Staying on Top of Marketing Best Practices

As we officially start summer (in the northern hemisphere, at least), it’s a good time to take stock of marketing progress so far in 2016 and look for opportunities to adjust for the rest of the year. Marketing is a constantly changing industry and it’s essential to regularly monitor best practices and trends while looking at how you can further optimize your own strategies. To help you stay on top of some of the most impactful trends, I’ve put together a list. 1. More and more mobile Ever since Google’s #Mobilegeddon update in April 2015, mobile optimization has been a top priority.Websites that don’t pass the minimal requirement as set out by Google will see their SEO rankings (and traffic) take a huge hit. Why this emphasis on mobile search and marketing?Mobile is increasingly where your customers are.Users now spend more of their digital time on their mobile devices than on desktops, laptops or other connected devices. So, if you can’t reach your target audience through mobile search or mobile browsing, you’re bound to lose many of them to the competition. 2. Storytelling on social Storytelling has been always been a cornerstone of good content marketing. But 2016 has seen more social media campaigns being built around stories – whether foundational stories, customer success stories or inspirational staff stories. These can not only help humanize your brand and draw readers in, but, if they make an emotional impact, your audience is much more likely to remember your brand and come back again. 3. Getting personal Understandably, personalization makes content and marketing much more effective. Luckily, you likely have a lot of data at your disposal to better target and personalize your content and offers to align with your shoppers’ interests and wants. 4. Overcoming content saturation With 4.6 billion pieces of content being produced every day online, competition for audiences is becoming even more fierce. To stand out, you need original, high-quality content in the best format for your unique audience. Biggest takeaway: keep adapting With so much change to stay on top of, it can be difficult to decide how to best allocate your resources and adjust your marketing efforts.Start by reviewing your goals for the year and your progress towards them. Not all trends will work for you but if you can continually test and optimize, you’re much more likely to find success. If there’s room for improvement, look at what is working for other brands online and test it with your company.

Greek Philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) essays

Greek Philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) essays No matter how advanced or more knowledgeable we are compared to ancient civilizations, we cannot say that what they contributed did not affect us directly. From simple things such as fire, to more complex things such as the concept of time, or complicated architecture, ancient inventors and other intellectuals paved the way for modern developments. Without the research and curiosity of our forefathers, we would not know, AND have what we know and have today. One of the major contributors to modern knowledge was the Greeks. They gave us knowledge in the fields of math through Pythagoras and his theorem on right triangles, and Science through Aristotles study of biology and Democritus study of atoms. Of course, although some may see their philosophies and beliefs to be inapplicable to todays society, Socrates, Platos, and Aristotles philosophies changed the way people think, and greatly affected the development of many western cultures, and even our own. The first in line of the 3 great philosophers of Greece was Socrates. Born in Athens in 469 BC, he was born in a relatively poor family. His father, Sophroniscus, was a sculptor and his mother, Phaenarete, was a mid-wife. Socrates himself was a sculptor, but he was never really good at it. And although he was poor, he was able to marry and raise a family. There is a story told, that one day, his friend, Chaerephon, asked an Oracle in Delphi whether or not there was someone wiser than Socrates. Strangely, the oracle answered No. When Socrates heard about this, he was puzzled as to why the Oracle answered in that way. He figured that maybe it was some sort of a riddle, for he thought that he possessed no special wisdom at all. In order to find out, Socrates decided to talk with the various town folks of Athens, such as the doctors, scholars, sophists, and basically anyone who was willing to talk to him. Although ...

Case Attrition Essay Example for Free

Case Attrition Essay Case attrition is the failure of arrests to come to trial; less than half of all felony arrests result in conviction (Meyer, J & Grant, D. 2003). Basically, case attrition is when an arrest does not end in a trial conviction, which happens quite often in the court justice system. The effect case attrition has on the criminal justice system effects all levels of the criminal justice process, because an arrest or no arrest affects all aspects of the criminal justice process. Law enforcement officers can develop negative feelings about the justice system and feel that their work is not getting noticed. The high levels of case attrition in modern systems shows that the criminal law has very substantial limitations as a direct crime control such as, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. Criminal convictions and penalties deserved punishment and reinforce important societal denunciation, but if these penal consequences are imposed according to procedure that are widely perceived as fair and just. Attrition can get rid of individuals in the over-worked justice system that were arrested that either had a problem with the legality of the arrest or it was the result of an overworked, or bad officer in a situation where an arrest was not necessary (Meyer, J & Grant, D. 2003). When these cases are removed from the justice system, it is possible for attorneys and judges to be able to focus on more serious crimes. Reference Meyer, J & Grant, D. (2003) The Courts in Our Criminal Justice System Case Attrition. (2016, Mar 17).

