensive planning scenarios, accurately model service mixes, and quickly create network simulations for GPRS or UMTS enhanced networks, while gracefully evolving your service offerings.†" (Motorola) In the globalise era when most of the business organisations are involved in different business activities it has become inevitable for the firms independently perform all the functions. Most of the companies do not operate their supply chain and rely on other firms to perform the multi-faceted tasks. The successful and efficient combination of the operations of these firms provides the company with the competitive edge in the market. (Cook, DeBree, and Feroleto, 2001). Lummus and Vokurka (1999) points out towards the need for the managers to understand the performance of all the stake holding firms in the supply chain. According to (Pohlen, 2003), this insight in the performance of each firm will enable the managers to develop measures in order to fulfil the demands of the customers. The main task of the supply chain management is to develop a strategy which can cater the need of the customers and is aligned with the company objectives (Pohlen, 2003). In this lieu it is important for the mangers to keep on measuring the performance

Enviromental science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enviromental science - Essay Example Over-population is one of the majors for most of the problems being faced in the world. Population increases with 1.5 people per second around the world, therefore in an hour it increases at the rate of. If we go on to ignoring these statistics and the problems they are creating it is only increasing the human suffering. We human beings are capable of doing many things and so we have accumulated the data of every person who ever lived on earth and it is safely kept in the US. The UN not only preserves the data but it also helps predict the future and these predictions are astounding. It is possible that the total population will increase with the 3.1 billion people till the middle of this century making it 9 billion; we have 6.8 billion people today and it is expected to increase up to 7 billion within the coming 4-5 years this is the most startling fact mentioned in the movie. It means that in 50 years the earth will need to accommodate up to 3 billion more people. Within the next 50 years the people will suffer no matter where they are or how they live. When there is abundance of food, water and right availability of material for shelter, the population thrives and succeeds. But when there is scarcity of the most basic necessities, the world comes under depression. Humans and resources have a very close relationship; the food production cannot increase as fast as the human reproduction can. Therefore, the demand will gradually exceed the supply; if the human population is not controlled at once the life would end miserably. The green revolution was not harmful in fact it was more effective in producing food in abundance through modern farming methods. It helped many countries become self-sufficient in food and alleviate hunger in the world. Out of 70% of water present in the world only 1 % is being provided to the people living in it and the rest is

Transformational Leadership in Teaching

Transformational Leadership in Teaching This paper is a discussion of possible data collection and analysis methods that could be used to address an inquiry into the effectiveness of novice teachers who use transformational leadership style to manage their classrooms. It is arranged in the following order. Possible abstract, introductory statement, research aims methodology and techniques, researcher position, theoretical framework, research questions, research design data collection, data analysis and states the significance of the study before finally concluding. Abstract The proposed study is an investigation of the effectiveness of beginner teachers in the area of classroom management using transformational leadership style in Zambia. It will adopt a qualitative method and a narrative inquiry approach premised on the fact that the researchers intention is to gain is to gain understanding, give a description and analysis of the stories/narratives of novice teachers (participants).Qualitative data collection methods will take the form of surveys, observations and in-depth interviews while the analysis will comprise data reduction, data display and drawing conclusions (Miles and Huberman,1994). The proposed study intends to use a sample of ten(10) novice teachers in three (3) in three (5) public high schools in Lusaka province during a two (2) months period. It is expected that variability in participants will be maximized by this sample in terms of work area and backgrounds thereby bringing out rich in-depth understanding of beginner teachers experiences in classroom management. The proposed study will contribute to knowledge in the area of effective ways of managing classrooms not only among novice teachers but in the entire education fraternity by illuminating best practices. Introduction That classroom management is a fundamental concern among pre-service, beginner and practicing teachers, and is a topical issue in professional practice literature, school staff rooms including in the media is undisputed (Mc Cormick, 1997).It is an essential ingredient in the attainment of maximum instructional time which has potential to positively impact the outcomes of learning. The effectiveness of instruction is contingent upon teachers abilities to manage and organize the behavior of students. Substantial research suggest that one of the key challenges encountered by novice teachers in achieving the teaching objectives in the classroom is managing order (Cothrane et al.,..) Novice teachers experience struggles with classroom management that negatively impacts student learning (Buckman, 2009, p.5) owing to the detachment between what they learn during training and what they actually experience in practice in line with maintaining order in the classroom. Koki (2000) states that be ginning teachers particularly face difficulties in managing their classrooms and often struggle to apportion adequate instructional time as most of their attention is channeled at handling disruptive tendencies and behavior. It becomes necessary for teachers to work towards consciously organizing and maintaining an enabling learning atmosphere for all learners. Buckman (2009) argues that the process of managing the classroom should be altered and evaluated depending on the need. As such, the importance of teachers having forceful classroom management skills to enhance nurturing and successfully excel in their professions cannot be over emphasized, a minimal number of teachers are proficient in this domain. The persistence of beginner teachers in the teaching career is influenced and determined by their ability to effectively manage their classrooms (Ingersoll and Smith,2003).Unfortunately, many novice teachers struggle to control and maintain discipline among their learners (Koki,2000) which often culminates into developing stress and decreased energy or burn out in the early years of teaching. Hafock (2006) claims that many new teachers quit teaching during the first five years owing to frustrations with classroom and behavior management challenges. Accordingly, Kariuki (2009) observed that teachers require sustainable effective and efficient procedures, regulations and routines carefully planned and managed if instruction time is to be maximized and a reduction on time spent on behavior management. The proposed study will explore the practices, experiences and beliefs of 18 beginner teachers meeting the criteria (defined by the researcher) for being effective and successful classroom managers. Research Aims The proposed study aims to develop theory about the effectiveness of novice high school teachers. The questions that will guide the research are transformational leadership style. Methodology and data collection techniques Qualitative data collection methods will take the form of surveys, observations and in-depth interviews while the analysis will comprise data reduction (text analysis and coding), data display (identification and coding of emerging themes) and verification and drawing (Interpretation). In order to truly gauge the success of an inquiry based on human experience, it is appropriate for me to utilize the traits listed as qualitative research working directly with teachers to unearth their beliefs, practices and experiences .According to Hatch (2002)good qualitative researchers understand the world from the perspectives of those living in it (P.2).Qualitative research going by Merriam et al.,(2000) is premised on the idea that meaning is constructed socially by individuals through interactions in their social world and the meaning it has for them is considered an interpretive qualitative approach(pp.3-4) which is applicable for this proposed study. A qualitative inductive framework will enable explore the participants world in their naturalistic setting.

My Accomplishments :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My parents always tell me how proud they are of me and all i’ve accomplished in my life at such a young age. I’ve always been known as the â€Å"responsible one†, or the â€Å"smart one† out of all my friends. I’ve always been the one to remind my friends about tests or reports that are due, and they always ask what they would do without me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’ve been in choir ever sense I was in 7th grade, and i made it up to the Accapella choir, which is pretty much the highest choir you can join. We traveled to compete and have won many awards. My junior year of high school i did volunteer work at an assisted living facility where i called bingo, i did that for about three mounts. I tried to continue to do that after i got my first job but the two couldn’t work around each others schedules. I got my first job as soon as i turned 16 i got my hired the same day i turned in my application. I have now worked at Wendys for almost two years, and am now studying to be a crew leader, which is right under a manager position have stayed at Wendys so long because they work around my busy schedule and now i know everyone so well that they are all like family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In my junior year of high school i did a scholarship program called Jr. miss where we practiced for about five months. We did fashion shows to raise money. We competed in events such as:talent, poise, fitness, and academics. This allowed me to explore myself and make new friends, it also helped build my self-esteem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My grandma is my role model because she has accomplished so much and been through so much in her life. She is a very beautiful person, but very stubborn in what she believes and wants. Its almost impossible to get her to change her mind. She is always telling me how proud she is of me and has pretty high expectations of me. My mom is also a role model for me because she had a rough childhood and after she started a family she went back to college she is still attending college now, she gives me motivation to never give up and reminds my of how good my life is

Cyclermate

