The Ring Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Ring - Movie Review Example Keller watches the tape in order to find out the mystery behind it and concludes that the videotape has some connection to a little girl called Samara. Keller tries her best to piece together the puzzle of the mysterious tape before the seven days when she would die. It is at this juncture that the drama begins as she embarks on a race against time, where she has to unravel the knotted threads of the secret of the video if she has to save herself. The movie scares not with the regular arsenal of blood and gore, but by instilling in the viewer the fear of the unknown that runs down your spine because of the inability and sheer helplessness of the individuals who become the targets of the mysterious Samara in the videotape, who is on a rampage seeking revenge. The entire movie swings like a pendulum back and forth between modernism and post- modernism views. Meta narratives are the rules that determined "the legitimacy of particular forms of narrative" and this helps us to determine their legitimacy and truth for the different forms of narrative employed. (Malpas, Postmodern) In the context of the movie, 'The Ring," the opening scene itself sets the mood for a post-modern, meta narrative method of telling the story. On the other hand, the modernist view of a grand narrative could be seen in the scene when Rachael falls into the well. In speaking of the grand narrative Malpas states, "A grand narrative tells the story of the progress and development of narrative. ., grand narratives legitimate their content in relation to an overarching theme or idea." Some of the key words in this quotation are "progress and development". According to the Merriam - Webster dictionary, the word "progress" is defined as "a gradual betterment, how we gauge our lives when we move forward, for example when we make technological advancement to better our lives" and the word "development" means to go through a natural process of growth, differentiation, or evolution." While the narrative is many short stories contained in a collection, and used to weave the incidents and experiences of the past while trying to make progress in the future, the grand narrative has all these small stories linked together in a single novel from the beginning to the end. The conversation between the two girls about the tape reveals that the narrative, or in this case, the urban legend is true. The videotape has a semiabstract quality about itself, and there is hardly anything that can testify to its evil intentions. But the legitimacy of the tape is established due to the fear inherent in the girls. The truth of the event, which during its retelling by the girl in question, seems rather far - fetched becomes verifiable when she dies under the most suspicious circumstances. As Malpas puts it, "A metanarrative thus sets out the axioms that allow communication to take place, and determines the legitimacy of a narrative for a particular genre, as well as giving the rules to determine its truth or falsity." The following is a good example of this. What starts as a gossipy chat between two teenagers has become a legitimate narration, the veracity of which is established beyond

Automobile and Tucker Essay Example for Free

Automobile and Tucker Essay The movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, is the story of a man named Preston Tucker and takes place in the 1940s. Preston Tuckers dream was to design and build the greatest automobile ever made. At first, he began by bringing home drawings of his dream car, which was to be called the Tucker Torpedo. He showed the drawings to a man who would eventually become his partner, Abe. Initially, Abe doesnt like the idea of building a car, but he didnt know anything about cars. Tucker placed an advertisement in a magazine about his car, and the public became excited. The car would have an engine in the rear, a middle headlight that turned with the car, and a windshield that would pop out when the car was in a wreck. In the meantime, Robert Bennington, who was the CEO of Ford, became worried that the Tucker Torpedo may put Ford out of business, so Bennington made a deal with him to allow him to buy a plant to build the car in. This also gave Ford a reason to be involved in building the car. The deal stated that Tucker must make at least fifty cars in one year in order to keep the plant, and the first car needed to be presented to the public within sixty days. Abe invested $6,000 to help Tucker build the first car. On the day of the presentation, the car was built but had no engine. Therefore, they had some problems getting it on stage, but once it was on stage, the thousands of people who attended the presentation cheered. After that, Bennington announced to Tucker that he wanted to change the car. He didnt want the engine in the rear of the car, and since the ? Big 3, the three largest automobile makers in the US, were buying all of the steel, there was not enough for Tucker to buy to build his cars. Tucker protested the ? Big 3. A man named Howard Hughes, who owned a steel company, told Tucker about a helicopter company who needed to sell steel. So Tucker bought a helicopter engine and converted it to a car engine, and the car worked. After Tucker protested the ? Big 3, he was spied on by people who worked for the ? Big 3 companies. They accused him of not running his business properly, but it was not true. Abe got scared because he had already served three years in prison for bank fraud and did not want to get caught up in another mess, so he resigned. Then, there were commercials out that told the public that Tuckers car was built piece by piece from a junkyard. Eventually, the government started a full investigation on Tucker and charged him with fraud. Tucker lost most of his investors from this, and had already spent too much money trying to build the car. He did make all the cars, but he did not make the fifty car minimum in time and lost his plant. He was found not guilty of fraud, but after all the bad publicity, people no longer wanted the cars, and Tucker had lost a lot of money, so no more cars were ever made. Today, some of Tuckers Torpedos are still around; some are in museums, and some of them even still run. After watching the movie, I researched the Tucker Tornado on the Internet. One source, The History of the Tucker 48, at www. gizmohighway. com, says that the car actually had additional features not mentioned in the movie. In addition to the turning headlight, rear engine and the windshield that would pop out, the Tucker Torpedo also had more room inside the car and padded steering wheels and dashboards. Another source, 1946 Tucker Torpedo, at www.cybersteering. com, also says that Tucker applied for a $30 million loan before he was accused of fraud and that in 1956, Tucker died of lung cancer in Brazil while trying to build another car, the Carioca. I also found in the open letter from Preston Tucker, at www. tuckerclub. org, that this is a letter that Preston Tucker wrote to protest the other automobile companies and the investigations that eventually killed his company. In it he says that he actually had 1,872 Tucker dealers and almost 50,000 investors that put $25 million into his company. The definition of an entrepreneurship is a person who organizes and manages a business, assuming the risk for the sake of a profit. Preston Tucker started a company and wanted to build a car for Americans knowing that it would take a lot of money that he did not have. He organized and managed the business and assumed the risk of losing a lot of money for a lot of people. I think that Tucker was not treated fairly by his competition. New entrepreneurs like Preston Tucker should be given the same fair chance to build a business just like the others had to build theirs.

An Analysis Of The Video Like A Prayer By Madonna :: essays research papers

An Analysis of the Video "Like A Prayer" by Madonna Madonna first arrived in the national popular culture in 1984 with her song "Borderline". She moved very quickly in the ensuing years to make several records (many of which have gone multi-platinum) and to take several world tours with sold-out concerts, and has caused quite a bit of controversy in what she has done in the public eye. Examples include posing nude for Penthouse magazine (and announcing afterwards that she was not ashamed for doing it), marrying (and subsequently divorcing) actor and media-avoider Sean Penn, creating a fashion trend (which was primarily popular with teenage girls), and making truly atrocious movies which the critics hated and the people refused to see (the only two exceptions are Dick Tracy and Truth or Dare, her controversial yet fascinating self-documentary about her tour of the same name). It seems that Madonna seems to enjoy attention, good or bad, and it seems like she feeds on her own controversy. Her songs, and the music videos which accompany them, are no exception to this. However, the things she does and the images she projects requests contemporary society to reflect on itself, and to possibly re-create itself in innovative and inventive styles. Perhaps she always breaks with convention because she sees things in a different light than the rest of society. This essay shall focus on the video which accompanies the title track from her 1989 album, "Like A Prayer," which certainly had its share of controversy. Probably the most startling image in the music video was that of several burning crosses on a lawn or a hill. These crosses were in the background, while Madonna was facing the camera and singing. When I saw the music video for the first time, this particular section of the video made me sit up and intently watch my television screen. The first things I thought about were, "She's a very outspoken woman for doing this! Boy, she's got a lot of nerve! I believe she was raised Catholic, and she's making a mockery of the Catholic Church by doing so! The Pope would be offended, to say the least!" The radical approach to dispose of any religion (or a person's religious or pious fervor) is at least shocking. The cross is the symbol of Christianity and all it stands for. Seeing the cross engulfed in fire -- which symbolizes (and is) a destructive force -- would be very disturbing for anyone to see, Christian or not. I sat up and took notice, and I'm not even Christian -- I am Jewish. Furthermore, the fact that

