The Climb Towards Tenacity free essay sample

It was three in the morning when the black van pulled up to the hotel. A tall man with crazy hair climbed out and greeted us. Half asleep, I clambered into the car, and hours later; I awoke to the sight of the desert and the driver swerving through the barren road. He pulled into a parking lot and I unsteadily got out of the car and stared at the mountain. â€Å"Come on, yalla! Let’s go!† He shoved a water bottle into my hand as we started the climb. I knew the stories and facts about the landmark. In the final accords of the First Jewish-Roman War, a siege of Masada by the Roman army led to a mass suicide of the Jews living on the mountain. It is one of the Jewish people’s great symbols, an ironic icon of survival in the face of adversity. The guide reminded me of the story as I stepped over rocks and stumbled up the narrow stone steps. We will write a custom essay sample on The Climb Towards Tenacity or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As we dragged on, I learned more about the guide. His name was Avi Goren—a medal-winning soldier who fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He drove tanks throughout the war; every tank he drove was attacked and the soldiers inside injured. In many of these instances, Avi was the only survivor of the attack. Injured, he repeatedly left the tank into open fire to retrieve bodies for proper burial. As he told the story, I could see the emotions and hardships he was carrying with him. He is the bravest man I know, for, regardless of what he went through, he continues on with courage and selflessness. He finished his story as we reached the top of Masada and we sat down to watch the sunrise over the Israeli desert. When the sun reached the top of the sky we toured the ruins of the ancient mountaintop fortress. We moved through the beautiful architecture of the bathhouse and the aqueducts and I tried to imagine the difficult choice my ancestors had to make. As the story goes, the Rom ans seized the fortress and instead of allowing themselves to be captured and enslaved, the Jewish people inhabiting the fortress took their own lives as an act of defiance. They realized that to surrender their freedom would be worse than death. By keeping the Jewish flame alive, they became a symbol of triumph of the Jewish spirit. After the tour, we started the grueling walk down the mountain. The sun was at full height, raising the temperature to 110 degrees. With my next step, my ankle rolled and I fell to the ground. I felt the prickle of tears and I nursed the searing pain in my foot as two options flashed before my eyes: turn around and take the cable car, or, continue my pilgrimage regardless of my injury. I thought of the perseverance that the people of Masada and Avi had in the face of adversity, and knew I simply had to continue. After many painful steps, I limped over to the car and replayed the last few hours in my head. Perseverance in the face of affliction: the Jew ish people are always overcoming hardships, and as we move forward and celebrate the Hanukkah miracle or being saved from slavery in Egypt, we must remember the importance of maintaining the Jewish light and spirit. As I finished my climb of Masada, I started a new climb towards strength and courage as my Jewish ancestors and heroes did before me.

What If Your Writers Wont Work In WordPress

What If Your Writers Wont Work In WordPress Your blogging team has writers who dont want to work in WordPress. And this is not good. It really shouldnt matter where people get their writing done, so long as they write. Except that it does matter, at least for the person who has to finalize the posts. When writing in something outside of WordPress, content gets wrapped in rather messy formatting. Writers send you posts in the body of an email, or in  Microsoft Word, for example. Getting rid of the extra formatting so it doesnt blow up your WordPress blog  involves manual copy-paste solutions with an extra step to strip out formatting. Even worse? You cant really create a complete blog post outside of WordPress; someone is going to have to upload the images, make sure the headline tags are correct, and add code for things like . Writing Outside Of WordPress Here, each of our writers has their own preference. Some of us work in WordPress because of the preference of frequent previews. At other times, we prefer Google Drive,  Evernote,  Editorially, or  Draft. Thats our preferences. One of the  most common place where blog posts get written is in  Microsoft Word. Why would anyone write outside of the blogging platform that is ultimately going to do the actual publishing of their work? 1. WordPress can be confusing. Some writers are used to, and most comfortable, writing in the software theyve always used. Dragging them into WordPress and asking them to write as good as ever while learning an entirely new system is counterproductive. Even us longtime users of WordPress have rather negative feelings about the entire writing experience in the system. 2. People dont trust WordPress. The new updates included an autosave that works well, but many bloggers still have that old ingrained fear of writing the Greatest Blog Post Ever only to lose it by accidentally swiping the wrong way on their Apple Magic Mouse or closing the browser tab. Theyve known that possibility, and experienced it, in the past. 3. Getting them to write is the main battle. Sometimes your writers are writing because they have to, not that they want to. Getting them to write is the main battle; why fight another about where they write? If they are more likely to write in Word or Evernote, great. Be happy that they will write. What do you do when your writers wont work in WordPress?Try to Change Their Mind Its worth the attempt to try to get your writers on board with WordPress, and heres how you can do it. 1. Get them training. Whether its in-house or through an online course, you can insist that your writers get training. There are many place online that offer training and tutorials in using WordPress. Theres the popular Lynda.com training site, as well as WordPress.orgs very own tutorials. 2. Give them a contributor account. A contributor account in WordPress allows your writers to write and manage their own posts, but they cannot publish them. You can keep them from having access to anything that might seriously do damage to your blog. Even if they dont know anything about formatting, the writing is happening inside of WordPress and will save you from importing it in. 3. Use a third-party app. Apps like MarsEdit, Live Writer, and Editorially allow your writers to work outside of WordPress, and import what theyve written beautifully into the system. The can choose an interface that is less intimidating to do their work. Remember, you are changing a habit for your writer. They may have been writing in Word their entire life, and this is going to be nothing short of a rebellion for them. Be sure the battle to change the habit is worth it in the long run.

Business law Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business law - Term Paper Example   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The History of American law can be dated all the way back to when the American colonies first settled, the English system of law was established as the system of jurisprudence.  Once that was established,  the English common law was developed by judges who issued their  opinions when deciding cases.  Ã‚  Hence, these principles in these cases became precedent for later judges deciding similar case.  In any scenario when two sides disagree on what the outcome of a case maybe, common law is utilized. In common law, cases are judged by the jury and are extremely sophisticated since states have different guidelines for conducting cases.  In common law, juries issue a verdict, which the judge typically orders as the judgment in the case. However, judges can issue a  judgment not withstanding the verdict  based on a motion of the losing party  granted bias is present. In addition, judges can declare a mistrial in cas es of misconduct. In order to win in common law, it is essential for the plaintiff to prove to the judge by a â€Å"preponderance of  evidence.† If they fail to prove it by a preponderance of the evidence, the defendant prevails.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As mentioned above, the law of United States is founded upon  statutory law.  The American court system is divided by civil and criminal litigation.  Without a doubt though, the United States Constitution is the foundation of government regulations in United States  under the civil law.  In criminal cases, the lawsuits are brought by government entities such as the government itself, based on violations of criminal statutes but not the common law.  On the other hand, the plaintiff is the party who brings the action in a civil law suit in which monetary damages and equitable remedies become the focal point( Cheeseman 154).  However,  common law expands to civil  lawsuits as well, which makes the common law superior than civil

