My Review on Matchstick Men Essay

Matchstick men means a kind of person who can have others buy his things, even just a box of matchsticks, with his excellent deception and eloquence. Therefore, they are also called cheaters or con artists. In the film Matchstick Men, the main character Roy was such kind of an outstanding con artist who always cheated others. With his partner Frank, he made a lot of bucks. Whereas, he suffered from odd disease which gave him many pain. Things get to a turning point when a daughter called Angela came into his life. Roy gave deep love to her and gradually overcame his illness. As a result, he wanted to give up cheating others and be a responsible father. Nevertheless, after an accident, Angela killed someone that was cheated by them and Roy decided to sacrifice himself to protect his daughter. In the end, however, Roy found that all of this turned out to be a fraud which was directed by Frank. Ironically, he lost all his money that was also earned by cheating. What a joke! An excellent con artist though he was, Roy was cheated by his partner. And it really makes me realize the importance of communicating with others. Imagine the situation that when Roy heard he had a 14-year-old daughter, if he could phone his ex-wife and talk about it, perhaps the fraud could be debunked. However, Roy was afraid of talking with his ex-wife and failed to face the past, as a result, that gave cheaters a good opportunity to continue their plan. Besides, the movie also shows me the power of love. Before the appearance of Angela, Roy had serious illness and heavily relied on pills. It was the love to his daughter that cured him. He no longer ate pills and could eat pizza with his daughter on the carpet without caring about the clearness. In fact, he enjoyed time staying with her and had the happiest time in his life. So at the end of the movie, when Roy met the false ‘daughter’, though he was angry, he didn’t choose to revenge but to forgive her. Love made a difference on him and changed his life. Another point I want to express is that misfortune may turn out to be an actual fortune. On the one hand, Roy was cheated and lost all of his money. From this aspect, he was absolutely unfortunate. However, during that period, he earned happiness and lightened his illness. After that he gave up cheating others and began a totally new life as a salesman. Money is important but compared with love, health and happiness, money is nothing. Though life deprived Roy of his money, he got love, happiness and health instead. Hence, when life is tough for us, we should see it from different aspects. Although we may lose something, we can also gain other things more important instead.

Rodolfo Furniture Store Budget Analysis

Rodolfo Furniture Store Budget Analysis Edric Hernandez-Cruz Gisela Franqui-Atiles Valerie Santiago-Rodriguez Yachira Rodriguez-Cuevas University of Phoenix PR Campus ACC / 561PR Rafael Marrero Diaz November 9th, 2012 Rodolfo Furniture Store Budget analysis is important for any corporation. From small businesses to large enterprises; all organizations evaluate the numbers in order to get a picture of where the company stands economically. This will serve as a basis in order to make decisions as to the direction the entity would like to go.Erroneous decisions can lead to bad decisions that may end up in losses for the company. Rodolfo Furniture is on the verge of making a shift from a furniture maker to distributer. Yet only if the ethical accounting practices have been place into the production of the analysis; can Rodolfo Furniture decide on its future. Budgeting: Risks Associated with Sales Forecast The preparation of the usually begins with a sales forecast. The sales forecast and the anticipated inventory levels determine the production to be budgeted.Furthermore, the company’s sales forecast along with its experience, and collection policies determine the cash inflows for the company. In the scenario, Rodolfo uses his company’s flexible budget, as a guide, to determine the costs that should have been for an attained level of activity. For, instance if his company intended to manufacture or produce 50,000 units, the budget must have been prepared for 49,000 units, 51,000 units, 52,000, and so on. Major risks in sales forecasting Production risks In a manufacturing environment, like the illustration Rodolfo’s scenario, sales forecast determine production schedules.The companies use such forecasts to determine the exact amounts of raw materials and production issues; they need to have an idea of what they are to produce. Two problems can occur, sales under forecast or sales over forecast. Under forecast sales refers to the fact when the m anufacturer may not produce enough product to meet customers’ demands. This will result in an increase in production times which in turn may increase costs; this will also frustrate customers and may even lead the company to losses.In the other hand, over forecast sales refers to the amounts of raw material to be purchased and excessive amounts of finished products to be sold. This excessiveness of raw materials may tie up the capital available to use and the excess finished product will make the company incur in warehouse storage costs; both excesses if repeated constantly may put the company at risk of bankruptcy. Resource risks When sales are over forecast, underutilized workers may have to be reduced. This action will result in a bad image for the company and will break the trust/bond that was built between the company and the workers as they will feel betrayed.If the sales are under forecast, it will happen the exactly opposite, the company will lack of workers to meet d emands. This can result in bad image, losses, service levels will be affected as workers would have to work overtime to cover for the company which can lead to sicknesses and excessive absenteeism. Financial risks This type of errors affects the company’s financial health. The excess of material will lead to excessive costs of unnecessary storage since the excess should have never occurred. Also, over forecast can result in the purchase of unnecessary machinery.Furthermore, if the company forecasts erroneously in a consistent manner, this can lead the company into a raise in the interest by lenders. Sales forecast are prepared using data available, the more reliable and certain the data is the more accurate the budget is expected to be. Ethical considerations in the preparation of budget Before the development of a budget it is wise to consider the ethical involvements that can be present during it process. Incentives to lie and cheat are Rodolfo tempting actions for managers .Horngren (2008) stated, â€Å"It is common for managers of larger units with more resources to have higher pay, higher status, and greater prospects for promotion† (p. 301). This is common ethical flaw from the workers. The organizations have to prepare ways to identify, minimize and discourage this kind of behaviors. Subsequent use of the budget After completing the budget process, the information populated contains useful components that benefit the manager’s strategies behavior. According to Horngren (2008) there are four major benefits of effective budgeting.The mention benefits are: evaluation of activities, formalization of planning, performance evaluation, communication and coordination. By following the Rodolfo Furniture Scenario the four major benefits helps the mention company presented at the outgoing sentences. For the first benefit the main idea is the reevaluation of the actual activities and the evaluation of the opportunities to embrace new ones. The s cenario display at the week 2 assignment, the foreign competitors surpass the actual company production because of the high-tech solutions use by them.The first benefits assist with the decision of changes in this matter. With the formalization of planning is an essential phase that every company has to experience. This benefit encourages managers to prepare contingency plans for the performing of immediate actions, pre-planned, at the moment of crisis. For the performance evaluation the most important fact is that the results of the recent analyze performance helps to take a more precise action because of the recent events than comparing with the last year performance.For the Rodolfo Furniture Scenario applies, because of the latest changes in the business, related to their company’s specialty, that is affecting gravely to his sales and requires an instance action. Lastly with communication and coordination this process allows the managers to create a macro communication bec ause involves the input of employees from top to bottom and vice versa. Consider how the organization’s code of ethics requires an ethics analysis for any performance tool. Companies have developed a code of ethics or conduct as a tool to prevent the misuse of power, fraud, conflict f interest, money, and other. Mostly all ethical dilemmas start with dysfunctional incentive, poor supervision, and wrong personal habits. To ensure the reliability of the information and prevent situation of misleading or faulty information from accountants the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was created. This 2002 Act requires regulations in the financial practice and a code of ethics â€Å"for seniors financial officers, applicable to its principal financial officer and comptroller or principal accounting officer, or persons performing similar functions† (Horngren, 2008, Chapter  1).Now managers has to approved and been concern of the budget. Also requires external auditors to examine the company. These regulations in the accounting system search for the reliability of the information provided. But it needs high ethical standards from the personnel. The Institute of Management Accountants develop a code of conduct require to CPAs and CMAs that integrated integrity, confidentiality, credibility and competence. Ethics should be the priority in a company. To encourage others and prevent unethical behavior, unnecessary pressures should be recognize and detained.Sometimes dysfunctional incentive arises when managers or accountings are assessed on the performance concerning to budget amounts. The ethical standards of an organization are necessary to guide, measure, and analyze the performance of the personnel. Most important a code of ethic is essential to maintain the integrity and confidence of the company. References Horngren, C. T. (2008). Introduction to Management Accounting (14th ed. ). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database..

Experimental Design for statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experimental Design for statistics - Essay Example They will be required to be in the first month of the pregnancy so that they can be monitored from early stages in their pregnancy development. Fresh mothers will not be required to take part in this study but only mothers who have at least one other child. A sample of about 200 mothers will be selected for this study. The sample will be representative of all the population. Mothers will have their blood pressure measured to ascertain that they are healthy to take place in this study. The child’s brain development will be measured using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which measures the brain and behaviour development. This will be done as the child grows, probably up to 12 years. Further, the kids will have their IQ tested through simple tasks, their social behaviors and their computation skills. All this measurements will be recorded and put into a computer package for analysis. Based on the kind of fish his/her mother was consuming, the level of the IQ, their social behaviours and computing skills will be compared. The level of the MRI will say whether that certain kind of fish will have detrimental effects. Pregnant mothers are classified as vulnerable people thus; their protection from harm will be a priority. Further, their privacy will be protected to the highest level. Also, they will be taken through all the information concerning this study so as to make an informed decision about taking place in the study. No coercion will be used at