Banking Law (question in instruction) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Banking Law (question in instruction) - Essay Example erefore, the holder can be either the person to whom the cheque was written or the individual in possession of it by virtue of a transfer by negotiation2. In this case, the order which has been fraudulently obtained and negotiated by Clara to their debtor is an illegal order cheque requiring an indorsement by the legitimate holder who in this case is Megan. As such, she reserves the right to file charges of cheque fraud against Clara and seek an injunction against any cashing of the cheque by Jason’s bank for purposes of reclaiming the money amounting to 15,000. Regardless, Megan’s success would depend on her ability to prove that: a) Jason’s bank owes her the duty of care; b) there is proximity between her and the bill collecting bank; and c) cashing the money to Jason would result in material injury upon her. In Yuen Kun-Yeu v Attorney-General of Hong Kong (1987) PC, the plaintiff made deposits of money with an accredited deposit taker, but lost the deposits when it became insolvent3. He argued that the Commission regulating the activities of the deposit taken was liable because it was aware or should have been aware of the difficulties facing the depositor. However, in its decision the court said there was no proximity between the Commission and the deposit taker vis-Ã  -vis the claimant. In respect of this decision, Megan would lose the case, which then allows her the option to seek compensation for a breach of banker-customer relationship if the banker proceeds and authorises payment by a fraudulent indorsement. In Foley v. Hill and Others (1848), the court said the banker owes the customer money that is equivalent to the deposits4. The verdict considered the banker the owner of the deposits and the client the investor taking risk. In light of the verdict, Megan could successfully bring claims against the bank for fraud and obtain a refund of all of her money ‘owned’ by the bank courtesy of the fraudulent Clara and her husband if the banker settled

Quantitative Comparison of Academic Achievement in NYC Public Schools Dissertation

Quantitative Comparison of Academic Achievement in NYC Public Schools vs. NYC Charter Schools Measured by 2009 - 2010 NYS ELA and Math Exams - Dissertation Example According to the research findings charter schools are public schools that operate independently of the district board of education, making them a one-school public school district. They have their own charters written by private individuals: parents, educators, community leaders that enumerate their laws, governance structure and principles. This autonomous setup results in bigger accountabilities for the school. Because of this autonomy and customized curricula, many people believe that charter schools are far more beneficial to children, as compared to public schools. People also believe that charter schools provide better services because of the high standards they set for themselves. There are studies that compare the effectiveness of public schools versus charter schools. However, they differ in their findings. As our understanding of the cognitive development of young children increases, so does the need for high-quality childhood education programs facilitated by confident, c ompetent instructors. The growing appreciation for the potential benefits of quality educational programs has strengthened funding agencies’ and policy makers’ commitment to ensuring all families have access to programming that can support and enhance children’s development, growth, and learning. These benefits can be realized, however, only in high-quality programs with characteristics linked to positive outcomes for children. The establishment of a stable formula for measuring the academic achievement of the students from public schools and charter schools is needed. According to research conducted by Lubienski and Lubienski (2006), public schools and charter schools in New York City are both able to produce students that exemplify academic excellence. Since the No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) legislation was enacted, schools must show that they are contributing to a child’s academic achievement, especially in the areas of English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. Brennan (2009) indicates that New York City public school students outperform their peers from comparable school districts, giving the distinct impression that public schools are also effective educational forums. Conversely, the achievement analysis conducted by Hoxby, Murarka, & Kang (2009) indicates that charter schools are superior to public schools in their ability to educate students in a multitude of academic categories. In addition, Lubienski & Lubienski (2006) indicate that charter school and the â€Å"private-style organizational models† (p.2) were ahead of public schools in providing a model for

Energy Drink Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Energy Drink Lab Report Essay As a result of conducting various qualitative chemical analysis tests, Monster Energy  ® was found to contain a large amount of reducing sugars and NaCl. It was found to be void of proteins and lipids. Further, Canada Dry  ® gingerale was found to contain a large amount of reducing sugars, while being void of protein, lipids and NaCl. The components of the Monster Energy drink tested were quite congruent to the components found in the other energy drinks. The exceptions, however, were that SugarFree Rockstar, like the name suggests, contains no traces of sugar, unlike Monster Energy. Also, unlike other energy drinks, Monster Energy contained detectable traces of sodium chloride. The components of gingerale were also quite similar to the components found in other beverages. However, it contained no protein or lipids, unlike chocolate milk, and had a large amount of simple sugars, unlike Vitamin Water and Tea. In short, the chemical assays do not fully support the marketing claims made by the energy drink producers. They show that none of the energy drinks tested contain proteins, which build, maintain and help replace tissues in the body. Also, all energy drinks (with the exception of Sugar Free Rockstar) showed that these drinks contain large amounts of simple (reducing) sugars. None of the energy drinks contain fats, which actually provide the body with 2x the amount of energy per gram than carbohydrates and proteins. Finally, Monster Energy was the only drink that contained NaCl. Through research, it was found that NaCl maintains the â€Å"sodium-potassium pump† in the body. This important mechanism consists of the sodium ion (an electrolyte) going into cells and potassium coming out, which then releases energy. These conclusions go to show that, while the energy drink â€Å"producers† claim to offer a product rich in energy-inducing ingredients, they have not, by any mea ns, included a fuller scope of  nutrients that would truly have the potential to bring energy. Whereas their claims range from â€Å"being the meanest energy supplement on the planet† to â€Å"increasing endurance, concentration and reaction speed,† really, sugar is the only thing that appears consistently in detectable amounts, being a source of very temporary, short-term energy. It could be helpful to have tested to for amino acids see whether there was a detectable quantity of amino acids in the energy drinks. Amino acids being the components of proteins, it is inferred that they are more easily absorbed that proteins. Perhaps knowing whether there was a detectable quantity of amino acids could also contribute to the idea of the effectiveness/ ineffectiveness of the energy drinks. A possible test that could be done here is the â€Å"Ninhydrin Test.† Ninhydrin detects ammonia and the amine groups in amino acids. So, in the presence of â€Å"free† amino acids, Ninhydrin would turn purple. Conclusion and Evaluation Given what I’ve learned in this lab, I believe that I would not ever purchase the energy drinks available on the market. Surely, they are advertised as being infused with exotic herbal extracts, powerful vitamins, and the like; however, today’s lab showed that the only ingredient the energy drinks provide in abundance is sugar. For the price it costs to purchase a drink scarcely containing energy-providing substances (ex. proteins, lipids, etc.) other than sugar, I believe it is economically â€Å"not worth it†. Besides, drinking such great quantities of extra sugar is quite counter-productive and likely to cause weight gain in itself. I cannot consider energy drinks a â€Å"natural alternative† to either sports drinks (like Gatorade) or energy-providing foods, and will thus stay away from these blatantly consumed â€Å"energy† drinks. Sources of Error, Suggestions for Improvement This qualitative chemical analysis of energy drinks lab was well conducted. Many variables were kept constant (such as the volume of energy drink being tested each time, the room temperature, and the time waited before recording final observations, etc.). This helped in eliminating sources of both random  and systematic error. To improve this lab, perhaps a spot-plate or even a petri dish could be used in doing the Biuret Test, the Benedict’s Test and the Silver Nitrate Test. With the energy drink sample being tested in these apparatuses, a greater surface area of the sample would be exposed to the â€Å"testing solution†- as opposed to the narrow test tube. It is known that an increase in surface area increases the rate of reaction; thus using spot-plates would ensure a greater reaction â€Å"completion† by the time final observations are recorded (Note: the waiting time for recording observations is kept constant: 2 minutes). Results would be more obvious, in terms of physical appearance, and can be assumed to be more accurate when using both the smaller volume of energy drink and a spot plate to contain it.