Project manament Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project manament - Article Example Before the initiation of a project, a feasibility study is usually conducted in order to assess the viability of the project. The study helps organization understands the potential benefits of a project keeping in view company constraints. The study helps organizations understand the required capital resources for the project and the time it would take to complete the project. It helps them to plan the project more effectively in order to achieve desired results1. The study also helps understand where the project must be initiated, what measures must be taken, and what are the potential benefits of the project for company. Hence, it is very important to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study that helps an organization to achieve the desired goals of the project. Project evaluation is carried out after the completion of project in order to judge the effectiveness of the project. This process is carried out to understand whether the desired objective of the project has been achieved or not. Evaluation helps organizations to be aware of the corrective actions they need to take. There are two main kinds of evaluation 1) Ongoing evaluation and 2) Post project evaluation. Ongoing evaluation is carried out during the course of the project in order to assess whether deadlines are being met and whether interim objectives are achieved or not. On the other hand, post project evaluation assesses the success of project completed. It evaluates whether the laid down objectives before the project were achieved or not. Cash flows are the term used for the expected cash inflows and outflows during the completion of the project and post completion. Cash flows give a clue about the expected revenues and costs for project completion. Evaluating expected cash flows is one of the most important factors of accepting or rejecting a project. Like all other aspects of a project, risk

Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Criminal Justice - Essay Example This dissertation will look into the case of state of Connecticut versus Jeff Jackson, which will outline activities that took place after the appeal in the Appellate court. It will also discuss criminal jurisprudence and honor of defendant’s proof of free from criminal charges beyond any reasonable doubt. The courts, in accordance to criminal justice, conduct justice operations in various ways that give a plaintiff a chance for probation revocation appeal and plea-bargaining that do take place in between the time of arrest warrant and sentencing (Connecticut, 2011). The laws of Connecticut were officially released on a date when a slip of opinion was the operative Appellate petitions and filing of cases was certified as a way acceptance appeals. In that date, Jeffrey Jackson appealed to the Appellate court for conviction of judgment, which was concluded by the jury in the trial court after his trial. Jeffery Jackson was given a warrant of arrest due to possession and use of n arcotic drugs and in violation of General Statutes that resulted to trial by court’s jury. After hearings, the defendant proved his innocence of allegations to a point of reasonable doubt (Connecticut, 2011). This had diluted the burden that required proof to take improper judgment. The Appellate Court on consideration of defendant’s claim, with the reversing of the judgment by the jury of the trial, Jeffrey Jackson requested for a new hearing in the Appellate court. Thereafter, the Appellate court accepted the request on a state’s petition that guaranteed certification to consider appeal, but with limited issues regarding the Appellate court (Katz, 2007). The court’s jury objection to statutory evidence that abided with criteria of operation in the law firm was not to be considered by the Appellate court. The jury objected to requests from the Appellate court regarding determination of overall judgment as per instructions referring to reasonable doubt. T he impermissible burden of proof was diluted improperly according to state of opinion set by the jury upon the Appellate court. While incarcerated at a correctional center, Jeff Jackson underwent strips of searches led by a correctional officer to provide reasonable evidence of possession of the narcotic drugs. The jury ordered a state of carriage of burden that required proofing substantial and empirical evidence. This involved blood tests from samples of blood from Jeffrey Jackson as well as tests for positive result from use of cocaine (Connecticut, 2011). Proof beyond reasonable doubt leaves the plaintiff firmly convinced that the defendant is guilty or not guilty, from the fact that the jury has absolute certainty for siding with the defendant, and not the plaintiff but constituting maintenance of judicial and law ethics. The procedural history was additional facts that were exceptional according to the defendants routines that involved carrying procedural activities most of th em that differed from the presentation given by jury’s ruling. The jury did not ordain a standard charge in the basis of reasonable doubt decision making and ruling as per the plaintiff’s charges (Connecticut, 2011). The reason as to why the jury did not describe reasonable doubt in the case of Jeffrey Jackson was the reasonable prudence that hesitated to perform more weighty cases that awaited the jury’s intervention. The court acknowledged difference in trial and sentencing in the

