Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

On March 27, 2002, the prohibition on the use of a specific form of organizational finances as contribution to political candidates and parties or to sponsor certain ads in the period prior to elections became law. This is known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), founded on the campaign finance reform bills authored by Republican Senator John McCain and Democrat Senator Russ Feingold (Magarian, 2003). The BCRA or McCain-Feingold law aimed at a more stringent regulation of the sources of funds used for electoral campaigns. It made illegal the use of soft money from corporate or private entities and labor unions for candidates and their machineries at the federal, state and local levels (Magarian, 2003). Prior to this law, organizations could donate an unlimited and unregulated amount of money for issue-based advocacy, increasing voter-turnout and party-building efforts coursed through the national political parties (Geiger, 2005). Issue ads were allowed as long as they did not use words such as â€Å"vote for† or â€Å"do not vote for† and other words that expressly promoting or assailing certain candidates. As such, issue advocacy has in essence been lawfully used to campaign for a candidate as long as the magic words mentioned are absent in the content (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). The BCRA reformed the use of soft money for broadcast issue-advocacy ads campaigns when it came up with as a qualifier for what is lawful issue-advocacy is known as electioneering communication. According to the BrennanCenter.org (2008), this means ads that â€Å"refer to a clearly identified candidate, and targets the candidate’s electorate†. The BCRA requires from entities that conduct electioneering communications a disclosure of the sources of their funds and such ads can not be aired 30 days prior to a general elections and 60 days prior to a federal election (Independent.org, 2008). The law also bans corporations and unions to donate for issue ads from their treasury fund, openly or expressly advocate for a candidate known as independent expenditures or to make direct campaign contributions (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). They are only allowed to do so through specially Political Action Committees (PACs) within these organizations which are allocated a segregated funding that can be used for independent expenditures and issue ads (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). Further, the BCRA demands the full disclosure of the sources of solicited campaign funds that amount to more than $10,000 annually or the identities of organizations and individuals that shelled an excess of $1,000 (Cantor and Whitaker, 2004). It also increased the lawful limits on the total amount of â€Å"hard money† that candidates and parties can turn out. The result was that corporations and other organizations as well as individuals drastically limited their donations to avoid the disclosure of their identities. Corporate and other private organizations can and do work to influence the outcome of the electoral process through soft money spending in order to gain access to the candidate in the event that s/he wins (Geiger, 2005). Candidates also welcome contributions as these determine in part the number of votes they will get. With the BCRA restrictions, political parties resorted to the formation of political organizations. Because they are independent, political organizations which may be corporate philanthropy, social welfare or charity organizations are beyond the scope of the current campaign law and can absorb undocumented amounts of money for issue ads. In the last elections, 527 political organizations generated more than $400 million in such funds where the biggest donors handed amounts within the $3.9 million to $30 million range (Geiger, 2005). These affluent and motive-driven corporate and individual donors were also safe from the disclosure requirement. However, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a narrow decision last year, allowed leniency on issue ads even within the 30-day or 60-day election period when it declared that ads may be exempted from the limitations set by the BCRA if they are determined as principally an exercise of the freedom of speech under the First Amendment rather than campaigning for or against a candidate (Independentsector.org, 2008). The case in question involved the Wisconsin Right to Life Inc. anti-abortion group whose ad was prohibited from airing in 2004 as it fell within the mandated election period and because it mentioned the name of a state senator to act on a certain issue. The senator was running for reelection at that time but no mention was made of this in the ad. The Supreme Court emphasized public rights rather than censorship in their decision on the case (Independent.org, 2008). Thus, corporate and labor organizations can take advantage on another gap to provide financial support for political campaigns of parties and candidates they favor even during election periods through issue ads similar to that used by the Wisconsin Right to Life. The Federal Election Committee issued a ruling exempting organizations from the electioneering communications restrictions as a result of the Supreme Court Decision (BrennanCenter.org, 2008). However, the disclosure requisites provided for in the BCRA still applies in this case but independent-sector groups are active in supporting proposals that do away with this requirement (Independentsector.org). List of References BrennanCenter.org (2008). The Impact of FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. on State Regulation of â€Å"Electioneering Communications† in Candidate Elections, Including Campaigns for the Bench. Retrieved 2 April 2008 from http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:cSpDB4j7N64J:www.brennancenter.org/page/-/Democracy/Impact%2520of%2520WRTL%2520II%2520on%2520State%2520Regulation.doc+effect+of+the+BCRA+on+corporate+public+policy&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1   Cantor, J.E. and Whitaker, L.P. (2004). Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002: Summary   Ã‚   and Comparison with Previous Law. Retrieved 2 April 2008 Geiger, J.P. Preparing for 2006: A Constitutional Amendment for Closing the 527 Soft Money Loophole. William and Mary Law Review, 47. Retrieved 2 April 2008 from    http://www.questia.com. Independentsector.org (2008). Public Policy: FEC Rule Allows Issue Ads with Disclosure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved 2 April 2008 . Magarian, G. (2003). Regulating Political Parties under a â€Å"Public Rights† First Amendment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William and Mary Law Review, 44. Retrieved 2 April 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.questia.com.         

Levittown Experiment

Levittown project was taken up in the U.S. after the end of Second World War, with the aim of providing mass housing facilities to people in the wake of increasing urbanization and problems of accommodating large population in limited urban area (Friedman. 1995). The first of Levittown apartments were constructed on Long Island, New York and they symbolized the modern trends of urbanization and housing developments (Clapson. 2003). This paper shall study the impact of Levittown project on trends of further urbanization and analyze the aesthetics of design and development involved in it. American urban housing system was not in a very good state at the end of Second World War. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers had started to return back to the mainland, filled with the dream of better and improved life (Baxandall and Ewen, 2000). Euphoric and buoyed by a hard fought and historic win, where U.S had established its military supremacy in the world, these people had great dreams and aspirations to continue in the legacy of that supremacy. This aspiration manifested itself most prominently in their demand for housing infrastructure, built with modern age planning, design, and latest infrastructure: houses that could symbolize U.S’s great power stature and their own triumph in being a part of this transition. Meanwhile the Congress announced special housing loans for returning war veterans where they could get loans on zero down-payment and little mortgage. Suddenly there was a great boom in the demand of urban housing, compared to which the available apartments fell drastically short (Baxandall and Ewen, 2000). Millions of war veterans and citizens were homeless or living in makeshift houses looking expectedly upon government to provide them with affordable houses (Jackson. 1985). However, the strong private construction lobby was pressuring Congress to get out of the housing business, but the past record of private housing industry was patchy and they were not expected to live up to demand of providing millions of houses on affordable prices in a quick time (Baxandall and Ewen, 2000; Clapson. 2003). Abraham Levitt, a prominent builder, understood the importance of providing housing to people of every income range and he responded to the situation by constructing rows of identical four room apartments at Long Island, New York,that were offered to veteran war soldiers for only $60 a month (Jackson. 1985; Clapson. 2003). Levittown, the mass housing facility designed and constructed by Levitts, was vehemently criticized by architects for producing homogenous and suffocating environment and being antithetical to lofted architectural principles (Jackson. 1985). But the critics ignored the fact that, Levitt could not incorporate the lofty and stylist architectural designs that were hallmark of most of Victorian style villas and bungalows and yet produce houses on mass scale, in quick time and provide them for sale at most affordable prices. His aim was to construct the best houses at least cost to provide most economical housing. The fact was that Levitt had successfully fulfilled the demands and dreams of many Americans of owning their own house. Debate, Design and Impact of Levittown To fully appreciate the significance of Levittown, it must be seen in context of the great housing demand of the period 1945-46, the intense effort of private construction giants to force the government to abandon its idea of affordable and mass housing which could seriously jeopardize the corporate game plan of selling expensive houses and flats (Baxandall and Ewen, 2000). There was intense public debate in U.S. around the issue and the corporate construction house tried to discredit mass scale housing by comparing it to slums and hotbed of communism and crime (Jackson. 1985). Despite the well organized and orchestrated campaign against mass housing, public opinion did not waver much, and the expectations for large scale affordable housing remained a public issue (Baxandall and Ewen, 2000). People required housing, and they expected it was their right to get a decent home. High architectural designs and lofted aesthetics meant nothing to them if they resulted in homes that they could look, admire, but could not own. Against this real challenge, Lewitt and Sons took upon themselves to meet the affordable housing demand by assuming equally pragmatic approach. Levitt used special techniques and architectural designs to keep the cost of production at lowest and speed of construction at maximum. He divided entire construction procedure of houses in 26 separate steps that required professional prefabricated components. This approach greatly reduced the construction time. Many of the building components such as nails, concrete blocks, lumber and electrical appliances were procured by Levitt and sons themselves, further minimizing the cost (Friedman. 1995). The method of Levitt was so successful that by 1949Â   the first 2000 planned houses by Levitt were ready to be sold and occupied .. The first of Levitt apartment constructed on Long Island came to be known as Levittown and although they were described as drab, unimaginative and common by critics, they served their purpose of providing millions of American with their own house (Friedman. 1995). Alfred Levitt recognized his own achievement in describing himself as Henry Ford of American housing industry, where he was producing houses at assembly line speed (Friedman. 1995). Levitt also successfully warded off the criticism of his uniform Cape-Cod style of housing by mixing his next colonies with Cape-Cods, Rancher and Colonial style houses, that ranged from $ 5500 to $ 14500 (Jackson. 1985; Clapson. 2003). Levittown were constructed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania as well, with equal success and revolutionizing effect on community living and development. Although attempts were made to associate them with low class life, and blandness of taste, as the houses took the character of their owners who modified and transformed them, each of them emerged as a singular entity that was precious to their owner. Conclusion The impact of Levit’s design had far reaching effect on construction and design of further mass scale housing projects not only in U.S but in other countries as well. Levitt’s designing innovation and successful efforts to construct affordable housing had given millions of not so well-to-do Americans their first opportunity of realizing a dream, secure their present, and lay the groundwork of building a strong future. Reference Avi Friedman. 1995. The Evolution of Design Characteristics During the Post-Second World War Housing Boom: The Us Experience. Journal of Design History. Volume: 8. Issue: 2. Rosalyn Baxandall and Ewen, Elizabeth. 2000. Picture Windows: How the Suburbs Happened. Basic Books. New York. Kenneth T. Jackson. 1985. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. Oxford University Press. New York. Mark Clapson. 2003. Suburban Century: Social Change and Urban Growth in England and the USA. Berg. New York. Â   Â  