CYCLERMATE REPORT I. Introduction of Cyclermate Lewis Llewellyn and Dai Armstrong were the first two men who made a plan of opening their own company after being redundant as the consequence of the closure of their town’s steel works in South Wales. Both of them belonged to the local cycle touring club and since then, they had become close friends.With the idea of making a traditional upright cycle in sharp of the 1940’s and 1950’s, Cyclermate Ltd has been established and quickly gained success and attracted a number of attentions of customers owing to its high quality hand – made products and word – of – mouth reputation. Over the next 15 years, the company had still expanded and continued to be successful when persuading many small cycle shops in Wales and England to display or at least to keep a stock of brochures of its products.Everything seems to work quite smoothly until 2010, when Cyclermate has faced a lot of issues in terms of finan ce, human resource and operation. To be specific, the demand among buyers in this field continues to fall even price of each Cyclermate’s product has been reduced; the quality of its products are no longer as good as it was in the past which illustrated by the increase of complaints from customers about its quality and fault and the bank manager has expressed concern about the overdraft which will cost Cyclermate a big trouble if it does not solve these problems immediately.These are just some of the obstacles which the company has faced so in this essay, I will analyze more clearly about its difficulty and recommend some positive solutions for Cyclermate which it can follows to handle these issues. II. Cyclermate analysis 1. SWOT analysis First of all, in order to have a wide vision about this company, I have used SWOT as a tool to identify and analyze the situation of Cyclermate at the moment. As regards internal factors, one of the strength of this company which makes it d ifferent compared to the other companies is unique products.As far as I am concerned, with the development of technology, many cycle shops nowadays use a modern production chain to dispose and assemble materials. Nonetheless, the cost for this activity is quite high and most of the products will be the same. When it comes to Cyclermate, almost processes have been settled by hand; thus, staffs can easily add their creation into products and attract customers by the wide range of style of its bicycle.Furthermore, by using traditional method, Cyclermate have brought some new things to the market making buyers feel more interesting, especially when products have been sold in the market are quite common and familiar. When it comes to the weaknesses, as almost Cyclermate’s products have been made by hand so mistakes and faults are inevitable. That is to say, besides the price paying for materials, it also has to spend some more for fixing service.Moreover, with the lack of employee s and capital, Cyclermate has struggled in operating the company and consequently, it normally has to face the insufficient production selling in the market. As regards external factors, a huge opportunity for Cyclermate at the very first is that it produces an unfamiliar product so Cyclermate can avoid big competitors and has a chance to dominate the market. Besides, according to Mr. Llewellyn, there is still strong growths to come in the cycle market as more and more people abandon their cars; hence, this is a good chance for this company to reach to its customers.One of the most striking features which should be considered here is the economic crisis occurring in 2008 resulted in the threat of total collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world. In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. The crisis played a significant ro le in the failure of key businesses, declines in consumer wealth estimated in trillions of US dollars, and a downturn in economic activity.As the consequence, people will have to think about a solution to save money and one possible way at this time is reduce the usage of petrol; in another word, reduce using gas transportation and change to physical vehicle such as bicycle. So if Cyclermate can attracts customers and creates a habit of using bicycle among them, it definitely will success in the future. The only threat of Cyclermate which I want to mention here is the appearance of some competitors in this major for example Halfords which gained success at the moment even there are many cycle shops are closing – outpriced.At the very first, Cyclermate was one of the first company entering this field so it did not have to pay much attention about how to deal with the others competitors. Nevertheless, when the time passed by, many companies have noticed about this potential mar ket so it is time for Cyclermate to try their best to gain trust of customers if they do not want to lose the market to their rivals. 2. Current issues of Cyclermate a. Finance problem After having an overlook about the situation of Cyclermate, the next part of my essay will come closer to all the issues which Cyclermate has met.Firstly, this company has to deal with a huge trouble which comes from finance. As I mentioned before, Cyclermate had to reduce the cost of its product to maintain sales, costs are rising and the overdraft is increase year by year which push the company on the edge of bankruptcy. Besides, according to Ms. Barry the budget for the coming year will further decline and possible trading losses as the consequence of a decline in sales. Moreover, based on the profit statement for the last five years, it is clearly that the finance issue of this company is in danger.To illustrated, the profit retained of the company had decreased significantly compared to the last 4 year (from ? 42734 in 9/30/2009 to ? 12724 in 9/30/2010) and it did not even pay the dividends for shareholder and the cash on hand of Cyclermate in 30/9/2010 was just ? 