Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Rhetorical Analysis of My Dropout Boyfriend Kept Dropping In Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of My Dropout Boyfriend Kept Dropping In - Essay Example Now it was the â€Å"living outdoors† phase. The narrator-girlfriend defended her boyfriend by telling everyone that his act is a rebellious one, telling everyone that this is the boyfriend’s way of rebelling to the establishment. The â€Å"living outdoors† experiment of the boyfriend failed in the end. The narrator was partly happy because the boyfriend would finally return indoors, making everything â€Å"normal† again but then again, it is sad because the romance of living far from the reaches of technology and modern life failed as well. The text is actually a bit humoresque as it paints a picture of a college kid who is on the path to self-discovery. The lines â€Å"An  Oprah-esque voice in my head said: It doesn’t matter what people think as long as he feels fulfilled. But another voice in my head, the one that avoided self-help books and talk shows, was less convinced† saw through that. It is also very touching as it shows the persona also confused: will she support the boyfriend or not. Ultimately, she does because of her duty as a girlfriend but we know that she only does so because it’s her duty, and not because she passionately believes on the causes of the boyfriend. She is the practical one in the relationship, opting to stick to college. Her practicality even reaches up to the point that she knows what will happen to her after college, and the implications of being in college: â€Å"but over all once you attended college, you were on the straight-and-narrow path. Or at least, if the economy didn’t sink, you were on the non-homeless path.† The boyfriend is quite a compelling character. He is a typical â€Å"rebellious† kid, trying everything: being a â€Å"Goth, punk, anarchist, Marxist and Zen†. The girlfriend was so used to this lifestyle changes that she was not surprised when the boyfriend brought it up one day. This time, the reason was to be an ascetic, and he wants to follow the footsteps of Chris McCandless, the man who

Monday, October 28, 2019

Transportation In Houston Essay Example for Free

Transportation In Houston Essay The problems of transportation in our city have a series of branches that all affect us. We, as Houstonians have the duty to contain our city as beautiful and healthy as we can. This is part of our past, present, and our feature, not only for us but also of our love ones that are yet to come. It is very important that we as human being that live in this community do something to protect our environment and reduce risks for further generations. Do you think that there something we can do to stop this shortage of transportation? There are many different problems in our environment that affect everyone around the community. Transportation in Houston is a severe problem that we have now in days. This is a problem in our community that divides into a series of arguments that we are trying to fix. It does not necessarily have to fit in our lifestyles, as long as we set time out in our busy life to take care of the environment. It does not have to be something that relates to your career as long as it is something that you like to do. I am very interested in setting sometime out of my job, to take care of my community. Even if they do not relate, I understand that in doing so it can help provide a better feature for the next generation. As a Houstonian, it is very important for me to try to find a way to expand the transportation in Houston. By decreasing the transportation, the pollution produced daily will also decrease as well as the traffic. Increasing public transportation is a good way to reduce all these risks. In my own experience, I have seen how public transportation is very efficient. In my Colombia, we use public transportation as a way to get around to many different places in the city. It reduces traffic, and accidents that may occur because of careless drivers. The state officials encourage public transportation because it reduces risks and it is also economic. They also encourage bike riding and walking. They build a lot of trails so that people that decide to walk do not have to worry about having to walk on the street where they can be put into any danger. Here in Houston, the state does not provide those types of options to people. You have pedestrians that walk in the streets putting their lives at risk, and then you have those that decide not to walk so they will not have to worry about putting themselves or their loved ones at risk. That is why most people decide that it is better to drive themselves somewhere, even if it is close, then to walk there. I would like to be encouraged into walking to different places, or to ride a bike around. It would be better for people to take that decision if there were sidewalks available all over the city, so that people could move around easier. This would be helpful in many different levels because it would create a better feature by, reducing the accidents that occur on a daily basis. It could also help the economy, because people would start saving more money. They would have more money to spend on other things needed, if they are saving gas money. They would not have to worry about having to earn a little more money to have to waste on other important things they might need. It can be improving for everyone. The bad thing is that not everyone feels the same way about using public transportation. Some rather save a little more money rather then having to depend on someone to drive them around. They never stop to think about the resources they are saving. I was researching the internet, trying to find articles that explored the subject about public transportation. It was very interesting to find different points of view over this topic. They were not really reliable resources, they were more like different opinions. I would like to explore this topic more reading different databases so that the information I may inquire can be precise. I would also like to read more about this subject in different newspapers like Houston Chronicle, to see what they think about this subject. When I was researching this newspaper online I realized that they don’t have any titles that cover this subject. I found it to be really upsetting to know that they do not cover important subjects like this in their news. It is very important for people to be able to get informed about things that are becoming a problem in their city. This way they will have a way to not only get informed but try to look for options to try and solve this error. Other resources would also help so that they can better inform themselves such as TV Shows, and other programs. This is a very important problem that does not get talked bout to much, so people do not really realize the problem we are facing. They do not try and do something about it because they probably think that it is something very insignificant, that other public organizations have not worried about advertising it as much. It is hard for me to assimilate the fact that we are missing out on a lot of information that can help us make a better our city an even more beautiful one.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Management Questions and Answers :: Team Work, Whistle-Blowing, Group Development