Great Expectations

â€Å"Great Expectations† was written in the mid 19th century by the world famous novelist Charles Dickens. Of key significance is the relationship between Pip (a growing young man) and Magwitch (an escaped convict) In Chapters One and Thirty-nine we read about the first and second meetings of the two characters, separated by 15 years. In Chapter one of Great Expectations Pip is a humble, polite orphan whose parents died before the time of photography and he now lives with his sister and her husband Mr Joe Gargery. As he has never seen his parents he uses the look of their tombstones to get an image of what they would have looked like. â€Å"The shape of the letters on my father's, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. † This suggests Pip is a lonely sensitive boy and one who misses his parents and brothers. He also goes on to describe his mother as a freckled and sickly woman, not a very high opinion of his mother, maybe due to the fact that his sister (Mrs. Joe Gargery) is a cruel mother figure and an accurate guess at what his mother would look like if she were alive. He also describes his five brothers who all died at a young age and he buried under tombstones/lozenges all of them, he imagines born with their hands in their pockets lying on their backs. Pip goes on to describe the Kent marshes on which he lived as a very bleak place and a place that you could understandably imagine as being shivery cold during the autumn and winter. Living on this cold marsh would be hard it was in an inhospitable environment one cold Christmas eve. As Pip encounters a man that appears from amongst the graves, he is without a hat (Nineteenth century, gentlemen wore hats) and dressed shabbily with a great iron around his leg, it must have been clear to Pip that this man was a convict. The man was clearly shivering and not dressed suitably for the weather. Pip is then threatened on a number of occasions, â€Å"Hold your noise! † cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. â€Å"Keep still, you little devil, or I'll cut your throat! The convict, Magwitch, issues imperatives/commands and orders Pip around. The convict goes on to demand after much deliberation, a file and wittles (food), Pip has been threatened by the convict time and again and one of the convicts methods of intimidation is by threatening Pip with a person that goes by the name â€Å"Young man†, he compares this young man to himself by calling himself an Angel in comparison, this young man is said to be able to eat a child's liver, creep his way into a boys room and when they feel safe under their covers tear them open. Pip is finally let go, to run home but meanwhile with the thought of this young man in his head thinking about how to get food from his cruel sister. Mrs. Joe Gargery is hard and Pip would be hit by the tickler (a wooden stick) if caught stealing food or even suggesting giving food to the convict (Magwitch). There is a significant change in the Pip of Chapter thirty-nine to the poor, labouring boy in Chapter one. Pip has now grown up into a 23 year old gentleman and 15 years have elapsed since his unnerving ordeal on the marshes where he used to live. He now has money from a mystery benefactor and time on his hands, he reads for hour upon hour for much of the day (Not many people could read in the 19th century. It was an important source of entertainment if you could read). Although Pip had his books, his flat mate Herbert had taken a journey to France, leaving him by himself, miserable and dispirited. The weather played a huge part in creating mood and atmosphere as it was menacing and miserable outside. The wind rushing up the river shook the house that night, like discharges of cannon, or breaking of a sea† which in an echo of Chapter 1 on the Kent marshes with the discharges of cannon signalling the escape of convicts. â€Å"The staircase lamps were blown out† showing it to be a murky crepuscular environment. Pip then hears the sound of a single footstep on a stair, making him apprehensive and connecting it with being crept up upon by his dead sister Mrs Joe Gargery in an earlier chapter. Eager to discover who or what it is, he remembers the storm outside and the pitch darkness before him. Remembering then, that the staircase-lights were blown out, I took up my reading-lamp and went out to the stair-head. Whoever was below had stopped on seeing my lamp, for all was quiet. † A voice answers him from the dark, eclipse staircase. Moving the lamp closer to the stranger Pip started to describe his face as being browned by exposure to the weather which suggested that he worked in the fields as a labouer, Pip is proud that he is no longer a â€Å"labouring boy† as Estella once called him. The conversation between Pip the stranger – Magwitch reveals that he is Pip's benefactor. Pip is then shocked to believe that Magwitch his childhood tormentor is his benefactor and tries to find ways in which to involve Miss Havisham or any other respectable people that he could think of. The dialogue between them showed a significant role reversal, with Pip issuing orders and Magwitch like Pip in the marshes, holding on to some hope that he will be treated kindly by Pip. Pip doesn't want anything to do with this man and repulses him. Yet as the conversation starts to end Pip starts to feel more and more incriminated. He wants this to have never of happened and regrets that his good fortune comes from this convict. He starts to think to himself and use personification to describe the wind and the rain. It becomes apparent that Pip is startled and astounded by this change in events, yet still does not want Magwitch to suffer the punishment due to him if he were to be caught in England. (hanging). The mention in Chapter one of the gallows is a reminder to us of how cruelly prisoners could be treated in Victorian times. The escaped convict in Chapter one, was revealed to be named Magwitch, He had escaped from the prison ships and somehow made his way through the Kent marshes to the cemetery where Pip, was mourning his dead family, Magwitch had no real hope of surviving on the harsh, arctic temperatures and gale force winds of the marsh environment. He needed to convince this boy to get him food and some sort of tool to remove the great iron from his legs. The only way to ensure that Pip would do what he asked was to install fear in him. Magwitch cleverly using the idea of has protecting Pip from another young man. He ensured that Pip was going to get him some food and a file, but still had to sleep in the marshes over night holding onto some hope that Pip might come back. Magwitch in Chapter Thirty-nine is a rich man having made a fortune Australia and is now looking towards Pip for hope. He's come all the way from Australia but is still a fugitive. He hopes that Pip will accept him into his life. Pip's rejection of him as being his benefactor must have been a huge bombshell to Magwitch to see the repulsion on Pip's face. Magwitch has spent 15 years dreaming of this meeting with â€Å"my boy† Pip. He's grateful to â€Å"noble pip† that helped him on the marshes. He must be hurt by Pip's rejection. On the sound of the second cannon another prisoner escapes from the prison ships. He gets to safety in the marshes and is found by Pip as a drunk convict. When Pip tells Magwitch of the man he is instantly startled and files away trying to get the great iron of his leg. Pip thinks this man was the young man Magwitch was using to intimidate him but it wasn't. There is no clear explanation of why Magwitch and Compeyson (the 2nd escaped convict) have a rivalry but the scar on Compeyson's cheek tells a possible story in itself. Many of a thing could have happened to result in Compeyson obtaining a scar on his cheek but the most common view is a most probable fight with Magwitch. Compeyson in chapter thirty-nine is a man still eagerly awaiting revenge on Magwitch (whose alias is Provis). He finds out that Magwitch has come to England and sees this as his chance to get Magwitch back into prison/executed. He follows the movements of magwitch for a substantial amount of time; Magwitch is caught and almost killed by a ship's enormous rotating wheel. Provis succeeds in his revenge, and Magwitch later dies in a hospital bed beside Pip giving him a sort of blessing to marry his daughter Estella. There are powerful descriptions of settings throughout the novel, such as the dark murky Kent marshes and the dark staircase of the apartment in London. The Setting can have a huge effect on the imagination of the reader and the mood the author is trying to convey. During the early stages of chapter one Pip gives the readers a clear understanding of what the marshes looked like in the sentence, â€Å"Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. † This alone tells me the marshes are located in a not too dissimilar surrounding to London in the way a river passes through it, but as a source of information to tell if the area is widely populated or if the building are fairly new or maybe old. It doesn't help that much, maybe a purposely written piece of setting by Charles Dickens, giving the reader the chance to use there own imaginative freedom to make a mental picture in their minds. â€Å"that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond, was the river†. Have feature of a horror story. Dickens sets a chilling mood to prepare the audience for something scary. The alliteration†low leaden line† the metaphor â€Å"savage lair† enhance the atmosphere of ominous brooding. Chapter thirty-nine opens with a setting of real importance. Without Dickens' clever use of short and long sentences, repetition, metaphors and personification, Chapter Thirty-nine in my opinion wouldn't be as effective and would reduce the whole climax of the chapter when Pip's benefactor is revealed to him. â€Å"It was wretched weather; stormy and wet, stormy and wet; and mud, mud, mud, deep in all the streets. Day after day, a vast heavy veil had been driving over London from the East, and it drove still, as if in the East there were an Eternity of cloud and wind. So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death. Violent blasts of rain had accompanied these rages of wind, and the day just closed as I sat down to read had been the worst of all. † This single paragraph is a key component in the structure of this whole chapter. The opening sentence uses repetition and semi colons indicate how it should be read in a specific thrilling way. It creates a picture of a wilderness not too dissimilar to the settings in the bleak Kent marshes. Dickens describes this storm as a terrible event, the use of the word â€Å"Eternity† indicated a constant barrage of wind and cloud dominated the sky, a never ending attack of fury upon the rooftops of London. An enormous change can be seen in Pip from the small fragile boy in Chapter one to the snob and spoilt young man of Chapter Thirty-nine. This is a story of the development and change of Pip, Magwitch and Victorian Society. Great Expectations Have you ever wonder how wealth can bring a person happiness and how it can change a person or does it make that person a better person who was once poor? Driving to a local grocery store for an example, to buy some food for your family to eat and at the register, you have a dollar left. So you decide to buy a lottery ticket and later that night watching TV, you out of million hit the jackpot which would change your life forever.Or just going to school everyday and doing your homework knowing that your family poor and have money problem, you kept up in school and later went to college and getting a master degree plus a well-pay career bring you wealth. Being poor to wealthy or being rich and staying rich as a child to an adult, does the wealth usually bring you happiness? In the novel â€Å"Great Expectation,† Pip is a character who as a child become a wealthy person from a poor background family.As he grew up in a poor childhood, an opportunity came up for him to become rich and surely he took that opportunity from a secret benefactor which was Magwitch, Pip convict. Now being wealthy, Pip thought that it would bring him closer to the girl he loved, Estella. But it didn't. In return, he had more problems personally then before to face and wasn't enjoying his wealthy life. Wealth brought him to the path of broken love and change him because if Pip didn't take the job or opportunity to become rich at the Satis House where he first fell in love when he saw Estella.And now for him to get Estella, he has to change his old way of life to a higher class of people like Estella herself to even have a chance with her. (Chater 8) So according to Pip, wealth doesn't bring happiness, but it regard only one person only Pip. The way he live in London, he look back at his childhood and old lifestyle, he realize what a terrible place he grew up in and was an embarrass to him. (Part II of the novel until the end