Final paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 11

Final paper - Essay Example He drives home the point that people should feel obligated to as much as they can to support the poor and the suffering, and to counter any form of preventable evil (Singer, 1972). Moreover, Singer notes that there is confusion between charity and duty. People donate, but there is no guilt or moral wrongdoing in failure to donate towards the feeding of starving nations. This relationship between giving and morals should be put under the duty of a human being. It should be morally wrong not to give, and everyone should feel obligated to play a part towards the reduction of poverty and starvation in whichever way they deem fit. Supporting the poor and the hungry, as well as the displaced is not a responsibility of the charitable organizations only. People should give privately and should also pressure their governments to support the less fortunate countries. Instead of dwelling on leisure activities and spending money on items that do not add value to their lives, people should give to those who have nothing to eat. Singer notes the fact that the world is full of cases of war, famine and poverty. He is also aware of the affluent portion of the world’s population. His argument, therefore, is based on the assumption that it is bad for people to suffer or die to the lack of shelter, food or proper medical care. This assumption is supported by the principle that everyone has the power of preventing something bad from happening and should morally prevent it as long as the actions they take do not morally compromise any other thing, event or person. As such, as long as someone has the ability to prevent something bad from happening, they should do it. Singer’s principle works on the ideology that there is no excuse of distance or proximity that should stop someone from assisting someone who is need, such as the people starving in other nations. One should

Whirlpool Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Whirlpool Corporation - Essay Example This was compounded by other raw material costs as well leading to a larger end user price which immediately required the attention of the company. 3. In addition to these, Whirlpool also felt that the service support was an unique selling proposition since most of the Asian companies did not have an elaborate service network. In case of Whirlpool they had operations in 170 countries which made it easy and they wanted to make it more effective. It is important that these issues are addressed in their ERP solution. The ERP solution was expected to provide a solution to these key issues. Primarily, it was expected to reduce the cost of production: 2. Reducing the stock on hand and the inventory, both raw material, intermediate and finished goods. This was expected to bring down the holding cost of the product as well. This would also reduce the cost of production. 5. The company also tried to build relationships with various vendors across the globe which would result in outsourcing some of the products that these people can produce for much lesser. This will again bring down the price of the product further. 6. The transportation cost and the raw material cost though they have increased, optimizing the supply and by clubbing together supplies, moving them to the nearest point for fabrication work would all bring down the cost of production. All this would bring down the cost of the end product for the customer. This was what the customer expects. Also cutting down the cost of production would improve the profit margins that the company had. Implementing ERP would bring down the material movement; reduce the stock holding costs in terms of both raw materials and finished goods. There will also better production planning. All this would help in reducing the cost of production further and increasing the margins the company had. ERP

Inventory Planning and Control Systems Research Paper

Inventory Planning and Control Systems - Research Paper Example Supported with an example of the sugar industry, the report further emphasizes on the disadvantages of inventory mismanagement. Listing the problems related to inventory control encountered by the management the report further identifies the solutions required to solve them. The report contains valuable information regarding efficiencies that exist in a firm due to proper inventory planning and control. It also emphasizes on the impact inventory planning and control has on the competitiveness of a firm and how the competitiveness results into increased profitability. The report summarizes the critical importance of inventory planning and control for a firm to survive in an industry and the fierce competition. An inventory can be defined as a list of goods which are either finished, in form of raw material, in process or just simply as stock in hand. Inventory is also usually referred to as the list which contains all the information regarding the operation management of an organizati on. In detail, an inventory includes the amount of raw material available and the amount required to be ordered, finished goods ready to be delivered to the customers, goods stocked in the warehouse and even the half finished goods that require space to be stored before they move on to the next phase of the production process. Besides exceptional cases such as of those firms in the services industries; inventories are considered to be a firm’s major revenue producer. Reasons for holding inventory Inventory is basically the most critical component of a production process and it exists in an organization just so that the firm is able to respond to requirements in relation with forecasted demand. The need for inventory can arise in situations where the product has uncertain demand and the producers are not particularly sure about the amount they should produce (Broyles, 2003, p.389). They therefore resort to inventory tactics such as producing in excess of the estimate forecaste d. In some industries there is even a percentage of uncertainty regarding the availability of raw material. For example the sugar industry is plagued with the uncertainty attached to sugar cane because floods may sometimes ruin the crop. Furthermore, lack of rain and lack of fertility of a land leads to low levels of sucrose extracted

Population Trends in China Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Population Trends in China - Math Problem Example China therefore is a good case study in population growth trends, its analysis and prediction. This paper concentrates on population trends in China between 1950 and 2008, and outlines various models that could be used to represent the data. A variable can be defined as a quantity or attribute that changes according to different situations in a certain process. In our case, the time (t) in years is a variable because it moves from 1950 to 1995. The second variable is population (P) of the people of China in millions. A parameter is a constant that varies from one group of equations to another. The parameters are m, the gradient and c the y-intercept. The graph below shows the population trends in China between 1950 and 1995. Trends Seen in the Graph From the graph, it can be noted that population in China has been increasing over the years. Between 1950 and 1975, the population increases at an increasing rate whereas, between 1975 and 1995, it increases steadily. This difference could be attributed to the one child policy that was introduced by the Chinese government in 1978, to curb population increase. The points in the above graph assume a linear pattern and if a line of best fit is drawn, it has a gradient of approximately 15.49 (calculated using technology). This means that China’s population grows by about 15.49 million people each year. The increase in population has remained steady probably because, there has been a decrease in the infant mortality rate and national deaths due to improved healthcare. Another factor could be immigration by people from other countries. The correlation coefficient (R2) is 0.994, translating to a 99.4% fit, which is a good fit. Functions that could Model the Behaviour of the Graph Som e of the functions that could possibly be used to model the behaviour of this graph are, exponential, linear, logarithmic and polynomial functions. Starting off with the exponential function, it takes the form, The growth rate of an exponential function is proportional to its value. For example, if the rate of population growth is proportional to its size, then the population after t years will be Fig 2: Graph showing an exponential model of China’s population. The correlation coefficient in the above graph is 0.990 which translates to a 99.0% fit of the data points to the curve. This is a relatively good fit. However, the data points for 1970 up to 1980 are overestimated while that of 1995 is underrated. A linear function is one that can be written in the form, where m is the gradient and c is the y-intercept. A linear function often implies uniformity. Fig 3: A graph showing a linear model of China’s population. The correlation coefficient (R2) is 0.994 translating t o a 99.4% fit of the data points to the line. This is a much better fit than the exponential model. In this model, the points in 1960 and 1965 are underestimated while that of 1950 is overrated. A logarithmic function can be defined as the inverse of an exponential function. It can be expressed by the following identity, Fig 4: A graph showing logarithmic model of China’s population. The correlation coefficient of the above graph is 0.994 translating to a 99.4% fit. It is similar to the linear function fit, but also better than the exponential model fit. The above three models can be used because they all have a 99.0% and above fit, which is an excellent choice as we cannot have real data with a 100% fit. Developing a Model Function that Fits the Data In this case, I choose to use a polynomial function. A polynomial function can be defined as a mathematical function consisting of several terms added together. This includes a linear function, which is discussed above. A polyno mial

Terrorism and Torture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Terrorism and Torture - Essay Example There is an equilibrium of political, social and economic factors that are overwhelmed by recent developments in the nature of capitalism, which substantiate the contemporary use of torture as both legal and illegal means to achieving desired goals of ruling regimes. When the news of torture and abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib Jail in Iraq came out, it became starting point of detailed discussions on the ethics of interrogating with bodily harm and mental threats. Legally questioning the inhuman treatment of suspects and the imprisoned has become an important aspect of the debate on torture. There is a long and deeply entrenched debate on the matter that whether torture is permissible under certain conditions or not. The debate is of course multidisciplinary as it draws arguments from various branches human knowledge ranging from criminology to political philosophy. The emergence of 'global risk society' in twenty first century has been the locus around which such debates on torture are popping up. The underlying spirit of the pro-torture arguments is the fact that the threats to security in twenty first century are decentred and uncertain. ... Curiously, terrorism and anti-terrorism in our times aim at the one and same thing: the destruction of the enemy more than victory over him.The widening debates over the permissibility of torture for greater common good cannot be examined by detaching from the state of affairs from which the possibility of such debates arises. Influential theorists such as Hardt and Negri (2004) have argued that the present world is characterised by a civil war of global reach. The global civil war is the primordial resistance to what they understand as the materialisation of 'Empire' in which total subsumption of life has become a reality. Thus, the resistance to the empire is a fight to save life from being conquered by the global war machine of the new transnational capitalist empire. Therefore, the fight to save life from being organised under the same logic of immaterial capitalist organization is inevitably and increasingly dealt with bodily torture and organised and directed mental harm.It is important to note that the debate on torture did not come into existence in a vacuum. It is not an attempt to answer theoretical questions, which are inspired from hypothetical models from philosophers' gambles. On the other hand, as a matter of fact, the state of affairs concretely necessitates the debate on torture for the purpose of creating an adequate policy framework to deal with the complexities of new forms of violence and crimes that increasingly spreading throughout the world. The critical question is that how the constitutional democracies could answer the challenge of respecting human rights while effectively countering and mitigating the effects of