Question 1 There are critics of the five†stage group development model. Their main point is that this presentation of a group’s development is too static. Do you agree with this criticism? Why? Numerous critics of the five-stage model of group development contend the model is too static to accurately describe the progression of groups. In their review of the literature, Hurt and Trombley (2007) point out several deficiencies in the model. The model assumes that all groups progress linearly through five stages (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning). Critics suggest the model fails to describe groups that do not follow a linear progression. The model also assumes that groups must complete one stage before entering into the next stage, implying that tasks may not be completed. In addition, critical reviews of the model suggest that it ignores a more circular systems perspective. This systems perspective would allow the group to learn from mistakes and be more successful as a whole through the use of â€Å"inputs, outputs, throughputs, and a feedback loop† (Hurt & Trombley, 2007, p. 3). The five-stage group development model does provide some understand ing of the group process, but it seems too rigid to fully explain how groups with diverse individuals form and work together. In that respect, I would have to agree with some of the criticisms of this model. Human beings are by their nature dynamic, not static. Therefore, I question if it is realistic to portray group development in a completely linear, static manner. An individual’s behavior may vary depending on the group’s particular goals and the behavior of the other individuals in the group. Groups have unique personalities depending upon how the all the members interact with each other. For example, it may be possible that some groups skip the storming stage characterized by arguing, conflict, debate, and experimenting with roles (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly & Konopaske, 2012) when some strong-willed individuals unilaterally take over the leadership roles. The model’s assumption that groups do not focus on goals until the performing stage may also be unrealistic. Individuals who are already highly motivated and highly focused on a particular goal from the start may come together and form a group. Group development may also vary based on how important the goal is perceived to be by individual members of the group. It is hard to predict exactly how each group of unique individuals will interact with each other and progress through group development stages.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale Essay

Figurative language was used by Margaret Atwood, through the persona of Offred, to illustrate The Handmaid’s Tale. Figurative Language consists of similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole and idioms. First, figurative language can be used to describe different settings. 1. Offred’s experience at night in her bedroom â€Å"The heat at night is worse than the heat in daytime. Even with the fan on, nothing moves, and the walls store up warmth, give it out like a used oven. Surely it will rain soon. Why do I want it? It will only mean more dampness. There’s lightning far away but no thunder. Looking out the window I can see it, a glimmer, like the phosphorescence you get in stirred seawater, behind the sky, which is overcast and too low and a dull gray infrared. The searchlights are off, which is not usual. A power failure. Or else Serena Joy has arranged it.† (Pg. 243) * Similes * Described the environment * Room: Glimmer in the window, like stirred seawater * Heat: Used oven * Weather: Lightning but no thunder 2. Offred describing the Particicution of a man convicted of rape â€Å"There’s a surge forward, like a crowd at a rock concert in the former time, when the doors opened, that urgency coming like a wave through us. The air is bright with adrenaline, we are permitted anything and this is freedom, in my body also, I’m reeling, red spreads everywhere, but before that tide of cloth and bodies hits him Ofglen is shoving through the women in front of us, propelling herself with her elbows, left, right, and running towards him†¦A high scream comes from somewhere, like a horse in terror.† (Pg. 262-263) * Simile and metaphor * Ofglen kicked his head several times and later explained to Offred that the man was part of the underground rebellion, so she wanted to put him out of his misery quickly

