Five basic components of human societies

Five basic components of human societies There are five basic components of the human societies: population, culture, material products, social organization, and social institutions. These components may either deter or promote social change. The size of population will greatly affect the social change. If the population is large, chances are social changes will be promoted. More people will usually result in more ideas, pushing for changes because a larger population will generate more problems and it has a greater need for solutions. A large population will also have more norms and laws and sanctions.English: The Industrial Arts building at the ASU M...Culture includes values, beliefs, norms, knowledge, language, and symbols. Culture can both deter and promote social changes. A society's belief and values can be essential for technology to grow and develop. Some societies tend to be more conservative and would like for things to continue to be the same, which will likely deter that society from social changes. However, as a society gained more knowledge, there will be people who will want to push for change because of that gained knowledge. New information and discoveries will result in new inventions.Material products consist of a limited amount. Material products will be more likely promote changes because people will try to find other alternatives for those existing products. Social organization is a network of relationship between its members. There are people who hold social positions and political roles that may deter or promote changes. Reformers who hold office positions will persuade more changes in society while conservationist will want things to remain the same.Social institutions consist of the education system, family, economy, government, and religion. A society's education system has a big influence on the society. If that education system is promoting changes, people in that society will grow up having that thinking, vice versa. A...

When Should You Start Studying for Your AP Exams

When Should You Start Studying for Your AP Exams SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips So you’re taking a couple AP classes, they’re going well, and you feel pretty good about most of the material. The exam in May seems a long way off. Do you need to start studying?The answer is, that depends! Every student and every exam is different. However, my general advice is to start studying no later than the midpoint of the school year. (That would be after winter break for most of you.)Why the midpoint of the year? Keep reading to find out! I’ll also discuss how many hours you should plan to prep based on how the course is going and what score you are aiming for. Then I’ll present some strategies for determining how you should balance general conceptual review of the material and dedicated exam prep like taking practice exams. Finally, I’ll make suggestions as to when and how you should study based on overall course subject (math, science, foreign language, and so on.) Note that in this article I’m going to generally assume that you are taking the class for which you are going to take the AP exam. For self-study, see my article onstudying for AP exams without taking the class. 3 ReasonsYou Should Start Studying for Your AP Exams by the Midpoint of the Year The way I see it, there are three reasons why you should start studying for you AP exams in earnest by the midpoint of the school year. Reason 1: You’ll Know a Good Amount of Course Material By the middle of the school year, you will have covered enough material in class that you will be able to answer a decent amount of practice questions and problems without wanting to tear your hair out in frustration. If you start looking at AP practice exams in October, you will have only learned a fraction of the course material, so they will be of limited use to you. Reason 2: Avoiding the Cram! The midpoint of the year is also still early enough that you won’t have to cram for the exam. You’ll have plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the exam format and make sure you understand all of the course content. A major danger of waiting too late to prep is you might find that there’s a segment of the course material that you really don’t understand or a section on the test that is very foreign to you, so if you start in the middle of the year, you can be confident you’ll have enough time to fully prepare. The only cramming you should be doing is these delicious cookies into your mouth. Reason 3: Pacing Yourself Another advantage to starting early is that you won’t necessarily have to spend hours and hours a week studying to hit your target amount of study-hours, which will help you later in the semester when things are busy and you may not be able to devote entire weekends to cramming for an AP exam. If you’re in a particularly content-heavy course, you should probably review class material throughout the first semester so that it stays fresh. In general, though, the midpoint of the year will give you enough time to brush up on the material, identify any gaps in your knowledge, and prepare for the exam format. What If You’re in a Semester-Long Course? Some schools offer semester-long AP courses. If you’re in one of these, should you still start studying at the midpoint of the year?This depends on when you take the class. If you take the class during the first semester,keep the midpoint of the year as your prep start point. You'll basically start prepping as soon as the class is over. This is for two reasons: first, you will know all the material before you start studying for the exam, so you can take practice tests and write essays without being concerned that there may be questions about material you haven’t studied yet. Secondly, prepping throughout the second half of the yearwill help you remember the material. Keeping it fresh in your mind will be much easier than trying to play catch-up in the few weeks leading up to the exam. If it’s a second-semester only AP course, you’re in less danger of forgetting the material, but you also have less time to study. This is fine. Semester long APs don’t cover as much material as full-year ones, so just so long as you are doing well in the class, you can afford to wait until four to six weeks before the exam to put your studying in full gear. That said, if there are any concepts you aren’t clear about or that seem fuzzy, try to learn them as soon as you realize there’s an issue. This will save you a lot of heartache during the studying process. Not this kind of fuzzy. How Many Hours Should I Study for My AP Exam? There is no magic number of hours you need to study for an AP exam to get a certain score. There are, though, two main factors that together should give you a rough idea of how many hours you should plan to study. Factor 1: How You’re Doing in the Course If you’re acing exams and the material clicks with you at an A+ level, you can probably get away with studying around 15 hours for the exam and walking away with a 5 in the bag (Remember, you’re spreading the prep out over a semester, so 15 hours total would only be about an hour and a half a week for ten weeks). If, though, you’re scraping by with a C+ or B- (which is perfectly respectable- these courses are hard!) you may well need to devote 40+ hours to get the same score. (An added bonus is that all of that extra studying will probably raise your course grade.) Factor 2: How Well You Want to Score Obviously the higher you want to score, the more you need to study relative to how you are doing in the course. If you’re aiming for a 3 and you’ve got a B, you may well only need to study for 15 hours to pull it off. If you want a 5, that may be more like 35 hours. See my handy table below, where you can cross-reference the letter grade you have with the score you want on the AP exam and the absolute minimum hours you should plan to study. (I assumed no one is aiming for a grade lower than a 3, the general minimum accepted for college credit.) The more demanding the course is overall, and the more content it covers, the more you should plan to study. Ultimately, only you can truly gauge how much time you need to spend preparing to feel comfortable with your chances of getting your target score. Mimimum Study Time Based on Letter Grade and Target Score 5 4 3 A 15+ 10+ 10+ B 25+ 20+ 15+ C 40+ 30+ 20+ D 60+ 45+ 30+ F 80+ 60+ 40+ As you can see, how many hours you need to study depends on a lot of things- how well you're doing in class, how much material there is, and your skill level in the given components of the test. If you’re great at timed essays, you won’t need to spend as much time studying for AP Lit and Comp as someone who struggles with them. In general,it’s better to spread your prep out over time- a couple months at least- as opposed to doing massive