Dracula :: essays research papers

CHAPTER 1 1876 Summary Chapter 1 starts with the main persona, Jonathan Harker; a solicitor clerk making a journey to Transylvania at he behest of a client Count Dracula. Jonathan starts making entries in his journal on May 3. He leaves Munich and arrives at Vienna Budapest. He stops at Hotel Royale, where he has dinner but his night is restless as he has queer dreams. He starts out again in the morning boarding the train at Bistritz. As directed by the Count, he goes to Golden Krone Hotel, where Dracula gives him a letter. On May 4, his next entry tells about the fear on the faces of is landlord and wife. They refuse to tell him much about Dracula and instead try to dissuade from going, telling him that it is the eve of St. George’s Day, when all the evil things in the world have full sway. The Landlord’s wife puts a rosary around on his neck. The Count’s coach arrives for Jonathan. On May 5, in the castle, the driver, the landlord and his wife, and a small crowd point two fingers at Jonathan and make the sign of the cross. Jonathan is later told that this is to word of evil. The driver and Jonathan arrive earlier than schedule time. The driver urges Jonathan to go back. Before Jonathan can react, a tall man with along brown beard and a great black hat comes along. The other driver makes a sign of the cross and leaves in a hurry. The tall man drives his carriage away towards Dracula’s castle. At about midnight a dog begins to howl followed by many others. The horses nervously strain and rear but the driver pacifies them almost magically. The howling sounds nearer and nearer and this time it is the baying of the wolves. Suddenly, Jonathan sees a faint flickering blue flame. The driver sees it and jumps down and disappears into the darkness. He reappears again, the flames seems to have disappeared. Again it appears but does not seem to illumine the place. Once a strange optical effect happens, where the driver stands between the flame and Jonathan and does not obstruct it. The howling of the wolves continuously follows the carriage. The horses jump and rear in terror, but the driver is in full command. After some time, they finally stop in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle with tall black windows through which no light penetrates.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth various devices are used to present the weird sisters as integral to the plot Essay

