Economics Project

Economists have established an informal method for gauging the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two foreign currencies termed as the Big Mac Index. The name taken by the index, Big Mac, was derived from the hamburger sold at the McDonald’s restaurants that are almost in over 120 countries. Pan Woodall an economist is the one who introduced the Big Mac Index in September 1986. Economists have argued that the Big Mac index has proved to be a more accurate financial earmark to have ever been based on food items.A fair bench mark value is the exchange rate that ensures burgers in other parts of the world cost the same as those in the US (Wankel, 2009). A recent research showed Asia to be the cheapest place for one to enjoy a burger. How to arbitrage among burgers in the USA and Britain To arbitrage among burgers in the US and Britain the sellers should consider some of the following factors; Transport costs, costs in transport are very important as far as the transportation o f inputs and outputs is concerned. The costs of access of the premises by customers are also a must consideration in setting up a business.The location that seems to be cheaper and brings high returns to the investor should then have the upper hand. The other factor to consider is trade restrictions put in place by different governments. While differences in transport costs can leave room for arbitrageurs to make good profits, trade restrictions completely wipes off such opportunities. In relation to tariffs, taxes in countries hinder business opportunities in different governments. To arbitrage one should consider a country that does not have high tax rates. Effects of many people arbitragingThe issue of arbitrage serves a very important function in listed option markets. Arbitrage provides an option in secondary markets where he can not be able to exit if need does not occur. Most markets are dictated by the transportation costs, their physical sizes, and physical features that ac t as barriers. Yet with all these barriers, people are still willing to arbitrage. When many people are arbitraging, the market created leads to the attraction of demand (Wankel, 2009). Without them, the net buyers attracted will reduce and be short-lived.With the presence of heavy arbitrageurs in a place, price is affected. This is due to the essence of high supply that results to a negative effect on the prices. This results to an inordinate in stock selling. Reasons for price differentials in Big Macs The differences in prices in Big Macs may be due to various reasons. Some of them include; culture of the people where the restaurants are located, tastes and preferences, price of other related products and . the culture dictates what people should and should not consume.If prices of other products are lower then the demand of Big Mac will be affected negatively. This greatly dictates the price of Big Mac. The cost of producing Big Mac in different place also dictates the price. Ta xes charged in countries of operations also have impacts on price. If taxes charged are high in one region, the prices shoot up as investors try to compensate for these high taxes by charging high taxes. The argument in paragraph two is valid as an increase in imports often affects prices in the importing country negatively.The country spends a lot in terms of importing than it receives from exports. In the third paragraph, it is true that trade in third world countries is poorly organized due to this the economy is so poor. The countries often spend a lot in importing finished goods than it exports. Though the countries are rich in resources both raw and minerals, the countries can not manage them effectively. Instead foreign states manage them and most returns end up benefiting foreign countries than the mother countries. Reference: Wankel, C. (2009). Encyclopedia of Business in Today's World, Volume 1. New York: Sage.

Breadfruit Analysis / Reactions

Breadfruit is a short poem written by English poet Philip Larkin. The poem is composed of only two stanzas, each composing of eight lines. The poem is about the failure of men to mature when they dream of unrealistic things, as referred in line14 of the second stanza—the demise of a fantasy of living a life that resembles that of a life in a tropical paradise amidst the reality of life. The title â€Å"Breadfruit† is misleading because the poem is not exactly about the fruit itself. In fact the speaker does not even know what Breadfruits are.â€Å"†¦Whatever they are. † (line 2 and 17). The fruit bears no significance except as an ornament for the native girls. The first line, â€Å"Boys dream of native girls who bring breadfruit. † (line 1) shows readers images of a tropical island paradise where native girls are stereotypically innocent and offer foreigners, in the poem’s case, the boys, a tropical fruit which is breadfruit. As mentioned, the use of breadfruit is insignificant; it may have been just a random tropical fruit that Larkin chose.He could have used coconuts, bananas, or any fruit that is typically found in tropical areas. The third line and fourth lines â€Å"As bribes to teach them how to execute/ Sixteen sexual positions on the sand;† (3-4). This sexual aspiration is of course from the point of view of the day dreaming boys. Although tropical island girls may have been stereotyped (thanks mostly to the movies) as innocent, willing to explore anything types, I don’t think island girls would give an offering as it were, just to satisfy their sexual desires. Specifics again do not matter in this poem.Just as the Breadfruit, at least in my opinion does not bear significance, the number of sexual positions does not really have any symbolic meaning. It could have been just an aesthetic technique of Larkin to relate the number sixteen to the age of the island girls that were willing to offer breadfru it for sex. And again, it is just the product of the boys’ fantasies so the number may be relatively higher to emphasize the unrealistic fantasy. The rest of the lines in the first stanza, lines 5-8, are about the result of the island girls sleeping with the boys.â€Å"This makes them join (the boys) the tennis club,/Jive at the Mecca, use deodorants, and/ On Saturdays squire ex-schoolgirls to the pub/ By private car. † (5-8). The lines suggests that once the island girls have slept with the boys, they would be civilized and let go of their island ways. In a sense, it shows the corruption that sex can possibly do. If the first stanza is all about the dream, then the second stanza is about the realization that these dreams are exactly what they are—dreams. The daydreaming ends, the boys change into men and now they are in churches, probably with their wives, and in offices.â€Å"Such uncorrected visions end in church/ Or registrar:† (9-10). The speaker men tions that these dreams are visions that are â€Å"uncorrected† meaning the speaker too realizes that it is wrong to dream of such things. The rest of the lines, except for the last two which is somewhat a repetition of the first two lines, are all about realities of life in contrast to the fantasies of the first stanza. The lines give examples of negative realities; â€Å"A mortgaged semi†¦, a widowed mum having to scheme with money; illness; age.† These examples show that life has more serious things to attend to other than wandering off in a daydream in an island with innocent, promiscuous girls. The theme of the poem does not have to be thought of that much because the speaker mentions it perfectly at the last lines of the poem. â€Å"Maturity falls, when old men sit and dream/ Of naked native girls who bring breadfruit/ Whatever they are. † (14-16). It is immature for grown men to daydream if they have responsibilities to attend to. Reference Larkin, P . (1961). Breadfruit. Retrieved May 15, 2009. from http://www. philiplarkin. com/pom/pomcurrent. html

Understanding behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Understanding behaviour - Essay Example A specific ‘disturbance’ in children, i.e. ‘temper tantrums’ shall be closely looked at evaluating whether the same derives its roots from ‘nature’ or ‘nurture’ or both. Before concluding we shall consider if the disturbance under our observation can be better explained by ‘transactional model’. The aim of this paper shall be chiefly to identify the factors responsible for shaping social and emotional development in children. I shall argue that not a single factor can shape a child’s development, yet not every theory by its own strength can serve as an explanation for a child’s development. Therefore, it is the amalgamation of the basic ideas of all theories that would best be able to meet our end. Simply understood, the term ‘development’ can be defined as â€Å"changes over time in the child’s understanding of, attitudes towards, and actions with others† (As cited in Smith & Hart 2002 p.3). An essential element inevitable in the process of development of children is ‘change’. Change is not just a forseeable phenomenon in children, they are a prerequisite to development as well. That is because every physical or emotional development entails ‘change’. But what affects this change? Apart from the greater biological mechanism that determine changes in us, certain other factors such as once’s social upbringing and other environmental influences are also responsible. Before we can even start evaluating the causes for the development in children, it is inevitable to find a barrier in having a conclusive take for the same, for, perhaps the biggest debate in the field of psychology, the Nature versus Nurture argument keeps all possible explanation in the state of indeterminacy. Those who supported ‘nature’ claimed that development is essentially the result of the pre-set biological functionings that get encoded from parents to offspring. They argue that â€Å"†¦genetic

The Ruthlessness in King Harald's Saga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Ruthlessness in King Harald's Saga - Essay Example Indeed, it would be easiest to show Harold’s ruthlessness and cruelty towards those whom he fought and conquered, as his Viking blood would often boil and he could not resist killing and maiming those whom he beat in battle. But King Harold’s true ruthlessness and inhumanity showed through in his treatment of his own subjects who did not do exactly as he wanted, his unending desire to plunder and terrorize neighboring kingdoms (like that of the Danes to his south), and continuing efforts to own to expand his ruling empire to lands far from his native Norway. King Harold of Norway served as a transitionary figure, wedged between a barbaric Europe which crawled out of the early Middle Ages--filled with Viking plundering and horrific feats of violence against the people of mainland Europe and what is now Great Britain--into a new era away from the senseless and violent plundering of the Nordic tribes into a honor and land-based fealty hierarchy of rule. King Harold would u ltimately meet his doom on the battlefield in his final quest to expand his empire. The last of the feared Scandinavian kings of northern Europe (Sturluson 2005, 9), Harold’s rule was pockmarked by raids against Denmark, iron-fisted rule and intimidation by fear of his own people of Norway, and the attempted expansion of his empire into Britain (Sturuson 2005, 9). Harold was brutal to his enemies and dealt ruthlessly with any opposition to him. His inhumanity to his people was even glorified in poem. In the words of the poet Thjodolf (Sturuson 2005, 161): Resourceful King Harold Punishes pride in his subjects; The king’s guilty men Pay a heavy penalty. The punishment they get Is earned by their misdeeds; Each man gets his due deserts; Harold dispenses justice. Like most rulers of the time, Harold was very generous to those whom he saw as his friends or allies, but ruled his subjects with an iron fist. When King Magnus of Denmark died, Harold had his eye trained on subj ugating all of Denmark to Norwegian rule-- his rule. His actions toward the Danish people best illustrates the ruthlessness that King Harold had in his heart when he wanted to subjugate a people to his rule. As he took his Norwegian army southward into Denmark, raiding and plundering all that he could take, and stealing the wealth of the Danes to take back to Norway with him, without even subjugating Denmark. He continued to plunder Denmark each summer thereafter, in order to terrorize the people of Denmark and to establish his dominance over them (Sturluson 2005, 81). Harold killed hundreds, and the corpses piled upon each other and the Danes trembled each year in anticipation of his plundering and brutality he brought to the people. Of course, there were battles against other Kings of other lands. King Svein of Denmark was constantly at battle with Harold of Norway. But how Harold treated his subjects is more interesting to the causal historian such as this writer. Of course, all rulers were inhumane towards their