Personal Response- Forrest Gump (Film) Essay

This film follows the life of Forest Gump who struggles to live outside the barriers that society has given him. Forrest is a little ‘slow’; although his mental impairment doesn’t seem to bother him. In fact, the naivetà © that comes from his limited understanding of the world around him gives Forrest a uniquely positive perspective of life. Forest overcomes the challenges in his life, becoming a star football player, a war hero, a successful businessman, and something of a pop icon. Through it all, however, there is one defining element in his life: his love for Jenny. She is never far from his thoughts, no matter what he’s doing or where he is. I believe the director uses the character Forrest Gump to convey the thought that most people are too smart for their own good; he uses Forrest in order to show the audience that escaping from the realities and actualities of the world can have positive outcomes throughout life. While other characters in the film struggle with conflicts in society, Forrest remains unaware of them; this allows him to live in the moment. Forrest goes out of his way to do what is right, as opposed to what is easy, I believe that this movie asks me to look at the imperfections within myself and calls me to become a more selfless person. I highly recommend this film to year 12 students, Forrest has an ability to truly humble another human being, and his optimism, freshness, and emotional honesty are just a few qualities that he teaches us throughout the film. The movie does not seek to reduce every member of the audience to tears; it does however have moments where the true power of message comes from the simplest of things. For example, Forrest says to anyone that will listen, â€Å"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.† Through this quote we see that Forest is able and  willing to go through life taking every opportunity given to him, I believe the way he sees the world is incredibly unique and that I have benefited from seeing his views of life, in many ways this f ilm has changed my perspective of life and I believe that year 12’s will find this film highly enjoyable and beneficial. I believe an aspect that makes this film beneficial for all year 12 students is that it addresses the perspectives of war. The movie shows the different perspectives of the Vietnamese war, in scenes we see thousands of protesters protesting and in the very next frames we see supporters rallying together and congratulating the returned men. This contrast is highly refreshing, it is not common in movies to show multiple perspectives on war; however the film Forrest Gump manages to show the audience three perspectives. During the 60s and 70s, no topic was of higher debate than that of the Vietnam War and those who were sent overseas to fight. Forrest, as might be expected, has a singular viewpoint on his time spent in Vietnam, he narrated during the film saying, â€Å"We took long walks and were always looking for this guy named Charlie.† In Forrest’s observation of the war we see that although he was fighting willingly, he did not know why or what he was fighting for. I believe that this is the underlying message that the Director is trying to portray, on one side of the line there are those for the War, on the other are those against it and in the middle is Forrest Gump. In many ways Forrest teaches us about governments exploiting its citizens, he was sent to a place where he may have died and yet he did not understand why he was there to begin with, however he did enlist himself for the war. I struggle with the double meanings throughout the movie, we see the positives and the negatives of war through the death of Forrest’s best friend, Bubba, and the medal Forrest receives for saving Lt. Dan. In the end I’m left just as confused about the war as Forrest Gump is about life. I challenge year 12’s to watch this movie, keeping in mind that everything Forrest says means something deeper than the definition of each word that leaves his mouth. I believe that the character Forrest Gump teaches me to treasure the moments in my life and to understand why I’m doing what I’m doing. Especially in scenarios that can affect other people. He is some sort of inspiration to me; this is however not in the usual context. He inspires me to never enter situations  where I do not fully comprehend nor understand the consequences of my actions, he inspires me to never let someone take advantage of me and he inspires me to just simply, be me. Throughout the entire film we see Forest Gump’s tragic life; nearly everyone he holds most dear to him dies. Life can be brutal at times, I found myself crying during the moments when Forrest’s life seemed painfully hard. In some ways I could see that with every loved one that he’d lost a part of him had died with them. I can understand this feeling as my best friend’s father passed away only three years ago this month. As she is growing up, she is realising the disadvantages of not having him with her, knowing that he is not there to teach her how to drive or help her get her first job. I see her pain and I know that there is nothing I can do to stop it, I am powerless. I believe that there is finality in death, however in this film Forrest teaches the audience that a part of us may die with a loved one, but that doesn’t stop life from coming back to us. The underlying message that Forrest has to offer on the subject of death is that you should nev er let heart-break or tragedies take over your life. Forrest accepts that dying is inevitable, â€Å"Momma always said dying was a part of life,† he says. â€Å"I sure wish it wasn’t.† Death occurs not only in Forrest’s personal life, but also in the larger community. This film has a historical setting and we see the main events of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s through the eyes of Forrest. In this era, death of high valued people within America rocked the foundations of its society; numerous assassinations took place including JFK, RFK and John Lennon. Forrest struggles with the necessity of death as he watches those he loves fall to illness and war and those he admires fall to random attack. During this time the death of Martin Luther King Jr. created the greatest conflict within society and he is still remembered to day for his fight against racism and war. The King family and others believe that the assassination was carried out by a conspiracy involving the US government and that James Ear l Ray was a scapegoat. At the time the thought of this alone was enough to spark a civil war within America, although this was avoided by Senator RFK, who spoke to a crowd directly after being informed of Martin L. King’s passing. In his speech he said, â€Å"I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.† RFK’s attempts at avoiding  severe rioting based on race was only semi successful, however his speech is widely considered one of the greatest speeches in American history. King was a beloved leader in the civil rights movement, and also an advocate for nonviolence. His death led some people to feel angry and disillusioned; from his death they began to believe that the only effective resistance to racism is violence. King was used as a martyr, however his cause for non-violence was ignored and he was used as a reason for blacks to shed blood. Dying is a part of life, only two months after RFK said his speech he too was assassinated, this shows that it does not matter who you are or if you are ready to die because in the end death will come for you when your least expecting it . I don’t expect to die anytime soon. But Forrest’s life teaches me that it could happen this moment, while I am writing. Steve Jobs once said â€Å"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.† I believe this quote shows that death is inevitable, in the end we all die, we may try to avoid death but it will always come for us one day, it may be tomorrow, it may be in fifty years from now, but it’s coming for us all.

Immanuel Kant Essay

A 19 year old college student and addicted gambler was pulled over for erratic driving on the Long Island Expressway. He pulled out a toy pistol and pointed it at the officer, he was then shot and killed. Another incident involving a 45 year old cancer patient had the same ending in new Jersey. He walked into a Pizza Shop and pointed a gun at the officers inside eating. Experts believe that they force the cops to kill them as a form of suicide. Suicide is difficult to commit and forcing an officer to kill you takes away the pressure of completing the task. Some insurance companies don’t cover suicide and religions forbid it so it is away of taking the guilt and shame away from common suicide. 10% of fatal police shootings are brought on by people seeking to die. -Evaluate the moral permissibility of â€Å"suicide by cop† -To what extent is a police officer morally obligated to assess whether a person he or she shoots actually wants to be killed? Virtue Ethics Aristotle’s theory of moral virtue categorizes the pursuit of happiness as a process that is achieved by pursuing real goods in a morally correct way. It is a mean between two vices (excess & defect). Our actions are voluntary and the product of choice. In these cases they seem to have self delusion defects. They are rationalizing conduct (suicide) and making excuses in an effort to justify their morally impermissible actions(carried out by cops vs. self). A person is giving up on their pursuit of happiness and there for, from the victims standpoint nothing is morally permissible about their actions. The officer doesn’t have time to assess the motives of suspects that pull firearms on them. They have to make a quick decision at the drop of a hat. Kill or be killed. Their own pursuit of happiness and life is protected. Formalizism Emmanuel Kant developed formalizes theory. It focuses on carrying out your duties without thinking about the consequences. Categorical and Practical imperative are the two main components. Categorical imperative is the idea that the moral obligation is valid only if it applies universally to everything. Practical imperative states that a person should treat humanity as an end and not as a mean. When you apply this to suicide by cop it is never right to go point a gun at someone in order for them to kill you. The officer does apply those situations universally to everyone though. You are met with the same type of force that you bring. Their first priority is protecting themselves. Utilitarianism John Mill’s theory of utility expanded from the viewpoint of motivations of pleasure and pain. The goodness of an act is determined by the consequences of the act and how much happiness is promoted. Using this theory the victim is still not morally correct with their choice of suicide by cop though the pleasure of death may outweigh the pain of life. They don’t promote any happiness by getting themselves killed. Their loved ones all get hurt. From the officers eyes they have an armed person pointing a gun at them and they don’t have the time to weigh the pros and cons they can only react. They aren’t going to be happy about killing someone they still wouldn’t be happy if they did stop and think and ended up shot themselves. Suicide is a selfish act and even more selfish when you force someone else to do your dirty work. No one wants to take a life but most people don’t want to lose theirs either. I do not believe that officers should be morally obligated to assess weather a person is violate or just wants to die. It is too dangerous to try and play psychologist is what could possibly mean a life or death situation for a police officer. My step dad has a grading company and hit a man on a motorcycle that was dying of cancer. He left the house that day and told his family he was going to kill himself I guess his dump truck looked like the best option in completing his mission and he drove head on right into him. Even though the man wanted to die my step dad never wanted to kill someone and it is a pretty emotional topic. The selfishness that it takes to take your life at someone else’s expense is beyond me and something I really don’t understand.

How to Fix Comma Splices Blog

How to Fix Comma Splices Blog How to Fix Comma Splices Comma splices are a common punctuation error. But would you know a comma splice if you saw one? More importantly, would you know how to fix one? If your answer to either question is â€Å"no,† then you’re in the right place. Read on to find out how to spot and fix comma splices. What Are Comma Splices? Comma splices are a type of run-on sentence. This occurs when two main clauses (i.e., full sentences that express a complete thought) are used together without the correct punctuation. In a comma splice, it is because two sentences have been joined with a comma: I love sandwiches, I eat them every day. Here, for example, â€Å"I love sandwiches† and â€Å"I eat them every day† are both full sentences. And while commas have many uses, they can’t be used to join two sentences. As such, if we see two sentences with just a comma in between them, we know we have a comma splice on our hands. If you see a comma splice in your writing, you can fix it in various ways: Placing a period between each clause Adding a coordinating conjunction after the comma Replacing the comma with a semicolon Changing the first clause into a subordinate clause We will look at each of these in a little more detail below. 1. Fixing a Comma Splice with a Period We use a period at the end of a sentence. So if we use one in place of the comma in the sentence above, we can fix the comma splice by presenting each clause as a separate sentence: I love sandwiches. I eat them every day. This is often the simplest way to fix comma splices. However, if you want to emphasize or clarify the connection between two sentences, you have a few alternatives available. 2. Fixing a Comma Splice with a Coordinating Conjunction Conjunctions are connecting words, so we can fix a comma splice by adding one after the comma: I love sandwiches, so I eat them every day. The advantage of using a conjunction is that we can show the reader how the clauses are connected. In this case we’ve used the word â€Å"so,† which means â€Å"for this reason.† We therefore know that the speaker eats sandwiches every day because of their love of bready snacks. Keep in mind, though, that we can only use coordinating conjunctions to connect two sentences. We’ll get to subordinating conjunctions later. 3. Fixing a Comma Splice with a Semicolon We can use a semicolon between two clauses to show they are related: I love sandwiches; I eat them every day. As with using â€Å"so† above, the semicolon here suggests a connection. However, the nature of the relationship here is less explicit. 4. Fixing a Comma Splice with a Subordinate Clause While commas can’t be used to connect two main clauses, they can be used when a subordinate clause comes before the main clause in a sentence. Thus, if we change the first clause in a sentence containing a comma splice into a subordinate clause, we can fix the error: Because I love sandwiches, I eat them every day. As shown above, a subordinate clause includes a subordinating conjunction – in this case, â€Å"because† – and does not form a full sentence by itself. But by changing the first clause into a subordinate clause, we now have a grammatical sentence. And the choice of subordinating conjunction here shows us the relationship between the clauses (i.e., the subordinating clause gives a reason for the main clause).

Starting an Essay with a Quote - The Most Effective Ways!