of the book or Chapter 20) When Pip was poor, his relations hip with Joe was like father to son.But when Pip became wealthy, the relationship grew further apart until a point where Pip became a higher classmen then Joe which he was at the low classmen of people. Looking back now, Pip again realize how Joe was an embarrassment to him now and that he couldn't socialize with Joe. From what he realize, Pip didn't talk to Joe as often as he would thought when he came from poor to rich. So wealthy does change a person and in Pip case, it made him not a better person but a poorer person especially in attitude.But Pip is only one individual compare to hundreds of thousands of people. How about what other people experience other then Pip. Another character in the novel, Miss Havisham who almost have the same but simliar problem like Pip with wealth, love, and happiness. Miss Havisham being wealthy herself wanted to get marry with guy who name is Compeyson, but she thought that the marriage was base on love not money. She also didn't know that the guy Compeysonwas just after her money not her love.Her father warn her about this, but she didn't care. When the wedding day came and everything was set up, the guy she thought she was going to marry stood her up just as her father warn her. Now heartbroken and mad, Miss Havisham left everything that day like the wedding cake still on the table til the present day, molding away. Because being wealthy, Miss Havisham didn't find true love as she wanted and now so depress from that day, her lifestyle change to a witch like house.Not seeing the sun or letting sunlght enter her home, she growing old and wrinkle not having happiness to enjoy. Love was want Pip and Miss Havisham thought as happiness, but none of them got it because they were wealthy. In conclusion, so does wealth usually bring a person happiness? To my oppinion yes it should bring a person happiness because it let what the person want and desire knowing that they can afford it. It really depend on the person and what he or sh e think happiness is and their attitude toward other people about their wealth.Maybe being greedy or just being a fool falling in love over the person because of their wealth or their appearence. Money is money whether you earn it or win it, and it will cause the person who own its problems because of the way they spend it. But money can't buy true love which is happiness for a person like Pip or Miss Havisham. But on the other hand, if you found true love when your poor and become wealthy, the same person that love when you were poor is true love like Herbert Pocket love life and of course you'll be happy like Herbert and his love becoming rich.So according to the novel, about 75% percent say that wealth doesn't bring happiness. But Pip and Miss Havisham are only two people compare to hundreds of thousands of people in real life. Maybe so, who really know what wealth will really bring happiness. If you ask me I would say yes it does for me. Well how can wealth change a person? Its can change a person in many ways from their attitude to their physical appearence. Wealth can change a person by making them feel better about life and knowing that what the want they an get. And does wealth make someone a better person that someone who is poor? Well once again, it depend on that person. That once poor person who became wealthy can realize the hardness of life low on money can help out in many way. Giving away money to buying cloths for the poor. But on the other hand, wealth can make a person attitude even poorer then before over greed. So I think wealth does bring a person happiness for a while and it can the person too. Great Expectations â€Å"Great Expectations† was written in the mid 19th century by the world famous novelist Charles Dickens. Of key significance is the relationship between Pip (a growing young man) and Magwitch (an escaped convict) In Chapters One and Thirty-nine we read about the first and second meetings of the two characters, separated by 15 years. In Chapter one of Great Expectations Pip is a humble, polite orphan whose parents died before the time of photography and he now lives with his sister and her husband Mr Joe Gargery. As he has never seen his parents he uses the look of their tombstones to get an image of what they would have looked like. â€Å"The shape of the letters on my father's, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. † This suggests Pip is a lonely sensitive boy and one who misses his parents and brothers. He also goes on to describe his mother as a freckled and sickly woman, not a very high opinion of his mother, maybe due to the fact that his sister (Mrs. Joe Gargery) is a cruel mother figure and an accurate guess at what his mother would look like if she were alive. He also describes his five brothers who all died at a young age and he buried under tombstones/lozenges all of them, he imagines born with their hands in their pockets lying on their backs. Pip goes on to describe the Kent marshes on which he lived as a very bleak place and a place that you could understandably imagine as being shivery cold during the autumn and winter. Living on this cold marsh would be hard it was in an inhospitable environment one cold Christmas eve. As Pip encounters a man that appears from amongst the graves, he is without a hat (Nineteenth century, gentlemen wore hats) and dressed shabbily with a great iron around his leg, it must have been clear to Pip that this man was a convict. The man was clearly shivering and not dressed suitably for the weather. Pip is then threatened on a number of occasions, â€Å"Hold your noise! † cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. â€Å"Keep still, you little devil, or I'll cut your throat! The convict, Magwitch, issues imperatives/commands and orders Pip around. The convict goes on to demand after much deliberation, a file and wittles (food), Pip has been threatened by the convict time and again and one of the convicts methods of intimidation is by threatening Pip with a person that goes by the name â€Å"Young man†, he compares this young man to himself by calling himself an Angel in comparison, this young man is said to be able to eat a child's liver, creep his way into a boys room and when they feel safe under their covers tear them open. Pip is finally let go, to run home but meanwhile with the thought of this young man in his head thinking about how to get food from his cruel sister. Mrs. Joe Gargery is hard and Pip would be hit by the tickler (a wooden stick) if caught stealing food or even suggesting giving food to the convict (Magwitch). There is a significant change in the Pip of Chapter thirty-nine to the poor, labouring boy in Chapter one. Pip has now grown up into a 23 year old gentleman and 15 years have elapsed since his unnerving ordeal on the marshes where he used to live. He now has money from a mystery benefactor and time on his hands, he reads for hour upon hour for much of the day (Not many people could read in the 19th century. It was an important source of entertainment if you could read). Although Pip had his books, his flat mate Herbert had taken a journey to France, leaving him by himself, miserable and dispirited. The weather played a huge part in creating mood and atmosphere as it was menacing and miserable outside. The wind rushing up the river shook the house that night, like discharges of cannon, or breaking of a sea† which in an echo of Chapter 1 on the Kent marshes with the discharges of cannon signalling the escape of convicts. â€Å"The staircase lamps were blown out† showing it to be a murky crepuscular environment. Pip then hears the sound of a single footstep on a stair, making him apprehensive and connecting it with being crept up upon by his dead sister Mrs Joe Gargery in an earlier chapter. Eager to discover who or what it is, he remembers the storm outside and the pitch darkness before him. Remembering then, that the staircase-lights were blown out, I took up my reading-lamp and went out to the stair-head. Whoever was below had stopped on seeing my lamp, for all was quiet. † A voice answers him from the dark, eclipse staircase. Moving the lamp closer to the stranger Pip started to describe his face as being browned by exposure to the weather which suggested that he worked in the fields as a labouer, Pip is proud that he is no longer a â€Å"labouring boy† as Estella once called him. The conversation between Pip the stranger – Magwitch reveals that he is Pip's benefactor. Pip is then shocked to believe that Magwitch his childhood tormentor is his benefactor and tries to find ways in which to involve Miss Havisham or any other respectable people that he could think of. The dialogue between them showed a significant role reversal, with Pip issuing orders and Magwitch like Pip in the marshes, holding on to some hope that he will be treated kindly by Pip. Pip doesn't want anything to do with this man and repulses him. Yet as the conversation starts to end Pip starts to feel more and more incriminated. He wants this to have never of happened and regrets that his good fortune comes from this convict. He starts to think to himself and use personification to describe the wind and the rain. It becomes apparent that Pip is startled and astounded by this change in events, yet still does not want Magwitch to suffer the punishment due to him if he were to be caught in England. (hanging). The mention in Chapter one of the gallows is a reminder to us of how cruelly prisoners could be treated in Victorian times. The escaped convict in Chapter one, was revealed to be named Magwitch, He had escaped from the prison ships and somehow made his way through the Kent marshes to the cemetery where Pip, was mourning his dead family, Magwitch had no real hope of surviving on the harsh, arctic temperatures and gale force winds of the marsh environment. He needed to convince this boy to get him food and some sort of tool to remove the great iron from his legs. The only way to ensure that Pip would do what he asked was to install fear in him. Magwitch cleverly using the idea of has protecting Pip from another young man. He ensured that Pip was going to get him some food and a file, but still had to sleep in the marshes over night holding onto some hope that Pip might come back. Magwitch in Chapter Thirty-nine is a rich man having made a fortune Australia and is now looking towards Pip for hope. He's come all the way from Australia but is still a fugitive. He hopes that Pip will accept him into his life. Pip's rejection of him as being his benefactor must have been a huge bombshell to Magwitch to see the repulsion on Pip's face. Magwitch has spent 15 years dreaming of this meeting with â€Å"my boy† Pip. He's grateful to â€Å"noble pip† that helped him on the marshes. He must be hurt by Pip's rejection. On the sound of the second cannon another prisoner escapes from the prison ships. He gets to safety in the marshes and is found by Pip as a drunk convict. When Pip tells Magwitch of the man he is instantly startled and files away trying to get the great iron of his leg. Pip thinks this man was the young man Magwitch was using to intimidate him but it wasn't. There is no clear explanation of why Magwitch and Compeyson (the 2nd escaped convict) have a rivalry but the scar on Compeyson's cheek tells a possible story in itself. Many of a thing could have happened to result in Compeyson obtaining a scar on his cheek but the most common view is a most probable fight with Magwitch. Compeyson in chapter thirty-nine is a man still eagerly awaiting revenge on Magwitch (whose alias is Provis). He finds out that Magwitch has come to England and sees this as his chance to get Magwitch back into prison/executed. He follows the movements of magwitch for a substantial amount of time; Magwitch is caught and almost killed by a ship's enormous rotating wheel. Provis succeeds in his revenge, and Magwitch later dies in a hospital bed beside Pip giving him a sort of blessing to marry his daughter Estella. There are powerful descriptions of settings throughout the novel, such as the dark murky Kent marshes and the dark staircase of the apartment in London. The Setting can have a huge effect on the imagination of the reader and the mood the author is trying to convey. During the early stages of chapter one Pip gives the readers a clear understanding of what the marshes looked like in the sentence, â€Å"Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. † This alone tells me the marshes are located in a not too dissimilar surrounding to London in the way a river passes through it, but as a source of information to tell if the area is widely populated or if the building are fairly new or maybe old. It doesn't help that much, maybe a purposely written piece of setting by Charles Dickens, giving the reader the chance to use there own imaginative freedom to make a mental picture in their minds. â€Å"that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond, was