Problem Based Learning Reflective Account Psychology Essay

Problem Based Learning Reflective Account Psychology Essay The Problem Based Learning (PBL) exercise was entitled The relationship to change. Each Case Discussion Group (CDG), consisting of 7 trainees, had to produce a presentation on this topic. Our CDG decided to look at the relationship of the media in changing attitudes towards mental health, with a focus on the Tripartite Model (Triandis, 1971) to explain attitude formation and Stages of Change Model (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1984, cited in Sarafino, 1998) to think about the process of change. I will reflect on the process of change since starting the PBL for both myself and the group, and how this is reflective of changes that occur in clinical practice, with consideration of these two models. The PBL exercise occurred before we started on placement; as such, there are areas that we did not consider or have time to cover; for example, the relationship of the mental health service and teams in changing attitudes towards mental health, both in the community and within services, and how attitudes about mental health influence therapy. I believe these may be important aspects to reflect upon here. Though we were all of similar ages, we had one male in our group and a variety of different individual characteristics and experiences, although we all shared apprehensions about actually doing the presentation. As the group sessions progressed, there were shifts in the extent of the contributions made by different group members. Initially, I remained relatively quiet and felt quite daunted by the process. As I felt more settled and gained more knowledge about the task in hand, I contributed to a far greater extent and felt able to put my point of view across. I believe as a group we were very respectful of one anothers needs and that this developed as we grew in confidence. There was a general consensus of the title being very vague. I felt that there was a need amongst us to get something done and have something to work on, and we became very task-focused. Having watched the other groups presentations, I realised that we remained task-focused throughout the experience in comparison to other groups who largely reflected on their experiences. This may be reflected in therapeutic interventions whereby time constraints and limited sessions mean that we become more focused on the task at hand and neglect to reflect on the therapeutic process. On reflection, however, our group formed a strong bond at an early stage, perhaps drawn together by the safe environment we created to share ideas and anxieties and the shared goal of wanting to achieve, and this formed the basis of a positive experience of this learning task. As the group evolved and held trust in one another, we felt able to hold different opinions and constructively worked through these until a cons ensus was reached. This is something I feel we would not have achieved so successfully at the beginning due to a need to be liked and please one another and therefore feeling restrained and less willing to share a differing opinion. This may be reflected in clinical practice with clients who may initially feel less able to voice ideas or disagreements with our expressed understandings of their difficulties but are more able to do so as the relationship develops. This can be vital when thinking about formulation and highlights the need to reformulate with new information. Of the six formal sessions that we met together for our CDG, three were attended by our facilitator. This had an impact on the group dynamics; due to this being our first assignment and us being new trainees, there was an inherent need for us to seek reassurance that what we were doing was right and to gain approval from the facilitator when she joined us. I was much quieter when she was present, through anxieties about being evaluated and I noticed as a group, we tended to be more restrained and tentative. Part of the role of a clinical psychologist may be to facilitate groups, both therapeutically and in other settings such as group supervision. The differences that arose in the sessions where we had a facilitator compared with those when we did not may also be reflected in other group settings. Whilst the power differential cannot be removed and the way in which people interact under different circumstances will vary, I have considered how important it is to try to make people fee l as comfortable as they can in such settings, perhaps through sharing experiences and anxieties, where appropriate. This has certainly been a helpful part of my own supervision whereby my supervisor has shared her experiences and mistakes and I have felt more empowered to talk about difficult situations I have faced. However, this is still an area that I need to become more comfortable with; accepting that it is neither required nor desirable to know everything or to get everything right. As a group, we worked productively on the task in hand, setting homework tasks for each of us and to then share these with the group at the beginning of each meeting. This is highly reflective of a CBT framework whereby we were very directive and focused on achieving the goal of getting our presentation written. Through my clinical practice, I have seen how using CBT can fit very well with what some clients want, in terms of them having identified the areas they want to change and wanting practical techniques and homework tasks to enable them to do this. However, there have been other clients I have worked with for whom I have been unsure that a CBT approach was best suited to their needs. One client in particular brought with him each week complex family difficulties. Working within a CBT focused team, I felt constrained to keep to a CBT approach but following supervision and a subsequent consultation with family therapy, alongside the CBT we addressed relational difficulties and th is appeared to bring about change within his system that constituted a shift in his depression. Thinking about how we approached our PBL task, I wonder if we neglected a more holistic approach and in our focus on getting the task done, we missed opportunities to learn from the process and engage with the relationships that were forming and changing. In subsequent CDGs, we have reflected more upon how we have formed and developed as a group but it is perhaps an area we need to remain mindful of due to our apparent need to still remain more task-focused. Models of change Our group decided to look at two models relating to our chosen focus of the relationship of the media in changing attitudes towards mental health. The stages of change model (Procheska and DiClemente, 1992) proposes five stages of change: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance, with relapse also being a feature of the change process. In the service where I am on placement, people are required to be motivated to engage and change, and are thus usually at the contemplation or preparation stage. I was struck by the contrast of these clients and the clients I spent time with when working two shifts on an acute ward as part of my induction. Here, many of the clients were less aware of having difficulties or not wanting to make any changes. I reflected on how different therapy might be with clients at different stages and how different techniques may be employed, such as motivational interviewing, at earlier stages. However, I also considered for whom there w as a problem and whether if the client is not at risk to themselves or others and not in distress, should societys representation of normal mean that such clients are forced to change? In addition, it is important to consider what constitutes significant change. Through working with a client who checks obsessively, I have found that my expectations were different to hers and that she has achieved a reduction in checking that is sufficient for her. This enabled me to consider my own attitudes and beliefs about the distress people experience and how important it is to fully listen to clients and what their goals are. We also looked at the Tripartite model which looks at attitudes and how these are influenced and changed. It suggests that attitudes are comprised of three parts, cognitions, affect and behaviour, and that attitudes can be changed by working on any one of these parts, for example through new information, direct experience or forced behaviour. I was very motivated to look at attitudes towards mental health since I feel there is still a lot of stigma attached to mental distress and was interested in the role that the media plays in both supporting and trying to address this, whilst also being aware that this can vary depending on other factors such as culture. I was surprised during my induction on the inpatient ward by the views held by some staff towards the clients whereby some clients were seen as their diagnosis, rather than as people, and were consequently infantilised and not treated as individuals. I found myself trying to get to know more about the clients than just their diag nosis by engaging with them through activities, such as playing pool. The therapeutic relationship is a vital and influential component of therapy (Roth and Fonagy, 2005). It is interesting to think about how both the therapists and clients attitudes towards mental health difficulties impact upon the therapeutic relationship. When working with clients in a therapeutic setting, I am now more mindful of seeing beyond their distress and thinking more holistically, as well as consideration of our attitudes towards the distress and drawing upon the resources and resilience clients have already. My experiences on the ward also enabled me to think more about staff and team attitudes in general. As the role of clinical psychologists changes and they take on more consultative and leadership roles, team dynamics will be an important factor to consider and thus changing attitudes may be an important factor to consider, through increased training and supervision. Final Reflections It has been interesting to reflect on the dynamics of our group. I feel that as a group we bonded very quickly and that this was significantly aided by a shared goal of getting our presentation done alongside a common theme of feeling quite anxious about getting it right. Through the experience of shared learning, we were able to draw upon a wealth of experiences and construct a presentation that employed humour to get our message across in a format that felt safe and fun for us. This very much reflected our CDG meetings which employed humour but focused on the task at hand. It has also enabled me to think about my own use of humour and how I feel that this can be an important factor in clinical practice to aid the therapeutic alliance and to enable clients to alleviate some of their distress. As a group, I think that we moved from tentative explorations of ideas to being more empowered to express and manage differing opinions and achieving an agreed consensus following discussions. With hindsight, I believe we neglected to reflect sufficiently on the process of change for us as a group during the PBL task but that we are now more aware of our need to develop these skills further. Our presentation focused on attitude change towards mental health difficulties. I believe there is a large role for clinical psychologists, and mental health teams, to consider the attitudes we hold and to consider how we view different client groups, mental health difficulties and diversity. I believe that being aware of such attitudes is an important factor in acknowledging the need for change in some attitudes, alongside training and good supervision. I hope that as my own training and confidence develops, I will feel better equipped to be able to facilitate changes in such attitudes.

Sexual Harassment and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) :: Sexual Harassment Essays