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth various devices are used to present the weird sisters as integral to the plot. In a modern context, are they still plausible figures? â€Å"So wither’d and so wild in their attire, that look not like th’inhabitants o’th’earth, and yet are on’t?† This description of the three weird sisters given by Banquo on first setting eyes on them creates an illusion of hell like hags; decayed and disfigured creatures. They are unnatural: they seem to be women but are not. It is Banquo who thinks they are evil: â€Å"What! Can the devil speak true?† Macbeth does not. Macbeth is intrigued by the sisters and later tells Lady Macbeth that he â€Å"burned in desire† to question them further. Macbeth asks the witches to stay showing he is interested in their predictions; â€Å"Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more.† The sisters speak dangerous thoughts, the same perhaps already plaguing his mind. If their predictions were already thoughts in the back of Macbeth’s mind, then the sisters lack power over him at this point. By examining the first conversation he has with Lady Macbeth on first returning home from battle, â€Å"And when goes hence†, â€Å"tomorrow as he purposes† this could be seen as evidence of couple having discussed the downfall of Duncan on an earlier date. If this is true then the sisters could be seen as mere triggers; they release the fiery evil within Macbeth. The fact that the sisters are in the first scene of the play confirms that they are important characters and from what they say, â€Å"When the hurlyburly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won† gives the impression they know what is going to pass in the rest of the play. They meet in foul weather and talk of â€Å"thunder, lightening† and â€Å"the fog and filthy air†, giving the audience a first impression that Macbeth is a dark, dangerous play in which the theme of evil is central. They embody a malign and demonic intelligence. Their information does tempt Macbeth-but it is crucial to remember: they do not invite him to murder Duncan or even suggest a thing. Information is morally neutral until human beings begin to interpret it. The three hags prophecy that Macbeth will be king, they make no inclination whatsoever how he will come about this regal title. A lingering question still remains; had Macbeth given thought to killing Duncan before, and if the sisters had not made their prophecy, would Macbeth have murdered Duncan that night at the castle? In fact this is an unanswerable question but at the same time also very crucial. For if the answer is yes, the sisters would no longer be integral to the plot but be there just for the means of a supernatural subplot. On the other hand taking it as is given in the play, the implications of this are that Macbeth relies wholly on the sisters to spur him on. Macbeth is not a fool he realises that the prophecies â€Å"cannot be ill, cannot be good† and the forecasts of the future must come at a cost. Later on though, Macbeth no doubt driven by the success of his murdering of Duncan, seems to forget the sisters’ haunt that â€Å"none of woman born shall harm Macbeth† and the movement of Birnam Wood. Banquo’s warning to Macbeth concerning the â€Å"instruments of darkness† might also be seen as prophetical; Macbeth is betrayed as a result of believing these â€Å"truths†, and he comes to realise this in his final confrontation with Macduff. As the play goes on Macbeth is mixing his conscious life with his subconscious and the weird sisters become like a drug for him; the more you get, the better you feel, the more you want. The weird sisters’ prophecies draw out the evil within Macbeth; everyone has the basis to be truly wicked but not all of us have the trigger to pull it off, most of us are too full of â€Å"the milk of human kindness†. Regarding Macbeth, the weird sisters were his trigger. The evil does not come from anywhere else other than human nature. The sisters have not completely managed to corrupt Macbeth though. Both before and after Duncan’s murder Macbeth shows signs that his own natural feelings are still present in his character and that the witches do not have total power over him. He is â€Å"foul† for the things that he has done but is somewhat â€Å"fair† as he still has a natural human conscience. Before the murder Macbeth thinks that it would be cruel to kill innocent Duncan: â€Å"Besides, this Duncan hath borne his faculties so meek†, â€Å"Had I but died an hour before this chance I had lived a blessed time†. His feelings about Duncan’s murder are very similar to those about Banquo’s murder although he only acted out the first himself. He is sick with worry and guilt about Banquo’s murder, so much so he is turned to near madness by the bloody ghost of Banquo haunting him. On stage, Shakespeare sought to â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦make the Witches actable and recognisable to his audience†¦.†In Britain we either rationalise Witchcraft or mock it and we have the added problem of an audience having seen Macbeth a countless number of times, often in very unconvincing renditions of â€Å"Double, double toil and trouble† it has even become some what of a comic joke book. With hooked nosed women dressed in black with pointed hats chanting round a cauldron; not quite a depiction of three terrifying, blood curdling, residents of hell. Shakespeare himself had to make adjustments to keep up with stage fashion. Originally he had three devils in place of the weird sisters, but the theatrical currency of devils was already starting to devalue through overuse, and they were more likely to induce laughter than fear. James I who was on the throne when Macbeth was written, famously believed in witches, he even wrote the novel, Daemonologie on the subject. Yet, during the lifetime of the king, attitudes to stage witches shifted and they started down the same comic route as the devils before them. This might be why no one in the text of Macbeth uses the word â€Å"witch†. When Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, weird characters were deemed capable of prophecy. Macbeth makes the association when he asks why the sisters â€Å"stop our way, with such prophetic greeting†. The modern mind, though, hear the modern denotation of weird, which incidentally, is used to describe those bearded ladies who vanish into the air. Formerly, weird ladies; those who endowed prophetic powers, were presumed to have magical powers as well. Now, ladies who think they have magical powers are presumed to be weird or peculiar Therefore it is becoming increasingly more difficult to make a contemporary western materialistic audience believe in them. Directors struggle to think of new interpretations of how to represent them. Are they young or old, male or female, disfigured or beautiful? Or even to represent them with the appearance of normal human beings, for that in itself is probably the most frightening understanding. Robert Cohen, in his 1982 Colorado Shakespeare Festival production, cast three beautiful women as the witches. Dressed in topless gowns they seduced Macbeth into a life of crime and corruption; here the weird sisters were depicted as real women more â€Å"psychic† than supernatural. Perhaps they too like Macbeth had morality, but had all the goodness sucked away and the evil human nature was dragged out of them and they were left even more corrupt than Macbeth is, at least he has the next life; hell we assume, they have to spend eternity festering in this world. This of course would be going against Shakespeare’s description of them but in my opinion in order to create three plausible figures in a modern context it is essential to create three characters; if they do even have any character that will make today’s critical and realistic mind really believe that they are looking upon true forces of evil, rather than three women in black cloaks chanting round a cauldron. Personally it would not be plausible in my mind that they would be able to take the evil out of a man, who could do such terrible deeds. Perhaps a modern interpretation might be that it is genetics which control the way people make decisions; for if a director were to stage a futuristic Macbeth with the weird sisters as genetic engineers controlling the future, this would gain the desired effect on the audience; pure fear. Also, at the same time keeping up with stage fashions, test tube babies; the idea of creating humans unnaturally. For all our scientific rationality, modern society still acknowledges that there are forces we cannot explain. Some people believe in supernatural phenomenon; ghosts witches, evil forces; others would explain everything as from within the human mind; for example Lady Macbeth who generates the evil is already within Macbeth, therefore are just plot devices, there to release it from him. Even though they cause no first hand evil themselves, they evil that they thus create by delivering their riddle like prophecies is integral to the tragedy of Macbeth and without them â€Å"fair† would not be â€Å"foul† and â€Å"foul† would not be â€Å"fair†.