cramming. Cramming will stress you out, especially in May when you are probably also trying to wrap up projects and study for exams in other classes. Once you have an idea of how many hours you will need to study for the exam, how should you spend those hours? Read on for my recommendations on balancing general review of the course material with dedicated exam prep. Study slow and steady like a snail. Say that five times fast. General Review vs. Dedicated Exam Prep: How Much of Each? Once you determine how much time you’re going to spend studying, you need to decide how you’re going to spend that time. There are, generally speaking, two kinds of studying you can do for the AP. You can review the material the course is based on, or you can prepare specifically for the exam by taking practice questions, writing practice essays, and so on. Obviously, to do well on the exam, you need to have a good grasp on the material. But understanding the material is not always enough to ace the exam. Many AP exams have portions that test special skills, like the DBQ on the history exams, so it’s good to prep for the actual format of the exam as well. Understanding the material is like the foundation, and doing well on the exam is like building a strong house on that foundation. So how should you split your exam prep time? What should you focus on? In general, I would focus more on reviewing the material when you first start studying, especially if you decide to do any studying during the first semester. Before you know a decent amount of material, taking practice tests etc will just be frustrating, because there will be a lot of questions you have no idea how to answer. As you pass the midpoint of the class, you can start to familiarize yourself with the exam format. Familiarity with the format will become more critical as time goes on. So the closer you get to the day of the exam, the more the balance will shift from material review to exam prep. That way you’ll know you’ve got a strong foundation before you start trying to build a house on it! You might also (politely!) ask your teacher what you will be doing in the course to prep for the AP specifically. If you are going to be doing a lot of dedicated exam prep exercises during class time, you may not need to do quite as much outside. If you are just trying to race headlong through the material so you aren’t still learning on WWI material on exam day, you’ll know it will be pretty much up to you to familiarize yourself with the exam format. Remember, regardless of what you learn in the classroom, it will be you taking that exam on test day, so you are ultimately responsible for your own prep. Now that we’ve discussed balancing conceptual reviews and dedicated prep, I have some more specific recommendations based on the exam’s general subject matter. You are as majestic as this crane, and better-prepared for the AP exam. When and How To Start Studying for AP Exams Based on Course Content The general guidelines I’ve given so far will hold for most, if not all, AP exams. Still, it is worth calling out that the best way to use your study time, and when you should ideally think about preparation, will vary quite a lot among exams. In the following section I give my study recommendations based on the general subject matter of the course. When and How to Start Studying for Math AP Tests In general, math coursework is cumulative- everything you learn builds on what you learned before. So the single most important thing you can do for prepping for an exam like AP Calculus is to make sure you learn concepts as soon as it is clear you are struggling with them. If you do poorly on a test in class, the time to try to learn that material is decidedly not in the two weeks leading up to the AP exam, it’s right after you realize you don’t get it. There is no shame in this! There are some hard, hard concepts in these classes.Overall, making sure you really learn the material as you go along is the best thing you can do for your AP exam score. So basically, the time to start studying for a Math AP is immediately, by making sure you know the material backwards and forwards as it is being presented to you. When and How to Start Studying for Science AP Tests Most of the science APs- Chemistry, Physics, and Biology- cover a lot of material and have reputations for being fairly difficult. This is another category where studying right from the get-go is quite important, and where content is probably more important than test format. Don’t get me wrong- it will still help you to be familiar with the general format of the exam- but most of your energy should be focused on making sure you understand all of the huge swathes of material throughout the year. Focus on content throughout the year, and format after the midpoint. Space: the final frontier that's not your AP exam. When and How to Start Studying for Foreign Language AP Tests To build a strong foundation in a foreign language, constant practice is the name of the game. If your high school class is pretty intensive, you may not have to study quite as much outside, although brushing up on vocab and grammar rules occasionally to stay sharp is a good idea. It will also help you to do things like watch TV or movies in the language you are studying, and to read books. It will definitely help you to do dedicated AP test prep, but the most important thing is bringing your language skills as close to fluency as you can, and you can work throughout the year to do this. It’s also fairly common to take a foreign language AP in a language that you grew up speaking at home. This means you probably already have a phenomenal foundation in the language, but you should still prepare. For one thing, you should brush up on all those pesky grammar rules; it can be surprisingly difficult to remember the specific grammar rules for a language you have mastered. You should also practice writing timed essays.Fluency won’t carry you all the way if you can’t give the AP graders what they want. When and How to Start Studying for English AP Tests The most important thing you can do to practice for the two English AP exams is timed essay practice. You should hone your timed essay skills for all of the different kinds of essays that appear on a given exam, and carefully study the rubric. This is an exam area where general subject mastery of English is certainly helpful, but developing AP-rubric-specific timed essay-writing skills will make a huge difference in ultimate success. So when should you start writing practice essays? I would advise getting your start fairly early in the year- around or even before the midpoint- so you can gauge how much additional practice you should put in throughout the year. If things are going well, you’ll know you won’t need as many outside-of-class prep hours. When and How to Start Studying for History AP Tests A main challenge with learning historical material is that it can be fairly siloed: you learn about the Civil War and then don’t come back to it, you learn the French Revolution inside and out and then won’t be tested again until the AP, and so on. This is why keeping historical information fresh is essential, and you should be doing it throughout the year. You may need to do more dedicated content review for AP History exams, and start reviewing old content earlier than for any other AP, simply because so much of the exam relies on your ability to recall historical facts and details. Obviously, a sense of overall historical trends is very important, but an occasional dip back into your textbook will go a long way towards helping you remember the peskier little details. Pesky details like whoever this lady is. When to Start Studying for AP Exams - Conclusions So as you can see, when exactly you need to start studying for your AP exam depends on several factors.In general, the latest you should start studying for the exam is during the midpoint of the school year. The number of hours you should plan to devote to studying depends both on how you are doing in the course and what your target score is. Reviewing conceptual material is more important earlier in the year, while specific AP exam prep becomes more salient later on.How much to weigh one or the other depends on the specific exam and your own knowledge and skill level. It’s a lot to consider. But if you study as you go and balance content review with dedicated test prep, you can go into the test with confidence. What's Next? Need help registering for your upcoming AP exams? Check out our article on registering for AP tests and classes. Still considering which AP classes to take next year? Let us help you with our AP class schedule planning guide. If you're taking the SAT this year, be sure to check out our guide to the new SAT, which was offered for the first time on March 5th of this year! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