Starting an Essay with a Quote - The Most Effective Ways! Are you staring at a blank page on the screen unable to write at least a single word? Wondering how to start an essay with a quote? Do you need advice on how to start a college essay and make it impressive to bring you an A-grade? Keep reading to find answers to all the above-mentioned questions. In this article, we will discuss general strategies on how to start a paper with a quote drawing attention. Discover various effective ways to make people want to read your story to the end.   Let’s start with general ideas. Key Rules on How to Start an Essay Have no idea how to start narrative essays for high school? Are you looking for good essay samples to follow when composing your paper? Don’t know how to start an analytical essay? Writing an effective opening paragraph that will inform, motivate your reader can be challenging for schoolchildren/college students. It is an important step in the writing process everyone should take. What strategy can help avoid mistakes? Remember that the most important purpose of your academic piece of writing is to persuade readers of your point of view based on evidence from in-depth research. Consider the following key points in order to succeed: At the essay’s beginning, tell the public about the main idea your paper covers. Introduce your essay’s subject in a clear manner Focus on your paper explaining your audience the central issue of your discussion.   You can do it in various ways. Pose a question, immediately suggesting answers that will be   argued; state a thesis; it is possible to combine these two approaches. It’s up to you to choose the most effective way Can you start an essay with a quote? Definitely, yes! This is one of the killer ways to hook the reader. Bear in mind that when you are thinking how to begin an essay, you should take steps to make your readers fully understand why they might want to continue reading. This is the key You have to catch your reader’s attention with a hook - encourage him/her to read the entire paper. Your goal is to persuade the audience that your text is worth reading You should orient your readers. You need to provide necessary information and explanations to help your audience follow your arguments. You can do it by answering basic questions of who, where, what, how, when, and why or by providing a short overview of the sources you’ll be analyzing ORDER YOUR ESSAY FROM EXPERT Do you wonder how these strategies work? Order a model paper on your topic that will be written according to your specific requirements. It will serve you as an example to help you learn how to start essay with quote and other effective ways able to attract the reader. You can get the helping  list of the best argumentative essay topics  online easily.   How to Start an Essay: Easy Tips to Help You Get Started College essays are long projects. Sometimes, many people find them overwhelming but if you break the writing process into small parts and try to complete your draft step by step, you can expect you will feel more confident and work more productively. Let’s discuss how to start a paper with a quote, taking manageable steps. First, choose a topic that you find intriguing. Define the purpose of your project and evaluate your options. The most successful strategy is to write about a subject that you are passionate about. Conduct research and study the available sources of information. Before you get started with your piece of writing, make a detailed outline to organize your thoughts, sort your ideas into certain categories, and determine natural links between your thoughts. Now, you are ready to write an introduction. Follow the tips below to create an impressive introduction. There are 4 simple tips that will help you to cope with this task quickly and easily. Let’s get started! 1.How to start an essay introduction? To attract your readers’ attention, begin with the killer language means. Brainstorm ideas on an attention grabber and add a couple of sentences that lead to your thesis. Use one of the strategies that we’ve already discussed. Beginning an essay with a quote is a good idea. Finally, use the outline or a mind map of your ideas and create a thesis statement – a sentence or a couple of sentences, the aim of which is to tell your audience about the point you will be arguing about in your paper. A thesis is the last sentence of your introduction. You may need to return to your introduction after you’ve finished the final draft to clarify the focus, change, and rewrite the beginning of your paper several times to ensure that you are able to engage your readers and establish your authority. 2. How to start essay with quote? Do you wonder â€Å" Can I start an essay with a quote?† Definitely, yes! It’s a rather popular way to begin an essay. You should find the right quote that fits your purpose and use it within the framework of your own words. How to begin an essay with a quote? Check the list with the most effective tips on how to put a quote in the beginning of an essay. Avoid the frequently used quotations and clichà ©s that are familiar to everyone because they will bore your target audience making them think that you have been lazy to search for the original quotes Explain how the quote connects to your point Select a quotation that your audience can understand and relate to Make sure the quote exactly fits the tone of your academic paper When introducing a quote, always acknowledge the source. Follow the requirements of a specific citation style These tips on how to start an essay with a quote will help you to pick the right quote that will impress your reader. No matter what sort of opening you choose, make sure it is related to the focus of your paper and serves a good tool for establishing the context, or plays a significant part in your thinking and analysis. Your opening should be clear, direct, and specific. Try to avoid too broad and general openings because they can make your paper look boring 3. How to start a paragraph in an essay? The next step is writing the body paragraphs. Talking about how to start a paragraph in an essay, we should say that all body paragraphs will have the similar basic structure. Write one of your main ideas in the outline as a topic sentence in a paragraph. Then, add supporting ideas. Back each supporting idea with relevant examples, statistics, and other details and make sure you provide enough information to link these smaller ideas together. You will have to write as many body paragraphs as you have main ideas in your outline. 4. How to start a conclusion for an essay? We’ve come to your paper’s final part. Let’s discuss how to start a conclusion for an essay. The length of a conclusion depends on the length of your paper and its complexity. There is no set formula how to do this the right way. Your task is to review the key points and provide a final perspective on your subject. Write 3 to 5 strong sentences. Make sure they reinforce your thesis statement and briefly remind your readers about the significance of your topic, and the research you have conducted. After writing your conclusion, check your paper’s organization and logical flow of ideas, paying attention to the smallest details. Fix grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. As you see, writing high-scoring essays can be complicated and time-consuming but we hope that our simple tips on how to start a good essay will help you succeed in creating impressive beginnings for your admissions, argumentative, persuasive and other types of essays. ORDER YOUR PAPER HERE Key Things You Should Know When Picking the Right Quote for Your Essay Some students think that it is as easy as ABC to start with a quote. However, it is a misconception as you need to learn how to do this the right way. There are certain things you should take into account when looking for the best quote. You should be patient as the search may take you more than one day. You should look through a number of sources to find a saying of a person that will be exactly what you need. Most students give preference to the sayings of famous people. It may sound surprising but this is not the best way to impress the reader. It is better to find a quote of a person who isn’t well-known. You can use a part of a long quote not to bore your reader in the very beginning of your paper. If you have found an interesting saying, don’t rush to use it for your piece of writing. You need to conduct research on the history of the quote. Learn more about its origin to know what context it was first used in. Choose those sayings that were unexpected and creative. Need Professional Help to Understand How to Begin an Essay? Lack great ideas for a powerful introductory paragraph? Looking for the answer to the question â€Å"Can you start a paper with a quote?† Order a custom paper written by an experienced writer on our site and forget about your worries concerning academic writing.   If you face a problem with completing a difficult task assigned to you by your college teacher or university professor, take advantage of the well-written professional examples that we offer to students of all academic levels, regardless the complexity of the topic. Do you wonder how they can be helpful? Simply using them, you will get a perfect understanding of how to start an essay on your topic, write a good introduction, organize your argument in the three body paragraphs, create an impressive conclusion, back your points with appropriate evidence and quotes from the relevant sources.   We will provide you with the perfectly written model papers that can help you in creating your own pieces of writing. Our experts are ready to help you 24/7. Don’t hesitate to contact us whether you face a need to complete your paper urgently or just want us to review your work! Our team of professionals will wait for your order for assignment writing being ready to provide a helping hand and expert advice, which you may lack. Entrust us to write your paper and enjoy your free time, which can be spent on things that really matter to you now. You won’t regret choosing us as your reliable academic helper! Want to check if this is true? Read what our loyal customers say about our top quality services! Join them and pass your paper with flying colors!