657; put it in another words, the liquidity of this company was too low and if there was something happen for example the banks did not believe Cyclermate anymore and they wanted their money back, it could not have enough cash to pay for its creditors and had to mortgage its non-current assets; hence, this company will not have enough machine or capital to run its business.In order to help the company overcome this problem, there are some solutions which I am considered will be possible. First, according to the financial statement, even the direct sales units sold was lower than shop sales price, the profit which Cyclermate received from direct sale was much more higher. To be specific, in 9/30/2006, even there were just 743 units sold by direct sales, compared to 1010 units by shop sales, the revenue from the for mer was much more higher ( 743Ãâ€"650 – 1010Ãâ€"390 = â‚ ¬89050).That is to say, by reducing the products sold in shop, Cyclermate can saves and gains more money. Furthermore, in order to maintain the connection which suppliers after reducing the quantity, Cyclermate can negotiate with these suppliers and offer some extra interest rate or commission so that its supplier will still remain display and sell the product of this company. Another solution is that Dai Armstrong should allow Lewis Llewellyn to retire. The reason is that Lewis Llewellyn himself does not willing to work anymore and he usually find his work increasingly tiring and stressful.Besides, although he is one of the first 2 men who established Cyclermate as well as the shareholder of the company, he himself thinks that this company should close down or should be sold for the others UK firms. If employees in Cyclermate know what he is thinking, will they want to work for its workplace anymore; and even they still work for this company, no one can guarantee that they will put 100% of their mind on working. So let Lewis Llewellyn go seem to be the right choice at this time.However, Dai Armstrong must negotiate with Lewis about his share in the company because if he wants his money back; I believe that the capital of Cyclermate will not meet the standard to run its business. In my opinion, the negotiation will success as these two men has a strong relationship and has worked with each other for such a long time so if everything is ok, Cyclermate will save a lot of money for the next coming year. b. Human resources problem There are a number of problems with the human resource of Cyclermate. First of all, it does not have enough staffs to run the business smoothly after expanding.For instance, Dai Armstrong is the chairman of the company and normally, he must takes in charge of operating and controlling the activity of Cyclermate and distributes a particular job for his employees. Nonethe less, owing to the insufficient workforce, Dai himself still makes all the frames, using the original jigs constructed in his garage all those years ago and the inevitable thing is that he is finding it hard to keep up this level of production, both because of the physical demands of the task, and because of his other duties as factory manager and business director; as regards package, it is usually taken by anyone who has spare time.That is to say, it cannot guarantee the productivity of the firm, especially in rush time, when the staffs cannot even meet the quantity requirement of their main duty so how can they handle another. Moreover, at the moment, the company does not have as much skillful staffs as possible in order to maintain the productivity of Cyclermate and Gwyneth Morgan is one of typically example. She usually deals with internal and external enquiries, ata entry, and other routine tasks which is classify as paper work; however the main responsibility of her job is pu rchasing and help company avoiding disruption from stockouts; hence, the work cannot meet the efficiency as expected or Ffred Gregory who is 18 years old and quite new to the process, often has to work overtime to ensure that orders are met on time so that training him has further slowed production recently. Of course, Cyclermate still has some professional employees like Idris Pugh who was recruited from a local cycle repair shop.He is a perfectionist in terms of wheel manufacture and never cause for any complaints but sometimes, the work were late for appointment owing to his old-age and bad healthy. As far as solutions are concerned, I have found out some possible ones which Cyclermate can applies. At the very first, it should re-train the staffs in the company in order to meet the requirement of their field. This train can be hold by the boss himself or skillful employees of Cyclermate so that they can not only save a bundle of money for the company but also have more time to ch at and understand each other, especially newcomers.Moreover, after enrolling in this course, employees should be guaranteed to understand their job clearly and easily to combat with the task given. Another thing which can be done is recruit some new employees for Cyclermate. This is kind of positive way at this time as a new and professional staffs can help the company find out a new and creative way to complete the task and maintain the requirement quantity and quality of the company. However, I do not highly recommend this solution as the finance issue of the company is in danger and it is hard for Cyclermate to hire some new employees at this time. c. Operation problemThe very last problem of Cyclermate which I want to mention here is Operation ones. First of all, the leader of the company does not have a clear distribution for each staff which leads to the unstable in their job and costs a low productivity for such