'Man's search for meaning by Viktor Frankl Research Paper

'Man's search for meaning by Viktor Frankl - Research Paper Example Man’s Search for Meaning.† The themes are so critically reviewed to the extent that the critical application of Viktor’s text gives a perfect analysis for other different real-life occurrences. Given the reason to critical applicability, the below essay critically analyzes the movie â€Å"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind† all from a critical viewpoint of Viktor’s reasoning ideas. On one hand, Viktor suffers as a victim of the Auschwitz Concentration camp as an inmate victim of the World War II. To Viktor, it is quite clear and the general fact that most of the inmates of such level are bound to loose meaning to life. Upon such situation, the inmates slowly grow weak right from the inside. The absolute result is witnessed by all when the individual reveals the inner weaknesses through poor mental conditions and extremely poor health appearances. According to Viktor, an inmate survived longer in the concentration camps depending on how strong the individual meaning for life was. Indeed, Viktor had critically reviewed the some of the most influential human life-facts in history (Victor, 38). In order for every divine individual to live a happy and satisfying life, it is in his or her basic interest to identify the basic purpose in life and derive the most positive fruits from it. The author believes in the conception that if one manages to identify a purpose to live, makes all possible positive feelings of it, and immensely lives to the imagined future outcome; then it is upon fate for the success to be witnessed. Whereas, on theother hand, â€Å"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind† brings about a whole new approach to people trying to find critical meaning for their lives. The film is set at the action of an estranged couple, former lovers who had their memories erased for the sake of better meaning for their individual lives. Well, the film could have been set on the basis of some fictional life events. However, it emanates and resemble the very

Abdull Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Abdull - Essay Example pt to redeem the government from a similar situation, where discussions are on to inject the money previously meant for a promotion in the number of secondary enrolments in the nation, in the financial sector of the economy which is going through a difficult phase right now. The target of the administration is to enhance the GDP situation in the nation that will serve as a gateway towards a stable growth path in future. This study is an effort to disentangle the tight spot, with the help of empirical analyses, availing various statistical tools. The Finance Ministry of the nation had already decided upon the implementation of policy measures to improvise the country’s rate of enrolment in secondary education, as the desired channel of fund inflow. However, the financial shock that overwhelmed the economy meanwhile, and led to imperative demands for financial support from banks around the country, has compelled it to reconsider the outcome of its previous meeting. The deadlock that the nation is facing at present could be logically solved by means of statistical analysis. The idea is to carry on a comparative analysis through estimating a regression equation, with a function of change in GDP as the dependent variable and the changes in both the levels of secondary school enrolments and infusion of credit to the banking sector, as the independent ones along with a number of other variables, expected to produce significant impact on the dependent variable. To be precise, the model being designed for estimation is, The question that might arise at this point is that, what should be the basis of deductions regarding the validity of the above model as well as for the reliability of the estimated coefficients. The subsequent sections will hopefully help the reader to reach a suitable answer to any such queries. The research aims to completely explore the average outcome of similar situations faced by other developing nations of the world and that is why will use