Skyscraper Technique How to Improve Your Content - CoSchedule

Skyscraper Technique How to Improve Your Content There is a long-standing SEO technique out there called the skyscraper technique. Have you heard of it? It consists of three steps. Find top performing content. Create better content than the current top performers. Try to get a bunch on people to link to your new content. It sounds pretty straightforward, and it is. Its a technique that has been shown to get good results, but not all of us are SEO experts, so how can it help us? The reality is that you dont have to be an expert in SEO to use this strategy to improve your content marketing. It works for everyone. Before you jump in, it is important to understand what this technique is not: An exclusive SEO thing meant for nerds. Permission or license to steal someone elses work or content. Permission to claim an entire idea, without building on it, as your own. I know what youre thinking.  What am I getting myself into here?   Hang with me–this could really help your content. Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Content With a Content Audit Template How To Use The  Skyscraper Technique To  Improve Your Content Marketing The skyscraper technique is actually a fairly simple method that will allow you to see the top content for a given keyword string or topic idea. Using a few simple tools, you will instantly know what posts are being shared the most, what topics they are covering, and the level of quality the currently-shared content is at. As a content marketer, this is gold. Not only will you be armed with some great content ideas, but you will be able to target your content marketing to what your audience is already demanding.  And, lets not forget about the insight of overall content quality. The skyscraper technique will show you where the bar is in terms of content quality. In theory, you should be able to one-up that content and produce something even better. Heres how the technique works. Get Your Free Skyscraper Technique Template Bundle Download three free resources to create better content than your competition: A Skyscraper Technique checklist to apply this advice on every post you write. A Content Writing Template to create content and keep it organized. A Competitive Content Analysis spreadsheet to research your competitors (so you can create something better). How to Improve Your Content with the Skyscraper TechniqueStep #1: Find Top Performing Content BuzzSumo  is a great little tool for finding content ideas. As a content research tool, BuzzSumo  can provide you with a conclusive list of some of the most popular content for a given set of keywords. As an example, take a look at this search for content marketing. You can easily see the top content for the term "content marketing" based on social shares per network, plus total social shares overall. You can find quite a bit of information, even without a paid subscription. However, with a paid subscription, you can also view backlinks and see who shared each piece of content. Understanding what the top content on your topic is helpful for the following reasons: Sharpening your focus on specific post ideas. Course corrections on topics you already cover. Finding new ideas on how to approach old topics. Uncovering new topics that you are missing completely. Here's how to improve your content with the Skyscraper TechniqueThe results can be listed based on the number of times it has been shared on social media in total, or by network. Both of these factors are important for this step. By default, BuzzSumo  will  sort by total sharing stats: If you don't have a paid subscription to BuzzSumo, don't worry. You can find backlink information for top content free using the Moz Toolbar (which works with either Chrome or Firefox). Once you've installed the toolbar, take the keyword you entered in BuzzSumo, and try searching it on Google. These won't necessarily match the "most shared" posts you've surfaced with BuzzSumo, but the data you find will still be useful (and it'll show you even more posts to gather inspiration). This toolbar will add an overlay to each search result providing backlink information for each page. Specifically, it'll tell you: Each site's Domain Authority. This is a metric on a 100-point scale that tells you how authoritative a site or blog is. The higher this number, the harder they will be to compete with for  page one space in Google's search results. Each result's Page Authority. This is similar to Domain Authority, except it refers only to how authoritative that specific page is. How many backlinks each result has received. If you see lots of posts with high numbers of links, this shows you've found a popular topic. Next, compare that to content to the posts that BuzzSumo says are  most likely to be shared via social media: When you start to compare these two lists, things might get interesting. The key is understanding what you should  actually  do with this information. Here are some tips: Grab some of the best topic ideas and file them away for later. (Don't steal!) Figure out what topics are being shared the most on social media. What do they have in common? Understand what type of content is being linked to the most from other sites. Get a benchmark on the type of the content that is being shared (text, photos, videos, etc.) Understand headline intricacies for both linked and shared content. See the big content topics that readers care about. Think about this method as a way to get smarter about the type of content that your audience wants to read, link to, and share via social media. Tip: If you find yourself interested in finding a bit more data, you can always try a Google search or a search on Twitter.com itself. Both of these resources can add another layer of data to your findings. Step #2: Create Better Content Than The Current Top Performers The next thing that you should do is take an audit of   the  content that is performing the best. This will help you improve your own content by understanding what exactly makes up a top post. Begin by clicking through to a few of the links on your BuzzSumo  search results. What are the common themes that you see? Here are a few of the things you should be looking for. Average content length. Average number of images. Overall quality of content (rank from 1-10). Specific keywords/key-phrases used. This can work even better if you chart your findings. For the chart below, I audited the term "skyscraper technique" which is the keyword I used to write this post. The goal here isn't scientific data. More so, it is about taking the time to analyze the content beyond the service. Use a simple word count tool to figure out how many words are on the page, or a word frequency counter to make a guess at what keywords the post is targeting. Adding a simple tally of the images and videos in a post also gives you an idea of what type of content is performing so well. For example, could you spring ahead by introducing a post with video content? Recommended Reading: 21 Social Media Templates That Will Help You Execute a Strategy for 10X Growth Step #3: Now, Make Something Better Than Everyone Else on the List Here are a few things you can do. Make Your Content Longer and More In-Depth One of the simple things that you can do to one-up your content marketing competitors is to create longer content than they do. Results has shown that longer content typically performs better on search engines, so taking the time to add a few hundred (or thousand) extra words can easily pay off over time. Add Images, Videos, and Other Rich Content You will notice that some posts actually offer little written content, but rather a lot of images or video-based content. This can make for excellent content that readers love to share and link to. Be sure to take note if there are no top sites offering this type of content. It could provide an opportunity for you to leap ahead. Dig Deeper Into the Topic Even today there are still many pages that rank well on Google, but provide little actual value to the customer. If you notice this happening, then you have a golden opportunity to add something of value to the mix. Never miss the chance to simply do a better job of covering a topic and making things useful for the reader. Think More Strategically Many blog posts do a poor job of using keywords and do little to emphasize the SEO value of content marketing. Simply adding this additional effort to your process could make the difference. Step #3:  Get People To Link To Your Content The third step of the skyscraper technique   is usually the hardest. How do you get people to link to your blog? Sure, there is always promoting it on social media, but what else is there? There are a lot of theories and questionable methods that even involve cold-pitching via email, but they rarely work and should be used with caution. The better, and more reliable, way is to simply earn it by creating better content. Remember, we decided to give this skyscraper thing a try because we wanted to improve our content marketing. That means two things: Better content ideas. Better content. Nothing builds backlinks like great content. #QualityFirst #SEO #ContentMarketingIt really is as simple as that. Try Applying the Skyscraper Technique Yourself With the skyscraper technique, we can easily see what content is performing the best and being shared the most. This should easily help us generate a constant supply of new ideas for blog posts and content marketing campaigns. In some ways, I like to think of this technique as a simple way of introducing new ideas and thought patterns into my brain. After one look at BuzzSumo, I usually have new blog post idea that I may not have thought of on my own. There is value in that. Always remember that the end-goal here isn't to copy the ideas and content from another post. You should be able come up with your own take on a topic, and do it better. The skyscraper technique will help you understand what topics to cover and how to cover them in a way that will help you leap ahead of the competition.

Locke teaching on the individuals right to private property Essay - 1

Locke teaching on the individuals right to private property - Essay Example In this book he discusses how humans have a right to property and how and to what extent this affects the God. He advocated that although humans resided in a socially set system but all could not be treated the same way. He believed, â€Å"... a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing in different times and places, which it only does by that consciousness which is inseparable from thinking† (Ariew & Watkins 370). The capability to think, analyze, reason and evaluate separates us from animals. Reasoning and reflection is because of what one experiences on its own and every individual has a different experience. He concluded that humans speak patriarchal with time .all men are blessed with certain traits and presents by the sovereign. In short, every person is responsible for his own self. Hence, man would do his best to explore and benefit from his potentials. It is not obligatory to benefit from th ese gifts. It's on the person himself. . Every person has the choice of benefiting from his capabilities thus he's responsible for his own self. This theory can be explained by numbering and quantifying the labor involved. Labor either physical or mental bears fruits for the person and his property. He believed that decision was on our own not the sovereign as we choose the best for you

A Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organisational Behaviour Theories Essay

A Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organisational Behaviour Theories - Essay Example As such, this essay seeks to critically analyse the influence of HRM practices and organisational behaviour on the performance of the individuals as well as the organization as a whole. The essay starts by explaining the meaning of the key term, organizational behaviour and this will be followed by the evaluation of various factors that can affect the performance of the employees. The last part of the paper will summarize the main points discussed. Basically, organisational behaviour can be summed up as the study of what people do in an organization and how that behaviour affects the performance of the organization (Robbins, 1993). Organisational behaviour is specifically concerned with employment related situations and it emphasizes on aspects such as work, productivity, human performance and management. As such, there is a correlation between organisational behaviour and HRM given that these are employee oriented. In order for the workers to put optimum performance in their operati ons, it is imperative that the leadership of the organization put some measures that are meant to ensure that they are satisfied with their work. This leads to improvement in their performance which ultimately leads to the productivity of the organization as a whole.... Leadership is generally defined as â€Å"the social process of influencing people to work voluntarily, enthusiastically and persistently towards a purposeful group or organisational goal,† (Werner, 2007, p.36). A leader often adds an inspirational and emotional dimension to the organization through creating a shared vision among the members and inspiring people within that particular organization to be passionate towards the achievement of the vision and set goals. It can be noted that change is also inevitable in organisations hence there is need for the HRM to take a holistic approach in anticipating such changes. Given the complexity of the changing human resources management landscape, the leader has to be better positioned to engage the employees through working with them such that they will be in a better position to put optimum performance in their operations. The human resources managers as leaders play a great role in anticipating both internal as well as external fac tors that can affect the operations of the employees. More often than not, certain changes are viewed with mixed reactions by the members of the organisation hence there is need to first identify the aspects that can immediately affect the performance of the workers. Internally, there may be need for the managers to change the roles played by the employees but this strategy requires them to take into consideration the needs of the workers. Individuals in an organization have different needs and aspirations to fulfil hence their efforts have to be catered for by the management (Robbins, 1993). Some situations can emerge within the organization where there will be need to move away from traditional ways of doing

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economics - Essay Example Global capitalism has been tried before in the world and it has failed. However, when the reforms proposed by the West prove ineffective, it tends to blame the East for its innate weaknesses like insufficient entrepreneurial skills. The matter of the fact is the entrepreneurial skills of the Third World and the ex-communist countries are quite similar to those of their Western counterparts. If the people in the third world do not suffer from certain fundamental deficiency in cultural or genetic heritage, then what could be the reason behind the fact that the capitalism is successful only in the West? An answer to this puzzling question is the failure of the Third World and the ex-communist countries to produce capital. The poor people in the developing world are not wanting in the assets that make capital successful. They in fact hold these assets in defective form: the ownership rights are not fully documented, the terms of the businesses are not defined and the industries are not l ocated at suitable places the cumulative result of which is that these assets cannot be turned into capital. In the West, the property is fully documented which can be used as a capital for producing surplus value in various forms such as mortgage and securities. Because of the absence of this representational process, the third world countries are undercapitalized. The third world despite assimilating a lot of western cultural traits has failed to follow the example of the West in this crucial area of producing sufficient capital. This is the mystery of capital. The fundamental difference between the western nations and the Third World and the ex-communist countries is that only the former have the knowledge of converting capital from places which the other countries cannot. This absence of the conversion process in the Third World is compounded by the failure on the part of the West to understand the origin of the capital. This book is an effort to trace the history of capital and learn right lessons from it to help poor countries overcome their problems which have nothing to do with deficiencies in culture and genetic heritage. This fact has been made clear by the fact that the regions which are culturally as diverse as Russia and Latin America share the same problems because of building capitalism without capital. The Third World today faces the same challenges such as lack of enforcement of property rights, poor law and order situation and biased business and trade regulations which were faced by US in its early history and other Western countries only a couple of centuries before. There are at least five questions which need to be answered to understand why the role of capital despite being the most important component of Western development is not adequately understood: first, how much saving has been done by the poorest sectors of society in the west; second, what is the nature of capital and what is its role in the creation of wealth; third, why have the governments not been able to put the â€Å"dead Capital† in the hands of the poor people to some profitable use; four, why have the lessons not been learnt from the history of successful capitalist countries and five, why the adoption of the Western legal system in the third world has not delivered. The Mystery of Missing Information In the Third World, the documentation of property

The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy - Assignment Example The diplomatic doctrine President Truman followed was that United States would provide political, economic, and military service to all democratic nations which were under the threat of external or internal authoritarian forces (Milestones: 1945-1952. In the initial years, America really protected the interests of its ally Turkey. It was the nature of America to manipulate its foreign policies for its own advantage. However, it never tried to take any undue advantage from the relation with Turkey unlike it did in Afghanistan. American policy after the Truman declaration was always in favor of Turkey. As America never wanted the Soviet Union to grow bigger than it and the communist party to spread to other parts of the world, it decided to support Turkey; both politically and financially. American foreign policy was thus aimed at promoting democracy in its friendly nations. As Carpenter (1999) points out, though Turkey faced some real threats from the Soviet Union like the overpowerin g of the current government with a communist government, Turkey overcame them with American support and moved to a democratic form of government from the single party government that existed. In return to the support and help rendered by the United States during Cold War, Turkey agreed to send its forces to take part in the Korean War. Also, America provided all support to Turkey to become a member of NATO. Turkey became a founding member of the Central Treaty Organization. After these initial years, the relation between the duo began to deteriorate gradually; though for a short period of time. According to Carpenter (1999), the main reason for the break up was the attack by Turkey on Cyprus on the pretext of saving the ruling government from the imminent coup by army. It was an evident breach of the international law and the UN charter. Moreover, it was against the American policy of opposition against aggression because Turkey was pointlessly attacking Cyprus. Though the United St ates was supposed to adopt stringent measures against its alley as the lack of such measures would invite widespread criticism, the American Congress managed to reduce the measures to a meager ban on arm sales to Turkey. Still, the step resulted in creating too much tension and mistrust in the relation between the duo. However, the action of the US can be justified on the ground that Turkey violated the agreements and international law (cited in ‘Turkish invasion and Cyprus occupation’, 2005). When all these tensions ended, the Turkish leaders once again felt the need to be closer to the US. For, an ally like the US was essential to ensure the future security of Turkey in the Middle East.