Describe and analyze Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Describe and analyze - Essay Example Being the biggest democratic country and the second most heavily populated country in the world, India’s progress is watched with curiosity by scholars and economists. Many people believe that India may become another superpower in the world in near future itself. It should be noted that the recent recession has caused less problems to India’s economy even though it caused many problems in America and Europe. Prominent companies are targeting India as a manufacturing destination because of the availability of cheap labor in India. Distance is no more a problem for overseas companies in targeting India because of the development of internet related business strategies. Offshoring and outsourcing like new business principles and the development of internet related business technologies helped India immensely in changing its destiny from a poor country to a prosperous country. Neither technology nor the dimensions of distance are a problem for India as far as development i s concerned. This paper analyses India’s dimensions of distance, institutions, industrial clusters, and diffusion of technology. â€Å"Distance between two countries can manifest itself along four basic dimensions: cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic† (Ghemawat, Distance Still, p.138). ... For Indians, Pakistan is a different country culturally, politically and economically whereas China is a different country in terms of politics and culture. So these countries are not in good relations with India even though they are geographically close to India. On the other hand, geographically distant countries such as America and Europe are good trade partners of India. â€Å"Economists often rely on the so-called gravity theory of trade flows, which says there is a positive relationship between economic size and trade and a negative relationship between distance and trade† (Ghemawat, Distance Still, p.138). Traditional economic principles says that it is easy to increase global trade between countries of proximity. However, India is a country, which has trade relations with even distant countries. It should be noted that Europe and America are some of the distant regions from India; yet India has strong economic relationships with these countries. In fact, India is a pro minent member country of the Group of 20 (G-20) developing nations, even though majority of the members of this group are from Europe and America. â€Å"The largest IT services markets are the most advanced economies, whose per capita incomes make them distant economically from India† (Ghemawat, The Cosmopolitan, p.95). For example, America and majority of the European countries are much more developed than India. These regions or countries are the largest IT services market in the world. The per capita income these countries are much higher than that of the Indians. However, it should not be forgotten that India is one of the largest service IT provider and the second largest country in terms

Affect Of Attitudes To Risk On Decision Outcomes Essay

Affect Of Attitudes To Risk On Decision Outcomes - Essay Example Individuals tend to take bigger risks if they have a big amount of wealth in their portfolio. Normally, where there is a high risk in an investment, it is probable that the payoff tends to be bigger, and where the risk is small, the payoffs tend to be smaller. Due to this reasons, individuals with massive wealth in their portfolio tend to be riskier so as to maximize their payoff. This type of individuals mostly is driven by their ambition to acquire more wealth in the future. Thus, they take a bigger risk in their investments because even if they lose out because of an unsuspected market condition, their wealth always cautions them and thus they have little to fear.Another individual factor that impacts the attitude on risk on the decision outcomes is the knowledge from the market that mostly is bought from the consulting and experts firms in the market. These firms gather, analyze and predict the future market condition and thus they can advise managers on the riskiness when undert aking certain projects and investments. Knowledge from the experts helps individuals to make informed and proper decisions that have a positive impact on the expected outcomes. Although the perfect information is costly, it saves a great deal as opposed to having no information at all. When one has the knowledge, he or she has power, and it is only right that he uses it for the betterment of his decisions and judgment.Another individual factor that affects the risk attitudes on decision outcomes is the earlier periods' outcomes.

Prehistoric Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Prehistoric Art - Essay Example During 1940, four teenagers discovered the wealth of artistry within these caves (Lascaux 2007). According to Cornwell, "the cave was evidently a sanctuary for the performance of sacred rites and ceremonies." Lascaux contains the earliest traces of man's civilizations and holds the key in unlocking the prehistoric period. To date, it is estimated that the paintings on its walls totals around 20, 000. Because of its age, many of the images are hardly discernable while the others have deteriorated. The caves feature realistic images of large animals which are believed to have thrived within the area thousands of years ago. Among these paintings are animals called aurochs which, according to fossil evidence have lived in France during the period. The largest portion of the paintings is identified to be animals like horses, stags, cattle, and bison, while there are also drawings of geometric figures. Non-figurative images are speculated by one researcher to be illustrations of the night sky as the painted dots correlate with various constellations (Lascaux 2007). Aside from the illustrations of animals which thrived during the period, Lascaux is also said to house the "one of the humanity's earliest narrative compositions" (Virtual Realities n.d.). The writer described this particular scene: "Almost cartoonlike in appearance, it shows a man with the face (or mask) of a bird, engaged with an apparently fatal disagreement with a wounded bison. As the bison uses its head and horns as a weapon, the man falls stiffly back, apparently to his death" (Virtual Realities n.d.) Thus, Lascaux does not only depict the different players in the early civilization but expresses stories which have not been put in words by ancient man. The Altamira in Spain is another famous haven for prehistoric art. Like the Lascaux, Altamira is a cave which features drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild animals and human hands. Because of its perceived importance in understanding the civilization of man, the UNESCO declared Altamira as a World Heritage Site (Altamira 2007). The 270 meter cave is comprised of twisting passages and chambers. The formation of the cave is due to the "collapses following early karstic phenomena in calcerous rock of Mount Vispieres" (Altamira Cave n.d.). Excavations on the site reveal two levels of archeological levels; one belongs to the Solutrean and the other to the Magdalenian. The Solutrean culture is said to have been formed from the occupation in the cave around 18, 500 years ago. Aside from the paintings, artifacts have also been excavated from this civilization. The Magdalenian period dates back 15, 500 and 14, 000 years ago (Altamira Cave n.d.). The most famous of area in the cave is known as the Ceiling of the Polychromes. This features superimposed paintings and engravings the most prominent of which shows herd of bison in different poses, two horses, a large doe and a possible wild boar (Altamira 2007). In addition are numbers of more indiscernible figures of what seems to be an elk and "a series of enigmatic signs and red stains appearing in direct contrast with other figures that have clearly been superimposed." This art are traced to the Magdelenean occupation. On the other hand, these red painting inside the

Relationship between commedia Dell'Arte and business Essay

Relationship between commedia Dell'Arte and business - Essay Example Italian terminology movies scientists, such as Ferdinando Taviani, Luciano Pinto and Roberto Tessari, believe commedia was a reaction to the government and cost-effective issues of the 16th millennium and, as an effect, made them the first entirely professional way of movies. The performers performed on outside, short-term stages, and reliable various products (robbe) in place of extensive scenery. Some of the organizations conducted in the excellent homes of the time, but for the most aspect, the itinerant gamers came from city to city, establishing up their trestle levels in the marketplace rectangle, where they would execute in competitors with all the providers screaming their products. This obviously provided increase to a very wide, over-the-top design of performing, but it is obvious that the commedia become a huge hit to the whole population, from the biggest to the smallest, with something for everyone in its wit, and actual expertise - the inventory figures becoming engaged in justifications, confusions, uncertainty and loving interests. When they arrive at a new website, the level administrator would pin up the situation, and the stars would improvise the performance in a mixture of terminology and activity, (often including satirical opinion on regional events) and whenever they sensed the activity was dropping a bit, they would sketch on their collection of set presentations and set business (lazzi) to raise it and get it going again. The better troupes were preferred by upper class, and during festival period and were funded by the various places or locations, in which they performed. Extra sources were acquired by efforts (essentially going the hat) so anyone could viewpoint the performance definitely no price. Performers ability to trip to achieve reputation and cost-effective success was the key to achievement of the commedia. The most beneficial troupes performed before management and upper class allowing individual celebrities, such as Accogl iente swan Andreini with his colleague, Dionisio Martinelli, were well known. The numbers of the commedia usually represent set community kinds, stock numbers, such as absurd devious servants, old men, or military government bodies finish of wrong bravado. Figures such as Pantalone, the tightfisted merchant from Venice; Dottore Gratiano, the Bologna pedant; or Arlecchino, the sexy Bergamo servant, began as satires on France terminology "types" and grew to archetypes of many of the super heroes of 17th- 18th century European movies. The commedia's start may be appropriate to festival in Venice, where by 1570 Andrea Calmo had developed the character Il Magnifico. In the Flaminio Scala scenari Il Magnifico carries on and is changeable with Pantalone, into the 17th millennium. While Calmo's numbers (which also engaged the Language Capitano and an example of dottore type) were not invisible, it is not known at what aspect the numbers wearing the protect up. However, the connection to fes tival (the period found between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday) would be suggesting addressing as a conference of festival and was used at some aspect. The customization in Northern Tuscany is centred in Mantua, Florencia, and Venice, where the