How to Write a Paragraph Essay Example for Free

How to Write a Paragraph Essay Writing a paragraph does not simply involve throwing words into the pool, hoping that it would create something meaningful. One must first create an outline in order to organize the scattered ideas before dedicating words into the paragraph. When writing a paragraph, one must start off with a â€Å"hook† sentence which can attract readers and encourage them to read more. That would be applicable to the introductory paragraph only. The succeeding paragraphs should contain a topic sentence rather than the â€Å"hook† sentence. After every topic sentence, the writer should support it with ideas that are related to the topic sentence’s idea. This actually composes the body of the paragraph. This part of the paragraph should be clear and concise. The writer must not use wordy sentences since it takes up a lot of space. Finally, one must conclude each paragraph by summarizing the ideas into one sentence and creating a transitional sentence which can relate the paragraph to the next. For introductory paragraphs, the last sentence should be the thesis statement of the whole paper. So when writing a paragraph, the writer should always start with an outline to organize his or her scattered ideas. This is where every paragraph should begin.

GENE THERAPY :: essays research papers

Many diseases seen today are the result of a defective gene in the DNA of the patient and can not be cured using the traditional methods such as antibiotics and antiviral medication. The victims are now looking to gene therapy as a potential cure for their problems. Bob Williamson introduces us the concept, procedures, and problems associated with gene therapy in his article,  ¡Ã‚ °Gene Therapy ¡Ã‚ ±. Along with the appearance of the recombinant DNA technology, it becomes possible for human beings to isolate, study, and change gene in the laboratory. Gene Therapy is the process of replacing a defective gene inside a patient ¡Ã‚ ¯s DNA with a working gene that will produce the correct gene products. The genetic diseases  ¡Ã‚ °in which a single known gene does not function properly ¡Ã‚ ±, such as sickle cell anaemia, thalassaemia and Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, are most suitable to be treated with the gene therapy. There are two types of gene therapy in curing these diseases, patient therapy and embryo therapy. In the process of the patient therapy, the first step is identifying the defective gene and isolating a normal counterpart.  ¡Ã‚ ° To obtain correct gene action, it may be necessary to put it into the correct site on the host cell chromosome, or even to delete the defective gene ¡Ã‚ ±, and the DNA can then be replicated each time the host cell divided. But if the new cell is injected directly into the patient ¡Ã‚ ¯s body, it will be subject to the body ¡Ã‚ ¯s immune system that will recognize it as foreign and target it to be destroyed along with the healthy DNA that it is carrying. So the cells extracted from the patient are to be treated and adding the new gene in a test tube in the laboratory to make sure that the DNA is inserted in an appropriate place in the genome, and the cells can then be returned to the patient ¡Ã‚ ¯s body.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now it is possible to offer the parents an antenatal diagnosis to look over if the fetus is affected by some single gene defects. If it does, the parents can choose embryo therapy to cure it rather then abortion. While the basic process is similar with the one of patient therapy, to do an embryo therapy is a little bit easier than a patient therapy, because the immune rejection system of the embryo is not fully developed. The new DNA will not be ejected, while the former DNA will be altered.