Regional Archeology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regional Archeology - Essay Example As the report declares the emergent of states in China is a crucial research topic in the archeological world, with significant recent archeological findings contributing to the growing interest in the topic. The survey area presented in the article is called Gongyi, which is located in the eastern part of the Yiluo River valley. The goal of the settlement pattern in the research was to comprehend the factors that determined the arrangement of settlement sites in the region. The study compares social transformation in the core area with the surrounding regions to obtain a more complex picture of the developmental process of early states. This is based on the fact that there is a positive correlation between population growth and social complexity. The study uses data from Brac Island, which is in Central Dalmatia, Croatia. The island is the largest of all the islands in the region with a total surface of 395 Km2. The survey technique used here involved the collection of surface artifact and the known archeological sites revisited and properly recorded. For the analysis and predictive model generation, archeological work presented in the paper needed extensive social and natural environment data, which would have influenced the settlement pattern in the island. Methods such as systematic dating and recording ceramic remains and comparison of the characteristics of the archeological site to previously excavated and studied sites, archeologists are able to determine the settlement pattern.

STARTING A BUSINESS ONLINE PART 2 Research Paper

STARTING A BUSINESS ONLINE PART 2 - Research Paper Example Domain name In web marketing domain name is an asset. Usually the domain name should be relevant, catchy, stylish, fashionable and easy to remember. According to Ethics Newsline (2013) â€Å"The introduction of new top-level domain names — the ending letters in web addresses, such as .com and .org — is raising some unanticipated ethical issues, according to various press reports†¦Addresses such as .car, .toronto, or .apple will become available, reports the  Toronto Star, but at a price.† Web spoofing and cyber-squatting are unethical activities in e-commerce. Spoofing refers to creating domains similar to well-known brands or established corporate companies like valmart.com for wallmart.com. Cyber-squatting is registering domain name of a well-known company or brand with the purpose of misusing it or selling it to the concerned company at an exorbitant price. Firms may be forced to buy these domains simply to avoid e-commerce frauds. Though $1,000 for dom ain re-sale is attractive, the name was not registered with the intention of re-sale. The name was selected after carefully considering various factors to ensure its suitability to the business and it is expected to be beneficial for the growth and development of the business in the long run. Also, it is felt that resale of domain name amounts to selling the name to our competitor who finds it worth to buy at this price. Also, if the buyer is not likely to become our competitor, it is bought with some ulterior motive and the domain name could be misused that is unethical. So, there is no question of resale of domain. E-Commerce software The Internet has emerged as a global medium for communication that is used gainfully used for commerce by creating web-based applications. In e-commerce, catalog designing is important like physical display of products in a showroom. It should be imaginative to include online marketing tools like gift certificates and discounts apart from display of prices and special features. The possibilities of expanding the market potential are unlimited with a good blend of content, photography, association with popular themes with a proper mix of graphics, flash and background images in a website. Online shopping cart software should incorporate features for selection of product, price comparison, placement of order and change the products selected if necessary. In the case of shopping cart software, synchronizing price and quantity with accounting and stores is very important and lack of this facility in software impedes real time inventory control. Establishing a good system for incorporating returns and exchanges in software is also essential for ensuring smooth flow of business. Order processing includes single-order processing, batch processing or mail order processing. Providing reputed online payment gateway in shopping cart for secure, fast and reliable transactions on real time basis is essential. Achieving optimum processing ca pacity of the system is very important for enhancing user experience. Null and Lobur (2012, p. 40) stated â€Å"No matter how many processors are placed in a system, or how many resources are assigned to them, somehow, somewhere, a bottleneck is bound to develop. The best we can do to remedy this is to make sure that the slowest parts of the system are the ones that are used the least.† Web presence and increasing Website usability The important factors need to be focused in

Regional Archeology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regional Archeology - Essay Example As the report declares the emergent of states in China is a crucial research topic in the archeological world, with significant recent archeological findings contributing to the growing interest in the topic. The survey area presented in the article is called Gongyi, which is located in the eastern part of the Yiluo River valley. The goal of the settlement pattern in the research was to comprehend the factors that determined the arrangement of settlement sites in the region. The study compares social transformation in the core area with the surrounding regions to obtain a more complex picture of the developmental process of early states. This is based on the fact that there is a positive correlation between population growth and social complexity. The study uses data from Brac Island, which is in Central Dalmatia, Croatia. The island is the largest of all the islands in the region with a total surface of 395 Km2. The survey technique used here involved the collection of surface artifact and the known archeological sites revisited and properly recorded. For the analysis and predictive model generation, archeological work presented in the paper needed extensive social and natural environment data, which would have influenced the settlement pattern in the island. Methods such as systematic dating and recording ceramic remains and comparison of the characteristics of the archeological site to previously excavated and studied sites, archeologists are able to determine the settlement pattern.

Women Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Women Issues - Assignment Example This concept of feminism is usually occupied with the activities which aim at providing knowledge on the unfairness and biasness that are experienced in the male dominated societies. For a clear execution of their duties, feminists use various theories that strive to understand the origin and structural construction of the gender inequality by examining the feminine social roles and the general women life. In this context, we can refer feminism as a social spectrum, which incorporates aspects like the pursuit of various schemes and fantasies, delusional feminist aspects to the rationality concepts, all aimed towards advocating for the recognition and application of women rights principles (Rauchut 341). The broad term of feminism can be narrowed down to address the existence of two groups; gender feminists and equity feminists. These two feminism categories differ in their principle ideologies behind governing their advocating for recognition of feminine roles in a society. The ideol ogies behind these types of feminism were first coined by Hoff Sommers in her famous writings. According to Sommers, gender feminism focuses on the interaction between the society and the cultural gender roles performed by women within the same social setting. On the other hand, equity feminism is associated with equal rights and equal treatment of women in the society. In its practical application, gender feminism has been labeled as bad feminism because it deals with the questioning of the fundamental rules of the society. On the opposite side, equity feminism is credited because it is occupied with the purpose of advocating and supporting the aspect of equal rights to every member of a society. The principles of gender feminism do not question the idea that women should stay at home and play their cultural roles. This type of feminism is only occupied with the aspects of equity and other legal issues. Contrary, gender feminism questions the ideas of cultural roles played by women within a social environment. It seeks to achieve cultural equity among women and men. At this juncture, we will focus at the equity feminism, which is the most dominant contemporary feminism at modern times (Rauchut 349). In every society, those individuals and groups fighting for gender equality con be heard complaining of numerous issues which they are not satisfied with. Therefore, equity feminists are constantly pushing forward their grievances to the relevant authorities for recognition. The equity feminist grievances are mainly centered on the economical, social and legal issues affecting the female members of the society. Some of these complains include the aspects of women reproduction like use of contraceptives and abortion, divorce, equal payment at workplaces, child custody and maternity leave in their occupational duties. Early equity feminists advocated for equal economic opportunities when it comes to divorce. The argued that a divorce should benefit the victim woman the same way the marriage benefited her. Secondly, feminists claimed that abortion was discriminatory based on the economic capabilities of women. In their campaigns, they advocated for provision of economic assistance to poor women who needed to carry out an abortion by the relevant authorities. In addition, these feminists also fought for equality in terms of salaries and wages to men and women in the economic sector. In case of a divorce of a family who had a child, the mother should not be left to bring up the child on her own. The child’s father should contribute towards the financial upbringing of the child, and the child should remain under the mother’

Phineas Gage Essay Example for Free

Phineas Gage Essay Perhaps one of the most well known cases in cognitive psychology is that of Phineas Gage. A man who suffered from an injury to his prefrontal lobes thirty years before the field of Psychology even began (Moulin, 2006). However, psychologists’ continue to study his brain and the effects of his injury and its role in cognitive functions years later. Phineas Gage was a foreman at a railroad who suffered damage to his prefrontal lobes as a result of an accidental explosion in the year 1848. This explosion caused an iron bar about a meter long to be launched completely through Gage’s head and supposedly land about nine meters away. As a result of this accident Gage suffered severe brain damage to his prefrontal lobes, with the left side being almost completely destroyed (Moulin, 2006). There is not documentation of what Gage’s personality was like before the accident and few reports of the changes after the incident, many believed to be exaggerated. Two of the reports that do exist regarding Gage are written by John Martyn Harlow. Harlow was the physician who treated Gage and followed his case (â€Å"III. The Damage to Gage’s Skull and Brain†, 2002). Following his recovery of the accident there were no reports of apparent loss of interllectial function, yet his personality changed drastically. In fact Gage behaved so different that he while he went back to work for the railroad he never was given his job back as foreman (â€Å"II. The Sequelae of the accident, 1848-1868,† 2002). In fact, when asked his friends and acquaintances said he was â€Å"no longer Gage† (Moulin, 2006). Gage lived about eleven years after his accident before dying in 1860 which left people in the medical field curious about him and his condition (Moulin, 2006). In fact the changes in his behavior that were described was the first time that it was revealed that complex functions might be located in the brain. During the time and the immediate time after Gage lived there is not much medical documentation. Therefore it was years later when the exact parts of Gage’s brain that were damaged due to the iron bar were determined (â€Å"II. The sequelae of the accident, 1848-1868,† 2002). When Harlow learned of the passing of Gage, he sought out and received permission from his family to have the body exhumated in December of 1867 (â€Å"II. The sequelae of the accident, 1848-1868,† 2002). He did so in order to study the brain and learn from the injury of the skull and the result that the damages had on Gage’s personality. From the study he was able to determine that Gage suffered damage to three locations; the area under the zygomatic arch, the base of the skull where the iron rod had entered behind the eye, and at the top of the head where the iron rod emerged (â€Å"III. The damage to Gage’s Skull and Brain†, 2002). After studies of Gage’s skull where complete, psychologists’ have been able to take the measurements from the skull and use modern technology to determine the approximate location of the legion. Damage was caused to both the left and right prefrontal cortices in a pattern that caused a defect in rational decision making and the processing of emotion (Damasio, 1994). Studies that have been done since the case of Gage have determined that higher cognitive functions take place in the prefrontal lobes. Some of these functions include working memory, mental imagery, and willed actions that are associated with consciousness (Frith Dolan, 1998). Psychologists’ have been able to learn from this famous case of Phineas Gage. A man who took no part in experiments and whose injuries were sustained thirty years before the start of Psychology. From this case it has been determined that cognitive functions that can become impaired by prefrontal brain damage are abilities like planning, reasoning, and problem solving. It has also been shown that frontal lobe damage can affect a person’s memory in a subtle manner. While there can be no apparent loss of intellectual function as a result of prefrontal brain lesions it is can still be tragic to the lives of those involved (Gerhand, 1999).