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. Federal law as well as various state fair-employment laws prohibit employers with 15 or more employees from treating members of one sex or race differently from members of the opposite sex or another race in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. The statutory and regulatory laws govern the entire employment process from pre-employment activities such as recruiting, through an employee's career with the organization, including termination. The prohibition against sex discrimination imposes responsibility upon employers to afford their employees an environment free from sexual harassment and from the fear that it may occur. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) can file lawsuits on behalf of victims of sexual harassment, women who take their accusations to court face even bigger obstacles than mere public disapproval. The legal process is long and cumbersome - it can be years from the first complaint to the final verdict and in the meanwhile, the woman is in a legal, professional and often financial limbo. Women are not entitled to collect damages under the Civil Rights Act - just back pay; so many women don't see this process as worth the trouble. Even those, however, who do file a complaint and win a harassment case, may feel lost. Though, Title VII offers reinstatement to previous job, the individual may be shunned or harassed by co-worker thus making conditions even more uncomfortable than they were beforehand. Common law tort lawsuits, such as intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery, provide a remedy in certain types of sexual harassment cases that is total ly dependent of any of the statutes and governmental agencies. However, the solutions proposed might seem comprehensive in plans to lessen sexual harassment in the workplace and punishment of harassers, women still face formidable obstacles in preventing harassment from continuing. The proposed measures fail to cover all aspects of harassment, though the truth is, it is virtually impossible to formulate a plan to do so.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The murk came back and transformed that Sunday night's dusk into a thing of decadent beauty. The sun turned red as it slid down toward the hills and the haze picked up the glow, turning the western sky into a nosebleed. I sat out on the deck and watched it, trying to do a crossword puzzle and not getting very far. When the phone rang, I dropped Tough Stuff on top of my manuscript as I went to answer it. I was tired of looking at the title of my book every time I passed. ‘Hello?' ‘What's going on up there?' John Storrow demanded. He didn't even bother to say hi. He didn't sound angry, though; he sounded totally pumped. ‘I'm missing the whole goddam soap opera!' ‘I invited myself to lunch on Tuesday,' I said. ‘Hope you don't mind.' ‘No, that's good, the more the merrier.' He sounded as if he absolutely meant it. ‘What a summer, huh? What a summer! Anything happen just lately? Earthquakes? Volcanoes? Mass suicides?' ‘No mass suicides, but the old guy died,' I said. ‘Shit, the whole world knows Max Devore kicked it,' he said. ‘Surprise me, Mike! Stun me! Make me holler boy-howdy!' ‘No, the other old guy. Royce Merrill.' ‘I don't know who you oh, wait. The one with the gold cane who looked like an exhibit from Jurassic Park?' ‘That's him.' ‘Bummer. Otherwise . . . ?' ‘Otherwise everything's under control,' I said, then thought of the popped-out eyes of the cat-clock and almost laughed. What stopped me was a kind of surety that Mr. Good Humor Man was just an act John had really called to ask what, if anything, was going on between me and Mattie. And what was I going to say? Nothing yet? One kiss, one instant blue-steel hard-on, the fundamental things apply as time goes by? But John had other things on his mind. ‘Listen, Michael, I called because I've got something to tell you. I think you'll be both amused and amazed.' ‘A state we all crave,' I said. ‘Lay it on me.' ‘Rogette Whitmore called, and . . . you didn't happen to give her my parents' number, did you? I'm back in New York now, but she called me in Philly.' ‘I didn't have your parents' number. You didn't leave it on either of your machines.' ‘Oh, right.' No apology; he seemed too excited to think of such mundanities. I began to feel excited myself, and I didn't even know what the hell was going on. ‘I gave it to Mattie. Do you think the Whitmore woman called Mattie to get it? Would Mattie give it to her?' ‘I'm not sure that if Mattie came upon Rogette flaming in a thoroughfare, she'd piss on her to put her out.' ‘Vulgar, Michael, trs vulgarino.' But he was laughing. ‘Maybe Whitmore got it the same way Devore got yours.' ‘Probably so,' I said. ‘I don't know what'll happen in the months ahead, but right now I'm sure she's still got access to Max Devore's personal control panel. And if anyone knows how to push the buttons on it, it's probably her. Did she call from Palm Springs?' ‘Uh-huh. She said she'd just finished a preliminary meeting with Devore's attorneys concerning the old man's will. According to her, Grampa left Mattie Devore eighty million dollars.' I was struck silent. I wasn't amused yet, but I was certainly amazed. ‘Gets ya, don't it?' John said gleefully. ‘You mean he left it to Kyra,' I said at last. ‘Left it in trust to Kyra.' ‘No, that's just what he did not do. I asked Whitmore three times, but by the third I was starting to understand. There was method in his madness. Not much, but a little. You see, there's a condition. If he left the money to the minor child instead of to the mother, the condition would have no weight. It's funny when you consider that Mattie isn't long past minor status herself.' ‘Funny,' I agreed, and thought of her dress sliding between my hands and her smooth bare waist. I also thought of Bill Dean saying that men who went with girls that age always looked the same, had their tongues run out even if their mouths were shut. ‘What string did he put on the money?' ‘That Mattie remain on the TR for one year following Devore's death until July 17, 1999. She can leave on day-trips, but she has to be tucked up in her TR-90 bed every night by nine o'clock, or else the legacy is forfeit. Did you ever hear such a bullshit thing in your life? Outside of some old George Sanders movie, that is?' ‘No,' I said, and recalled my visit to the Fryeburg Fair with Kyra. Even in death he's seeking custody, I had thought, and of course this was the same thing. He wanted them here. Even in death he wanted them on the TR. ‘It won't fly?' I asked. ‘Of course it won't fly. Fucking crackpot might as well have written he'd give her eighty million dollars if she used blue tampons for a year. But she'll get the eighty mil, all right. My heart is set on it. I've already talked to three of our estate guys, and . . . you don't think I should bring one of them up with me on Tuesday, do you? Will Stevenson'll be the point man in the estate phase, if Mattie agrees.' He was all but babbling. He hadn't had a thing to drink, I'd've bet the farm on it, but he was sky-high on all the possibilities. We'd gotten to the happily-ever-after part of the fairy tale, as far as he was concerned; Cinderella comes home from the ball through a cash cloudburst. ‘ . . . course Will's a little bit old,' John was saying, ‘about three hundred or so, which means he's not exactly a fun guy at a party, but . . . ‘ ‘Leave him home, why don't you?' I said. ‘There'll be plenty of time to carve up Devore's will later on. And in the immediate future, I don't think Mattie's going to have any problem observing the bullshit condition. She just got her job back, remember?' ‘Yeah, the white buffalo drops dead and the whole herd scatters!' John exulted. ‘Look at em go! And the new multimillionaire goes back to filing books and mailing out overdue notices! Okay, Tuesday we'll just party.' ‘Good.' ‘Party 'til we puke.' ‘Well . . . maybe us older folks will just party until we're mildly nauseated, would that be all right?' ‘Sure. I've already called Romeo Bissonette, and he's going to bring George Kennedy, the private detective who got all that hilarious shit on Durgin. Bissonette says Kennedy's a scream when he gets a drink or two in him. I thought I'd bring some steaks from Peter Luger's, did I tell you that?' ‘I don't believe you did.' ‘Best steaks in the world. Michael, do you realize what's happened to that young woman? Eighty million dollars!' ‘She'll be able to replace Scoutie.' ‘Huh?' ‘Nothing. Will you come in tomorrow night or on Tuesday?' ‘Tuesday morning around ten, into Castle County Airport. New England Air. Mike, are you all right? You sound odd.' ‘I'm all right. I'm where I'm supposed to be. I think.' ‘What's that supposed to mean?' I had wandered out onto the deck. In the distance thunder rumbled. It was hotter than hell, not a breath of breeze stirring. The sunset was fading to a baleful afterglow. The sky in the west looked like the white of a bloodshot eye. ‘I don't know,' I said, ‘but I have an idea the situation will clarify itself. I'll meet you at the airport.' ‘Okay,' he said, and then, in a hushed, almost reverential voice: ‘Eighty million motherfucking American dollars.' ‘It's a whole lotta lettuce,' I agreed, and wished him a good night. I drank black coffee and ate toast in the kitchen the next morning, watching the TV weatherman. Like so many of them these days, he had a slightly mad look, as if all those Doppler radar images had driven him to the brink of something. I think of it as the Millennial Video Game look. ‘We've got another thirty-six hours of this soup to work through and then there's going to be a big change,' he was saying, and pointed to some dark gray scum lurking in the Midwest. Tiny animated lightning-bolts danced in it like defective sparkplugs. Beyond the scum and the lightning-bolts, America looked clear all the way out to the desert country, and the posted temperatures were