the river†. Have feature of a horror story. Dickens sets a chilling mood to prepare the audience for something scary. The alliteration†low leaden line† the metaphor â€Å"savage lair† enhance the atmosphere of ominous brooding. Chapter thirty-nine opens with a setting of real importance. Without Dickens' clever use of short and long sentences, repetition, metaphors and personification, Chapter Thirty-nine in my opinion wouldn't be as effective and would reduce the whole climax of the chapter when Pip's benefactor is revealed to him. â€Å"It was wretched weather; stormy and wet, stormy and wet; and mud, mud, mud, deep in all the streets. Day after day, a vast heavy veil had been driving over London from the East, and it drove still, as if in the East there were an Eternity of cloud and wind. So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death. Violent blasts of rain had accompanied these rages of wind, and the day just closed as I sat down to read had been the worst of all. † This single paragraph is a key component in the structure of this whole chapter. The opening sentence uses repetition and semi colons indicate how it should be read in a specific thrilling way. It creates a picture of a wilderness not too dissimilar to the settings in the bleak Kent marshes. Dickens describes this storm as a terrible event, the use of the word â€Å"Eternity† indicated a constant barrage of wind and cloud dominated the sky, a never ending attack of fury upon the rooftops of London. An enormous change can be seen in Pip from the small fragile boy in Chapter one to the snob and spoilt young man of Chapter Thirty-nine. This is a story of the development and change of Pip, Magwitch and Victorian Society. Great Expectations Have you ever wonder how wealth can bring a person happiness and how it can change a person or does it make that person a better person who was once poor? Driving to a local grocery store for an example, to buy some food for your family to eat and at the register, you have a dollar left. So you decide to buy a lottery ticket and later that night watching TV, you out of million hit the jackpot which would change your life forever.Or just going to school everyday and doing your homework knowing that your family poor and have money problem, you kept up in school and later went to college and getting a master degree plus a well-pay career bring you wealth. Being poor to wealthy or being rich and staying rich as a child to an adult, does the wealth usually bring you happiness? In the novel â€Å"Great Expectation,† Pip is a character who as a child become a wealthy person from a poor background family.As he grew up in a poor childhood, an opportunity came up for him to become rich and surely he took that opportunity from a secret benefactor which was Magwitch, Pip convict. Now being wealthy, Pip thought that it would bring him closer to the girl he loved, Estella. But it didn't. In return, he had more problems personally then before to face and wasn't enjoying his wealthy life. Wealth brought him to the path of broken love and change him because if Pip didn't take the job or opportunity to become rich at the Satis House where he first fell in love when he saw Estella.And now for him to get Estella, he has to change his old way of life to a higher class of people like Estella herself to even have a chance with her. (Chater 8) So according to Pip, wealth doesn't bring happiness, but it regard only one person only Pip. The way he live in London, he look back at his childhood and old lifestyle, he realize what a terrible place he grew up in and was an embarrass to him. (Part II of the novel until the end of the book or Chapter 20) When Pip was poor, his relations hip with Joe was like father to son.But when Pip became wealthy, the relationship grew further apart until a point where Pip became a higher classmen then Joe which he was at the low classmen of people. Looking back now, Pip again realize how Joe was an embarrassment to him now and that he couldn't socialize with Joe. From what he realize, Pip didn't talk to Joe as often as he would thought when he came from poor to rich. So wealthy does change a person and in Pip case, it made him not a better person but a poorer person especially in attitude.But Pip is only one individual compare to hundreds of thousands of people. How about what other people experience other then Pip. Another character in the novel, Miss Havisham who almost have the same but simliar problem like Pip with wealth, love, and happiness. Miss Havisham being wealthy herself wanted to get marry with guy who name is Compeyson, but she thought that the marriage was base on love not money. She also didn't know that the guy Compeysonwas just after her money not her love.Her father warn her about this, but she didn't care. When the wedding day came and everything was set up, the guy she thought she was going to marry stood her up just as her father warn her. Now heartbroken and mad, Miss Havisham left everything that day like the wedding cake still on the table til the present day, molding away. Because being wealthy, Miss Havisham didn't find true love as she wanted and now so depress from that day, her lifestyle change to a witch like house.Not seeing the sun or letting sunlght enter her home, she growing old and wrinkle not having happiness to enjoy. Love was want Pip and Miss Havisham thought as happiness, but none of them got it because they were wealthy. In conclusion, so does wealth usually bring a person happiness? To my oppinion yes it should bring a person happiness because it let what the person want and desire knowing that they can afford it. It really depend on the person and what he or sh e think happiness is and their attitude toward other people about their wealth.Maybe being greedy or just being a fool falling in love over the person because of their wealth or their appearence. Money is money whether you earn it or win it, and it will cause the person who own its problems because of the way they spend it. But money can't buy true love which is happiness for a person like Pip or Miss Havisham. But on the other hand, if you found true love when your poor and become wealthy, the same person that love when you were poor is true love like Herbert Pocket love life and of course you'll be happy like Herbert and his love becoming rich.So according to the novel, about 75% percent say that wealth doesn't bring happiness. But Pip and Miss Havisham are only two people compare to hundreds of thousands of people in real life. Maybe so, who really know what wealth will really bring happiness. If you ask me I would say yes it does for me. Well how can wealth change a person? Its can change a person in many ways from their attitude to their physical appearence. Wealth can change a person by making them feel better about life and knowing that what the want they an get. And does wealth make someone a better person that someone who is poor? Well once again, it depend on that person. That once poor person who became wealthy can realize the hardness of life low on money can help out in many way. Giving away money to buying cloths for the poor. But on the other hand, wealth can make a person attitude even poorer then before over greed. So I think wealth does bring a person happiness for a while and it can the person too. Great Expectations Have you ever wonder how wealth can bring a person happiness and how it can change a person or does it make that person a better person who was once poor? Driving to a local grocery store for an example, to buy some food for your family to eat and at the register, you have a dollar left. So you decide to buy a lottery ticket and later that night watching TV, you out of million hit the jackpot which would change your life forever.Or just going to school everyday and doing your homework knowing that your family poor and have money problem, you kept up in school and later went to college and getting a master degree plus a well-pay career bring you wealth. Being poor to wealthy or being rich and staying rich as a child to an adult, does the wealth usually bring you happiness? In the novel â€Å"Great Expectation,† Pip is a character who as a child become a wealthy person from a poor background family.As he grew up in a poor childhood, an opportunity came up for him to become rich and surely he took that opportunity from a secret benefactor which was Magwitch, Pip convict. Now being wealthy, Pip thought that it would bring him closer to the girl he loved, Estella. But it didn't. In return, he had more problems personally then before to face and wasn't enjoying his wealthy life. Wealth brought him to the path of broken love and change him because if Pip didn't take the job or opportunity to become rich at the Satis House where he first fell in love when he saw Estella.And now for him to get Estella, he has to change his old way of life to a higher class of people like Estella herself to even have a chance with her. (Chater 8) So according to Pip, wealth doesn't bring happiness, but it regard only one person only Pip. The way he live in London, he look back at his childhood and old lifestyle, he realize what a terrible place he grew up in and was an embarrass to him. (Part II of the novel until the end of the book or Chapter 20) When Pip was poor, his relations hip with Joe was like father to son.But when Pip became wealthy, the relationship grew further apart until a point where Pip became a higher classmen then Joe which he was at the low classmen of people. Looking back now, Pip again realize how Joe was an embarrassment to him now and that he couldn't socialize with Joe. From what he realize, Pip didn't talk to Joe as often as he would thought when he came from poor to rich. So wealthy does change a person and in Pip case, it made him not a better person but a poorer person especially in attitude.But Pip is only one individual compare to hundreds of thousands of people. How about what other people experience other then Pip. Another character in the novel, Miss Havisham who almost have the same but simliar problem like Pip with wealth, love, and happiness. Miss Havisham being wealthy herself wanted to get marry with guy who name is Compeyson, but she thought that the marriage was base on love not money. She also didn't know that the guy Compeysonwas just after her money not her love.Her father warn her about this, but she didn't care. When the wedding day came and everything was set up, the guy she thought she was going to marry stood her up just as her father warn her. Now heartbroken and mad, Miss Havisham left everything that day like the wedding cake still on the table til the present day, molding away. Because being wealthy, Miss Havisham didn't find true love as she wanted and now so depress from that day, her lifestyle change to a witch like house.Not seeing the sun or letting sunlght enter her home, she growing old and wrinkle not having happiness to enjoy. Love was want Pip and Miss Havisham thought as happiness, but none of them got it because they were wealthy. In conclusion, so does wealth usually bring a person happiness? To my oppinion yes it should bring a person happiness because it let what the person want and desire knowing that they can afford it. It really depend on the person and what he or sh e think happiness is and their attitude toward other people about their wealth.Maybe being greedy or just being a fool falling in love over the person because of their wealth or their appearence. Money is money whether you earn it or win it, and it will cause the person who own its problems because of the way they spend it. But money can't buy true love which is happiness for a person like Pip or Miss Havisham. But on the other hand, if you found true love when your poor and become wealthy, the same person that love when you were poor is true love like Herbert Pocket love life and of course you'll be happy like Herbert and his love becoming rich.So according to the novel, about 75% percent say that wealth doesn't bring happiness. But Pip and Miss Havisham are only two people compare to hundreds of thousands of people in real life. Maybe so, who really know what wealth will really bring happiness. If you ask me I would say yes it does for me. Well how can wealth change a person? Its can change a person in many ways from their attitude to their physical appearence. Wealth can change a person by making them feel better about life and knowing that what the want they an get. And does wealth make someone a better person that someone who is poor? Well once again, it depend on that person. That once poor person who became wealthy can realize the hardness of life low on money can help out in many way. Giving away money to buying cloths for the poor. But on the other hand, wealth can make a person attitude even poorer then before over greed. So I think wealth does bring a person happiness for a while and it can the person too.