My Philosophy On Education :: Educational Teaching Teachers Essays

My Philosophy On Education Deciding on a career may be a hard decision for some people, but for me, it was easy. I have always known that I was going to be a teacher. There have been a variety of methods for teaching and learning introduced to me and I have developed my philosophy on education from them. Even though there have been many procedures presented to me related to education, only a few have facilitated me in choosing the way I plan to teach. My family is very education-oriented and education has always been an important asset in my life as well. So, I have always strove to learn and work hard for good grades during my school years. Many of my family members have graduated in the top portion of their classes. Most of them later worked for the board of education or went on to college to become a teacher. Since I have always been excited to learn and I loved school, as well as my teachers, I knew that being a teacher would be the best career for me. There are many things I would like to accomplish while I am a teacher. As a teacher, first of all, I hope to be as inspiring and encouraging like many of the teachers I had. Second, I want to make learning fun, but thought provoking. The third thing is that I would like to assist the students in comprehending what they are learning, not just to memorize the material. And, last, I want the students to want to come to school and have the longing to deepen their knowledge. For my students, I expect them to develop an understanding of knowledge. I believe in the principle of progressivism where education should be an on going and productive process. Therefore, I want my students to grasp this concept and always be willing to learn. I support the behaviorist’s view that the environment shapes and influences people. This theory goes into consideration with Rousseau’s theory that children mature through stages, when developing an environment suitable for the grade level a person is teaching. The curriculum should be focused on the student’s needs and how they learn best. There are a variety of methods of teaching that I will use that I believe are important.

The pulse code digitization and companding on a signal Essay example --

AIM The main aim of this project is to demonstrate the pulse code digitization and companding on a signal and to observe the effects of sampling depths and companding on the signal to noise ratio (SQR). INTRODUCTION PCM- In the pulse code modulation (PCM), the signal is a digitally represented analog signal in which the signal magnitude is sampled with uniform intervals. Each sample is quantized to the closest value of the digital signal. In the pulse code modulation, the signal is binary. The two possible states represented in PCM are logic 1(high) and logic 0 (low). The main advantage of PCM signal is that it is derived from analog signal which is multiplexed with data from the computer and carried over a common high-speed channel. COMPANDING- The combination of compressing and expanding is known as companding. In companding, the data is compressed before it is sent and then expanded at the receiving end using the same non-linear scale. The noise and crosstalk levels at the receiver are reduced due to companding. It is used in wireless microphones for better dynamic range and also in digital and telephony systems for compressing of the input signal and expanding of the output signal. The below figure 1 shows the demonstration of PCM with and without companding. Figure1- PCM with and without companding Procedure to create PCM and companding on excel sheet The PCM and companding of a signal is done on a spreadsheet using excel. Firstly, a sine wave is created by varying the time with respect to the amplitude. The frequency of the signal is taken as 10 Hz. The quantization process of the signal will be done. A quantized sine wave is then created. Now the number of levels cell (N) should be created. We take the value ... ...ude=0.1, large N=8. GRAPH I) Plot of SQR vs Amplitude with Companding (mu=255) and without Companding (mu=0). GRAPH J) Plot of SQR vs bit depth both with Companding (mu=255) and without Companding (mu=0). Where A=1, and bit depths are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256. CONCLUSION: This lab was carried out to compand and quantizes a voice signal. We In the Using the pulse modulation technique, the analog signal is converted into the digital signal. The process of quantization and companding of a signal is carried on the spreadsheets. To attain a clear signal to quantization noise ratio, the number of samples should be increased. By increasing the sampling depth, the quantization error can be minimized. By companding process, the quantization noise and distortion levels can be minimized. Companding improves response for low amplitude signals.

Capsule 2 Revised Version Essay

Jose Antonio Vargas wrote â€Å"Outlaw: My Life In America As An Undocumented Immigrant†, for the New York Times (June 22, 2011), and in it, he claims that being an illegal immigrant is more complicated than it seems on the surface. Like Vargas, many illegal immigrants are often sent to America at young ages and have to hide their true identities to succeed. Vargas develops this fact when he begins to adapt to his new life and continues to fake documents and lie to those around him to maintain his place in America. Vargas’s purpose for writing is to prove to that immigrants come to America seeking endless opportunity to gain success but often have to do this through deceit. Vargas does this by telling his story in this narrative to grasp the interest of other immigrants. He acknowledges the fraudulent identity he has developed, that clashes with his morals and his character and creates major issues while growing up and trying to adapt to society. Vargas unfolds his story by first discussing how he is forced to migrate to America. This immediately resembles many of those who came to America at a very young age and also had to find their own way to success while maintaining confidentiality. Vargas originally doesn’t understand the struggles he will face in society. His family, the beginning of his support system, creates his fake identity without his knowledge while he was at a young age. He discovered the truth while attempting to get his driver’s permit (Vargas 326), and when he gets turned down he began his pursuit to prove to everyone around him that he is American. Vargas sharing his experience at the DMV and how it taught him how to adjust easier to society without others noticing his illegal status, makes the narrative more relatable and personalized. Once he realizes he is an immigrant and isn’t welcomed in society, he understands the hostility attached to the label he is given by his family and by Americans. Throughout Vargas’s writing, he continues to find ways to relate to other immigrants using his profession â€Å"that is all about truth-telling† (Vargas, 330). He discusses the issue of finding work in journalism which is his passion and finding jobs are often major issues for immigrants. He also talks about the constant sense of deficiency and dislocation he felt living in America and having to live a fabricated lifestyle. Vargas’s purpose was constantly encouraged throughout his story to pursue his dreams which gave him the incentive to keep pushing regardless of his unknown legal status. Vargas shows that if he increases the amount of work he achieves he can gain citizenship even if he lies about who he is to do so. Vargas and his family make multiple sacrifices, that could reveal their secrets, in order to grant him some kind of way into success. When he got the hang of living in America undocumented, it became the norm for him, and he had â€Å"no intention of acknowledging [his] ‘problem’† (Vargas 331). Vargas clings to the new version of himself and constantly overcomes his hardships to prove his citizenship. His determination consumed his morals and he forgot about his integrity to maintain success. On the surface, he seems like the perfect American citizen living â€Å"The American Dream† (Vargas, 326) but he knows deep down that his career validated his succes s and his presence. Vargas used the idea of using hard work to gain citizenship to encourage him to continue hiding his legal status especially since â€Å"claiming full citizenship was actually easier than declaring permanent resident† (Vargas, 328). His fabricated lifestyle allowed him to succeed professionally for the majority of his life, proving that his hard work does fill the displacement he felt as an immigrant. Vargas allows people to just see the surface qualities he displays to validate his presence here (Vargas, 327) and to keep his secret more concealed. The image he creates as an outlaw becomes the only life he knows and coming to terms with the truth was definitely liberating. Vargas attacks the ideas of what an illegal immigrant really is, a person searching for a dream that America displays but doesn’t fulfill. There is obvious tension in America when it comes to how society defines them. The article as a whole makes an attempt at reaching out to other immigrants who are experiencing the same struggles. Vargas does this by telling his story to be authentic. Understanding that the life of a successful immigrant is possible if your dreams for a better future are your constant motivation, is the purpose that Vargas had for writing this piece. Vargas constantly uses his narrative to show that even though many immigrants develop an identity established in deceit, their struggles emotionally, mentally, and socially, help shape them and in the end make them the American citizens they fight to be. Vargas proves that once you value hard work it makes it easier to earn status and build an identity for yourself.

Business Research Ethics Essay

  Joseph J.C. DiCarlo was found guilty of embezzling $40,000 from a consulting firm in New York for suppressing a legislative report. This report unfavorably criticized the firm’s construction contracts. Joseph J.C. DiCarlo already had a tarnished reputation of a corrupt official, and unethical practices. Based on Josephs actions the state senators were the affected parties in this case study. As Joseph was found guilty the state senators at that time felt relieved that a person with his unethical practices would no longer have the power entrusted in him. The manner in which DiCarlo extorted money for the construction of the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and tried to sabotage a legislative report was all for personal gain. Joseph was voted in to seat by the public and entrusted to make ethical actions that would be in the best interest of the organization and the public. This case study, shows how greed and selfishness played a major role in the choices DiCarlo made , he however did not for see the investigation that led to his conviction. This conviction put an end to his career and was expelled as a senate in 1977. Although Joseph DiCarlo sealed his own fate, his actions were illegal, and unethical. With such a thin line between what is unethical and illegal it is usually up to the organization or research firms to determine if any research or action is would be characterized as unethical or illegal. Most businesses or and organizations strive themselves to instil ethical practices to their employees, it is unfortunately that Joseph DiCarlo was placed in a seat of power where some of these practices are not followed by the people who put them in place. Some organizations go as far as conducting yearly or even monthly trainings, to keep employees up to date with current policies and procedures. In any case an organization conducts these trainings to protect themselves from any liability, due to the employee’s unethical practices. In this case Joseph’s unethical practices resulted in his conviction, and liability to pay fines based on his actions. His unethical actions resulted in a $5,000 fine and one year in prison. Although, he did steal $40,000, but only paid back $5,000, the University of Massachusetts students.