A Biography of Roald Dahl Essay

Roald Dahl’s life was almost as fantastic as his books. Dahl’s patterns in his life are much like the patterns in his novels. He made a clear connection with the tragedies that his characters are faced with. One theme that is apparent in most of Dahl’s work is the use of cruelty by authority figures on the weak and powerless. Dahl with humor turns this cruelty to be more of a positive, amusing aspect, rather than a negative traumatizing one that he himself was forced to overcome. Tragedy in the family, negativity towards figures of authority, orphans, and absent parental figures are among many of the intertwined themes in his novels. Whether positive or negative, at least one character in each of his novels mimics one person who had an effect on his life. See more: The Issues Concerning Identity Theft Essay There was a great deal tragedy that occurred in Dahl’s family while he was growing up, and while he was a parent as well. It all began when his sister Astri died of appendicitis in 1920. A few months later, his father, Harald Dahl, quickly deteriorated and died of pneumonia. Pneumonia was treatable, but only if the patient was willing to fight to stay alive. Roald felt that his father’s death was due to the lack of love he felt for his life, and in effect, a lack of love for his only son. However the sudden death of his daughter left him â€Å"speechless for days afterwards† (Boy, 20). Most people believed that Harald died of a broken heart (Boy Going Solo, 1). While in school, he suffered much cruelty from authority figures and older kids in his school. His school career began in Llandaff Cathedral School, then on to St. Peters, and finally ended up at Repton. Dahl generally depicts at least one authority figure in each story as incredibly cruel, sadistic, and b igoted (â€Å"Boy Going Solo, 3). This was a direct reflection of his experiences as a child attending the above boarding schools in England. However, Dahl loved and respected one important key authority figures in his life, mainly his mother. This is also reflected in his stories with the loving and caring authority who helps the â€Å"victim† to triumph (â€Å"Boy Going Solo†, 3). During his marriage to Patricia Neal, his son’s, Theo Mathew, baby carriage was hit by a taxicab in New York City, causing massive head injuries. Two years later, his eldest daughter Olivia died of measles encephalitis. Then, his wife suffered from three massive strokes, and only shortly after, his adored mother died. From having headmasters who beat him,  to matrons who terrorized him, he used these experiences to an advantage, and wrote stories, which included characters like himself and authority figures. Through his writing, he attempts to escape the broken childhood that he once had. In Roald Dahl’s, Matilda, the main character, Matilda, is a child genius that is rejected by his parents. As perfect as she may be, her parents can’t seem to see that, and may as well have been an orphan. â€Å"†¦And the parents looked upon Matilda in particular as nothing more than a scab† (Matilda, 10). In Matilda, Mrs.Trunchbull was the headmistress whom the children all feared. She can be compared to Dahl’s headmaster who beat his friends and himself. During his childhood, Dahl and his friends were mischievious in their own way to rebel against the people that made them miserable. The local sweet shop was even a place that was tainted by an unwelcoming authority figure, Mrs. Prachett, who was â€Å"a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and†¦filth [seemed to cling] around her† (Boy, 33). In retaliation to her unwelcoming remarks, Dahl and his fellow peers put a dead mouse in one of the gobstopper jars, which he calls, â€Å"The Great Mouse Plot† (Boy, 35). Dahl doesn’t forget to include this prank, which he is clearly proud of, in Matilda, when she retaliates against Mrs. Trunchbull and puts a newt in her drinking water. This made the Trunchbull â€Å"let out a yell and [leap] off her chair as though a firecracker had gone off underneath her† (Matilda, 160). The Trunchbull is described as having muscles that could be seen â€Å"in the bull-neck, in the big shoulders, in the thick arms, †¦and in the powerful legs,† much like a man, as his headmaster was (83). The Trunchbull can be compared to Captain Hardcastle, Dahl’s own headmaster. Hardcastle would tell Roald things like, ‘I always knew you were a liar! And a cheat as well!’ (Boy, 115). Matilda had a similar experience when she was accused of putting the newt into the Trunchbull’s drinking glass and is called a†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦filthy little maggot!† and a â€Å"†¦vile, repulsive, repellent, malicious little brute† (Matilda, 161-162). Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood, Matilda’s parents, were much like Dahl’s authority figures, in that, being blinded by their own corruption and laziness, never realized their child’s genius abilities. Mr. Wormwood was a crook, who used  deceitful tactics in selling secondhand cars. â€Å"All I do is mix a lot of saw dust with oil in the gear-box and it runs as sweet as a nut†¦long enough for the buyer to get a good distance,† he would remark. When Matilda was confronting her father about his dirty money, he responds, â€Å"who the heck do you think you are†¦the Archbishop of Canterbury or something, preaching to me about honesty† (Matilda, 25). In Dahl’s experience as a child, the Archbishop of Canterbury was â€Å"the man who used to deliver the most vicious beatings to the boys under his care† (Boy, 144). Dahl uses goes as far as pointing out that the Archbishop of Canterbury, being a dishonest person, couldn’t even preach h onesty to Mr. Wormwood. Unlike, Matilda, Dahl never had a rescuer. Miss Honey was the only teacher that â€Å"possessed that rare gift for being adored by every small child under her care† (Matilda, 67). This was the one thing that would have eased his trouble in school. When away at boarding school, he needed his own rescuer, his mother. He â€Å"would fantasize about it and often wished he were with [his mother]† (Boy Going Solo†). Dahl’s characters are endowed with special abilities that assist them in their triumph against wrongdoers. Both Matilda and the Girl in The Magic finger have different abilities, but