Why is social integration such a problem for immigrants in France Essay

Why is social integration such a problem for immigrants in France - Essay Example (Essess, Dovidio, Dion. 375). European countries faced a large number of migrations after world war-II. The integration of the immigrants is the new challenge for the established states. The countries faced the challenges and struggled with the problem of inclusion of the immigrants in to their social structure. There has been enormous increase in movement of international population with world migration. This is characterized by not only by increased levels of permanent settlement and labor in foreign countries but also temporary migration with varying purpose. The integration of the immigrants, the inclusion of population in the existing social structure of the immigration country is one of the concerns of the state policies and structure. There are four major dimensions, which differentiated the process of integration. The first one is the structure integration, which is the acquisition of rights and access to membership and position to the society. The education system, labor market, housing and citizenship are major factor affects structural integration. The second dimension is cultural integration, which is a precondition of participation and refers to process of cognitive, cultural, behavioral and attitudinal change of persons. The third one is Social integration. The social integration is reflected in the relationship with society and group members. The social intercourse, friendship, marriage and involvement in voluntary association are the part of social integration. Social identification is the fourth dimension. The nationality, ethnics and other forms of multiple and social identification reflect in the membership to a new society. Like other countries in Europe France is also face the increasing of immigration. The European integration and opening up of the internal border of countries within Europe cause the increase in migration in France. The major risk affected by the opening up of borders is immigration, drug trafficking and international crime. The France has had a long history of receiving and encouraging the immigrants. The different goal of immigration is forced by labor needs and population replacement. Between 1850 and 1913 the number of immigrants entering France increase from 3,80,000 to 1.6 million. In this period immigration is encouraged by industrialization in France. Following World War-I the shortage of labor due to military causalities expanding industries welcomes the immigrants to France. During 1921 to 1931 the immigrants' population is increased to 2.7 million, from the major parts of China, Vietnam and different parts of Asia and Africa. The end of World War-II the Government introduce d the centrally controlled policy favoring migration. The Office of National del' Immigration (ONI) was established in 1945 and its regulated residence and employment of foreigners in the country. (James, Rita. 147). In 1974 the government tightened the policy on immigrants and stopped labor immigrants and temporary workers and given preference to the relatives of migrants. In 1984 the French Government rejected one third of migration request from different part of the world. From 1990 onwards the Government rejected 71 to 84 percent of asylum seekers to France. (Heckmann, Schnapper. 16) Issues for Immigrants The France is a country with long history of immigration and there is tradition called 'assimilation

Attendance Requirement in College Essay Example for Free

Attendance Requirement in College Essay Attending college is supposed to signify freedom to make choices regarding education. However, many students who plans to continue their education realize that college does not give this freedom. In some countries, college students are expected to attend classes that they have register. However, should attendance be mandatory in college? Even though some believe that college attendance should be flexible, I believe that college attendance should be mandatory. The first reason why college attendance should be mandatory is the lack of understanding. For example, Students who attend regularly classes have better opportunity to understand the courses what are done in class, while students who do not attend classes will not understand. Also, because students who attend regularly the classes understand the courses, they have a better chance to have good grades during test. On the contrary, students who do not attend classes, and do not understand the courses; they get bad grades during test. Indeed, college attendance should be mandatory to help all the students understand the courses. Another reason why college attendance should be mandatory is it build relationships. College attendance build relation between students and students. In college, there is many ways to meet friends that you can count on in the future such as joining a club, or in class. Students who do not attend college classes will not have these opportunities. College also build relation between students and teachers. Students who attend classes have the opportunity to know their teachers. Teachers have the same opportunity to know their students, and that relation between them will help the teachers to know the students’ lacks and find ways to help them. On the other hand, students who do not attend school will be stuck with his lacks. Opponents believe that mandatory attendance policies does not go under life lesson categories. If students do not show up at the classes, they register that will not affect them in the real world. However, I believe it does go under life lesson categories. If students get into the habit of not showing at classes, they register that will affect them in the real world. For example, if you do not show at work, you will be fired. College attendance should be mandatory to avoid that habit. In conclusion, College attendance should be mandatory to help students understand their course, to build relationship between students/ students and students/ teacher and to avoid bad habit. Nowadays, many students are skipping classes. In my opinion, college attendance should be mandatory.

Blindness and Sight - Irony and Lack of Vision in Oedipus the King :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

The Irony of Blindness in Oedipus The King    Is there a single definition of what it is "to see"? I can see the table, I can see your point, I see the real you, I don't see what you're saying. Sometimes the blind can "see" more than the sighted. During a scary movie or a horrific event, people may cover their eyes, choosing not to see the truth. As human beings, we often become entrenched in the material world, becoming oblivious to and unable to see the most apparent truths. Oedipus, the main character in Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex, could not see the truth, but the blind man, Teiresias, "saw" it plainly. Sophocles uses blindness as a motif in the play Oedipus Rex. Oedipus, known for his intelligence, is ignorant and therefore blind to the truth about himself and his past. Yet, when Teiresias exposes the truth he is shunned. It is left to Oedipus to overcome his "blindness," realize the truth, and accept fate. Oedipus, "who bear the famous name," fled his home of Corinth in fear of fulfilling the prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. During his flight, he Oedipus kills a caravan of presumed low-class travelers. Oedipus comes into Thebes a stranger and hero who solved the riddle of the sphinx. Believing that he is blessed with great luck, Oedipus marries the recently widowed Iokaste and becomes King of Thebes. After many years, a plague vexes the city and Kreon, brother of Iokaste, comes to Oedipus with news from the oracle. He states that the plague will be lifted when the murder of Laios is avenged. Oedipus claims that he sees and understands the terrible fate of Thebes and vows to find the murderer. Since the criminal is said to still be in Thebes, Oedipus believes that a man of his intelligence should have no difficulty in finding the perpetrator. When Oedipus is confronted by Teiresias with truth, perhaps it is Oedipus' own hubris, which blinds him to the unthink able truth. Unwillingly, Teiresias the blind seer provides Oedipus with the hurtful truth. Although before the truth is announced, Oedipus describes Teiresias as a "seer: student of mysteries." Oedipus looks to Teiresias for help in finding the murderer of the former king. He is trusted and respected by everyone in the city as evidenced by his introduction as "the holy prophet In whom, alone of all men, truth was born.

The Genus Datura: From Research Subject to Powerful Hallucinogen :: Botany

The Genus Datura: From Research Subject to Powerful Hallucinogen Datura is one of the most interesting plants with hallucinogenic properties. Despite having a reputation as one of the 'darker' hallucinogens, it has been widely used by societies historically in both the Old World and the New, and continues to be today. For those interested in ethnobotanical uses of this plant world-wide, Datura is a fascinating topic. While being limited in its uses economically, the alkaloids contained in the plant have been in demand in the past and its application as a subject for botanical research is vast. Heiser has stated that "Datura is a genus of contrasts - from smelly weeds to lovely ornamentals." This paper will attempt to provide an overview of this varied genus, with specific attention being given to Datura stramonium, most common in North America. Datura belongs to the family Solanaceae, the nightshades, which Includes some 2,400 species in total (Siegel 1989:36). Other plants with narcotic properties in this family are mandrake (Mandrogora), belladonna (Atropa), henbane (Hyoscyamus), and tobacco (Nicotiana). Appropriately called the "paradoxical plants" by Heiser, this family also includes such common food plants as the tomato, potato, and eggplant (Safford 1922:539). There seems to be some disagreement as to how many sections and species belong to the genus Datura. Conklin (1976:3-4) states that herbaceous Datura is now divided into five sections, while the older citation by Avery (1959:18) claims only four. in any case, this genus contains about ten different herbaceous species, the most important ones being D. stramonium, D. inoxia, D. metel, and D. ceratocaula (Schultes 1979:41-42). Common names for Datura are numerous, some of the most common ones being raving nightshade, thorn apple, stinkweed, Devil's apple, Jimson weed, and angel's trumpet (Heiser 1969:140 and Avery 1959:19). Datura can be found throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas as either native or adventive plants, and some have also been found in Africa and Australia (Conklin 1976:5). The epicenter of diversity of this plant is in the New World, specifically in Andean South America and in the southwestern United States/Mexico region (Lewis 1977:423-4). This data correlates with the generally agreed upon origin of Datura, although this topic was debated for some time. Researchers now believe the plant originated and evolved in Mexico and the American Southwest, followed by adaptive radiation into new desert environments (Conklin 1976:5). Today, Datura (mainly the species stramonium) can be found all over North America as a roadside weed, but never in mountainous or forested habitats (Hutchens 1991:166).

Co-Cultural Identities

Brody De Loria Instructor: Solveig E. Pedersen Oral Comm. A111 11/12/12 Co-Cultural Identities Cultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual, as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. In recent decades, a new form of identification has emerged which breaks down the understanding of the individual as a coherent whole subject into a collection of various cultural identifiers.These cultural identifiers may be the result of various conditions including: location, gender, race, history, nationality, language, sexuality, religious beliefs, aesthetics and ethnicity. The divisions between cultures can be very fine in some parts of the world, especially places such as the United States, where the population is ethnically diverse and social unity is based primarily on common social values and beliefs. Everyone is a part of many co-cultural identities and they all have an effect on how one communicates with others.Some co-cultural ident ities may have more of an influence on someone’s decision making while communicating than others, but they all do affect us in one way or another. Some of these co-cultural identities you are born into, such as ethnicity or gender and others you gradually fall into throughout your life such as religion, depending on your experiences. No matter what co-cultural identities you belong to, they influence how we communicate with others because they are factors of what makes us who we are, and we can’t help that.What we can help is to know what those co-cultural identities are so we can understand when why we might be having communication problems with someone who belongs to other co-cultural identities. Also of interest is the interplay between cultural identity and new media. Rather than necessarily representing an individual's interaction within a certain group, cultural identity may be defined by the social network of people imitating and following the social norms as pr esented by the media.Accordingly, instead of learning behavior and knowledge from cultural groups, individuals may be learning these social norms from the media to build on their cultural identity. Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts.An example of political correctness is the changing terminology used to describe handicapped people. In the past the term â€Å"crippled† was perfectly acceptable and not considered offensive. At some point, some politician decided â€Å"crippled† was degrading and the preferred term changed to â€Å"handicapped. † This, too, was eventually deemed offensive and â€Å"disabled† became the preferred term. Today, even â€Å"disabled† is considered degrading to some an d â€Å"differently abled† and â€Å"physically challenged† are used by those people.The same can be said for the changing uses of terms for Black Americans: â€Å"Negro† and â€Å"colored,† once perfectly acceptable terms, became offensive during the 1970s and â€Å"Afro-American† and â€Å"Black† came into use, which in turn gave way to â€Å"African-American,† and in broader usage, â€Å"people of color. † As well as language, political correctness discourages the use of racial or stereotypes in fiction out of concern that these stereotypes may become self-perpetuating.For example, frequently seeing the image black gang-members decked out in gold chains, carrying guns and listening to rap may pressure young black people into seeing this lifestyle as the more ‘acceptable' choice for their racial group. The common image of female-dominated occupations, such as; nurses, secretaries, care workers, etc, and of male-dominate d occupations; IT workers, military, machinery operators, mechanics, etc. , can discourage individuals of either gender from considering those occupations traditionally belonging to the other.