Ethics, Sustainability & Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethics, Sustainability & Culture - Essay Example Many times in life, people ignore and underestimate the importance of moral values in attaining happiness and the well-being of the society. However, Kant has put forward two concepts entirely independent and he thinks that they are the heart of ethical life. Despite severe criticism, he notes that moral principle and moral obligation concepts are rational in the understanding of ethical life. Kants objective was to deduce the ethical theory using a priori reasoning from the concept that refers human beings as a rational agent (Aluchma, 2008). The ability of human beings to utilize reasoning in decision-making expresses the basics of the metaphysical principle under which Kants ethical theory has been built. Kant argues that, "Nothing can be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called well without qualification, except a â€Å"good will."Kants argues that in life, there are those things that people seek and those that they avoid. Those things, that they dearly seek, can be said to be "good" while those things they dislike and tries to evade are called â€Å"bad.† The good things are classified into two; the first class is for things that are means to some further end and the others are good being ends in themselves. Thus, he further adds that different personalities are motivated by different ends, so they find different things either good or bad (depending on the needs that they have).For example, eating a lot of food is good for malnourished person, but it is â€Å"bad† for a person who is obese (Arvidsson, 2014). For something to be considered as good â€Å"without qualification†, it is not compulsory for it to be merely "good" that is merely meant to one end but "bad" as means in another end. The meaning is that something should be sought as good and being independent of acting as anything else but being "good in itself.† A particular thing

Poland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Poland - Essay Example The national language of Poland is Polish and its total covered area is around 312,685 sq Km. (Poland Introduction, 2001) Poland is known as the most religious country of Europe. About 90% of the total population is the Roman Catholic, while Protestants, Jehovah's witnesses, Polish Orthodox, Polish Catholics, Muslims and Jews are in minorities. The Eastern Orthodox are 1% of the total population while Protestants are 0.3% and others are 0.8%; according to an estimation made in 2002. The last pope of the Roman Catholic church Pope John Paul II also belongs from Poland - before the Pope Benedict. The Roman Catholic religion is dominated in the country and it is also a part of the curriculum - in the education sector. (Religion in Poland, 2008) Economically, Poland is a sound country and growing day by day. The Poland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 6.1% in 2006. After the rejection of communism, Poland adopted the policy of liberalism which successfully worked and supported the economy to rise. The liberal laws helped in the development of the private sector and many medium and small industries were privatized. Several important sectors were also privatized including; steel, coal, railway and power generation. In the year 2000, the national telecom was also privatized and sold to France which is considered as the biggest privatization ever made, by the year 2007. Main Industries include; mining, textile, shipbuilding, glass and beverages. With the growing GDP rate since 1993, Poland has potential to become largest food producer among the European Union countries in agriculture sector. Various private farms are producing fruits, vegetables and specially potatoes. Poultry, eggs, and pork are also monitored by the s ame farms. The currency of Poland is called Zloty. Poland is continuously bringing reforms in its economic policies to fulfill the criteria of adopting euro (European single currency). It is said that by 2012, Poland will be able to adopt euro. In Poland, salaries are low and the ratio of unemployment is high, one of the reason is; the economic crises in the Soviet Union and Germany (the biggest trade partners of Poland). People have started to move to other European Union countries mostly to UK and Ireland. With the continuous reforms it is expected that soon this problem will also be overcome. (Diziadosiz and Stasiak, 2004) Role of Women During the era of 1970, the work force of Poland basically comprises of women. Poland government gave more opportunities to female in education and employment. In many major professions, the rate of women was higher than men. During 1980, most of the medical practitioners were women. On the other hand, women were kept completely at bay from the posts of power and authority. However, Poland elected its first Prime Minister, Hanna Suchocka in 1992, but the interesting fact is that there was not a single woman in her government. During the same year another woman, Eva lelowska became the head of the National Bank of Poland. Though, women played remarkable role on all the labor positions but male dominance always remain hurdle for them to reach and gain higher positions. State institutions helped many women to do two full time jobs due to the lack of their

What Has Astronomy Done for You Lately Essay Example for Free

What Has Astronomy Done for You Lately Essay In the article â€Å"What has Astronomy done for you lately† it opens my eyes up to all the relative ways astronomy contributes to our society today. It is mentioned in the article that the funding for space launching and research for the program estimates around $8 billion. During these stringent economic times some question regarding the funding of these programs based of the actual need and benefit. Many people seemed to think that there was nothing that the universe actually contributed to our day to day lives. That idea stands to be corrected. In this article it points out several different ways that Astronomy and keeping it funded acts as an instrumental piece in many things that we rely on today. One way astronomy has made a contribution to our daily lives is the use of the GPS. Albert Einstein was an influential part of the creation and use of the GPS system that we know today, based on his theory. The first operational GPS system that was used was in 1978. Due to all the experimental success and the research put into the atomic clocks makes it what we now use today. In being in the era of technology we have done away with paper maps and now rely on GPS to get us to and from our destinations. The GPS has not only assist in saving lives but the industry is also estimated at half a billion dollars. Another attribute of Astronomy was the creation, discovery, and use of wireless internet. It started with a physicist by the name of Stephen Hawking and his predictions and research of the evaporation of black holes. Then after, others attempted to complete his research to find the evaporating black holes. Their attempts came with no success. John O’Sullivan, a physicist, joins a radio physics department after the failed attempt to detect exploding black holes. He and a team design a Fast Fourier Transfer (FFT) chip and receive a patent for it. The FFT chip is then used as a reliable basis of the wireless network. WIFI as we know of today was discovered due to failed attempts of tracking faint signals of exploding black holes. The treatment for cancer is another aspect on which astronomy research has contributed to. Studies were being conducted on how the Sun produces atoms and how various atoms block different wavelengths of light. In 1992 a team of collaborators studied how atoms in the layers of the Sun and other stars interact with the light trying to escape known as the Iron Project which succeed the Opacity Project. Later they discovered that with different wavelengths some atoms interact strongly with radiation especially in the X-ray region. Combining this observation with small amounts of the gold atom correctly placed could flood and kill cancerous tumors. This development could definitely make the treatment of cancer less painful. This article has provided me with a bigger appreciation on the contributions of Astronomy. Just because it isn’t up front and in your face doesn’t mean that it isn’t beneficial to us. From the GPS, Cancer treatment, and Wireless Internet Astronomy has made a large contribution on many aspects of life.

Corn Cob Leaves Biomass Biosorption Industrial Wastewater Environmental Sciences Essay