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Sample design for Blackberry

In sampling, an element is the object (or person) about which or from which the information is desired. In survey research, the element is usually the respondent. A population Is the total of all the elements that share some common set of characterlstlcs. Element: Objects that possess the information the researcher seeks and about which the researcher will make inferences. Population: The aggregate of all elements, sharing some common set of characteristics, that comprise the universe for the purpose of the marketing research roblem.The researcher can obtain Information about population parameters by taking either a census or a sample. Census: a complete enumaration of the elements of a population or study objects. Sample: A subgroup of the elements of the population selected for participation in the study. sample Large Time available Population size the characteristics Conditions Favoring the use of Factors census Budget Short Large Small small Long Small Variance in Large Cost of s ampling error High Cost of nonsampllng errors High Low Nature of measurement Nondestructive Attention to individual cases NoAdvantages of Sampling Sampling saves time and money Sampling saves labor. Destructive Yes A sample coverage permits a higher overall level of adequacy than a full enumeration. Complete census Is often unnecessary, wasteful. and the burden on the public. 1) Define the Population: Sampling design begins by specifying the target population, which should be defined in terms of elements, sampling units, extent and time frame. Population/Target population: This is any complete, or the theoretically specified aggregation of study elements. It is usually the ideal population or universe to which esearch results are to be generalized.Survey population: This is an operational definition of the target population; that is target population with explicit exclusions-for example the population accessible, excluding those outside the country. Element (similar to unit of analy sis): This is that unit about which information is collected and that provides the basis of analysis. In survey research, elements are people or certain types of people. Sampling unit: This is that element or set of elements considered for selection in some stage of sampling (same as the elements, in a simple single-stage sample).In a ulti-stage sample, the sampling unit could be blocks, households, and individuals within the households. Extent: This refers to geographical boundaries. Time frame: The time frame is the time period of interest. In our case; Population/ target population = Blackberry users Survey population = Blackberry users between the age of 18-24, which refers to university students regarding the demographical factors. Elements = Blackberry users who are university students Sampling Unit = Blackberry users in the Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul University. Extent = Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul UniversityTime Frame = 2 weeks between 4-15 N ovember Given the large size of the target population and limited time and money, it was clearly not TeaslDle to Intervlew tne entlre BlacKDerry users, tnat Is, to take a census. So a sample was taken, and a subgroup of the population was selected for participation in the research. Our sample/ subgroup can be seen above. 2) Determine the Sampling Frame: A sampling frame is a representation of the elements of the target population. To be specific, this is the actual list of sampling units from which the sample, or some stage of the sample, is selected.It is simply a list of the study population. Sampling frame of our case = List of the students in the Business Administration Faculty of Istanbul University. 3) Select a Sampling Technique: Selecting a sampling technique involves choosing nonprobability or probability sampling. Nonprobability sampling : relies on the personal Judgement of researcher, rather than chance in selecting sample elements. Convenience Sampling: as the name impl ies, involves obtaining a sample of elements based on the convenience of the researcher. The selection of sampling units is left primarily to the interviewer.Convenience sampling has the advantages of being both inexpensive and fast. Additionally, the sampling units tend to be accessible, easy to measure, and cooperative. Judgement Sampling: The researcher selects the sample based on Judgement. This is usually and extension of convenience sampling. For example, a researcher may decide to draw the entire sample from one â€Å"representative† city, even though the population includes all cities. When using this method, the researcher must be confident that the chosen sample is truly representative of the entire population.Quota Sampling: introduces two stages to the Judgemental sampling process. The first stage consists of developing control categories, or quotas, of population elements. Using Judgement to identify relevant categories such as age, sex, or race, the researcher e stimates the distribution of these characteristics in the target population. Once the quotas have been assigned, the second stage of the sampling process takes place. Elements are selected using a convenience of Judgement process. Considerable freedom exists in selecting the elements to be included in the sample.The only requirement is that the elements that are selected fit the control characteristics. Snowball sampling: is a special nonprobability method used when the desired sample characteristic is rare. It may be extremely difficult or cost prohibitive to locate respondents in these situations. Snowball sampling relies on referrals from initial subjects to generate additional subjects. While this technique can dramatically lower search costs, it comes at the expense of introducing bias because the technique itself reduces tne