The Marshallese and Nuclear Weapon Testing

The Marshallese and Nuclear Weapon Testing Military progress is the aim of at least every country in the world. Many nations have invested a lot of money in research and development of various weapons that will enhance the security of the country as a whole. In the effort to come up with the perfect weapons, it becomes necessary for any country to test whether their weapons are of the right quality.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Marshallese and Nuclear Weapon Testing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nevertheless, weapons have various effects when tested and they have to be tested where they would cause minimum effects to human beings. In the period between 1946 and1958, the United States of America used the Marshall Islands to test for its nuclear weapons. However, this caused a lot of negative effects to the natives who had to change their ways of life besides looking for other ways of coping with the situation. It is important to point out that the Un ited States of America did not reveal to Marshallese the exact effects that nuclear weapons would have on their lives. Nonetheless, the gravity of the testing soon downed on the people of Marshall Islands. To begin with, the blasts completely destroyed some islands which were hitherto residential areas for the Marshallese. Instead, huge craters were formed especially in the lagoons. This meant that the people would no longer have their land though they had been promised that their land was to be given back to them (Barker 20). Moreover, several coral Islands were completely broken up as a result of the nuclear testing that was carried out. Similarly, radioactive fallout resulted after the crushed corals and water mixed with the radioactive particles that were released. The other effects that the Marshallese people suffered as a result of nuclear weapon testing had to do with the high levels of radiations that were released. Firstly, the radiations were freely released into the atmos phere. Consequently, people inhaled these radiations into their bodies (Barker 24). Secondly, the radiations stuck on various plants including the coconut plants where the Marshallese got the oil they applied on their skin and hair. Additionally, radiations were ingested by young children who thought it was snow. Furthermore, the food and water that people were using also got contaminated with the radiations. These radiations have been associated with several health problems that have affected the Marshallese people including cancer, typhoid and reproductive health problems (Barker 28). It is worth noting that these effects have gone beyond the first generation. Additionally, before any testing was commenced, people were relocated to other areas. These compelled the people to change not only their economic activities given that they were taken to areas where agriculture was not possible, but also their way of life. Moreover, these people had to depend on subsidy food from the U.S. g overnment thus compelling them to change their diet (Barker 25).Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Besides, the food issued by the U.S. government contained a lot of fats and sodium which exposed the Marshallese people to various health hazards. Similarly, the displaced people were forced to change their cultural and political activities. As a matter of fact, the Marshallese people had to change their cultural songs, their traditional diet as well as other rituals after they were displaced (Barker 27). Despite the effects that the Marshallese people suffered due to the nuclear weapon testing, they have found ways of dealing with the situation. Firstly, the Marshall Islands tried to petition the United Nations in the year 1954 and 1957 in a move that was aimed at seeking address to the effects that the natives were suffering. On the same note, the Marshallese people have learn t on how to lobby the congress and work with the executive branch so as to influence the U.S. government policy on radiological issues in the Marshall Islands. This is aimed at getting the U.S. government to support the people who were affected. On the same note, the Republic of Marshall Island and the U.S. government agreed in the 177 Agreement that the United States will compensate the people who got affected by the nuclear testing. In addition, the U.S. government agreed to run medical programs in aid of the victims though there are some restrictions imposed (Barker 28).  Due to the unproductive nature of the land after the testing, the Marshallese people have learnt to change their diet. They depend on subsidized food that is provided by the government of America. Moreover, some areas have had soil and plants stripped off prompting the return of the Marshallese. However, they have had to start their lives from scratch and use intensive agricultural methods to try and restore t he soil and plants (Barker 27). The formation of the nuclear claims tribunal was also an important strategy to lobby for compensation. The nuclear testing is a clear case of intercultural conflicts where the United States wanted to enhance its weapons while the Marshallese simply wanted to maintain their peaceful livelihood. Using its influence, the United States got its way and tested the weapons knowing pretty well that the same had dire consequences on the natives. Notably, U.S. took advantage of the fact that Marshallese people were not well educated and thus did not reveal the exact effects of their intended exercise. However, we should ask ourselves whether it is okay for a cultural group to advance its egocentric objectives at the expense of others. Culture is very essential for the lives of people in the world. Various cultures define various things differently and place differing weights on everything. Consequently, there is bound to be intercultural conflict whenever peopl e from different cultural backgrounds interact.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Marshallese and Nuclear Weapon Testing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More People will always have different perspectives regarding given ideas. Moreover, each cultural group will always have diverse priorities.  Nevertheless, it is important to know that there is no superior culture. All cultures are equal and people should be free to practice their culture. People should learn to appreciate the diversity in culture and respect other people’s believes. In advancing their interests, people and by extension countries should take care so as not to interfere with other people’s ways of life. While we should be ready to defend our culture, we should not do it in an ethnocentric way that jeopardizes other people’s way of doing things. The United States of America was not ready to displace its own citizens to create tes ting fields. However, they took advantage of the remoteness of Marshall Islands to test their nuclear weapons displacing people in the process and disregarding the imminent negative effects (Barker 27). When we learn that all people are equal human beings regardless of their cultural background, then we will be able to throw intercultural conflicts in the dustbin of oblivion. Work Cited Barker, Holly M. Bravo for the Marshallese: regaining Control in a Post-Nuclear, Post-Colonial World. Stanford: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.