fifteen degrees cooler. ‘We'll see temps in the mid-nineties today and can't look for much relief tonight or tomorrow morning. But tomorrow afternoon these frontal storms will reach western Maine, and I think most of you are going to want to keep updated on weather conditions. Before we get back to cooler air and bright clear skies on Wednesday, we're probably going to see violent thunderstorms, heavy rain, hail in some locations. Tornados are rare in Maine, but some towns in western and central Maine could see them tomorrow. Back to you, Earl.' Earl, the morning news guy, had the innocent beefy look of a recent retiree from the Chippendales and read off the Teleprompter like one. ‘Wow,' he said. ‘That's quite a forecast, Vince. Tornados a possibility.' ‘Wow,' I said. ‘Say wow again, Earl. Do it 'til I'm satisfied.' ‘Holy cow,' Earl said just to spite me, and the telephone rang. I went to answer it, giving the waggy clock a look as I went by. The night had been quiet no sobbing, no screaming, no nocturnal adventures but the clock was disquieting, just the same. It hung there On the wall eyeless and dead, like a message full of bad news. ‘Hello?' ‘Mr. Noonan?' I knew the voice, but for a moment couldn't place it. It was because she had called me Mr. Noonan. To Brenda Meserve I'd been Mike for almost fifteen years. ‘Mrs M.? Brenda? What ‘ ‘I can't work for you anymore,' she said, all in a rush. ‘I'm sorry I can't give you proper notice I never stopped work for anyone without giving notice, not even that old drunk Mr Croyden but I have to. Please understand.' ‘Did Bill find out I called you? I swear to God, Brenda, I never said a word ‘ ‘No. I haven't spoken to him, nor he to me. I just can't come back to Sara Laughs. I had a bad dream last night. A terrible dream. I dreamed that . . . something's mad at me. If I come back, I could have an accident. It would look like an accident, at least, but . . . it wouldn't be.' That's silly, Mrs M., I wanted to say. You're surely past the age where you believe in campfire stories about ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties. But of course I could say no such thing. What was going on in my house was no campfire story. I knew it, and she knew I did. ‘Brenda, if I've caused you any trouble, I'm truly sorry.' ‘Go away, Mr. Noonan . . . Mike. Go back to Derry and stay for awhile. It's the best thing you could do.' I heard the letters sliding on the fridge and turned. This time I actually saw the circle of fruits and vegetables form. It stayed open at the top long enough for four letters to slide inside. Then a little plastic lemon plugged the hole and completed the circle. yats, the letters said, then swapped themselves around, making stay Then both the circle and the letters broke up. ‘Mike, please.' Mrs. M. was crying. ‘Royce's funeral is tomorrow. Everyone in the TR who matters the old-timers will be there.' Yes, of course they would. The old ones, the bags of bones who knew what they knew and kept it to themselves. Except some of them had talked to my wife. Royce himself had talked to her. Now he was dead. So was she. ‘It would be best if you were gone. You could take that young woman with you, maybe. Her and her little girl.' But could I? I somehow didn't think so. I thought the three of us were on the TR until this was over . . . and I was starting to have an idea of when that would be. A storm was coming. A summer storm. Maybe even a tornado. ‘Brenda, thanks for calling me. And I'm not letting you go. Let's just call it a leave of absence, shall we?' ‘Fine . . . whatever you want. Will you at least think about what I said?' ‘Yes. In the meantime, I don't think I'd tell anyone you called me, all right?' ‘No!' she said, sounding shocked. Then: ‘But they'll know. Bill and Yvette . . . Dickie Brooks at the garage . . . old Anthony Weyland and Buddy Jellison and all the others . . . they'll know. Goodbye, Mr. Noonan. I'm so sorry. For you and your wife. Your poor wife. I'm so sorry.' Then she was gone. I held the phone in my hand for a long time. Then, like a man in a dream, I put it down, crossed the room, and took the eyeless clock off the wall. I threw it in the trash and went down to the lake for a swim, remembering that W. E Harvey story ‘August Heat,' the one that ends with the line ‘The heat is enough to drive a man mad.' I'm not a bad swimmer when people aren't pelting me with rocks, but my first shore-to-float-to-shore lap was tentative and unrhythmic ugly because I kept expecting something to reach up from the bottom and grab me. The drowned boy, maybe. The second lap was better, and by the third I was relishing the increased kick of my heart and the silky coolness of the water rushing past me. Halfway through the fourth lap I pulled myself up the float's ladder and collapsed on the boards, feeling better than I had since my encounter with Devore and Rogette Whitmore on Friday night. I was still in the zone, and on top of that I was experiencing a glorious endorphin rush. In that state, even the dismay I'd felt when Mrs M. told me she was resigning her position ebbed away. She would come back when this was over; of course she would. In the meantime, it was probably best she stay away. Something's mad at me. I could have an accident. Yes indeed. She might cut herself. She might fall down a flight of cellar stairs. She might even have a stroke running across a hot parking lot. I sat up and looked at Sara on her hill, the deck jutting out over the drop, the railroad ties descending. I'd only been out of the water for a few minutes, but already the day's sticky heat was folding over me, stealing my rush. The water was still as a mirror. I could see the house reflected in it, and in the reflection Sara's windows became watchful eyes. I thought that the focus of all the phenomena the epicenter was very likely on The Street between the real Sara and its drowned image. This is where it happened, Devore had said. And the old-timers? Most of them probably knew what I knew: that Royce Merrill had been murdered. And wasn't it possible wasn't it likely that what had killed him might come among them as they sat in their pews or gathered afterward around his grave? That it might steal some of their force their guilt, their memories, their TR-ness to help it finish the job? I was very glad that John was going to be at the trailer tomorrow, and Romeo Bissonette, and George Kennedy, who was so amusing when he got a drink or two in him. Glad it was going to be more than just me with Mattie and Ki when the old folks got together to give Royce Merrill his sendoff. I no longer cared very much about what had happened to Sara and the Red-Tops, or even about what was haunting my house. What I wanted was to get through tomorrow, and for Mattie and Ki to get through tomorrow. We'd eat before the rain started and then let the predicted thunderstorms come. I thought that, if we could ride them out, our lives and futures might clarify with the weather. ‘Is that right?' I asked. I expected no answer talking out loud was a habit I had picked up since returning here but somewhere in the woods east of the house, an owl hooted. Just once, as if to say it was right, get through tomorrow and things will clarify. The hoot almost brought something else to mind, some association that was ultimately too gauzy to grasp. I tried once or twice, but the only thing I could come up with was the title of a wonderful old novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name. I rolled forward off the float and into the water, grasping my knees against my chest like a kid doing a cannonball. I stayed under as long as I could, until the air in my lungs started to feel like some hot bottled liquid, and then I broke the surface. I trod water about thirty yards out until I had my breath back, then set my sights on the Green Lady and stroked for shore. I waded out, started up the railroad ties, then stopped and went back to The Street. I stood there for a moment, gathering my courage, then walked to where the birch curved her graceful belly out over the water. I grasped that white curve as I had on Friday evening and looked into the water. I was sure I'd see the child, his dead eyes looking up at me from his bloating brown face, and that my mouth and throat would once more fill with the taste of the lake: help I'm drown, lemme up, oh sweet Jesus lemme up. But there was nothing. No dead boy, no ribbon-wrapped Boston Post cane, no taste of the lake in my mouth. I turned and peered at the gray forehead of rock poking out of the mulch. I thought There, right there, but it was only a conscious and unspontaneous thought, the mind voicing a memory. The smell of decay and the certainty that something awful had happened right there was gone. When I got back up to the house and went for a soda, I discovered the front of the refrigerator was bare and clean. Every magnetic letter, every fruit and vegetable, was gone. I never found them. I might have, probably would have, if there had been more time, but on that Monday morning time was almost up. I dressed, then called Mattie. We talked about the upcoming party, about how excited Ki was, about how nervous Mattie was about going back to work on Friday she was afraid that the locals would be mean to her, but in an odd, womanly way she was even more afraid that they would be cold to her, snub her. We talked about the money, and I quickly ascertained that she didn't believe in the reality of it. ‘Lance used to say his father was the kind of man who'd show a piece of meat to a starving dog and then eat it himself,' she said. ‘But as long as I have my job back, I won't starve and neither will Ki.' ‘But if there really are big bucks . . . ?' ‘Oh, gimme-gimme-gimme,' she said, laughing. ‘What do you think I am, crazy?' ‘Nah. By the way, what's going on with Ki's fridgeafator people? Are they writing any new stuff?' ‘That is the weirdest thing,' she said. ‘They're gone.' ‘The fridgeafator people?' ‘I don't know about them, but