come about them the same way. Matilda describes her experience as â€Å"her eyeballs beginning to get hot†¦flashes of lightning†¦[and] little waves of energy,† while the Girl â€Å"[sees] red†¦[gets] very, very hot all over†¦a sort of flash comes out of [her] forefinger†¦a quick flash, like something electric† (Matilda, 165 & The Magic Finger, 14). Even though their Matilda uses her brainpower and the Girl uses her magic forefinger, both can manipulate objects around them in revenge toward those who make them feel unworthy. In Matilda, it was the Wormwoods and the Trunchbull, and in The Magic Finger, it was the Greggs–both being authority figures in the main characters’ lives. Young Dahl had fantasies of inventing chocolates that would sweep the world by the millions. So, â€Å"when [he] was looking for a plot for [his] second book for children, [he] remembered those little cardboard boxes and the newly-invented chocolates inside them, and began to write a book called  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory† (Boy, 149). While going to school at Repton, Dahl would receive â€Å"a plain grey cardboard box [that] was dished out to each boy in [their] house†¦a present from the great chocolate manufacturers, Canterbury† (Boy, 147). Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would, like Dahl, â€Å"walk very, very slowly, and he would hold his nose high in the air and take long deep sniffs of the gorgeous chocolatey smell all around him†¦he wished he could go inside the factory and see what it was like† (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 7). Unfortunately, unlike Charlie Bucket, Dahl’s fantasy never became a reality a nd through Charlie, Dahl lives it out. Dahl displays Charlie’s devotion to his mother as he did to his own. Young Dahl would be â€Å"devastatingly homesick† and would fain acute appendicitis to be able to see her (Boy, 93). When Charlie finds the golden ticket, he â€Å"burst through the front door, shouting, ‘Mother! Mother! Mother!’ (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 46). Schultz points to this as a very significant–â€Å"he tells his mother, not his father† and â€Å"although the other ticket winners arrive on the big day accompanied by both parents, Charlie’s father, unemployed and unable to support the family, agrees that Grandpa Joe is more ‘deserving’ (3). Schultz, finds significance in Wonka’s choice pointing out that â€Å"Wonka responds to Charlie differently, not only because he is the one good kid, but because he lacks-figuratively-a father, and because Wonka’s ‘real purpose is to find an heir,’ or son† (3). Schultz also points out that â€Å"in Wonka, Dahl-as well as Charlie-finds a father† (3). Charlie achieves his dream from being a young boy who ate sparingly to the proud, new owner of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka tells Charlie, â€Å"As soon as you are old enough to run it, the entire factory will become yours† (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 151). Dahl as a young boy, feeling â€Å"doubly rejected because his father didn’t see his only son worth fighting for†; the death of his father lead him to believe that â€Å"everyone can overcome adversity† (Boy Going Solo, 2). In the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and his family overcome their hardships. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dahl provides an outlet for his anger through the other four children who have found their golden tickets, â€Å"in  response to the various losses he had endured† (Schultz, 5). Dahl, a man who did not directly talk about his feelings, expressed them through the harsh and unusual punishments he assigns to each of the naughty children. Augustus Gloop is a â€Å"repulsive boy,† and his mother a â€Å"revolting woman,† he is doomed. Veruca Salt, the spoiled rich girl was â€Å"even worse than† Augustus and â€Å"in need of a real good spanking.† Violet ends up getting what she deserved, and if Mike Teavee couldn’t be stretched back into his original size, â€Å"it serves him right† (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 149). In the end, only the bad kids meet with disaster and the good kids, who haven’t done anything wrong, prevail. In James and the Giant Peach, James is an orphan who is left to be raised by his two aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. Like Matilda, James was rejected by his aunts, and similarly as Dahl was rejected by his father. Dahl exaggerates when his story depicts James’ parents being eaten by a rhinoceros that escaped from the London Zoo, and similarly may have used the Boazers’ â€Å"power of life and death† that he experienced and exaggerated it with the power that James’ aunts had over him. James uses the peach as a way to escape the cruel treatment of his aunts just as Dahl uses the characters in his stories to mend his horrible childhood. Perhaps it is the richness of his life and experience that has enabled him to create such richly imaginative stories. â€Å"You start with a germ of an idea,† Dahl once said, â€Å"†¦a tiny germ†¦a chocolate factory?†¦a peach, a peach that goes on growing†¦( Author Bio: Roald Dahl, 2). Dahl makes it sound that the ideas for his stories may have no real rhyme or reason, and maybe he really believes that they do, there are so many relationships between his works and his childhood experiences, that it must come out of somewhere. Certainly it must be true that his unhappy school days were at least partly responsible for some of the rude tales he wrote many years later. Stories in which oppressed kids triumph over tyrannical adults and underdogs always come out on top. In some ways, Dahl uses his stories to tell of his own experiences, both negative and rarely positive, and in other ways, his main characters triumph over the predicaments they find themselves. The independence of Dahl’s characters like Matilda and James allows them to  exact revenge against their oppressors. Even though these stories try to mend what he went through, the anguish must have been so overwhelming that he couldn’t escape and as a result, there are many biographies that label him mean because one can only attempt to escape the past, but sometimes the past will continue to be haunting. And unlike Dahl’s main characters, he is never able to triumph.