PSAT Score Range Where Do You Rank

PSAT Score Range Where Do You Rank SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Although the PSAT and SAT share many similarities, their score ranges are actually pretty different. Unlike the SAT score range, which has a maximum score of 1600, the PSAT score range only goes up to1520.But why? What are thescore ranges for each PSAT section? Also, canyou use the PSAT scoring scale to predict your SAT score? In this article, we’ll go over the current PSAT scores range and PSAT score distribution.We'll then compare PSAT score ranges with SAT score ranges before concluding with a list of estimated PSAT score cutoffs for the National Merit Scholarship Program. What Is the PSAT Score Range Overall? For Each Section? The total PSAT scoring scale is320-1520 in 10-point increments.Like the SAT, the PSAT has three major sections: Math, Reading, and Writing and Language (hereafter Writing). Each section is first scored on a scale of 8-38 in one-point increments;these areyourPSATtest scores.These test scores are then converted into section scores on scales of 160-760 in 10-point increments(which combine to give you a total PSAT score out of 1520). To get your Math section score, simply multiply your Math test score by20. To get your Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) score, add your Reading and Writing test scorestogether and then multiply the sumby 10. There are also subscores and cross-test scores,which measure your mastery of specific skills and knowledge on each section. Subscores are scored on scales of 1-15 and encompassthe following seven areas: EBRW Command of Evidence Words in Context Expression of Ideas Standard English Conventions Math Heart of Algebra Problem Solving and Data Analysis Passport to Advanced Math Cross-test scores are a little different in that they apply to all PSAT sections and use scoring scales of8-38.The two cross-test scores are as follows: Analysis in History/Social Studies Analysis in Science Finally, you’ll geta Selection Indexwith a score range of 48-228.To calculate this score, multiply the sum of your three PSAT test scores by2. The Selection Index score isused solely to determine your eligibility for National Merit distinction (we’ll explain this in more detail later). Hereis a table showcasing thecurrent PSAT score rangeas well as the score ranges for each PSAT section, subscore, and cross-test score: PSAT Score Range PSAT Section Score Range Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) 160-760 Reading 8-38 Writing and Language 8-38 Command of Evidence 1-15 Words in Context 1-15 Expression of Ideas 1-15 Standard English Conventions 1-15 Math 160-760 Math (Test Score) 8-38 Heart of Algebra 1-15 Problem Solving and Data Analysis 1-15 Passport to Advanced Math 1-15 TOTAL (EBRW + Math) 320-1520 Cross-Test Scores* - Analysis in History/Social Studies 8-38 Analysis in Science 8-38 Selection Index 48-228 Source: PSAT/NMSQT Understanding Scores 2018 *Cross-test scores are for all sections of the PSAT. Before October 2015 (and the introduction of the redesigned SAT in 2016), the PSAT looked quite differentthan it does now. Back then, the PSAT scores range was 60-240,the Critical Reading and Writing scores didnot combine for a total EBRW score, and test takers received neither subscores nor cross-test scores. To help you better visualize these differences, hereis an overview of the old (pre-2015) PSAT scores range: Old (Pre-2015) PSAT Score Range PSAT Section Score Range Critical Reading 20-80 Math 20-80 Writing 20-80 TOTAL (All Sections) 60-240 Source: PSAT/NMSQT Understanding Scores 2015 The old PSAT has made way for the new PSAT to shine. PSAT Score Distribution The PSAT scores scale makes it so that most test takers score around 920 (the halfway point between 320 and 1520). And the data backs this up: the average PSAT scores are934 for 10th graders and 1014 for 11th graders. This pattern in scoring creates a bell curve on which most PSAT takers score around the middle of the PSAT scoring scale and veryfew score at the lowest and highest ends of the scale: Now, let's look at thePSAT score distribution using percentiles. These percentiles will tell us what percentage of test takers you scored higher than on the PSAT. In general, a score in the 75th percentile or higher means you’re doing well, a score in the 50th percentile means you’re about average, and a score in the 25th percentile or lower means you have some room for improvement. Below is a condensedlistof the mostrecent PSAT percentiles for 11th graders.For more info onPSATpercentiles for 10th graders, read our article on good PSAT scores for sophomores. PSAT Percentile EBRW Math TOTAL 99 or 99+ 730-760 750-760 1460-1520 90 650-660* 640 1280 75 590* 570 1150 50 510* 490-500* 1000-1010* 25 430 430* 860-870* 10 370 380 760 1 or 1- 160-300 160-300 320-640 Source: PSAT/NMSQT Understanding Scores 2018 *Estimated score or score range (exact score for designated percentile unavailable). In 2018, approximately 1.6 million juniorstook the PSAT.The data above tells us thatthe top 1% of test takers- about 16,000 juniors- scored between 1460 and 1520.Contrary to what many believe, youdo notneed aperfect PSAT score to get into the99th percentile. In fact, you can miss up to 60 pointsand still getin the top 1%! Likewise, very few test takers scored at the lowest end of the PSAT spectrum:only 16,000 or so juniors scored 640 or lower.In other words, your chance of scoring below 640 is quite rare, as 99% of test takers score above this range. But what about the percentiles for individual sections?As you probably noticed, the score ranges for the 99th percentiles for EBRW and Math are not the same. For EBRW, ascore as low as 730 guarantees you aspot in the99th percentile. For Math, on the other hand, you must score at least 750- a near-perfect score! This discrepancy between thePSAT score ranges for the sections indicates thatMath is slightly more competitive than EBRW is,as more people receive high scores on Math than they do on EBRW. So if you want to get 99th percentile scores on Math and EBRW, you’ll have to work a little bit harder on Math than you will on EBRW. On the opposite end of the percentile scale, EBRW and Math maintain identicalscore ranges: any score below 300 falls in the 1st percentile for both EBRW and Math.Once again, though, very few students actually score in this range, so you’re more likely to get above 300 on both sections. Cupcake distribution: 99% for me, 1% for you. SAT vs PSAT Score Range: Is There a Correlation? We've covered the basics ofPSAT score distribution, so let's address another question: how does the PSAT score range compare with the SAT score range?Although the PSAT and SAT share several striking similarities, their score ranges are more like siblings than they are twins. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the current SAT and PSAT score ranges: Section PSAT Score Range SAT Score Range Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) 160-760 200-800 Reading 8-38 10-40 Writing and Language 8-38 10-40 Command of Evidence 1-15 1-15 Words in Context 1-15 1-15 Expression of Ideas 1-15 1-15 Standard English Conventions 1-15 1-15 Math 160-760 200-800 Math (Test Score) 8-38 - Heart of Algebra 1-15 1-15 Problem Solving and Data Analysis 1-15 1-15 Passport to Advanced Math 1-15 1-15 TOTAL (EBRW + Math) 320-1520 400-1600 Essay* - 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 Reading - 2-8 Analysis - 2-8 Writing - 2-8 Cross-Test Scores - - Analysis in History/Social Studies 8-38 10-40 Analysis in Science 8-38 10-40 Selection Index 48-228 - Source: The College Board *There is no Essay section on the PSAT, but there is an optional Essay on the SAT. Note that the Essay score does not factor into your composite SAT score. At a glance, the two tests look as though they mirror each other, but in reality the PSAT and SAT differ in a fewkey ways. According to the table, the maximum PSAT score is 1520 and the maximum SAT score is 1600. But if the two tests are so similar in terms of form and content, why does the PSAT score scale only go up to 1520 and not 1600? Thisdifference in maximum scoresis due to thetwo tests' differences in difficulty.Because the PSAT is a preliminary to the SAT, it has fewer questions and is overall less challenging than the SAT. As a result, the PSAT score rangedoesn't reach as high as the SAT score range does. But wouldn't a 1520 on the PSAT simply correspond to a 1600 on the SAT? Nope! Even though both scores are the two tests' respective maximums, a 1520 on the PSAT is not the same as a 1600 on the SAT; rather, a 1520 on the PSAT is the same as a 1520 on the SAT. This pattern applies not justto the maximum scores but to all possible PSAT scores. For example, a1050 on the PSAT equals a 1050 on the SAT, a 1300 equals a 1300, a 1280 equals a 1280, and so on.In other words, scaled PSAT and SAT scores always signify the same level of ability. The reason for this is thatyour PSAT score ismeant to be a direct indicatorof your SAT score. If I scored 1170 on the PSAT, then- at that exact point in time and without any additional studying- I should also be scoringaround 1170 on the SAT. The PSAT essentially acts as acrystal ball, revealing the level ofyour current (and possibly future) SAT ability. Unfortunately, the PSAT doesn'temit bright, magical lights like a Magic 8 Ball does. (bark/Flickr) What Is the PSAT Score Range for National Merit Scholarships? As I mentioned briefly at the beginning of this article, high PSAT scorers (who are juniors) might qualify asSemifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program.This competitionis a big deal in the academic world. Not only does the program look great on college applications, but it also hands outa$2,500scholarship to every winner! Sowhat PSAT scores do you need to qualify? The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) uses Selection Index scores to determine which students are eligible for scholarship consideration. Each year,the top 3-4% of test takers become Commended Students, and the top 1% proceed as Semifinalists.This works out to around16,000 Semifinalists, of whom 15,000 will move on and become Finalists. (And of that 15,000, about 8,000 will eventually win scholarship money.) But here's the caveat:the Selection Index score you need in order to qualify as a Semifinalist varies by state.Below are theestimated cutoff scoresneededto qualify as a Semifinalist in each state. Beside each Selection Index score is an estimated total PSAT score cutoff. I calculated these estimated PSAT score cutoffs by working backward. First, I divided each state's Selection Index by 2. Then, I divided the quotientby 3 to get (estimated) PSAT test scores for Math, Reading, and Writing. Next, I converted each test score into a section score. Finally, I combined the EBRW and Math section scores to get an approximate PSAT score for each Selection Index cutoff. State Selection Index Cutoff PSAT Score Cutoff Alabama 216 1440 Alaska 215 1440 Arizona 220 1470 Arkansas 214 1430 California 223 1490 Colorado 221 1480 Connecticut 222 1480 Delaware 222 1480 District of Columbia 223 1490 Florida 219 1460 Georgia 220 1470 Hawaii 220 1470 Idaho 214 1430 Illinois 221 1480 Indiana 219 1460 Iowa 216 1440 Kansas 218 1460 Kentucky 218 1460 Louisiana 217 1450 Maine 217 1450 Maryland 223 1490 Massachusetts 223 1490 Michigan 219 1460 Minnesota 220 1470 Mississippi 215 1440 Missouri 217 1450 Montana 214 1430 Nebraska 216 1440 Nevada 218 1460 New Hampshire 219 1460 New Jersey 223 1490 New Mexico 215 1440 New York 221 1480 North Carolina 220 1470 North Dakota 212 1410 Ohio 219 1460 Oklahoma 215 1440 Oregon 221 1480 Pennsylvania 220 1470 Rhode Island 220 1470 South Carolina 216 1440 South Dakota 215 1440 Tennessee 219 1460 Texas 221 1480 Utah 215 1440 Vermont 216 1440 Virginia 222 1480 Washington 222 1480 West Virginia 212 1410 Wisconsin 216 1440 Wyoming 212 1410 AVERAGE 218 1460 As you can see, the PSAT score required to be a Semifinalist can vary significantly bystate. In North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming you can become a Semifinalist with a score of about1410. But in California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington, DC, you’ll need a far higher score of around 1490- that’s an 80-point difference! Luckily, in no state do you need a perfect PSAT score to qualify as a Semifinalist.In fact, in all states you can miss at least 30 points and still qualify for National Merit! But what scores should you aim for on each PSAT section? To calculate your individual section goal scores, divide your state’s Selection Index cutoff by 2 and then again by 3.This number will act as your approximate goal score for Reading, Writing, and Math. (Note that it will be a test score out of 38 and not a section score out of 760.) For example, if you lived in New Mexico, your Selection Index cutoff would be 215. Using thisscore, do the math as described above to get your goal (test) score for each section on the PSAT: 215 / 2 = 107.5 107.5 / 3 = 35.83 35.83= 36 (Always round up!) Of courseyou don’t need to aim for the exact same score on each section.If you’re stronger at Reading and Writing than you are at Math, you could instead aim for 38 on both the Reading and Writing sections and 32-33 on the Math section. This combination will still get you a Selection Index score of 215 (just do the math to check it!). Ultimately, if you plan to strivefor National Merit status, it's important to know the cutoff score for your state.Always aim, at a minimum, for your state's cutoff score,though I suggest aiming a little higher if possible. Doing this will give you a solid buffer should thecutoff score for your state go up a little the year you take the PSAT. If you don't meet the PSAT score cutoff, you can't ride the roller coaster to Free Money Land. Takeaways for the PSAT Score Range The PSAT score range is 320-1520 in 10-point increments.This composite range includes two score ranges of 160-760 for EBRW and Math. In terms of test scores, Reading, Writing, and Math are all scored separately on scales of 8-38.You'll also receivesubscores with ranges of 1-15 and cross-test scores with ranges of 8-38. In regard to PSAT score distribution, most test takers score at or around 920,the halfway point between the minimum and maximum scores. As recent percentiles show,Mathis slightly more competitive thanEBRWsince youneed a higher Math score to get into the 99th percentile than you do to get into the same percentile for EBRW. PSAT and SAT scores are analogous, meaning thata scaled score on the PSAT will always equal that same scaled score on the SAT.Therefore, you canuse your PSAT score to get a rough idea of how your SAT performance might look. ThePSAT also assigns each test takera Selection Index score on a scale of 48-228.This is the score used to determine your eligibility for National Merit consideration. Each state maintains a different Selection Index cutoff score,with the lowest being 212 and the highest being 223. To ensure you have thebest shot at winning a scholarship, try to aim for your state's cutoff score- ideally, even higher! What’s Next? Got more questions about the PSAT scoring system? Our guide to PSAT scoring explains how PSAT scores are calculated, and gives you tips onhow you can use thisinfo to your advantage on test day. Confused about what's tested on the PSAT?Get the rundown with our guides to what the PSAT is and what you should know about its structure and question types. Want to know exactly when you'll take the PSAT?Our guide to PSAT test dateswill give you info onwhen the next PSAT will be, where you'll take it, and what you can do to prepare for it. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Maryland Colony History and Timeline