Frankenstein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Frankenstein - Essay Example The ability to do something, does not guarantee that one should simply do it. Some experiments should not be carried out just because of availability of the necessary skills and equipment. Scientists ought to pause, and think about implications of what they want to conduct. In addition, they should distinguish between the moral and immoral. Conducting an immoral medical practice causes definite harm to society. Therefore, availability of technology to perform an act should not be the only element that dictates scientific activities. In relation to Frankenstein, he had all the necessary materials required to create the monster. He continued to give it life without thinking of the implications the creature would have on society. Consequently, many people from Frankenstein family lost their lives. Others were blamed for the injustice, instead of Frankenstein or the monster, thus causing more pain to the society. Given that science can be seen as a body of knowledge that can give man God-like abilities, medical practitioners should employ ethics in the different experiments that they conduct. One of the medical ethics relates to ensuring that the doctor works in the best interest of the patient. The practitioner ought to protect the patient from any harm, and promote their comfort. However, Frankenstein did not uphold such care to the creature he created. The creature had life; it walked, communicated, and even demanded for its rights, just like a normal human being (Shelley, 2010). Given these traits, the creature needed a mate for it to lead a comfortable life. On the contrary, Frankenstein did not think about the happiness of the monster and its existence on earth. It did not have any companion, and creation dictates a male and a female for life to be complete. Failure to incorporate such ideas in his experiment devastated him, leading to misery. Consequently, medical practitioners must a lways weigh their actions, and