Anti Tobacco and No-Smoking Essay Example for Free

Anti Tobacco and No-Smoking Essay When you smoke or use smokeless tobacco, your risk of oral cancer goes through the roof. In fact, tobacco use accounts for most oral cancers. Smoking cigarettes, cigars, or pipes; using chewing tobacco; and dipping snuff are all linked to oral cancer. Heavy smokers who use tobacco for a long time are most at risk. The risk increases for tobacco users who drink alcohol heavily. Even the slickest of tobacco executives cant deny the statistics. The bottom lineis that three out of four oral cancers occur in people who use alcohol or tobacco, or both alcohol and tobacco. 1 Tobacco in any form is the enemy of good dental health. This is serious business–dont wait. Schedule a checkup and cleaning with the dentist or hygienist. It’s not an option—dental examinations that include a screening for oral cancer save lives. Oral cancer screening that is part of a dental checkup catches oral cancer early. As with most cancers, the earlier oral cancer is detected, the better a person’s chances for survival! 2 The laundry list of problems associated with smokeless tobacco is long enough—bad breath, stained teeth, loss of taste and smell, mouth (canker) sores, failure of dental implants, and oral cancer. Yet smoking and chewing tobacco are also the main suspects in gum recession, bone loss, and tooth loss associated with periodontal (gum) disease. Smokers who smoke less than a half a pack of cigarettes per day are almost three times more likely than nonsmokers to have periodontitis, according to a study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 3 Now that we have your full attention, we’d like you to check the warning signs of oral disease: * Bleeding gums during brushing * Red, swollen, or tender gums Gums that have pulled away from the teeth * Persistent bad breath * Pus between the teeth and gums * Loose or separating teeth * A change in the way your teeth fit together when you bite4 The theme of Dental Hygiene Month 2012 is Keep them healthy. Keep them clean. It highlights easy ways to fit first-rate oral health into an active and busy life. If you are thinking about quitting smokeless tobacco or smoking, you’ve actually taken a step toward keeping your mouth clean and healthy by reading this article! If you want to have a confidential chat with a trained professional about taking tobacco out of the picture,  you’re only a click away. You are young, strong, and able! Don’t give  smokeless tobacco  or cigarettes an inch, or they will take your smile. Celebrate Dental Hygiene Month or take action for healthy teeth and gums at any time by making your appointment for a check | Images of some people suffering from different diseases caused due to eating tobacco or smoking – | | | | | | | Stop eating tobacco and smoking†¦. Thank you

Foreign Exchange Operation of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Essay Example for Free

Foreign Exchange Operation of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Essay In this regard an organization attachment at Dilkusha Branch of Mutual Trust Bank has been given to me a period of three months commencing from 1st August, 2010 to 31st October, 2010. During this period I learned how the host organization works with the help of the internal supervisor. The internal supervisor assigned me on of the projects and shuffled me around to educate me about the operation of a bank. 1. 2. Significance of the report This internship report is an important partial requirement of four years BBA graduation program. This is because knowledge and learning become perfect when it is associated with theory and practice. By this internship program students can establish contacts and networking. Contacts may help to get a job in practical life. That is, student can train and prepare themselves for the job market. A poor country like Bangladesh has an overwhelming number of unemployed educated graduates. As they have no internship experience they have not been able to gain normal professional experience of establish networking system, which is important in getting a job. Therefore, it is obvious that the significance of internship is clearly justified as the crucial requirement of four years BBA graduation. Scope of the Study Mutual Trust Bank Limited is one of the new generation banks in Bangladesh. The scope of the study is limited to the Dilkusha Branch only. The report covers the organizational structure; background, functions and the performance of the bank have mainly worked in the foreign exchange so my report covers all the activities of foreign exchange department in the Dilkusha branch. While preparing this report I haven’t any limitations the employees of foreign exchange department has helped me a lot and I have use both primary and secondary data which was available to me. 1. 4. Objectives