Maryland Colony History and Timeline The Province of Maryland- also known as the Maryland Colony- was founded in 1632 as a safe haven for English Catholics fleeing anti-Catholic persecution in Europe. The colony was established by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore (also known as Lord Baltimore), who also governed the Colony of Newfoundland and the Province of Avalon. The Maryland Colonys first settlement was St. Marys City, which was built along the Chesapeake Bay. It was the first settlement in the New World to guarantee religious freedom for all Trinitarian Christians. Fast Facts: Maryland Colony The Maryland Colony was founded in 1632 after its charter was approved by King Charles I. It was a proprietary colony of Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore.Like other settlements in the New World, the Maryland Colony was established as a religious refuge. Although it was created as a haven for English Catholics, many of the original settlers were Protestants.In 1649, Maryland passed the Maryland Toleration Act, the first law in the New World designed to encourage religious tolerance. Who Founded Maryland? The idea for an English colony along the Chesapeake Bay where Catholics could live and worship in peace came from  George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore. In 1632, he received a charter from King Charles I to found a colony east of the Potomac River. That same year, Lord Baltimore died, and the charter was given to his son, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. The first settlers of the Maryland Colony included a mix of about 200 Catholics and Protestants who had been promised land grants; they arrived on the ships the Ark and the Dove. A stamp depicting the Ark and the Dove. traveler1116 / Getty Images Why Was Maryland Founded? Following the Protestant Reformation, Europe experienced a series of religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries. In England, Catholics faced widespread discrimination; for example, they were not allowed to hold public office, and in 1666 they were blamed for the Great Fire of London. The first Lord Baltimore, a proud Catholic, envisioned the Maryland Colony as a place where English people would have religious freedom. He also wished to found the colony for economic gain. Sir Anthony Van Dycks painting of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria. Heritage Images  / Getty Images The new colony was named Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, the queen consort of Charles I. George Calvert had previously been involved in a settlement in Newfoundland but, finding the land inhospitable, hoped this new colony would be a financial success. Charles I, for his part, was to be given a share of the income that the new colony created. The first governor of the colony was Cecil Calverts brother, Leonard. Interestingly, although the Maryland Colony was ostensibly founded as a refuge for Catholics, only 17 of the original settlers were Catholic. The rest were Protestant indentured servants. The settlers arrived at St. Clements Island on March 25, 1634, and founded St. Marys City. They became heavily involved in the cultivation of tobacco, which was their primary cash crop along with wheat and corn. Over the next 15 years, the number of Protestant settlers steadily increased, and there was fear that religious liberty would be taken away from the Catholic population. The Act of Toleration was passed in 1649 by  Governor William Stone to protect those who believed in Jesus Christ. However, this act was repealed in 1654 when outright conflict occurred and the Puritans took control of the colony. Lord Baltimore actually lost his proprietary rights and it was some time before his family was able to regain control of Maryland. Anti-Catholic actions occurred in the colony all the way up until the 18th century. However, with an influx of Catholics into Baltimore, laws were once again created to help protect against religious persecution. Timeline June 20, 1632: King Charles I grants a charter for the Maryland Colony.March 25, 1634: The first group of settlers, led by Leonard Calvert, reach St. Clements Island in the Potomac River. They established St. Marys City, the first Maryland settlement.1642: The people of the Maryland Colony go to war against the Susquehannock  Indians; fighting will continue until the two groups sign a peace treaty in 1652.1649: Maryland passes the Maryland Toleration Act, which guarantees religious freedom to all Trinitarian Christians within the colony. A historical marker for the Mason–Dixon Line. PhilAugustavo  / Getty Images 1767: A border dispute between Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware results in the drawing of the Mason–Dixon line, which marks Marylands northern and eastern borders.1776: Maryland joins the rest of the 13 American colonies in a revolution against England.September 3, 1783: The American Revolution officially comes to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.April 28, 1788: Maryland becomes the seventh state to be admitted to the United States.

Describe three methods that have been proposed for valuing minority Essay

Describe three methods that have been proposed for valuing minority interest and goodwill in the consolidated balance sheet of a parent company and it's partially owned subsidiary - Essay Example intangible assets that come from the business connections or reputation of the company gained through several variables including competent management, customer acceptance, favourability of location, efficient production systems, among others (Ammar et al., 2001). The similarity here is that in both cases, the parent company does not have direct control of what the asset manoeuvring of these two but the two are reported on the consolidated balance sheet of the parent company as a means of reflecting the claim of assets to the company and other non-controlling shareholders (Chaney, Mead & Schermann, 2002). Because of the place of these two in the consolidated balance sheet of the parent company and the subsidiary, the methods that go into the valuation of these two have often been an area of interest to stakeholders. The paper discusses three methods that have been proposed as part of the valuation of minority interest and goodwill. The average profit method has often been used to value the goodwill of the company as reported in the balance sheet but this calculation could be done to incorporate the minority interest as well. For example in calculating goodwill based on this method, an average profit is found with an agreed number of past years’ profits. The average is then multiplied by the agreed number of years to know the goodwill in a very simple mood (Gauthier, 2007). Horrigan (1968) however noted that the issue of minority interest comes in ahead of the utilisation of the formulation given above since any abnormal profits are expected to be deducted from the net profits of the various years. Again, abnormal losses are also expected to be deducted, as well as non operating incomes such as those incomes made from non-accruing investments (Sohl et al., 2009). In all three deductions, minority interest plays a major role because even though consolidated balance sheets are prepared to appear as though the parent company fully owned the partially owned

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Philosophy - Essay Example Turing’s article discussed the famous Turing test, i.e. the imitation game. A similar take on Turing’s philosophy is John Searle’s Chinese room argument or thought experiment. In this essay, I would like to share something vital that I learned in our discussions in class, as well as something that I learned beyond our class discussions, since the topic was of great value to me. I shall give an overview of Turing and Searle’s philosophy of mind. Afterwards, I shall show how their philosophy is of much value to me, in this present day. For, I do believe that topics such as these are not only valuable inside classrooms but also in the real world, that is, in my life. To begin with, like Turing, the Chinese room argument or thought-experiment, advanced by John Searle (1980), specifically challenges the view of artificial intelligence or what is more commonly known as the computational theory of mind. It challenges the claim that all there is in having a mind i s the implementation of a computer program, and that as a consequence, the mental states of humans are no different in kind from the computational states of a running computer program. The Chinese room argument challenges this claim by showing that, unlike humans, computers do not know what the contents of their computational states (or the symbols they manipulate) are about or represent in the world. What computers only know of these symbols are their shapes and the ways in which they should be combined according to the rules of their programs. The Chinese room argument, in its simple form, goes this way. Imagine a native English speaker who does not understand Chinese is locked in a room with only two outlets. Outside of this room are native Chinese speakers who do not know who or what is inside the room. In one outlet, the Chinese speakers give the person inside the room several manuscripts bearing Chinese symbols and a manual of English instructions for manipulating these Chines e symbols. The person inside the room does not even know that the symbols are Chinese; he only recognizes and individuates the symbols according to their shapes or formal properties. Now imagine that the manual, which the person has immediately mastered, says that if he recognizes certain combinations of symbols in the manuscripts given to him in one outlet, then he should arrange certain combinations of symbols and send them to the persons outside the room through the other outlet. Suppose that what the person inside the room sends to the persons outside the room are correct answers to the questions that the persons outside the room ask him through the manuscripts that they send him. In this case, in so far as the persons outside the room are concerned, the person inside the room understands Chinese. But the fact is the person inside the room does not understand the symbols—he does not even know that they are Chinese; he does not know what they represent; and he simply manip ulates them according to the instructions in the manual. Technically speaking, he does not know the semantics of those symbols; he only knows their syntax. So does that count as intelligence? Similarly, an important thought experiment that is used to defend the views of artificial intelligence is the Turing test as discussed in our previous lessons. It will be recalled that according to this test, if after a series of questions and answers, the human interrogator could not tell, on

Terrorism and the Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Terrorism and the Law - Essay Example An analysis of the problem of terrorism in USA, covering both the aspect of international and domestic has been considered and the study of the law incorporated by the government in handling matters of terrorism has been considered. Terrorism was largely held as an international and the foreign policy of the organizations. However various terrorist groups started focusing all its attention towards the United States from the beginning of this decade. In the year 2001, almost 63% of all the terror attacks were aimed at the citizens of the United States (Perl, 2003). Terror attacks have not only occurred in the United States but the citizens of the country have been massively affected in other parts of the world also. The catastrophic event in the World trade center is by far the worst terror attack which mankind has experienced. However US started experiencing the threat of terror much before the disaster in the World Trade Center. The country had also faced numerous cases of domestic terrorism, carried out by the citizens of US between the periods of 1980 to 2000. United States of America was seriously affected by domestic terrorism in various parts of Arizona, California, and Illinois. The areas were massively affected by such acts of terror and the government had a hard time bringing the situations under their control. Even the accused of the terror attacks which took place in California were convicted and several domestic extremist were arrested but such acts of terror were never under the control. Domestic terrorism spread in the country because of the right wing extremist and for the attainment of various political reasons in the country. However in recent times the act of domestic terrorism has been overshadowed by the international terrorism. The domestic terrorists based in US carry out the attacks not only on the human beings but

Financial Analysis of Netflix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Analysis of Netflix - Essay Example In 1999, monthly subscriptions model was introduced and the reputation of the firm grew as a flat- fee rental with no due dates and late fee. Netflix has to its credit the personalized movie recommendation system which suggests choices to users based on their previous purchases. Also mentionable is the fact that Netflix user base has increased every year from the date its conception by over 50% from past years till 2005. After 2005, the number of subscribers continued to increase but at lower rates. (Netflix, 2012) Netflix also partnered with certain electronics companies to make streaming possible on the PS3, TVs with internet connections, Xbox 360, Apple iPhones, iPads, iPods and other internet connected devices. (Netflix, 2012) Researches showed that in 2011, 61% of the digital video market clintele belongs to Netflix. (Stambar, 2011) in 2011, Netflix is the highest revenue earner in the United States. (Frankel, 2012) This data clearly shows that as of right now, Netflix is a mark et leader. INCOME STATEMENT (Business Week, 2012)    31-Dec-08 31-Dec-09 31-Dec-10 31-Dec-11 Revenues 1,364.70 1,670.30 2,162.60 3,204.60 TOTAL REVENUES 1,364.70 1,670.30 2,162.60 3,204.60 Cost of Goods Sold 910.2 1,079.30 1,357.40 2,039.90 GROSS PROFIT 454.4 591 805.3 1,164.70 Selling General & Admin Expenses 249.4 286.6 358.3 520.6 R&D Expenses 89.9 114.5 163.3 259 Other Operating Expenses -6.3 -- -- -- OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES 332.9 401.2 521.6 779.6 OPERATING INCOME 121.5 189.8 283.6 385.1 Interest Expense -2.5 -6.5 -19.6 -20 Interest and Investment Income 9.2 4.8 2.7 2.8 NET INTEREST EXPENSE 6.7 -1.6 -16.9 -17.2 Other Non-Operating Income 0.1 -- -- -- EBT, EXCLUDING UNUSUAL ITEMS 128.4 188.2 266.7 367.8 Gain (Loss) on Sale of Investments 3.1 1.9 1 0.7 Other Unusual Items, Total -- 2.1 -- -9 Legal Settlements -- 2.1 -- -9 EBT, INCLUDING UNUSUAL ITEMS 131.5 192.2 267.7 359.5 Income Tax Expense 48.5 76.3 106.8 133.4 Earnings from Continuing Operations 83 115.9 160.9 226.1 NET IN COME 83 115.9 160.9 226.1 Talking about the income statement of Netflix, the trend of revenues has certainly taken a great boost since 2006 from 1365 million dollars to 3205 million dollars in 2011. Growth in revenue certainly is a positive sign for any company. Netflix has achieved huge numbers during the four years. The cost of sales has also risen but looking at the overall gross profit margin, we see a rising trend. Expanses look pretty much under control and would not had been a point of concern for Netflix. The change in the income statement which was very obvious was the interest charges which rose by big number from (1.6) in the year 2008 to (16.9) in 2010 and (20) in 2011. This means that Netflix has taken huge amount of loans in 2010 and have retained them in 2011 as well. In the income statement, we can also see that the investment’s income earned has also decreased since 2006. This means that Netflix have taken out all the investments it had made outside its compa ny. Net income also shows a positive growing trend. From the income statement, we can say that Netflix is growing and has profitable numbers. BALANCE SHEET (Business Week, 2012)    31-Dec 31-Dec 31-Dec 31-Dec Currency in Millions of US$ 2008 2009 2010 2011 Assets             Cash and Equivalents 139.9 134.2 194.5 508.1 Short-Term Investments 157.4 186 155.9 289.8 TOTAL CASH AND SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS 297.3 320.2 350.4 797.8 Prepaid Expenses 26.5 26.7 62.2 56 Deferred Tax Assets, Current -- -- 2.2 10 Restricted