a long time. To be illustrated, Dai Armstrong has to take charge of many different responsibilities included the chairman of Cyclermate, the worker who makes all the frames of products and even a packaged man. With a bunch of workloads which have been handled like that, how can this man has time to think about a new strategy, a new plan to improve the current situation of the company?And the others workers, with a number of things have been done in a short time, how can they guarantee that no mistake will be made, not mention about some majors are not their professional field. Besides, as far as I concerned, before establishing Cyclermate, Lewis was just on his way up from apprentice to be chief mill engineer while Dai had progressed from â€Å"office boy† to a senior marketing post. That is to say, with this current position, how can they have enough management skills to lead the other in the company?Last but not least, the problem even come from the top manager of the company which is Lewis and Dai who share management of the business, though by nature of their differing roles, Lewis tends to focus more on production issues and Dai on external relations. Like people have said â€Å" 1 dat khong the co 2 vua†, with a different role like that, they cannot guide their employees to a single task which is break the basic rules of a corporation; consequently, Cyclermate’s staffs do not know what to concentrate on and lack of clear vision about the goal of what they have to do.When it comes to the solution, I believe that there are some ways which can help Cyclermate improve the current situation of this company. Firstly, Dai Armstrong has to set down a clear distribution for each position in the company. He has to reduce the multi – responsibility among his workers so that they can focus 100% on their current job and maintain the productivity of each process.Secondly, as I mentioned above, If Cyclermate accepts the retirement of Lewis Llewellyn, it can concentrates deeply on a single task at the mom ent for example maintain the productivity or improve the quality of its products, etc which is clear so that employees will know what they have to do to meet the goal of the company. Lastly, in order to save money, save materials and still supply enough products to meet the need of customers, Cyclermate itself should considers to apply JIT method on produce the products.This method was described by Henry Ford in his book as a production model in which items are created to meet demand, not created in surplus or in advance of need. I absolutely think that this solution will fit the Cyclermate’s situation well, especially when it has a huge issue with finance; Thus, by calculating an exact figure of materials has been and should be used, this company can avoid the waste associated with overproduction, waiting and excess inventory. In order to support for this method, I highly recommend the company to use Kanban cards to make JIT become more efficiency. As far as I oncerned, this Kanban card is like a label which contained a number of information about products such as name, number of units and a variety of other news that clearly conveys what must be done. By applying this card in manufacturing, especially in the situation of Cyclermate when the work of each staffs does not fix, it will help employees to control and identify which should be done next by analyze the color of Kanban cards for instance the white or green Kanban cards mean that a product do not have to manufacture yet, the yellow ones mean that employees should start producing a goods immediately, etc.III. Recommendation After analyzing the case study about Cyclermate, I want to note down briefly about some potential routes which this company can follow to reach to the market. First of all, as far as I am concerned, Cyclermate has a good supplied channel who ready to advertise and sell the product of the company and Word of Mouth method seems to bring a positive chance for it to attract custom ers.That is to say, developing this supplied channel can help Cyclermate increase its image on the eyes of customers and there are many others retailers which have not been asked about selling Cyclermate’s products so this a one of a best way for this company to expand its business. Another striking feature here is that it can focus on direct sale to sell its product to buyers. This method can help the company reduce the price paid for middleman and furthermore, Cyclermate can take this chance as an opportunity to interact with customers in order to understand and identify what they really want and need.Lastly, with the significant develop of technology, marketing is now become more and more important within any corporation around the world to approach and attract buyers. However, this way seems to be forgotten by Cyclermate indicated in the meeting’s report that the marketing activity of this company in recent year is quite rare. As the consequence, Cyclermate can spe nd some of the money saved from firing Lewis Llewellyn and profit retained to improve this activity to rise up its status and advertise a great hand-made bicycle to customers. IV. ConclusionCyclermate Ltd, in my opinion, is a brave company as it does not follow the trend of current market but identifying and having its own idea to manufacture a unique product, even in a harsh time like this. However, it has met a number of issues when trying to operate its business which I have mentioned above. In the future, there will be a lot of difficulties which this company has to handle. Having said that, with all the ideas and solutions which I have noted down in my essay, I strongly believe that it is possible for Cyclermate to recover and strengthen as it did in the past.