South African Public Hospitals Health And Social Care Essay

South African Public Hospitals Health And Social Care Essay The words crisis and health care follow each other in sentences so often in South Africa that most citizens have grown numb to the association. Clinicians, health managers and public health experts have been talking about a crisis in access to health care for more than half a century, and the advent of democracy has not alleviated the situation. South Africas inability to adequately respond to its many crises is also the result of a national healthcare system designed to provide treatment rather than prevention. The over-dependence on hospital-based care in South Africa not only makes the healthcare system expensive and inefficient, but also precludes much-needed investments in primary and preventative care. Health minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi honestly conceded that the public health system faces very serious challenges'(Philip 2009). In this review I describe the crisis in childcare and its consequences for the health of children, characterise the underlying reasons for the crisis, examine current interventions and explore some medium and longer term solutions. How severe is the crisis? It is not surprising that the publics perception of health services are often determined by stories about the care offered to children presented in the media. For instance, in one week in May 2010, two stories dominated newspaper and media headlines in Gauteng. One was the death of seven newborn infants and the infection of 16 others as a result of a virulent infection (subsequently identified as a norovirus) acquired by the infants at the Charlotte Maxexe Johannesburg Academic Hospital. At Natalspruit Hospital in Ekhuruleni, 10 children similarly succumbed to a nosocomial (hospital acquired) infection (Bodibe 2010). These types of events, with large numbers of children acquiring infections in hospitals are not uncommon, although only a fraction grabs the headlines. Outbreaks occur at regular intervals at hospitals throughout the country. An outbreak of Klebsiella infection was responsible for 110 babies dying at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital in Durban, according to the organisation Voice that threatened a class action case against the Department of Health. The national health department itself has identified infection control as one of six key areas that needed improvement in the public health sector (Department of Health 2010). Poor health care at several Eastern Cape hospitals left more than 140 children dead in one of South Africas poorest districts within the first three months of 2008 (Thom 2008). A task team investigating these deaths in the Ukhahlamba district concluded that they were not the result to any particular disease outbreak or exposure to contaminated water as initially suspected, but rather that the health service available was hopelessly defective. (Report on childhood deaths, Ukhahlamba District, Eastern Cape) The Ukhahlamba task team, comprising of three experienced public sector paediatricians, painted a grim picture of Empilisweni Hospital childrens ward where most of the deaths occurred. Problems identified included: The structure and layout of the physical facility was inappropriate no nurses station or work surfaces, no separation of clean and dirty areas and no play or stimulation facilities, The ward and cubicles were overcrowded and no provision existed for lodger mothers, who paid R30 to sleep on the floor next to their children, There were grossly inadequate services no oxygen and suction points, too few electrical sockets, no basins or showers and too few toilets in the patient ablutions, and an unacceptable ward kitchen, Extremely limited clinical equipment, Staffing deployment and rotation did not promote effective care, with few nurses dedicated to the childrens ward and doctors changing wards every two months, leaving the ward devoid of experienced personnel, There were limited policy documents and no protocols or access to appropriate clinical reference material or guidelines, Clinical practices were ineffective or dangerous, particularly regarding infection control and the preparation and distribution of infant feeds and medicines, Not a single hospital record included details about the prescribing or administration of infant feeds. Fluid management was badly documented. Three of the children appeared to have died from fluid overload due to inappropriate and unregulated fluid administration, The majority of the children were never weighed, their nutritional status was not assessed nor their HIV status established. The task teams audit of 45 of the deaths revealed that most of the deaths occurred within the first 48 hours of admission to hospital and were in infants who were self-referred. The dominant diagnoses were diarrhoeal disease, pneumonia and malnutrition. The task team concluded that These deaths are more likely the result of poor care of a vulnerable impoverished community with high rates of malnutrition among the infants and poor utilisation of the available health services. The pathetic situation described at Empilisweni Hospital is not unique and similar abject conditions can be found at many of the paediatric wards at the 401 hospitals in the country. While objective evidence to support this contention does not exist, paediatric practitioners in many provinces and settings would readily acknowledge the veracity of the claim. The explanation offered by different investigations of adverse events occurring at public hospitals countrywide is remarkably similar. Uniformly, there is a combination of overcrowded wards, understaffing, overwhelming workloads, a breakdown of hygiene and infection control procedures, and management failure with a lack of auditing or monitoring systems to identify and respond to problems at an earlier stage. Increasing child mortality What is not contentious is that South Africa is one of only 12 countries where childhood mortality increased from 1990 to 2006 (Childrens Institute 2010), with a doubling of deaths in children under the age of five years in this period (from approximately 56 to 100 deaths per 1000 live births). The 2010 UNICEF State of the Worlds Children estimates South Africas under 5 death rate to be 67 per 1000 for 2008 (UNICEF 2009). This high rate ranks South Africa 141st out of 193 countries. The national statistic also hides marked interprovincial variations; from about 39 per 1 000 in the Western Cape to 111 per 1 000 in the Free State (McKerrow 2010). A single disease HIV- is largely responsible for the increased mortality. Countries with a similar economic profile (Gross National Income [GNI]) as South Africa such as Brazil and Turkey boast about four-fold lower under 5 mortality rates (U5MR). South Africas high U5MR is even more disconcerting when compared to poorer countries such as Sri Lanka and Vietnam. These two countries U5MRs are roughly five times lower (15 and 14 per 1,000 respectively) despite having a GNI less than one half to a third of South Africas (UNICEF 2009, World Bank 2010). Despite being classified as a high middle income country, South Africa has high levels of infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, HIV, tuberculosis and parasitic infections normally found in poorer countries. Similarly, there has been little success in reducing undernutrition in children a quarter of South Africas children are stunted (short). Further, as a result of increased urbanisation and economic development, the country is also experiencing increasing levels of traumatic injuries and chronic diseases of lifestyle such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease that are more typical of better resourced countries. These diseases mainly affect adult populations but are increasingly being identified in children. The worsening in child health has occurred despite significant improvement in childrens access to water, sanitation and primary health services. Almost 3000 new clinics have been built or upgraded since 1994, health care is provided for free to children under 5 years and pregnant women (Saloojee 2005), and the child social support grant is reaching 10.5 million children (more than half of all children in the country) (Dlamini 2011). These achievements have been marred by several shortcomings. Many new clinics and the district health systems are not yet adequately functional because of a lack of personnel and finances, poor administration, and expanding demands. Public tertiary health care (academic hospital) services have severely eroded. Characterising the crisis The World Health Organization, in 2000, ranked South Africas health care system as the 57th highest in cost, 73rd in responsiveness, 175th in overall performance, and 182nd by overall level of health (out of 191 member nations included in the study) (World Health Organization 2000). What explains this dismal rating? Despite high national expenditure on health, inequalities in health spending, inefficiencies in the health system and a lack of leadership and accountability contribute to South Africas poor child health outcomes. Hospitals operate within a dysfunctional health system Poor hospital care is but one marker of a dysfunctional health system that comprises blotches of independent services rather than a coherent, co-operative approach to delivering health care. Most primary health care services for children are only offered during office hours, with some clinics restricting new patients access to services by early afternoon a waste of available and expensive human resources. Some clinics lack basic diagnostic tests and medication. Consequently, many hospital emergency rooms are flooded with children with relatively minor ailments because their caregivers choose not to queue for hours at poorly managed local clinics, or prefer accessing health services after returning from work. The referral system in which patients are referred from clinics to district, regional or tertiary hospitals according to how serious their health problems are has disintegrated in many parts of the country. Children who require more specialised care often cannot get it either because they get stuck within a dysfunctional system or because there is no space for them at the next level of care. Transport to secondary and tertiary level hospitals is problematic, resulting in delays or non-arrival, increasing the severity of the disease and treatment costs when the child does arrive. District hospital services are the most dysfunctional (Coovadia 2009), with patients often by-passing this level of care in settings where access to secondary (regional) or tertiary care (specialist) services are available. Despite cut-backs in budgets, tertiary care settings continue to attempt to provide first-class services, which although commendable, may result in over-investigation and treatment, and denial of essential care to children who reside outside their immediate catchment areas (because the hospital is full). Changing health environment Some of the increasing stress faced by the public hospitals may be attributed to the changing health environment in which they operate. Two factors are most responsible for the change: rapid urbanisation and the AIDS epidemic. Urban, township hospitals are particularly affected by the burden of increased patient loads, and barely coping with the demand. Although a national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS exists, the ability to implement the plan is constrained by the enormous demands on human and fiscal resources demanded for its implementation. The budget allocated to HIV/AIDS has increased from R4.3 billion in 2008 to an estimated R11.4 billion in 2010 (13% of the total health budget) (Mukotsanjera 2009). New initiatives aimed at strengthening the HIV/AIDS response, include a national HIV counselling and testing campaign and the decentralization of antiretroviral treatment from hospitals to clinics with nurses now providing the drugs. About a third of children at most South African hospitals are HIV infected. HIV-positive children are hospitalised more frequently than HIV-negative children (17% compared to 4.7% hospitalised in the 12 months prior to the study) (Shisana 2010). Children with AIDS tend to be sicker and often require longer admissions despite suffering from the same spectrum of illnesses as ordinary children. Greater numbers of patients, higher disease acuity levels and complications, and slower recovery rates all impact on limited resources. High mortality rates take an emotional toll on doctors and nurses. Hospital paediatrics, which has always been a popular and rewarding choice for newly qualified doctors because of modern medicines ability to quickly restore desperately ill children to health has now become much more about chronic care delivery because of the high number of HIV infected children in the wards, many of whom are re-admitted regularly because of recurrent infections. In recent years, young doctors have been dissuaded from selecting primary care disciplines, such as paediatrics, and have moved instead to pursuing specialities where contact with patients is limited, such as radiology, for fear of acquiring HIV from work-related accidents such as needle-stick injuries. The availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy to increasing number of children nationally, thou gh still limited to fewer than half of all eligible children, has the potential to return paediatrics to its previous status as a rewarding and fulfilling specialty. Inequity Inequities and inequalities abound in South African health care spending generally, and specifically regarding childrens health. Of the R192 billion spent on health care in 2008/09, 58% was spent in the private sector (Day 2010). Although this sector only provides care to an estimated 15% of children, two-thirds of the countrys paediatricians service their needs (Colleges of Medicine of South Africa 2009). Furthermore, of the R90 billion provincial public health sector budget, about 14% is spent on central (tertiary) hospital services (Day 2010), which primarily benefits children residing in urban settings and wealthier provinces such as the Western Cape and Gauteng. Similarly, marked inequities exist in the number of health professionals available to children in different provinces with, for example, one paediatrician servicing approximately 8,600 children in the Western Cape, but 200,000 children in Limpopo (Colleges of Medicine of South Africa 2009). This differential exists among most categories of health professionals. The current health system claims to provide universal coverage to children. Yet, from a resourcing, service delivery and quality perspective, the availability and level of service is inequitable with many patients and communities experiencing substantial difficulty in accessing the public health system. Rural and black communities remain most disadvantaged. Apartheid age differentials continue in present day health care. Thus, for instance, while the formerly whites only Charlotte Maxexe Johannesburg Academic Hospital now mainly serves a black urban population, its resources including ward facilities, staff-patient ratios and overall budget still show a clear positive bias when compared to the resources available to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital located in Soweto (a former black hospital) (von Holdt 2007). Nationally, the most stressed hospitals are those with the lowest resources per bed. The least stressed hospitals continue to be those with previous reputations as high-quality institutions (mostly previously whites only hospitals) that provide them with a kind of social capital (von Holdt 2007). Management capacity crisis The battle for the control of hospitals South Africa has embraced the concept of health services delivered within a three-tiered national health system framework national, provincial and district. Provinces are charged with the responsibility of providing secondary or tertiary hospital services, with district services having responsibility for district hospitals and clinics. Existing legislature allows hospital chief executive officers (CEOs) considerable powers in the running of their own hospitals. However, there is a dysfunctional relationship between hospitals and provincial head offices, which often assume authoritarian and bureaucratic control over strategic, operational and detailed processes at hospitals but are unable to deliver on these. There is a blurred and ambiguous locus of power and decision-making authority between hospitals and head offices (von Holdt 2007). Hospital managers are disempowered, cannot take full accountability for their institutions and are mostly unable to decide on matters such as staff numbers and appointments, drawing up their own budgets or playing any role in the procurement of goods and services. The structural relationship between province and institution is a disincentive for managerial innovation, giving rise to a hospital management culture in which administration of rules and regulations is more important than managing people and operations or solving problems, and where incompetence is easily tolerated. Hospital managers lack of control undermines management accountability and promotes subservience to the central authority. The role of provincial health departments should really be about controlling policy regarding training, job grading and accountability. Silos of management Most South African hospitals have essentially the same management structure where authority is fragmented into separate and parallel silos. Thus, doctors are managed within a silo of clinicians, nurses within a nursing silo, and support staff by a mesh of separate silos for cleaners, porters, clerks, etc. The senior managers in the institutions have wide spheres of responsibility but with little authority to make decisions or implement them (von Holdt 2007). As an example, a clinical department such as paediatrics is headed by a senior or principal paediatric specialist who has no control over the nurses in the paediatric department. In the wards, nursing managers are responsible for effective ward functioning, but have little control over ward support staff such as cleaners or clerks. A senior clinical executive (superintendent) has responsibility for the paediatric (and other) departments, but can exercise little substantial authority over it because power lies within each of the silos (doctors, nurses, support workers). As a result, the clinical executive has to attempt to negotiate with all parties. Doctors and nurses do not determine budgets, or monitor and control costs. In essence, those responsible for using resources have no influence on their budgetary allocation, while those responsible for the budget assume no responsibility for the services that the budget supports. Most clinical heads have no idea what their budgets are and costs are not disaggregated within the institution to individual units or wards. Thus, what should be managed as an integrated operational unit (for example, a ward or clinical department) operates instead in a fragmented fashion with little clear accountability. In this circumstance all parties are disempowered, and relationships oscillate between diplomacy, persuasion, negotiation, angry confrontation, complaint and withdrawal. In the process few problems are definitively resolved, with negative consequences for patient care. Where institutional stress is high, the fragmented silo structures generate the fault lines along which conflict and managerial failure manifest (von Holdt 2007). Financial crisis Insufficient expenditure on health, hospitals and child health Between 1998 and 2006, South African annual public per capita health expenditure remained virtually constant in real terms (i.e. accounting for inflation), although spending in the public sector increased by 16.7% annually between 2006 and 2009 (National Treasury 2009). Nevertheless, the small increases in expenditure have not kept pace with population growth, or the greatly increased burden of disease (Cullinan 2009). In 2009 the country spent 8.9% of the gross national product (GDP) on health (Day 2010), and easily met the World Health Organisations (WHO) informal recommendation that so-called developing countries spend at least 5% of their GDP on health (World Health Organization 2003). However only 3.7% of GDP was spent in the public sector, with 5.2% of GDP expended in the private sector (Day 2010). In per capita terms R9605 was spent per private medical scheme beneficiary in 2009, while the public sector spent R2206 per uninsured person (Day 2010). Although the health of mothers and children has been a priority in government policy since 1994, including in the latest 10 Point Plan for Health (Department of Health 2010), it has not translated into movements in fiscal and resource allocation. Children comprise nearly 40% of the population (Statistics South Africa 2009), but it is unlikely that a similar proportion of the health budget is spent on child health. No reliable data exist, as government departmental budgets do not specifically delineate expenditure on children, easily allowing this constituency to be short-changed or ignored. Poor fiscal discipline A lack of accountability extends throughout the health service, and includes the lack of fiscal discipline. Provincial departments of health collectively overspent their budgets by more than R7.5bn in 2009/10 (Engelbrecht 2010). Provincial departments frequently fail to budget adequately, resulting in the freezing of posts and the restriction of basic service provision (e.g. routine child immunisation services were seriously disrupted in the Free State province in 2009 [Kok D 2009]). Every year, budgetary indiscipline results in critical shortages of drugs, food supplies and equipment in many provinces, particularly during the last financial quarter from January to March, and during April when new budgetary allocations are being released. Stock-outs of pharmaceutical agents, medical supplies such as disinfectants or gloves or radiological material, and food or infant formula, may annoy staff but may have devastating consequences for patients, including death. Most of these stock-outs are the result of suppliers terminating contracts because of failure of payment of accounts. In Gauteng, medical suppliers are currently owed more than half a billion rand by the Auckland Park Medical Supplies Depot, the central unit from which medicines are distributed to provincial hospitals and clinics. The largest amounts owed by the depot are to two pharmaceutical companies (some R130 million) (Bateman 2011). A recent embarrassing occurrence is the return of R813 million to Treasury at the end of the past financial year by the health department because of unspent funds (Bateman 2011). Most of the money was budgeted to revive collapsed and unfinished infrastructure at hospitals. This function belongs to the Department of Public Works, and hospitals have little influence on the functioning of this separate department a further example of fragmented services. Treasury has nevertheless allocated funds for the revival or construction of five academic hospitals by 2015, mainly through public private partnerships. These are Chris Hani Baragwanath in Soweto, Dr George Mukhari in Pretoria, King Edward VIII in Durban and Nelson Mandela in Mthatha, as well as a new tertiary hospital for Limpopo. Provincial health departments are beginning to show modest success in rooting out fraud and corruption, but their efforts have revealed widespread swindling costing taxpayers billions of rands, much of it deeply systemic (Bateman 2011). The bulk of endemic corruption involves dishonest service providers with links to key health department officials, looting via ghost and multiple payments loaded onto payment systems. In the Eastern Cape an external audit of anomalies in four health department supplier databases revealed R35 million in duplicate or multiple payments in 2010 (Bateman 2011). Some 107 suppliers had the same bank account number, 4 496 had the same physical address and 165 suppliers shared the same telephone number. Less sophisticated fraud involved the bribing of district ambulance service directors to transport private patients. Theft of equipment, medication and food is pervasive, aggravating existing bottlenecks in supply chain management. Almost R120 000 worth of infant formula destined for malnourished babies or infants of HIV-positive mothers was stolen in the Eastern Cape in 2010 for which three foreign national businessmen and four health department officials were arrested. Eight nurses at Mthathas Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital were arrested for allegedly stealing R200 000 worth of medicines (Bateman 2011). In KwaZulu-Natal, a report to the finance portfolio committee revealed 24 high priority cases involving irregularities, supply chain and human resource mismanagement, overtime fraud, corruption, nepotism, misconduct and negligence, amounting to nearly R1 billion. Among others, the former health MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni faced charges of irregular tender awards amounting to several million rands (Bateman 2011). Ten health department officials in Mpumalanga, including its chief financial officer, appeared before a disciplinary tribunal on charges of corruption. Three separate probes uncovered massive fraud and corruption in the department, including irregularities with tender procedures and the buying of unnecessary hospital equipment. Perversely, Sibongile Manana, the health MEC, was removed from her post by the provincial Premier, and given the Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture portfolio. The Premier justified this decision by claiming that the reshuffle of his executive council was to rectify instances of mismanagement and wrongdoing uncovered by a series of forensic audits (Bateman 2011). Human resources crisis Staff shortages Staff shortages are a critical problem in most public hospitals, and are the result of underfunding as well as a national shortage of professional skills. Almost 43 % of health posts in the public sector countrywide are vacant, and more concerning appear to be increasing (up from 33% in 2009 and 27% in 2005) (Lloyd 2010). Some institutions are running with less than half the staff they need, with more than two-thirds of professional nurse posts and over 80% of medical practitioner posts in Limpopo unfilled (Lloyd 2010). Shortages of support workers such as cleaners and porters exacerbate the problem, since nurses and doctors end up performing unskilled but essential functions. Shortages of nurses in particular are generating a healthcare crisis in South African public hospitals (von Holdt 2007). Nurses have a wide scope of practice, and bear the brunt of increased patient-loads, staff shortages and management failures. Ironically, a number of nursing colleges were closed down in the late 1990s as part of governments cost-cutting measures while government made it very difficult for foreign doctors to practice in the country. The situation is now being addressed with recognition of the need for both more nurses and doctors to be trained. However, the constricted resources available limit a speedy or meaningful response and considerable investment in new facilities and trainers is required over the next decade to address the current deficit. Throughout the country, doctors and nurses constantly make decisions about which patients to save and which to withhold treatment from based on available staff and physical resources, rather than medical criteria. Because of the pressure on beds, children are sometimes denied admission to hospitals, not referred appropriately or discharged prematurely, thus facing the danger of deterioration, relapse or death. Conditions of service Understaffing and vacant professional posts and are the result of a number of factors, and vary in different locations. They include failure to establish new posts despite the increased demand for services, frozen posts because of insufficient funding being available and lack of suitably qualified staff. This lack may be because of pull or push factors. Pull factors attract staff away from the public service and include emigration and movement to the more lucrative private sector. Push factors such as poor salaries, the inability of hospitals to satisfy the simple creature comforts of staff, particularly in rural or township settings, and a blatant disrespect by hospital administrators of the professional status of staff induce staff to leave the public service. The high death rate of health workers from AIDS has further exacerbated the skills crisis. The Occupational Specific Dispensation was a measure introduced to specifically address the poor salaries paid to nurses and doctors. Although the intervention has been successful in retaining some staff in public sector hospitals and even enticing private sector nurses and doctors back, this financial incentive was insufficient to prevent national strikes by both doctors in 2009 and the entire health sector in 2010. Much of the dissent and unhappiness related to conditions of service, rather than the declared dispute about the size of the annual increase of the pay package. The long and bruising six-week strike was a sad indictment of the poor levels of professionalism of health workers, with wards full of newborn and young infants in many hospitals being abandoned instantly and completely with no interim plans for their feeding or care. This necessitated emergency evacuations or alternative arrangements by practitioners who were willing to place their little patients needs above th ose of the strike action, and by concerned members of the public. Undoubtedly, many hundreds of childrens lives were lost during this industrial action but the details of these deaths and any consequent punitive action has been conveniently ignored in an attempt to placate further strike action by the responsible parties. Aberrant staff behaviour Absenteeism among health workers is rife, even at well run institutions such Durbans Addington Hospital (Cullinan 2006). This is mostly due to stress, but nurses moonlighting in private hospitals to supplement their state salaries is also a factor. At hospitals where management was weak, such as Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in East London or Prince Mshiyeni in Durban, nurses also turned up late, left early, and often neglected patient care such as regular monitoring of vital signs (Cullinan 2006). Hospital managers ability to take disciplinary action is severely limited by the centralised nature of provincial health bureaucracies. In many provinces, the provincial head of health is the only person able to dismiss staff. Hospitalised children are the most vulnerable, since they cannot demand services or advocate for their own needs. Thus missed feeds, failure to receive prescribed medication timeously or missed doses, inattention to monitoring vital signs and delays in responding to sudden clinical deterioration are daily occurrences in childrens wards countrywide. Service delivery crisis Inadequate patient care There is a crisis of caring at hospital throughout the country. Evidence of poor service delivery at hospitals is disputed, ignored, and mostly tolerated by readily accepting the excuse of low staff morale, staff or resource shortages and no money (Saloojee 2010). The caring ethos that characterises the health profession has eroded to the degree that most patients are grateful for any acts of kindness directed to them. Many patients can recount how their most basic needs, such