Reading and Comprehension

Resource: Ch. 7 of Keys to College Studying Read â€Å"8 Secrets to a Knockout Business Presentation† using the SQ3R method. Answer the following questions to assess how well you followed the SQ3R method, and whether it helped. Note: Your grade for the assignment will depend on the quality and honesty of your responses and not on how successful you felt you were. ? What was the main point of the written piece? ? What did each section deal with? ? What questions did you ask yourself as you were reading? ? How can you change your note taking skills for the future? What would you do to retain this information for later use? ? How might the SQ3R method help you improve your reading comprehension and retention skills? Gen/105 Week 7: Reading and Comprehension Project 1. The main point of this written piece was to tell the reader what the eight most successful secrets were to delivering a knockout presentation in your business affairs. A lot of people at companies just make boring P owerPoint slides and it has so much irrelevant information that the point of the meeting is masked by a weak presentation. This article shows what to do and how to make a great presentation. 2.Each section of this paper dealt with a new and exciting way to capture the attention of a viewer of your business slides. The writer states to â€Å"dig deep† by adding new information and giving more to the viewer. â€Å"Avoid Info overload† shows that too much information can be detrimental to a project, people can bored and wander off. In the section â€Å"Practice Delivery†, it talks about how to memorized your speech and practice what you are saying. This will avoid mistakes, mishaps and fumbling with words. Also, the writer says to â€Å"forget comedy†, by leaving the humor out the project is more professional and shows that you are serious.By â€Å"pick powerful props† shows your audience that memorable ideas and notions can be obtained by using props , so the audience can remember ideas and thoughts associated with the presentation. Another secret is to â€Å"minimize you†, this means take out information relating to you or the business, because people already know what this information is. It waste space and time, and people can get sidetracked. â€Å"Speak the Language† notes that speaking as you always do will help minimize confusions with acronyms and abbreviated words. Be professional but make sure everyone can understand what is been said.Last but not least, â€Å"simple slides† states that you should use slides in your presentation to highlight important information and key words, don’t let the slides overrun the presentation. 3. The questions that came to mind when I was reading was significant. They dealt with how to maximize information during presentations and how do I apply material that are useful in my projects. I don’t want to use unnecessary information that is irrelevant. I als o asked myself if using pictures and props were a good idea. I found out that these two tools are necessary to keep the audience engaged in what you’re talking about. . I feel like that I have great note taking skills. I always note key words and phrases. If I have a long or difficult reading I always break it down in paragraphs and take notes on key sentences. I also use an outline format which helps greatly. It is almost like the article written in my own language so I can understand it better. I always use my notes to go over information instead of trying to re-read an entire article to find important facts. 5. I will use notes to retain this information for later use. My notes can be very well written as well as the reading, with the same information available.I always keep notes to look over for extra information and key points. 6. I think the SQ3R method does help my reading and comprehension skills improve. By skimming the article I mentally note key words and phrases. I can see how each paragraphs ends and if there are any vocabulary words noted. Noting questions is helpful as well. Keeping in mind question I would ask about the article will help me find an answer to it within the paper. I believe the method does help a lot especially when it comes to larger papers or article that I need to comprehend.

Moral and Ethical Concepts in Nursing

Moral and ethical concepts form a benchmark into the activities of the healthcare profession.   The decency of the profession is ratified and defined by the basic modalities of profession moral and ethics in its jurisdiction.   Through ethical and moral parameters in the nursing profession we will try to elaborate phenomenological aspect that would define the scope of the wrongs and rights observed within the spectral frontiers of the issue. Perhaps, the current trend in the psychoanalysis is one of the nursing health care issues that have propagated the zeal for various ethical and moral issues.   By its nature, psychoanalysis draws a close synonymous to the field of psychotherapy.   The issue of psychoanalysis requires a broad domain into ethical codes of standards and requirements as governed by the ethics into the discipline of social work, psychology, counseling and psychiatry. The basics of psychoanalysis are to formulate treatment to its victims who are subject of disorders or even ill-health due to psychological problems. As a disorder therefore, adequacy into ethics and morals of the defining subject are important. (Mason, et al, 39) Moral healthcare issues are diverse. These include bad decisions by patients, complexity into the relationships of the family above that of suffering.   These will have various effects to the healthcare practitioners. Perhaps, complexity into the family relationships is a basic ethical issue that has unfolded various issues of concern in to the nursing profession.   Currently, suffering has not been a sole problem operating between the patient and the health care officer (nurse), However, the same suffering has been the backbone of various related psychological issues provided to the broad family. From the health care dimension, the relationship has diversely changed to incorporate various ethical dimensions of their sick people.   The same family members have also welcomed differently the diverse health care management provision within the society. To the nurses, relationships complexity within the families has been a foremost persuasion into the change of the professional roles.   Beyond, their activity of providing health care support for the sick persons, these people have integrated the professionalisms to incorporate methods that seeks to provide a support for the broad family loopholes.   Nurses have constantly acted as important organs of the general society where various health issues have lead to a change in the roles of the family members. Different psychological problem such as ill-health of the family members and changing social structures of the society have only worked to bring a change into the former state of the family to a more complex one.   As social counselors, nurses, have not overlooked this ethical issue but have changed their morale of service to even incorporate counseling, psychoanalysis and psychotherapy issues for the complex family. Elsewhere, complexity in the family relationships has worked to bring various health disorders and illnesses.   Due to the stress factors borne by people from complex families, these people will be endowed by various disorders.   From the basis of this understanding, the role of the nurse in reducing the side effects of complexity in families has never been over looked.   Many global conditions with which nurses can provide social and psychological therapies to such disordered or depressed persons from the family backgrounds. These therapies have involved the integration into various psychotherapy ethics such as psychiatry social work and family counseling to the victims. Different governments have rationalized by providing efficient structures for this development. (Mason, et al, 24) Consequently therefore, the role of the nurses have changed from the former basic healthcare activity to the sick and integrated into providing therapies to the societies as a crucial method of reducing various disorders and also illnesses. The progression curriculum is also changing to incorporate methods which the nurses should adequately employ to foster such therapies Work cited. Mason, T, et al. Stigma and Social Exclusion in Health Care. London, Routledge, 2001   