Hypothyroidism and dna Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hypothyroidism and dna - Research Paper Example According to Lavin (2009), hypothyroidism can be termed as thyroid hormone deficiency whereby the thyroid hormone levels in the body have no effects on the body tissues as required. He notes that thyroid hormones deficiency has numerous negative impacts on the overall functioning of the body tissues (Lavin, 2009). How does hypothyroidism affect DNA? It affects DNA by interfering with the usage of the messages carried by the DNA and DNA transcription. By binding to the receptors found on the nucleus of each cell, DNA transcription is affected. Hence, hypothyroidism leads to low levels of transcription of DNA. It reduces DNA synthesis (Thurlbeck & Churg, 1995). The cause of hypothyroidism could be injury to the thyroid gland. An illness such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis can cause it. It leads to the production of antibodies that destroy the thyroid gland. Such illness is regarded to as an autoimmune disease. If the pituitary gland is destroyed or is not functioning properly, then thyroid hormone production is reduced. Some medications like lithium cause hypothyroidism. (Harvard Health Publications; White, & Garber, 2010). Genetics is can be used to explain how DNA mutation and alteration cause hypothyroidism. When there are DNA changes in various genes, then this can cause congenital hypothyroidism. The number of chromosomes also leads to hypothyroidism (Valente, Hosford-Dunn, & Roeser, 2008). DNA and hypothyroidisim have an intricate relationship. Ptaff (2002) asserts that relations of thyroid hormone with the proteins that bind Deoxyribonucleic acid is the main means through which thyroid hormone controls transcription of thyroid hormone-responsive genes (Ptaff, 2002). In hypothyroidism, DNA methyltransferase activity is regulated more while that of histone acetylases is regulated less (Acton, 2012). The thyroid –stimulating hormone ÃŽ ² gene defect has been found in various families with hypothyroidism. The defect in the

Job Analysis, Recruitment and Selection Project. Arab Bank in UAE Essay

Job Analysis, Recruitment and Selection Project. Arab Bank in UAE - Essay Example For the purpose of conducting job analysis, two methods have been taken into consideration namely, critical incident method and interviewing. Critical incident method is very effective in gaining the required information related to the task. It is task oriented and helps in providing the needed information. Interviewing is a popularly used method and has proved to be effective in the process. Interviewing the candidates has proved to be effective because the information is generated directly from the person. Creating the pool of the candidates is very essential as the candidates need to be aware of the vacancies and the job responsibilities before applying for the job. Advertisement and employee referral methods have been used for this purpose. Among the various means of advertisement, online recruitment has been taken into consideration to increase the efficiency of the recruitment process. Employee referral method is another way of creating the pool of candidates. Here, the existin g employees refer to a particular candidate. This is also very effective because it helps in getting the right candidate in less expense. Different measures have been adopted to conduct the selection procedure. The KSAOs (knowledge, skill, abilities as well as the other qualities) analysis is done through the various measures such as tests related to the clerical, the administrative and the organisational ability of the candidates, role play and personal interview. Conclusively, the organisation’s initiatives that can be taken in relation to enhancing the chances of the candidates’ to gain success have also been discussed. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 5 Job Analysis Related To the Secretary of the Bank 6 Methods Used for Conducting Job Analysis 8 Critical Incident Method 8 Interviewing 9 Creating Pool of Candidates for Bank’s Secretary Post 11 Advertising Method 11 Employee Referral Method 12 Measures Adopted for Selection Procedure for the Post of Secretary Position 13 Tests Related To the Clerical Ability of the Candidates 13 Role Play 14 Personal Interview 15 Enhancing the Chances of Candidates’ Success 16 Conclusion 18 References 19 Appendices 21 Questionnaire 21 Arab Bank Advertisement 22 Introduction The paper will study the job analysis, recruitment and selection process of the secretary position in Arab Bank in UAE. This bank has been the part of the banking sector of UAE since 14 July in the year 1930. Abdel Hameed Shoman is the founder of the Arab Bank (Arab Bank UAE, 2011). The bank is oriented to the monetary dealings and is devoted in improving the economical condition of the citizens of UAE. The secretary plays an important role in the organization. The position for the secretary of the bank demands the ability of dealing with certain varied tasks which come by and provide with required support to the senior managers. The job responsibility of the secretary of the banks is to perform administrative duties in order to help the bank to perform better in effective and efficient ways. The paper includes the steps that are followed while performing the job analysis process for the secretary position and the different selection processes which are used for the selection of correct candidate. The study also intends to include the advantages and disadvantages of the methods which are used for the purpose of selection procedure. It will help in analyzing the responsibilities of the position and with the

Asian phiolosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asian phiolosophy - Essay Example So, at one point, something is in one status and at the other time, it is in another status (Morgan 71). All things survive due to the varying nature of situations. A person does not live in the stage of insufficiency every time. In the second stage, a person exists in the stage of abundance. This involves transition from the stage of void to the stage of abundance. There is also a stage in which people exist between insufficiency and abundance. This is the hub track on which all things exist. This is due to the fact that nothing can be absolutely in the status of abundance or void. Normally, a person or a thing will be in between the status of insufficiency and abundance. This Tien Tai reality is based on the teachings of White Lotus Sutra of human existence and the nature of fact. This sheds light on the interrelationship of human survival. According to Tien Tai beliefs, these stages of reality guide human beings on how they conduct themselves (Morgan 78). They form the basis of ju dgment between excellence and evil deeds of a human being. People strive to live according to the teachings and the doctrines of the community in which a person exists. Those realities are the guiding principles among the Asians since they define the customs of their community. They determine individual freedom in what they do and what they perceive. There is no person who likes to live a deviant life. Without guiding principles between what the society wants and what an individual does, people will never know what they are expected to do. Therefore, knowing the truth and abiding by it give an individual peace of mind and physical liberty. The doctrines of the Asian culture recognize realities which guide individuals in their existence. They distinguish between void living and abundance living (Morgan 79). This poses a difference between physical living and spiritual life. Once people get to understand the realities, they are able to live according to the customs. This gives them li berty in their existence. Without proper comprehension of the reality of living, people cannot accept the teachings and therefore, they cannot have the real meaning of life (Morgan 81). For people to be at liberty with their actions, they should learn the reality envisaged in the teachings of Buddhism. Question Two According to Shen-hsiu teachings, a person exists in righteousness and must put efforts to improve his or her spiritual being. This process involves several stages as a person moves from one status to another (Jorgensen 74). The teachings emphasize that the transformation of a human life is not a one moment event but is a continuous process. It is a whole life occurrence which involves both the physical body and the mind. This means people must always be conscious of their actions and must endeavor to make them upright. Their memories will help them distinguish between morally upright and morally wrong episodes. On the other hand, intelligence should guide people in choos ing what actions they should take. People should make it a practice to watch their actions and thoughts failing which they will not be able to maintain wholesomeness. According to the teachings of Hui-neng, a person’s existence is either in the void or in the abundance (Jorgensen 85). The change from one state to another occurs at once after a person has realized the truth. He emphasizes that in the first instance, a person exists

Google's Three-Thirds HR Team Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Google's Three-Thirds HR Team - Case Study Example This third group is complemented by two other groups of thirds, one third having the traditional HR skills and experience with expertise in traditional human resources, relationships with clients, benefits, and the law, among other things. The next third, meanwhile, is staffed by non-savant problem solvers who have no HR background whatsoever, and whose line of work prior included stints in the consulting firms or stints in other functions within Google, including sales, as well as more traditional engineering. Being incorporated into the different functional units within Google, these third of the People Operations Group takes the role of spearheading problem solving initiatives within the context of the departments or functions. The emphasis here is not the kind of work that is done by the group of analytical third with doctorates, but on the solving of problems as they are intimately linked with the functional groups within Google (Case Facts). Bock notes that there is encouragement for the sharing of know-how/knowledge as well as for the groups to interact, but this hardly qualifies as making the diverse thirds into a team. Table 11-1 tells us that there are indicators for when a true team exists, and those must be followed and should serve as guide in determining whether a team exists or not. In Table 11-1 a team is a team when there is the sense that leadership has become an activity that is shared within the group. There is a shift towards joint individual and group accountability. There is the development of a group mission/purpose. Problem-solving becomes embedded into the DNA of what the group does, and not something done on the side. Teams measure themselves by their overall outcomes relative to goals. Given this, the Peoples Operations group would do well to craft its own mission statement, for one. Group goal setting should be done with the buy-in of everyone concerned. The groups compensation can also be tied to the  performance of the whole group, with each of the thirds working together to accomplish this.  