Romeo and Juliet who is to blame? :: essays research papers

Throughout time, there have been many tragedies cause by romance. For example, the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, is known for its romantic tragedy between two star-crossed lovers. With all the deaths, who is truly to blame for Romeo and Juliet's deaths? Friar Laurence is most to blame for many obvious, yet overlooked reasons. The forbidden wedding of Romeo and Juliet could not have happened without the Friar. First of all, the Friar unwisely agreed to marry Romeo and Juliet, even though he knows it will cause later problems. In the beginning, the Friar thinks that "...this alliance may so happy prove/ To turn your households' rancor to pure love." (II iv 91-92) This shows that the Friar has a slight hope of their marriage possibly working. Therefore, he decides to marry the two lovers. However, as time moves on, the Friar lets on that he has regrets about the marriage. The Friar feels that "too swift arrives as tardy as too slow." (II vi 15) In other words, the Friar means that he senses that this whole wedding is happening too fast and starts to have second thoughts. If the Friar had thought this important decision clearly through, he may have prevented many future tragedies. Therefore, the Friar knows all along that, "These violent delights have violent ends." (II vi 9) The Friar knew that this is an impossible situation, which if made possible by himself will without a doubt end up in tragedy in one way or another. Under these conditions, as the Friar predicts, Romeo sinks into a deep depression; as a result of the fact that he cannot see his wife. Similarly, Juliet becomes depressed and is grieving over the truth of her and Romeo's separation. Without the Friar the two lovers would not have been married, which would have prevented both depressions and future problems to come. The Friar is responsible for many problems as well, as assisting Juliet with her "death" plan. When Romeo and Juliet realize they can’t be together, and Juliet is expected to marry Paris, she needs an escape plan. Juliet pays a visit to the Friar, who creates a plan for Juliet to fake her death with a sleeping potion. When Juliet asks the Friar to help her break free from her wedding with Paris, he replies that: If, rather than to marry County Paris, Thou has the strength of will to slay thyself;

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening - The Feminist Awakening Essay -- Kate Cho

The Feminist Awakening    Women’s rights have evolved over time; beginning with being homemakers and evolving to obtaining professions, acquiring an education, and gaining the right to vote. The movement that created all these revolutionary changes was called the feminist movement. The feminist movement occurred in the twentieth century. Many people are not aware of the purpose of the feminist movement. The movement was political and social and it sought to set up equality for women. Women’s groups in the United States worked together to win women’s suffrage and later to create and support the Equal Rights Amendment. The economic boom between 1917 and the early 1960s brought many American women into the workplace. As women began to join the workplace they became progressively more aware of their unequal economic and social status. Homemakers, many of whom who had previously obtained college educations, began to voice their lack of personal fulfillment. They had an awakening, they realized their lives were not fulfilled and wanted more than what the restraints of society would offer them. Many literary works were born from the feminist movement; each enabling women to achieve more than what society expected of them and to push the societal limits. The Awakening is a prototype of the feminist movement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening follows a common theme in literature. She uses the novel as a way to demonstrate the emancipation of women. Peggy Skaggs believes that Chopin’s life experiences have affected her writing: â€Å"Her life and experiences as a woman apparently affirmed the truths she expressed first in â€Å"Emancipation†, and her development as a literary artist enabled her to transpose those truths into art with ... ... had and the ability to live on their own. Edna is used to model a woman who would have been involved in the feminist movement. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Kate Chopin. New York. Chelsea House, 1987. Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Notes. Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Chelsea House, 1999. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: Norton, 1994. Mercedes A., Yahoo Contributor Network. May 13, 2009 Found at: http://voices.yahoo.com/a-feminist-analysis-edna-pontellier-kate-chopins-3187443.html?cat=38 Musere, Jonathan. Yahoo Contributor Network. Jul 28, 2009 Found at: http://voices.yahoo.com/the-awakening-kate-chopin-review-3886054.html?cat=38 Phenix, Cecilia. Yahoo Contributor Network. May 13, 2007 Found at: http://voices.yahoo.com/feminism-kate-chopins-awakening-337709.html?cat=52 Skaggs, Peggy. "The Awakening".Kate Chopin. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985.