How John McAdam Changed Roads Forever

How John McAdam Changed Roads Forever John Loudon McAdam was a Scottish engineer who modernized the way we build roads. Early Life McAdam was born in Scotland in 1756 but moved  to New York in 1790 to make his fortune. Arriving at the dawn of the Revolutionary War, he began working in his uncle’s business and became a successful merchant and prize agent (in essence, a fence who takes a cut from selling off the spoils of war).   Returning to Scotland, he purchased his own estate and soon became involved in the maintenance and governance of Ayrshire, becoming a road trustee there. Builder of Roads At the time, roads were either dirt paths susceptible to rain and mud, or very expensive stone affairs that frequently broke down not long after whatever event precipitated their construction.   McAdam was convinced that massive stone slabs would not be needed to carry the weight of passing carriages, as long as the road was kept dry. McAdam came up with the idea of raising roadbeds to ensure adequate drainage. He then designed these roadbeds using broken stones laid in symmetrical, tight patterns and covered with small stones to create a hard surface. McAdam discovered that the best stone or gravel for road surfacing had to be broken or crushed, and then graded to a constant size of chippings. McAdams design, called MacAdam roads and then simply â€Å"macadam roads,† represented a revolutionary advancement in road construction at the time. The water-bound macadam roads were the forerunners of the tar- and bitumen-based binding that was to become tarmacadam. The word tarmacadam was shortened to the now-familiar name: tarmac. The first tarmac road to be laid was in Paris in 1854, a precursor to todays asphalt roads. By making roads both significantly cheaper and more durable, MacAdam triggered an explosion in municipal connective tissue, with roads sprawling out across the countryside. Fittingly for an inventor who made his fortune in the Revolutionary War- and whose life’s work united so many- one of the earliest macadam roads in America was used to bring together the negotiating parties for the surrender treaty at the end of the Civil War.  These reliable roads would be crucial in America once the automobile revolution began in the early 20th century.