Corn Cob Leaves Biomass Biosorption Industrial Wastewater Environmental Sciences Essay Corn cob and corn leaves waste is an affordable adsorbent for the removal of industrial contaminants like heavy metals. The present research work is designed to characterize the biosorption of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) from industrial waste using Corn cob and corn leaves waste biomass. Batch experiments will be carried out for the sorption of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) by using Corn cob, as well as entrapment in Na-alginate polymeric matrix. The effect of important operational parameters such as initial pH, initial metal concentration and contact time will be evaluated. Physicochemical parameters will be determined before and after biosorption and conditions will be optimized. Metal contents before and after biosorption will be analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The morphology of the surface of Corn cob and corn leaves biomass will be observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results will be analyzed using mean  ± and standard error of mean, to determine the p roper sorption the data will be fitted to equilibrium and kinetic model. INTRODUCTION The treatment of high volumes of wastewater containing low concentrations of pollutants is becoming increasingly important as discharge regulations become more stringent. The treatment and disposal of liquid effluents from leather tanning and textile industries are a serious problem due to their Cr(III) contents (Kotas et al.2000). Although Cr(III) is less toxic than Cr(VI), a cancer-causing agent, Cr(III) may be a toxic metal when present at high concentrations (Blasiak et al.2000). Since heavy metal ions are not biodegradable, they are usually removed from the contaminated water by physical or chemical treatment processes. Conventional treatment methods (precipitation, membrane separation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis and electrolysis etc.) are not often feasible because of high treatment cost, the need for continuous input of chemicals, and the production of toxic sludge (Akar et al. 2006). However these techniques proved ineffective in remaining within Cr(III) discharge limits (1-2mg/dm3) of industrial effluents (Geundi et al 1997). As a result, the use of alternative treatments such as ion exchange, carbon adsorption, membrane filtration, electroseparation, and bioaccumulation has been applied in polishing these effluents (Alves et al 1993). However, such processes may be ineffective and extremely expensive. Bioadsorption, on the other hand, is an emerging technology that also works to overcome the selectivity disadvantages of traditional decontamination pr ocesses. (Unz et al 1996). Biosorption technology is based on the interaction between toxic metals and the binding functional groups on the cell wall structure of the microorganisms or plants. These are mainly composed of polysaccharides, lipids and proteins. Biosorption has recognized as a potential alternative method over the conventional separation techniques. This process utilizes live, dead, pretreated and immobilized forms of biological cells like bacteria, fungi, yeast, algae and agriculture waste as sorbent materials (Gadd, 1990). Removal of heavy metals from wastewaters through adsorption, particularly biosorption, has emerged as an alternative technology. A variety of biomaterials and microorganisms have been explored by researchers for biosorption and bioaccumulation including fungi and agriculture waste materials (Fourest et al 1994). Biosorption may occur actively through metabolism or passively through some physical and chemical processes. A biosorbents immobilization procedure is necessary for the industrial application of biosorption [7].Immobilization of the agriculture waste in some suitable matrix like silica gel, polyurethane or alginate has proved useful in industrial application. The physical entrapment of the agriculture waste inside a polymeric gel in the form of beads is one of the most widely used techniques for immobilization which not only tackles the above problem but also provides mechanical strength, rigidity and porosity characteristics to the biosorbents. Further, the metal can be reco vered from the loaded beads using appropriate desorption techniques, thereby, minimizing the possibilities of environmental contamination (Lu et al 1995). Everywhere in the world corn are cultivated as important crop. Corn is Pakistans third most important cereal after wheat and rice. The use of corn in Pakistan for direct human consumption is declining, but its utilization in the feed and wet milling industry is growing at a much faster pace than anticipated. Currently, sufficient corn is grown in Pakistan for domestic needs and there is neither a surplus nor deficit in corn grain supplies. Currently except potato maize is the most profitable, stable and dependable agricultural crop in Pakistan. (Tariq et al 2010). Corn cob and corn leaves are one of the most plentiful and important agriculture waste in maize cultivation accounts for up to 50% of the total corn seed production. Immature cobs are boiled and eaten as corn on the cob or the grains may be removed and eaten as vegetable, or it may be canned. More mature cobs are roasted. The cobs are used for fuel, smoking pork products, and are also as source for charcoal (Sultana et al. 2007). , c The present study is designed to study the usefulness of immobilized corn cob and corn leaves agriculture waste biomass as a biosorbent for Cr(IIl) and Cr(Vl) from aquous industrial waste from tanneries to evaluate the effect of different experimental variables like pH, initial metal concentration and contact time. After biosorption the morphology of the surface of corn cob and corn leaves biomass with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) will be observed. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: The present study is aimed: To investigate the potential of dried corn cob and corn leaves biomass and entrapment of biomass in Na-alginate polymeric matrix. To study the biosorption of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. To observe the effect of different conditions such as pH, initial metal concentration and time required for establishment of equilibrium. To evaluate the various methods for improving the metal ion removal capacities of corn cob and corn leaves. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Krishna et al. (2005) studied the possibility of using moss (Funaria hygrometrica), immobilized in a polysilicate matrix as substrate for speciation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in various water samples has been investigated. Experiments were performed to optimize conditions such as pH, amount of sorbent and flow rate, to achieve the quantitative separation of Cr(III) and Cr(VI). During all the steps of the separation process, Cr(III)was selectively sorbed on the column of immobilized moss in the pH range of 4-8 while, Cr(VI) was found to remain in solution. The retained Cr(III) was subsequently eluted with 10 ml of 2 mol là ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 HNO3. A pre-concentration factor of about 20 was achieved for Cr(III) when, 200 ml of water was passed. The immobilized moss was packed in a home made mini-column and incorporated in flow injection system for obtaining calibration plots for both Cr(III) and Cr(VI) at low ppb levels that were compared with the plots obtained without column. After separat ion, the chromium (Cr) species were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The sorption capacity of the immobilized moss was found to be 11.5 mg gà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 for Cr(III). The effect of various interfering ions has also been studied. The proposed method was applied successfully for the determination of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in spiked and real wastewater samples and recoveries were found to be >95%. Anjan et al.(2007). analysed Biosorption of Cr(VI) using native strains of cyanobacteria from metal contaminated soil in the premises of textile mill. Biosorption reported as a function of pH (1-5), contact time (5-180 min) and initial chromium ion concentration (5-20 mg/l) to find out the maximum biosorption capacity of alginate immobilized Nostoc calcicola HH-12 and Chroococcus sp. HH-11. The optimum conditions for Cr(VI) biosorption are almost same for the two strains (pH 3-4, contact time 30 min and initial chromium concentration of 20 mg/l) however, the biomass of Chroococcus sp. HH-11 was found to be more suitable for the development of an efficient biosorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) from wastewater, as it showed higher values of qm and Kf, the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm parameters. Both the isotherm models were suitable for describing the biosorption of Cr(VI) by the cyanobacterial biosorbents. Gao et al. (2008) analysed the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution by rice straw, a surplus agricultural by product . The optimal pH was 2.0 and Cr(VI) removal rate increased with decreased Cr(VI) concentration and with increased temperature. Decrease in straw particle size led to an increase in Cr(VI) removal. Equilibrium was achieved in about 48 h under standard conditions, and Cr(III), which appeared in the solution and remained stable thereafter, indicating that both reduction and adsorption played a part in the Cr(VI) removal. The increase of the solution pH suggested that protons were needed for the Cr(VI) removal. A relatively high level of NOà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢3 notably restrained the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III), while high level of SOà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢24 supported it. The promotion of the tartaric acid modified rice straw (TARS) and the slight inhibition of the esterified rice straw (ERS) on Cr(VI) removal indicated that carboxyl groups present on the biomass played an i mportant role in chromium remediation even though were not fully responsible for it. Isotherm tests showed that equilibrium sorption data were better represented by Langmuir model and the sorption capacity of rice straw was found to be 3.15 mg/g. Li et al. (2008) investigated the comparative study on adsorptions of Pb(ll) and (CrVl) ions by free cells and immobilized cells of Synechococcus sp. ,in which different aspects including Zeta potential of the cells, the influence of pH, temperature and initial concentration of metal ions, as well as adsorption kinetics and mechanism were referred. The lyophilized free cells have a surface isoelectric point at pH 3, and the correlative experiment indicates that there is an electrostatic adsorption feature of Cr(Vl) and Pb(ll). The immobilization of the free cells by Ca-alginate does not significantly modify the adsorption features of the biosorbent. The absorption processes of Cr(Vl) and Pb(ll) on both free and immobilized cells are apparently affected by pH and the initial concentration of metal ions in the bulk solution, but are much weakly affected by temperature in the test range of 10à ¢- ¦C-50à ¢- ¦C. The slow course of biosorption follows the first order kinetic model, t he adsorption of Pb(ll) obeys both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, while the adsorption of Cr(Vl) obeys only Freundlich model. FT-IR results indicate that carboxylic, alcoholic, amide and amino groups are responsible for the binding of the metal ions, and reduction of Cr(lll) to Cr(Vl) takes place after Cr(Vl) adsorbs electrostatically onto the surface of the biosorbents. Park et al. (2008) analysed agricultural biowastes such as banana skin, green tea waste, oak leaf, walnut shell, peanut shell and rice husk, banana skin screened as the most efficient biomaterial to remove toxic Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study revealed that the mechanism of Cr(VI) biosorption by banana skin was its complete reduction into Cr(III) in both aqueous and solid phases and partial binding of the reduced-Cr(III), in the range of pH 1.5-4 tested. One gram of banana skin could reduce 249.6 ( ±4.2) mg of Cr(VI) at initial pH 1.5. Namely, Cr(VI)-reducing capacity of banana skin was four times higher than that of a common chemical Cr(VI)-reductant, FeSO4.7H2O. To diminish undesirable/serious organic leaching from the biomaterial and to enhance removal efficiency of total Cr, its powder was immobilized within Ca-alginate bead. The developed Cr(VI)-biosorbent could completely reduce toxic Cr(VI) to less toxic Cr(III) and could remove alm ost of the reduced-Cr(III) from aqueous phase. On the basis of removal mechanisms of Cr(VI)and total Cr by the Cr(VI)-biosorbent, a kinetic model was derived and could be successfully used to predict their removal behaviors in aqueous phase. In conclusion, our Cr(VI)-biosorbent must be a potent candidate to substitute for chemical reductants as well as adsorbents for treating Cr(VI)-bearing waste waters. Alez et al. (2009) investigated the biosorption of Cr(III) onto packed columns of Agave lechuguilla using an advective-dispersive (AD) model and its analytical solution. Characteristic parameters such as axial dispersion coefficients, retardation factors, and distribution coefficients were predicted as functions of inlet ion metal concentration, time, flow rate, bed density, cross-sectional column area, and bed length. The root mean square error (RMSE) values 0.122, 0.232, and 0.285 corresponding to the flow rates of 1, 2, and 3 (10à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢3)dm3 minà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1, respectively,indicated that the AD model provides an excellent approximation of the simulation of lumped breakthrough curves for the adsorption of Cr(III) by lechuguilla biomass. Therefore,the model can be used for design purposes to predict the effect of varying operational conditions. Chen et al. (2010) analysed Cr(III) ionic imprinted membrane adsorbents Cr(III)-PVA/SA) by blending sodium alginate (SA) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). In these new membrane adsorbents, polyethylene glycol was used as porogen, and glutaraldehyde was the cross-linking agent. Our new developed membrane adsorbents can be used without centrifugation and filtration. To investigate the adsorption kinetics of Cr(III) ions from aqueous solution onto this newly developed Cr(III)-PVA/SA, we performed a batch of experiments under different conditions by changing the concentration of Cr(III) ions in the Cr(III)-PVA/SA, pH value of the solution, adsorbent dose, initial Cr(III) ions concentration, adsorption temperature and contact time. Our Cr(III)-PVA/SA exhibited the maximum Cr(III) ions uptake capacity of 59.9 mg/g under the following conditions: 0.078 wt% of Cr(III) ions in the Cr(III)-PVA/SA, solution pH value of 6.0, adsorbent dose of 0.5 g/L, the initial Cr(III) ions concentration of 50 mg/ L, at 25 à ¢- ¦C. To study the mechanism of adsorption process, we examined the intra-particular diffusion model, Lagergren pseudo-first-order kinetic model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and found pseudo-second-order kinetic model exhibited the best correlation with our experimental data. Furthermore, our adsorption equilibrium data could be better described by the Langmuir equation. Competitive adsorption studies of the binary system of Cr(III)/Cu(II), Cr(III)/Cd(II) and the ternary system of Cr(III)/Cu(II)/Cd(II) were also investigated using Cr(III)-PVA/SA, the results indicated that selectively adsorbed amount of Cr(III) ion on Cr(III)- PVA/SA is significantly higher than that of Cu(II) and Cd(II) ions. We also used five times consecutive adsorption-desorption experiments to show that the Cr(III)-PVA/SA has high adsorption and desorption efficiencies. Huang et al.( 2010) studied a new approach for the preparation of tannin-immobilized adsorbent by using mesoporous silica bead as the supporting matrix. Bayberry tannin-immobilized mesoporous silica bead (BT-SiO2) was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction to verify the crystallinity, field-emission scanning electron microscopy to observe the surface morphology, and surface area and porosity analyzer to measure the mesoporous porous structure. Subsequently, the adsorption experiments to Cr(III) were applied to evaluate the adsorption performances of BT-SiO2. It was found that the adsorption of Cr(III) onto BT-SiO2 was pH-dependent, and the maximum adsorption capacity was obtained in the pH range of 5.0-5.5. The adsorption capacity was 1.30mmolgà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1 at 303K and pH 5.5 when the initial concentration of Cr(III) was 2.0mmolLà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1. Based on proton nuclear magnetic resonance (HNMR) analyses, the adsorption mechanism of Cr(III) on BT-SiO2 was proved to be a che lating interaction. The adsorption kinetic data can be well described using pseudo-first-order model and the equilibrium data can be well fitted by the Langmuir isothermal model. Importantly, no bayberry tannin was leached out during the adsorption process and BT-SiO2 can simultaneously remove coexisting metal ions from aqueous solutions. In conclusion, this study provides a new strategy for the preparation of tannin-immobilized adsorbents that are highly effective in removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. Kathiravan et al. (2010) studied the external mass transfer effects on the reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) using calcium alginate immobilized Bacillus sp. in a re-circulated packed bed batch reactor (RPBR). The effect of flow rate on the reduction Cr(VI) was studied. Theoretically calculated rate constants for various flow rates were analyzed using external film diffusion models and compared with experimental values. The external mass transfer coefficients for the bioconversion of Cr(VI) were also investigated. The external mass transfer effect was correlated with a model of the type JD = K, Re (1-n). The model was tested with various K values and the mass transfer correlation JD = 5.7, Re=0.70 was found to predict the experimental data accurately. The proposed model would be useful for the design of industrial reactor and scale. Ansari et al. (2011) immobilized Rosa centifolia and Rosa gruss an teplitz distillation waste biomass using sodium alginate for Pb(II) uptake from aqueous solutions under varied experimental conditions. The maximum Pb(II) adsorption occurred at pH 5. Immobilized rose waste biomasses weremodified physically and chemically to enhance Pb(II) removal. The Langmuir sorption isothermand pseudosecond- order kinetic models fitted well to the adsorption data of Pb(II) by immobilized Rosa centifolia and Rosa gruss an teplitz. The adsorbed metal is recovered by treating immobilized biomass with different chemical reagents (H2SO4, HCl and H3PO4) and maximum Pb(II) recovered when treated with sulphuric acid (95.67%). The presence of cometals Na, Ca(II), Al(III), Cr(III), Cr(VI), and Cu(II), reduced Pb(II) adsorption on Rosa centifolia and Rosa gruss an teplitz waste biomass. It can be concluded from the results of the present study that rose waste can be effectively used for the uptake of Pb(II) from aqueous streams.