A Cure For The Ongoing Epidemic Professor Ramos Blog

A Cure For The Ongoing Epidemic Figure 1 Homelessness is an ever-growing issue worldwide.   It affects a broad range of diverse individuals.   Homelessness can lead to or be caused by addiction, abuse, poverty, and imprisonment.   As a result, it is important to find and implement solutions to diminish the consequences of homelessness.   There are many solutions that would make a major impact in the homeless crisis.   These solutions include, rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, shelters and transitional housing, increasing income and employment opportunities, and preventing homelessness (National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH)).   Although these solutions are incredibly impactful to ending homelessness, the most effective, and the solution that incorporates almost all other solutions, would be fixing the problem of unaffordable housing.   In California alone, there are currently 129,921 homeless people one any given night (NAEH). According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the lack of affordable housing and low income is the prime cause of homelessness in America. Some other major causes of homelessness are health issues, survivors of domestic violence who are trying to escape their abuser, and minority groups who experience racial inequality (NAEH). The issue of homelessness may seem daunting and impossible to fix but there are many solutions that could at least improve homelessness. Some of the other leading causes are financial instability due to low income, lack of affordable health care, domestic abuse, mental illness, and addiction (National Coalition for the Homeless). Financial instability can be caused not only by a lack of employment opportunities but also by most of the aforementioned causes, such as addiction.   Healthcare is a big issue, since quality insurance is most often very pricey.   For example, one vial of insulin costs $250 without insurance (Tsai).   Combine that with the price of needles, cleaning materials, the cost of health insurance, living expenses, car payments and insurance, gas money, a family to feed, and all to pay for with a low-income job.   Domestic abuse, whether it be from parents, spouses, or guardians, drives people to run away.   This especially puts teens at risk for homelessness.   Ã‚  Mental illness can make it hard to keep jobs, thus leading to financial instability, which then can lead to homelessness.   And finally, addiction takes over an individual’s life and goals.   Being addicted to a substance makes it incredibly difficult to hold a job, provide for family members, pay bills, eat, and can also create mental and physical health issues. So, let’s talk about how housing would be one of the major solutions for nearly all of these issues.   Alpha Project’s â€Å"rapid re-housing† program connects people to a home and services, such as rental assistance and security deposits (Alpha Project), swiftly through providing short-length rental help and services (NAEH).   Rapid re-housing helps people get housing quickly, promotes self-sufficiency, and ultimately keep people housed.   It is also less expensive than shelters and transitional housing.   â€Å"Rapid re-housing assistance is offered without preconditions - like employment, income, absence of criminal record, or sobriety - and the resources and services provided are tailored to the unique needs of the household† (United States Interagency Council on Homelessness). Research has shown that people who have been beneficiaries of rapid re-housing are homeless for shorter lengths of time (NAEH). â€Å"The Department of Housing and Urban Development indicates the effectiveness of the Housing First model to aid the problem of homelessness, which emphasizes rapidly rehousing the homeless† (Dittmeier et al. 449). The enactment of rapid-rehousing is founded on the evidence that supports that families and people who spend more time in permanent housing have better outcomes (NAEH). Other types of housing that is beneficial to the homeless are shelters and transitional homes. However, there is usually limited space in these institutions. Depending on the situation and the individual, there are five different levels of assistance for rapid re-housing. Levels can be determined using the National Alliance to End Homelessness Center for Capacity Building’s Rapid Re-Housing Triage Tool. Level One is for households who require minimal support to get and keep housing. Level Two is for households who require routine assistance. Level Three is for households who require longer time periods and/or more concentrated assistance. Level Four is for households who require longer time periods of assistance and intensive assistance. Finally, Level Five is for households who require longer time periods of assistance, more rigorous services, and staff with more professional training. The second tier of the housing solution is permanent supportive housing, particularly for the extremely vulnerable. It combines housing with supportive services and case management (NAEH). The services help build tenancy and independent living skills and link people with community-based health care, treatment and employment services (NAEH). Since 2007, permanent housing has helped decrease chronic homelessness by 26% (NAEH). Permanent supportive housing is a largely supported as a vital resource to avert unneeded institutional stays and helps people with disabilities have stable lives within the community (Signer 18). Investing in permanent housing programs makes a great impact in improving and ending chronic homelessness. The next solution for ending homelessness is increasing employment and income. This can be done in many ways. For example, creating more jobs, raising minimum wage, income support programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and unemployment compensation (NAEH). TANF is incredibly useful for families struggling financially. However, people need to be educated on how to use such services. The Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is an effort to help under-skilled entry-level workers through funding subsidized employment and programs (NAEH). Some cities, for example, Fortworth, Texas, have gotten creative with their solution for the issue of available employment opportunities by having homeless individuals clean up the streets in exchange for payment or housing. This not only helps increase money for homeless people and also raises incentive to clean streets and keep their jobs, but also positively effects the community and environment of the earth we all live on. In the words of Asa Don Brown, â€Å"Homelessness is not a choice, but rather a journey that many find themselves in.† When you think of the homeless families, teenagers, children, women, men, humans- think if you were any one of them. Wouldn’t you want someone to take a chance on you to help you get back on your feet? Works Cited Dittmeier, Kerry, et al. â€Å"Perceptions of Homelessness: Do Generational Age Groups and Gender Matter?† College Student Journal, vol. 52, no. 4, Winter 2018, pp. 441-451. EBSCOhost. Figure 1: Sandie. â€Å"Homeless in Southern Utah- Pretty Sad.† Homeless in Southern Utah- Pretty Sad, 20 Feb. 2011, 63angel.blogspot.com/2011/02/homeless-in-southern-utah-pretty-sad.html. Guarnieri, Grace. â€Å"This Texas City Is One of Several across the Nation to Employ the Homeless and Clean up Litter on the Streets.†Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2018, â€Å"Home.†Alpha Project Serving the Homeless of San Diego, alphaproject.org/programs/rapid-rehousing. â€Å"Homelessness in America.†National Coalition for the Homeless, nationalhomeless.org/about-homelessness/. â€Å"Homelessness Quotes (153 Quotes).† Goodreads, Goodreads, goodreads.com/quotes/tag/homelessness. Peabody, Zanto. â€Å"First-Person Stories of Homelessness.†Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 1999, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-oct-12-me-21378-story.html. Signer, Mira E. â€Å"The Case for Permanent Supportive Housing for Persons with Serious Mental Illness: Improved Lives, Reduced Costs, and Compliance with Federal Law.†Developments in Mental Health Law, vol. 35, no. 4, Winter 2016, pp. 17–23.EBSCOhost â€Å"Solutions.†National Alliance to End Homelessness, endhomelessness.org/ending-homelessness/solutions/. Szeintuch, Shmulik. â€Å"Homelessness Prevention Policy: A Case Study.† Social Policy Administration, vol. 51, no. 7, Dec. 2017, pp. 1135-1155. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/spol.12228. Tsai, Allison. â€Å"The Rising Cost of Insulin.†Diabetes Forecast, diabetesforecast.org/2016/mar-apr/rising-costs-insulin.html. Yousey, Amelia, and Rhucha Samudra. â€Å"Defining Homelessness in the Rural United States.† Online Journal of Rural Research Policy, vol. 13, no. 4, Oct. 2018, pp. 1-24. EBSCOhost, doi:10.4148/1936-0487.1094.