Overview of the Poem Beowulf

Overview of the Poem Beowulf Below is a summary of all the events that transpire in the Old English epic poem, Beowulf. Beowulf is considered the oldest surviving  poem in the English language.   A Kingdom in Peril The story begins in Denmark with King Hrothgar, the descendant of the great Scyld Sheafson and a successful ruler in his own right. To display his prosperity and generosity, Hrothgar built a magnificent hall called Heorot. There his warriors, the Scyldings, gathered to drink mead, receive treasures from the king after a battle, and listen to scops sing songs of brave deeds. But lurking nearby was a hideous and brutal monster named Grendel. One night when the warriors were sleeping, sated from their feast, Grendel attacked, butchering 30 men and wreaking devastation in the hall. Hrothgar and his Scyldings were overwhelmed with sorrow and dismay, but they could do nothing; for the next night Grendel returned to kill again. The Scyldings tried to stand up to Grendel, but none of their weapons harmed him. They sought the help of their pagan gods, but no help was forthcoming. Night after night Grendel attacked Heorot and the warriors who defended it, slaying many brave men, until the Scyldings ceased fighting and simply abandoned the hall each sunset. Grendel then began attacking the lands around Heorot, terrorizing the Danes for the next 12 years. A Hero Comes to Heorot Many tales were told, and songs are sung of the horror that had overtaken Hrothgars kingdom, and word spread as far as the kingdom of the Geats (southwest Sweden). There one of King Hygelacs retainers, Beowulf, heard the story of Hrothgars dilemma. Hrothgar had once done a favor for Beowulfs father, Ecgtheow, and so, perhaps feeling indebted, and certainly inspired by the challenge of overcoming Grendel, Beowulf determined to travel to Denmark and fight the monster. Beowulf was dear to Hygelac and the elder Geats, and they were loath to see him go, yet they did not hinder him in his endeavor. The young man assembled a band of 14 worthy warriors to accompany him to Denmark, and they set sail. Arriving at Heorot, they petitioned to see Hrothgar, and once inside the hall, Beowulf made an earnest speech requesting the honor of facing Grendel, and promising to fight the fiend without weapons or shield. Hrothgar welcomed Beowulf and his comrades and honored him with a feast. Amidst the drinking and camaraderie, a jealous Scylding named Unferth taunted Beowulf, accusing him of losing a swimming race to his childhood friend Breca, and sneering that he had no chance against Grendel. Beowulf boldly responded with the gripping tale of how he not only won the race but slew many horrible sea-beasts in the process. The Geats confident response reassured the Scyldings. Then Hrothgars queen, Wealhtheow, made an appearance, and Beowulf vowed to her that hed slay Grendel or die trying. For the first time in years, Hrothgar and his retainers had cause to hope, and a festive atmosphere settled over Heorot. Then, after an evening of feasting and drinking, the king and his fellow Danes bid Beowulf and his companions good luck and departed. The heroic Geat and his brave comrades settled down for the night in the beleaguered mead-hall. Though every last Geat followed Beowulf willingly into this adventure, none of them truly believed they would see home again. Grendel When all but one of the warriors had fallen asleep, Grendel approached Heorot. The door to the hall swung open at his touch, but rage boiled up within him, and he tore it apart and bounded inside. Before anyone could move, he grabbed one of the sleeping Geats, rent him into pieces and devoured him, slurping his blood. Next, he turned to Beowulf, raising a claw to attack. But Beowulf was ready. He sprang up from his bench and caught Grendel in a fearsome grip, the like of which the monster had never known. Try as he might, Grendel could not loosen Beowulfs hold; he backed away, growing afraid. In the meantime, the other warriors in the hall attacked the fiend with their swords; but this had no effect. They couldnt have known that Grendel was invulnerable to any weapon forged by man. It was Beowulfs strength that overcame the creature; and though he struggled with everything he had to escape, causing the very timbers of Heorot to shudder, Grendel could not break free from the grip of Beowulf. As the monster weakened and the hero stood firm, the fight, at last, came to a horrific end when Beowulf ripped Grendels entire arm and shoulder from his body. The fiend fled, bleeding, to die in his lair in the swamp, and the victorious Geats hailed Beowulfs greatness. Celebrations With the sunrise came joyous Scyldings and clan chiefs from near and far. Hrothgars minstrel arrived and wove Beowulfs name and deeds into songs old and new. He told a tale of a dragon slayer and compared Beowulf to other great heroes of ages past. Some time was spent considering the wisdom of a leader placing himself in danger instead of sending younger warriors to do his bidding. The king arrived in all his majesty and made a speech thanking God and praising Beowulf. He announced his adoption of the hero as his son, and Wealhtheow added her approval, while Beowulf sat between her boys as if he were their brother. In the face of Beowulfs grisly trophy, Unferth had nothing to say. Hrothgar ordered that Heorot be refurbished, and everyone threw themselves into repairing and brightening the great hall. A magnificent feast followed, with more stories and poems, more drinking and good fellowship. The king and queen bestowed great gifts on all the Geats, but especially on the man who had saved them from Grendel, who received among his prizes a magnificent golden torque. As the day drew to a close, Beowulf was led off to separate quarters in honor of his heroic status. Scyldings bedded down in the great hall, as they had in the days before Grendel, now with their Geat comrades among them. But although the beast that had terrorized them for more than a decade was dead, another danger lurked in the darkness. A New Threat Grendels mother, enraged and seeking revenge, struck while the warriors slept. Her attack was barely any less terrible than those of her son had been. She grabbed Aeschere, Hrothgars most valued advisor, and, crushing his body in a deadly grip, she raced away into the night, snatching the trophy of her sons arm before she escaped. The attack had happened so quickly and unexpectedly that both the Scyldings and the Geats were at a loss. It soon became clear that this monster had to be stopped, and that Beowulf was the man to stop her. Hrothgar himself led a party of men in pursuit of the fiend, whose trail was marked by her movements and Aescheres blood. Soon the trackers came to the ghastly swamp, where dangerous creatures swam in a filthy viscous fluid, and where Aescheres head lay on the banks to further shock and appall all who beheld it. Beowulf armed himself for an underwater battle, donning finely-woven mail armor and a princely golden helm that had never failed to thwart any blade. Unferth, no longer jealous, lent him a battle-tested sword of great antiquity called Hrunting. After requesting that Hrothgar take care of his companions should he fail to defeat the monster, and naming Unferth as his heir, Beowulf plunged into the revolting lake. Grendels Mother It took hours for Beowulf to reach the lair of the fiends. He survived many attacks from awful swamp creatures, thanks to his armor and his swift swimming skill. At last, as he neared the monsters hiding place, she sensed Beowulfs presence and dragged him inside. In the firelight the hero beheld the hellish creature, and wasting no time, he drew Hrunting and dealt her a thunderous blow to her head. But the worthy blade, never before bested in battle, failed to harm Grendels mother. Beowulf tossed the weapon aside and attacked her with his bare hands, throwing her to the ground. But Grendels mother was swift and resilient; she rose to her feet and gripped him in a horrible embrace. The hero was shaken; he stumbled and fell, and the fiend pounced upon him, drew