the magnetic letters you gave her sure are. When I asked Ki what she did with them, she started crying and said Allamagoosalum took them. She said he ate them in the middle of the night, while everyone was sleeping, for a snack.' ‘Allama-who-salum?' ‘Allamagoosalum,' Mattie said, sounding wearily amused. ‘Another little legacy from her grandfather. It's a corruption of the Micmac word for â€Å"boogeyman† or â€Å"demon† I looked it up at the library. Kyra had a good many nightmares about demons and wendigos and the allama-goosalum late last winter and this spring.' ‘What a sweet old grandpa he was,' I said sentimentally. ‘Right, a real pip. She was miserable over losing the letters; I barely got her calmed down before her ride to VBS came. Ki wants to know if you'll come to Final Exercises on Friday afternoon, by the way. She and her friend Billy Turgeon are going to flannelboard the story of baby Moses.' ‘I wouldn't miss it,' I said . . . but of course I did. We all did. ‘Any idea where her letters might have gone, Mike?' ‘No.' ‘Yours are still okay?' ‘Mine are fine, but of course mine don't spell anything,' I said, looking at the empty door of my own fridgeafator. There was sweat on my forehead. I could feel it creeping down into my eyebrows like oil. ‘Did you . . . I don't know . . . sense anything?' ‘You mean did I maybe hear the evil alphabet-thief as he slid through the window?' ‘You know what I mean.' ‘I suppose so.' A pause ‘I thought I heard something in the night, okay? About three this morning, actually. I got up and went into the hall. Nothing was there. But . . . you know how hot it's been lately?' ‘Yes.' ‘Well, not in my trailer, not last night. It was cold as ice. I swear I could almost see my breath.' I believed her. After all, I had seen mine. ‘Were the letters on the front of the fridge then?' ‘I don't know. I didn't go up the hall far enough to see into the kitchen. I took one look around and then went back to bed. I almost ran back to bed. Sometimes bed feels safer, you know?' She laughed nervously. ‘It's a kid thing. Covers are boogeyman kryptonite. Only at first, when I got in . . . I don't know . . . I thought someone was in there already. Like someone had been hiding on the floor underneath and then . . . when I went to check the hall . . . they got in. Not a nice someone, either.' Give me my dust-catcher, I thought, and shuddered. ‘What?' Mattie asked sharply. ‘What did you say?' ‘I asked who did you think it was? What was the first name that came into your mind?' ‘Devore,' she said. ‘Him. But there was no one there.' A pause. ‘I wish you'd been there.' ‘I do, too.' ‘I'm glad. Mike, do you have any ideas at all about this? Because it's very freaky.' ‘I think maybe . . . ‘ For a moment I was on the verge of telling her what had happened to my own letters. But if I started talking, where would it stop? And how much could she be expected to believe? ‘ . . . maybe Ki took the letters herself. Went walking in her sleep and chucked them under the trailer or something. Do you think that could be?' ‘I think I like the idea of Kyra strolling around in her sleep even less than the idea of ghosts with cold breath taking the letters off the fridge,' Mattie said. ‘Take her to bed with you tonight,' I said, and felt her thought come back like an arrow: I'd rather take you. What she said, after a brief pause, was: ‘Will you come by today?' ‘I don't think so,' I said. She was noshing on flavored yogurt as we talked, eating it in little nipping bites. ‘You'll see me tomorrow, though. At the party.' ‘I hope we get to eat before the thunderstorms. They're supposed to be bad.' ‘I'm sure we will.' ‘And are you still thinking? I only ask because I dreamed of you when I finally fell asleep again. I dreamed of you kissing me.' ‘I'm still thinking,' I said. ‘Thinking hard.' But in fact I don't remember thinking about anything very hard that day. What I remember is drifting further and further into that zone I've explained so badly. Near dusk I went for a long walk in spite of the heat all the way out to where Lane Forty-two joins the highway. Coming back I stopped on the edge of Tidwell's Meadow, watching the light fade out of the sky and listening to thunder rumble somewhere over New Hampshire. Once more there was that sense of how thin reality was, not just here but everywhere; how it was stretched like skin over the blood and tissue of a body we can never know clearly in this life. I looked at trees and saw arms; I looked at bushes and saw faces. Ghosts, Mattie had said. Ghosts with cold breath. Time was also thin, it seemed to me. Kyra and I had really been at the Fryeburg Fair some version of it, anyway; we had really visited the year 1900. And at the foot of the meadow the Red-Tops were almost there now, as they once had been, in their neat little cabins. I could almost hear the sound of their guitars, the murmur of their voices and laughter; I could almost see the gleam of their lanterns and smell their beef and pork frying. ‘Say baby, do you remember me?' one of her songs went, ‘Well I ain't your honey like I used to be.' Something rattled in the underbrush to my left. I turned that way, expecting to see Sara step out of the woods wearing Mattie's dress and Mattie's white sneakers. In this gloom, they would seem almost to float by themselves, until she got close to me . . . There was no one there, of course, it had undoubtedly been nothing but Chuck the Woodchuck headed home after a hard day at the office, but I no longer wanted to be out here, watching as the light drained out of the day and the mist came up from the ground. I turned for home. Instead of going into the house when I got back, I made my way along the path to Jo's studio, where I hadn't been since the night I had taken my IBM back in a dream. My way was lit by intermittent flashes of heat lightning. The studio was hot but not stale. I could smell a peppery aroma that was actually pleasant, and wondered if it might be some of Jo's herbs. There was an air conditioner out here, and it worked I turned it on and then just stood in front of it a little while. So much cold air on my overheated body was probably unhealthy, but it felt wonderful. I didn't feel very wonderful otherwise, however. I looked around with a growing sense of something too heavy to be mere sadness; it felt like despair. I think it was caused by the contrast between how little of Jo was left in Sara Laughs and how much of her was still out here. I imagined our marriage as a kind of playhouse and isn't that what marriage is, in large part? playing house? where only half the stuff was held down. Held down by little magnets or hidden cables. Something had come along and picked up our playhouse by one corner easiest thing in the world, and I supposed I should be grateful that the something hadn't decided to draw back its foot and kick the poor thing all the way over. It just picked up that one corner, you see. My stuff stayed put, but all of Jo's had slid . . . Out of the house and down here. ‘Jo?' I asked, and sat down in her chair. There was no answer. No thumps on the wall. No crows or owls calling from the woods. I put my hand on her desk, where the typewriter had been, and slipped my hand across it, picking up a film of dust. ‘I miss you, honey,' I said, and began to cry. When the tears were over again I wiped my face with the tail of my tee-shirt like a little kid, then just looked around. There was the picture of Sara Tidwell on her desk and a photo I didn't remember on the wall this latter was old, sepia-tinted, and woodsy. Its focal point was a man-high birchwood cross in a little clearing on a slope above the lake. That clearing was gone from the geography now, most likely, long since filled in by trees. I looked at her jars of herbs and mushroom sections, her filing cabinets, her sections of afghan. The green rag rug on the floor. The pot of pencils on the desk, pencils she had touched and used. I held one of them poised over a blank sheet of paper for a moment or two, but nothing happened. I had a sense of life in this room, and a sense of being watched . . . but not a sense of being helped. ‘I know some of it but not enough,' I said. ‘Of all the things I don't know, maybe the one that matters most is who wrote â€Å"help her† on the fridge. Was it you, Jo?' No answer. I sat awhile longer hoping against hope, I suppose then got up, turned off the air conditioning, turned off the lights, and went back to the house, walking in soft bright stutters of unfocused lightning. I sat on the deck for a little while, watching the night. At some point I realized I'd taken the length of blue silk ribbon out of my pocket and was winding it nervously back and forth between my fingers, making half-assed cat's cradles. Had it really come from the year 1900? The idea seemed perfectly crazy and perfectly sane at the same time. The night hung hot and hushed. I imagined old folks all over the TR perhaps in Motton and Harlow, too laying out their funeral clothes for tomorrow. In the doublewide trailer on Wasp Hill Road, Ki was sitting on the floor, watching a videotape of The Jungle Book Baloo and Mowgli were singing ‘The Bare Necessities.' Mattie was on the couch with her feet up, reading the new Mary Higgins Clark and singing along. Both were wea ring shorty pajamas, Ki's pink, Mattie's white. After a little while I lost my sense of them; it faded the way radio signals sometimes do late at night. I went into the north bedroom, undressed, and crawled onto the top sheet of my unmade bed. I fell asleep almost at once. I woke in the middle of the night with someone running a hot finger up and down the middle of my back. I rolled over and when the lightning flashed, I saw there was a woman in bed with me. It was Sara Tidwell. She was grinning. There were no pupils in her eyes. ‘Oh sugar, I'm almost back,' she whispered in the dark. I had a sense of her reaching out for me again, but when the next flash of lightning came, that side of the bed was empty.