The importance of agriculture

Since the time men learnt to grow crops, agriculture has been the main source of food. Today, most of the people in all parts of the world, especially in developing countries, are engaged in agricultural activities. Human is mainly a grain-eating animal. In Asia, most of the people eat rice. In Europe, North America and Australia, wheat is the main food crop. If rice and wheat cannot be grown, millet and other cereals are grown as food crops.Though men also eat meat, they enjoy eating meat only when they take it together with rice or bread which is made from wheat. It is therefore clear that grains are the main source of man’s food, and grains are agricultural products. Men, however, cannot live on grains alone. They need other foods too to make his meals more palatable. Therefore, they learnt to grow vegetables, potatoes and fruits. Like grains, these things come from the soil. They have to be planted and grown with great care.As a result, men have made many experiments on so il for several centuries to increase their production of crops. Men have also learnt to consume dried leaves to refresh themselves. Tea and tobacco, the dried leaves of certain plants, have become very popular as sources of refreshment. Even coffee and cocoa are products of plants. Cotton, jute and other fiber are used to make cloth and several other things for our daily needs. All these plants have become very important in agriculture.In some countries, agriculture is a main source of wealth. The rubber tree and the oil-palm in Malaysia bring millions of dollars every year. In Bangladesh, the jute plant is the main source of wealth. Similarly, in almost every country there is at least one plant which makes a great contribution to the economy of the country. We arrive at the conclusion that agriculture play an important role in men’s world. Invite friends to read this article.

Figure of a Mother Holding a Child Essay

Created in the nineteenth century by an unknown Lulua artist, the Figure of a Mother Holding a Child is a very interesting sculpture because there are multiple ways of understanding its import. On one hand, the sculpture is a perfect depiction of the pain of starvation that the African people have been experiencing for a long time, and that nobody outside of Africa has done anything consequential about – despite the fact that the entire world discusses it. On the other hand, it represents a ritual that the Lulua tribe of the Democratic Republic of Congo had practiced for its own survival (â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). The sculpture is that of a skinny, African female with an infant in her arms. The woman’s head is larger than her body. The bone lines on her neck are particularly telling. Even so, the bone lines on her neck and the wrinkles on her face had actually been created by the artist to show that the Lulua peoples had used scarification to adorn their bodies (â€Å"Lulua Tribe: Democratic Republic of Congo;† â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). Indeed, it is scarification that adorns the woman carrying the infant. Just the same the viewer is made to feel sorry for the woman and her child because they appear extremely poor. Made with wood and copper alloy, the woman in the sculpture has bulging eyes and a â€Å"pointed base (â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). † According to the Brooklyn Museum, the base was most probably â€Å"thrust into a pot containing earth and various bishimba, or materials of mineral, plant, animal, or human origin endowed with protective powers (â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child†). † In actuality, the sculpture had been created for a Lulua woman who had experienced difficulties in childbirth. The Lulua people believed that it was the evil spirit which interrupted the process of childbirth for many women. So that the woman would attract the ancestral spirit of the Lulua tribe to get rid of the evil spirit, the artist gave her the sculpture to care for until delivery. The bulging eyes of the sculpture reveal that the woman is aware of the influence of the evil spirit that is stopping her from becoming a mother (â€Å"Lulua Tribe†). The Lulua peoples had migrated from western Africa to the Democratic Republic of Congo during the eighteenth century. These people lived in â€Å"small regional chiefdoms,† and therefore formed closely knit communities (â€Å"Lulua Tribe†). Because they were immigrants, they were rather concerned about their continuity. Moreover, the Lulua people believed that their sculptures had to be made for religious reasons (â€Å"Lulua Tribe†). The Lulua artists who created sculptures such as the Figure of a Mother Holding a Child must have had faith that they were carrying out their moral duty toward their own people. Indeed, the religious values of the Lulua people were guarded by their art. Sculptures of female were quite popular among them, as these figures exemplified â€Å"the union of physical and moral beautify (â€Å"Figurative Sculpture†). † The Lulua people believed in equating proper behavior with physical beauty (â€Å"Figurative Sculpture†). It can be inferred that the Figure of a Mother Holding a Child and all other sculptures created for the same reason were reminders for the Lulua people that the human body cannot be separated from morality. This principle is clearly exemplified by the bond between mother and child. Works Cited â€Å"Figurative Sculpture. † Central African Art. 4 Dec 2007. . â€Å"Figure of a Mother Holding a Child. † Brooklyn Museum Collections: African Art. 4 Dec 2007. . â€Å"Lulua Tribe: Democratic Republic of Congo. † For African Art. 2006. 4 Dec 2007. .