Increasing Service Quality at a Nationwide Restaurant Chain Essay

Increasing Service Quality at a Nationwide Restaurant Chain - Essay Example Simply put, quality of service is the customers’ expectation and evaluation of the level of ease and comfort he is supposed to have while enjoying or operating the products or services of the providing organization. For example, if a restaurant chain is classified as having a four or five star rating, not only would it have a there would be a certain level of proficiency expected in the provision of these services as well. In fact, when we enter a five star restaurant we expect a certain ambience and care and support that emanates from the reception area and goes right through the whole establishment. Empathy, reliability, responsiveness and assurance of the expected level of service are what gives the restaurant its rating and the customer’s perception of the actual services provided gives the satisfaction level of these benefits. Elements of Service Quality There can be many elements of service quality, but they all boil down to the five most important ones which are as under: a. Reliability: This is the ability of the service provider to provide what was promised, in an accurate and dependable manner. b. Assurance: This is the ability of the service provider to convey trust and confidence that what is desired will be carried out. It also reflects the knowledge and courtesy of the service provider while dealing with customer requests or complaints. c. Tangibility: This refers to the physical facilities and equipment at the hotel. Everything from the working style to the dress of the employees should send the message of a caring and responsive attitude to customer needs

Addressing Inequality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Addressing Inequality - Essay Example Being controversial issues, inequity and inequality are closely connected as inequity is the result of inequality. Inequality indicates the distribution of resources across society giving an idea of the difference between what rich and poor people can earn, average income, and redistribution of the county’s income. Countries characterized by high levels of inequality have high levels of poverty showing the fact that the distribution and redistribution of the country’s resources are linked to the poverty issues (Inequality: what is it?). One of the countries with high level of inequality is the U.S. The gap between poor and rich is the widest since 1929 and has doubled in 21 years. During the year (2001 and 2002) the number of poor rose by 1.7 million people. This imbalance is mostly caused by tax cuts which burden the poor more and more. There are complaints that the U.S. laws are unjust as they tolerate oppression of poor people and do not provide them minimum needs. I n Alabama, for example, people who get low income pay higher rate of income tax than those who are wealthy. As an example may be taken the timber industry that has the ownership for 71 percent of the land and pays only 2 percent of the tax. The paradox is that Americans are the richest nation but with the highest poverty rate (Lampman J.). Income inequality which is also among social issues of the U.S. is positively correlated with mental illness, low life expectancy, obesity, drug use, crime and teen pregnancy. Australia is also the country which has documented the growing gap between the poor and rich. The research shows that the most vulnerable Australians have been hardest hit by rising costs for health, education, and public transport services. Pensioners, unemployed, low-income people and aged have faced the harshest rising changes in the living costs. It has also been stated that essential services are placed beyond the reach of the above-mentioned section of the population. Education and medicine have become the services which are sometimes almost inaccessible to many people. The example may be education costs which soared 200 percent above the inflation rate and medical services which are 180 percent above the inflation rate (Holland K., Zimmer E). Inequality in Australia is present in various spheres of life, for example, the average female wage is only 65% of the average wage of a male, and racism is strongly expressed against aboriginals. Inequality is also a characteristic of the polarization of income groups into poor and rich. (Social Inequality in Australia) Hungary is among the countries with low economic growth, decline in wages, and high rate of inflation that has resulted from severe measures, introduces by the government, to make changes in health, educations, and to cut back on the deficit of the government. The above mentioned measures include co-payments in the sphere of health care, tuition at educational establishments. They were intr oduced in 2006 and caused social tension. Poverty of Hungarians is an extreme case of social inequalities. The number of poor is constantly growing. Vast job losses after 1990 caused rapid increase in inequalities and led to privatization and restructuring of wages and prices, and decline in the social transfers value. Declining income security has led to the number of health problems. Hungarians marry late, have few children and in most cases later in life. Life expectancy is also unsatisfactory as citizens live sorter than it would be expected taking into account economic development indicators. One more problem which results from inequality is high death rate especially among certain social groups of people. Hungary is the country for which such social problems

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example for Free

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay To Kill a Mockingbird alludes to Atticuss warning to Scout not to shoot her rifle at mockingbirds because they do nothing to harm people or there crops they only provide lovely music for people to listen to. (p. 119) Without this warning in the story the title wouldnt make sense, it would just be an off shot statement oblivious to the surrounding story. The warning is cryptic at first glance but looking back one can interpret this as foreshadowing. Atticuss warning is later turned into a metaphor when Tom Robinson, an innocent man who picked cotton for Link Deas, is accused of raping a young woman whos house he walked by twice a day. This is where Ms. Lee creates the metaphor between the mockingbird and Tom Robinson, the crippled African-American man accused of rape. The mockingbird and Tom Robinson have several similarities, they are both innocent, and free of sin, they are both humble and try only to good and it is considered a sin to kill a mockingbird and a crippled man. Tom Robinson is a crippled African-American man being used as a scapegoat for a crime that never happened. He was proven innocent by a lawyer accepting of all races, yet was jailed by a jury unable to push aside a prejudice and end a portion of racism in small southern town. As readers we are led to believe that Tom Robinson was an innocent man accused for a crime that he didnt commit, and jailed by a court of intolerance. Tom Robinson was killed as a criminal but died as an innocent man, he did not commit the crime that was pressed upon him, and was wrongfully killed while serving time for his oppression. The title of To Kill a Mockingbird has very little literal connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the book. In this story of innocents destroyed by evil, the â€Å"mockingbird† comes to represent the idea of innocence. Thus, to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Throughout the book, a number of characters (Jem, Tom Robinson, Dill, Boo Radley, Mr. Raymond) can be identified as mockingbirds—innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with evil. This connection between the novel’s title and its main theme is made explicit several times in the novel: after Tom Robinson is shot, Mr. Underwood compares his death to â€Å"the senseless slaughter of songbirds,† and at the end of the book Scout thinks that hurting Boo Radley would be like â€Å"shootin’ a mockingbird. † Most important, Miss Maudie explains to Scout: â€Å"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but . . . sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. † That Jem and Scout’s last name is Finch (another type of small bird) indicates that they are Scout is puzzled by this remark and asks Miss Maudie Atkinson about it. Miss Maudie says that:

An Evaluation of Pip, and His Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

An Evaluation of Pip, and His Great Expectations Essay In the year 1860, author Charles Dicken’s began his thirteenth novel, Great Expectations. The work is a coming-of-age novel, which tells the life story of an orphan boy named Pip, who much like Dickens’ in his earlier years is unhappy with his current life. A number of Charles Dickens’ personal life events are mirrored in the novel, leaving Great Expectations to be one of his most autobiographical works. Young Pip, the protagonist of the novel is stuck living in the marsh country, he is working a job that he hates, and considers himself to be too good for his current surroundings, much like Dickens’ did when he was younger. While working on Great Expectations, Dickens’ made weekly installments to the novel, leading it to be one of his most well structured works. Great Expectations is a novel which develops a number of different themes as the story progresses, with the primary theme being personal growth and ambition. The story tells us that morals such as affection, loyalty and conscience are much more important in reality than social-class, social advancement, and wealth. The protagonist, Pip, is destined to learn this lesson through his ‘great expectations’, as he explores different ideas of ambition and self-improvement. Great Expectations is a convincing tale told in the perspective of an orphan named Pip, who tells his realistic life story from the very beginning of his ‘great expectations’, which all began one evening when he had a strange encounter with an escaped convict in a cemetery, while he was looking at the tombstones of his parents. This mysterious stranger ordered young Pip to bring him food and a file to break loose the shackle on his leg. If Pip does not comply, the strangers promises to murder him. After bringing the convict food and an iron the next day, Pip finds out that the convict has been arrested, and the mysterious criminal has protected Pip by telling the authorities that he stole the food himself. Some time after this event took place, a lawyer by the name of Jaggers appears in the marsh country that Pip lives in, and he comes with strange news: a strange benefactor has given young Pip a large fortune, and Pip must leave his life of being a blacksmith at the for ge behind in order to go to London with Jaggers and become a gentleman, and get his education. During his time in London, Pip discovers many truths about his life, the mysterious benefactor, and his past. A man from the country marsh named Orlick who is the polar-opposite of Pip reappears in his life, and is dead set on ruining it, as well as hopefully killing him. The reader is kept guessing what will happen with Orlick and Pip as the story progresses, as well as who Pip’s mysterious benefactor is. Dickens’ managed to make Great Expectations and interesting read, but a rather dull journey lacking any sort of excitement. Instead of having any sort of surprise throughout Great Expectations, the author simply gives answers to questions asked and created throughout the story, none in which intrigue the readers. The end holds no real surprise, and the novel ultimately ends up being just a message to the readers, saying that money and living in a good social class is not important in comparison to family, friends, and happiness. There are a number of events throughout that story that are irrelevant to everything, such as Pip and his friend Herbert end up being in debt. The debt has absolutely no negative or positive effect on the story, but is only a bit of filler throughout one of the chapters. The main character of Great Expectations, Pip, is the most guilt-ridden character in the novel, he has no prejudice. His most noticeable and crucial characteristics are his naturally good conscience, and his immature glory of romance. Pip eventually faces an internal conflict once he better understands the reality behind poverty and immorality, he decides that he wants to achieve as much as possible. Because of this, Pip puts his life at the marsh country behind him, he abandons the people who care for him the most, and goes to London where he becomes a gentleman. In London, Pip views his past actions very negatively, and very seldom does he ever give himself credit for good deeds he has done in the past. As a gentleman, Pip starts to act as he always imagined a gentleman would, this adds to him treating his family poorly. Many of the characters throughout the story do not seem to be very realistic, it is almost as if they were meant to come across as being quite fictional. Estella is an unrealistically ‘cold’ character, who has zero feelings for anybody or any living thing. She has absolutely no ability to express emotions to the extent that it seems completely unreal.Despite this, Estella almost does come across as being quite sympathetic for her being the way she is. She warns Pip regularly that she has â€Å"no heart†, and strongly urges him to love somebody else, for she is not good for his wellbeing and happiness. At the end of the novel, however, Estella finally begins to feel like as though she is out of Miss Havisham’s control, and is finally her own person, as she tells Pip, â€Å"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching. . . I have been bent and broken, but I hope into a better shape.† Miss Havisham is the most unrealistic character in Great Expectations, she lives in a rotted mansion, and has not removed her wedding dress in over ten years. Miss Havisham has stopped every clock in her mansion at twenty minutes to nine, and refuses to ever know what time it is, whether it be day or night. Great Expectations takes place in the 19th century, the main character, Pip, is born in England in the 1800’s and is telling his story in the year 1860. The novel is set around the life of Pip, who is on a mission to meet his â€Å"great expectations†, whatever those may be, and to become a gentleman. His life story takes place both in the southeast marsh country of England, and eventually in London, England, where Pip lives as a gentleman. Great Expectations takes place during a very busy time for England, with the Industrial Revolution occurring, as well as the voidance of slavery in the British colonies during 1834. To the people, London is considered to be a prospering capital, and England is a powerful giant on the globe. However, the way Dickens’ depicts is quite the opposite of that. Pip’s hometown Kent, which resides near the marshlands is twenty miles away from the ocean, and the townsfolk can see the Thames River flow through it. Off in the distance of the marshland and ocean is where the convict ships dock, causing many criminals to lurk about the area. The setting is important because of the time period the story takes place, the economy is thriving and there is plenty of opportunity for money. The mood throughout the story feels rather empty, there is never much tension, never much pain, and never much happiness throughout Great Expectations. There are times throughout the novel when some places Pip travels to bring the mood to different levels, for example, Miss Havisham’s rotting mansion sets a darker mood on the tale, but shortly after when Pip is back in London, the story is back to the usual calm mood of Great Expectations. The story often goes through mood swings because of this. When certain characters come into the picture, they do hav e a slight effect on the atmosphere, though the atmosphere of the novel is usually made clear through Pip’s thoughts, as well as his actions. The year is 1860, Charles Dickens’ has just begun his thirteenth novel, the irritating tale of a young man named Pip, who has come across a large fortune of money, and decides to selfishly leave his family and loved ones behind in order to go to London, and be rich. As the novel progresses, Pip develops as a human being and learns many things, as well as beats himself up for his past. Throughout the ride, Pip comes across a great deal of many different people,such as a heartbroken old timer who grieves every day in her own self pity, a stone cold young lady who holds no love for any living thing, a criminal who has a strong sense of high values, and a lawyer who takes Pip under his wing to becoming a gentleman. Each character is unique in their own way, yet each continue to be uninteresting throughout the novel. Dickens’ not only presented the readers with a number of dull characters, but gave his audience a boring tale which ultimately holds no sort of significance in the end. While the novel is generally quite uninteresting, the setting of the novel is rather exciting as it takes place during the Industrial Revolution of England, however this is hardly noted in the novel, therefore putting readers in front of a rather empty, â€Å"too much like home† world, where the men work hard and the women stay at inside all day, the rich are greedy and the poor are struggling. Charles Dickens had a great idea with Great Expectations, but focused too much on other things as well throughout the story which ultimately helped lead it to become uninteresting and irritating to get through, at times there was too much going on in the novel, while at other times unnecessary events were taking place, which did not progress the story in any way whatsoever. Though the theme of Great Expectations exists, the end gives readers more of a relief that the book is finished, rather than leaving them in an intrigued state which Dickens seemed to have originally intended.