Free Essays on The African-American And His Majesty’s

The African-American and His Majesty’s Army in the Age of the American Revolution "And I do hereby further declare all indented servants, Negroes, and others, (appertaining to Rebels), free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining His Majesty’s Troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing the Colony to a proper sense of their duty, to His majesty’s crown and dignity." On November 7th, 1775, Lord Dunmore made his fated proclamation; this utterance changed the course of the American Revolution for the African-American. If the subject is to be justified then a historical context for Dunmore’s proclamation must be provided. What was the position of the British army at the end of 1775? Had the rhetoric of American liberty accounted for the African-American? The injustices served out to the African-American between 1775 and 1776 by the white American patriot made the British promise of emancipation both appealing and logical. Lord Dunmore and the British commanders were sensitive to these Negro injustices: the decision to recruit the black bondsmen, therefore, was based on pragmatic and strategic reasoning. At the end of 1775 His Majesty’s army was in a hapless position. From the beginning of the conflict in America the British government was short of able recruits. In January 1775 five regiments of Hanoverians became British mercenaries; three regiments were sent to Gibraltar to release British troops and the remaining two were sent directly to America. If the British hoped to sustain the conflict and subdue the colonies then great reserves of manpower were required. After the battle of Bunker Hill on June 17th, 1775, the British had been forced to evacuate Boston and earlier in the month Lord Dunmore had taken the decisive step of quitting Williamsburg and seeking asylum aboard the vessel Fowey. His Majesty’s army was already in a precarious position; it was in grave danger of losing control ... Free Essays on The African-American And His Majesty’s Free Essays on The African-American And His Majesty’s The African-American and His Majesty’s Army in the Age of the American Revolution "And I do hereby further declare all indented servants, Negroes, and others, (appertaining to Rebels), free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining His Majesty’s Troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing the Colony to a proper sense of their duty, to His majesty’s crown and dignity." On November 7th, 1775, Lord Dunmore made his fated proclamation; this utterance changed the course of the American Revolution for the African-American. If the subject is to be justified then a historical context for Dunmore’s proclamation must be provided. What was the position of the British army at the end of 1775? Had the rhetoric of American liberty accounted for the African-American? The injustices served out to the African-American between 1775 and 1776 by the white American patriot made the British promise of emancipation both appealing and logical. Lord Dunmore and the British commanders were sensitive to these Negro injustices: the decision to recruit the black bondsmen, therefore, was based on pragmatic and strategic reasoning. At the end of 1775 His Majesty’s army was in a hapless position. From the beginning of the conflict in America the British government was short of able recruits. In January 1775 five regiments of Hanoverians became British mercenaries; three regiments were sent to Gibraltar to release British troops and the remaining two were sent directly to America. If the British hoped to sustain the conflict and subdue the colonies then great reserves of manpower were required. After the battle of Bunker Hill on June 17th, 1775, the British had been forced to evacuate Boston and earlier in the month Lord Dunmore had taken the decisive step of quitting Williamsburg and seeking asylum aboard the vessel Fowey. His Majesty’s army was already in a precarious position; it was in grave danger of losing control ...