Saudi Arabia Economics Overview

Saudi Arabia Economics Overview An evaluation of various aspects of Saudi Arabia is crucial in investment decision-making. The Saudi Arabian economic environment constitutes both positive and negative aspects concerning investors. The economy of this region is oil-based.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Saudi Arabia Economics Overview specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research indicates that an estimated 75 percent of budget revenues originate from the oil industry. Furthermore, about 40 percent of the Saudi Arabian Gross National Product results from oil-related activities (Euromoney). In addition, various surveys indicate that an estimated 90 percent of Saudi Arabian export earnings originate from the oil industry. The exploration and production of oil in Saudi Arabia has transformed the region into a major stakeholder in world petroleum reserves. Another aspect relating to the Saudi Arabian economy is the influence of the government in co ntrolling major economic activities. The government in this region utilizes governance policies, which promote a centralized control on most aspects of the economy. The over-dependence on oil in Saudi Arabia has hindered economic diversification which is a crucial aspect for investors. The lack of a diversified economy introduces numerous risks to investors and thus minimizes the viability of potential business ventures. Since the economy thrives largely on exports, the lack of diversification introduces aspects of an overvalued currency. An overvalued currency has negative effects on the domestic price of imports and exports as it causes a distortion in price structures. Other negative effects of overvalued currency include the lack of balance between the demand and supply of foreign exchange. An economic environment in which the government has considerable influence scares away investors because effective markets function based largely on market forces. Government policies and reg ulations introduce restrictions that eliminate equal opportunities for investors. Saudi Arabia is a region characterized by an enormous platform of ancient rocks. The climate in most regions in Saudi Arabia entails hot summers as well as cold and rainy winters. The geographical location of Saudi Arabia provides an easy access to export market in various destinations. Its continuously growing population has helped to retain a population with strong purchasing power (Saudi Arabia). Apart from oil, Saudi Arabia contains a variety of natural resources such as bauxite, limestone and iron core.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Saudi Arabia’s major source of electric power is oil-powered diesel engines. Statistics indicates that about 92 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia has access to power. Aspects of technological development in Saudi Arabia are u nsatisfactory. The implementation of policies on science and technological development is still ongoing. Transportation in Saudi Arabia has undergone significant transformation to include extensive highways, modern airports, seaports and railroads. About 10 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia are involved in agriculture. Agriculture-related activities contribute to about 5 percent of Saudi Arabia’s GDP. Changes in agricultural preferences have led to a decline in the traditional growing of dates, and an increase in the growing of wheat, corn, sorghum, and a variety of fruits and vegetables (Saudi Arabia). Although major industries in Saudi Arabia are oil-based, there have been attempts to diversify manufacturing to include other industries such as cement and steel manufacturing. A significant percentage of the Saudi Arabian population lives in urban areas. While coastal regions and internal oasis have condensed populations, desert regions have spare populations. The Sau di Arabian GPD has been generally improving, but at low rates due influences of unstable global oil prices. The increase in household consumption highlights an increase in purchasing power and improved per capita income. Remittances have led to fluctuating current account in Saudi Arabia, and the devaluation of the currency. Oil exports have considerably facilitated the stabilization of these accounts. Expenditures on education constitute about 10 percent of the GDP. Euromoney – International banking finance and capital markets news and  analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. https://www.euromoney.com/. Saudi Arabia. Central Intelligence Agency. N.p., 10 Sept. 2012. Web. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html.