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUE DEALING WITH THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS EXPERIMENT Research Paper

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUE DEALING WITH THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS EXPERIMENT - Research Paper Example This research paper will examine the legal and ethical issues in the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment. In the 1920s, the United States medical service and Public Health Service argued that black and white people differed on how they responded to diseases. Thus, the PHS saw the need to  study  the response of syphilis on blacks and compare it to  study  done in Norway on syphilis in whites. In 1932, both communities started the Tuskegee  experiment  in order to determine the  natural  cause  of untreated latent syphilis. This took place in Tuskegee, Macon County, in Alabama in which about 400 African American men participated. All the men involved in the study had syphilis and  were matched  against 200 uninfected African American men who served as a control group, and showed different clinical  manifestation  of syphilis because of their race. The main aim of the study was to examine the natural history of syphilis since about ninety nine percent of all the participants had not received any previous treatment; thus, it was not possible to  duplicate  this  study  type. According to Jones (1993), men involved in the experiment  were made  to believe that they were patients involved in a medical project and that they  were being treated  for their  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœbad  blood’, that is, syphilis or anemia. Moreover, they  were enticed  with  several  offers of  outstanding  free treatments, as well as free medical examinations during the research process. Heintzelman (1996) argues that the researchers probably took advantage of the poor, rural setting of the Tuskegee community, which had high rates of illiteracy and poor socioeconomic status. Nevertheless, Jones (1993), believes that Macon county  was chosen  as the most  suitable  area  for the study due to its high number of people i nfected with syphilis. The coordinator of the

Just answer some easy guiding questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Just answer some easy guiding questions - Essay Example Bioregionalism is thus seen to bring a host of challenges among them environmental degradation and psychological dissatisfaction in what life has to offer. The reason, why human being focuses more on developing new things is because of this psychological dissatisfaction. Frenkel further states that a lot has changed in terms of the relationship that the human being have with the natural environment. However, there is a little or no time to correct some of the damages that have already been done as a result of this detachment. Environmental determinism is defined as the collection of implicit theories that show the relationship between culture and the environment. In most of these theories, the environment has an overall impact on socio-economic developments that occur in day to day life. An example given to this relationship is climatic conditions. Nature or the environment is seen to play a great role in influencing the climatic conditions of a particular place. However, most geographers rejected the environmental determinism theory due to inadequate evidence and scientific shortcomings regarding how the climate and culture and related. Despite this rejection, environmental determinism has played a major role in the development of alternative theories such as possibilism and probabilism. The concept of bioregionalism and environmental determinism share a common ideology regarding the relationship between human culture and the environment. Frenkle cites an argument by previous scholars that the environment affects among other things; religion, literature, and thoughts. This implies that the environment of human beings affects how they do things and how they do it. The concept of the bioregion is also deep-rooted in the integrity of the natural order. Under this argument, it is humans who are trying to change how things are done. However, it is the environment that is supposed to dictate how humans behave or operate. Both environmental