Blood Promise Chapter Sixteen

Denis and his two unpromised friends, Artur and Lev, were ecstatic that I was going to be part of their posse. But if they expected me to share their crazy enthusiasm for reckless Strigoi hunting, they were about to be sorely disappointed. In fact, it didn't take long after I joined them before they realized that I was approaching the hunt very differently than they were. Denis's friend Lev had a car, and we took turns driving to Novosibirsk. The drive was about fifteen hours, and even though we stopped at a hotel for the night, it was still a lot of continuous time to be cooped up in a small space with three guys who couldn't stop talking about all the Strigoi they were going to kill. In particular, they kept trying to draw me out. They wanted to know about how many Strigoi I'd slain. They wanted to know what the battle at the Academy had been like. They wanted to know my methods. Anytime my mind turned to those topics, though, all I could think of was blood and grief. It was nothing I wanted to brag about, and it took about six hours on the road for them to finally figure out that they weren't going to get much information from me. Instead, they regaled me with tales of their own adventures. To be fair, they'd slain several Strigoi-but they'd lost a number of their friends, all of whom had been in their teens, like these guys. My experiences weren't that dissimilar; I'd lost friends too. My losses had been a result of being outnumbered, though. Denis's group's casualties seemed to have been more due to rushing in to without thinking. Indeed, their plan once we got to Novosibirsk wasn't really that solid. They reiterated that Strigoi liked to hunt at places that were crowded at night, like dance clubs, or in remote places like alleys, that made for easy pickings. No one noticed as much when people disappeared from those kinds of places. So Denis's plans mostly involved trolling those hot spots in the hopes that we'd run into Strigoi. My initial thought was to immediately ditch this group and strike out on my own. After all, my main goal had been to simply get to Novosibirsk. With everything I'd learned now, it seemed logical that Siberia's largest city would be the next best place to look. Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that jumping into the Strigoi scene alone would be as stupid as one of the unpromised gang's plans. I could use their backup. Plus, since I didn't actually know where Dimitri was yet, I had to come up with a method of getting some information. I'd need help for that. We made it to Novosibirsk at the end of the second day of driving. Despite hearing about its size, I hadn't imagined it would be anything like Moscow or Saint Petersburg. And true, it turned out to be not quite as large as they were, but it was still just as much a city, complete with skyscrapers, theaters, commuters, and the same beautiful architecture. We crashed with a friend of theirs who had an apartment downtown, a dhampir named Tamara. Her English wasn't very good, but from the sounds of it, she was another unpromised one and just as excited as everyone else to rid the world of Strigoi. She was a little older than the rest of us, which was why she had her own place, and was a cute brunette with freckles. It sounded as though she waited until whenever the guys came to town to hunt, which I took as a small blessing. At least she didn't go out alone. She seemed particularly excited to have another girl around, but like the others, she quickly picked up that I didn't share their enthusiasm. When our first night of Strigoi hunting came around, I finally stepped up into a leadership position. The sudden change in behavior startled them at first, but they soon listened with rapt attention, still caught up in my superstar reputation. â€Å"Okay,† I said, looking from face to face. We were in Tamara's tiny living room, sitting in a circle. â€Å"Here's how it's going to work. We're going to hit the nightclub scene as a group, patrolling it and the alleys behind it for-â€Å" â€Å"Wait,† interrupted Denis. â€Å"We usually split up.† â€Å"Which is why you get killed,† I snapped. â€Å"We're going as a group.† â€Å"Haven't you killed Strigoi by yourself, though?† asked Lev. He was the tallest of the group, with a long and lanky figure that was almost Moroi-like. â€Å"Yes, but I got lucky.† That, and I also just thought I was a better fighter than any of them. Call me arrogant, but I was a damned good guardian. Or near-guardian. â€Å"We'll do better with all five of us. When we find Strigoi, we've got to make sure we take care of them in an isolated place.† I hadn't forgotten Sydney's warnings. â€Å"But before we kill them, I need to talk to them. It'll be your job to restrain them.† â€Å"Why?† asked Denis. â€Å"What do you have to say to them?† â€Å"Actually, it's what they have to say to me. Look, it won't take long. And you'll get to make your kill in the end, so don't worry about it. But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This next part went against my grand plans, but I knew I had to say it. I wouldn't get them killed for the sake of my own quest. â€Å"If we get ourselves in a situation where you're trapped or in immediate danger, forget the talking and restraining. Kill. Save yourself.† Apparently, I seemed confident and badass enough that they decided to go along with whatever I said. Part of our plan involved going â€Å"undercover,† so to speak. Any Strigoi who was close or got a good enough look would immediately recognize us as dhampirs. It was important that we not attract any attention. We needed a Strigoi scanning for victims to pass right over us. We needed to look like other human club-goers. So we dressed the part, and I was a bit astonished at how well the guys cleaned up. Denis, crazy or not, was particularly good-looking, sharing the same dark gold hair and brown eyes that his brother Nikolai had. My few changes of clothes weren't quite up to partying standards, so Tamara delved into her wardrobe for me. She seemed to take a lot of delight in finding things for me to wear. We were actually similar in size, which was kind of amazing. With her tall, super-slim build, Lissa and I had never been able to share clothes. Tamara was my height and had a similar body type. She first offered me a short, tight dress that was so similar to the one Viktoria had worn that I just shook my head and handed it back. The memories of our argument still hurt, and I wasn't going to relive that night or in any way play blood whore dress-up. Instead, Tamara settled for dressing me in black jeans and a black tank top. I consented to hair and makeup too, and studying myself in the mirror, I had to admit she did a good job. As vain as it was, I liked looking good. I especially liked that the guys looked at me in a way that was admiring and respectful-but not like I was some piece of meat. Tamara offered me jewelry too, but the only thing I'd wear was the nazar around my neck. My stake required a jacket, but she found a sexy leather one that didn't take away from the rest of the outfit's appeal. Setting out around midnight, I couldn't help shaking my head. â€Å"We're the goddamned hottest vampire hunters ever,† I muttered. Denis led us to a club where they'd found Strigoi before. It was also apparently where one of their unpromised friends had been killed. It was in a seedy part of town, which I guess added to its appeal for Strigoi. A lot of the people there were middle- and upper-class young people, apparently drawn in by the â€Å"dangerous† aspect. If only they'd known just how dangerous it was. I'd made a lot of jokes to Dimitri about Russia and Eastern Europe being ten years behind in music, but when we entered, I discovered the ground-thumping techno song playing was something I'd heard in the U.S. just before leaving. The place was crowded and dark, with flashing lights that were actually a little annoying to dhampir eyes. Our night vision would adapt to the darkness and then be blasted when a strobe light kicked on. In this case, I didn't need my sight. My shadow-kissed senses didn't feel any Strigoi in the area. â€Å"Come on,† I said to the others. â€Å"Let's dance for a while and wait. There are no Strigoi nearby.† â€Å"How do you know?† asked Denis, staring at me in wonder. â€Å"I just do. Stay together.† Our little circle moved to the dance floor. It had been so long since I'd danced, and I was a bit surprised at how quickly I found myself getting into the rhythm. Part of me said I should have stayed ever vigilant, but my Strigoi alarm system would immediately snap me awake if any danger came. That nausea was kind of hard to ignore. But after an hour of dancing, no Strigoi had appeared. We left the dance floor and started circling the club's edges, then moved outside to sweep that area too. Nothing. â€Å"Is there another club nearby?† I asked. â€Å"Sure,† said Artur. He was stocky, with close-shaved hair and a ready smile. â€Å"A couple blocks over.† We followed him and found a similar scene: another secret club hidden in a run-down building. More flashing lights. More crowds. More pounding music. Disturbingly, what started to bother me first was the smell. That many people generated a lot of sweat. I had no doubt even the humans could smell it. To us, it was cloying. Tamara and I exchanged looks and wrinkled our noses, needing no words to convey our disgust. We moved to the dance floor again, and Lev started to leave to get a drink. I punched him in the arm. He exclaimed something in Russian that I recognized as a swear word. â€Å"What was that for?† he asked. â€Å"For being stupid! How do you expect to kill something that's twice as fast as you while drunk?† He shrugged, unconcerned, and I resisted the urge to hit him in the face this time. â€Å"One won't hurt. Besides, there aren't even any-â€Å" â€Å"Be quiet!† It was creeping over me, that weird stirring in my stomach. Forgetting my cover, I stopped dancing, scanning the crowd for the source. While I was relying on my senses to feel Strigoi, spotting them in the crowd was a bit harder. I took a few steps toward the entrance, and my nausea lessened. I moved toward the bar, and the feeling increased. â€Å"This way,† I told them. â€Å"Act like you're still into the music.† My tension was contagious, and I saw the anticipation sweep them-as well as a little fear. Good. Maybe they'd take this seriously. As we headed in the bar's direction, I tried to keep my body language oriented toward it, like I was seeking a drink. All the while, my eyes swept the crowd's periphery. There. I had him. A male Strigoi was standing off in a corner, his arm around a girl close to my age. In the dim lighting, he almost seemed attractive. I knew closer examination would reveal the deathly pale skin and red eyes that all Strigoi had. The girl might not have been able to see them in the darkened club, or the Strigoi might have been using compulsion on her. Probably both, judging from the smile on her face. Strigoi were able to compel others just as well as a spirit user like Lissa could. Better, even. Before our eyes, I saw the Strigoi lead the girl down a small, unnoticed hallway. At the end, I could just make out a glowing exit sign. At least, I presumed it was an exit sign. The letters were Cyrillic. â€Å"Any idea where that door goes?† I asked the others. The guys shrugged, and Denis repeated my question to Tamara. She answered back, and he translated. â€Å"There's a small alley out back where they keep trash. It's between this building and a factory. No one's usually there.† â€Å"Can we get to it by going around the club?† Denis waited for Tamara's response. â€Å"Yes. It's open on both sides.† â€Å"Perfect.