Choosing Appropriate Quantitative Research Design

Choosing Appropriate Quantitative Research Design Quantitative research is designed to provide quantitative (numerical) data that answers questions related to trends, attitudes, opinions, or the impact of treatment on a population. Before quantitative research begins, it is necessary to identify the purpose of the study, the population to be studied, the variables involved in the study, and the type of data that would be most useful as an end product. After identifying these components, researchers can next hone in on the design of the research, the design of the research collection tool, sampling procedures, the survey or measurement instrument, data collection methods, and data analyses methods (data organization, data interpretation, scaling, etc.) and issues (validity, reliability, threats to validity, etc.).The research is based on theory or hypotheses and is usually tests for the impact of an intervention on a population. The impact of an intervention or treatment may be measured using traditional experimental methods and proc esses or by survey methods. Survey methods include personal interviews, telephone interviews, mailed questionnaires, group administered questionnaires, or dropped-off household surveys (Trochim, 2006). Though the process is presented in simple terms in this paper, the actual design process is a very complex set of decisions related to the methodologies and procedures of quantitative research. This paper seeks to outline the strengths and limitations of the most widely used research design models to determine the appropriate research design for quantitatively researching the use of technology web 2.0 innovations to determine its effect on learning and test performance in the elementary classroom. The quantitative study of the social science is especially challenging because of the fact that the independent variables cannot be manipulated and that the research must often be performed in real time in a natural setting. The research is characterized by the manipulation of a variable but extreme care must be taken not to harm the study participants in any way throughout the study. Research is usually centered around the determination of a property-disposition relationship (attitude-focused) or a stimulus-response relationship (behaviorally-focused). Quantitative researchers must determine which type of relationship is best suited for their specific study. The following are critical factors in making this critical determination: Time Interval: the period of time between introduction of the independent variable and the response to the variable Degree of specificity: isolation of the independent variable to determine its effect Nature of comparison groups: comparison of before/after groups or experimental/control groups for statistical analysis Time sequence of events: determining the timeline for the relationship between cause and effect These elements of quantitative research drive the decisions regarding research methodologies and procedures related to choosing an appropriate research design. The following is a brief overview of the research designs used in social sciences. Quantitative Research Design Comparison Experimental Design Experimental design is usually associated with the life and physical sciences where independent variables are easily manipulated. Experimental design compares the results of an experimental group (that receives exposure to an independent variable) with a control group (that does not receive exposure to an independent variable). This design often uses a pretest and posttest measurement to analyze the differences between groups. The advantages of this type of research design for studying social science include the ability of the researchers to introduce and control extrinsic and intrinsic (independent) variables as well as the easy identification of causal inferences that strengthen the validity of the research. Disadvantages of experimental design for social science includes the inability to replicate the experiment in a real-life social setting resulting in weak external validity and the reliance on volunteers or self-selected participants who may not represent the actual population. As a result, generalizability is decreased due to the small sample of participants selected for the study. Cross-Sectional and Quasi-Experimental Designs Cross-sectional design is recognized by its utilization of surveys to determine study participants backgrounds, past experiences, and attitude to determine the relationship between research variables. This type of research is not conducive to experimental design because of the difficulties in manipulating the independent variable during the study. Cross-sectional design relies on statistical analysis to approximate the relationship between variables and may not produce accurate causal inferences. Internal validity is weak as a result. Quasi-experimental design is identified by random selection of study participants without the requirement of random selection of participants to a comparison group, study of more than one population sample, and studies conducted over time. It is difficult to disaggregate the data produced by this type of study since the population sample will consist of a mixture of subjects with various traits and characteristics. Causal inferences are difficult to determine with this design. Performing the study over time and the analysis of data by (similar) categoric or contrasted (different) groups are strategies used to increase the validity of this design for social science research. Planned variation design, panels, time-series designs, and control-series designs are alternative quasi-experimental social science research designs that attempt to increase internal and external validity by controlling stimuli introduction, research methods, cause-and-effect identification, and causal inference determination respectively. Combined designs employ two or more of the designs mentioned above in effort to assess the causal effects of variables using a multi-method, multi-design approach to studying social science. The advantages offered by these designs include increased internal and external validity as a result of the ability to perform research in real-life, natural settings with a representative population. Since there is no assignment of participants to treatment or comparison groups, researchers are able to perform studies that could be considered unethical or impossible using traditional experimental designs. The disadvantages associated with these designs include difficulty determining causal inferences (due to a wide variety of differences inherent in the study population) and the inability of researchers to manipulate the independent variable. Pre-Experimental Design Pre-experimental design is appropriate when no other design is able to study a population due to limitations in time, population, or a specified event. If there is a single event that occurs at a specified time for a specified group of people, there is only one opportunity to study the impact of a treatment. For this reason, pre-experimental design is considered to be the weakest type of research design with a high risk of causal inference error. There is usually not an assignment of subjects to an experimental or control group and this design usually does not include a comparison group. A one-shot case study is often used with this type of design and does not offer high validity due to the limited ability to generalize study results to a wider population. An advantage of this design includes allowing researchers the ability to scientifically show that more research is needed to explore a particular hypothesis. Weak internal and external validity and the inability to make causal infe rences are considered to be disadvantages for this research design. Determining Which Design is Most Appropriate My research problem studies the relationship between the use of web 2.0 innovative technologies (such as Skype, Second Life, etc.) and depth of research, test performance, and self- motivated learning for grade 3 through 8 students. Important factors that are necessary to consider are the identification of the independent variable, identification of dependent variables, availability of a control or contrast group, ethical implications of this study, and availability of the study (treatment) population. The independent variable in the study is the use of web 2.0 technologies for research. Dependent variables are research depth, test performance, and student self-motivation to learn. The grade 3 through 8 students for the control group and experimental group are available at my current place of employment. Since the treatment involves using technology to learn, there is no presumed risk or ethical issue since using technology is an ordinary part of the students day of learning. The tre atment of using technology for communication over the Internet is a manipulation of the use of technology in the classroom. Special care will be taken to ensure that students adhere to Internet safety rules during communication sessions. Experimental design is the most appropriate research design for this study for the following reasons: Availability and randomization of control and experimental groups Variables can be easily manipulated Pre-test and post-test measurements are possible Causal inferences will be easily identified Johnson and Christensen (2007) state that quantitative research is appropriate for describing what is seen and generating new hypotheses and theories. Since the measurements of the dependent variables reflect behavioral rather than cognitive outcomes, the tools used to measure the study outcomes will not include surveys but rather observational logs. This further supports the use of the experimental design for this study. Other Considerations Other research designs are not considered appropriate and are detailed for the following reasons. Cross-sectional design is not appropriate for this study because surveys are not necessary to determine the participants backgrounds, past experiences, or attitudes. Also, since the independent variable can be manipulated, statistical analysis will not be necessary to approximate causal inferences. Quasi-experimental design should not be employed since the assignment of participants to a control or comparison group is possible and there is no need for an extended period of time for this study. Also, there is no need to systematically introduce stimuli, use panels, or take measurements over a number of time periods. Data is not expected to change for individuals due to history, maturation, or test-retest effects. Furthermore, there are no ethical considerations present in the experimental design for the study. Lastly, the pre-experimental design is not appropriate for this study since thi s is not an event-based or time-sensitive study.