The Adventure In The Context Of Tourism Tourism Essay

The Adventure In The Context Of Tourism Tourism Essay Adventure Tourism has known a rapid popularity during these last past decades. This rise and sudden popularity was partially thanks to a progression in the commercialization of outdoor recreation (Buckley, 2000, 2004a; Travel Industry Association, 2005) in (Buckley, 2007). Adventure travel existed since a long time; it began with early settler and has amplified increasingly since this period. The first adventure travelers were early explorers in quest of discovery, in the hunt for new resources, lands and looking for unknown places. Columbus, Cook, Da Gama, Magellan and Raleigh are among the well known early explorers in quest of adventure (Swarbrooke et al, 2003: 41). Mercenaries were also characterized as early adventurers having as main interest money, risk seeking while some others like Pilgrims were looking for spiritual knowledge (Swarbrooke et al, 2003). Adventure tourism is currently receiving a lot of attention and is the fastest and fashionable growing sector of the tourism industry. It is perceived as being a niche segment and take in land, air and sea-based activities. Adventure travel is becoming well-liked and individuals are now striving to find equilibrium between work and leisure. Adventure travel has recently created a center of attention for the older people most precisely the baby boomers (Patterson and Pan, 2007). This new cohort born between 1946 and 1964 are getting engaged in new adventure activities. This tendency is principally due to a change in lifestyle, being financially secured than previous cohorts and having more time now that their children have left home. Baby boomers are pushed and pulled by different motives to engage in Adventure tourism. One can have the wish for new experiences, escape from the daily routine, baby boomers in todays world no longer want to sit in a bus going for sightseeing they want t o experience in the activity. Baby boomers can be soft adventurers in pursuit of easy-doing activities containing low level of risk like bird watching, horse riding or hard adventurers in quest of thrills, challenge and adrenaline. Therefore, to better exploit the subject, research has been undertaken to explore and analyze what really motivate this generation to engage in adventure tourism, identify the different motivational factors, the types of activities they are more likely to participate in and their profile characteristics. Lot of research has been done on Adventure Tourism (Vester, 1987; Hill, 1995; Sung, 1997, 2000, 2004; Ewert and Jamieson, 2003; Beedie and Hudson, 2003; Gyimothy and Mykletun, 2004; Kane and Tucker, 2004; Weir, 2004; Flucker, 2005; Williams and Soutar, 2005; Cater, 2006; Page et al, 2006; Buckley, 2000, 2006, 2007; Patterson and Pan, 2007; Schott, 2007; Dimmock, 2009; Reynolds, 2012). Moreover there are some books of particular relevance to adventure tourism. These include Miles and Priest (1999) on adventure programming in outdoor recreation; Swarbrooke et al, 2003 on Adventure Tourism: The new frontier; Buckley (2006) on the structure of adventure tourism products and Patterson (20 06) on Growing older, tourism and leisure behavior of older adults. 1.1. Problem Statement Several studies have been written on adventure tourism, however no other studies apart from Patterson and Pan (2007) has been found on the motivation of baby boomers in adventure tourism. Most of the existing studies focus on adventure tourism from a general point of view (Vester, 1987; Buckley, 2006; Whiriskey and McCarthy, 2006) or look at different perspective such as Mountaineering and Adventure Tourism (Beedie and Hudson, 2003; Pomfret, 2006). Though, there is relatively little research neither on the motivation of people to engage in adventure nor on baby boomers. Ewert and Hollenhorst (1989) focused on adventure travel and its wilderness. Sung, Morrison and OLeary (2004) investigate on the segmentation of adventure market by activities while Dimmock (2009) explored on the comfort in adventure and Reynolds (2012) studied on the motivation and lifestyle of surfing as an adventure travel. Thus adventure tourism has been studied but through diverse perspectives and none apart from Patterson and Pan (2006) has focused on the motivation of Baby Boomers in Adventure. Subsequently to compensate this gap, this research will go deeper to assess those motivations that indulge baby boomers to participate in adventure tourism. 1.2. Aim and Objectives Aim The main aim of this study is to assess what motivate baby boomers to engage in adventure tourism. Objectives Assess the socio-demographic characteristics of baby boomers. To evaluate the trip arrangement factors of baby boomers To differentiate between hard and soft adventure and identify in which type of adventure activities baby boomers are more engaged in. Examine the push and pull factors that influence baby boomers in their choice. Outline of Study This study consists of five sections: the introduction, the literature review, methodology, results and discussion and conclusion and possible recommendations. Chapter 1: The study starts with a brief description on the field of research. This includes an introduction on the expansion of the tourism industry, the emergence of adventure tourism in todays world. It also includes the problem statement, aims and objectives of the research. Chapter 2: The literature review is divided into two parts which is chapter 2 and chapter 3. Chapter 2 is the first part of the literature review. This entails the theoretical background; starting with brief definition of different terms namely adventure Tourism, baby boomers, the types of adventure tourism. Chapter 3: The second part of the literature review lays great emphasis on the motivational theories; this chapter goes deeper onto the different motives that influence individuals in their choice for adventure. Chapter 4: This comprises of the methodology, this explains how research was conducted, the questionnaire design, method used to collect the data, sampling techniques, the data analysis and limitations of the study. Chapter5: This includes the results and discussions of the results Chapter 6: The last chapter reviews all of what have been discussed in the research and ends with some possible recommendations Chapter 2 2.0. Introduction This chapter consists of the literature review; the literature review sets the theoretical framework of this study. Before coming to the definition of adventure tourism, the term adventure is first explained, entailing its core characteristics. This is followed by an explanation on the term adventure tourism and baby boomers, types of adventure tourism as well as a the different types of activities involved in adventure tourism. 2.1. Adventure Adventure is all about action (Kane and Tucker, 2004). The term Adventure does not have a single definition. Adventure could mean different things to different people. What is Adventure for one can be routine for another (Weir, 2004). It varies from a vacation experience to a daily work life of an individual. In order to better understand the term adventure, it is crucial to pass on to its core characteristics; this is demonstrated in the figure below. Figure 1: The core characteristics of Adventure Source: Swarbrooke et al. (2003) These characteristics effectively go over the main points of adventure. Swarbrooke et al. (2003) affirm that these characteristics are mutually dependent since one element can develop the stimuli of another. For instance, novelty may lead to new exploration and discovery, escape from daily life, a look for challenge, danger and risk and develop contrasting emotions. 2.3. Adventure in the context of Tourism Tourists in todays world are not the same as it was in previous years. In this day and age, tourists are desperately in pursuing momentous and unique experiences. They want active rather than passive participation, seek new sensation and change from their ordinary life (Moeran, 1983:17). Adventure tourism is the new emergent and niche sector of the tourism industry. This sector count up 15% of all leisure travel and this rate is going to enlarge in the coming future (Hawkins, 1994; Loverseed, 1997; Fluker and Turner, 2000). Researchers has defined adventure tourism through diverse interpretation (Buckley, 2000; Bentley and Page, 2001; Hudson, 2002; Swarbrooke et al. 2003; Page et al. 2005). Amodeo (2004: 84) define adventure tourism as travel to places that require a certain degree of effort and commitment to get and are about the experience and the journey rather than just a list of places visited or the level of luxury. On the contrary, Muller and Cleaver (2000, p.156) define adventure tourism as physically bracing, adrenalin-driven, somewhat risky, with moments of exhilaration punctuated by many opportunities to assess and reassess what has been done or accomplished. As compared to Amodeo (2004), Muller and Cleaver (2000) definition of the term is mostly inter-related to the two constructs of perceived risk and perceived performance, where high physical ability and risk sensation is mended for it to be extreme and dynamic. Nevertheless, Weir (2004) argue that Adventure do not necessarily contain high level of danger, since there exist adventure with no element of risk or hazard. In the tourism industry, this is normally termed as soft adventure. On the contrary of the definition provided by the researchers, Swarbrooke et al (2003) state that Adventure tourism is not defined according to specific activities that are undertaken, but more by the state of mind and approach of the participant. This means that it is the personal interpretation and perception of individuals towards Adventure that will more clearly define the term. Six major dimensions of adventure tourism have been developed by Sung, Morrison and OLeary (1997) and these are namely activity, experience, environment, motivation, risk and performance. These components can be seen as major essentials for people to go for adventure travel. The activity and environment will consist of the physical location of the adventure travel, and this can be the natural environment. The experience will be the outcome to gain at the end, this can be self-achievement. Moreover, the motivation is all about the interest of the individual and endeavors to engage in adventure while risk and performance is a look for challenge and competence to do the activity. Adventure tourism takes in a range of activities and this includes air, sea and land-based activities (Hall, 1992; Fennel, 1999; Page et al. 2003; Pomfret, 2004; Gajda, 2008).This is illustrated in table 1. Table 1: Conventional and contemporary adventure tourism activities Land based Water based Air based Mixed (land/water/air) Abseiling Body boarding Ballooning Adventure racing Backpacking Canoeing Bungee jumping Charity challenges Bicycle Canyoning Cliff jumping Conservation expeditions Caving Cruise expeditions Gliding Cultural experiences Climbing Kayaking Hang-gliding Gap your travel Dog sledding Sailing Micro-lighting Hedonistic experiences Hiking Scuba diving Paragliding Spiritual enlightenment Hunting Snorkeling Parachuting Wildlife watching Horseback riding Surfing Skydiving Jungle exploring Water skiing Motorcycling White water rafting Mountain biking Wind surfing Mountaineering Orienteering Quad biking Scrambling Skiing Snow boarding Snow mobiling Snow shoeing Via Ferrata* Wilderness experiences* â‚ ¬Ã‚ ªBackpacking, climbing, hiking, mountaineering, skiing, via ferrata and wilderness experiences are all mountaineering-related activities Sources: Hall 1992, Page et al. 2003, Pomfret 2004 2.4. Types of Adventure Tourism Adventure tourism is composed of diverse types of activities which can fit to the need of different adventure traveler (CBI, 2011). Types of Adventure tourism can be categorized in two section which is hard and soft Adventure. The categorization of the Adventure tourism aspects diverge between researchers (Hill, 1995; Cloke and Perkins, 1998; Sung, Morrison and OLeary, 2000; Ewert and Jamieson, 2003; Ryan and Trauer, 2004) in (Schott, 2007). For example, Sung, Morrison and OLeary (2000) categorized the types of activities into six groupings including soft nature, risk equipped, question marks, hard challenge, rugged nature and winter snow (Beedie and Hudson, 2003). Several studieswere categorized in terms of activities and principally between hard and soft adventure and the researchers study will follow this trend (Hill, 1995; Millington and Locke, 2001; Ewert and Jamieson, 2003:69; Miller, 2003:2; Adventure Travel Society, 2003; Patterson and Pan, 2007). Table 2 present some example s of soft and hard adventure tourism. Table 2: Examples of soft and hard adventure tourism Soft adventure Hard adventure Wilderness jeep safaris Climbing and mountaineering Supervised and escorted trekking Long distance back country trekking Cycling holidays Downhill mountain biking Sailing holidays Paragliding Learning to surf and to windsurf Heli-skiing holidays Camping Canoeing and kayaking Source: Sung et al. 2000 2.4.1. Soft Adventure Soft adventure can be defined as adventure activities that require low level of risk, low physical effort and obligation. These are activities usually undertaken by novice adventurers or people who want passive activities level, accompanied with experienced guides (Hill, 1995) in (Schott, 2007). On the other hand, Goodnow (2005) described Soft adventure journeys as travel to new and exotic locations with low force activities. Some major examples of soft adventure activities are horse-riding, biking, hiking, canoeing, snorkeling, and animal watching, walking in natural areas, safari (Beedie and Hudson, 2003; Swarbrooke et al, 2003; Williams and Soutar, 2005; Patterson and Pan, 2006; CBI, 2011) Generally, novice adventures engaged in soft activities due to the fact that they lack some experience, it can be misperceiving risk and their competence and perhaps choose soft activities because of a sensation of fear and hesitant and thus want to be on safe in a secured environment (Priest, 1999, p.160, cited in Miles and Priest; Pomfret, 2004). 2.4.2 Hard Adventure Hill (1995) labeled hard adventure as activities requiring high level of risk, extreme commitment and superior and sometimes specialized skills. Hill also point out that hard adventures necessitate good skills in risky and dangerous situations. Risk and competence are two major aspects involve in hard adventure activities. Those engage in hard adventure are generally in quest of challenge, adrenaline rush and risk(Peterson, 1989; Rubin, 1989; Mallett, 1992) in (Williams and Soutar, 2005). People have a desire to seek new sensations (Zuckerman, 1979), and are motivated by challenge and mastery (Ewert, 1985). These people are commonly known to be brave, skilled and having good physical intensity (Pomfret, 2004) Some examples of hard activities are mountain climbing, bungee jumping, canyoning, caving, ballooning, parasailing, surfing and so forth. 2.5. Baby Boomers Baby boomers can be defined as a cohort of young-old people who were born between 1946 and 1964. They are now aged between 48 and 66 years old in 2012, (Gillon, 2004) in (Patterson, 2006, p.15). The history of baby boomers dated from the period of the Second World War. Baby Boomer develops its name due to a growth in birthrate during the years 1946 and 1964  [1]  . During this century, soldiers came back home from war and wanted to start a new life, build up a family, which show this sudden rise in birthrate (Ohio History Central, 2005). Statistics recorded 79 million births during this period1 Another synonym for baby boomers can be Lucky Generation (Mackay, 1997, p.60) in (Hamilton, M and Hamilton, C., 2006). The term Lucky was used to describe them because they have grown up in the first generation enjoying a reasonably prosperous and serene society. Additionally, Hamilton (2006) point out that during retirement baby boomers will definitely have more money to spend after long years of hardworking and savings from pension plans. Baby boomers enjoy a better health than in the past; they are taking special care to their diet, though living longer and happier and more importantly being physically active by engaging in various types of leisure activities (Cochran, 2005; Sperazza and Banerjee, 2011). Baby boomers are seeking new change and novelty; they no longer want to rely on repeat leisure program like bingo party, voluntary actions or mere leisure interests. These activities are getting outdated and this is not going to be in the interest of the baby boomers in retirement. As a result, Experts will definitely have to look at new leisure products, or programs that will attractenthusiastic, energetic participants rather than passive participant (Cochran, Rothschadl and Rudick, 2009). 2.6. Adventure Tourism and Baby Boomers Adventure Tourism has become very popular during these last past decades. Adventure Tourism is considered as an alternative form of tourism. In todays world, people no longer want to enjoy basic activities; they want to surpass the mass activities, being deeply in the thrill and excitement of the adventures. The aging process has also altered intensely during these past years. According to Xola Adventure (2006), old people aged between 41-to-60 years old represent the greatest participating age category in adventure travel at a rate of 42.2 percent. This has emerged and is going to develop more in the future. When talking and thinking about aging process our first impression was an inexorable slide into illness, impotence and immobility (Kraus, 2001). Nowadays, this image of the baby boomers is no more present. Patterson (2006) also shares his opinion on this change. She argues that this is a time of new experiences and feelings. Baby boomers need to feel they are free to do what they want or what they have always dreamed of and which were not fulfilled years before (MacNeil and Teague, 1987; Leitner, 1996; McGuire et al., 2004). Adventure is not reserve for younger people, nowadays lots of people aged between 42 and 64 are being engaged in adventurous activities. Gone are those days where older people used to spend their leisure time in sedentary and socially based activities like watching movies, listening to the radio (Lawton, 1993) in (Patterson, 2006: 7). Research has demonstrate that we are moving through an era where things are changing, habits of older people from previous generation differs from that of the present generation. Baby boomers see their retirement as being the time to refresh, experience novelty and new sensation. They acquire a feeling of freedom and harmony, do what they want, things that was impossible for them to accomplish perhaps due to overload of work, looking and caring for their children (MacNeil and Teague, 1987; Leitner 1996; McGuire et al., 2004). Being more financially secure, in good health and physical condition, and also well-educated encourage baby boomers to engage in outdoor recreation activities. This enables them to feel at one with nature, physically fit and more importantly a way to feel they are still young. Lipscombe (1995) in his research find out that lots of older adults are at present requesting activities that engage physical defy, not purposely danger but travel that have at least journeys, intellectual challenge, and involving the exploration of new places and cultures (Gibson and Singleton, 2012). It is to be noted that baby boomers are not seeking for simple and easy-done activity; they are looking for a certain degree of challenge and risk. They want to have fun, seek thrill, these can be a principle motive because they were too focus on their career years before, striving hard to cater for the needs of the family. All this was such a big responsibility that they now want to relax and enjoy, do something for themselves while children had grown up and get away in the routine they had imprisoned themselves for years. Chris Doyle, vice president of ATTA point out from an interview with Airoldi (2008) that the50-plus traveler is a major market for adventure sector; especially because they are among those who travel more frequently since they have the financial ability to do so. Muller and OCass (2001) explore the different motive of older men and women in engaging in adventure activities. He note down that young at heart older men were more interested to take part in activities such as white-water rafting, glacier hiking, rock climbing, caving and hot air-ballooning. On the contrary to the young at heart older men, the young at heart older women has a preference for mountain hiking, rainwater treks, bird-watching and walking for inner journeys while being on travel holiday. It is then observed that men prefer hard adventure activity as compared to women who enjoyed generally soft ones. A Marketing to women report (2000) sustain such statement by arguing that women aged between 55 and 75 are more likely to engage in soft activities like safaris, hikes and trips to striking locations. They further point out to favor being in a secure environment with professional adventure providers, and with company of others having similar ages. Adventure can be classified in certain words, Play, Freedom and Reality (Kane and Tucker, 2004). The authors basically described adventure as a game played by participants in tourism; being free to engage in any particular activities and experiencing the reality of it. Moreover Kane and Tucker interpret the term play, as being a game for the adults, reliving their childhood and though enjoying this freedom to play like a child again. Hence, this fresh cohort of retirees is hungry to get off the beaten path (Symonds, 1998). 2.7. Summary From this chapter, the researcher has been able to gain a theoretical knowledge of the basic theories on adventure tourism and baby boomers. The different types of adventure tourism was examined, which is hard and soft adventure. The baby boomers generation was also defined, where proper information was gathered in regards to their lifestyle and their interaction in leisure and adventure tourism