Differrences between Invitation to treat and Proposal Essay

A proposal is made when a person is willing to enter into a legally binding contract. However, an invitation to treat is merely a supply of information (eg. an advertisement) to tempt a person into making a proposal. It is important to differentiate a proposal which will consequently lead to binding obligations on acceptance. On the other hand an â€Å"invitation to treat† is a mere suggestion of a readiness to deal or trade. In essence, an invitation to treat is a preliminary approach to others inviting them to make a proposal which can then be accepted or rejected. For example, if A said: â€Å"I want to sell you my Xbox 360 but I will not let it go for less than $300†, that is an invitation to treat. Even if B wanted to buy A’s Xbox for $300 he cannot be obliged to sell it to you for there is no official proposal in which to accept or reject. However if A said â€Å"I will sell you my Xbox 360 for $300†, that would constitute as a proposal. The invitation does not constitute a proposal, it is an invitation to engage in negotiations to form a contract, or an proposal to receive an proposal from another party (Willmott et al., 2005, p. 37). In Partridge v Crittenden, case law has established that advertisements and in Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd auctions and displays of goods for sale are invitations to treat rather than proposals. However, in other types of transactions it can be hard to differentiate between the two. This is where the ‘objective test’ applies: it must be determined how a reasonable person would regard the situation. An invitation to treat may sometimes appear to be a proposal and the difference can sometimes be difficult to determine. The distinction is important because if one accepts an proposal, they have created a binding contract however if one accepts an invitation to treat then they will be making an proposal. The main difference betwe en an proposal and an invitation to treat is where an invitation to treat lacks the intention to be legally bound. The difference between an proposal and an invitation to treat lies solely in the promisor’s intentions. An proposal is a proposal in which all bargaining is resolved and the party who wishes to make the transaction is prepared to  make a legally binding contract with an individual who has equal bargaining power and has the capacity to responsibly accept. An example of a common proposal could include a phone contract, where all the terms and conditions have been made and acceptance is ready to occur with no further bargaining. In contrast, an invitation to treat is seen as â€Å"a request to negotiate or make an proposal with a contract in mind†[1]. An invitation to treat allows for further questions, statements and bargaining to me make during the negotiation process where the acceptance of such a request is not legally binding. Determining the difference between an invitation to treat and an proposal can be difficult as these two terms are similar and yet, legally, very different. An invitation to treat is not an proposal (Monahan and Carr-Gregg, 2007, pp. 6-7), but rather a request to negotiate with the intentions to enter into a contract. There is no legal obligation on the person who proposals an invitation to treat. Once there is an expression of willingness to be contractually bound on the stated terms (Australia Legal Dictionary, 2004, p.306) an proposal is said to have being made. However, where there is no intention to be bound by a contract, negotiations continue until the terms can be accepted and the parties contractually bound, should a party accept the invitation to treat then make an proposal and this is accepted, then there will be a legally binding contract. As shown in Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd (1953) 1 QB 401 once a customer makes an propo sal to buy goods from the store; the owner can accept or reject the terms. For example, though a salesman may display an item in a store window it is not an proposal as the proposalor is not obliged to make the sale and can still alter the price or present terms or conditions as to the sale of the item. If the terms can be successfully negotiated then an agreement can be reached and the parties are contractually bound, however, if the proposalor refuses the proposalees proposal, then negotiations may or may not continue depending upon the intentions of both parties. The shop owner isn’t legally obliged to sell an item that is being advertised, even if the price was met by a customer, or if it was accompanied by a special proposal. This was easily seen in Fisher V. Bell [1961] 1 QB 394, where the shop owner displayed a flicknife for sale  but this sale was prohibited due to legislation. This also allows shop owners not to sell an item which was mistakenly priced at a very low amount. A particular form of invitation to treat that has come under scrutiny has been advertisements. In his judgement in Partridge v Crittenden, Lord Parker CJ said, ‘When one is dealing with advertisements†¦there is business sense in their being construed as invitations to treat and not proposals for sale.’ Although a layman may regard the listing of a price next to an item in a catalogue as an proposal, in legal terms this is generally an invitation to treat, or an invitation for the customer to proposal to purchase the item, which the store/salesman may then accept or reject. Similarly, information regarding a product is also regarded as an invitation to treat according to Gibson v Manchester City Council. The fundamental difference between an proposal and an invitation to treat is the intention of the proposalor, and while an advertisement, which is not targeting anyone in particular (but the world at large), can generally be deemed an invitation to treat, it is possible for it to be an proposal to the world at large. As stated many times already, an important factor is the intention of the person making the proposal and there are several factors to determine whether the advertisement is an invitation to treat or an proposal to the world at large. The terminology that is used, any limitations imposed on who could accept or any limitations on what was being proposaled are important factors. The need for invitations to treat is clear, because otherwise people may find themselves in contracts they cannot fulfil, possibly due to insufficient stock (Graw 2005). If an proposalor, however, limits the number of people who can accept, the problem wouldn’t occur and it makes it possible for the advertisement to be an proposal to the world at large. This is seen in the case of Lefkowitz v Great Minneapolis Surplus Store 86 NW 2d 689 (1957) in the USA. In this case the store placed a newspaper advertisement specifying â€Å"first in, first serve† for â€Å"3 brand new fur coats, at $1 each†. Mr Lefkowitz was one of the first three customers to try and buy a coat. He was told that it was only for women. He sued and won as the proposal was clear and definite, it wasn’t an invitation to treat but an proposal to sell.  Also, if an advertisement proposals something and limits supply (eg. â€Å"Until stock runs out†, â€Å"two per customer†) i t may be intended to fill all orders within the limitation and therefore it would be an proposal not an invitation to treat. An important case to consider when comparing the differences between an proposal and an invitation to treat is the case of Leonard v Pepsico 88 F.Supp.2d 116 (1999) during which a television advertisement was aired proposaling prizes that could be exchanged for specific amounts of product ‘points’ or the cash equivalent (i.e. 50 points for a hat and 75 for a t-shirt). At the end of the advert Pepsico proposaled a fighter plane for 700,000 points. John Leonard took the advert seriously and consequently earned the required points and sent his points away to pepsico for the plane. When denied his acceptance of what he took to be an proposal, Leonard proceeded to take legal action against Pepsico. Kimba M. Wood J held that; the advert displayed no terms nor conditions, adverts do not constitute an proposal and there was no proposal made for which the plaintiff could respond to. As the proposal was made in jest, the advert could not be taken to constitute a valid proposal and as such should be viewed merely as a invitation to treat. An important case to consider when comparing the differences between an proposal and an invitation to treat is the case of Leonard v Pepsico 88 F.Supp.2d 116 (1999) [7] during which a television advert was aired proposaling telling of prizes that could be exchanged for specific amounts of product ‘points’ or the cash equivalent (i.e. 50 points for a hat and 75 for a t-shirt). At the end of the advert Pepsico proposaled a fighter plane for 700,000 points. John Leonard took the advert seriously and consequently earned the required points and sent away for the plane. When denied his acceptance of what he took to be an proposal, Leonard proceeded to take action against Pepsico. Kimba M. Wood J held that; the advert displayed no terms nor conditions, adverts do not constitute an proposal and there was no proposal made for which the plaintiff could respond to. As the proposal was made in jest, the advert could not be taken to constitute a valid proposal and as such should be v iewed merely as a invitation to treat. An invitation to treat is distinguishable from an proposal in that; an proposal constitutes the first step of a contract and can be accepted along with consideration to form a contract. An invitation to treat is not an proposal but merely an invitation for the targeted audience to present their proposal, which may, or may not be accepted. A prime example of an invitation to treat is a catalogue. Catalogues often contain pictures, and words describing their products on sale and are advertised to a large number of people in a certain market who may be interested. Whereas an proposal would be targeted at an individual with certain terms and conditions, rather than at a large audience. It is important to establish that a catalogue is only an invitation to treat, otherwise a retailer could be in breach of contract if they exhaust all their supply of a product that has been proposaled in their catalogue. Businesses such as Supermarkets, travel agents and Car Companies often use the term â€Å"special proposal†, which can be mistaken to have the same meaning as the term â€Å"proposal† does in the legal sense. (Massey V Crown Life Insurance Co ). The courts recognise that people from non-law backgrounds, use the word â€Å"proposal† rather loosely and therefore are reluctant to rely on the use of the word, to gauge intention (Gooley et al., 2007, pp. 45-46). It is often an invitation to treat in the same sense as â€Å"display of goods†. Merely calling something an proposal does not make it one (Graw, S, 2005, pp. 48-49). The conditions and rationale under which a court differentiates an proposal from the ambiguous invitation to treat, is that an proposal is a readiness to be legally bound. In contrast, both parties within the invitation to treat remain at the negotiation stage. It is not until the invitation to treat has led to an proposal, which is then accepted, that a contract is formed. Promotional statements in advertisements are treated as invitations to treat or to be ‘outside the realm of contract law altogether as being mere â€Å"puffery† not intended to be legally binding’ (Davis, J, 2006). Another  issue that arises in clarifying an proposal from an invitation to treat is that when an proposalee submits an enquiry, it is difficult to determine whether or not the response can be interpreted as an actual proposal or simply a mere supply of information as seen in Harvey v Facey [1893] AC 552. The courts regard that the presentation of goods for sale in a shop signifies that the cashier is willing to treat, in spite of the price labelled on the item. Therefore, an proposal is only reached when the customer presents the goods to the cashier, which will either be accepted or declined. When examining cases in contract law, it is essential to understand the four elements of contract formation to be able to trace negotiations back to the very fine point that distinguishes an proposal from an invitation to treat. Auctions are a distinct method of sale where whether it is an proposal or invitation to treat can sometimes be ambiguous. If there is a reserve price for the item of sale, the auctioneer cannot sell the item unless the highest bid is higher than the reserve price. In this case the verbal enticement to bid made by the auctioneer towards a plausible purchaser can be considered akin to an invitation to treat. Each of the bids therefore can be regarded as an proposal which the auctioneer may or may not accept. The acceptance can be considered to have occurred when the hammer falls. Payne v. Cave (1789) 3 TR 148 is a good example in which the proposal was withdrawn before being accepted. In this instance the defendant made the highest bid for items for the plaintiffs but before the auctioneers hammer could fall, he withdrew the proposal. The court found the defendant was not contractually bound to purchase the item. His bid was considered to be an proposal, which was permitted to be withd rawn before the auctioneer had accepted. If the item in question has no reserve price, the highest bidder is usually considered to have made a contract with the auctioneer and therefore a rejection by the auctioneer would usually be considered a breach of contractual proposal. This was shown in the Court of Appeal in Barry v. Davies [2000] 1 WLR 1962. Differences between Cross-offer and Counter-offer Cross offer – When the offers made by two persons to each other containing  similar terms of bargain cross each other in post they are known as cross offers. For example, on 1st January A offers to sell his radio set to B for Rs. 500/- through a letter sent by post. On the same date B also writes to A making an offer to purchase A’s radio set for Rs. 500 /- When A or B send their letters they do not know about the offer which is being made by the other side. In these cross offers, even though both the parties intend the same bargain, there arises no could arise only if either A or B , after having the knowledge of the offer, had accepted the same. Counter Offer – A counter offer amounts to rejection of the original offer.Legal effect of counter contract. A contract offer:- (i) Rejection of original offer (ii) The original offer is lapsed(iii) A counter offer result is a new offer.For example -A offered to sell his pen to B for Rs.1,000. B replied, † I am ready to pay Rs.950.† On A’s refusal to sell at this price, B agreed to pay Rs.1,000. Held, there was not contract as the acceptance to buy it for Rs.950 was a counter offer, i.e. rejection of the offer of A. Subsequent acceptance to pay Rs.1,000 is a fresh offer from B to which A was not bound to give his acceptance.

Metabolic Race Essay

GREAT METABOLIC CHALLENGE Metabolism is a series of vital biochemical processes that take place in order to sustain life. During a marathon run, the individual relies on the breakdown of carbohydrates and lipids, in order to provide energy release in the form of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). This essay will focus on the role of mobilization and structures of both carbohydrates and lipids in the production of ATP. Mobilization of Carbohydrates When carbohydrates are consumed during a meal, catabolism originates in the mouth. The salivary enzyme ÃŽ ±-amylase breaks down the carbohydrates through the hydrolysis of the ÃŽ ±1->4 glycosidic bonds. This is followed by the further breakdown of the complex polysaccharides in the small intestine down to monosaccharides units in order for the glucose to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Mobilization of Lipids Lipids in the form of triaglycerols are a major source of energy storage. Initially, the lipids are absorbed in the small intestine through emulsification into small droplets by bile salts; thus forming mixed micelles. During low blood sugar levels, the secretion of glucagon and adrenalin hormones activates the release of the enzyme triacylglycerol lipase, which subsequently stimulates the release of fatty acids in adipocytes. The blood protein serum albumin then transports the fatty acid through the bloodstream to tissue such as the renal cortex, heart and skeletal muscle in order to provide energy through ÃŽ ²-oxidation. Provision of energy during race On your mark At the beginning of the race, internal energy laws determine in which direction and to what extent each metabolic reaction will proceed. According to this system, when the Gibbs Free Energy (ΔG) is negative, a spontaneous forward reaction is proceeding towards equilibrium thus resulting in the formation of products from reactants. During this marathon, ATP is the energy currency during the breakdown of macromolecules, more specifically  the breakdown carbohydrates and lipids in this case. Furthermore ATP will be necessary for muscular movement and the transport of solutes across biological membranes. 5 minutes After 5 minutes into the marathon, majority of the energy is being supplied by carbohydrates (85%) specifically glycogen that is stored in skeletal muscle and liver; in comparison to a mere 15% of lipid utilization. At this early stage of the race, the ten-step process of glycolysis is starting to take place; in which pyruvate is being formed from glucose. In the first half of this process known as the preparatory phase, there is a debt of two ATP molecules. However this is recovered in the payoff phase in which 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate is oxidized and phosphorylated to form 3-phosphoglycerate, with the production of four ATP molecules; thus providing a net yield of 2 ATP molecules. 30 minutes Half way through the race, the citric acid cycle predominates in the oxidation of carbohydrates and lipids in order to supply energy. At this stage, half of the runner’s energy needs are being supplied by carbohydrates while the other half is being met by lipids. Within the mitochondria of the cell, 45 minutes As the race is nearing the end, most of the energy is being supplied through the catabolism of fats from storages in adipose tissue.