Find all Details below Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Find all Details below - Research Paper Example Number of researches have been carried out to understand the role of these factors in the decision making process regarding various business related issues. However, most of these studies fail to provide a proper understanding regarding the effects of these factors in the context of a particular country. This paper includes a proposal of a research that will be conducted in order to gain insight into the role of different micro as well as macro environmental factors that are likely to impact the businesses which are operating in Australia. This research proposal is consisted of the principle aims and objectives of the research. Furthermore, it also includes the literature review, thesis structure as well as the expected outcomes of the actual research that will be carried out in near future. The research is expected to be very useful for the individuals from the both industry and academia as the focus will be on a particular country i.e. Australia. Purpose and Aims The central aim of the research is to identify the major macro and micro economic factors that are capable of influencing a particular organization in Australia. In addition to this another main objective of this research is to find out the ways in which the decision making process regarding the marketing of a particular company or its product or brand can be impacted by these factors. The main focus of the research will be on the strategic marketing decisions of a firm in a sense that how such decisions are impacted by the various environmental factors. The major research questions are properly mentioned below – 1. What are the major micro and macro environmental factors that are capable of impacting the business in Australia? 2. How the macro and micro economic environment of Australia impact the strategic marketing decisions of an organization in the particular country? Literature Review Success or failure of any research is greatly impacted by the theoretical base of it. In order to analyz e the theoretical background, a review of literature is conducted. No research can be said to be a completed one without the proper review of literature. As far as this research is concerned there are several theoretical aspects that will be properly analyzed. Two of the most important aspects in the context of this research are strategic marketing and macro and micro environmental factors. Preliminary study shows that marketing decisions at the strategic level make significant difference. On the other hand there are number of macro environmental factors such as culture, politics, economy, technology, society etc. that may influence the performance of a marketing campaign. Extensive literature regarding strategic marketing as well as several of the above mentioned factors is likely to be available in different books, journals and magazines. These sources can be accessed both online as well as offline. However, investigation regarding the academic theory of these aspects should be ma de limited. Marketing is a vast concept and hence it is not feasible to get into all the aspects of it. In fact, the focus will be on strategic marketing while searching the literature. On the other side, only relevant literature will be searched

Financial Analysis of Netflix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Analysis of Netflix - Essay Example In 1999, monthly subscriptions model was introduced and the reputation of the firm grew as a flat- fee rental with no due dates and late fee. Netflix has to its credit the personalized movie recommendation system which suggests choices to users based on their previous purchases. Also mentionable is the fact that Netflix user base has increased every year from the date its conception by over 50% from past years till 2005. After 2005, the number of subscribers continued to increase but at lower rates. (Netflix, 2012) Netflix also partnered with certain electronics companies to make streaming possible on the PS3, TVs with internet connections, Xbox 360, Apple iPhones, iPads, iPods and other internet connected devices. (Netflix, 2012) Researches showed that in 2011, 61% of the digital video market clintele belongs to Netflix. (Stambar, 2011) in 2011, Netflix is the highest revenue earner in the United States. (Frankel, 2012) This data clearly shows that as of right now, Netflix is a mark et leader. INCOME STATEMENT (Business Week, 2012)    31-Dec-08 31-Dec-09 31-Dec-10 31-Dec-11 Revenues 1,364.70 1,670.30 2,162.60 3,204.60 TOTAL REVENUES 1,364.70 1,670.30 2,162.60 3,204.60 Cost of Goods Sold 910.2 1,079.30 1,357.40 2,039.90 GROSS PROFIT 454.4 591 805.3 1,164.70 Selling General & Admin Expenses 249.4 286.6 358.3 520.6 R&D Expenses 89.9 114.5 163.3 259 Other Operating Expenses -6.3 -- -- -- OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES 332.9 401.2 521.6 779.6 OPERATING INCOME 121.5 189.8 283.6 385.1 Interest Expense -2.5 -6.5 -19.6 -20 Interest and Investment Income 9.2 4.8 2.7 2.8 NET INTEREST EXPENSE 6.7 -1.6 -16.9 -17.2 Other Non-Operating Income 0.1 -- -- -- EBT, EXCLUDING UNUSUAL ITEMS 128.4 188.2 266.7 367.8 Gain (Loss) on Sale of Investments 3.1 1.9 1 0.7 Other Unusual Items, Total -- 2.1 -- -9 Legal Settlements -- 2.1 -- -9 EBT, INCLUDING UNUSUAL ITEMS 131.5 192.2 267.7 359.5 Income Tax Expense 48.5 76.3 106.8 133.4 Earnings from Continuing Operations 83 115.9 160.9 226.1 NET IN COME 83 115.9 160.9 226.1 Talking about the income statement of Netflix, the trend of revenues has certainly taken a great boost since 2006 from 1365 million dollars to 3205 million dollars in 2011. Growth in revenue certainly is a positive sign for any company. Netflix has achieved huge numbers during the four years. The cost of sales has also risen but looking at the overall gross profit margin, we see a rising trend. Expanses look pretty much under control and would not had been a point of concern for Netflix. The change in the income statement which was very obvious was the interest charges which rose by big number from (1.6) in the year 2008 to (16.9) in 2010 and (20) in 2011. This means that Netflix has taken huge amount of loans in 2010 and have retained them in 2011 as well. In the income statement, we can also see that the investment’s income earned has also decreased since 2006. This means that Netflix have taken out all the investments it had made outside its compa ny. Net income also shows a positive growing trend. From the income statement, we can say that Netflix is growing and has profitable numbers. BALANCE SHEET (Business Week, 2012)    31-Dec 31-Dec 31-Dec 31-Dec Currency in Millions of US$ 2008 2009 2010 2011 Assets             Cash and Equivalents 139.9 134.2 194.5 508.1 Short-Term Investments 157.4 186 155.9 289.8 TOTAL CASH AND SHORT TERM INVESTMENTS 297.3 320.2 350.4 797.8 Prepaid Expenses 26.5 26.7 62.2 56 Deferred Tax Assets, Current -- -- 2.2 10 Restricted

Uprising in Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Uprising in Middle East - Essay Example A clear view of the entire episode can be comprehended and truly understood only by looking into the factors and elements that contributed to it, the factors and the course that was adopted and what have been the short term outcomes of the entire event as it has unfolded. Egypt faced the heat in form of massive gathering across the Tehrir square which later on became an emblem of revolution and uprising. Egypt has had a history of dictators and usurpers ruling over the people against their wishes and with little political or social participation. It is something that was in offing for a long while, and any place where human rights violation, social and political depravity becomes order of the day, a revolt and revolution finds its way in return. The focus of study is other factors and the neighboring social circumstances as well that ran in parallel and how they propelled an atmosphere of uprising. Understanding the overall scenario of Egypt uprising requires understanding and exploration of the reasons, impact and background of the revolutions that took place in Yemen and Libya. This also includes the study of the regions and the countries that were mostly likely to face and taste revolution yet they survived it and till date have no events and signs on instability that would be seen in form of revolution and overthrow of the government. On economic front it was the downtrodden state of the masses that compelled them into revolt and rebellion, where large percentage of the people lived below poverty line, with no basic facilities of life, no proper education, no health care facilities and far from the basic commodities that are right of every individual. .Religious element and their role cannot be undermined for they provided a platform of awareness and social and political activity which was needed in the environment

Pretesting Feedback Essay Example for Free

Pretesting Feedback Essay In the article by Jean-Baptiste Jean-Pierre on HIV/AIDS, the importance of carrying out pretesting method is apparent. Jean-Pierre opens the article by providing a clear and easy to understand definition of pretesting in which it is classified as a type of formative research entailing systematic collection of reactions to materials and information from target audience prior to their actual presentation. The article also outlines the goal of pretesting and its significance particularly when the target audience is characterized by individuals of different cultures and level of education. The author then shifts focus to the purpose of his article which entails use of pretesting in public service announcement (PSA) in Brooklyn, New York on matters concerning use of condoms as a tool for preventing the spread of HIV among African American women of between 20 to 49 years old. The probing question is whether media stations will allocate enough time to the PSA. Media stations normally shy away from airing controversial issues since they might destroy their reputation and in turn, their business might collapse (Hampton, Rabinowitz, Nagy, 2010). However, selection of HIV/ AIDS and condom use for the PSA comes in handy in ensuring stations run them. Controversial issues such as gay marriage wield enormous difficulties in convincing media stations to run the PSA. As a result of HIV prevention through use of condoms not being contentious, the PSA is made more effective hence having a high chance of reaching the target audience. On reaching the target audience, the message is more likely to encourage them and enhance their awareness on the issue at hand. In addition to having experts from radio or television to check and evaluate the message, it is imperative to consult religious leaders, activists and health practitioners on the same (Hampton, Rabinowitz, Nagy, 2010). The message might meet the requirements of media but lack the intensity necessary to kindle the most appropriate reaction from the target audience. In his article, Jean-Pierre includes experts from media and communication field but excludes those from the health sector thereby making the announcement vulnerable to incompetency. Involving individuals from the health fraternity is crucial to ensuring greater effectiveness of the PSA. Jean-Pierre intends to utilize short questionnaire which normally consume little time since they comprise of brief questions regarding the perception of the information to be conveyed, its ease of understanding and the modifications required. Such questions ensure that the PSA reaches the target audience and provokes the expected positive reaction (Siegel Lotenberg, 2007). Moreover, employing market research techniques might prove effective in evaluating the program. Besides the technique having flaws, it provides a quicker and cost effective method for gathering data on the program (Poscente, Rothstein, Irvine, 2002), thereby enhancing its ability to fine-tune mass media channels and the assembling of health promotion information. Such techniques could improve the pretesting method by enhance the effectiveness of the message conveyed to the target audience through PSA. References Hampton, C. , Rabinowitz, P. Nagy, K. (2010). Preparing public service announcements. The Community Tool Box. Retrieved May 20, 2010 from http://ctb. ku. edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1065. htm Poscente, N. , Rothstein, M. Irvine, M. J. (2002). Using marketing research methods to evaluate a stage-specific intervention. American Journal of Health Behavior 26(4): 243-251. Retrieved May 20, 2010 from EBSCO database. Siegel, M. Lotenberg, D. L. (2007). Marketing public health: Strategies to promote social change. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Facilitation of Voluntary Goal-directed Action by Reward Cue