Love and Freedom Essay -- Love Freedom Psychology Philosophy essays

Love and Freedom What is love? Is it something we do or something we can know? Some classify love as something that you feel for some people sometimes. It is often linked or used interchangeably with lust. Others feel that it is something that is constant and untouched by judgement and feeling. The only common denominator for love is that it is something that is desirable; it is something that we want. So what do people want? Many philosophies pose answers; but those answers frequently lead to more questions. Examining Sartre’s idea of love from Being and Nothingness, we find a love that is an action in the form of a project. The goal of the project is to attain a totality of being through the use of another. This differs from the love outlined by Socrates in Plato’s Symposium. Through Socrates, Plato characterizes love as a desire to partake in the beautiful for the purpose of gaining happiness. Sartre states that love is an engagement in an impossible project. Plato, whil e agreeing that the task is not easy, feels quite differently that love is attainable. This paper seeks to find they areas where the two philosophies overlap, hoping that an even better definition or goal of love can be reached. In order to understand Sartre’s idea of love, we must first examine his ontology. This will lead us to why love is sought. First, there is a distinction between what is free and what is determined: our consciousness exists as a freedom, for-itself, that can transcend any element that is not part of the present consciousness. The human being is a freedom that is able to detach itself through a â€Å"nihilating withdrawal.†[1] This means that the person who talks with others and lives in the world with people can choo... ...rans. Hazel. E. Barnes, Washington Square Press Pub., 1965, specifically term â€Å"nihilating withdrawal† pp.58 and 61, discussion in between [2] B&N, p. 68 [3] B&N, p. 72 top [4] B&N p.69—parenthesis added [5] B&N p. 72-73 [6] B&N p. 99 [7] B&N p.106 [8] B&N p.138 [9] B&N p. 139 [10] B&N p. 144 [11] B&N p. 475 [12] Plato, The Symposium, from The Collected Dialogues of Plato, trans. Michael Joyce, Princeton Univ. Press,1989, p.555 or 203 b-d [13] Symposium, p. 556-57 or 204 b-e [14] Symposium, p. 557-58 or 205 d-e [15] Symposium, p. 558 or 206 e [17] Symposium, p. 562 or 210-211 c [18] Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism, excerpted from Walter Kaufman, Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sartre, Meridian, 1989, p. 348 [19] B&N p. 136 [20] B&N p. 364 [21] B&N p. 534 [22] B&N p. 358

Free Pride and Prejudice Essays: Life and Love :: Pride Prejudice Essays

Life and Love in Pride and Prejudice How would life be different if you lived in the early 1800s in a small town of England? How did the courtship rituals exist at that time? These questions are the main subjects of the book, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, who wrote the book about the time that these things took place. When you open to the first page and begin reading, the Bennet family is instantly introduced, along with Mr. Bingley. The Bennet family , which is composed of parents who generally have opposite opinions, and four daughters, each with their own special abilities, play the main role, especially the second daughter Elizabeth. The whole story is narrated through her point of view, so the opinions of other people that eventually become your own are taken from whom Elizabeth is close to and whom she dislikes. That brings us to the other characters, namely the Bingley family and Mr. Darcy. The Bingley family represents a very wealthy family, whose son would be a prize for any girl, and who is deeply interested in Jane, the eldest, beautiful Bennet daughter. The family though doesn't believe the Bennet's to be of a high enough standard, and move their brother to London to distract him with Mr. Darcy's sister, who supposedly was as unlikable as Mr. Darcy himself. Disliked by many because of his pompousness and pride, Mr. Darcy ruined his chances with Elizabeth for himself. In his own desire, he would have easily married her, she even hated to dance with the man. This type of love triangle, with one person liking a certain someone, but having to settle with someone else, happens throughout the book, just with different people. Most of the time all the characters were either in the a household or at a formal party where these loves, courtships, and dislikes began. This form of settings in the book I found rather boring, and it made it very difficult for me to continue reading, though I now know it is Jane Austen style to not have much action but to develop more of the character's personalities. This book is a great suggestion if you love to really understand a character and her feelings towards others. The neat idea is what Austen did with the title of the book. With this book, "Pride and

Buy a Bride :: Marriage History Papers

Buy a Bride In the mid-eighteen hundreds the first waves of Americans began heading west. They were in search of the American dream; their chance to live happily ever after. This first wave of settlers was for the most part, composed of miners looking to strike it rich. They exploited the mineral resources all over the west, wherever gold was found; the most famous places were in California, Colorado, and the Dakotas. The brave and adventurous men streamed over the continent in wagon trains or around it in ships in order to reach the west coast. Towns sprang up around the different places where gold had been found as well as around places for ships to dock. The next wave of people to head west was the ranchers. They needed land and western land was far cheaper than land in the east. The ever growing cities in the east needed an ever increasing supply of food and the cattle found on the western plains proved a good and profitable solution. Shortly after the ranchers the farmers came looking for land. The land in the east was worn out from over cultivation, in stark contrast the western land was rich and virtually untouched, not to mention cheaper. The west was a new and promising land with endless possibilities. (Summitt) Despite the promise and possibilities there were a few minor problems. One such problem was that the vast majority of the settlers were men. "Men from the eastern states, Canada, and Europe often preceded the women, and then found themselves longing for feminine companionship." (Yalom 226) Population imbalances, combined with geographical isolation and physical distance, often made men frantic to find wives from among the few single Anglo women living in their region of the west. Unfortunately, interracial marriages were not looked upon favorably by the population at large, so even men who had taken Indian brides were looking for women of European decent (15) In some places the problem was worse than in others. In the Washington Territory it has been estimated that the ratio of men to women, regardless of marital status, as high as 9:1 and that there were at least two thousand men in the Territory that wished to get married (Holbrook 47). This problem was not a simple one to remedy. Men who had enough money traveled east and brought back a wife, but the vast majority of the populous did not have the capital needed to make such a journey possible.

Analysis of the Text “the Time-Sweepers” by Ursula Wills-Jones

Analysis of the text â€Å"The Time-Sweepers† By Ursula Wills-Jones The following short story is about time-sweepers and lost time. They are people who sweep up all the time that is lost or wasted. They are invisible, but sometimes they can be noticed. They carry a broom, a mop and a big dustpun. The time-sweepers are hard-working. They work every day and are never sick. The lost and wasted time is packed and recycled.But not every type of time can be recycled, the most poisoned time is buried in a tank underneath a disused army base. The rest of the time can be sold to the people who need it or distributed to good causes or emergency situations. The full text is built on the conflict between people who waste time and people who sweep up all the time that is lost and wasted. Ursula Wills-Jones idealizes the time-sweepers and ridicules people.The author uses the stylistic device of climax in order to describe different types of time wasting: the man who has waited so long to pr opose to his girlfriend; the woman who has spent thirty-five loathed years in an estate agents, dreaming of opening a florists. The author refers to the stylistic device of hyperbole in order to laugh at the people who waste time: the time-sweeper will pass straight by the desk of the woman who is reading a holiday catalogue under the desk, poring over photos of tropical beaches.They will pass by the next desk, where a man is enjoyably wondering what his mother-in-law looks like naked, and stop by the desk of the young man who is counting every minute, and loathing the hours. The author creates a constant presence of time sweepers. The reader feels that they are everywhere: in the railway station, in the office, at your desk. The time-sweepers are hard-working; they don’t like to rest because there is so mush wasted time after holidays: it takes them around three weeks to resume normal service†¦