Back in Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Back in Shakespeare Essay Romeo and Juliet (446) , Capulet (321) , Montague (266) , Tybalt (192) , Benvolio (113) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints Back in Shakespeare’s days courtly love was a fashionable tradition. What happened was the men saw the women as Goddesses but their love was more often unrequited. But the men would send them love letters in the form of sonnets in order to win the woman’s love, however it usually failed leaving the man feeling melancholic. This is the position Romeo found himself in as he was in love with a girl called Rosaline. Montague and Benvolio notice a change in Romeo’s behaviour due to this and Montague explains how he â€Å"shuts up his windows† and â€Å"locks fair daylight out† this shows that Romeo attempts to isolate himself from the outside world and really is depressed. As Romeo enters the scene the audience can see for themselves his state of mind during his conversation with Benvolio. His replies to Benvolio’s comments are short and subdued and he explains, â€Å"sad hours seem long†. We can work out from this that Romeo is not having a good time so our sympathy wins him over and we hope for his luck to change. As we move onto scene 2, we meet Paris, who is a man hoping to marry Juliet and is trying to convince Capulet to allow him to, however Capulet seems to think Juliet is too young for marriage as â€Å"She hath not seen the change of fourteen years†. The possible marriage between Paris and Juliet is exciting for the audience yet it is an obstacle between the forthcoming relationship between Romeo and Juliet. The scene then cuts back to Romeo and his problems with courtly love. Benvolio who is aware of Romeo’s problem tries to be a useful friend by giving him advice. His advice is â€Å"one fire burns out another’s burning†, this is a metaphorical way of putting; you should find someone else and forget about Rosaline. Then as ‘Clown’ from the Capulet family is struggling to read a party invitation he asks Romeo and Benvolio to read the list out for him. Romeo notices that Rosalie’s name is on this list and the pair therefore decide to find a way of going to the ‘masqued ball’ to give Romeo a chance of fore filling his dream of meeting Rosaline. The fact it’s a masqued ball means they can get in whilst in disguise and probably get away with it and this thought enters Benvolio’s head. In scene 3 we meet the Nurse. A nurse is the Elizabethan equivalent to a child minder, however in these days they were hired out commonly by wealthy upper class families and were pretty much part of the family, they would raise the children and even breast feed them when they are babies. This particular Nurse raised Juliet and the two of them are very close. She is a bubbly character who often tells sexual jokes or sexual innuendo’s and tells Juliet stories about when she was younger usually embarrassing her. From seeing the play myself I remember the nurse being an entertaining character and was an audience favourite which was most noticeable by the applause she got at the end. Her sexual humour is shown where she says, â€Å"dost thou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fall backward when thou hast more wit, wilt thou not, Jule?† This is a crude joke of falling onto her back for sex and most fourteen year olds would find an adult talking to them like this terribly embarrassing yet the audience find it comical and entertaining. Soon after; Juliet discovers Paris’s desire to marry her and to the nurses delight Juliet replies â€Å"It is an honour that I dream not of†. Again the audience are excited by what is now a probable marriage yet it also questions the possibility of Romeo and Juliet getting together. Whilst on their way to the Capulet masqued ball Romeo predicts the future when saying â€Å"for my mind misgreaves some consequence, yet hanging in the stars†, similarly to what it says in the prologue; Romeo is saying he fears an unfortunate accident. The audience therefore semi-expect this to ironically happen. This is meant to create tension especially when he says about an â€Å"untimely death†, which along with the prologue suggests young death. Scene 5 is set in the Capulet household as it is the location of their ‘masqued ball’. A ‘masqued ball’ was a fashionable party to have in Elizabethan times where everyone went disguised in a mask. It was the equivalent to what a fancy dress party is today and this is why the Montague’s were able to get in with little suspicion from the Capulet’s. Party’s are always a popularity and so Shakespeare made this scene a key one in the play for the entertainment of the audience. From what the audience have seen so far, Romeo is a melodramatic isolated character. He has won over our sympathy and as he is one of the main characters we all want to see things turn around for him. The reason Shakespeare presents him as a melancholic lover is to emphasise the artificial nature of his love for Rosaline in comparison to the genuine emotion he feels for Juliet. We witness the two types of love juxtaposed and recognise that his love for Juliet is positive, energising and less of a ‘pose’. But by presenting him in love with someone else initially, it creates romantic suspense for the audience. When Romeo first sees Juliet, it is described as ‘love at first sight’, this really helps to emphasise how he feels about her. From the audiences point of view, Romeo appears to be shocked by how much Juliet stands out by the way he says â€Å"O she doth teach torches to burn bright†, the reason he says ‘O’ at the start of his speech is purely to emphasise his emotion. The speech as a whole is a type of light imagery and explains how her beauty stands out so much to Romeo. He then goes on to say â€Å"†¦she hangs upon the cheek of night / As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear†, this is a metaphorical way of saying that she is beautiful, precious and rare to him as is â€Å"Beauty too rich for use†. These are both examples of wealth imagery. The majority of his speech in this part of the scene is imagery and metaphorical to help stress his feelings for Juliet, he also claims she â€Å"Shows a snowy dove trooping with crows†. This is in the category of bird and colour imagery and helps to stand out the point that she really does stand out from the crowd. As explained by courtly love, it was a common thing for men to respect women like they are goddesses, and Romeo uses this kind of ‘holy imagery’ when he says â€Å"†¦touching hers, make blessed my rude hand†. Overall the speech shows strong romantic inte rest due to how Romeo is so intense, passionate and genuine. This is one of the most loving parts of the story; however it is interrupted as the fiery character of Tybalt notices that a Montague is present. He clearly shows his anger by referring Romeo as a â€Å"slave†, which is saying that Romeo is like his inferior. As Capulet enters the scene; Tybalt threatens to â€Å"strike him dead†, however, Capulet bears in mind what the Prince said, in that any more fighting would mean their â€Å"lives would pay the forfeit† and as he wants no violence at the party, he aggressively prevents Tybalt from making any wrong moves. The hatred is then interrupted by the love of Romeo and Juliet as they meet and talk for the first time. Their conversation is set out in the style of a sonnet as of course; these were popular in the Elizabethan and Medieval times. It is very poetic, passionate and filled with religious imagery. The language is intense, memorable and uses rhyming couplets at the end of every other line to help it to sound better and stand out. Juliet is very responsive to Romeo’s requests and appears to want Romeo to kiss her, which was a rarity in the courtly love tradition. Romeo flirtatiously refers to Juliet as a ‘Pilgrim’; this shows how he respects her like a Goddess and this is the start of a large amount of religious imagery. In addition to that, Juliet answers back with her own religious metaphors like â€Å"And palm to palm is holy palmers kiss† this also contains some alliteration due to the repetitive use of words containing ‘palm’. The speech overall is a pattern of Romeo flirting to Juliet and Juliet flirting back, this keeps the flow of the conversation going and on a couple of occasions we witness a kiss. All this comes to a sudden end as the Nurse enters the scene and they discover each others identity. The nurse calls Juliet to go to her mother and when she is gone explains to Romeo â€Å"Her mother is the lady of the house† and of course Romeo realises this is the Capulet house. Benvolio calls Romeo away from the scene explaining â€Å"The sport is at the best† which informs that he knows the best part of the night is over and their identity has been discovered. This means that the Montague’s have to make a swift exit effectively making Romeo and Juliet’s ‘moment’ short with a sudden end. This leaves the nurse and Juliet alone together. Juliet finds out from the Nurse that Romeo is in fact a Montague and is clearly devastated by this when she says â€Å"My grave is like to be my wedding bed† and â€Å"My only love sprung from my only hate. All the way throughout this scene; Shakespeare juxtaposes love and hate. The first sight of love is at Romeo’s first glimpse of Juliet and the whole ‘love at first sight’ event, this is interrupted by Tybalt noticing Romeo and wanting to cause a violent act but he is stopped by Capulet. This allows Romeo and Juliet to have their first speech in the form of the love sonnet although when the two realise each other’s identity, the hate between the two families takes over leaving the audience wondering if the power of their love is strong enough to overcome the hate. In conclusion to the opening act of the play; Shakespeare creates many ‘untied’ ends to the story. This makes the audience want to carry on watching to get an answer to their questions; questions such as will Tybalt fore fill his threat towards Romeo? Are Romeo and Juliet going to die and if so how? Will Paris marry Juliet? And will there be any more fighting? The only possible way for the audience to find an answer to these questions is to carry on watching the play. This was Shakespeare’s objective for the opening act and he has therefore successfully completed it. Back in Shakespeare. (2017, Aug 22). We have essays on the following topics that may be of interest to you