II population.Kellnooa tnat tne sample wlll represent a good ross section Trom tne Probability sampling: in this kind sampling elements are selected by ch ance, that is, randomly. The probability of selecting each potential sample from a population can be prespecified. Simple Random Sampling: is the purest form of probability sampling. Each member of the population has an equal and known chance of being selected. When there are very large populations, it is often difficult or impossible to identify every member of the population, so the pool of available subjects becomes biased. Systematic Random Sampling: is often used instead of random sampling.It is also alled an Nth name selection technique. After the required sample size has been calculated, every Nth record is selected from a list of population members. As long as the list does not contain any hidden order, this sampling method is as good as the random sampling method. Its only advantage over the random sampling technique is simplicity. Systematic sampling is frequently used to select a specified number of records from a computer file. Stratified Random Sampling: is commonly use d probability method that is superior to random sampling because it reduces sampling error.A stratum is a subset of the opulation that share at least one common characteristic. Examples of stratums might be males and females, or managers and non-managers. The researcher first identifies the relevant stratums and their actual representation in the population. Random sampling is then used to select a sufficient number of subjects from each stratum. â€Å"Sufficient† refers to a sample size large enough for us to be reasonably confident that the stratum represents the population. Stratified sampling is often used when one or more of the stratums in the population have a low incidence relative to the other stratums.Cluster Sampling: may be used when it is either impossible or impractical to compile an exhaustive list of the elements that make up the target population. Usually, however, the population elements are already grouped into subpopulations and lists of those subpopulatio ns already exist or can be created. For example, let's say the target population in a study was church members in the United States. There is no list of all church members in the country. The researcher could, however, create a list of churches in the United States, choose a sample of churches, and then obtain lists f members from those churches. ) Determine the Sample Size: The statistical approaches to determining sample size are based on confidence intervals. These approaches may involve the estimation of the mean or proportion. When estimating the mean, determination of sample size using a confidence interval approach requires a specification of precision level, confidence level, and population standard deviation. In the case of proportion, the precision level, confidence level, and an estimate of the population proportion must De speclTlea. I ne sample size aetermlnea statlstlcally represents ne Tlnal or net sample size that must be achieved.In order to achieve this final sampl e size, a much greater number of potential respondents have to be contacted to account for reduction in response due to incidence rates and completion rates. Non-response error arises when some of the potential respondents included in the sample did not respond. The primary causes of low response rates are refusals and not-at-homes. Refusal rates may be reduced by prior notification, motivating the respondents, incentives, proper questionnaire design and administration, and follow- up. The percentage of not-at-homes can be substantially reduced by callbacks.Adjustments for non-response can be made by subsampling non-respondents, replacement, substitution, subjective estimates, trend analysis, weighting, and imputation. The statistical estimation of sample size is even more complicated in international marketing research, as the population variance may differ from one country to the next. A preliminary estimation of population variance for the purpose of determining the sample size a lso has ethical ramifications. The Internet and computers can assist n determining the sample size and adjusting it to a count for expected incidence and completion rates.Sampling distribution: the distribution of the values of a sample statistic computed for each possible sample that could be drawn from the target population under a specified sampling plan. Statistical inference: the process of generalizing the sample results to the population results. Normal distribution: a basis for classical statistical inference that is bell shaped and symmetrical and appearance. Its measures of central tendency are all identical. Standard error: the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the mean or proportion.Z values: the number of standard errors in point is away from the mean Incidence rate: the rate of occurrence of persons eligible to participate in a study expressed as a percentage Completion rate: the percentage of qualified respondents to complete the interview. It enables researchers to take into account anticipated refusals by people who qualify Substitution: a procedure that substitutes for nonrespondents other elements from the sampling frame that are expected to respond I rena analysis: a metnoa 0T a0Justlng Tor nonresponaents In wnlcn tne researcner tries to discern a trend between early and late respondents.This trend is projected to nonrespondents to estimate their characteristic of interest Weighting: statistical procedure that attempts to account for non-response by assigning differential weight to the data depending on the response rate Imputation: a method to adjust for non-response by assigning to characteristic of interest to the nonrespondents based on the similarity of the variables available for both nonrespondents and respondents.