J.B Priestley and his audience Essay

J.B Priestley is someone who has seen enough of the world to make his own judgments. Therefore he has written this play â€Å"An Inspector Calls† to get these views of his across to the rest of the audience. He believes in socialism and doesn’t support the view of capitalism. He tries to promote socialism and show capitalism as an act of egotism. The two main views of society he has portrayed and contrasted capitalists and socialist. We know this through characters of the book to begin with I will look at Mr. Birling as a capitalist. This character was shown to be a very arrogant and proud man. He believed he had more authority and rights than/over everyone else. He is ‘Self made man’. His objectives of life are to make money, and profit for himself, â€Å"It’s my duty to keep labour costs down†. Money for him isn’t an issue. It’s an important part of his life. Even in situations like the sort he finds his image essential. ‘Look, inspector – I’d give thousands’ Mr. Birling can seem to be hollow at times in the sense that he doesn’t always perform in the way he portrays himself to his surroundings. He finds a reason to believe that the inspector’s onset maybe a hoax, He than begins to proceed as though the inspectors arrival had no effect on him. But as soon as the phone rings he begins to panic. Mr. Birling doesn’t like to argue. He is optimistic about the future yet we know what he predicts will not come true. ‘The worlds developing so fast it’ll make war impossible†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.’ And ‘The Titanic†¦. unsinkable absolutely  unsinkable’. The inspector’s comment to Mrs. Birling about young people – ‘They’re more Impressionable’ (pg 30) – adds weight to our feelings that the older generation is Fixed in its attitudes and that if society is to become more caring it will have to be through the efforts of the younger generation. The inspector is just someone who is making the characters in the play realise what they are doing wrong in life, not to cause havoc. This is shown when Sheila ( Mr Birling’s daughter) takes the blame of Eva Smith’s death [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9lpcBIiL8] all on to her own accord, the inspector assures her and asks her to stay and listen to Gerald’s (Sheila’s fiancà ©) part of the story, so she doesn’t feel herself entirely to blame. Sheila is an example of a capitalist who has realised her mistakes, owned up to them and is prepared to adjust her life after the events taken place in the dining hall that afternoon. She is very intelligent but spoilt. She is naà ¯ve and is very distressed by the news of Eva’s death caused by stress which drove her to committing suicide. She thinks that her father’s behaviour was unacceptable. She readily agrees that she behaved very badly and insists that she never meant the girl any harm. ‘I’ll never ever do it to anybody again’ Sheila had gotten used to the fact of going into a shop and behaving in such a cruel manner, and get somebody (Eva Smith) permanently excluded from their job just because of jealousy, how self-centered of her. Now after somebody  had made her see her mistakes she decided her actions were not acceptable, and this sort of approach to life is intolerable. J.B Priestley wanted to show that there are people out there who haven’t recognised their error’s in life and that maybe this play will help them to do just that. Priestley shows just how wrong capitalism is that it can even lead to death of innocent citizens. So this means there is chance of another war, if capitalism isn’t erased from this world. He shows that people are out there who predict the future like Mr Birling and say things like ‘the Titanic is unsinkable†¦ and the world’s developing so fast it’ll make war impossible’, we know that these predictions made were wrong. But who are we to say that there won’t be another war. It makes you think what might happen In the future if entrepreneurship isn’t stopped, doesn’t it? This is what Priestley wanted, his capitalist audience to feel guilty, and wanting to change themselves for the better. Mr Birling represents Priestley’s hatred of businessmen who are only interested in making money. He (Birling) will never alter his ways and it is left to the younger generation to learn from their mistakes. Mr Birling’s family may seem cheerful, but if you inspect them internally you’ll notice how ruined their family really is. Mr Birling has feelings of guilt but doesn’t show them because of his bold image he has to keep up with, ‘We hard headed businessmen’ He is hurt by the fact that when his son Eric (an alcoholic), was in trouble (with Eva and the money problem he had) he didn’t approach his father with this problem and ask for help, like any other son would have done. This makes Mr Birling upset and angry. ‘You damned fool – why didn’t you come to me when you found yourself in this mess?’ Eric is bad-mannered and coarse towards his father and makes him feel as though they never had a father and son relationship. ‘Because you’re not the kind of chap a man Could turn to when he’s in trouble’. Priestley also shows that money can’t buy happiness. Mr Birling has all the money but does he enjoy time with his family? Is his family falling apart?And is it his entire fault? Capitalism also has this effect on people, that it can tear families apart just as it’s done to The Birling’s. Inspector Goole’s final speech is J.B Priestley’s personal opinion which is that he is concerned that there are many people like Eva Smith who are poor and their lives depend on the way we deal with daily life. ‘One Eva Smith has gone-but there are millions and  millions of Eva Smith’s and John Smith’s still  left with us ‘. The reason for capitalism is people like Mr Birling who have no sympathy for others and don’t care about the rest of the world or poverty; they only care about money and image this is why capitalism and wars are still going on today. If there was more socialism there would be peace. This is J.B Priestley’s major motive of writing this play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is to promote socialism. (Which I hope he has)

Hospitality Management Essay

Reflecting from my management shift, restaurant manager has many different kinds of important tasks and responsibilities in the restaurant. Restaurant manager plays an important role in the hospitality and food and beverage department as they can motivate the staff and maintain the high quality service which will help the business run successfully. Manager can provide appropriate ambiance in the restaurant which will provide warm and comfortable environment for the customer. Waiter station and dividing sections of tables should be fully allocated before the start of service shift which starts 10:00AM. After that, checking staff’s five equipment (waiters friend, lighter, handkerchief, pen and note pad), and their grooming (hair, ironing uniform, socks, belt and name badge). In the first briefing time, restaurant manager has to explain required table-set up and finding any problem such as students who are absent. When I was restaurant manager, one waiter called in sick so I had to rearrange the table booking slots to make it fit 12 waiters instead of 13. This can make the service flow more efficiently. If I left the booking slots thee way they were, waiters would have needed to pick up tables in 10 minute gap. A manager should manage and check every time whether staff are doing the right thing. After food briefing, manager should check that all staff are familiar with the menu and kitchen abbreviations as well as the price for each dish. Thus, restaurant manager should lead their team smoothly and know all situation and happening in restaurant including kitchen as well. (Food & Beverage Work Book, Feb 2013) Before doing the restaurant manager shift, I had confidence in myself because I prepared the table time slot sheet, linen order and table and station allocation the night before my shift. But once the service started, unexpected accidents happened such as waiter calling in sick. Also, because it was Thursday and nearly towards assessment night for many people, most of the staff was very tense and unmotivated. Trying to motivate the staff to work faster and efficiently was uneasy at first but I still liked having the responsibility and doing important roles that are unlike to the normal waiting staff, I believed I learned a lot of new knowledge and management skills. I also can confidently say if I become restaurant manager again I would be better than before. Effective duty allocation Restaurant manager: Joanne Suh Host: Pearl Douglas Role: Prepare butter, Prepare silver service cutlery and waiter clothes, Make sure the menu is correct and printed, Welcome the guests arrival, Book reservation for lunch and dinner service for guests. Cashier: Lucy Payne Role: Allocate waiter dockets, record the food and beverage orders on computer for each table and prepare the bill for each table, total and fill up the cash-up sheet and record any alcohol docket received each night. When it is signed by the lecturer, put the money envelop to front office. Room service: Jay Lee Role: Collect the sick list from front office, Prepare tray for room service, take room service order, deliver the food to the rooms, collect the tray back once the food is finished (Usually after 1 hour) which will be placed on the corridor. Bar team leader: Olivia Ann Role: Prepare the mocktail and cocktail of the day, make sure bar, coffee station, water jug, wine service and waiting area and linens are set up and ready for service. Provide drink to order during service including hot beverage. Come early in the morning 6:30am to order butter and milk and other needed items and order linens and others that need time to recover the night before the shift. Bar assistant: Dana Button Role: Help the Bar Team Leader set up the bar, coffee station, waiting area, water jug, and wine service. Provide the drink to order during service. Listen and follow the bar team leader’s instructions. Barista : Make hot beverages when you receive the order from the guest. Prepare the coffee work station neatly and correctly before service shift starts. Help and follow the bar team leader’s instructions when there are no orders. (Usually start of the shift. ) Staff meal: Guy Sinclair, Lit Wang Role: Prepare Breakfast, Take staff meal orders for service and management team, Set up staff meal, Clean up Taranaki Restaurant after shift. Help in the La Vista Restaurant when the jobs are finished. Waiter: Chloe Wang, Abbey Bowater, Noriko Fuji, Shannon Rochford, Marlee Mclaughlan, Nhung Tran, Ginger(Shanshan) Yong, Cindy (Xinshi) Yang, Chris (Trung Toan) Le, James Pitisopa, Hayden Woodbury, Krill This is the list for all staffs that had been worked in my team. Absent : Savneet Singh 2. 2Explain whether you think the allocation of the duties and tasks were helpful or destructive for the team and give your reasons why. I prepared most of the jobs that I should do on my management shift but what I had missed out on was plan what the â€Å"staff† should be doing on their service shift. I had to plan out which person will be doing which task on the spot. This has resulted me giving people jobs that they are not the best at. For example giving the vacuum job to a weak female staff. Also as the staff were allocated jobs that they do not like, they refused to do the jobs I ordered them to do or made excuses to do them later. This has slowed down the cleaning time of service. But because we were already in our 8th week of operation, most of the staff were already capable of doing jobs themselves without being told to do them. We finished a little later than my expected time at lunch shift which was 2:30pm. We finished at 2:40pm. This was due to customers dining in for a long time. We had three tables of industry placement interviewers. Delegation 3. 1 Making decision For the making decision, when I organised table planning I gave three tables for most people and four tables for a couple of people due to absent waiter on the floor. There were some tables already set up from the last dinner shift so I tried to allocate one set up table for each waiter to make them prepare and set up tables quicker and fair. Also I allocated the staff meal waiters to help the floor waiters when they finished preparing for staff meal to speed up the process and we can open the restaurant on time. Explain whether you think this was effective. Think about the theory. What could be done differently? When I allocated the jobs I asked people in a polite way with a soft tone of voice so the staff do not get to tense about the jobs that they have to do. I tried to be fair for example if someone did a hard job such as vacuuming La vista, I made them do an easy job afterwards like taking menu papers out from the menu. I also thanked the staff and especially the staff members who worked harder than others to acknowledge them their work. Overall I think my theory has worked out better than ordering them harshly what to do as it was my first time being the restaurant manager and staff are not used to it they might think it too personal if I order them to do jobs in a harsh way. But I think giving more volume to my voice and seriousness at time to time would have made the staff actually listen and do the jobs I allocated them efficiently. 3. 3 Identify shift outcomes and tasks. Describe how you achieved the outcomes required in this role. It very nice outcome after shift because I went to talk around with all customers. They told me that service was very good there were only few complaints about the food taste which the service team cannot control. Overall cleaning up was a little slow for lunch but everyone picked themselves up and dinner shift flowed through a lot faster than lunch. The staff members worked hard for both service and cleaning even though many staff members were stressed about the assessment week coming up and tired. I thank all the staff members and I think my first time being the restaurant manager, I did exceptionally well. Managing conflict 4. 1 Was there any conflict or disagreement in your team? Yes, between me and my bar team leader. Because bar team leader is also a type of manager as well as they manage the bar, I should have treated the bar team leader more like a manager and different from the floor staff but instead I ordered the bar team leader to do some jobs in the bar and that had made the bar team leader unpleased as the bar team leader obviously knew what sort of jobs needed to be done. But because I am still the restaurant manager for that day, I believe I had my part and reason to say the things I have said to the bar team leader. I didn’t want to make too much of a big fuss about this matter as whether or not there are customers in the restaurant it is still a working environment and restaurant manager should behave and look professional at all times or else staff and customers will look down on both me and the bar team leader. If yes, what was done to resolve this conflict? If not, why not? I resolved this problem by pretending to not hear anything that the bar team leader said behind my back. Because I thought if the bar team leader realise that I heard our relationship will become awkward. There was also dinner shift left and I really didn’t want to make any big deal out of this matter so I just pretended I heard nothing. This was a good resolution because afterwards she worked really hard and was a great bar team leader which made the service run more smoothly which was good for everyone and the restaurant possible. But later I talked in the briefing that if the restaurant manager tell you to do something do not ignore them or refuse and treat the managers like a real manager in a work place. 4. 2 What are some other options for dealing with the same situation? I believe motivating the staff and complimenting when the staffs finish their jobs can make the staff more willing to work and follow my orders. More motivated staff can give happy energy vibe to the workplace which will be transferred to the customer which will give warmer ambiance in the restaurant. 4. 3 Would you do thing differently next time you need to work with a team? For the next time that I have to work in a team, I would try to improve myself on delegating staff. I will make sure that everything in the restaurant such as preparations and second plans for times when something goes wrong again so I have a backup plan which will make me panic less. Also next time I will plan the job allocations for cleaning and preparations before service to be more efficient with time management as a manager. 5. 1 Identify a challenge or problem that occurred during your management shift. The biggest challenge I had faced was I had one waiter absent and I had 13 slots on my booking sheet that was made and finished last dinner shift. Waiters are supposed to serve each table with 20 minute gap. This made me very busy until the last minute of service and waiters were confused as their time for booking was all changed. It also confused both the waiters on floor and the management team. 5. 2 What was your response to this challenge? After ii had found out that one waiter on floor will not show up for service, I fixed the booking sheet and made the time slot 12 instead of 13. I put tables of two people together and called rooms to move the tables to a later time to make sure each waiter received 20 minute gap between each table so they had enough time to manage their tables on time efficiently. I had to reallocate some tables and stations to distribute the absent waiter’s tables and informed the staff. 5. 3 Analyse whether your reaction/response was effective and identify what you would do differently (if anything). I think in terms with the time I had, my decision was the most effective decision that was possible and best for my staff as well. If I gave tables in 10 minute break the staff will be more stressed about their time management and make mistakes on their sequence of service and have delays which will also be unpleasing to the customers as well. If I could change one thing I would make extra booking sheets for 11 waiters and 12 waiters even though I have 13 just to make sure and be safe. 5. 4 Have you identified any skills where you need to improve? What skill do you need to improve? I think I need to improve on leadership skills as I am not good at giving people commands and orders. Asking nicely could result staff refusing to follow my request. Also leading the team well so the staff are not lost and can reply on the manger is the kind of skill I need to improve on as well. Learning about yourself 6. 2What were your strengths leading the team? Figuring out solutions and making the service run fast and efficient as well as making the staff feel comfortable is my strengths in terms of leading the team. Because I found my way through problems fast and prepared for the service well, the staff trusted me and had felt comfortable. Even with extra barriers I still managed to make service flow fast. 6. 3Have you identified any areas where you need to improve? What areas do you need to improve? I think I need to improve how to be a good leader because I don’t think I have that quality just yet when I was a restaurant manager, Also I want to improve my eight management skill such as leadership, flexibility, adaptability, inventory management, conflict resolution, ability to work under to pressure, ability to multi-task, and organization skill. To be a successful manager, I need to improve all of this skill and learn from the mistake that I had got to achieve in the future. 6. 4Identify what remedial strategies you will put in place to develop the areas that are identified above. The eight management skill: leadership, flexibility, adaptability, inventory management, conflict resolution, ability to work under pressure, ability to multi-task, and organization skill and comunication. Statistic data At lunch shift, we had 126 customers coming to dine and our total food revenue was $1,962 and total beverage revenue was $2194 Hence, our average food check is $15.6 per person. It means that we sold entree and main food more than one person, which is good but it is not so good. Our team needed upselling skills at this moment. Thus, Total revenue should be $ but we received money only $ which means we lost $. The reason why this happen was that students did not pay properly and just left without paying, but it is very serious problem in real world and somebody should be to blame. That would be restaurant manager. Hence, I think that the statistic data show us how much money we make and can find the problems such as money stolen or not.