Crucible confession Essays

Crucible confession Essays Crucible confession Paper Crucible confession Paper The Crucible is a play about the mass hysteria and persecution, which eventually led to the tragic Salem witch trials in 1692. It was written by Arthur Miller in 1953 and was performed all over America in the 1950s. It was set in the late 17th Century and follows the life of a farmer falsely accused of witchcraft. The tragic drama was set in Salem at the time of the famous witch trials and gives the audience an insight as to a possible story that may have occurred. The play shows how a calm, farming community can be rocked by fear and paranoia of the devil. The play leads the audience through a time period of around 3 months; starting with the first accusations made by troubled youths, through the trials of those accused and finally concludes with the false execution of a hero, broken down and built up again through the play. When the play was first released and performed in 1952 it was not accepted by society. This is because many of the people that became aware of the play and its themes related it to the communist trials of the time. The communist trials were trials of those thought to be supporting the expanding communist community in the 1940s and 1950s. People were called upon to name those they believed to be communist in front of a court. This had remarkable similarities to claims made by the youths in The Crucible. People associated supporting Arthur Millers play to supporting the communist nation. However the play is now accepted as being one of the greatest English plays ever written. This is because now people do not see communism as such a major threat. The theme of fear even has relevance to today. People of today are scared of the growing power of China, especially the USA. China has a huge population and with people working at extremely low wages, products can be made very cheaply. His means that the country as a whole is very rich even though the general population is not. This is worrying because products from China are replacing US products in the market because they are cheaper. Many people joke of how China is taking over the world, but looking at the facts they know just how right they could be. This relates to the play because it again shows how a society can be changed due to fear and paranoia. This shows us how the play still has significance today. Though many now see the play as an outstanding tragedy with outstanding emotion and insight to the lives of those accused in the witch trials. One of the main reasons why the play has had such success in recent years is its fantastic, dramatic ending. This is where John Proctor, tried and sentenced to death for dealing with the devil, formally confesses to his sins to save his life. When the judges refuse to let him keep the formal account of his confession (it is to be nailed to the church door to inform the town of his confession) he tears it up! This is truly a shocking climax that strikes and stuns the audience. Arthur Miller succeeds in making this moment of the play highly dramatic in a variety of ways. He uses stage directions, dialogue and the reactions of characters to achieve this sense of drama building throughout the play. And when it finally breaks down the audience is left feeling sorrowful over the death of John Proctor and truly exhausted over the emotional ending. The end scene bewilders the audience, as this strong drama is layered slowly throughout the play, and fluently increases the emotion held by the audience for the main characters. Arthur Miller successful creates drama that explodes with precision. The audience seem lost in the way that tension that is, so slowly yet fluently, built up it is unnoticeable until the tearing of the confession when there is a sudden jolt of the pace and drama of the play. In Act 1 there is quite a lot of background information given about the setting and situations of characters before we actually meet John Proctor. For example the audience finds out that Abigail drank a charm to kill John Proctors wife. This shocks the audience because this is the first time that the fact that the girls are not children becomes apparent. All through the scene so far the girls have acted like children in front of adults and like wise the adults have treated the girls like children. This also builds up the audiences expectations of John Proctor, they wonder of his relationship with his wife and why Abigail would want her dead. Very soon after this shocking truth is let known to the audience we meet Proctor. He is introduced as a sinner by Arthur Millers notes, so it is thought that an actor trying to play John Proctors character may try to portray this in a performance. Proctors first speech is made towards Mary Warren, whom we know is one of the girls who was present at the scene where the girls danced and supposedly performed witchcraft (though she swears she only watched them. ) Proctor tells Mary to go to his house she is a servant of his. He even threatens her with her job, Why shall I pay you? I am looking for you more often then my cows. This shows us that John Proctor is a firm and boss like character. It is important that we see this side of Proctor first, we will soon learn of his affair with Abigail and how he sweated like a stallion when ever Abigail was near him and that he has been looking up at her window. This has a huge effect of how the audience perceives John Proctor at the beginning of the play. It shows us that he is a sinner who has a serious weakness and this may make the audience this that he is a bad character. However the fact that he sweated like a stallion shows that he is conscious that what he is doing is wrong and that he does not want to act on his feelings towards Abigail. This shows us that he is a reformed sinner and that he realised what he was doing was wrong and now does not wish to be in that situation again. The sign of firmness that he gives Mary (someone he is the boss of) and the firmness he gives Abigail when she tries to re-light their relationship can be compared. We can see from the way that he gets angry with her for trying to be close to him; he pushes her aside. Then when she mentions Elizabeth Proctor John roars at her and threatens her with a whipping. This will show the audience what Proctor thinks of Elizabeth and more importantly what he thinks of his relationship with Abigail. This reveals that he has a certain loathing towards Abigail and his affair with her. He now feelings the need to protect Elizabeth and this shows the audience yet again that he is a reformed sinner and a presently good character. The audience has a perceived image of what a man in an affair will think of his wife and how he will react to his mistress speaking wickedly of his wife. He defends Elizabeth and threatens Abigail with a whipping, this stands out and stuns the audience. Firstly the fact that Proctor threatens Abigail, Do you look for whippin? This shows the audience that he no longer has feelings for her and that he wishes to end the affair. This shows the audience that he is a reformed sinner. This also restores the idea that the adults of the town think of the girls and children. Proctor obviously is unaware of Abigails actions in the forest, that she drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor, he still sees her as a child that he has control over. The fact that Proctor does not want to pursue his affair shows the audience that their assumption of the Proctor-Abigail relationship was wrong and that it is in fact Abigail that is encouraging the affair, not John Proctor. This again shows the audience that though the towns folk may treat the girls as if they are children, they are certainly not.