† We hurried out of the club by the front door, and I divided our group into two. The plan was to come at the Strigoi from both sides and trap him in the middle-provided he and his victim were still out back. It was possible he could have led her elsewhere, but I thought it more likely he'd want to subdue her and get his blood right there, particularly if it was as deserted as Tamara said it usually was. I was right. Once my group had split off and peered around behind the club, I saw the Strigoi and the girl lurking in the shadow of a trash can. He was leaning over her, mouth near her neck, and I silently swore. They didn't waste any time. Hoping she was still alive, I came charging down the alley, the others on my heels. From the alley's other side, Denis and Lev also came running. As soon as he heard the first footfall, the Strigoi reacted instantly, his staggeringly fast reflexes kicking in. He immediately dropped the girl, and in the space of a heartbeat, he chose Denis and Lev over Artur, Tamara, and me. Not a bad strategy, really. There were only two of them. Because he was so fast, he probably hoped to incapacitate them quickly and then turn on us before we could flank him. And it almost worked. A powerful hit sent Lev flying. To my relief, a couple of trash cans blocked him from the building's wall. Hitting them wouldn't feel good, but if I had the choice, I'd rather hit metal cans than solid bricks. The Strigoi pounced on Denis next, but Denis proved remarkably fast. Unfairly, I'd assumed none of these unpromised had any real fighting skills. I should have known better. They'd had the same training as me; they just lacked discipline. Denis dodged the blow and struck out low, aiming for the Strigoi's legs. The hit landed, though it wasn't strong enough to knock him over. A flash of silver showed in Denis's hands, and he managed to partially swipe the Strigoi's cheek just before a backhanded slap knocked the dhampir into me. A cut like that wouldn't be lethal to the Strigoi, but the silver would hurt, and I heard him snarl. His fangs gleamed with saliva. I sidestepped Denis quickly enough that he didn't knock me over. Tamara grabbed his arm, holding him so that he wouldn't fall either. She was fast too and had barely steadied him before leaping up at the Strigoi. He swatted her away but didn't manage to hit her hard enough to push her far. Artur and I were on him by that point, our combined force knocking him against the wall. Still, he was stronger and the pinning was brief before he broke free. A responsible voice in my head-that sounded suspiciously like Dimitri's-warned me that that had been my window to kill him. It would have been the smart and safe thing to do. I'd had the opening, and my stake was in my hand. If my crazy interrogation plan failed, the others' deaths would be on my head. As one, Artur and I leapt out again. â€Å"Help us!† I yelled. Tamara threw herself against the Strigoi, landing a swift kick to the stomach as well. I could feel him starting to shake us off, but then Denis joined in too. Between the four of us, we wrestled the Strigoi down so that he lay back-first on the pavement. But the worst wasn't over. Keeping him down wasn't easy. He thrashed around with incredible strength, limbs twisting everywhere. I heaved myself up, trying to throw my body's weight across his torso while the others restrained his legs. Another set of hands joined us, and I looked up to see Lev lending his strength too. His lip was bleeding, but his face was determined. The Strigoi hadn't stopped moving, but I felt satisfied he wouldn't break away anytime soon, not with all five of us holding him. Shifting forward, I placed the point of my stake at his neck. It gave him pause, but he soon resumed his struggle. I leaned over his face. â€Å"Do you know Dimitri Belikov?† I demanded. He shouted something incomprehensible at me that didn't sound very friendly. I pressed the stake in harder and drew a long gash against his throat. He screamed in pain, pure evil and malice shining out from his eyes as he continued swearing in Russian. â€Å"Translate,† I demanded, not caring who did it. â€Å"What I said.† A moment later, Denis said something in Russian, presumably my question since I heard Dimitri's name in there. The Strigoi growled back a response, and Denis shook his head. â€Å"He says he isn't going to play games with us.† I took the stake and slashed at the Strigoi's face, widening the gash Denis had made earlier. Again, the Strigoi cried out, and I prayed club security wouldn't hear any of this. I gave him a smile filled with enough malice to match his own. â€Å"Tell him we're going to keep playing games with him until he talks. One way or another, he dies tonight. It's up to him whether it happens slowly or quickly.† I honestly couldn't believe those words had come out of my mouth. They were so harsh†¦ so, well, cruel. I'd never in my entire life expected to be torturing anyone, even a Strigoi. The Strigoi gave Denis's translation another defiant response, and so I kept on with the stake, making gashes and cuts that would have killed any human, Moroi, or dhampir. Finally, he shot off a string of words that didn't sound like his usual insults. Denis immediately translated. â€Å"He said he's never heard of anyone named that and that if Dimitri's a friend of yours, he'll be sure to kill him slowly and painfully.† I almost smiled at the Strigoi's last effort at defiance. The problem with my strategy here was that the Strigoi could be lying. I'd have no way of knowing. Something in his response made me think he wasn't. He'd sounded like he thought I was referring to a human or a dhampir, not a Strigoi. â€Å"He's useless then,† I said. I leaned back and glanced at Denis. â€Å"Go ahead and kill him.† It was what Denis had been dying to do. He didn't hesitate, his stake striking hard and swift through the Strigoi's heart. The frantic struggling stilled a moment later. The evil light faded from the red eyes. We stood up, and I saw my companions' faces watching me with apprehension and fear. â€Å"Rose,† asked Denis at last. â€Å"What are you hoping to-â€Å" â€Å"Never mind that,† I interrupted, moving over to the unconscious human girl's side. Kneeling down, I examined her neck. He'd bitten her, but not much blood had been taken. The wound was relatively small and bled only a little. She stirred slightly and moaned when I touched her, which I took as a good sign. Carefully, I dragged her away from the trash can and out into the light where she'd be most noticeable. The Strigoi, however, I dragged into as dark a place as I could, almost completely obscuring him. After that, I asked to borrow Denis's cell phone and dialed the number I'd kept crumpled in my pocket for the last week. After a couple of rings, Sydney answered in Russian. She sounded sleepy. â€Å"Sydney? This is Rose.† There was a slight pause. â€Å"Rose? What's going on?† â€Å"Are you back in Saint Petersburg?† â€Å"Yes†¦ where are you?† â€Å"Novosibirsk. Do you guys have agents here?† â€Å"Of course,† she said warily. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Mmm†¦ I've got something for you to clean up.† â€Å"Oh dear.† â€Å"Hey, at least I'm calling. And it's not like me ridding the world of another Strigoi is a bad thing. Besides, didn't you want me to let you know?† â€Å"Yes, yes. Where are you?† I put Denis on the phone briefly so that he could explain our specific location. He handed the phone back to me when he finished, and I told Sydney about the girl. â€Å"Is she seriously injured?† â€Å"Doesn't look like it,† I said. â€Å"What should we do?† â€Å"Leave her. The guy who's coming will make sure she's okay and doesn't go telling stories. He'll explain it when he gets there.† â€Å"Whoa, hey. I'm not going to be here when he arrives.† â€Å"Rose-â€Å" â€Å"I'm out of here,† I told her. â€Å"And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else that I called-say, like, Abe.† â€Å"Rose-â€Å" â€Å"Please, Sydney. Just don't tell. Or else†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I hesitated. â€Å"If you do, I'll stop calling when this happens. We're going to be taking down a few more.† God, what next? First torture, now threats. Worse, I was threatening someone I liked. Of course, I was lying. I understood why Sydney's group did what they did, and I wouldn't risk the exposure. She didn't know that, though, and I prayed she'd think I was just unstable enough to risk revealing us to the world. â€Å"Rose-† she tried yet again. I didn't give her the chance. â€Å"Thanks, Sydney. We'll be in touch.† I disconnected and handed Denis the phone. â€Å"Come on, guys. We're not done tonight.† It was clear they thought I was crazy to be interrogating Strigoi, but considering how reckless they were sometimes, my behavior wasn't quite weird enough for them to lose their faith in me. Soon they grew enthusiastic again, high on the idea of our first kill on this trip. My uncanny ability to sense Strigoi made me even cooler in their eyes, and I grew confident they'd pretty much follow me anywhere. We caught two more Strigoi that night and managed to repeat the procedure. The results were the same. Lots of insults in Russian. No new information. Once I was convinced a Strigoi had nothing to offer us, I'd let the unpromised go in for the kill. They loved it, but after that third one, I found myself growing weary both mentally and physically. I told the group we were going to go home-and then, while cutting around the back of a factory, I sensed a fourth Strigoi. We jumped him. Another scuffle occurred, but we eventually managed to pin him as we had the others. â€Å"Go ahead,† I told Denis. â€Å"You know what to-â€Å" â€Å"I'm going to rip your throat out!† the Strigoi snarled. Whoa. This one spoke English. Denis opened his mouth to begin the interrogation, but I shook my head. â€Å"I'll take over.† Like the other Strigoi, he swore and struggled, even with the stake against his neck, making it hard for me to talk. â€Å"Look,† I said growing impatient and tired, â€Å"just tell us what we need to know. We're looking for a dhampir named Dimitri Belikov.† â€Å"I know him.† The Strigoi's voice was smug. â€Å"And he's no dhampir.† Without realizing it, I'd called Dimitri a dhampir. I was tired and had slipped up. No wonder this Strigoi was so pleased to talk. He assumed we didn't know about Dimitri turning. And like any arrogant Strigoi, he was happy to tell us more, clearly in the hopes of causing us pain. â€Å"Your friend has been awakened. He stalks the night with us now, drinking the blood of foolish girls like you.† In a split second, a thousand thoughts raced through my head. Holy crap. I'd come to Russia thinking it would be easy to find Dimitri. I'd had those hopes dashed in his hometown, nearly causing me to give up, and I'd swung the other way, resigning myself to the near impossibility of my task. The thought that I might be close to something here was staggering. â€Å"You're lying,† I said. â€Å"You've never seen him.† â€Å"I see him all the time. I've killed with him.† My stomach twisted, and it had nothing to do with the Strigoi's proximity. Don't think about Dimitri killing people. Don't think about Dimitri killing people. I said the words over and over in my head, forcing myself to stay calm. â€Å"If that's true,† I hissed back, â€Å"then I've got a message for you to deliver to him. Tell him Rose Hathaway is looking for him.† â€Å"I'm not your errand boy,† he said, glowering. My stake slashed out, drawing blood, and he grimaced in pain. â€Å"You're anything I want you to be. Now go tell Dimitri what I told you. Rose Hathaway. Rose Hathaway is looking for him. Say it.† I pressed the point to his neck. â€Å"Say my name so I know you'll remember.† â€Å"I'll remember it so I can kill you.† The stake pressed harder, spilling blood. â€Å"Rose Hathaway,† he said. He spit at me but missed. Satisfied, I leaned back. Denis watched me expectantly, stake poised and ready. â€Å"Now we kill him?† I shook my head. â€Å"Now we let him go.†