a knife and stabbed down. But Beowulfs armor deflected the blade. He struggled to his feet to face the monster again. And then something caught his eye in the murky cave: a gigantic sword that few men could wield. Beowulf seized the weapon in a rage, swung it fiercely in a wide arc, and hacked deep into the monsters neck, severing her head and toppling her to the ground. With the death of the creature, an uncanny light brightened the cave, and Beowulf could take stock of his surroundings. He saw Grendels corpse and, still raging from his battle; he hacked off its head. Then, as the toxic blood of the monsters melted the blade of the awesome sword, he noticed piles of treasure; but Beowulf took none of it, bringing back only the hilt of the great weapon and Grendels head as he began his swim back. A Triumphant Return So long had it taken for Beowulf to swim to the monsters lair and defeat her that the Scyldings had given up hope and gone back to Heorot- but the Geats stayed on. Beowulf hauled his gory prize through water that was clearer and no longer infested with horrible creatures. When he finally swam to shore, his cohorts greeted him with unrestrained joy. They escorted him back to Heorot; it took four men to carry Grendels severed head. As might be expected, Beowulf was hailed once more as a great hero upon his return to the splendid mead-hall. The young Geat presented the ancient sword-hilt to Hrothgar, who was moved to make a serious speech exhorting Beowulf to be mindful of how fragile life could be, as the king himself knew all too well. More festivities followed before the great Geat could take to his bed. Now the danger was truly gone, and Beowulf could sleep easy. Geatland The next day the Geats made ready to return home. More gifts were bestowed upon them by their grateful hosts, and speeches were made full of praise and warm feelings. Beowulf pledged to serve Hrothgar in any way he might need him in the future, and Hrothgar proclaimed that Beowulf was fit to be king of the Geats. The warriors sailed off, their ship filled with treasure, their hearts full of admiration for the Scylding king. Back in Geatland, King Hygelac greeted Beowulf with relief and bid him to tell him and his court everything of his adventures. This the hero did, in detail. He then presented Hygelac with all the treasures Hrothgar and the Danes had bestowed upon him. Hygelac made a speech recognizing how much greater a man Beowulf had proven himself to be than any of the elders had realized, though they had always loved him well. The King of the Geats bestowed a precious sword on the hero and gave him tracts of land to govern. The golden torque Beowulf had presented him would be around Hygelacs neck the day he died. A Dragon Awakes Fifty years went by. The deaths of Hygelac and his only son and heir meant that the crown of Geatland passed to Beowulf. The hero ruled wisely and well over a prosperous land. Then a great peril awoke. A fleeing slave, seeking refuge from a hard master, stumbled upon a hidden passageway that led to the lair of a dragon. Sneaking quietly through the sleeping beasts treasure hoard, the slave snatched a single jewel-encrusted cup before escaping in terror. He returned to his lord and proffered his find, hoping to be reinstated. The master agreed, little knowing what price the kingdom would pay for his slaves transgression. When the dragon woke up, it knew instantly it had been robbed, and it vented its fury on the land. Scorching crops and livestock, devastating homes, the dragon raged across Geatland. Even the kings mighty stronghold was burnt to a cinder. The King Prepares to Fight Beowulf wanted revenge, but he also knew he had to stop the beast to ensure the safety of his kingdom. He refused to raise an army but prepared for battle himself. He ordered a special iron shield to be made, tall and able to withstand the flames, and took up his ancient sword, Naegling. Then he gathered eleven warriors to accompany him to the lair of the dragon. Upon discovering the identity of the thief whod snatched the cup, Beowulf pressed him into service as a guide to the hidden passageway. Once there, he charged his companions to wait and watch. This was to be his battle and his alone. The old hero-king had a foreboding of his death, but he pressed onward, courageous as always, to the dragons lair. Over the years, Beowulf had won many a battle through strength, through skill, and through perseverance. He was still possessed of all these qualities, and yet, victory was to elude him. The iron shield gave way too soon, and Naegling failed to pierce the dragons scales, though the power of the blow he dealt the creature caused it to spew flame in rage and pain. But the unkindest cut of all was the desertion of all but one of his thanes. The Last Loyal Warrior Seeing that Beowulf had failed to overcome the dragon, ten of the warriors who had pledged their loyalty, who had received gifts of weapons and armor, treasure, and land from their king, broke ranks and ran to safety. Only Wiglaf, Beowulfs young kinsman, stood his ground. After chastising his cowardly companions, he ran to his lord, armed with shield and sword, and joined in the desperate battle that would be Beowulfs last. Wiglaf spoke words of honor and encouragement to the king just before the dragon attacked fiercely again, flaming the warriors and charring the younger mans shield until it was useless. Inspired by his kinsman and by thoughts of glory, Beowulf put all his considerable strength behind his next blow; Naegling met the dragons skull, and the blade snapped. The hero had never had much use for edged weapons, his strength so overpowering that he could easily damage them; and this happened now, at the worst possible time. The dragon attacked once more, this time sinking its teeth into Beowulfs neck. The heros body was soaked red with his blood. Now Wiglaf came to his aid, running his sword into the dragons belly, weakening the creature. With one last, great effort, the king drew a knife and drove it deep into the dragons side, dealing it a death blow. The Death of Beowulf Beowulf knew he was dying. He told Wiglaf to go into the dead beasts lair and bring back some of the treasure. The young man returned with heaps of gold and jewels and a brilliant gold banner. The king looked at the riches and told the young man that it was a good thing to have this treasure for the kingdom. He then made Wiglaf his heir, giving him his golden torque, his armor, and helm. The great hero died by the gruesome corpse of the dragon. A huge barrow was built on the headland of the coast, and when the ashes from Beowulfs pyre had cooled, the remains were housed inside it. Mourners bewailed the loss of the great king, whose virtues and deeds were extolled that none might ever forget him.

Letter To A Congressman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Letter To A Congressman - Essay Example America spends approximately 86% in addressing the chronic diseases (CDC, 2015). By designating the current position of the Chief Nurse Officer as the National Nurse for Public Health, the bill facilitates the nurses to focus their education in educating the public on the methods of making notable improvements in their health status. Olsen et al (2009) underscores the significance of education in healthcare. The bill supports outreach and education programs (Congress.Gov, 2015). The position of national nurse officer will augment the advocacy efforts that seek to address the changing needs of the dynamic health care systems in the United States. Many citizens require excellent care for the terminal and chronic diseases, and the bill will strengthen the role of nurses to offer timely and quality care. Once again, I fully support the National Nurse Act of 2015, and will do everything to ensure the bill achieves its objectives once approved and passed into a law. I am confident that the approval of the bill will model a truly collaborative health care in the United

How can Coca Cola further increase their customer base in reference to Case Study

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