How to Build Sentences With Appositives

How to Build Sentences With Appositives An appositive is a word or group of words that identifies or renames another word in a sentence. As weve seen (in the article What Is an Appositive?), appositive constructions offer concise ways of describing or defining a person, place, or thing. In this article, you will learn how to construct sentences with appositives. From Adjective Clauses to Appositives Like an adjective clause, an appositive provides more information about a noun. In fact, we may think of an appositive as a simplified adjective clause. Consider, for example, how the following two sentences can be combined: Jim Gold is a professional magician.Jim Gold performed at my sisters birthday party. One way to combine these sentences is to turn the first sentence into an adjective clause: Jim Gold, who is a professional magician, performed at my sisters birthday party. We also have the option of reducing the adjective clause in this sentence to an appositive. All that we need to do is omit the pronoun who and the verb is: Jim Gold, a professional magician, performed at my sisters birthday party. The appositive a professional magician serves to identify the subject, Jimbo Gold. Reducing an adjective clause to an appositive is one way to cut the clutter in our writing. However, not all adjective clauses can be shortened to appositives in this fashiononly those that contain a form of the verb to be (is, are, was, were). Arranging Appositives An appositive most often appears directly after the noun it identifies or renames: Arizona Bill, The Great Benefactor of Mankind, toured Oklahoma with herbal cures and a powerful liniment. Note that this appositive, like most, could be omitted without changing the basic meaning of the sentence. In other words, its nonrestrictive and needs to be set off with a pair of commas. Occasionally, an appositive may appear in front of a word that it identifies: A dark wedge, the eagle hurtled earthward at nearly 200 miles per hour. An appositive at the beginning of a sentence is usually followed by a comma. In each of the examples seen so far, the appositive has referred to the subject of the sentence. However, an appositive may appear before or after any noun in a sentence. In the following example, the appositive refers to roles, the object of a preposition: People are summed up largely by the roles they fill in society wife or husband, soldier or salesperson, student or scientistand by the qualities that others ascribe to them. This sentence demonstrates a different way of punctuating appositiveswith dashes. When the appositive itself contains commas, setting off the construction with dashes helps to prevent confusion. Using dashes instead of commas also serves to emphasize the appositive. Placing an appositive at the very end of a sentence is another way to give it special emphasis. Compare these two sentences: At the far end of the pasture, the most magnificent animal I had ever seen- a white-tailed deer- was cautiously edging toward a salt-lick block.At the far end of the pasture, the most magnificent animal I had ever seen was cautiously edging toward a salt-lick block- a white-tailed deer. Whereas the appositive merely interrupts the first sentence, it marks the climax of sentence two. Punctuating Nonrestrictive and Restrictive Appositives As weve seen, most appositives are nonrestrictivethat is, the information that they add to a sentence is not essential for the sentence to make sense. Nonrestrictive appositives are set off by commas or dashes. A restrictive appositive (like a restrictive adjective clause) is one that cannot be omitted from a sentence without affecting the basic meaning of the sentence. A restrictive appositive should not be set off by commas: John-Boys sister Mary Ellen became a nurse after their brother Ben took a job at a lumber mill. Because John-Boy has multiple sisters and brothers, the two restrictive appositives make clear which sister and which brother the writer is talking about. In other words, the two appositives are restrictive, and so they are not set off by commas. Four Variations 1. Appositives that Repeat a NounAlthough an appositive usually renames a noun in a sentence, it may instead repeat a noun for the sake of clarity and emphasis: In America, as in anywhere else in the world, we must find a focus in our lives at an early age, a focus that is beyond the mechanics of earning a living or coping with a household. - Santha Rama Rau, An invitation to Serenity Notice that the appositive in this sentence is modified by an adjective clause. Adjectives, prepositional phrases, and adjective clauses (in other words, all of the structures that can modify a noun) are often used to add details to an appositive. 2. Negative AppositivesMost appositives identify what someone or something is, but there are also negative appositives that identify what someone or something is not: Line managers and production employees, rather than staff specialists, are primarily responsible for quality assurance. Negative appositives begin with a word such as not, never, or rather than. 3. Multiple AppositivesTwo, three, or even more appositives may appear alongside the same noun: Saint Petersburg, a city of almost five-million people, Russias second-largest and northernmost metropolis, was designed three centuries ago by Peter the Great. As long as we dont overwhelm the reader with too much information at one time, a double or triple appositive can be an effective way of adding supplementary details to a sentence. 4. List Appositives with PronounsA final variation is the list appositive that precedes a pronoun such as all or these or everyone: Streets of yellow row houses, the ochre plaster walls of old churches, the crumbling sea-green mansions now occupied by government offices all seem in sharper focus, with their defects hidden by the snow. - Leona P. Schecter, Moscow The word all is not essential to the meaning of the sentence: the opening list could serve by itself as the subject. However, the pronoun helps to clarify the subject by drawing the items together before the sentence goes on to make a point about them.

Answer Exam Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answer Exam Paper - Essay Example Take interest in the F-stat and P-value. They are the only bits you need to validate any investigation (hypothesis). If asked to calculate physically, F=Mean sum of squares (between groups)/ MS (within groups). You realize that for this question we treat the Variation within groups as the ‘error group’, thus Error Sum of Squares (SSE) where we have SS (within groups) and Mean Error sum of squares (MSE).Now when you are required to use F-Stat to validate your test, you got to have two values of it. The first one you compute as in the case shown in the table below (the ANOVA). It is called the computed value of F or F-Computed (you went the long ANOVA way to compute it). To get the second one it is really easy, especially when you’ve got the table values. Take the degrees of freedom in the row you want to test AGAINST THE TOTAL, very important, and bear in mind the level of significance. For example here we shall have F (3, 79, 0.05). They flow in the order Numerato r, Denominator and Level of Significance (LoS). You call this the F-tabulated (derived from the tables). If F-computed>F-tabulated, reject the H0. The P-Value works slightly different. If the P-Value is much less than the Level of Significance, you reject the null hypothesis. ... e of Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit Between Groups 11115.24 3 3705.079 22.74625 1.31E-10 2.724944 Within Groups 12379.45 76 162.8875 Total 23494.69 79 Â   Â   Â   Â   a) F-Statistic= 22.74625 P-Value= 1.31?10-10 b) Let ?i denote the average service time for outlet i. H0: ?1= ?2= ?3= ?4 In order to test the hypothesis on means, the null hypothesis becomes the proposition that all means are equal. Thus by default, anything different will form the alternative hypothesis. c) Yes I would reject the null hypothesis at 5% Level of Significance. This is because the P-Value is smaller than the Level of significance. In order to answer this question, you either refer to the P-value or the F-statistic, when you have both it is your choice. Your Professor was good enough to facilitate your having both. Remember that if the P-value is smaller than the LoS, you reject H0; and if F-computed is greater than F-tabulated, you reject. THAT IMPLIES THAT P-VALUEF-TABULATED. IN BOTH CASES YOU REJ ECT THE NULL HYPOTHESIS. 1.31?10-10

Financial crisis impacts on progress of employees Essay - 2

Financial crisis impacts on progress of employees - Essay Example Several financial crisis will be delineated while considering factors that lead to the crisis and show the possible impacts on employee. In this case, the research problem will be outlined as follows; in the recent past, there has been heated debate on the effects of financial crisis on the progress of employees, with some scholars arguing that the progress of employees is not affected by the financial crisis while others argues that the financial crisis has a negative impact on the progress. Therefore, there is a need for research to be conducted so as to establish the impacts of progress of employees. In this section, the need for the study will be justified as follows; many financial crisis has occurred having the same impacts on the progress of employees. Therefore, this study will be significant to the policy makers in designing ways to mitigate the impacts also outline areas of further research. In this section, both theoretical literature and empirical literature will be reviewed. Theoretical literature will consider theories of crises like the Marx’s crisis theory, Minky’s theory and other theories. In the empirical literature, we will discuss the various researches done by various scholars. In addition, we will give an overview of the literature showing the gap between the existing literatures. In the study, the null hypothesis will be that financial crisis has an impact on the progress of employees. While the alternative hypothesis; financial impact does not have any impact on the progress of employees. In order to evaluate the progress of employee’s, surveys on both managers and employees will be conducted so as to get information on the impact of financial crisis on employees. In addition, extensive study will be conducted in order to unearth the possible reasons for the impacts. Under this section, the results collected will be analyzed and the