Facilitation of Voluntary Goal-directed Action by Reward Cue TITLE Using a human fear paradigm, Lovibond et al (2013) attempted to show competition between an instrumental avoidance response and a Pavlovian safety signal for association with omission of shock. Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning are two forms of associative learning. Pavlovian conditioning involves humans learning that initially neutral conditioned stimuli (CSs), such as a tone or colour, predicts an outcome (US), such as electric shock, or in the case of safety signals, safety, such as an omission of shock. Instrumental learning refers to learning associations between voluntary responses (such as a button press, or an avoidance response) and outcomes or reinforcers, such as shock or an omission of shock. In their first, overshadowing, experiment, expectancy data but not skin conductance levels (SCLs) suggested mutual overshadowing, as when the avoidance response (button press, *) and safety signal (C) were both presented with stimulus A, expectancy of shock was significantly lo wer than when A was only presented with the avoidance response or safety signal. In the second, blocking, experiment, no matter whether the avoidance response or C was pre-trained, the pre-trained element yielded the lowest expectancies of shock (i.e. greater safety learning), while safety learning of the alternate element was suppressed. Lovibond et al (2013) conclude that the expectancy data, as well as the non-significant SCL data, in the blocking and overshadowing paradigms exhibit evidence that competition occurred between the instrumental avoidance response and Pavlovian safety signal, and therefore a common learning mechanism underlies both forms of associative learning. In this paper, Lovibond et als (2013) experiments, and their conclusions, shall be critiqued. Strengths Lovibond et al (2013) exhibited considerable strength in the planning of their experiments. In both experiments, they used a variation of a previously used paradigm, such that their experiments already had relatively sound internal consistency and construct validity. They had the foresight to acknowledge the possibility that participants would learn a response-stimulus-outcome relationship rather than viewing the avoidance response and safety stimulus C as separate predictors. That is, they saw a potential weakness in their experimental design in that C could become a mediator of the causal efficacy of the avoidance response, rather than a competing cause. As such, in both experiments, they deliberately adjusted their design in order to prevent this by adding BC- trials and varying the time interval between the avoidance response and safety signal, to weaken the response-stimulus C association. They additionally asked participants to rate the degree of association between them, as we ll as with shock, so that they would know if response-stimulus-outcome learning had nonetheless occurred. Lovibond et al (2013) used previous research in order to resolve potential issues that could arise before running their experiment. For example, they doubled the number of B- trials in the pre-training phase because a prior study of theirs showed that predictors of no shock are more slowly learnt than predictors of shock, and they needed to ensure differential conditioning to stimuli A and B had occurred. Furthermore, aware that C being novel could be more anxiety-provoking and hence confound results by resulting in more conservative expectancy ratings and a higher SCL, Lovibond et al (2013) ensured that the first trial of the compound phase was always a BC- trial to reduce the novelty of C before it was paired with stimulus A. They acknowledged , in experiment 1, the possibility of participants having never experienced a trial with just the instrumental response or just the saf ety signal before the test phase, and thus participants may have been more conservative in their judgments, and account for this through directly evaluating competition via a blocking paradigm in experiment 2 where one group pre-trained Pavlovian (AC- trials) and the other pretrained (A* (+)) to ensure wasn’t just conservative ratings etcetera Lovibond et al (2013) also exhibited strength in their rigorously controlled experimental design. The use of headphones constantly emitting white noise (except when the tone stimulus was presented), ensured safety signal-shock learning was not confounded by external, extraneous sounds. The 180 degree rotary dial presented a more accurate measure of expectancy than a typical Likert 1-10 confidence scale. Lovibond et al (2013) used inter-trial intervals to ensure adequate time between trials to prevent confusion, to ensure shock was paired with the correct stimulus (A or B), and to allow SCL to return to baseline levels. Furthermore, they used Bonferroni correction to control for the extra possibility of type I error from using two measurements (expectancy and SCL data). In terms of theoretical strengths, Lovibond et al (2013) attempted to explain unexpected results; and provide alternate explanations for expectancy data. In experiment 1, they excuse the lack of difference in expectancy to shock between A+ and B- trials in the pre-training phase, by explaining that across the remainder of the experiment, there was a significant difference in expectancies between the two (that is, differential conditioning occurred, it simply took longer than they expected). In experiment 1, they also provided an explanation for SCL unexpectedly increasing in the compound phase from trial 1 to trial 2, explaining that only 37% of participants made an instrumental response on the first trial, so that most participants received a shock then (so SCL would have been higher for trial 2 as they would be more anxious about being shocked), and from trial 2 onwards SCL declined appropriately. In experiment 1, they provided an alternate explanation for the expectancy data, by c laiming that it may have just been the novelty of A*- and AC- (that is, the novelty of testing the avoidance response and safety signal individually) that may have lead to the more conservative expectancy ratings when they were presented individually compared to when in conjunction. That is, they highlighted that it may not have been mutual overshadowing or competition that lead to lowered shock expectancies when in conjunction compared to when elements were presented individually, but rather an effect of novelty. This retained a sense of objectivity that is often forgotten in psychological reports which are determined to present their findings as definitive conclusions. Furthermore, while they do not bring this argument up, it is clear that this was not the case based on similar expectancy data from the blocking paradigm in Experiment 2, where either A* or AC- were pre-trained (that is, they were not novel in the test phase), and similar results emerged. They conclude by mentioning that the evidence of a single learning mechanism found in the paper is preliminary, not definitive, which is a strength as it highlights the need for repetition and an accumulation of more data to prove without a doubt that there is a single learning mechanism Lovibond et al (2013) do not make any assumptions. This is furthered by their outline of limitations in their own experiment by attempting an objective evaluation of their own experiment, a practice which is sometimes forgotten by psychologists who wish to convince their readers of their findings. As they highlight, the strongest evidence for competition was a cross-experiment comparison. They attempt to dismiss this limitation by saying that the same participant pool was used, with the same equipment, experimenter and same time frame, and that the common trials (A+ and B-) gave highly congruent data, suggesting that the test phases could be directly compared across experiments. Nonetheless, they acknowledge that a within-subjects design would be better. They highlight the limitation that only the expectancy measure yielded significant effects, but attempt to excuse this by explaining that autonomic conditioning results are often insignificant due to large individual differences which inflate the error term and reduce power. Weaknesses Unfortunately, Lovibond et al (2013)’s design had some flaws. Although they added BC- trials and varied time intervals between the avoidance response and presentation of safety signal C to ensure the avoidance response and stimulus C were independent, competing causes of shock, the post-experiment questionnaires where participants rated the degree of relationship between the two revealed that they were aware of a relationship between them. This means that the results (the lowered expectancies to shock when the avoidance response and safety signal were presented together, than when presented individually), which Lovibond et al (2013) saw as evidence for competition between an avoidance response and safety signal (and thus evidence for a single learning mechanism) may have simply occurred as the safety signal C, as a mediator of causal efficacy of the avoidance response, would have resulted in lower expectancy of shock when combined with the avoidance response, than when they we re separate (no competition necessary), whether in the blocking or overshadowing paradigm. Lovibond et al (2013) failed to discuss this, brushing it off as an intrinsic problem when there are voluntary responses. Continuing, while not the most ethical option, conditioning may have been more robust (in particular, SCL results may have been significant) if the level of shock selected for participants was manageably painful instead of just uncomfortable. This is because more variability in SCL would have emerged as participants would have been more anxious. The highly constructed laboratory setting, where they deliberately presented twice as many B- trials, and made as many adjustments as possible to find significant results, begs the question as to how often competition between avoidance responses and safety signals occurs in real life, and whether the single mechanism of learning proposed by Lovibond et al (2013) really exists or is just a fabrication of the laboratory procedures use d. Furthermore, humans are quite intelligent: by giving them instructions telling them that pressing a button or hearing a tone may or may not effect an outcome, it would be much easier for them to gain an accurate perception of expectancy of shock, particularly if they were undergraduate psychology students, which they probably were, and this may have confounded the results by lowering the expectancies in significant amounts accordingly that is, rather than genuine competition, participants may have just believed that there were connections from the instructions given, that there was less chance of shock when a button press or tone, and in conjunction, there was the least chance. Continuing, Lovibond et al (2013) claim, in their first experiment, that they had 53 participants, and in their second experiment, 89 participants, but after exclusions, the sample sizes of these experiments were 30 and 57 respectively. While they still had significant expectancy data, Lovibond et al (2013) should have specified more accurately the number of participants in each experiment. Furthermore, if they had had a larger sample size, they may have found significant SCL results due to greater power. Lovibond et al (2013), make faulty conclusions regarding SCL data. They conclude that the SCL data pattern mirrors that of the expectancy data across both experiments. However, as the SCL results were not significant, it is inappropriate to conclude this, as there is a higher probability that any mirrored pattern could be the result of chance alone. Statistically speaking, if the SCL data was not significant, than no real differences between the instrumental response and safety signal tested individually versus together have been found. Furthermore, Lovibond et al (2013) brush off the lack of findings in SCL data by claiming that the SCL measure is unreliable. However, it must be asked then, why Lovibond et al (2013) used such a measure in the first place if it is so unreliable. They claim that SCL have greater individual variability and greater sensitivity to extraneous factors and that is why there were no significant results, but in real life, those extraneous factors are bound to interfere, and if there were non-significant results with such factors, one must ask how applicable a single learning mechanism approach is. Granted, it could be argued that Lovibond et al (2013) is a highly theoretical paper by nature, interested in modeling conditioned learning (by claiming a single underlying mechanism defines conditioned learning structure), rather than application. However, one must ask how relevant or important a model could be if it does not have any external validity. Lovibond et al (2013), furthermore, make assumptions in their conclusions. They fail to explain why it follows that because there seems to be a common associative mechanism that the critical association in instrumental learning is an R-O association in order to explain competition with a Pavlovian S-O association. They do not attempt to explain why, in their cross-experiment comparison, expectancy measure responding in the blocked condition was significantly higher than in the overshadowing condition. Continuing, they assume that if there is a single-learning mechanism, it must be propositional by nature. This is problematic, because while the common thought among single-learning mechanism theorists is that the mechanism is propositional, Lovibond et al (2013) do not explain how their experiment exhibits a propositional mechanism. Even if they have provided evidence for a single-learning mechanism, they have not provided evidence regarding the nature of this single-learning mechanism . Propositional accounts claim that associative learning depends on effortful, attention-demanding reasoning processes. However, one must ask which part of this experiment showed that learning was an effortful process. Continuing, propositional models are faulty. Propositional accounts of learning fail to align with animal and developmental psychology. Non-human animals exhibit associative learning, although they do not have the language to deploy propositions to infer relations about events. If p, then q (or contingency) propositions, are not understood until children are 6years old. However, despite lacking the language abilities and contingency propositions to infer relations about events, backward blocking and other evidence of associative learning has been shown in children as young as 8 months. As X claims, there is not enough evidence to justify structured mental representations existing when associative learning occurs (i.e. a propositional model), over a broad, non-proposit ional associative link between representations. In their introduction, Lovibond et al (2013) are pedantic with their definitions in their introduction when explaining how Pavlovian and instrumental learning could be separate mechanisms. They differentiate between performance and learning claiming that Pavlovian performance is involuntary while instrumental responses are voluntary, but that does not mean they are not learnt the same way. However, if they are to be differentiated, as Lovibond et al (2013) do, whether in their experiment they are actually measuring an underlying mechanism or performance in the test phase, as generated expectancies could simply be another measure of performance their anxiety levels (CR) conditioned to the safety signal or avoidance response. Continuing, they claim that the notation E1 and E2, where E1 could be a stimulus (Pavlovian) or action (Instrumental conditioning), and where E2 is the outcome, reinforces the notion that a single learning mechanism may underlie both types of associative learning . However, this is simply induced notation. Equally, one could use the notation S-S for Pavlovian learning (the CS-US link, hence S-S), and R-O for instrumental learning (the response-outcome relationship), to portray them as separate learning mechanisms, and to support a dual-process model. Thus, Lovibond et als (2013) proposal of a single learning mechanism is largely based on unfounded claims. Furthermore, in their introduction, while Lovibond et al (2013) attempt to provide evidence for a single-learning mechanism, evidence can also be provided for a dual-process model. For example, a single learning mechanism assumes awareness is required for conditioning. However, Baeyens et al 1990 found flavour-flavour learning occurred in absence of any contingency awareness. Continuing, in Perruchets task where a tone was either paired with an air-puff or was presented alone, when the tone and airpuff had recently been paired together, expectancy of an air puff on the next trial was reduced, the probability of an eyeblink CR occurring was heightened. Furthermore, neurological data suggests different brain regions are involved in different learning processes, for example, the amygdala plays a large role in fear conditioning. Therefore, it is possible that instrumental and pavlovian are equally run by different parts of the brain. Lovibond et al (2013) did not actually provide evidenc e against such a model. For example, they could have argued against the dual-process model by claiming that the dissociation between the eyeblink CR and expectancy when CS-US pairings have recently been presented in the Perruchet task, which some learning theorists use to support the dual-process model, that the eyeblink CR results from sensitisation from recent US presentation (a recent air puff). Alternately, they could counter-argue that while the amygdala has a large part in fear learning, it could simply be a subcomponent of a broader, singular system of learning. It would have been a more convincing argument that the experiments were necessary and that a single learning mechanism were possible if they had had more depth in the lead up to their hypotheses. Conclusion Lovibond et al (2013) claim from their experiments that a single learning mechanism underlies Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. However, despite their attempts to remain objective and their rigorous planning and control of their experiment, they fail to address vital problems to their experiment (such as the possibility of the safety signal being a mediator for the efficacy of the avoidance response), assume, without sufficient evidence, that if a single learning mechanism underlies both types of associative learning, it must be propositional in nature (a faulty assumption), speak of SCL data as if it were significant when it was not, and in the lead-up to their hypotheses regarding a single learning mehcanism, fail to dismiss the possibility of a dual-process model. Reference Lovibond, P.F. and Colagiuri, B., 2013. Facilitation of voluntary goal-directed action by reward cues.  Psychological Science,  24(10), pp.2030-2037.

Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

Does the statement "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" thoroughly expresses the many themes of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’? The first time we hear the statement is very early in the play when the witches say the exact line "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" only for Macbeth himself to repeat it very closely two scenes later. This repetition of the lines shows me that the characters themselves believe that there are many foul events taking place. In this essay I will endeavour to prove that the above statement doesn’t express ‘Macbeth’ thoroughly. Firstly I will show the fair Macbeth himself degrading into a foul inhuman monster. Secondly, I will compare the witches to Macbeth to demonstrate the real foulness in these characters. I will then show why I believe that there simply isn’t any fairness existing in ‘Macbeth’. Then I will point out that there are simply too many themes in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ to be summed up in one line. Macbeth, in the beginning, is a man of valour, honour and nobility. By his loyal traits he helps maintain Scotland’s stability. Macbeth, on the outside, seems to be the fairest man in all Scotland, however we know better. Under the cloaking shadows of his skin, Macbeth hides his one weakness - that is ambition. His wife knows of his ambition and stirs him to act on it. Macbeth struggles with a choice; should he let the witches prophecies realise themself, or should he take steps to the achieve them. He knows that the latte...

The Ethics of Microsoft’s Product Pricing Structure Essay -- Microsoft

The Ethics of Microsoft’s Product Pricing Structure Introduction Microsoft, currently one of the world’s biggest and most influential software companies, was found in 1975 by William Gates and Paul Allen.[1] It quickly positioned itself as a leader in the software community and due to the strength growth of its user base for the Windows operating system and numerous other products, it became both widely popular and widely hated. Many consumers love the suite of products that Microsoft offers because they are easy to use, are widely supported, and have many applications written specifically to for them. On the other hand, there are many who dislike Microsoft, claiming that their policies lead to an uncompetitive market and that their practices are unethical. In recent years many court cases, including a major anti-trust suit have been brought against Microsoft. This paper aims to focus on the issue of Microsoft’s product pricing structure and to discuss the issues that have arisen because of it. There are two different yet similar ethical issues surrounding Microsoft’s product pricing. Within the United States there has been growing concern that because Microsoft controls such a large portion of the market that they are using this to their advantage and to drive prices up. A number of cases have been brought to court and found Microsoft guilty of price fixing, causing them to refund money to consumers in states like California and Iowa. The ethical issue clearly surrounds Microsoft’s motives. Are they driving up prices and simply trying to make more money with no thought to the impact on the community, or are they trying to run a legitimate profit-based business that strives to keep make everyone happier and ... ...p://webspeedreader.com/Articles/Microsoft.htm?Default-04-20-2001> [10] AFP, Microsoft Still in Talks with EU for Possible Compromise, 15 March 2004, [11] InfoTech, Erwin Lemuel G. Oliva, Software Makers: Pricing Standard Worldwide, 2003, 15 March 2004, 14 Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, 2003?, 10 February 2004, [12] University of Central Florida, Barbara Moore’s Slides, Antitrust and Industrial Policy, 2003?, 15 March 2004, [13] Russel Verney, Price Fixing in Plain Sight, 2001, 15 March 2004,