Listening Paper Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Listening Paper Assignment - Essay Example The factors that influenced my listening behavior were my concern for the money that seemed going wasted, my angriness, and my intent to know the real cause of the bug. I used problem-oriented supportive response to get through the situation. For example, I talked about the problem that occurred with my phone. I acknowledged the description of the support official about the problem at the start of the discussion. Counter-arguments started when the support official started talking about the reason of the problem. I was most attentive when the support official was explaining the causes behind the connectivity issue. I wanted to know what the support official would say about the issue. I was least interested when he was telling me the cost of the service because at that time I had gotten angry at the situation because the phone was in the period of its warranty and the company should have done the service free of cost in my view. The communication situation got some heat due to inattentive listening, cross talk, and counter-arguments. I learned from the situation that one should listen to the viewpoint of others attentively because things are not always the same as we think about them. For example, in my situation, the problem had occurred because of water input and water damage does not come under warranty cover for cell phones. The five personal goals for becoming a better listener are: to know the exact situation; to avoid misunderstandings; to avoid ineffective communication; to get to the solution within less amount of time and with less arguments; and to build good personal

Art, Body and Mind through the Works of Marina Abramovic Essay

Art, Body and Mind through the Works of Marina Abramovic - Essay Example The essay "Art, Body and Mind through the Works of Marina Abramovic" concerns the art of Marina Abramovic. The perspective, which Abramovic has built, is based on pushing the limits of space to redefine expressions of the mind. This research paper will examine how Abramovic has changed her physical space to represents the mental aspects of performance and to create a sense of symbolism with the arts used. This will be further explored by understanding the various perspectives and angles that Abramovic has considered with the performances. The external influences and environment that Abramovic is in as well as the ways in which she has approached various performances through time to change her philosophy will then create a specific perspective based on something that moves beyond the culture and becomes a part of expressing the existence of the mind. This paper will first discuss the ways in which Abramovic was influenced, specifically during her earlier years and childhood. This exam ination will be used to understand how Abramovic began working with later performances and what concepts continue to be associated with her works. There will then be an overview of the philosophers that have influenced Abramovic and how these philosophies continue to be a part of the narrative of performances by the artist. The examination of outside philosophers will link directly to the thought processes that are used in each performance. This will lead to an understanding of how Abramovic trains for a performance.... The external influences and environment that Abramovic is in as well as the ways in which she has approached various performances through time to change her philosophy will then create a specific perspective based on something that moves beyond the culture and becomes a part of expressing the existence of the mind. This paper will first discuss the ways in which Abramovic was influenced, specifically during her earlier years and childhood. This examination will be used to understand how Abramovic began working with later performances and what concepts continue to be associated with her works. There will then be an overview of the philosophers that have influenced Abramovic and how these philosophies continue to be a part of the narrative of performances by the artist. The examination of outside philosophers will link directly to the thought processes that are used in each performance. This will lead to an understanding of how Abramovic trains and prepares for a performance and how th is is associated with the end results in each of the performances. There will then be sections based on the philosophies of Abramovic. The first examination will be of the perceptions of the mind and how the challenge of Abramovic is to let go of bodily limitations. The concept will be to understand how Abramovic believes that the body is one which can be pushed outside of what is physically expected, specifically which is dependent on the mind. The second philosophy examined will be the idea of pain and dying that is displayed in the performances by Abramovic. The third philosophy will be the concept of the mirror, which Abramovic incorporates into her performances with interactions from the audience. There will also be a section on the other