The Castle Creative Writing

I walked down the narrow, moonlight lane on my way to the park. I was meeting Summer, Leon and Tiffany. It was really cold and it was beginning to get dark. I felt nervous walking down the lane as there were no lights. Eventually I got to the end of the lane and as I turned the corner I could see the park in the distance. I could hear summer laughing like a hyena. I carried on walking. Leon was shining the bright torch in my face. My eyes stung and I grabbed the torch from his plump, sticky hand. He grabbed it back holding it in one hand while holding a chocolate bar in the other. I explained why I was so late and asked what they were planning to do now that I had arrived. â€Å"We have just been playing dares and Tiffany dared one of us to go in the castle up on the hill at Florence's Gardens, but we're all scared!† explained Summer. She continued, â€Å"Why don't you go in there, Ryan?† Ryan, look ever so slightly scared, refused outright reminding us of all the stories about that castle, especially the one about the boy who went in almost twenty years ago and still hasn't been found. â€Å"Oh, they're just myths and rumours, you're not telling me you actually believe them, are you?† said Summer. â€Å"Well if you don't believe them, then you go in there, as you're so sure they're not true!† I shouted. Summer's smile dropped which made me wonder if she might be beginning to regret what she had just said, but Summer isn't the type of person to back down from a dare so she replied, â€Å"Fine, I will then. I'll prove to you it's all lies.† The castle was tall up on the hill overlooking long stretches of green fields. The walls of the castle were jet black and looked dull and dreary. Some of the windows were smashed and through them it was possible to see a glimpse of the dirty looking rooms inside, which were covered in dust and cobwebs. We began to make our way up the hill. By now it was pitch black and we were all extremely cold. The wind was blowing and the leaves on the trees were rustling and the wind gushed past. I was starting to feel scared. I could sense a creepy atmosphere around the castle; it reminded me of something out of a scary movie. I was beginning to think that I would prefer to be back at home, snuggled up in bed with a warm cup of hot chocolate. I don't know if the others felt the same but I definitely didn't want them to think I was scared so I just kept my feelings to myself and kept walking up the hill towards the castle. When we finally reached the huge wooden door Leon turned to Summer and pointed at it. â€Å"Go on then. If you're so brave, you go in there and come back and tell us what you find.† â€Å"Ok,† she whispered. There was a slight tremble in her voice, even though on the outside she was trying to look confident. As she gently pushed the door open, it creaked loudly. She turned back. Tiffany pushed her forward. â€Å"Go on!† she shouted. Summer turned back and began to make her entrance into the castle. Leon, Tiffany and I looked at one another. We stood in silence listening while we could hear Summer's footsteps as she journeyed further into the castle. The footsteps faded and Tiffany began to laugh. â€Å"I can't believe she is actually in there. I though that when we got here she would change her mind!† â€Å"Me, too,† agreed Leon. We sat down on the damp grass and began to discuss what we all thought Summer would find in there. All caught up in our conversation, we didn't realise how long she had been gone when we heard a long, high pitched scream. We all jumped up. Tiffany had a look of horror on her now pale face. â€Å"What's happened?† Leon exclaimed. I began to shout Summer's name hoping, that she would shout back, laughing, saying she was winding us up, and just trying to scare us. But there was no reply. â€Å"We should never have let her go in there.† I began to say. â€Å"I wonder if she's ok?† â€Å"One of us has to go in there,† said Tiffany sternly. â€Å"We have to go and rescue her. She is obviously in trouble.† Leon looked brave and agreed that he would go in and find Summer. I was extremely scared and nervous as I watched Leon go in the same door as Summer had gone in around half an hour ago. But I knew we had to do something, we couldn't just leave Summer in there. I know it was selfish but at that moment I just thought how glad I was that it was Leon going into the castle and not me. The next 10 minutes passed. Nothing. Leon and Summer were now in the house and neither Tiffany or I knew what was going on or if they were alright. â€Å"We've got to go in there!† whispered Tiffany. â€Å"Give it another 5 minutes† I began. But before I could even finish my sentence, she was running towards the doors and into the castle. I hesitated. I was so nervous it was unbelievable. I was shaking – I don't know whether it was because of the ice cold weather or because I was so scared, but I knew no matter how frightened I was I had to go in there. I slowly pushed open the door and peeked inside. It was pitch black. All I could see were the flickering lights ahead at the end of the long straight corridor that I was approaching. I slowly and carefully made my way towards the light. When I finally arrived at the end of the creepy corridor I was faced with two doors. One on my right and the other on the left. I went with my first instinct and choose the door on my right. I quietly pushed the door open and stepped through. It was another long corridor. There were cobwebs all over the place. Dust covered the dirty walls and carpet. I walked down the second corridor. Palms sweating with the fear of not knowing if I was going to get out of this castle alive. But I knew I couldn't go back now and I just had to keep walking. I must have only been walking for a minute or so, but it seemed like forever, when I caught a glimpse of another door ahead. As I approached it, so many thoughts were running through my head of what could be behind it. I hesitated for a second, then reached out to the door and pushed it hard. I was shocked when I saw darkness and felt a bitter cold come over me. I was in the outside world again! Suddenly, I heard a crash as the door slammed loudly behind me. I turned around and it was then I noticed that I was standing right where I was standing before I went in the castle and the door I came out of was the door I went in. I felt relieved and safe but then it dawned on me that I was alone. I still didn't know where the others were. They weren't anywhere around. I thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that they must still be in the house. Then I remembered there had been 2 doors when I had come to the end of the first corridor. They must have gone into the door on the left whereas I had chosen the door on the right. I had to go back and go through the door and try and find them, but as I tugged on the door handle to enter the castle for the second time something was wrong. The door was jammed. I pulled harder and harder on the door handle but it wouldn't budge. It's now a week on and I haven't seen my friends since. I hate thinking that they are going to be stuck in that castle for the rest of there lives – if they even are still alive.