Explain how the part of Macbeth should be played to show Essay

Explain how the part of Macbeth should be played to show how he reacts to events and how his relationship with Lady Macbeth develops in this scene. Act two scene two is very significant to the play, as this is where the tragedy of Macbeth really begins. Up until then, Macbeth can still change his mind, but after this scene there is no going back for either him or Lady Macbeth. It marks the point when Macbeth changes from a national hero, loyal to his King and country, into a liar, a murderer and a traitor who embarks on a course of evil that will eventually cause his death. All of this takes place because of ambition, both his own and Lady Macbeth’s. The scene is highly dramatic and full of tension, and although we do not actually witness the murder of King Duncan, it has to be the most violent and intense part of the play. This is the first of many murders to come, and we can only guess that Shakespeare chose to have Macbeth kill Duncan offstage to increase the tension by letting the audience use their imagination to supply the bloody details. The story so far is that Macbeth and Banquo, co-leaders of the Scottish army, whilst returning from a successful battle, are met by three â€Å"weird sisters†. These sisters, who would definitely have been thought of as witches by Jacobean audiences, give several prophecies in the form of riddles, predicting that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, and later King. Macbeth recoils at this news, and it could be interpreted that this is because he has already a great ambition to become King, and hearing the witches voice aloud what he has been pondering shocks him. They tell Banquo that he will not be King, but that his children will be Kings in the future. They also predict that he will be â€Å"lesser than Macbeth and greater, not so happy and yet much happier†. Later, Macbeth finds that he has been made Thane of Cawdor and because of this, begins to seriously consider the possibility of becoming King. When Duncan names his son Malcolm as heir to the throne, Macbeth’s hopes are dashed. He sees Malcolm as â€Å"A step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, for in my way it lies.† Lady Macbeth receives a letter from her husband telling her of the prophecies and his new title. She is determined to help him become King, and when he returns home, she persuades him to kill Duncan, who will be staying with them overnight. Macbeth later chickens out, and so Lady Macbeth agrees to do it. Why then, at the start of the scene do we see Lady Macbeth waiting for her husband to return from killing the King? This would have confused the audience greatly, and increased the tension in the scene. The scene takes place at night, with the darkness representing what is unnatural, cruel, and evil. The curtains would open on Lady Macbeth, standing outside in the courtyard, anxiously pacing up and down carrying a candle. The only other light would be a thin beam of pale blue moonlight. Light represents good, and the light from the candle would show hope, the small chance that Macbeth could still go back and change his mind. There would be lots of shadows cast around the stage, and at the start of the scene, Lady Macbeth would emerge from the darkness in order to represent her guilt. There would also be fleeting silhouettes of birds and animals glimpsed, making Lady Macbeth jump, illustrating her paranoia that they will be caught. These animals could be familiars of the witches, which would show their supernatural influence over everything evil. There shouldn’t be any sound; the theatre should be deathly quiet in order to create the atmosphere of tension in the castle, as the Macbeths would be terrified of someone awakening. By now, the audience would be on the edge of their seats wondering if Macbeth will actually have the nerve to murder his own King. In the audiences view at the time, after committing treason, anything else would be a lesser sin. This was because Jacobeans believed that the whole universe had an order to it, decided by God. Anything unnatural was against this divine order. Kings were second only to God, so a crime against a King would have been a crime against God. Satan had rebelled against God directly, so therefore, he was responsible through witches and evil spirits etc., for all attacks on this divine order. As Lady Macbeth paces about in a nervous state, awaiting Macbeth’s return, she reveals that she has drugged the guards’ hot drinks. She doesn’t know if what she has given them will kill them, and she remarks that they are on the borders of life and death, that death and nature are locked in a battle over them. She should speak in a confident voice as she says that she has been â€Å"made bold† by â€Å"that which hath make them drunk†, meaning alcohol has steadied her nerves. However, all this confidence is shattered when an owl shrieks, and Lady Macbeth jumps, shouting â€Å"Hark! Peace!† Her relief should be visible when she realises what made the noise, and she goes on to make a sinister comparison between the owl and the â€Å"Fatal bellman† who was paid to ring a bell outside the condemned cell of Newgate prison in London at midnight before an execution. On the last line of her speech, on the word â€Å"die†, we would hear the wind blow and Lady Macbeth’s candle would extinguish. This is the actual moment of Duncan’s murder, and the candle going out represents the end of all hope that Macbeth will change his mind. We would hear loud footsteps, and then a nervous, fearful voice exclaim â€Å"Who’s there? What ho?† The person speaking should not be visible to either Lady Macbeth or the audience, making the tension of the scene come to a climax. Lady Macbeth, on hearing this voice, should start frantically looking around and walk even faster, shaking her hands in a state of sheer panic. Her voice should be trembling as she goes over the preparations she had made to ensure that everything would go according to plan. She had laid the daggers ready, so how could Macbeth have missed them? She is sure that they will be caught because Macbeth has botched the murder up in some way. This shows that she already distrusts him, and that cracks in their relationship are now beginning to form. She tries to justify her reasons for not killing Duncan herself as she had promised, saying, † Had he not resembled my Father as he slept, I had done’t† This means that she couldn’t bring herself to kill Duncan, because he looked so much like her own Father as he slept. The audience has now been provided with an answer as to why it is Macbeth who kills Duncan, and not her. It also shows Lady Macbeth’s true character, and that she doesn’t really know herself as well as she thought she did. She had thought that she would be able to steel herself to do what was needed by â€Å"unsexing† herself, and â€Å"replacing her milk with bitterness†. Unfortunately for her, when it came to the crunch, she couldn’t do it. This small reminder of Lady Macbeth’s humanity helps us to empathize more with what happens to her later on in the play. When Macbeth enters, she should run up to him with relief. Macbeth however, should turn away from her and stare into space with his hands trembling. His voice should be full of horror as he chokes out â€Å"I have†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..† and then he should pause, as if to search for a word to describe the unspeakable crime that he has committed. He finally comes up with â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦done the deed.†, a euphemism, as he can’t actually bring himself to say that he has killed the King. Here, the audience would share in Macbeth’s complete horror at his crime. Then, he should come out of his trance, turn to Lady Macbeth, and grab her shoulder roughly with one hand as he asks her urgently if she heard a noise. Their next few lines are syncopated and monosyllabic, and should be said with highly charged emotion and edgy nervousness. As they say them, they should move closer together and hold each other, as though giving each other support, but they should not look at each other. Instead, they should be frantically looking around into the shadows, paranoid that they will be caught. The fact that Macbeth still holds the daggers intensifies the uneasiness felt in the scene. His hands are covered in blood, making the drama explosive. When Macbeth sees the blood on his hands as he points toward the second chamber, he should shudder as he says â€Å"This is a sorry sight†. His voice should be full of remorse for what he has done, and he should hang his head with shame and regret. His hands should be shaking. Lady Macbeth tries to reassure him, saying, â€Å"A foolish thought to say a sorry sight†. This should be said in a falsely bright tone of voice, as if to say â€Å"Look this is what we wanted, now you can fulfil your dream of becoming King.† However, Macbeth pays her no attention, as thoughts of the murder plague his mind. He should appear transfixed, and very troubled by his actions, as he stares back into space, and tells himself more than Lady Macbeth, about the two people who woke up and prayed, while he was walking past their door. As he says these lines, he should raise his voice, and begin to talk frantically, ignoring Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth, while he is doing this, should be worried about someone hearing him, and anxiously trying to shut him up. She should be following him around the stage, but not looking at him. She should be more preoccupied with looking around into the shadows, anxious about getting caught. Macbeth should shout the words â€Å"hangman’s hands† in horror, and look at his hands, which should now be shaking uncontrollably. He should say the words â€Å"but wherefore could I not pronounce ‘Amen’?† quieter and pleadingly, and fall to his knees in anguish. He should be nearly in tears as he says the next lines â€Å"I had most need of blessing and ‘Amen’ stuck in my throat† , meaning that he would need a blessing for what he was about to do, but he obviously was not given one as he could not pronounce the word â€Å"Amen†. He has now realised that he is damned to Hell for the terrible crime he has committed. Lady Macbeth should not go to her husband as she says â€Å"These deeds must not be thought of after these ways; so, it will make us mad.† She is trying more to convince herself than Macbeth, and these lines are ironic as later on in the play it is her who goes mad and eventually commits suicide. Macbeth’s nervous ramblings are full of guilt and remorse as he uses several metaphors for sleep, and realises that he will never again sleep peacefully because of what he has done. He likens sleep to the main course of a meal, the â€Å"chief nourisher in life’s feast†, and says that sleep is â€Å"the death of each day’s life†, meaning that after having slept, we are reborn each day and can make a new start. The mysterious voice he thought he heard may have been his own guilty conscience, but the words it spoke may also have been another of the witches chilling prophecies. â€Å"Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more†. This makes the audience think once more about the theme of the supernatural depicted throughout the play, and lighting or sounds could be used to convey this, such as a witches cackle after Macbeth has said this line, or a silhouette of the witches gathered around a c auldron could be flashed quickly across the stage. With these words about hearing a voice, Lady Macbeth should turn quickly to Macbeth and say the line â€Å"What do you mean† sharply. She thinks he means that someone saw him and knows what he did. Her voice should be on edge and harsh. Macbeth can’t seem to hear her and just ignores her, saying his next lines in a demented tone of voice, still on his knees. Lady Macbeth should then drag him to his feet and shout at him â€Å"Who was it that thus cried?† urgently. Then, realising that it wasn’t a real voice, and remembering that they don’t want to get caught, quietly tries to get him back on track, and firmly tells him to get some water and â€Å"wash this filthy witness from your hand†. As she looks at his hand, she should grab it with a disgusted facial expression. Then it should change to a look of shock, as she sees the daggers, now together in his other hand, and says, in a quivering voice â€Å"Why did you bring these daggers from the place?† The daggers are a visual reminder of what they have done, and Lady Macbeth should close her eyes and swallow after saying this, as if to try and rid herself of a mental picture of what the bloody scene would look like. Then she should get herself together, as she tells Macbeth to return the daggers to the murder scene and smear the King’s grooms with blood. She should say this firmly, but in a voice that shows she can’t believe that Macbeth would be so stupid as to bring the daggers away with him. Macbeth should shout, â€Å"I’ll go no more† desperately, then should say his next lines quieter, in horror and again nearly in tears. Lady Macbeth is really annoyed with Macbeth when she says â€Å"Infirm of purpose† but she should say it in an angry loud whisper instead of shouting, as if to remind him that they need to be quiet so they don’t get caught. Then she should turn away and muster up her courage before saying, â€Å"Give me the daggers† in a resigned tone of voice. She should turn to him and try to take them, but she would have to force them from him, as Macbeth would be gripping them tightly. When she gets them, she should pause, and then say as if to herself â€Å"The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures. ‘Tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil.† This means that there is no reason to be afraid of a dead body, because it is only a representation of a living person and it can’t hurt you. It’s like a picture of something scary like the devil. Only children should be afraid of a picture of the devil. She is again trying to convince herself more than her husband when she says this and is trying to steel her nerves to visit the scene. She should look back at Macbeth and say her next lines overconfidently, as if she is trying to prove that she is not afraid, when in fact she is. As she exits she should have her back to the audience so they cannot see her face but her shudder should be visible as she carries the daggers to Duncan’s room. Macbeth should hardly notice his wife’s exit as he is too caught up in his guilt and depression. When the tension is increased yet again by the sudden loud knocking on the door, he should jump up in alarm. He should shout his line â€Å"Whence is that knocking?† in a petrified voice with an unnerved look in his eyes. Then he should fall to his knees and cover his face distraughtly with his hands, as he says â€Å"How is’t with me, when every noise appals me?† When he sees his bloody hands, he should pull them away, jump to his feet and shout his next line, â€Å"What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes.† He should close his eyes as he says it, and hold his hands out in front of him in desperation, as if when he opens his eyes the blood will be gone, and it will all have been a dream. We should be able to see his self-hatred as he continues with his nervous ramblings and puts his head down in misery. As he says â€Å"This my hand† he should speak in a disbelieving tone of voice, that says he can’t believe it really is his hand th at killed Duncan. When Lady Macbeth re-enters, she should walk slowly with her head down and she should speak sadly. As she hears the knocking she should jump, and then get moving to get rid of the evidence. In her highly nervous state, she is aware that it is still possible that their acts may be discovered. She says â€Å"A little water clears us of this deed† which is a direct contrast with what Macbeth said earlier, about a whole ocean not being enough to clear the blood from his hands. She speaks again in a falsely bright tone, but also anxiously, as she is trying to hurry while washing her hands. When we see what happens later on in the story, we see the irony in these lines as it is her who sleepwalks in the night, washing her hands over and over, reliving this night in an attempt to cleanse herself of the guilt. With the repetition of the knocks, Lady Macbeth becomes more and more agitated and she should speak in a very highly pitched and nervous voice. However, she still manages to keep her head and tries to speed up Macbeth, who appears to be losing his mind. She tries to usher her disturbed husband to their chamber, where they can rid themselves of the signs of their guilt, but he is still in turmoil over the events of the night and keeps staring into space. In the end, she literally has to drag him off stage. As Macbeth says his final line, he should turn to the direction from which the sound of the knocking is coming and shout in utter despair â€Å"Wake Duncan with thy knocking, I would thou couldst.† His remorse is now at it’s peak, and as the scene ends, the audience would probably be speechless. This scene is definitely pivotal to the story of Macbeth, as everything else that happens throughout the entire play seems to be a result of, or revolve around this particular scene. Not only is it important because it contains the first murderous act, but it also conveys to the audience the beginning of the rapid disintegration of the relationship between the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Their relationship changes in this scene from a trusting one in which both considered each other equal, into one where they lie to each other and neither of them involves the other in their actions. All of the themes of the play are illustrated in this single scene; treason, the supernatural, ambition, light vs. dark, and good vs. evil, and this also shows just how important the scene is. It provides the events on which the whole play is based and after it has taken place, nothing is the same.